Enemies Working Together

13

A week into the summer hoildays, Cassiopeia tells her mother that she is going for a walk and instead takes the Knight Bus to her cousin's flat in London. Nymphadora opens the door and ushers her cousin in.

"What's wrong? You usually just send a letter." Nymphadora looks at her cousin with concern. Cassiopeia just breaks down crying out of fear and just missing Ron. Nymphadora hugs her tightly.

"I just want Ron back so badly. It hurts so bad, Nymph." Cassiopeia sobs into her cousin's shoulder who just tightens her arms around her.

"I know and I am sorry, Cassi. It's not fair to you or Ron. Maybe worse for him, because he has no idea."

"Now that I am here, I will just give my report," Cassiopeia says, forcing herself to pull herself together, remembering she is a solider, not a teenager anymore. "Voldemort is now taking refuge in my house. He seems to trust me and as you know likens me to Aunt Bellatrix, he continues to do so and has even asked her to teach me some hexes that he showed her. I think he wants me to become her." At that, Nymphadora looks frightened. The plan was working a little too well.

"Just how good are you at acting, cuz?"

"No one suspected that I didn't care for the pureblood mindset for years. I should honestly just become a muggle actress after this, I would be phenonmal." The two cousins laugh and Nymphadora casts a charm so it doesn't look like Cassiopeia was crying and she leaves. Bellatrix is waiting for her in her room when she returns.

"Aunt Bellatrix, to what do I owe this honor of having you in my bedroom?"

"Time for your practice, darling niece." The two witches go into the garden and spend the rest of the afternoon, practicing hexes. The summer passes with practice sessions with Bellatrix, sending information to Nymphadora and really missing Ron. Voldemort insists she sit beside him during meals, which she obliges with Bellatrix sitting on his other side, smiling at her niece. When the school year approaches, Naracissia takes Draco and Cassiopeia to get their things. Trouble occurs when they go to Madame Matkins to get new robes for Draco. Cassiopeia stands off to the side and watches her brother just as Harry, Ron, and Hermione walk in.

When Cassiopeia sees Ron, it takes everything in her not to fling herself in his arms. The bond strengths when they are in the same room. Draco scolds Madame Matkin for poking him with a needle. Ron meets her eyes and they both look away, quickly, the heartbreak still too fresh for either of them. Naracissia gets into a verbal argument with Harry.

"Mother, we should go to a place where riff-raff aren't allowed in." Cassiopeia says in a clear voice and Naracissia agrees so they all leave, Cassiopeia's arm brushing against Ron's and again it takes all her willpower to not fling herself in his arms and kiss him deeply. When they get home, Cassiopeia puts all her stuff away and sits on her bed with a blank look in her eyes and internally sobs at the harsh look Ron gave her when she was leaving the robe shop. Soon the school year starts and Cassiopeia feels so empty all the time but doesn't let it show in her mind, expect behind the shield, or on her face.

The year passes and Cassiopeia knows that Draco has been tasked with killing Dumbledore but she also knows that her brother is not a killer. He may talk a big game but killing is not Draco's thing. She feels bad for her brother, knowing what the weight of a mission can feel like but can't say anything because as far as Draco knows, Cassiopeia doesn't have a mission. During the Christmas hoildays, Bellatrix and a bunch of Death Eaters attacked the Weasley home and Cassiopeia is relieved that Ron is not hurt and wishes she could have stopped the attack.

At the end of the year, Death Eaters get in, thanks to Draco, and Snape succeeds in killing Dumbledore and Cassiopeia feels as if hope is lost for her to ever see Ron again. Nymphadora meets her in an abandoned classroom and reassures her that her and Moody will vouch for her and that Dumbledore would have kept the paper in a safe place. Cassiopeia attends Dumbledore's funeral invisibly, and sees Ron sitting with Harry and Hermione and quietly sobs because she can't sit with him and knows that this year is going to be hard.

The summer passes and Voldemort still trusts her but is so focused on killing Harry, that she becomes a thing in the back of her mind. After Harry escapes the attack when he was moved and at Bill Weasley's wedding, Voldemort makes his name taboo because only Order members are bold enough to say it out loud and Cassiopeia sends an urgent message to her cousin, warning her about it and she warns the Order who gets the word out with a radio service that Lee Jordan, Fred, and George started to tell people things that they needed to know and to give people hope.

The school starts and Hogwarts attendance becomes mandatory for anyone from ages 11-17, which means Cassiopeia sits on the train in her usual compartment, staring blankly out the window. There is no laughter in the halls of Hogwarts this time. People move quickly and quietly through the halls, mainly in fear of the Carrows. The Carrows are the two Death Eater siblings who take over the Defense Against The Dark Arts and Muggle Studies positions. Muggle Studies becomes mandatory and turns into why Muggles deserve to die class. Defense Against The Dark Arts really turns into Dark Arts.

Cassiopeia feels like all hope is lost, all the time and just wishes this never happened. That she never had a glimpse of a life with Ron because that glimpse made her feel like the breath was stolen from her lungs ever time she thought about those times in Grimuold Place. The kisses they stole in her room and how he made her feel like she wasn't the Pureblood Ice Princess. May rolls around and the final battle starts. Filch leads the Slytherins to the Dungeons and they get out. Most of them leave the castle but Cassiopeia stays because she cannot abandon the Order, not when she spent the last two years spying for them. She was so close to the end that she refuses to die.

Cassiopeia uses a disillusionist charm on herself and goes around saving Order members. She saves Nymphadora, Remus, Fred, Lavender, and little Colin Creevey. When Voldemort comes back to the castle with Harry's dead body, she feels again like all hope is lost. When Harry reveals that he really is alive, hope spreads through the Order's side and Cassiopeia feels like all is not lost for once. Out of the corner of her eye, she spots Bellatrix almost kill Ginny and Molly get pissed and she knows that now is the moment she was waiting for. Blacks are known for being dramatic and this is the most dramatic thing she could think of.

Cassiopeia throws Bellatrix backwards with the same spell that saved Sirius two years ago. She watches her aunt's eyes narrow, recoginizing the spell. Bellatrix lets out a snarl and tries to once again figure out who casted the spell but Ginny recoginizes and also can't figure it out. Fred, George, Bill, Charlie Weasley, Molly and Arthur are all standing there and everyone's eyes go wide when they see Cassiopeia removes the disillusionist spell on herself and smirks at her aunt.

"Hello Aunty." Cassiopeia says, with a snarl.

"Good, Cassiopeia, help me destroy the Weasleys."

"No." She says before tossing a hex at her aunt who hurries to block it and narrows her eyes. Before she can say anything else, Cassiopeia tosses another hex at her, one that Bellatrix taught her.

"TRAITOR!" Bellatrix snarls at her niece and locks into a fierce duel with her niece. Everyone in the Great Hall, turns and watches the duel with shocked eyes. Cassiopeia holds her own quite well against Bellatrix, thanks to Bellatrix training her. One of the final spells Bellatrix taught her, was her doom as Cassiopeia tosses in with a frociety no one expected. The spell freezes Bellatrix and with one jab of her wand, Cassiopeia explodes her aunt into a million pieces.