Chapter 16 A/N I don't own Harry Potter, sentences have been taken from the books, those are not mine.

"What happened?" Merlin asked the moment they sat down next to Ron and Hermione. Classes had been cancelled for the rest of the day because of the attack on Justin and Sir Nick.

"Justin's been petrified, and Sir Nick's been… I don't know, not exactly petrified, but he can't be killed again, so I don't really know what to say." Cassie answered.

"We know that much already, Cassie!" Merlin said, looking at her exasperatedly.

"Harry went to the library to talk to Justin, Ernie jumped down his throat, we left, bumped into Hagrid, said goodbye to Hagrid, then I heard Peeves yelling 'Attack' and found Harry then McGonagall came and took us up to Professor Dumbledore's office." Cassie summed up in one breath.

"What happened in Professor Dumbledore's office?"

"We met Fawkes, Dumbledore doesn't think Harry's the Heir or that he's behind the attacks, and Professor Dumbledore wished me Happy birthday." Cassie said

"It's your birthday today?" Hermione asked while Ron said, "That's it? I would've thought detention at the very least."

"Cassie, I completely forgot! I'm so sorry. I'll make it up to you!" Merlin said, standing up and going to the Weasley twins.

"I'm sorry, Cassie I wish I had a present for you, all I have are your Christmas presents."

"Hermione, it's okay, really. We didn't do anything for your birthday in September either. I don't like celebrating my birthday, anyways. Gabrielle and I would just hang out and watch movies or gossip and do whatever, nothing special. I mean it. I don't want a fuss!"

"Should have told Merlin. He went to Fred and Geroge, that means party." Ron said, looking sheepish.

"Yeah, any excuse for a party and all." Harry added. "Fancy a game of exploding snap?"

"Sure." Cassie said, making herself more comfortable as Harry went to get the deck of cards.

Around an hour later, Fred, George and Merlin came back, making lots of noise to attract everyone's attention.

"Everyone, everyone settle down. Oi! You there, pay attention!" Fred yelled at one of the third years. "Thank you,"

"Now, today is a special day, especially for one of our honorary Gryffindors." George started, everyone looking from Cassie to Merlin curiously.

"It is with deepest pride and greatest pleasure that we will be celebrating our dear Cassie's-oi! Thirteen right?" Fred asked her, making her flush redder than the Weasley's hair.

"Our dear Cassie's thirteenth birthday cake!" he announced after her embarrassed nod. He and George stepped aside to let Merlin show them a beautiful Le Fraisier cake with 'happy birthday, Cassie!' written in chocolate calligraphy on top. "We had them bake it for you, french recipe and everything!" Merlin piped up, putting a candle on it and putting it on the table in front of Cassie.

"Happy birthday! You should have told us, now you have to wait for your present." Fred said, giving her a quick hug.

"Who knows how long you'll be without a present now!" George added, giving her a quick hug. The other Gryffindors around her congratulated her, taking a piece of the cake and grabbing a bottle of butterbeer, from wherever Fred and George got them, and sat down to talk amongst themselves.

"I didn't know it was your birthday." Neville told her shyly.

"Seems not many people did, Nev. It's fine, really." Cassie said with a small smile. "Thanks for the cake guys!"

"Any excuse for a party!" Fred said with a wink as Percy came down into the common room and saw everyone.

"You know, one of these days the professors are going to find out you two like to sneak into our common room."

"It's not sneaking in if I'm with a Gryffindor, Perce." Cassie said, cutting another piece of cake for him.

"Thanks, and it's still sneaking in. Happy birthday, Cassie."

"Thanks." Cassie said, giving him a wide smile.

"I do have your present, it was supposed to be for Christmas, but I'll have to get you something else for that now. Here. Open it." Merlin said, his eyes lighting up with excitement.

"It's not a prank, is it?" Cassie said, eyeing him warily,

"'Course not!" Merlin said, mockingly looking affronted. "Are you going to open it?" he asked, on the edge of his seat.

