Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

21st Brightest Star

We've been trying to study together off and on all summer. But we never get a lot done. Sometimes because Ginny wanted to be included. Other times because we became distracted. But today, our lack of academic focus was due to something completely different. Sitting diagonally from each other, in the Pucey's dining room, Adrian stared at me, eye twitching as he silently commiserated. I stare right back at him, biting my lip and trying to keep everything in. Adrian's dad stood behind him. He was muttering to himself as he held an open leather journal and a self-inking quill in one hand while taking measurements of Adrian's head. He was using one of those head circumference tools with the long curved pointy legs. I don't know what they're called. Mr. Pucey adjusted the angle a few times, tightening and loosening it. All the while not telling Adrian what he was doing or why. The beautiful thing is that Mr. Pucey had just walked in and started without any form for greetings or recognition. And while Adrian looked annoyed in his usual expression, he didn't seem surprised so I assumed that his dad collecting random bits of data from him was the norm.

Mr. Pucey finished with an "ah-ha!" He set the head measurement thingy on the dark oak of his dining room table that sat eight comfortably. With his now free hand, Mr. Pucey takes his quill and starts to jot down whatever he just discovered. Adrian bowed his head as if praying for it all to be over.

"Mr. Pucey", I started, causing Adrian to snap his head up and shake it fervently at me. I grinned at him in response. "What are you doing?"

Mr. Pucey looks up from his journal and beams at me. While his son adopts a glare as sharp as knives. But it was one of his expressions that I was becoming immune to. Likewise, Adrian had learned that if I grin, I was up to something. It's a Weasley trait. "An excellent inquiry, young lady, '' Mr. Pucey exclaimed. "I am learning new things, asking questions, and exploring where they take me". Mr. Pucey finished whatever he was writing with a tap of his quill tip to page. "It also never hurts to get a head start on Christmas". I was only able to think of one word; what? Mr. Pucey nodded once, proud as he used the hand that holds the quill to stroke the top of Adrian's short hair. I had to bite my lip again, while Adrian was refusing to react. Mr. Pucey began to hum to himself as he plucked a singular hair from the top of his son's head. He held it up to his eye level and became so enraptured with it that he appeared to be crossed-eyed as he walked out of the dining room. He left his head measuring tool behind.

Adrian rubbed the top of his head once Mr. Pucey left, staring after his father's disappearing back. With a sigh, he picked up his father's tool and slid it to the center of the table. The Puceys had an interesting centerpiece. It wasn't a flower arrangement or candlesticks or something more ornament. Instead, there was a miscellaneous pile of tools, knuts, bolts, and half-constructed objects. Apparently, it was common for Mr. Pucey to leave his projects around the house as he frequently got distracted when something new grabbed his attention. It happened enough that Mr. Pucey's unfinished inventions could be found all over the house. "So", I started to ask as Adrian got posed to return to his transfiguration work. "What does your dad get you for Christmas?"

Adrian looks at me for a long while. In a way that makes me think he's contemplating telling me. But he settles for, "Let's actually get something done today. My mother has been questioning the validity of our study sessions".

I blushed and looked down at my charms book. Flashing back to that private conversation I had with my mum. Yeah, my mum was asking herself the same thing. We may have worked for a minute before I felt a shoe nudge mine under the table. I didn't look up but smiled into my book. Our summer assignments were never going to be completed at this rate.

Just like at my house, we don't get a lot of privacy. Mrs. Pucey pops her head in a moment later. She enters the room with an amused, demure smile on her face. The way her full-length skirt flowed, made it look like she was gliding instead of walking. "It's so nice to see the two of you diligently studying. When I was your age and on study dates, I was too busy flirting to actually take in any information". She spoke with confidence and a lithe of that suggested humor.

Adrian and I responded instantaneously. His foot moved away from mine and we both straightened in our seats, refusing to look at each other. But stealing a glance at Adrian's mum showed her wearing an all-knowing smile as she slid into the chair across from me and next to Adrian's left-hand side. How is it that mothers know everything? Mrs. Pucey allows us to bask in our embarrassment. Pleased with what she had accomplished here.

It was getting easier and easier to relax around Adrian. In the beginning, he was just the boy I enjoyed casually flirting with to annoy my brothers. Then after his grand reveal of being the reincarnation of Regulus Black, flirting became hard and I got goosebumps whenever he was near. But we worked through it. Thank Merlin we did, because I find myself confiding in him more and more often. Especially now with Fred and George being at odds. Though he still gives me goosebumps, although for an entirely different reason.

