Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Warning: Mentions of death, from 'I'm here to help' and physical abuse from 'Father pushed her aside'
Into the Abyss
Chapter Forty-Two
The Quidditch World Cup
Sirius Black was extremely glad to flaunt his newfound freedom. The young wizard had recently been pardoned from previous crimes - crimes which he had in fact never committed - and had received a rather handsome sum of money from the Ministry as reparations. Sirius wished he had a pensive to relive the look of pure shame plastered on old Fudge's face as he handed the gold to Sirius - right in the view of the Prophets reporters of course. The Minister was as obvious in his attempts to save his image as ever and Sirius hated just how low Fudge would stoop to ensure that Wizard kind's faith in their government would remain. Despite his lack of faith in the Ministry and their court of law, Sirius was glad about one thing. The ability to finally do right by Harry, his godson.
It had taken blood, sweat and a whole lot of hard work to finally get through to the Ministry's Child Protection Services however, thanks to Fudge's insistence that things were put right, the quaffle got rolling a lot quicker and that finally Harry was in his care under No. 12. There were a few wizards who would oppose his new status as Harry's guardian and Sirius feared that Dumbledore was one of them, Harry was just as safe - if not safer - with him than with his muggle relatives. From what Miss Chandra had told him about the Dursley's, those people were far from suitable guardians for Harry. Sirius could have howled in pure glee once the social worker dropped Harry off and the two made up for lost time. There was so much of Harry that reminded Sirius of both his parents; the boy held the rebellious streak of his father, his mother's love, and the righteous courage that both his parents shared. Though he was glad to finally salvage a relationship with James and Lily's son, there was never a day when Sirius did not curse himself for the actions, he took which led to their deaths.
He knew that there was no use in dwelling upon the past, it was time to live in the present.
This day, the lord of the most ancient and noble house Black sauntered through the stands of the location posing as the World Quidditch Cup's stadium. The minister had given him a generous handful of tickets - another appeasement for his time in Azkaban - which Sirius had gladly used for a few close friends of Harry's.
"Straight up, Mr. Black, two rights, two lefts and another right. Great view from there I'm told" The witch at the entrance to the stands said. She was in her late forties and her eyes had a rather dreamy look as she stared at Sirius. His cousin, Nymphadora, loudly cleared her throat in obvious annoyance, causing the woman to sheepishly stumble over her words as she added "H-have a nice day,"
"Thanks, Gladys." Sirius said with a bark of laughter before gesturing for the flood of people to follow him up the stairs. Among the group were Arthur Weasley and his brood children, Sirius' cousin, Nymhphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin, Harry Potter and lastly, Hermione Granger. The large group were amazed at the sight of the prime seating at the very top of the stands and Arthur once again thanked Sirius for his generosity causing the latter to redden.
"You and your family have been good to Harry, it's the least I could do," Sirius told the older man with a grin. Before Arthur could thank him once again, another man- a very pompous man - entered the top box behind the Weasley's.
"Sirius Black, in the flesh, my freedom surely does wonders doesn't it?" Lucious asked with a smirk. Sirius scowled; he had always detested the man ever since their days in Hogwarts. He had been a few years ahead of him and was never seen too far from his cousin Narcissa.
"Funny, I was about to say the same thing to you," Sirius retorted, taking pride in the way, Lucius' nose scrunched up. Lucius turned away, the pompous man finally noticing the Weasleys gathered behind Sirius as a scoff left his lips.
"How did you ever get these seats, Weasley? Did you sell your house?" Lucious Malfoy sneered. "Not that it would fetch enough. Ah! Minister!" Sirius muttered something under his breath which only Arthur and the twins caught, whilst Lucius Malfoy rushed to shake the Minister's hand. Noticing the exchange, the twins scoffed.
"He's a worse kiss-arse than Percy," Fred whispered to George.
"Didn't even think that was possible," George chuckled.
"Lovely to see Lucius as always. Is this your wife? Lovely to see you too, Narcissa" Fudge greeted with a pleasant, jovial smile. He glanced past Lucius and spotted the beautiful blonde entering the top box, she was followed by Draco Malfoy, and both were wearing expensive black robes. The youngest Malfoy scowled upon seeing the Weasley's but none of them made a comment. There would be plenty of time for that once term started again.
