Chosha Notes

Hello! Welcome back People! Thank you for everyone who reviewed. One of my reviewers has asked for a different paring than the usual, so this will most likely have elements of Celestin(Harry)-Female Blaise in it. However, if anyone wants to request a paring, the voting is now open!

Voting parings:

Harry-Fem!Blaise

Harry-Fleur

Harry-Tonks

Harry-Ginny

Harry-OC

Anyway, on to the story!

Disclaimer: I really can't be bothered to keep repeating myself, so this one applys to the rest of the fic. I DON'T OWN HP! I think that covers it, yeah?

Last time on Celestin

Celestin fought the death eaters, but had to make a getaway when the ministry turned up.

Chapter Three

He-Who-Has-Returned

Celestin ran through the woods, still under the Disillusionment charm, Masamune clutched in his hands, feeling slippery with blood and worse. The wound in his arm ached and throbbed like fire, but it had been caused by a cutting curse and no magic could seal that one up. Nevertheless, he knew he would have to find a place to stop soon. Running while wounded could be deadly, he knew, but it would be no good for the ministry to find him either, especially with a sword covered in blood. He knew the ministry probably wanted him dead or alive, even if it was Death-eaters he had killed. It was still murder and, by law, enough to land him with a one way ticket to Azkaban.

Celestin came to a halt somewhere deep within the woods and doubled over, gasping for breath, his eyes scanning the area for any sign of life. He was alone and could neither see nor hear anyone or anything. Seeing all was clear, Celestin allowed himself to slide down a tree trunk, feeling his limbs shaking as the adrenaline began to wear off, wearily tugging off the mask off his face. He drew out his wand and tapped himself on the head, reversing the charm in a way that felt like hot water had been pored over his head. Glancing down at himself, he could make out his form in the shadows, glistening slightly in places with blood – especially on his left arm, which was ripped to the skin. He grimaced.

Celestin laid down the sword on the grass and carefully slid off his coat, wincing at the stinging the movement caused. It felt sticky, slick feeling of blood on his clothes, but blood he could deal with. Dumping the coat down unceremoniously along with Masamune's sheath, he inspected the wound on his arm, clearing away the blood around it with his sleeve, and sighed at what he saw. It was only a flesh wound and not deep enough to be life threatening, though it still oozed a little blood. Normally he would have healed it magically and be done with it, but the Secare curse prevented any healing spells from working, and it slowed the natural healing process. It would need stitching for the bleeding to stop.

'Marius'll chew me out for this,' he sighed as he pulled a piece of cloth from his pocket and began to wrap the wound awkwardly with his right hand and teeth to stem the blood flow. The whole thing had been a close call. If it hadn't been for the fact that each and every Death-eater had been intoxicated, Celestin was certain that he would have come out a lot worse than he had. He might not have got out at all. He was not too proud to admit that - an Assassin knows his limits.

With the most important part out of the way, Celestin turned his attention to the sword, which was lying in the dewy grass. Carefully, he picked it up again and began to wipe it on the wet ground, trying to cleanse it of as much blood and gore that caked the blade, before wiping it down with a second cloth from his coat. He could feel the slight displeasure radiating from the blade.

'M'sorry, 'Mune, but that's the best I can do until we get home.' He told it wearily, before sliding it smoothly back into the sheath that lay on his coat. Celestin swung the coat over his shoulders and slid his arms back into it, before placed an invisibility charm on Masamune. He paused, then decided to put a notice-me-not charm on his clothes. Hopefully, if he ran into any of the people who had fled into the woods, they wouldn't be able to see the blood unless they were looking for it.

'Well, we best get moving. The further we are from the field, the less likely they will think I'm the assassin,' he told the sword. He guessed he could use the Portkey he had in the shape of a badge on his jacket, but he dismissed the idea. It was to be used in an emergency only. He knew all too well that Portkeys could be tracked. The last thing he needed now was to be hunted down by the whole Ministry of Magic.

