April 18, 1980

Sirius spent a lot of time at the Potters' house after the news of Regulus's death. They almost always had dinner with James and Lily. On the surface, he was the same as always; joking around, poking fun at his friends, and just generally being himself. But Calandra knew the news hit him hard. He'd come home some nights and just sit at the table, eyes locked on the paper. Calandra would wake up in the middle of the night to find Sirius standing at the bureau, staring down at something inside his mahogany box.

James talked with Calandra about a month after they'd heard the news. She'd stopped by the Potters' to get the keys to Sirius's motorbike. James sat down at the kitchen table with her and filled her in on all the details he'd found out.

"One of the portraits told them." James said. "They overheard Walburga meeting with someone from the Magical Accidents Department. In the Missing Persons Office. Apparently, there's a tapestry they have. Family tree or whatever."

Calandra nodded.

"Well. Up until late November last year it only read with his birth year. Walburga said he left home one day and never came back. The tapestry read 1960-1979 after that."

"What happened?" Calandra asked. "Most of the Order don't curse to kill when they go out. Moody doesn't either."

"It wasn't us." James said. "Fenwick and Vance overheard some rumors when they were at the Hogshead that he wanted out. They think it was one of the Mulciber brothers talking, weren't sure. Said that Regulus hadn't been living up to expectations. He didn't show up for a meeting and You-Know-Who didn't seem to care."

"You think he killed him?" Calandra asked.

James shook his head.

"I doubt he was high up enough for You-Know-Who to personally take care of. He was barely eighteen."

Calandra sighed.

"He was just a kid." She said.

"I don't think either of them ever got to be just kids." James said.

"He told me that he got what he wanted." Calandra said, staring off into the distance. "That it didn't come down to him having to kill Regulus."

"That wouldn't have happened." James said.

"I know." Calandra said. "I don't think he could've killed him."

"No. It's not that." James shook his head. "Why do you think we always go out together?"

Calandra looked at him curiously.

"I'd never let him do that." James said quietly. "He'd never survive it if it came down to him having to kill Regulus."

"You'd do that for him?" Calandra raised her eyebrows.

"You wouldn't?" James mirrored her look.

"I would." Calandra admitted. "He'd hate me for it, though."

"Better him hate us than himself." James said and got up.

He plucked Sirius's keys out of a little dish on the counter and tossed them to Calandra.

"It'll take time, Cals." James said. "But we're getting him through it."

Calandra ruffled his hair and headed back home.

...

April 24, 1980

Alice had asked her to come over that next week; she was decorating the nursery and had asked Calandra to paint a mural. Calandra left Sirius with James and Peter at the Potters' and floo-ed to the Longbottom's. Alice was waiting when she got there, in an ancient dressing gown and gardening gloves.

"That's a fetching ensemble." Calandra said as she stepped though the fireplace.

Alice looked down at herself and rolled her eyes.

"None of my trousers fit me anymore." She said. "I'm stuck in robes or pajamas."

"I'll buy you some new ones." Calandra said, kissing her cheek. "What's got you elbows deep in dirt?"

"I'm taking care of some starts that we're going to try to use with the Order." She said. "I've got Venomous Tentacula and Mugwort and some others. I figure we've got a potion's prefect, why not use her?"

Calandra laughed and murmured her agreement.

"Well," she said, gesturing down the hall. "You ready to get started?"

"Almost." Alice said. "I've still got to water the rest of them."

A loud sound came from the fireplace and they turned to see Alastair Moody's face in the flames.

"You go take that." Calandra said. "I'll water the plants. Which ones haven't you done?"

"The ones in the red pots." Alice said, kneeling in front of the fireplace.

Calandra went down the hall and onto the screened in patio. She got the watering can from the old bench there and poured it over the small plants. She peered at the little white flowers on some of the stems. They looked vaguely like baby's breath.

The water soaked into the dirt and Calandra leant over the pots to reach the others a bit further back. She was almost finished when a sharp pain in her side made her catch her breath. She clutched her ribs and set the watering can down.

