tw short implication of suicide
"Alright, alright, settle down please," Cassie called, silencing the students in the classroom. "The final exam is next week and you all need to keep up the motivation until then, okay? After that, I don't really care if you do or do not do your Potions homework." A few students giggled.
"But if you fail, I will revoke your sweets privileges during the very last class of this year," she threatened, a few children gasping. "You have been warned." She shot them a playful wink. "So, who can tell me the ingredients for the Hair-Raising Potion?" A dozen hands shot up.
At the end of the class, Cassie gave a pep talk she had been giving to every class she had had the whole week. It was the last week before their final assignments and tests so she wanted to encourage them and ensure they all felt good enough to take the tests.
The end of the school year was near and Cassie was happy it was. She loved Hogwarts but she could use a long long break by now. But it didn't come without any stress. She wasn't sure yet what was going to happen over the summer and not just regarding the werewolf registry.
She could return to her shabby flat. She was going to, she had nowhere else to go. But she didn't want to. She didn't want to be all the way in Birmingham when Neville was across the country. She wanted to be near him she wanted to... well, quite frankly, she wanted to live with him.
Some may say it's soon. They didn't start officially dating until five months ago. But in reality, they had been roaming around each other since November at least. And she was ready, that was the most important thing. She just hoped he was too.
"Hi love," she said as she walked into his room. Neville was seated behind his desk, going over the details of a written exam for his Second Year students. He looked up at her, a smile growing on his lips.
"Hi baby," he said. She walked up to him, giving him a kiss on his cheek. "Busy day?"
"Yeah, quite," she hummed. "But it's almost summer."
"It is," he nodded, putting his quill down. "Are you okay?" She sighed and shrugged her shoulders. She knew he could sense how she was feeling within a second but sometimes she wished he didn't. "What's wrong, Cass?"
"Nothing's wrong, I just... I'm a little stressed," she confessed, leaning against his desk with her hips. "About my living situation..." Neville nodded, his lips forming into an 'o' shape.
"But we can solve that," he said quickly.
"We can but... Just be honest, yeah?" He nodded. "Do you think that moving in together after school ends would be too soon?" His smile widened and there was a spark of joy in his eyes.
"Not at all. I would love that. I just feared you might think that was too soon," he said, standing up and wrapping his arms around her tightly. "I would love that. Seriously."
"I would too," she smiled, pressing a kiss on his lips. "I would really like a gigantic bookcase that I can fill up over the years." She was in it for forever and by the look in his eyes, she knew that he was too.
"Done. I would really like this thing called a plant rack? It allows you to get even more in the same amount of space," he said. She giggled and kissed him again.
"Done," she nodded. "We should make a list of things we need to get and things we've already got. And of course, determine where we'll live."
"Well, I've exactly already gotten a bid on my nan's house. Her sister, the hermit, she wrote to me, asking if she could buy it. She thought it would make her feel a little closer to her sister," he told her. "She said that when I'm ready to move out, she'll move in so... we just need to find a place and it'll be settled."
"Wow... that's amazing," she said, stroking his cheek gently. "Right? If you want to, we can stay there and live there. I don't mind where I live as long as it's with you." Neville smiled at her, giving her a soft squeeze.
"I know. But I'd like to move out. A fresh start. With you," he said, making here stomach fill itself with butterflies again.
"When we were visiting Hermione and Ron in Surrey, I was thinking that maybe we could move there because I thought you'd love to live somewhere there too? It has beautiful nature," she suggested. "Perhaps we could see if we can find something there."
"I was thinking the same thing back then," he confessed, blushing a little. She smiled, bringing her face down once more to press a kiss on his lips.
"I love you, Nev. More than anyone," she whispered. "I'll write Hermione and ask how they found the place, see if she has any advice."
"I love you, Cass," he whispered back. I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with you, Neville Longbottom, she thought, and the thought made her heart jump a little.
But there were more important things on her list than finding a place to stay at - however weird that may sound. It was nearly the full moon again and Cassie was not going back to ministry. There was no way. Whether it was her decision, Neville's, Poppy's or McGonagall's, Cassie would never go back there.
But the Ministry wouldn't let her stay away either, so here she was once again, in front of one Harry Potter.
