Disclaimer: All rights go to JK Rowling. Anything you don't recognize is mine.
Updated as of 7/24/2019.
Chapter Nineteen
The Family
Cassie wrestled her way through the pack of students crowding the rickety train platform, her breath spilling into the air in little puffs of smoke as she sidestepped a third-year scouting for someone to practice his Tickling Hex on. She probably ought to have stopped him, but there was a reason Lily was the Prefect and not her, so she continued on, scanning the faces around her until she spotted who she was looking for.
"Thank Merlin," she breathed, nearly collapsing into Alice's arms as she joined the small huddle of girls near the edge of the platform. "This place is a madhouse; I thought I had lost you forever!"
"Where'd you go, anyway?" Alice asked, steadying her after she had barreled into their group.
She held up the bag of owl treats in her mitten-clad hand. "Almost forgot these for Osbourne."
Alice rolled her eyes. "I reckon your owl could've lived without treats for a couple of weeks, Cass," she said. "And isn't Ozzy going home with you?"
Cassie shot her a disgruntled look. "Yes, but I didn't want to leave his treats behind. He loves these things." She shook the bag in Alice's face. "And believe me when I tell you that these are a lot better to give him rather than waking up and finding dead mice in your room."
Alice made a face, pushing her hand away. "Don't worry, I believe you."
Satisfied, Cassie bent down and stuffed the treats into her rucksack where she had left it before sprinting back to the castle, standing up and shouldering it just as the scarlet Hogwarts Express trundled into Hogsmeade Station.
The students who were taking the train back home for the holidays whooped and cheered when the steam engine groaned to a stop at the platform. Cassie traded looks with Lily, Alice, and Marlene, neither one of them understanding what the students were cheering for. She didn't quite understand it, either, but if they were excited about getting out of the cold, then she would gladly scream along with the rest of them.
They followed the stampede of bodies onto the train, quickly finding a compartment and settling in so they wouldn't be trampled by anyone else. Lily slid the door closed behind her, plopping into the seat next to Cassie and removing her muffler, her fiery hair falling down her shoulders as she reached into her bag and pulled out a book. Cassie propped her back on the window to sleep while Alice and Marlene skimmed through Madam Malkin's winter catalogue, though the blonde witch kept casting irritable looks to the door as if she were expecting someone.
"Cassie, did you happen to see Sirius on your way back from the castle?" Marlene asked her, confirming the girl's suspicions as she cracked open an eye, ignoring the jab of annoyance that went through her at the question.
"Yeah, I saw him fondling the giant squid good-bye," she said, which only earned her a snicker from Alice and two looks of disapproval from Lily and Marlene.
Marlene let out a hmph of irritation. "He said we would ride together back to London."
Alice caught Cassie's eye and made a motion with her hips like one would do when riding a horse, and she couldn't hide her laughter, snorting into her coat sleeve and disguising it as a cough as Marlene got up, fortunately not seeming to have noticed them.
"I'm going to go find him," she announced before flouncing out of the compartment and allowing Cassie and Alice to crack up in full. Lily just rolled her eyes at them.
"You two are juvenile," she said, though she sounded amused all the same as she went back to her book.
Most of the commotion outside had quieted, and the train jostled before starting up again, heading out of the station and gaining speed as they left the grounds of Hogwarts and the village behind. Cassie had only managed to doze for several minutes until a loud bang made her jerk awake, sitting up in her seat as Alice yelped and Lily dropped her book.
"Stupid door," Alice muttered, standing up and sliding the door to their compartment closed, which had apparently opened somehow and had been the source of the noise.
Blowing out her cheeks in a heavy sigh, Cassie settled back against the cool glass of the window when her eye caught something black that flitted right past Alice's foot as the other girl sat down again. She looked to Lily, wondering if the redhaired witch had seen it, too, but she was too busy reaching down to pick up her fallen book to have noticed much else.
As she watched, Lily's book skidded across the floor of the compartment like someone had given it a nice kick. She jumped back in her seat, startled, her green eyes wide as she looked to the shocked Alice and Cassie.
"You both saw that, too, right?" she asked, and they nodded, Alice casting a nervous look around them.
"Is there a haunted compartment or something that I don't know about?" she said, and Cassie started when she thought she heard the faintest chuckle from right next to her.
