Chapter 1
“Is it here yet?” A small girl yells out as she clambers down the stairs of her small house in the outskirts of Cardiff. She enters the kitchen to find her uncle making breakfast. He furrows his brow with a small smirk, “is what here yet?” She huffs in annoyance and he turns around to grab a plate for her toast when she spots an envelope very obviously poking out of his back pocket. It’s very quickly snatched from his pocket and torn open to reveal the letter she’s been impatiently waiting for.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Miss Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
As their owl flies away with the confirmation of her acceptance, she reaches up to let her fingers trace the scar on her neck. Remus sighs and shakes his head. “Cassia, we’ve had this conversation too many times. You’ll meet him once you’re both at Hogwarts and safe. It’s too risky for him to know about our world just yet”
Her shoulders slump and she keeps quiet about it, the pair now eating their breakfast in quiet. She used to fight back against the stupid rule but she learned there’s no use. Every time she even mentions her twin brother, Remus shuts down the topic. Last year she had the idea to send him a letter to let her know she existed but the damned owl brought it straight to Remus. She had hoped that he would allow it for their eleventh birthday, but now she knows that’s not a possibility either.
They haven’t seen each other since their parents were killed. James had answered the door that evening holding Cassia instead of his wand. Voldemort cast the killing curse four times that night but thought it had only failed once. The large scar on her neck would prove differently. Just as Lily had saved Harry, their father saved her. Hearing the cries of her brother, she had crawled over to his crib and that was how they were found.
Now of course she doesn’t remember any of that. All she knows is what Remus has told her which is a great deal more than what Harry knows. It will be quite a shock for him, entering their world, but she hopes she can be a sisterly guiding hand.
Noticing her crestfallen look from thinking about her family, Remus stands up, kisses her on the head, and tells her he’ll be right back. He disappears into his room and starts rummaging through his closet. Boxes full of stuff from his old flat with Sirius and from Godric’s Hollow line the floor, all things he’s kept out of hope that Sirius will come back and that the kids will need them. Finally, he finds what he is looking for and goes back out to the kitchen, telling Cassia to close her eyes and put out her hands. “This was your mother’s and well we figured it might take a liking to you,” he says as he places the wand in her hand.
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Boarding the Hogwarts Express was a rather lonely experience for Cassia. The full moon kept Remus at home and she hasn’t made any friends yet. Now on the train, she searches for a place to sit and stumbles upon a compartment with only one person in it. “Do you mind if I join you?” She asks, poking her head in and the curly-haired girl ushers her in.
“I’m Hermione Granger, first year” The girl sticks out her hand and Cassia takes it.
“Cassia Potter, I’m a first year too” She smiles politely but her shoulders sink slightly when Hermione’s eyes widen.
The fame surrounding her name is something she’s never gotten used to and honestly is quite annoying. Everyone expects such great things from her but she’d just like to be average for once.
Hermione notices the shift in her attitude and shakes her head “Sorry, I won’t ask questions. I’m sure you get loads of people bothering you” and that small acknowledgment is the beginning of a lifelong friendship.
The girls chat about which classes they’re most excited about and which house they think they’ll be sorted into until a nervous-looking boy stops by their compartment. “Have you seen a toad? Trevor keeps running away” The poor boy sounds distressed, so they both decide to try to help him find Trevor. They all split up, taking different sections of the train to search.
During her hunt for Trevor, Cassia visits a compartment with three boys in it: one with slicked black blond hair and the other two with darker hair. “Excuse me, have any of you seen a toad? There’s one loose on the train” she asks and they all look her up and down. The blond one is the first to speak up, seemingly the leader of the trio. “I’m Draco Malfoy and this is Crab and Goyle,” he says and she nods slowly.
“Yes, very good, now the toad? Have you seen it?” She asks again, not wanting to get sidetracked. The boys all shake their heads and she turns to leave before stopping and looking back at them, making eye contact with Draco. “I’m Cassia by the way. Cassia Potter” then she leaves before they have the chance to act all starstruck.
After failing to find Trevor, Cassia, Hermione, and Neville meet up and get off the train together, all wondering where the toad could be hiding. They enter the castle and she smiles. It’s exactly like Remus’s stories. It looks as though nothing has changed. A sense of comfort washes over her, knowing her family, both biological and not, had many of the same experiences she’ll be having here for the next seven years.
She stands up toward the front of the group, eager to be sorted and find her place here. Remus had assured her that any house would be respectable but she knows he secretly wants her to be in Gryffindor as they all were. Once she has finished her small speech, Professor McGonagall looks down at Cassia and her eyes widen a bit. “By Merlin, you are the spitting image of your mother” She smiles at the girl and laughs “Let’s hope you take after her manners as well and not your father’s” Cassia smiles back widely, remembering all the stories Remus told her about the pranks they played and trouble they got into. “I make no promises, Professor” she responds and McGonagall shakes her head knowingly.
Finally, the first years are called into the Great Hall. Cassia’s eyes flick through the crowd, trying to find her brother but she has no clue what he looks like. Hermione is called up to the sorting hat first and Cassia gives her an encouraging smile before cheering when she’s sorted into Gryffindor. Then Draco is called up and he makes eye contact with Cassia as he sits down. She offers a soft smile back before he goes to sit at the Slytherin table. After a few more people, Harry gets called up and she gets to see her brother for the first time in a decade. She furrows her brow as Harry looks around worriedly until it calls out Gryffindor and they both relax. She knows their parents would be proud.
When Cassia is called forward, everyone in the room perks up again, especially Draco and Harry. Draco tries to make eye contact with her again but she’s looking at her brother who is deeply confused. It’s hard for her to focus on the hat with all these eyes on her and with the way her brother is looking at her. There are mumbles of “Ravenclaw” and “You could do well in Slytherin” but the hat finally calls out “Gryffindor!” And she sighs in relief. The entire Gryffindor table cheers, having gotten both Potters. She goes to sit next to Hermione who had saved her a spot just in case. This spot, however, happened to be directly across from Harry who looked like he was about to explode. How could no one tell him he had a sister? And a twin at that? He could tell from her slightly guilty look that she’s known all along. She simply mumbles out “I tried to send you letters but the owl wouldn’t deliver them”
Harry starts to respond but a ghost comes up through the table interrupting him. Sir Nicholas recognizes her and tries to cheer her up, noticing that she’s bothered by something. “Miss Potter! I was wondering when you’d be joining us” She just gives a small smile in response before Harry scoffs how she seems to know everything about wizardry, unphased by the ghost while he was kept in the dark until now. How could they leave him with the Dursleys but give her the perfect life?
Upset by Harry’s obvious disdain toward her, Cassia excuses herself from the table and wanders off. Meeting her twin was supposed to be exciting and like a reunion but he only blames her for everything that’s happened. The rest of the students are led to their dormitories while she sits on a bench in one of the halls, trying to figure out how to fix things with Harry. Some time passes before two tall ginger boys approach her.
“Our brother Percy sent us to find you,” one tells her “He thinks just because he’s Head Boy he can order us around,” the other says before introducing themselves “I’m Fred and this is George. Our brother Ron is a first year too” she makes a mental note that George’s jaw is more square than his brothers to make sure she can always tell them apart. The twins show her the way to the Gryffindor common room, telling her that they’re sure Harry will come around eventually, and if he doesn’t, they’ll take care of him. She giggles at their protectiveness over her even though they just met. At least she has two twins that like her even if it’s not her own.