Disclaimer: HP doesn't belong to me - he belongs to JKR, Buffy to Whedon. Only OCs are all mine.
Chapter 26: The Donor
18th December 2003
Harry sleepily opened his door as he had only arrived back from California a few hours earlier, and he was exhausted as the entire time he had been away had involved a lot of traveling, very long days, and no time off. "Cassandra?"
"I should've known better." Cassandra was fuming as she barged in past Harry.
"Don't tell me, Potter was after a little more than friendship." Harry closed the door behind him.
"It was like being on a date with an octopus." Cassandra was spitting mad. "To say nothing of the fact that he only asked me out because the boys from Slytherin had a bet to see who could, I quote, 'pull the hottest bird here'. Apparently being young and a teacher, I placed at number one."
Harry could see that Cassandra was far from impressed by her ranking. "How did you find out?"
"Ginny Weasley told me." Cassandra scowled. "That girl has to be the biggest bitch ever, as I'm certain she didn't tell me to be nice."
Harry had the distinct impression that the Slytherins would be having a tough time in future when Cassandra covered classes for him. "So what did you do?"
"As I only discovered that delightful piece of information about ten minutes ago, it was a little too late to do anything." Cassandra gave a frustrated scream. "Ooh! I've a good mind to tell Uncle James about his behavior." Cassandra marched into Harry's kitchenette and poured herself a glass of wine from the bottle that Harry had opened just before he went to bed. "Do you want one?"
"No thanks." Harry yawned and dropped on to the sofa. "So do you want me to punish him after the break?"
"No, I had the pleasure of slapping his face myself." Cassandra's hand was still smarting. "I can't believe I fell for his polite act."
"I'm the one who said you should give him a chance," Harry pointed out.
"Which is why I'm here venting off right now," Cassandra tartly informed him. "Anyway, thanks for the wine. I'm off to bed."
Harry watched Cassandra pick up the almost full bottle. "You're taking my wine?"
"As you so correctly pointed out, it was your idea to say yes, so yes I am." Cassandra bent over to kiss Harry on the cheek, inadvertently giving Harry a view straight down her dress.
Despite not meaning to, Harry couldn't help but steal a look. "Goodnight, Cassandra."
Bidding Harry goodnight, Cassandra didn't realize what she'd done. "Goodnight, Harry."
Harry knew he had to tell her. "Cassandra?"
"Yes, Harry?" Cassandra hesitated at the door to the office.
"Next time, be careful when you're bending over in a dress like that." Harry watched Cassandra go bright red. "I could see straight down it when you leant over to kiss me goodnight."
"Thank you for pointing it out, Harry." Cassandra angrily pulled open the door. "But unless you want to be classed down in the gutter with Potter, I suggest that next time you have the decency to close your eyes."
Harry winced as Cassandra slammed the door behind her.
The Next Day
Harry walked into his sitting room to see Cassandra sitting at his table and eating his toast. After her remonstration of him the previous night, he had expected her to avoid him. Cassandra smiled brightly. "Good morning, Harry."
"You look chipper. How much of my wine did you drink last night?" Harry poured himself a cup of tea from the pot the house-elves had delivered together with his breakfast.
"Half a glass." Cassandra had ended up hurling the wineglass at the wall as she had thought about Harry Potter and his roaming hands. "I owe you a new glass by the way."
Harry guessed what had happened to the innocent wineglass. "It doesn't matter. I want to apologize for my comment last night. I didn't mean anything by it. I just wanted to warn you."
"I'm aware of that, otherwise I wouldn't be here now," Cassandra assured him. "I only bit your head off because I was so angry with Potter."
"Are you going to report him to James?" Harry sighed as he took a mouthful of tea.
Cassandra smirked. "No, I'm going to deal with him myself."
Harry suspected his suspicions about Cassandra making Harry's life miserable were correct. "So how did you get on during my absence? Did Orion help you?"
"A little." Cassandra had mostly spent her time with Orion coaching him on the couple of subjects he was a little weak in. "But he offered."
"I won't say anything to Sirius," Harry promised, reading between the lines.
"How did your investigation go?" Cassandra bit into her toast as she asked.
"After a lot of traveling and investigative work, we managed to eventually narrow our search down to three one-armed men being held in state facilities throughout the world who'd been admitted within the last ten years." Harry bit into a piece of toast as well, and made Cassandra wait for the rest of the news as he ate it.
"Stop teasing and tell me," Cassandra ordered.
"Orion was right. Voldemort didn't kill his donor." When Harry had seen the man in the San Diego facility, Harry had known that the body at least had once belonged to Voldemort; not only had he been recognizable, but his scent had given him away.
"And did you manage to find out who the donor was?" Cassandra leant across the table, excited to hear what Harry had to say.
"Not exactly," Harry answered cryptically as he picked up another piece of toast and began eating.
"Harry, stop eating breakfast and just tell me," Cassandra whined.
Harry put down his toast. "The hospital staff said that he had no identification on him when he was brought in. But in spite of his condition, he seemed to understand them and followed their simple commands. However, they've made little headway in trying to get him to speak except for one phrase which he repeats over and over again: My baby's an FBW."
Cassandra was unable to make head or tail of the phrase. "What does that mean?"
"Not a clue." Harry and Sirius had both also come up empty. "The staff thinks that he's learnt it from the television that was constantly playing in his room."
"Could you get anything from him at all?" Cassandra finished off the pile of toast.
"Your dad tried Legilimency but the guy's mind is just like Rupert's. Given the state of his mind, we were surprised to learn that he could speak at all." Harry and Sirius had been frustrated by their results.
"Is he magical at all?" Cassandra stole Harry's yogurt from under his nose as she asked.
"Barely." Harry scowled but let Cassandra take it. "Whoever stripped his mind did a power transfer as well, so if Voldemort's out there, he's not only imbued with most of his original strength but whatever strength his donor had as well."
"That makes Voldemort even more dangerous then," Cassandra guessed.
"I'd say so," Harry agreed. "Unless his donor was a squib."
Cassandra couldn't see that they were any better off after locating the donor, except for learning that Voldemort hadn't regrown his arm, and was probably more powerful than he once had been. "So to what conclusion have you come?"
"It's a little difficult to come to any sort of useful conclusion. Finding the donor has only made Rupert's condition all the more puzzling as we know that Voldemort didn't take Rupert's body." Harry and Sirius were still stumped as to how Rupert had ended up in the condition he had. "As for our donor, we've had one Frank Barrett Williams transferred to St. Mungo's where we can monitor him. The staff in San Diego named him after the initials he keeps repeating."
"So we still have no idea who Voldemort is then." Cassandra sounded dejected.
