Who Am I Fooling? ((Cass))

[Mackenzie Holden]

“Don’t touch me! Don’t bloody touch me!” Mack shrieked as she shoved Trevor’s hand out of the way. Trevor backed down, but with fire in his eyes and a smirk on his lips. “This is your entire bloody fault anyway! Why else would they…? God, you are so infuriating! You ruin everything, Trevor, EVERYTHING!” Mack threw the magazine on the bed and stared at her step-brother. Trevor’s blue eyes stared at her with fire and pain still in them, then they flickered to the magazine that was lying on the bed. “I have worked so hard to get where I am today Trevor Lee Laurie and I don’t need impotent little boys ruining it for me. This is unacceptable, you are lucky that Tommy is handling this. You’re damn lucky.” Trevor picked up the magazine without a word and flipped to the article. Mack hadn’t read it, the picture was enough to make her sick. How someone could have snapped that photo without them realizing it was something that went right over Mack’s head. If Jack saw this… oh God. She couldn’t think of that right now. Her eyes welled with tears as she turned to leave, Trevor’s thick accent caught her attention though and she turned to watch him read the article aloud. She looked him up and down, feeling that familiar sense of attraction, but she shoved it down. The feeling was wrong, it was really wrong. Especially since she loved Jack, even if he had been missing in action as of late.

“The up and coming rock diva, Mackenzie Holden, was spotted with a strapping young fellow by the name of Trevor Laurie. They were seen ‘canoodling’ at their house in Manchester. The catch? The two are related.” Trevor let out a rich chuckle, “God, I hope not. Could you imagine being related to you?” Mack scowled and raised an impatient eyebrow which received a small smile from Trevor before he continued reading, “Sources say that they are step-brother and step-sister, which is still incestuous all on it’s own. The two haven’t come out with their relationship, and we don’t blame them! Keep that behind locked doors you two lovebirds, it’s sick!” Mack groaned and fell onto the bed with a defeated sigh. Trevor looked at the magazine curiously, “It was behind locked doors. They are the ones who snuck onto our land and took pictures from our window. Haven’t these people ever heard of privacy?” He looked over at Mack who was covering her face with her hands and groaning again. With a look of concern he tossed the magazine onto the table by his bed and collapsed beside her on his stomach so he was looking down at her. “C’mon, Kenze, it’s not that bad. Tom’s taking care of it, remember?” He reached up and pulled her right hand away from her face so he could see her. “It’ll all be fine.”

Mack looked at Trevor, and let out another sigh as she let her other hand drop from her face. “Easy for you to say, Trev, you don’t have a career on the line. It’s all so complicated and it really shouldn’t be. There shouldn’t be anything here, there shouldn’t be an attraction. There wasn’t one at first, what the hell did you do, put a spell over me?” She arched her eyebrow in question as Trevor slipped his face into a grin. “No, I only did that to Madilyn, remember?” Mack swatted him playfully. A year ago him saying that would have hurt her. He had played an awful trick on her, telling her that he knew her real mother and that she had a twin sister. It was all a lie of course, and her real mother was still a mystery to her, but the relationship she had gained with Trevor seemed to fill that hole only slightly in her heart. Trevor squeezed her hand, bringing her back to reality, “We just grew up, Mack. That’s all, there’s nothing wrong with growing up, is there? I know I had been meaning to for awhile, and it’s pathetic to think that it took being in a coma for months to get me to do it. You were more mature than I had been when we first met, and that’s what caused the annoyance. It’s different now.” Mack stared at him in the eye for a few seconds, knowing he was right. Then after another second she rolled her eyes and shoved him away, “Well, that might be true, but it’s still wrong and that magazine isn’t going to go away.”

She stood from the bed and picked up the magazine, she knew what she had to do. Trevor flipped over so he was lying back and leaning on his elbows as he watched her pull her jacket on and run her fingers through her hair. “Going out then, love?” he asked with a gleeful smile on his face. Mack rolled her eyes again and opened the door, “Yes. And Trevor? One more thing,” she turned and peered in from the hallway, “don’t ever call me ‘love’ ever again.” Trevor chuckled and she slammed the door. In moments Mack was in the grand living room where the fireplace was. She stepped inside with floo in her hand and the magazine in her other, throwing down the powder she stated her location and within moments she was speeding past fireplaces. Finally, she came to G Major’s secret floo room in London and stepped out. The orange room was always vivid with it’s contrasting deep purple walls, orange furniture, and lime green lamps and ceiling lights. It felt like home. “Tom Quincy!” She yelled as she stalked through the room to the studio. She shoved open the door to the recording booth and shoved the magazine in Tom’s face. “What are you doing to stop this?” Tommy took the magazine and motioned to the area behind his desk. Her eyes followed his arm and a bright smile caught her face. Thousands of magazines were stacked neatly by the wall. “They’re set to be burnt.” She nodded and hugged him before squealing and heading out of the booth. “Mack! You need to –!” She was already gone.

