A/N: Lots of OH EM GEE ITS A PLOT things happen in this chapter. YAY.
Cassie didn't know how long she stayed there in the girls' bathroom.
All she knew was that after the initial horror, she clamped her hands to her eyes, fell to her knees and sat there, surrounded by running water beside the sadistic statue of the small girl. She must've stayed there all night...She didn't know...All she remembered was the darkness her hands cast over her eyes and the words of her grandmother's old bedtime prayer echoing in her cracked, dry lips. When she was discovered, she was wrenched from her seated position and carried to the Hospital Wing, but never did she take her hands off of her eyes.
After the nurse had successfully managed to ease her out of her soaked uniform and into a nightgown, she ushered her to the nearest bed. Cassie lay down, all the while her hands clutching at her eyes as if they'd been burned, and the whispers of memorised words falling to her mouth until sleep took hold of her and her eyes closed for good.
Cassie stayed in hospital for a full week, in which nearly the whole school tried to visit her and find out exactly what happened to poor, innocent Abigail Waters. The nurse had, gratefully, banned all students from visiting her that week, protesting she needed healing.
And healing Cassie did need.
For the first three nights she suffered from insomnia, the little Gryffindors face swimming into her view every time she tried to close her eyes. Eventually, the nurse pitied her and administered Dreamless Sleeping Drought to her troubled patient. Cassie knew that it shouldn't have affected her this much...But somehow, it did. As though a black spectre that had been hiding in the shadows of her mind had finally reared its ugly head to show her its horrors.
It didn't help, either, when she was situated on the bed directly across the curtains that hid the stony little girl that was centered on all of her nightmares.
June 2nd, 1944. Tuesday.
She won't know. She'll never know. I am safe. She will never guess it was me.
The way she looks at me means nothing. She's afraid I'll beat her in exams. I will.
But she will never learn what I've done. Never.
Will she?
Cassie sighed.
She was exhausted.
Mock-exams were finally over. In two weeks, the real things began, but for the moment she could breathe a little easier.
Only to have it hitch again in her throat.
Headmaster Dippet had announced, to much dismay of the students, that two more petrified bodies had been found. Two more Muggleborns that lay frozen in their horror of what they'd seen. Their breakfast had been rightfully spoiled by this news, and now it hung over the school like a giant grey, apprehensive cloud, dampening spirits and hushing conversations. People were becoming jumpy and uneasy when they walked in the halls, keeping to large groups of friends. They began to point accusatory glances at those who were once their friends, and almost everyone was looking over their shoulders.
Again Cassie was subjected to the torment of the students badgering her with questions. None of the students did it intentionally, but they did treat her like some well to be used freely. She was the only one that had come into any vague contact and stayed conscious.
More then once, Cassie had heard whispered conversations end abruptly as she approached.
She didn't really blame them, but it was taking a toll on her. Even Kelly seemed weary of her, Sam treated her same, but she could tell he was treating her more like eye candy for his admirers then a person these days. The more she tried to ignore it, the more it bothered her. So, with no one else around to really turn to, she turned to Tom.
She finally caught him as he was walking out of Arithmancy, a subject that she'd ran away from fearfully after trying it in third year. She was feeling a lot happier than usual. Her mock exams results had come back and she'd nearly jumped up in her seat. Her marks were extremely high, and topped with other select few students. Knowing that A) Tom wouldn't avoid her, and B) he was a fanatic for grades as well, he'd be less pressed to send her away after gushing to him about her marks. With a pang, she remembered when she told Kelly.
"Cool..." the girl had said, giving her a quick smile before sundering off to her other friends.
Even though she hadn't said much, it hurt so much more than if she'd told her she didn't care straight out.
A familiar dark head bobbed at the end of the line issuing out of the ancient doorway of the classroom.
"Tom!" she called to him, smiling.
