𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 | f. weasley

𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄

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Born on the same day as the Boy-who-lived, Cassandra 'Cassie' Black had lived at the Grimmauld Place almost all her life. At the tender age of one, not sooner after You-Know-Who's 'death', she had both her parents depart from her life. She did not remember much of her mother – which was surprising since she was gifted (or rather cursed) with exceptional memory – except that she had hazel eyes. As for her father, she knew of him – his name, his occupation, his age, his appearance – it was engraved in her memory but he was not a topic she spoke about. Whether it was out of embarrassment, distaste or sheer secretiveness, it was unknown. But what was known was that she was a pureblood and that she was a Black – the pureblood fanatic house who had quite a few members outlawed, put in Azkaban, in hiding, dead or a part of the 'blood traitor' families. This also made most people assume Cassie's father's fate belonged to one of the mentioned categories. When anyone asked the girl, her rosy cheeks would lose colour and she would become eerily silent, making the person extremely uncomfortable.

For the majority of her life, she was looked after by various people, close relatives or powerful Aurors of the ministry. These people included Remus Lupin, her godfather; Kreacher, the family house-elf; occasionally Alastor Moody, a powerful ex-Auror and once, just once, the Malfoy's (only because they were relatives). Albus Dumbledore had been very assertive when it came to the care of Cassandra – taking all the necessary measures to ensure that she is able and reliable hands. He even made the Ministry of Magic make an exception for Cassie and allow her to perform magic outside of school. Many questioned his favouritism towards the young Black girl recollecting that he had given the Harry Potter away to his muggle relatives instead into the hands of a member of the ministry like he had done for Cassie. They were often responded with a stern gaze from Dumbledore, making them retreat and not question his decisions. However, all this protection would remain only till she became of age, that is, eleven years.

By the time she was eleven, she was well versed with more spells and curses than seventh years and knew all the books of the year cover to cover. She had trained by various Aurors and even Dumbledore himself, making her adept in any duel. Character-wise, she was a quiet girl, only spoke when spoken to. She would always observe people, study their actions and deduce their personalities – which she would always be correct about. She had the eyes of a Black, which always shined with mischief – not that she one of the mischief-makers. Her face always bore a solemn expression and very few people could be privileged enough to say that they had seen her smile. Cassandra Black had a lot of secrets locked up inside her and she was good at keeping them just the way they were – secrets. No matter how much she trusted a person, she would not reveal all the dark information she held in her mind. She never had, and she never intended to in the future.

And with that very solemn yet mysterious face, Cassandra stood patiently in front of the grand doors of the Great Hall, awaiting the arrival of Professor McGonagall, who would lead the first years for their sorting. She was only a few students behind Harry Potter, the chosen one, whom she recognised immediately, like many others. She had heard and read all sorts of tales about the boy but felt extremely guilty to approach him – the reason of which once again unknown. So, at that moment, she carefully observed each first year with her shrewd eyes because it was always her belief that a person's stance in an unknown and new situation always revealed a lot about their character. Her eyes scanned the crowd of students and stopped abruptly at Harry once again. He was talking in hushed whispers with a ginger - who seemed to be wearing second-hand robes. Cassie knew that because she herself had been placed in that position in the first year after her parent's disappearance. Forcing herself to look away from the boys who brought back terrible memories of her past, she gazed at the rest of the students. Soon she spotted a familiar blonde boy walking towards her part of the crowd. He halted in front of Harry and introduced himself as 'Malfoy, Draco Malfoy', stretching his hand out in hopes of beginning a friendship with 'the chosen one'. Amidst the heated conversation, he belittled the ginger head boy, revealing his family name – Weasley. Cassandra had read of the Weasley's. They were referred to as the biggest family of blood traitors. One of the Black women had even been married into that family and had been burnt off of the family tree of the Blacks. Pulling herself away from her thoughts as she returned to the present and watched the conversation which had now become a sort of argument. When Harry rejected Draco's offer, Draco looked around the crowd for some sort of redemption. On meeting Cassandra's gaze, he gave her a devilish smile (which she did not return) and invited her to joined him. Cassie politely refused him and stood her ground with a stony expression. Draco immediately accused a pureblood like her siding with a half-blood, even if it was the chosen one. Cassie let out a breathy laugh and told him that she need not take sides to choose what was right. This resulted in a chorus of sniggers on Malfoy who shut them down with a fierce glare. Harry and the Weasley boy turned around to give Cassandra acknowledging smile which the girl was reluctant to return.