Lupin's Lair

by Sorceress

Novel-length post-GoF fic, still under construction, featuring Remus, Sirius, Angelina, Moody, Snape, (to name a few) Aurors; broomsticks, portkeys; St. Mungo's, Diagon Alley, The Leaky Cauldron; explosions, Death Eaters, car chases, rabbit chases & chaos

13. Up Shit Creek without a paddle

'Tis the mark of a good writer to have next to no author's notes, I believe.

I am obviously not a good writer. ;-)

I write for fun. And reviews. My fic is not aesthetically pleasing, or grammatically correct. The plotholes are so huge you could park a Boeing 737 in them. Don't even get me started on the timeline or the continuum.

Apparently it's in human nature to want to talk about themselves. So, here, another update in my life:

*NEWS FLASH!
SORCERESS DROPS OUT OF SCHOOL!

Yes, folks, I've done the unthinkable. Dropped out of school. I'm often asked, 'why?' My usual flippant answer is – 'because I can.' (I'm telling you, that shuts people up) Actually, the real reason is not as silly as that. I hated school. Really did. I can get into the pre-Med school course at Uni on my last year's marks, so there's no real reason for me to be there. So I upped and left. (Yes, I'm dropping out of school and planning to be a Doctor.) At the mo I'm working, studying and writing.

It's very funny, half of my year are convinced I'm pregnant, and the other half reckon I'm hooked on drugs. I started the pregnant rumor myself, ;-) but where the drug rumor came from…?!?

My excuse for this chapter being late is that the modem was taken off the computer because my little sister kept talking to her friends on MSN Messenger and not doing her homework. It was not my fault, I swear!

And also, Allylupin had exams. Which I'm sure everyone will understand.

And so without further ado, ladies and gentlemen….roll film. (SNAP!) (WHIRRRR!)

##########################################

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Kevin knocked hard on Ben's door.

"Get up, you layabout!" he called through the keyhole.

Inside, sun was streaming through the open window and annoying Ben.

With a moan, he rolled over.

What had happened last night? He wondered, and then dragged the pillow over his face as he remembered.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Kerian knocked hard on Calypso's door.

"Get up, you Sloth!" he called through the keyhole.

Inside, sun was streaming through the open window and annoying Calypso.

With a moan, she rolled over.

What had happened last night? She wondered, and then dragged the pillow over her face as she remembered.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Remus knocked hard on Sirius' door.

"Get up, you Flobberworm!" he called through the keyhole.

Inside, sun was streaming through the open window and annoying Sirius.

With a moan, he rolled over.

What had happened last night? He wondered, and then dragged the pillow over his face as he remembered.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Calypso blinked.

Woah, déjà vu, she though to herself.

********************************************

Fudge was still in the courtyard of Azkaban, freezing. Spicier had dragged out a few sparse blankets, and they had wrapped them around their shoulders to try and warm themselves up – magic was impossible with the wards on Azkaban still up.

He had dozed off during the wee hours of the morning, and was rudely awoken from his fitful slumber in the midst of the terrifying nightmare. He woke up with a gasp and Dementors floated out from the bowls of the prison to stand, row by row, in front of his and Spicier's huddled forms.

Fudge shook his head, trying to clear away the shredded remains of his nightmare. It was horrible – the election….

"Fudge!" Spicier hissed by his side, and Fudge snapped his head up, spotting a single Dementor break off from the ranks and float towards him. He was so cold, so cold…

"You have reached a decision?" Fudge called out with all the energy he could muster.

There was a deathly still.

"No." was the flat, whispery reply.

Fudge just stared at the Dementor's hooded form in disbelief. "But you've been discussing it for eleven hours!"

"We will make a decision in the future." The Dementor whispered, and turned it back on Fudge to float back to the rest of its kind, who were all moving back into the prison.

Fudge, through his trance, could hear the moans and screams increase with every Dementor that disappeared into the stone walls. He turned to Spicier.

"What do I do?" he asked the burly Scotsman desperately.

Spicier looked at Fudge with distaste.
"Nothing. You get up, go back to the Ministry and tell them what you just heard." He snapped, and then walked off, leaving a dumbstricken Fudge, wrapped up in patched old blankets like a silkworm, to find his own way out of the prison.

############################################

Ben walked down Diagon Alley nervously. The tall, mahogany brick building around the corner from Gringotts was his destination. Working his way through the window-shopping crowds, he didn't even spare a glance at the Broomstick shop, for once. His mind was elsewhere. Eventually reaching the building, he pushed the swinging glass door open and walked in.

The receptionist was furiously typing as Ben walked uncertainly in.

"Yes?" she inquired pleasantly, looking up.

"Erm…I need to see Albus Dumbledore please." Ben murmured, handing over a piece of paper.

"Third floor." the receptionist replied, scanning the parchment. "Stairs are to the right.

Ben thanked her and started climbing the stairs the had suddenly appeared.

First floor were Accountants, Second floor was home to a pack of Lawyers – Ben shuddered – and the Third Floor was unmarked. A simple, wooden door. Ben pushed it open and walked inside to the Aurors HQ.

It was a large, long room, littered haphazardly with desks, books, maps, charts, diagrams and quills. People buzzed around, deftly working. A telephone – what? A telephone? – was ringing shrilly, and a wiry woman answered it. As Ben watched, a red-headed man Ben had been introduced to but couldn't remember the name of was closely scrutinizing a small silver ball. He picked up his wand thoughtfully and rapped the orb with it. There was a small cracking noise, and the red-headed man snatched his hand away as if the ball had burnt it. The orb rolled off his desk, bounced with a clang on the floor, and trundled along to hit Ben's shoe.

Ben bent over and picked it up. The metal was hot to touch, and he dumped it on the man's desk with a curious look on his face.

"Thanks. Bloody passworded Portkeys." The redheaded man said, and then squinted at Ben. "Hey, aren't you one of those Aussies? Erm….Ben…." he begun, searching for his last name.

"Ben Hunter. Yeah, I was wondering if Dumbledore was in at the moment. I need to have a word with him." Ben replied confidently, gazing around the room.

The man frowned. "He should be here somewhere….oh look, there he is now."

Indeed, Dumbledore, draped in emerald robes, had just emerged from an adjoining room, talking animatedly to a group that followed him out.

Ben gulped. "Thanks, mate." He said to the man, who grinned back, and continued concentrating on his orb. Ben turned and worked his way around the cluttered desks over to where Dumbledore was conversing with other people.

Gingerly, he stood aside, waiting for Dumbledore to finish.

"…and get Snape to contact me immediately when he gets back. I need to know what's going on with –" Dumbledore broke off suddenly, spotting Ben lurking beside Moody's desk.

"Mr. Hunter!" Dumbledore exclaimed. "And what can I do for you today?"

Ben started nervously. "Well, um…" He was all too aware that the group of people Dumbledore was talking to were eyeing him up interestedly. "I've heard you know where Remus Lupin is."

Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkled. "And you heard right. What do you want of Remus?"

"Just need to ask him something." Ben replied evasively. "Where can I get in contact with him?"

Dumbledore pulled his beard thoughtfully and looked directly at Ben. Ben felt his insides turn to custard.

"I suppose I can do that. Turn around." He suddenly ordered. Ben hesitated for a second, but did so, wondering what the hell was going on.

"Turn around again." Dumbledore commanded, and Ben did so, to stare straight at a pale, brown-haired man who looked at Ben curiously.

"Well, here you go." Dumbledore said jovially. "Mr. Hunter, this is Remus Lupin."

Ben gave a little jump of surprise, and Remus Lupin snorted, shaking his head at Dumbledore.

"I was standing next to him. Dumbledore may be good, but he's not that good." Remus said quietly as an explanation for his quick appearance. "Now, you wanted to ask me something?"

Ben was a little shaken, and scratched his head thoughtfully. "Umm…..it's a long story…." He begun, and hesitated.

"Cut it short then."

A dark-headed man standing next to Remus offered. Ben stared at him. Oh dear lord, it was Sirius Black. Who was innocent, Ben quickly checked himself. But still, it isn't every day you talk to a convicted mass murderer. Or the most famous contemporary Wizard in the world. Or a werewolf, for that matter.

"Oh. Right then." Ben said, rallying his senses. He wasn't really comfortable discussing what he wanted to in front of all these people, but he realized they weren't going to go away. "Mr. Lupin, do you happen to know someone by the name of Calypso?" he asked nonchalantly.

Ben was astounded at their reaction. Every person listening did a double-take. Before Ben realized what was going on, a strong hand was placed on his back and he was propelled into the room Dumbledore and the others had just walked out of.

******************************************

Calypso finished plaiting one pigtail, twisted the hairtie around the end firmly, threw the finished blonde plait over her shoulder and stared at her reflection in the mirror.

Blue-grey eyes stared back at her. Slowly, she smiled, and rubbed the freckles on her nose. There were less, she had noticed, since she had come to England. Back in Australia, she had thousands over her arms, but they were fading. But still, not fast enough. Calypso hated her freckles, and ever since she was little had tried to get rid of them, to no avail. She thought they made her look younger than she was already, and that people didn't take her seriously with cute little freckles scattered over her cheeks and nose.

But today they would finally come in handy. Cute and innocent and utterly irresistible. At least, that was the plan. Calypso winked at her reflection, and grabbing some cherry-flavored lip gloss, dashed out the door of her room, slamming it behind her.

"Oi! Slow down!" someone called as she belted down the corridor, skidding around the corners, and screaming to a halt a few paces from the Dining Room door, her heart beating furiously, cheeks rosy and blonde plaits going haywire. She pushed a door open and walked inside.

The old dining room was dominated by one huge oak table that ran from one end of the room to the other. Morning light drifted down through the skylight to illuminate a scene that would freeze the blood of most people, Wizard or Muggle.

Sitting around the dining room table were – Terrorists, Death Eaters, chowing down their breakfast.

Calypso trotted up to the servery. Grabbing a bowl, she ignored the fried eggs, bacon and baked beans, and piled up a serving of cornflakes and fruit. Balancing it on a tray with a cup of orange juice, she worked her way over to an empty seat between Kerian and Evelyn.

"Call that a breakfast?" Kerian said despairingly as she sat down. "Now, this is a breakfast."

Calypso looked disapprovingly at Kerian's mountain of spaghetti on toast. "I eat healthily!" she replied, and dug a spoon into her food.

"Aw, c'mon, eat up Calypso!" Evelyn said between chomps of bacon. "You're too thin anyhow."

Calypso had to grudgingly admit she was right. There was something about living immersed in Dark Magic and tainted personalities that turned Calypso right off food. Today her stomach was turning and tumbling sickly. Bacon and eggs would not sit right in her guts.

"Yeah, but I'll be laughing when I'm old and healthy and you're in hospital with cholesterol-laden arteries." Calypso shot back.

Evelyn, a grey-headed lady with too many wrinkles, snorted. "Live every day like it's your last, Cal dear, because in the Dark Lord's service, it just may be."

Calypso caught Kerian's eye for a moment, grimaced at the gloomy advice, and then turned her attention to her bowl of cereal, scoffing it down. As soon as she had taken the last mouthful, she leapt up and dumped her dirty dishes in the racks, and bounded off to where her mother and father sat at the end of the table, talking animatedly with other Death Eaters.

"…should be a piece of cake. The house is in the middle of nowhere, there's no neighbors to call for help."

"Those filthy Mudbloods won't know what hit them!"

"Still, I'd like to know why Wormtail's Death Eaters can't take care of the Petchell family themselves. After all, we're not here just to do odd-jobs for those idiots, we have a serious long-term mission that is much more important than just killing mere Mudbloods!"

