Disclaimer: See Prologue
Warnings: Nothing in this chapter. See prologue for the warnings that pertain to the story as a whole.
A/N: Sorry for getting this to you a little later than I was aiming for, but my beta was a little busy and I wanted her corrections and things before posting this up. So, read this and tell me what you think. And to those who read "Ares", which was the un-beta'd and original version of this… is this better?
So… on with the story!
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Chapter One
"It's not true that life is one damn thing after another; it is one damn thing over and over."
Edna
St. Vincent Millay
US poet (1892 - 1950)
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Two Months Later…
Harry's Cave
Paris, France
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It's been two months and Harry was happy, and he has every right to be. He has a comfortable cave, and the stock of fruits keep refreshing them every two weeks so he hasn't had to go out hunting yet. The furs were incredibly soft and in the night they kept him warm. Add on to that the fact that none of the animals had bothered (read: attacked) him as of yet. The only animals that he had come across were snakes, but they had always been nice to him.
Harry remembered just how he had found out about his special ability; the one that had allowed him to communicate with the snakes.
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Three Weeks Earlier
Just outside the cave
Paris, France
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"Stupid Humans! They should be treating us with more respect, not as if we're unwanted pests!"
Harry's eyes widened as he heard a voice grumbling to itself. The now seven-year-old slowly got to his feet and cautiously made his way closer to where the voice had come from.
As he got closer, he noticed that it came from behind a large bush. Another thing he noticed was that as the voice kept ranting, its words were becoming increasingly inappropriate until it got to a point where Harry's face was flaming a bright red color in his embarrassment.
Harry finally parted the branches of the bush and gasped in shock as he saw what lay behind it. Imagine his surprise when he found out that the voice was coming from a snake. Harry had stumbled back in his surprise and was not sitting on the ground, with a snake staring right at him, fangs out and poised to attack.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't make you my lunch."
Harry stared up fearfully at the snake, and in his fright, didn't notice that his next words had come out in hisses. "P-please don't eat me. I was just curious when I heard a voice from the bush you were behind." Emerald eyes watched carefully as the snake backed down, and instead, curled up around his arm.
"Humph. As if I would dare attack a speaker." Harry let out a breath in his relief, but then cocked his head to the side when he processed what the snake had said.
"What do you mean, 'speaker'?" The snake looked up at him with the snake version of disbelief.
"Haven't you noticed that you've been speaking in the language of the snakes this whole time? The fact that you could understand what I had said should have been proof enough that you were a speaker."
"I'm speaking snake?"
"Not snake." The reptile snorted. "Parseltongue."
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One Week Later…
LeNoire Bakery
Paris, France
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He had finally done it, he had gone out into town and with the help of a pretty lady he had gone into a bakery.
"What's your name, little one?" the lady asked, as she watched Harry struggle to climb onto the stool.
"Harry!" He gasped out as he fell down. He crossed his arms and pouted as he eyed the stool. The lady chuckled in amusement; she bent down and picked him up, placing him on the too-tall-stool.
"Oh. I thought you would have more of a pretty name. Not that Harry is a bad one." the lady said, eyeing him with her amethyst eyes.
"What's your name?" Harry asked looking up at her curiously through his long bangs.
"Amour." She giggled as she watched Harry try to blow his bangs out of his face.
"That's really pretty, just like you!"
Amour smiled brightly, the action brightening up her whole face, her jewel-like eyes sparkling in glee.
"Well, I think you're the most adorable little thing I've ever seen!" She said tapping his nose with a button and laughing as he went cross-eyed.
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Four Weeks Later…
LeNoire Bakery
Paris, France
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Since that day four weeks earlier when Harry had met Amour, the seven-year-old had met up with her every day outside of the bakery. They would then go inside to get their usual order of tea and croissant and then they would share a cheesecake while talking about inconsequential things like the weather or their favorite things. Harry had gotten to know Amour better and the opposite held true for Amour who was delighted at the prospect of getting to know her Céleste, as she called him, better.
Sometimes the duo would be joined by the owner of the café, Gabriel LeNoire. He was a handsome young man of around 29, with an oval face, long golden blonde hair and a pair of eyes with the lightest shade of blue that Harry had ever seen.
Amour's name for him, Céleste had soon stuck with him and, though he would never admit it, Harry liked the name better.
Today, Gabriel had something important to ask Harry, and the little boy didn't want to be late. As soon as he walked up to the shop, he grabbed Amour by the hand and dragged her inside.
"Slow down Céleste. Gabriel isn't going anywhere." She couldn't help but laughed as she was pulled through the café to their usual table by the windows.
"I know, but I don't want to keep Gabriel waiting. He said he had to ask me something really important, and I really want to hear it."
As the pair sat down in their seats, Gabriel appeared in front of them, holding some papers with a nervous smile on his face.
"Céleste, I know we haven't known each other for that long, but I have a request to ask of you." He looked into the large emerald orbs of the seven-year-old and couldn't help but wonder if the boy would say no.
"I was wondering… if you'd allow me to adopt you."
Harry stared up at him, wide-eyed and silent with shock. "Y-you want to… adopt me?"
Gabriel nodded a nervous look in his eyes as he looked at Céleste.
"Of course!" Harry flung himself against the older man, wrapping his arms and legs around his body. Gabriel caught him in shock, laughing as he held the smaller body closer to himself. Amour just watched them with a satisfied look in her.
