There was a certain air to the dormitories tonight. The winds blew the crackling hearths as if change were coming. Cass could feel it deep in her bones. She wondered what it meant.

She ripped the scrunchie out of her hair before trying to fix the terrible messy bun on her head. After a few times, she sighed and accepted that there were always going to be stray curls falling out of it. Hair as long, as thick, and as curly as hers just couldn't be contained. Andie was lucky that hers was only a dull wave. She only ever threw it up in braids; braids like that took Cass at least fifteen minutes and that was if she let them look a little bit messy.

"Cass, will you stop sighing? Please, I'm begging you. I have a really important potions assignment due tomorrow!" Margot huffed from over on her bed with a deep scowl on her head. Apparently, Professor Slughorn had been quite hard on Margot this year so she felt an extra need to succeed. He wasn't hard on Cass. Being the grieving sister gave her a lot of perks that she probably shouldn't use but would anyway. If it meant she didn't have to write a ten parchment paper on uses of a bezoar—which was a first-year assignment, really—then she'd use it all day.

"I'm sorry! I can't get my hair right. I'll try to stop."

Margot glared at her. "Your hair always looks fucking perfect. You always look fucking perfect, and you know it."

Cass smiled. Her friend was a little snippy lately but less time with her boyfriend always did that to her. It didn't help that Cass had Enzo over twice a week for movie nights while Margot grumbled in the corner or left to go to the library. She tried to get Margot to join them but the girl would always just say, "I'm not going to be in the middle of something you two don't even know you're starting." Cass always thought that made no sense but she didn't want to annoy an already-angry Margot.

It had been a couple of weeks since their not-date-that-Cass-wished-was-a-date in Hogsmeade. They'd been to the little village one more time since that day and each time got better. Conversations with Enzo flowed so easily. She felt like she could go to Hogsmeade with him in the morning and then spend hours tucked in bed watching a movie with him in the evening while never getting tired of it. Things felt natural between them and because of that, her crush on him only deepened. Enzo had never made any indication that he wanted to be more than friends so Cass was happy to have him as her friend if that was all he ever wanted to be.

She looked down at the outfit that she was currently wearing and rolled her eyes. She looked far from perfect. It was a Friday night and Cass was just wearing some loose, light grey lounge pants and one of Enzo's sweatshirts that he lent her. She tried not to wear them outside of her bedroom or Quidditch games, though; she still had her Hufflepuff pride, after all. She was looking rather lazy but she had nothing but homework to do tonight since her movie nights with Enz were on Wednesdays and Saturdays—the only two days the Slytherin Quidditch team didn't have some sort of practice.

Cass hadn't even realized she'd sighed again until Margot shot out of bed. "Urghhh! I'm sick of your freaking sighing, I'm sick of my potions homework, and I'm sick of missing Ernie when he's right down the hall." Margot slammed her homework on the ground before flipping it off. "Fuck this. I'm not writing one more word tonight. I'm going to Ernie's."

Cass just watched her friend stomp around the room with a smile. "Finally. You've been miserable without him. Give me your essay and I'll try to write what I can. Plus, you don't have class until Monday."

"Yeah, but Slughorn only gave me an extension on this until tomorrow."

"Sounds like you have until tomorrow night to do it, then," Cass said with a smile. "Now go have fun with your man. You deserve it. My homework isn't due until next week so I'll work on your paper."

Margot hugged her tightly. "Thanks for helping me. You're a good friend. I owe you one."

Cass rolled her eyes. "You don't owe me anything. Friends help each other out. Now go see Ernie and tell him hi for me."

"Will do. Thanks Cass!" Margot said with a smile before practically sprinting out the door.

Cass walked over to her friend's bed and swept all of the parchment off the floor before grabbing her quill and moving to her desk. She wasn't sure why Margot was so stressed; the girl already had eight pages filled with good work so she definitely would have had time to write the final two before the end of the day tomorrow. Still, Cass dipped her quill in ink and began to write about the riveting uses of the bezoar.

