Author's Note: Enjoy! Written for 31 days of Soulmate!AUs Day 20: Soulmate marks that grow along with your relationship.

Disclaimer: The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.

Warnings: Terminal and chronic illness

Stacked with: MC4A; Shipping War; Harmony of Souls Eternal

Individual Challenge(s): Hola, Bonjour, Jambo; Slytherin MC (x2); Blissfully Tragic; Seeds; Shipmas; Old Shoes; Themes and Things A (Truth); Themes and Things B (Risk); Themes and Things C (Dressing Gown/Robe); Trope It Up C (Mutual Pining); Ethnic & Present (Y); Rian-Russo Inversion (Y); In a Flash

Representation(s): Soulmate!AU

Bonus challenge(s): NA

Tertiary bonus challenge: NA

Word Count: 895

Shipping Wars

Ship (Team): Astoria Greengrass/Draco Malfoy (Stellar Legends)

List (Prompt): Summer Big List (First Date)

So Incredibly Close

She lifted the mask covering her mouth and nose and tried to take a deep breath on her own. She choked on the air, and Daphne gently pushed on her wrist to push the mask back down.

"Astoria," she said warningly. Her sister sounded tired, and it broke her heart a little bit—like it always did. "Don't push yourself, love."

Astoria nodded and breathed through the mask again. The air traveled down to her lungs much more smoothly, and she relaxed in the St. Mungo's armchair where the Healers had installed her for her breathing therapy of the day. They hoped to strengthen her lungs after her latest relapse, and even if each one was slightly different Astoria had a sense of how long this process would take.

"Do you want me to read?" Daphne asked, reaching for the bag where she'd stashed an assortment of books.

Astoria shook her head.

"Do you need a blanket?" Daphne asked.

She shook her head no again. Daphne took her hand and ran her thumb in circles over her hand, soothingly. Astoria looked down and took in her sister's chipped purple nailpolish. Her nailpolish was only chipped like that when she got nervous and chewed up her nails.

Astoria sighed. This wasn't scheduled—the Healers had been as surprised to see her as she'd been surprised to be checked in those five days ago. She'd been at St. Mungo's much longer than expected and much longer than she'd wanted to. Her parents, the Healers, her sister—they kept acting like she had all the time in the world to get better tomorrow night, but… well, Astoria had somewhere to be tomorrow night. She hadn't had the courage to call Draco and tell him that their plans were canceled yet. Part of her kept thinking she'd make it out in time…

"Sto," her sister called out to her. "Breathe."

Astoria nodded and focused on her breathing again.

"Slowly," Daphne reminded her. "There's no rush, Astoria. Let's build up your strength again—long, steady breaths are the way to go…"

Astoria felt tears prickling her eyes when Daphne said it, and she felt silly and tried to hide her face. There was, however, no hiding.

"What's going on?" Daphne asked quietly. She held out her arm and pulled the mask from her face for a second, just long enough to ask her sister to roll up the sleeve of her dressing gown. Daphne obeyed, and gasped when she saw the stars speckled across Astoria's forearm.

"Your soulmark… it's growing," she said.

Astoria nodded and took a deep, even breath before pulling off the mask. "It's been growing for weeks."

"Since you started talking to Draco Malfoy at that party, you mean," Daphne said in the kind of straightforward way that nobody other than a sister would dare use. Astoria sighed and nodded.

"Oh, love…" she said reaching out to touch Astoria's hair. Astoria shook her head and took another deep breath before speaking again.

"There's enough stars for me to recognize the pattern now," Astoria said quietly. "That's how close it is."

"It's a specific constellation?" Daphne asked. "Of course you would know that…"

"Nearly," Astoria said. "There's…"

And that's when she started crying for real.

"Shh," Daphne said. "Shh, shh, shh… Sto, whatever it is, it's not worth crying about because we can fix it… I need you to take deep, deep breaths or we're going to lose you again…"

"Sorry," Astoria whispered. Her vision went hazy and she managed to take a few more deep breaths through the mask. "There's… I'm only missing two stars, Daph. Two stars and the constellation's complete. But then I had to have another flare-up and then I had to go tto St-Mungo's and I…" she stopped to breathe again.

"Love, you'll get out," Daphne promised, squeezing her hand. "You'll get out and you'll get those two other stars."

"What if I don't?" Astoria asked.

"I just know you will," Daphne said.

"I hate it."

"I know."

"It's not the sickness. It's that feeling of being so incredibly close and maybe losing it all," Astoria whispered quietly. "What if Draco doesn't… what if I miss our first date? What if he realises that I'm at risk of missing out on our lives together? What if he realises that I'm a risk he doesn't want to take? What if this is the closest I can get to…"

Daphne shook her head and took the mask from Astoria's hand, gently putting it back over her face to cut her off and force her to breathe.

"No soulmate worth their weight would drop everything because they have to wait an extra week or two," she said. "Hell Astoria, I've spent longer waiting for bad dates to get back to me."

And just like that, Astoria was laughing again. Daphne smiled at the small victory, and love and affection and thankfulness swelled up in Astoria's heart. What she would do without her sister by her side, she had no idea.

She leaned back into the armchair and continued taking those nice, deep, even breaths that the Healers liked to see from her. Daphne examined her forearm a second longer before tugging the sleeve of her dressing gown down again.

"What constellation is it, anyway?" Daphne asked.

Astoria pulled the mask away from her face for a second.

"Scorpius," she said.