Prologue
-.-.-
"You know, I never knew Bellatrix was the name of a star," Lily said excitedly, wide-eyed as she read away from her notebook. "Look, I found on this stellarium website that it's Orion's left shoulder."
"Yes, yes, Sirius, Bellatrix, Orion, okay. Can we go back in now? It's getting really dark," her partner said, sitting back lazily on the wooden bedframe they had dragged out into the middle of the sandy driveway of their foster house.
"Oh come on, it has to be dark to go stargazing. Besides, the night is young! And we haven't even found the other constellations yet. We can't let a clear night like this go to waste," the dark-haired girl said, putting her notebook aside as she lay down next to Rebecca. "Alright, let's get started."
"Ugh, fine. Let's just get this over with already," Rebecca lay down and rolled her eyes at the darkening night sky.
"It's a good thing the sun sets early here. That's probably because it's a mountain to the west, no? And the sunrise is early because there's nothing but ocean to the east," Lily continued, waiting for the sky to darken.
"Yeah, just great. Perfect for little old nocturnal me," Rebecca mumbled.
"Oh look, the stars are out! Isn't it weird how when you squint, it looks like there are lines between the stars? It says in the stellarium we should see a couple of constellations right about-," she said, waving her arms straight up, making large circles towards the sky. "-there! Oh my gosh, can you see that?"
"See what? The never-ending darkness that envelopes the land every night? Wonderful."
"The three stars lined up - the four stars around them, ooh, that must be Bellatrix - Oh my gosh, it's Orion, isn't it! Awesome," Lily said, tracing the outlines with her finger.
"Alright, yay," Rebecca said, clapping dully. "Can we go back now?"
"And oh my gosh, is that bright star over there Sirius?" she said, pointing lower. "It looks like Canis Major, doesn't it, just like in the stellarium. That website is the coolest thing ever!"
"Yippee for the amateur astronomer," Rebecca said, sitting up. "Look, as excited I am about your Harry Potter stars, I'd really like to get back in the house to check my notifications. Can I use your computer?"
"Go ahead. Ooh, just don't close the browser with the stellarium, alright? I haven't copied everything yet."
"Whatever you say," Rebecca said, her hands up as she got up and walked back towards the house.
"Oh wait, is that star moving?" Lily said, spotting a moving light across the sky.
"Probably an airplane, like all the ones you pointed out earlier," Rebecca shouted from the front porch. "And don't stay out too long, I need your help with some documents later."
"I wish it were a shooting star, though. Or a falling one. Maybe an asteroid, or a meteorite," Lily said, thinking out loud. "Hey, what do you think of a crashing UFO or something?"
Rebecca continued shouting from the front door. "Enough with your fanaticism, okay? I'm kind of tired of all your fictional ideas."
"Oh look, there's Gemini right there!" Lily's attention was diverted once more as she excitedly recognized the familiar-sounding constellations.
Stretching, she stood up and gathered her things. "Hah, not bad for someone who just searched this stuff online a few hours ago." Looking up, she yawned, her eyes squinting. "Heh, there really are lines between stars, aren't there?"
Yawning, she went back inside. And the shooting star continued to fall.