Christmas with Cassandra

Part VII: Christmas with Cassandra

Weeks passed after that Halloween night, and Harry's strengths and weaknesses really started to emerge over the period between Halloween and Christmas.

He really excelled at Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts. He was decent in Potions and Astronomy, but absolutely awful in Herbology and History of Magic. Harry wasn't great at Transfiguration either, and only scraped by thanks to Hermione.

It was the Christmas holidays, though, and Harry wasn't meant to be thinking about schoolwork.

He was sitting in the Slytherin common room, enjoying the solitude. All the other first-year Slytherins had gone. Every single one.

Daphne had tried to stay at Hogwarts over the break with him, but her parents had insisted. They were going on some family trip, much to her displeasure.

Harry had to stay at Hogwarts because his mother was a teacher there, so he hadn't had any options.

There was a pecking sort of noise, and Harry looked to see his snowy owl, Hedwig. All of the four common rooms, from what he had gathered, had designated owl entrances, even Slytherin and Hufflepuff, which didn't have tower common rooms.

Hedwig flew to land on the arm of the loveseat that Harry was sprawled on.

He saw that she had a letter tied to her leg, and he gingerly untied it, before giving Hedwig a few strokes of her pure white feathers, and then she flapped off, to the Owlery, Harry presumed.

Harry unfurled the letter and saw to his surprise that it was from Daphne.

Dear Harry,

I am bored. Very, very bored. Astoria will not shut up about you. She is far too excited to be attending Hogwarts with us next year. I am very worried. And bored. Did I mention bored?

Sorry you're all alone in the Slytherin dorms, but at least you don't have the ferret and his idiots bothering you.

I found you a great present while in Transylvania. Very badass.

You'll have to wait two days to see it, though.

With love,

Daphne

Harry smiled at the personality in the letter, and set it down on the table. Harry re-opened his book, and meant to read it for a while longer when the portrait hole opened, and two Slytherin girls walked in.

Cassandra gave Harry a surprised smile.

"What are you doing here all alone?" she wondered.

"What are you doing here?" Harry replied, "Draco went home for the holidays."

"Well, my parents and I don't always see eye to eye. I got a letter making it clear I wasn't exactly invited home for the holidays." Cassandra said lightly, but Harry sensed the emotional wound beneath her words. Cassandra glanced at her companion, the other Slytherin prefect, Gemma Farley.

"I'm going to keep Harry company, Gem. No one should be alone over Christmas break." Cassandra told Gemma.

"Sure. I might go and find Nic then." Gemma said, and headed up the girls dormitory stairs.

Cassandra motioned for Harry to move his legs, and then plopped down beside him.

Harry looked at the striking blond fifth-year girl.

"So, enjoying the peace and quiet?" Cassandra asked.

"Yeah. It's been lonely, but really nice, in a weird way." Harry said.

"No, I get it. That's how Hogwarts always is over the break." Cassandra said, "It's puzzling, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded.

Cassandra turned her wrist towards her, and Harry saw she was wearing a watch.

"You know, I know a great place for the two of us to hang out. You like swimming?" Cassandra asked.

"Yeah. Potter Manor's got a giant swimming pool. I practically live in it over the summer." Harry said. Cassandra laughed.

"There's one at Malfoy Manor, too. My mother and I are the only ones who use it." Cassandra said.

"You don't talk about your family much." Harry noted.

"What's there to talk about? My pure blood supremacy father? My cowardly little brother who's following in Dad's footsteps? My cold, bitter mother?" Cassandra asked Harry.

"I didn't realize things were that awful for you." Harry said sympathetically.

"Oh, listen to me whining. Your father was murdered when you were one. That must be so much worse than my parents not loving me the way I want." Cassandra realized.

"No, I mean… other than the big tragedy, I guess, I've had a pretty good life. Mum's the best, and I know she loves me, so… I'd say you have it worse." Harry said.

"Thanks." Cassandra said dryly. Her pretty gray eyes regained their usual enthusiasm.

"But, let's stop getting depressed about my family. You fancy a swim?" Cassandra asked.

"Sure. I haven't got swim trunks, though." Harry admitted.

"You'll be fine." Cassandra said, grasping Harry's hand. She yanked him to his feet, and guided him out of the common room.

Harry mused about how odd they must look, a fifth year and a first year holding hands as they walked through the mostly abandoned corridors.

Cassandra led him up to the fifth floor, and then to a door beside a very odd looking statue.

