Chapter 11
So there Calypso was, over at Malfoy Manor for the summer. That was, until one night when she realized that she hadn't heard from Theo in a long time and neither had Daphne according to her recent letter. Sighing, she made up her mind to ask Lucius the next morning.
The trouble was, Lucius was NOT in a good mood the next morning. His personal house-elf, Dobby, had escaped and breakfast had not been made. You do not want to see Lucius without his morning coffee. So Calypso and Draco were hiding in Draco's room, not making a sound, and pretending that they didn't exist. Narcissa was out on the 'battlefield' trying to find Dobby and calming down Lucius at the same time.
After almost an hour, the banging stopped and a very tired Narcissa knocked on their door. "You can come out now. The house-elf has been found. Blinky made breakfast in the lounge, you two ought to go there"
It was just a normal day in the Malfoy Manor. On the outside, everyone thought they were posed and elegant while really, it was hectic and busy, just like every other household.
So Calypso had to wait another day before asking Lucius if she could go to Theo's.
Lucius agreed hesitantly and promised her that he would ask the next time they were at the Ministry together. And that wasn't until a week later so Calypso was almost sure, as she arrived on the doorstep to the Nott household, that whatever help Theo needed, he wouldn't need anymore.
Boy was she wrong.
was the one who answered the door, his eyes gleaming with hatred as he let her in. After a few words with Lucius, the Malfoy patriarch left, the door closing behind him.
Zeren came out of the kitchen, "Who- oh. Calypso Lestrange? What are you doing here?"
"Er- just to see Theo"
"Oh" Calypso could have sworn that Zeren looked slightly more aggressive. "Why?"
"Uh….Well, he's my friend and I wanted to see how he was doing?"
Even to Calypso, she sounded unsure and suspicious.
"THEODORE!" yelled Zeren. "GET YOUR ARSE DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!"
A few minutes later, Theo appeared at the bottom of the stairs. "What?"
"Who have you been sending letters to?"
"What?" his blue eyes filled with false innocence.
Zeren marched forward. "I knew you were. FATHER!"
Calypso glanced at Theo who cast her a warning look, probably to hide or something.
"ZEREN! I SWEAR TO MERLIN. IF YOU AND YOUR BROTHER ARE HAVING ANOTHER FIGHT, YOU WON'T LIVE TO SEE ANOTHER DAY!" came 's booming voice from the kitchen.
"HE'S BEEN SENDING LETTERS!" shrieked Zeren.
Theo cursed and Calypso could vaguely see him finger his wand behind his back.
stormed into the living room a minute later, "I TOLD YOU NOT TO!"
Calypso inched back a bit as well, her hand nearing her wand. Surprisingly, Theo's eyes were filled with angry defiance, the innocent act long gone. "What did you expect me to do? Locking me up for a week just because you believed some lie that-" Theo pointed his wand at Zeren, "That HE told you. Why would you believe him?"
"PUT THAT WAND DOWN BOY!"
Theo carefully set his wand beside him. "Done"
It happened so quickly, but a red stream of light came out from 's wand, and Theo ducked, causing it to hit a tapestry, which it ricocheted off, towards the dining room table, which promptly collapsed.
Theo grabbed her hand and wand, then ran down the stairs to a basement.
"Oh- oh geez" Theo gasped. "I wish he kept his temper today. I thought having you over would help, sorry"
Calypso shrugged. "It's fine. Is- is he always like this?"
"More or less. It got worse after my mother died. Luckily he never found out that Daphne had witnessed it. That would be problematic."
"Wasn't it at the party though? A lot of people must've witnessed it."
Theo shook his head. "Nope, it was late, a lot of people were drunk in the yard, it was mostly just kids in the house when it happened."
"So many KIDS witnessed a murder?"
He scoffed. "Nobody was paying attention. And it's not like I would ask around to see. Like could you imagine me just going up to people and saying, 'hey, so did you see my mother get murdered?'"
