I know I haven't updated in forever and finally I am proud to bring you 19
wonderful pages of Chapter 17! I want to thank all of my readers for being
SO patient as I wrote this story. So here are my long lists of thank yous
before we get into Chapter 17.
Zdanz: Thank you for thinking that my story is the best on the web! Even after almost two months of not updating you are sticking by me and I really, really appreciate it!
NimbusB: I know that Cassie's starting to get brutal but just you wait and see how things turn out.you'll be surprised I promise *wink wink*
Star: Thank you for your update! And yeah.it would be suicide to talk back to a infuriated McGonagall!
Coolerimmortal: I'm glad you thought Chapter 16 to be funny! I have like NO talent in humorous fictions but I enjoy reading them and I'm glad you thought that I have humor! Hee hee
Tessa66: That would be nice to have a big convo about the Black Diamond and it might come to that (I already have my big climax to the story written!) And I hope that you continue reading my story!
Lily Skylo: No comment! Lol. Don't worry, you'll find out the truth soon enough. . .just make sure you email me if you have any suspicions about the plot and so on. Aislin_Fiction_Writer@hotmail.com
Snivellus: Please don't send hell my way! I've already been there the past month! Don't worry I'm not giving up on the story, not at all! I've just been so busy with school and after school activities that it gets harder and harder to get onto the Internet and write updates! I haven't had a chance to get to the end of United Enemies (I barely have time to write my own chapters!) But as soon as I get the chance I will read your updates and give you oodles and oodles of reviews!
Bukama: Thanks for checking out my story and thanks for you suggestions. I intended to have the last two letters be from Ron. I noticed that in some of J.K.'s works he gives Harry a regular letter and then another letter that goes with his present. Thank you for your review!
I have no idea when I will be able to start writing Chapter 18.but you'll find out lots and lots of stuff in 18 so be prepared to kill me! Hahaha no seriously Chapter 18 is going to be the best one yet and I can't wait to get started! Okay.now that thank yous are done. I give you *drum roll* Chapter 17! FINALLY! Lol enjoy and give feedback! It keeps me going!
Chapter 17
Tragedy in Numbers
The rest of the week was extremely uneventful in retrospect to their first day back to Hogwarts. Cassie hadn't had any abnormal outbursts in any of her other classes and she kept her temper mostly in check.
If Harry had thought their second term back to Hogwarts was going to be as easy as the first, he would have been extremely wrong. The teachers had pushed their students' noses to the grindstone and they were assigned homework and essays left and right. Sometimes Harry didn't know which way was up when it came to his homework. Snape had assigned them a rather nasty thirty-six inch essay on the properties of hemlock plants and why they are as dangerous as they were. Flitwick and McGonagall wanted them to master the Tongue less Tirade Hex and vanish their pets respectively for Monday when Harry could only make half of Ron's tongue disappear and Hedwig to have a sort of misty glow about her.
Cassie's mood, however, seemed to have worsened by the end of the week, if that was even possible. The girl seemed to have acquired a permanent scowl and she was very short with the rest of the students and teachers. All of the Gryffindors shunned Cassie out of their daily regime. Because of Cassie and her big mouth, Gryffindor was in last place for the House Cup and it didn't look like they would recover.
And yet, Harry sort of felt sorry for Cassie. Even though she slandered Sirius' name and lost them house points she was going through a lot to keep her under pressure. Professor McGonagall and Professor Lupin saw it fit to follow through and give Cassie her month's detention. Harry had seen Cassie carry out her punishment almost every night that week. Filch would stand over Cassie as she scrubbed the stands of the Quidditch pitch every evening after dinner when most of the House Quidditch practices took place. She would also be sprucing up the pitch before and after the Gryffindor game that upcoming Saturday.
The Quidditch practices weren't the same without Cassie at all. Seamus was far too serious with his responsibilities as a beater and Neville seemed to have lost his courage without Cassie there beside him. For the first time in five years, Harry had watched the worst bit of defensive playing by a Gryffindor team. What was worse was Cassie was forced to watch these practices while she cleaned the stands, the players flying around a heavy reminder of what happens to people who cross McGonagall one step too far.
Even though their practices were scheduled every day right after classes got out, Katie was forced to cancel practice that Wednesday because of a small snow storm that passed through during the night. Cassie still had to clean the pitch however and Harry saw all the lights were turned on at the pitch, the snow falling heavily onto the grounds. Cassie was no doubt shoveling the snow off of the stands and onto the frozen ground below.
On Thursday however, the team was forced to return to their practices with extreme urges from Katie. They made their way out onto the pitch that day in their Quidditch uniforms, all of them wrapping their Gryffindor scarves around their necks.
"Just bloody wonderful. . ."Harry heard Katie mutter to herself. The Quidditch team had just made their way out onto the pitch when they noticed the entire Slytherin team and most of their die-hard supporters sitting up in the stands, jeering at the Gryffindors.
"Oy, Scarhead!" Malfoy called out making Pansy Parkinson laugh loudly. Harry scowled and he and Ron walked closer together, "Your girlfriend's a bit battered up isn't she," he commented pointing over to Cassie who was on the opposite side of the pitch, cleaning up some trash left behind from the Slytherin team. Harry saw Cassie's head fly up, her black hair falling across her face. He saw her shoot Malfoy a dirty look before she went back to picking up trash and shoveling snow. "I mean look at her. . .look how dirty she's getting! She almost looks like a Weasley. . . dad says they live in a pig sty," Malfoy added. Harry saw Ron's ears glow pink as he shot Malfoy a look of pure hatred. The rest of the Slytherins laughed loudly Crabbe and Goyle sniggering behind Malfoy.
"Ignore him Ron. . ." Harry whispered to his friend. Katie blew her whistle, calling the Gryffindor team to order. She quickly explained their practice regime and with another blow of her whistle, the seven took off into the air, Katie releasing the balls before taking off. Harry kicked off from the ground, glad to be in the air once again. He looked down at the stands and saw Cassie had stopped briefly to watch them take off. Harry could hear the Slytherins laughing about something, Malfoy pointing at Cassie and laughing. Harry couldn't help but smile when he saw Cassie send a rude gesture in the Slytherins' direction before she continued to clean.
Katie blew her whistle once more, signaling the start of their practice game. Harry flew about the field watching for signs of the snitch. After finding no trace of the small ball, Harry hovered a bit in the middle of the field and watched the practice. Katie, Ginny, and Dean were passing the Quaffle back and forth, falling into a formation and then falling out of it again, one of them passing the Quaffle to another with flawless accuracy. Ginny had taken hold of the Quaffle as she raced towards the hoops, a hungry glint in Ron's eyes as he looked at the Quaffle. Ginny let the ball fly and Ron rushed forward, grabbing the Quaffle and throwing it to Dean who raced off towards the other end of the pitch, the Quaffle tucked underneath his arm.
"Throw the Bludger at him Seamus, you stop him Neville!" Katie shouted out as she flew a few feet behind Dean. Harry watched as Seamus smacked the Bludger with all his might, sending it twenty feet from where Dean was. Harry heard the Slytherins shriek with laughter as Neville rushed to meet the ball. He stopped in mid-flight, covered his face with his left arm and threw his right arm in the air blindly trying to hit the Bludger.
"Neville look out!" Harry yelled out, but it was too late. He watched as the Bludger came rushing towards Neville, the boy not looking at anything but the inside of his arm. Harry tensed as the Bludger hit him in the stomach, his ribs breaking with a sickening crack. Harry heard the breath leaving Neville's body as he let go of his broom, clutching his stomach. Harry watched in horror as he watched his friend start to fall from the broom. He tired to block out the Slytherins' jeers as Neville dropped like a stone to the ground, thirty feet below.
'Mobiliarous!' Harry heard someone yell. He watched in a frozen stupor as Neville's decent to the ground slowed greatly. He was five feet from the ground when he stopped completely, frozen in midair. Harry looked in the direction of where the spell had come from and he looked over to the right side of the pitch and saw Cassie with her wand pointing in Neville's direction. She had saved his life.
Harry reached the ground first and he dismounted his broom and headed to where Cassie and Neville were waiting. Harry saw that the Beater's nose was bleeding and he was holding onto his stomach gingerly, tears stinging his eyes.
"Is he going to be okay?" Harry asked looking over his friend, a worried expression on his face.
"I think so. . . he needs to get up to the hospital wing though," Cassie answered as the rest of the team reached the ground.
"Unbelievable. First Cassie and now Neville; I hope he'll heal before the game on Saturday or we'll need another beater. Cassie, Harry, take Neville up to the hospital wing. I'm going to go over a few things with everyone else. I'll send Ginny looking for the Snitch," Katie explained.
"Look at that! Do you reckon Longbottom'll go mad?" Harry heard Malfoy as he and the Slytherins stopped their laughing, "Maybe they'll throw him next to his crazy parents as well."
"Shut up Malfoy!" Harry yelled out. "Fantis Arcanus"" a jet of blue light erupted out of Harry's wand and hit Malfoy smack in the face. Malfoy was thrown off his feet and Pansy screamed loudly. Crabbe and Goyle flexed their muscles as they waited to see if Malfoy was alright. Harry watched as Malfoy got to his feet and tried to say something but the words came out as a jumbled mix. Harry smiled, he had finally gotten the hang of that Tongue- less Tirade curse.
"Good one," Cassie said before she started to lead an unconscious Neville up to the castle.
"Thanks. Hopefully it'll take a while for Malfoy to find a counter- curse for that one," Harry explained as he looked over at Neville.
"I wish there was a way to make his voice disappear forever," Cassie commented as they made their way up the castle steps.
"Why just make his voice disappear? Why don't we make all of him disappear?" Harry suggested. Cassie looked at him and then started to laugh softly. Her laughter grew until she started to laugh uncontrollably finally coming into stitches. Harry realized this had been the first time, in a long time, he had heard Cassie laugh. He hadn't heard her laugh since before their fight. . .
And then Harry remembered why he and Cassie had had that fight. He remembered why he wasn't talking to Cassie. She had tainted Sirius' name. . .yelled out that he deserved to die. Harry realized he had been talking to Cassie when he didn't want to. Harry seethed as Cassie continued to laugh loudly. Did she think he was going to accept her just like that? That an unfortunate accident with Neville and him cursing Malfoy would make him reconcile with her? Cassie's laughter died away suddenly as if she knew why Harry was still silent.
