CHAPTER NINETY-TWO;

EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The Quibbler was a nice break from reality, Cassie had come to learn. Her first time picking up an issue was in her fourth year, when Luna had insisted that Cassie read the article about the Triwizard Tournament Luna's father had written.

Now, during this Dark era at Hogwarts where came bad news around every corner, The Quibbler was the only thing keeping Cassie sane. She had been keeping up with the weekly issues since September, mostly because they were the only running magazine that still showed support for Harry.

But, as Cassie gazed at the shining silvery-blue cover of the tabloid, she felt an immense hatred toward it: Because why was her mother's face plastered across the front page?

"Luna," Cassie began, her voice a shaky whisper, as she could not lose her composure and shout in the library, "why is.. Luna, why is my mother on this week's cover?"

Luna's serene blue eyes went wide and she set down her copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. "I guess Daddy must have interviewed her. I wasn't expecting him to, really," she said, nodding her head in earnest. "I hope you'll accept my apology on behalf of him. Do you want me to read it first to see if she says anything bad?"

Cassie twisted her lips off to the side (then ceased instantly, as she remembered her mother doing the same thing) and thought for a moment before nodding. "Please," she said, sliding the magazine across the library desk to Luna, who promptly began to read it with a faint head tilt and occasional dulcet hum of contemplation.

When she finished, she set down The Quibbler and folded her hands on the table. "She's quite a foul woman, you know. See for yourself."

Swallowing thickly, Cassie opened the magazine and flipped to the page that her mother's face blinked up to her from beneath teary lashes. Cassie scowled at the image childishly, then began to read the article printed next to Adelaide in a font that looked almost as if Xenophelius Lovegood had handwritten it.

Adelaide Hawthorne-Black on the Recent Death of Only Daughter, Cassiopeia Black

"It's– it's heartbreaking, really," says Adelaide Hawthorne-Black (unofficially wed to late fiancée, Sirius Black). "I mean, she's.. she was my daughter; I just got her back, and now I've lost her... It truly pains me to admit, but I wasn't nearly as loving to her as I wished to be. She was always a very closed-off girl, especially since her father's death, my nephew [Florian Atticus Forbes], and Cassie's old friend [Cedric Amos Diggory]. I mean, I know when Sirius died, it felt as though I lost a piece of myself...

I believe it would have been so much easier for me to understand what was going on in her life if she would simply speak to me. I remember she would ignore me when she returned home from school for holiday break. It was as though I wasn't her own mother; as though I wasn't the one that gave birth to her, almost seventeen years ago; as though she were more important than me. I was treated as a speck of dirt on her shoe. Still, I just can't believe that she's gone. I wish I had more time with her. Maybe if she had stayed home with me this year, like I had ceaselessly begged her to when she returned home from school the year prior–"

   "Are you bloody joking?" Cassie hissed. "She's– she's lying! She didn't even speak to me. Luna, we've got to write to your father, tell him–"

   "–that your mother is lying?" finished Luna with a hum. "You know we can't do that. Don't let yourself be blinded by your anger; it would blow your cover."

   Cassie blinked, her lips parting slightly. "You sound...," she hesitated, wondering if "different" was the right word, but Luna took over again with a pleased smile.

   "Ginny is teaching me to calm people down," she said sincerely. "I hope this helped you. Well, obviously I don't mean The Quibbler, I doubt that calmed you down much.."

   "Thanks, Luna," said Cassie distractedly, for her attention had been taken by the tall boys that had just entered the library and veered straight for the Restricted Section. Cassie furrowed her brow. "I'll be right back. Thank you, really."

Blaise and Theo were bickering amongst themselves, like usual, except they were now edging down the row of books leading to the Restricted Section of the library. Cassie watched them from behind the shelves for a moment before following, deciding she had nothing to lose, really.

Blaise slapped a book out of Theo's hand. "No, you bloody idiot, it's not going to be with the unicorns–"

"It could be!" Theo hissed in retaliation, though he set down the multicolored book and continued on. He glanced over his shoulder and Cassie ducked to the side just in time; he seemed to have not noticed her.

The boys swerved around the corner and Cassie dashed on light feet to follow them, though she quickly faltered and spun in shock to see the both of them standing behind her with unimpressed looks on their faces.

"Oh," said Blaise, arching an eyebrow, "so you're following us now."

"What are you two doing in the Restricted Section?" she asked nonchalantly. She nodded to their empty hands. "You don't even have a permission slip."

"Ah," Theo grinned, "that's the beauty of being mates with the Headmaster of the school, yeah?"

A bitter taste rolled into her mouth, but she only smiled and nodded. "I can imagine," she said, leaning on the table next to her and shrugging. "You didn't answer my first question," she observed after a brief silence.

Theo shifted, but Blaise cleared his throat. "Just searching for a book," he said. "And you; why were you following us?"

   "Didn't think you would make it very far without a pass. I figured, if you were caught, I could help you fib your way out." The lie rolled off her tongue seamlessly, and the boys (thankfully) seemed to buy it. "What book were you looking for? I bet I could help you find it, I know this place like the back of my hand. Her–"

   "How do you know it so well?" Blaise asked, an edge of curiosity to his voice. Cassie inwardly flinched, though could not have been more grateful for his intrusion, for she almost told them about how many times she and Hermione had visited the library.

   "Oh, I've spent most of my free time in here." She shrugged. "Haven't you noticed?"

   "Sure," Blaise said, still not entirely believing.

   "You're still dodging my question."

   "What question?" Theo was quick to ask.

   "About what book you're looking for."

   "Just extra reading for Charms," Theo said.

   "Charms," repeated Cassie, nodding slowly.

   "Yup," confirmed Theo with a nod of his head, but Blaise realized their mistake quickly and tried to cover it up with a hasty "No, not–" before the corners of Cassie's lips upturned in a slight smirk.

   "The Charms class that neither of you are enrolled in," she said smugly.

   Blaise elbowed Theo, who took the blow defeatedly. "Shit," he said, dropping his head.

   "Shit," Cassie agreed, stifling her simper. "So what were you really looking for?"

"Listen, Vic," said Blaise, lowering his voice and leaning in, "we really can't tell you. For your own good, you know, that rubbish."

"Right," said Cassie, clicking her tongue. She watched them for a moment, her eyes glancing between the both of them, before she gave a dramatic sigh and threw her arms up. "Fine, I suppose. Keep your secrets, and I'll keep mine.."

She spun around, pretending to be overly interested in a book on the shelf, though keeping her ears open for the boys to begin talking again. Then, just as she suspected, Theo said, "What are your secrets, then?"

Cassie held back her smile and shrugged casually. "Isn't that the point of a secret, though?" she asked, trailing her finger along an old leather book. "I've just said: You keep your secrets, and I'll keep mine."

"You don't have any secrets," said Theo, sharing a glance with Blaise. "You're a horrible secret-keeper. Last week, Pansy asked you not to tell Daphne that she used her shampoo, but you accidentally told Daphne when she asked you how your day was. If you had any of your own secrets, you'd've told us by now, whether on accident or otherwise."

She nearly exhaled a laugh. This ploy of being a horrid secret-keeper was doing her well; they believed her to be an open book, incapable of holding her tongue. What they didn't know was that she was in fact hiding her largest secret behind a Glamour Charm and a Notice-Me-Not.

"So you think," she hummed, tapping her finger against the spine of a book and pulling it out. "Aha. Here you go, boys, a book on Charms. Read it and weep."

As she walked away, she could have sworn she heard Blaise whisper to Theo, "You don't think she knows, do you?"