DISCLAIMER: Most of the characters in this story aren't mine, I'm only borrowing them without permission. However, I get no money from this, so I guess it's okay…for JKR. Me, well…I guess followers and favoritors (is that a word?) are good enough (*cries silently as I look into my empty piggy bank*).
A/N: Hellooooooooooooooo! And…it only gets better from here! If you guys could see my plotting notebook, your eyes would pop out of their sockets. On that suspenseful note, I will stop yapping and start writing!
OoOoO
Ron barked a loud laugh. "Ha! You, twins? Ha!"
Hermione's mind seemed to have gone blank. She just sat in her armchair, mouth open, brows furrowed, head tilted.
Cass gave a weak smile and did the jazz hands. "Er, surprise?"
Ron only laughed more, causing Harry to wince. "No, really, Ron. We're not lying, honest."
Ron's face darkened. "Spit out the truth, Harry. I didn't get out of bed to be pranked."
Cass narrowed her eyes. "It is the truth."
Hermione's eyes were darting between Harry and Cass repeatedly, likely comparing their faces. She frowned, opened her mouth, shook her head, and opened it again. "I can see you guys as family, but not twins. I'm not daft; Harry is four years older than Cass."
"Yeah!" Ron added unnecessarily.
Cass and Harry exchanged glances, green eyes on green eyes, before looking back at Ron and Hermione with complete and utter seriousness. Harry began speaking, telling the story of their lives. Every now and then, Cass would put something in. In a way, it was very therapeutic, listening to Harry and herself. It helped her to come to terms with the situation a little better. Never mind that it made her that much angrier with Dumbledore, retelling the story of how he lied to them.
By the end of the tale, Ron and Hermione both had bordering looks on their faces. Ron's was bordering on laughing or telling them they've gone mad. Hermione's was bordering on disbelief and confusion. For both, the former seemed to be dominant.
"What?" Ron laughed tightly, giving Harry and Cass each a concerned look.
"Are you being serious? Completely? This is the truth? You guys are…twins?" Hermione demanded, her face twisted into bewilderment.
Harry and Cass nodded slowly and clearly. Helpfully, Cass got up and walked over to Harry, pressing her face against his. She did it more for comedic effect than to convince them, but Ron's eyes widened.
"No bloody way," he breathed.
"Yes bloody way," Cass stated.
"It's the truth, Ron," Harry said.
Now, both his and Hermione's eyes were moving from Harry to Cass and back to Harry, each with a scanning gleam in them. Cass supposed they were looking for a sign her and Harry were joking, or maybe they were noticing the similarities. Either way, their penetrating gazes made her want to squirm as she sat back down in her seat.
"You're joking," Ron said, shaking his head.
Harry shook his own. "I swear, we're not. You can ask Dumbledore tomorrow."
This more than anything seemed to convince Hermione. "Dumbledore would never prank us like this. If he's in on it, it must be the truth," she pointed out to red-haired boy.
Ron's mouth worked furiously, but no sound came out. "Really?" he finally got out.
"Really," Cass and Harry said in unison.
Hermione rested her elbows on her knees with her head in her hands, bushy hair spilling over her arms. "How is that even possible? I know—too well, in fact—how Time-Turners work. They can only send someone back in time, and for a few hours. Not forward by four years," she said, perplexed.
"Dumbledore said it was a spell—one that could only be performed once every thousand years, or something. And it involved Fawkes; I'm guessing that the phoenix's ability to teleport had something to do with it," Cass explained, though she did not fully understand it herself. Hermione's claim that it was impossible brought the memory of Lily—her mother —in the Pensieve. She had said something similar. Cass found herself, not for the first time that day, longing to be held by Lily. Shakily, she wrapped her own arms around herself, fantasizing they were her mum's.
Ron muttered, "Bloody hell. And I thought everything that's happened before was mad. But this?" He whistled. "This takes first place."
"You're telling me," Cass mumbled. Maybe it was the late hour, but numbness was starting to thread its way through her mind again. Giving herself a firm pinch on the thigh, she shoved it away.
Ron seemed to have an epiphany. "Wait, Dumbledore knew? He knew this whole time?"
Hermione started at that, too, and her eyes gained an angry and shocked edge. "He did, didn't he?"
