A/N:

I'm not gonna say this'll be over soon, but I will say this is the start of the end. This chapter specifically is very important to the why of what will happen. It's a rough one, and not as great as the first version because my dumbass wrote this chapter and then…. Ah, deleted it. Like… I just deleted it like a dumbass, and then like two months later cleared out my deleted folder.

But anyway, enjoy and please review!

December 9th, 1996

Potter Manor

Sirius, Remus, and Regulus were all spread out in the seating area of the library with various books on the laws surrounding Ancient and Noble Houses. As they'd discussed already, it would take a great deal of time to take away the sense of immunity that the powerful Houses had. Even if it took a long time, however, they wanted to get it done. With the example of the House of Black, it was clear that the government needed to be able to interfere, if for no other reason than the safety of the children.

"Motherfucker!" Sirius exclaimed, grabbing his head in his hands. It didn't hurt, per se, but the feeling was like a ghost of a bond being formed, something that was extremely unsettling and rather confusing. "What the hell was that?"

"Stop swearing," Remus sighed. "What is it?"

"It was like… a bond was being made, but not to me," he frowned. "Reg, did you feel it?"

"No," Regulus raised his eyes from the large book in his arms. "You're Lord Black, idiot. Anytime a House member forms a bond, it will be registered in your Lord Book and you'll be warned. Don't you remember our lessons with Grandfather?"

"Fuck no," Sirius rolled his eyes. "I slept through half of them. What the hell is a Lord Book?"

Letting out a long-suffering sigh, Regulus set his book on his lap. "Maria!" the elf popped in with an excited smile. "Hello. Can you please retrieve Sirius's Lord Book for us?"

"Yes, Master!" Maria agreed. The book appeared in her hands and she gave it to Regulus, who opened it and flipped to the second page to the most recent change in the House.

"Ah…" he grimaced. "Cassie's going to have a bad night."

"Why?" Sirius asked, grabbing the book from his brother. When he looked down, he blinked.

Cassiopeia Narcissa Black - soul bond with Theodore Nott Jr ignited

"Oh, boy," Sirius whispered. "Shit. Wait, I thought most families knew! How did we not know?"

"I knew," Regulus admitted.

"How?"

"I wasn't certain until I had a moment alone with Theo, but I guessed as much when I met him. I haven't seen a couple be so clearly meant for one another since… well, you and Marlene."

Sirius's eyes flashed to his brother's. "You knew?"

"Everyone knew," Remus scoffed, grabbing the book from his friend. "You guys were as in love as James and Lily were."

"Poor Cassie," Sirius muttered, unwilling to dwell on his dead soulmate. "Think she knows what it was?"

"I imagine Theo would tell her," Remus frowned. "He's a good kid. If he doesn't, we can."

"When the hell did she and Blaise break up?" Sirius asked, frowning. "She seemed happy with him."

"She hasn't," Regulus shrugged. "Something must've happened."

"Cassie isn't a cheater, Regulus," Sirius snapped.

"That's why I said something must've happened," Regulus glared back. "Can we get back to work now? We can ask her about it tomorrow if we must."

"Fine."

The three did as they said, searching through books, copying pages, and scribbling down notes as needed. Despite how hard they were working and how much material they were burning through, they hadn't actually gotten much done. The laws were written in such a complicated way to protect the Houses six ways from Sunday that it would be extremely difficult to undo.

Around an hour and a half after the interruption of the ignited soul bond, Regulus froze. The very clear feeling of deep heartbreak vibrated through the bond. It was so strong that he had to close his eyes and focus on separating their emotions.

Cas?

She didn't reply immediately. While he thought he knew what was happening, he also was slightly concerned that there was something more wrong.

I'm not dying.

He couldn't help but let out a small laugh.

I can tell, but you're not okay. What happened?

Blaise and I are sort of breaking up, so maybe we could talk about this later?

"Damn it," he cursed, rubbing his forehead softly.

Tell me if you need me.

"What's going on?" Remus wondered, eyeing him. "Is she okay?"

"According to her, she and Blaise are currently breaking up."

"Shit," Sirius cursed. "She just really can't get a break, can she?"

"Check on her again later," Remus suggested to Regulus. The younger man nodded quietly and glanced back at his book but focused on what she was feeling. As much as she seemed heartbroken, she also seemed… relieved. There wasn't the sort of hopeless feeling that usually came after breaking up with someone you loved, so he had to wonder if it wasn't as bad as he'd assumed originally.

"What about this?" Sirius asked, glancing between them and his book. "'In times when the entire community is threatened and our survival is at risk, we may apprehend, question, or enforce normal wizarding laws on any Ancient and Noble House.'"

"Where is that from?" Remus asked, eyes wide. Sirius shrugged.

"It was passed in 1824. It looks like there was an Obscurus being given asylum by… it doesn't say, but I wouldn't put it past us to do that sort of shit, try and use the poor kid as a weapon."