"Not really, no." Harry yawned widely. "Sorry, I've got portkey lag. You should see your poor dad, he was dead on his feet when we apparated back to the Ministry."
Cassandra had to admit that Harry did look a little drawn. "So how bad was it?"
Harry picked up the pepper-up potion he had decided to take. "We pursued leads in fourteen countries over the twelve days before narrowing things down to three facilities. The San Diego facility was the last one we looked at." Harry frowned as he hated the feeling of the steam that came out of his ears as the potion did its job.
"At least there are no classes for us today as the seventh years are taking their mock NEWTs, and it's a free day for the rest of the school." Cassandra had been glad that she didn't have to do anything, and she hadn't been travelling as Harry had. "I've got nothing much to do as Brizel's already packed for me."
Harry gawped. "You got your house-elf to come from home to pack for you?"
Cassandra had done nothing of the sort. "Faith sent him as she thought I might be busy having to cover for you."
Harry had the good grace to blush. "Sorry."
"So, seeing as we've got nothing to do, how about discussing some training with me?" Cassandra asked hopefully, now that Harry was looking a little perkier after taking the potion.
"You do know it's not going to be easy, don't you?" Harry wanted to make certain Cassandra knew exactly what she was letting herself in for. "I'm not exactly the most easygoing person when it comes down to things like training."
Cassandra looked cynically at Harry. "I think that you're just trying to get out it, Harry. You're one of the nicest people I know."
Harry knew that Cassandra was basing her assessment on how he acted around her. "You wouldn't be saying that if you'd seen what I used to put the new recruits for the Auror program through every year."
Cassandra wondered if Harry was teasing her. "You can't really have been that bad."
"Have you finished breakfast?" Harry got up when Cassandra nodded. "Let's go to the Room then, and you can judge for yourself."
When they arrived, Harry wished for a pensieve and withdrew a memory. "I'll show you just a little of how a group of first years fared. This is about two years after I took over as Head Auror."
Cassandra was quite excited to see what Harry had been like and eagerly plunged into the pensieve with him. She found herself in a large room with benches around the outside. "This looks like the training room at the Auror Academy."
"It is," Harry informed her. "Now watch."
Cassandra watched as a group of eight young men and women entered the room.
A blonde girl turned to the girl next to her. "So what do you think happens now?"
"I don't know. My sister wouldn't tell me." Lynette Jacobs had been made more than a little nervous by her sister's refusal to tell her anything. "But I've got a feeling that it's not good."
A tall red-headed man snorted. "It's our first day. They're not exactly going to send us out into the field, or expect us to be able to do anything out of the ordinary. Your sister was probably just trying to scare you."
David Grant, a short, stocky young man, disagreed with Richard Matthews' statement. "Dad said to grit my teeth and just get on with it but like Jacobs' sister, he refused to tell me anything else."
Melanie Hoover, the blonde girl who had asked the first question, asked another one. "So who do you think we've got first?"
"As long as it's not Lupin, I don't care," Grant told her.
Cassandra remembered that Lupin had been Harry's last name prior to Sebastian, and she whispered to him, "Does he mean you?"
Harry grinned. "Oh yes, and you don't have to whisper. They can't hear you."
"Is it true he's supposed to have been a Death Eater?" Melanie asked nervously.
"Yes," Lynette confirmed. "And he's served time in Azkaban, to say nothing of the fact that he married You-Know-Who's daughter."
Melanie shivered. "Why would they let someone like that lead Auror Division?"
Elaine Goyle gave her opinion. "Probably because he's not afraid to get the job the done. I mean he disposed of You-Know-Who, so who else is going to stand in his way?"
"Aren't you afraid of a former Death Eater?" Melanie thought the statuesque girl was rather offhand.
Elaine laughed a little contemptuously. "He's hardly going to put us under the Cruciatus, now is he?"
Cassandra halted the memory as she saw the tiny smile playing around Harry's lips. "That's not part of the training, is it?"
"Why don't you ask one of the recruits who started this year?" Harry could see that Cassandra was uncertain whether or not he was joking. "Better yet, let's continue watching."
Cassandra did as Harry asked, and she looked on with interest as a man with a ponytail and dark hair appeared suddenly, fabric fluttering as he pulled off his invisibility cloak."That's you, isn't it?"
"Yep." Harry had almost forgotten how he had once looked. "Now shh."
Cassandra shut up.
Pensieve Harry marched over to the corner and put down his cloak. "Would you like to repeat what you just said, Goyle?"
Elaine was unfazed by Harry's request. "I said that you'd hardly put us under the Cruciatus."
"And what makes you think that a former Death Eater and inmate of Azkaban wouldn't hesitate to do a thing like that?" Harry asked in a hard tone.
Lynette and Melanie both shifted uncomfortably as they realized that Harry had been listening to the entire conversation. Elaine stared scornfully at Harry. "You're Head of Auror Division. You'd be out of a job if you used an Unforgiveable on a trainee."
"Is that so?" Harry turned to Lynette. "Do you know why your sister didn't tell you what your first day would be like?"
"No, Sir." Lynette's voice shook as she answered Harry.
"You're going to find out." Harry turned his amber flecked green eyes on Grant. "Sorry to disappoint you, Grant, but it looks as if your hopes of getting someone else to teach you have been dashed."
Grant swallowed hard and tried to look anywhere other than at Harry. Harry turned to Elaine. "Seeing as you volunteered your opinion so readily about what I'm not supposed to be doing, you're going first." Harry turned to the seven remaining recruits. "Sit down, listen, and learn."
The seven practically ran to the benches. Elaine cockily walked over to face Harry. "So what happens now?"
"That should be what happens now, Sir," Harry warned. "I'll let it slide this time, but in future should anyone forget the 'sir' when they address me, they'll become the proud owner of a demerit. Ten demerits and you're out of the program."
Sitting on the benches, Melanie gasped. "But the program's three years long."
"And you've just earned your first demerit," Harry informed her. "So as Hoover has just pointed out to her detriment, the program is of three years' duration, so you'd better make sure you watch your mouths."
Cassandra stopped the memory again. "You were being awfully hard on them, Harry."
"It's going to get much worse for them, believe me," Harry told her. "It can be a harsh world for an Auror, and the tougher they are the better." Harry then restarted the memory once more.
Harry turned to Goyle. "Draw your wand."
Elaine smoothly unholstered it from her wrist. "What now, Sir?"
Harry scowled at the derogatory tone that came with the word 'Sir'. "Just because you called me Sir, doesn't mean I won't punish you for insolence, Goyle. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Sir." This time Elaine's voice held a mark of respect.
