Whispers

Twenty-Three

The next to return were Hemione and Kingsley. Calliope only half-listened to the conversation as she continued to stare at the night sky awaiting Fred's return. The others all moved inside and not moments after they had done so, Fred and Sirius landed in a heap in the garden.

"Fred!" Calliope darted forwards, "you're okay!" Calliope helped him to his feet.

"We missed our portkey," Fred explained, "who died Callie? I felt-"

"George is inside-"

"George?" 

"No he's not dead, but he's pretty bad," said Calliope, "you should go and see him." Fred darted off towards the house and Calliope helped Sirius to his feet.

"Calliope, who died?" Sirius asked.

"We're still waiting for Ron and Tonks and Bill and Fleur," Calliope avoided the question. 

"Who's dead?" Sirius asked again.

Calliope met his gaze, struggling to hold back tears, "Mad-Eye." Sirius pulled her into a hug, just as the tears overcame her. "I can feel it all," Calliope sobbed into his shoulder, "every time someone dies I can feel their pain, it's exhausting and it's worse when I know the person. I don't know how much longer I can do this Sirius. It's too much."

Sirius couldn't say anything to comfort her. He held her tightly and attempted to offer her comfort through his presence. Calliope took on to much, but there was no way for her to take on any less. It was her lot in life.

Hagrid, Hermione, and Remus were stood away from Sirius and Calliope, and Kingsley paced as they waited for more returning friends. Sirius shot Remus a look, asking for help and the man moved over to take his goddaughter into his own arms to allow Sirius to greet Harry who had just joined the group in the garden. 

"Thanks, Remus," Calliope wiped her eyes and took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, sometimes it all just gets-"

"Don't be sorry Calliope, it's what Sirius and I are here for," Remus squeezed her shoulders. He placed an arm around her and they joined the silent group staring at the skies, awaiting the arrival of Tonks, Ron, Bill, Fleur, Mundungus and Mad-Eye, who unbeknownst to the majority of the group, would never return. 

A broom materialized directly above the group and then streaked towards the ground. Tonks and Ron scrambled to their feet, Tonks falling directly into Remus' arms.

Yet more time passed before Bill and Fleur landed in the garden on their thestral. Calliope walked forwards away from the gathered group to stroke the thestral. She had felt a strange affinity with the creatures ever since she laid eyes upon them, a feeling which she supposed was strengthened by the fact that her wand held a thestral tail hair within it. 

Calliope was pulled from her thoughts by a jolt of electricity which told her that Fred had placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Why didn't you tell anyone about Mad-Eye?" asked Fred, "why didn't you tell me?"

Calliope said nothing, but sank into Fred's embrace, breathing in his scent and enjoying the familiar crackle of his touch through her veins. 

"Callie, why didn't you tell me?" Fred asked as he stroked her head.

"You needed to be there for George," said Calliope, "there was nothing that any of us could do for Mad-Eye. If I hadn't been so..." she trailed off. But Fred knew exactly what she had been about to say. She had not been strictly present in the mortal world since Natalie's death. "If I'd paid more attention then I might have seen it coming."

Fred saw the signs a mile away. Calliope was threatening to do what she had done before. To withdraw, to break under the weight of all that she had endured. He could not let her do this again for the sake of her own sanity. He also had selfish reasons behind wanting to stop her withdrawing, he couldn't lose her again. 

"I'm going to go back through the veil," said Calliope, "I need to see her, I need to speak to them all and I need to understand again."

"Callie you don't need to do anything," said Fred, holding her tightly as he spoke, "you don't have to understand any more than you do now. You're in danger Callie, going through that veil... we still don't know why you survived it the other times or what it really is."

"It's obvious why I survived it," Calliope said, "it's because of..." she trailed off again, lost within her own thoughts.

"Because of..." Fred prompted.

"My mother. She's who I need to see. After the wedding, I'm going back to the banshees for answers- where are you going?" Calliope had spotted Remus, Bill and Sirius striding towards the garden gate.

"To find Mad-Eye's body," said Bill.

"You won't find it," Calliope responded, "they already have it."