Chapter Three: Up Down
All that I see is up down, up down
And I'm barely breathing but I follow, follow you down
I'm on my knees and spinning, up down, up down
Still fighting my demons but I follow, follow you down
~ Up Down, Boy Epic
"So hold up a second, what happened during the Gryffindor and Slytherin Care of Magical Creatures class?" Cass asked.
Of course all the fun and interesting stuff never happened in the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw class. She and Michael were in Divination—which was just as boring as she had anticipated—and Cass was adamant on knowing more about the rumour that Malfoy had been attacked by a Hippogriff. Cass's class had been earlier in the day, and she'd had no problems with them.
"Depends if you believe what Malfoy is saying." Michael shrugged his shoulders as he squinted into the tea leaves in his cup. "He reckons he was savaged. I've heard the Gryffindors saying he was barely scratched and he was asking for it."
"Yeah, that sounds more like Malfoy," Cass agreed, grimacing when Professor Trelawney swooped in on them.
"Miss Rosier, what have you seen in your cup?"
"Erm, I'm still interpreting," Cass made a half-hearted gesture to her cup. In truth, she hadn't the faintest idea what the tea leaves were meant to say.
"Oh, I think I've got it!" Michael exclaimed as he peered at Cass's cup. "You...will meet a tall and handsome stranger. His name is Roger Davies, and—"
"Stop." Cass's cheeks burned as she snatched her cup back. Ever since the Ravenclaw Quidditch team tryouts, her friends wouldn't stop teasing her about Roger.
"I think it's actually the Grim," Michael said, pretending to shudder as he examined his textbook, "Yeah, I think the stranger one sounds too hopeful. This one is death…"
Fortunately, Professor Trelawney had swept off to bother some of the other students, meaning that Cass and Michael could stop pretending to care about their tea leaves. Cass scowled, getting the feeling she wasn't going to be getting top marks in this class. Nonetheless, it did mean a more relaxed class where she could gossip with Michael.
"Cass!" It was Ernie Macmillan, a Hufflepuff who they were on fairly good terms with. "Did you hear about Sirius Black?"
"What about him?" Michael asked before Cass could respond, causing Ernie to glance over his shoulder to make sure Trelawney wasn't listening before leaning closer.
"He was sighted in Dufftown."
"What?" Cass's eyes widened. Dufftown wasn't too far from Hogwarts. A chill ran down her spine, and she made a mental note to speak to Remus about Sirius after Divination.
"Thought I'd let you know." Ernie gave Cass a sympathetic look before turning back to his friend Hannah Abbott.
Cass frowned. "Okay, what was that?"
"A Sirius Black sighting?" Michael sounded confused, and for once not about the tea leaves they were meant to be studying.
"No." Cass shook her head, brow furrowing. "The look Ernie gave me. Like he feels sorry for me or something."
"Well, everyone knows you're Sirius's niece," Michael pointed out, "Not to mention...your mum was in the paper the other day, Cass. The Ministry's cracking down on your family, and people have noticed."
Cass pondered this in uneasy silence. She wanted to believe that there was no way Phoenix was behind anything...and yet, how well did she really know her mum? Cass knew the basics of her mum's life, but anything much before Orion's birth was a mystery to her. Phoenix didn't like talking about her past, at least not to Cass. She'd heard snatches of conversation between Phoenix and Remus, but not enough to make anything of it.
"What, reckon the Ministry will be down here grilling Orion and I next?" Cass's tone was dripping with sarcasm, and Michael's raised eyebrows told her that her coping mechanism of not wanting to take things seriously was showing.
"Look, we're all here for you, Cass. This isn't gonna be an easy year, at least until they catch him."
But did Cass want them to catch him? Phoenix thought Sirius was innocent, but she was about the only one. She wondered what, aside from being Sirius's younger sister, gave Phoenix to believe he wasn't guilty. The article said she had appealed her brother's conviction. She would have been pregnant with Orion at the time, Cass realised. Shaking her head, she turned her attention on Michael's cup.
