Song:
She's my collar (Gorillaz, Kali Uchis)
"Okay, I talked with a few people you can trust and I think that little potion business of yours might actually work here." Narcissa said, taking a chocolate chip cookie from her plate. "They're all Slytherin, of course, and in desperate need for good grades."
"Regulus, is that you, buddy?" Callisto teased, sticking her tongue out at Regulus' murderous glare.
"I'll have you know that Slughorn is highly impressed with my performance this year." He bragged, pointing at her with his fork.
Callisto snorted, "Rephrase that."
"He likes my potions and my essays."
"Much better." Narcissa commented, taking a sip from her juice. "Did you find your necklace, Callisto?"
"Yes." The blonde lied, going through the list of people Narcissa had given her. She had worn the pendant she bought from Knockturn Alley to the party, but she could not remember if she had lost it before or after she returned to her dorm. So, she decided to ask Narcissa, only to receive a negative answer which could only mean that it had gotten off her neck while she was with Remus.
"Thank Merlin!" She sighed. "It was a very pretty necklace."
"What did it look like?" Regulus asked curiously. Callisto felt sweat form on her forehead at the topic, but she shrugged it off by taking a spoonful of cereal.
"It was a metallic pendant with a small ruby heart inside." She answered, as Regulus nodded. "Kind of vintage..."
"You should wear it more often." Yes, she definitely would if it wasn't lying around somewhere in Remus' room. Frankly, she was a bit salty that she couldn't go get it because it wasn't exactly cheap and it really was beautiful, but of course, she had to lose it.
"I need to get to Divination." She mumbled, finishing her glass of water and getting up from the bench.
"We shall pray for your soul!" Regulus mused. "Or whatever is left of it anyways!"
~ ~ ~
"God, that tasted like piss..." Marlene complained, drinking the last bit of her tea. Callisto had finished hers around 15 minutes ago and had been trying to persuade the Gryffindor that it wasn't that bad since Professor Sinistra first let the steaming hot kettles on each table.
"Why do you know what piss tastes like?" Callisto questioned, switching her cup with Marlene's and opening the guide to Tessomancy.
"Wild guess." Marlene chuckled, observing the rest of the class. On the opposite table, there were Mira Patil with Rex Brown, staring at their cups with such intense concentration that the blonde almost burst in laughter. Her mother had been adamadant about Marlene taking up divination among her other classes for her N.E.W.T.s, seeing as it was a tradition in the family. However, that didn't mean that the young girl wasn't convinced that Divination was nothing more than straight up bullshit.
Callisto squinted her eyes, making out the vague shape of what seemed to be a bouquet. She quickly skimmed through the long list of symbols, finally spotting what the bouquet meant.
"Apparently, you'll have good luck, including good friends, success and a happy love life. However, the edges of the bouquet are faded which probably means that this will be a temporary situation." Callisto explained, setting the porcelain cup on the table.
"I see a cross and then an angel." Marlene said unsurely, bringing the cup closer to her face. "Or is that a dragon?"
"So, I'm either Jesus or a medieval knight?" Callisto snorted, leaning further back on the wooden chair.
"No, it's definitely a cross and an angel." Marlene concluded, looking at the open guide. "So, I think that you'll go through trials and suffering but in the end, things will be okay. It also says here that you're going to be lucky in love-related matters."
"No money?" Callisto whined, shaking her head in disapointment. "Not even success? Inheritance, perhaps?"
"No, not really." Marlene answered, stifling a yawn as Professor Sinistra came over to them. Without as much as a simple hello, she took Marlene's cup, examining it carefully before humming and taking Callisto's instead. Her eyes immediately widened and she gasped, setting the cup down like it was on fire.
"I see a snake!" She exclaimed, her eyes glazed with fear.
"Rude!" The Slytherin blurted out, narrowing her eyes slightly. Marlene snorted, biting down on her lip to stop herself from bursting in laughter. She was already on thin ice for not being able to hold back snarky comments and it had become clear that one wrong move was enough to get kicked out of the classroom.
"You need to take caution, Miss Claire. The snake is a bad omen..." Callisto opened her mouth again to comment but decided against it and just nodded, flashing an exaggerated smile. Sinistra shot the cup one more fearful look, before going to the next table, murmuring under her breath.
"Where the hell did she see a snake?' Marlene questioned, motioning for Callisto to look at her cup. Indeed, no snake was in sight and Callisto shrugged, sitting back on her seat. However, Marlene's prediction wouldn't leave her mind. She wasn't worried about the trials and suffering, but about what the angel meant. Never in her life had someone seen like that in her cup and her mind was rushing to the wildest conclusions.
It meant nothing, right? After all, that was just a bunch of bullshit.