Calypso dropped down in the gap between her parent's chairs. Cain, her father, broke off his conversation to look at her. He was a handsome man, with puppydog brown eyes and coffee colored hair, but the years in Devil's Island had taken their toll. His hair was streaked with grey, balding at the front, and as he turned to Calypso, she noticed more creases and folds on his skin that mere age couldn't explain away.

"So, how's my little girl today?" he asked, smiling. Usually, Calypso would complain loudly at being referred to as a little girl, but today she was all sunshine.

"Peachy, Dad." She replied hurriedly. "Look, I have a favor to ask of you."

Cain rolled his eyes. "What is it now?"

Calypso gave him her toothiest smile. "Well, I know that the potions lab is Snape's in the morning and mine in the afternoon, but I've reeeeally got to go in and just add a little more bat's wing to that Soundless Potion or it's all going to be ruined!"

Cain frowned deeply. "Oh no Calypso, I don't know about that. I don't want you mixing with people like Snape…"

"Oh come on Dad!" Calypso exclaimed theatrically. "I won't be a few minutes. I'll be in and out like a flash! Besides," she added, "Snape doesn't scare me."

Cain looked thoughtfully at his breakfast bowl, and Calypso held her breath. "What do you think, Octavia?" he asked his wife eventually.

Calypso's mother took her spoon out of her mouth. "I don't see any harm in it as long as she's quick." Octavia said slowly.

Calypso bit the inside of her mouth to keep from smiling too much. "Thanks Mum, thanks Dad." She chirped, and scuttled out of the dining hall, letting the huge doors bang behind her.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"Oi!" Ben exclaimed, and twisted around to stare angrily at Sirius, who had shoved him. The others filed into the room, a small office, and the last person, a red-head that had to be related to the other red-head Ben had just talked to, shut the door firmly behind him.

Sirius stared back with raised eyebrows.

Ben looked around, and felt uneasy. The Phoenixes flanked the walls, barring the door, all wearing a grim expression. Dumbledore most of all. Ben suddenly realized why Dumbledore had the reputation he did.

Dumbledore looked at Ben for a moment, and cocked his head curiously. "Tell me, Mr. Hunter," he begun in a soft voice, "how do you know Calypso?"

Ben was aware that his mouth was dry. This is stupid, he thought. Get a hold of yourself, boy!

"Call me Ben, please." Ben said smoothly. "The only times I've ever been called 'Mr. Hunter' is when I've stood in the Principal's office in big trouble."

"Then I might have to continue calling you Mr. Hunter." Dumbledore replied dryly without a hint of a smile.

Oh crap, Ben thought, biting his lip. "Look, d'ya mind if I sit down?" he asked shyly. "It's a long story."

Dumbledore nodded briefly, and Ben turned around, relieved to get out of those harsh stares, grabbed the chair from behind the desk and plonked himself down. The Phoenixes didn't move. Ben took a deep breath and begun.

"How do I know Cal? Quite well. I first met her ages ago, at my Grandmother's funeral. She'd been great friends with my old Kuia, and, actually had been the person to find her dead. Anyway, she was standing on one side of the grave, bawling her eyes out, and I was standing on the other side."

Ben paused to look around at his audience. Dumbledore, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black he knew, and slowly he could put names to the others. Neil someone-or-the-other was off to the left next to the window, and Maria Figg was perched expectantly on the edge of a small table. Professor McGonagall was standing to the right of the door, and whosermeflung … Diggory! was standing beside her, hands thrust into the pockets of his robes.

Picking up his thread, Ben continued.

"I next met her when I went flatting with one of my old Dorm mates from school. Ian. He's a few years older than me, but he works in the Ministry too. He'd met Cal and her sisters a while back, and they'd ended up flatting with him in this huge old Villa on the family estate. Cal was doing studies at Uni., and working the farm in the term breaks. Then she finished Uni., and decided to do her big OE."

Ben looked around at the unchanged faces. "You know, an Overseas Experience. Go to Britain and work as a Temp or a barman or something like that for a few years. Backpack a bit. Heaps of fun." Ben grinned at the others, and got no response. Chastened, he returned to the story.

"Anyway, Cal flew to America, and then she simply disappeared at LA airport ages ago. Had Interpol and everything after her. They all said she was probably murdered, and in the end we thought so as well. Until a few months back we got this crazy phone call from someone who said they were Cal. Alive and well in England. She only managed to say that she was saying with a Wizard called Wemis when she got cut off. Never heard back from her. Well, we scrambled to find anyone called Wemis in England. We'd heard it wrong over the international phone lines. And since there was no-one called Wemis in the whole of England, we just brushed it off as a bad hoax."

"So?" Remus asked suspiciously, staring Ben down with an unwavering glare.

"So, Mel, Cal's sister was always hounding us to keep looking. And then I ended up coming over here to help you guys, and I've been ordered to hunt this elusive Wemis person down. And last night I overhead a conversation where the name Remus popped up and I put two and two together and realized that Wemis was probably Remus." Ben shrugged his shoulders. "And here I am."

There was silence.

The Phoenixes, one by one, turned around and exchanged knowing looks which were unfathomable to Ben, who silently sweated in his seat.

"And you obviously know something about Cal." Ben said hopefully into the oppressive quiet.

There was more silent communication among the Phoenixes, and Ben squirmed slightly. Suddenly, Dumbledore turned to Ben.

"Can you prove it? He said sharply.

Ben blinked. "Yeah." He reached into the pocket of his robes, and before he could blink, eight wands were pointing at him.

Ben froze.

"Shit." He said disbelievingly, staring wide-eyed at the menacing wandtips, his hand still in his pocket.

"Slowly, Mr. Hunter." Sirius warned him, and inch by inch, Ben pulled out a wallet.

"It's a wallet. Not a wand." He said slowly, opening it up, his eyes still transfixed on the wandtips.

As he opened up his wallet, suddenly photos poured out onto the floor. "Oh crap!" Ben exclaimed, and bent over to pick them up, but was brought up short by sparks from the ends of a few wands.

"We'll get those, if you don't mind, Mr. Hunter." Remus said quietly. With a flick of his wand, the piles of photos flew into his hands.

Remus started leafing through the photos. There were hundreds – anything could fit into a magical wallet, and it seemed that Ben had stored a few photo albums worth of photos in his.

Suddenly he stopped, frowning.

Sirius bent over to see what Remus was looking at. Clutched in his hand was a photograph – moving, as Wizarding ones do. Sitting astride a leggy chestnut horse was Calypso, laughing at the camera, blonde hair in two plaits over her shoulders. A classic outback leather hat on her head, denim jeans and a dusty black singlet covering a body littered with freckles. As Sirius watched, she winked conspiratly at the camera, and waved. But that was not what Remus was looking at.

"Mr. Hunter," Sirius said slowly, "who is the person on the grey horse next to Calypso?"

Remus turned the photo around to show Ben.

"Mel. Melody, her triplet. Can't you tell?" Ben replied.

Melody was a carbon-copy of Calypso, only with brown hair and brown eyes. Unlike Calypso, who blew kisses at the camera, Melody just gazed into the horizon with a smile.

"Look, what am I supposed to be proving here?" Ben asked anxiously

Remus kept leafing through the pile of photos, stopping at another.

It was a simple shot of someone's backyard during a barbeque. Sitting at a picnic table was Calypso, talking to a graceful Asian girl and a carrot-haired guy. Tending the barbeque was Ben, turning sausages over, while a girl on a swing kept sailing into and out of the shot. Remus guessed correctly that it was Calypso's other triplet, Aria. The similarity was amazing.

Ben looked dazzled. "Look, Dumbledore, I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but what the hell is going on? Where's Calypso?" he asked to the old man, who was studying photos avidly.

Dumbledore turned back to face Ben, and gave a long, tired sigh.

"It's a long story, Ben."

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

There was a slight knock at the door, and Monahan scowled. With a wave of his arm, the door slowly creaked open.

"What the hell do you want?" he growled without looking at who was standing in the doorway.

Calypso hesitated. "Erm…It's me. Calypso."

"Whattya want?" Monahan barked, still pouring over his piles of parchment.

Calypso bit her lip. "I need to get a Portkey to the Lab."

"No."

"Why not?"

"You bloody well know why not. You can't go to the Lab in the mornings. Now clear off and leave me alone."

"Dad said I could."

"Like hell he did."

"Did too."

"Do I look like I came down the river on a water biscuit?"

"Actually…"

"The answer is no."

"Dad said…"

"Get the hell out of here."

"But, honestly, Dad said…"

"Fine!" Monahan finally yelled, slamming his quill down on the table. "Fine! I'll get you the Portkey, and I'll be waiting for Cain to wallop you when you get back!"

Calypso relaxed a little as she watched Monahan storm out of the room, and bring back a small metal orb in a red velvet box.

"Take it and get out of here." He snarled, and as Calypso reached over to touch the orb, she looked fearfully up to Monahan's face.

The last thing she saw before the world blurred into a multicolored streak of light was hard, suspicious, black eyes.

How much did he remember? She wondered, and shuddered at the thought.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

A liquid boiled angrily in a cauldron, violent red in colour, acrid in smell. The bricks of the fireplace were already stained permanently black from the fumes, and the walls of the near-new lab were slowly darkening from white to a dirty cream.

On cold marble benches sat a multitude of strange and bizarre looking equipment, looking like a cross between Dr. Jekyl's Lab and a medieval kitchen.

In one of the six fireplaces, a fire roared away, but did nothing to ward off the incredible cold and the oppressive atmosphere of the long room.

Snape stood over his red cauldron and with a pair of tongs and carefully added the mashed newt's tongues to the mixture. He stood back expectantly and eyed the cauldron cautiously.

Nothing happened.

Snape stood there, feeling anger and frustration rise from his feet to the top of his head.

The potion should have spat sparks and shrunk to only a few milliliters of orange-brown solution. Instead, two months work of brewing was a flop.

He took a deep breath, forcing himself not to scream out loud at the cauldron or curse it to smithereens. But, of course, cursing it was impossible in the lab – magical wards were up, so no spells cast could inadvertently disrupt the potions being brewed.

"I'm surprised it got that far, actually." A voice said suddenly from behind him.
Snape jumped with shock, and his foot accidentally knocked the cauldron, which quickly flipped over and the red potion gushed over the marble floor and Snape's shoes.

With a yell, he leapt up onto the workbench, sending equipment flying as the potion ate angrily into the marble floor and his shoes. He quickly grabbed a bucket of Vanquishing Solution and threw it over his shoes, just in time to save his feet.

Huge clouds of light blue gas filled the room, and Snape choked.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" he snarled at whoever had disturbed him. It was like he was standing in a baby blue tinted fog, though – he couldn't see the end of his nose.

"At the moment? Opening the windows and vents." A choking voice called out from the other end of the room. There was a scraping noise, and a few clicks as the windows were opened.

Snape was suddenly glad of the thick fog. There was no way he wanted to be seen sitting up on the workbench, surrounded by a sea of acidic potion, with no shoes, and hole filled socks with Mr. Happy printed all over them.

He curled himself into a more dignified position. "Who is it?" he hissed. "Look at the mess you have made! If it wasn't for…"

"Mess you made, don't you mean?" the voice rang back, trying to stifle a laugh. "Anyway, It's Calypso. Sorry to disturb you."

Snape froze. "What are you doing here? You know the lab is mine in the mornings from ten till three, and yours from three till eight."

"I have some things to finish and pick up." She said curtly, and through the thinning smoke, Snape could spot her, standing over some distillation equipment at the far end of the room. Gingerly, Snape stood up and traipsed carefully around the items on the workbench till he reached a dry piece of ground and jumped down, thinking quickly.

"So, what's your secret plan for getting out of here?" he sneered as he walked over to where she was standing, her back to him.

