CELESTE Estelle Black ran down the stairs. Her footsteps echoed around the house. Actually, twelve Grimmauld place was more of an apartment than a 'house'. Celeste had been living there ever since she could remember with her guardian—

"You should really stop running. You could fall." Regulus Arcturus Black said, looking up from the cup of tea in his hands when the young girl rushed into the kitchen. "What's got you so excited anyway?"

"It's September first!" exclaimed the thirteen year old girl, voice filled with excitement. "I can't wait to head back to Hogwarts. I've been sitting around doing nothing all summer." She whined and sat down on one of the chairs around the long table.

She was starting her third year of Hogwarts, and she couldn't have been more excited.

Celeste put her hands together and leaned forward, looking at her uncle.

Yes. He was her uncle. Not her father, no. Someone else was her father. Another Black. Someone she would never speak of. Someone she hated with all her heart for leaving her when she was only a year old.

Regulus never told her why he left her in detail. All he had told her once when she asked at a young age was, "Your mother died and Sirius was not good with emotions. He didn't know what to do with a child, so he left you to me. You ought to be grateful, in fact. It was either me or the orphanage."

His last words had made her teary eyed, but as she got older, she knew he was right. Which was why she was so close to her uncle. She was grateful for him.

At least someone wanted her.

Plus, Sirius Orion Black had left her for another reason; to be with his new husband, Remus John Lupin— Remus Black, now. Celeste hated them. She hated them all.

"I'd say going to France wasn't 'nothing'." The man pointed out, raising an eyebrow. He was good looking for his age. Well, his age wasn't that old actually. He was only thirty three or thirty four years old. He still had that teenage look, though. With black hair and grey eyes, the signature look for Blacks that even Celeste had inherited. And a chiseled jawline, which was as sharp as a knife.

Celeste crossed her arms and stuck her nose in the air. "We always go to France," she haughtily pointed out. "A change would've been nice. Like Italy or even Spain for once."

Regulus shook his head fondly, his dark curls swishing side to side. "I've spoiled you too much." He let a small smile overtake his face. "Is your trunk ready?"

"Kreacher packed it for me this morning." Celeste replied with a grin. She stood up and rushed to the doorway, turning around at the last second. "Can we go now? My friends are waiting for me at the station."

Regulus nodded and stood up. He grabbed his wand that was on the table and put it in his holster. "Let's go," he said. "Kreacher."

Kreacher popped in with his elf magic and looked up at the man. "Yes, Master Regulus?"

"Get Celeste's trunk." Regulus ordered him, but with a soft voice. "And I told you to just call me Regulus, Kreacher. Not 'master'."

Kreacher nodded and popped away. Just a minute later, he popped back in with a trunk in his hand and gave it to a waiting Celeste. "Do you need anything else from Kreacher, Mast— Regulus?" He uncertainly said the last word while turning towards the man.

Regulus smiled. "No, thank you, Kreacher."

"Kreacher lives to serve the noble house of Black." Kreacher said before popping away one last time.

Celeste raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow. "He sure does love his job." She remarked, her voice filled with amusement.

Regulus shrugged and took her hand. "Are you ready?" He asked instead of answering her previous comment.

She nodded in reply and grabbed her trunk.

The feeling of being sucked in engulfed the pair. And soon enough, they had apparated to the station, like always.

Regulus pursed his lips at the crowded station and looked towards the Hogwarts train. "Get on there quickly before it gets too crowded." He pointed out, then looked at the girl in front of him. He shifted from one foot to another.

Regulus Black was not one to share his emotions, but his niece brought it out in him all the time without her even realizing it. That was not how Regulus was raised. "Perfect, poise, and emotionless." His mother would always tell him. The perfect pureblood heir.

He passed on those words to his niece and taught her the very same things, which explained why she was also now shifting from one foot to another, awkwardly looking back and forth between him and the train.

This was the part they would hug now.

Regulus cleared his throat and stepped forward, opening one of his arms.

Celeste, as uncomfortable she was at showing emotions (especially in public), smiled and hugged him elegantly, taking a step backwards after a few seconds.

"Owl me soon," said Regulus after also pulling away. He smiled fondly down at his niece. A niece he considered his daughter at this point. "If any Gryffindor tries to annoy you, what do you do?"

"Be the Slytherin I am and secretly hex them," she replied confidently, raising her nose in the air. She was a Slytherin and she was damn proud of it. She carried on the Slytherin line from her family. Her and Regulus ignored the fact her real father was a Gryffindor. Celeste was nothing like him. He was not considered her father.

"Just like I taught you," he acknowledged proudly. He motioned towards the train and smiled at her one last time. "I'll see you at Yule, Celeste."

"See you at Yule, uncle Reggie." Celeste grabbed her trunk and turned around. She walked towards the train and turned around one last time, waving at the man just before she got onto the train, leaving him out of sight.

