This is suppose to be quite emotional. I must admit I shed a tear while writing, and perhaps it's because I'm on my period? Whatever, doesn't really matter. But I did shed a tear like a baby.

(...)

"Are you sure about this?" Draco inquired nervously as he watched Narcissa pace back and forth, assembling a hamper.

"They need food, but I'm not sure if there's anything there," explained Cassi, assisting the witch.

Kreacher was with them, preparing more supplies. He held a first aid kit with potions and other equipment.

"Do you think they have sleeping bags?" Narcissa questioned, thoughtful.

"I don't know, but Granger is smart, she must have taken some," Draco commented.
Narcissa paused for a moment, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"Honestly, when will this animosity towards Hermione stop?" Cassiopeia huffed.

"When she stops coveting my girlfriend," Narcissa retorted with a scowl, raising her voice.

Draco looked between the two with a wide grin, his hand covering his lips to hide the laughter.
Cassiopeia shook her head, somewhat exasperated, but with a smile on her face.

She asked Kreacher to go ahead, just to ensure that the Gryffindor trio was at Grimmauld Place.

The small bag had an undetectable expansion spell on it, able to fit in a trouser pocket. It contained enough food for three whole months, a tent in case they needed to flee into a forest, a few changes of clothes, blankets to protect them from the cold, and pillows too.
When Kreacher returned with confirmation that they were at Grimmauld Place, she bid farewell to Narcissa and Draco, apparating back home.

(...)

It was quiet, some things seemed ransacked, and anger welled up in her as she remembered that Mundungus had dared to steal from her.

Cassi searched through a few rooms, but when she finally found them, they were standing at the doorway of her bedroom. The same room that had belonged to her father.

"What are you lot snooping around for?" she asked playfully, and the three jumped in alarm, wands pointed at her.

"No funny business, you lot shouldn't use magic inappropriately," Cassi joked.

Hermione was the first to let out a relieved sigh and rushed to hug her. "Cassie."

"Good to see you, lioness girl."

"Cassie," Harry sighed, walking over to hug her as well, followed shortly by Ron.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked, concerned. "It's too risky."

Cassi huffed. "This is my house."

Hermione blushed furiously.

"And don't act like I haven't risked myself for you all before," Cassi added, raising her eyebrows.

Harry contemplated the floor, lost in thought, without an immediate response.

"I brought food. Are you hungry?" Cassi asked, breaking the tense silence.

Ron clapped excitedly, as always with an appetite.

She smiled at him and led them to the kitchen, starting to take items out of the bag.

The portrait of Walburga started screaming when it saw them pass by.

"The wrinkles, Granny, remember the wrinkles," Cassi muttered, and the portrait fell silent abruptly.

Hermione chuckled discreetly.

"There's enough here for three months. I can bring more later," Cassi said, finally producing a small meal for the three and handing it to Hermione.

Harry looked at her for a long moment, grateful. "Thank you," he said softly. "You didn't have to, but still..."

"Of course I did, stubborn head. I'm your friend. I take care of mine," Cassi said, rolling her eyes with exasperation.

"Our friend..." Ron repeated, also seeming thoughtful.

"It has an expansion charm," Hermione observed the bag in relief. "And... how many things..."

Cassiopeia smiled. "Narcissa, Draco, and Kreacher helped me put together a kit for you all. There are some healing supplements too, and the male clothes were Draco's idea."
Harry looked surprised. "The Malfoys are helping?"

"None of us want him to win, Harry," Cassi said as she sat down, resting her hands on her head.

"You don't know the things he's forcing Draco to do under threats."

"I know," Harry replied with a sigh. "I've seen."

She stared at him for a long moment. "You've seen?" she asked incredulously.

"I was there the night Dumbledore died. I saw Draco was going to take the deal, but it was already too late."

Tears filled Cassi's eyes as she recalled that day, and a sob escaped before she could stop it. "None of that was supposed to happen."
To her surprise, it was Ron who comforted her, awkwardly patting her back.

Harry hesitated for a moment, as if making a decision, and then pulled something from his pocket and clenched it tightly between his hands. "We've found a way to defeat Voldemort."

