Normality?
Cassie had been home for 5 days. 5 days of mind numbing boredom. After 9 days of treatment at the world renowned St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, Cassie had been looking forward to returning home and moving on with her life, finding a sense of normality in the mundane. It appeared however that her parents had very different ideas, their plan appeared to be complete house arrest. No visitors, no leaving the house and no strenuous activity. She had barely been allowed to leave her bedroom, only going downstairs to eat meals and bask in the last of the summer sun in the garden.
On her fifth day home however, a group of three robed men had appeared on the front step of the Shacklebolt residence. They had introduced themselves as members of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement who wished to speak to Cassie regarding her experiences at the Quidditch World Cup. Apparently they had tried to interview her in the hospital, however Kingsley had been adamant that she was too unwell and shaken from the experience.
But now they had her cornered her, Kingsley was at work and although Maya had tried to keep them at bay they had rather forcefully barged their way through the front door, making it clear they had no intention of leaving. Maya had reluctantly led them through to the living room where she had then stalled asking the gentlemen if they wanted any refreshments. Whilst going to get their drinks she had subtly sent Kingsley a message at work, she then went upstairs and got her daughter, the whole time her heart was beating so hard she could hear it in her ears.
Cassie slowly entered the living room, her fuzzy socks dulling the sound of her footsteps on the wooden floor. Timidly she met the eyes of all of the men sitting in the room, trying to gauge what they wanted.
“Sit, Miss Shacklebolt, please, we have a couple of questions about what happened at the World Cup,” the broader of the three men said.
Cassie instantly cut him off, angered that he appeared to be ordering her around in her own house, “Vaughn, my name is Miss Vaughn, Sir,” Cassie said, holding the man's gaze, not allowing him to intimidate her.
“My apologies, Miss Vaughn, I wasn’t aware you hadn’t taken the Shacklebolt name,” he replied.
The tension in the air was broken by an apprehensive knock on the door. Maya slowly entered the living room, passing around glasses of lemonade from a tray she was levitating behind her. Once she had finished she went over to Cassie, gently grabbing her hand squeezing it, silently asking if she was okay. Cassie gave her a small smile and a nod, determined to not let these men get to her.
“You may now leave Mrs Shacklebolt, from our records I can see that you were not at the event and are therefore unable to give us any further information of your own,” a skinny wisp of a man called out.
Maya's eyes flared with anger, “I am her mother, she is underage and in a medically weak state. You will not interrogate her without someone who actually cares about her welfare present,” she said, her tone cold and threatening.
“Mrs Shacklebolt, we have done you the courtesy of coming to your house after our countless owls of correspondence have gone ignored. We are dealing with a highly sensitive investigation, therefore your daughter will be questioned in whatever manner we see fit. If it would be easier, we are more than happy to accompany her to one of our questioning rooms at the Ministry,” the man spat out, clearly angered by Maya’s disobedience.
“Mum,” Cassie broke in, looking her mother in the eye with a comforting smile, “I know how to handle myself, I’ll be fine,” she said.
“Cassie,” Maya whispered, but the third man had now stood up towering over the pair, firmly placing a hand on Maya's shoulders he ushered her out of the room, slamming the door in her crestfallen face.
“Muffliato,” the man murmured, placing the silencing door charm on the door. Turning around crossing his arms of his massive chest he appeared to be guarding the door, Cassie couldn’t decide if he was preventing her from leaving or one of her parents from entering.
“We don’t have time for any more dramatics Miss Vaughn, we have a couple of questions for you then we will leave, understood?” the first broad man asked, he appeared to be in charge. Cassie just nodded her head, silenting taking a seat in the armchair furthest away from the men and balling her hands into fists in her lap. Let’s get this over and done with, she thought.
“Can you tell us when you arrived at the event and who you arrived with?”
“I was invited to the World Cup by the Carlisle family,” she mumbled, “I’m best friends with Hugo and Odette, we go to school together.”
“And when did you arrive?” the man in charge pushed.
“The morning of the match,” Cassie said.
“You know the Carlisle children from school, what year are you in at Hogwarts, Miss Vaughn?”
“Yep, I’ll be going into my fifth year, at Beauxbatons Academy of Magic , Sir” Cassie replied snidely, she was fed up with everyone assuming she went to Hogwarts, it wasn’t the only magical school in the world.
“Interesting, you live in Britain but choose to receive your education from a French school?” he questioned, his eyebrow cocking in curiosity.
“I’m a legacy, Maya went to Beauxbatons, apparently we get better etiquette lessons there. Hogwarts as I’ve heard, gets no etiquette training whatsoever, and it shows,” she responded smartly.