"Okay, that's definitely an acorn in your tea leaves, and that means unexpected gold. Does this mean you finally win a bet?"
"So, how has school been this week?" Remus cast a look across the table at each of his children. He'd made it a point to ensure Cass and Orion ate dinner with him once a week. Cass sprawled back in her chair, pushing her food around the plate with a fork. Orion was swinging his legs and wolfing down his food like his life depended on it.
"It's been okay." Cass shrugged her shoulders. "A lot of people have been talking. About Sirius, about Mum."
"Really?" Orion asked through a mouthful of peas. "I haven't heard anything."
"Yeah, well, you're eleven." Cass's tone was impatient, like her brother was too young to understand. "I want to know more about Sirius. He was friends with you when you were at Hogwarts, right? Like, best friends."
"I don't think this is an appropriate dinner time conversation." Remus sighed heavily. How was he supposed to explain everything that had happened during Hogwarts and the First Wizarding War to his children? They were just kids who were growing up in a very different time to what he and Phoenix had.
"Well, everyone else thinks it is." Cass folded her arms and tilted her chin up like she did when she was annoyed. It was so reminiscent of her mother, and Remus realised that even though he'd only been at Hogwarts just over a week now, he already missed Phoenix.
"Mum was in the newspaper," Orion agreed, licking his fingers. Remus passed him a cloth and he wiped his hands on it instead.
"Your mum knew this would happen the moment she found out Sirius got out." Remus's tone was calm and even. He knew his wife, and despite her love for her brother and her adamant belief he hadn't been responsible for killing Peter and the Muggles, she would never have taken a risk like getting him out of Azkaban.
"Have you come under fire?" Cass asked.
"Not yet." Remus set his knife and fork down.
"Why did she defend him?" Cass persisted. "Everyone else thought he was guilty, but not her. She even tried to appeal his conviction. You were one of his best friends, you thought he was guilty. What makes Mum believe in him after all these years?"
Remus sighed deeply. The children had always been curious, especially Cass. It couldn't have been easy for her, growing up knowing that she was Evan Rosier's daughter, and yet unable to learn more about her biological father. It didn't matter to Remus, since in every way that counted, Cass was his child. He loved her as fiercely and unconditionally as he did Orion. He just wished that Phoenix would share more with her, though he understood her reservations. As much as Phoenix's marriage to Evan had been complicated, she didn't want to raise her daughter growing up to hate her biological father.
"I think these are questions you need to put to your mother, not me."
"Well, what about my father then?" Cass's voice grew louder and more irritable. "By that I mean Evan Rosier. The newspaper talked about him too. He was a Death Eater."
"Yes, he was," Remus responded patiently.
"All I ever find out about him is through newspapers," Cass huffed, putting her plate aside and pushing herself to her feet, "I'm thirteen now. He's been dead since I was a baby. What harm would come of Mum actually telling me about him?"
"Cassiopeia." Remus pinched the bridge of his nose. Orion remained quiet, but his green eyes were curious. "I understand your frustration. You want to know more. Maybe, one day, your mum will tell you more about him. But it's not up to me."
Cass threw up her hands and stormed out without another word. She took care to slam the door behind her, making Remus shake his head slowly. He wished there was more he could discuss with her, but Phoenix had been adamant that it was a conversation she wanted to have with Cass when she decided their daughter was old enough.
"Is that what all teenagers are like?" Orion asked, eyes widening with shock. "Is that what I'm going to be like as a teenager?"
"Maybe." Remus let a wry smile cross his lips. "In some ways, you're more like your sister than you think."
Orion tilted his head to the side. "Because we both got sorted into Ravenclaw?"
"No, although I suppose that's a start."
They were only a few weeks into the start of the year that Cass caught Orion crying in the common room on her way back from Quidditch practise. She frowned and crossed over to her little brother, setting down her broom. He wasn't the sort of kid to get stressed out about assignments, especially not so early on in the term.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"It doesn't matter." Orion wiped his eyes with the heels of his hands, clearly embarrassed about having been caught in tears. Cass, however, wasn't about to let it slide so quickly. Her brother was extremely easygoing, and she felt a surge of protectiveness as she slipped an arm around his shoulders.