Calandra looked down to find small holes singed in her shirt. When she pulled her hands away blisters glistened on the skin of her stomach and chest. A faint hissing sound hummed in her ears and all of a sudden Calandra's hands, chest, and neck burned.

She stepped back, not knowing what was happening and fumbled with the door. Her vision was getting hazy and some sickly-sweet scent was clouding her mind. She stumbled down the hall toward the living room, holding onto the walls for support. She felt like she'd downed an entire bottle of vodka.

Alice appeared in her line of vision and Calandra had to blink rapidly to keep from seeing double. Alice's voice sounded far away and distant when she spoke.

"Oh, no!" Alice cried. "I didn't think the Hissing Hemlock were old enough to spit yet."

She grabbed Calandra and led her to the kitchen. Alice rooted around in her cupboards and Calandra collapsed into a chair. She leant back and tried to focus her vision. Alice came over and shoved something down her throat. Calandra swallowed against the intrusion and choked down the object.

Alice sat in front of her and dipped a knife in dittany before slicing through the blisters. Calandra's vision started to return to normal and the pain from the blisters faded away. She sighed as Alice dabbed dittany on the tender skin where the plant's poison had burned her.

"I'm sorry, Callie." Alice said. "I didn't even warn you. I never thought they'd be ready this early."

"S'ok." Calandra said. "What were they?"

"Hissing Hemlock." Alice said. "The roots of them are great for potions, but the flowers spit poison when they're disturbed."

"How do you usually water them?" Calandra asked.

"Usually at this age they're not dangerous. When they start spitting, I wear a dragon hide apron and charm them to sleep."

"You shouldn't have those here. Not in your condition." Calandra admonished.

Alice levitated a cup of tea to Calandra and sat beside her.

"Drink up, then we'll get you home." She said.

"Wait." Calandra said. "We haven't painted the nursery. You haven't even told me what you want?"

"I'm not asking you to paint the nursery after my flowers tried to kill you." Alice laughed. "Go home and rest and we'll do it another day."

"Nonsense." Calandra stood up. "I'm fine. Just a little plant juice. I'm right as rain."

"A right pain, more like." Alice muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" Calandra said walking past her. "You admire my brain. Thanks Alice. I think you're pretty clever yourself."

Alice rolled her eyes and followed Calandra out of the kitchen.

"Why do I put up with you?" Alice asked as they walked down the hall.

"Because you love me." Calandra said and studied the room. "And you've never held a paintbrush in your life. You need my artistic capabilities."

Alice smiled at her and spread her arms out.

"Alright Oh Artistic One. Show me some magic."

...

April 24, 1980

They sat on the floor, shoulder to shoulder, and gazed at the wall. Alice sighed and leant her head on Calandra's shoulder. Calandra smiled and scanned the mural.

"It's perfect." Alice sighed.

"Turned out pretty well." Calandra said.

"It turned out better than that." Alice said. "You've really got a gift, Callie."

"It's just a bit of paint, Alice." Calandra said. "You could do it if you tried."

"No." Alice contradicted. "I'm sure I could learn how to paint, but I couldn't do this. You just make everything…come alive."

Calandra looked back to the painting and smiled. It was beautiful. Flutterby bushes shimmered in one corner. Puff pods of blue and yellow and green lined the floor; their fluffy puff balls bouncing up and landing back down on upturned leaves.

Bottlebrushes and bulrushes swayed in the other corner. Sprouts of all different kinds of plants popped up and bloomed before their eyes. It was the perfect painting for Alice's baby.

"How are you feeling?" Alice asked.

"I'm fine. No harm done." Calandra said. "I'm glad I stayed."

She nodded toward the wall.

"Me too." Alice said. "Sometimes I miss when it was just the two of us. I know you weren't the happiest you could've been, but it was nice having you here with me."

"It was wasn't it?" Calandra agreed. "It was like being back at school, but without all the rules."

"I guess I'm just sentimental today, but I miss it so much sometimes." Alice sighed. "Don't you?"

"All the time." Calandra leant back. "There was so much opportunity for...just...anything."

She rested her shoulder against Alice and gestured to the wall.

"I remember learning about these." She said. "And anytime I had questions, you were there with answers or stories about them. I could listen to you for ages."

