cassiopeia sinistra

friday 27 july

2007-07-29T04:27:33Z

*apparates into a park nearby and walks a few blocks to Penny's street--Roger's street? Their street, she decides, and shrugs it off* *she walks up the street, up the drive and onto the porch, hesitates, then rings the bell*

[complete] (actually complete 2 months ago and never posted. oops?)

2007-03-25T06:50:50Z

*she doesn't bother with the knocker; she lived here for 18 years before moving on to live most of the year at Hogwarts, and another two summers after that, and the locking charms haven't changed since she was a child* *she opens the door and slips inside after waving at the next-door neighbour*

*that simply, it's as though she's seven again* *the feel of this house, so strong she can nearly taste it--shattered dreams and bitter regret--hasn't changed either*

*before she's three steps into the entryway, Hannah comes bustling out of the kitchen, her plump face flushed with heat from her daily baking* *again, time seems to fold in on itself and reverse* *she has to assure Hannah that yes, she's eating properly (more or less true, when she remembers); no, she hasn't let the telescope keep her up too late every night (more or less a blatant lie); yes, she's doing well at school (true, though she gets the nagging feeling Hannah still sees her as a student); yes, she's obeying Professor McGonagall (as much as she always does); no, she doesn't have 'a new boyfriend' (though why Hannah continues to ask after all these years still leaves her bemused)*

*they spend some time in the kitchen--the kitchen, as it always was, is her favourite place in this far-too-empty house* *it's the place she spent the most time with her mother and with Hannah, the woman who stood in so well for Kerry Sinistra after that fatal August* *it's a comfortable room, the only room in the house that's warm with memory* *the kitchen is Hannah's house, in a way, and it's alway warm and comforting*

*it's the only room in the house her father never visits*

*they catch up on gossip--about Hannah's children and grandchildren, about teachers Hannah remembers from Hogwarts, about Mr and Mrs Next-Door, who drink too much and play loud music half the day and night, about Ms Across The Street and her different man for every day of the week* *they laugh softly--any other kind of laughter hasn't felt right in this house for over twenty years--and they smile constantly*

*then she hears her father open the front door on his way home from lunch at the pub, and leans over to kiss Hannah before walking out of the kitchen into the chilly feel of her father's house*

*she heads for his study, and knocks on the door before walking inside out of habit* *she always feels an intruder in this room* *it's the center of the house now, the source of the distant chill*

*he looks up absently and waves her in almost as an afterthought* *her heart sinks as she looks at his desk and sees the photo album, its pages dogeared and bulging with pictures*

*he spends hours here, content to relive old memories and prevent new ones forming* *he has since they day they brought her back to Edgerton Street after her mother and brothers were killed* *when he's not at work, he sits at his desk and pages through his album and--well, she's not quite sure what else, what he's thinking, what he wishes* *she never has been sure of him, not since her brothers and mother were killed and he chose memory over life*

*for a moment he seems impatient with the interruption, in his vague and distracted way* *then he smiles, vaguely and distractedly, and asks her about school* *she tells him things she knows he doesn't care about, tells him about her adorable first-years and impossible seventh-years* *she tells him about Heather and Brianna's last visit, about everything that doesn't have to do with the Order*

*he smiles at her absentmindedly as she talks* *he never asks questions, never interrupts, never misunderstands* *of course, she thinks somewhat crossly, he never seems to understand either, not in any sort of way that would indicate she's talking to anything more animate than a wall* *the days when he used to ask questions are long past, they ended sometime around the beginning of her fifth year of school* *so she tells him and he nods and smiles as though some part of him is actually listening, though she's come to doubt through the years that that's true*

*when she's nothing else to say and can't think of anything else to ask him about work or his weekly bridge game or his friends, she falls silent*

*he pages through the book, stopping on occasion to look at a photo more closely*

*after another half-hour or so of looking at the pictures with him, of people and rooms that haven't lived in twenty years, she comes round to kiss him on the cheek, then says goodbye to Hannah, and leaves*

*she walks down the street, lost in thought, and makes her way up to Bayswater Road, melting into the crowds round Marble Arch* *only when she find a safe place to apparate from does she realise she's left her scarf*

