Chapter 50
A/N: Sorry for taking so long to post! I've been really busy with the holidays, schoolwork, and stuff. I've also decided to post this story to Wattpad! Look for it under the username 'theeyz'
Calypso looked around, she was in the entrance of the smoke-filled entertainment room at Malfoy Manor. It was apparently the '777 Official Death Eaters party' or whatever.
She looked down at her dress, it was a short silver dress that she'd gotten from a muggle store 'White Fox' or something. Usually, she wouldn't wear something muggle to a death eater party of any sort but it was her only option that would match the makeup she'd already done on herself.
"I didn't know you would come"
Calypso almost screamed as she turned around. "You had to wear the stupid mask didn't you Theo?"
When he didn't respond, Calypso sighed. "Of course you did"
"Believe me, I wouldn't be wearing it if it wasn't necessary. You should've heard my father this morning, 'it's regulation' blah blah blah"
"I supposed he's proud of you though isn't he?"
"Proud? One would think I just discovered a new planet"
"Wouldn't put it against you to"
"Oh please. Astronomy's useless"
Calypso frowned, "I rather like it"
"Whatever, are we never going to go in"
"Hopefully not. It reeks of smoke and muggles in there"
Theo ignored her and walked into the ballroom of Malfoy Manor.
Calypso sighed and followed in after him, holding her breath, "See, I told you"
"It's not that bad"
"Yes, it is" Calypso argued. "Let's go out-"
"Anything to drink miss?"
Calypso glared down at the little house elf. "I-"
"Not to worry!" The house-elf grabbed their hands and pulled them to a nearby table. "Food will be served shortly"
Calypso groaned, "Is it too late to cast a bubble-head charm?"
"That won't be respectful to whoever decorated this monstrosity"
"My mum and the Malfoys did- I told her not to kidnap muggles for entertainment!" Calypso added, glancing at the stage."
"That's-"
"Here are you're menus!" squeaked that fucking annoying house-elf, placing them on the table cheerfully. "What would you like to eat?"
Calypso stared at the menu.
The Dark Lord's 777 Official Death Eater Party Menu
Tasted and Approved (mostly) by the Dark Lord himself
"Yes, that is me, the Dark Lord"
*Read the Dark Lords' opinions on each dish down below!*
Drinks:
Berry Ocky Rot- 'When will the food come?'- the Dark Lord
Beer- 'Bah, I don't want to try the beer'- the Dark Lord
Brandy- 'what do you mean 'send the wine away then?!'- the Dark Lord
Chocolate Liqueur- 'I DO NOT NEED TO SAVE MY STOMACH FOR OTHER FOOD BELLA!'- the Dark Lord
Lobe-Blaster- 'hmmmmmhmmmmhmmmmhmmm'- the Dark Lord
Red Currant Rum- 'lalalala'- the Dark Lord
Knotgrass Mead- 'Yes I know I have a great voice Bella'- the Dark Lord
Sherry- 'Bah buh bee buh bah'- the Dark Lord
White Rat Whiskey- 'Ladedee dah dah, ladedee dah'- the Dark Lord
Pure Malt Whiskey- 'Well?'- the Dark Lord
Firewhisky- 'Why are you not clapping?!'- the Dark Lord
Champagne- 'Yes thank you thank you'- the Dark Lord
Elf-Made Wine- 'Oh I love this-'- the Dark Lord
Superior Red-'WHY ARE YOU NOT LETTING ME HAVE ANY WINE BELLA?'- the Dark Lord
Gin- 'House elf! Don't take the wine away!'- the Dark Lord
Appetizers:
Voulavent- 'I don't- ah this is delicious, no you can not have any!'- the Dark Lord
Crisps- 'These are so horrible, I'll eat them so you don't have to'- the Dark Lord
Plowman's Salad- 'Ugh, vegetables again?'- the Dark Lord
Hash Browns- 'If I wanted to eat potatoes, I could've asked a muggle!' the Dark Lord
Baked Potato- 'What's the difference between this nonsense and a hashbrown?'- the Dark Lord
Garlic Bread- 'Bah, My breath smells funny'- the Dark Lord
Bouillabaisse- 'Where is the restroom Narcissa?'- the Dark Lord
Beef, Lamb, and Guinness Stew- 'What did I miss?'- the Dark Lord
