Chapter 18 A/N I do not own Harry Potter. Sentences verbatim are from the books, with minor adjustments maybe, and are not Valentine's!
"Hey, Cassie!" Tommy called out as he was walking up to the entrance hall in the courtyard. Cassie and Merlin were outside having a snowball fight.
"Hey, Tommy. How was your holiday?" Cassie asked, turning around and receiving a snowball to the back of the head. "Merlin! That doesn't count!" Cassie yelled over her shoulder.
"Not as good as yours I see. You seem better."
"Much; time without Macmillan was just what I needed." Cassie said with a toothy grin.
"I believe you. Here. It's your Christmas present." Tommy said, handing her a medium sized square box.
"Thanks! What is it?" Cassie said, hugging him.
"Open it and see." he answered with a small smile.
"It's beautiful. Thank you!" Cassie said sincerely, hugging him tightly again.
"I figured since I bloodied you other handkerchief." he said, shrugging.
"Where'd you get it?"
"Leon, Cedric and I met up in London for a few days over the holidays. We went to this antique store and got you your presents. I couldn't actually find any in Diagon Alley, not even in Twilfitt and Tatting's."
"It's beautiful, really. I wish I had the gloves to go with it, but I certainly love it." Cassie said to him.
"I suppose that means that Ced and Leon haven't given you theirs. Don't tell them I ruined them." he said quickly.
"I won't!" Cassie said with a wide smile. "Wanna join, Merlin's just itching to throw us a snowball."
"I'd better not, have to go unpack." Tommy told her.
"Okay." Cassie said, putting the box and handkerchief next to her gift from Gabrielle, a mink fur cossack hat and hand warmer set, along with pictures of their time in Novosibirsk.
"Bit of an overkill, don't you think?" Tommy said, looking at the fur hat. "It's not that cold here."
"Present from Gabrielle. How could I not wear it?" Cassie said, putting them on and making a silly face at Tommy.
"Forgive me, I forgot who I was talking to." Tommy said with a fake bow, making Cassie laugh.
"Don't make me throw a snowball at you." she warned, taking them off and putting them back down, returning to the war with Merlin.
"Finally! I thought I'd grow my famous beard while you two flirted shamelessly." Merlin said, launching the first attack.
"I was not shamelessly flirting with him!" Cassie said, gathering a rather big snowball and throwing it forcefully at Merlin with a giggle. "And it's not your beard. I doubt you can even grow a shadow!"
"Were too." he said, not quick enough to dodge the snowball and getting pelted with it right in the face.
"Was not." Cassie said, smirking triumphantly. Harry and the Weasleys joined for a bit an hour later, and soon enough, Cassie and Merlin were soaked from all the melted snow that was now in their clothing. Cassie was so wet she didn't put her new furs on, preferring the cold to ruining her present.
"Makes me wish I was a dragon." Marlin said through chattering teeth as they went down to their dorms to change into something less wet.
"Why a dragon?"
"They're seriously hot. It's comforting to think about it in this cold." Merlin replied shivering as he tapped the password.
"Maybe it has something to do with them breathing fire! Come on, let's change before we catch our death!" Cassie said, dragging Merlin across the common room.
"What happened to you two?" Cedric asked when he saw them.
"The Weasleys." they said in unison, each going to the wrong door towards the dorms.
"Wrong doors!" Cedric called after them.
"Yeah, I realized that when I walked into a wall." Merlin said grumpily, rubbing his head and making everyone laugh.
Cassie and Merlin quickly went to the correct door and walked to their dorms. Cassie decided she'd wear the pale blue pleated over-the-knee dress Hermione had gifted her with her black wool stockings and her d'orsay-heeled Mary Janes that were the exact same color as the dress.
"Cassie!" Leon and Cedric called her over as she exited the girls' corridor.
"Hey, guys. What's up?" she asked, sitting down across from them near the fire.
"Your presents. Here." Leon said, handing her his present, Cedric doing the same.
"Thanks, guys!" Cassie said, opening the presents and tearing up at the short, floral lace white gloves that matched the handkerchief Tommy had given her, and a cameo with a ballerina en pointe in the middle and three other ballerinas dancing around her set in silver on a white lace choker with tear-drop sweet water pearls hanging intermittently.
