The hustle and bustle of Platform Nine and Three-Quarters was so familiar to Cassiopeia Black that she barely registered the students and families bustling around her as she made her way toward the train. Her mind was elsewhere, caught in memories of the previous years she had spent in this very place.
One might have assumed that, as she prepared to enter her seventh year at Hogwarts, Cassie would be solemnly realizing that this would be her last time boarding the Hogwarts Express. Instead, the young witch found herself thinking about how lonely the year was going to be.
Her two closest friends had been a year ahead of her and had graduated the previous spring. Even now, before the term had officially begun, she wasn't sure who she was going to sit with or talk to during the long journey through the countryside.
But it wasn't as though Cassie wasn't accustomed to being the odd one out. Everyone knew who her family was.
From the very beginning of her magical education, she had been ostracized by much of the wizarding community because of her bloodline. It had never mattered how kind she was, how well she treated people, or how hard she tried to prove herself. To most people, the name Black—and, even worse, the blood running through her veins—was enough.
She had just begun contemplating finding a compartment full of first years and spending the entire journey staring silently out the window when the Weasley family burst through the barrier. Cassie's heart soared.
The familiar gaggle of redheads made their way toward the train, and she smiled despite herself. Apparently, her uncle noticed them at the same time, because she heard a low groan rumble from his chest.
"The blood traitor brigade has arrived," Lucius sneered quietly. Cassie shot him a glare.
"Calm down, Uncle," she hissed. "No one is asking you to talk to them. Actually, I'd prefer it if you didn't."
"I won't talk to them," Draco interjected.
The blond boy crossed his arms over his chest as he watched the Weasleys with an air of smugness that rivaled his father's.
"Thank God," Cassie muttered, rolling her eyes. She was about to abandon the Malfoys and go greet her favorite family, perhaps even congratulate Ron on starting his first year, when another person among the group made her freeze.
A boy with messy, jet-black hair and round glasses. Even though she had never actually seen him in person before, she knew who he was instantly.
"Shit," she whispered. Lucius looked down at her, a sly half-smile adorning his lips.
"What's the matter, Cass? Scared of an eleven-year-old?"
"No," she replied calmly, taking a slow breath. "Not scared. Just...not wanting to have this introduction already."
Lucius clicked his tongue in disapproval. "You should be proud of your family, Miss Black. Your mother would be appalled at your attitude."
"I know. You remind me every day, Uncle."
She pushed her cart toward the train, unwilling to listen to yet another speech about the glory of her heritage.
She wished her aunt would back her up at least a little today, but Narcissa was so emotional about Draco leaving home for school that she had barely seemed to register what anyone had said during the past week. At the moment, she was fussing over smoothing Draco's robes so thoroughly that he was trying to pull himself free from her clutches.
"Mother, I'm fine!" he whispered hurriedly, yanking his robes from her pale hands.
"Oh—Cassie!" Narcissa called after her. "Can he ride in your compartment?"
Cassie flicked her wrist, and her luggage and large silver cauldron floated into an empty compartment, stacking themselves neatly into a corner. She sighed and turned toward Draco, who was still watching the Weasleys along with the Potter boy.
She wanted to say no immediately. Draco needed to fend for himself, and she certainly didn't want to spend an entire train ride listening to his pompous attitude.
Then she remembered what it had been like to be a first year. To arrive at Hogwarts knowing no one. She opened her mouth to tell him he could ride with her, but suddenly Draco's attention snapped toward another group of people.
Cassie groaned internally. A familiar group of former Death Eaters—and their children—had arrived.
"Crabbe! Goyle!" Draco called, waving them over. "I've got a compartment over here!"
"No, you don't," Cassie interjected immediately. "You and your lackeys can find somewhere else."
Draco opened his mouth to argue. With another flick of her wrist, his luggage began moving down the platform on its own.
Draco was about to take off after it, but Cassie caught him by the arm.
"If I hear that you start any trouble on this train, don't expect me to help you," she whispered, careful not to let her aunt overhear. "I mean it."
Draco said nothing, but his eyes drifted toward the Weasleys again.
It made Cassie's blood boil that his disdain for them had been inherited directly from his father. She didn't have a chance to warn him again, however, because Narcissa was watching them closely.