*she decides she doesn't care, she simply doesn't have it in her to go back for it* *she'll owl Hannah later, and ask her to send it along; it won't be the first Sunday she's done it, and she imagines it won't be the last*

*she apparates to Hogsmeade and walks up the hill toward the castle, because she needs the time to decompress* *she wonders, sometimes, what it might have been like if her mother had survived the attack, or her brothers, or all of them* *she wonders if she'd been a different child whether he'd have been able to bring himself out of his grief for her, and what her life would have turned into in that case* *it's never been a secret to her that she jumped at the chance to work at Hogwarts not only because she wanted it, but because she couldn't stomach the thought of spending much longer in her father's house*

*she kicks at a stone in the path and wonders what it might have been like if it had been her father, instead of her mother, who'd died* *even at 7, she'd known her mother for the stronger of the two* *in their house, her mother was the parent who disciplined, her father the one who played games* *he rmother had been bright and laughing and sure, her father had been hopelessly in love with her and uncomplaining and easygoing*

*she wonders would it have been different if she hadn't been adopted, if she'd been born to him as Cai and Nax had been, but knows it for a disgusting, disloyal thought* *neither of her parents ever treated her differently than her brothers* *she knows it wouldn't have made a difference, but after some Sunday visits she can't seem to stop herself wondering anything at all*

*she sighs and shrugs it all away* *he's done the best he could, she knows that* *he might have gone absent and vague, but she's never wanted for anything a day in her life* *he's always cared, even if he can't risk the showing of it any longer, and he loves her the best he can* *it wasn't only Hannah who looked out for her when she was growing up, Hannah had only been the face of his caring for her* *they'd never had a housekeeper before her mother and brothers died, but he had brought Hannah there the day after that trip to Diagon Alley, and it had likely been the saving of her*

*she climbs up to her tower and gets started grading essays, and completely forgets about dinner till it's over* *she's considering going down to the kitchen when the owl comes*

*it's carrying a small oddly-shaped package that she recognises as her scarf by the fringe poking out one side*

*she opens the package and finds a note*

You'll be cold without this, Cassie girl.

~Dad

*she fingers the note for a moment, knowing by the handwriting and the lack of Hannah's surgical neatness of the wrapping that he did it himself*

*it makes her smile, before she finds a quill and parchment to reply*

*he does the best he can*

rp link

2007-03-03T01:44:24Z

Who: Professors Clearwater and Sinistra (XD)
When: Wednesday evening
What: a little catching-up

( You're going to have to teach me that eyebrow bit, I have to resort to full on Stare of Doom )

linkage

2007-03-02T06:15:16Z

Who: Charlie and Cassie
Where: at the Jonas farm
When: Monday, early afternoon
What: Wand exercises.

( ...You point your wand at me until I stop--I stop trying to run away. )

wednesday evening. [complete]

2007-02-27T09:19:51Z

*she's walking out of the library after dinner when she catches sight of Penny up the hall and smiles--then remembers there are students about, and that it wouldn't be quite the thing to go acting un-professorlike just now* *she catches the eyes of a few first years--it amazes her how they look younger every year--and raises an eyebrow, sending them scurrying into the library* *she has to bite her lip against a grin when she hears Madam Pince scold them for running, then heads down the hallway*

Professor Clearwater. *trying not to grin too obviously* Might I have a word?

monday, early afternoon. [complete]

2007-02-27T06:29:00Z

*makes her way through the snow beside Charlie, glad she thought to wear her boots and glad she actually remembered to charm them waterproof* *it's a beautiful day out, and the sun on the snow's a bit dazzling till you get used to it, and she's glad to be out of the castle*

*she looks round as they make their way toward the pasture, and thinks it looks like a nice place to do anything, and a sight better for wand exercises than Charlie's flat which, though nice, might make him feel a bit trapped*

*she unbuttons the top button of her cloak--she'd thought it would be colder, but then it's a bit of work, walking through the snow--as they approach the fence* How's your family, then--I haven't seen any of them in a while?

the 3 broomsticks. evening. [complete]

