"You're a mother, Ma. You're also a monster. But so am I–which is why I can't turn away from you. Which is why I have taken god's loneliest creation and put you inside it."

Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

Orion, as she was prone to do, complicated things.

She very adamantly refused to stay behind. And she was as (if not more) stubborn than Cass. Which meant trouble.

They fought about it. A real, screaming, slamming doors fight. Which was rare for them.

Rye accused Cassiopeia of treating her like a doll, and acting as if she was her mother. Cass accused Rye of being a spoiled brat, and never listening.

It took them over a week to come to an agreement. And Cass... had to give in. Rye would be allowed to go along to England, but only if she agreed to do as Cass said, and not to leave the house, unless she was accompanied by either Cassiopeia or a pre-approved adult.

So here they were. All in all, it wasn't so bad going back to England. Cass got to see her (biological) grandmother and aunts and uncles who lived there, which was nice because she missed them.

They were currently staying at Grandma Muna's house, mostly because the woman wouldn't hear about them staying anywhere else. But it was good. She was a great cook and Rye always listened to her.

A couple of days after Cass's questioning, she met with her friend Maury to talk about a possible gig editing the zine he worked for. It'd be a good little freelance job. If it materialized.

Either way, Cassiopeia took longer than she'd thought in the meeting, so she had to rush home in order to make it to a much-dreaded meeting.

"Rye! Are you ready? It's time to go," Cassiopeia called out the second she opened the door to her grandmother's midsized cottage.

Cass was about to climb up the stairs to go get her sister when Rye emerged like a ghost from the kitchen. She did not look ready. She was dressed but her hair was a mess. Then Cass noticed her face. She looked upset.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She sounded like she was holding back tears.

Cass's gaze travelled down to the newspaper in Orion's hands. Cass snatched it from her. MALFOY HEIR IMPLICATED IN BOXING DAY ATTACKS.

Oh, fuck. "Where did you get this?"

"I'm fourteen, I can get a newspaper by myself."

That wasn't an answer. "I have told you many times that the Daily Prophet is a corrupt organization."

Rye crossed her arms over her chest. "So, it's not true then?"

Cass gritted her teeth. She quickly went over the article. It was brief. Talking about her being a suspect in the case.

...Malfoy, 24, was seen at the DMLE this past Tuesday and has been 'minutely questioned' by several Aurors...

Cass had to resist the urge to tear the page apart. She settled for a frustrated sigh. "It's not technically... untrue."

"What the hell, Cass!" Rye cried.

"This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you."

"So, you would've let me find out when you were put on trial?"

"I would've told you, eventually, if you let me. But right now things aren't that clear. I didn't want you to be upset before anything even happened."

Rye groaned in frustration. "I've told you so many times that I want to know these things. I don't like it when you lie to me."

"Yes, I know. But I am your fucking guardian, Rye. So I get to decide what you need to know."

Rye sniffled. "Sometimes I wish you weren't!"

"Well, I don't care. Because I am. Now go get fucking ready to go to Mother's."

Rye glared at Cassiopeia through glassy reddened eyes. Then she took a shuddering breath and said, "I don't want you to go to prison."

Cass's gaze softened. "I won't."

Rye didn't look like she believed her for a second. But she wiped a tear from her cheek and turned to go upstairs.

But Cass grabbed her by the wrist to stop her. She pulled the girl into her arms and squeezed her tight. Pressed a kiss on top of her head. "Everything will be alright, okay?"

Rye nodded weakly. "I lied. I like that you're my guardian."

Cass smiled. "I know."

Rye went off to finish getting ready, and they took the Flu to Malfoy Manor.

Neither Cass nor Rye had been there since December. It was odd being there again. Especially under the circumstances. Cass would've rather stayed well away from the place. But Narcissa very rarely ventured outside the manor these days. And she would be very upset if she found out Cass and Rye were in England and hadn't told her. Luckily, Mother did not read the Daily Prophet, so there was still a good chance she didn't know they'd been there for more than a few days.

"Sweethearts," Narcissa greeted them in that airy, faraway tone she'd been stuck in for the past few years. "Oh, I'm so happy to see you."

Narcissa pulled both girls into her chest.

"Yeah, you too, Mother," Cass said.

"I missed you, Mama," Rye said in that childish tone she always got when she was around Narcissa.

"Come into the sunroom. I'll have Freckle fetch us some tea."

