Black Curiosities
Exception to the Rule

Everything replayed in Cassie's head, forcing her to catch up mentally with what was happening.

The first thought as she stared at the person in front of her was, " If there were anything that would make me doubt my magic, it would be seeing that mark—that horrid mark that took so much and caused so much pain. "

And yet, just moments before, a certain someone stepped into her small shop, asking for help, unceremoniously shoving the Dark Mark in her face, a Mark which should have sent terror down her spine at the sight of, that Cassie knew her magic should have warned her about, that there was, in fact, a Death Eater in her shop which in turn was a threat to herself and every Muggle there in Middleton.

Except—

There was a definite exception to the rule.

"Breathe, Cassie, breathe," she told herself, her head jolting at the sight of the person in front of her, the certain someone who'd always been an exception to the rule of her magic warning her regarding the threat of a Death Eater in her presence, that always put her on alert as her magic knew that particular person was never a threat.

Except—

"That person shouldn't be here," Casie swallowed, breathing. "They're supposed to be dead."

It quickly clicked that the person in front of her had been talking, not looking her in the eye to realize she'd reacted to seeing him, to seeing the Dark Mark. Still, a reaction so in character for the person she once knew was honestly unsettling as she knew how he struggled when they were younger to look someone in the eye, which in turn resulted in a rather formidable matriarchal figure in her life becoming furious at him, criticizing him for not ever being able to do so. She could still remember how he'd flinch away from the woman yelling at him, how he struggled to understand the situation.

And there he was, not reading the situation, not understanding, bumbling into the situation as he held out to her his forearm, showing her the Dark Mark as if doing so were a typical conversation point, but her mind registered. "Do you know what this is?"

"He should know what this is," Cassie thought, still taken aback by the sudden appearance of someone she'd thought dead.

"It's something bad, isn't it?"

Casie moved, heading straight for the front door of her shop, locking it, and letting out a deep breath, unsure of what to say to the person in front of her.

"I thought of asking my daughter," he said, catching her off guard, making Cassie look up at him as he continued speaking to the spot she'd just stood in as he'd not noticed her move, his attention instead focused on the Death Mark, in part because there was a level of panic.

"Daughter? He's been dead for sixteen years, or I thought he was, and he's got a daughter."

"But," he said softly. "Something tells me I don't want to drag my Hermione into this. Or Olivia."

Cassie turned, her eyes widening, her ears recognizing the name. "Hermione?"

"Hermione. She's like you. My daughter is," he said. "At least," he turned towards her voice, holding onto his arm, the fingers of his right hand gripping the left forearm tightly. "I think I'm guessing right that you're also a witch. That's why you named your shop the Bell, Book & Candle. After that American movie."

"You remember the movie?" Cassie asked, remembering seeing the movie and how his older brother managed to sneak them into a Muggle theater for her birthday. Nobody ever found out about the transgression, or at least what would be a transgression for him and his older brother.

"No. I mean." He frowned, his head tilting.

"Hermione. As in Hermione Granger," Cassie's eyes closed. "Which means…."

"I mean, I kind of," he said, his head tilting, just like it did when they were younger when something confused him, when the logic didn't add up the way he thought. The palm of his head pressed against his head as if one of his headaches was also setting in. "It's like I'm remembering my life before I died?"

"Before you died?" Cassie asked.

"A cave. With corpses," he muttered.

Which made her wish she'd not asked, that she didn't have a hint of what happened to him sixteen years ago. Cassie swallowed.

He took a deep breath, sighing. "I, sorry. You're a stranger, so I shouldn't have said that. I'm always bungling my words like that."

"I know," Cassie said. "I know that you do that."

His head tilted, his eyes still focused on the ground. "I guess gossip gets around Middleton, huh?"

Cassie took a deep breath, looking at the ground, knowing she needed to say something to break through the craziness in front of her. "I know you don't recognize me."

"Of course, I don't." He looked up at the same time as she did, although he didn't look her in the eye, laughing as he did so. "I'm a Muggle, not a Wizard."

Cassie stared.

His head tilted. "Sorry. Did I not get the term right? It's what my daughter says her mother and I are. As well as the rest of the Granger family."

Cassie took a deep breath. "I think you know."

"Know what," he said, swallowing.

"That the reason you're here is because your magic led you here," Cassie said, unsure how he'd react. Her magic, though, was leading her in this direction, though there was a worry she wasn't paying proper attention because of the shock of seeing him alive and well, albeit not remembering who she was.

"No," he said, swallowing nervously, shifting from one foot and putting his weight on the other while his right hand reached again for his left hand. "I can't do magic."

"Isn't that because you can't remember how?" Cassie said.

"I should go."

Cassie's eyes closed, a feeling of dread hitting the pit of her stomach at him, leaving so quickly that perhaps she had said the wrong thing. "Sebastian, wait." When she opened them, she saw him stop. "I've heard things. About the life, you've made for yourself." She watched him shake his head, reminding her she was a stranger to him. "Degrees? A wife and daughter."

"What of it?"

The response was more along the lines Cassie would have expected from his older brother, nor was she familiar with the darkness that suddenly appeared in his aura. "I know it won't mean anything, but I'm proud of you. And this life you've made for yourself."

He stared. "I'm married, you know."

Cassie smiled. "That's not the kind of relationship you and I had."

Sebastian Granger looked at her, his eyes dark as she expected of his brother or mother—anybody else in his family but him, or herself, for that matter. "Then why?"

"I'd like to meet your Hermione some day," Cassie said, smiling at him. "And Olivia." She looked at her arm. "And that feeling that you shouldn't show Hermione that magical tattoo on your arm." She watched him grip his arm tighter. "You're right in thinking that won't go over well.

His mouth twisted into a grimace, his fingers tightening around his arm. "I think this was a bad idea."

Cassie took a deep breath, noticing how much like his older brother he was in those moments, rather than himself, almost as if. She shook his head. "It wasn't. I'll try my best to help."

And then he was gone.