Chapter 2
The biggest thing I've found out over the last few months, though, is is how large the Black Family Tree is when just including the Primary, Secondary, Tertiary and Quaternary Branches. I didn't get a good look at the tree at Sirius' when I saw it. I didn't even know the Longbottoms were on there! And that Orion is the Head of House since Sirius Black II died last year and named Arcturus' Son as his Heir instead of Arcturus as they'd fought over the 'proper values a Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black should have'.
I listened to the lesson my Father was giving my eldest sisters from in my Mother's arms with Narcissa sitting next to me making weird faces to make me laugh. Narcissa's 18 months old now while I'm only 5 months old and the twins are 2 years and 6 1/2 months old. I looked at Narcissa, then at the twins and then back to Narcissa. Narcissa looked at the twins and then back again. She slowly stood out of her chair and walked over to the twins. Our whole family stared at Narcissa in shock. "Filly!" I heard a House Elf apparate. "Quick! Narcissa's walking! Get the camera!" A few seconds later, and they were taking moving photos of Narcissa. Narcissa quickly grabbed on to our Father just before she could fall over. "See?" Father said after getting over his shock. "The Healer said she was just a late bloomer. Our Little Flower can walk on her own!" He started tickling Narcissa and Narcissa giggled. I smiled at her.
"Yes, well, the Healer may have said it was normal for toddlers to walk on their own up to 18 months but you can't blame a mother for worrying about her child. The twins were running around at 15 months," Mother said. I wiggled around on her lap until she sat me down on the floor against the chair. The first time she'd done this, she'd had Tilly watch me in case I fell over but after five times without falling over once, she only looks over a few times. I decided I wanted to go to my sisters so I could fuss over Narcissa's achievement too. I leaned forward and onto my stomach. I pushed my hands against the floor to get into a crawling position but fell back down. Damn this baby body! After a few more attempts, I succeeded. I slowly started to crawl forwards and then I heard a scream coming from my Mother. I kept going towards the rest of the family.
"Mama! Baby over here!" I heard Narcissa yell and everyone started looking at me.
"She's crawling, Cyg! Our Littlest One is crawling!"
"Come on, Littlest One!" My Father yelled.
"You can do it, Cassie!" The twins yelled.
"Baby!" I reached Narcissa and crawled onto her lap from where she'd sat on the floor. "Baby! Baby did it!"
"Sis!" I babbled. "Sis! Sis! Sis!" Narcissa hugged me and I nudged my head against her stomach and fell asleep.
...
I hate this! I can and can't control my own body. I made myself crawl a month before usual and yet, I constantly shove random things in my mouth too. It's like sometimes I can override my baby body instincts and sometimes I can't. It's been six months since I did that and Cissy's birthday was yesterday. "Cassie! No mouth! Spit it out!" Cissy said and, luckily, I managed to spit out the ball. I don't even know how I fit that thing in there. It's huge! Luckily, I managed to stop myself from swallowing it but my baby insincts wanted me to.
"Cissa!" Cissy froze. Damn it! I wanted to say Cissy not Cissa! Oh, well, at least the others can't say I mean Sissy, as in sister, like Cissy does whenever she says it.
"What did you just say?"
"Cissa!" Her eyes went wide.
"Mama! Mama, come quick! Dada!" Cissa yelled. "Bella! Andy!" The four quickly ran into the room.
"What happened? Is the baby okay?" Dad asked.
"Did she swallow something!?" Mom yelled.
"What's on the block?" Bella asked.
"Baby drool," Andy said.
"Ew," Bella said.
"Baby talked!" Cissy said. Sometimes she calls me Cassie and sometimes she calls me 'Baby'. It seems to be her own little nickname for me and I like it.
"No way!" Bella said.
"Well, babies talk at a year to 18 months. She's 11 months but she crawled a month early so it's possible," Dad said.
"What did she say?" Mom asked. "Was it 'Mama' like you?"
"Or 'Dada' like Bella and Andy?" Dad asked.
"Nope. Cissa!" Cissy looked smug.
"Liar!" Bella said.
"I'm her best sister!" Cissy said.
"I am!" Andy yelled.
"I am!" Bella yelled.
"What do you think, Baby?" Cissa asked.
"Cissa!" I happily yelled and the room became chaos. Cissy moved to leave the room. I stood up and everyone froze.
"Filly! Get the camera," Dad said after the House Elf showed up.
"Is she gonna walk?" Bella asked.
"Not for Cissy!" Andy whined. "Cissy got her first word. Why her first steps too? Doesn't she love us!?"
"Yeah, don't you love us?" Bella asked me. My eyes watered and I sat down and loudly cried.
"Bella! Andy! Don't be mean to your sister! Now you've upset her and stopped her from trying to walk," Mom said. Cissy ran over.
"Don't listen, Baby. You love us. We know," she said.
"Yeah, sorry," Bella said as her and Andy came over and the four of us hugged. I heard the camera going off.
"Sorry," Andy said.
"Sowwy," I said and everyone cooed. I have to admit, though. I do love being adorable to everyone.
"Wanna try again?" Cissy asked.
"Cissa!" She chuckled.
