Song:
Champagne problems (Taylor Swift)
"She would've made such a lovely bride; What a shame she's fucked in the head."
James, Sirius, Peter and Lily arrived at the Lawson Manor early in the morning, two days before the wedding. However, everyone had failed to notify Callisto about the one missing person that made her heart ache. When she saw them coming out of the large fireplace, she felt the excitement spiking up in her blood, only for every thought in her brain to stop when she noticed that Remus simply wasn't there.
She pretended she didn't care. In fact, she pretended that she hadn't noticed this "minor" detail until James pointed it out. In her brain, her acting was worth a million dollars when in reality, the smile fading from her face as she quickly glanced at them was enough to shatter her act. That, and the fact that she hadn't even mentioned him at all. Perhaps it's a bit of a sneaky tip, but if you ever want to pretend you don't care about someone, don't act like they don't exist. It's telling. Perhaps even more telling than constantly raving on about them.
Following her and Nicholas' advice to the smallest details, the four had managed to pass as purebloods of the highest caliber with exceptional ease. Even though Lily's case was suspected to be the hardest, her perfect manners and classy attitude sprinkled with a bit of fake arrogance quickly put her in Milena's good books. James didn't take that well at all, mostly because she was presented as his third cousin.
"Put gloves on." Nicholas sighed, shaking his head. They were all sitting in Callisto's private bathroom around a cauldron that was strategically placed inside the bathtub. Callisto herself was inside the bathtub as well, her hair thrown up in a ponytail that was barely holding up as she chopped up the tails of a few, poor lizards.
"Fuck off."
"You could get injured." Lily tried to talk some sense into her as Peter handed her a small vial. "If you have a wound open and the venom gets in you could turn into a werewolf, Callisto."
"I know what I'm doing." The girl insisted, opening the vial Peter gave her. The thick golden liquid was so potent that it barely managed to trickle out of the vial and fell in the cauldron, turning the color of the potion to a honey yellow one. It truly resembled honey, Callisto pondered, hoping that it would taste a fraction of how good it looked.
"So what are you going to do with it now?" Sirius asked, missing the sky smirk in Callisto's lips. She hadn't let them know what she was planning to do with the poison. The only person that knew was Nicholas but he had let him believe that the guys and Lily knew and had agreed with her plan. That wasn't the case. The girl knew well that if she confessed who she truly was preparing the poison for, they wouldn't have brought the venom to her in the first place. She would have felt guilty for not disclosing her plan if she wasn't as desperate for this wedding to collapse.
"Wait what!"
Before anyone was able to react, Callisto filled the cup with the potion and brought it to her lips, managing to down it right as James slapped it off her hands. Unlike what she was hoping for, the potion left a bitter taste that burned her tongue and œsophage before her lungs started to feel like they were on fire. Thankfully, the burning sensation started to subside as she swallowed the last drop of potion and she coughed, her eyes watering.
"ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE?" Lily screeched, taking them all by surprise. "ARE YOU EVEN THINKING?"
"Calm down, Lily." Nicholas answered, tearing a bit of tissue paper and handing it to Callisto. "She knows what she's doing."
Callisto wiped her lips, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "Are you mocking me?"
"No, I'm not." He answered calmly. "Have you started acting insane that soon?"
"WILL SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK J-"
Sirius put a hand on Lily's mouth, stopping her before she managed to wake up the entire mansion. That didn't stop him from turning to Callisto who was calmly picking up the broken glass from the floor, not bothering to worry about getting cut in the process. "Explain."
"I have tampered with the venom so that I fall very sick during the wedding without dying or turning into a werewolf." She briefly explained, making all the apparatus disappear with a wave of her wand. "Nothing to worry about."
"The symptoms will start in about an hour and she'll progressively get worse until the venom reaches its maximum effect tomorrow before the wedding." Nicholas added, taking a packet of cigarettes from his pocket. "Anyone want one?"
"But what if it doesn't work?" Peter mumbled, sitting down on Callisto's bed. He turned to look at Lily, hoping that her expression would betray the answer. Instead, he was met by a stone cold expression.
"I have my will in my suitcase." Callisto shrugged, plopping down next to Peter. "Oh calm down, Petey. My plans always work."
