Year 2, Chapter Six:
Severus Snape glanced over his shoulder one last time before approaching the great wooden door of Malfoy Manor. Behind him, his daughter hopped from one foot to the other, her ears and the tip of her nose pink from the cold. Little puffs of steam escaped her nose and mouth.
He opened his mouth, as if to address her, but then the front door opened inward, and they were greeted by the sight of an imposing-looking blond couple – or rather, Severus was – closer to his daughter's own level was a tiny, pitiful-looking creature with big green orbs for eyes, dressed in nothing but a tea towel. He appeared ready to take the guests' cloaks, but before they had even stepped inside, he was reassigned.
"Set the table, Dobby," the man commanded coldly, releasing his hold on the elf as he stepped back to let the company inside. "Ah, Severus," he continued, in a much friendlier tone, "Please, come in. Leave your cloaks here in the foyer; the house-elf will collect them later. We'll take tea in the sitting room before supper."
While Severus removed his cloak, Calista stood idly as if she hadn't heard the man; her gaze had followed the small creature as it slipped past a heavy wooden door into another room off the main hall.
"Calista," Severus' voice snapped her back to attention, and the girl unclasped her cloak, aiming a passing glance in her father's direction. She pulled it off reluctantly, and looked up at their hosts, feeling awkward and foolish in the clothes she had on underneath her cloak.
Before travelling to the Malfoys', Severus had taken her shopping in Hogsmeade, and had surrendered her to the woman in Felicity's Formals for what felt to Calista like an eternity. When she was finally allowed to leave, she parted with four new dresses and a slew of matching accessories. She, who had never worn a dress once in her life, was expected to wear one every day they stayed with the Malfoys, for she hadn't been allowed to pack any of her old clothes. Severus had even bought her two pairs of new shoes and some horrible scratchy tights that the salesgirl had recommended.
She stood now in the Malfoys' foyer, wearing a knee-length navy dress with small white dots all over it, and itchy white tights with stiff, shiny black shoes. She had clipped part of her hair back in an imitation of the way that Olivia had once styled her hair near the beginning of term, but the result wasn't quite the same without the hair potion Olivia had used.
"We're so pleased to finally meet you, Calista" the woman said gently, and Calista regarded her warily while the introductions were made, searching her face for a resemblance to Bellatrix. She had the same cheekbones, the same nose. Her eyes were the same colour, but where Bellatrix's were icy and intense, this woman's were kinder, even if they were not exactly soft. Human, Calista supposed, was the word she was searching for.
"Hello," Calista replied, her voice softer than she intended it to sound. "Uhm, thank you for inviting us," she added, feeling that she was expected to say something more.
"Shall we, then?" Lucius Malfoy led them all into a room off the main hall, across from the one the house-elf had gone into. The furnishings in the room were sumptuous; the floor was made of stone with a huge, thick rug thrown over most of it. A huge fireplace topped with a gilded mirror took up most of one wall, flames crackling merrily from it and throwing soft shadows across the room. As Lucius settled into the largest and most comfortable-looking chair in the room, motioning Severus and Calista to sit down as well, Narcissa slipped towards another door by the fireplace.
"I'll fetch Draco," she murmured, as the house-elf appeared bearing a tray set for tea. Calista didn't care for tea, but she took a few biscuits off the tray when the house-elf came to her; she offered him a small, polite smile in return, but the creature scurried away, casting his eyes down.
"So, Calista, I understand you are in your second year at Hogwarts?" Lucius regarded her across the coffee table, teacup paused halfway to his lips.
"Yeah," she replied, "I mean, uhm, yes." She glanced at her father, who looked calm as he sipped his own tea; of course, Calista knew he was nervous, despite appearances. She wasn't quite sure exactly what the nature of his friendship with Lucius Malfoy was, but she knew that he very much wanted both of the Malfoys to like her.
"Which subject is your favourite?" Lucius queried.