Calypso laughed, "No. Definitely not"
Theo checked the time. "Are you hungry?"
"No?"
"That's good. I don't know if he's ordered the elves to ignore me yet"
"Elves can be trouble" agreed Calypso. "One of the Malfoy ones ran away last week"
"I thought they were attached to the house?"
Calypso nodded. "They are. But can still leave for a while if they really want to."
Theo sighed, "I wish I was a house-elf"
I raised an eyebrow at him. "Really?"
"No" he admitted. "But I do wish I could leave"
Calypso thought for a few seconds. "You could come with me later to the Lestrange Manor. I need to pick up some stuff"
He sighed, "What are the chances I convince my father to let me go?"
"Zero. But what if I ask him?"
"Then I'll be stuck here picking up your remains."
As if to prove his point, just at that second, someone upstairs started screaming again. "BOY! GET OVER HERE NOW!"
"NO!" Theo shouted back, then propped a chair against the basement door. Only now, did Calypso take time to look around it.
The basement was dusty with a single table and chair. There was also a tunnel leading to somewhere else in the Nott Manor.
"You've been locked here?"
Theo looked over at her, slightly flustered. "Wha- yeah. Now help me barricade this door in case he decides to slam the door open."
Calypso nodded and pushed a rickety old table against the door as well.
Sure enough, soon after, there came a loud banging from the door. "OPEN UP BOY!"
"BUT I DON'T WANT TO!"
"DON'T MAKE ME USE MY WAND" someone threatened, but Theo only grinned. "You can't. Remember you made this basement magic proof?"
At that, someone let out a loose string of curses yet the door remained firmly where it was, not even moving an inch. "OPEN THE DOOR OR-"
"OR WHAT?"
"OR….OR I'LL TELL FATHER THAT YOU'RE NOT!"
"Tell him then!" Theo taunted.
A few moments later, Calypso could hear footsteps storming away. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and pointed to the window. "Why can't you sneak out from there?"
Theo rolled his eyes at her. "That window isn't big enough for your owl to go through"
Calypso sighed and sat down on the table which was covered in dust. "Where are all your stuff?"
He pointed vaguely to the tunnel. "In there."
"Oh…" Calypso strode over to the tunnel and pushed open the door. Inside, was a school bag, a tiny bookshelf, and a bucket of water. Calypso stared at the shiny bookshelf. It looked so out of place in such a dusty room.
"A house-elf cleaned it for me" Theo explained. "I have to do my homework somehow."
Calypso wanted to slap Theo. "THAT'S what you're worried about? Why didn't you have the house-elf bring you food or something? And where do you sleep?"
Theo pointed to a hidden trapdoor on the floor. "It leads to my bedroom. And I steal food from the kitchens at night"
"WHAT?!" demanded Calypso. She had half a mind to go up and have a 'chat' with and Zeren. Speaking of which…" How about Zeren?"
"He's moved out already at the beginning of the summer. He heard that you were coming over so he stayed another day"
Calypso thought for a moment at Zeren's surprise when he saw her. "He didn't seem like he expected me?"
Theo let out a laugh without humor. "I don't know what his problem is then."
Night slowly fell, and Calypso was unsure of whether she would be staying the night or not. "Do you know?" she asked Theo.
He slowly shook his head. "Why would they tell me?"
"No. I suppose they wouldn't. Well, I didn't bring anything...do you think I ought to ask your father?"
This time, he shook his head quickly. "No..definitely not. You can sneak out at night if you want. The Rosier household is only a few miles away."
"They are?"
"Yeah, I tried to go there once. Turns out he has blood wards to stop anybody with Nott blood from leaving this place at nighttime. But your not a Nott."
"How do you know?"
Theo waved his hand airily. "The Nott's are so inbred it, you wouldn't believe it. My mother was my father's cousin. It's like if you married Draco Malfoy"
"Oh…"
"Yeah, well, are you going to try to get to the Rosier's? They'll be friendly to you I think. Since they were fairly close to the Lestranges."
