musical mood: daddy issues – the neighbourhood
"Cassiopeia! Cassiopeia! Please wake up! Cassiopeia!"
Cass felt stiff hands shaking her back as her eyes fluttered open, taking in her surroundings. She was on her stomach, there was an ache in her head, and trees stretched for what seemed to be miles ahead of her. When her fingers went to gently graze her left temple, they came back coated in thick, hot blood. She must've hit her head on a rock.
"What...where..." She frowned, using her good hand to push herself onto her back, and face to face with her father.
Oh yeah.
Everything that had taken place came back to her in a whirl. The Death Eaters rioting, losing Cedric, Barty casting the spell. Had he stunned her? He must've. How did he get to the match in the first place? Did Bartemius know?
"He's escaped." Both Cass and Bartemius said at the same time. His hand reached out to grab hers, though she flinched at the contact, pain searing through her right hand – her bad one.
Well, that answered her main question. He did know.
"How...how did this happen?" She sputtered out.
"It's a long story, I'll tell you later, but now you need to get out of here. There's a search party happening, and if you're found at the scene of the crime, they'll blame you. They'll always blame this family."
"What-"
He stood up, pulling her up with her. "I got his wand, but he disapparated, I don't know where to. I'm going to put the blame on Winky. It's her fault he got out in the first place, she was supposed to be watching him. Can you find your way back to the tents?"
"Yes, but-"
"Go, now! And keep low, in case he's still lurking."
Usually, she would've objected, both to leaving the scene and putting the blame on Winky, but she had no desire to do either. Winky had been guilty, she'd been complicit in the lies told to Cass her entire life. Why should she sympathise for the elf? At least if Winky went down, Bartemius would stay out of Azkaban.
The Dark Mark still loomed in the sky, making any remaining desire to stay next to none.
"Okay." She turned to run, but before she did, Bartemius called her name once more.
"Cassiopeia." His voice was softer, this time, the strain and worry in his voice far more clear than the hurried anger he'd held just moments prior.
"What?"
"I love you."
She took off, sprinting into the darkness.
*
It took at least an hour for Cass to find the tents again, and everything was in chaos. While the Death Eaters had left for the time being, having either fled or been captured by the Ministry, there were still crowds of people freaking out, running around like their lives depended on it (chances are, they believed it did). The twins and Percy were with Ginny, Percy holding his little sister's hand as they waited outside the tent, identical brown eyes searching around. Arthur and Ron were nowhere to be seen, nor were Potter and Granger.
By the time Cass reached them, she was nearly doubled over from exhaustion, having ran as much as she had without being very athletic, she wasn't sure how she'd managed to not collapse prior.
"Cassie!" George spotted her as she staggered towards them, pushing through the passers-by and wrapping his arms around her before she could stop him. "Oh Merlin, you scared us half to death!"
"Sorry." She muttered into his chest as he squeezed her tight. She could feel his heart beating, racing faster than hers. He hadn't been the one running, what had he done to get such a fast heart rate?
"Where were you?" He asked, finally letting go of her but keeping his hands on her arms.
"The woods, Cedric and I ran there but I lost him...oh fuck, have you seen him? Is he okay?" In her haste relating to her brother, she'd forgotten about Cedric! What if he was hurt? What if Barty had got to him?
"Yeah, Pretty Boy is fine. Him and Amos went home earlier."
"Okay, good."
"Wait, what the hell happened to your head?"
She reached to where her head was aching, to find that she was still bleeding from her temple. Blood coated her fingers, and she swiftly wiped it away on her pants. "Er, I tripped. Hit my head. I'm fine."
"That looks bad." Percy approached her, his forehead creased. "You should get yourself checked out – you could have a concussion."
"I'm fine." She repeated through clenched teeth. She hated Percy even more now than ever, even if it wasn't entirely his fault. Percy reminded her of her father, who reminded her of her brother, who was now on the loose. How long would it be before he tracked them down and tortured them to insanity, extract revenge on his father, take out his suffering on his sister? Cass couldn't withstand torture, she knew that, she'd lose her mind.
