A quick note before we dive into this chapter that I wanted to address: Dan and Cass will not be getting back together at any point throughout the story. I really wanted him to come back and be seen more because it's because of his relationship with Cass that she ended up on the path she's on. I also wanted to see them move on from Hogwarts, grow and mature, and become friends. That's all.
When I came back downstairs in clean trousers and my favorite green jumper, everyone was sitting around the kitchen table drinking butterbeers in complete silence.
"Cass, you want one?" Sirius asked tentatively. I shook my head, pulling a bottle of Ogden's off the shelf. I poured a glass, then knocked it back, then poured another one. This was a horrible idea, and I knew it, but I needed to not feel anything for a while.
"You know it's the middle of the night?" Ron asked quietly.
If his father wasn't bleeding to death in a hospital miles away, I would've made a snide comment about how they were all drinking pure sugar and cream in the middle of the night, but I stayed silent. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Fred's hands tensing around his bottle of butterbeer as he watched me knock back firewhiskey. The look on his face was one of fear, a look I'd seen before and swore, once upon a time, to never be the cause of. One of my many promises I'd made to him and broken.
In a flash, a burst of fire filled the kitchen, followed by shocked shriek from Ginny. A piece of parchment fluttered down to the table, followed by a single phoenix tail feather. Sirius went to snatch the parchment, but I was faster.
"This isn't Dumbledore's writing, it's got to be your mum's," I said, scanning the page. "She says…'Dad is still alive. I am at St. Mungo's now. Stay where you are. I will send more news when I can.'"
George leaned across the table and snatched the parchment from my hand. He read it, then handed it to Fred, who handed it all around the table to Ron and Ginny. In the corner, Harry sat with his hand over his forehead, still clutching his scar.
"Harry?" I asked with a small smile. "Is there anything I can get for you?"
He shook his head, hand still clutching his scar. I nodded, then walked out of the room with my firewhiskey. I couldn't be around everyone right now, especially not Fred. I wanted to be alone in the drawing room with the record player. I didn't expect I'd go back to sleep anytime soon, so staying up and listening to music was my next best option. Down the hall, I heard Sirius suggest that the Weasley kids go to bed, but the terse silence that followed said that any kind of shut eye was out of the question.
I don't know how long I sat there with my glass, wrapped under an old blanket and emptying that bottle of Ogden's, but at around quarter past two, I got up from my perch and wandered into the kitchen, where everyone was sitting or sleeping.
Sirius and Harry remained upright and awake, visibly uncomfortable as they intruded on this display of family grief. Ginny was curled up in her chair, her long hair falling in front of her wide-open eyes. Ron was stretched across the table, his head resting on his forearms and concealing his face from the world. Next to Ron, George was slumped over like his younger brother, his right arm hanging by his side.
Fred, on the other hand, was fast asleep, his head lolling down to his left shoulder. He twitched every few minutes, causing his head to jerk back and forth and his neck to tense. I watched as he slept, so peaceful and ignorant to the rest of the world, and I sat down next to him without a second thought. Whatever I was feeling about whatever was happening with us, I knew one bloody thing to be true: Fred Weasley needed me right now, and even if I had to pretend I was fine, I would do and be whatever he needed. In his own immortal words, that's what you do when you love someone.
"Freddie," I whispered. "Freddie, wake up."
He inhaled sharply and his head jerked upright, his eyes falling on me. He reached out to touch me, but I stopped him.
"That can't be good for your neck. I'm in pain just looking at you," I whispered flatly. "Lean on me."
I wrapped my arm around his shoulders and scooted as close to him as I could without making any noise. I curled up in my seat and guided his head and shoulders toward me, pulling him into my chest so he could rest his head there. I stroked his hair gently as his breathing slowed, his arms relaxing at his sides. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Sirius smiling sadly at the two of us. I smiled back, then finally rested my cheek on the top of Fred's head, slowly rocking him and I back to sleep.
