lumos // fred weasley

trois

word count: 1.6k

"Flibbertigibbet," Hermione told the portrait of the Fat Lady, the woman's painting creaking open widely to make room for the two girls.

"He always manages to find the weirdest words," Celestine commented, stepping through the door with Hermione.

The younger witch shrugged, "It's kind of fun if you think about it."

The two looked around the room, and Celestine looked up at the clock, "Everyone must be downstairs for lunch."

"Yeah, I was just headed back from there," Hermione replied.

"Well, I guess I'll get started unpacking then," the older witch said. "I'll see you later, yeah?"

Hermione nodded, "Yeah! See you, Celestine."

"Bye, Hermione, say hello to Harry and Ron for me, please." The said girl nodded and told her she would, and Celestine began to ascent to her dormitory with Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet, as well as a couple other girls she didn't see too much.

Celestine's trunk was rested against her bed, her suitcase right next to it, and she bent down and undid the latches. She was going to get as much done as she could before her friends returned from lunch. She knew she was going to get a load of questions hurled her way, and while she wasn't ready for it, she couldn't avoid her friends forever.

She put up her posters upon the walls, a Gryffindor banner now hanging from the left side of her bed and a Doors poster opposite. She unpacked her clothes and set them in their respective drawers, hung up her robes and Muggle clothing in the wardrobe, and she set her pair of sneakers right below it.

Her mother, a Muggle within the Wizarding world, had given her a bunch of pens and highlighters to use for studying, knowing Celestine wasn't too fond of the feather and inkwell she was requested to use, and she placed them in a small cup on her bedside table. Next to it, she lined up her textbooks in order of her classes and sat down on her bed to admire the work she'd done.

Celestine glanced at the small clock to her right. Her friends were probably on their way back to the Gryffindor tower, and the thought made her stomach flip. She took a few deep breaths to try to calm herself down. She'd already run into Hermione and made up a story, it shouldn't be a problem to tell her friends the same thing, right? If it could fool Hermione, it could fool anyone.

There were a chorus of voices coming up the stairs, and Celestine swore she heard Angelina's laugh. The girl watched the door anxiously and wrung her hands anxiously. Soon enough, the door to her and her friends' room opened to reveal the friends she was so anxious to meet up with again.

Katie had entered first, laughing at something one of the others said, and she froze upon seeing Celestine standing in the room.

"Celestine!" she shouted.

Said-girl flinched a bit at the loudness but grinned nonetheless. "In the flesh," she replied.

Angelina beamed and gave her the biggest hug, pulling back after a few seconds to get a look at Celestine's face, "Where the bloody hell have you been?!"

"Yeah, we looked everywhere for you on the Express, and then when we talked to McGonagall, she told us you would be arriving on a separate day," Katie said.

Celestine nodded, "Yeah, uh, I was attacked-"

"Attacked?!" Angelina exclaimed.

The other girl gulped, "By what?"