Year 1915, World war 1 raging, both Magical world and Muggle world. Celeste was drafted to Germany as a soldier to participate in world war I alongside Theseus and Gilbert.
The time they were fighting against rogue witches and wizards, Newt was miles away from them in Ukraine handling Ukraine ironbellies from their illegal breeder.
The war was turning out to be nastier than the trio thought. Celeste continuously deals with unforgivable curses and some nasty hexes. Half of them either came in front of a near death situation.
On occasion she would help the muggle army, but she was sure that she was going to have nightmares from this.
Now it was the year 1918, three years after being drafted, but the war must have gotten nastier. Muggles and wizards dying in the war and all they could do was fight.
"GILBERT, WATCH OUT!" Celeste screamed as she forced a shield between her brother and the oncoming hex.
She twisted her wrist and raised a shield between her as another curse was thrown towards her.
"They are getting nastier. Why is the help arriving so damn late!" Gilbert exclaimed as he fought the curses and hexes.
"This is a damn nightmare!" Theseus exclaimed as the trio's back was facing each other and fought alongside.
There was a loud siren in the air. Celeste closed her eyes and channeled her energy into one of her invented spells.
"RETRACTO MAGICA!" Celeste exclaimed and every spell in the air faded into thin air. "Incarcerous!" Theseus and Gilbert did the rest of the work.
"I think Germany surrendered." Theseus said as they looked around the destruction. They won the war, but at what cost.
Celeste collapsed on the ground, her clothes were filthy so were her icy blonde hair. They now looked like dirty blonde.
"You alright?" Gilbert asked as he sat beside his sister. "Yes. Adrenaline rush is wearing off." Celeste said, now her breathing getting shallower.
"Can feel you. Let's just report back to the German ministry of magic." Theseus said as he breathed out a puff of breath. It was too cold for them.
Celeste and Gilbert nodded their heads before they stood up. Celeste gulped down before she looked around once again. It's going to stick with her forever.
They apparated to the German ministry with the captured wizards and witches. Celeste was taken to a room to get her wounds tended, so were Theseus and Gilbert.
"You will be leaving for your home country tomorrow. Until then, we German ministry associates will love to show our gratitude for whatever you have done for us." The German minister of magic thanked the trio.
"Wir müssen uns nicht bedanken, Mr. Ellis." Celeste said, making the job for the minister easier.
"Du sprichst Deutsch?" The minister asked, raising his eyebrow.
"Ich bin ein deutscher, Mr. Ellis." Celeste said, giving the older man a smile. The minister nodded his head, and signaled them to follow one of his auror.
Celeste was sitting on the armchair of her room, reflecting the past three years of war. Not having seen her parents and Newt, she was getting paranoid.
It was 3 in the midnight but sleep was something that had left her. Her mind was clouded with all the trauma and disaster she saw.
She was never gonna be the same. Never.
She brought her knees closer to her chest and rested her head on her knees and stared into fire in the fireplace.
Her mind was numb to any feeling or any thought that was trying to penetrate her head. She could have been amongst the dead. Does she want to continue her job as a hitwitch?
She rewinded every decision she took in her life, and she was sure she didn't regret them. Yes she will remain a hitwitch. She was born to be one.
There was a knock on her door. She flicked her wrist and the door opened on it's own accord.
"You can't sleep either??" Gilbert asked from the doorway. His raven hair was extremely messy, his silver gray eyes extremely dull.
"Yeah, the moment I close my eyes, I hear gunshots." Celeste commented as she beckoned the older boy to come inside.
"Everything is so scary. We survived this." Gilbert said as he occupied the empty armchair.
"You are telling me. I tried to sleep but those horror images kept popping in front of my eyes." Celeste said, a sigh of despair.
"You know for a moment, I thought I was gonna lose you and Theseus." Gilbert admitted, his eyes completely unfocused.
Celeste looked at Gilbert, a realization dawning on her features. "You like him." Celeste said, a hopeful smile on her face.
"What?" Gilbert asked, his eyes widening. Celeste could see fear in his eyes. "You like him. Romantically." Celeste pressed more, making Gilbert chuckle nervously.
"You have deduced that completely wrong." Gilbert said, his eyes darting away from his sister's piercing star.
"Come on. It's not bad to admit that you like him." Celeste said softly. Gilbert sighed and looked at her hopelessly.
"Well I do. I did ever since I met him. But he doesn't reciprocate the feelings." Gilbert said, sighing.
"Did he tell you that?" Celeste asked, her face showed no emotion. "No, but I am sure of that." Gilbert said as he fidgeted with his fingers.
"What are you doing here then? Go and talk to him." Celeste said, shaking her head.
"I am not doing that! Our friendship will be gone, in thin air." Gilbert said and shook his head.
"Please Gilbert. We all almost died in this war. There is no way I am letting you double think this." Celeste said, stared into his brother's eyes, pleadingly.
"Do you think it's the right move?" Gilbert asked, completely hesitant of what his sister was asking of him.