We woke at ten minutes past five to the sound of footsteps striding toward the kitchen. As the steps grew closer, Fred picked his head up off my chest and gave me a thin, awkward smile. I could see his shoulders shaking ever so slightly as the kitchen door swung open and his mother entered the room. Fred, George, Ron and Harry all stood to greet her.
She looked pale and tired, and her eyes were bloodshot, but she offered a small smile of relief.
"He's going to be alright," she said finally, as happily as she could. "He's sleeping. We can all go see him later. Bill's taken the day off work to be at St. Mungo's right now."
It was like a dam had burst and its contents were spilling into the kitchen of Number Twelve. George and Ginny ran over to their mother and embraced her, tears already falling down their faces. Ron gave a small, shaky laugh and chugged the rest of his butterbeer. Harry tried to smile, but I could see that even though Arthur was alive, he was still shaken up from then events of last night.
Amid the excitement and relief, Fred turned to me, the tears spilling down his cheeks like I'd never seen before. I reached up to wipe them from his face with trembling hands, then wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him into a tearful, shaky embrace.
"Shall we make breakfast?" Sirius exclaimed, the color now returning to his face. "Where's that-KREACHER!"
No sign of Kreacher. I shook my head, still smiling at the miraculous news.
"Sirius, I can make breakfast. Let's see…bacon, eggs, tea, toast? Coffee? For what, seven?"
"Yes, Cassie, that would be wonderful," he said, throwing me a wink as I hurried over to the kitchen and threw on an apron. I saw Mrs. Weasley in the corner, embracing Harry and thanking him a million times over for getting to Dumbledore in the nick of time.
"They might not have found Arthur for hours, but thanks to you he's alive and Dumbledore's been able to think up a good cover story for Arthur being where he was, as well as for Cassie and the young man who found them as well- "
"You were spotted?!" Sirius exclaimed; his excitement now completely gone. I nodded slowly.
"We were," I started. "Someone who works in the Muggle Artifacts office. Said Arthur was his boss."
"Yes, well, according to Dumbledore, Arthur had managed to recruit that young man to the Order today, so there's no need to worry about him blabbing to anyone about what really happened down there," Mrs. Weasley continued.
"Who was it? Who saw you?" Sirius asked again, clearly not wanting to let it lie. I suddenly remembered Daniel and braced myself for Fred's reaction to his name coming into the conversation.
"A former student at Hogwarts, actually," I said, before taking a quick gulp and bracing myself. "His name's Daniel Light. I dunno if any of you knew of him, he was in my year."
All eyes were now on me. Fred's head shot up and faced me, his jaw tense with shock and jealousy at the sound of Dan's name. Before I could say anything else, he made his excuses to go to the bathroom and disappeared from the kitchen. Before I could follow him, Mrs. Weasley turned to Sirius.
"Sirius, I really am so grateful," she said with a genuine, wide smile. "They think he'll be in hospital for a while longer, and of course it would mean being here over Christmas, but it would be wonderful to be nearer- "
"The more, the merrier!" he exclaimed happily. The obvious sincerity in his voice made Mrs. Weasley beam with such pride and gratitude, and she pulled an apron off the wall and started cooking breakfast alongside me. As I walked over to the table to put the tea kettle down, she grabbed my forearm quickly, so quickly it startled me.
"I can take care of this, Cassie," she said. "Why don't you run upstairs, go check on Freddie?"
I just stared blankly back at her but managed to nod before she noticed something was wrong. I really didn't want to talk to Fred right now; I wasn't expecting to have to bring up Dan and I certainly wasn't expecting him to react that way. Obviously, Fred had some…feelings about Daniel and how he'd treated me in the past, but if it weren't for Dan's arrival and quick thinking, Mr. Weasley would surely be dead.
I trudged down the hallway and half expected him to be upstairs, but instead peaked through the half-open door to the drawing room, where I saw Fred sitting, his back to the door. I knocked softly and he turned around, wiping his bloodshot eyes with the back of his sleeve. I tried to get a good look at his hand, but I was too far away to see anything on it.