"What do you have now?" Callisto asked, putting her notes and the Tessomancy guide back in her bag. Professor Sinistra had as always dismissed them with a light wave of her hand, before going up to her room to either decide in which student's cup she was going to see the Grim or to smoke.
"Charms." Marlene answered, checking her schedule. "What about you?"
"Free hour." The two girls exited the classroom, bidding each other goodbye as Callisto headed for the grounds and Marlene for the Charms classroom.
At this time of the day, nobody was outside except for a few students here and there that had a free hour as well and opted for the Lake instead of the Library or the Common Rooms. Callisto sat under the tree, taking off her robes and sitting on them to avoid getting grass stains on her skirt. It was a rather chilly morning, clouds casting a grey hue to the place, but those were the best days. It wasn't too cold like in January or too hot like in July and you didn't have to squint to see properly, which was a bonus.
That was when she heard her name being called out. She decided to ignore it, deeming that it was probably her mind playing tricks on her, when the person repeated her name, this time louder. Her head snapped up, searching for the source of the sound that was none other than Lily Evans, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.
"Do you mind the company?" Lily questioned, strands of auburn hair escaping her ponytail and framing her pale face.
"Your company is welcome, Ginger." She said, patting the spot next to her. "His, on the other hand is rather dreadful. And don't get me started on Black."
"You wound me." Remus retorted, lightly kicking her foot and sitting on the cold grass. Callisto folded the half-written letter to Nicholas and put it in her bag, hoping that it wouldn't get too crumpled between the books. "How was divination?"
"How did you know she had divination?" Sirius chirped, raising an eyebrow. "Unless..."
"Unless she told me yesterday." Remus deadpanned, averting his gaze from Sirius before he fueled his theories even more.
"Marlene saw in my cup that I'll face struggles, but after that, the tables will turn and I'll most probably find a boyfriend." She began, plucking grass off the ground absentmindedly. "But then Sinistra came and said she saw a snake, which was rather rude if you ask me, and apparently I have to be cautious because that's a bad omen. Frankly, I'd much rather hear that I'll become filthy rich, but okay..."
"I'm afraid she's right." Remus stated. "I see a dark cloud right above your head, Callisto. It looks like...a bunch of bullshit."
"The only thing Sinistra has ever foreseen is the weather." Lily snorted, shaking her head. "Marlene's prediction sounds much better; especially that part about you finding a boyfriend."
"Yes, I'm shitting myself with joy."
"So, you're telling me that you've never thought about having a boyfriend." Lily said, disbelief lacing her voice. Remus unconsciously furrowed his eyebrows, sitting bit straighter.
"No, I have." Callisto answered, smirking. "My first husband will be an older, very rich man that's going to love me unconditionally. Unfortunately, tragedy will hit and he will mysteriously pass away, leaving me behind as his widow. Of course, I will be the sole heir to his inheritance and in his will, he will clearly state that he wants me to find someone else. Being a respectful widow, I find love again in the face of a younger, charismatic man who is also filthy rich. Not too many months after our wedding, I will catch him having sex with our chauffer and he will pay me to keep my mouth shut so that his family name won't get tainted. And that's when I will abandon him for my true love, only that now I will have a ridiculous amount of money in my name."
"Sweet." Lily commented, taking out a pack of gumdrops. "What about you, Sirius?"
"I don't see myself in a relationship. I'll probably become a sex icon or whatever." Callisto snorted, shooting a knowing look at Lily who was trying to keep a straight face. "Moony, on the other hand..."
"I'll probably die alone to be honest." He shrugged, popping a gumdrop in his mouth. Callisto glanced at him, immediately noticing how there was no sadness in his tone, but a sense of acceptance.
"Now, this is dark." The blonde smirked. "Don't worry, Lupin. I'm sure you'll find someone that will tolerate you for some inexplicable reason."
"You're particularly sour today, Callisto." He noted, his lips involuntary tugging up.
"Must be the dark cloud hanging over my head." She pondered, sighing lightly. "It's your turn, Ginger."
"Well, I see myself getting married." Perhaps with someone stupidly annoying... She mentally added, getting mortified by her own thoughts. "Having children would be nice; a boy and a girl, preferably."
"Children freak me out, but I guess yours won't be too bad." The blonde muttered, taking a cinnamon gumdrop from the packet. She would never have children. Not only were they very hard to take care of and she didn't really think she could ever care about someone enough to raise them, there was also a nagging voice in the back of her head reminding her that perhaps she would be as bad of a mother as her own parents. She couldn't put someone else through the stress of having to go through what she had about a month ago. Plus, with her health issues, it would probably be impossible even if she changed he mind.
"That's oddly sweet, Callisto." Lily beamed, handing her another gumdrop. Remus observed as she took the red candy and put it in her mouth, his eyes fixing on her pink, full lips for a bit longer than they should. "What about boyfriends, though? Do you like anyone here?"
