A/N: TWOSHOT! I'm having a bit of a writer's block in Moondance at the moment, so I decided to write a fic about Harry and Draco together from someone else's POV. It occasionally involves the POV from someone else other than Cassandra, as you will see in the second shot. Established relationship.
Warning: Hints of abuse, nothing too graphic. Homosexual relationship for the squeamish but nothing too drastic, just kissing, hugging maybe some groping but remember that this is from someone else's POV.
Disclaimer: None of these belong to me –well, the plot of the fic is mine but the characters belong to JK Rowling, Warner Bros and any other corporation with the license to use Harry Potter. I repeat: I DO NOT OWN.
Title: Revenge
Author: hpjkrowling4ever
Cassandra. Cassie. Sandra. Sandy. She was the one girl in her year in Hogwarts who had four names. Four different personalities. Every clique in her year knew her as a different person. Marley and her girls knew her as Sandra. Clemmy and her friends knew her as Cassie. Gloria and her mates knew her as Sandy. Everyone else knew her as Cassandra. Only one person knew her as Cass and only that person, and now that person was gone.
Cassandra put her head in her hands; the tears running freely down her face. Killed by Avada Kadavra, the Aurors told her. It was a painless death, they said, she didn't feel anything. It didn't stop her from thinking that whatever the death was, it had killed her mother and she wouldn't be coming back.
She wouldn't be saying, "I love you."
She wouldn't be saying, "I'm here now, the nightmares can leave you."
She wouldn't be saying, "Breathe. We've got each other and that's what matters."
Because now they didn't have each other and never would again. Choking back a sob, Cassandra looked up at the Auror dressed in the regal purple robes and felt very, very alone.
"What are you going to do with me?"
The Auror coughed uncomfortably and shifted to the side in his chair.
"That's not my decision to make."
"It's mine." A deep, rich, eloquent voice rang out, echoing around the small interview room and making the Auror jump up and bow his head. Cassandra turned around curiously.
A tall, well-built man dressed completely in black stood in the doorway. His hood was drawn completely over his face and his robes made almost no sound as he moved towards them. The Auror who had previously been interviewing Cassandra hurried out of the room at a quick twitch of the black-robed individual's hand.
"Cassandra St. Claire. What an interesting name to own." The man sat down on the chair in front of her and despite her grief, Cassandra felt an overwhelming sense of curiosity.
"Are you an Unspeakable?"
The man coughed delicately.
"I never will belong to that rowdy group of individuals." The man took out a black folder with a gold eagle and a snake insignia on the cover from the folds of his robes. "I doubt that your elementary education in Hogwarts has taught you about the Gold Corps."
"No, sir."
"I thought not." The man sighed. "The unfortunate death of your mother was because she was on one of our missions, tracking down this man."
The man opened the folder to show her a picture of a rather angry looking bearded man. Cassandra frowned –she knew that man. She knew him very well. He was her father.
"Cassandra! What have I told you about leaving your socks on the floor? Get here now!"
Cassandra's head reared up from her Arithmancy homework and she raced to her room, her heart beating fast. She burst into her room, and ran straight into her father's chest.
"I'm sorry! It won't happen again, I promise you."
"No, it won't. I'll make sure of that, young lady. Follow me." He ordered, and panic overtook Cassandra.
"No! No, Father, please! I swear! I'm sorry!" she yelled, falling to the ground in front of him, begging him not to do what he was about to.
"I've told you more than three times, young lady. You know what happens after three times."
"Please, Father, please! I'll do anything, just don't!"
Her mother, hearing the shouts, raced out of the kitchen and pelted up the stairs.
"Jeremy! Jeremy, you know it's her room and we give her the freedom she needs in there." Her mum put a dainty hand on her father's arm, but her shook her off and slapped her cheek. Her mum gasped and collapsed against the wall.
"Father! Please!"
Cassandra gasped and reared back in her chair, the tears falling faster down her face. Her breath was coming in short gasps and she slid to the floor. The man moved around and took her hand gently, slowly and helped her back into her chair.
"Did he abuse you?"
