September 1, 2021

"Minnie," her sister was hitting her as they sat in the Great Hall watching the first years get sorted.

"What? I'm trying to listen to the sorting hat."

"That ruddy old thing? Why do you want to listen to the sorting ceremony?"

Minnie smacked her sister back and pointed to the front. Their cousin was walking to the chair. The last of them to be sorted. "Ember Hart Black," McGonagall called out her name.

"About bloody time," Cass's eyes still weren't on her cousin.

"Oi!" Minnie slapped her again. "Pay attention."

The sorting hat seemed to be having a full blown conversation with the youngest Black. Emmi sat under the hat listening intently, "got an awful lot to say to her. How hard is it to say Slytherin?" Cass rolled her eyes at the thought of a Black going anywhere else.

"Yes, you take after both of your mothers it would seem. The only logical place for a witch like you is in Gryffindor!"

When the sorting hat called out the house, the laugh Cass gave sounded throughout the dining hall. Ember looked at her cousins and quickly took a seat at the Gryffindor table. "Mummy is not going to be happy."

"I wouldn't be surprised if Mummy came down here and set that hat on fire," Minnie only half listened as McGonagall gave her opening night speech.

"We could help her," Cass smirked. "It's still early enough in the year where I don't have any points racked up against me. Plus, Slughorn loves me."

Minnie let out a loud laugh causing heads to turn. After a stern look from the headmistress, she turned back to her sister and whispered, "loves? That's an overstatement. Tolerates you because of your family name is more like it."

"I'm going to text mummy when we get back to our rooms," Cass had stashed her phone away for emergencies even though McGonagall had a strict no cellphone policy at Hogwarts.

"Oh so just because you've made prefect you think you are immune to the rules?"

"Exactly right, Minnie. Rules are a suggestion. We all know that."

The food appeared on the table signaling that another year at Hogwarts was now in full swing. Ember looked over at her cousins with sadness in her eyes even though it was clear her housemates were trying to cheer her up. Cass saw Victoria Weasley whispering to one of her stupid little friends. If she does anything to her cousin, Cass would have to kill her. "Hey," Minnie brought her attention back to the table. "What did you want to ask me when they were getting sorted?"

"Oh," Cass was talking with a mouth full of food. She pointed at a hufflepuff girl with tanned skin and brown curly hair. She had never seen the girl before, "who is that?"

"Fifth year like you. 16 already. New to Hogwarts. I think she might be muggle born."

"What's her name?"

Minnie turned to Lyra because if anyone knew the gossip it was their cousin, "Lyra said her name is Samantha Crusoe."

"Crusoe? Hmm… sounds like crucio. I like that."

Minnie just rolled her eyes, "please don't torture the transfer student. Stick to the first years. Plus you are a prefect. Act like it."

Cass had no intention of torturing the new girl. She found herself staring though because she wanted to get to know her better and she couldn't quite explain why. When dinner had ended, Cass immediately regretted being named prefect when she had to lead the kids down to the dungeons. James took half of the students and had already left the great Hall. "Minnie up here with me. I need you." She turned to address the first years, "all right squibs listen up."

"Hey you can't call us that," one of the smallest boys said.

"I can and I will. You've proven nothing to me. Okay squibs. Follow us to the dungeons. My associate prefect in training will give you a run down of the rules. Keep up. I won't be checking to see if anyone gets lost and if you break any of the rules that Minnie speaks of, I will torture you myself. I don't give a damn about house points."

Cass led the group down to the dungeons as Minnie went over all of the school rules including those which will get house points taken away. "You can trust us. We've lost many, many house points."

Minnie also gave them a brief history as they walked around the school which seemed to bore the kids. "Okay enough about the history," Cass turned and started to walk backwards. "First years aren't allowed to play quidditch. I thought after Red joined the staff they would change that rule but clearly they haven't."

"Cass…"

"Not yet Minerva. Self-sell here," she continued, "but I encourage everyone to come out and see me kick ass for the Slytherin team. I'm the best chaser this school has ever had. You can ask anyone. They will agree and if they don't. I'll torture them."