"This is my son, Draco," Lucius said, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. The boy smiled in greeting upon meeting the Minister. A brief expression of irritancy formed on the eldest Malfoy's face before he spoke once more, "And... ah...my daughter…"
"Coming Father," Someone else appeared in the top box. A girl with long pale blonde hair tied back with a royal blue ribbon and set of antique keys attached to the belt wrapped around her waist. Unlike the rest of her family, this girl was dressed entirely in blue. She smiled politely at the Weasley's and Co.
"Yes, my daughter, Celeste" Lucius said curtly. The girl politely shook the Minister's hand before shrinking back behind her Mother.
Nymphadora' s eyes widened upon spotting her cousin, she had grown to the point where the girl Tonks once knew was now replaced with a young woman. Beside her Charlie peered over to check if his friend was alright.
"They're your cousins, right?" Charlie asked, his voice low as he gestured with his head towards where the Malfoy's were still talking with the Minister. Nymphadora nodded, beside her the twins gaped.
"Yep. And they are my Aunt and Uncle" She responded with a grimace.
"I don't see the resemblance," Ginny said with a wrinkle of her nose, beside her, Tonks chuckled. She had seen the old photographs of her mother and her sisters, Narcissa, who had been the youngest of the three looked as if she were the odd sister with her smooth pale hair whilst Tonks' own mother and her crazed Aunt Bellatrix, both sported wild dark curls.
"How 'bout now?" Tonks asked, her previous bubble-gum pink hair now a pale blonde and her features looking eerily like the rest of the Malfoy's. The older witch felt sullen at the fact that her cousins had no idea who she was, sure, she was on speaking terms with Celeste, but the younger witch had no idea that they were in fact family.
"Should have seen the last time Dad met the old pompous face" Fred said, Tonks smiled at the nickname the younger wizard gave her uncle. From where she sat, she could see the older wizards jaw tighten.
"Never seen Dad in a fight in my life," George added. "You reckon it will happen again?"
"Oh really?" Sirius asked, interested in hearing about this. Beside him, Arthur reddened.
"It was nothing really-" Arthur started, which only seemed to pique Sirius's curiosity further.
"Now I am interested," Sirius barked with a laugh.
"We thought you were Sirius?" The twins asked in unison. Sirius grinned.
INTO THE ABYSS
Draco groaned at having to stay in the same area as the Blood Traitor family, he flopped into his seat, slouching as he did, and arms folded over his chest. Beside him, his elder sister giggled as she gracefully sat down, hands placed neatly in her lap.
"I don't know what you're so smug about, imagine the nerve of those people" Draco whined. He kicked his feet up onto the headrest on the seat in front, seeing that Ginny was about to take her seat there, Celeste kicked his feet down which enticed a scowl from her brother. She paid him no mind as she fished out the quidditch programme from beneath her set and began absently flipping through it. The programme contained all the details of the team's players from both Ireland and Bulgaria, as well as the details from previous matches.
"The nerve," Celeste repeated, her voice thick with sarcasm which caused her brother to huff in annoyance. He could never understand why his sister- his own flesh and blood chose to fraternize with the likes of mud bloods and blood traitors. She was treading a thin line where she herself would be considered one and Draco feared that she was already too far gone to be helped.
Celeste only glanced up once Ludo Bagman introduced the players, her eyes drinking in all the players as they flew onto the pitch. As the Leprechauns dropped their gold, the crowd went into a frenzy to retrieve the pieces. Celeste knew that after a few hours the gold would disappear, so she remained indifferent, however, a smile formed on her lips as her brother eagerly went to grab some. Their parents watched the crows with scrunched up noses.
"Not getting any, Cell?" George asked as she turned to face her. He was sitting directly in front of her and her family. Celeste shook her head.
"Leprechauns are fickle creatures; their gold only lasts a few hours before it disappears" Celeste explains.
"Ah really? That is a pity," Fred turned to face her, and he had a rather large handful of gold in his hands.
"Think we should mention it to Ron?" George asked. Their younger brother was eagerly picking up the gold and had an elated expression on his face as he did so.
