cassandra hollis MacLAREN

[cassie]

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{ A B O U T . Y O U }

Name: Kabby
Gender: Madamoiselle
Age: Ageless (;
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Twitter: We has
Years of RPG Experience: Four, five, idk
Other: removed by staff

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{ A B O U T . T H E . C H A R A C T E R }

Name: Cassandra "Cassie" Hollis MacLaren
Age: Sixteen
Gender: Girl
Year: Sixth
Face Claim: Ashley Benson

Canon or Original? Original, baby

Facial Properties: Cassie was blessed enough to inherit her mother's heart-shaped face but that's where the resemblances - the obvious ones, at least - come to an end. Her skin is a clean, peach-y tone, usually flushed pink in her cheeks. On a sunny day, she might get a few freckles on her nose but otherwise her skin remains relatively clear, save for the odd unavoidable zit or two. You'd think that it would be her eyes which would draw you in - people always seem to say that when describing others - but that's never been the case for the Cassie. No, that honor belongs to her mouth alone. Or perhaps her smile, I should say. One doesn't realize how big her mouth is until she's flashing that large grin of hers. For a while, Cassie used to smile with her mouth closed, to avoid it taking up her whole face, but it didn't take long for her to get over that. She's normally a happy person and if she's going to smile, she's going to smile, damn it. And that's that. There's nothing that remarkable about her lips; it's not as if they're all that over-sized, something that most people would have counted as a good thing but alas, it's never been the case for Cass. Her lips are an almost peach-y pink of a medium darkness and hardly ever glossed. She's never really been able to stand lip gloss, to be honest. It's sticky and whatever people might say, it doesn't last. You have to re-apply and re-apply and she never remembers to so ugh, what's the point? There is none, simple as that. She does wear make-up on a normal basis, though. After all, though she may not be the girliest one out there by any means, Cassie is a teenage girl and her morning routine wouldn't be complete without lining her eyes thinly with black liner and swiping on a few coats of black mascara. That's supposed to make your eyes pop, after all, isn't that true? She's always felt that she could certainly use that. Her eyes may be blue but they're not exceedingly bright - certainly not 'the colour of the sky' or any nonsense like that. They're more of a dull blue, murky even, she's thought at times. But regardless, people do seem to dig the whole 'blonde hair, blue eyes' thing so at least she's got that going for her. Her hair's a dark blonde though, really - though it lightens in the summer - and usually pretty long. It's always been quite thick and wavy and since she rarely has time to make it straight or curly with whatever potions some girls use, that's normally the way she leaves it. After all, she's never been one to obsess about her appearance - and thank the lord for that.

Physique: Average, average, average. Isn't that a lovely word? Cassie's not a skinny little twig, but she's not fat either. She's always been active, into sports and running and the whole shebang, and that's helped her to stay fit over the years. Her arms and calves are toned and well-muscled and she's got an almost sporty build - something she definitely did not get from her petite mother. She's 5'5'', which she's always found to be a perfectly, well, normal height. She's shorter than some of the girls in her year, taller than others. It varies. After all, she's only sixteen years old, she's still got some growth in her. She can always add a few inches with a pair of heels too, though that's rare for her. She almost only ever wears a pair of heels if she's going to a dance or a party or something like that - which, really, one would wonder where her logic for that is. If heels are such a death-trap as it is, the idea of wearing them to a party where you're going to consume alcohol and possibly become a bit intoxicated really doesn't seem like the smartest one, especially for someone as usually practical as Cassie. But hey, she's a girl - she's a teenage girl. And if she wants to be a dumb one and wear heels to a party, that's exactly what she's going to do. When it comes to her general wardrobe, Cassie tends to dress more girlier than one might expect from her. She doesn't plan out her outfits the night before or try on multiple ones in front of the mirror in the morning or anything like that, but she does have a habit of wearing dresses or ruffled tops. Hey, they're cute. And even if girls are supposed to look down at their mum's choices of clothing, Cassie's never particularly cared about that: she's always been a fan of most of the things her mum wears. Jeanette MacLaren tends to dress with obvious femininity and she's managed to pass this at least down to her only daughter.

Wand Type: 12 inches, Holly, Phoenix feather core
Wand Expertise: Defensive/protective magic
Patronus: A retriever - loyal, energetic, and a bit goofy. They’re also fiercely protective of those they love, however, a trait which Cassie embodies strongly.
Boggart: Rachel, Maggie, and Portia, all three of them, telling her in unison that they hate her. It's not a fear in the sense that she's afraid of it being true, more than it's the worst thing she could possibly imagining happening, the one thing that would destroy her more than anything else in the world.