"Good." Harry unholstered his own wand. "If you can go twenty seconds with me in a duel, I'll let you forgo the Cruciatus Curse."
Melanie and Lynette both paled at Harry's comment. Elaine, however, considered herself an excellent dueler. "I'm ready, Sir."
Harry waved his wand in the air and a misty clock appeared. "On my mark we'll bow and the duel will begin. From the second that the first spell is cast, the clock will begin to count down. If you get past twenty seconds a bell will sound and all activity will then cease. Understood?"
"Yes, Sir." Elaine was determined to beat Harry.
Harry knew that Elaine had come top in dueling during the testing the trainees had been put through, but he also knew her weakness. "On three."
As Harry said three, Elaine immediately erected a shield before throwing her first spell. "Confringo."
Harry ducked as he cast his own spell. "Bellua Muris."
A three foot tall, feral looking mouse appeared in front of Elaine, saliva dripping from its oversized incisors. Having a phobia about mice, and being faced with the largest one she had ever seen, Elaine completely lost her head, screamed and dropped her wand in fear.
Harry summoned Elaine's wand, before vanishing the mouse, which was backing Elaine up against the wall. "Five seconds. Not bad."
Cassandra realized that she had dug her nails into her hand as she waited to see what Harry would do next after vanishing the mouse.
Harry threw Elaine's wand back to her, as he unholstered his own. "Are you ready, Goyle?"
Elaine looked a little fearfully at Harry. "You can't be serious about the Cruciatus?"
"I am," Harry promised her. "And that's one demerit. So I suggest you grit your teeth as Grant's father put it."
Elaine gulped as Harry raised his wand. She hadn't believed that Harry was being serious. It turned out he was. Harry coldly incanted the spell. "Crucio."
The other recruits and Cassandra recoiled as Elaine dropped to the floor and began screaming. Harry held the curse for fifteen seconds until a bell rang out, at which time Harry stopped. Elaine had obviously bitten through her tongue as she had blood pouring from her mouth. Harry didn't seem bothered by this as he walked over and effortlessly lifted her to her feet, before helping her over to the bench and pointing to a large container. "Take one of each potion." Leaving Elaine to deal with healing herself, Harry returned to the center of the floor. "So who can tell me why I just did that?"
No-one answered straightaway, all afraid of drawing Harry's attention to them, until Denise Crawford, a small black girl, held up her hand and asked hesitantly, "Because we need to know what it feels like?"
"Exactly. And because this is an exercise to do exactly that and not a punishment, no-one's experience will last any longer than twenty seconds. During your classes, you'll learn more about how to deal with such an attack." Harry beckoned to Denise, who gulped as she got to her feet. "The same rules will apply as with Goyle, except you only need to last for fifteen seconds as you answered my question correctly." Harry turned to face the remaining recruits. "And that is the only question I'll be asking until this session finishes. The rest of you will have to last for the full twenty seconds."
Denise moved to the center of the floor with shaky legs. "I'm ready, Sir."
Harry knew that Denise didn't really have any phobias but her shielding rated as one of the worst in the group. "On my mark." As Harry suspected, Denise's shielding was quite poor, and, after exchanging one spell with Denise, he fired off a blasting spell that punched through Denise's shield without difficulty, knocking the trainee to the floor. Harry then summoned her wand, ending the duel.
"You may as well stay on the floor. Twelve seconds." Harry threw back her wand. "Grit those teeth, Crawford."
Denise cried unashamedly as Harry held the curse on her for twelve seconds, before Harry dropped it and then helped the girl up and over to the bench.
Cassandra observed in silence as the older Harry ploughed through the recruits one by one, with only Lynette Jacobs managing more than ten seconds, and even she went down at twelve. "You must've known their weaknesses."
"I did." Harry was pleased that Cassandra had realized how he had been able to deal so efficiently with each of the trainees. "But, as you never know who you're going to face when you're out in the field, you've got to be able to overcome your weaknesses or face your fears. The person you're facing might just be holding the same information I was."
"Was that it for their first day?" Even though she knew it was just a memory, Cassandra felt nervous for the recruits.
"No." Harry shook his head. "They underwent the Imperius Curse next."
"How did they fare?" Cassandra already knew that Harry was impervious to the curse, even though he said that it hadn't always been the case.
"Matthews had a lesson in civility." Harry could not help but smile as he remembered the shocked look on the trainee's face as he realized that Harry could easily shake off the spell. "I initially gave them the chance to put the curse on me. As Matthews was the worst at dueling, he had the pleasure of going first."
"He told you to do something really stupid, didn't he?" Cassandra just knew she was right.
"He did," Harry confirmed Cassandra's assumption. "He told me to get on my hands and knees and bark like a dog after I'd specifically told the trainees to only use innocuous commands."
Cassandra winced at the boy's lack of common sense. "You're not joking, are you?"
Harry shook his head. "Needless to say Matthews found himself the proud owner of two demerits as well as being on cleaning duty for the next month as punishment for disobeying my orders. He also failed miserably when I put the Imperius Curse on him, but then again I didn't expect anyone to do well."
Cassandra was curious. "What did you get him to do?"
"Nothing quite as degrading as he'd tried to do me." Usually Harry would never have demeaned his students but he had been tough on them. However with Matthews, Harry had really wanted to teach the boy a lesson. "I just had him stand on one foot and hop around the room..."
"So you weren't that bad then." Cassandra thought Harry had been quite fair.
Harry finished off his sentence. "…while he told everyone that his childhood nickname had been Shrimp."
Cassandra winced. "I take it back. That was cruel."
"It still didn't teach the idiot. After I left the training room, I overheard him remark about my being a heartless Death Eater bastard who shouldn't be allowed to run a day camp let alone a training session for Aurors." Harry hadn't been entirely surprised by Matthews' comment but he had been pissed off by his lack of discretion. "The trainees may have thought they knew everything about me, but none of them knew I was a werewolf, and Matthews hadn't expected me to be able to hear what he'd said. So I walked back into the room and docked him another three demerits: one for not calling me sir when he was talking about me, and two for insubordination."
Cassandra knew that Katherine would never let her live it down if she ever found out that she had been spot on about what Harry had been like as Head Auror. Cassandra also knew that she would have been unable to cope with Harry if he had been like that with her at Hogwarts. "Did any of them drop out?"
"Surprisingly no." Harry usually had had a drop-out rate of one or two. "But predictably Matthews didn't make it through the first six months and was thrown off the course."
"Who finished top?" Cassandra found it difficult to believe that this had taken place years earlier.
"Crawford did." Harry smiled as he remembered the small woman. "She may have been tiny but she packed a punch. I was sorry to lose her when she got married and became pregnant. Her husband didn't want her out in the field once they had a child, so she transferred to desk duty."