French Onion Soup- 'Ah, I remember this from after I killed the girl at Hogwarts'- the Dark Lord
Tomato Soup- 'no, Bella! I'm not a vampire so I will not eat that!'- the Dark Lord
Main Meal:
Garden Salad- 'I TOLD YOU NO GREEN STUFF!'- the Dark Lord
Cornish Pasty- 'This belongs with the desserts'- the Dark Lord
Strudle- 'I'm full'- the Dark Lord
Parma Ham- 'Hurry up Bella'- the Dark Lord
Seafood Platter- 'WHY ARE YOU STILL BRINGING MORE FOOD, FOOLISH HOUSE ELF?!'- the Dark Lord
Turkey and Cream- 'I SAID ENOUGH!'- the Dark Lord
Pancetta- 'But I do love this'- the Dark Lord
Spaghetti Bolognese- 'NO MORE!'- the Dark Lord
Macaroni and Cheese- 'I am not a child!'- the Dark Lord
Lasagne- 'That's it I'm leaving'- the Dark Lord
Dessert:
Custard Pie- "by- finally! Dessert!'- the Dark Lord
Canape- 'No I am not leaving. Why would I leave?'- the Dark Lord
Dirigible Plum Pudding- 'None for you Bella! Go torture someone or something'- the Dark Lord
Treacle Tart- 'I SAID NO!- and don't give me your big eye look!' - the Dark Lord
Chocolate Cake- 'Just leave. I'm sure I can finish this myself'- the Dark Lord
Blancmange- 'WHY ARE YOU LEAVING! Come back here and eat this for me'- the Dark Lord
Pumpkin Pasties- 'This too. A lord is not fit to eat like a train'- the Dark Lord
Pixie Puffs in Strawberry Frosting- 'Of course trains eat. You're being foolish Bella'- the Dark Lord
Yorkshire Pudding- 'Nagini's got someone! Got to go- SAVE SOME FOR ME BELLA'- the Dark Lord
Rhubarb Crumble- 'APPARATING IS NOT FASTER! I NEED TO FLY BELLA'- the Dark Lord
"Er- uh, I-"
"It's a big choice!" the house-elf squeaked. "If you need help deciding, just look at the reviews!"
"Come back to us later" Theo suggested.
"Of course! My name is Vander and I'll be your house elf for the night so just call me if you need anything!"
Calypso smiled tightly, "We will" she promised.
Once the house-elf had apparated away, Calypso looked back at the menu. "Is this all alcohol?"
"Most likely. See here, it says your mother sent away all the wine so the Dark Lord couldn't try any"
"You actually read the reviews?" Calypso demanded incredulously.
"Yeah, so what do you want?"
"Uh, I'll have a garden salad I guess"
"Dessert?"
Calypso scoffed, "If I eat anything else, I'm going to throw up"
"Drinks?"
"No thanks, and we're sixteen, we can wait another year"
"Right- what was the house elf's name?"
"Uh...Zander?" Calypso guessed. "Actually no, I think it started with a V. Vander"
"You're sure?"
"No"
"Vander!"
The tiny, hairy house elf appeared. "Yes?"
"Can we have two garden salads?"
Vander nodded, "Of course!" and with a pop, apparated away back to the kitchens presumably.
"Let's go outside"
Calypso shrugged, "Sure" and followed Theo out the back onto a balcony. "The stars are really pretty tonight" Calypso noted.
"If you say so" Theo said absent mindedly, tapping his fingers against the railing nervously.
Calypso frowned, "What's wrong?"
"Well..how do I put this?"
"Put what…?" Calypso asked nervously.
Theo raised his wand and a bunch of flowers appeared at the tip. "Will you be my girlfriend"
Calypso jumped back in surprise and grabbed the metal railing for support. "I- what?"
He sighed, "Why does my life have to be so difficult?"
"Er…"
"I should probably explain"
"Yes you should"
"So-"
Pop!
"Not now Vander! We'll be there in a minute!" Calypso said impatiently.
Vander bowed and disappeared again.
"Right, so you were saying?"
"It's complicated", Theo made to walk back inside but Calypso stepped in front of the doorway.
"Don't leave me hanging like this", she warned.
"You're bloody annoying, you know that?"
Calypso scoffed, "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that."
"Fine, but you know my father?"
Calypso raised her eyebrows, "What's he got to do with any of this?"
