chapter nine / antipathy and its consequences

IT DIDN'T TAKE LONG for Cassie to recognize the cold shoulder that Ron and Harry were giving Hermione, which was how she knew it was bad.

     She hadn't thought much of it at first glance, but when the boys greeted Cassie warmly and scooted over to make room for her on the couch, but acted as though the spot where Hermione stood was completely empty, she realized something was wrong. Hermione ran out of the common room choking back tears, and Cassie rounded on the boys, confused and furious.

"What the hell is going on?" she said. "Why are you two being so rude? She almost combusted on the spot when I suggested coming to the common room, and I doubt it was because of Fred and George."

Ron and Harry shared a glance before turning back to her and shrugging, as though they had no idea what was the matter.

Cassie glared at them both. "Harry, I swear to Merlin, if this is about your stupid broom—"

"Stupid!?" sputtered Ron, and he gaped at her with his mouth open. "Did you just call a bloody Firebolt stupid?"

She lifted her chin. "I did, in fact, because—"

"Can you believe her, Harry?" Ron interrupted, furious. 

Cassie flared her nostrils. She stood from the couch suddenly and rounded on the boys, pointing her finger in their faces to emphasize her point. "Interrupt me again, Ron, and you won't live to see the Firebolt in action," she said, narrowing her eyes at him. "As I was saying: I don't think the Firebolt is stupid! I think it's foolish you're letting it get in the way this friendship! I just... I just supposed you two would value this friendship a little more than a broomstick," she finished, scathingly. She picked up her book and hit both of them on the back of the head before walking upstairs to comfort Hermione.

When she got to the dorm room, though, Hermione didn't seem as though she was in need of comfort. She sat precariously on Cassie's bed, holding the mirror shard again, staring deeply into it. Cassie raised her eyebrows and walked over, sitting across from her.

"Is there a reason you're so interested in my Christmas present?"

Hermione exhaled a sigh. "I promise you, Cassie. I saw someone else in here."

Cassie rolled her eyes and pulled the mirror from Hermione's hands. "Look, I'm sorry about Ron and Harry. They're being gits. Hopefully, I talked some sense into them," she said, biting her lip. "I think you were being smart, turning that broom in. If it was sent by Black, it was most certainly charmed to throw Harry off, or something."

Hermione's eyes lit up and she smiled at Cassie. "Thank you," she said. "I'm sure they'll come around; this isn't the first time they've hated me."

"Oh, they don't hate you! Not in the slightest." Cassie shook her head furiously, before her expression fell into one of mischievousness. She wiggled her shoulders. "In fact.. Ron seems to mind you quite the opposite."

Hermione's cheeks glowed red, but Cassie couldn't tell if it was anger or embarrassment. "Well.. well... Don't pretend we don't see the way you look at Harry!" she said defiantly.

Cassie raised her eyebrows. "Harry? Merlin, Hermione; first you're seeing men in the mirror and now this..."

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Very funny. But when you're looking at your reflection one day and a random shadow of a man appears, don't say I didn't warn you," she said, staring apprehensively at the mirror beside Cassie's knee.

"HOW'S SHE DOING IT?" Ron asked Harry and Cassie a few days later, as they all watched Hermione scribble something fervently on a piece of parchment. She'd been sitting in the same spot all day, homework from almost every subject possible sprawled around her.

"I heard her talking to Professor Vector, the Arithmancy witch this morning. They were going on about yesterday's lesson, but Hermione couldn't have been there, because she was with us in Care of Magical Creatures! And Ernie Macmillan told me she's never missed a Muggle Studies class, but half of them are at the same time as Divination, and she's never missed one of them either!"

"Oh, come off it, Ron," Cassie said. "Maybe you should ask her yourself? It'd be a record set for the amount of words you've spoken to her in the past week. I'm sure she'd appreciate it,"

Ron grumbled something under his breath as Oliver Wood neared their table, sights set on Harry.

