chapter one | newly weds 

Cecilia Fortescue wasn't one for dancing, or dresses, and yet there she stood in the center of the wedding reception, a victim to both things. 

The sun was half way through setting out on the beach just outside. The sunset masterfully painted the horizon in a brilliant mixture of fading yellows and oranges to blooming pinks to purples. The sight was so beautiful that Cecilia yearned to be able to just sit down at the shoreline and watch nature use the sky as a temporary but wonderful canvas as day faded into night. Sadly, there were too many happy guests surrounding her, bustling with the joy they reciprocated from the newly weds to grant Cecilia the peace she'd need to fully appreciate her favorite daily occurrence of watching the sun tuck itself into bed for the night.

Nearby, Cecilia's father, Eugene Fortescue, seemed to notice her half-hearted enjoyment of the reception, and quickly excused himself from the conversation her was having with Cecilia's potions professor. Grabbing two glasses of champagne, he walked over to his daughter, and offered her a glass. 

With only a second of hesitation, Cecilia took the glass from her father. Her sea green eyes looked down at the bubbly liquid in the glass, and then once again back up at her father curiously. The older man gave his daughter and nod of approval, telling her it wasn't a test and that she really could take a drink. Still, Cecilia didn't look sure, and instead twirled her finger around the top of the glass instead. 

"You know, I just had quite the conversation with that Professor Slughorn," Eugene gave the young girl a smirk, and a mutual understanding passed between the two that the potions professor could be quite talkative, to say the least. "He's quite found of you, Cece. He said you and some, Slytherin boy --Severus Snape, I think?-- are easily the top of his class. He's honored to have you in his little secret society, or what ever it's supposed to be. Why didn't you tell me you were doing so well in Potions? Or that you joined a club?" 

"Well, the club really isn't much. Just people sitting around a table and eat dinner and talk about themselves," Cecilia explained with a small shrug. Finally, she took a small sip of the bubbling liquid in her glass, finding it to be bitter and sweet and just a little bit overrated. She continued, "And I guess I didn't realize I was doing so good in potions." 

That was a lie, for Cecilia Fortescue new for a fact that she was wonderful in potions. In fact, that was her favorite class and even a hobby she'd secretly began dabbling in. More often then not, she found herself genuinely happy when alone experimenting with all the different concoctions. She found a great amount of peace being alone with her thoughts and her ingredients. Potions never expected anything from her, unlike everything and everyone else in life. 

So yes, Cecilia Fortescue was utterly in love with all things involving the creation of Potions. But no, she'd never tell her father such a thing. After the way her mother died, she feared for what her father would think about it. So, trying to be the perfect daughter she always strived to be, her love for the subject of Potions was just another thing she decided to bottle up within herself. 

"Even so, a father always like hearing that his daughter is a genius." Eugene smiled deeply as his daughters cheeks flushed. 

Cecilia's calculating green eyes, which were practically the only feature of her father's that he had passed down to her, looked down at the champagne once again. Eugene found himself wondering if she was counting all the little bubbles to keep her busy brain entertained. He knew her mind worked over time, and needed even the smallest tasks to keep itself busy, or else the young girl might explode from boredom. Much like her mother, Cecilia had an inventive heart and a brilliant mind. Not to mention, she was just as stunningly beautiful. If he couldn't still have her mother with him, he was thankful to at least have so much of his true love in the wonderful girl they had created.

"I wouldn't say genius," Cecilia finally sighed, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "Maybe just highly intelligent." 

"Highly intelligent," Eugene Fortescue repeated, humor lacing his tone. Okay, so maybe she hadn't just inherited his eyes, but also his sense of humor. He would be more then glad if she carried those things on for the future generations. 

Looking up from the glass in her hands, Cecilia and Eugene's identical eyes locked in on each other, and immediately the two Fortescue's broke out in smiles. 

Eugene's gaze fell past Cecilia, and his smile was cemented further. Turning her head, Cecilia turned to see what he was looking at. Making their way through the crowd was Alice, Cecilia's one and only cousin, and her new husband, Frank Longbottom. Their hands were interlocked, which were how they had been since the wedding reception. To Cecilia, Frank and Alice were the only proof she'd ever need that true love existed.  

"Uncle Eugene, Cece! You're not dancing!" Alice exclaimed. Cecilia was pretty sure her claim was supposed to sound like an accusation, but Alice was far to bubbly from having gotten married to sound even remotely upset. 

"Neither are you," Cecilia responded, raising her eyebrows as if to challenge her cousin. 

In response to Cecilia, Alice rolled her eyes. Frank also let out a small laugh, looking at the younger girl with humor in his eyes. Being the closest thing Cecilia had to a sibling, Alice and Cecilia had always been rather close, despite their six year age difference. As a result of the strong friendship between the cousins, when Alice started dating Frank a few years ago, Cecilia had naturally bonded with him, too. Needless to say, even though she wasn't necessarily a big fan of crowded weddings, she was more then thrilled for Frank and Alice. 

