Disclaimer: I am not making money off this because that is capital 'I' Illegal. However, I would just like to point out the unfairness of this as I am capital 'B' Broke.

A/N: Happy Holidays everyone!

OoOoO

Compared to the living hell Casss's life had been recently, April passed more peacefully than Ron napping in the Gryffindor common room (which was saying something, because Ron always had this little smile on his face when he was sleeping and therefore not working on his studying). With finals approaching rather rapidly, she found herself increasingly occupied with her studies. She wasn't the only one, either. Poor Harry, Hermione, and Ron consistently stayed up well past midnight studying for their O.W. L.s, alongside most of the other fifth-year Gryffindors. The first-years, though not nearly as swamped with work, also occasionally stayed up later working on their schoolwork, though at least in Cass and Brooke's case, that was mainly because Brooke had this real nasty habit of goofing around for about three hours, forgetting her homework entirely, and was ergo forced to stay up later to finish. And, tarts, how could Cass concentrate on completing her homework at a reasonable hourwhen Brooke was sneakily shoving leftover candies from the Weasley twins into Ron's mouth?

Cass actually ended up abandoning Brooke after her friend stuck a Bogey Blaster up the fifth-year's nose and Ron was abruptly brought back into the waking world by a violent, snot-shooting sneeze. She and Brooke, alongside Hermione and Harry, were in hysterics until one o'clock in the morning, each of them cackling.

"It was-on his eyebrow!"

"I saw some in his hair!"

"His eyes flew open!"

Eventually, Ron couldn't stand it anymore and grumpily stomped up to his dormitory. And at some point, the four of them had to admit that they couldn't keep laughing because, dang it, Cass and Brooke have a Transfiguration essay due the following day while Harry and Hermione have a considerably more difficult Potions essay due the day after that, and someone had to do the homework.

And as fun as that was, Cass had been miserable the next morning and thus made her mind up: no more working with Brooke. Or Harry for that matter. Cyrene and Sarah turned out to be exceedingly better study partners anyway (though considerably less fun).

Even with the near-constant studying, the month of April was . . . Cass could only describe it as happy. After Seeing Voldemort torture Snape, after saying goodbye to her grandparents, and after the guilt of the forgotten Pensieve-vision, she critically needed some time to just focus on her friends and on her studies.

"For tarts' sake, with all the awful stuff that's been happening, I completely forgot we were in a magic school," she said to Brooke one day loudly. "I mean, I have an entire library to explore. The lake to walk around! An enchanted castle to investigate! Friends to joke around with! Screw the Dark Lord."

Brooke gave a forced laugh. "Probably shouldn't say that so loudly."

Cass acknowledged her friend by raising her pointer finger. "You're probably right." She smirked and tacked on, "For once."

Brooke huffed crankily at her.

Ron came up to her in the Great Hall one day during breakfast, interrupting her and Brooke's bacon levitating contest. In the spirit of practicing wandless magic, the two of them hovered a single piece of bacon over their plates; they had decided beforehand that the winner, whoever holds the bacon up longest, gets the last powdered pastry on the platter in front of them. Cass envisioned the sugary goodness in her mouth and swore to herself that she would defeat her friend.

Ron very nearly smashed this resolve to pieces when he came up behind her and plopped a letter in front of her.

Cass's piece of bacon wobbled and Brooke grinned in triumph next to her.

"Ron, I'm doing something!" she gritted, re-balancing the bacon with a strained effort.

"Sorry," he said. "Thought you should read this." He spotted the single powdered pastry on the platter. "Ooh! If you don't mind, I'll just take this-ate the last one over at my part of the table-" And without waiting for their approval, the Gryffindor prefect plucked their pastry right off the tray and walked off, munching happily.

In a flash of frustration, Cass crossed her arms, the bacon plunking back onto her plate. Beside her, Brooke snatched her piece out of the air, took a bite, and glared at the retreated Weasley. "If the D.A. were still a thing, I'd challenge that idiot to a duel the very next meeting," she said, scowling.

