C. M. Black: Eyes of an Owl

Chapter IV: Connect and disconnect

Light filtered in around the thick, golden curtains from the lamppost across the road. It barely coloured the darkened room, but it was just enough for Cassy to be able to make out the short, ambling figure at the end of her bed. It grunted lowly, muttering to itself in a deep, rough voice. Even though she had turned in her bed to watch it, there were no signs of it having heard her at all. Small, jangling sounds ran out occasionally, as if pots were clanging together as it walked.

Her wand was slowly pulled from her bedside table and her other hand reached for the lamp. The fire ignited and filled the glass jar at the touch of her hand, startling the creature into covering its eyes and cursing louder. It was not Plum, nor Kitsy, but rather an elderly looking house-elf with long, pointed ears and an even longer hooked nose. His beady eyes narrow at the sight of her.

'Kreacher?' she said, staring at him. She could hardly remember what the old house-elf looked liked, but she was certain this must be him. He wore a dirty loincloth, exposing his wrinkled torso and each groove of his spine. Yellowed teeth emerged from behind his sneering lips and he glared at her with distaste utterly uncommon for a house-elf.

'Terrible, so terrible, to have such filth in this house once more,' he muttered.

'How terrible it is to have an elf so rude,' retorted Cassy.

Kreacher's sneer did not withdraw, but his eyes widened and she shook his head as he said, 'Kreacher said nothing, nothing at all.'

Cassy stared at him. She was unable to tell if he genuinely thought she would dismiss his insult with such a weak lie, or if he thought she was unable to hear his constant remarks.

'Filth. Oh, what would Mistress say...'

Pursing her lips, Cassy spared a moment to consider her next action cruel, but it would result in one of two things, neither excellent, but one more positive than the other and both hopefully leading to the same conclusion, regardless of how slowly. Sharply, she called for Plum and Kitsy.

Initially, Kreacher stared at her uncomprehendingly, but as two faint pops broke the tense silence, he began to wail. His head flung backwards and he let out a horrible, guttural cry, clutching the silverware he seemed to have collected from the hall tightly to his chest.

'Get out. Get out!' he sobbed.

'Mistress,' said Kitsy over his cries. He bowed, his head turning to Kreacher in alarm.

'Oh, dear. He is very sad,' chimed Plum. 'Plum can help.'

'No, don't touch Mistresses things. Filth, unworthy!' snapped Kreacher.

Plum stared at him indignantly.

'How rude,' gasped Kitsy.

Cassy pulled the covers back and clambered over the bed to sit closer to the three house-elves.

'Did you wake Miss? What a rude elf you are! It is you who is unworthy,' scolded Plum loudly, ensuring she would be heard over Kreacher's wails.

'This is Kreacher,' introduced Cassy. 'Kreacher, these are Plum and Kitsy, my house-elves who also serve under the mantle of the Black household.'

'She doesn't count, Mistress doesn't let filth into the family - '

'How dare you,' cried Plum and Kitsy together, their large eyes narrowing into slits and their little spindly arms raised, ready to pounce if he dared speak another word.

'As this house is now under your late Mistress' son, my elves, as his daughter, will help in restoring this house to presentable condition. You will be expected to work alongside them. My father will surely instruct you of that if you resist, so I suggest you do it civilly on your own accord, rather than by standards you are unhappy with,' dictated Cassy.

Kreacher groaned and shook his head. He said, 'Kreacher does not take order from Miss, but Kreacher does not want orders from Master Sirius either... they are not to touch anything, not to throw anything away without Kreacher's approval. Kreacher is the only elf of this house, the only one whose head shall be mounted on the wall...'

At no point did Cassy expect Kreacher to actually follow through with his agreement of civility. He seemed to be firmly under the impression that no one could hear his mutterings. Years of isolation had made him deranged and she was certain that Kitsy would be able to ignore it, she had doubts that Plum would hold her tongue if she thought Kreacher was being rude to a human she was particularly fond of. Regardless, Cassy sent Kreacher from her room. He slunk out with his arms full of goblets and plates that she was certain he had been trying to deposit back in her room.

With a giant sigh, she fell back onto her bed.

'Can Plum get Miss anything?' asked Plum anxiously. She climbed onto the bed beside Cassy, peering down at her with her massive brown eyes.

'Mistress needs sleep,' added Kitsy, hoisting himself onto the other side of the bed.