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret, would it?" she replied absently, carefully turning the tap of the separating funnel, and watched azure blue, sparkling potion stream into a small phial. Just at the right moment, she turned the tap off, leaving the black mixture in the funnel and the blue in the phial. She corked the phial, and dropped it into her pocket, totally ignoring Snape's curious expression. Taking another phial, she dribbled the remaining black potion into the phial, corked it, and also placed it in her pocket.

"So, you going to rejoin us again, are you?" he said sarcastically as she walked off to a cauldron hanging over a small fireplace.

"Dunno." She replied. "Maybe yes, maybe no."

She grabbed a silver ladle from a drawer and fished out of the gloopy grey mixture a large spoonful, dropping it onto a beaker. Still tailed by Snape, she pressed a lid onto the beaker and also dropped that into her pocket, which was bulging with glassware.

"That's not what you told Black, though." He challenged her.

"Nope." Calypso replied calmly, and glided along the workbench to reach yet another cauldron. "Situations change, Snape."

Trotting along to the other end of the room, Snape still following, she ladled out a quantity of bright yellow potion into yet another beaker before sealing it and dropping it onto her pocket.

Snape's eyes lit up with recognition. "That's Confusing Concoction, isn't it?" he asked knowledgeably.

"Uh-huh." Calypso replied. "Help yourself to what's left. I won't be back here."

Snape raised his black eyebrows. "Leaving today?"

"In about half an hour." She replied.

"You said tomorrow." Snape hissed in her ear.

Calypso shrugged. "As I said before, situations change."

"What about Fleur?" he challenged her as she started to walk to another bench.

"You can pick up Fleur from Franklin Street park, on the park bench by the playground in two hours." Calypso said smoothly, still walking.

There was silence in the lab as Calypso quickly dismantled the equipment that had previously contained the blue and black liquid, Snape looking curiously over her shoulder, trying to work out what she had brewed.

"So, what have you been up to? Killing Mudbloods? Murdering old Muggles in their beds?" Snape snapped.

"Learning."

"What?"

"Curses. Hexes. Spells in general. Some of them are quite gruesome, but, hey, look at my teachers."

"You know, Calypso, I'm curious." Snape growled softly in her ear. "I've always wanted to know why you joined us in the first place. And now, why you want to join us again."

"I don't have to explain myself to anyone. Least of all you." Calypso shot back.

"Oh, that's where you are wrong, dear. Very wrong indeed." Snape whispered dangerously close to her ear. He wished that she'd turn around so he could see more than the back of her head, see what expressions were on her face.

"Drop it, Snape." She muttered firmly, screwing two pieces of glass apart and dumping them into a tray.

"Why?"

"Because you need me." She said with an undercurrent of pleasure. "You, and all the Phoenixes desperately need to know the future." There was a tinkle of glass as Calypso rapidly pulled apart her equipment, and Snape thought he could see the hint of a smile on Calypso's face. "I very much doubt that Dumbledore will turn me away if I do ask to join again. I mean, even if he doesn't trust me he can just feed me truth serum and I'll prophesize away."

Suddenly Snape smiled.

"You obviously haven't been reading the Daily Prophet, have you?" he drawled.

"Why?" Calypso asked, seemingly calm, but she said the words too quickly.

Snape put his hands on his hips. "Well, you are behind the times, aren?t you, Calypso? We might not want you back."

"Why's that?" Calypso stuttered, thrown. "

Because, Calypso, the Phoenixes are no longer in existence."

"Liar." Calypso said uncertainly.

"No, I'm not lying." Snape replied, taking great enjoyment in Calypso growing alarm. "The Ministry has accepted us all as Aurors. Officially. We are an army, really. Three hundred strong, throughout England and Scotland. Dumbledore doesn't call the shots anymore. The Auror's council are more likely to throw you into Azkaban than accept you as an Auror."

Calypso grabbed the tray, filled with dirty equipment and lugged it over to a gargoyle's head that was spewing out cold water. Dumping the tray under the torrent of water, she started rinsing pieces of glassware furiously. "I think you are wrong." She said with an unsteady voice. "You're loosing. Big time. I listen at the dinnertable. I hear Mundungus ducked a little too late and caught the end of a curse." Calypso said calmly, as if she was discussing the weather. "I can see the future. That's tantalizing enough to any Council to keep me out of Azkaban and in their service."

"You're not trustworthy." Snape spat.

"No." Calypso agreed. "And if you have a problem with that, you can shove it up your ass." She finished pleasantly.

Snape just stared at Calypso's retreating back.

Just as she got to the doorway, she hesitated and turned around.

"Snape, just a few last things."

"What now?"

Calypso swallowed. "First, it might be a good idea for the Phoenixes…I mean, some Aurors to pay the Petchell family a friendly visit tonight. They are having unexpected visitors, and I have a feeling a good party may be in the making. Hint hint wink wink."

"Secondly?" Snape snarled.

"Thanks for the use of your potions. I stole lots of your stuff, half done. That's why your last potion didn't work."

Snape seemed to swell with anger, and Calypso quickly continued.

"You can have my leftover potions, though." Calypso added helpfully. "I've got lots of Confusing Concoction left, and the other cauldron's still got heaps of Polyjuice Potion in it."

And with that, Calypso turned around and walked out the door before Snape could react.

############################################

Harry was miserable.

The couch had pressed a funny cross-hatched pattern into his skin, and his leg, propped up on the end of the couch, was still throbbing with pain. He had watched Sally Jesse and Oprah until he thought he could scream.

He had never imagined that life at Remus' house could ever be so mind-numbingly boring.

Life with the Durselys was bad enough, but there was always something to do – Dudley to skirt, Aunt Petunia to dodge, and Uncle Vernon to duck. Plenty of action.

Harry took off his glasses and rubbed his emerald eyes tiredly. It was only the morning, but he'd stayed awake all the last night, hearing the howling wind batter the house and shriek through the trees, listening intently for Remus, Sirius or Maria to return. It was childish, but ever since Cedric's death at the end of the school term, he hadn't liked to be alone.

He wasn't really alone in Remus' kooky house, though. Fridge and Pantry were characters, he had to admit. Every time he hobbled into the kitchen, he would be showered with food and warm matronly adoration, until he felt quite embarrassed and had to make a polite getaway. He wasn't quite used to all that love at once, and it made him unsettled and nervous.

Harry stared out the window to the scenic, sweeping views of the countryside. The view wasn't quite what it usually was – the freak storm the night before had ruffled the otherwise soft, mellow landscape. Two of the Peach trees lining the path to the front door had fallen down with a tremendous crash in the night, making Harry jump and grab at his coverlets, eyes flicking around the room in blind terror.

Yet after the storm the day was perfectly calm, almost silently still. Harry cast his gaze over to his room. Tucked away in the wardrobe, beside some old tramping back, was his broom, sitting in the shadows.

Harry scowled and looked back at the crystal blue sky. Any Mediwizard could have fixed his leg perfectly within a day, but his still required a cast. He knew why, though. Sirius had made the doctor only half fix the bone, so he was disabled for the rest of the holidays. He knew this because he had talked to the mirror in his bedroom.

Sirius' theory was that with a crippled leg, Harry couldn't get himself into any trouble.

And, unfortunately for Harry, he was right.

Harry picked up the television remote from the coffee table and the TV blinked into life.

The Young and the Restless, Infomercials and Sally Jesse – I'm pregnant with my brother's baby!

Harry turned the TV off with disgust. Remus defiantly needed either a new television aerial or a VCR.

Bored, Harry considered other things to do. Hedwig was carrying a letter to Hermionie, and Pigwidgeon had just left, a letter to Ron strapped to his small leg.

His holiday assignments were well and truly done, even the research project on Levitation Lotions for Snape.

There was always the bookshelves that flanked the walls of Remus' living room, crammed with novels, old and new that Harry could help himself to. But school started in two weeks – and Harry knew he would have enough serious reading to do then.

What else did it leave to do? Harry thought miserably. Suddenly he had a brainwave. Stumbling off the couch and onto his feet, Harry limped down the hallway into his bedroom and walked to the closet. Sliding it open, he was annoyed to find the mirror was in a jovial mood.

"Ohh hello Harry dear. What are you up to, ferreting around in there?" Rorrim sang.

"Nothing." Harry replied. "Just getting my broom for a polishing."

"You've got a broom? Well, I should have known so, you are your father's son, and James was a flying fanatic…"

Harry grabbed the sleek handle of his broom, and as he picked it up, he accidentally nudged the corner of a tramping pack, making it gently topple over.

Reaching over to stand the pack up again, something caught Harry's eye. Puzzled, he grabbed the pack and heaved it onto his (unmade) bed.

"…whatever the weather, James was always hassling Remus and Cain to go flying…"

Harry ignored Rorrim. He had become quite good at it.

He reached into the bag and felt around. Clothes, clothes, a book, something leather, a hairbrush, and…

There. Harry grabbed the long piece of wood and carefully drew it out.

In his hand he held an impeccable, fifteen inch wand. Harry just stared at it, turning it over and over in his hands. What was a near-new wand doing in a tramping pack? Curious, Harry started hunting around again.

His fingers probed around past folded up jeans, piles of lolly wrappers, a lipstick container, and hit something cold and hard. He slid his hand around the object and heaved it out.

To his astonishment, cupped in his hand was a crystal ball. Well, a cloudy crystal ball, the size and weight of a small shot put. It was slippery and chilly to the touch, it's surface polished to a high sheen. Harry looked quizzically at his reflection.

"Rorrim," he asked, "what's this?"

Rorrim broke off her stream of one-sided conversation. "What?"

Harry held up the crystal ball. "This."

"Oh…erm…Harry love, I really don't think you should be touching that." Rorrim said uncertainly.

"Why not?" Harry asked, tossing the ball up and down in the air. "Who does it belong to?"

Rorrim was unsure of how to start. "Uhh…it belonged to a girl that stayed here for a while, before you came."

Harry caught the ball, and turned interestedly to face Rorrim.

"Really? A girl? Does Sirius have a girlfriend he hasn't told me about yet?" Harry asked, delighted.

Rorrim was quite obviously uncomfortable. "No, she wasn't his girlfriend."

"Is she coming back?"

"Erm…no, I don't think so."

"Brilliant!" Harry exclaimed. "Then no-one will mind me using these for a while." And ignoring Rorrim's stutterings, he limped out of his room, wand in one hand and crystal ball in the other.

***********************************************

"You got them, Cal?" Kerian whispered as Calypso slipped around into her bedroom.

"Yes. All in my pocket." She replied, dragging the potions out and placing them carefully on the table as Kerian locked the door behind them. "Told Snape where to collect Fleur. Wasn't too happy at the change of plan."

"Tough shit."

"Too right. He's a nasty creep." Calypso agreed. "Kerian, remember to bring Puffy with you when you go."

"Will do so. You all ready?" Kerian asked her, uncorking the phial of black potion.

Calypso took a deep breath, and looked around her small, bare room. "Yeah, I'm all set." She kicked off her shoes and climbed into her bed, sitting up and looking at Kerian expectantly.

Wordlessly, he handed her the black liquid and she held it to her lips and threw it back, swallowing it all one go.

Kerian nervously knelt next to her bed. "How do you feel?" he asked, eyes clouded with concern.

Calypso looked back at him. "Normal, just a little queasy…" all of a sudden, her body gave a small twitch. "Or maybe, not so fine." She gasped before toppling over onto Kerian's shoulder.

Calmly, Kerian pushed Calypso's inert form back into her bed, and tucked the covers around her shoulders.

She almost looked asleep, apart from the fact that her eyes were wide open, staring in horror at the distance.

Kerian took her pulse.

Nothing.

