Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Blood Ties and Betrayal	By : burynr08 Category: HP Canon Characters paired with Original Characters > Het - Male/Female Views: 6699 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 4
Disclaimer: I do not own JK Rowling's world of Harry Potter or make a profit from this story.

Chapter List
- 47
- 48
- 49
1986
"Severus?"
Snape sighed wearily at the use of his first name. Nonetheless, he decided to answer the young Slytherin witch sitting in his classroom. Being the only two people in the room, there was no need to enforce such trivialities. That, and he had corrected her four times in the last hour already and couldn't see any purpose in continuing to waste the effort. Her tenacity rivaled his, although that was something he had learned long ago. "What?"
"Are you going to the Quidditch match this weekend?"
"No."
"Why not?"
A vein in his temple throbbed. She had been asking him questions every few minutes, and he was making little headway on the pile of fifth-year essays he was supposed to be grading. "Slytherin is not playing."
Cassie was silent for a few moments, perhaps contemplating his answer, or lost in her own thoughts. At the moment, he didn't care. He was attempting to get something done in the precious quiet. Then, "I think I'm going."
"Don't you have homework to be working on?" he reminded her. It never seemed to phase her that she might be pestering him with her chitchat.
"I've finished my Transfiguration essay."
"I assigned your class an essay on the Fire Protection Potion not two hours ago. Work on that."
"I've got all weekend to finish it." She shrugged and leaned back in her chair.
As he scratched on the parchment in front of him, he replied, "Not if you waste your time attending the match."
"It's not a waste of time, Severus." She got up from her seat and strolled over to the bubbling cauldron near his desk, peering into it with interest. He had been simultaneously grading and working on a batch of Blood-Replenishing Potion for Madam Pomfrey's stores.
"Gryffindor is playing Ravenclaw. You barely have an interest when your own house plays."
"Charlie and Dora want me to sit with them," she told him. He was about to offer her a haughty reply when a knock came at the door. After a glance at the clock, he realized that it was half-past seven. A trio of fourth-year Gryffindors had detention with him and he hadn't been keeping track of the time.
"Enter!" he barked, the command coming out with less finesse than it usually did. He realized he was miffed that he would be trading the company of the one student that actually enjoyed spending time with him for a group of teenagers that hated him. He never imagined that something so seemingly inconsequential might affect his poise.
The Gryffindors filed in, looking downright miserable as they sat in the third row and waited for further instruction from the Potions Master. He turned to tell Cassie that she needed to go back to her common room, but she had already packed her homework away and was zipping her bag shut. She walked towards the door without acknowledging him, knowing that showing signs of cordiality in front of other students aggravated her head of house. Nonetheless, a small pang of bitterness arose in his throat as he watched her go; she could go about her evening after spending time with him and think nothing of it. More than likely, she would be out on the grounds with Weasley and the Tonks girl without a care in the world and he would still be in this classroom with three sets of eyes shooting him glares and wishing him ill. What he wouldn't give for such an effortless comradery like she was developing with her Gryffindor and Hufflepuff schoolmates. It was something he hadn't had since those early years with Lily.
"You'll be scrubbing cauldrons. No magic," Snape informed the fourth years. One groaned loudly, and he added sorting leeches by size to the young wizard's punishment. It was an early sign of his impending lugubrious evening.
The next day at lunch, Snape's continued sense of monotony was somewhat broken when McGonagall got his attention. "Severus," she said, peering over her glasses at him, "Might I have a word with you in private?"
He agreed, and he could sense from her tone that this was a matter of business. When they entered the Head of Gryffindor's office minutes later, he couldn't help but wrinkle his nose at the sickening amount of Christmas embellishments that covered it. Even her desk was adorned in glittering red and golden tinsel. "Did you let Hagrid decorate in here, Minerva?" he drawled.
Even at the snideness of his question, the corners of her lips upturned slightly. "I had to make up for your lack of holiday spirit, you cynic. Now, the reason why we're here. I have three fourth-year Gryffindors that were jinxed this morning."
"How unfortunate," he replied dully.
"The caster was particularly skilled. It took me a solid twenty minutes to reverse the Melofors jinx that this young witch produced. And she cast it simultaneously on all three of the students that were in your detention last night."
