Chapter 004 – Memories of a Ten Year Old...

In the middle of class, there was an interruption by Dumbledore. "I'm sorry for Interrupting, Pearce. But could I borrow Mr. Black for a while? It's rather urgent."

"Sure thing, Albus," the young professor answered, a friendly smile painted on his lips. With that, Dumbledore and Sirius left the room, where Regulus was waiting.

"What is this about?" Sirius asked.

"Your mother and father had come to Hogwarts," Albus started.

"Is Celeste with them?!" Sirius demanded worriedly.

The old man looked down. "She was...But your parents have left...."

"Where is she!?"

"Please calm down."

"Merlin, please don't tell me she's lying in a ditch bleeding to death again!" Sirius cried.

"She's not in a ditch, Sirius. She had a rough time and is being treated by Madam Pomfrey."

Sirius' eyes widened and he flew down the halls to the Hospital Wing as if his life and his friend's lives were counting on it. He flung the doors open to find Celeste struggling with Madam Pomfrey bathed in her own blood. The bed she was on was dyed red and the red liquid was her blood. "Celeste!"

The female twin spun around and screamed in fury. She pointed her black wand at the male twin. "Stay away from me!!! Ventus!" A strong gust of wind blasted Sirius out of the room and into the wall outside. "Colloportus!" With that, the doors slammed shut, locking.

"Miss Black! Stop this! You're making it worse!" Pomfrey yelled hysterically. "Albus!!! I can barely keep my own here!"

"You have a powerful sister boys," was what Dumbledore said sadly and entered the room that was getting messier and messier by the second. Celeste was pushing Pomfrey away with her magic. Albus drew his wand and did a simple spell to see her reactions, which was to automatically block it.

Apparently Protego was the witch's most powerful spell, reflecting Albus' spell back to him. "Make them stay away!" she demanded angrily. She turned her body to face Dumbledore more. "At the very least keep Regulus away from anything that has to do with me," she stated, as she coughed up blood. She flicked her wand at the doors to lock them again as she fell onto the bed.

"She is one stubborn girl with a dangerous temper," Poppy sighed, hurrying with her work before the girl could retaliate again. She placed the black wand far away.

"She is a Black after all....I will deal with the boys, Poppy."

"Keep them away from here. She went wild when Sirius showed up." The nurse shook her head disapprovingly. "How could they do this to a child?"

"I'm not a child," Celeste growled, moving around trying to get away from Pomfrey. "Give back my wand. I can heal myself."

"No you can't, girl. You can barely think straight, am I right? It's too risky to try anything yourself. I'm the best healer here, so you can trust me, dear."

Celeste settled on glaring at the older woman. She did not trust anyone at all. She glanced as Dumbledore left, coughing up blood as she did. She turned her back to them when she spotted her brothers. She calmed down when the doors were shut again. She laid down and allowed the nurse to work on her torso, which was an awful mess.

"What happened?!" Sirius demanded.

"Regulus, I'm sorry to say, but your sister wants you to return to class," Dumbledore stated.

"Of course," the youngest replied. "She was always like that. Give her my best regards please."

"I will." With that, Regulus calmly left to go back to class. "Mr. Black...your twin has also requested your leave."

Sirius shook his head, putting his foot down. "I abandoned her once. I can't do that again, not after she's come back."

"...She didn't come back willingly, nor did she come back for you. She was supposed to meet your parents in the summer..."

"...She's a Death Eater now?!" Sirius cried, barging into the room. "Celeste!!!" he roared, going up to the girl and picking her up by the collar. "What have you done!? I can't believe you!!"

Celeste slapped him hard on the face, and used her other hand to shove him onto the bed across from her. "Don't touch me, Sirius!" She coughed up a massive amount of blood.

"I can't believe you've turned your back to your beliefs and became a Death Eater!" Sirius screamed.

Celeste's eyes flared in anger. "You have no right to accuse me, Sirius! You were never there! Don't start now! What I do is none of your business!"

"I'm your twin! What happens to you is my business!"

"Oh, so it's your business what I do now, huh!? Well you could have cared just little more six years ago, you jerk!" Celeste yelled, getting up from the bed. "Get out of my sight! I never wanted to see you again!"

"So you went to become a Death Eater!?"

"Yeah, sure! I'll just go do that right now! Just to piss you off more!" Celeste whirled around and headed for the doors.

Dumbledore blocked her way. "You wouldn't, would you? After risking all this, why don't you tell him the truth, Celeste?" the old man questioned.

Celeste glared at him. "He doesn't need to know anything! The git doesn't bloody care in the first place!" She pointed at Sirius. "I'm not telling him anything!" She threw up blood and fell to her knees, holding her stomach. "Damn it."

