Quick A/N
Attached is Bohemian Rhapsody, for the best experience while reading this chapter I suggest playing this song when Cassandra presses play on the boom box. You'll understand what I'm talking about in a bit ;)
cassandra
Sirius and Cassandra played a few rounds of Exploding Snap before the Weasleys returned from St. Mungo's. Cassandra liked Sirius. Funnily enough he wasn't a very serious person, instead he reminded Cassandra of a class clown.
The large group came bursting through the door with smiles across their faces, their trip had obviously been a good one. Cassandra's eyes moved to Harry who was trailing behind the group with Remus and a woman she had never seen before. The woman was the exact opposite of Remus. Her long brown hair was dyed hot pink at the tips and her mouth seemed to permanently curl upwards at the ends, giving off a mischievous appearance.
The group began to walk towards the kitchen but Sirius stopped them, "Why don't we sit in the living room."
"You can sit in there with your lovely mother, mate. I on the other hand, would rather not listen to her bloody screaming," joked Fred.
"That won't be a problem anymore my friends, Cassandra and Dumbledore took care of that small problem for us," Sirius pointed out the painting of his mother on the floor.
"Bloody hell, how'd you mange to do that Cassandra?" Ron asked in disbelief.
"Two wands are better than one," she shrugged, quoting Dumbledore.
"Well alright then, lets sit in the living room," said the colorful new woman. She then turned to Cassandra. "Thanks for getting rid of that horrid woman, I'm Tonks by the way," she smiled and extended a hand to Cassandra. Cassandra took her hand and shook it.
After learning the living room was not a Mrs. Black safe zone, everyone moved to take a seat. Cassandra however chose to stay standing against the archway. Something about the new warmth in the living room made Cassandra feel out of place. Although not all of the people in the room were related, Cassandra knew they were all one family. As she watched the family in front of her laugh and share, she couldn't help but feel like an intruder.
Cassandra turned away from the living room and quietly ran up the stairs. She could feel tears burning in her eyes and she couldn't bear to let another stranger see her cry. Cassandra entered into the study Sirius had shown her earlier. It was the only place that didn't serve as a bedroom for somebody else. By the time she had closed the door, she could barely breathe. The air was crushing her and every time she attempted to draw a breath the air refused to fill her lungs. Cassandra collapsed to the floor and placed her head between her knees and began to sob.
She cried for the first real time since the night her mother died. Her body shook with sobs and failed attempts of breathing. She saw the family downstairs behind her closed eyelids. Cassandra longed for a family of her own, but she knew it was impossible, her family was dead.
So focused on her sadness, Cassandra didn't hear the door open. However her thoughts were soon interrupted by the feeling of a hand on her knee. Cassandra snapped her head up and found a familiar green eyed boy sitting next to her. With the sleeves of her sweater, Cassandra attempted to wipe away her tears in a hurry. "I'm sorry..." she muttered.
"Don't say that," Harry replied quietly. Cassandra could tell by his sharp breaths that Harry was nervous, but he continued anyway. "Mrs Weasley told me about your mother, and when I saw you go upstairs I knew why. I lost my parents when I was a baby and I used to feel the same way on Christmas, until I met the Weasleys." He paused and looked Cassandra in the eye, "I just um came u-up here because I thought you sh-shouldn't be alone," he said nervously.
"Thank you," Cassandra smiled though her tears. With a sharp breath she reached and placed her hand on Harry's which was still resting on her knee. When her fingers touched his a wave of darkness flew into her body.
Cassandra let out a small yelp of surprise. The magic inside Harry, Cassandra had never felt before. Harry looked just as stunned, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, nothing's wrong," she said quickly. Cassandra was replaying the previous moments in her head. She hadn't siphoned magic unintentionally since she was little. And never had she felt magic so dark, so evil. The magic inside him made Cassandra want to lose all hope and happiness. How can a boy so unassuming and kind be harboring magic so dark?