Alice shoved her shoulder against Calandra's and rolled her eyes.

"I seem to recall you falling asleep to them quite a few times." She said.

"I was just getting you ready for the baby." Calandra breezed. "I lowered your expectations early on. You can't expect the poor thing to stay awake through your whole herbology recitation, you know."

Alice laughed and rubbed her stomach.

"It's odd to think that I'll probably tell hours and hours of stories here in this room." She said, wonderingly.

Calandra swung around and laid her head on Alice's lap, her cheek pressed against Alice's rounded stomach. She reached up and vanished smudges of paint off Alice's cheek with a flick of her fingers.

"Start us off one then," she said. "Christen the room with one. One I haven't heard yet and you'll have a rapt audience. No naps...I promise."

Alice tilted her head to the side and thought for a moment.

"Alright." She agreed. "But I get to tell one about anything I want."

Calandra rolled her eyes, but smiled.

"Deal."

"It's only fitting that I tell you about what you painted." Alice started. "I know you know all the proper names and how they're used in potions, or you should if you paid any attention at all in school, but you probably haven't heard any of the stories about them."

Calandra crossed her legs and closed her eyes, letting Alice's voice wash over her.

"Some are common, like The Rose And The Amaranth; the Amaranth is jealous of the Rose but the Rose knows it is fleeting. The Amaranth isn't. Because of the story, everyone knows Amaranth is the most common ingredient in the potion used in Alchemy for making the Philosopher's stone...or so the story says."

Alice ran her fingers absent-mindedly through Calandra's hair as she spoke.

"But this story is about Henbane."

Calandra turned her head and searched the painting. Her eyes finally lit on the small white flower with the dark, inky center. She gazed at it as Alice spoke.

"Henbane, we know, is great for people who get sick during apparition or while taking portkeys. But before witches and wizards figured out the exact potion measurements people were frightened of it. A lot still are, that's why Apothecaries carry so much Philter of Balance; people trust Belladonna and ginger more than Henbane and mint, and that's saying something."

Calandra nodded to herself. Nightshade was dangerous. They were only allowed to use the seeds and berries in potion making at Hogwarts, and even then it was carefully monitored. Professor Slughorn tested each potion himself. If any potion even remotely smelled of the plant it was discarded. After he'd narrowed it down that far, Professor Slughorn would put a drop on a slug. If the slug turned red or, in worst case scenarios, shriveled up, he tossed those potions as well.

"Of course, if I believed this story to be true I'd probably chose the Belladona myself." Alice admitted.

"Why?" Calandra asked.

"Well, the worst Nightshade can do is kill you." Alice said.

"And Henbane does something worse?" Calandra asked. "Worse than killing you?"

Alice nodded and spread Calandra's hair out over her lap. Her fingers paused their gentle movements and Calandra looked up to see Alice's brows furrowed.

"Now that I think of it, you might have heard about this one." She admitted. "I think it's in Muggle poems. It's different in those, but still."

Calandra smiled up at Alice and made herself more comfortable.

"I don't mind." She said, happily. "Even if I've read it I want to know the magical version."

"Alright," Alice said as she combed through Calandra's hair. "Well, long ago when the world was lush and green, there lived a king, a queen, and their daughter. One day, the queen fell horribly ill and died. The king was stricken with grief and vowed to keep the last piece of his wife he had left, his daughter, safe from all harm.

"He sheltered her and protected her...too much most said. When it came time for a suitor, none were worthy in the eyes of her father."

Calandra watched as the plants painted on the wall swayed and shimmered.

"The king sat with his advisors and finally they hatched a plan. The suitor who could pass a test, a test of endurance and chivalry, could have the lady's hand."

"The king announced it to his public and many young men came forward. They thought the task was easy enough. You see, all they had to do was carry the princess to the top of the mountain without stopping to rest."

"Many tried, but all failed." Alice said. "Suitor after suitor tried, but none could do it. Until the son of a count happened upon the king's daughter."

"They fall in love, simple as that. They try to think of a way around the decree because the young man isn't the strongest; they talk of eloping, of mechanisms to help, to no avail."

