Family Secrets Revealed (Pyro only)

[Cassandra Blackfire G7]

Cass sat on the blanket huddled around a very old, black book. It wasn't the first time someone had found her in this position. Not just a few days ago, a Raven had shook her awake when she fell asleep reading her potions book, but this book was different. It wasn't a school book, it was a family album. Just like any other families, it contained pictures and symbols connecting the members of the family. However, this wasn't just any families album. Cassandra sat up and looked at it one more time. Tears fell from her eyes and hit the black cover as she continued to stare at it with disbelief. Her finger traced the flames that made up part of the family crest, and still couldn't believe that Dana had found this in the attic. I can't believe I never knew it was up there. I can't believe my parent's lied to me for all these years,Cass thought to herself.

With the evidence in her hands, she had owled Pyro this morning about it. Opening the book, she turned to the page that had all the names written in gold lettering. Once again, there it was. The names Charles and Daniel led down from a set of names she now knew as her Grandparent's. Charles' name connected to a woman's name, and another line led down to the name Pyro. It was about the same on the other side, except the name Daniel was in silver instead of gold, and the name Cynthia was connected to it. Another golden line led down to it that said Cassandra. She assumed that the silver meant that that person was dead, since several other names in the book that she knew would have to be dead were also in that color.

She wondered if Pyro knew that this book existed. It seemed like Dana thought that every pure-blood family had one, but Cassandra was unaware of that. To think, Pyro and I are cousins,Cass wept some more.

She felt betrayed. All these years she had thought she was muggle born. Taking all the punches and rolling with them. Standing up in front of every damn Slytherin who had insulted her over her heritage, was all for naught. It felt like her entire life and all she stood for was a lie. She had know she was placed in the wrong house the moment she came to Hogwarts, and now she knew it was true. Every Blackfire she could find in the library had been a Slytherin, her mother and father included. How in the hell did she end up in Gryffindor?

Finally look up over the hill, she saw a figure coming. By the way he walked, she could tell it was Pyro. She hid the book under the cloak she had brought with her and sat back on her hands. Sighing, she though. What is he going to do when he finds out I'm not Cassandra Logton, but Cassandra Blackfire?

[Pyro Blackfire S5]

Pyro lay in courtyard underneath a tree. He wore his customary black cloak. His hands were folded behind his head as he looked up at the sky. Today was a perfect day considering the bad week hed been having. All these bad things seemed to be centered around Cassandra. First the issue with the book, than the duel. Pyro found it amazing that he finally found a day where he could be by himelf. The courtyard was completly deserted. Well, he wasnt exactly aone. Miaka, his Pheonix, soared above him.

She hadnt been free in days. So Pyro had decided to let her out and stretch her wings. She had grown a lot since the last time he had let her out. A gentle breeze blew by and Pyro shut his eyes. He lay there for a moment and than suddenly something decended upon his face. Pyro sat up and reached out and grabbed the ball of beating wings and feathers. In his hand sat a owl with a message held in its beak.

Pyro took the message and the owl flew off. Frowning Pyro turned the envolope over. It was from Cass. His frown grew and he glared at it. What did she want now? Pyro tossed it aside and lay back down. What made her think that he wanted to talk to her? Why would she want to talk to him? He looked over at the discarded letter. Curiosity and a nagging feeling pecked at him and he reached over and opened the letter.

Reading the contents he sighed and climbed to his feet. He gave a sharp whistle and Miaka flew out of the sky and landed nimbly on his shoulder. He tail feather curled around his shoulder. He began to walk and soon found the area that Cass had designated as their meeting place. Looking in the distance Pyro could see a sitting form that was no doubt Cass. He stoped a few steps from her and stood silently there. After a pause he spoke. "So, what did you want?"

[Cassandra Blackfire G7]

Preparing herself for the callous greeting she knew was coming, she tried to smile genially up at him. To think, not a few months ago, they had been dancing together at the Valentine's Day Dance. How could their relationship grow so cold? " Hey, I know you don't want to join me particularly, but I need some questions answered. Nothing over the book, that's in the past. Well, it's about a book, but not the book." She moved over to make room for Pyro, pulling the album out from underneath.