It was a warm summer night. Warm enough that we didn't need any extra coverings as we lay on our backs in the grass in the Pucey's back garden. The Puceys, like a lot of wizarding families, did not live close to any neighbors. In fact, their countryside manor-looking house was the only structure I could see. It was a rare occasion, in the sense that there was currently not a single cloud in the sky. The only lights were coming from the rarely seen stars and the lights from the Pucey's kitchen windows. No doubt, the very same windows his parents were using to spy on us. But we were ignoring them. Adrian had his hand under mine so that I could mirror his position with our index fingers pointed out, and our arms stretched towards the sky. "From here to there," Adrian said as he moved our hands, "is the constellation of Leo ''.

"And it's supposed to look like a lion?" I asked as I tilted my head until it was resting on his shoulder. I felt Adrian tense at the extra contact, but just as quickly he loosened back into the cradle of the grass.

He hummed an affirmative answer. "It's one of the easier constellations to spot". Adrian explained as he moved our hands to a different string of stares. "See, over there is the big dipper". He guides our hands in tracing the giant spoon in the sky. "It points at Leo. That is how a lot of people find it". Adrian said softly as we returned to the lion. "At the lion's head is the brightest star in the constellation". He narrowed us down to a signal star. "That", he spoke slowly. "Is Regulus". He lowered our arms back down to our sides.

I could feel his eyes on me as I continued to gaze up at his star, so I slid my hand from the top of his until it was in a position that we could hold hands, palm to palm. "The brightest star in Leo" I parroted as I turned away from the night sky to gaze at the boy lying next to me.

Our eyes fixated on each other. "The twenty-first brightest star in the sky". I was informed as he squeezed my hand. "I always wondered why Regulus' parents didn't name Sirius Regulus", Adrian decided to share. "Leo represents a lion and Sirius sorted into Gryffindor". I rolled Adrian's words around in my head. It occurred to me, that he probably didn't know that his past brother had an animagus form of a dog, and therefore, being named after the dog star was comically appropriate. "Of course," Adrian continued. "They weren't planning on him being in Gryffindor ''.

I wiggled until I was closer to Adrian with my forehead next to his chin and lying on his shoulder. "It's hard to picture you as anyone other than Adrian. I know I call you Reggie when I'm annoyed, but I think you are exactly who you are meant to be".

Adrian shifted so that his head was resting on mine. "It is hard to imagine what would've happened if we had met in our first lives. We probably wouldn't have looked at each other.", Adrian said. It was a strange thought that had strange feelings attached to it. For one thing, if we had met in our first lives, Regulus would have been significantly older than Jessie. We probably would have disliked each other just on principle. Not to mention that with Jessie being a muggle and American and Regulus being a wizard and British, we would have never crossed paths. But that got me thinking about past lives in general.

"There's something that I want to ask you," I said because there is really no one else I know who I could ask. "You said once that you were alive as Adrian before your life as Regulus ended. What was that like? Did you feel anything off when you were alive in two different places?" It was something that had been in the back of my mind ever since I had used that computer."Not really," Adrian answered. "I don't remember the first three years of this life. It was too weird being a small child again and answering to a different name to take stock of any other feelings or sensations. Though, I think I felt it when Regulus died. It was like I couldn't breathe. Mother thought I was having an asthma attack despite never having one before. That's when I told them about everything… that I remembered". It wasn't a lot of information, but it made my stomach churn. Would I have to feel what it's like to be stabbed in the stomach all over again? "Why do you ask?" Adrian questioned, pulling me from my thoughts.

I answer with another question. "If you were old enough when Regulus died, would you have tried to save him? Even if it meant that Adrian would cease to exist?"

There was a pause in our conversation. Either Adrian didn't understand the question or he didn't have an answer. It was a very weird question after all. Adrian repeated himself. "why?"

I sighed and nestled my head further on his shoulder. "I think that the same thing is going to happen to me. That I am going to exist in two different places at the same time." We lay in silence for a moment. I know Adrian wants me to explain further, but it takes me a moment to collect my thoughts. "At first, I thought that I had been reborn into a completely different world. There was no magic in my first life", I admitted. It was my way of ignoring the whole Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling topic. But Adrian interpreted it differently.

He snorted. "Of course, you weren't aware of magic. You were a muggle. It would have been completely undetectable to you".

I choose to keep talking. "But the other day, Dad talked me into showing him how a computer works. I got curious and typed in the school my past life used to…. Will attend and recognized one of the professors. I was… Jessie was born in 1993, which is next year, so…." I trailed off, not really knowing how to express what I was thinking about or feeling.

