heartbeat //harry potter\\

A Chill in the Air

Cecilia

Hogwarts glittered as it always had. If Cecilia wasn't shaking from fear, she would have felt the chill that went down her spine from the look of the castle alone. Hogwarts was more a home to her and her younger sister, Wysteria, than their small flat in London ever had, but now it felt only cold. 

Another tremor passed through Cecilia and her best friend, Cedric Diggory, held on to her a little bit tighter. Across from her sat Wysteria, who was pale, but wrapped tightly in a layer of jackets and a blanket. Beside Wysteria were Cecilia's other friends, the twins Eudora and Eugene Moss. 

"First Sirius Black escaping from prison and now this?" Eudora whispered, her breath curling in frost in the frigid air. Eugene nudged her foot and clenched her hand tighter. 

"Dumbledore will explain everything," Cedric reassured them. "There has to be a reason all of this has happened."

"Yeah, I just wish it happened a different year. We've got OWLs this year and I don't want anything getting in the way of my Os," Eugene huffed. Eudora and Cecilia nodded, feeling similarly. Cedric had taken OWLs the year before, so he didn't seem to mind very much, and neither did Wysteria, who was still in her third year. Cecilia's younger sister had her gaze trained on a very small dot on the floor, eyes vacant. 

"I'm sure Harry is fine, Wyss. Remus was there with him," Cecilia said. Wysteria glanced up and forced a smile. 

Wysteria had been sorted into Gryffindor her first year at Hogwarts, which was no surprise to either Cecilia or their mother. She made fast friends with a band of three, mischevious first years, one who just so happened to be Harry Potter himself. Which meant Wysteria spent the last two years getting into the worst kind of trouble and giving Cecilia a constant heart attack. There were a few things that were truly important to Cecilia and making sure that her sister was safe was one of those things. Wysteria had a nasty habit of making that very difficult. It also meant that Wysteria spent a good portion of her time at Hogwarts worrying over her friends, especially Harry, who always seemed to be ending up in the Hospital Wing. 

Luckily, the girls' mother had a secure position as Healer's Aid at Hogwarts, so Cecilia knew they were all in good hands. 

"Potter," Eugene hissed. "Nothing like this ever happened at Hogwarts before he came 'round. There were no spiders crawling around everywhere or snakes almost killing our friends or evil teachers."

"It's not his fault," Wysteria snapped back, emerging from her stupor. "He doesn't choose for any of those things to happen." 

"He's just a kid, Gene," Cedric agreed, rubbing Cecilia's arm as she shuddered. "I highly doubt he enjoys anything that's happening to him or to anyone." 

Eugene glowered in silence as Wysteria glared daggers into his soul. 

Cecilia sighed and looked back at the castle. This year, both Remus and Serana, their mother, would be at Hogwarts and Cecilia was excited to see them every day. Their family was a small and slightly dysfunctional one, with Serana having adopted both Wysteria and Cecilia and Remus hanging around a lot but not actually being their dad, but Cecilia didn't care. Aunt Charlie had moved back to the bookshop not long after Cecilia's 7th birthday. She ran it while the Jinx family was at Hogwarts and watched out for the girls a few days out of every month, right around the full moon. 

"You're awfully silent, Cis," Eudora said, raising her eyebrows at Cecilia. "You ready for OWLs this year?" 

Cecilia forced a small smile and nodded. 

"I just don't know what I want to do with the grades once I get them," she said. 

"You're going to do something big, Cis," Cedric said. "Minster of Magic, or something like that."

Cecilia scoffed and rolled her eyes at her best friend's visions of grandeur. 

"Please, Ced, if I were to work in the Ministry, the only department I would even consider working for is Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures." 

"Right, werewolf reform," Eugene added, rolling his eyes. This was an argument, or heated debate as Eudora preferred to call it, that they had often. Cecilia glared at her friend. 

"Look, it's not just werewolves. Centaurs and giants and all kinds of other "beasts" deserve a say in the government just as much as we do. I mean, werewolves are just normal people with a little twist. Besides, it's not their fault what happened to them and I certainly don't think it means they should be unqualified for jobs because of it." 

This was one of the few topics that Cecilia ever really got heated about. It wasn't often that her voice was ever raised, but she couldn't stand the prejudice against certain beasts.

"Let's focus on getting to the castle without dying, aye?" Cool-headed Cedric said, giving a warning glance to Eugene. Cecilia nodded and sat back, letting the warmth from Cedric's body spread through her cold body. 

The Great Hall was decorated like it always was, with floating candles and beautiful dishes spread across the four, long tables. Students filed into the Great Hall at high speeds, ready for the Sorting to be through with and for dinner to start. The anxious train ride with the shadowy figures made everyone's appetite like a living thing. 

Cedric and Cecilia separated from the others as they broke off for their respective House tables. Eugene and Wysteria both headed for the red and gold lined table, though they sat as far away from each other as possible, Eugene with his older friends and Wysteria with Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Eudora hurried over to the table filled with kids wearing green trimmed robes. With a squeal, she embraced a few of her friends before sending one last wave to Cecilia and Cedric. 

"Are you nervous?" Cedric whispered to her as they sat at the Hufflepuff table. Cecilia gave him a playful grin that she saved only for him and Wysteria. 

"Never," was her reply, which made him laugh. 

Soon enough, the other Hufflepuffs they were friends with arrived and began to greet them as they took their seats. 

Cecilia tried to smile and laugh and follow along with summer stories, but she couldn't help but feel that every now and again, if she looked just right, she could see something move in the artificial roofless expanse above. Something that wasn't a cloud or a bird, but something big and black and deeply, deeply cold. 

There was a chill in the air and it put Cecilia on edge. 

This was going to be a long year. 

***

Cue me taking in a long, deep breath. 

It's been a while folks. But here we are, the first chapter of the Casanova sequel, "Heartbeat". My biggest problem with this story was I was never sure what I was going to do with it and I had no idea how to start it. Cecilia and Wysteria and their stories have been in my head since before I finished Casanova, but I couldn't ever seem to get them out correctly in this first chapter. 

Someone just very recently read the entirety of Casanova in like three days and following Serana again with that person as they commented reminded how much her story meant to me, even if it was kind of horribly written and terrible, but, hey, I was like 12 when I started writing it so I don't think it was the worst thing ever. 

Anyway, here is chapter one. I hope it didn't disappoint. Other chapters will be longer, but I just needed to get this one done before I lost inspiration again. 

All my love.