A/N So if you didnt notice, this fic is rated M. This chapter includes probably the only sexual-ish scene in the fic, at least the only one I have planned. It also includes slightly dubious consent, but nothing graphic nor explicit, but if you are sensitive about that, feel free to skip the first section of this chapter. The next section is marked is a lot of xxxs instead of the customary 3, as well as a little extra spacing. Y'all been warned.
The summer before her fourth year Cassiopeia spent predominantly in her bedroom, listening to music and writing Glynn letters. His parents had whisked him away to the continent for the whole summer, but he still managed to send her a letter at least every other day, and her weekly supply of potions.
Over the holidays Cassiopeia worked on lowering her doses overall, no longer having a schedule that required such late nights nor early mornings. She was moderately successful, halving her usual dose with minimal side effects.
She also spent some time with Nymphadora, something that she really never did while at school. It was always hard to find the time at Hogwarts to spend time with the Hufflepuff, between her classes, studying and now Glynn. The girls bonded over music, with Cassiopeia expanding the girl's music taste exponentially, and gossiping about boys and other classmates. It was fun, and so refreshing to just talk about nothing with someone. Glynn was so intense sometimes that it was hard to relax and talk about silly things.
In August Glynn sent her a letter that surprised her. He was coming back from his holiday early, to do his school shopping in London and to celebrate his birthday. He asked if there was any way she could accompany him in Diagon Alley on the special day, preferably without a chaperone. It took a lot of pleading and subtle manipulation to get the Tonks' to agree to let her go to the shopping street alone.
She had written to her Aunt Narcissa asking if she could take her shopping for a catch up in the city, which her aunt had immediately and wholeheartedly agreed to. After showing this letter to the Tonks' as proof of her plans with her aunt, she wrote back to Narcissa lamenting that she was unfortunately busy the day they had set, and asked if she could push it back a week and maybe make it a dinner instead. Narcissa was a little disappointed, but still agreed that a dinner after a shopping trip sounded marvellous as well.
With her plans in place she travelled via floo to the Leaky Cauldron into the waiting arms of her boyfriend. He was grinning ear to ear, hugging her warmly and whispering sweet words into her ear, about how much he missed her, and how happy he was to finally be back with her. Cassiopeia glowed at the praise, returning the sentiment, smiling happy back up at him. She was back where she was supposed to be, in the orbit of this brilliant and amazing boy.
They did all of their school shopping quickly, Glynn telling her all about his holiday with his parents, and gushing how he had a surprise for her, some plans he had made for his birthday. Once finished with school shopping, Cassiopeia whisked him away for lunch at a posh café she had gone to with her aunt once. With the subtle drop of Narcissa's name they were promptly seated. Cassiopeia presented his present to him discreetly, asking him to not open it when they were in public, looking around for any possible eavesdroppers. Glynn grinned wickedly, his eyes sparkling as he winked at her suggestively, casually mentioning how he had the perfect place to open it in mind. Cassiopeia was confused but gave him a small smile nonetheless, the boy was being secretive, he was definitely up to something, but she knew better than to question him. She didn't want to risk his ire on his birthday of all days.
After wandering around aimlessly, the boys plans became immediately clear when he led to the back of a pub into a private sitting room he had booked for them. The room was small, with heavy drapes pulled across the window, blocking any light from coming in. Dozens of candles were lit to make up for the darkness, and a fire was cracking merrily in the hearth. Glynn led her by the hand to a love seat nestled against a wall, taking their assorted shopping bags out of her hands and placing them safely on the ground.
"I thought it would be a nice treat for us to be alone. Truly alone." He said softly, pulling her into the seat next to him. "I booked this place for a few hours, its soundproofed, with a lock, and no one will bother us. We can just sit and relax without worrying about anyone hearing or seeing what we do." He looked at her expectantly, red tingeing his ears and rising up his neck.
Cassiopeia blushed too, as she understood the implications. It wasn't a proper room with a bed, but it wasn't far from it, and she was mildly uncomfortable about the situation, as it was completely foreign territory for her. But she was with Glynn, and she trusted his judgement, and it was his birthday afterall.
