Chapter 22 A/N I do not own Harry Potter. Any sentences taken from the book belong to JK Rowling. Italics is French.
Cassie was given small doses of the Dreamless Sleep potion every night before bed until Easter Holidays. Cassie had decided to go visit her friends, afraid of what was going on at Hogwarts and what was happening with her and refusing to take several doses in case she would need them. When she arrived at King's Cross she found Apolline Delacour waiting for her.
"Cassie!" she called her over when she saw her emerge with Tommy and Leon.
"Apolline! How have you been?" Cassie greeted her with a small hug as Tommy took her bag and trunk off the trolley they had shared.
"I've been good, thank you. And you? How has school been?" she asked in heavily accented english.
"School's been okay. These are my friends, Leon and Tommy. Guys, this is Apolline Delacour, Gabrielle's mother. And someone I hold dear to my heart." Cassie said with a smile introducing them.
"Pleasure to meet you, Madame." Tommy said, shaking her hand.
"Will you be staying in England for Easter?" Leon asked politely as he shook her hand as well.
"No, we will be going back to France. We have a portkey scheduled for fifteen minutes from now, we really must be going. It was lovely to meet you all. Cassie has mentioned you all very often in her letters."
"Nothing too bad, I hope." Tommy said with a friendly smile.
"Nothing too bad, unless you count having her play Quidditch, it's such an aggressive sport."
"Ah, that explains that!" Leon said as if a mystery had been solved. "I should go, my parents are waiting for me. Bye Cassie. Have a good holiday!" he said, kissing her on the cheek and shaking Apolline's hand once more.
"Bye Leon." Tommy said acting as if he were fatally wounded he didn't get a goodbye.
"We'll see each other next Sunday, don't be so dramatic!" he called back
"Well, then! Best friends for years and that's how he treats me! I do hope Cassie treats your daughter better!" Tommy said in fake indignation.
"Bye, Tommy." Cassie giggled, kissing him gently on the cheek and hugging him tightly.
"Bye, Cassie." he said, returning the hug and shaking Apolline's hand as Leon had.
"You two are together, are you not?" Apolline asked Cassie with a knowing smile.
"Well, we've never been out." Cassie said, blushing a bit. "But we have stolen a few kisses from each other." she added, smiling demurely.
"Imagine how Gabrielle is going to act when she hears this." Apolline said, biting back a smile of her own. "Come, we must find a suitable place to apparate." she said, taking Cassie's garment bag and walking ahead of her a few seconds before Cassie caught up and gave her the widest smile, dragging her trunk behind her. At least she'd thought to put wheels on the thing.
"How did Claude like his present?"
"He loved it, it was very thoughtful of you to get it for him." Apolline said with a charming smile that made some of the muggle men stop what they were doing and stare at her.
"You have such an effect on men, I wish I did too." Cassie said, sighing wistfully.
"You will, Cassie. You already do if those two young men were anything to go by."
"Leon and Tommy are close friends. Oh, my friend Merlin was thinking of going on a camping trip over summer, and he's extended an invitation to us- me, you, Claude and the girls. Some other friends are going too. I'm not sure where he plans to go camping, though." Cassie said as they walked to one end of the alley and prepared to apparate.
"That sounds lovely. I'm sure Claude and the girls will love it." Apolline said, holding out her arm for Cassie to grab and turning on the spot, taking them to the clearing the portkey was set to be in. "Why the English choose to use such distasteful items as portkeys I will never know." Apolline said, looking at the old, deflated football that was starting to glow blue and grabbing onto part of it with the garment bag secured in her other hand. Cassie quickly grabbed a part of it and felt the familiar, uncomfortable hooking sensation on her navel. They arrived in the woods near the Delacour's house and walked the rest of the way up, talking about her Quidditch tryouts.
"Cassie!" Gabrielle shouted when they arrived at the gates, running up and giving her best friend a huge hug.
