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CASSIA CAN RECALL THERE BEING — once upon a time — a prince. In the stories she had heard, this prince loved to look at the stars and could spend hours at a time in the dead of night scrutinising the smallest of celestial arrangements sprawled on his back in the grass with his hands behind his head. This prince had an excellent hand-eye coordination and could beat the finest of competitors in a round of darts, and he was clever, quick and witty when it came to doing business. That prince would one day become one of the finest and most daring auctioneers to exist. That prince would one day inherit the estate of Greengrass and become a King, and he would meet a fiery, wild-spirited half-Bulgarian Ravenclaw that he would make his Queen. The now King would eventually have children — twin girls born seven minutes apart — and their younger sister a year later. The King and the Queen would give their children everything they could, for they were the sun, the moon, the sky and everything in their eyes. These girls would go on to become princesses and would live in the best kingdom possible. A kingdom where everyone is treated equally. One where everyone plays their part to a better society. One where everyone is loved. The King swore that within his kingdom, two things would exist — love and equity.

     The story takes a dark turn. The king was under threat. A threat he brought onto himself.  Willing to do anything to save his queen and his princesses, the king pledges his allegiance to the people he knew would spare to mercy to his queen and his princesses. The people that could bring about the destruction of his kingdom. But he joins them anyways. The king may have been threatened — he may have been in too deep — but he would sacrifice himself before he allowed the ivy branches of this menace grow and entwine around the arms and legs of his family, suffocating and dragging them into something far too dark for the light that his queen and his princesses could radiate. So he does sacrifice himself, and he does take the step that would ensure their safety. He does take the cowardly step — he doesn't find another way — but in a moment of panic, the king did only what he could. And save the lives of those he loves the most, that, he could.

     The king thinks it'll be okay. The king thinks that as long as he is able to keep this secret from his queen and his princesses, that the kingdom will remain intact. The kingdom wouldn't lead to destruction. Destruction of a kingdom is the last thing any king could want, especially when this one relies on the safety of his dearly beloved. So he tries his best. He knows there's people out there who aren't trustworthy. People like Lucius Malfoy, people like Theodore Nott Senior, who would love to expose the truth to the king's family. They would love to see the destruction of the kingdom the world sees as perfect, untouchable. But they don't know the lengths this king would go for his queen and the lengths he would go to protect his princesses.

The King is Phoenix Greengrass, and he would gladly give up his crown for those he loves most.

     And now, it seemed, that the kingdom crumbled.

     It was the same day. Same hour. Same people. Cassia, Daphne and Malfoy, in the same place of scattered boys dormitory. Cassia was still wearing the same jumper, blouse and jeans, and her hair was still braided at the front. It was all still the same.

     Except with those five words, nothing was.

     Your father's a Death Eater.

     Cassia's head was a swirling pool of everything but the father she knew and loves. It was ironic. It was fucking ironic. The Greengrass clan stood for everything peaceful and equal, yet the Death Eater movement was anything but that. It's ironic because that's what Phoenix taught them. To be accepting, to not cause harm, to play a decent role in society. And here he was, a freakin' Death Eater. It was so ironic, one would say it didn't make sense. That for such a man to pledge his allegiance to such a cause seemed as unlikely as the sky splitting open. So why should it be the truth? For all they knew, Draco Malfoy could have been just as capable of speaking lies than he was causing torment. Why should this be true?

Why should it be true? Perhaps because as unlikely as it seemed, it was the likeliest of explications. Likely because Cassia had never seen her father be close to cowering in front of Theodore Nott Senior. The reason Phoenix was so absent over the summer. The reason Phoenix was so sceptical about Cassia and her friendship with Harry Potter. The reason Nott asked to see Phoenix in his study on Christmas...

     (Marlowe didn't seem to be aware of this, whatever it was, Cassia was thinking...)

     So, yes. This whole thing, as horrendous, as soul-destroying, as unbearable as it was to admit... there was no other explanation for Phoenix's behaviour. And Cassia couldn't bear to accept it.

     "You're lying."

A slash is seen as Draco's head snaps up to meet the eyes of Cassia, a regretful glaze engulfing the hurricanes of grey that were his eyes. That regret turned to irritation.

"I'm not lying," Malfoy retaliates firmly.

The tempo that resides within Cassia's ribcage increased significantly, a harsh lump materialising within her throat. Ignoring whatever existential glance Malfoy was giving them, Cassia slowly tilts her head towards Daphne. She was in abhorrent disbelief. Her lips parted and jutted out, allowing for the most minuscule, discomforted breaths to be brought in, and brought out. Her fists were ravelled at her sides and she was looking at the Malfoy boy in complete dubiety.

"No," says Daphne, definitively. "I don't believe you."

Malfoy's jaw twitches. Sure, he knows he's not lying even if they do, and that does frustrate him a bit. But he understands why they're having a difficult time to grasp this concept. To most Wizarding Pureblood families, the Greengrass family were angelic. Joining forces with the Dark side would be considered the most unlikely of prospects. But Phoenix made a deal with the devil. And Malfoy knows that the twins being in denial is the worst possible thing, when he just wants to help them. Without a catch, or reward. There's rare times like this when Malfoy does think of others in the world but himself. Times like this when he decides to not benefit himself, but to help others.

"It's the truth," says Malfoy with a sigh. "I wish it wasn't."

Cassia's eyes flicker to his. "And what do you mean by that?"

"Because your family deserves better than that." Draco tells them. "It's always been in my family. There's nothing I can do about that. But it's never been in your family. I don't... I don't know why your father has joined them. I don't know why he'd even think about it. And... I guess I wouldn't want your family to be involved in it, either. I may not show it, but there is a part of me that actually does care for you all."

     Cassia couldn't bear it. She couldn't bear the fact that her father is now a Death Eater. She couldn't bear seeing the look on Daphne's face, the regret on Malfoy's. She couldn't bear this anger that she felt, this raging pit that just wanted her to know why. It was just unbearable. And she couldn't understand why her father would ever do it.

     She finds Daphne's hand amidst the other girl's frozen-in-place, shellshocked stance, and turns away. Cassia doesn't even think she can meet Malfoy's eyes. What is she supposed to say to him? "Thanks for telling me my father's a Death Eater?" So she bids him a quiet goodbye and begins to guide herself and Daphne outside.

     "Hey," Malfoy says from behind, before the door is able to close. They turn and see his stare again. Grey, an endless black-hole, but not condescending this time. Not devoid of emotion. Something else entirely, and it was something rare. Malfoy sighs. "I didn't tell you in order to hurt you. I just wanted you to know so you could protect yourselves. Honest."

