Where the Heart Is

Chapter Two: The Unusual Gift


Cassandra woke up in her sectioned off private room wondering where she was. It took a few minutes to even realize that she was at Hogwarts. After showering and dressing in her school robes, she went down to the Common Room, where she spotted Harry, Ron, and Hermione waiting for her.

“We were wondering when you were going to show up.” Harry stated. “We didn’t want to just leave you behind.”

Cassandra smiled gently. “Thanks. Let’s get some breakfast. So what do you three have for classes today?”

“We have a double class of Care of Magical Creatures, a double class of Transfigurations, Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts. What do you have?” Harry asked, silently wishing that she was a sixth year instead of a seventh year.

“Let’s see.” Cassandra said, taking out her schedule. “A double class of Defense Against the Dark Arts and a double class of Potions.”

Ron put a hand on Cassandra’s shoulder. “You poor thing! Potions is horrible! Snape is the worse!”

Cassandra laughed. “I’ll be fine. My father is a potions master, so I’m not worried.”

Harry and Ron exchanged glances, knowing that she would learn about Snape. They then all went down to the Great Hall for breakfast. After breakfast, the group split up, Harry, Hermione, and Ron went off to Care of Magical Creatures and Cassandra went to DADA.

The day went by rather quickly. Cassandra found DADA quite enjoyable with Professor Lupin as the teacher. She liked his hands-on approach to learning. She knew that he was a good friend with her cousin before he died, so she talked with him a little bit after class about Sirius, although she didn’t get too much information. Thanking Professor Lupin, she went down to Potions class when it was time.

Severus Snape was sitting behind his desk as the seventh years began to file in. He noticed that Miss Black was going to be in his class. He wondered if she would be as retched at potions like her cousin, even though he had looked through her O.W.L.s and noticed that she had received an O for Outstanding on the Potions one. N.E.W.T.s were quite different though.

Cassandra entered and sat down near the front. She watched as the other students in her year filed in. She followed their lead as they took their potion books out. She glanced over at Professor Snape, remembering how uncomfortable his gaze had been. She unconsciously shifted in her seat, waiting for class to begin.

At one o’clock, Professor Snape closed the door. “Today we will be working on an anti-hexing potion.” He told them which page to turn in their book as well as told them the ingredients. “After you finish, I will test you on it.” He then gave them a glare to tell them to get working.

Cassandra diligently worked on the potion, forgetting all else. Her father was a potions master, after all. He taught her everything that she knew about potions. She caught a glance of someone about to add their Hydrangea in too soon. “You won’t want to add that yet. It causes the potion to be poisoness.” she stated simply as she stirred her potion.

Professor Snape moved angrily toward Miss Black, his black robes billowing out. He stood over her, giving her a disapproving stare. “Miss Black, you are not to help your fellow students with their potions.”

Cassandra looked up at him not intimidated. “Professor, I thought it would be best to tell him before he ended up poisoning himself when he tried the potion out.”

Professor Snape hovered over her. “Did you now? You will be serving detention with me at seven o’clock, Miss Black.”

Cassandra shrugged lightly. “I’m finished with my potion.”

Snape glared at her, not knowing why she wasn’t cowering in front of him like the others. Bloody Gryffindor bravery, he figured. “Very well. Drink it. Let’s try it out.”

Cassandra took out a little bit of the bitter potion and drank it. “I’m ready.”

Snape pointed his wand at her and cast a simple hex at her. The spell absorbed but did not cause the normal effect of it. “Well done. I suggest that you start on your homework. Two feet about this potion and its uses.” He then stalked off, going to another student.

Cassandra cleaned up the potion and began her homework. She couldn’t understand why she would get detention for helping a student out. He was just a big bully, anyways. After class was dismissed, she gathered up her things and left, wanting to tell Harry and the others about the unfairness of having detention with Snape.

Snape watched her leave. She obviously knew her potions and what to do, which he admired in her. He really had no other need to give her detention except that he wanted her around. He found so few students that actually knew potions and didn’t show off like Miss Granger. Miss Black intrigued him. She was not afraid of him like the rest of the students, but he knew that was probably because she was new here. He just wanted to know more about her, especially since she was related to Black.


“It’s not very fair, you know. I just thought that it would be better for the students not to die.” Cassandra explained to Harry, Hermione, and Ron at dinner. “We tried to warn you. He’s horrible, but detention is a stretch even for him on this matter.” Harry stated, putting an arm around his friend. “You’ll be fine though. I’m sure it can’t be too bad.” Ron spoke up, not wanting to scare her off from detention. Actually, detention with Snape was the worse. She’ll be cleaning out cauldrons or some worse stuff.