She mumbled something under her breath, and the door unlocked with a click.

"What is this place?" Harry wondered as he followed Cassandra into the room.

It emerged into a shockingly fancy bathroom, with a massive swimming pool sized bath tub.

"You said you fancied a swim." Cassandra smiled.

"I… where are we?" Harry asked in amazement.

"This is the prefects' bathroom. I have a password, and we're very unlikely to be disturbed." Cassandra explained. She walked over to a large series of taps, and turned on a few of them.

The vast tub began filling up at a shockingly fast rate.

Harry watched in awe as Cassandra grabbed the hem of her shirt and lifted it up, unveiling a lacy purple bra. Harry couldn't help but ogle Cassandra's lovely, perky breasts in their bra. She had nice sized breasts, Harry realized.

"Staring, are we?" Cassandra teased. Harry abruptly tore his eyes off Cassandra's breasts.

"Sorry. They're just… nice to look at." Harry blurted stupidly. Well, he'd thought it was stupid, but Cassandra laughed at his words, and not in a cruel way, like she genuinely found him funny.

"Thank you." she winked.

"Uh… you're welcome." Harry said.

Harry watched in amazement as Cassandra unbuttoned her Muggle jeans and slid them down her legs, unveiling matching purple panties.

Cassandra stepped out of her jeans, and stood before Harry's horny eyes in just some lacy purple lingerie.

Harry stared as she reached down and pulled her wand from her jeans, the way she did it flaunting her fit ass.

Cassandra straightened up, and tossed her blond hair back behind her shoulders.

Cassandra tapped the tip of her wand to her bra and spoke clearly.

"Impervius." she said, then did the same with her panties.

Then, she looked up at Harry.

"Well? Strip down to your boxers, Harry. I'm going to put a water repellant charm on them, so they'll be like swim trunks." Cassandra explained.

Harry obeyed quickly, pulling off his shirt and then his pants, and shivered in the brisk room. Cassandra walked towards, and Harry found himself with a much closer view of her amazing body.

Cassandra touched her wand to Harry's boxers, and repeated the charm.

"Alright. You're all good to dive in." Cassandra said. Harry tore his eyes off Cassandra's breasts and realized the taps had magically shut off once the tub had filled.

Harry went to the edge of the tub, and hesitated before jumping in.

"Oh, it's like a pool. Just jump." Cassandra laughed, and dived in with the grace of a swan. Harry jumped in much less gracefully, remembering too late he'd left his glasses on.

Harry broke the surface of the water with his glasses missing off his face. He blinked at both the water in his eyes and the sudden loss of vision.

Harry saw a figure emerge from the water, with whitish blond hair, and then his glasses were gently placed back on his nose.

"They're alright?" Cassandra checked. Harry was momentarily breathless at how stunning she looked soaking wet.

Cassandra's full lips curved into a knowing smile, and Harry felt the older girl drawing closer in the pleasantly warm water.

Cassandra's wet lips brushed along Harry's cheekbone, and despite the warmth of the water, he shivered.

Cassandra's mouth slowly moved towards Harry's, and when her lips met his, Harry's mind truly blanked, and his only reaction was to kiss back.

This was his first kiss, and it was certainly an exciting one.

Cassandra's hand rose up to touch Harry's back, and his arms rose to wrap around her bare lower back.

Cassandra pressed herself closer to Harry. She was a couple inches taller than him, so her breasts were rather near his face, and she had to look and lean down a little to kiss him.

Harry definitely enjoyed the physical sensation of Cassandra so close, and her lips tasted sweet.

After a few more heavenly minutes, Cassandra drew back, and she had a happy smile on her face. She looked into Harry's emerald green eyes, and her smile faded a little bit.

"You don't… you don't think I'm weird, do you? Having feelings for a first year?" Cassandra fretted.

"I might be a little biased, but no, I don't think you're weird." Harry said, a little surprised that he was able to string together coherent sentences. Cassandra gave a small laugh, and her smile returned.

"Good." she said, and planted a big kiss on Harry's lips.

———

Two days later, Harry awoke on Christmas Day to an empty dormitory, and a huge stack of presents at the end of his bed.

Harry was delighted to see it, and he hastily put on his glasses then went to open them.

