( chapter xxiv. ONE LAST HURRAH )

— 🌙 —

Death, it was a terrible thing. It was something everyone feared, even if they didn't admit it. Even if they didn't to. The fear of unfinished business, moving on without saying goodbye, leaving your family and friends in the land of the living while you're just gone and dead and never coming back. The fear of never completing something, never seeing someone again because you're dead and they're living. The end. That's it; it's just the end.

There is no tomorrow and you can't go back to yesterday, you're stuck on today but you aren't because you're not alive anymore. You're dead. There's nothing else for you because you're gone and you're never coming back. But Calypso thought that death was worse for the living, because while the dead just get to rest and be the one to leave, no longer worrying and no longer carrying any of the guilt of their life, the living were still there. Still breathing and moving on.

Calypso was still there, still living, and so was everyone else. They had to come to terms that not everyone knew Cedric Diggory, not everyone had conversations with him that latest long and not everyone knew what his laugh sounded like. Even less called him a friend. Calypso did not have the pleasure of knowing the Diggory boy personally, though she had heard much about him, but she liked to think of it as a blessing.

If you knew them, you were hurt. You would mourn and be wracked with grief over their passing, you would stop functioning and freeze for a moment because they're dead and you're still living. You're still alive and he isn't. He's gone and he'll never come back. But to Calypso, as terrible as it sounded, that didn't matter.

She didn't know Cedric, she would never think of him with a smile before frowning because he died and he's dead. She would never really cry over him, as terrible as it sounded. To her, Cedric Diggory was another body which moved around Hogwarts and would be gone. She didn't know him personally, didn't know him at all, so she would never stop her life to grieve over him. She would move on so easily.

But it sounded so terrible, knowing that while others were suffering over his death. She saw wet faces that day on the pitch, the news of his death spreading to them as they all saw his dead body. His pale, lifeless body just lying there with no movement. It wasn't a hoax, he was dead. He was never coming back and they would all be haunted with that memory.

Still, Calypso hadn't cried that day. She wasn't unfamiliar with this sight, the only difference was that this was real and last time had all been a living nightmare. Because Cedric Diggory's dead body had lied there for her to see and that was real, but her grandfather's newly murdered body in the study had all been a nightmare – her nightmare. Her worst fear because a Boggart had been in the room and she didn't know that, but she was only five. She was only five when she saw it, and then she saw it again that day.

And it was a terrible sight and she understood the tears. She was probably one of the only ones who hadn't shed one that day, seeing him dead there on the grass. The same grass that was under the feet of Quidditch players. No, it was now the grass where Cedric Diggory's dead body had rested for a time and that was terrible.

She felt sympathy for those who knew Cedric, who really knew him and loved him and would mourn so much over him. She felt so much sympathy for Harry because he witnessed it, he saw Cedric die and he would never forget it, it would haunt him forever and she hated that. She hated that for him and if there was any way to relieve him of hat, take it upon herself, she would in a heartbeat.

Days had passed since June twenty-fourth when Cedric Diggory died. Time had moved on because one person dying didn't matter to it, people grieving over the dead meant nothing. Harry Potter was still in the hospital wing and Cedric was still dead and people were still crying at the mention of him – at the mention of that day.

And although Calypso had never been close to Harry, he had been the least of her problems that year so she never thought of him, she still went to go see him. Because she did know him a little and he definitely knew her uncle. And her uncle would want her to go and say something because if Voldemort had never killed James and Lily and Sirius hadn't gone to Azkaban, they would practically be family. So she had to go see him.

She found herself walking the familiar corridors to the hospital wing, a place she knew all too well, and almost shivered. But Calypso didn't, she wouldn't show fear when there was nothing to fear there. It was just the hospital wing, a place where people got treated, a place where bandages were placed on the bleeding wounds that would turn to scars and plague her body forever. That's all it was.

Calypso moved forward, reaching for the handle on the door when it opened, causing her to move back. "I'm so sorry!" a voice came. She looked to see Sloane Clarke standing there with wide eyes, "I didn't know someone was going to be on the other side, sorry."