Nicholas snorted, "Do they now?"
"If I'm correct," Callisto started, ignoring the comment. "I will be just fine tonight and heavy symptoms should start kicking in at around 5 in the morning."
"And now what?" James asked, still not convinced about the whole situation. Although the idea that she would use the potion on herself had been discussed, they had quickly dismissed it and that's why they ended up bringing her what she asked. Perhaps, they should have insisted in learning more about why she needed it. And Remus? What if something went wrong with her potion and the whatever was going on between them ended like that?
"Bachelorette's party of course." Callisto cheekily answered, getting up from the bed and opening the closet. Her arm got lost in the fabric of the various clothes and when she pulled it back out again, she was holding a large glass bottle.
The reactions she got was pretty much what she had expected. Nicholas and Sirius gawked at the bottle, recognizing the liquor which had costed her an arm and a leg, while Peter pretended to be indifferent to the temptation. James looked at Lily, and back at the bottle, not really knowing if he should show the same excitement as Sirius or no. He finally decided that there was no point in trying to hide it and grinned widely, leaning back on the couch. Lily was still concerned, not so much about the alcohol, but because of the poison. Nonetheless, she just rolled her eyes at James' reaction and didn't say anything to discourage them.
"Hands off you pricks." Callisto screetched as both Nicholas and Sirius tried to take the bottle off her hands. "We're not starting until Antonia comes."
"You invited Antonia?" Nicholas blurted out, his eyes widening.
"You didn't?"
"Who's Antonia?" Lily asked, taking the bottle from Callisto's hands. "No wait, is she the friend you were telling me about?"
"Yeah, that's Antonia." Callisto confirmed. "We're not exactly friends."
"You're not friends the same way you're not friends with Remus or no?" Sirius mocked, trying to stiffle his laughter at Callisto's look.
"Ouch..."
"I'll have you know." Callisto mumbled, "That she's not my type."
"Yes, because your type is Remus." Lily mused, opening the bottle and taking a glass from the table. She poured some of the ember liquid in the glass, repeating the same procedure before handing one of the glasses to Callisto.
"You don't know my type." Callisto mumbled, drinking some of the liquor. Honestly, Remus was pretty much her type, if such thing even existed. She did tend to be interested to a certain extent to guys that had a similar way of thinking, but with Remus things were much more complicated. Unlike all other situations in her life, that complicated relationship they had was one she liked.
At that moment, a knock on the door was heard and Callisto let down the glass, walking towards the door.
"Yes?"
"It's Antonia." Callisto opened the door, surprised at how excited she was to see Antonia after so many months. She had thought that she wouldn't miss her all that much, but after what had happened last year, they had bonded in a way that was too twisted to try and ever untangle.
"In!" Callisto instructed, motioning for her to come inside the room before she closed the door shut and locked it.
"Hey there." Nicholas awkwardly greeted, handing his glass to Sirius immediately. "It's for him."
"Never doubted that." The girl smiled. "I didn't expect so many people..."
"Only Lily and Peter are human." Callisto clarified, a smirk spreading on her lips. "Jace and Sirius are pigs."
Nicholas narrowed his eyes, "And what am I?"
"Ugly."
"Lies."
"Not really." Sirius snorted, drinking some of Nicholas' liquor.
"Go lie in the mud, pigfarts."
"Oi." Callisto interrupted. "Let's keep it civil."
Silence fell in the room and she took the glass bottle from the table, raising it up slightly.
"So, who wants some?"
Normally, they would have all drank a glass or two and they would have been okay for the night. Besides, this liquor wasn't something that you drank in one sitting. No, your sat down and enjoyed the cinnamony flavor that left a slight burning sensation down your throat. Nonetheless, there was pain inside that room from every corner and soon, they were all slightly buzzed. Well, all except for Callisto and Nicholas. For Callisto, the potion had reacted quite badly with the alcohol and even though she didn't mean to get drunk, she was out of it in three drinks and a quarter. Nicholas was just miserable. Antonia was standing in the same room as him and he couldn't find the courage to do anything about it. Plus, he was pretty sure she didn't want to be approached in that way anymore.
