CHAPTER THREE
bitter bite of chocolate 

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

     When Remus Lupin knocks at your door, there is no second option. You've got to answer.

And it's not in a threatening way, or any sorts. He's not a threatening guy by nature. He won't storm down your door after fifteen minutes of silence from the doorbell.

We hope.

The truth is, when Remus Lupin knocks at your door, it's for something important. And Astoria Greengrass knew the exact reason for his knocking, two weeks ago when he did.

"Do many people know?" He had asked Astoria, sitting in the parlour of the Greengrass Manor. Steaming pot of tea on the table between them; Remus with a half-eaten chocolate biscuit, Astoria with her knees pulled into her chest, shrivelled as far back into the sofa as possible. "Of what happened to you."

"My family," she had replied. How a man like him still managed to hold such tenderness in his voice despite the thing he had been forced to become, to endure. Years of this, since he was a child. Astoria remembers when the truth had came out, that Remus Lupin was cursed with lycanthropy. She was only in second year at the time, and she felt so horrible for him. He was very kind to her in class, just as he was being right now.

     "Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, Harry Potter," she added. "Just them. And anyone that Greyback has told."

     Remus sighed, Astoria remembers. He had rubbed a face across his hand, as though unable to process the horrors of one creature on multiple children, multiple generations.

     Currently packing a clumsily-folded sweatshirt into her trunk, Astoria recalls Remus' words:

     "Professor Dumbledore can make arrangements for you. For the full moon, when you go back to Hogwarts."

     Astoria had shaken her head. "I don't want to go to Dumbledore about this."

"I didn't want to, either."

     "How did he find out?"

     "I eventually did tell him. And he led me to the Shrieking Shack for transforming during full moons."

     "I don't want to use the Shrieking Shack, it could hardly hold half of my weight before it collapses."

     Remus had smiled. "You might not have to."

     Astoria had shifted in her curled up position. "Why?"

     "There are other places in Hogwarts that are suitable for werewolf transformation. It is a big castle. Do you have parchment?"

     Unfolding from her position on the couch, she had nodded. She walked to a set of drawers beneath a mirror, fishing out fresh parchment, a quill and inkpot. Stopping to look at her face in the mirror briefly, a freckled face with red-rimmed green eyes, eyes that didn't hold colour like they did once before.

     "Here you go, professor."

     Remus smiled, looking down as he dipped the quill into the ink. "I'm not your professor anymore. Remus is fine."

     "You were a good one, though. I don't think I had ever learnt so much in Defence, in my four years at Hogwarts."

     "Maybe I will be back, someday. I enjoy teaching."

     She remembers him folding up the parchment delicately when he was finished, after blowing over the wet ink. He passed it to Astoria, and she slid it into the waistband of her running shorts. Not that she had much energy to run these days.

     "You will need to be discreet, as I think you will not want many others knowing. That is the benefit of having hearing and sight of such magnitude as a wolf. It makes it easier to sneak around."

     She nodded. He picks up another chocolate biscuit, they are the ones her mother takes to work for her snack drawer. Remus hands Astoria the biscuit, and she shakes her head.

     "No thank you, I'm not hungry."

     He chuckles. "I know you're not. Not yet, at least." He looked dead serious when he said, "Trust me. Chocolate helps."

     She considers his words, this man who was a werewolf decades she had been given the curse. Considers him helping her, him saying not yet, that possibility that she would start to feel hunger among other things again.

     Astoria takes the biscuit, expecting the first bite to be bitter on her tongue. It was sweet, and crunchy. It was chocolate.

     "Not that bad, right?" said Remus. Astoria folded her lips together, barely smiling.

     She remembers asking him, "Does it get easier?"

     And him considering the question, before responding:

     "Lycanthropy adds a certain complexity to a human's life. It evolves as you do, it grows with you. You age as a wolf just as you age as a human. You'll find challenges as a wolf accompany your challenges as a human too. I'm sorry to say it does not get easier, Astoria."

     Astoria didn't know what sort of answer she expected, because that made sense. A werewolf now, she was no longer just a human. Half human, half wolf.

     She has to still be Astoria though, right?