Personality:

In your face? Maybe just a little. It all depends, really, on whether you do anything to deserve it, that's the question. It's not that she's a bitch, or that she has some crazy anger management issues she should be on meds for, of course not. What it comes down to is the fact that Cassandra MacLaren isn't the sort of girl to let anyone walk all over her - or her friends. Especially not her friends, lord no. You mess with them, you're messing with her, and she'll have something to say about it, you can be guaranteed. She's not quite sure where this protective nature sprang from, since she was the youngest of four and the only girl, her big brothers' baby sister and therefore always the one they were protective of, but it's there all the same and it's not going anywhere. She's protective of anyone she sees getting picked on or mistreated to a certain extent but it takes on a whole new level when any of her besties are involved. Portia, Rach, and Maggie are the sisters that Cassie never had and she becomes one fierce mama bear if someone tries to give any of them crap. Because she's totally serious when she calls them her sisters. She never had any growing up but she's known these girls long enough they might as well be, and they're certainly close enough to make it true. They're her sisters, her family, and if you screw with them, you're screwing with her. So. Word of advice? Don't screw with them.

Then again, it's not like Cass is some psychotic bitch ready to spring on you over nothing. Nah, she's not crazy like that, just protective. Usually, she's just up for fun. Fun, fun, fun. You can take that however you want, but she is pretty innocent. Sure, she'll join in if there's some party going on, and she'll have a few drinks in a social setting, but she's not the type to drown her sorrows just 'cause she's feeling moody, or go off and drink by herself. It's a social thing, that's all. And she's definitely not about to smoke any crap, be it cigarettes or pot or anything of the sort. Same for harder drugs, obviously. So if you're offering, you might as well not bother. Honestly, she just thinks that stuff is stupid. Not that she's going to get all judgmental on anyone's ass, though. If anyone else is doing the stuff, she's not about to start on some speech on what an idiot they're being. It's their choice, they're welcome to make it. Everyone's gotta learn from their own mistakes, right? But yeah, uh, personally? She'd rather not decrease her chances of living to thirty so dramatically. And speaking of her "innocent" side, as one might say, that also applies to guys. She's had a few silly relationships but never anything serious, never with anyone that she cared about enough to, um, do it with. Yeah. She's a virgin. And not ashamed of it, by any means. Why some girls flaunt their trampiness like a badge of honor has always been totally beyond her and she's proud to not be one of them, damn it. But again, she's not here to preach. She doesn't think there's anything wrong with kids her age having sex and all that, she's just never met someone she felt comfortable going that far with. I mean, sure, Cassie might not come off as the biggest romantic or anything, but she does want her first time to be special, to be with someone special.

Not that she'd often phrase it like that or anything. She's far too blunt, you see. You could even say that she totally lacks a filter. Not in a mean, though, and not in a ditzy way either, lord no. She just says it like it is, never employing the oh so common euphemisms that everyone else seems to be a fan of. It's not "sleeping together", it's "having sex". No one "passes away", they "die". Simplicity at its best, right? As far as Cass is concerned, yeah. And maybe some people might not be a fan of how casual she is about everything, but that's their problem. The fact that she says things so harshly doesn't mean that she doesn't care. She could find you crying your eyes out and say that "you look like shit", but even as she did, she'd already have her arms around you in a tight hug and then be asking you what's wrong and what she can do to help. And honest to God, she'll truly care. That's one of her pretty defining qualities, how much she genuinely cares about people. Mostly people she's close to, yes, but even some of her more casual acquaintances, if it's obvious that they're going through a lot. She's always been empathetic, and if you think about, it's really not that surprising. She may be blunt as hell but she's never been the type to bitch about someone pointlessly, or try and put anyone else down. Yeah, she'll come at you if you do something to one of her friends but in that case, you're the bully, she's just sticking up for someone she cares about. Duh. Totally not the same thing. She'd never be the bully, you see. She's never seen the point of all that mean girl crap. The only ones who give a damn about it are the ones who are so insecure they have to treat others as if they're not worth the time of day just so they themselves feel worthy. What the heck? Yeah, Cass doesn't get it, and frankly, she's happy that she doesn't. She's happy that she's got enough confidence not to give a crap about any of that drama, thank you, Merlin.

She's not all stuck-up, though, not by any stretch of the imagination. Cassie's extremely down-to-the-earth, almost always sensible. Practical. Which is precisely why she doesn't buy in to that girly hierarchy stuff. Of course, that could also have something to do with being raised in a household of boys. It was just her mum and her, but it's not like Cass ran around outside playing games with her mum. Maybe when she was little, or when the family was feeling silly or something, but when she was in that stage between the toddler and teenage years, you can bet your butt that the majority of her time was spent running around outside with her older brothers. They were the best, as far as she concerned. Oh, did she ever idolize them. Of course even that couldn't erase natural sibling rivalry, nope. Impossible. And especially since Cassie was the only girl and the youngest, she always had twice as much to prove. And prove she did! God, was this girl ever competitive. She raced them, she climbed higher than them in trees just to show that she could - this was one area where her smaller size certainly came in handy - she pushed them into the water when they went out to the lake, she was quite the little firecracker. And let's be honest, that's still a pretty good way to describe her. But yes, she certainly was a little bit of a tomboy growing up - in some aspects, at least. She had her friends - her sisters - for all her girlieness, although thankfully there was never any of that nasty, bitchy, mean girl-ness between them. God, no. Cassie couldn't be more thankful for that, she really couldn't. She's not joking when she says that her friends mean everything to her. Portia, Mags, Rachel? They do. They're her whole world and they have been for almost as long as she can remember. She'd never do anything to jeopardize that and she's thankful every day that she has them in her life 'cause she doesn't know what the hell she'd do - or who she'd even be - without them. That's too scary of a thought. They keep her grounded, they keep her the girl that she is, they're just... they're everything. Parts of a whole.

