Disclaimer: All Harry Potter charries belong to J.K Rowling.

The rest are mine.

This story is dedicated to 'K.C.' who I miss so very much

TRIAL OF FATE

Chapter 1

Downward Bound

The wet thumping of footsteps battled against the impending raindrops that fell from angry dark sky. The owner of the rushed footsteps quickened his pace as he neared the monstrous mansion before him.

He had no time to value the true beauty of the guardian statues that stood on either side of the grand oaken doors, the crystalline gates that he passed through earlier shared the same lack of attention.

He took immediate shelter under the enormous frame that held the doors and blocked the rain from staining them. The black sky roared it's fury and struck the earth with a flash of lightning as he knocked on the door urgently.

Upon the third knock, the door creaked open a little bit revealing a tall man with piercing frost eyes. The cold gaze changed to a welcome smile as he nodded his gray-streaked brown head in respect.

"Remus Lupin! Come in, quickly, before this weather claims your health." The man's deep voice matched his aging appearance as he ushers Lupin in, stepping back to give entrance to his guest.

He wore a simple dark blue cloak with formal white wrist cuffs on his sleeves. Lupin smiled his thanks and greeting as he took off his soaked cloak, hanging it on the wall along with many other cloaks.

"Greetings! You are Augustine Adel Caelestis? It is a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Master Caelestis." Lupin bowed his head slightly and extended his hand in a handshake. Augustine chuckled, his voice vibrant with the friendliness of a old, but strong man.

"Oh no, the pleasure is all mine." Tino shook his hand and smiled. "No need for such formalities Remus, we're all friends here. Please, call me Tino." Remus returned the smile and nodded.

"Alright, Tino." He said. Tino gestured towards the end of a hallway. Remus took a step forward away from the door and actually took a moment to soak his surroundings in. The entrance hall was enormous! The room itself was at least twenty feet in width and height, bright from the majestic, crystal chandelier that glowed with the light of the sun.

Great white statues of celestial guardians stood tall and proud against the entrances of rooms and hall ways, each claiming an area to watch over with their unique life-like eyes.

Whether they were Egyptian gods or mighty mythical entities, they all stood on padel stones carved from the finest of marble. Along the wall of the hallway ahead of him, began a marble staircase that led to the second floor of the Caelestis Mansion. As his eyes followed the path up he saw yet another floor and another, lit by a grand glistening chandelier at the top.

"By the gods.." Remus whispered, awed by the room. He was pushed back into reality as Tino chuckled. He was already at the end of the hallway, hand on the doorknob. Remus laughed at himself.

"My apologies, this place is just so beautiful." He said. Tino gave a sad smile as he nodded.

"Yes. Some of these things hold memories that we'll all hold dear to our hearts." Tino cocked his head slightly towards some of the old majestic furniture that still gleamed. A red oak table that held a draconic vase stood under a silver-framed mirror over by the wall next to a living room on their right.

Along the side of the table was an engraving, "ALBUS DUMBLEDORE." Remus sighed and looked away, his gaze meeting with Tino's sorrowful one.

"Come, it is time. The others await our arrival." He called to him in a comforting, soothing tone. Remus nodded and walked up to him, a new strength burning in his eyes. Both men nodded to each other and walked through the door to another majestic room.

Tino was leading them through a maze of doors and rooms until finally reaching a trapdoor that led to an underground living area. Remus, feeling the need to lighten things up rather than drift on in sorrow, broke the silence between the two.

"Goodness, this place is big." He said simply. Tino paused to look at him for a moment and laughed.

"It's August 18th and you two are standing there, telling me that the Umbridge woman is attempting to sign up for headmistress again?" Hermione said slowly, but emphasizing each word and almost screaming out the last. Harry and Ron raised their arms a little in defense from the fiery girl in front of them.

Ron received word from Mr. Weasley that Umbridge was once again signing up for headmistress now that Dumbledore was gone. Of course they were outraged, but Hermione seemed to have been taking it in the worst.