He had an idea who McGonagall was referring to. "You know it was Miss Black for certain?"
"They were adamant it was her."
"Why did she do it?"
"I have not spoken to her yet. I thought it would be best if we did that together."
"Miss Black does not involve herself in altercations with other students unless she feels it is...warranted," he said lightly.
"A fact I am aware of, Severus. But Mister Millerfield still has pumpkin seeds shooting out of his left ear, despite my best efforts," McGonagall replied evenly. Snape snorted in amusement.
With a heavy reluctance, Snape let the Deputy Headmistress send a note with a Gryffindor prefect to find Cassie. She had been in the library with Tonks. When she entered the office to face her professors, her expression did not indicate any bewilderment whatsoever. She greeted them politely before taking a seat in front of McGonagall's desk. Snape stood by his colleague, his arms crossed over his broad chest.
"Do you know why you're here, Miss Black?" McGonagall started.
"Yes."
"Then why not come straight to one of us after it happened?" Snape snapped. He ignored the stern look that McGonagall shot him.
"I thought it might be more humiliating for them to have to find a teacher to help them," Cassie replied, shrugging. Snape let out an irritated huff.
"Why did you do it?" he demanded. Cassie's eyes left his, her gaze landing on McGonagall.
"I'll accept whatever punishment is in store for me."
"I don't expect such arrogance from you, Miss Black," Snape said icily. "Answer the question!" Now, Cassie's eyes went down to her hands, which were folded neatly in her lap. She was silent, only irritating him further. "Miss Black - "
"Can I talk to Professor McGonagall alone?"
"No, you may not!" he replied swiftly.
"Severus," McGonagall started in. "I don't think that's an unfair request!"
Again, he ignored her. Eyes narrowing in annoyance at Cassie's unwillingness to cooperate, Snape leaned toward her across the desk. "Answer. The. Question."
Sucking in a deep breath and then sighing, Cassie finally looked up at him again. "They caught me in the corridor this morning, goaded me for spending time in your classroom willingly."
"That does not justify your use of a jinx on them," he scoffed.
"They were disrespectful."
"To you?" He couldn't believe her reasoning.
"No," she said slowly, now looking at him like he was dense. "To you!"
"So you're pretending like you were defending my honor to get out of punishment?" he accused her. The audacity of this strong-willed girl! Sometimes he couldn't fathom how her mind worked.
"I'm not pretending," she said, returning his glare, "And I already told you I would accept the punishment!"
"Enough!" McGonagall declared, standing up from her chair. "I swear, the two of you are the most bull-headed nincompoops in this castle!" Pulled out of their squabble, Cassie and Snape both looked at her, dumbfounded. "Miss Black, what did they say, so I can reprimand them appropriately!"
Her eyes returned to her lap. "I don't want to repeat it."
"Miss Black!" Snape snarled.
"Fine!" the young Slytherin shouted, and she avoided looking at him when she told McGonagall, "Millerfield said Professor Snape is a greasy, nasty dungeon bat, and Heckles said he's a complete minger and will die a virgin."
The intensity in the room lightened considerably when the professors heard this. McGonagall told Snape that it was up to him what her punishment would be. Minutes later, he was escorting Cassie from the Head of Gryffindor's office and down to the dungeons. The two of them were silent for a few minutes until they started to descend the stairwell. "So what did Miss Eons do?" he asked casually as they passed a group of students.
"She laughed at what they said and called me a loser for hanging out with you."
"And you decided that should secure her the same fate," he mused.
"She was with them so she must be an idiot, too."
"I hardly need a champion on my behalf," he told her quietly. They entered his classroom once again. He wondered if the Gryffindor witch's words were going through Cassie's head, that she was a loser for spending time with him. Even though he would never admit it, the thought was certainly bothering him.
She shrugged indifferently. "We're friends." She said it so simply as if she believed it hardly needed to be said at all.
They made their way to his office, and as he sat at his desk and she plopped down in the chair across from it, he asked, "What do you think is a fair penalty for your actions, Miss Black?"
"You're the professor here." Always with that testy tone, at least when it came to him. No wonder they constantly butted heads.
"Have it your way. Instead of attending the Quidditch match, you'll be scrubbing toilets with Mister Filch."