"Your mum wanted me to come check on you," I said casually, shutting the door behind me and walking over to the loveseat. I sat down next to him tentatively and he sat up straight, running his hands through his unruly hair.
"I'm alright, yeah," he whispered. "Are you?"
"I don't think you want the answer to that, Fred," I said bluntly.
"How bad was it? You know what, don't tell me, I don't want- "
"It was bad, Fred. Really bad. I tried to stop the bleeding, but whatever attacked him must've been really powerful, because the blood literally burned through my cloak and Daniel's shirt when we tried to stop it. And speaking of Dan, if it weren't for him showing up when he did, your dad would be dead. You can't storm off every time someone mentions his name."
"Alright, so I guess I'm indebted to Daniel Light now," he muttered. "Bloody brilliant."
"Freddie, don't start," I snapped. "To be honest, if it weren't for your dad nearly dying, I wonder how much longer I would've gone without hearing from you. Maybe you'd have held out on me for the rest of the school year."
That shut him up right quick. He turned his eyes away from me and hid his face in his hands. Seeing my opportunity flash before my eyes, I grabbed his right wrist and yanked it toward me. His head snapped back when he realized what I was looking for.
"Cass, don't- "
"Fred, what the hell is this?" I asked, my voice now low and shaking once more as I rolled up Fred's sleeve to confirm my worst suspicions.
Scratched across his right hand was an angry, red scar. It was exactly what I'd thought it was: something, or someone, had scratched words into the skin, carving deep enough to draw blood dozens of times over. The scar was so deep and so red that it looked almost infected. The words etched into his hand read I must not cause trouble.
"It's nothing," he muttered. "Detention's not what it used to be, that's all."
"No, I don't recall any of our professors using corporal punishment on students," I shot back, rolling up his sleeve and running my fingers lightly over the scar. He winced as I did so.
"Who did this to you?"
He stayed silent. That confirmed everything.
"It's that horrid Defense professor, isn't it?" I asked. "How long has she been doing this? Has she done it to anyone else?"
He drew a shaky breath, preparing to speak, but didn't meet my gaze.
"It's been going on since school started," he began. "Harry was the first one to get it. Then George and I got caught playing Exploding Snap too close to her office door and she brought us both in. She's got these magic quills that, when you write…well, let's just say you don't need ink. Every time you get detention with her, she makes you write over and over until she's satisfied with whatever scar's left behind.
I nodded. I tried to ask a question, but he continued.
"Then the Quidditch ban happened. Your brother's a right bastard, Cass, and I know you know that. But he is. He started making all these nasty comments about mum and dad, and then he started saying stuff about you- "
"Like what?"
He paused, trying to go back to that time, that place.
"He said…something about his 'filthy Mudblood-loving sister,' I don't remember. That's when Angelina and the rest grabbed me, but then when he started talking about Harry's mum…that's when I broke free and went after him. McGonagall tried to intervene, but Umbridge banned me, George, and Harry. Our brooms are locked away in her office."
"Have you told McGonagall that this is what she makes you do in detention?" I asked. "Freddie, she would be horrified if she knew! Bloody hell, do any adults at Hogwarts know that this is happening to you – and to kids younger than you, I would assume?"
He shook his head rapidly.
"No, no one's told anyone. Having Umbridge around is like having the bloody Minister for Magic – no, worse than him – watching your every move. She's given herself complete authority and just says 'Cornelius would want it this way' to get away with everything. Hogwarts isn't the same as when you left it, Cass. Things are pretty bloody different now."
"That may very well be true, Fred, but I would've hoped that the one thing that would remain the same would be your ability to skirt the rules in order to at least talk to me!" I exclaimed. Mere hours ago, I told myself I was going to put my feelings aside and be there for Fred. Another broken promise, it seemed.
