Two months had passed, and Cassiopeia was beginning to lose hope when she heard the news that Xenophilius, Luna's father, had alerted the Death Eaters about the presence of the Gryffindor trio in their home. The poor man was desperate and rightfully so, considering that Luna had been captured and he had no idea what was being done to his daughter.
She was in a bind, if she left the mansion to alert them, she would be caught in an instant.
Draco was also apprehensive, but his options for help were limited. He was returning home for the Easter holidays and needed to be cautious. The Dark Lord's trust in the Malfoys was no longer complete, and one wrong move could result in devastating consequences for any of them.
(...)
Narcissa was seated behind her in the comfortable living room, her skillful hands sliding over Cassiopeia's tense shoulders. The older woman's brows were furrowed in concentration as her fingers pressed into stubborn knots, seeking to dissipate the built-up tension.
"Princess, you need to release these muscles. Relax," she murmured softly, the pressure in her hands intensifying slightly. The muscles yielded under her touch, but the knots stubbornly persisted.
"I can't... I'm too worried," Cassi sighed sadly, a pout forming on her lips. She had been experiencing a lot of shoulder pain due to stress. This dialogue had become more common than she'd like to admit.
A noise around the house alerted them, and the small house-elf appeared in front of the two, nervously wringing her tiny hands.
"There are visitors at the gate, Mistress Cissy," Winky informed. "They say they have Harry Potter."
Cassiopeia stood up abruptly, nearly knocking Narcissa off her support in the process. She turned with an apology, receiving only a playful tongue-click from the older woman. However, her expression quickly turned serious.
Narcissa headed toward the second gates, Cassi following in her footsteps like a lost puppy. She was so nervous.
Could it really be Harry? How could he have been captured?
"What's going on?" she asked as they reached a group.
Cassi restrained herself from shouting. Dean Thomas, a goblin, Hermione and Ron, and... Harry. It was definitely Harry, but something was wrong with his face.
"We're here to see He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!" came Greyback's harsh voice. "We heard the main headquarters are secret, and we'd have to get past the Malfoys first."
Narcissa couldn't contain her mockery in her response, her nose wrinkling in disdain. "Who are you?"
"You know me!" There was bitterness in the werewolf's voice. "Fenrir Greyback! We've captured Harry Potter!" Greyback seized Harry and turned him to face the light, forcing the other prisoners to turn as well.
"I know he's swollen, Lady Malfoy, but it's him!" Scabior's sharp voice sounded. He captured fugitives for the Ministry in exchange for rewards. It was one of them who killed Ted Tonks.
"If you look closer, you'll see the scar. And this one here, see the girl? She's the mudblood traveling with him. There's no doubt it's him, and we brought his wand too! Here, ma'am..."
Narcissa approached to examine Harry's distorted face. Scabior offered her the wand, and Cassiopeia took it with a slight twist of her nose. It wasn't his wand.
She showed it to Narcissa, who merely raised a single eyebrow. "Bring them inside."
"Dear, please fetch Draco," Narcissa requested gently, giving her hand a light squeeze.
Cassiopeia cast a final glance at Hermione and Ron before rushing to the library.
(...)
"He's here," she whispered softly, making sure only Draco could hear.
"How?!" He asked, alarmed, almost falling from his chair. His own fault for lounging upside down, how the hell does he manage to read like that?
"I don't know how he was dumb enough to get captured, but I think they're going to ask us to identify him. His face looks worse than a pumpkin squashed by a Troll's foot."
"Let's lie. Deny it until they give up."
"That's what I thought, but Hermione and Ron are with him," Cassi whispered softly.
"Shit."
(...)
When they entered the living room, Harry was on his knees, being held while Lucius eagerly looked at the group. He had a manic gleam in his eyes, probably imagining that Voldemort would reward and forgive him if he handed over Harry.
"So, little rascal?" came the gruff voice of the werewolf.
Narcissa glared at him. "Speak properly to my son," she reproached in a cold tone.
The werewolf lowered his head and averted his gaze. Draco cautiously approached.
"So, Draco?" Lucius asked. His tone was hurried. "Is it him? Is it Harry Potter?"
"I'm not entirely sure," Draco responded. He kept his distance from Greyback and didn't look directly at Harry.
"But look closely, look! Get closer!" Lucius urged. "Draco, if we're the ones who deliver Potter to the Dark Lord, everything will be forgiven..."
