Chapter Two

'Shouldn't you be a bit more pleased for me that this Mum?' asked Cassie as she sat in her mother's kitchen with her new owl engagement ring proudly on her left hand ring finger.

'It's not that I'm not happy for you' said Romilda as behind her the kettle on the stove started whistling as it boiled and it lifted itself up and poured itself into the waiting teapot. 'It's just that it's complicated, marrying a muggle.' Cassie sighed, she knew her parents wouldn't be happy she was marrying a muggle. It wasn't that they had anything against muggles, they generally regarded them as quite charming, but it was the inconvenience of dealing with muggles that they took umbrage with, having to act like muggles yourself or spend a lot of your time doing obliviate or confundus charms to erase the evidence.

'I know Mum, complicated, but if you just took more time to get to know Brian then you'd see why he's worth it, and you know the muggles really have got a lot more to offer us than people realise'.

Cassie knew her point was falling on deaf ears; she'd spent a lot of time defending her career decision to not only her parents but her peers at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries as well. Cassie worked in research of Muggle Medicine Methods which most of the magical community regarded as a very backwards and butcherous thing but there were some injuries which just couldn't be cured by any known magic and in these cases then the research that muggles have had to put into their medical sciences was fascinating and invaluable but most witches and wizards that Cassie knew insisted to her that she was wasting her talents as a healer.

'Yes Cassandra love, but we'll see if that's still an issue once he knows your true nature shall we. I've heard of many a witch or wizard who came back to the magical world to look for a spouse once they'd witnessed how the muggles take the news. Take your cousin Artemus for instance, he waited till his wedding night to tell his bride and they had to obliviate all her memories since before they met after she tried to go to the papers.' Cassie rolled her eyes at her Mum, she'd heard this story countless times since she'd first broken the news to her parents that she was seeing a muggle. 'You're not going to wait until your wedding night I hope, you need to tell him as soon as you've got your permission, no point waiting, I don't want to plan a wedding then cancel it all you know.'

'Yes Mum, I'll get the application in as soon as I can, I just…' Cassie sighed.

'Just what love?' inquired Romilda

'I just thought you could celebrate with me, just a little, before we had to start going down that road. I'm happy Mum, really happy, can you please just be happy with me?'

'Of course I'm happy for you Cassandra love, and I'll be there for you when you've told him and you need a shoulder to cry on' Romilda gave Cassie a big hug at this point as though she was being the best mother in the world when Cassie wished she hadn't even bothered telling her.

Cassie broke free from the prolonged hug and went over to the teapot to pour out the cups of tea. Just as she was about to grab the handle though, the teapot lifted up of its own accord and poured out two cups of tea. Cassie turned round to see her mum smiling with her wand in her hand.

'No point doing it the muggle way love, no danger of slips or spills our way' she said smugly. Cassie quite liked doing things the muggle way, she'd had to do things without magic until she was seventeen after all though her parents were always there to do anything which would be difficult without magic. That didn't mean people had to use magic for everything of course but Cassie's mum liked to make a point of it since she started working at the muggle hospital. That's not to say that Cassie didn't use a fair amount of magic in her own home, it makes good sense to, but she appreciated the muggle ways of doing things too and she had to do things without magic when she was at work to blend in with everyone else of course.

'Mum, you're going to have a muggle for a son-in-law so you really shouldn't be so critical of the muggle ways. You've put Brian down every time you've met him and he's got no idea what he's ever done to offend you!' snapped Cassie, starting to lose her temper. 'Look just forget the tea, I'm going to go back home and send off my application to the Ministry of Magic so that Brian can start to feel like a part of this family!'

And with that Cassie walked out of the kitchen, through to the fireplace in the living room. She grabbed a handful of floo powder from the pot on the mantle piece, threw it into the fire. The fire turned emerald green and the flames licked up the chimney out of sight. Cassie stepped into the flames, turned around to see her Mum come into the room looking anguished and said firmly 10 Moon Street and disappeared, the tall, green flames returning to their usual height and orange colour as Romilda left the room again muttering about manners and muggles.

