C. M. Black: Eyes of an Owl

Chapter XXIII: His Star, Her Hero

Once again, the little hand mirror was drawn and searching the Great Hall secretly. Her newspaper had writing scrawled across it again; not as curling and striking as her own, nor as sharp as Harry's. It was not as small as Hermione's, nor as crooked as Neville's. It was recognisable all the same though and every newspaper in the hall appeared to have the same startling colours across each and every inner page.

She had released more questions on previous issues during the night a week ago, but Professor Umbridge had quickly purged what she could from the common rooms before anyone had a proper chance to read them fully. Instead, Cassy had concocted another scheme that appeared to be working perfectly; she changed the day's issues of the Daily Prophet to a collection of old articles. The front pages remained the same, but inside was littered with red lines and questions of prior publications. It had taken some thought, yet she mad successfully managed to alter half of the newspapers as they swooped overhead, ensuring none of the teachers received the altered copies.

The hand mirror was used to glance at the students without displaying any great interest in them. She read as much of their discussions as she could from their lips and otherwise let the surrounding noise be her guide in the responses to her latest work.

It was only a matter of time before Professor Umbridge made another attempt to ban the papers. Her last announcement condemned anyone in possession of them. Her eyes flickered to Harry. She could say nothing because she had no evidence it was him, although that did not stop her large mouth spreading into a thin sneer as she threatened to search every single student for a copy if they were not handed in to be disposed of.

She remained oblivious at the teacher's high table, though beside her the Headmaster had a twinkle in his eye that Cassy had not seen for some time. She busied herself with the real Daily Prophet article while Harry and Hermione read over her edited on opposite her.

Leaning in to read Neville's copy, Cassy spotted a collection of black and white photographs. Ten faces stared back. She paused. Bellatrix LeStrange laughed in her tiny box, her straight black hair tangled from recent arrest and her dark eyes glittered with excitement. She was the spitting image of Andromeda, besides the colder complexion and her more hooded eyes. The top of the page read:

Mass Break-Out: Ten Escaped from Azkaban Prison

Half-way through the third sentence, she found what she was looking for.

It is suspected that mass-murderer Sirius Black is responsible for the break-out as he has inside knowledge of Azkaban.

'How dare they?' she breathed.

There were no mentioned of the traitorous Dementors that had attacked Harry in the summer, nor a single word of Voldemort. Instead, they made reference to Bellatrix LeStrange's relation to Sirius; they were cousins, they said, he must have wanted her free. Fudge actually had suggested himself her father, who he knew as well as she did that he was innocent, was to blame for the escapes. If he had just put himself on the line to begin with and be honest rather than fearing for his reputation then her father would not be on the run and he would have believed Voldemort's return if the trial had gone ahead.

'Fool,' she muttered, turning away from the paper.

Fudge had committed political suicide. When everything came out – which it would when Cassy reached seventeen – he would never be able to stand for anything again. Cassy would get him.

A hand slammed on the table. Hermione jumped. Neville balled the paper up loudly. He breathed deeply, nostrils flaring.

No amount of soft murmuring from Hermione seemed to get through to him. It was not until lunch that he calmed. There was a definite sharpness in his movements, mechanical and quick, but he refused to speak of it, or let the conversation wither out. It was almost as though nothing had been announced, but slowly, the rest of the castle had become aware of the real headline story of the Daily Prophet that morning. They watched and whispered behind their hands. Their gazes never lasted too long when they caught Cassy's piercing stare, even across the hall, but she could not help but notice fear and blame seemed to be further back in their minds than she expected. Some of them were more obvious in their contempt with jabs and jibes, but backed away when Harry would round on them quickly even if Cassy had insisted on ignoring it; most of them, however, looked anxious at what the event implied rather that because of Cassy. It was not unnoticed why all ten of those people had been in Azkaban. They were all Death Eaters and they had all miraculously escaped.

Hermione had wasted no time in writing a letter. She refused to tell them to who or why and rushed from the table as Harry read out a small passage from the middle of the paper. A man named Bode had died, he said, he had heard his name from his trial.

Ron hummed. 'Dad's spoken about him before. He's an Unspeakable, or something. He was in the hospital over Christmas. Dad was on about paying him a visit, but Mum talked him into staying in bed.'

'Why was he there?' asked Harry eagerly.

Ron raised an eyebrow. 'A workplace injury, they said.'

'Do you know where?' questioned Harry.