"Putting something as old and weak as that in front of the Wizengamot would risk them trying to get rid of it instead of allow us to use it," Remus pointed out. "Mark it and keep working."

With an exhausted sigh, Sirius did as he was told and got back to work. It was going to be an exhausting night.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

December 10th, 1996

Malfoy Manor

The large table of the highest ranked Death Eaters sat and listened to Elias Parkinson as he finally described what Pansy had told him. He'd been traveling for a couple of months and hadn't yet been able to pass on the information. Finally, he stood tall in front of Voldemort and talked.

"Snape claimed to be Cassiopeia Black's magical guardian," he explained. "One of them. He told her to go to her dorm. She listened."

"He is her Head of House," Avery suggested. "She is in school, Parkinson. Of course she listened to him."

"Ah, I would agree," Elias raised an eyebrow. "But when we had her attacked, he pushed up curfew and threatened to suspend or expel any Slytherin to attack their classmates. Is that not suspicious?"

"It is," Voldemort agreed. "Very good, Elias. I will follow up on this myself. Tell your daughter she has done well."

"Thank you, my Lord."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

December 13th, 1996

Hogwarts

Cassiopeia was walking out of the Potions classroom with Daphne, talking about their plans for break. When they turned the corner to leave the door, Cassiopeia stopped abruptly so that she wouldn't slam directly into the clumsy girl walking toward her. "Oh for- Merlin, Tonks."

"There you are," Tonks grinned at her sheepishly. "Sorry about that. Think I blocked out the memory of how to get around the dungeons the second I graduated, if I'm being honest."

"Lovely to see you," Daphne chuckled, adjusting her books. "What're you doing here?"

"Oh, right," Cassiopeia sighed. "With everything going on, I forgot."

"Forgot what exactly?"

"Sirius, Regulus, and I are in a bit more danger than we thought," she admitted. "So Amelia wants all of us to be watched at all times. I thought it was a bad idea to send someone after me since I'm in school and it would be pretty obvious, but I guess that's the point."

"Yep!" Tonks grinned. "I get to follow you around all day."

"Wonderful," Daphne snorted. "Well, Cassie was just telling me that she's going to skip charms, so…"

Cassiopeia made a face at her friend. "And now skipping class will be even safer with Tonks around."

"Well… I'm not in charge of your education, just your safety," Tonks hummed. "So when Sirius finds out, that's on you."

"Got it," Cassiopeia grinned. "Let's go. I want to get some practice in before the meeting tonight."

"Meeting?"

Daphne waved goodbye and walked off, unwilling to be late to class. With her gone, Cassiopeia began to lead Tonks up the many staircases to the seventh floor where she would pace in front of the wall.

"Yeah, the DA. It's a double meeting again, and I found this spell from a book in Regulus's room at Grimmauld Place that I wanna teach the upper years."

"Er, do you think that's a good idea?" the Auror wondered in concern. "Did you ask him about it?"

"I did," Cassiopeia assured her with a small laugh. "He was cleaning his room and I was just hanging out in there and looking through his books. He knew what I was doing. The spell is pretty helpful, actually. It's like an intuitive shield. It takes a lot of energy and it's dark magic, but I cannot fathom an argument against learning something that would protect you that isn't 'that's dark magic!'"

"You often teach them dark magic?" Tonks blinked in surprise as they entered the training room. It was set up as it always was for meetings like the one they'd have that night. Cassiopeia dropped her bag on the bench, as well as her wands.

"I teach them what I can," she answered, pulling out her daggers. "It's difficult with Susan here. She's very serious about not learning anything too dark. It's a bit exhausting. There are light magic spells that can be just as or more destructive than the dark magic I'm teaching them. Dark and light magic are just titles. There are so many different types of magic within those and everyone seems to have forgotten that. Did you know there's a charm that's dark magic that can get rid of tumors?"

"Seriously? That's incredible."

"Yep," Cassiopeia nodded.

From then, they talked only every once in a while. Cassiopeia took around an hour and a half to teach herself the spell and then taught it to Tonks. By the time they'd finished two hours later, students began to trickle into the room and put their things down. The group stood and waited for her to explain why she and Tonks were alone at the front of the room.

"For those that don't know," Cassiopeia said, waving at her cousin. "This is my cousin, Tonks. She's an Auror and she's going to be stalking me for a while."

"Cause someone wants to kill you?" Luna wondered lightly, gathering a few looks.

Cassiopeia blinked at her. "We're not sure what they want with me, but it'd be unpleasant, I'm sure. That's not the point, anyway. She's here, she's going to be following me around, so stay out of her way."

"Are you gonna make us work on that stupid removal curse again?" Zacharias said with a dramatic sigh.

"Them yes," Cassiopeia laughed, referring to the younger DA. "You? Maybe."

"Cassie!"

"No, we've got a couple of things to do today," she assured him. "You guys clearly needed a break from that curse. It is pretty hard to get, so I don't blame you. Today, we're working on intuitive shields. That means that they sense where a curse is going to hit you and move to block it. You don't need to aim."

"Is that even possible?"