2007-02-07T02:42:01Z

*comes back to the table with their drinks, taking a long detour round a table full of warlocks busily gesturing with steins of ale, complaining about something to do with the Wizengamot and a house elf and a goat* *she makes her way round them, slides into the booth opposite Penny, and grins* So. How are things, Professor Clearwater? Have you had time to love it or hate it yet?

friday, hogwarts [complete]

2007-02-04T03:03:40Z

*is busily ignoring the enormous stack of essays on her desk, while she sneaks her third smoke of the week--though she's not really sure why she feels the need to 'sneak' them, really--and finishes painting her nails black*

*she's dried the last nail with her wand when she hears the knock on her door, and catches herself just as she's about to stub the cigarette out and banish it, and walks over to the door telling herself there's no point in feeling guilty about one cigarette, not when Slughorn drinks in front of students*

*she pulls the door open and, after a surprised moment, smiles at Adrian* Hi. Come on in. *steps aside so he can enter, or not, as he wishes*

[complete]

2007-01-16T02:57:12Z

*once she's alone in the corridor, she speaks the password and steps past the gargoyles as the door opens, then take the moving staircase up toward the Headmistress' office* *once at the top of the stairs, she walks over to the wooden door and knocks briskly* Minerva, it's Cas--er. Aurora. *makes a face at the name no one else uses but Minerva insists upon--but only because the door's still closed--and waits for a reply*

note left on Minerva McGonagall's desk

2007-01-15T19:58:52Z

Minerva,

In view of recent events this is likely not the best time to bring this up as I'm sure you're hopelessly busy. However, I received an owl from Penelope Clearwater a few days ago inquiring about employment opportunities at Hogwarts. I think she'd be a good fit here. When you have a moment, could we discuss this?

Thanks,
~~Cassiopeia~~ Aurora

tuesday [complete]

2006-12-20T04:03:46Z

*pulls her coat on, then her scarf; it's got cold suddenly today* *she turns to wait for Parvati, then opens the door and lets Parvati go through first with the dog*

*it's crisp and clear and cold, and she likes this kind of weather, so going for a walk is, to her, a great idea all round* *she shuts the door behind them and locks it discreetly with her wand, then hurries to catch up with Parvati*

*falls into step beside her* Gorgeous night, isn't it? *enjoying the way her breath comes out in big silvery clouds*

monday evening [complete]

2006-12-19T03:40:45Z

*is sitting in a squashy purple armchair she conjured up on the top of the tower, enjoying the fact that it's hers again for a short time, since she hasn't any lessons for nearly two weeks, drinking wine* *she suspects Minerva's very well aware she's drinking and smoking up on the tower as Minerva, much like Albus, always seems to know, but she's never said anything about, and that's just fine by Cassie*

*she checks her watch and kicks her feet up on the little table she also conjured, being too lazy to move her own up here, and leans back, listening for Angie on the stairs* *her telescope's sitting over against the wall; she at least got something productive done so she doesn't feel too guilty lazing round on her night off*

monday evening [complete]

2006-12-18T21:53:19Z

*has been up at the top of her tower, the door open so she can hear if Remus knocks on the door to her rooms, since dinner* *she's finished grading all of her end-of-term essays--making it a new personal record--and rewarded herself with a cigarette on top of the tower as a sort of health-threatening reward*

*she's got distracted by the stars, again, and it's only when the cigarette's out and banished that she remembers to start keeping an ear open for Remus*

owl post

2006-12-14T18:56:20Z

Remus,

We ought to talk. Something's come to light about Brighton. I've lessons every weeknight till one-thirty, so sometime this weekend, maybe?

Cassie

solo rp

2006-12-06T01:48:29Z

*when security's owl announcing her visitors flies through her window, she simply stares at the parchment, hardly able to believe it* *she'd invited them--hadn't she always invited them, every time she saw them--but she'd never expected them to actually stop in* *they hadn't, not in the last nine years, and she's long since stopped hoping they'll come*

*she jumps out of bed, her breath hissing in at the icy stone floor, and grabs for a quill, scribbling a reply and sending the owl back out the window* *she very nearly slips into jeans before remembering she's at school, she can hardly walk out of her tower in anything but robes* *she grabs her jeans and jumper from the chair she threw them in the night before and tosses them in the bottom of the wardrobe as she yanks out robes--yet another set of robes, black with silver embroidery round the hems, boring and professor-like--and hurries into them*

