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Prologue
or
In the Beginning
It was when Hermione Granger was in first year that she had first met Cassida Beale. Cassida had bumped into her, making Hermione drop all of her books. The girl had helped Hermione to pick them up, apologising profusely. The two had gone onto dinner together and had parted ways in the doorway of the Great Hall.
Hermione didn't see Cassida for another week, until a memorable Potions class with Snape. The professor decided to break the Gryffindors and Slytherins up, pairing everyone with someone from an opposite house. This was the day when Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy had first begun their ongoing rivalry, and that was what the day was mostly remembered for.
But Hermione remembered it because she had been paired with Cassida Beale. The two of them worked splendidly together. Cassida, with her flaming red hair and great height, was surprisingly nifty with her measurements. Hermione, on the other hand, was able to perform the stirring of the potions perfectly, gaining them both the title of best potion and getting awarded ten points to both Slytherin and Gryffindor.
Though Hermione was soon distracted with the mystery of the Third Floor and the Philosophers Stone, she tried to keep an eye out for Cassida and say hello whenever she could. This was difficult as they were both in different houses – the rival ones at that – but they managed to see each other most every day, though their conversations were little more than short greetings.
Then when Hermione was in second year, Cassida started to avoid her. Hermione wasn't sure what she had done, but she assumed it was something to do with the house rivalries. At first she was quite upset about it. Soon, however, she started to accept that they were growing apart. She decided to not worry about it, as she had other things to worry about – such as why Ginny Weasley was acting so strange, and why Harry kept hearing strange noises.
By third year the two of them never spoke, and Hermione found herself forgetting all about Cassida. She was but a distant memory of herself when she was back in first year – a year she found herself wanting to forget all about, as she had been so silly and stuck up.
So Cassida Beale and Hermione naturally parted ways, and both assumed that that was the end of the acquaintance.
At least, that's what they thought.