To the Unknown ((Liam))

[Cassandra Blackfire G7]

The countryside rolled by the windows as Cass slumbered against the window. It was time to go home, but what home she didn't know. True, she was able to secure herself a new place from school after Pyro told her she was no longer welcome at the Manor, but she was deftly afraid of living alone. This would be her own place. A right of passage for most people, but to her it was nothing more than another twist on the road of life. It was just another episode of the soap opera that was the Blackfire family. Truthfully, Cass could hardly keep up with the dramatics herself, but here she was, right in the thick of it all. Their family was extremely small. It really only included herself, her aunt, her cousin, and his fiance. They did have a few elusive cousins, but that was with all pureblood families since they were all related to each other some way or another.

As the train traveled further and further away from Hogwarts, the young Gryffindor left all her cares behind. She could spend the summer how she wanted to spend it, and it did not include anyone at the manor. She only wanted to spend it with one person, and that was her boyfriend, Liam Angelus. They had been growing more and more distant as of late. Truthfully, the two hadn't had a serious conversation in months. Most of their rendezvous had been quick hellos and goodbyes that included a short kiss on the cheek. Still, she thought of him often, and whenever they had passed each other in the hall on prefect duty, Cass couldn't help but blush. She smiled to herself as she fingered the Angelus crest that was around her neck. They had been together for almost two years now. They had been the golden couple of Gryffindor tower for so long that it was hard for anyone to imagine one without the other.

The loud voices of a couple of soon to be second year Hufflepuffs rang down the hall. Cass roused from her sleep and saw them chasing some sort of bouncing ball down the hall. Too tired to care, she let pass. "Let some other prefect handle it," she muttered to herself. She smiled as she heard one in particulars voice down the hall. It was Liam coming to join her as they had planned. They had decided to spend most of the summer since neither one had family's that would hold them back. Cass let her head lay on the window until she heard the compartment door slide open. She opened her eyes, and smiled at her boyfriend.

[Liam Angelus G5]

Liam had spent most of his fifth year at Hogwarts becoming distant from everyone he cared for, spending most of his time lying awake in the darkness of his dorm. He barely saw his girlfriend, Cassandra, except for in passing in the hall's of the castle between classes or on prefect duty. He could hardly stand himself for being away from the one person whom he could talk to at school, causing him to slack off from his school work.

It didn't help that Cass had taken Kennedy Valak, a Slytherin boy, to the Minister's ball. Even though it had all been a ploy against Pyro Blackfire, Liam was still angry about the entire situation. And in rebellion, and preparation, Liam had taken to using magic to tattoo protection runes onto his knuckles, in the event some plan of anybody involved with Pyro and his friends ended up being directed toward him.

But now that the school year had ended, Liam was beginning to come back around to being his old self, and planned to spend his summer with his girlfriend as much as possible. The two had made plans to meet up on the train ride home, and as he was walking toward the compartment they had arranged to meet in, Liam was ran into my to young Hufflepuffs. "Hey, watch what you're doing, somebody could get hurt," Liam said before motioning for them to get back to their compartment.

When Liam got to the compartment, he saw Cass leaning her head against the window of the train. Sliding open the door, Liam smiled at his girlfriend before dropping into the seat next to her. "Hey," Liam started, "Been waiting long?"

[Cassandra Blackfire G7]

Cassandra smiled as her boyfriend sat beside her. "I would wait an eternity sometimes just to look upon your face." She laid back again Liam; snuggling into his shoulder. Leaning over, she kissed him lightly on the cheek. "I've missed you so much. Maybe we can finally get some quality time together. I just feel like we've been through so much this year." She took his hand and looked down at it. Cass saw the strange symbols on his hand and rubbed them lightly with her hand. "What's this, Liam? I didn't see these the last time we were together. They are ghastly." She looked straight into his eyes. "If these are what I think they are, why would you go and do a thing like that? You couldn't possibly be afraid of something. You're hardly afraid of anything." She grimaced. She had seen those symbols in her Defense Against the Dark Arts class. They were protection runes mostly used by aurors in their work, and in some African Witch tribes they tattooed the symbols onto their body.

