Where the Heart Is

A/N: Please review.


Chapter Five: The Cookie Crumbles


Harry woke up early, feeling a twinge in his scar. Quietly, he went downstairs, finding Cassandra curled up on the couch by the dwindling fire. He had a feeling that she had taken to sleeping down here since Halloween, not that he could prove it. He reached down and lightly touched her shoulder. “Cassie?”

Cassandra’s eyes flew open by the slight touch. She recognized that it was only Harry after a moment. She playfully hit him on the arm. “Don’t scare me like that!” she exclaimed as she sat up on the couch, offering him a seat as well.

Harry sat down, lightly rubbing his arm. “Sorry. Have you been down here all night?” Cassandra shook her head. “Not all of it. I couldn’t sleep for a while, so I came down here, so I wouldn’t disturb anyone.”

He lightly reached over and touched her cheek. “I’m worried about you, Cassie. You’ve changed since this summer. We used to have a lot of fun. You actually made my summer bearable, despite what happened earlier.” he said, leaving the ominous tone of Sirius’ death linger a moment before continuing. “Something’s going on. You can tell me.”

She sighed softly at his gentle touch. “Coming here was harder than I originally thought it would be. That’s all.” she stated, not conveying the complete truth. She bowed her head slightly, not looking at him.

He recognized that mannerism. He had seen Sirius do the same thing when there was more to the truth than what was said. He decided not to pressure her with it though. “Yeah, it had to be rather hard to come to a new school and all.” He reached over and lightly placed his hand underneath her chin and tilted her face until her dark eyes met his green ones. “If you ever need to talk, I’m here for you. You’re a good friend, and I do worry.” He leaned in impulsively and gave her a light kiss on the lips. “Okay?”

She was surprised by the slight brush of his lips against hers. “Okay,” she said softly, looking at him. “You are a good friend, Harry.” she told him, placing emphasis on ‘friend.’

He gave her a smile and nodded, noting the friend part in the back of his mind. “Now, you should cheer up some. It’s a Hogsmeade weekend. One of the three we get this year.” With Voldemort being in full r anr and everyone knowing, Hogsmeade weekends had been greatly limited. The new rule also allowed only fifth through seventh years to go and those would be accompanied by aurors and a few chosen professors.

“Yeah, that is something to look forward to today. I’ve never been to Hogsmeade before.” she stated, having to admit to herself that she did feel better, since he was there. She leaned over and gave him a hug, lightly resting her head on his shoulder. “Thank you, Harry, for being here.” He wrapped his arms firmly around her thin frame. “Anytime, Cassie.”

Hermione came downstairs, finding Cassandra in Harry’s arms. She clearer ter throat. “Am I interrupting you two?”

Cassandra removed herself from Harry’s comforting embrace and laughed lightly. “No, Hermione, we were just talking.”


Others were beginning to wake and the Common Room was slowly bustling with life as the ones who could go to Hogsmeade were excited to get out of the castle for a day.

With the other people beginning to wake, Harry turned to Cassandra and Hermione. “I’ll wake Ron, and we can get some breakfast before we take a carriage to Hogsmeade. The two agreed.


After an enjoyable breakfast, the four of them were heading to the Gindoindor Common Room to grab their cloaks and then go to Hogsmeade. They were stopped by a serious looking Albus Dumbledore. “Miss Black, I need to speak with you.” he said, his tone serious and his eyes lacking their normal twinkle.

Cassandra looked up at him, wondering what could have possibly happened. “Am I in trouble?” Dumbledore shook his head. “No, child. I have some important news for you. We need to speak in private.”

“O…k,” Cassandra said slowly, unable to fathom what could be wrong. “Go on, Cassie. We’ll wait on you.” She noticed Dumbledore lightly shake his head. This was going to take a while, she figured. “No, you three go on. I’ll try to catch up with you later.”

Dumbledore motioned for her to follow him. “See you later,” she said to her friends, giving a slight wave before following Professor Dumbledore to his office. He said the password “Kitkats” as he got to his office. Cassandra looked around at her surroundings, finally letting her gaze fall on Lupin, McGonagall, and Snape. Lupin was looking at her with utmost concern. McGonagall gave her a pitying glance before looking away, and Snape eyed her steadily. Cassandra knew that this was very serious and paled slightly. “What’s wrong?”

“Perhaps you should sit down, Miss Black.” Dumbledore said, motioning to a chair.

Sit down. Those two words were never a good sign with his tone. She made no move to sit down. “What is it, Professor?” she inquired, staring him in the eye.

