A/N: Enjoy this chapter, it was fun to write!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and related characters.
- - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - -
When September 1 came around, Harry offered to take Cassie to King's Cross Station, knowing Ginny did not want the possibility of seeing Orion or Draco. Cassie had been packed for weeks and Ginny could not believe her little girl was going off to Hogwarts. Now Ginny could no longer protect her. Cassie would eventually discover her past but Ginny was not ready to face that. She could not tell her little girl everything, just as she knew Draco would never tell Orion. Nana and Pop-pop had come to say good-bye the night before, along with all of her aunts, uncles, and cousins. That morning, only Aunt Andromeda came over in the morning as one last good-bye until Christmas and also to remind Cassie to be friendly if she recognized anyone.
Cassie was right on time for the train and said good-bye to Harry before getting on. She found a compartment with one other girl who was a first year like herself. The girl introduced herself as Ophelia Schwartz and Cassie introduced herself as Cassie Weasley.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Back at the Platform, Harry ran in to Blaise Zabini on his way out. Harry at first didn't notice Blaise, and was surprised Blaise had recognized him, considering he was wearing sunglasses and a hat to cover himself up.
"Harry? Harry Potter?" Blaise asked.
"And you are?" Even though, Harry recognized Blaise, he wanted to make sure it was Blaise.
"Blaise Zabini. I haven't seen you since Hogwarts. I had no idea you had a child going off to Hogwarts this year. I know you have twins, but they're still quite young, aren't they?"
"Yes, the twins are just 5 years old. I'm actually just dropping my stepdaughter off. And what about you? I didn't know you had any children." Small talk gets annoying real fast, Harry thought, though it is dead useful.
"Just dropping my godson off. You know Draco's boy, Orion? Well, he's my godson. I suppose you know him. He raves about you at home. He's going to miss you this year, y'know." Harry thought Draco must be upset by that; his son worshipping his enemy, even though they were friends for a brief period of time. Harry supposed it would be like Cassie worshipping Draco.
"It was good to see you again Blaise, but I really have to hurry home. Maybe I'll see you again at Christmastime." Harry had no idea what would happen at Christmas.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Cassie and Ophelia chatted about the Houses, proving that there were good points to all of the Houses, even though Cassie wanted to be Gryffindor like the rest of her family. Ophelia was a second generation witch; both of her parents had been Muggleborns. Cassie has been raised to respect everyone alike, pureblooded, Muggleborn, and Muggles themselves. Cassie was pureblooded, or so her mother told her. It was loud outside of their compartment but they ignored it and settled into talking about their families, their dreams, and their hobbies. When they arrived at Hogwarts, they climbed into a boat with Timothy Matarazzo and Justin Thomas who talked about the castle and the lake that they arrived on. Cassie was in awe by what she saw.
When they began to call off names, Cassie was silent. She listened every once in a while to catch some of her classmates' names, but she missed most. One that stuck out in her mind was FLINT, AZALEA because she had such an unusual first name. But she was sorted in Slytherin. Timothy and Ophelia had been Sorted into Gryffindor while Justin was Sorted in Hufflepuff. Then it was her turn.
"WEASLEY, CASSANDRA!" No one ever called her Cassandra except for Nana when she was in trouble. Not even Harry or her mother used her full name unless they absolutely had to. When she put the Sorting Hat on her head, it spoke gently. "Scared are you? Don't be. Though I suppose I do determine the rest of your life at Hogwarts." Cassie bit her tongue. Now she had more of a reason to be nervous. The rest of her life at Hogwarts? That was a long time. "Oh don't fret. What ambition! What cunning!" Cassie thought about that for a second, those were two characteristics of Slytherin. Not Slytherin, she pleaded. Mum would be disappointed. "If you say so, you're equally as brave. But your heritage is just as important. Use your instincts in GRYFFINDOR!"
Yes, she thought, Mum and Harry will be so proud of me. But she was curious about the last comment about her heritage.
Over at the Slytherin table, Alexia, Sebastian, and Orion were congratulating the new first years as well as talking about the other first years. Alexia commented on the hairstyles, while Sebastian was noticing the family backgrounds. Orion was bored, but his ears perked up when he heard the name Cassandra Weasley. He recognized that name and as soon as he saw the little girl, she reminded him of his friend Cassie that he played with while he stayed at Aunt Andromeda's. Could it be? Was this the same person? The ages would be about right. Well, he'd find out tomorrow. He was determined, another reason he was in Slytherin.
The next morning during breakfast the timetables were passed out. Orion asked Azalea Flint what her schedule was, knowing that she might have classes with Gryffindors. And just his luck! The first class was Potions with the Gryffindors. That's when he would go meet her. She had distinct hair, he couldn't miss her. Besides, Professor Snape was still his Head of House and would write him a nice note to be a few minutes late to his next class, or so he hoped.
