Chapter 31 Our First Kiss

At the end of dinner, Warrington and I were talking about which classes we favored over the others.

Surprisingly, Warrington's favorite class was Herbology. He wasn't surprised that mine was Transfiguration.

Dumbledore stood up and asked the students to do the same.

Warrington put a hand on my arm. He pulled my chair out and held his hand out for me. I had a moment of irritation cross my mind. I wasn't helpless, I could do these things myself.

But since it was the Yule Ball, I didn't say anything right away.

Warrington held his arm out for me and I put my hand in the crook of his elbow.

"Did I tell you that you look beautiful?" He asked me.

"You have, actually." I nodded.

"You still do." He smiled down at me.

He had a square jaw and I noticed that when he smiled, he had dimples.

There was a band called the Weird Sisters who trooped up onto a stage that was conjured. A set of drums, several guitars, a lute, a cello, and some bagpipes were up there.

Warrington led the way onto the dance floor, behind Delacour and Viktor. Harry was behind us.

"Do you know how to dance?" Warrington asked as we stood in front of each other.

He put his hand on my waist and since he was much taller than I was, I put my hand in the crook of his elbow as we held onto the other hand with each other.

"No." I admitted.

He blinked at that.

"Don't worry. Just follow my lead."

The music started at that moment.

A mournful tune started up and Warrington took the lead.

It was difficult at first. I didn't have a clue what was happening.

"Relax your body, let me guide your feet." Warrington's voice was kind.

I thought he would have been harsh with me, but he was patient with me. When the song ended I gave a noticeable sigh of relief.

"Do you want to go sit down?" Warrington asked as we applauded.

"No. I want to get better." I answered.

He let out a small chuckle.

"You Gryffindor's are not afraid of a challenge."

I let out a laugh at that.

"You have no idea, Warrington."

"Cassius."

The Weird Sisters had started a different song, but this one was faster paced.

"I'm sorry?" I asked when he pulled me in for a faster dance.

"Call me Cassius." He said as he led me around the dance floor.

"Only if you call me Cassie." I tapped my finger on his hand.

"Okay, Cassie." He grinned at me.

I grinned back at him.


After a few more songs, which had gotten faster and now the crowd was just jumping around and dancing together, having an excellent time.

Cassius took my hand and led me through the crowd to where a table had an assortment of beverages and snacks.

"Would you like anything?" He asked, gesturing to the table.

"Some punch would be nice." I nodded.

He nodded back, kissed the back of my hand, and went to get us punch.

I went to the sweets area of the table and picked up a brownie.

"Hello, Cassie."

I turned around and Vanessa was with her friend. Her friend was wearing a yellow dress and Vanessa had on a green dress that complimented her hair.

"Hello." I greeted her cautiously.

"I didn't realize that you and Warrington would be coming together." She said politely.

"I'm not doing this. Not tonight, not tomorrow, not again. Leave me alone Vanessa." I said.

I grabbed another brownie and walked over to Cassius who was talking to Dean and Christensen.

"Cassie!" Cassius greeted me.

I finished the brownie in another bite and waved at Dean and Christensen.

I offered the other brownie to Cassius who shook his head. I took the offered cup of punch and chewed on my brownie.

"How are you doing?" Cassius put an arm around my shoulder.

I nodded to him as Christensen looked at me with a sour expression.

I pointed at Dean and Christensen.

"How'r ye-?" I asked, my mouth full.

"We're doing good." Dean was cautious to answer.

I nodded at them and took a sip of my punch.

I felt the familiar electrical jolt from the 'Magiga's' potion.

I pushed Cassius away from me, quickly swallowing what brownie was left in my mouth.

"Seriously!?" I raised my voice at him.

His eyes were wide when my scars showed and my hair darkened.

The strapless part showed off the top of the black flames. They reached the top of my shoulder, with one particular lick of flame across my collarbone. And it showed my basilisk stab scar, and my tattoos were flashing for the world to see.

"Beth!" Both Cassius and Dean turned to the girl.

I watched as her face fell from an evil grin, to a shocked expression.

"It wasn't you?" I turned to Cassius.

"No! I would never-!" He shook his head at me.

"What is the matter with you?" Dean was asking Christensen.

I threw my cup at Christensen.

She was, stupidly, wearing a silver gown and when the red punch got on it…

"You bitch!" She shrieked.

"Christensen." Snape was hovering.

"Zwart." McGonagall had shown up.

Christensen, Dean and Cassius all started trying to talk over each other.

"Silence!" McGonagall snapped.

She turned to look at me as I watched with satisfaction as Christensen looked down at her dress.

"Miss Zwart, what happened?" McGonagall asked me.

"Christensen tricked me into drinking the 'Metamorphas Magiga's' potion. So I threw my punch at her." I answered promptly.

McGonagall gave her wand a wave and Christensen's stain came off easily.

"Severus?" McGonagall looked at the Slytherin head of house.

He was looking at my black flames, and I couldn't read his emotions.

"Christensen will serve a month's worth of detentions with me." He said slowly.

"Zwart will have detention for two weeks." McGonagall said.