It's not that Cassie's the head of the group, because she's not, none of them are. They're friends but they're certainly not some bitchy little clique. But Cassie does sometimes feel that she's, well, the core of the group. After all, she's the one who pulled them all together when they were little. And god, she can't imagine her life if she hadn't. If she'd never become so close with Portia - who's actually family now - if she'd never become friends with Maggie, if she'd never met Rach, if Maggie or Rach hadn't been witches... It's just too hard to imagine. Because Cassie can't bear the thought of anything being different, of not having her group of friends, her sisters. Perhaps she's just resistant to change but she is the way the is and she's not going to, well... change. And when it comes to her friends? Oh, she's openly and overly sappy about them, she knows and laughs about it. She's always telling them how much she loves them, always being the one to ensure that they keep up any silly friendship rituals they've started over the years. Yes, she's a sap when it comes to her friends, that's usually obvious. I mean, honestly, if you're going to remember only one thing about Cassandra MacLaren, this should be it: Her friends are everything to her. She has friends outside of Portia, Maggie, and Rach to a certain degree but they're not quite same and when she says 'friends' she's usually referring to those three. They, of course, have other friends too, she knows that. It's not like the four of them have all the same classes or activities or anything like that. It would be unhealthy if they didn't have other friends outside of each other, she's told herself countless times. It still doesn't stop her from getting that weird little feeling whenever Portia, Maggie, or Rach have some new friend from one of their classes or something, or that they've been hanging out with a little or whatever it is. She knows it's silly, thank you very much, and even worse, that it's a little petty and probably a sign of insecurity or some crap like that. Whatever. She can't help it. She loves her 'sisters', she loves their group, and she doesn't want anything to change. Maybe they weren't always four, maybe the group has grown in the past, but they're four now and they're perfect. They're right as four. It's the perfect number, they've all known each other since they were kids, before Hogwarts. They're perfect the way they are and as far as Cassie's concerned, that doesn't have to change. Why would she want it to when she's got the best friends in the world? Maybe everyone says that about their friends but the difference, as far as Cassie's concerned, is that in her case it's true. She loves her three sisters more than anyone else and she'd do anything for them. They're everything and she'll say it as many times as it takes for you to get it. They're a foursome. They're tighter than tight. They're unexplainable. Or, more simply put?

They're best friends forever.

Likes:
+ her pesudo-sisters
+ the rest of her family
+ talking
+ sports
+ boys, boys, boys
+ the family kitty, flufflumpagus
+ honeydukes
+ winter and summer
+ spending free-time with friends
+ doing puzzles, any kind

Dislikes:
– her grandmother
– snobs of any kind
– mean girls
– girls with no self-respect
– guys who are jerks/pigs/assholes
– potions class
– drugs/smoking
– having to spend time by herself
– being bored
– feeling insecure

History:

THE FAMILY

Rain on a wedding day is bad luck. Caroline MacLaren made sure to point that out loudly to anyone who would listen as everyone filtered into the church on June 21st, 1951. She was finally silenced by a stony look from her son, Erik, just before the music started to play and the bridesmaids began their slow walk down the aisle. Caroline still wasn't used to her son disobeying her - she wasn't used him doing anything that wasn't something she'd told him to do. You see, Erik had never been the golden little boy she'd always wanted, but she'd definitely tried to mold him into that boy, through careful poking and prodding, over the years. Why wasn't he involved in more clubs at school? Why wasn't he on the Quidditch team? Why hadn't he gotten Os in all of his OWLs? Why didn't he have more friends? Maybe if he got his nose out of all those dusty books he was always reading and was more social, people would like him. Maybe then he'd be invited to all the parties and maybe then her son would become the most popular kid in the school. Didn't he want that? Didn't he want to make her happy? And Erik tried, oh yes, Erik always tried to please his mother but he simply wasn't the son that she wanted him to be. Caroline was overbearing at best, rigidly controlling and cruel at worst when it came to her two sons, doing it all by herself since her husband had passed away from sickness when Darren was only three. She was already hard at work molding little Darren, Erik’s brother nine years his junior, into the perfect son, someone that wouldn’t repeat his older brother’s failures. That’s what Erik was, after all, though he couldn’t help it. He liked curling up in an armchair in the common room to read when he had free time. He was also smarter than she gave him credit for being - he'd gotten three Es in his OWLs and the rest Os, not that that was enough for his mother, no - and indeed spent a great deal of time during his school years at Hogwarts thinking about what he would do when he graduated, and where he would go. So he kept his grades up and he graduated and he got an intern position in the Ministry, just like his mother wanted. But then one night, about a year after he'd graduated, he was walking home to his small apartment, and he walked by a pub. It was a pub that he passed by every night on his walk home - although he was fully capable of Apparating, he'd always enjoyed his walk as time to clear his head and be alone with his thoughts - but that night was different, because that night he heard a voice inside, singing. And he'd never heard anything like it before.