"Nah, he'll figure it out soon enough" Fred said. Celeste giggled as she swatted his arm.
"That's mean," Celeste chided. She froze as she felt eyes staring at her and slowly the blonde turned to find both her parents glaring at her. Celeste shrank back, slouching in her seat as she did so.
INTO THE ABYSS
The atmosphere in the 'Black/Weezly' tent that night was rather chaotic. Fred and George led the occupants in a jig which resulted in Tonks falling flat on her face, though this did little to dampen anyone's spirits. Harry replayed the match over in his mind, he was still mesmerized by Krum's Wronsky Feint and wondered if it would be possible to recreate it in his own quidditch games.
"No, No!" Mr. Weasley cried as he broke the party by loudly clapping his hands. At the sudden halting of the festivities, Tonks slipped and barrelled into Charlie, sending him crashing into Bill. Ginny snorted in laughter at the sight.
"You all need to be in bed, do you hear me?"
"Come on Arthur, let the older ones have a bit of fun," Sirius suggested.
"No boys," Arthur insisted, waiting until the twins had gone inside to continue. They had been attempting to sneak off to join the parties in the Irish tents which had gone into full swing "Molly will positively have my guts if I let any of them sneak off...keep an eye out, will you, Percy?"
Percy was proud to have been given such a task and eagerly strutted into the tent to put a halt to any wrongdoings. Eventually, Mr. Weasley sent them all off to bed and after checking that the twins were still there, he turned the lights off.
INTO THE ABYSS
Across the lot in the 'Malfoy' tents the atmosphere differed rather drastically. After Lucius had slunk away to meet with the Minster the Malfoy siblings were left with their Mother. Bored stiff Celeste had proposed a game of exploding snap with Draco however, only twenty minutes in Mother had sent them off to bed far earlier than either of them would have liked. Celeste noticed how tense Mother was acting. The woman's mercury eyes would stray to outside of the tent warily before her entire body stiffened as if high on the alert. Celeste wondered just what Mother was so worried about?
Maybe it has something to do with Father.
Mother had already gone to sleep, and Draco's light snores filled the tent. Celeste wondered if she should perhaps go and look for Father and see what he was up to however, leaving Mother and Draco alone was out of the question. She was exhausted anyway, and a bit of rest would do her some good.
INTO THE ABYSS
Harry was woken later by the muffled sounds, they were barely drowned out by the walls of the tent however, he could still make out the panicked screams. The dark-haired boy quickly adorned his glasses just as Charlie poked his head out of the tents.
"What's going on?" Harry asked.
"Not sure," Charlie said as he stepped into his boots "Dad and Bill went to check a few moments ago".
"Get up, now!" A frantic looking Mr. Weasley ordered, his eyes wide "All of you can't stay here".
The occupants of the tent were soon all awake, Remus donned his cloak just as Sirius fished out his wand and Tonks quickly stepped into her boots as she roused Ginny from sleep. Harry opened his mouth to ask a question when there was suddenly a loud bang and a scream. Harry quickly bolted up.
INTO THE ABYSS
Celeste could feel her celestial keys burning against her hip. Her spirits were frazzled as the screams got louder outside the tents. Her own panic grew inside her as she grabbed onto Draco's arms as he peered outside the tent and pulled him back inside. Mother was up now and had already put on her cloak as she hurried towards the teenagers. Her face was the perfect expression of calm however her stormy eyes were alight with worry.
"What in Salazar's name is going on?" Draco asked as he wrenched his arm from his sister's grip.
"We can't stay here," Mother said. She tossed Draco and Celeste's cloaks at them, not waiting for the two of them to put them on before she was hauling them both to their feet "You two follow me. Celeste keeps tight of your brother".
"Yes, Mother," Celeste nodded. She took a hold of Draco's arm and this time he did not protest as Celeste led him out of the tent.
Mother grabbed a hold of Draco's wrists and led the two children round the back of the tent. Celeste tried to block out the screams, panicked wizards and witches raced past in their attempt to escape the chaos. She was not sure but among the crowd, Celeste was certain that she could see the skeletal masks she had seen in her textbooks. The Death Eaters.