Luckily, Adrian knew. "Your soul will be in two separate bodies at the same time".

"Yeah" I agreed. And that led to the second part of my question. Do I save Jessie? Was it my responsibility to do so? Technically, the second wizarding war would be over before Jessie is murdered. I could save both Fred and her. It's just I wasn't sure if I wanted Jessie to live. I was very content with being Holly. Especially when in the present company. But, did I have a moral obligation to prevent my own death? If I did, then what would happen to Holly? "I don't know what to do". I admitted.

Adrian took his time. Squeezing my hand as he thought. "I wouldn't give up being Adrian for anything" He finally said. "I couldn't have saved Regulus, but I don't think I would have either. I knew I was going to die and I was prepared for it. Coming back as Adrian was a miracle". Adrian's voice deepened considerably. "Meeting you was a gift from Merlin".

My whole body tingled at his words. "Do you think that I'll die once Jessie is born?" I didn't see how that would be possible but it was a fear that had been growing in my mind.

"We know from my experience that it is possible for a soul to exist in two different places at once", Adrian said. "So, I think you're safe. But if something does happen, don't worry. I am not letting you go. I promise". He spoke so assuredly that my heart skipped a beat. The emotions I was feeling right now were stronger than anything I had ever felt as Jessie.

That night, stepping out of the fireplace at the burrow, I immediately made eye contact with Mum. She was sitting at the kitchen table, nursing a cup of tea with her knitting bag sitting by her feet. My heart was racing slightly, so I took a deep breath and pushed some hair out of my face all the while feeling like I was coming out of a dream. Mum eyed me suspiciously. "Did you have a nice time?" She asked.

I nodded, moving until I could lean against the wall. "Yes", I answered, not quite sure how to give more detail. I kind of felt like I wanted to keep today's study session between Adrian and me. Of course, Mr. and Mrs. Pucey knew what we had been doing so it wasn't that private.

But a one-word answer isn't good enough for Mum. It rarely is. "You were there for a long time. You two were studying, weren't you?" The way she said studying, made it sound like we were doing everything but studying. Mum knows me very well.

"Yes", I said again as I stared up at the ceiling. "We studied. I stayed for dinner and then we studied some more".

Mum hummed in disbelief. "What did you work on?" She asked.

I sighed. "Astronomy" I answered, sounding far more dramatic than I would have liked. Especially because it compelled me to say more than I normally would. But this is my mum. If I can't bare my heart to her, we wouldn't have a very good mother-daughter relationship. "Hey, Mum?"

"Hmm?" Mum hummed at me as she took a sip of her tea.

"I think that I might have feelings for Adrian. Feelings that go deeper than a simple crush". I knew what I meant, but I was unclear if Mum knew. I had felt this way once before. Not in this life, but as Jessie. Those feelings were strong too. Stronger than what I was currently feeling for Adrian. Although, anything I had with Adrian at this point was still new.

Mum gave me a dumbfounded look as she placed down her teacup and turned in her chair to face me squarely. "Holly", she said slowly to make sure she had my attention. When I looked away from the ceiling back at her, Mum said, "you're just now figuring that out?"

"What?" I asked. I guess she doesn't know exactly where I am coming from.

Mum shook her head, bemused. "I could have told you myself you had feelings for that boy ever since he was here for your fourteenth birthday".

"We weren't that obvious".

Mum snorted in a very Ron-like fashion. I think I have stated it before. The Weasley sense of humor comes from Mum's side of the family. "You two were sitting so close your noses were almost touching". Having no way to rebuttal or refute Mum's claim, my face flushes and I turn to leave the room. But Mum calls me back. "So, when is the next study session?" She asked. I ignored her sagacious tone.

With a shrug, I answered. "We didn't make any plans. But I did invite him to join us when we go to Diagon Alley". I figured I'd need Adrian to act as some sort of buffer in case Fred and George were still fighting.

Mum smiled. "That's looking to be quite the trip. Your father is going to take the day off work to come with us. I believe Percy is trying to coordinate with Penelope. Ron is trying to do the same with Harry and Hermione. You should invite Adrian's parents as well. Dad and I would like to have a chance to get to know them better".

I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. "Are you asking to meet Penelope's parents too?" Because if it's just Adrian's, I'd say this is a double standard.

Mum never stopped smiling. "No, but Penelope has never made any comments about wanting to traditionally court Percy". Touché.