Thank you so, so, so, so much to all who reviewed! It is appreciated so
much!
Snivellus: Glad to hear from you again! I don't think you were too shocked about the end to chapter twelve but don't worry, it gets better I promise!
Amber Eyed Wolf: I love Sirius too, he's one of my favorite characters in the books ( I don't want to put 'was' it makes it seem all to real. *sob*)
Hermionedastar: Thanks for checking out my story! It is greatly appreciated and I can't wait to check out yours!
Slippersarefuzzy: Thanks for thinking my story is good! I'm glad some people on the WWW enjoy my works!
Tessa66: Thanks for your reviews! Glad to get new readers! As for hearing more . . . how bout now? Lol
Sorry the chapter is so short, I wanted to get this out straight away and I'm sorry that the chapter title sucks. I've been up since 6:00 AM and its after midnight where I'm at so I'm just a wee bit tired!
And a very Happy Birthday to Harry and J.K. Rowling! Without you guys, I wouldn't be writing this right now!
*~*~*~*~*
13. Lupin's Daughter
The silence that followed Cassie's statement was deafening to Harry. He could feel his mouth opening to say something but nothing came out. He stared at her in complete shock as she rose from her seat and stood in front of him, waiting for his reply.
"Are you going to say something?" Cassie asked him, knocking Harry out of his thoughts.
"H-h-h-how?" Harry stammered looking at Cassie as if she were a completely different person.
"How what?"
"How are you his daughter? He's a werewolf and everyone knows werewolves can't have children." Harry explained finally finding his voice.
He heard Cassie sigh before she looked back into the fire as if remembering a memory from long ago. "I was special, Harry. There was a special potion that my father made to make him all human for one night. The ingredients are extinct now, there's no way he could make it again," Cassie explained when Harry opened his mouth to object; "He did it for my mother. My mother found out he was a werewolf shortly after and she didn't communicate with him after that. That's why I was born with a heart condition, because I have a bit of werewolf in my veins."
"But, you haven't been changing at all have you? Into a werewolf I mean," Harry asked as he pressed himself back into the chair a bit more.
"No. I can't change because of the potion he took sixteen years ago. I'm one hundred percent pure human. That's why Snape makes me the potion. He's made my father's Wolfsbane potion for almost three years now. He makes the potion to help with my heart condition."
"But why do you have a heart condition?"
"Because the extremely tiny part of me that's werewolf wants to change. That's why I hurt so much. And it doesn't even happen when it's a full moon. It happens all the time."
"That's why you've been writing to him hasn't it? To inform him about your heart condition right?" Harry asked.
"In a way yes, I also do it so he can check up on me once in a while, to make sure I'm doing alright."
"Oh."
"That's why Romulus was freaking out when we dueled. He thought he killed his niece and he knew that Remus would kill him," Cassie explained with a small chuckle.
"When did you just find out he was your father?"
"When they came to fetch me at the end of my fifth year at WillowBoil they told me that Remus was my father."
"Why didn't he try to contact you before?"
"Because my mother broke off all contact with him after she found out he was a werewolf. She didn't want her only child to know her father was a freak," Cassandra explained sadly. "She tried to kill me because of my heart pains, she thought I was going to transform into a werewolf."
"Wow. Don't worry Cassie, I won't tell anyone," Harry swore holding up his hand.
"I don't care anymore Harry. Its time people know that Remus is my father. Granted some of them will freak out and some of their parents will try to get me expelled but believe me, I'm not going anywhere. Not for a while anyway. You can tell Hermione and Ron tomorrow." Cassie explained before she sat back down in her armchair, watching the dwindling fire. "Does that answer a lot of your questions?"
"Why do you call him Remus if he's your father?" Harry asked turning to look at her.
"Harry, I've only known the man for five months, it seems a bit strange to call him 'dad' or 'father' when he's been absent in my life for almost seventeen years." Cassandra answered back, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed something tells me I'm going to be having a big day today."
Cassie left Harry in the common room, heading for her dormitory the sleep showing vividly in her eyes. Harry put his head in his hand, feeling extremely confused.
*~*~*~*
It seemed like everyone knew about Cassandra's parentage when Harry woke up that morning and headed down to breakfast. All the students at each of the tables had their heads together, looking over at the Gryffindor table. Harry noticed that Cassandra hadn't made an appearance at breakfast yet.
Harry sat down in between Ron and Hermione noticing their oblivious faces to what was going around them. "Did you guys hear?" Harry asked looking at them questionably.
"'Bout what?" Ron asked as he looked over the 'Daily Prophet'
"About Cassandra about her father," Harry explained. Ron and Hermione stopped what they were doing to look at Harry, confusion plastered all over their faces. "Remus Lupin is her dad."
"What?" Ron screeched, a bit of eggs hanging out the side of his mouth as he looked at Harry in shock. Hermione looked to be in a state of shock "You can't be serious!"
"I am being serious, Ron. Lupin is her father."