"Gabrielle! Oh, we've so much to talk about!" Cassie said, hooking her arm through her best friend's arm and leading her up to the house, telling her about her first week there.
"Don't we get a hug too?" came a voice that made Cassie's heart swell with joy.
"Arthur!" Cassie squeaked, running towards him ang giving him the tightest hug she'd ever given anyone, tears flowing down her face as she buried her head into the crook of his neck.
"Okay, who are you and what have you done with the prim and proper little sister of mine?" he joked, hugging her tightly back.
"She's becoming English." Cassie answered in a watery voice.
"I blame Fred and George Weasley!" Gabrielle piped in happily from behind her.
"No, it's more Merlin's fault." Cassie said, her voice slightly muffled by his neck.
"Who's Merlin?" Gabrielle asked, her voice suggestive.
"This Welsh boy who's in my house. Probably my best guy friend there. He's even worse than the Weasleys, if you can believe that." Cassie said, turning her head to look at her friend slightly.
"From the stories you've written, I find it hard to find someone worse than those two."
"No, no, he's worse." Cassie said, finally pulling back from the hug and taking out her handkerchief to wipe at her eyes.
"At least you haven't forgotten everything grand-mère taught us." Gabrielle said, looking curiously at the delicate handkerchief. "You've gotten better at needlepoint."
"It was a Christmas present from Tommy. Leon and Ced got me the matching gloves and necklace."
"Who are these boys, and why are they giving you such gifts?" Arthur asked in the role of the overbearing brother, crossing his arms over his chest and looking at her pointedly.
"Friends, Arthur. Friends. You should find some." she said teasingly.
"Oh, ha. Ha. There's someone here for you." he said, a small smile tugging at his lips.
"Who?"
"Me." Came the shy voice of her twin.
"It's really you 'Gana?" Cassie asked, her tears coming back.
"I'm sorry for slapping you last year, and for what I said. I shouldn't have said it, I was just so…" she said
"Hush." Cassie said softly, hugging her twin sister tightly. "There's nothing to forgive, 'Gana. Really."
"Come inside girls! Lunch is served." Apolline called from the doorway. "And Arthur."
"Have mummy and daddy forgiven me too?" Cassie asked hopefully, looking at her siblings.
"No. They would kill us if they knew we were here. We've gone on a double date with Isabelle and Antoine, at least that's what they think." Morgana said sadly.
"Oh." Cassie said, her previous happiness ebbing away as she walked into lunch.
They walked into the Delacours dining room and sat down at the table to be served, making polite conversation throughout the meal while Cassie was holding back her disappointment.
"Cassie mentioned her friend has extended an invitation to us for summer. A camping trip." Apolline said once dessert was served.
"Where to?"
"He hasn't decided. We were speaking about what we'd do over summer with some other friends and he mentioned he might go camping and said I should invite you all, see if you wanted to come." Cassie answered. "He's really very good at camping, he said he used to go camping practically every week when he was younger."
"Oh! That sounds fun! Would it be okay for us to come too? I mean, it's okay if it's not, but.."
"Morgana, it would be amazing for you to come. I've spoken so much about you to them. About all of you. I did say we couldn't survive longer than a week though. I'd go mad in the wild for more than a week." Cassie said jokingly.
"So would I," Gabrielle agreed with her nodding her head.
"Well, we would be glad to accept the invitation. I do have to know when he plans to go camping, to get some time off." Claude said.
"I'll write to him this evening. Knowing him he was going to say 'let's go camping today' and take us wherever occurred to him without any actual planning."
"Sounds like someone else we know." Arthur said.
"Does not!" Cassie argued, then said thoughtfully, "Oh. I see it now."
"See what?"
"Everyone says we seem more like brother and sister than friends."
"I have to meet him now!" Gabrielle said.
"So how's school going? Good grades?"
