Chapter 36 The Quidditch Cup

The next two weeks were Hell. Hermione had dropped one class, but she still had more homework than the rest of the third years. She was always close to tears and the baths weren't helping as much anymore. I had even gotten some epsom salt to see if that would help but it didn't seem to help at all. Crookshanks had even taken to sleeping with me most nights as she tossed and turned all night.

Ron, when he wasn't doing his homework, had taken responsibility over Buckbeak's appeal. He would so absorbed in enormous volumes having to do with Hippogriff's, that he would forget to be mean to Crookshanks when he would jump on Hermione's or Harry's lap.

Harry and I, when we weren't doing homework, were down at the pitch for practice. Slytherin was in the lead by two hundred points and Wood was stressing to Harry not to catch the Snitch until after Gryffindor had scored more than fifty points to be in the lead ourselves.

Harry would grumble to me about how he had everything to beat Malfoy. Malfoy was peeved that Harry had managed to escape punishment from the Hogsmeade incident, and he had tried to sabotage Harry at our last match against Ravenclaw. But now that Buckbeak was about to be executed, he really wanted a win against Malfoy.

And I didn't blame him.

By the time classes had started after the Easter holiday, small scuffles were breaking out in the halls. And Harry was getting tripped at every turn. So Wood had given instructions that Harry was to be accompanied everywhere to avoid any injuries to him. And all of Gryffindor had taken the challenge enthusiastically. We were late more often than because of the large chattering crowd around us.

Harry was most paranoid about his Firebolt though. When we weren't at practice Harry had taken to locking his broom in his trunk. He would race to the tower to make sure it was still there. And even though I wasn't showing the same paranoia, it was hard not to race as well.

Wood had said I was to be in uniform and on stand-by during the game, but there was no doubt Slytherin was going to be playing dirty and he wanted me to hop on any position if I need to.

Friday night, the common room was a mess of nerves. Hermione couldn't even concentrate on anything and put her book down. I decided to go upstairs and take a bath to try and calm my nerves.

I woke up at some point in the night, and got up to get a drink of water and I noticed something in the window. Ariel and and Crookshanks had left the common room and were at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and so I opened the window and stuck my head out, letting my hair fall.

After a few seconds of waiting, Snuffles came out and sniffed at the cats. I flashed my hair and I got his attention. I hoped he saw me waving because his tail gave a wag before he started to come towards the school.

I pulled myself back into the room and grabbed my map from my bedside table. I checked it and saw that he was coming towards the castle.

I swore and hurried out of the dormitory, darkening myself so that the trolls, who were dull anyways, couldn't see me when I snuck past them.

I made it to the Entrance Hall and saw that Snuffles had come into it and I flashed my hair to show him where I was. I lead us into an empty classroom and opened my map to be alerted if there was anyone coming.

"What are you doing?" I hissed at him when Sirius appeared behind me.

"You haven't been to see me." He said, not in an accusatory way though.

"How can I when you got into the Gryffindor Tower!"

"Oh. Right. Sorry about that." He sounded sorry.

"I didn't get a chance to tell you, but Scabbers isn't there anymore. I think he faked his death and is somewhere on the grounds." I said, pointing to the map.

Sirius took a look at it, giving my wand a "Lumos" and moving it.

He was looking for Pettigrew's name. Like I hadn't been looking for it either.

"NO!" He shouted.

"Shh! You'll wake up the school!" I said, startled by his shout.

"No!" He said again, but this time he fell to the ground.

"Look, he's somewhere on the grounds. He's just out of reach of the maps borders." I said, trying to comfort him.

"But where?" Sirius asked, looking up at me.

"Oh stop being dramatic, your animagus is a dog!" I rolled my eyes at him.

"Okay, rude. But I haven't got anything that smells like him. Do you?" He asked, rolling his at me.

"I can get something. If Ron hasn't thrown anything of his away." I said thoughtfully.

