September 2, 1970 - Hogwarts
"Cassie?" Severus asked softly, noticing the darkened circles under his friend's eyes. She looked exhausted, and her hands shook as they held her goblet of pumpkin juice.
Frankly, he was sure that Cassie hadn't slept a minute last night.
"Yes, Sev'rus?" she asked, trying to inject some energy into her voice.
"You didn' sleep well las' night'?" he asked softly, squeezing her hand. Augustus glanced at them curiously, but the few students who were also already at breakfast ignored them.
She shook her head, smiling softly. "I jus' had a nigh'mare."
He glanced at her worriedly. While he hadn't slept perfectly – uncomfortable with having another person in his room – he had gotten enough peaceful sleep to function normally. Cassie looked dead on her feet.
"Do you wan' to tell me 'bout it?" he whispered, trying to offer her comfort. While the idea of discussing Cassie's nightmares made him uncomfortable, he would do anything to help his friend.
Thankfully, she merely shook her head, yawning as she did so. "No, but thanks, Sev'rus."
"'Course."
Cassie nodded, and slowly ate a spoonful of oatmeal. "Who's your dorm-ma'e?"
"Me," Augustus interrupted, observing them from over his scrambled eggs. His brown eyes flicked over them, then back to his breakfast.
"And Tevian," he added, scratching the feline next to him underneath his chin. "And you?"
Severus was slightly miffed at Augustus entering the conversation, but was also curious about Cassiopeia's answer.
"Aurora Sinistra," she answered. Severus and Augustus nodded slightly, remembering the girl they had been introduced to yesterday.
"Augustus?" Auberon Avery asked, sitting down across from the two of them. "Hey, Tavian. Do you know when Professor Slughorn will be passing out our schedules?"
Augustus looked up to the high table, where Slughorn was stuffing his mouth with sausages. "Soon, hopefully," he sighed. "I want to see our classes."
"Do you think we'll have to have too many with the Gryffindors?"
Severus and Cassie shared a quick glance, interrupting them. "Are we allowed to go over to the other tables?"
"Like, now?" Auberon asked confusedly, his brow furrowing. "I'm fairly sure you can."
"Thanks," Cassie answered with a quick smile, glancing at the Gryffindor table. Lily was still not present - only Remus was already there - looking almost as tired as she felt.
"Why?"
"We have a friend who was sorted into another house," Severus said vaguely, and the two nodded understandingly.
"You three grew up together?"
"Kind of...we met a couple of years ago," he answered, unwilling to tell his classmates up front about the place he grew up in. Cokeworth was… clearly not a hometown to be proud of.
"Hmm," Augustus hummed speculatively, then turned his head towards the doors of the hall. A large group of late-comers was just now flooding the space, and the noise-level rose substantially as they were greeted by their earlier-rising housemates.
Leaning back a little, Severus spotted the head of red hair that he had been looking for. Lily was chatting animatedly with a short, nondescript girl next to her - and seemed to be pointedly ignoring both Potter and Black trying to talk to her.
"Should we go now?"
He shook his head, his fingers twisting the fabric of his robes nervously. "Let's give her a moment to settle in."
"Alright," she nodded, her gazing flicking back to her mostly uneaten breakfast. She sighed, feeling too nervous and fraught to eat much.
Looking next to her, she saw that Severus was crumbling his piece of toast between his fingers, not eating either. "Ea' some more, Sev'rus."
His brows furrowed, and he set down his bread. "I–I can't eat."
"Are you worrie' 'bout classes, an' Lily?" she asked, her hand coming up to cover a small yawn.
He glanced toward his classmates, who didn't seem to be paying much attention to them. "A little."
Cassie bit her bottom lip worriedly, pulling it between her teeth. "Me too."
Professor Slughorn was making his way down the table, flicking his wand at each student and distributing their schedules.
"Mr. Avery," he intoned, and a piece of parchment zoomed towards Auberon, who caught it deftly. "Mr. Crouch. Miss Nazyalensky. Mr Rookwood. Miss Rowle. Miss Sinistra. Mr. Snape. Miss Talkalot."
Everyone in their year received their schedules, most sighing about the inordinate amount of shared classes with the lions. Potions, Transfiguration, and Defense - all with their rival house.
"Herbology with the Hufflepuffs," Lucy Talkalot said. "That'll be easy."
