"So, how are you doing, darling?" Narcissa asked, taking a sip from her herbal tea.
"Doing well," Cassiopeia looked around, taking in the place she hadn't seen for three years. "I miss this place."
Narcissa had received permission from Dumbledore to bring Cassiopeia to Malfoy Manor for a few hours. Cassiopeia was happy to be back at the place she had once called home.
"We miss you too," Narcissa smiled, gesturing to Cassiopeia's untouched tea. "Uncle also wanted to see you, but he went to the Ministry for some work."
"How is he?" Cassiopeia asked, recalling that she hadn't had a chance to speak with him. "I mean, after all the Voldemort stuff and everything."
"He has changed now," Narcissa smiled. "At least he's now concerned about Draco, unlike those days. I hope you received the box I sent you."
Cassiopeia nodded and took a sip from her tea.
"I don't know what to say, but..." Cassiopeia bit her bottom lip, searching for the right words. "...it hurts knowing that I love the person who ruined everything, you know? It's so complicated."
"Draco has enlightened me about what happened between Tom and you, and..." Narcissa paused, her hands shaking as she tightly clutched her teacup. "And Draco. I'm not saying it isn't fair to feel angry, but he's not the person you think, sweetheart."
Cassiopeia was growing weary of hearing the same refrain. What was so mysterious about Tom?
"I'm aware that there's something you're hiding from me," Cassiopeia began, watching her aunt's shaky hands gripping the cup tightly. "Auntie, what's bothering you?"
"Cassie," Lucius entered the dining room, and Cassiopeia turned to greet him. "How are you?"
"I'm fine, Uncle," Cassiopeia smiled, surprised to see Lucius Malfoy with a smile on his face. "I hope things at the Ministry are going well."
"At least I was saved from ending up in Azkaban," he nodded, taking a seat at the head of the table. "The Dark Lord removed the mark I had, so they didn't have enough evidence to imprison me."
"Thanks Merlin," Cassiopeia sighed, taking another sip of her hot tea. "I forgot to remove your mark, though. Last year, I did erase Draco's mark."
"Narcissa told me, Cass," he pressed his lips together, glancing at his wife, who sat across from Cassiopeia. "How's Draco? We haven't received any letters from him."
"Actually, he's not well," Cassiopeia admitted, offering them an apologetic look as they exchanged glances filled with regret. "He's been acting really strangely. I asked him what was bothering him, but he wouldn't tell me. However, one day, something slipped out when he was attacked by Harry."
"Harry Potter?" Lucius raised an eyebrow as Cassiopeia nodded.
"There's a Gryffindor girl named Katie Bell," Cassiopeia explained, providing them with information about what was happening at Hogwarts. "She was hexed by an unknown person. The day she returned from the hospital, Draco's behavior changed. He rushed to the boys' lavatory, he was visibly stressed, and I've never seen him like that before. It's... it's really difficult to see him in that state."
Lucius held Narcissas hand when a tear slipped from her pale cheek.
"He—he said something weird, that he cannot let anyone kill Auntie," Cassiopeia closed her eyes, recalling the memory. "I didn't have much time to ask since Harry came out of the blue and told that Draco is the one who hexed Bell. He continued saying the same thing, and it ended up with casting a spell at one another. Suddenly, Harry cast the spell which Bellatrix used on me."
"How could that pathetic Potter do that to my son?" Lucius Malfoy slammed his fist against the table, making Cassiopeia jump. "What happened then?"
"Luckily, Snape appeared that day. He healed him and took him to the Hospital Wing," Cassiopeia sighed. "Actually, can you two at least tell me what's going on in Tom's mind? I'm very well aware there is something going on in his mind, and you two know that. I suspected that Draco's weird behavior has some connection, doesn't it, Uncle?"
"The Dark Lord wants Draco to kill Dumbledore," Narcissa's voice broke as Cassiopeia choked on her tea, dropping the cup on her suit.
"What?" She looked at them with wide eyes, forgetting that her uniform was already ruined with tea. "Are you two joking?"
"It's the truth," Lucius confirmed, making her face darken. "He wants to kill Potter. Since Dumbledore is protecting him, the Dark Lord wants to get rid of him first so it will be easier to get Potter killed."
Cassiopeia felt her eyes darken with what she had just heard. Tom was after Dumbledore and Harry! She buried her head in her hands and processed everything in her mind.