Cassiopeia glanced at Harry and waved him over. First, she cast the shield. After that, he threw a hair thickening charm at her. To her great relief, the shield stopped it. "Harry, if that had hit me, I'd literally shave your head in your sleep."

"Good thing it didn't hit you," he grinned. He ducked the hex she shot at him and hurried away to duck behind Blaise. The boy smacked his arm and stepped aside, but she moved on and her brother was safe.

"Before we get to that," Cassiopeia told them. "I was told that I need to give you a mark in the same way that the Order of the Phoenix has a mark. It won't be very big, just a wand on the back of your neck."

"Auntie won't let me do that," Susan shook her head immediately. Cassiopeia's lips twitched in amusement.

"Susan, your aunt is the one that told me to do this."

"...oh."

"It's some runes and a charm that Snape and I made together," Cassiopeia explained to them. "Throughout today's meeting, I'll be pulling you aside to put it on you. It looks a bit like a muggle tattoo, except if Draco, Harry, Blaise, Theo, Daphne, Astoria, Ginny, or I tap it with our wands, the tip will light up."

"What's the point of these marks?" Cho wondered. "In the Order or here, what's the point? Just to show that we were part of this?"

"Essentially," she agreed slowly. "But not to brag. For Draco, Theo, and Blaise, this could be crucial. Imagine being accused of being a Death Eater and not having proof that you fought against them? That you're good?"

"So the Minister ordered you to give us all tattoos," Terry Boot grinned. "Cool, but why can she do that?"

"There's a war council," Cassiopeia admitted. "We're on it and she wants to make sure we protect our own. It's important."

"So is Snape getting one, too?"

Everyone turned to look at Neville in confusion. He stared back at them.

"What? He helps you with spells, he's teaching us through you. He should get a mark, too."

"I mean, I can try," Cassiopeia blinked, thinking about it. "But the possibility of him letting me give him a mark is low. So low that he may give me detention for raising my wand at him to try."

"Can we please get to the shield?" Dean requested impatiently. With that, the group got to work. The rest of the night was spent practicing the shield, placing the marks, and if they'd done both, they worked on the dreaded removal curse until the meeting was over.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

December 24th, 1996

Muggle London

Regulus was very openly not in favor of the trip to pick up last minute presents. He'd been very vocal about how bad of an idea it was and despite a few agreements, Cassiopeia had threatened to sneak out and go on her own. So, unwilling to call her bluff, Regulus went with her.

While Cassiopeia sifted through the expansive store, Regulus wandered around as well, quietly trying to get looks at everyone else in the shop. It was a very large bookstore with two levels to it. Regulus had demanded that they stay on the same floor, but aside from that, she was free to browse. No one around was suspicious, so he just kept his wand in his hand and trailed around behind her.

"Excuse me," a woman said. Regulus looked up and narrowed his eyes, but she had a stroller in front of her that she was struggling to push through the shelves. She looked much too muggle, so he stepped back and turned to walk through the small aisle behind that shelf.

It happened so quickly. Impossibly quick, really. First, there was a bare moment of panic through the bond that sent him into a sprint immediately. Right after that, he felt her drift off into a numb state that spoke of being stunned. And then, just as Regulus neared her and someone wearing Death Eater robes and a mask, they twisted on their ankle and Apparated away.

"Fuck!" Regulus shouted. He didn't even bother to look and see if muggles were watching before he also Apparated away, this time trying to follow the trail of the Death Eater that had taken his sister. Unfortunately, he slammed into some wards and found himself thrown about thirty feet back, only to land on his side and slam his head into the ground hard.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Cassiopeia awoke in a large, white room with beautiful furniture and paintings that reminded her of Black Manor. There were others in the room talking and she shifted to try and get a look at them, but the movement got their attention.

"Ah, she's awake."

The voice gave her shivers. It was a man, and she knew with a sick feeling that she recognized it to be Voldemort. She managed to pull herself upright until she leaned against the leg of a table behind her. Being on the left side of the room, she got a good view of everyone there. She saw a blonde head of hair and didn't even have to see his face to know Lucius was smirking at her. Near his side was Rabastan, and behind him was a man she knew from the Wizengamot, Elias Parkinson.

Then they parted and she saw him. Tom Riddle. Lord Voldemort. He was gliding over to her, his black robes trailing behind him. His wand was out in his hand, and she thought that was probably a pretty bad sign.

"Miss Cassiopeia Black," he greeted with a twisted smile. She stared up at his noseless face, eyes dark with what she hoped was well masked fear. "It is wonderful to see you again, of course."

"Unfortunately, I can't say the same."

He ignored her and turned to his right. "Rabastan, go call a meeting while I speak with Miss Black."

"Yes, my lord," he bowed regardless of the fact that his back was turned. As he left, the others did as well, sensing his silent request to be alone. Once it was just Cassiopeia and Tom Riddle - because looking at him again, she refused to use the name he'd created for himself - he got to his knees to look at her more closely.

