The world around me was covered in a blanket of white. The magnificent trees towered over me making me feel small…so small. In spite of the snow on the ground and the surrounding areas, I didn’t feel cold. Apparently, I was somewhere near the Shrieking Shack, but that was forbidden! What I was I doing there, I do not know. As I examined the place, I saw a tall figure at a distance. He was clad in black, such a contrast to the surroundings. His skin was pale too, almost as white as the snow. He reached out his left hand towards me and I mimicked his action subconsciously. When I did so, he dropped his arm to his side, looked at the ground and started taking small steps backwards. I tried to walk towards the figure but my body would not move. I stood there, numb as the figure disappeared. I wanted to follow the figure but my legs would not listen to me! I wanted to run, at least get somewhere! The cold I didn’t feel before was now making itself known, but then the cold wasn’t there anymore. I could move my body again. I felt warm. It was comfortable. I felt soft fabric around me…Sheets. I was in bed? All of that had been a dream? Just a dream…but the figure was reaching out! Who was it? Well, it was a dream after all!
I pulled the covers over myself and decided to stay in bed for a little while but my plans were unsuccessful. All the credit goes to: MY MUM!

“Caldera! Caldera!” she called to me. I tell you, I even hated the sound of my own name when someone tried to wake me up.
“Mum…let me sleep for a while…Pleeeaaasseeeeee…” I begged.
“It’s already 8 o’clock, Cal!” she said, sounding a little annoyed.
I just turned over in bed.
“Caldera Serhilda Roth! Get out of bed this instant!” she yelled, sounding very, very vexed.
“Mum! It’s the summer vacations! Let me sleep,” I whined.
“You asked for it,” she said calmly, very calmly. Too calmly.
My eyes shot up at once, “No! Mum-!“
But I was too late and in a second, I was suspended in the air, upside down. She did it every time I tried to oversleep. I didn't even know which spell she used because she did it non-verbally, something that really irritated me. And there I was, hanging upside down in my room. I hated it when she did that! Anyone would! No one wants to hang in the air, upside down early in the morning! It was alright to sleep a little more during the summer vacation, wasn't it?

"Mum! Put me down! You have to stop doing this!" I yelled, my head was starting to feel heavy with all the blood rushing to it.
"You have to start waking up earlier," she said, holding back a smile.
I pouted, "Please, Mum."
She smiled and I was slowly dropped back to bed.
"Danke..." I said, and smiled at her.
"Yes, now get up and get ready. Your O.W.L. results are supposed to be arrive sometime soon, aren't they?"
As I heard that, my eyes widened. The O.W.L. results! THE RESULTS! I was having a such a nice summer that the thoughts of 'THE RESULTS' had not crossed my mind. The O.W.L.s had been pushed to a dark corner of my mind. I tried to remember what I had written in the exams but it was of no avail!
"Mum! You had to mention it, didn't you? You sure know how to spoil my morning," I said as I rushed towards my small bathroom.
"Rushing won't change the marks you have scored," she called after me. I heard her laughing.
I took a shower and brushed my teeth and all the other stuff. I wore a black t-shirt, jeans and my usual low-top shoes. I didn't tie my hair as it was wet, so it fell to my elbows.

After getting dressed, I went downstairs into the kitchen. The smell of bacon filled my nose as I entered the kitchen. I sat at the table, as I saw my Mum was still cooking.
"And good morning again!" I said to Mum, cheerfully. Well, there was no use in worrying now. I had written all that I knew, and there was no way anyone or anything could change that. It was a bright summer day and obsessing over 'THE RESULTS' would just spoil it.
"Good morning, dear. You seem happy, I'm glad," Mum replied.
"Yes, Mum. In spite of the cruel wake up call I received and the fact that you reminded me about 'THE RESULTS', I'm in a good mood." She just responded with a laugh.
Well, at least she had started laughing, whether it was real or fake, I didn't know. I still felt like crying when someone spoke of him. I wondered where he was. Whether he was safe or not. But then again, how could he be? It wasn't safe at all! Joining them wasn't safe! Were we in such a hopeless position? Would the Dark Lord reign again?
The answers to these questions were unknown and maybe I preferred it that way. All we can do is hope. Hope that everything will turn out well. And only God knew what 'well' was.
"Caldera? Something bothering you?" My head snapped up on hearing my mother's voice. She looked concerned. I knew that she knew the reason, so I just shrugged.
"It will be alright dear," she said looking down.
I knew that she was lying and she knew that she was too. However, I didn't want to push the subject any further so I just let it go. Speaking about Dad would just hurt her.
She placed my breakfast in front on the table, "Here, eat your breakfast." She went to prepare breakfast for herself.

