Hogwarts had been transformed for the costume ball; massive jack-o-lanterns stood flanking the doorway to the great hall and winked ominously from each of the hall's corners. Blood red candles floated over tables, draped in dark tablecloths, which were placed on the periphery of the hall and small jack-o-lanterns blinked from their centers. Dark red and black tapestries hung over the walls. A door led out into a patch of garden where fairy lights lit up bushes and more jack-o-lanterns leered from the ground marking out a winding pathway through them. The prefects had clearly outdone themselves. Upstairs in the Gryffindor girl's dorms, Callie and Lily were ensconced in Lily's head room putting the final touches on their costumes. Lily was nervously pacing the floor shooting unsure glances over at Callie every few seconds and tugging at the neckline of her dress.
"Lil calm down."
"I can't...I just don't know what to do, Callie what if I can't do it? This just isn't me." She said gesturing to the dress and the heels she wore, the makeup on her face and how her hair was falling in loopy curls.
"Lils...you are the one who wanted this, you decided to do this," Callie crossed the room to stand beside Lily, turning her so that she faced the mirror and grasping her shoulders, "That tells me that you can...you want James right?"
Lily nodded shakily still unsure.
"Then you will have him, Lil he's already in love with you, you just need to show him that you love him too."
Lily nodded once more.
"I know you feel strange Lil, but this was your idea, you get to take the reins here. Frankly James doesn't stand a chance." Callie finished with a grin at their reflections. Marlene and Alice knocked on the door a few minutes later and they joined them.
"Lils...you look..." Alice breathed when she saw Lily.
"Amazing!" Marlene finished.
"You really think so?" Lily asked, touching a curl.
"Of course. Now put this on, and let's go." Callie said passing over a green mask.
"You know, this veela thing really isn't fair to the rest of us," Marlene commented pulling on a pair of ostentatious feathered wings.
"I think you'll survive Marls..." Callie responded shaking her head, she pulled on a silver and pink mask of her own and laughing together the girls exited their dorm and made their way down to the great hall.
While the girls finished their prepping the boys had already gathered in the hall. They sat at a table near the entrance, gaggles of girls surrounding the tables around theirs. Remus had just gotten a round of drinks from the barmaid and brought them back to the table, dodging a great number of girls who tried to get him to bring them over to the rest of the boys.
"Where are they?" James asked, searching the crowd for the girls.
"Simmer down Prongs." Sirius laughed, though he was clearly scanning the crowds as well.
"They'll be here..." Remus finished.
Just then the doors to the hall opened and silhouetted in the doorway were four figures. When the doors closed behind them it was clear that four beautiful girls had just entered. One was dressed in short white shorts with high white boots, fluffy white wings on her back and a halo on her head, her long dark curls spiraling down her back. On the opposite side stood a shorter girl in a yellow and black striped dress also with wings. But the two that were gathering the most attention were those in the middle, one a blonde who now had her hair streaked with pink and wearing a pink and silver dress, and the other with long red curls and an emerald green dress that showed a surprising amount of leg among other things, and a jaunty cap, with a bright feather stuck through it, on her head.
"Woah..." Remus breathed.
"That's not..." Sirius added.
"It is..." Remus whispered.
James just stood there with his mouth wide open, "Prongs mate you're drooling." Sirius said clapping a hand on his shoulder.
The girls merged into the crowd of students smiles on their faces and began to dance to the music of the band. After a few songs Marlene disappeared into the crowd for a moment only to return a few minutes later with Remus, the rest of the marauders trailing behind them. The group began to dance together, though James seemed to be so entranced by this new side of Lily to do much more than sway back and forth. Sirius on the other hand, once he got over the shock of Callie's open transformation and use of some of her veela attributes, joined the group and began to show off fairly impressive moves.
