Chapter 53

Remus woke to find he was not alone in bed as he usually was. There was pink haired witch in bed laying next to him. He blinked sleep out of his eyes as the memories of the previous night came back to him. He decided it was best to get up now before Tonks woke up and try to avoid the awkward conversation that could come when she woke up. He carefully extracted himself from the bed and quickly got dressed. He then went down stairs to the kitchen only to be met by his slyly grinned best friend.

"So, Remus I hear you acted like a fool last night in front of my cousin." Sirius said as if he was trying to hold back laughing.

"Not now Sirius. I am a bit in shock at the moment" Remus said sitting at the great table in the kitchen.

"Oh? About what may I ask? About Tonks practically confessing to you or about the fact that I have not seen my cousin at all this morning. The last time I saw her was when she went to talk to you last night. So you have me quite curious at this point as to what happened between you last night." Sirius said while his smile could outshine the like of the Cheshire cat.

"Nothing happened okay. Just drop it."

"I find that hard to believe. Come one Remus, Cassie isn't here and I promise I will be serious about this for once" Remus took a breath and then answered his best friend

"Tonks and I…May have slept together last night."

Sirius look at his friend in shock. For all his teasing and poking fun at his friend for his crush on Tonks, this was not an outcome he could have foreseen

"Wait. You mean to tell me you shagged my cousin last night. Why do you look as though you've done something terribly wrong then? Did you do it this without asking her or something."

"Of course, I ask if it was okay. She said it was fine."

"So, what seems to be the problem in all of this."

Remus wanted to speak up however he was interrupted by a glowing blue doe.

"What's this?" Sirius asked.

"It's Snape's Patronus," Remus said wisely.

Snape's voice emanated from the glowing doe: Potter and his friends know about the Prophecy. They are in danger. Head to the Ministry of Magic.

"You're not going! Are you bloody mad!"

Tonks came into the study, wand in her pocket and thankfully clothed, followed by a determined Cassiopeia.

"We got Snape's message about Harry," Cassiopeia said, ready for a battle. "Let's go."

Sirius could not believe what Cassiopeia was doing. Normally, he would support her in a fight. However, they just welcomed their second child. He could not believe Cassiopeia would be this rash.

"Where do you think you're going, my love?" Sirius asked.

"I'm going to fight for our godson, my love" Cassiopeia countered.

"No, you're not," Sirius argued. "You just gave birth to our daughter. Our children need you. If I don't make it-"

"I've left our children with Molly. She's promised to take care of them both if anything should happen to us," Cassiopeia replied.

"Cassie, you're being rash, our children need parents if anything should happen-" Sirius reasoned.

"It's no different than when Lily and James left Harry with us, and right now, Harry is in danger," Cassiopeia cut him off. "And I am going to fight for my family. If you want to protect me, you'll have to come along."

Sirius sighed. "Stay close to me, then."

Cassiopeia smiled. "I knew you'd see it my way."

Tonks shook her head. "You two are thick-headed sometimes. I cannot believe you are letting her go so easily. Cassie….For all out sake…..Do not try to take a death eater on alone"

"Come on, the rest of the Order is waiting for us," Lupin beckoned.

Cassiopeia, Sirius, Tonks, and Lupin raced outside Grimmauld Place where they were met by Kingsley and Moody.

"Moody, what's the situation?" Cassiopeia asked.

"Voldemort knows of Harry's connection. They're not expecting us. We stay together. Don't break ranks if one of us dies," Moody said grimly.

"Isn't he just so cheerful?" Tonks laughed.

"Always," Cassiopeia snorted.

"Let's go!" Moody barked.

In a matter of seconds, the group Disapparated not knowing what horrors lay ahead of them.

Sirius and Cassiopeia Disapparated in the Ministry of Magic. The room was dark and it took a moment to find their bearings. To their horror, Harry and his friends were being held hostage by Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, and a handful of Death-Eaters. Sirius and Cassiopeia watched as Harry regretfully handed over the glowing orb of the prophecy to Lucius.

Sirius and Cassiopeia turned to each other.

"Time to kick Death-Eater ass," Cassiopeia whispered.

"Always," Sirius whispered.

The two of them crept up behind Lucius just as he had the prophecy.

"Get away from my godson!" Sirius spat, throwing a hard right hook at Lucius' face.

Cassiopeia waved her wand and tossed away the Death-Eater beside Lucius, throwing him across the room. Tonks Disapparated, going about the room and knocking out the Death-Eaters holding Harry and his friends hostage. Remus, Kingsley, and Moody followed, dueling Death-Eaters and sending the hall into a show of bright green and red lights. Tonks went after Luna, Ginny, Ron, and Neville, and led them to safety, dodging debris from the battle. Sirius and Cassiopeia grabbed Harry and took cover behind a boulder.

"Harry! I want you to take everyone and get out of here," Sirius said.

"What? No, I'm staying with you!" Harry argued.

"You're just like your father, but you're not there yet," Cassiopeia said proudly. "I need you safe."

"You've done beautifully. Now let us take it from here," Sirius assured him.

Lucius appeared behind them, wand drawn. "Black!"

Sirius barely had any time to shield Harry when Lucius fired a spell at him. Cassiopeia was furious. "You hit my husband, you b******!"

Together, Cassiopeia, Sirius, and Harry fought Lucius and his lieutenant, shooting red and green sparks and making the ground crack around them.

Harry disarmed Lucius lieutenant. "Expelliarmus!"

"Nice one, James!" cried Sirius and Cassiopeia.

Cassiopeia sent a jet of green light straight at Lucius' lieutenant, while Sirius disarmed Lucius. With a jet of green light, Sirius sent Lucius flying off his feet. Before Sirius and Cassiopeia could boast their victory, they heard a cry of an unintelligible spell! Cassiopeia looked up at Sirius, who stopped smiling. Before she could react, Sirius disappeared.

Cassiopeia shook her head. No, no, this can't be real, she thought, This can't be.

Cassiopeia waited and waited but Sirius was not coming back. Suddenly, she was filled with a deep and terrible rage as she saw Bellatrix grinning wickedly at her.

"You b***!"

Cassiopeia raced forward and conjured and knife, tossing it squarely at Bellatrix's shoulder. Before Cassiopeia could pursue the witch further, Tonks stopped her.

"Cassie, Cassie! This isn't what Sirius would want," she said, trying to coax her mauraders to reason.

Full of rage and despair, Cassiopeia collapsed in Tonks's arms, knowing only one person of the mauraders she called friends was left. Her husband was gone and somehow, she felt it was her fault.