the siphon | h. potter

~eighteen~

"Cassandra—"

"I don't want to talk about it," Cassandra interrupted. Luckily, Dumbledore dropped the subject.

"The End of Term Feast is about to begin, maybe you'd like to go see your friends. I know they've been worried sick about you."

"Yeah... I'll do that."

Once Dumbledore left the room, Cassandra changed into her school robes. She was surprised to find out they no longer fit. Cassandra had never been stick thin, but after her time in the hospital she had lost a significant amount of weight. The robes were drowning her now small figure.

Maybe a feast is a good idea, she thought as she looked at herself in the mirror.

On the other side of the door, she could hear Madam Pomfrey scolding Dumbledore. She obviously didn't approve of Cassandra leaving the hospital wing. But Cassandra didn't much care.

After the Gryffindor tie was successfully knotted around her neck, Cassandra ran from the hospital wing before anyone could stop her. She didn't stop until she reached the Great Hall which was a impressive feat considering her weakened state.

The sight of the Hall lifted Cassandra's spirts significantly. The sound of chattering students filled the air. The warm candle light, along with the light of the setting sun cast a comforting light across the room. For a fleeting moment she felt a flicker of happiness.

"Cassandra!" she heard someone exclaim. And before she understood what was going on she felt a body crash itself into hers.

Hermione was suffocating Cassandra with the biggest hug imaginable. Ron was close behind, and joined once he caught up.

Cassandra smiled into their shoulders and hugged them back. Through all of her grief she had forgotten that she still had her friends.

When she looked up, Cassandra found every eye in the room staring at her. It seemed as if every student in the room wanted a glimpse of the girl who came back from the dead. Well everyone except one person.

"Where's Harry?" she asked as Ron and Hermione pulled away. They looked at each other before turning back to Cassandra. Neither of them were wearing an expression Cassandra was particularly found of.

"He's not here." Ron said softly.

"Well is he coming down soon? I want to talk to him."

"He's not coming."

"What do you mean?"

"It's been difficult for him since Sirius died. He's rarely left his dorm," Hermione explained.

"Oh..."

"Why don't we get some food?" Hermione smiled and guided Cassandra down the Hall towards the Gryffindor table.

The End of Term Feast was different from the other feasts at Hogwarts. Everyone was bustling with anticipation, whether it was for summer break or the announcement for the winner of the House Cup. Cassandra, however, was anticipating the arrival of food.

When she sat down at the table every Gryffindor turned their head in her direction as if they were waiting for her to speak. "I'm guessing everyone knows about our excursion to the Ministry," Cassandra whispered to Hermione.

"Yeah, that didn't stay a secret for very long."

"Thought so," Cassandra nodded and began fiddling with the rings on her fingers in an attempt to distract herself from the attention.

Luckily, the ringing of a glass grabbed the attention of the room soon after and everyone forgot about her. Meanwhile Cassandra was so focused on the thought of food she didn't head a single word of Dumbledore's speech.