A/N: Hi, I'm back with the final shot of my two-shot. I know that it's not canon at all but I had to write something like this. And it's not like other authors don't do it as well. Without further ado, I'm back. BTW, I'm not putting up another disclaimer because it's in the first shot.
Title: Revenge
Author: hpjkrowling4ever
If you were approaching Malfoy Manor from the foreboding woods surrounding it, you would long to flee back towards the terrible forest instead of going near the Manor. It stood proudly, haughtily defying anyone to dare to come nearer, framed by the sky in all its might. For those who could feel magic, the currents around the house were vibrating with hidden power and spells interwoven throughout the centuries into the giant web of protections. Huge black gates soared up, spikes extending forwards and the gargoyles on the stone pillars glaring resentfully at the intruder. An even more intimidating stone wall surrounded the Manor, but one could clearly see the ornate windows and the incredibly well-made structure that was Malfoy Manor.
Ron swallowed nervously and hesitantly tapped the gate twice, glancing back down at the letter he held in his hands for support. Suddenly, a gargoyle moved beside him and opened its' jaws wide. Ron jumped back skittishly and held out his wand.
"Announce your intentions." It rasped in a sandy voice.
"To see the master of the Manor on important business to do with the Ministry of Magic." Ron said, proud that his voice didn't waver once. The gargoyle clicked back into place and Ron was left standing in the snow awkwardly and nervously until, almost at once, the gates flew open violently. Ron almost fell over in his eagerness to enter the grounds and ran past the gates thankfully. He looked around him and stopped dead.
He was in a completely different place to the intimidating place outside the gates. Neat hedgerows and stunning ponds with merrily trickling waterfalls were dotted around the enormous grounds. An idyllic layer of snow lay on top of everything, and Ron could vaguely see a Quidditch pitch when he looked to his right. The grass shone brightly and the snowdrops stood majestically, defying anyone to cut them down. And the sky shone with the setting sun. Ron himself stood on a long path with smooth silver stones, leading up to a gorgeous mahogany double door. As he looked at the door, he realised with surprise that the Manor sent out a completely different feeling then it had outside the gates. The windows shone brightly, welcomingly and the gorgeous curtains he could see through the windows let off a soothing feeling to Ron. He walked with renewed vigour towards the door, but was suddenly interrupted when he heard a sound to his left. Whirling around, his wand held aloft, Ron sighed in relief when he saw a young girl walking towards him, and not a terrifying monster which would go well with the outside of the Manor.
The girl was wearing black jeans and a white shirt with incredibly detailed patterns of phoenixes, a long, to-the-floor black coat, polished, shining black leather boots, and was holding a black wand in one hand and a posy of snowdrops in the other. Her long, wavy black hair was tumbling down her shoulders to her chest, and her dark violet eyes registered surprise at Ron's arrival. She stopped dead in a few metres away from him.
Having never seen this girl before, Ron himself was shocked and his mouth fell open. Harry hadn't told him about a girl when he had invited him to Malfoy Manor. Ron was already shocked that Harry was together, in a relationship, with their childhood nemesis, and then being at their wedding ceremony, and then being a witness to Teddy and Scorpius' adoptions, that he wasn't sure he could deal with another adoption. However, he remembered that Malfoy's job as a member of the highly esteemed Gold Corps sometimes involved him taking in wards. Thinking that, he'd never seen one look so comfortable in the Malfoy Manor grounds.
"Who are you?" they asked at exactly the same time. She smiled softly, and Ron warmed to her. It was an unsure smile, one that spoke of a deep lack of self-confidence, and Ron saw how she shielded her face with her long hair. Having trained with the Aurors and then been transferred to the branch dealing with child abuse of the Department, Ron instinctively noticed that she was holding herself tensely, ready to bolt at any sign of aggression. It had taken him a long, long time to become this sensitive to other people's body language, and it was only with Harry and Hermione's help that he had come close. Hermione with her endless logic and Harry with his neglect and abuse in his past life. He had come to many conclusions about Harry he had never wanted to ever, ever draw on his best friend. But he was digressing.
"I am Ronald Weasley, a colleague of Lord Malfoy's." He said slowly, carefully, as if he was talking to a wild, nervy horse he wished to calm. He lowered his wand gently and saw her relax minutely. He also wasn't sure whether or not she knew about Malfoy and Harry's relationship and so decided to play very safe.
