Celesta's birth father was the last of the Selwyn's before her, the family having been wiped out by dragon pox, aurors as they fought on the side of the Dark Lord, or general sickness due to inbreeding. Her father must've been the only one not on the side of the Dark Lord, considering his marriage to her birth mother, Eunomia Black.
She'd been reading about her family ties, curious as to who exactly she was related to. It was slightly sickening to find out that on her Mother's side of the family, she was basically related to every family of the Sacred Twenty-eight, including the Gaunt family, which was rumored to have disappeared. Apparently they were the last to speak Parseltongue, though those related, however distantly, might have the trait, hidden in their DNA.
Celesta hadn't ever considered that she might be able to speak to snakes, as she hadn't ever been around any to converse with either. She'd originally been researching the Potter's, and it wasn't until she discovered that she was related to Harry that she'd been derailed. Harry had come to her to ask if anybody in his family had heard voices, and that was what had led her down the rabbithole.
She shared a bit of her knowledge with Harry, though he didn't seem too interested in knowing who he was related to in Hogwarts as most of them were in Slytherin. Perhaps this research should've clued her in to what was going to happen this school year.
October had arrived, along with a bunch of rain, turning the ground muddy. Even the Great Lake seemed to swell. Wood was making Harry practice a lot, leaving more than enough time for Celesta to study and keep up on her homework. One night, Harry informed them all that they'd been invited to a Deathday party, and while that seemed lovely, Celesta was the only one to decline, and for good reason. Ghosts weren't the best cooks, as they didn't have to make anything for the living now that they were dead.
It was Halloween night soon enough, Celesta eating her fill of the feast before packing away a few sandwhiches into her bag for her friends before leaving in search of them. Apparently Harry had needed to finish his last detention with Lockhart, signing fan mail halfway through the party. That's when she heard the whispers.
'Come here...
Come to me'
Eyes narrowed, Celesta started to follow the voice, running into Ron and Hermione before hearing the voice once again. She didn't say anything though, her worries turning to Harry.
'Come, I smell blood...Let me rip you.
Let me kill you.'
At these words Celesta sped up her walking, fear turning her already pale skin even whiter until she could be mistaken as a ghost herself.
'Kill.
Kill.
KILL.'
But then the voice was cut off as they ran into their friend coming back from detention. "Harry!" Hermione said, relieved they'd found their friend.
"Did you hear it?" Harry demanded of the three of them, Celesta hesitating when Ron and Hermione both shook their heads. Biting her lip, she nodded after a second, gulping.
"Hear what?" Ron asked of the two of them, Ron and Hermione looking around.
"That voice! I heard it in Lockhart's office, then again just-" Harry got cut off as the voice returned, he and Celesta pricking their ears.
'It's time...'
"It's moving." Harry said for the both of them, Celesta too shaken to speak. Even in the wizarding world, hearing voices was not a good thing. "I think it's going to kill," Harry declared, before he led the way towards where the sound had come from.
"Kill?!" Ron exclaimed as she and the others followed after Potter, Hermione complaining about his fast pace. Being on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, he was in more than decent shape for running, the rest of them not so much. Celesta vowed to start running more often, deciding then and there to wake up at dawn and run in the grounds.
Harry finally stopped running as he reached a flooded corridor, water splashing up onto their shoes, Celesta wrinkling her nose a bit once she'd caught up. "Guys, we should get to the tower...or a teacher!" She'd even suggested as they went down the corridor. They stopped to watch spiders going out the window in single-file line, Ron admitting his phobia then.
It was then that they noticed words reflecting in the water, all four of them glancing up only to gasp, Celesta even curling into herself, her magic fizzling inside her, as if calling for help. They stared at the words, not even noticing the rest of the student body coming up to them, pausing as they saw what they did.
Mrs. Norris, Filch's skinny cat, seemed to be frozen in place, not breathing nor blinking, hanging from a sconce. But there, on the wall in big bold blood red letters were the words:
'The Chamber of Secrets has been opened.
Enemies of the Heir, beware.'
Hermione read it out loud, before somebody in the crowd pointed out that it was written in blood, Celesta flinching, her magic going haywire inside her. What...who could've done something like this, she wondered, her stomach feeling like it'd empty itself right then and there.
And then she heard her brother's words, and she swiftly conjured a bucket to empty her stomach contents, Pompfrey coming through the crowd to hold her hair back, petting her back. It seemed she'd be spending the night in the Hospital Wing.
"Enemies of the heir beware? You'll be next, Mudbloods!"