"They're truly beautiful. Really." Cassie said, smiling and giving them each a hug and kiss on their cheeks.
"Glad you like them, we've noticed you like antiques, and Leon suggested we go to an antique store for your present. We saw the set and knew you would love them." Cedric said with a smile.
"I do love them. But you should know that gifting pearls brings tears. And never gift anyone knives, it severs the relationship." Cassie said, standing up and running back to her room. "However, I can purchase them from you, Ced. Here you are, a sickle for you." Cassie said, dropping the small coin into his hand and giving him another kiss on the cheek.
"Where'd you hear that?" Leon asked confusedly.
"Oh, it's one of those things grandmothers say, especially about gifts. Knives shouldn't be given, and if they are, then the gifter should receive some form of payment, a penny or something. Opals are for October birthdays, something about bad luck and the jewellery should be set with diamonds to override the bad luck of the opals; and you should never buy yourself your own opal-bad luck. Black diamonds are a big no-no, in Asia and India at least. In Italy, if a married couple sees one, their troubles and worries would be absorbed by the stone and they would have good fortune. And pearls have always been associated with tears. Giving them as gifts 'brings the wearer great sadness and bad luck.' At least that's what Gabrielle's grandmother used to tell us all the time." Cassie told them all.
"Strange rules." Cedric said, exchanging glances with Leon.
"Oh, silver and turquoise ward off evil spirits, too. And amethyst keeps you sober." Cassie added after a bit.
"Amethyst keeps you sober?" Leon sniggered.
"Well, the greek myth says that Dionysus-the god of wine-wanted a mortal girl, Amethyste. She wanted to remain chaste so she prayed to one of the gods and became a slab of white quartz. Dionysus was angry, so he poured wine over the stone and it stained purple. I don't know how it keeps you sober, but those Greeks knew astronomy and arithmancy, they can't have been too crazy. Those are seriously hard classes."
"We can tell you'll be taking them in your third year." Leon said after glancing at Cedric for a second in amusement.
"Probably." Cassie said, standing up as Merlin walked up to them. "Merlin and I are going for some lunch, we've not eaten since this morning. Wanna come along?" Cassie offered.
"Nah, we had a whole bunch of sweets in the Hogwarts Express. Don't think we should eat anymore." Cedric said amiably, tossing the sickle up in the air and catching it as it came back down. "Hey, did Tommy talk to you?"
"Yeah, a bit. But Merlin was itching to continue the snowball fight, so we didn't speak too much." Cassie said.
"Oh, he wanted to speak with you. Something important I think. He mentioned it on the ride over." Leon told her as Merlin walked up to them.
"Oh. I'll try and find him later." she said as her stomach started to rumble and she flushed deep pink. "Wait here, Merlin. I've to put my presents away, then we can go have some lunch" Cassie said excitedly, going back once more to her dorm and putting her presents away in their respective drawers in her portable cupboard, locking it once more and keeping the key with her.
"Done! See you later, guys." Cassie said, still flushed from embarrassment, taking Merlin's offered arm and walking out with him. They had a quick lunch before going up to visit Hermione for a bit.
"The dress fits perfectly, 'Mione." Cassie said, twirling once with a giggle before going over and sitting on the edge of the bed while Merlin took a chair on the other side of the bed.
"Aren't you cold?" Hermione asked worriedly.
"A bit, but Merlin's got my cape. Malfoy 'accidentally' spilled water all over him and the poor boy was shivering."
"And it fits him?" Hermione asked, looking more closely at the still cold Merlin.
"Well, it's a cape, and Merlin's seriously scrawny. No offense." Cassie added quickly.
"I am offended!" Merlin said indignantly.
"You eat like a horse, yet you stay so bony, I don't know how you do it, but I wish I could. The food here is delicious, but if I were to eat like that, I'd be bigger than Millicent Bullstrode." Cassie said, looking from Merlin to Hermione.
"She's right, she would look like Millicent Bullstrode." Hermione agreed. "Here, let me dry your clothes, Merlin. If you don't get sick from it, Cassie will from the cold and that dress." Hermione said, reaching for her wand. Merlin gave Cassie back her cape as Hermione waved her wand in a complicated pattern, hot air streaming out of her wand.