"Has anyone ever told you that you look a great deal like Bellatrix?" he wondered, touching her hair. She tensed.

"Yes, believe it or not, I'd noticed."

"You were meant to be mine, did you know that?" he wondered. She glared at him.

"I know that after Regulus and I returned to this time, you threw a fit because I know things that could destroy you, so you tried to take me from my family. Unfortunately, Orion didn't give a shit about you. He wasn't loyal to you. The only person in my immediate relation that was so was Walburga and she was clinically insane."

Tom stared at her and she stared back, but at his forehead. She had some measure of faith in her shields, but she did not want to test that again. It still hurt sometimes, if she were being honest. Her mind had gone through far too much in far too short of a time.

Tom's eyes narrowed at her, likely for the hidden insult. "Ah, Regulus. Exactly the reason you're here, my dear."

"What, you think you can convince me to… betray him? Get him to return to you? I think it's a bit too late for that. Nothing you can do will change my mind, so you might as well forget about it."

Tom smirked at her, which was definitely not a pretty sight. "Oh, I know that. You misunderstand me. You're not here so I can manipulate you - that train left a long time ago, I saw that when you defended him in Diagon Alley. No, you're here to punish him."

She blinked, confused. "What?"

"Oh, Regulus adored you," Tom told her. "It was clear from the moment you were born that he cared more for you than me and possibly even himself. You're here to make him regret everything he did."

"I don't understand, how-,"

"Crucio!"

She let out a scream and doubled over, her body tensing up tightly in that familiar pain. After barely a minute, he lifted the curse, and she felt all of her pain potions and muscle relaxers burned away under the torture, causing her to shake and whimper in pain.

"That's my girl," he grinned. "You're a gift, Cassiopeia. Not only can I punish Regulus, but with your mind, I can understand what that war counsel you're in is planning. You'll help me win the war."

Cassiopeia's breath caught as she realized how much more she knew since returning to her time. The defenses they had in place, where they'd sent families in danger, how they planned to fight, who was a part of the resistance, and even spies- which meant Snape. She tensed and redirected all of her mental energy and magic to protecting the secrets from the war counsel and, in general, Snape. She had to protect Snape.

"I'll be back," he told her. He went to stand and touched her cheek on the way, making her shiver. A minute after he left the room, Dolohov and Rabastan entered, and her gut twisted at the sight. Rabastan stopped by the door but Dolohov stalked over to her and stood above her, staring down with a feral smile.

"I never thought you'd be brought to me," he told her in a whisper. "Aren't you glad to be back with me, pet? Right where you belong."

"Fuck off, Dolohov," she spat, pulling on the courage that she wasn't entirely sure she actually had.

"Feisty," he grinned. She regretted her words as he reached down and grabbed her by her hair to pull her to her feet. "I knew I liked you."

"Don't fucking touch me," she spat, hoping she sounded even a little bit scary. "My family will destroy you."

"Your family can't touch me, love," he laughed at her. His wand came out and she stiffened, ready for whatever was to come.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

The entire Order along with Cassiopeia's friends were in Grimmauld Place, all sitting anxiously while Snape and Regulus explained the few things they knew. Regulus's bond mark had stopped burning for just a little bit before it started again, worse than before. Their bond was being drowned out by something, some sort of dark magic that was painful for Regulus and likely Cassiopeia as well.

"We have little to go on," Snape concluded, looking at the worried faces. "Regulus claims everyone in the store were muggles, every single person."

"I checked them all for even enough magic for a Squib," Regulus confirmed, gritting the words out with a wince. They'd all generally tried not to stare, but his state seemed to reflect how they assumed Cassiopeia was doing, so it was hard. "No one. I'm not sure how they got in there without me noticing, but a Death Eater stunned and grabbed her and then Apparated out. I tried to follow, but I almost got splinched following the trail. They're in a very heavily warded place. It's certainly under a Fidelius."

Snape hissed in pain and shoved his sleeve up abruptly to see his Dark Mark slithering around on his arm. He wasn't the only one, though. Regulus groaned in pain, this time from the call on his arm. "Voldemort is calling a meeting."

"Where?" Amelia asked, getting to her feet.

"I do not think it wise to follow me," Snape said after a long moment. "We do not know how many Death Eaters he has there. I'll go and if it's safe, I'll send a Patronus. If not… I'll try to get her out myself."

"I don't like this," Sirius growled. "We should be there to help!"

"If you want to get her killed," Snape snapped back. "I shall go. If you don't hear from me within two hours, prepare to find us both."

"Why?" Harry asked, speaking for the first time since the meeting had begun.

"Because," he looked at Harry like he was stupid. "Cassiopeia has memories of me that clearly contradict who they believe I am and who they believe I am loyal to. Do you think there's no chance that Voldemort might force his way into her mind and see them? Perhaps she held out last time, but there is no telling what he may do to her now that he knows what a threat she is."

Many people stiffened, but no one could really disagree. The situations were similar but also very different.