"Seriously Cass…"

Cass ignored her sister, too busy tooting her own horn when she backed into something at full force, tripped over whatever it was and landed face first into a bucket of dirty mop water.

"Are you okay?" A soft voice rang in Cass's ears.

"Fucking hell," she flipped her head out of the bucket splashing all of the first years and her sister with the water that was in her hair. "What the fuck, Minnie? A little warning."

"I'm so sorry, are you okay?"

The voice sounded behind her again so she turned to glare when she saw that new girl from the Great Hall, "oh. Hi." She heard Minnie snicker behind her. "The hufflepuff rooms are that way," she internally smacked her lame greeting.

"Thanks. I got a bit lost. Forgot to follow the prefect when I saw a cat that I wanted to pet. Are you sure you are okay? That fall looked a little rough."

"Cass falls all the time, she's fine. An idiot but fine," Minnie called from behind her.

The puff looked from Minnie back to the girl she had called Cass, "well I'm sorry about that, Cass. But it was lovely meeting you. My name is Sam by the way. I should really get going. That way, right?" She pointed in the direction Cass had motioned to earlier. Cass slowly nodded, "perfect. Thanks," and she took off down the hallway.

Cass turned back towards her sister, "I'm going to kill you."

"Let's take the squibs to the dungeons first. Then I'll help you get the mop water out of your hair and then you can decide if you still want to kill me."

Cass rolled her eyes, "fine. Let's go kids. Now as I was saying…"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Bella groaned, rolling over to wake up her wife. "Get up we have to go to Hogwarts."

"What?" Hermione was already awake. She had just been lying there enjoying the silence. "What happened? Are the girls okay?"

"Here read this," she shoved her hello phone into Hermione's hands.

"Mummy, Cass fell in a bucket in front of the cute new girl. It was so funny."

Hermione tried not to laugh, "oh poor darling. Didn't that happen to you, love?"

"I told that story?"

"It was told during your 50th birthday party."

Bella sighed, "so many of those details are lost on me. I had a lot of drinks that night. But that's neither here nor there. Read the message from Cass."

"Okay," Hermione turned back to the phone and opened the message from her other daughter, "oh no. Ember was sorted into Gryffindor. A fine house I must say."

Bella's jaw dropped knowing this was always a touchy subject between the two of them, "but a Black can not be a Gryffindor, pet. No matter how noble the ideation."

"Must be from Aviya's side," Hermione shrugged and rolled back over to try to get the few remaining minutes of sleep she missed out on.

"This isn't the time for a lie in. We need to get to the school and sort this out. I may have to burn that ruddy old hat."

Hermione chuckled, "as much as I love your sense of unwarranted justice for your niece, this doesn't seem like a problem you need to fix."

"Ridiculous suggestion, pet. This is exactly the type of problem that needs to be sorted by Auntie Bella. We both know Cissy can't fight her way out of a wet paper bag. Emmi needs me."

"I wonder how Ember feels about this?"

"Does it matter? The Black family name is at stake and I can't let her be there with the sniveling little Weasley brat. She hate our girls so I know she'll be a problem for my Emmi bear and I won't have it."

Hermione tried not to let her feelings speak for her. She thought that Gryffindor was the perfect placement for Ember but knew her wife well enough to keep her thoughts to herself. She was going to approach a different conversation, "did Minnie say anything about the girl Cass likes? Is this her first crush?"

"She's 15, pet… not dead. I'm sure she's had plenty of crushes. Though, falling face first in dirty mop water in front of a girl you fancy is like a rite of passage for her," she laid back down and snuggled up against Hermione's back. They always spent the first few days after the girls went back to school together at home. It was a nice way to celebrate the quiet. "So we aren't going to set fire to the sorting hat?"

Hermione chuckled, "maybe we should hold off until Ember owls you for your assistance."

Bella sighed, "fine."

"Plus," she put her hand over Bella's and started to move it down her body, "I had other plans for this morning."

All thoughts of Ember and the sorting hat flew out of Bella's mind when her hand slid beneath the waistband of Hermione's sleep shorts.

October*

Cass's favorite class by far this year was Herbology because she got to be in the same room with the new girl. She didn't learn much so far but she did get to see this girl talk and laugh with a few hufflepuffs during class.

