Chapter 1
I spotted Hedwig fly in through a nearby window and I walked over to her. She doesn't have a letter... Hi, Hedwig. What're you doing here?
Harry's on his way. He let me out of my cage after he blew his Aunt Marge up like a balloon. I snickered and then full-on laughed. Of course, Harry blew his Aunt up! And I thought my Family had issues. I went out the front door to wait for Harry.
"Dobby," I called and Dobby popped in front of me. After Harry tricked my Dad into freeing Dobby, Dobby immediately came to me asking to be my House Elf. He'd been my personal Elf my entire life and he knew I'd treat him well. Before taking him on as my Elf and binding him to me, I made sure he had adequate clothing instead of that pillowcase he'd had before.
"Yes, Mistress Cassie?" Dobby asked.
"Prepare a bedroom for Harry, please. The one next to Draco will do."
"Harry Potter is staying here!? What an honour."
"Dobby, the room."
"Yes, right away, Mistress." Dobby popped away right as I spotted Harry at the gate. I used my Air Magic to open the gate for him and to levitate Harry's trunk. Harry quickly ran to me.
"Cassie!" Harry exclaimed as he pulled me into a hug.
"Okay, geez, I've missed you too but don't you think this is a little much? Happy birthday by the way."
"Thanks. Sorry. I haven't seen anyone but the Dursleys all summer, other than those on the Knight Bus here and those people were so weird..."
"I get it. So, later today, Mom, Draco and I are going to go shopping for school supplies. Coming?"
"Er, yeah." I closed the front door and started walking to Harry's room.
"Okay, so thanks to the Weasleys' trip to Egypt and Hermione's trip to France, the Etiquette Exams will be in the last week of August. The eldest, Bill, will also be taking it then. Bill's moving back here, apparently."
"Oh, cool."
...
The Floo flared up and Hermione stepped out of it, coughing. "You okay, Cutie?" I asked her with a chuckle.
"That wasn't fun," Hermione said. A few moments later, Ginny stepped out of the Floo and Ginny and Hermione immediately started glaring at each other. Great. This is still happening. A few moments later, Fred, George, Ron, Percy and another redhead who must be Bill had all joined Ginny, Hermione, Harry and me in the Foyer.
"Okay, now that everyone's here, let's get this started." I held my hand out to Bill. "Hi, I'm Princess Cassiopeia Malfoy of the Most Noble, Most Ancient and Most Royal House of Pendragon." Bill took my hand in one of his and gently kissed it before letting go.
"An honour to meet you, Princess Cassiopeia Malfoy. I am William Weasley of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Weasley," Bill replied. "However, you can call me Bill."
"And you can call me Cassiopeia." We smirked at each other before leaving the room with the others following. I led them to the Drawing Room for the Etiquette Exam to start. I smiled at my Mom as I walked over to her. She was the one who'd be testing them and I could tell some of the others were freaking out about it.
"Okay, from what I've been told, Miss Hermione Granger, Prince Harry Potter, Mr Percy Weasley and Heir William Weasley will be the ones taking the Etiquette Exam today but the rest of you want to know what it's like, is that still correct?" Mom asked them. They all looked at each other and then Harry stepped forward.
"Yes, Lady Malfoy, that is correct," Harry said and I smiled at him. Luckily, I'd warned them all in advance that the Exam would start the moment they arrived or they could've messed this up already.
"Good. Well done, Prince Potter," Mom said and Harry politely nodded in thanks but, thanks to my Legilimency, I could tell he was bursting with pride on the inside.
...
"Are you sure you want to go to the platform with the Weasleys this year?" Mom asked for the fiftieth time.
"Yes, Mom," I replied. "I'll see you on the platform but I want to go with my friends."
"And that filthy Mudblood," Draco said with a smirk and an eye roll.
"You and I both know she isn't a Mudblood since she passed her Etiquette Exam just like Harry, Percy and Bill did."
"I still can't believe you let Prefect Weasley change his surname to Prewett. Bet the Parent Weasleys weren't okay with that."
"According to Ron, they had a whole argument about it. Ron doesn't think Percy's gonna go back there again. I can't say I disagree." I gave Draco and Mom hugs. "I'll see you both later. I love you." I walked over to the Floo where Harry had been waiting.
"Bye Lady Malfoy, bye Mini Malfoy," Harry said with a grin and Draco groaned.
"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Narcissa, Harry?" Mom asked with a smile.
"I... Okay," Harry sighed. "Narcissa it is." Harry went through the Floo and I followed moments later. I spotted Hermione and I quickly pulled her into a hug.
"I missed you, Cutie," I said.
"I missed you too, Cassie. I wanted to do this before but because of the Etiquette Exam, I didn't," Hermione said. After Hermione pulled away, Ginny pulled me into a hug. A few moments later, I pulled away and Ginny and Hermione started glaring at each other. I spotted Harry being overwhelmed by Mrs Weasley and I quickly walked over to them. The moment Mrs Weasley spotted me, she went all icy.
"You're the one who caused my Percy to pull away from his Family," she said in a cool tone of voice.
"Mom, leave Cassie alone," Fred said as he and George appeared between Mrs Weasley and me and Harry.
"Yeah," George said. "Percy was already pulling away from the Weasley name. This has only improved our relationship with the new Head Boy."
