SORRY FOR THE DELAY! Here's the next chapter and it's 4.5K words long! The angst got a little out of control when I consider how laidback this part of the story had been on the first version, but I believe that this way works a lot better for what's going to come.

Let's move on to the usual: WELCOME ghostsinsnow7, Sitalia, Dark Raven Jester, starswillreign123432, amandacarr1991, mausipu, saralaguna2000, Hollyeyes, Montanasmith5897, Elvira-baba and dreamsmadereality! I can't tell you how much it means that you followed and added the story to your favorites :)

And the biggest, warmest, most amazing virtual hug for the incredible vampirela69 and ClearasDarkness, who've made me smile so many times already I should give them a trophy. Thank you for reviewing guys!

Let's get to it!

IV

Mistaken

"Okay, okay. Now watch this." Cassie said as she looked at the table in front of her for a moment before closing her eyes so she could concentrate better. A few seconds later, two lollipops materialized in front of her and Fred.

"Wow." He managed to say after letting out a surprised laugh, grabbing one of the lollipops to further inspect it. "How do you even manage to get them to appear here? Where were they?"

"In my bag, upstairs. That one's for you." She said as she grabbed the other one and removed wrapper, placing the candy in her open mouth. She licked it a few times as Fred unwrapped his before speaking again. "Okay, so, this was a success on the first try, but around… two years ago? I wouldn't have managed to move that fork over there a centimeter even if my life depended on it. I just have to know where the thing I want to move is, and where I want it to be. And then I have to really concentrate. And then it happens." She shrugged and licked her lollipop again as Fred looked at her with a slightly awestruck expression on his face.

"That's wicked." Fred mumbled with a mischievous smile as he sucked on his own candy.

"And if you think this is cool, you should meet my friend Rosa. She's able to send huge things miles away without breaking a sweat. And by huge I mean something like… a truck. It's her mom's job, so she began learning when she was little. She's so good at it, it's amazing to see."

"I don't think I'd be able to learn how to do something like that. Even with something really little. I've been using my wand for years now─ I mean, I can do nonverbal magic pretty well but… nonverbal wandless magic? No… I don't think so." Fred's expression morphed into some sort of sad resignation as he looked down, and Cassie's shoulders slumped before she smiled again.

"You know what? I don't believe that for one second." She responded and Fred looked up with his eyebrows raised. "Everyone can learn nonverbal wandless magic, you may have to work a little but it's not impossible. And if you say that you already now nonverbal magic, then it should be even easier. You just have to work hard for it. That's what I had to do, too."

"Yeah… I suppose you're right." He said with an optimistic smile, and Cassie couldn't help but smile back─ that is, until her eyes moved involuntarily to the window and she noticed that the small ray of light was slowly creeping in. Her eyes opened wide and she gasped in surprise.

"It's morning already?" She shrieked. "Oh my God, I was supposed to get some rest tonight." She groaned and looked at Fred, who had now turned around to see the sunlight for himself. "You know, as interesting as this talk was, we should really try to get some sleep before we have to get up." Fred nodded in agreement and they both stood up. Leaving the kitchen as they had found it, they walked together towards the stairs.

"You know… you actually are very eloquent. It was a good talk, Fred. Thanks." She said with a smile as they reached her bedroom door. Fred scratched the back of his neck self-consciously and nodded.

"Anytime. You're cool, Cassie." He said as a slight blush colored his cheeks. Cassie bit back a smile and nodded once.

"You too. Goodnight, Fred." She rolled her eyes and waved her hand in dismissal. "I mean, good morning. Whatever." Fred grinned and shook his head as she entered the room she shared with the girls, closing the door gently behind her.

…

"Fred, George! Wake up! Breakfast's ready!" Molly's voice echoed through the halls after she knocked loudly three times on their door. George groaned loudly with his face buried on his pillow before turning around, only to find his twin wide awake staring at the ceiling.

"Why're you awake?" He mumbled sleepily, his eyebrows curling into a confused frown.

"I didn't sleep at all last night." Fred answered without even bothering to look at his brother; his voice was almost monotonous, except for the fact that he had a small smile on his lips. George sat up on his bed and took a better look at his twin.

"Yeah… your eyes are a bit red." George observed as he rubbed the sleep from his own before his drowsy expression turned into one of absolute surprise. "Wait, what do you mean you didn't sleep at all?"