     Finishing up her trunk for returning to Hogwarts, Astoria checks her backpack. Opens the small pocket at the front and takes out the folded piece of parchment Remus Lupin had given her. The ink he had sketched, the lines and boxes and names and paths; it was a map that he had drawn. A very good one for a rough sketch, Remus has his artistic talents.

     She wonders how he knew of this place through Hogwarts but then remembers who this man was friends with. He was one of the infamous Marauders. Of course they had gallivanted through Hogwarts and found a place like this for their werewolf mate to transform in.

Before she could finish zipping up her trunk, having to perch on top of it by her knees to squish its contents enough for her to be able to scoot the clasps shut — an owl raps on her window. It wasn't one she could recognise, but it held an envelope thick enough to indicate there wasn't just a letter inside.

     Astoria unclips her window's hinge and the owl drops the envelope down, flying away before she could even offer it some treats.

     She watches it disappear into the distance and shrugs.

     Yeah, there was definitely something else in this envelope than just a letter. But the letter was the first thing she took out anyways.

    
     It might not get easier, but it does get better.

     My address is on the back of the envelope. Please reach out if you need to. Good luck with school.

     — Remus

     And when she fished her hand back into the envelope, a hand-sized bar of chocolate was what she retrieved, packed neatly in foil and paper.

    It gets better. His words were enough encouragement for this moment, and they were what she needed. She would hold onto that.

***

I have news, was what Maryam Ahmed's mail had told Cassia, not long after receiving their book lists for Hogwarts. No punctuation which obviously meant it was urgent enough to do sake the rules of grammar. And it's what led her to descend from the steps of Flourish and Blotts, herself and her sisters' new school books in tow.

     Diagon Alley felt different. The charm that resided throughout her growing up had diminished by the darkness that loomed over them all, by the Death Eaters taking prime privilege in ransacking whatever they please. Diagon Alley was not the same as it was all those years ago but then again, neither was her life now. Her family, herself. She had seen a man die, a man who was filled with so much inherent goodness yet forced to mask it for years under crimes he did not commit. Her father was in Azkaban for crimes he did commit. The life he chose as a Death Eater, reasons she wishes she could understand — not for the sake of the Death Eater cause, but for the sake of him. Because what could have her father in such a position that he pledged allegiance to a terrorist group? And then, her little sister paying the price for that very choice of his.

As she leaves the bookshop, handbag weighing down a little more now that she had her own, Daphne and Astoria's books, Cassia sets down Diagon Alley. She made it down a few cobbled steps lining the street when a hand ghosts her elbow - reflex overcoming her, she doesn't hesitate a moment before grabbing the hand's arm and backing it into the nearest wall. Wand jabbing into his throat, when she realised with a gasp:

"Harry."

"Nice to see you too, Cass," Harry returns, expression easing as Cassia's grip on him loosed. He gets it. These days, you can never be sure if it is friend or foe passing you by in the street. Even your own boyfriend.

She breathes. "Harry, you can't do that."

"See my girl? Now, that's just cruel."

Cassia tilts her head, looking at him pointedly. He grins, and she had to smile too.

"Just wanted to test the 'auld reflexes. Sharp as ever, my dear."

"What else could you ever expect, darling?" She returns with a smirk, fixing his Gryffindor robes. She pats the front, kisses his cheek, and Harry moves away from the wall before they could make anyone double-take a step.

"New wand?" Harry notices, trailing his hand down to accept the stick object from her hand, examining it through round spectacles. The softened dark turquoise glimmer around the handle. The miniature maple leaves carved into the oak of its length.

"Yup," she replies. "Mermaid scales."

"Way to be fucking fancy," he marvels, a low chuckle escaping him.

"I know, it's not your typical Ollivander's material. My mum took me to see the family jeweller since his shop's shut." Harry gives her a look, and she amends, "Since he's been kidnapped. The witch, though. First time I've ever met her. Cryptic as hell, but she knows her way around a wand. It's... powerful, though. That much I can be sure of. I've never felt the magic so strong with a wand before, not even my old one."

"Are you sure that's not cause of something else?" The knowing look Harry gave his girlfriend didn't go amiss at all. He knew all too well what happened during the Department of Mysteries, and how she managed to escape. This new source of magic.

She retorts, "How can I be sure when I don't even know what to label this thing inside of me?"