"Yes, I am going to open it." Cassie said, purposely making her movements slow and precise to annoy Merlin.

When she removed the wrapping, Cassie opened the box to find an antique looking set of dangling ruby earrings with a matching necklace in a gold setting.

"Merlin, this is beautiful!" Cassie breathed out, showing them to Hermione.

"They belonged to someone I considered family once, Cassie. They're yours now." he said fondly.

"Oh! Thank you!" Cassie exclaimed, walking to the other side of the table to hug him tightly and give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Well, we can give up on getting you a present, it's not going to be nearly as nice as this." Harry said, receiving a playful punch on the arm.

"Help me put the necklace on, Hermione." Cassie said excitedly, handing her the necklace and sitting down in front of her. She took off the small gold hoops she was wearing to put on the earrings. "Well? How do they look?" Cassie said, making a silly face and crossing her eyes at Harry and Ron.

"Well, with that face, they look ridiculous." Ron joked.

"So this girl you considered family, what happened to her?" Cassie asked Merlin, curiosity burning in her eyes for the previous owner.

"She died a long time ago. She died of a broken heart, she wasn't in good health at the time anyways, it was winter and she'd had a difficult birth. Lost too much blood to recover in the end." Merlin said sadly "She'd lost her best friends to the war."

"Oh, I'm sorry. How old was she."

"Thirties, I think, I never asked," he said.

"So she was like an aunt, then?" Cassie asked, making the butterbeer Merlin was drinking blow out his nose.

"Let's say cousin. I don't know what happened to her children, though. After she died, I never went back to where we lived. " Merlin said after he composed himself enough.

"Was it around the time your parents died?" Cassie asked, then flinched as she realized her question, "Sorry, intrusive. Don't answer."

They spent the rest of the afternoon on the Gryffindor common room, playing some more exploding snap and wizard's chess, Cassie losing spectacularly to Ron, They decided to skip dinner, both Cassie and Harry not wanting to be around anyone else, and had the rest of the cake the house-elves had made.

"Sorry, Cassie, Merlin. But you two should be getting back to your common room. You've been here the whole day." Percy said, "It's getting close to curfew. I'll escort you both there."

"It's barely seven!" Cassie said, not wanting to stop her game of Wizards chess with Hermione.

"It's eight thirty, Cassie." Merlin told her.

"I need a watch." Cassie sighed, knocking her queen down and forfeiting the game. "Come on, Merlin. Let's go."

"Bye guys." Harry and Ron said.

"Bye! Happy birthday, Cassie." Hermione said.

"Bye! See you tomorrow." Cassie said, waving and turning to leave.

The two Hufflepuffs climbed out of the portrait hole with Percy trailing after them, no doubt making sure they actually went to the common room.

"Thanks for the 'party' Merlin." Cassie said quietly

"I doubt that's how Gryffindor actually parties, Cass." Merlin replied just as softly

"Oh, I'm sure their parties are more like the older Hufflepuff's parties." Cassie said cheekily.

They walked the rest of the way giggling about some of the things they'd seen going on in the sixth and seventh year parties they weren't allowed to attend.

"Bye, Percy!" Cassie said as he left them near the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room

"See you, Cassie. Merlin." he called back over his shoulder, starting his patrol around the school.

"You ready for the barrage of insults from Ernie?" Cassie asked Merlin, grinning toothily as she tapped the password to the common room on the barrels.

"I've had worse insults thrown at me by six year olds, Cassie." Merlin said

"Yeah, you do seem like you could be a butthead." Cassie agreed thoughtfully as they climbed into the common room.

"Did you seriously just call me a butthead?!" Merlin asked, amused.

"Yes." Cassie deadpanned, ignoring how the others' conversations went silent as they stared at her.

"Okay, then. If I'm a butthead, that would make you a-" Merlin paused on his way to the other side of the common room where he liked to sit.

"Yes?" Cassie said, looking up at him curiously.

"Dollop-head. That's what you are." Merlin said, walking forward again.