"Hi," she said, clearing her throat. He offered her a kind smile.
"Hi," he said. "I'm awfully sorry about what happened." We'll see how sorry you really are in a minute, she thought to herself.
"Thank you," she said. "I was promised something safe and instead I was locked in a room for hours, driving myself mad only for the wolf to harm me again. It hasn't harmed me in a year, Harry. Not since the potion."
"You are allowed to take the potion," he told her as if she didn't know it.
"I did." He was silent for a moment.
"I spoke to my boss but they are still convinced that-"
"They're wrong. They know they are. Five people died, Harry. Five," she told him firmly. "Five people too many."
"I know. I just don't know what you want me to do. I don't have the authority to do anything," he said apologetically.
"When has that ever stopped you?" she asked him, raising her eyebrows. "The Harry Potter, who flew a dragon out of Gringotts, has been famous since he was a baby, fought a Dark Lord, and is the heartthrob of the Wizarding Community has no authority to make a change?"
"I know what I did and I know my status but this is beyond that," he argued.
"It is not." She took a deep breath. "I am not going back, Harry."
"But you-"
"I am not going back there. Ever," she said firmly, shaking her head. "I gave you and your bosses all the proof you need to know there are safer and more humane ways of handling this but no, you opt for the most deadly one for us."
"But Cassie, if you do not come, someone will come to arrest you and you will be in far more trouble than before and-" She stood up and pulled her shirt up slightly, showing him the still rose-coloured and sensitive scar that had been nearly fatal a few weeks ago.
"This is the scar I got that night. The one you guys forced me to walk home with - while my knee was dislocated mind you - and to apparate home with. How many of us died, Harry? In those 'safe' conditions? How happy was your boss with those numbers? How many more did he wish would've died too, huh?"
Harry swallowed, a painful look in his eyes. "I'm... I don't know what to do, Cassie."
"Fuck that!" she shouted, getting frustrated. "Fuck that! You always knew what to do! And if you didn't, you figured it out! You don't even have to figure it out because I gave you fucking options! You just- You just leave us alone! Leave us alone with your fucked up rules!" He raised his eyebrows. She took a deep breath.
"I told you that-"
"You lied. You know you have far more authority than you are telling me and yourself," she interrupted him, done with the Ministry's bullshit. "Tell me you will support me in my case."
"I-" his eyes flickered down. "I will support you in your case. I will get you a meeting with Minister Kingsley and then we can arrange more but I can't personally do anything."
"Stop saying that," she huffed. "I'll meet with the Minister but... I am not going back to the Ministry on the full moon in one and a half weeks, Harry. So you better arrange it quickly." She didn't know what she was doing, bossing him around like that, but she was simply tired of not being listened to.
"You have spirit. Fire," he commented.
"No. I'm just exhausted of being ignored, of being seen as a monster when the only person I have ever harmed is myself," she told him, sitting down and crossing her arms. "I'm sorry for yelling. I just... I can't go back. If I do then..."
"I know," he whispered. "It was a compliment. I like that you were yelling. You're passionate. You're... You're doing what people should've been doing for years - decades. You're doing what I should be doing. If not for you, then for Lupin. I know that. I'm just tired of fighting lately."
"I get it. It hasn't been easy for you. But your job shouldn't matter more than human lives, Harry," she told him. He nodded, a small smile on his lips.
"You're right. Soon we'll have a meeting with the Minister. And if he won't listen, we'll make him listen."
"Deal."
Cassie was once more walking in the hallways of the Ministry building. Soon had turned out to be the day before the full moon. She wasn't sure whether this was intentional as werewolves were known to lack energy the days before and after, but she had saved up all her strength just for today.
This time she was in the Ministry department and not the Auror office. She was wearing her most formal and business-like dress and cloak. Neville was with her, only for support however as he wasn't allowed to join the meeting.
She had her case ready to lay out for the minister and to tell him the facts. Was she nervous? Deadly. Was she going to back down and give up? Never.
Ministry Kingsley greeted her warmly. The Head Auror was sitting next to him with a stern look on his face, giving her a curt nod. Neville's description of his old boss was perfect, she thought. Harry was - surprisingly - sitting next to her, opposite of Kingsley. "So, Ms Green, you are here to talk about the Werewolf Registry?"