They finally got to the hospital wing, Madame Pomfrey taking Neville with an exasperated sigh. Harry and Cassie walked over to the exit when they ran into Ron. He looked extremely flustered and his face was flushed a pinkish color as if he had run the whole distance from the pitch. "Is Neville okay?" Ron asked hurriedly.
"He's fine. A few broken ribs, he'll be out of the hospital wing by tomorrow," Cassie said, her voice low as she threw Harry a dirty look. Ron looked between Harry and Cassie a confused look on his face.
"Will he be able to play Quidditch?" Ron asked as he tried to look over Cassie to see where Neville was.
"Don't know," Harry said with a shrug as he returned Cassie's dirty look.
"I'm going to the common room. . .excuse me," Cassie said solemnly before she pushed past Harry and Ron and sauntered off towards Gryffindor Tower. Ron gave Harry a confusing look as they watched Cassie's tall figure fade away. "What's her problem?" Ron asked.
"What do you think?" Harry asked his voice growing cold. After making sure Neville was okay, the two of them walked towards the Great Hall to meet up with Hermione for dinner.
"You seemed to be alright when you two left the pitch," Ron commented as they walked down the ground floor.
"Yeah, well that was different." Harry said his voice wandering off as they made their way into the Great Hall, the sounds of chattering and eating students filling the large room. They found Hermione milling over her Advanced Transfiguration text book reviewing her notes.
"What're you studying for?" Ron asked as he and Harry took a seat on either side of her, "I was almost positive you finished your homework eons ago." Hermione looked up and shot him a dirty look.
"For your information, we have a Transfiguration quiz tomorrow and I was merely reviewing my notes," Hermione said stiffly throwing her nose up in the air before she went back to her notes again. Harry felt his heart fall through his stomach. He had completely forgotten about McGonagall's exam set for tomorrow. He hadn't been paying attention in her class at all; his mind was busy lulling over Sirius and Cassandra. It was apparent that Ron had forgotten about this test. He swore so loudly that a few students from the Ravenclaw table shot him dirty looks.
"You can't be serious!" Ron exclaimed loudly as he made a wild grab for Hermione's notes. She got out of her seat quickly and shot him an accusing look, "Hermione will you help me? My marks are going to plummet if you don't help me!"
"It's no one's fault but your own," said Hermione as she stuffed her notes inside her bag along with her Transfiguration book. Ron gave her a sad look, puffing out his lower lip.
"C'mon Hermione," he said in a persuading voice, "It wouldn't be much fun for you if Harry and I got held back a year while you went on to seventh year. Who'd be there to keep you from turning into McGonagall's clone?" Ron asked sweetly before he made another grab for her bag. Hermione turned around quickly and rolled her eyes in the process.
"Alright, alright, Ron! If it'll keep you from badgering me all night I'll help you and Harry review!" she said throwing her hands up in the air letting out a small cry of frustration. Ron smiled and threw Harry a look, "Excellent!" he said, "Well, lets take this food to go and head up for the common room," he said before he started to throw assorted foods into his pockets. He threw Harry a look and soon the two of them had Salisbury Steak and treacle tart and shepherds pie tucked safely away into their pockets and bags the three of them heading up to the common room.
Once Harry, Ron and Hermione entered the common room, Transfiguration books and wands clutched firmly in their hands they hurried over for a table close to the fire, unaware of who was in the room. It was only until they saw the person rise did they realize they were not the only ones in the common room.
Harry had never seen another teacher inside the Gryffindor common room except Professor McGonagall and those visits were to deliver rather grave announcements. But it was not Professor McGonagall in their common room but Professor Lupin. Harry watched with interest as the man rose to his feet, placing his hand on the shoulder of someone who flinched when he touched him. Harry could feel his scar prickling as he watched a long slender hand pick up Professor Lupin's hand, throwing it off of the person's shoulder. A scene flashed before his eyes as he watched a squat figure place a hand on a bald headed figure, a long, high pitched cackle sounding through his mind. The picture was gone in an instant and he was met with the sight of Romulus Lupin, his sandy blonde hair gray and thinning like his twin brother's. His brown eyes had a frustrated glint as he nodded curtly to Harry and his friends before heading out the portrait, his tall, lanky figure hunched over as he crawled out of the portrait hole.
"That was rather odd," Ron commented before he urged Hermione to tell him about Advanced Vanishing Spells. Harry, however, still had his eyes trained on the high backed parlor chair the prickling in his scar diminishing to a low grumble. He saw Hermione give him a questionable look before his attention wandered back to his reviewing.
"Hey Cassie, come and join us! We've got an exam in McGonagall's class tomorrow!" Ron said as he stood up and waved his arm. He saw Hermione shoot him a reproachful look and Harry gave him a stern scowl as Cassie turned around and looked at the three of them, her unpleasant glower still etched in her face. Harry then looked over at Hermione who seemed to have let her expression soften and she too waved her hand for Cassie to join them.
"It's stupid really, this feud you have going with McGonagall," Hermione said with a shrug as she beckoned Cassie forward, "you don't want to fall behind do you?" Harry looked at his two best friends in shock. This was so stupid; he knew what they were trying to do. They were trying to ease Cassie back into their little group, to ease Harry and Cassie out of their private war until all was forgiven. Harry wasn't going to give up on it so easily. He wouldn't say anything to Cassie until she took back what she said about Sirius. There was no way around it. "Are you coming Cassie?" Ron asked with another wide smile.
Cassie stood up and shook her head, "I'd rather fail my exam," she spat out before she shot all three of them a dirty look and walked haughtily towards the girl's dormitory. Harry saw Hermione blush a crimson color and he saw Ron's ears grow pink in anger and frustration. Harry just sat there and watched Cassie leave not caring at all that she had been exceedingly rude to his friends. She had it coming and Harry was sure he would give it to her in the end.
*~*~*~*
The day before the Quidditch match dawned early and Harry could feel the nervousness in his stomach settle there like an old friend, but it wasn't for the game, he was going to have a truly terrifying time with his Transfiguration exam. He was unable to retain any information on Advanced Vanishing Spells and there was no way he was going to master his Time Transformer Spell in such a short amount of time. He could always take refuge in the library during lunch and try to turn different books into clocks but he had a feeling Madame Pince wouldn't take to his idea too much.
Harry noticed that most of his roommates were awake and getting dressed for the last day before the weekend. Harry was extremely pleased and he couldn't wait until the Quidditch match set for the next day. Somehow he had a feeling that getting up into the air again and hearing the cheering from the crowd would make him feel better. Harry quickly got dressed and grabbed his bag hoping to get a few more minutes of studying down at breakfast.
The Great Hall was filled with chatting students, all of them excited about the first weekend of the second term. Harry walked over to the Gryffindor table and saw that Hermione was still pouring over her Transfiguration book even though she had successfully vanished half the furniture in the common room and transfigured almost every single inanimate object into a clock that not only told the times of London but Tokyo, Nepal, and New York City as well the night before. Harry noticed that Ron was still trying to get Cassie involved with breakfast time conversation but the black haired girl would have no part in it. Harry thought at one point that Cassie was going to jinx Ron who was trying to get her into a conversation about Quidditch, something Harry knew was going to be a touchy subject for the girl for quite a while.
"Give it up Ron," Harry muttered to his friend as he piled some eggs onto his plate. He saw Ron throw him a look before he tried to talk about something with Cassie once more.
"Harry's old Quidditch Captain, Oliver Wood plays for Puddlemere United now," he explained oblivious to the fact that Cassie was clattering plates around at a loud tone. "He was a smashing Keeper, better than me mind you, and Fred 'n George were the best beaters until that stupid Umbridge. . ."
"Ron," Cassie said in a sickly sweet voice, "Do you hear that sound?" she asked cupping her ear as is she was straining to hear something quiet.
Ron looked around stupidly and shook his head, "I don't hear anything Cassie, what is it?"
"That would be the familiar sound of no one caring," Cassie retorted before she grabbed her books and strode away from the table leaving Ron with an angered expression on his face.
*~*~*~*
The rest of the day went off without a hitch. Cassie avoided Harry and his friends all day. Hermione kept telling Ron to stop trying to talk to Cassie but the boy wouldn't listen. Every chance he got he would try to talk to the young girl and every single time, Cassie would come up with a snide remark or sarcasm that would leave Ron sulking until the next time he tried to talk to her.
Harry was getting extremely annoyed by this after lunch had come and gone, the sixth years heading towards Professor McGonagall's classroom lead in all of their footsteps. Hermione walked along brightly, almost floating as she took her seat in the front of the room, wand placed in front of her, her posture straight as a board as she waited for the start of the lesson.
Professor McGonagall marched into the classroom, her green robes billowing behind her, her face set in a stern façade. She stopped behind her desk and looked out over the class. Harry saw her rise her eyebrows at a person in the back of the room. Harry turned around and saw that Cassie was sitting behind a desk, leaning back on two of the legs on her chair, legs on top of the desk. She reminded Harry of someone when she did that although Harry couldn't quite place who had taken a hold of his memories.
"I will call you up individually and you will perform the incantations I ask you to perform," McGonagall said sternly before she started to call people up in random order. He saw Hermione give a nervous gulp and he saw Ron trying to go over his notes frantically, bits of parchment falling down onto the ground.
Harry tried to remember all the incantations in his head and imagining the different objects turning into other items. He heard his name called and he walked up to the desk, wand clutched in his hand. He looked up at McGonagall and he could see the corners of her mouth curve up into a twitch of a smile. Harry then looked down at the desk and saw a rather hyper owl jumping around in a cage and a stack of books.
"Make the owl vanish and bring it back," McGonagall instructed, "Then transfigure each of the books into a different clock from a different time zone." Harry nodded and decided to tackle the owl first. He was shocked to find that on the first try he was able to make the owl vanish without a trace. He looked up at the professor hoping she didn't see anything that could hurt his marks, then he brought the owl back and he almost groaned when he saw that one of his wings was still missing. He said the incantation again and brought the wing back to visible form before he turned to the books.
He laid each of the five books out in front of him and set to work, "Clepsydra adfectio Tokyo," he said clearly, pointing his wand at one of the books. He smiled when he saw the book transform into a clock clearly stating the place at the bottom of the clock and the time of the city. He continued on with the four books, only messing up on New York City. Once he was finished, McGonagall nodded and marked something down on a clipboard before he took his seat.
