◣ 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗦𝗣𝗢𝗧 ◥

𝗔𝗦𝗟𝗘𝗘𝗣 𝗜𝗡 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗦

—DURING BREAKFAST ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL, CASSANDRA SAT DOWN. Zara dropped the piece of toast she was eating in shock. "You look horrible," she said with widened eyes.

Cassandra huffed, but didn't deny it. She did look horrible. Her tie was loosely around her neck. Her hair was messy, as if she didn't have time to comb it. And the bags under her eyes were hard to ignore, even though she tried hiding them using concealer.

She looked sleep deprived. And very tired. Both mentally and physically.

"Thanks Zar," mumbled Cassandra sarcastically, grabbing a piece of bread and spreading butter on it.

"Are you.." Zara hesitated, "Are you alright?"

The girl sitting in front of her raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't I be?" She asked back, biting into the bread. Then, she stood up and grabbed her bag. "I'm going to be late for class. I'll see you later."

"But you didn't finish eating—" Zara stopped and sighed when Cassandra already left.

♡

Falling asleep in class was not something past Cassandra would have done. It was not something that would have happened.

She used to get hours of sleep every night and even if she did feel sleepy during the day a few times, she would have never fallen asleep in the middle of the professor explaining.

But this was not past Cassandra anymore. Present day Cassandra was different.

Theodore glanced at the sleeping figure next to him, then took her notebook and started writing notes for her.

Cassandra's head was on the table, her eyes closed. She was sleeping. That was obvious. Theodore thought it was a miracle the professor hadn't noticed. But then again, even if they had noticed, Theodore knew they wouldn't call Cassandra out on it.

It was also obvious she hadn't been sleeping well in ages. The dark bags under her eyes explained that if her falling asleep in the middle of Dark Arts class didn't.

And Cassandra loved Dark Arts. It was her favorite, thought Theodore. So the fact that she fell asleep said a lot.

So instead of waking her up, Theodore wrote notes for her. He left his notebook alone and focused on hers. He focused on making his handwriting neat so that she'd be able to study on it easily later on, and he focused on getting every word the professor was saying written down.

"—so that's why the Imperius curse was made unforgivable a few decades ago. Until the dark lord came into power," continued Professor Rabastan Lestrange, "who thought the unforgivable curses were made to be used, not to be unforgivable. Every death eater has the permission to use the three curses as long as the dark lord himself gives them permission. However, if the curse is used by someone that does not have permission, they will be sent to Azkaban immediately."

Theodore wrote every word the professor had said, then looked up when the bell rang.

While everyone got their bags and walked out of the classroom, he stood up and walked over to the professor.

"What's going on with her?" Rabastan asked in concern, noticing the same thing Theodore had.

"She's just kinda tired," replied the boy. "Is it alright if she stays here since we have no more classes today? She really needs the sleep she's getting right now."

Rabastan immediately nodded. "Of course. I'll be sure to take care of her."

Theodore thanked him and walked out of the classroom, glancing at the sleeping girl one last time before going.