Callisto

3

The rest of the summer passed in a vacant blur. She got the results from her O.W.L's, and they were bad. She had failed two subjects and gotten acceptable in everything except Transfiguration, Herbology and Potions. And the Potions one didn't even matter because it wasn't an outstanding, and Professor Snape didn't accept students who hadn't accomplished an O grade for their sixth year. On top of that she had no idea what she wanted to do when she left school, and the pressure was horrific.

Lucius' silence had been far more hurtful than if he had yelled. She tried to convince herself that they didn't matter because she was starting under a new name, but Narcissa told her gently that she had to produce O.W.L results in order for her to start sixth year, and therefore she would have to explain the situation to Dumbledore.

"Dumbledore!" She said tearfully. "Mother, you promised nobody would know!"

"And nobody will. This is necessary. He may be an old fool, but Dumbledore can keep a secret."

As the date for Hogwarts came closer, she felt sick with nerves. Keely went shopping in Diagon Alley, and she found a neat little pile of books and stationary on her bed.

Callisto wrote the same initials on all of them; C.B. Callisto Black.

She couldn't help but think her father was glad that it wasn't his name that would be dragged through the dirt. He hadn't taken back his trunk at least. Back in first year, upon being nervous on starting Hogwarts, Lucius had given her advice and his own school trunk. It was old fashioned glossed oak, a little shabby now, with the initials L.M etched just under the lid. There had been a time when her father had sent more her way than disapproving looks and cold remarks, but she found it hard to believe it.

When the day finally came, they gathered in the front hall. Draco, who was about to start his fourth year and was on the Quidditch team, had his broom and his trunk. Callisto had her trunk and the family owl. Lucius only gave them a nod.

The September day was warm. Her scalp prickled under the wig, and she couldn't help but check it was secure, though she knew it was stuck on with magic.

Draco spoke as they waited for Narcissa to lock the gates. "You're my distant cousin, yeah?"

"Yeah," she said uncomfortably. "You don't have to tell people that if you don't want to."

"It's okay," he said, and he squinted in the sun.

When they arrived at the station, she was so nervous she felt sick.

There were so many people, people she knew and people she didn't, all shouting, talking, laughing. The Weasley twins, who were in her year and knew her, walked past her without a second glance, and she sighed with relief.

"I don't think anyone would know you," Draco said, as if reading her mind. "You look....different."

"Well, obviously," she said, with some attempt at being humorous, though it fell flat.

"No. You look taller, and your face is different. And you're thinner."

Draco went off to find his friends, and Narcissa turned to her and gave her the sort of hug that would have embarrassed her months ago. But now she hugged her mother back just as tightly, almost wishing she was little enough to be picked up and brought home again.

She made her way through the crowd, only to find that it was much easier being a thin girl than a plump boy. People actually moved out of her way, and didn't laugh or shoot her disgusted looks when she passed them. She swallowed her anxieties and made her way to an empty compartment. She thought it might stay empty, but after she had been there a few minutes, another girl arrived. She didn't know her name, but knew she was a Ravenclaw in the year ahead of her.

"Hi," she said, nodding her head. "Can I sit in here?"

"Yes. Hi," Callisto said softly, looking out the window.

The girl sat on the opposite seat. "You're new?"

"Yeah," she said, praying that she wasn't making fun of her. But she just nodded and scratched her nose, saying nothing else.

A few minutes later, the compartment door opened, and they looked up to see Charles. Her stomach spasmed. Charles looked nothing like his sister, Millicent - in fact he often joked they'd got the wrong genetics. Where his sister was hulking and dark, Charles was slight and ginger. Where she scowled and held her head down, Charles usually wore a grin.

"Room for one more?" He asked, and the other girl smiled.

"Sure."

Charles sat beside the Ravenclaw girl, and offered his hand to Callisto. He was like that, his parents training him in old fashioned manners. "Charles Bulstrode."

"Callisto Black," she said, her voice a whisper.

Charles was staring at her. She wondered if he could see.

"What is it?"

"Oh! Oh, sorry, you just....remind me of someone," he frowned.

"Well, Draco is my cousin."

"That must be it," he said, then paused. "Do you....do you know if Orson came back this year? Only I've been looking for him."

She thought her face must be a picture. "No," she said. "No, he's....gone."

She waited for him to ask where, but he only nodded. "Oh," he said. "Oh, okay."

To avoid his gaze, she went to the window, where Narcissa was still watching the train. When it began to pull away from the station, she waved madly, until they left her far behind, a speck in the distance.

When they arrived, she didn't need to be sorted. She was told to go directly to the Slytherin table, which she did, and nearly had a panic attack at being surrounded by all the same people again and....Montague.

She found herself twitching when he looked at her, but again, he didn't seem to recognise her at all. He just gave her a big, leering grin and said something to his friends, who laughed, and she looked down at her food. Had he said something about her looking like a boy? He might have done....

Dumbledore gave his speech about the Triwizard Tournament, though she was barely listening. She just went straight to the Slytherin common room as soon as she could, though of course she had to wait for the prefect, who had the password.

The girl's dormitories weren't so different from the boys, especially now when there was nothing in it. She put her things down and then climbed into bed. She heard the other girls come down a few minutes later, laughing about some boy, but she didn't say anything, just lay and looked up at the ceiling.