Calypso stood in front of Grimmauld Place with her father and sister, both of whom held piles of gifts in their arms (none of which were marked with Calypso or Sirius' names on them). Calypso only held a single present in her hand that was decorated with red Christmas wrapping and a neatly placed golden bow. Icarus tapped his foot impatiently on the ground and took out his wand. Calypso turned to stare at the passing Muggles on the street who chatted with each other as snow fell on the ground around them. When Calypso turned back around, Grimmauld Place had revealed itself.
Ophelia hadn't spoken to Calypso since their encounter in Calypso's bedroom, not that Calypso particularly minded. Her father had steered clear of her too and she was glad for that. She didn't want to be around either of them any longer than she had to.
"Don't embarrass me, Calypso." Icarus said. Calypso discreetly rolled her eyes as they entered Grimmauld Place. Calypso smoothed out the ends of her dress that her mum had bought for her from a Muggle shop while Icarus and Ophelia were greeted warmly by Orion and Walburga Black.
Calypso's eyes found Regulus, Narcissa, and Bellatrix standing behind them. When they were younger and everyone was nicer, Bellatrix and Calypso were actually good friends even though Bellatrix was much older. Ever since their mother, Druella, died, Bellatrix became protective over Narcissa and Andromeda. When Narcissa and Ophelia would spend time together, Calypso would take the opportunity to spend time with Andromeda and Bellatrix. At the time, Bellatrix and Calypso became quite close. Bellatrix was rowdy, just like Calypso had been so they used to get along swimmingly. Her, Bellatrix, and Andromeda would go on adventures into the woods or into the towns and were constantly causing trouble for their families.
However, a lot of things have changed since then. Andromeda was disowned and Bellatrix was no longer Bellatrix Black, the fun-loving, over protective sister that would go on adventures with Calypso through the woods that surrounded Krane Manor. Now she was Bellatrix Lestrange, wife of Rodolphus Lestrange and that had made her cold and unkind.
Ophelia and Bellatrix wrapped each other into a hug.
Calypso's eyes searched around to locate her best friend.
"Icarus, I've been hearing some . . . interesting things about your youngest daughter. I do hope your children are aware of the status they hold in the eyes of other pureblood families. The Krane's are such valued members of our society." Walburga said once they stepped inside.
Calypso snapped her eyes over to Sirius' mother, wishing she could tell the woman to mind her business.
"Don't worry, Walburga. The children understand their place, especially Calypso. She's learned her lesson from her past actions." Icarus said. His eyes flashed towards her and Calypso noticeably tensed under his gaze.
"Is that gift for us?" Orion asked Calypso, taking note of the gift in her hand. Calypso resisted the urge to scoff.
"For Sirius, actually." Calypso said.
Orion and Walburga exchanged a look of annoyance before flashing Calypso's father a pitiful glance. Walburga went to open her mouth before footsteps of someone coming downstairs interrupted her. Calypso was thankful for Sirius' timing, but she was blown away by how nice he looked. His hair fell in its natural waves around his face and he adjusted the collar to the suit she knew his parents had forced him into. Calypso suspected he was late because he had been busy getting his hair to sit perfectly. Sirius always took up the most time out of all of them to get ready, though James was a close second.
Sirius ran his eyes over Calypso as a grin formed on his face. The dress she wore allowed her bright blue eyes to shine even brighter from where he was standing. He thought she looked like she belong on stage with an adorning audience following her every move.
Calypso rushed towards Sirius to bring him in for a hug without a care for their family's reactions. Sirius inhaled her lavender scent as he wrapped his arms around her back.
"You have no idea how happy I am to see you." Calypso whispered to him.
"Same here." Sirius mumbled.
"Time to open presents." Narcissa announced, clapping her hands. The pair stepped apart from one another as Walburga led them to the drawing room. Everyone followed, with Calypso and Sirius falling behind as they spoke quietly to one another.
Calypso went to sit beside Ophelia but Bellatrix dived into the spot.
"Oops, no room." Bellatrix said, shrugging. Calypso rolled her eyes at girl.
"Why don't you two go to a different room? There're no presents here for you Sirius and the same for you, Calypso." Orion suggested. Calypso's nostrils flared. Sirius, noticing her annoyance, agreed and dragged her out of the drawing room in the direction of the kitchens.
"Sit," Sirius commanded. Calypso slid onto the surface of the long kitchen table that was decorated with plate settings for the other guests that would be coming for dinner. "Let me see your mandrake leaf."
Calypso opened her mouth and showed him. "I can already tell that this is going to be one interesting Christmas. Here's your gift, by the way."
Calypso handed him the box and he smiled softly at it.
"You didn't have to get me anything." Sirius said. He reached underneath the table and handed her a tiny blue box with a silver bow.