Cassie had been paging through a Burmese defensive magic text that had been on his desk until he said that. She slammed it shut, now at full attention. "Filch? Was what I did really that bad, Severus?"
"You had your chance to have input," he said coolly. He let her sweat for a few moments before telling her that he was joking and that she would indeed be missing the Quidditch match, but would be serving her detention with him. The second year seemed satisfied with that.
Later in the school year, Snape would look back on this time and wish for such frivolous dilemmas as these. He would be confident in his assumption that Cassie would feel the same.
The first reports of unusual activity in Hogsmeade happened shortly after the students returned from Christmas break. A few hooded figures were seen walking around the village at night, causing nothing but curious speculation from the locals. It didn't take long for things to ramp up from there. Within a few weeks, Dervish and Banges had been raided and Madam Puddifoot had been extensively questioned about her blood status by a small group of masked wizards in black robes. Hysteria traveled quickly through the local community, and the utterance of 'Death Eaters' had been heard a few too many times for the Ministry's liking. Once the news reached the magical community that Aurors had been stationed in Hogsmeade, the parents of Hogwarts students began to panic.
"What is this, Dumbledore?" Snape inquired plainly one evening. They were in the Headmaster's office, the elder wizard having just informed him that these unknown radicals had made a threat against the school. "Are they truly the Dark Lord's followers?"
"You haven't heard anything from Lucius?" Dumbledore asked in response.
"Of course not, or you would have been the first to know!" Snape snapped back. "Have I given you any reason to doubt my loyalties now?"
"No, Severus," Dumbledore said evenly. "My faith in your allegiance has never wavered. Forgive me for making you ever think that. But even though these witches and wizards are behaving like Lord Voldemort's previous followers, I have no evidence to support the fact that he has or may soon be returning. I'll be the first to admit that I am at a bit of a loss."
"Then what is this?" Snape repeated.
"Time will tell, I suppose. Minister Bagnold has her best Aurors out looking to arrest at least one of them to get information."
McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout joined them minutes later after ensuring the students were holed up in their common rooms. The rest of the staff were patrolling the castle. "Perhaps we should join the fight in Hogsmeade?" Sprout suggested.
"We need to be here in case they somehow breach the grounds," Flitwick pointed out.
"Fat chance," McGonagall quipped. "Everything they've done until now has been laughable. The Ministry hasn't taken them remotely seriously until tonight."
"Are you hoping that they become bolder in their efforts?" Snape pressed her irritably. "That they torture or kill someone next?"
"Don't put words in my mouth, Severus," the Deputy Headmistress scolded. "I just mean that so far, they have proven to be quite moronic."
"Nothing to worry about!" Flitwick added. Snape stayed silent, biting back what he wanted to say: they were being too naive.
When no news from the Aurors came in the next hour, the heads of houses joined the rest of the staff in the patrol. The castle remained quiet as Snape walked, the silence only interrupted by the footsteps of other professors or the harassing laughter of Peeves. He was at the very least pleased that no students had been caught sneaking out of their common rooms that night. Even though there was no reason to assume they were in immediate danger, anyone that dared to defy their orders under these circumstances would suffer heavy consequences. It was too early to know what they were truly dealing with.
The morning came. Snape went to the Slytherin common room to update his pupils that there was nothing yet to report. Breakfast was going to be served to them in the dormitory, and with loud pops, house-elves began appearing with trays of food for the hungry kids. He was about to leave when he noticed that Cassie was making her way to him through the crowd of Slytherins scrambling to get their share of sausage and eggs.
"Miss Black," he greeted her quietly.
"Are they?" she asked at a near whisper. She didn't need to clarify that she wanted to know if they were her father's supporters.
"We have no indication either way," he told her in the same hushed tone. The girl let out a shaky breath. "You'll let me know if you hear from your aunt or uncle?"
"Yes, Professor Snape."
He felt guilty leaving her behind as he went to the staff room. Until they knew it was safe for the students to roam about the castle again, it was only fair that she would have to stay in the common room like the rest of the student body. He realized that all of this was making troublesome memories bubble up to the surface of his mind and that she must be experiencing the same unpleasantness. Cassie could use his kinship right now or at the very least the distraction of Weasley or Tonks. Or maybe he was just trying to justify letting her out of the damned common room that he knew she despised spending time in.