Cassi stopped crying abruptly, sitting up straighter in her chair, filled with hope. "How? I want to help."

Harry remained silent for a few moments before responding. "Voldemort created cursed objects, called Horcruxes. He split his own soul into seven parts to become immortal."

Horcruxes, she had read about that before. Where, where...

"Salazar's Snakes!" Cassiopeia exclaimed in panic. "I've read about this, it was just a passage. But it said it's the most abominable thing anyone could do! It was only done once before, and only one time." She was shocked.

Harry nodded. "Two have already been destroyed, Tom Riddle's diary, the one he used to make Ginny open the Chamber of Secrets."

Ron coughed embarrassedly as he remembered accusing Cassi back then. The three looked ashamed.

"The ring of Marvolo Gaunt, Dumbledore destroyed it. Then there's the locket of Salazar Slytherin," Harry opened his hand, showing the object.

Cassiopeia widened her eyes, astonished, and reached out her hand. Harry handed her the locket, and when she saw it up close, her mouth fell open in shock.

"B-but, this is a fake," she said, still bewildered.

Hermione nodded in agreement, but then stopped in confusion. "Yes, but... how do you know?"

The three stared at her, utterly perplexed.
Cassi pulled her amulet from inside her shirt, exposing it to the dim light of the room.

Harry exclaimed and stood up abruptly.

"Because I have the real one."

Hermione looked panicked, and Ron's eyes were wide.

"All this time!" Harry sighed.

But Cassi wasn't paying much attention, she opened the medallion and found a note.

To the Dark Lord

I know I will be dead long before you read this, but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more

R.A.B

Cassi sighed in shock. Her eyes filled with tears, her hands slightly trembling. "My father," she murmured as she looked at her friends.

"We only found out who wrote it when we saw the initials on the door upstairs," Hermione explained.

"If I had told you earlier..." Harry grumbled, pacing back and forth, likely blaming himself.

"I don't understand," Cassi said quietly, holding onto her amulet. "The spell is meant to protect me from dark magic, it's not a Horcrux. My mother would never give me a Horcrux," she mused thoughtfully.

Harry stopped pacing, confused, and reached out his hand. She pulled the amulet from her neck and handed it to him for a closer look.

"It's not the Horcrux," he sighed disappointedly, slumping down onto a chair.

"But then is it fake too?" Hermione asked, puzzled.

"No, this is Salazar's medallion," Cassi explained as she picked it up again.

"But... Voldemort used the family locket as a Horcrux, he wanted something that represented a symbol of power."

Cassiopeia paused for a moment, lost in thought.

Then it was Hermione who spoke up, "You said... at the Department of Mysteries, that the great-grandfather of Vo- of the Dark Lord was disowned."

Cassi nodded, "Yes, the man was utterly vile. He was the brother of my great-great-grandmother Noctua. He tormented their younger brother for being blind."

Three audible sighs were heard.

"Noctua despised him, despised everything he stood for. She was the eldest daughter, you see, and when their father died, she became the head of the family, so she removed him from the family tree. She always believed there was more to Salazar than dark arts and pure-blood ideology, and she was right. She passed the same belief to her son, who passed it to my mother."

"Who taught it to you," Harry nodded, readjusting in his chair.

"Could he have tried to steal the medallion?" Harry asked, still looking at the object as if it would give him answers.

"Most likely. But I'm sure this one is the real one," she pointed out, holding it up. "The protective spell was cast by Salazar himself."

Ron nodded fascinated. "But then where did Regulus hide the real one?"

Before anyone could speak, a noise was heard behind the door.

Harry stood up angrily, and there was Kreacher looking very frightened.

"You were snooping!" he yelled, grabbing the elf's arm.

Hermione and Cassiopeia protested in protest.
"Release my elf now!"

Harry let go with a thud, his wand pointed looking furious.

"My mistress," Kreacher croaked in his deep voice, giving a deep bow while muttering to his knees, "the old house of my mistress is filled with blood traitors and mudbloods..."

"Never use any of those words again," Cassi gently pleaded, crouching down to the elf's level, who nodded.