"Dollop-head? Interesting word." Cassie said, trying to suppress her laughter, and ignoring how everyone was watching them closely and starting to mutter again. She had the sneaking suspicion that he was doing just the same. They sat down and continued joking with each other.

"You could be a clodpole too, but you're too smart. Nope, I've got it. Cabbage head."

"Oh, Cabbage head, yeah?" Cassie said, trying very hard not to laugh.

"Yeah, that's what you are."

"Okay, I'll do you one better, Shakespeare. You, Merlin are a spleeny, hasty-witted mumble-news." Cassie said, smiling in triumph as Merlin had no comeback.

"You win." he conceded. "But if anything, you're the mumble-news, you big gossip."

"I am not a gossip!" Cassie cried in fake indignancy.

"Sure you're not. And I'm not clumsy." he snorted.

"Aw, you big lug!" Cassie said, moving over to the seat next to him and draping her arm over his shoulder.

"You really have an extensive vocabulary, you know?"

"As do you. Our wits are well-matched." Cassie agreed, offering her other hand to shake.

"Why don't you two move to Ravenclaw, then?" Ernie asked, having had enough of the two.

"What?" Cassie asked from where she was sitting.

"Seems as if you are better suited for Ravenclaw than Hufflepuff. You show no loyalty at all."

"You're wrong Ernie, I show loyalty to those who deserve it." Cassie said, her mood souring by the second.

"So we don't deserve it!?"

"Not when you go around spreading rumours that make no sense and aren't true, you don't."

"Make no sense?" he demanded angrily

"Why would Harry attack Colin? Or Justin or Mrs. Norris?"

"Colin was annoying him, Justin let it slip that he's muggleborn, and Mrs. Norris because he hates Filch."

"So you're telling me you don't hate Filch?"

"Why am I being interrogated here?"

"Just trying to see your logic. Unfortunately, I can't."

"So you're siding with him again! With the Parselmouth, and most likely the Heir of Slytherin." he said, his voice starting to quiver with anger.

"No, I'm just saying, to petrify someone, you need far more knowledge in the Dark Arts than a second year who was raised by muggles."

"What, like you?" he yelled, finally losing all composure and patience.

"What about me?" Cassie asked back, her voice suspicious and her eyes narrowed.

"I know who you are, Gratien. My father works for the Ministry of Magic. In the International Magical Office of Law." he said to her, the common room eerily quiet after his shout. "I wrote him yesterday, after Potter showed his true colors. He wrote back, telling me exactly who you are."

Cassie visibly paled at this, she was not ready for anyone to know, for them to judge her. She shakily took a breath and raised her eyebrow at him as if saying 'and…'

"I know your parents are Death Eaters, and I know your grandfather hated muggles so much he personally maimed, tortured and slaughtered hundreds of them." There was an audible gasp from everyone in the room as they looked at her. She hated the way her hands were shaking, she was showing her emotions and her lack of control.

"You don't know anything about me. Or your friends; Terry Boot's a descendent of Isolt Sayre, who was in turn a descendent of Salazar Slytherin." Cassie said in a quiet, warning voice. Her magic was thrumming under her skin, building up in response to her emotions, she was starting to see him in a red haze.

"Really? Your mother's a Rosier, your grandfather-well suffice to say the whole world knows about him, muggle and magical. I know enough to know you are not who you show everyone, you're exactly like your parents, following a different Dark wizard, but the same nonetheless. And Terry's ancestor is adoptive, not by blood." Ernie kept going, ignoring the obvious threat in her voice. She felt her magic begin to flare and her control over it ebb away. She tried calming herself with deep breaths, but they just managed to make her more incensed than she already was.

"Cassie." Merlin's voice said from beside her. He could feel her magic waking up, the way it was dangerously close to bursting. The air was thick with it, and it was making Merlin dizzy, it had been years since he felt that much Old Magic "Stop it." he reached up and put his hand on her shoulder, walking around to face her, trying to calm her down. Instead, he saw the beginnings of gold coloring her irises and braced himself for the impact before he was knocked out.

