Mistakes are mine.
D19
Calli and Bellatrix stood in the middle of the room with their heads down and their hands clasped. The entire family was there. And by entire, that included the Nacht Hexen and remaining Death Eaters.
"How could you two be so foolish?" Narcissa scolded.
"I will not apologize for doing it, but I will apologize for doing it when we did," Calli said defiantly.
Bellatrix side-eyed her wife but said nothing. Narcissa clenched her fists and tears sprung in her eyes. Calli's defiance melted away replaced by an overwhelming guilt.
"You pulled a Gryffindor move. Impulsive. Reckless. Stupid," she hissed. "Do you truly comprehend the danger you put us all in? What if that image had shown the Hermione version of you instead?"
Silence.
"Answer me!"
Calli flinched but Bellatrix jumped in, pushing Calli slightly behind her. "Cissy, it is not her complete fault. With her going to Hogwarts, I let my fear cloud my judgement and pushed for it to happen sooner rather than later," she said.
Andromeda stepped forward and threw her hands into the air. "The tapestry has been in our family for ages, Bella!" she huffed. "You should have known it would show."
"And with the only version being at Grimmauld," Narcissa growled, "it was bound to catch our cousin's attention."
Bellatrix ran a hand through her curls and snapped, "I forgot about the damn thing, alright!"
"That isn't good enough!" Andy exclaimed. "It is not just Calliope in the mix. Me, my daughter, Ted. Remus, the twins. Neville? We all have a lot to lose!"
Bellatrix groaned. "What more do you want us to say? We can't go back in time, and we won't undo it."
"What more do we – Bella, just because you look younger doesn't mean you have to act like a child," Narcissa said coolly. "You two are very lucky Severus and Remus were in that meeting. Had Sirius left them out of the loop…"
She trailed off and shook her head. Her heels were like well-timed slaps to the face as she left the room. Severus and Remus were quiet, but it was clear they felt the same. In fact, it was clear everyone felt the same. Even Luna seemed reluctant to be on their side. Calli tensed when her father stepped forward. He looked…disappointed.
"You are not a child anymore, Calliope," Tom said seriously. "You are a leader. We follow you. Remember that the next time you decide to be selfish and impulsive."
Calli swallowed roughly as her father put his hands behind his back and straightened.
"The deal was I would be your father rather than your leader. And since you made a childish decision, I will respond in kind. Until you are due to leave for the train, you will be staying at Malfoy Manor with me. Bellatrix will remain here."
"Dad!" she shouted.
Tom glared at her and she took a step back out of habit. He continued, "While you are at the Manor, you will be training with the remaining Death Eaters. You will learn from them. Sun up to sun down. Am I clear?"
Calli lowered her head and nodded. "Yes, sir," she said.
Tom looked at Bellatrix and said, "You of all people should know better. I might not be magically inclined, but I can still teach. You and I will restart our training tomorrow and throughout the year. You've gotten lazy, Bellatrix," he paused and narrowed his eyes into slits, "I expected more of my protégé."
Bellatrix's face fell. Tom turned on his heels, the others following suit, before he stopped and looked back at the Nacht Hexen.
"Oh, and you all will be joining Calliope for her training. By the time the train leaves, you will see why my wife was a force to be reckoned with," he said. With a dangerous smirk he added, "She was the one who trained the Death Eaters after all."
The Death Eaters grinned evilly. The Nacht Hexen shared nervous looks with one another, but Calli had yet to lift her head. Tom and the adults left the room. After they were alone, Calli took a deep breath and looked to her friends.
"I apologize for my - our - rash decision," she said. "I hope this does not change your opinion of me nor make you regret your choice to follow me."
"We are not mad at you," Neville said, looking at the others for support. "I think we just-
"Don't understand," Daphne finished hesitantly. "You've proven to be someone who thinks things through, but this seemed-
"Abrupt," Blaise said. "When we got the call to be here, we assumed it was for something else, but Luna filled us in and-
"We couldn't understand. Especially since you've worked so hard to keep this secret and with one ritual, you nearly destroy it," Fred said.
"Look, with everything that's happened, we get why you jumped at this opportunity, but we wish you would've come to one of us," Draco said.
"Any of us," Tonks added.
"We actually would've preferred it," Luna said.
"But I doubt I'm the only one who agrees that my decision has not changed," Blaise sighed.
"Neither has mine," Astoria said.
George rubbed the back of his neck and said, "You deserve some happiness, and Bellatrix is your blind spot. We all have one."
"Mine is Luna," Draco said.
"Mine is Draco," Luna snorted.
"Mine is my sister," Daphne said, shrugging.
"Ditto," Astoria joked.
"Mine is my brother." Fred put his arm around George's shoulder and added, "And I would do anything for him. Including put my own life at risk. So, we get it."
"We all would do that for someone," Tonks said. "But in this war, it is not just you then us. We're a unit, a family. We do this together or not at all. That was the implication when we had the ceremony."