"Tomorrow is the Quidditch Cup game. I can leave it somewhere on the grounds and you can get it while you're Snuffles." I said.

"When should I get it?" Sirius asked.

I gave a 'you've got to be kidding me' look.

"When you think you can." I deadpanned.

He rolled his eyes back at me but patted the ground next to him.

"That's a decent idea. Think you can pull it off?" He asked, looking at me as I sat in front of him.

I blinked at him and realized that through all the stories he told me, I never told him any of mine.

"I think I can manage." I nodded giving him a cocky smile.

He left just before dawn started to break over the mountain. And the lack of sleep was not going to be good if I needed to play. I had managed to make it look like I had just gotten out of bed when Hermione woke up.

"Nervous?" She asked as she started to get dressed for the day.

"Yes." I answered.

About the game, and about getting something of Ron's that Scabber could have slept on.

"I'm going to head down, want me to walk with you?" Hermione asked.

"No it's okay, you go on ahead." I waved her on.

"Okay, see you at breakfast." She said and left the room.

I waited a half an hour to make sure everyone was out of the common room before sneaking up to the boys dormitory. I managed to get an old t-shirt of Ron's that Scabber had hair all over and I put that on. It was growing small on Ron so it was still a little baggy on me but I can put my shirt on over it and it won't be noticeable.

So I made my way downstairs and to the Great Hall with my broom over my shoulder.

"Where have you been?" Wood asked when I walked past the cheering crowd.

"Morning jitters." I said as I sat down and started to eat.

There was a pot of coffee just down the way, and Angelina passed it to me and I gladly accepted it. I wasn't accustomed to the taste of it, but it was going to help me stay awake.

Wood ushered us to the food when I finished my cup of coffee. He wanted an idea of what the weather conditions were going to be like.

"Good luck, Harry!" Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw seeker called out to Harry.

I gave him a playful nudge and he blushed.

"Okay - no wind to speak of - sun's a bit bright, that could impair your vision, watch out for it - ground's fairly hard, good, that'll give us a fast kickoff -" Wood was muttering to himself as we walked down to the pit.

We watched him as he paced the field, Fred threw his arm around my shoulders and gave me a playful shake and squeeze.

"Locker rooms," Woods voice was terse.

No one said anything and I was grateful nobody noticed that I took off two shirts instead of one to put on my reserve's uniform.

While we were waiting for Wood to say time to go, I paced at the back of the locker room and while my teammates weren't watching I stuffed the shirt against the wall and hoped I could get back to it.

"Okay, it's time, let's go -" Wood said.

I gave Harry a quick kiss on the cheek and whispered 'good luck' in his ear. Fred dropped his cheek and gave me a playful grin. I rolled my eyes and did the same for him. And we both looked at George who just lightly shook his head and walked on.

"He'll come around." Fred said and placed a kiss on my forehead and walked onto the field.

"I doubt it." I muttered as I walked up to the reserve box.

The noise of the crowd bellowed around me and my nerves started to relax, but just ever slowly.

"GO GRYFFINDOR!"

"LIONS FOR THE CUP!"

I smiled at the crowd and watched as the Slytherins and Gryffindors met in the middle.

"And here are the Gryffindors! Potter, Bell, Johnson, Spinnet, Weasley, Weasley and Wood. Zwart is in the reserve box!"

I gave a wave as the crowd cheered, the game more important than who I am.

"Widely acknowledged as the best team Hogwrats has seen in a good few years -"

Slytherin's booed on their end.

"And here come the Slytherin team, led by Captain Flint. He's made some changes to the lineup and seems to be going for size than skill -"

And he was right as the Slytherin crowd booed. Malfoy was definitely the smallest on the team. And from what I could see, Crabbe and Goyle were on the team.

I couldn't hear what Madam Hooch said, but they mounted their brooms and were in the air at her whistle.