"Well, Potions is my best subject, naturally," she said, "Although I really like Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts as well."
Lucius' brow arched slightly, and Calista added, "Of course it would be nice if Professor Foran would teach us some of the offensive spells as well. I mean, of course I have my father to teach me, but I think everyone at Hogwarts should learn them, too."
Lucius smiled approvingly, just as Narcissa re-entered the room with a young blond boy in tow.
"Well said," and here he looked up at Narcissa, "Calista tells me nothing has changed since our own days at Hogwarts. They're still wasting time with-" and here he sneered, "Defence classes instead of teaching proper Dark magic."
"I can't say I'm surprised," Narcissa replied, leading Draco across the room to where Calista sat, "What a dreadful shame that fool Dumbledore didn't give the post to Severus – I'm certain he'd make sure the right things were being taught. Draco," she transitioned, "This is your cousin, Calista. Calista, meet our son, Draco."
"Hello," Calista greeted the younger boy, who stood before her chair rather imperiously, studying her.
"Say hello to Calista and then sit down for tea, darling," Narcissa said as she settled into her own chair, "supper will be served soon."
"Do you collect Chocolate Frog cards?" Draco asked his older cousin without preamble, "I have all the best ones already."
"Er, no, not really," Calista answered.
"Oh. Well, you should," Draco said, and then he sat down beside her chair on the rug. Lucius opened his mouth, perhaps to remind Draco that tea time was customarily observed while seated on actual furniture, but Narcissa shot her husband a look and smiled slightly "Let them get acquainted," she murmured, and Lucius closed his mouth, sparing only a disapproving glance at his son before shifting his attention to Severus.
"How do you find Calista responding to the curriculum at Hogwarts?" he asked, "Aside from the nonsense about not teaching the Dark Arts, is it challenging enough? Draco has been demonstrating his magical ability left and right these days, and I'm worried he won't find enough of a challenge at such a soft school."
"Ah," Severus replied, glancing in his daughter's direction, "Well, Calista is quite advanced for her year, but several of my colleagues give her extra assignments and allow her to explore additional topics beyond those covered in class. I myself am always happy to offer additional assignments to students who desire it; in fact, on Calista's exams last year, she was rated as performing at a fourth-year level in Potions."
Calista was glad that he hadn't mentioned to the Malfoys that she had scored below par in Transfiguration, but she had to bite her lip to keep from boasting about the Amortentia potion she had brewed in her wardrobe. It was a feat nearly as impressive as it was against the rules.
"I have five Salazar Slytherins," Draco confided to his cousin, holding up five fingers in her direction, "He's my favourite, because I am going to be in Slytherin house like Father was."
"I'm in Slytherin, too," Calista told him, nibbling on a biscuit, "It's my second year."
Draco cocked his head, interest spreading across his pointy face. "Do you know any curses you can show me?"
Before Calista could answer, a slight tap on the door of the room caused Lucius to rise. "I believe supper is ready," he said, offering his arm to Narcissa. Severus and Calista followed, Draco scampering ahead to claim his favourite chair.
The dining room was every bit as large and impressive as the drawing room. It was dominated by a huge, beautifully polished dark wood dining table, which was set for five, though twelve would have fit comfortably.
Lucius' eyes swept over the expansive table, and with a flourish of his wand, it retracted until it was half as long as it had been, bringing the place setting at the foot of the table close to the rest. After he had done this, Lucius sat down at the head of the table, and Narcissa at the foot. Lucius indicated for Severus to sit at his right. Draco stood behind the chair that was closest to his mother, across from the only remaining empty place setting, his small fists wrapped around the chair back. As soon as his parents were seated, Draco climbed into his chair, leaving only one set place for Calista - between Lucius and Draco, and across from her father.
The food, though there was enough of it to feed all of Slytherin house, and though it was rich and delicious, was mostly lost on Calista, who could have been eating nothing but porridge for supper for all the attention she was giving it.