*she finds shoes--any shoes, she doesn't care which--kicked half-under the bed, and pulls them out, slips them on as she hops toward the bath* *when she's done washing and brushing her teeth, she looks at her hair, despairs of taming it into anything remotely resembling her usual professor-like school-hours bun, and simply runs the brush through it, then hurries back into her bedroom, tidying it with her wand as she goes, picks up her cloak, slips out the door*

*down the stairs, through the corridors--she's forgotten her fake specs and her hair, waist-length and rippling in waves she hadn't taken the time to straighten, blowing behind her as she hurries* *she's entirely too frazzled to notice the odd, speculative looks she's getting from students and other professors as she goes rushing through the school and out the door*

*she can see them standing at the gates as she walks quickly down the path, and even from this distance, she'd have known them anywhere--her cousin Brenna, tall and blonde and willowy in bright-blue robes; and Brenna's sister, Cassie's cousin Heather, shorter, red-haired, in robes so green they very nearly hurt to look at* *she's beaming as she reaches them*

*they crowd her, beaming, and their hugs are almost fierce; she has a moment to think they've missed her as much as she's missed them before she's surrounded and hugged within an inch of her life* *after the first excited hellos and hugs and laughter they link arms as they always had, back before the first War had taken her brothers away*

*arm-in-arm, just as they always used to be, they head into the Castle and toward her tower, and though now she's awake enough, and moving slowly enough, to have noticed the glances coming their way, she simply doesn't care anymore* *on a muffled wave of laughter, they reach her tower, shut the door behind them, and she makes them laugh by making the stairs carry them upward*

*it's been more than 10 years since she's seen them other than for her own flying visits, usually with her unenthusiastic father, pestered into taking her, on holiday in Ireland* *the novelty of having them here has her a bit dazed as they laugh and bicker over lunch or tea or sweets and settle on a bit of each* *and once the order's sent to the kitchens and they're talking over each other, trying to get caught up on everything since last Christmas all at once, time seems to double in on itself and they might have been students again, back when Brenna was a seventh-year, Heather was a sixth-year, and Cassie was a fifth-year, huddled together in Brianna's dormitory, giggling over everything*

*they tell her all about men they've been dating, about their family, about Brenna's job illustrating wizarding books and Heather's latest job--this one something confusing to do with bards and poetry though in classic Heather fashion it's never made entirely clear* *she tells them about Adrian, and laughs when they loyally groan and grimace and make nasty comments they don't really mean, making sure she knows they don't really mean them, and then they're all laughing and it doesn't seem quite so bad, it seems more a joke than a being-passed-over-for-someone-better*

*they don't leave till she has to go down to the Great Hall for dinner, and she's a little tired and a little overwhelmed by it all as she walks them to the gates* *she waves till they're out of sight on the walk down to Hogsmeade, then turns and walks into the Great Hall, taking her seat beside Slughorn just as the plates of food appear on the tables*

*she doesn't notice the staff giving her odd looks till she's halfway through her roast beef, and then, all of a sudden it hits her--she's wearing flip-flops and her hair's windblown all down her back, and she's forgot her glasses again* *she hears Brenna's voice in her head--Balls to that--and just gives McGonagall a mischievous little grin before turning back to her food, entirely missing McGonagall's nonplussed stare*

*her lessons go smoothly for the first time in two weeks, and she spends most of the night filling out star charts to go along with her article for Astronomy Monthly*

*sometime near dawn, her article finally finished and her rooms finally set to rights, she falls asleep smiling*

sinisssssstra @ 2006-12-02T03:25:00

2006-12-02T03:25:21Z

Your Character
Name:Aurora Cassiopeia Sinistra
Nicknames (if any): Cassie (everyone but her father calls her Cassie; her father has always called her Aurora)
Birth date: 01 May 1973
Ethnicity: Scots/Irish/English
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 123#
Bloodline (pure-blood, half-blood, muggle-born): pureblood

