Snake Charmer

Chapter Fifteen

The following day, Asteria kept a watchful eye on Peter. He was smiling and laughing with the boys, but every time he caught Asteria looking at him, he would shift uncomfortably in his chair like he knew something that he shouldn't. Asteria's eyes narrowed.

"Little Lion, can I borrow you for a moment?" Asteria glanced over her shoulder and Regulus stood there with a small smile, but she noticed the worry creased in his eyes. She nodded silently standing, to her surprise Regulus wrapped an arm around her waist pulling her closer to him, she gasped, and her face flushed a light pink. Several whistles erupt around the room, making her blush deepen. This was not what she needed right now! Regulus smirked a little pulling her along out of the Great Hall.

Asteria kept glancing around waiting for something, anything to happen. The air was thick, and she could feel that something was off. Regulus pulled her into an empty classroom, before locking the door and casting a silencing charm.

"Tom has informed everyone that there are going to be a few new members joining the ranks at the next meeting and I've noticed that Pettigrew looks terrified of you." Asteria snorted. It wasn't like that had gone unnoticed.

"Seems like I wasn't the only one who noticed it. When is the next meeting?" Regulus's eyebrows drew together in confusion. He didn't understand why she was asking him that.

"In a month why?" Asteria blew out a frustrated breath.

"I may need your help with something, in the coming days. But there is something that I have to do first. Someone that I have to see." Asteria tried to force herself to smile, and Regulus frowned but remained silent. Instead, he walked over to her collecting her into his arms. She inhaled his wintery scent, that strangely calmed her rising nerves about seeing her papa.

"Is Dumbledore going to go with you?" Asteria nodded, soaking his warmth as her fingers curled in the sides of his shirt. Strangely Asteria took comfort in the small things that Regulus did for her. And he seemed to take comfort in her as well.

Regulus smiled down her, He liked that she was so comfortable with him and that she wasn't afraid of him, just because of his name and the house that he had been sorted into...It made him wonder if this was how Tom felt when he was around her. If this was why he was so obsessed with her.

"I may have been named after a star, but your hair, it reminds me of starlight..." Asteria sniffled a giggle. She lifted her head to look up at Regulus, his hazel eyes boring into her. They held nothing but affection for her. But she couldn't allow herself to fall in love again. One of them would just end up getting hurt and she couldn't let that be Regulus. Asteria inhaled a steady breath and pulled away, taking a step back away from him.