Dumbledore sighed softly, hating to be the bearer of bad news. “Miss Black, we have gotten word about your family. I’m so sorry. Your parents and sister were murdered on Halloween.”

The words sank heavily around her as the rest of the color drained away from her face, leaving her looking ghostly. She took a couple steps backwards, lightly brushing against Snape who was behind her. She moved away from him. “Dead? Murdered? But, it….” The flashes of what she had seen in Snape’s classroom flooded back into her vision. “Dead,” she said as she accepted what he told her. Her hand went out, clutching the back of the chair for support as her knuckles turned white from gripping the chao hao hard. She closed her eyes, embracing the truth in front of her. Slowly, she opened her eyes again, looking at nothing in particular. “It’s all my fault,” she said in a horrified whisper.

Remus went over to her quickly and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Cassandra, this is in no way your fault. Why would you think that?”

Her eyes rose to meet his. “But, it is.” Her gaze fell to the floor. “I saw what happened when I was in Professor Snape’s classroom for detention. They were death eaters, and they were looking for me. They know where I am now. She betrayed me.” Her voice was coated with anger and bitterness about her mother’s betrayal. “I saw it all, and I did nothing. It’s all my fault.”

Remus placed his hand under her chin and made her look at him. “It’s not your fault. Voldemort caused this, not you.”

Her vision began to cloud over with tears. Her family was dead. “I have to get out of here,” she said suddenly, pushing herself away from him and running out of the door, overhearing Dumbledore tell them to give her some time.

Severus slipped out and followed her, fully understanding her reactions during his detention now.

Cassandra ran blindly through the halls. She had no sense where she was going. She knew she just had to get away. She wanted to go home, but she was confused where home was now. The cold air hit her as she ran outside. She was too caught up in her grief and guilt. Her feet took her around the edge of the bank. On one of the higher banks, her ankle slipped off the edge and twisted. She lost her balance and plunged into the icy cold, murky water of the lake.

Reality hit her as she began to struggle in the water, trying desperately to get out of the water. She was so exhausted and began to sink into the water, giving one last chance to get out.

Long, thin fingers closed around her wrist before it went under the water. He pulled her out of the water, falling backwards and having her land on him. She shifted off of him and coughed up the water she had breathed in. She glanced over to him. “Professor?” she said softly as she realized that Professor Snape had saved her. She attempted to stand and fell to her knees as pain shot through her sprained ankle. She buried her face in her hands, weeping quietly.

Severus cast a drying spell on both of them. He noticed that she was shivering. Taking off his outer robe, he kneeled down beside of her and placed the robe around her shoulders. “You need to go inside before you catch your death of cold.”

“What would it matter if I did?” she asked tearfully, not removing her hands from her face.

Severus sighed softly. “It would matter.” Awkwardly, he reached out and patted her on the back, attempting to be comforting. She moved toward him, needing the comfort he was trying to give. She buried her face against his chest and sobbed against him. He inwardly groaned as she did this and lightly placed his other arm around her, letting her get the grief out. He began to stroke her long, dark hair, getting caught up with the moment as it felt that it was only the two of them. Her body-racking sobs began to subside as she calmed down from the immediate grief. He shifted slightly and offered a handkerchief. She took it and wiped off the tears and blew her nose, offering it back to him. He reluctantly took itk, sk, stuffing it in his pocket. “You’re cold. You should go back in now.” She nodded in agreement and tried to get up again but failed. “Let me see.” Severus reached down and took her ankle gently in his hands. He slowly pushed back the sock, noticing the slight bruising. As he examined her ankle, he spoke, “Lupin is right. This is not your fault.” She looked at him, surprised that he would think that it wasn’t. “Thank you, Professor.” He reached over and lifted her easily into his arms. “You’re welcome.” he said rather stiffly.

He took her to the Hospital wing. She needed the ankle healed as well as a few other potions to help her. He placed her on the bed and went over to Madame Pomfrey, quietly explaining what had happened and the potions she needed. Madame Pomfrey then went to work as Severus stepped back into the shadows of the room, watching Cassandra. The medi-witch cast a spell on her ankle that would make it completely better by the morrow and gave her three potions. Cassandra recognized the first two: one being the Pepper Up potion to warm her and the other one being a Pain-relieving Potion. She did not recognize the third until it began to affect her. Dreamless Sleep. Her eyes closed, and she slipped into unconsciousness, needing this release from the information she had been given.


A/N: Now that you have read this, please take a moment to review. PLEASE!