Dueling Heart
The next week soon arrived and the most anticipated event of the school year was finally here - The International Dueling Championship.
Monday dragged by for everyone and there was not a face among the students who did not wish for Monday to be over. Even a few professors appeared ready for the next day to come, because that meant the beginning of the Tournament.
Classes were canceled for the rest of the week to accommodate the event. Dumbledore figured nobody would be able to concentrate in class with all the special activities going on at the same time.
Tuesday saw the opening of the Tournament and much fanfare had come from the arrival of all the teams and people that were part of it.
Severus sat with the Slytherin students; all the students were grouped according to their house in different areas of the arena. There was much talking and chattering while everyone found their seats.
Lily was seated with the Gryffindor students and when she noticed him she smiled and offered him a friendly wave. He waved hesitantly and watched her as she began to chat with the girls around her. He was quite sure she was the prettiest girl in the arena.
Severus glanced around and found the Ravenclaw students grouped together. It was not very hard to find Celeste; that mass of curls gave her away instantly. She was smiling brightly and eagerly scanning the faces in the crowd.
He knew instantly she was looking for him. When she found him among the Slytherins, her eyes widened and she waved; she was much more exuberant than Lily and it was a little embarrassing. He hoped not too many people noticed she was waving at him. He got ready to give her a curt wave, but Celeste turned away as if something had distracted her.
Severus' eyes traveled up to see Celeste's mother nearby. She waved her hand at Celeste, who in turn got up and made her way down the aisle she sat on towards her mother. Celeste followed her mother out of the arena and Severus wondered where they were going.
A couple of moments later the lights dimmed in the arena and a hush spread amongst the crowd. After the arena had become completely silent, the deep gong of a large bell resounded three times.
In the center of the arena a sudden flash of light and color erupted out of the floor. With a flurry of sparkles and loud clangs a wizard appeared. The man was dressed in dark burgundy and held a long wooden staff. On the end was a large green crystal and he pointed it up toward the ceiling. This caused another flash of light to illuminate the whole dueling area.
"I say welcome to all this day, wizards and witches … hermits and hags … young and old!" the wizard began, his voice carrying to everyone in the arena. "It is in friendship that our tournament comes to you. It is not for the sake of battle do we meet for these events, but for the art and satisfaction of competition. To best one's enemies is grand, but to strive to better one's self among friends is a noble and honorable task. It is in this atmosphere that we bring you our festivities … and now without further talk, I give you our teams."
The wizard pointed his staff at one side of the arena and the doors opened under the raised platform on which the judges and committee sat. As each group of people appeared in the doorway, the wizard called out the team name and what country they represented.
Depending on the team and country, a section of the crowded arena would burst into applause. Each team had its own way of making an entrance. Some of the teams just walked in and others had a grand amount of fanfare to go along with their march.
After the entrance of all the teams, there were a few speeches given by different members of the committee and judges. Then the formal opening ceremonies were concluded and the wizard at the center raised his staff, which caused the lights to brighten again in the whole arena.
Everyone could either leave or stay to greet the teams and ask for autographs.
There was such a mass of people headed down onto the arena floor that Severus felt it was much too crowded to even attempt to get a closer look at the teams. He decided he really was not all that interested in autographs. Plus he was supposed to go to the opening banquet with Celeste and her family and it would be easier for them to find him up in the waiting area.
Unfortunately it also looked as though many students and other spectators had the same idea. It was very crowded even trying to leave; there were as many people attempting to escape the arena as there were staying.
Severus made his way up the arena steps and out into the larger area that was a more open section right outside the arena; it was where people could wait and talk together. Large columns held up a beautifully decorated ceiling that circled the entire arena. There were paintings on it of wizards dueling and battling. These were magical and moved around like the portraits in Hogwarts; each image danced above in a beautiful mock battle.
Severus watched the images for a few moments and then he caught sight of Lily standing with a group of mostly Gryffindor girls; they were what he considered Lily's friends.
He moved along behind the columns, staying out of the mass of people and eventually got around near to where the girls were standing. He would have continued on and possibly shown himself to Lily, except for the conversation the girls were already having. He heard his own name mentioned and quickly hid himself behind a column before any of the girls had noticed him.
"Why do you even talk to him, Lily?" one of the girls asked her. "He's just so -"
"Gross?" another girl finished when the first did not appear to be able to give words to what she thought Severus was.
