Coming Together ༄ Sirius Black

Chapter Fourteen

Asteria stirred the small spoon in her cup of tea, watching the steam slowly rise and dissipate in the air. Her mind swirled as the tea did, lost in thoughts so deep Asteria wasn't sure how she'd gotten there. Suddenly the clank of the metal spoon against the delicate porcelain cup snapped her out of the daydream.

The small girl sat beside the window in Rosa Lee's Teabag, looking over the bustling street of Diagonal Alley. She let out a sigh, running her fingers over the edge of the boiling cup as she starting to sink back into her thoughts again.

The idea of going home made her nervous. It had been two days since they left Hogwarts and thing had been unusually tense between Asteria's parents and herself. Antonio and Celeste Halloway were loving parents who cared for their daughter greatly, but were now fascinated by moving to live in Italy and using everything within their power to persuade Asteria that the move would do them good.

Almost as if two unspoken forces were bringing the two teenagers together, Sirius Black stumbled past the window of the shop. It seemed that something far beyond their consciousness was connecting the two as over the school year that kept finding themselves together. But, at this moment, Asteria had not noticed the boy outside as she continued to stir her drink.

Sirius Black was dashing up Diagon Alley, with James close in pursuit as the two ran between the crowds and ducked behind various passing people. Remus leant against the doorway to the quidditch shop with his arms folded, whilst Peter stood beside him munching on a sandwich.

"Wasn't it Sirius chasing James before?" Peter asked mid-bite, "Why have they swapped?"
"Sirius said something horrid about Lily so..." Remus winced slightly as he watched Sirius trip over a wooden crate which soon after led to James falling on top of him.

"Alright... Alright I think that's enough, don't you?" Remus frowned down at the mess his friends had gotten themselves into.
"What's the score on fights I've won?" James smirked proudly, ruffling Sirius' hair as he stood up, "Got to be like twenty to nil or something?"
"Twenty-three to twenty-one." Remus clarified, earning a glare from Sirius.

"Well that's just not fair." Sirius folded his arms and frowned.

"Did we come here to bicker or to buy ah-may-zing quidditch supplies?" James nudged Sirius jokingly before leading them inside.
"Well I came for books I'm not so sure about brooms." Remus sighed.
"Moony-just-be cool." James widened his eyes insistingly.

"You guys I really don't think that nickname is discrete and-" Remus stopped mid sentence, his mouth still open as his eyes glanced out of the shop window and across the street.

The other three boys all attempted to follow his gaze to try and pinpoint what had caught his attention.

"What are you looking at?" Peter furrowed his eyebrows.
"Is it that ugly old man who's-" Sirius froze, his eyes landing on what - or more precisely who - Remus was looking at.

"Oh..." James caught on a little after.

Peter looked around hopelessly between his friends, hoping one of them would explain what was going on.

"You just going to stand and stare at her?" Remus asked, smirking at Sirius.
"He's already done four years of that..." James chuckled, "You two are meant to be friends now, right? Go say hi."

Sirius blinked hard and then turned back to face his friends, "What?"
"You're an idiot. Go talk to her." Remus laughed.
"R-right, yeah. Be right back." Sirius strode our, running one hand through his hair.

"He's hooked." James nodded as he watched his friend go.
"He definitely won't be right back." Remus agreed.
"Oh, he's going to see Asteria isn't he?" Peter caught on.

Sirius caught sight of Asteria again through the window before he actually entered the shop, and she looked sad. This only furthered his determination to talk to her as he pushed open the door, causing the small bell to jangle loudly.

Asteria didn't look up from her drink, and it's ever swirling pattern as the bell shook and Sirius stood before the table.

"Ria... Hi!" Sirius greeted brightly, smiling at her.
"Oh, oh hi." Asteria sat up and forced a much smaller smile onto her lips.

"You here alone?" Sirius asked, hovering above the empty chair at her table.
"Yeah... I am." She nodded, pursing her lips.
"What's up? You look sad and I'm officially declaring it my mission to never let you be sad again."

"You can sit down if you want... Unless you have somewhere else to be, who did you come with?" Asteria turned around to look out the window.
"No, no I'll sit, it's fine I want to sit." Sirius pulled out the chair and plonked himself down in the seat, "So... What's actually up?"

"I'm just overreacting, it's no big deal." She shrugged, going to continue to stir her tea before realising the drink had turned cold - stone cold.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Sirius replied, hoping not to annoy her by pressing that matter.
"My parents want to move to Italy... I think it's so I won't be able to go to Hogwarts anymore." Asteria explained quietly, finally setting down her spoon.

Sirius stood up suddenly as he slammed his hands down onto the table, "You're leaving the country?"
"Well, my parents want to but I'm not sure it will actually happen." Asteria explained, "Maybe if I beg enough they won't make me... But why are you so bothered?"

"Well I don't want you to leave..." Sirius looked down and kicked at the floor gently.
"I don't want to leave... I'm not going to either, if there's a way out I'll find it." Asteria nodded reassuringly.

"If you're not up to it I guess you wouldn't have to come to mine and meet my family." Sirius suggested quietly, sitting back down again.
"Tell me about your family, sounds like I need to prepare myself." Asteria smiled genuinely now.

The idea of spending the day in a house full of pureblood manic witches and wizards did put Asteria on edge a little, but she was more than willing to try and help Sirius.

"Well when you're in there you need to stand up straight. Oh and try not to speak too much and don't look people in the eye but don't look down at the floor and don't be too quiet and only shake hands if someone offers and..." Sirius trailed off slightly, completely aware of how contradictory he was sounding, but also fully aware that was only a fraction compared to how insane his family really were.

"I thought the plan was for me to shock them?" Asteria questioned.
"Well, I think my mother would actually have a heart attack if you did too many things she didn't approve of."
"Is that a bad thing?" Asteria joked.
"Well, if it comes to it... It's not a bad idea." Sirius pondered.

And that's how the two of them spent the rest of the afternoon. They joked about the troubles they faced at home, seeking comfort in the only person they'd met who could even begin to understand their predicament. Eventually the sun set and night drew in, resulting in the tea shop coming to an unwanted close. As they stepped outside, together, into the cold winter night, Sirius spotted his friends dozing at an outside table as they awaited him. Whilst Asteria was left to return home alone, the exact same way she arrived.