Memories of Them

Cassie cursed under her breath. She had checked and double checked the Great Hall to make sure that they had already gone up to bed, where could they have been hiding she asked herself angrily. She wasn’t in the mood for this reunion right now, all she wanted was her warm bed that she knew was waiting for her upstairs. 

Turning around she plastered a bored expression on her face. Walking towards the small group were two tall, broad, ginger haired boys. Their top buttons were undone, their shirts untucked and their robes dropping off of their shoulders lazily. But something about the messy pair made Cassie’s heart race. 

“What no squealing hugs for us Vaughn? We used to be your favourite Weasleys,” George said confidently. 

That took Cassie by surprise, it was normally Fred that came up with witty comments and the joky retorts. But the boy appeared to be standing there stunned, staring at her as though he had seen a ghost.

“Used to be, being the operative word,” Cassie snapped back. She wasn’t sure where the anger had come from but it was clear in her tone. 

“Wow,” George said, placing his hands up in a surrender gesture. 

“What’s got your wand in a knot Vaughn I thought you’d be happy to see us,” George said, a slight crease began to form in his brow.

“Oh now you’re happy to see me and talk to me, where's that been over the last 5 years?” Cassie asked.  The feeling of absolute loss and betrayal was as hot in her chest as it had been 5 years ago. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes as she stepped towards them. 

“You don’t get to pick me up and drop me when it suits you. Don’t worry, the excitement of having different students at Hogwarts will die down in no time and you can go back to ignoring me.” She spat at them, shoving past them she deliberately bumped hard into both of their shoulders as she walked past throwing them off balance.

The group of girls followed her, walking past the confused twins and racing up the stairs. 

“Cassie, wait up!” called Libby, struggling to keep pace with the hyperventilating girl.

“Cass! Slow down! You're going the wrong way!” yelled Ginny.

Cassie stopped in the middle of the dark corridor. Facing away from the group she began to wipe the tears off her cheeks and calm her breathing.

“That could have gone better,” whispered Libby loud enough for everyone in the corridor to hear. 

All of the other girls threw her a disapproving glare whilst shaking their heads. Libby had no tact at all. Cassie however couldn’t help the watery chuckle that escaped her lips.

“You’re right Lib, that definitely could have gone better,” she said. 

All of the Beauxbatons girls crowded around her pulling her into a tight group hug, whilst Ginny stood awkwardly at the side. Grabbing onto Ginny's sleeve Cassie pulled her into the hug, laughing at her obvious discomfort. 

“Oh Gin, I’m sorry I haven’t even introduced everyone!” Cassie said, pulling away from the hug. 

“Everyone this is Ginny Weasley, my adopted little sister,” Cassie said, slinging her arm around Ginny’s shoulder. Cassie noticed the massive smile that overtook Ginny’s face when she called her that and couldn’t help her own equally cheesy grin from growing. 

“And Ginny, this is Liberty Mason, Bonnie Cartwright and Odette Carlisle. The best friends a girl could ask for,” she said, gesturing to each of them in turn. 

“I’ve heard all about you from Cassie’s letters,” Ginny said. Libby let out a small embarrassed groan, knowing that Cassie would have described them all honestly and accurately. 

“As lovely as this introduction has been and as happy as I am to have met the famous Ginny Weasley, can we please go somewhere a bit warmer? This corridor is freezing!” Bonnie groaned.

The others nodded their heads, their thin dresses offered them no warmth from the biting chill that was creeping through the corridors. The fact that they were all exhausted from a long day of travel and the adrenaline from the welcome feast had worn off only made them colder. 

Slowly the group retraced their step through the deserted corridors and up multiple flights of stairs, they came to a halt in front of a large framed portrait of a broad woman decked in historic clothing.

“There are our esteemed guests, I’ve been wondering when you would show!” the portrait said, excitedly clapping her hands.

“This is the fat lady, she conceals the entrance to the Gryffindor common rooms and the dorms beyond,” Ginny explained, “to get past her you’ll need the password, this term it's balderdash.”  

