Disclaimer: I own nothing apart from any original characters and plot. Be prepared to kiss canon goodbye *insert evil laughter here*
Into the Abyss
Chapter Seventeen
The Siblings and The Rivalry
"Alright, Dobby, repeat to me what I just told you" Celeste said. Her fingers pinched the bridge of her nose as she stared down at the family house elf. The small creature nodded, the action causing his floppy ear to move with the action and his wide glassy eyes were filled with determination.
"Celeste Malfoy want Dobby to…take it easy…" The house elf repeated slowly.
Celeste smiled "Go on" the girl encouraged. Dobby swallowed, fingers twitching as his posture swayed and having known the house elf her entire life, the blonde knew the signs and quickly placed her hands over Dobby's on.
"Celeste Malfoy does not want Dobby to punish himself"
Celeste smiled in response; a soft sigh left her lips as she gave Dobby's fingers a light squeeze. The bandages wrapped around his thin fingers were already starting to grey, it was a botched job on the house elf's part, but the creature refused to let Celeste help him.
Turning slowly as to not frighten Dobby, Celeste reached into her bedside table and pulled out a roll of bandage tape. She kept it there especially for the house elf for Celeste knew that her parents were reluctant to tend to the injuries they themselves ordered Dobby to act out- and on himself no less.
Celeste found the whole thing cruel. Inhumane.
"Let me re-bandage these for you" Celeste whispered. Dobby is hesitant, but at Celeste's smile of encouragement he shakily places his hands into Celeste's own. She is quick to unravel the old bandages and is gentle when applying anti-septic to the wounds to clean them. There are a few splinters stuck in them, and Celeste is given silent confirmation into why the drawing room cabinet sports a child sized dent.
"Dobby is proud to serve the Malfoy's" He tells her.
Celeste pauses "I know; you are a wonderful house elf but the way my parents treat you is most unkind…"
Suddenly, Dobby looks afraid, with wide eyes he wrenches his hands from Celeste's grip as he clutches the sides of his head as if in pain. She watches horrified as Dobby begins to pace about the room whilst muttering to himself.
"Dobby has upset Celeste Malfoy!" He wailed "Dobby must punish-"
At this, Celeste darts upright. Searching for the first thing to restrain the house-elf, the blonde pulls the blanket from her large bed and throws it over the house-elf before he even has a chance to bash his head against her dresser.
Quickly, Celeste hauls Dobby into her arms as if he is a baby wrapped in swaddling cloth and ignores his flailing limbs.
"Dobby, you know you're upsetting me right now" She knows its cruel to play with his own twisted logic and desperation to please his masters, but Celeste knows that it's the only way to get Dobby to stop hurting himself.
Instantly, the house elf stops squirming and his small limbs stiffen. After a few tense moments, Celeste places Dobby onto her bed and resists the urge to coo at him as his wide eyes peek out through the gab in the blankets.
It reminds her of that strange film Natsu tried to make her watch about a group of children trying to reunite an alien child with its mother.
"Please look after yourself while I am not here" Celeste whispers. "I know I have not been the best master to you…but I would really like it if we could be friends"
"Dobby has never…had a friend"
Celeste smiles, it fades the instant Dobby begins to wail. The blonde quickly gets up to retrieve a handkerchief, but she pauses once she hears Dobby loudly blowing his nose. To her shock, the house-elf is using the pillowcase he wears as clothing as a handkerchief.
….
They arrived outside of Kings Cross seconds later, Draco is brimming with excitement as he loads his trunk onto a cart. His new eagle owl, Bubo screeched in distaste at having his cage moved and hissed at anyone who even dared to breath near him.
"Such an entitled thing" Celeste muttered as she gently placed Loke on top of her cart. The ginger tabby was rather mild mannered and prowled slowly in his cage.
"You're just jealous that you're stuck with a cat whereas I got my own owl" Draco boasted. Bubo- the little demon chirped in agreement.
"Draco, it isn't nice to boast" Narcissa scolded before turning to Celeste "If you want an owl Celeste, your father and I would be happy to-"
"It's fine mother, really" Celeste interrupted quickly. Upon noticing the confused looks on her parents faces she adds "I would not be able to do much with an owl anyway and Loke is a handful is it is"
They leave the discussion as that and Celeste is grateful. Besides, imagine the looks she would get if she had not one but two familiars. It is not as if it is unheard of, but the other students would most likely peg it as a cry for attention.
Besides, I have enough eyes on me as it is…
"Be sure to be wary of just who you associate with, Draco" Her father says. His voice is low to avoid others listening in, but from her spot walking beside her mother, Celeste can hear clearly.
