33. The Meeting

"Christ, I can't believe she really thought I'd-" Callie couldn't even go on as she and Neville made their way around the lake, Bela flying high above them, attached to the cord around the girl's wrist.

"I don't think she thought you would tell them," Neville argued. "Just... making sure."

Shaking her head, Callie said, "Should've gone without saying. Now I just feel like she doesn't trust me."

"She trusts you," Neville said.

"Does she? After all, I'm a 'Slytherin lass.'"

"That was Seamus being stupid. Nobody thinks you're..." He trailed off.

Callie raised a brow at him and said, "The enemy?"

"Right."

She looked out across the lake, sighing. "I just wish there was someone in my house besides me who was... well, good."

"Astoria isn't that bad, you said."

"No," she agreed. "But I can't even let her in on this. She'd tell Daphne, and I don't know what their parents are like." She paused. "I mean, I know they're prejudiced, but I don't know how prejudiced."

They walked in silence for a while, before Neville said, "Bloody hell, Cal, it just occurred to me."

"What?" she asked.

"All your housemates. Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle - all their dads were accused of being Death Eaters in the first war. Hermione told me." He stopped walking and turned to face her. "What if..." He paused. "What if they... ya know... did something to you?"

"What do you mean?" Callie asked.

With a troubled expression, he explained, "They already hate you. Malfoy has hexed you before. Now, well... what if he's learned a few things from his dad?"

Callie pondered it, and said, "You think they might try something?"

He shrugged his shoulder and replied, "I wouldn't want to sleep in the same common room with them."

Again, she thought about the implications of being trapped in a dungeon with children of Death Eaters. But she shook her head and said, "No. What would they do, kill me?" Neville blanched at the idea. "They're not that stupid. They're not going to try anything... like that." The two resumed walking, before she added, "Anyway, I do have one ally, of sorts."

"Who?" he asked, furrowing his brow.

"Snape. He's... evolved, remember? He's not going to let them do anything."

After a beat, Neville asked, "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes. He's a prick, but he's not evil."

Prick may have even been too harsh as of late. Perhaps he just had more important things on his mind, what with his former master's return. But he had never been more lenient with Callie, except for right after her father had died.

Pansy was enjoying her new status as a prefect, and Callie couldn't seem to breathe without the girl threatening detentions - or actually trying to give them. On one such occasion, Callie had responded with a "go straight to hell," and the girl had run off to get Snape.

"What did he say?" Callie asked when Pansy stomped back into the common room after meeting with the man.

"He said you've got to physically assault someone or hex them before he'll make you serve detention," she replied bitterly. "He doesn't want to deal with you at all this year, if he can help it."

But Pansy didn't seem to take his words to heart. One night she'd brought Callie into his office to say "that God-forsaken bat" was rattling around in his cage and shrieking and keeping them up all night.

"Please, sir," Pansy begged, "can't she put him up in the Owlery?"

"He's not an owl," Callie said.

"Who gives a damn, he's a bird," Pansy snapped. "He'll fit in."

"Bats aren't birds, you dafty twit!" Callie shot back.

"Oh, be quiet, both of you!" Snape cut in. "Bloody hell, do I look like I need this nonsense? It'll be a miracle if I can get through three more years of you two going at each other's throats without poisoning myself."

The girls remained quiet, but Snape looked at Pansy a moment and said, "Parkinson, if anything happens to that bat I'll assume it was you, and you're not going to enjoy the punishment I set."

Callie did a double take. Was he actually sticking up for her?

"Both of you, get out of my office," he ordered.

Callie gestured for Pansy to lead the way. Once the latter was out the door, Callie shut it and turned back to Snape.

"What now?" he spat.

"You've come a long way from trying to poison people's toads, sir," she said with a smirk.

Rolling his eyes, he said, "Warbeck, get out!"

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On the way into Hogsmeade, Callie pondered the man's newfound tolerance of her. Hell, he was almost nice, compared to what was usual for him.

"Ever seen your Boggart, since third year?" she asked Neville as they walked.

"No. Why?"

Shrugging, she said, "Just curious if it's still him." Neville bowed his head, blushing slightly. She knew he was still embarrassed that his worst fear was their potions professor.

Your parents were tortured out of their minds by Death Eaters, and Snape is your worst fear? she thought. Suddenly, an idea occurred to her. "Neville," she said, "I have to ask you something."

"What?"

She hesitated, not wanting to upset him by bringing up his mum and dad. "It's about your parents," she said.

He looked a bit bothered, but said, "Go on."

"Well," she said, still hesitant, "I was just wondering... do you know who hurt them?" He'd had no idea that Snape was a Death Eater until she'd told him. But she hoped that he could tell her who was responsible for torturing the Longbottoms, to confirm that it wasn't her own head of house.

"Yeah, I know," he said, and there was a look in his eye like she'd never seen from him before - anger. "The Lestranges. Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange, and Rodolphus's wife, Bellatrix. And Barty Crouch."

Callie did a double take. "B- Barty Crouch? Junior?"

"Yeah."

