Excerpt in Snape's classroom taken from OOTP kindle books 1-7 compilation page 2117-2119

I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER – JUST BORROWING

Cassi burst out of the oak double doors and practically flew down the stone steps outside, nearly crashing into someone. She didn't stop to see who it was. She just kept running.

"Was that Cassi?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione as they walked up the stairs into the Entrance Hall.

"Yeah, think so, mate. Wonder what's got her so riled up?" Ron said.

"She looked so upset," Hermione said sadly.

"Who looked upset, Miss Granger?" Professor McGonagall said crisply.

The three of them whipped around, looking surprised, Hermione a little fearful. Professor McGonagall continued to look at them.

"Miss Granger?" McGonagall said, looking stern now.

"Cassi, Professor. She just ran past us. She looked quite upset," Hermione said honestly.

"Where is she now?" McGonagall asked, looking past Hermione through the open door and into the grounds.

"We don't know, Professor. She was running toward the Quidditch pitch, though," Harry added.

"Very well, you may go," McGonagall said dismissively. She watched as the three of them went up the staircase to, presumably, the Gryffindor Common Room. She then turned from the stairs and exited the Great Hall, through the oak front doors, and into the grounds in search of Cassi.

Entering the Quidditch Stadium, McGonagall looked around silently for any sign of the girl. "Homenum revelio," McGonagall said quietly. She watched as the spell covered the stadium. She saw a crouched outline in the top box in the corner of what looked like the floor. Heading silently in that direction, she thought what she would say to the girl once she found her. She crossed the field and began climbing the stairs.

Cassi was sitting quietly, thinking about what to do next. She heard her detection charm go off before she heard the footsteps climbing the stairs. Cassi recognized those footsteps and sighed. As they were nearing the top, Cassi said, "Good afternoon, Professor McGonagall." She was still looking at her hands when the professor crested the top of the steps.

"Good afternoon, Miss Snape. What are you doing up here on your own?" McGonagall asked, voice crisp. She didn't sound angry or very stern. Nevertheless, Cassi did not look up.

"Sorry if I'm not allowed up here. I was trying to find someplace to be alone, Professor," Cassi said quietly.

McGonagall looked down at the girl. She hadn't looked up yet but was still staring at her hands. Her shoulders were slightly hunched. Sighing slightly, she said, "Up you get, Miss Snape. Come, sit with me." She sat down on the bleachers and waited, hands in her lap, eyes fixed on Cassi.

Sighing and shaking her head slightly, Cassi grimaced and stood, brushing dust off her robes, and sat next to Professor McGonagall. She still hadn't looked at her. Something Professor McGonagall was quick to point out.

"Look at me, Miss Snape, and tell me please what you're doing up here. Potter and Granger seem to think you were upset when you left the castle," she said briskly.

Cassi turned and looked at her as requested. "I was – am, upset. My – Prof – my father and I had a small argument. It's nothing, honestly," taking some deep breaths and looking back down at her hands, she continued, "I'm still adjusting to all of this," she heard her detection charm chime again. She had a feeling it was her father, but she didn't care. Maybe he'd listen if she was speaking to someone else. Cassi continued, "Being at school is harder than I thought it would be. There was no formality with just my mum and me. It was easy, comfortable. I mean, it was lonely at times, just me, her, and Bailey. But it was home. I was home. This – this place - is decidedly less comfortable. This place-," Cassi gestured around, "-is not my home. I miss my mother, Professor. I feel like a horrible daughter. I rarely think of her, of what she did for me. My father barely tolerates me at times. I feel I remind him of a mistake he once made," Cassi said sadly.

"That's enough, Miss Snape. Look at me." McGonagall waited a moment before she took Cassi's chin in her hand and turned her face to look into her own. She pursed her lips slightly when she saw the slight bruise starting to bloom on her cheek but otherwise said nothing. "I can assure you, your father does not think you a mistake. He is quite proud of you and in awe of your talent. I know he can be a harsh taskmaster, but a mistake is not one that he would ever use to describe you." She patted Cassi's hand and gave her a small smile. "Now, back to the castle. We need to get you back to your father before he worries about where you are."

Cassi gave a slight chuckle, "He won't be worried, Professor. He's on the stairs listening to us." McGonagall looked at her sharply. Cassi's smile widened. "I put detection charms on the stairs. That's how I knew you were coming up." Cassi wasn't sure if Professor McGonagall looked impressed or shocked. Maybe a little bit of both.

