Chapter 5

Telling Mum

During a visit to Diagon Alley in the middle of September, Cassie was once again visiting the twins' shop while Remus and Arthur were at a meeting. On the ride over, Cassie had tentatively asked Remus why he and Arthur went to so many meetings at Diagon Alley. Both of the men had exchanged glances to each other and Remus had nicely but firmly said it was confidential. Cassie had mentally kicked herself for prying into the men's business. She hoped this wouldn't make them want to stop bringing her. She had absolutely fallen in love with the entire street and the stores and just loved being in touch with the wizarding world. She was thinking so intently about her earlier mistake that she didn't hear George come up beside her until he touched her shoulder.

"Cassie, you seem to be somewhere else today. Is everything okay?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. I was just kind of mentally chewing myself out for trying to pry into your dad's and Remus's business. I asked them why they had so many meetings here."

"Oh, it's just Order business."

"Order?" Cassie realized she had again made a mistake when George gave her a funny look and told her to never mind. He looked around the empty shop and back at her.

"It's pretty quiet here. How about going next door to Fortescue's and getting a drink?"

Cassie blushed a little and stammered, "Uh, I, I'm too young to drink."

George gave her another strange look and then his eyes danced as realization splashed across his face and he broke into a wide grin. "Just soda. That's okay, isn't it? I don't drink either. But you're remembering the Ogden's Fire Whiskey thing at Hogwarts?" Cassie nodded, turning a shade pinker. "Don't worry, Cassie. Fred and I were just pouring that stuff in our juice to give Ron a bad time. You know, make him jealous because we could drink it and he couldn't. That's what older brothers are for - to mess with their younger brother's mind and make him miserable. Fred and I take our responsibilities very seriously."

"Well, okay then. That sounds nice." George called to Fred that he was going out for a minute and Fred poked his head through the open door that led to the back room.

"Have fun, then, you two. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively and George laughed.

They walked over to the ice cream shop. Cassie looked at the menu over the counter and didn't even know where to start. There were a lot of different options and none of them looked familiar.

"What do you recommend?"

"Well, the drink Fred and I created is really good. Especially if you're feeling a little adventurous."

Cassie grinned at George in disbelief. "You're kidding. You didn't really create a drink, did you?"

"Sure did. Fred and I talked Florien into putting it onto the menu. It's very popular, we hear. It's called Terrible Twins' Tonic."

"I guess that you two are the Terrible Twins?" George nodded a little sheepishly. "That's not very nice. I don't think you two are terrible."

"Just proves you need to get to know us a little better." George laughed.

"Sure. I'll give it a try." All of a sudden Cassie remembered Harry's warning and her own experience with the Dragon Kisses. "Uh, what exactly goes in your drink?"

"Well, there's tonic water, grenadine, orange juice, pineapple sherbet balls and some other stuff."

"What other stuff exactly?"



"Ingredients to give it a little zing. But nothing that'll get you drunk or light your mouth on fire, I promise."

George ordered two Terrible Twins' Tonics when Cassie agreed that she would be willing to try one. They sat down at a little table while they waited for the drinks to be prepared.

"So, how did you get the idea to start a joke shop?"

"Fred and I were always coming up with some prank or another, even when we were pretty small. Someone once told us that we should harness all that creative genius and earn a living from it. That was when we were pretty young, but we took it to heart. We experimented with a lot of different things, but our mum was constantly getting after us to do something more productive with our life." George grimaced. "I think she wanted us to work in the Ministry or something. Could you really see either of us working at a desk?" Cassie shook her head.

"No, that definitely isn't you. I think you'd rather blow up the desk!"

"Hey, you actually know us pretty well. Anyway, we had an anonymous backer give us enough money to get actual production started two years ago, and we rented the shop, and the rest, as they say, is history." Cassie tried to conceal her shock a moment later when she saw their drinks floating over to their table. George nonchalantly grabbed them as they landed and handed hers to her, making a big production of it. Cassie laughed but then she looked into the cup and got nervous. Hers was bubbling, and not little bubbles from carbonation, but big bubbles, like a volcano about to erupt. As she tentatively lifted the straw to her lips, there was a small explosion and a little firework exploded from the drink. She shrieked in surprise as some of it landed on her.