"And remember there is only one house we want you in"
"Just what house are you in Celeste?" Draco asks with a smirk.
Resisting the urge to roll her eyes she responds "A house which values intelligence, something you cannot understand"
"Hey-" Draco exclaims.
"Celeste, be nice to your brother" Narcissa scolds before turning to Draco before he even has the chance to gloat "And Draco, be nice to your sister- she is at the top of all her classes, lets hope you can do the same"
"Yes mother" The boy mutters.
"Ah Lucius, we were hoping to bump into you here!"
Celeste smiles at the sight of Mr Diggory, beside him are his wife and Cedric. Ever the social butterflies, her parents quickly greet the other adults.
"Ah and Draco is finally joining his sister for Hogwarts- we just spotted the Weasley's didn't we dear" Mr Diggory momentarily paused in his tirade as his wife nods "- And you never guess what we heard, Harry Potter is also starting this year too"
"My, that is something" Her father drawls with interest "Perhaps it was fortunate that Narcissa forbade me from sending Draco abroad"
Mr Diggory chuckled at this "Ah, we don't want to see our children apart from us for too long now do we?" He asked before he turned his attention to Celeste.
"And look at you, Celeste, my you're looking more like your mother by the day- I'm sure your poor father has his hands full of suitors"
Celeste blushed, her fingers twisting into her robes "Um, nothing like that has happened Sir"
"Well our Celeste is too focused on her studies to focus on suitors" Her father added.
At this Mr Diggory beamed "Sounds like our Cedric, he's far too focused on schoolwork and quidditch to even think about getting a girlfriend, besides there's only one he has his eye on-"
"Dad" Cedric whined; cheeks flushed as he quickly averted his gaze from Celeste.
The loud whistle from the train alerted the group to cut their conversation short and the Diggory's politely excused themselves to say their goodbyes to Cedric in private.
"My, he is a chatty one isn't he" Her mother muttered with a grimace before quickly turning back to the children. "Look after your brother, Celeste"
"I don't need looking after" Draco said in annoyance.
"Do not associate with the wrong sort" Her father adds "You too, Celeste"
"We will see you at Christmas" Her mother whispered before wrapping her arms around Celeste.
….
It did not surprise Celeste the slightest once her brother had been sorted into Slytherin, the entirety of his new house erupted into cheers and the blonde heiress watched sullenly as Draco was welcomed with firm handshakes into the house. She felt a stab to her gut once Marcus Flint, someone she had once called a friend, firmly shook her younger brothers' hand, and muttered something to the boy. Celeste watched sullenly as her brother took a seat between the older boy and Vincent Crabbe.
Celeste mused that it was inevitable – he was a Malfoy after all and not some strange recycled soul shoved into the body of a pureblood heiress. Celeste knew that she could never- would never- play the part her parents wanted. But Draco, he was groomed for this. Associating with the likes of Flint and Pucey would only succeed in further cementing ideals their parents had preached to them. Ideals that Celeste was all too proud to reject.
It was probably why she was so overlooked. She was the Malfoy anomaly.
I should not even be here…
Her thoughts came to a standstill once Cho jabbed her firmly in the side, her habit of falling deep into thought had garnered her the nickname of 'spacehead' something Cho thought she was particularly clever for, considering the origins of her name.
"Spacing out again?" Cho whispered. The sorting ceremony was still commencing and a girl with the surname of 'Patil' was promptly sorted into Gryffindor. Across the Ravenclaw table, Celeste spotted the other Patil twin long lily watch her sister get eagerly accepted into the Gryffindor's brood. Must have been tough to get separated like that.
"Just a little" Celeste whispered back; her gaze flickered the Patil girl- Pavarti- Celeste thought with a slight frown. She was a pretty thing, with long dark hair and deep brown eyes. Even her skin, a rick caramel colour was perfect.
"Try not to worry, we share a lot of our classes with Gryffindor in our first year"
Pavarti blinked, and meekly tucked errant strands of dark hair behind her ears. "Was I that obvious?" She asked quietly.
Celeste smiled in reassurance "Try to think of it this way- now that you and your sister are in separate houses, you can work on gaining individual identities"
"I suppose" The girl muttered quietly "We always are- were together…it will be strange being apart now"
Celeste's thoughts wondered to Fred and George, perhaps if one of them had been sorted into a different house, would their bond be as strong as it was currently? The two were rarely seen apart, they were a pair and everyone in Hogwarts knew it. However, Celeste wondered if that had its own advantages. Since they were so close, those not in their circle did not bother to get to know them as individuals.
