Cassandra DeRose was sitting on her window sill, looking out onto the vast land that her family owned. She smiled as the wind blew making her hair fly gently.
Cassandra was a very beautiful girl. She was perfect in every way. She had beautiful almond-shaped amber eyes which never failed to give away her emotions, she could enchant people using her eyes. It was a trick taught to her by her dear uncle, Albus Dumbledore. Her high cheekbones, slim face, radiant ivory skintone, full lips, button nose, everything gave rise to Cassandra. People often thought that she was a Veela but she wasn't.
Cassandra was not only incredibly beautiful but she was also smart. Cassandra was different. She had at a very young age learnt to levitate objects. She could perform magic at the age of 5 by summoning her toys. The first time it happened she almost gave her grandfather- Charles DeRose- a heart attack. As she grew, along with her beauty increased her magical potential. She was incredibly powerful, her raw magical core had a MAT (Magical Aptitude Test) of 490/500.
Her grandfather knew that she was in danger because of this. Her power was wanted by many and if it came in the wrong hands, it could end the world.
And so,she had grown up in her house, isolated from the world, home-schooled by the best tutors of the world.
Cassandra was her grandfather's world. He doted on her. After his daughter's death along with her husband, Aberforth Dumbledore, Charles had lost all will to live. That is until he was given Cassandra, the little girl was barely 6 months old. The minute she looked at him, she had given him a smile and grabbed onto his finger. That was the minute he fell in love with Cassandra.
The feelings had, evidently, been reciprocated by Cassandra who had formed a very close bond with her 'Papa'. The two were a very small but tight-knit family.
There were times though that Cassandra wondered what it would be like to have grown up as a normal child. But she always squashed that thought away. There was no point in dwelling with what was not possible.
Little did she know, that the one thing she'd never been able to get from her Papa was going to be offered to her on a silver platter.
Cassandra walked down the stairs of the Manor, humming a song as she bounced along her steps.
She entered the living room, smiling widely when she saw her uncle sitting with her Papa drinking tea.
"Uncle!" she said pleasantly walking to give him a hug. "What a pleasant surprise"
She looked at her Papa who smiled at her. She smiled back and sat down in an armchair.
"What's with the sudden appearance?" She asked
"Why?" Albus started "Can I not come and visit my favorite niece just for the sake of it?"
Cassandra rolled her eyes "Honestly Albus, firstly, I'm your only niece and secondly, you never come to visit just for the sake of it"
"There's a first time for everything" he said
"Yes but is certainly not that particular First Time" she said cocking her eyebrow at her "I can read your aura Uncle...you're worried about something. What is it?"
Albus sighed and placed his cup down, straightening up making Charles and Cassandra straighten up as well.
"Charles" Albus started "What I'm about to tell you is strictly to remain within the three of us"
Cassandra snorted "Yes because me and Papa talk to so many people"
Albus rolled his eyes before saying "As you know, the attacks on Muggle London have been increasing day by day and are becoming more and more blatant. The death eaters don't even bother hiding themselves. But Muggle London is the start, because it's easy for Wizards to attack muggles. But we fear that the attacks are not starting in the wizarding areas as well. Just yesterday, there was an attack at Fridsburg Alley near Scotland"
"Yes Albus" Charles started "I read about it in the paper this morning. But that isn't something that has to stay between us...the whole world knows it"
Albus sighed "Charles, the wizarding world is in crisis. If these attacks are not controlled, if there's no retaliation from us, the Death Eaters are going to go out of control"
Leaning forward he said "Voldemort is planning a full-fledged attack on the Three Pillars"
Cassandra's eyebrows shot up. The Three Pillars of the wizarding world-The Ministry, Gringotts and Hogwarts.
"And how do you know this?" She asked pointedly
"My spy in the death eaters has been informing me of their plans"
"You have spies within the Death Eaters?" Charles asked in shock "But shouldn't you be informing the heads of these institutions instead coming to us?"