Without another word, Snape swept out of the room, preparing for the worst. The travel to Malfoy Manor was quick and he appeared in the floo to the meeting room where a large table sat with many Death Eaters along it. Voldemort sat at the front with Lucius to one side and his other empty, which Snape knew was meant for him. He took his seat and prepared himself as the rest arrived and took their seats. Once the table was full, Voldemort called for their attention.

"As you all know, finding Cassiopeia Black has been a level one priority for some time," he began. "One of our muggle contacts in London spotted her today and called us. Yaxley was nearby and managed to walk over and Apparate her out before Regulus Black even spotted him. Rabastan?"

The large doors at the end of the room opened and Rabastan walked in, levitating an unconscious Cassiopeia in front of him. She had tear streaks down her face, and her hair was messy. Her body was twitching regardless of the stasis spell, which meant that the curse still lingered in her body and was overpowering the stasis charm. Her frail looking body floated into the middle of the table and stopped there.

Snape wanted to throw up.

She looked worse than he'd seen her since the night she'd hexed herself unconscious to avoid the Veritaserum she'd been given by Umbridge. Rabastan stood behind Voldemort's chair and Dolohov came to stand on the other side, looking so pleased with himself that Snape had a hard time holding his blank mask.

"I bring her here not to gloat but rather to show you what happens when you betray me," Voldemort told them all, surprising no one more than Snape.

It was about Regulus?

His gut twisted painfully. He knew that the only person that would be hurt if he were caught was already in front of him, unconscious from torture. Because really, Cassiopeia had been right, as much as he refused to admit it. He cared for her far too much and just as she claimed he was like a guardian, like a father to her, she was… the only family he had left.

To see her so broken so often during the previous school year had nearly killed him, but she hadn't been in the hands of Voldemort then. Now… anything could happen to her. Far too much likely would happen to her. It took a great deal of restraint to keep from jumping out of his chair, grabbing her, and escaping. He wasn't even entirely sure that he wasn't going to do that. The longer he stared at her, the better that idea seemed.

"Cassiopeia's brother betrayed me and died for it," Voldemort continued. "She was hidden before I could take her to punish him, but he has been returned to the living and therefore he is being punished."

"My lord," Mulciber spoke up, grinning. "Are you going to kill her?"

"No," Voldemort denied. "I will take everything I can from her and she will be tortured to the brink of death, at which point she will be returned to her family as a warning."

Snape didn't relax. He knew there were things far worse than death and it certainly seemed like Voldemort wanted her to experience that instead of giving her such a release.

"Who will torture her?" Parkinson wondered.

Voldemort's eyes flashed, his lips curling up into a smile. "From what I've seen in her mind, she has a distinct fear of Dolohov and our young Crabbe and Goyle. They will be doing it.

"And if the message hasn't sunk in yet," Voldemort said, standing. His eyes met Snape's for a moment, somewhat pointedly, and Snape barely had time to look down to avoid offering up his mind for viewing. He pointed his wand at Cassiopeia and it took every bit of restraint that Snape had to keep him from attacking the man. "Rennervate."

Cassiopeia gasped, her eyes shooting open. A whimper fell from her lips as her eyes fell on Dolohov first before traveling to Voldemort. The man stepped closer and waved at Rabastan, who moved her closer to him. Voldemort looked down at her, and she averted her gaze while he spoke.

"Don't forget, Cassiopeia," he told her, shaking his head. "This is Regulus's fault."

Cassiopeia did possibly the dumbest thing she could do and leaned over to spit on Voldemort. Snape's hand fell down to his wand automatically, but he managed to stop himself before he pulled it. Voldemort pointed his wand at her and instead of a Crucio, he cast a spell that Snape didn't know. A silvery blue light slammed from his wand into her temples and stayed there, and she tensed, her hands curling up into fists and her eyes closing tightly.

"No," she whispered in horror. "No!"

"That's right," Voldemort whispered. "That's your dear brother. Oh, yes."

"My lord," Snape said, careful to keep his voice steady and his tone calm and curious. "What spell is that?"

"Memoria simul," the dark lord replied. "It twists her memories. Right now, she's watching her brother torture her again."

It made far too much sense. If he wanted to punish Regulus, what better way than to make Cassiopeia, the reason he'd done everything he'd done, believe he'd hurt her again?

"That is all for now," Voldemort told them all. "You are dismissed… Rabastan, Dolohov, take Miss Black to the dungeons for now."

After two mutters of agreement, Cassiopeia was levitated off the table and out of the room. Her eyes caught on Snape's for a moment, and they widened, fear bright in them. He gave her a short nod, sure that no one else was watching, and saw a little bit of that fear disappear. The sight overwhelmed him. She trusted him far too much. That fact alone had him nearly pulling his wand again, but she was gone a moment later.

The second Voldemort had left the room, he rushed to the floo and went back to Grimmauld Place, where he found everyone still waiting where they'd been when he left. He avoided Regulus's eyes and looked to Sirius first. "She is in Malfoy Manor. He plans to use Dolohov and two students in her class to torture her to near death and then bring her back here."

