A/N: Thank you to everyone who enjoyed the story so far :) for the likes and favorites! It's time to introduce some of the future death eaters in the story :D
greyMoonHuntress: thank you so much veteran author for such detailed reviews! I hope you read the pm I sent you.
Demi: hey, I'm really glad you feel strongly for the JamesCallista ship and I'm sorry you feel off about Remus in the picture. But put a bunch of hormonally induced sex driving adolescents together and anything is bound to happen. Though what I can assure you that this is indeed an eventual JamesxCallista, it's just that feelings grow overtime. Thank you for reviewing and I hope to see around.
Callista breathed a sigh of relief once they escaped the common room and her fiery, amber eyes focused on the familiar structure of the Great Hall. The intricately carved design of the large double doors, the high stone walls that stretched as far as the ceilings would go, and the beautiful ceiling above that was bewitched to resemble the heavens depending on what time of the day it was.
The large hall was filled with four long tables, one for each of the founders' houses. An assortment of breakfast food was laid generously on each table by the school's hardworking house elves although only a few students appeared to be up this time of the morning. She inspected her surroundings, it was indeed uncommon for the Great Hall to be absent of the mindless chattering and loud conversations but there were scarcely any students at all. Only a handful of Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, Slytherins and Gryffindors were present.
Callista promptly recollected her humiliating encounter with Potter that appalling night in the Astronomy Tower and she couldn't expunge from her memory the torn, wounded look of his face when he caught her sobbing in pain. She was meekly cynical about it though, and she wondered if he had told any of his friends. However, his blasé manner of greeting her earlier this morning made her think twice.
James behaved the same, bothersome, and sickeningly sweet way towards her. It was as if last night never happened at all. With the sole exception of his hazel eyes, which was a dead giveaway because of the slight flicker of concern defined in his irises when they made eye contact with each other.
Callista speedily extinguished those irksome thoughts from her mind; she didn't want to dwell on other 'bodily issues' concerning James or the rest of the Marauders. Godric knows what sinful and lust inducing delusions might ruin her mentality.
Her attention was brought back to the present when she felt Mary's body stiffened beside her while they were making their way to the Gryffindor table. Callista followed the girl's petrified eyes to a group of older Slytherin boys who were also looking their way in a murderous and fatal intent.
Mary forced her features to remain impassive and disregarded the deadly gazes they were sending her way and walked ahead of the two girls.
"Who are those boys?" Callista couldn't help but asked Alice as she watched them from across the hall, languorously seated on the Slytherin table as if they were gods. She never saw Mary this frightened before.
"The one next to Malfoy? That's Antonin Dolohov and Corban Yaxley." Alice responded, Callista could feel the animosity and hatred radiating from the other witch's body.
Callista remembered those names rather tastelessly from her father Leonardo, who used to host lavish, exclusive pureblood parties before she was born. So these were the devil spawns of Vladimir Dolohov and Boris Yaxley. The two arseholes were notoriously known for siding with Voldemort and were one of the death eaters who hunted her family down to extinction. How she loved to return the favor on their children.
"Why were they looking at Mary like that?" Callista said irately, she wanted to plunge their eyeballs with a knife, though the boys' attention seemed to be diverted elsewhere as they huddled in discussion with each other.
Callista's jaw tightened, her eyes never leaving their table as she tried to study their features from a distance. Yaxley, whose developed stature was more akin to a man rather than a teenager, his dirty blond hair curled in ringlets as a mischievous smirk displayed on his face. He was apparently trying to piss off Dolohov, who was deadly serious at the moment.
Dolohov, whose Russian roots appeared prominent in his facial features. His wavy, jet black hair smoothened in place and of course, who would forget the famous white blond hair of a Malfoy.
"Mary's a Muggleborn, Callista," Alice hurriedly whispered and tugged the auburn witch's elbow towards the Gryffindor table, "they give her a hard time because of it." She rephrased her choice of words in an exhausting attempt to forget what they had done to Mary just the year prior. Alice didn't want to relieve that very awful incident.
Callista felt a revolting sensation inside of her. How could these horrifyingly blessed, aristocratic facial features house terrible, demonic personalities? Their faces were that of angels but their rotten souls were unadulterated evil.
"Why those hideous, dogmatic bigots!" all the blood rushed through Callista's brain. She knew Mcdonald was not a recognizable pureblooded name unlike King although, she never figured Mary to be a Muggleborn not that it really mattered to her. Callista was unquestionably furious. Ostracizing a person due to his or her blood status and lineage? That was unacceptably merciless.
"Stay away from them, Callista," Alice warned her, "I'm not joking. They're dangerous."
"Dolohov, why do you keep staring at the Mudblood?" Lucius speculated in disgust at the Gryffindor table after elegantly buttering his toast with a gold bread knife.
"Po'shyol 'na hui," Fuck off Antonin cursed brashly in Russian and his dark irises bore a firm scowl towards the white haired blond, "being in the presence of blood traitors and Mudbloods so early in the morning makes me lose my appetite." He dropped the golden utensils from his grasp with a loud clang and sophisticatedly took a sip from his goblet.
Corban chuckled darkly in agreement while his menacing, frost blue eyes drifted to the direction of Antonin's gaze for a brief second, "But you know, they're quite enjoyable for quick shags." And took a forkful of bacon delicately into his mouth.