After realizing it was quiet for too long she spoke again, "So tell me about yourself Harry. I've read your name in the Daily Profit a few times, but all they do is call you a twat. And I have the feeling you're not a complete twat."
"Thanks... I guess," he laughed. "What do you want to know?"
"Well... Everything. I haven't had a friend to talk to in months, so you're going to be stuck in this room for a while. You might as well start from the beginning."
Harry then began telling Cassandra his life story. Cassandra hung onto every word. She thought her life had been interesting, but this boy might have her beat. If she hadn't heard pieces of his stories from other witches and wizards in Diagon Alley, Cassandra would have never believed him. Cassandra noticed when Harry talked about Hogwarts it was always with a happy and loving tone, even though it has been a place where he has faced many hardships. After hearing Harry's many stories, Cassandra was starting to be glad she accepted Dumbledore's offer to attend Hogwarts.
"So, how about you?" Harry asked after he was finished telling Cassandra about his adventures, friends, and even life with the Dursley's.
"My life has not been nearly as interesting as yours," Cassandra laughed.
"Nope, you're not getting out of this one," Harry smiled.
"Fine," she rolled her eyes while still laughing, "I was raised by my mum... she taught me magic and took me on the best holidays and always listened to the stupid muggle drama happening at my school." Cassandra paused. She was waiting for the tears to come, but her eyes remained dry. Something about Harry stopped her from falling into despair when thinking about her mum. "Even though we were in hiding since before I was born, she never made me feel like it."
"I'm guessing Voldemort sent you into hiding?" Harry asked quietly.
"Yeah my mum didn't talk about it much, but I was able to put the pieces together."
"There's just one thing I still don't understand..." Harry admitted, "how can you use magic? You're still underage."
"I'm not sure, I guess the Ministry forgot to put me on their little list." Cassandra said, fear breaking through her voice She was scared Harry would think she's a freak. In attempt to hide her uneasiness she spoke in an aggressively positive tone, "I'm glad though, I can't even imagine traveling without being able to Apparate-"
"You can Apparate?!" Harry interrupted, his voice filled with disbelief.
"Of course I can, can't you?"
"No wizard is able to Apparate until they pass their test and become of age and most fully trained wizards can't even do it..."
"Oh... didn't know that." Cassandra muttered while fiddling her fingers in her lap. Great, now he's definitely going to think I'm a freak, she thought.
"You're really cool," Harry blurted out. After realizing what he said, Harry's eyes widened. Cassandra guessed he probably meant to say that last part in his head.
She laughed and replied, "I think you're pretty cool too."
Cassandra met Harry's eyes and Harry did the same. The pair sat in the quiet study and stared into each other's eyes for a moment, only breaking away when a sudden noise filled the room. Mrs. Weasley stood behind the opening door to the study. "There you two are, dinner has been ready for nearly thirty minutes." Mrs. Weasley then rolled her eyes and turned back down stairs.
Harry was this first to rise, "Come on Cass, I'm starving." He then turned and left the study, leaving only Cassandra. She slowly started to follow Harry when he reappeared in the doorway. Cassandra could only see the upper half of his body as he peered into the study. His head was slightly turned which caused his messy black hair to fall into his eyes. Cassandra couldn't help but stare. Harry however didn't seem to notice Cassandra's speechlessness and he asked, "I can call you Cass, right?"
The question snapped her mind back into reality, "yeah call me Cass," she smiled.
*****
Cassandra awoke in Hermione and Ginny's room the next morning. This time she was the first one awake, not the last. But Cassandra wasn't surprised, they had stayed up late celebrating the holiday. Hermione definitely wasn't waking up anytime soon, she was quite drunk by the end of the night. Cassandra thought it was impossible to get drunk off butterbeers, but she was definitely wrong. Hermione was the lightest light weight Cassandra had ever met. It was cute.
