C. M. Black: Tears of a Phoenix
Chapter IX: A tense reception
Dressed in a knee-length black and white dress, Cassy departed the dormitory with Hermione exactly forty-minutes later. Hermione wore a pale blue dress, pastels always suited her in a way they did not Cassy, while Ginny wore a darker green. The two collected her from the common room where she stood waiting and bid farewell to Neville and Ron. Cassy refused to walk as quickly as the other two. She maintained that it was improper to be on time to a function. There was an order to it, she explained as she strolled behind, and that meant not appearing too keen or too disinterested, for one made the host wary and the other made the attendee disrespectful. Hermione, though, had only been late a handful of times in her life and did not quite follow Cassy's etiquette. However, Ginny fell back to walk with Cassy.
'It's not going to start without us if we're a few minutes late,' she said.
Hermione frowned. 'I just think it's rude to be late, even more so if you do it on purpose!'
At any rate, Hermione had to make the choice to continue to charge ahead and arrive by herself, or to slow her pace and enjoy the walk before facing the crowd of preened so-called school superiors. She chose to walk with them and the girls arrived at Professor Slughorn's office seven minutes late.
The door was opened and his large, circular face popped into view with a beaming smile. He greeted them one after another before the smile began to slip.
'No Harry?' he asked.
'No, Sir. He had a prearranged meeting with the Headmaster tonight,' answered Cassy.
'Unavoidable then,' sighed Professor Slughorn.
The office was large. It was not as grand as Professor McGonagall's office as Deputy Headmistress, but it was larger than Remus' had been. A dark, circular table was situated just off to one side, with a dozen chairs surrounding it. Cabinets lined the opposite walls and towering shelves were stuffed with books above it. Various brass instruments were littered on the free surfaces and especially cramped onto the wide mantle of the grand fireplace that burnt brightly at the far end of the room. Two sofas sat in front of it and what little wall space remained was carefully decorated with the many photographs of his old students and personal favourites.
'Spotted something you like, Miss Black?'
Cassy noted the way he did not refer to her by an informal first name as he did everyone else. The conclusion she had drawn was that it was out of respect for her position, rather than a particular dislike for her. Whilst he wanted to become close to Harry, the Chosen One, he could do so by becoming a familiar, trusted face, but with Cassy it was very different; she was a political entity and he had to ensure she liked him well enough before trying to assume they were comrades in anything, lest he risk offending her and losing all favour. It was commonly done, she had seen many men and women fall at that hurdle when approaching Lucius Malfoy when she was a child. He called it arrogance, though really it was a reflection of his own high-mindedness. If that was the case, Professor Slughorn was truly more self-aware than anyone wanted to acknowledge and Cassy noted the potential benefits of being in his good graces.
'Lily Evans,' she said shortly. 'What year was she in, may I ask?'
A red-haired girl was in a central photograph on the stone wall along with many unfamiliar faces. Her hair was shoulder length, shorter than Cassy had ever seen it.
'Fifth year. My favourite Christmas party by far. I'm afraid I may not remember much of it, truth be told,' he said with a wink. 'Your uncle, Regulus, was there too. Just there, in fact.'
Cassy inspected the photograph closely and spotted him just at the back of the group. He was tall for his age, but short overall, with black hair and pale skin as all the Black family had. He was smiling, which was unusual and had several boys around him who he seemed familiar with.
'Good at Quidditch, very good, indeed. Won Slytherin a more than a fair few games as Seeker when I was Head of House,' continued Professor Slughorn cheerfully. 'It is a shame he went missing, though. A brilliant boy, he was. Always very respectful. I dread to think what the Death Eaters may have done to him. Seventeen-years-old too…'
It was a curious thought that Professor Slughorn was unaware that Regulus had been a Death Eater. Then again, he had died before he had the chance to live amongst them. Born in winter, Regulus had died before reaching his eighteenth birthday mere months after graduation. He had never stood a chance.