He looked at the object in Harry's hand with disgust, his eyes widening at the sight.

"Have you seen this before?" Cassi asked, pointing at the medallion, noticing the elf's astonishment.

"I have. I hid it."

"Where?" Harry asked urgently. "Where is the medallion now?"

Kreacher closed his eyes as if he couldn't bear to see their reactions to his answer. "It's gone."

"Gone," repeated Harry, the excitement fading from his face.

"What do you mean by 'gone,' Kreacher?" Cassi asked softly.

The elf shuddered and staggered. "Mundungo Fletcher stole everything, the portraits of Miss Bella and Miss Cissy, my mistress's gloves, the Order of Merlin, First Class, the wine goblets with the family crest, and, and Kreacher gasped for breath, his chest heaving rapidly, then his eyes widened, and he let out a blood-curdling scream, and the locket, my master R.A.B.'s locket, Kreacher acted badly, Kreacher disobeyed his orders!"

Cassi let out an audible sigh. "No, I have the portraits, the Order of Merlin, and the gloves, as well as the goblets. He left the bag behind the day I almost ki-" She stopped abruptly. "But there was no locket there. Kreacher, I want the truth. How do you know that Mundungo Fletcher stole the medallion?"

"Kreacher saw, mistress!" he exclaimed, tears streaming from his nose to his tooth-filled mouth.

"Kreacher saw him coming out of the cupboard years ago, hands full with Kreacher's treasures. Kreacher told the thief to stop, but Mundungo Fletcher laughed and r-ran..."

"You said the locket belonged to my father. Why? Where did the locket come from? What was my father's connection to it? Kreacher, sit down and tell me everything you know about that locket, everything that tied it to my father!"

The elf sat down, curled up like a ball, his wet face resting between his knees, and he began rocking back and forth. When he spoke, his voice came out muffled but quite clear in the silence of the empty kitchen.

"My master Sirius ran away, good for him, because he was a bad boy and broke my mistress's heart with his rebellion. But my master Regulus was proud; he knew how to honor the name Black and the dignity of his pure blood. For years he talked about the Dark Lord, who would take wizards out of hiding and rule over the Muggles and the Muggle-borns. And when he turned sixteen, my master Regulus joined the Dark Lord. So proud, so proud, so eager to serve..."

Cassi snorted at that. "So eager that he offered up his own daughter without even thinking."
Hermione audibly gasped in shock. "W-what do you mean?"

Cassi shuddered before looking at her. "Voldemort is my godfather."

Ron looked scandalized and sat down with a thud. Harry looked at her with sympathy, but remained silent.

"Please, continue," she gently urged the elf.

"One day, a year after he had joined, my master Regulus came to the kitchen to see Kreacher. My master always liked Kreacher. And my master Regulus said... he said." The old elf rocked back and forth faster than ever. "He said that the Dark Lord needed an elf."

"Voldemort needed an elf?" Harry repeated, looking at the three of them in shock.
"Oh, he did," Kreacher moaned. "And my master Regulus had offered up Kreacher. It was an honor, said my master Regulus, an hour for him and for Kreacher, who had to do whatever the Dark Lord commanded... and then r-return home."

Cassi gasped in shock and Kreacher rocked even faster, exhaling in sobs. "So Kreacher went to find the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord did not tell Kreacher what they were going to do, but he took Kreacher with him to a cave by the sea. And beyond the cave, there was another cave, and in the cave, there was a huge black lake."

Harry sat up abruptly.

"There was a boat... And there was a b-basin full of potion on the island. The Dark Lord m-made Kreacher drink..." The elf trembled from head to toe. "Kreacher drank, and as he drank, he saw terrible things... Kreacher's insides burned... Kreacher screamed for master Regulus to save him, screamed for his mistress Black, but the Dark Lord laughed... he made Kreacher drink the whole potion, he placed a locket in the empty basin, filled the basin with more potion. Then the Dark Lord left and left Kreacher on the island."

Cassi was utterly shocked. The things that despicable creature did...

