This was my entry for the magical romance contest, hosted by several Magic and Fantasy related ambassador profiles. This story got an honorable mention (second place) for the contest! It was a pretty big contest (with about 6 ambassador run profiles contributing), so I'm incredibly pleased with that. 

Aster Black

Aster sighed with content as she drew a love heart around the name. Her best friend Lily, sitting with Aster in the massive library of Hogwarts Castle, looked up from her Charms homework with a frown.

"What's up with you?"

"Nothing," Aster answered innocently, pulling her Herbology book over the name she'd just written.

Lily's eyes narrowed. "You're lying to me, Aster Hayes. Why would you be lying? I'm your best f..." Suddenly her eyes widened. "Oh my god, you've got another crush."

Aster felt her cheeks redden. "No, I don't, shut up."

"Yes, you do!" Lily squealed. "That was your 'I have a crush' sigh!"

"I don't have one of those!" Aster hissed indignantly.

"You do and that was it," Lily laughed. "Go on then, who is it this time?"

Aster blew up her cheeks. "Fine, I'll tell you. But it's not just a crush! It's real this time."

"Right," said Lily, raising an eyebrow. "You said the exact same thing about that Ravenclaw last week. And about that Hufflepuff boy a month ago."

"But this is serious!" As soon as she'd said it, she broke out into a fit of giggles, making Madam Pince, the librarian, shush her from the other side of the library. "It's Sirius," Aster whispered to her friend. "Sirius Black."

Lily's jaw dropped. "You've got to be kidding me."

Aster widened her eyes, like a child on Christmas eve. "Why are you surprised? He is... perfection! His eyes, his hair, his lips..." Aster sighed her swooning sigh again, making Lily pretend to gag.

"Aster, he's not your type at all! He's a Gryffindor of the worst kind – a trickster, always making jokes at other people's expense. And you're a Hufflepuff! You value kindness. How can you fall for Black?"

Aster crossed her arms in front of her. "Oh! So my best friend can be a Gryffindor, but my boyfriend can't? You're making this up, Lily Evans."

Lily rolled her eyes. "I'm just saying, he's n—"

Lily stopped talking mid-sentence, when a raven-haired boy plopped down onto the seat opposite her.

"Oh. Hello, Severus," said Lily.

"What are you doing here? Can't you see we're in the middle of something?" Aster didn't even care that she sounded rude. Severus Snape always interrupted the girls when they were talking. Somehow, he always managed to join them right at the wrong moment.

Aster knew why he always came to sit with them. Severus had had a crush on Lily since the moment they got to Hogwarts, five years ago. Lily knew this, but she wasn't interested in being more than friends with him.

And Aster couldn't blame her for that. Severus was the complete and total opposite of Sirius; there wasn't a single part of him that was even remotely handsome. He was too skinny, his eyebrows too thick, and his teeth were all crooked. There were spells for that! Why hadn't he fixed it yet?

Severus raised a bushy eyebrow at Aster. "You're always in the middle of something. Let me guess, you've got a new crush?"

Aster's jaw dropped and she scoffed, but before she could say something back, he added, "Besides, I'm not here for you." And with that, he turned to face Lily.

Aster slammed her hand on her book. "Fine! I don't want to be anywhere near your greasy head, anyway."

Ignoring the sharp look from Madam Pince, Aster grabbed her book and parchment and left the library.

Aster Black

Aster Black

Aster Black

The name was everywhere on Aster's parchment, around her half-assed notes on History of Magic. Professor Binns, droning on at the front of the classroom, was just so boring. Drawing love hearts around Sirius' name was much more fun.

A sudden poke in her side made Aster flinch. "What?" she whispered to Lily, who was sat next to her.

Lily pointed at her friend's parchment and said, "Are you still on that?"

"I told you: it's for real this time!" Aster sighed, staring at the back of Sirius' head. She'd purposely sat down at the back of class today.

"Come on, Aster, this is getting ridiculous," said Lily. "He's already told you he's not interested. You've got to stop this."

"I can't help it, Lil! I can't even think properly. He's in my head all the time."

As Lily groaned in frustration, Aster dropped her chin on her hand, staring longingly towards the front of the classroom.

