Here we go, a nice long post to make everyone happy.
Some things to keep in mind while reading the next few posts (so as to avoid confusion)
-I have fastforwarded 5 years, Celeste is now 21
-She and Remus are engaged
-James and Lily are married
-The month is July, just over a year before Harry is born
-James, Sirius, and Peter all know Celeste is McGonagall's daughter
-James, Lily, Peter, Sirius, and Remus are members of the Order
-LV is in full power; Severus is a death eater
I think that's all you need to know before hand. Enjoy and let me know what you think!
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Celeste pulled a large weed from the garden and threw it aside. She was almost finished for the day, Minerva would be returning soon and Celeste was eager for news. Around Christmastime, Celeste had sold her apartment and come to stay at her mother's house in the country. Minerva McGonagall was never home so Celeste had taken charge of decorating, cleaning, and once spring had come, gardening.
The once thistle infested forest was now in bloom with rich, beautiful colors. Celeste had been working with the families of the Death Eater victims in the Counseling ward at St. Mungo's, but she had been forced to take leave to recover from a high, exhausting fever and now spent most of her time perfecting her mother's neglected garden.
There was one area of the garden that Celeste didn't spend as much time working in as the rest. A large treehouse her father had once built for her stood in the center of the yard. Celeste had removed the weeds that had entangled it, but she had not climbed up inside. Just looking at it brought back powerful memories from her childhood. All of which reminded her of her childhood friend, Severus Snape. Thinking about him was something Celeste tried to avoid as much as possible.
Celeste and Severus had been very close friends growing up. But their friendship fell apart in Celeste's fifth year at Hogwarts; they had barely spoken since then. She had seen him once, the year before. The Snape mansion was very close to Minerva McGonagall's summer home. Adolf Snape had died some years ago; Clarisse Snape had died in late November. Minerva and Clarisse had never gotten along and Mrs. Snape had never approved of the friendship between her son and Minerva's daughter. But Minerva and Celeste had both attended Clarisse's funeral. Severus had been there too, but he had ignored every attempt Celeste had made to speak to him.
What bothered Celeste most was that Severus had joined a group of people known as Death Eaters. They followed a man who called himself Lord Voldemort. These people terrorized muggles and muggleborn witches and wizards, as well as all purebloods that stood against them. Celeste was horrified to know that Severus had joined these people, her fiancé, Remus Lupin, was a member of a group who fought stop Lord Voldemort and end his reign of terror.
Every account of a Death Eater attack made Celeste sick at heart. Not only did she fear for Remus' safety and the safety of her friends who also fought against Lord Voldemort, Celeste also feared that it was Severus who had committed those crimes. She didn't want to believe her childhood friend could do such things, but she knew it was all too possible.
As Celeste was putting her garden tools away, she heard a loud pop from inside the kitchen telling her Minerva McGonagall had just apparated. Wiping her dirty hands on her jeans, Celeste went inside to greet her mom.
"Hello, mom," Celeste said brightly as she entered the kitchen. Seeing the worried look on her mom's face she rushed to her side. "Has something happened? Is Remus all right? Lily? James?"
"There're all fine," Minerva answered. "I just received an owl from Albus, the Prewetts have been murdered."
Celeste gasped and sank down into a chair at the kitchen table. The Prewetts were members of the Order of the Phoenix, like Remus. They were purebloods.
"How's Molly?" Celeste asked. Molly Weasley was a cousin of the Prewetts, Celeste knew she would take the news hard.
"As can be expected," Minerva answered. "Arthur would like us to come get the older boys and keep them here for a few days."
"Of course," Celeste answered, jumping to her feet. "Let's go."
Celeste apparated into the cozy living room of the Burrow. Minerva appeared right beside her. Immediately, two small redheaded boys appeared and launched themselves at Celeste. Bill, seven, and Charlie, six, were both rambunctious, mischievous, and completely smitten with Celeste.
"Hello boys," Celeste said, hugging them both. "I guess you two are coming to stay with me, that'll be fun won't it?"
The boys agreed and at Celeste's urging, flew upstairs to pack their things. Minerva had told Celeste before they left her house that the boys didn't know what had happened, Arthur and Molly wanted to tell them, but not right away.
Arthur Weasley, redheaded like his kids, appeared out of the kitchen and smiled sadly at the two women.
"Hello, Celeste, Minerva," he said, "thank you for coming. I know Bill and Charlie will enjoy staying with you, Molly really needs some time to herself."
"What about Percy and the twins then?" asked Minerva. "Would you like us to keep them as well?"
