Disclaimer: All canon characters, scenery and plot references are the property of J.K. Rowling. I do not own or profit from this story in any way.
Rating: M for language, violence and eventual sexual content
Summary: Cassiopeia Malfoy is the twin sister of Draco. Cassiopeia Malfoy does not take after most of the Malfoy family traits- in fact, she really rather takes after her cousin Sirius or Aunt Andromeda…but she's always been able to hide it. Until she goes to Hogwarts. Until, she is sorted into Gryffindor. Until…everything changes (Eventual either Theo Nott/OC or HarryPotter/OC)
Author's Note: My brother works nights, sometimes in the mornings he stops at my house. Today, we had a real conversation about the trans appropriated properties of potions ingredients in Harry Potter. And then we had an epic jam session on the piano and guitar. This is why my brother is awesome.
…
Snake in the Grass
Twelve: Complications
Come down from the mountain, you have been gone too long,
The spring is upon us, follow my ornate song.
Settle down with me by the fire of my yearning
You should come back home, back on your own now
Ragged Mountain – fleet foxes
Lucius Malfoy was furious at the start of the summer. He'd been sacked from Hogwarts board of Governors, and Harry Potter had freed Dobby the house elf. And Cass knew, knew that it was only a matter of time before he took it out on her. And she was terrified.
She managed to escape her father's wrath for three whole days. Three days of ducking and weaving when she saw her father coming in the hall, of excusing herself right after the family dinner that you would have to be immobile to miss. Three days of keeping her head down and hardly speaking or talking to anyone. Three days of growing anticipation that left her sick to her stomach.
It was hell. She missed Hogwarts. She missed her friends, and Oliver, who, although she'd promised to write over the summer holiday, she doubted she would see until September. He made her feel safe, and she could use some of that right now. She missed Neville, who wasn't talking to her, and Hermione, who was fierce and passionate in her caring for others. She missed Lee and the Weasley twins who were always quick with a joke to make her feel better. She missed Harry Potter who, she'd barely spoken to, but his quiet understanding of her every situation was heartwarming. She even missed Ron Weasley and his rash judgement of her, and Lavender and Parvati, who bothered her with fashion questions and boy talk at all hours of the day.
Hogwarts had become her home. The manor, felt cold, empty, dark, and Cass hated it.
At dinner on the fourth night, her father looked over his glass of blood red wine to her and Draco. "After dinner," He said slowly, "You both will visit me in my study." Cass had swallowed a heavy sip of her own watered down wine, and felt sick to her stomach. She'd lost her appetite.
Later, standing in the hallway outside her father's study with Draco, she could feel her twin's eyes on her.
"Cass?" Draco watched her pace the hallway, waiting to be called.
She stopped pacing to send her brother a weak smile, "I'm sorry Dray," She said after a minute of consideration.
"What are you sorry for?" Draco sniffed, studying his sister again. She looked pale, and really rather ill. And after years of being able to tell his sisters exactly thoughts by the way that she carried herself, now, he knew that she was terrified. He knew that she feared the worst. And too be honest, Draco did too.
He knew that he should hate her. Knew that she was a blood-traitor, knew that she was harming the family name by her associations with mudbloods and blood-traitors. He knew that if she kept this up, she would be blasted from the family tree, or maybe even killed. But his stupid, stubborn, sister seemed to take this all in stride, and do it anyway. "Because it's right." As her explanation.
It struck Draco rather suddenly, that his sister was not a Slytherin. He'd always expected her to be. She could be cunning, sly, tricky, and even dangerous when she wanted to. But she'd always been recklessly brave. Even when they were kids, she was the first to dive in her broom, or attempt a flip, or jump off of the rocks in the river behind the manor. She would be the one to steal mother's wand so they could play at spell-casting, or to encourage him to sneak out at night to hunt for fairies in the woods behind the house.
It was more apparent than ever, watching her now. She was reckless, and brave, and although it would have been easier to be the perfect daughter, or at least pretend until she was out of the house. She was standing up for herself now. She was waiting to enter their father's study, despite knowing what was to come. She had no self-preservation.
And now, she looked at a loss for what to say. "I dunno," She said finally. "For not being perfect, for not being the sister you wanted." She said finally.
Draco froze, and then wrapped an arm around her pulling her into his chest. They were the same height once. But Draco had hit a growth spurt, and was now more than a head taller than her. She was as small as ever. Small and breakable and he couldn't protect her. "You're exactly the sister I want." He told her finally.
She pulled away curiously to look at him, but they both jumped when the door to the study clicked open, and broke apart. "Cassiopeia." Her father called from behind his desk.
