— chapter thirty two —
SCREAMS OF TERROR

—

THREE MORE YEARS had passed. Calypso definitely looked like a younger version of her mother, except had the freckles that used to adorn Remus' cheeks as a child. Her eyes shined as bright as the stars, something which the child hated because of her name, which she was adamant on changing. Really, she much preferred her middle name – Hope – and wanted to be called that, but Remelda never did. She chose the name Calypso and loved it, so she would never call her daughter anything else no matter how much she complained about it.

Her hair had also grown. It was long, black and incredibly thick like Remelda's. Pale, too. She looked exactly Remelda when she was younger and would've loved to show her daughter pictures of herself when she was younger, but those were still at her parents' house. That was if they hadn't burned or destroyed them.

She still lived in the same house and Remus had his own nice cottage. Calypso went to stay there every other weekend and it was nice to see her ex-husband again. Nadia had taken Nancy's twins and cared for them deeply.

Maia and Leo. They weren't Amara and Calix anymore, it would be so foolish to name them that if they continued to be in the wizarding world, and those names were nice. Really, she had thought of them on the way over to Nadia's old apartment and was quite proud of herself for it. Those were beautiful names. As for the Greene family, they still lived in an apartment, but a bigger one to accommodate the three of them. Even if two of them were still toddlers.

And, strangely, for the past three years Remelda's life had been peaceful. She and Regulus managed to get together every six months or so and he once stayed a whole weekend, as a cat of course, and fell absolutely in love with Calypso. She still wanted to visit Sirius in Azkaban, but refrained. As for Nadia, she didn't want to talk about him, it was too painful for her, and Remelda knew better than to mention his name in front of Remus.

But then the peace had to end. At least, momentarily. The letter had arrived one Saturday afternoon after her and Calypso had returned from the park. They always went on Saturday because Remelda was off work and Calypso loved nature. Her babysitter, a teen named Angela, never let her outside but was caring enough that Remelda kept her around.

Remelda had noticed the letter when she went into the kitchen to fix Calypso a snack. She found the letter just sitting on the counter and a barn owl standing nearing it. At first, she had frowned because she had totally forgotten to close the window before they left but then picked it up. It was odd; rarely anyone wrote her. Regulus did every now and again, but it was an unusual sight, seeing as both were incredibly busy nowadays and lived their own lives. And Nadia never wrote, as did Remus, since they had gotten a phone at the house. Ah, the wonders of muggle technology.

But then she noticed crisp handwriting in her name and knew it wasn't one of them. Remelda wasted no time opening the envelope and taking a look at the contents inside. Her eyes fluttered across the words until, suddenly, she brought it down from her face and broke out into a large smile. After a silent cheer, she continued to read it as part of her heart stung at another part. But the good message was clear;

Orion and Walburga Black was dead.

Her parents were dead!

Oh, how long she had always wished for this. Even as a child, as bad as it sounds, she dreamt of it every night because that meant they wouldn't be beat anymore and maybe – maybe – they could be happy. This dream always came to a halt when she remembered that if her parents died she would only be sent to live with someone just as bad. There would be no escaping that way.

But the part that stung her; Seeing as your older brother, Sirius Black, is imprisoned and cannot accept the house (12 Grimmauld Place) it has been placed to you. The mention of her brother still hurt, and even more the memories of everything that had ever happened at that wretched place that she could now call her own.

No. It was not hers and it never will be, for she is not like her parents. She will never become like them and if she lived there...it would be too much. It would be suffocating and maybe, just maybe, drive her to be just like them. And she never wanted to hurt her young Calypso – the light of her life.

But still, she did not want to sell the place. It was still a place she lived and it still held some good memories and there might be some belongings still there she didn't want to leave behind for someone else to throw away carelessly. But she would live there either.

One last walk through; that would be enough.

―

Saying that she wanted one last walk through of her old home (well, place she used to live) and actually going there were two different things and the latter was currently scaring the shit out of Remelda. Herself and Calypso had taken the bus after going to the park that Saturday, a week after she received the letter, and now she was standing in front of where she called home.

(A place she used to live.)

Her heart was pounding inside her chest and, accidentally, her grip on Calypso's hand tightened slightly, but not to the point where it could hurt the child. No, no. She was always careful of that.

Letting out a shaky breath, she went to the door and took out her old keys from when she was a teenager, which surprisingly still worked, and opened the door. The two stepped inside.

The place was dusty and dark, barren and the same creepiness leaking in as it always had. "Mummy, what are we doing here?" Calypso asked.

Remelda smiled nicely and bent down, "This is where mummy grew up. Now, why don't you take a look around while I gather some things?"

Calypso nodded and bounced up the stairs and Remelda would learn to regret letting her go off on her own around here. But, at the time, she only thought of how she needed to experience this alone without her little girl.

Going near the stairs, she found a drape on top of what seemed like a painting on the wall. Remelda reached up to see what was behind it only to be greeted by the image of her mother, who sneered once she saw her daughter.

"You filthy bloodtraitor! How dare you walk into my own house like this?" the portrait of Walburga Black continued to yell insults but Remelda, who had paled and frozen for a moment (it had been so long, yet so fresh) covered the painting again and slowed her breathing.

"Mummy?" she heard a yell from upstairs, "What was that?"

"Nothing, sweetie. Just continue looking around," Remelda called back and when she didn't hear a reply, she assumed Calypso did just that.

Remelda went to the dining room. So many memories there, so many discussions where Remelda felt afraid to speak and was glad she was never spoken to. Her eyes went around all the room before landing on a certain necklace in the China cabinet. That was the reason why Regulus had been hiding for so long – why he would continue to hide forever. A simple locket that Remelda didn't know what to do with so left in the house.

She felt herself inching towards it, almost reaching for it, but stopped herself when she realized what was happening. And while that part that had been drawn to it wished for her to bring it back home, the other, stronger, part refrained. That would be dangerous and the whole point of Remelda keeping it here was to protect it. And she would do just that until her dying day.

The woman wanted to see her own room again, for one last time, but was cut off by a scream upstairs; the shrill terror of her daughter. Remelda rushed upstairs and called out, "Calypso?" looking through all the rooms until she got down the hall and to her father's old office where the scared looking child sat curled in a ball, sobs escaping her mouth.

Remelda immediately scooped her into a hug and looked around for what could cause such terror inside the young girl but found nothing. She pressed her lips against Calypso's head and picked her up so they could leave.

As she walked out the door, Remelda thought about how she had once been a princess. The jewel of the Black family; their precious treasure, but she had thrown it all away. And now, on her head was her broken crown that had been there since she had walked away from it all.

END OF BROKEN CROWN.

to clear up any confusion on the maia/amara and leo/calix thing, check out the new and improved epilogue to all my heart.

update: hi, i thought this was obvious since this book has been completed for months now, but the character ask is CLOSED. please refrain from commenting under this section because your question will not be answered and frankly it's a little annoying to me.

also! it's not to late to send in questions:

remelda

nancy

demetri

alfie

remus

sirius

regulus

ellie [author]