'Plum can get something to help with that!'

'Quiet, noisy elfling,' scolded Kitsy.

Cassy sat up, stretching her arms high above her head. Sunlight was threatening to spill around the edges of the window and the clock had ticked around the half-five. It was almost sunrise anyway. She might as well stay awake, it would only take her an hour to fall asleep again anyway and by then her father would be calling her for breakfast at eight. It was a waste of time.

Plum and Kitsy popped back out of her room at the promise she would call on them later. They had both become fidgety with her infrequent calls, the threat in their minds that she may not need them anymore. Not that Cassy would ever set them free; she had seen what it had done to Winky and she imagined Plum going the same way. Kitsy may have been able to find another family, but he was getting on in years and not many families were keen to employ older elves. Besides, she thought, she had grown much too fond of them to let them go.

Although the door was shut firmly behind her, Cassy was sceptical that it would do anything to deter Kreacher from entering her room once more. She plaited her hair over her shoulder as she walked down the unlit hall. Carefully, she kept to the centre. She stepped slowly in case Kreacher had moved the clutter from the walls outwards in his effort to salvage anything and everything. The edges and outlines were almost visible if she were to strain, but she moved from memory with little issue. Besides kicking a goblet halfway down the hall, it was a surprisingly clear path.

In the entrance hall, there was a deep snuffling sound, off and rough, muffled almost. Cassy paused in her descent, but continued soon after. There were no creatures lurking in the hall who had taken up residency in the dark, but rather only Kreacher. The breathing soon turned to ugly sobs and any thought of it being something more sinister vanished.

At the foot of the stairs, she reached blindly out in front of her for the thick curtain that covered the only window. It was ripped open, allowing a faint, yellow light to flood in as the sun peaked over the houses. A hiss from behind her sounded and she ignored it, choosing to fiddle with the gas lamp on the wall instead. Precariously, she stood on a pile of books, Kreacher wailing from beside her, to fiddle with the manual ignition. It burst into flames, adding a fraction more light to the dingy hall.

'Kreacher, what a mess,' she muttered. The light had only served to highlight the mess Kreacher had made, littering the clear pathways with fabrics and cutlery, old books and shoes.

'Someone has to look after the house,' he breathed gruffly. 'Otherwise the Disappointment Son and the filthy Muggle-lovers would throw out all of Mistress' things things. Kreacher has to salvage them – filthy elves thinking they can help. Only Kreacher knows best...'

'Kreacher, you need to clean this up,' she said sternly.

'Kreacher does not take orders from the bastard child, oh no. No, he does not. Not even when she comes to check on him, threaten him with these other elves, no servants to the family, only servants to filth...'

'I can hear everything you say,' said Cassy impatiently.

'Kreacher said nothing, Miss. Kreacher would never speak against... a Black,' he ducked his head and dipped into a lazy bow. Stacks of newspapers were collected once again.

Cassy watched and debated. Surely it would be better to try and have his cooperate with them than continue as he is. If she was to come downstairs the next morning and find everything she had been forced to clean scattered about the house again she would be livid. Carefully, she knelt beside him in the same way she had done to Plum many years ago when the two first met. Kreacher looked at her with his dark, beady eyes.

'Kreacher, your Mistress has no need for such old papers. You would be able to make her more proud by restoring the house she adored to its former glory, do you not think?' she said carefully.

Kreacher stared at her for a moment and suddenly, as if the words took a moment to sink in, his face crumpled. His eyes sunk beneath his brow line and his lips drew back into a fierce snarl.

'How can The Bastard speak of what Mistress would want? Mistress hated her and she knows nothing of what she wants,' he seethed.

'Kreacher, calm down,' said Cassy, standing as he tore past her. His bony hands pulled at the thick, velvet material that hung against the wall. He was cursing and mumbling, pulling frantically at the fabric and Cassy's hands reached out to keep in in place, but he had all ready retched it away. A large, heavily framed portrait hung behind it. A woman, wrinkled and pale, opened her blurry eyes. Snow white hair fell around her face out of the black cap on her head.

'Who?' she asked croaking.

'Your granddaughter,' replied Cassy blankly.

Fantastic, she thought bitterly, of course she would have a portrait and what a ghastly one it was too. Cassy had always remembered her as a disintegrating monster, but the portrait only proved her memory true.

The woman stared at her and slowly said, 'Cassiopeia?'

'Yes.'