"Well then, let us not keep him waiting any longer." She ushered Cassi toward the stairs, and sure enough, her father was there, looking up at her arm held out, waiting.

Cassi looked at him, her face flushing in embarrassment. Taking a deep breath, she walked toward him. He put his hand on the back of her neck, its warm weight almost comforting. She matched his pace down the steps, McGonagall right behind them. Once they reached the bottom, they bade each other good day, and she was left alone with her father again.

He took her shoulders in his hands and turned Cassi to face him. He took hold of her chin and tipped her face up to his face, turning it slightly to the right to scrutinize her left cheek. His thumb brushed the slight bruise there. "I have bruise balm in my quarters that will take care of this."

"It doesn't matter," Cassi said quietly. She rubbed her hands together vigorously, whispering an incantation under her breath, then swiped her left hand over her cheek. The bruise disappeared, as did the discomfort.

He smirked down at her. "One of your own inventions?" She nodded and looked down at the ground. He took her chin in his hand again and brought her eyes up to meet his again. "Umbridge came to my office after you left. She heard about your little interaction in the courtyard. I handled it. I DO NOT want you in the crosshairs of that woman. You are to ingratiate yourself with her. Make yourself useful. She is not to be trifled with. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sir," Cassi said quietly. "Father, I – I'm sorry I was so rude to you. It was uncalled for. I should have trusted you. I didn't understand why and thought you were being unfair." She said with sincerity. Thinking for a moment, she said, "Father, I don't like her very much. She gives me a very bad feeling."

"No, I do not trust her either. But you leave her to me. Do as I've instructed. Yes?"

"Yes, Sir." Cassi looked back down at the ground again. And once again, he took her chin between his thumb and forefinger, raising her eyes to meet his.

"You are not a mistake. A surprise, yes. But never a mistake. And I don't want to hear any more nonsense about 'not being wanted' either, or we will be having a very different conversation. Are we clear?" She nodded again. "A verbal answer if you please," he said, the familiar bite back in his voice.

Sighing slightly, she said, "Yes, Sir."

"All right, let's go," He said.

Turning to walk with him, she felt a sharp smack hit her backside. Cassi gasped and turned sharply, eyes flaring.

"Brat," he said playfully.

She tutted, shaking her head, rubbing the spot he had smacked for a moment before leaving the pitch. She leaned into him and put her arm around her waist as he put his arm around her shoulders. Together they walked back to the castle and dinner.

That evening she had written to Sirius, carefully explaining about Umbridge , how she was taking over everyday life in the castle, and how the fires were probably monitored. She told him how Lucius Malfoy recognized him on the platform. She told him about dueling practice with her father and learning healing from Madame Pomfrey. She told him about Harry's defense group and how well he had spoken, and how he had the whole bar's attention. She explained about the veiled witch and how she was nervous about her identity. She told him she loved him and missed him and how she would try to see him over the Christmas Holiday. She asked him please not to write back as there was a good chance the owls were being intercepted. She then charmed the note to look like a missive to MACUSA inquiring about her citizenship status. Then added three small lines to the bottom right-hand corner of the note to indicate it was coded. It was the same code her mother, and he used when they were small and confined to their rooms. She hoped he'd remember. She ran quickly to the owlery and posted the letter before heading to bed that night.

A sign had been affixed to the message board in the Slytherin Common Room on Monday morning. Cassi read it over the heads of some first years. Cassi sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She saw Draco coming out of the boy's dorms and called him over.

"Have you seen this? Do you think she means the Quidditch teams too?" Cassi said, trying to sound concerned.

Draco turned and called Flint over to read the notice as well. He frowned as he read it. "Draco, you're going to come with me to her office. We need to get permission to reform the house team. If she doesn't give it to us, write to your father and have him lean on her a little, yeah?" Flint said.

Cassi grimaced slightly at the way Draco was being used but said nothing. She would speak to her cousin later about this nonsense.

Flint turned, seemingly only just realizing Cassi was there, and said, "And you, go talk to your father. Get him to allow us to reform."

"Excuse me?" Cassi said, bristling.

"You heard me. Do as you're told," Flint said dismissively.

