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When she woke Cassiopeia Black was in an unfamiliar bed, scarlet and gold curtains and sheets surrounded her. She thought for a moment that she was in Gryffindor tower and her thoughts went immediately to Harry. Her heart felt like it was being ripped in two when a vision of him lying dead at Voldemort's feet came to her mind. She leaned over the side of the large bed and retched onto the floor.
The door opened and she watched as hands yanked the curtains back. Draco was there, a panicked look on his face and next to him was a much younger Albus Dumbledore. She was surprised that his hair and beard were not only shorter but also dark auburn in colour. His light blue eyes had the same twinkle from behind his half moon spectacles that she knew of the Dumbledore from her time.
"Miss Black," he said as he waved his wand to vanish her vomit from the floor. "Your cousin has just been explaining to me the cause of your sudden appearance in nineteen forty-four."
Peia's eyes were the size of saucers. "Nineteen forty-four?" She croaked. At least it wasn't the 1970's, as feared when she saw who she thought to be her father but was really her grandfather.
"Peia," Draco said, sitting next to her on the bed and reaching out to take her hand. "I told him everything. He's going to help us."
She nodded at her cousin and looked up at the older wizard.
"Thank you sir, I'm sorry that I threw up."
Dumbledore chuckled at her. "It's quite alright my dear. I would like you both to attend school here this year, a safe place to plan your mission. You must be careful though, this is Tom Riddle's final year here. He cannot know what you are doing. What we need to focus on now is a back-story for the two of you. Draco tells me that you are the granddaughter of Orion Black and he is the grandson of Cygnus Black. I believe that you should befriend one of these boys; he could be a very useful ally to have. My suggestion would be Orion for he is the kinder of the two."
"Professor who will we tell them that we are?" Peia asked.
"That is where I am at a loss, my dear. I'm afraid I don't know much about distant relatives of the Black family so I don't think it wise to say you are the children of a specific person. Perhaps Orion could help you with that if you wish to tell him the truth."
Peia eyed the professor suspiciously. "Can we trust him?"
"I do not think," Dumbledore said slowly. "That you should tell him the whole truth. Tell him that you came from the future but do not tell him of your task. I do not think he would lie to Riddle if asked a direct question."
Draco nodded and squeezed Peia's hand. "We can do this Peia, don't worry."
"What will we tell other students?"
"We can tell them that you are siblings who lived abroad with their mother, who homeschooled you. You'll both be in your seventh year here, and I assume you'll be sorted into Slytherin."
Peia took a deep breath before giving her cousin a curt nod. It seemed like a decent if not vague back-story.
Dumbledore quickly healed the minor cuts and bruises that the cousin's had before transfiguring their ripped and dirty clothes into clean black robes. Peia used her wand to charm her long hair clean and did the same to Draco who never usually let a hair get out of place.
The professor then escorted them to the infirmary where Madame Midgen gave Peia a potion for her stomach wound and a salve for the cut on Draco's forehead. She reminded Peia of Madame Pomfrey when she told her to sit in the bed for an hour to let the potion heal her.
Professor Dumbledore had gone to talk to Headmaster Dippet about the two blond cousins so Draco and Peia were left alone when the matron shut herself in her office.
Peia looked over at her cousin, his eyes were heavy with the sleep he had missed over the past few months and the worry lines in his forehead seemed to be permanently etched. Her heart sunk when she realised that he was probably thinking about Hermione, just as she was thinking about Harry.
Silent tears slipped down her thin nose as she fiddled with the corner of the blanket. She thought back to the last moments she had shared with the boy she loved. It was in the middle of the final battle, she had just watched Bellatrix kill her mother and tried to fight against her cousin George Weasley to get to her mothers body. George finally threw her over his shoulder and ran down the corridor away from the insane witch.
She remembered the smell of burning flesh and fabric and parchment, the sounds of people she knew and loved screaming and dying, the sounds of Death Eaters laughing, of stone cracking and crashing. Whenever dark magic was performed it left an odor that hung around for days after the act, and at that moment the air of Hogwarts was thick with the stench.
She was retching and dry heaving in an alcove while George kept a look out for more Death Eaters. That was when she felt Harry's hands pull her hair out of her face and gently rub circles on her back. He had told her to let it all out, get it out of her system because they had to keep fighting. She wiped her mouth on the back of her sleeve and looked up into his emerald green eyes, she could see the hope in them, that he still believed they could win. He had kissed her, despite her vomit breath, and told her he loved her. She said she loved him too and asked him to promise not to die. He smiled half-heartedly at her and kissed her forehead before walking quickly away.
That was the last time she saw him alive.
"Peia?" Draco said quietly, his voice was rough like he was trying to hold back tears. "Are you thinking about Harry?"
She closed her eyes and nodded. "Are you thinking about Hermione?"