Cassandra looked at the time. “I better go. It would not be good to be late. See you later.” She got up and went down to the dungeons as she put her long, dark brown hair in a bun.

Snape came up behind her, since she had beaten him to his office. “Miss Black, I’m glad to see you on time.” He opened up the door and proceeded to give her instructions. “You will be cleaning out these cauldrons. I want you to report to me after you finish. I’ll be in there.” He tossed h pai pair of gloves and then walked off, leaving her to her task.

Cassandra sighed softly and began to clean out the cauldrons, finding the task rather tedious since she had homework to work on for her upcoming N.E.W.T.s. After a few hours, she had finished cleaning. Taking off the gloves, she tossed them aside and went into the other room where Professor Snape was potion-making. She watched him quietly as he worked, marveling at his talent. He was very good at what he did.

Snape was working diligently on the potion when he had the feeling that he was being watched. He turned sharply around, not noticing that he had knocked against the table with the potion ingredients on it. “Finished already?”

Cassandra opened her mouth to answer that she was finished, but she suddenly saw a vial fall into the flames of the potion, causing them to blaze upward. She could have sworn that he was on fire. “Get away from there.” She stated, panic in her voice as she grabbed his arm, pulling him away from the cauldron.

“What the hell…” Snape began to say when he suddenly felt the flash of heat on the side of the room. He turned his back toward the flames, pulling her close to him to shield her from them. With his wand in one hand, he turned slightly, casting a spell and causing the flames to die down. Once it was under control, he still held onto her. Glancing down at her, he spoke quietly, “Are you okay?”

Cassandra had let out a small scream when the flames lapped toward them. She had grasped his shirt as she was held close against him. She was so close that she could hear his heart pounding in his chest. She glanced up when he talked to her. “I’m fine.” She looked at him and at his clothes. “Are you okay?” she inquired, giving him a concerned look. “I…I thought I was too late.”

Snape looked at her, noting her concern. She had practically saved his life or at least caused him not to get burned. “I’m fine.” He breathed in, able to detect the sweet scent of her shampoo, which was a mixture of rosemary and honeysuckle. A tendril of her hair that had fallen out of her bun lightly tickled his hand as he looked into her dark eyes. “Are you sure that you are okay?” he asked, noticing that she still lightly clung to his shirt as he unconsciously reached up to touch her cheek.

Cassandra realized how close she was to him and was about to answer when there was a knock on the door. She suddenly blushed faintly and moved away from him. Snape looked at the door and went over, opening it. “What can I do for you?” he asked rather roughly to the man standing there.

John smiled slightly. “Ah, Severus, nice to see you again.” When he realized that the man didn’t notice him at the moment. “John Black. It’s been a while, I know. I was wondering if I could borrow some Ragwort.”

Cassandra heard fat father’s voice. “Dad, what are you doing here?” she asked as she came into his view. John was surprised to find his daughter here. “I could ask you the same thing, sweetie. You didn’t get in trouble, did you?” “Well, I…” Cassandra began to say.

“She offered to help me with a potion. She’s very talented.” Severus stated, suddenly not wanting her to get into trouble. John had a feeling that she had gotten in trouble. “Yes, she does know potions. I taught her all I know.” He smiled. “So, can I borrow some Ragwort?”

“Of course. Let me get it for you.” Severus said, going into his private stockroom and getting some Ragwort.

“Now, Cassandra, are you going to tell me why you are here? Did you get into trouble again?” John asked her as soon as Severus went into the other room. Cassandra looked at her dad. He just seemed to always know. “It’s not what you think, dad. I didn’t do anything all that wrong. I just told a student to ato add a potion ingredient at that time, and I got detention for it.” John shook his head. “I figured as much. “ He gently tilted her chin up so he could look at her in the eye. “I want you to be good here. I’m not always going to be here to bail you out of trouble. I don’t know what we would do if you got expelled. Understand?” Cassandra nodded. “I understand. I’ll keep my big mouth shut and my thoughts to myself.” she promised to him. He lightly kissed her on the forehead. “Good girl.” She smiled slightly, knowing that she really did need to work on what she said to people. She had a tendency to speak her mind.

Severus came back in with the Ragwort. “Here you go, John.” “Thank you, Severus. I appreciate this.” John stated as he took the Ragwort. Severus glanced over at Cassandra. “Miss Black, could you do me a favor?”