"Always." Cassie said smiling. "Well, except for defense, but that Professor doesn't know what he's saying. Quite frankly, I'm surprised he knows up from down. I'm glad I decided to grab an extra book when I went to Flourish and Blotts for the school books; I've been using it to study from with my friend, Hermione."
"Who is your professor?" Apolline asked.
"Gilderoy Lockhart, and he's more full of hot air than-"
"Cassie!" Claude said, not letting her finish her sentence.
"Sorry sir, forgot myself for a moment. They're rubbing off on me." Cassie said meekly while her siblings and friends snickered behind their goblets. "But that man either made up all his stories, or he took credit for them from others who actually did them."
"But he's so-"
"Fleur, if you say handsome, I have no choice but to show you just how bad an influence Merlin and the Weasley twins have been." Cassie warned her friend.
"I'm kind of curious to know how bad an influence they've been." Arthur said, trying not to smile.
"I must be going, work calls. I'm glad you've been having a good time at Hogwarts, Cassie. Would you two like a ride back?" Calude asked, looking at Arthur and Morgana.
"No, thank you, we've said that we'd be out until late. They aren't expecting us for dinner." Arthur said, standing up to shake his hand as he left.
"Very well. I'll see you all tonight then. It's good to have you home, Cassie. Christmas was rather dull without you." he said, kissing the top of her head and kissing his family goodbye as well.
"Oh, I was able to pull off the perfect prank on the Headmaster at Christmas! I even got five points for my House!" Cassie said excitedly. "Remember when I got you covered head to toe in hair?" Cassie asked Morgana and earned a glare, apparently it was still a sore issue. "Well, I figured out some other ways to prank people. The Weasleys I've been telling you so much about, I gave them a prank each for a Christmas present. And, as I expected, they went straight to the Headmaster with one of them. Changed all the teacher's clothes' colors to neon green! If you had seen the way the Potions Professor was glaring at us! The man only ever wears black, and here he was sporting neon green robes. Oh, fun times." Cassie said, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.
"You could have gotten in trouble, Cassie." Apolline admonished.
"Not from Dumbledore! The man's a genius, but he's got a better sense of humor than the Weasley's, Merlin and me combined! He even helped me prank-well, actually I helped him prank Professor McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress, last year when I went to take the placement exams, which I'm told were basically the finals. Great man, that Dumbledore, bit mad, but absolute genius!"
"Like you." Morgana deadpanned, making everyone laugh.
"No, I'm not that smart. Nor am I as proficient in magic as he was at our age."
"You're joking, right?! You've managed to send us letters without owls. They just appear on our desk or bed." Arthur said, looking at her as if she were crazy.
"I honestly don't know how I do it. I tried showing Hermione how to, but I couldn't really show her what it is I do."
"Sounds like the transporting charm. Very powerful, nearly impossible to do wordlessly. I've never met anyone who could do it without the incantation before. Transvectio!" she said, pointing her wand at the salt shaker that was on the other side of the table and moving it to be in front of Cassie. "I didn't learn it until my last year at Beauxbatons, and even then, it took me months before I could do it consistently. Don't say you're not a proficient witch, Cassie." Apolline told her, looking at her with awe.
"I want to see how you do it, Cassie." Morgana said, "Wish we were seventeen so we could do magic outside of school already."
"As do I. But mainly to show you all my brilliant schemes and pranks. There's this one Merlin and I came up with that everytime you walk under an archway, your clothing gets switched with whoever's nearest you. It's quite hilarious when a girl and a boy walk under in normal clothing. If it's just the school robes nothing really happens, except for the boys wearing skirts, but they're barely seen under the robes."
"You are an absolute nightmare! I'm glad you're not at Beauxbatons, you'd've been expelled by now, after having wreaked havoc on everyone."
"Thanks, Arthur. You just wait until I can actually show you what I have up my sleeve." Cassie said mischievously.
"I'd rather not, thanks." Arthur said with a sarcastic smile that Cassie returned.
