harry
When Harry and Dumbledore approached the front entrance of the Burrow, a nervous voice shouted out, "Who's there?!"
"It is I, Dumbledore, bringing Harry," Dumbledore announced through the door. Moments later a flustered Mrs Weasley appeared and let the pair into the warm kitchen.
The Burrow looked the same as it had the first time Harry had visited. Self cleaning dishes were floating in the air above the sink, the countertops were covered in various recipes, clothing magazines and store catalogues, and about a dozen different sized shoes lined the floor by the back door.
However, much to Harry's surprise, Tonks was sitting at the kitchen table. Her hands were wrapped around a small cup of tea. Not much had been drank, but the lack of steam suggested it was not fresh. When Harry made eye contact with her, Tonks quickly looked away and attempted to divert her attention to picking away the polish on her nails.
"Oh goodness, you two gave me such a fright! We weren't expecting you until the morning," Mrs Weasley exclaimed.
"My apologies, Molly. Professor Slughorn proved much more persuasive than expected."
Mrs Weasley lead the pair toward the kitchen table where Tonks was still avoiding Harry's eyes. Before he and Dumbledore could take their seats, Tonks bursted from the table. Her chair nearly fell from the sudden movement.
"I really must be going, Mrs Weasley. Thank you for the tea," Tonks muttered while rushing toward the door.
"Don't leave on my account, I cannot stay long. I have urgent matters to discuss with Rufus Scrimgeour."
"No, no, I must be going," Tonks said hurriedly before escaping out the back door.
It wasn't long before Dumbledore followed in Tonks's footsteps and left the Burrow. When Mrs Weasley turned back to Harry she was still wearing the same troubled expression that had grown across her face when Tonks ran from the house. However, her current emotional state didn't keep her from giving Harry a warm welcome.
"You're like Ron," Mrs Weasley sighed, "both of you look as though you have stretching jinxes put on you. I swear Ron's grown four inches since I last bought him school robes. My guess is you're hungry, Harry?"
"Starving," Harry sighed as his stomach groaned in agreement. He missed dinner thanks to Dumbledore's adventure and coincidentally that was the only meal the Dursleys bothered to feed him.
As Harry sat waiting in his chair a familiar orange cat began rubbing up in his leg. Crookshanks announced herself with a loud meow and continued to bother Harry until he scratched her behind the ears.
"So Hermione's here, is she?"
"Yes, she arrived a week before Cassandra. They're all in bed. We weren't expecting you to arrive for at least a few more hours," Mrs Weasley explained while stirring a pot of soup on the stove.
"Cass's here?" Harry asked softly.
"Yes, Dumbledore brought her here a few weeks ago... Maybe now that you've arrived her mood will improve, the poor girl has been awfully sad."
"What do you mean?"
"Cassandra hasn't been her usual bubbly and entertaining self. She hasn't even been eating her food. I even made her favorite chowder and she barely ate two bites!"
"But why has she been so upset?" Harry asked as Mrs Weasley placed a bowl in front of him.
"I think you should talk to her about that," Mrs Weasley frowned. "But never mind that now, eat, eat!"
Reluctantly, Harry began feeding himself spoonfuls of soup. The house was dead quiet apart from the sound of scrubbing dishes and the occasional screech coming from the gardens. Did the garden gnomes ever sleep?
"Tonks seemed to be a poor mood as well," Harry noted.
"Unfortunately, yes. She's been rather a mess since Sirius died. I think she blames herself."
There's a lot of that going around, Harry thought. He didn't understand what Tonks had to feel guilty about, it's not like she was the sole reason for Sirius's death.
"She was dueling Bellatrix, you see. It's terrible to watch family die like that."
"Yeah, it is," Harry muttered while pushing his empty bowl away from where he was sitting.
Mrs Weasley shot Harry a sympathetic glance as she cleared the dishes from his spot at the table. "You should head up to bed, I'm sure everyone will want to see you first thing in the morning."