“Sure. What is it?” Cassandra inquired. Severus wanted to talk to her father about what happened earlier. There was something about how she acted that he was puzzled about. “I need you to start cleaning up that potion. Can you do that for me?” Cassandra nodded. “Sure thing, Professor.” She went into the other room and began to clean up the mess and what was left of the burned potion.

“I would like to talk a moment about your daughter.” Severus said, motioning at the chairs for John to sit down. John took the offered seat. “She mentioned that she was here for detention. You didn’t have to try to protect her on that. She has a tendency to speak her mind at times, which gets her in trouble.” Severus held up his hand for John to stop talking. “She’s a good student, and I shouldn’t have given her detention so easily like I did. I’m glad that she was here actually.” He explained the situation about the vial and how he almost became one crispy potions master. “The thing is that she seemed to think that she was too late, almost like she saw it before it happened.” he gave John a puzzled look.

John nodded. “She probably did see it happen before it did. That’s why she was able to pull you back in time.” He sighed, having just come from Professor Dumbledore’s office, explaining the exact same thing that he was going to explain to Severus. “Cassandra has a very interesting gift. She can sense threatening things to an auditory and visual extent before they happen.”

Cassandra had been standing in the doorway, listening. She didn’t necessarily plan to eavesdrop. Curiosity just got the better of her. She crossed her arms when she heard what her father had said. “And why is it that I’m just now hearing about this gift? It certainly explains a lot.” John audibly sighed as he heard his daughter. “I…I’ve been meaning to tell you. I really have. I just wasn’t certain how.” “So you just decide to tell other people about it? How long have you known?” Cassandra stated coldly. John looked away slightly. He had desperately tried to keep this from her in an attempt to protect her. “For several years now. Please, Cassandra. I should have told you, yes, but you know now. It’ll be okay, Cassandra dear.”

“You should have told me. I’m seventeen. I can take it.” Cassandra then turned and went back into the other room, continuing to clean up the potion. With this new knowledge, she began to understand things a lot clearer. It was rather nice to know that she wasn’t going insane, which she had begun to wonder about at times.

Severus had to admit that John should have told her about this. John sighed again. “I better go and start working on a potion. Thank you for the Ragwort. Good night.” He samselmself out, knowing that Cassandra was not happy with him at the moment, which he couldn’t blame her. He had kept this from her for years, and he was still not telling her everything, like how Voldemort knew about her gift. She was the whole reason that they had left America to get her to Hogwarts where she would be safe.

Severus said his good night to John and went back into the other room where she was cleaning up the floor that had gotten singed. He walked over, standing beside of her. “You don’t have to worry about that. There’s an easier way.”

Cassandra looked slowly up at him. “Okay,” she said, standing up. He brought out his wand, cleaning the area with a spell. “If there is nothing else, I would like to go back up to my dorm.” Cassandra had a lot to think about now and desperately wanted to be alone. Severus’ eyes met hers. “That will be fine, Miss Black. Good night.” Cassandra nodded and turned to leave. Suddenly, he gently grabbed her arm. “Thank you for earlier,” he said, wanting for her to know that he was grateful for what she did when the flames flared. She gave him a faint smile. “You’re welcome, Professor. Good night.” She removed her arm from his gentle grasp and left, going back up to Gryffindor Common Room.

“Good night,” Severus said, watching her leave. After she left, he then began working on the potion again while thinking about what had happened that night. He could still smell her faint feminine scent on his clothes. Shaking the thoughts away and reminding himself that she was a student, he focused on his work.

Harry looked up from where he was finishing up his Charms homework beside of Hermione and Ron when Cassandra entered the room. “You’re back early. Normally he keeps people in detention all night.”

Cassandra nodded. “I finished up, and he let me leave.” She faked a yawn. “I’m tired from cleaning cauldrons, so I’m going to bed. Good night.” She gave them a slight wave and headed upstairs to her room. After she changed for bed, she closed herself off in her room, quite glad that seventh years got their own small rooms. She sat down on the edge of her bed, looking out the window. Her eyes moistened slightly as she thought about how her father had practically lied to her all these years. She had told him what she had seen at times, but he always said that it was nothing. She shook her head, wanting to speak with him later about this. Lying down on her bed, she tossed and turned as her thoughts of the night’s events went through her head. There was more than what her father had said that had her up thinking. There was also Professor Snape. She honestly didn’t know what to think of him. Finally in the early hours of morning, she fell into a restless sleep.