musical mood: butterfly - f(x)

As Cass got acclimated with her new life at Hogwarts, September bled into October. The tree leaves began to turn into vibrant shades of orange, the days were shorter, and the temperature grew chillier. While she got copious amounts of homework, she found she enjoyed her classes at Hogwarts far more than the ones at her muggle primary school.

Potions remained her best subject, to the annoyance of one Draco Malfoy, who wanted nothing more than Snape's undying approval.

To her greatest surprise, though, Cass found that she actually enjoyed socialising with the other Ravenclaw girls. While she didn't consider them to be friends yet, all of them remained a source of entertainment for her. Naia and Bethany's contrasting personalities made for fun conversations to listen to, and learning about Ana's life in Minsk was always fascinating. Padma on the other hand, was a tad creepy with her predictions, but she still made for good company. Even the two Gryffindors who would often spend time with their group, Parvati and Lavender, weren't too bad.

On the afternoon of Halloween, a day where classes were cut, the girls were sitting at their usual spot on the Ravenclaw table for a late lunch, this time accompanied by a few boys. There was Terry Boot, a muggleborn who wouldn't shut up about Quidditch, and Anthony Goldstein, who didn't talk at all, but would shamelessly stare at you for what felt like hours, without ever blinking.

The Nott brothers also joined them; apparently Theodore preferred the company of Ravenclaws to his Slytherin classmates. Cass didn't blame him. She'd go crazy if she had to spend every waking moment with Malfoy.

Terry was in the middle of a long, winded story about some Quidditch match he read about in an old Daily Prophet article, when the sound of dozens of screeching owls cut him off.

Ana jumped in her seat, to which Padma placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"There are birds! Why are there birds?"

"It's just the mail." Bethany said dully, poking at her meal with a fork.

Several owls flew down to the Ravenclaw table, which Cass paid no mind to, until one swooped down in front of her, holding a letter in its beak. Cassiopeia was written in long, swirly handwriting across the envelope.

Her heart jumped. Was it from Connor? She had written to him twice - sending the letters to her father to have him deliver across the street - but Connor had never wrote back.

Tearing open the envelope, she frowned as she read the opening. Connor certainly did not write this.

My dearest Cassiopeia,

"Who's that from?" Lavender peered over her shoulder.

"My father." Cass responded with a quiver in her voice, blinking in disbelief. It had been almost two months since she had been at Hogwarts, and he hadn't written to her, nor had she expected him to. So why now? Was something wrong?

"What does it say?"

"Don't be nosy, Lav." Parvati swatted her arm playfully, though Lavender's smile dimmed.

Cass ignored the two as she scanned the letter, heart race speeding up.

My dearest Cassiopeia,

I'm so very sorry I wasn't able to see you off when you left in September, and that I haven't written until now. I've been unfortunately tied up with other matters.

I heard you got sorted into Ravenclaw. Congratulations, you're truly growing up to be just like me. How is Hogwarts for you so far? I hope you are focusing on your studies. Are you making friends? Any boys I need to worry about? You know I'll deal with any boy that comes near you.

Kidding.

Everything is well back at home, though quieter without you. Substantially more boring. Winky says so too, she's constantly talking about her Mistress Cassiopeia. Between you and me, I think you're her favourite.

Come back soon so we can have some fun! I miss you so much. I hope you return home for the Christmas holidays, and we can be a proper family.

Love,

B. Crouch

Cass reread the letter three times over before it fully sunk in. Her father wrote her a bloody letter, he missed her? How was she supposed to react to this? Part of her wanted to jump for joy, while a different part felt like something was off about the letter, though she couldn't figure out exactly why.

"You good, Crouch?" Terry Boot eyed her with concern.

Cass folded the letter shut, tucking it into the pocket of her skirt as she stood up from the table and grabbed her bag. "Yes, I'm alright. Just going to go respond to this."

She felt the gazes of her classmates on her as she swiftly exited the Great Hall, making a beeline for the library. Passing Madam Pince, she made her way to her usual spot - one she had discovered within the first week of being at Hogwarts. Near the back entrance of the massive room, behind a tapestry of a leprechaun, there was a small alcove, just big enough for one or two people to do schoolwork without being disturbed.

