Authors Note: Many people won't understand what's going on here. That's okay! Don't fret! To be honest sometimes I don't know what's going on either. ;D And um.. I know there are quite a few of you waiting for me to get off my ass and finish Bound. But my Bound muses have retired and moved to Florida so uh.. don't hold your breath. . (One day, one day..I will finish that damn book!)

This story is based off of a Hogwarts roleplay (What? No!) that I've been in for a few years now. However, the story itself mostly takes place 7 years after Hogwarts, therefore you will not be seeing any Harry, any Hermione, any.. anyone. The most you'll get is maybe Dumbledore. If you're lucky. All characters are © their respective players. I do not own Harry Potter (though I wouldn't mind .) nor do I own anything JK Rowling wrote. I do however own Calista, who in this Continuity was the Head Girl in Harry's 6th year, so if you even so much as –think- of stealing her.. I would be flattered. I will sue the pants off of you.. but I'd be flattered.

Though this story isn't finished (I can't write an ending, seeing as I can't tell the future of what will happen in the roleplay, but consider what I've got now a 'pseudo-ending' of sorts, to be added on if needed.) I doubt I'll be adding to it any time soon. But who knows.

I want to thank everyone who played with me, it was a blast, and you guys are just awesome. Love goes out to Becca, Cami, and Popkin especially. You guys gave my imagination wings to soar.

(..oh God that was corny.)

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Sunset

Ch. 1

The sunset was absolutely breathtaking. Streamers of gold and red wrapped around one another, and the sky looked as if someone had brushed a paintbrush across it, with all sorts of hues of orange, red, and soft purple. She had never seen a more beautiful sunset.

It seemed worthy of having a religious experience, its beauty struck such awe in her heart.

But Calista Lourdes was never a religious woman.

Even as she hung there by one hand, on the edge of a cliff so smooth, so bare of anything she could even in her wildest dreams consider a foothold or handhold, and even with the soft crumbling of the one grip she had left on the cliff, still she did not pray.

She looked down for a split second, at the cavernous ravine that threatened to engulf her any moment, its mouth so wide open it was simply waiting to swallow her whole. She realized in an instant it was a mistake, and turned her eyes back up to the sunset.

Now that was a vision to die for.

"Hold on a mo', I'm almost there! Terry, keep that rope tight!"

She heard distant voices calling out- or at least, they sounded distant to her. In fact, Brennan was probably only a few feet above her, with a rock-climbing rope tied securely around his waist. He pushed against the smooth rock, creeping slowly downward with each small hop, until he was just beside the woman whose life was inches away from ending. His lips were wide with a shit-eating grin.

"Well hot-damn, if you can't call me your Prince Charming now."

The rock crumbled even further under her fingers as if it disapproved of his arrogant charms while she was in perilous danger. The look on her face mirrored the rock crumbling, as both bid him a silent 'Fuck you.'

His hand slid around her waist, tucking her in front of him with one final swoop of his arm, and he tugged on the rope.

"Let 'er rip, Terry!"

Instantly the rope slacked as if it had been cut, and they plunged into the darkness.

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"Shitshit, Chris he said let her rip! How am I supposed to know that meant pull it up?! I thought he wanted more slack!"

The thick boned Asian man had both hands secure around the rope that Terry had released, his face taut with strain.

"Just tie the goddamn thing back up and reel them in, before I fall over with 'em!"

Terry, a sprite of a woman almost half the size of the man holding on to those ropes with all the strength he could muster, did as she was told, her fingers moving with nimble quickness. All at once the ropes were being reeled in, and after what seemed like ages, two figures sprawled up upon the top of the cliff, their faces pale, as if Death had looked them straight in the eye a moment before and greeted them. Brennan held on to Calista's waist still, clinging for dear life as if she would yet fall if he let go. It took her all of a moment to collect herself, and while Brennan was still in the thralls of being moments away from his best imitation of a fly on a windshield, she had already stood up and brushed herself off.

One glare at Terry was all it took.

The smaller girl quaked, her knees trembling. "It's Brennan's fault!! 'Let 'er rip!' Oh come on, how am I..! Shit.. I'm sorry, Captain."

The taller woman, so called 'Captain' of this foursome of excavators, said nothing. Her glare spoke for her. She walked past the group, in eerie silence, heading for her tent.

