"C'mon, mum, we'll be late again!" I managed a glance down the staircase to see Sirius standing at the very end, his hands on his hips as he tapped his foot impatiently. For Merlin's sake, if a guest walked in they may have mistaken him for a flamer.
"You've got some nerve, Sirius Black," I snapped, heaving a bag over the edge. He looked up right in time as it hit him square between the nose. I smirked before making the rest of the way down the stairs. "And stop calling me mum."
"Well I'm sorry that I don't take as long as you, getting ready and all. You think you'd be getting ready for that non-existant boyfriend of yours," Sirius said, picking up my bag and handing it to me. I gave him a grin before slipping the bag onto my shoulder right as Regulus and mum walked out of the kitchen.
"I better not hear the both of you bickering. Honestly, Cassiopeia, you would think as a young lady you would be done fighting with your brother," mum said, sweeping by all of us, her long coat and robes, billowing behind her.
"Yeah, honestly Cassiopeia," Reg said, a snotty tone to his voice. I gave him a hard stare before leaving him behind with Sirius, following mum towards the drawing room. I heard the grunt of Reg, most likely a punch from Sirius.
"Ready, mum," I said, approaching her. Mum nodded, her look a bit condescending as I walked towards the fireplace. Probably due to the fact that instead of the decent pair of clothes that mum had bought earlier during the holidays, I had managed to sneak on a pair of Sirius' jeans, a lovely black tank top and a light jacket.
"How a daughter like you could wear something such as that is beyond my imagination." I ignored her words and stepped into the fireplace, rubbing my arms as I waited for my brothers to arrive so that we could leave already.
"Mum, Sirius is getting his mark soon, right?" Regulus asked as he came into the drawing room, Sirius following as he nursed his left shoulder.
"Sirius and Cassiopeia are to get their marks soon," Mum stated, pushing Sirius into the fireplace after Regulus stepped in. I caught Sirius as Mum grabbed the Floo Powder and stepped in as well. Kreacher also made his way into the room, pulling suitcases behind him.
"Send those along once we are gone, understood?" Kreacher nodded, answering with a "Yes, Mistress" before we disappeared in a torrent of green flames only to arrive at Platform 9 3/4. Regulus immediately went off after his friends and once Sirius and I were out, we both began walking.
"Finally. Free of mum," Sirius said, still tending to his shoulder, "Reg sure has gained some bit of strength." I rolled my eyes, sticking my hands into my jacket pocket as I walked beside Sirius. I continued to look, hoping to find a set of eyes before we made it to Sirius' friends. It's not that I didn't like Remus or James or Peter; I just didn't enjoy hanging out with them as much as Sirius did. I readjusted my bag, now feeling uncomfortable.
"Cass?" I made a quick turn, seeing the person I had been dying to see.
A grin broke out onto my face as I ran towards him. "Severus!" He caught me in a hug, a bit stiff but still a hug. "I missed you," I whispered.
"We're almost sixteen and we still continue to do this," he commented. We pulled away, a small smile now on my face as a smirk was on his.
"You're my friend. There shouldn't be anything wrong with this," I stated, crossing my arms.
"Your brother and his friends seem to think otherwise," he said, nodding his head behind me, a somewhat evil look on his face now. I turned to see Sirius, Remus and James more or less glaring at Severus while Peter stayed behind, attempting to glare. I turned back to Severus and grabbed onto his arm, diverting his attention back to me.
"Whatever my brother and his friends think is nothing that I will worry about and neither should you. Let's go," I said, tugging on his arm towards the train. With one last glance to my brother, he followed me, allowing me to pull him. Ever since Severus and I had deemed each other worthy of being friends, Sirius, Remus and James had made it clear that they weren't happy with my new choice of friends.
We made our way onto the train and found a seemingly desolate compartment. Actually, it was more like scaring the two second years that were in there out. We each took a seat, one on each bench. My legs were spread across the seat and my bag thrown closer to the door while Severus leaned against the window, staring out at the many people saying farewells to the parents.