'War is a terrible thing. Alas! Listen to an old man's ramblings, how are you finding the first week?' he exclaimed. He herded her back towards the large table, stooped with his eyes focused on only her.
Surrounding the table were Shandy and Stephen, who sat beside one another, then the Carrow sisters, Slytherin twins who were in Astoria's year, as well as McLaggen and Melinda Bobbins, who Professor Slughorn introduced with the commendation that her family owned a large chain of apothecaries. It was not until five minutes later that Zabini arrived and Cassy gave her friends a pointed look each that they both seemed to ignore.
Ginny stubbornly seated herself between Hermione and McLaggen when she and Cassy caught sight of his drifting eyes roaming over their friend. There was absolutely no way that was being allowed to start. Hermione loathed him anyway. Cassy sat on Hermione's other side beside Stephen, who had Shandy beside him. Zabini and McLaggen were on either side of Professor Slughorn; he beamed and clapped his hands. Suddenly, the shallow, silver bowls in front of them filled with hot soup and the tiny plates were holding a bread roll each.
Slowly, Cassy tore the bread apart as she listened carefully to the forced divulgence of information from those surrounding her. Professor Slughorn was keen for them to be as fond of one another as he currently was of them and that meant desperately seeking areas of commonality amongst the very varied students. Favourite lessons had not brought much luck. Cassy's remained Transfiguration – much to her host's insistence he would have to try harder in the future then –and many people responded automatically with Potions, though their reasoning hardly seemed genuine at all. When Ginny admitted she favoured Charms Professor Slughorn laughed.
'That was obvious from your delightful hex!' he bellowed, chortling about something only he knew to have happened.
Hermione's was Arithmancy, to which even Professor Slughorn raised his eyebrows. Cassy could not stop her own dark eyebrows inching upwards when Shandy announced his own favourite class to be Transfiguration too.
Hobbies did not reap much better results. Cassy's lips curled downwards when Shandy replied again. His time was spent on art, painting and sketching, he said, somewhat blankly, as though it was not something he often spoke of.
Of course, she thought dully, he would favour talents I'm abysmal at.
When asked, she responded that hers was the piano, whilst Zabini studied Astrology in his spare time. Professor Slughorn took a great interest in Stephen's woodwork and Cassy described the soldier she had received the year before – he was rather delighted to note the two were friends – and his enjoyment only brightened when Stephen mentioned he was entering modelling with metals. The professor jovially requested a new set of candlestick holders. The good mood was stilted by the Carrow sisters; their hobby, they answered jointly, was taxidermy and even Professor Slughorn could not help but stare at that.
Thankfully, talk soon turned to the famous people Professor Slughorn corresponded with regularly. He was careful not to divulge his favourites too much, after all, noted Cassy, he was surrounded by relatives of those he cultivated to do great things. Many Quidditch stars were on the list, though Cassy and Hermione glanced at one another often to check if the name was familiar to the other when their own minds drew blanks; Ginny withered from her close proximity to their Quidditch ignorance. He mentioned several vampires, which were curious tales, and he even fluttered over his encounters with Nicholas Flamel.
'He died last year, you know. Over six-hundred years old too,' he said conversationally as they ate their desserts. 'Everyone speculates he simply got bored of living, but he and his wife were quite delightful, really.'
Cassy stared straight down at her pudding.
The night began to draw to an end as the clock stuck half-eleven. Whilst Cassy deemed it productive, she had learnt a lot about their professor as well as Shandy and Zabini, it was a relief to exit the warmth of the office and emerge into the brisk night air. She left Ginny to the mercy of Professor Slughorn, who was busy attempting to brag about his affiliation with the captain of the Hollyhead Harpies. Cassy breathed in deeply and when she turned to find Hermione, she met the hazel eyes of Stephen instead.
'Is that your idea of fun? Because I think I've died inside,' he muttered.
Cassy smirked. 'From the conversation or the fact that Shandy seemed to have returned to being your best friend?'
'Yeah, he's been talking to me all week and sits with me in the library again. I don't know what that is about, to be honest. He seems to be just like he was in fourth year,' he said idly.
