Thank you to slushybath for following the story!

Just a warning, I am hitting writer's block with next week's chapter, and I'm not entirely sure how to go about the storyline with Cassie, so please bare with me if it's a bad chapter.

Enjoy this week's update!

Chapter 38

I finally managed to get Harry away from the mirror. I had to lead him by the hand down the corridors and back to the common room. Once we got to the corner by the common room I took off the cloak and gave the Fat Lady the password. She was quite surprised that we had gotten out without her knowledge.

Harry and I both went up the stairs and to bed. I put Harry's cloak under his bed and I took off his glasses for him.

"Harry." I whispered.

He looked at me, his emerald eyes still wide with shock.

"You do know that it was just a mirror?" I asked, setting his glasses on the nightstand and sitting on the bed Ariel was sprawled out on.

"Cassie, I saw them. I saw my family." Harry laid down, pulling the covers over his legs to his shoulders.

"I believe you, I really do. But I don't understand how…" I whispered as we both finally fell asleep.

We had woken up for breakfast in the morning. Ariel was growling at Scabbers who was laying on Ron's bed. I picked her up so that I could go and change into different clothes. When I came down, I was the only one wearing the sweater Mrs. Weasley had made. I also had on my stockings and my skirt. Harry and Ron were wearing the usual uniform.

"What do you mean you guys went out last night?" Ron was glaring at me.

"I wanted to use my cloak and Cassie happened to be awake so we both went to the library." Harry explained as we started to walk down to the Great Hall.

"Did you get caught?" Ron asked.

"We came close, but no." I said, deciding to change my hair to that sunrise pink I was starting to like.

"What happened in the library?" Ron ignored me and was just talking to Harry.

'He can go with Harry tonight, I'll stay behind.' I sighed.

"That's not what's important. What happened is after the library." Harry started, excitement evident in his voice.

"We ran into an unused classroom and inside was this huge mirror. And I think it shows your entire family because I saw all of mine!" Harry exclaimed as we sat down for breakfast.

"What?" Ron gasped as I started to put some eggs and sausage on my plate.

"I saw my mom and my dad! I have my mom's eyes like everyone's been saying. But I look exactly like my dad!" Harry nodded as he also put some food on his plate.

"What did you see, Cassie?" Ron looked at me, his brown eyes wide.

"I only saw Harry and I. I wasn't standing right in front of the mirror." I said, taking a bite of sausage and then drinking some orange juice to chase it down.

"You could have woken me up." Ron turned back to Harry, sounding cross.

"You can come back tonight, I'm going back, I want to show you the mirror." Harry reassured him.

"What about Cassie?" Ron asked, looking at me.

"I'll stay behind this time. I don't want to go back yet." I shrugged.

"I'd like to see your mom and dad," Ron told Harry eagerly.

"And I want to see all your family, all the Weasley's, you'll be able to show me your other brothers and everyone." I watched Harry and Ron both get excited.

'I don't think it works that way…' I thought sadly to myself.

We finished up breakfast while they finished up their plans on sneaking out tonight. I didn't really talk to them, I didn't like that mirror and what is was doing to Harry. I believed him that he saw his family, I just don't think it was healthy for Harry to start obsessing over it.

"Hey Princess." George put his arm around my shoulders as my friends walked ahead of me.

Harry looked back but turned around when he saw I was with George.

"Hey Georgie." I sighed.

"Georgie?" He looked down at me.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I called you that." I shrugged, a slight blush on my cheeks.

"It's okay. But are you okay?" He asked as we walked down the corridor.

"No. Harry and I found something last night and now I'm worried about him.." I explained, not wanting to give too many details about our excursion.

"What did you guys find?" George asked, matching his wides steps with my small ones.

"I don't think I should tell you. We stumbled upon it while running away from some professors." I put my arm around his waist and started to put my right leg in front of his left one.

"I don't like it when secrets are kept from me." George squeezed my shoulder as we started to sway our steps so that they were crossing each other.

"And yet you keep the Marauder Map a secret from me." I shrugged.

George removed his arm and had pushed me into the wall. His eyes were concerned, angry, and scared.

"What do you know about the Marauder Map?" He hissed at me.

"You're not going to deny it?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.

"What do you know about it?!" He gave my shoulders a shake, making my head hit the wall.

"Ow! George hurting me!" I pushed his chest with my hands to get him off of me.