Even from a meter or so away, Cass could hear Harry ground his teeth. His face darkened considerably, and she knew that her expression was similar. "Yeah, he knew," Harry said quietly. Bitterly. It was then that Cass realized how betrayed he must feel. She had only known, by the loosest definition, Dumbledore for a few months. Harry had known him for years. Had been lied to for years.
A couple minutes of silence passed. Cass could almost hear the gears turning in Ron's and Hermione's heads as they tried to process the information. Herself, well…those gears had been jammed for—Cass glanced at her watch—oh, fourteen hours or so. She reckoned it was the same for Harry.
Finally, Harry said, "Well?"
"Well, what?" Hermione asked softly.
"Well, you know…tell me what you're thinking."
"I'm not, really," Cass deadpanned.
"I know, Cass. I'm talking about Ron and Hermione."
"I know, Harry," Cass repeated his words, imitating his tone perfectly. Harry breathed a tired chuckle.
"Want to know what I'm thinking? 1) Dumbledore's a bloody git. 2) Who was born first?" Ron asked, a reluctant grin spreading across his face.
Hermione sent him a look that said now was not the time to be cracking jokes. Harry, however, seemed to think it funny. "I dunno," Harry replied, shrugging.
"And isn't that a shame?" Cass muttered under her breath. Despite herself, she fought to suppress a grin. Ron's question had been funny.
"Could you…find out?" Harry asked, emphasizing his last two words.
Cass twisted her lips into a half-frown. What am I, a crystal ball? She didn't say that, though. Instead, she answered, "Maybe… I don't know. I've had a lot of big visions today—er, yesterday. It—my…gift—is, uh, worn out, I guess you could say." It was true; she was already nursing a sharp stabbing behind her right eye. Forcing herself to have a vision would only increase that pain, if it happened at all.
"That's okay," Harry said gently, giving her an almost loving smile. However, it looked very out of place on his face, like something he didn't use often. Of course he doesn't smile that way often, like a brother to his little sister, Cass thought to herself drowsily. She gave a small, exhausted smile back and hoped it looked more natural than his.
For a while, Cass, Harry, Ron, and Hermione just talked. It was a strange experience for Cass, to be talking with her—her twin brother and his best friends. Adding to the oddness was the fact that they had all been around each other for a couple months, training themselves in defense and despite Umbridge's best efforts to see them defenseless. Often, as there was a large age gap between Cass and the fifth-years, their topics of interest didn't quite align. Which, of course, only served to emphasize the strangeness even more. Despite all this, she found she enjoyed talking with Harry, Ron, and Hermione—Harry especially. She got an insight into his life, his adventures, his personality…it was nice. Weird, yes, but nice.
It was about half past three in the morning when a loud yawn from Cass caused Harry to say, "We should go to bed." Even having just yawned, Cass doubted she would be able to sleep. Without asking him, she could tell Harry felt the same. Nevertheless, the four Gryffindors got up from their armchairs, stretched their stiff limbs, and took turns hiding under the Invisibility Cloak to sneak back to Gryffindor Tower.
Cass and Harry gave each other awkward smiles before heading up to their separate dormitories. While she and Hermione climbed the girls' stairwell, the older girl gave her hand a gentle squeeze and a comforting smile. Cass smiled back, if a little unsurely.
"Goodnight—er—morning, Hermione," Cass whispered as she opened the door to her dormitory.
"Sleep well," was Hermione's soft reply.
In her bedroom, Cass could hear Brooke's loud snores and Pauline's deep breathing. She walked right past her bed, the covers stuffed with pillows to make it seem like she was in it, and into the bathroom. Not really caring if it woke her dormmates, she turned on the shower, adjusting the nozzle to a comfortably warm water setting. Without waiting for the water to heat up, Cass took off her clothes and jumped in. She sat on the floor of the shower, knees curled up, head resting on her trembling arms, and cried. She rarely ever thought tears were anything but stupid, but, for right now, she let sobs rack her body. For her dead parents. For all the missing years with her twin—her bloody twin! Warm water splattered over her bowed head, plastering her hair on her bare shoulders. For maybe the longest amount of time in her life, Cass cried. And when she picked herself off the floor and washed her face, she vowed not to do it again. No way was she going to waste time on tears when she had a twin brother to get to know.
