3 A.M. (Oliver Wood) *ON HOLD*

Chapter Nine: Order of the Phoenix

When the kids had went back to Hogwarts, Celeste felt like Grimmauld place was getting more stuffy, which was weird, since there was less people inside of it. She just wanted to leave, but Dumbledore had claimed her manor was unsafe. He believed one of the Malfoys had tipped off the Death Eaters about where she was supposed to be living—which was a real kick in the teeth for Celeste, since she thought Narcissa had given her the manor out of the goodness of her heart.

Celeste still went to work everyday like normal, getting double the orders a couple days before Halloween. She had recieved a letter from Harry, telling her about a new DADA professor that was from the Ministry. Apparently the woman, Dolores Umbridge, was from the Ministry and worked rather close to the Minister. Celeste wanted to ask Percy or Mr. Weasley about the woman, but she knew asking Percy could possibly get her in trouble.

Anyhow, Umbridge was not teaching them real defensive spells or anything, she was simply having them read and write things from their books. Harry also told her that the woman was banning things from the school, and giving kids detention for absolutely no reason. He told her about his detention for saying You-Know-Who was back, but he didn't tell her exactly what the punishment from Umbridge entailed.

She didn't find out until close to two weeks before Christmas. Fred and George had sent her a letter, telling her that Umbridge was forcing the students to write lines. At first, Celeste believed that it was a normal punishment, but that changed when she read the rest of their letter. Apparently, Umbridge had special quills that when writing, would carve the words into a person's hand, instead of just writing on a piece of parchment.

Celeste was furious with the punishments the students were receiving, so she sent a letter to Dumbledore. She demanded change or she would go directly to the Minister and tell him how she felt about him, about Umbridge, and about the stupid wizarding world rules. Obviously, she knew it would be a bit of time before she recieved an answer back from Dumbledore, but she expected him to help his students.

Anyhow, a few days before the students were supposed to go home for the Christmas holiday, something bad happened. Mr. Weasley had been attacked, and he was sent to St. Mungos. Celeste didn't know too much, but she and Oliver stayed at Grimmauld place to watch over the kids with Sirius. Celeste didn't trust Sirius alone with them, since she felt he would corrupt them in some way.

All of the kids were upset, obviously, but they were taking their anger out on Sirius. They wanted to go to St. Mungos to see Mr. Weasley, but Mrs. Weasley had banned them from there until she knew he was going to live. Celeste hadn't stopped the arguing, until a note came in from Mrs. Weasley. The note told them that Mr. Weasley was alive.

The kids seemed to breath a sigh of relief, and Sirius gave them butterbeer to relax. Celeste had started on dinner, hoping a nice dinner would help them relax. Harry was more distraught than everyone else, since he had seen the attack happen. As Celeste cooked, Harry talked quietly with her, swearing he had seen the attack, almost as if he was the snake that attacked Mr. Weasley.

Celeste didn't know what to say or do about everything Harry told her. She had never heard about anything like that happening before. She wasn't the best at giving encouraging speeches, so she was rather lost on what to tell the poor boy. Oliver had been helping keep the others calm, talking about quidditch, so Celeste didn't have to worry about trying to calm down a lot of children at once.

"Harry, I know you're confused, and I'm going to be honest with you, and tell you that I am, too," She started, placing a hand on his shoulder lightly,"You've been through so much in your life, Harry, and I have a feeling that this is just another thing you'll have to learn to live with. Don't worry though, love, you've got us, and we'll be here for you every step of the way." She said, and he nodded slightly.

"I'm angry that I couldn't see the attack before it happened, where I could've saved Mr. Weasley from being attacked at all." He murmured, causing the girl to give him a sympathetic smile.

"I know, but you still saved him. He would've been dead if it wasn't for you, just think of it that way." She replied, making him nod once more.

Celeste wasn't a big fan of physical affection, especially with anyone other than Oliver, but she was slowly getting better at it. She could tell that Harry needed a hug for a little more reassurance. Sighing silently, Celeste slowly leaned forward and pulled the boy into a hug. He was still rather short, but short or not, he was close to being as tall as Celeste, she wasn't that tall either. As soon as she had hugged him, Harry wrapped his arms around her tightly and buried his face in her hair.

Recently, Celeste had been one of the people that gave Harry the most reassurance and love. Yes, Sirius was a big part of it, but Celeste was like the older sister Harry always wanted. She was one of his favorite people, and he was scared of losing her.

Sirius watched from the table, seeing the two hug. He frowned, knowing that Celeste was meant to be close to Harry all her life, but it only happened recently. He doubted he could ever be forgiven for what he had done and how he had treated her. Having her around all the time was slowly making him hate himself, and wish that he was a better father. He hoped that one day she would forgive him, even if it was only on his death bed...