The Slytherin Princess

Chapter 36

ᶜʰᵃᵖᵗᵉʳ ³⁶⁻ "ʸᵒᵘ ᵉᵛⁱˡ, ᵇˡᵉᵃᶜʰᵉᵈ, ˡⁱᵗᵗˡᵉ ᵗᵒᵃᵈ"

That summer, I was shipped off to Ireland. Daphne had been sent to Greece and Pansy to Paris. The boys were home and had been made to attend meetings that our fathers attended and go to events with our fathers.

According to Blaise's letter, they were being made to learn combative magic and had been taught more advanced spells by different death-eaters.

I had been receiving letters from everyone- my aunt, my father, Theo, Blaise, Daphne, Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle. Everyone but Malfoy. Not that I wanted him to write or anything. Even though we weren't exactly friends, we would always write to each other during the summer we would spend away from each other.

I would seldom go out of the suite my aunt had arranged for me. Most of the time I was just thinking of everything. I needed to do something very quickly. And I needed help.

My aunt would often visit me. She was unwilling to tell me about the situation back home. I knew she hated lying to me so I stopped talking about it altogether.

The both of us hadn't talked about anything of importance, like the war or Sirius Black. We mostly just sat in silence or engaged in small talk.

The months passed away in a blink and it was time for me to return home.

--

I was welcomed by my aunt who engulfed me in a hug before I could step foot inside the house. A tiny house-elf ran past me and took my bags upstairs to my room.

The mansion looked disturbed. It reeked of cigarette smoke and firewhiskey. There were elves cleaning some broken vases and scrubbing the walls to get rid of the black burnt marks on them. There was a lingering presence of evil in the very halls I roamed as a child. The peace and purity of my home seemed to have been stripped off during these 'meetings'.

My aunt told me the Malfoys would be visiting us in some time and I had to get ready. I decided to greet my father before getting changed.

I knocked on the door of his study and walked in when I heard him telling me to come inside. He seemed tensed and edgy. There was some fear I could sense as well. He was writing something when I walked in and stopped instantly when he realised it was me.

"You've arrived," he smiled. "How was Ireland?"

I took a seat in one of the chairs placed opposite his chair, a table between us. "It was good," I answered, unable to say anything more.

"I suppose you should get ready," he said turning his attention to the papers in front of him. "Although you needn't go out of your way to make an impression"

"Excuse me?"

"Well now that it's-" he began to mutter but stopped and looked up. "Oh, Salazar, has she not told you yet?"

Just then, my aunt came inside the office. "Cassie, love, the Malfoys will be here. Are you-" She stopped her sentence to check what was going on between my father and me.

My father entangled his fingers and sat comfortably on his chair. "You still haven't told her?" he asked my aunt.

"Told me what?"

My aunt took a deep breath and took a seat in the chair next to me. A look was exchanged between my father and her and then she began speaking.

"Cassie, we've been meaning to talk to you about something," she whispered making me incredibly nervous. The way she had begun her sentence made me think someone was dying.