<div class="floatleft">(https://s31.postimg.org/q816jc91n/Cassiopeia_Malfoy.jpg)</div>Cassiopeia reached slowly for her last set of robes, already folded neatly, and placed them on top of the stack already inside her trunk. She noticed as she dropped her ties in afterwards that her school trunk started out neatly packed with school books on one end and all of her clothes on the other, folded and stacked. She also knew that when her first year at Hogwarts was completed and she was home at Malfoy manor again that there would be no neatness or organization to her trunk at all.<br/><br/>Shaking her head, she lowered the lid to her trunk and pushed down on it until she heard the metallic snick that secured the trunk closed. Immediately afterwards, her snake, Hydra, slithered up the side of the trunk and curled up, his tongue sneaking out and tasting the air curiously. He was only twelve inches long and bright blue. Hydra was also extremely affectionate, especially for a snake. Julia laughed and gave the lean, scaly body a long pet, stroking a single finger down the length of Hydra’s body. The blue snake curled up and stretched out slowly, gently tasting Cassiopeia’s skin.<br/><br/>“Travel time, Hydra,” the blonde teen said affectionately. “It’s finally time to go to Hogwarts. We’ve waited years for this.” Dark eyes stared up at her, a soft hiss reaching her ears. “Yes, Hydra. That means we’re finally leaving this manor and getting out into the world for a while.” With that, Cassiopeia picked the small snake up and placed him near her neck, where he curled into her collar and settled easily, used to his mode of transportation.<br/><br/>“Are you as ready as I am, Hydra?” Cassiopeia asked, reaching up and petting the lithe snake through her collar, “It feels like forever since we’ve been outside this manor.” In truth, it’d been six months since her father took both Scorpius and herself to Diagon Alley for school supplies, combining their trip so that he wouldn’t have to take Cassiopeia again in the future. With the senior Malfoy, the less his children went out in public, the safer they would be. To Cassiopeia, it was a way to keep her jailed up in her own home that much more, but no longer. Even Draco Malfoy couldn’t turn down a Hogwarts acceptance letter, not even to protect his children.<br/><br/>“Speaking to your scaly friend, again, Cassiopeia?” The voice was cool and cultured, belonging to a blond man that looked much like his younger child.<br/><br/>“Father.” Cassiopeia lowered her hand from her familiar, smiling sheepishly. “It’s not my fault you bought me the smartest snake at the shop.”<br/><br/>The tall, lean man walked into the room, and with long fingers and a gentle grasp, placed a hand on Cassiopeia’s shoulder, over the snake curled against the girl’s warmth. The snake shifted a bit, hissing quietly, but didn’t crawl out of the fabric to greet the older man.<br/><br/>“I only picked out the one most similar in temperament to you, Cassiopeia,” her father said, brushing his fingers through the long blonde hair of his daughter, “the one best suited to you.”<br/><br/>“Yes, I know,” Cassiopeia said, leaning lightly into her father’s touch. He wasn’t the most physically affectionate man, but when he did reach out, Cassiopeia was always receptive to it. “We both know that Mother always used to say that I inherited two things from you: your eyes and your obstinacy.”<br/><br/>Draco adopted an offended look. “And your mother’s lack of tact.” They stared one another down for several long seconds before giving into soft laughter, two pairs of identical grey eyes sparkling merrily.<br/><br/>Taking a slow breath, Draco calmed himself and smoothed nonexistent wrinkles from his expensive tailored robe set. “I only came up to tell you that it was time to leave. You’ll miss the train, otherwise.”<br/><br/>“I can go alone, you know, Father,” Cassiopeia said.<br/><br/>“You know I won’t let you do that.”<br/><br/>“Yes, but I’m sixteen. I can do this alone. It’s not as though I haven’t gone through the routine twice a year for the past two, since Scorpius started and you made me tag along.” The teen quickly grabbed her white-blonde hair, and with an efficiency born of practice, separated it into three sections and quickly twisted it into a braid that fell over her shoulder and brushed lightly against the bottom of her breast.<br/><br/>“I know,” her father responded, kissing Cassiopeia’s forehead. “It’s just that it's your first year. You’re only starting out. See you at Christmas?"<br/><br/>“Of course, Father.” Cassiopeia replied, wrapping her arms around the man and squeezing lightly. “Merlin forbid I miss our annual party.”<br/><br/>“Exactly.” The older man responded, “You’re the host this year, after all.” Draco stepped back and strode from the room without another word.<br/><br/>Cassiaopeia watched him go, a small smile on her face. She knew that in the face of showing vulnerability, her father had chosen instead to leave, rather than showing his daughter a cold, unfeeling pureblood mask. It was a mask that Cassiopeia had learned well from her father, a mask essential to survive in a society that disdained them at best and despised them at worst.<br/><br/>She shook the disquiet off and reached for her trunk. She grabbed it by one of the handles and drug it off the bed, letting it thump to the ground loudly. The teen dragged the heavy trunk towards the stairs, and made it halfway down them before a house-elf apparated in front of her, gave her a disapproving glare, and disapparated with her trunk, all in the space of a few seconds.<br/><br/>Cassiopeia sighed easily, shaking her head and continuing down the staircase and towards the main fireplace in her father’s study. She would use the floor system to make her way to Platform 9 ¾. The Platform had a row of fireplaces used mainly by the pureblood families to make their way to the train station. Too much magical traffic through the muggle area of King’s Cross would cause suspicion, after all.<br/>When she flooed onto the platform, Cassiopeia headed straight for the train, not late, but cutting it close. She knew that at this point, there would be no point in trying to find an empty compartment, so she settled for trying to find that wasn’t holding people giving her death stares. She had dropped her luggage off at the back of the train, and was now only carrying Hydra with her as she maneuvered her way around the other students on the train trying to find compartments as well. She quickly found one with two other students in it, but as soon as she sat down, the boy and girl gave her a disgusted look, one filled with hate and fear, and stalked out of the compartment.<br/><br/>“Well,” Cassiopeia sighed, “At least I have an empty compartment now. . .”