"Severus isn't gross," Lily countered, sounding offended by how the girls were talking, but they appeared to override her attempt to censure the conversation.
"He's always using curses. Remember even in first year how he was putting curses on Sirius Black and James Potter?" another of the girls commented. "Plus I've never forgiven him for the things he said about my cat first year - he said I'd be better off skinning it and using it as a doormat," the girl went on.
"I don't think James and Sirius are completely innocent. And besides, your cat is mean; I don't think she likes anyone but you," Lily suggested, attempting to change the subject.
"Well, I don't like him. He says the most horrible things; I don't think he cares about anybody's feelings. He is always spying on you - he's always following you around … he's just creepy. I don't know why you put up with it," the first girl continued. "He's in that Elite Club and you can't deny what that is, Lily. Everyone knows all of them are into the Dark Arts!"
"That Mulciber is in charge of it and I hear he has a Dark Mark. His dad is a favorite of You-Know-Who," the second girl informed in a hushed voice.
Severus wanted to yell at them; he was so angry with these stupid girls. He had even instinctively shoved his hand into his pocket to grab his wand. He wanted to reveal himself, but he knew if he did then Lily would be embarrassed and it would be his fault.
He wanted desperately to curse them; it would serve them right if he did it. Then something caught his attention and Severus realized someone was watching him where he was hiding.
It was Celeste and her mother. Apparently they had heard the conversation because Mrs. Fairstone was staring at him with concern. Celeste's face held an expression that was caught between anger and sympathy.
Severus was completely embarrassed. Before Lily could notice him or Celeste and her mother could say anything, he hurried off, trying to escape before he was humiliated further.
It was not easy to escape as he was trying to leave the place altogether. Instead he practically ran into James Potter and the whole Gryffindor Quidditch team as they were trying to exit as well.
"OY! Snivellus on the loose here!" Potter teased. "Someone contain him before his greasy powers affect us all!"
"Shut up, you overrated Snitch-licker!!" Severus snarled. He had not even thought about it before he said it, but Severus had just offended the whole Quidditch team by saying that. It was not the best moment to hurl an insult at James Potter when the rest of the team was there to back him up.
Severus knew he was a couple of seconds away from getting himself pummeled into the ground. Severus took a step back as the angry faces of the Quidditch team moved forward.
A firm hand grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away from them. Severus glared back towards James Potter and the Quidditch team. They all began to laugh and point at him while he was being rescued by force. Whoever had hold of him dragged him out of the crowd and back through a doorway into the seating area of the arena.
"Let me go!" he demanded, pulling away.
It was Celeste's mother who had hold of him, which surprised him greatly. It was clear they had hurried after him when he was attempting to escape the situation with Lily. He supposed Mrs. Fairstone must have figured out he was about to be attacked by the Quidditch team and did the only thing she knew to stop it from happening.
Celeste was standing by her mother, her face tense with worry.
"Calm down, nobody is hurting you," Mrs. Fairstone offered gently. "That group of boys was on the verge of knocking you into next week, if you did not notice," she added. "You did not have to run away because of what those silly girls said, considering -"
"I-I don't need protection!" he announced sharply, cutting over her. "I wasn't running away either!" he added angrily.
"You do not have to raise your voice at me, young man," Mrs. Fairstone replied, lifting her chin in a manner that suggested she was offended by his loud tone and attitude.
"Don't be mad at us, Severus," Celeste said calmly. "But they were saying horrible things about you. You should be mad about that," she stated.
"Yeah, well … what difference does it make!? Maybe it's true!" he complained.
"Both of you sit down, this minute," Mrs. Fairstone ordered in a voice that suggested she was no longer going to put up with the arguing and loud voices.
Celeste moved to sit down in one of the empty seats and Severus glumly took a seat beside her.
"Now, you will both wait here. I will be back in a moment," Mrs. Fairstone ordered and she appeared to be ready to return to the area they had just left.
"No! Wait," Severus began desperately. "You can't tell Lily! You must not tell her what I heard them say … please! Don't let her know I-I … just don't say anything! It … it doesn't matter! Please, Mrs. Fairstone! I did not mean to get angry. I will not do it again, just please don't say anything to her or them that I know," he begged.