"Well, last night you didn't wake up when I told you to because I couldn't sleep─"

"Obviously." George interrupted with a roll of his eyes.

"─so I went down and grabbed a glass of milk, and then while I was contemplating the fact that Snape has a daughter… the daughter herself appeared on the kitchen, and I might or might not have gotten a little nervous─" George groaned and buried his face on his hands "─and everything was really awkward."

"Of course it was. What did you do, tell her you hate her father more than anyone in the whole wide world?" Fred turned his head to the side to better show his twin his narrowed yes.

"I did not, thank you very much. I did say that we absolutely despised him─ but not more than anyone in the whole─"

"Fred! Sweet Merlin, why did you do that for?" George threw himself on the bed, burying his face on the pillow.

"It wasn't like that! And she was absolutely lovely about it!" Now it was Fred's turn to sit up on his bed, crossing his arms in indignation. He knew he wasn't doing the greatest job at telling his brother what had happened, but it wasn't like George was letting him either. If he kept interrupting him, he was never going to get to the best part of the story. "And then I said that I figured that if Snape had a daughter she would look exactly like him but female, but I said it as a compliment─"

"You said what?" George nearly shrieked, bolting upright. "That's it, You are a dead man. Severus Snape will come into this house and he will kill you himself for being the rudest bastard to his only daughter. And he surely will kill me as well, why not? I look exactly like the idiot who insulted his daughter─" George rambled until Fred threw his pillow and hit him square on the face, stopping him from going any further.

"Shut your mouth for a second and listen to the rest of the story or you will have to explain to mum why you've lost your eyebrows." George crossed his arms with an exasperated sigh but remained silent.

"She didn't get angry at all at anything I said, even when she could've. And then she said she was going to bed and I said me too but I tripped and my glass of milk flew away and before I can even know what's happening, the glass and the milk are floating and she's just standing there like nothing happened and she moves her hands and suddenly the milk goes inside the glass and she puts it back on the table without saying a word─ like it's the most common thing in the world to just go and do magic without a wand and without speaking─ which now I see that it is to her, and I'm staring at her with a weird face apparently because she asked why I was looking at her like that and I tell her why, and then she says if I want to see what else she can do and I say yes─ and George, believe me, you can't imagine the things she's capable of." He sighed and rubbed his eyes, shaking his head before pulling the covers back and sitting on the bed. "I don't even know where to start, and it's not only that─ at some moments I was so impressed and then she'd go and say something like 'I'm not really good at that, though.' And she'd tell me about her friend or her cousin or her neighbor or her aunt who could burn an entire rainforest in minutes if they wanted to, because they were so powerful and good at what they did." He shook his head and looked down at his bare feet before looking up to find George staring at him with his head tilted slightly to the side, his eyebrows raised considerably.

"But… what can she do exactly? What can they do?" Fred let out a dry laugh and looked as if he couldn't find the words he truly wanted to say.

"Anything."

...

When Fred and George finally arrived to the kitchen for breakfast, they weren't surprised to see that Cassie wasn't there with the others. It had only been two hours since her and Fred had gone to bed, and even though Fred was now up, he knew that if he'd fallen asleep he would still be right now, and there would be no one who could do anything to wake him up.

Once they sat down, Ron appeared in the doorway, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. After he took his place on the table, he looked around and frowned.

"Where's Snape's daughter?" He asked through a mouthful of toast. Ginny looked at him with a disgusted expression.

"Her name is Cassandra." Hermione replied with a sharp tone. "And we couldn't wake her up. She was hanging out of the bed upside down when we woke up so we moved her back into it and she didn't even stir. She must've been so tired." She finished in a sympathetic tone and Molly nodded sadly.

"That poor dear must not have gotten any sleep last night. It was her first night in a strange place, after all. I'll make sure to wake her up for lunch." She lifted her spatula and pointed it at the kids. "But don't you worry about her. Today you're going to begin cleaning." A chorus of groans was heard but Molly just scoffed. "I won't have any of that. Now finish your breakfast and start working."

...

Cleaning time lasted until it was almost time for lunch. Hermione, Ron and Ginny appeared on the kitchen looking exhausted, while Fred and George looked like they were having the time of their lives.

