Chapter 41: True Fears Come True
The Gryffindor tent is filled with loud chatter that is indistinguishable to her ears. Cressida's hands press into the wooden bench behind her, her leg stretched out and perched over Sirius' lap who is begrudgingly tying on her leg protection. She calls it payback for spilling his scrambled egg on her that morning. With the long-haired boy doing all the work for her, Cressida is left free to let her eyes wander, watching everybody else get ready for their match against Ravenclaw. They'd win this one. She's sure of it. And if they win against Hufflepuff, they'd win the Quidditch Cup again. Hopefully. Depends on Slytherin's play with Hufflepuff, but they lost against Ravenclaw after their Keeper was knocked out.
Her eyes land on the lithe, third year boy who stands alone near the back of the tenth, fiddling with the tip of his broom. Bastian. The young boy had been avoiding her and she doesn't blame him. She knows he was telling the truth when he told her he only knew of Remus' condition through observation, but it still startled her at the time enough to snap at him.
"Thanks, Pad," she murmurs, pulling her leg away and standing up. Eyes set on Bastian, she shoulders her way through the other players confidently. "Hey." Bastian stares up at her, unsure and timid. "Eyes and ears open. And that chin up, you hear me?"
He nods, a small smile rising. "Yes, mam."
"Good," she smiles back. "Remember what I said, it's important to have good relationships with your teammates. Talk to them." The boy nods, eyes searching the room. They land on someone over her shoulder to her left but they dart away unsurely a moment later. Cressida glances in the same direction. James is standing near the entrance, watching the stands fill as he fixes his gloves. His thumb is rubbing over a spot on his palm. The indents of Sirius' nip come to mind. "What? You think he's going to shoo you away for talking to him?" she taunts. "Go on."
Her approach with the boy has been a little straight, but he needs to emerge from this shell he's created. Being a Muggle-born, probably smaller than most kids in his year – he's shy. But you can't be shy in Quidditch.
Bastian gives her an uncertain look but follows her instruction and makes his way to James. Cressida is already moving back to Sirius by the time he gets to her boyfriend. In the mood for brazenness, she pinches his ear. Sirius squawks in pain, tilting the side of his head upwards to counter the tug. "Ow, ow, ow, ow," he sirens. Once she feels like he had enough, she lets go. "Merlin's beard, woman," he hisses, rubbing the red tip of his ear. "Would you like me to polish your shoes as well? It was just a bit of egg."
"Not that," she drawls, slumping down on the bench again. "You bit him?" It happened over two weeks ago now but when she asked James if he had brought it up with Sirius, he only brushed the topic off. "Why did you bite him, Sirius? Did you think he was going to hurt me or something?" Her voice is hushed and urgent, the words staying between the two.
Sirius rolls his neck, head tipping away from hers, displaying an annoyance at the topic. "Of course he wasn't," he answers, giving her the bare minimum of one.
Cressida waits for a further explanation, but it doesn't come. "You want to elaborate on why you did then?" she questions rhetorically. "What the hell was going through your head that you felt the need to bite him? They put dogs down because of that, you know?"
His nose flares in a short huff at her mock. "Can we not talk about this now?" he mutters, looking everywhere but her eyes. "We shouldn't get distracted before a game."
Cressida glares at the side of his head, her jaw moving from side to side. "Fine."
Ravenclaw is determined to win, but Cressida is even more so. They play rough. Rough but fair in the eyes of the rules. It is a hard and long game, but Gryffindor plays hard. The stands are evenly split in their chanting and hollering. Ravenclaw's Beaters seem to be aiming for James and Gryffindor's Beaters solely, trying to knock out the most solid part of their team. Sirius ends up with scrapes down the side of his face that look like road rash from being run into one of the stand pillars, but he managed to stay on his broom and kept playing.
The final Snitch chase starts after a two-hour play without breaks. Cressida sees it first but the Ravenclaw Chaser is on her tail in a matter of moments. He flies so close to her that she can feel the bone of his shoulder against hers. Learning from her last match, she doesn't let him barge against her, keeping her own body pressed against his at every move, countering his force.
