( chapter eighty )
tw: abuse
"HURRY UP YOU LOT, WE'RE ALREADY running late as it is."
"Completely Reggie's fault."
"100% his fault."
"You were the two that locked in in the bathroom, telling him to 'Stay in there or else we'll-" James was quick to put a hand over his girlfriends mouth, stopping her from saying more as his mother turned to face him with an eyebrow raised.
The family of six were walking, rather hurriedly seeing as they were almost late, through the crowded, station of Platform 9 3/4.
James was holding Cassie's hand as they walked side by side, luckily for the three Blacks and James, Euphemia and Fleamont had offered to take their trunks for them - something they were all grateful for.
Euphemia only shook her head with a small smile making its way onto her face, Fleamont let out a small laugh.
James and Sirius quickly turned to face Cassie as Fleamont began to talk to Regulus about something in a hushed whisper.
"See, Cass, if our relationship is going to work out, you can't go tell mum whenever I do something stupid." James said, grabbing his girlfriend gently by the shoulders and holding her away from him.
Sirius was standing on his tip-toes to see over James' shoulders, but he was nodding vigorously as he did so, despite the fact he kept loosing his balance.
Cassie raised an eyebrow as she crossed her arms.
"Who said I want this relationship to work?"
James looked as if he was going to say something, before what Cassie said fully processed in his mind - Sirius was now laughing as he said:
"She got you there Prongs."
James blinked a few times, before he turned around and punched Sirius lightly on the arm. Then he turned back to Cassie.
He pouted and Cassie let out a laugh, shaking her head softly.
"Did you mean that?" He asked in a serious tone, Cassie quickly shook her head more.
Cassie shrugged, but the grin on her gave away that she was only joking, and James raised an eyebrow before his hands moved from Cassie's shoulders to her waist.
Cassie was thinking that James was going to pull her in for a hug or for a kiss; so she was definitely surprised when he quickly picked her up and placed her over his shoulder, her face almost hitting his back.
"James- put me down."
"No, I'll have to kidnap you if you don't want the relationship to work."
"James, I was joking-"
"No."
Sirius shook his head as he watched James carry Cassie in the direction that Euphemia, Fleamont and Regulus has gone, letting out little laughs as he heard parts of their conversation:
"You need to do more squats." Cassie mumbled, but still loud enough for James to hear.
"What on earth are you going on about, love?"
"You have a flat arse,"
James let out a loud laugh as Cassie hit his butt.
"See, flat."
Cassie said something else, lifting her head up to say it.
But she soon trailed off, her eyes widening as she caught sight of something in the crowd. Her face became as white as a sheet and she seemed to be at a loss for words.
"James." She said, she sounded both frightened and stressed. "Put me down."
James, who noticed how she didn't seem to be joking anymore, quickly placed her down and stood in front of her, his eyebrows creased in worry.
"Cass, what's up-" Cassie looked up at him, before she shook her head.
She walked around him, before she pushed past other people.
James and Sirius shared a look before the two of them quickly followed after her, using her dark hair as an indictor of where she was in the thick crowds of people.
"What the fuck are you doing here?"
Cassie's voice cut through the air like knives, the venom in her tone as evident as the new scars that littered her soft skin.
James and Sirius shared another look, realising that they had to get to Cassie before something happened to her.
They pushed past a few more people, before they were standing right in front of the Hogwarts Express, however, there was a small crowd of people forming around an area of the train.
The two of them quickly rushed over to the crowd, James standing on his tip-toes to try and see over their heads, but he heard who she was talking to before he saw them.
"We are here to bring you home."
He'd heard Walburga and Orion speak a few times before, but never had he heard their voices sound as full of hatred as they did at that moment.
James pushed past a few people, not even bothering to apologise as at that moment he needed to get to Cassie before any of them did something they would soon come to regret.
But, if Cassie beats them up, I'm cheering her on. James thought to himself as he caught sight of Cassie, the broken look on her face was enough to make his heart ache.
"You what?" She asked, her fingers twitching besides her as she desperately wanted to reach for her wand.
"We are here to bring you home, Cassiopeia."
