HOGSMEADE was beautiful, Celeste thought. She was so glad her uncle had signed her permission slip— not that he even thought of not letting her go, no. Regulus was not strict in any way. Overprotective, sometimes, maybe, but never strict. He was more of an understanding guardian.
"The Three Broomsticks first?" asked Draco expectantly, already heading the way towards the pub. He put his hands in the pockets of his black pants that he was wearing and strutted, Blaise right next to him. He turned around when he realized Celeste was no longer in front of them. "Les?"
Celeste's eyes were on a group inside the pub— seeing them through the window outside. "The whole family's there," she told them, clenching her jaw. "One big, Gryffindor family."
It was James Potter, a woman with fiery red hair right next to him, and Harry Potter on his other side. Across from them were Sirius and Remus Black and another guy Celeste didn't recognize— who honestly looked more like a mouse than a human.
"Don't mind them," said Daphne as she grabbed her hand and made her walk towards the boys. "You told me how excited you were to try butterbeer."
"I guess," shrugged Celeste, agreeing with the girl. She pushed open the door and walked in with her friends, taking the empty booth by the door. She sat down with Daphne, while the two boys were still standing.
"I'll get the drinks," said Draco, looking at Blaise. "Do you want to come help?"
"Sure," nodded Blaise, looking at the two girls. "Two butterbeers, right?"
The two girls nodded.
Blaise walked away with Draco, both of them going to get the drinks for them all.
Celeste, meanwhile, had her eyes on the group again. She couldn't help it. They looked so happy. All of them were laughing and talking and nothing seemed to be missing. Nothing. Not even a certain someone who was biologically related to one of them.
Daphne noticed and with a sigh, she said, "Stop looking at them, Les." She put a hand on the girl's hand and caught her attention, making the girl look back at her. "If you want to go to them, you could, you know?"
"I hate them all so much, Daph." Celeste truthfully said, taking a deep breath. She looked into her friend's blue eyes. "I don't think I could ever forgive them. Any of them, especially Sirius."
"It's not like they even deserve your forgiveness," replied Daphne, a look of pity in her eyes as she looked at the girl. She squeezed the girl's hand as reassurance. "Plus, you have us. And you have your own family. The Malfoys and your uncle. That's all you need, isn't it?"
Celeste smiled sadly. "It would've been nice if I had a parent, Daph." She said, her voice cracking. She cleared her throat and straightened up. "But no matter. At least I have uncle Reg and Draco and his family. They are all I need, after all."
Daphne gave her a small smile, not fully knowing what the girl was feeling but still, she understood where the girl was coming from. "Your lipstick's a little smudged," pointed out the blonde haired girl, motioning towards the girl's lips. "Head to the loo to fix it. I'll let the boys know."
Celeste thanked her and stood up, walking to the bathroom. When she passed by the group, she did not spare them a glance, but she felt their eyes on her.
On the outside, she looked uncaring and cold, her face the epitome of boredom. But on the inside, her emotions were all over the place.
Celeste opened the door of the bathroom and walked in, closing the door behind her. There was a singular toilet and a sink, with a mirror above it. She washed the lipstick away at first and when she was done, she took out her dark red lipstick from her skirt pocket and leaned forward towards the mirror to get a better look, and started to reapply it on her lips.
When she was done, she smacked her lips together and took a deep breath. 'Fuck them all,' thought Celeste as she stared at herself in the mirror. Her black hair was down in loose curls, thanks to Daphne who helped her get her hair ready for the day in the morning.
She glanced at her outfit through the mirror, not being able to see past her skirt, but it was good enough. She was wearing a black shirt with a dark green skirt and boots. She had decided to ditch the black tights she usually wore with skirts for the day, even though the weather was kind of chilly.
'Fuck. Them. All.' repeated Celeste in her head. She turned around and opened the door, walking out of the bathroom as she put her lipstick back in her skirt pocket.
She was going to ignore them. Really, she was.
But then, she heard the lady with the red hair gasp and stand up, blocking her way. "Celeste!" The woman exclaimed, her mouth wide open in shock. She snapped out of it and said, "Join us! Come on," she urged her, motioning towards an empty seat. "Oh, how rude of me. Sorry, I got side tracked, let me introduce myself. I'm your godmother, Lily Potter, Harry's mother."
Celeste blinked. She stepped to the side and pursed her lips. "Make way, please, Mrs. Potter." She said coldly, not paying the others a glance.
Lily frowned and glanced at her husband for help.
James Potter cleared his throat and stood up. "Hi, Celeste. How are you? Why don't you join us? It seems like my wife would love to have you with us, and frankly, so would we all."
Celeste gave him one glance. One. Then, she scoffed and shook her head, turning around and walking to the other side.
Sirius stood up, but was dragged back down when Remus made him sit again without even looking up. Sirius grumbled in his seat.
Celeste ignored him and walked over to her friends, smiling reassuringly at a glaring Draco. He was glaring at the group, not at Celeste.
When she reached her friends and sat back down in her place, she took the untouched butterbeer in front of her and took a sip. So much for reapplying her lipstick.
