Chapter One: London Bound
Esmerelda's POV
The sun shone brightly outside the open window I was currently standing in front of; my hands elbow deep in soapy water. True that I was a witch and could have cleaned the dishes with a flick of my wand but cleaning has always calmed me. It had been a month and a half since I received the letter from Headmaster Angelus about Mercy becoming expelled from Delacroix Magic Academy and that not even her excellent grades could save her from the fate.
At first I was extremely upset with Mercy about pulling a very humiliating prank on her Transfiguration professor that was until I heard her and Celeste's sides of the story. Apparently the damned pervert was sexually harassing both the girls, which Headmaster Angelus didn't believe either of the girls since Professor Barkin was a highly respected wizard. So, the girls felt it appropriate to take justice into their own hands and to be quite frank, I was very proud of them. Although giving him candies that shrunk his 'package' to the size of an ant and made his balls grow to the size of watermelons without exploding was a tad harsh…even if it was funny.
I had no idea what to do with her, education wise. I could send her to Muggle School but after her little stunt with Barkin, no wizarding school anywhere in the United States would take her or Celeste for that matter. I silently cursed living here in New Orleans now but I could not have taken Mercy from her only friend.
We had been visiting Celeste Black's great grandmother, on her mother's side, in New Orleans when Amelia suddenly became ill. She died a month later of a very advanced stage of cancer of some sort; the girls had been three.
Amelia's grandmother, Isabella, had insisted that my daughter and I stayed with her in New Orleans since Amelia left it in her will that she wanted the aging matriarch to take care of Celeste if she died before Isabella and for me to take her daughter if her grandmother died first. I agreed but only because I knew how hard it was for Mercy to befriend others. Well, that was when she was very little and had actually been a very shy little thing. Both of the girls had been that way and now they are the most outgoing, trouble making pranksters that I have ever met in my life and I had lived with gypsies who are known for being mischievous trouble makers.
Not even jumping the slightest at hearing a rather loud explosion from the potion's room in the basement, I groaned. What in Merlin's name were those girls up to? After pulling my hands out of the nearly down dishes and drying my hands, I quickly made my way through the mini mansion to the basement to investigate and make sure that the girls hadn't hurt themselves. Merlin, give me strength!
Mercy's POV
Taking the stirrer into my hands, I slowly began to the Wolfsbane potion that I had been working on with a little help from Celeste. Potions wasn't her strong point, so she just helped me get the ingredients and prepare them for the potion. There was a werewolf that lived down the road from us so we had decided to help him a bit by making him this potion. He had very little money to be throwing around by buying this very expensive potion.
We both walked out of the room for five seconds when we heard the loud explosion.
"Oh for the love of Merlin!" Celeste just rolled eyes at me as we ran back into the room. I couldn't help the frustrated growl that escaped when I saw what had caused the explosion. "TONY!"
A small boy that looked no more than five popped up, his normally blonde hair pitch black and his eye brows burned off. He looked at us with a wide smile, "That was wicked!"
The both of us groaned and shook our heads just as my mother came flying into the room.
"Are the both of you all right?"
"Yes, Mama. We're fine. Tony on the other hand should have his head check because I think Blaize dropped him on it one too many times."
Celeste stifled a giggle at the remarks I made about her cousins. We got along very well with Blaize but his little half brother Tony drove us up the wall. His ideas of 'helping' are by being stuck up our arses and constantly getting in the way.
"I was just trying to help." He sniffled and looked as if he was about to cry. All of us rolled our eyes, knowing that he was just acting so he could gain sympathy, as usual.
"Come along, Tony. Let's get you cleaned up and leave the girls alone. You can help me make some pumpkin cookies."
"All right, pumpkin cookies!" And with that he ran up the stairs.
"Thanks, Esmerelda. I'm really sorry about him; Blaize should be here later to keep him company until they both have to go back to England."
"Yeah, thanks Mama. But now we have to start the Wolfsbane potion all over again and there isn't enough time to brew it and give it to poor Remy before the full moon now!"
She smiled reassuringly at us, "Don't you worry, mi cariño. I'm sure Remy will understand. Besides, we have a room here that is well equipped to handle a werewolf if he needs a place to stay where he won't worry about harming anyone." And with that she turned and left us to our own devices.
"Can I hex Antonio into oblivion or would you miss him terribly, Cece?"
She shook her head, laughing, "I wouldn't miss the little brat, neither would Blaize but I'm sure his mother would miss her 'precious little angel'. If you ask me, there is no way in Hades Aunt Jasmine had that monster with her husband. Well, late husband now."
"I agree with you there. I do believe there is a reason why Blaize's mother is known as the 'Black Widow'."
"Yeah, I know. Come on. Let's clean this mess up and start over." With a flick of her wrist, the caldron was cleaned out of the ruined potion as I set about getting us more ingredients.
A few hours of potion making and eleven pumpkin cookies later, Celeste and I decided that we go out and get our daily dose of sun. The both of us were out back on the patio, sun bathing. It seemed that no matter how much I was out in the sun, I never tanned or burned. I never understood it. Mama said I had my father skin pigment but apparently I had her peoples' tendency not to burn, go figure.
I opened one of my eyes at hearing wolf whistles. Standing less than a foot away from us is Celeste's cousin, Blaise Zabini and his best mate, Draco Malfoy. I could stand Blaise because he kept most of his dislike of Muggles, Muggle-borns, Half-bloods and blood traitors to himself unlike his so called friend.