"This is wonderful Glynn," she said softly, leaning in to kiss him softly, relishing in the privacy slightly. She was always a little self-conscious when they kissed in very public places; the sitting room was quiet and a perfect place for her to enjoy the activity in.
"Why don't I open you present, I am dying to know what it is," Glynn pulled away, smiling warmly at her. Cassiopeia nodded eagerly, butterflies gathering in her stomach. She wasn't sure whether her nervousness was from the possibilities of the sitting room, or his reaction to his present. She had taken a risk, but one that she was certain would pay off.
She hoped.
Glynn's face was inscrutable as he opened the parcel, staring intently at the cover of the book. She wasn't sure what his reaction would be, but the lack of reaction caused her butterflies to morph into full nausea. He didn't like it; she was so stupid, how could he like it?
"Is this what I think it is?" he looked up at her, his face deadly serious, an expression in his eyes that she couldn't quite decipher. Her mouth felt dry. Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, she berated herself.
"Uh, yes. I saw it, and just thought, since you said you had an interest." She starting rambling, trying to justify herself, trying to stem off what could possibly become a large fight.
"Where did you even find a book like this?" his voice was soft as he stroked the cover, "I understand now why you didn't want me to open it in public. Merlin, this might not even be legal. It's definitely frowned upon." Cassiopeia's mouth was dry, and she felt cold. The book was very probably highly illegal.
"I'm sorry Glynn, I can take it bac—"
"No." he was sharp, interrupting her while gently placing the book aside, stoking it once more.
"I, bloody hell Cassiopeia." He ran his hands through his hair, a familiar heat rising in his eyes as he looked at her, "I can never repay you for this. A practical guide and understanding of the imperius curse is something I've always wanted, but I was always afraid of. I didn't even know where to find a book like this, and you go an give it to me for my birthday." He moved closer to her, his eyes burning and his posture squared and powerful.
"Yes, well I thought for academic reasons—" she trailed off, entranced by the change to the boy.
"Yes—academic." And suddenly his lips were on her, hot and demanding, his hands plunging into her hair and wrapping around her waist, pulling her astride him on the love seat.
Cassiopeia's head swam as she adjusted to her new position, sitting atop her boyfriend, a leg on either side of his. His kiss was needy, powerful, and controlling, one hand tugging firmly on her hair with enough force to cause tiny fissures of pain across her scalp, and the other hand straying from the respectful placement on her waste a little lower to a new position that was definitely not respectful.
She didn't know what to do, she didn't want him to stop, her whole body feeling warm as she enjoyed his embrace, losing herself in his lips, pulling and biting at hers. She jerked slightly when she felt his cool hand on her lower back, having slipped it under her robe and under her shirt hem. She pulled back slightly, looking him quizzically in the eye.
His eyes were burning with heat and desire, his face and body flushed red. He raised his hips slightly, and Cassiopeia was shocked to feel something hard and insistent, down there press against her through the fabric. She blushed, completely taken aback and uncertain about what to do. She had never been in this situation, had never had a relationship, and certainly not one like this.
"I—Glynn," she started, uncertain what to say, "I've never…I'm not" she couldn't finish a single sentence; she could barely finish a thought.
"Its alright Cassiopeia," Glynn said softly, gently wrapping his hand around her cheek and kissing her softly, his smile was so warm, so pleasant. "This is normal for a relationship. Normal for us, and I've waited so long for this, please." Desperation flitted across his face for a second as his eyes quickly darted down to appreciate the view their position afforded him.
"I—Glynn, I'm not sure I'm ready for...that." she finally managed to choke out uncertainly. He gave her a warm smile, his hand rubbing small circles on her back.
"We won't go all the way, but I did want to take this opportunity for us to, well, explore let's say. I promise I wont do anything you don't want to do, and it is my birthday afterall. You wouldn't want to make me upset on my birthday would you?"
