September 10 - 11, 1988
"What in Godric's name are you doing here!?" Callie demanded, raising her wand to his throat again.
He stood his ground like a Black, but his eyes betrayed fear. "Sirius said I can trust you," he reported quickly. "I want to help you." She wasn't exactly comforted by the sleeve of his robes falling to his elbows, revealing the cruel, ugly Mark on the inside of his arm.
"How did you get in here?"
"Sirius gave me his key."
Callie's eyes narrowed. "Did he now? Show me."
Regulus hesitated. "It's in the pocket of my robes."
"Accio key!" The small, intricate, impossible to replicate key flew from his pocket and into her free hand. She looked down at it, keeping Regulus in her peripheral vision. It was definitely the right key. "How did you get this? Did you kill him?"
Regulus smiled a very little. "He said you'd say that," he said a little sheepishly. "No, I didn't kill him. He gave it to me. The charm prevents anyone from possessing it unless it's willingly given, right?"
Yes, it did. It also made it impossible to copy. Attempted copies would be crude and crumbly. She slowly lowered her wand again. "Sirius really gave you this?"
Regulus nodded. His arms were still raised.
Callie sighed deeply and rolled her eyes. "I'm going to kill him," she vowed, pocketing the key. For good measure, just to be safe, she pointed her wand at him again and said, "Revelio." Nothing happened. It really was Regulus Black. She wasn't any less confused. "What are you doing here?"
"Sirius said I could trust you," he repeated. "I have information about the Dark Lord. He said to come to you."
"What information?"
"It's about his plans. He's trying to become immortal."
"That's impossible." She noticed his arms were still raised. "You can put your hands down."
He dropped his arms gratefully. "It's not impossible." Someone knocked on her door. She hesitated. She looked hard at Regulus. "It's probably Sirius, unless you're expecting someone else. He said he'd come."
Sighing deeply, she walked to her front door and peered through. Sure enough, it was Sirius. She hesitated a moment longer before opening the door. Sirius walked right in, Marlene McKinnon at his heels.
"Warn me next time you plan a party in my home," Callie said testily.
"I'm so sorry about this," Marlene said. "I told Sirius to warn you, but you know he likes being dramatic-"
"Reg!" Sirius said, shaking his brother's hand. "Fancy seeing you here." He glanced over his shoulder at Callie and grinned. "Fraternizing with the enemy, Potter? How Romeo and Juliet."
Callie glared at him, unamused. She twitched her wand in his direction and calmly said a spell. A slimy sardine slid out of Sirius' nose. With a sound of disgust, Sirius reeled back. Marlene burst out laughing. Callie allowed herself a satisfied smirk. Even Regulus cracked a smile.
Sirius glared at her and said the counter curse. The sardine slipping out his other nostril vanished along with the one on the floor. His eyebrow rose threateningly.
Marlene grinned and patted his shoulder. "Oh, she's good," she complimented. She took a seat on Callie's couch and crossed her legs. "But let's down to business. I'm sure Regulus needs to report soon."
Regulus nodded and said he did.
Sirius ducked into the kitchen and began rummaging through the cupboard. "Have you got any Firewhiskey?"
Callie sighed. "Same place it always is. And next time you decide to throw a party in my house, let me know first."
Sirius came out with four bottles of Firewhiskey. He tossed one to each of them and took the seat on the couch next to Marlene. "But I know how you love surprises." He smirked and took a swig from the bottle. "Reg, have a seat. If Callie hasn't bitten yet, I don't think you have to worry."
Regulus looked at Callie, silently asking for permission. Callie sighed and nodded. After a moment, she opened her bottle, took a sip, and sat in a chair facing them. "So what is this about?"
Everyone turned to Sirius. He leaned back and seemed to gather his thoughts. "Nine years ago, Regulus wrote me a letter. It was a bit rambling, and a lot of it didn't make sense, but the gist was that You-Know-Who was splitting his soul to make himself immortal."
"Can he do that?" Callie asked. "Can anyone do that?"
"Yes," Regulus affirmed. "He can, and has, using Horcruxes." He saw the confusion in her eyes, and continued. "A Horcrux is an object that contains part of a human soul. It keeps that part safe so if the mortal body dies, the soul can't, because it's linked to that object."
Callie let the information sink in. It seemed so impossible, so inhuman.
"The consequences are obvious," Marlene said. "He can't be killed. His body can be destroyed, but he'll remain wandering the earth like a ghost. He can always come back."
"Does anyone at the Ministry know this?" Callie asked.
Sirius scoffed. "They've pushed it right out of their minds. They're politicians, Cal."
"They only care about their legacy," Marlene affirmed. "They'll stop him this time and leave the next round of officers to clean up when he comes back."
So it was up to them, then, Callie realized. "Do we have proof?"