"Hola Señores…and I use that term loosely." I closed my eye, ignoring Draco's look of confusion and Blaise's raised eye brow in humor as Celeste covered her mouth quickly to hide her laugh.
Blaise kept his steady gaze on me, "In all honesty Mercy, when have I ever proven myself not to be one? Besides, what you just said just flew right over Draco's head. You know as well as I do that he doesn't speak Spanish."
"Or Italian, French, Greek, Bulgarian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, and Maltese like you can." I could hear Celeste sit up as she said this. She had a point. I could speak fluently in ten other languages besides English without having to use the language charm or a translator.
"What was it that she said anyway? All I got out of it was 'Hello' and the 'and I use that term loosely' bit."
"I said 'Gentlemen' and in no terms what so ever are you one, Mr. Malfoy. Especially not with you ogling me the way you are, I am not a piece of damn meat."
Draco let out an exasperated sigh and began to whine, "Well so is Blaise and you haven't said a damned thing to him."
At this point I had opened my eyes and looked at Draco to see pouting at me like a little child that hadn't gotten his way. This is probably why we never got along; he was just a spoiled little rich boy that got whatever he wanted whether he asked mommy and daddy or not.
"I can ogle Mercy all I want; she is after all my ex girlfriend." Blaise sent Draco a pointed glare as he said this.
I couldn't help but smirk as I sat up and looked at my best mate's younger cousin and my ex boyfriend. He was very sweet when he wanted to be and had even asked Celeste's and my mother's permission before actually asking me on a few dates and then to be his girlfriend. We had never gotten very far in our relationship. A few make out sessions and groping here and there but nothing other than that before we decided that we were just better off as good friends which neither of us minded.
"Okay, enough. Why don't the four of us do something? Like shopping." Celeste smirked wickedly as she said this. The both of us knew how much the guys hated to shop. I couldn't help but laugh when Draco groaned.
"She was kidding you, git. We'll probably be the only two girls you'll ever meet that hate shopping just as much as a guy would, unless it involves chocolate, Quidditch, pranks or books. Now stop you're damned belly aching and let's play Quidditch."
Draco's eyes lit up at the mention of Quidditch but they quickly narrowed at my and Celeste's retreating backs. The both of us could just barely make out him saying, "I am NOT a git." Over Blaise's laughter.
After a quick game of boys against girls, which Celeste and I won, much to Draco's fury, the four of us headed back to the manor to clean up and get ready for dinner.
As we walked through the door, we saw my mother talking in hushed tones to somebody.
"Mum, what are you doing here? I thought Tony and I were staying here until a week before I had to go back to Hogwarts."
My mother and Blaise's stopped talking, his mother's gaze falling on him, "That had been the plan but things have changed." She turned her gaze on Celeste. "Your mother's will clearly stated that Grandmum Isabella was to raise you if she died before our beloved elder, which quite unfortunately, she did. Now that Isabella is gone, you are Esmerelda's ward, yes?"
I looked at Celeste out of the corner of my eye as she stiffly nodded, "What is this all about Aunt Jasmine?"
"This is about the fact that you got yourself expelled and your guardian is now unable to find you a place where you can be properly educated like the pure blood that you are!"
All of us, including my mother flinched at the harsh tone in Ms. Zabini's tone.
"You are coming to live with me Celeste. I've already written to Dumbledore about you and he has agreed to let you attend Hogwarts for the reminder of your schooling."
"WHAT?!" Celeste and I looked at each other, not really surprised that we both screamed at the same time.
"Now girls, please settle."
"Settle? You want us to settle, Esmerelda? Are you insane?! Mercy and I have never been apart and I refuse to leave my best mate behind!"
"That is enough, Celeste Black. You are coming with Blaise, Antonio, Draco and I and that is that!"
Celeste's stormy grey eyes narrowed dangerously at Ms. Zabini and I knew that this wasn't going to end well if we couldn't calm her down. I looked at my mother and saw that she was deep in thought.
"What if Mercy and I come with you dear?"
Ms. Zabini looked less than pleased at hearing this, "What makes you think that you are invited?"
My mother looked at her, her face showing no emotion, her voice dangerously low which was a sign of barely controlled rage, "And just what makes you think I'll let you leave with my ward without me, Madam?"
Ms. Zabini flinched away from my mother as if she had been slapped.
"Just because she is your niece doesn't mean a damn thing; there must have been a reason your little sister left her in my care and not your own. She will go with you but only if and I do mean ONLY IF my daughter and I are accompanying her. It's the three of us or none of us."
I looked at Celeste and the look on her face showed that she could barely contain her joy at having her aunt put in her place. We both looked back at Jasmine to see what her reaction would be. She had the most sour look on her face, almost as if she had stepped in something foul and there was no house elf around to clean it up.
"Fine! I'll have to write Dumbledore again because I refuse to allow your daughter to just laze about my mansion."
"That's fine with me." Mother looked at Celeste and I, "Well, girls. Go upstairs and start getting packed. We're leaving in a week." And with that, my mother walked away from the furious looking pure blood with her head held high, looking more like the dignified witch than she usually did.
With matching smirks of mischief, we raced up the stairs, leaving the boys behind so we could wash up and also to start packing. We were moving back to London in a week and neither of us could wait to be back in our home land that we hadn't seen since we were three.