Chapter 1
"This is so stupid."
Cassidy Sweet buried her face in her hands as the full weight of the situation she'd put herself in dawned on her. She was in a flying car, one of the Weasley twins was driving, and her dad, though kind most of the time, would rip her head off if he knew what she was doing.
When she'd arrived in the Burrow and been startled by Fred in the dark as a sick joke, they'd told her about their plan to bust Harry out. Stupidly, she'd only nodded along, her main concern lying with Harry's safety. She didn't notice Ron staring at her new braids, how she'd gotten a little taller, a little more confident and a little more sure in the way she'd carried herself.
When the three boys had shown her the car, she'd been impressed they had learnt how to drive a Muggle car in a few days.
Then they'd told her they'd be flying.
"It's really fast, it is," Fred had said quickly when she saw her face pale. "Yeah, no need to worry, Sweet." George completed, giving her a mischievous grin. Cassidy, who still fancied them a bit, giggled stupidly.
"Well, if you two say so, it must work, right?" She fiddled with a braid, not keeping eye contact. Ron rolled his eyes while the two twins nodded.
Ten minutes later, flying through the night sky and squished in the backseat of the car with Ron, Cassidy realized just how idiotic the whole thing was. The dark grasslands stretched endlessly below them, and Fred was casually humming some unknown tune while George, ever the troublemaker, dropped small stones onto the sleeping towns beneath.
Cassidy bit her lip, her stomach twisting with nerves.
"Look, Cass, you didn't have to come," Ron muttered, catching her worried expression out of the corner of his eye.
She shot him a sharp look. "Says the bloke who begged me in his letter. You sounded dead worried, by the way."
Ron flushed a deep crimson, and his brothers immediately pounced on the opportunity.
"Aw, 'ickle Ronniekins wrote Cassidy for help!" Fred teased, twisting around in the driver's seat with a wide grin.
"Didn't tell us that, did he? Said she just happened to be visiting," George added, cackling as Ron glared daggers at them. "Didn't believe that story, anyway."
"Shut up, you two!" Ron hissed, his ears burning red. "We needed the extra hands, alright?"
Cassidy furrowed her brows, glancing between them. "Ron, why didn't you—FRED, WATCH OUT!"
Her scream snapped Fred's attention back to the sky. He yanked the steering wheel hard, and all four of them shouted as the car lurched sideways. An airplane whizzed by so close that Cassidy could see the stunned faces of the pilots through the cockpit window before they disappeared into the dark.
Wind whipped through her braids, and her heart thundered in her chest. Without thinking, she grabbed Ron's arm, clinging to it tightly. Ron looked at it, wide eyed.
"Blimey, Fred!" George gasped, clutching the door handle. "That was close!"
"Yeah, well, maybe you could stop distracting me, then!" Fred shot back, his knuckles white as he gripped the wheel.
Cassidy exhaled shakily, loosening her grip on Ron's arm but not quite letting go. "This is the stupidest thing I've ever done," she muttered.
Ron looked at her, his cheeks still pink, and gave her a lopsided smile. "Yeah, well... welcome to my family."
Cassidy smiled back quietly, her grip on his arm loosening until she finally let go. A moment of silence hung in the air, broken only by the sound of the car's engine humming softly.
Ron cleared his throat. "Anyway, before Fred almost got us killed, you were saying something?"
"Oh, right!" Cassidy perked up, fidgeting with the hem of her hoodie. "Why didn't you invite 'Mione?"
"She'd have told Mum the second she saw the car," Ron joked.
Cassidy nudged him playfully, rolling her eyes. "Good point. What else?"
Ron hesitated before adding, "Well... she's afraid of heights. And I didn't want to bother her parents, y'know, them being Muggles and all."
Cassidy raised an eyebrow. "Oh, but it's okay to bother me?"
"Ooo, get him, Cass," George quipped from the front, earning a laugh from Fred.
Ron's eyes widened as he began to stammer. "N-no, it's not that! I just—you always said how bored you were at your place, and I thought—"
"Relax, Ron," Cassidy interrupted, holding up a hand with a teasing grin. "I'm only joking."
Ron let out a long breath, clearly relieved, as Cassidy giggled, her eyes twinkling. Fred and George exchanged a look, smirking.
"Oh, Cass!" He suddenly perked up, as if remembering something, then he lowered his voice, leaning towards her so the twins wouldn't hear. "What did your dad say about your necklace? You did say you'd ask him, after all."
Cassidy felt her stomach drop as she remembered the confrontation between her and her father some mere hours ago. Ron noticed her expression, and he looked at her with concern.
"What happened?" He asked simply.
"He got mad," she mumbled. "And he looked scared. Said I shouldn't worry about it, said it's just an heirloom and I could be imagining things."
"No way!" Ron whisper-shouted, then he collected himself. "I mean, don't worry. We can keep digging. You never know what could happen this year." He smiled at Cassidy, blue eyes shining in the moonlight, and she felt a sense of comfort wash over her.
