Chapter 9

Cassius was staring at Cassie the day of the Ball.

'If I can just be friendly with her enough, then maybe I don't need to convince her this year. If she's still living with the Malfoy's then it should be easier with Malfoy there. He can help me when I fail. She's fiercely protective of her friends. I may need to get in her head and start saying that Potter… Potter said what, Warrington? She knows Potter better than you! And you can't say anything about Granger. Granger's a mudb - muggleborn. You don't talk to her as often. I can try to say that Weasley said something? But with the way she isn't afraid of confrontation… that won't work either!'

Cassius almost hit his head against the table in frustration but was distracted by something.

Beth was walking over to Cassie and her friends with two goblets.

'Not again Beth.'

He watched as Cassie shook her head and Beth practically stomped away.

"Did you really think she would fall for that trick again?" Cassius asked when she joined Dean at the table.

Beth glared at him and turned to Dean.

"What did you mean by that?" Astrid asked Cassius.

"She knows what I mean." Cassius answered.


Cassius was laying in his bed staring at the ceiling. He was just waiting for time to pass and still trying to figure out a plan of how to get Cassie to join him willingly.

"Warrington, shouldn't you be getting ready?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, probably." Cassius said and finally sat up.

He had his dress robes out and ready to go.

"No one's in the bathroom." Dean said as Cassius picked up his toiletry bag.

"Thanks." Cassius said and took a shower.

He shaved his face, to make sure there wasn't any stubble tonight. He then combed his hair nicely and went out to put on his dress robes.

They were black with just a hint of emerald green on the hem of the robes.

He walked out of the dungeons and looked at the bottom of the stairs where he said he was meeting Cassie.

He scanned the room once and when he went to do a second scan, a girl with her hair up in a braided crown smiled.

He only recognized her because of her scar on her face.

Casse was breathlessly beautiful.

"You look beautiful." He said as soon as he reached her.

"You look handsome." She smiled at him.

"I noticed that Christensen tried her trick on you earlier." He said, offering his arm to her.

"She tried. Only an idiot tries the same trick twice." She took his arm.

He let out a chuckle as he led her towards the doors.

'I'm in trouble.' He thought to himself.

He had a thing for clavicles. And her strapless dress showed hers beautifully and Cassius wasn't sure he would be able to stay a gentleman tonight.

"Red suits you remarkably well." He complimented her.

"Thank you. I think it had something to do with my house colors, but we'll never know." She winked at him.

Cassius let out a laugh.

He walked in front of the dungeons just as the rest of the Slytherins came up.

He didn't want to pay attention to them, but he knew that they needed to see him with Cassie.

"Oh poor dears." Cassie said.

He turned his head to look at what she was seeing.

Pansy Parkinson had the worst dress on. It was bright pink and frilly. And her date, Vincent Crabbe, had mossy green robes that didn't match with her at all.

Cassius nodded in agreement.

The front doors opened and the Durmstrange students came in. He noticed Viktor Krum go up to a young girl who he didn't recognize.

Champions over here, please!" McGonagall's voice called over the crowd.

"Time to go, shall we?" Cassius asked.

"We shall." Cassie nodded.

McGonagall was in red tartan robes and looking quite stressed. She had a wreath of thistles around her hat.

"Wait here, everyone will be going in before you and you shall walk in a procession." She instructed the champions.

Fleur Delacour had asked Roger Davies, the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain, to be her date, and Davies wouldn't stop staring at her.

"Is that Hermione Granger with Viktor Krum?" Cassie asked, finally recognizing the girl with the Quidditch star.

Harry and his date joined them.

"That is." Cassie affirmed.

Cassius nodded to Harry when they joined the rest of the champions.

"Hi Harry! Hi Parvarti!" Hermione greeted the two.

Harry didn't say anything to anyone.

Cassius held eye contact with anyone who would.

He was expecting his housemates to accept that he and Cassie were at the ball together.

But when no one stopped to say anything, he started to doubt himself.

"This is not going as well as I thought…" Cassius admitted when George Weasley glared the whole time he walked by with his date.

"It's going better than I thought." Cassie shared.

"Better?" Cassius was confused.

Didn't she have high hopes about the school coming together?

"I thought I would be hexed by now." She admitted.

Cassius let out a strangled sigh as he shook his head.

So she decided to keep her expectations low… Cassius was still learning new things about her and she was still surprising him.

They stood in silence for a few more minutes, watching the other students enter the Great Hall when he looked down at Cassie.

She was starting to turn red.

"Breath, Cassie." Cassius whispered into her ear.

She let out the breath she was holding.

"I didn't expect you to be so nervous." He chuckled.

"Me neither." She admitted.

McGonagall waved to the champions and their dates and led them through the center of the Great Hall. Everyone was standing at a round table, some with their friends, others with people they had just met.

The champions were going to sit at the round table at the top of the Hall where the teachers usually sat.

"Kind of wish it was snowing instead of a starry night. Make it just a tad more romantic." Cassie to Cassius.

He laughed over the applause of everyone.

'She really wants me to kiss her.' He thought to himself, the butterflies fluttering in his stomach.

Dumbledore looked surprised to see Cassius and Cassie walking up to the table together.

Cassius pulled out Cassie's chair for her and pushed her in when she sat down.

"Thank you." She smiled up at him.

She had chosen to sit next to Harry's date, so Cassius was sitting next to the Durmstrange headmaster.

Cassius was staring at Cassie. She was always beautiful, but especially so tonight. He wasn't paying attention to what was being said around him. He just wanted to stare at her.

He was surprised when she looked at him and rolled her eyes.

"Aren't you a friend of the Weasley family?" He asked her, realizing she was rolling her eyes at the Weasley next to Harry.

"Only with some of them. The others have let their opinion of me be clouded by who my father is." She said, not bothering to keep her voice low.

Weasley made a huffing noise, but Harry was the one who cleared his throat.

Harry and Cassie had a nonverbal conversation.

Dumbledore gave a chuckle and picked up the menu on the table.

"Pork chops," he spoke.

Pork chops appeared on his plate.

Cassius waited until Cassie had ordered her food. She had chosen prime rib, mashed potatoes, and a side of vegetables.

He nodded at her selection and got himself baked ham, vegetables, and four rolls. He was sure Cassie would like some.

Cassie was watching Krum and her friend talk.

"I don't think he's said more than twenty words to me." She kept her voice low.

"He hasn't spoken to me." Cassius shook his head as he took a bite of his ham.

"- though in the vinter, ve have very little daylight, so ve are not enjoying them. But in summer ve are flying everyday, over the lakes and the mountains!" Krum was enjoying his conversation with Hermione.

"Now, now, Viktor!" Karkaroff laughed, but Cassius knew what a fake laugh sounded like. "Don't go giving away anything else, now, or your charming friend will know exactly where to find us!"

Cassius watched Cassie in the corner of his eye.

He knew she wasn't close with the girl next to her, but she was being nice to the girl.

'I still have time to try.' He told himself.

He wasn't sure if he was starting to believe it though…


Shout out to Pamela Hutchins for leaving a review!

Pamela Hutchins: Right? I'm trying to not rush through these chapters, but I am skipping moments that we saw through Cassie's eyes because I want to start focusing on his point of view and thoughts through out the year.