"You have to show me every photo you've taken!" Gabrielle said once they'd all left the dining room, grabbing her arm excitedly and dragging her to the guest room.
"Photos?" Morgana asked excitedly, though far more subdued than she usually was.
"You'll love them! Colin took the majority of them at the beginning of the year, but then he was petrified. But the mandrakes are nearly mature, so they'll be woken up soon." Cassie said.
"Wait a second! Petrified? How? How many?!" Arthur asked, stopping them from moving forward with his hand on her shoulder. "Why didn't you tell us?! It's too dangerous for you to go back there!"
"Arthur, it's only after muggle-borns. Wouldn't touch me." she said, not really assuaging his fears. "
"Cassie, it doesn't matter, you're not going back while there's something petrifying the students!" Arthur told her, adamant.
"Listen, I'm safe, Arthur. Whatever or whoever is behind these attacks is only after the muggleborns. You don't have to worry about me."
"Your Headmaster sent me a letter. Apparently he knows Mother and Father won't answer so he sent it to me. You've been sleepwalking." he said, obviously not believing that she was safe and wanting answers.
"I'll leave you alone." Gabrielle said, letting go of Cassie's arm and taking Fleur's hand to go outside while the three of them spoke.
"You're sleepwalking again?" Morgana asked worriedly, her grip on Cassie's arm tightening. "You haven't done that since we were six, when we had those terrible nightmares."
"It's nothing, Arthur." Cassie said, going into the room and sitting down on the bed while they followed in and Arthur closed the door.
"It's not nothing, Cassie. It's obviously severe enough that he wrote to me."
"Arthur, I'm just walking around, it's not like I've hurt myself too bad anyways."
"He sent me pictures, Cassie." Arthur said seriously, reaching into his robe pocket and retrieving an envelope which he handed to Cassie. She opened the envelope and read the letter out loud.
"Dear Mr. Gratien, I am writing to you because my attempts at communicating with your parents have been unsuccessful thus far. I am writing to inform you that your sister, Cassiopée Gratien, has been sleepwalking throughout the castle. Normally, we would put measures in place until this stopped, but there are circumstances which are beyond our control happening. Your sister doesn't appear to have any knowledge of what she is doing while asleep, or why she is sleepwalking. She has told me that she's been having nightmares the nights we've found her, and that it has happened before, when she was younger. I am afraid to say that she has gotten hurt before, from sleepwalking. Madam Pomfrey, our resident matron, has included some pictures from the first night we found her sleepwalking and the injuries she sustained. I've sent copies to your parents, but have not received any answer. Last night, she was found in the library, unconscious and with a nosebleed. She's woken up and is quite alright, but it is still worrying. I would appreciate it if you could tell me what you remember from when she used to sleepwalk, and I can assure you that we are trying everything we can to keep your sister from harm. Madam Pomfrey has recommended we give her dreamless sleep at night, in small quantities, to keep her from the nightmares. It's only a temporary measure, but I hope that with the information you can provide we can figure something out. Albus Dumbledore, Headmas- So where are the pictures?" Cassie asked after she finished reading.
"In the envelope." Arthur said, his jaw clenching.
"Okay." Cassie said softly and turned the envelope over, emptying it of its contents. She flipped the small pile of pictures over to see her shoulder was completely blackened, her toes bent awkwardly, bruises all along her side and leg and a big bruise in the middle of her forehead. "I-it looks worse than it was, Arthur. You know I've always bruised easily."
"You fractured your forehead, multiple ribs, a couple toes, your shoulder in multiple places and you bruised your hip and knee! You're telling me it 'looks worse than it is'?!" Arthur said incredulously.
"Y-yes, that's what I'm saying."
"Cassie, why didn't you tell me?" he asked softly, taking her shaking hand in his and kneeling in front of her.
