SIRIUS BLACK ESCAPED FROM AZKABAN

The headline caught Cassia Malfoy's eye immediately. She stared at it for a second, absolutely stunned. Then she began to read the article, which basically just said that the Ministry was 'trying their best' to catch him.

As a pureblood witch born into a notorious family, she knew all about Azkaban, the unspeakable prison guarded by dementors and, so everyone said, impossible to break out of.

Until now.

The blonde girl was sitting at the long dinner table in her family's manor, alone, eating breakfast. Unfortunately for him, though, her father had left his copy of the Daily Prophet lying, discarded, at the table.

So Cassia had picked it up.

After scanning the article, she realised that there was nothing, really, there, that she didn't know. But it was the mugshot picture of Black, snarling into the camera whilst he held up the board, that got to her. His shoulder length hair was matted, his teeth unclean, and his eyes looked venomous.

Cassia couldn't even look any longer.

She knew the Black family well. In fact, Black was her mother, Narcissa's, maiden name. It was also her Aunt Bellatrix's. And her favourite Aunt Andromeda's, until Narcissa and Bellatrix had wanted nothing more to do with her when she married a muggle.

Anyway, even though Black was now none of the three sisters' names, they were still related to it.

Sirius Black was their cousin. Cassia had never met him, as he had been imprisoned before she was even born, and she knew that her family didn't really think of them as related anyway, considering how big their family really was, as basically all of the pureblood wizarding families were related in some way or another.

But to see Sirius Black, looking so deranged on the front page of a newspaper, really freaked Cassia out.

She flipped to the next page, seeing a nice picture of the Weasley family, who came into some money after winning a Prophet competition and were taking a holiday to Egypt. The picture displayed the whole family, even Scabbers, Ron's rat, was in it.

She tried to use that photo to forget about Black's, but she couldn't really.

She could only hope that what the Ministry said in the article she just read was true.

That he would be back behind bars again soon.

❦︎❦︎❦︎

Family dinners had long since become a quiet affair at Malfoy Manor. Especially when Cassia attended them.

But tonight was different. Tonight, three families were coming over to dinner with the Malfoy's, and Lucius and Narcissa were trying to make a fine job at hosting.

The three families were the Greengrasses, Notts and Zabinis. All of whom had children in them attending Hogwarts with Cassia and Draco.

Theodore 'Theo' Nott was a boy who, despite being Draco's friend, Cassia found insufferable. He was very rude and was often too quick to comment on others' faults.

Blaise Zabini had an ego, in Cassia's opinion, almost bigger than Harry Potter, who was not popular with her and never had been. Despite this, Cassia found interactions with him bearable, except when he turned his flirtatious tone on her.

Daphne Greengrass and her younger sister Astoria were probably about the only decent people coming that night, including all the parents.

Cassia bit her lip as she looked in the mirror upstairs. She was wearing slim, ripped jeans, converse shoes and a nice hoodie and sweatshirt. Her platinum blonde hair was up in a ponytail and her blue eyes seemed to sparkle.

Even when she was feeling so flat.

Here we go, she thought, as the sound of the doorbell ringing rattled throughout the house.

The first to arrive were the Notts.

"Cassia, it's been so long," Mrs Nott smiled stiffly at the girl. Cassia knew why. Getting into the Hogwarts house of Gryffindor had tarnished her reputation a bit. Or more than a bit. Especially as all the other kids at the manor that night were in Slytherin.

"Yes, it has been long," the blonde replied in a fixed tone with an indifferent expression on her face.

That was basically what most of her interactions with the parents were like that night.

The Zabinis arrived not soon after. Sophia Zabini, Blaise's mother, smiled politely at Cassia. "Hello again, Cassia. Are you enjoying your holidays?"

Cassia smiled back and answered. "They're going pretty good."

Sophia nodded and moved on to air kissing Narcissa a welcome.

"Hey, Cass," Blaise came forward and smirked at her.

"It's Cassia," the girl enunciated. "Only close friends call me Cass."

Blaise acted hurt. "Seriously, Cass? Not one of your close friends, I am offended-"

"I'm offended that you think you can flirt with me and get away with it," Cassia shrugged. "But, you know, everyone gets surprised sometimes."

"Oh, I forgot, of course," Blaise winked. "You have to save all your flirting skills for Harry Potter- ow!"

Cassia had smacked him hard on the arm, not regretting a thing. Especially when she spent the next twenty minutes faking a smile and wishing she wasn't in the house.

Then, at long last, the Greengrasses arrived.

