A Cold Night On The Balcony
Four or so weeks had passed, the colourful flowers and trees fading down to dark reds and oranges as autumn progressed; October was slowly creeping by, the air becoming glacial, the great Black Lake freezing over in one of the coldest autumns Thea had ever experienced - and she loved every second of it. The skies had never been so clear for her to explore with her telescope, and she spent nearly every night she wasn’t on Prefect duty up at the very top of the Astronomy Tower, on the balcony, charting the stars she knew by heart. Constellations were her passion - planets, and stars she would never reach in a million years, but somehow, she existed in a time and place where she was able to see them and study them. She appreciated the correlation between Astronomy and Divination, but truly, her interests lied with the former rather than the latter. She wasn’t sure if her passion for constellations stemmed from how her parents had named her and her brothers after the stars - Sirius, the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major, Regulus, the brightest star in the Leo constellation, and Amalthea, one of Jupiter’s moons.
All Thea knew was that there was a part of her that yearned to discover all she could about the stars - she was already preparing to request enrollment at the Magical Institute of Astronomy in America; her parents did not know about these dreams, because if they did, they would crush her every last hope. Thea could almost hear them - your duty is to your family, and you will not pursue some frivolous degree that you will never use - you will marry right after Hogwarts, and you will bear children for your husband, and you will stay home to raise your husband’s children.
Her husband’s children. Her children, according to her parents, wouldn’t even be her own. She would not be allowed any say in her own life - and Thea could not live with that. One day, she would get married, have children, and all of the things that came with it. But she would have control over her own life first. She would live, and grow, and experience her own life before adding another person, and then small people, into the mix.
Thea sighed into the cold night air, her breath becoming tangible as it swirled around the gusts of air. She was grateful for Professor Nebulon allowing her access to the Astronomy Tower after curfew, the Professor’s letter carefully tucked away in Thea’s cloak. She’d only had to present a few times, once to the caretaker, Eldon Hallowbrook, a kind old man with a twinkle in his eye. Thea suspected him to have a soft spot for Sirius and his friends, which explained why they hadn’t been caught out of bed nearly as much as they should have. Mr. Hallowbrook wasn’t exactly a Squib - she’d seen him use magic around the castle, but it seemed that for whatever reason, he favoured using Muggle means of cleaning.
Focusing her thoughts and attention back on the sky, Thea squinted into her telescope. Tonight, she was searching for Taurus.
Thea checked her textbook.
Taurus. Easily identifiable by its brightest star, Aldebaran, and the distinctive V-shaped cluster of stars known as the Hyades, which forms the bull's face. It also contains the beautiful Pleiades star cluster, sometimes called the "Seven Sisters." Taurus is prominent in the sky during the winter months in the Northern Hemisphere, with the best viewing times typically from November to March.
After a few minutes of search, Thea grinned in triumph.
“Aha!” she muttered under her breath. “There you are.”
“What were you looking for?” came a deep, amused voice from somewhere behind her. Startled, Thea knocked into her telescope, her eye getting the brunt of it.
“Ah, blast,” she cursed, turning around at whoever took her by such surprise. It was Remus, who stood frozen, grimacing.
“...Sorry, Thea,” he said, stepping up towards her gingerly. “I… I thought you had heard me.”
“Obviously, I did not,” she retorted in frustration. “Oh, blimey, I’m going to have a black eye in the morning, aren’t I?”
Remus nodded. “Do you… do you mind if I take a look? Surprisingly enough, I’m quite decent at taking care of small injuries.”
Thea, her nerves calming down by the second, nodded with a smirk. “Really? Couldn’t tell.”
“Oh, haha, make fun of the boy with the scars,” Remus rolled his eyes, his fingers ghosting over Thea’s cheekbone. “Put some ice on that - you might avoid too bad a mark.”
“Your fingers are burning,” blurted out Thea. “Are you running a fever?”
Before she could stop herself, she was running her hand over Remus’ forehead - he was scalding hot in the freezing air. “Remus! You’re burning up! I’m surprised you’re not letting off steam in this weather!”
Remus chuckled. “Not to worry,” he said, taking her cold hand in his own. “I always run hot, really. It just seems warmer than usual because you’ve been standing in the snow for Merlin knows how long.”
“Oh.” Thea chuckled self-consciously, suddenly hyper aware of her hand in Remus’... and how it felt nice. Quickly, she broke contact, brushing her damp hair out. “Oh! It has been snowing! I didn’t notice!”
Remus scoffed incredulously. “You didn’t notice the snow on your hair, your clothes, anything?”
“Not really,” shrugged Thea. “I was trying to find the Taurus constellation. I suppose that now that I’ve found it, I can return to the Ravenclaw Tower,” she smiled, packing up her textbook - which, now that she looked closer, did appear quite wet as well.
“Hold on,” chuckled Remus. “Let me dry that up for you.” He quickly cast a spell on the book, reverting it to pristine dryness - Thea thanked him with a smile. “Do you mind if I walk you back to your common room?” he asked. Thea shook her head.
“Company is always nice!”
“So, Thea… why do you like stars so much?” asked Remus as they walked back into the Astronomy Tower, the warm air hitting Thea square in the face and causing her to fan herself slightly.
Thea pondered the tall boy’s question, her head cocked to the side.
“I’m not entirely sure. I suppose you know our father named us all after stars, or constellations, just like he was?” she said, looking up at him. Remus frowned. “I knew Sirius and Regulus are - is there a Thea star?”
Thea snorted. “We’ve known each other for five years and you thought my full name was Thea?”
“Is it not?” cried out Remus, scandalised.
“Hah! No! My full name is Amalthea, which is one of the moons orbiting Jupiter. As you know, my parents don’t really… value girls as much as they do boys, so they gave me the name of a moon rather than a star.”
“Amalthea… I didn’t know that was your name,” mused Remus. “Honestly, although it’s a beautiful name, and I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but I think Thea suits you better. It’s more… you.”
Thea blushed and looked away. “Thanks, Remus. I like it better too.”
“So… you like stars because you were not named after one?” Remus prompted her. Thea chuckled.
“No, not really. I think the sky, the stars, the moons… they’re still hiding things. There’s always more to discover. One day, maybe I’ll be the one to discover whatever they’re hiding. I think Astronomy is just fascinating. So close, yet so far - does that make sense?”
“I think so. You’re trying to understand something you’ll never touch.”
“Exactly. What about you? What do you like most of all?”
Remus sighed. “Right now, I really put focus into every subject. With… Death Eaters on the rise, it’s important to me to hone every skill, learn every spell, so I can protect those important to me. I suppose… I think I like Defense Against the Dark Arts best right now,” he said quietly, almost like he was shy to admit it.
“That’s admirable, Remus,” said Thea, laying a hand on his arm, trying to think about how soft his sweater was, and not how strong his arm felt under the fabric. “Maybe you could give me pointers in D.A.D.A. Merlin knows I need the help,” she groaned.
“Whenever you’d like,” said Remus just a little too fast. But they had arrived in front of the Ravenclaw Eagle knocker, and Remus smiled.
“I’ll see you in the morning, then?” he said, a small smile playing on his face. Thea returned his smile.
“Gladly,” she answered, waiting until he had walked off to knock on the door to get that night’s riddle.
Remus… Remus was special. And the fact Thea was thinking that was not good. So not good that she had completely forgotten to ice her eye and cheekbone before going to bed.