Cassi's eyes flashed. She dearly wanted to hex him into a thousand slimy pieces but resisted. Glancing at Draco, she could see he looked wary. She took a step closer to Flint to whisper in his ear. "Don't ever speak to me like that again. You saw what I did to Wilkes without a wand. Do you really want to test me with one?" She saw him stiffen and felt the fear coming off him. She waited uncomfortably close to him, but he said nothing. She whispered, "Apologize."

He squeaked out a small "Sorry" in her ear before he backed up.

Looking satisfied, she said, "Well, don't you boys have a Quidditch team to reform? Good luck, Draco," smiling and giving him a pat on the back. "I know you'll be able to convince her." Smiling, she walked to her dorm to get her books.

She went to breakfast with Pansy and Milli. Daphne had already left. Just as she was finishing up, Draco came into the dining hall with a massive smile on his face. "We got permission! She gave it to us straight away." He sat down and helped himself to a huge plate of breakfast.

"Well done, Draco. I knew you could do it," Cassi said, giving her cousin a hug.

When they were lining up for potions later that morning, Draco began boasting loudly about how he got permission to reform the Slytherin team that morning. While he was taunting Potter, Draco made a mention of a ward in St Mungo's for people whose brains had been damaged by magic, and Longbottom shot out of the line of Gryffindors straight toward Malfoy. Potter saw him and quickly grabbed him before he could make contact. Weasley came forward to help Potter, while Crabbe and Goyle closed protectively around Malfoy.

She knew what her cousin Bellatrix had done to the Longbottoms. It was in the paper, even in America. Her mother told her about it when she explained the obsessive love some of the Dark Lord's supporters had for him. No doubt, Malfoy didn't know or care that he had just brought up the worst thing to ever happen in Longbottom's life.

Cassi reached out behind Goyle's back and pulled Draco toward her. She was about to whisper something in his ear when her father came out of the classroom. His eyes narrowed as he took in the scene, sweeping up and down both the Gryffindor and Slytherin lines.

"Fighting Potter, Weasley, Longbottom? Snape said in his cold, sneering voice. "Ten points from Gryffindor. Release Longbottom, Potter, or it will be detention. Inside, all of you."

Everyone began filing into the classroom, whispering about what Longbottom had tried to do. Cassi took her usual seat. She began taking parchment and quill out of her bag when she saw movement from the corner of the room. Looking around, she saw Umbridge. Closing her eyes and praying for patients, she pinched the bridge of her nose. People around her were still chattering away until her father came in and closed the dungeon door. Once the door closed, the noise died immediately.

Snape came to the front of the room and spoke in his low voice that nevertheless carried around the dungeon, "You will notice that we have a guest in our class today." Snape gestured to the corner of the dungeon where Umbridge was sitting. Her stupid little clipboard perched on her knee, and her ugly toad-like simpering smile plastered on her face. Cassi wondered offhandedly if she'd be able to poison her before class was over.

"We will be continuing with the Strengthening solution today. If brewed correctly, they will have matured well over the weekend. Instructions," he waved his wand "-are on the board. Carry on." Snape said.

Cassi looked Longbottom directly in the eye and hissed, "Longbottom, I'm literally begging you. Please try not to melt a cauldron or kill us today. I'll help you if you need, but please, try very hard to keep it together. Okay?" He nodded, looking lost. As she looked over the rim of his cauldron, she saw it was pink and sighed. "I know what the instructions say, but please, please, do not add any of the griffin claw until I get back. We're going to try to fix this." Cassi whispered desperately.

"Okay. Thanks, Cassi," Neville whispered back.

Cassi went to the student cupboard to get a few ingredients that would hopefully counteract what Longbottom did to his potion. She couldn't understand. He knew plants. He did wonderfully in Herbology. She returned to the table just in time to see Snape passing it, raising his eyebrow as he went. He was clearly sending a 'get to work' message to her.

She began chopping ingredients quickly. She passed Longbottom the ingredients one at a time. "Listen to me carefully. Three drops of this. ONLY three." Handing him a small glass bottle. She then passed him the roots she had just chopped for him. "Twenty grams of this. Get your scales. Weigh it carefully. Only twenty grams." She lit her own cauldron and began to stir.

