Cassiopeia had just stepped out of her room when the Weasley twins ran past.
"Stop! Stop running in the corridors!" she shouted in annoyance.
That was when a girl with colorful hair tumbled to the ground after tripping over the umbrella stand.
"And who might you be?" Cassi asked, raising an eyebrow, finding the scene quite amusing.
"Tonks," the girl smiled and winked at her as she got up. "I believe we're cousins," she clapped her hands, now very excited.
Cassi raised an eyebrow. "Cassiopeia," she extended her hand, but the girl simply ignored it and gave her a big hug.
"I've always wanted a cousin," she said excitedly, and Cassi couldn't help but laugh.
But then the girl's hair changed color, and Cassiopeia couldn't be more shocked.
"You're a Metamorphmagus?" she asked, fascinated.
"Yes... It's quite common in our family, you know," Tonks tried to play it off, cheeks flushed.
"Nonsense, that's amazing," Cassi quickly dismissed.
"I'm off to fetch Potter now," Tonks explained as they started walking, but she tripped over her own feet.
Cassi stifled her laughter.
"Do you want to come along?"
Before Cassiopeia could respond, Sirius appeared behind her.
"No way, Tonks. She'll stay here where my eyes can see her," Sirius said, placing his hands on Cassiopeia's shoulders.
"And can those old dog eyes see properly?" Cassi teased, and Sirius growled at her.
In the background, Kreacher could be heard laughing to himself. "Kreacher likes the young mistress, Kreacher thinks Mistress Cassiopeia very amusing."
Tonks suddenly laughed at Sirius while pointing her finger at him.
The man huffed irritably and walked away muttering something like "My family never respects me, and that crazy elf..."
Cassi just laughed at her uncle.
Hermione was staying at Grimmauld Place as well. Cassi made sure to make her feel as comfortable as possible, despite Walburga shouting about blood traitors and mudbloods in her house and begging Cassi to kick her out.
Cassi pretended to be oblivious and led Hermione to another room. Sirius tried to remove the portrait from the wall, but apparently, his grandmother had been clever and permanently fixed it.
He asked to cover the portrait with a curtain because every time he passed by, Walburga would scream at him, insulting him with every possible name. She would only stay silent and behave in Cassiopeia's presence.
⁀➷,
When Tonks returned, she didn't see Harry. She was sitting with the other Order members, waiting for the meeting.
"He nearly killed Harry," Sirius growled.
"Yes, but protecting you-know-who is our top priority," Minerva argued.
"We have to trust Dumbledore!" Mr. Weasley slammed his hand on the table.
Cassi rolled her eyes; she particularly didn't trust him much.
"Did he manage to protect Harry last year? We have to take action!" Sirius commented irritably.
But then everyone fell silent as Harry arrived.
She stared at her nails while Molly Weasley seemed grumpy that Cassi was there. But there was nothing she could do because deep down, she was somewhat afraid of Cassiopeia.
Tonks sat beside her, animated.
"You did a great job with the house," Tonks praised. "Mum would really like you; she has a special talent for cleaning and organizing spells too," she said with a smile.
"I suppose that's Andromeda?" Cassi asked curiously. "Sirius talks about her all the time. He says she's his favorite cousin."
With that, Tonks nodded enthusiastically.
"She's the one. You two will meet soon; ever since she found out about your existence, she's been asking questions. It's kind weird."
Cassi felt her cheeks blush, as she also constantly bombarded Sirius with questions about the woman.
"If anyone has the right to know, it's Harry. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't even know that Voldemort is back. He's not a child, Molly," argued Sirius.
"But he's not an adult either," Molly retorted.
"Say that again when the boy had to face dragons, the Dark Lord, and Death Eaters alone and came out alive," Cassi scoffed. "Sirius is right, Harry has the right to know. It's his life."
"Exactly!" Sirius agreed. "Besides, Harry is not your son," said, crossing his arms.
"It's as if he is," Molly said sadly. "Who else does he have?"
"He has me!" Sirius said, slamming his hands on the table.