     With a small nod, Cassia closes the door of Malfoy's dormitory behind her and she and Daphne retreat silently to Cassia's room, where she knew it would be empty and her roommates would be off elsewhere.

The only thing that sounded within the subterranean dormitory were the fast-pace, lightly-pattering footsteps of Daphne as she repeatedly paced up and down the room, her arms folded together, her head a rippling pool of doubts, disheartenment and questions. Cassia, meanwhile, was burrowed on her bed, her legs folded in a basket and staring down at her hands in her lap. The silence in the room did not account for the clamorous hypotheses whirring and materialising within their minds. Each so different from the other mind, yet so similar, all centric on the one fact: they now knew Phoenix Greengrass was a Death Eater.

"How?" Daphne eventually releases to no one in particular despite her twin being seated closely, as she continues to march the length of the room repeatedly. "How could this be? Could it be? What if Malfoy was lying?"

But Cassia shakes her head, even if the question wasn't directed at her with Daphne's tone being hazily non-stop. "Malfoy... He doesn't lie. And I know you also noticed how weird father acted over the past few months. I despise myself for admitting this, and hate that I didn't see it coming. I hate it all. But... Malfoy... he must be right." She looks down. "But I don't want him to be."

Daphne looks to Cassia for a moment, opens her mouth to speak, then clamps it shut again and sighs.

"He looked frightened," says Cassia, "Like, genuinely frightened. And I think that was one of the worst parts of it all."

"I'm frightened," Daphne mumbles, stopping to lean her head against the tall frame of the bedpost. "The one time Malfoy decides to be remotely decent, and it's this..." She takes a long, demoralised sigh. "Why? Why would Father do such a thing? Why would he become this... terrorist when all his life he sought to warn us against them? They're the very thing he believes — believed — against. And now..."

"Do you think Mother knows?"

"Maybe..." Daphne bites her lip, a hand going to rummage tiredly over her face. She drops her hands limply. "I can't believe this."

     "It goes against everything Father's ever taught us... what are we supposed to do?"

     Daphne raises the back of her thumb to her mouth and gnaws absently on the shell of her nail. "We... we can't. We can't exactly do much. Nobody really stands up against Death Eaters."

     Swaying, pearlescent blue eyes of Cassia's bore into Daphne's, almost twinkling with melancholy. "But he's our father."

     Pressing her lips together, Daphne is rooted for a minute. And then she sighs, exasperation trouncing over her lightly tinged cheeks. "I know. You're right. He'd never... he'd never hurt us." She looks down, connecting her hands and flicking her nails beneath and over one another. "Not intentionally, at least."

"Oh, Daph..." Cassia says, sighing. "This is all so... messed up. We should tell Tori. She... shouldn't be left not in the know of things. We know, so it's only fair."

"Yeah, okay," Daphne nods. They know if anything, young Astoria Greengrass would be just as shocked as them at this news. It truly was nothing anyone could see coming for a Greengrass. "Will you tell Theodore?"

Cassia folds her lips into a thin line. It would make sense... He has a Death Eater father, he'd be able to sympathise... But then, the more people that knew would end up churning the risk factor... "Maybe."

     With a slow incline of the head, Daphne releases a hoarse, shaky breath, planting a foot to help kick off the bedpost she learned against. "I should go," she says, "Me and Pansy were gonna go to Scrivenshaft's in Hogsmeade."

     Usually, Cassia would use this as a chance to hint at whatever was going on between her sister and her best friend but in this scenario, she only agrees with a faint press of the lips. "It's okay. I'll see you after."

     A sigh escapes from Daphne's as she gives her sister a feeble smile, her lips barely passing a curve. The door soon closed behind Daphne Greengrass, leaving only Cassia to sit in contemplation for an indistinct moment, before realising that it just wasn't any good. Her father was a Death Eater. She knew, Daphne knew, Malfoy and his family knew. She wasn't even entirely positive her mother knew. But the worst thing was that they could do absolutely nothing about it. Becoming a Death Eater is a Devil's bargain. Whatever you start, you cannot back out of. No one ever just stops being a Death Eater. Becoming a Death Eater has its price; but willing to leave is an even bigger overhead. And it's one that a couple of doddering teenagers would never be able to get their father out of.

     And, well, it stung. Not exactly the exact magnitude of a typical bee sting, rather, it was a restrictive, stifling feeling. Her heart almost falters at the thought that Phoenix was on the "wrong side" of history, as he once called it. Once. Before he was found as this Death Eater. Lumps form in her throat, only but enhancing that asphyxiation so imminent within her. And she's just so conflicted, and frustrated, and infuriated. By more things than one, it supposes.

     (If only she had any idea of the true reason for Phoenix's "Deal with the Devil".)

     With that, she chooses to head down to the common room. Pretend like most of it is fine, when it isn't. She isn't sure where Theo, or Maryam, or Eva are, but she remembers that she left some of her "research" and that it probably wouldn't do very well if someone would find her supposed interest in a mass murderer. That is, because she decided to delve further into the history of Midlothian Manson — the psychotic killer who died the night of the quidditch World Cup. Alongside her typical sessions dedicated to Enoch Abercrombie—Eva still hadn't found out, thank god—she had paid a bit more attention to this man alongside it. His case interested her as much as it did disturb her. No man ever just dies in Azkaban without a soul present. And she's not sure why it was Enoch who raised the matter, but something, a deep, forbearing notion within her, growing more and more frustrated as the year progressed on, told her that there did seem to be a link between the supposed case of Enoch Abercrombie and the death of Midlothian Manson.

     The common room's atmosphere was fairly bumbling — it was a Saturday and everyone took this as their time to rest and recuperate with gratitude. Students loitered in various corners, by various bookshelves and chairs, playing chess of continuing any homework and coursework. Humble, quaint chatter occupied the room with emerald, translucent light spilling in through the emerald windows, a continuous stream of mermaids zooming past. Cassia's eyes train in on the table in the far corner of the room, the opposite end from any wickers emanating off of the burning fire. By now, this table had become the usual place of study for her and her friends if the library was out of the equation, although sometimes some of the younger years had gotten to it before them. They would shun the first years away, though. They weren't the ones sitting really important exams this year.