"Did she like it?" Cassandra couldn't help her interest in the group.
"No, she left after six months." Harry had still kept in touch with her nevertheless. "You'd identify with her. She froze up on her first time out in the field, and as I said, she was a damn good Auror."
Cassandra was well aware of Harry's belief that she could have overcome her fears. "She obviously had what it took. I know I don't."
"That's a matter of opinion." Harry thought that Cassandra could've gotten over her nerves with just a little encouragement but she had refused to talk about it. He therefore changed the subject back to the reason he had brought Cassandra to the room. "So after seeing me in action, do you still want me to train you?"
"Would I have to undergo the Cruciatus?" Cassandra was terrified of having the curse used on her after seeing it demonstrated on both her dad and the recruits.
"I'm training you how to defend yourself, not to be an Auror, so the answer is no." Harry could sense Cassandra was frightened. "If at any point you want to know how it feels, and how better to deal with it, then I'll do it but unlike the recruits, you have a choice."
Cassandra suddenly remembered Harry's comment a few months earlier about making changes to the Auror training program, and the one he had made when they first started watching his memory. "Did the recruits here have to go through it?"
"Yes." Harry had suggested the inclusion of both the Cruciatus and Imperius Curses to Sirius, who had reluctantly agreed to it, knowing that the trainees would be better prepared if they knew exactly how to deal with both curses, as well as how they felt. "The only difference is that Auror Moody was the one to carry this exercise out instead of me, but I believe I'm going to be doing it next year."
Cassandra shivered. "I'm glad I dropped out then."
"Let's forget about the Unforgivables and focus on what you need. Like most magical beings you might be slim but you're most definitely not in shape, so you need to exercise and get fit. And before you ask, yes, the recruits also have to do this." Harry aimed his wand at Cassandra and frowned as she cringed. "Cass, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to change your clothes into something more suitable."
"Sorry." Cassandra felt her face burning.
Harry knew what was wrong. "It's made you nervous after seeing that memory, hasn't it?"
"Just a little," Cassandra admitted.
Harry put a hand on her shoulder. "If you noticed, I warned each and every recruit of what was going to happen. Unless it's a test, I'll always warn you if I'm going to do something you might find painful or uncomfortable."
Cassandra visibly relaxed. "Okay."
Harry transfigured Cassandra's clothing into a Muggle style sweat suit and sneakers. "You're ready. Now first…"
An hour later, Cassandra found herself lying on the floor, red-faced and sweating. "You're trying to kill me without the aid of a wand, aren't you?"
Harry passed her a bottle of water. "I told you that you were unfit."
Cassandra drank half the water before pouring the rest over her head. "I think I hate you."
"Now you know how the recruits felt about me." Harry pulled Cassandra to her feet. "Come on, you can use my shower and get freshened up before lunch. Unlike you, I haven't had all of my things packed away yet."
Cassandra groaned as she tried to walk. "My legs are made of jelly."
Harry knew how tough it was the first time. "Do you want me to carry you?"
"Yes," Cassandra said, before remembering where they were. "On second thoughts, maybe not."
"Too late." Harry grabbed Cassandra and threw her over his shoulder in an approximation of a fireman's lift. "Palliata."
Cassandra knew that Harry had made it so that unless someone looked really hard, they would be unable to see her. "Why didn't you disillusion me?"
"I hate the feeling of the spell so I don't like using it on other people." Harry opened the door and carried Cassandra back to his rooms without incident. "You can take some of my sweat pants from the top drawer. Socks are in the bottom drawer and there should be a sweater that will fit you in the wardrobe."
After forty minutes and no sign of Cassandra, Harry began to get concerned and not being able to hear any noise, opened his bedroom door to discover Cassandra in just her towel, curled up on his bed, fast asleep. Harry grinned to himself, and covered her with a blanket before going off to shower.
It was almost two o'clock when Cassandra woke up to feel a hand on her naked thigh. The last thing she remembered, she had closed her eyes and promised herself just a few minutes. Looking down she realized that she had a blanket tangled around her legs and her towel was lying on the floor. Something hard was sticking in her back, and she became conscious that it was a book. Tugging at the blanket she pulled it up over herself. Harry, who had fallen asleep beside her reading a book on Muggle myths, mumbled in his sleep and moved his hand to Cassandra's stomach, pulling her closer to him. Cassandra gently nudged him. "Harry, let go of me."
Harry didn't move. Cassandra spoke even louder. "Harry!"
Harry shot up, drawing his wand. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I just wanted to free myself." Cassandra wrapped the blanket around herself more firmly. "Now could you get out while I get dressed?"
Harry yawned and rolled over, before closing his eyes. "Be my guest."
Cassandra gaped. "Harry, out!"
"Use the bathroom." Harry closed his eyes and was asleep again within moments.
Cassandra huffily grabbed her towel, Harry's clothes and the blanket before heading into the bathroom.
The next day Harry discovered Cassandra once again sitting at his table eating a hurried breakfast. "You're in a rush, aren't you?"
Cassandra grimaced. "I'm on Express duty."
"I'll do it," Harry offered. "You've already gone above and beyond for me."
"You don't mind?" Cassandra hadn't been looking forward to it. "You were exhausted yesterday."
"And today I'm fine, so slow down and eat your breakfast." Harry poured himself some tea. "I'm just going to have this and I'll go down."
Cassandra ate some more toast before turning the conversation to the Christmas break. "So are you portkeying to Mione's, or are you flying with us?"
"Flying." Harry had done enough portkeying over the last two weeks to put him off for a long time. "I'm not turning down a chance for a little luxury."
"Mione said in her last letter that the plane will leave on Christmas Eve at midday," Cassandra reminded Harry as he shrank the trunk that was sitting on the floor by the door.
"I'll be there," Harry assured her. "So do you want your Christmas present now or on Christmas Day?"
Cassandra went red. "Christmas Day, I think."
"Okay then." Harry checked he had got everything. "Make sure you ward the rooms when you leave."
"I will." Cassandra got up. "So, I'll see you on Christmas Eve then."
"You will," Harry promised, his hand on the door handle.
Cassandra stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "Thank you for doing this for me."
"It's the least I can do." Harry let go of the door handle and cupped Cassandra's face with his hand, before dropping a very light kiss on her lips. "Watch how you go."
Cassandra felt as if her stomach had bottomed out as Harry closed the door behind him.
Mione sat opposite Remus in her office. "I'm sorry that I'm doing this just before Christmas but I really need to talk to you about my job."
Remus felt his heart plummet. "You're leaving?"