"Miss Lupin, if you would be so kind," he heard McGonagall's curt voice cut through the room. The class turned around and watched as Cassie placed all four feet of the chair on the ground with a thud. She got out of her seat, wand clutched firmly in her hand as she sauntered forward, pushing her hair back out of her face. Harry noticed that she made the owl disappear completely but was only able to make half of it reappear. Harry heard the owl give a hoot of displeasure before McGonagall transfigured the animal back to its right state. He saw that Cassie was growing red in the face and knew that if McGonagall didn't back off the student was about to burst.
Harry gaped in surprise when he saw that McGonagall was talking to Cassie underneath her breath, a stern look on her face. If it was even possible, Cassie got redder in the face as she tried to transfigure the clocks. "It's for your own good," Harry heard McGonagall mutter. Harry looked over at Hermione who had undoubtedly heard this remark and they both turned back to hear Cassie's response.
"I don't care. . .he's. . .a. . .prat," Harry heard Cassie mutter as she transfigured a clock to read Australia's time.
"The wizarding. . . on . . .you," McGonagall whispered back in a fierce voice.
"Screw the wizarding world!" Cassie said loudly as she smashed the Australia clock on the desk, shattering the face of the timepiece. Harry saw the glass cut into Cassie's hand and he saw the girl wince in pain before she turned around and walked out of the classroom not bothering to get her bag. Harry and the rest of the class looked up at McGonagall who cleared up the glass and looked around the classroom daring someone to speak up.
"Mr. Weasley you're up," she said and Harry heard Ron mutter a curse before he stumbled to his feet and walked lankily up to McGonagall.
*~*~*~*
Their last class of the week was History of Magic with Professor Binns. Harry wasn't surprised when he realized Cassie didn't show up for class and Professor Binns showed no concern as he went on to talk about the Centaur Wars of 1543. Harry was already in a stupor and he could tell that Ron was busy mulling over his strategies for the game the next day. Once they were finally dismissed, the three went up to the common room to dispose of their books before they went back to the Great Hall for dinner. Harry was surprised to see that Cassie was not in the common room and deciding she was probably in the girls' dormitory feeling sorry for herself, he shrugged it of and followed his two friends down to dinner.
Dinner was filled with the excited chit chat from the students, all the tables talking about the Quidditch match set for the next day. Harry spooned his pasta and looked over at Hermione who was talking to Ginny about something unknown to him. He turned to his left to start a conversation with Ron but was surprised when he saw that Ron had sneaked away from the table, leaving Harry alone in confusion. He turned towards Hermione and tapped her shoulder. She whirled around and seemed rather peeved that he had interrupted her conversation.
"Where'd Ron go?" Harry asked her. He saw Hermione throw him a confused look and she looked around the Table and shrugged her shoulders when the familiar red Weasley hair couldn't be found.
"I don't know. Maybe he went to practice for tomorrow or he thought he'd turn in early," Hermione pointed out, "Let's go look for him, dinner's nearly finished anyway." Harry nodded and he got up from his seat as Hermione hurriedly wiped her face with her napkin before she stood up to join him.
The two set off towards Gryffindor Tower in silence, leaving behind the jovial sounds of the Great Hall following them before the noise disappeared completely bathing the two in stillness. They climbed the stairs that led up to Gryffindor Tower and they were finally rounding the top of the stairs that emptied them in the corridor, the Fat Lady's portrait a few yards in front of them. Hermione took a deep breath as if to say something but a scream of fury and pain interrupted her train of thought. They stopped dead in their tracks and looked at each other. Hermione had gone pale and she had gripped Harry's arm in surprise. She let go quickly and reached for her wand, Harry following suit as the screams continued. Harry realized that it just wasn't one voice but two, two voices screaming at each other.
Harry broke into a run, leaving Hermione's yells of protest to get a teacher behind. Something was happening in the common room, it sounded like someone was being tortured. Could the Death Eaters be here, torturing students for information? What if Ron was in there? Panic stricken thoughts ran through Harry's head as he bounded for the Fat Lady, yelling out the password at the last possible second. Harry didn't have to turn around to know that Hermione had abandoned her idea of getting a teacher and was running to catch up to Harry.
The portrait swung open and Harry hurled himself into the portal scrambling to his feet as he dove into the common room. Once inside he found he was looking at an extremely similar scene. It almost looked like something that had happened two years previous, only this was much worse.
Cassie and Ron were standing so close that not even a wand could pass between them, Ron's face was redder than his hair and Cassie had such a malicious look on her face that it looked like she would attack Ron at any second. Harry noticed that Cassie had not gone to the hospital wing to have Madame Pomfrey look at her hand. He saw that she had made a makeshift bandage that was soaked with blood around her hand. It looked like Cassie had said something extremely insulting judging by the look on Ron's face. Both of them stood there, breathing hard totally oblivious to the few first years who were cowering in the corner of the common room.
"What is up with you? Why can't you just end this stupid fight with you and Harry?" Ron screeched throwing his hands up in the air. Cassie rolled her blue eyes and shifted her weight to her left foot throwing him a look of sheer hatred.
"I'm not ending that fight with Harry, he deserved what he got! He deserved it - he. . ."
"Was getting too close!" Ron yelled as he advanced towards Cassie. The girl didn't back down or flinch as Ron started to yell again, "Harry was right about you! You're just a scared little girl who keeps pushing people away! You're being so ruddy selfish it's unbelievable! A brainless git! You can't see that Remus is trying to be a good father or that Romulus is looking out for your well being! No, your head is too far stuck up your arse to notice anything!"
"Don't start judging me Weasley! You don't know me at all! None of you know the first thing about me!"
"Well I know something!" Ron said hotly his eyes shining viciously.
"Well tell me then. . . I'd love to hear about it!" Cassie countered. If looks could kill, Ron would have been dead.
"There's something about you that the Order's freaking out about. Something really important. Something he wants. You're a dangerous person . . . you have to be kept on a close watch. . .why they made you quit Quidditch. . ."
"They did that because my grades were slipping and I was ill," Cassie said diligently.
"Oh come off it Cassie! Make it easier on yourself!"
"NO! You have no clue, no damn clue about anything! So keep your big mouth shut or you'll be in for an extremely rude awakening," Cassie growled her eyes narrowing before she lunged forward and gave Ron a shove. Harry heard Hermione gasp behind her as Ron stumbled back, the boy looking at Cassie with an extreme amount of hatred.
"Is that a threat?" Ron asked his eyes growing wide.
"No," she said and Harry saw Ron relax a little, "That's a bloody promise," she spat out before she pushed past him, nearly knocking him over as she headed towards the girl's dormitory.
Harry looked over towards his friend. Ron was breathing hard, as if he had just run a marathon. His face was still flushed and he looked over at Harry an angry look on his face. "stupid. . . stupid, no good. . ." Harry heard Ron mutter before he sat down in an empty armchair with a plop.
Ron did not speak to anyone for the rest of the night and when Katie ordered them to bed around nine thirty, Ron happily obliged. Harry watched with Hermione from the opposite end of the room as Ron sulked up the steps, an angry scowl on his face.
"What was he rowing about with Cassie?" Seamus asked Harry when they were getting ready for bed. Ron had pulled the red velvet hangings around his bed closed, heavy, uneven breathing coming from behind it, "We could hear 'em screamin' all the way down the hall." Harry shrugged and Seamus looked at him, knowing he was lying.
Harry took off his glasses, storing them on the bedside cabinet, his vision blurred and before long Harry had pulled his hanging around his bed closed and he was soon fast asleep.
*~*~*~*~*
Harry woke the next day with the same familiar squeamish feeling in his stomach. He knew the Quidditch Match was today and he hoped that Ron's argument with Cassie the night before wasn't going to affect his playing skills. Harry got dressed quickly noticing that most of his roommates had already opted to go down to breakfast without him. He walked over to the window that over looked the grounds and he saw that the sun was shining. It seemed to be a rather warm day for January and Harry was glad it wasn't cold or rainy. He was almost positive that it would dampen Ron's spirits even more.
Harry walked down to the Great Hall to see that Ron was spooning his eggs silently, his lips pursed together in grim thought. Hermione was resting her head in her hands, reading an enormous book while she sipped on her hot chocolate. Harry sat down between them and Hermione looked up fast enough to acknowledge him before she absorbed her attention into her book. Ron looked up and nodded curtly at Harry before he went back to spooning his eggs grumbling about something under his breath.
It was a while later before Katie called the team to the locker room and Harry happily obliged. He was tired of the awkward silences between the three of them. Hermione was upset with Harry because he wouldn't mend things with Cassie and Ron was mad at Cassie now and probably also mad at Hermione for trying to make things right between the four of them. Harry shook his head remembering the good old days of his first years where he didn't have to worry about the whole social drama. He just had Ron and Hermione, not a whole bunch of other people to maintain good friendships with. He sighed loudly and followed Ron as they walked towards the pitch. Harry could see a figure shoveling snow and ice off the stadium seats and Harry could see long hair falling into the figure's face. He instantly recognized the shadow as Cassie and he disregarded her immediately as they walked into the locker room to get ready.
As Harry got dressed, he noticed that Neville seemed really worried about playing. All the other games he had Cassie there to help him and to sometimes cover up his mistakes. Now that the girl was banned, Seamus had to take care of her duties. Harry could tell that his fellow sixth year was a bit nervous about his first game but when Harry gave him a comforting smile he saw the boy relax. Katie finally got them together to go over some last minute strategies before the group grabbed their brooms and headed off for the pitch.
"Welcome to the first Quidditch Game of the new Year!" a little voice piped out across the stands. Harry looked up and saw Colin Creevy sitting next to Professor McGonagall. Since Cassie had passed up her opportunity as an announcer, the duty was handed down to Colin Creevy who had screamed and carried on in the common room a few nights earlier. He could hear the screaming support from the Gryffindor Quidditch fans as the team made their way out onto the field. Harry noticed that the Ravenclaw team had already positioned themselves in the center of the pitch and Harry saw Cho Chang standing next to that year's Quidditch captain. He saw the seventh year girl look over in his direction and she gave Harry a beaming smile. Harry returned her smile but he didn't get the flip flop feeling in his stomach anymore when he thought or looked at Cho. It looked like the girl was finally getting over her deceased boyfriend, Cedric Diggory who had died two years ago in the hands of Voldemort. She was hanging on the Quidditch captain's arm, beaming up at him. Harry shook his head and knew it was all for the best.