They hadn't even gotten halfway through supper when Lucius brought Bellatrix up.
"I'm curious, Severus, to know which spells Bellatrix placed on Calista."
There was a fraction of a moment, just long enough to be slightly uncomfortable; Calista felt Lucius' eyes on her, and concentrated on keeping the forefront of her mind clear, her boundaries strong.
"What other Chocolate Frog cards have you got, Draco?" Calista whispered to Draco, and as he began rattling them off, she was suddenly very enamoured of her newfound younger cousin - the banality of his card collection was the perfect thing to focus on to keep her mind calm, and he was more than willing to keep listing them to a captive audience.
"The protection spells, the tracking spells... do you know which ones she used?"
Severus' voice was low, silky; his response measured, as though he were considering the question for the first time. "Well, I believe she managed to tap into Calista's Trace somehow and modify it. It's powerful magic, attached automatically to every witch and wizard at birth - it seems logical to me to use it as a starting place. Beyond that, I can only guess. A Proximity Charm, certainly, that notified her when Calista was a certain distance away."
Lucius waved his hand dismissively. "Of course. But surely there were more? Bellatrix always struck me as someone who took the proper precautions with her...property."
Calista's neck tensed, and she felt a rush of anger pushing at her mental barriers from within.
"What about... what about Merwyn the Malicious, Draco? How many of him do you have?" she whispered,
"People are not as easily protected as objects," Severus said lightly, "I'm sure you know that as well as I do."
"I have two," Draco said quietly, "I had three, but I traded one away to my friend Vincent for another Salazar."
"You could argue that point, Severus, but don't forget that one cannot cast blood magic on an object."
"Vincent is always making foolish trades," Draco continued conspiratorially, as he speared a piece of broccoli on his fork and shoved it in his mouth, "I'm just glad it's often with me. Once -"
Narcissa laid her own fork down and looked at her son. "Draco," she admonished quietly, "You musn't speak with your mouth full."
Calista could feel the wild roiling of fear, of anger beneath the surface layer of her mind, and she focused all of her willpower and pushing it further down, further inside. Unconsciously, she let her own fork drop beside her plate, and clasped her hands together on her lap under the table.
" - effects of blood magic in conjunction with an opposing Fidelius Charm have not been studied, and I believe she may have been held under one. I'm afraid that, short of asking Bellatrix directly, we may never know all of the spells she attached to Calista."
"A pity we cannot ask her," Lucius said, motioning for his plate to be cleared away, "I'd hoped to learn of some morbidly fascinating twist on tracking spells - you'll recall our Bella was nothing if not... creative... in her methods."
Dobby appeared at Lucius' elbow and began clearing the main course from the table, just as Draco swallowed his broccoli.
"Once, I convinced Vincent to give me Morgan le Fay and Rowena Ravenclaw for Albus Dumbledore. Everyone knows it's the most common card, and a dull one besides. I told him the one I had was a limited edition, if you looked at it exactly at midnight, a giant would appear in his portrait and rip his head off." Draco sniggered, clearly proud of himself.
Lucius shifted his gaze to Calista, to see the girl staring passively at her plate, her hands hidden below the table. Draco was looking at her expectantly.
She felt his gaze immediately, and latched onto the last thing Draco had said; anything to keep from responding to Lucius' insinuations about blood magic.
"Your friend Vincent sounds daft," she muttered, just as Lucius addressed her.
"Calista." She couldn't ignore him openly; she lifted her gaze to his.
"Is something wrong?" His tone was light, but the sudden pressure against Calista's mind was not. Nor was it finessed; she felt him swipe through the first layer of her mind as casually and thoughtlessly as he might swipe an orange from a bowl of fruit.
She didn't break eye contact. "No," she managed, surprised that her voice sounded steady, nonchalant. "I think I'm full, is all."