She bit her lip, thinking through his words. "I promise I will stop when you say you want to, but please Cassiopeia, I am not sure I can wait much longer. You do trust me don't you?" Hunger now flashed across his eyes. Cassiopeia hesitated for just a moment longer, she did trust him. With a cautious nod, she finally relented.
"I don't know what I'm doing." She felt as if her face was on fire she was so embarrassed by the situation.
Glynn chuckled lightly, his hands rubbing circles on her waist, nibbling at her neck and ear in her favourite places. "Don't worry Cass, just follow my lead." He murmured against her skin before attacking it with gusto.
Glynn flipped their positions so she was lying against the love seat, with him taking dominance over the top of her. One hand remained near wrapped around her chin, moving her head in whatever position he so like and the other tickled her bare stomach, slowly making its way up and under the front of her blouse.
"Just focus on me Cassiopeia, on what you are feeling. Let me know if it becomes too much," his voice was deep, husky as he struggled to control himself.
Cassiopeia was breathless as she tried to relax, focussing on what he was doing, the sensations he was causing her. She followed his directions, letting him take the lead and guide her through the process. He grabbed her hand, placing it where ever he desired it, gently murmuring how she should move, what pressure to apply. Her hands fumbled awkwardly, rubbing and pulling his growing sex, feeling an unfamiliar warmth pulse through her body as he lavished her chest, pulling and pinching and kissing.
By the end of it Cassiopeia was both topless and panting, full of pent up energy and yet yearning for something, her skin tingling and lightly sweaty. Glynn had pulled himself off of her at the last minute with a cry and laid half undone on the love seat, his face flushed red and glowing, gazing at her through half lidded eyes. His hand was resting on her stomach, lazily tracing designs on it, and he was smiling at her gently.
With a happy sigh he slowly laid out again on the couch, wrapping his arms around her middle and resting his face against her bare chest, and hummed in contentment.
"Cassiopeia Tonks," he started, gently kissing her again as his hand strayed back to her breasts, on full display much to her embarrassment, "You are the most amazing girl I've ever met. I think—I think I am in love with you."
Cassiopeia stilled in his arms, her breath catching. Did he—she paused, trying to process what he said. Glynn Gambol loved her. Her, he loved her, for all of her strangeness he still loved her. After everything he knew about her so far, her tendency for violence, her darker interests, her lack of social skills, Glynn Gambol still loved her. She glowed with happiness, nobody had ever said they loved her before, nobody that wasn't obligated to say such a thing at least, and yet the most amazing boy she had ever met, clever, powerful, and kind hearted Glynn Gambol loved her.
"I—" she wasn't sure what to say, and he looked up at her expectantly, a smile on his face. "I love you too." She responded, captivated by his crystal clear blue eyes. She loved his eyes, they had been one of the first things she had ever noticed about him, and she loved the emotion she saw in them now. Glynn Gambol was in love with her and she couldn't have been happier
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School started and Cassiopeia got back into the rhythm of balancing her coursework with her own personal research projects. It was one day, a little before Halloween when herself and Glynn were mostly studying, with occasional canoodling breaks, one their own projects in an empty corridor when Glynn surprised her once more.
Since Cassiopeia had confided in her boyfriend about her interest in curses, she had been more open with working on her research project in his company, just as he had been more comfortable reading books about certain types of dark magic around her.
Glynn was zoned out, thinking through something intently, gazing at her as he thought. Cassiopeia was used to this behaviour, Glynn often lived in his own head when he was studying something complicated or that really interested him, and she paid no mind to him.
"Cass?"
She paused, her finger marking her place in her book as she looked at the boy.
"Have you ever thought about making cursed objects?" his voice was quiet, his eyes darting around the abandoned corridor, wary of eavesdroppers.
"What?" she asked, completely taken aback.
"Well, hear me out. You say you want to study curses so you can understand how they are made, so you can unravel them. What better way to understand something than to actually create one, or maybe a few? And then break those curses. Some practical experience I think would greatly expand your understanding of such things."
Cassiopeia thought over his argument, weighing the pros and cons. Obviously creating curses were dangerous, and the logical result would be a cursed object that could seriously injure someone. But if she were careful, she would learn a lot more about the spell structures and diagrams, and if she started small, something not very dangerous, it would be educational.