"That's exactly what we cannot do" Albus said "Many of the politicians and officials in the Ministry are corrupt-"
"Not to mention conscious-less cowards"Cassandra cut in between
"Precisely" Albus said "Many of the politicians have most probably already joined hands with Voldemort in greed for power and more influence. Many officials have done so in fear of their lives. The goblins at Gringotts-"
"-Will only side with those who give them profit in the form of golds and no one owns more gold at this moment than Voldemort considering the number of purebloods on his side" Charles finished "If the goblins refuse to cooperate, he'll simply command his followers to withdraw all of their vaults and place it in another bank which will give that bank huge amounts of profit"
"And Hogwarts, while it may be protected by me" Albus started "Is absolutely nothing without the Ministry. The Ministry goes down, the Pureblood Supremists come into power- Voldemort comes to power and it'll be a cakewalk to take over Hogwarts"
Cassandra bit her lip frowning "So what is it that you want from us?"
"Your support, for one" Albus started "The DeRoses are not merely Purebloods- you're an Alpha Trueblood lineage, one of the only few that are surviving. You have a huge amount of influence in our world. Not to mention, the powers and priveldges that you get"
"Of course Uncle" Cassandra said "You have all our support"
Charles nodded along with her.
"But there's something else that I need from you" Dumbledore started making Cassandra frown.
"Which is?" Charles said
"Cassandra" he said simply surprising the pair of grandfather-granddaughter in front of him.
"Excuse me?" Cassandra asked
"Cassandra you are, undoubtedly, one of the best witches in the world. You've learnt the art of strategy-making and no one knows how to trap the enemy in his own move better than you. You are extremely powerful. You would be invaluable to our cause if you could help us. I need your help in order to stop this attack on the Three Pillars. Losing three of the most influential and powerful institutes of the Wizarding World would mean as good as losing the war to Voldemort. I trust you and I know that you would never back stab us and abandon our side" Albus took a deep breath "Cassandra, with the war, people are constantly changing sides in fear of their lives. You are one person who I know would die before betraying us and I am in crucial need of people like you"
Cassandra gulped before looking at Charles who said "Absolutely not. Cassandra you can't be considering this"
"Papa" she sighed "I have listened to everything you've said, you've asked of me. I never once asked for something you'd refused once, but this is a war. I can't keep sitting in here safe and sound when people out there are dying. I can help the war Papa"
Charles sighed angrily and said "Cassandra I've already lost my wife, son and daughter to this war. I am not going to lose you too"
Cassandra sighed before kneeling in front of Charles grabbing his hand "Papa...If anything, I need to do this for Grandma and Mother and Uncle Nathaniel and Father and the other millions of lives that monster has taken"
Charles looked at Cassandra, his little girl, when had she gotten so big?His eyes filled with tears and he cupped the side of her face.
"I do not want you to die" he said "You're all that has made me survive these years, I cannot lose you"
Cassandra put her hand over his and said "And you won't. I promise you"
He smiled at her kissing her forehead before turning to Albus.
"You are responsible for her, Albus" Charles said "If anything happens to my little girl, I will personally see to your exoneration"
Albus smiled and nodded "You don't know how important this is, Charles. Cassandra is our ace card, we need her to win this war"
After a while, Albus stood up and said "Well, I must take my leave now. Cassandra I will see you in two days with your Hogwarts letter and book list after which we shall go to Diagon Alley"
Cassandra nodded and watched as Albus flooed away.
She was doing this. She was going to help defeat the man who murdered her mother and father.
Cassandra and Albus entered Gringotts. Every goblin's head snapped to her. The superior scent of Trueblood she gave off made the goblins' mouths water.
