Chap 9:
Hey guys, still need ideas!
Callie walked out of the double doors, the stunned group following her silently. Dakota came up to her side and leaned down towards her ear,
"Are you sure we should bring them? Callie, they aren't ready."
Callie shrugged indifferently; it made no difference to her if she came back with 7 instead of 8. Dakota looked at her in astonishment, Callie was as cold and yielding as an iceberg. Her eyes showed no emotion at all, flat and empty, he backed away quickly before his head was knocked off his shoulders. Callie kept walking while Selena turned to the group.
"We will be going to a small town in Greece, there is to be a raid this evening that we think should be stopped. You will be there to OBSERVE and observe only, no participation will be necessary. If we feel one of you could be useful, which isn't likely, then we will call you. Do not get in our way or you will be shot down like the enemy, understand? Any questions?"
Hermione raised her hand tentatively,
"Yes Granger?"
Hermione swallowed slightly and began,
"I really don't think this is such a good idea, Callie said herself we were incapable, you would risk putting our lives in danger so that we could merely watch, it would be different if our help was needed but ricking lives for mere educational reasons seems highly unethical to me. I think it would be better to go back and learn more before we try to do this."
Callie stopped walking and turned, her eyes flashing, they almost seemed red in Harry's eyes.
"Are you telling me, Granger," Callie spat the name with disgust that made Hermione step back,
"Are you telling me that you would risk the lives of innocents because you don't think this falls under the curriculum? You would let innocent woman be raped, brave men slaughtered, and children taken into servitude because you don't think you have read enough on this 'subject' yet? If that is you opinion then you may leave, send the young weasley over, she would at least try to save those who need it instead of her own neck."
Callie turned and walked away, her group following her, Hermione was near tears and rushed to keep up, silently noting that she should start keeping her thoughts to herself.
They reached the great doors a couple silent minutes later, Harry was talking about tactics with Ron and Hermione when Callie turned and set her ice eyes on him, it was disconcerting to se such a warm brown look frozen.
"What part of 'you will not participate' did you not understand potter, there is no need for your tactics, which would not work, you are not fighting, and even if you were, you wouldn't last a second, He doesn't send his little followers for this, these are highly trained men who neither care that you are children, or that you aren't fighting them, they kill what they see and if you happen to be in their line of vision, you might as well slit your wrists yourself, when they target you, you are merely a walking dead man,"
Selena nodded slightly, smiling in anticipation, it was almost sickening how much they enjoyed fighting, how they gloried in bloodshed.
"You will split into groups, you all have a defensive hiding spot, you will all stay in that spot until we come get you, you are not to move, breathing is probably a bad idea too."
Selena laughed and Eric smiled, Dakota rolled his eyes and looked at Callie with slight disagreement on his face.
"Everyone clear, you will NOT move, right lets go, Potter, you're going with Eric, Weasley you're with Alexa, Alyssa you take Zabini, Longbottom you go with Dakota, Ben would you mind taking lovegood, greengrass you're with keilly, Granger, you can come with me."
Hermione nodded and walked forward, trying to hide her fear, Callie easily grabbed her arm and Hermione prepared herself for a bruise, but was shocked as the girl held her forearm gently, only feeling a slight tug when they apperated away, right out of Hogwarts, but that is impossible…..
Callie looked around her, they had obviously missed the first round, bodies lay in the rubble, blood stained the cobbled ground. She let go of Hermione who gasped as she took in the scene. The others were looking around; it was silent, incredibly silent.
Suddenly a loud wail, a baby, pierced the eerie calm, almost sending shivers down Callie's spine, almost. Jets of magic shot out of everywhere, all aimed for Callie and her group of fighters.
"Keilly, Alexa! Get them to their spots, Hurry!"
