Ladder to the Stars

Part Two

"Please Mom, just anything!" Eleanor was close to collapsing on her knees, begging Celeste for information on her father right in the middle of their small living room. After Celeste left her to her thoughts, she finally got the courage to ask what has been plaguing her for her 20 years of living on this earth.

"Eleanor..." Celeste tried to turn away. She was not surprised at the question. If Celeste was being honest, she thought it would have come sooner. She's not naïve. She knows this conversation was going to eventually happen. It needed to; however, she didn't realize how hard it was going to be.

"No. Don't 'Eleanor' me. I have been quiet all my life about this. And I don't regret it. I was-I am-happy with the life you gave me. But I'm not a kid anymore, I can handle whatever the truth is. I need know what happened. I mean hell, I don't even know this man's name." Eleanor was now pacing in front of Celeste, who was sat on the edge of their couch with her hands clasped in her lap.

"Ori—"

"Do not call me that, you know I hate that name," Eleanor quickly chided.

"Eleanor...you are right. It's not like I want to hide this from you forever. But it's so complicated. And I didn't even know him that well, I don't know what I could say to help,"

"You didn't know him? You knew him well enough to conceive me, so don't give me that bullshit," Celeste narrowed her eyes at her after that comment. But she stayed silent because she knew she deserved it. Eleanor's feelings were valid.

"Can you at least sit down; your pacing is making me nervous" Eleanor stopped and cautiously sat next to her mother on the couch and stared at her with those piercing grey eyes.

Celeste knew from the moment Eleanor was born that she was her father's daughter. From the black hair, the grey eyes, and as she grew up her whimsical and erratic personality were all gifts from her father. Of course, being raised by someone so demure and kind-hearted as Celeste, Eleanor gained those traits as well, but there was no denying that she a spitting image of the man Celeste had a small affair with 20 years ago.

"20 or so years ago, I decided I wanted to travel around Europe. I was much like you, feeling quite unfilled in my life so I thought a little adventure would help. That's when I met your father. We weren't supposed to meet...we shouldn't have given his condition..."

"condition?"

"...anyways, we stumbled upon each other one night in London and we hit it off right away. It was small and short affair. We cared deeply for each other very quickly, but we knew it was never meant to last. Did Ilvermorny teach you about the war over there?"

"Briefly in our world history lessons..." Eleanor responded. She didn't want to say more, she knew that her mother was being open and vulnerable with her and she didn't want to ruin it with her big mouth. She also knew the longer she was quiet, the more chance she had of getting more information out of her.

"Well, your father was in some ways, at the very heart of it. That meant it was extremely dangerous to be around him. He was good man, if not the best man I ever met, but his life was difficult and complicated that time. That was why we had to be secret, and why eventually we had to end it. He was the one that forced me to come back to the states. He knew that things were getting worse over there and he worried for me, didn't want me to get involved. Worried that the wrong people might find out about me, so he made me promise to leave and not look back. After I returned to New York, I soon found out I was pregnant with you. There was no way to contact him though. He didn't want to be found and it would have been very bad if he had. He died soon after you were born, I always kept up with the news over there and one day I found his death on the front page of the newspaper." Celeste took a deep breath. She's never talked about her time with him, ever.

"Thank you. For telling me this." Eleanor said, grasping her mother's hand. She could see the pain in her mother's eyes. She knew how hard it was for her, "How important was he in the war? Why couldn't he be found?"

"I'm not the one that should be answering those questions,"

"I'm confused what you are saying, mom." Eleanor eyed her mother as she stood up from the couch and went into the kitchen to open a drawer. She pulled out a pen and paper, sat at their dining table and began to write. They were silent for a while, both of them lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Celeste spoke from the dining table.

"You know why I gave you the name you have today? The name you seem to hate so much?"

Eleanor did not know why, and her mother knew this. She rolled her eyes and turned around on the couch with her head rested on the back, "You know I don't."

"It was your father's middle name. Even though we had no contact before your birth, I still felt like he had to be honored. And part of me hoped that after the war, he could have met you. After his death, it was painful to call you your first name because it only reminded me of him, that's why I started calling you by your middle name." She spoke. She was done writing whatever she needed to on her paper and was now looking back at Eleanor from the table.

Eleanor stared wide eyed. She had no idea. She just assumed her mother thought it was funny to name her after a star, since their last name was Aries. Star Star.

"I don't think I am the right person to tell his story...but I know of someone who is," Celeste said hesitantly. She tapped the paper, which led Eleanor to stand up and follow her mother to the table. Before she could look down, Celeste grabbed her hand then cupped her daughter's face with the other.

"Orion Eleanor Aries, you are the greatest gift that I was given on this earth. I wish I was enough for you. I tried to be, and I think I did a damn good job. But there is so much more you need that I can't give you. I am going to give you the name and the address to someone who can tell you all about your father. It is your decision if you want to go to him. I will not be angry with you," Both Celeste and Eleanor's eyes had gone misty. Their love for each other vibrated through them and Eleanor quickly bent down and gave her mother a tight hug.

"You were enough. You always will be. But I will not be enough if I don't follow this lead. Thank you for this," she whispered in her mother's brown hair, "and for the record, you are my greatest gift as well,"

Celeste kissed Eleanor on her cheek, and they held each other for a while. Finally, Eleanor got up and Celeste folded the paper, the key to Eleanor's past and future, and handed it to her.

Celeste gave her daughter one final look. And as Eleanor was walking away, she said, "You really are his daughter. Go discover and learn all about Sirius Black for me."

Sirius Black. Eleanor thought, Sirius Orion Black, actually.

Eleanor went to her room to open the paper. She needed privacy, and Celeste did too. She made her way over to her big open window that looked across the busy streets of the city. She didn't even bother to look down at the people, she had what she had been searching for in the palm of her hands. She took a deep breath and with shaky hands unfolded the paper and read it.

Harry Potter. Godric's Hollow.