"Cassy, wait up!" The matching voices called from behind me down the hallway and I turned to meet them, not even noticing the smile that spread onto my face at the sight of their identically messy hair.
"Running from something?" I guessed, and they shrugged, looking as though that was a preposterous guess.
"No, to someone." George answered, looking down at me as we walked past the suits of armor lining the stone walls.
"Why's your name not on the list? To stay at Hogwarts for Christmas! Everyone's staying here, it's the best!" Fred's eyes latched onto mine and I bit the inside of my cheek. Staying at Hogwarts had never been an option for me, Father wouldn't have it. Christmas was 'family time.' Christmas was his time to get us back from 'that school' and 'those people.' But no year had I been looking forward to returning home less than I did right now. I didn't dare let myself imagine over two weeks of class-free fun with the Weasley's, it would just make the time at home more miserable.
"My dad um, he always has us come home. I have to go home." I stuttered out after realizing I had used 'us.' There was just me now.
"Can't you write to him and ask? The train doesn't leave until Next Friday!" George pouted.
I gave them a smile, trying not to think about how badly it seemed they wanted me to stay.
"He'll say no. I've asked before. It's okay, I don't mind. I mean, it would be fun to stay, of course. I just, we do family stuff for Christmas. Church on Christmas Day, and my father has a work party every year I have to go to-"
"Neither of those things sound fun." Fred joked, giving me a thin smile.
"I'm sorry guys. Just for two weeks, I'll be back!" I tried to lighten the mood they were creating in the pit of my stomach.
"Thought she was our friend, Fred!" George pushed his lip out into a fake pout and Fred mimicked him, turning on their heels towards the staircase.
"I don't have a choice!" I laughed slightly, watching their little performance.
"It's fine, we'll just be here..." George started.
"Planning out pranks to await your return!" Fred called, neither of them looking at me as their voices floated down the hall.
After my final class, I headed back to the dorms in search of a warmer sweater. If November had been chilly, December was brutal. Especially for the Hufflepuffs who now hated leaving their dormitory of warmth to wander anywhere in the castle away from the kitchens.
Just before I turned the corner in the Entrance Hall, I heard my name being called, and almost anyone at this school would have recognized the voice.
"Hey, Harry! What's up." I offered him a warm smile and he returned it.
"Just wanted to say hi. And, well... I've just seen Lupin. He told me after break that he would start to teach me about the Dementors, and getting rid of them." He was watching my expression closely as I nodded along, hugging my arms around myself in an attempt to stay warm until I could get down for some extra layers.
"Well, I... I don't want this to sound rude, or awkward, I-"
"It's fine, Harry, what's on your mind?" I laughed, feeling sorry for how uncomfortable the chosen one looked at this moment.
"Fred and George told me, not like... to gossip about you, but I think to try and cheer me up. They told me you, uh, passed out when you got near them too?"
I looked behind him, pretending to check if anyone was around, but really just taking a second to try not to blush from embarrassment. I knew he wasn't judging me, and that he reacted the same way, but after hearing Lupin's explanation for why the Dementor's affected people this way, it seemed stupid of me to react the same way as Harry, who had faced grown wizards greatest fears on multiple occasions.
"Uh, yeah, I did once. I mean, that was the closest I've come to them though, besides on the train and I didn't really get a good look then." I thought back to the tall red-head blocking the dark creature from my sight and felt a smile start to creep to my lips.
"Well, I was just thinking, I mean, if you wanted to join us. Might be easier with two of us, you know? We can practice together and stuff."
"Yeah, actually Harry, I would love that. Thank you so much." I watched his emerald eyes light up at my answer and he nodded.
"I'm just happy to not be the only one who they affect this badly." He shrugged, noticing my arms wrapped around me still. "Are you cold?"
"Yeah, freezing." I laughed, mostly to myself. "I was headed down to grab a sweater."
"Here, take mine!" He nearly shouted, already dropping his arms from the sleeves of his jumper.
"Oh, no, Harry, it's fine! My room's right downstairs and then I'm gonna head to dinner-"
"It's fine, I'm hardly ever cold." He held the maroon colored hoodie to me and I finally took it, feeling too shy to turn the boy down after he had sought me out to help me with our shared Dementor problem.
"Well, thank you." I smiled at him for the millionth time, pulling his hoodie over my head and pulling my hair out from beneath it, feeling warmer right away.
"You sitting with us at dinner?" He asked, starting towards the Great Hall even though dinner wouldn't start for at least another half hour.