Her skin crawled, and internal alarms went off as she felt him sift through the conversation she'd been having with Draco about Chocolate Frog cards; her uncomfortable experience shopping in Hogsmeade for dresses the week prior; the last detention she had served, for threatening to curse Oliver Wood within earshot of Professor Sinistra from Astronomy.
"That's a pity, indeed," Lucius drawled casually, "Are you certain you haven't saved room for dessert?"
"I'm... I'm certain. Thanks."
"Perhaps another night," As their exchange ended, it felt natural for Calista to let her gaze fall away from his, and as soon as she did, she felt their connection sever abruptly, though she hadn't forced him out, and she hadn't felt him deliberately withdraw.
(¯ˆ·.¸¸.·ˆ¯)
Narcissa showed Calista to a tastefully decorated room on the second level. It contained a large bed, double the size of Calista's own in the Slytherin dormitories, and a huge armoire. There was a thick, soft rug next to the bed and a set of heavy brocade curtains on the window. There was even a sitting area, with two armchairs and a tiny side table, and the light in the room came from a great overhead candelabra, which Narcissa lit by flicking her wand upwards absently as they entered the room.
Narcissa perched delicately on the edge of the large bed, bringing herself more or less at eye level with her niece, and used the opportunity to search the child's face much as Calista had surveyed her when they arrived - looking, undoubtedly, for the same thing - a resemblance to Bellatrix.
"You have the Black family profile to be sure - the cheekbones, the chin, high forehead," Narcissa tilted her head slightly, "You have your father's nose, though."
"I don't think I look very much like her at all," Calista disagreed quickly.
"Oh, you do," Narcissa replied, with a slight lift of her shoulder, "But children never wish to be told they resemble their parents." Narcissa half-smiled, and rose to her full height, placing her hand on the side of Calista's neck, in a gesture that was somewhere between cupping her cheek and patting her shoulder. It should have been awkward, but somehow she made it seem elegant and gracious, and Calista found that she could stand the touch without flinching away.
"The old families are growing sparse, my dear. We must keep each other close, yes?"
"Yes, Mrs. Malfoy," Calista managed, unsure.
"Please, call me Aunt," Narcissa said softly, as she exited the room, pulling the door gently closed behind her. "I'll let your father know where your room is, in case you wish to bid him good night."
As soon as Narcissa had left the room, Calista kicked off her new shoes and yanked the tights off her legs. She had a good minute or two of simply scratching her newly bare legs, as if her fingernails could scrub away the discomfort of the last several hours. When that was done, and her skinny calves were crossed with faint white marks from all the scratching, she pulled the new navy dress off over her head tossed it over the back of one of the armchairs. When she opened the armoire, she saw that someone had already put her clothing away, and she reached hungrily for her most worn and comfortable nightdress, pulling it on and hugging it around herself before flopping down onto the oversized bed. Without rising again, she reached her hands up and yanked the clip out of her hair, letting it fall onto the night table as if it were a much heavier burden.
Calista lay in the bed, looking absently up at the ceiling, while she deconstructed that evening's supper conversation in her mind.
Even though her father had warned her that Lucius might try to invade her thoughts, it had still unsettled her a great deal. There was something alien and somehow barbaric about his presence in her mind, not at all like her father's during their lessons. This had been more primitive, and somehow, even though she had not let him see beyond her outermost layer, more invasive.
She supposed it was rather like the difference between going through a photo album with someone else, and having that someone else stroll into your bedroom in the middle of the night and steal the photos from it. At any rate, it was obvious to Calista that Lucius hadn't bothered to try to hide his presence in her mind at all - and she wasn't sure what that meant. Was he trying to intimidate her by making certain that she knew he was using Legilimency on her?
She wanted, badly, to speak to her father about it, but she wasn't sure if it was safe to do so while they were still under the Malfoys' roof. Even asking him through legilimency, mind-to-mind, felt like a risk, since she really only knew how to communicate with her father mind-to-mind using the outermost layer of thought - the same one Lucius had already pilfered through once.