"Mr. Weasley." She nodded her head politely and put her wand back into her coat pocket, but did not let go of it. "I am Cassandra St. Claire. Would you like me to accompany you into the house?" she asked him politely, with stiff pureblood manners. Ron's head swam with quick conclusions and deduced that it was most likely an abusive pureblood father who had beaten in pureblood manners to her.
"With pleasure, but only if I am not interrupting your walk, Miss St. Claire." Ron smiled reassuringly at her. She walked steadily towards him and Ron admired her courage. Normally it took a very long time for formerly abused children to accept any offers from strangers. Something was missing –she looked like she had been recovering for a while from the remnants of abuse.
"Not at all, Mr. Weasley." They started walking, and Ron found that she had relaxed further, and her hair was now thrown behind her back and her hand had let go of her wand. Recovered too quickly, Ron deduced.
"Are you a ward of Lord Malfoy's?" he asked, looking down the path and finding it very long. Conversation would be an easy way to make it go faster.
"Currently, I am," she smiled to herself. "He has been very accommodating towards me." Ron saw a sideways glance thrown at him.
"Lord Malfoy is very kind to his wards."
"Indeed." She stopped abruptly and turned to the side, cocking her head. A wide grin came over her face, and she turned her back to Ron. "Here I am!" she shouted, cupping her mouth with her hands. Ron looked curiously around her and saw young Scorpius running at full pelt towards her. He winced –his experience with abusive children included them being very skittish with physical contact, and the way Scorpius was running, Ron doubted very much that he was stopping any time soon.
However, to his surprise, she knelt down to absorb Scorpius' impact as he threw his arms around her.
"There you are! Ted and I have been looking for you for ages. He wants to play a game of Quidditch so he sent me off to find you." He then caught sight of Ron and detached himself from Cassandra.
"Ron!" he cried out, turning to him and shaking his hand vigorously. Ron felt very satisfied; it had taken him a very long time to gain the young Malfoy's trust enough for him to go as far as shaking his hands. "I didn't know you were coming, Father didn't tell me and nor did Uncle Harry." Ron's heart almost stopped and he shot a glance at Cassandra, but she didn't look surprised at what Scorpius had said. That was unusual. Ron frowned. Harry normally never showed himself to Malfoy's wards.
"Hey you," Ron shook his hand vigorously back, and then ruffled Scorpius' hair. Looking disgruntled, he started rearranging it. Behind Scorpius, Cassandra stood up and put her hand on his shoulder.
"Scorp." She murmured, and Ron raised his eyebrow very high. He had missed out a lot while he was away with Hermione in Scotland, visiting the security regulations at Hogwarts. "Let's go in."
Scorpius stopped patting his hair without a murmur, and bounded forwards, intent on reaching the doors into the Manor. Ron found himself walking next to Cassandra again.
"So you know about Mr. Potter and Lord Malfoy?" he asked tentatively.
"Yes, I do." She smiled brightly, and Ron was surprised at the sudden openness in her expression. "They're charming together. They're so lucky to have found each other." She said wistfully, almost to herself, and Ron came to a few more conclusions.
Soon, they had reached the door, which opened as soon as Cassandra touched it. Ron's eyebrows had nearly disappeared into his hairline by then –Malfoy's wards had certainly never been given the ability to open the Manor's doors. Not that he knew this very well –all his information on the Manor came from Harry. He had certainly never needed to come back to this place full of hideous memories since the end of the Battle of Hogwarts. However, he was willing to admit that he had changed.
"Ron!" there was a shout from inside and he saw his best mate run towards him and hug him briefly but tightly. Behind Harry, Ron saw Malfoy approach. Almost casually, Malfoy's hand wrapped itself around Harry's waist, and Ron was almost certain that is was unconscious. He had never seen a couple so desperate to constantly be touching each other.
"Malfoy." He nodded curtly.
"Weasley." Malfoy nodded sharply back. "You have important news for us?" he asked, letting it be known that whatever Ron had to say, he would be there with Harry and would hear it as well.
"Yes, maybe in your study, Malfoy?" he asked. He saw that Cassandra and Scorpius had disappeared, and was astonished at their perceptiveness.