A chill ran down her spine as she clutched Draco's hand just a bit tighter, her other clutching her keys. Maybe she could summon a spirit to help just to keep everyone safe-
A sudden hoard of people ran towards them and Celeste cried out as Draco's hand was forcefully tugged from her own. As the hoard ran in all directions and Celeste was swept along with them. In the chaos her keys were lost, falling to the ground and Celeste tried to push through the crowd to find them.
"Mother! Draco!" Celeste yelled. She could barely hear her brother screaming her name among the crowds of panicked cries. Tears pricked at her eyes as she spotted a witch lying motionless on the ground, her eyes wide and her lips parted as a strangled gasp left her. Celeste darted over, hands shaking as she wracked her brain to find a way to help the poor woman who was half covered by a fallen tent.
"It's alright…I-I'm here to help" celeste whispered hurriedly.
The blonde pushed the fallen fabric away from the witch's body, her own breaths ragged with bubbling anxiety. A cold hand grabbed her wrist, Celeste paused in her movements as she felt the woman's fingers squeeze her wrist. Her fingers were icy like stones left out in the winter. Celeste turned, her mercury eyes meeting wide, frantic blue. A stray tear rolled down the woman's face as her lips parted but no sound left her. Slowly, the breath left the witch and her eyes glazed over and unseeing.
"Hello," Celeste whispered, her voice cracked as she gently shook the woman, but the young witch was met with no reply. Her eyes stared blankly, no longer panicked but with no expression of life at all.
Celeste gasped as she turned and sobbed. The sounds of anguished screams echoed around her, but Celeste sat with her hands covered over her ears as she fought to block them out.
The world faded from around her, she was no longer in the campsite and instead on an island as the cries of her guildmates filled her ears. She could feel the warm hands of her friends as they engulfed her own.
The dragon was preparing for an attack….
A monstrous roar thundered overhead as a beam of light engulfed the entire island. There was no escape -
"Celeste!"
Her eyes darted open. A strangled, choked gasp left her throat as Celeste lurched forward and dry heaved. She could feel a strong hand patting comforting circles between her shoulder blades. She opened her mouth to thank whoever it was, but the only sound which came out was another strangled gasp.
"Shhh...it's alright…" The voice cooed. It sounded strangely familiar. Celeste wiped her eyes with the back of her palm, her breaths had calmed now. Turning around she was surprised to find a young woman in her mid-twenties with short bubble-gum pink hair styled in a pixie cut.
"N... Nymphadora?" Celeste gasped. The older witch nodded.
"It's me. this once, you can call me that, blondie" Tonks smiled. Celeste frantically nodded, her fingers clenching into Tonks' robes as she remembered the woman from earlier - the woman who had -
"Tonks...I saw- she-" Celeste trailed off as she broke down into sobs, clutching at the older woman as she wept into her chest.
"I know. I know" Tonks cooed "There is not anything we can do for her now. We should find your parents, where did you see them last?"
"We got separated," Celeste sniffed. Her lip started to wobble again, and she feared that she would burst into tears, Tonks smoothed down the girl's erratic hair and flashed her a soft smile.
"S 'fine, Celeste," Tonks staggered upright and offered Celeste a hand to help her upright.
The campsite was a mess now, ragged tents scattered, and the Dark Mark remained in the sky. The older witch released red sparks from her wand above where the deceased woman lay and after transfiguring her own scarf to make a large white sheet, laid it over her stiff body. Then, Tonks held Celeste's hand tight as she guided them both through the campsite. The blonde kept her eyes peeled for any sight of Draco or her parents.
I hope that they are alright.
INTO THE ABYSS
Charlie and Bill had tried to make sure that they all stayed together but when Sirius and Tonks had separated from the group to find Harry, Ginny started to get restless. It did not help that Ron and Hermione had gone with them, Ginny had put up a fuss however, Dad had put his foot down at this and the young witch had to remain behind. Professor Lupin did his best to try and calm Ginny down, he reassured the girl that if anyone were to find Harry then it would be the three adults searching for him. The noise had quietened down now, and the sky now clear however the gruesome skeletal image of the dark mark was still ingrained into Fred's memory. He had heard the stories in History of Magic but seeing it in person sent chills down his spine.