"I didn't want you to worry. And this thing that's petrifying students really won't go after me; you know perfectly well how obsessed our family is with 'maintaining blood-purity' and the family line. I'm as pure-blood as you can be! It's said to be Slytherin's monster, and he was a blood-purist fanatic!"
"It doesn't matter, Cassie, you're not going back. I'm speaking with the Delacours, I'm sure they can come to some arrangement with Professor Dumbledore and Madam Maxime! I won't let you go back."
"It doesn't matter whether you do or don't, Arthur. I'm emancipated and can legally decide for myself. I won't go back to Beauxbatons. I belong at Hogwarts." Cassie said, standing up and throwing the pictures onto the bed, crossing her arms stubbornly.
"Your life could be in danger! With this thing walking around!" he said, just as stubborn as he straightened himself up and looked down at her.
"We don't actually know if it walks or not. Supposedly only the Heir of Slytherin can command it."
"So there's a Dark wizard there, right now terrorizing the school. And you want to go back?!"
"Yes." Cassie said adamantly, walking past Arthur tired of the conversation, "I won't leave Hogwarts, and I'd like to change now, please. It's been a long journey." Cassie said, holding the door open for him to leave.
"We're not done talking about this."
"Oh, yes we are!" Cassie said, closing the door on his face.
"Cassie, he's just worried about you. As am I." Morgana said softly.
"I know." Cassie sighed, deflating. "I just don't want to leave. I've made so many good friends there, more than I ever had here. And more to the point, I'm not wanted here. There's no hope for mummy and daddy to want me back. They hate me, enough to refuse to pay for my schooling. I have enough to cover the tuition and the books until I graduate, but no idea what to do after that. I don't even know what classes to take next year! I have no idea what I want for my future." Cassie said sullenly, moving behind the wardrobe door so she could change into something else.
"You've always been good with charms and transfiguration. Why not try something with that? Or a potioneer, you're very good at potions."
"Still doesn't help me figure out what classes to take next year. Those three are classes we have to take the first five years, and then the next two if we get the exam scores required."
"Arthur's very good at that, maybe he can help you? I'm thinking of being a translator with the Ministry. Maybe you should do that too? You have excellent command of languages, and you speak more than I."
"Not likely, 'Gana. I don't see myself doing that. You on the other hand are extremely well at that. Figuring out how to get your point across without much words, I trip over mine. And in French, imagine in other languages!"
"You're good at fashion. Maybe you can own your own shop and make a collection or something." she suggested after a while.
"I know elegance, but I can't design anything. And my taste is pretty predictable, and unchanging." Cassie said. "And old fashioned. Tommy, Leon and Cedric decided to get my Christmas presents from an antique store! Can you believe that?!"
"Boys." Morgana said, rolling her eyes. "Gabrielle mentioned photos?"
"Yes. But you'll have to wait and see them with her. She wouldn't forgive me if she wasn't there when you saw the boys. The look on her face when I showed her the picture last year was priceless, and I've a feeling yours will be too." Cassie said, digging through her trunk and pulling out two leather photo albums.
"Cassie, wait!" Morgana said as Cassie walked to the door.
"Yeah?" she asked, her hand on the knob.
"I-I wanted to apologize." she said slowly, unsure of herself.
"You don't have to. I should have said something to you and Arthur about grandfather, I was stupid and didn't think about you two." Cassie told her softly, walking back over and sitting next to her on the bed, taking her hands in her own.
"Not about that, I've always been a horrid little bitch to you and you've never actually done or said anything about it."
"Apart from covering you from head to toe in hair…" Cassie said, jokingly.
"I'm serious, Cassie. I've been a terrible sister to you since we were little. And you've never… I'm just really sorry. I've realized I don't even know you. When Arthur showed me those pictures… I talked to Gabrielle, and realized that even though we're twins, the only thing I actually know about you is that you hate the color yellow."
"Only neon yellow-or that really horrid mustard yellow. Why people wear it I'll never understand. It makes everyone look sort of pukey. I like the baby yellow and the pastel yellow."
