Chapter 19
A/N: Hey guys! Hope you all liked the last chapter, and welcome to all the new people who started following my story! I'll be updating (hopefully) weekly, might become biweekly as school is starting to pick up. Thanks for reading!
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Harry Potter
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"I don't know why she thinks this is a good idea." Cas muttered to herself, crushing the pink and glittery invitation in her hand.
"Well isn't it the grinch who stole valentines day. Lighten up, Lily's got the right idea! I mean, she went a bit overboard, but you get the point." Kris joked, brushing the glittery off his shirt, the remaining evidence of a glittery invite to Lily's Valentines Day party.
"A bit overboard? A bit? This atrocious invitation spit glittery and love one me, I will not stand for this abuse!" Cas declared, causing the office to burst out in laughter.
"Oy you lot! I'm serious. She put my safety in danger with how much glitter was in that card, it could've got lodged in my throat, cutting off all my oxygen supply and killing me." Cas declared, only causing the group to laugh even more.
"Whatever you say Cassie dear, we all know you're just as excited to spend the day with your lover." Paige smirked, flipping through documents at her desk.
"Your lover? Cas! You have a lover?" Kris asked, his face breaking into his trademark smirk.
"I sure as hell don't! You're off your rocker Paige." Cas glowered, her cheeks turning the colour of the invite.
"No need to cover up Cas, we've seen that strapping man coming in a couple times. The ass on him though, could bounce a nickel on that." Paige winked, causing Kris to choke on his tea.
"Bounce a nickel on it, when do I get to meet this ass king." Kris howled, getting up from Cas' desk to leave.
"Never. And don't call him that, that is one nickname I do not want catching on!" Cas laughed, shooing Kris from her desk.
"I'm leaving, I'm leaving. Merlin, no need to get your knickers in a twist. Oh and by the way, I will be meeting him since I'll be going." Kris winked.
"Like hell you will, it's invite only Kris." Cas stated, narrowing her eyes in suspision.
"Unless, a pretty little broad made me her plus one." Kris laughed blowing Cas a kiss before leaving the office.
"Fucking Marlene." Cas growled, sitting roughly in her chair.
"There, there dear. Want a biscuit?" Paige offered, holding out pink valentines day biscuits.
"No. Okay, yes." Cas said, giving into the pink festivities. "I'll need all the biscuits in the world to get through this party."
xx
"Define what you meant in your invitation as "festive"." Cas mumbled into her muggle telephone.
"What the hell do you think that means Cas, it's valentines day! Wear some pink or something." Lily responded, hanging up decorations in her flat.
"I don't own pink Evans." Cas muttered, ripping through her closet.
"How about something red? Or with sparkles or glitter." Lily suggested, dropping the pink ribbon she had been trying to hang in the hallway.
"Woman! You see what I wear daily, have you seen any of the above on me?" Cas joked, picking out a dark red dress.
"Just try your best I guess, I'll see if I can save you some glitter." Lily laughed, hanging up the phone abruptly.
"Very funny Lily, so so funny." Cas muttered to herself, hanging up the muggle telephone.
Sighing Cas looked at the dress, deciding if she was going to go to this stupid party or not. Part of her found it childish, especially with everyone who is attending is partially responsible for protecting the public. Setting the dress down, Cas understood why Lily was throwing it, she really did. But in the pit of her stomach, she was uneasy. She felt like something was going to happen, a very bad thing? She wasn't too sure. But something was going to happen, that is all she really knew. Feeling nervous, Cas shook her head to herself, agreeing in what she was going to do.
She was never wrong about her gut instinct, and if something was going to happen to her friends at this stupid party, then she had to go. After all, if something did happen, and Cas wasn't there to help or protect her friends, how could she live with herself if someone got hurt? It was a feeling she wasn't used to, after only having Moody as her real friend throughout the years. She wasn't used to this protective feeling she had toward her friends, the kind that would make her act without thinking. It was dangerous, but Merlin it was powerful. Cas always figured she was strongest on her own, fending for herself. She never knew how really wrong she was, now that she could see and feel the benefits of having friends who cared about her. Having friends who would back her up or help her out, no questions asked. It was a feeling Cas was starting, how ever slowly, to get used to.
Wiping her shaking, sweaty hands on her jeans Cas started to get ready. Throwing the dress over her head, Cas shook out her hair debating if she should put it up or not. Following her gut instinct she threw it up in a tight pony, smoothing down the sides she added a bit of makeup, trying to swallow down the bile rising in her throat.
