Every teenage girl's problems started from one particular person in her life. That was her mother.
The person who would notice every imperfection on her and would criticizes her for that.
You are too fat.
You have pimple on the top of your nose.
What is this dress?
What is this shirt?
And so on. And so on.
Cassiopea Black never actually realized how lucky she was for not having a mother until she got back from America. Apparently no one decided to inform Emma Rosier that her daughter was going to America with her aunt, Daphne and Kol (who Emma hated).
Once Mrs Black, now just another Rosier, Emma was waiting for her daughter on the staircase of 12 Grimmauld Place when Cassiopea appeared with Daphne. She looked once at Cassie, then at her friend, then back at Cassie and said, "You do realize that some people punish their children for going somewhere without asking, right?"
Cassie's eyebrows rose. "Excuse me? Since when you have any right to express an opinion?"
"I am your mother, Cassiopea."
"You left me. For 13 years. Dad stuck around more."
Those words burnt inside Cassie so hot that she almost fell down on her knees. Her wound had nothing to do with it this time.
"Oh, and the last time I checked, I was 17," Cassie went on.
"A mother is still..."
"YOU AREN'T MY MOTHER!" Cassie yelled. Andromeda froze at the kitchen door when Cassiopea pointed her. "That woman is my mother! She raised me! She loved me! And, unlike you, SHE WAS HERE!"
"I didn't have a choice..."
"Everyone has a choice," tears burnt in her eyes. "And I always screw them up. But you know what? I don't leave. I won't leave my family and my friends in the middle of the fight or before it has began. I won't leave anyone who needs my help."
It sounded stupid, she knew that. But Emma Rosier had no right to judge her when she had done something far worse.
She had left Cassie alone to wonder what life could have been if only someone chose her over their freaking believes. She had left and came back 13 years later.
13 years in which Cassie had had her first period, paralyzed in the Hospital Wing with her aunt Andromeda right next to her, stroking her hair gently. 13 year in which Cassie had had her first kiss, had had her first sex.
In those 13 years Cassiopea Black was alone. More alone than ever. She felt empty, she felt like the whole world was against her. She was bullied, left alone and so many things that she couldn't remember all of them. When she was alone in the darkness, Emma wasn't here. When she was in the light with her friends, finally starting the life she had dreamed of-a life with her family, a life of love and joy - Emma came back and ruined it.
And Emma had no right coming back here and telling her what she had to do or how she had to feel.
"Leave," Cassie said finally. "Leave just like you did when I was a child. Leave like Remus did. Leave!"
"Cassiopea..."
"When my father died you weren't here. I went through HELL and all of you, all of that fucking Order of whatever stood there and watched as I was grieving, calling it overeating..."
"Sweetheart, please..."
"When I got into Slytherin my own godfather, the man I trusted the most, turned his back on me one last time. You didn't care to show up..."
"Cassie," her aunt said...
"When I was in my third year all the school hated me, bullied me, made fun of me because my father was the Sirius Black! Again you didn't care to show up..."
"Cassiopea..."
"What about my first kiss? Or my Hogwarts letter? Or the day I killed the basilisk? Or when I almost died because of your master's locket?"
Cassie looked at her aunt.
Her aunt Andromeda was breathing heavily. Not because she was mad, Cassiopea realized when her eyes sparkled. She was proud.
Fucking Merlin.
Someone was proud of something Cassiopea Black had done.
"So... That's everything?" Emma Rosier asked.
"No. But it's enough for now? Auntie?" Cassie turned to Andromeda. "Um... Has Nana arrived? She promised to help for the speech."
Andromeda smiled like nothing happened.
*******
Three hours later the Snakes were praying for a time turner. The plan to break Irma's neck sometime between September last year and January this year was the best they had ever had. Or maybe returning to a time when Sirius...
No. No thoughts like this.
"My name is..."
"No," Irma said. "Everybody knows who you are, Cassiopea. Start with something else."
Cassie nodded. "As we all know magical purity is a..." she stopped. Irma looked up from her book. "Um... I don't know what to say."
Her Nana leaned back in her chair. "Then you are wasting our time. You waste their time. Tell me something, Cassiopea. You are a pureblood witch from the Noble and Most Ancient house of Black and the Rosier family. What does it do for you?"
Cassie looked up.
"Look at me!"
Cassie did. "As a pureblood witch I am... I have many... I don't know. What does it do for me? It makes people think that I am evil! That I am a Death-Eater!"
"And you are not?" Irma laughed. "You are their leader, Cassiopea Black. You are evil. You are ruthless. You are every thing people thing you are. So? We already know this. But you want to prove them wrong?"