He began to walk through the woods, but it wasn't long until he reached a part so thick with leaves no light could get through at all. Celestin cast a Lumos, making the tip of his wand glow brightly, lighting the way. He didn't really need the light, having been trained in absolute darkness at times, but he needed to clear his wand. If he were intercepted, they wouldn't think an assassin would need light and would think him innocent. He began to walk again. But it wasn't long until he heard a rustling in the undergrowth. Celestin whipped round, wand out in front of him defensively, when two figures stumbled, blinking, into the light. However, seeing as they weren't Ministry wizards or surviving Death-eaters.

The first was a boy of about his own age with flaming red hair and freckles. He was tall – about a head taller than he was and gangling, seeming to be made up of all knees and elbows. His hands and feet were rather big compared with the thin form, Celestin noted. He was wearing striped pyjamas that seemed a little too small for him and a brown jacket.

The other was a girl with thick, bushy, frizzy brown hair and, wearing a pink nightdress and a long coat. If it weren't for the slightly oversized front teeth, Celestin would have thought her rather attractive. However, he couldn't help but idly wonder what her hair would be like normally if it were that bad then.

Yet, something nagged at his mind. Where had he seen these to before? Suddenly, he realised why these two looked so familiar. These were two of the kids who had sat in the top box – the one with the large family of redheads, if he remembered rightly. Both were staring at him, looking crossed between wry and a little frightened. He realised he was pointing is wand in a rather aggressive fashion in their direction. No wonder they looked scared!

Celestin forced himself to relaxed and lowered his wand.

'Ah…sorry.'

He saw the others relax too, though the boy looked at him with a little suspicion, and the girl smiled with a sigh. 'That's alright,' the girl said. 'You just scared us a little. We thought you could have been…' she looked as if she was struggling for a polite way of putting it.

'A Death-eater?' Celestin supplied.

The girl blushed.

Celestin chuckled weakly. 'It's okay, no harm done.'

The red headed boy turned to him. 'Er… Have you seen a girl and two boys – twins – with red hair and freckles at all?' He asked, worry evident in his voice. 'We lost them when we got in the woods.'

'Relatives of yours are they?' Celestin asked. The boy flushed as red as his hair, his face looking a little stormy. He honestly didn't know what he said to get such a reaction, but he shook his head. 'Sorry, I haven't seen anyone, but they should be fine. I think ministry wizards are sorting the trouble now'

'I hope so…maybe they'll catch Malfoy's dad to…' the boy muttered under his breath, before saying. 'Do you think its safe here?' he asked no one in particular.

'You can hear anyone coming from a distance here,' Celestin said, quite experienced at this type of think. 'I think it's okay.'

The boy looked at him for a moment, but sat down next to the girl. Celestin hesitated, then sat also. It would have seemed strange if he told them that and left, and he was trying to keep a low profile. He leaned his head back against a tree trunk. He felt dog tied. Never had he had to face so many death-eaters at a time. He really needed the rest. Plus the two strangers looked a little lost – the redhead seemed to have lost his wand - and he really wasn't sure if the ministry wizards would have got at the still rather large crowd left after Celestin's initial attack before they escaped. Best not to leave them just yet.

The redhead pulled out a tiny figure of the Bulgarian seeker, Krum, and placed it on the grass, and began to watch it as it waddled on duck-feet over the ground. Celestin watched it with a little amusement.

The girl, however, watched Celestin, until it began to make the hairs on his neck rise. He turned to look at her. 'Hm?'

The girl blushed again, apparently embarrassed at being caught with him watching him. 'I was just wondering…You're about our age, aren't you? But you don't look or sound like someone from one of the foreign schools and I've never seen you at Hogwarts either…'

Celestin shrugged. 'I guess you could say I'm home schooled. But you're very observant to figure out I'm not from a foreign school.'

The boy looked up at them. 'Yeah, well, she seems to know everything. I swear she ate those books.' He grumbled.

Celestin laughed at the annoyed look she shot the boy, but the girl seemed to be ignoring the comment otherwise. It looked like neither was in the mood to laugh at the moment and they soon fell silent again. Obviously, however, they were not too comfortable with the quiet, and soon began talking about the commotion back at the campsite.

'It was rather mad of them to try something like that when the whole Ministry of Magic is out here tonight.' The girl was saying. 'I mean, how do they expect to get away with it?'

