This story takes place well after the Harry Potter and his generation of students have left Hogwarts. ElfFlame and I had created several sets of children from the various stories we've written, and since they were all around the same age, decided to throw them into school together. So this is a story, hopefully soon to be a series of stories based on several others. To help make more sense of these stories, it may help to read my story, De Die In Diem: From Day to Day, and ElfFlame's stories, Dragon's Tears, and Lost Love. Most of the kids come from those. We've also created many original kids not from our stories to help fill the ranks. Many of their last names may sound familiar to you. ElfFlame has files of the names and basic family trees of some of the children for all who are interested in finding out more background on these kids. Email her at ElfFlame@hotmail.com if you want them. We hope you enjoy these, we've been having lots of fun thinking about them!
Disclaimer: You know the usual, all of this world is JK's, and we thank her for letting us borrow it. Only the original characters are ours!
Wicked Lee: I'm so surprised that you hate what Lupin does in this story! I love him! I think he's hilarious. There's a great deal of love and friendship between Lupin and Teecie, so he'd never do anything to be mean to her, she was pretty snotty to him the previous night after all! Here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy it!
Arsinoe3: The Christmas chapters are the two after this one, so I hope you can wait just a little while longer! I hope you like this one though!
Saving Kali
Teecie spent her free hour the next morning working on homework. Professor Weasley had found her parchment under her desk after class and had given it to Professor Lupin. He gave it back to Teecie after the talk with Draco the night before. Teecie found it very difficult to understand how to do the homework. She thought she'd done it right the first time, and had no idea how to correct it. She'd let Draco look at it tonight.
The day went well, until Charms class. Teecie was nervous because they were still floating objects. Flitwick was keeping a close eye on her; she had to try it. Putting the feather on the desk in front of her, Teecie closed her eyes, waved her wand, and whispered, "Wingardium Leviosa." After a few seconds, Teecie called out to Paige and asked if it had worked.
Paige, who had been working on her own feather, looked over and gasped. Teecie opened her eyes and saw her desk floating several inches off the floor. Ironically, the feather was resting normally on it, as though nothing was happening. Losing her concentration sent the desk back to the floor with a loud thump. Professor Flitwick had seen this out of the corner of his eye, and came rushing over to the girls after the desk had landed back on the floor. "I was just trying to float the feather," Teecie explained weakly. She assumed Flitwick would be upset and probably give her detention, just like all the other professors, but he almost seemed impressed.
Professor Lupin hadn't had a chance to give Teecie detention somewhere else yet, so she spent another night with the house-elves. She rushed through dinner that night to get to her detention as quickly as possible. Since Hallowe'en was the next night, the elves were busy with feast preparations. Teecie spent the evening decorating pumpkin-shaped biscuits for the students. Each was iced orange with a green stem, and black facial features. Teecie lost herself in the activity. Every pumpkin had a slightly different face. She sang quietly to herself the whole time.
Teecie's next stop was Draco's office in the dungeons. Draco looked over her homework and told her where she'd made mistakes and helped her correct them. She showed him the Transfiguration homework that had given her so much trouble, and he helped explain it in a way Teecie could understand better. He watched as she made all the corrections.
When they were done, Draco asked Teecie if she was looking forward to the first Quidditch match of the year, which was to be held the weekend after next. Teecie'd never had much interest in sports. Kali, their sister, lived and breathed Quidditch. Lucius had helped her learn to play. Even as a little baby, he wanted Kali to be the best Quidditch player ever. He'd made a snitch mobile and put it over her crib. And when she was older, he put a snitch under her pillow, to help her dream about the game. But Teecie was not Kali. Teecie had always enjoyed playing with her dolls more than sports. Her father had never forced her to like Quidditch. He let her like what she wanted, and supported that. He'd have tea parties with her, or let her play with his hair instead.
Draco explained that the first game of the year was between Slytherin and Gryffindor. Teecie wasn't sure she wanted to sit in the stands. They were awfully high up in the air. What if she fell off? Draco told her the stands were very secure, and there was no way she'd fall off. As she left his office, he told her he hoped he'd see her sitting with her classmates at the game.
The next day was Hallowe'en, and the entire school enjoyed the feast. The biscuits Teecie had decorated were a hit. She loved the idea that people were enjoying something she'd helped to create.
The feast passed quickly, and then it was back to the kitchens to help clean up. Teecie thought about the sneak-out her fellow housemates were planning. As much as she enjoyed working with the house elves, Teecie didn't want to get into any more trouble, at least for a while. She didn't want to risk getting caught again. She'd just get a good night's sleep instead, and hear about the fun the next day.
Draco helped her with her homework, which, he pointed out, was good to do on Friday, because it meant she had the rest of the weekend free to have fun. "But Draco, only geeks do homework on Fridays. I like to do mine on Monday morning during breakfast," Teecie moaned to her brother. Draco had shaken his head and laughed out loud at that.
Teecie spent the rest of her evening playing with Snowball, writing a letter to her father, and reading her Amaris book. She was sound asleep by the time the other students, including Patty and Paige, snuck out of the school.
One of the older students knew all the different secret passages to get out of the school, and told them how to get out. The students had snuck out in small groups of four or five, until all had left the school. They made their way to the graveyard in Hogsmeade, and had a fun party.