Calli ran a hand through her hair and looked up at the ceiling. She screamed in frustration before she huffed and said, "I'm an idiot."
"I always knew that brightest-witch-of-her-age thing was bullshit," Blaise teased.
"Shut up," she groaned.
The Nacht Hexen all came up to her and hugged her. Bellatrix stood off to the side. She smiled at the sight, but she had something she needed to do. She slipped out of the room and found Tom out in the backyard.
"I was wondering when you would come find me," he said without turning around.
"Do you regret picking me as your protégé?" she asked.
Tom chuckled and shook his head. "No. But it got your attention, didn't it? I hope you still remember how to do push-ups."
"Wait, you were serious?"
"Of course I was."
Bellatrix folded her arms and said, "Come on, I don't need-
"Yes, you do. You've been in Azkaban for so long, and I imagine your stamina needs some work. Your dueling might be a little rusty. This is not a punishment. This is to help you," he said.
"And separating me and Calli?"
"That is a punishment. I will let you see her before she leaves. I'm not a monster."
"Not anymore," she muttered.
"What was that?"
"Nothing!"
"Tell Calli we are leaving in five minutes," he said.
Bellatrix went back inside the house and felt something settle in her stomach. She remembers what Tom was like when he was training her. He was ruthless but she was in the best shape of her life afterward. Rayna's method, however – Bellatrix cringed as she walked through the kitchen. Those poor children were going to be worked until they were unconscious. She hated that he was keeping her from Calli, but she could see the logic. She would never get back to her form if she were always with Calli. The girl was too damn distracting.
Calli woke with a scream. She automatically reached for her wand but was petrified. Travers stood in front of her bed, bucket in hand. He cocked his head and levitated her out of the bed. She was glad she had on pants and a hoodie.
"Come along, luv," he chuckled.
She mentally groaned as he levitated her down the hall in front of the Death Eaters, Narcissa, and Ted. This was far from embarrassing. Once they were outside, she found that Neville, Daphne, Astoria, and Luna were already waiting. Draco already warning her that he would be with his father that morning. The twins were at the Burrow while Blaise was preparing for Hogwarts with his mother. Tonks was on Moody patrol. Travers released the spell and Calli hit the ground on her knees. Her wand landed in the dirt by her hand.
"Your Mum woke me up with hot water. Consider yourself lucky I was nice enough to use ice," Travers grunted.
"I thought we said six," she growled, getting to her feet.
"You said six. I said dawn," he corrected.
Calli felt the air shift and she twisted, batting away the stunner sent by Mulciber. Another came from Rookwood. Then Travers. Then Narcissa. Then Travers and Mulciber together. She finally got hit with a stinging hex from Ted. She rubbed her thigh, knowing there would be a bruise there in the morning. Ted was many things, but a weak wizard he was not. The Death Eaters circled her. Ted and Narcissa remained with the Nacht Hexen, but Travers put his wand in his back pocket. He removed his cloak and was left in a ratty tank top. He put up his fists.
"Hit me twice, you get a lunch break. I hit you twice, you run a lap around the manor," he said.
Calli's eyes widened. "You're joking!" she exclaimed. "This place is almost twenty acres!"
"I know."
He moved. Calli ducked a punch and barely avoided a fist to the stomach. She tried to remember what her father taught her, what Dan taught her, and she moved her feet. She feigned a hit to the left and caught Travers in the jaw. He shook off the hit and got her in the side. They blocked and dodged, trying to catch the person off guard, and Calli made the mistake of getting frustrated. She swung high, leaving her chest free, and Travers gut-checked her so hard she felt it rattle her ribs. She wheezed and Travers whistled.
"Laps, ladies and gents," he shouted.
"Wait, what?" Neville asked.
"Oh, did I forget to mention that if she runs, you run?" he laughed. "My bad."
Calli was pulled off the ground by Mulciber and pushed into her friends.
"One lap. And then we you get back, we'll start the warm-ups," Rookwood ordered.
"Is this really how my Mum taught you?" Calli panted.
"No," Mulciber said. He then shot a weak Reducto at her feet. "She wouldn't have missed," he added.
Bellatrix tugged at the muggle leggings Tom got her. She trudged out to the Quidditch field and stopped short. Andy, Tom, Lucius, and Draco stood in front of her.
"Dammit," she sighed.
"First two laps around the manor," Tom instructed.
Bellatrix gaped. "This place is twenty-three acres!"
"I know."
She bowed her head and started jogging. Draco and Andy followed behind her at a steady pace while Lucius and Tom got comfortable on the grass.
"Think she'll make it?" Lucius asked.
"She won't have a choice."
By the end of the day, Neville's shirt was soaked, Daphne's hair was beyond saving, Astoria had tears dried on her cheeks, and Luna was barely able to walk. Calli had gotten the worst of it, of course, and she was lying down on the floor of the study with her back exposed. The others had gotten healed after a hit, but they refused to heal her until the end of it all. She had lashes on her back, bruising on her shoulders, and a burn at the base of her spine. Draco had returned a few minutes earlier and had the job of rubbing salve over Calli's back. She bit through the towel Luna got for her and screamed as Draco hit a particularly deep gash.