Harry shrugs. "Things don't need a label if you know how to use it, at the end of the day."

"That's a work in progress," Cassia admits. "As is this telepathy thing. Whatever it is."

"You and Daphne's telepathy is not a surprise. At all. You're twins with pure magic blood dating back decades." He notices the direction she was headed in, back towards the Leaky Cauldron back door. "You leaving?"

She nods, "Maryam and Eva are waiting for me in the cafe down the road. Maryam has news to tell us."

     "News?"

     "No clue. Seemed like it couldn't wait, she had written as soon as we'd gotten our Hogwarts letters."

     Harry's lips purse in a curious frown. "Interesting."

     Cassia eyebrows raise in an equally as curious frown. "What is?"

     Harry shrugs his shoulders. "Not sure. That's for you to find out."

     He runs a hand through her hair, his thumb lingering at the curved strand at the front of her head, starting just after her roots. At one point during the summer, when Harry was over at the Greengrass Manor, he was sat on her bed and watching her frustratedly fail to tame the strand that slightly stuck up because of its natural wave. Cassia said, It makes me look like I have horns. Harry said, Horns are a great look, I love them. Judging by the smile twitching his lips upwards as he played with her hair, she supposes he didn't lie.

     "You know something, Potter," says Cassia, narrowing her eyes at him.

     Harry shrugs again. "I do know a thing. I don't know if it is the thing."

     "What is a thing you know of?"

     "That is for me to tell you after Maryam tells you the thing."

     "You're so annoying."

     "You love me anyways."

     She scrunches her nose up at him. He drags her in for a hug by the elbow, her short-lived reluctance evaporating at the familiar feeling of his nose nuzzling in the crook of her neck.

     "I'll come find you later," she mumbles, voice muffled by his hard chest. "Find out what a thing is."

     She heard him sigh. "And not because you find me irresistibly charming and handsome and need a daily dose of Chosen One in your life?"

     Harry feels a defeated laugh rumble against his chest. "No, to deflate your head. This Chosen One thing is really getting to it."

     Harry was grinning when she pulled back from the hug, a breath of cool air replacing his body warmth.

     He says, "Only for you, darling."

     Briefly pressing onto her toes, she kisses his cheek, and he salutes her away as she begins to walk towards the Leaky Cauldron. She said hi to the landlord Tom on her way onto Main Street, he looked irritated. The Muggle cafe Maryam wanted to meet at was a street down, which wasn't usually a difficult walk, but she had books. Lots of them.

     The bell above the cafe door tinkered with a hollow jangle, Cassia walking into the warming scent of freshly ground coffee, spiced cinnamon buns and herby pesto on toasties newly out the panini press. Smells that made her instantly hungry, though she ate a pain au chocolat made freshly by the house elves before she left for Diagon Alley.

Cassia was definitely late, so she scans the rows and columns of tables for her friends. And near the back corner she saw a table with the shimmery blonde hair of Eva Abercrombie, the dark buzzcut of Blaise Zabini, the curtain that was Theodore Nott's overgrown chestnut hair. And then—

     That was Maryam, right?

     Because Cassia has seen Maryam wear a headscarf before, whenever she would pray in their dorm room.

     And she has briefly spoken about wanting to wear the headscarf—the hijab—permanently.

     And it looked perfect on her.

     Cassia makes a beeline for the back table, and makes a beeline to throw her arms around Maryam from behind, squeezing her shoulders.

     "You look so good, oh my days," says Cassia.

     "Cassia," Maryam squeals, twisting out of her grip to throw her arms around the other girl, for a reciprocated hug that almost had them losing balance.

     Grinning, Eva asks, "Don't I look good?"

     "You always look good, don't be daft," answers Cassia, shuffling along the seats to give Eva a wholehearted side-embrace. Once she pulls away, she claps each hand to Blaise and Theo's shoulder. "Alright, boys?"

     "We were, 'till you got here," says Blaise.

     Cassia scrunches her nose in his face, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

Pointing an accusatory spoon in Cassia's face, one of those really long ones they give you for hot drinks. Theo says, "You're late."

"You can blame the Chosen One," says Cassia.

Theo rolls his eyes as if saying, yeah, figures.