The other staff members were chatting idly as he was lost in these thoughts. The room quieted immediately when Professor Dumbledore entered. He had a somber look on his weathered face. As usual, all eyes were on him.
"The Ministry was able to make contact," he said steadily.
"They captured one of them?" Depecor asked.
"No," Dumbledore replied. "Every single one of them evaded the best efforts of our Aurors. It seems they were quite bothersome for most of the night. But for whatever reason, they decided to speak to one of Bagnold's assistants under an agreement of temporary armistice."
"Who are they? What do they want?" McGonagall asked, voicing the exact same questions that were going through Snape's mind. His stomach dropped when the headmaster's eyes suddenly landed on him. When he spoke next, it was like he was ignoring everyone else in the room. Suddenly, all of this felt very personal.
"They call themselves the Servants of the Heredis," said Dumbledore quietly. "And they want us to give them Cassiopeia Black."
1993
Severus had been reading a potions textbook on arachnoid venoms when Cassie returned from Knockturn Alley. Without looking up from the page he was studying, he asked her how much quicksilver she had managed to get from Shyverwretch's. He must have noticed the distress in Cassie's voice when she answered because he snapped to attention as soon as she spoke.
"What happened?" His onyx eyes were fixed on her, his brow furrowed with unease. With her lover's full attention, she recounted what had just happened, careful not to leave out any detail in case he discerned something she missed. The only thing she didn't feel the need to mention was the shaggy dog she came across outside of Hogsmeade.
"Well?" Cassie asked. She had finally stopped pacing now that she was done with her story. She plopped into a chair, starting Severus's fireplace with a lazy wave of her hand. "What do you make of it?"
"I'm not sure what to make of it, Cassie."
"Doesn't it seem suspicious?"
"What aspect?"
"Um, everything? Shyverwretch calling me 'The Heir', someone following me?" she said, exasperated. "And you should have seen the way he looked at me. What a wanker!"
"Shyverwretch has always given off a ghoulish quality, that is nothing new. Even being in Knockturn Alley tends to make people feel unsettled if they don't frequent the area regularly," he said. Cassie huffed in annoyance, not exactly thrilled with his eagerness to play Devil's advocate tonight. He continued on, his voice rising in volume slightly in anticipation of her trying to feud with him. "And as for calling you that - "
"'That'!" she spat. She took a deep breath, willing herself to listen. Fighting with Severus wasn't going to get them anywhere.
"Yes, Cassie, 'The Heir', I haven't suddenly forgotten," he said evenly, clearly also trying to maintain control of his temper. "Shyverwretch wasn't a Death Eater but was a supporter. Who's to say he wasn't a part of what happened in your second year and no one knew at the time?"
"So you're saying he slipped up in saying that. Just an old habit," Cassie asked. "Can it really be that simple?"
"As I said, Cassie. I don't really know what to make of it."
"How about someone following me?"
"It could be something as straightforward as a journalist trying to land a scandalous story on you. You were in Knockturn Alley after dark."
Cassie bit her bottom lip as she considered his words. Severus could be right, as he usually was. The magical community had been obsessed with writing stories about her since she had taken down Sombria and returned to Europe. But something in her gut was leaving her feeling tense. "I'm just worried it's more than that."
Severus, who had been standing in front of her chair, came down to his knees in front of her. Now at the level of her eyes, he made sure she was looking at him before he spoke again. "I am not trying to disregard your concerns. I just don't want you to burden yourself until there is a concrete reason to."
Cassie gave him a small smile, her hand going to cup his cheek gently. "There always is, isn't there?"
He didn't answer her. He didn't need to. Taking her hand, he guided her up from the chair and through his office. He didn't let go of her until they were in his quarters, and as soon as they were ready for bed and crawling under the covers, he pulled her into his arms. Cassie just wished his nurturing actions would lead her to a sound, restful slumber. She only slept for a few short hours before waking in a sheen of sweat, having just had another nightmare about Sombria. This was a brand new version; instead of Cassie killing her, she had joined the dark witch at her side. She had woken up in the middle of Sombria praising her for following in her father's footsteps.
