Astra Black is the twin sister of Sirius Black. Unlike her brother, she was sorted into Slytherin. That didn't break their bond but it separated their friend groups.
What happens when James Potter and Astra Black get mixed into each other's lives...
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sat underneath his quilt with the end of his wand glowing, james looked down at the marauders map, looking for people around the halls. he needed to see where filch was so he could get out. he was terribly bored and his three mates were fast on, remus' book dropped on his chest, sirius' leg swinging off his bed and peter's upper body starting to fall from his mattress.
he shone the light across the map, still in search for filch. he ended up finding the caretaker was looming in the dungeons. grinning, he went to get up but saw the illustrated footsteps of astra, her name above them, leading out of the dungeons. he waited for her to stop, eventually seeing her name still and her footsteps disappear at the astronomy tower.
at the top of the astronomy tower, astra sat down behind the barrier, a blanket across her shoulders. she looked down at her lap, pulling a cigarette from her box of them which she'd slipped into her pocket. lifting it to her lips with a shaky hand, astra lit it, sighing out the first puff of smoke.
she couldn't stop thinking, no matter how hard she tried. in fact, the more she tried to stop thinking, the more she thought of the thoughts she was trying not to think. flashes of her parents words and spells crashed between the waves of depressing thoughts of self-hatred. astra had tried to not let her parents get to her, but after hearing it for so many years continuously, she was beginning to agree with their opinions on herself. she still thought them disgusting, despicable people who deserved nothing but pain and suffering for their beliefs in blood supremacy.
memories of the ball at the malfoy manor kept flitting into her mind as well. during dinner, salem had decided to pass by her, smirking down at her. later in the meal, astra grew so angry at him, she made his dinner explode into his face, glad to see that warrington also got a face full of toad in the hole.
astra sometimes wished she had been placed in gryffindor with her twin. perhaps she would be braver. she wished she was as courageous as sirius, wanting the freedom he had managed to gain by running away. she could have done something about salem, fought back against him more.
oh, shut up. i can't start blaming myself for this, i didn't do anything. it's all him, he's horrid, astra thought bitterly, as if having a conversation. she was, in a way. she was arguing with herself; one of the worst arguments to get in because you can't trust yourself to figure out which of your own arguments is the right one.
astra sniffled, her nose reddening in the cold. she could feel a thickness in her throat and a pressure begin to build behind her eyes. she didn't let herself cry. it was a sign of weakness, is what she'd been told by her parents and now herself.
you're so pathetic, a small voice whispered in the back of her mind.
astra sighed, taking a drag from the cigarette.
give up. you'll never be like sirius. happy, free, loved.
"would you fuck off?" astra whispered to herself, bringing her knees to her chest, staring at her scuffed boots.
"sorry." a voice said behind her and she looked over her shoulder, seeing james' head, and only his head, at the top of the stairs.
"you're fine." astra forced a small smile. "talking to myself. i think i'm going round the bend."
"people that aren't are quite boring." james grinned, moving to sit beside her. she hummed, looking back down at her boots. "i still might not know you very well, but i'm not as stupid as i look. what's up?"
"nothing. i'm just thinking." astra shrugged.
"and that's the issue, right?" james asked.
astra chuckled, flicking ash to the floor, "when did you get so wise?"
"about half an hour ago." james joked, grinning when she smiled slightly. "what're you thinking about?"
"everything but also nothing." astra said. she then scoffed, "i'm probably making no sense."
"no, you make sense." james nodded. "there's loads of thoughts but they're overlapping into one big ball of a squiggled up mess."
"spot on." astra mused. "a massive spiralling squiggle of bullshit that gets bigger and bigger with every second."
"i get that." james said. astra looked at him, slightly surprised. "you seem shocked."
"i dunno, you carry yourself with so much confidence and you're loud and love attention, i didn't think you'd spiral all that much." astra mused.
"you carry yourself with confidence. you may not be loud or love attention, but you are confident in everything you do and it's obvious that you're ambitious in what you do, yet you're spiralling." james replied.
"touché." astra muttered.
"got another fag?" james asked.
"uh, no, this is my last one." astra said but she held it between them. "i don't mind sharing."
"you sure?" james questioned.
astra smiled at him, "just this once."
"cheers." he mumbled and took the cigarette, taking a long drag before handing it back to astra.
"so, what d'you think about then? what makes your thought process expand into a spiralling squiggle?" astra quizzed, taking a drag herself.
"pressure, mostly." james answered. "about quidditch and exams."
"you're one of the top quidditch players. people say you could go professional." astra stated.
james hummed, taking the cigarette again, "i know, but that's not a guarantee, is it? i might not get onto a professional quidditch team. but i don't think i'm gonna do all that well in my exams."
"you're improving on your potions." astra assured.
"thanks." james smiled almost shyly at her praise.
"i'm sure you'll be fine." astra hummed.
"and you will. maybe you'll even be a professional quidditch player, too." james mused. "imagine if we ended up on the same team."
"oh, salazar, that would be hell." astra groaned, smirking at his offended gasp. "nah, i don't think i want to do that anymore."
"no? what would you wanna do?" james inquired, shuffling a little closer to her.
"being a professor doesn't sound too bad. care of magic creatures, or something." astra hummed. james shivered beside her. "cold?" he nodded. she pulled some o free blanket from her shoulder and moved so there was barely any space between them, wrapping the blanket around his shoulders, too.
"why're you being so nice suddenly?" james asked.
"i'm not sure, to be honest." astra mumbled. it was silent for a moment and astra leant her head on his shoulder hesitantly. he made no move to stop her, instead giving her a soft smile. "james?"
"yeah?" he whispered, trying not to sound too giddy that she'd called him by his first name instead of his surname.
"thank you." she whispered, closing her eyes.
james' eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "for what?"
"making me feel better." she smiled and it was wide enough for james to feel her cheek moving on his shoulder.