She had decided it was an occasion for a treat, and there was no treat better than shopping. Mack looked around at all the shops in muggle London, deciding it would probably be bad to use her wizarding money. Luckily she had a credit card she could use. Mack pushed open the door to a store she had seen before but never entered. With a quick look around, Mack was starting to enjoy herself when she spotted a girl holding the magazine. The magazine with her and Trevor on it. Before she could control herself, Mack yanked the magazine from the girl’s hands and tore it up. “That was a misprint.” Mack quickly informed her as she continued to tear it up into tiny pieces. It was then she realized who had been reading the magazine. “Oh, Cass, hi.”

[Cassandra Blackfire G7]

"Hmmm...who would of thought that Mackenzie was getting so popular?" Cass couldn't help it. She loved reading the entertainment rags. All the gossip. All the lies. All the celebrities trying to hide their dirty little secrets. In just ten pages, she had read where some muggle actress was denying a boob job, where one had been arrested while driving drunk, and where another debutante was confessing to an affair. Oh, what fun! However, she was caught rather off guard when she saw one of her fellow students, Mackenzie Holden, snuggling with a boy. Oh, but what scandal! It was not just any boy. Oh no, it was her step brother. "This will probably make it to the Gryffindor common room by tonight, if it already hasn't." Gryffindors sure loved Slytherin sleaze, and this was pretty sleazy. Cass turned the page. "Oh, wow, basketball player and beautiful starlet get engaged. Wow, my life is so mundane." Truthfully, Cass' life was far from mundane. She was a witch after all, and that kept life exciting.

"Hey-!" The magazine was rudely ripped out of her hands as she began to read about the newest pop star who had just entered rehab. Cass' eyes looked upon none other than Mackenzie Holden herself. "Well, speak of the devil. How are you doing Mack? I haven't seen you in a while. It looks like you've been up to other things." Cass gave Mackenzie a knowing smile. "So, how is our up and coming starlet? Enjoying life in the big time?" Cass giggled a little as she continued her gentle ribbing. "I would think that your publicist would know well enough to keep this kind of thing out of the tabloids. Even worse, the muggle tabloids. I wonder if it is in The Daily Prophet. They love the sleaze more than these things." She pointed to the newsstand behind her.

Mack face was a deep scarlet as she held the remnants of the magazine Cass had been reading. "Now, now. I will keep your little secret. None of the other Gryff's will hear about this little expose from me. I have better things to do then to gossip." Cass permused this last statement for a moment. "Well, actually I don't. I love to gossip. That is why I love reading these things." She picked up another copy of the magazine she had just been reading. "These will probably be all over Hogwarts in, oh, I say, the next hour."

[Mackenzie Holden]

Mack crossed her arms as Cass started to go on about what was in the tabloid. She knew that there were going to be few who saw the article, but she didn’t think it would be anyone who went to her school. “I’m just fine, thanks Cassandra.” Her blue eyes bore into Cass’s as she suppressed the urge to lunge at the girl. Cass and Mack had been on okay terms for being in completely opposite houses, but that didn’t stop Mack’s temper from rising with every word Cass uttered. “It would seem that my publicist and yours work together, wasn’t it just last week that I read something about you and Kennedy? Him being a leaning post or something in your time of need?” Mack smirked and looked her up and down with a shake of her head, “You don’t look too needy to me. So, tell me Cass, whose live do you plan on ruining this year? Wasn’t it Pyro’s last year? Surely you’d have learnt your lesson.” Mack knew that was low of her to say, especially since she didn’t know the whole story well enough to hold a conversation about the topic, but Cass was just ticking her off. Even though Cass was only joking with her, Mack was already touchy about the subject and the tabloid had only been on the rack for about ten hours. “Don’t tell me it’s Kennedy’s, I don’t know him all that well… but I have a feeling Fiona won’t be too happy with the whole you needing him ordeal.”

Even with her calm and collected responses to Cass, her face had turned a deep red and was burning from the heat and anger mixed with the embarrassment. She had dropped the magazine into a nearby bin and was now fixing her purse so it wasn’t falling off her shoulder. “Gossip mongers rule the school and you’re the queen sleaze of them all, I’m sure. It won’t be all over Hogwarts, though, considering it’s a muggle tabloid and considering I now own every copy. The wonders of having friends in high places.” Mack smirked again and looked past Cass at the rack, satisfied to see that Cass had the last magazine. “Why do you read trash like that anyway? Don’t Gryffindors have brains that they’re supposedly notorious for using?” Her smirk widened as she cocked her head to the side, “But I suppose that would explain quite a bit about you, wouldn’t it?” Mack knew she was being terrible, but she couldn’t help it. Cass was just in a bad situation and that was something that was never ever good when it came to Mackenzie Holden.