"It's not fair they get to clean with magic while we do it like muggles, mum." Ron complained as he sat down, glaring at his older brothers. "Why can't they do all the work, since it's so easy for them?"

"Stop complaining, Ronald. Sirius is being remarkably kind by letting us stay here; everyone must do their part." Molly silenced him with a glare and Ron rolled his eyes, sulking on his spot. She then turned to Hermione. "Oh, Hermione, dear, can you go see if Cassandra is awake? She probably woke up already and I'm sure she must be hungry." The girl nodded and disappeared through the doorway. A couple of minutes later, she returned alone.

"I knocked once and waited, and she didn't answer. I knocked again and I am certain I heard snoring. She must be really worn out; I don't think she'll want to eat anything."

"Oh, the poor thing. I'll make sure to save something for her." Molly said, sitting down.

Fred and George were the first to finish the meal, and stood up at the same time.

"Wonderful meal as always, mum." George began.

"Absolutely marvelous, it might even be your best so far─ don't you agree, George?" Fred continued.

George nodded in an exaggerated agreement. "But we really think that we should go back to our cleaning work."

"Big house won't clean itself, right mum?" They both smiled as their mother looked at them with narrowed eyes and disapparated with a loud crack before she could even question their odd behavior.

"I told them to stop doing that! Merlin!" They heard Molly scream from downstairs.

…

"I can't believe you didn't realize you spent all night talking." George said with a smile as he shook his head.

"Hey, it's not my fault. It was a really interesting conversation. And besides—wait." Fred and George had been walking through the corridor that led directly to the girl's room, and it was what he heard when they reached the door that made him stop abruptly. He lifted his hand to signal George he had to stop as well and be quiet, and leaned closer to the wood, frowning slightly.

And there it was again.

"She's not snoring. It's not her. I recognize that sound." He whispered and waited for another moment after there was silence again.

And, once again, the sound returned.

"Is that─" George asked as he came closer to the door, squinting his eyes.

"Your snoring box? Yes." Fred replied with an expression that now was walking a fine line between confusion and anger.

"Did you give it to her?" George asked, still looking confused. They hadn't showed any of their products to Cassie yet, and Fred hadn't even mentioned anything about them when they talked the night before.

"You think she took it?" George asked in a whisper.

"I don't know, but I want to find out." Fred replied, frowning deeply.

"Freddie, I'm sure there's an expla─" George tried to say but he was cut off by Fred's loud knocks on the bedroom door. He didn't look very friendly at the moment, and George worried that he might say something he didn't mean and hurt Cassie.

And Cassie was Snape's daughter.

And he really didn't want to get killed by him.

The door opened and Cassie appeared with a smile on her face, but it quickly disappeared when she noticed Fred's expression.

"What's wrong?" She asked, looking back and forth between the twins, as if it was possible to find answers on their faces. Fred was about to burst into her room without permission, but George was quicker and put a firm hand on his chest, stopping him from moving forward.

"Can we come in?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at Fred.

"Yeah, sure." Cassie answered, moving out of the way to make room for them to get inside. She looked dejected, and George wanted to smack his brother's head for not thinking more rationally and try to get her version of the story before becoming angry.

"I'm sure there's an explanation for it, but─" George began in the most pleasing tone he could muster, but as he feared, Fred interrupted him.

"Why did you steal from us?" He asked, crossing his arms and glaring at her. Her eyes widened dramatically and her mouth opened slightly.

"Excuse me?" She muttered lowly. "What did you just say to me?"

"He didn't mean it like that─" George said with raised hands, trying to appease the situation, but ultimately failing. Fred was angry, and now, she was angry too.

"We recognized the fake snoring. That's one of George's products. The only way you could've gotten it is if you took it from our room." Her shoulders fell down slightly as she stared at him with an incredulous expression.

"Oh, is it now?" Cassie asked with an even tone as she crossed her own arms, and by now George began to get scared. "I stole one of your lovely products. That's the only thing that could've happened. There is absolutely no other way I could've gotten it. I am a thief. That's what you're saying?" George swallowed as he looked at her and then back to Fred, and he was able to notice that his twin's resolve had begun to dissipate, and fast. He was pretty sure it was because of how unnervingly calm Cassie looked; it was pretty clear that beneath the surface there was raw anger, waiting for its opportunity to rise up.