"I never thought about trying honestly. It seems dangerous, and if anyone found out here…." She trailed off, swallowing reflexively as she thought about the punishment she would surely face. They would expel her definitely, but given her heritage, she wouldn't be surprised if they tried to lock her up, or take her wand and throw her back in the muggle world, at the very least. It was risky.
"I will help you of course. I mean, I don't want you getting hurt. But I think this might be the best course of action. I feel like you've hit a wall in your research, and that books can only get you so far. I know I feel like that sometimes. Some magical things need to be experienced to understand." He continued.
Cassiopeia nodded slowly, coming around to the idea. The risks were great, but so was the pay off. "I think ill start small, something relatively harmless…" her mind was racing, going through her mental catalogue of curses, trying to find the right one to start with.
A ring of hunger, she decided. Essentially it was a cursed item that fed slightly off the user, making them eat twice as much as they normally would to feel full. It was a simple curse, one that could easily be manipulated to be deadly, but could just as easily be manipulated to be a minor nuisance. Her mind raced as she began thinking through the components of such a curse, and she quickly pulled out a notebook to begin sketching the diagram of the spell.
Glynn was right as ever, forcing herself to even go through the motions of diagramming a curse was hugely educational as it highlighted many aspects that she realised she didn't understand about the process.
Xxx
Glynn, Cassiopeia realised, was not as popular as she once thought he was. It seemed he had managed to anger a great deal of students in the other houses, mainly due to his antics on the quidditch field, where his tactics were at times, questionably violent.
It was the heat of the game that brought on his ruthlessness in the sport, where his tackles were perhaps a bit too heavy handed, like when he accidentally tackled the Gryffindor seeker, knocking him out of the game and landing him in the hospital wing for nearly a week after suffering a fall. But honestly, Cassiopeia wondered why they were all playing the game if they couldn't handle if it got a bit rough some times. Glynn was just competitive, that was all.
Nevertheless Cassiopeia found herself stepping in more than a few times to break up or to finish a fight. Glynn was many things, but an excellent fighter was not one of them. Luckily for him, Cassiopeia was very well versed in fighting; it was something she had been doing for a large portion of her life. Not that Cassiopeia enjoyed the fighting, but she did not want anything bad to happen to her boyfriend, and she would be lying if she said she didn't appreciate the attention he gave her after every conflict. He always seemed different, heated.
She couldn't quite put her finger on what exactly was different, but it was reminiscent to the day he asked her to be his girlfriend. After one such small confrontation, Glynn dragged her into an empty corridor and practically attacked her, pushing her against the wall, pressing himself against her, kissing her roughly, furiously. She was left breathless and light headed after the incident, panting roughly as he ravished her, all the while murmuring how much he loved her, and how happy he was that she was in his life.
She had confided in him that she had been afraid of what he would think of her, when he first saw her jinx someone. She worried that he would be horrified. She didn't like fighting, not really.
She didn't like the rush of power that flooded her after she won, the adrenaline that pumped through her system. It was a thrill, duelling with others, and it wasn't that the other students weren't sufficient duellists, quite the opposite, more than a few students had given her a solid challenge, and a few fights had been uncomfortably close. But she had one thing that none of the others had, an advantage. She had been taught by Bellatrix Lestrange herself how to fight, a woman who was taught by the Dark Lord. Hurting people was in her blood, woven into her very DNA, the Hogwarts student body never stood a chance against her.
Of course she didn't tell Glynn just how she had become such an accomplished duellist, but she did tell him it was an aspect of her personality, a particular skill that she would prefer not to use. She didn't want to hone it further; she would rather keep her head down, become invisible, and finish out her school career.
Glynn had hugged her to him firmly, whispering words of encouragement and absolution in her ear.
"Don't ever be ashamed of who you are Cassiopeia. We all have our talents, and yours just so happens to be in the marital side of magic. Others would use that talent to hurt people, or control others. You are using yours to protect the ones that you love. How can that be a bad thing?"