"Kreacher needed water, crawled to the edge of the island and drank from the black lake... and hands, dead hands came out of the water and dragged Kreacher down..."

"How did you escape?" Harry asked, in a whisper.

Kreacher lifted his head and looked at Harry with his big, teary eyes. "My master Regulus told Kreacher to come back."

"I know, but how did you escape the Inferi?"
Kreacher seemed not to understand.

"My master Regulus told Kreacher to come back," he repeated.

"I know, but..."

Cassiopeia rolled her eyes in irritation. "Well, it's obvious, isn't it, scatterbrain?" he apparated!"

"But you couldn't apparate and disapparate in the cave," Harry said, otherwise, Dumbledore..."

"The magic of house-elves isn't like wizard magic, is it?" Ron asked. "I mean, they can apparate and disapparate in Hogwarts, and we can't."

Silence fell.

"Of course, Voldemort would have considered the customs of house-elves beneath his attention, just like the pure-bloods who treat them like animals. It would never have occurred to him that they might be capable of a magic he did not master." Hermione huffed irritably.

"The maximum law for a house-elf is the order of their master," Kreacher intoned. "They ordered Kreacher to come back home, so Kreacher came back home."

"Well, then you did as you were told, didn't you?" Hermione said kindly.

"I never disobeyed any orders!" Kreacher shook his head vigorously, rocking furiously.

"So what happened when you came back?" Harry asked, "What did Regulus say when you told him what had happened?"

"My master Regulus was very worried, very worried," Kreacher croaked. "My master Regulus told Kreacher to stay hidden and not leave the house. And then... it was a little while after that my master Regulus came to look for Kreacher in the cupboard one night, and my master Regulus was acting strange, out of the ordinary, disturbed. He had an heir on the way, he asked mistress Noctua to flee. To protect herself, he was afraid of what the Dark Lord would do to them when he found out about his betrayal. Oh, Lady Cassiopeia, he already loved you so much..." He said with big teary eyes.

Cassiopeia was crying by this point, tears flowing down her cheeks like an endless stream.

"He asked Kreacher to take him to the cave, the cave where Kreacher had gone with the Dark Lord. And then they left."

For some reason, it was as if Cassiopeia could see into the elf's mind, as if she could visualize what happened.

"Kreacher knew how to open the hidden entrance to the underground cave, knew how to raise the little boat. This time it was his beloved Regulus who accompanied him to the island with the basin of poison."

"And he made you drink the potion?" Harry asked with disgust in his voice.

Cassiopeia looked anxiously at Kreacher. No, no, my father wouldn't...

Kreacher, to her relief, shook his head and sobbed.

Hermione gasped in astonishment and Cassiopeia sobbed, understanding what had happened.

"M-my master Regulus took a locket from his pocket, identical to the one the Dark Lord had, the same one mistress Noctua also kept," Kreacher said, tears running down the sides of his snub nose. "And he told Kreacher to take it, and when the basin was empty, to switch the lockets." Kreacher's sobs now turned into loud wails.

"And he gave Kreacher an order to leave without him. And he told Kreacher... to go home and never tell my lady what he had done, but to destroy the first locket. And he drank all the potion and Kreacher switched the lockets and watched my master Regulus as he was dragged under the water..."

"Oh, Kreacher," Hermione moaned, also crying. She fell to her knees beside the elf and tried to hug him. He instantly stood up, shied away from her, leaving his disgust obvious, and ran to Cassie, who embraced him in tears.

"My father..." She sobbed.

Hermione was not offended, she hugged them both, sharing in their pain.

Harry stood motionless, looking at them with pity.

"So you brought the locket home," he said sternly, determined to know the full story. "And you tried to destroy it."

"Nothing Kreacher tried had any effect on the locket," the elf lamented. "Kreacher tried everything, everything he knew, but nothing, nothing worked because the spells on it were so powerful. Kreacher was sure that to destroy the locket, he needed to get inside it, but it wouldn't open... Kreacher punished himself, tried again, punished himself, tried again. Kreacher couldn't follow the order, Kreacher couldn't destroy the locket! And your lady went mad with grief because my master Regulus