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"GIRLS, WHAT IS TAKING YOU SO LONG?" Priscilla Garrick chimed as she walked into Eleanor's room, holding a basket of freshly laundered clothes. She looked over the girls' appearances. Cassiopeia was sitting on the bed, neatly dressed in a short black skirt and white blouse, and looking through an old copy of Witch Weekly. Eleanor sat in front of the mirror on the floor, brushing her tangled hair. "Ron is supposed to be here in half an hour. You're still in your pajamas, Nora. At least Cass can get ready on time."
Eleanor refrained from rolling her eyes as she tried to tame her wild bedhead. Cassiopeia slightly laughed at her appearance. The girl had some cream underneath her eyes, half a face of makeup on, and her hair stuck out in unruly pieces. She had only woken up about twenty minutes ago and flew into a panic when Cassiopeia reminded her that Ron was coming today.
How Eleanor had no sense of time management was beyond Cassiopeia's understanding. Priscilla was known for being very organized and practically planned every part of her day down to the exact minute. Unfortunately, Eleanor was not the same. Every morning, Cassiopeia would be up, dressed, and ready to start the day before Eleanor even thought about crawling out of bed.
"Mum, I have never been late in my life. Can't you give me a little grace?"
Priscilla shook her head at her daughter, "Whatever will I do with her? Cass, Ron did say he was coming at nine, correct?"
"Yes. He should be here soon."
"Wonderful. I'll let you know when he's here. Hopefully, my procrastinator of a daughter will be ready by then." Priscilla and Cassiopeia laughed before the woman left the room. Eleanor grumbled something under her breath and wiped the cream off from under her eyes.
It took a while for Cassiopeia to warm up to Priscilla and Castor. For the first few weeks, she felt herself walking on eggshells and trying to become almost invisible. She was utterly terrified of doing something to upset them. She was afraid that if she did something wrong, the Garricks would disown her too, and send her back to live with the Death Eaters.
One night, she broke down in tears when she accidentally knocked over a flower vase. She had been sobbing, saying that she would pay for it to be replaced. It took an hour of Eleanor consoling her before she realized that Priscilla and Castor didn't care about the flower vase. They had been more concerned by her reaction.
That was the night Cassiopeia told the Garrick's everything her father did to her. Once they understood that Cassiopeia was deeply afraid of being hurt again, they told her they wouldn't let anything happen to her ever again. Cassiopeia was still a bit hesitant to trust them. It felt strange to have adults treat her so kindly. The last time she experienced any parental love was when she was seven.
However, Cassiopeia started to loosen up more and truly relaxed. She felt herself laughing more and becoming more accepting of her new life. Once she realized that it was okay for her to be herself and she didn't have to keep up the perfect pureblood daughter facade, she knew the Garricks would never hurt her.
