Callidora ☆ Fred Weasley

[chapter 47]

Silver Teaspoon of Dew

"Remind me." Stella whispered, peering into the darkness with wide eyes. "What exactly we're doing out here again?"

The five of them stood deep within the shadowy edges of the Forbidden Forest, the moonlight barely filtering through the dense canopy overhead.

Branches creaked softly.

Something distant hooted.

And Calli was striding ahead like this was a perfectly normal evening stroll.

"I told you." Calli said over her shoulder, words slightly muffled by the mandrake leaf still tucked in her cheek. "You didn't have to come."

"Right." Lucy muttered, stumbling slightly over a thick, unearthed tree root. "Like we'd let you wander into the forest alone at night when dementors and mass murderers are apparently taking casual strolls around the castle."

She brushed dirt off her sleeve and glared at the trees suspiciously.

"Next time we veto the plan."

Beside her, Stella tightened her cloak slightly.

"Agreed."

Behind them, Fred and George exchanged identical looks.

"Personally," George whispered, "I think the dark forest at midnight is charming."

Fred nodded gravely.

"Very romantic."

Calli ignored them and kept moving.

"I just need one last ingredient."

Lucy sighed.

"Yes, you mentioned that part. Repeatedly."

Calli finally slowed near a rocky outcropping and pushed aside some low hanging branches.

"There." she said quietly.

A small cave mouth yawned in the hillside.

"I found it while scouting last week."

She crouched near the entrance and carefully pulled a small phial from her pocket as well as a silver spoon.

Then she recited quietly from memory.

"A silver teaspoon of dew to the phial, taken from a place that has not been touched by sunlight or human feet for at least seven days."

She glanced at them.

"That's the last ingredient for my Animagus potion."

Fred tilted his head.

"Besides the leaf in your mouth."

Calli nodded.

"Besides the damn leaf."

George folded his arms.

"So we've come into the most dangerous forest in Britain..."

"...for dew." Lucy finished flatly.

Calli shrugged.

"Very special dew."

Stella sighed but kept watch behind them.

Fred stepped closer, peering around.

"You know." He muttered. "This is exactly the sort of situation where something jumps out of the bushes and eats us."

Right on cue,

RUSTLE.

A large crashing sound echoed from the trees nearby.

Fred immediately grabbed Calli's arm.

"What was that?"

Lucy froze.

Stella turned sharply toward the sound.

George whispered.

"Oh brilliant."

Calli didn't panic.

Because she already knew what that sound meant.

Just beyond the trees, something shifted.

She caught the faint glimmer of white eyes in the darkness.

Then the soft shimmer of large black wings unfolding.

A Thestral lifted gracefully into the air and vanished between the trees.

Of course, none of the others saw it.

So from their perspective the forest had just made a terrifying noise for absolutely no reason.

Lucy grabbed Stella's sleeve.

"What was that?"

George whispered.

"I vote we leave."

Calli calmly collected a small drop of dew from the shaded cave wall and sealed the phial.

"It's nothing." She said.

Fred was still gripping her arm.

Calli glanced down.

"Fred."

He blinked.

"Yes?"

"Can I have my arm back?"

Fred looked down and realized he was still clutching her sleeve.

"Oh, right."

He let go immediately.

And turned slightly red.

George saw it.

Lucy saw it.

Stella definitely saw it.

Calli just corked the phial and slipped it carefully into her pocket.

"Alright." She said briskly. "That's everything."

Lucy raised an eyebrow.

"That's it?"

"That's it."

George gestured toward the dark forest behind them.

"So we risked death for dew."

Calli nodded.

"Correct."

Fred rubbed the back of his neck.

"Worth it?"

Calli smiled slightly.

"Ask me after the full moon."