FINALLY! Now I'm not saying that my writer's block has entirely lifted, I'm not certain of that one. I'm going to be honest with y'all, I'm fighting with other Muses at the moment. I've got at least 2 other stories offline that I am working on in an attempt to retain focus on this one. For as big of a pain in the neck as this one's being, it's actually shaping up to be one of my favorites and I don't want to see this muse escape before I'm finished with her (God that sounded wrong).

Anyway, suffice to say, I'm fighting! I just hope you guys will fight with me. :D Please?

Sincerely,
CC

By the time Cassie awoke the next morning, she could see the sun had already crested the horizon from the amount of shifting, greenish light in her room. It was a rare occurrence, since the first rays of the sun were usually what woke her. She brushed it off as the long day she'd had yesterday and the very comfortable bed she had fallen into. Pulling herself out of the warm comfort of her covers with a groan, Cassie stretched, sighing with relief as she felt her back pop in a few places. Moving to her trunk, Cassie took the time to dig through and haul out her watch, checking exactly how much time she had to shower and dress before heading down for breakfast. It wasn't as much time as she would have liked, but then again, things could have been worse.

And so, after quickly showering and dressing; choosing to forgo any major make-up in the interest of time, Cassie headed down for breakfast. Silently she prayed there would be coffee, or at least some very strong black tea. Most days she was absolutely useless without at least some kind of caffeine in her blood.

From the sounds emanating from the Great Hall, it would appear that Cassie was rather late for breakfast. 'Oh joy.' She thought, breathing a soft sigh. Now while Cassie might not have cared about rumours, but that hardly meant she enjoyed being the center of attention, even for a brief period of time. 'Well, that's what I get for sleeping in.' She thought quietly, pushing open the door.

The hall was rather impressive, with its shifting blue sky for a ceiling and the soft glow from the torches. The four massive tables stretched far into the distance, all perfectly aligned under the banners of their house. It was both a very impressive and formidable sight. As were the multitude of heads that turned her way when the door that had slipped from her hand slammed shut. The sound jarred almost everyone from their conversations and Cassie watched their heads whip 'round to face her. Sighing silently, Cassie gave the room a jauntily flippant salute, hiking her book bag further up her shoulder as she made her way over to an empty seat at the Slytherin table. "Oh thank Chronos." She muttered quietly, spotting a tall coffee pot right in front of her seat. Wasting no time, Cassie ignored the rest of the room as they slowly returned to their initial conversations, choosing to focus on getting her caffeine fix for the day.

But before she could take even a single sip of her coffee, Cassie felt someone plop themselves right next to her. "Well you certainly know how to make an entrance." The voice said, smoothly. Cassie made no reply, choosing rather to take a large mouthful of coffee before she said something she would regret. Glancing over as she did, Cassie took in the boy's dark skin and dangerously good looks. Dangerous mainly because this was a boy who knew exactly how to use his looks to get what he wanted. She would have to keep this one at an arm's length if she were to make good use of him. "Blaise Zabini." He said, holding out a hand and forging ahead in spite of her silence.

The boy was balls-y, she had to give him that. "Cassandra Ravenblood." She replied, setting her cup down to shake his hand.

"You're new around here." It was more a statement than a question.

Cassie smirked slightly as she turned to reach for something to eat. "That's somewhat obvious isn't it?" she replied. "If I weren't, you'd most likely already know me since we appear to be the same age."

Blaise nodded. "Someone's been saying that you only just got in last night."

"Someone eh?" Cassie snorted, biting into a large blueberry muffin. "This someone wouldn't happen to be blonde and have a temperament and name to suit a dragon now would he?"

Blaise smirked, a soft chuckle just barely reaching Cassie's ears over the din. "Quite possibly, he and I are friends." He watched her eat as he spoke, his eyes reminding her of some of the great predators of Zarafia or the birdmen of Grizzleheim, completely confident in his abilities with a soul almost as black as pitch. 'Oh yes. I would do very well to keep a firm eye on this one.' she thought sipping her coffee quietly as she subtly looked him over. 'He'll be useful to me, but he'll need a firm eye on him at all times.' "So I suppose," Blaise continued, shaking Cassie from her thoughts, "That you'll be needing a guide around the grounds every now and then. I just wanted to come over and offer my services in that area." His smile widened slightly, though it only served to make him appear all the more wolfish to Cassie. "I hope you'll remember to call on me."

