Song:
Jerome (Zella Day)
"Jerome, why you treat me so cold?"
"Flobberworm." Callisto stated, watching expectantly for the portrait to open. Just like every other time, the Fat Lady just scowled and the door flung open, allowing Callisto to enter the Gryffindor tower. The small lighter was safely in the pocket of her jeans, but she felt odd parting with it even if some days had passed. Her own pink lighter still hadn't been thrown away, instead being on the small nightstand next to her bed.
She didn't know whether it was pure luck or a curse that Ares was in the common room. It would have been fine if he was alone, but a few seats away, there were the Marauders and Lily, all hovering over a neon green vase.
"ELPHIE!" James announced, throwing his hands in the air as he hurried over to her side. She was immediately engulfed in a tight hug, all the air getting knocked out of her lungs as he squeezed her tightly. If it hadn't been obvious, James was a big fan of hugging. "Came to see us?"
"Actually, I came to return something to Brown."
"Oi, what do you want with my Keeper?"
"James, stop acting like you're dating the entire team." Lily tiredly pleaded. "Please?"
"But she wants my Keeper!"
"Guys, I'm right here." Ares interjected, sighing. "I'm literally here."
"Okay, bye now." Sirius said, the hostility in his voice throwing everyone off. He glanced at Remus who was refusing to look at Ares, his gaze fixed on a chess board on the table.
"Your lighter." Callisto murmured, handing him the silver object. Ares just smiled at her and put it in his pocket, taking out a small, plastic, orange lighter.
"For you." He stated, putting the lighter in her palm. Callisto just looked at it for a bit, before her fingers closed around it and she put it in her pocket. "Thought you'd need one."
"Thanks."
"No problem, Claire."
"You obviously don't know this, Brown," Sirius interjected, his eyes narrowing. "But Callie is allergic to orange. Your gift could kill her."
"Well, fuck." Lily murmured, looking at a strand of ginger hair between her fingers.
"What?" Callisto blurted out, frowning. "No, I'm not. How could that even work?"
"Ask Remus."
"Fuck off, Black." Remus groaned, annoyance lacing his voice as he picked up his stuff and hurried up to his dorm, his footsteps echoing as he stomped on the staircase.
Callisto just watched as his figure disappeared, feeling like banging her head on the wall repeatedly. The anger in her stomach seemed to stir again, revived by the remembrance of betrayal and his warm brown eyes that were now filled with pain. Did she want to hurt him? She didn't really know. She had told him the truth to make him feel just a fraction of what she did, but that didn't seem to satisfy the hunger inside her. It was rampant, clouding her thoughts as she struggled to push away every kiss and gentle touch he had ever given her. The two were feeding each other, filling her with so much bitterness that she couldn't even recognise herself.
She hadn't felt this angry in months. She hadn't felt like that Monica's betrayal.
Monica betrayed her and Remus did the same. There was a pattern there that Callisto didn't really appreciate. She was drawn to the darkness and the pain, not because she wanted to fix them, but because she could find enough peace amongst their demons to forget her own. But Remus wasn't just darkness and pain. His touch wasn't corruptive and his smiles were unconditional. He was the light and the dark, the stars and the moon standing out against the dark veil of the night sky.
It was anger, but it stemmed from love.
"Callisto." Ares' voice snapped her out of her daze. She glanced back at the boy, once again getting disappointed by the blue color of his eyes. "Are you feeling okay?"
"Peachy." She mumbled, giving him a small, rushed smile. "What did you say before?"
"I asked you about the duelling matches." Ares answered. "James, Black and I are thinking of joining."
"Good for you?"
"You should train us." Ares proposed. "You were in Durmstrang after all."
"I didn't pick fights."
Semi-lie.
"Still, Elphie." James encouraged, pushing his glasses further up his nose. "You must know some tricks. Unless you're completely shite at that type of duelling..."
"I am."
Absolute lie.
"Oh come on, Callie." Lily gently smiled, the knowing look in her eyes making Callisto shiver. "It might help get your mind off...things."
Things, as in Remus John Lupin. Lily Evans was a sly minx, that was for sure. She could feel her frustration and anger. She knew that it had to be let out before she did something completely unhinged. Lily was offering her a solution, although a temporary one. Let out the anger, help your friends, get your mind off Remus.
Three birds with just one stone; the bargain of the decade.
"I guess I could spare some time." The blonde gave in, the court nod Lily gave her going unnoticed to anyone but her. "Just you three?"
"Would Lupin want to join?" Ares offered, making Sirius let out a loud laugh.
