Authors Note: Your mom. D:
All characters are © their respective players. I do not own Harry Potter (though I wouldn't mind .) nor do I own Albus Dumbledore, Hogwarts, or pretty much anything JK Rowling wrote. I do however own Calista, who in this Continuity was the Head Girl in Harry's 6th year, so if you even so much as –think- of stealing her.. I would be flattered. I will sue the pants off of you.. but I'd be flattered.
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Sunset
Ch. 2
She was caught between tragic dreams and regretful memories, and somewhere in between she caught a glimpse of her mother. Reaching out to her, the sight sucked her into a memory that had once haunted her dreams as a child. Now as an adult, there were memories much more horrific and heartbreaking to haunt her, but this night, her mother came to her once more.
"Now I want you to try it."
"But muuuum, it's too hard.."
"Don't be silly, it's in your blood. Put your hand out like I'm doing and try it."
The little girl put out her hand, her palm facing up like her mother's, and her eyes closed in concentration. She tried to will the little flame to ignite in her palm the way it did in her mother's, so easily. But she was too young, and too inexperienced. 8 year old Calista was not ready to fill her mother's shoes.
A large middle aged man stormed into the room with a crumpled paper in his hand. His mouth worked, inhaling a deep breath to bellow out a yell, but his throat caught as his eyes focused on his wife and daughter sitting side by side, each with one hand facing up, one of which possessed a flicker of flame, and one of which did not.
"..You're trying to teach her that damn dirty magic again, aren't you Lillith!?"
"Ricardo, calm down-"
"I WILL MOST CERTAINLY NOT CALM DOWN. Do you know what this is?" He shook the paper in her face. "It's another letter from the Ministry Lillith, they've got proof of your ties to the Wandless, they've issued a warrant of arrest! You've sacrificed your entire family, for WHAT?! For these people you call your friends? These people who promise you power? Look at your daughter Lillith, how could you do this to her? To US?"
The sounds of a baby crying filled the silence that fell once her father had stopped yelling, and her own face cringed with welling tears. Her mother remained the picture of calm despite the barrage, and stood slowly, walking past the raging man.
"Now look what you've done, you've gone and woken Jeremy."
Her soft voice was betrayed by the cold look in those blue eyes. Momentarily jarred, Ricardo moved out of his wife's way as she headed to nurse her newborn son.
~~~
'You still loved her though, didn't you daddy? Even after she kept trying to train me in the art, or what you so lovingly called 'dirty magic'. You loved her so much, even after she left us alone.'
~~~
"Mum, how many years do I have left until I go to Hogwarts?"
"Will you ask me this every day? 3 years, you'll go when you're 11."
"And then I'll find the book?"
"Shh child, what have I told you about speaking of such things out loud? Your father might here."
"..Do you think I'll ever be strong like you, mum?"
"No Calista. You'll be stronger. And hopefully by then.."
The woman's voice trailed off, her eyes narrowing. "By then perhaps he will give us the answers we need."
Calista had been sitting at her mothers feet, watching her work with a cauldron and various bottles of different sizes and colors. She was making a potion, and a powerful one by the putrid smell it gave off thus far. The girl looked up with a hint of curiosity.
"Who's he?"
Lillith continued her vigilant work on the potion, leaving the question in silence until she came to a point where she could let it sit. She held her hand out to her daughter, who took it and pulled herself up.
"The one man who knows how to stop all of this.. death. The only known wizard who has mastered our art and yet somehow remains unaffected, and unbroken. He thinks we're stupid enough to believe his lies; 'I'm sorry, but I hold no answers for you, save this: What you're playing at is a dangerous game, and should be stopped.' He's so bloody righteous.. he has no RIGHT to keep his secret while we drop away like flies."
"Mum, you're scaring me.."
Lillith held her daughter close, brushing her hand against the girls blood red hair. She loved that hair, she always insisted on combing and working it. Her own hair was more traditionally orange than anything, just as her Irish mothers had been, and her mother before that- Calista's had taken on the deepest, most scarlet shade of red Lillith had ever seen her entire life. She felt it was a sign.
She bent down to look into Calista's eyes, sparkling blue and filled with life and curiosity just as a childs should be.
"One day, Calista, when you go to Hogwarts, and you find that book, you'll learn. And then, perhaps.. perhaps you'll be able to do what none of us have."
As she straightened up again and took her daughter back up into her arms, Calista stared up at her mother, who had a vacant, vaguely determined look on her face.
"What's that mum?"
"Perhaps you'll be able to convince him to save us all."
~~~
'Even then, I was a tool to you, something to be used. When did I stop being your daughter, and start being your saviour, mother?'
~~~
"Calista, when we appointed you Head Girl, you were given certain responsibilities.."
"Responsibilities I have kept, Headmaster."
The wizened man sat back in his seat slightly, looking up at the girl who stood military style in front of his desk. His face crinkled in a small, knowing smile.
"Yes, yes of course. One of those responsibilities, however, is to set an example for your peers-"
"Have I done something out of line, Headmaster? If so, please let me know now and I will rectify the situation."
