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Chapter Thirteen
The Watcher
The rest of the month passed swiftly. Even with the combined efforts of eight brains working toward one goal, information about Cassie's mark or Erebus Kane proved nonexistent. Cassie had even told the others about the mysterious name Norvina her father had left her, but nothing could be found about that either.
Researching became even more difficult as the weeks dragged on and the sixth-year workload piled higher and higher. Every night, Cassie would stay awake until absurd hours of the morning just to get all her homework done, and emotions began to run high and morale low among the sixth years.
Between classes, homework, Animagi lessons, and Quidditch practices, it was hard for Cassie to even find time to be alone with Sirius. The only light at the end of the tunnel had been the Hogsmeade weekend coming up at the end of the month, but when a sudden bitter blizzard slammed Hogwarts, the trip was cancelled last minute.
"Well, that's it," Cassie said miserably when Professor McGonagall left the common room after posting the notice on the bulletin board and announcing the cancellation. Cassie pulled out her wand and pointed it at her face. "I'm jinxing myself."
Lily snatched her wand with a scowl. "Quit it, Cassie! You know you should never point a wand at something unless you intend to use a spell on it!"
Marlene and Alice chuckled at Cassie's antics as Lily handed her wand back.
"A shame," Marlene said, sinking back into her armchair with a sigh. "I was looking forward to some butterbeer."
Alice nodded. "We could've used a break from the castle. If I even have to look at homework this weekend, I'm—" She copied Cassie's motion from earlier.
Lily looked scandalized. "Stop that—"
"Stop what?" James had just come through the portrait hole with Sirius, Remus, and Peter in tow, as always. He grinned at Lily. "I haven't done anything…yet."
Lily huffed and crossed her arms, but otherwise made no remark. It'd been a challenge having Lily and James working in proximity with each other as they all researched, but after three solid weeks of it, Lily seemed to no longer want to throttle James nearly as much as she did before, and even James had toned down his obnoxiousness in her presence in the wake of Cassie's ordeal.
"Lily won't let us jinx ourselves," Cassie explained as the boys joined them by the fireplace. Sirius flopped down at Cassie's feet and she idly combed her fingers through his hair. She could've sworn he let out a low whine.
"And why do you want to jinx yourselves?" asked Remus.
Marlene pointed to the notice board. "Hogsmeade got cancelled because of the bloody storm."
Peter sat up as if Marlene had just announced that his mother was terminally ill. "What? But I have to restock on my Zonko's supplies!"
Alice snorted. "Try taking that up with McGonagall."
"I got it!" James snapped his fingers and stood up after appearing as if he had been deliberating a complicated spell. "C'mon, lads; we have a mission to carry out."
Sirius, who'd had his eyes closed while Cassie played with his silky hair, opened one to glare at James. "No way. I just sat down."
"Yeah, what gives, Prongs?" Peter complained.
"We have a mission," James said slowly, his eyes beseeching his friends. "One that involves—" he pointed to his cloak pocket "—and—" he patted his bookbag.
Lily, Alice, and Marlene looked absolutely bewildered, but Cassie understood; James's mission, apparently, involved the Marauder's Map and his Invisibility Cloak.
Cassie made to get up. "I'll come with—"
But James shook his head.
"Nah. Sorry, Princess, but you'll only slow us down."
She made a face at him. "Excuse me?"
He ignored her, facing the other boys. "I'm invoking the Marauder's Code Section Eight! Get up!"
Sirius groaned. "Dammit, James, why the code?"
"Because you're all being lazy flobberworms!"
"I resent that," Remus said, but he stood up anyway.
Peter followed suit, and they all looked to Sirius. He snuggled closer to Cassie's knees with a petulant frown.
"Padfoot, you bloody traitor!"
"Leave him," Remus said to an outraged James. "C'mon, we can do it ourselves."
Cassie pouted. "What about me?"
But Sirius wrapped his arms around her legs. "Nooo."
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, fine, you big baby."
Sirius kissed her calf.
Lily was gazing at James, suspicious. "What are you lot getting up to now?"
James just waved his hand airily. "Nothing you need to worry about, Evans. Just be ready by seven."
"What? Why? Potter!"
But he was already striding for the portrait hole once more with Remus and Peter.