But no, she'd be safe at Hogwarts. He couldn't touch her at the castle.
Then again, she had been poisoned there...
"Are you sure?" George's hand went to her cheek, and she nodded. He looked genuinely concerned, not in a fake boyfriend way, but a real friend way, and that provided a momentary comfort to her.
"Don't worry about me, really, I'm fine."
She could only hope her lies stuck.
*
"Your father is a terrible person, you know that, right?"
"Yes, Granger, I'm aware. You've brought it up every other minute for the past day." Cass responded, not looking up from her book. She was laid on the couch, resting on her stomach, paging through a muggle novel of Arthurs, about a couple and their son taking care of a haunted hotel over a winter, while the father grows slowly mad. It was chilling, if not a bit too close to home, and Cass was secretly glad Granger was providing a distraction, even if she was annoying.
"I just can't believe he would fire her like that! That poor elf! What did she do to deserve it?"
"Steal a wizards wand." George suggested, earning a glare from the bushy haired girl.
That was the story that was being told – Winky had stolen Harry Potter's wand and cast the dark mark into the sky, even if the elf was still denying it. Of course, the true story was that Bartemius had planted the wand with Winky, when it had really been stolen and used by Barty.
Only three people knew of it, and Cass had no intention of growing that number. As much as she disliked her father, she could never send him to Azkaban, and even if she did tell someone, who would believe her? She'd sound delusional. No, her father would deal with it, he'd track down Barty and it would all be fine.
Everything was going to be fine.
"Seriously, 'Mione, Cass can't do anything about it, just let it rest." Ron sighed, sitting down on a chair across from Cass.
"Thank you." Cass rolled her eyes. "If I could fix it, I would."
She wouldn't. Winky had it coming, lying to her all these years. She thought Winky was her friend! But never again. She'd never trust a word that came out of that elf's mouth ever again, and luckily, she wouldn't have to, because she hopefully wouldn't ever see her again.
"It just isn't fair!" Hermione ran a hand through her bushy hair. "Poor Winky! Cass, you don't seem too distressed by this. Don't you care at all?"
"Of course I care. It's my father, though. I've been telling you lot for years that he's a terrible person, and you never believed me until now."
"I believed you." George offered.
"So did I!" Fred said.
"You didn't understand the depths of it, though. There's nothing I can do, okay? Are we done?"
"Merlin, you're insufferable." Hermione rolled her eyes, and Cass's head shot up, her eyes narrowing. Who did Granger think she was, speaking to Cass like this? She hadn't the foggiest clue of what went on in her life! Maybe if she did, she'd have a tad more compassion.
"I'm insufferable? Oh, that's rich, coming from you, of all people!"
"Ladies, ladies, would you calm down?" George jumped in to intervene. "No need to fight."
"No need to fight? She just called me insufferable!" Cass was standing now, and so was Hermione, with George in between them, arms outstretched like he was preventing it from getting physical.
"You allowed your elf to be abused!"
"Abused?!"
"Calm down, both of you!" Potter was speaking now, glaring at Cass. Of course he'd take Granger's side over hers, they were best friends while Cass hardly knew the bloke. Still, it pissed her off enough.
"Oh, stay out of this, Potter." She sent a furious glare back at him, before tucking her book under her arm and storming off to Ginny's bedroom.
This wasn't fair, this wasn't bloody fair! Cass wanted to kick something, as she clenched her fists and allowed hot, angry tears to slide down her face. She was being blamed for her fathers actions, per usual. What was she supposed to do? Defend Winky, who had lied to her? She'd brought this upon herself, being let go. Perhaps it was a mercy, the elf wouldn't have to deal with the Crouch family drama.
Barty was on the loose, and Cass was a second away from snapping, and there was only one thing she could do to calm her anxious mind. As much as she dreaded the idea of ever speaking to her father again, she just had to.
With a deep, shaky breath, she pulled out a quill, and sat down to write.
Father,
I will keep this brief, as I do not wish to be speaking to you, which I know you are aware of. I am writing to inquire about our situation. Has it been resolved? Is it contained? Do let me know as soon as possible, as it has been causing me great anxiety. I trust you know what I am referring to.