Cassie sat at the lovely old writing bureau she kept in her spare room, unlocked it and pulled open the front. Inside the bureau was a selection of books about healing like Asiatic Anti-Venoms, Common Magical Ailments and Afflictions and The Healer's Helpmate. Tucked away at the end though was the rarely used Ministry of Magic Manual, the handbook issued to all witches and wizards when they leave the care of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and have to start making their own way. The Ministry of Magic was a huge organisation which dealt with all aspects of law, order and community amongst the magical society but the biggest law of them all which the Ministry is very tough on, is the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy. This statute has been signed by all of the magical governing bodies worldwide and ensures that the existence of witches and wizards is kept an absolute secret from the muggle population. This has proved particularly tricky for the Ministry of Magic to uphold during times of war when dark wizards with anti-muggle beliefs show no respect for the law and reveal their nature during the course of their attacks. There are much less dark ways in which the law is broken too though, mischievously enchanted muggle artefacts or simply accidents or low flying on broomsticks. It's a huge job for the Ministry to manage, and one aspect of that is when a witch or wizard and a muggle decide to get married.

Cassie found the right page in the Ministry of Magic Manual about Magical Muggle unification and read what it said.

Magical Muggle Unification

When a witch or a wizard had made an agreement with a muggle that they shall be legally bonded then the witch or wizard may then apply to the Ministry of Magic for permission to reveal their magical nature to that muggle, and that muggle alone.

Such a revelation must be made with two Ministry of Magic officials present and the witch or wizard must give permission for these officials to obliviate the memory of the muggle if they deem him or her to be a risk to the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy of 1692.

Send your owl to the Muggle Relations department at the Ministry of Magic to apply for permission and to consent to the following terms and conditions and also provide a character reference who can testify to your ability to comply with the terms and conditions.

1. The muggle must not disclose the existence of magic or any aspect of the magical community to any other muggle

2. The muggle must not use any magical artefact or object in such a way that it will reveal the existence of magic to another muggle

3. The muggle must agree to allow any child produced by themselves and a witch or wizard to either attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, an alternative magical school in another country or to allow the child to receive a complete magical education at home.

Any failure to comply with these conditions will result in Ministry of Magic representatives obliviating the memory of the muggle (and any other muggles whom the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy has been broken with) and further permission to disclose the magical nature of the bonded party will be denied.

Cassie finished reading the section and blew out a deep breath as she took in what a huge thing she had undertaken. The possibility of never telling Brian that she is a witch just wasn't feasible; if they were married then they would be living together and it was hard enough work hiding her magical nature from Brian when she was visiting his house, even harder when he was paying a rare visit to her house, Cassie couldn't conceive how difficult it would be if they were living together and she was certainly not prepared to try that. She also couldn't ever marry someone without them knowing such a fundamental part of her and her world.

There was no alternative, she had to tell him that she is a witch and she has to do it now so that he still has an opportunity to choose not to marry her. The very thought of Brian deciding he doesn't want to marry her anymore made Cassie feel a deep despair from inside her chest and a little part of her tried to say she could hide her magical nature, she does it often enough for work at the muggle hospital and all the time she spends with Brian, she could just give up magic altogether but that concept was completely unthinkable; without magic how could she visit her parents or even see her witch and wizard friends, besides the difficulty of having to travel using muggle transport then she'd have to ask them to hide their magical natures completely when they visited her too and most of them wouldn't be able to even if they tried, they just wouldn't know how to fit in with the muggles.

Cassie needed to write the application to the ministry now, before she changed her mind.

She took out a piece of parchment, her favourite quill, a sunshine yellow one which was a present from her parents (a reward for getting four O grades and one E grade for her N.E.W.T.s, the best result in Hufflepuff that year and only a girl in Ravenclaw did better in the whole year) and a bottle of ink and she wrote her application to the Ministry.

Dear witch/wizard of the Muggle Relations office,

I have been involved with a muggle man called Brian John Cooper for three years now and we have just announced our intention to be bonded.