Without a backwards glance, he stood up and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"…and that's all she said." Snape finished, leaning back on his chair.

Heads swiveled around the board table, and murmuring broke out, rolling around the long room.

"Hush!" Danny, former Chief Hit Wizard, and now one of 12 Auror Councilors that controlled the 332-strong British Aurors Force. "One at a time, please, people!"

The talk subsided, and Danny turned to look at Dumbledore, who was stroking his beard thoughtfully.

"Dumbledore, you have the best experience in this kind of situation. What do you think?"

There was a pause as all members of the Council waited for Dumbledore's reply.

"Watch the park for Fleur, of course." Dumbledore said slowly. "Yes, it might be a trap, but we can't risk it. Five wizards should do."

"What about the girl?" a voice piped up.

"I don't know." Dumbledore replied. "From what I've heard from her friend, she's extremely unpredictable. Sit and wait, I guess. See what happens tonight. If she breaks out, see if she contacts us. If she doesn't, we'll have to talk about contacting her again."

"Why would we want to?" argued another man.

"Oh please! A true Seer? Hell, that'd be the best secret weapon since…"

"No. A Death Eater?" a lady butted in.

"She could save our bacon." Another man pointed out logically.

"Or she could kill us all. How many people did she admit to killing? Seven, if my memory serves me right." The woman snapped back.

"I do believe we have already had this conversation." Someone pointed out irritably.

"We need more information." Another voice grumbled.

"Azkaban is the only place for that sort of trash."

…and on it went.

Dumbledore leant back in his chair and stared at the ceiling as the other council members argued bitterly.

This was what he hated about being an Auror.

About ten minutes later, the other council members had argued themselves out.

Dumbledore took his gaze off the ceiling and smiled in a Walt Disney fashion at the red and puffed, angry faces around him. "Right? Finished yet?"

Without waiting for an answer, he carried on. "We need five people to watch Franklin Street park, starting immediately. Any suggestions?"

And again, without waiting for an answer, he kept talking.

"I'd like to suggest Sirius Black." Dumbledore ignored the restless movement that occurred whenever Sirius' name was mentioned. "In dog form, he can easily move about the park."

"I'll second that." A young woman said.

"How about Pete Jackson?" another suggested.

"Seconded."

"Yasmin Roberts."

"Yeah, I'll second that."

When five people were decided upon, and strangely enough, without any more arguing, the meeting broke up.

Snape waited for Dumbledore as the old wizard watched the eleven other people file out of the room.

"So, what are you really going to do?" Snape asked.

Dumbledore stood up and pushed his gilded chair in. "Actually, I told the council exactly what I was going to do. Play it by ear. Now, if you will excuse me, Severus, I have to get Sirius to the briefing room."

And with a whirl of inky purple robes, Dumbledore walked slowly out of the room and into the Auror Headquarters.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Harry was lying on the couch again, half listening to info-commercials, sucking on a strawberry thickshake (a gift from Fridge) scoffing down chocolate biscuits (care of Pantry) and rolling the crystal ball around in his hands.

He picked it up and pressed his eye right into it's surface, straining to see something. Anything.

All he saw was cloudy crystal.

With a sigh, Harry dropped the crystal ball onto his stomach and batted it around absently.

He had thought…no, he had hoped…no, he had crazily dreamed that perhaps, just maybe, he was a seer. It was the Scar thing. Especially after those strange dreams he had about Voldemort, and how his scar hurt whenever Voldemort came close…Harry had a suspicion that he tried to deny all the time, that maybe Divination wasn't all a joke. Perhaps, if he worked hard enough at it, he could find Voldemort in the tea leaves or crystal ball.

He was wrong, and frustrated with himself.

Still, he was entranced by the crystal ball. Nothing like the ones Trelawney used. Hers were dusty and perfectly clear. This one was cold and so slippery it almost felt slimy.

That was it. Harry gave up. Divination was all crap. Annoyed, he dumped the crystal ball onto the coffee table, jamming it between dirty plates so it wouldn't roll away, and stared at it. Hard.

Hermione said that wandless magic was one of the hardest things to do. Period. In her last letter, she had prattled on about how she could get her textbooks to float across the room to her, without using her wand. She had urged Harry to try it as well.

Harry had grudgingly admitted that Hermione had a good idea. It was all too easy to be disarmed and helpless. And what Hermione said was almost always right.

Harry reached out a hand, and urged the crystal ball to levitate.

Nothing happened.

He scowled, and concentrated harder on the shiny ball.

"C'mon." he growled. "Float."

Then, slowly, something happened. The ball gave a tiny lurch, and rolled across the wood a few inches.

Harry's face broke into a huge smile.

Again, he though. He bit his lip, and directed all his willpower at the sphere on the coffee table.

Suddenly, it was like something had broken inside his head. Like a glass wall had suddenly been smashed.

He could do it, and he knew how.

The crystal ball leapt off the coffee table to hover at the tips of Harry's chewed fingernails.

"Alright." Harry whispered, an idiotic grin on his face. He waved his arm over his head, and watched the ball slowly sail around the room like a dense quaffle. Harry made it go up, down, around, slower, faster…

There was an almighty crash as the crystal ball slammed into the bookcase and shattered into thousands of tiny slivers.

Harry froze, his arm still in the air.

"Oh shit." He said loudly, and leapt up off the couch to hobble over to the glassy remains strewn through the carpet.

Crouching down, he bit his lip and felt that sinking feeling in his stomach. That feeling when you have destroyed something irreplaceable that belongs to someone else, that you weren't supposed to be goofing off with in the first place.

"Oh shit oh shit oh shit." Harry's vocabulary of swear words wasn't that extensive.

Remus is going to kill me, he though as he swept shards into his hand, and plucked slivers from the carpet. Eventually, he got all the fragments of the crystal ball and, cupping them in his hands, he limped into the kitchen.

Dumping the remains of the crystal ball into the bin, Pantry woke up.

"What have you got there, Harry sweetie?" Pantry cooed in mahogany-rich tones.

Harry grimaced. "Nothing." He replied, and at that instant, jabbed the fleshy part of his palm with a wickedly sharp shard.

Quickly, Harry grabbed the end of the fragment and pulled it out, tossing it into the bin.

Crimson blood welled up in the puncture, and started running down the side of his hand.

Suddenly Harry felt very sleepy.

"Harry?" Pantry asked, concerned. "Harry? Oh dear lord, you're bleeding!" she shrieked.

"Oh, it's nothing." Harry tried to tell Pantry, but Pantry's flapping had woken up Fridge.

"Oooh, that looks nasty!" Fridge declared. "Here, I've got just the thing for it…" Fridge's door swung open and a small red bottle popped out onto the floor. "Harry, just slosh a bit of that onto your cut and it'll be peachy-keen."

Sluggishly, Harry opened the bottle and poured a few drops of the clear liquid onto the profusely bleeding puncture, and screamed.

"Yes, it does sting a bit, doesn't it?" Fridge sympathized as Harry tried to stop his eyes from watering.

"Now Harry, come over here." Pantry demanded, and looking through his tears of pain, Harry hobbled cautiously over to Pantry.

"Here's some bandages….and some stickyplasters…and some Paracetamol…." It was raining medicinal supplies around a rather dizzy Harry.

"All I need is a sticking plaster." Harry mumbled, slapping a Band-Aid awkwardly onto his hand. "Thanks, guys…erm…girls…oh, whatever." His brain wasn't working properly. It seemed as if it was filled with treacle.

Harry stumbled out of the kitchen, deaf to the concerned noises of Fridge and Pantry, and wandered down the hallway, aware that his vision was fading around the edges. Collapsing on the couch, he put his unhurt hand to his forehead. No, no fever. Then why was he feeling so wretched?

Harry tried to look at the TV – and couldn't. He couldn't focus on anything. The room was blurry, and fading in and out. His bones felt like they had lead poured through them.

"Uuuhg." He groaned, and curled up into a ball – as ball-like as he could get with a hard cast on his leg – and wondered what the hell was going on. He didn't faint at the sight of blood, unlike Lavender Brown.

That was his last thought as what seemed to be condensed milk clouded his vision, and he entered another plane.

Harry opened his eyes.

And saw…well, there was actually nothing to see. Unless you thought that eternal whiteness was something to look at.

"It's like the Matrix." Harry whispered in awe, running a few steps ahead.

"Who are you?" A voice from behind him made Harry jump. Swiveling around, Harry came eye to eye with the most severe-looking witch he had ever seen. This woman would have given Professor McGonagall a run for her money.

"Erm…Harry. Potter." Harry stammered. "Ma'am." He added quickly.

The woman looked at him from spectacles and a sharp, pointed nose.

"Hmm. Harry Potter, hey?" she barked back. "You'll do just fine."

"Where am I?" Harry asked, bewildered.

The woman ignored his question. "I'm Virginia. I need you to do something for me."

"But…"

"Quiet!" Virginia snapped, and, gulping, Harry did so.

"I'm trying to take care of a stupid girl called Calypso. She's important to me…actually she's important to a lot of people, and she' s dug herself into a rather large hole that's threatening to cave in on her." Virginia peered at Harry. "You'll know Sirius Black, won't you?" she demanded.

"Yes, he's my Godfather." Harry said awkwardly.

"Good. Tell Sirius that Calypso has to be helped. She's doing something extremely stupid and dangerous, and at all costs he's to get her somewhere safe."

"Okay. I can do that." Harry said, nodding.

"Right now."

"That's fine. Right now." Harry agreed. "Just get me out of here and back to Remus' house, will you?" he pleaded.

Virginia looked surprised. "Oh, okay then. Just pass that message on, or I'll personally haunt you till the day you die." She promised blandly.

Harry looked suspiciously at Virginia. "But…do you mean…that you're dead?" he asked, confused.

But it was too late. The white plane was dissolving around him, and Harry felt like he was falling. He closed his eyes tightly – it reminded him of travelling by Floo Powder – there was a burst of light, and he opened his eyes again.

Sally Jesse.

The TV.

A brilliant purple couch.

The bookshelf, overfilled with thousands of Magical books.

Sunlight streaming in the French doors.

Harry gave a start, and sat up, feeling his head spin.

What the hell? He though. I just fell asleep and had a strange dream.

Oh, no, that wasn't a dream, Harry. A little voice inside his mind whispered.

Yes it was. Just a crazy dream. Another said.

Harry shook his head. Well, just in case, he'd better tell Sirius. Just in case. Harry didn't feel like being haunted by anyone, especially Virginia. If she was real.

Harry got to his feet and limped over to the fireplace and took off the mantelpiece a small brass bell. He shook it, but no sound came out. Harry put it back, and waited.

Within seconds, there was a quiet whoosh, and Sirius stood next to Harry.

"Hello Sirius." Harry said, smiling.

"Hey Harry." Sirius replied, looked sweaty and frustrated. "What's up?"

Harry didn't exactly know what to say. "Erm…well…you know how you said that if I ever had another dream, I was to contact you immediately?"

Sirius stared at Harry, and beckoned for him to sit down. "Why? Did you see something else?"

Sitting down, Harry decided cringingly to omit the part where he had smashed the crystal ball, and started from the moment he had collapsed on the sofa.

"Well, I sort of fainted…well, not exactly fainted, just collapsed. Or went to sleep, I dunno. And I was in this huge white place. I mean, the ground was white, and the sky was white. But there was no ground or sky, it was just white." Harry stopped. "That just made no sense."

"Go on." Sirius urged him.

"Well, there was just me. And this woman. She said her name was Virginia. She wasn't very nice – very…erm…direct."

"Would you say she was a bitch?" Sirius asked carefully.

"Yeah. But anyway, she asked me to tell you something."

"What?" Sirius said, leaning forward intently.

