bruises - james potter

ninety-seven

･・･☽✥☾･・･

CHAPTER NINETY-SEVEN

･・･☽✥☾･・･

THE GREAT HALL WAS QUITER THAT night, despite all the chattering and the clatter of knives and forks on plates, a few distinct voices weren't heard.

For most of the students at Hogwarts, they didn't notice a difference. The hall was, to them, as loud as ever with everyone talking to their friends as they stuffed their faces.

But to Cassie, the absences of those few voices made the whole room feel half empty.

It had only been that morning when Alice had told Cassie that James was in the hospital wing, though it felt like so much longer than only seven or eight hours.

She was still yet to see any of the Marauders apart from Sirius.

She was still yet to see James.

Cassie's worry only grew with each tick of the clock, her mind creating more and more scenarios of what could happen and then starting new ones before she's had time to fully process the one before.

Just when she thought that she had come up with every possible scenario, her mind seemed to create more; as if it was retaliating at her for being so foolish to think that they had stopped.

Cassie was sitting at the Gryffindor table, Sirius was besides her.

Neither of them were speaking.

Cassie was pushing the peas that rested on her plate around with her fork, she didn't even wince when she missed the peas and her fork scraped along the bottom of her plate.

Regulus was sitting at the Hufflepuff table with a girl that Cassie assumed was Ellie, she was very pretty and had bright blonde hair with green eyes. Regulus had been hesitant to go and sit with her, but had when Cassie told him that she and Sirius would be fine if he did.

He kept glancing over in their direction, a frown on his face as he noticed that neither of them had moved since the last time he looked over.

Lily, Marlene and Alice were sitting a few seats down from the twins and they kept sending small looks in their direction too.

No-one else seemed to have realised that only one of the Marauders was present at dinner that night.

No-one else batted an eye in the direction of the twins in worry.

The Great Hall went quiet as Snape moved from his seat so that he was standing on the bench that he had previously been sitting on - people turned around to look at him as silence took over the hall.

Snape looked fine, he didn't have a scratch or bruise on him.

Cassie eyed him as he finally gathered the entire Halls attention, even the few teachers that had been sitting at the teachers table turned to look at him in silence.

Snape cut right to the chase.

"Remus Lupin is a werewolf!"

No-one said a word as they continued to stare at him, a few people shared looks or rolled their eyes at him.

"I saw it with my own eyes - he's a vicious, man eating beast!"

Cassie felt her hands shake in anger as she slammed them against the table, standing up from her seat but not onto the bench like Snape did.

Even if Remus was a werewolf, it wasn't Snape's place to tell anyone. He had no right to say something as personal as that to the entire school, no matter if it was true or not.