Chapter 26 Plans for the Holidays

I was sitting on the couch with my head on Harry's shoulder. He was doing homework and was trying his best not to move too much, but I was muttering answers to him which he would write down.

Ron was looking up at me and he kept opening his mouth but he would always turn back to his homework.

I had told them about my letter from Narcissa Malfoy. I haven't told them about my letter from Sirius. I had that hiding in my trunk. It was with my letters from my mom and I wasn't ready to share that information with anyone.

"What are you going to do for Christmas?" Harry suddenly asked.

Ron's head turned so fast, my neck hurt.

"I want to stay at Hogwarts, Ron and Hermione are staying and I would love to spend Christmas together. But if Narcissa is my cousin, and Draco," Ron gave a noise in disgust, "is going home for the holidays. I should go and get to know my family." I sat up and shrugged.

"But -" Ron started and then nothing came out of his mouth.

"But it's the Malfoys." I gestured to Ron.

He nodded his head.

"I think you should go." Hermione was the one speak up.

"Hermione!" Ron and Harry said.

"Why?" I asked.

"They are your family. You told me that you may not be able to go back to the orphanage due to the muggle kids who need the room, and you have a chance to meet family. Yeah, it's the Malfoy's but I think you should take the chance." Hermoine shrugged.

Harry put his quill down and turned to me, "I agree with Hermione."

"What?!" Ron's eyes were wide and his mouth was open.

"She's right. Yeah, it's the Malfoy's but she has family who's willing to connect with her. They may even want you to stay with them."

I looked at him. He didn't give any sign of envy, but of genuinity.

"Okay. I guess there's just Ron to convince." I said, looking at him.

He sputtered a couple of times.

"Ron, Hermione's right. I may not be able to go back to the orphanage. And we know Mrs. Weasley isn't going to change her mind about me anytime soon. If at all." I sighed.

Hermione looked at me sharply and I shook my head.

"And Harry's right too. I have family who's willing to connect with me. And if I can't go back to the orphanage, there's my plan B." I finished with a shrug.

Ron crossed his arms and looked at me, his eyebrows furrowed.

"I don't like the idea. But I won't stop you from going if it's what you want." Ron sighed.

"Thank you!" I dropped down from the couch and hugged him.

"I'm still not happy about it! And if they so much as look at you funny, I want you to write McGonagall and come straight back here!" He said, awkwardly patting my back.

"Of course." I said, sitting back on my heels.

"Good." He gave a final nod.

I pulled a blank sheet of parchment to me and wrote my reply.

'Dear Narcissa,

I am unsure of how to respond to the news that your family are my relatives, but I am glad to hear I have some.

As for you invitation, I would love to spend the holidays with you. I will be sure to let Professor McGonagall know as soon as possible.

Thank you so much!

Cassie Zwart'

"Short and to the point." Ron said, reading it over my shoulder.

"I don't know what else to say." I said, giving a sheepish smile.

"There's not much else to say, honestly." Hermione said, proofreading my letter.

"Do you want to go to the Owlery now?" Harry asked.

"Perfect! I actually need to talk to Princess." Fred's voice said.

I gave a jump and turned around. He was alone, George had gone up to boys dormitory.

"Are you okay with that?" Harry asked slowly.

"Yeah, we'll be fine." I grinned up at him.

"Well let's go." He gestured to the door.

"I thought you didn't want to be caught wandering after school hours?" Hermione had a frown on her face.

"Oh, but we won't be wandering." I said, standing up and patting Harry on the shoulder.

"We'll be sneaking." Fred winked at my friends.

Hermione gave a huff and went back to her homework.

I waited until we were down the stairs and Fred made a turn into a false wall.

"So what do you want to talk about?" I asked.

"Two things. How are you doing after George?" Fred asked.

I paused and chewed the inside of my lip.

"I'm okay." I gave a nod.

Fred looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Really! I wasn't in love with him, and I am hurt that he couldn't look past what I had done. My friends have been there to support me. I'm also positive Ron's relieved I'm not dating his brother too." I added with a laugh.

Fred laughed along.

"I guess you're right. I am sorry about George by the way." He shrugged.

"It's not your fault. Besides, even though I'm thirteen, I don't think I'm ready to start dating. I had a huge crush on George and that's the only reason why I wanted to date him. Right now, I'm a little preoccupied with family matters." I held my letter up.

"I know it's not my fault. But it's still unfair of how he went about it." Fred shook his head.

"I agree, but at least we got it sorted out before it got worse." I patted his arm.

He nodded and when we came out of the passageway we looked both directions before slipping behind another secret passageway behind a tapestry.

"What's the second thing?" I asked.

"The second-? Oh right!" Fred snapped his fingers. "George and I are planning giving Harry the Marauder's Map for Christmas."

"Really?" I asked, feeling conflicted about it.

"Yeah, George and I know it by heart, and when we leave the common room we barely look at it anymore. It's only useful for when we need to know where Filch is. But he's usually marching around the Gryffindor tower after three in the morning, and he's down in the dungeons by five so we do our sneaking before three." Fred shrugged.