Severus was horrified at the thought of Lily being aware he had heard the conversation. She would be stuck in the middle and be forced to choose between him and her friends. He did not want to cause her trouble as he thought she might blame him for it if that happened.
"I wasn't going to say anything about that, dear. I was going to fetch Lily because we have to go down and join the others for dinner," Mrs. Fairstone offered. She put her hand on his shoulder and gently squeezed it. "We don't want to be late," she added gently.
With that said, Mrs. Fairstone turned and headed back the way they had come. Severus watched her until she was gone, then he turned back to Celeste.
"Don't say anything to Lily about what happened," said Severus.
"I think you should tell her what you heard them say," Celeste countered.
"I know what they say about me," he snapped. "Obviously, so does Lily. It's not a secret, you know … what people think of me," he went on.
"It doesn't mean it's right, or that it's right for them to do it," Celeste complained.
"How would you know?" he charged forcefully. "I do know a lot of curses, just like they said. I'd have hexed all of them if I could have. If Potter hadn't been with the whole Quidditch team, I might have used the Cruciatus curse on him!" he threatened bitterly.
"Severus!" Celeste announced. "You shouldn't talk about doing those kinds of spells, especially that one," she stated firmly.
"I don't care, I would have done it," he barked.
"You shouldn't talk about the torture spell. They don't call it an Unforgivable for no reason. A good person doesn't need to -"
"Well, if it hadn't occurred to you, I'm not one of the good guys!" he responded. "I don't want to be either, if that means I have to be like those two idiots, Potter and Black," he added viciously.
Celeste frowned and then looked away from him. She folded her arms in front of herself and then made an unhappy huff, exasperated with him and the argument.
Severus also exhaled in frustration and stared straight ahead, feeling angry with everyone right now. Severus had wanted to make a good impression at the meal tonight. How was he going to go eat with these people if he was so worked up? Severus sighed, closed his eyes and trying to compose himself before Mrs. Fairstone returned with Lily.
"Doing that kind of magic doesn't make you special or important," Celeste began softly. "It doesn't make you a powerful wizard."
"Oh really, well what does make you important then?" he asked. "What does make people think you are a powerful wizard?" he went on. "Making exceptional grades perhaps? Does that do it?"
Celeste seemed ready to respond, but he overrode her by continuing with his questions.
"How about following the rules or being a dedicated student who is loyal to Hogwarts? Does that make the professors or other students respect you?"
"Severus, it isn't -"
"Clearly," he interrupted, not allowing her to finish. "None of that makes you special or important. It's a fact, Celeste. You can't deny it or make this just a misunderstanding. To be thought of well, it means you have to be handsome and fun. Then all you need to do is get yourself a broom and catch a stupid Golden Snitch … if you can do that, it doesn't matter what rules you break or how you treat other people," he lectured.
"Not everyone!" she argued before he could continue his bitter complaint. "Not everyone cares about Quidditch and there are people who would respect you if you let them," she complained. "You don't have to be friends with people like Carl Mulciber to get somewhere around here," she insisted. "At home, some people just consider me a Fairstone, but I'm -"
"Don't do that," he ordered, his voice becoming waspishly quiet and controlled.
"What do you mean? Do what?" she asked, turning her face to him.
He stared into her eyes a moment before he replied.
"Don't give me pretty stories about how everything works out in the end. Maybe wonderful things happen for you, but not for me. That is not how life works for someone like me," he admonished.
"It can if you want it to," she allowed.
"You're living in a fantasy land if you believe that," he accused angrily.
Celeste's eyes widened a moment and she quickly faced forward, staring down at the arena. Her mouth turned down in a very deep frown. He had seen it in her eyes: what he just said hurt her feelings very badly. This reaction from her only made everything those stupid girls said true about him: he did say horrible things.
Before Severus could even attempt to say anything more, Mrs. Fairstone and Lily were heading towards where he and Celeste were sitting.
"Are you both ready?" Mrs. Fairstone asked.
"I thought we were going to meet out there," Lily said to them. Celeste hastily stood up and Severus followed her actions and moved to stand with them in the aisle.
"We're all together now. Let's hurry, I don't want to be late," Mrs. Fairstone said before Celeste or Severus could answer Lily's question.