Cassie was about to reply, though how she wasn't exactly sure, when a voice cut across hers. "Ravenblood!" Cassie silently sent up a prayer of thanks to her master, just in case he was the one who had helped get her out of this conversation. If not, well a little unbidden gratitude never hurt.

"Did you need something Draco?" she asked smoothly, slowly facing him as she spoke. He looked much better today, his uniform pressed and crisp, not a hair out of place. Oddly enough, Cassie had to fight down the desire to muss his hair, if only so something about him would be askew. NO creature should be so perfectly perfect.

"I've been told that I am to escort you to our potions class. Apparently we share a similar schedule." His tone was curt, only slightly more polite than it had been at his worst yesterday. Casually Cassie wondered just what it was that she had done to awaken his ire today.

"You are very kind to do so Draco, thank you." Turning back to Blaise, she offered up an apologetic smile. "I am sorry Blaise, but it would appear that the role of my guide has been filled for the day. Perhaps another time."

"I look forward to it." Blaise replied, his voice as soft as silk, though there appeared almost a brief flash of distemper before he managed to quash it. Rising from his seat, the beautiful boy nodded to his pale counterpart. "Have fun Draco." He murmured as he passed, shooting an appreciative glance at Cassie that would have had a lesser girl giggling like a fool. As it was, the slightly more human part of her still had the decency to flush lightly at Blaise's overt appreciation of her as she turned back to her breakfast. Picking up her cutlery, Cassie prayed that her skin tone would be sufficient cover for her blush. But as she began eating, she had the very strong feeling that it hadn't.

As she consumed the eggs and toast she had somehow managed to place upon her plate, Cassie felt Draco take Blaise's place at her left side. "Stay away from him." He muttered after a moment, finally forcing her to look up at him.

"Who, Blaise?"

"He's a smarmy bastard who's only trying to get up your skirt." Draco muttered darkly, almost glaring out of the corner of his eye after his 'friend'.

It was so amusing, the idea that Draco would be trying to protect her from someone worse than him, that Cassie actually snorted into her eggs. "I'm sorry, you actually think I'm going to just fall into his bed with a few words and a smirk here and there?" Cassie was fighting her chuckles so hard; she almost couldn't keep her sip of coffee down. "Believe me when I say this Draco, you're friend Blaise is entirely not my type." She said, taking a large bite out of her toast.

"Oh really? The two of you seemed to be getting along famously." Draco said, soft venom dripping from his words, making Cassie smirk.

"Simply because I'm not attracted to him Draco, doesn't mean that I cannot be civil towards him." Cassie glanced over to Blaise, who appeared to have moved on to easier targets since they had finished speaking. "He's a handsome man, I'll not deny that, but he is a man who knows exactly how handsome he is and exactly how to use his looks to get anything he pleases. It is that knowledge right there that makes him the complete opposite of my type. That and he's a pretty obvious womanizer. And besides," she said, setting her cutlery down and taking one last drink of coffee, "I've never been all that fond of smarmy bastards."

"And yet you blushed like a silly schoolgirl when he left. Are you still going to insist that you're not attracted to him?" Draco replied, his voice much smoother now that he believed he had caught her in a trap.

Cassie just shook her head in amusement. "One thing you may not know about girls Draco, is that even a backhanded compliment can turn our heads every now and then. It hardly means that we are about to leap into bed with the one who is complimenting us." Rolling her eyes, Cassie stood and collected her things. "I'm certain Blaise has his uses and will prove to be an amusement in the future, but that's the extent of it for me. Now, I believe you were going to show me where we will be learning potions this year?" Stilling her movements, Cassie smiled down at the pale boy still in his seat. "I am rather interested in what your professor has to teach on this particular subject."

Draco said nothing, just stared at Cassie for a moment or two. His gaze was so hard, Cassie almost felt as though he were attempting to pry open her head and peer inside her mind. She very much hoped she wasn't giving anything away. Cassie preferred keeping her thoughts to herself for a reason after all. Finally, after a few long minutes, Draco seemed to rouse himself. "So where is your little pet this morning?" he asked, snatching his bag up from the floor before he began to lead her through the hall. "I notice you didn't get any post." He said, by way of explanation.

Cassie just shot him an amused glance. "Forgive me Draco, but are you surprised by the fact that I haven't received any post? I'm not. I only just arrived here; I haven't been here long enough for anyone to really fret over my wellbeing." Cassie smirked softly at the thought of anyone who knew her actually fretting over her. "So I gave Huginn the morning off. He'll be here about lunch to take some letters off for me."

"Rather certain of that aren't you."