"History of Magic, and Astrology with the Ravenclaws," Aurora stated with a smile. "Cool. I like astrology."
"Figures, with a name like yours," Auberon snarked.
"Hey!"
"Wan' to go o'er to Lily, now?" Cassie asked Severus quietly, ducking her head.
His eyes flicked to the lion's table. "Sure."
They stood, saying their goodbyes to their housemates. Most of them were preoccupied, but Severus saw Augustus' eyes following him. He sighed. Well, he wouldn't have been able to hide his friendship forever… he just hoped it wouldn't cause problems for the two of them.
"Hey, Lily."
"Sev! Cassie!" the redhead yelped excitedly, moving to the side to make room for them to sit. "I didn't know we could visit each other!"
"We're fairly sure we can."
Lily smiled brilliantly. "Oh! Let me introduce you to my friends!"
She gestured to the brown-haired girl she had been talking to, then to a blonde sitting across the table. "This is Alice, and this is Marlene."
Marlene glared at them, distrust in her eyes. "Why are you Slytherins here?"
"Marlene," Lily reprimanded. "These are my friends, Severus and Cassie."
"Hmph," Marlene huffed dismissively, and Alice shook her head at the girl. "Hi, Severus, Cassie."
"Hello, Alice," Cassie answered, then turned to Lily, yawning tiredly, "How are you settlin' in, Lily?"
"Oh, Gryffindor is wonderful," Lily exclaimed. "You have to visit sometime."
"Really? Gryffindor allows visitors?" Severus asked.
Lily shrugged. "Well, they never said we couldn't."
"Hmm. Slytherin is highly guarde' - nobody from outside is allowed in. Excep' teachers, 'course."
"Wow. What's it like?"
"Dark, wet, and filled with snakes, probably," Sirius interrupted, and Severus glared at him. The two boys seemed unable to keep from arguing, despite their apologies to each other.
"No, actually. It's beautiful, warm, an' dry," Cassie replied, unimpressed. "And no actual snakes. Am I suppose' to believe Gryffindor is fille' wit' lions?"
Sirius' eyes lit up with glee, and he turned to James. "Hey, James, reckon we can ask an older year to make some actual lions and put them in the tower?"
"Sure," he shrugged. "We can try."
The tower… "Do you guys have a nice view from there?"
"It's beautiful," Alice said softly. "I think it's one of the tallest viewing points in the school."
"Hmm," Cassie hummed speculatively, tilting her head. "It must be difficult to climb up all those stairs...does a portrait guard your common room too?"
"The Fat Lady, you mean?" James giggled. "She got drunk during the Welcome Feast, and almost let us in without the password."
"Portraits can ge' drunk?" Cassie asked.
"Fat Lady?"
"Let's find out, Sirius," James said, "Maybe we can get her drunk again. That'll be fun!"
"James!" Lily scolded, then glanced up to the clock. "Oh! It's time for our first class."
"Transfiguration?"
"Yeah," Lily said with a smile. "C'mon, let's go there together."
"Sure," Severus answered slowly.
Their first class passed by smoothly. Professor McGonagall introduced herself to them again, and showed off her skills in Transfiguration by demonstrating to them her Animagus form. They were greatly impressed, and Cassie vowed to herself to become an Animagus before she turned of age. It seemed...amazing.
"Please try to transfigure the matchstick in front of you into a needle. The instructions are on the board," the Professor instructed. She had explained to them the complicated process, which included concise wand movements, an incantation, and a visualisation of the needle in your mind - all at the same time.
Severus held his wand tightly, and though he found a needle easy to visualize, the incantation was difficult for him to pronounce.
"Igne aderi' foramen acus transire," he pronounced as clearly as he could, though he could tell he was failing spectacularly.
Glancing over to Cassie's side of the desk, he saw that her matchstick had turned into a needle, only to turn back to wood only seconds later. She was concentrating fiercely, her brows furrowed in frustration. He understood her vexation - his friend didn't like to fail, a particular trait of hers.
"I can', Sev'rus," she exclaimed quietly, her hands shaking with effort. It was clear that the use of magic wasn't helping her exhaustion. "I can see the needle, bu' the movemen's an' the words..."
"You're shaking," he remarked quietly. "Maybe jus' res' your hands for a secon'."
"Okay," she agreed, setting down her wand. "Wha' 'bout you, Sev'rus?"
