Hello there faithful readers!
It seems every time I post a chapter, I'm apoligising for it being late. This is no exception.
Not only did my little sister trip over the modem cord and bend all the prong-y things, I've started a new full-time job (working 9 hours a day is really tiring – be nice to your parents!) and my best friend has become anorexic.
So I have excuses. Lame, but still excuses.
Anyhow, on with the story!!!!!!!
Disclaimer – JK Rowling is God. I am a mere mortal. In no way do I proclaim myself to be God. I don't even reach angel standards. (A minor daemon perhaps…)
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Ch 15 – Azkaban and Icecream
*************************************************
Five days, Remus thought. At least it was only five days. He stood beside Mad-Eye Moody on the edge of Azkaban's drawbridge, awaiting Spicier to return with Calypso.
"She's been in for only five days." Moody said in a gruff voice, mirroring exactly what Remus had been thinking. "She shouldn't be too bad."
Remus shook his head. "It all depends on what memories they have. Like Harry, who collapses when the Dementors come near- he has the memories of his parents being killed. The Heir of Slytherin controlled Ginny Weasley - she's badly affected. While someone with a happy past, and most important, a happy childhood, will find the presence of Dementors less terrible than those with a tragic, unhappy memories."
Moody scowled. "You are sounding like a textbook again, Lupin." He grumbled. But still, the point had been made.
Another few minutes passed.
"Why did you agree to take Calypso as a Ward?" Remus finally asked, no longer able to contain his curiosity.
Moody shrugged. "Something to do, I guess."
Remus let it drop, but suspected there were deeper reasons than Moody was willing to discuss.
Suddenly, there was a creak, and movement from behind the stone walls.
Ever so slowly, the great drawbridge of Azkaban whirred into life and edged down. Moody and Remus waited cautiously as their view if the prison was enlarged.
With a thonk, the huge timber slabs hit the ground at Moody's feet. He didn't even flinch, but looked straight ahead.
The drawbridge opened up onto the main courtyard of Azkaban - a huge barren rectangle of cold stone and windswept dust.
There was nothing there. Just shadows from the towering walls, straw blowing around dismally and the tortured moans drifting from the bowels of the prison.
Moody and Remus waited - Moody impassivly, Remus fingering his wand.
Eventually, a figure appeared, walking slowly across the courtyard.
"Moody!" the distant figure called. "Come in."
Remus gave Moody a nervous grin. "After you."
Moody scowled and stepped onto the drawbridge, his false leg making a loud clump with every step. Remus fell in behind as they walked into the infamous Azkaban Wizard Gaol.
Remus had just enough time to take in the huge encircling walls, the biting cold of the wind, and the sickening, depressing pull of the Dementors before Moody spoke.
"Spicier." he barked to the lone figure dwarfed in the immense courtyard. Spicier, Remus could see, was a staunch man of about forty, with a thick brown beard and hair. Written on the back of his robes in yellow was the word 'Warden'.
"Inside, inside." Spicier said, and gestured towards a door on the wall, underneath a soaring watchtower.
Inside was a small office, equipped with a large fireplace that burned ferociously against the cold wind outside. Spicier sat at his desk and riffled through a stack of parchment.
"Looking as good as ever, Alastor." he said as a way of greeting. "And I take it you are Remus Lupin?"
"Yes. We've come for-"
"Prisoner 16402. Yes, I know. Dumbledore sent an owl." Spicier replied gruffly. "All I need is for you to sign here, Alastor..."
Moody scrawled on the sheet of parchment Spicier handed him, and Remus looked around the office. Apart from filing cabinets, a heap of blankets, the desk and the fireplace, there was nothing else in the room. Spicier saw where Remus was looking.
"No point in trying to make it comfortable." Spicier said briefly. "This is Azkaban, after all. It's not supposed to be nice."
Spicier glanced at the completed form Moody handed him back, and hit a small metal bell on the edge of his desk. The tinny ring could be heard echoing through tunnels under the floor.
"They should be coming." Spicier said, leaning back on his chair and putting his feet up on the desk. "So, how's retirement, Alastor? I never thought it would suit you."
"I'm not exactly retired, Alec." Moody replied. "I still do odd-jobs for the Aurors and the Ministry. Keeps me on my toes."
"Yes, well, I could never quite picture you playing golf." Spicier said with a slight guawff.
At that moment, Remus heard simultaneously footsteps from behind the external door, and a rush of ice to his stomach that signified a Dementor approaching.
"Hark, the Dementors approachath." Remus mumbled, as the door opened.
Spicier looked up at the Dementor. "Oh good, you've got her." he said mildly, and beckoned the handcuffed Calypso into the room.
She was a mess, and knew it.
Azkaban didn't have the best bathing facilities, and her face was dirty, the robes borrowed from Mrs. Weasley ripped, her hair lank and knotted. Fear and torment have a way of shrinking people, and hunched over with cold, Remus thought for a second that Calypso was only twelve years old.
Calypso took a hesitant step inside the office, and looked around the room with large, frightened eyes that first settled on Moody.
She gave a sudden start as she remembered where she had seen him, and stared for a few moments at his torn and disfigured face.
"Hello lassie." Moody said in a low grumble.
She gave a nod, and turned to look at Spicier, who had taken his feet off the desk and was handing her a form.
"What's this?" she asked in a dry, scratchy voice.
"Release papers." Remus said from the shadows.
Calypso spun around to face Remus, and for the first time in days, a smile - hesitant and unsure, yes, but a smile - crept over her face.
She wasn't quite sure how to react. Remus was her long-lost uncle, and she was suddenly shy. But her heart soared to finally see a friendly face.
"Gudday Remus." she said, her eyes lighting up with irrepressible hope. "What's the deal?"
Spicier spoke. "Somehow the Auror Board has bargained with the Ministry Courts to release you. God knows how. The uproar after Karkaroff was let off..."
"You're going to be working for us." Moody stated, staring at Calypso, who withered under his gaze.
She bit her lip. "Okay."
"There is a catch, though." Remus said, and Calypso warily eyed the paperwork and quill on Spicier's desk.
"There's always a catch, isn't there?" she said sullenly.
"You're not entirely free." Remus continued. "Judge Solomon has decreed you can leave Azkaban, but as a Ward of Moody."
Calypso looked incredulously at Remus, jaw slowly dropping. "You...you are joking, aren't you?"
"No, he isn't." Moody replied. "I'm going to be your guardian."
At this, Calypso swelled with anger like a Pufferfish. "I do NOT need a nanny!" she snarled, eyes flashing.
Spicier impassively tapped the papers on his desk with his wand. "I hate to disagree, but recent events contradict you, Miss Grey."
Calypso belligerently stared Spicier in the eye.
"No. Bloody. Way." she said dangerously. "I am NOT a child."
"Then act your age and not your shoe size!" Moody suddenly growled.