"Yes, I am." Cassie blithely replied, choosing to ignore the obvious insult to her pet. "If nothing else, Huginn is very loyal. And also very prompt. I don't doubt that when we break for lunch, I will more than likely find him waiting for me."

Draco simply grunted, apparently deciding that she was no longer worth his voice. When she glanced over at him, Draco's mind appeared to be elsewhere. His brow was furrowed slightly and his eyes appeared distant. Cassie rolled her eyes and shrugged, admittedly a little miffed that he now appeared to be ignoring her, but not entirely concerned. Draco had already proven himself to be a bit of an odd duck, this behaviour was just further proof of that. Instead, Cassie just continued to follow him down into the upper regions of the dungeon for the class they would share, quietly hoping for at least something to encourage a conversation between the two of them now.

When they reached what she supposed was the classroom, Cassie just had to sigh softly at Draco's anti-social attitude. 'What in the name of Hades crawled up his ass and died?' She thought to herself as she passed through the door he, surprisingly held open for her. "You know, I really have to wonder exactly what it is that I've done to make you act so around me, Draco." She murmured, wanting to keep their conversation from nearby ears. As different as things may have been world to world, Cassie felt rather sure that it was still rather impolite to broadcast another person's attitude problems to the world.

Draco frowned at her. "What the bloody hell are you on about?" he hissed, seemingly less concerned with the volume of his voice.

Cassie rolled her eyes, but kept her voice low as she took in her surroundings. "I mean, Draco, that one minute you appear concerned for my reputation and emotional well-being, the next you're insulting and ignoring me, and then immediately after that you're holding the door open for me." Pausing a moment, she looked at him; her calm, ice blue eyes locking onto his fiery green. "It's more than just a little confusing and I would appreciate it if you would kindly just tell me what it is I've done to piss you off so, so that I can give you the apology I'm assuming you're looking for, (One that I feel rather disinclined to give at this moment, but what the hell...) and that we might be able to move on from this petty arrangement we have going at the moment." Having said her piece, Cassie leaned up against one of the many stations around her to await his response.

Draco's glare seemed to harden, if that were possible, but unless Cassie was gravely mistaken a glimmer of confusion appeared. Buried deep within him, it appeared as though Draco was having a problem deciding just how in the Devil's name he was going to deal with her. It almost made her laugh, but she wasn't certain of what she saw and so she bit her tongue. "How I behave is none of your concern." He said, his voice cold and low. I signal of his irritation she supposed. "I was raised to be a gentleman..."

"Could've fooled me." Cassie said, cutting him off. "You've been acting quite the bi-polar little bitch since we met and since it appears to be mainly happening around me, I must then assume that I am at least one of the contributing factors if not one of the causes. I'm not arrogant enough to assume I'm the sole cause, but something about me apparently aggravates you and I would like to know what it is to that I may tailor my behaviour somewhat. Since I'm assuming we're going to be seeing a fair amount of each other, wouldn't you agree that such a course of action would be the more intelligent move?"

Fury instantly sprang to the forefront of Draco's gaze, almost making Cassie wince with its intensity, but she was saved from his tirade as the professor (She assumed he was the professor anyway) swooped into the room. Draco gave her one last glare before slipping behind the table he had been standing by while she straightened and moved into her own seat in front of him. Quickly, she slipped out the notebook she had brought with her and the text Professor Dumbledore had been kind enough to furnish her with. She had been rather looking forward to this class and seeing how it compared to the rather loose, independent teaching method found at Ravenwood. Undoubtedly the recipes would be a bit more involved; but she didn't anticipate any problems. If there was one thing she had inherited from her family, it was skill in the potion lab.

"Good morning students." The professor called out jovially, seeming to ignore the weary and half-hearted groan that arose from the throats of his pupils. "Now, the headmaster has informed me that we have a new student joining us today. May I ask who it is joining us?"

Cassie rolled her eyes briefly before raising her hand into the air. The man understandably saw a great many students in a day, but certainly not enough to miss a girl like her. After all, with her white-blonde hair and bright silver/ice blue eyes, she wasn't exactly hard to miss. 'Makes you wonder just what kind of a teacher this man is.'

"That would be me sir." She said, choosing to keep her snippy thoughts to herself. His personality aside, this man might end up proving to be a decent instructor, so she would reserve her cattiness for a date when her opinions could be proven either way.

"Ahh, very good. Welcome to sixth year potions my dear. I am Professor Horace Slughorn; may I ask what your name is?"