"Yes," she said, taking a deep breath. "It is inhumane how we are being treated right now. It's... Pardon." She inhaled deeply. All or nothing. "It's deadly. For us. For us people with lycanthropy, it is deadly. Five people died at the ministry last month and within only a few more all of us will be that. I suspect that was the intention. But we're not all bad people. Not all of us are like Fenrir Greyback,"
"I didn't ask to be bitten. I didn't ask to transform into a monster every month. It's no fun for me either. It hurts more than words can express. I'm covered in scars. When I finally figured out how to make the Wolfsbane potion, that stopped. I stopped attacking myself. But that night at the Ministry I did. And I had taken the potion. And yet," she stood up. The Minister watched her anxiously as she pulled up her shirt to show the newest scar. "I got many more that night. And this one is still not fully healed,"
"I have taken perfectly safe measures. No one has ever been harmed by me apart from me but... but... What happened last month was cruel. What you want to happen again tomorrow night is cruel. It's inhumane, Minister. We're locked away in a dark room to drive ourselves insane during the day and then at night we... it's excruciating. Torture. It's torture,"
"I have given the Ministry proof of how it can be safe for the public and safe for people with lycanthropy. I have provided evidence and yet I am expected to show up tomorrow again. But... But I won't." Minister Kingsley looked rather surprised. She handed him the files. "In case my research has never reached you, I have brought another copy." He took it.
"Ms Green," he started. Her heart was pounding in her chest. "I have seen these files and I have been trying to look at options. But I'm afraid letting you stay at home won't do. It won't make the public feel safe."
"I don't have to stay home but I won't let myself get locked up for twenty-four hours in a dark room again," she told him.
"I'm afraid we don't have the budget to-"
"You do. Please turn to page 27, it's all about financial matters. Mr Percy Weasley has looked into for me," she interrupted him.
"And what about manpower? We don't have enough Healers to check up on everyone," Head Auror Maevis grunted. "It's not a realistic plan."
"Then how come Italy is managing to do it this way?" Harry asked. Auror Maevis looked at him, anger in his eyes.
"What are you doing on their side?" he groaned. He said 'their' in a disgusted manner. Cassie's stomach turned and she pressed her fingernails into the palm of her hand to get a grip on her anger.
"I'm standing up for what is right," Harry said fiercely. "I'm standing up for them because they are people."
"They qualify as monsters," Maevis said angrily. Minister Kingsley flipped through her files at a calm pace.
"One night a month!" Harry exclaimed.
"One night too many!" Maevis said back. Minister Kingsley held up his hand to shut them both up.
"So, you are so saying that you don't want people to transform into werewolves any night of the year," Cassie said calmly before Minister Kingsley could stir the conversation in another direction. Maevis nodded and opened his mouth but Cassie continued. "And would you do anything to ensure that from happening?" He nodded again. "Have you looked at the rapid decline of new lycanthropy infections in Italy?" He didn't move an inch. "You won't make it happen by killing us all - or by having us kill ourselves."
"I do not think that Head Auror Maevis intends a massacre with his new register," Minister Kingsley said. "Though I must agree with Ms Green that Italy has it well in order and safe for both the public and people with lycanthropy infections." Maevis groaned. "But I'm not sure we can finalise these plans before tomorrow." Cassie inhaled deeply, feeling her stomach twist into a knot.
"But you can't make us go back there for twenty-four hours..." she said, her voice trembling with fear.
"You saw how everyone left their cells the morning after. You saw how your employees treated them. You cannot tell me that that is the right thing to do," Harry said firmly. "Cassie was forced to walk with a dislocated knee and her torso slashed open. People were forced to apparate without care and with open wounds. You know how dangerous that is. Five people died on Ministry property but have you kept records of how many have died after that night?"
"Seven more," Minister Kingsley said with a hint of pride. Cassie felt a sob stuck in her throat and blinked away some tears. "Three were... splinched. Four have been reported to have-"
"See what you're doing to us?" Cassie asked, the sob finally leaving her throat. "I'm probably the only one with access to the potion because you make it so that we can't get. It's expensive and most of us can't hold steady jobs. You're killing us. Those twelve deaths are your responsibility. How many more?" She wiped a tear with the back of her hand. Harry reached over and gave her other one a squeeze.