So, that was why Draco said he overheard those two names. But Tom had no different expression. He acted normal all the time.
"Why—why didn't you two tell me about it?" Cassiopeia stammered, uncovering her face. "You could have told me before."
"We were afraid for your life, Cassiopeia," Lucius spoke. "Honestly, Draco and you are like our children, though you did some stupid things at the Ministry..." a slight laugh escaped from his mouth. "We care about both of you. We knew that the moment we told you, you would surely get into trouble with him because he insisted we not tell you. Everything depended on our life, our family. I didn't want to see my family ruined by him."
The remorse was visible on his face. Cassiopeia had never imagined what could have changed the usually arrogant Lucius Malfoy into this caring person. He was caring for them, the man who was always busy at the Ministry and didn't care whether he had a family, now saying he cares for his family.
"Now you're with him, and we have no daughter now," another sadistic chuckle escaped from his lips. "I need to see all of you be safe. I never thought Draco has to pay for my failure. It was the last thing I wanted to see in my life. Since you already broke up with him, we both decided you should know everything. That is why we started from the memory of your parents."
"I—I'm sorry, I didn't know about any of these things," Cassiopeia's voice broke as she looked at the couple. "I can assure that I won't let Draco kill Dumbledore."
"What are you going to do, Cassie?" Narcissa asked as Cassiopeia got up from the chair. "He's a dangerous man, you know."
"I'm aware of that," Cassiopeia sighed, closing her eyes. "Everything in my life gets harder and more complicated day by day." She automatically slumped into a chair. "First, I thought my dad committed suicide, then Kreacher told the whole story. It wasn't true."
"What do you mean?" her uncle furrowed his brows.
"There is something really dark that made Voldemort immortal," Cassiopeia began. "Actually, they are some objects. Can you remember the old diary you put into the Weasley girl's bucket years ago?"
He nodded as she continued, "That was one of them. And Slytherin's locket, Ravenclaw's diadem, Gaunt's ring, and I assume that there were many more. It's extremely dark magic, and I assume he has some more."
"He gave the Hufflepuff cup to Bellatrix those days," her aunt chimed in as Cassiopeia nodded.
"Exactly, he needed all the heirlooms for that," she explained. "But I guess Gryffindor's sword is with Dumbledore because Harry used it to kill the Basilisk."
"Kill the Basilisk?" her uncle frowned. "How do you know all these, and what about the Basilisk?"
Cassiopeia rubbed her temple, leaning her back against the chair.
"I hope you know about the backstory of Cassiopeia Lestrange and my dreams, yeah?" her aunt nodded. "Uhmm.. well, Tom used some kind of dark charms on Cassiopeia Lestrange's soul to get her back. But it worked after fifty years, which means it's me. That's why I had so many dreams since I was eleven. I didn't know it's Voldemort, but eventually I got to know and had to research everything."
They looked at each other with wide eyes and then at Cassiopeia with curious eyes.
"I found the Slytherin locket first. Kreacher, my father's house elf, gave it to me," Cassiopeia explained. "Dad got to know about the locket thing, so he replaced it with a fake one in a cave. The protection in that cave was terrible. There is poisoned potion in a basin where the locket is hidden. It induces fears, stomach ache, and thirst. Dad drank it, and he tried to drink water from the lake to quench his thirst when the monsters in that lake dragged him to his death."
She looked away, feeling terrible about her father's story. He was a hero who should be alive to see what's happening now.
"The real locket was with Kreacher, which I got later. Then the diary, which was already damaged by Harry. I used phoenix tears to bring the diary to life and met Tom's sixteen-year-old soul."
"In the name of Slytherin, did you do all this alone?" her uncle gasped, and Cassiopeia nodded. "Didn't Draco know?"
"I didn't tell anyone, except Kreacher, since he was the only one aware of that magic," she shrugged. "I opened the Chamber of Secrets to meet him because he wanted to meet me there. And can you remember once you told me and Draco that when the Chamber was opened fifty years ago, a Muggle-born died?"
Her uncle nodded, but her aunt was quick to speak, "Cassie, why did you do such dangerous things? Do you know it could ruin your life?"