A wand seemed to light within her brain, and she rolled her eyes, saying, "Yeah, didn't you know? This compartment is haunted by a particularly idiotic and immature ghost that can't seem to learn the definition of 'stalking.'"
Alice and Lily both stared at her as if she had just admitted to having an affair with said ghost.
"Erm, is that really true?" Alice asked quietly.
"No, Al, it's not," she said, getting to her feet. "I'm going to step out and see how long until the trolley rolls around."
She exited the compartment, leaving the door pointedly open for a few moments behind her before shutting it. She turned around just in time to see James tugging his Invisibility Cloak off, grinning brightly, though fortunately out of view of the other girls.
"I'm a bit disappointed you caught on so quickly," he said, folding the cloak over his arm and reaching up to rub his already mussed hair. "I was planning on having a bit more fun with Evans."
"Did you need me for something, James?" she asked, disregarding his earlier statements. "I was really looking forward to that nap."
"Well, there'll be plenty of time for that in our compartment," he said, grabbing her wrist and dragging her down the corridor. She attempted to dig her heels into the floor, but he was stronger than he looked, and she eventually gave up when his grip did not relent.
"Why do I have to sit with you lot?" she whined. "You have Mar, and I was perfectly fine where I was at, thank you very much."
"McKinnon's not sitting with us," he replied cheerfully, turning back and winking at her. "We paid off her brother and his mates to keep her occupied for the time being."
Cassie rolled her eyes, knowing full well that Mikey and his goofy friends would do anything the Marauders asked them to, starry-eyed fans they were. But she was relieved that she wouldn't have to put up with Marlene and Sirius, though she felt immediately guilty for thinking that.
"Why does it seem like Sirius tries to avoid her all the time now?" she asked, dodging a couple of Ravenclaws coming the opposite way down the corridor and ignoring their incredulous stares when they saw her walking nearly hand-in-hand with James Potter. "He's being very insensitive about it all, considering they're dating and everything."
"He's a hard man to love, Princess," he said cheekily, and she looked to the ceiling helplessly at this answer. "He loves attention, but McKinnon dotes on him too much. It's driving all of us mad."
She frowned at the back of his head, noticing a tuft of hair that stuck out so prominently she had the sudden urge to lick her hand and smooth it down, though she refrained. "That doesn't mean you have to be pricks about it."
"I've seen the way you stare at them at dinner, Cassie," he said. "Don't act like they don't gross you out, either."
She made a face at him, knowing he had a point there. "Still. You should be more supportive of the people Sirius chooses to spend his time with."
"I am, Princess. That's why you're coming to sit with us," he replied, and though the response was heartening to hear, she still couldn't help thinking about why Sirius didn't want to be around Marlene.
They came to a stop at a compartment near the back of the train. James slid the door open and Cassie followed him in as the other three Marauders looked up at the sound of their entrance.
"Welcome back, Prongs," Sirius said grandly, spreading his arms wide in a welcoming gesture as he abandoned his game of Snap with Peter, who was discreetly blowing on the smoking cards in Sirius's hand in the hopes of igniting one of them to explode. "And it seems you brought the lovely Miss Alderfair, as well. Smashing to see you, dear."
He winked at her as she shut the door behind her, but she only gave him a dry look in return as she took the seat next to James, propping her feet up on his lap. He flicked her calf, but otherwise made no attempt to push her off, so she settled more comfortably into the seat, still thinking about that nap.
"Come to lick any more feet?" Remus asked mischievously from across her.
"No, thanks, Sirius scarred me enough," she retorted with a grimace. "How's the flu?"
Remus winced at her question, rubbing the back of his neck and saying, "Better. Madam Pomfrey gave me some stuff that's been helping me get over it."
"Must've been a bad one," she said sympathetically, taking in his haggard appearance and tired green eyes. "Usually a dose of Pepper-Up has me back in shape in no time."
"Er, well, I think with all the stress added because of the exams it was worse," he mumbled, looking out the window as he said it and staring at the snow-laden trees whipping by. She noticed that the compartment had become quite still after her and Remus's conversation before Peter coughed awkwardly.
