MIST • James Potter

November the third

tw: mentions of torture, mental illness and death

November the third 1959 was the day Sirius and Cassie were born, Sirius is 12 minutes older than Cassie which makes her the middle child out of the three of them. Growing up as the only girl in the house had its privileges, she was expected to be protected by her brothers, everything she wanted had to be available for her or else they wouldn't be happy. She didn't see anything was wrong with being that spoiled until she noticed how different Sirius was treated.

While on their birthdays, she'd get so many gifts from her family and the extended one, meanwhile Sirius would have something meaningless like money; what would an 8 year old do with money anyways?

Cassie suspects that's when Sirius started to resent her. After a long talk with her uncle Alphard whom she adored, she realized that despite having the same parents as Sirius, they weren't treated the same. She tried so many times to talk to him, to be his sister again but he kept pushing her away.

She sorta gave up on trying to reconcile with him anymore when they were 12, he changed a lot— especially after meeting James, who made him realize that he was being abused in that household and it's not normal for the parents to treat their kids like that.

In her defence, she still loved him as a brother; even though he doesn't see her as a sister. and for that she swore to do better for Regulus, to be the older sister that he deserves, to protect him from their parents. because after Sirius disowning there was no one left at the house for their parents to pour their anger out on—which meant they had to walk on thin ice to not be tortured.

Cassie got her fair share of torture after Sirius had left, she was always in severe pain and started to know what Sirius really went through. No one dared to defend her, like she didn't defend Sirius; the only time she dared to stand up to him once Sirius was disowned she got punished for it, she knows she won't experience that kind of pain ever again, or at least that's what she tells herself for comfort.

There was no denial that the Black children are all traumatised, Sirius having a borderline personality disorder, Cassie being depressed and having anxiety, Regulus with his bipolar disorder. being in that house had made them suffer, and there was no escape for it. Even though Sirius had got out, he still had his own battles to fight.

As Cassie walked with her friends to the great hall, she was surprised that once again Sirius' friends had outdone themselves this year with celebrating him; maybe he told them how he felt with each birthday and that's why they celebrate his birthday the most. because as she can see now entering the great hall, with a huge banner that's hung up saying 'happy birthday Sirius' with decorations around it.

Of course they had to go all out, since Sirius was now an adult in the wizarding world, which means the ministry would no longer know anything about him or track him down. He can use magic outside of school, and now he can apparate.

Cassie felt like after all of what happened to Sirius, she doesn't even deserve to celebrate a birthday. so she celebrated it quietly with her friends in the common room or inside of her dorm. Everyone knew when Sirius' birthday was, but they somehow forgot that he had a twin sister that shared the same birthday.

She just sat down with her friends in their usual place on the Slytherin table to have breakfast, Esme was shifting in her seat while watching the Gryffindor table, clearly she wanted to go and sit with Sirius on his birthday.

"Esme you can go and sit with him, I'll see you tonight" Cassie said with a smile.

"Really? I just don't want to make you sad, but he's my friend too, you know?" Esme asked, she was hesitant to leave but at the same time she wanted to be with him.