"That absolutely cannot happen! She's going to lead the school to ruin!" She ranted, causing Harry and Ron to sigh in exasperation.

"We know that," Harry said, attempting to be calm. "At first I thought they were going to shut the whole school down completely, but Mr. Weasley says that there are some people that are trying to fill in as headmaster other than Umbridge." Hermione looked at him thoughtfully.

"Who?" She asked.

"We're not sure yet," Ron replied. "No one knows what's goin' on anymore. Blimey, I'd bet they'll drop us off at Durmstrang or Beaux Baton or somethin'." Ron attempted a lame joke that faintly stung Hermione.

She wondered what has become of Krum, but brushed the thought away. There are more important matters to attend to right now. With a small sigh, she looked to Harry. Those eyes..

"What do we do now?" she asked. Harry shrugged solemnly.

"Now that the wizard that Voldemort fears most is gone," He paused for a moment before continuing. "We have to be ready for anything. I guess we wait until the Order comes to a decision."

A dull knock on the bedroom door interrupted their little conversation, "Lunch is ready, dears. Corn beef sandwiches!" Molly Weasley announced as she walked back downstairs. Ron made a face and grumbled.

"She keeps forgetting I hate corn beef!" He growled, standing up from his chair and stretching his stiff muscles. Harry cracked a smile of amusement as he walked towards the door, opening it.

Hermione just rolled her eyes at the still ranting Ron, and stood up from her seat on the bed's edge to smooth out the wrinkles on her skirt. Together they exited Harry's room and continued towards the kitchen.

In the kitchen, Ginny sat at the table with a musty old book in front of her. As the trio entered, she looked up with a smile.

"Hey guys. Oh, Hermione, can you help me with this one question? I know I learned this before but I forgot. What does asphodel wormwood make?" She pointed at the question in the book and readied a quill in her other hand. Hermione thought for a second. This has got to be the easiest.. she thought to herself.

"The Draught Of Death, otherwise known as a sleeping potion." She answered simply.

"Thanks!" Ginny said as she quickly wrote that down on the parchment and continued on to other questions. Ron snorted as he seated himself to Ginny's right at the table.

"Who needs a book when you have Hermione?" he joked, laughing a little. Hermione frowned and sat down with arms crossed. Obviously that wasn't a very nice thing to say, whether it was a compliment to your genius or not.

"I'd just love to see the day where you have twenty pounds of homework and I'm not there, Ron!" she said hotly. But that wasn't the case at all. She had began questioning herself a few weeks after their headmaster's death.

Everyone had started to look for her not for comfort, but for answers to their petty questions such as that ridiculous sleeping potions question, or what had happened in 1952 in Hogwarts, A History. Always, since the beginning of the sixth year was 'Hermione do this..' or 'Hermione do that..' She began questioning her place among these brave witches and wizards.

"Come off it, the both of you!" Harry sighed, exasperated and seated himself next to Ron and across from Hermione. He thought it slightly annoying how both of his friends would fight so much and over such stupid things. Little did he - all of them know of what swam in Hermione's mind.

"How're you all this afternoon? Well, I hope?" Mrs. Weasley asked in a forced cheery kind of tone as she placed plates of dull sandwiches in front of them. She was very glum as of late, she wasn't the same after the tragedy, none of them were.

They all nodded and began eating, wincing inwardly at the dryness. Ron, unfortunately, didn't touch his sandwich. Mrs. Weasley looked at him with concern for a moment.

"Something wrong, Ron?" She asked.

"I hate corn beef." he stated simply. Ginny sighed.

"You complain too much, Ron! Just eat the bloody thing! Ugh, you are such a prat!" she exclaimed and watched her steaming brother with amusement.

"Look, you--" Ron was interrupted as Mrs. Weasley snatched his plate up and set it on the counter and replaced it with a steaming bowl of what looked like green centipedes floating in a moss-colored soup. Ron paled visibly.