Cassie released Draco's arm, and he took off after his belongings, with Crabbe and Goyle following close behind. Now that they were out of her hair, Cassie intended to climb aboard the train and take her seat.
Unfortunately, Narcissa had other plans. "You aren't going to say goodbye, Cassie?" she asked. Tears glistened in her eyes, as they had for most of the past several days.
"Sorry, Aunt Cissy," said Cassie as she gave her aunt a small hug. "Thank you for letting me stay with you this summer."
"Oh, don't thank me," Narcissa said, pulling out of the hug and sniffling. "We both know you didn't want to be there."
"I know. But either way, thanks."
"You will look after him, won't you?"
Cassie followed her aunt's gaze toward Draco and the other two boys, who were now heaving their belongings into a compartment farther down the train.
"He doesn't need looking after," Cassie said dryly. "He needs someone to look after the children he doesn't like." Her aunt gave her a disapproving look. Cassie sighed. "Yes, Aunt Cissy. You know I will."
Narcissa smiled faintly before making her way toward Draco to say her goodbyes. Lucius was still speaking with Crabbe and Goyle's fathers.
Cassie started to climb aboard the train when a high-pitched "Oh!" behind her made her turn. She barely had time to react before she smacked directly into Molly Weasley.
The witch pulled her into a bear hug without a second thought. "Oh, Cassie! I've missed you, dear! How have you been?"
"G-good!" Cassie choked. Molly released her vice grip and held her at arm's length, looking her up and down.
It had been a month since Cassie had visited the Burrow, and Molly had grown accustomed to worrying over the teenager's well-being. "It wasn't just me who missed you, dear. The whole family did." Molly's expression softened. "Did the Malfoys treat you all right?"
The question was hardly surprising.
During previous summer breaks, Cassie had spent the majority of her time at the Burrow. She had been best friends with Charlie since her first year, and the two had dated during her fifth and sixth years. The Weasleys had been more than happy to have her spend time with them and away from the influence of the Malfoys.
But Charlie had broken up with Cassie near the end of the previous school year. He hadn't wanted to be distracted by a long-distance romance while beginning his career in Romania. Molly and Arthur had insisted she still spend time with the family. Cassie simply hadn't been able to bring herself to do it yet.
"Yeah," she replied, forcing herself to smile. "Have you heard from Charlie lately? How's he doing?"
"Oh, he's fine, dearie," Molly said. "Busy, like we expected." Her demeanor deflated slightly at the mention of Charlie, something Cassie had noticed happened every time his name came up.
Cassie knew Molly completely disagreed with her son's decision to end their relationship, but she still couldn't help wondering how he was doing in his new adult life.
"Good."
The whistle sounded, signaling that the train would be departing soon. Molly pulled Cassie into another hug. "You'll look after Ron?" the Weasley matriarch asked.
The question echoed Narcissa's from only moments before.
"Of course, Molly." Cassie smiled warmly before finally boarding the train.
She was pleasantly surprised to discover that her compartment now held two other seventh years.
The first was Juniper Ringwald, a Ravenclaw. The other was Alpit Khatri, a Hufflepuff.
Like Cassie, both were aspiring Aurors, and the three of them had grown somewhat close over the years as they helped one another with their studies.
"Hey, June. Hey, Al!" Cassie said as she settled into her seat. "How was your summer?"
They greeted one another and caught up on the past few months, and Cassie let out a quiet sigh of relief.
She knew this year was going to be immensely different without Charlie and Dora, but the past hour had already shown her that perhaps she would be just fine.
As the three talked and ate food purchased from the trolley, Cassie made a mental note of how pleasant the train ride seemed compared with previous years.
She was used to younger students—mainly first years—wandering past her compartment to gawk at her in either awe or fear. But this year, there was a noticeable lack of unwanted passersby.
Cassie knew exactly why. Harry Potter was on the train.
She dreaded the moment they would meet, something that was bound to happen eventually at Hogwarts.
She, like everyone else, had heard that he had grown up with Muggles. She didn't know how much of his own history he knew, or how much he understood about what had happened to his parents.
