Thanks for all the reviews, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Celosia stood in disbelief, her wand at her side and her free hand over her mouth. Her eyes watched in horror and sadness as Remus held Harry back, his screams filling the entire area. The Death Eaters had fled, Bellatrix Lestrange cackling madly as she slipped out of the room. The misty veil that had captured Sirius was still in movement, as if nothing had disturbed it.
Harry broke out of Remus' arms, sprinting in the direction Bellatrix went. Celosia knew she had to follow him, she had to, but her legs wouldn't move. Her eyes were still glued on the veil, where her brother-in-law's best friend had just disappeared through.
The Order members seemed to come to their senses, sending out warning to the Minister. Celosia tucked her wand away, Remus grabbing her arm and pulling her into a hug. Out of all the people there, the two of them knew Sirius the longest. They hung out with him during their free time at school, got used to his sarcastic jokes and his strong attitude. No one else there would understand how much of a loss it had been, not even Harry.
"Don't die on me anytime soon." Remus whispered in her ear.
"You too." She muttered, pulling away from his grasp. They all took one last look at the veil before following the direction that Harry and Bellatrix had disappeared to.
The Minister had arrived, and Celosia froze, seeing Harry on the ground, Voldemort pointing his wand at him before Disapparating. The entire Ministry soon arrived, including the press and Albus Dumbledore assisted Harry to his feet, magical cameras snapping photos as the old man led the boy to a spare fireplace.
Celosia watched as Dumbledore pushed Harry into the green flames, joining him and yelling clearly 'Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry' before they both disappeared.
Once Celosia herself got to the castle, she found Harry walking out of Dumbledore's office, his head low as he stared at the ground. His hands were stuffed in his pockets and he had a few scratches on his face and arms, sorrow filled in his eyes.
"Harry." She whispered softly and he looked up, seeing his aunt standing at the end of the Hall. Her arms slowly started to open and Harry strode towards her quickly, tackling himself into her chest and wrapping his arms around her torso tightly.
Celosia set her arms on Harry's back, rubbing slowly up and down in a soothing motion, a sob escaping his lips. "Shh." She muttered into his ear, allowing him to let the emotions out. "He is so proud of you. He did this for you, and he is happy."
Harry felt a nagging in his head that made him twist her words into thinking that Harry was the cause of Sirius' death. Of course he was, everyone was. He quickly dismissed the thought, feeling relief and comfort that he hadn't felt in his entire life. Sure Ron and Hermione were comforting, and Dumbledore even, but not like this. Mrs. Weasley hadn't even come to compare at how motherly Celosia was to him. She was the only blood he had left that cared deeply about him, and he was thankful he had someone there. He had never known love from a parent, or comfort, nor hugs like this.
In that blissful moment with Celosia's cheek resting against the top of Harry's head, he felt like the happiest boy on the Earth. His tears stopped flowing and he let out a long sigh, tightening his grip around his aunt.
Celosia escorted Harry onto and off King's Cross. She left him to Ron and Hermione, Celosia taking up a compartment all to herself at the very end of the train. Harry had insisted that she stay with him, refusing to want to go back to the Dursleys. They wouldn't understand his torment and would find it an advantage to further put him down. Celosia of course would not accept it.
The train ride was long but soon Harry was taking his trunk off the train, saying his goodbyes to his best friends before passing through the platform. The Dursleys were parked outside, Harry surprised that all three of them came. Never had Petunia and Dudley come with Vernon to the train station, and Harry was quite curious.
Vernon saw the boy approaching the car and uncrossed his arms. "Took you long enough!" He snapped before the figure behind him made him stop. Celosia looked at Vernon, her cloak in her hands.
"Hello again, Vernon." She muttered coldly and he seemed at a loss for words.
"Yes, hello Celosia." He said quickly and opened the trunk, grabbing Harry's trunk and stuffing it in. Hedwig hooted in her cage as the man tried to stuff her in as well.
"Harry, take Hedwig in the car with us." Celosia said, walking over and taking the cage from a shocked and motionless Vernon. She slipped the cool metal back under Harry's fingers before opening the back seat.
Dudley sat at the back on the left side, looking up in shock at Celosia's presence. He stopped eating the chocolate ice cream in his mouth, staring up at her with his mouth wide. Petunia looked in the side mirror, seeing her sister's reflection. She immediately whipped around, glaring at her. "What are you doing here?"
"I need to discuss something with you." Celosia said in a deadly tone that Petunia immediately stopped talking. She had respect for her sister, more so than she did for Lily. Lily was always a lost cause caught up in the world of magic. Celosia actually kept in touch with her Muggle life, even marrying a Muggle man. For that, Petunia was thankful for. At least two people in her family were sane.
Celosia climbed into the middle, sitting down as Harry entered, closing the door behind them. Vernon slipped into the driver's seat, immediately turning it on and backing out of the parking lot. Hedwig sat in Harry's lap, hooting lightly as Celosia slipped her finger in between the bars of her cage. The owl nipped at her finger very lightly before ruffling his feathers. Celosia smiled.
"She likes you." Harry muttered so softly the Dursleys were even surprised. Sure the boy was quiet but never had he spoke like that. It was as if someone tore out some of his soul, or he had received bad news. Petunia swallowed. Perhaps it was connected to the news Celosia was going to tell?