Cassie nodded without opening her mouth. Tears burned in her eyes.
"Well," Irma said, "prove me wrong. Prove me that you aren't responsible for your father's death, for Albus Dumbledore's death. Prove me that you are a good young lady that wants to protect the wizardry community. Start over with your speech. Come on."
Cassie took a deep breath and looked at the door, expecting someone to walk in. To help her.
But right now she was alone with Irma. She had to do whatever her Nana told her to.
"As a lady in the pureblood community I have been taking care for a lot of magical orphans. Most of them..."
Cassie stopped when Irma laughed sharply. She took a step back to her own chair, but her great-grandmother stood up. "Orphans? Really, Cassiopea?" Cassie looked at her shoes, embarrassed from her unability to say what she had planned to. "I am going to bed. Kreacher will wake me up after three hours to see if you have anything better than orphans. Clear?"
Cassiopea nodded as she watched Irma Black walked out of the living room, leaving Cassie alone with her thoughts.
She took a deep breath and took a piece of paper from her school bag, which she had left here when she had come back from Hogwarts. She started writing.
She knew that Irma wouldn't approve it or appreciate it at least, but she had to try. She talked about what Muggles did to her kind. She talked about how many muggleborns could hurt them because of those trials. She talked about Potter and what he had done to her.
"Hey?" Cassie looked up. Kol was standing on the doorway with two plates. "Thought you were hungry."
She smiled as she made some room for him on the floor and rested her head on his shoulder while she was writing her speech. Deep down in herself Cassie knew that Irma wouldn't like it.
"It's good," Kol said, looking at the paper. "I like it."
"Irma doesn't."
He kissed the top of her head. "Love, do you give a shit about what Irma thinks? Did you talk to Andy?"
She shook her head. "She is already asleep. She is going shopping with Dora."
Kol didn't answer. He kissed her again as he continued reading and she continued writing. The words were easy to think about. All was easy on paper and that little voice of happy little girl stayed in her head and told her exactly what to write. The things that were beautiful and understandable for everyone one...
It was almost magical. More than magic itself. Like she was seeing every single one of those trails when Muggles and even muggleborns killed witches and wizards. Then she saw her childhood and thought that if it wasn't for that Muggle, Voldemort wouldn't exist....
And then Kol's hand rested on her thigh. Cassie lifted her head up from the paper and stopped writing.
"Your hand is there because..."
"You don't like it?" he kissed her neck. Cassie closed her eyes, smiling. She licked her lips before making that sound that both of them loved so much. Bellatrix called it 'moan' and she said that men loved it. "Mhm. I see you have it," he laughed.
"I have to..."
"...pay attention to your boyfriend. Yeah. I know..."
"Kol..."
"Love," he said seriously. "You have two options. Either I rip your clothes off and fuck you on this table or I leave and I won't speak to you until the end of the first term."
Cassie turned around, leaving the paper and the pen on the coffee table. She lifted her hair into a high ponytail with a sly smile on her lips. She kissed him, slowly, passionately. Then she rested her forehead on his.
"I am just fine with you ripping my clothes off right now, but how about we keep it more... Silently? Like no ripping clothes?"
Kol laughed. Cassie had no idea why. "OK. Everything for you, love."
*********
Cassie was lying in Kol's arms, listening to his sweet words, to his stories. She listened to his experiences in America with the twins while she was having her tattoos, while she was making her plans. She listened to stories about his childhood, about his aunt, about him, Daphne and Astoria.
She was smiling as she was listening. She was smiling as he talked to her and stroked her hair gently.
Cassie had told Kreacher not to wake Irma up and had promised him that if she even tried to touch, Cassiopea would show her torture that even Bellatrix hadn't showed the Longbottoms.
"Tell me something," Kol said, taking Cassie out of her thoughts. "Those tattoos, what do they mean?"
"Well, you know this one," she lifted her right wrist. "Uncle James, dad, Pettigrew and Remus. Their friendship and how awfully it went down. And this," she lifted her other wrist, "this means 'Remember that you are mortal'. Reason. I like it. And most of the time my Griffindor part calls out and... I forget that I will die someday, somehow."
"Ouch. What a topic!" he laughed again, his eyes sparkled. "I love you, you know?"
"Well," she smiled even wider. "You can repeat it."
"Love you," he said when he kissed her forehead. "I love you," he kissed her left cheek. "I love you," he kissed her right cheek. "I love you," he kissed her lips. Finally. "Give me the speech, love. We will finish it. Together."
Cassie smiled at his word.
"Together then."