"Bet your friend feels like a loser now." Callisto chuckled, shaking her head as she poured another drink. "He's probably sulking alone like a bitch boy, missing out on the party of his life."
"Sounds like you want him here." James observed, motioning for Lily to take the glass out of her hand. That attempt was failed as Callisto downed the drink before Lily could take it from her.
"Oh cause he's just my type?" Callisto sarcastically remarked. "I don't even have a type."
"Yes, you do." Antonia laughed. "Think of everyone you've liked in the past."
"So, nobody."
"How about the one you were hanging out with last year." Antonia proposed, not noticing the mutual look of awkwardness spreading in both Callisto's and Nicholas' faces. "The Italian one."
"Let's just say it was too much for her." Nicholas answered, immediately followed by Callisto bursting into a fit of laughter. Perhaps if the alcohol wasn't clouding her mind, she would have stayed composed and would have changed the subject, but she barely talked about what had happened last year.
"Dick wise?" Lily questioned, causing them all to turn to her. By this point, Callisto was laughing so hard that the glass had fallen from her hand and the brown liquor was staining the floor. The girl put her hand on her chest, coughing as she tried to calm herself down and she slumped on the couch.
"Well, you're not wrong but it wasn't that." She responded, shaking her hand dismissively. "And y'all stop with the Remus business. It's ridiculous."
James narrowed his eyes, "How exactly?"
"It just is." Callisto insisted. "I'm who I am, he's who he is and we're just having fun. That's all."
Of course, she didn't mean it. It wasn't a lie, but a lot of things were missing from her description. She had made it sound like she didn't give a single damn about him when it couldn't be further from the truth. However, she wasn't going to slip up, especially after he hadn't even bothered to come to the wedding. Could he have dismissed her in a worse way? Possibly no. It was a screw you, fuck you and go to hell gesture she couldn't forget that easily.
Callisto leaned her head back on the couch, sudden nausea hitting her as she closed her eyes. Shaking off the feeling, she looked outside of the window, and into the void darkness of the night. Not a single star was up. Nothing her and Remus could be looking at at the same time.
"Callie." Nicholas called, taking a cigarette pack from his pocket. "Bet's off."
"What?"
"I am bored." He drawled, lighting the cigarette and bringing it to his lips. It wasn't a matter of boredom, not at all. If anything, he was very interested to see how it would go on for both of them. However, Nicholas knew Callisto well and her lack of updates regarding the situation as well as constant avoidance of the subject altogether were enough for him to put two and two together.
Callisto didn't want this bet anymore.
"What bet?" Sirius asked, fatigue shining in his eyes as he sank further into the couch, his drink forgotten on the table.
"Drinking bet." Callisto answered quickly, her hand reaching for the packet of cigarettes on Nicholas' pocket.
"Both booze and cigarettes?" Antonia questioned, eyeing her carefully. Antonia had witnessed the self-destructive tendencies first hand and she felt guilty that she had let so much time pass before she mentioned anything to Nicholas. Nonetheless, nobody seemed to blame her for that.
"It's my bachelorettes." The blonde justified, lighting the cigarette and placing it on her lips. Silence fell in the room, Peter and James soundlessly sleeping in the couch while Sirius was barely able to keep his eyes open. "And y'all are too tired to care."
"No..." Sirius mumbled, shaking his head. "All good."
"Lies." Callisto mumbled, rolling her eyes. "Just go to sleep... "
Perhaps letting her eyes close would be best, perhaps the night would let her rest...
~ ~ ~
I WAKE UP FROM A NAP AND SUDDENLY THIS STORY HAS A BUNCH OF READS AND LIKES AND COMMENTS START TO APPEAR AND IVE OFFICIALLY LOST MY SHIT SO THANK YOU TO WHOEVER READS THIS STORY BECAUSE DAMN.
LIKE YESTERDAY I WAS FUCKING FIRST IN THE JAMESPOTTER HASHTAG AND SECOND IN THE SIRIUSBLACK AND REMUSLUPIN ONE ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!!
I LOVE YOU ALL AND IM STILL SHOCKED SO LIKE...
UPDATES WILL BE FREQUENT THATS ALL I HAVE TO SAY.