Finally ready, Cas stared at herself in the mirror. She wasn't sure what tonight meant, but somewhere, deep down in her heart, she knew that tonight would change everything. A change, she thought as she went to leave, she wasn't sure she could handle.
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"HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!" Lily yelled, throwing glitter as Cas landed in her flat.
Looking up, Cas' mouth opened in horror. The once casual apartment had somehow transformed into a pink and glitter wonderland.
"What the fuck? Lily you barfed pink in here. How can you even breathe?" Cas joked, dusting off the glitter from her shoulders and taking in the pink atmosphere.
"I know I sure can't." Sirius muttered, entering the room.
Cas' eyes widened slightly, taking in the cleaned up Sirius. Paige was right, he did have a ass you could bounce a nickel on.
"What was that Cas?" James laughed, leaning on her shoulder heavily.
"I believe I heard something about a ass Prongs?" Remus joked, walking into the room.
"Yes indeed Moons, I heard that as well. Also, something about a nickel?" James howled, hanging off of Cas now.
Staggering Cas tried to hold up the large boy, along with gain her composure after being called out so obviously.
"Don't know what you're talking about mate." Cas smirked, trying to hide her blush from everyone.
"Your blush states otherwise." Remus pointed out, leaning casually against the railing sipping his butter beer.
"Oy! Knock it off, so what if Cas thinks Sirius has a fine ass, we all know that. Let's get to drinking!" James declared, pointing his hand aggressively in the air.
"Yeah, maybe if we drink enough, we can block out this horrid pink." Sirius smirked, his face still a tad pink.
"Mate, drink as much as you want, no amounts of butter beer or fire whiskey could drown out this colour." James joked, clapping Sirius on the shoulder before leaving the room.
"James! You said you'd stop making fun of the decorations!" Lily called, following him to the other room.
"Um, I'll just go." Remus said before awkwardly leaving the room, leaving Sirius and Cas alone.
"Well that was obvious." Cas commented, rolling back on her heels.
"So.. an ass you can bounce a nickel on?" Sirius smirked, placing his hands on Cas' hips.
"Oh shut up." Cas muttered, allowing Sirius to pull her closer.
"Is there some sort of holiday today? Or do you usually dress this sexy?" Sirius flirted, taking in the dress Cas had decided to wear.
"I think it might be." Cas trailed off, her gut still twisting in worry.
"Hey, everything okay?" Sirius asked, turning Cas' head towards his.
"Maybe, maybe not." Cas groaned in frustration, "I just have a bad feeling is all."
"Hey, look at me. Everything will be okay, what do you think is going to happen?" Sirius asked, still trying to get Cas to look at him.
Finally looking at him, Sirius saw the worry in her eyes.
"I'm not sure exactly, I just know something is going to happen Sirius. And I don't think it's going to be a good thing." Cas muttered, trying to get a grip on herself.
"Well with the two of us on red alert we will be ready for whatever it is. Now go in there and pretend you love Valentines Day before Lily murders us both." Sirius stated calmly, causing Cas to laugh softly.
"Okay, let's do this." Cas nodded, hugging Sirius slightly before walking into the living room.
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"WHO THINKS I CAN DRINK TWO FULL BOTTLES OF FIRE WHISKEY?" James yelled over the room of people.
"Sweet Merlin, NO ONE JAMES!" Lily yelled at her over drunk boyfriend.
Pouting slightly, James ignored Lily. Turning slightly on the table he was standing on, James addressed the rest of the party.
"NOW, ignoring some negative people in the room," James started, staring directly at Lily, making the room break out into laughter, "I would first like to thank you all for coming to my lovely girlfriend's party, again sorry about the pink. I swear you won't be completely traumatized for the rest of your life, just a little bit. Which, if we are being honest, we probably already are from witnessing Sirius' dance moves for the past eight years."
"OY! You take that back." Sirius yelled, throwing a couch cushion at James.
"The truth hurts mate." James laughed, dodging the pillow as it spun past his head.
Falling slightly from trying to dodge Sirius' incoming attacks, James steadied himself before returning his attention back to the two bottles in his hands.
"Continuing from that offensive attack, I will continue with my legendary speech. Now, where was I? OH YES. Secondly I would like to say Happy Valentines Day, I wish you all bountiful bosoms and sweet sweet ass tonight. And Thirdly, IT'S TIME FOR SHOTS." James declared, holding the two bottles up.
Laughing everyone lined up at the kitchen table, where Lily was handing out small shot glasses. Holding them out, James ran past quickly pouring fire whiskey in everyone's glasses and also on almost all their personal belongings.
