The Marauders Era

All is fair in love and war.

Cassie wobbled slightly on her feet as the family of four landed. She leaned on her brother, sending him a thankful smile as she met his dark eyes. Turning her gaze, her eyes widened as she saw the building in front of her. Cassie had seen many grand buildings in her life, Hogwarts, for instance, the Potter manor, Edinburgh Castle, the beautiful church not too far from where Lily lived, but this was a whole other thing.

The Lestrange manor was, to say, rather beautiful, but it was also much bigger than their home at Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Or at least it looked like it, from the outside. It was a typical English manor with grey stone walls and many windows. There were two huge bushes on each side of a large dark brown double door, which she assumed had to be the entrance door. And just as that thought crossed her mind, the door opened as a dark-haired woman walked out.

Her dark hair, which Cassie first now noticed was the same color as Rabastan's, was made up in an elegant bun, while she wore a longsleeved black dress with an emerald jewel hanging from a silver chain around her neck. Though it had only been a few months since the last time she had seen the older woman, Cerys Lestrange looked just as elegant and posh as she did the afternoon the engagement had been announced.

"I was wondering when you would show up." She said, smiling at Walburga, who only rolled her eyes in return.

"Too many people at the platform. I swear, if it weren't for those filthy mudbloods there, it would have taken us half the time." Walburga stated as she walked up to her friend and placed a kiss on each of her cheeks. Something which the other woman also did.

Cerys scrunched up her face in disgust. "Don't remind me. I'm so glad that now both Rodolphus and Rabastan are out of Hogwarts; we don't ever have to go through that again." the woman shuddered just at the thought. She greeted Orion with a smile and let her eyes then rest upon the two youngest. Moving her gaze from Regulus, she eyed Cassie for a moment, causing the younger girl to feel a bit uncomfortable, though she masked it well behind her polite well-rehearsed smile. "It's good to see you again, Mrs. Lestrange."

"I could say the same to you, Cassiopeia. I trust you and your brother had at least a tolerable trip here."

Giving her brother a quick side glance, she answered shortly. "Yes, we did." She could almost feel her mother's stare as she quickly added. "Thank you so much for inviting us. Regulus and I have really looked forward to it."

Cerys smiled as she stepped slightly out of the way. "We have been looking forward to having you. Come on, let's go in and not stand here in this cold."

Orion entered first, with his wife and children following closely behind. "Is Corvus here?" He asked as he unfastened his cloak and proceeded to take it off.

Cassie's eyes wandered over everything she could set her eyes upon as they entered the foyer. It was bigger than she expected, as well as longer. There was a half-open door to her right leading into what she assumed, by the glance of a bookshelf filled with books, had to be the library. As she turned slightly to her left, she was met with a tall black wardrobe, one that, as Cerys opened it, Cassie could see was filled with cloaks and coats.

"You should find him in his office. I gather you know where that is." the older woman replied as she watched the two teenagers take off their coats before hanging them in the wardrobe. Orion nodded thankfully at her as he made his way down the hall and turned a corner to the right.

Cerys pointed to a spot behind Regulus as she spoke, causing the younger to turn around. "Just put your trunks there, and the house-elves shall take them up to your rooms. Oh, Wal, you should see what I have done to the parlor. I just finished redecorating it." She bragged as she hooked her arm in her friends and guided her down the hallway as the two continued chatting. They moved down the hall before disappearing just around the corner to the left.