𝑬𝑼𝑷𝑯𝑶𝑹𝑰𝑨|| 𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑

~63~

Asteria was invited to sit at the Gryffindor table for breakfast the next morning by Lily. She knew it would be suspicious if she said no so she sat down on the bench by Alice.

Occasionally, she could see James looking at her from the corner of her eye but she ignored him. She didn't even glance in the boy's direction all breakfast even though she was only a few seats away.

It was the weekend so she had no lessons that day so Lily invited her to spend the day in the Gryffindor common room but she shook her head. "I can't, sorry. Hagrid needs me to look after Buckbeak."

She came up with this excuse to avoid bumping into James as she felt like she couldn't even look at him. Asteria thought that she could of been over reacting but it truly hurt her that he wasn't being genuinely nice to her.

She always had the gut feeling that he wanted something but she pushed that feeling down, but it turns out she was right all along.

-☘︎︎-

The Hufflepuff girl sat on the bed of hay with the Hippogriff laying beside her. The slanted roof above shaded them from the burning sun above.

"What was I thinking?" She asked the creature who lifted up its head to look at her. She swore that she could see a glint of disappointment in his eyes which made her sigh. "Should of known Potter was a twat." She added, chuckling slightly at Buckbeak nodding.

"What would I do without you Buck?" She asked with a smile as she scratched his head.

-☘︎︎-

Later that day, after the sun had set, Lily invited her to the Gryffindor common again and she agreed. This was only because it was a full moon so James would be out.

The group of girls surrounded the fireplace which lit up the common room, casting large shadows on the walls.

Asteria's hand rested in Dorcas' hands as she read her palm. "So, what does it say?" The Hufflepuff asked. "If you were a boy, you would have a massive dick." Dorcas replied.

Asteria's eyebrows furrowed at her. "What? I'm still learning," The Gryffindor told the girl who snickered and shook her head before she offered to read Alice's palm.

"I think Potter has finally forgotten about me." Lily told Marlene, the mention of his name making Asteria look over. "And that's a bad thing?" Marlene questioned.

"What? No, it's a good thing." Lily replied. "I just feel sorry for whoever he attaches himself to next." She added which made Asteria hum in agreement before sighing.

Alice yawned loudly which made them all look over. "I think that's my body telling me to go to sleep." She said as she got up and headed to the dorm. "Honestly, I think I'll do the same." Dorcas said.

All the girls got up, except for Asteria. "Are you coming to bed?" Lily asked the Hufflepuff who shook her head. "I'll just stay done here for a bit longer." Lily nodded before going up the stairs and closing the door to her dorm.

Asteria let out a loud sigh as she propped her feet up on the coffee table and stared into the dancing flames. She jumped suddenly when the portrait swung open, hitting the stone wall behind it. "Ow!" The Fat Lady shouted.

She looked over to see James, limping slightly and bleeding. Asteria jumped up, hurrying to the boy and helping him to the couch.

"What happened?" She asked with wide eyes as she inspected the large cuts on his face. "It all went wrong." James replied, his voice rather shaky.

"Where are the others?" She asked, a sense of urgency in her voice. "Hospital wing." James replied. "I thought he took Wolfbane though." The Hufflepuff pointed out.

"He must of missed a few days." James suddenly hissed which reminded her of the bleeding cuts. "Don't move." She ordered before jumping up and hurrying to the bathroom.

She had grabbed a small bowl of warm water and a cloth before sitting on the coffee table in front of him. "This may sting slightly." She warned before pressing the damp cloth onto the deepest gash.

He bit his bottom lip, leaving teeth marks on his lip. "Ouch!" He exclaimed as she moved to another cut on his cheek. "Well, if you didn't move so much it would hurt less." She hissed back.

"Are the other okay?" Asteria asked as she moved to the the final cut. "Yeah. Remus may have a few more scars on his face." James sighed.

Asteria looked down for a moment before picking up a bandage to apply over the cuts. She licked her lips as she concentrated on putting the bandages on correctly which made him chuckle.

"What?" She asked with a confused look. "You lick your lips when you're concentrating." He chuckled. "It's cute." He added with a smile.

Asteria then looked up, her dark eyes meeting his. Slowly, they leaned in closer but pulled away when the portrait swung open and Sirius jumped in.

"Are you okay? We were looking for you! You just disappeared!" Sirius shouted. "I'm fine. I'm okay." He replied with a slight chuckle before turning back to Asteria with a small smirk on his face.