Callie whipped out her wand and started whirling it in multiple directions; she was rewarded as five men fell from rooftops and balconies, hitting the ground with a thud. Eric was all ready dueling with a large man in a black cloak, a death eater makes set in place on his face. Selena was kicking a punching a lethal woman with all her skill, but the fight seemed almost even. Dakota was covering the retreating figures of the Hogwarts students, keilly and Alexa knocking any opposition out of their path, there was a yell as Dakota was thrown backwards, three towering figures walking out of a dark alleyway and following the group which was now running, all orderly fashion forgotten. Callie watched as the three men melted into the shadows, quickly gaining on the retreating group. She took off sprinting, sending a quick 'ennervate' at Dakota who jumped up immediately and joined Alyssa who was battling five at once. Callie streaked after the three men and took a running jump, pouncing on one as he went to point his wand at Greengrass. Keilly and Alexa quickly split, one back left corner, one right.
Harry went to take out his wand but Alexa yelled at him to put it away. Hermione watched in horror as the large man threw Callie off his back and punched her in the mouth, but his punch didn't look like hers, it wasn't fast and precise, obviously they weren't experts at hand to hand combat. Callie pulled out her wand and sent him flying turning to the other two who merely stepped over their dead comrades body and pointed their wands at her. It was like matching a movie in slow motion, Two hissing green jets shot out of the men's' wands, heading straight for Callie's chest, she seemed to lean back slowly, a blue shield sending the spells rebounding towards their creators. Callie swished her wand and one fell to the ground with a yell, it seemed his legs had given up on him, only then did Hermione notice the dark red blood oozing though his robes, Callie had slashed his legs in half, the long way.
Callie quickly finished the last one and turned to the group, blood dripping around her teeth and out her mouth, she spit and nodded her head, Keilly and Alexa immediately started running forward, scouting for other fighters to kill. Callie turned to the group who looked back at her, some with amazement, some with fear, others mild disgust. She nodded towards Hermione and Blaise who stepped forward readily.
"I want you two to watch left and right flanks, they will come from the sides to try and divide, all you have to do is try and fend them off for two seconds until I can get there, Lovegood and longbottom, I want you in front and back."
Neville looked ready to faint, he fumbled with his wand and walked slowly towards the front while Luna skipped, actually skipped, to the back. Callie leaned over to Neville as he walked by,
"I know you can do this, just remember what you're fighting for."
Neville nodded and his hand seemed to shake less, he took the front and started leading the cautious group forward, Daphne gasped slightly as a red spell hit her in the side, she turned to Blaise, her eyes wide in shock before she crumpled to the ground.
Blaise looked ready to run over to her but Callie stopped him with a warning about breaking flank. She walked over to the fallen girl and quickly waved her wand, Daphne groaned but sat up, looking around slightly stunned. Callie nodded for her to stand and watched as the girl got shakily to her feet, wobbling on her unready legs. Callie turned quickly and lashed out with her wand, a woman with long black hair fell to the ground, dead as could be.
"Okay, we're almost there, Neville on your left."
Callie spoke with an eerie calm as she watched the hooded figure approach the slightly rotund boy, a malicious smile on his face.
"Remember what you're fighting for Neville."
Neville nodded and faced the man, quickly swishing his wand in defense, blue shield engulfing him. The man laughed and sent spell after spell at the panicking boy, but Neville seemed to never break, he kept the shield up and only brought it down she the man faltered on a dead body, quickly bringing the man down with a shouted, STUPIFY.
Callie nodded and walked over, kicking the man onto his back and muttering a quick, 'Avada kedavra.'
Hermione gasped as the man stiffened and fell still as the spell hit him. He would never move again.
"Okay, that house right there, see the big round window, go up the steps and through the third door on the right—"
Callie stopped as she looked a the blank faces around her, a small crash put her on high alert and a second later Eric came crashing through a pile of rubble, a small gang of haggard looking people following him. A baby boy with blond hair and big blue eyes stared at Callie, tears rolling down his cheeks and he cried for his mother.
"Refugees, brought them here for safety, glad you got here too."
Eric smiled and it looked oddly out of place in the scene, his features relaxed as the city crumbled around him.
"Okay well, lets go, they're coming."