"I don't know, I don't want to keep intruding on your friends!" I chuckled, but couldn't help thinking of the best part of sitting with the Gryffindor's. More time to be around Fred Weasley.
"They're your friends too?" He seemed confused and I nodded with a small shrug. While I had always counted Hermione as a friend, I barely knew Ron and I had just met the twins this year. Did they think of me as a friend yet? Friends were never something I had been an expert on until coming to Hogwarts, and even then, I knew that the friends I made here could never be good friends until I got my own place.
I followed Harry in through the doors and found Ron and the twins already at their usual spot, snickering at something George had said while nodding his head at Percy near the front of the wooden tables. I noticed that Percy was talking animatedly to a few fellow Gryffindor's of his year who were focused more on the color changing badge pinned to his robes than his story.
I sat down next to Harry on the other side of Ron facing the twins and smiled hearing the three brothers laugh together.
"What's so funny?" I asked, glancing again at Percy.
"Fred." Ron snickered. "Jinxed Percy's Head Boy badge, so now it says Pinhead." This got a laugh from Harry who was now checking Percy out as well.
"He's been wearing it all day! No one's said a word to him." Fred banged his fist on the table as he bent back in laughter.
"Sorry, Perce! We'll keep it down!" George saluted their elder brother who was shooting them a glare after Fred's theatrics.
"You guys are terrible brothers!" I teased, although I knew that the twins never meant any harm from their pranks. It was all in good fun.
"Oh, you wait until you meet him, Cassidy. He's a real-"
"Pinhead." Ron cut him off, taking a swig of his juice from his goblet.
"It's nice to see you in the right colors for once Cassy." Fred raised his eyebrows at me, obviously realizing that this was not what I had been wearing when I had spoken to the twins earlier and that this also wasn't the Quidditch hoodie he had left me. "Who's is that?"
I started to answer, but from how Fred was now staring at Harry sitting in just a t-shirt in the middle of December, I guessed he had worked it out.
"Harry leant me it. I was on my way down to get a sweater, so he saved me some steps." I tried to joke, lightening the awkward mood Fred was creating.
Before Fred could reply, Hermione came bustling through the doors, her hair looking frizzy and jutting out from her ponytail, not helping her appearance of having gone a week without sleep.
"Hermione, you look terrible." Ron exclaimed, his jaw dropping slightly as she sat next to George on the other side of the table, dropping her book bag to the floor with a heavy thud.
"Thanks, Ronald. Really." She scoffed. "I just didn't want to be late for Dumbledore-" She stopped as the room fell silent to let Dumbledore speak at the front of the hall.
"Good evening, all. I hope your classes went well. I won't take too much of your time, as I know we're all hungry after a long day." You could hear the smile in his soft voice and not a single student spoke over him, all waiting to hear what he had to say. "Just a reminder that Monday is the last day to sign up if you will be joining us for Christmas break. So be sure to write home and make sure your arrangements are in order. As you all know, there are school owls in the owlery should you need them. Enjoy your meals and your nights." He bowed his head and food appeared before us within the second.
"How did she know he was going to speak?" Ron muttered to Harry next to me, looking between his friend and Hermione as she pulled piles of food onto her plate and dug in before Ron had even picked up his fork.
"Yes, Cassidy, do be sure to write home and triple check! Maybe your dad doesn't want you home this year!" George teased and I smiled, shaking my head at the red head.
"I'm going home, George. I'll be sure to bring you all back some Muggle treats."
"Yeah, i'll save you some of the rock solid fudge or cookies Hagrid is sure to send up." Harry muttered quietly, as if Hagrid could hear him over all the noise in here.
"Stop! That's sweet he gives you gifts." I frowned, smacking his arm before taking my first bite of dinner, but not before noticing Fred's eyes trained on Harry and I.
We ate quickly, but helped ourselves to seconds, me sticking with the asparagus and extra salad until I had eaten my fill, knowing I would be home next weekend and that father would expect nothing less than my best to attend his company Christmas party.
Once none of us had touched our plates for at least ten minutes, the dinner dissolved through the tables and trays of dessert popped up. Frosted cupcakes and pastries lining silver trays and giant bowls of pudding appeared before our eyes, the group not hesitating to reach for multiples and dig in.
"No dessert, Cassy? That's sacrilegious." Fred asked, his mouth stained blue from his first bite of his cupcake.