"But he's a werewolf! I don't believe it!" Ron muttered to himself shaking his head. Harry relayed the conversation he had had with Cassie the night before both of them giving Harry the utmost attention. Once Harry was finished Hermione shook her head and looked down at her breakfast, Ron still had the bit of egg hanging from his mouth before Harry swiped it away.
The entire Hall fell silent as the doors opened and Cassandra White entered the room her blue eyes sparkling and head held high. She walked past the Slytherin table, many of the students muttering 'freak,' or 'half breed' under their breaths. The Hufflepuffs looked absolutely terrified of her and the Ravenclaws tried to look as if they didn't care but Harry could see the fear registering in their faces. The Gryffindors gave her demeaning looks but when she sat down next to Hermione most of them ignored her completely.
"Morning all!" Cassie said loudly to the table not really caring that everyone was afraid of her. The rest of the table ignored her and only Harry, Ron, and Hermione gave her quiet greetings. "Well, what's got everyone's panties in a twist?" she asked looking around at all the tables. They seemed to be looking at her.
"I think they're afraid that you're going to turn into a werewolf and eat them all," Ron commented staring at her as if she were something to be ogled at in a zoo.
"Well that's utter nonsense, its not even night yet nor is it a full moon!" Cassie said with a laugh. She turned around and saw that all the Slytherins were staring at her, wide malicious grins on all of their faces. Draco Malfoy smiled at Cassie before he let out a loud hall. All the tables jumped except for Slytherin who all seemed to think it was a great joke and were laughing loudly together, many smacking their hands on Malfoy's back.
Cassie laughed along with the Slytherins before she turned back around and finished her breakfast, talking to Harry and Ron about their Divination homework. Hermione was busying herself with some of her work in Arithmancy muttering about a question she was working out in her head.
As breakfast ended, Cassie got up from her seat, all eyes watching her as she headed over towards the Slytherin table. Harry saw Snape watching her very carefully as well as Romulus Lupin. Malfoy was busy talking to Crabbe and Goyle to notice that Cassie was right up behind him.
She gave Harry, Ron, and Hermione a thumbs up before she tossed her head back and let out an extremely loud wolf howl. Harry and Ron peeled over in laughter as Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle jumped three feet in the air from fright, turning around to find Cassandra laughing as well.
"You'll pay for that you dirty half breed," Malfoy spat out as he stood to face her.
"I would love to see you try after all, full moon's a week away," she said her voice deadly serious before she let out a huge laugh and sauntered out of the Great Hall, a myriad of eyes following her as she left.
"She can't turn into a werewolf can she?" Neville asked rather fearfully.
"No, but what Malfoy doesn't know won't hurt him!" Ron said happily.
*~*~*~*
A week later there wasn't a soul in the school who didn't know about Cassie and her relationship with Professor Lupin and his brother. The whole school talked nothing of it and some of the students even sent owls home to their parents and in response Cassie was receiving Howlers every other day screaming at her to leave the school before she bit someone. Harry didn't know how she could stand to have seven different voices every day bellowing at her to get out of the school before they sent letters to the Ministry.
Even Malfoy seemed a little wary of Cassie, to Ron and Harry's great joy. He wouldn't sneer at her in potions and even though he gave her spiteful looks in the hallways, he didn't dare try to jinx or hex her.
Many of the students were still a bit frightened of her so she opted to sit in the back of every classroom, alone, so none of the students would feel threatened by the abilities she knew she didn't possess.
Harry had a feeling that there was another reason why Cassie didn't want to tell people about her origins. For one, Professor Lupin rarely asked Cassie to answer any questions he proposed to the class, fearing some of the students would accuse him of favoring his niece.
There was one thing that didn't change about Cassandra White though. Although she was taking her potion for her conditions, they seemed to worsen no matter how many times she drank Snape's concoction.
Harry, Ron and Hermione would descend down the dormitory staircase countless of times to find Cassie sitting in the common room either wide awake, dark circles under her eyes, or sprawled out on the couch fast asleep. Harry couldn't help but feel concerned for the girl who seemed to have gotten more emaciated as November started to fade into December.
Instead of a healthy appetite Harry had seen in the beginning of the year, he found that Cassie could only pick at her food, nibbling on a bit of toast or treacle tarts during their meals in the Great Hall.
"It looks like she's wasting away. Can't her father or uncle see that?" Harry explained one day to Ron and Hermione as they were walking towards their Care of Magical Creature's lesson. The sixth year students were taking care of wood fairies, feeding them strips of tree bark and taking them back to their trees at the end of the lesson. Hagrid had explained that as the days grew colder, the tiny fairies would fly towards the warmth of the castle and Hagrid's hut.
"Well, ever since she's told everyone about her father being a werewolf she seems to be excluding herself from a lot of activities," Hermione remarked as they joined the rest of the sixth years in front of the small enclosure where they took care of the fairies. Harry knew that Hermione had a point. Cassie, who was usually in the center of attention in the common room after classes, would sit in the back of the room working on her homework on her own and heading to bed early. She would rarely talk to anyone unless it was Harry, Ron or Hermione and she hardly stayed in the Great Hall for meals. She was usually in there for at least five minutes before she would excuse herself and head for the common room.
