Cassi woke up slowly the next morning with no idea where she was. She groggily lifted her head, then realized she was lying on a sleeping Fred's chest. Oh. Oops. Going slowly so as not to black out, she sat up and surveyed her surroundings. She was in what was very obviously Fred, George, and Lee Jordan's room. Prank supplies and experiments covered everything except one small corner, where two broomsticks stood carefully. There were three beds - one held her and Fred, one was covered by a sprawling George, and Hermione occupied the third. She watched as Hermione stirred, then sleepily sat up. Her eyes widened as she realized she wasn't in her own room, but she relaxed when her memories caught up to her. Cassi hated the pitying look Hermione got when they made eye contact. "Hey," she whispered. "Let's get out of here before they wake up." Cassi tried to smile and nodded. Together the girls gathered their things and tiptoed out of the room, leaving the boys sleeping soundly.

The girls had changed out of their formal attire from the night before but were still carrying their accessories, so by unspoken consent, Cassi took all the shoes and jewelry and handbags into the girls' dorm alone, then came down to the common room where Hermione was waiting with two mugs of hot chocolate. Both girls sat on the couch near the fire, and Cassi stared into the flames, trying to ignore or forget what had happened the night before. Before long, though, Hermione turned to face her. "Cassi," she began, "I need to know what happened last night. I don't care if you think I'm nosy, because I think so too, and I hate doing this to you, but it has to be done, so please don't fight me about it." Cassi looked up at her friend, who had a pained expression on her face, then returned her gaze to the fire. "I don't think you're nosy, Hermione," she whispered.

Slowly and hesitantly at first, Cassi began to tell her friend what had transpired between herself and Malfoy. Hermione's gaze was sympathetic and sorrowful, but Cassi didn't notice. All she could see as she stared into the flames was Draco's gray eyes advancing on her spitefully and Snape snarling at both of them. She finished her story, quietly telling Hermione how she had asked Fred to stay with her, and her eyes were filled with tears as she lowered them to her lap. She couldn't get past the image of Snape refusing to turn and face her. "He was furious...and I knew it was my fault...and I felt so horrid for hurting him so much. My fault..." She pulled her knees to her chest and let the first real tears fall. "I should have done something more, I should have fought harder...my fault..."

Hermione reached over and placed her hand on Cassi's shoulder. "There was nothing you could have done," she said firmly. "And even if you had somehow gotten free without Snape's help, Malfoy just would have been mad and tried to get back at you. As it is, he only wants to get back at Snape." Cassi suddenly looked up with a fierce expression in her eyes. Would he try to get revenge on the professor? "If he does anything to Snape, just because he foiled Malfoy's plan and saved me, I'm going to kill him."

Hermione gave a small smile, then looked at Cassi seriously. For a moment she sat there, trying to pick her words tactfully, then apparently gave up because the next thing she blurted was, "Do you love Snape?"

Cassi was frozen. Love - love Snape? How would she know? Even with the large amount of time he spent in her thoughts, that particular query had not crossed her mind yet. What did she feel about him? She had no idea. She searched her memories of him, trying to find anything that could give her a clue about she should respond.

Snape's gaze coming to rest on her after her Sorting...that was the first time she saw him, and the first thing that had made her notice him.

His eyes when he agreed to give her lessons...she hadn't ever expected to see compassion in his gaze, but it had been there, and it showed he understood her when she needed to know that she wasn't alone.

The way he had told her all he knew about her parents...he had seen how important it was to her, so he had gone out of his way to help her.

When he had asked about her summer...she hated lying to him, but couldn't tell him the truth because she was afraid of what he might do. Of how rash his protectiveness might be.

His smile as he said "welcome back"...she had never seen him smile before, and it felt good to know that she was one of the few people who could make him smile.

The way he had comforted her when she broke down...at the time it hadn't fully registered, but later she had realized that Snape had actually hugged her, and it had comforted her immensely to know that he didn't think less of her for showing weakness.

His voice when he caught hold of Malfoy...Snape had rescued her, and as she sat there by the fire looking back with a clearer head and thinking of him, she knew she wouldn't have wanted anyone else to save her.

Gratitude, dependence, trust, respect...nothing but positive feelings for a man so many hated. He had become an integral part of her life, a foundation that she couldn't live eithout anymore. He was nearly as close as family - he cared for her, taught her, kept her safe. He was at the core of all of the things that had happened in her life that had made it better. And suddenly, clear as a spring rain, she knew what she felt.

She knew, no matter how awkward or impossible it was, that she was falling in love with Severus Snape.