Disclaimer: I do not own the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Anything familiar you see in this story, whether it be characters or plots, belongs to J.K. Rowling, Warner Brothers, and whoever else owns the rights.
Author's Note: This took longer than I had hoped to get out, but, oh well. At least it's finally out. As I write this AN, I'm on a plane bound for Sacramento — where I will be overnighting before I begin college at UC Davis. How that will affect my writing pace, I have no clue. I can only hope it won't be awful, though.
Shoutouts go to Discord Members 1saaa, Luq707, Sinisterfox, ubiquitouslyverbose, and Sectumus for helping with the planning and editing of this fic.
Lastly, I'd like to thank my wonderful Beta, Athena Hope, for her help editing this fic.
Self-Promotion: I have a Discord Server where you can talk with me and other readers. Also as part of the server, you get early access to all of my chapters. To join, paste the following link into a new tab and remove the spaces: discord . gg / Bfwywpf
As Katie tumbled out of the fireplace in The Three Broomsticks, her mind consumed with whether or not her mother had known about if her father was a wizard.
It was clear to her that everything her mother had told her about her father had been a lie. However, she didn't know who had come up with the lie. If she was being honest, she didn't even know who she would rather have come up with the lie. Neither option was particularly pleasant to think of. Her mother, who had raised her until she had died when Katie was seven. Or her father, who was, in all likelihood, going to be raising Katie until she became of age.
Whatever the case was, Katie didn't have much time to dwell on it before Professor McGonagall began leading Katie to a private room in the back of the pub. Inside the room, there was a small table surrounded by a few chairs.
As Katie and Professor McGonagall entered the room, a man stood up from one of the chairs and walked over to meet the two. With a start, Katie realized that the man must be her father. Who else would be waiting in the private room?
He was rather skinny but had broad shoulders. He appeared to be about average height, with greying brown hair and blue eyes.
"Katie-bug… is that you?" Caelus asked in a soft voice.
Katie nodded. "Yeah, it's me… Dad."
Caelus engulfed her in what could only be described as a bear hug. "I am so sorry I haven't been there for you. I'm not going to try to justify my choices, but I want you to know that I promise I will be there for you — for as long as you'll let me."
When Katie didn't reply, Caelus quickly released her from the hug, sending her tumbling to the ground, gasping for breath.
"Oh, Merlin, Katie, I am so sorry! Are you okay?" Caelus exclaimed worriedly, bending down to make sure she was okay.
"I'm fine, Dad," Katie coughed out, hesitating slightly before calling Caelus 'Dad.'
"Thank Merlin. I am so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."
"It's fine, you didn't mean to."
"So… what classes and stuff do you enjoy at Hogwarts?" Caelus asked, trying to ignite some sort of conversation.
"Well, I enjoy all of my classes except for History of Magic and Astronomy."
Caelus chuckled, "I don't know anyone who has liked History of Magic. As for Astronomy, I've only met a few."
Katie was slightly peeved that she had been interrupted but continued on as if she was unfazed. "I also really enjoyed flying. I had some trouble controlling brooms at first, but I got used to it."
"That's wonderful! I played Quidditch when I was at Hogwarts — Chaser, to be specific. If you love flying, you should consider trying out for the House Team!"
"I don't know," Katie replied hesitantly, not particularly wanting to try out, but also not wanting to say no to her dad, whom she'd only recently reunited with. "I've never played Quidditch or even thought of playing it before."
"I can teach you over the summer. You'll be just as good — no, better — than all the others come next school year," Caelus's voice was a mixture of pride and exuberance. "What do you say, Katie?"
Katie was silent for a moment. "Sure, Dad. I'd love that."
As she said that, a smile broke out on both Katie and Caelus' faces.
'I'm never going back to the orphanage,' Katie thought to herself with joy.
"Katie… I understand this might be a rough question for you, but… what happened to your mother?" Caelus asked nervously, turning the joyful moment into one of sorrow.
"She died. When I was seven."
"I… see," Caleus responded, his tone of voice indicating that he was less than pleased with the number of details Katie had provided.