Teecie heard about the events of the party the next morning at breakfast. Apparently the students were being much too loud, and somebody in the village had called up at the school. At about two in the morning, Professor Lupin and Uncle Sev had showed up and busted everybody. Or almost everybody. Peter Weasley, the prefect, had refused to participate in the sneak-out. Some of the professors were very upset, because their children had been involved. Professor Weasley was Stephen's mum, and she was very angry. Teecie had been shocked an horrified to find out Stephen was her son, but decided to be a bigger person and not hold that against him. Professor Lupin kept shaking his head and narrowing his eyes whenever he looked at James or Sirius.
All the students who'd participated had had points taken away from the house. When Teecie looked at the glass cases holding the points, she cringed and wondered what happened when they ran out and kept losing points. Was there such a thing as negative points?
Professor Lupin called a meeting for that afternoon in the common room, and every Gryffindor was to attend. There was no excuse to not be there. He spent the time lecturing them on the importance of following the rules, and then told them the total amount of points the house had lost so far, since the beginning of the year, which was only two months ago. Three hundred points lost, in only two months! Lupin had checked, this was a new record. He did not want to see this continue. Teecie watched as he talked. There was a vein on his forehead that was pulsing. She was worried that it might burst.
When Professor Lupin was done, he called Peter, Teecie, and the few other students who hadn't snuck out, aside. He told them he was glad they hadn't participated, but was disappointed that none of them had tried to stop it. Feeling as though he'd done his teacherly duty, Lupin sent them off. He felt conflicted though. How could he expect the students to work together and be a supportive team if they were always suspicious of each other ratting the other out? How could he make a student turn on another student? But how else could he get them to cooperate?
Teecie could tell Professor Lupin was still very upset, and needed to be alone, so she had her afternoon tea with Professor Longbottom. She talked his ear off, and he let her. He laughed at her funny stories. She talked about her family. Neville would never get over thinking about the man Lucius was now versus the man who had tried to kill him and his classmates in the Ministry in his fifth year at school. Lucius, the hardened Death Eater, now cleaning the house, cooking the food, and raising the children. Neville almost spat his tea out when Teecie told him about the time her father had to chase his granddaughter, Lisandra, around the house to put a nappy on her. She had been shrieking with laughter, and had turned around every few seconds to make sure her granddad had still been running after her. It had taken him a while to catch up with her, because of his bad foot.
Professor Longbottom asked what Teecie's mother was up to nowadays. What did she so while Teecie's father took care of the house? Teecie explained about the farm and how her mum worked on it every day. She told him how much she loved her mother, but never felt like she got to see her enough. She'd returned to teach at Hogwarts shortly after Teecie had been born, and when she came back, she spent every day on the farm. Professor Longbottom was sympathetic towards Teecie's feelings. Teecie left his office feeling more uplifted than she had been all week.
Teecie's detention was only during the school week, so she had the entire evening to look forward to. She spent the time letting Robert try to teach her to play Wizard's chess. He was very polite and patient with Teecie, but she was no good at all. She never won a single game. After an hour or so, she finally gave up, and went to her dorm to play with Patty and Paige.
The rest of the weekend and the week passed quickly. Teecie enjoyed having a routine. Classes, detention, homework with Draco, then sleep. She felt more comfortable doing the same things each day.
The school was growing more and more excited over the upcoming Quidditch match. Teecie was growing more and more nervous about attending. She'd have to go up so high in the stands. It made her heart pound just to think about it.
Finally, the morning of the match arrived. As the school was emptying out and making its way to the stands, Professor Lupin sat down next to Teecie. He felt terrible that he'd helped make her so afraid of heights. He was determined to get her over her fear, and really wanted to do so by the end of the month. Teecie's parents would be coming for Kali's first game of the year then, and they'd kill him if they found out why Teecie was too afraid to join them in the stands.
"Teecie, aren't you going to come see the match? Patty and Paige were looking forward to sitting with you," Professor Lupin began.
"I don't know..." Teecie said quietly.
"You know, this is a perfect opportunity to work on your fear of heights. And I can explain everything that's happening," Lupin said, trying to sound excited.
"But-"
"Paige was hoping that the two of you could paint your nails together. She has nail polish in the Gryffindor colours, and you can paint them as you watch," Lupin hoped he had gotten through to Teecie.
"I guess," She said slowly. Professor Lupin smiled, grabbed her hand, and pulled her out to the stands before she had time to change her mind.
As they reached the stairs to the stands, Teecie froze. Professor Lupin told her to take a deep breath, and begin taking one step at a time. Taking a deep breath, she stepped onto the bottom stair. One by one, Teecie walked up the stairs. She held onto her professor's hand tightly the entire time. Her heart pounded, and she was sweating by the time they reached the top. Professor Lupin saw how pale she was and made her take a few more deep breaths before they went into the stands. Patty and Paige waved to Teecie and smiled. Teecie smiled weakly and moved slowly down the row towards them.
As Teecie sat down next to Paige, Patty leaned over her sister and greeted Teecie. Paige hugged Teecie and told her she'd make sure nothing happened to her up here. Professor Lupin sat down on Teecie's other side. Paige took two bottles of nail polish out of her pockets and the girls settled into painting their nails.
Professor Lupin tried to explain the rules of the game to Teecie, but he wasn't sure how much she understood. "What happens if the snitch goes through one of the goals?" She asked. Professor Lupin furrowed his brow and thought for a moment. What would happen? He had no idea if it was even possible. He finally told her he didn't know.