"I'll try not to wake Ron," Harry said as he walked toward the stairs.
"Oh, you won't be sleeping in Ron's room tonight. I haven't moved the extra bed in there yet... You'll have to sleep in the twins' room with Cassandra. Just be careful not to wake her, she barely gets any sleep these days. She needs every bit of rest she can get."
"She's not sleeping?" Harry asked softly. He had hoped the weeks away from his company would've been good for Cass. It seemed he had only bought her trouble. He hated the thought she had been suffering these past two months.
"Yes, she's had these awful nightmares ever since she arrived. It was almost like having you back in the house."
"What are they about?"
Mrs Weasley's mouth opened then snapped closed before she could talk. She the turned and began washing the dishes in the sink by hand, "Why don't you just go on upstairs, honey."
"Um... alright," Harry murmured. He took him a moment to realize that Mrs Weasley had expertly deflected most of his questions about Cass. It annoyed him slightly, but Harry went up the stairs without another word.
When he entered the twins's bedroom, Harry was faced with a much different sight than the last time he had seen it. All of the bubbling cauldrons and smoking beakers had entirely disappeared and was replaced with mounds of clothing. Considering the feminine appearance of the fabric, Harry guessed it was all Cass's.
Surprisingly, his luggage was also waiting for him on the empty bed. How Dumbledore always managed to know where he was residing eluded Harry.
Very quietly, Harry creeped over to his luggage. Cass jumped slightly as the metal buckles unclasped. Harry cursed himself for his clumsiness, but it quickly became apparent it wasn't his misstep that startled Cass.
Harry watched as Cass began to toss and turn in her small bed. The flash of pain across her face made him wince.
"No stop," she pleaded with her eyes still closed.
"Cass?" Harry asked as he ran to her beside.
"Don't do it! He doesn't know anything!"
As she became more frantic, Harry tried to wake her, but it was if she was trapped inside her mind.
"NO!" She shouted before jumping awake. Harry flung backwards to avoid being hit by her head as she sat up in the bed.
Sweat had beaded across her forehead and caused the short hairs framing her face to remain stuck against her skin.
"Are you alright?" Harry asked.
Cass's gaze snapped to where he was standing. "Harry?" she asked in disbelief.
"Hey..." Harry asked with an unnatural smile to hide his nervousness.
"What the bloody hell are you doing here?"
"Um... it doesn't matter. Are you alright?" Harry was taken back by Cass's very apparent hostility. He thought she would have forgiven him by now. But evidently not.
"I'm fine, it was just a little nightmare."
"That didn't seem like just a nightmare..."
"I said I'm fine. Just let it go."
"I'm sorry, I just know how terrible and scared bad dreams can make you feel. I hate seeing you upset."
"Well, it's a little late for that. Don't you think?" Cass shot back at Harry, "I'm leaving. I need to be alone."
And without another word, Cass grabbed a jacket and left the room in an angered rush. Harry was left staring at an empty room in shock. Nothing could have prepared him for the wave of emotions that hit his entire being.
Harry sat on the bed for what felt like hours waiting for Cass to return, but she never did. It was extremely difficult to restrain himself from running to find her. But after seeing her anger and fear in Cass's eyes, Harry didn't want to risk doing anything more to upset her.
The only comfort as he laid in the dark, lonely room was the reminder that she's safe from everyone out there trying to hurt him. That thought kept Harry strong. It kept him from giving into every urge, every cry of his body to go help her. Because as long as he kept his distance, she would remain safe. And that's the only thing that mattered to him.
**********
A/N
Harry and Cass are back together again! Cass is still mad tho, but I don't blame her Harry's definitely being an ass hat, even though his heart is in the right place.
Ugh I wish I had a Harry.
But I'll probably be waiting forever for that one.
Also, sorry for the short update. I'm currently on vacation so I haven't had much time to write, but I'm coming home this week so expect a normal update next Sunday!
I hope they're reunion was worth the wait.
-Madds
read•comment•vote