"And my grandma was a Rosier. I was named after her, Druella Rosier" Calypso added.
Theo clapped his hands together. "All the better! You should go a little after midnight."
"What time is it now?"
He checked the invisible watch on his hand, "half-past ten I think"
Calypso narrowed her eyes, "you're sure?"
"No…" admitted Theo.
She crossed her arms. "Ugh…"
Then came the magical voice from outside the door. "Calypso! We're going home now!"
I jumped up. "Narcissa! COMING!" Then I turned to Theo. "Send me a letter whenever you can….okay?"
Theo nodded. "I'll try"
I hugged Theo, "Please stay alive...Bye!"
"I'll try," said Theo dryly. "What'll you do if I'm dead."
I thought for a moment, "I'll cry, then scream at your dead body for being so callous. Bye now"
"Bye"
They got home at about midnight, it turns out Theo's 'watch' was NOT accurate, and Calypso went to sleep at about one.
The next morning, Lucius dropped Calypso off at Lestrange Manor so she could get some more quills and stuff that were just hanging around, unused, in the library.
Every time she went into the manor, it never failed to amaze her. Even after a decade of being unoccupied, the house-elves had still kept it neat and shining. Just through the regal black gates into the entry hall, Calypso could see each crystal perfectly reflecting the sunlight on the chandelier. As always, the portraits on the wall greeted her kindly into the home.
The black sating curtains around the windows hung perfectly without a single cobweb in view, and each floorboard was in place, not a creaking to be heard.
As usual, she walked into the library on the second floor. There were towering bookshelves full of booby-trapped books and large tables full of quills. Walking over to the nearest table, she picked out a few eagle quills from a bowl and five bottles of ink.
Nearing lunchtime, a house-elf took her to Diagon Alley and she enjoyed a very peaceful day at the Leaky Cauldron. First going to Gringotts, then buying a broom since she wanted to try out for Quidditch, then walking to Eyelops' Emporium to buy more owl food for Artemis and a decent owl for Theo.
The house-elf brought her back to Lestrange Manor at about half-past 5 for Narcissa to pick her up and the rest of the summer passed quickly. Over her birthday, she went over to the Nott Manor again to keep Theo company, then they walked to Diagon Alley together to meet up with Lucius and Narcissa. It had taken quite some convincing for to allow Theo to leave but they had finally done it.
Calypso really didn't need anything, however, since she had already been to Diagon Alley so she offered to go with Lucius, Draco, and Theo to Borgin and Burkes for Lucius' yearly visit.
As Lucius waited for Borgin, Theo and Calypso politely looked around the shop while Draco complained. "I thought you were going to buy me a present."
Lucius glared at him, "Touch nothing Draco" as Draco reached for a glass eye. "And I never said that. I promised that I would buy Calypso a present for her birthday and if you behaved, you would get one too."
"But Calypso's got a racing broom already"
Lucius drummed his fingers on the counter. "Which she bought herself. And perhaps you should too, however, if your grades don't pick up…"
"It's not my fault," retorted Draco. "The teachers all have favorites, that Hermione Granger —"
"I would have thought you'd be ashamed that a girl of no wizard family beats you in every exam," snapped Mr. Malfoy.
"Ha!" came a voice from a cabinet.
Calypso and Theo narrowed their eyes and glared at the cabinet as it moved a bit before making their way to it.
Theo peered inside the slight crack and tilted his head. "Potter…"
Calypso strode forward. "Goodbye Potter" and she slammed the door shut to the vanishing cabinet. With luck, Potter would be somewhere in Antarctica for all it mattered.
Lucius swiveled his head for a moment before turning to the newly emerged Borgin. "Ah... ."
"Mr. Malfoy, what a pleasure to see you again," said Mr. Borgin in a voice as oily as his hair. "Delighted — and young Master Malfoy with his friends, — charmed. How may I be of assistance? I must show you, just in today, and very reasonably priced —"
"I'm not buying today, Mr. Borgin, but selling," said Lucius.