There was another long silence, then her mouth began to open wide. The wrinkled skin pulled tight, her watery eyes narrowing into icy slits. Cassy stepped back at the sight of it, bracing her ears just in time for the shout. 'Bastard child of my traitorous son! Gryffindor child too, I bet. Blood-traitors friends and Muggle-lover too.'

'I am good friends with the Greengrasses, actually,' exaggerated Cassy through her shouts. 'Narcissa had a hand in raising me, you might recall.'

Her efforts to pacify her grandmother did nothing. She continued to shout, calling her scum and demanding to know what else occupies her father's home. Cassy listened with her hands folded across her chest, unwilling to give her grandmother the satisfaction of seeing her cover her ears as she screamed of half-breeds and treachery.

'If I was alive - '

'Thankfully, you're not,' said drawled Cassy impatiently.

'You little tart!'

The curtain lay at her feet. There was no way she could fix it over the portrait again, she was simply too short and she would need to pull Kreacher from it first. He had tangled himself in it wailing along, answering each of Wulburga's questions, even though she seemed unable to hear him. Cassy's long fingers pulled at the edges of the frame as the shouts became louder. They could not slip behind, the portrait was charmed to the wall, so any hope she had of stuffing it in another room vanished. Scowling, Cassy pulled the curtain out from beneath Kreacher, who latched onto it, crying out.

'Mistress should not be covered so,' he argued, pulling back at it. Cassy ignored him and continued pulling, she looked behind her for something she could move to stand on quickly to wrestle it back over. Then, Wulburga's screams got louder.

'Traitorous son and his no-good daughter, tainting the Black blood. Look what you have done! You are no son of mine. Leave, scum, leave!'

'Oh, shut up, you hag,' came a sharp voice from behind.

Cassy whirled around. Sirius stood at the top of the stairs, his hair matted and his clothing crumpled from an obvious rush to dress himself. His bare feet padded down the stairs in no hurry. Roughly, he tugged the curtain from Cassy's grip, sending Kreacher sprawling across the floor and flung it back over his mother's portrait with little effort. He stepped back and she fell silent almost immediately, only letting out whispered insults sparingly.

'The rest of you can shut up too,' he snapped at the rest of the portraits in the hall that had begun to whine at the sound. They turned and mumbled to one another.

'Sorry,' said Cassy quickly. 'Kreacher pulled it down and I could not reach to put it up again.'

Before he had a chance to respond, she darted to the little door beneath the stairs and hurried down into the kitchen. Again, she reached out for the gas lamp on the wall, when it suddenly sprung to life with the rest following suit. Cassy lowered her arms and stood on the stairs stupidly before looking back up to her father in the doorway. Turning on her heel, Cassy strode over to the sink to fill the kettle. There was a creek behind her and Cassy was very aware that he had sunk into one of the old, wooden chairs surrounding the table. She ignited the hob beneath the kettle.

'I don't suppose you fancy making me a coffee?' he asked, his arms reaching around his head to run through his tatty hair.

'Where is it?' she asked.

'In the cupboard to the left of the oven.'

It was such an awful way to start the day. She had woken him up at sunrise and in the noisiest manner possible. Inwardly, she cursed her own luck. He had been very kind and understanding to her yesterday, which was a vast improvement on the last time the two were alone together and he had hexed and robbed her. She poured the boiling water into the two mugs and stirred.

'What are you doing up so early anyway? When I was your age I struggled to get up before lunch,' Sirius asked as she placed the cup down in front of him.

'I awoke to Kreacher ambling through my room,' she said, taking a seat opposite him. She sipped at her tea and Sirius grunted.

'There is a key somewhere. I found it when cleaning, but I would not like to say where it is now,' he admitted, his voice becoming high as he stretched. Without any regard to the steam the cup was emitting, Sirius downed his coffee. Cassy stared in shock before ducking her head down to her own drink. Faintly, she thought she heard a noise of pain, but Sirius was all ready standing to make himself another. He waved his wand to light heat the kettle once more and it began softly whistling as he piled his mug full with coffee.

'I am sorry for waking you up so early,' she said again.

Without looking at her, Sirius waved his hand dismissively. 'I have to clean anyway. It's all I have been doing lately, but there does not seem to be much progress. Dumbledore thinks it's too dangerous for me to go outside. He reckons Peter will have told Voldemort about my animagus form by now.'

