Lily woke in the morning feeling very refreshed. She glanced at the clock. 6:30! That was the earliest she'd ever been up!

Celeste wasn't in her four-poster bed. She was sitting in front of her trunk, her things spread out around her.

"Celeste, what in the world are you doing?"

"Looking," she replied.

"Obviously. What are you looking at?"

"My stuff. I just can't get over the fact that I'm in Gryffindor. My dad was in Hufflepuff, you know, and my mom was in Ravenclaw. I'm the first one in my entire family to be a Gryffindor. I don't know what my dad will say when I owl him and tell him what happened."

"You said Gryffindor was the best House. He'll be happy, won't he?"

Celeste shook her head mournfully. "My dad has this thing about tradition. Anything done for the first time is dissed big time by him. This'll make him so mad. He might even disown me. Where'll I go if he does? What'll I do? I don't have any money. I have nothing but what's in my trunk. That's why I was looking through it. To see what I've got. Not much. I have Libentina, my six robes, my schoolbooks, my hats, the gloves, the cloaks, my cauldron, and all the other school things. My broom's back home. I couldn't even use my wand if I had to, without getting a warning from the Improper Use of Magic department of the Ministry. I don't know any magic yet anyway."

"Celeste, you can't run away! Look, where would you go?"

"Wherever I have to."

"Ohh, why do you have to be so stubborn? Who says he'll disown you anyway? You're his kid! He won't want to get rid of you!"

"If I am his kid," Celeste muttered sulkily as she stalked away.

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Classes went great for the first few days. Celeste found she was exceptionally good at Defense Against the Dark Arts and Astronomy. Lily was good at charms, and James was good at Transfiguration, as was Sirius. Remus was good at everything, and Peter, who had somewhat befriended the boys, was good at nothing. Celeste has said to this day, "Peter was good at nothing and for nothing. I knew it the day I met him." Knowing the Harry Potter series as you do, you can tell that this is very true.

Friday came. The eight friends (Lily, Celeste, Mia, Luna, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter) were particularly eager to get through lessons today for they had Friday afternoons off.

"Hey, what do we have this morning?" Celeste yawned. She was last down to the common room as usual.

"Celeste, Celeste, what must we do to get you to memorize our schedule?" Remus tutted.

"Why should I if I could just ask you?"

"Point taken, Your Majesty. We have Double Potions with the Slytherins this morning." Remus's pronouncement brought groans to all the first-year Gryffindors. No one liked the Slytherins or the Potions professor.

Celeste had an wicked grin on her face. "Celeste! Why are you smiling?" Lily exclaimed.

"I'm gonna have fun with this one. Even more fun than I had with Fostra and McGonagall." Lily rolled her eyes. Celeste had managed to prove everything that Professor Fostra had said wrong and earned herself three detentions for being obnoxious during Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall had almost been to the point of a nervous breakdown and had issued Celeste her detentions when Celeste had leisurely mentioned that McGonagall should consider visiting St. Mungo's.

"Just don't get us in any trouble, okay?" Luna said. Getting in trouble petrified her.

"Don't worry, teacher's pet, I won't blemish your perfect record. Wouldn't dream of it!" Celeste had the evil grin on her face again. Lily had the idea that, rather than preventing Celeste from doing something drastic and getting her in trouble, Luna had given Celeste an idea. When, Celeste got ideas, it wasn't good.

Lily found herself more and more attracted to James. He was so witty and funny and cute, but he wasn't conceited like Sirius. Sirius acted as though he was king of the world sometimes. Lily respected Celeste though, and didn't put him down. He was awfully attractive, anyway.

Yes, Celeste chose Sirius, and Lily was pretty sure Sirius had chosen Celeste, though he looked rather interested in Mia. All the guys were. Mia's looks were simply tantalizing. She had the perfect body, being tall and thin, with a rapidly maturing chest and slender hips and rear. For some reason boys liked little butts. She sometimes wore her long, dark brown hair in a bun or two braids (think Nelly Furtado's braids in her video for "Turn Off the Light". I think that's when she's wearing braids) or down. What Lily liked about her though, was how nice she was. She wasn't conceited about her looks and was nice and gentle and good. Everyone liked her, but she liked Remus.