Without warning, Daphne rushed into her arms, taking Cassia by surprise. She and Daphne, being in different Hogwarts houses, didn't really hang out that much at school. So the girl being this friendly was a surprise. Cassia had rather thought their interactions would be awkward that night.

"Heyyyy!" Daphne grinned, pulling back from the hug.

"Erm- hi," said a rather surprised Cassia.

"I'm so glad you're here, I don't think I could deal with Blaise by myself," she whispered, making Cassia give a hesitant grin.

"Er- yeah, I know, he flirts with everyone."

"Oh, yeah. Flirt, talk, raise his eyebrows; the guy will try anything!" Daphne laughed.

Cassia sighed, nodding.

She didn't want to tell Daphne what was on her mind.

And that was that right now, Blaise Zabini was the least of her worries.

❦︎❦︎❦︎

At long last, all four families were sitting at the dining table.

Cassia was sitting in between Blaise and Daphne. Astoria, Theo and Draco sat across from them.

At that moment, five of the kids were debating something. Cassia, meanwhile, was listening to her father talk with Sophia Zabini, Mr Greengrass, and Mrs Nott.

"Did you hear about Sirius Black?" Sophia asked.

"Oh yes, it's all anyone is talking about," Mrs Nott nodded.

"Yes, well, I trust the Ministry to get it all handled," Lucius said curtly. "Black isn't really of any importance to us, of course, is he? He only killed muggles last time."

"Yes, yes," Mrs Nott said, clearly trying to shut down the situation.

"Still, it is scary, isn't it?" Sophia, however, continued. "To be someone he knows?"

Lucius, after a quick glance at his wife, answered. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean."

"Well, he's your cousin, isn't he, Narcissa?" Sophia poked on. Narcissa continued to eat, not answering. But the woman questioning her did not yield. "The first Black to be in Gryffindor, too," she smirked. "You know, a bit like... Cassia being the first Malfoy to be in Gryffindor."

Well, shit.

That was all that ran through Cassia's mind as she looked around the room.

Everything was silent. The kids had stopped talking long ago. Narcissa's cheeks had flushed and she was now looking into her plate of dinner. Mr Nott and Mr Greengrass also had their heads down. Mrs Nott had her lips pursed. Lucius looked angrily at Sophia, who was sitting with an annoying little smirk on her face.

But all, heads down or otherwise, had their eyes on Cassia.

The girl was sitting, trying desperately to conceal her fear, in her seat.

Lucius broke the silence.

"A mistake," he said simply. "That is the simple answer. The girl clearly did something to the hat or something happened in her head during the sorting. I can assure you, Sophia, that we dealt with the situation. Yes, she will be in Gryffindor for her Hogwarts life, but if the girl had been right of mind during the sorting-"

"What would've happened?" Cassia murmured, her head ducked low. She was so sick of this. So sick of the silence and the bad mouthing and of the fact that her father didn't even recognise her as his daughter anymore.

"Excuse me?" Her father hissed.

"What. Would've. Happened?" Cassia asked firmly, drawing her head up. Truth be told, she was terrified. She had never gone against her father or even really contradicted him, let alone in front of other people.

Lucius stared at her.

"D-D'you think I wouldn't have been put in Gryffindor?" Cassia continued, getting up off her chair at the same time her father did. "D'you- d'you think that I didn't think, as soon as I was sorted, about how disappointed my family was going to be?

"If I can even call you that," she told her father. "I'm just a 'girl' to you now, aren't I? Now that I've tarnished your reputation."

She stared at her mother, who didn't even meet her eyes.

"But I can tell you one thing," she looked straight at her father, his eyes cutting through hers. "If being in Slytherin meant that I would be part of this group, or whatever it is, then I'm fucking glad the hat put me in Gryffindor."

And with that, without her father's invitation or her mother's telling, she stood up, and walked out of the dining room.

❦︎❦︎❦︎

The trunk banged on each step of the stairs as Cassia dragged it down. She was absolutely finished. But one thing she did know, was that she wasn't going to lie around and let her father, who didn't even see her as family, talk shit.

The guests were gone, having been seen out the door not twenty minutes after Cassia storming off. But she didn't care. She was gone.

"What are you doing?" Lucius accosted her as soon as she got down the stairs.

Cassia looked at him. "I'm leaving," she told him.

Lucius studied her, his face inches from hers. Cassia could see traces of her own face in his, and she hated herself for it.

"You're a selfish, ignorant child," her father told her, snarling into her face. "You had no right to say any of that tonight!"