"Do you want me to go talk to them?" Draco suggested with a clenched jaw, his eyes never leaving the group.
Celeste pursed her lips, and mumbled, "Its fine. I'm fine. That red haired woman said that she's my godmother and wanted me to sit with them. I refused."
"That's Lily Potter, that is." said Blaise, his eyes also on the family that were already looking back at them. "Harry Potter's mother."
"Godmother? " scoffed Draco at the audacity of the woman. He finally looked away from them and looked at his cousin, his eyes softening. "Are you okay, Les?"
"'Course, " replied Celeste confidently, straightening up and taking another sip of the butterbeer. "So, where are we going next?" She looked at her friends in question, changing the subject.
Daphne, who was quiet the whole time, caught on and replied, "How about Honeydukes? I heard that there's lots of amazing sweets there."
Blaise's eyes it up at the mention of the sweetshop. Celeste glanced at the glass of butterbeer in front of him. It was empty. She snorted.
"Let's go now." said Draco, standing up. He looked at the two glasses of butterbeer in front of the girls. They weren't even halfway done, so he took out his wand and with a mutter, the glasses turned into two plastic cups they could carry out with them
Dalhne looked at it in awe. "How did u do that?" she demanded as they all stood up, both her and Celeste grabbing their cup.
Celeste took one last look at the "group of Gryffindors" as she called them, making eye contact with none other than Sirius Black. She sneered and turned back around, opening the door of the pub and walking outside.
"Come on, let's go!" Blaise changed the subject, rushing out of the pub and slinging an arm of Celeste's shoulder, pushing her the way to Honeydukes.
Draco, meanwhile, was following the two with Daphne right beside him, telling her the transfiguration charm he just used. Daphne was listening intently.
Sirius Black bit the inside of his cheek, his eyes following the group of Slytherin friends until they went out of sight.
"That was her?" Lily asked, still in shock from seeing her goddaughter for the first time in twelve years. "She's so.. so grown up.. she looks just like you, Sirius—"
"She's nothing like me," cut in Sirius, turning around and slumping in his seat. He crossed his arms, looking down. "She just looks like me, but she is absolutely nothing like me."
Harry was quiet the whole time. It was not his place to talk. Even Peter Pettigrew, who was with them, wasn't saying anything.
"She's a Slytherin, right?" Lily questioned, already knowing the answer to that thanks to Harry constantly talking about the girl, but she had to act like she didn't know much. To be honest, she didn't know much anyway. She just knew the basics. Like how Celeste was a Slytherin and who she was friends with. She also knew the stormy grey of her eyes and the black hair of Harry's dreams, as Harry would always put it.
James would merely grin whenever Harry ranted about Celeste back at home and claimed that 'this was the love story of his and Lily's happening all over again'. Harry agreed. James would also tell Harry to not talk about Celeste with Sirius, and Harry understood, so he didn't.
Sirius had no clue about Harry's little crush on his daughter. Okay, maybe it was not so little.
"Yeah," nodded Sirius with an unbelievable look. "Can you believe it?"
"Sirius," said Remus sharply, clenching his jaw. He looked at his husband. "What did we say about this?"
"But—"
"Sirius."
Sirius huffed and reluctantly stopped.
Lily smiled sadly, elbowing her husband and sharing a look with him. "Honestly, she looks slightly like her too." She said.
James, knowing who she meant, shrugged. "Her attitude is exactly like her, not that I've even talked to her, but still. From the way Harry talks about her, I know."
Harry shot his father a look.
Sirius's brows furrowed. He turned to his godson. "Talk about her?" He repeated in question, his head tilting to the side.
Harry cleared his throat. "Sometimes my group and hers have little disagreements. That's what dad means. Right, dad?"
James nodded, realizing his mistake. "Yes, of course—"
"She does have her attitude," cut in Remus with a thoughtful look. His lips turned into a sad smile.
"Whose attitude?" A confused Harry finally asked. He looked at all the adults in question, not knowing whom they meant.
"Estelle. Estelle Rosier." Sirius replied with a distant voice.
Draco put his hands in his pockets and looked around the sweetshop. Blaise was running around, filling his basket with all kinds of sweets. Daphne was in a conversation with the Ravenclaw seeker— Draco only knew her because of having played against her multiple times before, since he was also Slytherin's seeker.
Celeste, meanwhile, was just looking around, staying close to him. She touched a particular piece of candy and looked at it in her hands. "Do you want that?" Draco asked, taking it out of her hands without her reply and walking to the counter. He pulled out a galleon and paid for it, then gave it to his cousin.
Celeste looked at him in disbelief. "Draco, I never said I wanted it—" she tried.
"Shh," shushed Draco with a grin. "Now, what else would you like?"
Celeste let out a soft laugh, shaking her head fondly. She smiled at him, her mood lifting already. "Thank you, Draco."
"You're welcome." Draco replied, reaching over and pinching her cheek. Celeste wrinkled her nose and slapped his hand away.
"You're a child," mumbled his cousin. The cousin he so dearly loved. Oh, what Draco would do for only a smile from the girl. She was basically his little sister. He would do anything for her and her only.
Draco arrogantly replied, "You love me."