October 10, 1981
"Calandra!"
Sirius's voice rang out through the apartment. Calandra jumped out of bed and threw a dressing gown on. She ran to the kitchen and found him grabbing pots and bottles from one of the shelves there.
"Sirius!" she exclaimed as soon as she saw him. "Are you ok? What's wrong?"
"We've got to go to Longbottom's," he said, pulling more bottles down and throwing them in a box. "They'll need help. A few are hurt pretty badly."
Calandra went to the bathroom and grabbed the tray of plants in their tiny pots from the windowsill. Alice would know if they'd be of use. She grabbed muggle pain relievers and went back to the fireplace. Sirius was waiting on her.
A few seconds later they stepped out of the green flames into the Longbottom's house. People sat in chairs and on the sofa in various states of injury. Some had bandages on their arms and legs, others were helping take care of them. Sirius made a beeline for the kitchen and handed off his items to her. Calandra went straight down the hallway and into the guest room at the back of the house. Whoever desperately needed help would be back there.
She found Alice leaning over Mary on the bed. Calandra rushed over and looked at Alice.
"Mulciber got her with some dark spell. We don't know what it is. Frank's going to get the list Dorcas gave us to see if any of them match." Alice said in answer to Calandra unspoken question.
Calandra's throat constricted at the mention of her friend's name. She put a knee on the bed and knelt over Mary. Mary's veins shone through the skin of her hands, snaking up her arms, a sickly green color. Her breathing came in short gasps. A foul odor rose up all around them.
"It's in her blood." Calandra said. "It's rotting her from the inside out."
Alice looked horrified.
"How long has it been since the curse was cast?" Calandra asked.
"Not even three minutes. I apparated her out." Alice replied.
"Blood replenishing potion. She'll need it, and a goblin made blade." Calandra listed off, rolling her sleeves up and transfiguring Mary's robes into a thin nightgown.
Alice hurried out the door while Calandra cast silencing charms around the room and stasis spells on Mary. Alice came back and thrust the objects in Calandra's hands. Calandra recognized Sirius's knife.
"Petrificus Totalus." Calandra waved her wand over Mary.
"She can't move." She told Alice. "It will be awful for a bit. We're lucky they went for a slow grueling death."
Calandra handed the glass of blood replenishing potion to Alice and grabbed the knife.
"Make her drink it as soon as I tell you." she said.
Alice nodded.
Calandra walked over to the bedside and waved her wand over Mary's arms, straightening them out. She drew the blade down the side of her friend's arm and watched as thick green blood oozed out. She cast her wand over it and siphoned it out, watching the spidery lines of Mary's veins disappear under her skin. Mary cried out, but Calandra set her jaw and continued. When the last of the cursed blood was siphoned out, she moved to the other arm, repeating the actions. Alice moved to heal the incision, but Calandra stopped her.
"Not yet. I won't let her bleed out, I promise."
Calandra vanished the cursed blood and drew the knife across her own arm. Alice gasped. Calandra siphoned out about a teaspoon of her own blood and sent it into the cuts on Mary's arm with a flick of her wand. Mary whimpered and Alice closed up the wounds at Calandra's nod.
"The potion. Now." she said.
Alice opened Mary's mouth and tipped the vial back. She took her wand and made sure Mary swallowed. The two witches sat there, waiting and watching as Mary's breathing slowed to normal and some color came back to her. Calandra breathed a sigh of relief.
"What was that?" Alice asked.
"I came across it when I was looking for answers. Talked about how witches and wizards who have Veela in them have a bit more magic in their blood. Doesn't make them better at magic, it just manifests in their blood. Blood curses are harder to cast on them. Don't ask me anything else about it, because I don't know. I don't even know if it's true or not. I just had to try in case it helps."
She rubbed her face and felt a trickle down her arm. She'd forgotten to heal it. She held her arm out to Alice and watched as her friend closed the wound.
"Thanks." She said.
"You could have done a neater job of it yourself." Alice said.
"You're not supposed to do healing magic with your off hand," Calandra said with a smile. "You know that."
"Will she….." Alice didn't finish her sentence.
"No." Calandra said softly and shook her head. "It won't change her. She won't be what I am."
Calandra rose to her feet and patted Mary's arm.
"I'm going to check on everyone else." She said, walking out the door.
She passed by Neville's room and peeked inside. He was asleep in in his bed, tiny cheek pressed against his arm, blanket around his feet. Calandra's heart beat loudly in her chest as she thought of the letter she'd received two days ago. Her father had written her asking when he'd be seeing her again and offering his favorite café as a meeting point. He'd included a small stuffed hippogriff with the letter. One Calandra recognized immediately.
She'd gone immediately to Alice and showed her the letter. Alice reassured her that Neville was safe and sound in his room and showed her that he still had his hippogriff. Calandra's father was just trying to intimidate her. Calandra went back home appeased, until she noticed writing on the back of the letter. Her heart hardened to stone when she read the words written there.
If I can find you, I can find him too.
...
October 15, 1981
"I want a set of mirrors like that." Calandra said, nodding to the hand mirror that lay beside him.
"It'll take a few days to charm them properly." Sirius replied. "It takes pretty powerful casting to make sure the spells and charms hold. Otherwise they stop working after a while."
"I want to use them as emergency communication. Just once to send a message, then done. How long do you think it would take to spell them like that?"
"Maybe twenty minutes. An hour at most. Why?" he looked up from the map on the table.
"I want to contact my father." She said evenly.
