Cassi stood just outside Snape's office, staring at the closed door. Here it was. The moment she'd been dreading since her last talk with the Potions master. She took a deep breath to try and calm her nerves. When that didn't help any, she swallowed and knocked softly on the door. It instantly swung open. Cassi wondered if Snape had been standing on the other side listening to her panic, but there was no one standing there. She took a small step into the room, puzzled at the door's behavior, when it swung shut of its own accord. Then Cassi saw Professor Snape sitting at his desk. He must have used a non-verbal spell, she thought. As if in agreement, a chair suddenly scooted itself from across the office to stop facing the desk. Snape didn't look up from whatever he was writing. She seated herself nervously and wondered if she should say something.
"Miss Renner." The sudden sound made Cassi jump, and she struggled to regain her voice. When she found it, she said quietly, "Yes, Professor?"
Still writing, Snape said, "It will not be necessary for you to explain yourself to me. Professor Dumbledore has ample faith in you." Cassi wilted with relief. She had dreaded the thought of showing Snape her vulnerable side. But he had said Dumbledore had faith in her - did he know? How could he know? Snape finally stopped writing, looked up, and stared straight into her eyes. His gaze held something she'd never believed him capable of - was it pity? Compassion? She wanted to shiver but couldn't move. "However, Miss Renner, I will be able to help you more efficiently if I have all the details of your...situation. Dumbledore can only guess as to the severity of your conditions, and some details from you will ensure that the supplemental education you receive is of the kind you most need." She couldn't think. He wants to know how bad it is? I couldn't... Snape just sat there staring at her with his dark eyes. Unable to mantain the contact, Cassi looked down at her shoes. Dozens of thoughts were racing through her head; she waited a moment until she had calmed a little, then began in a soft voice.
"I don't know if you knew my parents, Professor, but they came here to Hogwarts a long time ago. They're dead now. They were killed by the Lestranges when I was little. Neither of my parents had any siblings and their parents died before I was born, so I was sent to live with one of my Muggle relatives whom I'd never seen before. He...wasn't happy that he had to take care of me, and he hated that I could use magic. He...he tried to make me stop." Her voice grew very small, and Snape could imagine a young Cassandra trying desperately to contain magic when she genuinely couldn't. He felt himself getting angrier and angrier as her story progressed. "He didn't understand...he thought I was just trying to make him mad. It got me in trouble a lot. I tried, I tried so hard to keep it all inside me, but when he was drunk and mad and he scared me, it would all come spilling out. And then I got in even more trouble." Reminded of her desperation, Cassi looked back up into Snape's eyes, silently pleading with him to understand.
For a silent moment their eyes met, the light ones desperate and the dark ones piercing. Suddenly Snape stood up and began pacing. "You realize, Miss Renner, that unless your relative possesses magical capabilities many Defense Against the Dark Arts techniques will be useless against him. Much of the Dark Arts anticipated in our classes are directed toward dueling dark wizards." He stopped and turned to look at her. "What exactly are you hoping to gain from these lessons?"
Cassi didn't know. Something. Anything. Even if all it did was intimidate Waters, she would take it. Unsure of what to say, she looked down at her hands, which she held in her lap, and bit her lip.
Suddenly she looked up in surprise. Snape had swiftly crossed the room and knelt in front of her to hold her hand with both his. "Miss Renner, I truly do understand your situation. I was in a similar situation myself when I was your age. My father was a Muggle who viewed me as a freak of nature and an object to be hated. His rage was limitless and illogical. My mother tried to shield me from him, but that rarely resulted in success." Cassi stared at him, trying to imagine the overbearing professor as a child cowering in fear. She began to understand why she found it more difficult than others to hate this man.
Snape, seeing that he had succeeded in comforting the girl a bit, straightened and resumed his pacing, this time more slowly and thoughtfully. "I think that, given the circumstances, the most useful thing for you to learn right now is the Patronus Charm. A Patronus is a memory, given form. If done correctly, it will take the shape of an animal unique to the person who cast it. There is another form a Patronus can take, one that speaks, but that is much more advanced than you are prepared for. The Patronus acts as a shield against many spells and curses and is particularly useful for defending against Dementors. A Patronus can only be conjured if the caster can focus on the happiest memory he has, and only the happiest memory will work. You do owe me a detention," Snape suddenly mentioned, "but I believe given the circumstances we will focus on attempting this charm rather than serving detention - just this time. The words used to cast the shielding spell are Expecto Patronum. This is a very difficult spell. Do not expect to succeed this time, but go on and try it."
Cassi licked her lips as she stood up nervously. The happiest memory she had... When she learned she was going to Hogwarts? When she realized she would be escaping from Waters for the whole year? When she was standing on Platform 9 3/4 for the first time? No, she realized suddenly. She smiled. It was the split second right after the Sorting Hat yelled, "GRYFFINDOR!" The expressions on Fred and George's faces. The cheers. The happiest moment of her life. Without thinking about it she said calmly, "Expecto Patronum!"
As she pronounced the spell, the tip of her wand began to glow silver. The glow grew stronger and a mist began to swirl. Suddenly a stream of light exploded from her wand, forming into a beautiful, sleek silver panther. The Patronus padded around the office once, then came up to a dumbfounded Cassi. It stood for a moment staring at her, then nudged her hand with its nose. Or rather, tried to. Cassi gasped as she passed right through the corporeal panther and was suddenly filled with thoughts of sunshine and dancing and music and snow and all the things she loved. Then the panther disappeared, leaving the room feeling empty and dark.
Slowly Cassi looked up at Snape, who was looking at her. To her bewilderment, he didn't seem surprised. He looked...satisfied. "Your father's daughter," he said softly.
She stared. Had Snape known her father? In answer to her unasked question, he said, "Yes, I knew your father. Edward Renner. Four years behind me in school. Very smart, very popular. Good at everything he did, with a particular affinity for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Which is undoubtedly why your Patronus charm went so well. Your father's Patronus, as I recall, was a jaguar - very similar to yours. ...He was a good man." Cassi looked down at the floor to try and hide the emotions she knew were showing through her traitorous eyes. Waters never talked about her father, except to curse him for leaving her behind. She suddenly looked back up at Snape. "Did you know my mother, too?"
Snape sat back down behind his desk. "Yes, I knew her, too, though not so well. Danielle Lucas. Very pretty girl, always so thoughtful of others. Loved being outside more than anything else in the world, rain or shine." He gave a small smile, then looked into Cassi's eyes. "You look very much like her," he said gently. Cassi could feel tears threatening to spill over. I will not cry in front of Snape, she told herself fiercely. I will not cry...
Seeing how off-topic they were getting and how deeply the subject affected Cassi, Snape stood up suddenly and said, "No more today, Miss Renner. I believe the successful creation of a corporeal Patronus is plenty for one day." Cassi stood up and walked to the door. Her hand resting on the handle, she paused and said quietly, "Thank you, Professor. Good night." Then she went to her dorm room, collapsed on her bed, and let her tears fall for the parents she'd never known.