A muggle-born Slytherin whose parents are terrified of her.
A pureblood Gryffindor whose parents are disappointed in him.
The arrival of her Hogwarts letter was meant to make everything better.
Asteria Halloway finally had an explanation for her p...
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"You really sure you want to do this?" Sirius asked as he stood beside Asteria. "No... Not really." She replied quietly.
"We don't have to do this you know. I'm sure if you just talked to them, they'd understand." Sirius placed a hand on her shoulder. "I've tried, trust me." Asteria mumbled, stepping away and holding her hand on the handle to the front door.
"Remember to charm my parents." Asteria said. "No problem." Sirius nodded reassuringly before she pushed open the front door.
A wave of smells hit them as they entered the home. Scents of spices and herbs filled their noses as Sirius shut the door behind them, causing the sound of sizzling from the kitchen to momentarily stop.
"Asteria? Amore, sei qui!" Antonio Halloway burst into the corridor, quickly rushing forward and pulling his daughter into a tight embrace.
"E questo deve essere il tuo ospite." Antonio smiled, turning to Sirius but keeping his hands firmly placed on his daughter's arms.
"Papà, Sirius doesn't speak Italian." Asteria reminded him, turning to Sirius with an apologetic look in her eyes.
He'd had no idea she was Italian, let alone spoke the language. Although, considering she had spoken of her parents wanting to move there it did somewhat make sense.
"Mr Halloway." Sirius smiled, holding out his hand. "Sirius Black, is it? Pleasure to meet you." Antonio cleared his throat as he shook Sirius' hand. "You too." Sirius nodded.
Antoni gestured for them to move into the house and make their way through to the kitchen to see Asteria's mother and their guests.
"I didn't know you guys all spoke Italian! I look like a right idiot. If they start complaining about me and I don't understand, please let me know." Sirius hissed into Asteria's ear as she pulled him by the hand through the house. "Yeah, sorry about that but why did you think they wanted to move to Italy? They'll speak in English in front of the other guests as well, they don't think you're an idiot." Asteria flashed him a smile before finally moving into the kitchen.
"Mamma," Asteria greeted her mother who was stirring a rather large pot of boiling food. "Asteria! My goodness, I almost thought you weren't coming." Celeste pulled her daughter into a tight hug, all the while Asteria kept her grip of Sirius' hand.
"This... Is Sirius Black. Remember I told you about him?" Asteria introduced Sirius. "Ah, yes, yes." Celeste smiled warmly at the boy, "Aren't you fine looking?"
"It's a pleasure, Mrs Halloway." Sirius grinned proudly. "And a gentleman too." Celeste smirked at her daughter before returning to stir the food.
The kitchen was rather large, but appeared extremely small amidst the cramped, old furniture and extensive number of people stood around the edges.
"Asteria, this is Margaret Hinley... And her son Thomas Hinley." Antonio introduced Asteria to the two unfamiliar faces in the room.
