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CHAPTER NINETY-SIX
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CASSIE HAD ALWAYS FOUND IT HARD for her mind to focus on one thing; even when she was extremely young her mind would travel as if it wanted to get around the World in eighty days.
She could never focus one thought for too long, her mind would always find a link from that one thought to another before she could stop it.
Her mind was constantly running at a million miles per hour and each thought came and went just as quickly.
Cassie had never cared about the way her mind changed more times than she blinked a day.
She'd never given it more than one thought, which too, ironically, wasn't there for long.
But when she found out that someone she loved was hurt - it was all she could think about.
All other thoughts were drowned out by that one thought that only grew as more time - before long it was the only thing Cassie could think about and all other thoughts struggled under the weight of that one as they tried to desperately grab her attention yet again.
Cassie was running.
Her hair was bouncing with every step she took, her chest heaving with the urge to gather more air into her lungs, her side hurt and her head pounded.
But she still ran.
Cassie didn't apologise to the students she bumped into and she didn't notice the states she was receiving as she ran through the halls and staircases of the castle.
She didn't even give the students on their way to breakfast a second glance as her thoughts pounded in her ears like the beat of a drum.
Each thud of her feet on the floor in time with the same thought starting again in her mind.
It was like a broken record player that only played the same track time after time after time.
But none of that mattered to her.
Cassie hadn't needed another word of exclamation from Alice and she sat on the bench for a second longer, before she ran out of the hall - leaving her bag and her friends behind.
She was worried - James was hurt, of course she was going to be worried.
But she almost felt like her worry went deeper than just the fact that James was hurt.
Cassie wasn't entirely sure why she felt like that, but she had the hunch that it was because James was there for her when she was in pain and she wasn't there for him.
Cassie knew that it was a ridiculous thought, she wasn't to know that James was in the Hospital Wing until someone had told her.
But still, the feeling resided in the pit of her stomach like a cramp that you couldn't get rid of.
Cassie only slowed down when she caught sight of the Hospital Wing, but the thoughts in her head sped up more than ever.
Cassie took a deep breath before she pushed open the door to the Hospital Wing with a shaky hand.
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"This is utter bullshit!"
"Cass-"
"No, don't you fucking Cass me."
". . . but that's your name?"
Regulus raised one of his eyebrows slightly as he watched Cassie send him a sharp look while she paced back and forth in front of him.
Cassie's school uniform was a mess; her white, untucked shirt was full of creases that were extremely evident in the white cotton and the top few buttons of it were undone; her tie was no longer around her neck, even loosely, and was now shoved into her bag in anger; one of her socks was pulled up past her knee while the other was bunched up by her ankle.
Cassie stopped pacing for a moment and glanced towards the closed Hospital Wing door. She let out a small, yet audible, sigh as she started to pace once again.
Regulus couldn't have counted how many times she had looked at the door, but not once had she made a movement to open it again.
The halls of the school were now silent, bar the off shouting teacher that came from behind a closed classroom door and the noise of Cassie's feet hitting the dented concrete of the floor as she paced.
Back and forth.
Back and forth.
"Cass, stop pacing, you're going to create a hole in the floor." Regulus was sitting near Cassie on one of the windowsills, the small heat that came from the sun was warming his back.
Cassie didn't stop as she sent another sharp look in his direction and Regulus was strongly reminded of Professor McGonagall when she did so.
"Cassie." Regulus said, more sternly than the last time and his eyebrows were now furrowed slightly.
"Sit down, pacing won't do anything."
Cassie nodded her head once as she stopped pacing and moved so that she was sitting next to Regulus, she didn't waste a moment before placing her head on his shoulder.
"It just feels fucked up Reg."Cassie muttered after a minute of silence had passed between the two of them.
"It's not fair, I'm his girlfriend, I should be allowed to see him - but at the same time I understand where Madam Pomfrey is coming from."
Regulus frowned as his sister spoke and he too moved his head so that it was resting on top of Cassie's.
Both of them stared at the blank wall opposite them.
"I just want to see him and make sure he's okay. If Madam Pomfrey would tell me anything then I'd be content. But I haven't heard a peep."
Cassie and Regulus simultaneously let out short sighs, but neither of them laughed like they normally would've at that.
Regulus didn't know what to say.
Cassie already admitted that she couldn't be mad at Madam Pomfrey because she knew where the medi-witch was coming from and at the same time she was still slightly annoyed as all she wanted to do was make sure that James was okay.
He hated not knowing what to say to her, but he just had no clue what words to speak.
"You know?" Cassie continued speaking after another minute of silence had passed between the siblings, she either didn't care that Regulus hadn't said anything or she wasn't showing it.
"James thinks of you like a little brother already." Cassie murmured, her voice quivering faintly. Tears were merging in the corners of her eyes and pushing other tears as they tried to escape, but Cassie didn't let them fall.
"He told me the other week when he got back from helping you with your Transfiguration work - he also said you shouldn't be trusted with a wand but we don't mention that."
Cassie and Regulus both let out soft chuckles, the formers being more watery than the latter's.
"Is this a good time to tell you I'm planing on stealing your man Cassie?"
"You do that and I'll get Crookshanks on you, you know he can be a violent cat."
Regulus let out another small chuckle.
"Don't worry, James is yours."
"I know."
Silence took over the pair yet again; the only thing both of them could hear was the others soft breathing.
Students passed them in the hall as they made their way to the next lesson. The odd person glanced at the siblings before they were pushed away by the swarm of other students.