After a while, Teecie and Paige began to ignore the game and focused on the players. Professor Lupin listened as they commented on the hair styles of each player. When Paige commented that the uniforms would be more flattering if they more form fitting, Carl, who'd been sitting behind them, leaned forward and joined the conversation. They'd completely redesigned the uniforms when the first points for Gryffindor were scored. The three chatting kids looked up, bewildered over what was happening. As the noise of the crowd died down, Professor Lupin leaned down and explained what had happened. As the three kids understood what happened, they cheered for their team, albeit very late. Unfortunately they cheered just as Philip Knight, a Slytherin, scored, and the rest of their side glared at them, for cheering on the enemy.
Teecie blushed as she watched Philip pump his fist in the air victoriously. She'd never met the boy, but had overheard plenty of arguments about him at home. Reni had been going out with him since her second year at Hogwarts. Her father hated this boy and let Reni know this whenever he could. But Reni had told their father that she'd broken up with him last summer. But now, Teecie watched as Philip flew passed the Slytherin stands and kissed Reni before rejoining the game. She'd have to tell father about this. Teecie looked at Reni, and the two made eye contact briefly. Reni glared and shook her head at her sister before looking away again. Teecie didn't have a good feeling about this.
After an hour of play, the Slytherin Seeker caught the snitch, and ended the game. The whole of Gryffindor was downcast, for they really needed this victory. Teecie thought about how upset Stephen and Sirius would be. Maybe she could comfort them. She could give them a hug. And then Sirius would take her in his arms, and kiss her, and then they'd get married. They'd have four children, two boys and two girls. With a dreamy look on her face, Teecie looked up at Professor Lupin, her future father-in-law. Lupin looked down at Teecie and wondered if she was ill. Teecie was still day dreaming as she walked to the edge to leave the stands. She was about to walk off the bleachers and plummet to her death when Lupin caught her by the back of her shirt and guided her down the stairs.
Teecie spent a fitful night trying to sleep, but thoughts of Sirius kept her from falling asleep. The next morning, she decided to eat breakfast with Kali. Teecie filled her plate with scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon, and ate while watching her sister drink another protein shake. "You know, there's protein in bacon and eggs," Teecie told Kali knowingly, "And I'm sure they taste better than that junk."
Teecie looked at her sister, who scowled at her and took a sip of her shake. With a swiftness she didn't realize she had, Teecie swiped the glass out of Kali's hand and took a sip. It tasted like strawberries. It reminded her of something she'd had before, but Teecie couldn't remember it at the moment. Kali grabbed the glass back and smacked her sister on the arm.
Teecie rubbed her arm and was startled to see Reni appear next to her and sit down. "Hi Teecie!" She said enthusiastically. "How are you doing today?"
Teecie looked warily at Reni. "What do you want?" She asked.
"What, can't I visit with my baby sister and not have an ulterior motive?" Reni said, looking insulted.
"No, you've never been nice to me unless you wanted something," Teecie said.
"Well, I came to give you a present, but if this is the way I'm to be treated, forget it," Reni said, huffily, as she stood to leave.
Teecie rolled her eyes, and said, "Wait, don't leave. What did you want to give me?"
"You just want my present. You've always been so selfish that way, Teecie. You might want to work on that. But I suppose I'll give it to you anyway," Reni said, taking a small package out of her robe pocket and handing it to her sister.
Teecie carefully unwrapped the paper, and saw a beautiful pink diary. It was soft, and covered in fluffy pink fur. "Ohhh," Teecie breathed, smiling at Reni.
"See, now you can write down all your thoughts and hopes and dreams. You can keep it all a secret! Keeping secrets can be fun, don't you think?" Reni looked intensely at Teecie.
Teecie sighed again, nodded her head, and said, "Don't worry. I won't tell daddy you're seeing that boy again. Even though he said that boy was nothing but a no-good loser with no future to speak of and a sordid past."
Reni narrowed her eyes at Teecie. "Father doesn't know everything, you know. Philip's a good guy, and I love him. Now I'm telling you this because you're my sister, and you're old enough to be trusted."
"Fine, I'll keep your secret," Teecie said, sounding annoyed. Reni only talked to her when she wanted something, and Teecie resented that. Reni was always so closed off, and seemed to hate everybody and everything around her. Teecie didn't like being used by her, but she'd do anything for her big sister.
When Reni left, Teecie turned around to see that Kali had left. Teecie's breakfast was now stone cold, but she felt too full to eat anyway, for some reason. After returning to her dormitory, Teecie spent the rest of the morning reading her latest Amaris book.
Hours later, it was lunchtime, and Teecie felt somewhat hungry. She found this rather odd, for she was usually starving by now. As she was walking to the Great Hall room, a thought hit her like a ton of bricks. Lembasa potion! That's what she'd tasted in Kali's glass. It tasted like strawberries, and left her too full to eat. Kali had been drinking that stuff since the summer holiday. But Draco said it wasn't healthy to drink only that.
Running down the rest of the stairs, Teecie ran into the Great Hall where the students were eating. Going against the rules, Teecie continued running until she reached the stair case to the professor's table and made her way up them to the table. The professors weren't used to having students interrupt their meals. "Teecie, you know students aren't allowed up here! Go back to the tables until we've finished," Uncle Sev told her sternly.
Ignoring him, Teecie rushed to Draco and grabbed his hand. "I have to talk to you now, Draco!"
Draco looked annoyed. "What is it Teecie? This is very rude of you to interrupt me like this," He said as Teecie started pulling on his hand.
"Come on! I have to tell you now! Before something bad happens," Teecie yanked on his hand until Draco stood up.