"Why not?" Malfoy replied, and turned himself and Harry around, expecting Ron to follow.
All the way to Malfoy's study, Ron saw how Malfoy still held Harry tightly, possessively, and how Harry seemed to melt into it. He saw the perfect trust Harry had in Malfoy, more so than he had ever had in Ron and Hermione, Ron knew that now. Just like Hermione came first to Ron, Malfoy came first to Harry. He saw how Malfoy tilted his head to listen to anything Harry said, and how when Harry said something that was obviously amusing to Malfoy, Malfoy smirked in amusement and that was enough for Harry.
They reached the study after quite a long walk, Ron admiring the change in décor and the warmness of the Manor. Ron sat down on a chair opposite Harry and Malfoy's sofa. Harry lay down with his head on Malfoy's lap and his feet on the armrest and his eyes closed. Ron knew that this was his way of concentrating, and spoke.
"Who is that ward of yours, Malfoy?"
He saw Harry's eyes shoot open, and his best mate glanced quickly at Malfoy. It was a look full of meaning, and Ron knew that Malfoy had understood the meaning. More looks passed between them, silently, and Malfoy turned back to Ron, and Harry closed his eyes again.
"Her father is currently the Ministry's most wanted wizard."
Ron burst from his chair, rage thrumming through his veins. His wand was suddenly in his hands and was shooting violent red sparks. Visions of burnt villages, destroyed families and ruined homes flashed through his mind and he snarled furiously. His change from relaxed to furious had obviously alarmed Malfoy, who sat up straighter and touched his wand.
"How could you have his daughter in your house?" Ron forgot his original acceptance of Cassandra, and fury thrummed through his veins. "Do you know about the horror 'Mione and I have been through?"
Harry was standing up in seconds, and his hand was on Ron's shoulder. It was comforting but it was also a warning at the same time.
"Do you judge me for being brought up by the Dursleys?" Harry asked quietly. Ron saw Malfoy move out of the corner of his eye and Harry's hand was gone in seconds. Ron turned to see Harry wrapped in Malfoy's embrace and Malfoy shooting vicious dagger-like glares at Ron.
"Of course I don't Harry, but the Dursleys didn't kill anyone or dabble in Dark Arts." Ron said weakly.
"What he did to Cassandra was worse than you could ever begin to imagine in your weak mind, Weasel." Malfoy snapped furiously. Ron could tell that he had really hit a nerve.
"Don't call him that, Draco." Harry murmured softly, still in Malfoy's arms. Ron saw them tighten strongly around Harry.
"I'll call him whatever I want when he offends you, my love." Malfoy replied tenderly. Ron almost cursed himself for putting 'tender' and 'Malfoy' in the same sentence.
"He possessed Cassandra's mother. He hit her, abused her, gave her no privacy, no security. Her mother fought tooth and nail, often losing both in the process, to defend her daughter and died doing the same. She died fighting the man from coming into the village where she lived." Malfoy shook his head sadly. "We told Cassandra she died fighting him on a routine mission gone wrong, but she actually died trying to stop him from entering the village and selling his daughter as a slave. You can imagine what type of slave, Weasel." Malfoy hurled the old name at Ron, who was wincing at what Malfoy told him. "So don't you dare insult her or judge her for her father's mistakes. They're not hers."
Ron sat back down on his chair heavily. Harry extricated himself from his husband's embrace and knelt down in front of Ron.
"What did you and Hermione see, Ron?"
"Death, Harry. Destruction like the one when Voldemort was still in power." Ron looked at Harry and Harry could almost see the flames. "We Apparated to the wrong coordinates, 'Mione and I."
Draco grabbed Harry's hand and pointed his wand at Ron's forehead.
"Legilimens!"
Flames. Fire. Ron couldn't remember such violence since the Fiendfyre that had destroyed the Room of Requirement during the Battle of Hogwarts. He and Hermione stepped back in horror, and he crouched down instinctively, all of his Auror training kicking into gear. This was wizard's work, not a simple gas leak.
He heard heart-wrenching cries of agony come from the houses around him, and wondered why no one else was coming to help this village. He turned to look at his wife, and saw that her eyes were filled with furious tears.
"Who is doing this?" she whispered in horror.