She heard a sharp intake of breath from beside the door that sounded like muffled laughter, however she refused to break eye contact with the leader in front of her to check. His cheeks were slowly beginning to flush red which gave Cassie a slight sense of accomplishment, if he was going to try to get under her skin, she was going to push back just as hard.
“Right, what time approximately did you leave the stadium and what time did you get back to your pitch at the campsite?” he continued to question.
“I’m not entirely sure, we left the stadium straight after the game had finished, it took us around 25 minutes to fight through the crowds and get out.”
“Did you see or hear anything on your way out?” he responded quickly.
“Not really, all anyone could talk about was the game. We had been supporting Ireland so we were celebrating with everyone else,” she was getting curious about his line of questioning.
“So nothing else of any interest happened between walking from the stadium to your pitch? You left the stadium with the Carlisle's and arrived back at your tent with them?” he pushed.
“We left the stadium with everyone, but Mr Carlisle was invited to join some Ministry men for a chat. Hugo asked to take our group of friends back to the campsite because we were all cold and tired.” she said.
“What Ministry men was Archibald Carlisle talking to?”, there she saw it, he appeared to think he had made a connection, she could see it from the look on his face.
“I don’t think that’s my place to say, that’s his business,” she replied coldly.
“Who?” he spat through his teeth.
“It was a group, he introduced us to Ludo Bagman and the Minister of Magic. A vile family named the Malfoy’s joined not long after,” she gave in.
“Hold your tongue girl,” the thin man from the corner warned, “the Malfoy’s are an incredibly respected family.”
“I was always taught you earn respect,” she retorted, her tone sharp.
“Why do you care who Mr Carlisle was talking to anyway? Are you going to go and interrogate your boss, Corneilus?” she continued.
“I’m asking the questions here, Miss Vaughn,” said the man in charge, trying to get the conversation back on track. “So after you left the group of adults, you went straight back to the tent with no trouble, no stop offs?”
“Yep, we laid around the cabin chatting until the early hours. Then we finally went to bed around 1am,” why did he care about anything that happened before the attack she thought, especially to a group of random children.
“Who was at the cabin when you went to bed? Had the adults returned?” he asked.
“No, just our group of friends. Me, the Carlisle twins, Liberty Mason, Bonnie Cartwright and Fabian Bartlette.” she listed.
“Do you know where the adults were? Where was Henry Carlisle?”
“No idea,” she responded honestly.
“But they were there when you woke up?”
“Only Mrs Carlisle was there, she told us that Henry and Mr Carlisle had gone to help the Ministry.” These questions were coming quicker, as if he was trying to trip her up.
“What happened when you got outside?”
Cassie’s breath caught in her throat, she didn’t want to think about it. She was already having nightmares every night, she didn’t want it to haunt her waking hours as well.
“I…” she stuttered, snapping her mouth closed again as her eyes filled with tears. She didn’t want to cry in front of these men. She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction.
“Take your time Miss Vaughn.”
Composing herself she told them everything she could remember. She told them how they’d run, how she’d been separated from the group in the crush. She told them of her horror of seeing the muggle family and the spells the masked group were sending into the crowd, how one of the spells had hit her and sent her flying. When she got to the part with the masked figure suspending her in the air she paused. Cassie had been replaying that memory in her head since it happened, when she’d discussed it in the hospital with Kingsley he seemed terrified; he’d denied knowing who the woman was, however Cassie felt as though he was keeping something from her. How had a presumed death eater recognised her? Why had the masked woman said she was supposed to be dead? And who was the man?
“I don’t remember anything else after being hit with the spell,” she mumbled, her eyes dropping to her lap.
“Nothing at all? Nothing from being hit until you were found early afternoon the following day, by Bill Weasley?” he asked, skimming his notes.
“Nothing, by that point I think I just passed out from the pain,” she said, her voice wobbling slightly.
“Ah yes, you sustained quite extensive injuries did you not. We tried to come and see you during your stay at St Mungos, but your father forbade us from entering the hospital all together,” the man said, no ounce of sympathy in his voice.
Before Cassie could think up a smart remark the grate in the fireplace glowed an emerald green colour. Standing there jaw clenched and his wand held in a vice like grip in his fist was Kingsley Shacklebolt.
“Get away from my daughter, now,” his voice was deathly calm, but had violent cruel undertones. Cassie wasn’t sure she had ever seen him so angry.
“Cassandra, come here. Now.” Kingsley said firmly, not taking his eyes off the men in front of him. Cassie quickly got up from the armchair and dashed towards her father, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist and burying her head in his chest.