"Honestly, you're becoming just like Severus."

Aster's eyes snapped towards her best friend. "Now that's just rude, Lily Evans."

"Then stop acting like a lost puppy. It's getting boring."

"You just don't understand! Lily, I love him. Like – actually love him." Aster grabbed her friend's hand and stared into her eyes. "I've got to have him, Lil. I'll die if I don't have him soon."

Lily rolled her eyes, muttering, "Drama queen."

Aster huffed and turned away from her friend. She wouldn't understand. She would never understand how Aster felt. Her love for Sirius was only getting stronger. It would never go away, never!

Her hand clamped around her quill, Aster knew she had to do something. She had to find a way to make Sirius fall for her. She had to have him.

What happened?

Aster sighed sadly as she sat at the Hufflepuff table, staring at her breakfast.

I know he's got them by now... Why doesn't he love me yet? How could he just walk past me without even so much as a smile in my direction?

"Hey, Aster."

Aster winced when her best friend sat down next to her. "Oh. Hey, Lily."

"Why the long face?" Lily asked, grabbing some toast from the pile in the middle of the table.

"He still hasn't noticed me," said Aster with a small voice, staring at the Gryffindor table where Sirius just burst into laughter along with his three best friends. An invisible hand squeezed her heart together. Her throat hurt when she added, "Even a love potion isn't strong enough to make him notice me."

Lily's plate clanged when she dropped her toast. "A love potion? You didn't!"

Aster nodded sadly.

"They're illegal, Aster!"

"Don't you see? It doesn't matter! It didn't work." Tears burned behind her eyes. "How come it didn't work, Lil? Am I that... invisible?"

The blame in Lily's eyes fizzled away. "Of course you're not, Aster. You're one of the most popular girls in our year."

When Aster just shook her head, Lily took her hand and added, "Listen, if that love potion was the real thing, then he just hasn't had it yet."

"But I sent him those chocolates two days ago!"

"You put them in chocolates? Well then maybe him or one of his friends saw through it. The one with the glasses, James Potter, he's quite a clever one. Maybe he just warned Sirius not to eat them, just in case."

Aster and Lily turned to look at the four boys on the Gryffindor table.

"You think so? If they saw through it, I spent all that money for nothing. That was nearly all my savings from this year!"

The boys were still laughing, although it was more like a secretive kind of laugh now. Like they were plotting something. It wasn't anything new. They were always plotting something.

"Where did you even get it?" Lily asked.

James Potter leaned towards Sirius, pointing to the other side of the hall. For a short moment, Aster thought they were pointing to her, but she quickly realised they were looking at something behind her.

"A girl in her Sixth year. That Ravenclaw who's really good at Potions."

"Are they actually laughing at Severus? Again?" Lily scoffed, shooting the Gryffindor boys a deadly glare. "Why won't they just leave him alone?"

Aster waved her hand dismissively. "Who cares? I've got my own problems."

When Sirius buried his face in his arms, laughing, Aster curiously glanced behind her. The Snape boy was sitting at the Slytherin table, eating his breakfast just like everyone else.

Except his breakfast didn't consist of toast, or eggs, or bacon. Snape was eating chocolate.

Aster's eyes widened as her heart began to pound. Oh no!

She leaped up from her seat, Lily staring at her in surprise, and walked off without saying a word.

I have to get away from here. I have to get out!

Aster near-ran towards the big double doors of the Great Hall. She nearly tripped when her head wanted to go quicker than her legs could carry her.

"Aster?" she heard Lily shout after her.

"Aster!" another voice shouted. This one made her cringe. Immediately after hearing the voice, a howling laughter broke out from the Gryffindor table. Her pace turned into an all-out sprint, as she dashed through the doors into the entrance hall. Her face burning, she took a left, aiming for the Hufflepuff Common room. But then she heard the voice again.

"Aster!" It made a shiver run down her spine. He'd never called her by her first name before, never. It was always "Hayes", or even "Lily's friend". This was bad.

Her heart beat against her chest. Out of ideas, Aster dove into a smaller hallway to her right and dashed into an unused classroom. Once the door was shut behind her, she let out a sigh of relief. At least she had some time to be alone. To figure out what to –

SLAM!