"He's got everything to do with this so listen carefully. I hate to drag you into this-"
"You just did"
"-but can you just-"
"Pretend to be your girlfriend? No can do Theo"
"Come on! Just until he dies"
"What?!"
"Besides you owe me"
Calypso crossed her arms. "Since when?"
"I played Quidditch for you in fifth year"
Calypso stomped her foot. "You were paid to do that!"
"Technically, you haven't yet and you're overdue"
"I'll give it to you after this stupid party!"
"But you see, muggles have this thing called interest-"
"I don't care what muggles have!"
"I'll give you 200 galleons alright? Just shut up now"
"What do I want with money? I need to get my fucking father to calm down"
"Why are you bringing this up now?" Calypso shrieked. "You couldn't have told me when I had my wand? Or-"
"No I definitely couldn't have. Especially not when you have your wand"
Calypso cursed, she was going to have a nice long chat with her mum about this after she confiscated her wand this morning.
"I suppose my mum knows about this too then?"
"Of course she does."
"Fuck. So now I'm being blackmailed?!"
"It's not blackmailed, and you don't have to do anything. Just think about it."
"I already told you no"
That wasn't the truth, but it didn't matter if she liked him or not. Under no circumstances was she going to betray Daphne or date anyone right before a war.
"Think about it" Theo insisted. "You don't know the full story"
"Then tell me the full story"
"I can't"
"Then no deal"
"Calypso come on!"
"A please would be nice…"
"Please?"
Calypso thought about it, but before she had time to answer, there was a loud bang. "What was that?"
"Do know- oh shit, Aurors"
"WHAT?!"
"AURORS!", Theo screamed back through the screams of people. Hopefully ministry people.
"I KNOW! BUT HOW?"
It didn't make any sense, there were loads of protection charms up everywhere around the Manor. But the whole place was full of Aurors, shooting red stunning spells everywhere, and duels had already begun.
"We have to go!"
"HOW?"
"Apparate!"
"WHAT?!"
Theo grabbed her arm and turned on the spot but nothing happens. "Disapparation charms" he muttered. "There's got to be another way out- duck!"
Calypso felt herself being pulled down as a red stunning spell whizzed over her head.
"There!" someone screamed.
"Where's my wand?" Calypso hissed from behind a chair.
"Your mother has it!"
"Your kidding-"
"Crucio!"
An auror with a long brown beard fell to the ground beside Calypso, writhing. "Here you go love" her mum hissed from above and tossed her a wand. "Your's is snapped but that'll do"
"SERIOUSLY?!"
"No time for arguments, you have to go- Avada Kedavra!"
An unlucky auror fell towards the ground dead.
"Ah I've been hoping to get her" her mum whispered, kicking over the limp body and pulling out a few bright pink hairs and adding it into a small vial of bubbly brown potion.
Quickly, it frothed and turned pink. "Drink this" her mum ordered.
"What-"
But her mum had turned away and handed another potion to Theo, a navy blue one. "Drink it and good luck, you'll need it!"
Before she could reply, another auror hurried into the room. "Drink it!"
Calypso hesitantly gulped down the pink potion which burned her throat. Her hair seemed to be shortening and she was- growing taller?
She looked over at Theo who was turning into the same man who was knocked down moments ago by her mum with the 'crucio' curse.
"No, no, no, it's polyjuice" she whispered, horrified.
Sure enough, seconds later, they had completely transformed.
"Nymphadora? Dawlish?"
Oh great, Calypso must've taken the place of her distant cousin blood-traitor. Great, just great. Calypso did a quick switching charm on her clothes with the dead Aurors and yelled back, "Right here!"
"Good! Is Dawlish with you?"
Calypso swallowed her nervousness and glanced at Theo who was pulling more hair out of the Aurors heads. "Yes sir!"
"Wonderful, scan the area! Have you caught anyone yet?"
Calypso glanced at her mum who was running out of the room. "...No sir!" she yelled back. "I think they've all er- ran away!"
"Blimey they're sneaky" the auror called back, "I was sure we had them this time, well Scrimgeour won't like this…"
"Mhm", she said as she transfigured the dead bodies into trash bags, then banished them, just before the head auror walked into the room.
"Help me cart this lot back to the ministry then"
They followed the auror into the entrance hall where a few death eaters were tied up.
