𝑬𝑼𝑷𝑯𝑶𝑹𝑰𝑨|| 𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑

~46~

Asteria rubbed her eyes as she sat herself up in her bed. She let out a huff when she remembered that she could not stay in bed as it was the first day of her 6th year.

She rolled over so she could look at the clock in her room to see that she had woken up late. The girl jumped out of bed and hurried around her room to get into her uniform as she hated getting changed on the train.

"Asteria! Hurry up!" Cepheus shouted up the stairs which made her hop out of her room putting on her black shoes. "Sorry. I slept in." She replied which made Catrina let out a laugh. "Your mother would be ashamed of how lazy you have become." He hissed before turning around to open the grand door and walk away, followed by Catrina who held onto his arm.

-☘︎︎-

Asteria stood in front of her father, receiving the lecture she got every year but she was not listening and was too focused on a sweet wrapper that blew across the platform.

"Is that understood?" He asked her which made her jump before nodding. "Yes, father." She said before she picked up her luggage from the floor and boarded the train.

She rolled her eyes when she noticed the Gang of Slytherins standing in the aisle. She stared forward so she did not make eye contact with them.

"Has daddy not kicked you out yet?" Lucius asked in a mocking tone. "Get a grip Malfoy. We all know you're only marrying Narcissa because your family name is fading." Asteria replied, continuing to walk through the train until she found an empty compartment.

-☘︎︎-

Once the sorting ceremony was over, Dumbledore ordered each house to leave to hall one at a time. Asteria followed the crowd of Hufflepuff students until someone grabbed her arm.

"I'm really sorry about the strawberry situation. If I knew I would have put them out." Lily spoke quickly. "It's fine, honestly," Asteria replied with a smile. "Even I didn't know." She added with a slight laugh.

"Are we heading to our common room girl?" McGonagall asked the two who nodded before hurrying off to their dorms.

But instead of going straight to the Hufflepuff common room, Asteria walked into the kitchen to get herself a cup of tea which she sweetened with a drizzle of honey.

She gently blew on the top which formed ripples and made the steam dance through the air. Afterward, she walked out of the kitchens with the cup in her hands however she wasn't tired so she slowly walked up the stairs.

When she heard footsteps, she held her breath as she thought it was Filch but she saw James and Peter hurrying around the corner. Her eyebrows furrowed.

"Leave it Asteria. It doesn't concern you." She whispered to herself and she went to turn around but stopped. "Fuck it. I'm a nosey cunt." She said with a shrug before she snuck up the stairs and went the same way the boys did.

She peered around a corner to see the two Gryffindors sneak into one of the many greenhouses on the grounds. She quickly drank her tea which burnt her lip before pushing the door open.

"Sprout won't be too happy with you stealing her plants." The two boys turned around with wide eyes of horror. In their hands were bright purple flowers which they had just cut off a plant.

"What do you need aconite for?" She asked with a look of confusion, remembering the flower from the herbology book in her dorm. "To feed my pet turtle," James replied sarcastically before they hurried out the greenhouse with the flowers in their hands.

Still confused, Asteria headed towards the library and scanned the shelves for a book in magical plants. "Found you." She muttered as she pulled a dusty book off the shelf and used the light from the end of her wand to read the pages.

She flipped through until she found the page on Aconite. Asteria inspected the illustration of the purple flower before running her finger down the page to the uses of the plant.

"Wolfbane?" She readout. "Why would they need to wolfbane?" She asked herself with furrowed eyebrows until she heard the familiar meow of Filch's cat and hurried back to her common room.