Although thunderstruck by Moody's magical eye being stuck on her, she hurried to the staff table and fell into a chair next to Snape. Her gaze wandered over to Webster and Beverly who were still chatting happily. Casandra helped herself with more wine, feeling the bitter and sour taste of it running down her throat. At least it helped to distract her a bit – not for long, though. Dumbledore had just announced that the Triwizard Tournament would be taking place at Hogwarts this year – which was followed by loads of 'uhhhs' and 'ahhhhs' – when he turned around and pointed at Mr Crouch, Mr Bagman and Beverly who were all sitting next to each other. Mr Crouch stood up, made his way to the front and said a few words about the tournament. He then pointed at Beverly again and waved her over to him.
"Miss Beverly Brooks, from the department of magical education, will now say a few words regarding the tournament and your time at this school." Beverly stood up and grinned broadly, obviously feeling extra important now. Whispering amongst the girls became audible. Beverly, however, ignored it. When she had placed herself right in front of the students, her grinning intensified. "Good evening to all of you!" she paused and looked around, trying to address each and every student in the Great Hall. Casandra mentally rolled her eyes. "As a member of the department of magical education, and therefore representative of the Ministry of Magic itself, I'm more than delighted to inform you about the educational background and the information you seek to know – what about your classes and exams?" "As if anyone of them would care about that. Well, maybe Hermione." said Casandra under her breath to Snape. He had to suppress a snort.
The 'best' was yet to come, though. When Beverly had told them that the Hogwarts champion would not have to take the exams at the end of the year and would also be excused in many of his classes (champions duties), her voice left the cheerful not and turned into a stern announcement voice. She spoke like a true politician. "Nevertheless, the champion will have to show his or her determination and interest that they will revise anyway and will catch up on what they have missed. Even though the Ministry of Magic has a different view on how to... ehem handle the education of young witches and wizards, Hogwarts school and the Ministry have agreed on this. Moreover, extra work will and must be necessary and no champion is allowed to familiarise him- or herself with neither the advanced defence of the dark arts nor with the ... ehem dark arts as a subject for theoretical background knowledge. We the Ministry of Mag—" "—Thank you, Miss Brooks. I think you've made your point of view clear." smiled Dumbledore at her, although his blue eyes weren't twinkling with gratitude or sympathy. The corners of Beverly's mouth twitched and formed a swift and cold smile. She couldn't be serious? Had she really just spoken against Dumbledore in the name of the Ministry? In front of the whole school? She used to be the kind of person who hated people like that. Her longing for admiration and a distinguished career seemed to have swamped her brain, making her blind. She went back to her seat with her nose slightly up. When she had sat down, she turned to Webster and kissed him, followed by gasps and whispers from the girls in the Great Hall. "Ugh, guess what'll be in the next issue of Witch Weekly?" spatted Casandra, rolling her eyes at the sight of them. Snape turned to her. To Casandra's surprise her flashed a smile at her. "Please don't tell me that you're actually still reading this rubbish of paper." he said softly. "Oh, no, no. No, of course not. Well, I used to...when I was a student..." "I know." he whispered with a soft smile on his lips, eying her closely.
Dumbledore sent the students off to bed and then turned around to face the staff. "I invite you all to join me and our guests from the Ministry to join me for a nightcap. Madam Rosmerta was so kind to provide some drinks for us in the staffroom. Casandra felt uncomfortable. She wasn't really looking forward to spending an evening with Moody, Beverly and Webster in one room. As though Snape had yet again read her mind, he said "Don't worry. I'm with you. Besides, I don't think that you'll be the only target for Moody tonight."
— — —
Beverly waved them happily over to her and Webster. Casandra's feet apparently didn't want to, though, as they kept sticking to the ground like chewing gum. "Come on." hissed Snape impatiently, taking her by the wrist and almost dragging her behind him. "Interesting speech, Brooks." snarled Snape with a gleeful smile on his face. "If it were up to you at the Ministry, you'd love us all to stick to theory only, right?" he added rather coldly. "— and if it were up to you, Snape, you'd have the good old days back, right?" said a deep voice from behind. Casandra jumped and almost knocked Webster's drink out of his hands. "I'm sorry, Oscar!" she said extremely fast and completely breathless. "Ahhh," said the deep voice, "Fancy seeing you here, Clark." "Snape," corrected Casandra, "my surname is Snape." she said through gritted teeth. "Nah, you will always be Clark for me. Although Snape doesn't make it better, does it eh? You can run as far away from your family and past as possible, but this keeps sticking to you like rotti—" "—Enough, Moody." said Snape coldly, glaring at him. Moody stared at him, his magical eye scanning him from head to toe. "Interesting, isn't it?" he suddenly said, tearing his magical eye away from Snape, letting it wander to Casandra, Beverly and Webster. "Changed your type of company, eh? First, only pure-bloods, then half-bloods and now even Squibs. What's next, Clark? Muggles? What does your mother say about this? Been in touch with her lately? She made a nice front-page, didn't she?" said Moody with a hollow laugh. "How dare you!" exclaimed Beverly, shocked. It was the first time that Casandra was actually happy that she was there. Beverly knew only too well how often Casandra had been questioned during her school time because of her parents. Moreover, Moody was John's former boss. Casandra felt her temper rising and a vein on her temple pulsing. The blood was buzzing in her ears. "If you would excuse me for a second." she said shortly and turned on her heel, making her way towards the door. She needed some fresh air. That day had been a hell of a day.