"I- 'll take them back now then"
The auror nodded, "Okay, I'll alert the ones on the second floor then. Dawlish, go with Tonks just in case"
Theo- now John Dawlish, nodded and strode forward, tying up all of the death eaters with a rope. "The apparition charm?"
"Oh yeah" with a wave of his wand, the charm was presumably gone again. "Take them straight to Scrimgeour's office", he said as the door closed behind him.
The second the other auror left, they were untied again.
"What do you think-"
"Go!" Calypso hissed. "We'll explain later"
The death eaters gave them a last mistrustful look before they all apparated away.
Calypso wrung her hands together, "How do we get out now?"
"Apparate obviously."
"I don't-" Calypso's eyes widened, "I am not going to have an underaged wizard as you apparate me halfways across Britain!"
"I knew you wouldn't take it well"
Calypso opened her mouth to argue but no sound came out.
Oh gods, what if the Polyjuice didn't work? Was it contaminated- or?
"Calm down" Theo half snarled, he took her arm, and with a crack, they appeared back in the entrance to the ministry.
The second her feet touched the ground, she turned on her heel fully intending to tell him off but instead, he leaned over to her, resulting and them almost knocking into each other.
Calypso knit her eyebrows, "Are you okay?"
"Ugh, yeah, give me a minute". His face was unnaturally pale and his hands were shaking slightly. "No one ever mentioned to not apparate after being cursed"
"Cursed? Who cursed you?"
Theo took a deep breath in and leaned over on Calypso completely. "Wait-"
"Nevermind" Calypso quickly propped him up against a pole outside the ministry and rifled through her purse for potions or anything else that might help. "It's a miracle we didn't splinch honestly" Calypso muttered, pouring thick red liquid down his throat.
She wasn't exactly sure how a week-old blood replenishing potion would help since she had no clue what curse he was hit with, nor what was wrong with him so it wasn't surprising when nothing happened.
Calypso cursed and dug through the rest of her emergency potions. "What spell were you hit with?"
"Crucio"
Whatever she was expecting, that was not it. "Wait what?" Calypso took a deep breath in. "How many times? Also who-nevermind it doesn't matter who"
Theo shrugged.
"You don't know who, or you don't know how many times...try this"
Calypso quickly poured another potion down his throat.
"What..even is that?" Theo gagged.
"Stamina potion."
"It's stale"
"I know!" Calypso snapped. She had to be quick and figure out how to cure him before a muggle saw, or worse, a ministry official. "Can you walk?"
Theo slowly pulled himself up before almost immediately collapsing against the pole again.
"Sorry, that was a stupid question. I'll just tell them that the death eaters hit you with something and escaped. Is that believable?"
Theo shook his head, no.
"Well it's the best I have, come on then"
It took quite some time for her to help Theo across the pavement into the telephone booth. Calypso reached across and dialed into the receiver '62442'
"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."
"Uh, Nymphadora Tonks and John Dawlish, auror office. We're sent by uh-"
"Gawain Robards" Theo provided helpfully as he leaned against the broken telephone glass.
"We're sent by Gawain Robard, captain of the auror office to report to Scrimgeour about the raid to Malfoy Manor"
"Thank you," said the cool female voice.
The booth started rattling and they started sinking into the ground. After about a minute, they arrived in the atrium. "The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant day," said the woman's voice.
"We should've gone by floo" Theo whispered. "This is too suspicious"
"Save your breath" Calypso hissed, helping him across to a large map of the Ministry. "Minister office, minister office...oh it's there!" Calypso glanced one last time at the wooden board, tracing the route in her mind before walking off to the left.
"Left, right...straight...elevator...down the shelf- there!", she muttered to herself as they walked.
They were now standing in front of a large wooden door titled, 'Rufus Scrimgeour, Minister of Magic'.
"Don't yell at him" Theo warned.
"You're tempting me to drop you" Calypso retorted.
As she reached towards the door, he grabbed her arm.
"What now?"
Theo slowly raised his wand to his face, slicing open the right side of his cheek. "It's got to be believable"
"My fucking god", Calypso hurriedly conjured a few bandages to staunch the bleeding. "When have you gotten so stupid?" she demanded.
Once she made sure he wasn't going to pass out from blood loss- curse her giving the blood replenishing potion to him earlier, Calypso knocked three times on the wooden door in front of her before it flew open rather violently. "What is- oh you're back. That was fast. I've got to ask you a security question though, who was your healer while you were recovering at from the Battle of the Department of Mysteries?"
