The Girl Who Protected [3]

Year 5 - 14

"Please. I promise it'll be worth your time." Amelia spoke.

"I told Draco we'd hang out this Hogsmede." Cassiopeia replied.

"You can hang out next Hogsmede." Amelia replied.

"What's going on?" Draco said, coming behind the pair as they were leaving the castle.

"I want to steal your girlfriend this Hogsmede, can you let me?" Amelia asked Draco.

"It's up to you." Draco said to Cassiopeia.

"Great, let's go." Amelia said, dragging Cassiopeia away.

"Wait, Mia." Cassiopeia said. Amelia stopped and looked to her friend. Cassiopeia pulled away and walked back to Draco. Delivering a kiss on the boys lips, she whispered in his ear. "Next Hogsmede, I'm all yours."

"I'll hold you to that." He replied before watching his girlfriend walk back to her friend. Amelia resumed her position and continued to drag Cassiopeia through Hogsmede.

"Where are we even going?" Cassiopeia asked.

"We're just going to meet with a few people." Amelia replied.

"The fact that you're not getting to point doesn't make this seem any less suspicious." Cassiopeia replied.

"Fine. We're meeting the trio." Amelia replied.

"Okay." Cassiopeia replied.

The pair walked until they came outside a pub, it was on the edge of Hogsmede and didn't look busy at all. Amelia opened the door to the Hogs Head and walked inside. As they got in, Cassiopeia was shocked to see the amount of people in there. There were mainly Gryffindors- like the Weasleys, Neville, Dean- and also some Ravenclaws- like Luna and Cho. There were a small amount of Hufflepuffs- like Zacharias Smith- and no Slytherins, until themselves. Amelia brought Cassiopeia in and she sat beside the Weasley twins, looking towards the trio that were sat at the front. After a little while, Hermione stood up to talk.

"Er, hi." She spoke to the group. "So, you all know why we're here. We need a teacher. A proper teacher. One who's had experience defending themselves against the Dark Arts."

"Why?" Zacharias Smith asked.

"Why? Because You-Know-Who's back, you tosspot." Ron spoke.

"So he says." Smith said, gesturing his head to Harry.

"So, Dumbledore says." Hermione defended.

"So Dumbledore says, because he says. I think we've got a right to know exactly what makes him say You-Know-Who's back." Smith replied.

"Look, this isn't what this meeting was supposed to be about-" Hermione started to reply, but Harry cut her off.

"It's okay, Hermione." Harry said, he then looked to Smith directly. "What makes me sat You-Know-Who's back? I saw him. But Dumbledore told the whole school what happened last year, and if you don't believe him, you won't believe me, you wouldn't even believe Cass, and I'm not wasting an afternoon trying to convince anyone."

"All Dumbledore told us last year was that Cedric Digory got killed by You-Know-Who and that you and that Slytherin brought Diggory's body back to Hogwarts. He didn't give us the details, didn't tell us exactly how Digory got murdered, I think we don't like to know-" Smith spoke, before he was cut off.

"If you're all here to find out what it's like when Voldemort murders someone, then sure listen. You start by thinking that everything's okay. You think that you've manage to win something in your life. But then you see that flash of green. You hear those words, that you wished you'd never hear. You say that you want to know what it's like, but do you? Would you want the time for you to find out what that's like, to be when you're face to face with a Dark Wizard that has no interest in survivors. Because when you're in that position, the position when you have to see someone you like die in front of your eyes. You best hope that you happen to blink at the time, because that's a sight you never want to see- and even though I don't like your attitude- a sight I wish you don't have to see." Cassiopeia ranted from her place besides the Weasley twins. Fred reached over and placed his arm across her shoulders, George moving to her other side and mirroring his twin's actions on the other side.

"She's right. But look, I don't want to talk about Cedric, so if that's why you're here, you might as well clear out." Harry added. He then looked to Hermione. "Come on, Hermione. They're all here because they think I'm some sort of freak."

"Is it true you can produce the Patronus Charm?" Luna asked, stopping Harry in his movements to leave the hut.

"Yes. I've seen it." Hermione responded.

"Blimey, Harry. I didn't know you could do that." Dean replied.

"It was Cass who helped me learn." Harry replied, looking to the girl sandwiched between the twins- while Amelia had moved to speak to Ginny.

"You can produce the Patronus charm too?" Neville asked the girl. She nodded.

"Wicked." The Weasley twins replied.

"And Harry, he killed a basilisk with the sword in Dumbledore's office." Neville said.

"It's true." Ginny agreed.

"And third year, he and Cass fought off about a hundred Dementors at once." Ron added.

"And last year, they really did fight off You-Know-Who in the flesh." Hermione added.

"Wait. Look, it all sounds great when you say it like that, but the truth is, most of that was just luck. I didn't know what I was doing half the time. I nearly always had help." Harry said.

"He's just being modest." Hermione said.

"No, Hermione, I'm not. Facing this stuff in real life is not like school. In school, if you make a mistake, you can just try again tomorrow. But out there... When you're a second away from being murdered or watching a friend die right before your eyes... You don't know what that's like. Only Cass knows because she was there with me." Harry replied. He then sat in his chair, he'd said all he felt he could. Hermione then sat in her chair, putting a hand on Harry's arm.

"You're right, Harry, we don't." Hermione said. "That's why we need your help. Because if we're going to have any chance of beating... Voldemort..." The first time she'd ever spoken the Dark Lord's true name.

"He's really back?" Nigel asked from the front in a small voice. Harry looked up to the boy and nodded. That was all that was needed. Hermione brought out some paper and everyone began to sign, starting with the trio. Everyone signed, and it made everything seem real. In the end there were only two people left to sign. Amelia grabbed the quill and wrote her own name before handing the quill to Cassiopeia. But she didn't sign it, she just looked at the paper.

"We need you, Cass. You're brilliant at spells. You helped me with the Patronus." Harry spoke, noticing the girl's hesitation.

"Yeah but that was different. We weren't breaking rules. If Umbridge knew-" Cassiopeia said.

"Then we'd face her, together. We'd be at each other's side." Harry replied.

"And who will be at my father's side. You all know there's more at stake here. If it was my fault my father got fired, I wouldn't be able to look at him again. The guilt... I just... And then Lyra..." Cassiopeia replied, trailing off as she imagined it. "You don't understand."

"We can't do this without you." Ron said. "What if you don't sign your name? Just come to the meetings you're comfortable with attending?"

"You wouldn't have any physical ties to the group, and you could leave whenever you want." Hermione added.

"Okay." Cassiopeia whispered in response. But one thought was running through her head: 'I better not regret this'.

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Thanks for reading

-Zoe