Alice, Lily, and Marlene eventually went to dinner, but Cassie stayed on the sofa by the fireplace with Sirius, who had moved from his place on the floor and now dozed on the sofa with his head in Cassie's lap.
Cassie stared into the flames. The fireplace reminded her of the time Will had communicated with her after Valentine's Day, telling her to stop searching for clues and that he was willing to sacrifice himself to stop Voldemort. Had that only been several months ago? It now felt like it had been decades since that had happened—since she and Will had been on the same side. And now…
She turned it all over in her mind, like precious stones and their many glimmering facets; Will…Erebus Kane…Norvina…her father…the mark…Professor Staghart….
She hadn't spoken to Professor Staghart alone since the night of her birthday. Though the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor treated her normally, a new knowing glint had appeared in his tawny eyes after their conversation nearly a month prior. She didn't even want to think about what that look could mean, so she'd avoided him as much as possible outside of class time.
The web kept expanding, but the center of it all still remained the mystery of the locket. She had no answers, but she kept coming back to Miranda's message: The Thief was not the only guardian. The Forbidden Forest was now her only lead, and as much as she didn't want to go back in that terrifying place, she knew that she had to if she wanted to glean any information and put this mystery to rest once and for all.
She felt a tug on her hair and looked down into Sirius's grey eyes.
"Have you been staring at the fire this whole time?" he asked, amused.
She shrugged. "I stared out the window for a while too."
He chuckled. "You should've been in Ravenclaw. That brain of yours never rests."
She sighed and leaned her head against the cushions. "You know my family was all Ravenclaws before Will and me?"
"I didn't know that." He tilted his head, studying her. "But I can see it. You being a Ravenclaw," he added to her confused look. "It suits you, somehow."
"My father always told me I was too rash to be in Ravenclaw," she said. She smiled sardonically. "He used to say that I thought with my emotions instead of logic."
"You say it like it's a bad thing."
"He certainly thought it was. Of course, he never told Will the same thing. Will could never do any wrong, even if my father was disappointed that he'd gone to Gryffindor."
She frowned at the fire for a long time until Sirius asked, "Do you miss him?"
"Who? Will?" she said, instantly wary.
"No," Sirius said. "Your dad."
For some reason, this question was almost worse than if he'd asked her if she missed Will. The betrayal and anger she felt toward Will made her answer easy, but her father….
The man who'd called her a blood traitor, but also the man who'd left her a mysterious name after his death. Had he known he was going to die? Was that why he'd left Mr. Gorgon that note to give to her? He'd never hid his disdain for her, but she'd always wondered, always hoped, if she could one day get him to love her as he loved Will….
Her chest tight, she was spared having to answer when the girls returned to the common room through the portrait hole. Cassie shifted away from Sirius's gaze as the girls sat around them, shooing away the fourth years that had congregated in their absence.
"You should've come with us, Cass," said Alice. "They were serving this delightful casserole—"
Marlene snorted. "I still would've preferred being at the Three Broomsticks instead of being cooped up here—"
But Alice wasn't done raving. "It had this cheese, and I've never tasted anything like it, I swear on Merlin's old trousers—"
Lily chimed in. "It wasn't that great, Cass, don't worry—"
Alice turned on her. "How dare you? I'll have you know—"
Cassie listened in amusement as her friends debated the revelatory casserole, with Marlene interspersing the argument by lamenting the loss of the Hogsmeade trip. Sirius took a red-and-gold striped pillow and pressed it over his face to drown out their arguing. Right before Cassie was sure wands were about to be drawn did the portrait hole open once more, and in trooped James, Remus, and Peter, back from whatever secret mission they had been on.
"Finally," said Cassie, shouting over her friends and silencing their bickering. "Where've you been?"
James joined them by the fireplace, patting his now bulging bookbag. "Gathering some essentials."
"Such as?"
James glanced around surreptitiously before pulling out a bottle of butterbeer from his bag. Lily's eyes bugged while Marlene and Alice gasped simultaneously. Cassie grinned and Sirius removed the pillow, whooping when he saw the bottle.
"Where did you get that?" Lily demanded. Cassie thought that Lily would be angry at such a breach in the school rules, but instead she looked mildly impressed.
"Just found them lying around," James said vaguely, now taking bottles and passing them around their circle. He offered one to Lily, his eyebrows raised in question, but she accepted it wordlessly, surprising Cassie even more. She glanced to Remus, but he wasn't paying attention, opening his butterbeer while he took a seat with Peter and Alice.
