Cassandra's eyes opened slowly and with it came the dull murmurs of the emotions around her, beginning to eat away at the chemical barrier the pills created in her brain. She sat up, careful not to roll off the edge of the astronomy tower only to...See she was back in her bed in the Hufflepuff girl's dormitory. There was movement to her left and she her gaze to meet the stern concern on Hannah Abbott's face.
"Cassie, why were you out after curfew?" Her expression wavered, giving away to a softer more frightened concern.
Cassandra worked on sitting up nefore answering. "I heard scuffling outside the common room. And Macmillan's pining for his crush kept me from ever getting to sleep. I could read it loud and clear from here." She stretched, listening to the systemic poppong as it climbed up her spine. "It was Longbottom. He was lost again."
Hannah sighed. "Well it's time to wake up. You've nearly missed breakfast and Cedric wants to speak with you. And the other two schools in the tournament are arriving today. You won't want to miss that." Hannah gave Cassandra's shoulder a worried squeeze and left her to get dressed. Cassandra took her time, not feeling breakfast and in fact stopped by the infirmary first. Madam Pomfrey was out. She stared, upset at the doors. Of all days to not get her morning dose...
"Something the matter?" Came a timid voice. She didn't have to look to know who it was.
"Yes, Neville. My empathic powers are going to be out of control on the worst possible day." She fought the rising panic, turning to Neville. "I'm sorry. That was rude. I didn't...mean to. I'm just...scared."
He smiled at her. "I brought you breakfast. You were out late getting me back to the dormitory...I...Here. It's your favorite right?"
She took the folded handkerchief, noting the care it had been packed with. Two boiled eggs, a blueberry muffin, and a tiny piece of coffee cake. She felt genuine appreciation when she smiled back at the Gryffindor before her. "Yes...thank you, Neville. I didn't think anyone knew something like that about me."
He gave her an awkward look. "Well I did. Make sure you eat something." He was gone, leaving Cassandra to quietly nibble at the food she had been given. She again took jer time, hoping Pomfrey would return and give her the medicine.
Instead what happened was that Cedric found her first. "Sims, I thought you'd be here. I want to talk about you leaving the Hufflepuff commons last night."
Cassandra heaved a great sigh. "Cedric, Hannah already gave me my daily dose of Hufflepuff concern. I don't want to know how many more of you worry I am on the wrong path. I doubt myself enough for all of you. Can I go please? I want to be far from here when the other schools arrive and make their grand entrances." She shuddered at the thought of having so many more minds and feelings pressing and weighing against her own. Cedric shook his worriedly and just waved her off.
Cassandra let herself wander, deeper into the school. The astronomy tower would be no good today. No. For this, she needed to find the farthest, coldest dungeon and press herself into the corner. Luckily, she was rather decent at potions and doubted Snape would bat an eye, even if he were to find her wedged into a corner under a table. Letting herself into the potions classroom, she went to the back, opened the closet that only Snape ever went into and folded herself as small as she could under one of the shelves.
She tried to zone out, hum a song to herself. Anything. When this failed, she began to list the individual ingredients in the dark around her; at least the ones she could pick out by smell. Eventually the effectiveness of this too wore off. So she began to count her breaths, focusing on the length of each inhale. Then she heard low voices, talking angrily in room outside the supply cupboard. "Draco, I cannot keep defending you if you go so openly against the muggleborn in public. What is your problem with her?"
There was a muffled reply she couldn't make out, but it was definitely Draco Malfoy, responding to his head of house. "There are better ways to go about such a thing." For a moment it sounded like Snape felt nostalgia and pain before it morphed into his careful, calculated self. "I understand that, but if the Sims girl does manage to off herself after some action you took, you'd be liable and your name would be ruined."
Cassandra's stomach twisted and flipped. Professor Snape was giving Draco advice to bully her quietly and discreetly? She swallowed her pain, stifled the cry that wanted to rise up from her throat. But she'd had enough. If she was good at potions, she was a transfiguration master for one so young. Her dads would probably be concerned if they knew of the wizarding law she had broken, given their own unpleasant brushes with the constabulary in the past. She began to think small, light thoughts.
x
Snape sent Malfoy on his way and decided to begin preparing for his first class of mixed school students. When he opened the supply closet with the more valuable ingredients, a butterfly flew out. It was gone too quickly for him to look very closely, but he could've sworn it was a pretty yellow color. He forged on.
x
Cassandra panted, finally back to herself. She was hiding in the deserted Quidditch stands, legs drawn up to her chin and arms locked around her knees. She cried softly to herself, the horrid memory of what she had heard burned into her head. Snape wasn't telling him to stop, but rather to be more careful. More subtle. She wanted to go home, but the knowledge of Draco's beautiful, beautiful soul trapped in all that black despair physically hurt her. She loved him and even if he never returned the feeling, Cassandra was going to see him set free from whatever held him.
So no, she wouldn't run home to her loving fathers. No, she wasn't going to give up. Still, the pain of one of her favorite professors allowing her to be bullied beat in her chest. So Cassandra for sure felt the call to make some stupid decisions at least. One in particular came to her mind. The whole school knew it, so she might as well do this one thing. Maybe it would help catalyze the change she wished to see in the world around her. With her mind made up, Cassandra checked the time on her mobile device. Despite many reassurances it would no longer work here, it always had.
What Cassandra saw was that it was nearly dinner. She had spent her day playing tardy and hiding from the guests. But she was done now. She gathered herself up and headed to join the throngs of hungry students. She hid in alcove outside the Great Hall, waiting until she witnessed what would appear to be the last student entering. Then she made her move. Dumbledore was in the middle of giving a speech about welcoming their new guests. Cassandra had to hurry, for the combined weight of all the emotional presences pressing in on her was immense.
When she burst through the enormous double doors, she pushed them both open with careful application of a little magic. All eyes turned on her. Perfect. She swiveled her gaze to the Slytherin table, squared her shoulders and spoke from a power position; hands on her hips. "Draco Malfoy, I don't give a flying fig anymore who knows what I feel. I'm sick of all the stares and whispered words. No. I'm done." She steeled herself a moment longer. "I love you. You have the singular most beautiful color I've ever seen in a soul. I know you better than you do. I'm not stopping until I get what I want, even if it is something other than what everyone thinks."
She took a deep breath, ready to continue before the emotions finally over took her and she staggered as the laughter began to swell around her. There was none from Hufflepuff. Almost none from Gryffindor...but the rest of the room apart from the staff table roared in amusement. Feeling faint, she leaned against the wall finding her strength to shout once more. "Go on and write to your Slytherin parents. Tell them what has happened. Let the backlash come. I don't care anymore." Cassandra ceased to care about anything else at that moment as well, when the world fell away entirely.
Blessed, blessed sleep.