Chapter 15
Cassidy walked with Ron, Hermione and Harry to the courtyard, not noticing some male students looking at her a bit longer than necessary.
"Beautiful day," Hermione huffed, though it didn't seem like she meant it much.
"Gorgeous." Ron replied sarcastically. "Unless, of course, you mean ripped to pieces." Cassidy snorted, getting a glare from Ron and a confused look from Harry.
"Ripped to pieces?" Harry repeated, confused. "What are you talking about?"
Cassidy started laughing, while Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron. "Ronald has lost his rat."
"I haven't lost anything!" Ron protested. "Your cat killed him! Cassidy, it's not funny! You probably egged that thing on!" Ron snapped at Cassidy, who was beside herself with laughter.
"I say good riddance." She said, after she'd stopped laughing. "That thing is way too old."
"Don't listen to him, Cass." Hermione huffed. "He's speaking rubbish." The two girls walked ahead of Harry and Ron.
"Harry." Ron said to Harry, loud enough so that Cassidy and Hermione could hear. "You've seen how the way that bloodthirsty beast of hers is always lurking about. For all we know, Cassidy's owl Moony's been in on it too."
"Hey!" Cassidy whirled around to glare at Ron.
"Scabbers is gone." Ron muttered, his voice cracking in the way Cassidy secretly loved.
"Oh wow, it's almost like he's lived longer than the average rat has. I seriously do not like that rat, Ron."
"Oh, come off it, Cass." Ron retorted, glaring at Cassidy. "Just because you don't like something doesn't mean it has to die."
"Well maybe you should learn to take better care of your pet!" Hermione snapped at Ron.
"Maybe I should give you lessons on that, Ronniekins." Cassidy teased.
"You're one to talk about taking care of things, Cass. You fell off the bleachers last match. What, did Moony push you off?"
Cassidy stopped, turning to Ron and narrowing her eyes at him. "Oh, ha ha, Ronald." She paused suddenly, looking deep in thought. "Wait. Why did I fall off?" Cassidy turned around again, now trying to remember what exactly had made her faint. Ron was still rambling about Scabbers as she and Hermione kept walking.
"Your cat and Cassidy's owl teamed up to kill him!" Ron yelled after them.
"Did not!" Hermione said.
"Did." Ron replied.
"Did not!" Cassidy shouted, and she rolled her eyes.
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After visiting Hagrid (who'd informed them of Buckbeak being sentenced to death, much to the group's dismay) Cassidy had decided to bother Lupin yet again. She needed to know why she could've fainted, and she had a strong suspicion that it had to do with her necklace.
When she'd come, it was like Lupin had been expecting her.
"Professor."
"Yes?"
"Remember last year, when I fainted and had to be sent to Madam Pomfrey and everything?"
Cassidy sat in the chair facing Lupin's desk.
"Yes, I recall."
"Do you think it had something to do with this?" Cassidy held up her necklace.
"It's likely, Cassidy."
"Aha! Knew it." Cassidy crossed her arms for a moment, smirking. Lupin raised his eyebrows expectantly, and Cassidy faltered.
"So, er... what exactly do you think it could've done?"
Lupin rose from his desk, hands behind his back.
"Cassidy. Dementors feed off of bad memories, experiences, correct?" Lupin said, before stepping closer to her and squatting in front of her chair. Cassidy nodded slowly.
"Do you have any particularly horrible memories or experiences that could make you react to them so badly?"
Cassidy thought of last year, in the Chamber, being with Tom Riddle... but that memory didn't resurface in the train cabin, despite its horrors. She'd heard that woman from her dreams instead.
"I do, but it doesn't seem to be the one they feed on." Cassidy admitted. "They seem to like a memory I don't even have, a woman screaming." Remus snapped his fingers, a habit Cassidy herself had when she figured out something.
"The necklace. It's been passed down in your family, correct?"
"Yes." Cassidy answered slowly.
"Have you been having any dreams because of it, visions, perhaps?" Lupin rose from his squatting position, going to sit back at his office chair.
"Oh, don't even get me started." Cassidy scoffed. "I always hear or see a lady, with this same necklace in her hands..."
"Right. Your necklace is a family heirloom. It's been giving you dreams, visions of this lady. This lady is very likely to be an ancestor. This may be far-fetched, Cassidy, but your trinket... it may be giving you that ancestor's memories. Traumatic ones, in fact. It may be becoming a part of you."