Cassy frowned. The only way she had passed the summer was to wander aimlessly around London. The idea of being locked inside, especially this house, was unthinkable.

'Can you not just Dissolution yourself?' she asked.

'I have thought about it, but if I was caught I would be too much of a liability to the Order to be able to justify it. I would need a good reason to leave,' he grumbled with a heavy sigh. He stirred his coffee in disinterest. 'Things might pick up when other people start staying here frequently. The Weasleys will be here in three days.'

'That could only serve you make you more gloomy though. Personally, I find crowds worse when I am unhappy,' she said, stretching out on a limb to keep the conversation flowing. 'I hate being forced into conversation when I want to be alone, it makes me irritated with too many people hurrying about.'

Sirius laughed. 'You certainly don't get that from your mother and probably not me either, actually.'

Cassy's head shot up at the mention of her mother, but nothing more came of it. Slowly, she turned the mug in her hands and chose to scour the kitchen. It was manoeuvrable, but she was doubtful that they could fit all the Weasleys in around the rubbish. Contrary to her words, she was quite pleased with the prospect of seeing them all again. Curiosity peaked at the thought of being able to see the extent of Fred and George's investments with Harry's winnings. Ginny had mentioned they had been more secretive, explosions and bangs from their room, so she knew they must be making good progress. She had also said they had become a nightmare with their newly licensed Apparition skills.

Cassy and Sirius talked lightly while they cleaned, neither needing or wanting breakfast so early in the morning. They stacked boxes and labelled them for the curb. Most of their conversation revolved around the various creatures that he had discovered nesting in the house, or Cassy's frequent questions of where he wanted something placed. He was relieved to find Cassy had two house-elves eager for work and she set them off around the kitchen immediately, levitating boxes and scrubbing surfaces with an unnatural enthusiasm.

As Cassy rummaged through the unmarked bottles beneath the sink, she asked something that had been bothering her for a while, 'Why is Harry not allowed to know of the Order when he is the one who has faced Voldemort four times?'

Sirius' movements visibly slowed and his voice became tense. 'Dumbledore seems to feel that Harry should remain as innocent as possible in this, you all should. He is not keen for anyone to know more than they need to about the upcoming war.'

Just as before, Cassy failed to miss the bitterness he spoke of the Headmaster with.

'Does that mean you will try and keep me in the dark?' she asked, an edge crept into her voice that quite clearly let him know he would have a struggle. She raised one of her eyebrows and turned to him, but in contrast to her expectations he was not scowling, but grinning.

'Well, information was said to be at the desecration of the parent... so it depends on how much cleaning you get done today, I think,' he teased.

Cassy thought that had about as much bargaining power as telling her she would be grounded if she tried. It had absolutely none. She would find out one way or another and the dubious expression on her face only sent Sirius into a fit of laughter.

Many hours later, the doorbell rang and Kitsy popped out of the kitchen to answer it. The sound was shrill and there was a faint echo of Wulburga cursing up in the hallway, but neither Black sought to silence her. There was a shout and Sirius called back, directing the visitor to the kitchen. A head of brown hair and a scarred face appeared at the top of the stairs.

'How are things down here then?' called Remus.

'You are late,' reprimanded Sirius. 'Where were you when we started work at six?'

'Six?' repeated Remus incredulously. 'Afternoon, Cassy.'

Cassy returned the greeting with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. Her hands twirled the bottles they held and she was a moment away from darting from the room with the excuse to wash up for lunch. Seeing Remus suddenly sent a rush of embarrassment surging through her bones. It was only when they had been interrupted had Cassy realised how comfortable she had become that morning with her father when she had been so uncomfortable hours prior. Although a lingering drop of guilt trickled through her, she found nothing like the rage she had had the day before. She had simply forgotten to feel uneasy

Her stomach gave a low rumble and Sirius clapped his hand on her shoulder, making her jump.

'I will start lunch now then. I will not promise a banquet, but I swear it will be better than yesterday now that Remus had brought us more food,' he said, rummaging through the paper bags Cassy had failed to hear be set on the table. 'Although, anything is better to me after eating mainly rats for two years, yet I do think I was spoilt by the Hogwarts' food you and Harry sent me in the winter.'