"So if those deaths are on me, then are all casualties that have fallen at the hands - no claws - of werewolves on you?" Head Auror Maevis spat at her. She looked at Minister Kingsley who was about to speak again but then, she stood up abruptly.
"If you won't listen, I won't waste another breath speaking," she told them. "I'm sorry, Harry. I'm... I'm tired." Harry looked at her with apologetic eyes as she stormed out of the office.
"Cass?" Neville hurried after her. She turned around and let herself fall into his arms, sobbing into his shoulder. She didn't say anything. He didn't say anything. But they knew exactly what they were saying.
Cassie didn't close an eye that night. She spent her night in the courtyard with a cup of tea in her hands and a dull, dim look in her eyes. She was cursing at the moon. The beautiful, peaceful moon that turned her into something ugly and dangerous once a month.
She put on a pair of jeans and one of Neville's jumpers in the morning. Neville was with her through it all. It should be comforting but nothing was at the moment. Head Auror Maevis's mission was for all werewolves to die. Minister Kingsley couldn't care less.
But she wasn't giving up. She still wasn't going back. Never again.
She drank her potion, making a disgusted face as always before she and Neville walked over to McGonagall's office. She and Poppy were already waiting for them. But they weren't the only people in the office.
Professor Flitwick, Sprout, Sinistra, Hagrid and all other staff were there too. They were all there to protect her. They were all there to support her.
But not only were her colleagues there.
Hermione, Padma and Mandy were there. Percy, Ginny and George Weasley were there too. Even Dean, Seamus and Luna Lovegood were present. Cassie felt slightly emotional at the sight of the full office. Neville gave her waist a squeeze.
"I... I don't know what to say," she said, feeling the tears coming up. Hermione, Padma and Mandy hurried her way, hugging her tightly.
"Nothing. You don't have to say anything," Padma whispered. "Always, Cassie, we're always here for you." Cassie closed her eyes and hugged them back tightly.
"I love you all so much," she whispered.
"And we love you-" they were interrupted by a loud noise. They took a step back. McGonagall, Flitwick, Percy and George stepped up near the fireplace, their wands at ready. Cassie grabbed her wand too.
They all lowered their wands when Ron stepped up, immediately raising his hands in mercy. "They're coming. With more than one person. They know she isn't going so... so they're coming with force," he warned them and then to Hermione. "I think I've lost my job."
"It's okay, love," she said, giving his arm a squeeze.
"Yeah, you can work for me," George said, shooting him a wink.
"We have more important matters going on now," Flitwick said. "They're coming with numbers."
"Well, we are prepared for that," McGonagall said firmly.
"No," Cassie blurted out. "I can't let all of you go down for me."
"You can't stop us, Cassie," Flitwick said. "You don't have to fight this battle alone." She looked at them and then at Neville who nodded shortly at her. He was looked at her with the same loving eyes as he always was.
If not for yourself, then for him. Don't let him see you like that again. Don't let him go through that pain again.
"Fine," she said, looking away again. "Thank you." Padma hugged her sideways.
"Always," she whispered. Cassie nodded, giving her a kiss on the cheek, feeling more and more grateful every day. There was a rumbling noise before another person appeared in the fireplace. Maevis. Behind him followed four more, she only recognized one of them - Harry Potter.
"Ms Green, come with us," Head Auror Maevis said, his eyebrows furrowed together. Cassie looked at Padma who tightened her hand around her wand. Her best friend, fighting for her.
"No," she said, a slight tremble in her voice.
"Get her," he grunted. Three Aurors started nearing her, but her friends and colleagues - her family - squared up, not letting them through. "We will arrest each and every one of you if you don't hand her over now." McGonagall was the first to raise her wand. Maevis squinted his dark eyes at her. "Potter, arrest her."
Cassie knew that McGonagall had meant a lot to Harry during his days at Hogwarts and that he meant a lot to her. This wasn't going to be easy but then again, this wouldn't happen at all.