"Pea soup." Mrs. Weasley answered his confused expression. Ginny swallowed and snorted, laughing at her brother's misery. Harry joined in her laughter as he patted Ron on the back.

"It's okay, Ron. There's still the corn beef." he said. Ron scoffed at him and grumbled, grabbing his spoon.

Hermione forced a small grin of amusement and finished up her sandwich. Having nothing else to do, she grabbed a book from the counter next to her and began to read.

How To Capture, Repel and Destroy Demons By: Kaskt Ulriel

Interesting.. she thought dully and began reading.

Along the northern outskirts of London stood a leafless forest, coated in thick layers of snow that fell continuously from the sky. The deserted field of white that led to the forest stretched for as far as the eyes can see, only a single trail of foot-prints stood out from all the white. It was a long trail that led from the train station a few miles away. What fool would begin a trek such as this?

The density of the forest would ensure a slow death of starvation and lack of direction. The eerie silence would be enough to keep anyone away. But has anyone ever thought about the loneliness and anguish the forest felt? Of course not, the muggles understood nothing beyond their reasoning.

The forest groans as the icy layers of snow coat them, the trees cry out as they feel their life imprisoned by ice, but a single being stood deep within the density of this mournful place. Even among all the gray and white, it stood out like a yellow flower in a field of red roses.

A black, thin, paper-like shirt clung to its upper body, revealing the fit figure of a young man, but as it continued it's martial arts routine, soft, firm curves on it's chest revealed the mysterious sprite as female. She gracefully moved her body in the snow, long masculine arms flexed as they struck out at nothing.

The falling snow freely danced around her as she flipped and sent a torrent of snow in the air with a kick. Her legs were coated by a loose black dress pants; thighs hugged by the extremely thin material but flowed and rippled freely from her knees down.

All through out her graceful movements, her eyes were kept closed as though in a meditative state. Her lips revealed no emotion besides a thin horizon line, held by a firm feminine jaw. Her sharp nose had no signs of an on-coming cold nor the running of liquid; just the foggy steam that flew from her nostrils, signaling her soft breaths of air.

Such a strong face.. Eyebrows tilted slightly inward almost like a frown, but at the same time, an expression of tranquility. Just like the hem of her pants, her hair, though only shoulder length, flowed like silk in water; dark brown with silverish tips.

Her hands moved as if she were conducting an orchestra, kept straight and sent through slow-moving jabs and swipes through the air. Her balance was as incredible as her movements.

So inhumane.. Each turn, each spin, each flip gave the image of her fall, but she kept on her feet. One would think she is to freeze with such light, silken clothing and lack of protection to her feet and face, but the extreme cold doesn't seem to phase her. On her right hand, she wore a strange black glove that was adorned with gleaming metal that coated the back of her hand.

As she seems to be nearing the end of her routine, she twirled her body backwards and flipped, landing on the ground on her right hand which was glowing a frost blue light and stretched out as if grasping the ground.

"La Grandine Della Terra." she muttered under her breath.

At once, a flurry of snow shot from the ground as spikes of ice tore through the earth around her. The soft tremor and rumbling from the finale echoed throughout the empty forest.

As the vibration on the ground came to an end, she flipped back onto her feet and opened her eyes, revealing a sharp pair of brown eyes.

She sat down on the ground, leaning against a frozen pillar of ice she had created from her magic and looked up to the dark grayish sky.

"It's almost time.." she spoke in a soft, moderately deep voice. "Just 12 days.."

"Is it wise to hold such an event at the beginning of the school year? Many families will be too frightened to send their children to Hogwarts." McGonagall spoke, her voice caked with worry.

She sat at a table with other witches and wizards that had gathered together; some standing and leaning against walls, some sitting. The room was quite dim, lit by four candles that were set up on all corners of the room, but every face was visible.

Since Grimmauld Place was no longer an option as the Order's hideout, they stationed themselves at Tino's mansion.

"We cannot leave a school unattended now can we? I am confident that a replacement will be found in no time." Fudge said, but paused to recollect his words when everyone stared at him in quiet shock.

