A.N.- Sorry it's been so long but crap in my life that is going on at the moment is a lot more important than updating my stories. But on a happier note, I got a new computer! Now I won't have to worry about all my work getting lost in a black hole never to be recalled. The one I had before was as old as dirt and twice as dusty.

I also want to thank the 1 person who went against everyone else and voted for Ravenclaw. Now on with the story!

Chapter Six

The Great Hall erupted in noise. There were boos, hisses, and angry, negative comments and insults shouted from all four tables. The boy didn't so much as blink as he strode with confidence to the stool and placed the hat on his head. In the brief minute of silence while the hat decided where to place him, Dumbledore looked over at whom would be the boy's head of house. It wasn't that hard after speaking with the boy and observing him, where he'd go.

Having already vowed not to lose another child to neglect and indifference, Dumbledore was going to make sure that Cassian didn't end up like the hate filled Voldemort. The signs were already visible that the boy could head down that path. Yet from what he'd heard and seen at the Jenkins', Cassian might have a chance at an untainted future. All he had to do was make sure the boy came to trust and confide in his head of house. To break down the walls the boy had built and surrounded himself with.

"SLYTHERIN."

Ignoring the glares, and angry calls, Cassian walked to the far right table. Sitting at the end of the table, room was quickly made for him. No one wanted to sit next to him. The first years seeing how the elder Slytherins acted, emulated their behavior, making sure not to sit by Cassian either.

After the feast the Prefects led the first years to their house dormitories. Cassian hadn't really eaten much and wasn't all that hungry, so he followed behind the first years. They were told their password which was 'pureblood' causing Cassian to roll his eyes. Looking around the Common Room he decided he liked it. The Prefect showed them where their dormitories were and explained that since they were in Slytherin House, the other three houses looked down on them. Because of this, they were not to bring any more shame or disreputable shame upon the already unfairly smeared name of Slytherin House. If they had a quarrel with someone in their own house, it was to be settled amongst themselves in the Slytherin Dormitory. Outside of the Slytherin dormitory, they were to appear united.

'Guess it's a good thing I don't dislike green or silver,' Cassian commented to Harry and tuning out the Prefect's speech. Though Cassian was sure he'd be mighty sick of those two colors after six years of it.

Going to the Second Years boys dorm, Cassian spotted his footlocker by a bed, and went and sat down on the bed. "This'll definitely be interesting."

He looked up and over as the door opened and five boys entered. Draco was in the lead followed by two larger boys that had to be Crabbe and Goyle. Draco had told him about them when they were younger. A tall thin boy had the bed to the left of Cassian. He flopped on the bed pulling out a comic book. Draco who had the bed on the other side of the boy snorted.

"Why do you read that rubbish, Theo?"

"Just because you don't like something, Draco, doesn't make it rubbish."

Cassian filed the information away that this boy wasn't afraid of Draco, nor appeared to be one of his sycophants. While the other boys got ready for bed, Cassian pondered. He and Harry had seen the pearly ghosts that inhabited Hogwarts while at the feast. They wondered if it would be a good idea or not to talk to them about Harry.

When Cassian and Harry learned about the-boy-who-lived from Markale and that the boy's name was Harry Potter, the two boys had stared at each other in wonder. Both had wondered before if Harry was a ghost, but then how was able to grow like Cassian did? They had many questions but no way to answer them, so they decided to ignore the questions and accept what was.

Now though, they'd seen what a ghost looked like and neither believed that's what Harry was. For starters, Harry looked solid and just as tangible as the boys he now shared a room with. Harry looked like a normal skinny boy with black hair and brilliant green eyes.

Sighing when Harry poked him, giving him the 'stop brooding' look, Cassian stood and readied for bed. While the other boys all wore expensive pajamas, Cassian wore sweat pants and a West Ham United sweatshirt. Climbing into bed he pulled the curtains and placed the Death Eater's mask under his pillow.

Cassian woke long before the others and since it was too early to go to breakfast, he slipped quietly out of bed and crouched by his nightstand. Pointing his wand at the cabinet drawer he unlocked it and took out his leather bound journal. Climbing back into bed he wrote in it until his dorm mates began to stir.

"Praetextum(1)," he whispered quickly shutting the book and replacing it in the drawer along with the mask. "Obsero(2)."

Standing, he took his things to the showers. Ignoring the others goofing off, he quickly did his business, dressed, and made sure to secure his wand in his holster. Grabbing his bag he headed for the Great Hall. Like last night there was a void where he sat.

Their Head of House distributed their schedules then the morning mail came. Not expecting any mail, he was surprised when a letter was dropped on his eggs by a familiar eagle owl. Wiping egg off the envelope he looked a the handwriting and sighed wondering, 'What now?'

