Cassiopeia was breathless as she bumped into Alice Longbottom, "I'm so so sorry, there was a troll and it was bloody relentless."
The woman smiled at her, "Don't worry about it."
She went to grab her bag when she caught a glimpse of the Daily Prophet. As she read the headline she could feel the bile rise up her throat and her eyes swell with tears. Her hand fell lifeless to her side as a strangled cry escaped her lips.
"Cassiopeia?" Alice was by her side, "What's wrong?"
She passed the newspaper over to her friend who quickly read it, "Were you close?"
"Long ago we were," She whispered as she tried to calm herself down, "Come on, we are going to be really late for the meeting."
She apparated into the small hallway that belonged to the Longbottom couple. Alice opened the door and strolled in, greeting everyone happily. Cassiopeia forced herself to move as she stood at the bottom of the table. Everyone turned to stare at her and upon seeing her expression were overcome with worry.
Her eyes were trained on her cousin, while he searched her face for any hint of what was wrong, "He's dead."
Sirius's eyebrows furrowed together as he was confused about who she was talking. It was then that she turned around the newspaper, allowing him to read the main headline and see the photo of a sad-looking Regulus Black. He was unsure about how to react. His face contorted into sadness before it was replaced with an emotionless expression, "He got in too far and then tried to leave. He always was a fool."
Cassiopeia clenched her fists as she stared at him, "It wasn't his fault, Sirius. I was there the day he became a death eater. He was scared."
"It was his choice to pledge himself to the Dark Lord."
"Don't you get it?" Cassiopeia yelled, "He never had a choice. He was a child."
Sirius shook his head, "You had a choice, Cassie. Why couldn't he have left like you?"
"Because he was yet to see the atrocities committed by the Dark Lord. He had only heard stories from his friends and family. Your parents pushed him to it. He had no one to support him. He didn't have you. He was alone."
Sirius scoffed, "I was disowned. You don't know what it was like for me. You were always the favourite until one day you disappeared from their lives. You didn't have to deal with their hatred."
Cassiopeia's blood boiled, "My parents never showed me any love. I was never good enough, there was always something I had to improve. They never said they were proud, even when I did well in my exams. All they spoke about was me supporting the Dark Lord and marrying a Pureblood who would become a death eater. There was never any expectations for you!"
Everyone's eyes remained stuck to her, "You had it easy Cassiopeia."
She laughed humourlessly, "Do you think it was easy to be pushed to support him? Do you think it was easy being forced to listen to my parents and oldest sister perform the Crucius curse on Andromeda because she told them she was in love with a muggle? Or how about them taking me to see him and Bellatrix attacking me and forcing me to fight? Or watching as he tortured and killed a muggle. I was powerless. I could do nothing while those I loved and people who were weak were hurt. I had no one to turn to. All I had was Rabastan Lestrange telling me he was going to marry me and that we would be like my sister and his brother."
Sirius stared sadly at her, "Cassiopeia -"
"You had it hard Sirius, I know that. But that doesn't mean I didn't. Or Regulus didn't. He was a child that lost his brother, he was was alone, he simply wanted his parents to be proud of him," Cassiopeia let out a sob, "And I abandoned him. I knew he needed me and I left."