They followed Mrs. Fairstone down to the bottom of the arena. At first Severus thought they were going to have to climb over the short wall that separated the arena from the seating area. Instead Mrs. Fairstone took out her wand and tapped it on the wall. The wall opened as if it was an invisible door and they could walk on through out onto the arena.
They went through the doorway under the raised platform the judges sat on, then down a few steps into a very large open area. This area was where the teams gathered and waited before competing, but also there was a section designated for each team set up on either side of the room. It was a very long room, almost like a hallway. Columns marked the separation points for each team and, as they walked down the middle, Severus noticed each area had a distinct look to it depending on the country; each also had a large national flag hanging on the back of the wall to identify them.
"I was wondering where all of you were," Mr. Fairstone said; he was standing in the doorway at the opposite end of the corridor.
"We're here now. It was a little crazy with that big crowd," Mrs. Fairstone commented.
"Come along then. Everyone is already being seated," said Mr. Fairstone, taking his wife's arm as they walked on inside.
They were arranged around large round tables. Severus headed swiftly for a chair between Lily and Celeste so he would not have to sit beside a stranger. Celeste's father sat beside her and Mrs. Fairstone was seated on the other side of her husband. The other people at their table were committee members and judges. Mr. Fairstone introduced everyone before the meal arrived.
Halfway through the meal, Severus began to see that Celeste's parents were very different from his own parents. Not that he had not already witnessed aspects of it: he had seen it at Christmas and now here they were in a very public forum on display for anyone who would watch them.
Celeste's parents talked to her and she seemed to actually enjoy talking with them. She did not hesitate on the questions they asked her and was most willing to share information about her feelings and thoughts.
These sorts of intimate personal thoughts were things he had never even considered sharing with his own parents. His father had never asked him if he was happy or concerned himself whether Severus actually enjoyed school. It had never seemed to matter to his father whether he was content or liked something.
Mr. Fairstone showed throughout the meal that he was quite willing to talk to Celeste and also share affection publicly with his daughter. Not only that, he was willing to accept these things from her.
Severus was not used to these sorts of public displays of affection and felt a nudge of jealousy, perhaps the desire to have parents who acted proudly and affectionately with him. It seemed to be the norm for this family to behave this way.
He had never really gotten to know Lily's parents. They had always been polite to him, but he always had the feeling they disapproved of him somehow. Was Celeste's family the norm for pureblood families? Was this how they behaved usually towards each other? Or was it just that Celeste fell into the category of a child who had been both wanted and planned?
When Celeste accidentally knocked over her glass, Mr. Fairstone did not scold her but cleaned up the mess for her. Severus could see that Celeste was horribly embarrassed. Mr. Fairstone gave her a pat on the back and then grinned at her.
This relieved Celeste's embarrassment and allowed everyone to laugh about it, even Celeste. It was at this time that Mr. Fairstone noticed that Severus had been watching them intently, but also that he had not participated a lot in the conversations around the table.
"You do not say much. Does the meal not suit you?" questioned Mr. Fairstone.
"Perhaps it is we old folk who are not interesting," one of the men seated at the table commented, grinning at the three youngest members at the table.
Severus felt a knot form in his stomach because of Mr. Fairstone's intense gaze. Severus kept his face calm, even though on the inside he feared he might say the wrong thing and offend them.
"I like the company and the meal," he began. "I am glad to be here, sir," he answered to Mr. Fairstone. "Thank you for allowing me to be friends with your daughter and attend this prestigious event," he added hastily.
Lily made a noise and Severus glanced at her, it appeared she was fighting to keep from grinning, maybe even laughing. Had he said something amusing, he wondered? Severus glanced back over at Celeste who was blushing and glancing timidly at him, then her father.
"I suppose my daughter has relayed the details of my rules regarding young men?" Mr. Fairstone commented in a serious voice.
"Yes, sir. Celeste told Lily and me about that," Severus answered.
"Do you think it is a good rule?" Mr. Fairstone pressed.
Severus opened his mouth, ready to agree for the sake of pleasing Mr. Fairstone, but then realized to agree would mean he, Severus, should not be friends with Celeste. This was a clever riddle, an unanswerable question.
"John, you shouldn't drag the children into one of your debates. It's highly unfair, considering the question you are asking him," Mrs. Fairstone commented strictly.
"I thought it sounded pretty reasonable," Mr. Fairstone replied, grinning at his wife mischievously.
