CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR;

AN ODD REUNION

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Dear Miss Black,

As of July seventh, nineteen ninety-five, at six thirty-nine in the morning, an anonymous letter arrived at the Ministry via owl and delivered your true identity to the authorities. It has now been brought to our attention that you are the eldest and only daughter to notorious serial killer and Azkaban escapee, Sirius Black. This has proved to be potentially problematic.

If you are aware of any whereabouts of your father and/or you are/have been in contact with him, we urge you to reach out to us via return address.

We offer our regards over the death of Cedric A. Diggory and hope you will take into consideration our apology due to our quietness on this matter; we are not in need of letters flooding through the floo system and demanding we tell them the whole story.

Signed sincerely,
Bernadette S. Caxfield
Magical Law Enforcement.

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Dear Miss Black,

It has now been two weeks since our last owl. Please let us know if you are aware of your father's location.

Signed sincerely,
Elizabeth K. Mitzersmith
Magical Law Enforcement.

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Dear Miss Black,

Have you or have you not been in contact with Sirius Black?

Signed,
Magical Law Enforcement.

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Miss Black,

A Ministry force may have to be sent to inspect your living area if you do not reply to our letters. If we receive no reply by the date of August twelfth, nineteen ninety-five, an agent will be sent to seventeen-twenty Eadlyn Grove, Surrey.

Magical Law Enforcement.

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"It'd be a real shocker if they find me there," snorted Cassie, tossing the letter over her shoulder. She finished polishing her broom handle and inspected it.

   "You can't stay here all summer," said Ron reasonably, swinging his broom onto his shoulder and pulling the protective paddings onto his head and arms. "I mean, eventually they're going to think to look here. Plus, you've got to get back to school next month.."

She hadn't technically been spending the whole summer at the Burrow; only the more recent half. She'd stayed with Remus until the first letter came on July eighth, then both parties decided it would be safer for her in a different location. After all, if it were so easy for the Ministry to find her, it couldn't have been much harder for the Death Eaters.

   "We'll burn that bridge when we get to it, won't we?" she said decisively, sending him a 'this-conversation-is-over' look as Fred, George, and Ginny entered the shed. Cassie gave them a once-over and walked past them, "Boys. Ginny. Ready to get out there?"

No sooner than she had finished speaking did she make it out of the shed and mount her broom, soaring high into the air. She gazed down onto the Burrow, nothing audible except the beating of her own heart and the whooshing of the wind.

"She's a lunatic," said Fred after the whirl of air had dissolved.

"She's grieving," corrected Ginny, picking up her own broom from its resting spot and checking it briefly. "She can't let herself get caught in her own thoughts. Hermione wrote us, remember? We just have to be supportive."

"Wish 'being supportive' meant something other than freezing our arses off at five in the morning," Ron grumbled, following his younger sister out of the shed and into the air.

"Finally, slowpokes," said Cassie from her vantage point, peering down at her friends. "I've been waiting up here all day. Let's go!"

"Can't wait 'til Harry gets here and she's too lovestruck to boss us around," Fred muttered to George, earning a wack on the back of their heads from Ginny as she flew over them.

Over the summer, Cass had excelled in her training toward becoming a Quidditch player. She'd planned on trying out during fourth year, but the Triwizard Tournament put a pause on the inter-house Quidditch tournament, so she'd had a whole year to prepare.

Of course, in said year, Cedric Diggory died, she was outed as the only living offspring of Sirius Black, and had basically been on the run from both the Law Enforcement and Voldemort all holiday.

The question of who revealed her identity remained unanswered – the owl by which the damning letter had been sent was only a common barn owl; the letter bore no return address; nobody claimed they had been the one who ratted her out.

Hermione disapproved entirely of Cassie's touch-and-go plan.

"You really ought to write back and tell them you haven't an idea where Sirius is!" she chastised Cassie the afternoon after she had arrived, following the girl around the Burrow as Cassie busied herself with all possible chores.

"But that would be lying," said Cassie airily, scrubbing ferociously at a spot of dirt on the window that Errol had smashed into earlier. "I can't lie to the Ministry taskforces, Hermione; you of all people should not be enforcing this."

"I'm not saying you should lie to them!" said Hermione hotly and as though the very idea of lying to the Ministry was unheard of and scandalous. "Only that you need to reply eventually! They're going to think you're guilty of–"

"Because I am," interjected Cassie, a hand on her hip as she turned to face Hermione. "I have been in cahoots with Sirius Black, Hermione. I have been in contact with my father since his escape from Azkaban."

   "Boys? Boys!" called Mrs. Weasley, the distraction thankfully ending Hermione and Cassie's tense conversation. "Are you packed or not? Oh, this is– come on!"

   Fred and George barreled down the stairs of the Burrow, a trunk trailing behind them in the air. Mrs. Weasley narrowed her eyes at her twin sons, but did not say anything. After all, they were now of age, and could legally do magic outside of school.

   "What are we packing for?" asked Cassie, befuddled as she watched the Weasley family bustle around their tiny home. Mrs. Weasley paused for a moment to pull Cassie aside from the ruckus.