"Hitting, slapping, punching, kicking, pinching –he did them all. Verbal abuse as well. We couldn't fight back. He threatened me with Mum and Mum with me." Cassandra shivered, remembering the fear-filled days of her childhood, the heart-wrenching agony she felt when she left for Hogwarts, leaving her mother to her father's moods. She learnt too soon the need to hide. No one needed to know who she was.
"You're sixteen now, when did he first start?"
"Seven, Mum could only protect me so much." The tears fell faster, remembering how much her mother did to save her from her father's rages.
"When did your father leave?"
"Fourteen."
The man leant back in his chair.
"Your mother worked for the Gold Corps." He sighed. "We are the most secret department in the Ministry. We're an extension of the Aurors, except that we dabble in Dark Arts and chase the most vicious, the most dangerous criminals in the Wizarding World."
"Who are you?"
"You'll find out." He leant forwards and only by observing his body language did Cassandra realise that he was earnest. "You're sixteen, you're underage. You have to stay somewhere. You can't stay with relatives, your father would track you down and kill you, like he did to your mother."
Cassandra pulled in a sharp breath.
"He killed her? That can't be right! Even if her abused us, he loved Mum!"
"No. Your father dabbles in the darkest of the Dark Arts. Not as far as Horcruxes, that was the Dark Lord, but he dabbles in soul possessing. It's an obscure but violent branch of the Dark Arts. He worked the hardest in trying to possess your mother. When we accepted her into the Corps, a few years before she met him, she was a very different person. Sweet, kind, loving. When I hired her I was scared she wouldn't be able to cope with the weight of fighting with us. She did, but when she met your father she became more withdrawn and failed on missions she had previously succeeded on."
"Father was possessing her?"
"Yes. She was a valuable asset. She was part of the Gold Corps –everything he needed for his Dark Arts could be found with us. However, when you were born, she had frequent personality changes. She would be what she was when we hired her, but then turned into that sloppy person she had been made into by your father. You made her fight against his possession, and he resorted to violence to put your mother in her place. However, your mother was powerful enough to stop him and he left her, scared that we would finally be able to take him to Azkaban."
"Why didn't you stop him beforehand?"
"Your mother begged us not to, even though we were aware that he was dabbling in Dark Arts." He sighed again. "It was our biggest mistake, but then after he left her she was back to normal. She adored you and wouldn't stop talking about you. However, when we sent her on a routine mission yesterday, it turned into a violent mess and your father killed her."
The tears started flowing again and the man hesitantly put a black-gloved hand on hers. She looked up, startled, but the man had already withdrawn his hand.
"I have gained permission for you to stay with me in my home. It is the safest place for you while we attempt to dispose of your father as we cannot send you to your extended family for fear of endangering them."
"You want to kill him?"
"Your father is mad with the power the Dark Arts give him. We don't want another Dark Lord, young lady." He paused. "Would you like to come and stay in my house?"
Cassandra knew that she was beaten. If she refused, no one would take her in –and she couldn't put her family into danger. No, no, that was not an option. This man knew what he was talking about, but did he know her father?
"Sir, is it possible for me to help you find my father?"
"You want to help us find your father?"
"Yes, sir. I'd like that very much." Cassandra looked defiantly up at the man. "If my mother could do it, then so can I."
Cassandra tumbled through the fire, and saw hundreds of fireplaces flash by, some open, some closed, but all of them rang of a home, a place to belong. She didn't have any anymore. On that thought, she stumbled through the grate, noticing that it was a rich gold, and was caught by a pair of strong arms. She glanced up and reared back in surprise –it was Teddy Lupin.
Teddy Lupin. Metamorphmagus. He was the most popular, the most gorgeous boy in her year. Everyone loved Teddy. His kindness extended to everyone and no one had ever had a complaint against Teddy, except those who looked for one and then they could only say that he defended his friends and his dead parents fiercely. But Cassandra had seen Teddy at his most vulnerable, when he had been sobbing his parents' loss in his second year, and had had a jar thrown at her for her trouble. She had never mentioned it again, but saw Teddy in a different light since then and respected him immensely. A thought suddenly struck her –wherever Teddy was, Harry Potter couldn't be far: he was Teddy's guardian.
"Teddy?" she asked, looking around once she was standing up.