"How would you feel if everyone was waiting for you to turn into a monster at every second of the day? I don't blame her for pushing herself away from everyone," Ron whispered as Hagrid yelled out instructions to the class. The three of them looked over at Cassie who was standing far away from everyone, shivering under her cloak from the cold breeze that was rushing through the grounds.
"Off ye' go then! Off ye' go!" Hagrid roared above the breeze which was now turning into a strong wind. The group of sixth year Gryffindors and Slytherins headed into the outskirts of the Forbidden Forrest, walking up to the trees they were assigned to. Harry reached into his oak tree and gently pulled out his Oak Fairy. The tiny creature, who was the same brown as the tree's trunk clutched onto Harry's thumb for warmth, its hair, which was once green like the oak's leaves, was now a dead brown color, the sign that winter and snow was quickly approaching.
Harry led it back to the enclosure and sat next to Hermione, who was feeding her Birch Fairy some bark and Ron, who's Fir Fairy was trying to take a bite out of his finger.
"Bloody animal, it won't sit still," Ron growled as he tried to feed his fairy some bark. It closed its tiny mouth, dark brown arms against his chest and shook his head defiantly. Harry looked behind him and saw Cassie sitting against the enclosure fence playing with her Aspen Fairy. The fairy was tugging at Cassie's hair playfully, blowing raspberries and making rude gestures at the girl. Harry watched as Cassie's mouth, which was formed into a tight line of seriousness, spread into a genuine grin, something Harry hadn't seen in almost two weeks.
"Now there's sommat we haven' seen in a while," Hagrid said directing his comment towards Cassie. Harry saw as the smile disappeared from Cassie's face and she went back to her serious frown. He could tell she was trying hard not to laugh at the fairy who was trying everything to get the girl to laugh. The three watched as Hagrid lumbered over to Cassie and kneeled down in front of her muttering something to her.
"Wonder what that's all about," Ron said who had finally gotten his fairy to settle down to eat some food. Harry shrugged and he heard Cassie laugh loudly at something Hagrid had said. Hagrid got to his feet and walked back to the front of the enclosure giving Harry, Hermione and Ron a wink as he passed.
After their fairies had been fed and the nests inside their trees had been cleaned out, Hagrid dismissed the class and they headed back towards the castle for lunch.
"Look at this! If it isn't the little half breed," a voice sneered behind Harry. He turned around quickly, Hermione and Ron following his lead. They saw that Malfoy and his thuggish friends had surrounded Cassie, the rest of the sixth year Slytherins forming a circle around them, preventing Cassie from escaping.
"Get out of the way Malfoy," Cassie said her voice low and stern.
"What are you going to do about it? You can't change into a werewolf, you're harmless," Malfoy leered. Harry and Ron started towards Malfoy ready to break through the ranks of Slytherins to free the girl but Cassie looked at them and shook her head.
"Leave me alone," she said and Malfoy sniggered the rest of the Slytherins following suit.
"'Leave me alone,'" Malfoy mimicked before he lunged forward and pushed her forcefully.
The wall of Slytherins broke her fall and they pushed her back into the middle of the circle all of them laughing maliciously. "You're such a dirty half breed, just like your father. He almost killed a student when he was a student here at Hogwarts. Did he tell you that he almost killed precious Potter and his friends three years ago? That if it wasn't for that stupid idiot Black they'd all be running around in the forest right now, just as dirty as he is," Malfoy spat out his leering smile growing wider by the minute.
"You truly are your father's son Malfoy. You're both so insecure that you have to have to hurt innocent people, make them feel bad. You put yourself in the company of people who will make you feel more secure but really aren't the 'right people.' Your father joined a group that he thought was pretty secure. But where did it get your father Malfoy, your stupid, bastard of a father? He got himself a wonderful prison cell in Azkaban, and I hope he rots there. Pureblood or not, your filthy murderer of a father deserved what he got: a life sentence in hell."
Harry couldn't recall when he saw Malfoy that mad. His pale face was now a dark, deep red, his face set into a mask of hatred and anger. The Slytherins were silent, waiting to see what Malfoy would do. Harry could see Crabbe and Goyle flexing their muscles angry faces set on Cassie.
Hermione let out a small scream as Malfoy drew his hand back and smacked Cassie across the face, sending her to the ground. Strands of hair were flying about Malfoy's face as he looked down at the girl. "Never," he began as the group of Slytherins started to dismember, "never say that about my father again or I swear I will kill you." With that said, Malfoy spat on Cassie and walked back up to the castle, Crabbe and Goyle following close behind.
Ron reached Cassie first and helped her sit up on the ground. Even though Malfoy got one punch in he had done some damage. His fist seemed to have hit the right side of her face and a large bruise was surfacing. "You should report that, you could get him expelled," Hermione said, "He could even get his prefect's badge removed." Cassie shook her head and got to her feet, wobbling a bit before regaining her balance.
"I'm not going to report him," Cassie said simply as Harry handed Cassie her bag. Hermione looked at her in shock.
"But why?"
