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Eden remembered the stress of OWLs all too well. He had done nothing but study the whole of last year, and had thrown up before his first exam out of nerves. He had hated every moment, and looking back he was still upset. There had to have been some more time he could squeeze out of studying, right? If he had studied more, maybe he could have done better on his exams and Mattie wouldn’t have lost her guitar and--well, he’d been down that lane of thought entirely too much over the last year. He stopped it short and focused on the task at hand.

As malcontent as he had been and as much studying as he thought he should have done last year, it hurt to watch his girlfriend study so much in preparation for her own OWLs. They hadn’t had much time to spend together lately, but he was hoping to give her a little reprieve--a little bastion of relaxation before the fight. The Bell Towers wasn't their usual spot, but it had a wonderful view of the sunset and night sky, so they had agreed to meet there. So Eden was there, a few minutes early, armed with a thermos of hot chocolate and a few magically duplicated quilts. Eden laid a few out quilts on the ground and propped a few pillows against the wall as he awaited his Starflower.

Eden turned with a soft smile when he heard his girlfriend arrive. Calliope kissed him gently on the cheek in greeting, and he set the pillow in his hands aside to give her a soft squeeze in return. Callie seemed pleased by the set up, which made everything worthwhile.

”Good, that was the intention,” he replied. Perhaps he was just feeling extra cuddly that night and he wrapped his petite girlfriend in a hug, lightly setting his chin atop her head to admire the sunset together. Callie barely came up to his shoulder, ”OWLs were...hard. And intense. I know you always seem to be so calm and go with the flow, but...well I hoped we could have a moment really to ourselves before the big fight.”.

It wasn’t like one of his historical war stories where one or both of them were likely not to come back, but exams were their own form of conflict and battle, and he knew it would be stressful. ”I’m sure you’re confident about Astronomy and Music. And no doubt Potions. Defence I’m sure you’ll be better than I will, you keep a cool head. And we can keep going over Transfiguration, Healing and Arithmancy up until the days of the exam.”

The sun sank into the horizon, the last red rays of light bending over the Hogwarts campus. It was a very normal sunset, yet it seemed particularly beautiful because of the beautiful girl in his arms. His tone softened as he pulled away to gaze at her, holding her hand gently. ”Anyways, we don’t have to talk about classes tonight. I just..You know I’m always there for you if you need a hug after an exam or something.”

With a gentle smooch on her forehead, he moved away to pour her some hot chocolate. ”Tell me something about Callie Whitethorne I don’t know yet? Should I have prepared lemonade instead of hot chocolate?” he asked, subtly teasing the adorable lemon dress she had for tonight's date. She was cuter than anyone had any right to be.

Eden flushed a little when Callie mentioned that if the OWLs fight was really quite that bad then at least she had an excellent dueling tutor. He was glad he never felt like he had to hold back against his own girlfriend--and besides, he figured she got more out of it that way.

He was glad Callie chuckled at his offer of hugs or anything else. ”For you Callie, anytime.”. Sometimes Eden worried he was being “overprotective” or “naggy”, but Callie somehow managed to turn it all into something positive and sweet.

It was times like these that Eden understood Weslyn’s points. If nothing else, she had been right in one regard: He and Wes had to work so hard to make anything work, but with Calliope...well, it just worked. Eden didn’t have to prepare subjects of conversation for dates, he wasn’t the one doing all the planning or invites, hugs and kisses weren’t awkward. If they happened, they just did. If they didn’t, they didn’t. He still liked structure and plans, but with Callie it was okay if the plan was “let’s hang out tomorrow afternoon”. If they ended up taking a walk and talking, that was okay. If they studied together, it was because they genuinely had something to learn from each other, not just because they happened to have the same classes. Embarrassing as it was for him to be getting Astronomy or Potions tips from someone a year younger than him, it made sense-- Calliope just saw things in such a different way that he found himself questioning what he was really looking at. And if he decided it didn’t make sense, just thinking things through with Callie was nice. Eden wasn’t quite sure what was so different, but it was just so much easier. Maybe it was because they were still relatively young--not even a year--into their relationship, but it felt stronger than his relationship with Weslyn had ever been.