"Up for a game, Cass?" he asked, waving the deck of cards at her, and she readily accepted, having gotten a hang of the game and determined to at least beat him once.
The rest of the time passed quickly, the compartment full of laughter and jokes, but Cassie couldn't help the jitters in her stomach as the day wore on, her mind turning to the unbidden fact that she would have to see her parents in only a few hours' time.
"Godric, Cassie, pay attention!" Sirius cried, batting the cards out of her hand that had just gone up in flames. The cards flew toward the door, exploding in a shower of sparks, but Remus put them out quickly with his wand before they caught the whole compartment on fire.
"The point of the game is to not do that," Peter pointed out slyly.
She rubbed at her singed fingertips, frowning. "Sorry, I got distracted."
Peter shrugged, reshuffling the deck while she got to her feet and stretched. She turned to the door and made to step out before Sirius's voice held her back.
"Oi, where are you off to?" he demanded. She waved a hand airily, though her stomach jolted when the conductor's voice announced that they would be arriving at King's Cross in five minutes.
"Just getting some air," she mumbled before slipping out and heading for the compartment she had been sharing with Alice and Lily earlier.
She had barely gone ten steps before the door slid open behind her and Sirius's voice barked, "Oi, Cass, wait up!"
She didn't stop, but slowed her pace some so Sirius could catch up with her, that weird jolt going through her stomach again. She had considered yesterday's Hogsmeade trip to be quite a success in getting him to take her seriously, yet she now found it quite hard to make eye contact with him, though she was certain it had nothing to do with having licked his foot.
"What's up with you today, Princess?" he said, flicking a piece of hair back from her face and causing her to bat his hand away. "You look like you're about to face the gallows or something."
She heaved a deep sigh, not even knowing where to begin sifting through all the anxieties weighing on her chest.
"I'm just…not quite ready to go back home," she said, choosing the least incriminating statement, but Sirius just cocked his head, his grey eyes searching her face.
"I see," he said, and she got the feeling that he wasn't lying about that. "I'm not too terribly thrilled to be going back to my wretched family, either."
"They're not…wretched," she said, frowning. "They're just a bit complicated."
Sirius snorted. "All Pure-bloods are awful to some degree," he said. "'cept James and his family; and my cousin Andromeda isn't too bad."
Cassie looked to him curiously. "You mean Andromeda Black?" Sirius nodded, confirming her redundant question, but she remembered Andromeda Black being a big target for gossip during school a few years ago. Even her mother had mentioned something about her once or twice. "She ran off and got married to a Muggle-born, didn't she?"
"That's the one," Sirius said, picking at his fingernails. "You'd think she'd died from the way my mother talks about her. Even blasted her off right off the family tapestry." He chuckled bitterly. "She always likes to threaten me and say I'll be the next one to go, but Merlin knows I'm the one waiting for when that day comes more than her."
Cassie fidgeted with the ends of her coat sleeves, not quite knowing how to reply to that. Despite the rocky relationship she had with her father, she didn't think he would ever go so far as to disown her as Sirius's mother would. Sirius seemed to sense her discomfort, for he just laughed and slung an arm over her shoulders.
"Listen, Princess, you'll be fine," he assured her. "Just remember something for me?"
"What's that?" she asked, trying to focus on his words and not the heat emanating from him, but it was proving to be quite difficult.
He stopped her and turned her shoulders, so she was facing him squarely. She forced herself to meet his gaze, her face a bit too warm when she saw how intense he looked, grey eyes solemn and handsome face serious. She was aware of how close they were standing in the small corridor, as well, but she tried not to think about it too much when he spoke again.
"If anything starts getting too bad at home, well, er… you can always write me," he said, reaching up and brushing his hair out of his eyes. It took away slightly from his intensity, though she could tell he meant it. "Granted, my place wouldn't be any better, but if you ever wanted to get out and do something at some point over the holidays…"
He trailed off, now looking as if he had something he shouldn't have, but she was so taken aback and touched by his concern she found herself nodding.
"Thank you, Sirius," she said quietly. "And, erm, same to you."
They shared a tentative smile before the train began to slow, and the conductor announced that they had reached London.
"Well, I'd better get back," he said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. "See you around, Princess."