In between the haze of heat, Ron caught sight of a man dressed in black, his head thrown back, laughing. Ron tugged at Hermione's hand and she caught sight of the man as well. Slowly, they made their way towards him and to their absolute disgust, they saw him torturing a young child, while the child's parents watched and were helpless.
"No one will remember this village!" the man cackled madly. Hermione whispered 'Dark Arts overdose' into Ron's ear, and he nodded back. He had already sent a Patronus to the Auror Department, begging them for any sort of help, to salvage anything from this forsaken village.
Hermione was tugging at his hand again, and he looked where she was looking, and saw some untouched houses. About ten, he surmised, but knew that this violent magical fire would spread.
"Remember who I am. Don't forget me." The man was mumbling madly. Ron saw that he was so far into Dark Arts that he probably wouldn't be able to recognise his mother.
Hermione leant towards him and practically shoved her mouth into his ear.
"No Horcruxes." She whispered. "Not yet."
"How do you know?" he asked back, almost inaudibly.
"Voice still steady and normal for a man his age." She replied. "Voldemort's was high-pitched and sometimes wavered when he laughed."
Ron took Hermione's words to heart and turned back to the scene, only to see the child coughing up blood and convulsing on the ground with the remains of Cruciatus. A streak of righteous anger flowed through him and Ron almost stood up, only to be pulled down by Hermione, who was glaring at him with the strength of the flames burning behind her.
"Do you want to be killed, you fool?" she hissed.
Ron shook his head shakily and winced further when he heard another heart-wrenching scream from where the man was torturing the girl, but this time he had turned to her mother.
"You fools, you think you can resist me?" he asked. "I am invincible!"
"The Aurors came twenty minutes later, and managed to save the rest of the village, but he escaped us. He had anti-Apparition wards all around the village that only he could Apparate through." Ron shook his head. "Here is a letter from the Auror Department for you, Harry."
With shaking hands, Harry took the letter and scanned through it quickly. After a moment, it fell to the ground and Harry's hand hung limply in the air. Malfoy snatched it from the ground, and scanned it faster than Harry had. Ron sighed. He knew what the letter contained off by heart.
Dear Mr. Potter,
The Auror Department requests your extensive knowledge of defensive spells to aid us in defeating the current threat to the stability the Wizarding World owes you for. We currently have a good idea of the whereabouts of the criminal, and we will send you over with the number of men you so wish.
We look forward to seeing you join us tomorrow evening.
Yours respectfully,
The Auror Department
"They can't do that!" Malfoy burst out, helping Harry to his feet. "They can't just demand Harry's services like that. He's a spell maker, by Merlin, not someone to call on the minute no one can do anything about it!"
Ron stood up and faced Harry. He was currently furious that the Head Auror was subjecting Harry to this –it wasn't Harry's job anymore.
"Harry," Ron started, but Harry lifted a hand to cut him off.
"What I saw in your memories, Ron, is not unlike what we all went through in the Second Wizarding War." Harry paused, and turned to Malfoy, putting his hand on Malfoy's heart. Malfoy's other hand crept up to clench Harry's hand tightly. "I love you, Draco, but you can't pull rank here. The Auror Department has every right to overrule the Gold Corps."
"Not when you're involved, they're not!" Malfoy whispered fiercely, and for a moment Ron felt a pang of pity for him. "At least let me fight this battle with you, Harry."
They both seem to have forgotten that Ron was there, and he, for once, was glad of that. He was seeing how their relationship truly worked, and he felt closer to Harry, seeing this happen.
"No!" Harry replied equally fiercely. "No, Draco. I can't let you fight my battle for me or with me. I'm risking myself, but I'm not risking you."
"You're bringing Cassandra with you, Harry, remember."
"Shit." Harry paused. "If something bad happens, love, you've got to remember that Scorp and Ted won't have anyone to help them."
Malfoy immediately pulled Harry into a ferocious kiss; Ron had to look away, not because it disgusted him but because it was so private, so strong. He turned back and saw that Harry was gasping for breath and Malfoy still had a determined light to his eyes.
"Don't you dare say you're going to die. Or that Cassandra will. Please, I love you too much to let you go, Harry." Malfoy pulled Harry to him, and Ron could have sworn that there were no spaces in between their bodies. "I'm coming with you, whether you like it or not. And I'll make sure you won't die, Harry."