It had been half an hour before a hard, frantic knock appeared on her door. "Coming!" Cass said as she set down the quill.

Jeez. Margot's back soon. I wonder if she and Ernie had a fight, Cass wondered. They'd been getting along well for a couple of months so they were probably about due for one and given Margot's slightly foul mood earlier and Ernie's tendency to be a little sensitive, things probably didn't go well. Plus, Margot always forgot her key so that would explain the knock.

Just as she was setting the papers down, the knock sounded again. This time, it was louder and more chaotic, as if the person desperately needed to be inside. Yup, they definitely had a fight. "Margot, I said I'm coming!" she said with a slight chuckle as she walked across the room. "I only got about a page written but you're ninety percent done so—"

"Enzo," she said breathlessly when she saw him standing on the threshold of her door. "What are you doing? How did you get in here? Why— Oh, Merlin! What's wrong?"

Cass's elation at seeing him unexpectedly quickly turned to worry when she saw how red his eyes were. They were bloodshot as if he'd been awake for much longer than he should have been. His cheeks were red and puffy from crying and his lip trembled as if he were holding back sobs. When she saw the ways his eyes were glistening with unshed tears, she knew he was.

She quickly grabbed him and pulled him inside, not wasting time by thinking about how wonderful his hand felt in hers. Cass sat him down on her bed and felt her heart shatter at the way he looked so defeated. He looked as if he wanted to curl up in a ball but wouldn't let himself. She grabbed tissues, took one look at Enzo's crumbling expression, and then grabbed some of Margot's emergency chocolates.

"Enz, my love," Cass said softly as she sat beside him. She didn't even want to analyze the nickname that came out of her mouth. Not when he was looking like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. "What's wrong? What are you feeling?"

"I- I feel like I'm breaking inside," he rasped before wrapping his arms around his body. His voice was hoarse as if he'd been crying for hours. It broke Cass a little to hear him like that.

"What happened?"

"Aria." Cass felt her heart sink. Enzo's little sister? What happened to that poor sweet girl that she got a glimpse of before? Was she alright? Was she in the hospital wing? With a startle, Cass realized that she cared about this girl she'd never even met simply because Enzo cared for her. What does that mean? she wondered but she didn't have time to think about it. Right now was about Enzo.

"What about her? Is she alright?"

He smiled but there was no joy. Only bitterness. "No. She's never been alright. And I had no fucking idea. No idea that bitch was fucking hurting her. No idea that they didn't even love her." He shook his head and his messy hair fell over his face as if it were a veil that would keep his tears from her. "I thought she was shy. How fucking stupid am I? I thought she was shy and this whole time, she was terrified and hurt and alone." Enzo's voice broke as a tear fell down his face. "She shouldn't have had to be alone. I would have been there if I knew."

Cass's mind spun with all of the words. "Slow down, baby—"Woah. Where did that come from? "Start at the beginning and tell me everything."

Enzo looked as if he wasn't going to tell her anything but to her surprise, he nodded and sunk further into the bed. Cass followed him and lay beside him, grabbing onto his hand to show him her support. He smiled down at it but his smile was the saddest thing she'd ever seen.

"I told you Aria was shy. She was always locking herself in her room, she never wanted to come home for holidays, and she hardly talked to me. We were never like most other brothers and sisters but I loved her more than anything, even if I never got to see her. She's always been my best friend, even when we were countries apart."

She nodded. "Yes, you've told me all of this."

"She was never shy," Enzo whispered brokenly. "She was never shy. She was fucking abused."

"By your father?" Enzo shook his head. "Your mother?"

He clenched his jaw. "She's not my mother anymore. She's nothing but a bitch who gave birth to me."