"And it's Gryffindor in possession, Alicia Spinnet of Gryffindor with the Quaffle, heading straight for the Slytherin goal posts, looking good, Alicia! Argh, no - Quaffle intercepted by Warrington, Warrington of Slytherin tearing up the field -WHAM! - nice Bludger work there by George Weasley, Warrington drops the Quaffle, it's caught by - Johnson, Gryffindor back in possession, come on, Angelina - nice swerve around Montague - duck, Angelina, that's a budget! - SHE SCORES! TEN - ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!"

Lee was commentating and I let out a cheer as I watched Angelina take the shot. She punched the air and - then she was smashed by Flint.

He said something and waved to the crowd. But luckily, Fred chucked his Beater's club at Flint's head. It hit it's target and Flint hit his broomstick and caused his nose to start bleeding.

Madam Hooch shrieked, "that will do! Penalty shot to Gryffindor for an unprovoked attack on their Chaser! Penalty shot to Slytherin for deliberate damage to their Chaser!"

I started to pace the box I was in as they lined up to take their shots.

"Come on, Alicia!" Lee was the only one to speak in the silence of pitch.

"YES!" I roared with the crowd.

"SHE'S BEATEN THE KEEPER! TWENTY-ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!"

"Get it Wood!" I shouted when Flint went to take his shot.

" 'Course Wood is a superb Keeper!" Lee told the crowd. "Superb! Very difficult to pass - very difficult indeed - YES! I DON'T BELIEVE IT! HE'S SAVED IT!"

I shouted with the crowd.

"Gryffindor in possession, no Slythiner in possession - no! - Gryffindor back in possession and it's Katie Bell, Katie Bell for Gryffindor with the Quaffle, she's streaking up the field - THAT WAS DELIBERATE!"

I booed with the crowd. Katie cartwheeled in the air, but stayed on her .She got hit with a Bludger, but ended up dropping the Quaffle. Madam Hooch blew on her whistle and Katie was given another penalty shot.

"THIRTY-ZERO! TAKE THAT, YOU DIRTY, CHEATING -" Jordan almost got onto a tangent.

"Jordan, if you can't commentate in an unbiased -!" McGonagall interrupted Jordan.

"I'm telling it like it is, Professor!" Jordan defended himself.

I let out a laugh and saw that no one was looking at me. I was alone in this box and everyone was focused on the game. So I took my broom and hurried out of the box and back into the locker rooms. I was relieved to find the shirt where I had left it.

I grabbed it and poked my head out to look and see if the coast was clear. It was, so I hurried towards the Forest and had mixed feelings when I saw Snuffles bounding over to me.

"What are you doing?" I asked, getting down to my knees and hugging the dog.

I never realized how big the dog was. He was huge, I thought he reached my thigh when I was watching him in the Leaky Cauldron, but I was wrong. He was a big as a bear.

He waved his tail and gave me a lick on my cheek.

"Here's the shirt. I don't know if you can tell the difference between Ron's and Scabbers' scents but if one leads to the castle, it's probably Ron's." I said quickly, holding the shirt under his nose.

He sniffed it and gave a growl.

"Did you get it?" I asked.

He gave a nod but he took the shirt from me.

"You better get going, I need to get back." I said and went to get up.

He gave a gruff and jumped up and tried to give me a hug while he stood up.

"I get it, I get it." I said, getting back on the ground and giving him a hug.

"This is weird." I admitted in a whisper.

Snuffles let out a bark and I knew he was laughing.

"Good luck looking for him!" I said and got up.

I hurried back to the reserve box, I was breathing heavy. The score was now seventy to ten, the Slytherins scored while I was with Snuffles. And the Gryffindors did a good job in staying ahead.

I was watching Harry, and Draco was behind him by several feet, but was always behind him. If Harry messed up in catching the Snitch, Draco could easily get it.

He suddenly shot upwards and I let out a shriek of disgust.

"FOUL YOU MISERABLE -!"

"YOU CHEATING SCUM!" Lee shouted, drowning me out.