"You have a choice, Miss Grey." Spicier drawled, unconcerned with Calypso's rage, and neatly cutting her off before she could reply to Moody. "Either you can sign this document and leave with Alastor Moody, or you can go back to your cell and wait for a retrial."
At this, all the fight drained out of Calypso. She hesitated. "No. Not the Dementors again." she whispered, looking to the floor.
"Sign it, Calypso." Remus said mildly. "It's the best offer you are going to get."
Calypso stood still for a long time, staring at the release papers. Eventually she sighed, and picked up the quill from Spicier's inkpot.
"I 'spose nothing can be worse than Azkaban." she said miserably, and scrawled her name on the dotted line.
*********************************
Calypso clung onto the edge of the flying carpet for dear life as the ground below them whisked past.
This is worse than Azkaban, she thought.
"Not scared, are you?" Remus yelled over the rushing air.
"Damn well yes!" she hollered back.
Flying on a broomstick was okay, Calypso thought. At least then you were in control.
Now her life was entrusted to a mad old man with one leg, one eye and half a face.
It was her first time on a flying carpet. Moody sat at the head of the ancient Indian rug, legs crossed, navigating towards Glasgow. Remus was on Calypso's right, thoroughly enjoying the ride and the view.
Calypso hated it. At least she didn't have to talk, she though. The depression she had fallen into at Azkaban abated as they left, but returned in full force as she thought about her predicament.
And Virginia was back.
Come on, it's not that bad. She snapped. Moody may look scary, but he's got a heart of gold. I think.
That's not the problem, Virginia. Calypso thought back miserably. Being an Auror is. You know what it means? It means that I'm going to have to be their puppet again. I was fine about it before, but I'm not now.
Don't be silly. You were almost desperate to be an Auror before. What's the matter now? Virginia said with a bite of impatience.
Oh, I don't know. It's seeing Mum and Dad again, it feels wrong selling them out. And I only wanted to be an Auror to, well, try and make up for past wrongs, so to speak. But that all seems futile now.
Did you get hit over the head in Azkaban? Virginia snarled. If you don't 'sell out' your parents, dear, Voldemort will conquer the world. Sorry if I sound melodramatic, but that's reality. And whatsmore, your parents are killers.
I know that. You don't' have to remind me. Calypso snapped back.
Maybe I do! And if you don't spill on the Death Eaters, the Aurors might throw you back in Azkaban.
I can see the future for them, though. Calypso thought back sullenly.
Virginia sighed. Hate to be the one to tell you this, but as a Seer you are pretty rudimentary. You've got talent, yes, but you don't know how to use it.
What?
Don't worry your messed-up little head. I've got it sorted. But if you refuse to dish out the goods on the Death Eaters, I won't. And back to Azkaban you go.
That's blackmail! Calypso thought furiously.
Yes it is. Virginia said, unconcerned. But it's for your own good.
Calypso stared at the green landscape swishing by, and bit her lip.
**********************************
"Fetch!" Aria cried, and threw the rolled-up Daily Prophet across the back lawn. Sirius, in dogform, leapt after it.
From the kitchen, Maria watched with interest as she washed the dishes.
"Sirius gets along rather well with your sister, doesn't he?" she asked the girl sitting in the windowseat.
"Well, Aria's just a permanent 11-year old, really." Melody replied, turning her head towards the source of barks and squeals. "And Sirius strikes me as the sort of person to just hit it off with kids, for some reason."
"Same disregard for authority and love of fun." Maria agreed, and shot a quick look at Melody.
When they had turned up on Remus' doorstep, accompinied by Ben and Dumbledore, Maria had thought for a split second that Melody was Calypso. Then she realized that Melody had brown eyes and freckles. But in the four days they had stayed at Lupin's house, Maria had noticed other major differences between the two almost identical sisters. While Calypso was brash, spontaneous and easily angered, Melody was calm, measured, insightful and thoughtful.
And blind.
Harry limped into the kitchen.
"Hullo." he said, and promptly disappeared into Pantry.
"Do you ever stop eating?" Maria asked Harry's back as he rummaged around, Pantry eagerly offering him ham sandwiches and lamingtons.
"Nohpe." Harry replied, his mouth full of pink sponge.
"He's a growing boy." Melody observed.
Harry, still chewing, stared curiously at Melody. "Ow'dya know that?" he asked. "You can't see me."
"My sight is the only sense I've lost, Harry. Just because I can't see doesn't mean I'm dumb." Melody replied mildly.
Harry went pink. "Sorry." he mumbled and, arms filled with an assortment of food, he limped back out the door.
Maria wiped her floury hands on her robes, leaving white streaks. "It never ceases to amaze me how tactless Harry is. His father was, at his age, a right little wizard with words. Could charm the pants of any witch. Well, literally, anyway. Right, that's dinner done. I've just got to wait till Remus gets home and I'll..."
Right then, there was a small commotion outside.
"Sirius! Get off me or I'll be forced to neuter you!"
"Okay, okay, not so hasty!"
"Remus is back." Maria said with mirth, watching Sirius climb off Remus, upon whom he had ambushed in the long grass. Aria was besides herself with laughter.
Remus ambled into the kitchen with two very large, very muddy paw prints on the front of his robes.
"Hello nieces." he began to say, but was cut off by Melody.
"Did you see her?" she exclaimed, staring at Remus with excitement.
"Oh yes." Remus said with a smile.
"What happened? What did she say?"
Remus took a seat. "Well, we got her out of Azkaban and flew to Mad-Eye Moody's place on Glasglow. Calypso was a bit shirty about the whole thing-"
"Why do I not doubt that?" Melody murmured.
"-but she got over it. She looks okay, if a bit miserable and in need of a bath."
"When can we see her?" Aria had just walked through the door, still panting.
"Tomorrow, maybe."
"Depending on what?"
Remus chuckled. "Depending on whether Calypso behaves herself, Moody said."
Melody gave an exasperated snort. "We'll be seeing her next Christmas, then."
"Have some faith in the girl." Maria said.
"I know her better than you do, and I'm placing money on Christmas."
"Somehow I think Moody is just the sort of 'nanny' Calypso needs, actually." Remus said, leaning back on his chair and staring contentedly at the ceiling.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Calypso stood awkwardly at Moody's front door. Remus had just Apparated away, and she was feeling strangely abandoned. She waited while Moody puffed and wheezed his way up the stairs, wooden leg clunking with every step.
"Rule number one - Don't touch anything." he commanded, and prodded the brass doorhandle with his wand.
Calypso rolled her eyes.
"I saw that." Moody growled.
Calypso had the grace to cringe. She'd forgotten about his magic eye. As Moody's door swung open, she peered expectantly around the corner. Remus looked like an ordinary person, and his house contained weird and wacky things like talking furniture and a wanted criminal in the form of a dog. Moody had a peg-leg, a magical eye and a flying carpet. Calypso couldn't wait to see what his house looked like.
