September 3, 1972 - Hogwarts

"Please get out your quills, parchment, and books," their new DADA teacher instructed, smiling. Professor Dalle had unfortunately abandoned his position for a post at Beauxbatons, probably fearful of what the rumored DADA job curse would do to him. The new teacher was a former Hufflepuff, and seemed very sweet and kind.

"This year, we will be focusing on more of the theoretical aspects of Defense Against the Dark Arts. You can expect to learn all of the important concepts that will help you pass your end-of-the-year exam, and that will prepare you for your OWLs."

"Professor Leianne? Will we be practicing any actual spells?" Lucy Talkalot asked, blushing when all eyes turned to her.

"Maybe at the end of the year," the Professor said. "Right now, I don't want anybody to get hurt if someone's spell-casting isn't very good."

"O–Okay. Thank you."

Behind her, Cassie smiled, feeling very relieved. She was extremely happy to only be doing theory.

"That's terrible," Severus whispered to Cassie, frowning. "We're supposed to be learning all sorts of new spells this year."

"Severus," Cassie whined. "We'll be fine."

Severus shot her a cold look. "We'll talk after class."

The two of them split off from the group of students heading towards dinner, neither feeling up to eating. After their shared conversation, both of them had felt uncomfortable throughout the entire class, knowing that they disagreed on something so big.

"Cassie," Severus started to speak, once they entered an empty corridor. "I know that you don't like doing the practicals, but what kind of student will you be if you can't cast any spells in your third year?"

Severus' friend stared at him, clearly hurt. "I can cast spells, Severus!"

"Well you're pretty bad at showing it," Severus retorted angrily.

"What's wrong with you?" Cassie cried, eyes flashing. "You're being so mean."

"I'm not being mean, I'm being realistic. You're the one being pathetic and wanting everything to be easy – just because you're scared!"

"How–" Cassie's voice broke, her eyes filling with tears. She turned away and fled down the corridor, running in the direction of the dungeons. Severus opened his mouth to say something – anything, to apologize, but by the time he could make a noise, she was already gone.

Guilt stabbed him in the chest, making him feel terribly alone and remorseful. He hadn't meant to make his sweet friend cry. Really! He hadn't!

'Why did I say that?' he asked himself angrily, digging his fingernails into his palms. 'Why the hell did I say that? I have to apologize.'

Heart pounding in his chest, he ran down to the dungeons, practically forcing himself not to scream at Serene to move faster. He ran to the door of Cassie's dorm, forever thankful that Slytherin House did not ban boys from the girl's dormitories.

"Cassie?" he asked, knocking on the door. "Please, let me in."

The door opened, and he swallowed his pride, preparing to apologize.

"What are you doing here?"

He startled, finding Aurora at the door instead of Cassie.

"Aurora?" he asked dumbly.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she asked, clearly furious with him.

"I–I wanted to say something to Cassie."

"Yeah, right. You don't get to talk to her."

"Why?" he asked desperately.

"You made her cry!" Aurora whispered loudly. "She's just calming down, I'm not letting you upset her again."

"But–"

"No buts. I saw her running down here on my way to dinner and figured that something must be wrong. Now tell me what you did," Aurora said, stepping out into the hallways and shutting the door behind her.

"I–" should he tell her? "I said something mean. But I didn't mean it, I swear!"

"It doesn't matter whether you meant it or not, she's still upset!"

"Please, Rory?" he asked pleadingly.

"No," she shook her head. "Tomorrow. Think about what you've done and apologise tomorrow."

Irritated, he turned and stalked away. "Fine."

Later that evening, Cassie still hadn't emerged from her dorm. He knew because he sat in the Common Room until ten, working on his homework, and waiting for her to show her face. Still, she had not shown herself, and frustrated, Severus left for bed.

He lay in the darkness, in his pyjamas, staring at the ceiling. He couldn't fall asleep, not angry anymore, but rather fretful and anxious about his friendship. He knew he had a bad habit of saying things in anger that he later regretted, but he hadn't ever unleashed it upon Cassie, or at least not that badly.

'How could I have said that she's pathetic?' he wondered desperately to himself. 'She's wonderful and amazing! Gods, what if she doesn't want to be my friend anymore?'

He couldn't even contemplate such a scenario. Cassie was forgiving – surely, she would accept his apology? But what if she didn't–

He was never going to fall asleep without knowing how Cassie felt. Mind made up, he carefully crept from his bed, and opened his door. It closed behind him with a snick, and he silently whispered Lumos, concentrating as hard as he could on producing the softest light imaginable. Several anxiety-provoking moments later he had opened Cassie's door, and went inside her dorm, extinguishing his wand-light.