"That's really convenient." I said slowly.

"We're giving it to him the day of the next Hogsmeade trip. When no one else will be around to watch him. We're not really asking for permission, because we're going to do it anyway." Fred explained.

"I understand, thank you for letting me know." I grinned at him when we started up the West Tower, where the Owlery was.

"Yeah." Fred nodded.

When we entered the Owlery, Barnabas flew down from the top of the banisters and landed on my shoulder. I walked over to a perch and put Barnabas next to it. He hopped up on it and held out his leg. I tied my letter around his leg and Hedwig flew down and nipped at my fingers.

"No, I don't think you should go with him. Barnabas is going to the Malfoy's and I don't want them hurting you, or getting the idea and saving it for later." I said to the snowy owl.

She squawked at me but stayed when Barnabas took flight.

"Harry's got a beautiful owl." Fred said, scratching Hedwig's head.

"She is." I agreed.

"We should get back." Fred said, gesturing to the door.

"Yeah." I nodded and lead the way out.

"Why aren't you around the grounds as much?" Fred asked when we made it to a passageway.

I blinked at him, but he seemed genuinely curious.

"I don't want people thinking I'm going out and talking to Sirius Black. I don't know where he is and I intend to keep that way because I don't want to be seen as -" I trailed off, unsure of how to explain it.

"As someone who's been waiting for the chance to turn?" Fred suggested.

"Something like that, yeah." I nodded.

"Oh." Fred said.

"Also I tend to get hexed when I'm not with a teacher or Harry." I shrugged.

I didn't realize he had stopped until I got to the end of the passageway. I turned around and his jaw was dropped.

"What?" I asked.

"You're getting hexed, because Black's your dad?" He asked, walking up to me.

"Yeah?" I looked up at him.

He clenched his fists and a muscle above his eye started to twitch.

"Why haven't you told anyone?" He asked, his voice low.

"Because I don't know who is hexing me. Christensen just gave me some of that potion to make me lose my powers the other month, and no doubt someone else is going to slip me some of it. And I'm not top priority to protect, so that's why I stick with Harry or Professor McGonagall." I shrugged.

Fred gave a stiff nod and looked both ways out of the passageway before leading the way to the next one.

"Why haven't you told Harry, and the rest, about the Map?" Fred asked after a few moments.

"I don't know. At first is was because it was mine and I didn't have to share it at first. But now, I guess it's just because there's no reason too. Hermione is a stickler for the rules, and Harry has the Invisibility Cloak, and Ron would sneak with Harry; the Map was mine." I answered.

Fred didn't say anything else after that. He did bid me goodnight when we made it back to the common room. I saw that my friends had gone to sleep.

Hermione has started to leave her books on the table far from the fire. Next term is going to be a struggle for her.

The morning before I was to leave for the holidays, was that Saturday. The last Hogsmeade trip of the term. Harry and I were watching the students leaving the front grounds.

"What if we used the Invisibility Cloak?" Harry suddenly asked.

"Won't work, our tracks would be seen." I said, pointing down to the snow covered ground.

Harry sighed and gave a reluctant nod. I looked around and saw the twins.

"Come along for a moment." I suddenly grabbed his arm and started to walk with him towards the third floor.

"Why?" He asked miserably.

I didn't give an answer, but when Harry noticed the twins walking towards us he looked at me.

"What are-?"

I saw the statue of a humpbacked, one-eyed witch and opened the door behind it.

"Come here," I pulled him into the empty classroom.

"Cassie." He said my name in annoyance.

"Harry." I said back to him, smiling at him as the door opened again.

"Good work, Princess." Fred winked at me when George came in.

"Thank you." I gave a playful curtsy.

"What is going on?" Harry rolled his eyes.

"Early Christmas present for you, Harry." George said, only looking at Harry.

Fred opened his cloak and pulled a worn piece of parchment out of it. I pulled mine out as well and Fred looked at me in surprise.

"What's that supposed to be?" Harry finally asked, looking at us suspiciously.

"This, Harry, is the secret to our success," George said, patting his parchment fondly.

"This is my heritage." I patted mine.

"It's a wrench, giving it to you," Fred patted my shoulder and then walking to a desk and spreading it out. "But we decided last night, your need's greater than ours."

"Anyway, we know it by heart," George spoke up. "We bequeath it to you. We don't really need it anymore."

"And what do I need with a bit of old parchment?" Harry asked dryly.

I put a hand to my heart and gave a theatrical gasp.

"A bit of old parchment?" Fred and I asked together.

"Explain George." Fred said, playfully acting offended.

"Well… when we were in our first year, Harry - young, carefree, and innocent -"

Harry let out a snort.

"- well, more innocent than we are now - but we got into a spot of bother with Filch."

"We let off a Dungbomb in the corridor and it upset him for some reason -" Fred interjected.

"So he hauled us off to his office and started threatening us with the usual -" George explained farther.

"- detention -" Fred shrugged.

"- disembowelment -" George nodded.

"- and we couldn't help noticing a drawer in one of his filing cabinets marked Confiscated and Highly Dangerous." Fred said innocently.