"That's not fair!" Christensen cried out.

"Two months." Snape said coldly, glaring at his student.

I kept my mouth shut.

Christensen glared at all of us before storming off.

"I'm so sorry!" Cassius said as soon as everyone left.

"I need some air." I put my other brownie on the table, not caring about it.

I walked out of the Great Hall, with Cassius right behind me.

"Cassie -"

"Not right now. I need a moment." I put my left hand up at that.

I heard him as he followed me through the courtyard.

The courtyard was decorated with rose bushes. And little fairies were twinkling around. Normally I would have been in awe about it but I was frustrated at that moment.

In the center of the courtyard was a centerpiece of deer and more rose bushes. I was grateful that there were benches and they were empty. So I sat down on one.

I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths in through my nose and out of my mouth.

I wanted to get my thoughts in order before confronting Cassius.

Did he plan it?

Was he a part of it?

Did he mean for this to happen?

Is it possible to still be friendly after this?

I opened my eyes and Cassius was looking at me. Not at my scars, at me.

"Did you know?" I asked him.

He held his hand up, "I knew what Christensen wanted to do. I told her not to bother you."

I squinted my eyes at him.

"I never want you to change yourself. You being a metamorphmagus is who you are. By giving you that potion," - I knew which one he was talking about - "it takes that away from you." He explained.

I nodded slowly and patted the bench so he could sit down next to me.

"I'm sorry, but I'm having a hard time believing you right now. The timing was perfect for Christensen." I sighed.

He nodded as he kept his distance.

"Cassie?"

We looked up to see Harry and Ron both fast walking to us.

"I'm fine. It wasn't Cassius." I said immediately.

They both glared suspiciously at him anyways.

"What happened?" Harry asked when he reached me.

His eyes flickered over my scar and they widened.

No one has ever seen just how high up they went up my arm. It was covered by the school uniform last year.

"Christensen got me again. This time she -" I looked at Cassius.

He would hopefully know what happened.

"When I was getting us punch, I looked away for a second. She must have slipped it in at that moment." He answered, staring at me.

"How would she know which cup was Cassie's?" Ron asked stiffly.

"I had taken a drink out of my cup." He admitted, this time looking away.

I put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's not your fault. I should have been on my guard with her." I told him.

Harry must have thought that was a hint because he had grabbed Ron's arm and pulled him away.

Ron was sputtering as he was pulled away.

Cassius waited a few more moments before he took my hand and held it, looking at my scar now.

"You shouldn't have to be guarded around me. You should be able to relax when you're with me."

His voice had gotten lower, but not to be sensual. He sounded disappointed.

"We knew getting into this that people were going to be against it." I said to him, moving my hand so that he could see in between my fingers.

"I know… For a moment I was too optimistic." He admitted, turning my arm to look at them.

"You can touch it, it doesn't hurt." I wiggled my fingers at him.

He chuckled and slowly caressed my arm.

"I knew you had gotten hurt in your first year. The whole school knew about Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. But why did you go after it?" He asked.

"What were you told?" I asked.

He raised an eyebrow at me.

"I'm genuinely curious." I told him.

"We were told that you guys were trying to stop Quirrell from getting it." He told me.

"That's the truth. Quirrell wanted to live forever, don't know why. But I wasn't in the last room where Harry faced him. We got separated along the way." I explained.

I was starting to get chills from the way his palm was sliding around my arm.

"How did that happen?" He asked, this time pulling me close to him and he put his arm over my shoulder.

"Ron got knocked out by a chess piece. That puzzle was designed by McGonagall. So we had to leave him to get to Quirrell.

"The next room was designed by Quirrell actually, he had put in a troll to protect the stone but he had already knocked it out for us without knowing we were right behind him.

"Snape designed the room after that, he had purple flames in the back, and black flames in the front. We had to use logic to guess which of the seven potions was the one that will let us move forward, or move back. Some were just wine and the others were poison. I think one of them had an antidote? I don't remember. The potions that allowed us to go forward or back? There was just enough for one person. And there were three of us."

Cassius nodded but didn't say anything else.

"So we agreed that Hermione would be the one to go back and Harry was to move forward. I volunteered to stay in that room. In hindsight, Hermione probably should have stayed since I was a faster flyer.

"Flitwick designed a room with enchanted keys and we had to catch the one that fit the door. There were three broomsticks there and it took Ron, Harry, and me to catch it.

"But I couldn't leave Harry. He was my first best friend and even though I couldn't be there to have his back, I would be in his corner. I felt better just being there.

"At some point there was yelling from the room in front of me, and rather than wait for someone to show up, I tried pushing through the flames. Only problem was that Snape put a curse on them. And I don't blame him for it!"

Cassius had inhaled sharply through his nose.

"How was he supposed to know a twelve year old girl would try to push through them? He imagined a grown wizard, not anyone younger. He put it there as an extra precaution." I finished.

"The flames were cursed. How does that affect you?" Cassius asked.

"Feel my arms. Is there a difference to you?" I pulled away from Cassius and held my arms out for him.

He slid his palm down my scarred arm and then down my tattooed arm. He lingered at the tattoos that flashed.

