Natalia Masterson was a muggle-born Ravenclaw in school, quick and witty with an eidetic memory to boot. She thrived on education, as any good Claw would, but that didn't mean that she was stuck in her books all the time. She loved adventure just as much as the next person; which was what brought her to the attention of Jake Thorne, a reckless and charming half-blood Gryffindor with a devil may care attitude that fully suited his House.

Aside from a rocky introduction, they grew to become friends, then later lovers, and then later still, husband and wife. They were dating from their sixth year at Hogwarts and despite the uncertainty of the war and the increasing presence of death eaters and threats against them, they enjoyed their time at the school, together and not, immensely.

Following their graduation, they were some of the few that joined the Order of the Phoenix immediately. They were determined to fight in the war, make the place better and safer so that they could marry and have children without being afraid or looking over their shoulders. They both trained to become Aurors and Natalia, having always had more passion for learning than practicing, instead took up a research post for the Order, looking into all manners of magic while still having the skills to defend herself, while Jake took up the stance as one of the soldiers for the Order.

After a mission of his nearly went awry, the two decided that they no longer wanted to wait for the war to end, to marry and start a family. They had a small ceremony, made up only of close friends and family, and after a year and a half, their daughter was born.

Named for one of the constellations that her mother loved to study and gaze at, Cassiopeia was a splitting image of her mother, but with the heart and soul of her father. With the war ending a few months after her birth, the new parents were happy to begin living their lives, but unanimously decided to hold off on having more children until Cassie was a little more grown.

She exhibited Jake's tenacity and his bold character early in life, and his charisma not long after, but when they witnessed her quick mind and her near perfect memory recall, they realized that Cassie had inherited her mother's eidetic memory. She was an easy child, friendly and outgoing and sociable, but for several reasons, both parents decided not to have more kids, primarily because they wanted to give their sole attention to the little blue-eyed, blonde-haired girl they had.

When she turned eleven, Cassie was as excited as any child to be going to Hogwarts. After getting her supplies, her mother gifted her with a necklace that held a star pendant, the first real piece of jewelry that she had ever owned. She treasured it, and that memory, because to her, it was the unspoken belief that she was going to be just fine at Hogwarts.

Upon her arrival, she was stunned, but thrilled to be sorted into Gryffindor. She had thought that Ravenclaw would be the more obvious choice, because of her smarts, but whether she knew it or not, Cassie was a Lioness at heart, just like her father. Having already decided that she didn't want to be the butt of people's jokes come time for Astronomy, she began introducing herself as CJ, so that's what everyone knew her as.

School for CJ was... interesting to say the least of it. She had been scared at first, since the attacks on muggle-borns appeared to be escalating, but she had never once believed Harry Potter to be involved in any of it. She didn't know much of him, but she was loyal to her House, and so loyal to her Housemates, which meant that she defended him more than once to her friends in other Houses. When it was resolved, she didn't know whether to be relieved or incredulous. Not many people could say that, in their first year, a basilisk attacked the school, but once Ginny, a fellow Gryffindor and friend, was back safely, CJ could assert that it was the weirdest first year ever. Until she heard the stories about one of the professors being possessed by Voldemort, but she reasoned that surely, that had to just be some Hogwarts tripe gossip.

Her second year proved to only get stranger, what with dementors on the school property and a mass murderer on the loose whose parents had apparently had the same idea as hers and named him for the Dog Star. That year, CJ was even more careful than usual not to let on and introduce herself by her full name. She found that she hated the dementors with a fiery passion, but on the bright side, gained the most amazing Hogwarts professor she'd ever had; Professor R.J. Lupin. The man was utterly brilliant, and through him, CJ found her passion lied most predominantly in DADA. She was devastated when he left that year, consumed even more by the loss of her favourite teacher, than the escape of aforementioned serial killer. Regardless, she knew what she wanted to do, and be.

In the summer before third year, she strong-armed her parents into teaching her how to fight and defend herself. Her father had, over the years, versed himself in several forms of offensive and defensive fighting, and every day of the summer, CJ was engaged in a rigorous training regime drawn up by her father, to build up her endurance, her stamina, and her physical form. Her mother worked with her in the evasion and stealth area, while her dad taught her to fight like a muggle, while also pointing out spells and books that she could work through when she got back to school.

Which she did. Thankfully, in Cassie's third year, the Tri-Wizard tournament was afoot. Nothing that really interested her (bunch of idealistic idiots who pretended they were in it for the honour and not the bragging rights) so she spent a great deal of time in the library, advancing her DADA repertoire and practicing spells well above her level. She had time to once again find herself sympathetic to Potter's plight (the bloke had a serious bad luck streak going on) but there was nothing she could do for it except to be his champion when he couldn't be there to defend himself. Even if it was against Diggory, who she had always believed was a really cool guy.

The year that ended in tragedy, opened CJ's eyes to the reality of what was going on around her. She became all the more laser focused on advancing her training and worked harder than ever, reaching her peak physical form and maintaining it with a program that was only more intense than the one in the summer last. Her parents, though tempted as they were to pull her out of school, realized that helping her prepare was the only way to really help her. And so a somber summer was spent in the Thorne home.

And then the unthinkable.

A few days into her fourth year (already a bad one, since she hated the overly pink Ministry spy) CJ got summoned to the Headmaster's office to be informed of an attack that was launched at her mother's work place. Natalia had fought bravely, and the Aurors, her father included, had arrived on scene, but not quickly enough to save her mother from taking a killing curse.

Numbness was the pervading feeling until she was permitted to go home, to see her father. The grief hit as soon as he wrapped his arms around her, and she spent the entire night on the couch with him, equally afraid to sleep and dream, and to do it without her mother's soothing presence around. The funeral was not long after, but where Jake dealt with his grief by throwing himself into work, CJ dealt with hers by getting angry. Very angry.

She had the scars from the blood quill detentions, to prove how often she got angry.

Joining the DA was the first healthy thing she'd done since losing her mother. It gave her an outlet and allowed her to further her skills, but more than that, it reminded her that she wasn't alone. CJ hasn't dealt with her grief yet - even now, knowing that Voldemort was dead at the hands of her Headmaster - but that's because she still harbors a deep-seated drive for vengeance, on whatever death eaters she can take it on.

At whatever cost.