Hello all! Sorry it's been a while since I updated - this semester is flying by. I'll try to update Thorns Have Roses soon as well, so hang tight and I hope you enjoy!

As a reminder, I do not own Harry Potter or any affiliated characters. If I did, Order of the Phoenix would have gone down much differently...

Third Year

Andrea stared up at the Great Hall's ceiling as she sat alone at the Gryffindor table for the start of term feast. She had always been awestruck by its complex enchantments, which replicated the sky so precisely that it looked as if the hall were open to the heavens. Most of the Hogwarts students from wizarding families took the incredible view for granted, accustomed as they were to the everyday impossible beauties of magic. Andy loved to spend her meals watching the weather patterns shift, as clouds slowly rolled across the sky during the day and constellations poked their heads out from between them at night. On clear, beautiful nights like these, it reminded her of being home in the planetarium her father had had built for her, only one of many ways in which he had tried to purchase her affection over the years: a misguided attempt at recompense for his usual far less than tender behavior. Due to his aging knees that made him unable to ascend the narrow spiral staircase used to access it, the planetarium was the one place in her family's house where she was always safe from him, which had fostered a love of Astronomy in her younger self that had made her top of the correlating class here. The stars were her refuge, and looking at the ceiling of the Great Hall gave her the same sense of peace and familiarity that the planetarium at home did – that was a miracle in and of itself, in a school that was as simultaneously as claustrophobic and wonderous as Hogwarts.

Of course, that feeling of serenity couldn't last forever. "Hullo, Andy," she heard a familiar voice say as someone sat down next to her on the bench.

"James, correct me if I'm wrong," she said through gritted teeth, "but don't you have friends you could be sitting with? Or relatives who tolerate you better than I do? I'm sure they're missing you by now."

"What, and deny you the pleasure of my company? Wouldn't dream of it."

"Why do you like to torment me? Before you sat down I was having beautiful, interesting thoughts that had nothing to do with you."

"Because I don't want my sister to be able to spot me easily, and with you is the last place she'll look."

This wasn't the answer Andy was expecting, and she was mildly disappointed for some reason she couldn't quite grasp – he had broken from their usual scripted back and forth. Recovering quickly, she asked "And why exactly are you hiding from Lily?"

"In some ways she's just like Mum – if she can corner you while she's upset you're a dead man, but if you give her enough of a chance to cool down first…"

"And why do you expect she'll be upset?"

James grinned devilishly. "You'll see."

Andy saw very soon indeed, when Lily was Sorted into Gryffindor and a lion's roar suddenly echoed throughout the Great Hall. Though she intellectually knew that James was undoubtedly to blame, along with his cousin Fred, and that the lion (if there even was one) was most likely harmless, years of fighting had honed her reflexes and made them impossible to ignore. The third-year stood quickly and drew her wand, putting herself between James and the direction of the noise without thinking twice about why exactly she felt the urge to protect a boy who had been the thorn in her side for the past two years.

Potter didn't stay where he was for very long. "Sterling, what in Godric's name do you think you're doing?" he said, standing up from the bench and shoving his way from out behind her.

"Defending you. You're welcome," she said, half-turning to face him, though her eyes were still scouring the room for any potential threats.

"I don't need defending, Sterling, it's my spell."

"Yes, and so were the Bat Bogeys – what a bloody brilliant idea those were."

"Look," he said, gesturing up to the great lofted ceiling she had been examining a short while ago. A large cartoonish lion decked out in scarlet and gold was hovering there, doing some sort of strange Irish jig and holding a banner with Lily's name between its paws. "Scary, isn't it? Terrifying, even. Face it, Andy, 'I think you're just incapable of recognizing when you aren't needed.'"

The lion burst into a cloud of golden dust, and the entire student body burst into laughter, with the exception of the two bickering Gryffindors.