She was standing by the most elaborate, magnificent fireplace she had ever seen in her life. It was made of pure marble and had scenes from the Battle of Hogwarts engraved around it. On the mantelpiece were numerous photographs and a large mirror stood haughtily behind the photos. Looking around the room, she saw plush sofas made of the softest material. The carpet was obviously an antique and the coffee table was made of polished wood. A stack of books sat in the middle. Various doors led out of the room.
"Hello, Cassandra." Teddy had always persisted in calling her Cassandra, even though he had had the choice of three other names. "I am incredibly sorry for your loss."
Too confused to dwell on his words, she mumbled out a 'thank you' before looking around her again.
"Why are you here?"
"Ah." Teddy scratched his now-black hair. Probably in deference to her loss –all of Hogwarts knew that his favourite hair colour was turquoise. "I guess that he didn't tell you then, did he?"
"Who, the man in black? No. I couldn't even see his face, let alone know how serious he was about anything."
There was a rush of air behind Cassandra and she jumped to the side, only to see the black robed man step elegantly out of the fireplace. She tilted her head to the side, interested to see him without his hood; surely he couldn't stay at his own house, hidden in his hood?
"What I am about to reveal to you must on no accounts leave this house. Is that clear, Cassandra?"
"Very, sir." She replied, burning with curiosity.
The man lowered his hood slowly and shrugged off his robe, revealing a neatly groomed head of the palest blond hair and a perfectly tailored suit. Lord Draco Abraxas Malfoy, leading businessman in the Wizarding World and ex-Death Eater. Divorced from Astoria Greengrass, but gained custody of their son, Scorpius Malfoy, four years younger than Cassandra, in his second year at Hogwarts. What she didn't understand, however, was why Teddy was in the same house as Draco Malfoy.
"Lord Malfoy!" she breathed, taking a step backwards, her eyes darting from Teddy to Lord Malfoy. Her eyes must have been wide with her shock, because Lord Malfoy burst out laughing. It was a soft but strong sound, polished to the highest degree.
"Surprised?" he asked.
"Of course she's surprised, Draco, you've just sprung something of a bombshell on her!"
At that moment, one of the wooden doors opened and a pale blond head much like Lord Malfoy's inserted itself into the room, followed by the rest of Scorpius Malfoy. The young boy was all long limbs, but unlike most boys his age, he managed to pull them off with elegance and grace.
"Father!" the boy raced in and threw himself at Lord Malfoy, a huge smile on his face. Cassandra felt the weight of surprise after surprise coming down on her; first, Lord Malfoy was the mysterious boss of the Gold Corps and second, his son, the icy Scorpius Malfoy was actually quite a warm person. As she was thinking this, he turned to look at her and she twitched slightly, realising that he was examining her thoroughly.
"Cassandra St. Claire. Hufflepuff. Sixth year. Mother, no father. Why is she here, Father?" Scorpius turned to look at Lord Malfoy, not noticing the tension in Cassandra's face when he had mentioned her mother.
"My mother is dead, Malfoy." She said bluntly. The young boy looked apologetic and then smiled wryly.
"My apologies, St. Claire. I didn't know." He turned back to his father. "I really, really want to go to Diagon Alley, Father! Can you bring me there?"
"What for, brat?" Lord Malfoy asked, smiling. Cassandra was surprised to hear such an affectionate term come from the impassive, stony businessman portrayed on the papers.
"I found a marvelously interesting book on Defensive spells I think would be great for a certain someone's Christmas present…" Scorpius grinned slyly at Lord Malfoy, who chuckled deeply.
"Maybe later. I cannot bring you there; I must get Miss St. Claire acquainted with the Manor –she will be staying with us for an extended period of time."
"Why don't I do that, Draco? Then you can bring this squirt to Diagon Alley. I've already got all the Christmas presents I need for everyone." Teddy smiled lopsidedly, and Lord Malfoy considered his proposition before nodding. Teddy whooped and turned to Cassandra. Just as he opened his mouth, the Floo flared again and dark blue robes fell through the fireplace, tripping over the grate and being caught in Lord Malfoy's arms.
"Quite an entrance you make, my love." He said softly, but Cassandra caught the endearment and she longed to see who the arrival was. She wasn't sure if it was a man or a woman and she almost craned her head forwards to see. However, Teddy had grabbed her and led her out of the room before she could see who it was.