"No, but I've talked it through with Thomas and I'd like to cut back to three days."
Remus let out the breath he had been holding. "I can live with that. I thought I was going to lose you completely."
"I'll stay full-time until we can find an assistant." Mione had already agreed to it with Thomas. "But once I've shown them the ropes, I really would like to spend more time with the children."
"I totally understand which is why I made the offer when you first got married." Remus stood up. "I'll get straight on to it when we return after the Christmas break."
Mione got up as well and kissed Remus on the cheek. "I appreciate it."
"I'd rather have you working for me part-time than not at all. You've been an absolute brick since Rupert was admitted to St. Mungo's, and I don't know what I'd have done without your support. I just want you to know that I appreciate it."
"You're more than welcome." Mione opened the door to the office. "I've got a meeting, so I'll see you later."
Remus' smile fell away as Mione closed the door.
After clearing Customs and taking the car that had been sent to shuttle the passengers out to where the aircraft was standing, Harry boarded and quickly found a seat near the back, the bedrooms in the middle effectively partitioning him off from everyone else. He had flown quite a few times, usually when he had been working undercover as an Unspeakable and wanted to pass as a Muggle, and when he had gone to Florida as a child with his former nanny, but never in such luxury before. Harry had been seated for little more than a minute when Cassandra came bounding down the aisle and dropped into the seat next to him. "I didn't think you were going to make it. The attendant told me that you'd just got on."
Harry had almost resigned himself to portkeying. "Something cropped up at the last minute."
Cassandra buckled herself in. "So what have you been doing? H.J. said he's barely seen you."
"You can blame your dad for that," Harry informed her. "He's had me helping out with the recruits while Alastor was taking some leave."
"Dad didn't say anything. Were you nasty to them?" Cassandra smiled up at the beautifully dressed girl who offered her champagne, which Cassandra refused.
"Not especially," Harry said, a mischievous smile on his face. "I think there was at least one still left standing by the time I'd finished."
Cassandra cringed as she thought about the poor recruits. "So what did you do to them?"
Harry was unable to answer as the girl serving champagne, addressed Harry. "Champagne, Mr. Sebastian?"
"Thank you." Harry took two glasses and passed one to Cassandra. "Have a drink."
"I'm not certain if that's a good idea. I get portkey sick." Cassandra was a little embarrassed by admitting to her ailment. "So I'm a little worried about being airsick as well." Unlike the others, Cassandra had chosen to portkey home from Australia after Mione's wedding, not entirely comfortable with the idea of flying, but after how sick she had been, she had decided to try the alternative method this time.
Harry had already been forewarned by Katherine, and he fished out a vial from his pocket. "Well, you should have taken some of this then."
Cassandra gratefully took the vial of anti-nausea potion. "So how did the Express trip go?"
Harry shrugged. "Boring. I slept for most of it."
Cassandra rebuked him. "You were supposed to patrol."
"H.J. did most of it," Harry admitted, before attempting to divert Cassandra's attention elsewhere. "So is Lucius on board?"
"A Muggle plane?" Cassandra snorted. "It would be below him. Anyway, Dad said Lucius and Regulus aren't joining us until the 28th."
Harry swallowed more of his champagne as the plane began to accelerate and left the ground. "Normally I'd agree with Lucius but private flights are a different kettle of fish from commercial planes. You wouldn't be treated like this unless you were travelling first class."
"I didn't think so." Cassandra sipped her champagne, liking the feeling as the bubbles washed over her tongue. "And you didn't answer my question about the recruits."
"I was teaching them some basic hand to hand training.".
"How did they do?" Despite the fact that she had decided not to pursue the course, Cassandra was still inordinately interested.
Harry had found them all lacking "Pretty awful." Harry patted his pocket where he had placed his shrunken trunk. "I've actually something in my trunk for you relating to the program."
Cassandra was confused as to why Harry would bring her something. "But I'm not training to be an Auror."
"I thought you might like to read the training manuals and related material." Harry could see that he was right as Cassandra's face took on an almost hungry expression. "It's what the trainees have to know before their periodic tests."
"If I work through them, will you test me?" Cassandra was well aware that even though she no longer wished to be an Auror, possessing the same knowledge as they did could only be beneficial to her.
"I'm already ahead of you." Harry had had to ask Sirius' permission to let Cassandra see the material but when he had explained why, Sirius had agreed. "Normally it takes three years for an Auror to cover this material but I'd say that you're far more intelligent than most of them, so I was thinking we could go through a year's worth every three months."
Cassandra's mouth fell open. "And I thought Orion was having a tough time of it. That's not very long."
"I need to complete this before you return to Hogwarts next September, as I won't be able to continue your training after that," Harry reminded her. "So are you game?"
Not one to turn down an academic challenge, Cassandra gleefully nodded. "You bet I am."
"So speaking of Orion, have you heard how he did in his mocks?" Harry put down his now empty champagne glass on the table in front of him, only for it vanish.
"He finished sixth in the year." Cassandra was glad she hadn't forced Orion to help her. "Dad was really pleased with him, but said that he still expects better in his NEWTs."
"He won't have Severus grading him then," Harry reminded Cassandra. "So I think we might expect to see another Black finishing top of the pile."
"We'll have to see." Cassandra gave a yelp as the plane bounced in an air current as it continued its climb. "I'm not sure I like this."
Further up the aircraft, Hermione was feeling exactly the same way and was clinging tightly to H.J. "Why didn't I just portkey? I've never liked flying that much."
"Because you know how much Cammie likes it." H.J. grinned at his daughter, who was beaming from ear to ear.
"It's wonderful, Aunt Hermione." Cammie preferred flying to portkeying. "It sort of reminds me of being on a broomstick."
Hermione shivered. "And I don't like the idea of you doing that either."
H.J. shared an excited look with his daughter. "You should see her. She's soon going to be flying circles around me."
"I don't think so, Dad." Cammie knew that she would be hard pushed to match H.J.'s talent. "But I do love flying. It helps me to forget about everything else when I'm up in the air."
H.J. knew the feeling well. "Which is exactly what I like about it as well."
Hermione gripped H.J. even tighter as the plane bounced again. "Can we talk about something other than flying?"
"Of course." H.J. put his arm around Hermione, and the group began to discuss the changes H.J. was planning to the house he owned.
Sitting on the opposite side of the cabin, Sirius was talking quietly to his wife. "I'm sure there's something going on between Harry and Cassie, even though they've both denied it."
Faith, who was holding little Sirius, raised an eyebrow. "And that bothers you?"
"He's far too old for her." Sirius wasn't about to admit that he disliked the idea of anyone dating his daughter, no matter what their age was.