"I think this is embarrassing now … shouldn't I have a say in this debate?" Celeste complained.
"You have," Severus announced smoothly before her father could reply. Everyone was surprised by his comment, they stared at him with curious expectation.
"So, apparently he does have some kind of answer to my question," Mr. Fairstone allowed, eyeing Severus suspiciously. "Well, come on, explain yourself," he added.
"I am here as Celeste's friend and guest. That would tell me that you are not above adjustments to a rule you have made regarding her and me as friends. That would suggest you are willing to negotiate the friendship rule you have put into place," he explained. "So I cannot say your rule is wrong, since you are clearly allowing me to be friends with her. I agree with the rule because you have modified it to suit what you feel is appropriate, sir," he added smoothly.
Mr. Fairstone raised an eyebrow and almost everyone around the table looked quite dumbfounded by Severus' comments. A couple of moments passed and then something strange happened.
Mrs. Fairstone and Lily became thoroughly amused and began to laugh. Slowly the laughter rippled around the table and everyone was chuckling except for Celeste and Severus.
"Did I say something funny?" Severus whispered to Celeste. She did not appear to know and apparently did not find it amusing either.
Mr. Fairstone ruffled Celeste's curly hair, which seemed to represent a gesture of affection for her father. Severus could tell Celeste was starting to not like it very much.
"Alright, I think it's time for dessert. I'm sure that is something everyone can agree on," Mr. Fairstone allowed. Nobody appeared to need to debate that statement.
A cart was brought forward to the table after Mr. Fairstone made a gesture towards the side of the room. The table was magically cleared off and the little cart zipped away, filled with the plates and glasses they had just used.
A moment later another cart rolled up beside their table and stopped; it was laden with all sorts of exotic-looking desserts. Severus had never seen such things and the variety of them was quite astonishing.
"Wow, I've never seen so many, even at Hogwarts," Lily announced.
Celeste had already leapt to her feet. She appeared to know exactly what she wanted and picked it up off the second shelf. It was some sort of round pastry covered in apples with a lurid green sauce and a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream.
"What is that?" Severus asked, staring at it longingly.
"You can try it if you want," Celeste offered, grinning at him rather deviously. "Pick one and you can have half mine. We always share. Mom always lets me try some of hers," she added.
Severus stood up to investigate the cart, following Lily who had already made a move to check it out more closely.
"They all look so pretty, I almost hate to eat them," Lily commented, smiling as she made her choice. She picked some sort of chocolate cake covered in a thick sparkling cream.
Severus studied the desserts as Lily sat down. He was quite unsure what to try.
"What do you like, dear?" Mrs. Fairstone questioned. She had come over to choose for herself and Mr. Fairstone had just asked her to just pick something for him.
"I don't know," he commented sheepishly. "It doesn't really matter," he added, watching her curiously. She smiled at him and began to point out and explain what each dessert was and whether she thought it was good or not.
Something about the way she spoke reminded Severus of Celeste, something about the nose was familiar as well. He thought idly that if Celeste was as pretty as her mother, no boy in the school would be able to ignore her or think she was annoying, not even him.
"Would you pick for me, please, Mrs. Fairstone?" he asked quietly, not wanting the others to hear.
She gave him a very kind glance and looked over the cart once more, then chose something for him. She gave the plate over to him and Severus felt rather thrilled about the whole thing; at least he was making a good impression on Celeste's mother.
He sat down beside Celeste, his expression quite smug as he stared at the lovely dessert in front of him. It appeared to be some kind of cake with strawberries and red sauce. It was very pretty, as Lily had described the desserts, but he had no problem digging into it.
It was very good and he had nothing to say as he took another mouthful of cake.
"Oh my, this is delicious," Lily gushed as she was halfway through her dessert. Celeste had not made a comment at all. She was happily eating up hers and had a blissful expression on her face that was rather charming. When she noticed Severus was watching her she offered to let him try her dessert but he declined, seeing that she was enjoying it more than he cared to try it.
Everyone at the table was absorbed in their own desserts, so when what sounded like an argument broke out at a table on the far side of the room, it took them all a moment to realize it.
"Those Egyptians are determined to have that mummy on their team, aren't they? I thought we made ourselves clear about this issue months ago," one of the committee members at the table said grumpily.
