Missing Pieces (Linette)

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

(I'm putting this here instead of camp, so that it can continue once the term starts and not have to be counted as "clean-up")

It had been weeks since Bobby had said more than two words to either of her sisters, and Callie was thoroughly miserable. Every time she saw Bobby talking to Rabastan Lestrange, she felt a little bit sick to her stomach.

She wasn't acting like herself, and by now, pretty much everyone seemed to have noticed it. Everyone, that is, except for Bobby, who had spent so little time around her that she probably wouldn't notice if Callie turned blue and grew a pair of antlers. But since Rabastan had kissed her, Callie had become quiet and almost passive--she hadn't argued with anyone in weeks, and seemed almost afraid to even express an opinion at all. She was also still avoiding Dierks, which had been quite a challenge at camp.

Finally, when they had a break, Linette had suggested that they go to the Hot Panini, just the two of them, for lunch. Callie knew what the real purpose was for the trip, but she agreed without even a protest.

They arrived in town and made their way over to the cafe, where the blonde waitress showed them to a booth. Callie sat down, hunching down on the bench like she was trying to hide. She knew what was coming, but she was going to wait for Linette to speak first.

[Linette "Linny" Sanders]

Linette was only minutes older than her sisters, but she was still the oldest, and she felt as if she were failing miserably at her job of taking care of them. They were falling apart, they had barely spoken to each other, Bobby was seeing Rabastan! Linette just wished things could go back to the days when they were inseparable. When their father could barely take one out of a room without the other two crying.

Bobby, Linette wasn't sure what to do about her just yet. There wasn't much she could do except stand there and wait for Rabastan to break her heart like he had done to Linette. Soon enough, Bobby would see the Slytherin for the snake he really was.

Until then, there was Callie, and Linette had fully prepared herself as she invited her sister to lunch and sat across from her at the cafe. "Alright Callisto," Linette said, using her sister's full name just to prove how serious she was. "Spill."

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

Callie let out a sigh. As much as she wanted to believe that she could take care of herself, even she had to admit that she wasn't doing a very good job at it lately. On more than one recent occasion, she had even gone down to the kitchens after midnight, asking the house elves for her go-to comfort food, butter pecan ice cream. The worst part, though, was the fact that she wasn't eating much else. She had no appetite at dinner, especially, because Bobby was always sitting with Rabastan. Every time he caught Callie looking their way, she felt that sickly feeling in the pit of her stomach and she couldn't eat anything else.

Shrugging, she decided to try and play it casual. "I don't know what you mean," she said. "I'm just worried about Bobby, that's all. It feels weird not talking to her."

[Linette "Linny" Sanders]

"Why don't I believe you?" Linette asked, sad that her sister couldn't just tell her and that she had to work what was bothering Callie out of her. "I mean, I'm worried about her too Callie, I am I swear," she frowned a little. "But I feel like something else is bothering you and I'm starting to worry about you too."

"I haven't seen you eat a meal in a long time, you're not acting like the Callie I know and love, you haven't even argued with me in godric knows how long..." Linette reached across the table and put her hand on Callie's. "I'm worried Cal."

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

Humiliatingly, Callie felt her eyes well up. She was supposed to be the strong one, the tough one. That was what she wanted to be, anyway. She wasn't supposed to cry. She wasn't supposed to feel lost and insecure. She was supposed to be stronger than that.

She pulled her hand out from under Linette's and brushed furiously at her eyes. "Oh, Linny..." she choked out. She met her sister's eyes for a second, then looked away again, looking down at the table's surface.

"You want to know what's bothering me?" she said at last. "I miss my best friend, and I hate that she's dating Rabastan Lestrange. I miss the three of us together against the world. I hate that we've let boys come between us. I'm upset that I couldn't even tell you and Bobby about the boy I like, and now I can't even bring myself to see him. And I'm upset that Rabastan kissed me... and I liked it. A lot."

[Linette "Linny" Sanders]

"Oh, oh honey..." Linette quickly changed seats so she could sit next to her sister. "Oh Callie, shh, it's okay sweetie I have you," she hugged her close to show she was there.

"You can't bottle things up like this Callie," Linette said. "We're going to figure out the Rabastan thing, you and I will together, we'll help Bobby whether she wants it or not." She squeezed Callie's hand. "You kissed him?" Linette raised an eyebrow. "When?"

The waitress came round, but Linette shooed her away. "Two of whatever we're not picky," Linette said quickly before turning back to her sister.

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

Callie clung to her sister for a few minutes, crying onto her shoulder. Later she would be embarrassed about it, but at the moment, she needed to let this out. Linette was right--she'd been bottling this up for far too long. She kept waiting for things between Bobby and Rabastan to end, so they could all plan their revenge against him together. But it hadn't happened, and she couldn't hold it in any longer. Linny wouldn't judge her... even though Callie still somewhat blamed herself for what had happened. She should have stopped it, but when she knew he was going to kiss her, she'd just let it happen. She'd wanted it to happen. What did that say about her?

