𝕭𝖆𝖙𝖙𝖑𝖊 𝕾𝖈𝖆𝖗𝖘 || Fred Weasley

42

It was the Hogsmeade weekend. Addy and Adrian were spending the day together. She wanted to escape the shopping entirely, but unfortunately, she couldn't. Thomas Anderson made sure she was there.

Cassie gave Filch the note and he examined it. "An invalid signature."

"What?!"

"Andromeda Tonks?"

"Yes," said Cassie. "If you haven't heard, I've been kicked out and under the care of my aunt."

"Hmm... Very well," Filch said quietly.

Cassie entered Hogsmeade. Before she could get her sweets, Thomas dragged her to different shops. As it was Head Boy and Girl business, Cassie thought it'd be a lot more boring. However, Thomas had made Cassie feel comfortable and his jokes weren't bad either.

"Is it true?" asked Cassie as they exited Honeydukes. "Your father left you?"

"Oh, well... "

"Sorry, it's just, well, people have been saying things," Cassie tried to explain.

"It's okay," Thomas smiled. "But yeah, it's true. I don't remember him much though. I guess Mum thought he'd stay after she gave birth."

"Must have been hard," said Cassie.

"It was all right," Thomas said. "I never knew my father enough to hate him and my mother always taught me to be truthful. Being honest is very important in our family."

"What if you lie because you need to?" asked Cassie. "Is that so bad?"

"Depends," he said. "But it's best to tell whoever it is sooner rather than later."

Cassie checked her watch, realizing she was late. She said a quick goodbye to Thomas and she ran towards the Hog's Head.

"I'm not late, am I?"

"Right on time," Fred smiled, pulling up a chair.

"What's she doing here?" was the question of the moment.

"I invited her," Hermione answered. "I assume you all know what's happened. She's changed.

"Now, as I was saying... Well... you know why you're here. Erm... well, Harry here had the idea — I mean, I had the idea — that it might be good if people who wanted to study Defence Against the Dark Arts... "

Fred had ordered another butterbeer and Cassie had paid for it. She sat down beside him and looked at Hermione as she spoke.

"... Well, I thought it would be good if we, well, took matters into our own hands. And by that I mean learning how to defend ourselves properly, not just in theory but doing the real spells— "

"You want to pass your Defence Against the Dark Arts OWL too, though, I bet?" said the Ravenclaw, Michael Corner.

"Of course I do," said Hermione at once. "But more than that, I want to be properly trained in defense because... " She took a great breath before saying, "... because Lord Voldemort is back."

There were sounds of fear from the name.

"Well... that's the plan, anyway," said Hermione. "If you want to join us, we need to decide how we're going to— "