OoOoO
Later that day, at breakfast, Cass had to pour herself a strong cup of coffee just to keep her head from lolling, and even then, she was blinking sleep out of her eyes. Across the table from her, Harry looked even worse for wear, if that was possible. Dark bags under his eyes stood out against pale skin and his usually bright eyes were dull and cloudy.
Brooke was giving her an odd look from a couple seats over, probably wondering why she was sitting with Harry. Or maybe she was concerned for her. Guiltily, Cass realized she hadn't even given her friend an explanation as to what happened in Potions yesterday. She wanted to blame it on the fact that her whole world had just been shattered, but she admitted to herself that wasn't the case. If she were being completely honest with herself, she didn't know what to say to Brooke, or to any of her friends. Not the truth, not if it meant everyone finding out about Harry and Cass being twins—she mentally stumbled over that word. But Cass resolved right then and there that she wouldn't lie to them. They didn't deserve that.
But for right now, Cass wanted to sit with Harry. Luckily, she and Brooke had already been sitting close to him and his friends in the first place, so it wasn't a completely different part of the table. Brooke would be fine; she had a couple of second-years to keep her occupied.
So Cass turned her attention to Harry. "I didn't sleep well, either" she told him empathetically.
Harry looked up from his porridge and gave her a long, sad look. "I just—I can't even begin to understand what we're going through," he said quietly, making sure the other students didn't hear him.
Cass's lips twisted into a frown. "I know…I just can't wrap my head around it. This whole time…" she sighed, giving up on trying to describe her feelings. She couldn't even pick them apart in her head, never mind attempt to explain them to Harry.
"How 'bout we do something fun today?" Harry asked suddenly, perking up as if he'd had an idea.
"Like what?"
"Do you know how to play Quidditch?"
"Not really…" Cass could see where this was going.
"Can you fly?"
"I guess I'm fair."
"That's what Harry says. And he's the best bloody Seeker in the world," Ron said around a mouthful of bacon.
"Was…James…a Quidditch player?" Cass asked slowly, fully aware that anyone could hear their conversation.
Harry's lips quirked up into a smile. "Yeah, he was. It's where I got it from."
Cass smiled, holding that piece of information about her father to her heart. "I would love to play, Harry."
"Brilliant! How about after breakfast? You can borrow my Firebolt."
Cass's eyes widened. She wasn't an expert on Quidditch, but she knew what a Firebolt was. Ooh! Yes, yes, yes! she thought excitedly. "Thanks, Harry! But, first, I owe my friend an explanation—not the complete one, mind you, just…"
"I get it. I'll meet you on the Quidditch pitch?"
"Yeah…" Cass got up and walked over to Brooke.
"What happened yesterday? You didn't seem yourself at all in the dormitory," Brooke said as soon as Cass's bum touched the seat.
"I—" Cass's mind whirred, determining just how much she wanted to tell Brooke. "I had a vision."
"Yeah, I gathered that."
Cass spared Brooke a one second look of annoyance at her sarcasm before continuing, "I Saw my parents," she said. I watched as they protested me being taken away. I watched them die at Voldemort's hands were the words left unsaid.
"Really! That's great—or not?" Brooke changed her claim at Cass's heartbroken face.
Just say it. It's the truth. "They're dead. I Saw them die," Cass said with a strained edge in her voice. The bluntness of her statement hurt her, but she told herself firmly that she was going to have to accept it sooner or later. Best it was sooner.
"Oh. Oh. Cass, I—I don't know what to say. I'm sorry," Brooke said, embracing her. Cass hugged her back for a second, wiped away the useless tears, and then pulled away.
"Thanks, Brooke."
"You're—um—welcome. But, Cass, why were you sitting with Harry?"
Cass had to force herself not to tense up; that would only make it seem like she was hiding something. She was, but with good reason. "Oh, well, his parents died, too, obviously. He just…knows how it feels, I guess. Plus, I can be friends with whoever I want," she added fiercely.
"Yeah, but no one will ever trump me." Cass smiled at Brooke's attempt at humor.
"Ehh, I dunno. You can be hotheaded at times."
"And that makes me a bad friend?" Brooke bantered.
"Nope, just a simple statement of fact."
"Whatever."
"Harry invited me to play Quidditch with him, so I'm gonna go," Cass announced.
Brooke pouted. "Aw, come on. It's sunny today. We were going to go around the lake." By "we", Cass knew she meant their other friends.