Madame Hooch came out onto the field and blew her whistle, signaling that the teams mount their brooms. Harry mounted his Firebolt, and a wave of sadness passed over him. Sirius had given him this broom for Christmas three years ago. Was it really three years ago? Harry thought to himself as he kicked off from the ground. It seemed like only yesterday Harry was opening up the plainly wrapped package that contained his beloved broomstick with Ron on Christmas morning. Harry sighed heavily as Madame Hooch released the bludgers and the snitch. He heard her whistle shrill loudly as the Quaffle was released, signaling the beginning of the game.
*~*~*~*
"That was the worst bit of playing I have ever seen in my life!" Katie shrieked to Harry and the team as they trudged heavily back into the locker room, long expressions on their faces. "Neville? Where were you when that Bludger was going after Ginny? It almost took her head off!" Harry looked over at Neville, who was red in the face. "Seamus, don't be afraid of the Bludger, just hit it!" Katie said rounding over to Seamus who looked very upset.
"Katie would you relax? It's no use screaming at us! It was our first game with an almost entirely new team. We just need to practice more!" Ginny said. She had a large gash on her cheek and her braided red hair was in disarray. Harry shook his head sadly. It was their worst defeat ever. Even though he had caught the snitch at the end of the game, Ravenclaw had slaughtered Gryffindor 280 to 160. He could still hear the Slytherins jeering at them from the stands as they dismounted their brooms, spirits low. Ron's ears were the reddest Harry had ever seen them and Neville looked like he was about to cry at any given moment.
He heard Katie give a wistful sigh before she threw her hands up in defeat. "Everyone hit the showers. I'll let you all know when we're going to practice again," she explained before she threw her arm guards into her locker, stalking off towards the girl's showers.
*~*~*~*
Harry, Ron and the rest of the Quidditch team skipped dinner in order to avoid humiliation from the Slytherins and opted for the peace and quiet of their common rooms. Harry noticed that Cassie was sitting in a corner doing her potions homework a determined look on her face. Harry hadn't even started his potions essay and quite frankly, he wasn't in the mood to do anything but sulk. With their loss against Ravenclaw, it put Gryffindor in third place for the cup. If Hufflepuff beat Slytherin, which was highly unlikely, it would push Gryffindor up to second place and a spot to contend for the cup.
Harry looked over at Ron and saw that he was in an even worse mood than the night before. On top of his fight with Cassie and the loss of the Quidditch match, Ron's morale took a turn for the worse. He would snap at anyone who tried to talk to him and he would throw threatening glances to innocent first years who gave him fearful looks before scampering off to the opposite side of the common room.
Hermione skived off dinner as well and tried to boost Harry and Ron's self esteem but she was fighting a losing battle. Harry didn't know if he was ever going to be happy again. His scar, which hadn't been bothering him lately, was starting to burn randomly and he kept having recurring dreams of Sirius falling behind the veil and every attempt Harry made to stop him, failed.
"Come on you two, stop this! It's only a Quidditch game for heaven's sake!" Hermione said. Ron and Harry shot her looks as though she were mad and Hermione shrugged her shoulders, "There's no use getting worked up over it! Ron have you finished your potions essay yet?"
Ron gave Hermione a hateful look and Harry heard Ron mutter something under his breath. "Well, if you want me to 'bugger off' Ronald Weasley then I guess I will! I was only trying to help!" Hermione said in a hurt voice. And to Harry's surprise, she walked right over to Cassie's table and sat down across from the girl, pulling out her potions essay as well.
"Traitor," Harry heard Ron whisper before the red haired boy walked off towards the boys' dormitories. Harry waited a few minutes before he too sauntered for the dormitory, wishing the day had never happened.
*~*~*~*
The resulting days of January melted into February and Harry was glad for a new month to start. He was tired of classes and he was even more tired of hearing the Slytherins mocking the Quidditch team about their embarrassing loss. Ron's mood improved greatly at the beginning of the month. He was doing well in his classes and he even received'Acceptable' on his potions essay, much to Draco's dismay.
About a week into February; the students were in the Great Hall, enjoying an early dinner. There was a teachers' council during their last class and Harry and his friends were ecstatic to be missing their potions lesson.
Harry was helping himself to some treacle tart when he heard the unmistakable sound of flapping wings. Harry looked over at Ron who was stuffing his face with a steak and Ron gave him a confused look, "What are owls doing here this late at night?" Harry asked Ron and his friend gave a shrug as they watched hundreds of owls swoop into the Great Hall, all of them carrying black envelopes in their mouths.
"Oh no," Harry heard Hermione whimper under her breath and he felt her hand grip his arm fearfully.
"Hermione what's going on?" Harry asked as the owls flew over their owners, dropping their letters onto empty plates. Harry looked over at Ron and also saw a surprised look on his face. His face was as white as Nearly Headless Nick's and he saw that Ron had his finger's crossed as owls continuously flew into the Hall.
A letter fell in front of the Creevy brothers and Harry saw that Justin Finch Fletchly had received a letter as well. He watched interested as they three boys and many other students opened up the letters carefully. He looked over at Hermione and saw her lower lip trembling as if she were about to cry.
"Hermione? What. . .?" Harry began but he was cut off when he heard a mournful cry escape the lips of Hannah Abbott. He saw the Hufflepuff grasping a black letter and she let out another wail before she grabbed onto a person nearby, her sobs muffled by the other student's robes. One by one, cries erupted from the Great Hall. Harry noticed that most of the students who had received the letters were muggle born and they were hugging onto other students tightly.
Harry saw the Creevy brothers grasp onto each other as they sank to the floor, tears running down their faces. Harry's world seemed to be moving in slow motion as Justin Finch Fletchly ran from the Great Hall hands covering his face. Even though Harry didn't know what was going on, he seethed with anger at the Slytherin table. The group had not received any letters and they were laughing at the students who were running from the Great Hall. He watched in horror as the Colin and Dennis Creevy got up from their position on the floor and hurried from the Great Hall, Draco laughing maliciously. Did he know what was going on?
A flash of black made Harry turn, hoping he hadn't received one of the letters. It was only Cassie, who had made a wild grab for a black letter that lay open on the table. Colin had left it behind. She sat back in her seat and read the letter silently. Her eyes growing wide and Harry could almost see a tear forming in her eye but the girl shook her head quickly and dropped the letter a shattering sigh escaping her lips.
It seemed like Hermione could take no more. With a choked sob, Hermione got up from her seat and fled. Harry heard Draco laugh loudly. "Hope that filthy Mudblood got what she deserved," he heard Draco say and Harry fumed with anger. He turned around and saw Cassie get up from her seat, following Hermione calmly. Harry heard Draco cease his laughing and he noticed that Cassie had dumped some pudding on his head before she muttered something in his ear.
"Harry, look at this," Ron said with a sad shake of his head. Harry turned around and saw that Ron had taken hold of the letter and he was looking at it with terror. With trembling hands, Harry grabbed the letter and began to read it softly.
Dear Messers Colin and Dennis Creevy,
We regret to inform you of the death of you parents, Bill and Lauren Creevy on the night of February 4, 1997 at seven o' clock this evening. Their deaths were the result of a mass attack on the parents of muggle born children. We have several suspects in the case, most of them being servants to the Dark Lord. We ask you kindly if you could make a trip down to our Department at the Ministry of Magic tomorrow, February 5, 1997 at eleven thirty in the morning. You are required to sign the Certificate of Death and other documents as well. You can also visit our Mortuary Witch who will gladly help you prepare the funeral of your deceased relatives.
Please accept our Condolences,
Kira Desdemona
Chair of the Births and Deaths Department
Ministry of Magic
London, England
Harry looked at the letter in shock. A mass attack on muggle borns' parents? Was it even possible? He looked over at Ron and he shook his head sadly. There was an empty pit in Harry's stomach as he looked at all of the students, some of whom he knew. They were all like him now. They were all orphans. Where would they go to now that they had no parents? Did some of them have other relatives or were they killed as well? He knew why Hermione's parents were spared; they were in safe hands with the Order. He couldn't fathom what Hermione was feeling at that moment. Guilt? Sadness? Not knowing, Harry started to get up from his seat but the clearing of a throat silenced the entire hall.
Harry sat back down as Professor Dumbledore stood up, a pale and grim expression on his face. The remaining students became quiet; the only sound the quiet snuffling from shell shocked students.
"Let me give my extreme condolences and sympathy to all students who have received losses tonight. Your parents and siblings were good people and they were courageous until the end. I am arranging a trip to the Ministry of Magic tomorrow morning for those students who have duties to attend to. You will all be in safe hands and classes will be cancelled until all has been taken care of. Counseling will also be available to students who have lost parents and to those that have not suffered losses tonight. I ask that everyone please go back to their common rooms, I'll ask prefects and our Head Boy and Girl to lead the way. Again, please accept my, and the faculty's condolences. You're dismissed," Dumbledore said in a shaky yet reassuring voice.
The clamoring of students began and Harry could hear the buzzing of whispers as the students headed off for bed. Ron walked closely beside him muttering things under his breath. Did the Order know about these attacks? Harry thought to himself as two Gryffindor first years looked around the castle, eyes big with fear. Harry shook his head. He didn't want to think about death or destruction anymore even though it was suffocating him and becoming a larger threat with each passing day. He could only think of how far Voldemort and his minions would go to rid the wizarding world of muggle borns and how he would get control of the Black Diamond, something that had been haunting Harry's dreams lately.
Harry and Ron reached the Gryffindor common room and they were met with a distressed Hermione and a quiet, reserved Cassie. Hermione had thrown her arms around Cassie and was now crying on the girl's shoulder. "It's okay Hermione, don't feel upset, you need to be there for the other kids," Harry heard Cassie whisper as she patted the girl on her head.
"But I feel so guilty! All of their parents are dead and mine got away without a scratch because I'm in the know with the Order!" Hermione wailed.
"Hermione! Keep your voice down! You have no idea who and who isn't listening. And you should consider yourself lucky Hermione that your parents are safe and sound in a well protected environment. Think of how you'd feel if your parents died." Cassie explained as Hermione finally loosened her grip on the girl.
"I guess you're right. Maybe I'm just being silly, but I can't help it. Just knowing that they could have died tonight. . ." Hermione's voice wandered off as she gave a choke before she straightened her robes and sat up straight. "I think I'll go to bed," Hermione announced to no one as she stood up and headed off for the dormitory leaving Harry and an equally confused Ron behind. Cassie sitting on the couch, a clutched letter in her hands.
"What's that?" Ron asked forgetting that he was still having a silent war with the girl. Cassie looked up and Harry saw that she was on the verge of tears. She saw Ron pointing to the letter and she pulled it to her chest, protecting it from view.