The effect Merlin's hand had was the opposite, Cassie lost control of her magic and felt it blast out of her, pushing him away forcefully. She didn't know what happened until she heard the impact of him hit the wall, and she shakily looked towards him, her anger fading to fear when she saw him crumpled on the ground. Fear over what she had done, fear that she had hurt her best friend. She dropped her wand, when she had grabbed it she didn't know, and left the room running, ignoring everyone in the process and trying to hold back her tears until there was no one around to see her break down.

She ran up the stairs and decided to just let her feet carry her. She wanted nothing to do with her thoughts at the moment. She ran until there was no more staircase and turned into the left corridor of the seventh floor. She got to a blank wall and turned around, not knowing what to do. She was desperate for someplace to hide, somewhere she wouldn't be found. She started pacing back and forth, knowing it was only a matter of time before someone found her, and she didn't want to speak with anyone. Didn't want anyone to see her so broken.

She turned around a third time and found a door that hadn't been there before; not questioning her luck she ran inside and bolted the door, falling to the floor and letting the tears take over. She sobbed until her shoulders hurt, then curled up on her side, bringing her knees up to her chest and crying until no tears came out, and even then, she kept sobbing. How long she cried, Cassie had no idea. All she knew was her eyes were hurting, her hip and shoulder were screaming in protest at the hard floor and she had a blinding headache. She wanted to sleep, but the stone floor was hardly comfortable, and on top of that, she was still wearing her school robes. She hated going to sleep in day clothes. So Cassie sniffled and sat up, her back reclining against the wooden door and her arms wrapped around her knees. She wished she had something soft to sit on and gasped when she looked up from the floor to find a comfortable looking divan with a dark wooden frame that swirled gracefully up on either end of the tan damascene silk, with rolled up brown throw pillows against either side and an olive green wool throw blanket.

"How about some pink silk pyjamas?" Cassie said out loud, sarcastically. Not actually expecting some to appear on the divan.

"Thanks." she sniffled, to the empty room. She quickly changed out of the school robes and donned the comfortable pyjamas, laying down on her side and staring at the door, too exhausted to keep crying, but not able to sleep. When she woke up the following morning at eight forty, she noted absently that she was going to be late for potions and Snape would be furious. She decided instead to go to the hospital wing for a headache relief potion and an excuse for missing his class. She stayed in the pyjamas and simply put the cloak on over them, thinking bitterly how disheveled she must look. She set off for the Hospital Wing and got there in no time at all. Thankfully everyone was in the Great Hall having breakfast and no one saw her as she was; slept in hair, puffy red eyes and wrinkled clothes.

"Morning, Madam Pomfrey." Cassie said as she walked in, not wanting to look at the drawn curtains around the two boys.

"Miss Gratien." she greeted, not looking up from whoever she was leaning over. Cassie walked farther in but froze when she saw that Merlin was who she was seeing to. His side was purple and bruised and he looked in pain. Her eyes started burning once more, but no tears fell. She went to run out of the ward, but the doors locked when she got to them, tugging hard to be let out.

"Cassie." Merlin said softly from the patient bed.

"I'm sorry, Merlin." Cassie said, a broken sob leaving her as she leaned her head desperately against the wood of the doors. She felt soft hands grab her shoulders and gently lead her over to one of the beds, sitting her down and handing her a tissue.

"Cassie, I don't blame you. Ernie was being a complete di-"

"Watch what you say, Mr. Rhydderch." Madam Pomfrey warned him as she checked Cassie over.

"Okay, he was being a pestilent boil-brained, lily-livered scurvy-knave!" Merlin said, trying to lighten Cassie's mood. It didn't work.

"Here, for the headache you most likely have. Your eyes are very dry. Unfortunately, I have nothing to hide the puffiness." Madam Pomfrey said, tilting Cassie's head back and putting a couple drops into each eye. Cassie held the potion for a second, not knowing if she really wanted it.

"Did I hurt you too much?" Cassie asked, smoothing out the pyjamas under her robe.

