Chapter 4: Homecoming

            I never thought to see this place again, Celeste mused as she stood at the front door of the house where she'd left her baby girl nearly thirteen years ago. I shouldn't be here, she thought as she rang the doorbell.

            The woman who opened the door was the same one who had done so all those years ago. "Yes?"

            Celeste took a deep breath and began before she could change her mind. "You have no reason to trust me or believe in my good intentions, but I just wanted to know that Hermione is all right."

            The woman's eyes widened. "You're CS?"

            Celeste nodded.

            "Why now? Where were you all these years?"

            She bent her head. "Many places. I have powerful enemies. I needed to be certain that they couldn't connect her to me."

            The woman was silent for a moment.

            "Please, Dr. Granger. I just want to know that she's safe and happy."

            "She is." The woman hesitated. "W-we never told her that she was adopted. But we did keep the note you left us. We were going to tell her when she turns eighteen."

            Celeste was thoughtful for a moment.

            "Are you angry?"

            "No. In fact, I think it's for the best. The less she knows of me, the safer she'll be. I'll go now. You likely won't see me again." Celeste turned to go.

            "Wait!"

            "What is it?"

            Dr. Granger disappeared into the house.

            "I have a picture of her in her school uniform," she said when she returned and handed Celeste a Muggle photo.

            The girl smiling back at her was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Her hair was long and bushy as Celeste's had been when she was young, and she was wearing Hogwart's robes, the red and gold lion of Gryffindor standing out brilliantly. "She's a Gryffindor!"

            Dr. Granger's eyes widened again. "You're a…"

            "Yes, I went to Hogwart's as well. I was a Slytherin myself. Her father was a Gryffindor, though." She sniffed as a tear rolled down her cheek. "Thank you," she said as she handed back the photo.

            "You keep it," Dr. Granger said.

            "Thank you," Celeste said once again and left.

            Under her Invisibility Cloak, Celeste watched Harry Potter as he occupied himself alone in the shops of Diagon Alley. She was still at a loss as to how she could get close to him without being discovered. She couldn't follow him around Hogwart's in an Invisibility Cloak, Dumbledore would spot her instantly. Not to mention the security that the Ministry would most likely have in place to catch Black.

            A few days later, she spotted Hermione with the boy she'd seen in the newspaper that day in America. She overheard the girl saying she wanted an owl for school. Then she had an idea. While in Avalon, Celeste, already an Animagus, had mastered a second animal form—a fat, ginger tomcat. It was the perfect way to get into Hogwart's undetected, and she could be close to both Harry Potter and her daughter.

            With a quick memory charm on the shopkeeper and a little playacting, she was able to convince Hermione to buy her as Crookshanks the cat.

            Celeste managed to conceal herself until the summer before the trio's seventh year. It was August, and the three young people had been brought to 12 Grimmauld place to await the start of their final year at Hogwart's.

            As always, seeing Remus pained her, but she had grown accustomed to it by now. Hermione was developing a relationship with Ron Weasley. Celeste was greatly pleased by this. He was a good lad. Brave, loyal. Hermione could scarcely have found better match. The worst pain for Celeste, however, was also her daughter.

            Last week Hermione had found out that she was adopted. She'd confronted her parents, demanding the whole story, but was frustrated when they only knew what was in the note and that the mysterious "CS" had come to visit one afternoon four years ago. Learning that she was not Muggle-born made her even more determined to learn the truth.

            As Crookshanks, Celeste stayed close to her daughter while she shared this with Ron, Harry and Ginny, who was now as thick with them as the other three had been since their first year. They, of course, had no solution to offer, only moral support, which she needed more than anything just then.

            After a few days, Hermione had decided to take a chance and ask Remus if he knew who "CS" might be. Celeste braced herself for an encounter that would likely be painful for all three of them.

            Hermione found her former teacher alone in his room, dutifully drinking his potion in preparation for the full moon that night. She told him the story as she knew it and handed him the note. "I thought maybe you might know who she was."

            Remus paled as he recognized the handwriting. "My god! Celeste!"

            "You know her?"

            He was unable to speak for a moment. "Celeste Stargazer."

            Hermione's eyes widened in shock. "The Death Eater? M-my mother was a Death Eater?"

            "So it would seem," he answered quietly.

            "Did you know her?"

            He nodded, as if fighting back painful memories.

            She put a hand on his. "Please tell me."

            Celeste's cat eyes saw that he was trying to contain unnamable emotions. He took a deep breath and began the story of their romance, Hermione interrupting with questions. Their talk carried them until after dusk.

            They were both silent for a moment while Hermione digested the new information. "Then it's possible that you…You could be my father."

            Remus closed his eyes against the tears that threatened to overwhelm him. "I don't see how. If you were my child, you would have been born a werewolf."

            "Oh."

            "I wish it were true," he told her. "I would be very proud indeed to call you my daughter."

            Hermione smiled as a tear slid down her cheek. Celeste rubbed her head against both their legs, the only gesture of affection she was allowed in her current form.

            Suddenly, Remus doubled over in pain as a moonbeam fell through the window. "Hermione! Go!"

            "But the potion. You're safe now."

            He shook his head violently. "I've built up a tolerance to it. I don't know if it will work this time or not." For emphasis, he grabbed her arm and pushed her into the corridor. But it was too late. The potion hadn't worked. He was changing faster and faster, becoming more and more feral. The only exit from the dead-end corridor was blocked. Hermione was unable to escape.

            There was no time to think. Celeste had to protect her child from the man she loved. She leapt into the air... "Crookshanks, no!"…changing into her tiger form, pinning the wolf to the floor. "Crookshanks?" Celeste barely noticed that the commotion had drawn a crowd. Her only thought now was Remus.

            He pushed back up, but the she managed to shove him into the wall. She shifted back to her human form and firmly held his face in her hands. "Remus, my love. Look into my eyes. Trust me." She repeated it to him like a mantra until he calmed enough for her to truly see her. "Celeste?" He spoke in a deep, rough voice, his transformation nearly complete.

            "Let me help you," she said gently, weaving the magic she had only used once before seventeen years ago when her only child had been born. A small corner of her mind knew that she was putting on a rather impressive display for her audience, but her focus was on Remus. She needed to find the curse he carried and break its hold on him. It took longer than it had the last time. She was in danger now of burning herself out, but she held on. She had betrayed Remus once. She would not do so again. Finally, the curse broke, and she collapsed onto the floor.

            "Celeste!" Remus knelt down beside her and took her into his arms.

            "Remus," she gasped, placing a weak hand on his cheek. "It is true, Remus. She is your daughter." Her hand fell away as she lost consciousness.