Chapter 18 "Where Did You Get These?"

I was exhausted when I got home. Mr. Malfoy had Apparated me back while Narcissa took Draco.

I walked up the stairs and when I entered my room I took off all of my clothes and shoes. I gave my head a good shake to loosen it up, but before I climbed into bed - I had to write some things down.

'Take stuff to Order meeting.

Remember who is manipulating who.

Remember where your loyalties lie

Find someone special SOON'

Then I passed out on my bed.

My dream was a mess. Flying on Celeste, my unicorn. Floating through the solar system. Brains in a tank. And a room that was empty, but I could feel the power through it. George, shirtless, waving me over to a picnic blanket. The Slytherins at the dinner party, tracing a finger down their cheeks.

I woke up feeling more tired than rested.

I stretched my arms over my head and saw that Reeny had put my dress in my closet at some point in the night. I gave her a wordless 'thank you' and walked into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

When I came out I was fully dressed and drying my hair with a towel and double checking what I wrote.

'I could ask George… But that might be a dragon egg I'm not ready to hatch.' I chuckled to myself at my little joke I made.

'I could… no, Vanessa is just another dragon egg in my clutch of eggs.' I sighed loudly and put on some clothes for the door.

"Why must it be so hard?" I asked myself in a whisper.

'If only Cas-'

There was a knock on my door.

"Come in!" I called out.

"Draco opened the door and I casually put my note in my purse.

"How are you feeling?" He asked me.

"I'm feeling alright. My feet are sore, and I don't really remember most of last night with all the twirling around the dance floor I did." I admitted to him.

He nodded with a grin.

"Did you have fun though?" He asked.

I paused for a moment.

Remembering the times I did dance with Draco, and Blaise, and the random Fudge dances, I did dance with a couple of people who were in the Slytherin house.

"I did." I answered with finality.

He nodded as well with a grin.

"I'm glad, I usually have a hard time with the beginning of parties. Especially when I don't recognize everyone from school due to them looking different. But I had fun because I knew you, and you were there…" He trailed off.

I gave him a soft grin and nodded.

"I understand." I told him.

Draco, after all, just wanted a friend at all of the functions he went to. A friend that he knew he could talk to about anything and everything.

There was a tapping on my window.

The regal eagle owl was not one that the Malfoy's owned.

"Hello." I greeted the owl.

I took the letter as the owl flew up to the perch to get some water and some food.

'Miss Zwart,

I am delighted to know that you have also come to your senses. I shouldn't do this, but I am inviting Lucius to come and meet with me on the 12th of August. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you came along with him for some tea.

Have Lucius respond with the owl I sent to him.

The Office of,

Cornelius Augustus Oswald Fudge

Minister of Magic

Order of Merlin First Class

Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot

Founder of the Secret Circle of Exceptional Witches and Wizards

Curse-breaker

Head of the Committee of -

"What's with that look?" Draco asked, interrupting my reading the rest of his title.

I guess my disgust was showing.

"Fudge sent me a letter. I need to go talk to Mr. Malfoy." I sighed.

"Why don't you call him uncle?" Draco asked as we left my room to go down for breakfast.

"I don't know. It doesn't feel right. I mean, calling Aunt Narcissa, Aunt Narcissa, feels wrong too, but it feels wrong to call her Narcissa. But they've been kind enough to take me in." I answered.

Draco nodded thoughtfully.

"Do you consider Black to be Uncle Sirius?" I smirked at him.

His eyes widened.

"I never thought about it." He answered honestly.

I let out a chuckle as we opened the dining room door.

Voldemort wasn't in the room which surprised me.

"Good morning, children." Narcissa said from next to Mr. Malfoy.

"Good morning." Draco and I greeted her.

"Mr. Malfoy, I have a letter -"

He was nodding as soon as he saw it.

"Ah yes. Would you like for me to say that you will be going?" He asked.

I looked at Narcissa who nodded once.

"Uh - yes please." I nodded as I sat next to Draco.

"Very good, very good." Mr. Malfoy nodded and wrote a quick response on a piece of parchment he had next to him.

Draco looked at me with confusion.

I gave my head a single shake and he raised an eyebrow but didn't ask anything.

'I wonder if I can get someone to make me a simple sleeping potion?' I thought to myself.

That night, there wasn't a Death Eater meeting, but there was an Order meeting and Snape was coming to pick me up.

I was trying to organize my bag to be more accessible and Draco was watching me.

"Why does it have to be you?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" I countered.

"Why do you have to be the one in between?" He expanded.

I paused in my organizing.

"Because who else is going to do it?" I asked him.

He stopped to think about it while I finished up packing my purse in the order I wanted to bring things out.

I sat down on my bed, facing him as he sat back in my chair, arms crossed as he frowned.

"I mean, surely Hexum? Or Christensen? Literally anyone?" He suggested with a weak tone.

"Who in Gryffindor is going to follow a Slytherin?" I asked gently.