"I'll join you guys, later, okay?" Cass compromised.
Brooke just shrugged. "Fine, but we're going to have so much fun without you."
"Sorry, can't hear you over the wind from the Firebolt," Cass said, walking towards the entrance hall. Halfway there, she heard Brooke's shocked exclamation of, "What? No way!" but she was too busy smiling to herself. Time for some quality family bonding…
OoOoO
It was one of those rare December days that didn't make you want to jump in the fire from being so cold. On the Quidditch pitch, Harry was waiting for Cass with a polished, smooth, and very elegant broomstick in his hands, which were covered in warm, red gloves. Cass felt her pulse quicken just looking at the magnificent broomstick. She couldn't even imagine flying on it.
"Whoa," she said to Harry. Ron gave a nod of agreement next to him, but Hermione was too engrossed in a thick book in the stands to notice Cass's arrival. "It's beautiful."
"Thanks. Siri—Snuffles got it for me. The—er—one that I met in my third year," Harry said. Cass nodded; he must be talking about Sirius Black, their dad's friend. Their dad's…she found it strange that she was already thinking that way. Not strange in an unwelcome was, just…odd. "Snuffles is his codename," Harry continued.
"Wow. Where'd he get the money? They can't make a lot in—er—you know…" Cass was going to say Azkaban, but she didn't know if that was taboo, too. Wearily, she admitted there were a lot of things she didn't know about Harry. She would do her best to remedy that, and soon.
"His family is pretty rich—and plenty old," Harry replied. Smiling in an excited way, he held the broom out for Cass to touch. The Firebolt seemed to hum with magic and her eyebrows rose. Never in a million years did she think she would ride anything other than the school's ancient brooms, and certainly not with her twin brother that was four years her senior. The improbability of it all made Cass want to laugh and cry at the same time. Instead, she grasped the handle of the broom delicately and took it from Harry's hands.
"Okay, since this broom is very sensitive to its flier, you'll need to be careful with how much force you apply to it, yeah?" Harry explained.
"Yeah," Cass nodded her understanding.
"Right, then. I'll be using the school's Comet 420," Harry said. Cass nodded; though she wouldn't say this aloud, she was nervous about flying on this broom. What if it—
A girl on a broom zoomed through the sky, screaming in exhilarated laughter. An older boy flew below her, his green eyes alight with joy.
Cass returned to the present, relieved. Nothing bad is going to happen, she thought. While having her vision, her hold on the Firebolt had loosened. She tightened her grip on the silky wood to keep it from slipping from her hands and grinned at Harry. He grinned back, eyes swimming with an emotion that Cass believed was happiness, but it bordered on been bittersweet sadness.
"Ready?" Harry asked, straddling his broom.
"Yep," Cass replied, swinging a leg over the Firebolt. "Harry, thank you for letting me ride this."
"What are...you-know-whats for?" he replied. Brothers. He means what are brothers for, Cass thought. She gave him a small smile that started out as warm but turned cheeky as she kicked off from the ground.
The ground rushed away from her feet, which Cass kicked frantically in her abrupt ascent. "Eek!" she shrieked shrilly. She leaned forward slightly to slow it down, just like she had learned in Madam Hooch's flying lessons. Only this time she was flying a broom likely with more power than all the brooms in the school's broom shed combined.
Harry floated up gracefully to Cass's level. "I warned you to be gentle."
"Well, I thought I was!"
Harry laughed. "Not enough, apparently."
Cass narrowed her eyes and concentrated on putting just enough force to travel over to Harry and line up with him perfectly. "How's that?" she asked smugly.
"Much better, actually," Harry replied. "Oh, here comes Ron."
Ron was climbing onto his broomstick and kicking off into the air. He rose quickly and stopped when he arrived next to Cass and Harry.
"So, what are we going to do?" Cass asked. "Can't play Quidditch with only three people."
"Well, I asked Hermione if she would play, but she said no," Ron said. "How 'bout we just throw the Quaffle around?" he suggested, withdrawing the ball from his robes.
"Alright," Harry agreed.
Cass nodded her head and prepared to catch the Quaffle if Ron threw it to her. He was looking at Harry, but Cass knew that trick, and caught it when he tossed it to her without aiming. "Nice try," she told him.