"Thanks. How do you know that charm, it's not taught in second year." Merlin asked.
"I got bored and convinced Ron to bring a book on charms from the library last week." Hermione told him, blushing a little.
"Do you mind drying my cape, 'Mione? It's a bit wet still." Cassie asked sheepishly.
"Sure!" she said happily, doing the charm again.
"Oh, it's nice and warm too!" Cassie said as she slipped the cream colored cape over her head and felt the fur-lined neck tickle her nose, making her sneeze.
"You know, you have seriously comfortable taste in cloaks and capes, Cassie." Hermione said, eyeing it with jealousy.
"You can borrow it whenever you know that 'Mione." Cassie said, noticing her look.
"I know," she sighed. "But it would never look as good on me as it does on you. Or Merlin." she added with a giggle.
"'Course it would. All you need is to tame that unruly head of hair. You're very pretty, you know. But your hair needs to stop doing whatever it's doing."
"If you two are going to talk hair the rest of the time, I'm going to find someone else to hang out with." Merlin complained, making the two girls giggle.
"Bye, then, Merlin." Cassie said, her eyes dancing with mirth.
"I need more guy friends." Merlin mumbled as he gave Hermione a hug and left the blushing witch alone with Cassie.
"I knew it! You do like him!" Cassie whispered excitedly once Merlin had closed the door.
"Shh!" Hermione said frantically. "You have to promise not to tell anyone! Especially Merlin!" Hermione told her, her eyes blazing.
"I won't tell anyone. Oh! This is great!" Cassie said, an excited gleam in her eye as she planned how to get them together.
"Oh no! I don't like that look." Hermione groaned leaning back against the headboard and looking up to the ceiling.
"Oh, come on! You've got to let me!" Cassie pleaded. "Gabrielle would, in fact, she asked me to ask Leon over for summer. She has a bit of a crush on him, I think, and I think he would like her too." Cassie said, knowing that Hermione's jealousy would take over.
"Fine! But nothing too drastic, or obvious, Cassie. I mean it! Or else I'll tell your crush that you like him." she warned.
"Please, Hermione, I don't have a crush on anybody at the moment." Cassie said flippantly, tossing her hair over one of her shoulders.
"Don't be glib. I know perfectly well that you like Tommy. Anyone with two eyes can see it." Hermione said, enjoying how her friend was blushing.
"I won't tell anyone if you don't." Cassie said, holding her hand out for their secret handshake.
"Deal." Hermione said, taking her hand and shaking it before going into the more complicated pattycake they had come up with during one of their Polyjuice exploits and ending with sliding their hands down each other's forearms and tossing their hair over their shoulders.
"We should probably come up with a less embarrassing handshake. Imagine doing this in public!" Hermione giggled when they were done.
"That, my dear Hermione, is exactly why we made it so ridiculous." Cassie said, joining in on her giggles.
"Okay, I have an idea, to help with your hair, but it'll need time to plan and do some research. I know that muggles use the hair-straighteners, but electronic thingys don't work here."
"You know, Cassie, you sound so smart with some things, but then you go and say 'electronic thingys' instead of just electronics and it makes you sound less smart."
"That's part of my charm. The ditziness. Being too smart scares boys off, especially if they know they're not as smart as you." Cassie said.
"So you dumb yourself up?" Hermione asked disapprovingly.
"No, I just like saying 'thingy' and 'watchamabob' instead of 'contrivance' and 'instrument.' Sounds just goofy enough to make me laugh."
"At yourself?"
"Yes. Others do it anyway, why not join in. There's actually this pretty cool first-year Ravenclaw she-"
"All right, visiting hours are over, Miss Gratien. Miss Granger needs some rest." Madam Pomfrey came over and shooed her out.
"Bye Hermione!" Cassie called over her shoulder, walking down the hall and turning the corner, hitting a solid mass and knocking her backwards onto the floor.
"Sorry, I should have been paying attention." Cassie apologized, picking herself up.
"It's okay, I was looking for you anyways." Tommy said.