After washing her hands, Cassy sat at the table and watched Sirius and Remus try to coordinate their cooking skills. Neither seemed to have a great expectation of the other and Cassy was certain she was going to end up with two meals squashed tastelessly into one when they were done. She almost mentioned letting Plum or Kitsy cook, but their bickering was far more amusing and Cassy had a mental bet who would be the first on the floor with the way the pair kept nudging each other out of their stations.

The radio bumbled on in the background. She had brought it down from her room and Sirius had complained about 'today's music' and Cassy thought back to the records in Alphard's loft. Unknown bands and singers with worn, faded labels with Sirius' name scrawled across them. The music continued to ring out, giving way to the news. It was bland. There was nothing important to report. There were no attacks, or missing wizards, strange acts at all, only a street that had sprung a leak and shut down shopping for the day.

Cassy mentally noted that she needed to speak to Harry and inform him about everything she had found so far.

'...So Mrs Longbottom will be here for the next meeting to,' said Remus and Cassy turned to him, having missed the beginning of the conversation.

'Will Neville be here?' she asked keenly.

'Every time she is, by the looks of things. She seems to think it will be good for him. After all, his parent's were involved themselves. I think that's why she accepted Dumbledore's invitation, actually,' said Remus. 'Molly will be another story entirely though. Whenever we mention about it she is adamant that her children aren't to know anything at all. I agree that people within the Order should be kept out of it, but...'

'If you give nothing at all it will only spur them on to know more,' finished Sirius.

Remus spared a glance over his shoulder to Cassy. He had not wanted to say it in front of her in case she thought they were trying to pacify her with information, but she all ready knew that. Just because they told her some things, did not mean she would ever stop striving to know it all and she had a feeling the Weasleys would help her greatly with that.

The clock had just struck ten when the front door opened and half a dozen voices filled the air. A shrill scream punctuated it, their voices having disturbed Wulburga and faintly Sirius could be heard trying to wrestle the curtain back over her portrait.

Cassy wiped her hands and stood, looking over to Tonks as she did the same. Tonks' hair was stark white, having taken on the colour of the thick dust that lined the bedroom they were cleaning. In the past three days, most of the rooms they needed had been decontaminated, free of living creatures, but not cleaned. Old artefacts and questionable items still lay scattered through each room, but there was a considerably decrease in the chance that anyone would wake with doxy bites. Cassy discarded her gloves on the top of a box and made her way downstairs. Tonks followed behind her.

'Cassy!' came Ginny's cheerful shout over all the noise. Wulburga turned to shout about Cassy as Ginny jumped up the stairs to hug her tightly. 'How are you?'

'Fine, thank-you,' she said shortly. 'Good morning, everyone.'

'Morning,' came a range of voices.

The curtain was draped over Wulburga and Sirius ushered everyone down into the kitchen, eyeing Fred and George carefully as they flicked at the edge of the drape, looking very much like they wanted to give the shouting match another go. Tonks shut the kitchen door behind her and everyone gathered around the table. Their luggage had been left in the hall, but Mrs Weasley had brought various bags of fresh fruit and vegetables, cuts of meat and a variety of other foodstuff the house was in desperate need of.

She had barely placed the bags on the table when she doubled back around the table and captured Cassy in a fierce embrace.

'Cassy! It is good to see you. You are still much too thin. You need to eat better, but that's not to worry about now. I here to make sure you eat enough,' said Mrs Weasley warmly, pulling away just enough to inspect Cassy's face.

Somewhere behind her, Sirius made a throaty noise of protest.

Mr Weasley nodded his head at her and she returned it in kind. Cassy inclined her head away and listened carefully to the footsteps sounding softly overhead. The door opened and golden shoes slipped into view. Matching golden robes with paler, quivering suns splattered across. The long, white beard of Albus Dumbledore came into view and he nodded at everyone, smiling.

'I see everyone got here just fine,' he said.

'A little late, thanks to the boys, but safe enough,' said Mr Weasley, casting a long glance at Fred and George, who were carefully looking away.

'Not followed, I presume?'

'Not to our knowledge,' he replied.

'Good, good,' said Professor Dumbledore. He took a seat at the long table and everyone followed suit. Cassy sat between Ginny and her father. Sirius looked as if he was trying to work out which of the Weasley children were who from Cassy's explanations.

'Would you like some tea, Professor?' asked Tonks.

While she stood and counted the number of cups required for everyone, the group burst out into pockets of chatter. Fred and George had their eyes on the many boxes and Ginny was watching Tonks curiously. She dropped the kettle noisily into the sink and turned back to grin at Cassy quite unabashedly. Mrs Weasley looked on warily and then smiled softly.