Filch appeared then, his eyes widening as he took in the scene, before accusing Harry of murdering Mrs. Norris. Celesta couldn't speak up, too busy cleansing her system, her eyes filling with tears that tracked down her cheeks with each new gag on the vomit.
"I'll kill you. I'll kill you!"
"Argus!" she faintly heard Professor Dumbledore shout, Madame Pompfrey vanishing her sick from the bucket she'd conjured once it appeared to almost be overfilling. It appeared that Professors Dumbledore, Mcgonagall, Lockhart, and Snape had finally appeared. It took Dumbledore a moment to take in the scene, his voice nearly shaking as he ordered everybody to their dormitories. "Everybody except you four," he pointed out to the four of them, Pompfrey doing her best to try and calm Celesta as she looked like she was one breath away from a panic attack.
Lockhart went close to study Mrs. Norris while Dumbledore spoke up to Mr. Filch. "She's not dead, Argus. However, she has been petrified."
"Spot on! So unlucky I wasn't there. I know exactly the counter curse that could've spared her." Lockhart spoke, refusing to go near Celesta, for which she was glad.
"How she has been petrified I cannot say." Dumbledore said after a long look at Lockhart.
"Ask him! It's him who done it!" Filch said with a nod at Harry. "You said what he wrote on the wall!"
"It's not true sir! I swear! I'd never touch Mrs. Norris." Harry protested.
"Rubbish!" Argus spat out, only for Snape of all people to come to Harry's rescue. Though that could be with Celesta being there.
"If I might, Headmaster. As much as it pains me to say, but perhaps Potter and his friends were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time?" Snape offered, Celesta's sick finally ending, though she was still retching and coughing horribly, shaking in place. "However, the circumstances are suspicious. I for one, don't recall seeing Potter, Weasley, or Granger at the dinner."
One of the ghosts floated by, informing them all of Hermione and Ron being at Sir Nick's deathday party, while Lockhart spoke up on Harry's behalf. "I'm afraid that's my doing, Severus. You see Harry was helping me answer my fanmail for detention."
After a breath, Celesta spoke up, her voice hoarse. "I went looking for them after dinner. I knew they were going to the deathday party, and so after I ate I grabbed a few sandwhiches for them. I'd found Hermione and Ron when they mentioned Harry was finishing detention, so we went looking for him when...when we saw..." Celesta couldn't finish, her stomach apparently not quite as empty as it had seemed from earlier.
"There, you see? Innocent until proven guilty, Severus." Dumbledore spoke, his eyes twinkling a little as he looked over them, Madame Pompfrey summoning a glass of water for Celesta.
"Me and Miss Malfoy are going to the Hospital Wing. If you need anything more from her, follow along. Until then, that'll be no more questions for her." Madame Pomfrey stated, wrapping an arm around Celesta as she pulled her up to stand, starting the long journey up to said wing. Dumbledore suggesting caution to all of them was the last thing she heard as she was seperated from her friends.
The next day in Transfiguration, Professor Mcgonagall was teaching them to turn animals into water goblets. Celesta had Maera in front of her, and with orders not to speak unless necessary for her throat to heal from the bile of last night, Celesta merely copied the wand movements, thinking the spell in her mind. Much to her shock, the spell worked, Maera turning into an ornate water goblet, the same time Ron turned his rat into one. Of course, with his wand being broken, it didn't quite work, his goblet still having a rat's tail and fur.
"Thirty points to Gryffindor for Miss Malfoy. Excellent nonverbal wandwork my dear. Speak to me after class please." Mcgonagall praised, before turning to her friend. "That wand needs replacing, Mr. Weasley." Hermione raised her hand then, Professor Mcgonagall turning to her. "Yes, Miss Granger?"
"Professor? I was wondering if you could tell us about the Chamber of Secrets," Hermione said hestantly. Mcgonagall paused, her face seeming to pale. Celesta herself flinched a little bit, but she didn't have an adverse reaction, much to her brother's relief. Draco had snuck into the Hospital Wing last night to apologize in secret before Pompfrey kicked him out, having felt bad he made her sick when she had obviously already been frightened the night before.
"Very well. As you all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago by the four greatest witches and wizards of the Age. Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin," she started, pacing slowly in the front of the room. "Three of the founders existed quite harmoniously, one did not. Salazar Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed magical learning should be kept within all magic families, in other words, purebloods. Unable to sway the others, he decided to leave the school. Now according to legend, Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in the castle known as the Chamber of Secrets. Though shortly before departing, he sealed it, until that time when his own true heir returned to the school. The heir alone would be able to open the chamber, and unleash the horror within, and by so doing would purge the school of all those who, in Slytherin's view, were unworthy to study magic."
