It's You That I Want | L. Evans

2.

tw - homophobia, mention of parental abuse

Cassie

Cassie didn't understand how a class could be so boring. She wasn't even paying attention to Slughorn. She was looking around at her surroundings. People with different hair. Different personalities. Goody two-shoes who were rebelling. The girl who everybody thought was innocent now had colorful hair and treated everybody as if they were her house elves.

Or how there was so much tension in the room Cassie could barely breathe. Recent breakups, arguments, cheating, new lovers. All of it mixed together made her nauseous. But at least she was seated next to Lily Evans.

Lily didn't have drama. She was kind, happy, untroubled. Cassie was glad they were next to each other this semester. She didn't know how she'd handle anybody else. Because if it were anybody else, she'd have to pretend to care about their stupid problems. 'He cheated!' 'She broke my heart!' 'I never want to date again!' Wailing, whining, talking. The good thing about Lily was that she never talked to Cassie. Cassie enjoyed the quiet. And although some part of her suspected Lily hated her, she loved the silence.

"Miss Black, are you listening?"

"Hm? Yeah."

The class laughed. 

"Is that so? Then what are the ingredients for the Draught of Peace?"

Everybody had their eyes on her. Of course they expected her to mess up; Potions was her worst class. But she had some knowledge, so she shot a wink at Lily and said, "Moonstone Powder, Powdered Porcupine Quills, Hellebore Syrup, and Powdered Unicorn Hair. You wanna know the effect too?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Do tell us, Miss Black."

"It relieves anxiety. Don't underestimate all your students--or, I suppose, just me in this situation, Professor."

"Very well." He then went on to explain a couple potions but Cassie really didn't care. She was busy analyzing the scar on the palm of her hand. She'd looked at it a million times, but she hoped that maybe one day it'd go away. That she'd check and it just wouldn't be there anymore. It was from from her mother. Sirius had similar scars, but this one was her worst one. She knew that if she went to Madam Pomfrey she could get something to clear it up, but that would mean having to explain what happened. And she didn't want to do that. Only Sirius could know, because only he understood.

"Cassie?" Lily broke her out of her thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"Professor Slughorn told us to find our partners for the semester."

"Oh." She paused. "Do you wanna be my partner?"

"Me?"

She shrugged. "We already sit next to each other. It'd make sense that we were partners. And I kinda need your help anyway."

"How so?"

"Come on, Lily." She nudged her. "You are probably the only witch who is good at Potions. And I sort of have a reputation for being horrible at it, so. A positive cancels out a negative, right?"

Lily's eyes were a bit widened. "Right."

"Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, no, I'm fine. Just a bit impressed."

She arched her brow. "Oh?"

Lily shook her head. "That sounded rude, I'm sorry. I just meant-"

"I know what you meant." She smiled. "It's okay, Evans, don't worry about it." She paused. "I do have one question, though."