Potter's Girl / Butterfly Effect.

98. Shell Cottage

CHAPTER NINETY-EIGHT;

SHELL COTTAGE.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The first thing Cassie noticed about the wand held threateningly to her face was the person behind it — his red hair, pale skin, and piercing blue eyes — and for a moment Cassie thought she was looking right at her old friend, Ron Weasley.

   And then the scars stood out, and Cassie registered that this was not Ron Weasley, but his older brother, Bill — and behind Bill, in all her veela glory, was Fleur Delacour.

   Both glared at Cassie with the utmost contempt and skepticism she had ever seen emit from their expressions.

   "Who are you?" Bill asked forcefully, his brow furrowed, scars shining across his pale cheeks. "Answer me!"

   "I'm Cassiopeia Orion Black," she replied, as calmly as she could, given the circumstances. "Named so after the constellation, as is tradition in my family. Middle name was passed from my grandfather to my father and then to me, even though I despise it and always have. My father is Sirius Black – my mum is Adelaide Hawthorne, I suppose–"

   "You suppose?" Bill leveled his wand arm in a threatening manner.

   "Er, yeah, she's my mother," said Cassie, wincing, "but she does a damn bad job at being a mum, doesn't she?"

   Bill's wand arm lowered in the slightest and he took a step to the side as Fleur approached Cassie. "Cazzie eez dead," she said slowly, her French accent ever prominent. "She was dead many months ago."

   "I'm me," said Cassie, nodding earnestly. "Really, I am. Ask me anything, and I'll answer with the truth."

   "I'll shoot." Bill stepped forward again, still eyeing Cassie with a guarded sort of skepticism. "Three years ago — what would be Cassie's fourth year, I suppose — she came and stayed at the Burrow with us. We were going to go to the Quidditch World Cup. Last minute, Percy changed his mind and decided he wanted to go, therefore taking Cassie's ticket and keeping her from going. What did Cassie do with Mum while we were gone?"

"That eez hardly a tough question, Bill," said Fleur quietly, gesturing to Cassie. "It cannot be hard to guess what Molly Weezley does in her free time."

"It's a trick question, actually, Fleur," said Cassie, regarding Bill with a steely stare. "I did end up going to the Cup; the Ministry sent a ticket, and I stayed in a tent with Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger."

   There came a tense pause, in which Bill now gave Cassie a thoughtful glare instead of his earlier scowl of suspicion. She considered this to be a step in the right direction.

   "So what if you're right about that?" he said, breaking the silence. "All we've got to do is wait for the Polyjuice to wear off."

   "Unless she eez a Metamorphagus," suggested Fleur, "like Neemphadora!"

   "I'm not under Polyjuice, nor a Metamorphagus," she said, attempting to keep her growing anger at bay. "I'm Cassie, and I'm here to see Ron Weasley, whether you believe me or not."

"She certainly acts like her," Fleur whispered to Bill after a pause, snaking her arm into the crook of his elbow. "Maybe she eez telling the truth. I think–" Suddenly, Fleur's eyes grew wide and her mouth popped open as though she made a rapid discovery.

"What is it?" Bill was quick to ask. "You're alright?"

"Yes," Fleur replied, blanched, "but the newspaper! I saw her in the newspaper from two weeks ago!"