1986

{ Cassandra }

As she walked into the room the strong scent of lavender incense assaulted her senses.

And the drapes having been drawn closed, made it all the more dark and gloomy here.

"Is that you, Cassie?" Her mother called out in a hoarse whisper, her voice raspy from misuse.

"Yes it's me, mother." Cassandra said, pulling up a chair beside her bed.

Esmeralda Greengrass had always been a beautiful woman, even in a crowd of people she stood out as a striking presence.

All that was gone now. She looked emaciated.

Her face was haggard, her eyes were wild. Her once lustrous hair had turned gray and lifeless, falling off in clumps everyday.

Even in bed, she always wore long sleeved dresses and tight leather gloves. Making sure to cover every inch of her skin, she could.

Cassandra knew why, she'd seen it once.

Thick, black veins curled underneath her skin. Her skin, that was slowly flaking off.

It had all happened eight months ago.

Suddenly, her mother had fallen ill with a fever. A fever, that wouldn't get cured no matter, the Potion or healing administered.

Sometimes she was as cold as ice, other times it felt like she was boiling from within. Her skin blistering in the heat.

Those were especially hard to bear. Even now, her mother's pained screams haunted Cassandra's nights.

It had taken her father three months to find out the cause of her mother's affliction.

A Curse called the Blood Malediction. It ran in the Greengrass Bloodline.

It affected only the women. Picking them out, randomly. Once, every several decades.

It was different each time. Both in its symptoms and in the way that it killed it's victim.

Sometimes one would have it from birth, slowly succumbing to it over the years.

For others it would appear suddenly killing them in months, sometimes even weeks.

The only thing that was immutable was that death was a certainty.

There was only one cure in the world for a Blood Malediction.

But sadly, it was also the one thing that the Greengrass' gold couldn't buy.

The Elixir of Life. Drawn from the Philosopher's Stone, it was a panacea.

Able to heal all diseases and cure all Curses.

And although, Cassandra knew where she could find one. It would take her years.

Her mother didn't have years. And, if the Healers were right, she didn't even have months.

This was the first time in her life, that Cassandra had felt so powerless.

She had even considered feeding her mother Unicorn Blood to extend her life, till she could acquire the Philosopher's Stone to heal her.

But she knew that if she did that, she would be doing it for herself, not for her mother.

It would be needlessly cruel, and would consign her mother to a horrible fate. Her soul tainted, her body wracked with pain. She would become a mere shadow of herself.

Cassandra would rather she died as brightly as she'd lived. Like a flame that burns bright and hot before leaving them in the freezing cold.

"Could I trouble you for some water, my child? My throat feels a little dry." Her mother said, drawing Cassandra from her dark thoughts.

"Of course, mother." She said, getting up to pour her a glass.

Once she'd finished drinking the water, her mother took her by the hand.

"So it is time then, is it?" She asked.

Her eyes that had been clouded with pain for many days, focused on her. Lucid and piercing in their clarity. They demanded the truth.

But she wasn't strong enough.

"You still have enough time, mother." Cassandra lied.

"I think not, child. I know both you and Adrian hide many things from me these days. But I know myself. I can feel the end draw near." She said in a calm, resigned tone.

There was nothing she could say, Cassandra thought, holding back tears.

"There, there, Cassie you're my strongest daughter aren't you?"

"I knew since you were young, that you would be someone special. So be my special little girl, and hold strong. You need to be there first your sisters."

Her mother said, gently patting her head. Just like she used to when she was younger, to make her fall asleep.

"You know the necklace I always used to wear?" She said, once Cassandra had calmed down, somewhat.

"The one, with the large teardrop-shaped emeralds. Could you bring it to me, please. It should be in one of these cabinets, somewhere."

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

It took her sometime but Cassandra managed to find it.

Handing it to her mother, she asked.

"Has it got some magic of some sort? Is it an artifact, perhaps?"