"None of your business! Just leave me alone!" Cassie shot back before she got up and followed Hermione to the girl's dormitory grumbling under her breath.
Zdanz: Thank you for thinking that my story is the best on the web! Even after almost two months of not updating you are sticking by me and I really, really appreciate it!
NimbusB: I know that Cassie's starting to get brutal but just you wait and see how things turn out.you'll be surprised I promise *wink wink*
Star: Thank you for your update! And yeah.it would be suicide to talk back to a infuriated McGonagall!
Coolerimmortal: I'm glad you thought Chapter 16 to be funny! I have like NO talent in humorous fictions but I enjoy reading them and I'm glad you thought that I have humor! Hee hee
Tessa66: That would be nice to have a big convo about the Black Diamond and it might come to that (I already have my big climax to the story written!) And I hope that you continue reading my story!
Lily Skylo: No comment! Lol. Don't worry, you'll find out the truth soon enough. . .just make sure you email me if you have any suspicions about the plot and so on. Aislin_Fiction_Writer@hotmail.com
Snivellus: Please don't send hell my way! I've already been there the past month! Don't worry I'm not giving up on the story, not at all! I've just been so busy with school and after school activities that it gets harder and harder to get onto the Internet and write updates! I haven't had a chance to get to the end of United Enemies (I barely have time to write my own chapters!) But as soon as I get the chance I will read your updates and give you oodles and oodles of reviews!
Bukama: Thanks for checking out my story and thanks for you suggestions. I intended to have the last two letters be from Ron. I noticed that in some of J.K.'s works he gives Harry a regular letter and then another letter that goes with his present. Thank you for your review!
I have no idea when I will be able to start writing Chapter 18.but you'll find out lots and lots of stuff in 18 so be prepared to kill me! Hahaha no seriously Chapter 18 is going to be the best one yet and I can't wait to get started! Okay.now that thank yous are done. I give you *drum roll* Chapter 17! FINALLY! Lol enjoy and give feedback! It keeps me going!
Chapter 17
Tragedy in Numbers
The rest of the week was extremely uneventful in retrospect to their first day back to Hogwarts. Cassie hadn't had any abnormal outbursts in any of her other classes and she kept her temper mostly in check.
If Harry had thought their second term back to Hogwarts was going to be as easy as the first, he would have been extremely wrong. The teachers had pushed their students' noses to the grindstone and they were assigned homework and essays left and right. Sometimes Harry didn't know which way was up when it came to his homework. Snape had assigned them a rather nasty thirty-six inch essay on the properties of hemlock plants and why they are as dangerous as they were. Flitwick and McGonagall wanted them to master the Tongue less Tirade Hex and vanish their pets respectively for Monday when Harry could only make half of Ron's tongue disappear and Hedwig to have a sort of misty glow about her.
Cassie's mood, however, seemed to have worsened by the end of the week, if that was even possible. The girl seemed to have acquired a permanent scowl and she was very short with the rest of the students and teachers. All of the Gryffindors shunned Cassie out of their daily regime. Because of Cassie and her big mouth, Gryffindor was in last place for the House Cup and it didn't look like they would recover.
And yet, Harry sort of felt sorry for Cassie. Even though she slandered Sirius' name and lost them house points she was going through a lot to keep her under pressure. Professor McGonagall and Professor Lupin saw it fit to follow through and give Cassie her month's detention. Harry had seen Cassie carry out her punishment almost every night that week. Filch would stand over Cassie as she scrubbed the stands of the Quidditch pitch every evening after dinner when most of the House Quidditch practices took place. She would also be sprucing up the pitch before and after the Gryffindor game that upcoming Saturday.
The Quidditch practices weren't the same without Cassie at all. Seamus was far too serious with his responsibilities as a beater and Neville seemed to have lost his courage without Cassie there beside him. For the first time in five years, Harry had watched the worst bit of defensive playing by a Gryffindor team. What was worse was Cassie was forced to watch these practices while she cleaned the stands, the players flying around a heavy reminder of what happens to people who cross McGonagall one step too far.
Even though their practices were scheduled every day right after classes got out, Katie was forced to cancel practice that Wednesday because of a small snow storm that passed through during the night. Cassie still had to clean the pitch however and Harry saw all the lights were turned on at the pitch, the snow falling heavily onto the grounds. Cassie was no doubt shoveling the snow off of the stands and onto the frozen ground below.
On Thursday however, the team was forced to return to their practices with extreme urges from Katie. They made their way out onto the pitch that day in their Quidditch uniforms, all of them wrapping their Gryffindor scarves around their necks.
"Just bloody wonderful. . ."Harry heard Katie mutter to herself. The Quidditch team had just made their way out onto the pitch when they noticed the entire Slytherin team and most of their die-hard supporters sitting up in the stands, jeering at the Gryffindors.
"Oy, Scarhead!" Malfoy called out making Pansy Parkinson laugh loudly. Harry scowled and he and Ron walked closer together, "Your girlfriend's a bit battered up isn't she," he commented pointing over to Cassie who was on the opposite side of the pitch, cleaning up some trash left behind from the Slytherin team. Harry saw Cassie's head fly up, her black hair falling across her face. He saw her shoot Malfoy a dirty look before she went back to picking up trash and shoveling snow. "I mean look at her. . .look how dirty she's getting! She almost looks like a Weasley. . . dad says they live in a pig sty," Malfoy added. Harry saw Ron's ears glow pink as he shot Malfoy a look of pure hatred. The rest of the Slytherins laughed loudly Crabbe and Goyle sniggering behind Malfoy.
"Ignore him Ron. . ." Harry whispered to his friend. Katie blew her whistle, calling the Gryffindor team to order. She quickly explained their practice regime and with another blow of her whistle, the seven took off into the air, Katie releasing the balls before taking off. Harry kicked off from the ground, glad to be in the air once again. He looked down at the stands and saw Cassie had stopped briefly to watch them take off. Harry could hear the Slytherins laughing about something, Malfoy pointing at Cassie and laughing. Harry couldn't help but smile when he saw Cassie send a rude gesture in the Slytherins' direction before she continued to clean.
Katie blew her whistle once more, signaling the start of their practice game. Harry flew about the field watching for signs of the snitch. After finding no trace of the small ball, Harry hovered a bit in the middle of the field and watched the practice. Katie, Ginny, and Dean were passing the Quaffle back and forth, falling into a formation and then falling out of it again, one of them passing the Quaffle to another with flawless accuracy. Ginny had taken hold of the Quaffle as she raced towards the hoops, a hungry glint in Ron's eyes as he looked at the Quaffle. Ginny let the ball fly and Ron rushed forward, grabbing the Quaffle and throwing it to Dean who raced off towards the other end of the pitch, the Quaffle tucked underneath his arm.
"Throw the Bludger at him Seamus, you stop him Neville!" Katie shouted out as she flew a few feet behind Dean. Harry watched as Seamus smacked the Bludger with all his might, sending it twenty feet from where Dean was. Harry heard the Slytherins shriek with laughter as Neville rushed to meet the ball. He stopped in mid-flight, covered his face with his left arm and threw his right arm in the air blindly trying to hit the Bludger.
"Neville look out!" Harry yelled out, but it was too late. He watched as the Bludger came rushing towards Neville, the boy not looking at anything but the inside of his arm. Harry tensed as the Bludger hit him in the stomach, his ribs breaking with a sickening crack. Harry heard the breath leaving Neville's body as he let go of his broom, clutching his stomach. Harry watched in horror as he watched his friend start to fall from the broom. He tired to block out the Slytherins' jeers as Neville dropped like a stone to the ground, thirty feet below.
'Mobiliarous!' Harry heard someone yell. He watched in a frozen stupor as Neville's decent to the ground slowed greatly. He was five feet from the ground when he stopped completely, frozen in midair. Harry looked in the direction of where the spell had come from and he looked over to the right side of the pitch and saw Cassie with her wand pointing in Neville's direction. She had saved his life.
Harry reached the ground first and he dismounted his broom and headed to where Cassie and Neville were waiting. Harry saw that the Beater's nose was bleeding and he was holding onto his stomach gingerly, tears stinging his eyes.
"Is he going to be okay?" Harry asked looking over his friend, a worried expression on his face.
"I think so. . . he needs to get up to the hospital wing though," Cassie answered as the rest of the team reached the ground.
"Unbelievable. First Cassie and now Neville; I hope he'll heal before the game on Saturday or we'll need another beater. Cassie, Harry, take Neville up to the hospital wing. I'm going to go over a few things with everyone else. I'll send Ginny looking for the Snitch," Katie explained.
"Look at that! Do you reckon Longbottom'll go mad?" Harry heard Malfoy as he and the Slytherins stopped their laughing, "Maybe they'll throw him next to his crazy parents as well."
"Shut up Malfoy!" Harry yelled out. "Fantis Arcanus"" a jet of blue light erupted out of Harry's wand and hit Malfoy smack in the face. Malfoy was thrown off his feet and Pansy screamed loudly. Crabbe and Goyle flexed their muscles as they waited to see if Malfoy was alright. Harry watched as Malfoy got to his feet and tried to say something but the words came out as a jumbled mix. Harry smiled, he had finally gotten the hang of that Tongue- less Tirade curse.
"Good one," Cassie said before she started to lead an unconscious Neville up to the castle.
"Thanks. Hopefully it'll take a while for Malfoy to find a counter- curse for that one," Harry explained as he looked over at Neville.
"I wish there was a way to make his voice disappear forever," Cassie commented as they made their way up the castle steps.
"Why just make his voice disappear? Why don't we make all of him disappear?" Harry suggested. Cassie looked at him and then started to laugh softly. Her laughter grew until she started to laugh uncontrollably finally coming into stitches. Harry realized this had been the first time, in a long time, he had heard Cassie laugh. He hadn't heard her laugh since before their fight. . .
And then Harry remembered why he and Cassie had had that fight. He remembered why he wasn't talking to Cassie. She had tainted Sirius' name. . .yelled out that he deserved to die. Harry realized he had been talking to Cassie when he didn't want to. Harry seethed as Cassie continued to laugh loudly. Did she think he was going to accept her just like that? That an unfortunate accident with Neville and him cursing Malfoy would make him reconcile with her? Cassie's laughter died away suddenly as if she knew why Harry was still silent.
They finally got to the hospital wing, Madame Pomfrey taking Neville with an exasperated sigh. Harry and Cassie walked over to the exit when they ran into Ron. He looked extremely flustered and his face was flushed a pinkish color as if he had run the whole distance from the pitch. "Is Neville okay?" Ron asked hurriedly.
