war of hearts

vii. spilt wine

.☆*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ☆*.

AS THE DAYS PASSED, CASS FELT more and more guilty that she'd turned Dumbledores proposal down. She felt completely useless, and all she could think about was what if she just did it? If she could be a little braver for once and just commit, for the order, but then she'd wake up in fear in the middle of the night and know she couldn't do it and keep her sanity. She needed to protect herself, for once in her life she needed to put herself first.

Noah could tell there was something on her mind, but he didn't want to push her on it, so he tried his best to just distract her. Three kids was a big enough distraction in itself, but he made sure she fell asleep before he did every night, and at the slightest unusual movement he'd wake up.

Cass wouldn't admit to anyone that Dumbledore of all people had triggered her nightmares ten tonne. She had gotten to the point where it was once a week, if that, but every night since Dumbledore had spoken to her she had woken up breathless and sweating, just catching herself before she screamed herself awake.

It was nothing Noah wasn't used to, he'd feel the mattress shift as she sat up and took deep breaths. He'd wait and see if she was really panicked before he did anything. If it was minor, he'd pretend not to wake and simply pull her closer when she'd lay back down, he could play it off as subconscious. If it was major, he was up in a second and he would calm her down. Cass was still far too proud to wake Noah, unless it was a life or death situation, and Noah knew that.

They'd gone to sleep early that night, Cass being hardly able to keep her eyes open as they watched TV, and Noah had fallen asleep not long after her. He woke abruptly as he felt Cass twitching, and he blinked rapidly to clear his vision. She was muttering to herself, a deep frown etched on her features and she was twitching.

Cas prided herself in her ability to have a nightmare without waking anyone up, she'd gotten the hang of it (Noah would never tell her he always knew) so she didn't typically twitch.

Noah was just about to switch on his bedside lamp when Cass screamed. He jumped, and knocked over his glass of water from the cabinet.

"Cass!" he said, gently taking her shoulders. The scream was continuous, and Noah wondered vaguely how she had so much breath. He shook her gently, but to no avail.

"Cassie? Wake up it's just a bad dream," he said. Cass gasped for breath as she finally woke up, shooting upwards and nearly bumping foreheads with Noah. She looked around panicked, clutching at Noah's hands.

"It's okay," Noah assured. "You're safe love, it was just a bad dream. It was just a bad dream."

Cass could only nod as silent tears streamed her face. Noah gently put his arm around her and leaned back against the headboard, trying to soothe her as best he could.

"What if he's got Sirius to do it?" Cass whispered hoarsely.

"Pardon love?"

"Dumbledore. What if he's roped Sirius into it?"Cass' eyes were wild with fear. "I can't lose Sirius to them."

"Sirius wouldn't do it," Noah said, but he wasn't certain. Maybe Sirius would do it if Dumbledore said the right things. Dumbledore could be very persuasive.