INSTEAD OF DINNER, CASSIE HEADED straight to the Headmaster's office. 

"Raspberry Jam," Cassie said hurriedly when asked for the password, the gargoyles moving aside to make way for the girl to head upstairs and question Albus Dumbledore. 

"ALBUS!" she yelled as soon as she entered the office. 

"As loud as always, Cassandra," Dumbledore said, calmly sipping his tea on the desk. Cassie slammed her bag on the chair beside her and stood in front of the desk with crossed arms. 

"I've survived the Killing Curse?" she asked, tapping her foot impatiently. 

"Sorry?" Albus asked, rather startled by this question. 

"You heard me the first time Albus,"

"There's only one person who's escaped the curse and that is your brother, Miss Black," Dumbledore stated the facts as he knew it, "What made you come to this conclusion?"

"Don't mess with me right now, Albus. Alastor Moody just told my whole class that I escaped the curse too," Cassie asserted, her wand now pulled out from her cloak, pointing at Dumbledore. 

"Put the wand down, Cassandra," Albus asked in a polite yet stern tone. 

"Tell me the truth," she said instead, her hand not budging from its place. 

"The scar, on your back," a voice said from the door. Cassie spun around, her wand now pointing at Mad-Eye Moody who had rushed to the office after sending off Neville. 

"The tiny bolt we'd seen and forgotten, Albus," he said to the headmaster, "That is the scar. The mark of the killing curse."

"When did you see my back?" Cassie expressed in disgust, turning back to look at Dumbledore. 

"When you were brought to me," Albus informed, "While Poppy was healing your wounds, she had called Minerva, Alastar and myself to examine a few of your scars. We didn't think much of the bolt then. It looked like a scratch at first, but I am to believe that Alaster cracked this case as of recently,"

Moody nodded hurriedly, still standing at the door. Cassie's hand slowly dropped down. Silence eloped the room. Fawkes flew towards Cassie, perching on her shoulder as the latter fed the phoenix a treat. 

"You said Madam Pomphret was healing my wounds," she recalled, sitting down on the seat in front of the desk, "What happened to me?"

"You were kidnapped," Dumbledore narrated, "Sirius and Julia left you in their safehouse before chasing down Peter Pettigrew. Your godfather, Remus Lupin was to travel through the floo network to your house and arrive in a minute after their departure, but when he reached the house, the place had been ransacked and you had been taken away. On your cradle was the sign of the dark mark. 

"You had been taken by the Death Eaters. 

"When I told your mother you were gone, I really did mean it. It was only after a month of her leaving the continent that Alastar found you and brought you back to us. All of us had assumed we'd lost you. Alaster found you wounded, bleeding, malnourished and abandoned. According to Poppy, you hadn't been fed for weeks. It was a miracle that you were still alive,"

"And still you decided to make me a part of project 3107?" Cassie scoffed. 

"You were powerful, we knew that from the moment you were born. You've heard all your prophecies, you know all too well what you are destined for," he reminded.

"You're right, you're right," Cassie sighed, standing up and lightly shaking her shoulder as a sign for Fawkes to wake up and fly away, "I need to fulfil my purpose,"

"You can withdraw from this project forever, Miss Black, and no one will hold it against you. You are a child after all," Albus said politely. 

"I'll be back," Cassie reassured, "I just want to experience life a bit more before I get back into that vigorous process of training,"

Albus nodded, and with a smile, walked Cassie out of his office as she was getting late for Astronomy with the fifth-years. 

"I'll inform Aurora of this delay, Miss Black," he said as she stepped behind the gargoyle. Cassie gave him a tight-lipped smile and a little salute to Moody before heading downstairs and out into the corridor and to the Astronomy Tower. 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ⁅ - ෴ - ⁆ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

OH HOW MUCH CASSIE WISHED she'd walked into the Common Room only fifteen minutes later. Because the moment she strode through the door, she was provided the audience of the golden trio huddled up near the couch, looking at something Granger was passing to them. 

" 'Spew'?" she heard Harry say, picking up what Cassie thought was a badge and looking at it. "What's this about?" 

"Oh hello, Cassie!" Granger exclaimed on sighting the girl who had been hoping to slip back into the room as quietly as possible but was caught mid-act, "Come on here, I was just telling the boys about S-P-E-W. It stands for the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare."

"I'm absolutely knackered, Granger. I just need to go rant to Fred about today's day before I conk off," Cassie said, trying to weasel her way out of this. 

"It'll only take a minute, I promise," Granger pleaded, making Cassie internally groan and begrudgingly walk back to the couch and hear the girl out.

"Never heard of this S-P-E-W," said Ron, bringing the conversation back on track.

"Well, of course, you haven't," said Hermione briskly, "I've only just started it." 

"Yeah?" said Ron in mild surprise. "How many members have you got?"

"Well — if you three join — four," said Hermione. 

