Cassiopeia Alula Black was the pride and joy of Walburga and Orion Black. She had beautiful dark hair and piercing grey eyes, she never spoke out of turn, and held the same beliefs as her parents. Toujours Pur. Always pure. She was proud to be apart...
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CASSIOPEIAALULABLACKLOOKED at the cherry red train, fear bubbling up in her stomach. Not that she would dare tell anyone that. Fear made you weak, and she was not weak.
The eleven year old girl held tightly to her trolley, her head held high, anyone could tell she oozed confidence and arrogance, just like the rest of her family.
But behind that cool and indifferent exterior was a terrified girl. She didn't want to leave her younger brothers, either. Cassiopeia was more or less their caretaker. Walburga and Orion never really showed their children love and affection, so Cassiopeia took it upon herself to show them all the love possible. And now that she was leaving for ten months, they were left with their parents.
Walburga and Orion looked down at their daughter, a stern expression on each of their faces. "You will do good in Slytherin. There, you'll make connections. You will have an Outstanding in every class and be made Prefect in your fifth year, is that understood?" Orion barked.
Cassiopeia wanted to cower in on herself at the tone her father was using. Instead, she puffed out her chest proudly and nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Good. Do not disappoint us, Cassiopeia." Walburga said.
"Yes, ma'am." The eleven year old sounded like a robot when responding to her parents. She had to make sure she used the right words and tone of voice, otherwise they would be hell to pay. Walburga and Orion stood back and let their daughter say goodbye to her brothers.
Regulus hugged her first. He wanted to beg his sister not to go. He wished she could stay with them. He wanted to cry, but as Regulus remembered from Cassiopeia years ago, tears made you weak.
"Will you write?" He asked.
"Every week, Reggie." Cassiopeia smiled, ruffling his dark curls fondly. Regulus nodded and let go of his older sister.
Sirius was next, and he was very reluctant to let his sister go. Cassiopeia had always taken care of him. She had doctored him up when Walburga unleased her wrath on the boy. Cassiopeia had been the one to love him and make him laugh. While there wasn't a huge age gap between the two, Cassiopeia was more of a mother than Walburga had ever been.
"Don't worry, Siri. You'll see me at Christmas. And I promise to write all of the time."
Sirius nodded, a tear rolling down his cheek. Cassiopeia quickly wiped it away before their parents could see. "Remember what I told you, Siri. Never let them see you cry. They'll win if they see you break. You are a Black. You're strong. So be strong for Regulus while I'm gone, okay?"
"I promise, Cassie." Sirius said. The name Cassie had developed long ago when Regulus was trying to say Cassiopeia, but all he could get out was Cassie. It had stuck with the siblings ever since.
"I love you both." Cassiopeia kissed her brothers on the cheek before boarding the train.
The girl found an empty compartment and sat herself down there. As she knew she would be, Cassiopeia was extremely bored. She pulled her sketch pad and some charcoal pencils out of her bag and began drawing. At first, she wasn't completely sure what she was drawing, but it ended up being the Hogwarts Express.
