Chapter 44

I walked with Ron to lunch. Hermione didn't show up to our exam.

"She'll be fine. She's ahead on everything, they'll probably still give her a decent grade." I tried to reassure him.

"Mum - Bill!" Ron suddenly said.

Mrs. Weasley and Bill were walking over to join Ron and I for lunch.

"What're you doing here?" He asked them.

"Come to watch Harry in the last task!" Mrs. Weasley answered brightly.

Then she saw me.

"I told you I did not want you around my children." She told me sternly.

"You did, but I decided not to listen." I told her curtly.

Her face flushed at that and just as she opened her mouth Cassius's voice was behind me.

"Cassie, would you like to join me and my parents for lunch?" He put a hand on my shoulder.

"I would be delighted too." I said and quickly walked away from Mrs. Weasley.

"Are you okay?" He asked me.

"Nope, but I don't want to talk about it right now." I told him as we joined his parents.

"Hello again, Cassie!" Alexandra immediately hugged me.

"Hello again Alexandra!" I smiled as she hugged me.

I was surprised that she hugged me so willingly.

"Is everything okay with the Weasley family?" She whispered in my ear.

"Um." I froze.

I didn't want to involve anyone with my situation with Molly.

Alexandra let me go, realization flashing on her face.

"Everything is fine with the Weasley family." I told her, trying to keep my shoulders from shrugging.

Cassius put his arm around my shoulders.

"Let's sit down and eat." He said.

Othello took the hint and guided his wife to an empty spot.

"Thank you." I whispered to Cassius.

He nodded as we sat across from his parents.

"Cassie, Cassius has told us that you're interested in being the Transfiguration teacher?" Othello asked me.

"I am." I nodded as Cassius handed me the platters so that I could serve myself.

"Why be a teacher?" Alexandra asked as she took a bit out of her salad she chose to eat.

"I admire Professor McGonagall. She is respected and I look forward to her classes. I -" I paused.

"I want people to look forward to learning, and I want to teach other people and help them expand on the knowledge they seek." I answered.

"So why be the Transfiguration teacher and not the Astronomy teacher?" Othello asked.

I grinned as I turned my hair from the Malfoy blonde, to the Gryffindor red.

"Oh!" Alexandra gave a sound of delight.

"Professor McGonagall is an Animagus, and since my body naturally transfigures as I want it too, Transfiguration seems like the perfect fit." I grinned at their reactions.

"You didn't mention she was a metamorphmagus!" Othello said in an accusatory tone.

"Well, it didn't seem important to mention." Cassius was chuckling lightly at their reactions.

"You set me up." I accused him.

He blinked and then nodded.

"I did." He admitted.

I made a playful disgusted sound but pushed him with my shoulder.

"May I ask a more personal question?" Alexandra asked me.

"Of course." I nodded.

"If you're a metamorphmagus, why do you still have that scar on your face?" Alexandra asked.

"Mother!" Cassius asked, looking protective.

"It's okay, Cassius. It's a valid question!" I put my hand on his thigh.

"It's a gift that I am able to change my appearance the way I can. I enjoy changing my hair from Draco's shade of blonde," - I gestured over to my cousin who was sitting next to Gregory - "to pink and everything in between; but I got this scar when I was eleven years old. It's a part of who I am and if I remove it, I just don't feel like myself and I don't think I look like myself."

Othello was nodding by the time I finished my explanation.

"I see." Alexandra nodded slowly.

"What do you do for a living, Othello? Do you work for the Ministry?" I asked him.

"Oh yes. I actually work for the Department of Magical Transportation." He told me.

"Oh! So did you enchant the portkey's for the Quidditch World Cup?" I asked him.

"I did not personally do that, I was in charge of accounting for them and choosing what got made into portkeys." He explained.


After lunch, Hermione, Ron, and I finished up our exams. Hermione was eager to show me what she prepared for Skeeter if we saw a random bug about.

For dinner, I did sit with my house. I waved at Cassius and his parents who waved back.

I was going to sit next to Neville when Harry was quick to grab my arm and planted me next to him.

"Harry -" I started to protest.

"I want my best friends with me. And that includes you." He said as Mrs. Weasley glared at me from across the table.

"If it's what you want, Harry." I nodded to him.

I didn't say anything, and I think that's what Harry needed.

He got quiet as dinner progressed.

Mrs. Weasley kept putting food on his plate but he started to play with it and he was starting to look off into the distance.

"Harry, make sure to eat enough." I would remind him and he would take a bite and then just chew.

I was feeling the exact same way. I wasn't eating a lot myself.


This is a rushed chapter. My fiancée and I have had a rough week and I didn't have a chance to sit down and write as I usually do and I'm sorry for that. I finally have a moment and I'm going to try my best to either finish it on my end, or get close to finishing it.

Shout out to Pamela Hutchins for leaving a review!

Pamela Hutchins: Thank you! I really wanted to use the name Othello, so I figured it would be fun to give Cassius a Greek name as well.