[Cassandra Blackfire G7]

"Touchy. Well, I see some people have let fame go to their heads," Cass was surprised by Mackenzie's angry reaction. It wasn't too long ago when Cassandra had saved her from an oncoming onslaught from Mackenzie's older sister, Dixie. Unfortunately, it seemed like Mackenzie didn't remember that little episode. She sighed. She didn't want to fight with Mackenzie, but she sure as hell wasn't going to put up with this type of abuse. Mackenzie then gave the lowest blow of all that made Cass snap. The internal Gryffindor lion roared. "You leave Kennedy out of this!" She said loud enough for the whole store to hear. The Gryffindor's face flushed an angry red, and her right hand went to the wand hidden under her jacket. Too angry to be surprised at her reaction, she defended herself. "I am not here to ruin Kennedy's life or anybodies, and I'm not scared of Fiona O'Rielly. She is worse than pathetic." This last sentence was said very quietly, almost like she was ashamed of it.

As Mack continued on her tirade, Cass rolled her eyes as she schlepped off everything the girl said. However, her mood was now sullen. How dare she attack Kennedy? That was becoming her one sore spot. It wasn't like Cass had gone out trying make Kennedy fall for her. She had wanted to use him only to get the book. However, it was hard not to fall for that sweet demeanor and golden personality. Even though he was furious with her, Cass had still been able to see the soft heart through his angry eyes.

Cass snapped out of her reverie, and back to the conversation at hand. "Why do I read this trash? It's entertainment mostly. You, being a Slytherin, should understand that. Don't we all like to see when a person has hit rock bottom just so we can just kick them while they are down? Most purebloods love to do that to other purebloods just so they can be one more rung higher on the social food chain. My poor, dearly departed Uncle Charles almost committed social murder to get me married off to another acceptable family." She leveled her eyes at the Slytherin. "Au Contraire, Mackenzie. It takes a lot of brain power to use this type of thing against another. I wouldn't worry about this though. In our world, it is rather acceptable to court other family members to keep the bloodlines crystal clean. Most of your Slytherin housemates would probably proud of you going after your step-brother."

[Mackenzie Holden]

Mack arched an eyebrow at Cass. She hadn’t let the fame go to her head, actually. Mack knew that would be a dangerous thing, so she stayed clear of everything that would result in stroking her ego. All the money she earned from her albums was set aside into a bank account at Gringotts for after Hogwarts and when she went on tour, she was pretty much down to Earth. She had even spent the whole day with her fans and treated them like they were her best friends. Mack wasn’t the pop diva that most young stars were turning out to be. She had decided she would be herself when she first started and so far that had been working out for her. Mack merely shrugged when Cass told her to leave Kennedy out of it. She could have if she didn’t feel threatened. When Cass said she wasn’t there to ruin Kennedy’s life, Mack laughed. “That’s rich, Cass. If you aren’t meaning to, I’d say you’re doing a fairly good job at it. Of course, I don’t know the tiny details, but I’ve heard enough and I’ve read enough to know that it must be a natural talent of yours… ruining people’s lives that is.” Mack watched with unamused eyes as Cass seemed to go off on a reverie. This was sick. Why couldn’t people just grow up and get over the ‘girl meets boy from different family, girl likes boy, girl thinks boy likes girl, girl gets heartbroken and sets out to ruin everyone’s life’ scenario like Mack did in third year? Not everyone could grow up and realize what would end in catastrophe and what would at least give a smiling ending, though.

Cass was answering her question about the magazine, and Mack smirked as she said that it was for entertainment and told Mack that with being a Slytherin she should understand that. “Those of us who know what’s really worthy and what’s not know that gossip and trashy magazines such as the one you are holding aren’t something worth reading. We make our own entertainment instead of feeding off other people’s like the lowly bottom feeder you are. And don’t think for a moment that all purebloods kick a person when they’re down. That’s shallow and unintelligent. A real pureblood wouldn’t have to kick them when they’re down, they’d kick them down.” It was funny, two years ago Mack wouldn’t be caught dead saying what she was saying now, but she had learnt a lot over the years. She had learnt to take pride in her blood and to use to her advantage at times, but she never used it for bad. That was cruel and showed she had low self esteem, which she didn’t. Mack knew she wasn’t perfect and she didn’t pretend to be, but she didn’t flaunt her faults like some raving moron. “Cassandra Logton Blackfire, don’t try to pretend that you are a pureblood, because you aren’t. You might have blood that isn’t tainted coursing through your veins, but I can tell you right now that you will never be pure. You will never be like those of us who have worked hard to keep our family and our appearance pure. Don’t flatter yourself, Cass, you’re nothing but a mudblood in disguise.” Again, two years ago Mack would have flinched at the word mudblood, but now it rolled off her tongue with ease.

When Cass said that it was perfectly acceptable for Mack to date Trevor in the eyes of her housemates, Mack sent Cass an icy glare. “Yeah, I suppose. We all supported Pyro with your little mix up, didn’t we? My my, you do have a thing for Slytherin guys. I wonder if you’ll find out that Kennedy’s your long lost brother or something. Wouldn’t that be funny? I’d have a good laugh. Now, that’s entertainment.” Mack knew she was being nasty, but she didn’t have a problem with it. The more Cass spoke, the more Mack felt her anger rise. Everything Mack was saying, Cass most definitely deserved.