Compared to the panic she felt at the news Draco Malfoy had shortly before released to them, the view of an empty wooden table barren of what she'd worked on no longer resting upon it, she wasn't as worried. There were bigger things at hand. Like — Death Eater father. A piece of lost parchment wasn't too big in comparison. But even as she scavenged for any sign that her eyes had been tricking her, she gave up searching the table. It was as empty as it was rooted to the ground. She releases a sigh, rubbing a closed eye with the back of her thumb. This news truly was the worst. And she just didn't know what to do about it.

"Looking for this?"

     A face which, in many cases, was able to bring the brightest and most contented of beams onto Cassia, only made a meagre smile press against her lips this time. Theodore Nott stood there at the edge of the table, grinning pleasantly with a piece of parchment in hand, scrawled over neatly with that scripture of Cassia's. He passes it to her over the table.

     "I found it lying on the table earlier and remembered you were working on it last night," he says. "Figured it would be best if I picked it up or else the house elves would have thrown it away, or someone else could have found it."

     "Thank you," Cassia tells him with a nod, her eyes scanning absently over the parchment though taking no words in at all.

     Recognition flashed in Theo's eyes, and a frown replaced his previous smile. Cassia seemed down, for some reason.

"What's up?" Theo asks his best friend.

"I—er, not much," she answers, scratching her ear, toying with her earring.

Theo doesn't believe her. "You have your date with Potter soon, don't you?"

A look of thundering realisation flashes in Cassia's face, her eyes widening and her mouth gaping. "Shit, you're right. I do."

While Theo would usually use her forgetfulness as a means of hilarity and amusement, in this case, it only caused the frown to deepen. "Something is wrong."

A couple of hesitant moments pass, and Cassia lifts a hand to the bottom of her throat, massaging her neck in v-like shapes. She has a hard time in meeting Theo's gaze, which only causes him to grow more concerned. He places a hand on her shoulder while her head is faced to the ground, and she eventually connects eyes with him.

"Yeah," she says, "Something is wrong."

Theo tilts his head with concern. "What is it?"

Cassia inhales deeply from her nose before letting her eyes dart around the somewhat busy common room. "Not here." She leads him to a less occupied spot in the corner of the room, and cooly leans her back against the wall, her eyes closed in preparation. She'd only just found out this news and wasn't sure how to break it to anyone. But Theo was her best friend. If anyone would understand, it would be him. If anyone could comfort her, it would be him. He's her best friend.

     "I was just up in your dorm," she tells him.

     His face scrunches up in confusion. "Oh?"

     "Before you ask... Malfoy called me up."

     "He did...?"

     "Yeah." says Cassia.

     "What did he want?" Theo asks her.

     Cassia takes a deep breath. "He had to tell me and Daphne something important. Stuff that happened over the summer. It's all messed up, it's just—" She stops herself, looking to Theo who watched with anticipation for this news. She sighs, a defeated, exhausted, despondent breath of air in its place. And she says, "He told me my father's a Death Eater."

     For Cassia, it had been hard — though liberating — to tell someone the news. Especially her best friend. But it was better. As if an eighty tonne boulder had been mounted off of her chest. But what felt like someone gripping their fingers with ruthless squeezes around her very heart was seeing Theo, standing there, not looking fazed at all. He stood there, arms folded, his eyes trained down onto his trainers. No hint of surprise, or shock. Almost as if he... as if he already knew.

Cassia's head inclines, a quiet realisation overcoming her, an eyebrow raising ever so slightly. "You knew." She says quietly.

Theo looks up remorsefully, and it's the only confirmation Cassia requires before a quiet scoff escapes her, completely misrepresented of the quakes her heart had been enduring since.

"You knew," repeats Cassia.

He holds a hand out, "Cass—"

"You knew, yet you didn't tell me, you bloody knew—"

"Yes, I knew!" Theo says, punctuating with an emphatic sigh. "I knew about your father."

Cassia steps back, palms reaching to her forehead, her heart rate rapidly increasing. "Oh my god."

Theo knew. Theo knew this whole time. Theo knew the news that her father's a Death Eater — yet he didn't tell her. He didn't tell her. He kept this from her. Something so big. So important. Something she would rather hear from her best friend rather than his rude roommate. How did he even find out? That was beside the point. She trusts him. Trusts him so much. And he does this? It seems as though Cassia's day hasn't taken a turn for the better. It was a downhill slope, descending deep and deeper into the pits of destruction. First Phoenix — now Theo.

"Cass—" Theo holds a hand out, but Cassia dismisses it.

"No," she says, overwhelmed with it all. The facts descended upon her like a tree in a storm, and it was too much. With solemn, darkened eyes, she looks at Theo. "How could you keep this from me?"

One could register that Theodore Nott didn't want it to come to this. That he does regret not being the one to tell Cassia. He couldn't believe it was Malfoy who'd told them instead. Part of Theo hated him for it, when he knew it was his fault that he hadn't gotten in there sooner. That he hadn't gotten over his fear. And now he just didn't know. He just didn't know how to get out of this mess. One that he dug himself into.

A news like this would break any Greengrass, so curse Theo for not wanting to bring this sort of destruction upon some of his most favourite people in this world.

"I'm sorry," says Theo, taking note of the boundary Cassia put between them both, "I couldn't tell you at the time, but—"

"At the time?" Cassia iterates in disbelief. "Is that so? How long have you known, then?"

"That doesn't matter—"

"Of course it bloody matters!" Cassia yells. People in the common room had begun to take notice of the advancing feud in the corner and the two fifth years, flushed faces, a pacing rage and tense bodies. "I know your own father is a Death Eater but that didn't mean you had to keep this from me?"

Theo's eyes darken, an obsidian glare that showed a hidden, remote and concealed button being pushed. "Don't, Cassia. Do not bring him into this. That's not the reason and we both know it."

Cassia's jaw sets. "Then what? Why else would you have bloody kept this from me? Why would it take Malfoy of all people to have to tell me, when you already knew?" Theo doesn't answer, but continues to glower. He can't believe she dragged his father into this. But she's then aware of a perception, and has to scoff internally. "Don't tell me it's a means of vengeance? Since keeping secrets is a given for us. Wanted to get back at me for keeping my meetings with Harry from you last year, eh? Shouldn't even be surprised," Cassia remarks, her tone spiteful, "Were you that bitter that I had kept something that didn't concern you a secret? Merlin's beard Theo, I knew you could take a grudge but this is a bit too fucking far."

"Salazar's fucking boot, Cassia," Theo scoffs, "Not everything's about you!"

"Yet this is! This is my father we're talking about! And you're here holding a petty grudge over something that you couldn't control!"

"Oh my god," Theo says, a hand covering his face, before uncovering them to show a face ridden with exasperation, his hands waving frantically in front of him. "I don't give a fuck about what happens between you and bloody Saint Potter! Fucking hell, the world doesn't revolve around you two!"