"Oh, what touching paternalism, Black. Perhaps Potter will turn into a criminal like his godfather," Snape mocked. "Gaunt has kept him safer than you have."
"Stay out of this, slimy git," Sirius growled. "I don't care what Dumbledore says about you, I don't trust you."
"Enough!" Cassiopeia pleaded, and all eyes turned to look at her in shock.
"We're being spied on," she simply said as she stood up.
"Great ears," Tonks praised.
"Thank you, they're fox ears," Cassi said with a mischievous smile as she went to open the door, and the entire group quickly fled upstairs.
"I told you," Cassi turned to the group, smiling.
Many members left instead of staying for dinner, including Snape; he never stayed.
"Let's eat in the kitchen," Mrs. Weasley whispered, heading towards the boys at the bottom of the stairs.
She was giving instructions to Harry when a loud noise startled everyone.
"Tonks!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, exasperated, turning to look over her shoulder.
Cassi stifled her laughter; it was the second time that day Tonks had fallen.
"I'm sorry!" she lamented. "It's this cursed umbrella stand, it's the second time I've tripped over it..."
But Tonks' sentence was drowned out by the shrill voice of Walburga.
The velvet curtains that had been drawn to give Sirius some peace opened.
Then she began to scream as if being tortured.
"RABBLE! SCUM! Offspring of filth and evil! Half-breeds, mutants, monsters, vanish from this Place! How dare you defile the house of my ancestors..."
Tonks kept apologizing.
Down the corridor, the other portraits awakened and started screaming too, to the point that Cassi had to intervene.
"Enough, Grandma! Remember the wrinkles!" Cassi shouted louder than Walburga, and she suddenly stopped, looking incredulous.
"My dear, my beloved granddaughter. Get them out of here, don't let them defile our beloved house," Walburga said calmly. But then Sirius appeared, and she started screaming again.
"YOUUUU!" she howled, her eyes bulging at the sight of Sirius. "Traitor of your own blood, abomination, DISGRACE to my flesh!"
"Enough, Grandma!" Cassi shouted, and Walburga fell silent.
"We'll talk later. I'll show you my drawings," she said with a look that left no room for discussion.
Walburga stared back at her, and both of them engaged in a competition for nearly a whole minute until the portrait grew tired and grumbled, "Fine," with a huff.
"Great! Now rest," Cassi said, casting a spell to close the curtains on the other portraits and turned towards the wall.
"Bloodthirsty Gargoyles," she whispered.
"Wow," Tonks muttered in astonishment.
"Hello, Harry," Sirius said very seriously. "I see you've just met my mother."
Upon hearing this, Cassi couldn't help but laugh. "What a lovely introduction of horrors," she sighed and went to help Tonks up.
(...)
⁀➷,
That night, Cassi sat with Sirius and Harry around the fireplace.
"I'm truly sorry for everything you endured, Uncle," Cassi said softly, looking at her own hands.
"I never... I don't even know if I could bear my mother saying something awful to me. I'm sorry for what you went through," she continued.
Sirius simply stared at the fireplace for a while.
"She did what she thought was right. Mad for sure, but... Orion was too, you know? My grandparents were horrible people."
"What about Bellatrix, Andromeda, and Narcissa?" Cassi asked gently, fearing the answer.
"It was just as cruel for them as it was for Walburga," Sirius explained. "They messed with Bellatrix's head, and then Andromeda was disowned... Narcissa had to endure it all alone. Well, almost alone. She had your father," Sirius smiled softly. "Regulus was always there for her."
"Where did you go when you ran away?" Harry asked.
"To your grandparents," Sirius smiled. "They practically adopted me..." He had a melancholic smile on his face.
"So you're practically a Potter," Cassi joked. "That makes Harry my cousin too."
Sirius simply laughed.
"Oh, dear, you're a Black. We're all cousins," he said with a chuckle. "Why do you think we're all so crazy?"
"You get it, Uncle Sirius," Cassi laughed, amused and slightly exasperated. "Now we're a family," she said, holding Harry's hand.
"I like that," Harry said with a wide smile, his eyes welling up.