"He's fine. A few broken ribs, he'll be out of the hospital wing by tomorrow," Cassie said, her voice low as she threw Harry a dirty look. Ron looked between Harry and Cassie a confused look on his face.
"Will he be able to play Quidditch?" Ron asked as he tried to look over Cassie to see where Neville was.
"Don't know," Harry said with a shrug as he returned Cassie's dirty look.
"I'm going to the common room. . .excuse me," Cassie said solemnly before she pushed past Harry and Ron and sauntered off towards Gryffindor Tower. Ron gave Harry a confusing look as they watched Cassie's tall figure fade away. "What's her problem?" Ron asked.
"What do you think?" Harry asked his voice growing cold. After making sure Neville was okay, the two of them walked towards the Great Hall to meet up with Hermione for dinner.
"You seemed to be alright when you two left the pitch," Ron commented as they walked down the ground floor.
"Yeah, well that was different." Harry said his voice wandering off as they made their way into the Great Hall, the sounds of chattering and eating students filling the large room. They found Hermione milling over her Advanced Transfiguration text book reviewing her notes.
"What're you studying for?" Ron asked as he and Harry took a seat on either side of her, "I was almost positive you finished your homework eons ago." Hermione looked up and shot him a dirty look.
"For your information, we have a Transfiguration quiz tomorrow and I was merely reviewing my notes," Hermione said stiffly throwing her nose up in the air before she went back to her notes again. Harry felt his heart fall through his stomach. He had completely forgotten about McGonagall's exam set for tomorrow. He hadn't been paying attention in her class at all; his mind was busy lulling over Sirius and Cassandra. It was apparent that Ron had forgotten about this test. He swore so loudly that a few students from the Ravenclaw table shot him dirty looks.
"You can't be serious!" Ron exclaimed loudly as he made a wild grab for Hermione's notes. She got out of her seat quickly and shot him an accusing look, "Hermione will you help me? My marks are going to plummet if you don't help me!"
"It's no one's fault but your own," said Hermione as she stuffed her notes inside her bag along with her Transfiguration book. Ron gave her a sad look, puffing out his lower lip.
"C'mon Hermione," he said in a persuading voice, "It wouldn't be much fun for you if Harry and I got held back a year while you went on to seventh year. Who'd be there to keep you from turning into McGonagall's clone?" Ron asked sweetly before he made another grab for her bag. Hermione turned around quickly and rolled her eyes in the process.
"Alright, alright, Ron! If it'll keep you from badgering me all night I'll help you and Harry review!" she said throwing her hands up in the air letting out a small cry of frustration. Ron smiled and threw Harry a look, "Excellent!" he said, "Well, lets take this food to go and head up for the common room," he said before he started to throw assorted foods into his pockets. He threw Harry a look and soon the two of them had Salisbury Steak and treacle tart and shepherds pie tucked safely away into their pockets and bags the three of them heading up to the common room.
Once Harry, Ron and Hermione entered the common room, Transfiguration books and wands clutched firmly in their hands they hurried over for a table close to the fire, unaware of who was in the room. It was only until they saw the person rise did they realize they were not the only ones in the common room.
Harry had never seen another teacher inside the Gryffindor common room except Professor McGonagall and those visits were to deliver rather grave announcements. But it was not Professor McGonagall in their common room but Professor Lupin. Harry watched with interest as the man rose to his feet, placing his hand on the shoulder of someone who flinched when he touched him. Harry could feel his scar prickling as he watched a long slender hand pick up Professor Lupin's hand, throwing it off of the person's shoulder. A scene flashed before his eyes as he watched a squat figure place a hand on a bald headed figure, a long, high pitched cackle sounding through his mind. The picture was gone in an instant and he was met with the sight of Romulus Lupin, his sandy blonde hair gray and thinning like his twin brother's. His brown eyes had a frustrated glint as he nodded curtly to Harry and his friends before heading out the portrait, his tall, lanky figure hunched over as he crawled out of the portrait hole.
"That was rather odd," Ron commented before he urged Hermione to tell him about Advanced Vanishing Spells. Harry, however, still had his eyes trained on the high backed parlor chair the prickling in his scar diminishing to a low grumble. He saw Hermione give him a questionable look before his attention wandered back to his reviewing.
"Hey Cassie, come and join us! We've got an exam in McGonagall's class tomorrow!" Ron said as he stood up and waved his arm. He saw Hermione shoot him a reproachful look and Harry gave him a stern scowl as Cassie turned around and looked at the three of them, her unpleasant glower still etched in her face. Harry then looked over at Hermione who seemed to have let her expression soften and she too waved her hand for Cassie to join them.
"It's stupid really, this feud you have going with McGonagall," Hermione said with a shrug as she beckoned Cassie forward, "you don't want to fall behind do you?" Harry looked at his two best friends in shock. This was so stupid; he knew what they were trying to do. They were trying to ease Cassie back into their little group, to ease Harry and Cassie out of their private war until all was forgiven. Harry wasn't going to give up on it so easily. He wouldn't say anything to Cassie until she took back what she said about Sirius. There was no way around it. "Are you coming Cassie?" Ron asked with another wide smile.
Cassie stood up and shook her head, "I'd rather fail my exam," she spat out before she shot all three of them a dirty look and walked haughtily towards the girl's dormitory. Harry saw Hermione blush a crimson color and he saw Ron's ears grow pink in anger and frustration. Harry just sat there and watched Cassie leave not caring at all that she had been exceedingly rude to his friends. She had it coming and Harry was sure he would give it to her in the end.
*~*~*~*
The day before the Quidditch match dawned early and Harry could feel the nervousness in his stomach settle there like an old friend, but it wasn't for the game, he was going to have a truly terrifying time with his Transfiguration exam. He was unable to retain any information on Advanced Vanishing Spells and there was no way he was going to master his Time Transformer Spell in such a short amount of time. He could always take refuge in the library during lunch and try to turn different books into clocks but he had a feeling Madame Pince wouldn't take to his idea too much.
Harry noticed that most of his roommates were awake and getting dressed for the last day before the weekend. Harry was extremely pleased and he couldn't wait until the Quidditch match set for the next day. Somehow he had a feeling that getting up into the air again and hearing the cheering from the crowd would make him feel better. Harry quickly got dressed and grabbed his bag hoping to get a few more minutes of studying down at breakfast.
The Great Hall was filled with chatting students, all of them excited about the first weekend of the second term. Harry walked over to the Gryffindor table and saw that Hermione was still pouring over her Transfiguration book even though she had successfully vanished half the furniture in the common room and transfigured almost every single inanimate object into a clock that not only told the times of London but Tokyo, Nepal, and New York City as well the night before. Harry noticed that Ron was still trying to get Cassie involved with breakfast time conversation but the black haired girl would have no part in it. Harry thought at one point that Cassie was going to jinx Ron who was trying to get her into a conversation about Quidditch, something Harry knew was going to be a touchy subject for the girl for quite a while.
"Give it up Ron," Harry muttered to his friend as he piled some eggs onto his plate. He saw Ron throw him a look before he tried to talk about something with Cassie once more.
"Harry's old Quidditch Captain, Oliver Wood plays for Puddlemere United now," he explained oblivious to the fact that Cassie was clattering plates around at a loud tone. "He was a smashing Keeper, better than me mind you, and Fred 'n George were the best beaters until that stupid Umbridge. . ."
"Ron," Cassie said in a sickly sweet voice, "Do you hear that sound?" she asked cupping her ear as is she was straining to hear something quiet.
Ron looked around stupidly and shook his head, "I don't hear anything Cassie, what is it?"
"That would be the familiar sound of no one caring," Cassie retorted before she grabbed her books and strode away from the table leaving Ron with an angered expression on his face.
*~*~*~*
The rest of the day went off without a hitch. Cassie avoided Harry and his friends all day. Hermione kept telling Ron to stop trying to talk to Cassie but the boy wouldn't listen. Every chance he got he would try to talk to the young girl and every single time, Cassie would come up with a snide remark or sarcasm that would leave Ron sulking until the next time he tried to talk to her.
Harry was getting extremely annoyed by this after lunch had come and gone, the sixth years heading towards Professor McGonagall's classroom lead in all of their footsteps. Hermione walked along brightly, almost floating as she took her seat in the front of the room, wand placed in front of her, her posture straight as a board as she waited for the start of the lesson.
Professor McGonagall marched into the classroom, her green robes billowing behind her, her face set in a stern façade. She stopped behind her desk and looked out over the class. Harry saw her rise her eyebrows at a person in the back of the room. Harry turned around and saw that Cassie was sitting behind a desk, leaning back on two of the legs on her chair, legs on top of the desk. She reminded Harry of someone when she did that although Harry couldn't quite place who had taken a hold of his memories.
"I will call you up individually and you will perform the incantations I ask you to perform," McGonagall said sternly before she started to call people up in random order. He saw Hermione give a nervous gulp and he saw Ron trying to go over his notes frantically, bits of parchment falling down onto the ground.
Harry tried to remember all the incantations in his head and imagining the different objects turning into other items. He heard his name called and he walked up to the desk, wand clutched in his hand. He looked up at McGonagall and he could see the corners of her mouth curve up into a twitch of a smile. Harry then looked down at the desk and saw a rather hyper owl jumping around in a cage and a stack of books.
"Make the owl vanish and bring it back," McGonagall instructed, "Then transfigure each of the books into a different clock from a different time zone." Harry nodded and decided to tackle the owl first. He was shocked to find that on the first try he was able to make the owl vanish without a trace. He looked up at the professor hoping she didn't see anything that could hurt his marks, then he brought the owl back and he almost groaned when he saw that one of his wings was still missing. He said the incantation again and brought the wing back to visible form before he turned to the books.
He laid each of the five books out in front of him and set to work, "Clepsydra adfectio Tokyo," he said clearly, pointing his wand at one of the books. He smiled when he saw the book transform into a clock clearly stating the place at the bottom of the clock and the time of the city. He continued on with the four books, only messing up on New York City. Once he was finished, McGonagall nodded and marked something down on a clipboard before he took his seat.
"Miss Lupin, if you would be so kind," he heard McGonagall's curt voice cut through the room. The class turned around and watched as Cassie placed all four feet of the chair on the ground with a thud. She got out of her seat, wand clutched firmly in her hand as she sauntered forward, pushing her hair back out of her face. Harry noticed that she made the owl disappear completely but was only able to make half of it reappear. Harry heard the owl give a hoot of displeasure before McGonagall transfigured the animal back to its right state. He saw that Cassie was growing red in the face and knew that if McGonagall didn't back off the student was about to burst.
