Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, the Next Generation, or any of the characters mentioned in Deathly Hallows. I do, however, own Frank and Alice Longbottom II, Cassie Malfoy, and any other characters that you have not previously been introduced to. I also do not own the 39 Clues branches (Tomas, Lucian, Ekaterina, and Janus).

Cassiopeia's Point of View
The next day was the worst in Albus Potter's life. The girls and I made sure of that.

When he walked into the Great Hall during breakfast, we put a jinx on him that made it so that all day long he would be tripping over air, every few steps. When he sat to eat (at the Slytherin table) we turned his portion of the seat to water, so when he sat her fell on the floor and as soaked. During lunch he found that his pumpkin juice tasted strangely like Hagrid's cookies. And then, finally, we made his hair turn Weasley-red during dinner. That part was Lily's idea, since she said that he always teased her for being a ginger when he wasn't.

Foolishly thinking that it would be a smart idea, I let the other girls go back to the dorm without me, wanting to have a bit more chicken before I left, which is why I found myself, twenty minutes after they left, standing in a deserted corridor with Albus Potter glaring at me from a few feet away.

"What do you want, Potter?" I asked, glaring back as I stood my tallest, trying to seem bigger and more intimidating than what seemed possible.

"I know that today was your idea," he said.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I feigned innocence.

He sneered. "Don't play dumb with me," he said. "I know very well it was you and my sister and cousins that made my day a living heck today."

I dropped the façade. It obviously wasn't getting me anywhere. "Fine then," I said. "So what? What are you gonna do about it?" I glared as I said this.

He took a small step backward and smiled; making me put my guard up even more than it was previously. "Nothing," he said, leaning back on the wall behind him nonchalantly. "I'm gonna let you get away with it for now." Suddenly he was mad again, and he stepped forward so that his face was inches from mine. "But just know that if you ever turn my own family against me again, you will pay. I just won't do it now because your brother happens to be my best friend."

With that he left and I was forced to walk back to the common room by myself, the hallways now deserted.

The days at Hogwarts passed quickly after that and before I knew it, it was time for Christmas break. My parents as well as the Potters had given me permission to stay at Lily's over break provided that I come home for Christmas Eve and Christmas so I could do our traditions. Then I would go back to the Potter's again until time to go back to school.

I got onto the train with Lily, Albus, James, and my brother, along with most of the other Weasley/Potters, and then promptly fell asleep on Lily's shoulder when we got to our compartment. We had decided to share it with my brother, Albus, and Rose, who, I was sure, had a crush on Scorpius.

I was in a half-asleep half-awake state when I suddenly heard Albus speak from across the compartment. "It's amazing how sweet she seems when she's sleeping." He snorts. "I guess looks can be deceiving."

"She is sweet," said Lily, who I had shifted on so that my head now rested on her lap as her fingers ran through my hair. "You just refuse to get close enough to her to realize that."

"I agree," I heard my brother say. "You really need to let up on her, Al. She's not all bad. I think she just doesn't like you because you were never as nice to her as you should have been. She hates it when people demean her, and the first time you met her you made her feel like she was just a little kid."

"She was though!" Albus defends. "She still is, in my book."

"She's the same age as me," said Lily. "And you don't treat me like you do her."

"That's different," started Albus, but then Rose cut in.

"How is it different?" she asked. "Personally, I think she's very mature for her age. She's much more mature than you were, anyway. How is Alice, by the way? You haven't talked to her very much since you dated her back in second year. The poor dear thought she was in love with you and you just about broke her heart."

"No I didn't," Albus shot back. "I just didn't like how the relationship was going, so I ended it. How bad is that? I didn't want to make her think that I wanted to date her anymore. I didn't want to lead her on, and so I broke up with her. There's nothing wrong with that."

"Enough," said Lily. "You guys arguing is going to wake her up. As for you, Albus, you need to be nicer to Cassie. Just because we pulled a prank on you doesn't mean that you get to be rude to her forever. I think you more than got your point across."

The compartment went silent after that, and soon after I let the gentle feeling of Lily's hand running through my hair lull me to sleep.

When we got to the platform again, I found myself with the sight of my brother being engulfed by a crowd of redheads, a huge smile on his face.

I stood back a bit, hoping that they would overlook me, but unfortunately they don't and soon one redhead woman, probably in her sixties, came over to me. "Hello," she said. "My name is Nana Molly. You can call me Nana, Molly, or Nana Molly like the kids if you want."

"What does my brother call you?" I asked.

She smiled. "He calls me Nana Molly officially, but usually he shortens it to Nana," she said.

I couldn't help but smile back. She was a lot more welcoming than Grandma Greengrass, and probably as nice as Grandma Cissa was. "Nana Molly it is then," I said, and if possible her smile got bigger.

"Now," she said. "You look a bit peaky. We should get you home for some dinner."

My grin stayed on my face for the entire trip to the "Burrow," as the Wotters (Weasley/Potters) called it. The Burrow was a very tall building which seemed like it was about to topple over at any moment. It was leaning slightly to the side and I couldn't help but wonder how sturdy it was.

"It's okay," I heard my brother say from beside me in a whisper. "It's held up by magic; it's never toppled over while I've been here."

I nodded slightly and followed him inside.

When I got there, I found that the smell of chicken filled the house and my mouth instantly watered. It smelled amazing.

My contentment must have shown on my face, because suddenly James came up. "Welcome to Nana Molly's cooking," he said. "It's the best I've eaten yet."

I grinned, something I seemed to do often around the Wotters. "I can tell," I said. Then I looked toward the stairs, which were right in front of us. "So, where am I bunking?"