"Oi. Cass," James smacked her, "you aren't really helping me here. We need to pass this for our owls. I don't think there's going to be a section on the test to paint a portrait of Sam by memory."

Cass smacked him back, "say it a little louder I don't think Lyra heard you back there."

"I heard him," she snickered.

"Stuff it. Both of you. When have I ever killed a plant before?" She thought back to her deceased Mandrake from second year, "don't answer that. Besides, I wasn't staring. I was listening to Longbottom ramble as usual. Seriously never seen a man so excited over a few plants."

"My dad did say he was a nerd."

Cass cackled, "that's rich coming from your father. Biggest nerd I've ever met. Have you heard that man talk about brooms before?"

"Pot meet kettle," Lyra returned to their potting desk with the materials they needed for the assignment.

"I'm still on the team making my talk of brooms important. Uncle Harry is just a nerd."

"James, Cassiopeia and Lyra," Neville called from the front, "anything you want to share with the whole class?"

Cass smirked, "we were just talking about how nerdy James' dad is. Is it true you banned my cousin from Herbology because Aunt Aviya knocked over a whole row of Mandrakes when she was here?"

Neville let out a sigh knowing he was once again bestest by a spawn of Bella's, "let's just get back to the lesson."

Cass whispered, "Cassiopeia Bellatrix Black,8… Professor Longbottom, 0."

"So," James caught up with Cass as they exited the greenhouse when class dismissed, "are you going to ask Sam to come watch the match this Saturday?"

"You mean actually talk to her? Have an actual conversation? No," she shook her head, "definitely not."

"Black better start practicing imperio if she wants Sam to notice her," Victoria called out when the fourth years coming from Care of Magical Creatures caught up to them. Cass's face turned bright red. "Don't act like you don't know the unforgivables. I heard your mother taught them to you by the time you were six."

"Shut up, Weasley," Minnie pushed past her, knocking all of her books out of her hand. "You know nothing and don't act like you do."

"Oh you are just as bad," a small crowd was forming. "Everyone knows your mother is a lunatic. She is probably raising you to become the future of the death eaters."

"Piss off Victoria," Minnie was getting upset now. She noticed Cass was tapping her wand against her thigh just like their mummy when she got upset. "One more word you'll regret it."

"What are you going to do? Crucio me?"

"No," Minnie made a move to turn and walk away but swung her open hand into a slap, cracking Victoria in the face. "Say one more thing about my family and you'll get worse than that." She turned towards Cass and James, "come on. She's worthless."

Cass couldn't help but keep her eyes down when she noticed Sam had been there and witnessed the whole thing. "I'll catch up with you guys. I need to have a few minutes alone." She saw her sister didn't seem too happy about splitting ways because Cass was clearly upset about what happened but Minnie also realized arguing would be a waste. She took off past the dungeons and straight towards Bella's quarters that for some reason McGonagall never filled. She pulled out her mother's key even though she knew blood magic would get her in. She quickly opened the door letting it close behind her. "Stupid ginger," she mumbled, "she thinks she's so clever." She slumped down on the couch, clutching one of her mother's throw pillows, letting her frustration come through her tears. If she was going to cry, she at least wanted to do it in private.

What Cass didn't know was the door didn't quite latch closed and she was followed from the field, "hello?"

"Fuck off. Private quarters," Cass mumbled.

"I was only coming to see if you were okay."

The voice had Cass wiping her tears, sitting up, "new girl. What are you doing here?"

"It's Sam actually," she smiled at her. "Can I come in? The door was open and I thought you might need a friend. Victoria was out of line."

"A friend? Ha," Cass let out a self-deprecating laugh. "Those come in short supply when your mother is Bellatrix Black."

"I don't know anything about your mothers except that your one mum is the minister and your other mum must be beautiful."

Cass gave her a look, "what makes you say that?"

Sam blushed, "other kids say she looks just like you."

"Oh," it was Cass's turn to blush. "Scary. Bitchy. Sarcastic. Troublesome. Dangerous. Those are usually the terms tossed around for me and mummy. I'm surprised you haven't heard kids talking."