Ron winced. His experiences with disobeying Harry had never ended well.
"What about Teddy and Scorp?" Harry asked weakly, and Malfoy brought up a hand to rub his temples. Suddenly Harry seemed to have an idea. His arm wrapped around Malfoy's waist and he put his head on Malfoy's shoulder. Malfoy looked down at him in confusion.
"I can't leave Scorp and Teddy, Draco. If something happened to us, I couldn't trust anyone else to bring them up. I love them too much to leave them to someone I think won't love one as much as the other. But I love you too, Dray." Harry's voice dropped at the nickname, and Ron felt like he was witnessing something incredibly intimate, like if that name was never used with anyone else. And it had the same effect on Malfoy, whose hands clenched on Harry's waist and whose breath caught.
"You want me to go."
Ron sucked in a breath. He knew what that would mean. Harry was risking his husband's, his lover's, his most treasured person's life.
"No!" Harry's head shot up so fast his neck clicked. "No! No, never! I don't want you to go, Draco." Malfoy sighed in relief. "No, love. But I'm stuck. We can't both go, and you know how much I would be risking if I went. No, you should go. Fight Cassandra's battle with her. After all, it's similar to your battle you had to fight. And I'll wait for you when you come back and when the press wants to praise you. You will deserve it, my love."
"Don't jinx it, Harry." Malfoy breathed. "Right, I'll go."
Ron stepped forwards.
"Let me brief you."
Cassandra put on the leather coat with shaking hands. She knew the leather coat contained many spells able to block most jinxes and a number of hexes and only the most commonly used curses. Behind her, Teddy was casting spell after spell on her wand to detect any fallibility in it. His hands were shaking as well, and Scorpius hadn't even made an appearance. She knew how much they were risking, letting Draco go instead of Harry and she wished that only she could go, but the Ministry had demanded Harry. But Draco was going instead.
As she tied up her hair in a bun, she realised that she had grown to love the four people she lived with. She had grown into herself and was more confident in whom she was and what she was in the world for. Teddy and Scorpius had made her feel wanted, feel loved and she saw them as brothers and people she could care for. She remembered vividly her first meeting with the Weasley family, where she had the first experience of family, acceptance and to a certain extent, jealousy.
"Molly!" Harry smiled widely and embraced the short, plump, motherly looking woman with vivid red hair.
"Harry, how are you? And Scorpius, you're looking so well! Teddy, my, how you've grown and how handsome you look!" Mrs. Weasley hugged both of them and stopped in front of Draco. She shook his hand violently, with a wide smile on her face, but Cassandra could see that they were not as close, but warmed to Mrs. Weasley anyway for her acceptance of Scorpius even though she didn't like his father as much. "Mr. Malfoy, how good to see you, it's been a very long time since I did." She stopped in front of Cassandra, and Cassandra felt nervous. Her hands were shaking, and her hair was down in front of her face, as it was always when she met new people. "And who is this, Mr. Malfoy, Harry? You don't usually bring your wards to see us, Mr. Malfoy."
By then, a hoard of redheaded and some blond-headed Weasley children had dragged off Scorpius and Teddy. Mrs. Weasley was looking expectantly at Draco and Harry, but realising that they wouldn't say anything outside, led them into the mismatched but standing house.
The house was the complete opposite of the Manor in looks. It was small, with bits and pieces all over the place, but it emanated the same sense of home and life, which was so essential to a good, stable family. Cassandra was led, along with Harry and Draco, into a small kitchen crowded with succulent smells and other people from the family, who all stood up when Harry and Draco entered. She could feel their gazes on her, and she hid further behind her hair, remembering the shouts of her father in her head as she did so. Gaining more self-confidence didn't mean that she was completely comfortable with new situations and new people yet.
"And who are you?" asked a gorgeous silvery-haired woman gently. Her accent had a trace of a French one, and unlike most of the other people in the room, held herself with more grace and poise. Cassandra warmed to the woman, who sounded a lot like her mother.
"Cass-Cassandra." She stuttered nervously. The woman walked towards her, and took her hand. Cassandra held back the flinch with a conscious effort.