Going through the many compartments, Celeste finally found her usual compartment and frowned immediately when she saw someone— or actually, four people— in it.

A bushy haired girl. A ginger haired boy. And the boy with messy hair and glasses.

Her Hogwarts enemies.

Okay, Harry Potter could not be considered an enemy. Truthfully, the 'enemy' feeling was one sided. Harry Potter would always try to talk to Celeste, and usually, he got either jinxed in return or ignored.

Celeste did not want to talk to the boy who had her father in his life more than she ever had.

That was also the reason why Harry had tried to talk to her so many times. He had never really known of her existence until the sorting at Hogwarts. He was shocked, to say the least. He couldn't believe it. Sirius had a daughter? At first, he thought it was Sirius's younger brother's daughter. He had heard stories about the infamous Regulus Black— the Slytherin prince back in his days.

But when he owled Sirius about it the next day, Sirius had told him everything in a letter. And ever since then, Harry had made it his goal to get closer to Celeste.

It didn't help that he had a massive crush on the girl.

Celeste slid open the compartment door and dropped her trunk onto the ground. She crossed her arms and glared at the three Gryffindors. "This is my compartment."

Harry Potter grinned at the presence of the girl and stood up. "Anything you say, love." He said, ignoring the way her nose wrinkled in disgust. "Ron, 'Mione, let's go."

Hermione frowned and did not stand up. "I don't see your name on it, Black." She argued, staring right back at the girl.

Celeste pointed right under the compartment window, where there was carvings on it;

C.B
D.M
D.G
B.Z

"There's my name on it, Granger." Celeste said with a cold, small smile. "Now, get out of my compartment." She said, ignoring the sleeping man in the corner, which she hadn't even noticed until now. She couldn't see his face. Only his hair was shown. His face was hidden by a cloth he had over him. "And get him out of here as well."

"I'm afraid I can't, love. You see, Moony— I mean, Remus, has had a very hard night last night and hasn't gotten much sleep." Harry said with a shrug. "Sorry, but you'd have to drag him out of here."

Celeste stilled, the blood draining from her face. "Remus?" She muttered uncertainly. "As in, Remus Black?"

Harry grinned again as if it was no big deal. "Yes. The others are around here somewhere—" he fully stepped out of the compartment and looked around, then shook his head.

"Others?" Celeste shrieked and gasped.

Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger seemed to be enjoying the way the Slytherin princess— who never showed emotions or feelings— was now almost shaking with anger.

"There are others?" The girl repeated in shock.

Harry grimaced at her response. He was going to reply but at that same moment, Remus Black opened his eyes at the disruption. "What's going on here?" The man croaked out, his voice hoarse as he stared at the four teenagers.

Celeste jumped at the man's voice and immediately stepped out of the compartment, ignoring him completely. "Enjoy the compartment this time, Potter." She gritted out and walked away, leaving the boy staring at her, dumbfounded.

She was so angry— so distraught— that she didn't even notice someone was in front of her until she bumped into them.

Celeste let out an, "ouch." And glared at the person, but it went away as soon as she saw who it was.

"There you are," said her cousin, Draco Malfoy, looking down at her. "Where were you? Blaise, Daphne, and I have been searching all over the train for you."

"You will not believe what happen," Celeste huffed and turned to the side, noticing the two other friends already sitting there. She slid open the compartment door and walked in, Draco right behind her. "Guess who is on this train at this very moment?" She asked as a greeting.

"Hello to you too, Les. I've missed you so much as well. I'm good, thank you. How about you?" Daphne tilted her head and sarcastically said.

Blaise let out a chuckle, which he immediately turned into a cough when Celeste turned to glare at him. He merely shrugged innocently in response.

"Remus Black is on this train— Remus fucking Black!"

Draco sat down next to Blaise and looked at his cousin in shock. "As in...?"

"Yes, as in Sirius Black's husband. Remus fucking Black." Celeste groaned and put her head in her hands. "I can't fucking believe it. Third year hasn't even started and it's turning to shit."

"You can't say that yet, Les." Blaise comforted her. "We won't let him get anywhere near you."

"That's not it." Celeste dropped her hands and looked up, staring at her friends. "There are others. As in— Sirius Black and maybe even James fucking Potter!"

"Oh Merlin," gasped Daphne in shock. She glanced at the shocked faces of both Blaise and Draco and cleared her throat. "Well, this doesn't mean anything—"

A glare from Celeste shut her right up.

"That's it. I want to go home already." Celeste whined. Ironically, the train started moving right at that second. "The universe is so against me."

Draco rolled his eyes at his cousin's dramatics. This girl surely was Sirius Black's daughter. If he were to say that out loud right now, he would've been hexed immediately by the said girl. "Come on, Les. It'll be alright. Let's change the subject. How was France?"

