The Clockwork Locket || SIRIUS BLACK

The Forbidden Forest

Cassie blinked, her wand slipping from numbed fingers and clattering to the floor. Brother and sister stared at each other for one long moment, dark eyes identical in the gloom, though one pair echoed back listlessly while the other filled with tears.

As if moving not of her own volition, Cassie stood from the bed and retrieved her wand, suddenly very cold despite the blazing fire in the hearth. Will watched her blankly as she pointed her wand at him. She shook as violently as the leaves on the tree outside her window as the storm raged on, and she willed her muscles to stay still. Her heart thundered, adrenaline and horror at what she had done coursing through her veins, and an eternity seemed to pass before Will shifted, shaking his head and frowning.

"Cassie—" he started.

She flicked her wand once more, putting meaning behind her spell, all her desperation and fear. "Obliviate."

Will's face returned to its previous slack expression, his eyes going out of focus, and Cassie shuddered.

There was no other way, she told herself. In order to keep Will safe from Voldemort, she had to make him forget; she had to send him away. Once Voldemort knew that Gryffindor's object had been found, once he sought the gauntlet for himself, he would kill her brother and pry it from his dead hands for being a traitor, a defector. But she still had a chance. Voldemort told her himself that he didn't want to kill her yet, and she would use that to her full advantage.

She gripped her wand tighter and looked into her brother's eyes. Only flames reflected back at her.

"You were never here." The smallest tremor laced her voice, but she forced it back, focusing, intent on her spellwork. "The locket and the book are not important—just gifts you gave me, passed down through the generations of our family. You—"

She stopped, blinking back tears. Will stared at her, expectant.

You have to do this, she thought. If Will wouldn't save himself, then she would have to do it for him.

"You are not William Rigel Alderfair," she continued, stronger. "When you leave here, you will pick a name and a country, and you will go there. Tell no one where you are going, or what your real name is. Start over—but stay hidden."

He bobbed his head in acknowledgement, and she knew she had to wrap up her spell quickly; her arm was beginning to tremble violently under the pressure of such complex magic that she had never used before, and she had to make sure it held.

"You have a sister who loves you," she said, her voice breaking. "More than anything. Never forget that."

He nodded again, and she lowered her wand, ending the spell. His face maintained its slack expression and his eyes were still dark and empty, like yawning pits of shadows. She moved toward him cautiously, but he only stood still, watching her blankly, and her heart broke at the realization that her brother could not remember who she was to him anymore.

She touched his cold cheek with her clammy palm. He did not even flinch. Reaching up on her tiptoes, she kissed his forehead gently before pressing her own to it. She closed her eyes, and several tears slipped out, fast and hot.

"I love you," she whispered, fearing her voice would give out entirely if she spoke any louder. "I'm so sorry."

She drew away, and he stared at her in confusion before shaking his head. "I'm not supposed to be here."

Before she could reach for him, he turned on his heel and strode out of her room, closing the door behind him with finality.

Cassie collapsed on her bed and flung her wand across the room, dangerously close to the fire. A scream built in her chest, and she bit into her pillow as sobs wracked her body.