The reason why she pulled it out was because she knew Pyro was going to want a reason for all the questions. Trying to make casual conversation, " Miaka has gotten pretty. Gosh, she looks so much bigger than when I last saw her." She smiled at her blond headed friend warmly. Gosh, I'm the only one not blond headed in the family. Even Craig is a blond,she thought to herself. She was feeling more and more alienated as she discovered more.

Noticing that Pyro was getting a bit antsy and probably wanted her to get on with it, she decided to go for the news that been sitting on her chest for several days now. " Um, I know what your going to think. The questions I'm about to ask you are really none of my business, but I really need to know. The Ministry of Magic has given me little or no help whatsoever, and I sure as hell just can't walk up to the Blackfire Mansion and ask." She was rambling, of course, but what do you tell someone when your about augment their world just a bit. Swallowing, she decided to just come out with it.

" Pyro, did your father have a brother? A Daniel, Daniel Blackfire."

[Pyro Blackfire S5]

Pyro stood silently looking at her as she responded to his greeting. She slid over, obviously wanting him to sit down. Pyro looked at the open spot. He glanced at Cass with a look that asked "Are you serious?" but she wasn't looking at him, she was busy pulling out a book. Pyro looked at it curiously, he couldn't remember The Chosen blackmailing any other books from people. He glanced at the cover and saw a glimpse of the crest. It looked strangely familiar, very close to the Blackfire crest. What would Cass be doing with a book that had the Blackfire crest on it?

Pyro noticed her glance go up to Miaka and he saw the surprise and awe in her eyes and he couldn't help but grin. He glanced at Miaka "Yea, shes really growing, I'm going to have to get her a bigger cage soon. Actually, screw the cage, Miaka wont fly away, she doesn't need one." Pyro sat down at the spot that Cass had made for him. He sat down with a sigh. He did wish that Cass would just stop beating around the bush with this small talk. She was definitely trying to ignore their confrontation from a few nights ago. Which surprised him, Cass didn't strike him as someone that would just let something like that drop.

He arched an eyebrow at her as she began to warm up. She mentioned the Blackfire manor, what business would she have their? He was about to open his mouth and ask but she beat him to it. He looked at her after her question. He shook his head, "No, he doe....." He stopped short. Now that he thought about it, he did remember overhearing his father one night. He distinctly remembered his father saying the words: "If it weren't for my good for nothing brother....." It looked like his father did have a brother.

Pyro looked at Cass. "Well, yea. My father did have a brother. Don't know if his name was Daniel, but he did have a brother. I never met the man, the only thing I know is my father wasn't to happy with him, so he never spoke of him. Why?"

[Cassandra Blackfire G7]

Cass' stomach gave a lurch as Pyro replied with a 'yes' and a 'why.' Even though this was coming next, it still was a bit of a shock. She had so many questions to ask him. Like, Who were the grandparents? Did he know them, or where they even still alive? Had their been any famous people related to them? Cass' happy thoughts stopped in mid-tumble as her smile faded. Would he even believe her? Did he even have a reason, too?

Redirecting her gaze away from Pyro's face, she decided to go ahead and let the news hit him; most likely as hard as it hit her. Opening the book, she began to blush a bit. Even after all this time, he still made her blush during the confrontations. This would totally change the dynamic of their relationship. " Umm, well Dana and I were cleaning out our attic, and she found this book. Not the other book mind you, but a book still." God, why did she have to ramble in an important moment like this?

