"Where is everybody?"

When the four of them had left the castle, there had been duelling and trolls and spiders and dementors everywhere.

Now, apart from rubble and broken beams, nothing remained.

They didn't find anyone until they entered what had been the great hall, and which was now just a huge space filled with rocks and wood and people. People sitting on benches, on the floor, people talking, people trying to help others.

Straight away, Ron and Hermione entered, finding people and making sure everyone was okay. Harry and Cassia were slower, gripping hands tightly as they walked up the hall.

"Harry, Cassia!" Slughorn said with a slight smile when they passed. He was patching up Filch, who had a gash on his shoulder.

All up and down, wounds were getting tended to, people were sitting looking lost, and people were grieving for those lost. Cassia felt like sobbing as she saw Professor Trelawney and Parvati covering Lavender, who hadn't made it.

And then, across the room, both she and Harry saw it.

When all the Weasleys saw Ron, they almost launched at him, all hugging him. They all looked wrecked, with fresh tear tracks on their faces, their eyes bloodshot and full of tears. Cassia was so confused, why were they-?

And then she saw him.

Fred Weasley was lying on the ground, eyes closed, chest not moving.

Dead.

"Oh my-" Cassia croaked, hand going up to cover her mouth as she watched Ron kneel down, wails turning to sobs when looking at Fred's broken frame.

Cassia saw George, as well, looking absolutely torn as he realised his partner in crime was no longer around. And then she turned to Harry.

Her boyfriend was, of course, sad, but another emotion was also present on his face. Guilt.

And the blow was only hardened as they turned to the side to see Lupin and Tonks lying in stretchers, hands extended towards each other's.

They were dead, too. No doubt about it.

"This is my fault," Harry murmured, his voice sounding so broken. "This is all my-"

"No," Cassia said firmly, turning to face him fully. "No you did not do this."

"They were fighting for me, Cass," Harry told her. "They were fighting so they didn't have to hand me over," he stared her right in the eyes. "Maybe it's best I just go to the forest and then no one else has to get hurt."

"If you go out to that forest, I'll kill you myself," Cassia snapped back. Then her voice went soft, and she lifted a hand up to cup his cheek. "And then I'll add me to the list, because my life doesn't exist without you, Potter. My life doesn't work without you in it."

Harry stared at her, wordless.

Then he finally spoke. "I-I need to put these in the pensive," he told her, holding up the flask. "But I... I don't know if I can do it alone."

Cassia lifted another hand up, cupping his face with both of them now. "You're not alone," she told him. "And I'll stay with you, Potter, always. You're not getting rid of me."

Harry stared at her for a second, before nodding.

He gave her another kiss before they turned and left, leaving Lupin, Tonks, Fred and all the other fallen behind them.

❦︎❦︎❦︎

The door to Sn- Dumbledore's office shut with a slight thump as Harry and Cassia, still gripping hands, walked slowly into the room.

"The last time I was here was to steal the sword," Cassia murmured to no one in particular, just thinking aloud.

"If it's making you uncomfortable, you don't have to do this," Harry told her, squeezing her hand.

Cassia, despite being mildly irritated, found herself smiling. This boy.

"Idiot," she muttered. "That's not what I meant."

Harry nodded, still holding her hand as they walked over to the cabinet where the pensive was stored. Cassia was hit by deja vu as she opened it, remembering way back in fourth year, when she and Harry discovered the thoughts cabinet accidentally.

They'd been so young, back then. They would've never suspected that they would fall in love in a couple years.

Harry slowly undid the flask's lid, body shaking as he held it over the pensive, slowly pouring the suddenly milky white tears into the basin.

Harry looked at Cassia, eyes soft and warm. "Ready?"

Cassia nodded, lips twitching. "Ready."

And then they were falling.

❦︎❦︎❦︎

They were on a hillside.

That was the first thing Cassia registered as she and Harry hit the ground. The sky was blue and the sun was shining above them, and they were on a grassy hillside.

Beside them were two girls.

Cassia watched in wonder as they came into focus. They both couldn't have been more than eleven to twelve, but they also couldn't look more different. One of them had brown hair, brown eyes and a deep frown. The other had flaming red hair and an open, light face.

She also had green eyes. Piercing green eyes. Green eyes the exact same as the boy standing beside her.