"They'll be back soon," Fred told Ginny. She kept scanning the campsite in sight of the search party.
"It's so unfair, why couldn't Dad take me with them?" Ginny whined; she ran her hand through her hair in frustration as she paced about.
"It's probably better that we stay here in case Harry comes looking for us, right?" George offered. This seemed enough to placate her, and she nodded.
"I'm sure they won't be too long" Fred said, he glanced down when something glistened in his eye. Hidden beneath the glass was a sliver of gold, if it were not for the light of the moon reflecting off it, then he would have missed it. Fred crouched down, he brushed the grass away and his eyes widened at the ring of silver and gold antique keys.
Fred knew who these keys belonged to and he silently hoped that their owner was safe.
INTO THE ABYSS
"Dora!"
Celeste was surprised to see Professor Lupin bounding towards them, and the rest of the Weasley's trailed behind.
"Remus!" Tonks cried out in greeting "Sorry I wandered off. I found Celeste here on her own and well...we found someone who wasn't as lucky".
Remus smiled in understanding, being the most level-headed of the group, he processed to give the younger witch an impromptu check-up. Whereas he had no official medical experience, he had been through enough full moon transformations to recognize the signs of distress. He could imagine just how horrifying it would have been for the young witch to experience the previous attack on her own.
"I feel fine now, Professor," Celeste said quietly.
"Just Remus now, Celeste, I am no longer employed by Hogwarts," He said with a smile. Celeste felt at ease around her old Professor and felt herself relax. The cold night wind blew through her air and the blonde found herself sputtering as she got a mouthful of her own hair. After running her fingers through her hair, she realized that she had lost her hair ribbon in the earlier chaos.
"Are you alright, Cell?" Fred appeared beside her, his hands warm as he grasped her upper arms and forced her to look at him. Her eyes were dull as she stared back, and Fred knew that something had happened to her.
"I... I saw a woman, Freddie. She looked so scared and I... I couldn't save her". Her lip wobbled and her eyes began to water, fearing that she would cry once more, Celeste quickly blinked the tears away. She felt Fred gently run his hands up and down her arms as George offered her a reassuring smile.
The rest of the Weasley's watched the interaction with curiosity, Mr. Weasley, who had previously been having a heated discussion with Ginny, paused in his tirade once he noticed just how familiar the twins were with Lucius' daughter. He had seen her before, but her face never remained in his memory.
"They sure are close aren't they," Ginny whispered, a small smirk on her face as she nudged Charlie in the side. The older wizard nodded in agreement.
"Always were,"
"So that's Celeste?" Bill asked, his voice a hushed whisper "She's the girl that our Fred-"
"Sssh!" Ginny interjected "We don't want them to hear us do you?"
Unbeknown to the conversation concerning them, the twins continued to comfort Celeste. She gently squeezed Fred's hand, needing to seek some sort of human contact and was glad to be rewarding with a comforting squeeze. She could not remember being this affectionate with anyone…well except Natsu…and she had thought that part of herself had been closed off for good.
"It wasn't your fault," George told her as he placed a hand on her shoulder.
Celeste sniffed as she wiped at her eyes. Streaks of dirt smeared across her nose as she released a dreary sigh.
"I know. I'm glad that Tonks found me when she did".
"I found something that belongs to you," Fred placed the keys into her hand, he took delight in the bright smile that formed on her face and the way her mercury eyes lit up. He was also certain that her keys let out a pulse of magic once they were reunited with their owner.
"Thank you," Celeste murmured. She fastened the keys back to the belt on her hip and patted them for good measure as if afraid she would lose them.
Celeste eyed the large group, she recognized most of them, her old professor, Sirius and the Weasleys. There was one young man, extremely tall with long red hair, he must have been the eldest for Celeste had never seen him.
"Wasn't Harry with you?" Celeste asked Softly.
"He was," Charlie spoke "But Sirius, Ron and Hermione have gone to find him".
Celeste nodded "You look a bit pale, dear, are you alright?" Mr. Weasley spoke, his voice tinged with concern.