Though Remus had put an end to Cassie's meddling about who it was he had a crush on, she'd begun watching his interactions with Lily more closely over the weeks, keeping her suspicions to herself. Remus and Lily were prefects together, and often patrolled with each other, and yet school had kept them infuriatingly distant outside of their prefect duties. Cassie knew she was just being nosy, as per usual, but that still didn't deter her from wanting to know what was going on with her friends.
"Well," James said, raising his butterbeer, "despite Mother Nature ruining our chances at a long overdue break in our exhaustive studies—"
"Hear, hear," Marlene interjected glumly.
"—I propose a toast to butterbeer, friends, and surviving our N.E.W.T. year so far!"
Cassie clinked her bottle against Sirius's. "Cheers, mate."
Bottles clinked and everyone drank deeply, savoring the warmth that came with the butterbeer. After Cassie had drunk her fill, she lowered her bottle and said, "We need to go back into the Forest and figure out who or what the other guardian of the well was."
James said, taking his bottle away from his lips. "I can never have peace, can I?"
"There might be a clue we missed the last time," agreed Remus, thoughtful. "But if we go back in there, we need a plan. We can't just charge in like we did before."
Sirius snorted. "Why not?"
"I dunno. Since you almost died last time?" Remus said sarcastically.
"We're going too this time," Alice said, sitting up in her seat and glaring at Cassie and the Marauders, as if daring them to object. She indicated herself, Marlene, and Lily. "We want to help."
"I'd prefer not going into the Forest, but she's right," Marlene said with a grimace.
Lily nodded. "There's strength in numbers—and we'll need that."
"Then it's settled." Cassie nodded. "We're going back. But this time, we'll be prepared."
Cassie stood at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, her wand in one hand and the clockwork locket in the other. Behind her, the Marauders, Lily, Marlene, and Alice waited for her signal to enter the forest. They'd taken a week to prepare for the journey, planning their routes and strategies if they encountered anything sinister, and riding out the snowstorm that had plagued the castle grounds.
Though the storm had passed, the cold had not. Frost crunched under Cassie's boots as she stood in the grass, shifting her weight from foot to foot nervously. They'd used the Marauder's Map to ensure that no one would see them sneaking out of the castle, but she still felt a prickle on the back of her neck similar to the one she'd feel whenever Peeves the Poltergeist hovered behind her and blew air on her.
She stared at the dark forest yawning before her. The last time they'd been here, Little Leaf had acted as their guide, but Cassie hadn't seen the bowtruckle in months, if he was even still alive. She shook that thought off; worrying about Little Leaf wouldn't do her much good right now. She'd have to rely on the locket this time and hope that whatever magic it had would lead them to the well once more.
"Well," James said cheerfully into the tense silence, "we won't accomplish much if we just stand here."
Cassie frowned at his tone, but when she noticed his fingers twitching in their gloves, she realized that James was just as anxious as her. "He's right. Let's get a move on." She stepped up to the tree line. In her left hand, the locket beat against her palm through her mitten, matching the rapid pace of her heart. "Like we talked about; we move in pairs and stay within shouting distance. Wands drawn at all times." She inhaled deeply and said to herself, "Let's do this."
She plunged into the trees with Sirius by her side. Remus and Lily fanned out to their left, while Marlene and Alice did the same to their right. James and Peter took up the rear, and the eight of them moved into the forest, their wands raised, the tips ignited to provide them light.
Cassie and Sirius kept up a steady pace as they walked, dodging roots and ducking beneath low-hanging branches sporadically. The locket beat a strong, pulsating rhythm, and Cassie assumed that meant they were on the right path as they journeyed deeper and deeper into the eerie forest.
Almost a half-hour passed before Sirius put his hand on the small of her back and said, "You doing all right?"
She nodded. "Did it take us this long to find the well before? I feel like we've been walking for miles."
"I don't remember. I was a dog most of the time before." He sniffed. "I still don't know why you wouldn't let us use our Animagus forms this time."
Cassie snorted. The sound echoed in the stifling silence of the oppressive forest. "It would take too long to explain to the girls, and we don't exactly have the luxury of time right now."
Sirius frowned. "They'd take it well. You did."