A Bludger comes out of nowhere. Cressida swoops to the side, arm rising to her face by the wild ball is aimed at her opponent who moves a little too late. It catches his shoulder, tearing him from his broom and leaving Cressida with a clear run to the Snitch.
The golden ball flies into the mess of the Chasers and Beaters, leaving her with no choice but to fly through them. Players of red fly over and under her, the ones in blue a bit more confrontive in style against her presence. A boot comes out of nowhere, smacking right into her nose.
Cressida makes a grunted noise of pain, her head flying backwards, barely managing to stay on her broom. Her nose pulsates with a sharp but widespread ache.
"Gryffindor is given a penalty shot for that foot to the face Hawthorne just received. That one looked like it hurt."
"Yeah," Cressida mutters sarcastically, but at least pleased that her team is getting an open shot from her misery. Knowing the Snitch is nearby, she doesn't watch them take the shot, instead searching hard for the damn little ball. Wetness drips down over her lips, a metallic taste filling her mouth when she licks her lips.
The Snitch makes itself known once more in a tease, zipping towards her then back in another direction. With no opposing Seeker, Cressida takes the chase with full confidence, flying low to the pitch ground. Her broom keeps up with the Snitch's speed with undeniable ease and after only a minute, her fingers clamp around the jewelled prize.
"Has she-has she got it?!" Cressida holds her arm up in the air with a beaming grin showing red-stained teeth. "She has! Gryffindor win!"
The Gryffindor and Hufflepuff stands erupt in cheers. Cressida flies to the ground, dismounting her broom and shakes off the adrenaline as the rest of the players come down. Sirius is the first to near her, dancing wildly and ridiculously as he strides towards her. Cressida matches his moves, cackling. Their early conversation is forgotten, for the time being, having no desire to ruin their victory.
Their hands clasp together in a high five that holds into a pose of victory, the rest of the team cheering around them deafeningly. Cressida looks around for their Captain. He's standing at the outer edge of their small gathering, standing still with his arms by his side. Her brows pinch. He looks pale and faintly. "James?" she calls softly even though there is no chance he can hear her.
Cressida is knocked to the side by a jumping figure, breaking her sight from James. Stumbling, but catching her foot, she looks back to the same spot but he's gone. "Where's he going?" Sirius questions. Spots of blood drip down onto his neck from the scrape he got against a wooden beam. Quickly figuring out where he's looking, she finds James again, flying out of the pitch.
"I don't know. Did something happen in the game?"
"He was cheering at the announcement," Sirius shrugs. "Should we go after him?"
Cressida presses her tongue against her bottom teeth, glancing around the team and then the pitch. She would know what to do if she understood what was wrong. But not wanting to risk leaving him alone if he needs help, she nods hastily. Trying to give their team smiles on the way out, Sirius and Cressida break into a jog across the pitch and out of the small corridor leading near their tent.
Sirius pulls back the flap of the tent entrance, peering in. "His stuff is gone."
Cressida bites her lip, scratching the back of her head. "The castle?" she offers as their only option. Sirius nods and their jog presses on across the grounds and through the Eastern entrance. Not having a clue where he could have gone besides their dorm, they head in that direction.
The Tower is empty, their footsteps echoing up the stone walls. Sirius takes two steps at a time up the stairwell. "James?" he calls out, opening his bedroom door. Cressida peers in over his shoulder, pushing Sirius in further so she can see more for herself. It's empty. But his Quidditch gear bag is tossed on his bed along with his broom. "He was here," Sirius murmurs. Tossing his own broom down he says, "I'm going to go have a look for him."
"Me too." Sirius leaves the room as quickly as he entered but Cressida stays for a moment longer. She sniffs hard every few seconds, feeling her nose dripping continuously down onto her robes. Placing her broom next to James, she darts into the bathroom, she grabs a fistful of toilet paper and looks into the mirror to clean herself off.
It's a startling image. Her brain doesn't recognise why at first. Not until it reels through her memories and finds an eerily alike image. The Boggart. She looks almost like her Boggart's face, except that blood isn't coming from her mouth. The redness of the blood makes her skill paler and her eyes dull.