-Cass
*
Dearest Cassiopeia,
I assure you, it is as contained as it needs to be.
See you at school.
The letter came the next day, Errol nearly crashing through the window in the process as they ate their breakfast. Though it wasn't signed off, Cass didn't need to think about who had responded to her. She'd spent enough time mulling over handwriting to recognise that of her brother.
He hadn't even tried to conceal his intentions.
What did he mean, see you at school? She was returning to school today! Was he going to be there? And where was Bartemius, to intercept this letter, to prevent his threat? Sure, Barty had sent her a letter on her birthday, but that was different. This time, he'd stolen the letter she'd wrote him! Was Bartemius hurt? Was he dead?
"Percy!" Cass shot up, a bit too aggressively.
"Yes?" He blinked.
"Have you seen my father lately?"
His brow furrowed together, clearly confused. "Yes, I spoke to him yesterday. I'll be seeing him today as well, at the Ministry."
Cass couldn't help but sigh with relief. As much as she disliked her father, she didn't want him dead, or hurt. He'd said he loved her, after all, at the match. That had to count for something. "Okay, brilliant."
"Why?"
"No reason." She stood up. "I'm going to go finish packing."
"Okayyy..."
*
They got to the train a little late, there being hardly any compartments left. Luckily, Cass found the one with her friends, and slid right into it, trying to calm her nerves, trying to push her brother out of her mind. See you at school, what was that supposed to mean?!
Cass silently sat down in between Padma and Ana, as a conversation was happening about Quidditch, mostly between Naia and Terry, per usual.
The sense of normalcy was nice. Hopefully it lasted. Hopefully Barty's letter was an empty threat, and this school year would be perfectly normal.
For some reason, Cass doubted that.
"Were you at the Quidditch World Cup, Naia?" Terry asked, and Naia shook her head. She'd cut her hair over the summer, her black curls only just stretching past her ears.
"No, we were visiting my muggle cousins in America, so we couldn't. Were you?"
"Nah, I didn't know how to go. Muggleborn and stuff."
"You should've told us!" Henry said. "We would've taken you. It was crazy!"
"We being us and Lavender." Parvati said from next to Henry. The two were holding hands, and Cass fought the urge to gag. Such an odd couple, truly. Lavender seemed to share the same notion, glaring at the two whenever the opportunity arose.
"What about you, Bethany? Were you at the match?" Terry turned to Bethany, who had been staring out the window. She turned to look at them, staring at Terry like he was an idiot.
"Do I look like I would want to go to the World Cup? My sisters went, but I stayed behind to catch up on reading."
"Fair enough."
"Probably a good thing you lot weren't there. I heard Death Eaters stormed the place." Naia said, and Ana frowned.
"What are Death Eaters? That's a terrifying name."
"They're followers of You-Know-Who."
"Oh. That would explain the name, then."
Hopefully they didn't see Cass pale at the mention of the Death Eaters. She couldn't afford to let anyone know what she knew. No one could find out.
"Yeah, the dark mark was cast in the forest and everything, and they kidnapped some muggles." Padma explained, shaking her head. "It was horrible. The muggles are alright though, and their memories were wiped, but still."
"That's disgusting." Ana pursed her lips.
Bethany shifted in her seat, looking just as uncomfortable as Cass felt, and then it hit her. She wasn't the only one in the compartment with Death Eater families. Families they were ashamed of. Families they were scared of.
"I have a feeling something is going to happen, this year." Padma said when the compartment went silent.
Cass frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I don't know. I just...can tell this isn't going to be a normal year."
"Well, we better be prepared then." Parvati smiled at her twin. "Padma is never wrong, you guys know this."
"Is it a good or a bad thing?" Cass pressed. Did this have anything to do with her brother?
"I don't know. A bit of both, I think."
Well, Barty had no nuance, no good, so hopefully that meant whatever Padma was seeing, had nothing to do with him.
"So, Cass," Naia leaned in, her brown eyes sparking. "I hear you have a boyfriend."
"Oh God."