"I was a little shaken up after witnessing a werewolf transformation to be shocked by anything else that night."
"Point taken. I just wish you'd stop reverting back to your old ways whenever the locket gets involved."
She turned to face him in confusion, narrowly avoiding a branch to the face before Sirius maneuvered her out of the way. "What's that supposed to mean?"
He shrugged. In the white light from his wand, he looked almost ghostly. "Keeping secrets. Thinking you have to solve every little thing on your own without help. Oh, c'mon, Cass, don't give me that look," he said to her defensive posture. "Your lone wolf streak is getting a bit old now."
"I do it to protect you," she said hotly. "All of you—"
"You're not a savior," he snapped. She blinked, shocked. His words echoed those exactly of what she'd told Avery over the summer, right before he'd kissed her. "You're one seventeen-year-old witch. Not everything relies on you."
"I know that! Why do you think all of you are here tonight?"
He grabbed her elbow and spun her around until they were face to face.
"Just promise me," he said, his voice low. "Promise me one thing, Cassie."
The locket shivered in her hand as she said, "What?"
"Whatever you do," he said, "don't do it alone." His hand slid down her arm until it rested in hers, the locket clasped between them, beating like a heart. "Don't do it without me."
She searched his eyes, shining silver in the light. She understood what he was asking. The words shimmered in the air between them, unspoken. When you face your brother, when you face Voldemort, we do it together.
"Please," he said when she hesitated. "Promise me, Cassie."
She nodded, her throat feeling like it was stuffed with coal. "I promise."
The locket hummed.
He let go of her hand and reached up, grabbing the back of her neck gently and pushing her forward until her forehead touched his. For a moment, Cassie forgot about the forest and the locket, the well and the guardian, all of it, as they breathed each other in, their promise filling their lungs.
"Cass," Sirius murmured. His breath left him in a little shudder. "I—"
"Oi!" Remus shouted. "We found something!"
Cassie broke away from Sirius and sprinted in the direction of Remus's shout. After a moment, Sirius followed her, catching up easily with his longer legs. The two burst into a small clearing where Remus and Lily stood just as James, Peter, Marlene, and Alice met up with them.
"What is it?" Cassie said, skidding to a halt.
Remus pointed to the other side of the clearing. "Look familiar?"
Cassie followed his finger to two ancient, gnarled trees, twisted together in an oval shape. In her hand, the locket jumped in excitement.
"The gateway," she said. "We found it."
Without waiting, Cassie walked toward the trees and stepped between their bent trunks. Unlike last time, no magic tingled her skin as she entered. It seemed Miranda's wards had broken the night she'd sacrificed herself to destroy Salazar Slytherin and the well.
The others followed her through the gateway, gazing around warily at the large clearing they emerged in. Here, the cold seemed impossibly harsher, burrowing into any opening they had and piercing their skin. Lily's teeth chattered, the sound the only thing they heard in the clearing. Remus offered her his scarf, and she took it gratefully as their breath billowed into the air like fog.
Cassie bent down and ran a hand over a long, deep gouge in the ground. She looked up and realized that it was a huge scar cut into the earth itself, dividing the clearing almost in half. She pointed. "This was where the well was. Before Miranda destroyed it."
Marlene's eyes were wide. "A ghost did this?"
Cassie nodded. "She gave up the last of her spirit to do it. That's why she's gone."
"So, what are we looking for, exactly?" Alice asked. She glanced around the clearing uneasily.
"I'm not sure." Cassie frowned and looked to the locket. It pulsed steadily, but gave no indication that there was something else to be found here. "The other guardian could be anything."
"Yeah, that's…what I'm afraid of," Alice squeaked.
Cassie set the locket down and sat back on her heels. "I mean, it's not like the locket came with an instruction manual—"
Her words were drowned out when a sharp gust of wind roared through the clearing, setting the surrounding trees to creak and moan under the onslaught. Cassie covered her eyes as dirt swirled into the air, and Peter cried out behind her. The locket quivered on the ground before it sprang open of its own accord, but instead of hearing her brother's message echo at her, a harsh, chanting whisper came out, almost lost in the wind.
As suddenly as it came, the wind died down and the strange voice disappeared. Behind her, Alice gasped, and Cassie lowered her hand to see a woman standing over her, the locket at her feet. It was the woman from before—the one Cassie had seen all summer that she thought was Miranda. But it wasn't.