"I should go talk to your mother," Eugene said to Alice, excusing himself from the conversation. Before leaving, Eugene gave both Alice and Cecilia a soft peck on the cheek, and then opted to give Frank a firm handshake. 

After Eugene had left, Alice turned to Cecilia eagerly, leaning in towards the girl as if she were about to talk about something very secretive. Naturally, Frank moved with her so smoothly it was like they were the same person. They looked so soft and content it almost seemed odd that the two were newly appointed Aurors. 

But, as Cecilia has seen, when it came to magic it was no question that the two were beyond powerful. And when they were together? They were practically unstoppable. Whenever Cecilia found herself growing uneasy of the whispers of those practicing dark arts and announcing awful threats towards muggle-borns, Cecilia simply thought of the fact that those horrible people were going against Aurors like Frank and Alice. The thought of her two favorite Knights-in-Shining-Armor made Cecilia feel significantly less terrified of the darkening world that surrounded them. 

"So, Cecilia," Alice started, her already excited grin somehow managing to double in size. "Your dad pointed out that boyfriend of yours earlier. He is so cute." 

Some guys might not have liked hearing their wives call another boy cute. Those boys were absolute idiots, thinking that they could control their significant other's thoughts and acting like a single notice to someone's feature would make them stray. Frank Longbottom was not a possessive dickhead like many of the boys Cecilia had the misfortune to going to school with. In fact, as the words left Alice's mouth, Frank chuckled softly. 

"That he is. And I heard he was a Gryffindor. You can't go wrong with a Gryiffindor, you know?" Frank, a proud Gryffindor Alumni, added. 

"As a Ravenclaw, I feel as though I should refute that," Cecilia mused, giving Frank a fake-glare. 

"It's so lovely seeing the people I love most in the world getting along," Alice mused. Frank smiled lovingly down at his wife, leaning down to quickly peck her cheek before turning his attention back to Cecilia. 

"I know I don't need to tell you this, but you guys are truly perfect for each other," Cecilia spoke honestly. Her eyes studied the pair carefully, noticing how Frank always held Alice close to him and how Alice always rested her head against him. For a moment, she hoped to someday have a relationship like there's, and then she guiltily remembered that she was supposed to already be in such a relationship with Declan McLaggen. 

In all honesty, Cecilia didn't really know when her relationship with Declan had began. Sometime during their school year last year, their father's had begun working closely together on a project (something involving the migration of dragons in Northern Europe) which meant frequent visits to the other's house throughout the summer. With Emma and Elijah Vanity -- Cecilia's nearest and dearest friends -- staying at their families vacation home in Spain, Cecilia didn't really have any other friend's her own age, so she didn't mind joining her father on his visits to the McLaggen household and spending time with Declan. 

Declan McLaggen, a boy Cecilia hardly thought about before this summer, wasn't like the fantasy many girls had painted of him whenever they fawned over him at Hogwarts. Sure, he was undeniably handsome and his smile was virtually flawless, but he was much more then that. Being a year under Declan, Cecilia had heard plenty of girls in her own year practically drool over the older boy, always seeming to focus on his romantic eyes or his abilities as a Keeper on the Quidditch team. Over the summer, though, Cecilia had come to learn that Declan followed his father's passion in the studies of Dragon and that Declan was much more interested in flying on a broomstick then chasing after girls. However, that didn't mean he had no interest in dating girls. Or, more precisely, one girl in particular. The apparently very lucky Cecilia Fortescue. 

Cecilia hadn't realized that she and Declan were an actual couple until he'd introduced her as his girlfriend when his grandparents were visiting the same time she and her father were. It was then that Cecilia realized that the times they had gone to muggle cafes together and visited various locations in Diagon Alley had actually been dates to Declan. Of course she had noticed that he had a habit of wrapping an arm around her and holding her hand, but she hadn't thought much of it. After hearing from so many people that she was a brilliant young witch, she felt downright daft for not noticing she had started dating someone. 

After she had realized she and Declan were apparently a couple, she had thought to a great extent about where to go from there. Cecilia was never the girl who fancied the idea of having a boyfriend seeing as she was pretty sure her one true love was experimenting with potions, but she didn't despise spending time with Declan. In fact, he was a perfect gentleman and he was always very nice to her, not to mention that her dad often raved about how great of a couple they were. Plus, Declan seemed to really like  her, and she just couldn't bring herself to hurting him. 

So, as a result of having the perpetual need to make everyone happy, Cecilia did her best to carry out her relationship with the boy, which included allowing her father to invite him to her cousin's wedding. And, as a result, Declan had happily shown up to the wedding and fairly easily won over the hearts of Cecilia's family with his charm. Cecilia had greeted him, shared a dance with him, gave him a polite peck on the cheek when he sat down with her to eat, and then found an excuse to go wander because, truthfully, she didn't know what else she was supposed to do at a wedding and had little interest in trying to figure it out. 