"Because I know he's going to be sitting at his table in the Hall and he's going to replay those words I said to him over and over again in his head. Maybe he'll get the picture that his father really is a murderous bastard," Cassie explained, "Excuse me." She added before she left them standing in the middle of the grounds. She walked with a determined air up the castle steps finally disappearing into Hogwarts.
*~*~*
When Harry, Ron and Hermione walked into the Great Hall they saw that Cassie wasn't sitting in her usual seat. When they asked Ginny if Cassie hurried into the Hall to grab a small morsel of food she shook her head and told them she hadn't seen her at all during the lunch period.
Ten minutes before the bell rang to signal the end of lunch; Harry excused himself and headed up to Gryffindor Tower to put away his Care of Magical Creatures book and to retrieve his Dark Arts text seeing as they had a lesson with Professor Lupin after lunch.
After discarding his books, Harry glanced at his watch and realized he had five minutes to spare. He decided to head down to Lupin's classroom early so he could get a good seat for that day's lesson. The class was supposed to be casting spells on teddy bears that were enchanted to act lifelike during the week.
As he neared the room he could hear voices in the room adjacent to it. He knew this to be Lupin's office and he couldn't help but overhearing the conversation.
"I don't know why I'm not reporting this to Dumbledore right now. That was a very dishonorable thing to do and that brainless git should know better," Professor Lupin explained. There was a smack that followed this statement and Harry had a feeling that the teacher slammed his fist onto his desk to emphasize his side of the conversation.
"Don't worry about it. It didn't hurt, honestly Uncle Romulus."
"I'm surprised you didn't curse the brains out of him. That's what your father would have done," Lupin replied.
Harry couldn't hear the first half of Cassie's reply because there was a rip and he could hear Lupin curse. "The stupid bears are ripping each other up again." He heard Lupin mutter.
". . . Believe me I almost did curse the living day lights out of him but then you know what would happen."
"Yes, I know." Professor Lupin replied rather somberly.
"Don't report him Romulus please. And don't tell dad about it either. He'd be over here immediately to have him expelled. Either that or he'd rip him to shreds," Cassie explained.
"I won't tell him Cass. The bell's about to ring go take your seat. And sit in the front this time. I think the students realize now that you're not going to bite them," Lupin said a hint of laughter in his voice.
"I wouldn't be able to take a bite out of them," Cassie said before she said something Harry couldn't hear. Lupin let out a guffaw before they left his office, no doubt going into the classroom.
The end of lunch bell rang promptly at one o' clock and Harry loitered outside of Lupin's classroom for a few moments before he walked into the classroom walking to the front of the room and taking a seat next to Cassie. "This is a first," Harry remarked, "I haven't seen you sit in the front of a classroom for a long time. Finally over your shyness?" he asked with a grin. Cassie rolled her eyes and pulled out her Dark Arts book.
"Since when have I ever been shy?" she replied with a quick laugh. The students quickly began to file into the classroom, Ron taking a seat next to Harry and Hermione sitting down next to Cassie. Hermione grimaced when she saw the large bruise forming on her face but it looked like it didn't bother Cassandra one bit.
Once all the students were situated in their seats, Professor Lupin handed each of the pupils a struggling teddy bear. "Now, you're going to separate into groups, two people per bear and I want you to practice some of the curses you read about in chapter seven of your text books. Once you're sure you have the curses down, please come up to my desk and perform five of the curses you used."
The students quickly spread out throughout the room, Hermione and Cassie going into one of the corners behind Professor Lupin's desk. Ron and Harry took a ginger colored teddy bear and went into the way back of the classroom, away from any wandering ears. Harry quickly told Ron about Cassie and Lupin's conversation that he overheard. Once he was finished, Ron gave Cassie, whose back was turned to them, a shocked look.
"If it were me he attacked, I would go and tell McGonagall to remove his prefect's badge. I wonder why she didn't report him!" Ron said in a loud whisper as he performed a bone breaking curse on the bear. The teddy bear's left arm hung loosely at its side and he shot Ron a menacing look. Harry shrugged his shoulders showing that he was just as confused as Ron was. He looked back at Hermione and Cassie who were now presenting their curses to Professor Lupin who looked extremely pleased at Hermione's bleeding curse, the stuffing coming out of the teddy bear's side. Cassie standing behind her uncle's chair, a wide smile set across her face making the bruise on the right side of her face disappear. Cassie then started her curses on the bear and cast a torture curse on the bear the smile disappearing from her face as she watched the stuffed teddy bear crumble on her uncle's desk, not moving.
The large bruise appeared on her face again and she reached up to touch it gingerly. She grimaced slightly before she grabbed her heart. Harry watched as she turned her back from the class and reached into her pocket to grab something. He saw her tilt her head back, a vial to her lips. 'There she goes again,' Harry thought to himself. He watched as Cassie turned around quickly before she gave a short gasp of pain. Professor Lupin turned around just in time to watch his niece's eyes roll back into her head. She moaned in pain before she fell into a heap on the floor.
*~*~*
Sorry it was so short. Hope to update later tonight or tomorrow. But thank you again for all of your reviews! You guys are the best!