"You'd think she'd be a little more grateful, I did save her life."

Brennan had found his voice, (and his stomach, which had been relocated to his throat a moment before), and was equally glaring her down as she walked away.

"Neeever gonna happen, bro." Christopher chuckled, as he began to put their equipment away.

"We'll see."

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Terry pushed open the ragged cloth of the tent flap, looking under it with a nervous hesitation.

"Uh.. Captain? Can I have a word..?"

"Come on in Terry."

The girl slipped through the crack, letting the flap drop behind her. The small area was dark, lit by only one lantern that looked as if it was on its last dregs, and would soon sputter out. She couldn't understand why their team captain enjoyed the darkness so much; it must be a strain on her eyes. She had already started to use reading glasses, though she refused to wear them in public, and forced Terry to read any maps or journals that they needed for their assignments.

The girl cleared her throat, her voice squeaking softly. "Captain, I really am sorry about-"

"It wasn't your fault. Not wholly, at least. All three of you were at fault here."

Terry stopped short at that, and her look of confusion went to waste in the darkness. She couldn't imagine what Chris had done wrong, in fact he was the only reason Captain Lourdes and Brennan Cooper were still alive. "I don't quite follow..?"

The woman known as Captain Lourdes sat up, flicking her hand at the lantern as if her soft movement could do some good. Sure enough, the fire within flickered brighter, surged on by some unknown force. Calista turned her stark blue eyes back to the girl, as the room around them blazed in light. Her bright red hair, falling in cascades around her shoulders, looked almost as if it had a life of its own, in Terry's mind. The fire flickered and sent shadows to play on the woman's well defined features. Even Terry, who had been married to Chris for almost 2 years now, felt a pang of jealousy every time she really looked at her Captain. She was as breathtaking as the sunset.

"You should have left me behind."

Her voice, however, did not match the stunning beauty she held. The voice was stern, and low, every word having purpose and little to no emotion.

"C-Capt.. oh forget that. Calista, how can you say that? We're a family, we never leave any one of us behind! You know that.."

"I know that you three feel the need for some kind of heroic camaraderie that has landed you in complicated and potentially life threatening situations for as long as I've known you. Despite that, you've got to grow up and realize my life isn't worth risking yours. You blew the entire mission to come and rescue me, and months of work have been wasted."

"But it was YOUR work! It would have been wasted anyway if you'd splattered all over the bottom of that cliff!"

Calista rested back on her sleeping bag, her cold blue eyes staring up at the inside of the tent's pinnacle.

"You could have done it without me."

"We'll not be doing anything without you, Cap'n."

The voice she heard was male that time, and she rolled her eyes, turning to look at her lantern. He was the last person she wanted to see right now.

"Terry, me and the Cap'n've got a bit of talking to do. Be a sweetheart and go help Chris."

"Do shut up you macho little prick."

Terry's words held an endearment within them, as if she had just called Brennan a sweetheart as well. Yet she moved to step out of the tent, as Brennan sat by Calista's feet, his jovial smile falling.

"How can you say that?"

"Say what."

"That your life isn't worth risking ours? Do you really think that's true? Would I have been out there on that cliff if your life wasn't worth-"

"For Merlin's sakes Brennan, don't you start with that again."

His face reddened with anger, as he had been shot down before he'd even begun.

"I'll start with it as much as I like, because like it or not, Calista, I-"

The woman sat up, her hand reeling back sharply, before it came around and slapped him in the face.

A stinging silence met them once the echo of her slap had faded, and his hand rose up, cupping his cheek with his palm. The two stared at one another for a good minute, in silence. Neither would break.

"Remind me to never save your life again." It was he who broke the silence, though his voice held a distant, detached calm.

"I'll do that."

She lay back down on her sleeping bag, and a moment later she heard the swish of a tent flap open, and close. Outside, she could barely make out the voice of a man, who sounded vaguely amused.

"Neeever gonna happen."

"Oh FUCK off Chris!"

The words didn't mean much to her, in fact she wasn't really listening. Instead, her eyes watched the fading embers of her lantern as it began its triumphant sputter before it died, and her hand reached up instinctively, fingering the necklace around her neck. A vague, and hollow smile twitched at the corners of her mouth, as wisps of memories of long ago passed her by until the light finally flickered one last time, and died.