Licking off the dripping liquor from her hand, Cas held her glass up to everyone else.
"Cheers, mates!" Cas yelled, her previous fears forgotten for the time being.
"Cheers!"
Coughing slightly on her drink, Cas turned to face Sirius, laughing as she caught him trying to wipe the fire whiskey off his chin.
"I can't take you anywhere! This is why we don't have nice things." Cas joked, wiping the whiskey off from the spot Sirius missed.
"Like you're any better lass." Sirius joked, pointing out the splashed whiskey on Cas' dress.
"That was from your so called best mate, that kid needs some serious help." Cas laughed, watching James pouring second shots for Alice and Frank.
"Can't argue with that. You seem to be enjoying yourself now, feeling any better?" Sirius asked, placing his hands on Cas' hips, making her sway slightly to the music.
"Not really to be honest, but it is easy to forget when everyone is having such a great time." Cas admitted, laying her head on his chest.
"Not so bad having people you care about is it?" Sirius asked, rubbing her back gently.
"Has some pros and cons. More people you care about, the more people you can lose." Cas muttered bitterly.
"Hey, don't you start with that. We are going to be okay, we are going to make it out of this war." Sirius snapped.
"Are we Sirius? How can you be so sure? There are too many people disappearing and dying to actually count. You have to stop thinking you're invincible before you get yourself killed." Cas muttered angrily, before walking away.
The moment she walked away she regretted it, she knew she was over reacting but she didn't care. The Marauders had always made it seem like they were different from humans, that they were some sort of invincible super human. And in some way, a lot of the students at Hogwarts thought that way too. Which only really made Cas hate them more during Hogwarts. But now, they were far from the safety their school had to offer, far away from being protected daily and closer to the ones who long ago were just a scary rumour.
But they were more than just a rumour, they were real and they were large in number. Cas shivered as she looked out the window. Adjusting her eyes Cas thought she saw something flying toward her, grabbing her wand quickly Cas aimed it at the flying object that was approaching fast.
Noticing her stance, Sirius was at her side in seconds.
"What is it?" Sirius asked, looking out in the same direction Cas was.
"I'm not sure, don't bother the others until we know." Cas stated, looking back slightly at her joking friends.
"I think it's an owl Cas." Sirius stated after a moment of watching the object.
And sure enough, a large brown owl landed roughly on the ledge. Letting out a sigh of relief Cas let out a small chuckle.
"I'm sorry Sirius, I shouldn't have snapped at you. I guess I'm just a little on edge." Cas apologized, rubbing his arm as she accepted the letter from the owl.
"We both are." Sirius nodded, watching Cas as she read the letter, her face dropping slightly as she read. "What is it?"
Cas read the letter, and reread it. The letter blurring slightly as her eyes filled slightly with tears. Nodding to herself, Cas rushed to the hallway, throwing on her coat as she went.
"I have to go."
"What is it, give me that letter Cas!" Sirius argued, grabbing the letter from her hand.
"Oy! That is personally jack ass, give it back." Cas yelled, grabbing the attention of her friends in the other room.
"What's all the noise about, couples aren't suppose to fight on Valentine's Day." James slurred, pulling Lily closer.
"We're not a couple!" Cas and Sirius argued at the same time, before glaring at each other again.
"Give me my letter Sirius." Cas seethed, trying to reach the letter.
"What is it?" Sirius asked, holding the letter as far from her as possible.
"I'll take that!" Remus stated, grabbing the letter from Sirius' outreached hand. "What in the name of Merlin, is this all about? Sirius, you better read this." Remus stated, his face whitening slightly.
"What? Give it." Sirius demanded, grabbing the letter and started to read it. "Druella and Cygnus Black, Trafalgar Square. Muggle Raid, now. Why the hell does this say my parent's names Cas?" Sirius asked, in a low dangerous voice.
"They killed my parents." Cas whispered after a moments of silence.
"What? You don't know that?" Lily asked, stepping around a very drunk and confused James.
"That's what that letter means. I was told they would send me the name and the place of the ones who did it." Cas continued, her eyes not meeting a very confused Sirius.
"Who sent the le-" Remus started, only to be interrupted by a ruffled Moody.
"OY! Those of you who are sober enough we got to go, muggle raid in Trafalgar Square. Let's go!" Moody yelled, making everyone who could go jump into action.
Sighing in relief Cas continued throwing on her jacket and pocketing her wand, only to be stopped by Sirius.
"You can't go Cas." Sirius muttered urgently, gripping her arms tightly.