"Is someone giving you a hard time?" When Orion hesitated and then nodded, Cass nudged him in the side, trying to get him to smile. "Want me to hex them?"
"No." Orion's expression grew fearful. "It's nothing. It doesn't matter."
Cass's hazel eyes narrowed. "Orion Regulus Lupin, you just told me someone's giving you a hard time, and I am not letting that go until I find out who it is."
Orion pressed his face into his hands and muttered something. Scowling, Cass pried his hands away and turned him to face her.
"It's me, Orion. You can trust me."
"It's Professor Snape," Orion muttered, and when his sister remained in stunned silence, he sighed impatiently, "Like I said, it doesn't matter."
"How's he giving you a hard time?" Cass asked. Snape was one of her least favourite professors, and she'd certainly noticed the way he picked on Harry Potter in particular, as well as others like Neville Longbottom. He acted like he had a chip on his shoulder, though about what, she couldn't be sure.
"I don't know how to explain it." Orion shifted uncomfortably. "He's just always mean to me in class. When I can answer stuff, he calls me names and when I can't, he treats me like I'm stupid."
"You are not stupid." Cass gripped her brother's shoulders. "You are one of the smartest kids I know. He's just a prat, okay? Don't worry about him."
As Orion nodded fervently and Cass straightened up and picked up her broom, thoughts were already beginning to circulate in her mind. Snape had been in the same year as Remus at school, and according to conversations she could remember, he'd been picked on by their group of friends. Not typically Remus, but Sirius and James in particular. It was clear he harboured resentment toward Harry for being James's son, so maybe the same could be said for Orion.
Nonetheless, Cass wasn't going to stand for it. She didn't care if Snape was a teacher and she was just a third-year student. She wasn't about to let anyone bully her brother. Not that she'd say as much to Orion, because he'd get distressed if he thought Cass was going to do anything. But Cass knew she had Potions first up the next day, and definitely planned to make her thoughts and opinions known.
Cass had never been one of Snape's favourite students. Probably because she wasn't Slytherin for a start, but she got the feeling he didn't have a very high opinion of her mother, and therefore not of her. She really didn't know what Snape's issue was with comparing kids to their parents, but she was not about to let him bully Orion simply because he had an issue with Remus. This particular Potions lesson, Snape was droning on about a Confusing Concoction, Cass raised her hand.
"Miss Rosier, I don't believe that anything I've said has merited a question."
"Have you ever had a Confusing Concoction, Professor?" she asked.
Michael's eyes widened and he whispered to Lisa, who looked just as startled about Cass's question. Snape's dark eyes narrowed in the blonde girl's direction, as though he was trying to see exactly what she was up to.
"I don't believe I have, not that I think it's any of your concern."
"Oh." Cass's hand, which had still been raised in the air, dropped to her side. "That seems weird to me, then. Because why else would you be picking on first-years? Unless, of course, you have some issue with their dad."
"Miss Rosier, hold your tongue," he snapped, "I believe we've heard more than enough from you for this class."
"So that wasn't because of a Confusing Concoction but instead because you can't punish the father so you're punishing the son?" Cass feigned thought before nodding. "Got it."
"Cass, what the fuck?" Lisa whispered under her breath, eyes wide with horror. Cass wouldn't say she was the quiet type, but neither was she generally this outspoken, so she guessed her friends did have cause for concern.
"Enough. Rosier, with me." Snape strode out of the classroom with his cape flapping about behind him. Cass bit her lip and eased herself to her feet. In the heat of the moment, it had felt like a great decision to call Snape out. Now, with the Hufflepuffs whispering and Lisa and Michael looking horrified, she was less sure. Nonetheless, she traipsed out of the classroom with her head held high.