Draco had managed to jump his broom forward and grabbed Harry's broom, dragging him backwards so that he wouldn't get the Snitch.

Alicia took the penalty shot for Harry, but the team was getting angry and she missed the shot.

"Slytherin in possession, Slytherin heading for the goal - Montague scores -" I groaned with Jordan, and I did clap my hands because he did make a shot.

Seventy-twenty was the new score.

Harry was making sure to keep up with Draco instead. And he had learned a thing or two from his match with Ravenclaw, he was blocking Draco anytime he went to turn.

"Good job, Harry!" I cheered as they flew over me.

"Angelina Johnson gets the Quaffle for Gryffindor, come on, Angelina, COME ON!"

"Oh no!" I said, watching the Slytherins all converge over to their side of the pitch.

"They're all going to block her!" I shouted just to get it out.

Harry must have seen them too, because he flew through them and caused the Slytherin team to scatter.

"SHE SCORES! SHE SCORES! Gryffindor leads by eighty points to twenty!"

"Get the Snitch!" I shouted, looking around for something small fluttering around.

Draco saw something, because he dove suddenly. And I saw the small ball flying through the air.

"NO!" I screamed.

Harry's firebolt, and Harry himself, were impressive, because he caught up to Draco and I was on the edge of the box. Glad for the little wall to make sure I didn't fall over.

"GO! GO! GO! GO!" I shouted as Harry was neck to neck with Draco.

I blinked and Harry was holding his hand up in the air.

"POTTER HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH, THEY'RE TWO HUNDRED TWENTY POINTS UP TO TWENTY! GRYFFINDOR HAS WON THE QUIDDITCH CUP!" Jordan was shouting.

I ran down the stairs of the box again, and joined the crowd as we all ran onto the field to meet with our team. Hagrid saw me and he managed to clear the way for me.

I joined the group huddle and managed to give Harry a hug. Wood was sobbing as he hoisted Harry up on his shoulders.

I was exhausted that night, but I managed to stay awake long enough to see Snuffles come out of the Forest, his nose to the ground. His ears perked up and he looked up at the Tower. I opened the window and flashed my hair white. I heard him bark and Snuffles changed into Sirius.

I flashed my hair red but he let out a laugh I could hear across the grass. I shook my head and lifted my hand. He lifted his hand and gave me a wave. I flashed my hair a bright blue and pulled my head back in. I watched Sirius transform back into his animagus form and he went back to sniffing the ground.

I closed the window and went to bed. I listened to Hermione whimper for a bit before getting out of my bed and climbing in with her. She calmed down as soon as I put my head on her shoulder.

Harry was riding the euphoria of the Quidditch cup win for the week. And I was lucky enough to walk through the week without getting a single hex, not even a Slytherin tried to lift their wand at me.

I had an inkling that was Draco's doing, but I wasn't willing to put a bet on it.

I had taken to following Hermione around to make sure she's not getting caught with her time turner. But when she wrote down the time of her exams, I couldn't prevent Harry and Ron from seeing them.

'Monday

9 o'clock, Arithmancy

9 o'clock, Transfiguration

Lunch

1 o'clock, Charms

1 o'clock Ancient Runes'

"Hermione?" Ron's voice was cautious.

I looked up and saw the piece of paper and internally smacked myself.

"Er - are you sure you've copied down these times right?"

"What?" Hermione snapped, picking up her examine schedule. "Yes, of course I have."

"Is there any point asking how you're going to sit for two exams at once?" Harry asked.

"No," Hermione was short. "Have either of you seen my copy of Numerology and Gramatica?" She asked.

"Oh, yeah, I borrowed it for a bit of bedtime reading," Ron was sarcastic.

"It's here." I pulled it out from under a stack of papers.

"Thank you, Cassie." She said.

We haven't talked about the nights I've been spending in her bed. And I won't mention the few times I've found her in mine.

Hedwig decided to make an appearance with a letter for Harry, and Barnabas was right behind her and landed on my shoulder.