"Who's there?" he heard Cassie's voice call out quietly.

He swallowed. "It's me. Severus."

He waited for her to turn him away, to yell at him to leave, or worse, send for a prefect to punish him for breaking the rules.

"Severus? What are you doing here?"

"I–" he glanced down, cheeks burning in shame. "I wanted to apologize. I didn't mean to say t–those things."

Several moments passed before he heard a soft sigh. "I'm sorry too."

"W–What?" he asked, bewildered.

"You're right. I am scared, and I won't learn anything if I only keep learning theory ," she said, then laughed softly. "Rory's also a bit more overprotective than I thought."

"So I'm forgiven?" he asked, heart pounding.

"Come here," Cassie instructed, opening her curtains and waiting for him to climb into bed. He lay on the pillow, watching as she shut the curtains again, and lay down opposite him.

"You are," she whispered, grabbing his hand and encircling it with her smaller one. "Of course you are."

He swallowed through the lump in his throat, feeling his eyes prickle. "Thanks."

"Mhmm. Just try not to get into the habit of yelling at me, please," Cassie said lightly.

"I'll try. I promise," he answered seriously. "Goodnight, Cassie."

"Night, Severus."

When they awoke, several long hours later, they were still holding hands.

November 20, 1972 - Hogwarts

"Please, talk to me!" Raymond Greengrass called out across the common room. Unfortunately, the target of his plea had already fled, and he was left standing alone at the entrance of the room, defeated.

"What's wrong, Ray?" Evan Rosier asked, looking sympathetic.

"It's Calluna," Raymond sighed, dropping into an armchair. "Ever since the engagement had been announced, she flees any room that I enter into. I just want to talk to her, I mean – we barely know each other, and we're getting married in a couple of years."

"Tough luck," Evan replied. "Have you tried getting one of the girls to talk to her?"

"Yeah, but she refuses to even acknowledge them. Narcissa, Alecto, Gretchen, Kimani – I'm running out of options."

"Gretchen?" Evan asked incredulously. "You sent Gretchen Bulstrode to talk to a scared second-year?"

Raymond colored, looking down. "Who else? Besides, she's not that bad once you get to know her."

"Maybe for you, but for a kid? She's intimidating, loud, blunt–" Evan shuddered. "Have you thought about asking one of the kids in her year?"

"Talkalot? She'll flee from me too."

"You have a point," Evan agreed, "Aurora Sinistra, then?"

"A half-blood?" Raymond asked incredulously. "How can she help? She knows nothing about our customs."

Evan frowned at him. "Those are biases best not spoken aloud. She seems like a sensible girl."

Raymond looked unconvinced.

"What about Nazyalensky, then?"

The brown-haired boy's eyes flicked to the small figure sitting on the opposite side of the room, bent over a piece of parchment. "I'll go ask her."

Raymond Greengrass made his way over to the three friends currently completing their History of Magic homework, pausing for a second before addressing them. "Miss Nazyalensky, may I speak with you privately?"

Panicked blue eyes flicked to Severus, who smiled reassuringly.

"Of course," Cassie said weakly, standing up and walking a little-ways from their table. "Yes?"

"May I be frank?" Raymond said. "I would like to speak with my betrothed, and get to know her. Unfortunately, she is terrified of me, and will not even be in the same room as I. Would you be able to talk to her, and ask why she won't talk to me?"

"And what would I get in return?"

Raymond laughed. "Smart girl. My family is hosting a ball this winter, in celebration of my engagement. Would you like to attend?"

"Will someone else be able to come with me?"

"You can bring a date, of course."

Cassie nodded slowly, blushing at the mention of a date. "I will take the invitation, but I am unsure whether I will be able to attend."

"Of course. I will ask my parents to send one out to you. Calluna is in her dorm room, I believe," Raymond stated, then walked away, leaving Cassie feeling weak and shaky. As soon as he did, Severus ran up to her, looking worried.

"What did he want, Cassie? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Cassie answered, smiling weakly. Truthfully, Raymond had scared her a little, with his resemblance to her father, but she didn't want Severus to worry.

"If you're sure," Severus said, sounding unconvinced. "And what did he want?"

"Just to talk to Calluna. I–I'll go right now."

"Okay," Severus answered, frowning. "Come back soon."

She left the common room quickly, still embarrassed about the notion of going on a date with Severus. She knocked at the door labeled: Calluna Rowle & Lucinda Talkalot, but there was no response, so, heart beating wildly, she opened the door and stepped inside.

