Where the Heart Is

Chapter Three: A Cruel Departure


John knocked on Professor Lupin’s door. After a few minutes, a still tired Remus Lupin answered the door, seeing John Black there. “Hello, John. Please come in.” he commented as he opened the door to allow him to enter. “Sorry if I woke you. I wanted to see you before I left.” John stated as he entered the quarters. “Left? Where are you going?” Remus inquired. “Oh, I met your daughter yesterday. Bright girl, she is.” John smiled. “Thank you. She is. And, yes, I’m going back to America.” He pulled out a letter. “I was also wondering if you would do me a favor. I would like for you to hand-deliver this letter to Cassandra. I have to leave in a hurry, and I don’t have time to say goodbye.”

“Are you certain that you don’t have time to say goodbye to her?” Remus inquired.

“I really can’t actually, Remus. I’ve got things to do.” John said sincerely. “I’m taking my wife and my other daughter back to America. Things aren’t too good these days, and it’ll be safer that way. I would also like for you to watch out for Cassandra. Make sure she stays in line and behaves herself. This is the first time that I won’t be there to watch over her.” There was a tone of sadness in his voice as he was going to have to leave his eldest daughter in her new school. He knew that she was safer here, especially since Voldemort was looking for her, which was the entire reason he had to leave and get the trail away from Hogwarts. “I know it is probably a lot to ask, but I would feel better if you kept an eye on her while I’m away.”

Remus considered his request and finally nodded. “I can watch her. Are you going to tell me what is going on and why she needs to be watched? She is seventeen, after all.” he inquired politely.

John sighed and looked away slightly before turning his gaze back to Remus. “Cassandra has an unusual gift. She can sense threatening things to an auditory and visual extent before they happen. She was even able to display her gift for Severus Snape last night while serving detention.”

Remus was quite surprised when he heard this. He had never heard of someone with this type of gift in Sirius’ family as well as why she had displayed her gift before Severus. “What happened?”

“Severus was working on a potion, and Cassandra had just finished cleaning out the cauldrons. Well, an ingredient fell off into the potion and Cassandra pulled Severus back in time before he got burned. She saw what was going to happen before it did.” John explained to him. “Anyways, as I was explaining to Dumbledore, Voldemort found out about her gift and has been searching for her. That is the reason we came back to England. Hogwarts is the safest place, after all. There are rumors that we are in England, and that is why I have to go back with Anna and Kara to throw them off the trail.”

Remus sat down, stunned when he heard that Voldemort was after the young woman because of her gift. “It sounds dangerous. Are you going to be okay?” “I’ll be fine, Remus. Don’t worry about us. Cassandra is the one that is in danger and needs you to watch over her.” John placed a hand on Remus’ shoulder. “I know how you did everything you could to watch over Sirius. I trust you to do this for me.”

Remus nodded. “Of course, I’ll do all I can for her.” He knew the seriousness in this. “Don’t worry about it, John.”

“Thank you,” John said as he stood back up fully. “Give her the letter when you can. I want it delivered personally. Also, don’t mention anything about Voldemort being after her. I don’t want to worry her needlessly. She’s safe here and doesn’t need the extra stress of worrying about him. She has her N.E.W.T.s to think about more.”

Remus didn’t agree with this at all. Cassandra deserved to know what was going on. She needed to be prepared if something should happen, but there was nothing he could do to go against John’s wishes. “Very well. I’ll make sure the letter gets to her.” “Thank you again. I have to get going. It’s good to see you after all these years.” John extended his hand to Remus. “Thank you for doing this for me.” Remus nodded. “You’re welcome. Goodbye. It was nice to see you again, John.” John nodded to him and then left Hogwarts with the appearance that a young woman was leaving with him, which was what he had planned with the potion he had made. He had to make it appear that he left with Cassandra in order to keep her and Hogwarts safe.

* * * * *

Harry, Hermione, and Ron were sitting downstairs in the common room, waiting for Cassandra to come down. “She looked a little off last night. Maybe Snape was horribly cruel to her or something.” Harry commented. “Why don’t you go upstairs and see if she’s up?” he suggested to Hermione. With a sigh, Hermione nodded. “I’ll be right back.”

Hermione went upstairs where she knocked on Cassandra’s door. “Cassandra? Are you up yet? We need to go to breakfast and classes soon.” A slight groan emitted from behind the door as Cassandra was just waking up and realizing that she had a pounding headache. “I’m up. Give me a few minutes.” she called out as she went into the bathroom.