Cassia's eyes widened as she saw the girl with red hair open her palm, showing the other a dead flower. Then, without a word, she made the flower grow, becoming a daisy once again, bright white petals almost shining.

The other girl though, was not impressed. She hit the flower away, yelling. "Freak!" The red haired girl turned and ran up the hill, but the brunette followed her, shrieking. "I'm telling mummy! You're a FREAK! You're a freak, Lily!"

Lily.

Cassia turned to Harry with wide eyes as everything slotted into place.

That's Harry's mother.

And that's Petunia, her sister, Harry's aunt.

And then, low and behold, another boy appeared beside Lily at the top of the hill. This boy was wearing all black, and he had shoulder length black hair, that even then, was a bit greasy.

This boy was Snape.

Petunia took one look at Lily and Snape and bolted, but Cassia was just stood next to Harry, watching the scene in shock.

Lily knew Snape... before school?

And it was clear, as the boy lifted up a bit of leaf and made it fly into the air. Lily watched in shock, before smiling slightly at Snape.

He smiled back.

"Holy shit," Cassia said under her breath, absolutely shocked, as she shared a look with Harry. He was floored in the same way she was.

The scene quickly changed to Snape and Lily lying on their backs by the riverside, Snape telling his apparent friend. "She's jealous, because she's ordinary and you're special."

"That's mean, Severus," Lily told him.

The scene switched again, quickly, to Lily sitting on the stool in the great hall, sorting hat on her head-

"GRYFFINDOR!"

There was a huge smattering of applause from everyone in the hall, and Cassia, who was still holding Harry's hand, held it tighter. She was suddenly reminded vividly of what had happened during her sorting, and the howler she got after.

Lily, however, looked thrilled, and hopped straight off the stool. Snape, who was still in the pre-sorting crowd, looked disappointed.

He was wishing she'd get Slytherin.

From Snape's point of view, Cassia and Harry watched as Lily sat down in between a shaggy black haired boy and a smirking brown haired boy.

"Hi, I'm James," the smirking one said, shaking his future wife's hand.

"Hi, I'm Lily," she said with a smile, before turning to her other side to greet who Cassia was very sure would introduce himself as Sirius Black.

The scene switched again to show Lily and Snape walking through the corridor, getting shoved to the side by a sprinting James and Sirius, who were laughing hard.

"You're just like your father," came Snape's voice from years later, speaking to Harry. "Lazy, arrogant-"

"Don't say a word against my father!" Harry yelled indignantly, as the scene switched again.

"No, don't kill me!"

This time, a lot of years had been jumped. Snape was an adult now, the adult Harry and Cassia both recognised. However, he was crying, and was facing Albus Dumbledore.

"The prophecy did not refer to a woman," the former headmaster spoke calmly. "It spoke of a boy born at the end of July-"

"Yes, but he thinks it's her son!" Snape spluttered, his eyes red and face tear streaked. "He intends to hunt them down now, to kill them! Hide her. Hide them all. I beg you."

"What will you give me in exchange, Severus?" Dumbledore asked.

Snape sighed shakily. "Anything."

And then they were in the Potters' house in Godric's Hollow, and Lily was whispering to a baby Harry in the crib...

"Harry... Harry, you are so loved," she whispered to him. "Harry, mama loves you. Dada loves you. Harry, be safe. Be strong."

Cassia didn't realise she was crying until she felt the tears on her face.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The scene was now Voldemort killing Lily, and she was screaming and crying and in pain-

"You said you would keep her safe!"

The scene switched again, and they were back in Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore was stood by the window, looking out of it. Snape was behind him, again looking distraught.

"Lily and James put their faith in the wrong person, Severus," the headmaster explained. "Rather like you."

He turned, seeing Snape crying, falling against the wall.

"The boy survives."

"He doesn't need protection, the Dark Lord is gone!"

"The Dark Lord will return," Dumbledore promised him. "And when he does, the boy will be in terrible danger."

Cassia gripped Harry's hand. That much was clear at the moment.

Snape bowed his head, another tear falling down his face.

"He has her eyes," Dumbledore gently reminded him. Snape looked up as he continued. "If you truly loved her..."

Snape's eyes widened slightly. "No one..." he said firmly, his voice shaking slightly. "Can know."

