The Marauders Era

Damn you, Andromeda

Cassie truly couldn't remember the last time she had felt this happy. After being dragged into the house by Sirius, she managed to get away from him long enough to greet Ted with a hug before she started gushing over how big the twins had gotten. As they had managed to gather themselves around the dinner table, Cassie couldn't stop smiling as she watched Rabastan and Sirius starting up a conversation. While Ted was filling Andora's plate with food, Andromeda did the same with Nymphadora's.

"So, how was Christmas?" Andromeda asked casually as she looked up from her daughter's plate.

As her mouth was filled with food, Cassie, unable to answer, held up a finger before lifting her glass, drowning some water, making it easier for her to swallow it. "It was eventful." she breathed out.

The older woman raised a brow at her cousin's answer, her face stained with clear dissatisfaction. "Eventful..." Andromeda scoffed. " That's pretty vague. Would you care to entertain us?"

Cassie glanced at Rabastan, who was already looking at her, as well as everyone else. What should she say? Most days, I hid in my room, though one night I fell asleep under the stars, then danced and got a little drunk. Oh, by the way, I'm pretty sure your sister's a death eater. That would be an eventful conversation for sure, however not rather pleasant.

"Well, we went to London one day, there was the Christmas ball," a shiver crawled down her spine as the dream from this morning flashed quickly through her mind causing her to add, "oh, and Rabastan took the underground for the first time."

"Let me guess, he walked into the barrier, didn't he?" Sirius asked, unable to keep the grin off his face. "They always do that."

"You did that, or have you forgotten?" she stared deadpan at her brother, recalling a similar situation folding out just last year when she and the boys had taken one day of their stay at the Potters to take a trip into London. As Peter and Remus, along with Cassie, had taken the underground before, they already knew how to work with the tickets and the ticket barrier, and though while they passed through with ease, it didn't take long before they noticed two of the Marauders were missing and was currently trying to walk through the closed barrier. She remembered how Remus took one look at the two and tried his best to bite back the grin on his face, while Peter burst out laughing, shook his head before going over to the two, trying to help them.

Sirius waved his hand dismissively, pretending not to know what she was talking about, which just made her smile.

"You should have seen Regulus. He absolutely loved it." Rabastan spoke up for the first time, drawing the table's attention. His lips were curled upwards in a smile as he recalled the younger boy's reaction. "That and those busses without roofs."

"For a moment, I was worried he would fall off with how much he was leaning over," Cassie added, causing Andromeda to laugh.

Her brown eyes twinkled as she smiled. "I remember my first time on them. I think Ted had to hold me down so I wouldn't fall over."

Her husband nodded his head smiling as he lifted his mug of water to his lips and took a sip. "If I hadn't, you would have fallen over for sure, considering how eager you were."

"Can you blame me? I've never done anything like that before. It was like flying on a broomstick."

"Only it was much slower?" Cassie laughed, causing her cousin to look at her and nod, surprise etched into her features. "Regulus said the exact same thing."

At the mention of her youngest cousin, Andromeda perked up slightly as she couldn't help but wonder just how he was doing. "How is he?"

"Okay, I think. He's been reading quite a bit, but I suppose it's not really that much for him to do at the Lestrange's Manor." Cassie said. "Though you should have seen him at the Christmas ball, he danced with a girl." She paused for a moment, letting the tension build slightly before adding. "And smiled."