I'm posting two chapters tonight. This first one is not my favorite - in fact, I only wrote it because it is necessary for us to believe that her parents aren't worried about her while all this is going on. So, it's short on plot and a little strange. I tried to make it funny, at least.



Chapter 40

"Hi, Mum. It's me."

Since Cassie was standing by Harry's desk in the living room, all three of them heard every word that she said. They didn't even pretend not to be listening and Harry admitted he was really curious to know what she had to say. Although they couldn't hear Ms. Robinson's questions, it was not too difficult to get the main idea of what she said from Cassie's responses.

"Yeah, I know. We just got here. Sorry. That's why I went ahead and called you instead." Harry suddenly realized that Cassie was going to pretend she was calling from her house. That way she avoid the whole being held captive issue, plus the fact that she was not supposed to sleep at his place. That was smart, but Harry hoped that she could carry it off. He personally didn't think she was that great of a liar. And her mother could read minds, he would swear. He had wondered at times if she had taken lessons from Snape or something.

"Well, we spent most of the day at Harry's house. Um, then we had dinner. Anyway, we just got back."

"Not really, it's only 9. My curfew's 10:30, remember?" Okay, so she wasn't happy they had spent so much time together today. Harry didn't really blame her for that. The original plan had been to take Cassie back to her house at a much earlier hour, like 6 or so. And he may have stayed there for a little while afterward while they, uh, said goodnight. But of course, things had changed rather dramatically.

"You're right, mum. I should have been home earlier . . . What did you and the boys do today?" Ooh, Harry had to give her credit for that one. Admitting that her mother was right would diffuse any argument and then there was the attempt to change the subject from what he and Cassie had done today to the safe topic of sight-seeing in France. Ron and Hermione were looking at him with undisguised interest. Probably because he was hanging on every word she was saying. He tried to assume a more disinterested posture and leaned back in his chair. Okay, it didn't work but he had least made an effort.

"What did we eat? Oh, nothing too spectacular. Just what Harry happened to have lying around the house." Harry leaned close to Hermione.

"Her mum's a bit of a health-food nut. She worries all the time about what Cassie's eating. I think she thinks I'm a bad influence."

"Gee I can't imagine why she'd think that." Hermione could sometimes be very sarcastic. Harry just shrugged. Cassie was talking again.

. . .so I'm just fine. You don't have to worry so much." She rolled her eyes at Harry and he smiled encouragingly at her. She was doing a great job. He had to give her credit for that. Suddenly, Cassie got a confused look on her face. "Last night? What about last night?" Then she relaxed as her mother kept talking to her.

"Oh, was that just last night? I guess it was. It seems like it was a lot longer ago. It was fantastic. Harry knows all sorts of things about constellations and stars and things." Oh, yeah. They had been stargazing the night before. How could he have forgotten? She was right. It seemed like it was more than a week ago that they had taken the Underground to the park and had spent a long time looking up at the various constellations. Of course, afterward, they had kissed for a while. Harry hoped that she wouldn't mention that to her mother. He turned slightly and noticed that Ron was definitely giving him a very amused look. Oh, great. He had figured out what Cassie was talking about. Harry had been completely sincere about the Astronomy tower being a hangout for kissing at school. Harry supposed that Ron thought that had been his main motivation.

"Yes. I saw Cassiopeia. It was beautiful. He showed me lots of other constellations, too." Harry definitely flushed under Ron's speculative gaze.

"I just showed her a few of the major constellations. She's named after. . . ." But he stopped whispering when she rolled her eyes again and spoke to her mother again.

"Oh, about midnight or so. But we had such a great time!" Hermione was shaking her head at Harry.

"I thought her curfew was before midnight."

"I got special permission, okay?"

"Obviously, her mother doesn't know you as well as I do."

"What's that supposed to mean, Hermione?" Harry felt his cheeks get hot. Ron was laughing and Cassie scowled at the three of them, putting her finger up to her lips.

"No, I'm all right, really. Harry was just . . .laughing at the, uh, television." Ron looked suitably contrite, but Harry knew that he was still holding in his laughter. Cassie continued with her mother. "Uh, we played chess during the morning." Ron looked interested at that but Harry just mouthed "Muggle Chess" at him, and he lost any interest in the subject. "I gave him the book I got him this morning. He liked it, I think. Then we watched a movie." Her face got distinctly pink during that part of the conversation and Harry's blush deepened. He remembered the interrupted movie very well. Ron and Hermione were looking between the two of them with kind of peculiar grins. Harry tried to think of anything except kissing Cassie. He hoped that his blush would subside but hers didn't. If anything, it got worse at her mother's next comment.