"It's fine, Sloane," Calypso shook it off, "You could've have known. It's fine."

"Merlin, the door didn't actually hit you, did it?" Sloane asked, ignoring what she had said.

The Black girl shook her head, "No, it didn't. I'm fine. But what – what were you doing in there?"

"Oh," Sloane stopped, "I was visiting my friend, Leilani. We were practicing some charms – for the exam – and it accidentally went wrong. She's fine, just letting the meds heal her up."

"Sorry to hear that," Calypso said, "I hope she gets better soon."

Sloane waved off the concern, "She will be. It's just a simple charm, nothing too serious. Did you get hurt?"

"What?" Calypso asked before realizing that of course Sloane would ask, she was about to walk into the fucking hospital wing, "Oh, uh, no. I'm just here to see Harry."

The Clarke girl frowned a bit, "I didn't know you two were close."

"We aren't, not really, but our parents were friends," Calypso told her.

"And then your uncle killed his parents," Sloane continued, wincing at how rude that was, "Sorry. It's just natural instinct."

"It's fine," Calypso comforted but she could admit that her heart slightly dropped at the mention of that, of the lie, "Yeah, but um, we've worked out our differences with that and my dad would freak if I didn't check up on Harry."

Sloane nodded, "Harry was close with Mr. Lupin last year, I thought it was pretty odd. But, well, I guess him being friends with Harry's parents makes sense."

"Yeah."

"But you never got close to him, when he came to Hogwarts, and you must've known that they were close friends. You stayed away," Sloane said, calculating as her eyes met Calypso's.

The girl swallowed, "I thought it was better. I mean, if I got close to him and people could him about how my uncle killed his parents then he would hate me for keeping that information while trying to be his friend. But, on the other hand, if I told him off the bat then he would still hate me. So, you know, I just thought it was best to stay away."

Sloane digested that information and nodded, "That makes sense. But, if he knew, he could've gone to you for more information on his parents."

"You think he'd want that?"

"You think he wouldn't?" Sloane countered, "I mean, I know my parents but I still want to know more about them. And Harry barely knew anything about them before Hogwarts and he still probably doesn't know much, I think he'd like to talk to you about them."

Calypso thought a moment about what Sloane had said. "Huh," she breathed, "I guess I didn't think of that."

"It happens," Sloane shrugged, "And to think you're the second smartest person in our year..."

"Stop that," Calypso scoffed and rolled her eyes, "I don't appreciate it."

Sloane gave a smile and shrugged slightly. She was still giggling quietly to herself when the bell rang. "Well, I've got to get going. And I guess this means seeing Harry will have to wait."

"I have a free period," Calypso said, "Have fun with whatever class you have."

"Ghoul Studies with that old professor...might not happen. Oh! And I think that Harry's sleeping, so you might have to wait a while," Sloane said, "Have a good day, Calypso."

"You too," she said back, watching Sloane leave for Ghoul Studies while she went to turn the knob again, this time without almost being hit by the door. She went inside, seeing Madame Pomphrey nowhere in sight but that didn't matter.

Calypso walked around the hospital wing looking for the poor boy before finding him asleep in his bed, which was probably a good thing. There was already a chair pulled up for her to sit at, right beside his bedside. Thankfully, she had brought a book to read in her bag and brought it out, waiting for Harry to wake.

She only got so far before Harry started to thrash. Her eyes went to his squirming body and at first she thought he was awake before realizing this was all a nightmare; he was having a nightmare. Calypso moved quickly as he began to scream and her heart clenched. "Cedric! NO!" he yelled out before begging and she went to grab his hand.

"Harry, Harry...wake up!" she exclaimed as calm as she could, "Harry, come on. Wake up, Harry!"

She didn't want to shake him or really touch him any more in case it made his nightmare worse but she didn't know what to do. "Harry, you're having a nightmare, wake up!" she tried again, pleading with the unconscious figure.