As soon as Ginny had uttered the password, the great portrait swung forward like a door on hinges. Ginny led them through a narrow corridor that opened up into a circular room. Cassie instantly knew that this room would be one of her favourites in the whole castle. The entire room was decorated in the Gryffidor house colours, crimson and gold. A large fireplace took up the entirety of one wall, the embers of a dying fire were glowing red hot in the grate. Placed around the room in groups were cosy, overstuffed sofas, blankets and pillows decorated each sofa adding to the homey feel of the room. In a hidden alcove away from the main common room desks and bookcases had been pushed up against the walls creating the perfect study area. But Cassie’s favourite element of the room was the large floor to ceiling windows, it was clear that they were currently in one of the tallest towers in the school and when morning came Cassie knew she would be able to look across the vast Hogwarts grounds and Scottish landscapes. She could already imagine herself curled up in one of the window seats reading her favourite book. 

“This is incredible!” Cassie said, turning to Ginny. 

“It’s probably the smallest common room at Hogwarts, but it's definitely the cosiest. I like it because it reminds me of home,” Ginny responded with a soft smile on her face. Cassie completely agreed, The Burrow was the homiest home Cassie had ever entered. 

“What is your common room at Beauxbatons like?” questioned Ginny curiously.

“Nothing like this,” laughed Cassie, “Beauxbatons is more palatial than Hogwarts. It's designed in the French Gothic and Baroque architectural style, like other famous buildings in France such as Notre Dame and Versaille. The entire school is incredibly grand and elegant. Our common rooms are more light and airy than here, we’re used to a much warmer climate. We still have sofas and study areas like here but we also have our own terrace covered in climbing wisteria and potted flowers. It's an amazing place to sit and look out at the gardens and the sea beyond. It’s beautiful,” Cassie said fondly. 

“Wow,” Ginny said, “I wish I could come and visit, I’d love to explore.” 

Cassie smiled, “with all of this interschool cooperation being forged maybe you’ll get the chance to one day.” 

Taking one last look around Ginny led them up a set of spiral stairs, “these are the stairs to the girls dormitory, they’re enchanted so that boys can’t get up here. Your dorm is down here next to mine, I’ll let you get some rest and meet you in the common room in the morning for breakfast?” asked Ginny hopefully.

Cassie nodded her head enthusiastically, she couldn’t wait to spend some quality time with the young girl. 

“Night everyone, sleep well,” Ginny said waving at the group before retreating into her own dormitory and softly closing the door.

“I could pass out, I'm so tired,” groaned Libby, turning to the door and swinging it open. 

“It’s definitely time for bed,” Cassie agreed.

✵❂✵

Cassie had never been more thankful for a weekend in her life when she awoke the next morning. She stayed cocooned under her duvet for a couple of minutes, enjoying the warmth that was enveloping her before she opened her eyes. She knew he had woken up late when she saw that sunlight was already streaming through the windows and into the small room. Looking around she noticed that the curtains around her friend's four poster beds were still closed tightly indicating they were all still fast asleep, resting after their exhausting day yesterday. Grabbing a pair of leggings and an oversized light blue knitted jumper from the trunk at the bottom of her bed she rushed into the bathroom to get ready for the day. All students had been given the weekend as rest days,  they were to use this time to relax and prepare for classes that would begin on Monday. Cassie had planned to spend this time exploring the castle and spending time with Ginny. 

Grabbing her reading book out of her handbag that was hanging on the back of the door Cassie tentatively made her way down to the common room, hoping to find a quiet place to read. There were only a couple of Gryffindor students lounging around the common room, however as soon as she entered their heads snapped to look in her direction curiously. Ignoring their stares Cassie headed over to a window seat, grabbing a blanket off the back of one of the sofas on her way past. Curling up on the seat she looked out of the window. Below she spotted a quaint hut at the edge of the forest, its chimney sending up puffs of grey smoke. In the huts garden, next to the pumpkin patch was the Beauxbatons carriage, gleaming in the late morning light. The woods behind the hut continued as far as the eye could see, meeting the mountains on the horizon. It was beautiful and tranquil, Cassie couldn’t wait to see how the landscape changed throughout the seasons. Pulling her thick book onto her lap she began reading, becoming completely engrossed in the words on the page. 

A bleary eyed Ginny stumbled down the stairs around 45 minutes later. Her long auburn hair had been hastily tied into a messy bun on the top of her head. She was wearing a very similar outfit to Cassie, an oversized patterned jumper and black leggings, her fluffy socks sticking out the top of her untied trainers. 