Nymphadora Tonks' hair changed from her usual hot pink to an angry red, looking about ready to jump from her seat and wring his neck, assuming if he had one.

"No one can ever replace Dumbledore, ever, and I share the same feelings but he would not have wanted us to shut Hogwarts down. We need to come to a decision." He corrected himself. Moody grunted and gulped some water down from his mug.

"I'm assuming we have 'contestants' to this game of yours, Fudge?" He said, gravely. His magical eye bore into Fudge's while his other eye just focused on his mug. Fudge gulped slightly but remembered his position. He is not to be taken lightly!

"Yes," he said, making a sad attempt at looking firm and strong. "Master Augustine Abel Caelestis is.." There was a quiet interruption to his listing as Tonks snickered.

"It's Adel, get it right fat-" She began under her breath, but Moody raised a hand signaling an end to her torment. His face was etched with a scowl, but his eyes glittered with amusement. Fudge's face reddened slightly, from embarrassment and anger.

"..Right, Dolores Umbridge and Minerva McGonagall. The Ministry has also offered the option of moving your students to Beaux Batons or Durmstr-" again, he was interrupted. Not by Tonks, but by Remus Lupin.

"With all do respect, Mr. Fudge, we cannot endanger anymore students than we already have. I do not believe that is a wise decision." he stated firmly. Everyone nodded and murmured to one another as McGonagall spoke up.

"And with the previous events that had occurred while Dolores was headmistriss is to be taken into account as well." Her voice dripped with an obvious venom that made even Moody wince slightly.

She continued, "Also, I am afraid I cannot hold the position as headmistress to Hogwarts, my place is with the students in the classroom, not from afar."

Some people groaned. Tino, who had remained silent through out the discussion, surprised them with his deep comforting voice.

"I will go to Hogwarts as headmaster." He offered. Seeing no argument or objection he continued on, "Perhaps my sons who have enrolled a few years ago shall return this year to offer a small but well-able security to Hogwarts. They have spent too much time in the muggle world playing. I'd like them to refresh their minds as well as keep an eye out for things."

Moody chuckled hoarsely, "Ah, the Caelestis brats. The spiky-haired one was trouble, wouldn't you agree, Professor McGonagall?" McGonagall widened her eyes a bit and sighed some.

"Do not start, Alastor." she said irritably. Tino laughed some.

"Yes, yes, I admit that he is a bit on the wild side, but he is much tamer since then. We have a new member to the family." he said with a smile. Fudge felt excluded from the conversation he very well started.

"Oh? I don't believe Hogwarts is accepting toddlers," he began a little hotly. Tonks glared at him.

"I believe you should shut your trap, Minister." she growled. Remus patted her on the shoulder and shook his head.

Tonks softened under his calm gaze but slipped a heated glare at Fudge for a split second. Tino's demeanor had not changed, but he offered Fudge a fresh look.

"She is adopted. Her name is Demosthene. She is one of the most strongest children I've ever raised. She shall keep Kenan under surveillance. I trust that Vincent is less problematic than he is?" He chuckled lightly at being able to gossip about his children. McGonagall looked as if someone had given her a relaxing cup of tea.

"He was one of the most wonderful students I've ever had." She began with a smile, enjoying the time they had to reminisce. "Very bright, the only student who has even come close to him is Hermione Granger. Actually, I think he may be having a bit of compitition this year, Ms. Granger may very well surpass him." Tonks giggled, though Fudge didn't find anything amusing.

"What does this have to do with choosing a headmaster for Hogwarts? I-" Tonks waved a hand dismissively at him.

"If you were listening, Minister, you would know that we've already chosen Hogwart's new headmaster. Headmaster Augustine ADEL Caelestis." She emphasized 'Adel' just to spite him, which indeed worked. Remus nodded and offered a small smile to the group.

"So it is decided. Shall I send word to Arthur, Molly and the other Professors?" He asked. Tino nodded and patted a statue of a German Shepard lightly on the head. Instantly, the hardened limbs of the animal softened into a fur-like material. The dog barked and wagged his tail happily, eyes glancing about at the guests.

