~ Phoenix: Unsung ~

~ Cassandra ~

7th Year at Hogwarts

1st July 1997 ~ Malfoy Manor

Malfoy Manor was fast becoming Cassandra's least favourite place.

Growling under her breath she paced. She paced until she could pace no more, and would have happily thrown herself out of the dusty window that loomed over her room.

Not that she would have been able to, of course. Earlier that day she had gotten so frustrated with her situation, that she'd sent an idle stool hurtling towards the glass, only to find that the crash she had expected, did not occur. Instead the stool simply floated idly in mid-air for a time, before launching itself violently back across the room.

Cassandra was forced to duck to prevent herself being bludgeoned.

After that, the fireplace caught her attention, having noted whilst throwing away the remains of the stool, that a cool breeze blew lightly down from the chimney. Squeezing herself inside, she had hoped to make it to the roof. Instead she found that the higher she climbed, the tighter the space got, all the way up until she eventually felt as though she was being crushed by the stone around her. Luckily after a few minutes of choking, the thing had spat her out, hurtling her back down the shoot in a cloud of soot and rubble.

Cassie gave up after that, resigning herself to walking the length of the room, over and over, until eventually she came to a sudden regretful stop. She had been held prisoner for over three days now, and since her arrival the only being she had spoken to was the nervous little House Elf, Palry. Other than that, she was left to herself, with nothing to occupy her mind except the occasional screams she heard echo dauntingly through the house at night.

She refused to allow her imagination to wonder to who those screams could belong to. She didn't want to think about it. She just wanted to get out of there.

Why had no one come? Not even to jeer, or to taunt? Hadn't Palry warned her that Voldemort was there? It had been Death Eaters that had taken her, had it not? So why had no one come?

He wants you to feel alone. That way you're not as much of a threat.

Even Cassie had to scoff at herself, then. As if she could be classed as any kind of threat! Not to Him anyway. Even if she had her wand, the best she could do would be to run. She was fast, she could maybe even evade His attempts to block her escape – but she was most certainly no threat.

She sighed. It was all academic anyway, she didn't have her wand, there would be no escape. The best she could do would be to wait until whatever was going to happen, happened, and then figure it out from there.

If you survive...

Cassie grabbed the plate that held her forgotten lunch, and threw it as hard she could at the door that confined her. The smashing sound offered some satisfaction, and before she knew what was happening, every object that wasn't nailed down found itself hurtling precariously across the room.

She managed to keep up the chaos for a good few minutes, before the sound of irate blithering came echoing ominously up the corridor. A few seconds later and the door flew open, a desperate looking Draco framed furiously in it's wake.

He slammed the door shut behind him.

"What the bloody hell do you think you are doing!?" He hissed, storming furiously into the room. He waved his wand at the mess and it vanished. "Do you know how lucky you are? Bellatrix was going to come up."

Cassie squared her stance.

"Am I supposed to be grateful?" She challenged heatedly, eyeing his wand with open distrust. "Given recent events, I think I'd prefer her."

"Oh I don't think that you would." Draco murmured darkly, though Cassie could have sworn she saw a flash of guilt cross his features. He glanced back briefly over his shoulder. "She's been dying to get up here since you arrived, you know, it wouldn't take much." He looked her up and down, his lip curling. "You look awful, Dumbledore. Why haven't you used the bathroom? Or do people not bathe in your family?"

Cassie scoffed at him, incredulous. "Oh, you mean your precious little en suite? Funnily enough Draco, I haven't felt much like relaxing in the bloody bath!"

If it could have, steam would have been erupting from her ears.

She'd noticed the bathroom on the second day, hidden behind an old green tapestry. The minute she had seen it, she had felt repelled by it. Like she was going to risk leaving herself that vulnerable for a bit of soap and water. Besides, what kind of moron cared about how they looked in a hostage situation?

Cassie folded her arms, and Draco frowned at her, suddenly suspicious.

"But your face, your clothes... what the hell have you been doing?" He pressed, confusion clouding his gaze, until he took a moment to take in the trail of black ash on the floor. His eyes rested coolly on the fire place. "Tell me you have not been trying to escape?"

"I have not been trying to escape." She repeated, barely hiding her contempt.

But he looked furious. "This isn't a game!" He hissed, suddenly rounding on her. "Everything in this room has been charmed to hurt you should you choose to fight your confinement. Or have you not realised that?" He sneered, magicking away the ash and dirt from the floor.

Cassie flinched, but narrowed her eyes despite herself. "It hadn't escaped my notice, no."

"Then use the brains you were bloody born with, Dumbledore, and surrender to the situation you've gotten yourself into." He ran his gaze over her one more time and shook his head, clearly disgusted.

Muttering, he gave his wand a dismissive flick.

Cassandra jumped back expecting a jinx, and instead realised she felt lighter. She looked down pointedly at her body and hands, to see the soot from the fireplace had gone, and running a frustrated hand through her long thick mane, she realised that her hair was no longer greasy or matted.

She gapped, enraged, the beginnings of an insult forming on her lips until he rudely cut her off.

"That's better." He said, ignoring her attempt at an outburst and giving her another once over, before flicking his gaze nervously around the room. "Now behave for a moment, Dumbledore. Do you think you can manage that, or am I going to have to tie you to something heavy?"

Cassie said nothing, balling her hands into tiny little fists at her side. She glared.

Draco rolled his eyes. "I'll take that as a yes, shall I?"

Cassandra watched him silently as he carefully moved around the room, checking under the bed and behind curtains, looking into every tiny alcove possible.

It irritated her.

"What are you doing?" She demanded, frowning as he fixed a small portrait that had fallen from the wall.

Draco straightened up. "What does it look like? I'm clearing up your mess."

"I didn't realise you were so house proud."

He ignored her, continuing his inspection until he could finally find nothing to correct. Sighing, he lightly rubbed his temple, an involuntary action Cassie had associated with him since they were small, before regarding her with some unease.

"Don't do that again." He warned, indicating her little episode. "You don't want to draw any extra attention to yourself, Dumbledore." Draco dropped his gaze to the ground, his demure shrinking slightly as he paused, clearly trying to find the right words. "The Dark Lord won't react kindly if he believes you aren't showing the right amount of respect, Cassie. You don't need to make this any harder."

"Do you think I care?" She murmured darkly, but even she heard the lack of conviction in her voice.

Draco moved towards the door. "You should."

Cassie swallowed nervously, half of her wanting him to leave, half of her wanting to grab his arm and not let go.

"Draco?"

He stilled, his hand resting on the door handle.

"Yes?"

"Is... is my dad okay?"

"I thought you would have realised by now, Dumbledore." He tore open the door. "None of us are okay."

R&R!

Thank you, I got my first review, and it was so lovely! Sorry I can't reply as you weren't signed in, but you know who you are. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter?

Take care, and have a great week, chickens! x