Dumbledore levitated her back to her bed. He and Poppy fussed about with her as Sirius gaped at the large cut down her stomach. "What happened, Dumbledore...?" Sirius asked worriedly.

"Don't you dare tell him!" Celeste seethed, grabbing onto Dumbledore roughly.

"He has the right to know."

"No! He doesn't!"

"Calm down, Miss Black. Or would you rather have your innards displayed in front of you again?" Poppy asked.

Celeste growled and laid down. "Get out, Sirius."

"Celeste, please be a little reasonable. Your brother is worried about you. Both of them are," Dumbledore sighed, giving Sirius a sympathetic looked.

"I don't need it," Celeste huffed. "I will never need him. I don't need anyone!"

"Celeste...Please...I'm so worried. I'm so – " Sirius was cut off by Celeste jumping for her wand and silencing him with it.

"I don't want to hear it." Celeste climbed back on the bed in a feeble manner. "I told you to give up on me, so do so already."

"You're being unreasonable, Celeste," Dumbledore stated. "He has talked so fondly of you these past years. It's a shock to him that the sister he loves so dearly has changed so much."

Celeste rolled her eyes. "I'm in a bad mood. Having your guts hung out in front of you by your blood parents can do that to a person," she sighed as if she was talking about how a person lost their cool because they didn't get enough sleep. She rolled up her sleeves. "I'm not a Death Eater...for now...anyways...."

Sirius cried at the information, approaching her. He was apologising but his voice didn't work and the girl was staring at the blanket instead of him. He took her hand in his and she snapped it out of his grip.

"You want to know what happened, right? Dumbledore...you have a Pensive, correct?" The old man nodded. Celeste summoned three jars and pulled out two strands of memories. "Let him watch this one before this one," she instructed, pulling a last memory out. "And if he's feeling up to it, this one as well." She handed the glasses over. "Don't approach me again, Sirius. Goodbye," she whispered and rolled over to sleep with her back to them.

Dumbledore guided the stunned boy to his office. "Sirius..." he called, removing the spell the girl casted.

"I'm such an idiot. How could I have accused her of being a Death Eater...?" Sirius moaned.

"She's a very smart girl and has avoided becoming one for a long while....She is a talented witch and they would very much like to collect her into their ranks. Even the Order is pushing for me to take her in. But she is too young." Dumbledore poured the first bottle into the Pensive. "You have a choice to see this or not. But let me warn you, it can get extremely graphic."

"What?"

"If these memories are anything like the ones she made with the meeting with her parents, you might not be able to keep your stomach down."

"Did they really cut her open and hang her guts out?"

Dumbledore nodded. "They've whipped her too, when I came into the room...."

Sirius looked broken. He wished he was there for her. He dunked his head into the water.

"Where are you, bitch?!" yelled Morgan, their cousin. He stormed into a room. It was battered, blood covered and filled with instruments of muggle torture. "You can't hide, wench!" He grabbed a chained and tugged it hard.

Sirius gasped as he watched as his twin come flying out from under the bed. He watched as she scrambled to get up. He couldn't stop the powerful kick that sent his sister into the wall. He heard cracking and a whimper from her.

"You pathetic girl! How dare you have the blood of pure wizards flow through you?!" He grabbed a nasty looking whip with glass shards in it. He whipped the scantily clad girl, who had the chain shackled at her ankle tightened so she couldn't get away.

Sirius watched in horror as the small girl fought with everything against the older male, seven years older. He knew the fire in her eyes. This memory had to be near the beginning, when the warmth was still within her. He couldn't block out the howl of pain from his twin, who was bound tightly as Morgan had his way with her.

"Don't think I don't know that you've been sneaking letter to your brothers, bitch." He spat on her face and smirked at the intensity of her glare. He kicked her face and left the room.

Celeste struggled with the bindings until they released her. She rushed under the bed. Curious, Sirius slipped under the bed to see her scribbling furiously fast on a piece of paper. She folded it and grabbed another nearby.

Scurrying out of the bed, she quietly opened a floorboard, grabbing an oak wood wand. Muttering quietly, she magically made two envelopes and an owl. She tied the envelopes to the bird and sent it out the window in a hurried fashion. Mumbling spells like a mad woman, the girl healed her battered body, but since the wand didn't suit her, she was having a very difficult time. She shivered at something and hid wand, sliding back under the bed.

Sirius was confused but the hard grip on his heart never loosened. The letters were to him and Regulus. They were forbidden from sending letters but never punished like this, and yet, Celeste did what she could to send letters. Even suffering through a wand that disagreed with her and a cousin that tortured her, she still cared for the two of them. He read a few lines of the letter to him, which asked him how he was and how she missed him. Regulus' letter was full of feign reassurance, even his letter had a light tone to it.