He was right of course. Glynn was always right. She wasn't fighting for the joy of it, for the thrill, though she did often feel slightly high after a good duel. She was doing it to protect the boy she loved. And wasn't love the most important thing in the world?
Of course the more than occasional fights landed Cassiopeia in plenty of detention, and unfortunately for her, it was often Professor Snape who caught her post duel. She wasn't sure whether the man was actively following her, or if she was just plain unlucky.
Cassiopeia would always take full responsibility of course, since technically it was her breaking the rules, Glynn was a prefect and on the quidditch team. He couldn't be implicated in such trouble making like she could. Cassiopeia knew she was definitely not on the short list for prefect next year, and had very little to lose.
Professor Snape would scowl at her, unconvinced that she just so happened to be involved in fights that seemed to stem from students with an open disagreement with her boyfriend. She would shrug and suggest that it was certainly a queer coincidence, but that she instigated everything. So spent most evenings with her dour head of house, scrubbing cauldrons, disembowelling animals for potions ingredients, and enduring more than a few surprisingly cutting scolding's from the man.
It always followed the same gist, his lectures; it was almost formulaic at this point. He would call her some variation of the word fool, or idiot if he was particularly angry. He would try to get a rise out of her by bringing up how useless her boyfriend must be if he was getting her to fight his battles. She would shrug, murmuring some poor excuse, he would then go on to tell her how this was negatively impacting her future, to which she would roll her eyes, knowing full well her marks were good enough to pass. Some days he would even go on to tell her she was blind, and that one day she would look back on these years with regret about how weak she was, following orders, before making a snide remark about how he really shouldn't be so surprised, that her parents also could do nothing more than blindly follow orders from others. She didn't understand his last remarks, but they stung nonetheless.
She would always twitch at the mention of her parents, but aside from that, she refused to give Snape the satisfaction of a reaction. What did he know anyway? He didn't know her life and he had some ridiculous animosity against Glynn.
She knew he didn't like Glynn, the boy had told her as much, mentioning how since they had started dating that Snape had been particularly vicious towards him, singling him out most classes, and docking house points at every opportunity. It was unfair, and Glynn posited it was because Snape did not look kindly at her attempt to foster inter house unity by dating someone outside of Slytherin.
Whatever his problem was, she was in love, and love would always win in the end. That was, afterall, what Dumbledore himself was always saying.
Winter passed and spring was upon Hogwarts. Cassiopeia had successfully created a few minor cursed items with the help of Glynn and she kept them safely stored in a box at the bottom of her trunk. Glynn was right as ever, it was a highly educational activity, she had realised there were still many large gaps in her knowledge, and was slowly filling in the things she didn't know. She wasn't far off from beginning to break said cursed items, her mind already starting to find weaknesses in the spells, slowly unpicking each one that she had created.
It was just after the Easter Holiday, when Glynn's arguments came to a head during the build-up to the exams. Cassiopeia was on her way to meet her boyfriend out on the school grounds where they were going to take a mental health break from studying and just relax in the almost warm sunshine by the lake, when she saw the small group of students gathered around two students, who were squaring off against each other.
With a jolt she recognised the two figures, it was Glynn and Charlie Weasley. She knew Charlie was in the same year as Glynn, but she didn't know that the two spoke to each other, let alone have enough animosity to fuel the scene that was unfolding in front of her. Glynn had never mentioned Charlie, and a dark thought had crossed her mind. Glynn may have never mentioned Charlie, but she had mentioned the boy in passing to her boyfriend, remarking how her and Charlie had known each other for years, in fact he was one of her oldest acquaintances, and that they had been quite close as children. It was a throwaway comment, something she said and almost immediately forgot. Maybe he didn't forget it.
"Cassiopeia!" Glynn called, throwing his arm out, beckoning her to his side, never breaking eye contact with the ginger boy in front of him. She reluctantly answered his call, taking her place at his side, looking between the two of them uncertainly.
She wrapped her arm around her boyfriend, embracing him from the side and kissing him gently on the cheek, "Glynn, what's going on?" she whispered in his ear.