Sam shrugged, "oh I've heard them. Doesn't mean I believe them. Most people here are rubbish."

"But I always see you smiling and laughing with people," Cass was staring at the girl. "You have so many friends already and you just got here. I have my cousins and my sister. I have a feeling the team just puts up with me because they need me and I scare them. It's probably because I look like my mummy."

"Just because I'm friendly doesn't mean I like everybody. I had it pretty rough at my old school. Nobody ever tells me I look like my mom."

"Oh?"

"She's white. American." If Cass had any reaction to what Sam just said nothing was seen on her face. "My dad's African and they met while mom was overseas for school. They fell in love. Like romance novels. Love at first sight. Apparently it happens."

"My mums were hate at first sight," Cass chuckled, "so what happened? You don't have an accent that I can place."

"Dad packed everything and moved to America. He said my mom was the best thing to ever come into his life until me, obviously. They are so in love it's kind of disgusting. He took my mom's last name and everything. So gross."

"Ugh," Cass made a face, "my mums are disgusting too. Ever walk in on your parents snogging? So gross. So how did you get to Hogwarts?" There was no explanation why but Cass needed to find out this girl's story. She needed every single detail.

"Like I said, my old school was horrible. Maybe it was just the Americans. When I was going to muggle school it wasn't so bad but imagine everyone's surprise when I turned out to be a witch. The kids at the school didn't take kindly to kids with No Maj parents… muggles you call them here."

"I don't think everyone at Hogwarts was always as accepting of muggle born students. My mother was included in that list. Had we met 20 some years ago, we probably wouldn't be speaking," Cass admitted shamefully.

"Well we should be glad that we were born when we were," there was a brightness to Sam's green eyes that Cass couldn't stop staring at.

"Do you have your mother's eyes?"

Sam smiled, "I do, actually. Dad has brown eyes like yours. I always wanted brown eyes. They hold so many stories." She scooted closer to Cass on the couch. "Like you have blue along the outside of your pupils and some green/yellow tones. I bet they change color in the sun."

Cass looked away, the intense stare making her feel awkward, "I suppose. So the kids were assholes. How did you end up here?"

"Mom and dad saw how miserable I was. Like severe depression. Mom put in for a teaching job at Oxford and here I am. Everyone here besides Victoria has been a treat."

"She's a cunt. Don't tell Minnie I swore," Cass laughed. "I'll owe her money."

"Did you really set all of the magical creatures free?"

Cass's grin grew wide, "and set Hagrid's hut on fire." She lit the fireplace and asked Sam if she wanted some pumpkin juice that they kept in the fridge. "It was one of my shining moments," she settled back down with their drinks and started regaling Sam with stories from her time at Hogwarts so far.

The girls weren't sure how much time had passed since they had been talking but Cass's stomach growled really loud. "Getting hungry? I'm always hungry," Sam laughed. "Someone said it's a hufflepuff trait. I think I just have a good appetite. The food here is great."

Cass pulled out her phone, "we missed dinner. Hold on." She called one of the elves she befriended and asked her to bring them two plates of food which the little elf did without hesitation. "Dinner is served. Looks like it was roast chicken tonight." She handed Sam a fork, "eat up."

"Good conversation and dinner? If I didn't know any better I'd think this was a date," Sam took a healthy bite from her plate.

"I mean," Cass cleared her throat, "I wouldn't be opposed to going on a date sometime. Though, I've never been on a date so I might suck at it."

"Why do you do that?"

"Do what?" She mumbled putting more food into her mouth.

"Put yourself down. This might not be an official date but I'm quite enjoying my time with you."

"All right," Cass felt the Black confidence coming back. She put her fork down, "Friday afternoon is our first Quidditch match. My mums will be here. If we win, mummy will slip me some money. If we lose, she will slip me even more money. Saturday is the first Hogsmeade weekend. I'd love to take you and show you around if you'd like to go."

"I'd love to go with you. And don't forget to look for me in the stands. I'll be cheering for you."

