Callidora ☆ Fred Weasley

[chapter 3]

The Sorting

Callidora Nott examined the thin cut on her cheek in the mirror.

The mark ran just beneath her cheekbone, angry and red against her fair skin. She adjusted the dark headband holding her hair back, making sure the wound stayed hidden beneath a loose strand.

When she had returned from Diagon Alley the week before, her father had been waiting.

Waiting with that cold, simmering rage she had come to recognize too well.

Theo had told him everything.

About Tinky.

About the argument in the street.

About Calli defending a house-elf.

Calli had tried to explain, tried to smooth things over, but Theo had already told the story his way. Her father had not even let her finish.

The memory made her jaw tighten.

His ring had cut her cheek when he struck her.

It hadn't been the first time.

She forced the thought away.

Today she was leaving.

Today she was going to Hogwarts.

Calli grabbed her trunk and stepped into the hallway before pausing outside her brother's bedroom door.

She knocked softly.

No answer.

She opened the door slowly.

Theo sat by the window with his back to her.

"I'm leaving today." she said quietly.

He didn't turn.

"You know I've just been trying to protect you all this time..." She continued. "You can't listen to him, Theo. We're not just about blood. It's our actions that matter."

Still no response.

"You can always write to me." She added, biting her lip to keep her voice steady.

"I'll be off then."

She left before he could see the tears in her eyes.

Her trunk waited by the entrance hall, filled with brand-new robes, books from Flourish and Blotts, and her wand safely tucked inside its box.

Her barn owl shifted in her cage.

"Ready, Miss Nott?" Tinky asked gently.

Calli fastened her cloak.

"Yes, Tinky."

She glanced toward the staircase.

Silence.

"I don't think anyone's coming with us."

Moments later, the house-elf snapped her fingers.

The world twisted and they appeared at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.

Calli's breath caught.

Steam billowed from the enormous scarlet Hogwarts Express. Owls hooted from cages. Parents hugged children tightly while trunks rattled over the platform.

It was everything she had imagined.

And yet watching the families around her made her chest ache.

Calli shook off the feeling and took her trunk from Tinky.

"Thank you for bringing me."

Then she crouched beside the elf.

"Tinky... could you keep an eye on Theo for me?" She asked quietly. "If Father ever-"