*********
A week later Cassiopea Black found herself on a platform, talking in front of a crowd of people - most of whom were journalists and purebloods. Cassie saw Kol, Daphne and Draco. She saw Andromeda, Narcissa and Bellatrix in the back of the crowd with Rita Skeeter. She saw Malfoy, but not Lestrange. She saw Emma and McGonagall. She saw Mr and Mrs Weasley. She saw even Remus and Dora.
The Minister, under the Imperio Curse, talked about how good it was for such young people like Cassie loved their community so much and were ready to talk about their experience with people ready to ruin their life.
Cassie on the other hand was standing quietly, peacefully near the Minister of Magic with head lifted proudly up. She was dressed in a black dress, which once belonged to Walburga according to Irma's words. That showed that Cassiopea loved her family and did everything for them. She was wearing diamond tiara.
Emma told her she looked like the most beautiful girl on Earth. Andromeda said that she was finally becoming the queen she was born to be. Bellatrix and Narcissa just smiled. Kol was speechless when he saw her.
"And now," the Minister said, "Miss Cassiopea Black."
Cassie took a deep breath, she smiled and took a step forward. Then another and another.
And then she looked at the crowd.
"First of all, I wish to thank to all of you that came here today and to those you are going to read about it in the newspapers later," she said. "I want all of you to know that the Magical world has always been in a great danger and in most of the cases the Muggles and the Muggleborns are responsible for this. I know," she raised her voice so all of them could hear her, "that most of you will say that I am just a pureblood witch, raised on pureblood believes. But let's remember the fact that I was raised by a Muggleborn. And a werewolf," she looked at Remus.
He smiled at her as she took a deep breath to continue her speech.
"In this position, a child learns what is like for Muggleborns live in our world. They don't fit in. Most of them don't even practice magic after they graduate from their magical school. So why do they even need to go to the same school as us when..."
"Are you suggesting Muggleborns to learn in a different school?!" Mrs Weasley called out. "Another mad Black!"
"All I am saying," Cassie said carefully, "is to look at Alyssa James," she said, remembering an old photo album of her aunt. "She is a Muggleborn and she graduated from Hogwarts the same year my aunt Andromeda," most of the purebloods laughed, "and my uncle Ted did. Now she is a dressmaker in London and doesn't even use magic. Which will happen with 90 to 95 % of them."
Mrs Weasley said something about the Mad Black again, but Cassie didn't even look at her.
She just went on.
"I think that in their fifth year... Muggleborns should be asked if they even want to continue living in the magical world. If they say yes, they should continue learning with us. But if they say no... I think they should graduate in a special school for Muggleborns."
She looked at Minnie.
McGonagall looked at her and nodded. Go one, she was saying. Cassie had skipped most of her speech, skipping the part with Potter and the part she had promised Draco.
"I have a friend," Cassie said, "that is said to be a Muggleborn. In reality..."
"Who are we talking about, miss Black?" Mrs Zabini said.
"Hermione Granger. In reality," she went in, "she is the secret daughter of the pureblood wizard Rodolphus Lestrange and... A Bulgarian half-blood Alyssa Petrova."
Cassie looked at Draco, who nodded, saying 'thank you' in his own way.
"I was once a friend of Harry Potter's," she said. "And I was constantly made fun of. Umm... I was called Death-Eater Cassie and whore and slut over and over again when I was only 13. Before that Potter and his friends made fun of me for just being born to the mass murderer Sirius Black. And that by the person who is supposed to save us all. And there is more... "
She told them about 'the game' she told her friends about. She told them about the Nott girl, who was crying in her brother's arms. She even saw Theo with the Snakes. His sister wasn't there.
She told them so many stories of Slytherins and other other purebloods from other houses which Harry and his friends made fun of. Cassie had written to all those teens to ask them if she could use their stories in front of their parents, in front of their world.
Most of them said yes. Others asked if she could not mention the name. Just the story.
She saw the reactions to the parents. She saw how they looked at the Weasleys. She even saw Philip Greengrass and his new wife staring at the Weasleys with a deadly glare.
Then Cassie stopped. She had messed it up. She had messed everything up.
"Everybody who agrees with Miss Black's idea for separation of the Muggleborns and the purebloods and half-bloods, say 'yes'."
For a minute there was silence.
Cassie was ready to cry as she watched the Snakes. But then as she was ready to come down from the platform she heard Mrs Zabini's voice. "Yes."
Then another and another all of the pureblood high class agreed with her. Then McGonagall. Then Remus. Then Dora. Then Emma. Then the Snakes. Then the other Slytherins.
Only the Weasleys stayed silent.