"Liam, why did you do that? What could possibly hurt you at Hogwarts?" Cass was scared now. She had honestly forgotten what it felt like while playing her games with her cousin. That feeling had been put aside while she had manipulated Pyro, Alex, and Kennedy or she would of constantly feared their retaliation. As much as she thought The Chosen were a joke, she didn't know how many they actually numbered. She was pretty sure it only contained a few select members, but she wasn't willing to stake her chances on that quite yet. "It's not that silly club of my cousins, is it? Jeez, Liam, I had it all under control. I would never of let any of those snakes hurt you, or us." Cass stroked the side of his face with her hand. She knew that Liam knew that she was lying.

Cass' plan had gone a little haywire when she involved Kennedy Valek in her plot to get the book back and bring down the Chosen. The friendly feelings she had for the Slytherin had grown into something else which had seriously jeopardized her relationship with Liam. "Oh god," she sighed. Her stomach quaked. She began to stroke the medallion around her neck. That act was becoming a nervous habit. The Angelus medallion around her neck had brought her comfort in many anxious times. "I suppose your mad about it still, huh? I would understand if you wanted to end things..." She trailed off; not wanting to picture her life without Liam. "However, I never did anything with Kennedy. I just want you to know that. You know I would never lie to you about that, but I do find myself in a bit of mess. I'm not sure how to really get myself out of it." She gulped. "I only meant to hurt my cousin in this, but it seems I have caused more damage than I know."

[Liam Angelus G5]

Liam turned his eyes from his girlfriend when she asked about the runes etched onto his knuckles. Sighing, he replied, "They're nothing, just something I saw in my grandfather's library, nothing more." Liam knew Cass wouldn't believe him, he honestly didn’t believe himself as he said the words. Looking around the compartment, Liam hoped for the conversation to change to anything but his hands, Pyro, Kennedy, The Chosen, or any thing else that might have been looming over their heads.

However, when Cass brought up the subject of fear, Liam had to explain himself. "Look, it's true; there isn't much that worries me, and nothing at Hogwarts. It's more something about me that is the reason for...these," Liam said looking at his hands. "I'm afraid I might do something to hurt you or somebody else. During the Christmas holiday I was bitten by something, but the healer’s don’t believe it was anything dangerous, but I want to be on the safe side of things. So if you notice, they are runes to keep something from coming to the surface, something deep inside. I put them on my hands just in case, because I never want to hurt you, you mean too much to me. So in essence, they are to protect others from me. If any some case that Pyro decides to get some retribution against you I want to be sure that I don't lose control."

Liam hoped that Cass understood what he was trying to say. He himself didn't want anything that was inside of him to come out and hurt any innocent people who ended up being around him. He had been lucky that he hadn't had any problems before. After a moments thought, Liam added, "When I say anybody else, that does include your cousin and Kennedy, even though they are in Slytherin, they haven't done anything personally to me."

Liam paused a moment at the thought of Kennedy. It was true, he didn't really like the boy or that Cass had taken him to the party, but he had accepted that it was all part of his girlfriends plan against Pyro and the Chosen. But he wasn't going to allow his personal feelings toward Kennedy to ruin his relationship with Cass. Finally he added, "Look, I trust you when you say nothing happened with Kennedy, and I'm not the kind of person who'd get jealous about him going with you to the party, I mean, I know you love me and I love you too, it's just frustrating that you couldn't let me in on your plan's, I thought we were in a relationship. But, I've learned to trust you and your judgment, so I didn't push the subject, because I don't want to make you feel bad or anything of the such, I just wish you had told me everything about what was happening.