"Oi! What's going on?!" Fred came jogging down the corridor.

"Cassie here as been snooping around our room apparently." George sneered, stepping away and crossing his arm.

"I can prove to you I haven't been in your room." I rolled my eyes.

"What are you two going on about?" Fred asked, looking at the both of us in confusion.

"Cassie here, knows about the map." George glared at me.

"How did-?" Fred looked at me.

"Did you guys know the Cassiopeia is a constellation of stars?" I deadpanned at the two.

They stood there looking at me, their cogs turning in their heads. I folded my arms and waited for the connection.

"Star." Fred finally pointed at me.

"Yes." I nodded.

"Bollocks." George swore.

"Sure." I shrugged.

"How did you get a Marauders map?" Fred asked, running a hand through his orange hair.

"My mother told me it belonged to my father." I said shyly.

They both paused and looked at me, then at each other, then back at me.

"You're father is one of the Marauder's?" Fred asked excitedly.

"Apparently, I don't know which one though." I took a step back away from the twins.

George stared thoughtfully down the corridor. Fred was practically shaking with excitement.

"Oh man! Any one of them would have been a good father!" Fred was more excited than I was.

"I guess." I shrugged.

"What do you mean you guess." Fred asked.

"Well… The only things we know about the Marauder's is that their names are, Padfoot, Prongs, Moony, and Wormtail. How am I supposed to know which one is my father just on a name? How am I supposed to know which on is my father?" I sighed.

"Oh…" Fred took a step back and looked down at his feet.

"I'm jealous of you guys." I finally admitted.

"Of us?" George finally looked at me.

"Of you, of Ron, of Hermione, even of Harry." I looked down at my feet, my eyes swelling up with tears, "You guys know who your parents are, Harry may not have met them, but he knows their names. Both his mother and father."

My voice cracked and I took a breath.

"He can find out what they look like. Me? I don't have anything. I know my mom's name is Karen Zwart, but that's it. Just her name. I don't know what she looks like. And I don't know why but she went through so much to keep my father hidden away from me and I don't know how I can find out… If I will ever know." I finally got my explanation out.

I stood there for a few seconds before I couldn't take it anymore. I ran.

"Cassie!" Fred shouted after me.

I didn't hear what was said behind but they didn't pursue me. I ran up the stairs and finally made it to the entrance. She took one look at me and she just opened the door. I didn't have to tell her the password. I walked in, taking shaky breaths just trying to get the tears to stop.

"Cassie?" Harry asked.

I looked at the fireplace to see Harry and Ron were sitting in the good chairs. They both had wide eyes and I'm sure mine were wide.

"Cassie, why are you crying?" Harry stood up slowly.

"Don't worry about it." I wiped my face and got to the girls staircase before he could reach me.

"Cassie!" Ron was the one to call me, but I was already in my room by the time they reacted.

I had closed the door and I finally let the sobs out. I tried to be quiet but I couldn't manage it. I leaned against the door, and just slid down to the ground. I wrapped my arms around my knees and allowed myself to cry.

'I'm just a baby. I won't ever get to meet my parents. I am so terrified...' I sobbed to myself.

I don't know how long I was in that position before there was a soft knock on the door. I wiped my tears off my face and stood up.

"Ms. Zwart?" I heard McGonagall's voice through the door.

I opened the door and gave twitchy smile, "hello Minnie!"

"May I come in?" She asked, looking down her nose at me.

"Of course." I opened the door wider for her.

She entered the room and Ariel shot right in after her. I watched my cat jump up on my bed. She sat down facing me and meowed. Her ears weren't fully back but she was clearly glaring at me.

I giggled and gestured for McGonagall to sit down on the chair I had next to my bed. I sat on my bed and scratched Ariel's ears.

"Cassie." McGonagall said.

I looked right up at her, she has never called me by my preferred name.

"Your friends are concerned for you. You haven't come down for dinner, and the last they saw of you, you were crying." McGonagall sat in the chair proudly.

Her posture was straight, her shoulders were back. And she wasn't talking down on me, she wanted to help.

'I want to be like her.' I thought, admiring my head of house.

"Yes. I was crying. I had a realization and I didn't like it." I tried to sit up straighter and she noticed.

Her eyes gained a twinkle, but her tone was still serious.

"May I ask you what happened?" She asked me.