"What do you think of it?" Teddy asked, from the centre of a very familiar room.
"Where did you get all my stuff from?" Cassandra asked, momentarily forgetting whom Lord Malfoy's mysterious partner could be in the shock of seeing all her posters, her clothes, her room's furniture and her accessories arranged exactly as if in her room at home. "Why does this look identical to my old room?"
"Your house is up for sale." Cassandra felt herself vacillating and grabbed onto a chair unsteadily. "All of the furniture, accessories, your mother's clothes and otherwise has been put into storage in the Ministry's Housing Department. Don't worry, it's free because your mother died serving the Wizarding World. However, they can't leave any trace of you or your mother on the house because your father, as the Ministry's Most Wanted, could track you down using tracking charms on your clothes. Thus, everything has had to be moved."
"They did it quickly." Cassandra noted, after the initial shock had worn off.
"Yes, the Department is very used to doing that. They have a specially trained branch for this sort of thing, and since we knew you were moving to our house, Draco just asked for it to be shadow-spelled over exactly how it was in your house. Simple."
"Who gets the money from the house? And what about my mother's accounts?"
"All under high security. Whoever the house is sold to will pay and Gringotts will transfer it to your mother's bank account, which will be unfrozen for you once your father has been caught. The Gold Corps are taking no risks with you."
"How do you know all this?" Cassandra asked, surprised to see carefree Teddy Lupin so serious.
"Draco briefed me on what had happened to you as well as what will now happen to you and what measures have been taken for your safety." Teddy sat down on a chair next to her. "I am genuinely sorry for your loss. I cannot imagine the pain you must be going through, having known your mother and then lost her."
Cassandra felt a sharp pinch in her chest, knowing that though she was in her old room, she was living a new life. The tears wouldn't come this time, and Cassandra sighed.
"Thank you for your concern. I really appreciate it." She smiled thinly. "However…I have some questions I'd love answered."
"I am not allowed to answer your questions. Wait until supper." Teddy grinned again. "I'll see you in an hour."
Supper was a very formal affair in Malfoy Manor, Cassandra realised. She had changed into one of her more comfortable clothes, but the others had changed into more formal clothing. The mysterious blue-robed person was not there at the start of dinner, so she pushed them to the back of her mind and tucked into a delicious meal of steak, broccoli and mashed potatoes seasoned with some herb she didn't recognise.
"Tell me, Cassandra, what do you do as your NEWTS? Teddy does Care of Magical Creatures, DADA, Potions and Transfiguration." Lord Malfoy asked between mouthfuls.
Cassandra coughed nervously.
"Well, I do Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, DADA and Charms."
Lord Malfoy chuckled to himself, but was interrupted by the door opening behind him. Cassandra looked up and almost fell off her chair in surprise.
Harry Potter. The most famous, the most respected and the most hounded person in the Wizarding World. Probably one of the richest as well. He was thought to be living in his flat, No. 12 Grimmauld Place with his godson, Edward Lupin, who was under his guardianship after the death of his grandmother Andromeda Tonks. But here he was, dressed in black jeans, a white shirt and a pale blue robe. His glasses were slightly askew on his nose and his hair was its trademark mess.
"Sorry I'm late." He grinned lopsidedly, much like his godson, and even though they weren't related, Cassandra could see some similarities between him and Teddy immediately.
Lord Malfoy stood up slowly and walked over to Mr. Potter. He circled him slowly, nodding to himself all along. Mr. Potter kept grinning, and a glance at Teddy and Scorpius showed that they were grinning as well. This was obviously a well-practiced ritual.
"Not too bad, though maybe blue jeans would be better with the blue robe. Overall, a good effort, Harry." Lord Malfoy smiled in satisfaction and with a bit of pride.
"I'm improving, aren't I?"
"Compared to the time you came to supper in the blue jeans, the yellow shirt and red robes, yes. Compared to me, no."
"I don't think anyone can compare to your dress sense and dramatic flair, Draco." Mr. Potter said petulantly, and then a sly look came to his face. "Tell me, do I get a reward for my effort?"