"Oh, yeah, I forgot. Leon and Ced mentioned something about you wanting to talk to me earlier." Cassie said, smoothing out her skirt.
"Warm enough to take a walk outside?" he asked nervously.
"Y-yeah. I am. Let me just get my beret on and we can go." Cassie said, rifling through her off-white half-moon clutch bag.
"What are you looking through for? The bag's smaller than my wand." Tommy asked, trying to peek into her bag.
"Undetectable extension charm. I tried doing it myself, though, so it's not really that much bigger than a handbag inside, but it's enough." Cassie said, finding her beret and placing it on her head.
"Does that even keep you warm?" he asked, eyeing it.
"Sure, it's wool and it keeps the body heat inside. A bit itchy, wool's not my favorite hair accessory, but it works." Cassie said, shrugging her shoulders.
"Okay, then." he said, offering her his arm.
"Thank you." Cassie said, hooking her arm through his extended one and letting him lead her out through the clocktower courtyard. "So, what'd you want to talk about?" Cassie asked after a few minutes of walking around in silence, her nerves getting the better of her.
"My father works in the Ministry of Magic." Tommy started nervously, stopping in the middle of the wooden bridge and looking out at the ravine below them.
"Mr. Macmillan told him about me. He told you to stay away from me too, didn't he." Cassie asked sadly.
"He-he told me to stay away from you." he admitted quietly.
"Oh." was all Cassie could say, she didn't trust her voice not to break. She walked to the other side of the bridge and looked out to the snow-capped mountains in front of her, tears threatening to fall.
"I-I told him you're nothing like them." he said, just loud enough for her to hear.
"And he said, 'how well do you really know her?'" Cassie said, wiping her tears away with her hand and turning around to face him.
"Something like that." he admitted, also turning around.
"I, uh. I suppose this is goodbye then." Cassie said, her face in an impassive mask as she held out her hand. Tommy took it gently after a few seconds and said, "No. It's not. He told me why he didn't want me to be friends with you, but the reason why has nothing to do with you. I said as much, I told him I trusted you; that I knew you weren't like them." he said, pulling her closer to him.
"Dare I ask the reason?" Cassie breathed, their breaths coming out in quick misty clouds.
"It has to do with your parents, and my mother." he said quietly, looking into her eyes.
"You've never told me about her." Cassie whispered, looking just as intently at him as he was her, their bodies close together.
"She fought against You-Know-Who in the Wizarding War. Some Death Eaters tortured her, when I was three, for information." he whispered sadly, tears forming in his eyes as he looked at her big blue orbs. "I knew that much, he told me the rest over the holiday."
"And it was my mother, wasn't it?" Cassie whispered, tears falling down her paling face as she remembered the memory she had seen of it.
"Yes." he said, refusing to look away from her.
"What happened to your mother?" Cassie asked, gently tugging her hand from his grip and sitting down with her back to the railing, needing space to think straight.
"She was admitted to St. Mungo's for a few years. She's better, now, but she still twitches and shakes every so often, even more so when it's cold." he said, taking a seat beside her and pulling his legs up.
"I'm sorry, Tommy. I'm so sorry." Cassie said with a cracking voice. "How come they didn't just arrest her? It's as illegal here as it is in France." Cassie asked after a few moments of silence, letting her tears fall down her face.
"Your mother claimed to be under the Imperius Curse. There was nothing else to be done, she had enough influence, or means to buy influence, to get acquitted." he said softly.
"Does your mother have light-brown hair?" Cassie asked, hoping she didn't.
"Yes, how'd you know?" he asked, looking at her and noting how pale she looked.
"I saw them do it. I saw my mother's memory of that night." Cassie sobbed, burying her face in her hands and letting her sobs shake her frame.
"How? You weren't even one then."
"A pensieve." Cassie said between sobs, resisting when Tommy grabbed her chin gently to lift her face.
"Let me." he said, drying her cheeks with the handkerchief she had used a little under a year ago for his cut.
"You still have it?" Cassie asked when she recognised her poor attempt at embroidery.
"Yeah." he whispered softly, letting her take it to finish drying her eyes. "I've seen you with a few other handkerchiefs, figured you wouldn't mind." he shrugged lamely, trying and failing to cheer her up. "Why would they keep their memories in a pensieve." he asked after a few moments' silence.