This woman lacked the pearly sheen of a ghost, standing before Cassie as living flesh and blood. Grey robes floated around her, a ring of bone on the middle finger of her right hand, and a necklace of what looked like a dragon tooth at her throat. Her hair was long and dark, and eyes as black as onyx gleamed out of her pale white face—a face that resembled Cassie's own.
"Great," James muttered. "Another one."
Cassie climbed to her feet and stared at the woman. She was taller even than Remus; almost seven feet if Cassie had to guess. This realization did nothing to soothe her nerves.
"Who are you?" she said.
The woman smiled. On her bone-white face, it looked ghastly, like a skull grinning out at her. "Two thousand long years, and the world forgets my name like it never existed. I am Norvina, child. The sire of your very bloodline."
Cassie gaped. "You're Norvina? You're an Alderfair?"
Norvina's bloodless lips curled. "The very first."
She shifted, peering over Cassie's shoulder to her friends. A sword with a pommel of bone poked out of the folds of Norvina's robes at her hip. Cassie angled herself between the ancient witch and her friends, clutching her wand tightly. Norvina noticed this and chuckled, the sound low and deep in her chest.
"What do you want?" Cassie demanded. "Why are you here?"
Norvina flicked a hand to the locket, lying still on the ground. "You summoned me, child."
Cassie snatched up the locket, training her wand on her ancestor. "No, I didn't. We're looking for the other guardian of this place."
"The Watcher is asleep, child," Norvina said. "He has been for as long as I've been dead. He slumbered long before the Thief found this place and claimed it as his own."
"Then you knew what this place was?" Cassie said, gesturing to the scar in the earth. "The well?"
"The Fountain of Youth, they called it during my time," Norvina said. "The center of all magic. It was where my sisters and I made our home two thousand years ago."
"Your sisters?" Cassie echoed.
"Not by blood," Norvina said, "but by oath. There were seven of us, sworn to each other to protect the secrets of our magic. We called ourselves the Seven Elders." She pointed to the locket with a fingernail that looked like a talon. "And that little trinket you carry was made by us."
Cassie gripped the locket tighter. It squirmed in her hand, but she ignored it. "I thought it was the Thief's?"
Norvina scowled. "That filthy creature found it when he invaded our home. We were forced to flee when others found out about our order and rallied to have us crucified. We were never able to return after that."
"Why not?" Cassie asked. "You're here now. You're alive."
"Am I?" Norvina said with a sickly smile. And then she changed.
Her skin crumbled to dust, revealing parched white bone. Her eyeballs and teeth clattered to the ground, her dark hair falling out in great clumps until only a skull remained. The grey robes she wore withered into tatters that clung to her ribs and pelvis. The only things that remained intact were her necklace and ring and the sword that dangled precariously from a bony hip.
Cassie stared, horrified. Somewhere behind her, Peter retched, and her friends made various noises of shock and disgust. When Cassie blinked, Norvina was normal again, but Cassie knew that image would haunt her for the rest of her life.
"The locket is my last tether to this world," Norvina explained. "Our spirits imprinted upon it when it was forged. The locket is us; made from our own flesh, bone, blood, and magic."
"Then where are the others?" Cassie asked when she found her voice again. "Why are you the only one that appeared?"
"Because you are my blood." Norvina placed a hand on the pommel of her sword. "If another descendant of my sisters' lines had the locket, then that sister would appear to her own descendant. It is the only way to keep the secrets of our magic safe, that way no one person would have access to all its power at once. Only all seven of our blood can wield it together."
Cassie frowned. "But my brother was able to enchant it with a message last year. How could he use it then?"
"The locket has many properties," Norvina said. "Some do not require anything more than a proper magic user to activate such things."
"But what is the locket?" she said, shaking it in her fist angrily. "How come it came back when I tried to get rid of it? How come a mark that looks just like it appeared on my freaking head the night I turned seventeen?"
"You are an Alderfair," Norvina said. "You bear my mark, and thus the mark of the Seven. It appeared on the night you came of age because the magic that runs in my blood also runs in yours. You are now one of the Seven Elders, descended from the original order."
"Meaning what?" Cassie said, her very bones cold at the words.
"You now have access to the locket's true power, so long as you have the other six descendants with you," the ancient witch said.