She was disappointed. It looked like any other house - a narrow entrance with a coatstand, and terrible faded orange, brown and white striped wallpaper.
Moody limped in, taking off his cloak and sending it magically sailing across the hall to drape dramatically across the coatstand.
"Follow me, and don't touch anything." he repeated, and Calypso dutifully did so.
Moody started pointing to the doors off the hallway as they trod down the dark brown, worn carpet. "That there is the kitchen. And the dining room. There's the bathroom, toilet's in there."
Then he stopped in front of one unremarkable door. "This'll be your room-"
Calypso, thinking Moody was courteously letting her go first, reached out and grabbed the door handle.
Before she could blink, the door handle swallowed her hand.
Calypso let rip a shriek that nearly made the wallpaper turn up at the edges.
"MOOOOOODDDDYYYYYY! IT'S EATING MY HAND!"
Indeed, the brass door handle was slowly engulfing more and more of Calypso's arm. Eyes wide with panic, she tried to drag her hand out of the door handle, unaware that she was still screeching.
"Oh, be quiet!" Moody yelled at her, to no avail. "Oh for Merlin's sake..." he pointed his wand at Calypso, who had one foot on the door, straining to tug her arm free.
"Quietus!" he commanded, and Calypso was silent.
"I told you, don't touch anything! Do you ever listen?" Moody prodded the door handle with the tip of his wand, and the brass reluctantly flowed down Calypso's arm and morphed back into a round knob.
Calypso snatched her arm back, and massaged her elbow, the point where the rouge door knob had advanced to. She stared first at the door, and then at Moody, with silent horror, mouthing something at Moody.
"I said quite explicitly, and repeatedly, not to touch anything." Moody said, crossing his arms disagreeably.
Calypso gave him a look that could kill, and launched into an angry tirade - all of which Moody could not hear.
Rolling his eyes, Moody kicked the door open and gestured inside.
"Do me a favor. Go in, sit down, go to sleep, whatever. Just stay in here until I take all my Anti-Intruder Spells off the house. Nothing in this room is hexed."
And with a firm hand placed in the middle of her back, Calypso was propelled into the room and the door shut firmly behind her.
Still clutching her arm, she looked around. It was a sparsely furnished room, containing a single bed with a worn white candlewick bedspread, a battered dresser and huge piles of cardboard boxes towering to the ceiling.
Miserably she trudged over to the bed and sat down heavily on it.
It squeaked.
Bloody brilliant. She thought.
She could hear Moody bustling around the house, obviously adjusting his multiple burglar alarms to accomidate the house's newest resident. Calypso kicked off her scuffed shoes, and slithered gratefully into her narrow bed. Filthy and exhausted, she closed heavy eyelids - only to open them again.
A pile of moving pictures over by the wardrobe had caught her eye. Calypso rolled over and pulled the duvet tight around her shoulders, but it was no use.
Her curiosity overcame her tiredness. She had spotted a pile of the Daily Prophet, and after being first a prisoner of the Death Eaters, and then a prisoner in Azkaban, she was hungry for news of the world, magical or Muggle.
She padded barefoot across to the large cardboard box which was sagging under the weight of the last month's copies of the wizarding newspaper. Calypso brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes, and delved into the box, bringing out the top pile, about a week's worth. She sat down cross-legged on the threadbare carpet and shook open the first paper, yesterdays.
-SALEM HIGH SCHOOL DESTROYED!!!!! Screamed the headline, accompanied by a rather impressive picture of a lot of rubble, still smoking faintly.
-Today in a blaze of green fire, Salem High School, the infamous North American Wizarding School was razed by Dark Magic. Headmaster Chuck Squiddlywink is relieved the attack took place before any students were at the school. "Tomorrow we would have had two thousand pupils here. Thank God term hadn't started."
No-one was hurt in the attack, apart from three House-elves who received burns after the explosion knocked them into the fireplace. The house-elves' own magic kept them alive when the kitchens collapsed into rubble...
Calypso read the whole paper, including the Horoscopes (at which she snorted with disgust) before tackling the next one, from two days ago.
-AUROR BOARD SWELLS NUMBERS.
-In a historical move today, the Auror Board of England has merged with the Auror Force of Ireland and the Scottish Aurors to create a unified defense against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his minions. "The Death Eaters don't pay attention to District Boundaries, so why should we?" Danny Dunkirk, Auror Board member said after coming from the debating chamber. The move will nearly triple the numbers of the Aurors, from 228 to 581. Minister of Magic Cornelious Fudge declined to comment on the merger, his PR assistant merely stating that "...Mr. Fudge has no comment on this matter. When he handed responsibility for the safety and protection of all Wizards to the Auror Board, he was determined not to meddle."
After finishing that paper, Calypso moved onto the next one.
-GRINGOTTS OVERWHELMED
-Gringotts bank is almost full, according to Griphook, Gringott's Bank Security Manager. "We are constructing more vaults as we speak, but we can't keep up with demand." He says. Ever since the resurrection of the Dark Lord, Gringotts has been flooded with Wizards and Witches frantically depositing all their valuables...
Onto the next paper.
-DEATH EATERS SLIP OUT OF TRAP
-An elaborate trap set for the Dark Lord's followers fell to pieces last night when they used illegal Portable Portkeys to escape. Following a tip-off from an unnamed source…
Me! Calypso thought, scowling. Bloody incompetent bastards, and you let them get away! Of course they'd have Portkeys, they always do!
Taking a deep breath, she read on.
-…the Aurors from the Auror Board ambushed a whole Tribe of Death Eaters as they attacked Petchell Cottage in Nottingham. After a brief but furious exchange of curses, the Death Eaters escaped, outnumbered and outgunned. The Petchell family, who had been evacuated previous to the attack, are grateful for their lives...
"Very interesting." Calypso said silently as she finished that paper, unaware that Moody's silencing charm was still upon her. Picking up the next paper and flicking it open, her heart skipped a beat.
-SIRIUS BLACK IN LONDON!!!!!!!
-AURORS MASSACRED IN FRANKTON PARK!!!!
-MUGGLE CHILDREN AMOUNG THOSE MURDERED!!!!!
-Infamous criminal Sirius Black today killed four Aurors and eight Muggles in a small suburban Park in London, Muggle sources report. The Department for Magical Catastrophes have cordoned off the street, and are interviewing Muggle witnesses. Information is still sketchy at this stage, but official statements from Muggle Police reveal that at 12.21PM today Sirius Black went on a rampage in the small park, killing 12. It is not known what the Aurors were doing at the park. Aided by a young female accomplice, Black then took the dead body of a man and a wounded girl hostage. Black's accomplice then hijacked a car, Black stuffing the corpse into the boot, while terrified motorists looked on. Muggle Policemen gave chase, but lost the fugitives.