Severus saw a look on Teecie's face that he wasn't used to seeing. This wasn't a tantrum or a childish issue of hers. This was important. Standing up, he told Draco to follow him, and led them to the antechamber off the corner of the room. Severus saw Teecie was reluctant to tell him what the problem was, but insisted on being a part of this. They were all family after all.
Teecie took a deep breath, and Draco squeezed her hand encouragingly. She began to tell them about Kali and the Lembasa potion. Teecie explained how they'd made it in class and knew what it tasted like. She knew it was the same thing Kali was drinking. She told them how small and bony Kali had felt when she'd hugged her. She told them how defensive Kali was when she'd asked to taste the potion one time.
Draco and Severus tried to assure Teecie it was probably nothing to worry about. Kali was probably just dieting before her first match of the year. Teecie explained to them that Kali had been doing this since the beginning of the summer holiday.
Severus didn't want to jump to any conclusions, and told Teecie he'd investigate it. He sent Teecie off to her common room, and then sat down and discussed the situation with Draco afterwards. Teecie was so upset that they weren't going to do anything. Her sister was starving herself! She could die! Somebody had to help her. She'd watched a special about anorexia on the telly once and knew if was a very dangerous disease. People did die from it. Teecie's heart pounded as she tried to figure out what to do.
Running up to her dorm, Teecie found paper and a pen, and wrote a letter to her father. Tying the letter to Snowflake's foot, she sent him off to deliver the letter.
Two hours later, while Snape sat at his desk, looking through Kali's school file, when a man popped out of his fireplace and began speaking to him in a low growl. Snape cringed, and looked up to see Lucius looking at him with narrowed eyes. "Where is Kali? I would like to see my daughter now. Teecie wrote me a letter," Lucius shoved a piece of paper in Snape's face, "She says you ignored her 'cries for help' and told her she was blowing things out of proportion. Now, I'm sure she's embellishing somewhat, but I must admit I am concerned," Lucius said in a barely controlled growl as he sat down in the chair across from Snape.
"I told Teecie I'd look into this. I can't just approach Kali and accuse her without having proof. She'd deny it and that would lead us nowhere. Draco's going to investigate as well. If we find anything wrong with Kali, we'll let you know. And we will deal with it," Snape said, trying to remain calm.
"I want to see all three of my daughters. Now. Either you have them brought here to me, or I will go around the school calling for them until I find them," Lucius said calmly, yet standing up from his chair and leaning across the table, coming to within inches of Snape's face. Lucius narrowed his eyes and his lips were white. "Well?" He asked in an eerily calm voice.
Snape took a deep breath, and slowly stood up. Throwing a handful of floo powder in the fireplace, he called Professor Weasley to him. When she arrived, he told her to collect all three of the girls, who should be in their common rooms, and escort them back to his office. Professor Weasley looked warily at Lucius before leaving to find his daughters.
After about ten minutes, Professor Weasley returned with the three girls in tow. "Daddy!" Teecie screeched and ran up to her father. Lucius put his arms around his youngest daughter and hugged her tightly while kissing the top of her head. "You got my letter!" She exclaimed.
Reni shot daggers at Teecie with her eyes. She'd ratted her out! How could she? She'd have to have a little talk with Teecie later on. Reni was surprised though, when her father approached her and asked how she was doing. He seemed to know nothing about Philip. Lucius leaned down to give Reni a hug, but she ducked out of his grasp before he could.
Lucius sighed, and turned to Kali. "Kali, baby, how are you doing?" He asked quietly.
"I'm just fine dad," Kali replied, looking at the floor.
Lucius looked his daughter over carefully before speaking again. "You're looking awfully thin. Are you sure you're feeling all right? You eating enough?"
Kali nodded her head, but said nothing.
"How about you and I take a walk? Would you like to do that?" Lucius asked, holding his hand out for Kali to take. Together, the two of them left the room.
Teecie wanted to go with them, but Uncle Sev made her stay with him instead. Now that he'd seen her up close, he realized how very thin Kali was. She wore baggy clothes to cover it up, but her face was thin and gaunt. Her eyes looked bigger than normal, and there was a yellow tone to her skin that looked different from her normal olive tone. He'd noticed how frail she'd looked. He could have snapped her like a twig.
Uncle Sev sent Reni back to her common room. There was no reason for her to be there. He and Teecie sat in silence, until Lucius and Kali returned. Snape looked up into Lucius' eyes. There was a haunted, pained look in them.
Before sending the girls back to their houses, Lucius gave each of them a hug. He gave Kali a very gentle hug, for he was afraid of breaking her. After hugging Teecie and sending them both from the room, Lucius grew teary eyed as he realized his 11 year old daughter was far bigger than his 13 year old.
Teecie's life went on as usual after that. She heard about the special conditions that Kali was made to deal with. The special meals, the check ups with the healer, and how all her professors had been informed of Kali's problem. Teecie felt good to know that she'd helped her sister out, even though Kali no longer talked to Teecie. It upset her to see the anger and hate in her sister's eyes, but Teecie knew she'd done a good thing to tell her father, and hopefully now Kali would start to get better.
Author's Note: This chapter was difficult to write because the majority of the things going on in Kali's life will be dealt with in her story. So this may feel like you were thrown into an already ongoing situation, which it really is. It was a difficult balancing act of telling enough to make sense, but leaving a lot out in order to use it in Kali's story. I hope it works, please let me know if it did or not.
