Elektra Black I

Chapter 13 | Celeste

El slumped back down into her chair at the head of the kitchen table and was met with two piercing green eyes, "I've met your mother." The Witch from earlier, who was talking to her dad, had mentioned to her. She had a thick Camden Town accent and a wart covered face. "Oh right." El tried to be as polite and civil as possible considering her earlier attitude. Harry and Hermione looked up from their discussion and listened in. "A proper sort, she was. Big drinker 'down pub in Hogsmeade. Had this gor'jus long blonde hair right down to her 'ips, no wonder Black had his head turned. He was always a bit of flirt, suppose." El and the Witch chuckled slightly and Harry had joined in on the conversation, "What was your mum's name, El? I've never heard you talk about her much." El turned towards Harry and suddenly realised Hermione had come back off of her holiday! "Oh- Hermione! Hope your holiday was good." Hermione quickly smiled politely at her before El carried on talking to Harry, "Her name was Celeste. Celeste Birch. I was named after her mum." The Witch murmured in response, "What a woman that Celeste was. Fantastic woman. Never went 'ogwarts. Can you believe that! A powerful Witch that never step foot in that castle..." The Witch went on, causing El to listen deeper, taking in every piece of information that she could. Remus never knew Celeste and he rarely spoke of her. They had never met after all. Sirius barely spoke of her either, knowing little about her himself.
"But Dumbledore must have tried to persuade her?" Hermione asked, twirling her spoon round her mug of steaming hot chocolate. The Witch shrugged her shoulders, leaning into the table more and lowering her voice, "Some say he made sure Celeste never came. Not because she was evil... no, no. Because she would have given him a run for his money I think." El had lifted herself out of her slumping posture and leaned into the table herself. This was the first time hearing all about her mother. "How do you know? Who are you?" El snapped, feeling as though she was being led on. "Winifred Willows." Winifred shook out her hand towards El and she happily shook it. "I don't know exactly. I presumed that was the case. She was a lovely girl, Celeste. Used to come down 'pub occasionally with her french girlfriends. Some say she ended up going to that french school but I never believed it. Saw her too often in Hogsmeade. Anyway, that's all I know." The Witch smiled, showing her crooked yellow teeth as she sat back into her chair. El was utterly shocked which gained the attention off of Harry. He decided to quickly change the topic of conversation, "I hope you're feeling alright now. You know with everything that happened." El smiled at his thoughtfulness, "Yeah, yeah. All sorted now. Thanks." She smiled at him, noticing his that eyes were a lot greener than usual or were they always that green? They shared a look that El couldn't put her finger on but it felt different.

Hermione cleared her throat quietly just as Dumbledore had apparated into the room, causing the Weasley twins to jump in their seats. "Blimey, Professor!" Fred said, heavily breathing and clutching his chair tight. Dumbledore chuckled pleasantly and eyed the room up and down. "Where are Sirius and Remus?" He called out, just as both of them walked into the kitchen, shutting the door behind them. "Ah! Perfect timing." He gracefully strode towards where El and Winifred were sitting, pausing to look at El briefly. "You look in much better shape than before." El smiled gently at him, looking towards her dad and Remus. "Professor Lupin. You've looked better." Remus forced a laugh at Dumbledore's remark and sat down in a chair just to the side of Hermione. Dumbledore sat next to Winifred and Sirius took a seat next to Harry. "Winifred. How great it is to see you again. How's you and Liz?" Dumbledore asked politely. Winifred smiled from ear to ear, "Just had the 20 year anniversary!"