And so the subject was changed for the rest of the train ride. Blaise and Daphne got into a game of Exploding snap while Draco and Celeste were talking. Then, after a few hours, even Draco and Celeste got into a game, but for them it was Wizard's chess.

As usual, Draco had ended up winning.

And they bought snacks from the trolley lady, and spent the rest of the train ride trying to ignore the fact that the people that basically ruined Celeste's life, were in the very same train they were in.

It took everything in Draco to stop himself from standing up and hexing those specific people. He had to look calm in front of his cousin. Or else both of them would've gone crazy.

Hours later, the train stopped at the Hogwarts station and the first years were taken by their groundskeeper, Hagrid, to the boats. Meanwhile, the rest of the years were sent up to Hogwarts by the carriages.

And soon enough, they were all at the Great Hall, watching the first years get sorted.

Celeste and her group of friends— with the rest of the Slytherins— would politely clap when someone was sorted into Slytherin.

She had to keep her face straight and stop her eyes from wandering the teacher's table, where she knew her biological father and his family were. Family, as in James Potter and Remus, his own husband.

When the sorting was over and food appeared on the table, Celeste dug in and got into a conversation with her friends.

"So, they're really here." Blaise finally spoke up, glancing at the teacher's table.

Celeste also glanced at the table discreetly.

The man had wavy, black hair that reached his shoulders. His eyes were the same color as Celeste's. The man was none other than Sirius Black.

Sirius Black was staring at the Gryffindor table, his eyes roaming the said table from top to bottom. His shoulders slumped when he couldn't find the one face he was searching for.

If he was being honest, he didn't even know what she looked like, but that didn't stop him from looking around to see if he could figure it out. There wasn't anybody he recognized from the Gryffindor table (excluding his own godson, of course. He was so proud when Harry was sorted into Gryffindor). So, that meant..

His daughter was not, in fact, a Gryffindor.

"Minnie?" whispered Sirius, who was sitting right next to Professor McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall had to refrain herself from smiling at the nickname the boy and his group of friends had given her ever since they were kids. "Yes, Sirius?"

"Where is she?" He asked.

She knew who he meant. She discreetly motioned towards the Slytherin table.

The young girl was already staring at them.

"There," said Professor McGonagall.

Sirius's lips parted. At first, it was because of the fact that his daughter— his daughter— was a Slytherin. But then it was because of how she looked. Merlin. She looked like an exact copy of him.

If he hadn't expected his daughter to be a Gryffindor, he would've immediately found her face amongst the crowd of students. But low and behold, there she was, in the middle of the Slytherin table.

Sirius swallowed when their eyes connected. There was so much hate in the young girl's eyes that it broke him.

Sirius didn't know what to do. He had left Celeste when she was only a year old, giving her to the one person he actually trusted; his younger brother. He didn't know how to raise a child alone, let alone a daughter. He didn't want to be a bad father to Celeste, which he felt like he would've been if he had raised her. That's why, he left. But when he regretted leaving years later, he never knew how to go back to her.

She wouldn't have ever accepted him again, nor would Regulus. And Sirius knew that. If his daughter was anything like her mother, then he knew she was extremely stubborn.

So, Sirius stuck to his new family; Remus and the Potters.

Celeste Black sneered and turned away, whispering something to her friends.

"She.. she looks.." Sirius tried saying.

"Exactly like you?" Professor McGonagall pointed out. She smiled sadly. "She's an extraordinary student, Sirius. She gets straight O's every year and is top of her classes."

"That's my daughter," said Sirius in pride.

"I don't think she considers herself your daughter, Black." Severus Snape joined in with a sneer.

Sirius glared at him. "Stay out of this, Snivellus."

Snape glowered at the nickname.

Meanwhile, at the Slytherin table, Celeste was talking with her friends. "This is great." Celeste stabbed a piece of chicken on her plate angrily, not eating it. "Just great. They're all here. One big happy family."

Draco quietly sipped his cup of pumpkin juice and didn't reply. He knew not to say anything when his cousin was angry. Not unless he wanted that anger on him instead.

Blaise and Daphne knew the same. That was why none of them replied, either.

Headmaster Dumbledore stood up, silencing everything in the hall. "Great. Now that we are all fed and watered, I have a few words to say." He stroked his unusually long beard and looked at them all. "First of all, I would like to announce our new professors: Remus Black, your new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."

Remus Black stood up and smiled at them all when they all applauded.

"James Potter, your new flying instructor."

James Potter stood up and grinned, waving at the Gryffindors.

"And lastly, Sirius Black, your extra Defense professor."

Sirius Black stood up and winked at a certain Gryffindor.

Harry Potter beamed.

Celeste Black sneered.

"Why do we even need an extra Defense professor?" Daphne frowned in thought. She turned to Blaise, who seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Dunno." Blaise replied with a shrug.

"Let's just go to the common room and get some sleep. Merlin knows we need it," said Draco as he stood up with the rest of the students after Dumbledore was finished with his speech.