"No, nothing happened. Nothing. What makes you ask that?"

"Oh, sorry. I just need a drink of water." She cleared her throat and Ron started laughing again. Harry punched him on the arm but Ron could barely control himself. Cassie scowled heavily and mouthed "Shut Up" to the three of them.

"No, it's just that . . . .Well, actually. Something did happen around dinner time . . ." It was obvious to Harry that she was going to continue and tell her mother about Ron and Hermione but apparently her mother had started yelling rather loudly. Cassie put the phone a little bit away from her ear and got a strange look on her face.

"Nothing like that! Mum! Honestly. Listen. No. Look. We've . . No! We've been following the rules. We have. It has nothing to do with that." Her mother's voice suddenly quieted, and Cassie put the phone back to her ear. "I'm positive. It has nothing to do with the rules at all. It's just that . . . .Well, his friends came tonight."

Ron and Hermione looked over and Cassie, suddenly realizing that now they were involved in this little family drama. "Well, two of them. His best friends. The ones he was telling me about earlier - Ron and Hermione." She turned her back on the three of them, apparently seeking a little privacy. Harry felt kind of bad for her and wanted to throw Ron and Hermione out of the room all together, but they didn't seem embarrassed at all and just sat there. "Yeah, they're very nice. I like them. I think they like me, too, at least a little bit." Her mother had apparently started firing off questions because for a few moments Cassie just listened with a strange look on her face. "What?" Then her expression cleared. "Our house? Oh, well, yeah. Of course they're at our house. We couldn't very well leave them behind, could we, when we came over here?"

"No nothing's wrong . . . It's just that . . . well, truthfully, they're sitting here listening to me and I . . ." Then her eyes widened a little at her mother's next comment. Oh, oh. Something was definitely wrong. "Um, okay, mum, I'll go in the other room. Yeah. I should have thought of that to begin with." She stood their quietly for a second, then made some rustling noises with the papers on the desk, and covered the mouthpiece with her hand. "Okay, Harry, you can hang up that extension, now. I'll be back out in a few minutes." She half yelled this, like she was calling down a hallway. All three of the friends started giggling at this and she gave them a definite disgusted look but continued. "All right, Mum, I'm by myself now. But honestly, there's nothing wrong at all."

Cassie's face suddenly turned bright red and Harry was afraid of what she was going to say next. It was as bad as he feared. "No, Mum, it's not like that. He wouldn't do that. He . . .he's not like that." Hermione just raised a speculative eyebrow and Ron bit his lip to keep from laughing out loud again. Great. Cassie's comments made him sound like he had no interest in doing anything with Cassie which was not true at all. But he didn't know how to defend himself to Ron without further embarrassing Cassie. This was just terrible. It couldn't be worse, could it? It could.

"Well, Harry's not. He . . . likes you and Dad and he doesn't want to . . . do anything. Really. He doesn't." Okay. He hoped that she knew she was lying because earlier this afternoon he had definitely been interested in doing a lot of things. But then, on the other hand, he knew he didn't want either Cassie's mother or Ron or Hermione to know about exactly what had gone on this afternoon, so maybe it was better if they just thought he was not interested in that sort of thing. She continued on this same theme. "Yes, I already told you. We are. I mean we've kissed and stuff, but that's all."

Ron now started making exaggerated kissing motions with his mouth and just when Harry was tempted to punch him, Hermione reached over and did it for him. Ron assumed a hurt expression but his eyes were still laughing when they found Harry's again.

"We've just kissed. That's it." There was some comment and then, "I don't know why you don't believe me. I think you're getting paranoid." Harry thought that was a rather bold comment to make to her mother and apparently so did Cassie. Her eyes were big and worried, now.

"Look. For the last time. I am not upset. Okay, maybe I am, just a little bit upset, but not because of that!"

"Well, because his friends . . . well, his friends have come to, uh, get him." A short pause and then. "Yeah, you know. To take him back, uh, to school." Cassie bit her lip. "He's leaving tomorrow." There was apparently some comment from the other end.