He must have made a mistake, Calluna wasn't–oh. Sniffles, coming from the bathroom, allowed themselves to be heard.

She knocked cautiously on the bathroom door. "Hey, Calluna."

"Go away."

"Please, I–I just want to talk to you."

"What do you want?" Calluna asked, wrenching the door open. Her face was red and blotchy, with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Can I come in?" she asked, carefully doing so and sitting down on the toilet lid. "Why are you crying?"

Calluna seemed determined not to speak for several long moments, before she finally broke down. "I hate Raymond! I can't stand to see him!"

"And why is that?" she asked carefully.

"He chose me! I don't want to get married, and especially not to him. I don't even know him!"

"Don't you have a couple of years to go, though?"

"Yes," Calluna sniffled. "Four. As soon as I turn legal."

"That seems… harsh. Have you told your parents?" Cassie asked, secretly thanking Merlin that she wasn't part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. She wouldn't have been able to stand it.

"Do you think they care?" Calluna yelled angrily. "I'm a girl. I don't get to tell them what I want or don't want."

"I'm sorry, Calluna. But.. have you considered that Raymond doesn't want this either?"

"Stop lying," Calluna frowned. "He's a Greengrass, he could have anybody he wanted."

"Calluna, I don't think it's his fault. He–He really wants to talk to you. He doesn't know you either, but he wants to. Please, will you at least give him a chance?"

"Fine," Calluna muttered. "Get out."

"W–"

"Get out."

"O–Okay," Cassie replied, leaving the bathroom and shutting the door behind her. She took in a deep breath, calming herself. Calluna was… very emotional, and it made her uncomfortable.

The raven-haired girl came back down, nodding to Raymond, who tilted his head back gratefully, leaving the room. She sat down next to Severus, attempting to continue working on her homework. Unfortunately, she couldn't focus, her thoughts circling back to one thing.

"Severus? Rory? I'm going to go talk to Narcissa."

"You're okay?" Severus asked. Ever since their fight, he had been overly worried about her feelings, checking in with her constantly to make sure she wasn't upset.

"I'm fine, Severus," Cassie sighed. "I just can't focus, I'm sorry. I'll be back."

She climbed down several flights of stairs, finally arriving at the sixth level of girls' dorms. "Narcissa?"

"One second, Cassie," Narcissa's pleasant voice sounded through the door.

A minute later Narcissa opened the door, face composed. "Do you need something, love?"

"Er...A little bit."

"Come in, then," she smiled. Cassie did, startling a little when she saw Lucius sitting on Narcissa's bed.

"I'm not… interrupting...anything?"

"Oh, don't worry, Cassie," Narcissa laughed. "Go on, Lucius. The girls need to talk."

Lucius pouted at her, kissing her cheek. "See you later, Cissa."

"Sorry," Cassie said, now sure that she interrupted something.

"Nonsense. You're always welcome," Narcissa replied, patting the space on the bed next to her. "Now, what do you need?"

"I–I got an invitation to a ball," Cassie replied, biting her lip.

"You did?" Narcissa asked, her eyes lighting up. "That's wonderful, love. Whose?"

"The Greengrass' Yule Ball."

"Oh, how nice," Narcissa smiled. "I'll be there too. Wait–" she paused, her smile turning into a wicked grin, "–does that mean I can dress you up?"

Cassie smiled shyly. "I was hoping you would say that."

"Thank you!" the older girl exclaimed, hugging Cassie tight. "Oh, this'll be so much fun! I'm going to owl my tailor for some samples."

"Are you sure, though? I–I won't be able to pay for it."

Narcissa's shoulders slumped slightly, and brought her hands up to cup Cassie's cheek. "Love, you have nothing to worry about. You know how much I enjoy dressing up. You know – I've always wanted a little sister of my own, to play with. You're like that, for me."

"You – you see me as your sister?" Cassie asked incredulously.

"Oh, love. Of course I do," Narcissa smiled, kissing Cassie's forehead, and letting her hand fall away. "I care about you so much, Cassie. I wish you were my actual sister. You'd be much better than Bella, anyway."

"That… means a lot to me, Narcissa," Cassie replied, still shocked.

"Oh, call me Cissa, love. Everyone does."

"Thank you, C–Cissa. I– I care about you too."

"Are you allowed to bring a date?" Narcissa asked, changing the subject.

Cassie blushed deep red, looking down. "Yes. I–I think I want to bring Severus."

"Oh, tell me everything!"