Atelophobia - George Weasley

10 ; the four champions

ACT ONE
scene ten
THE FOUR CHAMPIONS
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(TW: ED - it is not meant to insinuate Cassie has an ED, however one or two sentence's could be triggering.)

THE HALLOWEEN FEAST was one of the most stressful dinners Cassie had ever sat through. That was saying a lot.

Her leg bounced up and down uncontrollably as she zoned out. She didn't know how long she'd been staring out into space before Beckett placed a gentle hand above her knee.

"Cassiopeia." He said firmly.

Cassie snapped her head in his direction.

Eliza and Maria stopped talking at once.

"What?" Cassie asked with a scowl. She hated being called by her full name. The only person who ever did that was her father.

"I said your name at least four times and you weren't responding." Beckett explained. "Now please, stop staring at the Gryffindor table and eat something."

Cassie blinked, and looked down at the untouched food before her.

The very idea of eating made her extremely nauseous. Looking at the full plate made her want to hurl. She pushed the plate away from her and looked back up to Beckett.

Her leg began to bounce up and down again. The sick feeling remained with her as her heart began to beat faster.

"Cas just breathe, please." Eliza said with a frown.

Cassie wanted to scream. She wanted to yell at her friends, even though they didn't deserve it. Cassie wanted to tell them that they could never understand how she felt.

She wanted to yell at her father.

She wanted to scream at Dumbeldore to just get it over with already and pull those names out of the damn cup.

Cassie wanted to yell at the Weasley twins because they had the audacity to "accidentally" push her while they were running into the great hall.

"Just give her some space, guys." Maria said softly, watching Cassie apprehensively.

Cassie would've thanked her if she wasn't on the verge of a breakdown.

Her friends fell back into casual conversation, and Cassie stared blankly into space once more.

She hadn't even noticed Beckett take her hand in his underneath the table. He gave it a small squeeze, and Cassie looked back over to him.

He gave her a reassuring smile and placed a kiss on the top of her head.

"You'll be fine, Malfoy. Champion or not, we're still going to be by your side." He whispered.

Cassie had the strong urge to cry at his kind words, but her cold expression remained.

He knew she appreciated it though, because she squeezed his hand in return.

Maria watched them with an unnoticed, pained expression.

After what seemed like ages, the plates finally disappeared from the tables. Dumbeldore raised from his chair and Cassie's heart rate sped up.

He announced that the goblet was nearly ready, he expected it to take one more minute. Beckett squeezed her hand again.

A tense silence fell upon the crowd.

That was when the goblet turned a bright red, and sparks began to fly from it. Cassie was shaking as the first piece of parchment flew out of the goblet. Dumbeldore caught it quickly.

"The champion for durmstrang, will be...Viktor Krum!" He announced loudly.

The hall exploded with cheers as the famous Quidditch player rose from his seat. Cassie clapped herself, as Eliza said "Well that's not a surprise!"

The goblet turned red once more, and the next piece of parchment flew from it.

"The Beauxbatons champion is...Fleur Delaclour!"

A beautiful girl with shiny blonde hair rose gracefully from her seat at the Ravenclaw table.

"Salazar she's pretty." Beckett said aloud, and Cassie caught the frown that crossed over Maria's face. Maria stopped clapping along with the crowd.

The silence returned, and Cassie felt incredibly sick. Everyone knew what was coming, the choosing of the Hogwarts champion.

She could already hear her fathers disappointed scolding. She could feel his distaste for his failure of a daughter.

The goblet of fire turned red and Cassie couldn't breathe as the parchment flew out of it.

The hall was deadly silent as Dumbeldore caught the parchment, students were sitting on the edge of their seats.

"The Hogwarts champion is... Cassiopeia Malfoy!"

Relief flooded over Cassie as she regained her confident smirk. Beckett was shaking her excitedly as the Slytherin table exploded in cheers.

I did it. She thought to herself as she rose from her seat.

The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were cheering as well, and even some Gryffindors.

She could also hear two obnoxious voices booing her, but they could hardly be heard over the booming from the Slytherin table. Students in green had rose to their feet, clapping and cheering with proud expressions.

Draco was yelling and pointing at her with a smile, "THATS MY SISTER! THAT IS MY SISTER!"

Cassie shot a look in the direction of the Weasley twins.

They looked furious but this just made Cassie smile wider.

Cassie exited to the chambers past the great hall, but she could still hear them. Her heart pounded out of her chest with euphoria.

"Cassie!" Viktor exclaimed as her saw her enter the room. Cassie smiled at him.

Fleur was wearing an expression that looked as if she was trying to decide to be friendly to Cassie or not.

The girl took a moment to let her heart rate slow down once more. Viktor struck up a conversation immediately, while Fleur sat in silence.

Their conversation didn't last long, because Harry Potter came wondering through the door with a shocked expression.

Cassie blinked at him, she wondered if there had been a problem. Maybe the goblet had chosen her by mistake, and Harry was the real champion. It would make sense.

"What iz it?" Fleur asked Harry, a bit too rudely in Cassie's opinion but she had to appreciate it. "Do zey want us back in ze hall?"

Cassie read his expression quite clearly though, as he stared at them blankly. Something was wrong.

"Potter, what is it?" Cassie asked in a cold voice.

Harry opened his mouth to answer but it was too late, Ludo Bagman had burst into the room.

Cassie watched as Ludo grabbed Harry by the arm. "Extraordinary!" He exclaimed. "Absolutely extraordinary!"

Cassie frowned.

"Ladies and gentleman, may I introduce, as incredible as it may seem, the fourth tri-wizard champion." Ludo said proudly.

And the anger returned to Cassie's body once more.