Cassie was excited that morning until she received her timetable. Potions first period? How could they do that to her! Grandpa Dumbledore loved her! Not only was it Potions, but it was with the Slytherins! When she groaned, Ophelia asked what was wrong.
"Oh just look at what we have next. What a way to start off the school year. He's going to dock points, he's been wanting to for two years now."
"What do you mean by that?" Timothy, who was sitting across from Ophelia, asked.
"I lived here for the past two years. Professor Snape disliked me, but because I wasn't a student, he couldn't punish me. Now he has his chance." She tried to bang her head on the table, but Ophelia stopped her.
"Then let's not get on his bad side and arrive to class really early," Ophelia dragged Cassie up and tried to tell Tim to come too, but he was too busy eating still.
While they waited for the Potions classroom door to be opened, a few Slytherins walked by. Some of them glared at the little Gryffindors standing outside the door; most ignored them. One stopped by, with three following behind her. They were talking, but Cassie only caught parts of the conversation.
"Why are we doing this Sebastian?" the first girl said, she was also the smallest of the four.
"Because Orion said so. And Alexia's in a pleasing mood right now. And you're the lowest of the totem pole at the moment so you had to come with us," Sebastian responded. Orion, that name sounded familiar. Cassie remembered an Orion a long time ago when she was really little. But that was so long ago. That was when Orion and who Cassie assumed to be Alexia stepped out of the shadows.
When Orion saw the red hair, he immediately recognized her. She had grown. He tried to think about the last time he had seen her. He must have been about seven, which meant she was about five right before he moved to France.
"Cassie Weasley?" He asked, hesitantly. Cassie put her bag down. He moved closer towards her.
"Orion Malfoy?"
"Yes, that's me." The words were barely out of his mouth when she leaped up to hug him, since he was much taller than her. He hugged her back, while Sebastian, Azalea, Alexia, and Ophelia watched on. More students came past and luckily, Cassie let go just as Professor Snape opened the door.
"I haven't seen you in ages! Harry never talks about you anymore. And I suppose Aunt Andromeda's rules are still in place. She never ended them for me," Cassie added, referring to the rule that they were not allowed to mention the other to their parents or anyone else.
"How is Aunt Andromeda?" Orion asked.
"She's good. She's supposed to come visit me at some point, since Mum's worried. We can both visit. But right now I have Potions."
"After dinner, meet me outside of the Library, okay? And it was great to see you."
"Good to see you too. I'll be there." Cassie waved good-bye and settled in the Potions classroom, sitting next to Ophelia and behind Azalea Flint. Azalea turned around and asked Cassie how she knew Orion. He was easily one of the most popular Slytherins because he charmed them through his speech. Ophelia also wanted to ask, but Azalea asked first.
"Our aunt Andromeda baby-sat for us when we were little. It was just the two of us, so we grew really close until he moved far away."
"Are you related to him?" Ophelia questioned.
"Maybe. Possibly. But I don't think so. The only relatives we share are Aunt Andromeda and Uncle Ted, her husband. So it might just be a sign of respect, who knows." Then Snape rushed up to the front of the classroom, his robes billowing out as he walked. Class began, ending conversations. Another Slytherin girl sat next to Azalea.
Growing up in a family of Gryffindors, Cassie knew that Snape hated all Gryffindors, though he hated some more than most. Cassie was going to be one of those he hated more than most, and it wasn't even her fault. It was all because Harry had needed someone to pour the potions into Snape's goblet and Cassie was the only one capable of sneaking out and doing it. James and Serena were too little. And of course, Snape caught her on the fifth time, which resulted in a long punishment from both him and her mother. Harry didn't seem to mind, he was almost like another uncle to her. After all, he said it was her Uncle Fred and Uncle George's idea to slip the potion into his goblet anyway. Those were her uncles who ran the joke shop and gave her the little joke care package this morning. She would have to test a few of the things on the Slytherins soon. But not the nice Slytherins like Orion and Sebastian, though Alexia seemed too bossy and Cassie didn't like bossy people.
Other than Potions, the rest of the teachers were nice to Cassie, since they remembered her from the past two years. After dinner, Ophelia and Timothy were going back to Gryffindor Tower when Cassie stopped and headed towards the Library. She had been here for the past two years and knew her way around fairly well. When Ophelia noticed Cassie was missing, she dragged Timothy to Library with her. Timothy protested, but Ophelia was concerned about Cassie being alone with big scary Slytherins. Most importantly, they were older than her and she couldn't defend herself.
Cassie entered the Library and saw Orion sitting in one of the first tables. She bounced over to the table and sat across from and started talking right away, first wanting to know how France was and expressing how much she wanted to go to France. Before Orion got to answer, Ophelia and Timothy entered the Library and demanded that Cassie come back to the Common Room with them now.
- - - - - - - - -
A/N: Let me know what you think!