"Yes. We are going to save them, Peia. But we have to let them go, we have to put it all aside if we are going to accomplish what we came here to do."
"And what is it that you came here to do?" a familiar voice drawled from behind the half closed curtains.
Instantly Draco had his wand out and was on his feet, yanking the curtain back.
Orion Black was standing on the other side, eyes wide as saucers with his hands up.
"Easy there killer," he chuckled. "I was just coming to check that you brought her up here."
"It's okay, Draco," Peia said to her cousin. "We need to speak with him anyway."
Draco lowered his wand but didn't put it back into his pocket; he sat down in the chair closest to Peia, eyeing Orion with suspicion. Orion pulled the second chair towards the foot of the bed and swung it around so he was facing Draco and Peia when he sat down, crossing his arms and ankles.
"I'm all ears," Orion said sarcastically. Peia almost smiled, realizing that he was just like her father.
Draco took a deep breath. "This is all going to be really hard to believe but just bear with us, there are things that we won't be able to tell you."
Orion narrowed his eyes, looking from Draco to Peia, his gaze lingering on her eyes, and slowly nodded.
"Right," said Draco. "I am Draco and this is my cousin Cassiopeia. We were born in nineteen-eighty." Draco paused to let this first bit of information sink in. Peia watched as Orion's expression went from mildly interested to confusion to outright suspicion.
"You're from the future?" He said with one brow raised.
Peia nodded. "We came back here after watching our families murdered to stop it all from happening."
"I thought you weren't supposed to alter the past?"
Draco snorted. "I think that saving the entire world is an exception to that rule. We aren't here to kill anyone or anything like that. We're here to do something that was supposed to happen in our time but wasn't completed. If we finish that now then none of that bad stuff needs to happen. Hundreds and eventually probably millions of lives will be saved."
Peia gave Draco a pointed look and he rolled his eyes.
"Who are your parents?" Orion asked.
Draco coughed and it was Peia's turn to roll her eyes. "We can't tell you that specifically, but we can tell you that we are related to you."
He snorted. "I had guessed that, distantly?"
Peia felt the blush creep up her cheeks. Orion raised a brow at her again.
"Not so distantly then?"
"Technically I'm related to you by marriage and blood," Draco said before Peia slapped him across the shoulder.
Orion's eyebrow had crept so high on his forehead Peia was sure it was going to disappear into his hairline. "What does that even mean?"
Peia cringed. She had hoped to keep that sort of information away from her grandfather.
"Perhaps," Draco whispered into her ear so Orion couldn't hear. "We could tell him the truth, just not the whole truth."
"Isn't that exactly what we're doing?"
"No," he said. "I mean that we could tell him that you're his granddaughter and that I'm his great nephew but not tell him who he's going to marry or who my grandparents are. He might trust us more if he knows that you're his granddaughter."
Peia considered this for a moment. Telling him that he will someday have a granddaughter couldn't really change things too much, could it? "I suppose if he doesn't believe us or freaks out we can always obliviate him."
"That's my girl," Draco chuckled. Peia blushed and looked back at Orion.
"You are my grandfather, and you are Draco's great uncle," Peia said shyly.
Orion went white as a sheet and his jaw practically dropped to the floor. The cousins looked at each other and sighed. Peia knew it would take a minute for the shock to set in before realization came over and he would probably start yelling.
After a few minutes of Orion staring at Peia and opening his mouth as if to speak but words seeming to fail him, he looked at Draco. "M-my sister Lucretia is your grandmother then?"
Draco looked at Peia wide-eyed. He couldn't tell Orion that he was a Malfoy without giving away too much and if he told him that Cygnus was his grandfather then he wouldn't understand how that would make him Draco's great-uncle.
"N-no," Draco said warily. "Cygnus is my grandfather."
Orion furrowed his brow, trying to figure out how exactly that would work. "Is this one of those things where our families were close so I'm not really your uncle but you call me uncle anyway?"
"No—" Draco started but Peia interrupted him by elbowing him in the ribs.
"Something like that, yes. I'm sorry but we can't give you too much information. Spoilers and all that," she offered him a half smile.
He seemed to ponder over that for a moment before slowly nodding. Looking Peia straight in the eye he asked, "So my granddaughter came back in time to save the world?"
Peia nodded.
"Then who am I to stop her? I'll do whatever I can to help you."
A huge smile spread across Peia's face, the first genuine smile to grace her features in months. It felt a little foreign on her face, but it felt good all the same.
The door to the infirmary creaked open at that moment, and the tall younger form of Albus Dumbledore quickly strode toward the three teenagers. He smiled at them, a twinkle in his eye as he saw the cautious way Orion was watching Peia.
"Headmaster Dippet would like to see the two of you in his office, he would like to sort you and discuss the lessons you'll be taking this term."