"I was talking to Harry and Ron earlier and Harry knows who his parents are, Ron's grown up knowing his… I only know my mother's name. Karen Zwart. I don't know who my father is, and what I only know about my mother is her name, she was best friends with Harry's mom, and she was in Gryffindor. I don't know what she looks like, sounds like, feels like…" I trailed off, unsure of how I should continue my explanation.

We sat there in silence for a bit longer.

"Ms. Zwart, I'm not going to try and make this easier for you. But it's okay to be jealous of your friends." McGonagall finally spoke into the silence.

I looked up at her, "I didn't mean to cry over it."

"I understand, and it's okay. Just make sure your jealousy does not come between you and your friends." McGonagall put a hand on my knee.

I smiled up at her and nodded, "thank you. I feel a bit better now."

"I'm glad I could help." McGonagall stood up.

I stood up with her and walked with her to the door.

"Professor McGonagall?" I asked, opening the door for her.

"Yes?" She looked at me, shocked.

"Does it bother you when I call you, Minnie?" I asked, looking up at her.

"It does not bother me, it has brought up some old memories of past students." She smiled, looking down at the ground.

"One day I could probably hear about these past students?" I asked, hopeful.

"Maybe one day." McGonagall nodded and walked out the door.

I didn't know what else to say to her so I just waited for her to get to the common room before closing the door. I heard her murmuring to the boys in the common room.

'I'm going to take a shower.' I decided, walking to the bathroom and shaking my hair out.

I turned on the water and started to brush my hair.

'I'll need to go get my blanket and pillow from the boys room…' I put my head back with my eyes closed.

I flipped my head forward and finished brushing my hair. I got into the shower and just let the warm water fall on my body. It was relaxing and very much needed. After I finished taking my shower I changed into my pajama pants and I put on the sweater again. I love that sweater.

I tiptoed down my staircase and into the common room. I didn't see anyone in the common room, the fireplace was dying so I figured the boys were all in bed. So I was tiptoeing up the boys dormitory when I almost ran into Harry who was coming down carrying my blanket and pillow. Ron was behind him holding the cloak.

"Cassie!" Harry smiled at me.

"Boys!" I smiled back and got out of their way.

"We were about to go to the mirror. Do you want to come with us?" Ron asked, hesitant in his invitation.

"I don't think I'll go with you this time. It's Ron's turn for an adventure with Harry." I smiled with a shrug.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked as we stood in a triangle in the common room.

"Yeah, I'm tired from today anyway." I took my stuff from Harry's arms.

"Okay, Cassie, if you still want too, you can fall asleep in our room. We'll be back soon enough." Ron offered.

"Really?" I looked up at Ron, he wasn't looking at me but he had a slight blush on his cheeks.

"Yeah, I mean, you have been this long." He shrugged.

"Thank you, I would like that." I smiled again, holding my bedding closer to my body.

"We better get going, good night Cassie." Harry nodded to me as they both turned to the door.

"Good night boys." I waved and walked up the boys stairs.

Ariel meowed behind me, I didn't realize she had followed me out of the girls dormitory.

"Let's go to bed, Ariel." I looked down at my cat and smiled at her.

She meowed again at me and lead me up to the boys room. I opened the door and gave a squeak in surprise.

"Fred!" I squeaked out.

"Cassie." He was sitting on Ron's bed.

"Wh-wha-?" I stuttered.

"Don't worry, I shouldn't take long." He stood up.

"Um… Okay?" I set my bedding down on the bed I was going to sleep on.

"I want to apologize for earlier. That was rude of George, and we shouldn't have confronted you like that. It was rude of both of us." He had his head bowed.

"I'm sorry for running off." I bowed my head too.

There was a finger under my chin and Fred lifted my face up to look at him.

"It is not your fault. You were only reacting in that situation." Fred wrapped his arms around me.

"Thank you." I wrapped my arms around his waist.

He put his chin on top of my head and we just stood there for a few moments.

"Fred?" George's voice called out from up stairs.

"You should probably go." I pulled away and smiled up at him.

"Yeah, good night Princess Star." Fred winked at before leaning down and kissing my forehead.

I giggled and climbed into the bed I was sleeping in. Fred grinned at Ariel as she jumped up and wiggled her way under my blanket and circle around and poked her head out. She looked like she was tucked in.

"Good night Fred." I called out quietly as he closed the door.

He chuckled and I closed my eyes, I scratched Ariel's ears as she purred. I was lulled to sleep by her purr.