CHAPTER TEN

August 4, 1997

Athena sat in what had been Dumbledore's office, book in hand but not reading, as she watched her father pace. He had been agitated and unfocused all morning. Athena could understand the reason; it was the seventeenth anniversary of the day her mother had died. Finally, tired of watching his pain, Athena set down her book, got up off the couch and went over to him.

"Father, why don't you just use the Pensieve?"

He scoffed. "Forget her?"

"No, sir. I meant for just a short while." She searched the lines of his tired face, evidence of a burdensome life full of misery. "You need a reprieve from the flashbacks. Let someone else carry the pain for a while."

Severus sighed, then placed his wand on his temple, withdrawing a misty strand of memories and casting them into the Pensieve, which was nearby. "I expect you wish to view these," he gently assumed, then the moment of vulnerability passed and father fixed his daughter in a stern gaze. "Return them to me tomorrow."

Without further commands or words, he exited briskly. Athena inhaled deeply and caved to her curiosity. She had rarely seen pictures of her mother, and only knew a small amount about her death. Nervous, Athena dove into the Pensieve.

She was instantly overrun with memories, memories that were full of pain, the gouging claws of grief burying themselves deeply, leaving stains of bloody red. Every memory was tainted, and every memory centered around one woman, the beautiful Lily Evans Snape. Bloodstained images flew by: Lily laughing, Lily adorably angry, Lily teaching Severus to dance, Lily smiling down on her babies, Lily beaming at Severus in her simple, white wedding dress.

Then the memories went down into a nosedive decline. There was a horrible squealing of tires, followed by a thud. A slender, limp body lay in a puddle of blood. A younger Severus knelt over Lily, weeping as he lifted her from the pavement and Disapparated to their home. Lily weakly reached for his face and smiled one last time. Calypso and Athena wailed in the background.

Athena tumbled out of the Pensieve, still trying to process the new information and visuals. She could vaguely remember her mother, but she was never certain the memories were actually hers. The mother figure she remembered was her father's mother, Eileen, who had raised Athena and Calypso from age two to ten. When Athena was little, she had adopted her grandmother's northern accent, which still came through when Athena was angry. Athena had been grief-struck when Eileen had died of Dragon Pox.

Severus had returned and now watched his daughter dust herself off. He looked resigned, as though all he could expect from life was sadness, and the only thing he could share with others was his own misery.

Athena swallowed thickly. "Would you like to dance, for old times' sake?"

SSSS

It was about four o'clock when James, Calypso and Hermione Apparated to Hogsmeade. They hid in Honeydukes' cellar until nightfall. James kept checking his pocket watch as the minute hand ticked closer to five-fifty. Calypso would have loved to tease him, but she refrained, instead; she thought about dancing with George. She knew he had only agreed because of her cunning, and not because he actually wanted to be with her, but he was cute...for a Gryffindor.

"Are you ready?" James' whispered question startled Calypso out of her reverie. She glared at him, waspishly sneering, "So long as you lead the way."

James leaned backwards, playing at being offended, and Calypso smiled wickedly.

"Follow me," James beckoned, heading into the tunnel. Calypso motioned for Hermione to go first, but Hermione insisted, "You go first. I can watch your back."

Calypso smiled gratefully, murmuring "thank you," then she hunched over and scooted into the dark tunnel, only to slam into James' back.

"Watch where you are going!" he bellowed.

"I couldn't see you standing there," Calypso retorted, "since we are, you know, in a dark tunnel!"

Hermione, who had cautiously entered the tunnel, hissed, "You two need to quiet down. Someone could hear you. Besides, if the tunnel is dark, Lumos!" her wand-tip ignited, "then turn on the lights."

Abashed, James and Calypso apologized, and the threesome inched through the tunnel silently for about ten minutes—then James tired of the quiet.

"So, girls, what are your favorite classes?"

"Why are you trying t' make conversation?" Calypso snapped. "Won't people hear us talking?"

James shrugged. "This part of the tunnel in completely underground; only the worms and mice—"

"And rats—" Calypso interjected, since James' former friend's double dealings had become common knowledge.

James pointedly ignored the interruption. "—can hear us. What Houses are you girls in?"

