Chapter 1:
"Wait up Hermione!" Celeste wailed, chasing down her favorite cousin. Hermione held out her hand for her 2nd cousin and helped her navigate Diagon Alley.
"Anything else dear? We've got all your school stuff and we have to meet Ron, Hugo, and Rosie at their Uncle's shop." Hermione asked.
"I saved up for a new broom." Celeste said shyly. Hermione raised an eyebrow. "What? I worked at George's over the summer and I need a new broom before Quidditch season starts up."
"Alright, we'll get you a broom real quick. Come on Celeste, hurry up darling." Hermione said as they pushed their way to the broom shop. Hermione elbowed her way past all of the boys crowded around the entrance and held the door open for her cousin. Celeste wormed her way inside the door and closed it firmly behind her. The smell of the worn and cut wood was a strange comfort to her as she browsed all of the broomsticks. She looked at all of them, brushing her fingers over them lovingly. She stopped in front of one. This one was nice.
It was obviously new. The handle was polished and shiny, all of the twigs in the tail end in perfect shape. The name Celestial 2007 (A/N: Just selected a random year) was embossed on the handle in gold print. Celeste widened her eyes. Celestial. It was like fate was pushing the broomstick at her.
"How much for this one?" Celeste asked the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper looked at the broomstick she was pointing at. He chuckled.
"Too much for a girl like yourself. That one is 12,000 Galleons." He replied, and then returned to his work. He didn't see Celeste's jaw drop. Twelve thousand Galleons? Was there a laser beam on the broom too? Merlin's pant's that was expensive. But when Celeste glanced at the broom again, she couldn't stop a pang in her chest. She wanted the broom so bad…
"Oh well." She said glumly. She left the store empty-handed with nothing other than longing for that broom that bore her name. She followed Hermione, depressed, to Weasely Wizard Wheezes, where Hermione's brother-in-law owned the store and all of Hermione's family was waiting. Celeste was sad, no doubt, but her spirits were lightened almost immediately when she saw James and Hugo. They were both chatting animatedly with their families and Celeste immediately passed her things to Hermione, who grunted under the weight of the things, and ran towards them.
"James, Hugo!" Celeste yelled. They both looked up and their faces brightened immediately. She hurled herself towards them into a group bear hug.
"Hey Cel," James said easily, "How are you?"
"Fine, other than the fact that I couldn't get the broom I wanted. The thing cost twelve thousand Galleons!" Celeste replied, indignant. Their jaws dropped so far that if it hadn't been hinged to their face, it would've fallen completely off.
"Oh, never mind me!" Hermione yelled. "Just your wife, mother, cousin, and best friend about to collapse over here." Celeste had forgotten about Hermione. She ran over and helped her set the bags down. When she looked up, she saw him.
Scorpius Malfoy walked past, side-by-side with his father. He looked just like him, minus the fact that his hair is short unruly tufts instead of the slicked back style of Mr. Malfoy's. He had the same cold eyes, the same style, the same walk, the same everything. He would normally have been Celeste's prime choice to crush on if not for his behavior. She'd attempted to be friends with him in her first year and the first word out of his mouth had been "Mudblood." Celeste knew what that word meant. It had cut her deep and was the source of all of her insecurities, to know that no matter what she did, she wasn't a pureblood. She could be top of her class, excel in everything, the girl that everyone wanted to be and the only thing she'd want was to be a pureblood.
James saw who she was staring at. "C'mon Cel." He said gently. Let's go this way." He and Hugo dragged her back slightly, but the Malfoy's rounded the window and this time, when Scorpius looked up, he saw Celeste. His lip curled back and Celeste shook her head.
"I can't-I need-he's-Oh, screw it!" she cried and she ran further into the store. Celeste could feel hot tears springing up into her eyes. She didn't like feeling this weak; it made her hate herself with a passion. She shouldn't have run away from James and Hugo; they knew how to help her hold herself together in her weaker moments. She sat down tearfully on a bench well hidden from sight and let the tears flow. This was one wound that had been festering for almost 3 years.
"Celeste?" asked a voice. She looked up to see her employer over the summer, George Weasely, on the stairs. He saw her tears and his face creased in concern. "What's wrong?"
"Scorpius Malfoy." She spat the name like it was a plague. "He-he called me a Mudblood during first year and it's just something I've never really gotten over."
"Hey," he said gently, "being a Muggleborn isn't anything to be ashamed of. Hermione is and she's the best sister-in-law I could have wished for. She's a wonderful mother, a brilliant witch, and a very important person. Just because one person says something, you shouldn't let it affect you this bad."
"It's just-just," she hiccupped, "he always has something snooty to say, to always hit myself confidence, to make me feel like I'm not good enough to walk the halls of Hogwarts."
"What's going on?" asked another voice. She looked up to see another man, this one with unruly black hair like James and emerald green eyes staring at them from the stairs.
"Scorpius Malfoy." George replied. "He's making her feel like she isn't good enough just the way she is."
The man scowled, his face darkening. "The entire Malfoy family is that way. I'd thought maybe Malfoy would teach his son differently after what he went through, but apparently I was wrong."
"You know the Malfoy's?" Celeste asked.
"I went to school with his father, Draco Malfoy. You wouldn't believe how bad he tormented Hermione. The poor girl was never the same after second year." He grimaced.
"Maybe because she was petrified?" George asked.
"I meant when he called her a Mudblood." The man corrected. She was wondering who the hell this was until he flipped his hair to the side and she saw a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead and her chest seized. A list of swear words that her mother would never forgive her for thinking, let alone saying out loud, ran through her head. Holyshit, its HarryfuckingPotter. Oh God, oh God. I mean, when James told her his dad was Harry Potter, she hadn't realized he meant Harry Potter. And when Hermione told her one of her best friends was Harry Potter, she hadn't really made the connection until now. She quickly locked down her reaction and gazed at the ground. Fuck, she was sitting next to Harry Potter. Just then, James found her.
"Celeste!" he cried, then he saw his dad. "Oh, dad…"
"I take it you two know each other?" Harry asked, somewhat amused.
"Uh…yeah. James is the one who threatened to cave Scorpius' face in if he ever said that to me again." She laughed weakly and Harry couldn't have looked more proud if his son had just been made Minister of Magic at age 14.
"You did, now did you?" Harry asked.
"Yep. And since he hasn't spoken to Celeste since, I'm guessing it worked." James turned his worried gaze on her. "Are you okay? You looked absolutely terrified when you ran away."
She looked at him, then at George, then at Harry, and back to James and smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine."