Change - James F. Potter

Chapter 22: Raise Hell

Cassie's POV:

My girls and I spent the rest of the train ride talking about everything we were excited about for break. While I didn't have many things to say personally, that does not mean that the girls didn't. Everyone was excited to go home and see their families.

"I dunno..." Lily twirled her flaming locks around her wand, "I could go without seeing my sister for the rest of the term!!"

The other girls burst into genuine laughter. I tried to laugh alongside them, but it came out as more of a strangled cough. Great going, Cassie.

Thankfully no one seems to notice and the chatter returns quickly.

Far sooner than I would have liked, the Hogwarts Express pulled into Platform 9 3/4. My parents would be waiting for me.

I knew this because a Black was never late. They were always on time or everyone else had arrived early. Or at least that is how my parents viewed it.

The knot in my stomach had resumed its dreadful pulling again, making me regret the sweets I had consumed in the earlier hours of the day. Oh, how I wished someone would hug me again. The feeling from earlier still lingered but its effects were swiftly fading. Maybe I could snag a hug from one of the girls on the way out. That would not be weird, would it?

My arms hang uselessly at my sides as I stand up. This will not do if I am to use them to hug someone. I try hopelessly to gain control of my body but it feels as if my blood has been replaced by air. My arms feel as if they might float away at any second yet they remain hard a stone.

How was I going to face my parents? I deliberately disobeyed them and I had not often considered the consequences. What would they do to me? To Sirius?

Sirius.

The matching sock to mine. Together we made a great pair but a part, we were lost. Like socks, if you only have one either you match it with another pair and feel uncomfortable or you let it sit alone. Then every once in a way you have the person who comes around and uses that sock as a slingshot and gives it a new purpose.

Without Sirius by my side, would I have the confidence to stand against my parents? Would I have the confidence to make the best of the situation or would I go silent and feel lost?

Only time will tell.

Before leaving the train compartment, I say goodbye to the girls, knowing the consequences would be awful if I said goodbye in front of my parents.

One by one, they all hug me. Just what I wanted. But it was not at all what I had wanted. None of them gave me the distinct presence of peace just by wrapping their arms around me. Instead, I feel the same as I felt before, if not worse.

I figure I should not prolong the inevitable and I step off the train, my luggage trailing behind me.

It takes no time at all to locate my parents and brother. Surrounding them is an aura of both prejudice and fear. One look at the Black family and you could see that they held sway over everyone and had power. Oh my lovely family *sarcasm*

Regulus is the first to greet me. His back is held straight and his head held high but I can see it in his eyes that he is grateful and excited to see me. He might be the only good thing about the winter holidays. Neither mother nor father acknowledges me at first, they merely look out upon the crowd as if they are standing among peasants.

Sirius joins us quickly and the scowls that adorn the faces of my parental figures only deepen. That never means anything good.

Harshly, mother grabs my wrist, and the familiar and dreaded feeling of apparition is upon me. The dreary lot of Grimmauld Place stands in front of me, taunting me. Its dreariness seems to replicate my own as if to say I could never be happy in this house just as the house itself could never be happy.

The inside of the house was just as cheerful as the outside. Kreacher hissed at me as he took my trunk and disappeared, most likely returning it to my closet. That dreaded closet that held nothing but costumes.

Surprisingly, we have gone the whole time without yelling at each other. Most of the time, as soon as the door was closed, I would get scolded for something I had done wrong. No matter how small, my parents always had a huge opinion on it.

"HOW. DARE. YOU."

The words are spoken profoundly but with an eerily calm voice.

Fuck.

"How dare you join the enemy?!?" The enemy? So I was the enemy now? How dare she say that. She knows nothing about me.

"What do you mean-- 'the enemy'?" My words spit out like poison before I can stop them. One of my many flaws. I can not hold my tongue when it comes to what is truly important.

The knots in my stomach only tighten yet somehow that makes them more bearable. It gives me something to focus on that is not the rapid beating of my heart or the way my feet feel as if they are going to explode.

"Mother stop it!" Regulus cries. He looks scared and that only makes me even angrier. Sirius moves to cover Regulus. His protection of Regulus does nothing to protect me.

Swift and to the point, mother slaps me directly across the face. The impact leaves me fuming. Who was she to think she had the right?

"Regulus. Sirius. Go" These are the only words my tongue lets slip. I do not want them to get hurt.

The anxiety I had experienced earlier was now replaced with anger. It was like being blindfolded but instead of the world going dark, you could see a whole new set of colors.

Regulus tried to walk past our mother in an attempt to get to his bedroom but she grabs his wrist and pushes him against the wall.

"How dare you associate yourselves with the belief of this-- BLOOD TRAITOR!" She spits the words as if they were venom on her tongue. They should be. No one like her deserves the feeling of love. Love that I had found from my muggle friends; not her.

Mother's grip tightens around Regulus's wrist, restraining him and causing him to whimper. No one, I repeat NO ONE hurts my brothers. Not even my own mother. How dare she think that was even something to consider.

Forget feeling bad about myself. She just started a war, and I intend to come out on top.

I am going to raise hell.

Hey, yall so I guess this could be considered the beginning of the main(ish kinda) drama... just know there is a lot to come! I hope to go through each year of school so I guess we will see where that takes us. I know vaguely the events of the later years and I cannot tell you how much I wish this book would write itself so I can get to them faster lol.

Have a wonderful day and goodbye for now.

Question: favorite hobby?