Calli ate her bowl of porridge slowly, absentmindedly picking through the fruit as Stella held up the Daily Prophet between them.
She wasn't really reading.
Just skimming.
The headlines had become predictable.
Another denial.
Another reassurance.
Another carefully worded lie.
She only kept reading to make sure they knew what the Ministry was forcing on people.
Her eyes drifted toward the bottom of one of the columns.
A tiny headline caught her attention.
TRESPASS AT MINISTRY
It was barely worth a few inches of print.
"Wait."
Stella slid the newspaper closer.
The three of them had developed an unspoken routine since start of term. If one spotted something unusual, they all read it. Sometimes the smallest stories revealed the most.
Calli leaned in.
Her spoon froze halfway to her mouth.
"I know him!"
The words came out around a mouthful of porridge.
Lucy looked at her over the rim of her goblet.
"You what?"
Calli hurriedly swallowed.
She bent lower, almost nose-to-nose with the newspaper, studying the tiny moving photograph accompanying the article.
There was no mistake.
"I know him." She repeated, quieter this time.
She tapped the picture.
"I saw him this summer."
Lucy and Stella exchanged a glance.
"Where?"
"The Ministry."
Her voice dropped to little more than a whisper.
"Level Nine."
"The Department of Mysteries."
The smile disappeared from Stella's face.
"A guard?"
Calli nodded.
"He was standing outside the entrance."
Lucy leaned closer.
"That cannot be a coincidence."
"No."
Calli kept staring at the photograph.
It wasn't.
She would wager her best pair of dragonhide gloves on it.
If someone had broken into the Department of Mysteries, it had something to do with Voldemort.
She didn't know what he wanted down there.
Only that he wanted something in there.
Something was hidden in the Department of Mysteries.
Something important enough that Voldemort refused to give up.
Calli folded the newspaper toward herself.
Without another thought, she stuffed the last piece of toast into her mouth, half of it sticking out as she reached across the table.
She tore the corner containing the article from the Prophet.
YOU ARE READING
Callidora ☆ Fred Weasley
FanfictionCallidora Nott has always known exactly what is expected of her. As the daughter of one of Britain's oldest pure-blood families, her future has already been carefully planned; alliances, power, and a life shaped by tradition she never chose. At home...