Before he really met me then, noted Cassy. Did I scare him?
Was it even possible, she contemplated, that she could honestly have scared Shandy into retracting back onto himself? There was a good possibility that he had merely become more sociable with Stephen again, but he had pulled away the year before. He had become a force of his own with a group of devoted friends that she had not seen during her third or fourth year. They had sprung up over summer, like little weeds taking advantage of the Sun. Then, they are gone and Shandy ended up back in the same place he had been. She knew it might have sounded conceited, but in Cassy's mind she knew very well that his change of friends must have had something to do with the incident last year. His aggressiveness faltered and she did not seem him again beyond a silent passing in the halls.
Cassy turned as Shandy exited the room. She gazed with critical eyes and he turned to her blankly. Then, without a word to her, turned to Stephen and bid him a goodnight. She watched him leave.
'Cassy!' hissed a voice.
She turned and Ginny and Hermione were waving her over from around a nearby corner.
Stephen snorted. 'I'll speak to you later.'
'Yes,' sighed Cassy in amusement. 'Goodnight.'
'Night,' he said and waved lazily.
Cassy smiled to Professor Slughorn as the he closed his office door and strode to her friends.
'Thank Merlin,' sighed Ginny. 'McLaggen was only a few minutes from fully stripping to get you to notice him, Hermione.'
'Don't,' groaned Hermione as Cassy laughed. 'He's vile. Never has someone said "I" as much as he did.'
'Just have a really terrible personality when you talk to him. Be…' Ginny trailed off, frowning as she tried to imagine what McLaggen would dislike in a girl.
'Smart?' suggested Hermione lowly. 'I can't imagine he likes girls' with opinions with the amount he talks.'
Cassy scoffed. 'Hermione, everyone knows you are intelligent. That is probably exactly the reason he fancies you. Think about it, he comes from a wealthy, accomplished family. An ambitious girl is probably exactly what he wants. You have no hope.'
Hermione looked between the laughing girls as though her soul had left her body.
As it turned out, Harry's meeting with Professor Dumbledore was not as any of them expected. It was not a lesson in defence, but of history. He was not taught any superb new tricks to enable him to survive, but what seemed like a long and slow series of lessons in understanding the man and the situation he was to face.
A memory was shown through the pensive that the Headmaster had collected from a Ministry worker named Odgen, who had been called to retrieve Marpin Gaunt for a trial for use of magic in front of a Muggle. It was a fairly standard charge, but Harry explained that the young man he was faced with only spoke Parseltongue and never once a word of English. He was pale, sickly and tall, with eyes that pointed in different directions. A man, his father, named Gaunt had exited the house and pulled a necklace from his shirt. As the heirs of Slytherin, he believed Ogden could not arrest him.
'Gaunt is Voldemort's grandfather,' explained Harry. 'He had a necklace that belonged to Slytherin himself. It didn't make much difference to Ogden, of course, he still needed Marpin to go with him. Anyway, they went inside and there was a third person. She wasn't pretty and you could hardly tell she was there until she Gaunt spoke to her.'
If Harry described a girl as being unattractive, she was either someone he particularly disliked or she was indeed very ugly for Harry rarely registered people as anything but pretty unless they were of either extreme. He continued on that the two men were harsh towards Merope, Voldemort's mother, who her brother teased for being in love with a Muggle man who often passed their house in the evenings.
Instantly, Cassy knew who the man must then be. 'Tom Riddle Senior.'
'Exactly,' said Harry. 'Her father was disgusted by it when her brother said she was in love with him – she denied it, of course. When the memory ended, Dumbledore said when Gaunt and Marpin were arrested later on for attacking Ogden. She brewed a love potion and forced Tom Riddle to marry her. She got pregnant and believed he would love her by then so she stopped giving him the potion. He left her the next day.
'While that's fascinating and everything, why would Dumbledore show you that?' asked Ron, frowning.