I would like to apply for permission to disclose my magical nature to the aforementioned muggle as soon as possible.

I can confirm I have read the terms and conditions listed in the Ministry of Magic Manual and I agree to these terms on my own and on the aforementioned muggle's behalfs.

My address is 10 Moon Street, Oldham and I am on the floo network if this is your preferred method of travel.

My character reference who can testify to my empathy with muggles and my ability to integrate discreetly with them is Dr Artemus Prewett with whom I have been working for six years, four of those on research amongst the muggles.

Please provide some food, water and rest to my owl Tilly as this is a much longer journey than she is used to.

I look forward to your owl in response to my application soon.

Yours faithfully,

Cassandra Hepzibah Crescent

Cassie folded up the parchment, sealed it with some sealing wax and her Cresent family stamp, which was of course a crescent moon, and wrote on the outside of the parchment For The Attention of the Muggle Relations Department, Ministry of Magic, London

Cassie stared at the finished letter and though about how Brian's life was going to change once she had permission to tell him and whether he would ever regret asking her to marry him.

She carefully packed away her bureau and locked it up securely again and reflected that it would be nice at least when she doesn't have to keep anything magical so secretively hidden away like this. She then turned her attention to the wooden stand next to the bureau on which was perched her beautiful tawny owl Tilly who looked to be fast asleep until Cassie saw her open one eye, look at her and close it again.

She opened a box next to the stand and took out some of the treats she kept for Tilly. This made Tilly stop seeming to be so tired as she was suddenly wide awake and excitedly pecking at Cassie's hand.

'Here you go Tilly' Cassie said as she let Tilly greedily eat up the treats from her hand, 'you need a bit of extra fuel, I'm afraid I've got a longer trip than usual for you to make if you will?' Tilly hooted softly and Cassie took that as a sign of consent. 'It's for the Ministry' Cassie told the small tawny owl, 'and it's very important, it's to ask permission to tell Brian about everything!' It felt strange to Cassie to say those words out loud, made it feel more real somehow and Tilly seemed to understand that importance of the letter she was being asked to deliver and she plumped her chest up.

Cassie held out the letter for Tilly to grasp in her claws, opened the window and Tilly flew outside and disappeared into the night. Cassie was left alone feeling like she was a passenger on a runaway train which had just left the station.

It was three days after Cassie had sent Tilly off with the letter to the Ministry and Cassie was working a late shift at the muggle hospital today so she was enjoying a lie in when she heard a familiar tap tap tap at her bedroom window. She dragged herself out of bed, dressed in her pink pajamas which were covered in little pink owls and hearts, pulled back the curtains and opened the window enough for a ball of fluff to quickly fly in before she shut the window again. Tilly flew onto Cassie's bed, dropped the letter she was carrying there and started to hoot quietly. Cassie knew exactly what Tilly wanted so she popped to the room next door, grabbed the owl treats from the box and a dish of water and came back through. Tilly started to hoot a little louder when she saw what Cassie was carrying.

'Here you go Tilly' said Cassie as she set down the dish of water and held out her hand with some treats inside which Tilly immediately set upon. 'You've flown a long way, you must be really tired girl.'. Tilly emited a single, fairly loud hoot in response which Cassie took to mean she was tired but proud of a job well done. Cassie almost daren't look at the letter Tilly had delivered but she glanced across at it and saw the large M in a circle showing prominently on it, just as she knew it would have; it was the response from the Ministry.

She Cassied on fussing over Tilly until the tawny owl decided she'd been fussed over enough and she took Tilly through to her perch in the spare room with some fresh food and water before she returned to her room and looked at the letter sitting there on the bed.

Brian had known something was wrong these past few days; after the euphoria of the night when he proposed had worn off, as well as all the champagne they'd drunk, Cassie knew that she needed to finally tell Brian the biggest secret in the world. This had made Cassie distracted, stressed and distant with Brian then and she felt guilty about that too but at least she would be able to explain it all to him soon, but that of course left the question as to what his reaction would be.