"Wait, Percy got Head Boy? Percy! Congratulations!" I happily said when I spotted Percy. Percy went slightly red.
"Oh, er, thanks, Cassie," Percy said.
"Harry, wonder if I might have a word?" Mr Weasley asked as he came over. He gave me a gentle smile and the two of them left.
"You stay away from my Sons and Daughter!" Mrs Weasley spat.
"Mom, she was a huge part in saving Ginny," Percy said. "Ginny has a Life Debt to Cassie and not Harry." Wait, what? But I never felt... I guess I was too distracted to notice. "Not to mention Harry has a Life Debt to Cassie too since she saved his life on the way to Hogwarts last year." Mrs Weasley scoffed and walked away.
...
I quickly walked over to where Mom and Thema were and I hugged them. "Sorry, it took so long," I said. "The Weasleys seem to not know what 'ready in advance' means. Apparently, this is the quickest they've gotten ready before which I find highly alarming. No wonder Ron missed the train last year with how close they cut it."
"Well, baby, you've got to get on the train now, it's going to leave in a minute," Mom said. "I'll miss you, Cassie."
"I'll miss you too, Mommy," I whispered. "You too, Thema."
"Bye, Cassie," Thema said after giving me one last hug. "Don't forget to write."
"I won't." I quickly made my way onto the train and I walked down the train until I found the compartment Harry, Ron, Hermione and some random guy were in. "Who's that?" I sat down after closing the compartment door. "Thanks for bringing my stuff, Ron."
"It's fine," Ron said. "He's Professor R. J. Lupin, according to his case."
"Lupin? Lupin... Lupin... I swear I've heard that name somewhere... Lupin... Holy shit! Harry, Remus Lupin was a friend of your Dad."
"Wait, really? He was my Dad's friend?" Harry asked. He went to wake Professor Lupin up but I stopped him.
"Harry, if he really is a Professor, he's gonna be here all year round. Leave him alone for today, especially since he's sleeping and it's his first day."
"You're right. You're right. Sorry."
"So, Harry, you're not gonna go after Cousin Siri are you?"
"Who?"
"Cousin Sirius Black? You know, my Mom's First Cousin? I know what he did to your Parents and all but--"
"What did he do to my Parents?" Harry asked, cutting me off.
"You... You don't know? Oh. Awkward... Er, well... Apparently, Sirius was your Dad's best friend. He was the Secret Keeper for them."
"Secret Keeper?" Hermione asked.
"Fidelius Charm," I said before explaining the Charm and Scabbers started freaking out. Squirming in Ron's hands. That Rat is so annoying. It's scared of everything. I hate being near it and I try to block out its voice and thoughts as much as possible. "Sirius was the Secret Keeper. The secret can only be given willingly and not under torture or something like the Imperius Curse. So for The Dark Lord to have found your Family, Harry..."
"He betrayed them," Harry said. "He was their friend and he betrayed them. He's the reason they're dead. Voldemort wouldn't've been able to kill them if Black hadn't told him where they were."
"Yeah... Sorry... Anyway, apparently, Peter Pettigrew, Professor Lupin, Sirius and your Dad's friend, confronted Sirius. He yelled for everyone to hear about Sirius' betrayal and Sirius... He blew up the street, killing Pettigrew and 12 Muggles. There's something about it, though, that doesn't add up for me... According to Mom, Sirius was always very vocal about his Blood Traitor beliefs, even after your Mudblood Mother asked for his help in becoming a Muggleborn, Harry. Unfortunately for her, she didn't get the chance to take an Etiquette Exam as you have before she died. If she had, maybe The Dark Lord wouldn't've killed her... I just can't understand how he killed those filthy Muggles when he seemed to like them his entire life. Add on how Pettigrew was apparently a wimp and a coward, I just... I don't get how he could've confronted Sirius like that... But the Wizengamot have extensive trials using Veritaserum and people's memories to get the truth so for him to have ended up in Azkaban... He had to be guilty to be found guilty in a trial."
"Veritaserum?" Harry asked.
"It's kind of like a truth-telling Potion, Harry," Hermione said and the train stopped moving.
"We're not there yet," I said. "This... This can't be good." Harry stood up and opened the compartment door. He stuck his head out to look around but the train quickly tilted backwards causing Harry to fall back and the compartment door to close.
"What's going on?" Ron asked.
"I don't know," Harry said. "Maybe we've broken down."
"Are you an idiot? The train's run by Magic it can't break down. This is... Something else. I have a bad feeling about this," I said before standing up and moving over to sit on Hermione's lap. "Hi, Cutie."
"Ouch, Ron. That was my foot!" Hermione said. "Hi... There are still seats, you know? Other than my lap I mean."
"Yeah, but I'm liking this more." I zoned out as it got colder, only hearing Ron mention something being outside and coming onto the train. I don't feel good. The train shook and Ron yelled something but I couldn't concentrate enough to hear the words. I saw something just outside the compartment and it opened the door. Oh, no. A Dementor. I know Dad said they're going to be at Hogwarts but he didn't say anything about them being on the train. The Dementor looked at me and I heard a woman screaming and there were flashes of curly black hair and pitch-black eyes in my mind before everything went black.
...