Pulling back, Callie wiped at her eyes. "Just before the term ended. And he kissed me," she corrected. "But I didn't stop him. I knew what was happening and I let him. And I liked it. I wanted him to kiss me again..."

She let out a choked sob and brushed furiously at his eyes. "My first kiss was with Rabastan Lestrange, the boy I hate more than anyone. I wanted it to be Dierks... Now I can't even look at him, I feel so guilty..."

[Linette "Linny" Sanders]

"Oh Callie," she hugged her sister close. "It's okay honey," she pulled away and grabbed some napkins, handing them to her sister. "You're talking to a girl who not only ALSO gave her first kiss to Rabastan Lestrange, but was also stuck dating the arse for two months, so I feel your pain." She squeezed her hand.

"And I'm sure Dierks would still want to kiss you even if you've kissed someone else." Linette said. "Because even a blind person could see how much he likes you."

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

How was it possible that Callie didn't know that Rabastan had been Linny's first kiss? And now he had given Callie her first kiss, and probably Bobby, too. He really had scored the trifecta, and that realization filled Callie with rage. Beautiful, comfortable, familiar rage.

Callie pulled away from her sister, looking at her with a tear-streaked face and an almost manic gleam in her eyes. "He... He was your first kiss, too?" she repeated, stunned. Linny had dated so many guys that Callie had somehow forgotten that someone had to have been the first one. "That no-good, stinksap-sucking, son of a banshee. He needs to pay...."

The anger was good. Anger was healthy for Callie. What was not healthy was thinking about how Rabastan's lips had felt on hers or wondering if, after kissing him, any other kiss--even with Dierks--would only pale in comparison. No... Revenge was the answer. And Callie was very good at thinking up punishments....

[Linette "Linny" Sanders]

Linette nodded, shrugging it a little. "We'll chalk it up to a Sandres Sister Curse then, huh? Giving our first kisses to Rabastan Lestrange, and write it off like it barely counts," She wanted to say something along the lines of "first kisses don't count if they hurt you" but sh didn't know how to word it right.

Then Callie started to get angry. "There's my girl," Linette laughed. Normally she didn't agree with the angry and irrational side of Callie, but to see an emotion so very her made Linette glad that she was coming back out of her shell she had buried herself in.

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

Callie began wiping the tears from her face. Yes, she was angry now... and it was lucky for rabastan Lestrange that he wasn't there at that exact moment. "We need to make a plan, Linny. We need to get Bobby away from him and we need to come up with a punishment for him. Or we need a place to hide his body.... either way."

There was every chance, of course, that Rabastan would tire of Bobby first, or that he'd do something to hurt her.... but Callie didn't want to wait for that to happen. She didn't want Bobby to get hurt the way she'd been hurt. She didn't want Bobby to know she'd been used.

[Linette "Linny" Sanders]

"Well he's graduated now, though I don't know how he got about actually getting high enough marks to graduate..." Linette rolled her eyes. "He should be gone. Even if Bobby is still with him, come time school starts up, at least they'll be apart. I know Rab, if it's not easily accessible, he'll get bored and find someone else's heart to mess with."

She thought for a bit. "Maybe we can distract her with someone else...who's that boy that was always so infatuated with her..." Linette tapped her finger to her chin, thinking.

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

But Callie couldn't help but wonder if it could really be that easy. Would he really just give up that easily? Was it just her overactive imagination that made her think that Rabastan Lestrange simply wouldn't give up like that, while he knew how much it bugged Callie and Linny? Maybe it really just was her paranoid nature, but she couldn't help believing that this had always been about more than just Bobby. Like it was all part of some greater plan, and he couldn't possibly be finished yet. He'd want it to finish with a bang, not a fizzle.

"Maybe. I guess that's a start, anyway, but something tells me we haven't seen the last of Rabastan." She frowned, thinking deeply for a moment. "I think you mean Neil. I don't know, though... he's loyal, but he's too shy to actually admit how much he likes her... and Bobby's too blind to see it."

[Linette "Linny" Sanders]

"I'm worried you're right, that Rab might figure out a way to stick around, but how? He's graduated, nd the only reason any graduated students have any reason to hang around Hogwarts after they've left is Quidditch Matches and becoming Teacher aids, and really Callie, who's going to hire on Rabastan as a teacher aid?" She even smirked at the idea.

"Maybe we can nudge Neil and Bobby in the right directions..." she added thoughtfully.

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

But Callie didn't join her sister in that smile. Instead, she frowned even more deeply, shaking her head. "I don't know, Linny. Someone hired Bellatrix Black as a teaching assistant, so if you ask me, anything's possible. He does know how to charm the pants off of people.... often literally."

She rolled her eyes in disgust at the thought, but then allowed Linny to change the subject. Linny was right; the best way to get Bobby away from Rabastan was to get her involved with someone else. Neil was a good kid... shy, but sweet. And he so clearly adored Bobby.

"OK, so how can we do that? Bobby is completely clueless about how much he likes her, and he's too shy to speak up."