"Now, let's not forget who actually captured him, shall we, Mr. Malfoy?"
"How dare you speak to me like that in my own house!" Lucius snapped, and everyone fell silent.
Impatiently, Narcissa went to him and pulled him away from Draco. The man was starting to grip the boy's neck in his unruly state.
"Come on, Gaunt. He wasn't your friend, you must recognize him!" He nervously urged.
"It doesn't look like Harry to me. The wand isn't his either," Cassiopeia calmly stated.
Lucius snapped again. "Lies!"
"See for yourself, then," she muttered, bored, and extended her hand. "Remember, it's the twin of the Dark Lord's wand. You had a description from Mr. Ollivander as well."
Lucius looked dazedly between Draco and her, and then between Harry and the wand.
"I don't believe it's him," Draco added once more and moved back to the fireplace, standing next to Cassiopeia and Narcissa.
"We better be certain, Lucius," Narcissa said coldly. "Absolutely sure it's Potter before we summon the Dark Lord..." She commented, examining the wand she took from the man's hand.
"It doesn't look like the one Ollivander described... If we're wrong, if we call the Dark Lord needlessly... remember what he did to Rowle and Dolohov? They claim it's not him."
"And the Mudblood here?" Greyback growled.
"Wait," said Narcissa, assertively. "Yes... yes, she was at Madame Malkin's with Potter!" She murmured, probably recalling the day, a twist of disgust on her nose.
Seriously, Cissa, jealousy now? Cassiopeia thought irritably.
"Isn't that Granger?" Lucius questioned, more excited.
"Maybe... I don't know," Cassiopeia replied disinterestedly.
"It is... I don't know," Draco confirmed, pretending to analyze. "Doesn't seem like it, Granger has bigger teeth, this one is prettier."
Hermione concealed her surprise well, unlike Ron and Harry, who couldn't be more obvious.
"But this is the Weasley boy!" Lucius exclaimed, circling around the prisoners to face Ron.
"It's them, Potter's friends... Draco, Cassie! Look at him, isn't that Arthur Weasley's son, what's his name again...?"
"It is..." Draco retorted, his back to the prisoners. "Could be. I'm not sure."
"Can't be certain," Cassiopeia denied.
The sitting room door swung open, and Bellatrix entered, humming. She stopped abruptly upon seeing the commotion.
"What's this? What happened, Cissy?"
Bellatrix slowly moved towards the prisoners and halted at Harry's right, studying them. Then she moved to Hermione and said calmly, "This is the Mudblood girl, isn't it? It's Granger?"
"Yes, it is, it's Granger!" Lucius exclaimed. "And, beside her, we think it's Potter! Potter and his friends, finally captured!"
"Potter?" Bellatrix squealed and stepped back to get a better look at Harry. "Are you sure? Well, then, the Dark Lord must be informed immediately!"
"Did you do that to his face, Mudblood?" Bellatrix asked, impressed, finding it amusing how Hermione flinched in fear. "Very good," she chuckled. She pushed up her left sleeve, ready to summon Voldemort.
Before Cassiopeia could protest, Lucius did her the favor. "I was about to do that!" he exclaimed, his hand closing around Bellatrix's wrist to prevent her from touching the Mark. "I will summon him, Bella. Potter has been brought to my house, and therefore, he is under my authority..."
"Your authority!" she sneered, trying to free her hand from his grip. "You lost your authority when you lost your wand, Lucius! How dare you! Take your hands off me! You're not even the head of the family, you clown," she mocked irritably.
"You have nothing to do with this, you didn't capture the boy..." He complained, still trying to hold on.
"I apologize, Mr. Malfoy," Greyback interposed, "but it was us who caught him. We'll claim the gold prize..."
"Gold!" Bellatrix laughed, still trying to break free from the blonde who was pulling her arm like a petulant child, her free hand reaching into her pocket for her wand. "Keep your gold, you filthy vulture, what do I want gold for? I'm a Black! By Salazar's snakes. I only intend to have the honor of... of..." She stopped struggling, her dark eyes fixed on something in the hand of one of the raiders.
Cassiopeia followed her gaze, and then her eyes widened in shock. Gryffindor's sword... But how? It had been taken to Bellatrix's vaults! Snape was supposed to make sure it...
Dumblefuck.
