All HP characters are the brain child of J.K Rowling who is an extraordinary writer and who thankfully does not take offense to those of us who like to mess with her world.

Warning: This will become eventual slash so if you gots a problem with that then read ne further!

My don't I feel stupid. No sooner had I written that note I sat down not twenty minutes later and banged out this chapter. I guess that inspiration I spoke of struck and it just wrote itself. I guess the next challenge is the next chapter that stubbornly refuses to start. Anyway hope you enjoy this.

Cheers

Sway

For all her ability in potion making Calisto Lupin could not cook to save her life. It was something she had made peace with and due to the fact that she was going to be provided for the rest of her life she had no desire to improve her skills. Besides, she knew enough to get by, frying bacon, cooking toast, making milkshakes, she was all set. Anyway, once she was of age there were spells for that sort of thing. Her fathers' comment on the mess referred to what she had done to the food she was trying to prepare rather then actual mess as she was almost neurotically tidy. She sat at the kitchen table and watched the two grown ups move about the kitchen preparing dinner. Her father used small spells absent mindedly as he worked while Sirius threw dark looks every time it happened. Sirius seemed to enjoy working with his hands and he looked more relaxed in the kitchen then anywhere else.

"You know you don't have to use a levitation charm just to pass the potato's Moony"

Sirius said between clenched teeth

"Oh really?"

Her father said with a shrug

That was a point that was intriguing Calisto as her father very rarely used magic in food preparation proclaiming that only by creating yourself could you truly appreciate a meal. Cali had always shook her head at that, how could she appreciate something burnt to a cinder? Remus flicked his wand and the chicken on the bench began basing itself.

"Remus"

Sirius ground out

"Yes Padfoot"

He answered sounding totally innocent

Cali grinned, she so got it. Her father was goading him, it was obvious where Remus had learnt his philosophy on food, but he didn't seem to mind forgoing it to annoy his friend. Suddenly out of nowhere a pea went flying across the room hitting her father in the side of the head. Remus turned to Sirius with a parental scowl (looked like No. 3) but Cali could tell he was hiding a grin.

"Really Sirius, how immature"

Sirius looked pointedly at the chicken which seemed to be having the time of its life rolling around in the base and as a result he missed the dishcloth making a sneak attack until it splattered him in the back of the head. Sirius was momentarily shocked but soon recovered. With a war cry he dove at her father with the cloth pinning him against the wall and rubbing the damp material in his face. The two men wrestled and Cali chuckled with glee at the immature display, savoring the moment. She hadn't seen her father act this immature in a long time and she imagined Sirius needed the chance to lighten his soul too.

"Yuck, Sirius get off!"

Remus choked partly by the cloth and partly with laughter

"No more magic on the food?"

"No, just get that thing away from my face"

Sirius, chuckling from his victory, dropped the cloth and the two men straightened grinning, still awfully close to one another. Sirius reached up and brushed away some of the dampness from her fathers face and let his hand linger for a moment longer then was necessary. Calisto wanted to look away feeling that she shouldn't be witnessing the private moment coupled with her teenage brain telling her that she did not want to see her father involved in any romantic display but she found herself unwilling to look anywhere else. A second or two passed and the anticipation was nearly killing Cali. All at once the two of them seemed to realize how close they were and Sirius took a few steps backwards clearing his throat awkwardly. Cali rolled her eyes but said nothing as they went back to preparing dinner. The silence wasn't an uncomfortable which seemed odd to Cali but it was like they'd come to an understanding and were more then likely going to discuss it while she wasn't there.

Dinner had started off as a quiet affair but when her father had brought up the subject of time delay spells Cali had wondered out loud if one of those would work on a Filbuster Firework. Sirius had then launched into a story about the time the Marauders had used one of those on the Charms classroom so that the fireworks went off during a sixth year class later that day. After that Remus and Sirius had regaled her with tales of several Marauder adventures that made her own pranks pale in comparison. Of course there had been four of them and most of the time Cali couldn't find anyone to trust with her schemes. She would have dearly loved to have friends like that at her school but she had managed to make a social outcast of herself in the first year by getting on the wrong side of Genevieve LeSaux. Class was so important at Beauxabons and calmly telling LeSaux that her cheap perfume didn't disguise the scent of her rotten core did not go down well. In fact even the girl that she had saved from LeSaux taunts didn't seem to want to know her or even thank her for intervening. She had casual acquaintances at Beauxabons but no real friends. She hadn't been particularly upset about it but she knew that there was something missing from her life that the tight bond with her father couldn't cover. Listening to him and Sirius tell tales of their past only made the longing more pronounced but she didn't dwell, it didn't do to long for things you couldn't have. She knew her father worried about her, he told her she'd grown up to fast but she was quick to point out that he was the same.