So even though he didn't really know what he was thinking, he went inside the pub. It was a muggle pub and he felt slightly self-conscious and out-of-place, but he tried to ignore that. It wasn't too hard. The only thing he could focus on was the girl who was singing in the corner, her fingers wrapped around the microphone, her eyes half-closed, lost in the soft music that fell off her lips. She had soft auburn hair that fell in waves nearly to her waist, and she was petite, probably a head shorter than Erik. Young too, about his age or maybe even younger. He wasn't the only man in the pub captivated by her. Quite a few guys were nudging their companions, raising their eyebrows with interest. But when her songs were done, she merely gave a small "Thank you," nodded politely, flashed a dimpled smile, and left. Someone else took her place and the pub went back to normal. As for Erik? His throat was dry and he wanted to say something as she walked by him, wanted to ask her what her name was, or maybe just compliment her, tell her what a beautiful voice she had. But he didn't know how or what and was entirely too tongue-tied so he said nothing as she drifted by and out of the pub. Erik left shortly after, returning home to his apartment still thinking about the pretty girl with the auburn hair. The next night, he went into the pub again. And he waited. And he waited. And eventually he asked one of the servers if the girl who had been singing the night before would be there again tonight. She shook her head and told him no, looking at him so suspiciously that he didn't think it would be wise to ask anything else. The last thing he wanted was to come off as some sort of stalker, but he felt foolish and crazy enough that he went home. But he continued walking by the pub every night, often ducking in and waiting a while. It was four days later when he saw her again. She sang again just as she had before and he sat there and listened and couldn't find his voice afterwards, just like before. But he came back. He kept coming back, night and night again, just to hear her sing. And then, after a month of this, something happened that he'd never expected. She approached him.

Her name was Jeanette Hawthorne. She was eighteen years old, one year younger than Erik. And she wanted to know if he was interested in getting drinks with her. She'd noticed him, you see, noticed the cute boy with the scruffy hair and glasses who seemed to always be at the pub. She'd noticed him watching her sing. And she thought that he was cute, that there was something sweet about him. So she asked him if he wanted to get drinks. Erik was stunned but managed to find his voice and say that he would love to. So they sat at a small table and they ordered their drinks and they talked, somewhat awkwardly, getting to know each other a little bit. And when it was getting late and they both had to be doing, Erik asked if she might want to have dinner with him that Friday night. She said that she'd love to. And from then on, they started seeing each other. Jeanette was funny, adorable, and sweet, and for reasons Erik didn't even understand, she liked him. He'd never met anyone like her, and he'd never fallen so hard and quickly for a girl either. And it was mutual. She loved the way his hair never stayed flat, even when he brushed it down. He loved the way she laughed. She loved him and he loved her. But she was a muggle. She didn't know anything about the wizarding world and it was driving Erik crazy to hide it from her. So after two months of dating exclusively, he sat down and told her that there was something she needed to know. And he explained everything. It took all night, what with his fumbling over his words and there being so much to tell. She was silent the entire time. And it only made him more and more nervous. He was certain that she was going to want nothing to do with him or simply not believe any of it, think that he was crazy. He didn't know which was worse. But Jeanette did neither. Instead, she kissed him. And she told him that she'd always known there was something special about him. She said it so confidently, so accepting of this, the secret he'd thought would ruin everything. And he asked her to marry him.