Cass hummed in agreement, deciding to at least see what this letter was about, as it was apparently important enough to ruin her and Brooke's fun. She turned it over in her hands, frowning when she read the back: it was from Mrs. Weasley and it wasn't even addressed to her, but to Ron. She glanced at the front of the letter once more, noticing that it was already torn into, as though Ron had read its contents beforehand.

"Why's Weasley giving you a letter from his Mum?" questioned Brooke, still chomping on her bacon.

Cass herself didn't know why, but whatever the reason, it was probably not for Brooke's ears. Though it physically made her chest pang, she pretended to be confused for a moment before snapping her fingers as if in sudden realization. "You know what? I reckon it's a Howler or something." She glared rather convincingly at Ron, hoping the fifth-year wouldn't notice and take offense. "Tarts, just when the Weasley twins up and leave and I think I'm going to get some sort of respite, another Weasley barges in and messes with me."

Brooke crossed her arms, indignant for Cass's sake. "You're probably right. You should go throw it out in front of him. Merlin, the nerve of some people. And he took our pastry, too!"

"Nah, I'll hold on to it. Maybe I can slip it back to him and have it go off in his face," she said. "Serves him right."

Brooke nodded, accepting Cass's filthy, dirty lies, and though Cass feigned a small smile, she felt rotten inside.

She wondered briefly how Dumbledore managed to bear the guilt of dishonesty, when she could barely stand it and his lies were much worse than her own. Perhaps he also lied to himself, told himself his lies were for the greater good, tricked himself into believing the way he tricked others.

At least Cass had the decency to feel guilty about lying.

OoOoO

Cass chose to read the letter in a quiet alcove, sheltered behind metal suits of armor and stone archways. She had only a few minutes alone, as she was in between her Transfiguration and Herbology classes.

Dear Ron,

We've had to say goodbye to Jimmy and Joyce, but just know that I'm here for you if you ever need anything, dear. I promise everything will be alright. I can cook you all your favorite meals over the summer, and the boys will of course play Quidditch with you, so just know that I look forward to seeing you soon. Please share these hopes with your friends.

The dog also misses you! He won't stop barking about his two favorite people. Don't worry, I keep an eye on him so he doesn't tear up too much of the furniture!

Much love, Mum and Dad

Cass's entire consciousness was moved by the letter. It sent a profound sense of gratitude and affection through her, and she marveled at how a few words could melt away some of her grief regarding her grandparents. It still hurt, knowing her grandparents currently had no idea she existed, that she had no imprint on their consciousness the way they did hers, that she had no one and they had each other, but Mrs. Weasley's coded letter had assured her she had support. It was the difference between carrying a boulder by yourself and carrying one with others. It was still heavy, it still put a strain on your shoulders, but you weren't isolated, you weren't alone.

And of course, she hadn't been alone to begin with. She had her friends to joke around with, to let go with. She had the Weasleys and Sirius, and though she could not see them or touch them, she knew she was in their thoughts, that they were concerned for her because they cared for her, and that by itself was comforting.

She had Harry, her brother, her family no longer just by blood or by chance but by choice. She chose to hang out with Harry. He chose to look out for her. At some point, they had gone from strangers with a shared past to friends with the promise of a shared future. She felt tears of happiness prick at the corners of her eyes and reread the letter, treasuring every word.

OoOoO

Ronald Weasley suddenly found his entire view obscured by curly black hair. A second later, he registered the feeling of small arms around his neck, squeezing him gently. He grunted with surprise, looking down to find Harry's sister-Merlin, that was still mind-boggling to think about-embracing him fiercely.

"Wha-?" he sputtered in shock.

"Your mum's the best," Cass said with a smile, breaking off the hug. Ron took immediate notice of the envelope clutched in the first-year's left hand.

He smiled, realizing what his friend's sister was so happy about. He patted her on the back. "I know," he agreed.

"Thank you," she said earnestly.

"I'm just the messenger," said Ron with a shrug, but he secretly felt very pleased he had played a part in making this first-year's day better.