Cassie had to fight to keep from rolling her eyes at the man, though she lost the battle to keep a small smirk from her face. Hopefully the professor would simply pass that off as her being happy to be here. "Cassandra Ravenblood, professor."

"Ravenblood eh?" the aged professor mused. "You wouldn't happen to be related to Ainsley Daren Ravenblood, creator of the Manegro Potion, would you?"

Cassie rolled her eyes at the suggestion. It was not the first time it had been made in this world, but it was no less insulting. "Unlikely, professor." She replied, her tone just a fraction above freezing at the implication, eliciting looks from the majority of the class. "If you were to know anyone in my family, it would most likely be my many times Great-aunt Elthelinda Ravenblood." With her back to Draco, Cassie didn't see his back stiffen at the mention of her aunt. He knew that name.

As did the Slughorn from his visibly shocked reaction. "Ehtelinda, the great... but she was..." He couldn't even string together a simple sentence, his shock was so great.

"She was the live in apothecary for the house of Borgia." Cassandra supplied, leaning back in her seat as she prepared to elaborate. "If family history is to be believed, she was actually one of the few experts in all manner of poisons, supposedly one of the reasons Rodrigo kept her in his employ and allowed her to remain unmarried." She smirked slightly, inspecting her nails as she spoke. There was more she could have said, but such suppositions were not for the ears of the other students.

"There are rumors that Lucrezia made quite a bit of use of her talents." Slughorn breathed and Cassie grimaced. Apparently her professor did not possess the restraint she did when it came to airing her family's perceived dirty laundry in public.

"That is one theory, yes." Cassie admitted. "Although, all of proven history tends to agree that she was nothing more than a healer and protector of the Borgia's" There was a slight edge to her tone, one that even Slughorn could hear. Her family's history, especially the history that was comprised of little more than supposition, had no place in the classroom.

To his credit, Slughorn at least had the decency to look a little sheepish. Properly chastised, he began to fiddle a bit with the papers on his desk. "Well, either way, if you have inherited any of her talent, you will do well in this class. Though, if you will forgive me, I will require a test of your skill set, if only to see if you require any assistance in certain areas."

"I would be amenable to that professor."

"Do you know of the potion Draught of the Living Death, my dear?" Cassie nodded, curious to see where he would take this. "I have always found it to be a fairly accurate yardstick with which to discover the skill level of an older student. The rest of the class brewed this for me last week. Do you feel up to brewing this potion for me?"

"I read over the recipe last night." Cassie said, flicking though her textbook until she found the relevant page. "And if I may say professor, I actually feel it to be a touch simplistic as a litmus test." Cassie couldn't help the slight smirk that tugged at the corner of her lip as a few gasps were heard behind her. "But if it is Draught of the Living Death that you wish to see, I will be happy to oblige."

The professor returned her smirk, perhaps believing her comment to have stemmed from a place of arrogance rather than honest assessment of the challenge. The truth was, in Ravenwood Academy, most items were crafted using potions and the students were expected to create those potions for themselves. After reading the recipe, Cassie had little doubt that she would be more than capable of producing a perfect Draught. "Well then if you would be so kind, my dear, I would appreciate it if you could begin brewing the potion, and I will give the rest of the class their assignment." Cassie nodded and got up to collect the items she needed, listening to Slughorn with half an ear. Setting aside the potions heavy curriculum at Ravenwood, she had always been interested in the subject. She came by it naturally; the interest being passed down through her family from her parents, grandparents, all the way back that they could recall. They had even gone so far as to exploring the methods of the other worlds in the spiral, the ingredients that could be used.

Cassie smirked lightly as she made her way back to her desk and began to work on the Draught and the additional classroom assignment, having snuck the extra ingredients she would need. As she began to prepare her ingredients, it appeared as though they were discussing how to brew a truth serum, known in this world as Veritaserum. Choosing for the moment to concentrate on the Draught, Cassie decided she would work on the truth potion once the Draught was done. One part of her family history that she had chosen not to reveal to Slughorn was that, since her aunt's time with the Borgia's, poisons and interrogation techniques had become her family's speciality. Veritaserum had become something she had been brewing since she was 8 years old. Granted, the recipe she had read in her text had been drastically different from the recipe she had been taught, but the principles would be the same, and she had more than a few cauldrons that she could use.

