Coming Together ༄ Sirius Black

Chapter Nineteen

Mid afternoon daylight fell through the gap in the curtains, flashing across Asteria's eyes as she rolled over onto her side. She pulled her blanket up to her chin and curled her legs up in the warmth of the fabric. Yet, ever so slowly, the peace of sleep crept away and Asteria awoke.

"Asteria? Darling, are you awake?" Celeste tiptoed into the living room and peered around the sofa.
"Yeah... I am now..."  Asteria grumbled, sitting up and brushing her hair away from her face.

"Are you okay? Is everything alright? I know you're probably still upset about what your father and I said the other day when... Your friend was here." Celeste perched on the edge of the sofa and looked over at her daughter.
"Sirius. He was called Sirius." Asteria corrected.

"You know your father didn't mean to upset you. Neither of us want you upset on Christmas Day." Celeste pursued.
"You can't be serious about moving away. You can't. I have to stay here, I need to. Hogwarts is my home." Asteria folded her arms in defiance.

"Your home is here, Asteria. Here. With your family." Celeste stopped as Asteria frowned coldly as her mother, "But I won't force you to move, I'll speak to your father."
"Really?" Asteria perked up.
"Yes, I couldn't live with myself knowing you'd be miserable if we moved. I'll convince papà for you."

Maybe Christmas miracles really did exist.

Not many people knew of this side to Asteria's parents. The side in which they cared so deeply for their daughter's wellbeing.
It was the reason Asteria always so viscously defended her parents.
They did care, even if they had an odd way of showing it. Even if they didn't always manage to get it right first time.

"Nice nap?" Antonio chuckled as he walked into the room, "Did Christmas dinner tire you out?"
"Always does." Asteria replied.

A dark, small owl fluttered up to the window and tapped its beak against the window. This caused Asteria to giggle as her mother jumped in her spot.

"I'll never not be scared when they do that." Celeste held her hand to her heart.
"You used to shriek when Asteria first sent letters home." Antonio grinned.

Asteria removed the blanket and rose from her seat, gingerly making her way over to the window. She unlocked the window and allowed the owl to hop inside. Reaching into her jacket pocket, she rustled around through the junk before pulling out a small treat.

"Here you go." Asteria smiled, handing the chew to the bird before untying the letter from its ankle.

In an instant she recognised the handwriting that had scrawled her address on the back of it.

"Who's it from?" Celeste asked, cautiously watching as the bird took off and flew away.
"Nothing..." Asteria replied absentmindedly, pulling the window closed and slowly walking towards the door.

"Is it from that boyfriend of yours?" Antonio narrowed his eyes.
"What? No." Asteria looked up.
"And where are you going?"
"To... my bedroom." Asteria nodded once, clutching the letter to her chest as she departed from the room.

She scurried upstairs to her bedroom, and jumped to sit down on her bed before tearing open the letter. In an instant she held the letter in her hand, turning it over to examine before unfolding it.
Her eyes scanned the writing, frowning slightly when she couldn't make out what a word said.

"My God..." Asteria murmured, tightening her grip on the parchment.

Her eyes lingered over one particular paragraph.

I've been sent to spend the rest of Christmas with my cousins because of the stunt I pulled at the family meal. Bellatrix and Narcissa are as nasty and crazy as always and Andromeda isn't here anymore... I heard uncle Alphard came over to take me to see a quidditch match but then he got into an argument with Cygnus and Cygnus threatened to kill him. I didn't hear what the argument was about, just the last bit when they were screaming threats at each other. I don't know what to do and I'm kind of scared if I'm being honest.
Sorry I'm writing on Christmas Day when you probably want to be with your family but I needed to tell someone about this.

Asteria didn't have a clue what to say. How could she help Sirius?
She just wished she could be there to support him like he'd been for her.

Asteria moved to sit at her desk, pulling out a blank piece of parchment along with her quill and ink. She sat there for a while, wondering what she could possibly say to make him feel better.

It wasn't like Sirius' uncles would actually kill each other, was it?

"Asteria? Are you okay?" Celeste gently knocked on the door.
"Y-yeah." Asteria put her quill down and turned around as her mother stepped into her room.

"Everything alright? What's that letter about?"
"I love you." Asteria blurted, standing up from her seat, "Thanks for trying help me all the time."

Maybe it was the thought that family members could so quickly be taken away that made Asteria day what she did. But it really didn't matter why she said it, just that she did.

"Well I love you too, amore. I always want you to be happy." Celeste moved towards her daughter and pulled her into a hug.
"Merry Christmas." Asteria mumbled.

"Now what's going on? What's with all the sentiment?" Celeste looked over her daughter's face for any signal.
"Nothing, it's fine." Asteria shook her head.
"So you're being unusually loving for no particular reason?" Celeste wasn't buying it.
"Christmas spirit." She shrugged.

-

A/N

Ik this chapter is quite short but I needed to include some nice family stuff for Asteria before I moved on

So yeah, thanks for all the reads and continue to comment and vote

Thank you so much