Cassi was reading her letters. She had many of them to reply to. Morgus was attentively observing everything, and Seraphina was resting around her neck.
Draco mentioned in his letter that he would be a prefect for Slytherin, and she was very happy for him.
Pansy also wrote frequently, as did Fleur and her mother.
Fleur was working at Gringotts at this point, and she had a crush on Bill Weasley, her coworker. The French witch always talked about how kind and charming he was. Cassi couldn't help but feel joy for her friend and wished them all the happiness in the world.
But the majority of the letters came from Narcissa. At this point, the two of them were exchanging at least two letters per week, sometimes even more.
The woman vehemently insisted that Cassiopeia visit her for tea and even spend Christmas with the Malfoy family. This idea made Sirius furious when he found out, but she decided to ignore her uncle's reaction.
At this point, she could consider them friends. Even though she knew her feelings for Narcissa went much beyond that. She learned from her letters that Narcissa loved spending time tending to her greenhouse, even though she had no one to appreciate her work. Cassi was thrilled about it, as she herself had a love for herbology. Both of them loved art and classical music, paintings, and had a special fondness for poetry.
Narcissa promised to take her to Paris someday to visit wizarding theaters together.
Then Cassiopeia opened her Hogwarts letter, and her jaw dropped. She would be a prefect for Slytherin alongside Draco.
Cassi carefully took the badge and excitedly descended the stairs, but as she approached, she saw Ron and Hermione with wide smiles, also holding badges.
"Prefects?" Cassi asked, raising hers to show them.
"You too?" Harry asked with a smile that seemed a bit forced.
Cassi ignored his expression.
"Apparently, Draco and I for Slytherin," she smiled, knowing they wouldn't be pleased with that.
"Malfoy as a prefect?!" Harry asked with a scowl, and the others didn't seem happy either.
(...)
The evening, Mrs. Weasley seemed more lively than usual.
"I thought of having a little party instead of a dinner at the table," she said to Cassi, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny as they entered the room.
Sirius, Lupin, Tonks, and Kingsley Shacklebolt were already there, and Mad-Eye Moody arrived, thumping his wooden leg. Soon after, a beautiful woman appeared.
Cassi froze for a moment, then Tonks exclaimed, "Mum!" and got up to hug her.
Andromeda
Cassi thought, still mesmerized.
"Welcome, Mrs. Tonks," she managed to recover and assume her manners.
The woman stood there, staring at her for a long moment. Until Tonks nudged her, and she snapped out of her daze.
"Hello," she said in a sigh. "Andromeda Tonks, pleased to meet you."
"Cassiopeia Gaunt Black, the pleasure is mine," Cassi accepted the hand to give a firm shake, and just like with Narcissa, she felt an electric current, but this one was different. It was like a flame.
Andromeda seemed stunned for a moment until she finally let go of Cassi's hands.
"You've done a good job with this place," she said softly.
"Thank you," Cassi said awkwardly, not knowing what to do with herself. She had never felt this way except with Narcissa.
"Andromeda, come, come and sit with us," Molly called. "Have a drink. In fact, we're having a little celebration..." she said, gesturing towards the red banner.
"The fourth prefect in the family!" she said affectionately, messing up Ron's hair.
"Prefect, eh?" Andromeda smiled. "Well, congratulations."
Ron looked quite red. "Thank you, Mrs. Tonks."
(...)
Mrs. Weasley was in such a good mood that she didn't even complain about Mundungus being brought along; the wizard was wearing a long coat that seemed oddly bulky in unlikely places and didn't accept the offer to take it off and store it with Moody's traveling cloak.
"Well, I think the occasion calls for a toast," Mr. Weasley said after everyone had served themselves drinks.
He raised his goblet. "To Ron and Hermione, the new prefects of Gryffindor!"
The two boys smiled as everyone raised their glasses and then applauded.
"And to Cassiopeia, for kicking the snakes of Slytherin," he raised it again for another toast, and soon everyone laughed and applauded.
"It's more like playing with the snakes," Fred joked.
"She already has two pets," George chimed in playfully. "And I'm not talking about Malfoy and Parkinson."
Andromeda seemed shocked for a moment before smiling at her.
"I was a Slytherin prefect too," she smiled softly. "Just like my younger sister."
With that, Cassiopeia perked up. "You and Narcissa were prefects as well?"
Andromeda raised her eyebrows. "You know my little sister?"
Cassiopeia felt her cheeks blush furiously. "Well, yes, she's the mother of my friend. And she has become my... friend as well, I believe."
Andromeda studied her for a moment before nodding slightly.
"I never became a prefect," Tonks chimed in enthusiastically. "The head of my house said I lacked certain necessary qualities."
"What qualities, for instance?" Ginny asked, as she picked a baked potato.
"The ability to behave," Tonks said.
Cassiopeia laughed.
(...)
Later, she found Andromeda in the family tapestry room.
She leaned against the doorframe and watched the woman trace her now-restored name on the tapestry, looking quite shocked.
"I decided to repair the tapestry," Cassi commented softly, and Andromeda seemed to startle, perhaps out of surprise.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," she said gently.
"Alright, dear," Andromeda reassured her. "I'm just very surprised... And now it has the name Nymphadora on it," she said with a sigh.
"Only fair, she belongs to the family," Cassi smiled. "However distorted it may be..."
Andromeda stared at Cassiopeia intently.
"I-" She paused and blushed furiously.
"You?" Cassi asked with a smile.
"Did you feel it too? That electricity?" Andromeda asked hopefully.
Cassi sighed, unsure of how to respond.
"I don't exactly understand why, but yes," she said, now finding her grandfather's ring quite interesting and playing with it between her fingers. "I feel the same when I'm near Narcissa, it's like a-"
Andromeda interrupted her. "Like a connection," she leaned closer and traced the younger woman's cheek with her fingers.
"Yes," Cassi sighed at the touch, feeling the electricity burn through her.
"Perhaps it is," Andromeda said thoughtfully and hastily left the room without further explanation.
That night, Cassiopeia's dreams were haunted by more than one woman from the Black family.
(...)
Back at Hogwarts.
Cassi ended up being late because Seraphina didn't want to stay in the carrier.
When she finally made her way to the Carriages, there was only one left.
She saw Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville in the distance and called out to them.
When she sat in the Carriage, she noticed a blonde girl reading a magazine upside down cheerfully.
As the others got in, Luna responded to Harry, "You're not crazy, I can see them too."
"Everyone, this is Luny- Luna Lovegood." Hermione stopped herself
Lovegood, like Pandora
Cassiopeia felt a wide smile forming.
"Are you the daughter of Pandora Lovegood?" Cassi asked.
Luna seemed surprised but after a moment nodded.
"Your mother was a close friend of my father," Cassi said, nervously biting her lip.
"Cassiopeia Gaunt Black, pleasure to meet you," she extended her hand.
Luna seemed a bit more animated by this and extended her hand, but instead of shaking it, she wiggled her fingers together.
Cassiopeia was momentarily confused but assumed it was a unique greeting.
"What an interesting necklace," Hermione said nervously, referencing her previous mistake.
"It's actually a talisman. It repels Wrackspurts," Luna replied quietly, as if it were a secret.
Cassi found it amusing. "I have a talisman too," she smiled, showing the emerald on her chest. "I don't know what it repels, but it must be working." Cassi joked, and Luna apparently found it amusing because she laughed heartily.