"They removed as much of them as they could before being captured by the aurors. That way any memories they might have taken were vague, with no details. That's probably how they got the Imperius Curse excuse past everyone." Cassie said miserably.
"Oh, I didn't know it worked like that." Tommy said.
"I don't know." Cassie shrugged, not even caring that she still had tears freezing on her face from the frigid temperatures.
"Is that how you found out?" Tommy asked her. "About them, I mean." he clarified.
"Yes. I was stupidly curious, and the curiosity really did kill the cat in this case." Cassie said dully.
"I'm sorry."
"What are you sorry for." she laughed humorlessly.
"For what you must have felt."
"I felt disgusted that they could do such things in the day and tuck us in at night. My brother's about your age." Cassie said darkly.
"It's not your fault. Yours or your brother's, Cassie." Tommy said. "You can't blame yourself."
"I did. She attacked your mother on my birthday. She had three children at the time, and she didn't care enough to stop doing what she was doing." Cassie told him fiercely. "If she truly loved any of us, she wouldn't have done that. If she was a good person, she wouldn't have done any of it."
"I don't know what to say, Cassie. I'm sure she does love you. Both of them."
"Yeah." Cassie said, chuckling darkly. "They love me so much they disowned me. Cut me out of their life without a second thought. My parents won't even pay the Hogwarts tuition! That's how much they love me."
"What? Cassie, I'm sure that's illegal to do to a twelve year old."
"No, they took the legal route. On paper, I've just been emancipated. I still 'live with them on holidays' but I decide everything that has to do with me." Cassie said. Sometimes, I look at that damn cupboard and just want to throw it into the fire. Burn away their memories, my grandfather's memories. But every time I go to destroy it, I can't bring myself to do it. I have them all. Locked away. Every last memory of theirs. When I sleep, I swear that I am seeing it for the first time, all over again. My grandfather doing those disgusting, monstrous atrocities. My mother, torturing yours-" Cassie said, her voice breaking. "T-torturing yours until she ran out of time and left, going back to her precious, loving family for her twin daughters' first birthday. My father, doing what he did to those poor women. The hypocrites!"
Cassie could barely feel her eyes, they were so cold. But she didn't care. She was finally talking to somebody about it, and she couldn't stop.
"I never knew my uncle." she said suddenly, "At least I don't think. I've seen him in her memories. But he was much older than she was. Ten years at least. I've heard the stories though. And I've heard what Death Eaters did to muggles. But I saw what my parents did, what my grandfather did to children, to healthy men, unhealthy men. Hundreds of thousands of people. How could they be so heartless? He cut them open without anesthesia, decapitated them because they had perfect teeth. Used tattooed skin to upholster a chair for his dear friend the Commandant. How could they have been such monsters?" she asked, closing her hurting eyes, tears slipping down her face as she cried silently.
"I don't know, Cass." Tommy said, wrapping his arms around her shaking frame and pulling her head towards his shoulder, ignoring the hat that fell onto his lap. "I don't know." he whispered against her hair.
They stayed in that position for a few hours, the temperature dropping quickly as the sun set.
"Cassie, we need to go, Sun's set already, we'll freeze out here if we stay." he whispered against her hair. Her sobs had subsided, but she refused to budge.
"You go. I don't want anyone to see me." she said, her words muffled by his coat.
"I'm only going if you do." he told her, hugging her more closely to him as the chill seeped into him.
"Okay, but you can't look at me." Cassie said, digging in her purse for some sunglasses as she kept her face down.
"I won't." Tommy said, putting the beret back on her head in a messy way.
Cassie put the glasses on then arranged the beret so it wouldn't fall off again. Tommy stood up first and offered her his hand, which she took to stand up. She didn't expect him to lace his fingers with hers, but he did, refusing to let go until they were back inside the warmer castle.
"I think I should go freshen up before heading back to the common room. I'll see you there." Cassie told him, making to go to the nearest girls' bathroom. But before she could get farther than a few steps, Tommy took her hand again and pulled her back to him.
"I'll wait for you right here." he said, kissing her sweetly before letting her go, a smile playing on his lips.