They danced a great deal of the night, stopping only occasionally to get some air or grab a drink. Sirius watched Callie with careful eyes, she shimmered with silver and the pink enhanced her eyes. Callie caught him watching her and smirked, mouthing "manwhore" over to him. Sirius had the decency to look slightly abashed at being caught in the act but still crossed over and engaged her in a tight-hold dance. Callie let herself go, feeling safe in Sirius' arms, she fitted her body against his and followed his lead.
But Sirius wasn't the only one who watched Callie. Lucius Malfoy watched the Gryffindor beauty from the moment she entered the hall, his anger growing more and more as Callie and Sirius danced closer and closer.
As the night came to a close, the Marauders and the girls walked through the castle down to the kitchens together. Remus and Marlene disappeared behind a tapestry or something early in the walk, Marlene clearly having made her move. The rest continued down and dropped onto the benches in front of the large fire. Though soon after Alice professed a need to send Frank a letter, and excused herself with a wink to Callie. This left Callie and Lily with Sirius and James, and for the first time in a long time James and Lily were not bickering, though they were sitting awkwardly together as Callie and Sirius provided most of the conversation. Lily picked from a plate of French fries, pleading with her eyes for Callie's help. Callie took a breath and split her energies between the conversation she and Sirius were trying to include James in, and began to use her veela energies to emphasize the vibes from Lily to James and encourage a positive response. Her eyes flickered with a soft pink, and Lily tried once again to get James to talk, to no avail.
Eventually Lily gave up on waiting for James to say something, and said goodnight. James left a few moments later, after mumbling something incomprehensible at Lily's retreating back. Sirius watched his friend leave then burst out laughing.
"I assume you had something to do with this transformation." Sirius said with a raised eyebrow at Callie.
"I haven't a clue to what you are referring Mr Black." Callie replied innocently.
"Bull! James could barely walk straight ahead, let alone form a word all night."
"Fine...I may have assisted in the creation of the dress, but the transformation was Lily's idea." Callie replied back with hands raised in surrender.
"Who knew our Lily was such a sex pot?"
"Manwhore." Callie answered back with a grin.
"Am not! I spent the entire night with one girl or don't you remember."
"One night Black...one night."
"But you can't deny it was a good one...I know you enjoyed it." Sirius answered back his cocky grin back in place.
They exited the kitchens, Callie thanking the house elves as she left. And together they climbed up to Gryffindor Tower.
"Maybe..." Callie answered, "We'll see if you can keep it up."
They reached the Tower and climbed through the portrait hole, Sirius walked Callie over to the girl's staircase where he turned to her with a knowing look in his eye.
"You're incorrigible, goodnight Sirius," she kissed him on the cheek and left the room.
"Goodnight." Sirius called to her retreating back.
Callie dressed in her pajamas and crawled into her 4 poster bed, closing the hangings. Rolling over she fell asleep into fitful dreams, filled with masked men and Sirius Black, the entire thing was accentuated by looming black clouds and an eerie ominous feeling. She awoke early the next morning exhausted and highly concerned about the nature of her dream. That sinking feeling still haunted her and she couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible was happening, and that there Aware that she wasn't about to get any more sleep that night, Callie rolled out of her bed, dressing quickly in a pair of comfy pants and a warm grey hooded sweater, she swept out of the dorm and out onto the grounds. It was chilly but not enough to really be a bother, her emotions were causing her veela powers to flicker and she knew it would be best to deal with the emotional interference away from the others, too many questions would be asked.
She reached the sculpture garden and stood massaging her temples, her eyes flickering through a cycle of colors, when she was grabbed from behind.
"You should really know better." The male voice muttered.
"As should you Malfoy, let me go." Callie spat back.
Malfoy snorted, "You're promised to me Calliope...that gives me rights."
"Hardly Malfoy..." Callie said under her breath, her eyes flashed a vibrant red and with a crack through the air Lucius flew back from her and was pinned against one of the taller sculptures. "You are a vile human being, my parents may not have realized it yet but I certainly have...there's no way in hell that I will ever be with you."