She was walking through the moonlit grassed courtyard for what felt like at least half an hour, trying to calm down, when she started to feel cold. Her mind was still racing. Who did Moody think he is?! She just didn't know how on earth she'd survive a whole year with him being there. Casandra was drowning more and more in her thoughts, feeling her temper rising again, when she bumped into something solid. "Ouch! I'm sorry, I — Oscar? What are you doing here?" For a split second, Casandra had the hope and feeling that he'd say that he'd been looking for her. She was soon disabused, though. "No worries... I was on my way to get Beverly's cloak. She must have forgotten it in my chamber." he said stiffly. "Right..." said Casandra, facing the stone floor, regarding her shadow in the moonlight.
Webster looked at her briefly and turned on his heel. Casandra's mind seemed to be on fast forward, as she wasn't thinking properly. Before she could stop herself, she cried after Webster who stopped dead, showing her his back. "Oscar! Wait!" Slowly, her turned around, wearing an expression of both, relief and confusion. "What? What is it?" he said rather coldly. "I – I – Do you have a second?" stammered Casandra. Seeing the reaction on his face, she added swiftly "Please." Webster shrugged and came back to her. "So?" he said, not looking at her as though he knew what was coming. "You were right. I didn't come to your office by accident. I – I wanted to talk to you." began Casandra. She felt her hands shaking slightly. "So?" repeated Webster as though she hadn't spoken at all. "Er – Well, I don't know where to begin—" "—You better think quickly about it then, it's freezing and Beverly is waiting for her coat." he stated matter-of-factly. Since when was Webster this cold to her? Didn't he care at all?
Casandra took a deep breath and started to tell him everything from how much she regretted telling him what she had told him at his place, through to how much she missed him as a friend. What she kept to herself, however, was that he was right with his assumption as to her feelings for him. "—So, I am so sorry, Oscar. Please. I miss you so much and I want you back as a friend...I need you...When I saw the photo of Audrey and you, I had to think of our photo and our great time. Do you know that we met exactly one year ago, by the way?" There was silence. Complete, awkward and painful silence. Not even the nearby trees made a sound as a gust of wind filled the night. Webster still wasn't looking at her. When he suddenly looked up and directly at Casandra, she felt her stomach giving a lurch. "Yes, I do." he answered shortly. Before Casandra could ask what he meant, he continued. "And there is nothing that I regret more than making your acquaintance, Casandra. You and Snape, you really deserve each other. You're both selfish to the core." Webster added in an ice-cold voice, glaring at her.
Casandra's heart sank with pain as if she'd just been stabbed, whereas her insides didn't jerk anymore. In fact, she felt as though she didn't have any insides at all and her breath had been taken away. When she had finally regained the ability to speak, she still found it hard to find the right words to say. "W-what? What d-do y-you m-mean?" she managed to say with an extremely shaking voice. Tears were filling her eyes and she needed all her strength to supress them. Webster took a very deep breath as though he was preparing to stay underwater for an extreme long course of time. "I mean, Casandra, that I wish I had never met you." he stated coldly, but with less determination. "No! No. Don't say that, please! I – I am so sorry, really Oscar. Please!" she whimpered. Tears were now running down her cheeks like a waterfall. Webster let out a hollow laugh. "Are you? Wonderful. Good for you." "Oscar please. Don't be like that! I'm sorry. I really am! I never meant to hurt you!" Casandra was crying even harder now and almost falling down on her knees, begging Webster to forgive her. She grabbed his wrist, trying to make him look at her. "Gerroff me, Casandra!" He looked directly at her with tearful eyes. "You never meant to hurt me? Really? You didn't have to cut me up then! You didn't have to tear me to pieces. To destroy me completely. For your information, Casandra, you hurt me. You don't need to fire curses at somebody to hurt them. Words cut way deeper than that. And you hurt me more than anyone has ever done. Who do you think you are, eh? It's not only that you've thrown words and things at me that ripped my heart apart, but also raised false hopes. And that all, because you are a selfish coward, Casandra. Now, when your dear husband keeps secrets from you again and you don't know who to talk to, because you've also put off your best friend, you want me back as your friend. Or is it because you can't stand the feeling of Beverly and me being happy? Or because you're not occupying centre stage? Because it's always got to be you who gets everything she wants, isn't it?" Webster took another deep breath. "You know perfectly well that you're feeling more than friendship for me. You know that you love us both, but you're too cowardice and too selfish to admit it. Instead, you play me like a violin, flirt with me, made me build up false hopes and destroy me right at a point when it gets too uncomfortable for you. And now you want me back, pretending that nothing has happened, ignoring my feelings. Because you need me. No, Casandra. Don't try to come back for me. I'm gone."