Always My Almost

seven

He held her hand. It was a simple action and Cassie shouldn't have cared, but she did. She knew James wasn't sincere, but it felt so right. Touching him felt like the most natural thing Cassie had ever done.

It had been weeks since the party and things between her and James were still awkward. Things had gotten better for a while, they started talking and hanging out more. But with the Christmas holidays just around the corner, Cassie had been all but forgotten. Cassie was foolish to think him holding her hand would change anything, nothing was any different. James was still a prick most of the time, she didn't even recognize Regulus anymore, Lina started spending all her time with Evan, Lucius was still fighting with his father over his upcoming engagement, and Sirius was busy planning pranks and creating mischief with his friends to notice how miserable Cassie had become. But she still had Adrian and Severus, the only two constants in her life.

She loved the two Slytherins dearly, but it upset her knowing they may just be the only ones who ever put her first. The pair had started spending almost every waking moment with Cassie, making sure she always had someone to lean on. She could tell the wizards were worried about her, the way they looked at her gave it away. Severus was more affectionate than normal and Adrian doted on her. She appreciated it, truly, but she just wanted to be left alone to wallow in her own self pity for a while.

It was the last week of November and Cassie was keeping herself busy by enjoying the first snow of the season. Walking the Hogwarts grounds had become one of her favorite pastimes as of late, it was the only time she had, other than sleeping, to herself and away from everything going on.

Cassie watched the large white snowflakes float down from the sky and onto the layer of fluffy snow that lined the lawn. There was something oddly peaceful about the day, maybe it was the snow, maybe because it was the blissfulness the weekend brought, or maybe it was the fact that she no longer had to stress about beating Ravenclaw after winning yesterday's game. Whatever it was, it worried her. She couldn't help but feel like this was just the calm before the storm.

Cassie had always loved the way the snow looked as it fell over the Black Lake; winter was her favorite season. But Cassie hadn't exactly come outside just to watch the snow, she was out there for a reason. She wanted to visit a hidden spot, one only she knew about. It was her special spot. She had found it one day in her second year out by the Forbidden Forest, away from everyone's line of sight. She called it 'Cassie's Hollow' because of the overwhelming amount of plants that had grown into and around the structure. She made a promise to herself to never show it to anyone, unless they truly deserved it.

Tucked behind thick trees was a small abandoned stone building that had essentially turned into ruins, the roof had caved in and one of the walls was crumbling. But it was one of the most beautiful things Cassie had ever seen. Vines of ivy trailed up the broken wall. It was the place Cassie always went when she felt down. It was serene and off the beaten path, perfect to clear one's head.

The walk to Cassie's Hollow was long but not hard, the only difficult part was making sure no one spotted her. She had enough charms on her that she was positive no one would see her on the walk down to the forest, she hadn't been caught yet.

When the witch reached Cassie's Hollow, she took a deep calming breath, basking in the tranquil silence. This was her first time back at the Hollow since last year, and Cassie couldn't remember why she stayed away for so long. When things with her parents got hard, the Hollow is where she would hide out. The feeling she got from that particular spot in nature was unimaginable, it shouldn't have meant so much to her, but it did.

Cassie spent several hours just sitting on a makeshift sofa just doing homework and practicing simple spells. She ate some of the pumpkin pasties she stole from the kitchens after breakfast, relishing in the sweet taste on her tongue and the wonderful view of the snow falling through the trees above her. And in that moment Cassie felt free.