The three followed Dumbledore to the Headmaster's office.
They settled on which NEWT level classes they would be taking before the Sorting Hat was placed on Peia's head.
A girl out of time, eh? Hmmm. You are a Black and they are always in Slytherin, but you have a Gryffindor's bravery. You would do well in Ravenclaw too, Miss Black, you have a great mind. Hmmm.
I was in Slytherin in my time, she thought, please put me in Slytherin again, it's where I belong.
Hmmm. Where to put you. Hmmm. I see your task, Miss Black, and it seems that Slytherin will help you to achieve that greatness! SLYTHERIN!
Peia sighed in relief. She couldn't stand the thought of being put in bloody Gryffindor where she would be constantly reminded of not only Harry and Hermione but also her entire family; her parents and all the Weasley's were Gryffindors.
The Sorting Hat didn't even fully touch Draco's head before shouting out SLYTHERIN! He smirked at her, of course he was a Malfoy with a Black for a mother, there was no doubt that he belonged in Slytherin.
Professor Dippet wished them a good term before shooing everyone out of his office.
"Um, Professor?" Peia said as they reached the bottom of the stone steps. "We don't have robes or books or anything, and we didn't exactly have the foresight to bring along any gold."
"Oh!" said Orion, speaking up for the first time in a while. "I have plenty of gold, I can take you down to Hogsmeade and I can get you whatever you need."
Draco flinched, "You don't have to do that, I'm sure there is another way."
Orion rolled his eyes and smirked at the blond boy. "Professor is it okay if I take them into the village?"
Dumbledore smiled warmly at the trio. "Of course Mister Black, just be back before dinner tonight, Professor Dippet wants to announce the arrival of our new students."
The three walked in awkward silence most of the way to the village. Peia noticed that little had changed around the grounds from the 40's until her time, except that the Whomping Willow was missing. She remembered that it hadn't been put there until the 70's when her dad's best friend Remus Lupin came to school, which meant the Shrieking Shack wouldn't be in Hogsmeade either since it was erected for the young werewolf's monthly transformations.
"So you never did tell me your fake back-story. What are you going to tell the other students?" Orion asked, breaking Peia's thoughts.
"Oh," she said. "Well Dumbledore thought we could just say that we are distant relatives of the Black family and that we lived abroad with our mother who homeschooled us, which is why no one knew us before."
He arched a brow. "And what happened to your mother?"
"She died," Draco said. "So we came to Hogwarts with our only relatives to finish our education."
"It's rather vague," Orion said. "But most people won't question it, especially if you act like you're uncomfortable talking about your past. The only person I see having an issue with it is Tom."
"Riddle?" Peia squeaked.
Orion looked at her questioningly before nodding. "Do you know him?"
Draco cleared his throat and Peia tried to smile. "Spoilers," she said with a wink.
They purchased books, robes, quills and ink, cauldrons, parchments and whatever else Orion thought they might need for their coursework. The Hogsmeade of 1944 was vastly different than the Hogsmeade of the 90's, Peia noticed. There were most of the same shops, but the village was much smaller and the shops that she had frequented in her years seemed new. Orion told them that Honeydukes had only been opened three years previously and The Three Broomsticks was built a few years before he came to Hogwarts.
It was strange to see a place that always seemed timeless so young. It hadn't really hit her that they were over fifty years in the past while they were inside the walls of Hogwarts because nothing ever really changed there, the castle was nearly the same as it had been when it was built. Hogsmeade seemed to be ever changing and growing though.
They sat in The Three Broomsticks, sipping on Butterbeer when Orion pointed toward a window and said they should probably head back up to the castle since dinner would be starting soon.
"What is the date?" Draco asked suddenly as they trudged back up to the castle.
"October 15th, 1944," said Orion.
"Why didn't we see any students when we were at the castle?" Draco asked.
Orion laughed. "It was early when you got here, everyone was still sleeping and then they were eating when you went to the infirmary, then everyone was outside when we walked to the Headmaster's office."
"No one was around when we walked to the village," Peia pointed out.
"No," said Orion. "I expect they were all in their common rooms with homework. So are you two going to be twins or something?"
"Um?" Peia said, arching a brow at him.
"Well you're both seventh years and you said you're siblings, so that would be the only thing that would make sense, if you were twins."
"Right," said Peia slowly.
"But," Draco interjected. "We don't look the same."
Peia and Orion both stopped walking and blinked at Draco before doubling over with laughter.
"What?" Draco demanded. "What is so funny?"
Peia was gasping trying to catch her breath while she leaned on Orion, who was still laughing, for support. "Draco, when you have twins that aren't the same gender they aren't going to be identical."
Draco flushed with realization and then grimaced.
"I think time travel is getting to you, mate." Orion said, clapping Draco on the shoulder. "Lets get dinner over with and then you both need to sleep."