[Cassandra Blackfire G7]

"Liam, I wish I could tell you everything that was happening, but I was really playing it all by ear. I knew I was playing with fire from day one. Kennedy and Pyro are both wildcards in and of themselves. If they thought you knew something of my plans, I didn't want you to become a target." Cass continued to talk. "That book can do horrible, horrible things, and I know what you are going to say." Cass put her hands on her hips and imitated Liam, "Cass, you and I both know well and good that a teenage wizard could not control the power out of the book." Cass put her hands back in her lap. "That is just the thing. They won't be able to control the power in the book. It doesn't mean they won't be able to cast the incantation. Remember what happened to Mom? The Ministry had said that had been nothing more than a rogue spell from Craig." She choked on her brother's name. She still didn't believe the load of tripe the Ministry had given her about her family's death.

She sighed and looked at her hands that were in her lap. "I would love nothing more than to get away from my family, but I'll never be able to escape it as long as I'm a Blackfire. I'm responsible for all of this. I stole the book from Caiest, and then I was to careless and lost it to Pyro. I brought the book back up. I provoked Pyro and the chosen. This is all my fault." The rush of words fell out of her mouth like a waterfall. She had so much guilt and anger over the situation. "I just wanted my family back, Liam. I'm sick of being alone." Her hand went instinctively to the Angelus family crest at her throat. "I wear this, but I know it isn't really mine. It used to bring so much comfort, but it feels just as cold sometimes as the Blackfire ring I have. I feel like it allows me to pose as a member of a family I really don't belong to." She continued to play with by sliding the medallion up and down its chain.

She looked into her boyfriend's eyes. "Liam, it's going to be a cold and lonely summer." She bit her lip and spit out the words that still permeated her mind. "Pyro has asked me to leave the manor. I knew it was coming Liam, but I figured he would at least give us until we graduated. However, with Charles being dead, he is now the head of the family. My Aunt would keep me there just to save face, but Pyro wants me gone so he can start his new empire with Alex. I found a small apartment in London, but I've never lived on my own....And with the Chosen thinking I am their number one worst enemy..." She trailed off, and she buried her now tear soaked face in Liam's shirt. "I've never been this scared in my life. I feel utterly alone."

[Liam Angelus G5]

For the first time in his life, Liam found himself without a response to his girlfriend. So he instead sat and listened to her speak for several moments while trying to determine the proper thing to say. Finally, he said, “I’m not afraid of becoming a target for Pyro or Kennedy, that’d probably be the last mistake the two of them could ever make. And as far as the book is concerned, you’re right, the two of them couldn’t hope to control its power, but any child could cast the spells inside of it, but yeah, they’d be destroyed by the power as well.” Liam stopped at the thought of the ministry. He still couldn’t stand the thought of anybody there thinking to know anything about anything. “Can we not mention the Ministry; they wouldn’t know a smart thought if it bit them on nose.”

Liam looked at Cass as she mentioned wanting her family back. He knew all to well what it was like wanting to have his family back in his life. He had longed for many years that his family had never been taken from his when he was just a baby. “At least you have a family,” Liam replied a little too angrily. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to lash out at you. It’s just…well, you know about my family. But you know, you won’t always be a Blackfire, if we were older, well… But it’s not your fault Pyro got his hands on that blasted book. If he wanted it badly enough he’d have found a way to get it some other way.”

Liam looked at Cass as she held the medallion he had given her. He felt that it did belong to her, and his family would welcome Cass as one of their own. It didn’t matter to them that she was part of the Blackfire family; they didn’t believe that because of somebody’s family that they were just as bad. “You are part of my family, at least as far as I and my grandfather are concerned, hell, my entire family would welcome you,” Liam replied. “And you know if you ever need a place to live my grandfather would let you stay with us, all you have to do is say the word, we have plenty of space.”

Liam held his girlfriend as she cried into his shirt. He hated seeing Cass like this, hated feeling like he could do nothing to make everything better. And he especially hated Pyro for his action toward Cass. “If the Chosen come after you, they’ll have to deal with me first. ‘Cause if they are after you, then they are after me as well,” Liam finally said.