"Why, then?" says Cassia firmly, not letting the fact that Theo didn't care get to her. Not yet. She had to bear through this — whatever it was. She just couldn't believe that she and Theo were at odds now. "Did you not think it would benefit me if I knew of this?"

He raises an incredulous eyebrow, squinting at her through ridiculed eyes. "What? You're saying you would have liked this information?"

"What I would've liked is for my best friend to tell me something as important as this, not his good-for-nothing best friend! Which is more than I can say for you."

Theo's chest straightens up, and he coolly raises an eyebrow, which is a stark contrast to the blazing, shredding, hurting fire inside of him. "And what exactly is that?"

The look in Theo's eyes would be enough to defer Cassia from ever speaking against him. But her gaze hardened, and she realises how angry this all made her. She just felt anger. It didn't feel like this was Theo, her best friend. Theo wouldn't hurt her like this. And she lets him know. She doesn't hold back.

"You kept this secret from me," Cassia says viciously. She takes a step forwards, and to her the height difference between her and Theo didn't matter when her face dared. "You kept it from me, like it didn't even matter. And it hurts. It hurts so much. The fact that it had to be Malfoy who told me, rather than my own best friend. And the fact that I trusted you when you hid such a big thing from me. Don't you get it? A best friend would tell me what was happening, rather than acting like everything is okay when it's not. Not like you did."

Clamping his mouth shut in a fashion that was sure to leave a graze against one of his perfectly pearly teeth, Theo glares at her, darkness preceding every part of him. She knew nothing. Absolutely nothing. He kept this secret, and for good reason. And he knew that.

"D'you want to know why I kept this secret, Cassia," Theo spat. "Not because of some petty idea you have that I'm holding a grudge over you and Potter, because I don't give a fuck about you two and your oblivious selves — but because it does matter. It matters to me so much. This is unlike anything that has ever come for your family and it's something that you've never dealt with. And you know what? It hurts for me too. It hurt having to keep it from you something that I knew you needed to hear because it would destroy you, it would break you apart! So Merlin forgive me if I didn't want to cause anymore harm than already caused."

And look where that got them.

Cassia scoffs, piercing the inside of her cheek with her teeth, her arms folded as she shook her head. "You thought I couldn't handle knowing?"

"I knew you couldn't handle knowing!" retorts Theo. "And I was bloody right, wasn't I? You're a fucking mess. Don't tell me I was wrong."

"Are you even listening to yourself?" Cassia points out, wounded, breathing shakily. "Why would you, my best friend, say such things to me? Why would you keep such a thing from me? How could you... be like this?"

The muscles in Theo's jaws tense, contracting and relaxing continuously. "I did the best thing possible."

"I can't believe you," Cassia mutters with a spiteful scoff, sharply turning away from the heatedly progressive argument only for a hand to grasp her wrist brutally, eliciting a gasp of pain from her. The wrist yanks her back, and the dark look in Theo's eyes resulted in only a cruel thunderstorm of her own cerulean, a thrashing of waves and thunderclaps in the eyes of a girl whose anger is so difficultly provoked.

"Don't you dare walk away from me!" He roars, and they most definitely have attracted an audience throughout the ominously lit common room. Cassia can feel his nails digging into her flesh, a formation of new, crescent-shaped red marks imminent, and ignores this feeling just to rival Theo's imposing stare. It's scary how, in this state, the resemblance between Theo and his father was just uncanny.

"You listen here," says Theo, pulling her close to him amidst her struggles to free her wrist of his grasp. "I didn't tell you for a bloody well good reason. Because you would not be able to deal with such a news — and I was right! You're simply not capable enough to deal with something like this. So don't you for a second think I did it with motives to hurt you."

How fucking ironic, when one more claw and her wrist would have scarlet blood-soaked indentations.

She cocks up an eyebrow. "Is that so? You didn't want to hurt me?" Cassia rips her wrist with force out of his grasp, and for a moment, his eyes broadened, as if the decision to have such a hold on her wrist went completely beyond his say. She holds onto her hand, making well sure that Theo can see where the inflamed, red-cut crescent marks lay carved in her wrist from his unforgiving hold. There was almost remorse in his eyes, if not for the vicious terror he had on standby. "Then you're more like your own father than you know. Stay the fuck away from me."

Without so much as another word, Theo is left to stand in the corner of the room alone, Cassia's hair whipping his face as she thundered away lacking any sort of remorse or regret for the words she'd chosen, for the hurt she caused Theo with those innocent words. You're more like your father than you know. Those words hurt, but not as much as Theo thinks Cassia has been. And... she was gone. She went. She left him. Their friendship.

     Given that he didn't know if he would ever get it back, it seemed that all of hell really had broken loose.

———

BELLS TINKLED THROUGH THE WHISTLING WIND SNEAKING INTO THE INDOORS as winter boots with razed edges gripped onto the icy paths, a plethora of students aiming to stay upright rather than skidding on the vengeful ice slopes begging to ridicule a falling person. Two girls came out of Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop, paper bags filled with enough replenishments of stationery to last them until right before the panic-studying cramming stage of the O.W.L experience. One of the girls, of silky auburn hair and an enlightening smile (which lacked under current circumstances), the other with an imposing scowl and dark hair in a slick bob slicing across her shoulders, both interlacing their arms to help them get across the dangerous pitch of ice unscathed.

     Daphne Greengrass seemed to be listening less intently as Pansy Parkinson rambled on about something all to familiar to the girl's nature, with the former occasionally humming a "really?" or "okay...", while the latter had no clue of Daphne's wavering attention.

     "...And then he said — the first year boy, not the third year girl — he said that I was only doing all this stuff because something about control issues or whatever, and that I actually really dislike Professor Umbridge despite it all — I mean it's not like he's wrong, Professor Umbridge isn't nice — but control issues? Come on, I'm not that controlling, and what does he know, he's a first year! Their brains haven't even fully developed yet! They can't tell between trolls and dwarfs!"

     "Yeah, definitely," says Daphne.

Pansy gives the other girl a sideways glance. Okay, Daphne has never been one to listen to Pansy's stories with extensive enthusiasm but she always made an effort. This... her voice lacked any sense of attention, of awareness, of being present.

Instead, Pansy raises an eyebrow and says, "And then Filch offered to sacrifice his cat as a symbol of his undying love for Umbridge, proposed to her and they rode off into the sunset on a horse to live happily ever after."

"Yeah, okay."

