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Stars winked at Stella from the endless arch of void black sky, the moon shining his light on the girl's face. Now laying down on the cold floor, with Harry sitting besides her, Stella smiled at the stars who gave her an unusual joy.
Hermione sat at a little distance, watching them talk.
"Sirius." Stella whispered, a sad smile tugging on her lips as she raised her hand and pointed at the brightest star glowing in the illusory, black sky.
Harry glanced at the girl before following her hand to the star as his memories with his godfather came galloping in his mind.
"The draco constellation." Stella smiled, a little later, pointing at the constellation perfectly visible in the starlit sky.
"are you a walking encyclopedia of astronomy?" Harry joked, his eyes sparkling with the happiness radiating off Stella's body.
Even though it was night, Harry could feel Stella being a bouncing ball of sunshine and why wouldn't she be. After a long time, she was finally having the time of her life with the boy she adored.
"I hated astronomy back at Hogwarts." Stella smiled looking at Harry,"I don't know why but I did. Until now, I never realised how beautiful this planet is."
Harry smiled in agreement as he turned his gaze towards the stars as the two of them sat in silence, stargazing until Harry decided to break the silence by asking the question which wiped the smile off Stella's face.
"When did you get to know that he is your father?" Harry questioned, his gaze fixed towards the sky.
Stella sat up straight and leaned on the tree besides Harry.
"Earlier this summer, Mr. Parkinson took me to this strange, haunted house and then boom - suddenly I got to know that all these years I've been living a life filled with lies." Stella laughed bitterly,"That's when I got to know about who I really was."
"What about your mother?" Harry asked, finally looking at Stella who had a rueful smile on her face.
"He killed her." Stella simply replied, showing that it didn't affect her when in fact she was devastated to know that she has nobody whom she could call as a mother.
"What?" Harry blinked rapidly, not believing his ears.
"I was just one of her mistakes." Stella explained with a blank expression on her face,"She just happened to have me under the influence of alcohol and other bullshit. She never wanted me to join you know who. She tried running away with me to somewhere safe but he found her and killed her."
"I'm sorry." Harry quickly apologised, wrapping his arm around Stella as Hermione shot her a pitiful look.
"It's fine." Stella forced a smile.
"I wanted to ask you something else.." Harry asked again, after a while,"It's related to the time we visited the Grimmauld Palace..."
Stella's body stiffened in response as she could feel that he was going to ask about the prophecy.
"What about it?" Stella calmly asked as Hermione got up from her previous place and sat down besides Harry.
"I think that I saw you.....saw you with a... I mean.... Was that-"
"The prophecy was about me." Stella agreed, cutting him off in between.
"What did it say?" Hermione questioned.
Stella didn't know if she really wanted to tell them about the prophecy she heard but having no other option left, she decided to disclose the secret which she has never told anyone else, not even Draco.
"It said that I'm a powerful witch and that I could be the helping hand of Harry Potter to vanquish the dark Lord." Stella explained,"Or maybe, I can be the one to join the dark Lord and..... help him. Why else do you think he killed my mother but not me?"
"He wants your powers!" Harry exclaimed, earning a nod from Stella,"That's why he came back to take you?"
"Yeah and If I don't help him, I'm useless for him." Stella sighed,"And there's no point in me being alive, So I ran away."
-
It was around afternoon when Stella got up from a peaceful sleep. She heard some voices coming from outside so she peeked through the binders to find Ron with a sword on his wand while Harry and Hermione were standing a little away from him.
".... I came to this hill side. It was dark I had no idea where I was." Stella heard Ron's voice as a soft smile made its way on her lips,"Just hoped that one of you would show yourself and you did."
Happily, Stella got off from the mattress and rushed outside.
Ron didn't notice the female figure standing near the tent but when he did, he choked on his saliva.
"What is she doing here?" Ron yelled, pointing his finger straight at Stella who felt like a burden at that very moment.
"Ron, look-" Hermione tried to explain, walking closer to Ron but he stopped her.
"No, will someone tell me why the hell is she here again?"
Stella silently watched Ron getting furious and pulling off his hair while Harry had his arms crossed across his chest and was watching his best friend with a big frown on his face.
"Harry?" Ron asked after a moment of silence,"You know what she did and now-"
"Ron, she didn't do it intentionally!" Harry sighed, throwing his hands up in despair,"She was forced! She's being tortured!"
"And how do you know that Harry?" Ron frowned,"Look, I've nothing against her but we can't just keep on trusting everything she says!"
"Ron, We ca-"
"Harry!" Stella called, running up to him,"It's okay. I don't want you three to fight because of me. If you don't want me here, I'll just leave."
"No!" Harry shouted immediately causing Stella to step back.
"Stella You can't do that!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Try to understand." Stella smiled,"It's fine. I'll be okay. If Ron doesn't feels safe when I'm around, it's okay If I leave."
With that, Stella turned around to walk in the tent to pack her clothes, turning a deaf ear to Harry and Hermione's protest.
"You can't just leave Stella!" Harry exclaimed, following her inside.
"It's fine Harry." Stella forced a smile with a shrug,"I'll be okay."
"But-"
"Harry, please." Stella pressed, slinging her bag over her shoulder,"I promise I'll be okay. Just don't fight with him."
"But where will you go?"
"Somewhere safe." Stella assured,"I promise."
Hesitantly, Harry dropped the fight and hugged Stella tightly before placing a kiss on her forehead. Stella stepped out to find Hermione glaring at Ron while Ron was looking away and pretended to be busy.