Once they got to the house, Celosia took Harry's trunk, manually bringing it into the house and up to his room. Vernon had tried to stop her before Petunia told him to leave it, knowing Celosia would have refused anyways. She was relieved so far that her sister hadn't used magic at all.
Once Harry was taking care of his things upstairs, Celosia descended the steps, walking into the sitting room. Dudley was sitting on the couch, finishing up his dessert as he laughed at the television screen. Petunia was sitting on the couch beside her son, Vernon lounged in a large leather armchair.
At the first glance of Celosia, Petunia reached for the remote, turning the screen off. Dudley yelled in protest, and after following his mother's gaze, he stopped, staring at the woman standing in the middle of the room. Vernon looked up at her and Celosia's eyes swept over the area. It was very clean and organized, which always did suit Petunia. "Take a seat then." Petunia's voice said harshly and Celosia sat on the couch across from them.
"You had news?" Vernon asked in a rough voice and Celosia nodded.
"As you well know, Harry had a godfather." She started and looked at Petunia. "James' best friend, Sirius. He had a house and everything."
"Had?" Dudley had squeaked the word out, unable to stop his mouth from moving. Celosia looked at him and nodded.
"A battle broke out at the end of the school year." She continued in a soft voice, the memory of seeing Sirius get hit with the Killing Curse and his body slipping through the white mist still haunting her. Petunia noticed this. "In the end, Harry's god-father was killed."
Her voice broke on the last word and she stared at the carpet floor, playing with her fingernails. Petunia watched her. She had heard about this Sirius fellow countless times from Lily and Celosia, and knew he meant something to them. She didn't care to ever think about him because he was a wizard as well.
"Harry witnessed it, as have I and many other people." She continued quietly, but still loud enough for the Dursleys to hear. Vernon was leaning in his chair, staring at her with squinted eyes. Obviously he didn't care about this. "I'm telling you this because Harry is very fragile at the moment. Sirius was the only family he had left besides me."
Petunia was slightly taken aback. They were his family too, weren't they? Sure she didn't like to admit it at leisure but Harry was still Petunia's nephew. She felt slightly insulted that the three Dursleys wouldn't even be considered the boy's blood. They took him in for goodness sake!
"It's just a phase." Vernon interrupted, waving it off as if it was nothing. "He was just like this when he came back last year."
"What are you doing?" A voice said and they all looked up, Harry walking into the living room. He stood, staring at Celosia. "I thought you were just going to drop me off."
"I'm telling your caretakers that you suffered a loss." Celosia said, looking at the boy. He didn't move, or take his eyes off Celosia. She looked in worry; it looked like Harry was angry.
"You didn't have to." He said. "They don't care. They won't treat me any less."
The three Dursleys were quiet under the look Celosia cast them. Harry was staring at the floor and Celosia leaned forward, looking at Harry. "You don't know that for sure."
"I do." Harry said, looking up. "They didn't care about last summer, you saw."
"Surely you told them that you witnessed Cedric Diggory's death?" Celosia stood up. "That your arm had been cut open and your blood used to resurrect the darkest wizard in our time? That you almost died at his hands as well as Barty Crouch Junior's?"
Harry stared at the ground, Petunia wrapping her arm around Dudley's shoulders. The boy's face seemed to fall and he was in shock. Vernon looked on, slight shock on his face. "No." Harry muttered and Celosia shook her head, looking at Petunia.
"You didn't know that, did you?" She asked. "That the boy you pushed around, ordered, and abused had witnessed a night far worse than anything you could ever experience?" Her eyes went on Dudley, who looked up at her. "I bet you didn't know Cedric was the boy that was killed in front of your cousin's eyes."
Dudley shook his head furiously, taking a pillow and hugging it to his chest. It made him feel guilty for constantly making fun of Harry for screaming about a boy named Cedric in his nightmares. "I bet they don't even know you won the Triwizard Tournament." Celosia continued. "That you defeated mermaids and dragons," at this the Dursleys winced. "Or that the year previous you saved Sirius and Buckbeak from death. They don't even know you speak Parseltongue, or got into the Chamber of Secrets to save a girl by shoving a sword through a big ass snake. They don't even know in your very first year at Hogwarts that you encountered the very monster that gave you that scar."
"They don't care!" Harry exclaimed. "They never like to hear about magic, and me saving lives or being a champion, getting a trophy, winning Quidditch or witnessing deaths doesn't change the way they're going to treat me!"
Everyone was silent and Petunia was still shaken that everything that happened to Harry was because of the wizarding world. If he was a normal boy she probably would have given him more praise. "We've never heard of these things." Vernon said carelessly. "The boy has never shared with us so we won't give him praise for it."
"Yes well, now that you know I expect you'll be treating him better." Celosia sneered, her demeanor turning deadly cold. "You remember what Severus and I said, Petunia."
Harry was slightly confused at this statement. Snape had come here? He wasn't able to think any further because Celosia had wrapped her arms around him, embracing him tightly. After letting go, she looked him in the eyes, matching green facing each other.
"I am so proud of you." She whispered and kissed his forehead. "You won't be here all summer, expect a visit from someone soon."
Celosia smiled down at her nephew, who seemed calmer about the situation. Pulling her cloak on, Celosia smirked as she saw the Dursleys visibly flinch. She looked a lot like someone from her world and to make it more awkward, she Apparated on the spot.
Petunia and Dudley cried out in surprise at the sudden disappearance, Vernon jumping back. Harry held back a smirk.