It was crazy. They were so young, they'd only been together for two months, the odds were stacked against them. But they were caught up in their whirlwind romance, completely smitten with each other and not wanting anyone else. They were engaged. And as for Erik's mother? That was suddenly the newest problem. He'd never even told her about Jeanette - he hadn’t told anyone in the family - knowing that she would disapprove. She was constantly inquiring into his love life, trying to set him up with some witch from a good family. The MacLarens were by no means the elite of the purebloods but their wizarding blood went back quite a few generations and Caroline had always been a snob about it. Erik knew that she would never want him to marry a muggle but... she was his mother. He had to tell her, he had to try and make her realize how wonderful Jeanette was, surely she would see how much he loved his fiancée and that would be enough. They had considered eloping but Erik knew how much Jeanette, who's parents were both dead and who had little family to speak of, had always wanted a proper wedding and he refused to deny her that. So they went to his mother. They'd expected her to be furious. But she surpassed even that. She refused to allow her eldest son to marry filth like Jeanette. She told him she wouldn't allow it and assumed that that would be that. Because Erik always did what his mother wanted, wasn't that right? Not this time. No, that's right, for the first time in his life, Erik stood up to his mother. Jeanette had changed him, made him more sure of himself, ready to face on whatever it took in order to be with her. He defended her to his mother, told Caroline how wonderful Jeanette was, and that if she was so against their union, she didn't need to come to the wedding. And that was that. Erik wanted nothing to do with her anymore, though he felt bad for his younger brother. Darren was only ten years old, not even at Hogwarts yet, and he could only imagine how much their mother would pressure her youngest son to be everything that his oldest brother had not been. But Erik and Darren had never been especially close - they wouldn't have been close at all with an age difference like theirs if not for the fact that they had lost their father when Darren had been three and Erik twelve and things like that bond brothers at the same time that they distance them. But in any case, there was nothing that Erik could do to change the way things were, short of ending things with Jeanette, and that was not something that he was going to do. So a few months later, on a rainy day in June - a day which Caroline finally chose to attend, somewhat humbled, Darren in tow, to Erik's great surprise and also gratitude, though she didn't manage to act very pleased about it - they were married. Eric and Jeanette MacLaren, in sickness and in health, till death do they part.

If Erik thought that the fact that his mother had shown up at his wedding after all was a sign of peace to come, he was completely wrong. For whatever reason, Caroline had indeed waved the white banner for her son's wedding day but after that, the guns were back out. She made her hatred of Jeanette quite clear and openly proclaimed her dislike for the muggle girl to anyone and everyone. So Erik and Jeanette simply cut her out of her lives - or tried to. A year after they'd gotten married, Seth Robert MacLaren was born. Jeanette stopped her singing gigs to raise him - they were quite well off, even if Erik had resigned his job at the Ministry and now created puzzles for The Daily Prophet instead. They weren't rich but they weren't poor and they lived a happy little life. Seth was followed two years later by another son, Timothy Hawthorne. And then when Timmy was two years old, Jeanette - twenty-three at this time - became pregnant yet again with the child that would be their last. A little girl, born with an unusually thick crop of hair that was the palest blonde. Cassandra Hollis. As she got older, Cassie's hair darkened to a golden shade, the genetics of the grandmother she didn't know prevailing - not that Caroline would have wanted her genes passed on to her halfblood granddaughter. She became more and more furious with each baby, showing no happiness at being a grandmother and merely an anger that her son continued to defy her, that he was actually having children with the stupid muggle twit. She was a disgusting siren, as far as Caroline was concerned, who'd lured him in with her pretty little voice and her pretty looks. She was a whore, she even went so far to claim - and many other vulgarities as well. These were all screeched in the many Howlers that she sent to the poor family when she so felt like it. Jeanette would always shepherd the children out of the room when the awful letters arrived but nothing she or Erik did could stop them from hearing snippets. And then there were the unannounced visits. Two in Cassie's lifetime. Once when she was just a baby, too young to remember it now. Caroline blasted her way into their little house, shrieking at her son for disappointing her, firing hexes until he managed to restrain her. She was getting old and her sanity was slipping away - and Erik was helpless to do anything. He may not have listened to his mother anymore but she was still his mother, he couldn't erase that as much as he wanted to, as much as he wanted to. Especially now that he was forging a relationship with his brother again. Yes, Darren. You see, his own life hadn't exactly proceeded as planned either. When he was barely an adult, only eighteen, his girlfriend's aunt and uncle had died, attacked by a dragon. It was tragic news, surely, all over the wizard papers, but what was most tragic was that they'd had two little girls. Two year-old Venia, and Portia, four - only a few months older than Cassie.