"I'm Fleur Weasley. Married to that rogue over zere." She pointed to a man with a red beard and a mildly scarred face. Cassandra stepped back immediately, and almost dragged Fleur with her. Fear pumped through her as she saw her father's face in the man's face. Immediately, she saw Harry block her view of him and hug her, gently rocking her from side to side. She could feel Draco hovering beside her.
"Sorry, sorry." She extricated herself from Harry's embrace and approached Fleur again. The woman smiled understandingly at her, and Cassandra forced herself to look straight at the man. "I'm really sorry. You scared me for a moment."
"It's alright." He had a strong, rough voice, unlike her father's smooth, deep voice and she relaxed. "I'm Bill Weasley, but I won't shake your hand."
She shivered unconsciously, and nodded towards him. One by one, she was introduced to Angelina, George with one ear and a jolly smile but haunted eyes, Charlie, Percy, Audrey, Ginny, who nodded briefly at her and gave a strong glare in Draco's direction, Ginny's fiancé Dean Thomas, who merely wrapped an arm around her waist, and Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley's husband. Once they were all seated again, with Harry, Draco and her still standing, Mr. Weasley having disappeared to find chairs, Harry asked where Ron and Hermione were.
"Oh, they're off to Hogwarts to check on security regulations and shouldn't be back for another few weeks."
Soon after, she was sent out to find the other children, and she set out to explore the grounds around the Burrow.
The first person she saw was Victoire Weasley. The girl was effortlessly gorgeous, dressed in practical but fashionable jeans completely in season, and a top, which showed her off to perfection. Her blonde hair was artistically styled but her eyes were narrowed when she caught sight of Cassandra. Before any of the other children saw her, she was already striding towards Cassandra and had dragged her off to a small shed beside the house.
"What are you intentions towards Teddy?" she asked strongly, still gripping Cassandra's wrist tightly.
All this, and the still tight grip on her hand, made Cassandra scream out, and snatch her hand away viciously, images of her father flashing through her mind vividly and strongly. Combined with seeing Bill Weasley and trying to control her fear, made Cassandra fall to the floor and huddle in on herself. She was aware of the door crashing open and Teddy racing in, helping her up into a sitting position and calling for Scorpius to get Harry or Draco. Soon, Harry and Draco were both there, looking worriedly at her as she cried softly, used to not crying loudly. When she was finally back to being herself, she saw Harry kneeling in front of her, Teddy still rocking her, and Draco standing over them protectively, with Scorpius looking on worriedly. Her family, or what she had come to think of as her family. She also saw Victoire hovering nearby, and a flash of fear ran through her again as she remembered the girl's aggressive words.
"What happened?" Harry asked her quietly. Cassandra shook her head. She wouldn't snitch, it would only aggravate her situation further, and she knew that if Harry and Draco were to adopt her, she would have to deal with Victoire. However, Teddy spoke instead.
"She was in here with Vicky when I entered after hearing her scream. Vicky, what did you do?" he addressed Victoire sternly, and she walked closer. Cassandra tried not to shrink backwards, but instead put on her Hogwarts mask that Victoire would have known her under, and stood up shakily. Harry was there to help her and she saw Draco visibly restrain himself from helping her. Satisfied she was all right, though, Scorpius had left.
"I merely took her here to talk to her." Victoire said, genuinely uncomprehending to what she had done wrong. Teddy looked at Victoire with a raised eyebrow, and Victoire sighed. Harry raised an eyebrow in the same way at Cassandra.
"No one will hate you if you tell the truth and what set you off, so that we can avoid that in future."
"Victoire came towards me and grabbed my wrist." Cassandra said reluctantly, looking apologetically at the other girl. "And she was a bit forceful and dragged me here."
Teddy rounded on Victoire angrily.
"I told you not to touch her! I told you that she would react badly if people she doesn't know touch her! Why did you bring her here, Vicky?" Teddy asked.
"I just wanted to know something." Victoire said defensively.
"The answer, by the way," Cassandra said steadily, still with her Hogwarts mask on, "Is no. Not in any way, shape or form, never. It would have been obvious if you'd waited." She couldn't help but bite out.
"You didn't." Teddy whispered. "Oh, Vicky! You know that it's only you I love in that way, and since Harry and Draco are thinking of adopting her, it would just be weird if I'd even had the thought. You should have asked me, instead of disregarding my warnings."