'What's so important about Bode?' Ron shook his head.

Harry pursed his lips before telling Ron everything he and Cassy had discussed the Department of Mysteries. His hope was in vain. Ron looked more pale than thoughtful and when Harry pressed for more information, he merely shrugged.

'I don't know why anyone would want to kill him,' he said. 'How did he even die?'

'Apparently someone gave him a Devil's Snare plant for Christmas and the staff thought it was a Flitterbloom flower. It strangled him as he slept,' read Harry, grimly.

Neville choked on his drink. 'That looks nothing like a Flitterbloom! For starters, a Flitterbloom would already be budding and the shapes of the leaves are far more rounded than a Devil's Snare!'

Everyone turned to him with inappropriate amusement.

'The question is,' posed Cassy, 'why would anyone want to kill him? Was it just opportunistic, or was he in hospital because of an earlier attempt?'

Bode's death only reiterated the urgency in knowing what it was that was hidden in the Ministry. No fresh ideas had come to them by the end of the week, although they were not certain whatever it was must certainly be something to do with the Unspeakables and their vast range of secret projects. It hardly narrowed the search down though.

What interest Cassy almost equally though, and she had been sure to mention it in her new release of questioning articles, was that when her father had escaped Azkaban Dementors had been stationed at every corner. When ten Death Eaters had escaped there were none to be seen. She could not decide whether this was an act of useless denial that a something greater was afoot, or if the Ministry had truly lost their alliance with the Dementors and could no longer summon their guard. It would certainly ease the escape and she was more inclined towards the latter. Her latest article had seen possession of the papers punishable by expulsion for questioning the Ministry. It had only made people seek them more.

Although all of their efforts had been divided between school work and theorising of the 'weapon' the Order were said to have, word still got out about Hagrid's probation. It was little more than a twitter of passing comments. No one besides Cassy and her friends seemed to care the slightest bit that Hagrid might be fired. On the other hand, everyone seemed to care a great deal about Draco Malfoy and his illicit love for Muggle women.

The rumour Cassy had begun appeared to have taken a life of its own and it was becoming more and more common for her to see her cousin red-faced and scowling as he avoided Hogwarts' many eyes. She would smirk when she caught his eye and he would sneer in return.

He had watched her for days after that. Each time an assignment was handed back he would crane his neck to see her grade, the hope that his own lies had damaged her mind, if not her spirit. He never concentrated in class anymore. He allowed the giggles of his peers, whether directed at him or not, to displace his keen mind nearly every lesson. Cassy might have felt a bit guilty had he not tormented her so. It was only a time before he would crack and confront her. If she could not approach him, she would lure him to her.

Homework increased again and because of the new decree banning teacher-student contact outside of class, many students like Neville were struggling with the heavy workload. The professors did their best to work around the clause by giving extra hints in class, or setting easier assignments. Easier assignments meant more of them as to cover the necessary text. Work was only made more difficult as Professor Umbridge continued her purge of 'unacceptable' materials in the library. With Hagrid fearing for his job, he had set much more homework in an attempt to keep to the recommended weekly quota and his class went from interesting, if somewhat hazardous, to dull and theory heavy.

Detentions had increased as a result too. The jokes and snide comments that had once earnt nothing besides a faint glare from Professor McGonagall now resulted in nights full of students with bleedings hands and scars that never quite healed. It had slowly spread through the school and what had been the secret punishment of a couple of Gryffindors had become a school-wide paranoia.

As word spread, as Lee Jordon cradled a bleeding hand and Terry Boot's skin stung with thin, sharp lines, demand for the resurrection of Dumbledore's Army grew louder and louder. On the following Thursday to the announcement of the breakout, everyone gathered early in the Room of Requirement. There was no complaining or snide remarks as Harry gave his orders. The room was tense with grim determination. Not only had Professor Umbridge forced further resentment through the student body, but the breakout had shaken many to the core. Those who stood in front of Harry did so with uncompromising determination.

Susan Bones' aunt, uncle, and cousins had all died at the hands of one of the ten escaped convicts. The Weasleys had lost their uncles Fabian and Gideon to five Death Eaters, one of whom was Antonin Dolohov. Many of the people who stood before Harry had lost people in the First Wizarding War. Even Seamus had eagerly joined the session. A tide had turned in the mind of the student body and Professor Umbridge was failing to quell it.