"No," Harry said firmly. He walked past Maevis, bumping his shoulder into the man on purpose, and stepped up beside McGonagall, raising his wand too. "Cassie is taking safety measures. Safe for society and for herself. Why shall we imprison these people for twenty-four hours when the moon only affects them - transformation wise - for eight? You're killing them indirectly but you know that you are."
"Potter, you best listen-"
"No. I'll quit. I don't care. I'm not working for someone like you," he spat. Cassie reached out to Neville who instantly pulled her closer. She didn't want people to lose their job over her fight. She didn't want people to fight for her but they were. She had no say in it. They were with her, they were with her and all people with lycanthropy, fighting for their rights.
"I'll quit too," Ron piped up. "I don't want to associate myself with a ghoul like you, Maevis." The other Aurors stopped too. "And you know that there are ways in which it's safe for everyone. You want them dead, admit it. That was the goal all along." He stepped up next to Harry. The other three Aurors stopped and turned to their boss.
"It's true. Cassie did all the work for us. We just have to make it a reality and we certainly have the power to do so," Harry told them.
"I wasn't alone," she said, letting go of Neville and stepping forward. She stepped in front of them all. "I didn't come up with the evidence alone. I had help from the best wizards and witches and most respected people in the community. If they are on my side, if they are certain I won't harm anyone with our own safety measures, why are you - someone inexperienced with the case of people with lycanthropy - deciding what measures to take?" she asked. "Harry and Ron are right. You want us dead." Her body felt weak due to which day it was but she still felt stronger than ever.
"I'm not letting you kill me. I'm not letting you continue to kill people like me. We're people. I bet that all of the people you're locking up today never asked to be turned. It's painful enough as it is, why would you make it worse?" she asked.
Maevis looked at her, squinting his eyes. "Is it true? Is the goal to kill them all?" one of the Aurors asked.
"So what if it is? They're monsters," her colleague snarled.
"Am I?" Cassie asked him. "As I'm standing here, now, am I a monster? When I'm teaching a class, am I a monster? When I'm out with my friends, am I a monster? When I'm with my boyfriend, am I a monster? Once a month I turn into something I'd really rather not, but I have no choice. All those other days? I'm... I'm me."
"I think it's time for you to leave, Maevis-" Harry got interrupted. It happened quickly. Maevis raised his wand, pointed it at Cassie and yelled out an incantation.
She found herself on the ground, ropes tightening around her body. She gasped for air as flashes of light - spells, hexes and curses - flew through the room. Neville kneeled down next to her, muttering the counter-spell and freeing her.
"We're taking her out of here, now," McGonagall said, grabbing onto Cassie and Neville tightly. She wasn't even able to process what was happening - her friends fighting the Aurors which seemed to multiply, blood dripping out of the cuts made by the ropes, Neville's worried eyes, McGonagall's backup plan - and then they were gone.
McGonagall had apparated them to the Shrieking Shack. Cassie felt as if she was on fire. "Poisonous rope. Wolfsbane. It was laced with wolfsbane," McGonagall muttered. "We need Poppy."
"We need her potions," Neville said. "We should clean the wounds and- and- fuck. I'm supposed to know this and-" He pulled his hair, stressed.
"Wiggenweld," Cassie croaked, breathing fast and short breaths in and out. "Murtlap. Dittany." Neville nodded, stroking her hair. She knew it because he had told her all of it.
"You're right. Clean the wounds, apply the Wiggenweld Potion, then Murtlap Essence and finally Dittany. That should do it," he said.
"I'll go to her office and grab them. Do you know how to clean her wounds?" McGonagall asked him. He nodded. "Good. Hang on tight, Cassandra." Cassie looked at her, her vision blurring slightly. McGonagall disapparated.
"Hang on, Cassie," Neville whispered, flicking his wand as he started cleaning her wounds. It stung, the pain bringing tears to her eyes.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered, letting out a sob. "I'm so sorry to drag you into all of this." She looked at him as he focused on cleaning her wounds, shaking his head and shushing her gently. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you, Neville Longbottom.
"I love-"
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i keep losing track of how long it has been since this has been posted so as an apology for it being over a week, here's a longer chapter!!
only a few to go :)
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