Her mother let out a hearty chuckle at that. And although it did turn into a painful coughing fit halfway through. She still seemed amused, somehow.

"That would certainly have made this much more special." She said, a half-smile lingering on her lips.

"But no, this is only a pretty necklace. It was given to me by my mother on my wedding day. And befire that, her mother had given it to her."

"I wanted you to have it. Something to remember me, by." She said, quietly.

"It does, go well with my green eyes." Cassandra said, in a weak attempt at humor.

"It certainly does." Her mother said.

And like that, Cassandra spent the rest of the afternoon with her mother.

They didn't talk much. Sometimes words just weren't enough.

So Cassandra didn't speak. Instead, she held her mother's frail, bony hands as she drifted off to a dreamless sleep.

-----------------

She awoke to the sound of loud shouting. It seemed to be coming from the living room.

It was late in the evening, and considering that she wasn't getting much sleep at night these days. Cassandra had decided to take some much needed shut-eye while it was still light out.

But the shouting had woken her. And even now as she lay in bed, the shouting kept getting louder. Till she couldn't ignore it anymore.

Angry, she leapt out of bed. Walking straight towards the living room, her fury slowly simmering underneath the surface.

"I have told you half a hundred times before, when I tell you to do something you do it immediately. I do not care if you need to fix her medicine for her, you do what I've said first." Her uncle roared.

"I'm Cyril Greengrass the scion of this House, while she is merely the daughter of a minor branch family that was lucky enough to marry into this family. What I say goes. Do you understand?" He demanded.

"Yes, Master! Poppy, understands." The little elf squeaked.

"Then what have you kept me waiting for? I had asked you to fix me a meal an hour ago."

"Poppy's very sorry, Master Cyril. I spilled Madam's Potion, so I had to start over again." She croaked, tears brimming in her large green eyes.

"What's this all about?" Cassandra demanded, stepping into the room.

She tried, to be intimidating, but considering that she was only a tiny, eight year old child. She didn't think she succeeded.

"If it isn't my darling, niece." Her uncle said. His smile a sharp, cruel thing.

Cyril Greengrass, her father's younger brother was an evil man.

Cassandra had known this long ago. He might smile and act charming, but she saw the violence lurking behind that friendly facade.

And she'd been proven right, when six years ago they'd all learned that he'd joined Voldemort's Death Eaters.

He still bore the Dark Mark on his arm. And the only reason he'd escaped Azkaban was because her father had bought him his freedom, with golden Galleons.

Just like Lucius Malfoy, he'd pleaded the Imperius.

The Greengrasses had always been neutral. They prided themselves in coming out of political conflicts always unscathed.

And they did this, by never endorsing a side. By always remaining neutral.

Even right now, her father Lord Adrian Greengrass led the Neutral Faction in the Wizengamot.

Acting as a bridge between Dumbledore's Idealists and Malfoy's Pureblood Supremacists.

But he'd broken the rule. And so her father hated him for it, and he hated him right back.

As for Cassandra, she despised him and everything he stood for.

His ideas of Pureblood Supremacy, his hatred for anything Muggle. The careless cruelty he displayed, when dealing with non-humans like their House-Elf Poppy.

To her he was only a monster, wearing the skin of a man.

"Poppy, you can go. We don't need you right now." Cassandra said with a calmness, she didn't feel.

"I haven't dismissed her yet, niece." Her uncle, ground out.

"I have." She said, staring at him coldly as Poppy popped away.

"Is that so? It seems you've grown too bold, in the time I've been away." Cyril said, his voice low and dangerous.

Cassandra felt a small, tingle of pure, unadulterated fear shoot up her spine. She knew in her mind, that Cyril wouldn't dare to curse her.

But a little voice in her head whispered, what is he does. What if he kills her here.

"Perhaps you need a lesson." The monster said, his fingers curling around his wand.

Her breath caught in her throat. She was afraid. More afraid than she'd ever been before.