"I can't wait to see what this is." Calypso mused when she took the box from him.
They opened their gifts at the same time. Sirius found some pranking supplies and a Muggle book titled How to get a Girlfriend. He flashed Calypso a sarcastic smile and Calypso chuckled, "I figured you could use it."
He rolled his eyes but opened the book and flipped through it.
"Maybe you can use that on one of the girl's from your fan club." Calypso said.
Sirius frowned but didn't say anything else.
She finished unwrapping her box as Sirius laughed when he looked at the first step ('Give her presents') and thanked her. Calypso pulled the top off and gasped when she stared at the locket Sirius had given her. She opened it, smiling fondly when she found a picture of her, Sirius, Peter, James, and Remus from first year. Sirius and Calypso were sticking their tongues out at the camera while James made a funny face. Remus was the only one smiling, but Peter was sticking bunny ears up behind his head.
"What'd'ya think?" Sirius asked when Calypso fell silent. She looked up and tackled Sirius into another hug, knocking the wind out of him in the process.
"This is the best, thank you!" Calypso said. Sirius chuckled.
"Oh, I got you a book too." Sirius reached into the box and pulled out the copy of a play that he placed in Calypso's hands. "I know how much you Ravenclaws love your play performances in the common room . . ."
Calypso chuckled when she saw the copy of Hélas, Je me suis Transfiguré Les Pieds by Malecrit. This play was infamous. There had once been a performance so bad that the audience threw pumpkins at the actors. In an effort to get the audience back on their side, the special effects wizard replaced a puff of smoke with a Fire-Making Spell that set the theatre ablaze.
"The first years are going to love this reenactment." Calypso said happily. "Maybe Pandora will want to play Grenouille . . . Dorcas will definitely want to throw the pumpkins . . ."
They heard laughter drift in from the other room, but neither of them minded. They preferred spending Christmas together with only each other for company.
They sat there for another hour talking about everything they could think of. At one point, Sirius's expression turned thoughtful.
"Do you ever wonder what the future's gonna be like? For all of us, I mean." He asked.
Calypso was surprised by the random question but she frowned as she thought about it.
"Well, we'd all still be friends, of course. Remus would be the first to settle down. He'd probably pop out a kid or two, and learn to accept himself. He'd be happy and find someone that really loves him for who he is.
"I think you'd travel around the world for a few years and send us postcards of all the cool places you get to visit. Maybe, when you're older, you'd find a girl who you connected with and you guys would have a kid. A girl, who you'd name after me, of course!"
Sirius laughed at that.
"I think James would somehow manage to marry Lily Evans and they'd have a kid, or maybe ten because you know James said he wants to have enough kids to create his own Quidditch team." Calypso chuckled. "And Peter, well . . . I'd want Peter to be happy and have more confidence in himself because he's great and someone will come along to show him how wonderful he really is.
"I'd either be teaching at Hogwarts as the . . . hm, Transfigurations Professor after Professor McGonagall becomes Headmistress or maybe I'd be an Auror! I'd only want one kid, but my daughter would be the greatest witch of her age! She'd be a Ravenclaw too.
"Oh, but we'd all live really close together and meet up at least once a month and go to the Three Broomsticks and sit there, sipping on Butterbeer and catch up on everything." Calypso said with a wistful sigh. She could see that future so vividly and hoped that it worked out. It was the perfect future and, while Calypso knew that most of what she said probably wouldn't come true, she, at least, hoped that they'd all still be friends.
Calypso felt Sirius give her hand a squeeze.
"That sounds perfect." Sirius said softly. She gave him a sad smile before the kitchen door swung open. Sirius quickly dropped Calypso's hand as the others piled in.
Ophelia walked in followed by Regulus and Narcissa. Sirius pulled Calypso to the end of the table so that they didn't have to sit next to everybody else.
"Two blood traitors in one room, but Master said to serve them, so Kreacher has to listen." The Black's house elf, Kreacher, muttered to himself. Calypso looked at him with a faint smile and raised eyebrow.
"Always lovely to see you too, Kreacher, but there's no use pretending. Everyone knows I'm your favorite blood traitor." Calypso said. Sirius laughed and Calypso caught a glimpse of a smile on Kreacher's old features as he handed her a plate of food.
Calypso glanced up when Lucius and Abraxas Malfoy entered the kitchen. Lucius took a seat beside Narcissa, keeping a bit of distance between them. Calypso knew that Narcissa and Lucius didn't necessarily love each other or really know each other yet. The whole wedding had been organized by their families and Cygnus Black had been eager when Abraxas and his wife, Davina, agreed to the union.
Calypso wondered if she was going to be invited to the wedding. She wondered if Sirius even would.