"I can' pronounce the words, either."
"Sev'rus… remember when I transfigure' you tha' flower?"
"Yes," he replied. It had been the sweetest gesture anyone had ever made to him. "Of course."
"When I transfigured it, I didn' speak. I jus'...imagined it in my hea'. Reckon I can do the same wit' this?"
"I'm...not sure," he answered her, raising his hand. Professor McGonagall came over to their desk, but didn't seem particularly disappointed at their un-changed matchsticks. Looking around, only three or so students had made any progress with theirs at all.
"Yes, Mr. Snape?"
"Professor, do you think it's possible to transfigure withou' the incantation? It's har' for me an' Cassie to pronounce."
McGonagall frowned at slightly, shaking her head. "Not right now. Once you're more advanced, then non-verbal transfiguration is the norm, but you're just starting out, it's not possible."
Well, Cassie took offence to being told she couldn't do something. To her, it just made her want to prove that she could.
She picked up her wand, and took a deep breath, remembering the feeling she had experienced while transfiguring before. She focused on a sewing needle in her head - the image easy to conjure after countless hours spent fixing her torn clothing. Gripping the handle lightly, she flicked, turned, and swished in the given order.
Needle, she thought forcefully, nearly snarling at the piece of wood in front of her .
It worked!
The matchstick seemed to melt, becoming long and silvery before her eyes. It was perfect, down to the minuscule eye.
"Miss Nazyalensky!" the professor exclaimed, walking quickly to her side of the desk, and picking up the needle. She examined it, turning it over in her hands. "Well...this is very impressive. And non-verbally, too. Fifteen points to Slytherin."
The Gryffindors groaned, Sirius muttering under his breath something about cheating.
"Thank you, Professor," she said quietly, blushing from the praise.
"Of course," McGonagall answered, then returned the needle. "Well, how about you practice for the rest of the class? We only have five minutes left."
"I will, Professor."
The elder witch left with a nod, moving off to supervise the rest of class. Severus turned to Cassie, impressed and a tiny bit jealous. "How did you do tha'?"
Biting her lip, Cassie answered. "I–I remembered how it fel' to transfigure the flower, and jus'...saw the needle in my hea'. I concentrated really har' on it, too."
"Alright, I'll try."
Needle! Now! he thought, making the appropriate movements.
Whoosh! The matchstick turned into a thin, silvery stick - the only thing missing being the eye of the needle.
"Goo' job, Sev'rus," Cassiopeia said with a smile. "Do you have an idea why you didn' ge' the eye?"
He shrugged. "I guess, I haven' really seen a needle tha' often. Only when my Ma was fixin' my clothes."
"Ah, alrigh'."
Professor McGongall had just returned to their desk, and seeing Severus' attempt, awarded five points to Slytherin. At that point, the bell rang, and they were dismissed.
Their next class, History of Magic, was with the Ravenclaws. Not knowing anyone there, Severus and Cassie stuck together with their fellow Slytherins. Being quite excited for the class, both of them were disappointed to learn the true nature of the lessons - dry, meaningless facts pertaining to the Goblin Wars. Indeed, most students - snakes and eagles alike - fell asleep minutes into the lesson.
"Cassie," Severus suggested in a whisper. "You shoul' sleep."
"But I won' learn," she protested, though Severus could see in her eyes that she was desperate to rest.
"You know tha' Binns isn't teaching us anything. Besides, I'll tell you wha' it was about, okay? For me, Cassie, please."
He was completely thrown off-balance when her eyes filled with tears. "What's wrong, Cassie? What did I do?" he asked urgently.
She shook her head, pressing her hands to her mouth to stifle her sobs. "Nothing, Sev. I'm just...tired, and that was very sweet."
"Oh," he said. He couldn't be sure whether he understood - he'd never cried happy tears before - but he reckoned the exhaustion had made her sensitive. "That's…" he trailed off. "Sleep, Cassie. I'll watch over you."
She nodded, placing her head on the desk. Her eyes fluttered closed, and eventually her breathing deepened, her mouth opening the tiniest bit. She looked angelic in sleep, her black as night hair contrasting sharply with her skin, and her face completely relaxed. When she was awake, there was a perpetual guardedness in her, one that he was intimately familiar with. But this - she trusted him to watch over her, to keep her safe, while she was in such a vulnerable safe.
He regretted having to wake her at the end of the lesson.