She continued to do this until the boy's eyes shot open and to the worried face of Calypso. He was breathing heavily and she felt terrible for him. He was suffering and she could admit to herself that Cedric's death meant almost nothing to her, she didn't know him. She didn't care about him and he never mattered to her while he was alive. They never spoke and now they never would.

"Calypso...?" Harry said, still trying to calm his breathing, looking around at the hospital wing.

"It's me, yeah," she confirmed, "You were having a nightmare, Harry, about Cedric. I had to wake you up."

He swallowed, "That's been happening since that night."

"I'm sorry, Har, I know what's like," Calsypso said sympathetically, remembering all the nights she had dreamed again of her grandmother screaming at her to kill her grandfather because he was weak before doing it herself. They usually continued to her screaming at Calypso, sometimes going as far as Calypso dying in the dream.

"No, you haven't. You haven't seen someone die before, you haven't been the reason some died before," Harry spat out and Calypso was taken aback by the outburst.

She stared back at him, "You're right, I haven't had someone die for me."

"So how can you say that you understand what I'm going through? You don't, no one does," Harry spat out again.

Calypso rolled her eyes at that, "You're not the only one who's seen someone die before, Harry. It's actually pretty common. I mean, my mother saw her brother die."

Although, that was a lie. At the time, Remelda truly believed that Regulus had died before it was revealed to her weeks later that no, her brother hadn't been killed. He was still breathing and alive, just had to fake his death.

Harry turned his head away from Calypso. "Come on, I wanted to see you," Calypso told him, "To see how you are."

"Obviously, not good," Harry shortly said and she about had enough with him.

"I didn't think you'd be okay, actually it'd be pretty concerning if you were. But everyone's worried about you, Harry," Calypso told him.

"Everyone?"

"The people who matter then. They're worried about you. And, well, I wrote to Uncle Pads and he's almost about to run right in here to make sure you're alright," Calypso told him, "Along with my dad."

"What about your mum? She was friends with them, but she doesn't care about me, does me?" Calypso was taken aback again by him.

"Of course she cares about your, Harry, you're the one of two her friends," Calypso said as if it were obvious.

"But if she really cared about me, why didn't she try to adopt me? Why hasn't she seen me? I don't even know what Remelda looks like," Harry said, only turning so that his eyes could meet hers.

Calypso sighed, "She couldn't adopt you, not at that time."

"Of course, the timing. Someone should've told Voldemort to kill my parents at a different time that suited your mother," Harry said sarcastically.

"She was going through a fucking divorce, you asshole. And then her friends died and her brother went to Azkaban and she still had to look after me. Her life was falling apart, she couldn't take you in, Harry," Calypso laid down the truth.

"What about Sirius' ex-girlfriend?"

"How do you know about her?" Calypso asked dangerously low, burning a hole into Harry.

"Sirius told me about her. Her name's Nadia, right?" he pressed on.

"Yeah, it is. But it wasn't good for her either, if she took you in then she'd be having to raise three kids instead of two, all at the same age," Calypso thought it best not to lie about this. It wouldn't be good for anyone.

"So I was left to go to my aunt's house," Harry concluded, "Because no one else could take care of me because life was shit and they had other people to care about and couldn't spare any minute with me."

"We tried to reach out, Harry, we did," Calypso said, "Every year for your birthday we sent you a gift, mum and I. Dad would've done the same if he could spare some funds."

Harry frowned, "I never got gifts."

"But we sent you a plush cat, just like the one you had as a baby. And then another year we got you a book on charms you could start testing out," Calypso said.

Harry turned away again. "I never got any of those. Guess they took them before I could see them."

"Well," Calypso decided, heart aching again for the boy even though five minutes ago he had been lashing out at her, "How about this summer I'll try to convince my mum to have you over for your birthday. You can meet my cousins too, their names are Leo and Maia and I think you'll love them. Would you like that? I mean, if I can get mum's permission?"

