Chapter 7
The rest of her evening was pretty uneventful. She finally met her roommates while everyone was awake, and she told the same made up story. The girls were a little cold, but interested. Nothing she wasn’t used to already, to be honest. Even Imelda Reyes took almost 3 weeks to warm up to her, and boy oh boy, did she put her through the hoops to get there.
They each introduced themselves (and who their parents are, as if suddenly that was very important), and listened to her in turn. They didn’t seem like the usual sort she would hang out with, but time will tell. It was a little overwhelming, getting to know her roommates again after a year.
There was also the underlying pressure to be done with the day, so she could focus on other pressing issues. Mainly, as to her clothes and money. She will definitely go look at her old house in Hogsmeade in two days, during the weekend, but it would be nice if she could afford to buy at least one more uniform.
However, that left only one place where she should visit.
That night, after some of the girls went to sleep, it was time to visit Undercroft. Truth be told, she was afraid to go. The room of requirement she considered as hers, but would not care too much if she lost it forever. But Undercroft was so intricately entwined with memories of Sebastian and Ominis that entering it alone would be a little devastating all over again. At least, that is how Cassandra thought of it.
But, if it were Ominis disappearing or dying, she would probably try to honor him in some way in what became their room. And that was what she was afraid of. It was already a semi-monument to Sebastian, after his arrest.
It was a long way to the DADA classroom from the dungeons. The prefects were probably already patrolling the halls, so she decided for the longer, but safer route. Paintings paid her no mind either.
She stood in the hallway for a small moment. There used to be a skeleton of some magical beast, and apparently they never replaced it with anything else. The hall seemed very empty without it. She looked towards the hidden nook under the stairs where she knew was the entrance.
It was just a few steps, and she would possibly get some answers. She hugged herself, feeling the goosebumps on her forearms.
Suddenly, the feeling of unease she had somewhat shifted. It was difficult to pinpoint what it was, but it was different. She took a quick look around. She was still alone, no prefect or professor in sight. Not even any ghost. She looked at the corners, at the stairs, even up on the ceiling, but there was nothing.
What was it then?
She took out her wand and cast her favorite spell, Revelio. And she was correct, she heard a little ding in her mind, pointing somewhere to the staircase on her right.
Disillusionment does not make you invisible, just very difficult to spot. Looking in the direction, she couldn’t see any lines or slight blur that accompanied the spell.
“I know you’re there,” she said lightly, “you might as well save us the dignity and reveal yourself.”
Silence.
Then, “No, you don’t.” followed by a scuffle, and a muffled shut up approximately from the direction she was looking at. Score. Cassandra giggled at that, looking towards the sound. “Yes I do. C’mon, let’s just talk.”
After a slight hesitation, out of nowhere two boys appeared out of thin air. A tall scrawny boy with glasses and messy black hair, currently folding a cloak (like the one from the trial?), but it was the second boy that gave her a pause. For a second she thought it was Regulus, but the more she looked, the more differences she saw. This guy had a little more color in his face, longer hair that fell out of a bun, and most importantly, a gryffindor tie. But he did have the same cheekbones, and piercing eyes.
He must have noted her confusion, but said nothing yet. The other one stepped forward, “So, what are you up to, sneaking around in the middle of the night, new student?”
“What are you up to, sneaking around invisible, in the middle of the night?... uhm, long-time students?” she added jokingly.
“We asked you first.”
“Well, I would say you are behaving more suspicious than me, which means you should answer first.”
“Nuh-uh, we have been students here for longer.”
“Yuh-uh, I am a lady, and you are being awfully rude.”
“Don’t bring your gender into this.”
“Age is equally unfair to bring up!”
Cassandra and the boy with glasses grinned at each other, enjoying the banter.
“Look, I grew up in an orphanage, I could do this all night long. We don’t want that, do we?”
“Fine. Let's talk somewhere else, we are too conspicuous out here.” said the ‘older Regulus’, annoyed.
Silently agreeing, they all moved to the DADA classroom.
Cassandra jumped up and sat on the desk to the front of the classroom, the bespectacled boy mirroring her. The other gryffindor completed their little triangle, taking a chair and sprawled on it, arms crossed.
There was a moment of silence, just the three of them looking at each other, waiting for the other to start.
There were admittedly better ways to spend her night than in a stare contest, so she backed down. “My name is Cassandra Drake, the new student.”
A victorious smirk passed on his face for a second, before he replied, “Well it is a pleasure to meet a fellow rebel, sneaking in the middle of the night. Already breaking the rules, in your first week? I can respect that. I am James Potter, and this is Sirius Black.”
The Black boy kicked James in the shin, “Stop being so chummy with her. She has been hanging around Reggie, so she is probably sneaking around for some devious reason.”
Devious?
“Well, that is just rude to assume. Your brother has been nothing but nice to me.”
“Regulus and nice, in one sentence? Sure.” he scoffed.
“Now now, Sirius. We said we would go in with an open mind, didn’t we?”
“So, you were following me then?” she asked, tilting her head in confusion. How would she even get in their sights?
“That sounds worse than it is. We were simply subtly making sure you didn't get into any trouble. Obviously.”
“From the goodness of your hearts, undoubtedly.”
“Most definitely!”
“In all fairness, it feels like this conversation is leading me to trouble.”
Sirius scoffed again. “Keeping your daily company will do that just fine.”