PORTIA

Erik and Jeanette had met the other family maybe once before on a rare visit with Darren but it was still heartbreaking news. Overwhelming too, for Darren. Cinna, his girlfriend, had been named guardian of the girls in the event that something ever happened to their parents. She was only seventeen at the time and it was decided that they would live with their grandmother but it was still so much to take in. And Darren, he'd never expected to find himself in a situation like this when he was still so young. So he turned to his older brother, who had four kids of him own, needing advice. It was then that the two really became close, became friends, for the first time in their lives. And their children became friends too. That was how Cassie met Portia Burke, the girl who was now part of the family in a sense, the girl that would become her best friend. They got along immediately, you see. Cassie was too young to completely understand what had happened to Portia's parents but she'd been told that they were gone and that was enough to make her feel sad for the other girl. Portia needed a friend, in her opinion, and so a friend she would get. They saw each other all the time, and it didn't take long before the two were as thick as thieves. And then year after the tragedy, Darren proposed to Cinna. He wanted to be proper parents to Portia and Venia with her, and they legally adopted the two. The two families - Darren and Cinna's and Erik and Jeanette's - saw each other even more frequently. Cinna and Jeanette had become quite good friends too, even if Cinna's pureblood nature had led her to be somewhat disapproving of the muggle girl. But Jeanette was understanding, gracious, and always ready to help when everything seemed so overwhelming and the end, the tragedy brought them together. They were joined at the hip, the two families, and especially Portia and Cassie. Indeed, Cassie can't even really remember anything of a time before she knew the other girl. Her pseudo-sister. One of three, yes, and the very first. They told each other absolutely everything. Cassie was there to give Portia a hug when things got tough, and Portia was there for Cassie always too. Take the one visit from Caroline that Cassie does remember, for example. It was Christmas, when she was six years old. She Flooed over as if they'd been expecting her, presents in her arms. Erik and Jeanette didn't know what to think, and tried to suggest that it wasn't the time, and sure enough, she was making her rude little comments within a few minutes. She insulted Jeanette, and she insulted the kids too, calling Seth and Tim and Cassie filthy halfbloods, disgraces to wizards everywhere. Jeanette and Cinna took the kids, all of them, upstairs, and Darren and Erik told their mother firmly that she needed to leave now. She kept babbling about how the whore was polluting the family with her disgusting little brats, her voice high-pitched and loud enough that Cassie could hear everything from her bedroom upstairs, where she sat in bed with Portia, more scared and traumatized than she'd ever been before. She'd never seen her grandmother before, only heard snippets of Howlers, and now this terrifying lady was in her house, saying these horrible things, horrible things about her! About her, and her mommy, and her brothers, and her dad, and it was just too much. She just sat there in her bed with Portia, the covers pulled up over their knees, their arms around each other. And even though it was the most awful Christmas ever, even though it turned out the 'presents' her grandmother had brought over were three gruesome, headless dolls, even though she was terrified, that was the moment when Cassie knew that whatever happened in her life, she would always have Portia Burke to turn to.

MAGGIE

Portia was not to be Cassie's only best friend, though. When she was six years old, she'd been enrolled in muggle school. Her mother was fully trusting in the wizarding school system but if Hogwarts did not start until children were eleven, she didn't see why they couldn't get a education before that for good measure. The best of both worlds? Yes, that was the idea. It was a common concept in the MacLaren world - a little bit of the wizarding world and a little bit of the muggle one. They had a car, but the kids also had little broomsticks they could fly around on in the backyard. They had a perfectly normal cat - dubbed 'Flufflumpagus' by Cassie when she was five - but it had somehow been turned green from accidental magic from one of the kids (none of them ever fessed up to the act and Cassie will still swear to this day that it wasn't her). In any case, yes, they lived with a little bit of both worlds and it was because of that that Cassie ended up in muggle school. And a good thing that was. It was only a few weeks into her first year when she spotted a younger boy getting bullied on the playground. Another boy, one that was in her class, was taunting him, saying all sorts of horrible things. It was the type of behaviour that Cassie was wholly unfamiliar with, and she was shocked to see it being displayed amongst kids so young - kids who were supposed to just get along and play tag and hide and seek! The only thing in her life that she could compare it to was her grandmother and the horrible things she'd said, and that was enough to get her blood boiling. Sure, she bickered with her brothers all the time but they were her brothers and none of them were ever so cruel to each other. The bigger boy had started kicking the shins of the younger boy when she stormed over, only to see that someone else had the exact same intentions. Another girl in her class looked just as angered and indignant about the incident, and was already yelling at the bigger boy. Cassie joined in, telling him to cut it out, leave him alone. The bully - his name was Jack - was startled by such a furious opposition and stood there shaking, fists clenched, for a moment before he muttered something and stormed off, his friends following him. They may have been bullies but they weren't about to hit girls. So Cassie and the other girl, Maggie, made sure that the younger boy was alright. He nodded shakily and thanked them before running off - in the opposite direction of where the bullies had gone - to find his own friends again, or maybe a teacher. And eventually it was time to go back inside, another break over. But it was from that recess there that Cassie and Maggie became friends, that they realized how much they had in common, how well they could get along. They paired up for all partnered activities in class, they played together at recess, they became the best of friends. And then one day, they were sitting at their desks after a particularly neat show-and-tell of a pet mouse by one of their classmates when Cassie saw something. The boy who'd presented to the class was sitting just in front of Maggie and the mouse was visible in a small cage on the floor. Cassie was watching the little creature, watching its nose twitch and it eyes dart back and forth. It was absolutely adorable, in her opinion. And then suddenly it wasn't there anymore. It had literally disappeared. And Cassie, alarmed and not quite sure what had just happened, turned to look at Maggie, sitting in the desk behind her, only to see that her friend had the little mouse in her hands, in her lap, and was petting it. It took a second for Cassie to put two and two together. What she'd just seen happen... that was magic. Which meant that Maggie had performed magic, even if she seemed completely unaware. Cassie had grown up with two older brothers, she was familiar with the accidental little bursts of magic that occurred with kids who were wizards or witches. And what Maggie had just done? That was definitely a sign that she was a witch. She invited the other girl over to her house after school that day and told her parents what she'd seen. Cassie then took it upon herself to tell Maggie everything there was to know - as far as she was concerned, at age six - about the world of magic. It wasn't long before she introduced her to Portia and they got along even better than she would have hoped. The three of them became a tight little group in no time at all, to Cassie's delight. The three musketeers! And so they were, the three of them and no one else. For the next three years, at least.