It was silent for a moment and Calypso's heart was dropping. Then, "Yeah, I would," and she smiled.

"Great! Then it's decided!" Calypso cheered. She just hoped that her mother would actually agree to this then.

― 🌙 ―

Cal,

I don't think it's a good idea for Harry to come over during summer. I know you think it's good, but a lot's been happening and I think it's best if we stay away from him. We have a lot to talk about when you get back home.

Love,
Mum

― 🌙 ―

ONE LAST HURRAH.

It was the night of the last feast at Hogwarts before they would be returning home the next morning. One last time to gather with your friends for dinner and look at the long table holding the professors with Dumbledore in the middle. One last time to see Slytherins grumbling to themselves and every now again you could practically hear Draco Malfoy's sneer and you know he was talking about Potter. Which, for a guy who claimed to hate the champion, he sure talked about him a whole lot.

Calypso sat across from Lee and Birdie, who were cozying up together and she couldn't help but smile a little. Soon, that was when they'd get together, she knew it. She was eating her food and Birdie's cheeks were pink and Calypso sniggered to herself.

"What do you think you'll be doing this summer?" Birdie asked her friend, looking at her expectantly as she took another bite.

The Black girl just shrugged, "Probably nothing. Just stay with my mum and maybe visit my dad a couple times."

In all honestly, the last thing she wanted to do was see her mother. Usually, she was ecstatic at the prospect of seeing her mother after a long time apart, especially since she didn't even get to go home for Christmas, but this year it was something she dreaded. Because every time she thought of her mother, she thought of the letter she sent, saying that Harry couldn't come spend his birthday with them – people who cared for him, by the looks of what Harry had said.

But no, her mother had said and that meant Harry wouldn't be coming over. She did admit, she was curious about what her mother needed to tell her, but it was overshadowed by her annoyance. By her mother's blatant disregard. And she began to wonder if what Harry said was true, that her mother did hate him for whatever reason. It wasn't really logical, but her thoughts still went there until he practically consumed her.

"That's nice," Birdie commented, "I'll probably spend every day at the bookshop working, hurray!"

Calypso snorted at her sarcasm and Lee smiled softly at her, fondly maybe. "I'll come visit you sometimes," he said her.

Birdie flushed a bit, the pink becoming a bit redder and Calypso chuckled quietly to herself. "I'd, uh, I'd like that. Thanks," she told him.

Lee grinned and turned back to Calypso, "And maybe Cal can come, sometimes. We can all hang out together."

"Cal?"

Calypso paused, looking at Birdie. The girl was practically pleading with her to say no and she understood. Plus, the girl was always more irritable at work. "I'll have to see, but I don't know. Mum doesn't like me going places filled with wizards, all the looks and everything..."

"Oh, right. Sorry, it was a stupid idea," Lee apologized immediately.

"No, it's fine, Lee. Really," Calypso waved it off. She got over the stares and whispers long ago, although sometimes they got to her she liked to think she had enough practice in ignoring them. "Thanks for offering, though."

"No problem."

Lee opened his mouth to speak again when Dumbledore stood up, immediately silencing everyone. For a fleeting moment, she wondered what it was like to have power like that, being able to silence a whole crowd of students just by standing up. No speaking, just moving. It must be wonderful, maybe even addictive. But she silenced the thought quickly, it was stupid anyway.

"Today we acknowledge a really terrible loss," Dumbledore said, addressing the students, "Cedric Diggory was as you all know, exceptionally hard working, intricately fair minded. And most importantly a fierce, fierce friend. I think therefore you have the right to know exactly how he was died."

Dumbledore paused and students looked around at each other, whispering and questioning what he was about to say. Would he agree with Harry? Disregard the poor boy?

"You see, Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort."

And they were engulfed in silence again, staring at their Headmaster as they confirmed what Harry had said and what they all had fought so hard to discredit. Calypso felt herself stiffen as she still searched over the crowed for Harry, seeing the boy bow his head for a moment, presumably thinking about that horrible day. June twenty-fourth.

