A/N: I forgot to make it clear in the beginning of the last chapter that it was all in Cassie's point of view

Chapter 12

Cassie POV

All I could do was stare in shock at Fredrick. His wand had been broken in two. The statement had been made. It was over. Finally, it was all over. I was half laughing, half crying in Diagon Alley after court had ended that day. Wendy gave me a small smile of reassurance, and that helped me calm down a little.

"It's over," Zane said, speaking the thought that had been running in my mind over and over for the past hour.

"Yeah, it sure is," Erica agreed. "And the year is almost over already too…seemed like yesterday the year was just starting,"

"Its only March, Erica," Wendy reminded her. "The year still has some ways to go," She merely shrugged and continued heading for the place we usually hung out in Diagon Alley: The Leaky Cauldron. Many witches and wizards came and went through there, obviously, and a few of them were quite entertaining to chat and have drinks with. Surprisingly, Fredrick was rarely seen here.

"I've been meaning to check up on you guys…how's the therapy working?" I asked. They glanced at each other for several long moments. Not too long after Fredrick had attacked me in the hall three months ago, they had started to go to counseling upon my request. Within weeks I noticed signs of improvement. Erica was much happier around people, and Wendy was less withdrawn and moody.

"I think you know the answer to that one," Erica said, grinning at me. We walked into the Leaky Cauldron and ordered our usual round of butter beer. Zane was being unusually quiet, but then again he was highly unpredictable.

"I was thinking, what do you think's going to happen to him now?" Zane asked thoughtfully, taking a sip of his butter beer. All of us were silent for a minute as we thought about that. Finally, I shrugged and just let the matter drop. As far as I was concerned, he never existed. But there was that nagging feeling that wouldn't go away. They just let him go, with hardly more than just the punishment of turning him into nothing more than a Muggle. But he could still come into Diagon Alley and get a new wand. He could still come here and find me. At this, I started to become very frightened. Fredrick still had the power to invoke fear, and he wasn't even anywhere near me. Or was he? I could sense another familiar presence in the Leaky Cauldron besides my friends. Suddenly, my eyes locked on too-familiar blue green ones. He stared, I stared. Zane was the first to notice my terrified face, and followed my gaze. Just as soon as he showed, he was gone. But I knew Fredrick was still here, watching me. Waiting for his next opportunity to strike. Would it ever really end, or would peace be in my imagination? I looked over again. He was STILL THERE. My breathing started to quicken in panic. Fredrick slowly approached us, looking all casual. My fingernails dug into my palms and I felt as if I was glued to the seat I was in.

:Oh, God, oh God, oh God," I whispered, trying to get a hold on my increasing heart rate. Still he came closer. Finally, Fredrick stopped and looked straight at me.

"Cassie, long time no see," he said.

"I…what are you doing here?" I hissed under my breath.

"Thought I'd drop in and check up on you, since we've been apart for much, much too long," My eyes flickered to his hands. No wand. He was unarmed. I relaxed, but only slightly, because I remembered that he rarely used magic to hurt me the way he did. Zane suddenly leapt up and punched Fredrick's jaw. He stumbled backwards into a table, clutching his face.

"All right, we'll settle this the old fashioned way," he muttered, rolling up his sleeves. "No wands allowed, anything else goes," Zane nodded and balled up his fists to defend himself. Fredrick ran at Zane, but he neatly dodge out of the way and responded with a well aimed kick in his gut. Wendy was staring at them in horror, Erica looked annoyed, and the bartender just ignored them, used to fight like these. Unthinkingly, I stepped toward them. I would probably regret it, but I had to stop the fighting. This was somehow all my fault, indirectly. But there had to be a way to fix all of this, without violence, without anyone else getting hurt, without me having to live in guilt for the rest of my life over everything. I jumped between Fredrick and Zane, and they came to a sudden stop to their fight.

"Stop!" I yelled. "This is completely unnecessary. Obviously Fredrick wasn't planning to hurt me, he hasn't even done anything yet. Maybe he's changed. I think we should listen to what he has to say before we do anything else," Fredrick glanced between me and Zane, then suddenly took off. He did not come back. Wendy and Erica looked at me in shock. There was total silence in the Leaky Cauldron. Several wizards were staring at us.

"Let's get out of here," I muttered, walking over to the door and pushing it open. I was quickly followed by Zane and the others. When we were all outside, Zane was the first to speak.

"That was either really brave or really stupid of you back there, Cassie," he told me. "But I really admire that," He leaned down and kissed me in the lips. I was so surprised that my eyes remained wide for a second, but then I let them slide shut and just went with the moment. Finally, he broke away.