"What students?" Theo asked, gathering his Head of House's attention. Snape frowned a little.

"Crabbe and Goyle."

Theo paled, and the potions master realized that at some point, she'd told him. Regulus shot to his feet, grabbing his wand from his pocket. "I'm going to get her."

"You can't," Snape turned to look at his old friend. His mask was nearly non existent, and that meant that his old friend who could read him on a normal day knew clearly that something was already very wrong.

"Why?"

Snape looked to Sirius again. "They want you both, too," he lied. "You cannot go."

"I shall go," Narcissa stood. "I can enter the Manor without setting off the wards."

"She can use my Invisibility cloak," Harry added, waving his wand to summon it. It flew into his face and he grumbled but handed it over to Narcissa quickly.

"It will be dangerous," he told her slowly. He knew how powerful the witch was, and how determined she was to protect those she cared for, which included her goddaughter. "Rabastan and Dolohov are with her now."

"I will go," Narcissa repeated. Snape nodded.

"I'll walk you out." The excuse was easily accepted and she gathered Harry's cloak and walked with him out of the room to the floo, where he grabbed her arm. "She thinks Regulus is torturing her. The Dark Lord… I am unfamiliar with the spell, but he told me that much. He is twisting her mind. She will be in the basement."

"I understand," Narcissa nodded and pulled the cloak around her shoulders. "Be ready for us."

"We will be."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Dolohov sat on Cassiopeia's chest and dug in a knife, slicing off the sweater she'd put on that morning, as well as the pink bra she had on. He stared down at her with dark, evil eyes, and she let out another whimper and struggled underneath him.

"Give in," he suggested to her, sliding the knife across her cheek lightly. "It's so much easier for you if you give in, pet."

"I'm not your pet," she cried. She'd been unsure why she wasn't bound, but it occurred to her that perhaps the man liked her struggling, which only made her feel more sick. "Let me go!"

Dolohov leaned down and sniffed her, smiling a nightmarish smile. "I have to let you go, pet, so I have to get the best out of my time with you."

"Please," she whispered as he rolled off of her and took the knife to her arm, causing her to gasp in pain.

"That's it," he muttered as he set to work in quick, practised movements that were no less traumatizing. "Beg."

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It was thirty minutes later when Cassiopeia lay unconscious, bleeding, bruised, and naked in the dungeons. Dolohov had been called for something and he'd left her there when he was done without bothering to even try to clean her up.

The doors opened and she woke in a start at the loud noise. She managed to back herself into a tight, curled up sitting position by the time the gate at the bottom of the stairs opened and she waited for the light to come. When it did, she caught sight of Crabbe and Goyle both grinning at her.

"No," she breathed, her chest rising and falling with her quick, panicked breaths. "No."

"Black," Goyle greeted, stalking over to her. "Lovely."

"Get away from me," she told him, holding up her hand. Voldemort had put some sort of spell on her that had somehow blocked her wandless magic, but she had to try again. She'd tried with Dolohov, and her only hope was that the spell wore off after awhile, however vague of a hope it was.

"I don't think so," he told her, leaning down to grab her by her throat. She gasped but her air was quickly cut off, and she struggled against him. She didn't want to pass out, not there, not then. Just as the world began to fade and she felt her eyes closing, a flash of light startled her and Goyle released her and dropped to the ground himself. When she stumbled back, she saw that Crabbe was down, too, and cried out in relief. Her eyes lifted and she saw Narcissa rushing to her. She fell into the woman's arms gratefully.

The trip home was easier than expected as the cloak expanded to fit both Narcissa and Cassiopeia. Narcissa got her to the floo and stepped in with Cassiopeia. Normally it wasn't a good idea to floo with more than one person, but it was an emergency. Narcissa threw down the floo powder and sent them away, specifically to Cassiopeia's fireplace in her bedroom in Potter Manor.

It was thirty minutes later when Narcissa finished helping Cassiopeia shower and dress. She left the girl in her bedroom and made her way back to where the large group of people waited anxiously. When she entered the room, she looked around. "She's home. No one is to visit her aside from Severus."

"What?" Sirius jumped to his feet, furious. "You can't decide that, Cissa! She was just abducted and-,"

"And tortured physically and mentally," Narcissa finished. "Some of her memories have been… warped. Severus is her Occlumency coach and he must help her make sense of things before she sees anyone else."

Sirius paused. "What the hell did he do to her?"

Narcissa met Severus's eyes. "She's waiting for you. I told her you'd bring the necessary potions."

"Which are?"

She spelled the list in her pocket into his hand. He looked down at it and felt his mask crack apart completely. "I see. Thank you."

Once he'd left, she looked around to see everyone staring at her still. "If you're looking for more information, you will not be getting it from me, and anyone that pushes Cassiopeia will be hexed to death."

"Lady Malfoy-,"

"That's Lady Black," Narcissa snarled at Dumbledore, who nodded once.