She felt like laughing. Dumbledore forged a sword? Of course! And he had Snape take care of it so the real one would get to Harry and the fake one would end up in Gringotts, so there wouldn't be questions.
Exulting in his capitulation, Lucius released her hand with force and raised his own sleeve.
"STOP!" Bellatrix screeched. "Don't touch it, we'll all perish!"
Lucius remained frozen, his finger hovering over the Mark.
Bella slowly approached the man.
"What is this?" she questioned.
"Sword," one of the captors grunted.
"Hand it over."
"It's not yours, miss, it's mine, I found it."
He barely had time to finish before Bella swiftly took down the entire group of raiders in an instant. There were many against one, but they would hardly be a match for the dark amazon.
Her wand extended like a whip of a snake and coiled around the neck of one of the Death Eaters, strangling him until he fell lifeless to the ground.
Bloody hell, that was the sexiest thing I've ever seen.
Narcissa turned abruptly towards her, eyebrows furrowed in a scowl.
After you, love, after you.
Cassiopeia thought quickly, but then shot a displeased look at the woman. "And get out of my mind!" She sighed, knowing it wasn't quite possible. Narcissa explained that she's practically always practically shouting in her mind. Which was embarrassing, for the self-proclaimed most powerful Legilimens of the century, her mind was absolutely protected. But for Narcissa, she had always been an open book.
There was a bang followed by a red flash: "Release me, woman!" The man shouted, fallen to the ground.
"Draco, take this rubbish outside," Bella said, indicating the unconscious men. "If you don't have the courage to finish them off, leave it to me. Lucius, be useful and help."
"Cissy, put the boys in the cellar. If, indeed, it's Potter, he mustn't be harmed," Bella muttered, more to herself than to the others. "The Dark Lord wlants to finish off Potter personally... but if he finds out... I need to..."
Narcissa hesitated for a moment, but pushed them towards the stairs.
"Wait," Bella snapped abruptly. "Everyone, except her. I'm going to have a conversation with this one. Girl to Girl."
Oh, shit, no, no.
She stopped, slightly out of breath, gazing at the sword, examining its hilt. Then she turned to Hermione.
"I need to know... The prisoners must stay in the basement while I contemplate what to do!"
"This is my house, Bella. I am the head of my family, you don't give orders in my..."
"Obey, Cissy! You have no idea of the danger we're in!" Bellatrix snapped.
Cassiopeia exchanged a glance with Narcissa, unsure of what to do, communicating through their mental connection.
"How do we save them? Is Bella going to give them up"
"I don't know, love, but I don't think that's her intention right now."
"Don't let her hurt Mione, please."
Narcissa sighed.
Bella walked in circles around the girl. "Where did you get this sword?" She repeated, brandishing it in her face. "Snape sent it to my vault at Gringotts! It should have been there, so how did you break into my vault???"
Hermione denied it, her chest heaving with fear.
"Liar," Bellatrix growled, slapping her. "One more chance, Mudblood. What else did you take from my vault? Did you take anything ele?"
Hermione denied it again, saying she didn't steal anything from the vault, that she wasn't even there.
"Girl, he's going to kill us! All of us!" Bella shouted, pulling Hermione and throwing her to the ground.
"Cr-"
"No!" Cassi shouted, lunging at Bellatrix, pushing her away from her friend. "She said she wasn't there, Bella!"
"Don't interfere, little witch! You don't understnd!" Bellatrix snapped, pushing her to the ground and straddling her hips to immobilize her.
"If she took it and he finds out..."
Wait.
Cassiopeia stopped moving. "What's in the vault?"
"What?" Bella gasped, astonished.
"What's in the vault. What can't be taken from there? You're not concerned about the sword, you're concerned about something in that damn vault."
She didn't answer, appearing quite distressed.
"Bella, please, please," Cassiopeia pleaded, gently touching her cheek. Pleading for her sane self to resurface.
"He's going to kill all of us anyway. We have to end this, please, Bella. Can't you see? He doesn't care about anything but himself. We're just a means to an end."
"No! Don't spew nonsense about your lord!" Bellatrix protested.
"It's true, Bella, and you know it. Come on, sister, put that brilliant mind of yours to work." Narcissa approached slowly, crouching down besde them. A quick glance at Hermione, who was very frightened, just a few meters ahead.