"Whoa…" Zane said. An extreme understatement. His intense green eyes never left mine as I slowly calmed down enough to say something.

"I thought we were just friends," I teased. Erica and Wendy had faded into the background. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Just a moment of impulse," he mumbled. "Don't take it personally, Cass," I shrugged and decided to let it go. So he kissed me. Not like it meant anything. We all laughed and joked about it for hours afterward, with Zane blushing and mumbling apologies the whole time. Eventually, though, we had to get back to Hogwarts since none of us felt like going home. It was well after dark when Wendy and I settled down in the common room. Erica played a quiet game of wizard chess against Zane.

"Cassie?' Wendy said.

"Hmm?" I murmured, half asleep from staring at the hypnotizing flames for so long.

"What if he had gotten you pregnant or something? What would you have done about it?" I looked over at Wendy. She nervously twirled her brown hair, waiting for my response.

"I don't know," I replied honestly. "It wasn't something that came up in my mind," I winced at the memory of Fredrick straddling me in the deserted corridor when I was completely defenseless and vulnerable. Erica moved a knight, which promptly took out the nearby rook, smashing it with more force than necessary.

"Check," Zane called out. Wendy sighed, her gaze moving toward the window. I squinted at the darkness. Was it my imagination, or was a white object moving closer and closer and closer…? A second later, a snowy owl smashed into the window. I ran to rescue it. Around its leg was a rolled up sheet of parchment. I quickly unfurled the parchment.

Cassie-

Enclosed here is the answer to everything. The truth behind Erica's past, the reason why Wendy stopped eating suddenly, and Fredrick's anger issues. I would've sent this sooner, but I knew this would be traced by Fredrick. And you know how angry he gets…anyway, here. It took a lot of asking around and observing. But I guess that was the advantages of being in everyone's shadow. Nobody was suspicious by my questions or constant tagging along. You know me as that quiet girl, I bet. The one you'd speak to only when you absolutely have to. I'm also close with Angelica. I can't reveal my true identity. It is too risky, I'm spies for many, many sides in the upcoming war and nobody knows who I really answer to. I prefer to keep it that way. Just read the attached sheet, it shouldn't take too long. I better go, before they find me.

- K. R. L.

I scanned the attached parchment, but most of the information I already knew. But there was something on Zane, too. Curious, I took a closer look.

Zane was the toughest egg to crack, but what I was able to determine was that he was a loner, and not by choice, it appears. Everyone is afraid of him. Discovered Cassie talking to him. Wonder what's up with that…oh, Apparition. Is she just using him like everyone else. LATER OBSERVATIONS: She is growing closer to him. I thought wrong. Zane is happier now. Zane has a mysterious past, it seems. I can't get any reads off of him just by looking at his face. I'm clairvoyant, but he is a hard person to read. I suppose he will forever remain a mystery.

"Huh," I muttered, setting both sheets of parchment aside. The owl hooted and promptly flew out of the window. Zane looked up at me.

"What?"

"Nothing…" I felt my cheeks grow warm as he stared at me for longer than normal. "Nothing at all," He rolled his eyes and told his king to move one step to the right.

"One step to the right? What's that supposed to mean?" the king demanded in a small voice.

"You are so stupid," a bishop said. "One step to the right…you're supposed to give the coordinates!" I snickered and focused my gaze on Erica. Her face was relaxed as she studied the chess board. Though underneath the surface I could still read lines of pain, they were less severe than they were at the beginning of the school year. Wendy had fallen asleep in the armchair. She had gained some weight since starting therapy, and none of her ribs were exposed anymore. I looked down at my arms and stomach. No bruises colored my skin anymore. I didn't bear a single mark from my times with Fredrick. Though the memories were still fresh and painful, the scars had gone from rubbed raw to slowly healing. The one who seemed to help the most with that was Zane. He made me forget Fredrick ever even existed. He showed me what really mattered in the world, and taught me that it didn't matter what other people thought. As I settled into the other armchair near Wendy, I considered the future. With all the other issues out of the way, the rest of the year had the potential of actually being enjoyable. Next summer would be out last summer of freedom. But for now, we just had this moment, a moment in time I would never forget, or regret.

A/N: YES! Another story is finished! I'm on a roll! Yeah! WOOO HOOO! Okay. I've calmed down now. This was the fan fiction I have had the most difficulty with, so…yeah…I'm extremely happy that this was finally finished after working on it since June.