Harry gaped in surprise when he saw that McGonagall was talking to Cassie underneath her breath, a stern look on her face. If it was even possible, Cassie got redder in the face as she tried to transfigure the clocks. "It's for your own good," Harry heard McGonagall mutter. Harry looked over at Hermione who had undoubtedly heard this remark and they both turned back to hear Cassie's response.
"I don't care. . .he's. . .a. . .prat," Harry heard Cassie mutter as she transfigured a clock to read Australia's time.
"The wizarding. . . on . . .you," McGonagall whispered back in a fierce voice.
"Screw the wizarding world!" Cassie said loudly as she smashed the Australia clock on the desk, shattering the face of the timepiece. Harry saw the glass cut into Cassie's hand and he saw the girl wince in pain before she turned around and walked out of the classroom not bothering to get her bag. Harry and the rest of the class looked up at McGonagall who cleared up the glass and looked around the classroom daring someone to speak up.
"Mr. Weasley you're up," she said and Harry heard Ron mutter a curse before he stumbled to his feet and walked lankily up to McGonagall.
*~*~*~*
Their last class of the week was History of Magic with Professor Binns. Harry wasn't surprised when he realized Cassie didn't show up for class and Professor Binns showed no concern as he went on to talk about the Centaur Wars of 1543. Harry was already in a stupor and he could tell that Ron was busy mulling over his strategies for the game the next day. Once they were finally dismissed, the three went up to the common room to dispose of their books before they went back to the Great Hall for dinner. Harry was surprised to see that Cassie was not in the common room and deciding she was probably in the girls' dormitory feeling sorry for herself, he shrugged it of and followed his two friends down to dinner.
Dinner was filled with the excited chit chat from the students, all the tables talking about the Quidditch match set for the next day. Harry spooned his pasta and looked over at Hermione who was talking to Ginny about something unknown to him. He turned to his left to start a conversation with Ron but was surprised when he saw that Ron had sneaked away from the table, leaving Harry alone in confusion. He turned towards Hermione and tapped her shoulder. She whirled around and seemed rather peeved that he had interrupted her conversation.
"Where'd Ron go?" Harry asked her. He saw Hermione throw him a confused look and she looked around the Table and shrugged her shoulders when the familiar red Weasley hair couldn't be found.
"I don't know. Maybe he went to practice for tomorrow or he thought he'd turn in early," Hermione pointed out, "Let's go look for him, dinner's nearly finished anyway." Harry nodded and he got up from his seat as Hermione hurriedly wiped her face with her napkin before she stood up to join him.
The two set off towards Gryffindor Tower in silence, leaving behind the jovial sounds of the Great Hall following them before the noise disappeared completely bathing the two in stillness. They climbed the stairs that led up to Gryffindor Tower and they were finally rounding the top of the stairs that emptied them in the corridor, the Fat Lady's portrait a few yards in front of them. Hermione took a deep breath as if to say something but a scream of fury and pain interrupted her train of thought. They stopped dead in their tracks and looked at each other. Hermione had gone pale and she had gripped Harry's arm in surprise. She let go quickly and reached for her wand, Harry following suit as the screams continued. Harry realized that it just wasn't one voice but two, two voices screaming at each other.
Harry broke into a run, leaving Hermione's yells of protest to get a teacher behind. Something was happening in the common room, it sounded like someone was being tortured. Could the Death Eaters be here, torturing students for information? What if Ron was in there? Panic stricken thoughts ran through Harry's head as he bounded for the Fat Lady, yelling out the password at the last possible second. Harry didn't have to turn around to know that Hermione had abandoned her idea of getting a teacher and was running to catch up to Harry.
The portrait swung open and Harry hurled himself into the portal scrambling to his feet as he dove into the common room. Once inside he found he was looking at an extremely similar scene. It almost looked like something that had happened two years previous, only this was much worse.
Cassie and Ron were standing so close that not even a wand could pass between them, Ron's face was redder than his hair and Cassie had such a malicious look on her face that it looked like she would attack Ron at any second. Harry noticed that Cassie had not gone to the hospital wing to have Madame Pomfrey look at her hand. He saw that she had made a makeshift bandage that was soaked with blood around her hand. It looked like Cassie had said something extremely insulting judging by the look on Ron's face. Both of them stood there, breathing hard totally oblivious to the few first years who were cowering in the corner of the common room.
"What is up with you? Why can't you just end this stupid fight with you and Harry?" Ron screeched throwing his hands up in the air. Cassie rolled her blue eyes and shifted her weight to her left foot throwing him a look of sheer hatred.
"I'm not ending that fight with Harry, he deserved what he got! He deserved it - he. . ."
"Was getting too close!" Ron yelled as he advanced towards Cassie. The girl didn't back down or flinch as Ron started to yell again, "Harry was right about you! You're just a scared little girl who keeps pushing people away! You're being so ruddy selfish it's unbelievable! A brainless git! You can't see that Remus is trying to be a good father or that Romulus is looking out for your well being! No, your head is too far stuck up your arse to notice anything!"
"Don't start judging me Weasley! You don't know me at all! None of you know the first thing about me!"
"Well I know something!" Ron said hotly his eyes shining viciously.
"Well tell me then. . . I'd love to hear about it!" Cassie countered. If looks could kill, Ron would have been dead.
"There's something about you that the Order's freaking out about. Something really important. Something he wants. You're a dangerous person . . . you have to be kept on a close watch. . .why they made you quit Quidditch. . ."
"They did that because my grades were slipping and I was ill," Cassie said diligently.
"Oh come off it Cassie! Make it easier on yourself!"
"NO! You have no clue, no damn clue about anything! So keep your big mouth shut or you'll be in for an extremely rude awakening," Cassie growled her eyes narrowing before she lunged forward and gave Ron a shove. Harry heard Hermione gasp behind her as Ron stumbled back, the boy looking at Cassie with an extreme amount of hatred.
"Is that a threat?" Ron asked his eyes growing wide.
"No," she said and Harry saw Ron relax a little, "That's a bloody promise," she spat out before she pushed past him, nearly knocking him over as she headed towards the girl's dormitory.
Harry looked over towards his friend. Ron was breathing hard, as if he had just run a marathon. His face was still flushed and he looked over at Harry an angry look on his face. "stupid. . . stupid, no good. . ." Harry heard Ron mutter before he sat down in an empty armchair with a plop.
Ron did not speak to anyone for the rest of the night and when Katie ordered them to bed around nine thirty, Ron happily obliged. Harry watched with Hermione from the opposite end of the room as Ron sulked up the steps, an angry scowl on his face.
"What was he rowing about with Cassie?" Seamus asked Harry when they were getting ready for bed. Ron had pulled the red velvet hangings around his bed closed, heavy, uneven breathing coming from behind it, "We could hear 'em screamin' all the way down the hall." Harry shrugged and Seamus looked at him, knowing he was lying.
Harry took off his glasses, storing them on the bedside cabinet, his vision blurred and before long Harry had pulled his hanging around his bed closed and he was soon fast asleep.
*~*~*~*~*
Harry woke the next day with the same familiar squeamish feeling in his stomach. He knew the Quidditch Match was today and he hoped that Ron's argument with Cassie the night before wasn't going to affect his playing skills. Harry got dressed quickly noticing that most of his roommates had already opted to go down to breakfast without him. He walked over to the window that over looked the grounds and he saw that the sun was shining. It seemed to be a rather warm day for January and Harry was glad it wasn't cold or rainy. He was almost positive that it would dampen Ron's spirits even more.
Harry walked down to the Great Hall to see that Ron was spooning his eggs silently, his lips pursed together in grim thought. Hermione was resting her head in her hands, reading an enormous book while she sipped on her hot chocolate. Harry sat down between them and Hermione looked up fast enough to acknowledge him before she absorbed her attention into her book. Ron looked up and nodded curtly at Harry before he went back to spooning his eggs grumbling about something under his breath.
It was a while later before Katie called the team to the locker room and Harry happily obliged. He was tired of the awkward silences between the three of them. Hermione was upset with Harry because he wouldn't mend things with Cassie and Ron was mad at Cassie now and probably also mad at Hermione for trying to make things right between the four of them. Harry shook his head remembering the good old days of his first years where he didn't have to worry about the whole social drama. He just had Ron and Hermione, not a whole bunch of other people to maintain good friendships with. He sighed loudly and followed Ron as they walked towards the pitch. Harry could see a figure shoveling snow and ice off the stadium seats and Harry could see long hair falling into the figure's face. He instantly recognized the shadow as Cassie and he disregarded her immediately as they walked into the locker room to get ready.
As Harry got dressed, he noticed that Neville seemed really worried about playing. All the other games he had Cassie there to help him and to sometimes cover up his mistakes. Now that the girl was banned, Seamus had to take care of her duties. Harry could tell that his fellow sixth year was a bit nervous about his first game but when Harry gave him a comforting smile he saw the boy relax. Katie finally got them together to go over some last minute strategies before the group grabbed their brooms and headed off for the pitch.
"Welcome to the first Quidditch Game of the new Year!" a little voice piped out across the stands. Harry looked up and saw Colin Creevy sitting next to Professor McGonagall. Since Cassie had passed up her opportunity as an announcer, the duty was handed down to Colin Creevy who had screamed and carried on in the common room a few nights earlier. He could hear the screaming support from the Gryffindor Quidditch fans as the team made their way out onto the field. Harry noticed that the Ravenclaw team had already positioned themselves in the center of the pitch and Harry saw Cho Chang standing next to that year's Quidditch captain. He saw the seventh year girl look over in his direction and she gave Harry a beaming smile. Harry returned her smile but he didn't get the flip flop feeling in his stomach anymore when he thought or looked at Cho. It looked like the girl was finally getting over her deceased boyfriend, Cedric Diggory who had died two years ago in the hands of Voldemort. She was hanging on the Quidditch captain's arm, beaming up at him. Harry shook his head and knew it was all for the best.
Madame Hooch came out onto the field and blew her whistle, signaling that the teams mount their brooms. Harry mounted his Firebolt, and a wave of sadness passed over him. Sirius had given him this broom for Christmas three years ago. Was it really three years ago? Harry thought to himself as he kicked off from the ground. It seemed like only yesterday Harry was opening up the plainly wrapped package that contained his beloved broomstick with Ron on Christmas morning. Harry sighed heavily as Madame Hooch released the bludgers and the snitch. He heard her whistle shrill loudly as the Quaffle was released, signaling the beginning of the game.