"Cecilia?" Alice called to her cousin. Exchanging a look with Frank, Alice laughed softly at Cecilia's far away look, something that occurred quite often as Cecilia always found herself lost in her own thoughts. "Did you hear what I asked?" 

"Hmm?" Cecilia hummed. That was all the answer Alice needed. 

"I said we were going to go dance and I was wondering if you wanted to go get that boy of yours and joined us?" Alice restated, a soft smile on her face.

"Oh," Cecilia murmured. Just like that, Cecilia's mind was back thinking about her confusing situation with Declan McLaggen. "Um, yeah, that'd be nice, I guess. Maybe we'll come join you in a bit." 

Alice, who looked content with that answer, grinned happily at her husband before leading him out on to the dance floor. Cecilia watched them disappear in the crowd before looking back at her beloved sunset. By now, it was almost completely disappeared over the horizon, only a sliver of the golden sun to be seen. The sky had grown significantly darker, but the wedding party showed no signs of stopping anytime soon. Everyone seemed to either be thrilled for Alice and Frank, or eager to temporarily forget about the darkness that has been seeping into all of their lives. Maybe even a little bit of both. 

Cecilia let out a sigh. Her eyes scanned the crowd but couldn't find either her father or Declan, and she couldn't really decide if it she was relieved or not. Deciding she had socialized enough to be able to get away with leaving a little bit early, Cecilia carefully slipped away from the music and people to find some peace and quite. 

Successfully getting away, Cecilia removed her heels and, holding them in her hands and hiking up her long dress, Cecilia walked along the shoreline of the beach. The chilly water lapped softly at her ankles as she walked, and she felt more tranquil then she had in a while. Eventually, the girl looked back, seeing the wedding reception softly glowing down the beach. Deciding she'd gone far enough, Cecilia sat down in the sand, allowing her feet to remain where the water could stretch out and reach her, but taking care not to get anything else wet. 

Having grown up with her mom telling her all the stories in the stars, Cecilia quite liked the view of the stars that she got when she was away from civilization and the sky darkened. On the beach and away from all of the light pollution, she could see more stars then ever. Cecilia had always been easily entranced with the night sky, mostly because very few people cared to pay attention to it. Instead of the chilling dark void that most people associated with the nighttime, Cecilia saw millions of details waiting to be admired if one just cared enough to give up a little of their time and just sit and find them all. 

Cecilia's personal favorite feature of the night were the constellations in the sky. She enjoyed having to search the sky for the hidden puzzle pieces almost as much as she enjoyed putting them together to find the picture they formed. They were riddles that only came by night, and could only be found if you knew exactly what to look for. Plus, each constellation came with it's own story, which Cecilia found the age old stories magical in itself. 

After taking some time, Cecilia was able to locate Canis Major in the sky. It wasn't her favorite constellation per say, but it was illuminated by the brightest star which in itself was rich with fascinating history, so Cecilia was mildly delighted.

Canis Major was only the first of many constellations that Cecilia intended on finding. She began searching the night sky for the constellation of Heracules, but before she could find all of the right stars, two busy-bodies disturbed her newfound peace by plopping themselves down in the sand on either side of the girl.

Exhaling despondently at the unfortunate occurrence, Cecilia turned her head at her visitor. Immediately, she was greeted by the sight of a grin so cheeky, it could only belong to the one and only James Potter. Knowing it was James who had sat down next to her, she didn't need to look to know the boy on her other side was Sirius Black. Still, just for the fun of it, she turned her head to be greeted by yet another over-zealous smile and unruly dark hair. 

"Boys," Cecilia sighed, halfheartedly trying to sound welcoming. Although James and Sirius and their merry band of troublemakers were in her year, she had probably talked to all of them combined a total of four times throughout their five years of schooling together. She had nothing against them of course, she just didn't care for talking to other people if she didn't need to. 

"Cecilia," James murmured mockingly. "You know, you're missing quite party." 

"And your boyfriend, so I've heard," Sirius piped in. At his words, Cecilia turned her head to look out the water once again. "Uh, oh," Sirius continued. "Trouble in paradise already?" 

"No," Cecilia denied, though she remained adamant about keeping her eyes on the waves as the curled rhythmically in front of her. "My world just doesn't revolve around him. Surprisingly enough, I have other things to concentrate on, you know?" 

"Well all I have to say is you better not break McLaggen's heart. I don't need him moping around the Quidditch pitch and costing us any games," James told her earnestly. The boy gave her side a light nudge with his elbow,  as if to show his sincerity. 

Of course that was his concern. Cecelia rolled her eyes. "What are you guys even doing out here?" 