After that, the day passed in perfect happiness, meeting Rose, Hugo, Molly, Lucy, Dominique, Louis, Roxanne and Fred. Of course, her initial fear at Dominique, two years younger than her, and looking almost exactly like her sister, was wiped away when the girl smiled widely at her and engaged her immediately in a conversation about how her black clothes could complement different colours apart from white. It felt like family, and laughing around the table with the Weasleys, she made up her mind that she would accept Draco and Harry's offer.
And she hadn't told them yet. Cassandra tied up the final part of her bun, and knew that if she came out of this alive, she would tell them all of her decision.
Saying goodbye was probably the hardest thing Cassandra had ever had to do in her life. She kissed Harry's cheek and was surprised to feel the strength in him when he hugged her to him, and for once she didn't flinch from the pressure. Instead, she kissed his cheek again, and then moved to hug Teddy. He whispered a quick "Please be okay," in her ear, and hugged her tightly. Finally, she hugged Scorpius and ruffled his hair. For once, he didn't try to rearrange it but left it as it was and hugged her tightly like his adopted brother had.
However, it was Draco's goodbye that had really tugged at Cassandra. He and Harry had looked at each other for a very long time, before Harry dragged him towards him and kissed him passionately and for a long time, his hands wrapped around Draco's shoulders and Draco's arms around Harry's waist. When they parted, Harry put his head on Draco's heart and was silent for a few minutes.
"Please come back, Dray." He whispered with heartbreaking intimacy. "I want to hear your heart beat again."
After that, with tears in his eyes, Draco moved to Teddy and hugged him with a strong, powerful hug. Teddy hugged back with equal ferocity and it was the second time that Cassandra had ever seen him close to crying.
"Come back, Father." He whispered ever so softly, and that word alone betrayed how deeply he was feeling. He couldn't lose another parent -that much was obvious.
It was Scorpius who cracked, though. He was crying already, and he jumped at Draco's neck, grabbing hold of it and wrapping his legs around Draco's waist.
"I love you Daddy."
"I do too, Scorp. So, so much. Never forget that I love you all." He looked at Harry and Teddy as he said that, and kissed Scorpius' head as he lowered him to the ground.
Cassandra was very aware that this could be the last time she ever saw them again.
The coordinates they had been given led them to a wide, empty field with woods looming ominously over the horizon. About five Aurors, including Mr. Weasley, stood near the entrance to the woods, and as Draco, leading Cassandra, marched closer, Cassandra could see their shock at seeing her.
"Don't you ever dare say that Harry should be here, gentlemen. He was unwilling to leave his godson without a proper guardian and I am only here because my ward, Cassandra St. Claire, is the daughter of the man we are hunting and wishes to fight him herself."
One of the men raised an eyebrow.
"Are you sure she won't help him?"
"Do you think that an abused child would help the person who abused her?" she asked bitingly, and the proud glance that Draco shot her told her that she had said that right thing. There were no complaints after that.
They moved in a triangular formation towards the entrance to the woods, where Cassandra could see another three Aurors working on a ritual. She recognised it from one of her father's books she had once read –a Dark Arts ritual drawing out any presence of Dark Arts in a person from a particular direction. In this case, the woods.
She could feel herself shaking as the three Aurors stepped slowly out of the ritual circle and glanced into the woods. Draco grabbed her hand and mouthed 'I love you' to her. It was the fact that Draco admitted it, which gave her courage when the flames erupted around them. She could see the tortured, dead souls writhing in the flames and grabbing to reach them. The sky darkened and the flames shone brighter and more threateningly around them. By then, all wands were drawn.
"I see what you have brought me." Said a very familiar voice above them. Their heads snapped up and observed a man wearing a black cloak hovering on a broomstick. He slowly lowered himself and Cassandra saw his eyes bore into hers.
"You have brought me my daughter." He chuckled, and Cassandra could hear his laughter at her mother's pain in her head again. "Well done. But what am I going to do with you, my darling?" he asked, and Cassandra saw all the wands point towards him. "But I see you've brought company." He turned and swiveled around to look at all the Aurors. "Thank you for coming, but I really don't think we'll need you all. But I'd love to keep this one." He looked at Draco. "You're standing rather close to my daughter." And her father waved his hand. The ground seemed to open underneath all the Aurors and she saw them reappear outside the circle of fire. They started firing spells, but the dead souls seemed to absorb them.