"Cass, she's torturing people! She's watching the post! She hurt Hedwig a few weeks ago, she flew to Harry's class with a broken wing and Grubbly-Plank had to fix her up," he exploded. "Everyone's too afraid to send letters now. Why do you think I haven't answered any of yours?"
My jaw dropped. I finally knew the truth, a truth I'd ignored in favor of my own stubbornness and anger. He hadn't been ignoring me. He, like the other students at that bloody school, were terrified out of sending mail. That's why his parents hadn't heard from him, either. It all made perfect sense, and I felt perfectly guilty for everything I felt over the last two months.
Before I could respond, Ginny burst through the door.
"Cass – oh, you two busy?"
"What is it, Gin?" Fred snapped. She cocked an eyebrow at her older brother.
"I know you're tired, but don't take that tone with me. Food's ready," she huffed, turning on her heel and heading out of the drawing room. Fred and I exchanged looks, and wordlessly agreed to let the prior conversation lie. I was sure we'd pick up where we let off later, trying to work through our own problems while the world around us was held together by Spell-O-Tape and a prayer.
After breakfast, everyone retreated to their respective rooms for a few hours of sleep. I helped Mrs. Weasley clean up breakfast in silence, then crashed face first into the pillows in Sirius's brother's old bedroom. Since everyone was back staying where they were in the summer, Fred and George had displaced me once more, and I pictured Fred curled up in my bed, the scent of tobacco and freshly mowed grass mingling with leather, vanilla, and firewhiskey.
When I awoke a few hours later, I heard the front door opening and closing, followed by the sound of Tonks's, Moody's, and Mrs. Weasley's voices. I shot up from my bed and jogged down the stairs to see what the noise was about.
When I reached the bottom, I found everyone's trunks from Hogwarts piled up in the hallway. One by one, Tonks and Moody greeted me.
"You look alright, Malfoy," Moody said gruffly, his face obscured by an oversized bowler hat that concealed his magic eye. "If it weren't for your quick thinking, Arthur would've died before Harry reached Dumbledore. You did well. This time."
"Thanks, Moody," I said, giving him a quick nod and thin smile. Next, Tonks wrapped me up in a hug, her hair now a vibrant magenta and reaching her waist.
"How're you holding up?" she asked, her hands gripping my shoulders tightly, but affectionately. I shrugged.
"About as good as you might expect," I said. "I'll leave it at that."
She nodded. "Well, I'm not sure if everyone's awake, but we've come to escort you all to the hospital. Arthur's awake and they're allowing him visitors."
"Yes, and if we don't leave soon, we might miss him while he is awake!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, already dressed in Muggle clothes and taking a long coat from Tonks's arms. "Cassie, would you please go wake everyone? And let them know their trunks have arrived?"
I nodded, turning around to get the Weasley kids and Harry out of bed. Amid the chaos of the last few hours, I couldn't help but notice Mrs. Weasley's changed attitude toward me. Maybe it was the fact that I'd helped save her husband's life, or maybe that she wasn't going to be how she usually was to me under the circumstances, but I was grateful. Wary, but grateful.
"OI! UP AND AT 'EM!" I bellowed, banging on each door as I ran up and down the stairs. George and Fred flung their bedroom door open, ginger hair sticking up everywhere on their identical heads.
"What're you shouting about, Malfoy?! It's nine in the morning!" George snapped, yawning and stretching exaggeratedly.
"As if you aren't up before nine every day for school, Weasley," I shot back. "We're going to see your dad. Trunks are all here from Hogwarts. Put on some Muggle clothes and meet at the bottom of the stairs in five. Tonks and Moody are escorting, so no messing around!"
They nodded, jogging past me to retrieve their trunks from the foot of the stairs. As Fred passed me by, he gave me a thin, almost irritated smile, like I'd somehow ruined his morning with everything that happened earlier. I ignored it and continued about my morning, running upstairs to change clothes again, fix my hair, and prepare to see Mr. Weasley.
