"Baby Mack" (One Shot)

2002
A tiny Caylin Black was held in her father's arms as she held tightly to her sister's hand. They were there to visit the new baby who had been born to their family, but no matter how naive they were, Caylin knew that this baby was not supposed to have been born. Of course, being only a year old, she didn't grasp that concept in so many words, but she definitely knew that she didn't want to leave her daddy.

"Caylin, Celaena, this is your new baby cousin, Mackenzie," her father said as he looked into the crib. There were no adults in the room, though Narcissa Malfoy was downstairs. The hospital made Caylin uncomfortable, but with her father there she felt fearless.

The little brunette, slightly younger than her sister, looked silently at the tiny baby with a furrow in her brow. What did this thing mean for them? Was she going to take her daddy away? Though part of her wanted to shun this little thing, she found that she could not.

Looking upon the daughter of evil, all that Caylin saw was a little baby. It looked like one of her dolls. It.. she was so innocent and unknowing. And Caylin's lips spread into a smile as she reached out to touch the baby gently on the cheek. "Baby," she whispered, "Baby.. Mack?"

2007
Six years old, and Caylin was one of the most intelligent little girls in the class at her muggle school. She always did the work that she was given and tried her hardest all of the time. But she always asked the teacher why her cousin wasn't there.

Looking across the desks to her sister, Caylin would frown. She would then return her gaze to the work on her own desk and continue it, but she would be thinking of how there was somebody missing. Where was her cousin, and why didn't she get to come to school with Caylin and Celaena? In fact, they were only able to see each other when it was holidays, and even then it wasn't for long.

Though she completed her work without fault, Caylin was entirely distracted. Though the muggles around her didn't know it, her mind was dwelling on the large manor house that she and her family visited during holiday times that was so full of magic that you could almost taste it in the air. Gazing out the window, she whispered, "where are you, Baby Mack?"

2011
Caylin laughed as she and her sister ran through the trees that surrounded Narcissa Malfoy's home, which was the only place that she ever saw her cousin. The two girls were fast, and they reached the small stream more quickly than the younger brunette.

Though she had always loved her cousin, it was during their stay on this occasion that Caylin had noticed a change in the girl. She was different.. darker. And it took her back to a day in a hospital, when she didn't want to see the thing that her father had called her cousin because it had felt so wrong.

The younger girl's attitude had been pressing for the past couple of days, and as she joined them by the stream, Caylin didn't even think before she turned to her cousin and asked, "who even are you, Baby Mack?"

2013
It had been Mackenzie Riddle's first year of school when Caylin had realised just who this girl was. Her cousin, yes, but something else as well. The heir of Slytherin.. And the daughter of two of the most evil people to have ever lived. Her mother was completely insane, killing anybody who she disagreed either. As for her father.. well, everyone knew what he had done.

And Mackenzie was heading the same way, Caylin could feel it. She had both seen and heard of the grief that her cousin gave weaker students. Caylin didn't miss the way that she thought that she was better than everyone else.

She wished that she could stop what was obviously going to happen. And she wasn't going to let herself not try. And so Caylin cornered her cousin in the corridors, getting her alone. Looking her over with soft eyes, the Black daughter said, "I'm always here for you, Baby Mack."

2015
She could do nothing to stop what was happening. There was no reaching her now. And yet they pretended. Played a game of cat and mouse where their words could be easily mistaken for playful, cousinly banter. But it wasn't.

The day that Caylin realised that she had to let go was when Mackenzie had left a young girl crying in the common room. Not because of a snarky comment, nor a ill aimed spell. No, Mackenzie had made threats and hurled curses simply because the first year hadn't known that a certain armchair in the commons 'belonged' to Mackenzie, and she didn't vacate it fast enough.

And so Caylin sent a hex to her cousin, freezing her in place so that she could whisper into her ear before walking away for good. "I love you, Baby Mack."