lumos // fred weasley

deux

word count: 1.5k

"Will you two please shut up?" an exasperated Angelina Johnson asked the two Weasley twins in front of her, left eyebrow twitching in annoyance. "I'm sure Celestine is fine and will have a proper explanation as to why she's missed the first two, going on three days of school."

She was trying to eat her lunch in the Great Hall and have a conversation with a fellow Gryffindor girl, and the redheaded pranksters had decided to bombard her with theories as to why their best friend hadn't shown up to Hogwarts in the past three days. Everything from death to transferring to Beauxbatons like her father.

"Well, I'm sorry for concerning you with the whereabouts of our dear friend we've had since first year," Fred huffed.

George nodded. "She could be dead and all you're worrying about is your bloody broom."

Angelina sighed and turned to Alicia next to her, who'd plopped down moments ago and was in the middle of grabbing a turkey leg, "Can you please make them stop?"

The girl quirked a brow, "What are they on about this time? Because if it's about those stupid dungbombs that Filch took, do not agree to help."

"Merlin, no, I wasn't born yesterday, they're just going on about how Celestine has been missing and-"

Alicia looked even more confused, "No, she's not, I just saw her in the corridors with Hermione Granger, you know, Harry and Ron's friend."

#

Celestine was absentmindedly fiddling around with her small bit of cherry Jell-O that morning, thoughts tossing and turning over an excuse to come up with for her best friends. Angelina, Alicia, Lee, and Katie would be easy, they weren't dumb but they knew when not to press for information. However, Fred and George Weasley were a completely different story. The two didn't accept excuses so easily and finding one they would understand would be a bit difficult.

"What did you tell your friends?" Celestine asked suddenly, causing the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's head to shoot up from his book as he sat reading next to her.

Since eight am that morning, the two had been talking for hours about their furry little problems as Professor Lupin referred to it, and they had instantly bonded. He had been telling her stories of his days at Hogwarts, from trying to hide his secret in first year, to his friends finding out and even becoming unregistered Animagi - Celestine had been sworn to secrecy over the last tidbit.

Professor Lupin looked at the girl with furrowed brows, "What do you mean?"

"In the beginning, before they knew," the girl restarted, "what did you tell your friends when they would ask? Mine are bound to be suspicious, and after all, I missed the first two days and now three of school. They're probably worried sick."

"Oh, well," the man shrugged, "I just came up with various yet believable thing. I had to go home for a few days because my mother was ill, or my father had called me home for an emergency, they had just simply missed me here and there, or I was busy doing things for teachers. Lame excuses, I know, but they worked. At least, for the time being."

"How long did it take them?" she asked.

"Until third year," he replied. "It was after we covered the subject of werewolves that they put two and two together, following me that next full moon and discovering my secret."

Celestine nodded, thinking to herself, "I hope my friends never find out. I'm not too sure about their individual stances on werewolves, but given the majority of the magical population, they'd probably hate me."