As soon as Harry stopped speaking, Cassy's wand was thrown from her hand and high into the air. It clattered behind her, echoing through the silent room. She stared in shock. Neville's wand was raised in front of him, his brow dipped lowly.

'Excellent, Neville,' praised Harry, grinning. He passed Cassy back her wand.

As soon as her hand touched the reed wood, she fired her own disarming charm straight back and it was Neville who had to run to fetch his wand this time. Quickly, he readied himself.

Everyone around them soon began practising themselves when the shock of Neville's surprise attack had worn away. In the haze of hexes and charms flying all around, Cassy did not allow herself to become too consumed in her small battle against Neville. She was right, of course, that he needed only a motive and he would find a pathway to learning anything Harry could throw at him. However, as wonderful as the sight of his determination was, she knew that battles were rarely one on one. It would not be merely a test of her skill against an opponent and while no one was attempting to curse her when her back was turned right then, she worked on dividing her attention between her opponent and her surroundings. Her mind worked overtime, clocking and calculating each flash of light, incantation, or shout of alarm. She worked out the where Hermione and Luna had moved to in the room and she knew when Harry was doubling back around in his observations; he was a mere ten foot behind and to her left.

As quick as Neville was becoming with his curses, he never moved his feet. While Cassy could happily dart out of the line of fire from years of dance lessons, he would often not, his reflexes dulled by his unpractised feet. After a short lesson on that, as Harry seemed to have noticed the fault in several students, the room descended into chaos. Everything they had learnt was thrown around the room in explosions and bursts of colour. Even after Cassy had knocked Neville to the ground, his lip split, he stood with his wand ready again without even taking the time to wipe the blood away. It was impressive, but alarming. Bellatrix's escape had caused a switch in him to flip and the bravery she had always known was in there was unleashed. She was not about to let that flame die.

Over the course of the next two meetings, Neville continued his rapid growth. In his eagerness to learn everything Harry demonstrated, he had injured himself several times and Luna had popped his fingers back into place more than once. He remained undeterred though and he and Cassy often ended up engaged in loud, consuming duels which Harry had to stop when a bookcase shattered behind Neville's head.

Harry whistled loudly and everything came to a halt. In the late January evening light, the room looked hauntingly din. He congratulated everyone as he always did and began to wave them from the room in small groups when the Marauder's Map allowed it. Questioning demands to know when the next meeting was rang out down the hall.

Moving away from the door, Cassy's eyes followed Neville as he lingered near the mirror at the far end of the hall. Gingerly, he twisted the corner of a newspaper clipping that had been stuck beneath the photo of Cedric. Ten sneering faces look back at him.

Hermione, Ginny, and Luna must have noticed too, for they did not leave either. The door shut quietly and Harry weaved through the girls and strode towards Neville. He clapped a hand on his shoulder and shook it slightly, forcing the other boy's attention from the Death Eaters' photographs.

'You did great today, Nev,' he said, smiling. 'Your improvement is amazing.'

'That's not hard when you're starting so low, is it?' questioned Neville bitterly. 'It's not enough.'

'You're improving more than anyone, Neville,' interjected Ginny.

'I'm still weak.'

'That's not true – ' began Hermione.

'It is!' he bit. He turned to face them, his face twisted, distraught. 'Don't you see? I have to be better. Better than this. When Bellatrix LeStrange comes around again, I will not lose to her. I will not let her get away with what she did not my parents and I can't, I just can't, let her hurt anyone else I care about.

'Look at you all. When I do, I see a lot of similarities to the original Order, you know. I see Harry, brave like his dad and selfless like his mum. Cassy is like Sirius, putting her beliefs above herself and never giving up on what she wants, even if it seems impossible. Hermione is Remus, smart and loyal, even when she wants to just scream. Ginny is like Fabian and Gideon; you would fight tooth and nail before you ever let someone get the better of you… and Luna, you're like my mum, I think. You don't care what people say about you and Gran always tells me she never did. She was always proud to be herself and she never let anyone change her and don't let anyone ever try and change you, Luna.'

Neville's eyes had filled with tears. His lip wobbled and before anyone could speak, he pushed on. 'Now look at me. Me? I'm like Pettigrew. I am weak. I am a coward and I don't want to be, but I am. I have no talents – '

'Enough.' Harry's voice cut in sharply and calmly. Neville jumped and Harry peered down at his shorter friend seriously. 'You're no, weak, Neville, nor are you a coward. You came with me to face Voldemort in first-year, you tried to help me rescue Ginny in second-year too. They were times you could have died and yes, you were afraid but, Neville, so was I. Bravery is not about never being afraid, it's about doing things despite it. The idea of a war terrifies me. When I think of all the people I could lose and everything that could happen I feel sick, but we're here to do something about it.'