She looked around the common room worriedly until her eyes met Cassie, rushing towards her she began to apologise, “I’m so sorry Cass, I know we said that we would meet down here before heading to breakfast but I massively overslept!”

“Don’t worry about it Gin, none of my dorm mates are up yet either. I’ve been reading and enjoying the view,” she said, gesturing to the window behind her. “How about I go check on the girls whilst you go and brush your hair,” sniggered Cassie, Ginny rolled her eyes at the girls but followed her back upstairs.

In her dorm room Cassie's friends were just barely awake. Bonnie was sitting upright in her bed stretching when she entered the room and gave her a sleepy wave, Libby appeared to be in the bathroom and Odette was digging through her trunk looking for an appropriately warm outfit for the day. 

“Morning everyone,” Cassie sang happily. 

“Morning Cass, you were up early,” Odette replied, her voice muffled as half her head was stuck in the truck she was rooting through. 

“I woke up at 10,” laughed Cassie. 

“Did you go down to breakfast already?” asked Bonnie.

“Nope, it appears everyone was exhausted. Ginny only just came down to the common room,” she said, walking over to Odette as she spoke. 

“Odd, do you need any help?” she questioned, tapping the girl on the shoulder.

“I’m absolutely bloody freezing and I don’t think any of my jumpers are going to be thick enough,” she whined, “when we go down to Hogsmeade I think I’m going to need to invest in some warm clothing!” 

Cassie understood completely, it wasn’t anywhere near freezing outside however the ancient stone of the castle seemed to retain the cold, every room without a roaring fire appeared to be incredibly draughty. Going over to her trunk she pulled out a couple of knitted jumpers.

“If you need one, you can borrow one of these,” she said, laying the jumpers out on Odette’s bed. 

Suddenly all three girls were crowded around Odette’s bed snatching up the warm jumpers and pulling them over their heads. 

Rolling her eyes at the girls Cassie muttered, “I did tell you to pack warm clothing.” 

A gentle knock on the door drew everyone's attention, Libby skipped over to the door flinging it open. 

“GINNY!” she cheered enthusiastically, causing all of the girls to laugh.

Giving Libby a somewhat strange look, Ginny looked to Cassie, “Can you help me braid my hair? It looks like a Niffler made a nest in it and no matter what I do it isn’t getting any better!” she groaned. 

Snorting Cassie dragged Ginny over to her bed and forced her to sit down. Gently brushing through her hair, Cassie began to masterfully braid Ginny's hair whilst the rest of her friends got dressed and ready for the day. Once everyone was ready they all headed out of the common room and down to the great hall.

“Cass, I love how you’ve styled your hair today! Did the curls hold from yesterday?” Libby asked, looping her arm with Cassie’s as they walked.

“I barely had the energy to take it out last night, this morning I just threw it up into a ponytail to tame the madness!” she laughed. 

Walking into the entryway their nostrils were assaulted by the smell of breakfast foods. Luckily the professors had decided to extend breakfast, making sure that food was available all morning. It was clear that most students were sticking to the same seats they were allocated last night, Durmstrang students were sitting at the snake table and the Beauxbatons students were sitting at the same bird table as yesterday. Ginny however led Cassie and her friends over to the Gryffindor table. Finding a space next to the bushy haired girl from last night, Ginny plonked down, gesturing to the Beauxbatons girls to sit too. 

“Morning Hermione,” Ginny yawned, grabbing a piece of toast from the platter in front of her.

The bushy haired girl turned to Ginny greeting her with a smile. 

“This is Cassandra Vaughn, a family friend, and her friends Bonnie, Libby and Odette,” Ginny introduced.

“Ah, you’re Cassandra,” Hermione said, giving Cassie a sly grin. 

“Everyone calls me Cassie,” she said.

“I’ve heard,” Hermione laughed 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cassie asked inquisitively. 

“Oh nothing bad, I’m actually quite impressed!” Hermione said, worried that she had managed to offend the new acquaintance, “the twins were raving about you before you came, but last night they came in all quiet, apparently it was a bit of a frosty welcoming.” 

“You’re friends with the twins?” Cassie questioned.

“Not really, I’m in fourth year. I’m best friends with their brother Ron,” she said, “I overheard their discussion. Whatever they’ve done, they probably deserved the welcome you gave them. They can be pig headed idiots sometimes.” she said smiling. 