Oh shit, Calypso thought, her eyes drawn to the mug shot of Sirius, who looked pale and gaunt. Scanning through the rest of the article (continued on pages 4 and 5) she soon found a description of Sirius and herself.
Sirius Black - Caucasian Male, 35 years. 181 cm, 75kg. Black hair, black eyes. ARMED AND HIGHLY DANGEROUS. DO NOT APPROACH. CONTACT AURORS IF SIGHTED.
His accomplice - Caucasian female, 15-20 years.
19, you asses! She thought.
166cm, 55kg. Blonde hair, blue eyes, Australian accent. Freckled, comely.
"COMELY?!?!" Calypso screamed voicelessly, her mouth open with outrage. "I AM NOT COMELY!!!" Fuming, she read on.
ARMED AND DANGEROUS. DO NOT APPROACH. CONTACT AURORS IF SIGHTED.
In the true tradition of the Daily Prophet, the whole article was high on opinion and low on facts. By the time Calypso had finished the paper, she was in a miserable mood, and still smarting about being called 'comely'.
"They didn't get any of it right. Sirius didn't kill anyone, I'm not his accomplice, Monahan's not dead, Fleur's not a hostage and most of all, I'm not comely!" she mouthed furiously to the wall.
Leaving the newspapers sprawled where they were on the floor, she dragged the curtains in her room closed, and curled up in her bed again.
"Bloody reporters." She murmured, and fell asleep.
---------------
"They knew we were there, Cain." Octavia said to her husband, who had his head in his hands. "They bloody well knew."
Cain shook his head slowly. "I just don't understand." Suddenly he stood up and paced around the room. "We handpicked everyone, Octavia." He ranted, gesturing angrily. "We've been through so much together! For twenty or more years! I just can't accept-"
"Someone is betraying us." Octavia finished for him. "Don't worry, love. I'll find them." She promised, eyes narrowing dangerously.
--------------------
Calypso woke up abruptly as her bed was turned upside down and she hit the floor in an ungainly heap of limbs, cracking her head nastily on the carpet.
"OWWWWWW!!!!! What the..." she mumbled as she dragged herself out of the pile of blankets. Blinking, the imposing figure of Mad-Eye Moody stood before her, pocketing his wand.
"Wakey wakey." He said gruffly, and turned on his heel to walk out of the room.
"What the HELL was that for?" Calypso yelled at his back as she stood up, furious.
Moody however, had still not lifted the Silencing Charm on Calypso and did not hear. Even if he had, he probably would have ignored her.
Fuming, Calypso sat on the empty bed, glanced at the clock on the wall, and did a double-take. 11.57AM.
"Oh my God. I've slept for twenty hours." She said to no-one in particular. It was a long time to sleep.
Dementors have that effect on people. And you didn't sleep very well in Azkaban, I suspect.
Calypso sighed. Hello Virginia.
And hello to you too. Calypso noted a cherry, light-hearted tone in Virginia's mental voice.
You seem perky.
Oh yes. It's all going to plan. You managed to stuff things up, but it's working it's way out quite nicely.
What's working it's way out?
Events. And I have some good news for you.
Will I like this news? Calypso asked warily as she smoothed out the crinkles in her dirty robes, which she had slept in.
Oh, you'll love it! Virginia said with relish. I'll be leaving you tomorrow.
Calypso blinked in surprise, and paused her grooming. What?
The spell that lets me live in your head lasts until tomorrow. Well, until you do something, which is going to take place tomorrow.
What will I do? Calypso asked with alarm.
Finish off a spell I set up 400 years ago. Virginia replied nonchantly.
And what spell is this?
Don't worry your pretty little head about the spell. But you'll love the concequences.
Concequences? I don't like the sound of that!!!
Wait and let me explain. Virginia replied patiently. At that, Calypso knew something was up. Virginia, in her experience, had never been patient. Once you complete this spell, you won't have to work for the Aurors any more. They'll get what they want, and you'll be free to go. If you don't stuff up, that is. Virginia's last sentence was steel-hard.
Calypso's mind whirled. How do the Aurors get what they want? They want me to see the future for them - and they need me in person to do that. And what do you mean by stuff up?
I mean don't stuff up like get offside with Moody! Or insult anyone on the Auror Board!
Moody is a bad-tempered demented old man! And what's this about the Auror Board?
Now now, Virginia chided Calypso like she was a small child. Moody simple believes in discipline and harmony - everything which you are the antithesis of. And the Auror Board? You are meeting them tonight.
How do you know all this?
Stupid question, love. I'm a Seer, remember?
You never answered my question about this spell. How is it going to work?
Wait and see.
Not, tell me!
Patience is a virtue.
Yes yes, and I should learn it. Tell me!
No, it's better if you don't know.
Why not?
It's more exciting that way. I love suspense.
Shove your suspense up your ass. Tell me!
Calypso dear, I suspect there are a lot of virtues you need to learn!!!
And with that parting remark, Virginia disappeared again.
Calypso sighed, and walked out of her bedroom to battle Moody.
-----------------------
Moody sipped his cup of tea and put his foot and peg-leg up on Remus' table.
"Nineteen going on twelve." He declared.
Remus smiled wryly at the accurate assessment of Calypso. "What did she do this time?" he asked.
"Sulked when I got her out of bed after a 20-hour sleep, and then threw a tantrum when I told her I was going out without her."
"Tantrum?"
"Screamed at me, slammed doors and kicked things."
"That's my sister!" Melody declared. "Don't worry, she'll be fine when you get back. She won't mention the incident at all."
"She usually throws tantrums?" Sirius asked.
"Sometimes. Sulking, yes. But can she yell or what!"
Moody chortled slightly. "Oh, I don't have that problem. Silencing Charm took care of that!"
"I pity you when it wears off, though!" Melody replied dryly.
"How do you live with her?" Remus asked, rolling his eyes.
"To know her is to love her!" Mel declared, and then smiled. "Honestly, she's great most of the time. It's just when she gets angry, she's very demonstrative. You get used to it."
"Tell me, what's with the rumors I hear about her and Ben?" Maria asked, pouring Moody another cup of tea. "One lump of sugar or two?"
"Three." Moody replied, and looked to Mel. "Yes, what about it?"
Melody scowled. "Those two..." she sighed and swept a long strand of auburn hair out of her sightless eyes. "They've been together for about a year now. On-off relationship. It drives the whole house nuts. I think it's because they are too alike. Anyway, on average every five weeks they'll have a massive row, yelling and screaming and breaking the glass in the door by slamming it too hard. Ben will go our the front door, into town and get absolutely trolleyed at the local pub, the Loose Goose, and Calypso will leave via the back door, take a horse, motorbike or her own two feet and simply disappear for a week or so in the back blocks. And then after a week's up, Ben and Calypso will both come home, pretend nothing's happened, and things will be fine for another five weeks until they have another fight."
"What do they fight over?" Sirius asked.
"Who ate the last of the icecream and left the empty container in the freezer...Whether Georgia is a state of America or an ex-USSR country..."
