In the Shadow of Azkaban

Volume II: XIII

Kassia's Point-of-View

I could feel my eyelashes reaching my brows while I stared at Aesop. I cleared my throat and pulled my shoulders back. My hands smoothed against my skirt when I  announced, "Everyone. Please make your way to the veranda for the cocktail hour. The feast will follow shortly." The tone of my voice was strained as the company filtered out near the garden.

Aesop walked up to me and nodded his head, as if that even constituted as a bow. I rolled my eyes at his ill attempt to respect me.

It had been over a year since I saw him. The scar was healing just as I planned. Poorly. Although, somehow, it only made him appear more attractive. I sighed to myself before his eyes met mine.

"Kassia." His tone was flat, but I could tell he was attempting to hide any regard he had for me in that moment.

"Aesop." I retorted, seeming emotionless.

His eyes were soft when he looked down at me fondly. I challenged him. My teeth were clenched and eyebrows furrowed as I peered back up at him. We stayed in this position for less than a minute.

Aesop broke first, "A frustrated woman only produces a better man." He leaned in closer, and I took that as my cue. I brought my foot up and stomped directly on his toes.

Sharp flinched enough that I noticed. I neglected to remember he had a limp, but he was the one who failed to bring his cane. "Oh, Aesop. I do apologize. I had forgotten about your leg." I bent down and began muttering a healing charm over his foot.

I instantly felt guilt for agitating his injury. I had scarred his face, but that was a well-deserved mark. He didn't even give me the chance to fix what my adopted brother did. He had shamed this family.

Alas, even following that, Caractacus took it upon himself to punish Aesop. He cursed his leg before the trial, and Aesop had never been able to walk normally since. After the injury, he had to resign from his active auror position and join the Hogwarts faculty.

At that point, Dinah already retired from her time at the Ministry and decided to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. I was grateful she was there to look out for him.

My train of thought was interrupted when Xilia entered the main foyer. Her gown swished against the wood floor. I looked up to see her dismayed face watching me on the ground.

The tone in her voice was tinged with callousness, "Am I interrupting something, my dear sister?"

"Not at all," I promised her, speaking through my teeth. I needed to come up with a believable lie.

I spoke slowly, "Aesop had just tripped without his staff. I thought it would be rude to leave a guest writhing in pain. This basic healing charm should fix it very soon." I smiled up at her and hoped to Merlin that Sharp would keep his mouth shut.

Luckily, Aesop played along. He bowed in Xilia's direction. "That's precisely it. I don't have my potions on hand, so Kassia was kind enough to assist me." He definitely sounded more convincing than myself.

She coughed into the tense air, and her eyes narrowed at the both of us. "Well, you two better hurry it up. I do not have time for tardiness with supper." She made a small noise of contentment and scurried toward the kitchen.

I attempted to pry the information out of him. "Why in Merlin's name did you decide to show up tonight? You had a year to reach out and—"

Aesop shushed me and interrupted, "I am not here for you. I am here for the boy." His eyes flickered over to the garden.

"Ominis?" I gasped.

"No. Sebastian Sallow. I arrived here on official Ministry businesses. It seems Hector Weasley was killed on assignment, and it is urgent that Sebastian begins his auror training now. Antoinette's assignment can wait." I could sense the alarm as the words practically fell out of him.

He admitted, "That's the only information I can provide."

"Antoinette had failed to mention that she would soon join her friend to work at the Ministry. This family will revoke that job assignment. Auror work is too dangerous for women who need to produce an heir." My tone felt stale and robotic.

I had worked as Aesop's partner in the Ministry since I had no real ties to a prominent family. That was a sacrifice that others needed to make.

What made this girl think she was any different? She truly believed that she could just break the rules, and no one would notice. I imagined the infuriated look on Xilia's face.

Xilia had given up everything for her family. Our parents had never met her children. She had stayed in this damned manor her entire life with Mercurio, and she still had refused to venture out even after I killed him.

I had to come up with something. Anything. Before Xilia found out and decided to murder the girl for keeping such matters to herself.

"Aesop. You have to tell her that the offer was rescinded." I stared at him, my cat-like eyes softened to be persuasive.

"You know I cannot do that." Aesop's voice was but a whisper. His gaze shifted to the ground, and I realized that I knew this situation all too well.

"You have failed me before. But this is different. That girl is stubborn, and Xilia will commit every Unforgivable if she becomes aware of the omission of information. Please? Do this. For me?" My voice broke. I could feel my heart rising in my chest while tears formed in my eyes.

If she were to die, Ominis might end up just like Orion. I couldn't bear the thought.

"Fine. I will send an owl." His face resembled just as it did before he left me in Hogsmeade. The healing charm must have done its trick because he rose from the ground with ease.

He turned on his heel and limped slowly toward the front door. But this time, unlike the other, he turned around and locked eyes with me before he disapparated.