Foodie's Public Service Announcement: Anorexia Nervosa is a very serious and potentially deadly disease. There are many websites out there with valuable information about that and other eating disorders. If you think you or somebody you know might have an eating disorder, please research the disorder and get help, these diseases can be successfully treated if caught early enough.
http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=By_Illness&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=7409
http://www.anred.com
Those are just 2 of the many sites out there about eating disorders.
Disclaimer: You know the usual, all of this world is JK's, and we thank her for letting us borrow it. Only the original characters are ours!
Wicked Lee: I'm so surprised that you hate what Lupin does in this story! I love him! I think he's hilarious. There's a great deal of love and friendship between Lupin and Teecie, so he'd never do anything to be mean to her, she was pretty snotty to him the previous night after all! Here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy it!
Arsinoe3: The Christmas chapters are the two after this one, so I hope you can wait just a little while longer! I hope you like this one though!
Saving Kali
Teecie spent her free hour the next morning working on homework. Professor Weasley had found her parchment under her desk after class and had given it to Professor Lupin. He gave it back to Teecie after the talk with Draco the night before. Teecie found it very difficult to understand how to do the homework. She thought she'd done it right the first time, and had no idea how to correct it. She'd let Draco look at it tonight.
The day went well, until Charms class. Teecie was nervous because they were still floating objects. Flitwick was keeping a close eye on her; she had to try it. Putting the feather on the desk in front of her, Teecie closed her eyes, waved her wand, and whispered, "Wingardium Leviosa." After a few seconds, Teecie called out to Paige and asked if it had worked.
Paige, who had been working on her own feather, looked over and gasped. Teecie opened her eyes and saw her desk floating several inches off the floor. Ironically, the feather was resting normally on it, as though nothing was happening. Losing her concentration sent the desk back to the floor with a loud thump. Professor Flitwick had seen this out of the corner of his eye, and came rushing over to the girls after the desk had landed back on the floor. "I was just trying to float the feather," Teecie explained weakly. She assumed Flitwick would be upset and probably give her detention, just like all the other professors, but he almost seemed impressed.
Professor Lupin hadn't had a chance to give Teecie detention somewhere else yet, so she spent another night with the house-elves. She rushed through dinner that night to get to her detention as quickly as possible. Since Hallowe'en was the next night, the elves were busy with feast preparations. Teecie spent the evening decorating pumpkin-shaped biscuits for the students. Each was iced orange with a green stem, and black facial features. Teecie lost herself in the activity. Every pumpkin had a slightly different face. She sang quietly to herself the whole time.
Teecie's next stop was Draco's office in the dungeons. Draco looked over her homework and told her where she'd made mistakes and helped her correct them. She showed him the Transfiguration homework that had given her so much trouble, and he helped explain it in a way Teecie could understand better. He watched as she made all the corrections.
When they were done, Draco asked Teecie if she was looking forward to the first Quidditch match of the year, which was to be held the weekend after next. Teecie'd never had much interest in sports. Kali, their sister, lived and breathed Quidditch. Lucius had helped her learn to play. Even as a little baby, he wanted Kali to be the best Quidditch player ever. He'd made a snitch mobile and put it over her crib. And when she was older, he put a snitch under her pillow, to help her dream about the game. But Teecie was not Kali. Teecie had always enjoyed playing with her dolls more than sports. Her father had never forced her to like Quidditch. He let her like what she wanted, and supported that. He'd have tea parties with her, or let her play with his hair instead.
Draco explained that the first game of the year was between Slytherin and Gryffindor. Teecie wasn't sure she wanted to sit in the stands. They were awfully high up in the air. What if she fell off? Draco told her the stands were very secure, and there was no way she'd fall off. As she left his office, he told her he hoped he'd see her sitting with her classmates at the game.
The next day was Hallowe'en, and the entire school enjoyed the feast. The biscuits Teecie had decorated were a hit. She loved the idea that people were enjoying something she'd helped to create.
The feast passed quickly, and then it was back to the kitchens to help clean up. Teecie thought about the sneak-out her fellow housemates were planning. As much as she enjoyed working with the house elves, Teecie didn't want to get into any more trouble, at least for a while. She didn't want to risk getting caught again. She'd just get a good night's sleep instead, and hear about the fun the next day.
Draco helped her with her homework, which, he pointed out, was good to do on Friday, because it meant she had the rest of the weekend free to have fun. "But Draco, only geeks do homework on Fridays. I like to do mine on Monday morning during breakfast," Teecie moaned to her brother. Draco had shaken his head and laughed out loud at that.
Teecie spent the rest of her evening playing with Snowball, writing a letter to her father, and reading her Amaris book. She was sound asleep by the time the other students, including Patty and Paige, snuck out of the school.
One of the older students knew all the different secret passages to get out of the school, and told them how to get out. The students had snuck out in small groups of four or five, until all had left the school. They made their way to the graveyard in Hogsmeade, and had a fun party.
Teecie heard about the events of the party the next morning at breakfast. Apparently the students were being much too loud, and somebody in the village had called up at the school. At about two in the morning, Professor Lupin and Uncle Sev had showed up and busted everybody. Or almost everybody. Peter Weasley, the prefect, had refused to participate in the sneak-out. Some of the professors were very upset, because their children had been involved. Professor Weasley was Stephen's mum, and she was very angry. Teecie had been shocked an horrified to find out Stephen was her son, but decided to be a bigger person and not hold that against him. Professor Lupin kept shaking his head and narrowing his eyes whenever he looked at James or Sirius.