It was from Lucius. Opening it he read the letter then crumpled it into a ball and left it on his barely touched breakfast. All the man had written was he expected Cassian to live up to Malfoy standards by receiving good marks in his classes. He was told to behave and keep his head down. That he knew Cassian would uphold the Slytherin House name.

Finished with eating, he got up and went to his first class which was Charms. He didn't care if he was early. He sat in the hall and pulled out his Magical Theory book not really reading it as he absently gazed at the pages. He'd already read and memorized the book. Instead, he thinking about why the Malfoy patriarch had written him that warning. Cassian knew it for what it was.

Neville sat at the Gryffindore table in an uncomfortable silence. After the Sorting last night he'd been shocked a the response to Cassian's name from the older students. Ron looked betrayed when Cassian was Sorted into Slytherin. One of the first year Gryffindore's asked an older student why they even the Slytherin's had booed him when his name was called. The boy informed her of the travesties Markale Ashwood had committed. Then he'd commented that Cassian was probably the same, why else was he Sorted into Slytherin?

That seemed to convince Ron who already disliked Slytherins general. Neville wasn't so sure. He'd talked to Cassian on the train and he didn't seem that bad. Neville also knew the horrors Cassian had seen that placed him in St. Mungo's. Neville's gran had told him.

Looking over at the Slytherin table he was that there was plenty of room by Cassian but no one wanted to sit next to or near him. He didn't look like he minded but that had to be hard. To be ostracized by your own house.

Glancing over at the Hufflepuff table Neville saw that like him, Dudley seemed troubled. Since their first class was double Herbology with the Hufflepuffs, Neville knew he and Dudley could talk there. Sure enough, Dudley looked his way, pointed at his schedule and mouthed 'talk'. Neville nodded.

They got up and headed for the greenhouse. Ron joined them frowning. "I can't believe I talked to him," Ron muttered.

"Just because he's in Slytherin doesn't mean he's bad," Neville spoke up surprising both boys.

"Oh, yeah?" Ron replied after getting over his shock. "Name me one wizard who was ever in Slytherin that was a good person. Just look at his dad! He can't be much different."

"Just because we only hear about the rotters of Slytherin doesn't make them all bad," Dudley tried to convince Ron.

The red head shook his head in denial. "Yeah, well. Percy told me that Cassian's dad was Lucius Malfloy's cousin. That makes him a Malfoy and all Malfoys are rotten. Even Hagrid said so!"

"Did you ever think they all turned out rotten was because that was how they were treated?"

The two Gryffindore's looked at Dudley who'd voiced the softly spoken question. He met their gazes. "If you're treated like garbage long enough, don't you start to think that maybe you are and deserve to be treated that way?"

They didn't get a chance to respond as Dudley's fellow Hufflepuff Justin Finch-Fletchley joined them. The four worked together during class to re-pot Mandrakes.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Charms wasn't bad, but Cassian was still bored as he had already mastered the basics. After class, Cassian waited until the other students were gone before he approached the tiny wizard. Licking his lips, Cassian let out a breath. "Professor, may I ask you a question?"

"Of course, what is it Mr. Ashwood?"

"Could you possibly tell me what a Fidelius Charm is?"

Flitwick seemed shocked by the question. "Where did you hear about that?"

"I read it somewhere." Which was true, it just wasn't from a book. "But it didn't go into details. It also mentioned something about a Secret-Keeper."

By now the Charms professor's eyes had widened a lot. He did however answer the boy's question seeing no harm in it. "The Fidelius Charm is an immensely complex spell involving the magical concealment of a secret inside a single living soul. The information is hidden inside the chosen person, or Secret-Keeper, and is henceforth impossible to find-unless of course the Secret-Keeper chooses to divulge it."

The Ravenclaws started filing in for class so Cassian thanked the professor and quickly left. As he made his way through the crowded corridors he was careful not to touch anyone or let them touch him. He still wasn't used to being around so many people for so long. He didn't like it.

History of Magic would have been interesting if it weren't taught by a ghost who talked in a monotonous voice while lecturing. Cassian found it very difficult not to get sleepy and put his head down on the desk and nap like Crabbe and Goyle were. The other three boys' eyes were glazed over and not paying attention. Looking over at the girls he saw they weren't faring much better.

Harry poked Cassian with his quill to get his attention and grinned when Cassian glared at him. 'What?'

"We have free period next."

'So?'

"Have you made up your mind?"

Cassian gave him a half irritated, half questioning look. Harry sighed, rolling his eyes. "About asking one of the ghosts about me."