“Are you okay?” he whispered, bending his head to whisper directly in her ear. Cassie just nodded her head.
“If you could just wait outside with your wife Kingsley, we can finish up here in no time,” the broad leader said, completely ignoring the anger that was currently radiating from the man in front of him.
“Get out of my house right now, you have no right to be here,” roared Kingsley.
“I can question any witness to an attack on our world however I see fit,” he replied.
“I don’t deny that. However you are unable to come into a private residence, lock a child in a room away from her parents and intimidate her into answering your question,” Kingsley spat back,venomously.
“I see no form of intimidation in this room,” said the man, smugly.
“The goon blocking the door would suggest otherwise, the fact that my daughter is clinging to me trembling would suggest otherwise, the fact that my wife was barred from a room in our house, a room that out daughter was locked in whilst silencing charms were placed on the door would suggest otherwise!” shouted Kingsley, getting louder with each statement. “All evidence that you have gained from this little interview is immiscible in a court,” said Kingsley, with a flick of his wand all of the notes the men held in their laps or hand burst into flames. The skinny man squawked, jumping out of his chair and brushing the burnt parchment from his lap.
“You will get out of my house, or you will have the full force of the entire Auror office come down on you like a tonne of bricks, do you understand me, get out,” Kingsley was seething. His arms never once leaving his daughters shoulders.
The men sat gaping at Kingsley for a couple of seconds before stumbling to their feet, the larger man who had been standing in front of the door threw it open, practically running from the room. Cassie stood rooted to the spot, still in Kingsley’s embrace. They heard the slam of the front door and rushed footsteps coming into the living room, Maya threw herself at her daughter and husband joining their embrace.
“I’m sorry,” Maya mumbled repeatedly to them both.
✵❂✵
Her total isolation after her illegal Ministry interview continued, leaving her starved of any information. Her parents refused to answer any of her questions regarding the World Cup or the subsequent Ministry investigation. Kingsley had even taken it so far as to ban the Daily Prophet in the house as he didn’t want it to upset Cassie with all of the constant coverage.
A couple of nights after the interview Cassie couldn’t sleep, the fear of the nightmares she knew would greet her as soon as she closed her eyes was enough to keep her up. Instead she lay stubbornly going over all of the unanswered questions in her mind. She’d fast grown bored, she had no theories and without any answers to her questions she had no idea where to begin trying to understand and untangle the events that had transpired between herself and the masked woman. Huffing and rolling over she decided to go and get some water to distract herself. That is how she found herself, sitting at the top of the staircase eavesdropping on a whispered conversation between her parents in the early hours of the morning.
A warm slither of light shined through the gap in the study door and illuminated the downstairs hallway, on the top step Cassie was hidden in the shadows, almost completely invisible. Their quiet voices drifted through the hallway and up the stairs. Cassie had to be completely still and silent, barely breathing to hear what they were saying.
“...you don’t know what it was like Maya, I can still hear her screams now,” Kingsley was saying, his voice catching slightly.
“I know, but Cassie is strong. She has been asking so many questions Kingsley, you know what she’s like, she isn’t going to drop this! Especially with that lot sniffing around, they know she didn’t tell them everything. She’ll try and find out more about that woman, I know it's dangerous but isn't it best it came from us?” Maya asked, pleading slightly.
“She made her decision, eighteen years ago. She betrayed Cassie, she betrayed us Maya!” Kingsley roared, getting louder as he spoke. “She made it clear where and with whom her allegiance lies. I will not allow Cassandra to get caught up in that. I will hunt her down and throw her in Azkaban where she belongs before I allow her to pollute our daughter's mind with her dark psychotic beliefs.”
“We don’t know for definite it was her Kingsley, Cassie couldn’t even see her face behind the mask,” Maya tried to reason.
“Who else could it have been Maya? Cassie told me in the hospital that the woman said she recognised her!” Kingsley’s voice was bordering on manic now.
“Either way we have to trust Cassie, she’s smart and kind and so pure. She will be of age soon and able to make her own decisions, Kingsley. We have to trust we have raised her right and with strong enough morals to fight for what she believes in,” Maya replied, her tone more comforting.
“I can’t lose her Maya, I won’t. She is our daughter.” Kingsley choked out.
“If we don’t tell her now, you have to promise me if this all becomes worse. If we are heading towards what Dumbledore warned us about, we will tell her. She deserves to know.” Maya argued.
“Fine M, okay, but whilst she is still young and at school can we please allow her to be a child?” Kingsley sighed, all of the fight had completely left his voice.