'He says I need to know everything I can about Voldemort to fully understand him,' answered Harry. 'Not that I think anyone will ever understand him, but apparently it should help me find a way to beat him. Oh, and he said we are free to use the Room of Requirement for whatever we please as long as it stays between just us. He thinks some extra practices together will do us all some good.'
'We just need a time we're all free then,' smirked Ginny and everyone smiled in excitement with the exception of Cassy, who had already become detached and consumed by heavy thoughts.
Listening to the story of Voldemort's mother merely reminded her of Malfoy. The situation was completely different, the circumstances could not be farther apart, but there was something in the dreadful tone of the tale that brought her mind back around to the murky shadows of the Slytherin common room. Love, that was the theme of the incident and Cassy loathed to admit it, but she really did care for her cousin and until a point where he was truly beyond her reach she was unwilling to let go of it. Every word she would speak in his presence would need to be carefully calculated. She needed to corner him with her best-planned speech and find the weaknesses in Voldemort's plans that would stir panic and regret within him and force him to reconsider his position. It was difficult to plan for Lucius and Narcissa had not been out of favour with the Dark Lord to her knowledge. Malfoy had not seen the worst she knew he could do. She hated the way her mind constantly brought them back into her conscious thoughts. Again and again, they were always there.
She did not have much time to deliberate any new ideas because as the next week began and classes continued, she remained buried under mounds of new work materials and when not in class, she found she had other duties to attend to anyway.
Malfoy was in her Transfiguration class, openly scolded for not handing in even a scrap of his homework, and he attended Potions with a face of pure loathing. His potion bubbled over twice whilst his gaze remained stern and distant. He failed to turn in any work for Charms either. He wrote during the lesson, which was more than either of the others. Slowly, thoughtfully, and somewhat fractured, Malfoy made notes on his parchment, but his movements did not coincide with explanations Professor Flitwick gave. It was impossible to read the direction of the quill to guess what he was writing; they only way she would know would be to steal it and within a second of that thought having arrived in her mind, she had settled upon it and a strategy to achieve it.
When the students had begun to noisily shift in an attempt to pack away before the lesson officially ended, Cassy sat up in her seat as though she was going to drag the chair forward closer to the table after collecting her bag from beneath the desk. As she shuffled forward, she craned her head and spotted the parchment lying loose and unprotected. Malfoy rummaged through his bag in an effort to fit the textbook in.
Cassy removed her wand from the desk and stuffed it beneath the table. She swished her wand and sent Malfoy's papers scattering to the ground. Yet, one folded in on itself as it fell. It twisted an inch from the floor and soared beneath the tables and chairs and straight into her waiting hands beneath the desk. Quickly, she unfolded it. Immediately, Cassy was struck by how little writing was actually on the parchment. There were many thick lines of messily erased words, but what remained was very little. 'BB', 'VC', and ' ' and a few minor symbols were all that remained visible. A rectangle was etched out on the middle of the paper surrounded by question marks and inches of diameter beside it. Cassy frowned.
She looked up to see Malfoy still scrambling to collect his papers. She then turned to Harry and he looked down at the paper blankly. 'Malfoy was writing this all lesson.'
His eyes lit up.
'Don't feed into it, Cassy,' groaned Hermione. 'It's probably nothing.'
They ignored her and spent lunch debating what, if anything, it meant. There was clearly an object involved and Cassy was convinced that 'BB' had to mean Borgin and Burkes, the location of the partner of whatever he was trying to fix. Yet, Cassy could not recall anything that fit into those dimensions. There were many towering pieces of furniture, but none as imposing as the diagram suggested. Despite himself, Neville joined their discussion having been persuaded that if Cassy was asked to join Voldemort, then there was every chance that the son of a Death Eater would be as well and if not, he said to Hermione, Malfoy was certainly up to something and whenever he was it never ended well for them one way or another.