"Speaking of blowing things up!" She wiped the stuff from her face and tried to force herself to glare at George. But he was wiping his own face and smiling triumphantly at her.

"Like it?"

"I haven't even tasted it yet!"

"Well, come on. Try it. It's just supposed to imitate our world-famous fireworks." Cassie laughed because another explosion went off in his glass and splattered blue fizz all over his chin. She took a short sip and found that it was really good and that it left a kind of tingling taste in her mouth as she drank it.

"That's really good. It's not going to explode inside me, is it?"

"Naw. That wouldn't be good." He stared at her for a minute. "That does give me a great idea, though. He grabbed a napkin and pulled a stubby little quill from his pants pocket. To her surprise, he started scrawling something on the napkin. He caught her staring and thought he knew the reason. "It's self-inking. Easier that way. I always spill my ink bottles." Actually Cassie was thinking that the little stubby quill was very funny looking, but she just nodded her head. After he finished, he folded the napkin and stuffed it back into his pocket along with the quill. "If that idea works out, I'll try to name it after you, okay?"

She just laughed in response and took another sip of her drink. The next few minutes passed in pleasant conversation about some funny incidents in the joke shop and Cassie was laughing so hard at one point that she gave herself the hiccups which made George laugh and Cassie scowl.

"Don't you know the charm that gets rid of hiccups?"

"Um, no." Maybe now would be the best time to tell him that she was a Muggle, she thought, and opened her mouth to tell him, but then she hiccuped again and George grinned broadly at her.

"Well, you should learn it. It's very helpful." He took his wand out of his pocket and waved it at her. "I keep getting you out of messes, little girl."



"I'm not a little girl . . . it's just -" But she didn't get a chance to continue because someone came over to the table to talk to George at that point. She gathered from the conversation that this was Florien Fortescue himself and he was running a few ideas past George for some other wild concoctions. By the time they were done talking, Cassie had finished her drink and so the two of them got up. "Before we go in, George, I need to tell you . . ." But then Arthur popped his head out of the shop door.

"There you two are. Come on, Cassie, we've got to be going back. Remus has to hurry this afternoon." She just looked at George and he smiled back at her and went into the store.

On the way home on the Underground, Cassie told both men about what she and George had talked about in the shop and about the drink. Arthur had apparently had it before and commented that it was really good. Remus hadn't had the chance to have it but laughingly said something to Arthur about any drink named in his honor would put hair (or at least fur) on a person's chest. Cassie pretended she hadn't heard. Before they said goodbye, Cassie apologized to Remus for prying into his business earlier by asking about their meetings. He merely shrugged. "It's all right to be curious. It's just that this war means I have to be very careful what I say and where I say it. You never know who might be listening." Cassie found it difficult to remember that there really was a war on because there was never any evidence of it in her day to day life. But she made a mental note to herself that she would be more careful in the future. She would have hated to make things more difficult for anyone she knew in the wizarding world.

School was keeping Cassie really busy this year and she had to miss one visit completely because of a research paper she had to do. She knew that Harry and his friends were also busy with their classes and Remus had assured her that they were all doing well. Cassie thought she might hear from them at some point now that summer was over and they were back at Hogwarts. It was not with too much of a shock, then, that Cassie greeted an owl perched outside her window one afternoon in late September when she came home from school. It wasn't Hedwig, but she thought that maybe Harry used other owls periodically. When she pulled the parchment off the strange owl's leg, it flew away immediately and it was a shock when the writing on the outside of the roll of parchment was not Harry's. She opened the note with some trepidation, hoping it was not bad news from one of Harry's friends. She knew Harry was okay - she had seen Remus only a week before and he had assured her he would keep in touch with any major developments, but something else could have happened.

However, the note was not from Hogwarts at all, but from Diagon Alley. Cassie was extremely surprised to see the signature at the bottom of the note.