"Step one in Potter's plan for world domination," says Theo. "Recruit the Death Eater's daughter."

"Yeah, and the Death Eater's daughter would kill for a panini right now," says Cassia, a few people looking her way. Okay, she didn't think she was that loud. Whatever. She's seen worse dirty looks from Theo's owl, Maximus.

     "Does the Death Eater's daughter require some company at the counter?"

     "If the Death Eater's son is offering, who am I to refuse."

Theo rolls his eyes, rising from his seat as Cassia simultaneously dropped her loaded handbag onto the floor, leaving a flesh-level imprint where the bag previously rested on her shoulder. At the counter, she picks out a chicken panini from the chalked-out menu blackboard. The guy serving them, who had asked Cassia want me to toast that for you? had obnoxiously blonde hair that just had to be bleached. He had a bit of a baby face, but his chilled confidence as he handled the coffee machine suggested that he was at least in his early twenties.

     Ringing up Cassia's order at the till, adding a latte she had requested, the barista glances at Theo briefly. "Everything okay with your table, mate?"

"Just keeping her company," says Theo. "Enjoying my cappuccino, though."

The barista nods, returning Cassia's change with a momentous smile. The Muggle money she keeps for situations like these.

"If you want to pull up another chair for your friend over here, feel free to do so. I know the tables aren't the most accommodating for bigger groups but the chairs are free to move."

"Might do," says Theo. "Some of us think it's alright to use their boyfriend as an excuse to be late."

"At least I can say I have one," says Cassia.

"A boyfriend?" says Theo. "No, I don't have one. The girl I like does, though."

They hear a cough that sounds like it should've been a laugh. The barista rubs a tattooed arm across his face, though it could not hide his smile.

"Been there, mate," says the barista. "I have been there. Tough, right?"

Cassia shares a look with Theo, grinning herself. A summer away from Hogwarts did not remove Theodore Nott's crush on Ginny Weasley. He doesn't talk about it much, this time was a rarity, but Cassia knows.

"What did you do about it?" Theo asks.

"What I am doing about it, is being patient. By pining, giving her free pastries, and watching her parade her dickhead boyfriend around. Can't stand that man."

A new voice calls, "You're not telling customers your life story again, are you Jonas?"

     The barista—Jonas—looks up with deadpan annoyance, his gaze going past Cassia and Theo.

     "You were here this morning, Whittaker," says Jonas. "You need a life."

"I believe you're serving one of my most loyal clients, so please reconsider your statement." Whittaker, who flashed Theo a wide grin, ran a hand through her long brunette tresses, a contrast to the barista's frown. "Hello, Theodore."

"Hey," returns Theo. "Are you stalking me?"

"On the contrary," says Whittaker. "This place is a regular haunt of mine. My day wasn't going the greatest, I wanted to see Greta's face behind the counter. Unfortunately I have to see her son's."

Theo chuckles, he clearly knew this sardonic woman. She too, looked to be in her early twenties.

"Cass," says Theo, motioning to Whittaker. "My therapist, Alanna."

Alanna returns the motion, "My client, Theo."

That made sense.

"I can't believe you would willingly accept advice from this weird Swedish woman," says Jonas to Theo.

     "I get free coffee," says Theo.

     Jonas looks at Alanna. "That's child exploitation."

     "Just because I make better coffee than you."

     "You take that back."

     "Make me—"

     "—Have I ever told you that Alanna here is pals with George Weasley, Cass?" Theo forces.

     "Hardly, Theo," says Cassia.

Being looked at for an answer, Alanna says, "It's nothing big. He's bought me coffee a couple of times."

"And they have flirted many times," adds Theo.

Alanna scoffs. "We do not flirt."

"Yeah, and I have a pet alpaca called Frederick. Come on, Alanna."

     "Behave, Theodore." Alanna turns her head to Cassia, all smiles. "Great to meet you, finally. Theo cannot shut up about you. Really sorry about what happened to your dad."

"Um, thanks."

Alanna says something to Theo about his last therapy session before going back to school, unbeknownst to the Muggle barista that it was his last Occlumency lesson before going back to magical boarding school... Jonas told Cassia that he'd bring her food and coffee around. Sitting back at the table in the corner, an extra chair pulled up for Cassia, she looks at Maryam expectantly.