He and Cassy had left the castle and wandered down to the grounds after lunch. Neville had his Care of Magical Creature class and Cassy had a study period, but she ventured down to Hagrid's hut with him anyway. She smiled at Hagrid when he spotted her, his response was weak and muted. Each year he would give a booming shout of delight at the sight of her and yet he barely gave her more than a civil nod. Although she frowned at his retreating form, she tapped her hands on her knees and ducked closer to the ground.
'Fang, come here, Fang,' she called and the slobbering dog wasted no time before barrelling to her with uncoordinated, bandy legs. Still, Hagrid barely gave her another glance.
Neville bid goodbye and joined a small gaggle of students who were brave enough to return to Hagrid's class for another year. Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones were amongst the few and both turned and waved to her.
As the lesson progressed, Cassy circled the grounds with Fang. He stopped and sniffed often and did his best to catch several birds in the long grass. The air was crisp and the sky was clear. A slight frost had settled on the leaves and stones overnight, but there was still the promise of a mild winter ahead. She was not the only one exploring the grounds and she was actually hard-pressed to remember a day so early in the year where students willingly left the castle when it was not either extremely sunny or knee-deep in snow. There was a buzz in the air, a sort of atmosphere that could not be ignored. Everyone was keeping their eyes open and their hearts ablaze; Hogwarts was the safest place in Britain, it was said. The contrast to what must have been fretful, isolated summers for many had formed deep needs to be lively when lively was allowed.
That also meant there were more people to stare at Cassy and the giant boarhound as they passed, but she ignored that.
When her watch indicated the end of the period, she doubled back around on the grounds and wandered back to Hagrid's hut. There were several bodies ascending the crooked stone steps back towards the castle, but Neville was not amongst them. When Cassy drew closer, she spotted him clearing away stacks of sticks with thick, long gloves on his hands. Some distance away, Hagrid was sealing little wooden crates.
Neville turned and grimaced at her.
'Enjoying yourself?' she asked, eyebrow raised.
'We've lost a snake,' he replied grimly. 'Hagrid brought in a bunch he "borrowed" from a man he knows and now one's missing. They're really poisonous.'
Cassy slowly blinked. That was a fairly ordinary story. She was not even surprised.
'I think Hagrid needs to stop making friends with strange men in the pub,' she said.
'Unfortunately, I think Hagrid is one of those strange men,' he sighed.
Cassy chuckled.
'Oh, I was wondering if yeh were goin' ter bring back my dog,' came a deep voice from across the paddock.
Cassy and Neville quickly sobered, though Hagrid's bad mood did not seem to have worsened. Quickly, Cassy plastered a charming smile across her face.
'How have you been, Hagrid? I apologise for not visiting sooner, my classes have been quite hectic settling in,' she said.
Hagrid grunted.
'Harry is planning to see you tomorrow,' she tried lightly.
'Don't bother,' he said gruffly. 'No one wants ter see me.'
'That's not true, Hagrid!' protested Neville immediately.
'I am here now, am I not?' said Cassy. She openly frowned at the half-giant as he continued to move aside the undergrowth in search of his missing snake. 'It is not that no one wants to see you, but rather we have been very busy with our NEWT classes.'
'Oh yeah, the classes you all picked over mine,' he snapped.
'I was down for your class, Hagrid, but the limit is seven and as interesting as your class is I must think of what will help achieve my goals,' she said sternly. 'Hermione and I are taking seven and Harry is taking five, we just needed a bit of time, Hagrid. It is nothing personal.'
Hagrid winced and his shoulders sagged. There was an unusual glittering in his beady, black eyes. Cassy narrowed her eyes while Neville's widened in alarm. She prayed to Merlin that she was wrong, but then he let out a great sniff and the wiry threads of his beard began to tremble.
'I always knew it would be difficult for yeh to fit me in. I just thought yeh'd visit before now,' he said, his voice watery.