"Nothing I couldn't handle. You?" he asked, looking at her worriedly

"I couldn't handle it. I'm sorry, Merlin. I don't know what happened, I've never lost control like that." she whispered brokenly.

"Has it happened before?"

"No, when I was younger there was the accidental magic, levitating things, you know. But never like what happened last night." Cassie said in a fragile voice.

"Come here." Merlin said, opening his arms for her. "Don't hug me so hard, though." he said right before she climbed onto the bed and curled up with him.

"I'm sorry." Cassie whispered again. "I wish I could have told you. You must think I am a monster." she said dully.

"I don't, Cassie. No one does. You were dealt a bad hand, that's all."

"It's times like these that make me doubt if coming here was a good choice." Cassie said sadly.

"I don't know you, but I couldn't imagine being here without you, Cassie. I've told you before, you don't need to hide from me. Anytime. I consider you one of my closest friends, Cassie. You're practically family to me." he said, thinking back to everything the two of them got up to in Camelot. There was no doubt in his mind anymore, not after last night. This was his Cassie. And if she was back, it meant that Arthur could also be back. Harry would have to be second in his priorities; Arthur always came first. He was the other side of his coin.

"Even after I broke one of your ribs?" Cassie asked hopefully.

"Even after you broke three of my ribs." Merlin said, wincing as he shifted positions on the bed. "Can you pass me that potion, it's for the pain." he told her pointing to one of the potions on the night table.

"Here." Cassie said, moving to the edge of the bed and handing it to him.

"Thanks." Merlin said, downing the potion in one. "Ugh! Hate the taste of potions. Always have."

"I've never actually tasted any potions, not even when I got sick as a child, I would just sleep it off." Cassie said quietly. "Never mind. I just remembered the Skele-Gro." she muttered, a look of disgust twisting her face momentarily as she remembered the taste.

"Me, too. At least until I went to live with my uncle. Then he'd be the one to bind my ribs and cure my cuts.

"You've broken your ribs before?"

"Clumsy child?" Merlin offered with a crooked grin, making Cassie laugh a little. "There's the smile! You know, if you ever need someone to blast you into a wall, I'm your man."

"Yeah, okay. I'm going to go shower. I look like a witch." Cassie said, standing up.

"You are a witch, Cass." Merlin said, Cassie responded by sticking her tongue out at him and taking the headache potion in one swig.

"Ugh, they taste dreadful." Cassie said, pulling a face and placing the vial on the table, calling out her thanks as she walked out of the ward. She held the cloak closed tightly as she made her way down to the Hufflepuff common room, avoiding everyone's gaze in the hallway as she walked down.

When she got to the barrels, she quickly tapped the password and climbed in, ignoring the subsequent silence as she crossed to the door that led to the girl's dorm. She grabbed her dressing case and her towel, leaving her present from Merlin on her bedside table. She quickly locked herself in the bathroom to take a long, hot shower. She didn't even care that she was missing potions class. After about an hour in the shower, when her fingers got pruney, Cassie stepped out of the shower and toweled off, going back to her dorm and putting on her school uniform, leaving her new pyjamas under her pillow. She went out to the common room only to find she would have rather stayed in the shower the rest of the day.

"Good night, eh, Rosier?" Ernie called from the entrance to the common room when he saw her. Cassie forced herself to walk past him, head held high and puffy eyes averted. She quickly found Merlin and stuck by him the rest of the day, thankfully, it kept everyone away from them-some too shocked that he would be near her after her outburst, others fearing she would attack them if they annoyed her.

The double attack on Justin and Nearly Headless Nick turned what had hitherto been nervousness into real panic. Curiously, it was Nearly Headless Nick's fate that seemed to worry people most. 'What could possibly do that to a ghost?' people asked each other; 'What terrible power could harm someone who was already dead?' There was almost a stampede to book seats on the Hogwarts Express that weekend so that students could go home for Christmas.