Merlin, Celeste wondered if anyone could tell them apart.
Can I tell them apart?
….
With all His and George's teasing, it came to no surprise that his youngest brother, Ron had made it into Gryffindor. He remembered the look of relief flashes across Ron's freckled face once the old sorting hat bellowed out his new house and eagerly, he took his seat next to his newest friend. Harry Potter.
He and many of his housemates had spoken to the boy, but even days after the sorting ceremony had ended, student after student wanted to 'congratulate' the boy. Fred felt second-hand anger at the boy's expense. He saw the look of awkwardness in those eyes, the way the boy folded into himself when, yet another student bounded into his personal space. So, taking pity on the boy, he dragged George over and pounced straight into the circle of students preventing the boy from entering the Great Hall.
"Alright, alright, shows over kids!" Fred declared. His voice was loud enough without the sonorous spell, but he cast it anyway for added effect. The students crowding the boy, cringed in response, the sound caused most of them to bolt, but the more stubborn ones would soon be taken care of.
"Nothing to see 'ere!" George added equally loudly as he slung his arms over Harry's shoulders and proceeded to cart him inside the hall. Fred and Ron- the latter having been trying to valiantly protect his friend from his eager fanbase- followed behind.
"Thanks for that guys" Harry said gratefully "Though it was a bit loud"
Fred grinned at the younger boy "All in a day's work"
"Think you burst my eardrum" Ron muttered as he rubbed at his ear.
"Your fine, Ronnikins" Fred told the boy as he took his usual seat at the Gryffindor table. His brother grumbled at the nickname but said nothing as he buttered his toast like it had done something to him. Lee, Alicia, Angelina and their new friend and fellow team member, Katie, were already sat there. Katie eagerly made more space for George to sit down next to her.
"So how are you finding Hogwarts, boys?" Alicia asked once everyone had relaxed.
Instantly, Harry's eyes lit up "I think it's amazing"
"Well not everything" Ron grumbled after swallowing his toast "Potions sucks"
"Ah, Snape" Fred shuddered.
"The greasy git hates anyone who isn't a Slytherin" George grumbled "It's even worse if you're a Gryffindor"
"That isn't true" Angelina said thoughtfully "He's awfully nice to Celeste- well nice enough and she's a Ravenclaw"
"Really?" Ron asked with interest "What did she do to crack him?"
"Well doing your homework on time usually helps" A new voice piped up. Fred turned round to see the blonde stood directly behind him, a kind smile on her face as she held a stack of loose papers in her arms.
"What you got there, Celster, love letters to your suitors?" George asked with interest. The blonde giggled.
"I wish- these are corrections to your lot's Potions assignments" The blonde said.
Ron's eyes widened with disbelief "You do Potions corrections – why?"
Celeste hummed in thought, she tapped her index finger against her chin with a smile.
"Partly for fun, partly because I want to give everyone a fighting chance against Professor Snape and partly because I get paid with Fizzing Whizbees"
Ron nodded, though his eyes did not stray from the blonde- Fred mused that Celeste just had that effect on people.
"You drive a hard bargain, Cel" Fred chuckled as he fished a handful of Fizzing Whizbees from his pocket and handed them to the blonde. Her eyes greedily lit up at the sight and Fred was reminded with the look Ron had when he saw the welcome feast for the first time.
After accepting her payment from the Gryffindors, Celeste handed back the Potions assignments. Her attention then turned to the youngest redhead who was staring openly at her.
"I do not believe we have met" the blonde said, "My name's Celeste" She offered his younger brother a smile.
"Oh- Ron.."
"Pleasure to meet you, Ron" She turned to look at Harry and her expression shifted to surprise, "And you- you fixed your glasses, did you manage to figure out the charm on your own?"
Harry shook his head "No, a girl on the train, she er, she fixed them for me"
"How lucky for you, and I heard that you managed to make it onto the team this year- no one has done that for over one-hundred years" Her expression was that of curiosity and Fred chuckled at the sight. Celeste had always been one to try and figure things out as if they were some sort of puzzle and right now, the puzzle she was trying to figure out was just why a first year was allowed a spot on the team.
"That's because our Harry is that good" George piped up, instantly pausing whatever internal questions had been running around the blonde's eyes.
"Brought tears to Wood's eyes, he did" Fred added which had Celeste smiling.
"I wish I could have seen that" Celeste added wistfully. "He's always so stiff"
Fred snorted at the pun and Celeste smiled, a pretty shade of red formed on her cheeks at the attention.
"Having a last meal, Potter?"