"Bad news. I've just been to see Mcgonagall about the Firebolt. She– uh, she got a bit.. shirty with me. Told me I'd got my priorities wrong. Seemed to think I care more about winning the Cup than I do about you staying alive. Just because I told her I didn't care if it threw you off, as long as you caught the Snitch first." Wood shook his head in disbelief. "Honestly, the way she was yelling at me.. you'd think I'd said something horrible.. then I asked how much longer she's planning on keeping it.." He screwed up his face and imitated Professor Mcgonagall's voice. "'As long as necessary, Wood'... I reckon it's time you ordered a new broom, Harry. There's an order form that the back of Which Broomstick.. you could get a Nimbus Two Thousand and One, like Malfoy's got."

"I'm not buying anything Malfoy thinks is good," Harry said flatly, and Wood walked away, still shaking his head in disbelief.

Cassie stood and stretched her arms, squeezing her eyes shut. "I'll be right back, I've left Snape's essay on my bed," she said, before heading back up the stairs to retrieve it. When she arrived, however, there was not one but two papers on her bed. She picked up the essay before her eyes flickered to the other parchment. It was a handwritten note.

Dear Cassiopeia — or Cassie, is that what they're calling you?'

I've missed you more than words can express. Wait a few more days — it'll all work itself out! I overheard Remus's name in the mirror once. Could you tell him I said hi? It's been much too long. Apologies for the brief letter; your owl's quite snippy. Stay in touch. – S.B.

(By the way – the broom isn't bewitched. How could I sabotage my own team?)

Cassie stared at the letter in her hands, her mouth running dry. Surely the letter had been wrongly addressed, right? Her name wasn't Cassiopeia, and she didn't know an S.B.. Her eyes trailed over to the windowsill, where her barn owl Cupid perched happily, twitting at her for treats.

"Where'd you get this from, Cupid?" she mused, curiously. "Who's S.B.?"

   Her mind was still racing as the dormitory door flung open and Hermione stormed inside. Cassie shoved the letter under her pillow and turned to her friend, who began pacing once more, and noticed her cheeks were red.

"Those... those—TWATS!" Hermione exploded, and Cassie quickly made a mental note to never make Hermione angry. "Do you know what they did!?"

"No—"

"THEY ACTED LIKE I WASN'T EVEN THERE!" she cried, throwing her hands in the air. "I tried talking to them! I tried... I said, 'Hey, Harry, would you like help on the Charms homework?' and Ron turned to him and said, 'D'you hear something, Harry?' and Harry turned to him and said, 'No, Ron, I don't think so.' Like—like children!"

Cassie stared blankly at Hermione, unsure of what to say. She could tell her about the letter, take her mind off the boys, but quickly decided against it. And maybe not saying something was the better idea, as Hermione stormed to the bathroom and slammed the door shut. A second later, the shower turned on.

Cassie reached back beneath her pillow and she pulled out the letter again.

"There's only one person I know who isn't in a row with someone else right now," she muttered.

"HOW DID CUPID GET AHOLD OF IT?" Atticus asked, still staring at the letter in his hands.

Cassie bit her lip and paced back and forth, her steps creaking along the old library floors. "I've no clue! One minute, I was studying with Harry and Ron, and the next..."

Atticus nodded his head. This was about the only time Cassie had ever seen him without a smile on his face — he seemed incredibly serious.

"So, not only did he send Potter the Firebolt.." he pieced together, rubbing his temples. "What's this about a mirror?"

"Oh! Right. About that," Cassie remembered. She pulled the shard out of her back pocket and handed it off to Atticus. "It was on my bed on Christmas morning. No note or anything — and when Hermione picked it up, she said there was a... a man standing in it. You don't think... could it have been...?"

Atticus stared into the mirror intently. "It would make sense, wouldn't it?" he said after a moment, his voice low. "It all adds up that way, but maybe this is just a prank. Have the Weasley twins been paying you any extra attention today?"