"Don't tell me -" Harry started to grin.

"Well, what would you've done?" Fred asked. "George caused a diversion by dropping another Dungbomb, I whipped the drawer, and grabbed - this."

Harry looked at my identical parchment.

"My mom gave this me. No scheming on my part." I said.

"It's not as bad as it sounds, you know." George started again. "We don't reckon Filch ever found out how to work it. He probably suspected what it was, though, or he wouldn't have confiscated it."

"And you know how to work it?" Harry asked, looking at the parchment with a bit more curiosity.

"Oh, yes," Fred nodded with a smirk. "This little beauty's taught us more than all the teachers in this school."

"You're winding me up." Harry said.

"Oh, are we?" George asked.

George and I took our wands and together, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

The ink appeared and Harry watched it, his face in awe as the lines crisscrossed to fill up the entire parchments.

'Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present The Maurader's Map.'

"Wow!" Harry said.

"All of these passages lead right into Hogsmeade." Fed traced one of the seven passages leading to the village. "There are seven in all. Now, Filch knows about these four," Fred pointed to the map.

I opened my map and started watching all the dots moving.

"But we're sure we're the only ones who know about these. Don't bother with the one behind the mirror on the fourth floor. We used it until last winter, but it's caved in - completely blocked. And we don't reckon anyone's ever used this one, because the Whomping Willow's planted right over the entrance. But this one here, this one leads right into the cellar of Honeydukes. We've used it loads of times. And as you might've noticed, the entrance is right outside this room, through that one-eyed old crone's hump."

"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," George sighed as he patted the map. "We owe them so much."

"Noble men, working tirelessly to help a new generation of lawbreakers," Fred said solemnly.

"Right, don't forget to wipe it after you've used it -" George said briskly.

"- or anyone can read it." Fred finished with a warning tone.

"Just give it a tap and say, Mischief managed, and it'll go blank." I said, demonstrating on my map.

"So, young Harry," Fred did an uncanny impersonation of Percy, "mind you behave yourself."

"See you in Honeydukes," George said with a wink.

The twins left and Harry looked down at his newest possession.

"The maps can communicate with each other. When you point your wand to it, a little box will appear and all you have to do is speak into the wand and your message will appear." I explained as he watched the dots move.

"Why didn't you tell us about your map?" He asked, looking at me with squinted eyes.

"Would you have told Ron and I about your Invisibility Cloak if we hadn't seen you open it?" I asked.

He took a moment to think before he shook his head.

"Exactly." I nodded.

"I would have told you guys eventually." He said in an accusatory tone.

"When would have been a good time to tell you?" I asked, looking over the map. "We didn't know where the Philosopher's Stone was exactly placed. The Marauder's didn't know about the Chamber. And I still have no intention to go to Hogsmeade until Black is caught." I explained.

"You're really not going?" He asked, surprised.

"I'm really not going. I don't want people to think I'm taking the trips as a way to get into contact with Black." I said seriously.

He stopped and thought for a minute.

"Harry, go. I'll stay here and keep up the cover that we're together. But I'm not going." I put my hand on his shoulder.

"How did Fred and George find out about it?" He asked.

"When we were trying to get Norbert out of the castle, I used it just before then. They had their map open and one of them had their wands pointed at it and that's how we discovered they could communicate with each other." I explained.

"Knowing about the map at that moment would have been a good time! Especially since Malfoy was out!" Harry pointed out.

"And you still would have needed the Cloak to make sure Norbert was hidden." I said.

"Well, yeah." He admitted.

"Harry, you can be mad about me not telling you about my map all you want. But you're wasting time by not going." I said, tapping at the map.

He looked between me and the map. Harry traced the tunnel with his finger. With a sudden haste, he rolled up the map and put it in his cloak pocket. I pulled off my cloak and handed it to him.

"You don't have time to get your winter cloak." I said as I handed it to him.

"Thank you." He said gratefully.

"Have fun." I said to him as I put my map away.

"I will." He nodded vigorously and was gone.

Harry finally knows about Cassie's map!

I also got my old laptop back. My sister and I switched laptops two years ago and I missed how mine worked but she didn't want hers back. I took hers because she had a small one that fit better in my purse. But now that I'm not packing as much to go to one place and this one has a bigger screen I'm looking forward to writing on this one again!

Shout out to m . cullen5991 for adding the first story and this story to your favorites list, and for following this story! I know your name doesn't have the spaces where I put it, but it's the only way I can save it this way.

Shout out to Snowball A . K . A . WinterWolf for following and favoriting this story! And for following me!

Shout out to Pamela Hutchins, katie owl, GodShynin300, and a Guest for leaving reviews!

Pamela Hutchins: I'm glad you're excited to know what happens next! I can't wait to post it!

katie owl: I'm not sure what to do with Narcissa. I know that I'm setting up Cassie for a dangerous life with how the fourth year and so on is going to go, I don't know how I'll involve Narcissa yet.

GodShynin300: There's so much for you for me to post! It will for sure keep going!

Guest: It's about time he reached out!