𝐊𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐍 | 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘞𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘺

Chapter 6 - The Lestrange Family

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I've never met a strong person with an easy past.

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The first few months back at Hogwarts flew for Betelgeuse and her friends. The twins had managed to land themselves in detention with McGonagall on their third day at school. 

They had succeeded in overdoing the Avifors Spell. While the class practised the spell with varying degrees of success, they had conjured a monstrosity, half cup, half winged creature with massive claws, that took flight and threw the class into hysterics.

They had served detention after dinner, leaving Betelgeuse to roam the castle alone. She had found herself heading to the Astronomy Tower with the Marauder's Map in hand. The tower was where students investigated the stars and planets during Astronomy lessons with Professor Sinistra at midnight when the stars were best seen. The Professor had taken a liking to the young witch, marvelling at her prowess in the subject.

Betelgeuse was gazing at the starry sky in the defeating silence of the night. Blacks were known to have a unique affinity with the stars. The girl was not an exception.

She searched for the dearest constellations to her. First, her eyes found Canis Major with the brightest among the stars Sirius, her uncle. The constellation Hydra followed, with the most glowing star in the cluster, Alphard, her great uncle. Her grey eyes landed then on a prominent constellation in the sky, Orion, her grandfather, with its most brilliant star Betelgeuse, Alpha Orionis. She had a plunge in the heart when finally her stargazing-trained eyes managed to spot the constellation Leo and one of the most radiant among the stars, Regulus, her beloved father.

She was so absorbed in her personal thoughts, that she missed the pair of dots approaching the Astronomy Tower on the Map.

She turned abruptly with her wand in hand when she heard the sound of the heavy door being opened. She only relaxed when she saw two bright red-heads appear on the threshold. 

"Bel?" One of the twin called.

"I am here, near the parapet," Betelgeuse responded. "How did you know I was here? I have the Map," she continued perplexed.

"Bel, when you need some time alone, you always manage to sneak in the Astronomy Tower," Fred said, stopping on the girl's right.

"Besides, what kind of best friends don't know their respective gateways?" George continued matter-of-factly on her left.

"How was detention?" The girl demanded.

"Boring without you, Lady Black!" The twins responded, draping their arms on the smiling girl shoulders.

"I will never understand your fascination with stars, Bel. Astronomy is a mystery to me. I think that Professor Sinistra thinks us blind," George mused.

"Professor Sinistra assumes you two are blind because last year you firmly stated for the whole lesson that was supposed to be the darkest night in at least a century because there were no stars. Too bad you did not take the cap off the telescope," Betelgeuse responded, rolling her eyes.