Finally drawing up her courage, she flipped past all the moving pictures with an assortment of smiling and grim faces. Pointing to where it showed their relation, she explained the rest of the story. " Well, as the story goes, Daniel and Cynthia Blackfire fled to the Muggle world when Voldemort began his rise to power." She looked over to Pyro to see his reaction to her non-challant use to Voldemort's name. It wasn't that she didn't understand the awesomeness of what Voldemort had done, but because she had been too far removed from the situation to let it bother her. " They were never heard from again. Daniel Blackfire was the brother of Charles Blackfire." She pointed to where the golden lines led down from the brothers parents. " Charles married your mother and had you, of course." She traced his family tree of his father's side.

Pointing to Daniel's name in silver, she continued. " Daniel and Cynthia had children as well. Since this book is magical, it kept up with the information by itself. They had Craig before they ran." She pointed to her cousin's name, who was in reality her brother. " They also had a little girl." Her finger traced the golden line to her name, Cassandra, where she let it linger for a moment. Gulping a final time, " Before they had their daughter, they had changed their surname to Logton. So their daughter was named Cassandra Logton...." Her voice trailed off.

Looking up at Pyro to see how the news finally hit him. " Pyro, you do realize what this means? We are cousins. Close cousins at that." Finally relaxing, her breath escaped in a loud sigh.

[Pyro Blackfire S5]

At his answer Pyro noticed a slight shift in Cass' eyes. He looked closer and could tell she had a ton of questions hidden away. Before he could ask about it she looked away and started to speak again. Pyro fell silent and allowed her to talk.

Pyro looked at the book curiously as Cass showed him a page of it and told him a story. He easily recognized is own name. Also easily recognizing is fathers, mothers, and grandparents names. This book apparently was a family album of the Blackfire family. But how did Cass get a hold of it? Pyro sat patiently as she explained his birth, a no brainer, but than went on to tell about his fathers brothers, his uncle's, legacy. Of how they ran when Voldemort came into power. No wonder why his father hated his uncle.

Thats when she decided to drop the bomb. They were cousins? This couldn't be true. She was a muggleborn. Not a pureblood. Pyro sat quiet, staring at the book. He slowly reached over and gingerly took the book from her hands and brought it over to him. His eyes scanned the page over and over. Following the lines again again.

The book stated it clearly. Cass was a pureblood, and his cousin. He shut the book and looked at the cover, at the crest. He ran his fingers across the smooth metal before Finlay bringing his gaze up to Cass. "Cousins?" He asked simply.

He looked at her and suddenly his eyes flashed for a moment. Father hated them, wonder what price he would pay to finally find them. Pyro shook those thoughts from his head. Now wasn't the time. "So, according to this, we are related." He held up the book. "But what is proving this to be credible?"

[Cassandra Blackfire G7]

Cass' smile faltered as Pyro asked if the book was credible. " Well, Dana thought it was pretty real. She is very versed on these kinds of things." Struiggling to prove what he had just saw, " Oh, and Mom was really upset that I had found it. She admitted to it all as soon as she was caught. I mean, is there a way to authenticate it? I've ran into dead ends at the Ministry. They just keep telling me that Daniel and Cynthia disappeared years ago and nobody has heard from them since."

Suddenly becoming very shy, she turned away. " There is apparently some way to tell if a person is pureblood or not. I can go into the Ministry for some testing, but I'm not sure if I can subject myself to it. Supposed to be kind of painful." This was such a personal subject. " I mean, don't get me wrong, but I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to such things. I could never go to the dentist as a kid. Can't stand pain. "

Suddenly standing up, Cassie began to walk around as if in deep thought. " Don't get me wrong, I would love to find out. I just don't know if I can. Not really sure if I can afford it. I mean, apparently we have some sort of fortune left over by a dead aunt, uncle, grandparent, or something or other. Not really sure honestly."

Not really wanting to think about that anymore, she decided to ask some questions about their family. " Speaking of Grandparents', are they still alive? I mean, I've always wanted Grandparents. Well, I knew I had them but I was always told they were dead. Are they nice? Oh, and what about the Manor. I went to the library and read up on it. It's supposed to be really old. I've always loved old houses." She cut off her barrage of questions. Pyro didn't seem happy to answer them.