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Ten Months Later…
LeNoire Residence
Paris, France
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"Hey Céleste, can you spare a moment for me?"
Gabriel walked into the library to find Céleste curled up in an armchair by the fireplace, a History of Magic book in hand. He saw the distracted nod of his head and grinned, seating himself on the armchair directly across from him. He waited patiently for Céleste to finish the page, and his patience paid off as just mere seconds after sitting down, the boy marked his page and placed the large tome off to the side. His verdant eyes were trained on Gabriel and the elder had his complete focus and attention.
"So… you know that I'm a wizard right?" Gabriel started out, apprehensively.
"As if these magic books didn't give me a clue." He snorted with a roll of his eyes.
"Well, that's true. But… what I want to tell you is… have you ever done something, that's… for a lack of a better term, magic?"
"I went from Surrey to Paris only two minutes! That's tran… transpor… that 't' word right?" Gabriel nodded, allowing the heat from the fire to calm his nerves.
"Well, that's a form of transportation that wizards like to call Apparation. Though, since when you Apparated you didn't make that loud cracking sound that usually accompanies it, it's safe to say that you literally transported, probably by manipulating the air around you."
"So you're saying…"
"Well, I think you're a wizard, like me." Gabriel couldn't help the smile as he saw the excited look on Céleste's face.
"So… you'll teach me how to do magic, right?" He asked, leaning forward in the plush chair.
"Yes, off course we won't be using the wands that those books are talking about. I'll teach you how to do wandless magic. Besides, I'm more than sure that you have a large enough of a magical core to do that."
"Wandless magic… like when I changed my clothes?" Gabriel looked at him in shock before a bright smile overcame the expression.
"You did wandless transfiguration?!" He let out a relieved sigh as he looked back down at the child. "Well, that's one less thing I have to worry about. Transfiguration is probably the hardest branch of magic to do wandlessly, and the fact that you could do that means that I won't have to limit you. You have no idea how happy that makes me."
"So… when do we start?"
"Hmm… tomorrow afternoon, after the morning rush."
"Aww! Do we have to wait so long?" Céleste whined. Gabriel just gave him and amused look that quickly shut the younger one, a blush gracing his cheeks.
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Three Years Later…
The LeNoire Library
Paris, France
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"So Céleste, are you ready to meet my older sisters?" Amour looked down at the ten-year-old with a small level of nervousness, which was returned with a bright smile.
"Of course! I'd love to know who my pseudo-sister's sisters are!"
Amour just chuckled, leading their oblivious apprentice into the room that held Paix and Vérité. When they entered they saw Paix sitting in an armchair, her legs curled next to her, gently flipping through the pages of a potions journal; Vérité was lounging on a divan, her head propped up on her hand as she lazily looked up at them, though her eyes were trained on Céleste with an attentiveness that most would miss at first glance.
"Paix, Vérité, this is Céleste," Amour said as she led the boy to a sofa where they sat down next to each other, one of Amour's arms wrapped around his waist, helping him relax.
"Hello." The elder sister's eyes softened at the adorable sight they were met with; Céleste curled up into Amour's side, her arm around his waist and his legs folded next to him.
"It's nice to meet you, little one," Paix said, offering him a warm smile, her voice soft and containing a musical lilt.
"Has Amour filled you in on your position, or has she left that up to us?" Vérité had her answer when Céleste cocked his head to the side, his eyes conveying his confusion.
"I wanted all of us to be present when I tell him," Amour said, gazing at Céleste with warm affection.
"Well, kid, make yourself comfortable."
The three sisters then launched into a story of the Greek gods and goddesses and their affinities as well as the roles of the seers. They went in depth about the three seer sisters and their individual role.
"You see, Céleste, we're the sisters."
Emerald orbs widened as they stared up at the sisters in shock, but he was forced to believe it when he saw the sincerity in their eyes and the nervousness in their fidgeting.
"I believe you. I mean, I already accepted that magic is real and that I'm a wizard, why wouldn't there be some higher beings up there messing with us unfortunate mortals?"
The sisters all let out a collective breathe in relief; they couldn't have asked for a better apprentice. The other two sisters were also impressed at how mature he sounded, especially considering his age.
"Well, the reason we wanted to tell you this is we want you to be our apprentice."
"You're kidding."
"Sorry, kiddo, but that's not an answer," Vérité said chuckling.
"What do you expect me to say? No? I'd have to be crazy! Of course I'd love to, you idiots!"
"Hey, watch what you're saying, Mister. Or we'll have to give you detention."
"You can do that?" Céleste looked a little apprehensive when he saw the evil looks on all of their faces.
"I feel like I just made a deal with the devil himself."
"Sorry, but Hades has nothing to do with this."
Fin
To Be Continued…
A/N: Thanks to those of you who reviewed! It was nice to hear what you thought, and I felt relieved when you actually liked it. And again, to those who read "Ares"… is this better. I felt the need to change it after I got a review that pointed out things in that story that I had overlooked and when I went back I was all "I can't believe I actually put that down! I'm such a hypocrite!" what with my supergenius!Harry which I usually scoff at when it's there with no apparent reason. The name of the person who pointed it out is eluding me, so "person-who-pointed-it-out", thank you!