Cassie thought for a second, then shook her head. "Haven't even seen them. And this is much too complex for a Weasley prank," she pointed out, biting the inside of her cheeks and pacing back and forth again. "I just wish I knew what all of it means."

"Well... the name thing can't be a coincidence. Maybe ask your dad if he knows anything about a Cassiopeia. And.. and the mirror part, I don't think there's a charm in the world to look through two mirrors, otherwise I'd've tried it with Romilda Vane." He winced as Cassie whacked his shoulder. "Oh, and not to mention, Black was a Gryffindor, was he not? So, theoretically, if this was him, he has a point. Why try to sabotage his own House team?"

"To kill Harry," Cassie said quietly, and Atticus picked his head up. "Black broke out of Azkaban to kill Harry, it's all the Ministry's been talking about. It's why he can't go to Hogsmeade. You really think this is from.. Sirius Black?"

"It makes the most sense, Cassie," Atticus said after a beat of silence. "I mean, why would he send a broom to kill Harry? Wouldn't that be extremely suspicious in the first place? Why not send something and pretend it's from someone he trusts so he wouldn't be skeptical of it? Or.. why send something in the first place? Couldn't he just do it himself when he breaks in again? 'Cause we all know that's gonna happen, inevitably. And if he can get into Hogwarts so easily, how do we know somebody's not helping him in—?"

Cassie sunk onto the couch next to him, blowing her hair out of her face. "Nobody's helping him in, he's not gonna break in again, and he sent something because... because.... I don't know!" she burst out. She threw her arms in the air. The letter fluttering down to the ground at her feet.

Atticus reached an arm out and put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

"I don't know, Atticus, and it's driving me crazy, and your questions aren't helping—"

"Sorry." He grinned sheepishly. She looked at him for a moment before rolling her eyes. "Look, we'll figure it out at some point—"

"Figure what out?" Remus asked from behind them, a smile on his lips. Cassie and Atticus split apart to face him, jumping away from each other even though they hadn't even been doing anything curious to begin with.

"Er.. the—potions," Cassie lied. Atticus was avoiding eye contact with both Remus and Cassie, and Remus glanced between the two. He seemed suspiciously relaxed that she'd been so close to him – a boy (much unlike the time he'd walked in on her falling asleep on Harry's shoulder).

Cassie discreetly swept the letter under the couch with her foot, the mirror already hidden in her robes.

Remus nodded. "I'm sure. Well, I've just returned from working with Harry—"

"Oh! On his Patronus?" Cassie asked, forgetting all about the letter. "Did he get it? Oh, I bet he did, he's brilliant at spells—"

"Not quite yet. He managed a wisp — which, I will say, I was surprised to see — but not a full Patronus. He's doing really well, though, I can give him that." Remus chuckled fondly, tucking his hands in his pockets. "What have you two been up to, other than Potions?"

"Charms."

"Quidditch."

"Herbology."

   Remus's brow scrunched together. "Cassie, you're excelling at all of those subjects, why would you need—?"

"I'm.. helping him! Yeah, his grades are astonishingly low." She nodded her head, eyeing Atticus and hoping he got the hint to go along with it.

It took him a second, but he began nodding along. "Oh, yes. I– I need all the help I can get," he agreed, much too enthusiastically.

Remus eyed the pair of them suspiciously.

"Hmm. Yes, alright, makes sense," he said after a moment, nodding his head. Cassie almost let out a sigh of relief. "I'll leave you to your.. studying, then." He nodded his head once and walked off.

It was barely a breath between when Remus left and when Harry came bursting into the library, looking panicked. He glanced around for a moment before his green eyes landed on Cassie and he hurried over, wand at the ready.

Cassie raised her eyebrows. "Is everything okay?"

"You've got to come quick," he said, breathless. "Crookshanks ate Scabbers!"