Cass had told Sam she needed to get back before Minnie had a heart attack with her being gone so long and thanked her for hanging out with her. It was a surreal feeling when Sam told her she had a good time talking with her and gave her a quick hug before heading towards her rooms by the kitchen. Cass never had a friend before that was just hers. She and Minnie shared all their other friends because they were cousins but still Sam was just for Cass right now and she loved that. "Where have you been?" Minnie asked after she slapped Cass on the forehead when she walked into the dorms.

"You'll never believe me."

Minnie crossed her arms over her chest, "try me."

"Well I went to mummy's room to be alone and Sam followed me. She sat with me the whole time I was gone. We just talked and got to know each other and the elf brought us dinner. Sam is amazing."

"Salazar help us all," Minnie grinned, "little Cassiopeia is in love."

Slytherin won the game 270-150. Gryffindor never stood a chance. Cass made sure to lap Victoria a few times to rub it in her face that they came out on top. She even found a few excuses to fly by the Hufflepuff stands during the match to wave to Sam. Okay, so she was showing off a little but she wouldn't be a Black if she didn't. She met up with her mums after the game as she had done every game for the past three years. "You flew spectacularly, darling," Hermione bent slightly to kiss her daughter's cheek.

"Thanks mum. What did you think mummy?"

Bella scoffed, "like those crappy old lions even stood a chance."

"I'm going to go say hello to your sister before we head out," Hermione gave Cass a big hug. "Really excellent game, sweetheart. I'm so proud of you."

"Here," Bella handed Cass a coin purse full of Galleons. "Don't tell your mother and share with your sister or else I'll never hear the end of it from Minnie and the last thing I need is a lecture from her."

"I'll think about it," her smirk was like looking in a mirror for the dark witch.

"How is school?" They took a seat outside of the team changing area.

"Great."

"Why was Longbottom complaining about you and James being disruptive during class?"

She turned on her best innocent face, "I have no idea mummy. I always love his lectures. I'm unsure what he's talking about."

"Mmhmm," Bella chuckled, "Minnie mentioned an incident with a bucket of mop water."

"I tripped. I think someone put that bucket there on purpose."

"It's a Black tradition," Bella cackled. "What else has been going on?"

"I made a friend," Cass blushed a little thinking about Sam.

Bella noticed the color on her daughter's cheeks but didn't call her out on it. "Tell me about her."

"Her name is Sam. She's new, 5th year like me. Already 16. She's American. Still pretty cool though. Have you ever been to New York? That's where she's from."

"New York? Well that's a special place for you," Bella recalled the honeymoon and how Cass had been conceived there.

"Does that mean I'm American?"

Bella laughed out loud, "no. You were conceived in the States but born right here in London."

"I'm taking her to Hogsmeade for the first time tomorrow.

"Is it a date?"

Cass shook her head, not ready to admit that to her mother, "just friends. It's nice, you know?" Bella waited for her daughter to continue her thought. "It's nice to have someone who is just interested in me. Not Minnie or the team. To have someone take an interest in my life who isn't family. It felt nice."

Bella knew exactly what Cass was talking about because she felt that way when Hermione finally lost her icy exterior and let her in, "sure does sound special to me."

"What if she decides she hates me and doesn't want to be my friend anymore?"

"What?" Bella didn't like the way this conversation seemed to nose dove. "Why would you even think things like that?"

Cass looked over her shoulder before saying, "I piss a lot of people off mummy. I know I'm not the easiest person to be friends with. Plus, she heard Victoria say that you are probably just raising me to be a new death eater."

"Enough of that," Bella would have to take care of that child. "Did she hear that before you became friends?" Cass nodded, "and she still talked to you. Seems to me she has good taste and can make her own decisions about who she wants to be friends with. Don't worry about Weasel. She'll get what's coming to her one day. And if Sam hurts you let me know and I'll have her taken care of."

Cass paced in the room for over thirty minutes as she counted down the time until they could leave for Hogsmeade, "you are going to burn a hole in the carpet." Minnie knew what was going on because her sister had come back so excited from that night in her mother's room. "Why don't you sit down and relax. When are you meeting her?"