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I know you think that I shouldn't still love you
I'll tell you that
But if I didn't say it
Well, I'd still have felt it
Where's the sense in that?

I promise I'm not trying to make your life harder
Or return to where we were

Well I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be

I know I left too much mess
And destruction to come back again
And I caused but nothing but trouble
I understand if you can't talk to me again
And if you live by the rules of "It's over"
Then I'm sure that that makes sense

 
And when we meet
As I'm sure we will
All that was then
Will be there still

Well I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be

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"Are you coming over for Christmas?"

Brennan looked down at the sprite of a woman and mulled over her offer, his deep hazel eyes flickering at the woman standing a few feet away, who was intent on staring down the length of the train platform they were standing on.

"I would.. but I fear Jeremy would kill me if I left him alone with her."

Calista flipped Brennan off without even looking at him and continued to watch for the train. He laughed heartily, and shrugged down at Terry.

"Why don't you come over to the estate instead?"

Cold blue eyes left their vigil to rest on Brennan then. "I don't recall when you had the right to invite people over to my house, Cooper."

He shivered noticeably, his arms wrapping around his body as he looked around. "Gee.. did it just get cold in here or is it just me..? Don't be an ice queen Cap'n, you know you'd have invited them if they wanted to come."

"You're right, I would have. You, however, have no right to."

The eyes softened slightly as they looked down at Terry, and Calista smiled faintly.

"You are, of course, always welcome to come if you want. But you knew that."

Chuckling softly, Terry nodded her head. "Well, I'll ask Chris, but I think he's got family coming in so we might stick it out at our house this Christmas. I guess you two will be all alone.."

"With Jeremy."

"Well yes, there is that."

"We could always send Jeremy off with one of his friends for a few days, so we could enjoy a few nice, private, romantic mo-"

"OR I could jam my hand down your throat now, pull your intestines out through your esophagus, and rid myself of you while I have the chance."

"..I'm sure no one would notice something like that, Cap'n."

"If they did, I would take care of them."

A heavy silence fell on the group at their Captain's last words. There was something.. not so humorous about the way she had spoken them. Her threat to end Brennan's life had been a joke- one of many they threw back and forth at one another. The threat to take care of witnesses.. there was little joke in her voice then.

The shrill whistle of the coming train broke their unnerving silence, as the Hogwarts Express chugged into the station. A hiss of steam announced its arrival, and the doors gave way to a trickle of children, which soon became a flood. One boy in particular, a strong, handsome boy with cold, dark eyes and flaming red hair that settled just above his ears, framing his tanned skin, walked calmly out of the train, clutching one bag. He caught a glimpse of his sister in an instant, she was.. hard to miss, even in a crowd. In fact even the conductor failed to miss noticing her, as Jeremy stood in front of the doorway and the man peeked out, following his gaze. He whistled low, and patted the boy on the back.

"Kid, your mom's a fox. Put a good word in for me?"

Jeremy shrugged the arm off his shoulder and walked off without a word, or a look back. The conductor shrugged, giving the woman one last look before slipping back inside the train.

A smile lit her face, something so rare even Terry had to stare.

"Jeremy!"

Calista strode the few feet between them, collecting the boy up in into her arms and embracing him tightly. "Oh, I missed you.."

"Caaaal, not in front of the other kids.."

He was right to be embarrassed – several girls were chuckling behind him, gathered up in a gaggle and watching. In truth those girls were more likely to find it endearing than amusing. In fact, most girls thought anything Jeremy did was endearing – he was one of the most beautiful boys who had ever resided in Hogwarts.

It was a wonder he wasn't gay.

"Oh bugger them, I missed you. Come on, let's go home."

A strong hand clapped over Jeremy's shoulder, and it was the boys turn to smile. He turned, grinning up at Brennan.

"Long time no see eh boy?"

"Right-o. Have you been taking care of my sister, or are your intestines still in danger?"

The group walked out of the station and headed home, after Terry had snatched a quick hug from Jeremy. Brennan wrapped his arm around his stomach at his words, as if he was in some sort of pain.

"Life with Calista is always dangerous, son. That's what makes it so much fun."

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End Note: Lyrics by Dido. No, I don't own them either. Damn, I really need to own someone.. any takers? ;3