Brian is a nurse, he works in medicine and is an atheist, all that he knows, all that he believes in, is science. He didn't like to read fantasy or science fiction books because he didn't see them as realistic, he is a clever, kind and caring man, but a relatively closed minded one; Cassie could not begin to guess what his reaction was going to be.

She stared at the letter a little longer before she did what she knew she must do and she opened the letter.

Dear Miss Cassandra Crescent,

We received your request for permission to disclose your magical status and the knowledge of the magical community to the muggle Brian Cooper by reason of intent of bonding, or marriage.

Two representatives from the Ministry of Magic Muggle Relations department will be arriving at your address of 10 Moon Street on Tuesday the Second of October at 5 o'clock in the afternoon by floo network.

Do not disclose any information covered in the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy of 1692 until the representatives have arrived and have expressly given their permission to do so.

Failure to attend this appointment or to carry out the task within a reasonable time frame determined by the representatives will result in a significant delay to further permission for the same.

Congratulations on your exciting news.

Yours sincerely,

Adrastea Dippet

Department of Muggle Relations

Ministry of Magic

Tuesday the Second though Cassie, but that's only tomorrow! Cassie quickly grabbed her diary out of her handbag and looked at the page for the week. Her diary for tomorrow read: 06-16 MRI 16-18 StM, B 08-20 meaning that she was working at the muggle hospital from six in the morning until four in the afternoon then at St Mungos from four until six in the evening and Brian had an eight until eight shift. If she explains the circumstances to Dr Prewett then he is sure to allow her the time off but the problem was making sure Brian could make it when he was meant to be working until eight in the evening without telling him what was so important and trying to avoid even more lies before the big truth came out.

Cassie wasn't wearing the beautiful owl design engagement ring Brian had bought her yet. Not only this but she had insisted to Brian that they don't tell anyone about their engagement yet when Brian was bursting to tell everyone he knew. This was not only frustrating for Brian but upsetting as well; Cassie hadn't explained to him why she didn't want them to tell anyone yet (not even his parents!) saying that he would find out soon enough and they could tell everyone then and this secrecy was starting to really worry and annoy Brian. Cassie had, over the course of their three year relationship, kept secrets from him telling him that she'll explain one day and she had never explained any of these things and Brian felt like keeping the engagement as one of these secrets was a step too far. He had reluctantly agreed to this secrecy on the basis that was only temporary and she would explain very soon and Cassie had seemed which emphatic that this would be the case but Brian couldn't help but wonder if that was just a lie as he went about his busy day working at the Manchester Royal Infirmary.

Brian was two thirds of the way through his shift for the day when Jessie arrived at the hospital. Jessie was one of the nurses who worked in the same department as Brian at the hospital but she wasn't rostered to be working for another four hours at eight in the evening.

'Jessie!' exclaimed Brian at seeing her already, 'What're you doing here?'

'Brian, thank goodness I found you!' said Jessie. 'I'm taking over your shift, show me where you're up to will you?'

'What do you mean you're taking over my shift?' asked Brian, confused. 'I never asked you to do that, I don't need you to either, I mean I haven't got plans or anything, I don't think I do anyway...' he said, starting to doubt himself and wondering if he'd even got the date right today.

'Well actually' said Jessie with a sheepish smile, 'You do have plans. Cassie called me and asked me to relieve you early as a bit of a last minute favour, she said it's really important and I didn't have anything on so I said I would.'

'Are you sure?' asked Brian, still not sure what was going on 'she didn't mean a different day or anything?'

'Definitely not' said Jessie 'it was this morning when she called, she was definitely talking about today, no doubt that! Sounds like she's planning a surprise to me.' Jessie grinned at Brian but Brian just felt a bit uneasy, more secrets, he didn't like the sound of this. 'So tell me where you're up to so you can head off and get your surprise' said Jessie.

Brian was just finishing the handover when Cassie arrived, looking very apprehensive and Brian decided this couldn't be the good kind of surprise.