“You’ve got that right,” muttered Cassie and Ginny at the same time, making them all laugh. 

The rest of breakfast carried on in the very same way. The group of Beauxbatons girls continued to get to know Ginny and Hermione, laughing heartily together. Cassie had already fallen in love with the Hogwarts food. She’d had two helpings of the fluffy pancakes, a serving of berries and some cereal. 

Half way through the meal Ginny turned to Cassie nudging her arm slightly indicating in the direction of the door with her eyes. Looking discreetly over Ginny's shoulder she noticed the twins walk into the hall, both were scanning the crowd of students obviously looking for someone. Cassie shrunk down in her seat trying to hide behind the smaller girl causing all of the girls to laugh at her ridiculous behaviour. The twins both began looking for the source of the laughter and noticed Cassie sitting at the Gryffindor table with a group of her friends, Ginny and Hermione. They had heard rumours that a group of Beauxbatons girls were staying in Gryffindor tower, this seemed to confirm that it was Cassie and her friends. It was however clear that there was no room for the twins to sit anywhere near the girls, they would have to try and talk to Cassie another time. 

Looking down the table once the twins had sat down Cassie accidentally caught the eye of Fred, who sent her a sheepish grin. Cassie just stared back at him blankly, a slight frown forming on her face. She was the one who broke eye contact as she began to stir her spoon around in her cereal thoughtfully. Something about that small smile from Fred had made Cassie’s heart start hammering in her chest, she wasn’t sure what this feeling was which made the whole situation all the more confusing. Her thoughts were interrupted by an arm snaking over her shoulder and stealing her glass of orange juice.  Looking up she was met with a cheeky grin from Fabian, laughing at the boy she shuffled up making room for him next to her on the bench. As he sat down he threw an arm lazily around her shoulder. Fred definitely noticed this behaviour, stabbing furiously at the sausage on his plate.

“Morning Cass, how did you sleep?” Fabian asked, grabbing a pancake off of Libby’s plate and stuffing it into his mouth.

“My head hit the pillow and I was out like a light!” Cassie chuckled, “What about you?” 

“The carriage is weird,” he groaned, “they converted the compartments into bedrooms so I’m bunking with Hugo but it's such a small space. I accidentally elbowed Hugo in the face this morning whilst I was getting my jumper on.” 

“Yeah accidentally,” Hugo huffed from across the table where he had squashed himself in between Bonnie and Libby.  The girls around them began to laugh at the boys' antics, whilst Bonnie turned to the boy next to her trying to inspect his bruised nose for a break.

Shaking her head he gestured to the girls sitting beside her, “Boys these lovely ladies are Ginny and Hermione, they’re Gryffindor students,” both Hugo and Fabian shot the girls a smile and a quiet hello, “and girls, these handsome young men are Fabian and Hugo,” Cassie laughed. The girls laughed along with her introducing themselves to the boys. 

Cassie was glad that everyone was getting along so well, the two parts of her life had collided and blended perfectly she thought, looking fondly at her friends in front of her. 

The rest of the day was taken up by an incredibly detailed tour of the castle given by Ginny and Hermione. The girls showed the group of Beauxbatons students everything, from the library to the quidditch pitch. Ginny even told them how to access the astronomy tower at night, apparently the sky around here was beautiful due to the lack of light pollution. After a dinner where the group had sat laughing and joking as if they were old friends, Fabian and Hugo returned to the carriage whilst the group of girls headed to the Gryffindor common room looking forward to a night of mindless chit chat. Walking into the busy common room they managed to find a group of sofas towards the back of the room. Cassie flung herself onto one  of the sofas partially squashing Hermione under her weight. 

“Cass, move,” laughed Hermione, pushing the girl off of her causing her to roll onto the floor. The girls burst into loud obnoxious laughter as Cassie grabbed a pillow and blanket and made herself comfortable on the floor. 

“What’s the plan for tomorrow then?” questioned Libby, pulling her legs up to her chest making herself into a tiny ball. 

“I expect it’ll be very similar to today,” Bonnie replied, smiling contently. Everyone in the group nodded in agreement. 

“Sounds good to me,” agreed Ginny. 

Hermione’s attention appeared to be drawn towards the common room door where Ron and the raven haired boy from last night had just walked in. Standing up Hermione shouted their names beckoning them over. 