After quietly slipping into a pair of Hermione's lounge shorts, Cassandra crept out of the bedroom and went down to the kitchen. She expected the room to be empty, but she found Mrs. Weasley standing by the stove humming a tune to herself. "Would you like some help?" Cassandra asked.
Molly jumped slightly at the sudden noise, she had obviously not heard Cassandra enter. "Yes, thank you dear. You can roll the biscuits for me."
Cassandra helped Mrs. Weasley with the breakfast and one by one the room became full with groggy teenagers. Cassandra was listening to Fred and George describe their many pranks when Remus and Tonks entered the dining room. Remus looked exhausted, but Tonks skipped around as if she had already consumed many cups of coffee. Tonks went straight for the counter and began pilling food onto her plate. Cassandra felt a bit of pride was Tonks complimented the biscuits. Cassandra had never been a good cook, but Mrs. Weasley was a good teacher.
After Tonks was satisfied with her helping of breakfast, she took a seat next to Cassandra. Cassandra was surprised that Tonks chose to sit next to her instead of Remus. The pair were usually attached at the hip.
"So, I heard you need to go to your flat," Tonks said after scoffing down a few spoonfuls of eggs and two biscuits.
"Yeah, I'll need clothing if I'm to attend Hogwarts this term"
The girl's conversations was interrupted by a loud voice across the table. "You're going to Hogwarts?!" Fred yelled across the table in surprise.
"Yeah I must've forgotten to mention it last night. Dumbledore said I'm to travel with you lot to the castle before the start of term." Cassandra explained. George showed his excitement by pretending to faint into Fred's arms.
"If you get dressed Remus and I will take you once we're done eating," Tonks said while chewing her sausage.
"Brilliant." Cassandra ran up the stairs and got dressed in record speed. She was grateful to Hermione for lending her clothes, but they were staring to hurt. Hermione had significantly less curves than Cassandra. Which caused her clothes to press into Cassandras skin, particularly around the hip and breast area.
After many warnings from Remus about the dangers of their "mission", the three wizards left Grimmauld Place. Cassandra's apartment was one of the many safe houses her mother had set up over the years. During Cassandra's months alone she bounced from house to house, but she mostly spent her time at her London flat. It's convenient location and amenities made this dwelling her favorite.
"This is it," Cassandra announced once they arrived. She opened the door and ran into the flat. "Ah, home sweet home."
"Nice place," Tonks said while examining the room around her.
Cassandra then went into her bedroom and began pulling clothes from her closet. It wasn't exactly an easy task. Over the months Cassandra acquired a fair amount of clothing. Thirty-five pairs of shoes may be excessive to some, but Cassandra was a grieving teen with no parental supervision, what else would you expect?
After packing her clothes, toiletries and other miscellaneous items in her enchanted bag, Cassandra announced she was ready to leave. Remus opened the door to the apartment and Cassandra was about to leave until she remembered something important. "Oh Merlin, I forgot my music!" she shouted before running back into the apartment.
Cassandra ran over to her boom box and wrapped her arms around the machine. "I can't believe I almost forgot you, momma's sorry," she muttered to her boom box and gave it a big kiss.
"She's mental," Remus sighed.
The boom box quickly made it into the bag, along with a few CDs and Cassandra's new Discman. "Cassandra, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Muggle technology doesn't work at Hogwarts," Tonks explained.
"Well I'll just have to find a way around that, won't I?" Cassandra replied with a smirk. Remus and Tonks looked like they wanted to argue, but they let it drop.
*****
After arriving back at Grimmauld Place, Cassandra ran up to her room to change. She let out a sign of relief as she put on her favorite pair and jeans and white shirt. It had been too long since she had worn a cropped top. After washing her face, she went to find her new friends. As she was walking around the house she ran into Kreacher talking with himself in a closet. She chose not to bother him and quickly continued going up the stairs.
Eventually Cassandra found the rest of the teenagers in Harry and Ron's room. She knocked on the door and was met by Ron. "Oh it's Cassandra," he smiled.
