Warm. Sunray. Callie assumed that was what hit her forehead and eye. Not liking the heat on her skin, she rolled over with a groan. In a way, she liked it though. As if she hadn't felt the warmth of the sun in days.
Huh...
Callie opened her eyes slowly, trying to adjust to the brightness showering her. Wow, her head was spinning and crushing altogether.
"Took you long enough," James spoke.
She lifted her head to see him. That didn't bode well with the headache. He wore a wide-toothed grin ear to ear while her puffy face tried to catch up.
"What time is it?" she asked, hiding her face with her arm. God, her head might just explode.
"Not sure." He didn't have any clock with him or any of them. "Might be noon already."
"Noon?!" Her arms were off her face and her eyes widened in surprise. For a moment, she forgot about the pounding in her head. "How long was I been out?" She wiped her eyes as she tried to sit up.
"I don't really carry a watch with me. Or any of us. But I think you've been out for almost a day."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Callie grunted and slammed her face on her palms again, rubbing her face. Here came the massive headache again.
"Where's everyone?" she asked.
"Outside. Moony, Padfoot, and Regulus are gathering our woods. Wormtail's preparing our lunch."
At the mention of lunch, Callie's stomach grumbled in her. James tried not to laugh but when a snort came out, he exploded in a fit of laughter. And her face was as red as his scarlet shirt.
"Stop it."
But James didn't. Not just yet. When all his laughs were out, he went to his side of the tent. "There's an apple outside if you want- where is that wand- found it."
He walked back to her and offered his hand. "Want to go out now?"
"Yes, please. I think I need sunlight."
James pulled Callie up. They both grunted in doing so. James headed straight outside whilst she stretched her whole body. Sleeping for a whole day left her sore, even on parts of her body she wouldn't normally feel it.
"I think I need water too." She'd guess a desert built up in her throat. And it showed through her chapped lips.
Callie almost regretted going out of the tent. As soon as the sunlight hit her eyes, she hissed like a monster and looked away, feet stepping back. That didn't bode very well with her headache.
"What? I thought you need sunlight." James fought the smile and ultimately failed.
"I thought so too." But she knew she could adjust to the blinding light. With her forearm as a shield, she walked outside, catching up to James.
It took her some seconds to be able to see with the brightness. She spotted Peter opening a can of beans.
"What do we have here?"
Her voice made Peter turn around with wide eyes. When his eyes registered that the girl standing before him is an awake Callie, he beamed a smile which she returned.
"You're awake." He sounded as if he said that more to himself than to her.
"I am."
"Welcome back." He heaved a quiet sigh with a smile.
"Thanks. I don't recommend sleeping for a day though. Bad for the head- ow." A pound hit her on her right temple when she said that.
"Don't worry, Sirius' brother's good with potions. Maybe he can make you anything for your head."
"Regulus?"
"Mhm."
Regulus.
Callie sighed. Up until then, he wasn't sure if he liked her. Callie, of course, was hoping he did. But she was also hoping he didn't. It was her plan to go back to her world. She had no idea if she could come back here. But if there was no way, then she couldn't afford a love that could never be between her and Regulus.
Yes, it was already painful to fall in love with him and then get rejected. But she knew her heart wouldn't be able to take it if he reciprocated the feelings but they had no way of being together.
But she couldn't help loving him. She couldn't stop the feelings even though she wants to. Regulus who was just her fictional crush turned into Regulus who was her love, a real romantic love.
She wanted to laugh at herself. Really? She fell in love with a fictional man? But was he still fictional after knowing he and this world was real?
"We're back- Callie?" Sirius snapped her out of her thoughts.
Her eyes drifted to them, hugging thick and thin twigs and woods they probably found somewhere in the middle of the forest.
"You're awake," said Remus.
"Awake and back." She grinned.
But Regulus was pinned where he stood beside Sirius. He wanted to drop his share of the woods and run to Callie and hug her. But his mind told him not to for he had no reason to do so. Why would he be too excited and happy to hug her? He seldomly hugged Sirius so why should he hug her? A Regulus Black would never do that.
