Draco followed the Death Eaters, stumbling along as Snape dragged him by the shoulder. He couldn't think, couldn't process what had just happened. He looked up at the man, seeing the way Snape's face was set, the way he kept his gaze focused on what was ahead.

His aunt, meanwhile, was gleefully walking through the corridors, taking pleasure in what had just happened. She was laughing, smiling, firing curses and hexes at the walls.

How can she be this happy? He wondered. After what had just happened? Never mind that! I wasn't the one who killed him! It wasn't me! Snape was the one who killed him. Will it even be enough? Does he even know what he's done? What it could've cost? Cassandra...she's…. Merlin!

He stumbled a bit and Snape's grip on him tightened, keeping the blonde upright. Draco looked at the professor, only to see nothing of mercy or change in his eyes. How could someone that cold about what had just happened raise someone like Cassandra?

Her face flashed through his mind. Draco swallowed, wondering what would happen. He would be called to the manor, no doubt. Would Cassandra be there? Would she hear how he failed? How he failed to do that one task? Would the Dark Lord let him have a final goodbye? Would he even be that merciful? He had learned from his parents that the Dark Lord was to fear, that his anger was something of legend, something to be terrified of.

Draco tried not to think about it, but the image came nonetheless.

Cassandra was looking up at him as she was forced to kneel on the floor, a determined glint in her eyes. Draco could still see it though. The hurt, the betrayal, wondering why this had to happen to her….

"Any last words, Draco?" the Dark Lord asked. "Before you face the punishment for your failure?"

He flinched, hearing Snape banging on the doors along with shouts as others tried to restrain him, tried to prevent him from getting into the room where his daughter was about to be executed.

How do you it so many unsaid things into one phrase? How do you fit so many years of friendship? Jokes? Duels? Friendly rivalries? Times when she would let down her shield? When she would let down everything she had been holding up in front of him? Of moments in the past year alone when a friendship had slowly begun to turn into potentially something else?

"Cassandra…. I…."

The image vanished in a bright flash of light. The same light that blinded him when the Killing Curse had hit Dumbledore. He blinked as they left the dim castle lights behind and entered the darkness of the castle grounds.

He stared in surprise as they reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Bellatrix had set Hagrid's hut on fire. He hadn't found much appeal in the half-giant, but setting his home on fire at a time like this….

Draco looked up in surprise as something soared above the smoke curling into the skies. A creature rose up, barely visible against the dark night sky. He could still see it though. The thin body, the strange wings.

So that's a thestral, he thought as it vanished out of sight.

"Draco!" a voice screamed.

He stopped and whirled around, eyes wide as Cassandra ran toward them. His heart stopped as she grunted, colliding with a curse, falling to the ground. He went to run after her, to see if she was alright, only for a hand to stop him.

"Leave," Snape commanded, holding him back. "Now."

Another hand grabbed Draco, dragging him off as Snape walked toward Cassandra instead.

I'm sorry, he thought to her. Cassandra….

Cassandra groaned, head spinning as the curse slowly left. She looked up to see her father pointing his wand at Bellatrix.

"Leave now while you still can," he growled. "And if you try to hurt her again, you'll have me to answer to."

He turned as Bellatrix left, heading off toward the forest. Snape turned to look at Cassandra as she got to her feet. She stared at him, not knowing what to say. Her own father had used the Killing Curse on Albus Dumbledore! Her own father….

"They'll be wondering where you went," he pointed out, taking her wand from his robes.

Snape tossed it at her. She bent to pick it up. He hesitated to leave. She gripped the wand in her hand, closing her eyes as she fired a spell at him.

"Sectumsempra."

She opened her eyes to see the look in his face as he blocked the spell. He opened his mouth as if to say something, only to turn and walk to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. He disapparated and Cassandra lowered her wand.

They both knew what that spell meant, who he had used it on…. The look he had given her said it all.

Severus apparated into his flat, falling into a chair as soon as he was able to. His wand fell to the floor as he put his face in his hands.

He had felt the Unbreakable Vow lift the moment he had killed Dumbledore. He was free of that ridiculous requirement.