"Both." Remus noted.
"…if Yak's milk is yellow or pink…...oh, the last one was over whether it was cheaper flying BPKP or by Muggle Air....but that one had been simmering for a while. Ben, like the rest of us, didn't want Cal trotting off to England on a whim. Don't get me wrong, when they're not fighting they get along like a house on fire, but when they are rowing...sheez, it's the most dysfunctional relationship I've ever come across."
Calypso was alerted to Moody's arrival when she heard the pat-THUMP pat-THUMP of his tread on the concrete path.
She felt rather ashamed of loosing her temper before. It was, she had to admit, uncalled for. Only that being stuck in a Pensioner's flat all day by herself with nothing to do while her geriatric Nanny went visiting her newly-discovered Uncle was a little unfair.
The day hadn't been all that bad. Calypso had taken a shower in a pokey little bathroom, and in one of the many boxes in her room, had dredged out a pile of clothes. Yes, they were a little old fashioned, but Calypso had picked the best of the robes, decking herself out in inky purple. The robes were too long, but she had found some Spellotape and took the hems up. After the shower, her mood lifted, but that came back down to an all-time low when she tripped over a piece of loose lino in the kitchen and came crashing into the corner of the bench, taking a chunk out of her shin.
When the bleeding had stopped, and she had cleaned up the milk and cereal she had spilt, she had tried to find something interesting to do.
Moody, she had discovered, did not own any pets. Not a cat, dog, canary or goldfish in sight. There was, however, a goldfish bowl with frogspawn and snails in it. He was into reading – very heavy reading. A Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, or Dementors – Friend or Foe? Were the reading choices on the table beside a very worn armchair. Not the least interested in books that weighed as much as a dictionary, Calypso decided instead to rummage through the multitude of cardboard boxes in her room.
After sifting through piles of girls and boys robes – all much outdated – and boxes of trinkets, school books, posters, Quidditch merchandise, teddy bears, dolls and toy wands, Calypso hit paydirt. In the top of her wardrobe, covered in a thick blanket of dust, was a guitar.
Calypso, standing on a box containing four year's ago copies of Warlock! (a Wizard's interest magazine, featuring pictures of scantily-clad buxtom witches) leaned dangerously over and grabbed the neck of the guitar, knocking over a board game. Red and purple figurines tumbled down the side of the wardrobe and bounced off boxes onto the floor, and a few started spitting a nasty smelling liquid around the place indiscriminately.
"Crap." Calypso squeaked as her pile of boxes started to waver. As the tower tilted past the point of no return, Calypso had leapt from the top of her stack, guitar in hand, to land on a purple Gobstone, crunching it into the carpet, while the pile of cardboard boxes fell over with a resounding roar.
As the dust settled, Calypso got up off her hands and knees to survey the damage as parchment fluttered around her feet.
The previous orderly stacks of boxes were strewn about the room, split and leaking papers, objects and liquids onto the carpet. The tower of boxes that Calypso had been standing on had unfortunately cascaded into another pile, setting off a chain reaction that collapsed the piles like a set of dominoes. Calypso groaned as she saw a heap leaning up against the door, blocking the exit completely. Reluctantly, she had put the guitar on her unmade bed and rolled up her sleeves.
An hour and a half later, the boxes were refilled and restacked, and the door unblocked. Calypso grabbed her guitar off her bed and went to the back door.
Moody had said the back yard was okay to go into, but after the doorknob incident, Calypso was wary of handles. Narrowing her eyes at the offending piece of chrome, she used a broom handle to lever the door open. Moody's back yard was a mess – Calypso could vaugely see the handles of a lawnmower peeking out of the jungle of weeds. A path, however, had been hacked to the clothesline, and a wooden lounger sat underneath a sprawling tree, adjacent to the robes billowing in it the breeze. Calypso kicked a few rusted cans on her way to the seat, and upset a few Magpies.
Nestling into the hard lounger, Calypso strummed the guitar lazily. The fact that she didn't know how to play the guitar didn't bother her in the least. Experimentation proved that she could pluck out 'Mary had a little lamb' and 'Twinkle twinkle little star' quite well. After about three hours, she had discovered E and D chord, as well as a few of her own invention.
By the time Moody had arrived home, it was three PM and she was sleepily strumming the first four bars of 'Kum Bah Yah', a glass of chilled Pumpkin Juice by her elbow.
"Calypso?" Moody called from inside the house. Calypso swatted a wasp that was buzzing by her face, and called back. "Under the washing line!!!!" she yodeled over the buzz of the next-door neighbour's lawnmower.
Moody soon appeared through the forest of weeds. "I see you discovered my outdoor living area." He joked as he fought his way over, his pegleg getting tangled up in a rather ferocious patch of wandering dew.
"Was that a joke?" Calypso replied with a raised eyebrow.
Moody extracted his leg from the leafy vine. "What, you don't think I'm capable of humor?"
"Devoid was the word I would have chosen to use." Calypso said with a slight giggle. Moody focused both eyes on her, smiling. Calypso thought Moody smiling was even more disturbing than Moody frowning.
"What did you do to your leg?" he said, noticing the hand-towel Spellotaped around Calypso's calf.
"Lino." She said as an explanation. Moody nodded. "Sorry. Forgot to warn you about that. It's more lethal than most of my Anti-Intruder alarms sometimes."
Suddenly his smile became fixed. "Where…where did you get that from?" he asked, staring at the guitar, which was propped up against the lounger.
Calypso followed his gaze, and jumped.
"Oh, I'm sorry! Wasn't I meant to? It was just that I was bored, and I found it on top of the wardrobe, and it's such a nice guitar, and I've always wanted to play the guitar, so I –"
Moody shook his head. "No, it's okay." He said eventually, but there was an air of awkwardness that lingered in the hot summer sun. Moody continued staring at the guitar, and Calypso uncomfortably started speaking.
"Umm…look Mr. Moody-"
"Drop this 'Mr.' buisiness." Moody said, snapping back to reality.
"-Moody, I'm…uhh…I'm sorry for being such a childish bitch this morning." Calypso said, growing scarlet.
Moody eyed her with interest. "That's interesting." He said into Calypso's uncomfortable silence. "Your sister swore you'd never apologize."
"Well, Melody thinks she's all that and a packet of Twisties….hang on." It slowly dawned on Calypso exactly what Moody had just said. "My sister?"
"Visited her today. Nice girl. You should take some lessons from her." Moody said tartly.
Calypso's jaw dropped. "Whhhh……" she leapt up and grabbed Moody's arm desperatly. "Where?" she hollered.
Moody looked down into Calypso's eyes which were shining with delight. "Turn the volume knob down, if you could. She's at Remus' place." He said succulently.
Calypso sprung off Moody's arm and ran screaming with joy around the washing line, hands waving in the air. "AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! I can't BELIEVE it!!!!!"