"At this rate, we'll be the only ones left," Ron said miserably as Cassie and Merlin walked from their place at the Hufflepuff table to sit across from them. Ron ignored them, still mistrustful of Cassie and her secrets. "Us, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. What a jolly holiday it's going to be."

Crabbe and Goyle, who always did whatever Malfoy did, had signed up to stay over the holidays, too. But both Harry and Cassie were glad that most people were leaving. He was tired of people skirting around him in the corridors, as though he was about to sprout fangs or spit poison; tired of all the muttering, pointing, and hissing as he passed. She was tired of all the dirty looks from the Hufflepuffs and Ravencalws, and even a few Gryffindors; sick of being treated as if she were her parents.

Fred and George, however, found all this very funny. They went out of their way to march ahead of Harry and Cassie down the corridors, shouting, "Make way for the Heir of Slytherin and his faithful follower, seriously evil wizards coming through..." Percy was deeply disapproving of this behavior.

"It is not a laughing matter," he said coldly.

"Oh, get out of the way, Percy," said Fred. "Harry's in a hurry."

"Yeah, he's off to the Chamber of Secrets for a cup of tea with his fanged servant and his first follower," said George, chortling at Cassie's reaction, especially when she found Fred later and punched him in the gut, mistaking the twins. Ginny didn't find it amusing either.

"Oh, don't," she wailed every time Fred asked Harry loudly who he was planning to attack next, or when George pretended to ward Harry off with a large clove of garlic when they met.

Harry didn't mind; it made him feel better that Fred and George, at least, thought the idea of his being Slytherin's heir was quite ludicrous. But their antics seemed to be aggravating Draco Malfoy, who looked increasingly sour each time he saw them at it.

"It's because he's bursting to say it's really him," said Ron knowingly. "You know how he hates anyone beating him at anything, and you're getting all the credit for his dirty work."

Cassie had long stopped voicing her opinions on that matter with Ron, every time she did they ended up arguing and her parents would come right back around to bite her.

"Not for long," said Hermione in a satisfied tone. "The Polyjuice Potion's nearly ready. We'll be getting the truth out of him any day now."

At last the term ended, and a silence deep as the snow on the grounds descended on the castle. Harry found it peaceful, rather than gloomy, and enjoyed the fact that he, Hermione, and the Weasleys had the run of Gryffindor Tower with Cassie and Merlin-every single other Hufflepuff had left for Christmas holidays and the professors decided it would be safer for them to be with more students- which meant they could play Exploding Snap loudly without bothering anyone, and practice dueling in private and be as obnoxious as they wanted. Fred, George, and Ginny had chosen to stay at school rather than visit Bill in Egypt with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Percy, who disapproved of what he termed their childish behavior, didn't spend much time in the Gryffindor common room. He had already told them pompously that he was only staying over Christmas because it was his duty as a prefect to support the teachers during this troubled time.

"I bet he's here for his girlfriend instead." Cassie muttered to Fred and George over a game of wizard's chess.

"No!" he gasped out, a horrified expression on their face.

Christmas morning dawned, cold and white. Harry, Merlin and Ron, the only ones left in their dormitory, were woken very early by Hermione, who burst in, fully dressed, and Cassie, still in her pink pyjamas and looking grumpy, carrying presents for them all.

"Wake up," she said loudly, pulling back the curtains at the window.

"Hermione - you're not supposed to be in here -" said Ron, shielding his eyes against the light.

"Merry Christmas to you, too," said Hermione, throwing him his present. "I've been up for nearly an hour, adding more lacewings to the potion. It's ready."

Harry sat up, suddenly wide awake. "Are you sure?"

"She's positive." Cassie yawned out, sitting down on the edge of Harry's bed as Hermione moved Ron's rat so she could sit on the edge of his bed.

"If we're going to do it, I say it should be tonight." Hermione said.

At that moment, Hedwig swooped into the room, carrying a very small package in her beak.

"Hello," said Harry happily as she landed on his bed. "Are you speaking to me again?"

