Him - A Harry Potter Love Story

Chapter Fifty-Six

A/N Oh god I finished writing the book and I've cried like ten times today

Amelie stayed silent for a long moment.

"Cassandra?" she murmured. I nodded, tears stinging at my eyes.

"Yeah."

"Oh my god," she said with a small laugh. "Cassandra. Cassandra!"

She pushed her way through the door on the counter and wrapped me in her arms, shaking with sobs. "I never thought I'd get to meet you!" she gasped.

"I never thought I'd be able to find you," I whispered back.

"You've grown so much," she laughed, grabbing me by my shoulders and pulling back. "How old are you now?"

"Seventeen."

"Seventeen!" she repeated, letting go of me and turning away to wipe her eyes. "Oh my god. I'm so sorry. I wasn't expecting this today."

"Amelie...do you know where they are?" I asked softly.

"No. I don't, and I wish I did," she sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"Do you think your parents know?" I asked helplessly, wrapping my arms around my stomach.

"No, they don't either. Wait!" she suddenly gasped. "No. No, they don't, but...oh, I need to take you to their house. I don't want to be the one to explain this to you."

She closed the bookstore and took me to her car. We rode in complete silence, me simply taking in the view of the town around me. How much would I have come here if Voldemort hadn't taken away my parents?

We suddenly pulled into the driveway of an old yet cozy looking home. I unbuckled the seat belt and put my hand on the door handle, when I suddenly stopped.

Would someone here know where my parents were?

Was I really going to meet my grandparents?

"Come on, Cassandra. It's okay," Amelie said, leaning over to rub my hand a little.

"Cassie," I said softly.

"Hm?"

"You can call me Cassie."

She smiled. "Cassie. I like it."

I finally got out of the car, approaching the house slowly while taking deep breaths. I couldn't help but think that if this was how I was reacting to this, how would I react when I meet my parents?

If. If I meet my parents.

"You look just like Adeline," she told me as we went to the entrance.

Amelie walked up to the door and knocked. A moment later, an old man answered, looking at her and smiling.

"Hello, Amelie," he greeted, and then caught sight of me. His smile faltered a little in confusion. "Who is this?"

"We need to talk. Inside," Amelie said quietly. He frowned, nodding while cautiously opening the door and stepping back.

"Come in."

I let Amelie walk in first and followed close behind her. She walked through the house with ease, not taking a second glance at anything. However, she had seen the place a thousand times; my eyes darted around the new area, my brain asking hundreds of questions as I studied everything.

"Amelie? Shouldn't you be at work?" someone asked from the living room. I sped up my pace so I could stand next to my aunt, looking at who I presumed to be my grandmother as my grandfather walked to sit down next to her.

"Mum, Dad...this will definitely come as quite a shock to you," Amelie warned.

"Just tell us what's going on," her father sighed.

She glanced over at me. "Go ahead. Introduce yourself."

Although being put on the spot like that normally would make me feel uncomfortable, I suddenly never felt more ready to do this.

"I'm Cassandra. Cassandra Winters."

Their reactions were immediate and kind of shocking; both of them gasped, making me flinch. My grandmother had a hand over her mouth and she stood up, walking towards me quickly.

"You're Adeline's daughter?" she asked, smiling. "You're my granddaughter?"

"Yes," I said, a smile suddenly appearing on my own face. She embraced me tightly. After a moment, I felt my grandfather's arms as well. I tried hard not to cry, but even without being pregnant, I don't think I could have done it.

"Guys? Who is that?"

The two pulled away from me, looking over my shoulder in shock. I quickly turned around, seeing a teenage boy maybe a few years younger than me. He had dark brown hair and eyes that looked oddly familiar to me.

No one responded.

"What's going on?" he asked, not taking his eyes off of me.

"Gregory...this is Cassandra," my grandmother said quietly. It didn't take long for the surprise to set in, his eyes widening. I frowned, turning to Amelie.

"Who is that?" I muttered, although the room was so quiet, I could have said the words at normal volume and it wouldn't have made a difference.

"Cassandra...that is your brother," my grandfather told me.

Ron's POV

"Ron!" Mum cried out the moment she saw me enter the door, walking over to envelope me in her warm embrace. "What are you doing here? Where's Hermione and Harry?"

"They're still searching," I responded, and as she gave me a weird look, I immediately began to feel bad for the decision I had made to leave them.

"What about you then? Why are you here?"

I set down my bag on the ground and walked past her. "I didn't want to do it anymore."

"Oh, Ron-"

"How's Cassie?" I interrupted, sitting down at the dining table. When she didn't answer right away, I looked over my shoulder at her, frowning when I saw her expression. "Mum?"

"She's..." she took a deep breath, shaking her head a little. "She left a couple weeks ago to find her parents."

I shifted in my seat to look at her. "Are you okay Mum?"

"Oh, you don't understand," she mumbled, placing a hand on her forehead. "I'm worried about her. It's not safe out there."

"Come on, Mum, Cassie's stronger than you think," I said with a small laugh.

"She's not in shape to be traveling around, Ron," she said, suddenly lowering her voice as she walked closer to me. "She's..."

"Mum?" I said, crossing my arms.

"Never mind," she muttered, and walked away. "Go unpack in your room. I'll make you some food."

As confused as I was about the way she was acting, I was too tired to think about it right now. I picked up my stuff and walked upstairs.