Harry grinned at her. Cass grinned back before throwing the Quaffle at him. However, she was unused to throwing things while riding on a broomstick, so her toss went wide, maybe a meter or so to the left of Harry. Still, he lunged for it, his fingers just grazing the leather ball, but he didn't catch it. Undeterred, Harry dived down after it, dropping below it and holding out his hands casually. The Quaffle fell into his waiting hands neatly. Effortlessly. He glided back up to Cass and Ron, a proud smile on his face.
"That was brilliant!" Cass said, awed at her brother's display.
"Showoff," Ron muttered. A second later, the Quaffle hit him square in the head, Harry having hurled it at him.
"Ouch, Harry! I'm only joking!" Ron exclaimed, rubbing his temple.
"I didn't throw it that hard!" Harry defended himself, laughing. Cass laughed, too.
Ron chucked the ball back to Harry, who caught it without any strain. For a while, they all just tossed the Quaffle back and forth between each other, and Cass got a much needed look into Harry's life. He was at ease in the air. It was his home, of a sort. He took calculated risks that never went wrong and made impossible maneuvers look easy. She admired it, and, during the hour or so that they played, wondered many times if her—their—dad had been like that.
Cass herself was proud to admit she had gotten the hang of riding the Firebolt fairly quickly. It took some effort, but she had managed to dive after a falling Quaffle in record time, nearly as graceful as Harry had been. After, she zoomed around the Quidditch pitch in a celebratory lap, her hair flying and eyes stinging from the wind.
"Nice job, Cass!" Harry yelled at her.
"Bloody twins and they're bloody natural talent," Ron had muttered, only for Cass to give him a stern look she somehow managed to be intimidating. Yes, how about you tell the whole world? she thought irritably.
Eventually, Cass, Harry, and Ron had to admit it was too cold to continue flying. The wind bit at every exposed part of their skin and Cass's trembling lips were turning blue. She lifted her scarf to cover the lower half of her face, then lifted the hood of her jacket under her black school robes for more warmth. When they touched down on the ground, Hermione cast a warming charm, and life returned to Cass's numb fingers.
"Thanks," she said to the older girl.
"You're welcome," said Hermione.
"Where did you even learn this spell? We haven't gone over it in class," Ron said, rubbing his hands together.
"Yes, we did, Ronald. Professor Flitwick taught it in the beginning of the year," Hermione replied exasperatedly. Cass refrained from snickering at Ron's put off expression.
"Here, Harry," Cass said, giving him back his broom. "Thanks again for letting me ride it. It was absolutely wicked."
"You're welcome. Hey, maybe Snuffles will buy you one," Harry said, giving her a smile.
Cass tensed. Someone she barely knew buying her a broom that cost hundreds, if not thousands, of galleons? It felt wrong to her for a reason she couldn't explain. Maybe it was because she wasn't used to nice things or loads of money. Or maybe it was because she didn't know Sirius. "Maybe, but I wouldn't want it. I…I don't need it and…I dunno…Sir—Snuffles doesn't know me, I wouldn't know how to thank him or…" she trailed off, feeling bad as Harry's face turned awkward.
"Er, sorry. I—er—I didn't know him either when he got it for me. Um," Harry said stiffly, not finishing his sentence. Cass sighed; it frustrated her to no end that most of their conversations held an undercurrent of awkwardness. Curse Dumbledore and his no good, lying, conniving self, she thought darkly.
"Well, anyway. I had a lot of fun," Cass said, trying to ease the tension. Ron and Hermione exchanged sad glances as Harry and Cass said goodbye to each other.
"Er, Harry?" Cass said as she walked away to join Brooke and her first-year friends around the lake.
"Yes?"
Cass took a deep breath. "I—I feel like it's wrong not to acknowledge the awkwardness. I just—I—" she inhaled calmingly "—it will take…time…to get to know each other. But, one day, we'll be the best of friends. One day, we'll know each other properly, and we'll—we'll love each other. We'll coddle each other's children, be wonderful aunts and uncles. I—I just wanted to say that." As she finished her impromptu speech, Cass fervently hoped she hadn't made things more strained.
Harry's eyes watered, a few tears even spilling over onto his flushed cheeks. "Did you…See that?"
Cass shook her head. "Nope. I'm just determined to make it happen."
OoOoO