'Don't cry. Why don't we go and have a cup of tea, we've not seen you for months, so how about we catch up, okay?' said Neville. He patted Hagrid's arm sympathetically, though the words seemed to make him even more tearful .He stumbled around his hut for a moment before Neville insisted he sat; they knew his home well enough to make their own tea, he insisted, and Cassy fetched a large box of tissues and set them in front of him at the table. Hagrid blew his nose heavily. It appeared as though floodgates had been opened and he was no longer able to contain himself. As his eyes welled up again despite his insistent dabbing, Cassy leant forward in her seat and fixed him with a firm gaze.
'What is the matter? It is obviously more than missing our company for a week,' she said softly.
He heaved a deep shuddering breath and said, 'It's Aragog! He's dying and I can't seem to help.'
The news did not inspire grief. Instead, Cassy's eyes lit up brightly and she leant even further towards him. Slowly, she patted his knee and put on her best sympathetic expression, which said little for it. 'Is there anything we can do to help?'
'No, no,' he wept. 'His family have become frisky since he's been ill. It's probably only safe for me to go in.'
Cassy inwardly deflated. She really wanted to see an Acromantula. Forcefully putting that thought aside, she tried to conjure a pleasant, comforting thought despite never having been very good at it.
'Well, he's quite old now, isn't he?' said Neville as he put down the mugs on the table. He smiled reassuringly at Hagrid, who wasted no time in beginning his tale of how it was he had come across Aragog, though they both already knew it well. They stayed until their teas were drunk and Hagrid's eyes were dry. He managed a smile as he waved them from his hut and asserted that he expected to see them all soon with no excuses. They waved.
When the door shut, Cassy paused and looked at her watch.
'Are you going back to the castle?' asked Neville.
'No, I am supposed to be meeting Astoria by the lake, but I am still early,' she said.
'I said I'd go to the greenhouses and help Professor Sprout after class. She probably thinks I've forgotten,' he said fretfully.
Cassy waved a hand dismissively. 'Just explain why and she will forgive you.' Professor Sprout was exceptionally kind hearted.
Without further delay, Cassy ambled down to the lake for the second time that day. There were fewer students than before. Only pockets of people were scattered along the shoreline, the edges of the forest, and ascending the stone steps. The water was placid. The Giant Squid was nowhere to be seen and the excitement the new first years had had when attempting to feed it that morning must have worn the creature out. It probably did not get much exercise when there was no Fred and George to play catch with it anymore.
The low, recumbent limb of an old tree was empty. It lay bare for the first time all day, she suspected. Students had been climbing across it during her walk; it was some feet from the ground and a perfect place to hoist effortlessly into the tall branches above, but Cassy did not climb into the sparse array of mottled green and orange leaves and instead sat on the limb to stare idly across the lake. She disinterestedly gazed at the remaining clusters of students.
The memory of her intrusion into the Slytherin common room was still fresh in her mind. She had not had the opportunity to meet with Astoria since. While she seemed perfectly ordinary from a distance, Cassy knew better than to assume it was not merely a front. If the Slytherins were giving her grief then there would be no way Astoria would allow her emotions to show; there were those who fed off weakness and even Daphne would not be able to quell the disturbance. Yet, she was equally aware that not all Slytherins were aspiring Death Eaters. It was possible that she had found support, silent or vocal as they may be, but Cassy was not optimistic enough to assume a revolution had started in the pit of snakes.
Twice her eyes flicked over a distant group of boys and each time she did they seemed to be growing closer to her. By the fourth time – she had stared ahead and pretending to be oblivious for a time – one boy was clearly struggling against the others as two boys pushed a taller blond boy towards her.
The first thing she noted was that he was about Harry's height, with an angular face and dark, hazel-green eyes. He was not someone Cassy could honestly say she had seen before, or at least taken note of, but he rather handsome none-the-less, particularly with his uncertain grin. After quickly muttering to his friends, which Cassy suspected was some sort of curse, he stepped towards her and cleared his throat. He stared straight into her dark blue eyes and then away quickly before he looked back with a grin.
'You're Cassy Black, right?' he asked. 'I'm David Green.'
She did not know anyone with that surname. For a moment, she scrutinised him carefully, before she nodded politely. 'Pleasure to meet you.'