His knowing smile grew into something akin to amusement.
"Is my company so uncomfortable to you, that you wish to leave so quickly?"
"It isn't that, it's just.."
"You are wondering why I'm still alive."
Her eyes snapped up, glaring into his with dangerous intensity. He only smiled.
"Ah, Calista, I fear you are attempting to follow your mothers example. I remember your mother.. she was such a good student. If she had not gotten involved in that little group of.."
"My mother was a genius, and her collegues just so. You could have saved her, Headmaster. You could have saved them all."
The smile faded on his face, and he leaned closer to his desk, his piercing gaze held on her still.
"Calista, you may not understand why I refuse to help the Wandless, but please attempt to trust that I have only the best of intentions at heart. The magic your mother and the rest of that society are trying to harness should never be put into the hands of the public, and with every tragic passing, the hope that they hold ebbs away. If they succeeded.. I am afraid hundreds, perhaps even thousands will die at their hands."
"You're WRONG!"
He closed his eyes, letting her anger wash over him. When his eyes opened once more, there was an oldness behind them. He looked aged, and tired.
"I did not call you here to convince you of this. I called you in because a student claims to have seen you do things they cannot explain. Calista, I must insist that if you are attempting to learn the art your mother died for, you must stop. You are endangering yourself, and the student body by trying to break that barrier within yourself. If you succeeded, the consequences would be-"
Before he could finish, one of the hands that she had held clasped behind her back shot up, and a quill on his desk reacted in kind. Her arm straightened out, a sharp movement that ended in her hand pointing at the wall on her right. The quill had moved with it, and like an arrow it flung towards the wall, embedding into the stone just beside a portrait and vibrating there for a moment. The occupant of the portrait stared at the quill in horror, before inching away out of sight.
A moment of silence fell, broken by a slow sigh. ".. I see. So, you have already broken the barrier. You do know what you have done, I assume..?"
"I do. I will live a third of the normal lifespan of a normal wizard." Her eyes settled on his, her gaze penetrating, though nothing compared to him. "Unless you show me why you're still alive after all this time."
The Headmaster shook his head sadly, his gaze looking even more aged.
"You have so much to live for, Calista. I truly expected such great things for you. I still do, only.. now you have got less time to accomplish them all."
He smiled faintly, leaning back in his chair. "If I could, hmm, ask you to keep this to yourself..?"
Though she looked disappointed at his dismissal, she nodded. Her mother was wrong – Dumbledore would not save her, and the rest of her kind.
'He had his reasons. I'm sorry, mother. I'm sorry for failing you. You were wrong about me.. I wasn't so special, after all.'
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"C'mon, wake up you.."
A gentle hand had been pressed against Calista's side, rocking her sleeping body gently to try and rouse her. So far he had failed.
"This isn't like you, you're a light sleeper.."
He bit down on his lip slightly in worry, and stood to walk towards the window, gazing down at the scenery below. He didn't want to leave without her even knowing he'd been there, but he couldn't stay..
"Gabe..?"
The soft whisper made him turn in place, and there before him was a vision. She had sat up in her bed, clad in a thin crimson nightslip, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes to be sure she wasn't dreaming. He felt the distinct urge to do the same, just in case it was his dream they were caught in.
"Is that really you?"
In response he closed the gap of feet between them and slid onto her bed, pulling her into his arms possessively. He sat there, both gloved hands pressed firmly against the dark skin of her back, and refused to let go.
"Yes, it's really me."
She struggled to sit up straight, just enough that she could look up at him. Her hands slid around his back, clasping there, and a light-headed feeling overtook her. It had been over a year since she'd last felt him in her arms, and she in his.
"I missed you so much."
Both their voices had whispered the same words at each other simultaneously, followed by stifled laughter at the coincidence. It was a moment where time had no meaning, and they were children once more, lost in each others embrace. She would not ask him about his missions, and he would not ask her about her work. Their communication was solely and completely fulfilled by touch, sight, sound and smell. Every question became satiated and answered with one look, as two pairs of blue eyes met.
But the moment was always fated to end far too soon.
"I can't stay, you know that.."
He whispered this hesitant truth into her skin as his lips brushed against her neck, trying to sound reasonable despite the fact that his hands were disagreeing with him.
"Yes you can.."
"I've already been here too long, if someone find out, they'll come looking for me.."
His voice and his movements were two separate entities, and while he entreated to her his necessity for leaving, he was only vaguely aware that his fingers held the clasp of a zipper captive, pulling it down her back and setting the nightslip loose. His head burrowed into her neck, breathing hot air against her skin.
She pushed herself away, putting both her hands between them and standing up. He blinked away the glaze that had come over his eyes, and looked up at her. The heartbreak of her acceptance tore at him, and his aching heart begged silently for her to return.
She stood there, her eyes gazing down on him clear and soft as they looked upon on the one and only man she would ever love. Her hands bent up and each slipped a finger under the strap that still held her nightslip upon her shoulders, brushing it away. The slip of silk fell to the floor in a dreamlike wave of movement, pooling at her feet.
