The Girl Who Found Hope [2]

Year 4 - 1

Straight from leaving school, the Reid family rushed to pack some things and made their way through the fireplace to Romania. Kathryn was now a few weeks overdue and was waiting for her child to come at any time. Rodger had sent a letter and asked for the family to be there so they would be there when the child actually came. So, they made their way there, grateful for the early wrap up to the school year. The twins had grown into beautiful toddlers and had been able to start to ask for things they want. They had also begun to try to walk, they hadn't successfully walked yet, but they're still crawling around to get what they want. Lyra was now ten, meaning she had one more year before she started Hogwarts also. Her excitement was growing, the more and more stories that her sister brought back made her more and more excited.

"Let's go!" William called through the house. Cassiopeia came down the stairs with her bag and stood by William. Ara, Lyra followed down the stairs. Both twins upon Ara's hips. "Everyone ready?" He asked. Everyone nodded and together they made their way through the flames to Romania. When they got there, the first thing they heard were Kathryn's shouts.

"Roger, I'm fine. Stop fussing!" She yells. Cassiopeia looked to Ara, to see her with an amused smile on her face. Cassiopeia walked to the doorway of the kitchen, where the family were to see Rodger was walking away with a cup of tea in his hands, Kathryn and Bridgit were sitting on the bar, Bridgit was smiling in amusement while Kathryn looked hot and bothered.

"Jesus, your hormones are everywhere." Cassiopeia commented with humour. The group turned to her.

"Ha ha." Kathryn replied sarcastically.

"If you think this is bad then you've seen nothing." Rodger replied with a small smile. Cassioepia smiled back as he came and embraced her.

"Nice to see you again, Rodger." She greeted.

"You too, Cassiopeia." He replied, then he made his way into the living room to see the rest of his family. Cassiopeia made her way over to her aunt and cousin, she brought Bridgit into a hug and then moved to Kathryn. As they pulled apart Cassiopeia looked at Kathryn.

"You look so beautiful." She commented.

"Beautiful? I look like a fat hippo." Kathryn replied with a scoff.

"A fat hippo who is glowing with pride and happiness at the thought of another child growing inside her." Cassiopeia replied. She then put a hand on Kathryn's stomach. "Do you know the gender?"

"No, we wanted it to be a surprise." Kathryn replied. Cassiopeia nodded. She held her hands on either side of the swollen stomach and closed her eyes. Kathryn and Bridgit watched as Cassiopeia's hands glowed. The rest of the family entered the room and looked in confusion at what Cassiopeia was doing.

"What's she doing?" William asked. Kathryn and Bridgit shrugged their shoulders. Cassiopeia's hands stopped glowing and she pulled away.

"Well, did you want to know when the child will be ready to pop?" Cassiopeia asked standing up. Everyone looked at her wide-eyed.

"Sure." Rodger said.

"Tomorrow." Cassiopeia replied with a smile. Everyone's eyes widened.

"Y-You sure?" Rodger asked. Cassiopeia nodded.

"So, mother-to-be. You have a day left where you can sleep, so make good use of it. Babies cry a lot." Cassiopeia said with a smile. This got a great timing giggle from Leo. Cassiopeia turned to Leo and brought him into her arms. She bounced him, making the child laugh.

The group then parted ways, taking their belongings to their rooms. After Cassiopeia unpacked, she made her way to the music room. She grabbed a book and a guitar, she wanted to put thought into this song. She wanted to write a song about Draco. She started to strum some chords, getting into the music. Rather than making the pad write down the music as she went along, she wrote it in herself as she played. She wanted this song to be more personal and she got this through writing it in her own hand. She strummed and strummed for hours coming up with a beautiful song, but she hadn't written lyrics. She just hummed the tune.

"I take it that this is about Draco?" A voice asked. Cassiopeia looked up from the guitar to see Ara standing there. Cassiopeia nodded. Ara came to sit beside her. "You're lucky, you know? So many pure-blooded children are forced into marriages that they hate. But you both love each other and you can be together."

"Were you and William forced together?" Cassiopeia asked. Ara nodded.

"Yes." Ara replied. "But now, I wouldn't have it any other way. We have fallen in love."

"Did you love someone before? Before you had to let him go?" Cassiopeia hesitantly asked. Ara nodded, a small tear running down her cheek. Cassiopeia gently wiped away the tear with her thumb, pulling her adoptive mother into a hug. "What happened to him?"

"He died." She replied. "I was actually engaged to him before I was to William. My parents and his arranged it. But then he died, well I say died. He was killed by the Dark Lord."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Cassiopeia replied. She nodded then shrugged.

"Nothing I could do to change that. And now I'm happy. And I hope wherever he is, he's happy too." She replied.

"That's the best thing you can do. Have hope." Cassiopeia said with a smile.

"And hope I shall have." She replied, giving Cassiopeia a small smile.

"If he was killed by the Dark Lord, I take it that he was a Death Eater?" Cassiopeia asked. Ara nodded.

"Yes, he was among the followers. Just as William was." Ara explained.

"Was Rodger a Death Eater too?" Cassiopeia asked. Ara shook her head.

"No, he had an older brother called Evan. He took the family's responsibility to the cause on his shoulders so that Rodger didn't have to. But he wasn't frowned upon. That's why Will's mother arranged Rodger and Kathryn to be married." She explained.

"Can I ask something?" Cassiopeia asked. Ara nodded. "I've noticed that William keeps rubbing his left-forearm. Isn't that where the mark is?"

"Yes. It is. We're not sure why it keeps stinging, but it is. He's trying to ignore it for the time-being. So, don't mention it." Ara replied. Cassiopeia nodded.

"When he comes back. Will William join the Death Eaters again?" Cassiopeia asked. Ara nodded. Cassiopeia lowered her head in worry.

"But don't worry about that right now. We must live in the here and now. We can worry about that when it comes." Ara said and then gave Cassiopeia a kiss on the forehead. Waving farewell wave as she walked out the room. Leaving Cassiopeia to sit in thought.

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Here's the beginning of year 4!

Thanks for reading

-Zoe