"It would be a shame to ruin that beautiful face of yours, Brown." He responded, smirking knowingly. "Lucky for you, he doesn't."
"He's not the only good dueller here."
"Don't challenge your luck." He advised, his gaze averting to Callisto.
Sirius didn't say anything more. Instead, he waited patiently for Callisto to leave. Lily and James had similar opinions on the matter at hand. They were in favor of letting them sort it out like grown people at their own time. It was mature, a bit too mature maybe.
She had expected him to follow her out, but she didn't bother to do anything about it. Sirius wouldn't blame her. Both her and Remus were hardly innocent. But her feelings were true and strong, while his were fleeting and forced.
"Real mess you've both made." Sirius commented, catching up to her. "A bet, huh?"
"And a big one too." Callisto confirmed. "It was a chance to redeem myself after losing last year's one."
"But it didn't go as planned, did it?" Sirius asked, glancing down at her. "Your feelings are real, Callie. I can tell. His feelings for you are real too."
"I never doubted that he likes screwing me, Sirius." She coldly responded. "I just hoped he wouldn't lie about liking me to do it."
"He's not lying." Sirius insisted. "I know what it looks like, but he's just scared. He doesn't want to hurt you and he's just fucking up everything for himself. Not just with you."
"With who else?"
"He's been a real delight those past few days." Sirius sarcastically remarked, running a hand through his hair. "Haven't seen him this moody in years."
"I can't do much about that."
"Yes, you can." He argued, urgency in his voice. "Look, Callisto, I'm not going to try and defend him, because he's an asshole. He's my friend, and I love him, but he's fucked up. Just please, hear him out and give him a second chance."
"I've given him a second chance." Callisto answered, her gaze focused on the floor. "I don't need him, Sirius. I am in love with him, but he's not a necessity."
"Sure, you can leave without him, but how happy will you be?"
She shrugged, "Everyone is replaceable."
"Then why are you still into him, Claire?" Sirius asked, his voice soft like a teacher trying to teach a stubborn child the obvious. "If he's so replaceable, then do it. Replace him."
"Who says I haven't?"
The amount of lies she had said those past few days for Remus had to be criminal. She recognized her own fault in her stubbornness, but she couldn't stop. What would she say if she stopped? That she couldn't stop thinking of him? That she still clung on to the book he had brought her, sleeping with it under her pillow? Or that she avoided the library like it was hell on Earth just to not be reminded of him?
"Merlin, this is about to get very awkward." Sirius sighed, stopping on his tracks. Callisto stopped as well, looking at him curiously. "James and Lily really love each other, right?"
"Sure."
"And do you know what happens when two people love each other?"
"Sirius, I've had the talk, okay?" Callisto cringed. "Your brother made sure of that."
"No, Blondie!" Sirius sighed in exasperation, shaking her from the shoulders. "Their patroni match. His is a stag and hers is a deer."
"What does that have to do with me?" She asked, suspicion rising in her chest. It couldn't be. Hell, she would be so embarrassed she'd dig a hole and never come out again if Sirius said what she was thinking.
"Yours is a wolf." She nodded. "So is Remus'."
And there it was. Yet another bomb had been dropped on Callisto's shoulders and there was nothing she could do about it. Other than anger and hurt, humiliation had been added in whatever she was feeling. He had seen it, that was the only sure thing. No matter what she said, it would be so painfully obvious that she really was in love with him. For how long would her Patronus be the same as his? Would it only change when she got over him?
Get him out of your system. A voice whispered, ordering her to put an end to it.
"You love him, Callisto." Sirius softly said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "And he loves you too. Why can you not see it?"
Because I'm scared shittless and I'm so so angry. He's going to leave me again, there's no way he could ever stay.
He lied, he lied, he lied!
"Because there's nothing for me to see."
~ ~ ~
"Shit's been rough, Monica." Peter stated, setting his butterbeer on the table. The woman tilted her head to the side, curiosity written all over her face. She had received Peter's letter to go out again the previous evening, her initial response being to light the letter on fire, when she remembered why she was doing that.
Getting closer to Callisto.
"What happened?"
"Well, Remus and Callisto are no more." The boy announced, sighing. "Remus is sulking around all day. He's a real moody bastard."
"Weren't they happy?" She asked, trying to suppress her excitement. Of course Remus had messed it all up, she could see it in his eyes. Remus and Callisto were unstable, too passionate to ever settle down.
"He told her he doesn't want to be with her." Peter explained. "She's really hurt, Monica. Hurt to the point where she told Remus he was a bet."