“You look awful, dear. You really should do something about those dark circles under your eyes,” the mirror said to her as Cassandra gazed into the mirror. “Oh, shove it!” she grumbled back as she showered quickly and placed a drying spell on her long, dark brown hair. While looking in the mirror, she placed a little bit of makeup on to cover up the lack of sleep that she had had last night and then straightened her school robes. With a sigh, she grabbed her books for her classes and opened her door, finding Hermione waiting on her. “Morning, Hermione.” she stated as she went downstairs with her. Harry looked up when he heard Cassandra and Hermione coming back down the stairs. “Morning, Cassandra. Are you okay? We were starting to get worried about you.” “I’m fine, Harry. I just didn’t sleep too well last night. I’m fine though,” Cassandra said, feeling that she had to restate to herself that she was fine. Ron gave her a slight look when she restated that she was fine. “I’m hungry. Let’s go eat.” he stated as his stomach growled in response. Harry laughed. “Let’s go.” The group got up and went down to the Great Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table.

Professor Lupin went down to breakfast not long after John had left his office. When he entered, he noticed Miss Black almost right away. Quickly, he walked over to her. “Miss Black, I would like to see you after your classes today. You can come by my office. I’ll be there.” Cassandra looked up at him, slightly startled by his appearance and suspicious when he asked her to come to his office after classes. “Yes, Professor. I’ll be there.” She was quite intrigued and curious. “Thank you.” Remus stated and then went up to the Head Table to eat breakfast.

“What’s that all about?” Hermione inquired after Professor Lupin left. Cassandra shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. I’ll find out after classes I guess.” After breakfast ended the group split up to go to classes.

* * * * *

Cassandra walked down the hall to Professor Lupin’s office. She had been wondering the entire day what he could want with her. She hoped nothing was wrong with her performance in DADA or her father, especially her father since she had left him yesterday after they had had a slight argument. She halted at his door and knocked.

“Come in, Miss Black,” Remus called out where he was reading a book behind his desk. She opened the door and went inside, noticing the tattered couch at one end of the room. Beside it was a bookshelf, full of books. She turned toward Professor Lupin’s desk, noticing a device that showed the moon in various phases. Her father had mentioned that Lupin was a werewolf, so she figured that was the reason he had this lunar calendar. “You wanted to see me, Professor.”

“Yes, I did, Miss Black. Please, have a seat.” Remus said as he motioned to a wooden chair. After she was seated, he handed her the letter. “Your father came to me this morning and wanted me to give you this letter.”

Cassandra took the letter and broke the seal on it. After she opened the letter, she began to read it.

“My dearest Cassandra,
I know that this is sudden, but I will be leaving England with your mother and Kara immediately. There has been an opening for me there that I must take. It’s a wonderful opportunity. I know that I should have discussed this with you sooner, but since this is your last year, I felt it would be best not to uproot you, even though you had just started here. I promise I’ll keep in touch as much as I can, but I will be busy, so owls may be few and far between. Take care. Be good. Keep n yon your studies. FOLLOW THE RULES. I love you. Please be careful.
Love,
Dad”

Her face fell as she read the letter. She read it again just to make sure she understood it. Silently, she sat there for a moment, not sure what to say or do. “He…he just left? Without saying goodbye?”

Remus had watched her reaction to the letter. He sighed softly and nodded. “Yes, he left this morning right after he came here.” He stood up and went to the front of his desk and leaned against it as he stood in front of her. “It will be okay, Miss Black. They just have to go back to America for a while, but I’m sure he’ll be back.”

Cassandra looked up at him, her eyes bright with unshed tears. “He…he’s never left me before like this. He didn’t even say goodbye to me. It’s not like him to do this.” She blinked back the tears, refusing to let them fall. “Is something wrong and that’s why he had to leave?”

Remus knew that this must be hard on her. He had heard that she was very close to her father, yet he also knew that her father had been keeping vital information from her. Against his better judgment, he didn’t tell her the true reason of why her father left. “I’m sure it is nothing serious and just business as usual.”

Cassandra had a feeling that Professor Lupin was trying to dissuade her from pursuing the fact that there was more to her father’s departure than a job opportunity.

Remus saw that she didn’t seem convinced, so he decided to change the subject. “So, you come from an American school? Tell me about it and how you did there.”