"Finally, the young woman calls upon her aunt, a witch, to help them. Her aunt listens to the girl's tale and agrees to help. She brews a potion to give the man endurance. He'll have no trouble climbing the mountain with just a drink of it."

The story did sound vaguely familiar to her, but Calandra couldn't place it. She puzzled it around as Alice kept talking.

"With the potion in hand, the young man publicly proposes to the young girl. The king is dismayed at the weakness of the boy. The boy is so confident at the task set before him, the king knows he has had help."

"The king is furious at the boy for outsmarting him, so he goes to the most powerful sorceress in his kingdom. He tells her about the boy; the boy who isn't fit to protect his daughter. He needs the boy to fail."

"The sorceress agrees. She cares not about the king or his family as long as he pays her price. It's a trivial thing to her to have to look into her crystal ball and decide how to hinder the boy. But she does it and she gives the king his part to play."

"She hands him a single Henbane leaf and tells him to place it in the boy's potion. It's a simple task, but as long as he does it, the boy will fail."

"The king hesitates and asks the sorceress if the leaf will kill the boy. He knows his daughter would never forgive him if she ever found out. He doesn't wish death on the young man, just failure."

"The sorceress waves him away, assuring him that the leaf won't kill the boy and the king hurries back to his palace. He orders official witnesses to follow the boy and the princess up the mountain. The boy is overjoyed and drops the potion to the soft earth to swing the princess up in his arms. The king crosses to him and gives him a pat on the back, encouraging him with praises and well wishes. He picks up the potion, pulls the stopper out, and drops the leaf in before telling the boy to drink up for his long trek up the mountain."

"The boy tilts his head back and takes a long swig, but he doesn't swallow. The princess is lighter than he'd imagined. Perhaps he wouldn't need the potion at all. Perhaps he could do it on his strength alone!"

"So they start up the mountain. The boy makes it halfway and finds that he can still go on. The princess clings to him, seemingly heavier now, but he can do it."

Calandra closed her eyes once more as the story went on.

"The top of the mountain is in sight. The boy staggers, but is determined to make it on his will alone. The young girl is ashen faced and sickly looking, but she holds to him tightly. Step after step the boy trudges toward the top, he pushes with everything in him, determined to win the hand of his love. He keeps going and going until finally he steps on the very top of the mountain."

"He falls to his knees, exhausted, and turns to kiss his love. He swallows the drink in his mouth and reaches out to her...when suddenly, he's gone."

Calandra opened her eyes in surprise.

"The young girl blinked and peered over the mountain. She spun around and called the boy's name, but she couldn't see him! She searched the trees and brambles at the top of the mountain, but he was nowhere to be found. Furious, confused, and heartbroken the girl sank to her knees, there on the mountaintop, and cried."

"The boy wasn't gone though." Alice said. "He was there, right there in front of her. He could hear her crying, he could see her searching for him, but he couldn't make her see him. He wasn't dead. He still felt alive. He was surrounded by mist, the boy was. He could see his love, yes. But it was like looking through a veil."

Calandra looked up at Alice.

"Try as he might, he couldn't reach her. They were separated by something greater. The boy ran and ran, searching for a way out, but he couldn't find one...at least not quite."

"Above him, up a tall hillside, was a great light, brighter than anything he'd ever seen. Below him, when he looked down, was nothing. And there in the misty place was his love, sobbing on the mountaintop, surrounded by a fog he couldn't seem to penetrate."

"On the other side, where the girl was, the advisors to the king tried to comfort her. They searched for the boy as well, but had no luck. They hastened back down the mountain to call for the king while the princess stayed to search and grieve and wonder. Her heart wasn't strong enough for it, though. She'd been starving herself for weeks to make herself lighter for her love to carry her up the mountain and her weakened body couldn't take it. Up there on the top of the mountain, her frail heart gave out and she died."

Alice stroked Calandra's hair and gave a grimace. Calandra kept waiting for more to the story, but nothing came.

"That's it!?" She asked. "Where was the boy? What happened to him?"

"He was in the Between." Alice said. "You know, the place between here and...wherever else."

