Hermione wasted no time after that in getting me to the Gryffindor common room. My heart was pounding the entire time, and I couldn’t help but wonder what had happened in the last three hours or so. At first I was the reject Squib, doing nothing but scrubbing shelves, and now I was part of a mission to defeat the most evil wizard who ever lived! Maybe it was a sign that I really did need to embrace the future. Unless this mission killed me… but frankly, things couldn’t get any worse. If I was going to die as a Squib, I may as well make sure it’s while I was doing something to save the world, now that I had the opportunity.
I had never been in the boy’s dorms of the Gryffindor common room before, and I positively gawked at how Hermione just rushed up there without even bothering to knock. They could have been getting dressed! But Hermione didn’t seem to care as she rushed over to the bed where I could see a head of red hair sticking out from the blanket.
“Ron!” she whispered fiercely as she shook him. “Wake up! This is important!” The boy blinked groggily as he lifted his head.
“Hermione?” he muttered, rubbing his eyes, “what’s going on? Who’s that?” He pointed at me, and I couldn’t help but blush. He was very handsome, even with his hair all messy.
“I’ll explain later, get Harry up and meet us outside the Room of Requirement.” The Room of Requirement? What was that? It seemed to mean something to Ron, who immediately woke up the rest of the way and jumped out of bed, throwing on a tattered robe and going over to shake the shoulder of the black haired boy in the bed next to him. So that was Harry Potter! He didn’t act famous.
Hermione ran out of the dormitory and I ran right after her, afraid of being left behind with a bunch of seventh year boys. Boys who might have been changing! It was scandalous, yet I had just been in their dorm. Would wonders ever cease?
Hermione didn’t stop until she had left the common room and had come to a strange looking tapestry containing trolls trying to dance. It was so strange looking I felt myself staring at it for a full thirty seconds before I heard Hermione calling my name.
“Cassandra!” she said again, sounding a bit impatient this time. When I looked up I saw Ron and Harry standing next to her, breathing heavily. Ron’s robes were lopsided, and Harry’s glasses were crooked. I was suddenly overcome by shyness, my face turning red as I watched my feet.
“Hello,” I whispered, not looking up but still sensing that Hermione was giving me a funny look.
“We need a secret place to meet and discuss,” Harry said to the wall across from the tapestry in a loud, clear voice as he walked back and forth three times. To my shock a tall wooden door appeared which Harry opened and stepped through. Hermione followed, and Ron gestured for me to go ahead. I did so, blushing furiously.
I gasped as the room was revealed. I had never seen this place in all my weeks of cleaning the castle. The ceiling was high, and the walls were lined with book shelves featuring all sorts of different books. Books on the Dark Arts, books on Defense Against the Dark Arts, books on history, and books on the haunted homes of magical Britain- even a few Muggle books! In the middle of the floor was a collection of squashy red chairs surrounding a table that had books laid out on it, some open. Harry, Ron, and Hermione went straight to the chairs and sat down, looking as serious as three seventeen year olds could be. I stood behind Hermione’s chair, shaking a little. What had happened to the brave girl who had demanded to help in the library? She had been replaced by me, a quivering mass of Squib.
“What’s this about, Hermione?” Harry was speaking! Fine, so I was slightly star-struck. Father had always admired the boy’s escapades when visitors were at the house, boasting that he and the Boy Who Lived shared the same house! Admittedly, in private I heard him confide to Mother that the boy was probably having delusions of grandeur, but that had to be Father’s little joke. Like when he told me about the time he and his friends, in their seventh year, had met a Squib working in a shop and had accused her of being a Muggle, getting her fired from her job. I had giggled when I heard it. Now, remembering the story for the first time in months, it didn’t seem quite as funny.
“This is Cassandra,” Hermione told him. “She’s apprenticed to Filch, and she knows where Hufflepuff’s cup is.” The reaction to the statement was worth recording. Harry’s jaw dropped, and Ron looked like he had bitten off his own tongue in shock. Hermione nodded. “That was my reaction.” I must say, hers hadn’t been nearly as spectacular.
“You’re sure about this?” Harry asked. “We don’t need another false trail.” Ron nodded in agreement. He hadn’t spoken yet. Maybe he really had bitten off his tongue. They all seemed to be looking to me for an answer. I gulped.
“Yes,” I quavered, still not completely composed. “It was in an old building that my Father bought. They were going to auction off everything, but Father saw the cup and took it home. He said it was exquisite.” I was getting my spirit back now. I remembered when he brought the cup home. It shone like the sun. The seventh years exchanged glances.
“He just took it?” Ron asked. I suppose his tongue was still whole after all. “His arm didn’t fall off or anything?” What in the name of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans was he talking about?
“Of course not,” I replied. “Father said there was only a simple curse on it that would bring a slow painful death to anybody who wasn’t the owner of the cup.” I could touch it, since it technically belonged to the Pralents, but Mother couldn’t until Father took the curse off.
“Where do you live?” Harry asked curtly. “We need that cup.”
“Wait just a moment!” I cut in, “I’m going with you. It’s my house, after all.” I could see my parents again! They were probably pining for me. “And Hermione promised!” That part was a bit whiny eleven year old brat, but I couldn’t help it. I learned it all from watching Jeremiah, anyway.
