"Renner!"

Cassi slowly turned around to see the Weasley twins determinedly advancing on her. I don't think they've ever called me Renner before, she thought in surprise. Something's not right... "Hey guys, what's going on?" she said casually. They said nothing and kept coming. When they reached her, Fred grabbed her left arm and George grabbed her right. They kept walking. Cassi didn't even bother struggling. If they were mad at her, fighting would only make it worse. Besides, she knew she couldn't break their grip anyway.

The twins dragged her outside, across the open grass, and toward the Quidditch field. "Um, guys?" she tried. No response. She sighed tiredly. I just want to go to bed... That's all she'd wanted to do since her "Occlumency lesson" almost a week ago.

Finally the twins reached their destination. Cassi found herself shoved into the base of the announcer's stand on the Quidditch pitch. Fred and George blocked any escape route, arms crossed and eyes glaring. Cassi was just grateful Oliver Wood wasn't around; that could have made things really awkward. Cassi's attention was jerked back to the twins when Fred said, "Alright, Renner. We're done with this. It's got to change. You've been hiding from us, and we want to know why." George continued, "You know we won't judge you, whatever the reason is. But as your best friends, we've got a right to know, especially when whatever it is is making you ignore your friends and your schoolwork."

Cassi looked from one redhead to the other. "What makes you think something's up?" she asked evasively. Fred snorted. "Please. You think we didn't notice? Ever since the Yule Ball, you've been quiet and isolated. You don't talk to anyone, and you're annoyed when anyone talks to you. Whenever we ask if you want to do something, you either don't even respond or you just say 'Not right now' and lock yourself in your room. Hermione told us you do that to her, too. You always look like you've been crying, and particularly this past week, you look like you haven't been sleeping at all." Here George growled, "If it's Malfoy still, I swear-"

"Will you leave Malfoy out of this!" she exploded suddenly, shocking the twins into silence. "I'm so sick of Malfoy! Listen well, because this is the only time I'm going to say this. I could care less whether what happened at the Ball was real or imagined. Could you really think I'm so shallow that I'm still letting him bother me? He's the least of my worries! I don't care two bits about Malfoy, especially not in light of this whole Snape thing-"

Cassi never got to finish her rant, because the second the word "Snape" left her mouth, pandemonium ensued. "What has that fleabag done?" "I thought you told us he wasn't bothering you-" "Have you talked to Dumbledore?" "I swear, the next time I see him-" "I knew there was something fishy about those 'lessons'-"

"STOP!" Cassi screamed. Dead silence fell over the field. She took a short breath, feeling like she wanted to cry but refusing to give in. Looking down at the ground, she said as steadily as she could, "As I've said, Snape doesn't pick on me. He never has." Suddenly she smiled wryly. "Except the first detention he gave me..." George spoke up quietly, "Then what's bothering you so much?"

Cassi looked up. She saw two pairs of brown eyes, gazing at her expectantly. They are my best friends, she told herself. I can tell them. They might laugh, but they'll always support me. Still, she couldn't maintain eye contact. Her eyes dropped to the grass, and she said softly, "You want to know why Snape has made me miserable?" She looked up. "I love him."

For the second time in as many minutes, the field was absolutely silent. The twins stood looking at her with unreadable expressions, and Cassi looked right back, ready to take their laughter and derision. For a long moment nothing happened.

Then Fred turned to George with a smirk and said smugly, "I told you so."

It took a moment for Cassi to process what he had said. Her jaw dropped. "Wait...you knew?" she asked weakly. George grinned sheepishly. "Well, we kind of...forced it out of Hermione." Fred interjected, "We weren't really going to do anything to her. But for some reason she seemed to think we would." George shook his head in mock disbelief. Fred continued triumphantly, "But even before she told us, I had my suspicions. Genius here didn't believe me, but who ended up being right? I tell you, it's amazing how identical twins can be so intellectually opposite."

George shoved him. Cassi just stood blankly watching them wrestle, still reeling from their revelation. Slowly her mind began to catch up. "So you aren't mad at me? You aren't going to yell at me about the fact that he's a Slytherin, or a professor, or anything? You're really not mad?"

At that, Fred and George both stopped fighting. "Whisper," said George, "I let you go to the Yule Ball with someone I didn't trust. It didn't turn out so well. I should have been there to save you, but I wasn't. Someone else was. He happened to be both a Slytherin and a professor." The twins grimaced, each knowing what George was about to say. Cassi looked up at him expectantly. George looked down at her in resignation. "I've sort of learned to appreciate this particular Slytherin professor," he said quietly. Cassi broke into a smile. They wouldn't try to change her mind about Snape. Fierce hugs were in store for everyone before they began to make their way inside.

Unknowingly standing in the same spot Malfoy had when he was planning his scheme, Snape watched the three figures from the top of the Astronomy Tower, laying his battle plans. He couldn't hear their conversation, but he had a pretty good guess as to what had been said. He wasn't angry that the Weasleys knew their secret; in fact, he was glad for it. Since the boys' reaction had obviously been positive, hopefully they had encouraged Cassandra and made her more comfortable with their odd relationship. Snape grimaced. It was strange enough for him, being in love with someone so much younger than he, but for her? He couldn't even imagine.

Apparently, though, it didn't stop her from loving him, and he was immensely grateful for that. Snape fervently hoped that whatever drew Casandra to him was strong enough to hold through a storm - there could very well be a tempest coming.

Tonight, he would confront her about his feelings, and he would tell her what he really was.