"Thanks, you mushy sod." She teased. Ron didn't say anything, only drew back and rolled his eyes, still grinning.
"If you two are done being lovebirds back there," Fred announced, making a descent to a particular house, which looked like one of the windows had been barred. "It looks like we're at Harry's. And that he's locked up." After pushing Fred's head, Cassidy moved closer to one of the car windows facing Harry's house. The headlights shone into the room with the barred window, and Cassidy's face lit up at the sight of Harry.
Fred rolled down the windows, and Ron and Cassidy popped out to look at him. Harry looked positively shocked to see his friends.
"Hiya, Harry." Ron greeted.
"Ron? Fred? George? Cassidy ?" He mentioned each of their names in amazement.
"What have you done now, Potter?" Cassidy teased, gesturing to the bars surrounding his window. Harry's face broke into a large smile.
"You wouldn't even begin to imagine." He replied. "What are you all doing here?"
"Rescuing you, of course." Ron answered.
"You'd best hurry up, Potter. I'm here on borrowed time." Cassidy remarked. "Get your trunk! Hurry!"
Harry ran off into the gloom of his room, hurriedly packing things into his school trunk. Cassidy took out a hook from the back, latching it onto the cage around Harry's window as he snapped his trunk closed.
"You'd better stand back." Ron warned Harry as he came back to the window. Cassidy shuffled away from the window as she signaled the twins.
"Fred! Now!" She hissed.
"Alright, Cassie," he replied, moving the car away and pulling off the bars in the process. They crashed to the garden floor, making a loud noise. Cassidy whooped, grinning back at their handiwork and high-fiving the twins.
"Any more yelling and those Muggles will come running." Ron remarked, and true to his word, Harry heard the sounds of footsteps in the corridor.
Turning the car, the twins pressed the button needed to open the trunk. Harry started to stuff his belongings in there, not forgetting a small box wrapped with a bow on his desk. He pocketed it. Cassidy heard the sounds of the multiple locks put on his door being unlocked, and Harry seemed to have too. He picked up the pace, slamming the trunk door of the car closed. The car turned again, and Ron opened the backseat door.
"Harry, hurry up!" He yelled. Cassidy took Hedwig, cooing to her softly.
Suddenly, Harry's room door burst open.
The fat, red-faced man that was Mr Dursley rushed inside, just as Harry was halfway into the car. To their horror, he grabbed Harry's leg.
"He's escaping!" He yelled, refusing to let go. Harry continued struggling, his face strained. Cassidy suddenly had an idea. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a thick wooden stick, brandishing it with a devilish grin.
"Where the bloody hell did you get that from, Cass?!" Ron exclaimed in confusion.
"In life, Ronniekins, you must always be ready for violence." She said softly, before hitting Mr Dursley's hand repeatedly with it. He squealed in pain.
"Get. Your. Piggy. Hands. Off. Of. HARRY!" She yelled, and Ron stared at her with a mixture of horror and admiration.
"Yeah!" The twins cheered in unison. "You get him, Cass!"
"Get OFF!" Harry yelled one last time, before Cassidy ordered the twins to "DRIVE! Drive NOW!"
Fred stomped on the accelerator, and Mr Dursley finally lost his grip on Harry. The fat man fell out of the window, Cassidy started shrieking with laughter, and Ron slammed the door closed as they sped away into the moonlit sky, laughing like nothing in the world could ever be funnier.
Ron turned to Harry, his face pink. "By the way," he huffed, "Happy Birthday, Harry." Harry grinned at him.
"I got you something!" Cassidy piped up, drawing something out from her bag. Harry gasped softly.
It was a sweets tin, intricately designed with illustrations of broomsticks whizzing around. A small Golden Snitch perched on top, though of course it wasn't a real one. The words Property of Harry James Potter were engraved in smooth, loopy handwriting.
"My dad insisted on doing that bit." Cassidy added, smugly.
"Cassidy... this is..."
"Amazing? One of a kind? Best you've ever seen?" she interrupted excitedly. Ron and Harry smiled at her.
"I've got something for you too," Harry said suddenly, digging in his pocket for a small, plain cardboard box. "It's my Aunt Petunia's... well, not anymore. I saw her throw it into the bin, but I cleaned it, so it's—"
Cassidy grabbed the box, unable to wait for Harry to finish. "Calm down, won't you?" Ron scoffed.
"Shut up, Ron." Cassidy retorted, opening the box. Her eyes widened.
"Oh, Harry, it's beautiful!" She squealed, bouncing in her seat. Inside the box was a small pearl bracelet, and one of the charms seemed to resemble a sweet.
"I would've sent it to you earlier for your birthday, but I couldn't. I'll explain why later," Harry explained sheepishly, before Cassidy hugged him tightly. His eyes widened, before hugging her back slowly.
"Thank you, Harry." She mumbled into his shirt.
"You're welcome, Cass." He replied.