Everyone in the room had turned their attention to the area where the argument had erupted. Severus could not exactly see, but he noticed something odd was in the room. Was that a mummy, he wondered? His view was obstructed and he only caught a fleeting glance of it. Many people had stood up and were joining in arguing; it seemed to be a heated disagreement now among everyone.
A sudden movement beside Severus caused him to turn to Celeste. She had made a very odd sound and stood up abruptly like something had happened to her. If Severus had not known any better, he would have said she was terrified. Her face had gone completely white and she was staring in the direction of the argument. Had she seen the same thing he did, Severus wondered?
"Celeste!" John growled.
Severus had no idea what was going on or why Mr. Fairstone had yelled. Mrs. Fairstone grabbed hold of Celeste and for some reason was forcing Celeste to leave the room.
Celeste acted as if she did not want to leave, but Mr. Fairstone had now joined his wife and both were practically dragging her out. Not too many people had noticed because the argument was apparently much more interesting.
"What happened?" asked Lily worriedly. She was the only other person to actually pay attention to the Fairstones' hasty exit.
"No idea," Severus replied.
"Should we go with them?" Lily wondered, sounding worried.
All the committee members had left the table. They headed over to the area where the loudest voices in the argument were, so this left Lily and him alone at the table. The argument did not interest him as much as what was going on with Celeste and her parents.
"Yes," Severus agreed.
He and Lily both headed away in the direction the Fairstones had gone. They hurried along, attempting to find Celeste and her parents. They had to walk all the way back to the arena, since Mr. and Mrs. Fairstone had made their way to the other end of the arena and stopped there.
Severus was very surprised by what he found when he and Lily drew nearer. Celeste was crying quite adamantly and he could not understand a word she was saying to her parents. Mrs. Fairstone was on her knees, hugging Celeste in an attempt to make her stop.
When he saw Severus and Lily, Mr. Fairstone glowered at them and then he stalked by, intending to make his way back to the dining area.
"John -"
"Just stay here, Rachel. I have to go help, I am a committee member," he commented without looking back. Once he was gone, Severus and Lily moved closer to Celeste and her mother.
Severus had no idea what had caused Celeste to become so emotional, it frankly scared him a little. She was exuberant and outgoing, but this did not seem normal for her. He had seen her cry over a broken arm, but this seemed very different to him.
Celeste after a moment had calmed herself, but she looked quite worn and unhappy to him.
"Is everything alright? What happened?" Lily asked, her voice filled with concern.
"Just a little fright … that's all," Mrs. Fairstone said gently, pulling Celeste back out of the hug to stare into her daughter's face. "Just scared, but you're alright now, aren't you?" she pressed. "Celeste, talk to me … you are alright now."
"I'm alright, Mama," Celeste replied meekly and nodded. She turned her face towards Severus and Lily, staring at them intently.
Severus knew she was not alright and he could see it in her eyes that she was not alright.
He did remember at the beginning of the year the rumors had passed about that Celeste was afraid of ghosts. Severus had even seen evidence of her avoiding the ghosts: she would usually give them a wide path if they were passing in the corridor.
Severus had never given much thought to it, but now he thought she really was scared of ghosts. Mummies were the bodies of the dead who had been preserved and reanimated by a curse. A mummy was usually considered far worse than an Inferius because a mummy had the ability to remember itself and who it had been in life.
"So I take it a mummy is excluded from competing in the tournament," said Severus in an offhand manner as he took a couple more steps closer to Celeste and her mother.
Neither Mrs. Fairstone nor Celeste answered him, so he continued.
"That is logical, considering they are not really alive and would not feel pain like a normal person would," he commented. "Plus they are brought back with a magical curse. If it was allowed, that would mean a country could go out and find the best dead duelers on the planet and bring them back … which doesn't seem quite fair, does it?" he went on.
"The creature was not supposed to attend. How it got in, I have no idea. They made that clear months ago, it's been a rule for ages," Mrs. Fairstone said heatedly. "Their team should be kicked out for causing such a disruption," Mrs. Fairstone insisted.
Mrs. Fairstone stood and took Celeste by the hand, eventually leading her up into the seating area of the arena. She sat Celeste down on the top row. Lily and Severus had followed, not knowing what else to do at this point.
"I am going to check and make sure that it is safe for us to return inside. Will both of you stay here with Celeste for me?" Mrs. Fairstone asked.
"Of course," Lily answered immediately.