"O-okay." Cassie said, her emotions a confused mess. She walked around the corner and quickly went to the sink, taking off her glasses and beret and splashing water on her face, erasing the tear tracks that were on her cheeks. She could do nothing else for her red nose or puffy eyes other than wear the sunglasses at night, indoors. And she wasn't that desperate. She took a deep breath, composing herself and allowing the butterflies to take over. 'He finally kissed me!' she thought to herself, smiling slightly. With shaking hands she smoothed out her dress and straightened out the cape she was wearing over it, only now allowing herself to feel the cold she had been ignoring for the past few hours.
"C-can we not… talk about… mention… you know." Cassie asked him, staring at the floor shyly.
"I won't say anything if you don't. Not many people know about my mother." Tommy agreed, looking into her red-rimmed eyes.
"I'm starting to wish I had those hand warmers Gabrielle gave me for Christmas." Cassie said letting out a nervous giggle. "I'm freezing!"
"I was wondering when you would clue into that." Tommy said, his teeth chattering a bit.
"Let's stop by the kitchens first, get some tea or something to warm us up."
"They won't give us firewhiskey." Tommy pointed out jokingly.
"I'd prefer Sherry to firewhiskey. Goes down much smoother." Cassie replied just as teasingly, nestling close to his side to keep the cold away.
"I've never tried firewhiskey, wouldn't know what to tell you." Tommy said, wrapping his arm around her.
"Nor I Sherry." Cassie admitted, blushing as he pulled her closer.
They joked around the rest of the way down to the kitchens, only quieting when they reached the entrance to tickle the pear so they could be let in. When they walked into the kitchens, they saw the blonde Ravenclaw sitting at the end of one of the tables speaking with one of the house-elves.
"Miss Cassie! Mr. Tommy! How can we help you today?" one of the house-elves, Dissy, asked.
"Could you make me a hot chocolate?" Tommy told her.
"Yes, sir! And for you Miss Cassie?"
"Do you have cardamom?" Cassie asked, tilting her head curiously as she looked at the Ravenclaw.
"No, Miss. we do not. But we can get some if you'd like?" Dissy said, nodding enthusiastically.
"No, that's okay, how about peppermint marshmallows?" Cassie asked, to which the elf nodded vigorously, her large ears flapping.
"Do you know how to make spiced orange mocha hot chocolate?" Cassie asked, craving some comfort food.
"No, Miss. we do not." Dissy said sadly.
"No worries. I can teach you. Unless students can't get near the stoves?" Cassie asked, unsure if it was against the rules to cook or not.
"No one's ever tried, Miss. At least as long as I've been here."
"Great! Tommy, hold my cape, will you?" Cassie said, taking the cape off and handing it to him. "Make sure it doesn't get stained, it's new." Cassie said, walking over to the stove as Tommy sat next to the Ravenclaw girl while Cassie was making her hot chocolate.
"Can you get me 400 ml of milk, dark chocolate, sugar, cocoa powder, cornflour, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder and an orange?" Cassie asked the elf.
"Right away, Miss!" she exclaimed, moving about quickly and gathering all the ingredients with the help of some of her house-elves.
"Oh! And some espresso, too? I almost forgot." Cassie said sheepishly as she kneeled by the stove, it was far too low for her to stand and make the hot chocolate.
"Yes, Miss."
Cassie went about chopping about a cup of dark chocolate, measuring out two tablespoons of cocoa powder and sugar, one and a half tablespoons of cornflour, one-fourth tablespoons of cinnamon powder, one-eighth tablespoon of nutmeg powder and cut some orange zest into strips. She set the freshly made espresso to the side.
"Okay, so first you have to start melting the chocolate over medium heat with the milk and two tablespoons of espresso in this heavy-bottomed saucepan." Cassie said, pouring out the milk, chocolate and espresso in the pot and stirring with a whisk.
"See how it's not completely melted yet, at around this point is when you add the rest of the ingredients." Cassie said, adding them all in gently, careful not to splash since she wasn't wearing an apron.