"That's a funny story, actually." Callisto began, amusement glinting in her eyes. "Practically, I've never been in a relationship, but theoretically, you're looking at the future Callisto Claire-Lawson."
Remus' head perked up at the sound of the name, recalling how he teased her for Ivan Gregor's and Philip Parkinson's comment during the Slug Club dinner. "What?"
"Looking a bit pale, aren't you, Lupin?" She taunted, cocking her head to the side. "I have a friend from Durmstrang, Nicholas Lawson, and his family is the epitomy of blood purity supremacy."
"Well, isn't that a happy coincidence?" Sirius chimed in, grinning from ear to ear.
"England is kindergarden compared to Bulgaria, Black." Callisto noted. "You do understand that my old school only accepted purebloods and a few, handpicked half-bloods that either had special talents or a parent working in the high ranks of the ministry, right?"
"That's bullshit!" Lily exclaimed, irritation flashing in her eyes.
"Tell me about it!" Callisto agreed, putting her legs on Remus' lap. The werewolf immediately felt his face heating up but one suggestive look from Sirius was enough to bring him back to reality.
"Comfortable?"
"Very." She retorted, her blue eyes glinting with amusement. "Anyway, Nicholas doesn't share the same views, but he's a trust-fund baby, which means that one he turns 18 he will become stupidly rich. Now, in order for that to happen he mustn't get disowned, so he pretends to hate pretty much everything. We've been friends since second year, but his parents approve of our friendship because my aunt is pretty big there. Kind of surprising because she punched someone in the face for saying some shit to a squib, but that's not the point. Flashback to fifth year when he heard his parents talking about a potential fiancée at the age of 17. He freaked out, of course, and that was when I came up with a plan."
"Not surprised..."
"I'll hex your nose off, Black." She threatened, sending him a glare. "Basically, we're pretending to be madly in love in front of his family and the other prejudiced fossils, so that he will get the trust-fund and after that, he's pretty much gone. His parents are ecstatic that I'll supposedly marry their son because I do play my role very well, when in reality, I bloody hate them and I wouldn't go near Nicholas in that way with a ten feet pole."
"Do you want to be my friend?" Sirius asked, breaking the silence. "I play the guitar..."
"No, you don't." Remus chimed in, receiving a middle finger from Sirius. Out of all of them, Remus actually was the one that could play the guitar, but he got profusely annoyed when someone asked him to play a song, so he just strummed the strings off-key until everyone stopped bothering him about it. "The only thing you play is your d-"
"Oi!" Lily exclaimed, throwing a gumdrop at him. "Nobody wants to hear that! So, you're practically scamming an entire family just for shits and giggles."
"No, I'm doing it because I'm a good friend and I really, really hate his family." She corrected. "Honestly, they have no freaking idea! His parents adore me and his grandmother once even cried tears of joy when she saw me."
"Are you sure they were tears of joy?"
"Fuck you, Lupin." You already did that , a nagging voice in the back of her head mused, images flooding her mind once again. Was this normal? Or was she getting sick? Maybe it was like the flu and just as it came, it would go.
"Now this is what I like to call 'suggestive bluffing'." Sirius whispered to Lily. "She says it as a joke when in reality, she means it. It's genius, really."
"You know I can hear you, right?" Callisto interjected, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, shit, Blondie! I can't do anything for that now, can I?"
"You can stop talking." Remus proposed, smirking lightly.
"Not really sure he knows how to do that." Lily mumbled, her eyebrows knitting together. "His voice has been constantly in the background for 7 years."
"I'll have you know that you should all feel blessed to have such a manly voice in the background!"
"I, for once, find it annoying." Callisto dryly retorted. If she was being honest, she had absolutely no problem with Sirius Black. There was just something about his face that made her want to make fun of him, just as there was something about Remus' face that made her want to go back to that night.
Remus snorted, "You find everything annoying."
"Until I'm given a reason not to." She argued, tilting the packet to eat the rest of the sugar on the bottom. "I thought you were annoying in the beginning, but look at us now! I'm not tempted to jump in the lake and never come out."
"Is that why you're overdosing on sugar?" Lily observed as Callisto tapped the bottom of the packet to make sure none of the sugar would be stuck in the edges. Callisto rolled her eyes, setting the empty packet next to her.
"Well, if we're being open and upfront," Remus began. "I thought you were a bitch with the emotional range of a teaspoon when I met you."
"And now?"
"Still a bitch but with the emotional range of a tablespoon." Sirius burst in laughter at Callisto's sour expression contrasting Remus' cheery one. The little smile didn't go unnoticed by Lily who was observing them, her curiosity peeking.
After all, it wasn't like she hadn't seen them kissing in the middle of the dance floor not too many nights ago.