But she didn't let any of it show on her face, as she confronted him.

"That is enough, brother. Put your wand away." Gareth Greengrass said, his wand trained on Cyril.

"I was only joking, brother." Cyril said, his entire demeanor changing.

"Just a bit of harmless fun between family." He said, turning to leave.

"I'm sure." Gareth replied, his eyes cold and unflinching.

Once Cyril had left them alone, Cassandra breathed a sigh of relief.

That had been nerve-wracking.

"You okay?" Uncle Gareth asked her.

"I am, but you could have stepped in sooner." She replied.

"I could have." He nodded, "But you seemed to have things in control. And as you know, I tend to stay away from troublesome matters."

"He nearly cursed me." She protested.

"I don't think he would have." Gareth said.

"Other than having to face our older brother's wrath, he didn't seem to be serious about it."

"If he had really been serious, I doubt I would have been a match for him." He finished.

That was true, she supposed. Gareth was a talented wizard, certainly. But he was only fresh out Hogwarts.

On the other hand, Cyril had been one of Bellatrix's attack dogs during the First Wizarding War.

She seriously doubted, if even her father could defeat him in a Duel.

While she'd been lost in her thoughts, Gareth had seated himself on the couch.

And was now pulling out a large, dusty tome from within his robes.

"What are you reading?" She asked, peering over Gareth's shoulder in her curiosity.

"You wouldn't understand. Advanced Arithmancy." He muttered, in reply.

"Is this for the Unspeakable exam?" She asked.

"Yes" He replied, flipping through the book's ancient tattered, pages.

"Oh, exciting." She said sitting down across from him. "Tell me more."

"This is going to be a long evening." Gareth muttered, as she started peppering him with questions.

-------------------

It was on a gloomy Sunday morning, that the Funeral was held.

It had snowed heavily the night before, so even though spells were cast to melt the snow. It still remained wet and chilly.

Cassandra was cold by the time they reached the cemetery.

They all Portkeyed in, her father, her sisters and even her uncles.

Thankfully, sensing her father's sullen mood, Cyril didn't speak much.

A raised marble dais had been raised up front, with scores of silver chairs arranged in a dozen rows facing it.

Seated in them, were a sea of faces Cassandra didn't know.

Extended members of the Greengrass Family, some of her father's friends from the Ministry. Some were even her mother's friends from her Hogwarts years.

And many others. All of them strangers, she'd never known.

A short, tufty haired wizard presided over the ceremony. A representative of some sort from the Ministry.

She didn't pay much attention. Her mind occupied by much darker musings.

Cassandra and her sisters had been seated in the third row. Behind the Ministry officials, and the members of the extended Greengrass Family.

Astoria looked lost, too young to properly understand what she'd lost.

Daphne understood, but she'd always been a quiet girl preferring to keep her thoughts and feelings to herself.

But from the slight tightening of her face, the stiffness in her posture, the way she clenched her fists tightly at her side. Cassandra could tell, the girl was hurting.

The rest of the ceremony was a blur. There were quite a few people who made speeches in her mother's honour.

All while, soft haunting music was played by some musicians her father had hired.

Too son, it was all over. As her father gently carried her mother to the marble dais.

The healers her father had hired had done a fine job.

Their magic managing to disguise the awful black veins that had marred her beauty in her final hours.

Wrapped in a green velvet cloak with silver trim she looked at peace. Serene, ethereal even, as the radiance of her beauty shone through.

They all went one by one to bid their final farewell to her mother.

Astoria broke down, sobbing uncontrollably, so her father had to take her away. Even Daphne got teary eyed at the sight.

Cassandra didn't. She had promised her mother that she would be strong. So she would be.

She would take care of her sisters and what tears she had to shed, she would shed them in the confines of her own privacy.

It was midday by the time the ceremony was concluded.

A marble tomb had been constructed magically over her mother's sleeping form.

They'd left her flowers. Begonias, her favorite.

------------------