   "I'm sorry we haven't told you, dear, I only thought Remus would have written you," she said, her brow creased in concern. "We can't stay here this summer, I'm afraid; there's work to be done."

   "What work?" Cassie asked, though her question went unanswered as Mrs. Weasley tottered off to whack Fred and George upside the head.

   A few hours later and with the help of Hermione, Cassie had packed all of her belongings back into her trunk and was standing outside the Burrow with Fred, George, Ginny, and Hermione. Cassie glanced around after a moment, confused as to where the rest of the Weasley family was, when–

   "–AN IDIOT TO RUN AROUND WITH THAT SENILE OLD MAN! DUMBLEDORE IS SIMPLY LOOKING FOR TROUBLE, AND YOU'RE GOING TO GO DOWN WITH HIM!"

   There were some muffled sobs that drowned out Arthur's reply, though the level of volume was definitely there.

   "I KNOW WHERE MY LOYALTIES LIE; WITH THE MINISTRY! IF YOU ARE GOING TO BECOME TRAITORS, I AM GOING TO MAKE SURE EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT I NO LONGER AM APART OF THIS FAMILY!"

   Not a moment later, Percy Weasley stormed from the Burrow. He paused as his narrowed eyes landed on Cassie.

"You lot ought to be ashamed of yourselves," he spat, before storming past the Apparation wards and Disapparating without a backwards glance.

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Since the departure of Percy, the trip to number twelve, Grimmauld Place was an awkward one.

   Mrs. Weasley spent the entire time crying to herself and muttering incoherent strings of words; Mr. Weasley, charming and mannerly as ever, had never been more furious than if you brought up Percy's name in front of him; Fred and George were planning ways to prank the entire Ministry.

   So to say, Cassie was itching to see anybody outside of the Weasley family.

  "Read this," instructed Mr. Weasley, handing her a fragment of parchment that read 'Number twelve, Grimmauld Place'. The only odd bit was that there seemed to be no number twelve on Grimmauld Place – the apartment numbers said ten, eleven, and then skipped to thirteen. Cassie frowned.

   "Mr. Weasley–" she began curiously, then fell shut as Mrs. Weasley placed a finger to her own lips. Cassie fell into place behind Ron, her hand wrapping around his arm for a feeling of comfort.

   After a moment, the apartments labeled eleven and thirteen began to slide apart. Cassie watched in awe as the Muggles sitting inside the neighboring houses continued on with their night, blissfully unaware of the fact that they were currently harboring a secret house, in which an Azkaban escapee resided.

   "Well, we're here," said Mr. Weasley, picking up the handle to his bag and promptly walking up to the door. He knocked, and it swung open. "Remus? Anyone home?"

   Suddenly, Remus Lupin ran down the hallway to greet them. He smiled at the sight of his goddaughter, though the sight left his face quickly. He drew his wand and pointed it at Arthur.

   "What is Arthur Weasley's mother's name?" said Remus, watching Mr. Weasley intently.

   The ginger man did not hesitate before answering firmly, "Cedrella Weasley."

   Remus lowered his wand arm and stepped aside, allowing the Weasleys and Cass to enter. He pulled the latter into a tight-gripped hug.

   "I'm sorry you couldn't stay with me all summer," he muttered, before squeezing her shoulders and stepping aside again to reveal Sirius Black. Cassie broke into a grin and rushed over to greet her father with a– well, she had originally planned for it to be a hug, but she faltered before she could wrap her arms around him and instead extended a hand for a handshake, exhaling an awkward chuckle.

"Hello," said Sirius, smiling down at her. She didn't hold eye contact for long and instead began exploring the house's interior.

Within the first hour, she decided she did not like that one of the portraits – labeled Phoebe Black – looked too much like her, Cassie, with both witches sharing the same ash-coloured hair, grey eyes, and distinct facial structure. Cass shuddered.

Within the second hour, she had taken up ridding the house of all its filth.

   She began on the bottom floor, dusting and sweeping until she could practically see her own reflection in the wooden floors; then moved to the stairs, where she swept dirt and filth off of every individual step; then up to the second floor to repeat the process.

   "She's doing more than Kreacher," Sirius muttered to Remus as both men watched Cassie's cleaning frenzy.

   "I don't think she's been sleeping much," said Remus warily, rubbing his forehead. "I think she busies herself until she can literally no longer keep her eyes open."

   "She doesn't want to focus on her own thoughts," said Sirius understandably, nodding. He frowned slightly. "How do you think she's going to react when Harry shows up?"

There was a loud clatter as the broom Cassie held dropped to the floor. Both Remus and Sirius spun to see she had returned from the second floor and heard the end bit of their small conversation.

"Harry is coming?" she said slowly.

"Tomorrow," said Sirius, very tentatively stepping forward. He exchanged a wary look with Remus, then reached out a hand and placed in on her shoulder. "Are you alright?"

She hesitated for a moment. Too much had happened since she'd last been with Harry – well, excluding the time they were bound to a gravestone together and had to battle Voldemort in the flesh –, Godric only knew how awkward it would be between them...

Cassie furrowed her brow, bit the tip of her tongue, then replied,

"I'm not sure."