She nibbled his ear in an affectionate sort of way, which was a far better present than the one that she had brought him, which turned out to be from the Dursleys. They had sent Harry a toothpick and a note telling him to find out whether he'd be able to stay at Hogwarts for the summer vacation, too.

"Nice people, Harry. At least they sent you something." Cassie said, reading the note over his shoulder.

"You know, it's incredibly rude to read private correspondence."

"What's private between friends?" Cassie asked in a fake innocent voice that made Merlin fall off his bed in a fit of laughter.

The rest of Christmas morning was spent opening presents in the common room with the rest of the Weasleys. Cassie had enchanted some trinkets for Fred and George to set off during the feast later (They were supposed to change everyone's clothes to some ridiculous neon colors) Percy had gotten a brand-new notebook, courtesy of both Cassie and Merlin, that had an extension charm and password. Ginny and Hermione each got a new handheld mirror, transfigured by Cassie to have a gilded handle and the Gryffindor house seal on the back with their names in calligraphy. Ron had got a new wizard's chess from both Merlin and Cassie-they had got Tommy to go to Hogsmeade before they left and buy it- in Gryffindor colors and Harry had received a stuffed snake with the Slytherin seal emblazoned on the back of its head from Cassie (with a promise that he would get his actual present later) and a heavy winter cloak from Merlin. Both she and Merlin had gotten new hand-knitted sweaters from Mrs. Weasley in Hufflepuff yellow, though Cassie's was big enough to be a sweater dress.

No one, not even someone dreading taking Polyjuice Potion later, could fail to enjoy Christmas dinner at Hogwarts.

The Great Hall looked magnificent. Not only were there a dozen frost-covered Christmas trees and thick streamers of holly and mistletoe crisscrossing the ceiling, but enchanted snow was falling, warm and dry, from the ceiling. Dumbledore led them in a few of his favorite carols, Hagrid booming more and more loudly with every goblet of eggnog he consumed. Percy, who hadn't noticed that Fred had bewitched his prefect badge so that it now read "Pinhead," kept asking them all what they were sniggering at. Harry didn't even care that Draco Malfoy was making loud, snide remarks about his new sweater from the Slytherin table. With a bit of luck, Malfoy would be getting his comeuppance in a few hours' time.

"The castle looks so festive at Christmas! Christmas at Beauxbatons was certainly magnificent, and beautifully elegant, but it wasn't as warm as it is here. Could be from the ice sculptures, though, that the Dining Chamber was so cold last year before the holidays." Cassie said as she watched Fred and George go and give Dumbledore one of the trinkets she gave them- a purple Fez hat that no one would wear, except for a certain eccentric Headmaster- and saw him put it on. His robes, as well as those of the people closest to him, immediately turned an intense neon green. Seeing Snape's face when he looked down at his formerly black robes was what drove Cassie to fall off her seat in laughter. Snape glared at her and took five points from Hufflepuff for showing a lack of respect. Dumbledore, however, awarded Hufflepuff ten points for creativity, laughing heartily along with Professors McGonagall and Flitwick who had also been close enough to have their clothes changed. Hagrid was so big only half his clothing turned neon green, the other half was his normal clothes. And Fred and George looked awful with the clashing of their hair and their now neon green sweaters.

"That was awesome, Cassie!" Fred said, giving her a high-five as he took a seat next to her.

"You have to teach us that charm sometime." George agreed, sitting across and diagonally from her.

"I owe you a galleon." Merlin said gloomily from beside George. "Never bet against this girl!" he told them, fishing in his pocket for the Galleons.

"What'd you bet?"

"That she wouldn't be able to get you two to play the prank on Professor Dumbledore."

"Oh, that's evil!" the twins said in unison, matching grins on their faces.

"What can I say, I'm the daughter of two Death Eaters, I'm inherently evil. At least according to Macmillan, I am." Cassie said, determined not to let that idiot ruin her Christmas.

"That's the spirit!" Fred said, clapping her on the back.

"Best Christmas present ever! You're going to be expected to top this next year." George told her, serving some more turkey on his plate.