"Lady Black," he said cautiously. "What happened there may be a matter of concern for the Order. We do not know what sort of things he's taken from her mind."

"What happened there is a matter of concern for Cassiopeia," Narcissa corrected furiously. "And may I remind you that I am her godmother and trusted to know what is best for her, and that is not telling anyone what she went through."

"Is it really that bad?" Draco asked, speaking for the first time since they'd gotten the call. Narcissa softened as she looked at her son but didn't reply.

"We leave her alone," Harry told them all firmly. "We'll leave her alone."

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Severus knocked on the door softly before opening it. To his surprise, Cassiopeia was not in bed but rather sitting on the floor, scratching absently at her arms. He moved swiftly over and kneeled down next to her, gently placing a hand on her arm to still her motions. She looked up, eyes wide and wild with fear.

"Cassiopeia," Severus said. "You're home."

"I'm sorry," she whispered so quietly that he barely heard her. Severus shook his head. Any anger he had at her for leaving to shop, of all things, had disappeared completely when he'd seen her in Malfoy Manor. "I'm sorry, it's my fault. I shouldn't have… I'm sorry."

"I am not angry," he told her firmly. "But concerned. Will you let me heal you?"

She nodded silently and he set to work, casting the diagnosis spell and handing her a few potions he already knew she'd need. Not much of it surprised him, thanks to Narcissa's warning in form of the potion at the bottom of the list. With the potions taken, he took a closer look at the list of injuries as a few of them were scratched off when the potions healed them. The worst of the injuries were mostly mental, although there were some dark curses she'd received as well, and he'd rushed to take care of those before they could do much more permanent damage.

When he was done healing any physical injury he could - she wouldn't let him near a couple of them, which he understood - he took in a deep breath, unprepared for the question he was about to ask. "Cassiopeia, can you tell me what you remember?"

She nodded shortly, the double dose of calming draught working wonders on her. "I was shopping, it was just- just Regulus and I, and he took me, Professor. He took me to Riddle."

"I see," Severus sighed sadly. His hope that her memories hadn't been too horribly tampered with disappeared. "What next?"

"He told me he's been working with him since he got back," she said. Her voice was too detached for what should've been devastating words. He knew he had to work fast before the calming draught wore off. "He tortured me… for so long. You were there, and Bellatrix- she's alive. She was there, but she looked… young. You were young, too, Professor. And then Voldemort gave me to Dolohov and he…" she drifted off, frowning. "I don't want to say it."

"You don't have to," he assured her, already much too aware of what the man had done. Aside from the obvious, she had cuts all over her that would scar, and one on her arm was already infected. It would take days to clean that up at least, if not longer. "What happened after that?"

"Regulus came back," she whispered, frowning to herself as she thought. "He told me how he'd been feeding all of our information to Riddle and that we were stupid to trust him, that Sirius had been right about him when they were in school. And then Crabbe and Goyle came, but Narcissa interrupted them and brought me home. She helped me shower and asked me what happened, just like you are now."

"Okay, thank you," he sighed. "I would like to help you with some of these memories. Is it okay if I go into your mind and look around?"

"My mind hurts," she replied softly. "Everything hurts."

"I know. This will help with that."

"Oh," she looked up at him and met his eyes, though he was sure it was out of habit rather than a conscious understanding of what she was doing. "Okay."

"Legilimens!"

Severus slipped into her mind and looked around to find Cassiopeia standing in front of a bookshelf. She had picked up a book titled "The Giver." It seemed to be one she'd read before if the way she touched it gently said anything. Before she could drop it in the basket she held, her eyes caught on a her brother walking toward her.

"I think this for Theo," she said. Regulus raised his wand and pointed it at her. Trusting him, she made a face. "Put that away before you break the Statute."

"We're leaving," he informed her. He grabbed her arm roughly and jerked her to the side. The book she'd been holding fell to the ground barely a moment before he Apparated them away. When they landed in a large room, she grabbed onto him to keep from falling. Regulus, however, pried her hands off of him and let her fall to the floor. He walked over to a familiar face - Voldemort.

Severus frowned at the memory and scratched at it. He barely managed to dislodge it and when he did, the other version of the memory played quickly. Cassiopeia looking up and spotting the Death Eater coming for her, him stunning her and then taking her away, and then finally her being freed and woken in Malfoy Manor.

The next memory saw Regulus standing next to Dolohov and looking down at Cassiopeia with a smirk on his face. "You did this to yourself, Cassie. You brought me back. I used this chance to make up for my betrayal. What's happening to you now - what will happen to you is no one's fault but your own."

"Regulus," she whispered, struggling with her breathing. "I trust you. Please. You're my brother. What about our bond?"

"You were raised as a mudblood," he spat at her. "You're no sister of mine. That bond was just a means to an end - your trust."

"Please."

"Dolohov," Regulus said, turning to the man by his side. "I think she's yours."

"You're right about that."

The memory ended and Severus pushed at it, revealing a memory of Voldemort torturing her and explaining that what was happening was Regulus's fault for betraying him.