So, he calmly put his twigs and wood down at the same pace as Sirius and Remus—he made sure of that—and stood up to go to Callie. He let the two Marauders go first.
"How's the sleep, Sleeping Beauty?" Remus asked.
Callie chuckled, understanding what he meant. But Regulus wasn't happy. What Sleeping Beauty?
"Sleeping Beauty has a pounding headache." She pointed to her temple.
"Which prince gave the true love's kiss and woke you up?"
True love's kiss?! Callie was kissed by someone while they were away?! Pettigrew and Potter let that happen?!
"Prince Sun did."
Who was Prince Sun?!
Oh.
Sun, as in sun star?
"I'm sorry. What language are you two speaking?" Regulus thanked his brother for saying that. He certainly wanted answers.
"Sleeping Beauty is a fairy tale in the muggle world. She was cursed to fall asleep until she was given a true love's kiss. Remus decided I am her and the sun woke me up."
Oh. So that was just it. Nothing anything Regulus knew he wouldn't like. Good. Good. He sounded more relieved than he wanted to.
"Hey," Regulus put her attention to him.
"Hey."
Sirius eyed Remus who was already eyeing him. They fought the smile pushing their cheeks up. Remus tapped his friend's shoulder and pushed him out of the scene. Those two might not know it yet but they saw the way they looked at each other. And they'd rather have them figure it out themselves than tell them about it straight away.
"They have their own heads and mouths, let them figure it out and say it themselves," said Sirius when they talked about that a few nights ago in the Gryffindor Common Room.
"I have to tell you something."
No matter how hard Regulus tried to hide it, Callie could hear the excitement in his voice it was almost giddy.
"What is it?"
"I'll tell you. But not yet."
"Not yet?"
He nodded. "Not yet. I want to tell it when we're alone. It's also better at night."
Her brows knitted but she kept a smile on her face, intrigued.
"Okay?"
They kept talking as though they haven't spoken together in months. Neither noticed except the four boys out of the conversation serving the lunch.
An hour later, they were done, even with the rest. So Callie stood and wiped off the twigs and specks of dust on her.
"All of you good?"
"Yeah," answered Sirius.
"Great. Let's continue our search for the shack. Where's my wand by the way?"
"What?" Regulus stood beside her. "No, you should rest."
"I believe I've done enough resting, Reg."
He shook his head in disagreement. "Did you remember what happened to you the last time we searched for it?"
"Yeah. I was attacked by dementors- James my wand? ("In your side of the tent.")" Callie walked to the tent. "But now, I'll be not stupid and be more careful by keeping us in pairs to be sure."
"But- Callie."
She stopped when he held her elbow, right in front of the tent.
"Look, Reg, if we won't move now, when? Voldemort's probably on our tail and is near. Who knows he's probably on his way right here in our camp. We have to move now, find that shack, find that ring, destroy it, and escape."
Regulus sighed. She was right. He was just so worried about her that he didn't want her to get attacked again. That was the reason he learned how to use the patronus. And that was the same surprise he would tell her. So he nodded in agreement.
"Okay."
Callie nodded back and went inside to get her wand and her bag.
In a few minutes, they were walking in pairs just as she promised. That way, they could watch each other's backs. Regulus volunteered to be her pair, Peter went with James, and Sirius went with Remus even though he didn't want to leave Regulus.
Regulus insisted he would be safe and he'd keep Callie safe—which resulted in a flushed face—so he had nothing to worry about. They had that argument for minutes until Remus finally decided it was over. He took Sirius by the collar of his shirt and walk off telling the rest not to forget to wait for everyone when they found the shack.
So that was what they did. They walked into the woods again. Every step echoed, every crunch of the twigs and dead leaves.
"So," Callie prolonged the o, "are you going to tell me now your super super secret?"
Regulus chuckled, something she felt proud of. "Not yet. I told you, it's better at night."
"But it's dark!"
"I said night not dark."