“Okay,” Maya’s voice came out more muffled than before, potentially smothered by Kingsleys embrace. “Come on let’s get to bed, I promised Cassie we would take her to Diagon Alley tomorrow to grab the last of her school supplies.”
“Maybe one of us should go early tomorrow, I’m not sure it’s a good idea for Cassie to go wandering around London at the moment,” Kingsleys said, his voice growing louder as he got closer to the study door.
“No King, we can’t lock her away forever,” Maya sighed.
The light of the study was suddenly extinguished plunging the house into complete darkness. Cassie could hear her parents close the study door and tiptoe down the hallway towards where Cassie was still cowering at the top of the stairs, trying to make sense of all she had heard. Snapping herself quickly from her thoughts, she silently rose, running down the hallway to her bedroom, throwing herself onto her bed. Turning her body so she was facing away from the door she waited, ears strained to hear her parents bedroom door close signifying that she was in the clear. However her body became rigid, sensing a presence behind her.
“Night Bug, we love you,” she heard Kingsley whisper into her bedroom.
✵❂✵
The Shacklebolt family were up bright and early the following morning, wanting to beat the crowds of stressed parents who would also be heading to Diagon Alley to buy last minute school supplies. The family of 5 decided to floo directly into the Leaky Cauldron pub, Theo and Jasper had only apperated once and the memory made everyone present flinch at the thought, floo was definitely safer.
The leaky cauldron pub was a dreary, dark pub with dusty floors and sticky tables. It appeared as though the interior hadn’t been updated in 50 years and most of the furniture was so battered it looked as though it would break if anyone placed any weight on it. If she was being honest, Cassie could never understand why anyone would want to frequent the establishment. The family headed straight past the bar, politely nodding their heads in greeting towards the barman who appeared to be polishing grimy glasses with an equally grimy cloth. In the back room Kingsley raised his wand arm to a brick at chest height, tapping it gently.
The brick wall slid silently to the side revealing the cobblestone street ahead of them. Diagon Alley was like no other place in London. Small tightly packed shops lined the pavement on either side, their wonky grey slate roofs stuck out at jaunty angles casting small shadows onto the pavement below. Each shop front was painted in contrasting eye-catching colours, their front windows displaying various magical necessities. Cafes and delicatessens had brightly coloured criss-crossing awnings, sheltering small round tables. Each establishment had glinting signs hanging above their doors, the wording changing to advertise different products or deals. The atmosphere was what made Diagon Alley truly magical, the bustling streets seemed to flow with excitement and magic as wizards, witches and other forms of magical folk went about their day to day business. Cassie could happily sit in one of the cafes and people watch all day.
Kingsley bought Cassie out of her thoughts as he turned to discuss a ‘game plan’ with Maya. The street was already heaving, with crowds shoving their way past each other to reach the different shops. Cassie felt her chest tighten slightly with anxiety, the last time she had been in any sort of crowd was at the World Cup, she wasn’t sure she was ready to be packed so tightly against other people.
As if he was able to read his daughter's frown, Kingsley turned to to Maya, saying “Cassie and I will go to Gringotts to withdraw her allowance whilst you head to the apothecary and Flourish and Blotts to get the last couple of bits from her list.” Cassie shot Kingsley a thankful smile, linking her arm with his. Maya saluted Kingsley and rolled her eyes, grabbing each of the twins' hands as she began to walk up the street, disappearing quickly into the crowd.
“Come on then Cas, the crowds are only going to get worse and I want a Fortescue's ice cream before we leave,” Kingsley grinned down at her cheekily.
The pair slowly headed in the opposite direction to Maya, Cassie never once straying from Kingsley’s side. He noticed her eyes anxiously darting around trying to take in every detail, looking for any signs of danger. Her grip was tight on his arm. It broke Kingsleys heart, he silently prayed that her usual fun loving and fearless persona hadn’t been changed forever.
Gently squeezing her arm to get her attention he bent down slightly so he was at her eye level, “I’m not going to let anyone hurt you Cas.”
At the end of the street stood an imposing pale marble building that towered above the shops on either side. The dark wrought iron double doors of the building stood open, two guards flanking either side with bored expressions on their faces, they didn't even spare a glance as Kingsley and Cassie walked past. The foyer of the building was lit by a glittering crystal chandelier that sent hundreds of refracted rainbows shining across the walls. Tall mahogany desks occupied by Goblins created a corridor down the centre of the room, leading to a larger desk at the end. Behind this desk stood an older looking goblin, he had a pair of horn rimmed glasses perched on his hooked nose, small tufts of hair sprouting from his wrinkled head.
