the siphon | h. potter

~fifteen~

"What in the devil are you doing here?" Mcgonagall scolded.

"I-I found this picture," Cassandra held up the picture of her mother and Mcgonagall grabbed it. "That's my mom, right there," she said while pointing out her mother.

"That's not your mom, that's Farrah Croswell she was apart of the original Order of the Pheonix. Voldemort killed her only a week after this was taken."

"I know what my mum looks like, that's her right there!"

"I'm sorry Cassandra but this woman is dead. I attended her funeral myself."

"She died in a May of 1979, right?"

"Yes how did you-"

"My mom faked her death in May of 1979 after she found out she was pregnant with me. She stayed in hiding with me until she... until she died this past summer."

"My god..." Mcgonagall muttered.

"Professor... my mom... in this picture s-she's with Sirius Black."

"Yes she would be, her and Sirius started dating their last year of Hogwarts. They were absolutely inseparable after that until she... vanished. I don't think poor Sirius ever really recovered."

"Does that mean," Cassandra said quietly, "does that mean Sirius is my father?"

"If Farah is your mother... yes, I suppose it does." Mcgonagall smiled.

The biggest smile began to form across Cassandra's lips, "I-I have a dad, Sirius is my dad!"

With a large jump, Cassandra crashed into Mcgonagall and wrapped her arms around the old woman. Mcgonagall stood stiffly in the embrace, slightly uncomfortable with the physical contact.

But all Cassandra could think was that she wasn't alone anymore.

"You should head back to your common room Miss Dalton, your Astronomy final starts in an hour and I'm sure you have last minute material to be reviewed."

Reluctantly, Cassandra left the office and made her way back to the common room. It was hard to contain the joy rushing through her body. As she journeyed through the vast castle corridors, Cassandra began brainstorming different ideas on how to tell Sirius he was her father.

After much consideration, Cassandra decided to write a letter when she got back to the common room. Harry was curious as to what she was doing, but Cassandra decided to wait to tell him until after the final. She didn't want him to be distracted before his O.W.L.

The ink in the pot had almost ran out by the time she had finished writing. Cassandra searched for her owl, but Enoch was no where to be found. After a few minutes Cassandra gave up and put the letter in her nightstand drawer.

Many thoughts began flying through her head. Maybe once the school year was over, Sirius would invite her to live with him in Grimmauld place. He could teach her how to become an animagus, she had always wanted to learn. Her heart jumped with anticipation.

Hermione bursted into the dorm interrupting Cassandra's thoughts, "come on Cassandra, the test starts in ten minutes!"

The pair ran all the way to the Astronomy Tower and sat down in front of their telescopes with seconds to spare.

"Oh thank god, I was beginning to think you wouldn't make it," Ron sighed.

*****

They were about an hour into the test when everything went to shit. Harry yelled a few feet over and Cassandra turned away from her answer sheet. She was in the middle of making up names for Saturn's moons. Meanwhile, Harry's eyes were glued onto his telescope. The scope was aimed at Hagrid's hut. Cassandra positioned her own telescope and looked through the barrel.