Dear Cassie, I know I saw you just last week at the shop, but I was hoping maybe you could come one day without my dad and Remus and just have the two of us hang out together. I was thinking that we could go get ice cream or another soda. You're a really nice girl and I'd like to get to know you better. You can owl me back or fire-talk if you agree. George Weasley



Cassie really wished the owl had stayed around. She didn't know exactly how to "owl" somebody, but she thought it seemed fairly straightforward. Of course, George still thought she was a witch and he had assumed she would have access to her own owl. She had no idea what he meant by fire-talking but she thought that didn't want to really know. Unfortunately, she didn't have any way to contact him now and she felt bad that she was just going to have to ignore the letter. The more she thought about it, though, the more she decided it was probably for the best. The last thing in the world she really needed was to get involved with another wizard. She needed to date a nice normal Muggle boy. She saw hundreds of them every day in school. It shouldn't be that tricky to find one who she could like.

In fact, Cassie had made a conscious effort to be socially active over the next couple of weeks. However, her dating experiences were very disappointing. One date was with a very nice, but boring classmate, who hardly said two words to her the entire evening. Another date was a repeat of Brian as she had to spend the whole evening fighting him off. She had gone home very angry and had wished she was a witch so she could put that hex George had mentioned on her date. She thought fleetingly of Harry who had always been a gentleman. Her thoughts also turned to George and she found herself wondering if he would ever talk to her again since she had not owled him back. He must think she was terribly rude.

It was October before Cassie was back in George and Fred's shop, smiling shyly at the older boy as he finished up with a customer. Arthur and Remus stayed for quite a few minutes this time, apparently it had taken them less time than they expected to get Diagon Alley. Cassie tried to act natural and relaxed even though her stomach was doing little back flips with nervousness. She wasn't sure how George would react toward her. Finally the two men left for their meeting. Arthur apologetically explained it was going to be an extra long meeting and asked both Fred and George to make sure Cassie was okay. After the two had left, George whispered something to Fred and then approached Cassie.

"So Cassie, are you talking to me?"

Cassie blushed and began to apologize. George cut her off mid-apology. "It's okay. I finally asked my dad about you when I hadn't heard back from you after a few days."

Cassie felt a sinking feeling in her stomach and wondered why George was even bothering to be so friendly with her now that he knew she was a Muggle. She summoned enough courage to find out what exactly Arthur had told him. "What did he say?"

"Not much. He just explained that he didn't think you would have access to an owl to send a letter back to me. Next time, I'll have the owl wait for a return message. You know, you should try to get an owl. They're kind of expensive at first to buy, but those that just do local deliveries are reasonable and it's worth it. I don't know how you function without one."

"Um, well. Yeah. I'll think about it." She mentally kicked herself for continuing the charade. She should just tell him the truth. She hated lying to him but then she thought about what he would think if she said it right now as she had just basically said she was a witch. Maybe it would be better to tell him at the end of the visit. Yeah, that is definitely what she would do. Then, if he never wanted to see her again he wouldn't be stuck trying to entertain her while he hated her.

"What do you say we walk around a while? It's been a slow day and Fred has said he'll manage without me." Cassie felt a little queasy. Now was definitely the time to tell him but she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

They spent the next hour walking around looking at some of the shops that Cassie thought were most interesting, especially the broomsticks. She must not have said anything that was too unexpected because George never looked at her and accused her of being an imposter or anything. He met lots of people he knew, and Cassie was impressed at how much everyone seemed to like him. She also noticed, however, that some people called him Fred or didn't call him anything at all, obviously unsure of which of the twins he was. Finally, the fifth or sixth time this happened, she asked him about it. "Don't they know you're George and not Fred?"



He looked at her kind of strangely. "No. It's hard to tell the difference. Even our own mother can't tell us apart most of the time."

"You're kidding. You two aren't anything alike."

"What?!" He stopped in the middle of the street and turned and stared at her. "What do you mean by that?"

She looked at him bravely. He seemed upset at her comment. "Well, don't get offended. You do look a lot like each other. But you don't act alike at all. He's more . . . um, active. I mean, he has to be moving all the time. You stand still and think and . . . I don't know. It's hard to explain. But I can tell you apart easily." George shook his head and started down the street again.

"You're mental. We are exactly alike." Cassie just smiled to herself. Apparently, it was important to him that he and his brother were identical in every way. But she would never confuse the two of them.