Callie halted, staring up at him. "Barty Crouch, Junior, who taught us all last year? Who showed us the..." Cruciatus Curse. Callie's eyes widened in horror. "Oh, my God," she breathed.

The memory of having spent so many hours in the same room as the man who'd destroyed his parents' sanity, who'd actually demonstrated the curse he'd used to torture them, was almost too much for the boy to think about. Callie could see that he was almost shaking at the thought, staring off into the distance with that look of anger that was so unusual for him.

"Least he's dead now," Neville said. "Or as good as. The Lestranges are all in Azkaban."

Callie pondered that and said, "Not good enough." After a moment, she said, "I'm sorry I brought it up."

Though he was clearly still bothered, he said, "It's all right." They continued on their way towards the village.

When they finally came upon the Hog's Head, Callie said sarcastically, "Oh, that's not too conspicuous." There must've been about thirty people making their way towards the pub. Callie saw a lot of people she recognized, and some she didn't. "They're not all Gryffindors," she remarked. Ernie and Justin were amongst the group, along with Michael Corner and Padma Patil.

"I'm going to stick out like a sore thumb," Callie said, noting that every other house but hers was represented. "Maybe I shouldn't go in."

But just then, Fred Weasley spotted her and yelled, "Oi, Warbeck!" Ernie and Justin both turned and smiled when they saw her approaching.

George Weasley waved her over and said, "Get in here, ya Slytherin lass!"

Callie shook her head, grinning. "Don't be so welcoming, love," she said. "I'm here doing reconnaissance work for Umbridge."

"Eh, we'll buy you a round before we kill you," Fred replied, opening the door for her. "Get in there."

The place was an absolute dump, but it was relatively empty. Fred ordered a round of butterbeers for everyone as they took their seats, focusing their attention on Harry, Hermione, and Red, who stood at the center of the room. Once everybody was settled, Hermione began.

"Well... er... hi," she greeted nervously.

Callie looked around to see who all had shown up. Among those she recognized were Dean, Lavender, Parvati and Padma, Ernie, Justin, Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones, Michael and two other Ravenclaw boys she knew as Anthony Goldstein and Terry Boot, the Weasley twins, and Colin Creevey. Everyone else was a stranger to her, but she knew that nobody else in the group was a Slytherin.

Christ, she thought. What do they think of me?

Nobody seemed to be paying much attention to her though, as a lively discussion broke out about all the insane things that Harry had done in his time at Hogwarts. Basilisks, dragons, dementors... You Know Who himself, or Lord Voldemort, as Hermione had dared to call him. Though the boy tried to act like it had all been a fluke, they knew that he'd had more experience with defense against dark magic than any of them could've ever imagined.

"Are we agreed we want to take lessons from Harry?" Hermione finally asked.

There were murmurs of assent all around the room. After discussing the logistics of where they were going to meet and how often, Hermione pulled out parchment and a quill and said, "I think everybody should write their name down, just so we know who was here. But I also think that we all ought to agree not to shout about what we're doing. So if you sign, you're agreeing not to tell Umbridge - or anybody else - what we're up to."

A couple of people had reservations about this, but eventually everybody signed - except Callie. "You don't trust me," she said when Hermione slid the parchment towards her.

"Of course I trust you," the girl replied, rolling her eyes. "Everybody signed, this has nothing to do with you being a Slytherin."

"This-" Callie indicated the list of names "-has everything to do with me being a Slytherin. Bloody hell, Hermione, if anyone were to find this list-"

"They won't," Hermione cut in.

"If they did," Callie went on, "well... you don't have to share a common room with..." She trailed off.

Neville spoke up. "Can't you just make an exception, Hermione? It's different for her, she's more vulnerable than we are if this gets out. Half her housemates have probably got Death Eater parents. They could hurt her."

Hermione got a troubled look on her face. Harry, who'd been listening in, spoke up. "We'd know who told if anybody found out," he argued.

The suggestion that Callie would rat them out left her bitter and offended. "You don't trust me either, then," she said to the boy.

"Yes, I do," he replied. "Why do you think I'm standing up for you?"

Callie rose to her feet. "'Cause if this gets out you'll know who's the rat!" she said.

"We don't want it to get out at all," Harry said. "If I really thought you'd tell..." he paused "...we wouldn't have asked you to come."

Callie looked from him to Hermione, considering what she should do. It'd be stupid to implicate herself in this little scheme if there was the slightest chance anyone would find out. Yet, she already felt singled out as the only Slytherin in the group, guilty by association. If they didn't trust her as much as they said, that would only make her feel worse.

Sighing, she grabbed up the quill and signed her name.

"You don't have to do this," Neville said.

"No, you don't," Harry agreed.

Handing the quill back to Hermione, who looked a bit guilty for having her sign, she said to Neville, "Die a hero or live as a coward, right?"

He still had a worried expression on his face, but he said, "Right."

The two of them left the Hog's Head together. "What do you wanna do now?" he asked.

Looking down the road at the various shops and pubs, Callie spotted a storefront with a pink door and windows. A small smile curled her lips. "I want to go to Madam Puddifoot's."