'Oh.' Cassian had thought about it but couldn't really come to a decision. Did he risk asking one of the ghost or not? Looking at Professor Binns, Cassian smirked. The history teacher would the perfect ghost to ask.

Harry poked Cassian again and this time Cassian couldn't help but flare and irritably snap, "What?"

Harry grinned while one of the Slytherin girls who'd been watching his odd behavior quickly replied, "Nothing." and faced forward again. Confused, he looked to Harry who was silently laughing at him. Cassian's eyes narrowed before he turned and glared at his bo9ok that was open on his desk.

Glad when the class was finally over, Cassian made a beeline for the door. Harry pouted. "I thought you were going to talk to Binns!"

'I am. Just not now.'

"Mean!" Harry huffed.

Going to the library he looked around but couldn't find any empty tables. He had no doubt that if he sat down at one of the occupied tables, it would become empty. But Cassian didn't want to deal with the older students. Sighing, he sat down at a table where a Second Year Ravenclaw girl sat. It took him a minute to recognize her as the girl from Diagon Alley. She glanced up at him once then went back to her book.

After angrily crossing out a sentence he'd written for the fourth time, Hermione looked up form her book at his frustrated sigh. Timidly she asked, "Would you like some help?"

Hermione didn't know what to make of the boy across from her. She'd heard about his father of course from the older students. She'd also seen how he was treated by not only the other houses, but by the Slytherins as well. She half expected him to sneer at her offer like a Slytherin. Instead, his strange golden-green eyes blinked in confusion as he looked at her in consideration. Surprising her he nodded.

"I have trouble focusing in Professor Binns class," he admitted.

"A lot of people have that problem. How far did you get?"

Cassian showed her his homework paper which had only four inches of writing, if you didn't include his crossed out sentences. "Not very. Binns is worse than a sleeping potion."

The girl helped him go over and correct it. Rolling up his paper and putting it away he looked at her speculatively. "When do you have Professor Binns?"

"Mondays and Wednesdays."

"I have him Tuesdays and Thursdays. Since we have Friday afternoon off, do you want to meet here and go over our homework?"

Hermione nodded wide eyed and could help but wonder if it was a Slytherin trick. She'd heard the rumors about him. That he was Draco's cousin. And she didn't like Draco since he was always picking on her two Gryffindore friends, Ron and Neville. Neville was easy to understand since he was like a walking disaster. And Ron, well, he reacted well to Draco's bait easily.

After lunch was double Herbology and Cassian was stuck with Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle when the professor split them up into groups of four. At least it wasn't all bad since one of the fat Madrakes bit Draco's finger. Cassian grinned at him while Draco glared and angrily shoved it into a pot.

Going back to the castle he stopped when Draco put a hand on his arm. Cassian raised a brow. Draco was frowning and told his minions to go ahead. Like the good obedient mindless minions that they were they left the two alone. When they were out of range, the blond crossed his arms. "Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"Well, I'd say the Mandrake didn't like you."

Draco scowled. "I meant last year!"

"I know what you meant."

"Then what? We were friends weren't we?"

Cassian sighed knowing why the blond used the past tense. Draco wasn't sure what their relationship was like anymore and he didn't like that. Cassian glanced at the blond then looked away. "We were."

"What happened?"

"Life." Cassian ignoring the hurt he saw in Draco's expression, turned his back to him and continued to walking.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The next morning was Transfiguration. When the bell rang Cassian made sure to return his buttons into the beetles they'd been at the beginning of class. He was unaware of McGonagall watching him. He hurried to the dungeons for double Potions with the Gryffindores. He sat beside Neville. Since it didn't seem like anyone else would willingly partner with the boy.

Neville gave a surprised start to see who sat beside him then gave a small shy smile. Cassian nodded then focused on what Snape was saying. The two boys received stares throughout the entire period. Cassian ignored the stares but they got to Neville and the boy was more nervous and clumsy than he usually was. Cassian found out why no wanted to partner with Neville as the Gryffindore, in his nervous clumsy haste, caused their potion to explode.

Reacting on instinct, Cassian's eyes widened and he flung u p his arms to shield himself. Harry also acting on instinct, threw up a shield around Cassian. The potion rained down around Cassian leaving him untouched. While Snape went around to administer to the students splashed, Neville was apologizing profusely, and the other students were staring at Cassian.

Licking his lips, Cassian assured Neville he was alright. Luckily it was the end of the period so Cassian was able to hightail it out of class. He skipped out on lunch and went outside instead. He meandered around the grounds. Going down near the pumpkin patch he saw the giant Hagrid. The man was tending to the pumpkins. Sitting down on the grass, Cassian took out his sketch pad and began to draw. While Cassian looked up briefly, Hagrid had looked over at him. Looking back down he began to put the filler lines in. When he looked up again the giant was a few feet away.