"This one feels cooler." He gave my scarred arm a shake.

"There's no way to fully recover from the curse. It's a part of me now. But Snape knew a charm that could keep the heat away. When I don't perform the charm, my arm is as hot as those flames." I answered him, cuddling back into his side.

He nodded and put his arm around me again.

"What about this one?" He tapped just above the basilisk scar.

"Ginny Weasley and I were taken to the Chamber of Secrets. I fell at some point and landed on a very sharp rock." I lied about that one.

He raised an eyebrow.

"The monster didn't stab you?" He asked.

"I fought the whole way, and when I was fighting, my weight didn't carry through my feet very well and I landed on the rock." I nodded.

He kept his eyebrow raised at that but then gave a slow nod.

"What about your tattoos?" He asked, pointing at them.

"What do you think?" I asked him.

"The lightning bolt is clearly Potter, and from what you told me of the chess match, Weasley is the King. So that means Granger is the book." He answered.

"Very good! They're my best friends. And I would do anything for them. So I got something on my body to represent them." I smiled up at him.

He smiled down at me.

"What about you? Any interesting scars or tattoos no one else can see?" I asked him.

"I've got two tattoos. The bigger of the two is on my shoulder. The smaller of them is on my ankle. My parents would kill me if they found out about them." He admitted, keeping his voice low.

"What are they?" I asked him, getting excited.

Oliver, my piercer, was the only I knew who had a tattoo. He hasn't told me what it is though.

"Here." He pulled away and pulled up his dress robes.

On the inside of his left ankle, there was a symbol. It was a triangle with a circle in the center, and a line was going down the middle.

"What is that?" I asked, genuinely confused.

"You don't know?" He asked, putting his robes down.

I shook my head.

"Have you heard of Beedle the Bard?" He asked, looking confused.

"No." I shook my head again.

"Did you not grow up on stories?" He asked.

"I did. But I've never heard of Beedle the Bard." I told him.

He looked at me, a mixture of emotions on his face.

"I grew up in a muggle orphanage. I was raised on muggle stories." I told him.

"You grew up -?" His voice had gone soft.

"I didn't know I had family until my third year, remember? I had to live somewhere, and that was an orphanage until the Malfoy's adopted me." I told him gently.

He shook his head and his grip on my shoulder tightened a little.

"I could never imagine a world without my parents." He admitted quietly.

At that moment another couple had made their way into the courtyard.

Snape and Karkaroff came around a corner and blasted a bush.

"Ten pints from Ravenclaw, Fawcett! And ten points from Hufflepuff too, Stebbins!" Snape snarled as a couple ran back into the castle.

Snape saw Cassius and I sitting on the bench. With a sniff he turned on his heel and continued walking around the courtyard, Karkaroff right behind him.

"Let's walk around?" Cassius stood up.

I nodded and took his hand.

"Are you cold?" He asked me as we went in the opposite direction of Snape.

"No. I think the courtyard is enchanted for the night." I told him.

He nodded and we walked.

"So tell me more about this Beedle the Bard."


We exchanged stories from our childhood. I told him about my favorite one, Cinderella. While he told me about strange ones that he grew up in, like Bapitty Wapitty and her Cackling Stump and The Tale of the Three Brothers.

The three brothers is where he got the tattoo, it represented the Deathly Hallows.

When he got to the part about the invisibility cloak, I immediately thought of Harry. But I brushed it off, there's no way there's an all powerful wand, a resurrection stone, and an invisibility cloak. That was just stupid.


"Do you want to go back in and dance some more?" Cassius asked when we passed the doors into the entrance hall.

"Can we?" I asked when we stopped.

"Yeah! Whatever you want!" He nodded to me.

I looked around.

We were standing underneath an archway that was decorated with icicles and roses.

"Can you kiss me now?" I asked.

He blinked down at me.

"You don't want it to be a surprise?" He asked.

"I'll be surprised whenever you decide to kiss me." I told him.

He let out a chuckle at that.

"Will you?" I asked again.

He looked down at me and he moved quickly.

He put both of his hands on my face and suddenly I was very aware of how muscular his body was and how firm his forearms were against my chest.

He lowered himself down to be on my level, and he pulled my face close to his. I held my breath as he stared into my eyes.

He slowly pushed his nose against mine and I could feel his breath on my lips again.

"Please." I didn't know if I said it out loud or not.

But he finally kissed me.


FINALLY! Also, I am so so sorry for not getting this out sooner! My boyfriend and I have been running around doing errands together and I've finally been able to sit down and get this out for you guys. I hope you enjoyed it!

Shout out to LuckyAryk for following this story!

Shout out to Pamela Hutchins, LunaChaseFoster, and officegal for leaving a review!

Pamela Hutchins: I'm so glad you're loving this fluff! I was wiggling in excitement when I wrote this chapter and I wiggled when I uploaded it because I know you're going to be so happy with it! AAAHHH!

LunaChaseFoster: Awe thank you!

officegal: My mom says that to me all the time so I put it in the story lol. I haven't seen Holes in such a long time haha.