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Into the Abyss

Chapter Twenty-two

Secrets

...

Of all the ways Celeste envisioned telling her friends about her magic, having them literally stumble upon it was not one of them. The blonde paled, eyes widened before she released a piercing shriek of alarm, arms flailing and giving the blonde the appearance of a banshee. Her outburst had George yelling, Loke staggering backwards and her poor cat, to dive beneath one of the stacked tables with an angry hiss.

Rubbing at his sore chin which had contacted the floor, Fred staggered upright.

A hand placed over her erratic beating heart as her shrieks subsided, Celeste turned on both boys. "What are you doing here?!" Celeste hissed.

"We're the ones asking the questions here, Malfoy. Merlin, you have a set of lungs on you-" Fred responded, as he dug his pinkie finger into his ear to remove the obstruction, he was certain was there. He spared the Celestial Spirit a glance, the latter was looking rather sheepish now. The celestial spirit did not consider either of the newcomers as threats to his master, but he knew an awkward situation when he saw one.

"Who's he?" George interjected before Fred had a chance to continue his tirade. His twin glared at him momentarily before turning back to Celeste. The blonde felt much like a naughty child caught in the act of stealing cookies before supper. She opened her mouth to speak before a thought crossed her mind…

"How did you know I was here?" Celeste asked carefully, "No one could possibly know my exact location…unless…" She paused as she began to prowl forward, mercury eyes narrowed as she glared at each of the boys in turn – "You have been spying on me"

"W-what!" George stammered out, he turned to Fred for assistance, but his twin looked just as confused, perhaps even guilty.

Celeste smirked. She had been grasping at straws, she would have accepted a half-baked excuse that the boys had just 'happened across' her secret training ground, but they had walked right into her trap.

She felt rather proud of herself.

"We don't know what you're on about, Cel" Fred said with indifference. Celeste released a light chuckle as she spied his rigid stance.

"I think you do" Celeste hissed, channelling every bit of her father's drawl into her words. It had the desired effect, as both boys stiffened at her tone. Perfect. "You seem to know where I am, whether it be in the kitchens or in a room…. I did not tell anyone else where I was…but here you both are"

"Look, Celeste, Fred and I…we were worried" George said quickly. Her turned t his twin, giving him a sharp elbow jab to the ribs which promptly got his brother speaking.

"We just wanted to know that you were alright!" Fred blurted out.

His outburst had all the inhabitants of the room stiffen. Celeste released a shaky breath as small smile formed upon her lips.

"I am fine. Really" Celeste told them earnestly "Maybe we should sit down…I will tell you everything"

"Alright-" Fred began before Celeste quickly interjected.

"But you have to tell me how you knew I was here"

There was a moments silence as the boys turned to one another, the pair seemed to have an entire silent conversation between themselves before they both nodded in unison. A clear indication that they had come to an agreement.

Celeste sat herself down on the floor, her legs folded neatly beneath her. George sat on the ground with his leg crossed Indian style, whilst Fred sat with his legs stretched out in front of him. Taking in a deep breath, the blonde reached for her belt and pulled out her celestial keys and held them up in front of her for both boys to see.

"These keys are magic"

….

One lengthy explanation later…

It was some time later that Celeste finished her explanation of her abilities. At first, Fred had wanted to laugh; thinking that the blonde that fabricated an entire prank to make up for all the times they had made fun of her for actually enjoying homework- but then seeing the sincerity on her face, that theory was thrown completely out of the window. The girl was sat sheepishly, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she fiddled with the set of keys in her hands.

She had not turned to look at them yet, and Fred mused that perhaps Celeste was waiting for them to collect their thoughts on the matter. But everyone had been silent far too long.

"You alright there, Cel?" Fred asked. Mercury eyes snapped up; her lips parted slightly as her fingers tightened on the keys. The boy- or the Celestial Spirit (was he ghost?) was sat some ways away from her, cast her a worried look. Fred still felt rather wary around the creature, the ghosts that he was used to did not look so…human.

"I should be asking you that" Celeste responded dryly, "I…is there anything you want to know?"

George shrugged, "Not me" Silently, he asked Fred to speak.

"Who else knows?" Fred asked. Celeste blinked.