What he couldn't be free of was Cassandra's expression after she had used that spell on him. She knew what he would think of her using that spell, knew what it had cost him, why he never touched that spell again…. She knew it all and had chosen that spell to convey it.

Sectumsempra. The spell that he had discovered after years of hatred toward his father. Years of overhearing arguments, of running away after his father had been drinking too much that day. Years of rage at what his father had done to his own mother exploding the moment his dad had done the same to Elaine. Not to mention the times he had spent with her, wondering if he would ever do the same to her no matter how many times he swore to himself he wouldn't. Vowing that he would never argue with Elaine, would never let Cassandra have to hear her parents arguing, would never raise his daughter in the fear he had known….

She had used that same spell against him. She had looked at him as if she hated him, as if she were repulsed by what he had just done. How could he look her in the eyes now and call himself her father?

Then again, he still had worse things to worry about now. Dumbledore was dead. Nothing could stand in the way of Voldemort's plans. Not even Cassandra. Things were already complicated before. Now...now they were bound to be far worse.

And Cassandra would no doubt be caught in the middle of it all.

Cassandra sat in the Astronomy Tower, holding the horcrux in her hands. She stared down at the field below, seeing the gathered students and professors surrounding a white marble coffin.

They were saying their final goodbyes to him today. Dumbledore would soon be sent somewhere to be buried. But for now, the students were mourning their headmaster. All of the houses wore black in honor of his death. Even Slytherin mourned the headmaster while silently mourning the betrayal of both Snape and Draco.

Her hands tightened around the horcrux. Draco and Snape. The two people she thought she could trust most in the world. They had both fled, had both helped to kill Dumbledore.

There has to be a reason. There has to be a reason. There has to be reason, She bit her lip, chanting it over and over in her mind, trying to convince herself once again. There has to be a reason.

She sighed, lying down on the floor as she held the horcrux. Cassandra looked at it, staring at the locket. She frowned and opened it. She wasn't quite sure what to expect when she opened it, but it certainly wasn't the small piece of parchment that fell out. She picked it up, sitting as she unfolded it.

To the Dark Lord:

I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you reach your match, you will be mortal once more.

R.A.B.

Someone else had discovered the horcrux. Someone else had taken the real one. Someone who sounded like a Death Eater—only Death Eaters referred to him as the Dark Lord. One of his followers had discovered his secret, had discovered the horcruxes and had exchanged it for a fake. The real one could be anywhere in the world by now. All their efforts were for nothing.

As if it would've actually mattered, she bitterly thought, tucking both the note and the locket away in her pocket. At least now she wouldn't have to worry about destroying the horcrux, or even if she truly would want to destroy it.

Cassandra hugged her knees to her chest and adjusted her sleeve, feeling the pulsing Dark Mark on her arm. She ignored it, not wanting to see anyone at the moment. It would hurt her, but she supposed that even Voldemort could stand to give her some space now. It wasn't urgent. He would've sent someone to fetch her if it had been.

Leave me alone, she thought to him. It's obviously better if I'm alone. No one cares if I'm alone. They all care about each other. They don't need me ruining things.

The farewells ended and the students slowly dispersed. Moments passed before two sets of footsteps travelled over to where she was.

"You weren't at the funeral," Granger announced. "Ronald and I, we got concerned. Are you alright?"

"I will be as soon as you leave."

"Everyone's worried about you," she attempted. "Isn't that right?"

"No." Weasley snorted. "I don't even see why you dragged me up here in the first place."

"Because Cassandra needs our help. She needs us to be her friends and comfort her after everything that's happened with Malfoy and Snape, isn't that right?"

"Take another step and I'll blast you off this tower, Granger," she softly threatened.

"See?" Weasley argued. "She doesn't want us. Now would you stop this and can we just go?"

"Ronald!"

"Drop it, Hermione!" he shouted at her. "Dumbledore's dead! He doesn't care anymore! You don't have to pretend to like her anymore now! We can be done!"

"What?" Cassandra turned, standing as she looked at both of them. "What do you mean by that?"

"He doesn't know what he's saying," Granger attempted, glaring at Weasley.

"Yes, I do!" he argued. "No use in covering it up now."

Cassandra pointed her wand at them. "Tell me. Now."