"Sorry," Draco muttered.
Daphne and Neville shared a look, one that said they knew they got it easy, and Luna was holding Calli's hand. They were alone, away from the others, and there was no need for her to pretend. She was in an extreme amount of pain. Draco finished and sat back, wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Done."
Calli nodded and spit out the towel. She turned her head to smile weakly at Daphne and Neville.
"You two are better than I gave you credit," she said hoarsely.
"Thanks," Neville said genuinely. "You lasted a lot longer than I thought. No offense."
"Dan used to drive me out to the forest. He would set up obstacles, blindfold me, and really test my awareness," she said. "The only difference being he had no magic, and I was usually ducking paintballs."
"Sounds fun actually," Draco joked weakly.
Calli pushed herself into an upright position, Neville and Draco looking away as her bare chest was exposed. She wrapped a towel around her chest and groaned.
"Fuck," she sighed. "This is going to hurt worse in the morning."
"What do you think we'll do tomorrow?" Neville asked wearily.
"I have no idea," she said. "But I know they will not be nice about it."
Bellatrix limped her way into her bedroom. She hated Tom. She hated the war. She hated Dumbledore. She hated Andy. She hated Lucius. She hated Draco.
"Fuck," she growled, forcing her body to move the way she wanted.
Everything hurt. Her arms. Her legs. Her thighs. Her feet. Her head. Once she finished her laps, he tied weights around her ankles and made her dodge spells from Andy and Lucius. Draco was tasked with distracting her, throwing random things at her, and using Calliope as bait. Then, just for the hell of it, Tom created a muggle gym and locked her inside, saying if she wasn't crawling out by the end of the day, she would do it all again. The worst part about it was she had crawled out of there, had whimpered with each step, and there was a weird pain in her back.
"Calli," she whispered. "I hope you're having a better night than me."
Laying on her stomach, Calli pulled Bella's pillow close and breathed in her lover's scent.
"Goodnight, Bella," she whispered.
The next morning, Calli wore a loose shirt and a pair of short shorts as she exited the bedroom. She glared at Lucius as he escorted her down.
"You will hate us by the end of the day," he said seriously. "And I hope you will have learned your lesson."
His ominous warning gave her a bad feeling. There were limits her mother would push way past, and Calli knew her limits. She knew what she couldn't tolerate.
So did her father.
"Did my father plan today?" she asked.
"He did."
A rock settled in her chest. Lucius led her outside where she found only Travers and some of her Nacht Hexen. Luna was missing, Astoria was missing, and George was missing. It was also very quiet.
"Nice of you to join us, Sleeping Beauty," Travers greeted. "No wands today. We're going on a little field trip."
"Dare I ask?" she sighed.
Travers grinned widely and threw a broom on the ground in front of everyone.
"Nacht Hexen, grab hold," he ordered.
That bad feeling intensified as Travers wiggled his fingers in a sarcastic wave.
"See you soon," he said.
Bellatrix woke up to Narcissa standing over her. She had no chance to get her bearings before the portkey activated.
Calli gasped as she and the others landed on a wooden platform in the middle of the ocean. She glanced around and her heart stopped as she saw Bellatrix on the opposite platform. What made things worse was that it wasn't just Bellatrix. Luna, Augusta, George, Astoria, and Tonks were beside her. They were tied together with blindfolds over their eyes. She turned. The rest of her family and the Death Eaters were on the beach, comfortable like it was a family picnic. Tom was the most comfortable, stretched out on a towel as he tanned. She wanted to hate him, but some part of her knew she deserved whatever was about to happen.
"Your jobs are simple!" Rookwood shouted. "Save one, go home. Lose one, well, you've just killed someone."
"Wait!" Neville shouted. "You're joking, right? No one's actually going to die if we fail?"
"That's up to you, mate," Rookwood laughed.
"We're in the Death Eater games," Draco whispered.
Calli groaned. She remembered the stories from Lucius and Andy. Her mother was truly a sadist. The Death Eater games were bloody, ruthless, and cold-hearted. If you weren't careful, you truly would die.
"No wands," Daphne reminded. "We have no wands."
"Then I hope you guys can swim," Fred muttered darkly. "Because I have a feeling that we'll be in the water sooner rather than later."
"We need a plan," Blaise said quickly. "Pick someone and go from there."
"I'll get Bella," Calli said.
"I got Luna," Draco added.
"Astoria's mine," Daphne huffed.
"George comes home with me," Fred growled.
"No one else touches my grandmother," Neville warned.
"And that leaves Tonks for me," Blaise said seriously.
"We have our persons, but if you see one of us struggling, we help. No one dies out here. No one," Calli growled.
"Agreed," Draco huffed.
Rookwood shot a spell into the air that sounded more like a bomb.
"Go!"