As he stirred his cauldron, it slowly began turning from pink to lavender. As it heated more thoroughly, it slowly began to turn blue. "Longbottom, when it turns completely blue, add four drops of salamander blood. I know the board says three. But add four. ONLY four." Cassi was very clear in her instructions. "Keep stirring. You're doing great." She was trying to be encouraging and complete her own potion.

She saw Umbridge hop off the stool and onto her stubby little legs. She crossed the dungeon making her notes on her way to interrogate Snape. Maybe she would trip and land face-first in a cauldron and drown or something. Unlikely, but at least Cassi could dream. She heard Umbridge begin to question her father.

"The class seems fairly advanced for their level. I think the Ministry would agree with me that you ought to remove it from the Syllabus entirely. Now, how long have you been teaching here?" Umbridge asked

"Fourteen years," Snape replied cooly.

"You first applied for the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

She could see the anger growing in her father's eyes, but he didn't rise. "Yes," he said, his lip curling slightly.

"You were unsuccessful?" She asked.

Cassi saw the familiar sneer on her father's face. 'Was this woman slow? Did she think they were in a cleverly disguised DADA classroom?' Cassi sighed to herself and returned to her potion. She had to put her hand over a couple of Longbottom's ingredients to make sure he didn't grab them, but other than that, he was doing well enough on his own. Well enough was a bit of an overstatement. But at least he hadn't tried to kill himself yet.

"Obviously." Snape said curtly.

They walked away and Cassi could hear no more of their conversation but her father looked furious. She honestly felt very sorry for the first person to cross him after this conversation. They would be lucky to make it out alive at this point.

She glanced up at Potter. He was all but staring at Snape and Umbridge talking. Did he have no subtlety? He had so much to learn. Now that the Dark Lord was back, there was little to no time to teach him. Not to mention the Ministry interference.

She smelled something awful, was it burnt rubber? Sure enough his inattentiveness had cost him. She heard her father say, "No marks again, Potter." Then saw him vanish the boy's potion. He was talking in a low menacing growl that she couldn't quite make out. She thought she heard him say essay. Shit. She really needed to talk to her father about being nicer to that boy. Then she saw him walk past Longbottom's cauldron. He stood stock still looking down. Then his eyes flicked to hers. Shit!

"Stay after class, Snape." He said in a menacing voice.

Dammit she knew she had done too good of a job when Longbottom's potion turned Turquoise instead of blue. Shit. Shit. Shit. Cassi muttered, "Yes, Sir." as she was filling up a testing vile of her potion to hand in. Longbottom looked scared out of his mind. He was shaking so badly the whole table was vibrating. She saw Umbridge leave the classroom and sighed in relief. At least that was something.

Snape dismissed the class. Cassi didn't even bother picking up her things. She waited till the class filed out then went to the teacher's desk to wait. She didn't have long to wait.

"Explain," he hissed. His arms were crossed over his chest, his face set in a disapproving scowl. Yup he was in full professor mode right now.

"I saw Longbottom's potion when class first started. If he had added anything to it, we were all in danger of him trying to murder us. So I helped him correct it. I didn't think it would be good for Umbridge to get exploded while auditing your class. It would only give her ammunition." Cassi explained.

"How am I supposed to grade the boy on his efforts, when his efforts are yours?" Snape asked coldly.

Cassi looked at him, and cocked her own eyebrow. "Would it bring up his potions grade in the slightest even if he earned an 'O' this class?" Cassi asked. She had a feeling she knew the answer already.

"That's not the point." Snape said in a clipped sort of voice.

"I understand your point perfectly Sir. Under normal circumstances, I would not help him, but merely shield myself and others from his mishaps. This was not a normal circumstance. I don't trust her. I didn't want to give her anything to use against you," Cassi said.

Snape looked at her hard as if he was trying to decide something. "You will be here tonight to work on potions with me. I will decide then if it is a detention or not. I will see you in the Great Hall this evening," he said crisply.

Cassi closed her eyes for a moment, praying for patience. "Good afternoon then, Sir," Cassi said. Snape nodded and Cassi snatched up her bag before leaving the classroom. Why in the name of Salazar why he so damned infuriating.

She saw him later that night in the Great Hall. She made sure to make eye contact and nod, so he would see her. She helped herself to chicken and ham pie and a large slice of buttered brown bread.