He winked one last time before strolling back to his compartment, hands shoved in his pockets and stride as cool as ever. She stared after him a bit too long, only realizing what she was doing when compartment doors slid open and students started to emerge into the corridor around her.
She hurried back to her own compartment, grabbing up her rucksack as Lily and Alice did the same. They didn't ask where she had been, probably having guessed already, and they were all distracted when Marlene stomped into the compartment a few minutes later with a dramatic huff.
"My brother is so annoying!" she said, shaking her head as she slung her bag over her shoulder with a jerky movement. "He made me play Gobstones with him and his freaky mates the whole way here and threatened to tell our parents about Sirius if I didn't!"
Cassie bit back a snort while Alice and Lily assured her that her brother was a git. By the time they had disembarked the train, the blonde witch had calmed down some, wishing them all a good holiday before kissing each girl on the cheek and joining the throng of students on the platform.
"See you two in a few weeks!" Alice chirped, hugging Cassie and Lily tightly before heading to her parents standing a few meters away, leaving the other girls alone together.
"Well, should we go find our own parents?" Lily said, gesturing to the crowd, only to frown when she noticed Cassie's hesitation. "What?"
"Er, Lils…" she said awkwardly. "Look, you know I would, but my mum wrote me last week… She said she was going to be busy at the office, so my dad would have to come get me."
She bit her lip, waiting as realization dawned on her face.
"Oh," she said, blinking. "Right. Pure-blood. Muggle-born." She gestured first to Cassie, then to herself. The other girl winced.
"I'm sorry, Lils," she said hastily. "You've met my mum before; she loves you. But my dad…"
"Cass, I get it," she said, squeezing her elbow. "It's not your fault. Don't sweat it."
Cassie gave her an uncertain smile, but Lily just rolled her eyes and pulled her into a tight hug. "Take care, Cass. Have a good holiday."
"You too, Lils," she said before pulling away and starting in the opposite direction with a last wave.
Her throat was uncomfortably dry, and her arms had started to itch under her coat as she scanned the faces around her, looking for the telltale signs of cold aristocracy and an aura of arrogance that people tended to give a wide berth around. Finally did she spot him standing some ways away from the crowd, other witches and wizards scurrying past with fervent looks cast to the elegant man in the black robes, and she gulped.
Lukas Alderfair looked very much the same as he always had, ever since Cassie could remember him as a little girl. His brown hair was still cut in the same fashion, long on top and shorn on the sides, exposing the grey hair that had always been prominent there. He was not a tall nor a broad man, but his stiff posture and frighteningly cool demeanor were imposing enough on their own. His pale skin was so smooth and unblemished it gave the appearance of expensive porcelain; a stark contrast to his eyes—so dark they seemed almost black. It was these same eyes that locked onto her naught a second later, and Cassie ignored the sudden drop in her stomach as she approached him.
She waited until she had reached him to say anything, clearing her throat and giving him a respectful nod. "Father."
"Cassiopeia." His voice was flat, devoid of emotion. She swallowed nervously as his dark eyes raked her over before one eyebrow rose in mild disgust. "I see you have decided to trade in your normal attire for whatever rubbish the Mudbloods wear today."
Cassie blanched, looking down to her trousers and pea coat and cursing herself for being so stupid. Her wizard robes were sitting in the rucksack upon her shoulder, but it seemed that in the wake of her conversation with Sirius, she had completely forgotten to change before departing the train.
"I-I was going to change," she stammered. "On the train, I-I fell asleep, and forgot…"
She trailed off when he only gazed at her coldly. She kept her eyes trained on her boots as he said in an offhand voice, "No matter. We can just add this mistake to the list of things I wanted to speak to you about at dinner tonight. Like the detentions you've received this term." She winced. "And perhaps your mother can explain to me why she allows you to go behind my back to buy such distasteful filth in the first place."
Cassie paled, suddenly nauseous. It was one thing for her father to be displeased with her, but she hadn't meant to get her mother involved in his ire this time. Eleanor excelled at being the voice of reason when it came to her husband and his treatment of their daughter, but defending the both of them against an angry Lukas Alderfair was a lost cause.
"Come," her father said, placing one of his pale hands on her shoulder and steering her firmly off the platform. "Let us get away from this pigsty and go home."