"I know, but I was curious, and, um, I liked Tom since then," Cassiopeia cleared her throat awkwardly. "I know this sounds crazy, but I couldn't move on from my dreams. Back to the Chamber, I think you can remember Moaning Myrtle in the abandoned girls' lavatory. Tom used the Basilisk of Salazar Slytherin to kill her and preserved his sixteen-year-old self in that diary. That's why I told you, it's extremely dark because you have to kill someone to use that type of magic."
"Lucius, tell me I'm in a dream," Narcissa rested her hand on her chest, trying to catch her breath. "Cassie, you should tell everything. Why did you hide it for years? You could have told me at least; we were closer."
"I'm sorry, but I had no choice because I needed to protect Tom from Voldemort," Cassiopeia looked down. "I know it was silly, but I couldn't help it."
"Cassie, you should know that we are with you anytime," Lucius spoke. "We'd never let anyone harm you. That's why I asked Narcissa to send you to Sirius Black as soon as the Dark Lord entered the Manor."
Cassiopeia looked at him with wide eyes. She had thought it was entirely her loving auntie's doing. She shifted her gaze to her aunt, who nodded in confirmation.
"The soul in the diary told me that if his master's soul can regret what he had done, the dark magic can be reversed. The soul he preserved in all the objects will become one, so—" Cassiopeia looked at their terrified eyes. "—after Sirius's death, he visited me at Black House."
"We thought you were with the Weasleys," Lucius shook his head. "When Dumbledore said you were attacked by Bellatrix, it gave me a shock. The Dark Lord sent her to find you. She informed him but not us. Then the next evening, he left the Manor, and he didn't come back for a day. We were afraid of what was happening since we had no idea where you were. Draco even sent a letter saying you didn't arrive at Hogwarts, and Weasley confirmed that you didn't go there. We thought we lost you."
"No, I was tired and upset with everything that had happened at the Ministry," Cassiopeia pressed her lips, looking back and forth between them. "The day he visited me, he was shocked to see me. Actually, we talked... well, it's terrible to look at his red eyes. But he regretted what he had done..."
"Does he love you, Cassie?" Narcissa asked, making Cassiopeia gasp. "Does he still love the girl he fell for fifty years ago?"
"He loved, not now... you know," Cassiopeia shrugged her shoulders. "Bellatrix attacked me when she saw Tom. She persuaded Tom to come back, but he refused, which made her furious. Once Tom learned that only Snape could heal me, he Obliviated Bellatrix."
"That makes sense," Narcissa put her hand to her forehead. "Bella came that day silently. When we asked where the Dark Lord was, she said, 'Who is that?'"
"This is a lot. I never thought you had this much as a secret," Lucius said. "I'm proud of you."
"Wa—what?" Cassiopeia gasped, hearing him say something he'd never said to Draco.
"We both are proud of you, Cassiopeia," uncle smiled at her, and she blinked her eyes twice. She pinched her hand to confirm that she wasn't in a dream. "For your age, it's a lot. You dealt with the most dangerous dark wizard. No one could even stand against him. But you... I still can't believe it. If Regulus and Vivien were alive, they would feel blessed to have a brave daughter like you."
"I don't think so," Cassiopeia bit her bottom lip, rubbing her face. "They are probably ashamed of me for loving their murderer."
"If we are your parents, it's obvious we are proud of you more than ever," Narcissa spoke, her voice tinged with both fondness and irritation. "We are a little bit annoyed since you hid it. Vivi would have locked you in a room if she were here."
Cassiopeia slowly uncovered her face, her eyes glistening with tears as she watched a low chuckle escape from her auntie's lips.
"But just as tricky as Regulus," Lucius chimed in, a hint of a smile in his tone. "So, what are you going to do with the current situation?"
Cassiopeia wiped her tears away and mustered a reassuring smile. "I have no plan, but I'll keep my eyes on Draco all the time. I won't let Draco kill Dumbledore. I guess I have three lives to take care of."
Uncle raised his brow, a mixture of pride and concern in his eyes. "It's not a big deal when you've already done unbelievable things. Take care of yourself, Cassiopeia. As much as we care about our son, we care about you. I know, even though I didn't say it to him, I'm proud of Draco for being strong, keeping everything in his mind without telling us what he really feels."
Cassiopeia's eyes softened with affection as she spoke. "He's the best. If he isn't there with me, I don't know what I can do with everything. Tell him that you're proud of him. I don't think there's much worthier praise in his life."
A/N
Very long chapter with a family conversation!!!!
~ monoceros_x 🦄