Aster jumped back in fright as the door of the classroom was swung open. There stood the boy who had only ever scowled or glared at her. Now he smiled, his eyes wide with longing. The very same look she'd been giving Sirius all week.

"There you are!"

"Piss off, Severus!" Aster shouted in a panic, pulling her wand in case she had to keep him at a distance.

Severus just laughed. Aster had never seen him laugh like this before. He looked truly happy. It was terrifying. "Don't be silly, darling! I just wanted to see you. You know I love you. Don't you?"

"No, you don't!" said Aster, her voice higher than she meant it to be. "You're in love with Lily! Don't you remember? You've been in love with Lily for years!"

For a second, Severus' smile was replaced by an uncertain frown. Then he said, "No, no, that was just a crush. This is real, Aster! You taught me what true love feels like."

Aster groaned as she recognized the words she'd been saying all week. This is real, Lily! She wanted to cry. How could this have happened?

With a big smile on his face, all the more showing his crooked teeth, Severus stepped towards her. Gulping, Aster took an equal step back, but he kept coming.

"I am warning you!" she screamed, pointing her wand to his chest. "Stay back, or I'll curse you out the door!"

Severus just laughed. "You wouldn't do that. You're far too sweet and lovely for that."

BANG

Aster jumped when the door crashed open once again, this time revealing a much more welcome sight. She burst into tears, watching her best friend push past the lovestruck boy. Severus stumbled on his feet, while Lily wrapped her arms around her friend.

"Oh, Aster..."

"What have I done?" Aster squeaked in between sobs. Tears flew freely onto Lily's robes, but neither of the girls cared. "Oh Merlin, what have I done?"

"Oh, no, darling, don't cry!" said Severus. "It's alright, I'm here." His arms outstretched, he walked up to the girls, only to be pushed back forcefully by both of them.

"Get away from us!" the girls shouted at the same time.

Severus finally took a step back, confusion colouring his face.

Aster groaned quietly, holding her belly to try and stop the sobs. "What am I going to do, Lil?"

Unfortunately, the only thing Lily could think of, was to just wait it out. The potion would run out eventually, after all. In the meantime, Aster would just have to deal with the consequences of her actions.

Over the next few days, Severus wouldn't stay away from Aster unless it was absolutely necessary. He would come and sit with her for breakfast, lunch and dinner, he would walk her to her classes – not caring if that meant he was late for his own classes – and every evening, without fail, he would try to sneak into the Hufflepuff Common room with her. He couldn't, of course, since he was a Slytherin. Students weren't allowed in other common rooms besides their own, so the castle would work against him and kick him out into the corridor.

Every now and then, Aster felt bad for Severus. He made a complete fool out of himself, and he didn't even realise it. He'd be so embarrassed once the potion wore off. But then he'd try to touch her hair or brush her cheek and she'd once again be too disgusted to feel bad for him. Besides, right now she was the one who was embarrassed. She'd worry about him later. Or never.

To get away from Severus, Aster spent most of her free time in the Hufflepuff Common room. Lily being a Gryffindor, she couldn't get there either. The girls had barely talked in days, and Aster missed her best friend. She really needed Lily, especially now.

"You look beautiful today," said Severus as soon as she came out of the Hufflepuff Common room that morning. "Your hair glows like the moonlight."

Aster scowled, but otherwise ignored him. It was the same thing every morning. Some kind of silly compliment that made her skin crawl. Every day she wanted to punch him for it, but then reminded herself that this was her own fault. With a sigh, she turned her back to him and walked up to the Great Hall for breakfast. She heard his footsteps scurrying after her.

"Can I – Can I do something for you? Carry your bags? I'll carry your bags for you!"

"Sure. Why not?" Without even sparing him a glance, she handed him her bag. Might as well get the most out of this shitty situation.

As soon as she got to the Great Hall, she spotted Lily at the Gryffindor table. For once, Sirius and his gang weren't there yet. With a bit more spring in her step, she went over and sat down next to her friend, ignoring the looks people threw her.

"Morning."

"Wow, you look awful," said Lily. "Have you slept at all?"