“I did,” Hermione said meekly. “We better take her, Harry.” Harry was exasperated, I could tell, as was Ron. Ron ran his fingers through his hair, messing it up even more. It was still very handsome hair, and I blushed when he looked at me.
“Besides, if you touch it,” I added, going for logic instead of whining, “you’ll die. I won’t. So when do we leave?” It had been so long since I had been out of Hogwarts. I hadn’t even left the castle in weeks! The fresh air, the breeze, and then home… I sighed with happiness at the prospect.
“Hang on!” Ron stood up, and I marveled at his height. He was almost twice as tall as I was. “What will we tell McGonagall when we suddenly disappear from school? The three of us might be able to get away with it, but Cassandra, don’t you work here?” He knew my name! I could have swooned. “Won’t Filch get upset?”
“Ron’s right, Cassandra.” Hermione was speaking to me gently, like I was a kitten. Nobody had spoken to me like that since I had seen my mother. It soothed me slightly. “Filch could get you kicked out of Hogwarts, I bet. Working here has got to be better than not being here at all, right?”
“Wrong.” My voice shuddered, and I could feel a sob coming up in my throat as tears gathered in my eyes. “You’re wrong. Anything would be better than working here and being so close to magic I could taste it, and then not being able to do even the simplest spell or make a decent potion or even magically clean my rooms.” The sob broke free now, and the tears were running down my face. “You… you don’t know what’s it like. Okay? Nobody does, because you have magic and I don’t, and I don’t care if I ever see this stupid school again, because I don’t want to be here. Okay? I just don’t.” I wiped the tears away from my face. The three of them were watching me, and then they turned their backs so that I could just catch what they were whispering.
“It’s still too dangerous for her, she doesn’t know what she’s got going for her here, and she’s only eleven!”
“You were eleven when you rescued the Philosopher’s Stone, Harry, and listen to her! She’s miserable, and you want to just leave her to that?”
“Her too? Come on, Hermione, we can’t save every species on the planet! What are you going to start now? The Squib Protection from Intolerance Team? S.P.I.T. for short?”
Now I was just a species? Part of me wanted to spin around and scream at them, but I tried to maintain my cool. Screaming at them would get me stuck here. I couldn’t stop more tears from appearing, though.
“That was uncalled for, Ron, and frankly I’m surprised at you. Don’t you have a cousin who’s a Squib?”
“Look, you two, it doesn’t matter anyway.” Harry seemed to be the voice of reason in their bickering. “We have to take her with us so that she can get the cup, and we’ll think of an excuse for Filch. It seems like she needs a vacation.” His voice was grim, but I could have thrown my arms around him in thanks as three turned around to face me. “We’ll leave now, then, we need to get this done. Can you fly?” Hermione elbowed him. As a Squib, I couldn’t get a broomstick up in the air unless it was specifically designed for Squibs, and even those would never get me back to my house. It was much too far.
“Couldn’t we Apparate?” I suggested. “Wouldn’t that be quicker?” Harry shook his head.
“None of us are good enough to take you with us. How about Floo Powder?” Now it was my turn to shake my head.
“Father blocks incoming calls between September and Christmas, they’re business months.” Mother always hated that. Her friends always complained about having to walk or Apparate over to the house.
“You’ll ride with me, then,” Harry said, “and Hermione will ride with Ron.” Why did Hermione get to ride with Ron? I wanted to ride with Ron! Even after the S.P.I.T. comment he was still very handsome. Much better looking than any of the first year boys. And so much taller!
I didn’t have time to protest before I was being ushered out of the room and was waiting in the hallway while the three seventh years raised their wands and summoned a small trunk each. Nonverbal spells! Jealousy swept through me. I would never be able to do that. Ron and Harry were looking at me expectantly, but Hermione rolled her eyes.
“Honestly, you two, do you expect her to be prepared with anything? Come on Cassandra. Let’s go get you some clothes for the trip. It might be a few days.” A few days? Away from Mr. Filch? And cleaning? And that horrible evil cat Mrs. Norris? It was like heaven on earth!
“I don’t need any clothes!” I was bouncing up and down with excitement, my braids hitting against my back. “I still have some at home! Come on, let’s go!” I wanted to see my parents as soon as possible! Every second I spent without them was another second where they could forget me… no. That was silly. Why would they forget me? Hermione looked uncomfortable, but nodded.
“Come on,” Harry said, and we all raced down the stairs into the Entrance Hall. ‘We’. I liked the sound of that. It had been so long since I had used it. Ron unlocked the door with another spell and then we were outside, the wind whipping through my braids and causing them to smack my face hard. Ron grinned.
“Accio broomsticks!” he shouted as he raised his wand, and two brooms shot towards us. I wanted very badly to throw myself on the floor to protect myself, but then Ron might think I was silly. That would be bad. That would be very bad.
Hermione climbed onto the back of Ron’s broom, and I got on behind Harry with a look of contempt in Hermione’s direction. I didn’t care how nice she had been to me. She still shouldn’t be holding onto Ron as tightly as he strapped the trunks to the brooms using- what else, - magic, of course.
And before I knew it we were taking off, and I could only hold on and try not to look down.
Late Bloomer by Just Tink
Chapter Notes: sorry for the wait- this chapter was hard coming, and I've been so busy. Thanks to Anasuya for putting up with me!