"I honestly do not understand why you would lower yourself to such mortifying behaviors, Yaxley," Lucius gave the dirty blond haired boy a sickened expression, "I couldn't imagine myself sinking so low as to touch a Mudblood." The mere idea itself was repulsive enough for him.
"I'm getting all the fucks I can get before we get the hell out of here, it's not like I'm marrying a filthy whore. And you know how stuck up pure-blooded witches are, they don't put out," Yaxley snidely commented, "besides you're not the only one who has a betrothal contract slapped in the face, Malfoy. I know the consequences of magical binding and the strict implementation of fidelity in our pure-blood customs." He haughtily raised a challenging brow at him.
Before Malfoy and Yaxley could argument even further, "Durachit'," Fools Antonin nearly snarled at the pair of bickering snakes, "There are more important matters to consider than fucking tramps and marrying gold diggers. We will be receiving the dark mark after graduation so get your bloody shite together." Forcefully stabbing a stack of pancakes with his knife.
But Lucius relatively enjoyed riling Dolohov's nasty temper, "Anxious, aren't we? I didn't think you were the type to easily get terrified." A wicked smile graced his lips.
" 'Khu I," Dick Antonin cursed under his breath in an uninterested manner, "I'm actually anticipating my initiation." He gave the two boys an evil, animated smirk in response.
Callista took a seat opposite Alice and Mary, who were both sitting next to each other. She could see Alice carefully soothing Mary with her sisterly touch so the latter would forget about the occurrence awhile ago. She wondered what could have those Slytherins done to make her scared in such a way. She didn't like it one bit.
And soon, students started filling in the Great Hall while the buzzing noises of chatter grew louder by the minute. Although, what attracted the interest of the student body was the arrival of the four Marauders making their way to the Gryffindor table laughing carelessly in mayhem and mischief.
James and Sirius effortlessly carried themselves in a manner that made them popular, sought after, and completely desirable to the majority of the female population. Playing as chaser and beater for the Gryffindor Quidditch team also boosted up their appeal.
Remus was not one for the spotlight, but it didn't mean his presence was left unnoticed. And of course, there was Peter, the trusted wingman of the group.
Callista's fiery amber eyes spotted the origin of their laughter - Snape. He was sneezing repeatedly and it appeared something was coming out of his hooked nose every time he sneezes. Her forehead creased. Was a live, squirming fish actually coming out of his nostrils?
"It was," she pondered in amusement, "poor fish, not knowing where that nose has been." As she saw more fishes coming out from him as the rest of the students even some of the Slytherins started laughing at him.
Snape was unalterably enraged with James' bullying behavior as another sneeze and wriggling fish escaped his nose. He flicked his wand to give the arrogant boy a good hex when James' back was turned but Remus was quick and deflected it with a flip of his own wand.
A back and forth war of wands would have erupted have not the hall been filling up with professors who also planned on having their breakfasts.
"That bloody Pott- ACHOO!" Snape sneezed forcefully and a fish dropped on the floor. "And his stupid band of baboons!" he continued speaking then another fish exploded from his nose.
"You invented a curse, didn't you?" Lily quirked a magnificent brow at him while Snape took a seat next to her on the Slytherin table. She raised her wand and easily removed the hex, "What do you call it?"
"Sectusempra." Snape swiftly grabbed a napkin from the table and immediately wiped his nose which was undeniably red and sore from all the sneezing.
"Use it on them," Lily rolled her brilliant green eyes as if it was the most obvious thing to do, "your parlor tricks are getting old, anyway. It would set a new phase to inflict pain on them." She smiled cruelly from her sadistic suggestion.
"I haven't perfected it yet," Snape brooded over Lily's words, "but the idea is thoroughly tempting." He took it into consideration. He remembered explaining to Lily that he had been practicing a new spell of his own creation that could impose major damage to the victim.
"Don't forget to teach me when you're finished." Lily reminded him as a pointed grin flashed across her pretty face. Snape huffed in mild vexation, as if Lily needed any aid. She was extremely intelligent and gifted, but nevertheless he wouldn't hesitate to give her a hand. She was his childhood friend.
"Is Mulciber still in the hospital wing?" Eleanor Zabini, with a beauty that made all the boys weak on their knees, questioned as the younger boy was absent once more from their table. She felt incredibly irritated when she discovered the strife between Mulciber and Callista during Slughorn's class. She had a personal loathing for the auburn haired girl, whose unnatural nonhuman features seemed to be attracting a number of male followers.
"Snape and I are heading there after breakfast," Avery spoke as he watched Callista from the corner of his eye. He took a forkful of eggs and began chewing slowly, "That insufferable bimbo." He gritted his teeth and swallowed.
Snape may have prevented them from previously harming Callista but now nothing was going to stop Avery, not even Dumbledore. He had to teach this self-righteous bint how to behave accordingly, and he will have her on bended knees as he'd press the tip of his wand on her forehead and she would be screaming in agonizing pain.
"So are we," Lucius said in a commanding voice, "Bellatrix, Narcissa and Lily. You'll come with me to see Mulciber after breakfast." His emerald eyes deviated to each of the girls who nodded at him. He still hasn't forgotten the tactless, conceited words Callista said to him in the hallway. He was also vaguely intrigued with why for that fleeting instant, he was enthralled and beguiled to her whole presence. It was an unexplainable euphoria yet a dangerous one and he wanted answers.