"Weasley here is being impertinent and seems to be itching for a duel I'd say. Maybe we should indulge him." He murmured back, wrapping his arm securing around her waist, pulling her tight against him, his hand lingering a little lower than she was strictly comfortable with in public.
Cassiopeia swallowed, looking at the Weasley boy carefully. His face was pale in rage, his eyes narrowed and his ear were flaming bright red to match his hair. Whatever had happened between the two boys, it seemed to have really affected Charlie. She had never seen him so angry before.
"Get out of here Cass, this doesn't concern you. This is between your prat of a boyfriend and me." Charlie growled, tightening his grip on his wand.
A flash of irritation lanced through her body, how dare he use her nickname, like he was familiar with her? They had barely spoken in years, and the first thing he says to her is an insult to her boyfriend.
"Calm down Charlie, and put your wand away before you get hurt." She raised the hand not wrapped around Glynn up in a placating gesture. "Whatever it is, I am sure we can move past it."
"Tell that to the git standing next to you. He started this whole thing." Charlie growled, now pointing his wand directly at Glynn.
Cassiopeia dropped her placating gesture, her eyes honing in on Charlie's eyes, carefully looking for any warning of attack. Her hand snaked into her pocket, clutching her own wand.
"Or is he going to hide behind you again, like he always does. Such a man Gambol that you have to hide behind a girl." The crowd gathering around the growing confrontation snickered at this. It had become a little bit of a running joke at the school, Glynn rarely ever fought his battles, he had his girlfriend for that. Cassiopeia twitched at the sound, her eyes narrowing further.
"If you're not careful Weasley, this girl will beat you into next week without breaking a sweat. You should know what I am capable of better than most." Her voice was quiet, calm, and very serious.
The smile fell off Charlie's face and the red flush spread to his neck, peeking over the top of his robes. "Leave it be Cass I don't want to fight you, but I will if you take his side. You didn't hear what he said, he messed with my family."
Cassiopeia jerked her head slightly, glancing sideways at her boyfriend who refused to make eye contact with her. Glynn didn't know how she felt about the Weasley family. She had never spoken to him about it, but she was certain that Glynn had never met the Weasleys. What had he said?
"You're either with me or against me Cassiopeia." Glynn hissed quietly to her, his fingers digging into her hip.
Cassiopeia looked back at Charlie, a grim resolve set on her face. Glynn was right of course, he always was. She was always going to protect him, for so long as he was her boyfriend. It was what was expected of her in their relationship. She was with him, and he was against Charlie, which meant she was against Charlie.
Charlie may have been there for her when she needed him most when she a child. But she was no longer a child, and he had ignored her in favour of his own friends. He did not hold her loyalty. She wasn't going to start this fight, but she was going to end it if need be.
"What's the matter Weasley, cant bear to hear the truth about that pathetic brood you call a family?" Glynn taunted, Cassiopeia's eye twitched slightly as she heard the words leave her boyfriends mouth. His voice was cold and mocking, his grin cruel. She was going to have to have a talk with him when this was all over.
It was just enough to push Charlie over the edge; with an angry yell he launched a red jet of light at the boy, with a few more spells in succession.
Charlie was angry and unskilled at duelling; he was always more of a pacifist, preferring diplomacy to violence. Because of this, his movements were exaggerated and slow, it gave Cassiopeia more than enough time to read what he was going to do and respond.
She pushed Glynn out of the way, stepping in front of him and meeting Charlie's spells head on. Though sloppily cast, they were quite strong from his obvious anger and indignation, Cassiopeia re-directed the first two, and blocked his third spell. She returned fire, throwing two spells in quick succession. Charlie managed to block the first one, but he had no time to block the second spell. She saw it in his eyes, the exact moment when he realised he was in trouble. She saw the resignation turn to shock when the spell never hit.
It had been blocked. Blocked by a livid Hufflepuff fifth year, a fifth year who just so happened to be her sister.
"How. Dare. You." Nymphadora hissed, her hair a brilliant shade of red, a contrast to her face that was pale with anger.