All the students who'd participated had had points taken away from the house. When Teecie looked at the glass cases holding the points, she cringed and wondered what happened when they ran out and kept losing points. Was there such a thing as negative points?
Professor Lupin called a meeting for that afternoon in the common room, and every Gryffindor was to attend. There was no excuse to not be there. He spent the time lecturing them on the importance of following the rules, and then told them the total amount of points the house had lost so far, since the beginning of the year, which was only two months ago. Three hundred points lost, in only two months! Lupin had checked, this was a new record. He did not want to see this continue. Teecie watched as he talked. There was a vein on his forehead that was pulsing. She was worried that it might burst.
When Professor Lupin was done, he called Peter, Teecie, and the few other students who hadn't snuck out, aside. He told them he was glad they hadn't participated, but was disappointed that none of them had tried to stop it. Feeling as though he'd done his teacherly duty, Lupin sent them off. He felt conflicted though. How could he expect the students to work together and be a supportive team if they were always suspicious of each other ratting the other out? How could he make a student turn on another student? But how else could he get them to cooperate?
Teecie could tell Professor Lupin was still very upset, and needed to be alone, so she had her afternoon tea with Professor Longbottom. She talked his ear off, and he let her. He laughed at her funny stories. She talked about her family. Neville would never get over thinking about the man Lucius was now versus the man who had tried to kill him and his classmates in the Ministry in his fifth year at school. Lucius, the hardened Death Eater, now cleaning the house, cooking the food, and raising the children. Neville almost spat his tea out when Teecie told him about the time her father had to chase his granddaughter, Lisandra, around the house to put a nappy on her. She had been shrieking with laughter, and had turned around every few seconds to make sure her granddad had still been running after her. It had taken him a while to catch up with her, because of his bad foot.
Professor Longbottom asked what Teecie's mother was up to nowadays. What did she so while Teecie's father took care of the house? Teecie explained about the farm and how her mum worked on it every day. She told him how much she loved her mother, but never felt like she got to see her enough. She'd returned to teach at Hogwarts shortly after Teecie had been born, and when she came back, she spent every day on the farm. Professor Longbottom was sympathetic towards Teecie's feelings. Teecie left his office feeling more uplifted than she had been all week.
Teecie's detention was only during the school week, so she had the entire evening to look forward to. She spent the time letting Robert try to teach her to play Wizard's chess. He was very polite and patient with Teecie, but she was no good at all. She never won a single game. After an hour or so, she finally gave up, and went to her dorm to play with Patty and Paige.
The rest of the weekend and the week passed quickly. Teecie enjoyed having a routine. Classes, detention, homework with Draco, then sleep. She felt more comfortable doing the same things each day.
The school was growing more and more excited over the upcoming Quidditch match. Teecie was growing more and more nervous about attending. She'd have to go up so high in the stands. It made her heart pound just to think about it.
Finally, the morning of the match arrived. As the school was emptying out and making its way to the stands, Professor Lupin sat down next to Teecie. He felt terrible that he'd helped make her so afraid of heights. He was determined to get her over her fear, and really wanted to do so by the end of the month. Teecie's parents would be coming for Kali's first game of the year then, and they'd kill him if they found out why Teecie was too afraid to join them in the stands.
"Teecie, aren't you going to come see the match? Patty and Paige were looking forward to sitting with you," Professor Lupin began.
"I don't know..." Teecie said quietly.
"You know, this is a perfect opportunity to work on your fear of heights. And I can explain everything that's happening," Lupin said, trying to sound excited.
"But-"
"Paige was hoping that the two of you could paint your nails together. She has nail polish in the Gryffindor colours, and you can paint them as you watch," Lupin hoped he had gotten through to Teecie.
"I guess," She said slowly. Professor Lupin smiled, grabbed her hand, and pulled her out to the stands before she had time to change her mind.
As they reached the stairs to the stands, Teecie froze. Professor Lupin told her to take a deep breath, and begin taking one step at a time. Taking a deep breath, she stepped onto the bottom stair. One by one, Teecie walked up the stairs. She held onto her professor's hand tightly the entire time. Her heart pounded, and she was sweating by the time they reached the top. Professor Lupin saw how pale she was and made her take a few more deep breaths before they went into the stands. Patty and Paige waved to Teecie and smiled. Teecie smiled weakly and moved slowly down the row towards them.
As Teecie sat down next to Paige, Patty leaned over her sister and greeted Teecie. Paige hugged Teecie and told her she'd make sure nothing happened to her up here. Professor Lupin sat down on Teecie's other side. Paige took two bottles of nail polish out of her pockets and the girls settled into painting their nails.
Professor Lupin tried to explain the rules of the game to Teecie, but he wasn't sure how much she understood. "What happens if the snitch goes through one of the goals?" She asked. Professor Lupin furrowed his brow and thought for a moment. What would happen? He had no idea if it was even possible. He finally told her he didn't know.
After a while, Teecie and Paige began to ignore the game and focused on the players. Professor Lupin listened as they commented on the hair styles of each player. When Paige commented that the uniforms would be more flattering if they more form fitting, Carl, who'd been sitting behind them, leaned forward and joined the conversation. They'd completely redesigned the uniforms when the first points for Gryffindor were scored. The three chatting kids looked up, bewildered over what was happening. As the noise of the crowd died down, Professor Lupin leaned down and explained what had happened. As the three kids understood what happened, they cheered for their team, albeit very late. Unfortunately they cheered just as Philip Knight, a Slytherin, scored, and the rest of their side glared at them, for cheering on the enemy.