James was now standing behind Cassie, he saw Sirius standing the other side of his and Cassie's parents, his eyes wide as he saw the people who had ruined so much of his and his siblings lives before they even realised what living meant.
"Home?" She repeated, all anger had left her voice and now it just sounded empty and emotionless.
She sounded just as broken as she felt on the inside.
She knew that when she went to the Potters everything wouldn't be perfect the moment she stepped into their house. She always knew that. But she at least expected to feel whole again not long after, as if the Potters were the glue she needed to place the pieces of her life back together.
It was when she kept having nightmares that Cassie realised she may not have had all the pieces she needed to make her feel whole again and standing in front of her parents - neither of them looking as if they had any remorse for what they had put her through even though it was something that would haunt her like a shadow for the rest of her life - she knew that she would make her own pieces with her new family, with people she knew loved her and she knew she loved too.
"Home?" She said again, but this time her voice was slightly louder and full of more life.
Walburga nodded.
James grabbed Cassie's hand, his thumb instantly running over the back of her hand without a second to spare.
She closed her eyes for a short while, everyone was still as they stared at the five of them.
No-one noticed Fleamont quickly walk Regulus in the other direction as he caught sight of the people who had birthed him, nor did they notice Euphemia quietly make her way through the crowd people which had now grown.
"You are fucking mental, the both of you. Deluded, maybe you should go to Saint Mungo's and get your minds checked out - oh wait, you already knew your minds were fucked." Cassie stopped for a moment, thinking through her next words.
"I'm surprised my mind isn't even more fucked to be honest." She added on, her voice once again sounding rather empty, but it was soon replaced with anger once again.
Walburga and Orion shared a look.
"Grimmauld Place was never home and it never will be." Cassie's voice cracked slightly, her hand raised to wipe her nose and the few tears that had fallen from her eyes without her knowing.
"A home is somewhere you feel loved and cared for, where you know you won't be moulded into a form of something that looks perfect from afar, but when you have a closer look you can see the cracks that lay on the surface but are just covered up. A home is somewhere you know you can be yourself without the worry of getting abused by your own fucking parents because you thought something different than them, or because you changed one small thing about yourself. A house is a building, but a home isn't, home is the people you are with."
Cassie took a small breath.
"I've felt more at home with James and the Potters than I ever did with you. You two are absolute bastards and I hope you rot in hell-"
Before anyone could realise what was happening, Orion had taken thee steps forwards and slapped Cassie hard across the face.
The red imprint of his hand was showing up on her skin the moment he pulled his hand away.
Cassie raised her hand to her cheek, a stinging sensation going across her skin as she did so, she turned around and buried her face into James' chest.
James was quick to run his hand up and down her back while whispering into her ear, he could feel her tears soaking his shirt.
Sirius looked as if he was going to say something, but Euphemia, who was now standing behind him, stopped him from doing so.
Her eyes were filled with tears, but she wasn't letting them fall.
Orion walked back over to his wife, straightening his suit with a small tug on the fabric.
Euphemia tapped Orion on the shoulder, a sickly sweet smile on her face.
He and Walburga turned around, his eyes flashed with anger as he looked down at the woman in front of him.
"I'd leave after this." She stated, her voice soft while still rather sharp.
Orion furrowed his eyebrows and went to respond, but Euphemia quickly punched him in the face before he got a word out.
CRACK!
"Not my daughter you bitch."
The two oldest Blacks looked as if they were going to retaliate, but blood was now pouring down Orion's face from his nose - which was obviously broken.
He grabbed his wife and the two were gone without another word being spoken between them and anyone else.
Euphemia rubbed her already bruising hand on her skirt, before she looked up at the crowd that was still surrounding them.
"Alright, show's over."
･・･☽✥☾･・･
CAN ONE DIRECTION
PLEASE JUST RUN ME OVER
NIALL AND HARRY CAN
DO IT TWICE, I DON'T MIND
PLEASE
ANYWAYS
HOW ARE YOU ALL?
I JUST HAD A CARROT
SO IM VERY GOOD :)
MY BBY CASSIE, I LOVE
HER SO MUCH ISTG
SHE'S BEEN THROUGH
SO MUCH
I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER AS USUAL PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT AND WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE NEXT
UNTIL NEXT TIME
- Emily xx