"Sirius, the age gap isn't that much bigger than our own. And if you're so worried about it, then why have you bought Cassandra an apartment in Harry's block?" Faith asked.
"Because she's been making noises about getting somewhere of her own, and I'd rather she was living somewhere that's both safe and where someone's around to keep an eye on her." Sirius knew that Cassandra was unable to afford anything like he had bought for her for her Christmas gift, and he didn't want his daughter living in an unsafe area. "And unlike Orion, I know she doesn't want to live in Grimmauld Place or the Square."
Faith had been shocked at the amount of money that Sirius had shelled out for the penthouse apartment, but he'd assured her that it had barely made a dent in the Black coffers. "You can't be that worried about Harry then."
"I am but my daughter's safety comes first." Sirius knew that he had to trust Cassandra when she said that she and Harry were nothing more than best friends. "But as much as I want to, I can't keep Cassie from dating, even if I disapprove of her choice. I still hope she'll meet someone closer to her own age, like Orion has."
"You're not still after Harry Potter and her getting together, are you?" Faith thought that Sirius had got lucky as it was with Orion and Katherine.
"Not after the stunt he pulled at the Yule Ball." Sirius had made Cassandra tell him the truth when she tried to brush off his enquiry as to how it had gone. Harry Potter had been lucky that he had gone to Italy with his mother and her family as Sirius had been absolutely furious. As it was, Harry would be getting it in the neck from James when he returned as well as a fortnight of detentions with James, who wouldn't be going easy on his son or his friends, who would be receiving a similar punishment.
"I'm sure Cassandra can take of herself." Faith had already spoken to Cassandra as well, and she knew that Harry Potter was going to be sorry he had ever come up with the half-baked idea, as would his friends. "Anyway, I think that Harry Sebastian is a nice guy."
Sirius liked Harry as well, it was hard not to. "I'm not saying he's not but take Tonks... she says she's over Harry but it's patently obvious that she's not. I don't want my daughter ending up the same way."
"Sirius, they've both said they're not involved, so stop worrying." As the plane leveled out, Faith popped her sleeping son into the crib that was fastened to the sofa that ran along the wall of the plane. "If it turns out not to be the case and he steps out of line, then kick his ass. Until then, I'd give them both the benefit of the doubt."
Sirius backed down. "Okay, I'll stop moaning."
Two hours later, and with no sign of Cassandra returning, Sirius could no longer restrain himself. "I'm just going to stretch my legs."
Knowing exactly where her husband was going and why, Faith rolled her eyes and continued talking to Luna and Xander, who were sitting opposite her.
As Sirius reached the back of the plane, he found Harry holding Cassandra's hair for her as she was being sick into a bag. "What's wrong?"
Harry glanced up. "Airsick."
"I have some anti-nausea potion," Sirius offered.
"She's already taken some." Harry rubbed Cassandra's back as she was sick yet again.
"I'll be back shortly." Sirius hated seeing anyone being sick, even his daughter, and he promptly fled.
Harry grinned. "So this Sirius doesn't like people being ill any more than the other one did."
Cassandra weakly lifted her head. "I don't care what Dad doesn't like. Just get me off this…" She got no chance to say anything else as she was sick yet again.
Harry waited for the spasm to end before unbuckling his seatbelt and getting up. "I'll be back in a minute." Harry hurried up to the front. "Sirius, I'm going to portkey Cassandra off the plane. I don't see any point in making her suffer when she doesn't have to."
"She's still being sick?" Sirius asked, his own face now a little green.
Harry nodded. "I just hope Thomas and Mione won't mind the intrusion."
Hermione glanced hopefully at Harry. "Do you want me to come with you?"
Harry could smell her fear, and knew that she was enjoying the flight about as much as Cassandra. "Grab your things then." Harry then made his way to the back of the plane where a white-faced Cassandra was toweling her face off with a wet flannel the attendant had given her. "Can we please just go?"
"Let me grab my book." Harry picked up his bits and pieces. "Do you have your stuff?"
"It's up the front. Dad can bring it." Cassandra just wanted to get off the metal contraption.
Hermione appeared behind Harry. "I'm ready."
Harry unsnapped Cassandra's seatbelt and swung her into his arms. "Hold on tightly, Hermione."
Hermione grabbed hold of Harry's arm. "I'm ready."
Harry grabbed the portkey that they all had been given in case of emergencies and activated it.
Thomas was sitting in his office when the wards alerted him to the fact that someone had portkeyed in. Making his way into the arrivals area, he came across Harry and the two girls. "Is everything all right?"
"I'm sorry to barge in like this but Cassandra's been pretty ill, and it turns out that Hermione doesn't like flying," Harry informed him.
"It's not a problem." Thomas knew that not everyone did. "Follow me and I'll show you to your rooms."
Harry was surprised when Thomas led them out of the corridor and to a bank of doors, where he opened the second one he came to. "We're staying in the main house?"
"Mione considers you her family, so yes," Thomas said. "This is Cassandra's room. Your room is two doors down to your left, and Miss Granger's is two doors beyond that. I'll just go and let Mione know you've arrived."
Cassandra groaned, "Harry."
Harry hoped the door he was rushing Cassandra through led to the bathroom. Thankfully it did. As he held Cassandra as she was sick yet again, Hermione found a flannel, and as the attendant had, wet it before passing it to Harry. Once Cassandra had finished being sick, Harry wiped her face. "Hopefully that'll be the last time."
Mione came rushing into the room, a vial of potion in her hand. "Take this, Cassandra. It's stronger than the usual stuff. I sometimes feel a little queasy when I fly so I brewed a derivative of the anti-nausea potion."
Cassandra shook her head. "Don't want anything."
"Trust me, it'll help you." Mione knelt down by her friend. "And it tastes nice."
Cassandra reluctantly swallowed the potion, feeling her stomach try to rebel as she did so. "Ooh!"
Harry rubbed her back. "Try and keep it down, Cass."
Cassandra kept swallowing until she could feel her stomach muscles relaxing. "That feels a little better."
Hermione passed over a glass of water. "Sip this."
Cassandra took a mouthful before rinsing it around her mouth and spitting it out into the toilet. "I need to brush my teeth."
If she was once more worrying about hygiene, Harry knew she had to be feeling better. "Let's get you up on your feet."
Cassandra still felt a little shaky. "Wow, my legs feel like jelly."
"I'll hold on to you," Harry promised as he wrapped his arm around her waist.
Mione and Hermione walked back into the bedroom, Hermione apologizing for their early arrival. "Sorry I came early but when Harry said that he was going to portkey Cassandra, I took the opportunity to hitch a ride."
Mione led the way out to the verandah. "You don't like flying?"
