Screams

Twenty-One

After a few days of following her grandfather around, Calliope was forced to accept the fact that her situation could be permanent. Elphias had neither seen or heard her, and she was beginning to get desperate.

Once she was sure that Elphias was okay, Calliope began to dream of Hogwarts again. The new term was fast approaching, and Calliope was already sure that she would be breaking her promise to Natalie as she would not be able to return for the start of her sixth year.

There had been an open letter on the kitchen table for the entire time since Calliope returned home, which contained her OWL results. Straight Os without exception. It seemed that her teachers had been correct about how well she could do in the exams.

Calliope began to wonder about her friends, or rather her friend, she wanted to be sure that Natalie was okay. So Calliope decided that she would make her way to Hogwarts. She was not making a difference with what she was doing currently, and at Hogwarts, there was a chance that one of the ghosts, or maybe even Dumbledore would be able to help her.

One glance at the calendar told her that the Hogwarts express was to depart the next day. The only problem for Calliope was getting to King's cross in order to catch the train, in the past, her grandfather had always apparated her, but this year he wouldn't be going, so it would be much harder for Calliope to get there.

She spent the last day of August mulling over how she would get to the station. She was almost completely out of ideas when she remembered something. She remembered how she had gotten from Algeria to her home in the blink of an eye.

It couldn't possibly be a coincidence, as Calliope had realised from quite a young age that nothing that happened to her was ever a coincidence. So Calliope quickly concluded that she could probably do it again if she put her mind to it.

She tried to remember what she had been thinking about right before she had turned up at home, but all she could remember was how terrified she had been, and how much she missed her grandfather.

She tried picturing Platform 9 3/4 with the scarlet steam engine, full of excited students getting ready for the next school year, but nothing happened. She tried imagining the exterior of Kings Cross, filled with muggles and the occasional hoot of an owl as students made their way to the concealed platform, but again nothing happened.

Calliope was close to giving up, imagining Natalie's disappointed face when she didn't show up for the school year again.

And with that image in her head, Calliope opened her eyes and found herself standing on Platform 9 3/4, right beside Natalie, who was hugging her Mum goodbye.

"So where is Calliope then?" Natalie's mum asked, "I haven't seen her in a while." Natalie's parents were both good-natured people, who had been very kind to Calliope when she had met them before. They were beyond nice to her when she visited Natalie for the summer a few years ago, and had always gone above and beyond to befriend their daughter's friend.

"She'll be here Mum," said Natalie, shooting a look at the crowd, "she promised me that she would be." The doubtful expression on Natalie's face made Calliope want to cry, because she was there, standing right next to her best friend.

Then Natalie's face brightened, "see there she is!" For a wonderful split second, Calliope thought that maybe Natalie had seen her, but these thoughts were dashed when Natalie ran straight though Calliope's ghostly form and tackled someone in a hug.

"Callie!" Natalie said happily, "for a second I was doubting that you'd show!"

"I'm here," said Voldemort.