Lord Malfoy seemed to ponder the question, before leaning forwards and capturing Mr. Potter's lips in the softest kiss, barely a touch of the lips before they pulled away. Mr. Potter's eyes sparkled vividly as he sat down opposite Cassandra, whose mouth was open in shock and her fork was suspended in midair, frozen in its journey towards her mouth.
"Well, you look quite astounded, young lady." Mr. Potter said, tapping the table three times and his food appeared. "I'm Harry Potter, though I think you already know that. You can call me Harry; I'm not a stuck-up arse like dear Draco over there ("Harry!" Lord Malfoy growled) who insists on being called Lord. I assume you're Cassandra St. Claire, do you go by any other name?"
Cassandra shook herself and smiled politely back to Mr. Potter. She was acutely aware of the fact that she was living most of her classmates' fantasies by being so close to Mr. Potter and talking to him in person. The fact that he was so approachable shook her out of her daze a bit and she smiled back at Harry.
"Yes, I'm Cassandra. I go by numerous other names, but I don't mind you calling me Cassandra, sir."
"What did I say?" Harry's eyes narrowed in mock warning, and Cassandra smiled apologetically, still feeling rather confused. Diagonal from her, Scorpius started laughing.
"If you could see your face, St. Claire! Merlin, it's a sight worth seeing –the closed-off, multiple personality Miss St. Claire looks gobsmacked. Father, Uncle Harry, maybe it's a good idea to tell St. Claire about you two."
Harry caught on to Scorpius' hilarity and started laughing as well. Cassandra couldn't help feeling a sense of envy. Scorpius and Teddy had a family, somewhere to call home and though their guardians had a very odd relationship that was strictly private as the press and the public didn't know about it, they had adults they could trust and whom they knew would support them. Cassandra had no one and she couldn't even go to her extended family for help or she'd be putting them in danger.
Across the table, she saw Harry glance at her while he was laughing and she realised that he hadn't missed her moment of weakness. She turned back to her meal and smiled, waiting for the explanation to come. Lord Malfoy waited for silence and then provided it.
"Harry and I…well…we had a less than friendly relationship when we were at school." Lord Malfoy stood up and walked towards his partner, standing behind Harry's chair and snaking his arms around Harry's shoulders, in a gesture Cassandra saw was filled with tenderness but spoke of being repeated hundreds, thousands of times before. Harry smiled up at Lord Malfoy, before turning back to his meal. "I thought that Harry was an uncouth, spoilt brat. It turns out that I was hopelessly far from the truth. Harry is the most wonderful man I've ever met in my life, albeit with a horrific dress sense and some reckless tendencies which are quite worrying."
Harry choked on his steak, and Lord Malfoy patted him soothingly on his back until his airway cleared. Scorpius sniggered into his food, and Teddy looked like he was trying very hard not to laugh.
"However, our relationship started due to our charming boys." Cassandra noticed that he didn't say 'sons' in deference, probably, to the fact that Teddy wasn't Harry's son. "They decided to become friends, much to our original chagrin. However, it turns out that it was the best decision they ever made because Harry supported me through my divorce, I supported him through the heartless attacks from the press and it soon became a relationship."
"But Father didn't want to give us a hard time at school and they didn't want to have all the backlash from the press, so they keep their relationship under very strict wraps. Everyone knows that Uncle Harry and Father are friends, but only Ron, Hermione, the other Weasleys, Blaise and Pansy know about their relationship." Scorpius said, nodding in gratitude to his parental figures. "But I basically grew up under Father and Uncle Harry." He looked stubbornly at Harry. "And of course Uncle Harry won't let me call him Dad."
"And he won't let me do that either." Teddy said softly, in a tone that told Cassandra that there were many arguments underneath that statement. Harry glanced sharply at Teddy, confirming Cassandra's suspicion.
"However," Lord Malfoy said sharply, "We all have each other now and we love each other enough to survive what is thrown at us." Harry turned to Cassandra as Lord Malfoy said this and smiled at her.
"We'll try and help you as much a possible."
