Cassiopeia Pandora Gaunt Black, a young pure-blood witch, sets off on a journey at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Forging a special friendship with Draco Malfoy and the golden trio , she emerges as a courageous and ambitious young witch...
Cassi paused for a moment, lost in her thoughts. Her mother had allowed her to spend the holidays with the Malfoys, but she hadn't responded to any of her other letters, which was extremely concerning. Noctua never left Cassi without news, but lately, the messages she received were only brief notes reminding her of her love and apologizing for Merlin knows what.
"Yes, I will," she said with a somewhat uncertain smile. But her words were enough to make Narcissa clap her hands with joy.
"Great! We need to find dresses," she said excitedly.
Cassi should have expected this. Draco had warned her that Narcissa would try to persuade her into buying dresses for the ball if she decided to stay.
"Need a dress fitting?" Cassi asked, already anticipating the answer.
"Yes, of course, dear. You'll need one for the ball, won't you? Unless you brought your own?" Narcissa asked casually. "By the way, I'd love to see you wearing the last dress I gave you. I had a mental vision based on Draco's description." Cassi swallowed hard. Narcissa's gaze made her shiver.
"I don't have one, but it's okay, I'm sure I'll find one," Cassi replied. She could see Draco shaking his head, almost desperate, out of his mother's view.
"Nonsense, we'll find a dress together," Narcissa said. Cassi looked at Draco, who whispered to her to accept.
"Of course, Narcissa," Cassi smiled, giving up any resistance against the woman.
She seemed delighted to finally have someone to accompany her on her dress shopping. And Cassi apparently would be her dress-up doll.
"We'll all be ready to go at ten. I believe we'll do the shopping first and then meet up for lunch, what do you think?" Narcissa proposed. Both nodded, not arguing with the matriarch.
(...)
Diagon Alley was busier than usual, probably due to the Christmas gift demand. Narcissa held Cassiopeia's hand not to loe her in the crowd, or at least that was the excuse used to touch each other. Cassi was undoubtedly not complaining.
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They parted from Draco and headed to a high-end store: Madame Malkin's Boutique. Narcissa seemed extremely excited, looking at all the available pieces, and Cassiopeia couldn't help but feel the same excitement; she had always enjoyed shopping.
"Ah, Lady Malfoy," greeted a middle-aged witch, seemingly enchanted to have Narcissa in her shop. "It's an honor to have you here. How may I assist you?"
Narcissa ignored the flattery and gently pushed her forward. "Miss Gaunt and I would like to see your finest party dresses."
The woman seemed even more enchanted by Cassi's surname. "By Salazar... Of course... Well, I think I have something perfect," she winked at Cassi and went upstairs in search of the dresses.
