crushed - remus lupin

-five-

Celeste was beginning to rethink this whole idea. She didn't know if she had it in her to go through with it. She didn't even know the guy, maybe he wouldn't be so bad?

No, she thought. I need to prove to my parents that they can't control me.

She took a minute more to admire herself in the mirror, allowing a moment to appreciate her dress.

Her mother had sent it three days ago, and even though she had planned on throwing it out and wearing something else, when she saw it she couldn't help but feel the need to put it on.

The dress was a pale green with gold flowers adorned all around it on top of a practically transparent tulle top layer. It had a medium sized v and a leg slit. Usually Celeste wouldn't wear something like this, but she figured she should at least look gorgeous if she was going to have to put up with some snooty pureblood maniac. It fit her like a glove and she couldn't help but do a twirl in it when she put it on. She had allowed Marlene to curl her hair into light waves, and she felt more beautiful than ever.

Celeste had always had an issue with self esteem. Her family had broken it all down when she 'betrayed' the family, but the longer she spent at Hogwarts, the more she allowed her friends to mend it, little by little. But looking at herself right now, she felt like the most gorgeous girl on this planet.

Celeste put on some matching gold earrings and some heels and rushed down to the Great Hall to meet her friends. They had agreed to meet down there, so that Celeste would have to spend as little time with Kai as possible.

As she turned the corner, she got a glimpse of her friends and she took a moment to appreciate their outfits. Shelley was adorned in a beautiful ruffle sleeved pink dress that was decorated in strawberries. Celeste loved it so much that she thought she may have to ask Shelley to borrow it sometime. Ella was donned in a black gown that fell to the floor. It was low cut and sparkled as she moved. Ella's favorite feature of the dress, though, was that it had pockets.

Raine had on a beautiful yellow gown that reached about halfway down her shins, complimenting her skin tone perfectly. It was fitted with a corset-style top and was absolutely beautiful. Emma's gown was lavender and made of mesmerizing silk. The color beautifully complimented her hair.

Lily had a dark red gown that had off the shoulder sleeves. Marlene's dress was a strapless deep green and looked stunning with her blonde hair.

All of their dates would meet them at the party, so they all linked arms and walked to the dungeons, causing quite the traffic jam in the hallways.

Remus had been in this party for less than ten minutes and he was already bored. He could only hope that Celeste would show up soon so that this party could have a bit of excitement.

Is that the only reason you want her here? A voice in the back of his head said.

Remus brushed it off. Of course it was. What other reason would there be?

He was distracted from his thoughts when a group of girls entered the party and his jaw dropped.

Many people across the party had similar reactions, but all Remus could think of was how angelic Celeste looked.

Her white-blonde hair was in waves and it looked as if it radiated a golden light. Her dress was gorgeous, Remus had never seen her so dressed up. Her face was gorgeous as usual, but the most thing about her, in Remus's eyes, was her smile. Her smile looked like it could end wars, cause peace, and most importantly in this moment, cause Remus to melt straight onto the floor.

He was shocked out of his daydream and into a state of anger when a sixth year Slytherin took her arm. He swore he saw Celeste's face flicker with distaste at the boy next to her, and that slight face made Remus's heart flutter a bit until he forced it to stop.

She's probably really happy with him, stop it Remus. And why do you care, anyway? She's just your best friend, that's all.

Another voice interrupted. You love her, stop being such an idiot.

But that scared him. Of course, the idea of love can scare anyone, but it scared Remus more than most. He couldn't dare love someone. Even if, by some miracle, she felt the sam,  he couldn't make her live the life he would inevitably have to. Being a werewolf meant a life of hiding, a life of quiet, and he didn't want that for her. And that was the train of thought that brought him to where he was now. Talking to a pretty Ravenclaw girl, trying to fill the hole in his heart that Celeste had left.

"And then I told father, you can't be seen there, mudbloods frequent it, and you can't be in the same place slime has been."

Celeste scowled at Kai's attempt at a joke. All night he had been dragging her around to talk to various famous people with her on his arm, like she was some kind of prize. She had had enough.

"Explain to me why that joke is funny, Rosier, cause I sure as hell don't find any humor in it.," Her face was stony, stare unwavering. "Have fun making your stupid blood supremacy jokes, I'll be with my friends who actually have personalities."

She stalked off in the direction of the drinks, and after grabbing some she attempted to find her friends.

After a quick scan of the room she could see Shelley and her boyfriend Adrian dancing in the middle, looking adorable as ever. Celeste sighed happily to herself. The perfect Slytherpuff couple.

James and Lily also seemed to be having a good time, as James was dancing with her and she was laughing at something he said that Celeste couldn't hear. She had known it was only a matter of time until they got together.

Marlene was making out with a cute Gryffindor girl in the corner, who appeared to be Dorcas Meadows, obviously enjoying herself.

Emma was shyly talking with Theo Thomas, and that boy looked at her as if she was the entire universe.

Ella and Sirius were in the corner, arguing, but in a lighthearted way. Celeste could barely make out their conversation.

"C'mon, Novak, you know you want to dance."

"Yeah, Black, I don't think I do."

"Just one?"

"No."

"Please?"

"Fine."

Ella let Sirius lead her onto the dance floor, clearly having a very good time, even if she said she wasn't.

Raine was talking animatedly to Artemis Weasley about something Celeste couldn't hear, but the two girls seemed very close and Celeste knew where that was going.

It seemed as if all of her friends were preoccupied, so Celeste scanned the room, looking for her best friend, who she knew wasn't there with a date.

When she finally found him, her eyes lit up. That is, until she saw who he was talking to.

Veronica Bluebottle.

Ugh.

Celeste internally groaned. She had never been the type to hate, nor to judge, but Veronica Bluebottle was, by far, the definition of terror. For years, she hadn't let up on Celeste, calling her every name in the book, tearing her self-esteem apart every time she managed to build it up again. She had never known that Remus would like someone like that. Huh. If he was happy, then she was happy, right? But she didn't feel happy. On the contrary, she felt like there was a pit in her stomach, eating up all the happy feelings that she had ever experienced. Bit like a dementor, really.

What a rational person would do is wait for the right time and tell him how they were feeling, right? Well Celeste was not that rational person. Instead she went back to Kai, and suffered all night long with his harsh jokes and cruel words.

But she couldn't forget how handsome Remus looked that night.

And he couldn't forget how beautiful Celeste looked that night.

It's a shame that they didn't say so.

hey guys! sorry the descriptions for their outfits weren't good, i'm not great at describing clothes.
i hope you all liked it!
love you all!
ella