Finally, they ended up at Fortescue's ice cream shop where George pointed out the ice cream flavors. "Get a cone or a sundae. All the ice cream here is really good, if you've never had it before." Cassie studied the flavors carefully. They were very unusual and she wasn't sure that they sounded all that good. She looked in vain for something like strawberry or vanilla but they were nowhere to be found. Finally, she settled on chocolate peanut butter raspberry swirl while George ordered something called Mango, Peach, and Pumpkin Sorbet. Cassie thought it looked fairly interesting, three different colors of orange all kind of swirled together. He said it was really good and she thought hers tasted a lot better than it sounded. They stood against the counter and ate their ice cream - Cassie watching the people come in and out of the shop and George watching her. Cassie felt his eyes on her several times and she kept wiping her mouth, wondering if she was making a mess of her face, but when she would look at him, he would just smile and keep eating his ice cream. Someone that George knew entered the shop after a few minutes and leaned against the counter next to him. They were talking about business of some kind and Cassie sort of tuned them out, looking through the windows at the various witches and wizards on the street and wondering what they would think if they knew she was a Muggle. Finally, the friend moved away and George turned back to her, just as he popped the last bit of his ice cream cone into his mouth. "How are you doing on your ice cream cone?"

She looked with dismay at his empty hands. "Oh, you finished yours. Darn. I really wanted to taste it, at least, although -" Before she could finish the sentence, he took hold of both her shoulders, pulled her to him, and kissed her on the mouth, hard.

Her eyes opened wide as she tasted the ice cream on his mouth. And then she was away from him and he was standing there grinning at her. She felt herself blushing. "What did you think?" he asked and she knew it was meant to be vague, because he was asking about both the ice cream and the kissing.

"It was good. I mean, the ice cream tasted good." Her color was high and she wanted to fan herself. The kissing had been good, too, but she really didn't want to say that.

He grimaced slightly. "Oh. Yours tasted good, too." She blushed even more which she didn't think was possible. He was obviously embarrassed because his ears turned a little pink and he moved a little away from her. Darn it. She had said the wrong thing, now, but she didn't know how to fix it. He started to talk, "Um, sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have done that."

"No. I mean. It was fine. I mean, oh. It's all right. I'm glad you kissed me, it's just that, well, I'm not really sure that you want to kiss me. I mean, if . . . " She let her voice kind of trail off. This was just too embarrassing for words. A minute later they left the shop and neither of them said anything as they went back into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, which was absolutely packed with customers.

Fred looked up, relief on his face. "It took you long enough. We've had a bit of a sudden rush." George left her standing there and started talking to the nearest customer, a red-faced man who looked extremely aggravated at being kept waiting. Cassie thought about volunteering to work the till. She had seen them do it enough that she thought she probably could, but her nerves kept her from trying. What if it required magic to work? What if it refused to open unless you did some sort of incantation or something? So, instead, she just tried to meld into the background and not say or do anything to draw attention to herself. While she stood there, she thought back to what had happened in the ice cream shop. She had, in her life, been kissed by exactly two boys. And they were both wizards. What was wrong with her? Did she have some sign on her that advertised for wizards to fall for her? Her other "dates" that she had from school never tried to kiss her or even really hold her hand. They just either treated her like their sisters or tried to get too friendly. But Harry had been, well . . . wonderful. He had been sweet and kind and very respectful. And he really knew how to kiss, although she suspected they had learned on each other. And George - he was also kind and funny and she suspected that he would really know how to kiss. He was older than she was by a few years and she imagined he had had more experience than Harry by far. The word "sweet" was not one she would use to describe him, though. But that was all right. He had other things going for him.

By the time Arthur and Remus arrived, the rush had slowed down and George was able to come over and say goodbye. Cassie blushed a little and thanked George for the ice cream and everything. He grinned broadly in response and asked when he would see her again. Cassie explained that she never knew when she would get to come again. "Well, I'll send you and owl, okay? And this time, I'll tell it to wait for an answer." Cassie nodded shyly, unsure of what to do. Guilt twisted at her insides. She should tell him now, tell him that he should not be sending her owls because she was a Muggle but the thought of the look on his face, like she had somehow used him, stopped her. She glanced at Remus. He was looking concerned but didn't say anything. Cassie thought that if he was too upset he could have spit it out, told George and Fred and anyone else in the store that she was a Muggle and that he was never bringing her back to Diagon Alley again, but he didn't.