After ten minutes of excitement and fussing as the Weasley kids changed into their Muggle clothes, we were ready to be escorted across London to St. Mungo's. When we all gathered in the foyer of the house, I found myself standing next to Fred, whose hair was combed back and falling in the middle of his neck. One small piece flopped in front of his eyes and he tried to push it back, to no avail. Under normal circumstances, I would've fussed over his hair in a way that would've put his own mother to shame, but I stood like a statue beside him instead.
"Right, we all ready?" Tonks asked cheerfully. "Let's head off then!"
After a five-minute walk to the train station and a ten-minute train ride sandwiched between Tonks and Harry (Tonks talked his ear off about his vision, but Harry didn't want to talk much), we found ourselves in the bustling heart of London, following Tonks toward the entrance of St. Mungo's.
After a few minutes of walking, we stopped abruptly in front of a dilapidated department store called Purge and Dowse Ltd. In the display window in front of us was a mannequin with a green dress, fake lashes, and a misshapen blonde wig.
"Wotcher," Tonks said. "We're here to see Arthur Weasley."
Suddenly, unexpectedly, the dummy gave what appeared to be a nod, beckoning to us with its plastic index finger. Tonks grabbed Ginny and Mrs. Weasley's arms, stepped forward, and disappeared through the glass window.
"What-where-" George spluttered.
"Follow me," I said, remembering the entrance to the Gray Room. "It is the only way."
I went to grasp the twins by each arm, but Fred pulled away from me, as though my fingers around his forearm burned him. I didn't have time to be hurt over it. Instead, I took George's arm and stepped forward, disappearing behind the glass just as Tonks had moments before.
When we reappeared, I was back in the atrium of the hospital, where I'd been only mere hours ago. All around us, Healers hustled and bustled around us, patients with all sorts of ailments read ancient copies of Witch Weekly in wooden chairs, and a tired looking witch stood behind a large reception window at the end of the room.
Ahead of us, an elderly wizard shuffled up to the window.
"I'm here to see Broderick Bode!" he wheezed.
"Ward forty-nine, but I'm afraid you're wasting your time," said the witch dismissively. "He's completely addled, you know…Next!"
After a few minutes, Mrs. Weasley moved forward to the desk.
"Hello," she said. "My husband, Arthur Weasley, was supposed to be moved to a different ward this morning, could you tell us —?"
"Arthur Weasley?" the witch asked, running her quill up and down a parchment list. "Yes…second door on the right, first floor. Dai Llewelyn ward."
"Thank you!" Mrs. Weasley said brightly. "Come on, all!"
We followed Mrs. Weasley through the double doors and followed as she navigated the halls of the hospital with ease. Once again, I'd forgotten that she was a fully trained medi-witch and had spent a considerable amount of time working in these wards and halls. When we reached another set of double doors, Moody, Tonks, and I all took a step back from the family.
"We'll wait here, Molly," Tonks piped up. "It ought to be just the family first. Besides, we don't want to overwhelm Arthur."
Mad-Eye and I both grunted in approval. I wasn't sure what I would even do or say to Mr. Weasley when I saw him again, and I needed time to think that over. Mrs. Weasley smiled and nodded, then pushed the doors open to let her kids and Harry into the ward. At the end of the room, I could see Mr. Weasley's flame-colored hair peeking out in the shadows of a curtain, the outline of the Daily Prophet covering his face.
"I'm going to get a cup of coffee, you fancy anything?" Tonks asked me.
I shook my head. I figured it best to wait here in case they wanted me to come say hello to Arthur, or in case anyone else from the Order showed up. When Tonks and Moody left me, I leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes in relief. Mr. Weasley was alright, his wife and children were with him, and there was one less thing to feel guilt-ridden about on my mind. Amid my thoughts of Arthur, Fred, and the million other things boggling my mind, I heard the double doors swing open again and the sound of footsteps heading toward me.