"It is seriously ugly. Muggles have some cute clothing, but anything in that color or the gross-looking brownish orange is terrible."
"Right?! At least wizards know to keep the colors muted or bright, not try to mix the two and just make gross looking colors. Well, normal wizards, Dumbledore and Lockhart, not so normal. Also, no offense, but muggles are skimpy dressers nowadays. You can be sexy without showing skin. If anything, it's better to leave some things to the imagination. I've found that keeping the hemline just above your knee makes boys crazy! At least it does Tommy. You should see some of the clothing the higher-years wear, you can practically see everything! I assume they think it makes the boys crazy and that's why they've taken to wearing the ripped up clothes, but still… It's completely offensive, and not at all attractive. I'm surprised that the pure-blood girls wear those clothes as well, you'd assume they wouldn't."
"I'm so offended right now. I love the ripped up jeans and the crop tops. I really hate that Madam Maxime has a dress code for when we're not in our uniforms. And who's Tommy?"
"Technically, we're only allowed casual wear on weekends and after the classes are over for the day, but I've taken to ignoring it and wearing my uniform only between nine and five. I change for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Sometimes my friends do too, not of their own volition, of course."
"Good to hear you're still doing that." she said with a smirk. "Now tell me who Tommy is and why your hemline makes him crazy!"
"It's so funny, whenever I feel puckish, I sit with my friends and transfigure their robes into formal wear. They absolutely hate it, but it always gets a laugh." Cassie said, ignoring her questions about Tommy and walking over to the door with the photo albums in hand. She opened the door and found Arthur was still standing there, his arms crossed over his chest and an amused expression on his face.
"Who, exactly is this Tommy? Not the same 'handkerchief Tommy,' I hope?" he said, smirking.
"You know, you two smirk as much as Merlin trips over his feet." Cassie said, rolling her eyes and pushing past Arthur to go into the garden where Fleur and Gabrielle were talking.
"I don't know about you, Arthur. But I'm dying to know who Tommy is." Morgana said excitedly and followed after Cassie.
"Those two make me fear having daughters!" he said to himself, rubbing his hands over his face and following after them.
They spent the rest of the day looking at the pictures from Hogwarts and talking about what had happened at Beauxbatons, getting much more gossip from Morgana and Gabrielle than from Arthur and Fleur. At some point, they had tired of the incessant gossip of their younger siblings and left to do whatever.
"I think they're dating." Morgana whispered excitedly when they were far enough away.
"Really?" Gabrielle asked wide-eyed while Cassie said, "No!" in surprise.
"Yeah, I think they're dating. They were very chummy before holidays started. Always around each other. Just look at them leaving, trying not to hold hands." she said, smirking while looking at them.
"I never noticed just how much you smirked, 'Gana." Cassie told her sister with a smirk.
"Nor I how much you shrug." Morgana replied, with a shrug.
"You two are impossible! Now, are you going to tell us, or do we have to force it out of you?" Gabrielle asked, her eyes filled with curiosity.
"Tell you what?" Cassie asked lightly, knowing very well what she was referring to.
"Oh, I know you too well, that won't work on me." Gabrielle told her with narrowed eyes.
"You do know me too well." Cassie admitted with a sigh. "Ask away!" she said, prepared for them to ask everything at once.
"Tell us everything from the start!"
"What were you two doing?"
"How soft are his lips?'
"Is he a good kisser?"
"Are you a good kisser?"
"Are you two dating?"
"Is he as cute in real life as he is in the pictures?"
"Shall I start from the beginning of the day?" Cassie asked them amused, making sure Fleur and Arthur were nowhere near them.
"Yes!" they cried in unison.
"Okay, I woke up and took a nice long hot shower. Maybe thirty minutes, my fingers were pruney at the end. Then I went back to the dorm I was staying in, we'd gotten permission to stay with the Gryffindors since everyone was gone except for them, and put on my moistu-"
"Move on, Cassie. We don't need to know your morning routine. We know it well enough!" Gabrielle said impatiently.