"Who else?" Celeste repeated before she shrugged. "Just the two of you"

"Really. Not even pretty boy?" George asked with a teasing lilt. Celeste giggled as she shook her head.

"Not you too" Celeste said between giggles. She waited until her giggles subsided before continuing, "I thought about it, he is one of my closest friends. It's just…well, Cedric does not really like secrets"

"What? Does he get his knickers in a twist?" Fred asked with a dry chuckle. Celeste scowled.

"No. He finds them dishonest" Celeste snapped back as she folded her arms over her chest. The blonde gave the image of a mother looking down on naughty children. "I've shared mine, now you share yours"

"Alright" George said, he turned to Fred who brought out the parchment containing the Marauders Map and beckoned for Celeste to move in closer. Fred could already see the curiosity painted on her face as her eyes scanned at the parchment as if trying to figure out its secrets from sight alone.

"Is this it?" Celeste asked with a sniff.

"'Is this it' she says" Fred repeated with a chuckle.

"Just wait and see, Celeste" George told her. Fred pulled his wand out his pyjama trouser pocket, and both himself and George pointed their wands at the parchment.

"I solemnly swear, I'm up to no good"

The map came to life; the rooms, hallways and stairwells slowly appearing as if being drawn right before them. The boys already used to the map after having used it numerous times stared on in indifference. Celeste however, gasped in shock; the girl scrambled closer towards the map her eyes darting across the parchment as she spied what clearly was the castle printed out before them.

"Is this…us?" Celeste asked. She pointed a finger at the room labelled 'upper choir classroom' which had the names of all occupants of the room (minus Loke) scrawled in the room.

"The map shows everyone-" Fred said.

"And everything" George finished.

"Doesn't show animals though" Fred added as an afterthought, his gaze following Celeste's cat, Loke as he prowled towards the group and seated himself in Celeste's lap. The blonde gently stroked her fingers behind his ears.

"How did you find this?" Celeste asked.

"Stole it from Filches office" Fred said with a grin.

"First year" George added "We had to set off a dungbomb to distract him"

"Dungbomb- hang on- Cedric, Cho and I were there that day!" Celeste exclaimed "You stole the map then, didn't you?"

Fred shrugged, a proud grin on his face while George wore a sheepish smile "Better us than him, I say" Fred said, "Imagine old Filch with the map"

Celeste and George shuddered, both imagining Filch accompanied by Mrs. Norris, scouring the halls with the aid of the map, and hunting down every any student before they could even think of doing anything suspicious.

"Perhaps the both of you did the entirety of Hogwarts a service" Celeste said with a smile.

"S'pose. Just imagine what some tosser could do with this" George said.

"But who made such a thing- who could make such a thing" Celeste murmured out.

Fred beckoned Celeste closer and gestured towards the front of the now closed map, where she read the words scribed upon it reading:

Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs
Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers
are proud to present:
THE MARAUDER'S MAP"

"We figured that these Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs blokes must've made the map" Fred told her.

"They must have gone to Hogwarts too. There's no telling how old this map is" George added between a poorly disguised yawn. He shifted so he was leaning mostly onto Fred's shoulder, the latter scowled, but did nothing to move his brother.

Celeste found the sight sweet.

"So, this map shows everyone and everything…" Celeste repeated as she spotted the name 'Mavis Vermillion' slowly floating on the map. Beside her, the First watched with curiosity. She could not be seen by either of the boys but was surprised that their map could.

"So, uh…just where is this Mavis Vermillion, then?" Fred asked. His eyes darted round the room as if expecting the offending person to just jump right out at him.

"Must be some kind of ghost" George surmised through yet another yawn, and half-lidded eyes.

Celeste smiled sheepishly; she turned to face the First, the blonde ghost nodded in affirmation.

"In fact, she is" Celeste murmured, "She cannot be seen by those who aren't apart of the Fairy Tail guild," Celeste explained.

The boys looked rather dejected at this "Well, is she nice?" Fred asked

"Not some kind of poltergeist, is she?" George added with a shudder.

"No. She's nothing like Peeves" Celeste said with a smile "She is rather sweet. Extremely strict when it comes to my studies and training though" Celeste explained with a pout.