"No. I was too busy drowning in shame. Severus said I look nice, though."

Lily failed to stifle a giggle, as Severus sat down next to Aster.

"What would you like for breakfast?" he asked her happily.

"I'd like for you to leave me alone," said Aster, grabbing some toast from the pile in the middle of the table.

Severus just laughed and put his hand on hers, which she immediately slapped away. "You and your jokes."

"You know, you shouldn't be so horrible to him," said Lily, eyeing Severus.

"He's making my life hell!" Aster protested. I've even had to avoid the boy of my dreams, because of him...

"It's not his fault."

Aster sighed and stared at her half-eaten toast. "I know. I know that, it's just... He hates me, and now this, it's just... It's so weird."

She couldn't help but look at the poor boy, who didn't have a clue what was going on thanks to that stupid potion. As soon as he noticed her staring, he smiled, unknowingly showing her the cereal he'd been chewing. She shuddered.

It was a long day. Aster had two of her four lessons with the Slytherins on Friday, meaning she had no way of escaping him. At the end of the day she was exhausted. She didn't even want to get dinner; she just wanted to get to her dorm and go to bed. It was weekend. Maybe she could avoid Severus all weekend and by Monday, it might be over.

Wishful thinking.

As she made her way from Charms class down to the Hufflepuff Common room, she stumbled and nearly fell when an arm suddenly pulled her into an empty classroom along the corridor. Severus shut the door behind her and beamed at her, shaking his too-long hair out of his face.

"What the hell, Severus?" she snapped.

He stepped forwards, his arms out invitingly, but it only made Aster pull out her wand. She knew how to defend herself, if she had to.

"Look, I know you've been really stressed this week, so I wanted to help you feel better," he explained.

Aster narrowed her eyes suspiciously. He pulled her into an empty room, with the intention of making her feel better? Good thing she pulled her wand at him. "What are you talking about?"

His answer was something she didn't expect. "Look around."

Her eyebrows shot up when she spotted the bright pink butterfly fluttering above his head. She followed it with her gaze when it flew over to its friends.

Her jaw dropped. There was a whole bunch of beautifully coloured butterflies flying merrily through the room. Down on the floor lay a blanket, spread out, with a picnic basket on it. Above it hung three candles, hovering in the air, and next to the basket lay a book. She recognized it immediately.

"What is this, Severus?" Aster didn't even notice how her voice softened.

"I thought you could use a relaxing evening," he said, laying a hand on her shoulder. She was too busy admiring the scene to shrug it off. "So I got us something to eat from the kitchens, and brought your favourite book down for you. Confessions of a Herbaholic, right? You won't even have to talk to me if you don't want to. You can just read. Oh, and the butterflies..." He hesitated. "Lily taught me it, but it's the most beautiful spell I know. I thought you'd like it."

"I... I do," said Aster honestly, surprising herself. She turned to face him. "Severus, this is amazing. No one has ever done anything like this for me before."

He smiled down at her, lifting his hand up to brush a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "You deserve it. For being amazing."

A sudden wave of guilt washed over her, making her push his hand away. I'm not, though, she couldn't help but think. You would never have done this if it wasn't for that potion. She wondered if he'd ever done something like this for Lily. If he had, she'd never told Aster about it.

"Come, sit," said Severus, leading her to the blanket and unpacking the basket.

He kept true to his word. Aster spent the night reading, and he didn't interrupt her even once. In fact, he got out a book of his own, something on potions, and they spent hours on end in a comfortable silence. Every now and then he'd offer her a biscuit or a mini-pie, and she'd happily take it.

She almost felt sad when ten o'clock came and they had to pack up for curfew.

Almost.

The next day, Aster wasn't as afraid to come out of the Hufflepuff Common room as she thought she'd be. She figured the love potion must be starting to wear off, because Severus wasn't as pushy as he'd been before. Obviously he still wasn't her type, but at least he wasn't so horrible anymore.

Severus wasn't waiting for her outside the Hufflepuff Common room that day. Instead, he found her at breakfast, sitting down next to her with a smile.

"Good morning, Aster. Did you sleep better last night?"

"Surprisingly, I did," she said.