Pushing it away, Cressida wipes off her nose, mouth and chin, tossing the paper into the toilet and flushing it away. Voices sound from inside the bedroom and hoping that it's Sirius and James, she leaps back through the door. To her slight dismay, it's Remus and Peter.
"Hey," Peter greets with wide eyes. "Are we missing out on something? You all just left."
"James ran off," Cressida admits. "We don't know what's wrong. Or where he is."
"Have you looked at the Map?" Remus inquires. Cressida could nearly smack her head if it weren't already pounding from her likely broken nose. "Should be in his draws somewhere."
Cressida's hand fly to James' nightstand, pulling out the top draw first. The belongings inside shuffle at the force. His watch, glasses, letters, photographs that aren't framed. One catches her eye that makes her desperate search forgotten. A photo of her and James that must've been taken when she wasn't watching. They are in the kitchen at his home, the bench pressing into her lower back. James' arms are on either side of her, braced against the same counter. She is smiling up at him, the morning sun cascading James' back in a sea of sunlight that hits part of her own face. She looks so happy.
And she has to find him.
Placing it aside more gently than the rest, her arm reaches into the back of the draw, the corner of a piece of parchment sticking out. And there it is. Pulling her wand from the inside of her shoe, Cressida taps it on the parchment. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Dropping to her knees, she spreads the map open along the closest bed, Remus and Peter appearing on either side. They search. And search. "He's not on here!"
"He has to be," Remus contends, leaning closer. "Unless he's not on school grounds." Cressida pushes away from the bed, thumb between her teeth.
"Is your face all good?" Peter questions, gesturing to his own nasal area.
"Fine," she breathes, hardly giving a single thought of care towards the matter. "Peter, can you do me a huge favour and go back down to the pitch and get Sirius and I's bag? We left them in the tent." The boy nods, leaving to do as instructed. "Moony can you please ask the portraits near the secret passages if they've seen him? I'll take the Map and watch if he shows up somewhere."
Remus nods with a comforting smile. "Sure."
Once he leaves, Cressida is left alone once more, staring at the Map, pacing back and forward. Maybe she doesn't need to the Map; if he's in a place that doesn't show on it. The idea fresh in her mind, Cressida flies out of the room, the dormitory door swinging still as she leaps down the stairs.
People are already back inside the Tower, their cheering still ringing on in the expectation of a victory party. They'll have their party, just without half the team there. Cressida brushes past them, slipping through the portrait entrance just as it shut from other students coming in. Already on the seventh floor, it doesn't take her long to reach the quiet hallway that homes to Room with the Hidden Door. She's not sure how it will work if he's already in there and the door is closed, but she walks towards it anyways, standing and waiting.
The Door appears for her. As soon as it finishes forming, Cressida takes a slow step towards it, her hand laying on the handle. She doesn't understand where her hesitation has come from, but she pushes on, nudging the door open.
The room inside is near empty. Almost a replica of her and James' old study room, except there is no lounge or bookshelf or table. Only the unlit fireplace and a dusty clock hanging from the stone wall. And two people.
Sirius' face is the easiest to see over the top of another's shoulder, facing her. It is solemn and quiet. His long arms embrace the other body completely and utterly. His eyes lift at the creak of the door, black eyes meeting her brown ones. He shakes his head subtly.
Cressida's eyes trail from his face to the back of the other. The red robes are easily recognisable, the number alone giving away who it belongs to. James' face is hidden away within Sirius' shoulder, his own shoulders racking with silent movement. Cressida is stuck in her spot, watching him.
Then a soft sob sounds throughout the still room with a quivering breath to follow.
"She's safe," Sirius says, his arms tightening around his brother though his eyes bore into hers. Telling her to go. Who's safe? "It was just a Boggart."
Boggart? Did the Boggart come back? Cressida holds her sniff, keeping her presence to James unknown but she has to wipe away another dribble of blood from her nose. She catches sight of the spread of the blood along her arm brace. It looks black against the dark brown leather. The Boggart.
Finally understanding, Cressida nods softly to Sirius who mouths an assurance, and she steps out of the room, clicking the door shut as quietly as possible. Before she even lets go of the metal knob, the door begins to disappear once more, leaving her standing in front of a plain wall.