𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 || 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐲

5. reunited with the past

The bed was full-sized and faced toward the middle of the room. The mattress was nicely decorated with a few throw pillows and a black and white plaid duvet. On either side of the bed was a brown wooden nightstand, with two drawers on each. Across from the bed stood a dresser which Cass currently stood next to. Bare wooden planks lined the floor, but a white rug was placed partially beneath the bed.

When Cass took a whiff of the bedroom air, a faint citrus scent wafted through the cozy area. She shut the door and carefully changed, not wanting to disturb her bandaged injuries.

The outfit she held was definitely what she would picture the pink-haired Tonks to wear perhaps with a few extra accessories, but she held the basics. Cass gently tugged on a pair of black jeans, ripped by the upper thigh and near the calf on the opposite side. A burgundy and black striped long-sleeve top was tugged over her grime-filled black hair and a gray zip-up was pulled across the 14-year-old's shoulders.

Cass exited the pleasantly decorated bedroom and made her way across the sunlit hallway and into the kitchen where Andromeda was preparing food.

"Excuse me?" The lady looked up from her work and kindly motioned Cass to ask a question. "Do you have a brush I can borrow?"

"Of course," Andromeda answered in a cheerful manner. She guided Cass to a doorway that opened into a bathroom. "There should be a brush in the cupboard to the left of the sink"

"Thank you."

"Certainly. I'm making some lunch, feel free to eat something after you're done in here." Andromeda suggested in a gentle tone while she made her way back into the kitchen, giving Cass her privacy in the lavatory.

"Okay, no problem. You're just in an entirely different universe and your mum was just attacked by a Death Eater that has been trailing you for the past 13 years." Cass splashed some water onto her face while she contemplated the fact that she would never see anyone she previously had been close to for a very long time or never again.

Cass picked up the bristled brush and tugged it through her knotted locks. "Ugh!" She slammed the brush onto the counter and tugged her hands through her scalp in frustration. She let tears wet her eyes as she sat down on the cold tiles. She couldn't begin to wrap her head around everything that had happened during the last 24 hours. She still didn't know what happened last night that led to her waking up as though she got attacked by a bear. She still didn't understand why her mom never told her that they never belonged to the world she grew up in. She still didn't understand how someone she read about in books was making her lunch right now. And she still didn't understand why one of her good friends would have ratted her and her mother out.

It had to have been someone on her taekwondo team that said something because the only other people that knew of Cass's magical existence were the Creamton family. If they were the mole, they would have taken care of Cass and Emma long before. Cass couldn't offer herself any excuse as to why someone on her team, a trusted soul, would have willingly led her mother to her death. Had they any insight into what they were doing before they leaked information on her mother? Furthermore, why were they after her and her mom in the first place? Was Emma ever going to come back to the magical universe and would Cass have ever figured out that the Harry Potter universe existed if these circumstances never occurred? Probably not, the only reason Cass figured out about the existence of her current reality was because her mom didn't want her thrown into this universe without any information.

Cass decided that now wasn't the best time to comprehend everything going on. She stood back up, rinsed her face once more to get rid of her tears, and went back to conquering the mess of tangles atop her head.

Cass thought to herself that she might as well meet some other magical people, make some friends because there was no telling how long she'd be in this world and she'd better live less lonely.

Cass walked out of the bathroom with a slightly contrived smile. "Hello again Mrs. Tonks." The woman in question looked up from plating turkey sandwiches,

"You can call me Andy, dear." Cass smiles and sits down at the table, bringing a plate and napkin with her. "Do you go to Ilvermorny? You sound American, I apologize if my assumptions are incorrect."

"I don't. My mum homeschooled me, but I'll be going to Hogwarts this year. She actually went to Hogwarts, but because of the war and everything she moved us to Chicago." Andromeda brought a plate and sat across from the teenager.

"Ah, what year will you be in?"

"I think I'm going into my 4th year."

"My daughter is going into her 7th year this fall, she's in Hufflepuff."

'7th year? Tonks is still in Hogwarts?' Cass looked over the mothers' shoulder and found a calendar:
16 July, 1990

1990?! Harry Potter wouldn't even be at Hogwarts yet! She'd probably be in the same year as 'Perfect Percy'. At least the twins would be in Hogwarts by this time, but what if she ended up in Slytherin? Cass had always gotten Ravenclaw or Slytherin on the online quizzes she took and she'd rather not be in the same house as Cho or Flint. Cathleen hoped to be Hufflepuff or Gryffindor, more so the lion than the loyal badger, but she'd be happy in either of the two houses she never qualified for while taking the Buzz Feed quizzes.

Suddenly the front door squeaked open, bringing the attention of the previously talking two to it. In walked a tall girl with pink hair done up in a messy bun.

"Wotcher,"

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word count: 2279