"And you think we want to walk around wearing badges saying 'spew,' do you?" said Ron.

"S-P-E-W!" said Hermione hotly. "I was going to put Stop the Outrageous Abuse of Our Fellow Magical Creatures and Campaign for a Change in Their Legal Status — but it wouldn't fit. So that's the heading of our manifesto." 

She brandished the sheat of parchment at them.

"I've been researching it thoroughly in the library. Elf enslavement goes back centuries. I can't believe no one's done anything about it before now."

Cassie coughed softly at the last statement Granger had passed. 

"I did find a few articles about your campaign, but it was all written against you by that Rita Skeeter," Granger added, "I took the basic idea you had and added more structure to it. Making it more concrete and covering any and every loophole,"

"Hermione — open your ears," said Ron loudly. "They. Like. It. They like being enslaved!"

"Our short-term aims," said Hermione, speaking even more loudly than Ron, and acting as though she hadn't heard a word, "Are to secure house-elves fair wages and working conditions. Our long-term aims include changing the law about non-wand use, and trying to get an elf into the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures because they're shockingly under-represented."  

"And how do we do all this?" Harry asked.

"We start by recruiting members," said Hermione happily. "I thought two Sickles to join — that buys a badge — and the proceeds can fund our leaflet campaign. You're treasurer, Ron — I've got you a collecting tin upstairs — and Harry, you're secretary, so you might want to write down everything I'm saying now, as a record of our first meeting. As for you Cassie, I thought you'd like to be vice-chairperson!"

Cassie sat there wordlessly. She opened her mouth to speak but her throat was too dry even to formulate words or phrases.  Hermione beamed at the trio of them — Harry sat, torn between exasperation at Hermione and amusement at the look on Ron's face. The silence was broken, not by Ron, who in any case looked as though he was temporarily dumbstruck like Cassie, but by a soft tap, tap on the window. They looked across the now empty common room and saw, illuminated by the moonlight, a snowy owl perched on the windowsill.  

"Hedwig!" Harry shouted, and he launched himself out of his chair and across the room to pull open the window.

Hedwig flew inside, soared across the room, and landed on the table on top of Harry's predictions. 

 "About time!" said Harry, hurrying after her. 

"She's got an answer!" said Ron excitedly, pointing at the grubby piece of parchment tied to Hedwig's leg.

Harry hastily untied it and sat down to read, whereupon Hedwig fluttered onto his knee, hooting softly.

"What does it say?" Hermione asked breathlessly. 

The letter was very short and looked as though it had been scrawled in a great hurry. Harry read it aloud:  

Harry — 

We're flying north immediately. This news about your scar is the latest in a series of strange rumours that have reached me here. If it hurts again, go straight to Dumbledore — they're saying he's got Mad-Eye out of retirement, which means he's reading the signs, even if no one else is. 

We'll be in touch soon. My best to Ron and Hermione. Keep your eyes open, Harry. Also, send my love to Cassie and tell her I'll meet her soon.

Sirius 

Harry looked up at Cassie, Ron and Hermione, who stared back at him. 

"He's flying north?" Hermione whispered. "He's coming back?"

"He said 'We're flying north'," Ron corrected, "Who else is with him?"

"Mum," Cassie explained, "Remus had written to me a week ago about her heading off to find dad,"

"That explains the 'we' part. But that doesn't explain what signs Dumbledore's reading," said Ron, looking perplexed. "Harry — what's up?"

For Harry had just hit himself in the forehead with his fist, jolting Hedwig out of his lap.

"I shouldn't have told him!" Harry said furiously. 

"What are you on about?" said Ron in surprise. 

 "It's made him think he's got to come back!" said Harry, now slamming his fist on the table so that Hedwig landed on the back of Ron's chair, hooting indignantly. "Coming back, because he thinks I'm in trouble! And there's nothing wrong with me! And I haven't got anything for you," Harry snapped at Hedwig, who was clicking her beak expectantly, "you'll have to go up to the Owlery if you want food."

Hedwig gave him an extremely offended look and took off for the open window, cuffing him around the head with her outstretched wing as she went.

"Harry, look at me," Cassie said in a pacifying voice laced with a hint of sternness. The boy looked up reluctantly. 

"You did the right thing. And even if you didn't tell him, mum and dad would have shown up here either way. They lost us once and don't want to repeat the same mistakes. Don't beat yourself up for this," Cassie said softly, taking a seat beside her cousin. 

Harry nodded before standing up and heading off to bed with forced pleasantries. 

Hermoine packed her badges and head up too, wishing Cassie goodnight when she saw the girl look longingly at the piano. 

When she heard the door of both the girls' and boys' dormitory close, Cassie stood up with renewed motivation and marched up the stairs to Fred's dorm.

She stood in front of the door, stalling the knock when the door sprung open with Fred looking rather tense. 

The two looked startled to see each other before they came to their senses and spoke in sync,

"Piano?"