"My House doesn't matter," Calypso scowled. "However, I do have a question for you, Mr. Potter. Who did you think I was?"

"When?"

"When I knocked on your door."

Too quickly, James replied, "Oh, nobody."

"Who?" Calypso asked determinedly, despite knowing what the answer likely was.

James sighed. "Well, uh, her name was Lily, Lily Evans." In the faint light of Hermione's wand, his eyes took on a look of dreamy reminiscence. "Merlin's beard, she was really something."

"Her name was Lily?" Calypso prodded, wondering what the rest of world knew about her mother's fate...and hoping for information to use against James once the truth of her bloodline came out. "What happened to her?"

"She just, poof," James oh-so-creatively mimed an explosion, "disappeared."

"Disappeared?"

"Yes, disappeared," James restated, perturbed. "Are you an echo?"

"No, I'm not," Calypso refuted indignantly. "What I meant was, 'How did she disappear?'"

"I don't know for certain. She regularly came to the Order meetings, and then she just abruptly stopped. No one has seen her since late July of nineteen-eighty."

"So, you were both were in this Order group?" Calypso's father had never mentioned that Lily was a part of any organizations.

"Yeah, along with Sirius, Remus, Mad-Eye Moody..." James ticked the names off on his fingers, "the Prewett brothers, Hagrid, Neville's parents and several others. Dumbledore led it. Oh, and Snivellus—"

"His name is Professor Snape."

"—was a member too, but Dumbledore kicked him out after Lily disappeared; I guess old Snivelly was a Death Eater. Personally, I think killed her."

Swallowing a protest, Calypso tried to seem sympathetic. "Were you close to her?

"I wanted to be, but she was always spending time with Snape. In our fifth year, she seemed ready to dump him, but it didn't happen."

"Dump him?" Calypso tried to sound repulsed. "Were they dating?"

"It was a figure of speech," James clarified. "She didn't like him like that."

"Did he like her?"

"Maybe? He was kind of guarded."

"Hm," murmured Calypso as she tried to think of something more to say. But they had finally reached the end of the tunnel. Hermione extinguished her wand and the group exited the tunnel through the one-eyed witch's hump. They crept through the castle, making their way to Dumbledore's office. James guessed the password randomly but had no success until Calypso suggested 'Draught of Living Death.' The gargoyle slid to the side, and with Calypso leading the way, they hurried upward. Abruptly, Calypso stopped, suddenly hit with a vengeful headache. She keeled over in pain.

"What is it?" asked Hermione.

"Do you… remember 'ow I… told you that I can sometimes… sense my sister's emotions… when she is feeling strongly?" Calypso grunted.

"Yes…"

"I can't remember the las' time I felt 'er so angry, so shocked, so…betrayed, before. 'Er pain is so deep it physically 'urts me t' sense it."

"Is it safe? Can we still get the sword?" Hermione asked, concerned.

"She's calmer now." Calypso had mostly regained her composure, smoothing down her borrowed robes to calm herself as she steeled herself. "Let's go."

And without waiting to see if the other two were following, she continued climbing the stairs. Calypso could hear her sister and father talking in the Headmaster's office, but most of the conversation was indistinct.

Calypso reached for her wand when she heard Athena's footsteps coming toward the door. The door swung open and sure enough, it was Athena. She yelled as Calypso, James and Hermione forced their way past her into the office, where Professor Snape was waiting, wand already in hand. James instantly engaged in combat with the new headmaster, while Hermione played offense against Athena. Calypso knew her father's dueling ability; James didn't have a hope of defeating him alone. In the meanwhile, Athena now had the advantage over Hermione and looked ready to ultimately finish the battle. Calypso knocked Hermione out of the way.

"Help James!" Calypso commanded.

Hermione nodded understandingly and rushed to James' aid, leaving Calypso facing Athena. Since the twinning cores of their wands left the sisters at a standstill, Athena employed a different tactic, engaging in small talk.

"So you're doing the 'saving people' thing now, are you, Calypso?" she asked archly.

"Yes."

Athena smiled strangely, then changed the subject. "You know, I do believe I ought to apologize."

Calypso was taken aback. "For what?

Athena smirked. "Interrupting your 'special moment' with the young one-eared Weasley. Fred, was it?"