Cassie cast a look back over her shoulder, struggling to get a last glimpse of any of her friends before being subjected back to her home life, but tears pricked her eyes when she saw no one and her father tightened his grip on her shoulder, preparing them for Side-Along Apparition.
The last thing she saw as she was sucked into darkness was a pair of glittering grey eyes trained right on her, and she faintly registered the face of Sirius and what appeared to be a hard look of concern in his gaze before she had left the platform behind.
If you were to visit the town of Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire and had a certain hankering for nature and breathtaking sights, you would perhaps be recommended to the large hill of the North York Moors the town boasted, given the delectable name of Roseberry Topping. Muggles found it to be quite a charming tourist attraction in the area, and the moor's history dated back all the way to the age of the Viking, giving it a rich characterization and intense interest among most English historians.
However, no matter how intellectual and knowledgeable Muggles often claim to be, not a single one of them had any inkling that the moor was already inhabited, and by a village, no less. Of course, this village is nigh impenetrable by Muggles (though the occasional one does tend to stray within the wards by sheer accident, leaving for an awkward situation for the Ministry of Magic to clear up), for it is exclusively inhabited by magical folk, and has been for quite some centuries.
Ilfracombe was a small, yet grandiose village nestled in the moors sprawled around Roseberry Topping, and is said to have originated in the year 1119 when a pagan witch by the name of Ilfra Combe attempted to settle a safe haven for her cult of witches and wizards steeped in the dark and ancient arts. The settlement was eventually attacked and destroyed by the First High Court of Magick, yet was later re-settled as the village of Ilfracombe in the Middle Ages due to its unique and captivating location, and over the centuries grew as a renowned and wealthy village to many respectable Pure-blood families—the Alderfairs, of course, being the most prominent.
Cassie was released from the compressing darkness of Apparition atop the hillside, where she promptly stumbled and dropped her rucksack while her father landed smoothly beside her, not a hair out of place as she scrambled to pick up her belongings.
He started up the stone path that led to an expansive wrought-iron gate some meters away, and she followed after him quickly, the sight of the gate only bringing her some small comfort as she took in the words etched at the top: Fortes fortuna iuvat.
Suddenly, she was eight years old again, running after her brother down the hill and laughing as they collapsed against the cool metal of the gate, out of breath and panting from their race to see who could get there first.
"I beat you!" Will exclaimed triumphantly, his dark eyes sparkling while he shot her a smug grin, his slightly crooked front teeth showing out at her while she pouted.
"Only because you cheated!" she retorted, though she wasn't that upset; Will was leaving for his first year at Hogwarts in a few days, and she had begun to cherish their moments together—to savor them when he was off without her.
"Did not!" he argued, grabbing her and tickling her sides as she shrieked with mirth, begging him to stop. "Now, take it back!"
"Okay—you—won—fair and—square!" she gasped out. "I'm sorry!"
He released her from his wrath, and she laid back on the grass, staring up at the gate. He flopped down beside her, immediately beginning to rip up the weeds that grew there.
"What do you think that means?" she asked, pointing to the three words wrought above the gate. He rolled his eyes.
"It's Latin, idiot," he said. "Father's told us what it means a thousand times: fortune favors the brave. They're our House words."
"I know that, dummy," she said, huffing. "But what does it mean? I don't get why it's supposed to represent us."
Will scrunched up his nose, pondering her question before shrugging. "I dunno. I think it means if you want to be successful, you have to be willing to take risks."
She had made a face. "That's it?"
He looked over at her in exasperation. "Well, what do you want it to mean?"
She shrugged, her eyes tracing over the words again. "I'm not sure. I just think it should mean more than that."
"Maybe it's a sign," Will mused. "Something like fate."
She laughed at this. "Oh? And what's your fate, Brother? That you're destined to become the biggest fathead in the world?"
"Oh, shut up," he said, shoving her side as she giggled shrilly at her own joke. "I think it means that I'm going to be a Gryffindor."
"A Gryffindor?" She rolled onto her side, so she was facing him seriously. "Why would you want to be in that House?"
"What's wrong with Gryffindor?" he demanded, staring at her, and she frowned.
"Father says they value brawn over brains too much," she said. "And he and Mummy were both in Ravenclaw. Why wouldn't you want to be in the House that they were in when they went to school?"