Moody watched with interest as Calypso leapt over the lounger to latch onto his arm again.
"What's she doing over here? When can I see her? How long is she staying? Is Aria there? How are they?" Calypso said, jumbling all her words together in excitement.
"She's over here because you were arrested, lassie." Moody said calmly. "She's staying another two days and then both her and your other sister are going back to Australia."
"No, not Australia, New Zealand, that's where we live at the moment." Calypso clapped her hands and skipped around Moody. "Whenohwhenohwhen can I see them?"
The smile dropped from Moody's face. "Sit down, I need to have a talk with you."
Calypso slowly stopped her clapping and bouncing, to stare at Moody. "About what?"
"Just sit." Moody sighed. Calypso politely sat on the edge of an old paint can, letting the old man settle his frame into the lounger.
"Firstly," Moody began when he was comfortable. "I'm your Guardian, and so what I say goes. I make the rules, and if we don't get along, you go back to Azkaban."
"But-" Calypso interjected.
"Rule number one was 'don't touch anything.' That shall be replaced with 'don't interrupt.'" Moody shot in, eyeballing Calypso. The fiery girl went to retort, then thought better of it.
"Good. Rule number two is 'do what I say and don't argue."
"What's Rule number three?" Calypso asked.
Moody paused. He hadn't thought up a number three yet. "Erm…leave the toilet seat up."
"Excuse me?" Calypso asked, horrified.
"You are forgetting Rule number two. Don't argue, remember?"
Calypso decided to quit while she was ahead. Don't interrupt, do what Moody says and don't argue, and leave the toilet seat up. She could live with that.
Well, you are finally acting intelligently. Hal-le-lu-jah!
Hello Virginia. Thank you for your constructive input, as always. You know, I've always meant to ask you, why are you in my head some of the time and not others?
I'll explain later. Talk to Moody.
"You can see your sisters," Moody continued, 'tonight."
Calypso leapt to her feet, face shining with joyous expectation.
"Siddown!" Moody growled. "I haven't finished yet. You can see you sisters, provided everything goes well with the Auror Board meeting which is tonight. In other words, if you don't act up you can see them."
"That's blackmail!" Calypso hissed.
"Yes it is." Moody said happily, stretching his arms behind his head. "On advice from you sister, actually."
"Oh, Mel doesn't know crap-all. This time, anyway. Usually she's got the answer to the Meaning of Life. I'm going to co-operate with the Aurors, I've already decided."
"That's nice." Moody replied flippantly.
"Thank you." Calypso replied equally sarcastically.
"You know what, lass? I think we two are actually going to get on okay."
******************************************************
Moody sat next to a very nervous Calypso, who was biting her fingernails. He reached over and wordlessly took them out of her mouth. Calypso shot him a dirty look, and started twiddling her thumbs instead.
"How much longer?" she said eventually.
Moody sighed. They had repeated this performance every few minutes since they had arrived.
"I don't know, another ten minutes or so. Could be a few seconds, or a few hours. Meetings are like that."
There was silence in the long oak-lined corridors for a few minutes, broken only by Calypso tapping her foot against the polished floor.
"Tell me," Calypso said into the echoing halls, "why did you take me in? I've been thinking about it over and over and it doesn't make sense."
Moody looked at her with his one good eye, and smiled ever so slightly. "And why doesn't it make sense?"
"Because … 'cause … you are Mad-Eye Moody for God's sakes!" Calypso eventually stuttered. "The famous Auror! Dark-wizard catcher. I knew all about you the whole way away in Australia! You hate Death Eaters, right? So…. why take me as a ward instead of letting me rot in Azkaban, where all Death Eaters belong? Why?" She stared, unblinking at Moody. "Why?"
Moody chuckled. "You are a curious little tyke."
"I'm not little!" Calypso replied crossly.
"Fine then, you're not little. Still curious though."
"You still haven't answered my question."
Moody sighed. "Lassie, I'm retired. On the rubbish heap. Out with the old, in with the new. All that stuff. I've got no other interests apart from the Dark Arts. I'm too old to take up Bridge."
"You're never too old to take up bowls." Calypso offered helpfully.
Moody scowled. "NOT bowls. Old cripple's sport!" he huffed.
"Fine then. You still haven't answered my question though."
"Put it together, lassie. Look, how else would have I gotten this?" Moody turned to Calypso and flashed his new Auror ID card at her.
Calypso's face slowly lit up with comprehension. "Ohhhh. I see."
"Being your Guardian, I get a foot in the door. I get the gossip, the inside running, the classified news. Aurors can ask for my help and guidance, all of which would be against regulations if I was a Civilian."
"Oh. That's quite smart."
"And you aren't too much of a handful." Moody added.
There was quiet again.
"There are other reasons, too." Moody said suddenly.
"Like what?"
"'Know thine enemy.'" Moody quoted quietly.
"Oh."
At that moment the double doors next to Calypso swung open.
Moody struggled to his feet and fiddled with his hat. "That's our cue." He muttered to Calypso.
He didn't need to. Calypso knew, and looked terrified.
"So nice of you, Miss Grey, to co-operate so willingly." One of the twenty navy-robed figures around the long cedar table said sarcastically.
"Cut the small talk. What do you want to know?" Calypso said bluntly.
Let's take a crash course on diplomacy, Calypso. Lesson one – that was NOT diplomatic! Virginia warned.
Look, sorry, I'm just a little teensey bit nervous here!
Okay then, I'll guide you through this.
The members of the Auror Board were scowling at her, apart from Dumbledore, who sat contentedly at one end of the table. Calypso looked his way, and to her surprise and shock, he winked conspiratorially at her. Calypso suspected that the old man enjoyed her stirring the other fussy members of the Auror Board.
"Manners." Moody whispered gruffly into her ear.
"Sorry." She murmured back.
A grey-haired Auror cleared his throat and shuffled a stack of parchment in front of him. "Well, if that is the way Miss Grey would prefer to do things…"
Calypso gave him a sickly sweet smile.
A round, bald man with huge flabby jowls stared at her. "I'm Cecil Raill. I'll be asking you the questions.
Nod. Virginia instructed. Calypso did so.
"Right." The fat man said, looking at the twenty men and women around him. "Let's get started. You are Calypso Ann Grey?"
Say yes. Just yes, not 'that's my name don't wear it out' or anything smart.
"Yes."
"You are a former Death Eater of the Australasian Tribe?"
Calypso opened her mouth to protest, but was cut off my Virginia. Uh huh huh huh! So it wasn't your choice or fault, but just say yes!
"Yes." Calypso replied sullenly.
The fat man crossed his arms and stared at Calypso, while a Quick Quotes Quill sat poised over a blank sheet of parchment. "Tell us, Calypso, why you left the Death Eaters."
Every head in the room turned to look at Calypso, who took a deep breath.
"Well…" she started. And suddenly stopped.