"But... We have an chance , to receive honor again... a chance, if... if..."
"We don't, Bella." Narcissa cut her off, already quite irritated. "You know that, you've known for years. Please, sister. Reggie died trying to save us, trying to destroy him."
"Please," Cassi insisted.
Something appeared in Bellatrix's eyes. "Greyback saw the three of them." She suddenlsaid, and Cassiopeia could finally breathe. "Potter has free access to his mind, it's a double canal."
Narcissa wrinkled her nose in disdain. "Hasn't anyone ever taught the boy Occlumency?"
"It's not like it's an easy thing to do. It's dark magic and it's not taught at Hogwarts," Hermione protested, still lying on the ground, causing all three to look at her, making her gulp.
"Draco learned it in a week," Narcissa pointed out disdainfully.
"Maybe lbecause he has a natural Occlumens mother," Cassiopeia simply pointed out, though Narcissa seemed to take it as a challenge.
"Why are you defending her?!" Narcissa turned to her, irritated.
"I'm not, I pointed out a fact!" she muttered, feeling exasperated.
"Enough of bickering like a couple of old ladies! Ugh, I prefer the lovey-dovey version." Bellatrix growled, annoyed.
Hermione sighed in shock. "Couple?"
"What? Were you hoping to steal my girlfriend?"
"Narcissa,for Merlin’s soggy underpants!" Cassi huffed, feelig a terrible headache forming.
"For Merlin’s soggy underpants?" Bellatrix burst out laughing.
"Bella, get off me!" Cassi groaned, feeling suffocated by the magic of both witches. She really loved the sensation, but at the moment, it was causing problems in her head, and she needed to calm down if they didn't want to die.
Bella stood up with an irritated growl and reached out her hand to her.
"How do we do this?" Narcissa questioned, recomposing herself.
"I hate this, but Harry is really terrible at keeping his mind closed. We'll have to give him something to work with."
"A false memory?" Hermione questioned, thinking aloud. "I still can't believe you're helping."
"What? Did you think I'd betray my friends?" Cassi joked with a soft smile.
"Never again, I promised myself we'd never doubt you. As unhealthy as the situation may seem..." Hermione sighed. "The question is how we'll implant false memories in so many people.
Bella and Cassiopeia turned to Narcissa simultaneously.
The woman rolled her eyes exasperatedly. "I always clean up the mess."
(...)
Narcissa looked as though she was about to faint from the effort. She was projecting images into the minds of all non-occlumens present in the house, with the exception of Hermione.
The only ones who would know the truth were Bella, Draco, Cassi, Hermione, and Narcissa herslf.
The others would believe that Hermione had undergone a horrendous torture at the hands of Bellatrix to extract information.
Everything seemed to be going well, but they needed to add an air of authenticity.
Cassi apologized countless times as she pulled Hermione's arm and cast an illusion spell to make the words 'mudblood' appear to be carved on her arm.
She made it clear that Hermione could remove it as soon as they were safe and apologized so many times that Hermione told her to shut up and said that's exactly what she is: a Mudblood. She said she's very proud and absolutely nothing to be ashamed of for being bon a Muggle.
Bellatrix had been stunned when she heard the words, giving a mere nod. She was torn between mocking and admiring the girl's conviction in giving a different meaning to the word.
She tried to disguise it several times by muttering something like, 'Proud to be a Mudblood... And they still call her brilliant, must be out of her mind.'
Ron's screams were heart-wrenching. He was probably hearing the false torture of Hermione implanted in his mind by Narcissa and was in pure desperation, trying to escape the cell. He begged Bella to switch places, to take on Hermione's pain
"Thank you," Hermione sighed with a half-smile towards them. She also seemed agonized by Ron's suffering as he tried to help her. Bellatrix's strands of hair were being carefully preserved in a small makeup mirror and stored in a pouch with extension charms.
"We're not doing it for you, muddy. We're doing it for our family," Bellatrix rolled her eyes.
"Either way, you'll end up helping all of us," Hermione stated simply
As Lucius returned to the room after disposing of the looters, he came to an abrupt halt. For a moment, Cassiopeia thought they had been caught, but then she looked to the side and saw that Bella had pushed Hermione to the ground and instructed her not to say a word.
"Did you hear that?" Lucius questioned, raising a finger in the air. "A bang from the basement."
"I'll go check," Cassiopeia stepped forward.