"Dora?!" Cassiopeia said, reeling back slightly in shock, "How did you-?" she hadn't seen her coming. She hadn't realised the girl was so bloody fast.
"Who do you think you are?" Dora hissed, ignoring that Cassiopeia had ever said anything. "You choose that arsehole of a boyfriend over the Weasley's? After everything you've been through together?" Dora's voice was shaking, she was so angry.
Cassiopeia's eyes narrowed, her eyes flashing in irritation. What did she know, who did she think she was?
"With all due respect Dora, you don't know anything about that. Or me." Her voice was soft, warning and she tightened her grip on her wand.
Nymphadora laughed bitterly, "I know enough. I know that you are a selfish, narcissistic parasite who is so desperate for validation and acceptance that she'll turn against any and everyone who had ever tried to help her. Including the boy who she once claimed saved her life. Everyone thinks you are different from her, but they're wrong, you're exactly like her. Like them."
Cassiopeia's lip curled and she glared at the crowd around them, hissing in distaste as she heard the whispers already starting. "Dora, this is neither the time nor the place for this conversation." She growled, panic starting to build in her chest. Dora was so close to saying something she could never take back.
"Nymphadora, this is between your myself, Weasley, and your sister—" Glynn didn't get to finish his sentence though; Nymphadora interrupted him with a cold, condescending laugh.
"Sister?! This witch isn't my sister. She's some stray my parents picked up when she was 11 because they felt sorry for her and wanted to help. They gave her everything, a house, food, clothing, unconditional love—"
"Dora," Cassiopeia hissed, taking a few steps forward, her panic turning into a desperate cold rage. "Dora, shut the bloody hell up, or ill make you." She never wanted to hurt the girl as much as she wanted to then and there. The whispers in the crowd grew louder as Dora continued on, undeterred.
"My name is Tonks!" she cried, cutting off Cassiopeia, "Tonks! Something you are not. You took my dad's name, something he gave to you to help you fit in, to help you assimilate into wizarding society without stigma and you repay him by trodding all over it. You are a blood supremacist apologist, you willingly spend time with people who shit over the muggle name you gratefully took all those years ago. You shed your only friends, because somebody better came along despite years of friendship, and now you turn on the family that took you in when nobody else would. Who risked their lives to help you. You attack the one person who first tried to help you, for what? A boyfriend with a broomstick up his arse and a superiority complex? He is using you Cassiopeia, its plain as day to see, even you must know, deep down." Dora was panting now, years of pent up frustration finally coming out.
"Dora." Her voice was cold, "You don't know the first bloody thing about me. You don't know what it was like for me." Her voice was barely above a whisper; she had taken a few steps closer to her adopted sister, her anger barely contained under the surface.
"Oh boo hoo!" Dora shouted, rubbing her eyes in a cruel pantomime of crying, "Woe is me! Poor baby Cassiopeia! My life was soooo hard. Get over yourself!" Her mouth curled into a snarl, "Guess what? We all went through a bloody war. It wasn't just you. I spent my whole early childhood on the run, moving from place to place, always looking over my shoulder because people wanted to kill my whole family simply because we existed. Charlie here doesn't have any aunts or uncles because they were murdered; you have classmates who are orphaned because of the war. There are actual victims of the war probably in this crowd. But you, you are the most despicable type of person. Because you weren't a victim were you? No, the greatest loss you suffered was that your side lost."
Cassiopeia was only a few steps away from Nymphadora now, her blood rushing in ears, dulling everything except the words coming from the older girl. She ground her teeth, her fists clenching and unclenching unconsciously; she was cold, beyond even anger. Her face was twisted into a hideous snarl, a look that frightened most of those close enough to see it, though Nymphadora was so wound up that if she noticed the look, she paid it no mind.
"What is she talking about Cassiopeia?" She distantly heard Glynn ask the question softly, confusion filling his voice. He hated being confused and he would be angry at her later, but she was beyond caring what Glynn felt. She was beyond caring anything that wasn't shutting the girl up.