Tell them, you fool! I'm loosing my patience! Virginia hissed dangerously.
"Oh my god." Calypso said with goldfish eyes that focused on nothing in particular. "Oh my god, I'd forgotten."
"Forgotten what?" a lanky witch asked.
Calypso turned to face Cecil, the fat interrogator.
"Mr. Raill," she asked urgently, "You've got Monahan, don't you?"
"If you mean Oliver Monahan, yes." Cecil replied.
"Has he said anything to you?" Calypso demanded.
Cecil bristled with indignation. "Whether he has or has not, you are not entitled to that information."
"Because if he has," Calypso continued, "it'll all be lies."
All the faces around the table gave Calypso a depreciating look.
"Miss Grey, we use a substance called Veritaserum that…" Cecil said in a voice one might use with a child.
"No no no no!!!!" Calypso replied, shaking her head impatiently. "Even with Veritaserum, he'll lie!"
"Impossible." Cecil declared, but a few other members of the Auror Board eyed each other.
Calypso sighed, leant back in her chair and pushed strands of hair out of her eyes. "No, it's not impossible. Shirley, one of the Death Eaters, was a professional Curse Designer. About a week or two before we were captured, we all got inoculated against Magical Truth Serums. They just don't work on us."
Murmurs arose around the table, and Dumbledore spoke up.
"If this is the case, I propose we call off the Strike force Mr. Monahan has advised us to send to Surrey."
"Prove it." A suspicious grey-topped wizard challenged Calypso.
"Fine. Anyone got some Veritaserum?" She answered, looking around.
After a brief consultation, one witch pulled out her wand, and pointed it out the window. "Accio Veritaserum!" she commanded, and through the open window came a tiny crystal bottle. It floated along to Calypso, who grabbed it out of midair, and before anyone could stop her, downed the contents in one gulp.
"Uuuurgh!" she said, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. "That's bloody disgusting!" Looking up, she saw every face at the table was craning for a look of her.
"Well?" Moody said.
Calypso sat up straight. "Hello, I'm Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. I'm an alien from Mars with a great big hairy tail, blue skin and three nipples. Okay, you all see, it doesn't work?" she said sarcastically. "Call those Aurors off, or they'll probably find themselves walking into a Death Eater training camp Live Fire exercise."
All of a sudden, there was a scraping of chairs as four people leapt up and hurried out of the room.
Well, that got things done.
A bit crude, don't you think?
Oh shut up Virginia. Who asked you?
Be nice, now!
"Well." Dumbledore said as the last door slammed shut. "Seeming as Cecil has now got other business to attend to, I'm the senior Auror in the room, so I think I'll chair the meeting."
No-one objected.
"Now Calypso, you never answered Cecil's first question, did you?" He said gently, and the QuickQuotes Quill scribbled away.
Calypso looked around the table at the eight Aurors and Moody, and saw eyes. Blue, green, hazel, brown … it was all about eyes.
"Well, I guess I left the Death Eaters because … my sister Melody wasn't born blind."
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
"This is a pretty dress!"
"Hmm, yes it is love." Octavia said as she wrestled the six-year old's blonde hair into plaits. "But remember, it's only a Muggle garment, so you don't want to be seen in Magical Public in it."
"Mine's a prettier colour than yours." Melody observed, swinging her feet.
"Is not!" Calypso protested. "Blue's prettiest!"
"Yellow!"
"Blue!"
"Girls!" Octavia commanded. "Quiet! They're both pretty!"
"Blue." Calypso muttered mutinously under her breath as her mother tied a matching blue bow to the bottom of her wheat-coloured braid.
"Calypso!" Her mother warned, as Melody stuck her tongue out at her sister. "Melody! Stop playing up! This is important, you know! If Muggles or Muggle-lovers find us staying here, we could fail in our mission!"
Both girls shut up. They knew how important their parents missions were. They were warriors for Lord Voldemort, getting rid of people who helped the Muggles. Exactly what was wrong with Muggles, Melody and Calypso didn't quite know. But that didn't matter, of course. They were both six, and their parents could do no wrong. All they knew was that those people Mum and Dad didn't like were bad people. That needed to be killed.
Calypso squirmed as she waited for Octavia to finish plaiting Melody's hair. They were on the Queensland Coast, staying at a Hotel next to the beach. The area was popular with Wizards and Muggles alike, so it was no wonder that there was a Magical Law Enforcement station just down the road, next to the Muggle Police station.
"Finished!" Octavia declared, sweeping a curly blonde lock out of her own eyes. "Come on girls, time to go! We'll be running late. Got your wands?"
Both girls nodded, pulling out from the waistbands of their dresses identical wands made from Eucalyptus wood. Melody gave hers a flick, sending a starburst of sparks to the ceiling.
"DON'T DO THAT!" Octavia yelled. "This is a MUGGLE place! Do you WANT to be caught?"
"Sorry Mum." Melody said quietly, head bowed.
"Come on, let's go." Octavia breezed out the door, her girls following.
Octavia locked the hotel room door behind them with her wand, and they took the stairs down to the ground story, where they walked to the Surfer's Paradise magical Law Enforcement station.
The station was squeezed in between a Surfboard shop and an icecream parlour – both Muggle. Backing onto it was the Muggle Police station.
Melody and Calypso tugged at their mother's shorts as they walked past the icecream parlour.
"Pleeeeeezeeeee Mum!" Melody begged.
"It's sooooo hot!" complained Calypso. But Octavia was looking flushed with excitement, even though her voice was calm.
"No. Not now."
"After?"
"Yes, afterwards. If you kill a Muggle, you can have an icecream."
"And a swim?"
"Yes, but not here, girls. We'll have to leave before the bad people get backups."
"Oh, okay then." The girls were pacified, and trotted along beside their mother quite happily.
They rounded the street corner and saw sitting at a table, sipping at milkshakes, their father, Kerian, and Lafferty. Octavia drew up the spare chair and sat down, pulling down her sunglasses against the brutal Australian sun.
"Kerian!" Melody squealed, latching onto the 13-year old boy's leg seconds before Calypso did so. Kerian looked down at the two little girls holding onto his legs like leeches, and ruffled up their hair.
"Hello! Are you in today's raid too?" he asked.
The girls nodded enthuastically. "We're going to go in first." Calypso told him proudly.
"Good one!" Kerian replied, grinning. "Just like last time, huh?"
"Yes, girls. Just like last time." Cain broke into the conversation. "Last time your were great. Just repeat that again, and we'll have to get you full-sized wands!"
The girls giggled, thinking of trying to wield fifteen-inch wands.
"Just remember the golden rule-"
"Don't get in the way." The girls droned in unison.
"Lafferty, is everyone in place?" Octavia asked lazily.
"Eager and ready to go." Lafferty, a thickset man with a thin beard, replied crisply.
