Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
♢
Following behind her raven-haired friend, Asteria grinned as she finally had a chance to see the girl she'd had yet to see all week. Their first weekend was coming up, and Asteria planned to spend time not only with her newfound Gryffindor friends, but with Magnolia as well. There was something about Magnolia that drew Asteria to her; perhaps it was their similar upbringing or maybe just the thought of having some sort of connection to the house she was supposed to be in - whatever it was, Asteria was not about to let go of her friendship with Magnolia so easily.
"Long time no see," Asteria started, finally catching up with her friend. Magnolia grinned, throwing an arm around the Gryffindor's shoulders.
"Where have you been? I feel like I rarely see you around, outside of Potions," Magnolia responded, shaking her head.
"Sorry, I've been trying to stay ahead on homework," the blonde shrugged. "I want to keep good grades, to please my father."
"Of course," Magnolia nodded, understanding completely. Although Asteria wouldn't admit it out loud, Magnolia knew that the blonde girl was trying to maintain a good report in order to distract her father from her sorting results. Not that it would work, but it might help.
Suddenly, the staircase the two were on began to move. The two bit back a screech of surprise, but fortunately, this was not their first time experiencing the moving stairs. Having been at Hogwarts for a week, the two knew of the stairs' uncanny ability to always catch the students off guard. That said, it was no less of a surprise when they ended up in the complete opposite of the direction they were meant to head. Much to their dismay, the stairs had moved approximately 180 degrees.
The two clambered off the stairs and back onto solid ground, wondering where they'd ended up.
"I've never been in this section of the castle before," Magnolia commented, beginning to walk.
"This is our first week here, of course you haven't."
Magnolia said nothing in response, scrunching up her eyebrows as she heard voices in the distance. It seemed to be of a boy and a girl, in a very heated argument. Insults were being thrown back and forth, but an underlying sense of pain and misery was clear in each of their tones. And for some reason, their voices sounded incredibly familiar-
"That's my sister!" Asteria exclaimed quietly, peering around the corner confidently. "And that's Lucius Malfoy!" Lucky for her, the quarrelling couple had not heard her and continued to glare at each other. Asteria frowned, full of confusion, but the gears in her mind were turning. She may not have been a Ravenclaw, but she was able to put pieces together. For the past few years, Asteria had overheard her sisters gossipping about a boy who claimed he was in love with Selene and yet was betrothed to another. Of course, she had never spoken up about it, only eavesdropping on her sisters' conversation. Now, she learned that this boy was Lucius Malfoy, and his fiancee-to-be was Narcissa Black (who, funnily enough, was Sirius's cousin). Now, as Asteria and Magnolia hid behind the corner, they witnessed Lucius and Selene's apparent breakup.