"What?! You haven't figured it out yet? A bit dull for a Ravenclaw aren't you?" Nymphadora was nearly hysterical now that she had started unleashing her anger. Cassiopeia coldly wondered how long she had bottled all of these emotions up. How long had she thought all of these things? How long had she hated her? Were there signs that she missed?
Cassiopeia briefly thought over every snide comment, every huff and puff the girl made, every time she stormed off and wondered why she never noticed the animosity before. She had been complacent, blind, and weak. And she was paying for it now.
"She's been lying since the very first day she set foot on the Hogwarts Express. She isn't a Tonks at all, but a Lestr—AARGH!" Nymphadora cried, clutching her nose, doubled over in pain as blood flowed freely through her fingers. Cassiopeia flexed her fingers carefully, barely wincing as pain lanced through her knuckles and up her forearm.
"Merlinth's hairy bollockths! I thenk you broke mah nothe!" Dora doubled over, groaning in pain.
Cassiopeia stood over the girl, examining her dispassionately. Her knuckles were throbbing, and she weighed the pros and cons of kicking the girl while she was down or waiting for her to stand up again so she could throw another punch.
But she had been too late in shutting up the stupid girl. She could already hear it, the whispers around her, shock and horror colouring the voices of her classmates. Lestrange. They shared with each other, Bellatrix Lestrange, Rodolphus Lestrange. Death Eaters. When had the crowd grown so large? Over two dozen students stood witness to Nymphadora's rage.
Charlie ran to Nymphadora side, fussing over her, trying to help, all while finding the time to throw a death glare at Cassiopeia. His eyes were shocked, filled with anger not at the revelation that was currently rocking her classmates, Charlie knew who she was. He was angry that she had attacked her own sister; he looked at her like he didn't know her. Charlie Weasley looked at her with disgust and disdain.
She revelled in the look, finding a sick sort of joy in his disgust. There was no more hiding, no more pretending for her. Now everyone knew just what type of person she was. Charlie Weasley was no longer deluded into thinking that she was a good person, because she most certainly was not. She could finally relax, drop the multiple faces she wore, she could be the person that everyone hated.
She briefly considered punching him too, for good measure. But potential attacks were put on immediate hold when the whispering around her grew suddenly very silent.
"Just what—Heavens! Miss Tonks, Mr Weasley what happened?"
It was Professor McGonagall, her face pale and her lips pressed into a thin line as she took in the scene in front of her. A heavy hand clamped onto her shoulder, squeezing almost painfully.
Brilliant. Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape. Just bloody peachy.
Snape didn't say anything; he didn't need to. His look told her all she needed to know. She was in serious trouble.
McGonagall was already handling the situation, dispersing the crowd and ordering Charlie to escort a still moaning Nymphadora to the hospital wing. She gathered a few loose details from the spectators before shooing them away. She sent a few stragglers to inform the other heads of the house about the confrontation, this was a confrontation that included every house, a situation that required all of their immediate attention.
"And perhaps inform the headmaster as well." Came Snape's silky drawl, his cold eyes never leaving his student.
Cassiopeia was still cold, numb to everything. She looked at everything through a lens of calculation, and if she was correct, she was royally screwed.
As Snape marched her away, she could hear the whispers already travelling about the school. She was never Cassiopeia Tonks. She was Cassiopeia Lestrange.
Xxx
Another A/N Sorry about the time it's taken to update this! Thank you for the good reviews, shoutout to brnicholas for his nice words, and to a few new followers! There is one more Glynn chapter after this, before we move onto new things. This fight with Dora was something ive been planning for ages, literally since chapter 1, and am so happy to finalllllly get to it! They've got a long way to repair their relationship, if they ever do. It's nice to have another character point out all the downright shitty things Cassiopeia is doing, and to get another point of view that is not as biased as our MCs, as well as drop a few more plot points I have also developed ages ago but had to wait for. The story is finally at an interesting point, and we'll be slowing down a little through the next few years since Cassiopeia is finally a teenager. Hope you're all still enjoying, reviews as ever are great, for the like dozen people who are still with us at this point! :)
cheers,
Tibys