"Yes it is. Don't overthink this." Celeste said encouragingly. Gilbert nodded his head and stood up from the armchair.
He bent down a bit to kiss her sister's forehead. "I hope you are right." Gilbert said before smiling at her and walked out of the room, leaving Celeste to her thoughts.
Gilbert walked down to the opposite room, and softly knocked on the Male's door. He knew Theseus enough to know that he wasn't asleep.
The door magically opened, Thesues turned his head to see who it was. "Gilbert. Couldn't I sleep?" Theseus asked, smiling a bit.
"Nope. I just went to Celeste, but I wanted to talk to you. And I have already seen death up close, so I guess this confession is less scary than seeing death." Gilbert said as he walked in the room and shut the door behind him.
"What are you trying to say Gilbert?" Theseus asked as he furrowed his eyebrows. "Excuse my bluntness, but...it's easier said than done." Gilbert grumbled before squaring up his shoulder confidently and looked up from the ground into familiar blue eyes.
Theseus gave him a funny look and stood up from his armchair. Light of fire from the fireplace dimly highlighted Theseus's facial features.
"Don't get me wrong Theseus, but almost dying in this war made me wanna confess my feelings. I don't like you just as a friend. But more than that. Maybe it's wrong, but that's what it is. Remember our first meeting? In the potion class in our fifth year? You almost fucked up your potion. Since then, you have been more than a friend to me, Theseus." Gilbert admitted, feeling the burden leaving his shoulder.
But what surprised him more was the smile that was on Theseus's lips. A smile, and that was least expected. Gilbert thought he would be disgusted, but he was not.
He just walked towards him, and he was standing too close to him. Theseus towered Gilbert in the height.
"Well, I am glad to say that finally. You were really oblivious to my hints, but I guess this war rattled everyone's senses." Theseus said, and rested his hands on Gilbert's cheeks.
Gilbert blushed brightly but gave a smile back. "Well we do need some influence." Gilbert said before leaning in and pressed a kiss on Theseus's lips.
Theseus brought the shorter man's body close to his by removing his hands from his cheeks and settled them on his hips and brought him closer to him.
Celeste was standing in front of the exit of the ministry with her suitcase in her hand. Her skin was paler than normal and her eyes were drained from the energy.
She managed to fall asleep, but they were marked with nightmares and repeat of horror she witnessed.
The dark circles under her eyes were prominent. She blinked when two male stood beside her.
"You look awful." Theseus commented as he took in state of the woman. "Nightmares." Celeste whispered as she hugged her traveling coat tighter.
"You too?" Gilbert asked, feeling as though he failed as a brother. "Let's just go home. I am too tired to deal with this." Celeste said, and the men obliged and grabbed her hands and apparated away to London.
Celeste was irritated by the end of questioning done by their ministry. They were deemed as war heroes, but nobody will understand their devastated state or what they witnessed in the war.
"Fischer!" Charlus exclaimed as he noticed the blonde walking out of the minister's office.
Celeste looked up at that, her face flooded with relief as she looked at the familiar Potter.
"Oh my god Charlus, you are alive!" Celeste said as she approached the raven head man and brought him into a bone crushing hug.
"So are you. I am glad that you survived." Charlus said as he rested his hand on her head.
"How is Olivia?" Celeste asked as she pulled away from the hug. "I am a father to a healthy boy." Charlus said grinning.
"That's amazing news." Celeste said, her face beaming. "Yeah it is. His name is Leopold. And Olivia and I want you to be his godmother." Charlus said as he stuffed his hands into his pants pocket.
"Really?" Celeste asked, eyes getting wide. "Yes. Now I will let you go. You look extremely tired and awful." Charlus said before giving her the last hug before he let her go.
Celeste's throat felt tight as she approached the familiar homely flat that she shared with Newt.
Would he be there? Or would he be stuck somewhere else? Those thoughts littered her head as her shaky hand twisted the door knob.
She entered the house, met with silence making her heart thunder inside her chest. She was ready to head out to the ministry again and try to find out about Newt's whereabouts.
But she stopped when her magic answered someone's magic, and that was from inside the house. "Celeste?" A voice she hadn't heard in three years made Celeste want to run inside.
She magically closed the door and hastily abandoned her suitcase and her shoes by the entrance of the house.
"Newt!" She exclaimed as she darted inside the house. Newt appeared from the sitting room.
Both of them standing in front of each other, no words spoken, just stares were exchanged. Celeste didn't waste a moment before bringing the man standing in front of her into a tight hug.
She broke down in tears as she wrapped her hands around his shoulder tightly. Newt did the same as he tightened his grip on her waist.
"I missed you." Celeste whispered as she sobbed softly. "There are no words to describe how much I missed you. The war, everything was scary." Newt mumbled into her hair.
They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity. Celeste was sitting on a chair in the case that she gifted Newt when they moved into this flat.
They sat in silence and nobody said anything except Newt making sure she was ok. There was a small smile on Celeste's face as she stared at Newt.
