XXXI

"Cas? Cassiopeia?" she heard, turning to George silently and finding that her boyfriend was staring at her.

"Yes?"

"I was talking to you," he said like it was obvious.

"Sorry," the girl looked down for a moment. "I spaced out. Do you think Eleanor knows something?"

He turned to her with a frown, suddenly becoming worried.

"What do you mean?"

Cassiopeia took a deep breath.

"There was something in her eyes," she buried her face in her own hands for a moment. "I don't know. I… I don't know. But they are pressuring her, how long until I'm the one being pressured into making a decision?"

The red haired boy didn't answer, and she took a long breath.

"What if my father heard something about us?" she whispered. "Maybe… I don't know," Cassiopeia rubbed her temples. "Merlin, I hate not knowing things."

George crossed his arms, almost hugging himself.

"I know," he muttered. "But do you remember what you told me when you got better from the black cat flu?"

She turned to him, confused, and he walked to his girlfriend.

"If you father ever found out about us, he would take you the furthest away from me he could. I would never, ever , be able to see you again."

Her shoulders relaxed. Maybe he was right, she could be overreacting.

"Come here," George whispered, pulling his girlfriend closer and caressing her face with his thumbs in the same way the grey-eyed girl did to him whenever he was stressing over something. "You're gonna be fine."

Cassiopeia couldn't help but soften up at his touch and caring words.

"How are you so sure?"

He stared into her eyes for a moment and shrugged with a small smile.

"You see, I got this really smart girlfriend, a very nice Slytherin girl. And I would do anything to protect her."

The girl chuckled, and he licked his lips for a bit.

"Can I kiss you?" he whispered, and Cas nodded with a tiny smile.

The Gryffindor laid a peck on the tip of his girlfriend's nose, then on her chin, and then on her lips before pulling away and staring into her eyes once again.

"Relax. Everything is gonna be just fine."

"Are you okay?" Cassiopeia heard by her side and turned to look at Draco.

It was lunchtime, and while everyone was chatting and interacting, she was eating silently.

"Uh?" the girl turned to him. "Oh, yes. I'm fine."

"Really?" he questioned, sounding worried. "Sorry to say but you look a bit like crap."

The girl chuckled, shaking her head a bit.

"It's the whole N.E.W.T.s stuff," Cassiopeia said, not fully lying and yet not telling the truth. "I got a lot to study and lots of magic to go through and things like that."

Her brother gave her a small smile.

"Anything I can help with?" he offered.

Oh, Draco.

"Unfortunately, I don't think so," her sister sighed. "It's mostly things I have to deal alone."

He went back into silence, and Cassiopeia played with her soup with her spoon, finding it to be too now cold to consume.

"Are you going home for Christmas?" she changed the subject.

"Yeah. Are you?"

The blonde shook her head.

"I'm going to France," she lied.

"It's a good break, then," he noticed. "Do you need anything from home?"

"Mum sent me some clothes and stuff I can take there, but I'll let you know if I need anything," she gave her brother a smile, but it died quickly. "Did she or dad talk to you about anything?"

The Slytherin teenage boy shot his sister a confused look.

"What do you mean?"

Cassiopeia shifted on her seat.

"Anything out of the ordinary,"

But Draco shook his head.

"Why? Did they write about anything weird to you?"

She denied quickly.

"No. I was just asking."