"Still," Cass said. "I really appreciate it. Could you tell your mum it meant a lot?"

Ron nodded. "Of course, she'll be happy. Reckon she'll probably pamper you all summer long."

Cass smirked. "I just have a way with people, what can I say?" She narrowed her eyes suddenly. "Also, don't ever steal from our part of the table again."

Ron tilted his head to the side, confused for all of three seconds before remembering that morning. He attempted a sheepish smile. "I didn't think you guys wanted-"

"We very much did." And with that, the first-year Seer walked away, flashing a grin over her shoulder to show him she wasn't actually that angry with him.

Harry watched the exchange, eyebrows raised.

"What?"

"You stole her pastry?" he said.

"I stole a pastry. It didn't belong to them."

Harry pinched his lips together, very obviously suppressing a smile. "It's a wonder she didn't curse you."

Ron grumped about, crossing his arms. "As if a firstie could curse me."

Harry gave him a very pointed look, as if questioning his sanity from that statement alone.

"I'm not incompetent, Harry," said Ron indignantly. "I could defend myself against your little sister."

"Steal from her again, and you'll have to worry about defending yourself from me," said Harry with a small smirk. With no further comments, he returned to his Transfiguration homework, and Ron had to wonder how on earth he managed to meet two twins that possibly made him more nervous than Fred and George.

OoOoO

During the daytime, with the sun shining and the lake sparkling and the castle aglow with solar light, Cass was certain her favorite class was Charms. She loved the intricate wand movements, the precise words and pronunciations, the magical enchantments that left her sense of wonder blossoming in her chest. A close second, Transfiguration was nipping at Charms' heels. It required a vivid ability to visualize, giving the Seer a chance to imagine for herself a specific image rather than have an image forced into her brain painfully. She could actually produce tangible, touchable results using Transfiguration, and make something extraordinary out of something ordinary. It was undeniably a thrill. Maybe some part of her liked these classes because Charms was Lily's best subject and Transfiguration was James's, and striving to excel in these classes was like stepping into her parents' shoes. She cherished the fact that they had once learned the same magic, the same spells, even being taught by the same professors, and everything about the two classes made her feel connected to them in a way her visions could not achieve.

Needless to say, Defense Against the Dark Arts was very much below Charms and Transfiguration, even lower on her list than History of Magic, which was about the most boring class there possibly was. Tart-forsaken Umbridge knew how to make even a wicked-sounding class like Defense Against the Dark Arts and twist it into a nasty hindrance.

But at the moment, Cass braced her arms on the wall of the Astronomy Tower, a warm wind stirring her dark locks, moonlight gently illuminating the sprawling campus of the ancient castle, and she realized that her favorite class should have been Astronomy all along. Even though she was thousands of meters above solid dirt, she very rarely experienced such a strong sense of being grounded. She existed in the future, in the past, but right now she felt in the present.

The class had ended around ten minutes ago, and students had gradually trickled down to the inside of the castle. Professor Sinistra, talking with a very enthusiastic Cyrene, had left with them, unknowingly leaving Cass behind. The Seer knew, of course, that it was against the rules to be up here without the professor, but she had stayed hidden behind a telescope as Sinistra left nonetheless, choosing to quietly stay behind.

Harry once told her centaurs peered into the stars for answers, seeing the future in the light from the past. Looking up at them now, Cass saw nothing. The night sky was mesmerizing but pointless to her, yielding nothing. Her visions were rarely complete scenes, fractured like a million stars, but at least they provided some answers to her.

With this train of thought, the peaceful atmosphere of being alone on the Astronomy Tower-a fleeting distracting-was shattered. Her troubles rushed to overwhelm her again. She didn't know what to do about Voldemort or the winged, Dark with Angenuit. She could not remember her vision she so carelessly dropped into the Pensieve, when she could have just told Harry had she been able to find the words. And Harry—Tarts, his path was stuffed past breaking point with danger.

Cass blew air through her mouth and pushed herself away from the balcony, descending from the tower before her worries—so prominent under the night sky—could swallow her whole.