“Everyone meet Ron Weasley and Harry Potter, close friends of mine,” Hermione said beaming at the group. The two boys stood awkwardly staring between each of the girls nervously, “this is Cassie, Libby, Bonnie and Odette,” Ginny introduced, pointing everyone out for the benefit of the boys. 

Cassie jumped up and flung her arms around Ron, messing his hair up, “of course you already know me Ronny, don’t you,” joked Cassie, causing the boys to blush bright red. 

“Stop it Cass!” Ron whined, shoving the girl off of him, making the group and Harry Potter laugh. 

“Nice to meet you though Harry, I’ve heard a lot about you from Ginny,” Cassie said smiling, it was Ginny’s turn to blush bright red now. Harry just smiled sweetly at her. 

“Come and join us if you want, none of us have got the energy to do anything so we’re just lazily sitting here talking absolute dragon dung,” Cassie continued. The boys pulled up some chairs and happily joined in on the conversation, laughing and joking with everyone. Slowly their small group expanded as more of Ginny, Hermione, Ron and Harry’s friends joined them. A group of fourth year boys named Seamus, Neville and Dean sat on the floor across from Cassie, two girls named Pavarti and Lavender also joined the group as well as an obnoxiously loud older boy named Lee and a sweet older girl named Alicia. The group had just started the largest game of exploding snap Cassie had ever seen when Lee shouted across the common room.

“There you are! We’re about to start the next round of ultimate snap, deal them in Neville!” 

Fred and George walked over with a look of confusion on their faces, it was an odd assortment of people to be sat together. Usually the Weasley siblings were a social bunch, sitting with each other's friends and chatting however they had never known Lee to sit with their younger siblings without them around. As they walked closer everything became clear, the group of Beauxbatons girls they had seen sitting with Hermione and Ginny earlier were sitting around the coffee table. It appeared that the Gryffindor students had taken Dumbledore’s message of interschool mingling to heart.

Perching on the back of one of the sofas, the twins looked around the mismatched group focusing on the faces of the three girls they didn’t recognise. They all appeared to be having a conversation with Cassie by only using their eyes and facial expressions. A red faced Cassie appeared to be shrinking back into the sofa, trying to disappear from sight. Noticing that the atmosphere had changed since the twins' arrival Hermione stood, “Fred, George, these are the Beauxbatons students staying in the girls dormitory, Cassie, Bonnie, Libby and Odette,” she introduced. 

“Girls, this is Fred and George, infamous Gryffindor pranksters,” Hermione said, not bothering to differentiate between the two, she wasn’t entirely sure which one was which herself. 

The  Beauxbatons girls were looking at the twins with looks of curiosity, knowing and disgust. None of them made any effort to introduce themselves or welcome the twins to the group. Ginny was wildly confused by the whole situation, having spent the entire day with the group of girls, she had thought they were bubbly, kind and sociable people, however right now they were being downright rude. Looking to Cassie to see if she could alleviate some of the tension that had settled upon the group, Ginny noticed her eyes were swimming with tears as she chewed on her bottom lip. Suddenly Cassie jumped up, “I completely forgot, I need to go and grab the Beauxbatons students schedules so I can hand them out on Monday, I’ll see you all later. Let me know who won mega snap,” she said quickly, throwing the group a fake smile as she rushed out the portrait hole and into the dark corridor.

Instantly Libby, Bonnie and Odette stood up ready to race after her, however Ginny placed a hand on Bonnie’s shoulder, “Let me go, I have a feeling I’m slightly out of the loop,” she said. 

Looking between her friends and sighing Bonnie nodded her head and encouraged her to go after Cassie, maybe Ginny could help provide some answers and explain the twins' behaviour.  

In the dark corridor Cassie was sat slumped against the wall berating herself for her stupid behaviour. She couldn’t cry and rush out of the room every time the twins made an appearance, it was their school and common room after all. Suddenly the portrait hole swung open again, expecting to see the comforting and sympathetic faces of her friends, she was slightly surprised to see the youngest Weasley walking towards her. 

“I was going to accuse you and your friends of being rude, but I can tell by the look on your face there must be more to the story,” Ginny said quietly, making herself comfortable on the floor beside Cassie. 

