Halfway through October and right before Sirius's birthday came their first trip of the term to Hogsmeade. Sirius had invited her out on a real date since they had never been on one before. Even though Calypso had been dating Sirius for a few months now, she couldn't believe neither of them had been out on a date before.
Calypso took her time getting ready in her dorm before she made her way down to the entrance hall where James was looking poutier than usual while he stood between Remus and Peter.
"I can't believe me and Peter are going to be alone for the entire trip!" James cried out, sounding exasperated. Calypso and Remus rolled their eyes at their friend.
"You and Peter won't be alone for the whole trip. We're all meeting up for dinner in the Three Broomsticks like we always do." Calypso said.
"Yes, but how will Wormtail and I entertain ourselves in the meantime?" James asked. Calypso caught his eyes lingering on Lily while she talked to Emmeline. She discreetly rolled her eyes.
"I'm sure you'll think of something." Calypso said. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sirius making his way down the hall. His hair was nicely combed and he had this confident look on his face that Calypso knew was only masking how nervous he truly was for their day. She smoothed out her clothes — one of Pandora's light blue dresses that made her eyes look brighter — and smiled at the sight of her boyfriend.
"You two make me sick." James grumbled before wincing when Remus elbowed him in the stomach as Sirius approached Calypso.
"You look gorgeous, Cal." Sirius grinned at her, the tops of his cheeks turning a light shade of pink. Calypso smiled.
"Thanks, Sirius." Calypso said. They broke apart from the boys and made their way down to Hogsmeade village.
"So, what errands do you need to run?" Sirius asked.
Calypso's eyes widened infinitesimally.
"I don't need anything, actually. You and I get to spend the whole time doing whatever we like —"
"Cal, I know you. I know that you're dying to stop by Scrivenshaft's to buy a quill or that you need to go to Tomes and Scrolls for some random project you're working on."
"Are you sure you don't mind if we just make a few quick stops at Ceridwen's, the Magic Neep, and J. Pippins. We can go to the other teashop right after." Calypso said. Sirius merely chuckled at her before trailing behind her while she hauled him around countless shops while they asked each other random questions or talked about random topics.
"I really want to become a brilliant Potioneer when we leave. I think I want to get an apprenticeship under someone and work there, while also being able to find some way to help with the war." Sirius told her as they stepped inside Rosa Lee Teabag. Rosa Lee's was the tamer version of Madam Puddifoot's and Calypso preferred their coffee since tiny cherubs didn't shoot confetti into it whenever she tried to take a sip. There were a few other couples or groups in there when they sat down in the corner of the room. "Have you found out anything more about the research assistant job?"
"I was speaking to Ira about it since she works for the research wing and there are loads of different departments that they could put me in. She said that if I end up researching something with the history department like her, that I could even get to travel to different places." Calypso said excitedly. At one point during their conversation, Sirius reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of parchment. "What's that?"
"It's a letter I wrote . . . to Andromeda." Calypso's eyes widened. She knew Sirius always said that Andromeda had always been the favorite of his cousins growing up. Narcissa always thought that Sirius was too rowdy for her and Bellatrix and Sirius certainly didn't get along, but he and Andromeda used to stick together when they were children.
"You're in contact with Andromeda?" Calypso asked.
"I wasn't, but I think I want to be. I miss her and we're family, plus we were both disowned." Sirius shrugged. Calypso frowned at the reminder that Walburga and Orion had disowned Sirius from their family. He didn't talk about it much, but she knew that he was hurt that his parents had gone through with it.
"Have you spoken to any of your family members since you left, apart from Regulus?" Calypso asked.
"Surprisingly, my Uncle Alphard wrote to me a few days ago," Sirius revealed. "I don't think you've ever met him, but he's my mother's brother. Mum used to say that he and I were a lot alike so we used to get along well until he stopped coming around the house. He wants me to visit him over Christmas break."
"You should go. Your uncle must really like you if he's willing to risk facing Walburga's wrath by speaking to you."
"I am. You should come with me, so that I can introduce you." Calypso's brow raised.
"Really?" She asked.
"Yeah," Sirius shrugged, a blush creeping onto his cheeks. "I want him to meet my girlfriend."
Calypso grinned and agreed to accompany Sirius to his Uncle's before they made their way to the Three Broomsticks to eat with the boys before they walked around Hogsmeade together for a little while longer.
The rest of October dragged along until the last week rolled around when Cassandra celebrated her seventeenth birthday. Calypso noticed Cassandra's absence that night, but it wasn't until the next morning that Cassandra pulled her aside in one of the empty hallways.