Callie ran into the house and everyone followed her, she ran up three flights of spiraling stairs with ease and opened a black door to reveal a spacious room. A large circular window occupied most of the right wall, it looked down on the small courtyard they had just been in. The refugees collapsed to the ground and started sobbing, looking through the group for their lost loved ones. Callie walked over to the window and pushed one of the colored pains out of the way, crawling through the small space onto a tiny ledge. Eric winked at the group and followed, smiling still, even as he looked down on the scene before him. Callie and Eric crouched as they heard voices, blending in perfectly with the still statues next to them. Hermione watched as they watched the scene bellow, a young girl and boy ran into the clearing and stopped, huddling close to each other and crying. Ten cloaked figures walked in coolly after them. Callie and Eric tensed slightly as the group encircled the kids who cried harder.
One of the figures stepped closer, walking stiffly towards the kids, a chilling voice seeping out of the hood,
"Come o now, no need to cry, we won't hurt you, all you have to do is come with us, your mummy and daddy are waiting for you at our house, why don't you just come with us and you can see them?"
The boy looked up, defiance clearly written on his face as he stared at the hooded woman, he clutched the little girl to his chest and stuck his tongue out and the woman who shrieked in rage and slapped him, sending him to the ground in a heap, his last ounce of defiance gone. The little girl screamed and crawled over to him, shaking his shoulders and praying in quick greek.
Callie and Eric both leaned out, falling from the ledge gracefully to land on the ground on either side of the hooded woman,
"It isn't very nice to hit children,"
Callie smiled at Eric's words and sent a crippling punch into the woman's face, sending he to the ground quickly. The other figures started in quickly, all wands pointed at Callie and Eric, both fighters drew their wands and smiled a deceiving smile. Chaos broke out as the two fighters started sending the hooded figures to Hades, all the while protecting the cowering kids behind them, a small shrill scream tore Callie's attention from her duel, the young girl was backing away slowly, trying to drag the boy with her as the hooded woman closed in, she apparently had recovered from the punch. Callie quickly finished the man she had been fighting and tore across the courtyard to the little girl's side, pointing her wand at the woman,
"What did we tell you about hurting children? It is very rude, and her mother won't be happy."
The hooded woman smiled and ripped her hood back, Callie immediately stiffened as she looked into the cold laughing eyes, they sat in a pale sunken face, gleaming out like little black gems.
"How have you been Calliope? Wasting your talents saving children, what a shame, although I never saw much in you anyway, oh well."
Bellatrix Lestrange shot a green jet towards Callie who easily dodged, sending her own jinx back. Bellatrix laughed and Callie felt her blood boil, people didn't laugh at her and get away with it. She threw herself at the woman who shrieked with laughter again, toppling to the ground, and wrestling. Callie smiled as she felt bone break under her crushing blows, Bellatrix really should have thought about the body difference when she came after Callie, where Bellatrix was thin and frail, Callie had never tiring muscle, were Bellatrix was wasting away into nothingness, Callie was strong and present. Where bellatrix was cold and quick, Callie was colder and quicker. Where Bellatrix was losing, Callie was winning. Callie felt the woman's face cave in under her punches and smiled, only to be flipped over and have multiple punches thrown at her face and stomach, she easily flipped the frailer woman over and gave her calculated kick, feeling the ribs collapse. Bellatrix flew back into the wall, her comrades leaving their fight with Eric and grabbing her, apparating away.
Callie walked quickly to the girl and boy who cowered away. She pointed her wand at the young innocent face and watched as the blood disappeared and the eyes fluttered open. The boy sat up and looked around him, eyes wide with fear. His large blue eyes locking on her large brown ones. His shoulders tensed and then relaxed, the little girl threw her arms around him and cried onto his shoulder. It was only up this close that Callie saw the resemblance of the two, both had striking blue eyes, although where the boys hair was a light, sunny blonde, hers was a warm brown with light highlights, a sign of an outdoor childhood. Both looked very young, the boy about 6 the girl maybe four, possibly three. Both were looking around them and only when the tears started leaking faster out of their eyes did Callie notice the amount of death and pain they must be looking at. Reaching out slowly she wrapped her arms around them and picked them up. Feeling them cling to her neck and hide their faces in her shirt as she walked them over to the house, only the little boy looking up once, over her shoulder, his eyes fixed on the hooded figure in shadows, the red eyes gleaming from the darkness, he quickly tucked his head back into Callie's neck.