"How was your holiday?" I asked, hoping questioning would keep us busy before we dozed off for naps.
"Decent." He was giving me those one word answers again.
"Severus," I whined, standing up and plopping down next to him. He looked over at me, surprised as well as curious as I grabbed his arm, a frown on my face. "Please, we're away from them and everyone else. Just talk to me."
With a soft sigh, he let his head roll back onto the wall, closing his eyes as the arm that I was holding onto moved to rest around my shoulders. "Of all the people at this school, I had to be friends with you."
I smiled softly and rest my head on his shoulder, hugging his stomach. "Stop complaining," I mumbled, my eyes closing as well.
"So what did you do over your holiday?" he asked.
"The usual. Mum's even more excited about Sirius and I coming of age so that we can receive our marks. And then other then that, just visiting James and Remus and writing you, of course." I knew at that last comment, he would be smirking. He hated the fact that I could stand James and Remus, just like they hated the fact that I could stand Severus. But one thing that Severus and I always did that I did with no one else was that we always wrote letters. Over the holidays and when it was past curfew and we were still up, we constantly wrote to each other while during classes, we would write notes.
"Are you scared?"
I looked up at him as he looked down at me, his eyes holding a soft tint to them. "Am I scared of what?"
He gently took my left arm and rolled up the jacket sleeve to show off my forearm. He flipped it so that my palm was facing up as he ran his fingers over the skin where the mark would be going next summer. "Are you scared of getting your mark?"
"Severus," I mumbled, pulling my arm back and snuggling into his side. We were silent for a while before I took in a deep breath, "I am scared. I mean…I don't really want the mark but…it's a family tradition. And it's not like I can just run away from it. Where would I go?"
Yes, like my brother, Sirius, I wasn't too keen on knowing that I would be getting my Mark that showed loyalty to the Dark Lord. For one, I wasn't exactly sure that I wanted to be a follower of the Dark Lord. I mean, family loyalty and all was a big thing that I didn't want to betray but I didn't want to do something that I didn't like. I actually had different plans that would honestly scare my mother so much.
I wanted to be a musician.
Having spent one week in London with Sirius just for fun exposed me to muggle music that I instantly fell in love with. Just the sounds and rhythms and beats that were put together were so much different from things like the Weird Sisters. And I just loved them so much that every time we went to Diagon Alley, I would sneak out into the London streets and find a small store where you could listen to music. Of course, the only ones who really knew of future dream were Sirius and Severus.
"Cass." I looked up to Severus, my body suddenly pumping fear all throughout my body. The realization that it was all coming soon was scarier than anything. "Cass." I snapped from my thoughts to stare at Severus, waiting for him to speak. "If it makes a difference, what if I asked the Dark Lord to postpone your mark until I get mine, after school and everything. Would that make it any better?"
"What if I'm not here, Sev?" A look of utter confusion crossed his features before it smoothed out as he nodded slowly, a small frown spreading across his face. "I mean, if I manage to stay, I'll get the mark but if I can leave…I don't want it following me everywhere I go." I guess, it was like a muggle tattoo of your ex-lover. Getting it at the prime of your love and then finding out a week later that he/she wasn't as interested as before. Unless you want to painfully remove it, you're stuck with it for life. And with the Dark Mark, there was no way of getting rid of it unless-dare I say it-someone could actually manage to kill the Dark Lord.
"Well, you know my decision." I nodded slowly, closing my eyes and resting against him once more, adjusting myself a little more so that when I ended up drifting off, I wouldn't be uncomfortable and have to continue to shift.
"You're a good friend, Sev…And I'm glad that I am your friend," I mumbled, my breathing slowing.
"As are you, Cass." I smiled but at the same time, I couldn't help but feel upset that he was comfortable with just being friends. I knew I had feelings for him but as for Sev, he was one tough book to read.
Yes. My best friend, Severus Snape, had somehow managed to take control of my heart strings. Was I disappointed? Absolutely not.