"Hullo, there Cassian. Wotcha drawin'?"

Wordlessly he turned the pad around and held it up. Standing, Cassian picked up his bag and waited.

"Thas' pretty good!"

Cassian shrugged and taking the pad rifled through it until he found the one he wanted. Tearing it carefully out he said, "I've got to get to DADA. Here." He handed the man the sketch. "I think it's you. Bye."

Hagrid looked down at the drawing and gaped. It was him on Sirius Black's flying motor bike. The night he dropped little Harry Potter off at his aunt and uncle's house in Little Winging. A tear rolled down Hagrid's cheek as he hoarsely whispered, "'Arry?"

What a liar!" Draco said after Defense Against the Dark Arts. Cassian yawned and scratched one eyebrow. He spent the class period either sketching or sleeping. He was looking forward to tonight. They had Astronomy and Jake had already taught him some of the constellations and the stories behind them. Markale had made sure Cassian could use the stars as a compass to guide himself.

At dinner Cassian felt eyes on him. 'Harry?'

Harry looked around and saw that the teachers were the ones that were staring. "Um...... McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, Hagrid, and Dumbledore are looking over here."

'Why?'

Harry shrugged. Dumbledore keeping an eye on them wasn't really all that unusual. The others however... that was new. The only thing he could think of was the incident in Potions. They hadn't done anything odd in Transfiguration or Charms. Unless...

"Cass, is the Fidelius Charm something we're not supposed to know?"

'Probably.'

Okay, that explained Flitwick, but not the others. Frowning, Harry tried to think what they could've done to get the teachers attention.

'Let's get out of here. I'm not very hungry anyway.'

Cassian left the table and noticed and heard the stares and whispers of the students. Word had already spread about his nonverbal wandless shielding charm. At least he didn't have to deal with any of the other houses until tomorrow afternoon. Except once again it had to be Gryffindore again since it was Potions.

At the Head Table the five adults watched the boy leave the Hall after barely eating anything. Dumbledore frowned at this. He'd noticed that the child didn't eat much when he did eat anything at all. He'd have to talk to the boy himself, or have Madam Pomfrey.

Yesterday Flitwick had come to him informing him of the boy's question regarding the Fidelius Charm. Then earlier today Snape added the information about the child producing a nonverbal and wandless Shielding Charm. Then before dinner, Hagrid had shown him the drawing and was convinced Cassian was Harry Potter.

Those thoughts had crossed Dumbledore's mind as well. When he first began to have such thoughts he'd sent a letter to Arabella asking her if she'd ever seen young Harry's eyes. The reply was in the negative. The boy always had sunglasses on. And when he didn't, he was too far away to see the color of his eyes.

When Hagrid collected Harry from the ruins of his parents' house, he'd been crying and the half giant was too busy trying to soothe him, to see his eyes. And he'd been asleep when placed upon the Dursley's stoop.

Dumbledore had been shocked when he'd first seen Cassian with dark hair. He'd known the boy looked familiar. If one looked you could see Lily Evans in the boy. Yet the boy didn't bear the scar, but there were ways to cover it both magical and muggle.

When he'd gotten the report from Arabella that the Dursleys were in a horrible car wreck, he'd been devastated and worried. Going down to the hospital he learned that Mr. Dursley died and had hardly felt any pain. A bystander had pulled both Mrs. Dursley and Dudley out of the car before it exploded. Dumbledore was grief stricken to be told that there hadn't been any other survivors except for a couple from another car in the pile up.

When he saw Cassian for the first time, Dumbledore wondered if his old mind wasn't playing tricks on him. Thought it had to be wishful thinking, comparing the Ashwood boy with Harry. To be sure he wasn't going senile, he went and checked at the hospital for a birth certificate for Ashwood. He didn't find one in the wizarding hospital but he did find one at a muggle hospital in London. A baby boy had been born to a Mr. Markale Ashwood and Tabitha Varrus on August 1, 1980.

If somehow the boy was Harry, Dumbledore did not think Lucius Malfoy would be the best guardian for him. That was why the Ministry of Magic delayed deciding where to place the boy when Lucretia Ashwood died. There was also the fact that they and Dumbledore especially, wanted the boy to go through a psych evaluation to determine his mental state. The boy had seen his father killed in front of him at the hands of Aurors then a few short months later saw his grandmother die.