"Don't fall asleep standing up," Daniel called out from the other end of the hall. I turned to see a grin across his naturally tan face, his eyes twinkling with a similar relief. He'd changed out of his bloody clothes and now wore a red jumper and blue trousers, his white trainers hitting the floor with a light thud! every few seconds. Under his left arm was a bundle of paperwork with a Ministry seal across the top.
"Hi, you," I said tiredly, peeling myself away from the wall to greet him. He held out his free arm for a hug, which I gladly accepted, burying my face in his shoulder and smelling the familiar freshly brewed coffee that lingered on his collar, a scent that was once the sweetest in the world to me.
"How're you holding up? You certainly look better now," he joked, looking me up and down. "You been in to see Arthur yet?"
I shook my head.
"No, it's family first. Besides, I'm not even sure he'd think to see me," I said. It was true; Mr. Weasley needed to be with his family right now, and I was perfectly content to wait outside with Moody and Tonks. Daniel, however, wasn't buying it.
"Cass, you helped save his life. If you didn't- "
"Dan, I didn't do anything," I said, dropping my voice down low, so that no one would hear us. "Harry – Harry Potter – had a vision of it happened. Got to Dumbledore in the nick of time. He sent my cousin and Kingsley Shacklebolt from the Auror office to find us."
"Harry Potter, eh?" he asked, raising his brows back up again and shaking his head in shock. "Reckon that kid will be the savior of us all."
"Yeah, well, trust me, it's not what he wants," I said shortly, before diverting the conversation. "Besides, how did you even find us? I didn't even know you'd- "
"Arthur's my boss in the artifacts office. I'm one of his assistants," he began. "We'd been talking over the last few weeks and I could tell he was trying to…gauge my interest, shall we say. He managed to convince me to join in the Ord- "
"SHHHH!" I hissed.
"He managed to convince me to join," he continued. "Last night I was actually working overnight, doing some processing and paperwork and I needed to ask him something. He told me where he'd be, but he didn't say what he'd be doing or who he'd be with. I Disillusioned myself, got up to the Department of Mysteries, and that's when I found you."
"Wow," I managed to finally say, still processing Dan's story. "That's…kind of amazing. Really lucky, actually. If you hadn't found us, I probably wouldn't have been able to try and stopper the bleeding on my own, I was shaking so much. I am grateful to you for that, Dan, I really am."
He shrugged as if to say, 'It was nothing, really,' but it was everything. It was everything to Mrs. Weasley, to the kids, to the Order, and in some strange way, to me. I never expected I would be grateful to Dan for anything after our breakup and Cedric's death, but life continued to surprise me in that way.
Before I could say anything else to him, the doors to the ward flung open and Mrs. Weasley came out.
"Cassie-oh, who's this?" she asked.
"Daniel Light, ma'am, I work with your husband at the Ministry. I was just coming by to drop off a few things for him- "
"You were there last night, weren't you?" she asked. "I really can't thank you enough, dear. Of course, Harry got to Dumbledore in the nick of time, but if you hadn't found Arthur and tried to manage the bleeding…well, we'd be much worse off than we are now. He's actually asked to see Cassie here, but if you'd like to come in, you're quite welcome."
Dan and I exchanged looks. He shrugged again, beaming at Mrs. Weasley and nodding. She gave a quick smile to us both, then led us into the ward, where Mr. Weasley's bed lay at the end of the room. He was having a rather animation conversation with Fred and George but turned his attention away when he saw us. His face had a few scratches on it and his arms were lightly bandaged, but he appeared to be in a good mood otherwise.
"Well, if it isn't my two saviors!" he chuckled, giving a little wave to Dan and I. Relief washed over me to see Arthur in such good spirits, and to see his children all around him happily.
"How are you, Arthur?" Dan asked brightly. "I was asked to bring over a few administrative things for you, I asked if it could wait, but you know how it is at the Ministry- "
"Not to worry, Dan. You can leave it on the table there," he said, gesturing slightly to the small end table to his left. "Cassie, how are you holding up?"