"That someone named Calypso was in trouble. That she'd dug herself into a pit that was going to fall in on her, and you had to help her at any cost. That she was doing something dangerous and stupid and it was really important that you got her somewhere safe." Harry said uncertainly.

"Did she say anything else?" Sirius asked slowly.

"Well, no, not really. That's just the gist of what she said. Oh yes, and then she threatened to haunt me if I didn't tell you."

Sirius snorted. "Yeah, that sounds about right." He said quietly.

Harry looked curiously at him. "What, do you know Virginia?"

Sirius shook his head. "No, I knew someone that did." He sat there, pondering what to do.

"Harry, this is very interesting. Thanks for telling me." He said absently, and apparated away, leaving Harry sitting alone on the couch, feeling rather puzzled and very put out.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

It was one of those days at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies. One of those days when a bucketload of people had called in sick, and no-one could be found to replace them. One of those days when the plumbing system on the third story of the South wing was blocked. One of those days when some teen fooling around with his friends had managed to slosh skunk scent all over himself, and trekked it through the hospital corridors. One of those days when every Wizard, Witch, and all their offspring seemed to have injured themselves in some way.

Whatsmore, Dot had a headache.

"Roberts? Roberts?" she called out into the crowd of people in the foyer.

No-one could hear her over the noise. She tried again.

"ROBERTS!" she bellowed.

Finally, results. A witch pushed her way forward to Dot.

"If you'd like to follow me, please, Mrs. Roberts." Dot said, and led the strained-looking witch out of the foyer and down to an empty room where she could hear herself think.

"Now, Mrs. Roberts, be rest assured that little Timmy is just fine. The doctors have worked on him, and he's in recovery right now." Dot said reassuringly.

"Oh thank god!" Mrs. Roberts cried, and sat down heavily on a chair.

"He'll probably be with us for another two days, at least. So I'd advise to go home, pack a toilet bag and other necessities and come back here. By then, Timmy will be ready to receive visitors. The doctor would like to talk to you when you return." Dot continued.

"Thank you, Nurse." Mrs. Roberts blubbered, and Dot lead her back out into the noisy foyer so she could apparate back home.

That's what you get when you leave the door to the potions store unlocked, Dot though angrily. Stupid woman.

But Dot had no time to waste on idle sentiments. There were still plenty more people to see doctors. Dot trotted up to the desk, and looked at the next name on the list. Lowe. Dot noticed, with a sinking feeling, that the list was a foot long. All we need now, she though glumly, is an emergency to come rolling through those doors.

"Lowe! Mrs. and Mr. Lowe!" Dot called out. "Lowe!"

And at that moment, a group of people burst through the front door, a person lying, unmoving, on a magical stretcher slung between them.

Oh great. Just what the doctor ordered, Dot thought. A bloody emergency case.

Mrs. and Mr. Lowe would have to wait.

Running forward, Dot pulled out her wand, and poked the side of the magical stretcher with it, making her own link with the spell.

"I'll take it from here." She said to the woman with long, blonde curly hair, mascara running down her cheeks. "What's wrong?" Dot asked.

"We found her in her room like this." The man replied chokingly. "She's not breathing. We got her here as soon as possible…"

And with that, Dot sped with the stretcher through the large swinging doors, leaving the pair clinging to each other in the foyer.

With years of experience, Dot maneuvered the stretcher into a treatment bay, and positioned the body over the bed before ending the spell. Dr. O'Leary was waiting.

"What's up with this one, Dot?" he asked casually, rolling the rigid body over.

"Found like this in her bedroom. Parents said she wasn't breathing…" Dot stopped half-way through her sentence.

Blonde hair and freckles. "Jesus Almighty." Dot whispered.

"Nah, she's long gone." Dr. O'Leary said, frustrated. "Dead as a doornail. Should've brought her around to the Morgue, not here. Put her down as DOA. What's the matter, Dot?" he added, seeing the stricken look on the Nurse's face.

"Oh dear. It's Angelina's friend." Dot said sadly. "Calypso."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Kerian sauntered down the hallway, turned left and nearly walked into the guard.

"Watchit!" the guard growled belligerently.

"Sorry Sanders!" Kerian replied. "Look, I've got your coffee, and Fleur's breakfast."

Indeed, Kerian was holding a tray with toast, cereal, fresh fruit, a cup of Earl Grey tea, and a mug of steaming black coffee.

Sanders grabbed his coffee off the tray and pressed a button on the wall. "Fine. Don't take too long." He grumbled, and the door next to him swung slowly open.

Kerian smiled at the guard, who was slurping his black coffee, and walked into the room.

"Hello Fleur." He said into the darkness as he shut the door behind him.

There was a slight scuffling noise, and a silver-blonde figure appeared at Kerian's elbow.

"Kerian?" she said softly. "Eez it you?"

"In the flesh." Kerian replied, setting the tray down on a small table. "You still want to do this?"

Fleur nodded, sending her mane of hair bobbing. She gazed at Kerian with huge, cartoonishly round eyes with long, thick lashes.

"Okay then." Kerian said, and grimacing, he yanked a hair out of his head. "Yeowch."

Fleur plucked it out of his fingers, and dropped into the teacup, which did not contain Earl Grey tea.

As she stirred it, the potion turned a caramel shade and Kerian talked.

"The Polyjuice Potion only lasts for an hour. An hour, don't forget. It'll only take you fifteen minutes to walk to the park, but if Dumbledore's Merry Men haven't picked you up before the potion wears off, take cover somewhere. You don't want a Princess Cinderella situation on your hands."

Fleur was confused. "A what?"

"What I meant was, Muggles will get freaked if they see you change appearance."

Fleur nodded. "I see."

Kerian continued as Fleur picked up the cup of Polyjuice Potion and sniffed it.

"The guard has Confusion Concoction in his coffee – thank god he drinks it so strong, he won't even notice the taste. But it doesn't last for long, only about twenty minutes, so you'll want to leave here in about ten or so."

"Check." Fleur replied, and, pinching her nose, quickly drained the cup. Kerian took a step backwards.

With a shaking hand, Fleur replaced the cup on the tray, and bent over in agony, her mouth open in a silent scream. She gave a shudder, and suddenly, she was growing taller, broader, her hair dark, masculine…

Kerian looked carefully at Fleur. "You okay?" he asked.

"Yeahp." Fleur growled, and jumped at her deep voice. "Oh…this is strange!" she exclaimed.

"You think speaking with a deeper voice is strange?" Kerian shot back. "Try talking to a carbon copy of yourself!" He laughed uneasily. "Remember…ten minutes." With that, he opened the door and walked out into the corridor.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Dot pulled a pinch of the powder out from the jar marked 'Dr. Johnson' and threw it into the small fireplace that was used solely to contact doctors in emergencies. The flames turned scarlet, and Dot crouched down, waiting patiently for the FlooComm network to find Neil. Eventually, his face loomed into the flames.

"Hello Dr. Johnson." She said politely.

"Hello Dot!" Neil exclaimed. "Long time, no see! What on earth is the matter? I resigned a few months ago…"

"Oh no, it's not that." Dot quickly corrected him. "Even though we are terrible short-staffed at the moment. It's actually about Angelina's friend. Calypso."

Neil paused for a second. "What about her?" he said carefully.

Dot bit her lip. "Oh Neil, I'm sorry to tell you this, but she was brought in about fifteen minutes ago. DOA." She said gently. "I know she was friends with Angelina, and with Remus Lupin, and I thought you could get in contact-" Neil cut her off.

"Who was she brought in by?" he demanded, urgency in his eyes.

Dot looked shocked. "Umm…a lady and a man. I assumed they were her parents, because of the similarity."

"They still there?" Neil said quickly.

"Why…yes, I think so." Dot replied. "Why-"

"Dot, listen to me." Neil said slowly and clearly. "Stall them. They are criminals. Keep them there till we arrive. Can you do that?" he asked.

Dot was shocked, but snapped out of it. "Yes, Doctor." She promised, and Neil nodded at her.

"We'll be there as soon as we can manage." He replied, and disappeared from the fire.

The grey-headed, short nurse sat back on her heels, thinking hard. Then she got up, and scurried to the door, making her way to the foyer.

Looking around, she spotted the blonde woman over on a corner, the man beside her. Dot made her way over.

"Excuse me, you were the pair that brought the blonde girl in about fifteen minutes ago, didn't you?" Dot asked politely.

They nodded.

"I need some names for the registers, please." She said lightly, and drew a quill and clipboard out of her pocket.

"I'm Anthony Laxon, and this is my wife Gemma." The man said.

"Our daughter's name is Cynthia." Gemma said, gazing at Dot peculiarly.

Cynthia? Dot though. Oh ho. I'll be you my Gringott's vault that they aren't your real names, either.

"Well, Mr. and Mrs. Laxon, would you please follow me?" Dot said courteously, and beckoned for them to follow.

They both got up from their seats, and walked with Dot towards the West Wing, when they both gave a small gasp.

Dot, hearing their distress, turned around.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Nothing." 'Anthony' replied through gritted teeth. "We have to go now." He said, and to Dot's surprise, and frustration, they both grabbed their forearms, and apparated away.

Dot swiped at the air where the pair had been standing in anger, but they were long gone.

That very second, five Aurors in their navy and silver robes apparated into the foyer, and came running up to Dot as the crowd respectfully cleared a path.

"Where are they, Dot?" Neil asked, scanning the crowd of waiting parents/siblings/relatives/friends.

Dot slumped her shoulders in defeat. "They just apparated away, about two seconds ago." She said miserably. "Sorry Dr. Johnson, there was nothing I could do. There was no warning, they just-"

"That's okay Dot." Remus Lupin said gently. "It's probably a good thing they went. A mini battle pitched here would certainly have civilian casualties."

Dot gave them a luke-warm smile. "Follow me." She said, and beckoned to them.

They twisted their way through the corridors of the West Wing to the Morgue, a chilly, steel building that smelled of death. Dot pushed the heavy door open and led the group in.

The whole left wall of the room consisted of large drawers, each drawer holding a body. Dot trotted along the rows, until she got to one labeled, DOA, 12.21PM, Saturday. F.

"Here she is." Dot said, and pulled the huge drawer open, and gasped.

The drawer was empty.

"Where is she?" Maria asked, confused.

"Right here!" Dot exclaimed. "Well, that was where I put her less than five miniutes ago!"

"Well, she's not here now, that's for certain." Remus said.

"Who would steal a dead body?" Neil pondered.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Fleur and lay down on her bed, looking at the watch on a chain around her neck. Three, two, one…

There. Ten miniutes exactly.

She had gotten changed into the jeans and loose T-shirt that Kerian had previously stashed in her room, and had dragged on the clumpy running shoes. In the mirror, she looked exactly like Kerian. She walked to the door, and tried the handle.

The doorknob recognized Kerian's fingerprints, and opened easily. Fleur held her breath, pushed the door open, and walked out nonchalantly.

She gave the guard a nod as she strolled past him. He nodded back, but frowned with confusion as she walked down the passage, and turned left.

Fleur couldn't believe it. It was that easy! After how many weeks cooped up in her own little prison, she was finally free! Well, free as soon as she got to the entrance. She turned right, third left, down the stairs, and ….

"Hello Kerian." A deep voice made Fleur stop. Oh no, she though.

"Hello." She replied, turning around to face a tall man sporting an iron grey mullet, with a white skunk stripe down the middle.

"What are you doing here?" Monahan asked with suspicion.

Fleur recited what Kerian had told her. "We've run out of bread for lunch, so I'm just going to pop down to the shops and get a dozen loaves or so."

"Oh, don't worry about it." Monahan replied. "The Dark Lord has called a meeting, so I guess lunch is cancelled."