"Please do." He said to Lupin. Turning his attention back to the dog, he scratched him behind the ears and gestured towards Lupin.

"Kindly take Remus to the owlry, Sair." Sair barked and padded towards the staircase that led to the trapdoor. There, he sat on his haunches and waited for his master's guest.

Lupin chuckled and followed the dog up the stairs and opened the trapdoor, before walking through it, he added in a friendly tone, "I look forward to knowing more about our old, but new friend, Caelestis."

"Indeed yes, Caelestis. I think we'll all look forward to it." Moody growled his agreement as he flashed Tino an ogre's grin. He extended his hand and received a firm handshake.

"Of course, some other time, my friends." Tino smiled as Moody got up to leave. Tonks followed after Moody but paused at the foot of the staircase.

"It was nice meetin' you, Mr. Tino." She said.

"And you, Tonks." He nodded to her. Ah, so vibrant and full of life. I envy the young. He thought. McGonagall stood up and walked over to him. He noticed the sorrowful look in her eyes, but before he could utter a word, she began in a strong but shaky voice.

"I cannot thank you enough for taking the position and without complaint, Tino. It's just, I cannot bare to stand in the place where Albus once stood.." She looked away for a moment but regained her composure. Tino smiled some and nodded.

"I understand. We all have to try and move on, we cannot linger on the past any more. The students need us now more than ever, let us be strong for them and our families." he said comfortingly. She smiled and nodded, brushing away a stray tear that fell from her eyes.

"Thank you, Tino. It was very nice meeting you after so long." She said. Tino smiled and took her hand and bowed, kissing her knuckles lightly, "You as well, M'lady." She blushed a bit and walked towards the stairs.

"I am looking forward to teaching your children again. And I am also looking forward to meeting Demosthene." McGonagall said, regaining her usual teacher-voice and climbing the stairs. Tino chuckled some and looked behind him to Cornelius Fudge who sat forgotten at the end of the table, all but looking angry and.. Well, left-out.

"I'm assuming you have much work to do at your office, Minister, allow me to esc-" Tino was interrupted as Fudge stood abruptly and swept passed him without a word.

Tino blinked and paused for a moment before following Fudge up. Smiling faintly he snapped his fingers, causing all the candles to go out. With a final look about his surroundings he let out a soft sigh.

"Look after your little sister, Vincent.. Kenan.." With that he exited the underground room and locked the trapdoor behind him.

"Gee, should I be surprised or extremely annoyed at the location of training she chose?" A voice barked out sarcastically against the howling winds of the seemingly never-ending field of white.

The owner of the voice had a black cloak wrapped tightly around him and a hood that shielded him from the nasty cold. Part of his face was visible but a pair of black goggles covered his eyes.

He and another were trudging against the snow towards the isolated forest.

"Stop complaining so much, Fox. It's not like she had a choice to begin with." The second man scorned in a deep voice. He too wore a thick, heavy-looking cloak, goggles and the hood. The one known as Fox groaned and stamped his heavy boots on the frozen snow below him.

"For the love of God, Vincent! It's damn cold, I'm tired and we've been walking for ages! Can't we just use a wee-bit of magic to get there faster!" He exclaimed as he rubbed his already thickly coated arms for warmth. "How the hell does she stand this? And in goddamn paper-thin clothes too!"

Even if Vincent's eyes were covered by the black goggles, Kenan could tell he was rolling his eyes in disgust. Vincent shook his head some and stopped walking as Kenan had, only standing one inch taller than him.

"Don't swear, and don't call me Vincent for the one-hundred, millionth time. We can't have the ministry breathing down Fathers neck just because we can't get across a bit of frozened wasteland." He said in a slightly annoyed tone.

"You're a goody-goody, Freyr. Always sucking up to Ma and Pa. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Baaad influence on Little Demos." Fox replied slyly but tripped and fell face first into the snow.