"That's a yes," Andy said. They all stepped back and stood next to each other. I slowly stood up. I tried to take a step but wobbled and fell on my butt. I tried three more times before I made it a few steps. I tried running and ran a few more steps before falling into Andy's arms. Everyone cheered.
"Cissa! Andy!"
"She said my name!" Andy happily yelled.
"Hey, what about me!?" Bella asked. She came face-to-face with me. "Say 'Bella'... Say 'Beh-La'. Come on, Cassie. You're smart. You can do it. Say 'Beh-La'," Bella overpronounced.
"Bella!" I yelled and Bella whooped. She picked me up, spun me in a circle and laughed when I giggled. "Bella! Bella! Bella! Bella!"
"See that? Cassie has a new favourite! Who is it, Cassie?" Bella asked, smugly. I decided to wipe the smug smile off of her face.
"Cissa!" Everyone but Bella laughed and Bella pouted. "Bella! Andy!"
"I think she's saying you're all her favourites," Dad said.
"Dada! Mama! Filly! Tilly!" I yelled.
"Okay, now she's showing off," Andy said with a smile.
"Andy!" I yelled.
...
"Where are you going?" I asked Bella and Andy as Cissy and I saw them go to go outside.
"Tree climbing," Andy said.
"You two can't come," Bella said.
"That's not fair!" Cissy said.
"What Cissy said!" I said.
"Bella, maybe we should let them," Andy said. "They're not much younger than us."
"We're six, Cissy's four and Cassie's three," Bella said. "They can't climb trees and, even if they could, they wouldn't be able to get back down again."
"Hey! I'll be five next week and Cassie'll be four next month," Cissy said.
"Fine, Cissy," Bella said. "You can come but leave Cassie. She's way too young and she could get hurt."
"But... I... No," Cissy sighed. "Cassie and I will just have to work on her reading instead. Right, Baby?"
"Okay, Cissy. But next year we both get to come too!" I said to the twins and they nodded. Cissy and I made our way to the library. I have to get better with my toddler eyes noticing different letters and words if I want to read as much as I used to.
...
"Tree climbing time?" I asked as Bella and Andy went to go outside.
"You can't come," Bella said. "We promised that next year you could come. It's still this year. Coming, Cissy?" Cissy looked at the twins, looked at me and then shook her head with a sad look on her face. Her thoughts told me she didn't want to leave me alone but she did really want to go.
"Cissy's going with you," I said. "I'm gonna go read." I quickly left so Cissy wouldn't be able to follow me. Bella and Andy loved playing with me the first couple of years and then they started leaving me and Cissy out because we're 'too young'. They leave me out more than Cissy, though. I made my way back to my room and opened my book as I tried not to cry.
...
"Happy birthday, Cassie!" Mom yelled. "So, what do you want to do today?" I quickly ran to Bella's room and went in but Bella wasn't there. I went to Andy's room and Andy wasn't there either. Cissy wasn't in her room.
"Mom! Where's Bella, Andy and Cissy!?"
"They went outside. You slept in so they decided to go flying," Mom said.
"They went flying without me?" I asked her as I reached my room again.
"You know you're not old enough to fly. Next year, sweetie. How about you decide what you want to do today and then you can spend time with them after lunch?"
"Okay, Mom," I said. "I'll just read in the library."
"Do you want me to read with you?"
"No, thanks," I said. I quickly went to the library and spent the next few hours crying and reading. Then, it was lunch time and I ran downstairs to the kitchen.
"Happy birthday, Cassie!" Bella, Andy and Cissy said.
"Thanks," I said.
"So, are you having fun today?" Cissy asked.
"Yeah," I lied. "I spent most of it reading."
"Of course you did," Bella muttered under her breath and I tried not to cry again. The older I got, the more Bella seemed to not like me.
"So, what do you want to do now, Cassie?" Andy asked after we finished lunch and Mom and Dad left the room.
"Tree climbing!" I yelled, excitedly. Bella scoffed.
"No," Bella said.
"But... But... You promised," I said.
"But... But..." Bella mocked. "Tree climbing is for babies... Then again, you are 'Baby', aren't you?"
"Bella!" Andy yelled as I ran out the room and into the garden. If they won't do it with me, I'll do it myself. I cried as I reached the small forest at the end of the Manor's garden. I quickly started climbing the first tree. It took a few tries and about ten minutes later, just as Bella, Cissy and Andy came into view, my magic reacted and put me in the top of the tree.
"Cassie!" Andy and Bella yelled when they realised how high up I am.
"Baby!" Cissy yelled.
"I'M NOT A BABY!" I yelled, loudly. Fuck, that was louder than I thought it'd be. Cissy's lip wobbled a little and a few tears fell but she didn't make a noise.
"B- B- Baby?"
"I'm sorry, Cassie," Bella said. "I shouldn't've said any of that. I'm so sorry."
"Why do you hate me?" I asked her as I cried even more.
"I don't hate you! You're my littlest sister! I love you, Cassie!" Bella said.
"But you never want to spend time with me and you hardly spend time with Cissy, you always make fun of me and how I like reading and then you said all of that earlier... You always try to exclude me and make me feel bad and I don't get it... Why don't you love me? Why do you hate me?" I asked her and she and Andy started crying as well.
"I'm sorry, Cassie... I... Last year, on mine and Andy's birthday..." Bella trailed off.