Mrs. Fairstone headed down, leaving Severus and Lily with Celeste.
Severus wanted an explanation to all of this nonsense and why Celeste had behaved the way she did. Lily moved in to sit down beside Celeste, which left Severus standing beside them in the aisle.
"Do you mind telling us what this is all about?" Severus asked, once he was sure Mrs. Fairstone was well away and not able to hear.
"I'd rather not," Celeste replied softly, her cheeks coloring.
"Celeste, it's okay if you are scared of something. We will not think badly of you if you are scared of a mummy or ghosts," Lily said gently. "Everyone is scared of something," she added.
"I can't help what happened," she breathed, her voice sounding very strange to Severus. "It's not that simple either, I feel so stupid. I look like a coward and it's pretty easy to just say I am one, isn't it? That I'm scared of - of -" she muttered.
"That's not what I mean, Celeste," Lily insisted.
"Would you like us to go hex the mummy?" Severus pondered. "It's just one mummy. If a room full of dueling wizards can't handle him, then we're in serious trouble, aren't we?" he suggested.
Celeste just stared at him blankly.
"We could vanish all his bandages, then he'd be a nude mummy. Wait … would that mean he is still a mummy if he doesn't have bandages, or would that make him just an Inferius?" Lily commented.
Severus snorted at Lily's attempt at humor. Celeste tried to scowl, but the edge of her mouth began to turn up.
"That's just what we need on Hogwarts grounds, isn't it? Not only is the mummy wanting to duel, he's nude as well," Severus allowed, realizing that Lily was trying to distract Celeste by making her laugh. "I'm sure that would be quite an attraction for everyone - the naked dueling mummy from Egypt!"
"The Corpse from Cairo!" added Lily. She was fighting hard not to laugh while waving her arms as if to welcome a performer on stage.
"The Flashing Pharaoh!" exclaimed Severus, pretending to cover his eyes.
Celeste and Lily both began to laugh very boisterously. He was not sure whether his comments were all that funny, but at least they both were happy again.
Severus sat down in the empty spot beside Celeste as the two girls finished their laughing. Once they finished, both girls gave a sigh; the mood had been lightened a little because of his remarks. He was not usually taken to making ridiculous statements, but apparently it worked in this instance.
"I knew you could be silly if you tried," Lily allowed, grinning at him.
"Obviously it's not hard to be ridiculous," said Severus evenly.
Celeste leaned towards him, laying her head against his arm.
Lily blinked and stared at them oddly, though she did not look any more surprised than Severus. He worried nervously what Lily would think and tried to pretend indifference to Celeste's show of affection.
"Thank you, Severus. You are a good friend, even if we don't always agree," Celeste said, sounding very serious. "I didn't mean to ruin the meal for either of you … I'm sorry," she apologized.
"I believe the meal was already interrupted by the argument. I wouldn't worry about it. It doesn't exactly seem to be your fault in any case," Severus commented, continuing to glance over at Lily who had an expression he could not read. She was studying Celeste and him very intently.
"It wasn't your fault, Celeste. Like Severus said, don't worry about it," said Lily. "Let's not even think about it any more. We'll talk about something else," she suggested.
A moment of silence passed as Lily appeared to be considering an idea for them to discuss. Perhaps the fact that Celeste's head was on his arm also made the situation a little awkward. Severus watched Lily's face brighten a moment before she began to speak.
"You haven't even told us about the duels yet, Celeste, or what we're going to see tomorrow. How do they work? I know there are teams, but what do they do exactly?" Lily prompted in an attempt to change the subject.
Celeste slowly sat back up away from Severus. She looked as though she were glad to think about something else. If anything, Severus knew Celeste loved to answer questions and explain things at length.
"There are all different kinds of dueling events," Celeste began. "Basic duels are usually done first. That's for beginners, but the higher ups will do them too. Sometimes it's just for an exhibition. They can be interesting when it's done for show and not points," she went on. "There are also Basic duels for each team during the year. It's done for points and to qualify you for the tournament. All that goes on the year before at the monthly events. So what you'll see at this tournament is everyone that has qualified from the previous year, sort of the best of the best."
"Basic is where the event is one wizard against another, isn't it?" Severus asked. He had read up a little on the events in The Daily Prophet, but he was sure Celeste would be able to elaborate more on the events, considering her father was on the committee.