With traumatic memories on her mind, Cassie wasn't in a particularly good mood at breakfast. Severus suggested that she take a potion for dreamless sleep and try to get some rest since she would be up patrolling that night. She told him she would after a quick walk out on the grounds. He was naturally skeptical of that answer but went back to organizing vials nonetheless.
As Severus correctly sensed, Cassie's casual stroll outside had an intended purpose that she didn't divulge. Being a weekend and a pleasantly crisp autumn day, a lot of the students were taking the time to enjoy some much-needed fresh air. It was too bad the dementors had to ruin what would have a perfectly splendid day outdoors. Normally, students would be spread out in small groups all over the campus. Today, they were huddled up near the castle, as far away from the Azkaban guards as they could be.
She found Draco in a congregation of Slytherins in the middle courtyard. She could tell as she was approaching that he was pretending like he hadn't seen her. Based on their last private conversation, she wasn't surprised.
"Draco, a word please," she said, and a buzz of whispers from his classmates followed her request. She held her breath as the moments ticked by. The last thing she wanted was for her cousin to be defiant in front of his fellow Slytherins or say something derogatory to try to impress them. If she had to reprimand him again so soon it would only damage their relationship further.
It seemed Draco was weighing his options as he glared at her. He must have come to a similar conclusion, and finally, he complied. He rolled his silvery eyes as he stepped away from the clique.
"What?" he hissed under his breath.
Cassie bit back her desire to scold him for his temperament. "I just wanted to invite you to have lunch in my office."
He wrinkled his nose as if the very notion disgusted him. "With you? No thanks," he said, his mouth curled into a sneer. "Is that it?"
"Yeah, I suppose it is," she replied guilelessly, hiding the sting of rejection she was feeling. He turned and walked away from her, going back to his friends. Cassie spent the rest of the day wondering how she could possibly get her younger cousin to speak to her again, if not for their relationship's sake, then at least for Hagrid's.
By the time nine o'clock came around and it was time to patrol, Cassie was feeling quite drained. Her one saving grace so far was that none of the professors had asked for her help during classes Monday morning, so at least she had hope for the chance to sleep in. The optimistic thought was going through her mind as she entered the library, where the professors and prefects met at the start of patrol before starting their shift. Since Sirius Black was on the loose, Dumbledore was requiring that they complete their rounds in pairs this year. Her fleeting moment of cheerfulness left her the second she saw Remus Lupin leaning against one of the tables, paging casually through a Charms textbook.
"Miss Black! What a pleasant surprise," he greeted her amiably. "I didn't know you were on duty tonight."
"I switched," she told him dully. She hadn't wanted to deal with him so soon after the confrontation about Severus.
"Just as well. I had some thoughts on what we talked about yesterday. Perhaps we can partner up tonight?"
"I don't need to hear them."
"But - really?" he started, sounding caught off guard by her reaction. He was about to continue when two prefects walked in. Cassie welcomed the interruption.
"We can't let two students partner up," Cassie said with a smirk. "Too dangerous." Lupin looked mildly dissatisfied. At the moment, she could care less.
Cassie was partnered with Leslie Fernsby, a sixth-year Gryffindor that was pleasant enough to be around. They were acquaintances through Fred, George, and Percy, so finding things to talk about as they walked the halls weren't that hard of a stretch. Cassie was just happy that she hadn't been stuck with Lupin's Ravenclaw partner, Aurelia Dankworth. The girl had nearly piddled herself when Cassie glanced at her.
She and Fernsby were outside the Transfiguration classroom when raucous laughter filled the corridor. Had it not been Peeves's telltale guffaw, it might have caught the two witches by surprise.
"Ugh!" Fernsby had a pained expression on her face. "He pelted my Arithmancy class with hippogriff dung when we were coming out of the classroom on Friday. I've had enough of him for the term!"
"I've had enough of his antics for a lifetime," Cassie agreed. The poltergeist's top half popped out of the ceiling, and he let out a long, exaggerated wail.
"Whatsa matter, Black?" he asked, sticking out his lower lip. "We aren't friends anymore?" He giggled shrilly, and subjects of paintings around him began to grumble and shake their fists at him, demanding that he shut up so they could sleep.