The disdain tinged words caused all inhabitants of the table to turn. There stood a small boy with platinum hair and strangely enough, he was flanked by two much larger boys who looked less like first years and more like trolls. Fred knew who this boy was. He had an almost identical appearance to his father right down to the sneer etched onto his features. Almost simultaneously to the boy's arrival, Fred spotted both Ron and Harry stiffen as if gearing themselves up for a fight.
"You're a lot braver, now you're on the ground without your friends" Harry said coolly. At this the two trolls cracked their knuckles- it would have been funny if it were not for the look of horror on Celeste's face.
"I'll take you on your own" Said the blonde boy, his chin tilted upwards as if he could not stand the sight to look at any of them "Tonight, if you want. Wizards duel- wands only-"
"No, you won't" Celeste seethed, hands on hips as she stared down at the boy- her brother and made the picture of an irate mother scolding their child.
"Let him finish, Celeste- I want to know his terms" Harry piped up, looking more determined than ever.
The blond sneered, "What's the matter?" Malfoy asked, a smirk forming at how blank Harry's face looked "Never heard of a wizard's duel before, how pathetic"
"Course he has!" Ron piped up as he abruptly stood beside Harry "I'm his second- who's yours?"
"Draco…" Celeste hissed in warning, her voice slipped lower as if in a promise of a threat to come and for a moment, Malfoy looked scared. "Don't you dare-"
The blond turned between his two cronies before a smirk formed "Crabbe" He said finally "We'll meet in the trophy room at midnight- it's always unlocked"
With a final sniff as if he had grown tired of being in the presence of Gryffindors, the blond marched away. His cronies gave one last glare before walking away with heavy footed steps.
"Well, I suppose you two are happy" Celeste hissed at the first years before she too abruptly turned and stormed off- most likely after her brother to talk some sense into him.
"What's her problem?" Ron asked with a frown.
"Did you not see the two of them, Ron- the hair- the pale vampire like skin" Fred said, his arms waving as if to further demonstrate his point. Noticing Ron's blank stare, Fred sighed.
"Malfoy and Celeste are brother and sister" George said, deciding to take pity on his youngest brother.
"What- her and him- she actually lives with that?" Ron spluttered in shock. Noticing Harry's reaction- or lack of, Ron whirled round to his friend and pointed an accusatory finger at him.
"You knew!"
Harry shrugged "It wasn't important, not like the wizard duel" At this, Ron's look of shock vanished as he dragged Harry to sit down and promptly explained the ins and outs of duelling to the bewildered boy.
"Excuse me" A high pitched and nasally voice loudly interjected.
"We're kinda in the middle of something" Ron told the girl, a frown of annoyance etched onto his features at having been interrupted, beside him Harry stared blankly at the one who had interrupted them. A bushy haired brunette with large front teeth.
"I couldn't help but here what you and Malfoy were saying" The girl said, blatantly ignoring the looks of annoyance that her fellow first years sent her, "And you mustn't go wandering around the school at night, just think of the points you could lose when you're caught. It's awfully selfish of you"
Fred chuckled into his goblet, the sound went unheard by the boys, but the girl whirled round to face him before promptly turning back to the younger boys. Fred himself did not care much about house points; they could be easily earned back with the Quidditch Cup after all. Points to him were taken just as easy as they were given.
"It's really none of your business" Harry told her – his blunt tone had Fred chocking on his pumpkin juice – who knew the boy had it in him.
"You can go now" Ron added in a dismissive tone.
The girl looked as if she wanted to speak further and if anyone let her, she probably would.
….
It did not take too long for Celeste to catch up to her brother and his friends- she was not even sure she could call them that. The way they seemed to constantly flank her brother; they were acting more like guards than anyone else. She spotted the three of them lounging beneath the large oak tree many students liked to use as a gossiping spot and at the sight of her, all three boys wore different expressions. Vincent Crabbe gave a light wave; Gregory Goyle gave a light nod and Draco…well, her brother scowled at her before storming towards her.
"What in Merlin's name was that?" The boy demanded.
Celeste unphased, quirked a brow "I should be asking you the same question, after all it is you who is running round instigating wizard duels"
Crabbe and Goyle paused, both boys used to defending Draco with their intimation tactics, mostly their sheer presence was enough, but what were they supposed to do when the one threatening their beloved leader was said leader's own sister?
Awkwardly both boys watched the siblings interchange.
"You can barely call it that- I could probably finish the both off myself" Draco boasted with a scoff.
Celeste sighed "Father will not be impressed when he hears about this" That seemed to do the trick, as Draco's previous boastful expression flickered to fear.