“You didn’t just drift apart when the twins started school did you? What happened Cass?” she questioned looking at the older girl.

“I’m being stupid,” Cassie sniffled, “They’re both well within their rights to decide they don’t want to be friends anymore, I just need to get over that.”

“Wow wow wow,” Ginny said, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion, “They told you they didn’t like you anymore?” She questioned.

“I lied Gin, when you asked about the twins, I didn’t know what to say so I just gave vague answers,” Cassie rambled. 

“Stop Cassie, you get word vomit when you’re nervous or upset. Calm down. What did you lie about?” Ginny asked gently.

“I haven’t spoken to the twins since the November of their first year,” Cassie whispered, her voice trembling. 

“What?!” squawked Ginny, turning to the girl in complete surprise. 

“I kept writing, remember we promised we’d write at least twice a week? Well it started out well, they’d fill me in on everything from their lessons and homework to the stupid pranks they were pulling that week. Their letters got fewer and fewer and by November they had completely stopped. I kept writing, until the June of their third year, but I just never got a reply. I  never expected to see them again. I was just going to try and forget about it and move on, but here we are,” she finished with a sigh. 

“I don’t understand,” Ginny said, “I know they used to write to you, that summer after their first year they wrote to you almost every day asking you to come and stay. Mum went ballistic at them because they were constantly hogging Errol,” Ginny said.

“I promise you, they were not sending those letters to me. They were probably keeping in touch with all of their new friends,” Cassie said somewhat bitterly.

“So every time I invited you over in the holidays and you said you had plans or you were studying, you were avoiding them?” questioned Ginny.

“Oh god, Ginny. I’m so sorry, you must think I’m awful. You have no idea how much I wanted to see you. I just couldn’t bare seeing them and things not being how they used to be. They were my best friends in the whole world,” Cassie cried.

“Don’t worry about my feelings you goblin, I thought I’d annoyed you,” Ginny laughed, “I was so nervous to see you, I didn’t know how you’d react or if you’d want to hang out with a younger student.”

“You were the reason I was so excited to come to Hogwarts,” laughed Cassie, “I was being serious when I introduced you to my friends, you’re the little sister I never had,” Cassie said, putting an arm around Ginny’s shoulder and pulling her into her side. 

“I think you should talk to the twins, I’m sure there is some sort of explanation or misunderstanding. It wouldn’t surprise me if Errol dropped all of their letters in the pond. That owl was on his last legs when I was born,” joked Ginny.

“I know and I will, I just need to prepare myself,” Cassie sighed.

“They were genuinely really excited when I told them you’d been chosen as one of the students to represent Beauxbatons,” she continued. 

“They’re reactions have been all over the place, who knows what they’re feeling,” Cassie grumbled.

“Okay, and you’ve made that situation so much better?” Ginny asked, puling away from Cassie’s embrace and looking at her with a scolding look on her face, her eyebrows raised. “Every time they have been in your vicinity you’ve avoided them, ignored them or shouted at them. I mean you just ran away from them! Maybe give them a chance?” Ginny pushed.

“Yes Mum,” Cassie shot back sassily.

“Don’t make me ground you Cassandra,” Ginny said, trying to keep the serious look on her face but failing miserably.

Laughing Ginny stood up and began to brush her clothes off, holding a hand out for Cassie she hauled her up off the floor and looped her arm through the older girls.

“Come on, let’s go back, I know you were having fun before. If you don’t want to talk to them tonight just sit next to me,” Ginny said, leading her back to the portrait hole and muttering the password to the Fat Lady.

As they walked over the group quietened down, the Beauxbatons girls threw Cassie a questioning yet comforting look whilst everyone else just looked slightly perplexed about Cassie’s sudden outburst. 

“What?” Cassie questioned, “worried that I’m going to thrash you again Lee?” she joked, trying to lighten the mood.

“You are so on Vaughn, just because you’re a guest doesn’t mean I’m going to go easy on you,” he sassed back, smiling widely.

“Oh that was you actually trying your hardest before?” she quickly retorted a matching smile on her lips. The rest of the group were laughing at their competitive bickering, enjoying the light mood that had returned. 

Cassie went and sat beside Ginny and Odette, trying to completely engross herself in the game and conversation happening around her. However no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t stop stealing glances at the ginger Weasley twins.