Will shrugged, looking back up to the gate thoughtfully. "Gryffindors value bravery and chivalry above all else," he said eventually. "Ravenclaw wouldn't be bad, but I feel like Gryffindor would help me become…greater, y'know? Like it could unlock my full potential."
"Well, I'm going to be a Ravenclaw. I'll make Father and Mummy proud."
Will snorted at this. "Cassie, if anyone's going to be a Gryffindor in this family, then it's you."
She looked to him, affronted. "How so?"
He laughed at her offense. "Because you're you. You're too bold to be in boring old Ravenclaw—and you don't exactly have the intelligence of one…"
"Hey!" she complained, though she couldn't help but laugh along with him. They lay in silence for a few moments once their laughter had passed before she peeked over at her brother again. "Will?"
"Hm?" He looked back to her, brows scrunching when he saw how troubled she looked.
"Promise me something?" she asked quietly, and he grinned at her.
"Anything for you, Sparks."
"If you get Sorted into Gryffindor, and I become a Ravenclaw…don't ignore me, okay? We can still be brother and sister, even if we're in different Houses."
He chuckled. "Sparks, you'll always be my sister. I'll never ignore you, or abandon you, all right? I promise."
"Cassiopeia."
She looked up at her father's voice, not even realizing that she'd stopped walking completely when they had reached the gate, too absorbed in her memories to pay attention to what she was doing. Her father watched her impatiently, standing at the now-open gate, and she muttered a hasty apology before following him through and up the stone path that would lead them to the manor.
The path wound its way up the hill, becoming gradually steeper as it went, though the views it offered outweighed the struggle of walking uphill. The moors stretched out below them in swatches of brown and green, almost ghostly from the fine layers of mist overlying them. Lights were beginning to wink on in the village below in the semi-darkness of twilight, offering a golden opaqueness to the scene that was quite warm despite the cold winter air.
They made their way under tall alder trees, through stone archways and courtyards overlooking the expansive gardens they kept, everything still in bloom and fresh from the spells the gardeners had placed upon the flora for the season. Eventually, through the gloom, a large Gothic structure began to edge into view, the many windows of the manor alight with lanterns and glittering out at them like hungry, intelligent eyes. Cassie suppressed a shiver as they ascended the smooth marble steps that took them to the grand front doors; she had always considered Alderfair Manor to be creepy in some way due to its cold, imposing exterior, but the feelings seemed to increase tenfold with her father at her shoulder. He waved his wand, and the doors swung open easily despite their size and heavy wooden structure.
They stepped into the warm foyer, the doors closing behind them, and immediately a shrill voice puffed out, "Master Alderfair, welcome back! And you brought the young Mistress home from school, as well! Welcome, welcome!"
Cassie gave a tentative smile to the elderly house-elf hobbling toward them, her father shedding his cloak while Cassie did the same with her coat. "Hi, Liddy. It's good to see you."
The elf's blue eyes peered up at her fondly, and her small hand patted Cassie's knee affectionately before she padded toward the kitchen, talking over her shoulder as she went. "I'm preparing tea for you now, Master and young Mistress, and supper is not far behind—"
"Did my wife tell you what time she would be home this evening?" Lukas interrupted, pulling out his golden pocket watch and frowning at it as if it had caused him some personal offense.
"No, sir, Mistress Alderfair did not say," Liddy said. "She only said she was to be late—"
Liddy was interrupted yet again, but this time, because of a knock on the front doors. Cassie looked to her father questioningly, though he appeared as surprised as her.
"You didn't happen to give out this address to any of your, ah, friends, did you?" he asked her, arching an imperious brow. She shook her head quickly.
"Is there someone you were supposed to be meeting?" she asked hesitantly, but he only shook his head, now frowning at the doors.
"Cassiopeia, answer the door," he ordered her.
She hurried to comply, an intense surge of dread barreling through her as she placed her hand on the knob. Shrugging the warning off, figuring it was just because of her father, she pulled open the door and froze, her mouth dropping into a silent 'o'.
"Hello, Sister," Will said, smirking at her through the shadows. "Mind if I come in?"
Ah, Will. I wonder what shenanigans will ensue now that he's back?
Next Chapter: The Invitation
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