"I don't know how you can all have dessert after a meal like that!" I lied. I knew I could have squeezed at least a chocolate eclair in, but it wouldn't be worth it. I could have some dessert after Christmas.
Once non of them could eat anymore and began standing up one by one, looking entirely ready for bed, I finally glanced back at my table. My friends were already gone, possibly already in the common room by now. I felt a little guilty for all of the time I had been spending with the Gryffindor's lately, but I couldn't help it. They all seemed so happy and excited all of the time, not that my own friends didn't, but something about this group had an infectious hold on me.
"Come on, Cassy," Fred's arms pulled beneath my biceps and I felt myself hanging in the air for a moment before he set me on my feet. "I'll walk you back."
"I think I'm more than capable-" I began to tease him, trying to meet his eyes before he gave me a gentle push towards the door and I accidentally let out a giggle that I was sure the entire table had noticed. "Oh! Here Harry, thanks again." I tossed the sweatshirt back to the boy before re-joining Fred and racing to keep up with his long strides.
"Why are you walking so fast?" I asked, already almost out of breath and we had barely left the Great Hall.
"Sorry, didn't notice." He replied, out of focus.
"Is something wrong?" I asked, looking up to him now that he had slowed down for me.
I watched him let out only half of a sigh. "No. Just disappointed you're leaving for break. George and I were going to teach you some tricks, show you some more passageways."
"You could always just show me your magic little cheat sheet!" I joked back as we started down the steps to the Hufflepuff common room.
"Oh, no. You'd have to be very advanced in trickery to have access to that map." His smirk finally returned to his face, but soon became slightly wistful. "And we gave that to Harry. Little early Christmas present. Besides, we know it by heart at this point and he needs it more. But I will miss spying on people and seeing what they're up to." He winked at me and I scrunched my eyebrows up.
"Who are you talking about? I go from room, to class, to library, unless one of you idiots find me in between!"
"Maybe I wasn't talking about you, or are you the center of the universe?"
"No, we can't both be the center of the univ-" I was cut off when I watched him lunge for me, a devious smirk painted across his face. I laughed and sped past the kitchens towards the entrance to my common room, reaching for my wand to tap on the barrels, but knowing I had no time. Fred's body came crashing into mine and I felt his breathy laughter against my ear as he pulled me away from the wall and pretended to toss me to the ground, in reality letting me land on two feet.
"Could have given me a head start." I grumbled, hinting at his height advantage.
"Don't pick fights you can't handle, Cassy." His wand tapped the barrels and I looked around to make sure no one was around to see me letting the Gryffindor in through the entrance.
The ginger escorted me through the opening and into the cozy room which housed only a few stray Hufflepuffs on the couch near the fireplace reading. As I glanced at my housemates, I noticed it. My book I had lent to Teesy on the coffee table, a small note pasted to the cover. I crossed to the fire and picked the book up, heading back to Fred and taking a few more steps to the staircase up to my dorm.
"What's that?" He asked, reaching for it before I yanked it from his reach.
"A book I lent to Teesy." I answered as I read her note scrawled on a plain piece of parchment in the smallest handwriting I had ever seen.
'Dear Miss Cassidy, Thank you so much for the book, Teesy read as fast as she could. You are very kind to lend it, Miss. Have a great night and enjoy this treat as a thank you!
Teesy'
In the small pouch that had sat on the book was a dozen sliced pieces of fudge. Leave it to the House Elves to return a thank you gift with their own.
"You're both so cute." Fred teased, helping himself to a piece of the fudge and sighing in content as it melted into his mouth.
"You just ate four courses, Fred." I laughed, before looking between him and the exit in disappointment, knowing he would leave soon. "Anyways, thank you for walking me. You didn't have to."
"I know." The rest of his sentence faded away as he looked behind me to the staircase and then down to his feet for a second. "I was just wondering... Er... You and Harry? Are you two...?"
I shook my head before even thinking, feeling nervous already. That was the last thing I wanted Fred to think, that I was with someone else. Not that I cared. I didn't care. I shouldn't care.
"No, Harry's just a friend. He was just asking if I wanted to practice with him and Lupin, they're working on a way to get rid of Dementors or something." I over-explained painfully, not really wanting many people to know that I needed help with this, but also knowing that both twins already knew.
"Oh, well that's great Cassy! That's really good... Okay, I uh, i'll see you around."
I held back a smile as he rushed from the room, not heading up the stairs until I was sure that he had left.