Teecie blushed as she watched Philip pump his fist in the air victoriously. She'd never met the boy, but had overheard plenty of arguments about him at home. Reni had been going out with him since her second year at Hogwarts. Her father hated this boy and let Reni know this whenever he could. But Reni had told their father that she'd broken up with him last summer. But now, Teecie watched as Philip flew passed the Slytherin stands and kissed Reni before rejoining the game. She'd have to tell father about this. Teecie looked at Reni, and the two made eye contact briefly. Reni glared and shook her head at her sister before looking away again. Teecie didn't have a good feeling about this.
After an hour of play, the Slytherin Seeker caught the snitch, and ended the game. The whole of Gryffindor was downcast, for they really needed this victory. Teecie thought about how upset Stephen and Sirius would be. Maybe she could comfort them. She could give them a hug. And then Sirius would take her in his arms, and kiss her, and then they'd get married. They'd have four children, two boys and two girls. With a dreamy look on her face, Teecie looked up at Professor Lupin, her future father-in-law. Lupin looked down at Teecie and wondered if she was ill. Teecie was still day dreaming as she walked to the edge to leave the stands. She was about to walk off the bleachers and plummet to her death when Lupin caught her by the back of her shirt and guided her down the stairs.
Teecie spent a fitful night trying to sleep, but thoughts of Sirius kept her from falling asleep. The next morning, she decided to eat breakfast with Kali. Teecie filled her plate with scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon, and ate while watching her sister drink another protein shake. "You know, there's protein in bacon and eggs," Teecie told Kali knowingly, "And I'm sure they taste better than that junk."
Teecie looked at her sister, who scowled at her and took a sip of her shake. With a swiftness she didn't realize she had, Teecie swiped the glass out of Kali's hand and took a sip. It tasted like strawberries. It reminded her of something she'd had before, but Teecie couldn't remember it at the moment. Kali grabbed the glass back and smacked her sister on the arm.
Teecie rubbed her arm and was startled to see Reni appear next to her and sit down. "Hi Teecie!" She said enthusiastically. "How are you doing today?"
Teecie looked warily at Reni. "What do you want?" She asked.
"What, can't I visit with my baby sister and not have an ulterior motive?" Reni said, looking insulted.
"No, you've never been nice to me unless you wanted something," Teecie said.
"Well, I came to give you a present, but if this is the way I'm to be treated, forget it," Reni said, huffily, as she stood to leave.
Teecie rolled her eyes, and said, "Wait, don't leave. What did you want to give me?"
"You just want my present. You've always been so selfish that way, Teecie. You might want to work on that. But I suppose I'll give it to you anyway," Reni said, taking a small package out of her robe pocket and handing it to her sister.
Teecie carefully unwrapped the paper, and saw a beautiful pink diary. It was soft, and covered in fluffy pink fur. "Ohhh," Teecie breathed, smiling at Reni.
"See, now you can write down all your thoughts and hopes and dreams. You can keep it all a secret! Keeping secrets can be fun, don't you think?" Reni looked intensely at Teecie.
Teecie sighed again, nodded her head, and said, "Don't worry. I won't tell daddy you're seeing that boy again. Even though he said that boy was nothing but a no-good loser with no future to speak of and a sordid past."
Reni narrowed her eyes at Teecie. "Father doesn't know everything, you know. Philip's a good guy, and I love him. Now I'm telling you this because you're my sister, and you're old enough to be trusted."
"Fine, I'll keep your secret," Teecie said, sounding annoyed. Reni only talked to her when she wanted something, and Teecie resented that. Reni was always so closed off, and seemed to hate everybody and everything around her. Teecie didn't like being used by her, but she'd do anything for her big sister.
When Reni left, Teecie turned around to see that Kali had left. Teecie's breakfast was now stone cold, but she felt too full to eat anyway, for some reason. After returning to her dormitory, Teecie spent the rest of the morning reading her latest Amaris book.
Hours later, it was lunchtime, and Teecie felt somewhat hungry. She found this rather odd, for she was usually starving by now. As she was walking to the Great Hall room, a thought hit her like a ton of bricks. Lembasa potion! That's what she'd tasted in Kali's glass. It tasted like strawberries, and left her too full to eat. Kali had been drinking that stuff since the summer holiday. But Draco said it wasn't healthy to drink only that.
Running down the rest of the stairs, Teecie ran into the Great Hall where the students were eating. Going against the rules, Teecie continued running until she reached the stair case to the professor's table and made her way up them to the table. The professors weren't used to having students interrupt their meals. "Teecie, you know students aren't allowed up here! Go back to the tables until we've finished," Uncle Sev told her sternly.
Ignoring him, Teecie rushed to Draco and grabbed his hand. "I have to talk to you now, Draco!"
Draco looked annoyed. "What is it Teecie? This is very rude of you to interrupt me like this," He said as Teecie started pulling on his hand.
"Come on! I have to tell you now! Before something bad happens," Teecie yanked on his hand until Draco stood up.
Severus saw a look on Teecie's face that he wasn't used to seeing. This wasn't a tantrum or a childish issue of hers. This was important. Standing up, he told Draco to follow him, and led them to the antechamber off the corner of the room. Severus saw Teecie was reluctant to tell him what the problem was, but insisted on being a part of this. They were all family after all.