Eventually, he would learn that her father had murdered them.
Cassie could only hope he wouldn't hate her for it.
It was a fear she carried whenever she met someone new: that they would judge her because of her family. Especially when they—or someone they loved—had suffered because of them.
But this would be different. More public. More anticipated.
She had spent years trying to prove that she was more than Lord Voldemort's daughter. She didn't want Harry Potter to look at her and see nothing but him.
Her thoughts were interrupted when a round-faced boy suddenly opened the compartment door. "Have you seen a toad?" he asked tearfully. "I've lost mine."
Cassie's heart immediately went out to him. He appeared to be searching alone, and she reluctantly agreed to help.
"Either of you want to help?" she said to the other seventh years.
Alpit stood up to follow her, although Cassie suspected he'd probably be distracted by the compartment full of sixth-year girls farther down the aisle.
Juniper, on the other hand, had already pulled out her copy of Advanced Potion Making. "Sorry, Cass. I'm going to read the first few chapters. Gotta get a leg up for Snape's class, you know?"
Had it been anyone else, Cassie might have thought she was simply making an excuse not to help search for a first-year's lost toad.
But she knew Juniper had to work especially hard to do well in Potions. Cassie understood that struggle all too well. She was currently traveling with a silver cauldron because she'd melted one of Severus's during the previous school year and owed him a replacement.
She had seen the Potions Master several times over the summer at Malfoy Manor. Still, as part of her punishment, he had insisted she lug the cauldron all the way to Hogwarts, where every student could see it, rather than simply allow her to give it to him during break.
It was a classic Severus move. Cassie had expected nothing less. And even though it made her life considerably more difficult, she couldn't help finding the humor in it.
She searched for nearly an hour before finally spotting the toad hopping in the aisle. She scooped him up carefully and carried him along as she searched for his owner.
When she finally found the round-faced boy, she was less than pleased to discover that he had wandered into her cousin's compartment.
"If I find it, I'll be sure to give it a good stomp before I give it back, yeah?" Draco was saying to the poor boy. "On second thought, why don't you give us your shoe? I wouldn't want to get disgusting toad guts on mine."
Crabbe and Goyle burst into laughter. The boy turned to flee just as Cassie stepped up behind him.
"I've found him." She carefully handed the boy his toad. His eyes widened with relief before he hurried away.
Cassie then looked into Draco's compartment. She saw his smile disappear the moment he realized who had appeared in the doorway.
"Impressive, Draco."
"He's an idiot," Draco replied haughtily, as though that somehow justified his behavior.
"I'm watching you," said Cassie as she glared at her cousin. "I've never had a problem cursing bullies before, and don't think I won't have a problem doing it to you. That goes for all three of you."
"I'd tell Father—" Draco began.
Cassie stepped into the compartment and bent down until her face was inches from his. "So tell him." She straightened and walked away, leaving the three eleven-year-olds to contemplate her warning.
Cassie went searching for the boy. She found him sitting in his compartment alongside a bushy-haired girl.
"Sorry about them," Cassie said. "The blond one is my little cousin. Nasty piece of work. Best stay away from him if you can."
"But what if he's in my house?" he asked miserably, clutching his pet to his chest.
"He'll be in Slytherin, no doubt," said Cassie with a faint smile. "For some reason, you don't strike me as the type."
"What house are you in?" the girl asked. Cassie hesitated.
"Slytherin."
"Oh."
The girl's expression remained thoughtful. "I'm hoping for Gryffindor. Or maybe Ravenclaw." Cassie noticed the slight imperiousness in her tone. "I'm Hermione Granger, by the way."
"And I'm Neville Longbottom," the boy added.
Cassie's stomach dropped. She had spent the entire morning worrying about meeting Harry Potter. And now she had managed to meet another person she had been hoping to avoid.
She started toward the door. "Oh. Nice to meet you both."
"And what's your name?" Hermione asked.
There was something about the way she said it—as though an answer was owed to her—that made Cassie pause. She forced a polite smile. "Cassie Black."
Hermione didn't react.
Neville did.
His teary eyes suddenly went wide, and the color drained from his face, turning his already-pale complexion an almost sickly yellow-green.