     It takes Daphne a small duration of realisation to intake the absolute bullshit Pansy had just said, her eyes widening. "The fuck?"

     "Finally, you realised," Pansy says with a deep eye roll. "Fuckin' hell, Filch may be in love with Umbridge but he'd be damned if Mrs Norris would get sacrificed any day."

     "Oh, shut up." Daphne elbows Pansy in the side but there was a ghost of a smile on her face.

     "What's up with you?" Pansy asks, squinting at the other girl.

     "Not much." Daphne tells her. Obvious lie. She was recovering from the aftermath of having been told that her father is a Death Eater. It's difficult to hear, a news like this. That the one closest to you went against everything he had ever told you as fact and joined a cause he would never condone. Before. Now... now she just didn't know. Now she just had to live with the depressing fact and the mystery that was why. What could have pushed him to such a thing.

Pansy wasn't convinced. She knows her best friend. She just knows Daphne wouldn't be acting like this if something wasn't wrong. She knows so much about this half of the Greengrass twins. Pansy knows she's seven minutes older (who doesn't by this point?) and she knows that her favourite pancake topping is simple old lemon and sugar. She knows that even if Daphne isn't too sure about her post-Hogwarts destination, that she'd absolutely excel in anything to do with design, whether it be beauty, or art — Daphne thrives around creativity. She also loves to travel and is highly philanthropic so she'll probably become some sort of super rich and amazing international entrepreneur, owner of around ten companies each meeting the corporate social responsibility standards that just makes her more and more successful. She knows her favourite book (The Picture of Dorian Gray, for reference), she knows her favourite habits and hobbies, and she even knows how one time when Daphne and Cassia were eight and Astoria was seven that Daphne had accidentally (on purpose) jammed Astoria's long and dark hair in the doorway because Astoria decided to take Daphne's little bicycle for a ride and due to her inexperience, crashed and ended up breaking the bell. Not Daphne's proudest moment, you could say. (Though it is definitely without a doubt that later on her parents had given Daphne a strict lecture over priorities and sharing, one that sticks with the girl till this date.)

     So, yeah. Pansy knows something is up with Daphne. Whether it be her best friend intuition or something a little more, Daphne's mood is easy to read.

     "Something's wrong. Spill." Pansy stipulates.

     Daphne shrugs her shoulders, her lips pressed together thinly. "I've no idea what you mean."

     "Yeah, okay." Pansy mutters with a blunt eye roll. "Quit playing. Your mood is off."

     "It's not?" Daphne frowns. Pansy narrows her eyes. Daphne lets her shoulders shrug with a defeated air.

     Pansy smiles a little. "Just tell me what's up."

     "Family issues, I guess." Daphne eventually tells her.

     Pansy frowns. "With Cass? Tori?"

     Daphne shakes her head, inhaling raggedly through the frosty air. "It doesn't matter. Just leave it."

     Pansy purses her lips after scoffing incredulously. "Of course it does. I may not be the best sometimes, but I'm here to listen. And anyways, I'm supposed to be the grumpy one, you're supposed to be the happy one."

     A grateful smile streaks across Daphne's face, brightening considerably with the encouraging feeling provided to her by Pansy. She just didn't know how she was meant to tell her. She trusts Pansy so much. More than any of her friends. But Pansy is frightened easily by things like these... and this already says something when Daphne herself is terrified.

Daphne grimaces faintly, "I don't know if I can say—"

"Then don't." says Pansy, a sigh escaping her. "Listen, I'm here for you. You're my... my best friend. You don't have to tell me what happened now, or later, or never... just don't let whatever happened between you and your family get in the way of our nice and freezing day out in Hogsmeade, okay?"

Daphne smiles. "Okay."

     There's a moment where Daphne looks at Pansy, her pale cheeks flushed by the cold, her dark eyes twinkling with mirth, that Daphne doesn't see her best friend — but something more. Something beyond that, a feeling festering and brewing which lays in a sky of possibilities, all which go beyond friendship. It's a feeling she isn't too sure of — yet it still just feels right. And maybe, in the way the other girl smiles back, dimples puncturing each side of her rosy cheeks, burrowing herself further in Daphne's arm — that perhaps Daphne feels the same way too.

     In a town where the frost was melting and where icy slopes formed, those very frosty gradients that cemented within Daphne's mind found some solace, her arm linked with Pansy's, and even if all hell was breaking loose upon them, Daphne finds that she can laugh, and joke, and just forget for some time.

———

FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS, CASSIA FEELS HORRIBLE.

     Everything just felt ruined. Her father is a Death Eater and because of it, she walked away from Theo from what was their most fervid argument ever. Theo and Cassia did argue — but never like that. That... was just a toss of provoked tempers that had never before been tempted. And now that she walked away from him... she didn't even know if she could get him back.

She doesn't even know if she meant what she said. She brought up uncharted, forbidden territory — his father. Her anger, her frustration had blazed her so much that she said words she'd never imagined she could say to Theo.

You're more like your father than you know.

Fuck, Cassia messed up. And she knows it. Words hurt... those, more than anything else. She went too far.

But so did he. Cassia stands with her back flush against the wall of the castle, her eyelids pressed close, the cool rock a blinding sensation numbing her mind from the precedented occasion. People walk by, paying no heed to the Slytherin girl leaning against the wall as if gaining her breath, gaining strength, finding no strangeness to her situated place when all they're worried about is their plans for the weekend in motion. Nobody worried about her, nobody stopping to ask if she was okay.

Just like Theo said, no one cares.

She opens her eyes. She is gaining her strength. Mentally, physically, whatever. She's never argued as intensely as that. She's never felt such a loss when she stormed away from him without second thought. She's never felt so... horrible. Her father, now Theo. Cassia's eyes track down to her wrist, enriched with the material of her black jumper. When Theo grabbed her, his fingernails dug underneath and peeled back the fabric from her wrist, clawing precisely into her bone. Rightfully so, she could still see red, crescent-shaped marks where her wrist were once smooth. They both went too far. Cassia doesn't think she's ever seen such a darkness within Theo. The obsidian, dingy glare, the formidable scowl. It terrified Cassia. And she knows her own weaponised words made it worse.

Cassia revolves her wrist around her hand for a few circles, before holding it to her chest, an emphasised sigh drones from her mouth, her head dropping back against the stone of the wall. The people still passed by absently, paying no attention. No one cares. Theo made that clear enough.

"Cassia?"

