"Into pairs," ordered Snape. "Today we will be mixing a potion that often comes up on the Ordinary Wizarding Level exams. The Draught of Peace. Now, who can tell me what happens when one drinks this potion?"
Cassie and Addy raised their hands. Snape scanned the room, looking highly displeased with the students before him. "I see none of you have done the summer reading I assigned. You must prepare yourselves ahead of time, however, it is not my fault if you fail, which I am positive half of this class will. Miss Murton, if you please."
Addy put her hand down and said, "The Draught of Peace is a potion to calm anxiety and soothe agitation. However, if one is too heavy-handed with the ingredients, you'd put the drinker into a heavy and sometimes irreversible sleep— "
"Yes, so you will need to pay close attention to what you are doing." He glared at the Weasley twins. "Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Weasley. Maybe another detention will make you silent in my classroom." He turned towards his desk saying, "Ten points to Slytherin."
Instead of choosing the partners, Snape paired them up. Addy with George Weasley, Viola with Adrian, Angelina with Lee, and Cassie paired with Fred.
"Okay, whatever you do, don't go within a foot of the cauldron, all right?" Cassie told him. "I don't need you messing this up."
"Yes, madam," he saluted.
Cassie found it hard not to smile. She shook her head and began to brew the potion. Fred prepared the ingredients as Cassie added them into their cauldron. At the very end, Cassie allowed Fred to add seven drops of hellebore.
Snape had walked around, taking points away to those who had failed. He walked over to Cassie and Fred's station. He looked into the cauldron and reluctantly nodded in approval.
"Ten points," said Snape.
"Damn," said Fred, impressed. "I can't remember the last time I earned ten points."
"That's because you always find a way to lose points instead," Cassie remarked.
"Hey, so Hogsmeade weekend is soon," Fred began. "I was wondering if you'd like to hang out."
"Can't," said Cassie, cleaning the station. "You're a charmer, Weasley, but I can't risk getting caught— "
"Do you ever take big risks?" Fred challenged.
"Yes, I do," Cassie told him. "Playing Quidditch, being friends with Oliver... "
"Except Quidditch doesn't really count in my book and your old friendship with ol' Ollie was a secret," said Fred.
"Look, Fred, no one will care if you hang out with me. Sure, there will be like, 'why are you hanging with Malfoy' and 'what spell has she put you under' or 'did she smuggle you a love potion. She's capable of doing that— '"
Fred smiled as Cassie praised herself.
"— But I've got so much more to lose. Your family and friends may understand, but mine won't," Cassie went on. "So, I will not be hanging out with you."
Never did it occur to Cassie that Fred had meant it as a potential date.
During the trip, Cassie was going around Hogsmeade with Addy and Viola. They visited Zonko's first, then went to Honeydukes and bought some candy. The last thing they did before they left was have butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks.
"So, what was Weasley asking you the other day during class?" Addy asked once Viola had gotten up to head to the loo.
"Nothing," said Cassie. Addy didn't believe it.
"You were blushing," Addy teased.
"He just asked if he wanted to hang out today," Cassie told her.
Cassie had told Addy about their detentions together and how there were times when Fred wasn't a total jerk. She was the only person she could confide in about these sorts of things.
"Then why aren't you with him?" she said quite loudly. "He asked you out on a date!"
Cassie choked on her beverage. "Date?" She shook her head. "We aren't like that."
"I don't know," said Addy with a smile. "You two could be something."
"I can't," Cassie told her seriously. "No one would understand. Our parents hate each other. They hate Draco. Too much drama."
"Could keep it a secret," Addy had suggested.
Cassie shook her head again. "I couldn't do that to my parents, nor Draco. I love them too much, no matter how strict they are and how much Draco acts like an ass."
Addy sighed as Viola came back.
"What?"
"Oh, it's nothing," Addy responded.
They came back to Hogwarts for the Halloween feast. It was a cheerful atmosphere. Cassie couldn't get what Addy said out of her mind.
