It was worse than Cassia could've ever imagined.

As soon as she had got into the manor, her broom, owl, books, trunk and every other one of her possessions had been stripped from her. She had only been left with her wand (which she couldn't use anyway) and her clothes.

She was put to work everyday. Whilst Draco got to spend time reading and going out, she was confined to the house.

"It's for your own good," her father had told her. "Teaches you what happens when you're defiant."

And Cassia wanted to be defiant, she really wanted to be, but it was hard.

She cooked, mostly. She was expected to make all the meals, which was something house elves would previously do. She was also being put to work cleaning and lighting fires and doing other housework.

And if she refused, she was hit. If she didn't do it right, she was hit. If she displeased her father in any way, she was hit.

And her mother and even Draco, sometimes, just stood and watched.

The first couple times when her mother had bore witness, Cassia had begged her to do something, to make it stop.

But she was afraid of him, too.

So it didn't take Cassia long to stop begging for help. Because she soon realised none was coming.

And of course, she was still dealing with the grief from losing Cedric, her first kiss and first boyfriend. He had been killed by Voldemort at the end of last year.

Ah, and that was the other thing.

Cassia hadn't been outside in a month. The last time she had seen the light of day was the end of last year. So the only snatches of the outside world she got were from newspapers.

Her father bought the Daily Prophet everyday, but rarely read it, just skimming the front page before tossing it away. But Cassia had been sneaking the papers out the bin for three weeks now, to try and find out what was happening.

There wasn't much news on Voldemort being back, but the reason for that was because Fudge was simply refusing to believe it.

He was working every day to publish papers making fun of Potter and Dumbledore for saying he was back, claiming Cedric's death as a 'tragic accident' and not a cold blooded murder.

It made Cassia's blood boil, and not just because of Cedric, but also because of Potter. He had fucking fought Voldemort, and only just escaped with his life, and now he was facing this?

However, this morning, Cassia had woke up thinking about none of that.

Because today was August Fourth, also known as Cassia Malfoy's fifteenth birthday.

And, contrary to what other kids would be doing on their birthday morning, Cassia was simply standing in her empty room, facing a girl in the mirror.

The girl she was facing had purple bruising on her arms and body, and raw, red cheeks with a few cuts on them. There was a burn on her arm, from where she had accidentally got herself with a hot pan in a hurry to not be late. The girl was crying, her eyes bloodshot and full of tears as they dripped down her face and chin. The girl was upset, and had right to be.

The girl was her.

As Cassia cried in front of a mirror on her birthday, she didn't know what to think. She knew that in about five minutes, her father would yell at her to get down so she could cook breakfast. She also knew he wouldn't say happy birthday, or acknowledge the fact that it was her birthday at all.

Neither would Draco or her mother.

"Cassia!"

Sure enough, Lucius' voice called her down, loud, commanding and terrifying.

"Cassia, get down here!"

"O-okay!" Cassia called back, sniffling slightly.

You can do this, she said in her head, looking at herself in the mirror. You can do this. It's only three more weeks and then you're back to Poppy and Hermione and everyone else. You. Can. Do. This.

But, as she wiped her tears and hurried quickly out the bedroom, a thought that scared her, no, fucking frightened her, surfaced.

What if I can't?

❦︎❦︎❦︎

She hadn't been hit yet.

It was a fucking miracle. She had walked down into the kitchen, said a meek good morning to her mother and father (who, of course, gave her nothing in return) then had proceeded to almost burn the bacon and forgot to boil the kettle.

But her father had just dismissed it when she brought him, her mother and Draco their food, then sat down at the table with them and pretended like she didn't just cook it.

Yes, Lucius was just sat there with a smug little smirk on his face, skimming the paper that morning.

Cassia kept her head down, not wanting to aggravate him, and ate her food.

The only time she dared look up was when she heard the cry of an owl and turned to see one at the window of the dining hall, begging to be let in.

"Oh for goodness' sake. Cassia, go and get that," Lucius commanded boredly.

Cassia knew better than to disagree. She nodded and murmured. "Yes, father," then she got up and went to open the window.

The Malfoy's did have a family owl, and Cassia had Oswald (who was being kept under wraps by her father) but this was neither. Cassia frowned, seeing two letters attached to its leg.

She quickly detached them before prompting the owl out the window again, heading back to the table. Her heart leapt as she looked at them.

"It's our Hogwarts letters," she said as she sat back down. "You know, our booklists and informatio-"

She stopped as her father snatched the letters out her hand.

"There you go, Draco, there's yours," Lucius made a show of handing his son his letter, before resuming his breakfast as if nothing had happened.

Cassia, meanwhile, was staring around the table with wide eyes.

"Um-" she started nervously. "Um- don't I- don't I get mine?"

Lucius looked at her as though she was crazy, before smirking at her.

"You're not going to Hogwarts, Cassia."

Cassia's heart stopped.

Sorry, what?

Her heart quite literally stopped, and a ring started in her ears. All of a sudden, she felt light headed, and as if her whole world had just tilted on its axis.

For a second, she thought she misheard, but as she saw the way her father and mother nodded at each other, and how they gave each other that look, she realised she hadn't. It was true.

She wasn't going to Hogwarts.

"Wh- what?" She found herself uttering.

Lucius looked at her as though she was asking an unreasonable question. "We need you here, Cassia," he explained, voice gaining a hard edge. "Things have run a lot smoother since you've come back."

"Bu- but this is OWL year," Cassia stammered, speaking of the big wizarding exams she and the rest of fifth year would sit just before next summer. "I- I need to finish my education-"

"I think you'll find that what you need... is to stay here," Lucius snapped. "We can't have your head being filled with more of Dumbledore's nonsense, and we certainly can't have you fraternising with that Patil or Potter any longer."

Cassia's lip wobbled and she looked down.

It was real.

She... wouldn't be returning to Hogwarts.

Then, suddenly, a voice appeared in the back of her head.

What the fuck are you doing? It told her. You're Cassia freaking Malfoy, and you're just laying down and taking orders from... him?

So then suddenly, Cassia looked up. And she knew it was futile, she knew the pain would come, but she couldn't help it. Hogwarts was supposed to be her home, her safe haven.

And her father was even taking that away from her.

So she just looked up at him, saying only one word, but the most dangerous one she could've said.

"No."

Lucius's head snapped to her's. "What did you say?"

Cassia shivered under his gaze, but repeated it. "I said no," she snapped. "And I mean it."

"Oh, you do?" Lucius' face stretched into a smirk. "Oh dear Cassia... looks like you may have some fire in you after all."

"Shut up," Cassia snapped to him. "Shut up! D- d'you get some sort of sick joy out of this? Seeing your fifteen year old daughter with bruises and burns all over her body? Do you like that you're putting me through this?"

"You dare speak to me like that!" Lucius raised himself out his seat, towering over her. "You're such an insolent little brat! Your mother and I, we feed you, clothe you, put a roof over you, and-"

"Abuse me?" Cassia yelled. "Hate to break it to you, father, but that's not fucking normal-"

She was slapped hard on the cheek before anyone could stop her father, but this time, as his hand recoiled from her cheek, the girl just stared at him.

"Go ahead!" She yelled in his face. "Hit me! Do it again, I dare you! Because I'm not letting you stop me going to Hogwarts."

Lucius chuckled evilly. "You really think you have a say in the matter?"

Cassia stared at him in disgust.

"No," she snarled at him. "That's the problem, isn't it?"

And before he could grab her arm to hit her again, she walked out the room, running to her room and grabbing her pillow.

No one in her family heard her screams that day.