Where the Heart Is

Chapter Six: Confrontations


Cassandra\'s eyes flickered open, gazing around her surroundings and for a second being completely confused of where she was. Suddenly, it all came back to her, and she stifled a sob.

A hand gently reached over and touched her hand. \"So, you\'re awake.\"

She looked over, seeing Remus there. She swallowed back the lump in her th, no, not wanting to cry right now. \"How long was I asleep?\"

\"Over a day. It\'s Sunday, late afternoon. You just missed Harry. He\'s been here quite a bit. They are all worried about you.\" Remus said softly. After the incident and Severus\' livid comments about how they shouldn\'t have left her alone and that she shouldn\'t
be alone while in the Hospital Wing, Dumbledore had agreed, setting up a watch to make certain that she didn\'t have to wake up alone.

She sat up weakly, leaning heavily against the pillow. She shivered slightly and pulled around the black material on her shoulders over.

Remus noticed that she still had possession of Severus\' cloak. \"Professor Snape was here earlier to check on you. I think he\'s worried about you.\"

She smiled faintly at that comment. \"I doubt he is really worried about me. He probably wants his cloak back.\" Instead of taking the cloak off her shoulders, she pulled it even closer. She had no intentions of giving back the cloak yet. She found it very
comforting. The scent of it was a mixture of potion ingredients and distinctly male.

He gently patted her arm. \"Are you okay? I know this can\'t be easy. It was only recently since we lost Sirius and now this....\"

Her eyes lowered, blinking back the fresh tears that had suddenly sprung to her eyes. \"It is hard.\" She slowly looked up to Remus. \"I\'m the last one, Professor. The last Black that still carries the name.\" She closed her eyes, and the tears fell from them. \"What\'s going to become of me?\"

Remus stood up and sat down on the edge of the bed, bringing her forward for a hug. He felt like he should watch over her. It was what he would have done for Sirius and for John. Gently, he smoothed her hair. \"You will stay here. You are of age, Cassandra. If you need any help at all, I\'m here for you. I told your father that I would watch out for yond Ind I intend to keep the promise.\" She sobbed softly against his shoulder. She had never known anything toso hso hard. She kept thinking about them, and it made her so sad and filled with despair.

Severus had been in the shadows, watching over Cassandra when Lupin came in. He considered leaving, but then she had awoken and was now sobbin Lun Lupin’s arms. He remembered feeling her delicate frame in HIS arms just a day ago. He turned from the sight and silently left, not making his presence known.


Cassandra woke up again, finding someone holding her hand. The last thing she remembered was crying against Remus. Glancing over, she noticed that it was Harry. He wasn’t looking at her. His head was bowed. “Harry?”

Harry looked up and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “It’s about time you woke up. We were so worried about you. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny have been wanting to come, but the professors said that you wouldn’t want so much company. They told us what happened. I’m so sorry, Cassie. It’s so horrible.” He didn’t know what words of comfort he could give her. He just wished that he had gotten rid of Voldemort during the chances he had. He reached over and lightly brushed his fingertips against her cheek. “I’m so sorry.”

She gave him a sad smile and sat up weakly. “I’m glad they didn’t come. I’m not up for much company.” She sighed heavily. “I never realized that it would be so hard. I feel like my entire world has crashed down around me…like I’m suffocated…drowning in it. I have no more family left.” Her head bowed.

Harry closed his eyes slowly. He understood how she felt. He really had no one. Well, he did have the Dursleys, not that they counted for much, but he considered himself a little luckier to at least have them. He raised his hand and placed it under her chin, tilting her head up until her gaze met his. “I understand. You’re not alone.”

If anyone understood, it was Harry Potter, she thought as she looked at him. She nodded and closed her eyes, letting a few tears slip from them. She felt his lips on hers again as he had leaned in to kiss her. She kissed him back, desiring the need not to feel so utterly alone.