Once the three of them were on the Underground and Arthur was occupied watching the various Muggles, Remus turned to Cassie. "It looked like you and George are getting to be pretty good friends." Cassie nodded, kind of embarrassed to admit it. "Have you told him? About yourself?" She shook her head, really embarrassed now. There was no reason why she should be so hesitant to tell George the truth, but she was.

"I keep meaning to . . .but we just keep getting interrupted. And I don't know how, exactly. Will he hate me, do you think?"

Remus laughed quietly. "I'm sure he won't hate you. He is his father's son, after all." They both watched Arthur for a few minutes as he watched the Muggles on the train. "But . . . I think you need to tell him soon. He has a right to know. If he fancies you."

"Fancies me? I'm sure he doesn't. He just wants to keep me entertained. You and Arthur asked him to, remember?" Cassie stared at the window willing herself to keep the flush out of her cheeks.

"Oh, really. Hm," She heard Remus say and she could also hear the laughter in his voice. "Is that really all?"

Cassie decided she should just confess. After all, Remus probably knew already. "He bought me some ice cream and, well, he kissed me."

"So he definitely does fancy you, then." Cassie nodded slowly. "Then tell him. You really don't have any choice in the matter. He's bound to figure it out by himself soon."

"Will he be horribly surprised that a . . . Muggle has come to Diagon Alley?"

"Oh, I wouldn't think so." Cassie must have looked very surprised because Remus again laughed. "There are several Muggles that are aware of our world, Cassie. You didn't think that you were the only one, did you?" She nodded slowly again, somehow sensing that she had been a bit conceited to think so. "Well, you're not. It's a small group, true, and there are not many who have come to learn of it as you did, but it's not that uncommon, really, for Muggles to be found in the Alley."

"Oh."

Remus smiled at her again and Cassie had a sudden overwhelming awareness of how tired and ill he looked. The reality of the fact that he was a soldier in a very nasty war sunk home at that moment and she felt heartsick. She ate dinner that night quietly, and her mother looked fairly concerned when she went to bed early, claiming a headache.

Cassie went to bed that night with a lot on her mind. Perhaps the biggest question she had was how serious she really wanted to get with George. She felt that he would be a good friend, but he seemed to want to be more than that. Of course, that would change when she told him the truth. As she ate breakfast the next morning, she saw an owl fly up to her window and she opened it before it even had a chance to start tapping. The letter was from George, of course. She thought this was the same owl that had come before. "I can't do this here, go up to my bedroom, please!" She was worried that one of her little brothers may burst into the kitchen at any moment, she could hear them moving about in their room right now. To her absolute amazement, the bird flew back out the window and disappeared around the corner. She hurriedly rinsed her bowl and ran to her bedroom where the owl was standing patiently on the sill. She ushered the bird inside and reached for the parchment. The owl looked rather menacingly down at her hand and she froze, but after a minute she reached for the parchment again, quickly untying the string. The note was short but she smiled as she read it.



Dear Cassie, Thanks for yesterday. I haven't had that much fun for quite a while. The ice cream was good but I actually liked kissing you better. When can I do it again? George



Cassie smiled to herself as she noticed the owl was waiting for a reply rather than immediately flying away. She grabbed a piece of paper off her desk and wrote a quick note, hoping that she could say everything she wanted without leading him on too much.



Dear George, I had fun yesterday, too. The ice cream was really good. I truly don't know when I can come back to the shop. It depends on your dad and Remus. They never tell me in advance.

Cassie



She read the note a couple of times and finally scribbled a P.S. on the bottom.



I liked kissing you, too. C.R.



The next morning Cassie was surprised to find another owl pecking at her bedroom window. She had never had two owl posts in a row. But when she looked out, she saw that it wasn't George's owl. She wasn't sure whether to be disappointed or relieved. Cassie opened the window to Hedwig and took the note from Harry with mixed emotions.



