I'm tired today, but I figure writing will do me some good. Don't try to figure out how my mind works; I don't even know.

My grandma's sick, and I'm really worried about her. She's always been in relatively to really good health. Maybe getting old just changes that.

Enjoy reading!

Disclaimer: I'm not JKR, or British, for that matter. I don't own anything related to Harry Potter.

Harry's POV

The months went on and, honestly, Harry couldn't have been more satisfied with how this year was turning out. He was still being labeled as crazy, but Ron and Hermione were helping him through that. Justin, Padma, and Blaise were becoming close friends of his, too. They met up in DADA or the library for their written assignments. They were concerned about where they could practice their magic, so Professor Everpine show them a room that would fit their needs called the Room of Requirement. She said it would be their little secret.

Sadly, there were downsides to the year, too. A lot of people were against him now, Dumbledore was still ignoring his existence, and there was tension between two of his friends. Ron made it perfectly clear that he hated Blaise and wouldn't spend any time near the Slytherin. He and Hermione weren't getting on with their own groups, either. In fact, most of the fifth year groups were full of hostility, which caused many of the students to become angry easily offended throughout the day. Nobody else could seem to get along with others who had completely different interests than them. The raven thought it was actually rather easy.

Justin was a good bloke. He was always ready to help, even if it interfered with whatever he had planned. He once told Harry that he couldn't stand the thought of another person being uncomfortable, let alone in pain. He also loved to have fun. There were times when he decided to have the Req. Room (as the four had taken to calling it) play a variety of muggle music and dance around.

Padma was sweet. Harry was worried at first that she would be like Parvati, but she wasn't. She was intelligent and had a composed nature. She didn't use more words than she felt she should. She had said that, because she was the heiress of the Patil family, she had to have a mind and personality for politics but still be kind and courteous. She enjoyed cloud and star gazing and could often be found on the Astronomy Tower or looking outside of her dormitory window during her free periods.

Blaise was surprisingly easy to like. He changed from quiet to sassy and back again when needed. He explained that he never knew his dad and some of his mum's late husbands would hurt him in various ways, so he had to appear cold in public. He refused to tell his mum this, though. Though she loved and worried over him a lot, she needed to marry and remarry to have her husbands' money when they die. He was multi-lingual and could speak Italian, English, French, Russian, Icelandic, Swedish, German, three different types of Arabic, and Hungarian. He liked to spend time around people. It, apparently, made him feel safer.

Honesty, Harry was grateful for his group members. He felt like he could always talk to them just to be talking and not have to deal with worried, awe-filled, or sympathetic comments.

One thing did puzzle the boy. While he was in Olcumency lessons with Professor Everpine, she held back. She never went easy on him, no, but when he would accidently enter her mind in attempts to make her get out of his, which happened at least twice a lesson lately, he would always find a wall. He knew she had a right to her own memories. Even so, he couldn't shake the feeling that he should see what's on the other side.

He shook his head to clear it. The reason he was at the door to her private quarters was so that he could find out more about his parents. He had written to Remus and Sirius about the new professor. Sirius didn't reply, but Remus sent him a letter telling him that he knew her from Hogwarts and that they were in the same year, but he couldn't remember how close, if at all, they were.

"Harry!" Professor Everpine exclaimed when she opened the door. She was dressed in a purple night gown with a golden outline of a horse neighing while its front legs were up in the air on her chest. "What on earth are you doing here? Do you have any idea what time it is, young man?" He didn't, but the tired look on her face told him that it was late.

Cassie's POV

"I have something to ask you, ma'am," Harry stated.

The blonde raised an eyebrow. "That couldn't wait until morning?" He shook his head. Sighing, Cassie said, "Well, a teacher should always be available to her students, I guess. Come on it. Want something? My house elf would be happy to make it." Snapping her fingers, Regina appeared beside her.

"What can I do for you, Madam?" the creature asked with a bow. Cassie nodded at Harry.

"Um, well, tea would be nice." The elf nodded and went to the kitchen area.

Sitting on the couch, the woman couldn't help but be slightly worried that Harry found out somehow. She had been trying so hard to keep it a secret. After Regina brought the tea, Cassie asked him why he was there.

"You knew my mum and dad," the raven began bluntly. "I was wondering what you could tell me about them. I mean, I heard some stories already, but… What were they like? What did they do for fun? Did you get on together? What about Sirius and Remus? Were they your friends?" He said all of that so quickly that Cassie's mind struggled to keep up.

She considered her options for a moment. On one hand, this could make keeping him in the dark about some things difficult. On the other, those pleading eyes were hard to resist.

Sipping her tea, she said, "James was, energetic, to say the least. He was always running around causing mischief. He was extremely friendly to his friends, but, well," Cassie sighed. He did deserve to know this. "James was a bully, Harry. He had no regard for anyone outside his group of friends. He went too far. A lot. He was arrogant, too. The Potter line is very old you see, just slightly younger than the Blacks. Coupled that with how much his parents spoiled him, he acted like he was a king." Silence fell. Harry looked disappointed. It was hard finding out someone you loved was less than perfect, especially when you never knew them. She didn't have that problem often, because Slytherins had to learn how to spot imperfections early on.