Fleur felt like she was going to throw up.

"C'mon, let's go get the Portkeys now. Remember what happened to Lafferty when he was late?" Monahan continued.

Oh no, Fleur though. She did some fast thinking. "Look, I'll join you in a minute. I've just got to go to the toilet."

Monahan shrugged. "Oh well, see you then." He said, and watched Fleur walk down the corridor to the door marked 'Toilets.'

"Kerian!" he barked when Fleur was about to walk through the door.

Her heart stopped. Trying to control her shaking hands, she turned around to face Monahan.

"Yes?" she said slowly.

Monahan gave her a curious look. "That's the woman's toilets, boy."

Fleur looked at the symbol over the door.

"Why yes, you're right. Silly me." She said quickly, hurried over to the other door, and before Monahan could comment on this strange behavior, she had disappeared inside.

Shutting the door behind herself. Fleur tried to get a grip on herself.

What to do? She though desperately. She couldn't go out the front door anymore – and if anyone saw her, they would try and make her come to this Death Eater meeting. What a nightmare. Two Kerians in one room?

Fleur's eyes darted around the dismal men's toilets. No door out. No escape. Apart from…her eyes settled on the small windows over the urinals. In her own body, it would be a piece of cake. In Kerian's…she would be cutting it fine.

Ignoring the smell, Fleur climbed up on top of the urinals, forced a window wide open, and looked out.

It was a one-story drop down to the garden beside the road. Due to the rain the night before, the ground was soft, and Fleur was sure she could make it. With Kerian's male upper body strength, she could climb around the exterior of the building and find a way down. She'd done worse before.

Awkwardly, she clambered up onto the top of the urinals and poked a leg through the small window, praying that no-one would decide to visit the toilets at that moment. Slowly, she worked her body through the window, coming into difficulties with her shoulders.

She hadn't realized how broad men's shoulders were, and for a few scary moment, she thought she was stuck. Angrily, she twisted and squirmed, and eventually worked her way through, loosing a fair bit of skin in the process.

Gasping for breath, Fleur grabbed the sides of the window, and finally pulled her head through, her whole body dangling outside. She risked a look at the ground. It didn't seem far, she thought. If she could just work her way over to that pipe on the left, and shimmy down, she'd be away laughing.

Fleur started moving, inch by inch, over to the pipe, when the toilet door opened, and someone strolled in. With a gasp, Fleur tried to find a handhold that couldn't be seen by the person in the toilets, who she could hear unzipping his fly. She scrabbled around on the outside wall, but found nothing.

To her horror, she found herself hanging on with only one hand, feeling desperately around the wall for something to cling to.

The roar of traffic and the hum of Muggle life seemed to ring in her ears as her fingers gave way, and Fleur found herself slipping, slowly, and then fast, as she fell, to land with a muffled thump, hard on the ground.

She blacked out.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Kerian walked up to the small Audi parked in the multi-story parking lot, scanning the dreary concrete surroundings for any observers.

"Clear." He murmured. "C'mere, Cal."

He and Calypso sauntered unconcernedly up to the baby blue hatchback as if it was their own car, the dim lighting hiding the wand in Kerian's hand, and the tension in Calypso's shoulders.

Kerian walked straight up to the driver's door, and pressed his wand up against the keyhole.

"Alohomora." he said clearly, and the lock snapped open. Kerian tried the door handle, and it swung open invitingly. He turned around to face Calypso.

"So, I guess this is it." He said awkwardly, smiling sadly at Calypso.

She gave a small sniff, and looked up at her childhood friend. "Yeah. I guess I won't see you again, huh?"

Kerian bit his lip, and gave Calypso a huge bear-hug. "Remember, get the soonest flight back to Australia you can, okay? And drink the rest of the Juliet Potion in half an hour." he said into the top of her hair.

"I know I know!" she moaned half-heartedly. "I'd better get going."

Calypso threw her backpack, containing her fake passport, credit card, cash and new pet Puffskien, Puffy, onto the passenger's seat and climbed into the driver's seat, buckling herself. "This car is a tip." She remarked. And it was – food wrappers were strewn throughout the floor and all over the seats.

Kerian pointed his wand at the ignition, muttered the unlocking spell, and the motor chugged to life. Calypso put the car into reverse, and looked up at Kerian.

"Hey, thanks." She said softly. "I know what risks you took to get me outa there."

Kerian smiled at the small blonde, freckled girl sitting in the car. "No problems." He replied, and carefully closed the door, talking a step back.

The car backed out of the carpark, and started to slowly drive off. Suddenly, it stopped, the window wound down, and Calypso's head popped out.

"See you again in some other life, huh?' she called with a smile, and Kerian waved back.

Driving around the carpark to the exit, Calypso tried to breathe normally and struggled not to cry.

The cashier at the gates hardly even noticed her. "Two pounds." he said in a flat voice, and Calypso fumbled with the coins.

Out in the fresh sunshine, Calypso felt a strange feeling in her stomach. Warm, fuzzy. Sort of bubbly, actually. Oops, indicator was on the other side. She'd just turned the windscreen wipers on by mistake. She took off, feeling a slight smile run over her face. Winding the windows down, she pulled out her pigtails with one hand, and let her hair blow around in the rushing wind.

Calypso reached a hand over to the passenger's seat, and fished out from amongst the rubbish a half eaten Mars bar. What sort of person eats only half a Mars bar? She though to herself as she took a big bite. Ohhh, chocolate….yum…..A person who gets their beat-up car stolen, I suppose.

It was at that moment, driving along the road, eating a Mars bar and starting to feel happy for the first time in weeks, that Virginia finally realized that Calypso wasn't under magical wards anymore. A scream came tearing through Calypso's mind, and she nearly drove straight into a BMW.

Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh! Virginia hollered as Calypso wrestled with the steering wheel.

About bloody time! Where the hell have you been! Virginia screamed into Calypso's head.

Shut up shut up shut up! Or at least, tone it down, Virginia! Calypso replied. I'm driving, and you don't want me to have a crash!

Okay, okay. Virginia lowered her mental voice. Oh thank God I managed to get in touch with you! She breathed with relief. What's been going on?

Calypso changed lanes, and then replied. Long story.

I want to hear it all. Virginia insisted. Last thing I knew, you were at that Phoenix Meeting, and things turned to custard.

Calypso sighed. Okay. That's where things started going, as you put so eloquently, to custard. I worked my way around the back, right, and went through the barrier, coz since I'm a Death Eater myself, it would let me through. I met up with Kerian and, well, basically persuaded him to go.

Kerian? Virginia asked.

Kerian was another kid in the Death Eater tribe. I grew up with him. He's sorta like my brother. Calypso replied. Anyway, they all left, and I'd saved the day. Sorta. They got Fleur, and Snape had guessed why I was able to go through the barrier without dying in an ugly fashion. He confronted me, and then dragged me down Diagon Alley and put me on the Knight Bus to his house, where apparently I'd be safe.

Go on. Virginia encouraged.

Luck would have it that Marion was also on the Knight Bus. Marion was a great friend of my mums.

Virginia groaned. I do not like the way this story is headed. She noted.

It gets worse, Calypso warned her. She stunned me, and dragged me back to the halls where the whole Death Eater tribe were staying. So I woke up, and there was my Mum and Dad standing over me.

Virginia started swearing.

Oh, I told them that I had traveled to England the moment I heard that the Dark Lord had risen again, to serve him as the sole representative of the Australasian Death Eaters, yadda yadda yadda, and that I was being chased my the Aurors.

Did they believe it? Virginia asked suspiciously.

Lapped it up. Well, my parents did, anyway. Not sure about the others. Monahan didn't believe a word, and Kerian knew the truth. Anyhow, I met Sirius on the roof one night, and I had a lovely chat to him. He said that the Phoenixes would help me break out, but I already had a plan. The one that got me out.

And that was?

I was in charge of Potions, right? Apart from learning Hexes and Curses, that was about all I did. So I brewed some Confusing Concoction, Polyjuice Potion and some Juliet Potion.

Juliet Potion is highly dangerous Dark Magic! Virginia said, horrified.

Well, it worked. Calypso replied with a mental shrug. We gave the guard at Fleur's door the Confusing Concoction in his coffee, fed Fleur the Polyjuice with one of Kerian's hairs in it, and I took the Juliet Potion. I 'died' and went to the hospital, Fleur turned into Kerian and walked out the front door to be picked up by Sirius at the park, and Kerian stole my 'body' from the Morgue and gave me the other half of the Juliet Potion. We stole a car, and now I'm on my way to Heathrow Airport with a fake Passport and a ticket to Sydney that leaves in four hours. End of story, everything went exactly to plan. Calypso said triumphantly.

Not bad. Virginia had to admit. Highly dangerous, but it worked. Your parents think you are dead, so they'll never search for you.

A stroke of genius, don't you think? Calypso added smugly.

What really was a stroke of genius was getting Fleur out of there. She's going to be very important later on. Virginia was purring with praise, a sound Calypso had never heard before, and basked it in. How was she? What did Sirius say?

Calypso's smile faded a bit. Well, actually, I don't know.

What do you mean you don't know?

I mean, I don't know! I haven't seen Fleur in ages!

Then how do you know she got picked up by Sirius all right?

I assumed-

Don't assume! Never assume! Assumption is the mother of all fuckups!

Well, so-oreeey!

Turn the car around. Now.

Why?

Don't ask me why, you dipshit. Isn't it obvious? We are going to go and make sure Fleur is all right.

Virginia, I'll miss my plane!

Who gives two hoots about your plane? Fleur may die, and she is more important than you ever will be!

*******************************************

Sirius loved being a dog.

Everyone loved him when he was a dog.

At the present time, he was being fed a strawberry icecream by a round-faced five year old.

"Good doggy woggy." The little boy crooned as he rubbed Snuffles' long coat.

Snuffles finished the icecream and reluctantly left the kid. He was supposed to be working, looking for either Fleur or any sign of a trap.

He trotted away on springy paws, investigating the park bench, the open area where a flock of children were kicking a ball around, and the grove of trees flanking the three sides of the park.

Snuffles sat down and scratched behind his ear.

Fleur wasn't here. Neither were any Death Eaters.

Well, they were only five minutes late. Snuffles gallumphed over to leap up on the park bench beside a smartly dressed, dark skinned lady.

Yasmin turned deep black eyes onto him. "What do you think, Sirius? Wait longer?" she asked in an impeccable Proper English accent.

"Ruff." Snuffles barked in his most encouraging manner, and leapt off the seat to scout around some more.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I'm sure she's safe. Calypso said tentatively to Virginia, who was seething with anger.

Sure? How can you be sure when you have no idea? She barked back.

Calypso concentrated on driving through the narrow London streets.

Eventually they reached the small park where Fleur was supposed to be picked up from. Stopped at the red light at the intersection outside the park, Calypso looked around carefully.

See, look Virginia-

I can't look. I have no eyes. It's like asking a blind man, 'can you see?' I'm dead and living in your head, remember? She snapped

Oh yeah, right. Anyway, here's the park, and there's no sign of Wizards, or of Fleur or of Sirius, just kids playing soccer and old people taking walks. So Fleur's been here and Sirius has picked her up, and we can go back to the airport and I can fly home! Calypso thought with relief. But then she spotted movement around the swings that made her feel sick.

What? What? Virginia demanded.

Calypso gulped. It's Sirius. Or should I say, Snuffles. He's still there. That means that-

Fleur hasn't reached there yet.

Calypso glanced at her watch. "Oh god, the hour's up." She said aloud, and stamped on the accelerator.

Within seconds they were outside the Convent, but to Calypso the drive had taken hours. She pulled into a parking place and nervously poked her head out of the window.