"Just let it boil for about half a minute, then reduce the heat and let it simmer for three to four. Or until you see that the chocolate has thickened." Cassie told the house-elf, carefully standing up from where she was kneeling. "When it has, just pour it into a mug and put some peppermint marshmallows and dark chocolate shavings on top. Oh, and some exploding bonbons if you have any?! And bring us some cheese and grape skewers, too." Cassie said excitedly, turning around and carefully making her way back to the table where Tommy was having a lively conversation with the blonde first-year.
"Wait a few minutes, you two will love this!" Cassie said, sitting down next to Tommy.
"What is 'this'?" the girl asked.
"Spiced orange mocha hot chocolate." Cassie answered excitedly.
"I'm assuming it's a muggle drink." Tommy told the blonde, leaning towards her and mockingly whispering it.
"It is, as a matter of fact, a muggle drink. With some variations made by me." Cassie said, settling down at the table as three houselves brought the hot chocolate with some cheese skewers as Cassie had requested.
"Try it, you'll never have normal hot chocolate ever again!" Cassie said, waiting for them to try it with an excited gleam in her eyes.
"Mmmh! This is delicious!" Luna said dreamily, her big blue eyes growing wider and her mouth forming a wide smile, some of the chocolate on her upper lip still.
"Here." Cassie said, giggling slightly as both of them had chocolate mustaches and handing each of them a napkin. "Now taste it with the skewers, the cheese and grapes really complement each other.
"Okay, I have to meet whoever introduced you to this, because I am deeply thankful to that person." Tommy said, taking another sip of the hot chocolate and another skewer. "I don't even mind that we missed dinner now." Tommy pointed out to Cassie.
"I had a sudden craving for it when we came back inside just now." Cassie said, blushing a little.
"Well, I should be getting back to my common room, it was lovely meeting you Tommy. And the hot chocolate was delicious, Cassie. I think I'll come back tomorrow for some more." Luna told her, standing up and leaving the kitchens with a final goodbye to the house-elves.
"Should we go with her? I'm not sure if she's muggleborn or not."
"No, she's at least half-blood, Ced's family lives in the same village as them. Eccentric, but nice enough if the daughter's anything to go by. But you're right. Come on, we can still catch up to her." Tommy said, downing the rest of his hot chocolate and standing up, offering her his arm.
"Such a gentleman." Cassie sighed fancifully, fake swooning into his arms.
"Oh, shut up, you." Tommy said, unable to hide his grin. Cassie and he left quickly, thanking the house-elves and running up the stairs. They caught up to Luna on the first floor landing.
"Luna!" Cassie called out so she would wait for them.
"Yes?" she answered turning around dreamily and waiting for the two to catch up to her.
"Figured we'd accompany you to Ravenclaw Tower. Especially since it's getting late and you're alone." Cassie panted out, clutching her side.
"We need to start training you for Quidditch soon, Cassie. We ran up three flights of stairs and you're this winded?" Tommy asked, looking at her in disbelief and earning a glare in return.
"Anyways," Cassie said, rolling her eyes at him, "want some company up?"
"Thank you, Cassie, Tommy. I would like that very much." she said in her dreamy way.
"Lead the way." Cassie said, holding her arm out for Luna to take. She left her cape in the kitchen and was getting rather cold. The body warmth from the two would tide her over until they got back to the common room and she could get into her pink silk pyjamas and dressing gown and settle in front of the fire for the rest of the evening.
"Of course. Your arm is cold." Luna pointed out.
"Oh, my cape's in the kitchens, I'm sure one of the house-elves already took it back to my room." Cassie said, looking at the floor as she realized the trick stair was around there, and huffing when Tommy removed his arm from hers. "Oh, thanks, Tommy. You didn't have to give me your coat."
"Sure I did, Luna was glaring at me." he said, laughing as both blondes looked at him in varying degrees of annoyance, and hooking his arm through Cassie's again.
The three made small talk on their way up, until Luna commented on the Wrackspurts that were floating around their heads, leading to many questions trying to figure out what Wrackspurts were. They still hadn't quite figured out what the girl was talking about when they arrived at the entrance to the Ravenclaw Common Room. Luna reached out and used the eagle knocker to knock on the door. A tinkling voice asked out loud "He has married many women but never himself been married."