One thing was for certain: she was fiercely glad for all of her lessons on filling the mental layers between barriers with convincing content. Even though Lucius' invasion had surprised her, she had felt more or less prepared for it, which in turn surprised her perhaps more than it should have.
After she had run through these things in her mind for perhaps an hour, she heard a soft knock on the door, and she sat up, pushing her loose hair behind her ears just as her father's voice followed his knock through the closed door: "Are you still awake?"
Calista was relieved to hear his voice - instantly, she was able to push her worries about Lucius Malfoy somewhere further away in her mind. She rolled her eyes good-naturedly and crossed the room to the door, pulling it open. "I know you can see the light underneath the door," she said, by way of greeting, "Of course I'm still awake."
"Ah," Severus said, as he followed Calista into the room. While she settled herself on the edge of the bed again, legs curled up underneath the hem of her nightdress, Severus dropped into the armchair that wasn't draped with Calista's new outfit. "And you were so delightful all day. To think, I almost feared you'd been replaced with another, more civilised child."
"Those stupid tights are as civilised as you're getting out of me today," she said as she cast an accusing look at the corner of the room where she had carelessly thrown them.
"The woman in the store liked them on you - what did she say, exactly? That you were 'simply darling', I believe?"
Calista levelled a glare at him, half-teasing and half-resentful. "I'm regretting once more my decision not to hex her when she said it."
"A decision that was based on civility," he said, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly.
"No," Calista said, "It was based on my distaste for sorting flobberworms in your office."
"Same difference, when you get right down to it," Severus allowed his own mouth to twitch into a smile, for the briefest of moments. When it had flitted away, his eyes found his daughter's and held them.
I'm proud of you tonight.
The words slipped into the outermost layer of her mind, and she smiled tiredly. "Thanks."
"Sleep well, Calista," Severus said softly, after a moment of companionable quiet passed between them.
"Good night." Calista's narrow face was split by a wide yawn. Severus stood to leave and, approaching the door, pulled it nearly closed behind him, then paused, catching sight of Calista's wand poking out from the pocket of her new dress as it hung over the back of the armchair. He aimed his own wand up at the candelabra, and as he tilted it away, the flames faded away, leaving the room in darkness.
(¯ˆ·.¸¸.·ˆ¯)
Christmas at Malfoy Manor was unlike anything Calista had ever seen before. On Christmas Eve, thousands of witchfire lights and a huge Christmas tree had appeared, most likely by magic.
On Christmas Day, Draco had been opening gifts until well into the afternoon. There were packages upon brightly coloured packages of toys, sweets, clothing, books, and even a brand-new broomstick. He had also received a KidKauldron Beginner's Potions Kit (from Severus, of course) that contained a small cauldron, a wooden spoon, several plastic phials and flasks, a measuring cup, and packets of inert ingredients that were advertised to be "very unlikely to burn your house down or turn your child into a toad".
Calista, for her part, received an impressive spread of gifts herself. Severus had given her an expanding bookshelf, which folded into a small wooden box that would fit neatly underneath her bed, until the correct password was spoken to open it up into a full-sized bookcase. There were several new books to add to her collection as well, and a set of new quills.
The Malfoys had given her things as well. There was a new comforter set for her bed, patterned with a night sky full of stars that actually changed colors and flickered convincingly, and an assortment of sweets.
There was also a tiny, gold-coloured box that Narcissa handed to her after she had taken several pictures of Draco with his new broomstick. Calista pulled the ribbon off and opened the box to reveal a beautiful gold pendant with a calligraphic 'C' engraved in it. Speechless, she stared at it, until Narcissa took the box gently from her hands and lifted the pendant out of it. It was on a delicate gold chain, which Narcissa reached to fasten around Calista's neck.
"It's a locket," Narcissa said, demonstrating how it opened. "You can put pictures inside."
"It... It's very lovely," Calista stammered, shocked to have received such an expensive gift. "Th-Thank you."
