February 16, 1975 - Hogwarts

The next day, Cassiopeia awoke to the quiet of the infirmary, sighing in relief when her head didn't throb in pain. She stretched, quietly observing her surroundings while she waited for Madame Pomfrey to notice her waking.

Sunlight streamed into the hall through giant windows that overlooked the school grounds. In the distance, she noticed the Whomping Willow; squeezing her eyes at the remembered fear its sight brought. When she went outside, rarely as it was, she tried to avoid the place of… that incident, and seeing it again brought nothing but bad memories.

Sinking back against the pillows, Cassie tried to think logically. The events were a long time ago; they shouldn't affect her to this day. Instead, she should be more worried about the foreign influence Pomfrey had accidentally stumbled upon in her mind.

She had a good idea of what it could be, but then again… No, it couldn't be the diadem. If it was, Pomfrey'd probably want to take it from her, and Cassie wouldn't know where it was, and what if she destroyed it –

The panic rose within her suddenly, swirling in her stomach as her anxious thoughts overwhelmed her, then rising into her throat in a sick, nauseating feeling as she stopped herself from vomiting the bile in her stomach.

Cassiopeia fought to breathe clearly, to relax, but her attempts were only met by a dizziness in her head, as her shallow, panicked breaths failed to supply the oxygen she needed.

Someone tilted her head back, pouring a cool liquid into her throat. She choked and sputtered, tears pooling in her eyes as she coughed to expel what little of the potion had fallen into her lungs.

What she recognized to be Calming Draught worked however, relaxing her tense limbs, and filling her thoughts with a false sense of calm as she slumped forward against her knees.

"Are you alright dear?"

She would have startled, if not for the potion preventing her from doing so. Instead, however, she met Madam Pomfrey's worried brown eyes; smiling weakly at her concern. "I'm fine."

"Do you care to tell me what's got you so worried?"

Her thoughts were sluggish under the influence of the draught, and she frowned as she tried to form her words. "No, it's really alright, Madam Pomfrey."

Pomfrey pursed her lips, then flicked her wand to summon a piece of parchment, handing it to her. "If you're sure, but I'd like you to remember that my door is always open... I'm reluctant to release you so promptly, especially after this, but the Headmaster's asked for you as soon as possible. He stopped by yesterday..." here she trailed off with a frown, her eyes seeming cloudy before dissipating as shook her head. "The password is Licorice Wands, dear, and your robes are on the chair."

Cassiopeia frowned as well, watching for a second as the matron strode towards her office. Something was wrong - that was obvious - but she couldn't help but be relieved that Pomfrey had seemingly forgotten her… affliction.

But Dumbledore? She had a bad feeling about this.

Pulling the curtains closed around her, Cassie dressed in her green-accented school robes, her limbs still a little weak under the influence of the draught. It was Saturday, and she'd much rather wear her day robes - gifted to her at the start of the year by Narcissa - but she supposed anything was better than the scratchy hospital gown she'd just discarded.

Calling out a soft goodbye to Pomfrey, Cassiopeia made her way to Headmaster's, memories of her past meeting with him already filling her thoughts. At least she'd had Severus then - now she would be alone.

"Licorice Wands."

The gargoyle guarding the entrance glared at her, moving slowly and reluctantly to open the stairway for her. She ignored his ill humor, moving up the spiral staircase, and feeling her heart begin to race with every step.

"Come in, Miss Nazyalensky."

Damn him, how did he know she was here? She pushed open the door, swallowing hard as she met Albus Dumbledore's blue eyes.

"Have a seat."

"Yes, sir."

There was silence for a few seconds after that, both of them watching each other intently. Power radiated from the man in front of her, making her feel small and weak. She looked away.

"Do you know why I've asked you to come here, Miss Nazyalensky?" he asked finally, steepling his hands against his desk.

"No, sir." Does it have something to do with -

"You were found to be under the influence of a dark object."

"What?" she asked in confusion. "Sir."

"A dark object," he explained slowly, as if she were a particularly idiotic child. "An infraction which merits expulsion."

No – she couldn't be –

"And what was the object, sir?" she asked weakly.

"As of now, I am unsure. But are you certain that you do not know?"

"N – No, sir."

He frowned. "Your room has been searched, and there was nothing found…" he trailed off, meeting her eyes intently. There was an uncomfortable pressure in her head for a few seconds before he looked away, and she frowned at the discomfort. "Very well. Be glad that I have made the decision not to expel you at this moment."

"I am, sir," she answered hesitantly, relief and anger swirling within her equally.

Dumbledore returned to his work, making a quick note on the parchment in front of him, before continuing his paperwork. She was dismissed.

Cassiopeia returned to her room, her heart racing at the near-miss with the Headmaster. She'd think it all over in bed, but for there was just one thing she needed to check, to give herself some peace of mind.

Sliding the box from beneath her bed, she clicked open the lid. The diadem was gone.

February 21, 1975 - Hogwarts

For all his words of indifference in the hospital wing, Severus did somewhat worry for Cassiopeia. It had been a shock at first to see her walking about, but without admitting to his eavesdropping he could not ask why she was still in Hogwarts. He'd put it down to Pomfrey simply changing her mind, but the explanation seemed lacking, somewhat.

Then there was her behavior, like how she'd spent the last days almost entirely in the library. That simply would not have been enough to raise his suspicions - for he enjoyed such activities too - were it not that so often he'd catch her staring despondently into the shelves rather than reading. He chastised himself for looking, but found that he couldn't stop, no matter how hard he tried.

And he did try. He wanted so badly not to care, not to worry, yet there was still this special place in his heart for the girl that had saved him from the despondency of his life.

He resigned himself to it reluctantly. Now the best thing to do was to make sure she never found out.

•••

Thank you for reading! First of all, I want to apologize for putting out two short chapters in a row. I'm going to be editing the story once it's done, and those chapters will definitely be combined. More importantly, however, this was not the chapter I was planning to release this Sunday. The flow and timing of the plot wasn't fitting well, so I've decided to release this chapter separately, and have the next one come out sometime next week. I apologize again for changing the release date so much, but I haven't been able to find a lot of time to write recently. It saddens me, especially because over the past week I've gotten so many lovely reviews, and I couldn't thank you all enough for them. They're very motivating to me, and always bring a smile to my face. So thank you again for that, and for being patient with me while I work out the next chapter. I really hope you'll like it, and that you have a wonderful week. Happy (almost) New Year!