He nodded. "See? All you needed was a relaxing evening."

"Yeah. Maybe you're right." For the first time ever, Aster smiled at Severus Snape.

"Morning!" said Lily as she sat down next to her best friend. "How are you holding up?" she asked Aster pointedly.

Aster shrugged. "Not too bad, actually. It's starting to get better."

"Must be wearing off," said Lily.

Nodding in agreement, Aster said, "That's what I was thinking."

"So, what do you guys want to do today?" said Severus suddenly.

The girls stared at him.

"I'm sorry... The both of us?" said Aster.

Severus raised his eyebrows. "Well, yeah. Lily is your best friend, right? I thought we could all do something together."

Lily glanced at her friend. "That... actually sounds kind of fun. You know, that way I can... help you out."

"Yeah," said Aster, seeing where Lily was going. If Severus got a bit too much, Lily would be there for her. Besides, there was no way to completely avoid him, unless she locked herself in her bedroom. Better make the most out of it. "Yeah, okay. Hey, maybe we can do that Herbology project together. The Fanged Geranium one. You guys have got that assignment too, right?"

"Sure, why not? Got to do it at some point," said Lily, while Severus nodded happily.

The day flew by. Spending time with the three of them was actually quite fun, Aster realised. Lily and Severus had been friends for years, and now that Severus didn't hate her guts, it wasn't so bad being around him. At the very least, they helped her get Sirius out of her head. She'd realised by now that it was never going to happen with Sirius. Not with the complete and utter embarrassment she'd been through this week. She could never look him in the eye again.

On Sunday morning, Aster went up to the library, hoping to find Lily before Severus found her. She wanted to talk to her best friend alone. She needed to know how Lily felt about yesterday. She needed Lily to ease the rapidly growing confusion in her head.

She needed to know whether the three of them could be friends, after the love potion wore off.

But instead of Lily, she found Severus sitting at their regular table in the library.

"Hey, Aster!"

She sighed, resigning to the idea that she wouldn't be able to get away now that he'd spotted her.

"Hey. Have you seen Lily?"

He shook his head. "No, sorry. Maybe she's not up yet?"

"Maybe," said Aster, sitting down at the table. "What are you doing?"

"History of Magic homework." He pulled a face that showed so perfectly how she herself felt about professor Binns, that she couldn't help but giggle.

"He's boring as hell, isn't he?"

Severus smiled back at her. "How can anyone focus enough to take notes in that class?"

"Honestly, I don't think anyone can."

She stared at his book, as he got back to work. This is probably the best moment to say it, she thought. He's not going to want to listen to me after it wears off.

"Hey, Severus?"

He looked up, still smiling brightly upon seeing her face. "Yeah?"

Aster hesitated, taking a deep breath. Was she actually nervous about this? Stop being ridiculous! You don't even like him!

"I just... I just wanted to say, I'm sorry."

Confusion spread across his face. "What for?"

Aster stared at her hands. "You're going to be incredibly angry with me in a couple of days. So I wanted to say it now. I really am sorry. I never meant for this to happen."

Severus stared at her. It was obvious that he didn't have a clue what she was talking about. But that was okay. He'd understand soon enough.

He cleared his throat. "I have no idea what you're on about, but now that we're being all serious... I wanted to tell you something, too."

She met his eyes curiously. "What's that?"

"I wanted to thank you," he said. "It's been a very long time since I was as happy as I was yesterday, and Friday night. You make me feel happy again. So thank you."

Aster's stomach flipped at his words. She blinked rapidly to stop her eyes from stinging and tried her best to swallow the guilt down. "Don't thank me for that," she said softly. "Just... Just remember it."

"I'll always remember it, Aster," said Severus, putting his hand on hers. This time, she didn't shove it away. "Now, stop being all sad. I don't like it when you're sad. Do you want to do Binns' essay together?"

Aster smiled through tears that hadn't fallen yet and nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good."

It happened on that Monday. Aster knew something was wrong when Severus didn't come sit with her for breakfast. He came into the Great Hall late, and stealthily. She wouldn't have noticed him if she hadn't been waiting for him. He kept his head down and sat at the very edge of the Slytherin table. She knew what had happened.

It was over.