"Not particularly. H.J. told me to go if I hated it that much." Hermione felt a little guilty but she really had disliked the motion of the plane, even though it hadn't made her feel sick.
Mione threw up a silencing spell, as she wanted to question Hermione about something more worrying to her than flying. "Hermione, is Harry seeing Cassandra?"
"I don't know." Hermione was wondering the same thing. "This is the first time I've seen them together like this. Why?"
"I just wondered as he hadn't said anything." Mione dropped the spell.
Harry walked back into the bedroom and out to the verandah. "Do you have a robe Cass can put on? She's taking a shower."
Mione called out, "Tabernacle."
A small house-elf appeared. "Mistress Mione."
"There should be bathrobes in every bathroom. Can you make sure that that's the case? Before you do that, please sort one out for my guest in here and take it into the bathroom for her," Mione instructed.
Tabernacle bowed and vanished. Harry smiled. "Thanks."
Mione decided to be blunt. "Harry, are you and Cassandra together?"
Harry was a little taken aback at the question. "Why do you ask?"
"Because I was wondering if the two of you would like a room together," Mione enquired, as if this had been her intention all along.
"If I could have an adjoining room if you have one, that would be better." Harry knew he could listen out then if Cassandra needed him.
"I'll move Katherine down." Mione walked back into the bedroom and over to the wall, before waving her wand. "Novus Foris."
Harry watched as a new doorway appeared. "Thanks. If you'll both excuse me." Harry tapped on the bathroom door. "Cass, can I come in?" The two young women heard Cass call out it was okay to do so, and Harry disappeared inside.
Hermione turned to Mione. "Well, I guess that answers our question."
Mione glanced at the bathroom door. "I guess it does." She then turned to Hermione. "I'll show you to your room." With that, the two women left.
In the bathroom, Cassandra was sitting wrapped in a towel. "Thanks for helping me. I feel a little silly but I couldn't bear it on that plane any longer. I'm just glad that I'm not a Muggle."
Harry pulled out his wand and dried Cassandra's hair for her. "We can go and sit outside once you put this bathrobe on."
Harry passed it to Cassandra before turning his back. "Mione's given me the room next door."
Cassandra dropped the towel before using a drying spell on herself. "Why would she do that? I thought you were two doors down."
"She thinks we're sleeping together," Harry said in an amused voice.
Cassandra slipped on the robe. "Please tell me you told her we weren't."
"I didn't because it's none of her business," Harry answered. "And besides, I think it's a good idea if I'm next door, particularly given your nightmares."
Cassandra was still having the occasional nightmare about what she had done at the Ministry. "Does this mean if I start screaming in the night, you're going to come running?"
"You know very well that I would." Between the incident at the Ministry and his travels with Sirius, Harry had made several trips from his own bedroom to the girls' suite, his hearing picking up Cassandra's screaming even from that distance. After three sleepless nights, and to spare Luna and Katherine, Harry had finally moved Cassandra into his bedroom for a few days, while he slept on the sofa with the door to the bedroom kept open. "I know only too well what it's like to have nightmares like that."
"You can turn around now." Cassandra picked up a hairbrush that had appeared. "Actually they seem to be getting better. During the time I slept in your rooms when you were gone, I only had three bad nights, and I've had a couple over the last week, so they're getting less frequent."
"I was a little concerned because of what we discussed about Thomas in the Chamber." Harry was worried that it might play on Cassandra's mind. "Being here, I didn't want you to be alone."
"That's really sweet of you." Cassandra smiled at Harry. "Do you think there's anything to eat? I suddenly feel really hungry."
Harry had never known a girl eat as much as Cassandra did. "So the potion worked?"
"It did." Cassandra opened the door. "Ooh, fruit!"
Harry had seen the bowl of fruit on his way in. "There's also a bar over there. I'll get you some water and we can sit outside."
"Sounds good to me." Cassandra grabbed the bowl, Harry got the water and the two headed out for the balcony.
Cassandra slipped out of her bed and picked up her robe. As the connecting door between their rooms was open, Cassandra crept around as quietly as she could, not wanting to wake Harry. After using the bathroom, she picked up a bottle of water and headed out on to the verandah where it was still dark. Shivering a little in the light breeze, she cast a warming spell on herself and made her way to lean against the balcony.
"Couldn't sleep?" Harry's voice came out of the darkness making Cassandra jump.
"Harry, you frightened me!" Cassandra could feel her heart racing. "What are you doing down there?"
"I went for a jog." Harry had woken up at six and, unable to sleep, had headed down to the beach.
"But it's dark," Cassandra pointed out.
"I can see perfectly well." Harry knew he wouldn't have to explain any more than that.
"Are you coming back up?" Cassandra could now see him standing in Muggles shorts and a tee-shirt as she cast a lighting spell to illuminate the beach below her.
"Stand back," Harry warned.
Cassandra watched in awe as Harry went back a short distance before breaking into a run and leaping into the air, his hand catching the top railing before hauling himself over. "I didn't know you could do things like that."
"Natural ability and being very fit helps." Harry grabbed the towel he had left on the chair outside of his room before sitting down and opening a bottle of water. "By the way, Merry Christmas."
"I almost forgot." Cassandra grinned. "Merry Christmas, Harry."
"Do you want your presents now or later?" Harry hadn't put them out with the others he had brought with him.
Cassandra didn't want to wait and she excitedly declared, "Now." She turned round. "Let me just get yours. I'll be back in a few minutes."
Harry walked into his bedroom and hurried into the bathroom to shower. When he returned to the bedroom, Cassandra was sitting on his bed, a small pile of gifts in front of her. "You look excited."
"I've always loved Christmas." Cassandra patted the bed next to her. "Come on, open your presents."
Harry went into the closet and unshrank several large gifts before bringing them over to the bed. "You first."
Cassandra needed little encouragement, and she picked up the largest box. "It doesn't feel very heavy."
"Just open it." Harry could hardly believe he actually felt a little nervous about whether Cassandra would like what he had bought for her.
Cassandra pulled off the wrapping and opened the box before lifting the contents out. "It's so soft. I love it, thank you."
"I wasn't sure if I'd bought the right size. If it's not, let me know and we can exchange it." Harry had bought the leather jacket after seeing Cassandra eyeing it up when they had gone to see a Muggle movie. "There's something in the pocket for you."
Cassandra dipped her hand in each of the pockets until she finally came across an envelope. Opening it, she found a year's membership to a local cinema. "You're sending me to the cinema alone?"
Harry opened his drawer and pulled out his own membership. "I know we probably won't get to go much but I know you love watching movies on the big screen."
