Whispers

Three

That same night the death eaters broke into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

When they arrived there were three people inhabiting the space, but when they left only two remained as they had taken Fred with them.

There was nothing that either George or Natalie could do against Bellatrix Lestrange who lead the group who captured Fred. But both were aware of why Fred was taken. The death eaters wanted Calliope, everyone was aware of this.

Elphias had narrowly escaped an attack just a few days earlier and Remus was only safe because of his secret mission with the werewolves, which left him inaccessible. So they went for Fred, thinking he would be able to tell them where Calliope was hiding or better yet use him as bait to capture her.

"What are we supposed to do?" Natalie demanded, panic stricken just a few moments after the death eaters were gone.

"I'll tell the order," said George, whom the shock had not seemed to register to yet.

"I'll find Callie," said Natalie.

"You know where she is?"

"I have an idea."

The two quickly split up. Natalie hurrying to Grimmauld Place where she had suspected Calliope of hiding.

Calliope almost knocked Natalie over as she flung open the door to the house. She clearly hadn't been asleep as she was wearing jeans and shoes.

"Callie!"

"What happened to Fred?" Calliope demanded.

"They took him," said Natalie.

********

"Does anyone have any idea where Calliope is?" George demanded, seeming to come to his senses after having been silent since he announced that Fred was gone.

At that very moment, the door opened and Calliope strode into the room, quickly followed by Natalie.

Calliope radiated new energy from the last time that anyone had seen her almost six months ago. She had a glint in her eye and at that moment all that could be seen written across her face was pain and rage. The pure power that she possessed was evident at that moment, and even Dumbledore shuddered slightly.

"Callie, is Fred okay?" George jumped to his feet and grabbed her shoulders.

"No he's not," Calliope said quietly, but her volume didn't stop everyone in the room listening aptly to what she was saying, "what happened, why is he hurt?"

"The Death Eaters turned up at the shop and took him," said George, "I couldn't do anything!"

"Well, what are you planning to do about it?" Calliope turned to the gathered members of the Order, specifically Dumbledore.

"There is little that we can do against the Death Eaters," replied Dumbledore regarding the banshee somewhat warily. 

Calliope winced slightly as another wave of pain flowed through the bond from Fred.

"I'll do it myself then," replied Calliope, before turning on her heel and striding back out of the door. 

Natalie and George exchanged a brief look before hurrying after Calliope, grabbing onto her arms just as she apparated. They appeared in the flat above Weasley Wizard Wheezes and Calliope turned to her two friends.

"I'm going to find out where he is, and then I'm going to go and get him," Calliope told the two.

"We'll help-" George began, eager to help rescue his brother from the clutches of the Death Eaters.

"No I have to go alone," said Calliope, "if you're there then I'd have to hold back and-"

"If you want to get Fred out safely then you can't be holding back," finished Natalie, "go, save Fred, be a badass without us. But promise that you'll come back?"

"I promise," Calliope sat herself down before closing her eyes and seeking out Fred in her astral form.

She opened her eyes and found herself in a posh looking bedroom. Whilst the mahogany furniture was all in pristine condition, the room was unlived in, as evident from the small disturbed piles of dust.

In the middle of the room, on the fourposter bed lay an unmoving Fred. Retreating footsteps from the other side of the door made it evident that he had just been carelessly dumped in this room after enduring the torture that Calliope had felt just a few moments ago.

Calliope hurried forward to Fred, climbing onto the bed to kneel beside him.

"Fred," Calliope said, "Fred are you okay?"

Fred opened one eye and looked around. The second that he spotted her he sat bolt upright, "Callie?" He put a hand up as if to cup her face, but it went straight through her.

"I'm so sorry Fred," Calliope couldn't quite make eye contact with him as she looked down at her own hands instead, "this is all my fault, I shouldn't have left you-"

"No you shouldn't have," said Fred curtly, "and I'm not going to forgive you until I see you in person."

"Well that's why I'm here now," said Calliope, "I'm working out where you are so that I can come and bust you out." 

"Well, I'm at Malfoy manner," said Fred.

"You're going to want to find something to block out sound," Calliope told Fred, "it's going to get a little loud in here any minute now."

********

Calliope's eyes flew open and she apparated almost immediatly, not pausing to explain anything to Fred of Natalie.

As she expected the manor had wards around it that prevented apportion within its walls. But the gate presented to problem to Calliope, who cast a simple spell on herself and walked straight through the iron gate.

A single peacock was roaming up the drive and Calliope was careful to avoid it, not wanting to hurt the beautiful creature.

In her three months of isolation Calliope had refined her skills further. When there was no one else around she had felt more comfortable to practice her deadly screams. And she was able to control it better now, she knew how much she had to scream to kill someone and how much to just knock them out, and although she had not had chance to test this she thought that she would be able to use this to her advantage in this scenario.

With her wand in hand, she stared at the big front doors and took a deep breath before proceeding.