RACHEL

Cassie was ten years old when she met Rachel Humphrey. She was shopping downtown with her mum, just the two of them having a mother/daughter sort of day, when they decided to duck into this neat little secondhand bookstore. Cassie headed for the back, as she seemed to always do naturally in bookstores, and browsed around a little before setting her eyes on a gorgeously illustrated, leather-bound collection of fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm. A huge lover of fairy tales of any kind, Cassie was so excited by the find that she didn't even notice the other girl for a few seconds - the brunette about her age who was staring at the beautiful book with the same excitement. She laughed when she did, a bit awkwardly, but brushed all nerves aside and introduced herself. The two girls spent the next hour pouring over the book before their mothers came over. The two women, Jeanette and Helena, had noticed their daughters talking and started polite conversation as well - which had become into a rather profitable one. It turned out that Helena was directing a performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream and was looking for someone to act as a musical director or at least coach the faeries for their singing parts. Jeanette, who hadn't done much actual work since before Seth had been born, was extremely interested in an opportunity like this - and with her background as a singer who'd depended on her gigs to get by, she had experience. And then there was her voice, of course. So Helena gave Jeanette her phone number and details and they arranged a play-date at the park the next weekend for Cassie and Rachel, who seemed to be getting along wonderfully. As much as Cassie liked Rachel from the start, she didn't think that much of things at first, though. She already had two best friends who'd be attending Hogwarts with her next year and even if she did become good friends with this Rachel girl, she wouldn't even be able to be honest with her about everything. Cassie didn't have any problems with muggles, of course not, her own mother was one. But you can see why it would have been a difficult friend situation, no? So yeah, she never expected that day that Rachel Humphrey would become one of her best friends in the entire world. Even when they met up the next week at the park and ran off to play while their mums talked. Even when Cassie got to see even more how many interests she and Rachel shared, and how well she got along with the other girl. Even all of that. Until-- Until they were sitting in the grass, a little ways away from their parents, playing with Rachel's doll and she dropped it. Rachel dropped the doll. It had rained that morning and the ground was muddy and Cassie's initial reaction was one of sympathy. Until the doll froze in mid air. Cassie blinked, positive that her eyes were deceiving her. Rachel's doll, about to fall into the muddy ground, had just stopped. Rachel grabbed the doll back and it took Cassie a second to realize what had happened, because she just couldn't believe it. Rachel had used magic. Accidental magic, yes, maybe without even realizing it but it meant that she was a witch. A witch! Cassie was so excited that she threw her arms around Rachel excitedly and whispered it in her ear without thinking twice: "You're a witch, Rach!" After that is when things got ugly.