Cassandra frowned. This was getting ridiculous. These two were playing good auror, bad auror, and the act was getting tiresome.
“Alright, what is your problem with your brother?”
“You genuinely have no idea? The topic of our family and their views never came up? Or do you agree with them, is that it?” Sirius stood up, fists clenched.
Cassandra turned to face him, head held high, and looked him in the eyes when she said “No, that hasn't come up. What views?” She didn't want to ask about their family, that seemed wrong to hear from someone other than her new friend.
“They are supporters of Voldemort.” he said, spitting out the name, expectantly looking at her, as if that was supposed to be impactful.
“And who is Voldemort, if I may ask?”
James jumped in, eyebrows rising above the rim of his glasses, “You don’t know about Voldemort?” The boys exchanged disbelieving looks.
Ah, apparently she was supposed to know. Shit.
“Well, my grandma didn't like owls, so we never got any post. She was very traditional. Evan joked that I must have been living under a rock, I am missing a lot of current events and stuff.” she tried, quickly thinking back to her official story.
From their looks, they didn't exactly buy it, but let it slide for now.
“SO! Voldemort? Will you educate me?” she nervously exclaimed, hoping to get them back on the topic.
Sirius was frowning, and looking to the side. James took over, and started talking.
“He is a dark wizard. He has been gathering followers, but only now people started taking him seriously. There have been… attacks.”
Her heart jumped to her throat.
“Stop sugarcoating it, say it how it is. He is a supremacist, he and his followers think wizards should be pureblooded only, and he wants to get rid of all muggle borns and half bloods, and probably take it even further and enslave the muggles. They call themselves Death Eaters. Pretentious, if you ask me.”
You could hear the disgust in Sirius´s voice.
“Not all Slytherins want to actively join him though.” interjected James.
“Sure, but they don't disagree with him either, do they?”
James stayed silent at that.
“Black family is one of the Sacred 28, they keep talking about him as if he shits rainbows. They keep hinting if I join, they will forgive me for being who I am, that I can still save my reputation. As if. Perfect little Regulus will do it, because Merlin forbid he has an original thought different from our mother. Rosier and his family are the same. Crouch, in a way, is even worse. His father is a respected ministry officer, and Crouch junior would do anything to upset him, even joining this stupid cult.”
Sirius was visibly upset, spitting words filled with venom. Cassandra´s heart meanwhile was racing, and she had trouble hearing Sirius, because she felt her heartbeat was so loud in this empty classroom.
He turned to look at her again. “So tell me, Miss Lived-under-the-rock. Do you agree with them? Are you just like them?” his black eyes pierced through her.
The weight of the two pairs of eyes on her was overwhelming. Her hands fell to the desk she was leaning on, and clutched the edge - without its support, her knees would probably have given up. Gods, why? Was it really true? She sacrificed her life fighting dark wizards and dark goblins, just to unknowingly fall into the clutches of another like them? If that were true, gods, her mind started jumping onto every little thing she told Regulus. He knew everything, she thought she could trust him.
He was so nice to her, so understanding. She cried to him about Sebastian and how he was seduced by dark magic, did he not think it important to mention something then?!
“I didn't know.” she eventually let out, in a broken whisper. A sob was threatening to break through, so she quickly put hand on her mouth and turned her back to them. She didn't have the strength to leave the conversation, but she didn't want them to watch her at this moment.
It was her fault, in the end. She was the one who decided to pour her soul out to the first person who treated her kindly.
Meanwhile, the two boys looked silently at each other, and back at her. The fight and anger left Sirius, because he genuinely didn't expect such a drastic reaction from the girl. He hoped she would agree or defend his brother, so he would be justified in being mean to the new slytherin, but… There she was, suppressing sobs and trembling in front of him.
What a gentleman he was, Merlin´s balls. He raised his voice at a girl. James gave him a look, silently telling him You did this, you deal with this. Right. No support from there.
He cleared his throat and took a step towards her. She was hunched over a desk, one hand supporting her weight, the other on her face still.
Deciding not to touch her, he just stepped closer to her, in her field of vision. “Look, Drake. I didn’t mean to yell at you, or accuse you of anything. It's just a sensitive topic to me. I guess I didn’t believe you didn't know anything about it.”
After a pointed cough from James, he added. “What I mean to say, I am sorry.”
He didn't have to look to know James was smirking at him now.
Cassandra did her best to collect herself. The apology went right over her head, she honestly didn’t care about that.
“It’s fine. Now that I know. Thank you for telling me.
Regulus sure as hell didn’t say anything, nor the rest of his friends. Not even the professors or Dumbledore thought to mention it. So yes, thank you.” she got out, trying to sound less bitter, and failing at that.
“I have to go. Good night.” she decided, and turned away from Sirius. She nodded at them, not meeting their eyes, and then cast Disillusionment on herself. The two boys stayed in the classroom for a little longer, talking in whispers about what just happened.
She didn't have to hide the grimace that was trying to break on her face under the spell, just had to focus on silently putting one foot in front of the other. Eventually she got to the Common room, dropping the charm. Barty was sleeping on the couch, a book open on his chest, and Regulus and Evan sitting next to him, playing chess. They noticed her enter, and waved her over. She did her best to keep her face neutral, but couldn't quite meet their eyes. Without saying anything, she went straight to bed.
So much for her plan to go to Undercroft. What was with her luck regarding dark wizards?