"The password's a riddle?! That's so creative! Can I answer, Luna?" Cassie asked, excited to learn more about the castle.
"Sure."
"Hmm" Cassie hummed thoughtfully taking a few seconds to answer, "A priest!"
"Most don't get the first question correct, Cassie. You're very smart." Luna said thoughtfully walking into the common room and saying goodnight to the both of them.
"She's a bit strange, don't you think?" Tommy commented on their way down.
"Definitely, but that's her most endearing quality, I think." Cassie said, then started giggling uncontrollably.
"What's so funny?" Tommy said, confused.
"I still don't get what Wrackspurts are." Cassie said between giggles.
"I don't think they exist." he said, chuckling himself.
"Here, I really don't need it anymore," Cassie said shrugging out of his coat and stopping near the third floor landing.
"Well, I'm not going to wear it. You go ahead and wear it, Cass." Tommy said.
"Okay, thanks, I guess." Cassie said, putting the coat back on.
"I was actually wondering if we could talk some more," Tommy started nervously, fidgeting with his sleeve.
"About what?" Cassie asked, really hoping he wasn't going to say anything about the bridge.
"Well, I- I mean we… you know." he stammered out.
"I don't." Cassie said, shaking her head confusedly.
"You don't? You can't even hazard a guess as to what I might be trying to say?" Tommy asked, really not having the guts to come out and say it.
"If it's what I'm thinking of I'd rather not talk about it." Cassie said softly.
"Well, what are you talking about?"
"The bridge." she answered quietly.
"Oh, no it's not about that. We both agreed, we wouldn't… talk about it." he finished lamely.
"Then what?" she asked, genuinely perplexed.
"Really?" he asked one more time, stopping on the stairs and taking a step down to be eye level with her.
"Really." Cassie said, her brow furrowed.
Well, about the…" he said, taking a deep breath and steeling himself. He kept a hand on the railing as he leaned closer, kissing her gently.
"Oh," Cassie said, blushing slightly and not being able to stop the giggle that came forth; Tommy looked slightly embarrassed at that. "No, I didn't- I mean to say that it wa-"
"What are you two doing outside at this hour?" Came the drawling voice of Professor Snape, interrupting Cassie.
"W-we were just walking Luna Lovegood up to Ravenclaw Tower, we didn't think it wise for her to go up alone, Professor." Cassie answered, her blush deepening.
"Very well, to your common room. Now!" he said after a few seconds of looking into their eyes suspiciously, his tone brokering no argument and making the two Hufflepuffs run to their common room, quickly tapping the passwords and rushing inside, both in a fit of giggles.
"I swear that man has the most inopportune timing!" Tommy said as they went over and took the nearest chairs to the fireplace, Cassie blatantly ignoring the Hufflepuffs in her year glaring daggers at her.
"It's as if he has a sixth sense of when people are in a good mood." Cassie agreed, shrugging off his coat once more and handing it to him.
"So, you were saying something before Snape showed up?" Tommy prompted dropping his voice, making her grow even more flustered and her cheeks flushed even darker. Though it was hard to tell with the firelight in her face.
"Y-yeah. I-I suppose I was." Cassie answered nervously.
"Well?"
"I liked it." Cassie finally said, rather breathlessly as her stomach was doing all kinds of backflips.
"You did?" Tommy asked, his smile growing wider.
"Yes, I did." Cassie said, smiling shyly at him.
"Cassie, this came for you." Merlin said, hanging her a letter and a package and eyeing her puffy eyes.
"Must be a late Christmas present." she said, looking down at the box curiously. "I'll be back. I'm just going to drop this in my room. I'll open it later." Cassie said, standing up gracefully and walking to her room to put it on her bed and change into her PJs. When she got back outside, Merlin and Tommy had been joined by Cedric and Leon and the four of them were joking around. Cassie decided to go sit by them and spend the rest of the evening just joking with them. It didn't take long for most of the common room to empty out, they did have classes in the morning and it was near eleven. Leon and Merlin excused themselves and left for bed, leaving Tommy and Cedric alone with Cassie.
"I should probably get some sleep too. It's been a long day." Cassie said, standing up and giving them both a kiss goodnight.