Cass swallowed, and shot her brother another wary smile. She took a deep breath, steading herself, before bravely marching inside with her head held high. She was a lion going into the serpent's den.
She was a lamb, going for slaughter.
….
"Sit down Cassiopeia," Her father's face was a cold mask. Cass could see a dark sort of fury in his eyes that should have made her tremble. She should have run, she should have never come to the study. But she wouldn't let her father see her fear.
"I'd rather not," She said boldly, clasping her hands together behind her back.
"Sit down Cassiopeia," Her father repeated. His voice had taken a harsher tone, and his eyes dared her to defy them.
"With all due respect sir, the last time I visited your study, I hit this chair when I fell and hurt my back," Cass, apparently was feeling very reckless today. They both knew how the day was going to end. So why not get it over with? "I was sore for weeks."
Her father's hand was on his wand and he seemed to consider her defiance for several minutes before he lifted his wand and pointed it towards her. She tensed. At the last second though, he pointed it towards the door. "Mufflato." A silencing charm. "Colloportus!" And a locking one.
Some of Cass's confidence faltered immediately.
"You're grades seem to be as flawless as ever," Lucius began, glancing down at the parchment in front of him. "Your history of magic marks are a bit lax, but you are ranked second in your year." His eyes flicked up to his daughter, and then back down to his parchment. "I understand you spend a fair bit of time in the library studying?"
"Yes Sir," Cass nodded, gripping her hands tighter behind her back.
"And which elective courses are you choosing for your next year of studies?" He father asked.
"Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and Care of Magical Creatures," Cass said.
"And you are still spending a fair bit of time with the mudblood Granger, is that correct?" Lucius was now staring at his daughter, eyes cold.
Cass frowned, knowing that this conversation could only go one way. "We are at the library together a lot of the time, yes." She said finally, trying not to look as nervous as she felt.
"And you are still friends with the….girl?" Her father questioned eyes boring into his daughter.
Cass shrugged, but didn't say anything, and her father's eyes narrowed in on her.
"You are testing my patience, tell me, are you still friends with the Granger mudblood?" He said icily.
Cass didn't say anything, only boldly looked up to meet her father's eyes.
"Answer the question Cassiopeia," he growled, face and voice darkening.
"Why?" She asked, with another surge of bravery.
"Because I am your father and I ordered you to." He snarled, raising his wand towards her. Cass waited tense, expecting a cruicatus curse, instead…"Legimins!"
She wasn't expecting or prepared for the invasion, and it took her several minutes to react. By that time her father had already sorted through some of her memories, talking with Potter, Neville, Hermione, Telling them that blood didn't matter, that she didn't care. That was when she regained some semblance of control and slammed her shields into place. That was when she managed to force her father out of her head. But it was too late, the damage was done.
Her father was furious. "You lying little bitch," He growled, pointing his wand at her "Crucio." Pain rolled through her like hot knives, and she collapsed in on herself, writhing on the floor in agony. But her father let up just enough to make his point clear. "You will obey me, and our traditions even if I have to imperio you myself." He growled, "crucio."
That night the nightmares returned with a vengeance.
….
Curled up on the floor of her room, Cass couldn't even make it to the bed. Dobby was gone, and none of the other house elves would dare break her father's orders to help her. She didn't have the strength to get to her bed, but…she did have the strength to cry.
Cass had never really been an emotional girl, and when she was, she could usually manage to hold it together behind a mask of indifference until she was alone. Just now, she had never felt more alone. She wondered, if she could run away; to Andromeda's or one of her friend's houses.
She had ran away once when she was eight, after a huge fight with her brother. She'd flooed to Diagon Alley straight from her father's study, and used some of her allowance money to buy herself ice cream. When her mother realized that she was gone, she'd tracked her down with a spell, which Cass had curiously researched later. All wizards could be tracked with blood magic. You just needed a drop of their blood, or the shared blood of a relative. There were wards against this of course, but none that an eight year old witch without a wand could perform.
Her mother had scolded her for worrying her mother. Her father had congratulated her on her independence and initiative.
Now, she wished she'd put more research into the spells, but she knew that nothing would stop her father from coming after her if she ran. She was still a minor, and he had hands in the government. He'd find a way to bring her back…every time.
And now, wracked by another round of tremors, she held back another sob of pain and curled into herself on the floor of her room. She flinched when the door opened. It was sure to be Draco. Coming to….what? She wasn't entirely sure. To care for her? To gloat? But to her surprise, it was Narcissa Malfoy's voice that filled the room.
"Oh sweetheart," She said in a shaky voice, before scooping her daughter up in her arms, and cradling her as she shook.