Cassiopeia was in the middle of the same room, and Severus was shocked to see his younger self standing stoically at Voldemort's side, a young Bellatrix there as well. He knew what he was watching, he recognized the scene easily.

This time as he watched Regulus torture her, he knew that it had happened in a sense- the memory was twisted, however. One of Voldemort's memories combined with Cassiopeia's own to make it look like the worst possible thing.

When Regulus was finished, Voldemort handed her off to Dolohov and she was taken to the dungeons.

Severus shoved the manufactured memory away to reveal the meeting where she'd been levitated above the table. Severus sucked in a deep breath before jumping back into the fake memories.

Regulus slapped Cassiopeia across the face, waking her. She coughed violently and some blood dripped down her chin. Her brother shook his head at her in disgust. "I knew I could do it. You were so desperate, weren't you? You let me torture you for three days just because you wanted to meet me."

"But you- you stopped," she managed. "When you knew it was me. This isn't you, Regulus. You're good. You're not this."

"I stopped when I was ordered to," he disagreed. "The Dark Lord told me who you were. He told me to wait until after Dolohov had spent a night with you to stop. Wait until you got to that memory. What he didn't know is that it wasn't just Dolohov, was it, Cassie? He was so happy to hear how bad it really was. Didn't you wonder how he knew how afraid of Crabbe and Goyle you are? It was me. I told him."

"No," she gasped, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Please, Regulus."

He stepped over to her and grabbed her by the throat to pull her up and make eye contact with her. "You deserve everything that's happened to you and everything that will happen to you."

Tears slipped from her eyes as she lost consciousness, the last image being that of her brother laughing at her.

Severus had to suck in a deep breath before he pushed that one away and saw a different one, this time of Voldemort. He pushed his way into her mind and looked at everything available, including her time with the Dursleys and nearly every other horror she'd been through. Fortunately, he hadn't seen anything about the horcruxes or even about Severus himself. He'd cast the spell on her to change her memories and left, stunning her on his way out.

The rest of the memories were real and he watched Narcissa save Cassiopeia before Crabbe and Goyle could really get to her.

He pulled out of her mind and leaned back to watch as she blinked rapidly, a pained and confused frown on her face. "Cassiopeia."

"I- I don't… understand," she managed finally. She looked lost in some space between reality and a cloud of fake memories. Slowly, carefully, Snape did something he'd never done before - he reached out and took her hand within his own. She didn't flinch or react aside from squeezing his tightly within her own.

"Those memories of Regulus," Severus began slowly. "Voldemort planted them there. They were not real. I just released the real ones. Unfortunately, I cannot destroy the fake ones or even put a Notice-Me-Not on them. For that, I am very sorry."

"Regulus," she squeezed her eyes shut in pain. "It was him. But… no, it was… who was that Death Eater?"

"It was Yaxley," Severus answered. "Regulus has been here worrying about you. He was terrified, truthfully. I was with him."

"I don't… there's nothing you can do? I think… I get it, I understand," she managed, her confused thoughts coming out in a jumble. "But I still remember the… the other version of things."

"We can do more work later and try to hide them away," Severus told her. "Unfortunately, Voldemort scarred your mind when he entered once more without consent and I've already pressed the limits of how much it can handle right now by dislodging all of the fake memories."

She was silent for a minute, and he waited for her to speak again. "One of those was real."

"Regulus would never hurt you."

"But he hurt someone else," she clarified, and Severus nodded once.

"He did. I'm sorry you had to see that."

"Am I… am I okay?"

"It might take a bit to heal completely, but you will heal."

"And can I see everyone?" she wondered. He looked at her in surprise.

"Regulus is with them. You want to see him?"

"Ignoring the memories of the past day, real or fake, everything I know about him tells me that he wants me… safe," she said. It sounded more like she was trying to convince herself of that, but the fact that she said it at all told Snape that she was doing much better than he'd expected. Although, if he were being honest, she was also much worse off than he'd expected. He hadn't realized how many of her memories Voldemort would distort, but he supposed he'd done so in the case that they could fix her mind so that she'd be forced to live with those seeds of doubt for longer than anyone was comfortable with. "And I'd like to see them all myself. So long as they don't…. Touch me," she winced and looked away even as Snape nodded firmly.

"You will tell me as soon as it is too much and I will bring you back here," he told her. She nodded a little. "Whatever you decide to tell them is what they will know, period. I will not share anything else, nor will Narcissa."

"And… my potions, they… worked?"

"Another one in eight hours, just to be safe," he told her, hating how familiar the words were. "After that, I will do some tests, but I see no reason why it should not work as it has before."

"Okay."

Snape hesitated as she got to her feet, releasing his hand reluctantly. They stood together for a moment, not speaking or moving. Finally, he straightened. "I will be staying here for the holiday."

"Oh, Professor, you don't have to-," He gave her a look that was a mix of sternness and a rare desperation. It shut her up quickly and instead, she just nodded. "Thank you, Professor. For… for everything."

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