When we align; a Neville Longbottom fanfiction

0. Prologue

September 1st, 1993.

Platform 9 ¾ was buzzing, the excitement of Hogwarts students palpable.

Cassandra and Theodore Nott, accompanied by their father, stood close together, surrounded by families bidding their goodbyes, children running after their pets, or reuniting with their friends.

"Keep your posture, Cassandra." Her father scolded her, tapping her on the back with his walking stick, which made both of his children flinch.

"Yes, Father."

With one more look at her surroundings, she decided that the platform that year seemed gloomier.

But then again, everything was gloomier. Her mother, Sylvia, had passed away earlier that year, leaving behind only her will for her daughter to be exactly like her. However, Cass didn't like the thought. Her mother was nothing short of perfect, on the outside. She made sure to always be appropriate and put together, to behave like the perfect wife. She knew her place in the family, even if it meant to agree with opinions she didn't fully share. Cassandra was very much aware she reached the limit to how much she could be like her. Two years prior she had been sorted into Slytherin, just like her whole family before her. Anyone who looked at her noticed how much she and her mother looked alike: straight black hair, sleek as a raven's feathers, framing an oval face of pale complexion, and an overall round figure.

The only difference between them seemed to be their eyes: her mother's, icy blue, cold and sharp as glass; hers of a warm green speckled with brown. Of course, Cass knew that the reason was that she wasn't her biological mum, as she had instead passed her genes to her actual child, Theodore. Cassandra's real mum was Sylvia's sister, Amelia, who died in childbirth. The Nott family took her in, raising her as their own. As for her father, the only times she'd heard her parents mention him was to shame him for leaving Amelia after he'd gotten her pregnant.

Cass' train of thought was interrupted by Lucius Malfoy, who had approached them and was shaking her father's hand.

"Arnas, I wanted to offer my condolences. Hello, children, have a good school year, and behave." He said, loud enough for the people in the immediate vicinity to hear. Cass and Theo mannerly thanked the man and distanced themselves from the pair as they started having a hushed debate.

It was peculiar for Malfoy Sr to engage in open conversation with her father. They normally met at their respective residences, alert as to not raise suspicions. Cass caught a few words here and there, realising what the two men were talking about.

Over the summer, Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban and was now on the run. Cass heard something about him being after Harry Potter, but she honestly didn't pay much attention to it. Harry Potter definitely wasn't on her list of friends, although they frequently crossed paths at Hogwarts, especially since it seemed like whoever was in charge of the timetable liked to pair Slytherins and Gryffindors during lessons.

As she observed her father politely bidding his goodbye to Lucius Malfoy, she wondered why they looked so preoccupied with finding Sirius Black. After all, he too was a servant to the Dark Lord. She voiced her doubts to her brother, careful not to be heard by anyone else.

In response, he shrugged. "Maybe they want to find him before the Ministry does."

The children didn't spend too much thinking about that, though, as the train was about to leave. They quickly waved their hands at their father and got on the Hogwarts Express, sticking together, looking for an empty compartment.

During their first two years at Hogwarts, they had made different friends, but their mother's passing had brought them closer.

As the train started leaving the platform, Cassandra relaxed. She was going back to her favourite place in the world, and everything was about to change.