Her affinity for potions translated into a feeling of comfort while she worked, humming quietly to herself. When she had read the recipe the night before she had scoffed at the antiquated methods suggested therein. Like the idea of leaving Veritaserum to cure for a month before using it. Such a notion was ridiculous, especially when one was in need of the truth quickly. If one was to keep a supply on hand, it would be relatively easy to find and taint that supply, something that appeared to be relatively easy to do when it came to this particular recipe. Aside from that, there was the potion's ability to be resisted that made it an iffy choice as a tool. Before she had fallen asleep she had made a series of notes like this in the margins of her book, not that she needed reminders of all the things she knew, but it never hurt.

These particular potions were not exactly the most difficult to make and so; she occasionally had moments where she could allow her attention to wander. Glancing about the room, Cassie observed her fellow students battling with their potions, most just looking lost and confused. The worst appeared to be one red-headed Gryffindor student across the aisle from her who appeared to have absolutely no clue what he was doing. The scarred boy beside him appeared to be focusing all his soul on his textbook, apparently garnering some kind of inspiration from it, judging from the state of his potion. The brunette in front of him seemed to be doing similarly well, though her version was looking a bit cloudy, something Cassie expected was a result of adhering to the recipe in the book over the course of the last hour. Cassie, in the meantime, had been experiencing little trouble with her particular project, her mind thrumming under the pressure caused by brewing three potions at once. Her Draught was doing well, as was her familial truth serum recipe, but her Veritaserum was a little cloudier than she would have liked. Now, according to the author of 'Advanced Potion-Making' this would be the stage where she should bottle it and leave it to sit for a lunar cycle and it would eventually clear itself up. Cassie was not so certain. The level of the clouding in her potion worried her and so she decided to make use of a little known trick her mother had showed her before she had died. Smiling at the memories brought to mind, Cassie reached for a sprig of Thai Basil she normally kept in her book bag to keep it smelling fresh. Today it would serve a higher purpose, its oils being something her mother had discovered had the ability to aid in the blending and balancing of potions, especially if the sprig itself had reached its peak during a full moon as this one, luckily enough, had.

Her humming stopped and a smile bloomed across her face as, with a single drop of the basil's oils, her potion immediately became much clearer. Adding one more drop to clear it up entirely, Cassie bottled the rest of the oil while her three potions simmered on a low heat. Thai basil was a pain to grow, especially if one was trying to time it with the phases of the moon, so Cassie wasn't about to use up all of this up in one potion. That finished, Cassie quickly bottled her truth potion and immediately set it in a bowl of ice water she had conjured so it stopped cooking before it curdled. No one had use for curdled truth serum since it was easily discovered and had spotty results at best. The other two potions would require a bit more time on the heat before they could be bottled and so, she pulled out her text and her quill, prepared to make further corrections as she saw fit.

Now, this was not to knock the book in its entirety. In fact, Cassie had discovered a few techniques she had marked for use in the future. She wanted to see exactly how useful these techniques were since the author seemed almost addicted to a few of them. But that was for another day.

"Time is up!" the professor called after about ten minutes. "Please bottle your potions. I will evaluate them at the end of the lunar cycle." Glancing up, Cassie quickly muttered a charm to dry the ink she had been using and slipped a feather into her text to mark her place. Soon enough all her potions were sitting before her in glimmering vials awaiting judgement. She would have to have patience when it came to the Veritaserum, but her other potions had come out perfectly, if she were any judge. Now that the three bottles were lined up before her, it occurred to Cassie that her display of skill might now come across more as an attempt to show off. Which, if she were perfectly honest with herself, it was. Slughorn's earlier derision had irritated her, not to mention the amused glances he had shot her way once he had spotted her multiple cauldrons. The man had made no attempt to stop her, apparently believing that she wouldn't succeed in her endeavors, an opinion she expected was shared by those housemates seated near her.

'Well, nothing to be done about it now.' Cassie thought, walking her three vials up to the professor's desk. She didn't say a word as she set them on his desk, awaiting judgement.

"Well, you have been busy my dear." The professor said; eyeing the potions she had placed before him. Cassie could feel the eyes of the other students on her back as they slowly bottled their assignments or fiddled with their things, curious to see what would happen. Slughorn, again to his credit, ignored them. "I asked you for a Draught of the Living Death and that was all, my dear girl. Would you please explain why I now have three vials sitting before me?"