He offered her the mug as he asked for something he didn’t already know. There wasn’t much about his current life outside of school, clubs, and Mattie, and he knew about her being part of Professor Whitethorne’s family. She knew the lay of the land when it came to his life growing up and previous relationship, just as he knew about her time at Wool’s. But like she mentioned, everything about who Calliope Whitethorne had been before she was at Wool’s was a mystery to him. Eden hadn’t dared ask yet. Of course he was curious, but he didn’t want to ask if knowing meant it would change something. Let them revel in their relationship a little more like this.

Eden sipped his own hot cocoa to avoid replying immediately. Finally, when he saw Callie tugging her hair, losing her thoughts behind a gentle curtain of hair, he set his mug down and brushed her hair behind her ear. Eden held her gaze gently. ”If you’re ready to talk about it with me, I’m happy to listen. But if you’re not, don’t push yourself.”

"...And you're the person I trust most."

Eden felt a surge of affection-- he wasn’t irresponsible, but he wished he could do more, to be more for Callie. He was her most trusted person--even more than Professor Whitethorne. That meant more than words. Instead, he just took Callie’s hand and squeezed it gently, hoping that gesture could express his appreciation for her trust.

Eden listened quietly, gently running his thumb across Callie’s knuckles. He was about to question what she meant--what had she learned about this Father figure? With small movements, Callie untied her shawl. Eden was so surprised he couldn’t react at first. What in what she had said had led to this? And outside too! Sure the sun was going down now, but Callie was sensitive to light! Eden almost blushed, before realizing Callie was trying to show him something on her skin.

He leaned closer as she explained. Eden’s fingers gently brushed the base of her neck, and suddenly he could see it-- dozens of silvery crescents, maring her angelic skin.

"He was a vampire. Raising me for... well... sustenance."

Fury and fear clenched in his stomach. Eden knew only what was in their DADA textbooks about vampires, but he had a sneaking suspicion there were a few bona-fide vampires at Hogwarts and he might have known some closer than he was aware. But raising a child--his Callie for food? The thought of it had his fingers trembling slightly and he pulled his hand away to hide his clenched fist.

It did explain a few things: how she was always so unfettered: she had already gone through such terrible things. She was a victim of some of the worst parenting a young child could get, and he was surprised she wasn’t more messed up or angry with this ‘Father’ vampire. But he also had more questions: was she part vampire from all his...feedings? Had he kept her locked up or in a cage? Was the perpetrator dead now? He better be!

Callie sighed and Eden snapped his gaze up abruptly before realizing she was about to cry. He took a deep, steadying breath and reached to wrap her in a protective hug. ”You’re safe now,” he murmured gently, running a shaking hand down her hair. ”Does it still hurt?”

Eden tightened his arms around her as Callie snuggled into him. She said it didn’t hurt anymore...physically anyways. Which just meant it still hurt emotionally, like a mental bug latched into her mind, like an injury that never quite healed right, like a phantom limb that hurt even though the limb was gone.

”I..have to know. Did they catch him?” Eden murmured, his voice monotone, as he fought to keep his anger at this ‘Father’ from showing. ”Is this...this ‘Father’. Is he dead or in Azkaban at least?”

He took a deep breath when he felt her own breath. No, he couldn’t think about the enemy right now. ”Yes, You have a family who loves you. And friends who love you. And me.” he echoed, firmly agreeing. She made a little joke about the food thing that Eden couldn’t quite bring himself to laugh at. Eden steeled himself, trying to process everything he’d just found out. This went beyond poor parenting--the vampire had raised his ‘daughter’ for slaughter. Actually, given Callie’s words earlier, it sounded like she’d been possibly kidnapped and raised for slaughter. What was he supposed to do, congratulate the man on having furnished her cage with an instrument and telescope?

And then there was...well...Eden was afraid, now that he knew. He didn’t want to lose Calliope how he had lost Weslyn, to a past he couldn’t protect them from and his own inability to shut up sometimes. He had to do better. “Callie.” He searched her eyes as though the blue reflected in them could tell him the words for his questions. “Thank you for trusting me with this. I...How much are you okay with talking about? With other people. Or just...at all?”

Now that she had told him...did she wish she hadn’t?