Chapter 1: The Girl Named After A Constellation
"Cassiopeia Malfoy! Now, you hold on just a minute."
Cassie groaned as her mother's small hand gripped her wrist with a surprising amount of strength. The girl turned slowly to face her mother. The woman's stern cerulean eyes bore into Cassie's gray-blue ones.
"If we hear word that you've been bothering that Potter boy again, we'll transfer you to Beauxbatons."
Cassie's father sighed slightly and ran a hand through his platinum hair; he was used to conversations like this.
"But, mum! He bothers me first!"
"Be the mature person and ignore him!"
"Roxanne, she's a child. What else is she going to do other than cause trouble?" Cassie's father said.
Roxanne Malfoy glared up at her husband. "She's broken your detention record, Draco."
Draco couldn't help but grin. "And they're all from bothering a Potter. I couldn't care less."
Cassie grinned back at her father.
Roxanne scowled and smacked Draco's arm. "Don't encourage her."
"Mum, calm down." Cassie was still smiling. "I'm sixteen now, I can manage to behave myself a bit."
Roxanne didn't see her husband wink at her daughter.
"I'm serious, Cassie. Don't get into more trouble. If you get expelled, don't come crying home to us."
Cassie only smiled. She hugged her mother and her father briefly. Her mother waved to her as she got on the train.
Draco wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulders. "She really ought to have been a Slytherin." He grumbled. "How did you give birth to a Gryffindor?"
Roxanne laughed at him. "You're just upset that Harry's son likes her."
"It really is a shame that James is awful at hiding his feelings."
The Malfoys turned towards the new voice. Hermione Granger, now Weasley, stood beside them with her husband. She smiled at Roxanne; Roxanne smiled back.
"I don't think any of the kids realize it though."
Hermione laughed. "Not even Cassie, as perceptive as she is."
The four adults waved to their children as the train pulled out of the station. Roxanne glimpsed a flash of her daughter's pale hair as the girl turned with an angry face to the dark haired boy sitting across from her in the compartment.
On board the Hogwarts Express, the two most famous Gryffindors were already fighting.
"Bloody hell." Someone said as they passed the compartment. "It's been not even five minutes."
"What do you expect? Their fathers hated each other." Someone else said.
"But their mothers are friends!"
"Clearly that doesn't make a bloody difference."
The compartment door slid open then. The noise from inside became clear in the corridor. A petite girl with flaming red hair stepped out, her face beet red with frustration. She slammed the door closed behind her.
"They could at least cast a blasted silencing spell." Rose Weasley cried as she stepped into the opposite compartment.
"But that would be far too planned for Cassie Malfoy and my brother." An auburn haired girl said as she flipped lazily through a magazine. "Spontaneous seems to be the only way they live their lives."
"Honestly, Lily. How do you live with him?"
The youngest Potter raised her eyebrows. "Are you kidding? He only saves this kind of stubborn fighting for Malfoy."
Rose snorted. "He really knows how to charm a girl. Honestly, the sexual tension is so bloody thick if I had spent another minute in there, I would have died from suffocation."
Lily grimaced. "Please, I don't want to hear about anything sexual when it comes to my brother." She flipped her magazine shut. "What was the fight about this time?"
"James said her skirt was too short and she looked like a slag."
Lily burst out laughing. "Merlin, he's got it for her bad, doesn't he?"
Rose only nodded as she grinned.
"For the last time, I am not a slag!" Cassie shouted.
James Potter rolled his vivid green eyes. "You sure as hell dress like one."
"Why the fuck do you even care?"
"Because you represent my house! I don't want people to think of whores when they hear the name Gryffindor."
Cassie's gray eyes hardened to ice. "Well then, I guess Gryffindor is a house of whores and arrogant bastards!"
He stared at her with nearly tangible hatred. Her pale eyes flashed; her jaw muscles tightened and bunched. Her long fingered hands curled into white knuckled fists.
And then, suddenly, she was gone. The compartment door rattled behind her.
Rose looked up when Cassie sat gracefully next to Lily. "For once, you actually walked away from a fight with James Potter." She drawled, a bit surprised.
The Malfoy heir's gray eyes, flecked generously with black and blue, danced slightly. A smile tugged on the corners of her mouth. "It won't happen often."
"You really should stop encouraging him, Malfoy." Lily said lightly.
Cassie rolled her eyes. "He insulted me first."
Lily grinned at the taller girl. "You didn't have to hike up your skirt just before you saw him! You knew it would start an argument."
Cassie's grin was mischievous. "I do love a good yell in the morning." She laced her fingers together and stretched her arms over her head, feeling the satisfying release of pressure in her back.
Rose shook her head. "You really should have been a Slytherin."
Cassie shrugged. She had heard that many times before. "Perhaps the Sorting Hat's gone loopy."
The three Gryffindor friends fell into a comfortable silence. Lily picked up her magazine again; Rose cracked open a heavy volume; Cassie directed her attention to the window.
Cassiopeia Malfoy was not your average witch in any sense of the world. From her blood, to her magic, to her looks, to her personality, she was not what anyone would expect.
