The Raven's Call

The Wedding

The ceremony was beautiful—Molly cried, of course. But now, the real celebration had begun. Music thundered through the air, echoing off the walls as guests danced, laughed, and filled their plates with food. The atmosphere sparkled with joy. It should have been perfect. But then I saw her. Asteria. We'd managed to steer clear of each other for the few days that she'd been visiting for. But it was simply time to talk.

"Asteria." I say, walking over to her, butterbeer in hand.

"Hey, Atti." She responded, turning around to face me.

"So." I start, my fingers fidgeting with the butterbeer's bottle neck. "Remember how you told me to stay away from the Astronomy tower that night?"

"...Yeah." She responded hesitantly. "Please tell me you did."

"I didn't."

She sighed in response, crossing her arms. "What-" She stuttered. "What about it?"

"What did Dumbledore mean.. when he said your heart wasn't in it.. at a graveyard?" I ask, setting the butterbeer down on a nearby table. 

She froze, seemingly thinking of how to respond. "Well.. Where do I start?" She asked rhetorically. "So, my trial.. to become a.." She trails off, glancing around for a small moment. "Death Eater..." She continued in a hushed tone. "Was to.. how do I put this? Help Harry win the Triwizard Tournament, so You-Know-Who could kill him in the graveyard. I warned Cedric not to touch the cup that night, but he did anyway. I was forced to kill him. But I couldn't go through with it. I didn't mean the words. Like Snape the night he killed Dumbledore. You-Know-Who was upset and made his henchman kill him instead. I'm so sorry."

My face pales as I take in the information. I feel my heart drop in my chest. "Why didn't you tell me?" I finally say after a moment of silence.

"I.. didn't know I could." She responded quietly.

"You warned him not to, and he didn't listen.. That's not on you, Asteria. I don't blame you." I say after a sigh. 

"What.. I thought you would." She admitted. "I've dreaded telling you because I didn't want our friendship to end."

"Asteria. I've already lost Alex. I can't lose you too." I say softly.

"You'll never lose me. You can't get rid of me, even if you wanted to." She smiled, her eyes welling with tears. I smile back, pulling her into a hug.

"Are we interrupting something?" The Weasley twins asked, walking over to the two of us. Asteria and I break our hug as we look over at the twin gingers. 

"Care to dance?" George asked, holding a hand out for Asteria. She takes it immediately and the two head over to the dance floor. 

"What do you say, little brother? Wanna dance with your favourite sibling?" Fred asks with a grin.

"Who says you're my favourite?" I retort with a smirk. 

"Come on, I know you can't resist these moves." He chuckled, bobbing his head.

I cant help but laugh as I accept his invitation. We join George and Asteria on the dance floor for a bit, laughing and dancing together for the duration of a song.