Enzo then began to tell Cass everything—about all of the pain and sorrow poor little Aria went through when she was such a young girl, about how her bullies were the reason Enzo found out after years of thinking he had a normal family life, about the way he held his sister as she started the first crucial step to her healing journey. Throughout it all, Cass just listened, nodding at the right parts and stroking his thumb with her hand. Eventually, she decided that holding his hand wasn't enough. She pulled him into her arms and held him while he cried and clutched onto her shirt like it was the only thing keeping him sane. He fell apart in front of her and Cass broke with every one of his tears. They lay in her bed clutching one another while Cass tried to be the strength that Enzo desperately needed. She ached for him and for his sister. No child should have to go through what Aria went through and Enzo was still just a child himself yet he was placing all of this blame on his shoulders when the blame should only go to one person and one person alone: Manon Berkshire.

"I just... can't believe I was that clueless. I've always been clueless but how could I not know that my own sister was going through such unhappiness?"

"Well," Cass said carefully, "It sounds like your mum was really manipulative. She preyed on the fact that you're loyal and kind and have trouble believing anyone else wouldn't be. She lied to you constantly when you were concerned about your sister and when you were old enough to know better, she started shipping Aria and you off to separate places so you wouldn't be any wiser. I'm guessing Aria didn't want to ruin your family life by telling you hers—she might have feared it would make it worse. It sucks but your mum manipulated the shit out of everyone."

"She should have told me though! I could have—"

"You could have what, Enz? Protected her? You were a kid when this all started. You shouldn't have had to protect her. Don't blame yourself for fists that you didn't throw. You didn't turn a blind eye. You simply didn't know. What your mother did was horrible. Inexcusable. Aria didn't deserve that; no one does. But you can't blame yourself for not knowing when that woman did everything so you wouldn't know. The important question to ask yourself is: what are you going to do now that you do know? Everything else in the past can't be changed but the future is an opportunity wide open. There's no sense in grieving so much that you lose sight of what's going on around you."

"But I should have been there for her."

Cass sighed and ran her fingers through his hair. The tresses were soft even when they were a complete mess. "I think in some ways, you were. You were the only family member that didn't hurt her and now, you're sticking by her side while her life is completely upended. You might not have protected her before but you can protect her now."

He nodded into her embrace before looking up at her with the saddest blue eyes she'd ever seen. "You're so smart, Cass," he whispered. She could feel the sparks bouncing between them. Enzo's eyes darkened as his gaze dropped to her lips. Kiss me, she wanted to beg him. Please. That's all I've wanted for weeks.

"I'm no smarter than anyone else," she said softly as Enzo reached up and twirled one of her curls around his finger.

"That's not true. I think you're the smartest girl I've ever met. I think..." He cleared his throat before staring up at her again. "I think you're lovely."

Cass could feel her heart pounding wildly in her chest. It only quickened when Enzo reached up and cupped her cheek with strong hands that were soft despite the calluses from his broom. He leaned forward like he was about to kiss her. Cass felt her breath hitch once his lips were only millimeters from hers. This... this felt so right.

And yet it was wrong.

Cass pulled away, not because she didn't want to kiss him. She did—Oh, how she wanted to kiss Lorenzo Berkshire—but she didn't want it like this. While he was exhausted from two nights without sleeping and while he was plagued with grief from everything that had happened since he found out. Was he in the right headspace emotionally to kiss her? Would he even want her if this hadn't happened? Was this just his way of trying to distract himself? She wasn't sure and until she was, she wouldn't let herself kiss him. Until Cass knew that he wouldn't break her heart by regretting it in the morning, she wouldn't allow this to go any further than friendship.

Enzo's eyes widened. He quickly tried to stand up but Cass's grip on him pulled him back. "I think you have a lot of big emotions in that heart of yours," she whispered as she slowly tucked him into bed. "I don't think you need to add any there right now."

"Right," Enzo whispered as Cass pulled the blankets over both of them. "You're probably right."

She was. But as Enzo drifted to a zombie-like state of sleep, she wished she wasn't.

Got the little tease there for y'all haha. I think this is my slowest burn? Correct me if I'm wrong lol I'm not usually one to write those but I just know it'll be worth it once it happens. Hope you enjoy!