The Story of the Marauders

Three: Calysta

CALYSTA

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"Here you are, Remus." Calysta smiled cheekily as she selected a room on the second floor of her house.

"It's amazing!" Remus breathed, checking out the wooden pillars that held up a canopy over the bed in the spacious room. Calysta swung her hands back and forth childishly, rocking on her feet.

"There's a bathroom over there," She pointed to an open room with silver tiles. "And the closet." She pointed more to the left to another smaller room nearby. "Extra sheets are in the closet already," The bed was bigger than anything Remus had slept in before.

"This used to be two rooms, but my mom had a wall taken out when we moved in," Calysta added bits of information about the things in the room, including one thing that would have interested Remus the most: it had the perfect view of the moon at night.

"The moon?" Remus asked, his tone changing. Calysta raised an eyebrow and nodded.

"I thought you might like it. The sky gets so dark that you can see all the stars...It's my favorite." She said, sending a brass telescope spinning on its hinge. "Is it too much?"

"Too much for me. I don't deserve it. Why don't you take this room?" Remus asked. Calysta shrugged.

"You do deserve it," She argued, giving him a look that silenced further resistance. "I know you like looking at the stars when you sleep."

"How do you know that?" Remus asked curiously. Calysta hugged her arms in front of her.

"Sirius told me once. I can't remember when exactly," She quieted significantly. Calysta raked her brain for a time or place but all she came up with was Sirius telling her. Tapping her chin in thought she watched Remus put his suitcase on the ottoman at the foot of the bed. He acted like an old man sometimes, she thought. Slow and careful, aching in a place the pain can't be fixed.

"There's a full moon tonight." Remus broke the silence with a dreaded sentence. Calysta felt a pang of sympathy for him.

"We'll do as we always have since school. I regret being too busy to brew more Moonbane," Calysta said. Remus looked her in the eyes with a pained expression.

"I hate dragging you into this all the time," His voice wavered and it worried Calysta.

"I can't leave you alone out there," Calysta countered, stepping towards him. Remus glared.

"I've been alone before," He held up a hand. "Being alone isn't a problem." Calysta shook her head.

"Being alone is always a problem." Calysta whispered, silently pleading with him. Remus made no sign of understanding.

"Not when the risk of hurting someone is high," Remus ignored Calysta's eye roll.

"You've never hurt me. Or anyone else." She argued. Remus faced her fully.

"Stay here tonight, okay?" His voice rose. Calysta stopped in her tracks. Remus never did that before. "I can make my own decisions. Respect this one." He lowered his voice again and brushed past Calysta, his shoes clapping against the floor. Calysta watched helplessly as he went, at a loss for words. She heard him open a door downstairs, and the same door slam shut.

~~~~~

Calysta paced the living room floor, looking out the window panes at the setting sun. Remus hadn't come back yet and Calysta was mentally yelling at herself because she didn't go after him.

"To hell with this," She said aloud to herself, wiggling her fingers nervously. Calysta rushed to the door and threw it open to reveal Remus' face with his hand raised to knock on the door. They both leaned back in surprise.