"And why the hell not? They killed my parents Sirius. I have to do what's right, not just for what they did to my parents, but for what they did to you." Cas stated quickly, throwing on her boots.
"They want you to come Cas, can't you see this is a trap? You had a feeling something bad was going to happen, and this is it. Doesn't mean you have to go, the bad feeling could be you dying. My parents are not people to be messing around with Cassie, they are bad people. They are going to want to hurt you even more than they already have." Sirius muttered, trying to make Cas see reason.
"Sirius, I have to do this. I thought you out of everyone would understand this. I can't sit around and do nothing when the people who tormented you for years and killed my parents are fucking up a muggle square. Now either you step aside and let me go, or you come willingly with me and we save these fucking muggles together." Cas snapped, staring at Sirius, daring him to try and stop her.
"Alright, lets do this. Think clearly and go down swinging." Sirius nodded, kissing her firmly on the lips before disapparating.
xx
"They're bloody everywhere Cas! You and Lily go around the west building, Me and Remus will head to the north building, they seem to be sticking around that area." Moody barked, pulling Remus with him behind a building.
"Alright, stay close Lils." Cas yelled, ducking as the rubbish bin beside her blew up.
"Bloody hell, you girls alright?" Sirius yelled, running into the girls around the corner.
"Heading to west building, Rem and Moody are heading to the north, where is Peter?" Cas asked, ducking as she passed through an alley.
"No idea, he vanished once we got here." Sirius shrugged, as if to say 'typical peter'.
"Poor lad, probably shit his trousers the moment he saw the death eaters." Cas stated, following Sirius as quickly and silently as possible.
"Fuck!" Lily screamed, scraping her legs as she flattened out on the pavement to avoid an incoming spell.
"Evans! You okay?" Sirius yelled, ducking behind a rubbish bin.
"Yeah! Keep going, I'll fight these two bastards first then join you." Lily yelled.
"We are not leaving you behind Lily!" Sirius called back, firing a spell over his shoulder.
"Just go! I see the twins coming over to help. GO." Lily yelled, stunning one of the death eaters as he ran at her.
"Alright, go!" Sirius muttered, pushing Cas and him from the rubbish bins to the opposite side of the alleyway.
"How many?" Cas asked as Sirius peered around the corner.
"Three or four, should be easy work." Sirius concluded, turning around to smile at Cas.
"You would be cocky right now. Alright, let's take these bastards down." Cas nodded, peeling herself away from the alley wall and sending spells to take down the death eater closest to her.
"Nice one Cas!" Sirius cheered, taking down the two on his right.
"Agh, you bugger." Cas sneered, wiping away the blood from where she got struck by the death eater in front of her.
"Oh sorry, did the filthy muggle lover get hurt?" The death eater sneered, sending another spell at Cas.
"Eat my fucking wood, you damn parasite." Cas yelled, blocking the spell and returning her own which struck.
"Harsh Cas, harsh." Sirius jokingly scolded, moving closer to the wall.
"It just came out, the bitch cut me!" Cas defended, only to have to duck five seconds later as she almost got smoked in the face by a spell.
"Oy! Jack ass!" Sirius called, stunning the death eater who had attacked Cas.
"You alright?" Sirius yelled, pulling her into the doorway of a local shop.
"My head's still intact if that's what you mean." Cas muttered darkly, smirking slightly.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" A voice said behind them before blasting Sirius across the square.
"Sirius!" Cas yelled, watching his form crumple against the pavement.
Cas whipped around, her wand pointing directly at the two hooded figures in front of her.
"Ah, she defends my ungrateful son. Do you see this dear? Our Sirius has found a muggle lover like himself to fuck." Druella Black sneered, removing her hood.
"I always figured he would've done better than this trash." Cygnus Black laughed, kicking the dead death eater at his feet.
"Then again, he always had a thing for dirt. First the Potters, then the muggles, now this dirty whore. Are you really surprised?" Druella laughed, circling the other side of Cas.
"You guys are really humorous, you should try stand up. Maybe then you'll actually be good at something." Cas sneered, turning in time to keep both in her eye sight.
"Oh, witty one aren't you. You'll be fun to kill, I can tell already. Just like your parents were the night we killed them." Druella taunted.
"Did you think we didn't know who you are? That you've been trying to hunt us down for years now? Of course we knew, everyone did. We just sat back and laughed as you failed time and time again to save the ones you loved." Cygnus stated, twirling his wand.