Katie sensed an opportunity to have her earlier question answered, "Did...Did she know that you were a wizard?"
Her father sighed. "No, I never told her. There was so much going on when we met — You-Know-Who was on the rise and even when he was defeated, his supporters were still out there. There was never a good time to tell her."
The pair sat in awkward silence, neither seeming to have anything to say, until Professor McGonagall reentered the room.
"Do you two require more time to reunite?" she asked.
Katie and Caelus looked at one another before Katie replied, "No, Professor. We actually finished talking a little while ago."
Professor McGonagall cast her eyes over to Caelus, who nodded, confirming Katie's response.
"Very well, then," she continued. "Have you reached a consensus on whether or not Miss Bell will be living with you, Caelus?"
Caelus glanced over at Katie, who nodded, before returning his gaze to Professor McGonagall. "I would like to take full custody of my daughter, Minerva."
The stern professor's mouth twisted into a smile. "I had hoped that would be the case.
"Miss Bell, as much as I would love for you to spend more time with your father, Professor Dumbledore has instructed me to return you to the castle once you have reached a decision."
Katie nodded, stood up from her chair, and turned to face her father. "I guess I'll see you once the school year ends."
Caelus smiled. "See you then, Katie-bug."
With that, Professor McGonagall led Katie out of the private room and to the fireplace they had entered the pub from. With a shout of "Hogwarts — Headmaster's Office," the two floo-ed back to Professor Dumbledore's office.
When Katie exited the Floo, she only had one thought on her mind. 'I'm not going back to that orphanage ever again.'
As the Hogwarts Express pulled into Platform 9 ¾, Katie could hardly contain her joy. For the first time since her mother had died, she would be returning home to a place where she was loved.
When she stepped off the train, she could see her father waiting for her, a smile on his face. The sensation Katie felt when she saw that was one she had not felt in years. She felt a rush of warmth flow through her despite the mildly cold breeze blowing through the station and quickened her steps until she reached her father.
"Hey, Katie-bug, how are you?"
"I'm doing good, Dad."
"Good? That's all I get?" Caelus replied in mock outrage.
"I passed all my classes. E's and O's on all my exams but History of Magic and Astronomy. I got a P on the History of Magic exam and an A on the Astronomy exam. The P in History wasn't enough to drop me down from an A, though."
Caelus smiled, "That's my girl! Scoring well in all of the important classes!"
A smile crept onto Katie's face. It was a relieving change from the orphanage to have someone complimenting her performance in school rather than mocking her over it.
"What do you say we head back to my home and I'll show you where you'll be living during summers and vacations?"
"I would love that," Katie replied, her smile growing larger with each word she said.
"Grab on tight, then," Caelus instructed, proffering his arm to Katie. "We'll be side-along apparating."
Katie gave him a quizzical look.
"Ah, right. You don't know what apparition is," Caelus said, noticing her expression. "Apparation is essentially what muggles call teleportation. It's not as comfortable as muggles make it out to be, though. I would describe the sensation as being squished through a tight rubber tube. You get used to it after a while, though."
As Katie wrapped her free arm around the one Caelus proffered out to her, she heard him count down quietly, "Three… two… one…"
When he reached one, he inhaled, exhaled, and then spun sharply on the foot opposite Katie.
With a loud CRACK, the two appeared inside Caelus' home.
"Welcome to Lightbourne Mansion," he proclaimed proudly.
Katie's eyes wandered around the expansive room she and her father currently stood in, noting a vast amount of paintings and wizarding photographs adorning the walls. At the front of the room was a sweeping double staircase, each side veering off to one end with an ornate clock embedded into the wall above the divergence point.
Leaning against the center banister was a wrapped package in a shape unmistakable to anyone who was at all familiar with magic.
"Is that package for me?" Katie asked in a small, shocked voice.
Caelus smiled widely. "You mentioned that you enjoyed flying and I want you to have the best experience you can. I plan to teach you Quidditch this summer, so what better gift to give you than your own broomstick? And not just any broomstick — a brand new Nimbus 2000!"