"Muggleborns." Hermione surmised, Mcgonagall nodding.
"Well, naturally the school has been searched many times, and no such chamber has been found." Mcgonagall finished, heading back to the front of class.
"Professor!" Hermione interrupted, Mcgonagall turning back to her. "What exactly lies within the chamber?"
Mcgonagall paused, pursing her lips together and holding onto her wand. "The chamber is said to be the home to something that only the heir of Slytherin can control. It is said to be the home of a monster."
With those final words, Mcgonagall sighed, before waving her wand. "There will be no more talk of the chamber. Back to class."
Ginny seemed most put out by what had happened to Mrs. Norris, Ron informing them over the next couple of days that the first year was an avid cat lover. For the next week of classes, the Chamber was all that students would talk about, though the teachers sternly refused to let them during class hours. Snape even went so far as to take off points from Slytherin for mentioning it during one of his potion's class.
Celesta didn't have much time for that however, Mcgonagall so impressed by her nonverbal magic that first day after Halloween that they'd gone to Dumbledore to sign her up for advanced nonverbal spellwork. She refused to work with Lockhart for it, however, instead asking for Flitwick or Snape, claiming that Lockhart must have too much on his plate already, with answering fanmail and teaching the classes. In truth, she didn't want to be alone with him practicing nonverbal spells.
Her father had stepped in as govenor, claiming that Professor Snape or Professor Flitwick would be far better teachers, having taught students for longer than Lockhart had been.
So every other day after her evening classes but before dinner she met with Professor Flitwick, who currently had her practising spells on small items or deulling dummies. On Saturday mornings, at her inquiry, he was teaching her how to duel, her Mother approving of this request to continue training from over the summer.
Harry and Hermione brought up the fact after classes one day that if the chamber had been opened then the heir had returned. Ron seemed convince it was her brother, Draco. Celesta had glowered a bit. "Honestly Ron. Draco wouldn't be the heir. While we -are- distantly related through our Mother's side of the family, so is nearly everybody else. Why even you could be. Or Harry," she'd pointed out. "Besides, if Draco were the heir, so too, would I be."
At that Ron seemed to back off, holding his hands up. "So it isn't Draco, but wouldn't he know who it is? He's in Slytherin, so it might be a possibility."
Hermione then brought up the polyjuice potion, the four of them coming up with the plan to brew the potion, Celesta needed in order to brew it correctly.
Over the next month, Celesta ordered the ingredients they'd need from one of the Apothecaries, making sure to add nondescript supplies as well. It wouldn't do to arouse suspicion. At night, she and Hermione went into Myrtle's bathroom, the ghost too much of a deterrant to the other students and teachers, so they were able to brew in peace as long as they were quiet about it.
Soon enough though, it was time for the first quidditch game of the season, Ron dragging Celesta and Hermione to it with the words of supporting Harry for the first game at least. Since it was sunny, Celesta brought her parasal, grumbling. It wasn't as if she could really watch. But then Hermione pulled out a pair of sunglasses from her cloak, handing them to the albino.
"Here you go. It'll help with the light, and I've charmed them to act like the binoculars."
The game seemed to be going alright at first, though the Slytherins seemed to be beating Gryffindor with their brooms being faster, scoring points and barely letting the other win.
If only the game had continued that way.
Author's Note: DUN DUN DUUUNNN! Cliffhanger. I mean, we all know what happens, but still. OH! I've realised I never told you guys what Hermione's second birthday gift. It was a charm bracelet with September's birthstone charm representing Hermione, a lightning bolt for Harry, a weasel charm for Ron, and a fox charm for Celesta. It's magical in that the fox has nine tails that move, and the charms can't come off without a certain spell being said. Celesta has matching charms, though instead of the birthstone she has a book for Hermione.
Now for the shoutouts! Thank you Saterra3950 for reviewing and suggesting names! I'll make sure to add at least one, though they won't be too prevelant to the story just yet.
Thank you for those following the story, as well as those that've favorited it!
For EVERYBODY that's reading it, thank you.
And if anybody has suggestions, or even questions, I'll read them and see about answering the questions, so long as it won't spoil them. I -STILL- need suggestions as to what to call Celesta and the twin's bond, even though it won't come into play until late Prisoner of Azkaban or even Goblet of Fire.