'Guess that's what you get for drinking.' Celestin heard the other muttering darkly. 'They're drunk, most like-'

'Shush!' Celestin cut him off with a raised hand as he heard a faint sound, like someone staggering towards the clearing. He tensed, his wand at the ready.

'What's wrong?' asked the girl, but she cut herself off too. They could all hear it now, the rustling of undergrowth. Suddenly, they came to a halt. Silence…

Celestin rose to his feet, squinting into the darkness, body ready for a fight. The red haired boy rolled to his knees. 'Hello?' he said, but still, silence.

Suddenly, a deep voice shouted. 'MORSMORDRE!'

Something green and glittering erupted from the darkness, rising into the sky.

'What the-?' gasped the boy, springing to his feet, staring up at the sky. Celestin looked at it for a second, trying to work out what it was, before drawing a hissed breath. A colossal skull composed of emerald stars stared down at them, a moving, writhing serpent slithering out of the mouth like a tongue. 'The Mark!' He hissed. And the woods erupted into terrified screams. The boy looked confused, but the girl had blenched and began to pull at his arm frantically.

'What's going on?' asked the boy.

'It's the Dark Mark, Ron!' the girl moaned. The boy - Ron - still looked bemused. Celestin had to wonder if he was muggle-born or something.

'It's Voldemort's symbol,' Celestin stated, grabbing them both by the arm. He felt them both flinch at then name. Hard. But he ignored it as he pulled them along. They got the idea and began to run, but before they got ten steps, Celestin felt a flurry of magical vibrations around them, followed by a series of popping sounds. Celestin swore. They were surrounded by a group of wizards, all with their wands trained on them. 'Shit – DUCK!' He grabbed the other two and pushed them to the ground.

'STUPEFY!' roared twenty voices and red beams shot everywhere. Celestin felt his hair rippling and was sure he could smell singeing as the stunners shot exactly where they had been several seconds before. He felt a movement next to him and a whimper.

'Stop!' came a yell. 'STOP! That's my son!' The spells immediately cut off. Celestin raised his head a little to see a balding red haired man running across to them, looking terrified. He looked almost a different man from when he had seen him playing with the mallet, or watching the match.

'Ron – Hermione – are you alright?' his voice sounded a little shaky.

'Yes,' Hermione panted, shaking all over. 'This guy stopped us getting hit.'

The man looked at Celestin hard. He could have sworn he saw gratitude glistening in his eyes. The raven-haired boy looked away, pretending to be dusting himself off to hide his discomfort. 'Yeah, don't mention it.'

'Out of the way, Arthur,' said a cold, curt voice. Celestin looked up to see an elderly man in a crisp suit, with perfectly parted grey hair and toothbrush moustache. He remembered seeing the guy before. 'Barty' if he recalled correctly. Thankfully, The man had not caught a glimpse of his face in return, so Celestin remained still. However, the man's face was taunt with rage. 'Which one of you did it?' he snapped, looking quite mad. 'Which of you conjured the Dark Mark?'

'What!' Ron blurted indignantly. 'We didn't do anything!' he looked at the man whom Celestin assumed was his father. 'What did you want to attack us for?'

Celestin felt annoyed as well. He killed death-eaters for a living. Why would he want to conjure their sign? Of course, not that this man knew that, but still, it irked him.

'Do not lie, sir!' Barty snarled, his eyes popping and his wand pointed directly at the boy. 'You were discovered at the scene of the crime!'

'Barty,' Whispered a slightly frazzled looking witch in a long woollen dressing gown, 'They're kids, Barty, they'd never be able to do it.'

'She's right, we wouldn't be able to conjure that thing,' Celestin said, nodding towards the mark with a frown, not bothering trying to keep the indignation of the accusation from his voice. 'We don't know how. Not that we'd want to make his sign.'

The ministry wizard rounded on him. 'Then perhaps you will let us inspect your wand!' he snapped.

'But he was with us the whole time!' Hermione protested. Celestin felt another stab of annoyance.

'Oh, for heavens…' He took a deep breath to calm himself. 'Fine. Knock yourself out.' He threw his wand to the man, careful to keep his hands close to his guns in case the wizard tried anything while he was unarmed. However, Barty passed his wand to another wizard, a man with a ruddy-face and a scrubby, brown beard.