What seemed like hours passed in a blur; Cassie didn't move her head from resting on Regulus' shoulder and he didn't move his head from on top of hers.
Silence filled the air and an uncertainness came with it.
Neither of the siblings spoke.
A while had passed before the door of the Hospital Wing opened and Sirius walked out.
He was facing the floor, his hair pulled back into a messy ponytail near the top of his neck. His clothes were untidy and dirt covered his jeans.
Sirius looked up and Cassie frowned at the large bags under his eyes that were red and raw with tears. His face was red and slightly blotchy, it was covered in dried tears. A single, long scratch went down the length of chin, it had began to heal slightly.
"Sirius!" Cassie cried out as she jumped up from her seat besides Regulus and rushed over to Sirius - whose eyes widened slightly as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a tight hug.
Sirius didn't hesitate for a second before he wrapped his arms around Cassie's middle in turn, hugging her just as tightly as she hugged him.
"Are you okay?" Cassie asked as she pulled away from the hug and held Sirius' face between her hands. She caused his cheeks to smush up and he winced slightly when she placed her hand on the cut on his jaw.
Sirius sheepishly nodded and he looked over Cassie's shoulder at Regulus, who was walking over to the twins.
Regulus reached them and embraced them in a hug too.
All three Black siblings held onto each other for a few minutes.
Not a word was exchanged between the three of them as they hugged, just as tightly as they had the day Cassie awoke at the Potter Cottage.
They all pulled away and Cassie led Sirius over to the windowsill that she and Regulus had been sitting at.
Sirius sat down and Regulus sat down next to him while Cassie kneeled on the ground in front of both her brothers.
Sirius looked down once again - Cassie knew he was avoiding meeting her eyes.
"What happened?" She inquired with a soft voice, they could all hear the slight quiver of worry that lay hidden under the softness.
Sirius met Cassie's eyes for a fraction of a second before he looked back down at the ground.
"Sirius, please, what happened?" Cassie tried again to get an answer out of her brother. She shuffled forwards on her knees slightly.
Sirius let out a shaky breath, however, he still didn't move his gaze from the ground.
"It was meant to be a prank." He began, his voice shook and Cassie didn't know if it was a mixture of fear or regret.
"That was all, a fucking prank." Sirius wiped under his eyes as a few tears were pushed over the edge by the others that were pooling in them.
"But then Snape, of course, had to mess it all up and now everything has gone to shit."
Cassie and Regulus shared a look, both with furrowed eyebrows.
The quiver in Sirius' voice was the only thing that made Cassie uncertain about what Sirius had told her - it sounded as if there was a lot more to the story that Sirius was telling her.
But Cassie didn't want to push him to tell her, i'd there was something more to it then he would either tell her when he was ready, or he would keep it a secret and either way Cassie respect his decision.
Regulus, however, asked a question before Cassie could have said anything else.
"So how'd you get the scratch?"
Sirius met his younger brothers eye, but once again it was only for a fraction of a second before he looked away once again.
His eyes were more red than before and they were glassed over as more tears appeared in them, creating what looked like a real storm going on behind his eyes.
Sirius felt as if he were in the middle of a storm. His mind was fighting and contradicting itself over and over again and he didn't know what to say.
His mind was a storm and he was stuck in the middle of it all.
There was this feeling at the pit of his stomach that he knew was a large mixture of guilt and worry.
"It's from the Whomping Willow." Sirius admitted, wiping the few tears that had fallen from his face once again.
"You told Snape to go to the Whomping Willow and he went?" Regulus asked, furrowing his eyebrows even more than before.
Regulus became confused as Sirius nodded, he knew Snape.
He knew that Snape wasn't stupid and wouldn't fall for something that the marauders said - it was highly unlikely that Snape would've gone somewhere the marauders told him unless there was something in it for himself.
"And now he knows Remus' secret, and James had to help him before it got too much and now they are both going to hate me. Remus is going to break up with me-"
"What?" Regulus interjected, only to be shot a sharp look by Cassie and he didn't press the matter further.
"And I know I shouldn't have done it, but when Snape came along I just couldn't help it and I told him but James had to save him and Remus, it wasn't even Remus' fault and now they're both hurt badly. And it's all my fault."
Sirius was now crying. Large tears fell from his eyes, just as fast as raindrops fell from the sky and just as heavy.
Cassie's worry only grew as Sirius mentioned that both Remus and James were badly hurt.
Her head was pounding as a rush of thoughts filled it and she quickly rubbed above her eyebrow for a moment.
Cassie then stood up, she walked over to Sirius and sat down the other side of him, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into another tight hug as he began to sob.
Cassie ran a hand through his hair as her other hand held him close to her.
"Shh." She whispered, the way a mother would to their screaming child. Her voice was softer than ever despite the worry she felt.
"It's okay."
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HIIII
I HOPE THAT YOU'RE
ALL DOING WELL THIS
SUNDAY EVENING
I WATCHED WANDAVISION
BEFORE AND HOLY GUACAMOLE
WANDA, MY LOVE
RUN ME OVER PLEASE
I WILL LITERALLY PAY
HER TO DO SO
(:
ANYWAYS
THERE MAY BE TWO CHAPTERS
OUT TODAY AS I REALLY
WANT TO CONTINUE WRITING THIS
RN LOL
I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS
CHAPTER AND IF YOU
DID FEEL FREE TO
TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT
AND WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE NEXT
lots of love
- Emily xx