Narcissa looked as if she were about to say something else, but then Draco crashed his new broomstick into the Christmas tree and she leapt up to make sure he hadn't hurt himself.
(¯ˆ·.¸¸.·ˆ¯)
The day before they were to return to Hogwarts, Calista was in Draco's room, helping him set up his new KidKauldron. He cleared off the surface of the mahogany desk in his room, placed the KidKauldron's heating unit on the desk. It was a bit like a hotplate, except that it would only conduct heat through the cauldron, and felt cool to the touch everywhere else.
"We should rinse the cauldron out before we use it," Calista said, as her cousin started pulling the ingredients packets out of the box. "Just in case they used something to clean it that could react with your potion and ruin it."
They carried the cauldron into Draco's washroom, and Calista rinsed it out while Draco hovered behind her.
"'What kind of potion are we going to make?" Draco asked once they were back in his room.
Calista surveyed the labels on the ingredients in their brown paper packets.
"We can make... let's see... A Bubble Breath potion. It does exactly what it sounds like. Or we could make a potion you can drip onto your vegetables to make them taste like chocolate, or one that will turn your hair green for a few hours."
Draco cocked his head "Is that all?"
Calista laughed, and pointed to the box. "There's not much you can make with ingredients that are 'very unlikely to burn your house down' no matter how you use them."
"Do the vegetables really taste like chocolate?"
"They do, but it doesn't change the texture. A chocolate carrot is okay, but imagine chocolate broccoli, or chocolate sprouts. Honestly, it's kind of weird."
"The Bubble Breath one then," Draco said, and Calista separated out the ingredients they would need for it.
"Okay, Draco," Calista said, "First you need to take four of those dragonfly wings, and crush them into a fine dust."
They continued in this vein, with Calista instructing, and helping Draco here and there with the preparation. The little hotplate that came with the cauldon wasn't nearly as effective as an actual flame, but a Bubble Breath potion didn't really take too much finesse; the ingredients just had to stew together in reasonably warm milk until little light-blue bubbles started rising out of it. When it was finished, Calista poured it into a flask, and made Draco wait until it was cooled to drink it.
As promised, the potion allowed Draco to blow bubbles from his mouth simply by exhaling, and he had a marvelous time blowing them out and then trying to catch them.
"How long does this last?"
"An hour or so," Calista said, poking one of his bubbles with her finger as it floated by her and popping it.
"Can we make it again?"
"I have to start packing my things to go back to school soon. Tell you what, I'll write the instructions down so you can make it yourself anytime you want to, okay?"
"Brilliant," Draco said, and puffed out another school of opalescent blue bubbles.
(¯ˆ·.¸¸.·ˆ¯)
Calista went through the guest room, making sure she had remembered to put all of her things into her trunk. She considered leaving her stupid new dresses behind, but she was sure Narcissa would just send them to her anyway, so she reluctantly threw them into the bottom of her trunk, piling all of her new gifts on top of them.
During their stay, Bellatrix had come up four more times in conversation, and Lucius had tried to read her mind twice more. Each time, Calista bristled inwardly at the intrusion but kept calm on the surface. She wasn't sure exactly what he wanted to find, but whenever one of them broke eye contact, his presence disappeared from her mind instantaneously. She couldn't wait until the got home so she could feel safe discussing it with her father. She was reasonably sure that Lucius hadn't gotten anything important from her, but she'd feel much better once she could get her father's opinion too.
Overall, she was relieved to be going back to Hogwarts, Remedial Transfiguration or no, but she thought she might actually miss having Draco around. He was a bit spoiled, to be sure, but he wasn't bad company, for an eight-year-old. She had really enjoyed teaching him to brew simple potions with his new kit, and all his questions about Hogwarts and about which curses she knew made her feel looked up to, a bit like she thought Kimberly and the other sixth-years must feel about her.
One thing was for sure, she thought, as she left the guest room for the final time, trunk in tow. She was never going to wear any of these ridiculous tights again.