Dear Cassie, Hi. How are you doing? Remus keeps me up on what you're doing. I understand you like visiting the twins' shop in Diagon Alley. Don't eat anything they give you. I mean it. How's school? We're really busy here at Hogwarts. Ginny and Hermione say hi and hope you're doing well. Write me and let me know how things are going with you. Harry



Cassie smiled. His letter was much like himself. Very straightforward. She honestly did not know how he had done it -- kept her from finding out the truth in the three weeks they had known each other before the truth had actually come out. She quickly answered Harry's letter and was also able to sneak toast and water into the room for Hedwig. Cassie was surprised again when she had another owl post two days later. She was in the living room reading when she heard tapping at the kitchen window. It took her a couple of moments to realize the tapping was at the window and could be an owl. She rushed into the kitchen to see the now familiar owl from George. She opened the window to let the bird in, but he just stood stubbornly on the sill. She removed the roll of parchment and was surprised to have the owl take off immediately. Her stomach gave an unpleasant lurch. Maybe he had found out the truth and this letter was telling her that he never wanted to see her again. Her hands shook a little as she unrolled the parchment.



Dear Cassie, I'm writing you this letter now so you can think about it and give me an answer when you come for your next visit to our shop. In a little under three weeks is Halloween. As you know, there are always lots of parties. If you're not going to any party with your family, I would like you to come to one with me. It should be really fun. It's at my friend Lee Jordan's house. Just tell me when you come, unless, of course, you've invested in an owl since we last talked. George



Cassie read and reread the letter. She sat at the kitchen table thinking about the letter and what she should do. This was really getting out of hand and she needed to put an end to it right away. If he was thinking of actually taking her to a party, with his friends, then he really wanted to date her. And she would be happy to date him if it weren't for the obvious problem. She sat there for a long time, thinking about the best way to let him know. The owl was gone so she had no hope of writing back to him to tell him that she had been lying to him all along. She looked up when her mother walked into the kitchen a few minutes later.

"Cassie, you look upset. I something wrong?"

"No. Nothing's wrong . . . well, not too much. I mean, well, Okay, maybe something is wrong, but it's not much. Well, it might be . . ."

"Cassie you're not making much sense. What's the problem? You're going to need to explain it better than that."

"Oh mum, I don't know how to even begin to tell you. I do have a problem and I guess it's a big problem. I got myself into a real mess. I didn't mean to, it just . . . it just happened."

Her mother had a worried look. "Cassie, whatever it is, we can work it out. No matter how bad you think the problem is. Does it . . . have to do with this past summer?"



"Well, kind of. But it doesn't have anything to do with Harry. Well, not too much."

"Cassie, you're still not making any sense to me. I'm sorry if I'm being stupid. Just tell me what's bothering you."

"Well, there's something you don't know about Harry. And, now, there's George, and there's something I've been hiding from him and his brother, Fred. And they really deserve to know."

"Cassie, who are George and Fred and what don't I know about Harry?"

"Oh, George and Fred are Arthur's twin sons who own the joke shop. Remember, he mentioned them a couple of times? And, George likes me and I . . ."

"Hold it. George Weasley likes you? You mean, like romantically?" Cassie nodded fretfully. "Well, that's nice, I guess. I'd like to meet him, though. Wait. Is he done with school?" Cassie nodded again. "How long has he been done with school?"

Cassie shrugged, distracted. "I don't really know."

"So he could be several years older."

"He's not that much older than I am, he's 19. But that's the least of my problems. If he finds out what I am he'll probably not like me any more and, I don't know if I'll be happy or sad about that because I'm not sure if I really want to date another one of them. If it's even possible."

"You're making even less sense now than you did before. If he's 19, he's too old for you to date. Does he know you're still in high school?"

"Mum, you've missed the whole point. That's not the problem."

"What point? And I would say that this is the problem, exactly. You're sixteen, Cassie. You don't know what you're getting into."

"Mum, his age doesn't matter. It's what I've been hiding from George that's the problem."

"Hiding? How could you have been hiding anything from him? You've barely met him, haven't you?" Suddenly, her mother smiled. "He knows Harry, doesn't he? Are you a little nervous about telling him how much you liked Harry? It's best to just be honest about these sorts of things right up front."