"It's another version of Fiendfyre, except that it's impervious to all spells." He chuckled deeply, and Cassandra wanted to scream all over again. "You see, when you did that ritual, dear Aurors, you forget that it also makes the Dark Arts stronger again. That is why I can manipulate the ground. But you are no longer my concern." He laughed unsteadily, and that wavering laugh was all it took for Cassandra to stop feeling scared. When she had been younger, his laugh had been deep and dark and had terrified Cassandra with its steadiness. However, this laugh sounded rather unhinged and Cassandra lost all respect she had and replaced her fear with anger.
"You will not manipulate me again, Father!" she shouted. He looked at her in surprise, his eyebrows raised, and Cassandra felt the fear again but shoved it back.
"Will I not?" he asked conversationally. "Crucio!" he yelled, pointing his wand to Cassandra.
However, just as he shouted the curse, he did a complicated spell flick and the curse wavered, heading at blinding speed towards Draco, who collapsed on the ground screaming. Cassandra felt white-hot anger blind her.
"Stop!" she yelled, "Petrificus Totalis!"
"Simple spell." Her father dodged it easily, and seemed to increase his fury towards Draco. "Fight me properly, Cass. Isn't that what your mother called you? But, oh, isn't she dead now?"
That was it. After that, Cassandra saw nothing but her father. She aimed spell after spell at him, getting angrier and angrier as none of them seemed to hit him. She remembered him firing spells at her as well, but through some hidden instinct, she dodged them as easily as he was. The ground grew hot and charred underneath their feet as they duelled, and the air crackled with electricity. Slowly his attention, which had been partly on her and on Draco, went to her, and some of his spells stopped hitting Draco, who was lying on the ground coughing up blood and holding a broken rib, or what looked like it. She definitely felt when he turned his complete attention onto her.
"Darling, come to your father. Isn't that what you always wanted?" he asked, hissing slightly.
"I only every wanted to go to Mum! You never held my love, ever. You only held my fear." And she threw all of her power into her next spell, one Harry had invented, threw it with all her anger, all her betrayal, and all of her yearning to have afamily and saw it hit her father's foot. He stumbled and fell, his foot taking root in the ground and growing into a small tree. Soon, it started spreading slowly, methodically up his leg and across to his other one. Cursing, he tried to extricate himself from it, but Cassandra was the only one who knew the counter-curse. She walked towards him triumphantly.
"You see, darling Daddy, there's one thing I know how to do better than you do." She leant down and looked at his face. "I know how to feel, and I know how to love."
Suddenly she saw something in her father's eyes which reminded her of a time, a very long time ago, when she had heard laughter from his mouth which wasn't malicious, and she could see him throwing her in the air and catching her and her mother laughing, her arms wrapped around his waist. She saw that, and in a flash, had knelt by him and looked straight in his eyes.
"You can find peace, Dad, but you won't find it here." She saw tears in his eyes, and she felt tears in hers as well. "I did love you once, and I know that you did as well." She kissed him on his forehead. "I need my peace now."
"Will you forgive me?" he asked hoarsely, and she could see the roots spreading up his body, wrapping around his legs. His wand was lying a few metres away, and she saw that the fire had burnt out. The Aurors were running towards Draco, and some towards her.
"Only if you forgive yourself, Dad." She murmured.
He coughed.
"Infuriating to the last." He looked up at her face, at her eyes. "Please."
"Then if it gives you your peace, yes." And the roots finally took over.
She stood up shakily, and walked away from her father. Her wand slipped from her fingers into her boot and the tears fell hard and fast. She mourned what she had not had, but she longed for what she could have. Her father had shaped who she was, and now it was time for the peace she had given him to take root.
And as her eyes turned to Draco, coughing blood but alive, she realised that other opportunities could bloom in different places.
She only had to let them grow.
A/N: Thank you to those who actually read this! If you want an epilogue, please review and I can write it for you. Any spelling errors, please do tell me and I will fix them. Moondance will be updated this Saturday, thank you for sticking through my break! See you in Moondance!
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