"Shove off, Peeves," Cassie said, waving her hand like he was a pesky fly. She nodded her head to her prefect companion in indication to keep walking.
"Ooooh, Black is mean, she is!" Peeves hooted, swooping around them.
"Peeves, I'm warning you," Cassie said through gritted teeth. Usually, his shenanigans didn't bother her, but nerves were already raw.
"What're you gonna do, kill me like you did that dark witch across the pond?" He cackled again, coming to float right in front of her, his lopsided nose inches from hers. "Voldy's cub is so scary!"
Cassie's ears were ringing. She hadn't realized that she was gripping her wand now; it wasn't pointed at Peeves, but it was poised steadily at her side, ready for the second she decided to strike. Sure, he was merely an annoying phantom, but surely there was some spell - no, some curse she could muster that would teach him...
"Cassie?" Fernsby was asking her, tugging at her sleeve. "Can we keep moving?"
"Voldy's youngster is scary, she'll give you a fright, get on her bad side and she'll show you her might!" Peeves sang. Cassie stuffed her wand in her pocket, giving the younger witch a quick smile before ushering her away. They were ascending the stairs and thankfully he didn't seem to be following, but his lyrics still echoed loudly enough for them to hear. "Black is so vile, her heart full of dread, if you make her mad, she'll kill you dead!"
Fernsby let out a yelp when she almost smacked right into a tall figure as they rounded the corner. "I'm glad we found you so quickly!" Lupin said, sounding slightly out of breath. "We're heading out to the grounds."
"Why? What's going on?" Cassie asked, bewildered at the sudden turn of events. Peeves was still belting his colorful melody somewhere below them.
"Rumor has it a group of seventh years intentionally didn't come inside for dinner so they could break curfew and drink by the lake," Lupin said. He started to walk down the staircase they had just come from, and the trio of witches followed.
"How are you hearing about this now?" asked Cassie.
"Ah, well," Lupin said, shrugging as they walked. "The details aren't really necessary. What's important is we make sure they're safe, with Black and the dementors and all that."
"Obviously," Cassie muttered. She turned to look back at the two prefects behind her. Dankworth avoided her gaze and looked down at her feet; Cassie didn't know if the girl was just afraid of her as usual, or if she had been the one to suddenly divulge this information to Lupin.
They had to walk past Peeves again. His poetic harassment of Cassie swiftly disappeared, much to her delight. Instead, he was chanting, "Loopy loony Lupin!" and at one point made fun of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for not having any chewing gum 'this time' as he followed them to the entrance hall.
"This is it, Peeves," Lupin finally addressed the poltergeist, sounding quite aggravated. "Are you going with us to face the dementors or not?"
"You really are loopy! Ha!" Peeves disappeared through the floor. The castle suddenly seemed too hauntingly quiet as they made for the doors.
Cassie had spent her fair share of time out on the school's grounds at night as a student. The ostensibly endless darkness never bothered her, even with the potential for running into dangerous beasts that had roamed out of the Forbidden Forest. She had always taken extra care to be cautious, and the only other person she brought with her was Charlie, who was capable of taking care of himself. Tonight felt different. Perhaps it was the fact that she was in a position of responsibility now or just the fact that dementors were nearby. She had a growing sense of urgency as they headed to the Black Lake.
At first, the shoreline looked empty. Lupin, with his own extensive resume full of mischief, knew better. He cast a revealing charm, and within seconds, the gathered seventh years were revealed. There were nearly a dozen of them from all four houses, some seated on the ground, others on conjured furniture. A few blobs of blue flames encased in charmed bubbles were floating so they could see each other as they chatted. There were partially empty liquor bottles in some of the teen's hands.
As the young wizards and witches realized that they had been caught, many gasped and jumped to their feet. One Slytherin boy pointed right at Dankworth, who was standing behind Lupin, and seethed, "Aurelia, you rat!"
"Ten points from Slytherin," Cassie interjected swiftly, and groans of protest followed. "Don't blame her for your stupidity! What were all of you thinking, coming out here with what's going on?"