Cassie's heart sank. "Anyway, I'll be heading back now."
She left before either of them could say anything else. She hurried through the corridor, pushing past students until she was almost back at her compartment.
Then she heard her name.
"Cass!" Two voices called it at once. She didn't even need to turn around. Fred and George had found her.
She stepped into her compartment and waved for the two third years to join her. Juniper, who was indeed still reading, huffed in annoyance when she saw the ginger-haired twins enter.
"Hey! Long time no see!" Fred said.
"You miss us?" George added.
Cassie laughed and pulled them both into a hug.
"Sorry our brother is such a royal idiot," Fred said, patting her arm when they pulled apart.
"A downright nitwit—"
"A blubbering fool—"
"All right, that's enough," Cassie said, giggling. "He had to make the decision that was best for him, you know. School romances don't always last."
"He's not going to find anyone as good as you," Fred said.
"He'll end up marrying a dragon," George added.
Cassie burst into laughter. They bantered for another few minutes before Juniper cleared her throat pointedly for what felt like the hundredth time.
Eventually, the twins took the hint and left. Cassie settled back into her seat and looked out the window, watching the twisting woods fly past.
"Has Al been back?" she asked. Juniper glared up at her, obviously less than grateful for another interruption.
"No. Probably off chasing some girls as usual." Her eyes immediately returned to the text in front of her.
"Oh, relax, June. Snape's classes aren't that bad." Even as she said it, Cassie knew perfectly well that was far from the truth.
"Easy for you to say. You're the teacher's pet."
"Whoa, hey. You know I was just kidding." Cassie threw up her hands. "I know just as well as you do how much of a prick he can be."
"No, you don't know." Juniper snapped her book shut and leaned forward. "You're in Slytherin, so he goes easier on you."
"He does not go easier on me—"
"And you know him outside of school!" Juniper continued. "Don't you two, like, go to Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley together during breaks?"
Cassie fell silent for a moment. Yes, she and Severus had a friendship outside of their professor-student relationship, but they had also known each other since she was a toddler.
"So what?" Cassie asked. "I can't help that I've known him my whole life. But I can guarantee you he doesn't give me special treatment in class. Do you know how many times he's given me detention for screwing up a potion?"
"Whatever." Juniper leaned back and reopened her textbook. "Just forget I said anything about it."
Cassie folded her arms across her chest, feeling thoroughly miffed.
But Juniper was quick to anger. It was simply part of her serious personality, and Cassie reminded herself of that until her irritation began to fade. She didn't want to keep disturbing the studious Ravenclaw, so she decided to check on Ron as Molly had asked.
She found the twins again and asked which direction to go. What they neglected to mention was that Ron was sharing a compartment with Harry freaking Potter.
Cassie stopped outside the door. Her stomach twisted as she slid it open.
The Boy Who Lived looked up at her curiously.
"Hey, Ron," she said, forcing herself to sound as nonchalant as possible. "Just wanted to see how your train ride was going." She didn't want to tell him that Molly had specifically asked her to look after him. He would be mortified.
"It's going great, Cass!" Ron beamed. "Hey, this is Harry Potter!"
Cassie stared at him for half a second. She was slightly surprised Ron hadn't realized that this introduction might make her uncomfortable.
But as she plastered another polite smile onto her face and greeted Harry, she reminded herself that Ron was eleven. He didn't understand the complexity of her anxiety.
As she introduced herself, Cassie was relieved to discover that Harry didn't appear to recognize her name, not even slightly.
Her shoulders relaxed.
She chatted with the boys about the Sorting Ceremony, which houses they hoped to be placed in, and what they imagined Hogwarts would be like.
"If you need anything, come find me," she told Ron before leaving. "And not just on the train. I mean at school, too."
"Thanks, Cass."
Cassie smiled and walked away. For the first time that day, she felt slightly better. Maybe Harry didn't know.
Maybe he wouldn't hate her.
Maybe she could have a normal conversation with him before he ever learned who she really was.
Then Neville's green face flashed through her mind and the relief vanished.
Sooner or later, Harry Potter would learn the truth. And when he did, Cassie could only hope that he wouldn't look at her the same way Neville Longbottom had.