"I'm okay, Mr. Weasley. I'm really, really relieved that you're okay too," I said. "I'm so, so sorry for leaving you last night. If I'd known something like that would happen, I'd never have gone- "
"Not to worry, dear," he said calmly. "None of us could've anticipated what happened. If you'd been there, it would've gotten you too, and we would be much worse off than we are now. I do feel a bit guilty that your robes were ruined by the snake venom – that's what kept burning through everything."
"So, it was a snake that attacked you?" I asked. "I thought it was, that blood and venom literally burned my fingertips when I touched you, I'd never seen anything like it before. Merlin, I'm really glad you're alright, Mr. Weasley. That must've been a really powerful snake."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Harry's jaw tensing. Mr. Weasley's eyes glittered as he gave Harry a quick smile as well. We chatted for a few more minutes – Fred and George asking more questions about where we were (and Arthur and I dodging them), Mr. Weasley telling brief stories about the various patients on the ward, and Daniel filling him in on all the paperwork to sign – until Mrs. Weasley ushed Dan and I out of the ward so the children could say goodbye to their dad. When Dan and I left the ward, it was nearly time for us to part ways.
"You spending Christmas with your mum, then?" I asked casually.
"Yeah, yeah, Annamaria's actually spending Christmas Day with us, and then I'll be spending some time at New Years with the Dickensens," he said. "I'll actually be back here again tomorrow. Mind Healer appointment. I come every week."
"You see one of them?" I asked incredulously. "I could probably do with seeing one a few times a week."
"I started seeing one after school ended," he continued. "Just working through a lot of stuff…Cedric stuff, really. But other things, too. It helps. Reckon it would help you, too."
I nodded slowly. "We'll see about that. Anyway, if you've…joined up, I'm sure I'll be seeing you at meeting then, yeah? You'll get to see where I've been living all this time."
"Ah, I look forward to it!" he said jokingly, rolling his eyes. "I can't imagine you've done well with being shut up in one place for all that time."
"Yes, well, I'm managing. Besides, it's not like I'm shut up all the time. You do remember my affinity for sneaking out of places I shouldn't be sneaking out of?" I asked, giggling at the memories of me sneaking in and out of Ravenclaw Tower when Dan and I first got together. It felt like it was a lifetime ago – probably because it was – but it was nice to reminisce for only a few moments.
Dan laughed at the memory, shaking his head. Our eyes met for a brief second and in his I could see a fleeting happiness and sense of security, as well as relief that maybe, just maybe, in the face of something horrible like this, something good could come of it: that he and I could maybe be friends this time around.
"Anyway, I'll see you around, Cass," he said. "You let me know if you need anything, okay? If you don't know by now that I'm here for you- "
"I know. I appreciate that, Dan. You've come a long way since last September," I chided. He rolled his eyes again and reached out to take my hand. He wrapped my left hand in his, then pressed his lips to the back of mine with a small smile. I could tell he felt nothing when he did it, and neither did I – nothing romantic, anyway. I felt gratitude that he was finally, maybe, my friend, and that was all I ever wanted for us.
Right as Dan's lips were pressed to the back of my hand, the doors to the Dai Llewelyn Ward flew open and Fred came striding out. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw what was happening. As soon as we both saw him, Dan pulled away and I ripped my hand down from his grasp, rubbing the spot where he kissed my hand aggressively, as if somehow, I could wipe away the evidence of what had just happened.
"I'll see you, Cass," he said quickly, before giving Fred a nod and taking off toward the double doors.
"Bye," I whispered with a small wave. Slowly, I turned around to face Fred, whose face was bright red, but not angry.
"It's not what it looks like, believe me," I said confidently. "We were just catching up."
Fred didn't say a word. He opened his mouth to, but before he could speak, his mother and siblings came out of the ward chatting happily. Whatever remained between us was going to have to wait, our world held together by much less now than it was when we awoke.