"The Ministry of Magic does not wish me to tell you this. But not to do so I think would be an insult to his memory. Now the pain we all feel at this dreadful loss reminds me, reminds us, that while we may come from different places and speak in different tongues, our hearts beat as one. In light of recent events the bonds of friendship we made this year will be more important than ever," Dumbledore said before pausing again and raising his voice the smallest bit.

"Remember that and Cedric Diggory will not have died in vain, you remember that. And we'll celebrate a boy who was kind and honest and brave and true right to the very end," Dumbledore finished, sitting down again.

There was silence. Maddox looked heartbroken and Kiara tried to comfort her friend but everyone knew there was nothing she could do. Harry didn't look at anyone, keeping his head down and Hermione obviously worried about him.

And Calypso? She felt dread pool in her stomach. Voldemort was back, he was back and he would come full force at those who have betrayed him previously. And everyone knew that included her family.

― 🌙 ―

CALYPSO LIKED TO think she'd never return to 12 Grimmauld Place, a house that haunted her dreams. Not just hers, but her mother's and probably her uncles' as well. A place that gave her nightmares and reminded her of the time when she was five, the only time she had stepped inside.

All doe eyed with twinkling stars in her eyes, bouncing around the house in wonder. It looked abandoned, like the haunted house from horror movies. But she was five and it was like the monkey bars to her, she went around with that cute smile on her face with the freckles adorning her cheeks. There was dust so she drew a cute picture, a nice little smiley face and, if given more time, probably 'CALYPSO WAS HERE' or something like that in a messy scribble of a five-year-old.

And with every nightmare, she comforted herself with the promise that she would never have to return. The house could rot in the name of the old Black family; the great and most noble house that had tragically fallen. And she was comforted by the promise, but now she was breaking it.

With the trunk still in her hands and a cat on the floor, she looked around at the new setting. It looked the same, but it had been years since she had last seen it and it was only for a glimpse, so it could possibly be so different. It looked brighter and cleaner, the dust was gone and there was a sense that people lived there, that it wasn't just an abandoned property.

Her mother had explained in the car ride over here that she had packed the rest of Calypso's stuff with the help of Nadia, that this was for the best after the news of Cedric Diggory's death and the return of their enemy. It was safest, this becoming the Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix, which had been reinstated after the recent events.

She felt like she couldn't breath as she moved forward, having to move forward. She could hear people in the room beside her, her dad's voice along with one she couldn't recognize. She heard music upstairs from a muggle artist along with Leo whispering along the lyrics. There were almost silent sobs in another room and her heart ached for the stranger.

Remelda was beside her, holding the same expression as her daughter; apprehensiveness with an underlining of fear. Fear. Maia looked at Nadia confused, she had never been to the house before, but this would be their new home for the coming months or until the war ended it seemed from Remelda's explaining.

There was a ginger cat looking at her with almost concern, or as much concern he could project in his state of being. Remelda gripped her hand and they walked, going upstairs and she shivered to herself. Upstairs with the study and the nightmare, the haunting spirit of her mother. Dimly, she heard yelling from downstairs that sounded like the voice that haunted her but she couldn't make anything out. She placed her stuff down and so did Maia, they were sharing the room together as her mother explained, only certain words carrying through the muffled ringing in her eyes.

Nala meowed and Calypso picked her up, wishing desperately that she was anywhere else. She wanted to write Birdie immediately and ask her if she could sleep over but she couldn't move to get the pen and paper. Well, quill and parchment, they wouldn't have those muggle supplies here.

Her mother was gripping her shoulders, concern bleeding from her eyes as she asked her daughter something but Calypso couldn't hear her. All she could hear was her grandmother's screams for her to kill the coward, her grandfather. The screams blended in with the screams of Queen, fleshing out. She couldn't stop it, but she wanted it to end. Maia was beside her to.

But the bad, bad memories wouldn't stop. They swirled around her brain, consuming her, and she fell as their prisoner.

END OF ACT TWO.