"Finally, you're here!" Pansy exclaimed. "I thought you were planning on wasting away. You've barely eaten in the last week," she said.

Cassi cocked an eyebrow at her. "Really? I hadn't noticed. I've been so busy trying to keep up with my father's mad schedule." Cassi said. This excuse was normally accepted. "He has me in detention tonight."

"What?! Why?" Draco exclaimed.

"Because I helped Longbottom not kill himself or the rest of us during class."

"Well, that's rubbish," Draco said. "I can talk to him, maybe get you out of it."

"He's in a ridiculous mood ever since Umbridge audited his class. He might take your head off if you tried," Cassi said, fairly.

"Hmm, fair point," Draco sneered. "But we never get to see you anymore," He whined.

Cassi resisted rolling her eyes as his whine. "I know cousin. But he's just trying to prepare me."

Draco, Crabbe and Goyle all nodded at that. Even Nott seemed to know what she meant by that phrase. The girls looked clueless.

"Owls are nearly upon us. Come on now ladies, keep up," Cassi said teasingly. Draco smirked at her. "I meant to ask, who's that blond boy over there at the Hufflepuff table. The one with the upturned nose?"

"Who? The one next to the frizzy haired girl?" Milli asked.

"No, the one next to the girl with the long plait down her back. The one talking and waving his fork like a buffoon."

"Oh him? That's Zacharias Smith. He's on the Hufflepuff house team." Draco drawled.

"Why do you ask Cassi?" Pansy asked curiously.

"I was told he was talking about me and my father the other day. Some pretty rude things, actually." Cassi whispered. Crabbe and Goyle cracked their knuckles in unison.

"Would you boys mind paying him a little visit for me?" Cassi asked Crabbe and Goyle sweetly. "Maybe convince him that speaking about other's is impolite?"

"O'Course," Goyle grunted.

"Thank you, boys, so much. I don't know what I would do without such wonderful friends." Cassi smiled at them. 'Well, that's Smith taken care of' Cassi thought to herself.

After dinner Cassi found herself back in the potion's laboratory standing in front of her father's desk. He was writing a letter. When he finished with the letter, he called a house elf to post it for him. He sat there staring at her appraisingly. She was comfortable with silence. She wouldn't be the first one to break it.

"Come," he said. He walked into his personal potion's laboratory, and held the door for her to follow him. She had never been allowed in here before. She looked around at the simmering cauldrons full of unknown liquids. These were her father's pride and joy. His experiments that he wrote up for potions journals and to continue to qualify for potion's master status. She noted the different cauldrons and what materials they were made from. She had only ever used pewter and copper.

"These are potions I am currently working on. I have noticed your prowess with potions. A natural talent, if you will. I want you to study these particular brews, note their properties, their ingredients. I will not tell you what they are meant to do. I want you to tell me. You will spend two hours in here tonight working on this particular potion, he pointed to the silver-colored cauldron. I want you to have the potions ingredients listed for me at the end of two hours," her father said. His voice soft, his tone peculiar.

"Yes, Sir," Cassi said. She noted the material the cauldron was made from. It looked to be platinum, but it could be palladium. Shit. She'd have to test the cauldron first. Damnit, he never did anything half way did he? She noticed him watching her for a moment before he walked out.

Sure enough after testing the metal the cauldron was Palladium. It would have ruined everything entirely if she had picked the wrong material. She began by taking a sample of the potion and placing it in her cauldron, then began systematically pulling it apart ingredient by ingredient. It took nearly an hour. There were forty-seven separate ingredients. FORTY-SEVEN! She only had an hour left to identify the ingredients. Two of which she thought she knew on site. SHIT! She wasn't at all sure of the two either. She'd have to test them all separately. She had sixty-three minutes left. Damn him and his tests.

By the end of her two hours, she had thirty-one of the forty-seven ingredients labeled in specimen flasks. He came back in the room, hands clasped behind his back waiting for her report. She was sweaty faced and disheveled. She handed him the parchment and explained that the ones on the rack to the left were the ingredients left to decipher. He hadn't spoken a word. Not one. He looked from the parchment to the rack of identified ingredients occasionally picking one up and checking the label.

"Dismissed," he said eventually.

Picking up her bag, completely bewildered as to what all that was about and not sure if she had gotten any of it correct. She went back to the dorms for a shower, wondering if he had finally gone insane.