Neville watched Harry in awe.

'You were the only person to reach out to me,' said Cassy with her arms folded across her chest. 'You had a right to hate me for what my relatives had done to your family, but you refused to treat me as if I was one of them. I could have ended the same way as them, yet you had no fears because you did not see them; you saw me. You stood by me when you could have run when it would have been easier not to. That is something Pettigrew did not do.'

'Those who do great deeds rarely consider them so. Do not sell yourself so short,' said Luna. Her eyes held an uncharacteristic serious glint and Neville gulped down his fears. He smiled a watery grin and nodded. Each nod became firmer until he turned to them all with new, determined eyes.

'Thanks, guys.'

'We should have another DA meeting soon,' said Astoria.

February had rolled in yesterday, bringing with it dull grey skies and the threat of late snowfall. The last DA lesson had only been five days previous, but like many members, Astoria eagerly awaited the burning in her pocket each week. She said it was the only thing she had to look forward to anymore. She was not a part of any other societies and she was only mildly interested in Quidditch. Her House had become tense and suspicious of one another and Cassy had noticed the way they seemed to have divided themselves since the breakout. It was not as clear cut as Death Eaters and non-Death Eaters, but there appeared to be a disagreement amongst the older years which Astoria had yet to fully work out.

She swung back on her chair and sighed heavily.

'You're lucky you're only a third-year. I have NEWTs to worry over,' said Stephen. He pushed Astoria's chair back onto all four legs and fixed her with a brotherly stare that he had perfected in the last few weeks.

She took no notice and swung her chair back again.

'I actually have exams which count this year,' said Cassy.

'Mine count for fifty-percent of my overall grade,' protested Stephen.

The three of them had established a regular meeting time in the library every Sunday when it was clear and they had no other possible commitments to conflict with. They were always undisturbed and Madam Pince did not seem to mind what they did as long as they were quiet about it, so with a silencing charm around them and food hidden beneath the desk, the three spent their Sunday mornings uninterrupted in each other's company; it was the only time they seemed to have now that suspicion of both Cassy and the Slytherin House had flared once more.

Cassy glanced at Astoria, 'Next week might be freer for the DA. Although, it might be better the week after, given next Saturday.'

'Are either of you taking anyone to Hogsmeade for Valentine's Day then?' asked Astoria, fiddling with her blonde hair.

'No,' said Cassy, who looked to Stephen.

He shook his head. Cassy raised an eyebrow and Astoria leant forward eagerly across the table.

'You're not asking Natalia then? She recently broke up with her boyfriend,' she asked.

He waved his hand flippantly. 'I'm not entirely stupid. I know that's a terrible idea.'

'It's because you are afraid, isn't it?' sighed Astoria dramatically.

Stephen booted her chair leg and Astoria wobbled precariously and emitted a short, sharp shriek. Cassy laughed loudly and Astoria huffed, planting all four legs firmly back on the floor. She then turned to Cassy, quickly changing the subject. 'Your cousin had been bragging about being related to LeStrange. He seems to think having a convicted Death Eater in the family with make him more popular after that rumour of him trying to run away and marry a Muggle girl before starting Hogwarts.'

Cassy lifted an eyebrow at the extent her lie had grown, but only drawled a low, 'Wonderful.'

'And has it?' asked Stephen, his chin on his hand.

'No. There is actually quite a bit of sympathy in Slytherin for the Longbottoms. They had a fate worse than death, most say. Still, most people are fairly unconcerned and cheerful. I was almost caught in an argument the other day about who caused the break-out. Some Hufflepuff was convinced it was an inside job and you could see all the Slytherins wanting to admit it was the Dark Lord. I almost told her myself, but then Professor Umbridge rounded the corner.'

Cassy winced. 'She did not hear you, did she?'

'Luckily not. I do not fancy one of those scars, to be honest,' she said as she glanced down at Cassy's right hand.

Stephen hummed thoughtfully. He picked at the feathery edges of his quill and said, 'Ben, on the other hand, is quite vocal about it. He has no doubt You-Know-Who is back. Seems a bit indifferent about it, though.'