"Dumbledore asked me to join the Order." Cassandra whispered to Calypso.
"Really?" Calypso asked, her eyes widening. Cassandra nodded.
"He thinks it's a good idea since I'm studying to become a Healer. I'm not very good at dueling, though." Cassandra frowned.
"Me neither." Calypso sighed. "Has Dumbledore given you anything to do?"
"He asked me to keep an eye on Rabastan Lestrange. I'm trying to find a way to get information out of him, but I can't think of a way how to yet. Have you thought of something?" Cassandra asked.
"Well . . . I'm supposed to be keeping an eye on Evan Rosier. So far the only thing I can think of doing is getting information on him from his sister."
"Do you think Cordelia would tell you anything?" Cassandra asked. Calypso shrugged.
"The Gryffindor versus Slytherin game is on Sirius's birthday. Sirius is throwing this huge party and I know Cordelia's going to be there. I think that if I wait for the perfect moment that I can get her to tell me something about Voldemort's recruitment of wizards at Hogwarts." Calypso said.
"Good idea. I'll think of a way to see if Rabastan will tell me anything too."
Calypso was confident her plan would work. While she and Cordelia weren't best friends, Cordelia was always friendly to Calypso.
Sirius's birthday rolled around a few days later. The main gift that Calypso had been planning to get him wouldn't be ready until over the Christmas holidays, so she settled for giving him a nice leather jacket for his birthday. He tried it on in the Gryffindor common room with a smirk on his face.
"You're a regular James Dean." Marlene said while she and Dorcas shared a bag of crystalized pineapple with one another.
"I don't know who that is." Sirius grinned before he leaned over and planted a kiss on Calypso's cheek. "Thanks for the gift."
"You're welcome." She smiled before turning to James. "Ready to beat Slytherin?"
"Absolutely. Gryffindor's going to take home the Cup again this year."
"We'll see about that." Calypso mumbled under her breath before everyone left the common room to go to the Quidditch pitch for the game. Marlene followed them to the Ravenclaw section while Sirius, Remus, and Peter headed for the Gryffindors area. Calypso joined Cassandra, Pandora, and Benjy in the stands and found Pandora staring wistfully at Xenophilius while he sat alone. "Why don't you invite Xenophilius to the party tonight?"
"Should I?" Pandora asked apprehensively. "I don't know if he'll want to. We haven't spent time together in a while."
"Trust me. You should ask him." Calypso encouraged. Pandora sighed and took one last look at Xenophilius. As if sensing her stare, he turned his gaze to her. A wide smile formed on his face and he brought his hand up to wave at her. Pandora straightened up and marched over to him. Calypso watched as Xenophilius eagerly nodded his head when Pandora asked him to the party before she redirected her attention back to the pitch.
The match began and things turned violent quickly. Everyone could tell that Gryffindor and Slytherin were both playing to win which is why there were countless amounts of broken bones within the first twenty minutes. James was playing the best Calypso had ever seen him play, and she didn't think he could get any better than he already was. At the end of the match, Gryffindor won when their Seeker caught the Snitch, although it was a close game.
The party in the Slytherin dungeons that night was restricted to sixth and seventh years only meaning there weren't that many people there. Lily decided to skip the thing altogether since she knew Snape would try to talk to her and Mary didn't want to go anywhere near Mulciber again. Calypso spent time with Sirius for a while until she found Cordelia standing in the corner of the party with a glass of firewhisky in one hand and a cauldron cake in the other.
"Hey, Delia." Calypso greeted after she excused herself from Sirius. Dumbledore wasn't going to call him down to his office until the next morning meaning she couldn't explain to him what she was doing. Cordelia glanced up, momentarily startled by the sound of Calypso's voice, before a lazy smile formed on her face.
"Oh, hey, Cal." Cordelia smiled, her words slightly slurring together. Her eyes were foggy, but there were tints of red to them as though she had recently finished crying. Calypso frowned.
"Are you okay?" Calypso asked. Cordelia's hand drifted to her cheek and she let out a nervous chuckle.
"Don't mind me. I'm fine. Family drama." Cordelia shrugged helplessly before her eyes widened. "I — er — I never got the chance to say I'm sorry for what happened to your dad, your sister, and your mum. I know how hard it was to lose one family member, I can't even imagine what it feels like to lose three."
Calypso swallowed and chewed the inside of her cheek.
