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It was a couple of days later when Lucy was met with the sight of Angelina Johnson sitting quietly, a copy of the latest issue of Quidditch Weekly in her hands and blissfully unaware of the commotion she'd caused in the Ravenclaw common room. A lion had entered the eagle's nest and such a fact was both fascinating and terrifying.
The ever curious Ravenclaw eyed the girl with suspicion and yet none made the effort to remove her. For Angelina possessed an auror which had many quivering in their boots and that alone had earned her an infamous reputation for keeping her boisterous bunch of friends in line.
Of course, Lucy expected nothing less from the Gryffindor girl.
"Is she...you know, allowed in here?" Cho asked in a hushed whisper.
Lucy shrugged "I don't know why not..I mean, the only defence against anyone coming in is a riddle," She said with a slight frown.
Beside her, Marietta looked down her nose at the supposed intruder and tossed caramel brown ringlets over her shoulder. "I'm just surprised she solved it," Marietta said with a scoff.
Lucy decided to ignore the obvious backhanded comment towards Angelina, the brunette was always one to have distrust to those in other houses–especially Gryffindors.
"It's nice to see you, Angelina," Lucy said with a polite smile.
The dark skinned girl smiled, her thick dark curls of hair were styled into five large braids accented with bright Gryffindor red ribbons. But what was strange about this new style was that it showcased Angelina's right eye.
To anyone else, the dark eyes of Angelina Johnson seemed calculating and collected but to Lucy there was something else, something familiar.
"I thought I'd pay you a little visit," Angelina said, lips turned to a smile.
"Oh," Lucy said, the blonde suddenly feeling a little flustered. "Well, um...maybe we should, er, take a walk," She paused to glance towards her friends and gave them both an apologetic smile. "You girls don't mind, do you?"
Cho gave a half shrug, the dark haired beauty cracking a small smile, her dark eyes watching the Gryffindor with interest. She'd always been fascinated with the strange friendship the Gryffindor had struck up with her closest friend. She wasn't one to pry, but yet she couldn't help but allow the gears in her own head to turn in anticipation as to what even lead such polar opposites to grow so close.
Unlike Marietta, she liked to watch those around her, gain their motives, whereas her brunette friend preferred to judge what was on the surface. It was probably why she was such good friends with Celeste, for the blonde always kept her true self hidden and only on occasion, a true smile would make its way past her lips.
"No," Cho said at the same time Marietta said, "Yes."
"What she means to say is that we'll catch you later," Cho said with a smile.
"Shall we?" Angelina asked as she stood, arm outstretched in a gesture for Lucy to walk along beside her.
It was easy to fall into step beside the Gryffindor, it was even easier to slip into pleasant conversation. Lucy thought that it was as if no time had passed between the two, and as a result, the usual light banter between the two was as present as ever.
"I saw you looking," Angelina said, her smile widening at Lucy's flushed face. "It's an artificial eye."
"Artificial?" Lucy asked with interest. "Can you see out of it?"
Angelina nodded. "Just as well as any other person," she said, though she stopped to raise a quizzical brow at the blonde as the pair came to a stop by the black lake. "Though that isn't all you wanted to know, is it?" she added.
"What else can you see with it?" Lucy asked softly.
Angelina shrugged as she dusted off the dried autumn leaves from the ground before sitting in a cross-legged position. "I can see through most charms and illusions," Angelina said with a sigh.
"That's something," Lucy said with a awe. She was aware of such things, only reading about artificial limbs and eyes in books, but never actually seeing them in the flesh. Getting a closer look at Angelina's eye it appeared normal, the same dark brown as her left eye, even.
Angelina shook her head softly, a light chuckle leaving her lips as she stared out onto the lake.
"Back in first year when everyone stared at the starry ceiling, I saw nothing but brick and slate"
Lucy nodded her hands coming to rip out the blades of grass beneath her feet. They slipped through her fingers and fell almost to pathetically to the ground below. "What are you saying?"
Angelina smiled. "I think you know," She said with a slight quirk of the lips.
"No, I don't," Lucy said in confusion.
Angelina smiled. The gryffindor reached up, her fingers pulling at the sleeve of her robes until her left arm was left exposed. In the dim sunlight, it appeared as as a slight discoloration, easy for anyone else to miss.
But to Lucy, the mark was calling to her like a moth to a flame, for it was a mark she'd thought she'd never again see...
The mark of Fairy Tail.
"It's in the same place as Erza's," Lucy said. "You must be...unless..."
Angelina silenced her with a nod. "I wasn't sure," Angelina- or Erza said with a sigh "Of course with you, I had suspicions, but that's all they were"
Lucy hums in agreement, but stayed silent. She didn't want to give herself false hope like how she did with Natsu.
"And your magic?" Lucy asked, the question heavy in the air.
"Nothing much," Erza admitted rather dejectedly. "Just being able to summon a change of clothes, but it's getting there."