THE GIRLS

It wasn't that Rachel didn't believe her. No, Cassie explained as much as she could as quickly as possible and invited her to come again that night for a sleepover. Portia and Maggie were invited too and even though none of them knew exactly that this would be the first sleepover of many between the four of them, their special little foursome, they could all tell that it was something important indeed. They took turns telling Rachel about magic and Hogwarts and everything that awaited her - this was mostly explained by Cassie and Portia, who had more experience with the wizarding world than Maggie - and Cassie joked more than once that she was like a hound, sniffing out muggles that were actually witches. The four girls stayed up late into the night, talking and talking and talking. Rachel, Portia, and Maggie all went home the next day and Cassie remained at her house, content to sit in her room and let everything sink in. For the next few weeks of summer, everything was great. The four girls hung out as often as possible, all of them becoming close with Rachel easily - Rachel, who fit right into their little group as if there had always been a spot for her. Yes, everything was amazing. In a year they'd be getting their Hogwarts letters but oh, what a year they planned, making lists of all the things they wanted to do. It was amazing - and then it wasn't. Cassie and Rachel had been using Tim's owl, Squabbles, to send letters back and forth occasionally, mostly just to see if the other wanted to come over. But one morning Cassie got a hysterical letter that changed everything. Rachel had told her mother, you see. Rachel had told her mother the things that Cassie had said about being witches, about Hogwarts, about magic. And Helena didn't believe any of it. She thought that there was something wrong with Cassie's family, that Cassie was a bad influence and certainly not someone for Rachel to be spending time with. So she'd told her that she couldn't do so again. Rachel was supposed to just make new friends instead. But neither she nor Cassie, Portia, or Maggie were about to give up just like that. Thankfully, Rachel hadn't told her mother about their owl correspondence and so that remained a secret. Cassie wrote back and forth with her friend still, as often as possible, and whenever Rachel's mother was out of town her father - much more sympathetic about the whole situation - would let her go over to Cassie's for a sleepover for her friends. This occurred about once a month for the next year, a year which seemed to drag by slowly as they all waited in eager anticipation for the next year. But then something happened which Cassie was completely unprepared for. Her grandmother passed away. Her dad was a wreck, torn between grief at his mother's passing and guilt for the hatred he'd harbored for her. He spent days agonizing over whether he should even attend the funeral, but in the end, Jeanette made the decision for him. Caroline MacLaren may not have been the nicest person by any means but she was still Erik's mother, and the children's grandmother. She was family, there was no changing that. And if Erik ever wanted any sort of closure for the wounds she'd inflicted - if any of them ever wanted closure - they needed to do this. So they did, they went to the funeral. Cassie was eleven years old and she still remembers the service to this day, mostly because while everyone else was speaking about loss and sadness, she only felt relieved. She only remembered seeing her grandmother once in her life and it had been enough to terrify her. So yes, as horrible as it was and as guilty as she still feels to this day, she was relieved when she passed away. She confided this to her friends, wondering if she was an awful person for feeling that way, but they were able to console her. They were there for her, Portia, Maggie, and Rachel, and she knew more than ever that these girls were everything to her. It was true, and it only it better months later when everything they'd been waiting for could finally begin. Months later, when the four of them received their Hogwarts letters.

If they'd expected Rachel's mother to soften when they were proved right, they'd been wrong. She still harbored a strong dislike for Cassie and the other girls and she still refused to accept this. But Rachel's dad brought her to Diagon Alley and the four friends shopped together excitedly for their school supplies for the upcoming year: their first year at Hogwarts, a year that would be spent together. They were ecstatic, all of them. And relieved, too, in Cassie's case. It wasn't that she'd doubted whether Maggie and Rachel were actually witches or not, but she couldn't help wondering sometimes what would happen if they didn't receive letters too. I mean, she knew what she'd seen, yes, of course she did... of course she did. But the idea that she could have told them everything and gotten their hopes up for nothing? It terrified her. She loved her friends, all three of them, so much. They were her sisters, she liked to say frequently. The sisters she'd never had. But that was fine by her - that she had no biological sisters. She didn't need them! She had Portia, Maggie, and Rachel, and they were more than enough. So giggly, intoxicated by their little friendship and all the silly little rituals Cassie had them start up, the four of them were on cloud nine as they prepared for September 1st and then finally headed off on the Hogwarts Express. They arrived at the school already a tight-knit group and although they met lots of others as well, they always remained that tight-knit little group. Even now, six years later. Cassie couldn't imagine her life without them. They're her everything, they really are. And they tell each other everything, they always have. Well... okay, almost everything. She hates it, really, hates that for all her sappy-ness and love of their little group, she could go and keep something from them. But they'd understand if they knew, right? Portia and Rachel would understand if they knew, they'd know that she's been keeping this from them because of how much she loves their group and could never do anything that might hurt that. They've been keeping it from the other two, really. Her and Maggie. Not that there's even anything to hide. It's just that the two of them are the ones that party the most, that are the most into that kind of thing. It was only natural that they'd end up going to parties together more. It was only natural that they'd get drunk together when the other two weren't there. And the fact that there have been a few times when they might have... made-out? So what? They were drunk, plain and simple. There's honestly nothing more to it. It's not even a question of Cassie wanting to hide the fact that she's kissed another girl from her friends for fear of judgment. So she's not one hundred percent sure of her sexuality - who is? But even still, she was just drunk. That's all. She's not ashamed of who she is, it's just that... it was Maggie. If it was anyone else, she'd laugh about it easily with her friends. If it was just a one-time thing, she'd shrug it off completely. But Maggie's her friend and the idea of thinking anything else? Just... no. They're a group, the four of them, they're her best friends, they're her sisters, for godsakes. And if Cassie has to keep something with Maggie that isn't even a big deal a secret from Portia and Rachel to protect that? Of course she will. She'd do anything to protect their friendship. Anything.


Sample Post: Please refer to posts by Andromeda Black, Sirius Black, Isabelle Laurentine, Rita Skeeter, or Henry Adams

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{ C O N T R A C T }

I solemnly swear that I, KABBY, have read the rules, understand clearly what my responsibilities are now that I am joining ISS, and will abide by these standards set by the staff.

[Lily Evans]

accepted !