The scene switched again, to Harry being sorted, to his smiling face and then to Snape's sour one.

"He possesses no measurable talent, his arrogance rivals even that of his father and he seems to relish in his fame," Snape's voice said in the background.

Then the scene changed to Harry and Snape in the latter's office, the boy being thrown across it, yelling. "My father was a great man!"

"You father was a swine!" Snape bellowed.

Then they were back in Dumbledore's office, the headmaster sat at his desk, his right hand laid on the table, black and shrivelled.

"Drink this," Snape said, handing him a goblet. "It will contain the curse to your hand for now."

As he looked at the hand, Dumbledore drank the potion.

"It will spread, Albus," Snape told him, his voice fearful.

"How long?" Dumbledore asked, rather conversationally.

"Maybe a year," Snape told him, before getting up and walking to the other side of the office.

"Don't ignore me, Severus," Dumbledore told him. "We both know Lord Voldemort has ordered Draco Malfoy to murder me. And Cassia to help him."

Cassia took a sharp breath, her hand clammy against Harry's.

"But should they fail, one should presume the Dark Lord will turn to you," Dumbledore told him.

Snape stared at him, his eyes wide and his body tensed. Cassia gasped slightly as the nine words came out Dumbledore's mouth.

"You must be the one to kill me, Severus."

Oh my god.

"It is the only way," Dumbledore continued. "Only then will the Dark Lord trust you completely."

The scene flashed between scenes of Snape and Harry underneath the Astronomy tower- then Snape killing Dumbledore, the headmaster falling over the barrier- and then they were back in the office-

"There will come a time when Harry Potter must be told something," Dumbledore told Snape, now standing. "But you must wait until Voldemort is at his most vulnerable."

"Must be told what?" Snape snapped.

Another switch- Snape stumbling through the house in Godric's hollow... seeing Lily's body- breaking down into sobs and holding her, rocking her back and forth-

Then they were back in the office again, and Cassia let a small sob wrack her chest.

He loved her.

He loved her and she didn't love him back.

Then Dumbledore spoke. "On the night that Lord Voldemort went to Godric's Hollow to kill Harry Potter, and Lily Potter cast herself between them... the curse rebounded."

Cassia's eyes widened.

"And when that happened, a part of Voldemort's soul latched itself to the only living thing it could find... Harry himself."

And then Cassia began to understand, and she couldn't look to Harry, because he was right there, and she just fucking couldn't-

"There's a reason Harry can speak with snakes, there's a reason he can see into Lord Voldemort's mind," Dumbledore continued. "A part of Voldemort... lives inside him."

Snape took all this in, his mouth stuttering open and closed.

"So when the time comes..." he said finally, his voice wavering. "The boy must die?"

Cassia was frozen. No it wasn't true, it couldn't be true-

"Yes," Dumbledore nodded. "He must die. And Voldemort himself must do it, that part is essential."

Snape stared at him, his mouth curling.

"You've kept him alive so he can die at the proper moment," he snarled. "You've been raising him like a pig for slaughter."

Cassia's whole body was shaking as Dumbledore looked back, her chest heaving-

"Don't tell me now that you've come to care for the boy?" Dumbledore replied, raising his eyebrow.

"Care for him?" Snape asked, eyes widening, raising his wand. "Expecto Patronum!"

And then a doe burst forth from his wand, bounding around the room. Cassia gasped, still not looking at Harry but knowing deep down that it was Snape that had sent the silver doe, the silver doe Harry had thought was hers-

"Lily," Dumbledore whispered to Snape in shock, before raising his voice slightly. "After all this time?"

Snape stared back at him, his eyes softening yet hardening, his whole demeanour falling apart.

"Always."

And then they were shooting up out the pensive, and Cassia was screaming and trying to reach Harry, and her whole body was wracked with sobs, her lungs not able to capacitate everyth-

She fell out the pensive onto the floor, still crying hard as she looked at the love of her life opposite her.

"Cassia..." he said, his voice breaking.

She hadn't looked at Harry the whole time, because she knew it would just make her break down.

But as she looked at him, into those green eyes that now had more meaning than ever, she decided that she wasn't going to break. She was going to be strong.

She was going to be strong for him.

"Harry."