"I…" Fred began, but all of a sudden he wasn't so sure about what he'd been saying a moment before anymore. Now he realized that he should've listened to George and ask her why did she have their box in her room, and if it turned out that she'd stolen it, well… they would've dealt with it somehow.

But he hadn't done that, no. He'd gone and tickled the sleeping dragon. Cassie leveled him with a sharp look before turning around and walking to her bed. She grabbed a folded piece of paper and the small box they knew was the little device they'd been working on, and walked up to him, not once looking away from his eyes. She had to lift her head a little bit because they were taller than her, but that tiny detail did nothing to stop Fred from feeling that, at that moment, he was a lot smaller than her.

"And to think that five minutes ago I was writing to my friends telling them how nice it had been meeting you." She pushed the paper and the box roughly against his chest. "Get the fuck out of here." She walked to the door and opened it wide for them, and Fred walked out quickly because he just couldn't stand to be under her penetrating stare anymore─ but George stayed behind.

"Cassie, I didn't want…" He tried to apologize but her face softened and she shook her head.

"I know, I noticed. It's okay, but I want to be alone now. Please." George sighed, his shoulders slumping. He nodded and walked to the door, but stopped again before he reached it.

"I don't think you're a thief, and I would like to know how you got the box when you're up to talking." He ran his hand through his hair nervously. "Sorry for this… it's just that I made it and when it comes to things like that… sometimes he gets protective about them. It's not an excuse but…"

"Thank you, George. It's fine." Cassie reassured him with a small smile he returned before walking out. She closed the door behind him and he heard the click that signaled she'd locked it. Once he was in the corridor again, the first thing he noticed was Fred sitting on the floor by the end of the corridor, his head on his hands.

"What happened?" George asked, approaching his brother before kneeling beside him. Fred only handed him the piece of paper Cassie had given him, and George unfolded it quickly.

"Cassie:

This is a fake snoring box Fred and George made and I took from them, because they say it's for when you sneak out and want adults thinking you're asleep in your room. Today we're cleaning, so if you want to rest, just turn it on and everyone will think you're sleeping.

Rest well,

Ginny."

"Oh, no." George muttered, closing his eyes.

"Yeah, exactly." Fred said with a sharp tone. He looked up and George noticed that in his face it was clear that he felt terrible about what he'd just done. "What the bloody hell is wrong with me?" He whispered desperately. "What was I thinking, accusing her of something like that?"

"Fred, we just met her. You didn't know…" George tried to reason, but his twin wasn't having it.

"Didn't I? You truly don't know how she was last night. I have never in my life met someone who was so nice and warm to me without knowing me. Ever. So yeah, maybe I didn't know if she could be a thief or not, but from what I did know, I shouldn't have assumed she was. And if she hates me now, that's fine. She should." Fred affirmed stubbornly, looking ahead of him without any emotion other than anger at himself.

"Freddie." George said softly, placing his hand on his brother's in a comforting manner. "Why don't you, I don't know, try to apologize instead of trying to convince yourself this is the end?"

"I don't think she'll forgive me." Fred whispered. George scoffed and shook his head.

"Last time you assumed something about her it didn't go very well, did it?" Fred rolled his eyes and looked away.

"I guess not." He mumbled in response.

"Then go and apologize." George said with an exasperated look, standing up and extending his hand for Fred to take.

"Are you coming?" He asked, cleaning the dust from the back of his pants. George shook his head.

"I already apologized─ I'm not a rude bastard like you." Fred narrowed his eyes at him. "Go, fix this."

…

Cassie was fuming, pacing around the room mumbling angrily to herself in Portuguese, when suddenly, she stopped. She glared at the door and a second later, she heard two soft knocks.

"I'm not answering." She whispered to herself. "I am not answering."

"Cassie, please." Fred pleaded in a whisper, and she mouthed FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! before taking a deep breath and walking towards the door to stand in front of it without opening it. She knew that if he had puppy dog eyes or if he seemed to be truly sorry she was done for─ he was already forgiven. She was like that with everyone, and tried really hard to keep it at bay so no one could use it to their advantage. And she was furious, because he'd accused her of something really bad without even considering she might have not been guilty.

"What?" She asked coldly.