The man pointed his own wand at the tip of Celestin's and roared 'Prior Incantato!' Immediately the wand burst forth a shadow of the Lumos charm. Celestin could have sighed with relief; secretly glad he had cleared his wand out first.

'Happy now?' He asked, snatching the wand off the embarrassed looking wizard.

The red haired wizard turned to his son and Hermione quickly. 'Where did the dark mark come from, you two?' Celestin was glad there was at least one ministry wizard who wasn't a complete imbecile.

The girl pointed shakily towards the place they had seen the spell originate from. 'Over there. There was someone behind the trees…they shouted words – an incantation-'

Smart girl, Celestin thought, though I don't think this is the right time to show that, he thought dryly, making a point of ignoring the toothbrush moustache man as he started to rant at her, seeing as the other ministry members didn't believe him either. Some wizards were already scouting the area Hermione had pointed to. He could hear them talking amongst them selves when suddenly-

'Yes! We got him! There's someone here! Unconscious! It's – but – blimey…'

Celestin's ears pricked at this and he looked to see a wizard coming forward through the undergrowth with a… Celestin took one look and burst out laughing at how ridiculous the picture looked. 'You can't seriously think a house-elf did it!' he managed through his laughter. Obviously the man who questioned Celestin didn't find it funny at all. He looked desperate to pin it on someone else as he strode back to where the Elf had been found, despite the other wizard's protests that there was no one else there.

'First that assassin disappears on us, now this.' At the mentioning of the assassin, Celestin saw Ron and Hermione's eyes widen in something cross between horror (Hermione) and dark shock (Ron). Celestin didn't make any motion that would single him out, though he couldn't help but stiffen at the mention of himself. 'Bit embarrassing,' the wizard who found the elf noted, looking at it grimly. 'Barty Crouch's house-elf…I mean to say…'

Celestin blinked as he looked at the elf. Wait, it looked familiar – of course, the top box! It was that strange elf from the World cup. So it belonged to this Barty character. Well, no wonder the poor thing talked to itself – it had a maniac for a master.

Arthur obviously found it as stupid as Celestin did. 'Come off it, Amos. You don't seriously think it was the elf? The dark mark's a wizard's sign. It requires a wand.'

'Yeah, she had a wand.'

'What!'

'Here, look,' Amos held up a wand and showed it to Arthur and began talking about a broken code for wands in the possession of magical creatures. Finally Crouch returned. The man moved in a strange, jerky fashion, as if he was in shock.

'If it's alright with you, Mr Crouch,' Amos was saying, 'I think we should hear what she's got to say for herself.' Raising his own wand, he pointed it at the house elf and muttered 'Enervate!'

The elf woke slowly and groggily, rising to a sitting position. But when she saw herself surrounded by wizards, and her eyes fixed on the Dark Mark, She gasped, looked round wildly and burst into sobs. That's strange…Celestin thought. Not that he thought it was her, but it looked like she knew something. Why else would she react so violently.

'Elf!' said Amos sternly. 'Do you know who I am? I'm a member of the department for the regulation and control of magical creatures!'

Oh yeah, smooth, Amos. Celestin thought sarcastically. Yes, just give the thing a haemorrhage, why don't you. He watched as Amos began to question the elf. This is stupid! But he said nothing. He really needed to keep the attention away from himself, otherwise they might just see he was covered in blood and put two and two together and realise this long-haired boy who they questioned was actually also the 'infamous assassin', as they labelled him.

'I-I-I is not doing it, Sir!' the elf was squeaking. 'I is not knowing how, sir!'

That proved Celestin's theory. No way could that high-pitched voice be the man that cast the mark. Hell, the elf was female!

'You've got to be kidding,' Celestin said calmly, though he felt like smacking the idiot. 'The voice that said the spell was a man's. The elf sounds nothing like that. Plus, if you haven't noticed – she's a female elf. She couldn't make her voice that low even if she tried.'

'She was found with a wand in her hand!' barked the wizard to Celestin, brandishing the wand in the elf's direction. The elf coward and whimpered.

'Hey!' Ron said, pointing at the wand. 'That's mine!'

Everyone stared at the boy. Celestin smacked himself in the forehead. Smooth move, Einstein. Celestin thought scathingly. Now they're gonna start on you.