"No! Go, Wormtail, it might be dangerous," Lucius dismissed.
It took a few moments for Wormtail to leave the kitchen and head down to the basement to inspect the cell. It took even longer for him to return.
"Is everything alright down there?" Lucius shouted down the corridors.
"Yes, it is," came a squeaky voice.
"Well then? Are we finally
getting rid of the Mudblood?" He pointed towards Hermione.
"NOOOOOO!" Ron rushed up the stairs and snatched the wand from Bellatrix's hand.
What the hell?
Harry followed closely behind, and Lucius, Narcissa, Draco, and Cassiopeia turned around. Harry shouted, "Stupefy!" and Lucius was sent flying across the room. When they looked back, Bella had vanished behind a concealed beam.
What?
Streams of light shot from the wands of Draco, Narcissa, and Cassi, trying to disarm the boys. They were too agitated and close to hurting someone. Harry threw himself to the floor, rolling behind a sofa to avoid their spells after disarming Draco.
"STOP OR SHE DIES!" Bella yelled, holding Hermione by the hair with a knife pointed at her neck, emphasizing the threat. It worked; they stopped.
"Drop your wands," she whispered, "Drop them or you'll see me cut her throat!"
Ron stiffened before placing his wand on the ground, followed quickly by Harry. Both raised their hands to shoulder height.
"Good." The witch glanced askew. "Princess, gather them up!"
Cassiopeia stepped in front of her friends and collected the wands. "I've searched for you day and night," she whispered silently.
"Now," said Bellatrix gently, as Cassi rushed back with the wands in her hands, "let's all calm down and have a little chat." As she said the last word, a peculiar creaking sound came from above.
Everyone looked up just in time to see the crystal chandelier tremble, and with a loud snap and an ominous tinkling, it began to plummet. Bellatrix was directly beneath it; dropping Hermione, she lunged to the side, screaming. Cassiopeia stared in shock and pushed Hermione and Narcissa, who were just below.
The chandelier crashed to the ground, producing a shower of crystals and chains, collapsing onto Cassi. Shards of sparkling crystal flew in all directions. Draco doubled over, hands covering his bloodied face.
Terrified, Bellatrix rushed to pull Cassiopeia from the wreckage. Harry seized the opportunity and leapt over the armchair, grabbing the fallen wands from the floor. While Narcissa dragged Draco away, trying to spare him from further harm, Bellatrix took Cassi in her arms, allowing her younger sister to assess her wounds.
Everything hurt. Cassi was disoriented, her body covered in blood from the debris. But Narcissa pointed her wand at the door in fury, "Dobby!" she shouted, and even Bellatrix paused, shivering at her younger sister's wrath.
"YOUU! You're the one who brought down the chandelier... You tried to kill us?!"
The little elf entered the room, trembling finger accusingly pointing at his former mistress. "Dobby never meant to kill! Only meant to maim or seriously injure!' he squeaked weakly, but then he saw that the chandelier had hit Cassiopeia and looked slightly remorseful.
"KILL him, Cissy!" Bellatrix yelled, but another loud snap echoed, and Narcissa's wand flew through the air, landing on the opposite side of the room.
"You filthy monkey!" Bellatrix raged. "How dare you take a witch's wand, how dare you defy your masters?"
"Dobby has no masters!" The elf squeaked. "Dobby is a free elf, and Dobby came to save Harry Potter and his friends!"
It all happened in a blur. Ron held Hermione's hand, gripping the sword tightly. Harry held them both. Then, with a pop, they all disappeared. Bellatrix shouted in anger and hurled her knife at the small cloud that was vanishing. A horrified moan from Cassiopeia drew her attention back to the girl. The knife barely missed as it embedded itself in the wall.
Narcissa also turned abruptly. "Draco, Draco is hurt" Cassi whispered, pointing to her bloodied-faced friend. But then she felt a sharp pain and spat to the side, noticing blood.
"NOO" Narcissa screamed in panic, not knowing who to run to first. Then Bella pushed her towards Draco as she laid Cassiopeia down and tore at her cloak.
Huge shards of crystal were scattered across her bloodied body. Her eyes began to close slowly as exhaustion took over.
The last thing she heard was Narcissa's sobbing and Bellatrix's screams, "Stay with me, stay with me! Don't you dare leave me!"
And then her world went black.