"George," Calypso corrected, despite knowing that Athena already knew that was his name.

Athena laughed mockingly. "Right, I guess Mrs. George Weasley does have a better ring to it."

From her position dueling Severus, Hermione yelled, "Don't listen to her!"

"Right, don't listen to me." Athena muttered under her breath. "Even I would not advise it."

"What are you trying t' do?" Calypso asked desperately.

"What does it matter?" Athena replied smugly. "It's working."

"Calypso, just ignore her!" Hermione cried. "Get what we came here for!"

Her wand still fixed on Athena, Calypso ran over to the sword's glass case. She shoved her left elbow through the glass, and gritting her teeth as the broken glass bit her sweaty palm, she grabbed the sword's leather grip. Now Athena was almost upon her…Calypso swung the sword, missed Athena and hit a golden cup, which was destroyed on impact. Instantly, Calypso was deafened by a shrill scream. When the noise stopped, Athena had collapsed, knocked out by a stray spell.

"Go!" Hermione yelled. Evidently, she had recovered from the scream quickly.

"Where?" Calypso asked. "We can't run through t' castle!"

Abruptly a window shattered, sending glass everywhere. From his place dueling Severus, a brow-beaten James yelled, "Check the sill!"

Calypso let loose a well-aimed jinx that took out her father temporarily, then ran over to the broken window, thankful for her sturdy borrowed shoes. She peered out over the edge. James joined her, but instead of just standing there, he reached into a dark corner of the outside ledge.

"Here," he said, while Calypso looked in shock at the broomstick in James' hand. She numbly took it from him, freeing him to reach into the corner again and withdrawn another broomstick.

"Sorry, there's only two of them, and they might be a bit wonky," he apologized. "Can you double with Hermione?"

Shocked, Calypso nodded. James, apparently taking control of the situation, said, "We need to hurry. Hermione!"

"Coming!" she called, rushing over to join them. The threesome quickly mounted their broomsticks as Athena and Snape began to stir. James kicked off first, riding like he had been born to do flips while escaping dark wizards. Hermione and Calypso had more of a rough start; neither of them were adept at broomstick-riding.

The ride fleeing from Hogwarts grounds was painful and tense. The blood-slick sword hilt kept sliding out of Calypso's grip, but because she was sitting behind Hermione, she couldn't switch hands for fear of decapitating her friend. Glass shards prickled and sank deeper. Calypso kept her lips shut, not speaking for fear she would scream in agony. The fifteen-minute flight was torture. Finally, they passed through the barrier around Hogwarts and Disapparated to James' home. Sirius was already there, proudly holding Slytherin's locket. Calypso could hear Ron and Neville goading on chess pieces in the kitchen.

"Well, I got the locket," Sirius declared with swagger. "You fulfill your end, Prongs?"

"Yeah, Calypso has the…" James said, glancing at her. Then he looked at her again, and his eyes widened. "What happened to your hand?!"

Calypso shrugged, then grimaced. "I cut it."

Hermione was appalled. "How did I not notice? Let me bandage it for you. Where are the medical supplies?

"In the cupboard down the hall. James is getting them," Sirius supplied.

Hermione gently took the sword from Calypso. "Here, let me see. Oh, that's glass!"

"Yeah, I cut my hand t' grab t' sword," Calypso explained, trying to pretend it was nothing.

"We need to get that out of your hand!"

"Please…sedate me first."

"Hermione," James called, "can you bring her into the kitchen? Everything is set up in here!

"Do you have a sedative?" Hermione called back.

"Yeah, who needs it, you or her?"

"She wants it!" Hermione turned to Calypso. "Are you ready?"

Calypso nodded.

SSSS

To: The Dark Lord

I regret to inform your lordship of a late-night visit to the headmaster's office, courtesy of my sister, Hermione Granger. and James Potter. The sword of Godric Gryffindor was unfortunately stolen and Hufflepuff's cup was destroyed in the course of the duel.

However, I have knowledge of the location of their headquarters. They appear to have set up base in the abode of Mr. Potter, hiding there with the so-called Chosen One, one of the Weasley boys, and Sirius Black.

At your service and awaiting your direction,

Athena E. Snape