"Well, of course, I'm going to miss him but that's not really the problem." Mrs. Robinson asked for a clarification, obviously, because Cassie continued "That's kind of hard to explain." Harry thought that sounded extremely familiar. This was where things were going to get tricky. He hoped that Cassie would just avoid any more discussion on this topic but he didn't get his wish. "Well, uh, things aren't really good back at his school and I think he might get, uh, hurt." Great. That made him sound like a big idiot. "No, he's not worried. At least I don't think so. His friends are, though." Harry was pretty distressed at this turn in the conversation. He definitely did not want Cassie discussing this with her mother. He tried to catch her eye to tell her to end the conversation, but she ignored him. Well, he thought so, but then a moment later, she said,

"Well, look. I'd probably better go. I'm sure they're all thinking I'm pretty rude by now." Cassie listened to her mother for a few seconds. "Why don't I call you back in a couple of days. Meanwhile, don't worry about me. I'll be fine. If I need you, I can call." Then, suddenly, when Harry had just about relaxed completely, figuring that it was just a matter of the polite goodbyes and then the conversation would be over, Cassie said, "I don't think that's a very good idea, Mum." What wasn't a good idea? "I don't want to call him in here. It would be too embarrassing." She was biting her lip, obviously worried. Harry had a feeling he wasn't going to like this. "Somehow, I don't think it's just to say goodbye."

Cassie turned away again and her voice dropped, hoping that no one else could hear, but of course they could hear every word she said. "How could we do anything tonight when his friends are here?" Oh, no. Harry could tell the turn this conversation had taken. "Mum! That's a terrible thing to say. I don't think Harry would . . . well, honestly! You don't even know them." Apparently, all of the things Cassie was saying were having no effect. "This is . . . .very embarrassing." Then a moment later, "I don't think . . ." Then, "Mum, I really . . . . Fine. But I want you to know, I am not happy." She covered the mouthpiece again and waited a moment, supposedly so that she could return to the room where the other three were sitting. "Harry, my mum wants to talk to you."

Harry pointed his index finger at himself and mouthed, "Me?" Cassie nodded and Harry walked slowly to the phone as if he were going to the gallows. He had spoken to her before on the phone, just the day before and he liked Mrs. Robinson, he really did, but this was really uncomfortable.

"Hello?" Harry said in a shaky voice.

Mrs. Robinson answered, "Hi Harry. I understand you're going back to school tomorrow."

"Uh, yes."

"Well, I hope you have a very nice trip. I also hope you come visit us again the next time you're in London."

"Thank you."

"Cassie says that you two have been following the rules."

Harry had a moment of guilt as he thought of that afternoon and was silently happy that Cassie had had the presence of mind to shove him off of her. He gulped a little and answered, "Yes, Mrs. Robinson, we've been behaving ourselves."

"I hope you will continue to do so, Harry. Mr. Robinson and I like you very much. Please don't let us down."

"I won't, Mrs. Robinson. I . . . uh, wouldn't do that."

"Well, I am sure that tonight, since it will be your last time that you are with each other, you might feel like you can be a little more lax . . . ."

"My friends are here from school. We won't be staying very long."

"Mm. Well, I just want you to know, Harry, that I think you have been a good friend to Cassie and I'm glad that our family got to know you."

"Oh, thanks. I'm glad I've gotten to know you, also. Please tell Matthew and John goodbye for me. Maybe, I can send them presents from school." Harry didn't know what he would send them but he was sure that he could think of some candy or something that they would like. They were both really nice boys. Of course, both Mr. and Mrs. Robinson were nice also. And that was probably why Cassie was so wonderful. They had made this three weeks bearable. "I just wanted to thank you for accepting me, Mrs. Robinson. It made things a lot easier for me."

"Cassie mentioned that you were in trouble."

"Well, not exactly in trouble. I mean . . . I didn't do anything wrong or anything. There's just some trouble at the school. That's why I have to go back."

"But you're going to be okay? Because Cassie thinks you might get hurt."

"Well . . ." Harry crossed his fingers. He was going to be lying now. " . . . I think she is worrying a little bit more than necessary, but I appreciate her being concerned for me." He met her eyes and shook his head slowly. He tried to convey that this was a lie and she smiled. She knew.

"Okay. I feel better. I was worried about you, being all on your own and things."

"Thanks, Mrs. Robinson. I appreciate it. I'll be sure to write you a letter to let you know that I'm well."

"That would be nice. Now, again, don't let your goodbyes get too affectionate tonight."

"I won't. I promise."

"Thank you, Harry. Now, may I please speak with Cassie again?"

Harry numbly handed the phone back to Cassie who had been consciously avoiding the stares of Ron and Hermione. She smiled awkwardly at Harry and took back the receiver. Harry walked back over to the easy chair and sat down, trying not to blush too red at Ron's funny looks.

Cassie was once again assuring her mother there was nothing wrong and that she was over-reacting to think she had detected anything wrong in Cassie's voice. Finally, Cassie said goodbye and promised again to call her the day after tomorrow.

"Mum, I love you. And, tell Dad I love him, too. Okay. Bye."

Cassie hung up the telephone and all four looked at each other and breathed a huge sigh of relief. Cassie finally said, "I think she bought it."