Monica hid her smile by drinking some of her butterbeer. That was the Callisto she remembered. How she had even thought that Callisto would settle for someone like Remus was beyond her, but now everything made sense.
"I'd like to meet Callisto again." Monica said, offering him a small smile. "You know me, Petey. I can't resist a good talking session."
"Sure, I can tell you where to send the letter."
It was almost comical how easy he was to play around with. Monica was asking him to bring her closer to the person she was truly after, and he had done it without a hint of suspicion. Monica would have found his naive nature endearing, hadn't she dipped a toe in the pool of knowledge. Naivety didn't interest her anymore; it didn't challenge her. Callisto always knew, or at least, she was suspicious enough by nature to question.
Daniel, her friend, had said that Callisto shouldn't feel the need to question her motives. In love, there was trust and there was no room for suspicions because devotion ran rampant. Monica thought he didn't understand. She belonged to Callisto the same way she belonged to her. There was jealousy and passion, all guided by invisible strings that each one of them pulled alternatively. It was a sick type of power play where boredom held no place.
"Do you think they'll get back together?"
Peter frowned, "I want them to. I mean, it's like they belong with each other."
You know nothing of belonging.
"Meant to be?"
"Definitely written somewhere in the stars." Peter laughed, shrugging. "It's like they're dancing, but only they can hear the music. A special type of magic..."
"Never would have guessed you're one for the romantics." Monica joked, placing her hand on top of his.
The boy blushed faintly, "Raised with the fine arts." He admitted, chuckling. "Poetry, sculpture and even bloody calligraphy."
"Can't say I'm very familiar with any of the three." Monica said, being truthful for the first time she had ever talked to him. "My father used to love music though. He taught me classic guitar."
"And your mother?"
"Simple woman." Monica replied. "Kind, but nothing more to it."
A true bloody bore with her only life aspiration being having me marry the neighbor's son.
"They sound sweet." Peter smiled. "Both my parents are magical. Mom is at home and dad works for the ministry."
Of course he fucking works at the ministry where only slobs survive. Like father, like son.
"Which department?"
"Regulation of magic." Peter smirked, taking out his wand. "That's why I can do this."
He waved his wand and a single rose appeared, the dark petals reminding Monica an awful lot of blood stained fabric.
"We're supposed not to do magic in Hogsmeade, but loopholes exist everywhere. Turns out that for some odd reason, their magical sensors lag in Hogsmeade."
She had to agree. After all, he was nothing but a loophole to her. A convenient acquaintance, a means to an end.
"Mom's a muggle." Monica stated, her pointer finger going over the petals of the flower. "And dad used to work as an aurologist."
"Used to?"
"He died." Monica simply said, trying to ignore the pain in her chest. "Weak heart."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Peter murmured, squeezing her hand comfortingly. "I'm sure he's proud of you."
He probably wouldn't; not when I'm like this.
"That's what mom says."
"You're not very close with her, huh?"
"No, not really." Monica mumbled, a bittersweet smile on her lips. "I had a family, and I lost them." She didn't really understand why she was revealing all that information to Peter, but she didn't bother to think much about it. The boy screamed 'trustworthy'. "Ehm, we were in a band in Bulgaria. Their names were Andrei and Daniel. We were very good friends, Petey, but I treated my ex-boyfriend very badly and then they just left..."
"Whatever you may have done, it couldn't have been that bad."
Monica sighed, pushing her butterbeer away.
"Yes, it was." She admitted. "He was a lovely boy, Peter. Took a hard hit when he left, even though I pushed him to do that."
"Are you still in love with him?" Peter asked, feeling his throat tightening. Competing with someone else for Monica's heart didn't seem like something he wanted to go through. Especially if the man was an invisible ghost of the past.
"What? No, Peter! Of course not."
Technically, I was never in love with him. I am in love with her.
"That's good to know." The boy murmured, sending her a small smile. "Monica."
"Yes?"
"Can I kiss you?"
She wanted to say no, but she had a role to play. The role of the smitten next door girl that fell hard and fast for the mischievous boy. So, she just nodded and leaned in, closing her eyes as Peter's lips connected with her own. His hand touched her neck softly and he pulled her closer, enjoying the feeling of her warm, soft lips against his.
And that was it for Peter Pettigrew.
The beginning of the end.
~ ~ ~
Gif is ares brown my guy
Watched no way home and omg Andrew baby u killed me. Also, big fan of dr strange but was that "I love math" or wtv tf line Peter said when he was fighting Steven necessary? Like what was that.