Harrison arrived with barely a pop. The sound of a waterfall reached his ears, and he looked up to see crystal clear water flowing down a twenty foot high rock wall into a large swimming pool. His eyes landed on the figure standing near the edge of the deep end.
"Cass, what's wrong?" Harrison asked. She didn't respond except to cross her bare legs. Her yellow bikini stood out in stark contrast to her pale skin. "Your house elf showed up out of nowhere saying that you needed me right away." He reached her and grabbed her arm. Cass slowly turned around.
Harrison was shocked to see that her eyes were red. It was an odd sight, as Cass hated to show weakness in front of anyone, even Harrison. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen her so much as sniffle.
"What is it?" Harrison asked gently.
Cass tucked a strand of long curly hair behind her ear.
"What if something happens to one of us?" Cass asked quietly. Harrison frowned. "What if we go into Hogsmeade one day, all of us in our Slytherin robes, and bam you're dead. Or Daphne. Or Blaise. Or…any of us."
"Cass," Harrison began slowly, "where is this coming from?"
Cass sighed. "We're in the middle of a war, Harrison. People die everyday. Good people. Bad people. What if one of us is next?" A tear rolled down her cheek.
"Hey," Harrison wiped the tear away with his thumb, "none of us are going to die. Aunt Bella would never let anything happen to you or Leo. To any of us." He smiled. "My dad wouldn't either."
"No one is invincible," Cass whispered.
Harrison stared at Cass as she chewed on her bottom lip. He was officially worried. Cass never bit her lip or displayed any other sign of nervousness.
"What happened?" Harrison asked again.
"My mom," Cass swallowed, "last night after the World Cup…" She swallowed again, harder this time. "I know it shouldn't matter, none of us even knew." She covered her mouth. "I'm not supposed to tell anyone, not even you."
"Then why are you?" Harrison asked after she fell silent. Although, he had the feeling he knew what she'd say.
"Your dad is the Dark Lord," Cass replied, "you'll find out sooner or later. And I trust you more than anyone…besides Leo, you know…" Cass looked into his eyes. "My mom found out that she was pregnant, but because of the curse Sirius," she spat his name, "hit her with, she lost it."
Harrison looked sadly at Cass. He had known, his father told him before he left for Lestrange Manor, but he didn't want to tell her that. What he hadn't know was that Cass and Leo had been told. He felt horrible for them, they were family to him, and Sirius had hurt them. He would make sure Sirius paid for what he did.
"I'm sorry," Harrison said honestly. He knew how much his Aunt Bella had wanted another child.
"It was a boy," Cass said. She acted as though she hadn't heard him. "I would've had a baby brother. I shouldn't be upset, I didn't know him, but it still hurts, knowing…"
"He will pay for what he did," Harrison said fiercely. "Aunt Bella, Uncle Rodolphus, Aunt Cissa, none of them will stop until he pays. My father won't either. You know that. He—"
Harrison was cut off when Cass' lips crashed into his. He immediately pulled away and took a step back.
"Cass," Harrison said, a perplexed look on his face, "what are you doing?" Harrison prided himself on knowing how situations would unfold, and this was not at all what he'd expected.
"My mum won't talk to Leo and me about it," Cass said, a few tears rolling down her cheeks. "Dad went immediately to work after he told us. Leo is acting like it doesn't matter, but I can see that he's angry."
Cass reached behind her neck and untied her bikini top. Harrison watched as the thin yellow fabric fluttered to the ground. For the second time in less than five minutes he found himself completely caught off guard. Harrison forced himself to look away from Cass exposed breasts, ignoring the fact that he found her state of undress extremely alluring.
"Cass," Harrison said, a slight warning to his tone.
Cass took a long step forward and pressed her naked breasts against his chest. Harrison hated his hormones for causing him to freeze. He was excellent at keeping his cool, but lately his fourteen year old hormones were making him act like Weasley and he hated it. Cass used that second to pull his head down to hers and her tongue snaked its way into his mouth. It took Harrison a few seconds to realize that his hands had found her waist, and that her hand was moving towards the button of his slacks.
"We can't," Harrison said as he pulled away.
Cass stared at him, her eyes still red and her lips on their way to swollen. He stared into her eyes, knowing that if he looked down he wouldn't be able to stop again.
"We're fourteen, Cass," Harrison said as though he was a professor talking to a class, "our hormones have the best of us. We can't do this, not like this."
"Why?" Cass asked. "Am I not good enough?
"Cass," Harrison sighed, "you know that isn't the case. You're one of my best friends." He looked imploringly at her. In this moment he wanted to disappear. He was Harrison Riddle, he wasn't supposed to lose control. "That's why we can't. I'm a lot of things, but I won't take advantage of you. You're vulnerable. You'll wake up tomorrow and laugh about this." Cass shook her head, her curls flying in every direction. "You're a virgin Cass." He ran a hand through his hair. "For Salazar's sake, so am I. And this isn't how it's going to be for you."
Cass looked at him and wrapped her arms around her upper body like some strange acrobat. Realization dawned on her face and she closed her eyes.
"I'm sorry," Cass said. "Everything seems to be changing so fast. We're growing up. Merlin, even Ron Weasley is acting more grown up." She let out a bark like laugh as if she'd just said the funniest thing in the world. "Then last night." She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Harrison." She reached over to a lounge chair and grabbed a green towel that she wrapped around herself. "I'm an idiot."
"You feel like shit," Harrison ran a hand through his hair, "I do understand that."
"When does the great son of Voldemort ever feel like shit?" Cass asked teasingly.
Harrison smiled, if Cass was teasing she was on her way to feeling better. Although he could still see the sadness written all over her.
"I don't," Harrison said haughtily, "I just wanted you to feel better."
Cass laughed, picked up her bikini top and threw it at Harrison. He laughed as he caught the tiny piece of yellow fabric. He was glad she wasn't letting what just happened stop her from being herself around him.
"You're such a prat," Cass said.
Harrison watched as conflicting emotions danced through her eyes.
"We'll all be fine," Harrison said adamantly. "Nothing is going to happen to any of us."
"I want to believe that," Cass said. "But I know that isn't true. Your dad may be Voldemort, and my parents may be Death Eaters, but we don't live in protective bubbles. You know that after last night, everything is going to be different."
Harrison didn't want to say it out loud, but he had the feeling she was right.
AN: The Cass thing may seem out of left field for some, but it's been hinted throughout the story that she's very emotional like her mother, she just doesn't usually allow people to see her upset. & Harrison being intelligent and powerful does NOT make him immune to hormones. I don't think a story about newly 14 year olds would be realistic without them.