"Dumbledore made us," Weasley snorted. "Gave us extra points if we agreed to be friends with you. Why else would anyone want to be friends with a Death Eater like you?"

"He doesn't mean it."

"Of course I do! Look at her, Hermione! She probably helped get the others into the castle! She's probably been planning this entire thing out with Snape and Malfoy! Only now they've left her to cover their own skins."

"Cass...he doesn't mean it. He really doesn't."

"Would you stop saying that? Who would ever want to be friends with someone like her? How many times has she almost gotten us killed?"

"Ronald…."

Cassandra growled and fired a spell at both of them, knocking them against the wall in a daze. She stormed past them, heading down the stairs and out of sight. Cassandra turned, shoving her way through the crowd of students, trying not to hear what they were saying about her.

"Freak."

"Death Eater."

"Probably guilty."

"...had to have helped..."

"...shouldn't be allowed to attend…"

"...thrown in Azkaban…"

"...might as well be You-Know-Who in disguise…"

"Just as bad…"

She clenched her teeth together, shoving harder and faster to escape the pressing bodies. Cassandra did her best to block them out, to try not to hear what they had to say.

How many more of them were lying? I'm alone. I'm alone all over again! No one around, no one to help, no one…. Just me…. I'm alone….

Tears came to the surface of her eyes. She burst out of the corridor and out onto the grounds. She could still hear them, could still hear the accusing voices. She needed to go faster, needed to escape faster.

She shifted, falling onto her hands as she transformed, the wolf running toward the forest, toward the trees where no one would dare to find her. She ran harder and faster, paws digging into the dirt as she wove around trunks and roots. She didn't care what was in the forest as long as it stayed away. She wanted to be alone.

Cassandra came to a slow stop, gasping for breath. She closed her eyes and fell to the ground, transforming back as she landed. She curled up on herself, whimpering as the tears came and fell down her cheeks.

"Luna!" Ginny shouted, stopping next to her. "Cassandra! Have you seen—?"

Luna pointed toward the forest.

"Shouldn't we go after her?" Neville asked.

"No." She shook her head. "She needs to be alone right now."

"No one wants to be alone," Ginny argued. "Especially not her."

"There's a difference between what a person wants and what a person needs. Come along. I think it's best we give her some time."

"Do you really think she'll be alright?" Ginny asked as the two Gryffindors reluctantly trailed behind her.

"Hope so," Neville reassured. "At least, I hope she knows that she has us."

Cassandra sighed, numbly walking through the corridor. She hesitated, hearing laughter and cheers from the feast in the Great Hall. She didn't feel hungry, and she certainly didn't feel any reason to be surrounded by stares and whispers.

"Were you there?"

She turned, seeing Helena floating near her.

"Were you there?" the Ravenclaw ghost asked again. "When it happened?"

"Yeah."

"That's why." She floated toward her, looking Cassandra over. "You've changed."

"And everyone else hasn't. Everyone in there thinks that I'm a Death Eater. They think that I helped them kill him. They think I'm a murderer."

"There's more, isn't there?"

"They never told me what they were planning. My dad, Draco. Not a single word. And then Granger and Weasley? Turns out Dumbledore just sent them to pretend to be my friends! Pretend! Not that they were ever any good, mind you, but still! No one here likes me! Not even you! You're just here because I'm in your house."

"Cassandra…. Your words come from pain and anger. You're upset."

"OF COURSE I BLOODY AM!"

Metal clattered in the Great Hall along with shouts and screams. McGonagall's voice rose up, calling for silence and calm. Footsteps sounded and her godmother appeared in the corridor, sighing as she looked at Cassandra.

"Care to join me in my office? It's not a request."

She sighed and followed her godmother.

"Sit," McGonagall instructed once they were inside.

Cassandra did, slouching in the chair. McGonagall waved her wand and a teacup appeared in front of her along with a tray of biscuits.

"Not hungry."

"You must be. Three whole days and not once have I seen you in the Great Hall for a meal."

"Not. Hungry." She waved the things away. "Can we skip to the part where you give me detention or whatever it is that you're planning to do?"

