Twenty

                                    

                                          
"Fred," Calliope appeared beside Fred on the shop floor. 
                          
"Verity I'm heading upstairs for a bit," Fred told the shop assistant. He turned and headed up the stairs, with Calliope behind him. She noticed that he looked tired and a bit ill.
                          
"Fred I-I-" Calliope was unable to get the whole sentence out.
                          
"What happened?" He moved forward to caress her face, forgetting that she wasn't really there until his hand went straight through her.
                          
She did not want to burden him with the full truth the knowledge that she had shared with Voldemort. The fewer people who knew about Harry's ultimate fate the better, she had kept the whole story from even Voldemort's legilimency.
                          
"Voldemort is using Natalie to get me to talk," said Calliope, almost on the verge of tears, "I can't let him hurt her Fred, I just can't. I'm going to tell him anything that he wants to know and I can't even stop it because if I scream then I'll kill Natalie."
                          
"They lifted the silencing charm?"
                          
"Briefly, but only when I was close enough to Natalie that I couldn't scream."
                          
********
                          
Several more weeks passed, and Bellatrix grew more trigger happy in her torture of Natalie and George. She wasn't even asking Calliope questions anymore, it seemed that she just enjoyed inflicting this pain.
                          
Natalie was the worst for wear, and Calliope sat with her back against the wall of the cellar with Natalie's head in her lap. Calliope stroked her friend's hair softly as George muttered comforting words to the pair of them.
                          
Bellatrix had finally slipped up and had forgotten to recast the silencing charm upon Calliope after their last interaction the day before when Voldemort had tried to get further insight into the prophecy from her. She had not given him any.
                          
"We're getting out of here," Calliope assured Natalie, "the minute that they come back we're free."
                          
Olivander was gone. It seemed that Voldemort had a task for him. Calliope was reluctant to leave without the frail wandmaker, but he may never return to the cellar and it was highly likely that an opportunity like this would not come again.
                          
Hours later, Calliope's ears pricked up at the sounds of shuffling footfalls on the stairs.
                          
"Cover your ears and get against the far wall," Calliope muttered to George and Natalie. They both scrambled to their feet and hurried to do as she instructed. Calliope made her way to the door.
                          
The click of the lock and the door was pushed open. Narcissa Malfoy stood framed in the doorway, wand in hand.
                          
Calliope wasted no time and screamed. Narcissa fell forwards, unconscious and Calliope snatched up her wand. She turned to see that both Natalie and George were also unconscious. She waved Narcissa's wand, and both Natalie and George hovered out behind her. Calliope wasted no time and hurtled up the stairs with her friends behind her. 
                          
Upstairs was a long table, which had unconscious death eaters in every seat. Calliope didn't break stride but hurtled out of the mansion. This was easy, too easy. She was getting good at escaping from Malfoy Manor. She was just thinking this when she skidded to a halt finding her way blocked by Voldemort's large snake Nagini. 
                          
The snake hissed at Calliope, who stood stock still staring at it with her wand raised.
                          
"Stupefy!" Calliope shot a spell at the snake, just as it lunged at her. Calliope dodged out of the way and the snake's velocity carried it forwards towards Natalie and George. Calliope saw it as if it were in slow motion. The snake's teeth sank into Natalie's neck and ripped a chunk of skin out of her neck.
                          
"Relatio!" Calliope screamed at the snake, causing it to recoil from Natalie, with blood dripping from its mouth.
                          
"Stupefy!" Calliope shot the spell at the snake again. This time the snake fell to the ground unconscious. Calliope took off running again. 
                          
Even if the whispers weren't telling her this already, the blood streaming out of Natalie's wound would have been enough to tell her that Natalie was gone.
                          


                          
Yeah, so you know what I said in the author's note of the last chapter... I did it here instead...
I'm just as sad as you all so please no murdering me :(
~Em xx