"Thanks," She said meekly. "Sometimes I . . . I regret what they did."
Cordelia glanced at Calypso with a confused expression and tilted her head to the side.
"What do you mean?"
"Sometimes, I wish they hadn't made Voldemort so angry. I think about how if they just gave him what he wanted then we would all be a family again." Calypso let out a sigh for dramatic effect. "This whole war is so terrifying."
"Tell me about it." Cordelia snorted before she downed her cup of firewhisky and poured herself another one. Calypso watched as the liquid filled to the brink and Cordelia downed another cup. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Of course."
"If there was some way to get your family back, would you try to get them? Even if it meant having to do something you don't agree with?" Cordelia asked. Calypso resisted the urge to narrow her eyes at Cordelia while the girl poured and drank another cup.
"Of course I would." Calypso said. Cordelia's eyes darted around the room as though she was checking to make sure no one was listening to their conversation.
"I'll tell you something, but only if you promise to keep it a secret."
"I promise." Calypso said, leaning closer to Cordelia as the girl's voice dropped into a hushed whisper.
"You-Know-Who has been looking for witches and wizards at Hogwarts to join him. He mentions you sometimes. He mentions how much he wants you to join his side. I think you should." Cordelia said. Calypso felt anger flare inside of her. How could Voldemort ever think that she would want to be apart of his rebellion after he took her family? "More and more students join him everyday and his numbers are growing stronger. He's even trying to ask that Muggleborn friend of yours."
Calypso frowned.
"Lily? He wants Lily to become a Death Eater?"
"Snape told him that Lily was the brightest witch of our generation." Cordelia grabbed another cup of firewhisky while her words jumbled together. Calypso didn't even know if the girl realized she just revealed that she and Snape were Death Eaters/had some sort of connection to Voldemort.
"He recruited you and Evan, didn't he?" Calypso asked. Cordelia's lips clamped together and she looked at Calypso with a frantic look in her eye. "Don't worry, Delia. You and I are friends. I would never tell anyone."
Cordelia's shoulders relaxed and she smiled at Calypso.
"I know that, Cal. You've always been a good friend to me." Calypso had to swallow down the creeping feeling of guilt that she was beginning to feel. She had to remind herself that she had to deceive Cordelia if she wanted to aid the Order in stopping Voldemort. Cordelia sighed, her eyes turning watery and Calypso had to pull her into a more secluded corner of the common room when Cordelia began to choke up. "Father said that Voldemort wanted Evan specifically because he's such a good duelist. Evan thinks that joining Voldemort isn't a big deal, but he doesn't realize how dangerous it is. I can't let Evan do this alone, but I'm so . . . scared."
"Why don't you fight him? I'm sure that there's some way you can —"
"No, I can't." Cordelia slurred. "And there's something else that you need to know. Something that I've been dying to tell you because you're my friend."
"What? What is it?"
"It's —"
"Cordelia," Evan Rosier appeared behind his sister's shoulder and began glaring daggers at Calypso. Calypso winced because she could tell that Evan realized she was using his sister for answers. Cordelia yelped when her brother lightly pushed her aside and stood face-to-face with Calypso. "Do you honestly think I haven't noticed you sneaking around, Krane?"
"I was hoping you'd be a bit more oblivious." Calypso smiled weakly. Evan's glare worsened.
"I don't know what you're playing at, but leave my sister out of it or else you'll end up worse than you did the last time?" Calypso's finger twitched next to her wand as her eyes narrowed into slits.
"Is that a threat, Rosier?" She asked through gritted teeth.
"It's a promise." Evan said before he turned around and led his sister away. Calypso seethed and left the party immediately to tell Dumbledore what she learned. The entire time her mind was on Evan Rosier's threat. If she did ever end up dueling Evan — or any Death Eater, for that matter — she wasn't entirely sure that she could beat them. A lot of them were quicker than her or had a longer repertoire of defensive spells than she did.
The next morning, when Sirius came dashing into the Ravenclaw common room, he found Calypso putting up posters on the notice board.
"Calypso, I need to talk to — what are you doing?" Sirius asked, approaching the board so that he could read the sign. "Dueling Club? You're starting your own club?"
"I need to get better at dueling and I figured that there are probably a lot of other students who want to fight in the war that could use the extra practice too." Calypso asked as she placed the last of her poster on the board before turning to her boyfriend. "Now, what were you trying to tell me?"
Sirius smiled brightly before whispering, "Dumbledore asked me to join the Order of the Phoenix."