There was a moment of silence which involved Sirius and James exchanging a mischievous look and Cecilia immediately regretted asking her question. 

James reached into the inner pocket of his suit jacket, pulling out a silver flask that glinted sharply in the moonlight. "We scored this off of an old man a biy a go," the curly-haired boy further elaborated. "Thought we could enjoy it best out here." 

"Naturally," Cecilia murmured. She glanced over to Sirius to see he was beaming with pride. 

Sirius leaned towards Cecilia, nudging her shoulder with his own. "So, you want to share it with us, Fortescue?" 

"Yeah. I mean, if we can corrupt Moony we can absolutely corrupt you, too," James declared. 

"And what exactly is a Moony?" Cecilia found herself questioning. This could very well be another question she'd quickly regret asking them, but she was feeling a bit risky in the moment. 

"Remus Lupin is a Moony," Sirius declared, sounding both incredibly baffled and appalled that Cecilia didn't already know that. 

"Remus Lupin," Cecilia repeated. "I think he's my favorite out of you lot." 

James gasped dramatically as he unscrewed the cap of the flask. "You know what? Just for that we're not going to share our drink with you." 

Giving Cecilia a glare she was fairly certain was fake, James then thrusted the flask in front of her face and towards Sirius. The other boy eagerly took it from his dear friend before taking along sip. Cecilia shook her head at both of them, though she will admit she was thoroughly amused by their theatrics. The fact that they all made up nicknames for each other was quite entertaining, in her opinion. 

"Oh, I'm so heartbroken," Cecilia sarcastically told James, feigning a longing gaze towards the flask. 

After drinking his desired amount, Sirius passed the flask back to James and lied back onto the sand. Once he'd taken a swig of the drink, James did the same, sprawling himself out rather obnoxiously. Cecilia looked back and forth between the two boys on either side of her. They each shared a look of content devilment, as if they were pleased that what ever mischief they had gotten themselves into had been successfully managed. 

"So, what are you doing out here anyways?" It was Sirius who nudged Cecilia this time. 

Cecilia took a deep breath of the salty sea air before pondering his question. With her eyes trained on the shining celestial dots lighting up the sky, she responded, "Just star-gazing." 

"Anything good going on in the stars?" Sirius inquired, sounding genuinely intrigued. 

"Not at all," Cecilia informed him, shaking her head softly. She lifted her handd to point out the brightest star in the sky. "I mean, it can't be seeing as your star is up there." 

Sirius scoffed, know she was pointing out the star that shared his name. It was a part of the constellation Canis Major, which Moony had informed him of once as he'd found it funny that Padfoot's star would be a part of a constellation that translated to 'The Greater Dog'. 

"You know, I quite like you, Cecilia Fortesque," James decided outloud, adding a bit of extra flourish as he said the girls name. It was the perfect name to be spoken with such a lavish flare, he thought. 

"As much as you like Lily Evans?" Sirius questioned. The boy tucked a strand of his long hair behind his ear before he looked over to James, a wicked grin painted across his impish features. 

"You fancy Lily Evans?" Cecilia asked, genuinely intrigued. Cecilia turned to the Potter boy and raised her eyebrows in intrigue. Her and Lily weren't exactly the best of friends, but Cecilia did rather admire Lily's skills. Plus, Lily was just about the only person in Slughorn's Club that Cecilia didn't find utterly conceited. 

Even in the darkness of the night, Cecilia could see a bright blush adding color to James' generally pale cheeks. After shooting a deadly glare to Sirius, he cleared his throat and looked to Cecilia. "I'll answer that question after you tell us more about you and my mate McLaggen." 

"So it looks like we're talking more about stars." 

Cecilia finally laid back with the two boys she hardly knew, who briefly exploded in to laughter at her response. She expected them to protest or try to go find away to get into more trouble, but to Cecilia's surprised the boys just continued to lay on either side of her and listen to her point out all of the different constellations. To the two marauders, it was like spending an evening with Moony, who always enjoyed informing them on the new things he'd learned. As long as they had their drink, they were content with spending the rest of their evening like this.

As the night progressed, Cecilia found herself having more fun trying to show James Potter and Sirius Black some of the many significant stars in the sky then she'd had at the actual wedding reception. In fact, if she didn't know better she'd say she rather enjoyed the company of the two troublesome boys. 

What a strange thing it all was, but it didn't hold a candle to the even stranger things they'd all find themselves experiencing in their upcoming school year. 

also, i changed a couple of faceclaims at the beginning of the book, so if you want to know what i imagine all of these characters as feel free to go back and look! 

so if i'm being honest here guys, i love cecilia and i've loved the little bits of her i've been able to delve into so far! however, i have gotten pretty much no feedback, so please comment your thoughts! I hope i don't sound ungrateful but it really helps me knowing that people are enjoying my story and not getting any response from you guys is a little discouraging.