[Cassandra Blackfire G7]

Cass released Liam's shirt and sat up; composing herself. "The ministry?! You've got to be kidding me! The Blackfire's have most of the ministry in their back pocket, and, trust me, when I mean Blackfires, I don't include myself. Most of the pure blood maniacs there don't recognize me as a Blackfire. I'm about as good a mudblood." Cass didn't flinch at using the word. "My hands are just as dirty as everyone else in this matter, if not more. I can't risk getting thrown into Azkaban with everyone else. No, I have to rectify this on my own. It's all my fault. If I had just left the book with Caiest's parents... I mean, they were adults. The obviously knew more about what that book held than me. The notions of a stupid third year, I suppose." Cass quieted down and sat back in her seat letting the chugging of the train relax her a bit.

Cass smiled sweetly to herself as Liam mentioned about living with him and his Grandfather. She played with her necklace; wrapping it around her index finger nonchalantly. "Thank you, Liam. I would think that would be nice, but with some of the rules Pyro put on me...I'm not sure if I can. The Blackfire money will keep coming in as long as I can assure my cousin I won't be a problem. Let's face it. I'm not made for a menial muggle job, or working in Catalina's Cubby down in Hogsmeade. Not even that, I've just got so much research for my lessons with McGonogall..." She trailed off seeing the sincerity and earnest in Liam's eyes. She sat silent a moment, and then placed her hand on his. "...but since I don't know where I'm going anyways, maybe a few days won't hurt." She cuddled into his chest not feeling as depressed or worried.

"Thank you for what you said. About being welcomed as an Angelus...I'm sorry for getting angry with you. I'm just feeling as if I'm not in control of anything anymore. At least the Manor was familiar. I knew where I could go and hide to get away from my Aunt and Uncle. I know we've been talking about family and all, but they have never really been my family. It has never felt like home. You know, I had this dream the other day that I got out of bed in my old house. You know, that dodgy place in Manchester I used to live. I got up, heard my Mum calling my name for breakfast, and then I went down for a wonderful morning with them. I miss them so much, Liam. I had always hoped that when I went to Blackfire Manor my Uncle and Aunt would of welcomed we open arms and treated me like their daughter. Of course, I was fooling myself, I knew that would never happen."

[Liam Angelus G5]

“Forget the Ministry, please,” Liam said easily. “Everybody knows they can be bought and sold at a words notice, just like muggle politicians. And please don’t use that word, I can’t stand it. And besides, you can leave anything like that with her parents or any other person associated with the Dark Arts. I mean come on, that’s like giving an untrained person a wand, bad things are bound to happen.”

When Liam finished speaking, he sat and stared out the window of the train compartment. Liam ears perked up at the mention of working as a muggle. He never had to experience any kind of real work to earn money to survive on, but he always wondered what kind of work muggle’s actually did. “So how are your lessons coming along anyway? And what kind of work do muggle’s do anyway, it’s always fascinated me what they did to support themselves,” Liam said before cutting himself. “Sorry, my curiosity got the better of me. But you can stay as long as you like, I already said we have more than enough room at our place.”

“Don’t mention it,” Liam replied with a smile. “And don’t be sorry, everybody needs to lash out once and a while, I should know.” Liam paused to stop and think for a moment. “Is anybody every truly in control? Oh well, I guess you can control something’s if you try hard enough. Yeah, we’ve been talking about family for a while, and hearing about Pyro is enough to drive me up the wall and down the floo.”

Liam stopped to listen as Cass explained the dream she had a few days earlier. When she finished, Liam said, “I’ve had dreams like that before, but I can’t ever understand what my parents are saying or what they want. I guess it’s because I never knew them. Sometimes I wish I had had known them, even if for a moment, but you can’t and shouldn’t, change the past, can you.”