I started eating my breakfast as I looked at the day's edition of the Daily Prophet. My eyes widened as I read the headlines:
DUMSTRANG HEADMASTER AND FORMER DEATH EATER, IGOR KARKAROFF FOUND DEAD.
"Mum! Igor Karkaroff!" I exclaimed.
"I know," she said solemnly.
"Why?" I asked.
"He refused to join them, I believe," she said in almost a whisper.
I just nodded. Then I knew why she was being so sad about the death of someone she didn't even know very well. They would have probably done the same thing to him if he hadn't joined them. She was thinking the same thing as I. So we had to be content in knowing that he was at the least alive.
I went back to eating. Mum sat at the table and started eating too.
"So, Mum..." I trailed off not knowing what to say.
"Yes?" she asked, looking up.
"How's work?" I asked, quite quickly. Mum gave a small laugh. "You ask me the same question everyday!" she said, sounding amused.
I pouted, "Well, I don't know what to talk about." Mum chuckled.
"Hey! Its not that I do anything interesting at home that I can talk about!" I defended myself.
"Alright then, we'll go to the Weasleys' for Harry's birthday. Arthur said that Molly wanted us to be there," she said, getting up and taking our dishes with her.
"Mum, I'll do the dishes," I said smiling, "and tell Aunt Molly that we'll be there. I believe Hermione's there too."
"No..." Mum said.
"What?" I asked, shocked that she said no for going to the Burrow. She had been the one to bring it up.
"I meant that I would do the dishes," she said, looking at me as if I was a lunatic, "you did them yesterday, remember?"
"Oh..." I nodded slowly.
I was looking forward to meeting the Weasleys and Hermione but Harry was a completely different story. After what had happened at the Ministry, there had been a lot of tension. The hostility between Harry and I had grown, after he had seen my father fighting for the Dark Side. I wasn't my fault that my father was a Death Eater! I didn't tell him to become one! Didn't he realise that I hated that Dad was a Death Eater? He expected me to hate my father! How could I? I loved him, even though he was a Death Eater.
I furrowed my eyebrows. I was thinking about it again. Hell, he was just being childish. Probably was feeling insecure with Sirius' death but that didn't give him the right to insult Dad!

My chain of thoughts was broken when Mum spoke up, "Caldera! I think I see an owl headed this way! Come here!"
I nearly choked on the milk that I was drinking. My heart started beating so loudly, I could hear it. A feeling of utter confusion took over me. I couldn't process my thoughts.
"Caldera! It IS headed here!" Mum exclaimed, snapping me out of my overwhelmed state. I quickly got up and made my way to the other window in the kitchen. There it was! An owl! Obviously flying towards our house.
"No..no..no..no.." I muttered.
"Stop acting stupid, Caldera!" Mum scolded, but I was not fazed by it as I was concentrating on the owl coming closer and closer, " and get away from window!"
"Huh?" I turned to her.
"Do you want it to land on your head?" she yelled and I could see that she was as anxious as I was. She pulled me away from the window just as the owl landed on the window sill. As Mum released me from her grip, I slowly made my way towards the owl. My heart was still beating rapidly. I saw the official looking envelope tied to its leg. I reached for it with shaking hands. I slowly untied the string that attached the envelope to its leg. I stared at the envelope for a while.
"Come on, Caldera!" Mum cheered. I opened the envelope and read over my results.
. . .

ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS

Pass Grades:
Outstanding (O)
Exceed Expectations (E)
Acceptable(A)

Fail Grades:
Poor (P)
Dreadful (D)
Troll (T)

CALDERA SERHILDA ROTH HAS ACHIEVED:
Astronomy: O
Care of Magical Creatures:A
Charms:O
Defense Against the Dark Arts:O
Divination:E
Herbology:E
History of Magic:O
Potions:O
Transfiguration:O
. . .

I read it over and over again. I hadn't expected to fail any subject and I didn't fail any. Six 'Outstandings' were considered good...very good. An 'Acceptable' for Care of Magical Creatures, I wasn't good at it anyways. The only 'creatures' I could handle were owls. The incident when a certain ferret got his arm broken scared me to the point that I skipped some classes. It was his stupidity in trying to prove that he was better than Harry that got him injured but it was still scary.
'Exceeds Expectations' for two subjects. I had done well, I could say that at least. I smiled.
"You did well, I suppose," Mum said, smiling at me. I nodded and handed her 'THE RESULT'. She started reading it and her smile grew wider.
"Ah! You did better than I had!" she exclaimed.
"What can I say Mum? The Sorting Hat is never wrong, it didn't put me in Ravenclaw for no reason," I said, bragging a little.
"And I agree with you," she said, still smiling. I laughed.
"By the way, Mum, you're late for work," I told her calmly, looking at the clock on the other side of the kitchen. It was 9 o'clock. My also looked at the clock.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" she asked, throwing me an accusing look.
She took out her wand and flicked it towards the dishes, which started being cleaned without any external help.
"Mum! You are supposed to be the adult," I defended, "and an Auror!"
"Well, I'll be leaving," she said walking towards the back door which was in the kitchen. She took her coat off the rack and wore it. She walked out of the black door, with me trailing behind. We stood in the backyard as she looked around for any sign of Muggles.
"Goodbye, dear," she said as she hugged me.
"Bye, Mum," I said and kissed her cheek, "have a good day."
She started walking towards the old oak tree in our backyard. She stood below the tree and apparated to her destination.

I stood there for a few minutes and then entered the empty. I went into the kitchen, looked at the precious sheet of paper once again and folded it again. The hoot of an owl sounded from behind me, which made me let out a small scream of surprise. I quickly turned around just to find one of the Weasleys' owls sitting on the window sill. It had a peculiar name which I couldn't remember. Pigwegeon...Pidwegeon...something like that. It held a letter in its beak. I made my way towards it and took the letter from its beak. It was from Ginny or Hermione perhaps. I opened the envelope and unfolded the parchment. The handwriting was Hermione's. I started reading the letter:

"Dearest Caldera...."