'Do you need a hand, dear?' she questioned.

'No, no, I do this all the time. I'm quite used to it by now,' Tonks replied cheerfully.

Mrs Weasley looked desperate to help, but she sat back down.

'I thought I would just see how things were coming along here. Tomorrow, I thought it would be best to have a meeting to introduce some of the new members and catch up on the last two weeks, especially as you will both be free to attend,' said Professor Dumbledore.

'Yes, yes,' said Mrs Weasley quickly. She looked around the table to check if any of the children had heard and while they all faced other directions pretending to be interested in other things, they had each heard and sly glances between each of the teens told them all that it was something to be discussed later.

'I assure you, the notion of only those of age and in the Order stands,' said Professor Dumbledore knowingly.

'We'll join!' chimed Fred and George eagerly.

'We keep asking,' said Fred.

'But mum keeps saying no. We're of age though,' added George.

'Your mother is in charge of weather you can join, since you are still in education, I am afraid,' chuckled Professor Dumbledore.

Cassy caught Sirius' eye, silently imploring for him to follow through and tell her what he would find. He held her gaze for several moments, before looking back to the conversation.

'How is Harry, Albus?' asked Mr Weasley.

'Perfectly fine, according to reports,' he said and Cassy's eyebrows began to drift upwards. 'The watch is still under way.'

Cassy, with her eyebrows raised as high as physically possible, asked, 'Does he know he is being watched?'

Professor Dumbledore turned to her and calmly stared over the rims of his half-moon spectacles. His eyes were duller than usual, lacking much of their usual spark, as if Cassy had stepped on particularly precarious grounds. She could not find it in her to care and continued to stare at his expectantly.

'No,' he said softly. 'It is better if Harry remains oblivious to what is occurring around him. It would only worry him and force him to fear something might be lurking outside his doorstep.'

Cassy let out a laugh, an unnatural sound between between horror and amusement. Mrs Weasley fidgeted at the noise, but Sirius did not move and instead watched her closely. Cassy's hands balled tightly into fists beneath the table.

'This is your idea of protecting him? Treating him like a fragile child, incapable of comprehending the truth?' she laughed, her voice an octave higher than before.

'Cassy, dear, now, Dumbledore does know best - ' began Mrs Weasley placidly, but Cassy rounded on her with another laugh.

'I know him best!' she said feircely. 'I know that he will not appreciate being treated like a child, not after having faced Voldemort – oh, do not flinch, you are supposed to be the resistance – and he will think you have abandoned him, the one person who is supposed to be supporting him! This ban on information is ludicrous – security is one thing, but one of you could speak to him as if he was a living being, not a toy. Once you lose his trust and being kept in the dark is a quick way to fuel his rage, then you will not get it back, no matter how good your reason.'

Her head turned between all of the adults as she spoke, each of them watched, stunned. Professor Dumbledore watched with a placid face, but his eyes were colder, more severe. Mrs Weasley had her hands gripped tightly at her skirt and her husband had one hand over his mouth. Remus looked down at the table and Sirius was nodding his head ever so slightly in agreement. Tonks simply looked shocked, her mouth open.

'She's right, you know,' interjected Sirius. 'Harry is not a child. He saw Voldemort return. He deserves to know what is going on.'

'He's a child, Sirius,' said Mrs Weasley quickly.

'He will not be a child forever,' said Sirius.

'There's no need to scare him though,' bit out Mrs Weasley.

'Scare him? You know what is scary? Not knowing what is outside your door, but knowing something is there! That is scary. How are they to feel safe if they know nothing at all? How are they to cope if something goes wrong?' Sirius' words were clipped and loud. He was barely restraining his anger and Cassy knew then for sure that the annoyance she had felt towards him yesterday had been utterly unfounded. He was on her side.

'Hopefully nothing will go wrong,' came the calm voice of Arthur Weasley. 'However, right now we can't say too much because we simply don't know enough to. We can't tell the children half-truths and theories. It won't do anyone any good.'

Sirius grit his teeth.