“Key please,” he grumbled, his black spiked teeth glinting behind his thin pale lips.
Kingsley rooted around in his trouser pocket, finally pulling a tiny gold key out and placing it on the desk in front of the goblin.
“100 Galleons from the Shacklebolt vault please,” requested Kingsley politely.
“Do you need to access the vault yourself, Sir,” asked the Goblin.
“Not today thank you, we’re more than happy to wait here,” replied Kingsley. Cassie couldn’t help the sigh of relief that escaped her lips. The Shacklebolt vault was located on the very bottom floor of Gringotts Bank, hundreds of metres below their feet. The only way to get there was a rickety cart that sent you hurtling at breakneck speeds through the dark caverns, not Cassie’s cup of tea.
Cassie had been staring into space for a couple of minutes as she patiently waited for the goblin to return, her eyes taking in all of the exorbitant details around the room. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of bright orange hair. A tall man was bounding towards the pair, a huge grin on his face.
“Cassie! Glad to see you up and about. How are you feeling?” questioned Bill.
“Doing better thank you,” Cassie said, smiling shyly at the man.
“We were all so worried about you, we tried to come and see you at St. Mungo’s but Kingsley said you weren’t taking visitors,” rambled Bill.
“Nope, complete house arrest,” joked Cassie, “who is ‘we’,” Cassie asked, a slight frown appearing on her face.
“Everyone! Mum, Dad, Percy, Fred, George, Ginny and Ron, even Charlie tried to see you before heading back to Romania.” Bill explained, a kind smile still on his face.
Cassie was a bit taken aback by that confession, she hadn’t seen or heard from a majority of the Weasleys in years. Although they had all once been like a second family to her, once the twins had stopped replying to her letters half way through their first year she felt too awkward to respond to invitations to stay at The Burrow. The twins had made a new life and new friends at Hogwarts and once she had started Beauxbatons so had she. Mrs Weasley had sent her a birthday and Christmas present every year, but aside from her the only other Weasley she kept in regular contact with was Ginny. They owled every week sharing almost everything from silly school gossip to crushes and heartbreaks, although they hadn’t seen each other in years, Ginny truly was like the little sister Cassie had never had.
“I’m sorry I missed them all,” Cassie replied, trying to keep the air of surprise out of her voice.
“Don’t worry, you’ll just have to come and visit us at the burrow one day soon,” Bill said, seeming completely oblivious to the awkward tension that was now hanging in the air between them.
Before Cassie could reply someone cleared their throat behind Bill, making the pair turn. The Goblin had returned carrying a small burlap drawstring pouch that jingled slightly when it moved. Handing it to Kingsley with a slight bow he turned to Bill raising an eyebrow.
“I believe you have got a meeting with the Peruvian ambassador in 20 minutes Mr Weasley, you might want to go and prepare.” said the Goblin snidely.
With a sheepish grin Bill turned back to Kingsley and Cassie, “Well that told me!” he chuckled, “keep in touch Cas and let me know how you’re doing. I’ll talk to mum about organising a dinner in the holidays, you do owe me after I saved your life.”
Pulling Cassie into a quick goodbye hug he turned to Kingsley, holding out a hand. Grasping it firmly Kingsley said “Thank you so much Bill for everything, Maya and I really can’t express how grateful we are. We owe you more than you’ll ever know.”
Bill’s cheeks began to glow a light shade of pink, “Like I said to you before, you owe me nothing. We Weasley’s take care of our family.”
With one last small wave Bill turned on his heel and disappeared behind a large mahogany door on the left side of the room. Making sure that the little pouch of galleons was tucked safely away in his pocket, Kingsley led Cassie out of the bank and back down the alley way towards the purple and pink decorated ice cream parlour. Patiently waiting at a white metal table outside was Maya and the twins who had chocolate ice cream smeared all over their faces. Placed on the cobblestone pavement at Maya’s feet was a large paper bag of books and a beautiful gleaming gold cauldron.
Cassie couldn’t help the squeal of excitement as she threw herself at her mother, looping her arms tightly around her neck. “Thank you, thank you,” she began to chant, barely stopping for breath in between. She had wanted a golden cauldron for years and had spent the summer admiring this particular one in the apothecary window.
“You deserved it after how brave you have been,” smiled Maya, “I got you a double scoop of banoffee and Dad a triple scoop of Earl Grey and Lavender. Quickly sit down and eat up before it melts!”
The small family sat at the small table under the summer sun laughing joyously and enjoying the last day of summer.