'Excuse me?' Said Amos incredulously.

'That's my wand! I dropped it!'

'You dropped it?' repeated Amos in disbelief. 'Is this a confession? You threw it aside after you conjured the Mark?'

'What a moron…' Muttered Celestin under his breath, unable to prevent the thought slip through his mouth, crossing his arms with a quiet snort.

'Amos, do you really think my son would conjure the dark mark?' snapped Arthur, looking as peeved as Celestin felt. Amos winced and started to apologise.

'I didn't drop it there, anyway,' Ron growled in annoyance. His ears looked a little pink. 'I lost it after I fell over right after we got in the woods.'

Amos spun round to question the elf again, even though Hermione started to agree with Celestin that she couldn't possibly have done it, backed by Ron. Finally, Amos took the wand and muttered the same spell he had performed on Celestin's wand. To the horror of the onlookers, a ghostly grey form of the mark appeared, made of smoke.

'Deletrius!' Amos shouted and the grey mark disappeared in a wisp of smoke. A savage look of triumph on his face, Amos turned to the house-elf. The elf screamed denials, shaking, her eyes wide. Finally, Crouch began to reprimand the man rather loudly, but Celestin ignored them, too busy trying to think of a way to leave without raising too many suspicions. He also knew that the temporary bandage was not going to stop the bleeding of the Secare curse. He really needed to get it looked at. Plus, he was at large, even if the ministry wizards here were too stupid to realise their assassin was standing among them right that second.

He came back to himself when the arguing had stopped, an uncomfortable silence filling the area. Celestin blinked as he realised Crouch had sacked his house elf, despite the fact that they all knew that the Elf had merely found the wand. Finally, Arthur spoke up in a subdued voice. 'Well, I think I'll take these two back to the tent, if no-ones got any objections. Amos, the wand has told us all it can – can Ron have it back now?'

Amos handed Ron his wand and he snatched it back, looking disgruntled, though not as much as Hermione, who was fuming silently. Finally, Arthur steered the two back towards the exit of the forest. Now was the time to leave. Celestin also turned to go, seeing as the meeting was finally over. However, what they said next caused him to pause.

'Well, this is a fine mess, isn't it.' Amos grumbled. 'The press isn't about to just let this be. Merlin, first the assassin escapes, then the dark mark appears and the death-eaters that survived all disapparate before we could unmask any of them. As if we don't have enough problems already, what with the Tri-Wizard Tournament being held at Hogwarts and all…'

'What?' Celestin froze a little and turned round to look at the ministry wizards, none of whom had seen him stop, all had their backs to him. Celestin let himself melt into the shadows to listen.

'First one in a while' another agreed, 'Given us a run for our money setting it all up with Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, then all those safety precautions, too.'

'People have died in the tournament before. I don't know what the Minister was thinking…'

Celestin closed his eyes. Exactly - People have died in that tournament before. It was a good opportunity for some of those loyal to Voldemort to do something and make it seem like an accident. It was an opportunity he knew that the Dark forces would be dying to take...

'Hm,' when he opened his eyes again, they were hard as ice and steel. They seemed to flash in the semi-darkness, promising hell-fire to anyone who got in his way. Well, if this was what was going on, it would be in everyone's best interests if he was to go there himself to ruin those plans, wouldn't it? After all, it was his destiny.

TBC

Chosha's notes

Okay, I want to say a couple of things. One is that, even though Celestin has now met Hermione and Ron, it is unlikely that they are going to become the close friends they are in the canon HP. Think about it - Celestin-Harry is very different from canon Harry. Plus we all know what Ron is like...You'll see what I mean when we get to it. I have plans for this story (and a sequel, yes, I have Idea's for a sequel!) and so Harry's life is different. I'm afraid that people who like friend Ron/Hermione might get a little annoyed, but no one can be friends each time Harry is in an AU from birth, so...we'll get to that when it comes. Any other comments or constructive critisisms, please review and tell me and I will try to answer.

Next time on Celestin

Celestin and Marius have to plan out what they are going to do. But they know something is going to happen with the Tri-wizard...next episode: Desitions

Until we meet again.

Chosha Kurenai xXx