Lily woke up early the morning after her brothers left for Hogwarts. She yawned, sighed. Taking a deep breath, she smelled pancakes, and realized that she was hungry. Still in her pajamas, Lily walked down to the kitchen.
As soon as she was downstairs, Lily knew something was wrong. First of all, her father was talking to someone in the kitchen. Usually he was at work before she woke up. Lily went into the kitchen and saw that there were three strangers at the table. She went over to her father.
Two of the strangers were grown-ups. She recognized them from the train station yesterday. They were Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy. Her parents had talked to them a bit before they left. But the third person wasn’t a grown-up. She was a little girl, apparently the same age as Lily. The girl had long blonde hair that was almost white, and she had very blue eyes. She also looked frightened.
“We want to thank you for doing this,” said Mr. Malfoy to Lily’s parents. “We owe you a lot.”
Lily couldn’t help thinking how odd this all was. What were the Malfoys doing in her kitchen? Her father had always said that they never got along at school. And why was Mr. Malfoy humbling himself, thanking her father over and over? He had been a Slytherin, and they were famous for being con-artists, sneaking around, and generally being evil. Lily had never imagined Slytherins as this polite or earnest.
“Oh, it’s no problem. You have a good cause. We’re happy to help,” said Lily’s father, putting an arm around her as he spoke. Lily was beginning to see that the over-politeness was there to cover up the awkwardness. But what were they helping with?
The Malfoys got up and left. All except the little girl. This was very strange.
“Daddy, what’s going on? What were they doing here?” Lily asked her father.
“Lily, this is Cassiopeia. She’ll be staying with us for a while because her parents are going away. Won’t that be nice?”
Lily stared at her father as the he had started singing opera. What? What? WHAT? This strange girl comes through the door, and all of a sudden she’s some kind of bizarre playmate? Lily fought down the urge to scream.
Cassiopeia did not participate in breakfast. Instead, she mumbled something about having already eaten, then walked out of the room.
“What is she doing here?” demanded Lily after Cassiopeia had left.
“You wouldn’t understand, Lily. Please be reasonable,” her mother replied patiently.
“I do understand! I understand that you hated the Malfoys until a few seconds ago, and now you’ve gone and- and- adopted one of them! Why is she here? She probably hates us, too. Have you both gone mad?” Lily was furious.
“Now, Lily, calm down for a moment,” said her father. “I’ll tell you because I know this is fairly confusing, but-“
“Harry,” said her mother warningly.
“She’ll figure it out eventually, she always does.” To Lily, he said, “I will tell you a little about what’s going on, but not all of it. Some of it is top secret, but I will tell you some.
“Cassiopeia is here because her parents are in hiding. She doesn’t know where, and nor do I, but she knows that they are safe.”
“Why are they hiding? Are they in trouble? If they’re hiding, how come Scorpius is at Hogwarts?” Lily always asked lots of questions.
“That is a secret. I do know that they sent Scorpius to school because he’s safer there then anywhere in the world. But Cassiopeia is nine. She can’t go to school, and she can’t hide with her parents; it’s too dangerous. So they asked us to take her in until they don’t have to hide anymore.
“Also, this is important: whatever happens, do not tell anyone that she is here. Otherwise she could get hurt, you could get hurt, or all of us could get hurt.”
Lily nodded. She supposed this was important. After all, her father wouldn’t tell her about it unless it was really important. But she couldn’t help thinking, as she glanced toward the door, that this was going to be a long school year.
~
Cassi had always been shy. That’s why she didn’t talk at all when she arrived at number 12 Grimmauld Place with her parents. She hadn’t spoken a word to Mr. and Mrs. Potter. She had had to suppress the urge to fly out the window after her parents when the left. But the worst part had been when the red-haired girl had walked in and sat down on Mr. Potter’s lap, asking who Cassi was.
It was so awful that Cassi had lied about having eaten breakfast before she arrived. After she had closed the door, she heard the other girl (Lily or Lilac or something like that) say loudly, “What is she doing here?” Cassi felt her stomach drop through her toes and fall to the center of the earth, where it burned like a toasted marshmallow.
Cassi swallowed her tears, saving them for when she was in bed that night. She walked into the spacious living room. It was neat and tidy. Cassi wondered if the Potters had a house elf. It didn’t seem like their style.
On one wall was a large window that looked out onto the street. It was surrounded by white, lacey curtains, and it had a comfortable looking window seat. On the opposite wall were three shelves filled with nothing but books. But what caught her eye was not the books or fancy window. It was the pictures.
At the Manor, where Cassi lived with her parents and older brother, they certainly had pictures; big portraits of old family members dressed in black, all of them looking solemn or bored. But here, the pictures were somehow… happier. There were several family portraits (but everyone was smiling); a smiling ginger haired baby, his face covered in food; a picture three happy children, one with black hair, two red-headed, holding up presents on Christmas day; a group of children at a train station, smiling and waving. So many pictures…
Cassi stared at them, awed. So awed that when a girl’s voice said, “What are you staring at?”, Cassi jumped so high she had a chance to see when the chandelier had been dusted last.
Cassiopeia by Lunalovegoodrox
Chapter Notes: hope you like it!