Cassie arched an eyebrow at him. "Forgive me professor, but I was under the impression that you wanted an honest and comprehensive assessment of my skills. You asked for the Draught and I have delivered, but I was always under the impression that a good assessment tests a variety of abilities." Motioning to the vials, Cassie continued, attempting to ignore the feeling of eyes burning a hole in her back. "To that end, I have brought you Veritaserum as you asked of the rest of the class, along with my family's own answer to the truth serum. Feel free to use it as you like; this recipe requires no time to cure. Although," she added, staying the professor's hand as he reached for her vial. "I wouldn't suggest using it on anyone with any important secrets to keep. This particular potion is highly effective and even it's most diluted form, takes hours to wear off."

"That is an impressive claim." The professor agreed, setting that particular bottle aside. "But since we have limited time, you will forgive me if I reserve testing for a later time."

"Of course professor."

"But here, I must admit, I am very impressed." Slughorn cooed, picking up her bottle of Draught and holding it to the light. "Such a brilliant hue of pink and not a single impurity in sight. Very impressive my dear. How did you get it to mix this well with two other potions on the go?"

"I didn't use African sea salt in the initial stages of the potion, professor." Cassie replied, hoping she wouldn't have to go through this with all of her potions or they would be there for the rest of the day. "I find these days that salt taken from the Dead Sea is a great deal finer and purer than anything out of Africa, though I do admit, that's not saying much. In addition, I combined the juice of the Sophophorus bean with a few drops of the juice found in Bitter lettuce."

"Bitter lettuce... that is inspired my dear. Mr. Potter," Slughorn cried out, calling the attention of the black-haired Gryffindor student Cassie had been observing earlier. "We may have someone here to challenge even your potions prowess. I suppose only time will tell who will prove better than the other." Cassie watched as Potter nodded quietly, seemingly uncomfortable with Slughorn's praise. The brunette who had been seated in front of him though, glowered darkly at the praise Potter received and perhaps slightly at the praise Cassie was getting as well, she was unsure. Cassie merely shrugged, well used to jealousy when it came to her talents in this subject. Cassie expected that if she cared to ask, the brunette would be discovered to have been the best in every subject in previous years, a reputation earned by strictly following the steps outlined in the textbooks.

But, she didn't care, not particularly anyway. She watched, somewhat detached, as Slughorn set her vial of Veritaserum on the shelf behind him to cure for the lunar cycle. She hoped that the Thai Basil she had included wouldn't affect the end potion too much, but it was out of her hands at this point. Slughorn was suitably impressed with her skills and was unlikely to question her abilities again and that was all she really cared about. When he finally dismissed her, after insisting that she join him and a number of his favored students for dinner at some point in the future, she made quick work of gathering up her ingredients and books. As she did, she caught Draco staring at her, an odd look on his face. Cassie wasn't sure what meant or what it was that caused that look to surface, whether it was the exact discovery of who it was she was related to or her prowess when it came to potions she wasn't sure, but it certainly was better than him being annoyed at her. "Something I can help you with Draco?" she asked blithely as she slipped her text into her bag.

Something in her tone must have shaken Draco free from his train of thought because, no sooner were the words out of her mouth, than the shutters behind Draco's eyes slammed down on his thoughts. "No." He replied, coldly, but falling into step beside her nevertheless. "You seemed to impress him."

"Not exactly hard to do when you've received the tutelage I have in that particular subject for your entire life."

"I suppose so."

Cassie sighed in resignation. They had reached the point in their journey where they would have to part ways; she to Herbology, Draco to wherever the hell he was headed. "You sound as though you have something to ask me Draco. Am I correct? Or am I hearing more than there is in your voice?"

As Cassie looked at him, she could have sworn on her master's scythe that he hesitated a moment. He almost appeared to question himself, to have a moment of pure and human vulnerability, if only for a split second in time before he seemed to shake himself loose. "No. You're reading too much into my words."

Cassie wasn't sure, but she decided to be satisfied with what she thought she had seen. "Well then, I apologize for that." She said, hitching her bag a little further onto her shoulder. "I'll see you at dinner tonight I suppose. Have a good day Draco."

With that, Cassie spun on her heel, swiftly striding down the opposite hallway. Draco watched her go, wondering for a moment, what exactly it had been that had caused him to hesitate. He had to admit, he was rather distracted lately... and there was something about her... 'NO!' he thought, throwing his head back and marching off in the direction of his next class. 'He gave this task to ME! My father was too incompetent to complete it before he got caught and so now I have to finish what he couldn't. I can't tell anyone, much less someone I know nothing about. He would kill me.' The last thought to cross his mind left a grim visage over Draco's whole being in its wake. It caused a foul mood to infect him; one that he was sure would be hard to shake.