Shy, quiet, smart Remus. Everyone liked to talk to him because he never interrupted you and gave you good advice. You just felt like you could trust him. Lily confided in him about her crush on James that was bordering on obsession and he told her not to worry because everything would turn out perfectly fine. Celeste also talked to him for she seemed so much more confidant about Sirius. Anyway, Remus was whom Mia liked and she told him this. He was flattered, of course, but apparently didn't think himself worthy as he refused to date her. She was saddened, but his action made her respect him even more. Sirius had said, 'Well, if it isn't shy little Remus who's scraping in the ladies', whereupon Celeste had belted him over the head with her bag full of books.

Zooming back into the present, the eight friends descended the many staircases to Great Hall for breakfast. Luna hadn't yet gotten over steak- and-kidney pie so the girls were careful not to eat it in front of her. James and Sirius, however, ate nothing but steak-and-kidney pie just to gross her out, despite the fact they themselves didn't care for it much. It worked and Luna had had to go to the hospital wing twice in the last week.

This morning, however, breakfast passed without incident. The friends descended several staircases to the dungeons, where the Potions classroom was. Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Narcissa Zirrus followed them, whispering excitedly.

"They look like they're up to something," Celeste remarked upon spotting them. "I'm going to find out what it is."

She walked over to them. "Wazzup, guys?"

"Someone's feeling cordial today. Finally give up on those pathetic things you call friends?" Narcissa asked cuttingly.

Celeste gritted her teeth. It was obvious that she found it hard to continue acting polite. "Oh, no," she said, somewhat sarcastically. "I was wondering why you were looking so proud of yourselves. What are you hiding?" Celeste asked, drawing her wand from her sleeve and pointing it at Narcissa's throat. "Speak up if Princess Narcissa here wants to live. My grandpa's an Auror for the Ministry and he taught me some hexes that'll make your hair stand on end for the rest of your lives. Literally."

Narcissa and Malfoy gulped and gave involuntary shudders. It was obvious she knew what she was talking about. Crabbe and Goyle clearly didn't pick up a word Celeste said, so they didn't move.

"Okay, whatever," Narcissa said. "We'll talk." (Doesn't she remind you of Helga in Atlantis: The Lost Empire?)

"From a very valuable resource, which will remain unnamed, we have discovered that you feel your father isn't really your father. We decided to be nice and save you researching it and did the dirty work for you." Celeste snorted as Narcissa said 'nice'. "Anyway, we have some information that you would be most interested in. It's yours -if you pay."

"Your lives are more payment than you deserve. I give them to you now. Consider them your payment. Give me this 'interesting' piece of information before my tongue slips and I mutter some dire incantation. Purely on accident, of course."

Quite a crowd had turned up to watch. Like almost every Muggle kid, Hogwarts students liked a good fight. This was a three for one deal. See, you get some juicy gossip, a little violence, and some drama rolled into one. You don't even have to use the remote.

Narcissa flicked her hair back as an indication to Malfoy that she had done her part and it was time for Malfoy to do his. The puny blonde Slytherin gulped visibly. "Okay. Here goes. My father went to school with your father and mother. We asked him how close they had been during school. He said that they had been enemies. Rivals, you could say. They both competed to see which one got the better grades. Your father never had a girlfriend. Your mother dated the most popular guy in school, Julius Arilio." Celeste gasped. Her mother's maiden name was Arilio. "They were inseparable. Julius and Julia. When he died in a tragic accident right after their gradation, your mother changed her lat name to Arilio. She went from a young lady with great potential, a possible Auror, to a girl wasted with alcohol, going from one bar to the next."

"Finally, she turned her life around. 19-year-old Julia had met the man who she thought was The One. He was twenty, a Scotch wizard noted for his cheery blue eyes and sandy brown hair. He saw something in her, but wasn't sure what it was. Behind her bloodshot eyes and uncombed hair he saw brilliance."