Cassy looked at him thoughtfully. 'I cannot see him as an aspiring Death Eater. In fact, I do not think he is actually a terrible person deep inside.'

Stephen and Astoria squinted at her as if she had said something completely incomprehensible.

'I mean it. I have been thinking about it for a while now and I actually think he is just conceited more than anything. He likes to get laughs at the expense of others sometimes, but fundamentally I do not believe he is likely to begin killing Muggles.' She was quiet for a moment, then idly admitted, 'I think he and I are quite similar.'

'You're joking,' protested Astoria.

'You're really not alike,' said Stephen. 'You do remember he had people attack your friend last year, right?'

Cassy held up her hand and silenced them both. 'If I was in Slytherin House, I would have shut myself off further from people. I did not make a great effort to make friends in Gryffindor at eleven and if they had not come to me then I probably never would have. In Slytherin, people already had preconceived perceptions of me and I knew that. I would not have sought out friends and the ones I may have had would merely be for alliances and co-operation more than enjoyment.

'Both Shandy and I can be foul when angered and worse when confronted. We both protect our faults fiercely. So, had I been in Slytherin, I most likely would have cultivated a group very similar to his and it certainly would have driven me to eradicate any intellectual competition, although I must admit I quite enjoy that now anyway. The difference is that I would not attack or blackmail quite like he does. Attacking my friend was a ridiculous ploy.'

It was become clear to Cassy that she and Shandy shared many similar traits. They were not the same by any means, but she saw herself in him, the potential self she could have become had she not accepted Gryffindor would be an agreeable placement on the train ride four years ago. He had panicked at the sight of the Dark spell she had used; he did not have the heart to kill so cruelly, or at least not over something so trivial. He was incredibly perceptive and intelligent, he knew his own power and influence, and more than that he had insecurities with his family that he tried his best to set himself apart from.

'That's all well and good,' said Stephen flatly, 'but it doesn't make him any less of a git.'

'Nothing probably ever will,' conceded Cassy airily, nodding. 'But, as long as he is not against us, then I am not so bothered by what he does. Although, I would much prefer it if he was with us.'

'With us?' repeated Astoria warily.

'You don't mean… You honestly can't be thinking of trying to befriend him, surely?' demanded Stephen. His mouth remained open and his eyes widened in shock. Astoria watched Cassy with her own owl-like expression, but Cassy merely hummed.

'There is a war coming,' she said easily.

'You are mad,' muttered Astoria.

Cassy said nothing. Idly, she traced the scar on the back of her hand. Perhaps she was mad, but she was determined to do something good with it, even if no one else would try. She just needed some time to plan.

'What does it say?' asked Astoria suddenly.

Cassy looked up. The blonde Slytherin was eyeing her hand with narrowed blue-eyes. The three had never spoken of it, although Cassy knew they had noticed the thin lines that marred her skin for weeks. She had hidden it well at first, but once news of the quills became public knowledge, she saw no reason to pretend. Everyone was speaking of them and there was no longer any danger of being called a liar or accused of having faked the injury as she and Harry had feared. Carefully, she stretched her fingers up and out and brought the hand closer to her face.

'I must respect my heritage,' she read. 'I insulted Wizarding tradition by supporting my Muggle-born friend in class. I received a lovely scar in recompense.'

Astoria winced and frowned grimly. Noisily, she pushed back her chair.

'I am going to look up Blood Quills,' she announced. 'There must be something on them here.'

There was not. Cassy had looked before, but knowing Astoria would not accept that, she let her go.

Stephen pushed out his chair too and planted himself on Astoria's vacated one. He pulled Cassy's hand towards him and read the curling script carefully. The cuts had become nothing more than crisp, white lines. Slightly raised from the skin, yet invisible unless one was truly looking for them. Cassy shifted in her seat as he twisted her hand, searching for better lighting.

'This is awful,' he muttered. 'What is someone supposed to do if they have terrible handwriting?'

Cassy laughed. 'I wondered that. At least then it would be illegible and no one could tell what you did. You could say it was from anything.'

'How far would you lie to cover up that you had crap handwriting though?' asked Stephen.

'I would never have bad handwriting,' retorted Cassy. 'It would annoy Professor Umbridge more though, not being able to read her punishment.'

'Public humiliation is no good if no one is there to see it,' shrugged Stephen. 'If I get detention, I'll make sure my writing's atrocious, just for you.'