Callie sighed, giving up. "Fine—"
"Shh." Regulus quickly took her hand and pulled her behind a thick tree. "Dementor." He mouthed.
She froze and held back his hand, hers turning cold. Ugh, an encounter with a soul-sucking creature really gave her a waking nightmare. God, she never wanted to feel that again. And sleep for a day!
"Is it gone?" she whispered.
He looked over his shoulder. "No. No, not yet."
Her hold tightened and her eyes shut in fear of it. Regulus saw that.
"Hey, hey, Callie."
She won't open her eyes or respond.
"Callie, I'm right here."
The dementor was coming near. It must have sensed her fear of it. Regulus cursed in his head. If it came near them, he had no option but to cast his Patronus. But for now, he had to snap Callie out of it.
"Callie, breathe for me."
She was trying. But the dementor was coming near.
"Okay, okay. Think of a happy memory for me. Can you do that?"
"Can't. I-I-I-I can't." Not only could Regulus see it was near. She could feel it too. The coldness, the warmth in her body, in their intertwined hands dropping.
"Okay, okay, just- just." God, even he himself can't think! There's no other option now. He conjured the same memory that brought out his Patronus. But it wasn't appearing. Or it was, but it was just that it wasn't clear or cohesive enough.
"Regulus?"
Plus his mind was currently occupied by Callie and her safety.
D@mn it!
He dropped his hand and reached for Callie's back. He enveloped her with a hug that caught her off guard. Her wide eyes made her lashes glide through his sweater. Mint. Parchment. Old books. He smelled like them.
"Callie, listen to me."
The vibration of his voice tickled her shoulder. Now, she was all ears to him.
"Listen to my voice."
His voice sounded like a hand guiding her through a road.
"Can you hear my heartbeat?"
She leaned in and, "Yeah. Yeah, I can hear it."
"You do?"
"Mhm."
"Good. I need you to listen to them. Can you do that for me?"
"Mhm."
So, she did. She pressed her ears and listened to the drumming noise in his chest. It was fast. Then it began slowing down. And so was her racing heart. She raised her hand up to hug Regulus back, not realizing what she was doing. There was just so much comfort that she had to snuggle in.
All Callie could think of was Regulus and his heartbeat. So, she forgot about the lurking dementor. It didn't matter anymore now that she was enticed by his scent she never thought she'd smell.
And then, the dementor was gone. It glided off away from them. Much to Regulus' relief. And when he breathed out, Callie snapped back to her body.
Her eyes widened as she realized their position. Hugging.
Without thinking anything. She broke the hug. "Sorry."
"Sorry? For what?"
Oh, she wanted to wipe off that confused, innocent look on his face! They just hugged! Of course, that was what she'd be apologising about! But she was saved when James yelled.
"We found the shack! Pete and I have our wands lit up! Follow the light!"
"We're coming!" Sirius yelled as loudly if not twice.
"We're coming too!" Callie yelled back, only hoping they'd hear her. She didn't want to explain to Regulus. So she walked to follow the light two dots of light she could see, him following her close behind.
They had finally gathered again in front of a shack. Callie couldn't see anything. Perhaps her theory was right that there was a muggle-repellant spell. Then again, she proved herself that she was muggle-born.
Fortunately, Remus just knew the right countercharm. He cast it and what seemed like a frozen bubble melted around it.
"How old do you think this shack is?" James asked seeing the vines crawling up to the door and around the wooden house.
"A hundred, give or take," Callie shrugged. "Let's go." She was about to take foot in front when Sirius' arm stopped her.
"Not yet."
"What do you mean not yet?"
"You said it yourself, Callie. This place may have defence mechanisms. We have to anticipate the worse after the dementors lurking around it," Remus explained.
"I'm going to open the door. Prepare your spells," said James and held the knob.
All five of them raised their wands, Callie and Peter shaking though both are trying to hide it. Their feet wouldn't settle on the ground, anticipating the worse that could come out of that door.
"Here I go."