Sirius and Regulus glanced at each other. "You know how I said Reg contacted me in '79? Well, he told me he knew where one of them was. After a lot on convincing, I went with him to this cave. There was a locket that belonged to Salazar Slytherin. It was inside this basin, guarded by a potion that had to be drunk before you could take the locket out, and a lake of Inferi. We didn't have the locket long after taking it, but it was obvious it held a very dark power."
"Did you destroy it?" Callie asked.
"No. We took it straight to Dumbledore," Regulus replied.
"He confirmed Regulus' information. He suspected the Horcruxes were being made when You-Know-Who was still in Hogwarts."
"Horcruxes plural," Marlene said. "Dumbledore thinks there are seven total."
"All seven of which need to be destroyed before Voldemort's body is," Regulus said. "Or there will be a shred of disembodied soul drifting until it finds something to latch onto."
"Probably a weak-willed servant," Marlene added.
Callie sat back and regarded the bottle in her hand for a moment. All the Firewhiskey in the world wouldn't dull the blow of this news, but she took a swig anyway. Even if they won, even if they beat him… he'd just come back. It was impossible to take in. She wanted nothing more than to disbelieve it, to prove the theory was just that: an abstract idea instead of concrete fact. But she could tell by the look on all of their faces that they were telling nothing but the ugly truth.
"Do we know where the others are?" Callie asked. Her voice sounded dry, even to her own ears.
"No," Regulus replied heavily. "The Dark Lord keeps the locations of each strictly confidential. No one Death Eater knows the location of more than one. I've tried to find out, but it's difficult with paranoid people. I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it, Reg," Sirius said. "Godric knows you're risking enough as is." He looked at Callie. "If we don't find them all before Harry goes to Hogwarts... they'll try to find him."
Feeling like an idiot for missing what was obviously a huge point, Callie's brow furrowed. "Why Harry in particular?"
Something like a cloud passed over Sirius' face. His eyes darkened. "There was a prophecy. Harry's destined to kill him."
Crushing silence descended. Marlene glanced between them, then at Regulus. Regulus felt the inside of his arm burn as his chest ached with guilt. Sirius looked right into Callie's eyes, pushing the weight of the reality on her. Callie stared at Sirius, trying to detect a joke.
"You're joking," she begged, voice barely a whisper.
Sirius shook his head. "I wish. Dumbledore asked us to keep our mouths shut about it, but you need to know. The prophecy that convinced James and Lily to go into hiding, the one that says Harry's in danger… it also says that either he or Voldemort will have to kill the other."
Callie stared at him, mouth agape in horror. Her blood ran like ice. The thought of little Harry, with James' happy features and Lily's gleaming eyes, facing down Voldemort was enough to make her sick. She ran a hand over her face, stopping at her mouth, and bit into her lower lip until she tasted blood.
"Did it say who wins?" she finally asked.
"No. But Harry needs the best shot we can give him. And the whole world needs the bloody Dark Lord gone as soon as possible."
Callie thought of little Harry again. Holding a wand, a pale face, nose-less face with gleaming red eyes laughing at him. She saw a burst of green light and Harry fall. Dead.
"How can I help?" She nearly blurted it, as if Harry would drop dead in a moment if she didn't do something now.
Marlene smiled, the first to answer. "You can help us convince the Ministry this is real threat."
"Impossible," Regulus stated.
"No, it isn't," Marlene argued. "If we can get enough people on board, we can convince the Ministry. Right, Sirius?"
Sirius didn't look confident. He stared at the floor in thought. "The Ministry is more likely to laugh us off, Mar. You've seen it before."
"But with something this important-"
Regulus stood up, wincing slightly as his arm burned hotter. "I'm being summoned."
Sirius looked up tensely. "Think they know?"
"I can't tell!" Regulus snapped. The fear in his eyes was now reflected on his pale face and in the quaver in his voice. "The Dark Mark burns, Sirius, it doesn't give complex messages." He looked at Callie. "I'll be in touch."
Callie nodded. "Listen, I have a theory about the Death Eaters. Could you find out which ones are trying to right personal wrongs?"
"I'll make a list of weak-willed ones, yes," Regulus translated. He walked to the door and disappeared into the night without so much as a "goodbye."
Callie looked between Sirius and Marlene. Sirius was visibly tenser as his brother left. Marlene set a hand on his knee in a comforting gesture. Callie took another drink.
"How long has this been going on, exactly?" she asked.
"Nine years," Sirius replied. "Well, Reg's been a spy for nine years." He chuckled dryly. "The little idiot was going to get the Horcrux by himself; can you believe that? He was going to take Kreature." He rolled her eyes as if it was the most idiotic thing he'd ever heard.
But not even the annoyance in his voice could mask his obvious sense of pride.