She watched the two of them now, they were laughing together as they spoke of the past and Cali couldn't get over how young her father looked. It was just like that picture of them she'd found. So young and carefree, she cherished it while she could. Dark times were coming, her father'd said so himself and he wouldn't say something like that unless he had a valid reason for doing so. All signs pointed to it, she'd followed the tri-wizard tournament in the papers only for the end to be some tiny little column on how Harry Potter had won. She knew something was seriously amiss with that. There was huge press over the whole thing so why barley a mention about the third task? While she had been at school receiving her punishment she'd heard the rumors of what Dumbledoor had apparently said to his students. She'd even caught a glimpse of Fleur Declure having a heated discussion with someone about Harry Potter. Yes those articles in both French and English papers were less then complementary towards the end. The French claiming Potter was a glory hog and had conned his way into the tournament and the English saying he was dangerous and disturbed, something her father had said was "utter rubbish". After all the rumors and whisperings her father had sat her down and told her. A boy, one of the Hogwarts champions and died. Lord Voldemort had killed him and using a complex ritual he had come back. Yes, dark times were most definitely coming so it made sense to grab hold of whatever happiness you could and watching her father reminisce with Sirius she could see quite plainly what made him happy. Especially if those looks he kept shooting Sirius were any indication.

"It's a pity you never married Papa"

Cali said suddenly, so suddenly that Sirius who had been taking a sip of water nearly choked.

Remus raised an eyebrow at her

"What brought that on?"

He asked mildly

"Oh I was just thinking about all your stories from school that you've told me and the ones from when you were travelling and there's never any about anyone special. Or you should at least have someone special to share them with."

"You're special to me."

Remus interrupted reaching for her hand

Cali smiled and squeezed his hand

"You know what I mean. Your smart, funny and good looking, loads of people would have been have interested. I just wondered if there was something you were waiting for."

Cali refrained from specifying gender and then let her eyes slide over to Sirius who was giving her an annoyed look. She smiled innocently at him and turned her attention back to her father who was looking at her in a calculating manner. She gave his hand a final squeeze and began gathering their empty dishes.

"I was just wondering is all"

"There is no just anything with you Cali"

Remus replied

She shrugged at him and carried the dishes into the kitchen leaving them in silence

When she returned from the kitchen they were still sitting quietly each lost in thought.

"I'm going to my room to read"

She announced

She walked around the table and pecked her father on the cheek

"Goodnight Papa"

"Goodnight mon etoile lumiere*"

He murmured

"Goodnight Sirius"

She said surprising both he and herself by leaning down and hugging him. She wasn't really a tactile person with anyone but her father but Sirius really did look like he needed a hug. He was stiff at first but then relaxed and hugged her back. He really was too thin, they would have to do something about that.

As she headed to her room she thought briefly of eavesdropping on their conversation, just to make sure everything turned out alright of course, but she resisted and threw herself down on her bed. She looked out of her window at the crescent moon and sighed. It seemed dark times were already hear or if not dark then very strange ones. There was wanted criminal and a werewolf downstairs, a werewolf who happened to be her father but was really her uncle, she was an expelled student in danger of having her wand snapped in half if she couldn't find a formal education and there was a rampaging lunatic out there who had been brought back to life by one of her fathers supposedly dead old friends. She wondered briefly if anyone else's life was as strange as hers. One of these day she would have to meet Harry Potter so they could compare notes.

AN: Thank-you Jeanne and Wing Goddess (I'm glad you liked, encouraged me muchly) Only a few more chapters to go and once again, you got anyway I can improve I'd like to hear it. (Hmm, reading that it sounds kind of sarcastic, I am being sincere I really do like to hear improvements I could make)

*Now I know very limited French and with that which I do know my grammar is incredibly bad (I have enough trouble with English). Remus is suppose to be calling Cali my star light, in future if they speak French I'll just cheat and put in it brackets and we can just pretend there speaking French so I don't have to spend hours trying to sort out what I'm trying to say. Ah shortcuts.