"Can I come in?" Damn it all to hell. She could hear the regret in his voice. If she opened the door, her resolve would disappear in a second.

"No." She heard a sigh and then the sound of something sliding down and hitting the floor with a thud. It was Fred, she assumed. His voice sounded from a little below her when he spoke again.

"I read the note." He murmured in the same low tone. She could picture him sitting cross legged, looking down at his intertwined hands.

Stop it! He hurt you!

"And?" Cassie asked, almost straining herself physically to try and keep her tone disinterested.

"I made a terrible mistake." She rolled her eyes while mouthing no shit. "Please, I really feel like I should be looking at you when I talk… so you can know I'm being honest." She debated what to choose for a moment before taking a deep breath and placing her hand on the lock of the door.

"Damn it." She muttered before unlocking the door and opening it, not remembering that Fred was leaning against it. He fell backwards and his head hit her sock clad feet. His eyes opened wide and he smiled.

"You opened it." Fred said breathlessly before realizing she was looking at him with raised eyebrows and a very unamused expression. "Oh, right. Sorry." He apologized and got to his feet as fast as humanly possible. He entered the room while she closed the door, and turned around nervously to find her looking at him with crossed arms.

"So?" She said, concentrating on the fact that he had just called her a thief, and without any proof. Yes, that worked well enough to keep her focused on the fact that he had been a disrespectful asshole towards her.

"Cassie, I─" He threw his head back and chewed on his lip, trying really hard to find the right words to convey what he wanted to say. "Okay. I'll tell you the truth." He fumbled with his hands for a moment before taking a deep breath. "For years, George and I have wanted to open our very own joke shop, and we've been working in the products we would sell there for just as long. Last year lost all the money we had saved up for years when we won a bet to Ludo Bagman, and he paid us with Leprechaun Gold. We tried so hard to get it back because it meant everything to us, but in the end, we couldn't."

"Fred, you don't-" She said as she uncrossed her arms, but Fred shook his head.

"I want to tell you. Okay, so, we thought we were done. There was no way we could possibly get our money back by the time we wanted to open the shop─ but then, something incredible happened. Harry gifted us the money he won on the Tournament, because he's an incredible person. And now, we are sure we can open the shop once we're out of school."

"Fred, it's a nice story, but what does it have to do with the fact that you assumed I was a thief?"

"Yes, that." He ran his hand through his short hair anxiously. "I─ the thing is that no one knows yet about our products except for our family and some friends of ours, Hermione included. And I know it was wrong to assume you had stolen the box. There is no way around that. I made a big mistake, and I am so sorry. I am not trying to find an excuse for myself because the truth is that I fucked up, no matter what happened before that made me think of you that way. But I want you to know anyway. The thing is that because our dream was basically killed just months ago, I am overprotective of the things we do now. I still believe it was a miracle that we got the money from Harry. Cassie, I can't explain to you how much this meant for us now because I would go on for hours. I think that─ because we just met you─ it just feels like outsiders have only meant threats to our dream, and I got scared and I also made me think about what Ludo did to us and you were on the end of that frustration without having done nothing else but be the nicest person possible to me. I just─ because I don't know you that well I allowed myself to think the worst, when I could've just as easily allowed myself to think the best. I fucked up, Cassie. I am sorry that I called you a thief and didn't talk to you first, I know I should've. Our talk last night was one of the best I've had with someone I've just met─ hell, I haven't even had conversations that amazing with people I've known for years. That's what I wanted to tell you. I am sorry, I truly am."

"Fred─ why didn't you talk to me? I understand where you're coming from completely, and I feel bad that you felt you had to tell me something so personal to get me to forgive you. I do forgive you, but you can't assume things like that about me again. Get to know me before, and if you don't know something, ask me. I really want to be your friend, but these are the kind of things that kills friendships before they even start."

"You forgive me?" Fred asked with a hopeful smile. She nodded. "Everything else you said: you're right, you're absolutely right. And I really want to be your friend too, Cassie." She smiled.

"Well..." She said with a raised eyebrow. "Good."

Oh man, why did you have to do that, Fred? Everything was going so well. I wonder if this particular quality of yours and this moment could resurface at some other point on the road, and what could happen if they did.

Yikes, I've said too much.

Review if you can! :)