"My daughter is fine, Weasley," Lucius Malfoy spat as he appeared. Narcissa and Draco appeared behind him, the latter scowling at the large group.
"Come, Celeste," Narcissa cooed, the older witch pulled Celeste from Tonks, not even bothering to look at the young woman who was in fact her niece. The younger blonde smiled gratefully at the older witch but allowed her mother to cart her away.
The Malfoy's left with a crack.
They arrived back in the manor seconds later and as if all the energy were sapped out of her, Celeste sank to the floor. Her Mother scuttled around and instantly a goblet of water was shoved under her nose.
"Drink," She ordered. Celeste numbly nodded as she took the goblet, Draco watched her with wide, worried eyes. The blonde's heart rate had finally started to slow however, her mind was filled with the image of that poor witch, her eyes blank as she took her last breath. Clenching her eyes shut, Celeste willed the image to disappear.
"What was that Mother?" Draco asked. Celeste, grateful for the distraction, opened her eyes.
"Nothing for the two of you to worry about. the both of you need to get to bed," Mother said. Draco was frozen for a few moments before he sank to the floor next to his sister.
"Are you alright?" He asked. Celeste nodded.
"Do you think Father has it?" Celeste whispered.
"You know we mustn't talk about that, Celeste," Draco hissed, his mercury eyes alight with worry "What if Father hears you."
"Let him" Celeste snapped "Did you see what happened Draco? The dark mark appeared in the sky! They're trying to bring him back!"
"Celeste-"
"Draco, Father is serving him again. I can feel it" Celeste murmured "He's dabbling with evil again."
"No. He wouldn't" Draco argued "Look, I think you're tired and we both should just go to bed like Mother-"
"You cannot keep denying it, Draco. You know the reason why Father disappeared before those Death Eaters attacked!" Celeste took in a shaky breath, ignoring the hot angry tears that fell down her face and the way Draco continued to stare at her as if she had gone mad. But Celeste was tired of ignoring the terrible things Father had done, Draco was old enough to know and she hoped that he would just see sense.
"Our Father is a Death Eater!"
"Celeste!" A sharp intake of breath sounded as Mother appeared, her face white as she stood in the doorway staring in shock at Celeste's shaking form. Father pushed her aside, he stormed towards the two teenagers and before either of them knew what was happening, a loud smack resounded.
Mother, who had been frozen still, raced towards Celeste. Mothers' eyes glistened with tears as she sneakily cradled Celeste's face as if she were made of porcelain. Draco doubled back as if he were the one to be slapped. The boy was unsure to go towards his now sobbing Mother or his sister who had just been slapped. Instead, Draco joined his sister, eyes downcast and filled with pity. The elder blonde gently squeezed her brother's hand before pushing him behind her.
"You should know better than to speak of such things-"
"No," Celeste spat, her voice a whisper that cut through the tense atmosphere like a slicing hex. Father took a menacing step forward just as Mother's breath hitched. The older witch pushed her daughter behind her with an arm however, Celeste forced it down.
"Lucius please," Mother begged with wide pleading eyes. "Please"
Father was silent, his fingers tightly gripped his cane before he turned his icy blue eyes onto Celeste.
"You will turn around this defiant behaviour before the end of your school year, or there will be consequences."
"Is that a threat, Father?" Celeste asked. She could feel Mother's fingers digging into her shoulder and hear Draco's frantic breaths. Celeste knew she was treading icy waters, but she was tired of hiding from her Father, there was only a matter of time before she came of age and the man would have no legal holding over her.
She was not scared of Father, for she had faced far worse monsters.
"No. It's a promise" Father drawled.
A/N:
I was so excited to get this chapter out, it has been sitting in my drafts for over a week now. I was going to put the whole 'cousin reveal' in this chapter but it just did not feel right as there was already quite a lot going on in this chapter. For now, Celeste will remain in the dark about being related to Tonks...unless someone tells her...
Also, thank you for your lovely reviews! I'm taking on all your criticisms and suggestions on board! Stay tuned for the next chapter where School starts again, Dumbledore announced the Triwizard tournament and a new professor arrives!
R & R!