*~*~*~*
"That was the worst bit of playing I have ever seen in my life!" Katie shrieked to Harry and the team as they trudged heavily back into the locker room, long expressions on their faces. "Neville? Where were you when that Bludger was going after Ginny? It almost took her head off!" Harry looked over at Neville, who was red in the face. "Seamus, don't be afraid of the Bludger, just hit it!" Katie said rounding over to Seamus who looked very upset.
"Katie would you relax? It's no use screaming at us! It was our first game with an almost entirely new team. We just need to practice more!" Ginny said. She had a large gash on her cheek and her braided red hair was in disarray. Harry shook his head sadly. It was their worst defeat ever. Even though he had caught the snitch at the end of the game, Ravenclaw had slaughtered Gryffindor 280 to 160. He could still hear the Slytherins jeering at them from the stands as they dismounted their brooms, spirits low. Ron's ears were the reddest Harry had ever seen them and Neville looked like he was about to cry at any given moment.
He heard Katie give a wistful sigh before she threw her hands up in defeat. "Everyone hit the showers. I'll let you all know when we're going to practice again," she explained before she threw her arm guards into her locker, stalking off towards the girl's showers.
*~*~*~*
Harry, Ron and the rest of the Quidditch team skipped dinner in order to avoid humiliation from the Slytherins and opted for the peace and quiet of their common rooms. Harry noticed that Cassie was sitting in a corner doing her potions homework a determined look on her face. Harry hadn't even started his potions essay and quite frankly, he wasn't in the mood to do anything but sulk. With their loss against Ravenclaw, it put Gryffindor in third place for the cup. If Hufflepuff beat Slytherin, which was highly unlikely, it would push Gryffindor up to second place and a spot to contend for the cup.
Harry looked over at Ron and saw that he was in an even worse mood than the night before. On top of his fight with Cassie and the loss of the Quidditch match, Ron's morale took a turn for the worse. He would snap at anyone who tried to talk to him and he would throw threatening glances to innocent first years who gave him fearful looks before scampering off to the opposite side of the common room.
Hermione skived off dinner as well and tried to boost Harry and Ron's self esteem but she was fighting a losing battle. Harry didn't know if he was ever going to be happy again. His scar, which hadn't been bothering him lately, was starting to burn randomly and he kept having recurring dreams of Sirius falling behind the veil and every attempt Harry made to stop him, failed.
"Come on you two, stop this! It's only a Quidditch game for heaven's sake!" Hermione said. Ron and Harry shot her looks as though she were mad and Hermione shrugged her shoulders, "There's no use getting worked up over it! Ron have you finished your potions essay yet?"
Ron gave Hermione a hateful look and Harry heard Ron mutter something under his breath. "Well, if you want me to 'bugger off' Ronald Weasley then I guess I will! I was only trying to help!" Hermione said in a hurt voice. And to Harry's surprise, she walked right over to Cassie's table and sat down across from the girl, pulling out her potions essay as well.
"Traitor," Harry heard Ron whisper before the red haired boy walked off towards the boys' dormitories. Harry waited a few minutes before he too sauntered for the dormitory, wishing the day had never happened.
*~*~*~*
The resulting days of January melted into February and Harry was glad for a new month to start. He was tired of classes and he was even more tired of hearing the Slytherins mocking the Quidditch team about their embarrassing loss. Ron's mood improved greatly at the beginning of the month. He was doing well in his classes and he even received'Acceptable' on his potions essay, much to Draco's dismay.
About a week into February; the students were in the Great Hall, enjoying an early dinner. There was a teachers' council during their last class and Harry and his friends were ecstatic to be missing their potions lesson.
Harry was helping himself to some treacle tart when he heard the unmistakable sound of flapping wings. Harry looked over at Ron who was stuffing his face with a steak and Ron gave him a confused look, "What are owls doing here this late at night?" Harry asked Ron and his friend gave a shrug as they watched hundreds of owls swoop into the Great Hall, all of them carrying black envelopes in their mouths.
"Oh no," Harry heard Hermione whimper under her breath and he felt her hand grip his arm fearfully.
"Hermione what's going on?" Harry asked as the owls flew over their owners, dropping their letters onto empty plates. Harry looked over at Ron and also saw a surprised look on his face. His face was as white as Nearly Headless Nick's and he saw that Ron had his finger's crossed as owls continuously flew into the Hall.
A letter fell in front of the Creevy brothers and Harry saw that Justin Finch Fletchly had received a letter as well. He watched interested as they three boys and many other students opened up the letters carefully. He looked over at Hermione and saw her lower lip trembling as if she were about to cry.
"Hermione? What. . .?" Harry began but he was cut off when he heard a mournful cry escape the lips of Hannah Abbott. He saw the Hufflepuff grasping a black letter and she let out another wail before she grabbed onto a person nearby, her sobs muffled by the other student's robes. One by one, cries erupted from the Great Hall. Harry noticed that most of the students who had received the letters were muggle born and they were hugging onto other students tightly.
Harry saw the Creevy brothers grasp onto each other as they sank to the floor, tears running down their faces. Harry's world seemed to be moving in slow motion as Justin Finch Fletchly ran from the Great Hall hands covering his face. Even though Harry didn't know what was going on, he seethed with anger at the Slytherin table. The group had not received any letters and they were laughing at the students who were running from the Great Hall. He watched in horror as the Colin and Dennis Creevy got up from their position on the floor and hurried from the Great Hall, Draco laughing maliciously. Did he know what was going on?
A flash of black made Harry turn, hoping he hadn't received one of the letters. It was only Cassie, who had made a wild grab for a black letter that lay open on the table. Colin had left it behind. She sat back in her seat and read the letter silently. Her eyes growing wide and Harry could almost see a tear forming in her eye but the girl shook her head quickly and dropped the letter a shattering sigh escaping her lips.
It seemed like Hermione could take no more. With a choked sob, Hermione got up from her seat and fled. Harry heard Draco laugh loudly. "Hope that filthy Mudblood got what she deserved," he heard Draco say and Harry fumed with anger. He turned around and saw Cassie get up from her seat, following Hermione calmly. Harry heard Draco cease his laughing and he noticed that Cassie had dumped some pudding on his head before she muttered something in his ear.
"Harry, look at this," Ron said with a sad shake of his head. Harry turned around and saw that Ron had taken hold of the letter and he was looking at it with terror. With trembling hands, Harry grabbed the letter and began to read it softly.
Dear Messers Colin and Dennis Creevy,
We regret to inform you of the death of you parents, Bill and Lauren Creevy on the night of February 4, 1997 at seven o' clock this evening. Their deaths were the result of a mass attack on the parents of muggle born children. We have several suspects in the case, most of them being servants to the Dark Lord. We ask you kindly if you could make a trip down to our Department at the Ministry of Magic tomorrow, February 5, 1997 at eleven thirty in the morning. You are required to sign the Certificate of Death and other documents as well. You can also visit our Mortuary Witch who will gladly help you prepare the funeral of your deceased relatives.
Please accept our Condolences,
Kira Desdemona
Chair of the Births and Deaths Department
Ministry of Magic
London, England
Harry looked at the letter in shock. A mass attack on muggle borns' parents? Was it even possible? He looked over at Ron and he shook his head sadly. There was an empty pit in Harry's stomach as he looked at all of the students, some of whom he knew. They were all like him now. They were all orphans. Where would they go to now that they had no parents? Did some of them have other relatives or were they killed as well? He knew why Hermione's parents were spared; they were in safe hands with the Order. He couldn't fathom what Hermione was feeling at that moment. Guilt? Sadness? Not knowing, Harry started to get up from his seat but the clearing of a throat silenced the entire hall.
Harry sat back down as Professor Dumbledore stood up, a pale and grim expression on his face. The remaining students became quiet; the only sound the quiet snuffling from shell shocked students.
"Let me give my extreme condolences and sympathy to all students who have received losses tonight. Your parents and siblings were good people and they were courageous until the end. I am arranging a trip to the Ministry of Magic tomorrow morning for those students who have duties to attend to. You will all be in safe hands and classes will be cancelled until all has been taken care of. Counseling will also be available to students who have lost parents and to those that have not suffered losses tonight. I ask that everyone please go back to their common rooms, I'll ask prefects and our Head Boy and Girl to lead the way. Again, please accept my, and the faculty's condolences. You're dismissed," Dumbledore said in a shaky yet reassuring voice.
The clamoring of students began and Harry could hear the buzzing of whispers as the students headed off for bed. Ron walked closely beside him muttering things under his breath. Did the Order know about these attacks? Harry thought to himself as two Gryffindor first years looked around the castle, eyes big with fear. Harry shook his head. He didn't want to think about death or destruction anymore even though it was suffocating him and becoming a larger threat with each passing day. He could only think of how far Voldemort and his minions would go to rid the wizarding world of muggle borns and how he would get control of the Black Diamond, something that had been haunting Harry's dreams lately.
Harry and Ron reached the Gryffindor common room and they were met with a distressed Hermione and a quiet, reserved Cassie. Hermione had thrown her arms around Cassie and was now crying on the girl's shoulder. "It's okay Hermione, don't feel upset, you need to be there for the other kids," Harry heard Cassie whisper as she patted the girl on her head.
"But I feel so guilty! All of their parents are dead and mine got away without a scratch because I'm in the know with the Order!" Hermione wailed.
"Hermione! Keep your voice down! You have no idea who and who isn't listening. And you should consider yourself lucky Hermione that your parents are safe and sound in a well protected environment. Think of how you'd feel if your parents died." Cassie explained as Hermione finally loosened her grip on the girl.
"I guess you're right. Maybe I'm just being silly, but I can't help it. Just knowing that they could have died tonight. . ." Hermione's voice wandered off as she gave a choke before she straightened her robes and sat up straight. "I think I'll go to bed," Hermione announced to no one as she stood up and headed off for the dormitory leaving Harry and an equally confused Ron behind. Cassie sitting on the couch, a clutched letter in her hands.
"What's that?" Ron asked forgetting that he was still having a silent war with the girl. Cassie looked up and Harry saw that she was on the verge of tears. She saw Ron pointing to the letter and she pulled it to her chest, protecting it from view.
"None of your business! Just leave me alone!" Cassie shot back before she got up and followed Hermione to the girl's dormitory grumbling under her breath.