Vincent paused for a moment before looking at the figure that stood above Kenan's crumpled, cursing form, and laughed. The girl that stood before them grinned slightly.

"I am not little." She said, arms crossed in a mocking offended manner. Kenan uttered a growl of discontent as he spat out snow and re-covered his spikey-brown head. Vincent helped him up, still chuckling in amusement.

"Well, this saves the trip for you, Fox." He replied to Kenan before turning his attention to Demosthene. "You're earlier than usual." Demos nodded and rubbed her shoulder.

Observant, as usual. She thought to herself.

"I decided that I did pretty good job finding a place the ministry isn't watching like a hawk over, but that's not the point. It's almost time and I feel my energy draining little by little. It's rather annoying and I don't want to risk exposing my powers for so long." She replied, running her hands through her hair. Kenan brushed the last bits of snow off his cloak and turned to the two.

"Can we go now? I'm freezing my ass off over here while Demos is standing there proclaimed as Queen of Frost." He mumbled in between chattering of teeth.

Vincent scowled slightly from under the hood and goggles, but reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black cloth, which magically grew to the size of a normal cloak. He handed the robe to Demosthene.

"Here, just in case you're cold." He said simply. Demos nodded her thanks and slipped it on. Upon buttoning the top she leapt a couple feet ahead of them and began running.

The speedy image to the naked eye would actually be considered inhumane, it was only 5 seconds but she had already covered more than 600 meters. Kenan and Vincent blinked but quickly followed suit, their speed not even remotely close to Demos.

"RACE." She yelled behind her.

"HEY! That's cheating!" Kenan screamed in annoyance. Eventually, Vincent began passing him as well.

"Last one to the trainstation has to feed the hippogriffs!" He yelled behind him. Kenan growled and urged his legs to move faster, "THAT'S NOT FAIR!"

The sky outside the Weasley household grew a quiet, peaceful dark blue hue dotted with a few scattered stars. Everyone was asleep by this time of night, but one soul stood awake and lost. Hermione sat in front of a table near the window, staring idly at the sky. She sighed and shook her head.

Why do I feel this way? This isn't like me.. She traced a gold line along the edge of the book she was reading earlier. This felt so strange. She never felt this way before until recently. It was a kind of loneliness, a longing.

There's more to me than books and cleverness... But it seems that it's all they want from me anymore. It's all I can do to be spoken too, to be paid attention to.. Stealing a glance at the clock, she frowned slightly. 11:37 pm.

I should go to sleep.. I feel so tired, and yet I can't rest. Perhaps it was just the curse of adolescence that brought upon these emotions. She frowned and rubbed her forehead in discomfort. Having her feelings for a certain dark-brown haired boy fed at this point in time was rather annoying and painful.

She had better things to do! Like..

Being used by the Order for my intelligence and just only that. Nothing more. Hermione sighed and curled up in her chair, burying her face into her arms. She felt a slight ache in her chest and a unpleasant chill running through her body.

Argh, this is ridiculous. It's just teenage drama that's talking. I'll be perfectly fine by next week.. She sniffed and rubbed her eyes subconsciously with her sleeve. She stood up quietly and slipped into her bed. It was great, Mrs. Weasley had given her a room all to herself with a very soft, but small twin sized bed.

She curled up loosely under the cottony sheets and turned on her side. Quietly, she closed her eyes for a moment and wished herself a good night. Unfortunately, she looked onto the bedside table, and spotted the piles of parchment that had lists of things she must research for the Order. Hermione uttered a small cry of disdain and faced away from the taunting papers.

She laughed a little at herself. Hermione Granger, concerned with other matters other than Exams and books..

Not wanting to plague her thoughts with useless self-pity any longer, she closed her eyes and drifted into a dreamless slumber.

Chapter 1 End

o.o Well, that was something new. . This is my first post and first fanfic ever. A little more info about The Caelestis Trio shall come later on. All questions shall be answered in time. Please review! Much Thanks,

Tsuki