They laughed again and a sharp cough sounded from behind them. As she turned, Cassy knew it could not be Professor Umbridge, the sound was too low. What she did not expect was to see Harry standing some distance away with a heavy scowl marring his handsome face.

'Harry?' she said, standing. She tugged her hand loose from Stephen's, unaware he had still been holding it.

'Forget it,' said Harry shortly. He turned on his heel and swept back out of sight and Cassy hurried after him in confusion. She jogged through the aisles. His superior leg span had carried him farther than she expected and very quickly, but she caught sight of his robe vanishing around a nearby corner and ran to catch him.

She gripped his arm and forced him to turn to her.

'Are you all right?' she asked quickly.

'Fine,' he snapped. He withdrew slightly and looked above her, avoiding her eyes. Softer, he said, 'Go back to Goodridge.'

'Is it about Occlumency? Did you have a dream? Is that why you are upset?' she pressed.

Harry frowned again. 'Just go, forget it. I didn't mean to interrupt.'

'Interrupt? Wh-'

Harry pulled his arm free and pushed her shoulders with both hands. 'Go.'

'Harry!'

'Just go back to your boyfriend! I didn't mean to bother you. It was only about Occlumency, it can wait.' His voice had changed from a harsh bite to a soft murmur.

Stunned, Cassy could think of nothing to respond with. Her mind had gone blank and it took several seconds to even begin to comprehend his words had been a full sentence, let alone their meaning. She opened her mouth slowly, but by the time a question had formed on her lips he had already begun to speak again.

'Are you going to Hogsmeade with him next week?'

'Why?' Cassy asks distantly with a growing frown.

'Are you?'

'Stephen and I are –'

'I don't think you should go with him. You can do better, you know.'

Again, Cassy blinked.

Where is this coming from? She wondered. She could not stop her right eyebrow drifting upwards and a wonky grin pulled at her lips.

'Can I?' she laughed awkwardly. 'I'm the bastard daughter of a Muggle and a supposed murderer. No one in this climate, no one in their right mind, would want to date me.'

She tried to smile and make a joke of it, but Harry's face remained stonily cold.

'I would,' he said immediately.

The forced smile slipped off her face. It was uttered so quietly that she might have missed it if it had not been for the silence of the library. Unlike earlier when her mind slowed at the mere implication of her dating Stephen, her brain completely drew to a halt at Harry's confession.

Oh, she thought. Oh!

She stared straight into his stunning green-eyes; she noted how they had begun to narrow and she tried to find the words to say something. A fierce bubbling of fire erupted in her stomach. A sort of undeniable excitement; she did not know whether to shout, or jump, or to curl into a ball right then and there and just laugh.

As her inner conflict waged on, Harry's eyes scrunched shut. He sighed loudly and the sound shook Cassy from her hazy pleasure.

'I wasn't going to tell you because it would just make things awkward. I just don't think you should be with someone who still fancies a girl who doesn't look twice at him and joined Charms Club last month to be closer to her. How long – ' he stumbled through his words without ever looking at her, but Cassy did not pay any attention to what he was saying anymore. The excitement continued to build even with his fumbling. Unable to contain herself any longer, she gripped his tie tightly and in one swift tug pulled his face down to meet hers in a long overdue kiss.

When she finally let him go again, Harry said nothing. She took advantage of his silence and pushed onwards, shaking her head. 'You misunderstand, you misunderstand entirely, actually. I tried to tell you how I felt twice, but you avoided me both times, so I just assumed after the second time that you knew and were trying to save me the embarrassment of being rejected.'

Harry said nothing still and Cassy was beginning to think she had completely destroyed any capability to respond. Then, he laughed.

'Hermione was right. I should have just told you,' he said, beaming.

'Hermione?' she repeated. Rubbing her eyes, she said, 'Neville told me the same thing.'

He laughed and she shook her head with the widest smile she had held for a long time. It seemed absurd that she had ever avoided telling him in fear he would reject her, yet she still could not believe her luck. She just assumed they were friends, that her feelings would fade and she would watch him be happy with someone else and her life would continue to revolve around work and discovery as she had always imagined as a child. Yet, there he stood with a toothy smile of his face, his hair messed even more than usual from his nervous ruffling and his eyes darting across the highest levels of the shelves as though he too could not believe his good fortune.

Harry ducked his face suddenly closer to Cassy's. His brilliant green eyes gleamed behind his glasses mischievously. 'Maybe we should listen to them more often. I think we have a bit of time to make up then.'

