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To say Asteria was on edge was an understatement. Her little spat with Lily had proven that no one, not even her best friends, were safe from the girl's short temper. Sure, her heart was in the right place, but did that make it right for her to bash whoever stood in the way of her goals? She had half a mind to spill Remus's secret to the boys, having a gut feeling that they would join her in her quest to become an animagus, but knew that she would never forgive herself if she exposed him. Part of her knew Lily was right, and that a second year had no business learning how to perform such difficult magic - but that wouldn't stop her. She was determined to lessen some of Remus's pain, not wanting anyone, especially him, to be alone in facing such a horrifying plague. And this was the only logical solution, by her standards.
The weekend soon came to an end, and with it, Asteria's anger with Lily. She had been described as short-tempered, for two reasons: one, because her anger flared up for the smallest of reasons, and two, because it never lasted more than a few days. Besides, half of her understood where Lily was coming from - the redhead was worried for her friend, and Asteria couldn't be mad about that. And as long as Lily didn't actively try to hold Asteria from acquiring the knowledge she needed to become an animagus, they would have no issues. Thus, things went back to normal - Asteria was thrown back into her classes, practice, and homework. She hadn't pranked anyone in weeks, and her friends were getting worried. In truth, she couldn't stomach the idea of a prank right now; she was much too preoccupied with worry, despite the mischievous part of her adamantly fighting back. And besides, she couldn't get another detention. If her parents had scared her before, they terrified her now. She had no idea what they were capable of, given that she had learned where their loyalties stood. Who knew what they would do if Asteria angered them.
The next few weeks passed in the blink of an eye, until soon enough, Asteria found herself cornered by the boys so they could plan their yearly Halloween prank. They gave her no chance to run away, blocking her in on all four sides. She looked at them, unimpressed, before raising an eyebrow.
"Is there a reason you're stopping me from going to the library?" she asked, looking each of them in the eye in turn.
"You've spent too much time in there, we're getting worried," James answered, crossing his arms.
"Yeah, stop being a swot and hang out with us!" Peter exclaimed, his bright blue eyes wide and unwavering. It was hard to say no to Peter, who they all saw as the little baby of the group, the harmless one.
"Halloween's coming up, and we need a better prank than last year," James added, a sparkle in his eye.
Asteria pursed her lips and looked at Sirius, who wouldn't meet her eyes, before moving her gaze to Remus, who nodded as if saying 'come on.' Finally, she exhaled in surrender and nodded.
There goes her promise to herself. The boys could be convincing when they wanted to be - not that she needed much convincing.
"Fine," she said, and the four boys whooped loudly, garnering the attention of everyone in the Common Room. Even Sirius smiled, despite the faraway look in his eyes as he made eye contact with her then quickly looked away. "Got any ideas?"