Severus had come up not long after dinner to check on her again. He had no idea why he came. He just felt like he need to. He stopped at the doorway when he caught Potter’s voice and then saw him lean in and kiss her. Anger rose only to his eyes as they almost shot sparks at the two. He cleared his throat to get their attention. “Potter, this is a hospital wing, not a bedroom. I suggest if you don’t want all Gryffindor’s points gone, then you will head up to your common room.”

Harry had broken the kiss immediately when he heard Snape. He got up and gave Cassandra’s hand another squeeze. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Cassie. Good night.” He defiantly leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. He then left her, giving a slight angry glare to Snape as he passed him.

Severus glared at Potter and then walked over to Cassandra, standing at the edge of the bed. “You could do much better than Potter.” he found himself telling her.

She had hurriedly wiped the tears from her eyes and pulled his cloak more around her. “Harry is my friend.” she stated clearly.

“Oh, so you kiss all of your FRIENDS like that?” Severus shot back, placing special emphasis on ‘friends.’

Cassandra rolled her eyes. This was the last thing she needed. “Oh, yes. It’s just my favorite thing to do.” she said in a heavily sarcastic tone. “Jealous that you aren’t a friend?” she shot back. Despite being incredibly upset, she found this banter almost helping.

Severus’ eyes widened slightly. Like he would be jealous? He didn’t want to kiss her and had no intentions on it. She was a student and a bloody annoying one at that. He did realize that her eyes appear more alive at the moment than that look of increasing despair that she had adopted. He leaned in suddenly, finding his face only a few inches away from hers. “Oh, yes, Miss Black. I’m completely jealous.” he said in a silky voice.

Her eyes widened. He seemed serious, and she backed away from him, not being able to back away far since she was now firmly against the headboard. “P-professor….”

Severus saw her reaction and straightened back up. “Calm down, Miss Black. I wasn’t being serious.”

Cassandra realized that and gave a sound that was supposed to be a laugh, although it didn’t come out quite right. “I never realized that you would have a sense of humor, Professor Snape.”

“There is a lot that you don’t know about me, Miss Black.” Severus said, giving a faint hint of what could be considered a cross between a smile and a smirk.

She nodded slightly in agreement. She gazed down again, noticing that she had his cloak on around her. “I guess you came up here to get your cloak back.” A hint of sadness filled her voice. “Could I keep it for a while longer? It’s rather…umm…comforting.” She slowly looked up at him, thinking that he was going to turn down her simple request.

Severus gave her a questioning look. He couldn’t understand why in the world his cloak would be comforting, but as his dark eyes met hers, he couldn’t deny her. “You may keep it for a while longer.” He removed his gaze from her, not wanting to get sucked down into those black pools of despair. “I don’t know why it would be comforting, but if it is, you may keep it for a while.”

“Thank you.” Cassandra continued to hold the cloak close, breathing in its scent. “It smells comforting…nice familiar scents…like various potions.”

Severus suddenly understood. Her father was a potions master. His cloak had been in his rooms and gotten some of the smell, so it was familiar and comforting. He nodded slightly and then moved, going over and getting a potion for her. “Drink this.” he said curtly.

She took the potion without question, recognizing it now as the Dreamless Sleep potion. It didn’t take long before her eyes closed again as she faded away into the blissful peace of dreamless sleep.

Severus brought the blankets up, awkwardly tucking her in the bed. He watched a while longer before slipping in the shadows and away from her, not understanding the feelings that were going through him concerning her.

* * * * *

Cassandra stirred slightly when she heard the two familiar male voices in the room before falling back asleep.

\"I thought I would find you here,\" Albus stated quietly.

