XVIII

"Darling?" Cassiopeia heard, instantly raising her head in surprise just to find Narcissa opening the door very slightly.

She was in her room, talking to George through the diary she had created, and the pages slammed closed on their own just as the woman opened her daughter's door, although still outside.

"Can I come in?"

The girl sat up on her bed, nodding lightly.

"You didn't tell me if you had fun," she sat on the armchair in the corner of the room and her daughter frowned in confusion.

"I spent the day home."

"Yesterday," Narcissa corrected the girl. "Draco said you came home all smiley and humming songs."

Cassiopeia's cheeks turned bright red as she tried to cover her embarrassment.

"It was fun," she said quickly. "Very… Fun."

Narcissa glanced at her daughter, both confused and deeply inquiring.

"And where did you go?"

The question didn't scare the girl. She'd prepared a full story to tell anyone who asked too many questions and could even tell it starting at the end if necessary.

"A beach," she lied. "We had some ice cream. I think I ran into a friend of dad's from the ministry but I can't remember their name. They sent their regards, however."

She allowed herself to smiled when Narcissa's face gave away as she'd believed her words.

"What else did you two do?"

"We had a picnic," she shrugged. "Nothing very elaborate, just two f-..."

"Friends going out together, I know," she interrupted her daughter. "Are you sure that's all? You don't think it's time to invite him for dinner? I'm sure we would all love him."

The blond-haired girl tried not to look too eager when shaking her head.

"I'm not sure that's the best idea right now," she phrased it slowly. "He… I…" she tried to continue. "We…"

Her mother just smiled like she knew the biggest of secrets.

"You're not ready," Narcissa decided. "I know. It's a blooming relationship, you don't want to rush it."

Her blue eyes widened.

"Relationship?!" she exclaimed. "Oh no, no, no! we're not together, Mum. We are definitely not together!"

She just stared at her daughter.

"Cassiopeia, I gave birth to you. I've known you for your whole life. You can't lie to me."

Oh, mother, you'd be surprised.

"We are not together," Cassiopeia repeated, emphatic.

Her mother moved from her place on the armchair and sat on the large and fluffy bed, moving her hands to her Cassiopeia's light hair, playing with the almost-white locks with her long and elegant fingers.

"You have a sparkle in your eye when you talk about him," she lowered her voice. "Honey… You may not be together, but you certainly do feel something for him."

The girl didn't answer, just looking away, and her mother reached out to hold her hand.

"You may not be together, but that doesn't mean you don't feel anything about him."

Cassiopeia didn't give her an answer and her mother moved her hand to her back, rubbing it softly.

"He..." the girl started but cleared her throat. "He asked me out again. For my birthday. He said we could visit a bit of the town with the beach and maybe have dinner at his house."

Narcissa looked at the teenager with a mixture of surprise and excitement.

"Do you want to spend your birthday with him?"

Her daughter hesitated. It's not that she didn't want to be with her family, but was feeling very suffocated where she was right now.

"I…" she hesitated. "I actually do. Maybe the weekend."

Narcissa didn't say anything, holding her silence.

"We're gonna need to find something to tell your father if you don't want him asking questions about that boy's family and name," she decided.

Cassiopeia nodded slowly. She'd had that conversation with her mother before, absolutely refusing to give a single piece of information about George except that he was from Beauxbatons – which was a big fat lie – and lived close to Paris.

"Are you sure you don't mind if I spend the weekend away?" the girl questioned;

Her mother hesitated and took a long breath.

"The further away from home I can get you now, the better," she decided, whispering her words as if the walls had ears – and they had. "Your brother is still a kid, but not you."

The teenager took a long breath. She knew what her mother meant. She could see how they looked at her whenever any of them caught any glimpse of her in the house as if they knew she wouldn't take much longer to give in and join their group .

"I'm gonna talk to him," Cassiopeia decided.