Family, Friends, and Current Status
Parents: Archibald Maximillian Sinistra and Kerry Anastasia Sinistra (nee O'Brien)(d. 1980)
Siblings: Caelum Arcturus Sinistra and Fornax Orion Sinistra (both b. 1965, d. 1980)
Marital status: single
Spouse or significant other: none
Children (if any): none
Occupation: Professor of Astronomy, Hogwarts
Current residence: Hogsmeade (during summer holiday)
Pets (if any): kitten named Snitch
Circle of friends: Tonks, Parvati, mostly her family
Enemies: DEs who killed her brothers and mother
Misc. connections: none

Magic
Wand: holly and unicorn tail-hair, 12"
Most competent area of Magic: Astronomy and Charms
Least competent area of Magic: Divination
Other magical oddities/abilities: can Apparate intercontinentally; is learning Legilimency and Occlumency

History, War, and Misc Facts
Birth place: London, England
Hogwarts House (or school, if non-Hogwarts Student): Ravenclaw
Significant traumas, injuries (if any): a long scar along her rib cage, courtesy of her brothers
Role in the war thus far (if any): works with the Order to protect the school and passes along any information that comes her way
Member of the Order? If so, what role: works with the Order to protect the school and passes along any information that comes her way
Losses due to war: her mother and both her older brothers
Misc information: Cassie was adopted as an infant, when her older brothers, twins, were eight. As her father says, she was lucky to survive early childhood, having been a favourite subject of their magical experiments. The worst 'experiment' happened when Cassie was three and her brothers 11; before they left for Hogwarts, they stole their mother's wand, for practice, and accidentally levitated her onto the roof of their house. Which would have been fine, but for the wrought-iron fence between her and the ground. Despite it all, she and her brothers were extremely close, and would talk for hours about anything and everything.

In August of 1980, before what would have been the start of Cassie's brothers' fifth year at school, she and her mother were with them in Diagon Alley, helping with the school shopping. Death Eaters attacked a group of muggleborn wizards in the Leaky Cauldron, and the fighting spread throughout Diagon Alley. Cassie's mother and her brothers were killed in the confusion.

She and her father were devastated, but they managed to get through, and they were closer than ever after the attack. Cassie, despite her quick sense of humour and curiousity about everything, never seemed easy with strangers after the attack, and though she had many acquaintances at school, had only one or two real friends. When she left school in early summer 1991, she started teaching at Hogwarts the next term, due to the previous Astronomy professor's retirement.

At school, she wears her hair in a McGonagall-esque chignon, and wears specs she doesn't really need, to make her look 'older and more like a real professor'. As of summer 2000, she has taught at Hogwarts nine years. Since school, she's had a few brief relationships, but nothing serious, and nothing particularly memorable. She works with the Order, and she teaches. She's most comfortable in a classroom, but has a wicked sense of humour that tends to show up around people she really likes.
last update: 9 October 2006

sunday afternoon, astronomy tower, hogwarts [complete]

2006-11-21T00:43:43Z

*she's up on the parapets when she sees Adrian walking up to the castle, and she walks back inside, feeling unaccountably nervous, when she wonders, again, what he wanted to 'talk' about* *it might just be her imagination, but something in the way that phrase had hit her ('Can we talk?' What an awful way to phrase a question!) made her feel a little nervous about the whole thing*

*after a mirror-check and a shorter wait than she'd expected, she hears his knock on the door, and she takes a deep breath, then goes to open it*

rp: tuesday night: the oath [complete]

2006-09-19T04:31:08Z

*casts her Cloaking spell and sets off down the path from the front door, pulling her cloak close against the chilly mist, her wand lighting the way* *she knows it might be an unnecessary precaution, but isn't about to go taking chances tonight* *for her, having visitors cleared through the gates is odd enough, though having Parvati visit once would have been explained away easily enough; a second time, and at midnight, would be an entirely different matter*

*had thought she'd be nervous, or apprehensive, or something, as she knows this is a serious step and she feels ever-so-slightly responsible for Parvati's joining the Order--despite the discussion she and Parvati had last week about responsibilities* *checks her watch as she reaches the gates, the silver planets and stars gleaming in the glow of her wand, and dims her wand as she waits*

owl to parvati patil

2006-09-19T03:44:36Z

A brief note, on heavily-warded parchment

Dear Parvati,

I've spoken to a few people, and if you're still of the same mind concerning the matter we discussed,
we should arrange a meeting soon--no point in wasting time, right? Please don't feel pressured to say you're still up for this--it's a serious thing, and if you need time to think about it, or you've changed your mind, it's nothing to be ashamed of.