Calypso was accepting this, with all of the useless pamphlets the Ministry had sent people throughout the summer. "...look, with all due respect sir, I'm in a rather hurry to get Dawlish treated. We don't know how severe it is and we don't want him to be incapable like I was after being hit by Lestrange."
"Yes, I'm aware of that but it's security protocol Tonks"
Calypso faked an exasperated sigh. "I have to go back and help Robards too. He only has 3 other Aurors with him and we saw at least 100 at the Manor when I was ordered to take him back"
"I need you to answer my question," said Scrimgeour a little more forcefully, his hand drifting to his wand just slightly.
Calypso glared into his eyes, attempting to read his mind, "Tina Lancelot" she said quickly.
Scrimgeour narrowed his eyes but let them in hesitantly. "I can arrange for a healer to see to Dawlish. Is there anything else?"
Calypso shook her head. "You might need to send reinforcements though"
By now, the Manor should be clear of death eaters anyway so why not waste some Aurors' time.
Scrimgeour nodded, "I'll tend to that. Anything else?"
"No...but he needs a healer like, right now!" Calypso said urgently, carefully arranging Theo into the Minister's now vacant chair.
The bandages on his face were becoming undone and whatever spell he used, must've been preventing the wound from closing. If the Minister had anything to say about his now blood-splattered chair, he didn't, though he did frown and glance at his pocket, almost like he was thinking about how much it would cost him to get a new chair.
"Healer now?" Calypso prompted.
"Of course,", Scrimgeour dialed a number into a number pad and a few minutes later, a healer rushed in. "What's the matter, sir?"
"Dawlish is injured with some sort of dark spell"
The healer glanced over at Theo, his eyes scanning over his pale face and bleeding cheek. "How long has it been bleeding for?"
"Uh…", Calypso couldn't very well say it happened just before they entered the office, but any other lie was sure to get her caught. "I'm not sure sir, but it was definitely after we landed from apparating. I think perhaps he had already been hit with a spell that was hastily fixed but the pressure made it cut again."
"Indeed, indeed" the healer muttered, casting diagnostics over Theo. "Which one's your wand hand?"
"Ri-left", Calypso frowned. She didn't know what had gotten her to switch answers, just a gut feeling perhaps.
"Excuse me?" the healer questioned, turning around to look at her.
"Left," Calypso said more firmly, trusting her instincts.
"Left it is then" the healer rolled up his right sleeve and checked his pulse.
Thank Salazar he hadn't discovered the Dark Mark, Calypso thought gratefully.
"How close was his attacker?" the healer asked finally after checking his pulse, putting him to sleep for some reason, and examining a million other things.
"W-What?"
"Someone's used the cruciatus curse on him at least three times. I need to know how severe"
"I-" Calypso had no clue, first and foremost, who had used the curse and second of all, how close. If she had to take her best guess, the Dark Lord had. "I think within the distance of a room. It all happened really fast"
The healer narrowed his eyes, "The cruciatus curse in question was held over a long period of time. At least 2 minutes"
"I don't know alright!" Calypso shrieked. "I just want to know if he'll be okay? And then I need to get back to my job"
"Miss. I understand that you're very frustrated and you have just been back from a highly dangerous job-"
"Say one more word and I'm going to hex you". Calypso pointed her wand threateningly at the healer whilst nonverbally changing her hair color. Her mum had mentioned something about her cousin being a metamorphmagus or something.
Surprisingly, Scrimgeour just looked tired.
This must be normal behavior for Tonks.
The healer eyed her wand warily. "He'll need bed rest. No raids or nonsense for him until at least a week later."
Scrimgeour nodded and revived Theo. "Take him to "
Oh shit. She needed to get them out of here as soon as possible. If someone took him to , she would have to go and get him there. All the harder and more effort. "Sir...I hardly think that will be necessary?"
"You have just been pressing about the severity Tonks. I think it will be very necessary as you saw it fit to drag him from Malfoy Manor"
"I- those were on Robard's orders"
"I am the Minister of Magic. Not Robards. Now you need to go back to Malfoy Manor"
Calypso stared at Scrimgeour. "...Yes sir", with a last fleeting glance at the healer and Theo, who was motioning for her to go, Calypso marched out of the room.