"As if it was anything but instinct, Potter. And what a lousy instinct it was, trying to look out for your arse. In the future, I'll be sure to try and leave you for the lions."

From across the room, they heard Lily's shrill voice rise above the din. "JAMES, FRED, I WILL MURDER YOU." Before Andy abandoned her seat to find another, far away from James, she made sure to catch Lily's eye, then pointed toward the redhead's brother next to her. After all, who was she to try and protect him?

"Andy!" A voice called out to Andrea as she disembarked from the Hogwarts Express, dragging her trunk and wicker cat basket behind her. "Andy, wait up a bit!" Her insides felt as if they had been filled with snakes, pushing and writhing and threatening to make her sick. That was nothing new, of course – it always felt this way when she had to go home. She didn't feel like speaking to (read: bickering with) James Potter, however, and so she continued walking along Platform 9 ¾, skirting along the edges of the crowd comprised of students and their parents. "Sterling!"

She felt a hand on her shoulder and suppressed the urge to put her unwanted companion in a wristlock. "What, Potter?" she snapped instead, spinning around to face him.

James' face was flushed with exertion; clearly, he had run through the crowd to find her before she left Kings Cross. But why? "Didn't you hear me calling for you?" he panted.

"Yes."

"Well, why didn't you stop, then?"

She crossed her arms and sighed. "Potter, I'm not sure what in Godric's name you think I would want to talk to you about, but can't it wait for one of those stupid letters you always send me?"

His expression became puzzled at her reply. "I didn't know you hated me quite that much…Sterling."

"Well, you haven't given me much reason to enjoy your company…James."

He smirked at her use of his first name, so she continued quickly, "Look, I don't hate you. I'd like to, sometimes; you get on my nerves like no one else can. I'm just tired of this back and forth, and I have more pressing matters to deal with right now than you and your antics."

"Fine, well, if you really don't like my 'stupid' letters, I guess I'll just have to give your Christmas present to someone else."

Now it was her turn to look puzzled. "You got me a present? Why?"

He grinned and took a small parcel from the pocket of his robes, wrapped in brown paper and twine. "I'm sorry it's not more festive, I just finished it and I wanted to give it to you early, before the holidays."

Andy hesitantly unwrapped the gift. "It's not going to bite me, is it? Or turn me pink?"

"Is that all you think I'm good for, then? Pranks?"

"What else have you done, really, besides play jokes on me? Or steal my letters, or pull my hair-"

He raised a hand to stop her. "Alright, alright, point taken. I can, on occasion, be infuriating. Just open it."

Andrea tore off the rest of the wrappings and found she was holding a small book bound in dark red leather with golden fastenings. She thumbed through the first few pages, and became confused when she found they were blank. "A journal? I don't understand."

"It's got a Disillusionment Charm. Muggles can't read anything you write in it – they'll think it's just a book on Mediwizardry. That should keep it safe from your parents, if they ever decide to go through your things. Write in the first half for personal notes, and the second half to communicate with me," here he removed another small book from the folds of his robes, identical to hers in everything but color – his was a deep brown. "Should save my poor owl some trouble over the holidays. Anything you write after the middle bindings will appear in mine, and vice versa. When you're running low on space, it'll add more pages for you. Oh, and there are some star charts in the back. I heard you like Astronomy, so… yeah."

Andrea was touched, as well as confused – by both Potter's own possible motivations and the deep pleasure his gesture gave her. "James, you made this? For me?"

He rolled his eyes and reclaimed his usual dry, sarcastic tone. "Oh, blimey, here we go. Don't get a big head, alright? You're my cousin's friend, and I may slightly care for your overall wellbeing. This isn't a marriage proposal, so don't go all 'dewy-eyed schoolgirl' on me."

She quirked an eyebrow. "And if you call me a 'dewy-eyed schoolgirl' again, I'll give you a black eye and a broken nose to match."

James smiled. "I wouldn't have it any other way." With that, the black-haired boy turned and left.