Lady Lion [Sirius Black] [DISCONTINUED]

IX

"Mum! Dad!" Callie cheered, running from the train into her parents' eager arms. The girls had just taken the Hogwarts Express home for Winter Break, and Callie missed her parents like crazy since this was her first time away from home for a long period of time. Rory calmly walked over to her parents, letting Callie have the first hug with them. The older sister had missed her parents dearly as well, but she was more accustomed to being away from them because of school.

"Hello my little Gryffindor!" Pierce exclaimed, wrapping his arms around Callie tightly. Patty, not wanting to wait until it was her turn to hug their daughter, wrapped her arms around both Pierce and Callie.

"We missed you so much dear!" Patty cooed to Callie, kissing her on the cheek. "But I know you've had a wonderful time based on all those letters you sent us!"

It was true, Callie had been having a great time. Her classes were going well, even potions because of all the help Severus was. She even was able to make him come out of his shell to her- only a bit though. Callie also was having a fun time with all her friends, even James and Sirius. After the Severus situation calmed down between them, Callie was actually learning to tolerate them. Under their boisterous and cocky outside, they were actually pretty fun friends. She would never tell them that though, it would be like a fuel to their already inflated egos.

"By the way dear, I really like the hair." Pierce added to their greeting. Callie had made it a little longer, about shoulder-length, and the curls were at their curliest. Their was still the impression of a lion's mane, however, which along with her very short stature earned her the nickname "little lion" by Sirius. She had initially called him "Blackie" in return, to which he had two responses: "Are you serious?" and "That's racist, pick something else." She was currently in the process of thinking of an amazing nickname for him.

"Oh, I missed you both so much!" Callie told them, going in for another hug from them both. She couldn't think of anything else to say, she was overwhelmed being with them again.

"Don't forget about me!" Rory said from behind her little sister. Callie moved to the side as Rory reunited with their parents, claiming she missed them even more.

"Alright dears, we can talk about everything at home. I have a wonderful supper planned for us." Their mother smiled at the two girls, and they felt ever-so-happy to be with their parents again.

The family sat around their dinner table, eating the wonderful dinner Patty had made for them. The family was full of joy as they went around telling the stories of what they did while separated from each other.

Rory was in the middle of describing one of the many whimsical games her and her group of friends played during the first few nights; it was a tradition for her group of five to have a game-marathon during the first week of school, consisting of games that they usually made up themselves. It helped them feel more at home as they eased into being at school.

This was when Callie glanced over at the wizarding newspaper that resided on the family's nearby coffee table. The headline read "Werewolf Terrorizing Many Now Resides in Azkaban." She felt relief as she didn't recognize the face that went along with the article; she always worried whenever newspapers talked about werewolves.

"Hey, have you heard from grandma at all recently?" Callie asked her parents when there was a pause in the existing conversation.

Her parents both looked at her, their eyes wide. "Why honey, should we have?" Her father asked.

"Oh, I don't know. I just wondered if you did." Callie said, pushing a curl out of her face as she looked down at her food.

"Well no. We haven't." He answered. Callie felt guilt rush through her. She hated how her immediate family didn't talk to any of the other Huntingdons. She could not a remember a time she even had seen her grandma, or any other family. The only one that made sense to keep Callie away from as a child was uncle, but even then she had seen him a few times before it was deemed too unsafe. Once she was put in true danger from him, her parents knew that he must stay away from her, whether they wanted it that way or not.

"Oh, okay. I'm sorry for asking." Callie told them.

"Oh, honey, there is no such thing as a bad question. It's okay." Her mother told her. She smiled at Callie, but her eyes appeared sad. She wanted to appear fine to her daughters, but the sensitive topic certainly upset her.

The family then ate in silence.

"So, what pranks have you done with your ability yet?" Rory asked Callie eagerly as they sat in their shared bedroom.

Callie shrugged. "None really. I haven't told anyone. Well, I have told Mercia, but nobody else knows yet."

Rory rolled her eyes. "You're boring." Callie scowled at Rory, but Rory continued on. "You could do so many cool things with your metamorphmagus stuff! You can pretend to be one of your friends and start some drama in your friend group, you can look like your enemy and embarrass them in front of the whole school-"

"Why would I want drama? Also, I don't have any enemies! I'm eleven!" Callie responded.

Rory shrugged. "You never know."

Callie began to think hard about what Rory was saying. "You know, I don't really have a need to change my appearance when I'm at school. Why would I?" She asked Rory.

Rory smiled a bit, putting her hands up in a defensive motion. "Look, you don't have to defend yourself to me. I get why you might not want to, I'm just telling you what I would do. It may be not be 'how we were raised', but outside of the house you don't have to be from this perfect little family. Sometimes you just do things to have a little fun; you don't only have to do things because they will help other people or whatever." Rory told her.

After this the girls said goodnight, but Callie laid in her bed awake. She was thinking a lot about what Rory said.