\"I just stopped by to check,\" Severus said, not taking his eyes off of her. \"Why are you looking for me, headmaster?\"

\"Well, my boy, I have a job for you.\" Albus looked over at the girl\'s sleeping form. \"The staff has been talking about her. This is her fifth day here. We want to give her time, but with her N.E.W.T.s coming up, she needs to return to classes. The poor thing is depressed. Poppy said that all she does for the most part is sleep and cry. She\'s barely eating. Poppy plans to get her up and about some today, but we thought--\"

Severus interrupted. \"You thought that I could talk to her and make her go to classes again.\"

Albus nodded. \"She needs someone to get her moving again. We did think that you would be the best to get through to her.\"

\"I\'m not getting out of this, am I?\" Severus inquired with a sigh. From Albus\' look, he continued speaking, \"Very well. I\'ll talk to her. No promises though.\"

Albus patted him on the shoulder. \"I knew you would, my boy. Now, come down to breakfast.\" Severus sighed again and left with the headmaster.


Poppy woke Cassandra up around lunchtime. \"Come on, child. Time to wake up.\"

Cassandra reluctantly opened her eyes. Her gaze was dull and full of despair. She didn\'t want to wake up. It always brought the pain back.

\"Eat some soup. I\'m going to make a for for you.\" Poppy stated in a tone that she was not to be argued with. \"I expect half the soup to be eaten when I return.\" She turned on her heel and left, going into another room.

Cassandra picked up the spoon and slowly began to eat. She wasn\'t hungry, but she did not like the alternatives that Madame Pomfrey had given her. She had learned quickly to comply, especially after the threats ranging from being bound to the bed and force-fed to using the more Muggle way via needle. She had finished half of the soup when Madame Pomfrey came back. \"Get up now, child,\" she stated, helping Cassandra to her feet. After getting her to the bathroom, she left her to wash up herself.

Cassandra sighed heavily, figuring that she might as well take a bath. The last time she had been in water was at the lake when her life had crumbled around her. She slowly took off her clothes and sank down into the comforting warmth of the water. She began to cry again while washing up, paying special attention to her long hair. She stayed in the water until it was lukewarm and forced herself to get out. With effort, she dried off and placed a drying charm on her hair. She felt drained by the time she pulled on the simple white cotton nightgown. Slowly, she made her way to her bed, realizing that the sheets had been changed while she was in the bath. Madame Pomfrey was no where in sight. She sighed and picked up the brush. There was no one else around to brush her hair, and it was already quite tangled. She was about halfway done, when the brush just fell from her grasp. She sighed heavily and stared down at the floor, unable to continue such a menial task.

Severus had quietly entered the room as she was brushing her hair. He knew that they were alone. Albus had to work this out, since Pomfrey was no where to be seen. He watched the brush fall on the bed and closed his eyes, steeling the emotions that rose deep inside him. It was so sad to watch this brilliant young woman fall into such a state of despair and grief. He didn’t know what possessed him, but he picked up the brush and began to brush her hair with great care. “You need to snap out of this, Miss Black. You will die from the grief, if you don’t and that will be a great loss for the world. You are brilliant, young, and...beautiful. You could accomplish great things.”

She sighed, “It’s just so hard.” Her eyes close, trying to keep from crying again. “I feel broken. It’s like nothing will be right ever again.”

“Cassandra, time will help. Things that are broken will heal. It’s not easy, but you have to go on. Is this what your parents would have wanted? For you to fall completely apart?” Severus asked her.

She shook her head. They wouldn’t have wanted this, especially her father. “I can’t go on though. It’s too hard. I give up. I would rather curl up and die.”

Severus was getting frustrated with her attitude. He was about to speak when his mark burned intensely. The Dark Lord wanted his ‘faithful’ servant to return to him. He was angry and moved around to face her quickly. He roughly took her hand and placed the brush in it. “Well, Miss Black, no one here is going to just allow you to give up. You will finish brushing your hair. You will be in classes tomorrow.” He turned suddenly, grabbed his cloak that she had been using and left, never seeing that she had begun brushing her hair again.

A/N: Thank you for the reviews. I greatly appreciate them. I am trying to update as soon as I can. I even decided to break this one chapter into two smaller ones in order to get it up a little sooner. Please read and review. It\'ll just take a moment.