~Aislin
Snivellus: Glad to hear from you again! I don't think you were too shocked about the end to chapter twelve but don't worry, it gets better I promise!
Amber Eyed Wolf: I love Sirius too, he's one of my favorite characters in the books ( I don't want to put 'was' it makes it seem all to real. *sob*)
Hermionedastar: Thanks for checking out my story! It is greatly appreciated and I can't wait to check out yours!
Slippersarefuzzy: Thanks for thinking my story is good! I'm glad some people on the WWW enjoy my works!
Tessa66: Thanks for your reviews! Glad to get new readers! As for hearing more . . . how bout now? Lol
Sorry the chapter is so short, I wanted to get this out straight away and I'm sorry that the chapter title sucks. I've been up since 6:00 AM and its after midnight where I'm at so I'm just a wee bit tired!
And a very Happy Birthday to Harry and J.K. Rowling! Without you guys, I wouldn't be writing this right now!
*~*~*~*~*
13. Lupin's Daughter
The silence that followed Cassie's statement was deafening to Harry. He could feel his mouth opening to say something but nothing came out. He stared at her in complete shock as she rose from her seat and stood in front of him, waiting for his reply.
"Are you going to say something?" Cassie asked him, knocking Harry out of his thoughts.
"H-h-h-how?" Harry stammered looking at Cassie as if she were a completely different person.
"How what?"
"How are you his daughter? He's a werewolf and everyone knows werewolves can't have children." Harry explained finally finding his voice.
He heard Cassie sigh before she looked back into the fire as if remembering a memory from long ago. "I was special, Harry. There was a special potion that my father made to make him all human for one night. The ingredients are extinct now, there's no way he could make it again," Cassie explained when Harry opened his mouth to object; "He did it for my mother. My mother found out he was a werewolf shortly after and she didn't communicate with him after that. That's why I was born with a heart condition, because I have a bit of werewolf in my veins."
"But, you haven't been changing at all have you? Into a werewolf I mean," Harry asked as he pressed himself back into the chair a bit more.
"No. I can't change because of the potion he took sixteen years ago. I'm one hundred percent pure human. That's why Snape makes me the potion. He's made my father's Wolfsbane potion for almost three years now. He makes the potion to help with my heart condition."
"But why do you have a heart condition?"
"Because the extremely tiny part of me that's werewolf wants to change. That's why I hurt so much. And it doesn't even happen when it's a full moon. It happens all the time."
"That's why you've been writing to him hasn't it? To inform him about your heart condition right?" Harry asked.
"In a way yes, I also do it so he can check up on me once in a while, to make sure I'm doing alright."
"Oh."
"That's why Romulus was freaking out when we dueled. He thought he killed his niece and he knew that Remus would kill him," Cassie explained with a small chuckle.
"When did you just find out he was your father?"
"When they came to fetch me at the end of my fifth year at WillowBoil they told me that Remus was my father."
"Why didn't he try to contact you before?"
"Because my mother broke off all contact with him after she found out he was a werewolf. She didn't want her only child to know her father was a freak," Cassandra explained sadly. "She tried to kill me because of my heart pains, she thought I was going to transform into a werewolf."
"Wow. Don't worry Cassie, I won't tell anyone," Harry swore holding up his hand.
"I don't care anymore Harry. Its time people know that Remus is my father. Granted some of them will freak out and some of their parents will try to get me expelled but believe me, I'm not going anywhere. Not for a while anyway. You can tell Hermione and Ron tomorrow." Cassie explained before she sat back down in her armchair, watching the dwindling fire. "Does that answer a lot of your questions?"
"Why do you call him Remus if he's your father?" Harry asked turning to look at her.
"Harry, I've only known the man for five months, it seems a bit strange to call him 'dad' or 'father' when he's been absent in my life for almost seventeen years." Cassandra answered back, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed something tells me I'm going to be having a big day today."
Cassie left Harry in the common room, heading for her dormitory the sleep showing vividly in her eyes. Harry put his head in his hand, feeling extremely confused.
*~*~*~*
It seemed like everyone knew about Cassandra's parentage when Harry woke up that morning and headed down to breakfast. All the students at each of the tables had their heads together, looking over at the Gryffindor table. Harry noticed that Cassandra hadn't made an appearance at breakfast yet.
Harry sat down in between Ron and Hermione noticing their oblivious faces to what was going around them. "Did you guys hear?" Harry asked looking at them questionably.
"'Bout what?" Ron asked as he looked over the 'Daily Prophet'
"About Cassandra about her father," Harry explained. Ron and Hermione stopped what they were doing to look at Harry, confusion plastered all over their faces. "Remus Lupin is her dad."
"What?" Ron screeched, a bit of eggs hanging out the side of his mouth as he looked at Harry in shock. Hermione looked to be in a state of shock "You can't be serious!"
"I am being serious, Ron. Lupin is her father."
"But he's a werewolf! I don't believe it!" Ron muttered to himself shaking his head. Harry relayed the conversation he had had with Cassie the night before both of them giving Harry the utmost attention. Once Harry was finished Hermione shook her head and looked down at her breakfast, Ron still had the bit of egg hanging from his mouth before Harry swiped it away.