"The library's a good place to start, Mavis is always eager to help too," Lucy added, a smile quirking the corner of her lips at the mention of the benevolent spirit. She ought to make another visit to her section- just to make sure she wasn't too lonely.
"Aw, so you've met her too?" Erza asked with a smile "She has the same name as our first master."
"Mavis Vermillion?" Lucy asked with curiosity. "I can't believe I missed that," she muttered with annoyance.
Erza nodded. "They're not the same, or at least I assume so," Erza said with a slight frown, "which makes me think that maybe there's already versions of us here."
Such a theory never did cross her mind, the possibility of not only being reborn into a new body but into a world parallel to the one she once knew. It would have made sense why this world still retained magic and why her soul decided to strike up a new life on Earth rather than somewhere like Edolas.
"I know it's stupid-" Erza muttered with a shake of her head.
"No" Lucy blurts out. "Parallel dimension travel is a muggle theory which has caught my interest...I just never gave it enough credit to be plausible."
"So I have your interest," Erza said with a quirked brow.
Lucy scowled, her emotions getting the better of her as her hands clenched to fists. How dare Erza sit there and act like an old friend, when she kept her true lineage a secret for so long. "You don't know how lonely it's been," Lucy snapped.
Erza nodded sadly, dark eyes brooding. "Trust me, I do."
Lucy scoffed, steel grey eyes narrowing at the girl sitting next to her. "I find that very hard to believe," Lucy hissed.
XOXO
The way Kreacher cast not-so-subtle glances towards her reminded her of a child in awe. The old house elf wandered around her like glue, he was practically stuck to her side and at her beck and call, whether she liked it or not.
Either it was through his loyalty to serve his masters and their defenses, or a way of honouring her father- Cana thought it was the latter.
"Would Mistress Cana like something to drink?" His wheezy voice asked.
Cana frowned at the title, it was one she had yet to come accustomed to, and one she doesn't quite think she deserved. Years living as a gypsy traveller, treated by others like dirt on the bottom of their shoe, it did that to a person.
"I'm good here, Kreacher," She said as she twirled her quill between her fingers. Her uncle had set her some tasks before their next lessons, more Latin translations to help with her orientation for spellcasting.
The house elf nodded solemnly in understanding, yet made no effort to make scarce. "Kreacher knows mistress Cana likes her playthings...playthings have strange magic like Mistress Cana and Master Regulus."
"Strange magic?" Cana asked with confusion "Kreacher, can you sense my magic?"
The house elf paled, taking a slow step backwards as he shook his head. "Kreacher promised Master Regulus not to talk about the magic...Kreacher failed Master Regulus-"
"Whoa, Kreacher you haven't failed anyone," Cana cooed soothingly.
The house elf shook his head muttering about his failures before quickly scurrying away. Cana motioned to follow him, she wanted, no, needed answers. What possibly could Kreacher have known about her true origins, and what did her father tell him? Was there a chance that the house elf knew of her birth mother?
"How's the astronomy going, pup?" Sirius asked with a quirked brow.
Cana gave a long drawn out sigh as she splayed her body over the desk. "Geez, give a girl some slack, this star charting stuff is hard...I don't even know which moon belongs to which bloody planet!" Cana exclaimed in exasperation.
"This is just the theory, pup," Sirius said with a ruffle of her hair, he ignored her attempts to push him away, and left her dark brown locks sticking up in all directions.
"I've been working hard all week, Uncle Sirius, you could at least, I don't know, reward your favorite niece," Cana said sweetly. "Maybe you could tell me about my mum..."
Sirius frowned, his expression no longer his usual dog like grin. "Cana-" Sirius sighed
"You're right, I'm sorry ,I shouldn't have asked it," Cana muttered. "It was stupid."
"Cana, there are things your father hasn't told you, I'm just trying to do what he wanted."
"Why?" Cana snapped with annoyance. "He's gone so I don't get why you still keep me around."
"He left because he cares about you," Sirius snapped.
Magenta eyes rolled skyward as Cana hands clenched to fists. If her father cared he should've been here, he was just like Gildarts of Earthland only this time worse- since he knew this time that Cana was his daughter, and chose to leave her.
He chose to leave her behind when she wanted things to be different.
"Well aren't I the luckiest girl in the world...he only left me alone with you," Cana hissed icily.
Her uncle sighed, expression sullen as he pulled at his matted curls, something her own father used to do.
"Cana, listen, there are even things I don't know about Reg- your dad, but trust me, he'll be back, and he'll answer all your questions."
"But he's not here now," Cana stressed. "I want to know why he ran away, who my mother was and what happened to his arm."
"I can't tell you those things, Cana," Sirius said sadly.
"Seems like you can't tell me anything," Cana muttered darkly. "You can close the door on your way out."
She sighed, eyes watering as the door shut quietly, signalling her uncle's departure. Tears slowly fell as she yearned for her father to return. She didn't care if she never got her questions answered, if she never found out who her mother was.
Cana just wanted her father back.
XOXO
"She's one of them?"
