Always My Almost

two

It was officially the first day of classes and Cassie had woken up with a pounding headache. She wanted to curse herself for being a sobbing mess the night before. Cassie fumbled to find her tie and groaned when her hair wouldn't calm in the manner it was supposed to. Her mother would have her head on a silver platter if she saw what Cassie's current appearance was.

The young witch let out an annoyed huff as she tried to tie her long black hair back for the fourth time, not quite being able to get it just right. She angrily ran her fingers through it and yelped out in pain when they caught on a knot. Hot tears of frustration began pooling in her grey eyes, threatening to spill over.

"Cassie? Are you okay?" Lina asked, poking her head out of the bathroom doorway.

"Yes. My hair just won't-!"

Lina came back with a handkerchief in one hand, and a worried look clear on her face. "How about I help you, eh?" Cassie nodded, feeling weak for letting someone see her at such a low point.

Cassie moved over to make room for her before saying, "I don't know what's wrong with it today, it's normally so easy to tame." She felt pitiful, and she knew she sounded it too. But she just barely returned to the castle and her own manor seemed more pleasant than this.

"We all have bad hair days, and after the night you had..." Cassie snapped her eyes to her friend, feeling an ounce of annoyance. She had a bad habit of going straight to defense, no matter if what was being said was a fact or not. Lina began running her fingers through Cassie's hair, slowing and gently working out the knots when she came to them. "It's so soft."

The two Slytherin's sat in silence while Lina pulled Cassie's hair into a ponytail, allowing a few strands to fall and frame her face. She had told Cassie to wait for a second and left to retrieve something from her nightstand, Lina returned with a strand of forest green ribbon. The brunette delicately tied the ribbon in Cassie's silky black hair, tightening it before securing it with a charm that Cassie wasn't familiar with. Lina had always been the one out of the two of them that was more into the glamour charms than Cassie. It wasn't that the raven-haired witch didn't want to learn them, she just didn't have any time with the standards her mother continuously gave her.

Once again, Cassie realized that Lina was too good for this world. She was the perfect blend of sassy and sweet, making Cassie's favorite person to be around. They just understood each other, and having very similar humor made it easy for them to spend hours on end with one other. To anyone who didn't know her, Lina would seem very uptight and pure, but to the lucky few who were in Lina's inner circle knew how wrong that assumption was.

"I'm going to finish getting ready," Lina said softly before starting to walk back towards the bedroom. "But I think someone is here to visit you." And with that, she was gone.

Cassie frowned in confusion, how could she know whether or not someone was waiting for her behind a closed door? She hadn't heard anyone knock. It was another mystery to add to Lina, and Cassie secretly loved the idea of her friend being able to sense when someone was there before making themselves known. There was a talent inside of it that made Cassie smile, knowing one day that sense would be useful. Especially in dark times like these. Cassie stood, grabbing her book bag as she made her way towards the door. Once she opened it, she was met with Regulus and Adrian standing side by side.

"What are you two doing here?" She hissed as she pulled the door open.

"We wanted to make sure you were okay," Regulus said with a shrug. He was leaning against the door frame. His expression was nonchalant, but Cassie knew he was worried about her. Regulus and Adrian had always towered over her but never had she felt so small in their presence.