Callie's eyes were burning with a deep blood red and her fingertips lit up in the same colour. "Furthermore, you have no right to attack a royal member like that, need I remind you of the precarious position your family is in Lucius? I am sick and tired of your bullying...never come at me again! Do you understand?"
Lucius sneered, "Absolutely...princess."
Callie let him down from the wall, though her eyes remained a dark and stormy red, and she turned to leave.
"You picked the losing side Calliope...I only hope you realize your mistake before it's too late." Lucius shouted at her retreating back.
Callie shuddered at his words, her emotions were making her powers unstable and after their encounter she was very clearly shaken. Her shudder triggered an unwanted bust of power from her which threw Lucius back into the wall again. Callie was halfway up to the castle when Sirius appeared in front of her;
"Callie?" he whispered, but she wouldn't meet his eyes. "Callie..." he tried again, and then he grasped her by the shoulders forcing her to look at him. It was then she realized just how much she was shaking.
"Are you all right?" Sirius asked.
Callie shook her head, knowing that her eyes were still flashing through colours as her emotions took over, feeling angry tears well up in her eyes. Sirius pulled her into a fierce hug holding her tightly to him. Callie never would have bet on having Sirius be the person she needed to calm her but somehow she began to calm down in his soothing hold. She began to breathe normally again in Sirius' arms, and he pulled back to look at her face, ensuring that her eyes were back to their normal sparkling hazel.
"Come with me." He whispered, leading her across the grounds to a willow tree by the lake. They sat down together leaning against the tree trunk, and for a moment neither said anything as they simply watched the breeze move the leaves in front of them.
"What happened?" Sirius asked quietly after a few moments.
"I just...Sirius do you think that the rumours Snape and Malfoy are spreading are true?
"The one's about this Dark Lord character?"
"Yeah him..."
"It's a definite possibility, is that what's bugging you?"
"No. Well yes sort of, but it really started with the strange dream I had last night, and then Malfoy accosted me while I went out to work through it this morning. I just can't shake the feeling that something's coming, something bad."
"Malfoy did what!" Sirius exclaimed.
"Sirius, please don't...I dealt with it, you getting involved will really only make things worse." Callie replied taking his hand tightly in her own.
"Fine," Sirius said meeting her eyes, "but if he does anything like that again you let me know."
Callie nodded, and Sirius leaned in closer to her, their lips meeting in a sweet kiss.
As soon as Callie felt up to it, the pair made their way to the great hall for breakfast, and entered hands still clasped together. As they walked down the aisle to the Gryffindor table, Callie noticed the heads turning their way, and realized that she still held Sirius' hand in her own. Together they sat with their friends at the Gryffindor table, Remus and Marlene shooting looks at the pair, Marlene wildly gesturing to Callie that she needed details. Callie rolled her eyes and picked up a piece of toast, spreading jam across it.
Lily and James seemed to still be in the awkward no talking stage they were in the night before. Though Lily seemed to be making a concerted effort to hold a conversation with herself, in the hopes that James get involved. There was a disconcerting buzz through the hall, and many of the girls were continuously shooting furtive glances over at Callie as people tried to understand what had happened. This was the first year when to anyone's knowledge that Sirius Black had avoided girls, and everyone knew that Callie was the reason why, though none truly wanted to believe it. Callie, nudged Sirius about the stares, but he simply smirked knowingly and nudged her to pass him the jug of pumpkin juice.
The doors to the Great Hall banged open suddenly, revealing a tall young blonde man who strode through the crowded Hall to the heads table where he embraced Dumbledore warmly and the two engaged in a deep conversation, Dumbledore conjuring a chair for the man to sit in.
"Who's that?" James asked, finally speaking for the first time that morning, the banging doors seemed to have shaken him out of his stupor.
The man turned to face the students and sent a grin to Callie at the Gryffindor table.
"Jasper..." Callie breathed.