"With Lily, Roxanne, and Lucy," he answered. "I'll show you."

He walked with me up the stairs as we talked. "So, what's with the bad blood between you and my brother?"

I frowned. "When I first met him he refused to treat me like an equal, and then he called me "Little Cass," which he knows I hate. So basically, he is a prat to me, so I'm a prat back."

James looked thoughtful. "You know," he said. "He isn't like that to anyone but you. It's actually kind of funny."

"Gee," I grumbled. "Aren't I just the lucky one?"

He didn't seem to have a response to that, and I found us walking in silence up the stairs until we got to a door some three stories up. "This is it," he said. He smiled a little as he bent down to give me a hug. "I really am glad Lily met you," he said, and I couldn't help but smile back, even after he had gone back downstairs and I had gone into the room, which currently occupied all three other girls.

"Hey Cassie," said Lily as I walked in. "What took you so long?"

"I was just talking to James," I said as I went over to the bed Lily was sitting on. She and I would be sharing, according to her.

"Oh?" asked Lucy, an eyebrow rising. "So our Cassie has a crush on James, does she?"

I looked at her like she was stupid, which was what she was acting like. "No," I said, disgusted. "I don't have a crush on anyone."

"Yeah Luce," said Roxy. "We all know it's Albus she has a crush on."

"Now I don't!" I said. "I don't have a crush on anyone, let along Mister Prat-Of-The-Century!"

"Who's talking about me?"

I turned to see none other than the aforementioned Prat-Of-The-Century leaning on the doorway, a smirk on his face. I swear I wanted to scream.

"Oh, nothing," Roxy was saying. "Just the fact that Ca–"

I put my hand over her mouth before she could say anything else. "Nothing, prat," I said. "Now get out."

His smirk turned into a sneer and he stepped forward a bit. "I don't think I will," he sneered. "In fact, this is my family's house, so I think I'm going to stay until dinner."

I saw red. "I want to change," I said. "So either get out or see something for which Scorpius will probably kill you."

"Go ahead," he said. "I don't think you will."

Thanking God that I had worn an undershirt that day, I went over to my bag, pulled out my PJs, and then pulled up my sweater to reveal my button-up over shirt, then pulled that up to reveal my dark blue undershirt. My heart beat fast as my fingers reached for the hem of my undershirt and I started panicking. Was he actually gonna make me do this?

But then suddenly his eyes widened and he started waving his hands. "Alright!" he said, obviously annoyed. "Fine, I'll get out. But don't think I won't be back, Little Cass."

I couldn't help but smirk as he left. "Girl!" hooted Lily as the door shut. "I can't believe you actually did that! I thought you were gonna actually finish. Heck, his face while you were doing that was priceless!"

My smirk got wider. "Well," I said. "He shouldn't have messed with me."

I took off the undershirt and put on my pajamas as I talked to the girls, and they did the same. "SO what do you think will happen at dinner?" I asked absentmindedly.

"I dunno," said Roxy. "I mean, it's just a little thing. Grandma cooked a chicken, and it's probably her special recipe, so we'll be in for a treat. Also, we're supposed to have mashed potatoes and corn."

I nodded, smiling at the mental image. "Alright then," I said. "You think it's done yet?"

Suddenly there was a call from downstairs. "DINNER'S READY!"

The girls and I giggled at that before leaving the room and going toward the kitchen, which was all the way at the bottom floor. By the time we got there, almost everyone else was already there and we had to scramble to find seats.

Our plates were given to us one at a time and we had to wait for nearly fifteen minutes before it was time to eat. "Merlin, Nana!" I said. The name rolled off my tongue easily. "This is amazing!"

I got laughs from all over the table and we fell into an easy conversation. By the time dinner was over, I had decided to sit outside for a few moments, and I had told Ginny that. After being given permission, I walked outside and stepped onto the porch.

I had barely been there three minutes before suddenly the door opened again and out stepped Albus Potter.

"Potter," I said curtly in greeting as he walked over, leaning on the balcony next to me, which I had previously been leaning on to look at the stars.

He sighed. "Listen," he said. "I'm sorry that I've been a jerk to you. And before you ask, no, your brother didn't ask me to apologize this time. Will you hear me out?"

I nodded slightly, turning back to the sky as I listened.

"I was a prat to you because I was a prejudiced jerk," he started. "And I thought that you would be a stuck-up snob, being the pureblood reputation, which was really stupid since I had already met your brother and he was nothing like that.

"See, after that, you just showed that you had so much spunk, and I figured that if you could fight, then I wasn't going to let someone younger than me win, so I just continued to be rude. But then my sister became your friend and I got jealous.

"See, Lily and I have never been all that close. She's closer to James. So when you got Sorted into her house and became her friend, I got jealous, but then she told me off on the train earlier today and I realized that I was being stupid. I came to apologize to you earlier, upstairs, but then you got defensive, so I got mad and felt stupid so I decided not to apologize.

"But now I feel bad about that, so I wanna apologize. I'm sorry for being a prat, and maybe we can start over?"

I turned to him, my eyes wide. He wanted to start over? "O-Okay," I said. "Um, I'm sorry for being a jerk to you too. Forgive me?"

He smiled and nodded. "Okay then," he said. "I have to get back inside now. Talk to you later then?"

I nodded, and he started walking away. As I looked up at the stars, I realized something.

Slytherins were supposed to be mean, course. But Albus was only partially that. I smiled and giggled softly.

Albus Potter was an Almost-Slytherin.

A/N: No, the story is not over. Yet.