He chewed on his lip while I sat there patiently.

"I don't understand. How is it that you've got Slytherin's writing to you then?" He asked, getting annoyed.

"Who made the effort?" I asked, still patient.

He paused, his eyes widening.

"Did you know?" He whispered.

"No, and yes." I nodded.

He let out a scoff.

"No I didn't Seer Know that something was going to happen and I would be uniting the four houses. Yes, I normally knew that the houses should be united in the first place and no one else was willing to make that effort until Cassius started talking to me."

Draco opened his mouth but I raised my eyebrow at him.

He sighed and closed his mouth grumpily.

"You and I were forced to find equal footing since Aunt Narcissa adopted me and I'm sure you were just as surprised to find out like I was." I reminded him.

"I found out through a letter the week before she officially adopted you. And I will admit, I was pissed. I didn't want a sister, let alone Potter's best friend." He admitted with a chuckle.

I grinned at him.

"I was terrified to be living with you. I thought I was going to be abused here. You would make my life hell or something like that." I admitted to him.

His mouth dropped in horror.

"Can you blame me though?" I asked him quickly.

He looked away in shame.

"Draco, look at me." I waited until he was. "We were different people then. Hell, we were kids! We didn't know any better! How was I supposed to know that you actually wanted a friend you could be real with? How were you supposed to know that we were actually family and to me family means everything?

How are you supposed to know any of that when we were thick headed eleven year olds who got thrown together into a new environment without our parents standing over us? We're not! So it's okay for little me to be scared of a situation that I built up in my head. It's okay to grow from that situation by me realizing that you are a good person! And -"

There was a knock on my door, making me stop.

"It's okay, Draco. And I want you to stop feeling bad about it when I get back." I grabbed my purse and put my hands around his face.

"We are changed people."

I left him in my room and joined Snape at the landing.

He was looking at Draco and then looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

I kept my face as neutral as possible but maintained eye contact.

He finally looked away and held his arm out for me. I took it and we Apparated just outside of Grimmauld Place.

I couldn't help my grin as Snape scoffed.

Molly opened the door and her first reaction was to try and hug me but I avoided her grip still.

"Hello." I greeted her politely.

She kept a friendly smile on her face, but I noticed the flash in her eyes.

I sighed and held out my hand for her to shake.

She looked at me in surprise.

"I'm not ready to start hugging you, but I am ready to start mending the relationship." I said in a monotone.

She took my hand and gripped it tight.

"Alright, can I see them before the meeting?" I asked, pointing up the stairs.

"Of course you can." She nodded enthusiastically.

I ran up the stairs, into the arms of Harry who was already waiting for me.

"It's so good to see you!" I whispered.

He nodded into my neck and only let me go when I tapped on his shoulder so that I could hug Hermione and Ginny next.

After them, Ron reluctantly hugged me as well. And George and Fred took me into a group hug.

"How are things over there?" George asked.

"Going good. I got to go to a fancy dinner party at the Minister's house, so that was interesting." I answered, throwing my arm around Harry's waist, forcing his arm to go around my shoulders.

He gave my shoulder a squeeze in appreciation.

"Dad never gets invited to those!" Ron whined.

"Trust me. You don't want to go. It was so boring and there was dancing -" That was enough for him to start nodding in agreement "- and you had to dance with anyone who either asked you, or you had to ask someone to dance." I finished with a grin.

"You had fun, didn't you?" Fred smiled at me with a knowing glint in his eye.

My face froze in a hesitant smile.

"I did have fun," I nodded once.

"Cassie." Hermione said my name in such a normal way, but I still flinched.

"You can tell us what's going on." She prompted.

I chewed on my lip and opened my mouth to start spinning the truth.

"It's time, Cassie!" Molly's voice called up quietly.

"Oh thank God. Bye!" I waved and ran down the stairs.

"You can't keep us in the dark forever, Cassie!" Ron called after me in a soft angry tone.

"I know! But I'll take my saving grace when I can!" I called back cheekily.

I heard them all grumbling upstairs as I felt the relief wash over me.

"Everything okay?" Molly asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, they asked a question I didn't want to answer, and you called me for the meeting, so thank you for that!" I grinned at her and slipped into the kitchen where my dad was waiting with open arms.

"Hello, Treasure!" Sirius greeted me.

"Hello!" I hugged him tight.

Remus wasn't here tonight, but that was okay since he was on some sort of mission for Dumbledore.

And Dumbledore was here, which was going to make this so much easier.

"Now that we are assembled." Dumbledore looked at me over the edge of his spectacles while I smiled at him as I sat down next to Sirius.

"First order of business, where do they think Sirius is?" Dumbledore looked at Shacklebolt.

"He's still running around us in India, I've been to ask you about your motorcycle though. I may need to add that you've been flying around on it."

My mouth dropped open and I looked at my dad.

"A motorcycle?!" I asked.

He showed me his doggish grin.