Cass placed her bag at her side against the wall, digging into it and pulling out a quill and some spare parchment. Placing the paper against one of her textbooks for a hard surface to write on, she stared at it, urging for the right words to come to her.

She needed to respond, she couldn't not respond. Not when she finally, finally got her fathers attention. But suddenly, English felt like a foreign language to her, with only the simplest of phrases coming to her. Her mind went completely blank; no words seemed adequate enough to send back to Bartemius.

Not only that, but she still couldn't shake the feeling that something about her father's note was dodgy, though she couldn't figure out what exactly was causing the feeling.

Minutes upon minutes went by, before Cass grew so frustrated she crumpled up the parchment and threw it at the back of the tapestry.

"Bloody hell." She banged her head against the wall behind her, suddenly feeling close to tears, everything from the past two months rushing back to her.

Why hadn't Connor written her back? He was supposed to be her best friend. Had he forgotten about Cass already? Had she assumed they were closer than they really were? Maybe he never actually liked her in the first place, and just pitied her. Maybe he was happy she was gone.

Why had her father written to her, without being prompted? And why, when she finally got an ounce of his interest, did she have to become such a blazing dimwit? She was a Ravenclaw, she was supposed to be smart. Articulate. Able to form an eloquent sentence, to impress the man she always felt rejected by.

Why wasn't she enough?

Cass never did rejoin her classmates for their day off - instead she spent the next few hours in her hidden alcove, reading a book. There was apparently a feast that night, full of magical sweets, but she didn't fancy going. Secluding herself for the night with a book to take her mind off of everything was the best solution for her, and after several hours, she had almost entirely forgotten about the anxieties of the day.

That was, until, the tapestry she was behind was suddenly ripped open, and two boys hastily clambered inside.

"What are you-"

It was so fast and sudden, Cass hardly had time to react as she stood up, when one of the boys frantically put a hand over her gaping mouth, shushing her. With the three of them inside the small alcove, they were shoulder to shoulder, with Cass pressed up against the wall by the one holding onto her. The other was peeking out of the tapestry, breathing heavily.

Oh Merlin, I'm about to be murdered.

Too shocked to react, she realised the boys were the ones from the first day of class - the twins who had pranked her with the water bucket. Fred and George. Of course it was them. This was another prank, wasn't it?

No, she was not about to deal with them again, not after the day she just had.

Cass bit down on the boy's hand.

"Bloody-!" The twin called out, yanking his hand away, but cut himself off as the other one swatted him.

"George! Be quiet!" The other one, Fred, apparently, hissed at his brother, pure panic in his brown eyes as he looked back at the two.

Okay, maybe this wasn't a prank.

Or they were just really good actors.

"What's going on?!" Cass demanded, to which George shushed her again, still cradling his hand.

"There's a troll in the hallway." He said under his breath, deadly serious.

She blinked. "...What?"

"There's a troll in the hallway." George repeated, a tremble in his voice.

Fred quickly shut the tapestry. "Oh Merlin, it's come into the library."

"What?!" Cass shoved back against George, who still had her pressed against the stone wall, and peered through the small gap in the tapestry. Surely they were joking, surely this was some stupid prank to scare her, because out of the hundreds of students in Hogwarts they always had to single her out-

"Holy shit."

Sure enough, close to the entrance, a troll was lingering there, clear as day. It had its back turned towards them, wandering around aimlessly, knocking over bookshelves in its path.

But that wasn't the only being in the library.

"Hey! No, no, not that way! For Merlin's sake, you stupid troll, over here!" A voice called out from somewhere in the shelves. Though they couldn't see who it was, the voice was unmistakable.

It was Professor Quirrell.

Cass, Fred and George looked between each other, not believing what they were hearing, but none of them dared to speak.

Minutes went by of pure silence from the three, while the professor haggled the troll, trying to guide it back into the hallway, and endless questions swarmed through Cass' mind.

Of course, the top one was, how the hell did a troll get into the castle? There was no bloody way a troll could accidentally wander into Hogwarts castle, and make its way to the library. Did Quirrell let it in? Why would he let a troll in?