"Do you enjoy being the centre of attention?" Snape demanded as he closed the door to the classroom behind them, his voice resonating through the corridor. "I suppose you would. Your mother always flitted about like she was the princess of this school."
"So you compare me to my mum, and Orion to his dad?" Cass frowned. "At least try and be somewhat original…"
"Detention, Miss Rosier!" Snape cut her off. "That is enough cheek from you. We will discuss the nature of your punishment after class, but for now you will sit through the rest of it in silence or else I will send you to the headmaster's office, am I clear?"
"Crystal," Cass responded sweetly, marching back over to her friends when Snape opened the door to the classroom.
"What was that?" Michael whispered as she sat back down with him and Lisa. Both of them were regarding her with shocked, almost awestruck, expressions.
"Snape was picking on Orion," Cass whispered, unwilling to get Snape's attention and actually get herself thrown out of class, "Just thought I'd make him know I was aware of it."
"Damn." Lisa nodded slowly, a smirk curving her lips. "Remind me never to piss you off."
Cass's first outing to Hogsmeade was an absolute success. She remembered to get some chocolate for Remus, and some sweets for Orion to cheer him up. It was almost dark by the time she returned to the castle with Michael and Lisa, the three of them bursting with excitement about the day's adventure.
She joined the rest of their group to compare what they'd done throughout the day. However, their euphoria was cut short by the arrival of Padma's twin Parvati, who was in Gryffindor, and who rushed over to her twin and started whispering in her ear. Padma's eyes widened with horror and there was fierce whispering between the twins before Terry interjected.
"Er, is something going on?"
"It's Sirius Black." Padma examined her friends with terror. "He's been inside the castle. He tried to attack the Fat Lady and get into Gryffindor Tower!"
"What?" Cass's eyebrows flew upward. There were rumours going around that Sirius was after Harry Potter, and if this incident was anything to judge by, maybe they'd been right. For a few moments, the group of Ravenclaws whispered amongst themselves, before they were interrupted by the arrival of Roger Davies.
"Alright, come on, everyone." Roger beckoned, and Cass had almost forgotten for a moment that he was the fifth-year male Prefect as well. Merlin, was there anything the boy couldn't do? Cass nudged past her friends to talk to him.
"Roger, what's going on? Are the rumours about Sirius Black true?"
"It seems like they are." Roger's expression was unusually grim, and Cass thought it didn't suit his typically friendly face. "Everyone, you're going to have to change into your pyjamas and head down to the Great Hall. Grab some pillows too, if you want."
"We aren't sleeping in the dormitories?" Anthony asked, brow creasing in confusion.
"Sorry, Goldstein. We're headed down to the Great Hall for bed, that's all I know."
There was a lot of whispering as everyone rushed up to the dormitories to change, Cass's heart thundering in her chest as she did so. This was something she definitely needed to discuss with her. Looping her hair in a loose ponytail and smoothing out her pyjamas, she followed Lisa and Padma back down into the common room, where the Prefects were ushering everyone out of the common room.
"Cass!" It was Orion, charging over to her accompanied by a group of titchy first-years. So the kid had made some friends, at least. "Do you think it's true? That Uncle Sirius…"
"It's just Sirius, Orion," she chastised. "Just pipe down, alright? We'll be okay."
Orion nodded, but she noticed that although he went back to hang out with his friends, he continued to linger within eyesight. Cass bit her lip and glanced at Lisa, who looked just as worried. She slipped her hand in her best friend's, just like they'd done in DADA. Lisa gave hers a reassuring squeeze, and they both exchanged a small smile.
What was Sirius doing in the castle? What did he know about her and Orion? Cass was beginning to think more and more that Phoenix must be batshit to actually believe her brother was innocent. She didn't think innocent people had a habit of raiding castles, storming around and trying to find their godson.
Was he looking for Orion and I? A shiver raced up Cass's spine, and as she settled down on the Great Hall floor alongside her friends, she thought maybe she didn't want to know the answer to that question.