Whispers

Thirty-Nine

The grounds were eerily quiet. Only the sounds of hushed voices from the group of fighters and their footfalls penetrated the silence. 

Glancing back up to the castle with all of its windows illuminated, Calliope took a deep breath and steeled herself for the next few hours. She was prepared physically, wand clutched in one hand and her feet planted steadily on the ground facing towards the great gate which was the main entrance to the school. But emotionally? The whispers were merely a warning of what was to come. Was she ready for the emotional onslaught that would follow the inevitable deaths to come? 

She took another deep breath and brought her mind away from the whispers and to the task at hand.

They came silently and quickly. Hordes of death eaters flooded the gates, which without their usual magical protection were easy for the death eaters to blast apart, allowing them easy access to the grounds. 

Calliope was lost in the battle, throwing curses, hexes and jinxes at anyone who came near her. Using the skills that she had honed over the years, she threw her screams out from her, wrapping them around her enemies and rendering them incapacitated but leaving her allies unaffected. 

It had taken her years to gain this level of control and even now it was shakey to say the least.

Throwing a curse at a Death Eater who was about to curse Remus, Calliope whirled around to see Ginny's mane of red hair swing by as the girl hurled her speciality, the Bat Bogey Hex, at a Snatcher. 

"Ginny! You're supposed to be inside! What are you doing!" Calliope yelled at the girl.

"Harry needed to go into the Room of Requirement," said Ginny, "And I still can't believe Mum really thought I was going to sit back and do noth- Calliope what's wrong?"

Calliope had frozen in place, a look of horror etched across every inch of her face. There had been a sudden sharp pain in her chest which was suddenly gone, replaced by an overwhelming emptiness. It took her several moments to realise what was wrong, it hadn't been a bad emotion, in fact, she quickly realised that she felt nothing at all. Then she realised what was wrong.

She could not feel the bond. It was as if it were gone. No the chords that had once held the bond firmly in place were still there, however, it was as if they had been cut, in turn cutting off Calliope's access to Fred. 

Ginny shook her frantically, "Calliope what's wrong?" she demanded again.

Calliope looked up at the girl, struggling to steady her own breathing as she spoke.

"I'm fine," said Calliope. Ginny nodded uncertainly, but her attention was quickly diverted as she was drawn into a duel with a nearby death eater. 

Calliope had never felt so empty in her life, there was nothing there. It was as if the human in her had gone, leaving only the emotionless banshee behind.