"We're fine," a Hufflepuff witch muttered. "It's not like Sirius Black would attack this many of us at once." Cassie bit her tongue. No use pointing out to a group of inebriated teenagers that Black blew up an entire street of people in broad delight without batting an eye.
"Stand up, all of you!" Lupin said sharply. With a wave of his wand, the bottles and their contents disappeared. "We're all going back to the castle immediately. Just be grateful that all of you are safe! Did you learn nothing in my lessons about the dementors?"
The seventh-years did as their professor said, slowly making their way back with the prefects in the lead. Then, Tina Hodges, a brunette Gryffindor witch, pointed out, "What about Kevin and Darla?"
Lupin and Cassie, who were bringing up the rear, exchanged a quick glance. "This isn't all of you?" Cassie asked.
"They split off about a half-hour ago," Hodges slurred.
"Where did they go?"
"Toward the forest."
After instructing the two prefects to finish escorting the group up to the castle, Lupin and Cassie took off in the direction of the trees. The closer they got to the Forbidden Forest, the colder and more sinister it felt. Cassie didn't need to see a dementor to know at least one was very near, making her hope that those two imbecilic students were somewhere far away by now. Just as the thought went through her head, she heard a scream.
At the same time that Darla Trunk was shrieking, a dementor had turned its attention from the young couple and plunged down on Lupin and Cassie. Those same hellish sensations Cassie had experienced on the Hogwarts Express were coming back to her in a tsunami of visuals, and within seconds she was dropping to her knees. She couldn't focus on the fact that five of the creatures were floating around them, and one of them had set its typhlotic sights on her.
"Expecto patronum!" Lupin bellowed. An incorporeal Patronus burst from the end of his wand, and two of the dementors, who had merely been circling the quartet, fled immediately. Lupin bent down behind Cassie and hoisted her to a standing position, his arms supporting her under her armpits.
"Wand, Cassie!" he yelled in her ear. "We need you!"
But Cassie was focused on the memory of Alex. Not a memory of him joking and laughing, or even of him training with her or talking about his fondness for Romily. It was Alex dying. She saw it over and over, somehow seeing the light leave his eyes in a loop even though seconds were only ticking by. While she saw Sombria standing over him, the dementor's outstretched hand was reaching for her neck, just like on the train, and Lupin was trying to support her, dragging her across the grass, away from certain death -
Lupin cast a Patronus a second time. This time, it took the form of a wolf, and it hurled itself into the dementor going after Cassie with so much force that the dark being hissed in objection. It flew into the sky, and Lupin's wolf chased off the remaining dementors within seconds, coming back to circle the small group and wag its tail in merriment.
"Cassie," Lupin said gently. She was on her back on the ground now, and her vision was coming into focus again. In the dark, she could barely make out Lupin and the two students that were staring down at her in concern. "Are you with us?"
"Yes," she croaked, her voice hoarse from the lingering cold. "I'm so sorry."
"Don't be," the professor said. He had managed to find some chocolate in his robes and was breaking it apart, handing it to the students first, then to Cassie. "Clearly you have some horrifying memories that most people could only imagine."
"Lucky me," she muttered, shoving the chocolate into her mouth all at once.
The four of them headed back to the castle. The Slytherin and Ravenclaw couple, clearly shaken from the entire ordeal, were walking arm in arm in front of Lupin and Cassie. Lupin was watching them with a faraway look on his features. He caught Cassie studying him and gave her a sheepish half-smile. She found herself once again wondering how lonely the werewolf was.
"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked.
"I'm fine, thanks to you," said Cassie. She was walking slowly, her arms folded across her chest to try to keep warm, just trying to stay focused on the fact that she could crawl into bed soon. If she felt tired before, she felt ready to drop now.
"Does saving your life win points with Severus?"
"Is that the only reason you did that, Remus?" she jested in return. Lupin smiled at her. "What?"
"You called me 'Remus.'"
"So?"
"Maybe that means we're friends." He was goading her in his good-natured way, trying to get on her nerves again. But she also knew a large part of him was sincere. It would be hard not to have some sense of amiability after the experience they had just shared. Under normal circumstances, that would just be fine. But this was not someone she had intended to be friendly with.
With this realization, her stomach twisted in knots. This wouldn't sit well with Severus at all.
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Blood Ties and Betrayal