"Oh, so she's another 'you'" Fred teased. Celeste reddened and Mavis laughed.

"I like them" Mavis announced with a fond smile upon her lips. "We should keep them around" She added with a light giggle.

Celeste shook her head with disbelief, noticing her change in expression Fred inquired if Mavis had said anything. As they could neither see nor hear her, Celeste ended up being the de-facto translator between Mavis, Fred, and George. Both boys were in fact very eager to learn about what Mavis could and could not do compared to the ghosts who inhabited the Hogwarts castle. It turned out that since none of the ghosts could interact with her, Mavis spent most of her days scouring the school library in a bid to learn as much as she could about this new world.

The boys had joked that since she knew so much, maybe she could help them during exams. Before Mavis could accept or reject their offer, Celeste quickly scolded them.

The First was also eager to learn about the boys' inventions, after all the Fairy Tactician had a one-hundred-year-old prankster thirst to quench and she had stressed (with mock annoyance) how 'sensible' Celeste was. Both Fred and George were more than happy to include the ghost with their pranking's, and with her ability to go unseen by all the castles inhabitants – bar Celeste- there was a lot that she could get away with.

Before Celeste could even think about interjecting, Fred transfigured an empty chocolate frog wrapper into a piece of parchment and George retrieved a quill from his pyjama pockets and placed them on the floor to Mavis to use. Despite her stance on pranking, Celeste was rather happy that the First had someone other than herself to communicate with.

Though Mavis would never admit it, she was lonely.

There was no one other than Celeste herself that Mavis could truly talk to whenever she wanted at least now Fred and George knew about her, Mavis would have more friends.

Celeste shuddered at the antics they could potentially get up to. 'Just what have I started'

It was the early hours in the morning by the time all the teenagers had finished talking. Celeste was struggling to keep her eyes open, George was leaning heavily against Fred and drooling against his lap. The only person who was not tired was Mavis. Having sent Loke back to the celestial world hours ago, Celeste was starting to gain her magic back, but the blonde was still exhausted.

"I think I'm going to head back to the library" Mavis announced. She motioned to give her parchment and quill back to Fred, but he shook his head with a smile.

"It's yours, Mavis" Fred told her. He could not see the ghost exactly, but he knew her general direction thanks to her holding the items.

"Oh. Thank you" Mavis beamed.

"We can get you a notepad or something from Hogsmeade" Celeste suggested through a yawn. Fred nodded in agreement before leaning down to nudge George from his slumber. He mumbled something incoherent causing Fred to role his eyes. Celeste giggled in response.

Fred Hauled his twin up by the arm, the action causing George's eyes to sluggishly open as he took in his surroundings.

"Oh, what's- oh hey there" He muttered as he waved sleepily at Celeste.

"After you, Cel" Fred said with a gesture of his head. The three walked out of the classroom, Mavis floating effortlessly behind them. The ghost ceased her illusion over the room and thus allowing the bricked wall to disappear.

The walk back was rather quiet, all the teenagers were exhausted the early morning light started to slither through the castle's windows, Celeste found the sight rather pleasing. Fred was still supporting the majority of George's weight; his twin had his head sleepily placed against his shoulder as they walked, and it seemed he was having trouble keeping his eyes open. Celeste wondered if perhaps she would ever be as close with her brother again. But the boy had changed since he started Hogwarts.

"You know, Cel, nothing's gonna change between us" Fred told her sincerely.

Celeste smiled up at him, "I know"

Fred smiled back, "Good"

They parted ways shortly after; the boys heading to the Gryffindor Tower and Celeste heading the opposite direction towards the Ravenclaw Tower. Celeste was grateful to finally clamber into bed and get some much needed-

RING!

Marietta's alarm clock sounded out, signifying the start of the day. Celeste groaned.

AN:

Originally I had planned for Loke to speak more with the boys, but in the end, I thought it would be better for them to bond with Mavis. Poor thing must be so lonely since no one else can see her. I was thinking of maybe having her give the boys the Fairy Tail mark some time in the future so the four of them can speak freely and plus, it would allow them to truly join Celeste's family, because that's what Fairy Tail is all about.

Question Time!

Will Celeste tell anyone else about her secret? Or will it just stay between Fred and George?