James pushed the door. But instead of anything they expected worse than a dementor, what they saw was Lily, cold dead on the floor hugging a baby.
"Oh my god," Callie breathed with cold running through her body.
James fell to his knees right by Lily's hand. Her eyes were still open as James traced her face. His shaking hand reached for her cheeks. Merlin, she was so cold.
"Lily?" he called, voice cracking. "Lily? Lily, get up. The floor's dirty."
"James," Sirius called.
"Why is she here?" Peter asked.
"Lily, please," James begged. "Please get up."
Callie didn't want to watch anymore. She couldn't afford the scene as tears collected around her eyes. She looked away and hid behind Regulus. He, too, was shaken but he put an arm around her waist.
All her work. All her pain. All the planning. Everything was useless. She made a promise to protect everyone, the Marauders, Lily, Harry, everyone! But why? Why was Lily laying there? Cold and lifeless? With a... with a baby?
"James, mate, come on." Sirius walked towards him.
Callie wiped her tears away and looked back at the scene. Lily was hugging a baby? How did she get there anyway?
"Mate, come on." When Sirius knelt beside James, Lily's form shook and spun like dust until it turned to Regulus laying in Lily's place, eyes wide open and dead. "What?"
Sirius looked back to his brother who was as confused as he was.
"That's not- that's not me," said Regulus, pointing at the dead him.
"It's a boggart," whispered Remus.
James and Sirius jumped away and walked back with the rest backwards. They all pointed their wands towards it. And when Sirius was far enough, it spun again and zoomed to Peter.
It turned to Voldemort in a second.
Peter stumbled back and Callie attended to him. "Peter!"
The boggart spun in front of Callie with her back faced to it.
"Liar," she heard James say.
"What?" Callie turned around to see James with cold eyes looking at her.
"You said you'll help us." James became Peter. "You didn't."
"What are you talking about?"
Peter turned Remus. "You only made things worse, Callie."
"I di— I didn't. Wh-why would I—"
Remus turned Sirius. "He's going to kill us all, Callie."
"I'm not letting that happen!"
Sirius turned Regulus. "We shouldn't have trusted you."
"Callie don't listen to it!" Only when the real Regulus made her face him did Callie realise that it was just her boggart.
But that didn't mean, the boggart was done torturing them. Behind Regulus, it spun just like before and it took the form of Callie.
The boggart Callie chuckled. "You think with everything you're doing, I am believing you?"
He turned around to see the exact copy of Callie, smirking down at him.
Boggart Callie shook her head. "I'm not. Why would I even believe a Death Eater like you? Who would I believe that the Black heir, the Death Eater would change? That you're brave enough to change? That you're good enough to change? You're not, Regulus. You're a Black after all. You're weak. Unlike your brother. Your brother is the strong one. Not you. Because you're a Death Eater! Death Eaters don't change! Death Eaters are not good! You're not good Regulus! I don't believe you're good! No one does-"
"Hey!" Remus ended their torture. He walked towards the boggart Callie at a fast pace. When he was near it, it spun around.
"Bye, mate," said Boggart James. It turned to Peter. "You're not enough without James and Sirius." Then it turned to Sirius. "It's nothing personal, Moony. You're just an inconvenience every month."
"Riddikulus!"
Sirius' figure turned into a balloon at flew away as the air came out of its hole, leaving the group relieved.
"Boggarts. Of course," Sirius commented.
"Let's go in." With Remus' suggestion, they got up on their feet and walked in with their wands at the ready.
°°°
A/N: I'm back! This was supposed to be longer and the chapter kinda sucks for me but I felt like it should cut right here. I really forced myself to write this 'cause I really want to have something to post and I want to finish this book already since I have original stories lining up. But right in the middle, I kinda picked up the pace and ended with this. And the grammar may also suck because I was too dizzy after writing too many words for today.
Anyways, here you go! And you guys are so amazing! We're at 40k reads now! Wish! That is so amazing! And it's only possible because of you! A round of applause for everyone!
Thank you so much! Have a good day or night!