"Well, then I suppose I should tell him about what you've been doing in your spare time" Draco sneered "Helping those illiterate fools with their work, associating with those…Weasley's" At Celeste's expression of hurt her smirked "Flint told me all about you, Celeste- you're lucky our family reputation has saved you thus far"
"There are more important things, Draco" Celeste snapped. She could not believe how cold, how hurtful her brother sounded.
He sounds like…like father.
The boy scoffed "Just stay out of this Celeste, it's none of your business" The boy hissed. With that he turned and stormed off. There was a short moment of awkwardness when Crabbe and Goyle stared at her, their faces painted to identical looks of confliction.
"Go on" Celeste said with a dismissive tone. Instantly, both boys followed Draco, their heavy-footed steps echoed behind them.
….
Celeste had always been good with numbers. As Lucy, learning how to budget her savings, when to invest and how to manage between periods of little jobs, she was always on top of her finances. Which was why Arithmancy quickly became one of Celeste's favourite subjects- behind Charms of course.
Professor Vector did not sing her praises much like Professor Flitwick, no, the stern woman was always one to challenge her students with tricky equations and formulas. Without anyone to truly distract her…cough cough…the twins, Celeste was free to fully focus. The class was filled with majorly Ravenclaw's- being the lesson was filled with theory of numbers and predictions, this was a subject most people from this house naturally excelled in. There were a few Slytherins and, two Gryffindors and three Hufflepuffs.
Celeste sat at the back of the classroom, she shared her desk with both Cedric and his fellow Hufflepuff, a blonde named Penny Haywood.
"Malfoy"
Celeste perked up from scrawling down the number sequence Professor Vector had finished writing on the blackboard.
"I don't suppose you can give a crack at finding the purpose of this sequence" It was not posed as a question but a statement and judging by the way Professor Vector held the chalk in her hands, she was waiting for Celeste for to solve the sequence at the front of the board.
Slowly, the blonde nodded and bounded to the front of class. She took the chalk from Professor Vector's hand and stared at the numbers before her. She could practically feel all eyes on her, staring into her back, glaring at her. It was off-putting,
Celeste swallowed; her lids closed as she breathed in deeply.
"Each number is increased by seven and when used in conjunction with Bridget Wenlock's theory of seven being the most magical number-" " Celeste paused, quickly filling up the numbers "This equation serves as a enchantment for increasing the magical properties of any object it is written upon"
Impressed, Professor Vector nodded "Excellent, ten points to Ravenclaw" She declared before promptly ushering Celeste back to her seat. Feeling much more relaxed, the blonde headed back towards her table when a sudden bout of light headedness fell upon her. The blonde staggered, feeling rather disorientated as she paused midway in the classroom.
Please no… The girl thought worriedly, she certainly did not want any further attention on her.
She could barely hear Professor's Vector's concerned filled voice when Celeste let out a loud yelp of pain and crumpled to the floor. A burning sensation ran through her left hand- right where her guild mark had once been. It was sizzling as if someone had placed a red-hot iron right upon it.
She curled within a ball, but this only caused the sizzling sensation to spread throughout her body as if fire were dancing beneath her skin. Celeste clenched her eyes shut, yet a behind her closed lids she could see. She could see the makings of her magic circle.
This should not be happening! Celeste thought in a panic she could only use her old magic with the help of her celestial keys and even then, it never hurt.
A scream through tore her before the circle disappeared and Celeste's world faded to black.
….
After the incident, Professor Vector promptly dismissed her class for the day. Two of the students most familiar with Celeste- Cho Chang and Cedric Diggory, stayed behind much to the professor's protest. The professor gently checked the girl's airways – still breathing – the woman thought with a sigh of relief before quickly checking for any obvious signs of injury. Finding none, she cast a quick weightless charm on the student, and proceeded to levitate her towards the hospital wing.
Merlin, I do not get paid enough for this!
AN: Arghh! I always loved the altercation between Draco and Harry in the first book, kinda wish it was in a film too and just imagining Lucy/Celeste/ as an irate older sister seemed like a good idea at the time.
The information used in the Arithmancy class was mostly from Harry Potter Wiki. It seems like a such a cool class and it is kind of sad that the only information about it in the books is from Hermione. The idea of numbers having magical properties and when used in equations and sequences can be used to predict the future is bloody amazing! Anyway, let's forget my inner nerd for a moment _ an stay tuned for next chapter, where Celeste meets an old friend.
Question Time!
What is your Patronus? According to Pottermore, mine is a red squirrel, but if I could choose myself it would definitely be an octopus- they are my favourite animal.
Until next time!
….