Teecie took a deep breath, and Draco squeezed her hand encouragingly. She began to tell them about Kali and the Lembasa potion. Teecie explained how they'd made it in class and knew what it tasted like. She knew it was the same thing Kali was drinking. She told them how small and bony Kali had felt when she'd hugged her. She told them how defensive Kali was when she'd asked to taste the potion one time.
Draco and Severus tried to assure Teecie it was probably nothing to worry about. Kali was probably just dieting before her first match of the year. Teecie explained to them that Kali had been doing this since the beginning of the summer holiday.
Severus didn't want to jump to any conclusions, and told Teecie he'd investigate it. He sent Teecie off to her common room, and then sat down and discussed the situation with Draco afterwards. Teecie was so upset that they weren't going to do anything. Her sister was starving herself! She could die! Somebody had to help her. She'd watched a special about anorexia on the telly once and knew if was a very dangerous disease. People did die from it. Teecie's heart pounded as she tried to figure out what to do.
Running up to her dorm, Teecie found paper and a pen, and wrote a letter to her father. Tying the letter to Snowflake's foot, she sent him off to deliver the letter.
Two hours later, while Snape sat at his desk, looking through Kali's school file, when a man popped out of his fireplace and began speaking to him in a low growl. Snape cringed, and looked up to see Lucius looking at him with narrowed eyes. "Where is Kali? I would like to see my daughter now. Teecie wrote me a letter," Lucius shoved a piece of paper in Snape's face, "She says you ignored her 'cries for help' and told her she was blowing things out of proportion. Now, I'm sure she's embellishing somewhat, but I must admit I am concerned," Lucius said in a barely controlled growl as he sat down in the chair across from Snape.
"I told Teecie I'd look into this. I can't just approach Kali and accuse her without having proof. She'd deny it and that would lead us nowhere. Draco's going to investigate as well. If we find anything wrong with Kali, we'll let you know. And we will deal with it," Snape said, trying to remain calm.
"I want to see all three of my daughters. Now. Either you have them brought here to me, or I will go around the school calling for them until I find them," Lucius said calmly, yet standing up from his chair and leaning across the table, coming to within inches of Snape's face. Lucius narrowed his eyes and his lips were white. "Well?" He asked in an eerily calm voice.
Snape took a deep breath, and slowly stood up. Throwing a handful of floo powder in the fireplace, he called Professor Weasley to him. When she arrived, he told her to collect all three of the girls, who should be in their common rooms, and escort them back to his office. Professor Weasley looked warily at Lucius before leaving to find his daughters.
After about ten minutes, Professor Weasley returned with the three girls in tow. "Daddy!" Teecie screeched and ran up to her father. Lucius put his arms around his youngest daughter and hugged her tightly while kissing the top of her head. "You got my letter!" She exclaimed.
Reni shot daggers at Teecie with her eyes. She'd ratted her out! How could she? She'd have to have a little talk with Teecie later on. Reni was surprised though, when her father approached her and asked how she was doing. He seemed to know nothing about Philip. Lucius leaned down to give Reni a hug, but she ducked out of his grasp before he could.
Lucius sighed, and turned to Kali. "Kali, baby, how are you doing?" He asked quietly.
"I'm just fine dad," Kali replied, looking at the floor.
Lucius looked his daughter over carefully before speaking again. "You're looking awfully thin. Are you sure you're feeling all right? You eating enough?"
Kali nodded her head, but said nothing.
"How about you and I take a walk? Would you like to do that?" Lucius asked, holding his hand out for Kali to take. Together, the two of them left the room.
Teecie wanted to go with them, but Uncle Sev made her stay with him instead. Now that he'd seen her up close, he realized how very thin Kali was. She wore baggy clothes to cover it up, but her face was thin and gaunt. Her eyes looked bigger than normal, and there was a yellow tone to her skin that looked different from her normal olive tone. He'd noticed how frail she'd looked. He could have snapped her like a twig.
Uncle Sev sent Reni back to her common room. There was no reason for her to be there. He and Teecie sat in silence, until Lucius and Kali returned. Snape looked up into Lucius' eyes. There was a haunted, pained look in them.
Before sending the girls back to their houses, Lucius gave each of them a hug. He gave Kali a very gentle hug, for he was afraid of breaking her. After hugging Teecie and sending them both from the room, Lucius grew teary eyed as he realized his 11 year old daughter was far bigger than his 13 year old.
Teecie's life went on as usual after that. She heard about the special conditions that Kali was made to deal with. The special meals, the check ups with the healer, and how all her professors had been informed of Kali's problem. Teecie felt good to know that she'd helped her sister out, even though Kali no longer talked to Teecie. It upset her to see the anger and hate in her sister's eyes, but Teecie knew she'd done a good thing to tell her father, and hopefully now Kali would start to get better.
Author's Note: This chapter was difficult to write because the majority of the things going on in Kali's life will be dealt with in her story. So this may feel like you were thrown into an already ongoing situation, which it really is. It was a difficult balancing act of telling enough to make sense, but leaving a lot out in order to use it in Kali's story. I hope it works, please let me know if it did or not.
Foodie's Public Service Announcement: Anorexia Nervosa is a very serious and potentially deadly disease. There are many websites out there with valuable information about that and other eating disorders. If you think you or somebody you know might have an eating disorder, please research the disorder and get help, these diseases can be successfully treated if caught early enough.
http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=By_Illness&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=7409
http://www.anred.com
Those are just 2 of the many sites out there about eating disorders.