"Mum?" Cass managed as the tremors passed, looking up into the angelic face of her mother, who, to her surprise, had tears glistening in her eyes.
"Hush love," Her mother said, pulling her up and laying her down gently in her bed. "Everything will be alright."
When Cass woke up in a cocoon of blankets hours later, she was sure she had dreamed the whole thing. Her mother wouldn't have defied her father by coming into her room. But there were pain potions on her bedside, and a sleeping draught. And those certainly hadn't come from nowhere.
She winced, pulling herself up into a sitting position, just as she heard the soft click of her door opening, had her mother come back? But no, it was Draco, who had lit his wand and was creeping into her room in the dark. His eyes met hers, and he sighed, climbing up into her bed to sit next to her. "You're an idiot," He told her softly.
"I know." Cass replied, matching his timbre and passing pillows over to her brother.
"You're alright?" He asked, settling the pillows behind him and making himself comfortable.
"As well as can be I suppose," She said, shifting to give her brother more room and wincing at the jolting pain that movement brought.
"Go to sleep Cassie."
"I love you Dray."
…
Her father made a point that summer to make sure that Cassiopeia's lessons were continued. He instructed her on the rules of pureblood society and muggle's place in it. He reiterated everything that she had been taught in her childhood, over and over until Cass could recite the information in her sleep. But that didn't make her believe it.
He crucioed her twice more that summer, only when she was being especially defiant. Two more nights of agonizing torture, where her father threatened her; And, when he began to realize that that wouldn't work, he began to threaten the people close to her: Hermione, Neville and Oliver. He detailed in terrifying detail what he would do to them, if she not obey. Casting the Imperius curse on her for example, and ordering her to kill, torture or maim her friends, particularly struck a chord with Cass. Still, it was enough to prompt Cass to put some distance between her friends, if only to save their lives.
She broke up with Oliver in the first week of the term of her third year. She'd sat with him and his friends on the train on the way into Hogwarts, and he'd immediately noticed that something was off, though she put off talking to him about it until after the first week of term.
"I…I don't think we should see each other anymore Oliver," She told him sullenly, that night, as they'd taken a walk around the Black lake together.
"What?" Oliver seemed particularly blindsided by her statement. And, as she'd given him no warning or cause to doubt her, Cass couldn't quite blame him.
"I'm sorry," Cass shuffled her feet, unwilling to meet the taller boy's eyes.
"Did something happen over the summer Cass?" Oliver asked her roughly, a frown on his fair features. "You didn't write me at all….and now…."
"I'm sorry Oliver," She said again, chewing on her lip. "I just… I can't do this anymore."
Oliver seemed rooted to the spot. "I don't understand Lass, what's changed?" He questioned with a shaky voice.
"I just…. I can't return your feelings like I should Oliver," She said slowly, wishing that she'd planned out something better to say. He wasn't going to take the breakup lying down. "It's not fair to either of us, and I'm so, so sorry."
He set two fingers under her jaw and tugged her chin up, forcing her to look at him. He studied her for a long minute before speaking again. "There nothing I can do to change your mind?"
"No," She shook her head, struggling to maintain her calm mask, and not break down ahead of him. This was for his safety. She was saving his life by breaking up with him now, like this.
Oliver sighed, and pulled his hand away. "I'm verra sorry to hear that Cassie," He said carefully. Voice loaded with emotion. "I know there's something that you aren't telling me, but you've always been fond of yer secrets, haven't you?" His accent was all the more prominent now, it was a sure fire sign that he was upset. "I still care for ye, lass, I think a part of me always will….but I cannae force you to feel things for me that you don't."
"I… I think a part of me will always love you too Oliver," She replied, "You were my first real…." She trailed off. "But it's not enough, and I'm sorry."
"I wish it were, love," Oliver tucked one of her curls behind her ear. "I really do." He sighed, and then looked back to the castle. Rain clouds, coincidentally, were rolling in, and there was thunder somewhere off in the distance. "Can I walk you back to the castle?"
"No, you go on," Cass told him, "I think I'll stay out here for a few minutes."
"Yer going to get drenched," He told her, concerned.
"I'll be along shortly, don't worry about me," She relied, eager to have a few minutes alone before she was met with the hustle and bustle of the Gryffindor house.
"Aye," Oliver sighed, "Because that's not my job anymore, is it."
She gave him a sad smile, as she watched him leave, and her tears mingled with the rain. She wondered what it might be like to have a normal family, who didn't control her every action, her boyfriends and friends and grades and life. It was wishful thinking.
It was dangerous thinking