Cassandra then walked into sat down next to Harry on his bed. She placed her boom box was was carrying besides her and turned to the group in front of her.
"What is that?" George asked with mesmerized wide eyes.
"What? This?" Cassandra lifted her boom box and Fred and George nodded in response. "It's my boom box." Cassandra answered. However, she quickly realized the Weasley children had no idea what a boom box was due to the confused expressions on their faces. "It's a machine that plays music, I've brought it from my flat."
"Can you play something for us?" Ginny asked.
"Of course," Cassandra smiled with excitement. She turned the boom box and went to play a song, but she quickly realized she had forgotten a CD. It was probably one of the hardest decisions of Cassandra's life trying to chose a song to play. She couldn't introduce the Weasleys to the artistry of Muggle music with just any song. After long deliberation, Cassandra raised her hard and summoned a CD from her room.
The CD slipped underneath the door and flew into Casssandra's hand. She inserted it into her boom box and before pressing play she said, "this my friends, is one of the greatest songs of all time."
A/N starting playing song now :)
Hermione gave Cassandra an interested look and Cassandra responded with a wink. She then turned back to the boom box and pressed play.
Bohemian Rhapsody began to play loudly in the room. "Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?" Cassandra sang while getting up from the bed. She then turned back to Harry who was laughing. "You know this song, Harry?" She asked.
"Yes..." Harry smiled, but he also looked slightly scared at Cassandra's mischievous grin.
"Well come on then," she said and grabbed Harry's hands. She tried to pull him up but he remained sitting on the bed. "Come onnn," she pleaded.
"Alright," Harry said in defeat, but he still had a smile across his face, which made it seem like he didn't feel defeated at all. He allowed Cassandra to pull him up from the bed.
Anyway the wind blows doesn't really matter to meeeee. to meeeeee.
Cassandra then walked over to Hermione. "You too, I know you want to dance," Cassandra smirked. Hermione rolled her eyes and stood, but she too couldn't hide the smile on her face.
"This doesn't seem like the greatest song of all time," Ron said from across the room. Cassandra only responded with a serious stare of disapproval.
"Too late, my time has come," Hermione sang loudly to everyone's surprise. When Cassandra turned to watch her she saw Ron begin to sway to the music. That's what I thought, Cassandra smirked to herself.
"Goodbye everybody, I've got to goooo," Cassandra chimed in. She then turned back to Harry and nudged his shoulder. "Sing," she demanded. Harry looked like he wanted to object, but he didn't.
"Mamaaaa oooooo," Harry sang off key. Everyone was definitely now paying attention, no one had expected Harry to start singing.
Cassandra then went across the room and began pulling everyone out from their seats. She stopped and showed Fred and George how to play the air guitar. When the guitar solo began to play, the twins began moving their hands flamboyantly. Everyone was now up and moving to the music.
Then, the music began to quicken.
I see a little silhouetto of a man
Everyone's faces now began to look more excited. Everyone in the room was now dramatically dancing to the music.
"THUNDERBOLT OF LIGHTNING, VERY VERY FRIGHTENING!" Cassandra, Harry, and Hermione all yelled.
Cassandra then turned to Harry, "Gallileo."
"Gallileo," he responded.
"Gallileo."
"Gallileo."
"Gallileo fígaro," Cassandra and Harry sang in unison to each other.
The entire room was now jumping at this point. Harry, Hermione, and Cassandra were screaming every word. The Weasleys even chimed in when they started to catch onto the words. By the time the song ended everyone was out of breath.
Anyway the wind blows
Cassandra collapsed onto Harry's bed. her chest was rising up and down quickly as she tried to catch her breath. But, her efforts were interrupted by a loud voice.
"Play another one."
**********
A/N
I literally had so much fun writing the Bohemian Rhapsody scene. I was blasting the song at 1am and had to keep rewinding it because I was trying to dance and write at the same time. And ughhh playful Harry really just hits different.
Hope you enjoyed the extra long chapter, see you next update:)
-Madds
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