Potter's Girl / Butterfly Effect.

66. Making Questionable Amends

CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX;

MAKING QUESTIONABLE AMENDS

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Cassie woke much too early the following day to the now familiar sounds of Walburga Black's shrieking echoing throughout the small and nearly empty household. "FOUL, ABOMINABLE, WRETCHED HALF-BREEDS AND MUDBLOODS, MUCKING UP MY ANCESTRAL HOME–!" she screeched, though her hangings must have been drawn shut again because she fell silent and no further shouts were heard throughout the morning. Cassie could safely say the daily screaming of her grandmother's portrait would not be missed.

"Where're we going, again?" asked Cassie groggily after clambering as quietly as she could down the stairs, attempting to pull her arm through her twisted jacket sleeve.

"The Burrow," replied Remus, tapping his wand to the top of a trunk, which then began to pack itself of all his essentials. "Since it belongs to no particular owner currently, Grimmauld's been declared unfit for the safety of the Order–"

"Unfit for the safety of me, you mean," said Cassie pointedly, raising an eyebrow. Remus fell short of a response and made a show of tying his shoe, turning away from her. They both knew it was true – she was the main thing Voldemort was after, and if he got hold of her... She shuddered to think what would happen. To relieve the room of its tension, Cassie cleared her throat quietly and leaned against the doorway. "When are we leaving?"

"As soon as possible," said Remus, lifting his trunk magically and trailing it around the kitchen and to the main entrance hall. He spared a glance at Cassie before turning to the staircase and shouting, "Tonks, Snouts – nearly ready?"

Tonks must have been the first to the top of the stairs, as she began to reply with, "Just about!" but she tripped and stumbled down the stairs and her words ended up garbled as she landed in a heap on the floor. Cassie looked down to her – Tonks only smiled in response.

"Addie left earlier, Remus," said Tonks as she stood and dusted herself off. "She didn't say goodbye?"

   Remus frowned for a moment, then wordlessly turned his back on the two witches. Cassie lowered her gaze. It was obvious Moony was no fan of sending Adelaide off alone, whether she was capable of handling herself or not. Cassie couldn't blame him. He'd first lost James and Lily, then, Peter, in a way, and now Sirius.... If he lost Cassie's mum, Cassie was afraid the poor man would just break.

"Well, let's get going, then," said Tonks, clapping her hands together and magicking her small suitcase to herself. "To the Burrow!"

"You aren't staying, right?" said Cassie, now following a peppy witch with bubblegum pink hair into Muggle London. "At the Burrow, I mean."

"Tonks and I have our own safehouse," supplied Remus. "It isn't yet Unplottable, so I can't tell you where it is, but I'll let you know the moment I can."

"Okay. And.. how are we supposed to get to the Burrow?"

"You and Tonks are flying," said Remus promptly. As if on cue, Tonks turned a corner into a dark alley, where two levitating brooms sat waiting for riders. Cassie turned back to Remus, intending to ask why only two, but he cut her off, "I'm not much of a flyer, myself." Cassie knew Moony didn't fly – he'd never much been interested in Quidditch during her childhood and rarely ever allowed her to fly higher than his head, but she expected him to at least put his hatred aside and escort her to her home for the next undetermined amount of time.

"I'll see you at Christmas, Cass," said Remus softly, smiling down and pulling her into a hug.

   "If I make it that long," she mumbled into his chest, though hugged him back with just as much enthusiasm. "I'll miss you."