"So me and Merlin went out after breakfast and had a snowball fight that lasted all day! The Weasleys and Harry showed up sometime after the Hogwarts Express did, and we had a blast pelting the Slytherins with snowballs. Some threw back, but most just glared at us and kept going to their common room. Tommy showed up a bit later, having gone home for Christmas, and gave me his present. This handkerchief." Cassie told them, holding said item out for them to see. "We 'flirted shamelessly while Merlin grew his famous gray beard' or something like that. Merlin was waiting rather impatiently with maybe ten snowballs already made and waiting to be thrown and told me so when we said goodbye to each other. The Weasleys and Harry came back after lunch and it was the five of them, versus me and Merlin. Hardly fair, we were drenched in melted snow half an hour later. We said goodbye and went to change into something dry. We were shivering so hard we went into the wrong corridor-me to the boys' rooms and him to the girls' and the wall that always materializes when a boy goes into the girls' corridor formed, making him walk right into it. It was rather funny seeing his grumpy face and rubbing his forehead. Anyways we changed into something dry; I wore that blue dress I had on when I got here with my black wool stockings and my matching blue Mary Janes and that off-white cashmere waist-length cape. I wanted to wear the fur you'd gifted me, but I was just going to stay in the castle, so I didn't bother. Merlin and I went up to the hospital wing to visit one of my friends who'd been on the receiving end of a prank war between Merlin, myself and the Weasley twins. Anyways, we talked with her a while, then Merlin left because we started gossiping, and the guy's a serious gossip! He's worse than me and you put together, G. But we were talking about hair and he got bored quickly. When I saw Hermione blush when he hugged her goodbye, it made my day! Honestly, they would be so cute together! If only Merlin wasn't such a dollophead! But anyways, she figured out that I liked Tommy and we made a pact to help the other out. Hermione held her end up much quicker. There was this rumour going around that Hermione had been petrified, she's a muggle-born, and Tommy must have heard it and went up to see if I was there or something. We're pretty close friends, Hermione and me. Not as close as you, G. But anyways, after Madam Pomfrey kicked me out because Hermione 'needed rest' and all, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and walked into him when I turned the corner. He asked if I'd like to go for a walk outside, and, obviously, I said yes. I did hide my excitement and nervousness well I think. I hope. Anyways, we talked for what felt like hours, and we stayed outside on the bridge until the sun went down. It was really cold by then so we went inside. And when I excused myself to go fix my hair, the beret I was wearing had fallen off and he just pulled it on my head, messing up my hair, he grabbed my hand and pulled me close to his chest and kissed me! Right on the lips! For like ten, fifteen seconds, but still!" Cassie was positively glowing by the end, her words coming out faster and more exciting, but she still kept her word and said nothing about his mother.
"That's it!? How did it feel?" Gabrielle asked, disappointed.
"Remember that old movie we saw with the great dancer and the pretty blonde? The one with the fence they danced over?" Cassie asked Gabrielle.
"Yeah."
"Well, that scene near the end when the older woman dares the blonde to kiss the guy, and she does it. Sort of like that!"
"Nervous?" Gabrielle asked dubiously.
"Very! And I wasn't the one who kissed him, he kissed me! But I was actually meaning when they kissed behind the door."
"Aww, that scene is so cute, those goofy smiles, and her lipstick all over his face! That's so sweet!"
"I haven't seen that movie! I don't think I've seen any movies, to be honest." Morgana said sadly.
"Weren't you supposed to be doubling at the movies?" Cassie asked, surprised she'd never seen a movie before.
"Yeah, but that was just an excuse. Arthur's 'date' is half-blood. She's the one who suggested it. Her parents wouldn't have let them go alone. Our parents wouldn't have let us come, we're both winning." Morgana said.