Cassy breathed out heavily. 'You may ignore me if you wish, but if you knew anything of Harry's home life, then you would understand that he is better off here and not with those Muggles.' With those final words, Cassy strode from the kitchen without so much as a backwards glance. There was too much she wanted to say and it was fortunate her father had backed her, or else she felt as though her cool words would have become furious demands and unreasonable bites. The Headmaster had visibly cooled at her interjection and she would certainly have to apologise for snapping at Mrs Weasley tomorrow. It felt almost ridiculous though, she had to admit, that despite everything Harry had gone through involving Voldemort, the four times he had tried to kill him in the past years, three of which had been during the school year, that no one would think it appropriate to let Harry know they were watching out for him. He could know that, at least.

Not found of the possibility of bursting into a righteous rage at the dinner table, Cassy vowed to find a more constructive and quiet outlet for her irritation in the future.

There was a knock on her bedroom door. She did not answer. She sat with her legs drawn to her chest and her arms wrapped around them, waiting for the person to give up and leave. There was a slight click and she moved her eyes to watch the key turn in the hole.

Sighing, she frowned as Tonks stepped inside and closed the door again; she ignored Cassy's thunderous face and took a seat on the end of her bed.

'So,' she said, 'that was quite the telling-off.'

Cassy continued to frown at her.

'You shouldn't pent up rage like that.'

'I am always angry, Tonks. If I did not keep it then I would be a very unfavourable conversation partner,' she said quietly.

'I was angry when I lost my grandmother a few years ago,' admitted Tonks, shifting closer to her on the bed. 'I always lost my temper and I know that that's hard to imagine, but...'

Grief was sadness, it was not anger. She was not angry at him for dying, nor was she angry at anything, she was angry at everything.

'You know, Dumbledore does know what he is doing, even if it seems a little strange,' said Tonks carefully.

'Yet, he does not seem to think of Harry at all,' she said bitterly and Tonks shook her head quickly.

'No, no. He is doing this because he does care for him. He cares for him very much and he wants Harry to be as normal as possible for as long as possible. He is not trying to hurt him, not at all. In fact, I think what you said hit him hard. He left as I was coming up here. Your dad was about to come and speak to you, but he got into a bit of a debate about what you said and got sidetracked.'

'Who disagrees then?' asked Cassy flatly.

'It's not like that, Cassy, really. No one wants anyone getting into trouble or fighting something you are not ready to fight. It's just worry, but no one disagrees that Harry deserves to know most of all, it's just complicated.'

'I helped get past the challenges to get the Philosopher's stone. I was the only person, teachers included, to figure out what lay in the Chamber of Secrets. I can handle knowing what is out there, Tonks,' she said icily. This conversation was becoming dry and Cassy did not care for it. She looked towards the window and across the road, watching the people in the house opposite flit about their living room.

'No one is disputing that, but no one wants to take action where we have to put under-aged lives in danger,' she said imploringly. 'Enough of that, you said you know a lot about Harry Potter. If you know the most, go ahead and explain everything about him to me.'

There was a long silence before Cassy sighed and uncurled. She crossed her legs and put her hands in her lap, thinking hard of where to begin. In the end, she began with his appearance. From his messy, thick black hair to his pale skin, his wiry build and his startling, almond-shaped green eyes. She went over how his round glasses were constantly being broken during Quidditch and how he would always risk his life to ensure they won. His sarcasm was prevalent and his flat humour had Tonks giggling as she listened. Finally, she concluded with his bravery and his selflessness, recounting each of their journeys together over the years, something she had not told any adult. To her relief, Tonks marvelled at them, remarking how it made her own school life seem terribly boring. When she was finished, Tonks watched her for a long time, smiling unnervingly until Cassy began to frown.

'You really like him don't you? Like, really like him,' teased Tonks knowingly.

'Out,' said Cassy immediately. 'Get out my room.'

Tonks threw her head back and cackled loudly. 'It's fine! We're friends, we can talk about this. Besides, between you and me, Remus is pretty cute.'

Cassy stared at her blankly. She knew Tonks had been surveying Remus at the door.

Lots of Sirius and Cassy bonding and conflicting emotion, anger and whatever else teenage angst is made of. I would be pretty angry myself if no one wanted to tell me anything and I understand Harry's rage in this year, as much as it would have made me want to smack some sense into him. Everyone else was being pretty passive about it.

I changed my mind about just updating chapter three. I quite liked this one, so I thought I'd put it up too.

Tell me what you think. Also, to Kaylee13133, thanks for saying this is your favourite OC/Harry Potter story. I'm really glad because I used to read them a lot and I remember some good ones, so competition is tough!

Thanks!