the magic in the music

I

Cassiopeia Black was by no means a weak person. She was headstrong, independent, and quite frankly a stubborn git when it came down to it. But nobody can be strong all the time; there will inevitably be a moment, or moments, when the mental barrier is shattered like a hammer to glass, and the shards left behind can often be irreparable, especially if the creator of the barrier is drained.

This being said, Cassiopeia Black was incredibly skilled at picking up the shards with minimal commotion, and even more incredibly skilled at fixing and maintaining her barrier despite the extensive damage it, along with herself, withstood. She had her coping mechanisms, and was rather in touch with her mind. 

In order to survive her biannual sentence carried out at 12 Grimmauld Place, she had three simple tasks to fulfil. Firstly, she had to lay low. Minimal contact with her mother or father meant minimal opportunities for them to find fault with her. Secondly, in the event of interaction with her parents, she had to put on a worthy performance. As long as she could convince her parents she somewhat stood for their beliefs, she was safe. The third, and most important task, was to protect her brothers over herself at all costs.

Sirius Black was by no means a weak person. He was headstrong, independent, and quite frankly a stubborn git when it came down to it. However, he frequently failed to accomplish the tasks necessary to survive Grimmauld Place; he failed to lay low, and miserably failed to put on a pureblood performance. At Hogwarts his passion and undying loyalty to those he loved were admired and appreciated, but this simply was not Hogwarts.

Sirius Black barely survived his sentence at Grimmauld Place, and most certainly could not have done it without Cassie's quick thinking and wit. Whilst Cassie could sit in uncomfortable silence during conversations about Hogwarts' 'filthy mudblood infestation' and the pureblood community's distain for Albus Dumbledore, Sirius physically could not restrain himself from making his resistance known.

"Mother, please do us all a favour and shut up. Nobody wants to hear your sickening views, everything about this house disgusts me." Sirius wanted his point heard loud and clear, and shouted his death sentence at the top of his lungs.

Some part of Sirius enjoyed winding up his family; he enjoyed the feeling of pride he got from standing up for what is right, with the knowledge that the Potters and his friends would be so proud of him. His parents never showed him any affection, nor displayed any pride for anything he did growing up, so he vowed to himself that he would never allow anyone to disrespect the ones who cared so deeply for him.

"You will NOT speak to me in that tone, in my own house. How dare you, you filthy blood traitor." screeched Walburga. She proceeded to berate her son, clarifying that he would be out on the streets if she had it her way, but that her father sought to protect the Black family reputation.

"Mother, you must excuse Sirius. He's pining over a half blood girl, Salazar knows why. He's a teenager- his hormones are more important than his loyalties right now. But I shall seek to make him see what is right, and divert him from this foolish obsession. Then he'll understand his true place in our world. I apologise on his behalf, and hope that you trust me to set him right, as his closest friend."

Cassie felt violently sick at the words coming out of her mouth, but the alternative was saying nothing and leaving Sirius to the violently twisted hands of an enraged Walburga Black. She wanted to wash her mouth out with soap to remove the trace of the vile words which tainted it, to remove the stains of disrespect to those she held dear.

"Very well. Tell your brother that one more comment and he shall be left to the hands of your father. Fix your hair, you are the daughter of the Ancient and Noble House of Black. Act proud." Walburga spat and slammed the door, evidently only somewhat reassured by her daughter's lies.