"It's only a two hour movie, and there's a rental place near here. I could go ask mummy to rent the movie and bring it!" Gabrielle said.
"Why do you know so much about muggles? I thought you were part veela, part witch?"
"We are, doesn't mean we can't enjoy some of the muggle pastimes. They do have some good inventions, you know. Electricity, the telephone, TV, radio. Besides, dad's job has him interacting with muggles a lot and he took us to one of his business dinners when Fleur and I were much younger, the others had children our age and we discovered tv when they wanted to watch one of the Disney movies. Aladdin I think it was. Anyways, I have been in love with movies since then. Dragged Cassie into my movie craze years ago, although we only like the old, romantic movies."
"Yes! That one Irene Dunne movie, what's it called, where she's on a boat and meets this handsome stranger and they fall madly in love and make plans to meet up again."
"Love affair, I think. And that woman had some serious style! And a beautiful voice, that song Plaisir D'amour is so beautiful! And her performance in Stingaree was amazing, she has such a beautiful voice."
"I agree. But for now, let's get your mum to rent Swing Time to show 'Gana just what I mean." Cassie said excitedly, standing up from where they were sitting on the grass and offering her hands to both girls. "Oh! I have a picture!" Cassie said, opening the photo album once more and taking the picture out from behind one of the other pictures. "Wasn't about to let Arthur see it, he'd be soo annoying!" Cassie complained, showing the picture Merlin had taken of her and Tommy goofing off and him kissing her.
"Aww! That's so cute!" they said in unison when they looked at it.
"What's so cute?"
"We're going to watch a movie, wanna join?" Cassie asked, quickly hiding the picture behind her and looking annoyed when he snapped a photo of them without warning.
"What are you hiding, Cassie?" he asked, his smile oscillating between amused and suspicious.
"Nothing." Cassie said innocently. "See." she said, holding up both her hands after tucking the picture in her belt.
"Let's get a picture of the three of you now." Fleur said, taking the camera from Arthur and having them stand together. Arthur stood behind Cassie and Morgana, and waited for them both to be distracted with the picture to take the one Cassie had hidden from him.
"So this is what you three have been giggling about for the past hour, is it? You have a boyfriend!" he said, laughing as the camera flashed and Cassie gave him an annoyed huff.
"Arthur, give that back!" Cassie cried, jumping up trying to reach it as he held it high over his head.
"You'll have to catch me first!" he said, and took off running.
"Arthur!" Cassie yelled annoyed, running after him in her heels.
"Take another picture when they're in frame." Gabrielle told her sister with a smile as she left for the house.
"Hogwarts has certainly made her more energetic, she'd have been panting by now last year." Fleur said, taking the picture the moment Cassie caught up to Arthur and they both fell to the ground, laughing.
"Now look what you've done!" Cassie said mockingly annoyed, "I'm all grassy and gross. You're cleaning my clothes! Without magic." Cassie joked angrily.
"Fine, then you're cleaning mine!" he replied, both of them sticking their tongues out at the same time; Fleur snapped another picture.
"Hey! Stop taking pictures!" they said in unison, looking back at Fleur from where they were sitting.
"Mum's gone for the movie!" Gabrielle called from the door, holding a tray of drinks in her hand.
"Oh! I'm parched, will you please give me the picture back now Arthur?" Cassie asked, batting her eyes innocently and giving him a wide, hopeful smile as she held her hand out.
"This look is worse than your puppy eyes! I'm bringing you back to Beauxbatons, at least there you're more controlled." he said unbelievably
"As far as you know." Cassie snorted mischievously.
Arthur stood up with a shake of his head and gave her the picture, pulling her up and to his side and saying that if he ever hurt her or got any funny ideas, she should write to him and he'd take care of him.
"As if I can't take care of it myself. Remember Jacques." Cassie said, giggling at the look that crossed Arthur's face when he remembered that time she hexed the boy for insulting her.