"We should be going," Marlene said, standing. "We've got a lot of work to catch up on. Are you coming in tomorrow, Callie?"
"To work? Yes, of course." She gave Sirius a pointed look. "Are you?"
Sirius pretended to ignore her meaning. "Yep. 8:30." He stood and stretched. "Thanks for the whiskey. You're on board, right?"
"If it will save Harry, I'll do anything."
He smirked wolfishly. "Anything? I do so love it when they say that."
"You look just like your cousin."
He let out a bark of a laugh. "You've got to be a bit mad to survive in this world, love."
Callie looked at Marlene. "Is he drunk?"
She made a face. "You don't want to see him really drunk. He's a mess." She took her bottle and Sirius' to the kitchen to dispose of them. She took Sirius' hand and pulled him gently to the door. "Thanks for having us, Callie. You have a lovely home." She smiled.
"Wait!" Sirius interrupted. "My key."
Callie took it out of her pocket and tossed it to him. "Try not to give it to more Death Eaters?"
He made no promise. They said goodbye, and vanished together. Seconds after closing the door, Callie heard the engine of a motorbike rev.
She didn't bother cleaning up. She went straight to bed, but didn't sleep. The images of little Harry battling Voldemort kept her awake.
She rose early, dressed, and went for a walk before work. The cool, morning air helped clear her head. She enjoyed it so much that she was very nearly late to work. When she arrived, the office was full of an unusual amount of tension. Eyes kept glancing at her compulsively. She located Sirius sitting outside the new chief's office. He didn't look good.
"What's wrong?" Callie asked.
He looked up at her, eyes gleaming. "You've been reassigned."
She stopped. "What? What do you mean?"
"Mar told them about the Horcruxes," he practically growled. "They didn't believe her, obviously."
"I'm confused. Why am I being reassigned?"
He snarled. "Because they think you're most disposable."
The office door opened. Lockwood, the new Head of Office, blocked the doorway. He was tall and fairly massive, but moved quick and had a very keen eye. He sized Callie up and gestured to his office. "Potter," he said.
Sirius stood. "All due respect, Sir-"
"No, Black, you're the wait out here," Lockwood snapped. "Potter. Now."
Callie and Sirius shared a look. She took a breath and followed Lockwood inside. He closed the door with a wave of his wand and sat behind his desk. "McKinnon told me something interesting," he began. "According to her, Voldemort is creating Horcruxes. Do you believe this?"
Callie hesitated. "I do, Sir."
"Yes, so do I." He glanced down a piece of parchment, then back up at her. "Don't look so surprised, Potter; your eyes will pop out." He focused back on the sheet of parchment. "I've been studying your recent cases. You're a good Auror in the making, Potter. One of the best I've seen. That's why I'm moving you up to work solo, and giving you the most vital mission of the war. You're going to find and destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes."
Callie stopped. She saw through the flattery easily. This wasn't about her skill. This was a political move. Putting the weakest link on a wild goose chase to prove the Aurors were following up every lead. Each Horcrux would be hidden impossibly well, and finding them would likely take years.
"I'll be working this case alone, Sir?" she asked.
"What; you think you can't handle it?"
She cleared her throat. "No, Sir, it's not that." She paused. She thought of Harry again. She saw the fear behind Regulus' eyes and all he was risking. She thought of her theory about the Death Eaters.
This wasn't a suicide mission. It didn't have to be.
This was an opportunity to work alone, play by her own rules.
"Yes, Sir. I'll take the case. When do I start?"
"As soon as possible, Potter. Today. I'll expect regular reports of your progress, but there will be no need for you to come into the office. You're on your own. Consider this a golden opportunity."
"I am, Sir. Thank you." She saluted and walked out.
She stilled her trembling knees and eased her pounding heart. Sirius looked at her like she would keel over any second.
Callie smiled a little. "Sirius, I'll be fine," she promised. "I'm a Potter."
"That's why I'm worried. James will skin me alive if I let anything happen-"
"This isn't your choice, okay? I will be fine."
Sirius sighed deeply. He ran a hand through his hair absently before looking at her again. She couldn't tell what exactly he was feeling now. Fear? Pride? Relief?
He held out his hand, and she took it. His grip was firm, and somehow reassuring. He let go of her hand and gripped her arms, stepping in closer. So close she could feel the heat from his skin as he whispered in hear ear, "I know you can do this. If you need anything, you know where to find me."
Callie took a deep breath to steady herself, and nodded. "Yeah, I know. Thanks." She gave him a tight, reassuring smile as he pulled away. "You'll be the first person I call."
He nodded. She could tell he wasn't nearly satisfied, but he never would be with this. "Thanks, Sirius, for all your help."
"Don't mention it." He smiled. "See you around."
Callie turned and walked out. Her steps became lighter the farther she went, but she couldn't shake the fear that she may never see him again.