"Your old man figured out how to make it fly." He winked at me.

I felt something swelling in my chest.

Pride? Hope? Enthusiasm? It was a big, good, feeling.

"I gave it to Hagrid, I don't have a clue where it went, but absolutely, mention it."

I had a memory come up to the surface.

There was a shed next to Hagrid's hut that was bigger on the inside. I only grabbed hay and oats, but vaguely… there may have been a gleam of a single headlight attached to some handlebars.

I didn't know if I should say something yet or not, so I kept my mouth shut.

"Very well, how are things in the Unspeakable department?" Dumbledore looked over at Mr. Weasley.

He shook his head.

"I can't get anyone to listen to me. And I had to stop for a while."

"Vol - Voldemort's got an Unspeakable trainee." I stuttered.

The temperature dropped.

"Who?" Dumbledore asked.

"Hector Smith." Snape was the one to answer.

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully.

"Who's Hector Smith?" Molly asked.

I chewed on the inside of my cheek.

"He's a man who was expelled from Hogwarts. I don't know how he was able to get into the job." I answered.

Dumbledore and Snape shared a look.

I let out an exasperated noise.

"You let him graduate early?!"

"Cassie." Dumbledore said my name calmly.

I waited.

"I was expecting you to interrupt me." He chuckled.

"He tore off my bandages! He called me Scarface!"

The room gasped at that.

"And you just let him graduate early instead of actually expelling him!?" My voice was climbing.

Dumbledore only looked at me, but not offering an explanation.

I clamped my mouth shut.

"Sorry." I said through clenched teeth. "I know you don't have to give me an explanation. But it's still awful that you allowed a bully to just walk out with all of his things instead of punishing him for it."

Dumbledore nodded and then looked around the room.

"So Voldemort's got someone on the inside, that is a disadvantage but we can work with it."

The meeting continued, as I was unable to contribute more to the conversation.

"Is there anything else before we end the meeting?" Dumbledore asked.

I raised my hand.

"I have - well, a lot of anything else." I put my purse on the table and started pulling out the antidotes and potions and letters from my purse.

I could feel everyone watching me as I pulled everything that had been labeled important enough to pass on.

"What are these?" Snape was the one to ask when I finally put everything out.

"Help." I said.

"Where did you get these?" Sirius asked, looking at one of the letters.

"I can't tell you that." I answered.

"Cassie," Mr. Weasley had reached for a letter and was reading the spell on it.

"I can't tell you because I don't know. None of my letters have been signed. But I haven't been cursed by any of them so they're safe for you too." I explained.

I pushed the potions and antidotes towards Snape.

"I don't trust myself to know which ones are which, especially since I did mix some of them up. But if anyone can do it, I'm sure our highly esteemed potions master can figure it out." I tried to lay it on thick, but I'm not sure if I did a good enough job when he sneered.

"You mixed them up?" He asked.

"I was gone for a week and Draco was hiding the influx of mail I had been receiving. So they got mixed up." I nodded.

He sneered at that but was looking at each thing.

Dumbledore was watching Snape thoughtfully.

"Zwart," Snape spoke again.

"Yes?"

"Where did you get these?" He asked again.

I rolled my eyes.

"I'm telling you, I don't know! People have been sending them to me via owl post!"

He nodded only once, but was staring at a bottle with intensity.

"Thank you, Cassie." Dumbledore said and then looked around.

We'll keep these safe, and when you have stopped by look over them. I'm sure these spells would be helpful. Now, that concludes our meeting."

Snape stayed sitting in his spot so I remained sitting as well.

Molly went to walk everyone out as Mr. Weasley and Bill started to pile up the papers.

I couldn't help the smile as the scene reminded me of another moment.

Like the moment when Harry walked in and they were still looking at papers that should have been put away. As he did now.

Just as he sat down, I turned to my dad and whispered in his ear, "I need the spell to make writing disappear. Like with the Marauder's Map."

He looked at me, and I watched as so many different emotions crossed his face.

"Why do you need that?" He whispered back.

"Uh…" I couldn't think of a quick answer.

Harry whispered into the conversation, "what are we whispering about?"

"I want to be able to write to you guys without going through the owl post, since I know I'm still being watched if Sirius is contacting me. And the better for it to be hidden." I answered a little louder.

"I see…" He nodded, looking at me with slight suspicion.

"And…" I looked around the table and shook my head. "Never mind."

"What is it, Cassie?" Harry asked eagerly.

I saw Molly's eyes flash and I shook my head again.

"I shouldn't have said anything, I'm sorry." I said, flicking my eyes to the matriarch.

Harry followed my line of sight but didn't seem to understand what I was trying to convey.

"Come on, Sirius she's got a point. She can't send us letters and I know that I've wanted to send her one more than once just to check in on her." Harry spoke up.

Sirius sighed and reached around to ruffle Harry's head.

"I'll talk to Remus about it, it takes two people to perform the charm."

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