章 47: I
Cassiopeia took a long breath, feeling her own pulse in her ears as she stared at the closed chest in front of her.
"You will have to open it eventually," Andromeda said with a gentle voice, sat right behind her.
This was the Cas' second week with the Tonks, and things were slowly getting in place. She had your own bedroom right beside Nymphadora's, and the younger girl was everyone slowly adapting onto having muggle things around the house. In addition to that, her aunt – along with her husband – had welcomed her with open arms into the household, which made the whole transition much easier than she imagined.
She was seen with similar eyes as Tonks when it came down to many things, from rules to chores; the girls didn't have a bedtime – they were adults –, but there should be no noise after 10 pm, and Cassiopeia was expected to be home before half past midnight unless previously agreed. George was allowed in the house at any time but permission to stay the night wasn't automatically granted and should be discussed prior to arrival.
Andromeda aunt was a caring woman who knew almost exactly what her niece was going through, and was helping her transition as best as she could. She was even teaching the blond girl how to cook when she arrived early enough from work to help with dinner.
"Are you sure nothing is gonna jump out of it and eat me?" Cas muttered, feeling suddenly small.
She had been using what she had from Hogwarts since the day of her arriving, and the chest Narcissa had given to her the last time they'd seen one another was staring her down ever since.
"If I still know my sister, no," she rested a hand on the teen's back, rubbing it in a way to try and comfort her. "She's your mother, dear. Besides, if anything was bound to happen, it would have already happened. It's been 2 weeks."
Cassiopeia nodded slowly. Yes, she was right; her mother wouldn't try to harm her, right?
She reached out, finally opening the chest, and finding that the content was just… Stuff. Clothes, shoes, jewellery and objects that she had around her room or in her safe.
"She sent you some clothes," Andromeda tried to sound cheerful. "Let's give them a look."
'Some' wasn't exactly the word she should have used. When the two started pulling the clothes out, it was clear that everything Cassiopeia ever owned was in there. Soon, the bed was completely covered in piles and piles of clothing and boxes and more boxes of shoes. Her room in the mansion had been cleared out and everything had been given to her.
"I think that's enough," she decided, stopping. "I already know everything is here, I don't need further proof."
Andromeda only hummed a confirmation sound, and Cassiopeia stood up, rubbing the back of her neck nervously.
"Can you help me pick some stuff up?" she questioned shyly. "I'll just put the rest of it back, but I need something to wear to work."
The Tonks had been nothing less than helpful in the times she was there, and Cassiopeia was very thankful for it; without their help – specially her aunt's -, she'd be lost and homeless. She was still, however, very much uncomfortable with being with them. This wasn't her house nor her home, her bed wasn't the one she'd lied down back at the mansion nor the one at Hogwarts, she was living with people she had just met and she had to learn things that people younger than herself already knew about life.
It was a lot.
In the next hour, the two filled her wardrobe with anything that would be useful in the blond's day to day life, and stored the rest right back into luggage, putting it in the corner of the room in case she needed it again.
"Come on," her aunt stood. "Let's get dinner ready."
Cassiopeia followed her downstairs, trying her best to cheer up. George would be coming over later she you wanted to at least try and make something to be presented in the meal – even if it was chopped potatoes.
Truth is… She was no good in the kitchen. In her two weeks living with her aunt, she had managed to burn herself taking food from the oven and with boiled water several times, and cut her finger and hand at least once every time she had to chop something. After the first week, her aunt didn't allow even allow her anywhere close to the stove alone, and as far as she had tried, Cas' only ability was to make tea. She couldn't even say that she knew how to heat up milk, because she was very prone to forget she had left it heating and it would most likely spill before the girl could do anything to stop it.
"Cassiopeia, dear," Andromeda called, making her turn her attention to her while trying to peel the potato in her small hands with the least possible damage – to both you and the vegetable. She had a callus from working in the store and was still getting around to ask for help about it, it wasn't comfortable.
"Ma'am?"
"Do you plan on joining the order?" her voice was carefully nonchalant, though Cassiopeia knew what lied behind it.
Honestly, she didn't know. Yes, she supported the order – Merlin, would she have given up on her whole life if she didn't think that You-Know-Who's cause was vile and despicable? - but fully joining them was a big stretch. She wasn't an Auror or a fighter, far from it.
"I don't know," the girl decided to say. "Maybe one day if they need me. If this war goes on for long, you know?"
Andromeda hummed in confirmation.
"I'm not that good of a warrior," Cas confessed, embarrassed. "I'm good with potions and organising things, and I thought about joining the Ministry, but I don't trust that they are actually a safe choice. Father has too many connections there, that's not good at all."