Neville followed her gaze to the tea shop, then brought his eyes back to her. "You-" he began, but didn't go on.

Shrugging, Callie said, "I've been in every other place in Hogsmeade. 'Bout time I checked it out."

She started off down the way and Neville followed her reluctantly. "You know everybody's going to think we're there... together," he said.

"Who gives a damn?" she replied. "What, are you embarrassed to be seen on a date with me?"

Neville blushed, but rolled his eyes and said nothing.

Callie opened the door to the shop and stepped in; Neville was right behind her. They both paused as they took in the decor, which was all lace and flowers and pink. Callie thought it looked like a life-sized version of a little girl's dollhouse.

"Christ, how nauseating," she muttered. But she took a seat at a small table near one of the fogged-up windows.

"Why is it like that?" Neville asked, sitting across from her and indicating the steamy glass.

"So people can't see in from outside," Callie said, nodding towards a couple two tables away who were cuddled up close and snogging as though there was nobody else in the shop.

"Welcome, loves," a woman who Callie assumed was Madam Puddifoot herself greeted. "What can I get for you? Our special today is Love Potion Number 7, white chocolate mocha with raspberry swirl, made to be shared between couples."

Callie glanced at Neville, who turned away from her and held his head in his hand. Looking back up at the woman, she said, "We'll take two."

When Madam Puddifoot returned with their order, Callie slid one of the drinks to Neville and took the other for herself. She reached into her purse and pulled out a dark potion bottle. Jiggling it in front of Neville, she said, "Care to make it Irish?"

"What?" he asked.

She opened the bottle and poured a bit of its contents into her drink. "Brought a little something from home," she said. "For special occasions."

She passed the bottle over and Neville sniffed it. Grinning, he added a bit of the whisky to his own Love Potion. "You're a bad influence," he said.

"I know. That's what's so charming about me." She picked up her mug and said, "Cheers."

"To Umbridge," he said.

"Ugh."

They drank in silence for a while, trying not to look directly at the many couples being uncomfortably affectionate with each other.

"This is a brothel," Callie commented. "No wonder couples come here. Nowhere in the castle to get close."

"There is," Neville said, "if you don't mind if everybody sees."

"The mocha's fine," she said. "The atmosphere, however..."

"Just a bit... crowded," he said. Then he looked up with a sort of deer-in-the-headlights expression on his face. "Way too crowded."

"What?" She turned in the direction he was looking. Pansy and Malfoy had just come through the door, and Callie rolled her eyes when her giddy roommate spotted her. "Christ," she breathed. "Just what I need."

"Oh, hello, Warbeck," Pansy greeted in a falsely sweet tone. "Longbottom."

Beside her, Malfoy said, to Neville, "Finally noticing girls, are we? Merlin's beard, Longbottom on a date?"

Neville blushed and sank down in his seat, but Callie eyed her housemate. "Yes, Draco, we're on a date," she said. "We're engaged, too. Be sure and send a wedding gift."

"Really, you could do a lot worse," Pansy said. "The giant squid, perhaps?"

Malfoy chuckled, wrapping his arms around Pansy as they made their way off to a table.

"That was fun," Callie said as she and Neville stepped out of the shop a few minutes later, "let's never go in there again."

"Right," he agreed. They started to walk, both of them silent until Neville said, "Corner was looking at you in the Hog's Head."

Callie scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"He's dating Ginny," he went on. "I don't think she noticed."

Callie pondered that. Was the sweet boy who'd sent her flowers two years ago a cheater? "Maybe it wasn't what you thought it was," she suggested. "Maybe it was just a look."

"Yeah, maybe," Neville said, unconvinced.

Callie glanced at him, rolling her eyes again. "He can look all he wants," she said, "it's not gonna happen."

They fell silent again, before Neville asked, "Who has to look before something does happen?"

She turned to face him, but he kept his eyes on the ground. "I don't know," she said. "Nobody is looking. Except Corner, apparently." She paused. "Remember when everyone thought I was hot stuff? Should've appreciated that more."

After a while, he asked, "You ever look at anyone? It's not a one-way thing."

Oh, if you only knew, Neville.

But she replied, "No. Not lately. Not since... A.D.D." After Dad Died.

He looked at her with a curious expression. "Why not?" he asked.

Callie shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "I guess... it just dulled me to things like that."

"Oh," he said, looking back at the ground.

Callie was all over the place. It was true that she didn't, and never really had, have any interest in the boys of Hogwarts - except for one. However, while she would've been thrilled a year ago if Neville had asked her out, now there was a part of her that feared it would mess everything up if they attempted to be more than friends. Aside from her mum, he was the most important person in her life, and she didn't want to do anything to lose him. Teenage relationships weren't exactly known to be everlasting, and perhaps it wasn't worth the risk of not having him as a friend anymore.

Besides, he hadn't been all too upbeat about sitting with her in Madam Puddifoot's.

After a moment, she asked, "Anyway... who are you looking at?"

Of course, his cheeks reddened. But then a grin curled his lip and he threw his arm around her shoulders. "I only have eyes for you, wifey," he teased. "You know that."