Dumbledore began making small talk with everyone and El was itching with annoyance. Did she have to leave? Were they allowed to stay? But as if he had once again read her mind, he spoke loudly, "I want everyone to be here during this little meeting. As two of you already know," He nodded his head at Sirius and El, "Pettigrew has been spotted in Wigtown by two Ministry Aurors out of his rat appearance which gives Sirius a strong case." There were cheers from the end of the table and Remus looked relieved. "But however, I must warn you that whatever he is planning or running towards, it won't be good in the slightest. You all need to have your wits about you. We don't need to repeat history." He peered over his spectacles at Sirius and Harry. They nodded in agreement. "Ronald Weasley." Dumbledore announced which caused Ron to go bright red and freeze up in his seat. He looked terrified! "You must let go of any thought that your pet rat was no more than that- a rat." He asked, which made Hermione smirk smugly in her seat. "May I ask, did your rat have a missing toe? Two pointy ears that flopped down to his whiskers?" Ron stuttered at Dumbledore's questions and a look of realisation hit him, "Y-yes?" he went from bright red to white as a ghost within seconds. "How long has he been in your family for?" Dumbledore calmly asked, still peering over his spectacles. "12 years." Ron whispered, realising what everyone had been trying to tell him. That was the same amount of time Sirius had spent locked away. Dumbledore nodded his head. "Uncommonly long time for a garden rat!" Sirius spat, shooting a look of frustration at Ron. "Indeed, Sirius. Indeed. If I am not mistaken, that is the same amount of time you were in prison for, yes?" Dumbledore nodded, looking between both Sirius and Ron. Sirius too, nodded his head. "Ronald, you must let go and accept the truth." The whole Weasley family looked pale as anything. Ron sadly nodded his head, avoiding Hermione's smirk. "It makes sense now. Gosh! I wish I had seen! He came to us just after Lily and James' death. He was crying, obviously it was all show. We comforted him! Then he fled." Arthur piped up, anger rising out of him. Molly murmured next to him, "Explains why he felt the need to show up at our doorstep as a bleedin' rat! It was safe for him. Oo, if I could only see his face again I'd-" Sirius agreed, "I'm with you on that, Molly. I wish I killed him when I had the chance. I knew it was him." El looked towards Sirius and rested her hand on his. He looked up at her and immediately felt himself calm down. "The truth is out now and when we find him we can all move on with our lives." El spoke loudly, still looking at her father. Dumbledore nodded, "Quite right, Elektra. Quite right." There was a small silence after the conversation and El got up to get herself a glass of water. As she was at the sink, Dumbledore spoke again, "However there is something else I wished to speak of. Elektra, do you know much about your mother?" El quickly turned towards the table, full glass in hand, with a look of curiosity on her face. Winifred Willows had perked her ears up at the conversation too. "N-not particularly." El stuttered nervously, sitting down at her chair again. Sirius seemed confused, "None of us really know anything. Although she was a rather bold character, she was also very private." He looked towards Dumbledore who had an unreadable expression. Winifred spoke up, "I knew of her. We spoke a few times. I was telling the kids earlier how talented she was, even though she didn't go to 'ogwarts!" Sirius looked at her, eyebrows furrowed, "That explains why I'd never seen her before despite us being the same age... I never forget a face." He briefly looked at Harry as if he was talking about James. Dumbledore nodded his head silently, "You are correct, Winifred. She did not attend any Wizarding school. I repeatedly asked her if she would, but she did not want it for herself. Still, she went on to become a very powerful Auror." El gasped, "She worked for the Ministry?" She couldn't believe what she had just been told! Sirius and Remus both looked at each other with expressions that were clearly readable as utterly confused. "I kept a close eye on her of course. She was homeschooled by her mother." Dumbledore spoke to El who had started to sip awkwardly on her water. "She went on to have an interest in the whereabouts of Voldemort but purely so she could avenge her mother who he had killed. She never found him but the Ministry picked up on her skills and although she wasn't qualified, she was given a job. I never knew you see, until recently. As if she was kept hidden. But about a year before she died, she came across something..." Dumbledore paused for a moment, looking at his wrinkled and fragile hands, "She had discovered the whereabouts of a rather large energy matter deep within a secluded forest. It wasn't dark energy, yet it wasn't good either. It was powerful and intense..." Dumbledore trailed off, avoiding eye contact with anyone within the kitchen. El was becoming increasingly intrigued at this newfound information. Sirius was more shocked than anything, to him, Celeste had seemed harmless! "And?" El said breathlessly, gripping onto her glass a little too hard causing it to break suddenly in her hands. It was thick glass, she thought, how could it possibly break?Everyone jumped at the loud shattering sound it made. El's hand was now dripping with blood and Sirius immediately jumped up out of his seat, grabbing a kitchen towel from the counter to stop the bleeding. Winifred rose to her feet suddenly as well and with a bright smile on her face said, "It's alright, dear. I'm a healer. Let me have a quick look."