He smile inched wider and he stuffed his hands in his pockets.
There was a long pause and Cassy did her best not to frown at him. 'Can I help you?'
'Er – yeah, I er – you're friends with Potter, right?'
Cassy sighed heavily and turned her head away. Immediately, Green pulled his hands from his pockets and held them in front of him in surrender.
'Sorry, sorry, but y'know, curiosity and everything,' he said quickly.
Frowning at the lake, she drawled, 'The papers are correct in some regards and naturally flawed in others. As to everything else, I cannot possible comment.' She turned back to his with a lazy gaze, but it did not seem to have deterred him at all. In fact, he had not taken his eyes from her face since they had begun speaking.
Behind him, his friends lingered. They were whispering amongst themselves and when one spotted her stare, they all quickly turned away as though the treeline was the single most interesting sight the grounds had to offer. Her eyes flicked back to Green.
'My friend Ernie talks about you sometimes. He says you're friends,' he said suddenly. He paused to await conformation, but Cassy continued to watch his expression closely in silence. 'He told everyone last year about how you defended Muggles in your class against Umbridge. That was pretty cool.'
Slowly, the familiar warmth on his face makes sense. There was a slight flush to his cheeks, so faint in the bright sunlight, but visible to her keen eyes all the same. His body was angled and his head was ever so inclined to her. Suddenly, Cassy had a feeling she knew why the older boys' friends had been shoving him towards her so teasingly.
'For someone who is obviously so proudly Muggleborn, you do your best to hide it,' she commented.
For a moment, he said nothing. Then, he laughed and dropped down beside her own the tree branch.
Ruffling his blond hair in a manner irritatingly similar to Harry, he asked, 'What do you mean?'
'You came over here to commend my defence of Muggleborns, your shoes are a Muggle brand, yet your clothing and hairstyle are not. I have not seen a single Muggle with hair swept like yours and yet a dozen Pureblooded boys have it. Furthermore, you wear a ring like I wear my signet ring, despite your lack of House,' she listed off plainly.
Any hope she had that it might make the boy wary enough to depart on more distant but still cordial terms, for she was still to be the Head of her House and that meant having a good image, vanished as his eyes crinkled in amazement and grinned at her.
'Go on then, analyse me,' he said eagerly.
'You want me to analyse you?' she repeated, eyebrows raised.
'Yeah, go for it.'
Cassy hummed and turned to look back up at the castle. 'I am afraid I can see my friend, so I must decline.'
She slipped from the branch and waved to the oncoming form of Astoria.
'Oh, right. Well, you're always welcome at the Hufflepuff table,' he said with that crooked, uncertain smile.
'It was nice to meet you,' she said and quickly strode to meet Astoria half-way up the stone steps.
Astoria raised an eyebrow over her shoulder and as soon as Cassy was within distance, said, 'An admirer? Dear me, Cassy, what will Harry think?'
'How can you tell that from such a distance?' asked Cassy incredulously.
'Because you are not sociable enough to talk to someone unless they approach you first,' she responded nonchalantly.
Cassy rolled her eyes.
'He was probably just trying to charm his way into finding out more about Harry,' said Cassy simply.
Astoria stared. 'You are really dense sometimes. You know that, right?'
Cassy turned to look over her shoulder at her with an expression caught between a sneer and a smile. 'Enough about me. How is my dear Aster today?'
Astoria groaned loudly.
So, Cassy's been in the papers a lot lately, I thought it would only be natural for her to have some admirers of her own at last. She's not as dense as she was with Harry either.
Unfortunately, this is just a bridging chapter that covers a few key things because I couldn't fit them in anywhere else.
Also, someone asked how Cassy knew the Slytherin password and I thought I had mentioned it was from Astoria, but I probably cut it out during editing expecting to slot it somewhere else, but yeah, Astoria wouldn't have asked too many questions about that.
Thank-you everyone who has reviewed, favourited, and followed this so far! It keeps me motivated and reminds me I have to update when I see the notifications.
Thanks!