The entire Hall fell silent as the doors opened and Cassandra White entered the room her blue eyes sparkling and head held high. She walked past the Slytherin table, many of the students muttering 'freak,' or 'half breed' under their breaths. The Hufflepuffs looked absolutely terrified of her and the Ravenclaws tried to look as if they didn't care but Harry could see the fear registering in their faces. The Gryffindors gave her demeaning looks but when she sat down next to Hermione most of them ignored her completely.
"Morning all!" Cassie said loudly to the table not really caring that everyone was afraid of her. The rest of the table ignored her and only Harry, Ron, and Hermione gave her quiet greetings. "Well, what's got everyone's panties in a twist?" she asked looking around at all the tables. They seemed to be looking at her.
"I think they're afraid that you're going to turn into a werewolf and eat them all," Ron commented staring at her as if she were something to be ogled at in a zoo.
"Well that's utter nonsense, its not even night yet nor is it a full moon!" Cassie said with a laugh. She turned around and saw that all the Slytherins were staring at her, wide malicious grins on all of their faces. Draco Malfoy smiled at Cassie before he let out a loud hall. All the tables jumped except for Slytherin who all seemed to think it was a great joke and were laughing loudly together, many smacking their hands on Malfoy's back.
Cassie laughed along with the Slytherins before she turned back around and finished her breakfast, talking to Harry and Ron about their Divination homework. Hermione was busying herself with some of her work in Arithmancy muttering about a question she was working out in her head.
As breakfast ended, Cassie got up from her seat, all eyes watching her as she headed over towards the Slytherin table. Harry saw Snape watching her very carefully as well as Romulus Lupin. Malfoy was busy talking to Crabbe and Goyle to notice that Cassie was right up behind him.
She gave Harry, Ron, and Hermione a thumbs up before she tossed her head back and let out an extremely loud wolf howl. Harry and Ron peeled over in laughter as Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle jumped three feet in the air from fright, turning around to find Cassandra laughing as well.
"You'll pay for that you dirty half breed," Malfoy spat out as he stood to face her.
"I would love to see you try after all, full moon's a week away," she said her voice deadly serious before she let out a huge laugh and sauntered out of the Great Hall, a myriad of eyes following her as she left.
"She can't turn into a werewolf can she?" Neville asked rather fearfully.
"No, but what Malfoy doesn't know won't hurt him!" Ron said happily.
*~*~*~*
A week later there wasn't a soul in the school who didn't know about Cassie and her relationship with Professor Lupin and his brother. The whole school talked nothing of it and some of the students even sent owls home to their parents and in response Cassie was receiving Howlers every other day screaming at her to leave the school before she bit someone. Harry didn't know how she could stand to have seven different voices every day bellowing at her to get out of the school before they sent letters to the Ministry.
Even Malfoy seemed a little wary of Cassie, to Ron and Harry's great joy. He wouldn't sneer at her in potions and even though he gave her spiteful looks in the hallways, he didn't dare try to jinx or hex her.
Many of the students were still a bit frightened of her so she opted to sit in the back of every classroom, alone, so none of the students would feel threatened by the abilities she knew she didn't possess.
Harry had a feeling that there was another reason why Cassie didn't want to tell people about her origins. For one, Professor Lupin rarely asked Cassie to answer any questions he proposed to the class, fearing some of the students would accuse him of favoring his niece.
There was one thing that didn't change about Cassandra White though. Although she was taking her potion for her conditions, they seemed to worsen no matter how many times she drank Snape's concoction.
Harry, Ron and Hermione would descend down the dormitory staircase countless of times to find Cassie sitting in the common room either wide awake, dark circles under her eyes, or sprawled out on the couch fast asleep. Harry couldn't help but feel concerned for the girl who seemed to have gotten more emaciated as November started to fade into December.
Instead of a healthy appetite Harry had seen in the beginning of the year, he found that Cassie could only pick at her food, nibbling on a bit of toast or treacle tarts during their meals in the Great Hall.
"It looks like she's wasting away. Can't her father or uncle see that?" Harry explained one day to Ron and Hermione as they were walking towards their Care of Magical Creature's lesson. The sixth year students were taking care of wood fairies, feeding them strips of tree bark and taking them back to their trees at the end of the lesson. Hagrid had explained that as the days grew colder, the tiny fairies would fly towards the warmth of the castle and Hagrid's hut.
"Well, ever since she's told everyone about her father being a werewolf she seems to be excluding herself from a lot of activities," Hermione remarked as they joined the rest of the sixth years in front of the small enclosure where they took care of the fairies. Harry knew that Hermione had a point. Cassie, who was usually in the center of attention in the common room after classes, would sit in the back of the room working on her homework on her own and heading to bed early. She would rarely talk to anyone unless it was Harry, Ron or Hermione and she hardly stayed in the Great Hall for meals. She was usually in there for at least five minutes before she would excuse herself and head for the common room.