     The voice in question drags Cassia out of her self-induced pity party and back to reality, one where her father's a Death Eater, she and Theo just fell out, and a world of careless, apathetic students. Not this one, apparently. Unlike most people, this student was one who did stop and seemed to notice her. A deep frown creasing his lips and his curly auburn hair tufting softly upon his head, Sterling Donahue is one to take pity upon her.

     "Are you okay?" Sterling asks as Cassia straightens herself, presenting better in front of Sterling, her sister's ex. She hardly ever sees much of this boy. Apart from sitting behind her (—And Theo) in Transfiguration, Sterling usually kept within Hufflepuff boundaries, and can usually be seen studying heartily, laughing merrily or joking about with his best friend Wayne Hopkins, an adorable dark-skinned ray of sunshine, also in Hufflepuff. But Cassia would never deny his presence. He's the true definition of a Hufflepuff, he'd always be welcomed — and even though he and her twin were nothing more than history, she appreciated that he still kept contact.

     "Hi, Sterling," She says. He leans his side against the wall, still glancing at the girl in concern. "Are you good?"

     "I'm okay," says Sterling slowly. "You didn't answer my question, but. Are you okay? You seem to be... sulking."

     Cassia dismisses his words, a hand waving them over. "It's... nothing. Family issues, I guess."

     "Oh?" He looks inquisitively, running a hand through his curly hair. "Issues with Daphne or Astoria?"

     Cassia doesn't know what to say, so shakes her head. "It doesn't matter. Thanks for checking up, anyways."

     Sterling continues to frown, but doesn't press further. "Don't worry about it... I know we hardly talk especially after me and Daphne broke up, but if you ever want to talk about anything or just go for a Butterbeer or something, just ask, 'kay?"

     The only thing Cassia can do is smile at him. He's so kind. Bless him. There's something's bout the boy that also strikes her as... familiar. The auburn hair... the green eyes... the large, shining eyes... she feels like she's seen something like them before. But where? A picture, perhaps... But which picture?

     "Of course, Sterling," says Cassia. "Thank you for the concern... honestly. It does mean loads."

     "Anytime." Sterling says with a grin. "Are you going to Hogsmeade later?"

     She knew this was just a colloquial question, but it was then that she realised Sterling was dressed for the cold, his Hufflepuff scarf wrapped around his neck in a loose nought, his jacket zipped up to his neck, gloves covering his fingers... and in that moment, Cassia realised something else.

     She was supposed to be going to Hogsmeade with Harry.

     Oh, shit, she thinks, her hands coming up to frame her face at the sheer realisation that in less than five minutes she was meant to be with Harry Potter. It's too late to run back down to the dungeons and risk the chance of seeing Theo, but she thinks it's just not right to go and see Harry given everything that's happened today. She can't leave him without an explanation, though, so —

Sterling was still there.

He'd been watching Cassia's existential crisis with half amusement and half concern, before she'd turned sharply towards him.

     "Uh—everything okay?" He asks her.

     (Sterling was beginning to grow slightly worried for the Greengrass twin.)

     "Yes! — Well, no — but —" Cassia sighs, allowing herself some time for composure before forcing a smile. "I'm okay. I just — I have a date, and—"

     "I'm guessing it's Harry Potter, yeah?" Sterling predicts with a cheeky grin.

     Cassia rolls her eyes. "Yeah, okay, it's him. I just — I need to go, I'm sorry—"

     "I get it." Sterling says with empathy. "I'll see you later. Have fun."

     "Thank you!" She tells him, before walking briskly towards the courtyard where she knew Harry would be waiting for her. What an eventful day. She knows she can't go through with this date today — so much has happened and it would just be wrong — she thinks it'll be better if they reschedule. On a day where Cassia's world hasn't turned upside down, where she's just overwhelmed with everything, on a day where all of hell hasn't broken loose.

     She finds Harry standing in the queue, just like last time. Only it wasn't the same. Last time, she didn't know her father was a Death Eater. Last time, she had been the bestest of friends with Theodore Nott...

     His hands are in his pockets as he rocks on his heels, swaying backwards and forwards. The frosty chill hits Cassia even with the jumper reaching her neck, as she figured she'd be running too late if she went and gotten a jacket. Amidst the chatter of the piling students in the courtyard and the howling wind, Harry's expression softens when he spots Cassia briskly walking towards him.

     Cassia folds her arms as another gust of wind shoots through, pressing her lips into a faint smile in front of Harry. "Uh—hi, Harry—so sorry I'm late, but—"

     "It's okay," says Harry, grinning. "Are you ready to go? You don't have a jacket—?"

     Cassia grimaces. She hated to be the bearer of bad news. "Uh, actually, that's the thing..."

     Harry frowns. "What's up?"

     "Something came up," says Cassia, slowly, "And, well, I don't think we can do Hogsmeade today... I'm so, so, so sorry... But is it okay if we reschedule for another day?"

     At this news, Harry, bemused, tilts his head, his brows furrowing. What happened with her? "Oh."

     Cassia feels terrible.

     "I'm really, really sorry." She apologises. "I promise I'll make it up to you. Honest."

     "Are you sure? I mean, are you okay?"

     Cassia smiles. "I will be. Thanks. Uh—I'll see you later, okay?"

     He frowns again, not seeming to be convinced. "Okay...?"

     As soon as she turns away, as soon as she begins to go back into the castle where she knows the eerie echoes bouncing off of the stone walls will not be able to provide any comfort anyways, she just feels terrible. She hopes that wasn't another thing ruined. It's bad enough everything that happened with her father, and with Theo... but not Harry. Her heart is beating and she needs to go. Away from it all — she needs air. The breath that has choked within her trachea needs an outlet that'll allow whatever fragmented emotion, whatever blazing anger, ripping hurt to hollow out of her and just allow her to breathe.

     So she takes her feet upwards. Up, up, up. The hope is that with the elevation, as she clambers up higher and higher, the capsizing feeling, that balloon of hurt can just burst as a helium balloon would eventually explode as it ascends further and further within the atmosphere, meeting its atmospheric condition that meant its end...

       A large, whipping gust of cool air hits Cassia's face when her feet solidifies on the topmost step of the Astronony Tower. She goes to the edge, her hands clasping around the metal railing surrounding the tower and his looks out, to the Great Lake, to the congregation of minute students in huddled outside, to the sway of the naked Whomping Willow in the breeze of the sky, faintly blue but almost grey. Almost immediately, she feels some sort of release. Liberation. No one else is up here, only her. All day it's been people and all day it's been nothing but bad news. So Cassia appreciates having the chance to let the oxygen respire through her oesophagus, through her nose, and annealing to the outside air as if nothing had filtered through in the first place. She appreciates having the chance to breath, even if it's just for a second. 