"Hello pretty boy." I said to him.

He nipped at my ear and I was glad I didn't have a piercing there.

"It's from Hagrid," Harry said, ripping the letter open. "Buckbeak's appeal - it's set for the sixth."

"That's the day we finish our exams," Hermione and I said in unison.

"And they're coming up here to do it," Harry said, reading the letter. "Someone from the Ministry of Magic and - an executioner."

I snapped my head up from my book.

"They're bringing an executioner?" I asked, skeptical.

"But that sounds as though they've already decided." Hermione spoke up.

"Yeah, it does." Harry said slowly.

"They can't!" Ron howled. "I've spent ages reading up on stuff for him; they can't just ignore it all!"

"They can, actually." I said, putting my hand on his shoulder.

Ron let out a string of curse words as I went back to my studying.

Harry had left his Invisibility Cloak in the One-Eyed Witch and I was out one night sneaking through the castle with my map. And I had forgotten until a little box appeared on my map.

'Why is Cassie up?'

'Oh shit.'

'Cassie?'

'Nice evening, isn't it, Professor?'

I slapped my face and checked my progress. It was clear to the Witch statue so I hurried over. I got to the witch and a little speech bubble popped up above her head and said, "Dissendium."

I flicked my wand and whispered the spell.

'What are you doing?!'

I didn't get time to answer, I grabbed the Cloak and the statue closed it's secret passage and when I turned around, Lupin was behind me.

"Uh - evening, Professor." I gave my most charming smile to him.

"What are you doing?" He asked again.

"Harry… Harry put his Cloak in the Statue. I was grabbing it for him." I said, showing Lupin.

He went to grab the Cloak.

"Oh no! You took the map from him, you are not taking his father's Cloak." I warned him, letting my tone grow a threatening tone.

He paused and slowly put his hand back. We stood there for a second and I put the Cloak around my shoulders and was about to throw the hood up when -

"Are you in contact with Sirius Black?" Lupin asked.

I paused and looked up at him.

Lupin had a wand pointed at Sirius who was on the floor, Crookshanks was on his chest. Ron was on the wooden floor. His face was tear stained and his leg was at a funny angle. Hermione was next to the door Lupin and I had just come out of. Harry was standing over Sirius bleeding body. I couldn't hear what they were saying but Sirius pointed at Ron and I watched Lupin's lips move and he lowered his wand. Lupin helped Sirius up and they shared an embrace.

"Cassie!" Lupin was over me.

"I'm okay." I said, blinking a couple of times and trying to gather my bearings.

"Cassie, what happened?" Lupin asked, helping me sit up.

"I need to see Trelawney." I said.

"Professor Trelawney?" Lupin asked, confused.

"Yes, her. I need to see her." I said, trying to get up.

"Cassie, you fell pretty hard." Lupin was trying to keep me down.

"Remus, please. I need to see her." I said, waving off his hands.

"Cassie, did you have a vision?" Lupin asked quietly.

I stopped fighting him and looked at him. His face was pale and his eyes just looked tired.

"I think so. If it was a vision, it was my first one." I admitted.

He gave a sigh and put his hand to his face.

"Come with me, I think I can explain better than Sybll." He stood up and held is hand out for me.

"What could you pos- " I took his hand.

"The Zwart family is full of female seers. It's passed from mother to daughter." He interrupted me.

"Yeah, but that information is in the library. If anyone bothered to look it up they would know that." I said as I put the invisibility cloak completely on and Lupin and I started to walk to his office.

"Your mother told me that." He said.

"She - she told you she had Seer blood?! I've only told Hermione!" I hissed so as not bring suspicion to him as we walked.

"Your mother and I were friends, and when she died I was distraught." He explained quietly.

I kept quiet the rest of our walk to his office. Unsure of how to react to what happened.

When he closed the door to his classroom I took off Harry's Cloak and sat down in the chair he had in front of his desk.

"Why did she tell you she had Seer blood?" I asked.