Morgan stormed into the room again. "You really are useless!" he yelled, yanking the chain again. He dragged her down two staircases. She tried to walk on her own feet but Morgan jerked her back onto her side with the chain. "Can't let you have the pleasure of starving yourself to death. You've only eaten a couple of times since last month when you came here," he crackled as Sirius came out of the memory.

"...I...Oh Merlin....What have I done to her...?" Sirius cried. "No wonder she hates my guts. She risked a lot more to send me letters and I couldn't suck it up enough to send her one before Hogwarts...and no wonder it was too late when I finally sent her one. It's amazing she's still alive. Did you know what they've done to her?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "No, but I have an idea from how they've treated her this morning." He collected the memory and poured the next one. "She is a strong girl, Sirius."

"No matter how strong, a person will break under that after a week."

"She's still here, Sirius. She's pretty feisty with how she is handling you and Malfoy. She is still a sister to Regulus, though it seems like she's avoiding all of you."

"...She knew this was going to happen....She knew....and she didn't ask for help...."

"She's not one to ask for help, Sirius, you know that."

"She did...once before...the night that we separated...."

"She has a message she wants to get across to you from these memories. You'll have to bare through this."

"I don't know if I can...."

"Celeste had no choice in these, but there is something she needs to give you and this is what she has decided on."

Sirius whimpered before dunking his head in.

"I don't want you to send anymore letters to them! They don't bloody care about you! Why else would you not get a letter?!" He crackled amusingly. "I didn't stop any of them. Not one. It's rather pathetic that they don't care about you at all. Not even a little to send a single word to you, wench. Then again, why waste your breath on such useless beings as yourself." Morgan broke another bone in her before leaving her in the cold, bloody, lifeless room.

Sirius knelt down next to her, trying to comfort the girl. He noticed a half burnt letter on the ground in his twin's writing. He noted the date; it was 11 months since she came to this hell hole of a home. He looked at her powder grey eyes that belonged to his beloved sister, the mothering figure in his life, his best friend and his little sister. They burned with anger as her limbs twitched about to get her wand, and then, the iciness he was familiar with now leaked into the irises. A single tear rolled out of her eyes, but that was all. They turned cold and...the hurt they held, broke Sirius' heart. They held pain and sorrow, abandonment and raw fury.

Celeste screamed loudly, releasing all her pent up anger. She screamed into the blanket, which was really her bed. After the fifth minute, she became the cold, icy being Sirius would find in the Hospital Wing. She grabbed her wand and healed herself up, in a manner quickly enough to replace Madam Pomfrey. She blasted the burnt letter bits, which was addressed to Sirius.

He sighed, this was the day he truly lost the Celeste he loved. He shivered as the event and realisation that he was what finally drove her away hit him like jumping in a lake when it was iced over. The scene faded and he came back out.

Sirius slid to the floor. Before Dumbledore could do anything, he ran for the Hospital Wing. He needed to apologize to her. It was eating him inside out. Running past his yelling friends, he burst into the Hospital Wing to see Celeste finish tying her tie. Her eyes widened and she grabbed the black wand in fury. She flung it at him, sending him at the wall for the second time that day, but using Everte Statum as not to make a mess like earlier.

"Expelliarmus!" Remus casted and Celeste didn't look bothered by her wand flying out of her hand. She just grabbed the wreck people called a cloak, which was torn and caked in blood. She was also sent flying and landed awkwardly on a bed. "What kind of sister are you?!" Remus demanded. "Sirius has been trying to apologize since you sent the Howler to humiliate him! Now you throw him against the wall?!"

"Remus! Stop! She's hurt!" Sirius cried, running to Celeste, who began to hack up blood and a lot of it. "Celeste! I'm so so – "

"Don't go there, Sirius!" Celeste snapped, coughing more. "I don't want to hear it!"

"Shhh. You're making it worse."

"Like you care."

"I do!" he argued, standing in front of her, as she stood up.

Celeste stared at his face blankly. "My gosh, you look ghastly," she commented unemotionally.

"...After what you showed me...who wouldn't look like this. Look, Celeste, I'm really so – "

"I said, don't go there," Celeste growled. "Those were clearly the best moments of that year, couldn't you tell?" Her face turned to something of a little hurt, but went back to the cold one. Sirius knew the hurt that flashed across her face was an act. "You clearly haven't finished watching them."

"I can't watch any more of it."

"You have a choice, so to say. Now go watch the last one," she snapped, and stormed out of the room, after grabbing her wand.

"Where do you think you're going, Miss Black?!" Poppy screamed. "I haven't released you yet. You're not even supposed to be out of bed with your injuries! Merlin! You opened the wound again!!" She spotted the boys. "Out you four!" She shooed them out and forced Celeste back in bed.