"But what does it do?" Cassie demanded, frustrated.
"Everything," Norvina said, a touch of reverence in her deep voice. "Nothing. Whatever you want it to do. The locket is the beginning, the middle, and the end of all magic in this world. Every arcane art is contained in it, fueled by the remnants of the Fountain of Youth. You could conquer the world if you wanted to, or create a new one entirely."
"No one has that much power," Sirius broke in, speaking up for the first time since Norvina appeared. He came to stand by Cassie's shoulder, facing the ancient witch squarely. "You would have to be gods to have that much magic at your disposal."
"My dear," Norvina cooed, "you have no idea what is possible with magic. Especially in the days when the very gods you speak of shared their ichor with mortals and taught us things you could never dream of."
Norvina's words reminded Cassie of what Will had told her, standing before their parents' tombs: "Our ancestors wielded magic and might when gods still mingled with the mortals of this world. Lord Voldemort forgets who the true royalty of the Wizarding world is."
Cassie flung the locket at Norvina's feet. Norvina, Sirius, and everyone else stared at her.
"Take it," Cassie said, her voice hoarse. "Take it back. I don't want it."
"Cassie—" Sirius said, but she shook her head vigorously.
"I don't want it!" she said shrilly. "Take it, destroy it—I don't care! I don't want it!"
Norvina glared down at her. "There is no way to destroy it. Not by yourself. Only with the other descendants or by giving it to someone unworthy of its power do you have even a sliver of a chance."
"Take it back!" Cassie screamed at her. "Take it back and get the hell out of my life!"
"You are me," Norvina said, "and I am you, child. Ridding yourself of the locket would mean forsaking all magic in your blood. It is bound to you now."
For a wild second, Cassie thought of it—stripping away her magic if it would mean getting rid of the locket forever. The pain and misery it had brought upon her just in the last year made her want to snap her wand in half and be done with it.
But she couldn't do it. Her magic was her. Forsaking it would be akin to ripping her own heart out of her chest. She couldn't.
Cassie picked up the locket again and met Norvina's black stare.
"So," she said, her voice eerily calm. "The locket is bound to me, you say?"
Norvina nodded. "You will not have access to its full power, but what residual is there, you control it."
Cassie closed her fist around the locket. "Very well, then." She looked at Norvina. "By what magic is in my blood, I banish you."
Norvina's black eyes widened. "You dare?"
"I banish you," Cassie repeated. "You are bound to the locket, same as me, but I forbid you from ever taking a physical form again. Your spirit belongs to the locket now, forever."
Norvina drew her sword in a glint of silver. "You insolent child—!"
But then she was gone.
The locket shuddered angrily in Cassie's palm, but she put it around her neck and closed the clasp. The familiar weight returned to her chest, and the locket became still once more when it linked itself to her heart.
There was a beat of silence until Cassie turned and faced her friends. Each face was equally drained of blood when they met her stare, but Cassie startled them all when she suddenly smiled brightly.
"Well," she said, "that's one problem solved."
He watched the eight Gryffindors troop back to the castle, their shadows warped and lengthened across the moonlit grounds like black ink spilled over parchment. His eyes narrowed when he recognized the four boys, his lips pulling back in a sneer as Cassie Alderfair trailed in their wake, forever chained to their side like a prisoner of her own making. The other two girls he couldn't care less about, but when his gaze found Lily Evans and her bright scarlet hair, his heart twisted like someone had physically reached into his chest and mangled it.
Claudia Carlisle may have been dead now, but if there was one thing the ill-fated witch had taught him, it was to always study your enemy's movements—to learn all their secrets and weaknesses. His eyes fastened on Remus Lupin, walking side-by-side with the cowardly Peter Pettigrew. He knew Lupin was hiding something—a secret even greater than any that Cassie Alderfair had. And he would find out what it was.
As the Gryffindors reached the castle doors, he melted back into the shadows, invisible to any wandering eye.
He would wait. And when he was sure…
Then he would strike.
Let me know what you thought!
This chapter is a mess but if there's one thing Cassie learned, it's that if you have an annoying ancestor, just lock them up! We definitely haven't seen the last of Norvina, or the mystery of the Seven yet... I think my favorite scene to write though was Sirius calling Cassie out on her bullshit. Love her, but someone needed to say it.
Stay safe out there!
Next Chapter: The Prisoner
