Potter's Girl / Butterfly Effect.

57. Bugger Off

CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN;

BUGGER OFF

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"I don't suppose I can stay here for the rest of term?"

   "You know your mother and father would kill me if I snuck you out of school," chided Remus, though he held back a smile. "Besides, I'm supposed to be the sensible one of the group. You know how horrible that would make me look?"

   Cassie rolled her eyes and shoved his shoulder, before exhaling in defeat and finally wrapping her arms around his torso. She had attempted too many times at convincing Remus to sneak her off the train and let her stay at Grimmauld Place, only for him to turn her down every single time. Damn Remus and his responsible ways.

   They stood in the entrance hall of Grimmauld, and seemed to be in their own little bubble; all around, people bustled past them, worrying and stressing about whether or not they had everything they needed. Cassie wasn't worried at all – she hadn't come with much.

"Alright, now– KIDS!" shouted Mrs. Weasley; instantly, all of the hustling came to a halt and everyone turned their eyes to the woman. "The Knight Bus is arriving soon, so say your goodbyes and let's get outside."

They acquiesced. Soon, Cassie found herself face-to-face with her parents and very dry-mouthed. She bit her lip and looked up to her mother first.

"Have a nice rest of term for me, okay?" said Adelaide, delicately placing a hand on Cassie's cheek. The gesture was a bit.. touchy, one could say, and Cassie almost pulled away, but instead let her mother keep the touch on her daughter.

"And be sure to sneak in a prank for me," said Sirius quietly. Cassie arched an eyebrow and looked back to her mother; she only wore a matching smirk to Sirius's. "See you after term."

"Yeah," said Cassie in an uncertain voice, plastering a smile on her face. Had her parents known her any better, and they would see the true wariness hidden in her eyes, but that was one advantage of missing nearly thirteen years with them; they could not tell how dubious she truly was.

Still, she gave them a hug and left Grimmauld Place with a growing pit in her stomach. As she turned on her heel and watched the house fade back into its Unplottable chart, a sinking feeling told her she wouldn't be returning for a while.

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"It's outrageous," said Cassie furiously, slamming the Prophet down onto the table and scoffing. "It's– it's rubbish! How could my father, even if he was guilty, be capable of freeing ten prisoners from Azkaban?"

   "They're looking for someone to blame," said Hermione grimly, her face dark. "They've already dove too far into the statement that Voldemort isn't back, so they need someone to pin it on, and Sirius is the only logical answer–"

   "Logical?" Cassie scoffed. "This is anything but logical."

   And so were the reactions of the students; Lots of times, Cassie and Harry walked through the halls together over the next week, and whereas in the previous term, the whispers surrounding them would have been shocked and devious – yet now, there was a certain edge of worry and confusion behind the hushed voices. As though they, themselves, were debating how a single man could free ten high-security prisoners from Azkaban's fortress...

Slowly, people began to trickle back into Cassie's life. It started with Lavender apologizing for being cruel (though Cassie was sure that Parvarti had forced her hand), and eventually, Seamus Finnegan was actually looking her in the eye again. Cassie was suspiciously reminded of the time in third year when she had been convicted of being Sirius Black's apprentice.