"So?" says Cassia. "Tell us the news."

"Guess," says Maryam, breaking her cookie in half.

Eva says, "Malfoy dropped out."

Maryam shakes her head.

From Theo, "They removed the 9pm kitchen curfew."

Maryam shakes her head.

From Blaise, "Montague's Quidditch scholarship got revoked."

Maryam shakes her head, but adds, "You're getting closer. It's of the Quidditch variety."

Having thought that was enough of a clue, Maryam was very disappointed by the blank faces in front of her.

"You idiots," she says. "I've been appointed the Slytherin Quidditch Team Captain!"

A mixture of "Hell, yeah!", "Merlin's beard!" and "Finally!" were heard over the table. The only one who didn't say anything was Blaise, stoic as ever, though he nodded in approval.

He asks, "So I'm, like, guaranteed a spot in the team then, yeah?"

Maryam scoffs. "Yeah, right. Get off your high horse. You will need to try out like every other desperate soul in Slytherin."

"I'm not desperate," says Blaise.

"And Theo has a pet alpaca named Frederick."

Theo, mouth open in confusion, looks at Maryam, then Cassia. "You told her?"

"I couldn't not tell her." Cassia says, "They've known since the moment it happened in second year."

"She laughed about it for days," confirms Eva.

"Whatever," says Theo. "I wish I could revoke our friendship rather than move dorms for whatever reason Snape's gone for this year."

Cassia frowns, "You're moving dorms?"

"Me and him both," includes Blaise. "Plus-side, we're getting away from Malfoy, Dumb and Dumber. I'm guessing they're moving someone into ours, or somewhere else. A year without Goyle's snores will do wonders for my sleep regime."

"I'm just glad I can sleep with a Malfoy-free environment," says Theo. "Free of whatever plan he is concocting next. His stress levels really take it's toll on you."

"Well, sources—translating to his Mum—" says Eva, nodding at Blaise, whose eyebrows creased. "Malfoy has taken a bit of a dark turn. Supposedly, You-Know-Who has met with him a couple of times. I don't think he's happy with Malfoy after what his father did."

"I know what it's like," says Cassia. "Dead grandmother, werewolf sister."

"Werewolf sister?" say Maryam and Eva, perfect unison.

Cassia holds a finger to her lips. She could feel the dead weight of Blaise's eyes on her. "She'll be fine with you knowing, but yeah. They set Greyback on Tori."

     "Heaven's sake," says Eva, massaging her temple. "No one is safe."

"Nobody," agrees Cassia, releasing a heavy sigh.

And once they finished catching up that afternoon, once she left her friends and the little Muggle cafe that day, on her way back to the nearest Floo Network... she remembered her boyfriend's word's earlier, and how he knew something she didn't. And how she wanted to find out from Maryam first.

The letter to him was the first thing she wrote when she got home.

Dearest Chosen One, The Apple Of My Eye, My Little Quaffle,

I spoke to Maryam.

You also got quidditch captain, didn't you, you little shit?

I'm so proud of you.

Wait up before you go onto the train next week, Mum has biscuits she wants to give you. They're her favourite, what the hell.

Kindest kindest kindest regards,
Cassia Greengrass,
Your Favourite Person,
And daughter of a man hired to kill you.

P.S. I tried to find you again. And I did, but you were sneaking towards Knockturn Alley with Weasley and Granger before I could intercept you.

P.P.S. Do I even want to ask why?

***

***

eid mubarak to my muslim readers i hope you are having/have had a blessed day, whether you celebrated today or the next couple of days🥹🫶

i recently bought hogwarts legacy on my switch bc it was on sale and ong it's so fun. i so wish my mate helena hadn't told me it was though bc growing an obsession w this game when i have exams in less than a month is not ok😭

if we r going by the books and not daniel radcliffe in the 6th movie - even though he was still HOT - i keep imagining harry w the messy hair aesthetic (which dan obvs didn't rlly follow much in 5th movie and above) this is how i think of harry

feel free to imagine him as u like but this is just in my thoughts!

some things never change and that is a) me being a horrible updater and b) me ranting in authors notes

thanks guys take care of urselves !
visca el barca y visca catalunya