"Julia was so drunk she had no idea what was going one. She had collapsed at the bar. No one had attempted to help her. Sean, for that was the Irish wizard's name, noticed her. He tried to awaken her, but her body was far beyond being able to respond. She had consumed so much alcohol that her senses were in a deep stupor. The bartender told him her name and how she had come to the bar nearly every night for the past three months. Sean learned of how Julia must live alone because no one ever came looking for her. Closing time came. The bartender came out from behind the bar to carry Julia to her car, where she would sleep off the alcohol as she did every night. Sean carried her instead."

"Sean came back for her in the morning. Julia had finally awakened and was hanging out her car door, barfing her guts out. Apparently she was fighting one hell of a hangover. Sean came up after she pulled her head back into the car and introduced himself. She still seemed kind of out of it and fainted on him. Sean got a little drastic now and drove her back to his apartment."

"Julia got a little mad at him for that, although she would've slept for two days straight in her car. She learned to trust him when he insisted on paying for an alcohol rehabilitation program for her."

"They became very close over the course of a year. Finally Sean asked Julia out on a date and she couldn't refuse."

"Three months later the two were happily engaged. Just before the wedding, Sean was called to war. World War II."

"Supposedly he was killed, or reported 'missing in battle' while on mission in France. Julia was heartbroken. By the time she was 22 she had lost two potential husbands, for she and Julius had been engaged when he died. Julia nearly lapsed back to her old drinking habit. But she must've decided that wasn't what Sean would've wanted for her. So she got a job as a secretary at a big law firm where Herman Fortuna was a lawyer. At that time he worked in the Muggle world. Eventually Julia was promoted to be his secretary."

"Julia, of course, wasn't happy about this arrangement. The bigwigs of the firm wouldn't listen to her plea for promotion, or even of demotion. Herman, however, was extremely happy to have his old rival back. He had always held a certain respect for her, but had never asked her out on a date for she was always with Julius. He'd lost track of Julia after graduation at Hogwarts, but had seen Julius's obituary in an Edinburgh newspaper."

"Well, eventually the urge became to much to resist and he asked Julia out on a date. She agreed, surprising Herman greatly. Julia was so beautiful that she looked as though she should date someone outgoing and handsome. Herman was fat, with already graying hair, though he was only twenty-two. He spoke of nothing other than his job and golf, exceedingly boring topics for one of Julia's spirit."

"Julia lost most of that spirit over the next few months. Thinking of Sean helped her regain some sense of self, put it was painful to think of where she could be now, had he not gone to war. A couple of kids, a little house of their own with a swing hanging from an apple tree. Cats in the barn, some dogs under the porch. It was paradise compared with her life now. A tiny, lonely apartment, a low-paying job with horrible hours, and worst of all, Herman."

"Julia had no will to live anymore. She didn't care what happened to her. When Herman proposed to her, she said she didn't care, so they might as well get married. Nothing mattered any longer."

"Herman and Julia were married at a small country Protestant church in June 1942. It was a very quiet ceremony. Only my mother, Agnes, and my father, who were newly wedded, were invited. Your mother and mine were best friends back then. That's how my father knows all this."

"Julia and Herman were much less than happily married. They fought and argued and sometimes didn't even talk to each other. The rivals were back. Julia never put the clothes away right. Herman spent all of his paycheck on alcohol."

"Eventually they agreed on a truce. They lived with this truce for ten years, separate beds, but happy enough."

"Then one day a postcard came. As Julia read it, her eyes grew big. Herman watched with keen interest. The postcard was from someone named Sean Wood. Here it is." Malfoy handed Celeste an old postcard.

Dearest Julia,

I have gotten your address from Agnes Malfoy, your old friend. She said there were changes, but she'd let you tell me.

Yes, I survived my mission in France. Two other men and I were wounded, left behind by our comrades. The militia of a tiny French town called Chardonnay found us and brought us back to the town. We were forced to wed among their citizens if we wished for them to help us. I couldn't do anything, honey, or I would've. I was wounded badly and would've died without the help of the citizens of Chardonnay.

My wife, Antoinette, died a month ago. I was finally let free from Chardonnay. See, I couldn't even leave the town before that. The villagers weren't mean; in fact they were very generous, and I could've belonged there if I didn't miss you so much.

