Dear Papa,

All is well at Hogwarts. My classes are going fine after I dropped potions and took up alchemy again. Before mummy can ask, my grades are fine too. So far, I've only gotten As. Hogwarts is nothing like Durmstrang, but it has its quirks and perks, too, so it's alright. Thank you for the money - I will need at Hogsmeade. A little more would be nice though. The prices of a bottle of mead are now a galleon and five sickles, not sixteen sickles as they were in your distant past. I love my teachers - they are all top of their field, and I learn plenty. My friends are great. Also, if you don't mind, would you send me my silver nightingale mask? I have realised that I did not pack it to Hogwarts, and I have heard there is to be a celebration for Halloween in the next week.

Hoping all is well.

Your loving daughter,

Cassandra.

I slipped the rope around Delphine's leg and hung the envelope, enchanted with as many spells as I dared. Anyone who attempted to open it would suffer a singed eyebrow, at the least, and would be rewarded with my long-winded but ultimately useless letter. On the other hand...I glanced around me, certifying that no one was around. Then, after Delphine had flown off into the distance, I conjured my patronus, and felt the warmth of the wolf chasing away the morning chills of Scotland.

"Nuntio expecto. Dear Reilly, how is Garrett? I heard he managed to escape to Germany, and I'm glad you managed to keep your job. What are they forcing you to do in the Department of Mysteries now? Will you tell me? It might be good to know so that when we revolt at last, we will know what to prepare for. In answer to your question, yes, I do believe there is a way for me to sneak you into Hogwarts. There is a secret passageway no one appears to have discovered yet, but that I have found only thanks to your spell - it hurt though, how did you find it? And yes, I checked the Room of Requirement. The thing you need is there. I will be wearing the thing we agreed on. Contact me with information on the DoM, and I will ask my source when the Carrows are not around in Hogwarts, and when I next send my patronus, you will know the best time for you to come. Wishing you luck, Cassie." Finishing the message, I cut off the connection, flicked my wand and let the wolf leap into the distance. I had found out only after some experimenting that for long distances like Scotland to London, non-coporeal patronuses could not hold. Smiling with satisfaction, I waved my wand in the air, taking down the wards and the sound-muffling charm I had set up in a bubble around me, and began to walk down the tower.

I barely made it onto the sixth floor of the West Tower, right below the owlery, when I saw a flash of light heading my direction. Instinctively, I threw up my wand, and the enhanced protego deflected the spell, channelling it onto the stone floor instead. Frowning, I held my position and my wand in front of me, waiting for the person to make the next move. All was silent for a good long time, and I was tempted to leave, but then another jet of red light came nipping down the side, and sparks flew as I casted the next deflection spell to aim straight back at the caster.

The sound of spell on stone, the harsh scraping sound, told me that whoever it was had managed to evade it.

With a frown, I casted a Disillusionment on myself as well as the air-trapping spell, and headed out as quietly as I could, keeping my eyes peeled. I walked down the corridor where the spells had come from, and just caught sight of stringy black hair when another jet of acid green light came hurtling down the corridor. I pressed myself against the stone wall, and felt the spell just miss me by a hair. It was, after all, a narrow corridor.

Then I was diagonally in front of my attacker, and my heart sank.

It was Tracey.

Even hooded as she was, the light flooded in behind me from open windows, allowing her heart-shaped face and rounded features to be apparent. But those rounded, soft cheeks and beautiful eyes that I had thought so gentle and mournful were now trapped in intense hatred, and I knew the next spell that was casted from her wand was the unmistakeable iconic deep blood red of the Cruciatus.

Heart hammering, I raced past her and down a flight of stairs I didn't even recognise, unsure of where I was, only feeling the keen sting of betrayal. I couldn't be sure of when it was that I dropped the Disillusionment charm and assumed my animagus form, but by the time I went crashing into a nearby door, I could see from the polished floor my reflection was that of a massive cream-furred wolf.

