Each chapter is going to be from Calliope's point of view when she was younger. Occasionally I will put in some dialogue that is the older Calliope talking to Harry.
This is the first proper chapter in their story. This chapter is about them meeting.
I do not oven Harry Potter or anything related to it.
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Calliope scanned the three broomsticks as she sat on the edge of a table that was pushed against the wall. The air was warm and thick with the smell of butter beer, it was inviting, safe. The water outside was finally calming down after the snow storm that had caused everyone to take cover. The Pub was full of students, laughing, joking, singing and dancing. She could not see her friend Sarah anywhere, they had arrived together and had been happily chatting for hours, and then Sarah had visited the bathroom and disappeared. It had been half an hour and Calliope had given up hope that her friend would return to her any time soon. Everyone around her was happy and cheery but without her best friend she felt a bit lost, like there wasn't much point to the party. So she sat on her table and she watched as the rest of the students had their fun.
She looked across the room and saw a tall pale boy with long black hair leaning against the opposite wall; he looked a strange mixture between angry and completely heartbroken. Following his gaze she felt a similar feeling swell up in the pit of her stomach. There in the corner of the room, half hidden by the staircase was Sarah, arms around the hips of Sirius Black, her face firmly attached to his. Next to them she noticed a pretty red haired girl similarly entwined around a tall boy she knew to be James Potter, captain of the Gryffindor Quiddich team. She looked back to where the tall, pale boy had been standing but he was no longer there.
Calliope jumped down off the table inwardly cursing her silly choice of outfit. Who wears a dress and boots in a blizzard, why had she done that? She knew exactly why, because Sarah had mentioned how nice her legs looked with that particular combination. Well that wasn't going to help her now; she would most likely half freeze without the warming spell Sarah was so good at casting. She shoved past people as she made her way to the door, grabbing her coat and scarf as she passed the overflowing coat rack. Tears threatened to fall as she quickly wrapped the scarf around her and shoved her arms into her coat. She pulled the door open with considerable more force than she had intended knocking a fourth years drink onto her. "Great" she whispered as she stormed out of the pub. She took one step and thanked Merlin she was wearing boots as the snow reached well past her ankle.
She turned right out of the pub and started to walk back towards the path to Hogwarts. So what if it was dark already, so what if there had been rumours of a wolf roaming the grounds. She couldn't stay there sitting alone, cast away by her best friend for a boy. Especially not when that boy was Sirius Black, the same boy that had been bothering her for two years, the same boy who had begged HER to come to Hogsmede that day. Now it seemed he had finally given up and moved onto her friend, her best friend. Someone entirely too good for him.
As she stormed along the street her foot slipped into a pot hole causing the deep snow to overflow into her boot, soaking her socks and making her already numb with cold feet sting. "FUCK!" she shouted turning to the building beside her and kicking the wall. That, she would learn, was a very bad idea. Snow that had been carefully resting on the roof of the building came tumbling down on top of her with such force it knocked her to the ground. Choking and spluttering she pulled herself free from the mound of snow, as she knelt there on all fours she was a pair of legs in front of her. She looked up; the tears that had previously threatened to fall now streaming freely down her face.
The tall boy from the pub stood in front of her, his hand out stretched for her to grab. She took his hand gratefully and he pulled her to her feet, she noticed he was mumbling something while moving his other hand beneath his cloak. She was about to make a smart comment about boys being vile when a sudden warm feeling came over her body and her clothes vibrated slightly then appeared to be dry. She looked up into his unusually pale face, his eyes were dark, strikingly so, but warm and caring. "Thank you." She stated. "I'm Calliope, I noticed you in the Three Broomsticks."
The boy looked down at her with a confused expression. "Really? Nobody notices me usually." He looked down at their hands, still intertwined between them. He pulled his hand away and started to walk towards the castle. Calliope stood still for a few moments looking after him, fazed by the fact he had just walked away. "So you don't have a name then?" she enquired, taking a few faster steps to keep up with him. Due to the height difference she soon found herself out of breath trying to keep step with the boy. "My name is Severus Snape" He stated bluntly.
"Oh, well thank you Severus for helping me out of my mess back there. Listen, I can tell by your ever quickening pace you don't really want to talk to me and you don't have to. I came today with my friend but she's currently permanently attached to Blacks face, so I'm going back to Hogwarts alone. Its dark and I would appreciate the company, I won't talk, I just don't want to walk alone." His pace slowed and he looked down at her, noticing the lines of mascara running down her face.
"Jealous of your friend?" He said with a vicious undertone. "Oh, Merlin no! I wouldn't kiss Black if i were held at wand point and told I would be tortured. He is both physically and mentally repulsive to me, that boy is slimier than those weird ten legged things first years pull out of the lake" She physically shuddered then looked up at the boy walking beside her. She was surprised to see a wide smile across his face. "It is nice to hear a girl not falling over herself to get to him. Unusual, but nice." He slowed a little more.
"Unusual like people noticing you in pubs? You know I've noticed you before, you spend a lot of time in the library don't you?" She saw the same slightly confused look pass across his face. "Yes" he said plainly. "So if it wasn't your friend you were jealous of, it must be Black. There aren't many girls of your inclination at Hogwarts." He stated staring straight ahead.
"My inclination?" She almost shouted. "And what inclination would that be?" She was shaking with anger. How dare this practical stranger call her out on something like that? "It isn't a bad thing; if you're not comfortable with it I will be quiet."
"It's not that I'm not comfortable with it, I just don't know. I don't find girls in general attractive, actually she is the only female I do like, and she is special…" Calliope trailed off. A sudden though occurred to her. "Anyways it isn't any of your business. I don't seem to be the only person harbouring unfulfilled feelings in this conversation." She looked up at him. "I saw the way you looked at that red head Potter was snogging."
Severus suddenly picked up his pace and raced ahead of her. She had to jog lightly to keep up with him. "Wait, hey, wait." She said as she reached out for him. "Will you stop?" He stopped suddenly his face alight with anger. "You can't call me out on something so huge in my life and then expect nothing in return. That's not how normal people act. I'm sorry I have upset you, I don't know you, but you did the same to me. Listen, you seem like a nice guy, you helped me out back there. Can we just walk up to the castle in silence? I promise never to mention this again, if you promise never to?" She stared up at him, she really was quite striking. Not particularly attractive but interesting none the less. "Yes" he said simply turning and walking towards the castle as a much more reasonable speed. She smiled up at him.