The three of them walked through the house together and Cass almost had to close her eyes so the memories wouldn't return to the forefront of her brain.

"How are you, Freckle?" Cass asked when the elf came into the room with their tea.

"Very good, Miss. Your mother is very kind to Freckle," the elf said as she adjusted her crochet hat.

Cass was almost sure Narcissa had asked Freckle to say that but she didn't call her out on it. "I'm very glad to hear that. You let me know if there's anything you need."

"Of course, Miss. Thank you."

"What brings you to this part of the world, darling?" Narcissa asked.

"Work," Cass responded.

Narcissa nodded, even though she didn't believe her. "Oh, I mustn't forget... you should pay a visit to your grandmother while you're here. Andromeda said she's not been well lately."

Cassiopeia raised a brow. "You've been talking to Aunt Andromeda?"

Narcissa sighed lightly. "She writes me sometimes, you know that."

"Right."

"Do you want us to go with you to visit her, Mama?" Rye asked, and though she meant well, Cass had no idea what in Merlin's name had made her ask that.

"It's all right, darling. You don't have to do that."

And thankfully, Rye dropped the matter.

Then Mother asked about Rye's schooling, and Rye proceeded to bullshit her way through a detailed description of various fake events happening at Ilvermorny. There was some truth sprinkled in there, which only made the lie better. Cass had taught her well. She could've cried.

After some more inoffensive conversation, Cass glanced at the clock and decided it was time to bite the bullet. "Rye, will you leave us for a minute? I need to talk with Mother about a serious matter," Cass said in the most casual tone she could muster. "Go to your room," she added in Arabic. One of the phrases they both knew well.

Narcissa flinched slightly when she heard the Arabic, but her smile didn't drop.

"Mother," Cass started. "I need to ask something of you."

Narcissa fidgeted with her spoon.

"Soon, Aurors are going to come knocking on your door. And I need you to talk to them."

Alarm raised in Narcissa's eyes, but she remained calm.

"I told them you're away travelling and I've only talked to you via correspondence. But if they can't track you down 'abroad', they'll know something's up. So, you have to come home soon. They're going to ask you about my whereabouts on December 26 of last year." Cass took a deep breath. "And I want you to tell them the truth."

Narcissa made a pained face, and Cass could tell by her eyes that things were starting to go downhill. "W-why... why do they want to know t-that? Cassiopeia w-what..." A tear fell from her eyes. "You haven't–you haven't done anything w-wrong." She was full-on crying now.

"I know that, Mum, but–"

Cass was interrupted by a deep guttural cry from her mother.

Narcissa fell into a heap on the floor before Cass could try to hold her up. Her hands went into her hair and started pulling–hard. "MY BABY–PLEASE NO."

Cassiopeia dropped down to try and calm her down. "It's okay, Mum. It's okay. I'm okay. Orion's okay." Cass gulped. "Draco's okay. We're all fine."

It did not seem to work.

Then, thankfully, Mother's nurse, Carey, came into the room.

"I'm sorry," Cass said to her.

"Don't sweat it, darling," Carey said as she leaned down close to Narcissa. She coaxed some potion into her mouth and Narcissa started calming down as Carey whispered into her ear.

"We should go, please tell her we were here if she forgets," Cass said.

"Sure, dear," Carey said.

Cassiopeia looked at her mother one final time. She had almost gone limp, her eyes glazed over. It was still hard seeing her like this. Cass walked out of the room.

Cass tried not to think about Narcissa too much anymore. It only made her feel terrible. How was it possible to still love someone who had caused you so much hurt? It was something Cass had grappled with for the past seven years. Her relationship with her mother had not been all that healthy to begin with but at least Cass had always known that her mother loved her and always wanted the best for her. Until Cassiopeia found out her mother was not actually her mother. That she had stolen her from another woman. It was unforgivable. And Cass had had half a mind to never speak to Narcissa again.

But she couldn't do it. She just couldn't. It wasn't as if Cass saw her every day. But she did visit her on the holidays, and sometimes in the summer. It was partly for Rye's sake. But a little bit for Cass's own sake too.

Cass could only hope that it would take a while for the Aurors to get to Narcissa. She doubted it would go well, but she couldn't stop it.