Newt cleared his throat finally and looked at Celeste. "I think it's time I do this. I almost lost you to this war. And I can't afford it again." Newt began to speak, his eyes not leaving Celeste as he approached her.
She gave him a confused look. "Celeste, you have been there for me. We had our ups and downs but at the end of the day, we would talk it out. And almost losing you opened my eyes." Newt said as he stood in front of Celeste and took her hands into his calloused palms.
"I don't want to take any more chances. Celeste, will you marry me?" Newt asked, staring into the yellowish green orbs.
A bright smile took over Celeste's features as she gave out a breathy laugh. "Yes, I will." Celeste answered in a whisper. Newt smiled brightly as he stuffed his hand into his plant's pocket and removed a small ring box.
"I bought it in Ukraine. I saw it, and I thought of you." Newt said as he opened the ring box. He removed the ring that was sitting elegantly in the box.
He took Celeste's left hand and slipped the ring onto her ring finger. Celeste smiled as tears glittered in her eyes
She admired her ring, the diamond was a beautiful blue sapphire on the rose gold band that had diamonds attached to it. The details on the ring were amazing.
"Its beautiful." Celeste whispered before pulling Newt from the collar of his shirt and placed a kiss on his lips.
"I was genuinely scared to lose you." Celeste whispered as she pulled away. "So was I." Newt said, giving her a smile.
Dinner was at Celeste's family house. But the reality hit Celeste as she was tense the whole time she was talking to her parents.
Her parents shed tears when they got to hug their daughter. But Celeste was silent, with just 'hmm' or "yeah" as her answer.
Even when she told her parents about her engagement, she was distracted by something else.
Gilbert was also uncharacteristically silent while they were sitting on the couch. Celeste's parents shared concerned and worried glances.
Newt felt that too. Celeste was so quiet that it scared him. "So shall we eat?" Stefanie asked, trying to distract the trio.
They all hummed, while Newt's mother looked at Newt, concerned for Theseus, who was barely blinking.
"So while you were all away, being heroes and all, we managed to renovate this house. Your complaint for the blush pink color has been answered Celeste." Stefanie said as she served the steak to everyone.
"That's fantastic." Celeste answered, playing with her food. Her stomach turned into knots at the sight of food.
"What is wrong Celeste? You have never been this quiet." Albert asked, concerner about his daughter.
"Nothing is wrong." Celeste said nonchalantly as she picked up her fork just to aimlessly poke at the steak.
Nausea filled Celeste's stomach and sudden urge to throw up overwhelmed her senses. "I will be back in a minute." Celeste said as she dropped her fork and stood up.
The chair's legs screeched on the floor at the sudden movement. Celeste made the beeline to her room.
She entered the bathroom holding on the bile that was rising through her throat. She emptied her stomach content once she kneeled in front of the toilet.
The only thing that was in her vomit was bile and acid on her stomach. She heaved again and again until there was nothing but empty heaves.
"Celeste? Merlin's beard, are you alright?" Newt was once at her side keeping her hair out of her face.
After a while when heaving stopped and her stomach was completely empty, Celeste stood up and gave a weak smile to Newt before walking towards the sink.
"I am fine. Just a bit nauseous." Celeste said as she rinsed her face and brushed her teeth to get rid of the disgusting taste that settled in her mouth.
"Same thing happened with Gilbert. Are you all alright?" Newt asked, concerned for the blonde.
"Yes I am fine. We are fine." Celeste unintentionally snapped, before closing her eyes and breathed out heavily.
Newt blinked, that was really out of character for Celeste. Horror of the wars. The only statement screamed in his head.
Celeste turned around and threw her arms around Newt and hugged him tightly. Celeste started sobbing. Newt was more than shocked as he wrapped his arms around her.
Celeste didn't say anything, but continued to hug the man. Newt tried to calm her down. This was a melt down Newt never witnessed.
After Celeste calmed down, she found herself sitting beside Gilbert and Theseus while the others monitored them.
Trio sat in deadly silence and all their family could do was worry about them. "They look extremely disturbed." Dora said as she noticed her son not speaking or making a movement at all.
"War is the reason they are like this." Newt said as he watched Celeste playing with her wand.
"I am scared for them." Stefanie said, her face stricken with worry and concern.
Nights for Celeste became a challenge. She couldn't sleep, and when she slept, she would be shattered by her nightmares.
And the same happened a week later with her. Celeste woke up with a gasp and looked around her.
It was silent and dead at night. Fortunately she didn't wake Newt up like she did every time. She silently got out of the bed and walked to the bathroom.
She flickered on the light of the bathroom. She walked to the sink and leaned on the sink . She breathed in and out heavily before lifting her head.
She was not what she was used to. The playful yellowish eyes dulled drastically. Her usually warm skin looked paler and more cold.
There was a hollowness to her appearance and she looked like she aged drastically. She sighed and turned on the tap.
She splashed her face with the cold water. She turned off the tap before grabbing the hand towel and wiped her wet face.
She was tired of feeling this empty and nothing at all. She was becoming distant from her family more and more as the day passed. War did shattered and changed her in ways she couldn't word it.