"Oh, no," said Arthur, "Molly doesn't want to let the twins out of her sight. You know how they are. And besides, I think she needs them with her for comfort. There're so young they won't understand any of it anyway. As for Percy, he's been keeping be company today, I think he should stay too. Why don't you have something to eat before you take the boys?"
Celeste and Minerva agreed. As it turned out, they had to prepare dinner, Molly had stayed in bed all day and was in no condition to fix anything, Arthur had been kept so busy chasing after Bill, Charlie, and the twins, that he hadn't had any time. Neither Celeste nor Minerva objected, however, they had a strong affection for the Weasley family and wanted to do everything possible to help them.
Dinner went well, Bill and Charlie were, for the most part, well behaved, the one year old twins made only a minimum amount of mess, and even Molly, puffy-eyed and subdued, was able to appreciate the excellent dinner.
After they had finished cleaning the kitchen, Celeste and Minerva helped the boys finish their packing and watched as they kissed their parents goodbye. The boys were planning on staying a week, but Celeste suspected Molly would want her children close to her again before the week was over.
Celeste dissapparated with the few pieces of luggage and returned immediately to take Bill and Charlie by floo powder. After she and the boys had disappeared in the emerald flames, Minerva turned to Arthur.
"If you need anything at all, let me know," she said. He nodded and thanked her, looking grave, Minerva dissaparated.
-
Bedtime was not the favorite time of day for Bill and Charlie Weasley. Minerva and Celeste spent an hour chasing them around the house and garden in an attempt to get them to take a bath. In the end, Minerva shot two strong ropes out of her wand and held the boys bound while Celeste squirted them with water then toweled them dry.
When at last the boys had been persuaded to lie down in the guestroom prepared for them, they fell asleep at once. Laughing at the boys' antics, Celeste and her mother went to the kitchen for some tea. It was late; almost midnight and they were both exsausted.
"Mom, do you think Molly will be all right?" Celeste asked as she poured their tea.
"In time," Minerva replied. "Everyone fears that they or someone they love will be the next victim, unfortunately, it often is."
They both were silent, thinking to themselves. Suddenly the silence was broken by a loud roar. Minerva and Celeste looked at each other in confusion, the sound was familiar but neither could understand why it would come at such an hour.
Getting up from the table, Celeste went to look out the window. There in the side yard stood a huge black motorcycle. It belonged to Sirius Black, but the man getting off the bike wasn't Sirius, it was...
"Remus!" Celeste flew from the window, out the door, and into the arms of her fiancé, Remus Lupin.
From the kitchen window, Minerva watched their embrace and smiled.
When the two finally entered the kitchen, Minerva greeted Remus and poured him a cup of tea. He looked slightly worn, the full moon had only been two nights before, but he was smiling and Minerva could see that merely being in each other's presence did wonders for the young couple.
"Tell me Remus," Minerva asked in amusement, "does Sirius know you've borrowed his motorcycle?"
Remus laughed and shook his head. "No," he answered, "Sirius would never let anyone ride his bike, he's doing work for the Order, I'll make sure to return it before he gets back."
"Remus," said Celeste, looking suddenly pale. "I'm sure you've heard about the Prewetts' murders, is there any word on who killed them?"
Remus and Minerva glanced at each other uneasily; they both knew why Celeste asked this. She hadn't told them, but they both knew she worried the answer would be 'Severus Snape'.
"We don't know yet, Cice," Remus answered gently. "But it was most likely the Knell brothers, the Prewetts had received several threats from them just recently."
Celeste looked rather relieved.
-
The three stayed up late talking. At about three in the morning Celeste went upstairs to check on the boys. As soon as the kitchen door had closed behind her, Remus turned to Minerva.
"How is she Minerva, really?" he asked. "I know she's worried about a lot of things right now."
"Considering the circumstances she's doing fine," Minerva replied. "But she'll be a lot better once You-Know-Who has been defeated. Are you really going to wait until then to get married?"
Remus sighed. "We don't have much choice Minerva, the only time I'm not doing work for the Order is when I'm a werewolf. Besides, the house isn't even ready yet, it still needs a new roof."
The house he referred to was a small cottage Minerva and Erik had bought for Celeste and Remus as an engagement present. It was old and in much need of repair, but Celeste had loved the house since she was thirteen and it was the perfect size for the two of them and for the children they both hoped to have one day. At the moment, Remus lived there alone and made repairs whenever he had the chance, which wasn't very often.
"One day You-Know-Who will be defeated and the two of you will be together," said Minerva, smiling at him fondly.
"You're right," Remus replied. He believed this; he just wasn't sure when that day would be.