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LIFE HADN'T IMPROVED MUCH FOR CASSIOPEIA SINCE CHRISTMAS. Once they returned home, Cassiopeia had been punished for her outburst at the Malfoy's. After getting a slap to the face, she had been forced to clean the dungeons that resided under Coldwell Manor and hadn't been touched in over seventy years. Her father told her that she wasn't allowed to use magic or receive any help from the house-elves which made the job even more difficult. She wasn't good at cleaning to begin with, even with the help of magic. Doing it the Muggle way caused her to take almost three days to clean the dungeons the way her father wanted.
Their training resumed and, somehow, it was more brutal than ever. Orion pushed Cassiopeia harder than ever, pushing way beyond her limits. Before, he used to spend more time with Thalia and Zethus since they were older and closer to becoming Death Eaters but, after the events that took place on Christmas, he focused more attention on Cassiopeia. He used every single curse, unforgivable or not, to test her limits.
Every night she went up to bed to get fixed up by Plums while ignoring her siblings' empty apologies. They tried to comfort her and tell her that they knew how she felt but Cassiopeia disregarded it. They had no clue how she felt. Sure, they had gotten cursed and hurt by their father before but it was different when he did it to Cassiopeia. When Orion cursed and hurt her, he did it in pure rage. Something he would never do to Thalia and Zethus.
He had always hated Cassiopeia more than the twins and he took every opportunity to remind her of it. Whenever he got mad at her, he hurt her either by cursing or physically abusing her. If he got mad at the twins, he just gave them a few chores. It had always been like this. Cassiopeia would always get cursed while the twins just had to clean. Ever since they were kids, Orion always treated Cassiopeia considerably worse.
Thalia and Zethus had no idea how she was feeling.
The day dragged on and on until January Third arrived. The day she was meant to attend a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix at Grimmauld Place and share her findings with Dumbledore and the other members. To say she was nervous would be an understatement. She had gotten information about what the Death Eaters were up to and their movements, but she was worried that it wouldn't be enough. The only meeting she was able to eavesdrop on was the one at Malfoy's Christmas Ball and she hardly got anything from that.
Cassiopeia spent the morning training with her siblings and getting healed by Plums before she got ready for the meeting. As she combed through her raven locks, she started to come up with a lie that she would be able to tell her father. She couldn't flat out tell him that she was going to be traveling to the House of Black to meet up with enemies such as Albus Dumbledore. By the time she was checking herself over in the mirror to make sure no bruises or scratches could be seen, she decided on a story to say.
The youngest Coldwell walked through the manor to her father's study. She gulped before she knocked on the door and the small, frail frame of Evans opened it from behind. Orion looked up from his desk at his daughter for a moment, as if determining whether or not he should address her. Eventually, he motioned for her to enter, "What do you need, Cassiopeia?"
