Hateful Love

Chapter Thirty-Nine

          Katherine doesn’t say anything for the longest time, and I have a sudden urge to explain myself. “I—I had to do it. Amycus said he would kill Draco unless I didn’t, and he was watching the whole time. I couldn’t let Draco know why I was doing it without Amycus seeing. I feel awful, there’s nothing I can do, Draco’s going to hate me forever. He’ll—“

          “Cassie,” Katherine interrupts me, grabbing onto my shoulders. I’m beyond surprised to find that she’s smiling broadly.

          I feel a flash of anger. How is it possible to be smiling about this? I’m opening my mouth to tell her this when Katherine continues excitedly, “There is something we can do about it.”

          Eyeing her suspiciously, I reply uncertainly, “Katherine, there’s nothing I can do. If I try anything, Amycus will kill Draco. I’m not risking his life.”

          “Leave it to me,” Katherine smiles happily, standing so quickly that I jump slightly. She starts for the door with determination written on her face.

          “Wait, Katherine,” I call after her nervously, standing up as she reaches the door and pulls it open. “Where are you going? Katherine? Katherine!”

          She disappears down the stairwell without a glance back, leaving me behind feeling flustered and terrified that Katherine’s going to put Draco’s life in danger.

Draco P.O.V.

         I stare blankly at my pale reflection in the lake as I try desperately to think of what to do. Almost as soon as my last class ended, I headed straight down to the lake before I could lose it in front of everyone. Everything about today was terrible…just seeing Cassie after all that happened yesterday made me feel like passing out.

          I lean back up against the tree trunk and rub my forehead angrily. I have no idea how to get out of this whole thing with Yaxley’s daughter.

          I’ve already told my parents no once, but I know Lucius won’t allow that to happen again. The only thing I can think of is to talk with Samantha and get her to convince Yaxley to forget about the marriage—but my skin crawls at the thought of talking with her alone.

          My eyes have just started to drift shut with exhaustion when a stick snaps behind me, jerking me back awake. Shifting around, I turn to see none other than Katherine standing awkwardly a few feet away. She’s eyeing me carefully and shuffling her feet nervously. What the hell?

          “Um,” I say after a moment of silence. “Can I help you?”

          Katherine sighs heavily and takes a few steps forward, then to my surprise, sits down next to me.

          Feeling slightly uncomfortable, I blink down at her in confusion and force myself not to slide away from her. I eye her suspiciously and ask, “Is there something you need?”

          She pulls her knees up to her chest and stares at the lake as she says quietly, “I have to talk to you about what happened with Cassie.”

          “…what do you mean?” I reply slowly, worried she’s referring to what Cassie did yesterday. Because I most certainly do not want to talk about that right now.

          “I know why she broke up with you, Draco.”

          My grip on the patch of grass next to me tightens considerably as I try my best to ignore the ache from the gaping hole in my chest. My voice sounds stiff with suppressed emotion as I force out, “I don’t really want to talk about it, thanks.”

          Katherine shifts around to look at me, and I subconsciously slide an inch or two away from her. She looks so serious as she replies, “Cassie had to end things with you, or you would’ve been killed.”

          Her words take a moment to sink in. The first thing that comes out of my mouth through all the shock is, “What?”

          She takes a deep breath and launches into a hurried explanation, probably because of the look I’m giving her. “Cassie and the rest of them got caught that night they tried to break into the Carrows’ office, and Amycus punished them one by one. When it was Cassie’s turn, he told her he knew about you two, and he threatened to kill you if she didn’t end it. So the next morning, Cassie wanted to hint to you what was going on, but she knew Amycus was watching the entire time. She couldn’t do anything about it.”

          I suddenly realize that I’m standing, my arms crossed tightly in front of me in an attempt to control myself. Katherine looks over at me warily, as though concerned that I’ll explode at any second—and I just might. She stands as well and adds carefully, “She only did it so Amycus wouldn’t kill you. She was just trying to protect you.”

          “But—but surely she knew he was bluffing?” I choke out, wanting to cry out in pain. This is all too much.

          “You-Know-Who told Amycus he had permission to kill you and Cassie,” Katherine says carefully. She glances down at the ground for a second, as though debating whether or not to tell me the rest. “And…and she knew Amycus was serious. He used the Cruciatus curse on her.”

          My face loses all its color, and my mouth has formed a tight line. My blood boils at the thought of what Cassie must have gone through these past few days—and I wish more than anything that I could have taken her place. I have a sudden, intense urge to kill Amycus.

          Katherine takes a step closer, giving me a hard stare. “Look, I’m only telling you all this because you have to know that she still loves you. You can still be together. But…you have to make sure Cassie knows you’re going to be careful and not get caught. She’ll never admit to still liking you if she thinks it’ll put your life in danger. Got it?”

I clench my hands into fists and snap out of anger at everything the Carrows have done, “Got it.” My breath is coming out in short gasps, as though I don’t have enough air to breathe. Cassie was only trying to protect me.

With my teeth clamped tightly together, I force out to Katherine, “Tell Cassie to go to the Room of Requirement in twenty minutes. I’ll meet her there.”