"How would you feel if everyone was waiting for you to turn into a monster at every second of the day? I don't blame her for pushing herself away from everyone," Ron whispered as Hagrid yelled out instructions to the class. The three of them looked over at Cassie who was standing far away from everyone, shivering under her cloak from the cold breeze that was rushing through the grounds.
"Off ye' go then! Off ye' go!" Hagrid roared above the breeze which was now turning into a strong wind. The group of sixth year Gryffindors and Slytherins headed into the outskirts of the Forbidden Forrest, walking up to the trees they were assigned to. Harry reached into his oak tree and gently pulled out his Oak Fairy. The tiny creature, who was the same brown as the tree's trunk clutched onto Harry's thumb for warmth, its hair, which was once green like the oak's leaves, was now a dead brown color, the sign that winter and snow was quickly approaching.
Harry led it back to the enclosure and sat next to Hermione, who was feeding her Birch Fairy some bark and Ron, who's Fir Fairy was trying to take a bite out of his finger.
"Bloody animal, it won't sit still," Ron growled as he tried to feed his fairy some bark. It closed its tiny mouth, dark brown arms against his chest and shook his head defiantly. Harry looked behind him and saw Cassie sitting against the enclosure fence playing with her Aspen Fairy. The fairy was tugging at Cassie's hair playfully, blowing raspberries and making rude gestures at the girl. Harry watched as Cassie's mouth, which was formed into a tight line of seriousness, spread into a genuine grin, something Harry hadn't seen in almost two weeks.
"Now there's sommat we haven' seen in a while," Hagrid said directing his comment towards Cassie. Harry saw as the smile disappeared from Cassie's face and she went back to her serious frown. He could tell she was trying hard not to laugh at the fairy who was trying everything to get the girl to laugh. The three watched as Hagrid lumbered over to Cassie and kneeled down in front of her muttering something to her.
"Wonder what that's all about," Ron said who had finally gotten his fairy to settle down to eat some food. Harry shrugged and he heard Cassie laugh loudly at something Hagrid had said. Hagrid got to his feet and walked back to the front of the enclosure giving Harry, Hermione and Ron a wink as he passed.
After their fairies had been fed and the nests inside their trees had been cleaned out, Hagrid dismissed the class and they headed back towards the castle for lunch.
"Look at this! If it isn't the little half breed," a voice sneered behind Harry. He turned around quickly, Hermione and Ron following his lead. They saw that Malfoy and his thuggish friends had surrounded Cassie, the rest of the sixth year Slytherins forming a circle around them, preventing Cassie from escaping.
"Get out of the way Malfoy," Cassie said her voice low and stern.
"What are you going to do about it? You can't change into a werewolf, you're harmless," Malfoy leered. Harry and Ron started towards Malfoy ready to break through the ranks of Slytherins to free the girl but Cassie looked at them and shook her head.
"Leave me alone," she said and Malfoy sniggered the rest of the Slytherins following suit.
"'Leave me alone,'" Malfoy mimicked before he lunged forward and pushed her forcefully.
The wall of Slytherins broke her fall and they pushed her back into the middle of the circle all of them laughing maliciously. "You're such a dirty half breed, just like your father. He almost killed a student when he was a student here at Hogwarts. Did he tell you that he almost killed precious Potter and his friends three years ago? That if it wasn't for that stupid idiot Black they'd all be running around in the forest right now, just as dirty as he is," Malfoy spat out his leering smile growing wider by the minute.
"You truly are your father's son Malfoy. You're both so insecure that you have to have to hurt innocent people, make them feel bad. You put yourself in the company of people who will make you feel more secure but really aren't the 'right people.' Your father joined a group that he thought was pretty secure. But where did it get your father Malfoy, your stupid, bastard of a father? He got himself a wonderful prison cell in Azkaban, and I hope he rots there. Pureblood or not, your filthy murderer of a father deserved what he got: a life sentence in hell."
Harry couldn't recall when he saw Malfoy that mad. His pale face was now a dark, deep red, his face set into a mask of hatred and anger. The Slytherins were silent, waiting to see what Malfoy would do. Harry could see Crabbe and Goyle flexing their muscles angry faces set on Cassie.
Hermione let out a small scream as Malfoy drew his hand back and smacked Cassie across the face, sending her to the ground. Strands of hair were flying about Malfoy's face as he looked down at the girl. "Never," he began as the group of Slytherins started to dismember, "never say that about my father again or I swear I will kill you." With that said, Malfoy spat on Cassie and walked back up to the castle, Crabbe and Goyle following close behind.
Ron reached Cassie first and helped her sit up on the ground. Even though Malfoy got one punch in he had done some damage. His fist seemed to have hit the right side of her face and a large bruise was surfacing. "You should report that, you could get him expelled," Hermione said, "He could even get his prefect's badge removed." Cassie shook her head and got to her feet, wobbling a bit before regaining her balance.
"I'm not going to report him," Cassie said simply as Harry handed Cassie her bag. Hermione looked at her in shock.
"But why?"
