the siphon | h. potter

~seven~

cassandra

It was a gloomy Tuesday morning. The bewitched ceiling in the Great Hall rumbled as the students ate their breakfast. Cassandra was nursing a goblet of orange juice as she read the new edition of the Daily Prophet, luckily the news was drab. Her section of table was empty besides Hermione who was reading a large textbook.

The calming silence was soon interrupted by the arrival of Ron and Harry. Ron kicked his legs over the bench and slid next to Cassandra. "You might as well kill me now, I'd rather go quickly. Snape is sucking out my soul, class by class and I can't take it anymore. It's bloody agonizing," Ron groaned dramatically. Cassandra only responded by playfully rolling her eyes.

"You can't die now," Hermione said while still reading her book, "your mother would kill you if you don't receive at least a few OWLs."

"I don't care," Ron pouted, "first period potions should be classified as cruel and unusual punishment."

"It can't be that bad," Cassandra reckoned. Harry and Ron shot their attention to Cassandra in surprise. Both boys' eyes shot out of their head when Cassandra informed them what she said was not a joke and she was indeed being serious.

"Snape is bloody awful, you just wait you'll be eating those words in about forty minutes," Ron predicted. He gave Cassandra a reassuring pat on the back before turning to his food.

*****

Unfortunately, Cassandra did eat her words, but it only took thirty minutes. The potions classroom was characteristically dark and gloomy. When Cassandra sat down next to Ron she could hear the steady drip of lake water falling from the ceiling.

The dark room was filled with chatter, all the students were trying to squeeze in their last words before Snape arrived.

Cassandra turned around on her seat to face Harry and Hermione who were sitting at the table behind her and Ron, "So, is this guy like a vampire or something."

"Surprisingly not," Harry joked.

Ron looked like he wanted to input his opinion, but he was distracted. "Oh look it's baby Potter and his little nannies," sneered a voice from behind Cassandra.

Three boys approached the quartet. The one standing in the middle had bleach blonde hair. He was tossing a green apple between his hands with a rather arrogant look across his face. The boy on the right had dark, curly hair with a matching complexion. He seemed to be interested in anything other than what the blonde boy was saying. The boy on the left however was the most striking. His wavy black hair fell over his face in all the right places. Cassandra couldn't help but noticed he looked like Harry, but his features were sharper and more defined.

Harry and Ron looked like they wanted to say something to the boys, but they stayed quiet. "Theo, how long do you think it will take for Potter to faint and call for his mummy? I don't think he'll make it another three days," the blonde boomed.

The boys were starting to look slightly less attractive to Cassandra... slightly. Harry looked like he was about to lose his cool and Cassandra was not about to attend another detention. She needed to deescalate the situation.

When the blonde turned his gaze to Cassandra he looked surprised. Cassandra took opportunity of his speechlessness and dramatically sized up his stature from top to bottom. When she was done she shot the boys a disinterested look and turned her attention to Harry and Hermione without a word.

"As I was saying," Cassandra rolled her eyes, "I couldn't decide between the cinnamon and chocolate biscuits at dinner last night... it was a really tough decision." Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked extremely confused, but Cassandra had already accomplished her goal.