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chapter fifteen / a labyrinthine vision
"Is there a reason you've called me here, Headmaster?"
"Not particularly," Dumbledore said breezily from his comfortable spot behind his desk, waving his hands. "Oh, unless you count unveiling your past..."
She raised her eyebrows, skeptical. "Sorry?"
"I supposed I should begin at the beginning," Dumbledore said calmly, folding his hands in front of himself and setting them on his desk. "Your mother did not die thirteen years ago, Cassiopeia."
"My name isn't—"
"Your mother is alive," he said, though his smile grew wider at her words as though he were amused. "And though we cannot yet track her down, we do know this: her sister's child attends Hogwarts, and I think it's about time you and Florian were properly introduced."
"Atticus?" Cassie's jaw fell open. "Florian Forbes? Atticus is my... my cousin?"
"Well, yes. It would seem that way." Dumbledore smiled knowingly at Cassie, but she barely registered it. Her mind was swimming. "Matilda Hawthorne gave birth to Atticus a year before your mother had you. I'm sorry if this comes as a shock to you—"
"It does!"
"Well, I'm sorry, then. But now is not the time for apologies, yes? Would you like an explanation further on your bloodline, or to continue on with the rest of it all?" Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.
"Definitely an explanation," Cassie muttered.
"Right." Dumbledore nodded. "Your mother's sister, Matilda, had Atticus a year before she had you, and the Potters had Harry."
"Next, you're going to tell me I'm related to him, too."
A smile danced across the old man's lips. "No, you're not related to Harry. The Potters were friends with your mother and Remus, a man called Peter Pettigrew, and.. and, yes, Sirius Black. I believe they called themselves the Marauders. Anyway, you already know the story of what happened on Halloween night, don't you, Cassiopeia?"
"Yeah.. when Black betrayed the Potters' trust and turned them in to—to him?"
Dumbledore nodded. "Yes. Well, Professor Lupin seems to believe your father is—"
"He's not my father."
"Whatever he is," the headmaster continued, clearly running thin on patience, "Remus believes him to be innocent. He claims the Potters switched their Secret-Keeper at the last minute."
Cassie's brow furrowed. "So.. so, that would make Sirius innocent of betraying Harry's parents, but he still killed all of the muggles with the explosion, right?"
