They had won. It hadn't been a huge surprise, because even though she'd jerked around uncontrollably on Sirius' broomstick that first practice, the friendly and supportive Gryffindor team had guided her through, and while she still wasn't amazing on the broom, given the opportunity, she could certainly score some goals; and so she had.
And now here they were in the Gryffindor common room, throwing a party that the Prewett twins (who had left school the previous year) would have been proud of – indeed, as it went on the memory of the party seemed to become hazy and blurred, a reflection of the fact that one of the seventh years had spiked the butter beers with some of Ogden's finest. Despite the growing fuzzy quality, however, the euphoria was certainly evident.
With the shining silver cup clasped in his hands, James Potter was loudly reliving the match with anyone who would listen – Remus was good-naturedly nodding along, although he had rolled his eyes more than once so far, while Peter was hanging onto his every word, practically panting.
Alice, meanwhile, had earlier introduced Astra to Frank Longbottom, a strapping bloke from two years above them. When Astra pointed out in confusion that she already knew Frank, Alice – most uncharacteristically – had started to giggle, and now, after the truth had blushingly been revealed, Alice had disappeared into a dark corner with her new boyfriend.
So now Astra was stood alone, biting her lip; her time on the team had given her a newfound confidence for a time, yes, but now she was back on the ground and back to being the shy girl who felt far more comfortable trying to do some work than attempting conversation with tipsy partygoers whom she barely knew. It would have been all right if Alice was with her, but Alice was busy with her new boyfriend, while her other good friends Louisa and Adam appeared to be busy drinking firewhiskey and suddenly Astra felt like a little child lost amongst the grown-ups.
"You all right there, Tallis?"
She was so lost in her thoughts that anyone speaking to her would have made her jump – that it was Sirius Black who had interrupted her reverie was really just bad luck.
He grinned at her clearly-startled features, "Sorry, didn't mean to surprise you."
She nodded, eyes wide, and hated that she couldn't think of anything coherent to say.
He gave her a glance up and down, as though taking her in, before looking her right in the eyes and leaning in slightly, "So, you're the one who was riding my stick, eh? How did you find it? You looked very comfortable on it."
His tone and expression made it clear his words were laced with innuendo, and her eyes were even wider than before as she gulped and then nervously attempted a casual laugh, as though she was totally at ease with the situation.
Black looked very amused by her reaction, a lopsided smirk appearing on his face.
She was about to mumble something sheepishly when she heard someone yell her name.
"Astra! Come on, team photo with the cup!"
It was Milne, who gave Sirius a pointed glare as she dragged Astra away by the arm. Even though they had won, it didn't stop Milne being annoyed with his attitude towards being on the team.
Sirius for his part looked agitated, but this was perhaps more because it served as a reminder that he had not been a part of the winning team. Maybe he was actually annoyed with Astra.
Astra had been annoyed at being pulled away from the boy of her dreams for roughly two seconds before she decided that she had been saved much embarrassment as she had no idea what she could possibly have said in reply to Black's question; a trembling "it was quite all right, thank you" perhaps wouldn't have been the best answer in the situation.
Photographs were taken, toasts were had, and within half an hour Astra Tallis – for the first time in her life – was a little bit tipsy; whether because she was genuinely euphoric at the outcome of the match, or because she wanted desperately not to be left behind by her growing-up friends it was hard to tell. What was clear was that her earlier notion of being lost without Alice, Louisa and Adam was foolish because coming in at the last minute and helping them win the match had suddenly made her one of the most popular members of Gryffindor.
People she'd never even spoken to before smiled at her warmly; patted her on the back and gave her their congratulations. She was having some hilarious banter with the nice but easily aggravated beater Jane Crompton (although, watching herself, the older Astra couldn't help but feel that the entire conversation was more cringe-worthy than hilarious), and offered to go and grab some more butterbeers for herself, Crompton and the new addition to their conversation of keeper, Laurence Dylan.
Unfortunately she was still giggling to herself, which meant that on her way to the table piled with bottles she quite literally bumped into Sirius Black, the impact almost toppling her to the ground only to be caught by his wonderfully strong arms.
At this point she normally would have blushed, thanked him, made an excuse and ran. But Astra Tallis was drunk, and her inhibitions had, sadly, long gone.
"Your eyes", she informed him dreamily as he still held her arms, looking down at her with that laughing grin, "Are like the weather."
He raised his eyebrows, clearly bemused although he did not let go his strong grip on her arms that was making her feel all tingly and warm. "Oh yeah? I'm not sure if that's a compliment, Tallis?"
"It's definitely a compliment", she said with a broad smile in a vague sort of voice, "I think they're lovely."
"Well, that's reassuring then", and his aforementioned eyes were dancing with amusement and full of warm laughter like dappled sunlight across the ocean.
They remained like that for a few seconds, although it had seemed like hours at the time; just standing there, eyes locked together as he held her and she could feel how warm he was and revel in his scent.
"So tell me, did it hurt?" He asked, pulling her in almost imperceptibly so her heart was leaping at an impossibly fast rate and goose bumps spread along her arms.
She decided then that she was going to kiss him tonight, because he had broken up with Nicole a week ago, but more importantly because it was Sirius Black and he had actually noticed her; surely she wasn't going to let the nervous little girl whom she had been hiding behind get in the way when the stuff of her dreams was happening? No, somewhere underneath the shyness she was a Gryffindor, damnit, and she was going to be brave. Plus, of course, she was drunk.
But despite all of this, she frowned, confused, "What, when I tripped over just now?"
He looked put out for a second before a roguish grin filled his face as he leaned in and whispered in her ear, "No; I meant, did it hurt when you fell from heaven?"
And perhaps if she had been sober she would have blushed accordingly, or – if she was feeling particularly confident - even giggled coyly. As it was, while the implication was all very flattering, and the way his breath tickled her ear made her heart flutter and her stomach swoop, it didn't stop her genuine reaction from erupting from her and thus she burst into laughter.
"Is—is that supposed to be a chat-up line?" She gasped, laughing like a madwoman.
Sirius nodded, frowning slightly as his looked at her with an odd expression.
"That's terrible" she informed him, still shaking with mirth as she bit down on her lip with a grin curved into her cheeks, mischief twinkling in her eyes.
He had that same strange expression on his face before a slow smile filled his face, as though he were surprised by something. "Yeah, it is", he agreed.
And then he leaned in, as he pulled her closer and their eyes darted furtively to the others' lips and -
A hand squeezed the elder Astra's shoulder and she jumped, having been so engrossed in watching her younger self, and for one wild second she thought it must be Sirius telling her to stop being so nostalgic and that her time would be far better spent snogging him in the present.
But it was a different voice - a tired but familiar one - that said, "I think that's probably enough for now, don't you?"
Astra looked up into the sad eyes of Remus Lupin and nodded slowly, grateful as he pulled them out of the memory.
She had been watching it all so intently that it was only when Remus pointedly looked away now, back in the grey room that in itself had seemed like a distant memory, that she realised that warm tears were streaming from her eyes. So much for denial.