     But all the thoughts are still there. All the memories... the news, the argument, the anger... it's all still there. Theo hiding it from her... her father hiding it from her too... And if Harry knew... then her heart would break. Truthfully, it would break even more than it already had. Because Cassia really likes him, no matter how much she tries to deny that it'll be "just friends". They are just friends. But Cassia knows that part of her will always want them to be more.

     Footsteps materialising upon the metal staircase brings her out of her thoughts. It was then she felt a droplet fall onto her hand — one that had been absently streaking down her cheeks, one that was engulfed with all the emotion and all the hurt feeling she'd been loathe to. She wipes her eyes, wipes any other tears clouding her vision without her knowledge, and turns around. Her vision makes out a boy nearing her, one who'd joined her up here many times before. One who'd been victim to the cause her father has joined. One who she just likes so much but can't stand having him see her like this. Harry Potter stands there, face ridden with concern, bespectacled eyes furrowed, stopping at the top of the stairs to just look at her. There's a sorrowful feeling within him that occurs at the sight that Cassia had been crying, no matter how much.

"Harry," says Cassia.

"Hey," he replies softly, frowning. "Are you okay?"

She nods her head quickly. "Yeah, I'm good. What—what are you doing up here?"

"You—uh—seemed upset," Harry tells her. "I wanted to come check on you and saw you come up here."

"Well, thanks for checking on me," she says before forcing a tight smile on her face, "But I'm okay. You can—you can go."

Cassia feels terrible.

Harry doesn't retreat, but instead advances, standing beside Cassia by the railing.

"No, you're not."

     Bloody hell. She knows he won't take no for an answer. He won't give up. She knows how stubborn he is. Though she's not sure if she's come to loathe or like the ability.

     She turns to him, smoothing hair down behind her ears. The corner of her mouth twitches. "And why would you say that?"

     "You were crying."

     "One tear."

     "Still crying. And there were more."

     Cassia sighs. "What do you want, Harry?"

     He scoffs, shaking his head. "Cassia, we've been meeting each other for over a year. And every time I went through something that just put me in a shit mood you were there to get me out of it. And now you're clearly upset, yet you're pushing me away. You've been there for me; now it's my turn to be there for you. So don't you try and tell me not to help you in your time of need when you've been there for me in mine."

Cassia's mouth parts open, but she's not sure what to say. So instead, she just stays quiet. But she doesn't tell Harry to go, and he seemed to be fine with that. For some time, they just stand there, in the rustles of the wind, feeling the rare rays of sunlight hit their faces. They let the shiver of the wind resonate up their senses, the awareness of each others' presence still at their sides. The silence allowed them to just be, as they've done many times before, in the calm atmospheric conditions of the Astronomy Tower that are a stark contrast to everything this girl has been through in the past day, and most certainly anything this boy has endured. In the Astronomy Tower it were calm, and for now, so were they.

     "Um—since we're here and all," Harry breaks the silence cautiously. "D'you still want to know what happened over the break?"

     Cassia forgot that was the reason they'd even organised the day in the first place. The faintest breath of a chuckle escapes her and she nods. "By all means, go ahead."

     Harry nods. And so, after explaining the whole thing about how he practically attacked Arthur Weasley through the eyes of a snake (okay, what?), how he's practically sharing a mind connection with Voldemort and is now being forced to take Occlumency lessons with Snape, Cassia is taken aback. She may be going through her own issues right now, but she knows she could never compete with this boy. As if anyone would want to compete with such a date for a boy of such a young age. It astounded Cassia how after everything he's been through, he still has it within him to hope. Sure, everyone slips around from time to time. But Harry always picked himself back up after it all. He truly was remarkable.

     "That's—er—wow," says Cassia.

     "Just about sums it up," Harry laughs. And as the whistling of the wind overcomes them again, she realises how much he trusts her. From the start. He tells her what he doesn't tell many. She figures it's only fair that she does the same.

     So Cassia rubs the bridge of her nose, looks at him and says, "I found out that my father's a Death Eater today."

     "Oh."

     Harry wasn't expecting that. Of course he wouldn't expect it. Especially not when the daughters of this very man were put into shock at the informing of it. So obviously, finding out the girl you like's father is apart of the supremacist group wanting to kill you comes as a bit of a surprise.

     "Yeah," says Cassia.

     "Are you—uh—are you sure?"

     "Yeah, I'm sure."

     Harry mouth quirks down. "How did you—erm—find out?"

     Cassia exhales lowly. "Malfoy called me and Daphne to his room today. He knew because of everything with his father. And, well... my father's a Death Eater." She looks down, before saying, "I can't believe it."

     "What if Malfoy's lying?" Harry asks her. She didn't blame him asking the question, not when he held such a dislike for the pretentious Slytherin.

     "Malfoy doesn't lie," She says. "He's cruel, and rude, and so many other things, but a liar isn't one of them." Cassia looks down, scoffing derisively to herself before adding, "And you know the worst part? Theo knew. This whole time. Yet it had to be Malfoy who told me. My own best friend."

     The satirical comment didn't go unheard from Harry. He had no idea of the spat Cassia and Theo had, but he'd never seem Cassia seem so angry from him... or upset.

     Fidgeting with his fingers, Harry looks down. "Something—er—happen between you two?"

     He notices how she clenches her mouth, a tight smile making it's ways across her face. "Gossip spreads fast at Hogwarts," she quips. "You'll hear about how our screams tore apart the common room soon enough."

     Harry doesn't answer as Cassia looks to her feet, the wind blowing hair past her ears. She clutches onto the sleeves of her jumper, as if it could make a difference somehow to how bad she's feeling.

     "Harry, why are you even still here?" Cassia points out, and there was something so tired, so done, in her eyes that he had never before seen. "I've literally just told you my father's a Death Eater. And you've not... flinched. Or done anything."

     Harry takes a deep, calculating breath, and thinks hard for a moment. "I won't leave just because of that." He says firmly. "Sirius told me that the world isn't split between good people and Death Eaters. You said that your father is a good man... What if the reason your father is doing this is because... he wants to keep you safe? I don't know why he would, but you can't just jump to conclusions from what Malfoy's told you..."

     Cassia chuckles and it's morbid, demeaning in every way possible. Harry trying to find a way to pardon this mess was futile. His hope was encouraging, but they both knew it was just pointless. They didn't know that much about it all, but Phoenix Greengrass truly was in too deep. And no hopeful statement from Harry Potter could suddenly change that. "You don't have to be so reasonable. You don't have to find a way to excuse my father. He's a Death Eater. You don't have to pretend that you have hope when you yourself have been victimised one too many times by these people."