Cassia stared right back. "Yes, I did."

"Tarnishing our family name as if you care for nothing!" Lucius went on at her. "You've already made people laugh about us enough, but now you enjoy making this family out to be-"

"Family?" Cassia repeated, scoffing, as she repeated the word. "Family? That's what you think this is? Well, I'll tell you one thing, father, this has never been a family. And I'm pretty sure I know who's fault that is."

"Brat!"

It was unexpected, the way it happened. Because Cassia didn't see him extend his hand, or even consider doing it, but the next moment, he father had struck her across the cheek with the back of his hand, causing her to fall down, a red and angry blotch already growing on her face.

She stared at her father in disbelief. He- no matter how angry he had got at her, he had never hit her before.

Tears stung her eyes as she got up, facing him.

"I hate you," she told him, before taking her trunk and leaving, not looking back.

♥︎♥︎♥︎

The rain stuck Cassia's hair to her face, hopefully cooling it enough to hide the mark from the hit, as she walked down the street.

She hadn't really got anywhere else to go. Just one place, and that was where she was headed.

In her hand she held a note, written by her best friend, Poppy Patil, at the end of last year. On it was her address, and Cassia had been on the Knight Bus that night, trying to find it.

When she finally found the number she was looking for, she walked up to the door, knocking on it timidly as she tried to make her blonde hair look slightly more respectful.

She didn't know what time it was, but there were still a few lights on in the house, so hopefully someone was awake.

And sure enough, a woman that looked very like Parvati, Poppy's sister, opened the door.

"I'm just coming, it's okay- oh," she said, rather surprised, as she looked at the blonde girl, shivering, scared, on her doorstep.

"Hello," she said. "Um..."

"Sorry," Cassia said, fiddling with her fingers. "I, um... you don't... is Poppy in?"

The woman nodded, a welcoming look on her face. She seemed to be everything Cassia's own mother lacked. "Yes, dear, um, are you-"

"Sorry," Cassia said again. "I'm, um... I'm Cassia Malfoy."

She smiled. A nice, warm feeling that Cassia never got at home. "Yes, Cassia. Poppy talks about you all the time. I can only say that I am so sorry we haven't thought to invite you here before."

Cassia smiled slightly for the first time in weeks. Her eyes suddenly felt teary.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" Poppy's mother asked her. "Do you want to come in?"

"I'm okay," Cassia said, wiping both rain and tears off her face. "I just, um... thank you. Thank you so much."

The woman's face broke into a slight smile as she said. "Come here, you must be freezing."

She opened her arms up and Cassia didn't hesitate to run into them, even though all her clothes were soaked through by summer rain.

"I'm Pippa, by the way," she said, as Cassia drew back from the hug. "And I know what you're thinking, why did I name all of my children with names beginning with P, as well, right?"

Cassia laughed despite herself. "Yeah, I was... I was wondering that."

"Well, it was my ex-husband's idea, actually," Pippa smiled. "He said that he loved the letter... complete rubbish, I thought, and it's ironic, since he turned out to be complete rubbish- I didn't say that," she said, eyes wide.

But Cassia was already giggling. "I didn't hear a thing."

She had once asked Poppy if she knew her dad, and the girl had responded by saying she didn't know anything about him, and that her mum refused to talk of him.

Pippa chuckled. "Anyway, Cassia, are you hungry?"

Cassia shook her head. Dinner had been not two hours ago, and even though it all felt sour in her stomach, she still didn't like the idea of eating anymore.

"Okay, well, it's quite late, so-"

"Mum, what's happening? I swear I heard someone knock on the front-"

Cassia had to smile at a very sleepy Poppy walking down the stairs. She had Gryffindor pyjamas on, still, a pair of bunny slippers and her eyes were half shut as they tried to get used to all the light around her.

But then she spotted Cassia and her eyes went as round as golf balls.

"Cass!" She shouted with joy, running forwards to hug her best friend, regardless of how soaked she was. As they drew back, she said. "How are you here? Why are you here? I mean, not that I'm not happy to see you, I'm fu- I mean, absolutely over the moon to see you, but-"

"It's a long story," Cassia sighed. "But it's one for the morning."

"Okay, okay, you can tell me then, come on, I'll show you to your room!" Poppy said.

But before they left the kitchen, Cassia turned back to Pippa.

"Thank you so much, Mrs Patil-"

"Just call me Pippa, darling," she smiled.

"Thank you so much, Pippa," Cassia sighed. "Thank you for... for everything."

For being the best mother I've ever had in my entire life.