Once up stairs Callie set the little boy and girl down, but neither let go of her and she gently picked them up again carrying them with her as she walked around the room and healed people, the boy and girl still looked frightened and tears ran down their faces every now and then. They watched in silence as Callie mended wounds and gashes, although her magic could put no healing charm on the broken hearts of the people before her. She finished her rounds and the people started to filter out, going to clear the rubble from their loved one's bodies, tear tracks burned into their faces, heart brake written in their emotions. Only when the last person had left did Callie turn to the group of Hogwarts students, they seemed to have been joined by the res of her fighters, Alyssa was anxiously healing Ben while Alexa kept pampering Dakota, Selena looked out the window moodily and Callie realized, had this fight happened a few weeks ago, Selena would be hugging and healing Carter right now with the rest, taking care of her loved ones like everyone else.
Callie walked over to Daphne and put her hand on the older girls shoulder,
"Feeling okay? You were hit with a curse that stops signals to the brain, had it not been stopped you would not have been able to realize when you needed to breath in and would suffocate without even knowing it. You seemed to get knocked out by the impact but you should be alright by now, if you feel any dizziness I can take care of that."
The others were astonished at how those kind words could be spoken with no emotion, no regret, no concern, and no care. Words that, had they come from anyone else, would have been infused with emotions, but coming from Callie, it was like she was commenting on the weather.
"Daphne smiled slightly and shook her head, her hand tightening on Blaise's as he looked ready to attack Callie,
"No thank you Callie, I'm fine, no harm done."
Blaise looked shocked, well, so did everyone else in the room, except the difference was, he couldn't contain it, and his anger boiled over the edge.
"'NO harm done!!! Are you kidding?! She could have died all because you thought this was an important experience, all you showed us was death and destruction! What were we suppose to learn from that!"
Callie hugged the two children tighter and they shrunk away from the boy's anger, clinging to them reassuringly. Eric pulled out his wand, ready to stop Blaise from getting hurt but to his surprise Callie merely took a step forward,
"You learned what war is like, you learned that you can rely on nothing and no one. You learned that there is no hope, that death is unavoidable and that if humans were smart, we would accept that fact and go willingly. But guess what Zabini, I am not smart, I am stubborn, quick, and cruel. I will not hesitate to put one in danger if it means saving a thousand. I do not treasure one life above others besides my own. I am in this for me, I do everything for myself. This war is not about the fucking greater good! It is about our own selfish needs, our own desires for power, if you think any one side is better than the other than you are mistaken, there is no difference between us and those people we just fought, they see us the way we see them, neither of us is in the wrong, there is no fucking difference between your precious headmaster and Voldemort, both are leaders and both are in this for their own needs and desires. I brought you here so you could see what is happening to this world, how it is crumbling even when the walls of your stupid school hold fast, I brought you here to show you there is no hope, and there are no good guys."
Callie turned and stormed out of the room, the two children still in her arms, Eric turned to the group and nodded,
"She my be wrong, but there is one thing you have to understand about Callie, she isn't and has no desire to be the 'good guy' I know it sounds stupid but she was born that way, she has been surrounded with that for her whole life, don't try and change it, she doesn't mind being on the bad side."
Callie walked out of the room fuming, how could these people be so deceived that they believed there was any good in the world. She stormed up four flights of stairs and flung open a door to reveal a small circular room, one side all windows where the dark grey storm clouds could be seen. The only light came from flickering candles and Callie walked over to the window conjuring two fluffy blankets and wrapping them around the kids. The looked t her with teary eyes, both lamenting the loss of their loved ones.
"There is good in the world."
Callie turned to look at the little girl, the little girl who had probably just learned to talk, who scooted over to her and sat in her lap, curling up in the blanket.
"And how do you know that?"