The door burst open from the inside, causing me to tumble into the room, and the door shut quickly. I looked up, keening, having recognised the scent, and sure enough, it was Luna.

"You can transform back now," she said lightly. "There's no one else here but me."

I closed my eyes. It took more focus today than any other day, but finally, I managed to lengthen into the shape of a human.

"I saw Tracey following you this morning," Luna said in her dreamy voice. "You shouldn't blame her. Her father was taken captive by the ministry and her mother is on the run. She is a half-blood, you know. I expect the Carrows told her to catch you because they think you're up to something."

I felt my chest heave. Even with this knowledge, and my natural sympathy, I still felt the sting of betrayal.

"She won't stop, will she?" I asked, looking at my trembling hands. "It's her father they have. She won't stop until she hands me to them on a bleeding platter. I saw that...that hatred in her eyes. Does she really dislike me that much?"

"She's probably blaming everything right now," Luna said thoughtfully. "I expect the person she blames the most is herself, though."

I still felt terrible.

"You're not a bad person," said Luna serenely. "You could have taken her on, and won her, easily. Instead, you snuck past her and didn't even hit a single spell at her. Her actions are not your fault."

"She sleeps in my dorm," I said slowly. "She could attack me at night."

"Do you know why she didn't attack you in the owlery?" Luna asked.

I slowly shook my head.

"She couldn't get past your wards. I could see, the moment she realised you had erected something, she had already given up on trying to break them and alert you to her presence. She knows what you're capable of."

"I don't want...I don't want any of my friends to know," I said slowly, reluctantly, hating the idea of people taking sides.

"Well, I think they'll find out eventually," said Luna. "But if you need somewhere to stay in the night, something tells me you'll get past the Ravenclaw door knocker very easily."

We sat in silence for a bit, then Luna said: "Do you remember that day when we met in person, in the corridor?"

I nodded slowly, raising a brow.

"We weren't there originally. We needed help, for the DA, and a door in the Room of Requirement suddenly appeared. We walked out, and there we were, in the corridor. Neville was pleased - he had already been talking about recruiting you. Even Ginny's come around, now."

I blinked. That was news to me, but that did explain why they seemed to have appeared out of the nowhere.

"Have faith, and the nargles will disappear soon enough," humming, Luna skipped out of the room, and I studied her retreating back contemplatively.

I didn't want to make it obvious anything was happening, so I resolved to simply pack a small bag of clothes and to bring them up to the Ravenclaw common room. I wondered if the other Ravenclaws would have something against my staying there, but I decided that if I Disillusioned myself, no one would know. It was safer than staying in the classrooms, which were locked outside of school hours and were always checked every evening in case students were fornicating in those rooms.

When I went down to breakfast, it hurt a little to see Tracey chatting merrily with the others, all of them digging into plates full of pancakes. She greeted cheerfully, and even offered to pour maple syrup all over my pancakes, but I quickly rejected the offer in favour of eating an egg and some bacon.

I knew I hadn't been the best of friends to them. Between my eight NEWTs coursework, which was more than all my friends had, and working for Reilly, and keeping up with my Durmstrang friends, and Defence with the DA, and being picked on by the Carrows every session, I was barely coping with everything. I felt certain that, if it came to it, they would choose Tracey over me, and it hurt to see how well Tracey could disguise the fact that she had just tried to hurt me this morning.

Trying to clamp down on the insecure and uncomfortable emotions roiling in the pit of my stomach, I quickly stuffed the egg and bacon into my mouth, and tried to engage in conversation with the rest, who were now discussing the ministry's new marriage policies, involving students of sixteen and up being allowed to be married off, and only being allowed to marry pure or halfbloods. Only the previous year, the Ministry had approved same sex marriages. That had been revoked as well, in favour of producing as many pureblood children as possible.

My father would be pleased, I thought inwardly. Very pleased.