"But, but...he can get out, surely." Calandra sputtered, sitting up.

"Well, in theory he could leave the Between." Alice started. "But really, there's only one way to go."

Calandra just stared at her.

"What do you mean 'one way to go'?"

"Well, he can't very well go back to her." Alice explained. "The Between is between this world and death. If you're stuck there you've got no where else to go but...on."

"Why couldn't he come back just as easy?" She demanded.

"Come on, Callie." Alice laughed. "How could he? He isn't in the land of the living anymore. You know you can't bring people back from death."

"But...how did he die? The sorceress said it wouldn't be the Henbane! Did she lie? Was it the exhaustion? Do we even know if he did?"

"The story is a bit muddied there." Alice admitted. "Some people think he died and was just there as a crossing over point. But most people believe the Henbane took him to the Between and he was stuck there. The sorceress said that it wouldn't kill him, and it didn't. Not really."

Calandra shook her head.

"There has to be more to the story Alice."

"Those are the only bits I know." Alice shrugged. "That, and legend has it that he can't make himself climb the mountain to get to the light to go on, so some say he's still there."

Calandra sat there and shook her head, trying to puzzle the story out. Suddenly, she snapped her fingers.

"The Mountain of The Two Lovers!" She exclaimed.

Alice looked at her curiously.

"That's the story isn't it?" She asked.

"No." Alice said. "At least not anywhere I've seen it. It's called the Henbane Hilltop Tale. The Mountain of The Two Lovers might be the muggle name though."

Calandra nodded.

"I'm pretty sure it is. I think it has a name in a different language though; French or Italian or something. I can't quite remember it."

She tried to think of where she'd heard the story before, but couldn't place anything other than the name. She'd have to go look it up.

Calandra got to her feet and held a hand down to Alice.

"I've got to say though, Alice, I think I like the muggle version better this time."

Alice chuckled and heaved herself off the ground.

"It is rather sad isn't it?" She asked. "But it makes you wonder."

"Yeah, wonder what potion the wizard who came up with it was on." Calandra replied.

Alice laughed then shook her head.

"That's not the only story about Henbane doing things like that. There's all kinds of accounts of people waking up saying they've been to a place of shadows or clouds or fog. Some people say it makes them fly."

Calandra rolled her eyes.

"Right...and you believe those?"

"Not really." Alice replied. "But, it has to do something to people, else it wouldn't be so hard to figure out in potions and whatnot."

"Yeah well, don't go trying to figure it out yourself." Calandra slung her arm across Alice's shoulders. "Don't want you getting stuck between this wall and that one"

Alice laughed and rolled her eyes.

"I wouldn't even fit."

"Yeah, and all our hard work would go to waste having to chop you out."

Alice wrapped her arms around Calandra's middle and gazed at the mural.

"You reckon our wall art is still there, back at school?" Alice asked with a giggle.

"I don't know." Calandra said. "I'd imagine they got the elves to take care of it."

"I kind of wish they'd just leave it, don't you?"

"Yeah." Calandra said. "Yeah, I do."

...

May 3, 1980

Do you think I could convince Frank to run out and get me some Jelly Buttons?

Alice, everything is closed.

Sometimes Mr. Flume stays open late.

Not this late.

Well, you never know.

Alice, it's two in the fucking morning. Why do you need Jelly Buttons?

I don't know, I just woke up wanting it. What are you doing up this late ?

Do you really want to know?

Ooh, yes. Do tell! I've been so sick these past few weeks I've barely held Frank's hand, let alone hi-

NO! DO NOT WRITE THAT DOWN! STOP IT!

You're supposed to be my friend. You know, be supportive and all that.

I'm writing you at two in the morning Alice. All because you want Jelly Buttons.

It's a craving. I don't control it.

So, the baby wants Jelly Buttons. That's what you're saying.

Yes! Frank can't say no to the baby, can he?

Let that poor man sleep, Alice. I've got some in the kitchen. I'll owl them over.

Thanks Callie! You're the best!

Yeah Yeah! Eat your candy then go get laid. Stop waking me up at all hours of the night.

You were already awake.

Love you, Alice.

Love you, Callie.