'Not too often,' murmured Cassy. 'I don't want Hermione becoming too big-headed.'

Harry chuckled.

His hand lifted to her upper-arm and he pulled her forward hesitantly. Their lips met again and instead to stunned stiffness, they both sunk into it, her hand on his chest and their others intertwined. They might have been together for a second, an hour, or an age. Neither one paid attention and time blurred together; the only thing Cassy was aware of was Harry's lips pressed firmly against her own and the sound of blood rushing in her ears.

'Called it,' came a low voice.

Suddenly, the pair jumped apart. Immediately her eyes flashed dangerously towards the grinning faces of Fred and George peeking out behind a nearby bookcase.

Harry cleared his throat, but stood quite unashamedly tall.

George grinned wider.

'We had a bet on,' he said and nudged Fred.

'I said you two would get together in sixth-year, but George said fifth. We made the bet back in third-year, but if it had been in fourth-year then I would have bet this year too,' admitted Fred dramatically. 'Now I owe him a Galleon.'

Cassy's face was dangerously calm.

'What a moment to eavesdrop,' she said quietly. 'What a moment to interrupt.'

'You should be flattered we thought you two would get together!' protested Fred quickly.

Tilting her head to one side, Cassy continued to stare, cold and unblinking.

'Tell anyone and we will being having words.' She twirled her wand in her hand and sent the boys running with their hands raised in surrender. Their laughter echoed through the library and the sharp hush of Madam Pince hissed followed them. The double doors slammed shut. Cassy turned back to Harry and sighed heavily.

He laughed and stuck his hands sheepishly in his pockets. She nudged him playfully.

'You know, if you had come a moment earlier you would have seen Astoria there with us. Stephen was looking at my scar,' she said, glancing up at him sideways.

He shrugged and grinned. 'Yeah, but then I probably wouldn't have said anything, so really it worked out well.'

The two spent nearly an hour in the empty aisle. They spoke about everything and nothing. Harry had taken Cassy's hand at some point during the conversation and neither felt the need to pull away. The ache of uncertain longing that had plagued her for over a year was finally at ease. There were not nearly as many pauses in the conversation as expected; he was not at all embarrassed to ask her to Hogsmeade with him next weekend. The two had known each other too long and were simply too close to feel any unease and Cassy continued to tease him while avidly avoiding his probing questions on exactly when she had tried to confess herself.

She told him she would have to speak to the rest of her strictly platonic male friends and cancel their wild dates before agreeing to go with him. He rolled his eyes and the two wandered through the library back to where Harry had been sat some time before he had retrieved her. It was only when she caught sight of the Occlumency book on the table that Cassy sobered slightly.

'Why is it you came to find me?' she asked.

Harry shrugged. 'I just wanted to ask you about something Snape mentioned during our last lesson, but for the life of me I can't remember what it is called anymore.'

Cassy shook her head and sighed, while he ruffled his hair thoughtfully.

'I will go and collect my things and - oh,' she said suddenly with an eyebrow raised. 'How did you know Stephen joined Charms and that Faulks was in it?'

Suddenly, Harry appeared very sheepish.

Finally!

Okay, so this only took four and a half years of their lives to get to. Tada! It's probably not as climactic as expected, but to be honest they are 15/16 years old and in school. It was not a confession spawn by extraordinary circumstances, but one that could actually occur and I always imagined it this way since I wrote them first meeting in the library back in 2012.

I had neither of them particularly embarrassed about it because when Harry is with Ginny, he is not fussed at all and in fact finds the attention rather amusing. I cannot picture Cassy caring for other people's opinions either, because she knows Harry and she trusts him more than anyone. I hope it read quite naturally. There wasn't much detail, but the more I tried to force in the worse it read, so in the end I did not bother. This is also the first time I have written romance in any form. I didn't realise how difficult it can be to make it believable. I mean, sometimes I love the absurdity of fictional romance, but I do strive to a level of believability with Cassy, so I hope it was.

Now all there is to do is let their romance develop. Of course, this is Cassy and Harry and although a major element in the progression of the characters, this is still not a romance story. You will be seeing much more of it from now on though! I did not get this far to ignore it again.

Also, Fred and George do make a comment during CMBlack: Blood of a Dog that they suspect who Cassy will end up with as a passing comment in a chapter. So I actually made a very premature reference to their bet.

I hope you liked it and thanks for the reviews on the last chapter!

Thanks!