He dropped the cigarette he was holding.
"What! No! Absolutely not!" he rose from the table.
"Yes." She said.
"No! Cal, you can't be serious." He grabbed her shoulders. "That's far too dangerous."
"He keeps threatening me." Calandra said.
"Exactly! What about that fact makes you think you should seek him out?" He asked incredulously.
"It's always been on his terms. He's always found me. If I can rattle him, he'll let something slip." She removed his arms from her shoulders.
Sirius shook his head.
"He's doing the exact same thing he did with my mother." Calandra said quietly. "I can't keep living trapped in his boxes."
Calandra watched Sirius's face harden. His eyes turned to molten steel and his jaw grew taunt. His nostrils flared ever so slightly.
"Alright." He said. "But I want to be there."
Calandra opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off.
"I won't show my face, I won't say a word. I know he already knows who I am, but I'll do whatever you tell me to. I just want to be there."
Calandra nodded.
"Ok. What do I need to get started?" she asked.
"Just your wand, darling. Let's see how rusty your charm work is."
...
October 17, 1981
Calandra stared at herself in the mirror. She waited, staring into blue eyes burning with determination. They narrowed as her reflection faded and a familiar face appeared in the glass.
"Hello Johnathon." She said.
"Well." Her father's face smiled back out at her from the mirror. "What a pleasant surprise. To what do I owe this honor?"
"You left me a rather important message. The societal etiquette you had drilled into me, deigns a reply."
Sirius stood poised with his wand and a portkey beside the mirror. He watched Calandra's face with careful eyes.
"Ahh, yes." Johnathon said, pouring himself a tumbler of brandy. "It's good to hear from you. I do admit, it's getting rather tricky lately, finding you. But one just has to have patience. You're not very good at staying indoors."
"Yes." Calandra agreed. "You couldn't ever keep me in a box, could you?"
Johnathon's eyes flashed. His jaw clenched and Calandra could see a vein throb in his forehead. It only lasted a brief moment, but she saw. She always saw. He hated that he couldn't control her like her mother. His face settled back to amused disinterest and he took a sip of his drink.
"Tell me. How is the boy?" Johnathon smirked.
Calandra leant in as close as she could get to the mirror.
"I'll tell you this one time, and one time only, Father." she spat the word. "If you so much as disturb one hair on his head I'll kill you myself."
Johnathon laughed. She continued.
"I'll make sure all the Death Eaters know what really happened with mother. All of your weaknesses. I'll kill you."
Johnathon rolled his eyes and gave her a pitying look.
"And how will you do that?" he asked.
"Evan Avery's been dying to get a taste of me." Calandra said.
She heard Sirius draw a ragged breath.
"What do you reckon he'd do to get one?" she asked. "I have an in, Father. And if I use it, I'll burn the whole fucking thing to the ground and go down with it. Even if it means Avery for me."
Johnathon's eyes grew wide. She saw fear in them, actual fear, before he was able to put his mask back in place.
"You'd never. You're far too sentimental. Too much like your mother to ever do something so dark. She left her weakness with you."
She stared into unfeeling eyes for a second, then smiled.
"You're wrong."
Calandra smashed the mirror with her fist. She dropped to the floor and rocked back and forth, shaking with tears and hysterical laughter. Sirius vanished the shards of glass and cast a finite charm in the room surrounding them. He gathered her in his arms and apparated them directly into the kitchen of the flat.
He sank with her to the floor and held her, running his hand over her hair and soothing her sobs. He murmured the spells to reward the flat against apparition as she cried. When she was finally spent, she pulled back and looked at him.
"It's the memories." She whispered.
Sirius stroked her cheek and unclasped the chain that was around her neck. The small vial fell into her palm and she stared down at it. Silvery-blue mist swirled around inside the glass. The last connection she had to her mother. She brought it up to her lips then handed it to Sirius.
"Do whatever you like." She said, sadly.
He hesitated; his hand gripped around the small glass.
"We can put them in a vault. Lock them up until it's all over." He said gently.
Calandra shook her head.
"No, it'll never be over. Not with him." She said.
Sirius studied her eyes, searching for something.
"I'm tired of being kept in a box, Sirius." Calandra said, her voice soft and broken.
He nodded and kissed her forehead. He scooped one arm around her and the other under her knees, lifting her up. He carried her to the bedroom and sat her on the bed.
"I'm going to take care of this." He said. "I'll be back soon. Just rest."
Calandra nodded and laid back on the pillow, closing her eyes. She felt warm lips brush her temple and heard the door close.
Sirius came back into the room a few moments later. Calandra was sitting with her legs close to her chest, resting her head against her knees. She looked up at him with a small smile. He sank down to the bed beside of her and wrapped an arm around her.
"I'm sorry, Cal." He whispered.
Calandra shook her said.
"I'm free." She said. "Finally."
Sirius rubbed a hand up and down her arm.
"I'm free." She repeated. "He can't get to me anymore."
She shook her head in wonder.
"I don't even know how I'm supposed to feel. It doesn't feel real."
Sirius pressed a kiss to her temple.
"I'm joining the Order, now." She said, looking up at him. "He can't get to me now. I'm joining as soon as I can."
Sirius drew a breath.
"You knew I would." Calandra said, holding his hand. "I know the risks."
"You could die." Sirius said softly.
Calandra reached out and brushed his hair away from his face. She rubbed her hand across his cheek. He hadn't shaved.
"Some things are worth dying for." She said just as softly.