The Lestrange's ended up making their appearances as well. Ramsey Lestrange guided his wife, Seraphina, to her seat beside their son, Rabastan. Rabastan was a year below them, the same as Regulus, and Calypso knew that he was best friends with Evan Rosier. Rodolphus happily took his seat next to Bellatrix and she fixed him with a sly grin.
From what Calypso had gathered, Rodolphus and Bellatrix had a rather interesting relationship with one another. Their marriage hadn't been arranged like Narcissa and Lucius's had been since Rodolphus and Bellatrix were the ones who brought the idea of marrying one another to their families. They'd never admit or say that they loved one another, but Calypso thought that, in their own weird way, they cared about each other.
They began to eat, leaving Calypso and Sirius to plan how they were going to escape their respective families to join James'. Calypso wouldn't tell her dad where she was going, but Ophelia would most likely realize and inform him. Calypso knew she wouldn't have to worry about her dad coming after her since neither of her parents minded when she went to the Potter's.
"In your letter . . ." Sirius whispered to her before trailing off when he saw the way she tensed and sent a wary look at her father, who was engaged in conversation with Abraxas. "He didn't."
"He did." She whispered.
"I will kill him." Sirius said. Calypso placed a hand over Sirius'.
"I'm sure you will." She joked before the smile wiped off her face. "But, really don't do anything. He'd hurt you too."
"What did it feel like?" Sirius asked. He searched Calypso's face.
"It was the worst pain I've ever felt in my life. I don't think there's anything quite like it. I had no sense of my surroundings and I couldn't think about anything else except the pain. It was horrible." She looked at Ophelia who was speaking with Regulus. "You can't tell anyone this but Ophelia mentioned something about getting a mark and pledging loyalty to You-Know-Who."
Sirius's eyes widened.
"Do you think your father will make you do it?" Sirius asked.
Calypso shrugged.
"I hope not." She frowned. "I really thought this whole thing with You-Know-Who would've stopped by now, but I don't know . . . the way Ophelia talked about him made it seem like this was only going to keep getting bigger."
"I'm sure it'll end soon." Sirius attempted to reassure her. "The Ministry always stops people like that from gaining too much power. After Grindelwald, they've taken a lot more precautions."
"Maybe, but I don't know I feel like this is different. It's the way she said it, like . . . like I needed to be warned about him and she talked about how he'd go after my family if I didn't agree to join him. I just don't understand what he would want from me. I'm only fourteen." Calypso said with a frown.
"You're probably overthinking this, Cal. You know Ophelia likes to scare you. I'm sure you'll be fine." Sirius said, slightly worried. He didn't think he could fathom the idea of something bad happening to Calypso.
Calypso nodded.
"Yeah, you're probably right."
Later that evening, Calypso and Sirius took the Knight Bus all the way to the Potter's Manor. James Potter flew out of his front door when he saw them approaching and engulfed Calypso and Sirius into a hug.
"I've been waiting for you two all day." James said, letting them go. "How was your Christmas?"
"Sirius and I spent the entire time to ourselves and Kreacher even made us hot chocolates." Calypso said.
"And your letter? Care to explain why your father would use an Unforgivable on you?" James asked angrily as they walked up to Potter Manor.
"Ophelia told him about Snape. He got really mad." Calypso said before shrugging. "It's fine, James. I won't have to see him for a while anymore."
"Calypso, this is a huge deal. He hurt you. He should get a life sentence in Azkaban for this. My parents would gladly go to the Ministry and report him." James said.
"No, it'd be pointless. My father has connections all over, who knows what he'd do if he found out I tried to have him sent to Azkaban." Calypso shuddered as they walked inside. She was greeted with a plate of chocolate chip cookies from Fleamont and Euphemia Potter. The Potter's had been like another set of parents to both Sirius and Calypso.
"Calypso, you and Sirius can sleep in the living room and I'll imagine James'll be sleeping there as well." Euphemia said. They always slept in the living room whenever they were at James's because they could stay up all night and make as much noise as they wanted without having to worry about disturbing Fleamont or Euphemia.
After stuffing her belly full with a delicious dinner that had been prepared by Euphemia, Calypso ran a brush through her long dark hair as she changed into her pajamas. Sirius and James lounged around the living room as Calypso got ready for bed.
"Calypso looked nice today." Sirius said absentmindedly. James stopped running his fingers through his hair and narrowed his eyes at his best friend.
"Calypso always look nice, but why do you bring it up?" James asked. He knew exactly why, but didn't want to brag.
"It's just . . . I dunno . . . she looked nice, is all." Sirius shrugged before Calypso entered the room.
"What are you guys talking about?" Calypso asked, placing herself between James and Sirius.
"Oh, nothing." James smiled sweetly at Calypso. He cast a glance at Sirius who was frowning and appeared to be deep in thought. "Nothing at all."