Cassandra looked more closely at the card. "I get a drink and free popcorn as well."
Harry couldn't help but laugh at her excited exclamation. "Only you would get most excited about the refreshments."
"I know what I like, and I like popcorn." Cassandra replaced the jacket into the box. "Thanks, Harry. Now it's your turn to open one."
Harry picked up the smallest gift and was equally delighted with his basilisk skin wallet as Cassandra had been with her jacket. "I take it you got sick of hearing me moan about the state of the one I currently own."
"Just a little." Cassandra had bought the basilisk skin from H.J.
"Your turn again." Harry passed over a very large box. "This one is quite boring but useful."
Cassandra opened the box to find lots of sweat pants, tops and socks. "That's brilliant. I don't really have anything like this."
"And if you keep nicking mine, neither will I," Harry teased.
Cassandra passed Harry's second gift over. "Dad helped me with this one."
Harry opened the long wide box to find wand blanks and several cores. "So he told you I snapped one of my wands, did he?"
"He said you sat on it."
A little embarrassed about the whole thing, Harry had hoped to keep it quiet. "It wasn't perfect anyway. This'll be much better as I can have it tailored to suit me." Harry passed the final gift over.
Cassandra unwrapped it before grinning and pulling out the stuffed toy wolf Harry had bought for her. "It's so cute, Harry."
Harry's face was an uncharacteristically red color. "Luna said that you loved hers."
Cassandra hugged it to her. "I was really jealous when Xander bought her Lysander."
"She called her wolf Lysander?" Harry hadn't heard of the name before.
"It was after some Muggle character she'd read about in a Jilly Cooper book she picked up at the airport when she flew back from Australia," Cassandra explained before pushing Harry's last gift over to him. "I'm afraid that this is the last one."
Harry opened the square shaped parcel to find a first edition of one of his favorite books from his childhood, The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe. "Cass, you shouldn't have."
Cassandra copied Harry's actions from when he had given her the earrings and reached out to take it back. "Well, if you don't want it."
Harry laughed and ran a hand reverently over the book. "This means a lot. Thank you."
"You're more than welcome." Cassandra was delighted Harry liked it. "What time are you going to breakfast?"
"I can wait while you shower if you want me to," Harry offered.
"Okay." Cassandra used her wand to vanish the wrapping paper before picking up her gifts.
Harry followed Cassandra into her room before sitting down on the bed as he waited for her to shower and change. When she came back into the room, he held out a box. "I almost forgot to give you this."
Cassandra opened the box. "Oh Merlin, Harry!"
"I thought you might like a necklace to match your earrings. But it's not really a Christmas present. It's more to say thanks for covering for me once again." Harry had spotted it when he had had a few spare hours when he and Sirius had been in New York at United States Auror Division East.
"I really don't deserve this." Cassandra ran a finger along the single strand pink diamond necklace. "But instead of arguing like I did about the earrings, this time I'm simply going to say thank you, and say that I love it."
"I'm glad you like it." Harry watched Cassandra carefully place the box in her trunk. "So are you ready to go down for breakfast now?"
"Can we just get something and come back here?" Cassandra could see the very first hint of the sun trying to come up, and she wanted to watch it.
"Give me a second." Harry hurried out of the room and returned a few minutes later with a tray laden with goodies. "The house-elves were only too willing to help. If you want to hold open the door, then go ahead."
Cassandra did as Harry asked, before sitting down and helping herself to a glass of orange juice. "I'm really hungry this morning."
"I'm not surprised. You were rather ill yesterday, and you only really ate fruit," Harry reminded her, as Cassandra had decided not to eat dinner. "For the return journey do you want to portkey, or do you want to take a chance with the potion that Mione gave you?"
"Portkey and I'll take the potion as well." Cassandra hated portkeying as well but she knew she would rather do that than fly.
"We'll do that then," Harry promised. "Now eat up."
"You never did say what the last minute thing was that cropped up which delayed you." Cassandra bit into the bacon sandwich she had put together.
"After finishing with the trainees, I decided to drop by the apartment to pick up a couple of books I'd forgotten to pack, and I found a note from Tonks asking to see me before I left if I had time." Harry got straight to the point. "To cut a long story short, I went round to see her and she told me that she hasn't got any lingering feelings of love for me, but that she wants a physical relationship again with no strings attached."
Cassandra felt her stomach go over. "Isn't that what you want with her?"
"I did." Harry poured himself a cup of tea. "And I like Tonks, I really do. But I don't think I should be going down that road again."
"Have you told her that yet?" Her appetite gone, Cassandra put down the sandwich.
"Yes, but she's asked me to at least consider it." Harry sighed. "The sex with her was great but…" His voice trailed off as he sensed how uncomfortable Cassandra had become. "I really shouldn't be discussing this with you."
"Harry, I vent to you and you vent to me," Cassandra halfheartedly reminded him. "Are you still attracted to Tonks?"
Harry was unable to deny that Tonks was attractive but the spark he had once felt had gone. "Not really."
"What changed?" Cassandra took a mouth of orange juice to wash down the last mouthful of bacon sandwich she had taken, as it felt as if it had stuck in her throat.
"I'm attracted to someone else," Harry admitted.
"Well, that could be a problem then." Cassandra felt even more miserable at Harry's confession, but determined to be a good friend she encouraged him to go on. "So why don't you get together with this other woman instead?"
"Because she's off limits."
Cassandra immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion. "You're not still in love with Mione, are you?"
"It's not Mione and the woman isn't married."
"Then why is she off limits?"
"It doesn't really matter why she is, she just is." Harry's response was clipped. "Can we change the subject?"
Cassandra felt a little hurt as Harry snapped at her, and her voice reflected it. "I thought we were going to be honest with each other."
"All right then." Harry felt guilty at being so mean to Cassandra. "If you must know, it's because her father would kill me and we have to work together."
Cassandra frowned as she tried to work out who Harry meant. "I don't know the people you work with when you're at the Ministry. Can't you just tell me who it is?"
Harry felt like banging his head against a brick wall. "Are you sure you were in Ravenclaw?"
Cassandra suddenly clicked. "You can't mean me."
Harry nodded. "I do but I'm not going to take it anywhere. You already know where I stand on love, and you deserve that. For me it would be just sex, and I'm not willing to risk both our friendship and working relationship for it."
Disappointment filled Cassandra, even as she turned a fetching shade of crimson as she wondered what it would be like to sleep with Harry. "So we're just going to have to stick to being best friends then?"
"Most definitely best friends." Harry decided that he no longer wanted to talk about it. "Now, I think it's time for a change of subject."
Cassandra began to talk about Orion, but even as she did so, her mind was still on what Harry had said.