Weeks passed and nothing seemed to be happening in the Gold Corps concerning her father. Cassandra was told to remain in Malfoy Manor and not to go out. Scorpius and Teddy were very kind and remained inside with her and sometimes persuaded Harry or Lord Malfoy to allow her to go outside. Slowly, she forgot how famous, how powerful and influential her guardians were (they had had a solicitor come in and sign papers allowing her to remain under their guardianship) and had even come to call Lord Malfoy 'Draco'. Harry was a fascinating person to talk to and she would spend ages asking him about Defense spells. She found out that he worked privately as a spellmaker, which required an extensive knowledge of the theory of spells.
Wanting to help Draco track down her father, Cassandra had started going through everything she knew about her father. Post-it note after colourful post-it note went up on the wall depicting fact after fact about her father, things that she'd never even realised she'd known went up, along with the obvious information about his likes and dislikes. She had to do something to avenge her mother's death, and to avenge her lost childhood.
One day, there was a knock at the door and Cassandra paused in her writing and turned to look at it. She then waved her wand beside her and the door opened to reveal Harry. He tilted his head to the side to observe her and then walked in, closing the door quietly behind him.
He looked at the post-its, his face betraying no emotion as he read through them all. He touched some, and ran his fingers along others, and sighed when he read some but he said not a word. Cassandra looked nervously at him.
"These are incredibly detailed, Cassandra." Harry said softly, sitting down on the floor beside Cassandra. "Why are you doing this?"
Cassandra shrugged. She had slowly been able to express more emotion and be more familiar around him and soon had managed to overcome her awe of him.
"I want to do something to help Draco. I'm extremely grateful to him for looking after me and allowing me to stay in his house, but I would like a part in capturing my father."
Harry tilted his head to the side and his hand came out to take her pen. He leant forwards and wrote in his well-known long, loopy script "An eye for an eye would make the whole world blind –Mahatma Gandhi" He then looked back up at her.
"Revenge is all very good in principle. If I took revenge on everyone who hurt me, the world would be lacking numerous reporters and Draco would probably be dead." He took another post-it and wrote down "Those who plot the destruction of others often fall themselves."
"I know! I know, but I'm so mad. I want to do something to him, anything to get rid of him. He's my father and he killed my mother. What loyalty do I owe him? He abused me as a child." Cassandra curled in on herself and rocked herself backwards and forwards in a way she did when life got too much for her. She forgot that Harry was in the room and just talked.
"He was supposed to be my father! He was supposed to bring me to the zoo, the park, to the museum, to see my friends, to have snowball battles, to help me with my homework, to be there with my achievements. Instead he ruined me!" Tears started falling down Cassandra's face again and she vaguely registered that Harry had picked her up and lain her down on her bed and sat beside her.
"I was nothing, just an accident that had occurred in one of his experiments with my mother. Hell, if he could turn back time he would. But Mum," Cassandra curled in on herself, without realising that she had curled around Harry. "Mum loved me. She cherished me and tried to undo all Father had done to me. There was never any doubt that she loved me."
Cassandra was silent, and she barely heard the door to her room open and close again and certainly didn't hear Draco come into the room. She felt him sit down on her other side and uncurl her. She had realised early on in her stay in Malfoy Manor that Harry's and Draco's relationship was so well established that it was almost instinctual and they only had to share a glance before they knew a whole wealth of information. If she had been more coherent, she would have seen the quiet glance transferred across her.
"Shh, it's alright." Draco pulled her up into a sitting position and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tight. She had also realised that Draco was a completely different person to the stony businessman and that he was an excellent comforter. She had, at first, been very reluctant to receive any comfort from him, but she had realised that he was a wonderful listener and Harry superb at giving advice. Thus, she buried her head in his perfect robes and felt Harry hug her from behind.
"It's not alright." Cassandra mumbled into Draco's shirt. He pulled her back and completely ignored the wet stain on his shoulder, instead brushing the hair out of her eyes.
"I always used to do that with Scorp or Teds when they were younger. I would tell them that their hair would stop them seeing the full picture. Teds always used to make his hair become shorter, and I would find that hilarious." Cassandra gave him a watery smile, but it was soon wiped away.
"I just…" Just, the excuse word. "I wish I had had a childhood like Teddy's or Scorpius'. I mean, I wouldn't take away my mother for the world, but I wish I had the security and the stories that they tell me or you tell me about them. You've all managed to wrap your lives around each other and…and I wish I had something like that."
"You know what we've told you, Cassandra."
She scowled.