The little girl smiled, her teeth a dazzling white,
"Because my brother is good, and I'm good, and my parents are good, and the sun is good, and the pretty wild flowers we pick in the summer are good. And so are cookies."
It was a very long sentence for the young girl and she looked quite exhausted after it, Callie just nodded, not willing to crush the dreams of these two young children just yet. She smiled lightly and looked out the window as rain pelted against it, the girl shuddered, and her brother crawled over to her as lightening struck, tears leaking out of their eyes, they buried their faces in her shirt and their blankets as the flashes shone through the window.
Callie hummed quietly and the little boy and girl watched her as she stared out the window, her voice sweet and musical. The watched as she opened her mouth and a slightly broken sentence came out the words just audible
"Be still love..don't cry…"
Callie looked down at them and saw their blue eyes glued o her face, too distracted to notice the lightening as it streaked across the sky, Callie smiled a them and started again,
"I have nothing I can give
But this chance that you may live
I pray we'll meet again
If He will deliver us."
The boy and girl seemed drawn to her voice as they watched her get up and followed, she scooped them up and walked to the window, staring at the raging storm,
"Deliver us
Hear our prayer
Deliver us
From despair
These years of slavery grow
too cruel to stand
Deliver us
There's a land you promised us
Deliver us
Out of bondage and
Deliver us to the promised land...
Lightening streaked across the grey sky and thunder rolled causing the boy and girl to jump and run behind her legs where they peaked up at her, calmed as she continued the slow song
Hush now, my baby
Be still, love, don't cry
Sleep as you're rocked by the stream
Sleep and remember my last lullaby
So I'll be with you when you dream
River, o river
Flow gently for me
Such precious cargo you bear
Do you know somewhere
he can live free?
River, deliver him there..."
The boy and girl looked up as she ended the song, her eyes gazing out over the broken town, sadness etched on her face. They watched as it hardened into rock like determination and almost stepped back at the hate they saw in her eyes. She turned slowly her eyes locked on the door, fearing the return of the cruel lady they grabbed at her and she quickly picked them up, balancing them each on one hip where they stared fearfully at the door. Eric stepped in, the others watched from the doorway as he walked over and ruffled the little boy's hair gently, winking at the girl. The girl smiled slightly and the boy smiled a roguish grin. Eric looked at Callie and sighed when he saw her closed off look, he leaned in and whispered in the girl's ear who turned to Callie,
"He says it's time to go."
Callie smiled at her, a sweet warm smile, looking out of place on her usually stone face. Harry smiled from the doorway, the smile made her a true vision, her eyes lighting up playfully as she tossed them into the air and caught them, her eyes for once warm and playfully, not cold and calculating.
"I think you should probably fly them back, I don't think side along apparating would be good for them.
Callie nodded and turned walking over to the forgotten blankets and started twisting and weaving them together, making a sling like pouch out of the two pieces of clothe. The boy and girl watched from Eric's feet as she toyed with the fabric. Then they happily hopped into the pouch as she instructed and looked at her eagerly, waiting for her to sing again. She winked and looked at Eric, nodding and her figure seemed to morph, changing and distorting until a brilliant fiery red bird hovered over the two. The children gasped and reached out with there hands, the boy trying to grasp the tail of the bird that hung tantalizingly over his head, just out of reach. They both looked at Eric when he spoke.
"You two are going to need to be very brave okay. We're going to play a game, we're going to play knights and princesses. You are the knight, and you are the princess, you are both riding away from the dragon on a fiery bird, but if you move too much, the dragon will know where you are and come find you, so, you're going to have to be really still and not move too much, you are also going to have to protect each other, do you think we can beat this dragon?"
Both the boy and girl nodded eagerly and put on brave faces. Clutching each other's hand.
"Okay then, lets get started."
Callie swopped lower and grabbed the pouch in her talons, a low melody coming from her as she soared our the window which Eric had opened and into the storm, the raging wind and harsh rain, along with the boom of thunder weren't quite loud enough to drowned out the beautiful phoenix song that wavered on the air. Eric turned back to the group and ordered them into pairs, each grabbing someone and apparating away.