A soft knock on the door of the kitchen made them both look over, and her cousin entered the room with a smile.
"I see no blood," Tonks noticed and Cassiopeia rolled her eyes. "Congratulations."
"Shut up."
"Don't tease her, Dora," her mother said without moving her eyes from her own tasks. "Your cousin is trying her best."
But the two girls only shared a smile. It was good to live with Tonks. Cassiopeia could understand a bit of Draco's side on their relationship now, with herself trying to overprotect him but still bugging the hell out of his mind sometimes.
"So…" Tonks cleared her throat. "You're making dinner."
"Yes."
"And George is coming to have dinner with us."
"Yes."
She hesitated a bit, and Cas turned to glance at her direction, noticing how her hair was changing into several different colours, one after the other.
"I was wondering if we could have Remus over too."
The blond frowned at how nonchalant she was trying to sound – and at how hard she was failing.
"I don't see any problem, but we're not making anything special," Andromeda shrugged.
Still, her daughter opened a suspiciously big smile.
"I'm sure it won't be a problem," she assured them before suddenly standing up and running out of the kitchen.
Well, they'd certainly need to talk about this later.
Cassiopeia finished peeling the vegetables with a single accident before her aunt sent her to her room to 'get ready for George', which for her was a bit pointless; she worked with George now – more like for him, but that was not the point - and the two saw one other on a daily basis, sometimes in very unflattering ways. Still, she didn't protest and walked to her room anyway. She probably had a dress around he'd never seen before.
"I can't believe she actually lets you close the door with me here," George sat on the bad bed with a silly and playful jump.
"Forget about the door. I still can't believe she even gave me a room," Cassiopeia pointed out, sighing.
Truth be told, Cas could never hide things from George and soon after moving in, told him about what she had actually planned to do after Sirius' death. He was hurt, of course, but didn't hold it against her for long.
"But she did," he reminded his girlfriend and reached to pull her into his arms and down the comfortable mattress. "And that's a great thing. The privacy too."
He moved his lips down to her neck, and the girl couldn't help but giggle in response as his skin tickled hers.
"George..." she whined a bit. "They are literally down the hall."
"So what? I'm not doing anything wrong."
But he was making her want to do everything that could be considered wrong.
Gently, his hand moved to her face and her boyfriend took her thin lips in a kiss, soon turning his soft grip on her body into something firmer.
"Mum wants you to have lunch with us this weekend," he said in between kisses. "And Bill wants to introduce us to his new girlfriend."
Cassiopeia tried to breathe in, jumping a bit when his large hand wrapped itself around her thigh tentatively under her dress. It was the first time he had ever tried to make that contact.
"Is that okay?" he whispered.
It was a minute before she opened her eyes, finding his brown irises staring right down at her.
"Your brother's girlfriend? I don't know, I haven't met her."
"No," he chuckled. "Me touching you," he made circles on her skin, not going any further but still sending fire into her system. "Here."
Cassiopeia licked her lips, wondering if she was blushing as red as she felt like she was.
"Yeah. Totally fine."
George went back to kissing her, to which Cassiopeia enthusiastically followed him.
She wasn't sure how long had passed since they had lied there, but she had just worked up the courage to put her hand under his shirt when a knock on the door made them pull away and her boyfriend to fall on the floor of the bedroom.
The door opened and her aunt's husband stood there with a polite smile but a strong look on his face.
"I think it's time to call it a night," Mister Tonks said politely, but still not leaving space for protests. "Your mother will be worried if you get home too late, George."
Looking as red as the colour of his hair, the boy put himself on his knees, making his head stand out from his place. His hair was a mess, and from where she could see, Cassiopeia wondered if they were as hot as they seemed, or if he wanted to hide as much as she wanted to do.
"Of course, sir."
Cas' couldn't even look at Mr Tonks' face when she stood from the bed, and her cheeks and neck were burning like fire as she fixed her dress.
"I'll walk you out."
Mister Tonks smiled again to them, still holding the door open and waiting while the ginger boy recomposed himself and burried his hands deep in his pockets before he followed Cassiopeia outside of the room.
She walked George silently outside the house, where it was possible to apparate, and he leaned in to kiss her lips before taking his wand in his hand.
"See you at work tomorrow," he smiled.
"Bye."
And with that, he was gone.
クリエイターの想い 
WellDoneBeca
WellDoneBeca Full synopsis for Volume 2:
Cassiopeia was always a planner. Whenever in her life, she always had a future established and steady ground under her feet.
After rebelling against her family, that changed drastically.
Now the second wizarding war has started, and she needs to find her place in a totally new life.
Good thing George is there to back her up, because it's not gonna be easy.
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