Her parents had married just after they graduated from Hogwarts. The Malfoy heir had defied his imprisoned father's wishes and married the half-blood Garniar heir. It had been the talk of Wizarding London, along with the marriage of Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley, and the engagement of Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley.
The pureblood society had been enraged when they heard about the engagement. This wedding meant the end of the pureblood Malfoy line. However, both Draco and Roxanne had completely ignored the powerful families and their stage whispered opinions.
The birth of their daughter five years later had been published on the front page of The Prophet.
Cassie had been a mystery as a child. She was the child of two people with extremely powerful Old Magic. No one knew if she'd be an average magical witch or something more.
She had turned out to be so much more. She was able to wield both of the Old Magics. The ability to heal and harm from her mother and the ability to create a strong mental and physical bond with those she felt passionate towards from her father. She had inherited both her mother's strength in dueling and her father's skill in potion making.
At sixteen, she stood four inches taller than her mother. She was lean and long limbed like her father. Her long hair was a dusty blonde color. Her eyes were pale gray flecked with dark blue. Her ivory skin was smooth and flawless.
No one really understood why she was sorted into Gryffindor. She was clever and a prankster. Cassie was slightly unstable and entirely unpredictable.
She was close friends with Lily Potter and Rose Weasley and treated most of their relatives politely and she and James Potter fought as much as they breathed.
"Cass, we're almost there."
Lily's voice jarred Cassie from her thoughts of the summer. Cassie's eyes flicked up from the sparkling window to her right. She looked at Lily and Rose, who were already in their uniforms.
"First day of sixth year, girls." She said with a smile.
Rose sighed. "I can't believe it's almost over."
"Don't be like that, Rose." Lily sighed. "Just be happy that we aren't seventh years yet."
"Speaking of seventh years." Cassie said with a smirk. "Did you guys see Wood on the platform?"
"Merlin! I didn't know that a man's body could look that perfect." Lily gushed.
Rose snorted. "We're not even in the school yet and you're already acting like frivolous love struck witches."
Cassie rolled her eyes. "Like you haven't been drooling after Cormac." She named the Ravenclaw seventh year that competed with Rose for first place at Hogwarts.
Rose flushed. She opened her mouth to retort but then quickly shut it.
"Come on, Rosie." Lily flung her arm around Rose's shoulders. "You should find something else to channel your passion into. Other than studying."
"Cormac may do nicely." Cassie said with a smirk as she walked out before them.
James was leaving with his brother Albus and Hugo Weasley. He glared at Cassie but his expression softened when he saw she wasn't looking at him. His green eyes watched her flowing form as it strode purposefully down the aisle of the train. The crowd of third and fourth year students parted before her like leaves in the wind.
Rose and Lily looked at each other, containing sad and knowing smiles, before following Cassie.
"Bloody hell." Cassie muttered crossly, wading through a crowd of second years in the school corridor. "Get out of the blasted way!"
One student – who was either incredibly brave or particularly dim – didn't move out of her way fast enough. Her foot, suddenly tangled between his legs, set him stumbling away from her with an aching pain in his back where she shoved him.
"Cass, play nice." Lily said in a low voice.
"I'm hungry!" The blonde cried.
"Malfoy, relax." James was suddenly at her side. "Doesn't matter when we get there, we still have to sit through the sorting and the speeches."
She scowled, in a way that reminded the professors of her father, when she saw the crowd of younger students part easily before him. "Do I get any respect around here?"
He smirked. "Clearly not. Then again, you aren't the son of Harry Potter."
A slick move of her right leg sent him sprawling onto the ground. She stepped over him. He cursed and grabbed at her ankles. She hissed at him and danced easily out of the way.
"Stupid Malfoy." He growled.
Her scowl blossomed into a charming smile. "Oh, Potter, you just make my heart pound." She rolled her eyes at him before turning on her heel and striding towards the Great Hall.
"Very charming, James. Very smooth." Lily laughed at him as she walked by him.
"I'm not exactly interested in charming Malfoy!" He cried, leaping to his feet and storming after them. He was completely ignored by the three girls.
As Cassie walked into the Great Hall, those already there turned to look at her. James had caught up to her now and they were arguing under their breath. Rose and Lily trailed behind, silent and observant of the two.
Whispers spread through the younger student.
There they are.
There he is.
There she is.
James Potter – the hero's son.
Cassie Malfoy – the girl named after the constellation, the Death Eater's daughter.
The Prince and Princess of Gryffindor.
Author's Note: So, this is the requested sequel of "Leave You Hanging on Her Words". I hope the first chapter's interesting enough to have some of you continue reading it. I've (obviously) changed around some things.
For one, Scorpius doesn't... exist, to be blunt. And the kids are pretty much all seventh or sixth years. I know that it wouldn't ever work out that way because of the ages in such. But they're all around the same age. Not all of the NextGen kids will have significant parts, this story will mostly focus on Cassie and James.
I do plan on writing a fanfic with all the NextGen characters, though it'll most likely be written after this one is finished.
Anywho, rate, review, follow, and/or alert if you like! Thank you for those who are reading!
xx
K