He gave her a cool glance and a slight smile, turning his steps towards her. Once he reached her, she struck a stupidly gallant pose and suggested that they walk together in polite, Victorian aged English. He gave the smallest of chuckles at her antics, before offering his arm in a refined manner. She laughed lightly and swung hers through, and they set off through the breezy, warm halls.
June 5th 1944. Friday.
I must get rid of her. The closer she gets to me, the close she gets to finding out. I really do not want to hurt her, but it is for the best. If she were out of the picture, if she were gone...It would be easier to fulfill my work. I know she wouldn't approve. But what can I do? I can do nothing. She will choose her own path, and it will be far from mine.
They'd dropped the Victorian-Lord-and-Lady antics a little while back, and were now walking serenely inside the halls of Hogwarts. The sun was setting, pouring a molten orange into the windows and shining brightly on their faces, giving them a fiery glow. She sighed; thinking that it would be a perfect evening for all those happy couples out there... She shook her head of her petty thoughts and subjected to her excitement.
"Oh Tooom..." she trilled happily.
He gave her a strange look before asking her what she wanted.
"Guess what marks I got on my essays..." she grinned, turning around to face him.
His eyes darkened.
She blinked a few times, passing it off as a trick of the light.
"I assume you got good marks, seeing as how happy you are..." he said cautiously, trailing off.
She was confused now. That dark shadow in his black eyes was no trick, the chill in his voice impassable.
"What's wrong....?" she asked in a tiny voice. Her eyebrows furrowed in concern.
He looked at her full in the face, outright hatred glowing fiercely in his deep eyes.
She swallowed involuntarily as his face bowed menacingly to meet hers.
"If you hadn't noticed..." he said, his voice deathly quiet, lashing at her heart with cruel whips, "I hate being beat at anything. If you were smart, you'd back off".
Anger flared in her chest, ripping violently through her in fiery waves. With a cry of frustration, she lifted her small hand and brought it down harshly onto his pale face.
"How dare you!" she cried, her voice gravelly and choking with emotion.
His head whipped around to stare back into her blue eyes, alight with fire. She gazed levelly into his, and for a long time, neither spoke. Then, he broke the silence by grinning.
It was a terrible grin.
A grin so horrifyingly gruesome and cruel that it could no longer classify under any sort of smile. It reminded her of the way skulls naturally smiled in the way skulls do, only this was filled with such hate and pent up sins that it made Cassie's defiance dwindle away as quickly as it had raged. She wanted to run far away from this monster, and she almost did, but her grabbed the front of her shirt.
"Oh I see!" he snarled nastily at her, "Just because you disarmed me that day in Defence, you poor little dear, it gave you confidence in yourself! Well if you didn't notice, you got disarmed as well!"
Cassie tried desperately to step away from him, but he held her in place.
"Or maybe because you got equal marks as me on some tests you think that you're so smart now, and that no one can stand in your way!"
Cassie made a tiny noise of protest in her throat, shaking her head. Tears began to gather in her blue eyes. His contorted face got closer and closer to hers.
"WELL GUESS WHAT, CASSANDRA SMITH?!"
He roared at her. A tear ran down her cheek as he grabbed the side of her face with his free hand, cupping it roughly in what should have been a loving touch. He forced her to look at him.
"You're short, you have the body of an eleven year old, you act like you matter, and you know what's the saddest part?" his voice was venom. Venom that she didn't understand.
She shook her head, his hand still cupping her face painfully.
"You're pathetic."
He let go of her face and freed his hand from her shirt. His handsome dark face was shining with the bloody red glow of the sunset, giving him the appearance of a demon.
Cassie couldn't help it.
Her lip trembled and she ran, her dry sobs echoing in the blood washed corridor.
A/N: GASP! POOR CASSIE! ; A ; She didn't deserve this treatment! My, my...Tom certainly has some issues, no?
In this chapter, I've also introduced Tom's little journal entries. It gives you insight as to why he's acting the way he is without ever leaving Cassie's POV. I find they worked well for this chapter. : D Well, review and tell me what you think!