"First of all, I would expect my goddaughter to have better manners than that," she began. "Second of all, did you honestly believe that I would give you detention?"

"Yes. Or isn't the Great Hall currently a mess of screaming students all yelling at the one Death Eater in the school?"

"I've learned that they tend to overreact." McGonagall sighed and sat down across from her. "Now I know that I'm not your father, but seeing as Severus has the habit of running instead of confronting things the way he should, you're left with me."

"Meaning?"

"That you have also inherited his unfortunate tendency to run rather than face his emotions."

"I'm not running."

"But you're not facing them either. Knowing what the school has said and the absences, it's not difficult to piece together what happened." She conjured up a teacup and leaned back in her seat as she took a sip. "But perhaps you would like to inform me of what occurred that night? You were there, weren't you?"

"Yes. But I'm not going to talk about it."

"Talking will help, dear."

"I don't have to if I don't want to." She stood and went toward the door, only for it to close and lock in front of her. "Let me out."

"Not until you talk. If not about that night, then about something else?"

"Like what?"

"Whatever is on your mind."

"I want to be let out of this room," she growled. "Happy?"

"You're missing the point."

"You're not my dad. You don't get to lecture me."

"No, but I am your godmother, your Transfiguration professor, and now your headmistress."

"Let. Me. Out."

"You've heard the terms of your release, Cassandra. I won't budge."

She sighed and took her wand out. Cassandra waved it and grunted as the spell rebounded against the door and sent her to the floor instead.

She got to her feet and turned, firing a spell at McGonagall instead. Her godmother simply waved her wand and redirected it away from her.

"Let me out!" she demanded, firing another spell at her. "You can't keep me in here forever!"

"Actually, I can. And I will. You think you're the first stubborn student I've encountered?"

"I want to be let out of here."

"You haven't told me what's on your mind yet, so I cannot allow you to leave this room. No amount of spells or magic will help you. Is it what happened with Severus?"

"What? No."

"Mr. Malfoy?"

"No."

"Albus?"

"No."

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"

"No."

"Your destiny as the Chosen One?"

"No."

"Has something happened with one of your friends? Miss Lovegood perhaps? Or Mr. Longbottom? Miss Weasley?"

"No," she growled. "How could that be a problem when I don't have any?"

"Meaning?"

"I don't have any friends. Look around! I'm a Death Eater! My magic hates me! Everyone thinks that I'm going to curse them or hex them or even summon the bloody Dark Lord to Hogwarts just because someone looked at me the wrong way! Who would ever want to be friends with me? And Granger? Weasley? They were just nice to me because Dumbledore ordered them to be! Malfoy left! Do you have any idea how many times I've told him things? And he doesn't tell me that he's a Death Eater? That he was plotting to kill the headmaster for who knows how long on You-Know-Who's orders? What about my dad? How long was he in on it?"

"Would you like to know the details?"

"I—what? You—you knew?"

"Only recently." She pulled out an envelope. "This arrived the other day. Would you like to the know the reason? Though I suspect your father was planning on informing you once you returned home."

"If he wants to try and explain things he can bloody well do it to my face."

"Very well." She sighed and waved her wand. "You may leave if you so wish. I expect you have some things to pack in your dormitory before the train leaves tomorrow."

Cassandra nodded and stood. She looked at her godmother, wanting to ask her something, only the words were caught in her throat. She sighed and decided against it before leaving the room, grateful that she actually could leave this time.

She settled into her own seat on the train, curled up in a corner next to one of the windows. Cassandra could hear footsteps as others paused before hurrying along after they saw who was inside, preferring to find another seat far away from her.

Luna, Neville, and Ginny were the only ones who sat with her, with the two Gryffindors sitting across from the Ravenclaws. The three of them didn't talk to her as they rode in silence back to London. She could hear snippets of what they were saying, planning what they would do over the holidays.

At some point during the ride, Luna reached over and gave Cassandra's hand a reassuring squeeze, almost as if to say that they were still there for her; she wasn't alone.

A/N: Will Cassandra ever forgive Snape? Will anyone ever get a happy ending?

Find out in the sequel/finale: Neither Can Live

In the meantime, leave a review, let me know what you think or what you're excited to see next.

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