Truebloods were different from purebloods on many levels, but the most standard being that Truebloods were the wizards who'd formed the very foundation of wizarding world. Those who'd practically invented magic and everything related to it were the Truebloods. Think of it as the Monarchial system-the Truebloods were the kings and queens, the purebloods were the nobility, the half-bloods were the commoners and the muggleborns for a long period of time were oppressed, but not by the Truebloods who always discouraged blood supremacy for obvious reasons.
At the very beginning there were 15 Trueblood families but over the years, they'd been diluted or killed or even imprisoned by framing by purebloods in order for them to gain power. Now, there were only 3 Trueblood families in the world- the DeRoses from France, the Gonicions from Egypt and the Lonistris from Spain.
The Truebloods gave off a scent of power, of superiority, of dominance that was easily recognized by the magical creatures such as Goblins. There was a time when creatures fed off of this scent. But because of the rarity of Truebloods, they had to move onto other means of food. Which is why the scent of her made Goblins crave the scent. Cassandra looked at Albus subtly and he nodded back.
This had been their plan all along. Her scent was a weakness for the Goblins. Seeing her with Albus would make the Goblins see that she was in favor of the cause against Voldemort, making them hesitant to join Voldemort.
As the two walked towards the Head Goblin, Cassandra could see the Goblins sniff more of her scent.
She smiled at the Head Goblin who bowed to her. The magical creatures held great deal of respect for Truebloods. The Truebloods would let them live freely so long as they never hurt anyone. Truebloods encouraged peaceful living.
"Madame" Slipherd, the Head Goblin, said bowing to her. In purely Trueblood fashion, the way she'd been taught by her tutors, she nodded her head before looking at the goblin
"Sliphers are you not?" She asked and he hastily nodded. "I'd like to visit my mother's vaults"
"Yes madame right away...I shall personally escort you down to the DR Level"
DR Level. DeRose Level. The entire level was occupied by vaults owned by her grandfather and by extension her. There were some 450 vaults under the DeRose family.
Though most Wizarding families used Blood Wards and Blood Barriers to safeguard their vaults, Truebloods couldn't do that as almost every family was in some way related to them making some part of every wizards blood related to them. Therefore, the DR vaults were safeguarded by a Rune Ward and Barrier along with MajorBlood Barriers (they only let people with a certain percentage of DeRose blood in). There was a particular Rune that would unlock the floor. Anyone who entered the wrong Rune would immediately become a Squib.
After taking the required amount of gold from her mother- Astoria DeRose's vault and some other stuff she needed from her grandfather's vault, Cassandra and Albus left to go to Diagon Alley.
Cassandra entered Flourish n' Blotts from where she was supposed to buy her books. Albus had gone to buy the material required from the Apothecary. He had instructed her to not leave the bookstore without him.
She scanned the books with one side of her cheek puffed up. She was humming her favorite tune as she read book titles and grabbed ones that she wanted and the ones given in the BookList.
Suddenly she crashed into someone making her fall back.
She groaned rubbing her back as it had hit the floor.
"Oh Merlin's left ball" the person who she'd crashed into cursed as she helped her up. She looked up and saw a boy about her age with black messy hair and rimmed glasses looking at her. "I am so very sorry"
She shook her head and grabbed his offered hand standing up and picking up her books that had fallen to the floor.
He helped her and read the title of one of the books "Guide to Advance Alchemy?"
She looked at him and he said "Wow...you know Alchemy?"
She nodded and smiled at him in gratitude
"Thank you" she said as she stood back up with her books in her basket.
"Oh no, I should be sorry. I knocked you back there" he said before smirking mischievously "Had you falling for me before even knowing my name didn't I?"
She blinked at him before bursting into laughter.
"Oh Merlin. You're awfully full of yourself aren't you?" She said even though her voice held amusement. He simply smirked. "Anyway, thank you for helping me and it's totally fine for making me fall...for you" she said before they laughed "What's your name?"
He pushed his glasses up. "Oh right. I am James Potter."
He held out her hand and she shook it "I am Cassandra DeRose"
He nodded before his head snapped back to her "DeRose? As in the Trueblood family from France?"