Silence. Cassidy slumped into her seat, fiddling with the pendant.
"I'll let you sit with that for a while, Miss Sweet." Lupin said gently, signaling the end of their discussion. "I'll see you later."
And for once, Cassidy had nothing to say.
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Cassidy stared into space in Divination class, Ron Weasley snoring on her shoulder as Harry stared into the crystal ball on their table. Cassidy didn't even blink at Ron feeling so comfortable around her that he took to sleeping on her shoulder; she was more preoccupied with thinking about other things. Like why her necklace was becoming 'a part of her', or why boys were suddenly looking at her a bit longer, and why her skin had started to be clearer without the help of Neville's Bubotuber pus.
"So," Harry mumbled, clearly trying his best to stay awake himself. "We both faint at the sight of Dementors now, huh?" Harry had told her about his own lessons with Lupin. Cassidy laughed mirthlessly. "Yeah."
"Huh." Harry said dumbly. "Interesting."
"Honestly, you two should be a bit more worried!" Hermione said, looking between Harry and Cassidy, and trying not to look at Ron snoring on Cassidy's shoulder. "This seems to be very serious. Cassidy, you still haven't heard from your father, have you?" Hermione asked.
"Nope." Cassidy said lazily, popping the 'p'. "He's disappeared from the face of the earth. Mum hasn't heard from him in ages, but she said she's sure he's fine."
Cassidy squinted, leaning in closer to check Hermione's face.
"Oi, 'Mione, you're really pretty, you know that?" Cassidy said drowsily. The fumes of Professor Trelawney's classroom made her act stupid. Suddenly, Professor Trelawney rushed over, making everyone sit up straight. Even Ron had risen from Cassidy's shoulder, wide eyed and awake.
"Now, what do we have here?" Trelawney asked, kneeling next to the group's table.
"Oh! Do you mind if I try?" Hermione said. Cassidy raised an eyebrow at her eagerness. Hermione hated Divination. Right?
Trelawney gestured for Hermione to go on.
"The Grim." Hermione said. "Possibly."
Cassidy snorted as Trelawney took Hermione's hand.
"My dear. From the first time that you stepped foot in my class, I sensed... that you did not possess the proper spirit for the noble art of Divination." Hermione scowled at Professor Trelawney, but if she noticed, she didn't say.
He found Cassidy outside, leaning against a corridor wall, staring down at her necklace like it would give her answers.
Ron cleared his throat, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Oi."
Cassidy barely looked up. "What, Ron?"
He shifted on his feet. "Look, I—uh, y'know—" He made a vague gesture. "Didn't mean to be a git back there."
Cassidy snorted humorlessly, wiping at her eyes. "Could've fooled me."
Ron winced. "I was a git, alright? But you're not supposed to run off when I say something stupid. You're supposed to yell at me, and then I say something stupid again, and then you say something worse, and then—" He stopped, sighing. "You know what I mean."
Cassidy huffed, finally looking up at him. "You were a git."
"Yeah, yeah, I know." He scratched his nose. "But, er... don't cry, alright? Hermione'll probably be back to bossing us around by tomorrow, and you two'll be fine again."
Cassidy frowned at him for a second, then sighed. "I don't know why she's mad at me."
Ron shrugged. "Dunno. Girls are weird."
Cassidy shot him a glare, and he quickly added, "Not you, though. You're just—uh—not weird, just... I mean, you are weird, but like, in a normal way—"
Cassidy raised an eyebrow.
Ron groaned. "Look, I was trying to be nice, but never mind. Just—don't be sad, alright? It's weird when you're sad."
Cassidy bit her lip, trying not to smile. "It's weird?"
"Yeah." Ron rocked on his heels. "Like, really weird. So, stop it."
Cassidy rolled her eyes, but her shoulders relaxed. "Fine, Ronald. I'll stop."
"Good." Ron exhaled like he'd just finished a Quidditch match, then pointed at her necklace. "That thing still acting up?"
Cassidy glanced down at it, fingers brushing over the pendant. "Yeah."
"Huh." Ron frowned, as if he wanted to say more but didn't know how. Instead, he nudged her shoulder with his. "C'mon, let's find Harry before Trelawney has a vision about my funeral or something."
Cassidy huffed a laugh and let him lead the way.
And just like that, the tension melted away.