Chapter Text
A/N: Hello! I’ll keep this short for once! This is the story of what would happen if Ruby didn’t die with her parents. It’s set in the Marauders Era since I really like working with that timeframe. It does have a heavy focus on Celeste, but there will be noticeable changes in her character since she isn’t alone. I hope you enjoy!
Sister, Sister
Chapter One
Ruby and Celeste dragged their trunks through King’s Cross Station, Celeste’s cat cage strapped to her trunk and Ruby’s owl cage in her other hand. Celeste had her arm looped through Ruby’s and she grinned up at her older sister as they walked. Ruby, now 15, knew her way very well around the station, so she led Celeste right up to the platform barrier. Ruby leaned down to talk quietly with Celeste, without the nearby muggles hearing. “Now,” She gestured to the barrier, “Run right at that with your trunk. You’ll go right through. I’ll go after you, so I can make sure the muggles don’t see you,” Ruby said softly, a reassuring tone in her voice. Celeste nodded, and her grip tightened on her trunk. She ran though the barrier quickly, holding her breath. She stepped aside for Ruby to run through as she admired the area around her. The shiny red train practically glimmered in the odd lighting of the tunnel and Celeste was mesmerized. She almost didn’t notice Ruby come up beside her. “Ready to get on the train, Celeste?” Ruby asked, nudging Celeste out of her thoughts.
“I am so ready! You won’t try to sit with me though, right?” Celeste said as she stood on her tiptoes to glare jokingly at her sister. Ruby laughed.
“Of course not, darling sister,” Ruby grinned, embarrassing her sister by her sickly-sweetness.
“Let’s just get on the train, since you’re being so gross,” Celeste said, dragging her sister towards the train. Ruby allowed her sister to pull her to the train. They both dragged their trunks on board, Celeste struggling more than Ruby. They found a luggage rack and quickly put up their trunks. Celeste unstrapped the cat cage and pulled it off, her cat hissing irritably. She and Ruby faced each other. “I have Prefect duties, but I’ll come find you to check on you later, okay?” Ruby straightened her Prefect badge on her robes, having put her robes on before they came to the station.
“Okay, just don’t embarrass me!” Celeste said as she hugged her sister good-bye before turning and marching confidently down the train carriage, searching for students her age. She walked past a compartment with four boys inside, all of which were talking loudly and happily. One of them, a boy with glasses and dark, messy hair, caught her eye and she flushed slightly, walking quickly past them. She soon came upon a compartment with a redheaded girl and in Celeste’s opinion, a slightly gross looking boy inside. She hesitated, unsure if she should sit with them, but she decided she should at least try to talk to them, since they seemed to be her age. She knocked on the door and the redhead rose from her seat and slid the door open. “Hi! Wanna sit with us?” The girl asked cheerfully. Behind her, the gross looking boy wrinkled his nose a bit, but Celeste paid him no mind.
“Yes, thank you! I’m Celeste.” Celeste introduced herself as she took a seat next to the redhead who had sat down after letting Celeste in.
“I’m Lily, and that’s Severus.” Lily grinned as Severus gave Celeste a small wave, Severus seeming very disinterested.
“Nice to meet you two. Are you first years as well?” Celeste asked, fiddling with the hem of her plain robes.
“Yes, we are.” Severus spoke, plainly and rather quietly.
“What house do you think you’ll be in?” Celeste grasped for anything to converse about.
“I don’t really care what house I’m put in, but I’ve heard a lot about Slytherin from Severus.” Lily leaned back in her seat, still smiling.
“My sister is in Slytherin, so I’ll probably be in Slytherin with her.” Celeste shrugged. As she spoke, her cat began meowing loudly, as if begging to be let out of the cage.
“Your cat is so cute! Can I hold it?” Lily cooed at the cat as she leaned close to the cage to get a better look.
“Sure! Her name is Astrid, and she’s a little bit shy, so don’t take it too personally if she tries to hide from you.” Celeste laughed as she unlocked the cage and pulled out a rather irate grey and black striped cat. Lily reached her arms out for the cat and Celeste gently eased her into Lily’s arms. Astrid began meowing quietly as she settled, much to the relief of Celeste who absolutely did not want to go chasing her cat around the train this early in her school life.
Soon they had reached the school, and Astrid had been tucked back into her cage and Celeste, Lily, and Severus were finally talking comfortably. The train lurched to a halt and they all stood gathering their things and going out to retrieve their trunks. Ruby was stood by the luggage rack, her wand in her left hand and her owl cage in the other. She waved Celeste and her friends over. “I see you’ve made some friends, sister.” She said, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at the two with Celeste. Celeste swatted her arm.
“Don’t scare them off, Ruby,” She moved so she could look at both Ruby and her two new friends. “This is Lily, and this is Severus.” She gestured to them each respectively. Lily grinned confidently at Ruby, while Severus continued to look at her neutrally. Celeste moved to stand next to Ruby. “This is my sister, Ruby. She’s a Slytherin Prefect.” Celeste stated proudly.
“Yes, yes, okay introductions over now. You three need to hurry up and get into the castle with the other first years,” Ruby said, shooing them off the train with their luggage, moving on to assist other stragglers. The three first years made their way up to the school, admiring their surroundings with awe as they went. They met up with the rest of the first years, who were all clustered around an older woman, who was giving them directions. The old woman began ushering the first years into the Great Hall, all of the older students turning to watch them as they walked, in a sort of blob-like line, down the middle. A rather crusty looking hat recited a poem of sorts, which made absolutely no sense to Celeste as she stood nervously, hoping to be sorted soon, and into the house with her sister. One by one, they began to be sorted and soon only a small cluster of students remained to be sorted.
“Mallory, Celeste!” The old woman called, and a shaking Celeste made her way forward.
A/N: I’m gonna end this chapter here! It’s a bit of a slow start but it’ll pick up soon, I swear. Bit of a cliffhanger, I know, but I needed a good place to start with the next chapter. The boy who caught Celeste’s eye will be revealed soon, if it wasn’t already obvious who he is. And NO, I do NOT like Severus, I just can’t write him evil for this since he’s so young at this point in the story.