I'm free tomorrow night after classes, if that works for you. I know it's late, but it might be the best time--less chance of anyone coming up the Tower.

Could you reply on this parchment or ward your own? That's safest, just in case.

Thanks,
Cassie

Owl to Remus Lupin

2006-09-15T09:25:06Z

Remus,

Hope you're well. The students are madmen in training, if one more person inks the end of a telescope, I'm throwing them all in the lake. The Great Squid can deal with them. In any event, start of term has been unusually insane, so I'm sorry this is so late in coming. Definitely better late than never in this case, I think.

I've spoken to Parvati. She's definitely interested.

This is really more your area--what else do you need me to do?

Thanks,
Cassie

owl post to parvati patil

2006-09-10T03:30:29Z

Parvati,

Something's come up, and I'm wondering if we can meet somewhere--here if you want, otherwise anywhere quiet. There's something I'd like to ask you--nothing to worry about, but you might be interested in it.

Hope you're well.

Thanks,
Cassie

solo rp

2006-09-10T03:27:35Z

*trudges up the stairs to her tower well after midnight, opening the door to her classroom with a tired sigh and moving through it toward the door to her rooms with something close to relief* *the first full week of school is over, and she's got no end of work to get done* *she'd given herself the first week to get back into the routine, though her

routine is coming perilously close to overwork just now, as it seems every student in the school has gone entirely mad* *has just finished a detention with four young boys caught trying to remove the statue of Boris the Bold from the third-floor corridor and into the lake, and though it amused her enormously when she caught them, four hours of keeping close watch on four thirteen-year old boys isn't her idea of a fun Saturday evening*

*when she walks down the flight of stairs to her rooms, into her office, and sees her desk piled two feet high in rolls of parchment, she's tempted to just go up on the tower and spend the night stargazing, but there are things she's left too long already, and time isn't going to slow down till she finds an hour of time that's unoccupied by sleep, food, classes, detentions, or distractions, so she sits down and sifts through NEWT-level essays on whether Pluto is a planet, second-year essays on the Andromeda galaxy, and first-year essays on Mars to find a blank roll of parchment*

*after considering a while, picks up her quill and writes the note, then finds her owl* No hurrying, Mercury. I don't want you waking the girl up before sunrise, right?

When Mercury hoots softly, she gives him a pat and a grin, and sends him off toward London, hopeful he won't be delivering any notes to Parvati till morning's well-begun*

*with a sigh, turns to her desk and starts on the NEWTs-level essays* *is interrupted, from time to time, with thoughts of her exchange with Seamus in the journals and questions there's no one to ask about Charlie Weasley* *she didn't--doesn't--know him well, but they were at school together, in the Order together, and thoughts of what they must have--must be--doing to him make her blood run cold* *it takes her a great deal longer than usual to get the pile of essays graded, which is also distracting, because she loves her job an it's an odd day she can't be enthusiastic about it, but given everything that's going on, enthusiasm is far from her mind*

*finishes them up as the sun's beginning to rise over the forest to the east, and goes to bed tired, but hopeful that she's back on track, maybe, finally, for the year*

owl post: katie bell

2006-09-05T01:33:54Z

Katie,

As promised. I tried one out on Filch on the way to the owlery. They work really, really well.

Cassie

Enclosed is a thick, rather old-looking book, 1001 Hexes and Jinxes for Fun, Fear Inducement, and Fine Revenge (All Reversible), wrapped in blue paper decorated with moons and constellations

owl post.

2006-08-09T02:57:12Z

Hello, Remus,

I hope your holiday has been a good one, despite everything.

I'm going to be in London this weekend, and was wondering would you want to have lunch? I know you're likely busy, but I thought I'd ask, just in case.

Thanks,
Cassie Sinistra