"It'd be too much to ask."
Harry snorted from behind her.
"Too much? Cassandra, you live with us. Soon you'll be getting Christmas presents from us as well. Don't tell me you don't feel comfortable here –you do. Adopting you would be a further step to securing you a safe place. Your objections are silly, unless all you want to do is get away from us."
"I don't." Cassandra muttered, burying her head on Draco's shoulder again. "I just want my father gone, and then I can be safe. Please." She looked up into Draco's eyes. "Please, I beg you, Draco, please let me help you."
Cassandra tiptoed towards Draco and Harry's room, where she knew Draco and Harry would be having a conversation about her request. She peeked around the door. Harry was standing by the fireplace, and Draco was pacing in front of him, his robes billowing around him in an intimidating fashion.
After a while of this, Harry moved from his place and interrupted Draco's walking. He slowly, gently, carefully, took off Draco's outer robe, revealing his shirt and trousers, and wrapped his arms around his partner's waist. Leaning his head against Draco's shoulder, one of Harry's hands traced its' way up to his heart, where it rested. Draco seemed to calm down and placed a kiss on Harry's head.
"I don't want her to be hurt." He murmured softly, making Cassandra strain to hear him.
"I know, love. I don't either. But you and I know that the only way she'll find peace is to find her father and confront him." Harry looked back up, his hand still on Draco's heart. "You know how it is, my love. You and I keep enough secrets to know how this one must be weighing down on her. She needs justice. If not for her, then for her mother."
Draco's hand made its' way to Harry's and squeezed it softly. He closed his eyes and fell to the floor, Harry catching him as he fell. As they knelt on the floor, Draco with his eyes closed and Harry watching him with a very tender look, Cassandra realised what true love was. Not the vicious, passionate lust her father had had for her mother, not the destructive bonfire but a quiet, gentle flame with enough heat to keep burning for a very, very long time.
She turned back to Harry and Draco, to see Harry tracing Draco's cheek with his other hand and carefully coming closer to his mouth.
"She's come to us hurt and bruised. This started as a necessity you complained about; something you have to do with every case like this –abusive father killing mother and you taking care of the child. But this time, you've fallen for her. I think she reminded you of your childhood."
Draco nodded shakily, and Cassandra was shocked to see tears falling down his face. Harry's thumb caught all of them.
"Your father dabbling in his Dark Arts, and slowly sapping the life from your mother and trying to make you like him."
"Yes," Draco breathed, looking earnestly up at Harry. "It destroyed my childhood. Only later did they come to love each other, but there was a huge chasm between their understanding. And you managed to see my pain and you were there to put the pieces back together."
"You want to do the same with her, don't you?" Harry murmured. "I do, as well. I've come to love her. Like you and I very quietly adopting Teddy and Scorpius as our sons and having that marriage ceremony in complete privacy, you want to adopt her as well."
"I want her to know that she can have a safe home with us."
Cassandra felt the tears on her face mimic Draco's tears.
"And she can, but only once she has peace. And you can only give her that peace by letting her take on her father, Draco."
Finally defeated, Draco bowed his head and nodded. Harry lifted it up and captured it in a powerful kiss filled with passion and thanks but always, always with that underlying level of love.
Cassandra left quietly, unwilling to disturb them, but knowing that she had a reason to be doing something now.
She had to bring justice to her mother's soul. She had to take revenge for her father's heinous murder.
But a little part of her, the child who still loved her father, cried out in pain.
A/N: I will finish this this week, after all, it's only a twoshot, but I desperately need to get back into the Harry Potter mood. I've just been reading a really good series which has NOTHING to do with Harry Potter. I had to write something from someone else's POV. AND this is my longest chapter of a fic so far! Please review and for those of you following Moondance, I HAVE NOT ABANDONED IT, I just said that I was having two weeks away from it but now I need to get back into the swing so I'm lowering myself into it gently.
And any of you who have comments on how Harry and Draco are not canon or are OOC, then tough. It's an established relationship and you become more comfortable with each other that way. And if you've been abused as a child, trust me I've read books and watched documentaries, you either have a huge aversion to human contact or you crave it. Cassandra longs for someone to love her.
Please review, it is much appreciated.
hpjkrowling4ever