The top one was from Fleur, and it was very large. Opening it, Harry discovered that the French Veela had sent him a bunch of treats she had baked herself (which, knowing her cooking, had a decent chance of being less than amazing), along with a book about the France Quidditch team and a quite interesting letter detailing how her fourth year at Beauxbatons was going. Once again, the letter was signed with 'Love, Fleur.'

Daphne's present was a necklace with a giant vampire fang on it, almost certainly a fake, but he was sure she had gotten a kick out of it, considering the Dracula mythology.

Harry put on the necklace, and moved on.

Daphne's mum Emma had sent him a Transylvania Quidditch jersey. The letter Daphne had included with her vampire fang necklace had informed Harry that Emma had spent a long time deciding on what to buy Harry.

Nymphadora Tonks, who Harry had long thought of as an older sister, sent Harry a really interesting book on offensive jinxes that he resolved to never let Lily find. Nymphadora hated her full first name, and so she went by anything other than Nymphadora. Harry usually went with Nym, but he'd also used Dora and Tonks.

Dora's mom, Andromeda, was one of Sirius' cousins, and so Harry and Dora had spent quite a bit of time together growing up. She was seven years his senior, having graduated from Hogwarts just this past year, but they had been as close as twins at some points in their lives.

Speaking of Sirius, Harry's godfather had sent him a ring. It was a heavy black metal ring, inscribed with runes along the inside of the band.

There was a letter in the package as well.

Hello, Harry!

I spent a long time wondering what a first year boy would like as a good present. I mean, James had a stash of really excellent magazines, but you might be too young for those. Lily would definitely not approve.

Eventually, I decided to get you something you would actually use. I enclosed to you a Black family heirloom, of the magical variety. As you are aware, I have named you as my heir, in the event of any unforeseen tragedies, though I hope you'll never have to take over my title, and I will one day have a child of my own to name heir. But for now, Harry, you are the closest thing I've ever had to a son, and whether or not you and I are blood, you will always be like a son to me.

This ring has powerful protection charms on it, real ancient stuff. It's real handy in duels, which I've heard you've already found yourself in one, by the way! Excellent job!

Enjoy the ring, and give your mother my best,

Sirius

Harry slid the Black family heirloom onto his finger, and the runes on the inside of the band glowed vivid green, and the ring shrank to perfectly fit his finger.

"Cool." Harry grinned.

He ripped open packages from others, like his Aunt Bella, his Aunt Andi (Dora's mom), along with Tracey, Pansy, Blaise, Susan, Padma, and Hermione.

Then, he reached his mother's gift.

He opened it to reveal a silvery cloak. In his mother's elegant handwriting was a very simple note.

Harry, this was your dad's. He'd want you to have it. Stop by my office later and we can discuss it.

Harry lifted the cloak, and draped it across his shoulders. To his amazement, the part of his body draped in the cloak turned invisible. It was an Invisibility Cloak!

As Harry took it off of himself, there was a knock on the door. He crossed to it and opened the door to reveal Cassandra standing there, smiling.

She had a package under her arm, and a shiny silver bracelet on her wrist indicated that she had gotten Harry's present. He'd actually gone for something similar to Sirius' gift. The silver bracelet not only looked nice, but it also had some minor protection spells on it. Harry suspected the Black ring had much more advanced magic on it, though. Possibly Dark magic, knowing what he knew about Sirius' family.

"Thanks for the bracelet." Cassandra smiled.

"No problem." Harry replied a little shyly.

"I decided I'd bring you your gift in person." Cassandra explained, offering him the package.

Harry took it and eagerly ripped into it. Inside the package was a Chocolate Frog and a bronze orb slightly larger than the average gumball.

"What's this?" Harry wondered, lifting the bronze orb.

"It's a Snitch." Cassandra said, "They're called Trial Snitches, and they're meant to challenge Seekers. They're damn near impossible to catch, but whenever you're done practicing, you just shout 'Return!' and it flies back to your hand."

"Wow. Seriously?" Harry asked in amazement, "That's awesome!"

"Thanks. I'm glad you like it." Cassandra smiled warmly. Then, almost impulsively, she leaned down and planted a quick kiss on Harry.

She drew back, a strange heat prickling between the two of them, and then they collided, their lips mashed together as the pair heatedly kissed.

Harry's hands couldn't resist roaming Cassandra's older body, and the girl gave a pleased sound.

"You're good." Cassandra complimented, but then her smile turned a bit crooked, "But I can make you better."

Cassandra stepped into the boys' dormitory, and then she closed the door behind her.