I have spent the past three weeks searching for you. Agnes told me you were now living in Blackpool. I never thought you'd leave old London. I've now located your residence and will be there around 4 pm on Monday June 1st. With everlasting love,

Sean

Celeste finished reading it. "And?"

"That day was May 31st. Julia figured she'd better get Herman out of the house tomorrow. She didn't want Sean to know she had gone and married without hope that he'd come back."

"She got Herman out of the house to watch a Quidditch match and-"

"And Sean Wood is my real father. I get it now. Okay, if you know everything, is my mom dead like Herman says or did she run away with Sean?" Celeste shouted agitatedly.

"Uh, she ran away with Sean. She wanted to take you, but they were going to go to America and you of course couldn't Apparate. You were only six weeks old when they left. She left Herman a note telling him everything that had happened. He never really got used to the fact that his wife left him and his child wasn't his. That's why he's always so distant."

"Where does my mom live? Is she still with Sean? Do I have any little siblings?"

"Both of your parents live in Edinburgh. They don't have any other children."

"Edinburgh! That's so close! I thought you said they went to America! Why'd they come back?"

"To say the least, they didn't like America."

"How do you know all of this?"

"My mother and yours have been close correspondents since school."

"Why'd you tell me everything? It's like your being nice or something."

"Well, we wanted to be the ones to break the news to you that you were a bastard child," Narcissa sneered. Narcissa, and Malfoy laughed so uproariously it was almost amusing. (Think Dr. Evil's laugh in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery) After the laugh, which carried on for a ridiculously long amount of time, the two stalked off to Potions, Crabbe and Goyle trailing after them.

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Celeste barely made it through Potions. All thoughts of mockery or trickery during class left her. She sat in a deep stupor, returning to the land of the living every so often to jot down a note or two.

At lunch she was a bit more social. The entire Great Hall was a bit more quiet that usual. Everyone felt Celeste's pain. She had become quite popular since the beginning of the year. Only the Slytherins were as loud and boisterous as usual, as could be expected.

Friday afternoons the students had off so Celeste and Lily went for a walk around the lake. They watched Hagrid struggling to plant a rather large tree that seemed to be struggling against the ropes that were restraining it. Every once in awhile Hagrid would get belted upside the head by a stray branch.

"Why in the world would Hagrid want to plant a tree that hit you if you too close?" Lily asked Celeste.

"I'll be blasted if I know. Hagrid doesn't have the same sense of danger as most people." Celeste watched Hagrid's actions with keen interest. Something clicked in Lily's mind.

"Celeste, you never told me what a Scotch dryad was," she said.

"I didn't, did I? Well, dryads are female, you know. Mythical creatures to Muggles. In the wizarding world they're real, of course, like the dragons and unicorns. Dryads live only in Scotland, can't go over the boarder or leave Scotland at all. Scots, naturally, are the only men with whom the dryads can have sex and reproduce with. Well, my mother's father was a Scotch wizard, and my grandmother was a dryad. The offspring of the dryad and Scotsman has the title of a Scotch dryad, so that's what my mom was. That's what I am too, now that I found out my father is Scottish."

"And what does this have to do with Professor Fostra?"

"She's a Scotch dryad too. You can tell if you're one yourself or you're around them a lot. I don't have very many of the of them since I'm a second generation Scotch dryad, but in my eyes you can tell." Celeste pointed at her eye. "They're not the right color, green, but they're the exact right shape and they're so damn honest! They don't hide anything! I swear Sirius can tell I like him just when I look at him!"

Lily could see what she meant about her eyes. "I don't think he knows. He hasn't mentioned it, and he's the worst about keeping quiet about stuff."

"Yeah," Celeste said thoughtfully. "But I almost wish he did know."



Okay, 4th chapter done. The main plot will be coming up soon, as will the groups first brush with Lord Voldemort. Please, give me reviews. I know I've been saying that I had a HP songfic coming up, but it's too long for the song, so it's just gonna be a short story. I have a laptop now, so hopefully I'll be popping chapters and stories out faster. Okay, love ya, bye bye now!