Second, where the hell was Quirrell's stutter?

It felt like an hour went by before Quirrell managed to lure the troll out of the library, and far enough away that Cass and the twins felt safe enough to exit the enclosed space. Cass hadn't realised just how tight together they were until they stepped into the library, and George let go of her shoulder. Had he been holding onto her that entire time?

"Well, that was fun." Fred flashed a nervous grin, peaking around the bookshelves.

"Fun?" Cass whisper shouted, not wanting to take any chances. "We were nearly mauled to death by a troll!"

"Actually," George cut in, motioning towards the Leprechaun tapestry. "you were fine. You were behind this wall carpet the entire time. Freddie and I, on the other hand, were literally face to face with it for a moment." He frowned. "Or...more like face to belly button."

Cass scoffed. "At least you knew what was going on! I was just minding my own business when you lot popped in out of nowhere, and tried to suffocate me!"

"I was making sure you wouldn't scream!" George rubbed his hand. "Thanks for the bite, by the way. You're lucky I don't have AIDS."

"You're lucky I didn't do worse, considering that stunt you pulled on the first day."

"What?"

"The water! You poured water all over me! Cedric had to chase you off!"

"That was you?" George let out a laugh. "Merlin, Diggory was pissed off after that. He scolded us for a week straight, isn't that right Freddie?"

Fred didn't respond - he had already begun to walk away and was out of earshot. Apparently Cass and George didn't feel as brave, to venture out where the troll might soon return, and remained in the same spot to banter instead.

"Why were you in the library anyways? Shouldn't you be at the feast?"

"Shouldn't you?" George raised his eyebrows.

"I was reading, until you interrupted. Something I doubt you two would know anything about."

"How were we supposed to know a random girl would be behind there? We've been using that spot for years as a hideaway. Usually when avoiding Filtch. Anyways, we were getting stuff ready for a prank near the dungeons, you know, for the Slytherins, when a bloody troll wandered in! Obviously we ran off, and this was the first hiding spot we could think of."

"Fair enough." Cass sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Merlin, what a day this has been."

"Been a wringer?"

She laughed softly. "You could say that."

"Care to share?" George nudged her playfully.

"I'm not going to share my problems with a stranger." She stiffened, suddenly remembering who she was talking to. "Especially not one who pulls pranks on random students on their first bloody day."

"Sharing is caring."

"I don't care. Nor should you, given that we don't actually know each other."

"Yes we do!" George looked genuinely appalled by her statement. "I just saved your life not even an hour ago! Granted, the troll probably never would've come to the library had we not ran there, but even so..."

Cass let out a small laugh, and quickly covered it up with a cough.

"Well...I'm George Weasley." George broke the silence, when Cass didn't say anything.

"Okay?"

"So, now I'm not a stranger." He grinned, as if he had just come up with the most clever solution in the world.

Screw this. Cass inhaled sharply, and without further thought, began walking towards the library exit. She'd fight the damn troll if she had to. Better than dealing with George Weasley trying to play shrink with her.

He followed her, sticking right at her side, even as she broke into a speed walk.

"Do you have a name?"

"I do."

"Can I know it?"

She stopped, as they turned the corner into a hallway. "If I tell you, will you go away?"

"I promise nothing." He winked at her, and she fought the urge to smack him.

Deep breaths. She told herself, though it didn't help very much. You're just having a shitty day. No need to get violent.

"It's Cass." She told him after a long pause.

"Cass." George repeated, smirking. "Kind of sounds like ass."

She whipped around and began walking away again.

"Hey, no, wait up!" He ran to her side again. "What's it short for? Cassandra?"

"Cassiopeia." She had no energy left in her for resistance.

"Cass...o...ee..pee...pee." George attempted to repeat it, and Cass couldn't tell if he was joking or not with how badly he messed up the pronunciation. "Can I call you Cassie? I like that better than Cass-ee-whatsit."

"No."

"Please?"

Oh for Merlin's sake.

"Fine, whatever. Call me whatever you'd like. I don't care." She threw her arms in the air, completely exasperated.

It wouldn't matter in the long run, after all. It wasn't like she would actually have to deal with the nuisance that was George Weasley again.

Right?