"Yes, it's just one on one. You stand in the arena and face the other wizard. The teams will negotiate before the event what spells are allowed, how far away they are from each other when they turn and how many hits to win. The simplest is usually three hits, best out of three is the winner. They can do more and depending on who is in the duel would determine how fancy they want to make it," Celeste explained.
"Then there are the Team events. This can be the whole team or just a few members. There are three different events a team can enter in: Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. Advanced Freeform is one of my favorites, it's a kind of anything goes round. The team will simply battle each other, last one standing is the winner. Then everyone will get points on how well they did. So you can still do pretty well even if you get knocked out."
"What spells are allowed?" Lily asked curiously.
"That's usually determined before the match begins. I really like it when they can apparate, but the rules are announced before each match so we'll know when they start exactly how it's going to go," answered Celeste.
"My favorite event is the Advanced Obstacle Duels. The arena will have walls and water and all sorts of things you can hide behind and use in your battle. The Beginner level is usually pretty funny because that's new members," Celeste said and gave a laugh. "The Advanced are the experienced members and it can be very exciting watching them move around the arena. It can almost be like a dance when they're all fighting."
"It sounds much more exciting than I thought. I just figured they'd stand in the arena and shoot spells at each other till one fell down," Lily said and then laughed. "I suppose I should have read more about it," she added.
"Tomorrow at the first match you'll get a program," she informed. "It's got pictures and tells you all about the matches and history, who's who and all kind of information about the events and what goes on. My dad is in the program; he has a picture with the committee and they have some old photos of past champions," Celeste said proudly.
"Do you think he'll autograph it for us?" Lily prompted mischievously.
"I can get you a bunch if you want," Celeste offered.
"It sounds like you're back to normal," said Mr. Fairstone's voice. They had not seen or heard him approach because he had come up behind them. They all turned to see him standing in one of the doorways to exit the arena.
"Come along, I'm going to walk you three back to the castle," he said, waiting for them to get up.
Severus, Celeste and Lily stood and moved to follow him.
"We don't get to finish our dessert?" Celeste asked, sounding disappointed.
"The committee has decided to go ahead and deal with this situation before it gets too far out of hand. So we're going to have a meeting in here tonight with all the teams to discuss this mess," he explained. "I want to make sure you three are back in the castle safely."
"Where is Mom?" Celeste asked worriedly.
"The argument became a little heated and another player got into a scuffle with the mummy … nothing serious, but your mother is helping him."
"Nothing serious?" Celeste repeated, not quite sure it sounded like nothing serious to her.
"Just a scratch, nothing major, everything is fine. The mummy has been escorted away and we'll not be seeing it any more," said Mr. Fairstone in a tone that meant there would be no more discussion of the mummy.
Once they got up to the castle, Mr. Fairstone followed them inside.
"Goodnight, Daddy," Celeste offered meekly. Mr. Fairstone reached out and pulled her towards him, squeezing her against his side. Celeste accepted the affection quite willingly.
"Goodnight, munchkin. Go on now, go to bed," Mr. Fairstone said gently, letting her go and heading back out of the castle.
"I think I have a crush on your dad," Lily commented as they headed to the main staircase.
Celeste smiled wistfully as they stopped at the bottom of the staircase. Both girls turned to stare at Severus since he really did not have to follow them any further.
Severus was not sure what to say to them, especially after Lily had said she thought she had a crush on Celeste's father. Was she joking? He really wanted to know if it was true because if it was, that meant Mr. Fairstone was the kind of man she liked.
"Are you alright?" Lily asked him, since he had not said anything and was just staring at them.
"Yes," he answered. "I have to go to the dungeons," he stated awkwardly, as he was unsure what else to say.
"Goodnight, Severus," Celeste offered very sweetly. Lily was grinning quite deviously as she glanced from Celeste to him. He had no idea what that was about.
"Night, Sev," Lily offered in a similar tone to Celeste's. Now he knew she was attempting to be silly.
"Goodnight, you two silly girls," he said stiffly, not liking that it felt as if he were being teased.
The two girls headed on up the stairs and he waited until they were gone before he headed down to his own bed. His mind was fixating on one thing: Lily had admitted to having a crush on Celeste's father. Severus would have to watch the man closely tomorrow to figure out what it was that made Lily feel this way.
