When Peace got Screwed Over (Edited)

Cassie and Theo

The next day the circlet sat in the room of requirement. Everyone was staring at the two people at the front of the room. Theo and... Cassie.

Cassie was back. Sort of. Temporarily. And they were losing her. The silver spectre of what was left floated next to Theo who looked like he had a bad reaction around his eyes. They were puffy and red. The tear streaks on his face told a different story. George was silent through the explanation of how Cassie was back and able to help them. He wasn't really paying attention. His eyes kept flicking to Theo.

After the meeting, George pulled Theo to the side.

"How are you doing?" he asked quietly.

"Fine," Theo ground out.

"No," George told him decidedly, "You're not."

"Well-" Theo fixed him with a glare "- do you expect me to be okay while watching my girlfriend die?"

"No." George pinched the bridge of his nose. "I really don't. Believe me, you're the furthest thing from okay right now."

A surge of sudden anger gripped Theo. "And how would you know that?!" he snapped. A second later he realised who he was talking to. "I - er - sorry. I -" he began to stutter trying to find words for an apology.

George pulled him into a hug. "It's okay," he whispered, "I know. It's okay."

Theo let out a loud sob.

"Go on." George started rubbing circles on a snivelling Theo's back. "It's okay."

The dam broke. Tears rolled down Theo's cheeks and sobs shook through his body. Normally, he would have been embarrassed by this but right now everything hurt to much to care. George understood. He understood very well.

Harriet had been as unemotional as always during the meeting, looking at everything from a completely logical standpoint. It was something Pansy had never understood about her. She was so factually oriented it made her seem almost machine-like at times while also staying in the grey area in the worldview and judgement zone. All in all she was a very puzzling person, who Pansy had never really understood.

Harriet, Pansy mused, always seemed to know everything. Wether that was every owl's name in the owlery, every existing dragon breed or everyone's plan of action. All she needed to do was take one look at you and she knew what was going on in your mind and life. The only thing she was completely oblivious to, was emotions. Emotions to her, were irrelevant. She tried her best to deal with them, but usually ended up complaining that dealing with other people's feelings was too much work and that they should be less hysterical. Harriet avoided unhappy people as a rule. Sometimes, Pansy and Hermione debated wether or not she actually had feelings. It usually became a discussion when she started blocking people out of her life.

Hermione was of the opinion that Harriet pushed away people who clogged her thinking process or people she didn't need around her. Not in the common sense either. Harriet only kept people around that helped her thought process and didn't even realise she pushed people away when they didn't. She was a calculated force of nature. How exactly that was possible, no one could figure out.

Meanwhile, Cassie was floating above the chandelier in the great hall. Invisible, she scanned the minds of a few select students. The ones that needed to be... removed from the system. What Harriet had meant by that Cassie had no clue. She trusted her friend however, and would do her best to keep the circlet safe.

There was no second shot at what she was doing.

She had no idea what she was doing.