I don't see anything. She though.

Then you are not looking hard enough! Virginia shot back.

Then Calypso caught a glimpse of something blue and red lying in the garden. That was not a flower of the usual sort.

"Oh holy Mary mother of god." She muttered and frantically opened the door to leap out. However, she was brought up short by her seatbelt, which she had forgotten to take off.

Furiously wrestling with the buckle, she eventually got out of the car and dashed across the street to the small front garden of the looming Convent.

A small voice in her head kept chanting, 'never return to the scene of the crime' as she knelt down beside Fleur's inert form.

"Fleur! Fleur!" Calypso said urgently, shaking her by the shoulder. "Get up!"

Fleur opened her eyes slowly. "Uggggg…." She moaned, and tried and failed to sit up.

Calypso grabbed her around the waist and tried to prop her up. "Fleur! What happened!"

"Met a man…in the hall. Said I had to go to a meeting…so I went to the toilet and climbed out the window, and I fell…" she said gluggily.

Calypso looked up at the toilet windows, a drop of about six meters. "You broken any bones?" she asked.

"No. My head hurts." Fleur replied, grasping her head.

There was a huge, angry graze on Fleur's forehead where her head had struck the bricks while falling. Calypso groaned with horror.

"Fleur, I think you have a head injury."

What am I going to do, Virginia? She asked wildly.

Pick her up. Carry her to the car, drive to the park and dump her on Sirius. He'll know what to do.

There's no way I'll be able to carry her. Calypso disagreed.

She's part Veela. They have bird bones. You'll manage. Virginia snapped.

Calypso threw one arm under Fleur's knees, and another around her waist. "Put your arm around my neck." She advised, and Fleur nodded, looking cross-eyed at Calypso.

Bend at the knees, girl! Virginia screeched at her as Calypso hoisted Fleur up.

Muscles straining, Calypso barely managed to carry Fleur across the road, and at the moment when she though her arms were going to give, they were at the car, the engine still running.

Calypso arranged the limp Fleur into the passenger's seat of the Audi, not bothering to clear away the rubbish first. She ran around the car and leapt into the driver's side, and roared off.

Gently gently! Virginia admonished her. Fleur has a head injury. Do you want to make it worse?

Shuddup. Calypso replied. She was not in the mood.

They came screeching around the corner and pulled into a carpark right outside the park. Frantically, Calypso dragged Fleur from her seat and left the car running. Turning the ignition off would mean having to hotwire it when she wanted to leave again. That wasn't a problem – Calypso was an expert in hotwiring cars, but it would not bode well for a hasty getaway. Fleur was somewhat better, and with one arm wrapped firmly around Calypso's shoulders, she was able to stumble along to the park.

Calypso eyed up a park bench. "C'mon Fleur, only a bit more to go." She encouraged.

Keep her talking, Virginia instructed.

"I'll just get you to sit on this seat, and Sirius will be along any minute to get you, okay?" Calypso added. Fleur didn't respond. "Fleur?" Calypso asked with concern. "Erm….don't you think Sirius isn't half sexy?" she asked impulsively.

Excuse me? Virginia said.

You said to keep her talking! Calypso shot back.

Fleur's eyes lit up, crossed and dizzy as they were. "Sirius? Sexy yes, but he eez far to old for me. Or you." She added with though.

"Yes, but who knows? He might have a brother who has had sons that look just like him. And with the way cloning is going…Think positive, Fleur."

Fleur gave Calypso a strange look, made stranger by the blood on her face and the way her eyes didn't look in the same direction. "You are a crazy, crazy person, Calypso." She said in a wavering voice.

Calypso didn't quite know how to respond to this.

"Okay Fleur, here we are. I want you to sit here…" Calypso dumped Fleur on the park bench next to a well-dressed woman, "…and wait for Sirius. He won't be long, I saw him just before."

Fleur sat up straight, but started swaying. She fell with a soft thud onto the woman's shoulder.

"Oh I am so-ree!" she slurred with a French accent. "I did not mean to…"

Fleur trailed off as the woman came into focus. She was slumped on the bench, her eyes wide open with a look of horror on them. "Calypsooooo…" Fleur started, but Calypso had already noticed the unmoving woman, and the thin trail of blood from the corner of her mouth.

Calypso took a few steps back, shaking. "What the…"

Then she noticed the wand in the dark-skinned woman's hand.

"Oh god." Calypso murmured, and blinked. Slowly, she looked around the park and noticed for the first time that something was seriously, seriously wrong.

There was no-one else in the park.

That was, if you didn't count the unmoving bodies. The pair over by the tree, the young girl on the seesaw, the four little boys on the soccer pitch…

Calypso's heart was racing.

Suddenly she was aware that there was movement. There were flashes of light from behind the patch of trees.

Spells.

She felt numb, but could hear the incantations clearly.

"STUPEFY!"

Calypso saw a figure collapse.

"Sirius?" she called out in terror.

Fleur gave a whimper.

Then slowly, a figure moved out from the trees.

It wasn't Sirius.

"Well, fancy meeting you here." Monahan drawled lazily, flicking his wand between his fingers.

The bottom dropped out of Calypso's world. She stared at Monahan in mute horror.

"Oh no. Run, Calypso." Fleur whispered, and Calypso snapped out of it. She turned on her heels, and fleet footed, took off across the grass, her blood pounding in her ears.

Suddenly, she heard words being shouted, and something hit the back of her legs hard, locking them together. She fell, ploughing into the soft dirt, and came to rest on her back.

Frantically, she tried to get up, but her legs were stuck together. Rolling over, she hopelessly tried to scramble away on her stomach.

Then a heavy foot smashed into her back. "Hello Calypso. You look pathetically like a caterpillar. Oh no, more like the worm you are." Monahan said smoothly.

Calypso didn't bother replying. Instead, she tried to squirm away.

Monahan increased the pressure on Calypso's back until she squeaked.

"Traitor." He hissed with rage. "You slimy traitor."

He raised his wand, and pointed it down at Calypso.

"You know, in films people always get away because the killer takes his time." He said lightly. "You, dear, are not going to get away. Goodbye."

And with that, Calypso closed her eyes tightly. She was going to die – she'd seen Monahan kill many times before and she was certain that he wouldn't be nice and use Avadara Kedavra on her. He had better than that painless curse up his sleeve.

"INCDENCO-" Monahan roared, and was suddenly cut off.

Calypso felt Monahan's foot come off her back and she opened her eyes with surprise.

Yells and savage growling came from behind her.

Calypso rolled over and looked at the source of the noise.

Snuffles was mauling Monahan. He had Monahan's wrist in his large jaws, and was ripping away at his wand. Monahan wasn't giving up his wand without a fight, though, and was kicking Snuffles' abdomen viciously. The fight wasn't going to last much longer, though, and Monahan was gaining the upper hand.

'Fleur!" Calypso yelled. Fleur sat up. "Fleur, throw me that lady's wand!"

Fleur nodded, and wrestled the wand off the dead woman. Standing up the best she could, she threw the wand in Calypso's general direction. It landed several meters to Calypso's right, and she dragged herself through the muddy ground over to it.

Finally she grabbed hold of the smooth wood, and relieved, pointed it at her legs.

"Finite Incantium." She said clearly. Her legs gave a twitch, and moved freely.

Leaping to her feet, and ran across to where Snuffles and Monahan were wrestling. Snuffles was weakening with every kick Monahan threw, but most of the skin on Monahan's arm, wrist and hand was gone.

Calypso aimed very carefully, and yelled, "Crucio!"

Monahan jumped like he had been hit by an electric current, and began screaming in agony, twisting around on the ground in pain. Calypso stood and watched, feeling a dark, but pleasurable feeling run through her veins.

Snuffles pulled himself off the pain-stricken Monahan, and with a pop, turned into a blood-stained Sirius Black.

He took two steps over to Calypso and snatched the wand out of her unmoving hand.

Turning it on the screaming Monahan, he cried, "Stupefy." Monahan froze, his eyes popping and his mouth screwed into an expression of torture.

Sirius turned around to face Calypso.

"What the hell are you doing!" he yelled at her.

"Saving you god-dammed arse!" she yelled back.

"Looks like the other way around to me!" Sirius snarled back.

Don't yell at him, get Fleur and get the hell out of here! Virginia shrieked into Calypso's head.

"Come on!" Calypso snapped at Sirius. "You get Monahan, I'll get Fleur."

And to her surprise, Sirius bent over and started picking up Monahan's frozen form.

Calypso ran over to Fleur, who was struggling to her feet. Talking one last look at the dead witch beside Fleur, Calypso shuddered and wrapped an arm around Fleur's shoulders.

Fleur was uncoordinated and confused, and moving her was hard with the ground soft underfoot. The pair staggered over to the car – apart from the fact that the car wasn't there anymore.

Calypso looked in amazement around the carpark.

"Where eez the car, Calypso?" Fleur asked.

"I parked it right here!" Calypso said in disbelief. "Right here…" with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, Calypso realized what had happened.

"Some bastard stole the car that I stole!" she raged to Sirius, who had come, dragging Monahan's body on an enchanted stretcher.

"What?" Sirius asked, looking at Calypso. She was a mess – her hair was windswept and full of dirt and twigs. There was mud smeared all down the left side of her body and face, and she was furious. Dangling around her right shoulder was Fleur, shining with beauty, even through the blood still weeping from her forehead.

"You just don't steal cars someone else has taken the trouble to steal!" Calypso continued, her eyes flashing dangerously.

Sirius chose not to comment.

"Calypso, we have to get out of here." He said urgently, and at that moment, the distant wail of sirens started.

"How?" she asked angrily. "We can't apparate out – you can, but me and Fleur can't."

"I've got a Portkey, but it's only programmed for one person." Sirius said quickly. "I can change it, but it'll take time."

"How much time?"

Sirius shrugged. "Half an hour, give or take a few minutes."

"We don't have half an hour!" Calypso yelled at Sirius.

"Blow me down with a feather, I hadn't noticed!" Sirius suddenly yelled back at Calypso.

Calm down the both of you. Virginia snapped into Calypso's mind. Steal another car. Calypso, you drive, and Sirius can program the Portkey.

Sirius watched Calypso quizzically. Her face was going through all sorts of emotions – anger, frustration, thoughtfulness, and then relief.

"Sirius," she said, "I've got a plan."

"What is it?" he said wearily.

"Magic me up a gun, will you?" she demanded.

Sirius stared at her.

"It doesn't have to be able to fire." She said impatiently. "Just look big and scary and shiny and able to blow someone's brains out."

Sirius hesitated, and Calypso exploded. "Come on, we don't have all day! Unless you'd rather be recaptured!"

Sirius scowled at her and pointed his wand at an empty Coke can on the pavement. As Calypso watched, the tin warped and stretched, molding itself into a large handgun with a red grip covered in curly white writing.

"Just what the doctor ordered." She said, impressed, and picked up the gun off the footpath. It was as light as the tin can it was Transfigured from, but looked lethal. "Now, Sirius, hold onto Fleur here." She propped Fleur against Sirius' shoulder.

"Okay, when I say get moving, get moving, okay?" she asked with a wink.

Sirius looked worried.

"Trust me, okay?" she called over her shoulder as she walked out into the traffic.

Sirius watched in bewilderment as the traffic, on the green light, swirled around Calypso. Eventually, the lights turned Red, and the cars backed up.

Suddenly Sirius realized what her plan was.

Calypso strode down the rows of waiting cars until she came to one that caught her fancy.

Silver, sedan, shiny. Ford – oh well, beggars can't be choosers, she would have preferred a Holden – quite new, built in the last two years, she would have guessed. Manual. Grunty motor. Driver was a single white male, in late twenties. Calypso smiled. This one would do just fine.