"Because I know he's going to be sitting at his table in the Hall and he's going to replay those words I said to him over and over again in his head. Maybe he'll get the picture that his father really is a murderous bastard," Cassie explained, "Excuse me." She added before she left them standing in the middle of the grounds. She walked with a determined air up the castle steps finally disappearing into Hogwarts.
*~*~*
When Harry, Ron and Hermione walked into the Great Hall they saw that Cassie wasn't sitting in her usual seat. When they asked Ginny if Cassie hurried into the Hall to grab a small morsel of food she shook her head and told them she hadn't seen her at all during the lunch period.
Ten minutes before the bell rang to signal the end of lunch; Harry excused himself and headed up to Gryffindor Tower to put away his Care of Magical Creatures book and to retrieve his Dark Arts text seeing as they had a lesson with Professor Lupin after lunch.
After discarding his books, Harry glanced at his watch and realized he had five minutes to spare. He decided to head down to Lupin's classroom early so he could get a good seat for that day's lesson. The class was supposed to be casting spells on teddy bears that were enchanted to act lifelike during the week.
As he neared the room he could hear voices in the room adjacent to it. He knew this to be Lupin's office and he couldn't help but overhearing the conversation.
"I don't know why I'm not reporting this to Dumbledore right now. That was a very dishonorable thing to do and that brainless git should know better," Professor Lupin explained. There was a smack that followed this statement and Harry had a feeling that the teacher slammed his fist onto his desk to emphasize his side of the conversation.
"Don't worry about it. It didn't hurt, honestly Uncle Romulus."
"I'm surprised you didn't curse the brains out of him. That's what your father would have done," Lupin replied.
Harry couldn't hear the first half of Cassie's reply because there was a rip and he could hear Lupin curse. "The stupid bears are ripping each other up again." He heard Lupin mutter.
". . . Believe me I almost did curse the living day lights out of him but then you know what would happen."
"Yes, I know." Professor Lupin replied rather somberly.
"Don't report him Romulus please. And don't tell dad about it either. He'd be over here immediately to have him expelled. Either that or he'd rip him to shreds," Cassie explained.
"I won't tell him Cass. The bell's about to ring go take your seat. And sit in the front this time. I think the students realize now that you're not going to bite them," Lupin said a hint of laughter in his voice.
"I wouldn't be able to take a bite out of them," Cassie said before she said something Harry couldn't hear. Lupin let out a guffaw before they left his office, no doubt going into the classroom.
The end of lunch bell rang promptly at one o' clock and Harry loitered outside of Lupin's classroom for a few moments before he walked into the classroom walking to the front of the room and taking a seat next to Cassie. "This is a first," Harry remarked, "I haven't seen you sit in the front of a classroom for a long time. Finally over your shyness?" he asked with a grin. Cassie rolled her eyes and pulled out her Dark Arts book.
"Since when have I ever been shy?" she replied with a quick laugh. The students quickly began to file into the classroom, Ron taking a seat next to Harry and Hermione sitting down next to Cassie. Hermione grimaced when she saw the large bruise forming on her face but it looked like it didn't bother Cassandra one bit.
Once all the students were situated in their seats, Professor Lupin handed each of the pupils a struggling teddy bear. "Now, you're going to separate into groups, two people per bear and I want you to practice some of the curses you read about in chapter seven of your text books. Once you're sure you have the curses down, please come up to my desk and perform five of the curses you used."
The students quickly spread out throughout the room, Hermione and Cassie going into one of the corners behind Professor Lupin's desk. Ron and Harry took a ginger colored teddy bear and went into the way back of the classroom, away from any wandering ears. Harry quickly told Ron about Cassie and Lupin's conversation that he overheard. Once he was finished, Ron gave Cassie, whose back was turned to them, a shocked look.
"If it were me he attacked, I would go and tell McGonagall to remove his prefect's badge. I wonder why she didn't report him!" Ron said in a loud whisper as he performed a bone breaking curse on the bear. The teddy bear's left arm hung loosely at its side and he shot Ron a menacing look. Harry shrugged his shoulders showing that he was just as confused as Ron was. He looked back at Hermione and Cassie who were now presenting their curses to Professor Lupin who looked extremely pleased at Hermione's bleeding curse, the stuffing coming out of the teddy bear's side. Cassie standing behind her uncle's chair, a wide smile set across her face making the bruise on the right side of her face disappear. Cassie then started her curses on the bear and cast a torture curse on the bear the smile disappearing from her face as she watched the stuffed teddy bear crumble on her uncle's desk, not moving.
The large bruise appeared on her face again and she reached up to touch it gingerly. She grimaced slightly before she grabbed her heart. Harry watched as she turned her back from the class and reached into her pocket to grab something. He saw her tilt her head back, a vial to her lips. 'There she goes again,' Harry thought to himself. He watched as Cassie turned around quickly before she gave a short gasp of pain. Professor Lupin turned around just in time to watch his niece's eyes roll back into her head. She moaned in pain before she fell into a heap on the floor.
*~*~*
Sorry it was so short. Hope to update later tonight or tomorrow. But thank you again for all of your reviews! You guys are the best!
~Aislin