He sighed as he started to make a pot of tea.

"One night, in our second year. She was up studying with Lily Evans, Harry's mother. Lily had decided to go to bed, but I was coming down the stairs because I couldn't sleep. She fell in her chair, much like you did. And after I insisted on taking her to the Hospital Wing, did she tell me what she had." Lupin explained.

"She had visions too?" I asked unsure of how to feel about this situation I have found myself in.

"Occasionally, she spoke when she could. Lily and James had a bit of a - rivalry - and she and I had to make do with the library. Sir- " He stopped himself.

I looked at him and we stared at each other.

'I don't blame him for not wanting me.' Sirius's voice echoed in my head.

I bite the inside of my cheek and looked away first. Not wanting him to see the flash of anger I just had.

'Sirius, Remus, my mom. What the hell.'

"Cassie, there's something I need to tell you." Lupin said, opening his desk and rummaging through it.

"What is it?" I asked, trying to keep my tone even.

"Here you go. It was your mother's." Lupin pulled out a journal, and it was stuffed full of pages, all yellow.

"What is it? And why do you have it?" I asked, not touching it.

"Karen's Seer Journal." Lupin said, watching me carefully.

I stared at it, not wanting to touch it.

"She - she gave it to me the day before she died." Lupin added, slowly.

I stared at it. I lifted my left hand, and hovered it over the journal. As I lowered my hand I could feel the strange power emanating from it.

"You keep it. I don't want it." I said, sitting back and making sure not to touch it.

"Are you sure?" He asked, not reaching for it either.

"Yes. I don't want it." I said, nodding firmly.

He looked at the journal then back up at me.

"Have you read it?" I asked.

"Just the last entry." He admitted.

"Can you - no, nevermind." I shook my head.

"Why don't you want to know?" He asked curiously.

"I think it's bad luck to know what another Seer has seen. And she might have Seen something that hasn't passed yet." I said, only slightly regretting my decision.

He made a noise in his throat and reached out for the journal.

"Can you - can you keep it out? I just want to look at it." I asked sheepishly.

"Of course." He nodded.

There was a moment and then he snapped his fingers before pulling out a piece of parchment, a quill, and an inkpot.

"Here, right down what you saw. And then put it in your journal." He said, pushing the stuff to me.

"Oh, right, thank you." I said and started to scribble what I saw.

When I was done writing it I looked up at him and he had a weird look on his face as he watched me.

I had questions I wanted to ask him, but how was I going to explain how they came about? Like how I knew he was supposed to raise me, or why he doesn't think he can tell us about how he's a werewolf. Why he didn't take me.

I shook my head and stood up, putting the Cloak around me again.

"Are you going?" He asked, standing up.

"I need to get to sleep, and you need to as well." I nodded.

"Can I ask, where did you get your map?" He asked, walking with me to his door.

"My mom gave it to me. She left me a letter my first year and the map was with it I've had it ever since." I answered.

"I see." He nodded thoughtfully.

"Good night, Professor." I said and pulled the Cloak over my head.

My boyfriend just had a second surgery on his knee. So I'll have some time to clean up the apartment and finally just relax for a bit and only worry about feeding me and the two cats we have.

Shout out to ChigUnnie for following this story!

Shout out to AlecLightwoodMagnusBane for adding this story to your favorite list!

Shout out to Pamela Hutchins and Awritingbookworm for leaving a review!

Pamela Hutchins: Even if you write for yourself, it's good practice! As I'm figuring out what to do with Cassie's love story I'll keep that to myself haha. And I'm so glad you're hooked on my story! I've got a poll of different animals between my boyfriend and I since he's the one who I can talk to about it haha.

Awritingbookworm: I couldn't justify Snape being terrible to Harry and Neville and the rest, and only nice Cassie. So I'm just going to play him as he is in the books. I'm sorry if that's disappointing, but with all the other things I want Cassie to do I want to focus on that rather than Snape's demographic as a whole.