Cassiopeia spent most of the next day working on some essay and poem submissions for a bunch of literary and political journals. Only venturing outside in the late afternoon, to meet with Harry, who had kind of suspiciously asked her to meet him at a Muggle café in central London to go over some things relating to her case. Obviously, Cassiopeia had refused to meet in central London, and Harry had agreed to meet her closer to her place in Harrow.

Cass soon found out exactly why Harry had been kind of shady when asking to meet with her. He wasn't alone.

"What is she doing here?" Cass said, a look of disgust on her face.

Harry looked alarmed. He stood up from his seat. "Um, Cassiopeia let me–"

"I didn't come here to try and help you only to be treated like this," Hermione huffed.

"Fine by me, you can leave."

Harry was looking between like the two of them like a deer caught in headlights.

"You're absolutely insufferable!" Hermione exclaimed.

Cass raised a brow. "Well, at least I'm not a fucking cunt."

Hermione reached for her wand.

"Why don't you fight me like a fucking woman, Granger?" Cassiopeia said as she took off her silver drop earrings and placed them on the table. Harry tried to call her attention but she ignored him.

Then, Cass went for the kill. She tackled Hermione into a hug.

Hermione immediately burst into laughter, and squeezed Cass back.

"Oh god, the look on his face," Cass laughed into Hermione's hair.

"He looked ready to run."

They each settled into their seats after brushing off their tears of laughter.

"What the f–" Harry's cheeks had grown pink. "I'd forgotten about this little... development."

"You don't say, Captain Obvious," Cass teased. "I think you were waiting to see if we'd start a catfight, you little perv."

Hermione held in a laugh.

Harry's blush had deepened. He scowled. "Ha ha."

"Serves you right for not simply telling me it was Hermione you wanted me to meet with. I would've agreed. Obviously."

"I feel like I'm within my right to forget that you two... are friendly now after going from being unbelievably nasty to each other to this, which I had never... witnessed before."

Hm, maybe he had a point. Hermione had told Cass long ago that Harry knew they'd talked things out. But he probably didn't know they were actual friends until this moment.

"Anyway," Hermione said. "Let's talk business." She slammed down a hefty roll of parchment on the table. "From what Harry's told me, it's extremely likely that your case will go to trial. What we have the most chance of changing is the charges. The murder charge could likely be dismissed because of the time frame in which the victim died. They're likely to drop that one if they think it's unlikely to get a unanimous guilty charge. There are few others that might be dropped, and I understand you are in fact the legal guardian of your fourteen-year-old sister, right?"

Cass nodded, a bit dumbfounded.

"Great. That is likely to prevent you from getting sent to Azkaban while you await trial. Though the arrest and getting put in a holding cell for at least a day or so might be inevitable, I won't lie to you."

A crease formed between Cassiopeia's brows. This was way too much at once. "Can you go back to the charges that could get dropped from the original list?"

Hermione explained again in a firm, confident tone that reminded Cass of her cousin's lawyer voice. Cass couldn't help being shocked by how much Hermione seemed to know about the case. The woman talked for almost an hour, with only some brief interruptions by Cass and Harry.

Cassiopeia wasn't sure how to feel about the whole thing once Hermione was done talking. Some of these things Cass knew from Proper Lawyer, but Hermione definitely had found some very interesting loopholes that could get Cass out of some trouble.

"How much do I owe you?" Cass asked, once they were getting ready to leave.

Hermione frowned. "What are you talking about? Nothing."

"Hermione. You did not do all that work for free."

"It's a favour, as a friend, both to you and to Harry."

Cass wasn't too sure how she felt about getting legal advice as a favour for Harry. "That was too much for just a favour, and you know it, so just tell me your going rate and I'll pay it."

Hermione gave her a look. "If you insist on paying, I'll send you an invoice."

Cass glowered at her. "Fine. But you will send it, Hermione Granger."

"I will!"

Both Harry and Hermione left soon after that, but not before Harry leaned close to Cass and whispered, "Are you–how are you holding up?"

Cass's heartbeat quickened ever so slightly. She wished it wouldn't. He smelled like clean linens. Cass could only nod in an a-ok gesture. And he left it alone.

Then, after Cass hugged Hermione goodbye and kissed her on the cheek, there was an awkward moment when she turned to Harry. Like should she shake his hand... that seemed weird. But Cass decided she was being ridiculous. Harry was her... someone she was friendly with. So, she reached up, slightly on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. Linens.