He scratched the back of his neck a bit before continuing. "I also want to make up the orphanage to you. It can't have been easy for you to find out that I was still alive and had seemingly abandoned you. Believe me when I say that I will do whatever it takes to make it up to you."
The two stood in silence for a moment before Caelus nudged Katie. "Go ahead and grab the broom. Once we put your stuff down in your room, I'll take you to the Quidditch pitch out back and teach you how to play."
Katie grimaced as she awoke. Her father's voice calling from outside her room grated on her nerves and she wished she could roll over and go back to sleep.
"Katie, come on! Let's have breakfast and then play some quidditch before I go to work!"
The more and more time Katie had spent with Caelus, the more and more she wanted to retreat to her room and isolate herself from him. It was much better than the orphanage — at least she had some enjoyable moments — but it was nothing like she had hoped and expected living with her father to be.
The many hours on the quidditch pitch had proven to be fun, as she had grown to love playing the game, but the constant pushing to join the house team made her feel as though she was little more than a shiny object on her father's arm. She had always imagined living with a family — any family, really — to be a rather harmonious experience. Not… this.
Caelus wanted to spend every waking moment with Katie and it was more than a little overwhelming. Every interaction or attempt to find commonalities ended up feeling overly forced and drained Katie more than the most rigorous days of schoolwork.
At least Hogwarts would be starting soon. She had never thought she'd miss Professor Binns, and yet she did.
"Coming, Dad," she called back, groaning as she ungracefully rolled out of bed and stumbled over to her wardrobe to get dressed in suitable clothes.
When she made it downstairs, a three-egg omelet sat waiting at her seat. Without even having to taste it, she knew what was in it — spinach, mushrooms, onion, and salmon. Her father had been cooking her the same meal every day since he had decided that Katie would be joining the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. It wasn't particularly delicious, but according to her father, it was what professional muggle athletes ate for breakfast. And Merlin-be-damned if his daughter wouldn't train the same way they did.
"Katie-bug!" Caelus greeted as she sat down emotionlessly to eat. "How are you this wonderful morning?"
Katie internally rolled her eyes, she hadn't minded being called "Katie-bug" the first few times, but now it grated on her nerves. Not that she would tell her father that, of course.
"I'm doing great, Dad," she replied, in what she hoped was an upbeat tone. "How are you?"
"I'm quite excellent!" Caelus replied, his voice full of genuine excitement, as if he was on a sugar rush. "Big day today at the Ministry, you know!"
As he prattled along about what all he was doing, Katie tuned him out and started eating her omelet, feigning interest every once and a while. It was a routine that the two had been perfecting every morning for weeks, if not a couple of months. Either Caelus chose to ignore Katie's clear disinterest or he simply didn't notice it. Personally, Katie hoped it was the latter, but there was really no way to tell other than to straight-up ask, which would be quite harmful to the relationship between the two if it indeed was the latter.
Not-so-coincidentally, Katie finished her omelet at just about the same time her father finished talking about the Ministry. It was something she had picked up over the mornings. As soon as Katie was finished eating and her father finished talking about whatever boring Ministry event was occurring that day, he would drag her out for an hour or two to play Quidditch then leave for work. If Katie timed things just right, her father would have no time to engage her in conversation, something which would just turn into awkward silence or Katie faking interest in something she wasn't interested in in the slightest.
"Finished eating, I see," Caelus said smiling. "Go grab your Nimbus. I'll meet you out on the pitch in five minutes for some drills and a short one-on-one before I head off to the Ministry."
Katie forced herself to smile before getting up from the table and making her way back up to her room, all the while thinking to herself, 'I can't wait to get back to Hogwarts…'
Author's Note:
Yeah, this took way longer than I wanted. I'm really sorry about that. College is, well, a bitch. I was completely wrong about how much college would affect my writing pace. A busy college schedule coupled with nasty writer's block and a lack of motivation sucked ass. I'm back, though, with two chapters. The second of which is coming later today.
Happy Halloween, everyone.
- Asmodeus Stahl