She nodded "That's right"
He looked at her in awe before snapping out of it
"Sorry it's just that I've never seen a Trueblood and I've heard all about the rules and policies applicable only to Truebloods" he said "Is it true that if someone so much as touches you without your notice he can be sent straight to Azkaban?"
She scoffed "Of course not...or don't you think you would be in Azkaban for what you did back there?" She said pointing to the ground where she'd fallen. He looked ashamed and she chuckled "I swear the rumors regarding the Trueblood Protection Act is barbaric. A person goes to Azkaban if and only if they try to harm a Trueblood by their touch. Although that isn't just applicable to Truebloods even others can try to get someone who touched them harmfully punished. It just comes easier for a Trueblood. You don't have to go through the whole trial thing all you need is proof of harm for example burnt skin or a deep gash"
He nodded. They had begun walking towards the big line of customers waiting to check their purchases out.
"So are you joining Hogwarts?" He said as they stood in line
"Yes" she nodded "From this year, apparently, I'll be in my 6th year"
"Hey me too!" He exclaimed "It'll be great. I'll introduce you to my friends also. One of them actually came with me but he's gone to Fortesque's for ice-cream leaving me with the book purchases" he rolled his eyes "Something about how being in close proximity to that many bookshelves gives him migraine, the drama queen"
Cassandra laughed "He sounds delightful"
James smiled "His name is Sirius. Sirius Black"
"Black?" She asked "As in the son of Orion Black?"
"Yes that I am unfortunately" came a voice from behind her making her and James jump.
"Merlin's fucking beard Padfoot" James snapped at another boy 'Padfoot' or 'Sirius' as she gathered.
Sirius was really good-looking. He had the most perfect black hair (she was a little jealous of it), the perfect complexion and his features were amazing. Yet, Cassandra could read sadness and regret and guilt in his aura.
James' aura was colorful yet there was pain in his too (he was human after all, only Gods were known to have perfectly perfect auras) but Sirius' was dull. There were colors but none were shining the way James' did.
"Come off it Prongs" the boy chortled "There I was waiting for you to come with the ice cream that I'd bought for you but you weren't coming so I decided to take a leap of faith and throw myself into the mouth of the dragon and come into the bookstore to find you. And what do I find? That my very own best mate has abandoned me for a girl!"
Cassandra snorted at that. He sure was a drama queen.
Sirius looked at her before surveying her up and down.
"Well, can't say I blame you" he said walking to stand beside her "If a girl as beautiful as her was to show interest in me, I'd forget the world and be at her feet"
Cassandra laughed and shook her head as she moved forward in the line.
"Do the two of you have a habit of flirting with girls you've barely met?" She asked
"Only the gorgeous ones" they said together before sharing some sort of handshake.
She shook her head as she paid for her books. James paid for his and Sirius' before they came to her.
"So Cassandra, are you transferring to Hogwarts?" Sirius asked
"Yes" she said "I'm a little nervous though, I've never been to a school before"
They gave her incredulous looks "You've never been to school?"
She nodded "I was home-schooled. I don't know what to expect"
Their eyes softened before they came to stand on either side of her and wrapped their arms around her shoulders making her look at them with wide eyes. They gave her huge grins and said "Well...don't fear when the Marauders are here"
She gave them a strange look.
"You're with us now, little Chickling" Sirius said
"Chickling?" She asked offended "I'm barely 2 inches shorter than you"
"Shorter nonetheless" he said "You're one of us now. We'll introduce you to Moony and Wormtail on our trip to Hogwarts after a week"
She smiled at them. They were cocky and boisterous and loud but they were good.
"Alright then" she said "I suppose I can grant you peasants a few minutes of my time" she said sticking her nose up in the air obnoxiously before laughing with the two of them.
"You'll fit right in with us, Chickling" James said "You'll fit right in"
And that gave Cassandra more assurance than anything else could have.