Cassandra nodded. “Well, let’s see. We moved to America, which you know. Things were fairly good there, although it never completely felt like home. Dad worked at the wizard school, Coatlstone, as a potions professor, and I helped him out a lot. I was on the school’s Quodpot team during my first three years and then I was on the Quidditch team from fourth through sixth year. I was also the dueling champion of the school from first to sixth year.” She paused briefly as she thought of what else had happened in her life. “Oh, and I was the top of my class. Then, dad came in one day and told us that we were moving back to England and that I was going to Hogwarts, and here I am.”

Remus blinked at her accomplishments. “Wow! That’s wonderful! John must be so proud of you.” She smiled. “I would like to think dad is. He is a little over protective though at times, like he insisted on watching every Quodpot and Quidditch practice I had.” Remus laughed. “That sounds like your father. He seems to be quite a worrier.”
Cassandra laughed lightly and nodded, the conversation of her father’s sudden departure made her wonder if he told Lupin anything. “So, did dad mention why he suddenly left?” she asked in a very nonchalant way. “He left because he thought it would be safer for you,” Remus stated before he realized what he had done. He had felt that she needed to know so much that he had forgotten his promise to her father. Her eyes widened in surprise at his response and then narrowed with suspicion. “Safer for me? How? What’s going on, Professor?” “He knows that you are growing up and will be out on your own soon, so he thought that you would be fine here, while he checks out how things are in America.” Remus stated as the thoughts came to him.

She knew there was more to it and could tell that he was hiding something. She stood up. “Oh, so I’m so grown up now, yet he still keeps things from me and you’re helping him with it.” She turned away from him. “I will get to the bottom of this…with or without your help. I need to get back to Gryffindor Tower now though. Good night, Professor Lupin.” She then had turned back to Remus as she stated her last bit, but now she turned sharply and went out of hificefice.

Cassandra was deep in thought as she played over everything her father had said as well as what Remus had mentioned. She opened the letter and began to read it again, hoping to find some inspiration as to why her family had left suddenly and why they thought it would be safer for her if they weren’t around. She kept wondering what she could have done wrong in her life to make them just pack up and drop her off in England and then leave her with just a letter and no goodbye or good reason. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted as she bumped into something quite hard, causing her to drop the letter and almost lose her balance except for the long, thin fingers that wrapped around her wrist to steady her. Her eyes rose up and found herself to be standing right in front of Professor Snape.

“Out a little late, aren’t we, Miss Black?” Snape said silkily as he let go of her wrist once she was steady. “You really should watch where you are going.” he said as he bent over and picked up the letter. “What is this? A love letter from an admirer?”

“Give that back,” Cassandra said in a warning tone as she reached up to grab the letter from his hand.

He casually pulled the letter away from her grasp and read it. “Ah, it’s from your father. He didn’t mention last night that he was leaving today.” He held the letter out so she could take it back.

“He didn’t mention it to me either,” she said, a distinct bitterness in her tone as she grabbed the letter roughly back.

His dark eyes narrowed as he detected her tone. She seemed distraught about her father’s sudden departure, and he almost pitied her. He took out his pocket watch. “You do know that you are out after curfew, don’t you, Miss Black?” She looked at the time on her watch. “I only am because I was detained.” she challenged back.

He did not completely ignore her challenge. “Why were you out in the halls and not in your common room?” Cassandra couldn’t believe that he was doing this to her. “I was talking to Professor Lupin.” she stated matter-of-factly.

“Ah, yes, Lupin,” Severus said. “He knew your cousin quite well. Before Sirius went off and got himself killed.” “Don’t talk about Sirius like that,” she said in a low threat. He detected her threat as well. “I think twenty-five points from Gryffindor should do it for being out after curfew.”

“Twenty-five points!” Cassandra exclaimed. She was only out late because he had kept her, after all. She shook her head and crossed her arms. “Fine, whatever.” She began to walk away from him and then stopped and turned around. “It’s no wonder no one likes you. You are such a bastard.” She then stormed off to the Gryffindor Tower, upset about what just happened and about what her father had done by just leaving without saying goodbye or giving a reason. She said the password to get into the common room and comple ign ignored Harry and Ron who were still up as she went to her room and shut the door. She threw herself on the bed and softly began to cry, wondering why her father would just leave when she felt like she needed him the most.

Snape stood there, stunned by her words. He couldn’t even react to it and call out more of a deduction of points. Gryffindor points at that! She had called him a bastard, and he felt like she had physically slapped him. Oh, he knew that others thought that, but she had been there for two days and already thought it. He shook his head and sighed and then stalked off, realizing that she was no different from the rest of the damn Gryffindors.