"Selling?" The smile faded slightly from Mr. Borgin's face.
"You have heard, of course, that the Ministry is conducting more raids," said Mr. Malfoy, taking a roll of parchment from his inside pocket and unraveling it for Mr. Borgin to read. "I have a few — ah — items at home that might embarrass me if the Ministry were to call. . . ."
It was all boring haggling, and Calypso mostly hung around near the back room, examining potions that were listed in her "Moste Potente Potions" book.
"It's the same all over," was saying in his oily voice, "Wizard blood is counting for less everywhere —"
"Not with me," said Lucius, his long nostrils flaring.
"No, sir, nor with me, sir," said Borgin, with a deep bow.
Theo muttered, "Not with anyone obviously judging by what my father says.."
"In that case, perhaps we can return to my list," said Mr. Malfoy shortly. "I am in something of a hurry, Borgin, I have important business elsewhere today —"
Again, Calypso wondered what that could be. She could have sworn she saw Lucius take the diary out of the Manor today, she just wondered what he would do with it.
"Done," said Lucius at the counter. "Come, Draco, Calypso, Theodore —Good day to you, Mr. Borgin. I'll expect you at the manor tomorrow to pick up the goods."
Calypso followed them out and as the door closed behind her, she could hear a faint popping noise, like if a house-elf had apparated. Shaking her head, she walked with Theo to the ice cream parlor, then Flourish and Blotts where they would be required to pick up a few thousand Lockhart books. Though unlike others, she wasn't falling over her feet for him. Why? Narcissa and Lucius knew the real person who had saved a city from werewolves through Fenrir Greyback, and now Calypso was sure that Lockhart was a fraud. Just like the Divination professor that Narcissa complained about so often.
After Lucius bought all of them ice cream, (Calypso carefully saving it for her mum when she visited Azkaban after the shopping) they arrived at Flourish and Blotts. They were by no means the only ones making their way to the bookshop. As they approached it, they saw to their surprise a large crowd jostling outside the doors, trying to get in. The reason for this was proclaimed by a large banner stretched across the upper windows:
GILDEROY LOCKHART
will be signing copies of his autobiography
MAGICAL ME
today
12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The crowd seemed to be made up mostly of witches older than Narcissa but younger than her mum. A harassed-looking wizard stood at the door, saying, "Calmly, please, ladies. . . . Don't push, there . . . mind the books, now. . . ."
Calypso and Theo squeezed inside to meet Daphne who was brushing her hair hurriedly. "Oh hello, Calypso, and Nott! Do I look alright?"
Theo glared at Lockhart for a bit before dragging Daphne out.
"Hey! What-" her words were cut short however when Calypso cast a silencing spell on Daphne. "Lockhart's a fraud. He's taking credit for other people's work! Oh snap out of it Daph!" yelled Calypso. A few seconds later, Daphne blinked. "Well, I don't suppose I will go to see him then...Have you bought your books already?"
Calypso shook her head. "We haven't gotten them yet. But Draco will I'm sure. How was your summer?"
Daphne shrugged, "Fine." then looked at Theo. "Where have you been?"
"In the basement of Nott Manor" answered Theo breezily.
Daphne stared at him. "Oh...I thought you dyed your hair or something"
"What?" Calypso stared at Theo's hair and noticed that it was slightly darker now, almost nearing black. "Yeah...What happened to it?"
"Uhhh?" Theo looked confused. "You should have seen my hair when I was born. It was like a reddish hazel color. But I guess that's what you get when you're inbred"
Daphne leaned forward and ran her fingers through Theo's hair. "Eh, at least you're not bald. It's not the worse. But what would happen when your hair turned black. Would it start getting lighter again?"
Theo threw his hands in the air. "How would I-"
"DAPHNE!" called.
Daphne turned towards him. "COMING! Bye Cal, bye Nott"