"Right then, Calypso and Melody can head off now, and … oh, can I have the last of your milkshake, Cain? Thanks … run along then, girls. Kerian will be along after you." Octavia said between sips of milkshake. For Octavia, it was just another day, another raid, more Muggles, Mud-Bloods and other scum to be exterminated…
Calypso grabbed Melody's hand and together they wound through the chattering chaos of pedestrians, dodging tall legs and shoes to reach the steps outside the Law Enforcement station.
Looking at the glowing letters on the signage, Melody squeezed Calypso's pudgy hand with excitement.
"You ready?"
"Wait while I get the tears …"
Calypso dug out of her pocket a tiny pouch, and took a pinch of powder and threw it into her own eyes.
"Do I look cry-y enough?" her face was suddenly pink, splotchy and streaming with tears.
"You look really cry-y." Melody agreed, and started to walk up the steps and into the station.
Heart racing, Calypso started to act, letting out big, childish sobs and dragging on her sister's arm as the doors automatically opened in front of them, and Melody walked stoically towards the main reception desk.
"Now there, what's the problem?" a kind voice floated down from the desk.
Melody just stood there for a few seconds, while Calypso sobbed louder until she was sure the whole department could hear her anguish. "Mum." Melody whispered, and started to cry as well.
At the sound of two small twin girls, dressed in cute little matching sun frocks and plaited pigtails, crying their hearts out, doors popped open and officers trotted down the hall.
Eventually Calypso felt herself enveloped by large arms and hoisted into the air. "Don't cry now, love!" a comforting voice said by her ear. "What's wrong?"
Calypso could hear Melody wail, "I WANT MY MUMMY!"
That was the cue.
Quick as a flash, Calypso whipped her miniature wand out of her waistband and pointed it underneath the Sergeant's chin.
"Stupefy." She said clearly.
There was a flash of blinding light, and the man's hold on Calypso went stiff. Raising her arms, Calypso slithered out of his frozen grip and landed neatly on the floor, wand in hand.
Pointing it to the next officer, she stupefied him as well.
"What the-" the receptionist's cry of alarm was cut short when a spell hit her in the forehead and she fell, lifeless, in a heap beside Calypso. There was an almighty crash as Kerian, Cain, Lafferty and a few of the other Death Eaters rushed through the entrance, blasting anything that moved.
Over the screams of tortured and dying officers, Melody crawled over to Calypso and whispered in her ear.
"If we don't kill any bad people, we won't get an icecream, Cal!"
Calypso had forgotten, too wrapped up in watching the attack.
"The others are attacking the Muggle station. So if we go to the back of this station…"
The two girls leapt to their feet and, dodging duelling wizards, ran to the end of the corridor, where the fighting was most intense. Sulfurous smoke filled the air, and the metallic tang of blood was rich before they reached the rear wall of the station, where Octavia and Cain both stood, wands pointed at the bricks.
"REDUCIO!!!!" they both cried together, and with the force of a small explosion, the wall shattered, forming a large hole.
Calypso and Melody, hearts thumping, followed their parents through the hole and into the back of the Muggle station, where yells and cries of alarm could be heard from different parts of the station.
"This way." Calypso urged her sister, and the pair dashed off down a hallway and straight into a female police officer.
"Kids, get out of here right-" she never had a chance to finish. For Calypso had flicked up her wand, pointed it at the woman's chest, and cried the most advanced spell she knew.
"ALAKAZAM!"
Immediately a thunderous lightening bolt ripped through the roof and smashed into the defenseless woman's chest.
"Calypso! Not fair, you killed the first one last time! It was my turn!" Melody cried indignantly.
Calypso didn't reply because she couldn't. Her breath was stuck in her stomach, and her fingers numb from the force of the spell. Her whole body was trembling, and her brain felt like it too had been struck with lightening. This happened every time she killed someone – it was like all her energy had suddenly seeped into the floorboards, leaving her drained, confused and tearful. She didn't know why, and hid it from her sister and parents – they'd think she was a sissy.
"Come on!" Melody cried, stamping her foot. "If I don't kill one, I won't get an icecream!" Melody took off down the corridor, stopping as a man in a blue uniform came running around the corner, his skin blistering.
Melody pointed her wand at him, but before she could curse him he scooped her to his chest and kept running. Dazed, Calypso found herself grabbed and being carried through the winding corridors of the station.
Suddenly, they hit a fire escape door that crashed open. Gasping, the man dumped them down outside.
"Girls, run and get help." He moaned with pain. "There are bad, bad, evil people here hurting and killing innocent -" he didn't have a chance to say another word.
"SERVARAS OCULUS!" a deep voice boomed from the doorway. To her horror, Calypso watched the flash of light leap from Monahan's wand and hit the man in the chest…
but not before it hit her sister, who had been plonked on the ground in front of him.
Melody shrieked and clasped her hands to her face, while the man did the same. Calypso stumbled to her feet as Monahan unconcernedly stepped over Melody to reach the man.
"Why did you run away? I hadn't finished yet!" Monahan sneered at the sightless man. "Reducio!"
Calypso grabbed Melody's arm and dragged her back through the doorway, the man's tortured screams following them. Many times she had seen Monahan play with his victims like a cat with a mouse, but never had she been so close.
Feeling dizzy, she dragged the screeching Melody back through the blood-slicked carpeted halls of the Police Station and to the hold in the wall. Something was wrong with her stomach, and as she pulled Melody through the gap, she knew what it was. Abandoning Melody, who was rolling around with pain, Calypso staggered to a corner and threw up her breakfast.
An hand on her back made her jump.
"Calypso?" Kerian asked.
A wave of relief swept through her body. "Kerian! Oh, Kerian, there's something wrong with Melody! She got hit!"
Kerian ran over to Melody's body and heaved it over his shoulder. "C'mon, Cal!" he yelled and set off down the passage.
The rest of the day was a blur to Calypso. She could remember Kerian's mother, a Dark Mediwitch, looking into Melody's eyes, and declaring her blind.
She could also remember the new, awful thoughts whirling around her head – maybe Mum and Dad were wrong? Were those people the good ones? They always tried to save her and her sister when the fighting started … tried to comfort them when they were 'crying' … and that man's last words, about bad people attacking …
But the thing she remembered most was her mother's disdainful look when she was told about Melody's eyes.
"I told them to stay out of the way." She said.
Calypso never got her ice cream.
************************************************************
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To all you reviewers – YOU ARE ANGELS!!!!!!! Two of note – Pedagouge, who reviewed every single chapter as she read, and Greta, who writes huge reviews like my chapters are meaningful pieces of art. ;-)
So thank you for reading all this!!!!!!
Now, there are 2 more chapters to go – promise! Next one will be out sometime soon, it's already about quarter done.
Now, I BEG YOU – review! Make my millenium !!!!!!!!! A few words, sentences if you are feeling generous. Nothing lifts my day like a message from ff.net saying I have a new review. (simple things amuse simple people, yes)
So REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!