Betrayal of the Black

four

THE HOLIDAYS WERE OVER before she knew it. Most of her days were confined in her old room, spending time reading books. Some were for school, but Celestia could not deny the love she had for fictional books — don't get her started on romance books.

With an oversized shirt tucked into her skirt, she was making her way down the halls of the Hogwarts Express. The outfit was simple, something she could easily slip her Slytherin robe on top of. The homesickness she felt from being away from Hogwarts was dissipating by each step she took to the carriage in which all her friends would be.

She was going home.

"Celeste! By the Gods, I've missed you," grinned Pansy the moment Celestia stepped into the carriage, throwing her arms around her friend.

Celestia relished the comfort of once again being in Pansy's arms, inhaling her familiar scent of sage. When Pansy finally pulled back, Celestia hardly had a moment to think before she was once again enveloped by someone else. Instantly, she knew who was hugging her. After all, Blaise always gave the best hugs.

"Blaise, if you don't move in the next second, I will throw your ass off the train," whined another familiar voice. "I haven't seen her in forever."

"Fuck off, Theo," answered Blaise, though, after a couple seconds he finally let the brunette go.

"Hey asshole, missed me?" asked Celestia, beaming up at him.

"Of course I have, darlin'. Who else could I replace you with?" Theo answered.

Though Blaise gave the best hugs, in Theodore's arms felt like home. Celestia let out a squeak of surprise when he lifed her up and attempted to spin her around in the too small train compartment. It has only been two months since she was them last, but Celestia could not deny how much she missed them. When she was with her group of Slytherin friends, she swears she could take on the world. They understood her like no other.

Once Theo finally put her back down, she took a seat. Theo claimed the window seat, making her take the middle, and Blaise took the seat to her right. Pansy quickly bid her goodbye to the group as she had to be in the prefect carriage, where Draco had left for the moment he stepped on the train.

Draco and her had little contact, despite the fact she had ended up back at the Malfoy Manor these holidays. He had attempted to brighten her mood a couple times, once going as far as to bribe her to go to a bookstore — a Muggle bookstore to be precise. It had worked, and had even gotten her to laugh as Draco made great efforts to touch nothing within the shop. Despite his strong aversion to Muggle things, and both of their upbringings, Celestia could not deny the fact that Muggle books were ten times better than ones written by Wizards. Draco ended up spending enough money on books for his cousin to make even Bill Gates blush.

Theo, Blaise and Celestia could have spread out in their compartment - considering that until Pansy and Draco returned from prefect carriage, the seats opposite them were completely empty - but they didn't.

As soon as the train began moving, a sigh of content fell from Celestia. She had wanted nothing more than to get away from her father, Voldemort, and everything else a fifteen year old should not have to deal with, and Hogwarts was exactly the place for it.

It was not long before Celestia found herself spread across her two bestfriends. Her head was resting on Theo's lap, the boy grinning down at her and fiddling with her brown hair. Her feet were drapped over Blaise's as he read the book that he had stolen from her hands earlier in the train ride out loud.

This was home. Theodore's hands in her hair, massaging her scalp softly. Blaise therapeutic voice reading some romance book by Jane Austen. It was not long before Draco and Pansy burst into the room, disturbing the calming atmosphere, but not ruining it. Because it would not truly be home if Draco didn't have some dramatic antics he needed to gripe about.

"Honestly, I do not understand why murder is illegal. Some people deserve to be killed, and I don't understand why I cannot be the one to serve the justice," fumed Draco, slumping in the seats opposite them.

"Potter?" wondered Blaise, though the question was almost rhetorical. There was no doubt to any of them that Harry was the one that had gotten on his nerves already.

"Draco, I think you may need anger management classes. I don't think normal people think about murder as the answer to everything," suggested Theo, who still had his hands in Celestia's hair.

"I don't need anger management." Theo opened his mouth to argue, but Draco continued speaking before he could. "I need people, especially Potter, to stop bloody pissing me off."

"Kiss your mother with that mouth?" chimed in Pansy.

"He does," answered Celestia before Draco could.

"Shut up, you twat, I was out there defending your honour to Potter. Keep running your mouth and I won't do it again," grumbled Draco.

Celestia's heart warmed at Draco's words. He was like a brother to her, and although he enjoyed being an asshole to Potter and probably would have done it anyways, the fact that he had done so with her in mind made her grateful. She wasn't about to blubber all that aloud, however, so she gave her gratitude in the only way she knew how.

"Whatever you say, cousin. I would call you an imbecile, but I'd be afraid you would not know how to spell it, and I feel as if that would be cruel."

When Celestia cracked her eye open to look at Draco, she saw him mouth something along the lines of "Blah-Blah-Blah" but could see the understanding glittering in his eyes. She could not express how thankful she was to have him as her family, and this group as her friends.

That is what most of the train ride consisted of. Exchanging jabs at each other's expense, reminiscing over stories from the summer, speaking ill of Harry Potter and Sirius Black, eating lollies from the food trolley; and completely avoiding the topic of Voldemort and what his return means.

When the Hogwarts Express finally reached its destination, Celestia felt the anxiety well up in her stomach. She would have to see Harry and the rest of the people she walked out on again for the first time in a month, and she was undeniably nervous.

Theo, who had a knack for sensing her nerves, did not let her mull over it for long. He slung an arm over her shoulder as they got into the carriages, and there was not a moment where she was not laughing from something he, or any of her other friends said.

AUTHORS NOTE

oh my god guys. im so sorry it has taken me forever to update this. i am still not back in the harry potter fandom, and i dont know how often i will be updating this, but for some reason i said "why not?" and i wrote this short chapter.

its currently around 4am so i apologise for any spelling/grammar/structure mistakes. i am so sorry that this chapter is short but thank you all for the support. let me know what you think! <3