"I'm beginning to grow frustrated," sung George as he stared out of the kitchen window in late November. 

"No kidding, when was the last time you got some?" Fred teased. 

"Haha," replied George, "I mean, I'm frustrated with being in this house all of the time."

"I'm sorry," said Calliope.

George sighed heavily, "don't worry about it Callie, it's not your fault. It's You-Know-Who's."

"It won't last forever," Calliope promised.

"Does that mean that the whispers have told you that Harry is going to kill him?" Asked Ron, who was sat flicking through a copy of the daily prophet.

"I don't know," lied Calliope, as she knew full well that Voldemort was going to kill Harry rather than the other way around, "but it can't possibly last forever. As soon as Harry has done what he needs to do..." Calliope trailed off, making meaningful eye contact with Ron. 

"You know more than you're letting on Callie," said George, looking from Calliope to Ron and back again.

"Dumbledore didn't want anyone else knowing," Ron defended her, "if we could tell you we would."

"George I always know more than I'm letting on," said Calliope, "sometimes it's better not to know."

The conversation was quickly cut off by the cauldron which Fred had been stirring letting out a high pitched scream before exploding in Fred's face.

Ron and George burst out laughing as Calliope rolled her eyes. Fred emerged from a cloud of smoke, coughing and spluttering and absolutely covered in soot. 

"Personally I'd like to hear my brothers and wife ask if I'm okay after a cauldron blows up in my face, rather than just laughing at me," said Fred, wiping soot from his eyes as he spoke. 

"I didn't laugh," offered Calliope.

"I can hear you rolling your eyes at me," Fred replied, "and you still haven't asked if I'm okay."

"You're being dramatic," said Calliope, "you're fine."

"How do you know that?" Fred asked, crossing his arms across his chest like an angry toddler. 

"Because I can feel your pain stupid," Calliope sighed heavily and got up from her chair, making her way over to the sink and grabbing a cloth for Fred to clean his face off with. She tossed it to him and he began to scrub his face. 

"This proves my point," said George victoriously as Fred cleaned the soot off of his face, "I'm by far the best potioneer in this house."

Calliope raised her eyebrows at him.

"Okay, I'm by far the best potioneer in this house, with the exception of Callie, who bests us all at everything," said George dramatically, "Better?"

"Better," Calliope grinned. 

********

"Do you really always know more than you tell me?" Fred asked Calliope when they were alone in the living room later that night after George and Ron had gone to bed.  

Calliope snuggled further down into his embrace as if she could hide from the question, knowing that this in itself would be an answer for Fred. 

"I can't tell people everything that I know," Calliope said quietly, "if I did then some things may never happen."

"So you know if we win or not?" 

"No." Calliope's lie had been so practised that it was instinctive. It was good enough to fool Fred who sighed and moved his body so that their faces were close to each other.

He pressed his forehead to hers and closed his eyes. "Are we both going to make it out of this?"

Calliope didn't answer for a few moments. She stared at Fred's face, counting the freckles on his cheeks before she could answer.

"I don't know," she said honestly, "I've never been able to know what's going to happen to me."

Fred opened his eyes and stared deep into hers for a long time.

"Whatever we do we'll do it together," he said, his voice barely a whisper. Calliope didn't know why but she felt the sudden urge to cry. Despite having settled on embracing death, and being content that this was the ending that would likely meet her before the war was over, she had never considered Fred in that scenario. He couldn't die, because a world without Fred in was pointless, barley worth living in. 

"You will stay alive," Calliope promised him, knowing that her words could not stop death if it wanted him. 

"And so will you," replied Fred. He wasted no more time and closed the gap between them, banishing all thoughts of death from Calliope's mind and allowing her to get lost in the comfort of his arms.