"Mum, it's not my relationship with Harry. It's what Harry and George are and I'm not. I've been hiding it because I'm supposed to and now George and Fred think I'm one and it's going to be a mess when I have to explain. I should have a long time ago. . ."

"Cassie, for heaven's sake. Now you're babbling. What is this big secret?"

"They think I'm a witch!"

Cassie gasped as she realized what she had just said, her eyes got big and she put her hands to her mouth. Her mother looked at her with a puzzled expression. "What?"

Cassie tried to rectify the situation. "Never mind. It's just a joke. You know, just kind of fun."

Her mother looked through narrowed eyes at her. "You're lying to me, now. I can always tell. What did you mean?" Cassie thought for a moment about how Remus had said that there were many Muggles that knew about wizards. She hoped that it was all right if her mother was one more.

"Mum. Harry was, is, a wizard. A real wizard. He can do magic." Her mother got a very confused look on her face. "I don't mean magic tricks, either, Mum. I mean real magic. I saw it. And Ron is a wizard. And his whole family are wizards. There's a whole world out there, Mum. A whole magical wonderful world. And that's the problem. I'm not a part of it."

Cassie's mum sat quietly for a few minutes, finally shaking her head. "What sort of tricks did they do? How did they convince you about this." She tilted her head. "Did they give you something to drink or some sort of drug?"



Cassie shook her head. "I wasn't dreaming, Mum. And I wasn't drunk or on drugs. I know you think I've gone mental, but it's true. Really." Her mother shook her head again.

"It's impossible."

"No. They can really do magic. They fly on brooms; in fact, Harry took me up on his broom when I was at Hogwarts. I loved it. I really love flying on a broom. It's almost as if I was . . ."

"Cassie! This is silly. There's no such thing as witches and wizards flying on brooms! It's not physically possible!"

"Mum. I can prove I was flying. I have some pictures they took when I was there, at Harry's school." Cassie ran to her room and came back a moment later, clutching the precious photographs in her hand. She sat down next to her mother and handed her the pictures. Her mother looked carefully at each picture, her eyes wide with wonder. Cassie knew that it wasn't the pictures of her and Harry on the broom or those of Cassie petting the unicorns that convinced her mum because things like that could be faked. It was the fact that the small Cassie and Harry in the pictures were waving and smiling and that you could actually see the wind moving their hair as they flew and the unicorns pawing the ground and throwing their manes.

After several long minutes of examining the pictures, her mum put them down on the kitchen table. "I think we need to talk more about this. Why don't you tell me the whole story?" So Cassie started at the beginning, with the knock on Harry's door that evening a little more than three months ago and told her everything, including what had happened in the ice cream shop on her last visit there. It took a very long time to tell, even with her mother not interrupting except occasionally when she said something that didn't really make sense. When she was done, she sat miserably in the chair, her legs drawn up under her chin. "So that's everything. And I guess I should have had them do that memory thing on me because now I've gone and done the thing they so desperately didn't want me to do, telling you. But maybe it's for the best. It's hard keeping a really big secret like that, you know?"

Her mother nodded and studied Cassie for a long time. Cassie felt like squirming under her scrutiny but forced herself to meet her mother's gaze squarely. She had told the truth, only leaving out very limited parts, like the fact that Harry had held her all night on the couch (why get him into trouble) and the fact that Remus was a werewolf (that was his personal business and had nothing to do with the story). "Well," she finally said, as though she had finally come to a decision, "now it's not only your secret. It's my secret, too. And I'll keep it as long as you do." Cassie had a sudden rush of relief flow through her. "I'm glad you told me, Cassie. I do think you need to tell George about the fact that you aren't who he thinks you are. But I trust you will find a good way to do it." And then she ruffled Cassie's hair and left the kitchen.

Cassie lay in bed that night imagining different ways to tell George that she was a Muggle and tell him that she understood if he didn't ever want to see her again. None of them were particularly pleasant but she knew she would feel better once he knew the truth. And she fell asleep smiling, remembering again that morning with the unicorns and thinking that no matter what happened, she would never regret knowing about magic.