"Then go."
Her heady words were like a challenge, and in them it was made obvious that she wouldn't let him even if he tried.
"I could never walk away from a sight like that."
He swept her down into his arms, slipping one of them under her knees and turning to lay her down gently on the bed. The challenge in her eyes was met by a deep hunger in his. He would not leave her tonight.
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I am here to tell you
we can never meet again.
simple really, isn't it?
a word or two and then
a lifetime of not knowing
where or how, or why, or when
you think of me, or speak of me
or wonder what befell
the someone you once loved
so long ago, somewhere..
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He didn't have the luxury of being able to sleep. He was grateful for being able to watch her sleep, though he knew he had to leave. He had managed this long.. just a few more minutes wouldn't hurt.
She had fallen asleep curled up in the crook of his arm, her breathing deep and slow as she dreamt. From the look on her face, her dreams were sweet, the nightmares driven far from her subconscious by their love.
'A few more minutes.. that's all I ask for..'
He closed his eyes, and rested his forehead against hers, as he crept into her dreams.
"You know, I distinctly remember warning someone that I was bad news, getting into this.."
Gabriel shook his head quickly, wrapping his arms around her and just holding close for a moment, burying his head in her shoulder for a brief beat. Calista felt his arms slip around her, adjusting to feel of it for the first time. She turned her head, just slightly, to get a closer look at him, buried into her shoulder. She had almost reached out to run her hand atop his hair, when he pulled back and kissed her suddenly, without warning. Her eyes went wide with the biggest shock she'd ever felt in her entire life. Was this what it felt like..? She didn't know what to do, she felt so stupid and yet, she couldn't complain. Her first kiss.. she had thought she should close her eyes or something, but the view was something she wanted to remember forever. She tried, -tried- to kiss back, but her inexperienced clumsiness made her falter. She felt dizzy, and lost. Finally, she wrapped her arms loosely around his waist, almost afraid to touch him. Her eyes refused to close.
Gabriel had sighed after a moment, as if he were afraid to let her go. He held to the girl, not exactly tight, but with a firmness, giving the air of having a strength within him of some sort, or at least a resolution to protect her. Naive as it may be, it was quite tangible as he held her to him. "Don't...ever be afraid of telling me things...I can't help, unless you tell me...and I'm going to try, with or without your sanction..."
How ironic those words were, he thought, as he opened his eyes once more. How ironic that she would be dreaming of their first kiss, at this very moment. His hands loosened around her, trying to move without waking her.
I'm going to protect you. With or without your sanction.
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Never wonder what I feel
as living shuffles by
you don't have to ask me
and I did not reply
every moment of my life
from now until I die
I will think or dream of you
and fail to understand
how a perfect love
can be confounded out of hand
is it written in the stars?
are we paying for some crime?
is that all that we are good for
just a stretch of mortal time?
is this God's experiment
in which we have no say?
in which we're given paradise
but only for a day?
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The sun filtered through the windows as the morning came, blaring at her. She never kept those window curtains open, for this very reason. Her eyes squinted at the sunlight pouring directly onto the bed, and she held her hand up, letting her eyes adjust to the light. The first thought that ran through her mind, was that he must have opened the curtains. This brought a soft smile to her face.
Gabe.
She turned her head slightly, and the depression on the pillow where his head had been was still there. She rested her hand against it, and her smile faded.
He was gone.
"Cal, you all right in there? I could have sworn I heard you screaming last night-"
Jeremy opened the door to his sisters bedroom, and his voice stopped cold. She was curling up into the pillow beside her, having pulled it into her arms. She was clearly crying.
"..Shit. Not again. What timing.. I'm going to be late for the train.."
He mumbled his complaints to himself quietly as he closed the door, turning to walk straight into a wall. A wall named Brennan.
"Don't worry, I'll take you to the platform."
"Brennan, you're a lifesaver. I know her, she's.. not going to be getting up any time soon."
He pulled the cigarette out of his lips, blowing the smoke he'd just inhaled back out in a violent gust of breathe. His eyes were like glowing embers of anger, narrowed, glaring the door down with a gaze that could melt steel.
"I know, I saw her. Let's go."
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Nothing can be altered
there is nothing to decide
no escape, no change of heart
nor any place to hide
You are all I'll ever want
but this I am denied
sometimes, in my darkest thoughts
I wish I'd never learned
what it is to be in love
and have that love returned
is it written in the stars?
are we paying for some crime?
is that all that we are good for
just a stretch of mortal time?
is this God's experiment
in which we have no say?
in which we're given paradise
but only for a day?
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End Note: Lyrics by Leann Rimes and Elton John – Written in the Stars. Becca agrees with usage of this song. I have the Becca stamp of approval! ^_^
..anyway, that's it for now. I'll add more one day.. but like I said, don't hold your breathe. My muses are ever so fickle. =p
And just because they deserve mention, I LOVE PANABELLE and SUNSGOLDENRAY! ^_^ My favorite writers. 3 Go girls go~!