"There was a rumour you'd be here tonight, how could we resist? We figured it'd be a nice family reunion, after all we do love killing all the members of a family at once. We love keeping families together like that. Are you excited to see your parents finally?" Druella laughed.
"You talk a lot you know that?" Cas glared, before knocking Druella over. "Ah! Not so fast jack ass, you stay where you are. This is this last time you assholes underestimate me. You should've killed me when you had the chance." Cas sneered, ducking as Cygnus sent another curse.
"Can't even do that right, did you learn anything at Hogwarts? Or were you too busy studying how to kiss Voldemort's ass?" Cas laughed, knocking Cygnus off his feet.
Her laughter was cut short as she was hit by the cruciatus curse. Falling to the ground, Cas let out a loud scream as she felt sharp knives dig into her body.
"Not so witty now, are you whore?" Druella cooed, kicking Cas in the face.
Panting, Cas tried to push herself up from the ground, only to be hit by another set of the sharp, digging knives. Crying out, Cas fought through the pain, throwing the cruciatus curse back at Druella.
"You filthy bitch!" Cygnus screamed, waking up to his wife screaming. Cygnus strode over and kicked Cas straight in the stomach as she was trying to get up.
Pulling her up by the scruff of her shirt, Cygnus punched Cas square in the face.
"Sirius!" Cas screamed through the blood, as she anticipated the next punch.
Stumbling slightly, Cas took Cygnus' slip up to blast him away from her. Getting to her knees, Cas tried to catch her breath, as her body shook violently. Staggering to her feet, Cas tried to open her swollen eye, only to feel a sharp pain shoot through her head. Moaning, Cas looked up just in time to see Sirius had awoken and was fighting his mother.
Stumbling forward, Cas knew she had only seconds before Cygnus regained his composure. Blinking hard, Cas watched as Sirius screamed out in pain from the cruciatus curse.
"SIRIUS!" Cas yelled, blasting Druella from Sirius.
"Cas! Watch out!" Sirius yelled, panting as he tried to find his wand.
Cas had only seconds to turn before she was blasted off her feet, the world going black and fuzzy as she landed roughly on the ground. Crying out in pain, Cas tried to keep consciousness. Through her one good eye she could make out Druella torturing Sirius again. In the pit of her stomach she felt this boiled up rage, a rage that made her see red and made her hands shake. Seeing Sirius fall to the ground roughly was enough to give Cas the strength to get up.
Quickly stunning Cygnus, Cas surged forward, raising her wand as she went, pointing it square at Druella.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Cas screamed, watching in satisfaction as Druella crumpled to the ground, hitting the ground as limp as a rag doll.
"DRUELLA!" Cygnus screamed, his body froze mid-step. "WHAT DID YOU DO, YOU LITTLE SLUT?" Cygnus screamed stepping forward and slamming his fist into Cas' stomach.
She felt the air leave her as she crumpled to the ground, her hands automatically flying up to protect her head before she felt a foot fall roughly on her head. Crying out, Cas pushed her hands out, trying to reach the wand that had previously been blasted out of her hands. Straddling her Cygnus wrapped his hands around Cas' throat, his wand lying beside him forgotten. Cas watched as the vein in his forehead pounded, his face turning as red as Cas' as he brought down as much force as possible on Cas' exposed throat. Choking, Cas tried to remain conscious, her head pulsing with each beat of her heart. Beats that were getting increasingly faster.
"Cas, no!" Cas heard Sirius call in the background.
Smiling slightly, Cas relaxed in the arms of Cygnus, a man who was probably going to kill her. A man who needed to kill her, just as much as she needed to kill him.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Cas heard, and instantly she felt his dead weight land on her stomach. Adding more pressure to her already congested airways.
Coughing Cas, felt the rush of air through her lungs. Gasping for air, Cas felt a hand on her arm, pulling her to a standing position.
"Breathe, just breathe Cas!" Sirius demanded, holding her head in his hands.
Cas nodded, trying to control her breathing, but finding it hard with the pain radiating in her chest and head. It was over, it was finally over. Cas couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that she had finally done what she had set out to do, so many years ago. Breathing Cas tried to focus on Sirius, at least they were safe.
"We are okay Cas, we are okay." Sirius repeated, as Cas felt herself fall into the darkness.
xx
A/N: HERE IT IS, FINALLY! I HAVE BEEN WAITING TO WRITE THIS CHAPTER SINCE I STARTED THIS FIC! agh, sorry it took so long, I just needed it to be the way I wanted it, since it is such an important chapter.
MORE TO COME SOON! :) Please review, I love feedback and I love you.
-Haley