     "I'm not pretending anything." Harry says. "I truly do not think the people in your family would be capable of such a thing. And... I believe in you. I've been so... angry. But when I'm with you that anger seems to... go away. You have this effect on me, Cassia. And... even if your dad is apparently a Death Eater, I know that you're good for me, regardless."

     Her heart softens, so much that she just knows the corner of her eyes sunk into a doe-like, adoring stare. This boy. I know that you're good for me. She's never heard words quite like it. She's never met a boy quite like him. And she hates that she's acting like this when he's quite literally spilling out his heart.

     "Your family... they're different." Harry tells her slowly. "You said equality runs in your family, that people are loved in your family... and I see that. You... your sisters... and I know that even if your father is a Death Eater, that it doesn't mean he doesn't love you. Your family is different. Different to mine, anyways. You've had your family all your life, and mine got taken away from me. You grew up with love, with cute baby albums of your first steps, your first lock of hair, your parents would take you to the park and they would just be there. I haven't. I don't know how that feels, but you do. And I find it hard to believe that because your father is now a Death Eater that it's changed him. Because he'll still be the same father that would give you piggybacks and buy you teddy bears. He'll still be the same father that taught you everything you know, because I just know that he did this for a reason. Your father loves you. And perhaps he was willing to give himself for it. I don't have a family. But you do. And they'd be willing to risk it all for you. Just as I know you would too."

     Everything he said was the truth. She did grow up with love. She did grow up being cared for. And he didn't. Which just made her feel horrible. She didn't want to involve him in this mess. He already had one too many messes to deal with. His care and affection just added so much to the emotion she already felt. It's been the bumpiest of days.

"All of this... why do you care so much? We were nothing once," Cassia says with spite, an obvious means to caution the Potter boy from approaching her — an obvious means to discard a chance of them being together in a time when she just feels horrible. "I can't see why you should stay here and care so much."

"You're right," says Harry, nodding. "We were nothing once. We wouldn't so much as look in one another's direction without decent meaning. I thought you the same as every other Slytherin. But you're not. You showed me that Slytherins aren't what we all think. You showed me that you're more than I thought. And I do care about you. And that doesn't mean nothing. We were nothing before. But we're something now. Don't tell me you don't feel the same way."

He slowly moves closer to her, and Cassia can feel the fervent increase of her heart, clashing and beating with an increasing tempo as the seconds ticked by.

Quietly, she says, "What exactly are you saying, Harry?"

(Though part of her just knew exactly what he was saying.)

Harry takes a deep breath. "I... really like you, Cassia. I have for a long while, I think. And I—I want us to be more than just friends."

Cassia halts, her eyes nothing but a possibility of everything she felt for him and everything she knew they could be.

"You mean like...dating?" She bites her lip. "Me and you... becoming a thing?"

(Because even if she couldn't find the words for it, she really likes him too. And she didn't need the encouragement and clarification of everyone else's to confirm that.)

Harry doesn't say anything for a minute. And then his eyes scan over Cassia's, like a lock and key securing into one another where it just fits.

"Yes." He confirms. "Would—would you want that too?"

Her heart thrummed within her chest, the two mere inches apart. And she knew. She knew why she would smile so much around him. She knew why being up at the Astronomy Tower calmed her down so much — because he was there. Because, after all this time, her and Harry weren't the nothing that they had been before fourth year. They were something. And something was something good. Spectacular.

Cassia looks at him hesitantly, his green eyes nothing and everything beautiful in a world where all of hell has broken loose, and her breath is almost taken away.

"I can always show you my baby albu—"

She didn't get to finish, for Harry kissed her. Cassia's words were nothing but a forgotten notion upon Harry's lips as his hands cupped the sides of her face, his fingers inextricably weaving through the hair bunched at her neck. She feels herself softening with every warm exhale, lost through the rustle of the wind there in the Astronomy Tower. His thumbs brush her cheeks and she just melts, allowing herself to close her eyes amidst the soft twittering of passing birds, pressing her lips tenderly against his, one of her hands rising to his hand.

This was everything she wanted and more. In a time of strife and pure anguish, Harry was there. Just like she had been for him. They were always there for each other and it just fit. They just fit. And she knew that this? Them? It was right. Not because of what everyone else says about them. Not because of some rebellious idea cross-tracking Slytherins and Gryffindors. None of that ever mattered to them, when with each other, they could just be. And it was perfect.

They slowly pull apart, and Cassia lets her temple rest gently against his forehead, her breathing light and fast-paced, her cheeks flushed. There was a euphoric though meaningful and intent smile on his face, his finger tracing her jawline softly.

"Is that a yes, then?"

Cassia takes a look at Harry, embraces the heat she feels inside of her cheeks, and smiles.

"Yes," she whispers.

And like that, his nimble fingers reached tentatively with the smallest of touches for her waist and she'd wrapped her arms around his neck, her body pressing up against his, and they were kissing again.

Yes, it's true. All of Hell may have broken free. Cassia's father may not be the man she thought he was. Her and Theo's friendship may not be what she thought it was. But through it all, she at least had the assent to stay there, with Harry, in the Astronomy Tower. And for now, that was enough. They could deal with Hell later.

***

DO WE HATE ME OR DO WE LOVE ME🙈🙈🙈🙈🙈 okay i hate myself too for the whole thing between cass and theo like i feel HORRIBLE i can't believe i did that to them... but at least we got a cute daphne & Pansy scene???

AND HARRY & CASSIA ARE TOGETHER AT LAST!!!!!!! idk lemme know like did you guys think they'd get together this soon or later on or???? i wanna know if i surprised anyone or something ajsjsjsjdjdj IM CURIOUS OKAY

& i've never written a confession scene like this,, this is the first time i have since my writing kinda ✨improved✨ from before so pls lemme know what you thought of it??? cos feedback means EVERYTHING for me!!! and i wanna know if i met your expectations bc ive been anticipating this chapter for so long and don't know if it meets my expectations ajsjsjsjs i was so scared to write this chapter???? omg

(also not me watching insta edits of hope mikaelson to get inspo for cassia and crying over all the klaylope edits bc the mikaelsons deserve better😁😁😁😁)

okay now i have to study for my advanced maths test on wednesday ew I HOPE YOU ALL LIKED THIS THO!!! make sure to like and comment ily all sm❤️