"However," Cassie continued at seeing Harry's expression, "he wasn't prejudice. He had friends from every House. He saw the good in everyone." The boy looked surprised, and she chuckled. "Yes; even Slytherins. His mother was one when she attended here."

Cassie began losing herself in memories. It took all her control to snap out of it. "Lily was arrogant, too, but in a more, for lack of a better word, humble manner. She loved life and knew how successful she was at it, but it never stopped her from being a friend you could count on. She used her strengths to manipulate people who hurt those she cared about. She couldn't stay out of a friend's problem to save her life. She was a little in your face but, she was very kind and understanding."

"Remus was a book worm and followed the rules. However, he was also a trickster at heart. He memorized many of this school's rule to find their loopholes. He was fair in giving out punishments but shy when he wasn't on patrol. He took grades seriously but had fun, too. He over-stressed himself at times and verged on a few breakdowns, but, well, I think you get the idea."

Cassie felt anger rise as more memories hit her. "Sirius Black," she ground out through a tight smile, "was very… certain… in himself and what he thought was right. It didn't matter who it was that stood in his way." She closed her mouth. She was close to exploding with rage at the mention of that, that, URGH!

She asked the younger to leave. She wanted to scream in her pillow and didn't want to show such weakness in front of a student.

-LINE BREAK-

"That would usually conclude the Sorting ceremony, however today we welcome a very special student to these halls! She will attend Hogwarts for six months every year, then return to The Witchcraft Academy for Girls in her home country of North America. Minerva, if you will," the Headmaster boomed from the Head Table.

A stern looking woman wearing glasses cleared her throat before shouting, "Everpine, Cassiopeia." A young blonde calmly made her way to a stool and sat down, waiting for the Sorting Hat to land on her head; she had seen this happen to the other first years.

'Well, well, well, what do we have here?' The girl was surprised that the hat was talking to her, but she did her best to keep it from showing. 'A sophisticated one, eh? This should be interesting. Your loyalty is astounding, but your true loyalty is shown only to a precious few. Hufflepuff is not for you, then. Hmmm. Courageous, but not outlandishly so. Not Gryffindor. Your intelligence is high, yes. Ravenclaw would serve you well. Cunning, ambitious, secretive, hmmm. Better be SLYTHERIN!' The last word was said out loud.

The table with the green and silver banner started cheering. The girl walked to the table and looked for a place to sit. A boy with slightly greasy black hair with his head bent low who was sitting close to the middle of the table. There were at least two empty spaces on each side of him, like the other students were ignoring him. The blonde filled one of the spots. "Hello," she said warmly.

The boy looked up. Black eyes flickering with surprise before becoming suspicious. After studying her for a minute, he nodded and said in a monotone voice, "Severus Snape."

The girl smiled slightly. She liked this one. "Cassiopeia Everpine, but call me Cassie."

""""""""

Cassie was sitting by Lily and James in the Gryffindor common room. Sirius walked through the portrait hole wearing a smug smile. His eyes gained a look of hatred the moment he saw the blonde.

"What's that snake doing here?" he demanded.

Lily sighed. "Really, Black," she began, "when will you grow up? Cassie's in here, because we want her in here. You don't have to stay. Wait; weren't you saying something about spending some quality time with Remus tonight?"

Sirius looked downright malicious as he sneered. "Yeah, well, I thought Moony might like a snake. Grease isn't good for him, but I reckoned I ought to let him have some tonight." He walked up the stairs to the boys' dormitory.

After taking a moment to ponder the other boy's words, James paled and ran out of the room. The girls just sat there, confused. After a few hours, he came back to tell them that Remus, who was apparently a werewolf, had attacked Severus.

""""""""

Pain filled the woman's senses. She barely registered her husband's attempts to calm her down. Her screams filled the room.

She was told this would happen. There were many women who spoke of the excruciating pain of birthing a wizard. Still, nothing could have prepared her for this. It almost made her want to rethink having another someday.

Almost.

After what felt like hours, crying replaced the screams. She looked up and saw the healer smile widely as she handed James the baby.

"He's beautiful, Cassie," he said softly. The blonde soon found a baby boy in her arms. He opened soft brown eyes and studied her curiously. The woman smiled at the sight.

"Welcome to the world Harim James Potter."

Brown eyes opened to see Regina by the bed. "Forgive me, Madam," she began, "but Mister Snape is at the door. He claims that there is an emergency."

TBC…

I didn't want to leave you guys in the dark for too long, so Cassie dreamed about memories. Her big secret is revealed! Well, not all of it. There's still the matter of what happened next, past-wise. I don't know when you'll find that out, though. I like to think this stuff up as I write.

No offence to Jilly shippers, but I just don't like it when a guy meets and falls in love with a girl at a really young age and they end up together forever. It's too cliché for me. I'm going to ignore the fact that that's what happened to my grandparents.

I kind of feel like I shouldn't have left Peter out entirely. I'll probably think of a way to put him in at some point.

NO! I didn't make a mistake. Remus doesn't know if they were friends or not. That will be explained later.

Harim is pronounced 'har-reem.'

This might be a bit strange to say in a story pertaining to witchcraft, but Merry Christmas!