Dumbledore still wasn't sure what toll those events had taken on the boy mentally or emotionally. From what he'd seen he still felt hope. He was also curious about the boy's interest in the Fidelius Charm. He would definitely be speaking with the boy again.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Neville was surprised that after what happened last time that Cassian would once again sit with him during Potions. The Slytherin gave him a smile before focusing on Snape. At least withCassian there as his partner Snape only sneered when he came by. While they were bottling their potion for Snape, Cassian whispered, "Can we talk?"

Neville nodded curious. The two turned in their potion, collected their bags, and began the walk to the Great Hall for dinner. Once again they received odd looks form passing students.

Frowning, Cassian saw an empty classroom, pulled Neville inside, and shut the door. Turning to the Gryffindore he crossed his arms stating matter-of-factly, "I don't like your grandmother."

Before Neville could say anything though Cassian held up his hand and continued. "Its mostly her fault your memory is atrocious, your clumsiness rivals that of a drunk, and you have a poor self image."

Neville could feel hot tears welling up, burning behind his eyes, chest constricting tightly, and hands clenching.

Harry glared at Cassian. "Oh, yeah. That was putting it nicely."

Cassian frowned and irritably ran a hand through his hair a couple times. Letting out a growl he muttered, "That didn't come out the way I meant. I"m not good at this sort of thing!"

Staring at Neville he tried to tell him what he meant to say. "Look, I just meant, on the train you remember you told me about your family? Mostly you talked about your gran. How she was always comparing you to your parents. But the thing is, you'll never measure up to them. You can't. They're them and you're you. You can never use someone else to measure your own growth. Its counter-productive."

"Because your gran is always criticizing you and comparing you, you're always stressed out and worried which is why your memory sucks. Your clumsiness stems from that as well as I noticed in Potions that you're always in a rush. You hurry in nervousness and self-consciousness trying not to screw up which makes you clumsy. You need to take your time and be sure of yourself."

Cassian sighed and looked to see if Neville understood what he was trying to get at. At least Neville wasn't crying or ready to fight with him.

"Why don't you meet me in the library tomorrow afternoon? We can go over things to help your memory? That is if you want my help?"

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Neville nodded. For now he though, he just wanted to be away from the Slytherin. As if he understood, Cassian nodded and left the classroom. The Gryffindore slowly made his way to the Great Hall thinking over what had been said.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Friday afternoon, Neville went to the library and seeing Hermione, smiled and sat down. "Hi, Neville."

"Hi."

Hermione gave him a curious look. "You don't usually come to the library."

Neville gave her a small smile. It was true. Since he could never remember anything he read, he preferred to read in the Gryffindore Common Room or in his dormitory. That way he wouldn't be questioned or teased for reading the same page for so long.

"Good, your both here."

Hermione and Neville looked up as Cassian slid his books onto the table and sat down. Cassian told Neville about his and Hermione's deal then explained to Hermione that Neville would be joining them. Neville gave him a surprised look while Hermione nodded a thoughtful look on her face.

"If we're to have a study group, do you mind if one of my friends joins?"

"Who is it?"

"Dudley Dursley. He's a Hufflepuff."

Cassian recalled the dark blond haired boy he'd met on the train. "No, he seems okay."

Hermione smiled then the three got out their homework and went over it. Neville was completely lost, but both Hermione and Cassian were patient and helped. Then, Cassian nodded at Hermione, tapped Neville on the shoulder and jerked his head. The boys went to a corner of the library that barely had anyone in the area.

"Here." Cassian pulled out two packs of cards. The backs of one was blue and the other purple. "The purple ones are flash cards and the blue are for matching."

Cassian explained how muggles used the game on children to help with their memory. He also explained how the game worked. "I thought this would be okay since no one else would know what you were actually doing. And you can play it in private if you want. The flash cards are made to look like regular cards to anyone but you."

Cassian told him meditating might help him as well. At Neville's questioning look, the Slytherin gave him a small smile. "We can give it a go tomorrow if you want."

Neville took the cards with gratitude. Putting them in his bag he went down to dinner. Ron scowled at him and asked why he was hanging around with the Slytherin. Neville replied truthfully. "He doesn't seem that bad."

"He's a Slytherin!" Ron exclaimed like the statement explained everything.

Neville shrugged uncomfortably glancing over at the Slytherin table. Cassian sat at the end picking at his food. A school owl landed in front of him as the evening mail came. Blinking, Cassian took the note and read it. It was from Dumbledore. He wanted him to see the school's mediwitch. Cassian frowned and looked up at the Head Table. The look the man wore told Cassian that it was an order not a request. Cassian not happy with it still gave a curt nod. At least he didn't have to go to hospital until morning.