Potter's Girl / Butterfly Effect.

64. Beyond the Veil

Cassie was no idiot. It didn't take much brains to know that everyone was talking about her. She could practically feel their pitying stares from through the walls.

The fear of facing Harry was what kept her in her dormitory for so long, truth be told. She did not know nor want to find out his feelings toward her – and for good reason, right? He had loved Sirius like a father, and Harry and Atticus were... friends, so Harry was the only exception to Cassie's rule about her being the only one allowed to cry over them. Eventually, she knew she would have to face him, but she just tried to push it as far into the future as possible, though who knew how much further Cassie's future went?

   There was a war advancing. Sirius, Atticus, and Cedric just happened to be the first victims of the second Wizarding War. Cassie knew there would be more; more casualties, more battles, more pain caused by this unending reign of terror Voldemort inflicted upon Wizardkind. Her mind ached as she thought about the grim future wizards and witches were to face within a few years. And then, ripping her from her thoughts;

"Alright there, Cassie?"

It was a peppy voice with a tone of activeness held behind it, giving the air of its speaker being bouncing back and forth on her feet anxiously. All of her dorm mates had developed the sense to not bother Cassie whilst her hangings were drawn, so who did this intruder think they were?

Cassie wrenched the curtains back and was completely and entirely dumbfounded to see Ginny Weasley doing push-ups on her floor.

"Having a good morning?" said Ginny through labored huffs of air, now moving to sit-up position and lifting her head to her knees.

Cassie opened and closed her mouth as she watched the youngest Weasley bodybuilding on her dorm room floor. "What?" she finally said, following Ginny with her eyes as she rolled over to a plank position.

"Muggle exercise. Strange, isn't it?" said Ginny, her voice strained. "Decided to work on my physical build for Quidditch next year, don't you think?"

"Why on my floor? Don't you have your own dormitory?" said Cassie, eyeing Ginny warily. "And why is Muggle exercising so weird-looking?"

Ginny sat up on her knees and shrugged. "No clue. Quite tiring, too. I don't suggest this whatsoever." Nevertheless, she stood and began doing jumping jacks.

   "Ginny," said Cassie seriously, a disbelieving look on her face. The younger witch stopped working out and looked to Cassie, before exhaling a defeated huff.

   "Well, to be honest," she said, moving to sit at the edge of Cassie's bed, "all the girls in my dorm are tired of my working out. And.. Hermione said you needed someone to–"

   "Hermione was wrong," said Cassie flatly, pulling her knees to her chest and resting her chin on them. "I'm alright. I was upset for a while, but I'm fine now."

   Ginny studied Cassie for a moment, an impassive look on her face. "So you don't want to talk about it," she deducted finally, raising her eyebrows. "Fair enough. I mean, I was one of Atticus's best friends, so no one better to talk about him with than me or Luna..."

As angry as Cassie would have felt had this been any other student, she only frowned. Ginny had a point. Though she wasn't there to see their friendship, Cassie did notice how protective Atticus had grown over both Ginny and Luna. Cassie inhaled sharply and exhaled with a bitter laugh. "I suppose you were," she said. "His best friend, I mean. I tried to keep up when he rambled about Quidditch, but it was like listening to Snape drone on about bezoars and goat horns; boring."