"A date," thought Cassie, a small smile appearing on her face. "A date."
At the Gryffindor table, Fred was a bit gloomy, though he hid it well. He laughed and smiled, but he couldn't forget the rejection.
"Cheer up, mate," George said, nudging him. "It's the Halloween feast!"
"Yeah," Fred sighed. He wanted to know Cassie on a deeper level. He knew her personality and where she came from, but not her story, the things she doesn't let everyone see.
Once the feast was over, Cassie headed to the common room. The Slytherins had gotten inside and some had already changed. A few minutes later, Professor Snape came inside the common room with his daily expression.
Professor Snape had taken all the Slytherins to the Great Hall where they joined the students from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor, who all looked extremely confused.
"The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle," Professor Dumbledore told them as Professors McGonagall and Flitwick closed all doors into the hall. "I'm afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the hall and I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge. Any disturbance should be reported to me immediately," he added to Percy, who was looking proud and important. "Send word with one of the ghosts."
Professor Dumbledore paused, about to leave the hall, and said, "Oh, yes, you'll be needing... "
One casual wave of his wand and the long tables flew to the edges of the hall and stood themselves against the walls. Another wave and the floor was covered with hundreds of purple sleeping bags.
"Sleep well," said Professor Dumbledore, closing the door behind him.
The hall immediately began to buzz excitedly. Cassie stood there confused until he heard a twin talking.
Sirius Black was in the castle. He tried getting into the Gryffindor common room earlier which was the reason why they all had to sleep in the Hall.
"Everyone into their sleeping bags!" shouted Percy. "Come on, now, no more talking! Lights out in ten minutes!"
"How do you think he got in?" asked Addy.
"Maybe he knows how to Apparate," said a Ravenclaw as she slipped into a sleeping bag a few feet away. "Just appear out of thin air, you know."
"Disguised himself, probably," said the Hufflepuff who was injured in Care of Magical Creatures last year.
"That isn't possible," said Cassie. "There are all sorts of enchantments on Hogwarts to stop people entering by stealth. You can't Apparate in here. I don't think Black is that smart. Dementors are guarding every single entrance to the grounds. He can't have gotten past them."
"The lights are going out now!" Percy shouted. "I want everyone in their sleeping bags and no more talking!"
The candles all went out at once. The only light now came from the ghosts, who were talking seriously to the prefects, and the enchanted ceiling, which was scattered with stars.
"Psst," whispered someone a few sleeping bags away. "Hey."
Cassie glanced around at the sleeping figures cautiously. All were asleep around them.
"Hey," she replied. "You think he's gone by now?"
Fred shrugged. Cassie was staring at the ceiling in peace. Fred was resting his head on his hand, staring in her direction. He couldn't see her clearly, yet he could at the same time.
"On the train, what happened?" asked Fred. "I read that they remind you of your worst experiences."
"You? Reading?" Cassie silently laughed, turning her head in his direction.
"Yeah, I can read, you know," he defended playfully. "I do read."
Cassie shook her head and stared back at the ceiling. "I don't know what I was reminded of. Someone was about to murder someone though... cast the Killing Curse and everything."
Cassie took a deep breath and said, "Sorry by the way. Probably shouldn't have shoved your girlfriend out."
"My girlfriend? You mean Angelina?" Fred smirked. "Yeah, you shouldn't have done that."
Cassie whipped her head towards him. "I was just joking when I said she was your girlfriend. Are you really— "
"Yup!" Fred said cheerfully. If only he could see her face.
"Oh... that's great," said Cassie. She wore a sad smile and she didn't understand why. Maybe it was because she knew Angelina's devil side. The little hope that told her he had asked her out faded. "Under different circumstances — if only our parents didn't hate each other, perhaps I would have said yes... or at the least considered it."
Fred's eyes widened. He was about to say something but Cassie said, "Night then."
Fred pouted. Only when she turned her back on him did he lay back down, smirking. He had a feeling, but he wasn't one hundred percent sure about it.
"If only... "