She grabbed her bag and walked out of the Great Hall, telling herself over and over that it was fine. This was a good thing. It was what she'd been waiting for all week.

She was finally free of him. No more stupid smiling face every time she turned around. No more annoying laugh every time she said something. No more ridiculous compliments. No more Snape. It was a good thing. Really.

Hufflepuff didn't have any classes with Slytherin on Mondays. Aster didn't see him all day. After a quiet lesson of Transfiguration, in which she refused to say a word to Lily, the two girls walked down to the Great Hall together in silence.

Lily stopped in the middle of the entrance hall, grabbing her friend's arm. "Hey... Are you gonna be okay?"

"Of course I will," said Aster, unconvincingly. She turned to walk away, but was stopped when someone bumped into her. "Hey, watch where you're –

"Severus?"

It took less than half a second for his face to scrunch up in anger. "This is all your fault! You shouldn't be in Hufflepuff, there isn't an ounce of kindness in you!"

He stormed off, with Aster staring after him, her heart shattering.

Over the next few days, Aster resigned to avoiding him. It was easy, because Severus didn't want anything to do with her. She didn't care about the whispers behind her back. She didn't understand the amount of loss she was feeling. Aster spent all her time with Lily, but even her best friend couldn't cheer her up.

By Friday, Lily had gotten tired of her sulking, so Aster sat in an empty classroom on her own. It wasn't until later that she realised it was the same empty classroom Severus had chased her into, just after he ate the love-potion-laced chocolates.

She sat in the windowsill staring out over the Black Lake, when the door suddenly creaked open.

"Hey," said Lily. "How are you feeling?" She left the door ajar and sat down next to her friend.

"Been better," said Aster.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Aster raised her eyebrows. "Seriously? Just this morning you told me to stop sulking already."

Lily scratched her temple awkwardly. "I know. I wasn't being a very good friend. This is my way of apologizing."

For a few moments Aster just frowned at her. Then she stared back out of the window. "You don't need to apologize. I just... I feel terrible."

"I know," said Lily. "I don't get it, though. You never liked him. Why feel bad now?"

Aster shrugged. "You're right. I didn't like him. But this past week has been..." She sighed. "Do you know what he told me, before it wore off? He said he hasn't felt so happy in a long time. That was real, Lil. It was all forged, all of it, but that was real. And I just went and made his life even worse. Everyone's laughing at him."

Lily put her hand on Aster's arm. "It was an accident, though. The potion was meant for Sirius."

"It doesn't matter," said Aster. "He hates me. And he should. I'm an awful person."

An awkward silence followed, until Aster broke it. "I hated him. So why do I miss him so much?"

Lily smiled kindly. "Maybe you didn't hate him as much as you thought."

"But I did! I couldn't stand him! Until he... Until he stopped being horrible to me. I sat with him in a room for hours, in complete silence, and I loved it. How does that happen? How did that suddenly change so much?"

"You know what," said Lily. "I've never understood why you two didn't get along. There's a reason you're both my best friends; you're very similar. Unfortunately, you're also very stubborn, so when you got off on the wrong foot, it just never healed."

A single tear ran down Aster's cheek. "I don't know what's happening to me, Lil. I thought I was in love with Sirius, but even when he told me he wasn't interested it didn't hurt this much. I don't understand why I feel like this."

Lily wrapped her arms around her best friend in a hug. "I do. You like him."

Tears now flowed freely down her cheeks; Aster couldn't stop them any longer. "I think it's more than that, Lily. I think I love him."

A shuffling of feet made Aster look up and she gasped, quickly wiping the tears away.

"Hey," said Severus, standing by the door awkwardly. "I uh... I think we got off on the wrong foot." Lily giggled as he repeated her words. "Should we uh... try again?"

Aster stared at him. "You're okay with that?"

Severus cleared his throat. "Well, I mean... After what you just said... It's hard to stay angry at a Hufflepuff, you know? Besides, you've already apologized." He grinned.

Aster couldn't help but laugh at that. "You're not angry anymore?"

He shook his head. "Maybe we should go out sometime. Just to see if it would've worked."

"Yeah," said Aster, beaming. "I'd like that."