Fred nodded in agreement, not bothering to glance over at the shock written all over his twin's face.
"She doesn't spit fire or anything, does she?" George asked with a quirked brow and lips forming a smile in attempt to rouse one from his twin.
Fred shook his head, his vision zeroed in the curled script of Erza Scarlet and Lucy Heartfilia. The map showed them to be sitting by the lake and a small part of him longed to join them to see if that empty part of him would become filled.
'you were my best friend!'
But what was he now to Celeste? Was he nothing more than the body housing the soul of the person Celeste knew as her best friend?
"You think that there's more of us?"
George shrugged "I dunno bout that," He said. "But what I do know is that we should stick together."
Fred scoffed before spelling the map closed "They lied to me, George, I don't exactly call that sticking together."
George sighed, lips pressed into a thin line as he sadly eyed his twin. "Like what we said to Ophelia after her mother died," George said sadly
"I remember," Fred muttered. "We promised to stick together."
George grinned in response. "So you'll stop being so mad at Celeste and Angie, hmm?"
"I...er I'm not sure," Fred muttered.
The pull towards Celeste had been strong from the very first time he'd seen her, and no matter how hard he tried, it just kept pulling him back.
The Malfoys were the family his father had warned him against, and yet here Fred was, finding himself drawn to her, again and again.
But the pull towards her did nothing against the hurt he felt. What if Celeste felt nothing for him and solely wanted the companionship of the person he once was?
Why was she so adamant that he was this person, this Natsu who she was so close with? Even Angie was convinced he needed to accept this other side of him, and now his brother was adding to that.
It was confusing, the thought of a whole person, a person with an entire life was supposedly the same person as him.
The thought that this Natsu–he–had died was terrifying. He couldn't remember dying, was it peaceful? Was he scared? And what about the others, Celeste and Angie, did they remember that happening?
Fred wasn't sure of anything right now. He was happy being Fred Weasley, happy with his family and happy with his friends, but to add this Natsu to the mix had just turned his whole life on its head.
How could he be this person he had little to no memory of? The only things proving the existence of Natsu were the broken dreams and the map.
What if he could never be that person? And what of he didn't want to be?
XOXO
The girl sitting beside her wasn't the same girl she once knew, Erza knew that much for sure.
The girl she once knew as Lucy Heartfilia had a defiant stubborn streak reminiscent of any Gryffindor, and if things were different, the dark skinned girl was certain that instead of the Ravenclaw crest she bared, it would've been the scarlet lion of her own house.
There was something hidden behind steel grey orbs, the eyes of someone more mature than their twelve years, the eyes of someone who had seen too much.
"You should come back to the tower with me," Erza suggested, eyes hopeful as she gently nudged Lucy in the side.
The pale blonde gave a tight lipped smile and yet her wide steel grey eyes remained glassy and sullen. Anyone else would have thought it beautiful, pale wisps of silvery blonde hair, round heart shaped face and the wide eyes of a waif.
She looked perfect, like a porcelain doll.
But even dolls had their cracks, and for Lucy, it was her eyes.
"Maybe another time," Lucy said dismissively. "I have homework." She stood, dusting off already pristine school robes as she made her way back to the castle, but Erza wasn't going to let her go that easily.
"Then let me help, I have homework too," Erza said as she easily fell into step beside the Ravenclaw.
Lucys lips quivered as if trying to fight off a frown, instead as quickly as it formed the perfect smile was on her face and the doll mask back. It was almost scary how quickly she bottled up her emotions and yet Erza held her ground, determined to break through the porcelain.
"That wouldn't be necessary," Lucy said sweetly- too sweetly before heading past Erza.
"Oh no," Erza said with a shake of her head. "I insist, we could learn a lot from each other."
The mask was off.
"Like how to ignore friends?" Luxy asked icily "Or how about lying through your teeth every moment we spent together?"
It was if she'd been slapped round the face, Lucy's words cutting through her like a cutting hex.
"Lucy-"
"No" Lucy hissed "You lost the right to the name, Angelina" she added with a hiss "You, Fred–everyone can just call me Celeste."
"Lucy," Erza sighed. "Just let me make things right."
"Don't you have homework to do?" Luxy quipped with a dismissive wave "I have somewhere else to be."
Erza watched solemnly as Lucy walked off through the hallways. Her one eye filled with tears, and she lamented her failures. She couldn't save her team mates...couldn't save her family.
"Natsu...Lucy..." Erza muttered as her hands clenched to fists. "I'm sorry...but I'm not going to give up," she murmured softly.
A/N Time:
So after this things are gonna speed up to the Goblet of Fire where the fun will begin...ooh yayy
Here both lucy and Fred are angry at eachother and everyone who lied to them, which includes Erza/Angelina. If you remember earlier she lied to Fred's face about knowing who Erza was which now made him a little annoyed. With Lucy feeling so isolated without her friends she's pretty pissed off at Angie for lying.
This chapter was beta read by SkyeShah