"In like ten minutes…Do I look okay?" Cass finally stopped pacing and looked in the mirror for the tenth time. She was wearing a flowy black skirt kind of like what her mother would wear with black fishnets underneath. Her chunky boots gave her a little height which was excellent because Sam was taller than her. Everyone was taller than her so that was no surprise. She had a black and white long sleeve striped shirt on with a black Weird Sisters shirt over top. Her hair was down but she managed to tame her curls for once. She only wore a little eyeliner and mascara because her mothers always stressed her natural beauty.

"I think you look like a hoodlum."

Cass shrugged, "perfect. I would hate to give off the wrong impression."

Minnie smirked, "false advertisement is not suggested for a first date."

"Nobody said it was a date. I just told her I'd show her around."

"If it's not a date, why did you change your shirt five times?"

Cass grimaced, "saw that, did you?"

"You'll be fine," Minnie took out her wand and cast a spell that was advanced for her year. "Orchideous," she whispered and a small bouquet of five black roses appeared. "Give these to Sam. She'll love them."

"You need to teach me that. That's a 6th year spell," Cass sounded impressed.

"It helps being friends with the headmistress," she handed the flowers to her sister. "You know they say every slytherin has an emotional support hufflepuff. Do you think Sam is yours?"

"Could be. Who is yours?"

Minnie rolled her eyes, "please. I'm perfectly capable of handling my emotions alone."

Cass cackled, "slap anyone lately?"

"That was for your benefit. She deserved worse than that. She got lucky if you ask me," Minnie tried to hide her smile. "I'm going with James and Lyra. I think Pandora is coming too. Ugh," she tried not to sound too disgusted. "I promised Emmi I'd bring her back some sweets."

"Remember when we tried to sneak you to Hogsmeade your second year and you refused to go. I bet Emmi would go," Cass laughed. "She's going to be trouble."

"Coming from you… that's a scary thought."

"Oh ha. Ha. Minerva," Cass ducked when Minnie threw a pillow at her. "Okay," she said more to herself than anyone else. "I'm going to go."

"Okay. Sounds good."

"Here I go," she still didn't move.

"You actually need to head towards the door, chief."

Cass glared at her sister, "wait until your first date. I'll be insufferable. And if I've already left I'll come back just to talk the piss out of you." She nodded to herself before standing, "okay see here I go." She grabbed the flowers Minnie had conjured and headed towards the door.

"Just remember to breathe. Nobody wants their date to end up at Mungos," she heard Minnie calling to her as she left the dorm.

"I'll kill her later," she shook her head and headed straight out of their common room towards the kitchen. They were meeting outside of Sam's house entrance. She only had to wait a few minutes for the girl to appear outside of the big barrel door. "Hi," she immediately knew she sounded like a moron.

"Hi," Sam sounded equally stupid so Cass didn't feel so bad. "You look really pretty."

"Thank you," she blushed. Cass took in the other girl's appearance. She was wearing a pair of light washed jeans and a chunky white knit sweater, a beanie that barely contained her hair and a pair of yellow checkered vans. "So do you." Hopefully the butterflies in her stomach would go away soon, "here," she handed her the flowers, "these are for you."

Sam's eyes lit up, "thank you. They are beautiful. I've never seen black roses before."

"Well Minnie made them. I don't know the spell yet but she's going to teach me."

"Black roses are my new favorite thing," she brought them up to her nose and sniffed them.

"We should maybe get going. If we wait too long there won't be anytime to stop by the lake and talk to the giant squid. She's really cool."

Sam moved to catch up and slipped her hand into Cass's, "you are friends with the squid. I have to meet her. I've been practicing different dialects and squid is one of them. I have so many questions for her. Do you speak squid?"

"No," Cass shrugged the shoulder that wasn't attached to the hand that was being held by her pretty friend. She was sure her hand was already getting clammy. "I communicate with her through legilimens."

"You are skilled in legilimency?"

"I don't know if I'd say skilled but mummy taught us a long time ago. You never know when you'll need to have a silent conversation. How many creature dialects do you know?"

"4 or 5 currently. How about I teach you to speak with some of the creatures and you teach me legilimency?" Sam sounded genuinely excited about the prospect.

"I think I'd like that very much," she let Sam pull her out of the castle entrance and across the bridge to Hogsmeade. Cassiopeia Bellatrix Black had in fact fallen in love.