She walked unconcernedly up to the car, and quickly opened the passenger's side door and jumped in.

The driver looked at her in amazement.

"Who the hell…get out." He said, his eyes narrowing. "Get the fuck out of my car. Who the hell do you think…" he trailed off when Calypso pulled her Coke-can gun on him.

"Get out of the car. Leave it running, though. Or I'll shoot you goddammed head into the Post Office over there." She said sweetly.

The driver's jaw dropped, and he started blubbering incoherently. Calypso twitched the gun in his direction. "Out. Now." She repeated in a firmer voice, and with a few second's delay, the driver unclicked his seatbelt, and had scampered out of the car.

Calypso gave a grin. That was easier than expected. She opened up the door and got out.

"Sirius!" she yelled. "Move it!" She was pleased to note Sirius was already on his way. Jogging around the car, she slid into the driver's seat and adjusted the seat as Sirius opened the passenger's side door.

"This your idea of a plan?" he asked.

"You got a better one?" she snapped back. "Put Fleur in the back seat."

"Monahan can go in the boot. Pop it for me, will you?" he asked. Calypso scrabbled with the dashboard until the boot opened. By this time the lights had turned green, and the rows of cars behind theirs were tooting their horns angrily.

Sirius dragged Monahan's body around to the boot and, with a flick of his wand, moved his body until he was half-in, half-out of the trunk of the car.

The tooting of the car behind him was beginning to annoy him, so he abandoned his task for a moment and strode the hatchback with the loud horn. He poked his head through the window and gave the middle-aged female driver what he hoped was a winning smile.

"Hi." He said. "Look, we are sort or having a dilemma here. We've just hijacked a rather expensive car, and the dead body is not fitting in the boot. We might just be a few more minutes here until I hack of enough body parts from the dead guy so the boot lid will close."

Sirius took the moment to relish the look of absolute horror on the woman's face.

"I knew you'd understand. So you won't mind stopping honking that bloody horn till we are finished? Thanks." And with that, Sirius walked back to the boot and Monahan's ill-fitting body, grinning in a very canine fashion when the woman started screaming.

Wrestling with Monahan's form, he eventually managed to stuff him in face-forward, and jumped on the boot lid a few times to make it click close. By that time the woman's penetrating voice had informed the neighborhood that Sirius Black was there, had put her car into reverse and backed straight into the car behind her.

Sirius gave a satisfied smile as he sat down heavily next to Calypso.

"You took your time." She grumbled.

Sirius shrugged.

By this time, the traffic lights had been through a complete cycle, and were green again. Calypso floored the car, and with a lurch they took off.

"Easy!" Sirius exclaimed as they roared around the corner.

"Sorry." Calypso apologized. "I'm not really used to driving high performance vehicles. Where do I go?" she asked, scanning the busy streets.

"Where do you want to go?" Sirius asked her reasonably.

"I dunno." Calypso said.

"Okay then. Left and then your third right." Sirius instructed.

Calypso followed Sirius' orders, winding around the London streets until they reached what Calypso thought was a motorway and floored it.

"Stay on this road." Sirius instructed sharply, and pulled out of his robes a black case. Flipping it open, he prodded the silver orb inside with his wand. "Don't swerve suddenly or anything."

"Fine." Calypso said back, glancing in the rear view mirror. "Fleur, are you okay?" she asked.

"I feel sick." She replied, and Calypso frowned with concern.

Suddenly, red and blue flashing lights pulsated in the rear view mirror. "Here comes the Calvary." Calypso muttered as a police car gave chase. She stepped on the accelerator harder.

They flashed through London, the skyscrapers a blur, Sirius frowning over the metal orb, Fleur sinking in and out of consciousness on the back seat, Calypso driving, at least ten Police cars, four motorcycles and two helicopters giving chase.

Eventually, Sirius gave a sigh and put the orb down. "Well, that's it. We've just got to wait." He said.

"Wait for what?" Calypso asked with a strained voice, not taking her eyes off the road.

"The Portkey to be updated. Gets done on the hour, so we've got another seven minutes or so." Sirius replied.

Calypso didn't respond.

Sirius looked at her. "Calypso…" he said.

"What?" she snapped.

"What's your problem?" Sirius shot back.

Calypso was lost for words. "Sirius, dear," she said very quietly with underlying fury, "take a few moments to think about what you just said. I'm up shit creek without a paddle, and you just asked me what my problem was."

"Sorry." Sirius replied candidly.

"At least say sorry like you mean it!" Calypso suddenly yelled at him. "For god's sakes, Sirius, you are such a bullshit artist! Can I trust anything you say?" She was livid, her cheeks pink and eyes narrowed.

"Bullshit artist?" Sirius snapped back. "I may be many things, but a bullshit artist is not one-" Calypso cut him off.

"Tell me, Sirius. When did you plan on telling me that the Phoenixes were disbanded and I had pretty much zilch chance of gaining a foothold in the Magical world?" she demanded with a steely gaze.

"Didn't you know?" Sirius said, bewildered.

"No I didn't know!" Calypso replied. "I though I had no hope whatsoever of belonging to the Magical world. Then you offered me a chance to join the Phoenixes again, up on the rooftop, and I was so happy. And then Snape told me that the Phoenixes were no longer in existence and I'd be an outcast. Why did you try and fool me?" she demanded, hurt.

"Now, hang on a minute here!" Sirius rallied. "I'd slipped, saying the Phoenixes would have you back. Freudian slip, honestly. I mean the Auror board. Seriously, Calypso, they'll argue and debate for hours, but in the end, they'll greet you with open arms." He said convincingly.

"Why?" Calypso said, changing lanes to avoid a slow truck.

"They listen to what that old fraud, Trelawney, says." Sirius said with triumph.

Calypso thought about it for a while.

"And besides, there's the items in the back seat and the boot to consider." Sirius added, pointing a thumb at Fleur.

Calypso sighed. "I don't know Sirius. All I know is that I want to go home."

"Home where?" Sirius asked, suddenly thinking of Ben.

"Home Australasia Home!" she declared. "To my sisters and all my madcap flatmates."

Thinking about home suddenly made Sirius remember something.

"Calypso, why did you never tell us that Remus was you uncle?" he said as another helicopter swooped overhead.

Calypso gave him a look of incredulity, and snorted, looking back onto the road and trying to see where the helicopter was.

"Pull the other one." She replied.

Sirius furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "You mean you didn't know?" he said, bewildered.

"Know what?" Calypso asked.

"Remus is your uncle." He replied.

"What?" Calypso said, turning to look at him, mouth agape.

"Remus is your uncle." Sirius repeated.

Calypso stared at Sirius for several moments, her eyes glazed over and her jaw askew.

"WATCH THE ROAD!" Sirius yelled and grabbed the steering wheel before they ploughed into the median barrier.

"SORRY!" Calypso said, righted the car, and looked back to Sirius with shining eyes. "You really mean it, don't you? Remus is my uncle?"

"Yes." Sirius said firmly as a huge smile slowly spread itself across Calypso mud-splattered face.

"Ohhhhhhh….." she moaned in delight. "Of course! Rorrim said Remus' brother's name was Cain! My Dad's name is Cain! And they even look a little alike!" Calypso looked back to the road and kept blubbering on.

"I never knew my last name when I was little. Calypso Ann Lupin. C A L. That's my nickname, Cal. Not just because those are the first three letters of my name, also because they are my initials!" She was overflowing with happiness. "Sirius, I have relations! Non-evil relations! Oh, this is so cool! Just wait till I tell my sisters!"

"Watch the road." Sirius warned her.

"Sirius…." Fleur's wobbly voice throbbed from the back seat. "I don't feel too good."

Calypso looked in the rear view mirror at Fleur. Her face was pasty white. "Sirius, is that Portkey ready?" she asked.

"Should be." He replied, looking at his watch.

"Fleur is looking terrible."

"I think we should give it a whirl." Sirius said firmly. "Everyone, hold onto you hats!"

And with that, Sirius opened the box and tipped the Portkey out onto the dashboard.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"..in pursuit of a silver Ford Sedan, license plate VROOOMM doing 188 k/hr in the middle lane." The plump police officer spoke into his receiver. "Requesting…"

His words trailed off. Because the car he and six other Police cars, three motorbikes and two helicopters were chasing, susceptibly with the infamous, elusive Sirius Black as a passenger, disappeared into thin air in the middle of the road.

"Barry!" he exclaimed. "What the hell?"

Barry applied the brakes, and the car came screeching to a halt.

Dazed, the two officers climbed out to stand on the road.

"Where did it go to?" Dave asked Barry, who was looking around desperately. Farther up, other police cars were doing the same.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Traveling by Portkey was a horrible sensation. One well versed lady had likened it to 'having your stomach sucked out the top of your head with a straw'.

Calypso quite agreed. Flying thousands of kilometers was not pleasant.

The car landed quite spectacularly on a dusty driveway, sending chickens flying.

The airbags deployed, saving Sirius from breaking his nose on the dashboard.

As the dust settled, Calypso battled her airbag, which was pinning her to the seat. "You stupid…bloody…damned…airbag!" she choked, punching it until she could reach the door handle.

Sirius shook his head, clearing the stars. "Everyone okay?" he asked.

"Just bloody fine!" Calypso fumed, and stormed out of the car.

Sirius turned around to look at Fleur. She was slumped over in her seat, the only thing holding her up her seatbelt. "Oh shit." He said softly, and struggled to get out.

Emerging into the dusty landscape, Sirius went straight for Fleur. Opening the door and carefully unbuckling her limp form, he scooped her up and headed straight for the house.

"Come on in Calypso!" he yelled.

Calypso just stood there, looking at where they had landed.

They were out in the country side, fields of rich green grass rose on each side, hedges and tall poplars flanking the hills. In front of them was one of the strangest structures Calypso had seen.

It was built like…well, Calypso couldn't think of anything to relate it to. It seemed to be a haphazard attempt at building a house. The bottom story, well, where the front door was located, was make of red bricks. A glasshouse off to the side gave support to the upper story, which was weatherboarded, and bigger than the ground story. A balcony dominated the next story, which was bricked again. On the next story, off to the left was a tower reaching another two stories high. On the other side were two more, smaller stories, one with bay windows, and the other with a huge balcony.

Calypso couldn't see how it was standing. Each successive story was wider than the last one, and the whole building was skewed to the right. She finally came to a suitable simile. It was like some little kid's attempt to build a house out of Lego Bricks. Just mash another room on top of, or beside the last.

She took a few hesitant steps forward, looking around the grounds. Thick, untamed hedges surrounded the garden, where wildflowers and roses grew amok. However, the lawn was clipped, the trees huge and leafy, and there was a picnic table just visible.

Huddling in the hedge, still shell-shocked from the car landing on top of where they used to be standing, were a whole flock of motely-coloured chickens, bocking and clicking in distress.

Sirius had said to come in, but Calypso had an innate fear that the building might collapse when she entered. However, a pile of shoes and boots strewn by the front door, a horseshoe nailed over the doorframe, and a crooked sign that read 'The Burrow' reassured her that other people had entered and were still alive.

Reluctantly, she tried to wipe some of the mud off her face, and only succeededin smearing it further. Then, feeling much more composed, but just as wary, she walked in the front door.

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(Insert standard disclaimer here)

Millions and gazillions of thanks and kudos to Allylupin, my Beta-reader. I wish you fairy dust and happy thoughts. (And good luck in your exams as well.)

Oh, I though I'd better say a huge THANK YOU to all you people who review. I like it best when you review often and write heaps, but I know that's too much to ask, so I just want to say….I LOVE YOU! to all those people who have reviewed. And please don't stop. ;-)

Luff,

Sorceress.