musical mood: release - imagine dragons

"So, you mean to tell me, Quirrell was talking to a voice you couldn't see, about some deal, a stone, and wanting a boy dead?" Bethany stared at Cass from next to her after she explained everything that had transpired during the day, on the same couch she and George had been on earlier. Now, the sun had gone down, and every other Ravenclaw except for the two were in bed.

Cass nodded. "I mean, the boy is probably Harry Potter, given the whole broom curse thing, but it's best to keep all options open. It was...odd. Quirrell was afraid of The Voice, but he made some sort of deal with it. There weren't any details though, then Fred Weasley came in and interrupted them. The Voice..it somehow sensed he was coming. Before he knocked, it said something like 'we aren't alone'."

"Strange..." Bethany turned to her lap, where the mysterious book was sat, illuminated by the light of her wand. "You're right about this book too, it's complete nonsense. Whatever language it's in isn't anything I've seen."

"George suggested his brother Percy could help. He probably doesn't know the language, but apparently he's well educated in linguistics. Maybe he knows of a translation spell."

Bethany's nose scrunched up. "Percy Weasley? He's like, a proper git. Why would you listen to anything that dimwit George says, anyways?"

"Do you have a better suggestion?"

"I could look around myself for a spell."

Perhaps it was the lack of sleep, or the stress of the day, but Cass was so wound up that she had to take a deep breath to prevent herself from shouting. "That could take ages, though. We don't have that kind of time - not if they're planning on murdering Potter! Whatever is in this could be really important!"

"Or, it could just be a random book Quirrell found to store his candid photos." Bethany pulled out the exact polaroid George had, staring at it with raised eyebrows and a smirk, then back at Cass. "You look like him, you know?"

Cass blinked.

"Really, if you cut your hair short and got rid of your freckles, you'd be twins." Bethany held the polaroid up to Cass's face, tilting her head in faux passivism. "I mean, the hair colour, and good Merlin, you've got the exact same eyes-"

Not giving her a chance to finish her sentence, Cass shot up from the couch, pulling out her wand and aimed it at her dormmate. This was a bad idea, she knew it was a bad idea, physical violence only ever led to bad things, but she was so tired, so confused, frustrated, and of course Bethany chose now of all times to mock her.

Bethany rose from where she sat as well, her expression not faltering, though she reached into her robes and pulled out her own wand as well. "You're seriously going to hex me because I said you look like your brother?"

"Shut up!"

"Calm down, Crouch! I'm just messing with you." Bethany was still looking at the polaroid, which Cass lunged at.

"Give me that!" She ripped it out of her grip, clutching the image to her chest so no one else could see it.

"Crouch, you do realise there are like, ten other photographs in here, right?" Flipping through the pages of the book, Bethany pulled out another. "Hm, this must be their full friend group. Regulus Black and Evan Rosier are in here...Merlin, why are Barty and Quirrell always touching? God, it's so weird to see Quirrell without his turban, or your brother outside of a mugshot-"

"-I swear to Merlin, Bethany Burke, I will kill you and everyone you love-"

"-is this a letter?" She pulled out an old piece of parchment from between the pages, with faded swirly writing stretching all the way to the back.

Though from her position, she couldn't see a word on it, Cass had a gut instinct that whatever was in there should not be shared, especially with the likes of someone like Bethany Burke.

"Stop, just stop!" She ran a hand through her brown hair, tempted to pull it out from frustration. "Just, give me that. All of it! I'll figure this out on my own."

Cass swiftly gathered the book and all the contents Bethany had removed without protest from the other Ravenclaw - who had got what she wanted. All people picking a fight wanted the same thing - a reaction, and Bethany had sure as hell received hers.

It was way past curfew, and if she was caught she was sure to get detention, but she was far too restless to sleep, and didn't think she could handle spending another second around Bethany, so Cass marched outside of the Ravenclaw Common Room and into the dark halls of Hogwarts Castle, unsure of her destination. She just needed some air.

She wasn't sure how, but somehow she ended up in a girls' lavatory, which was inhabited only by a ghost known as Moaning Myrtle. Cass was curious how a girl not much older than her had died at Hogwarts, but she found it rude to ask, and Myrtle was already volatile, to say the least.

Cass stared at her reflection in the mirror above the sink, as Myrtle ranted about how the last person who came in didn't flush, and now her bathroom smelled like shit. If Cass hadn't been in such a rotten mood, this would've made her laugh, but instead she just tuned out the ghost entirely.

God, she could just kill Bethany. She always, always had to start something, and she somehow knew just how to push Cass' buttons. Why? Why her? What did she ever do? All she wanted was to go unnoticed, but now she had this girl hanging her brother over her head constantly, twin boys who somehow knew her whereabouts constantly, avoiding Neville Longbottom at all costs, on top of figuring out who forged a letter from her father, what the hell was going on with Quirrell, and a deal made with a mysterious Voice that was apparently plotting the death of someone. Of course, she couldn't go to Dumbledore with all this, because who the hell would believe an eleven year old girl, and the sister of a criminal? They'd take one look at her story and laugh, and then what? She'd be the target of Quirrell and The Voice, and she wasn't prepared to die quite yet.

She kicked the sink, wishing, not for the first time, that she were a muggle. Life would be so much simpler, if she could just be with Connor and not have to worry about her family's reputation, and all the other aforementioned issues. Her and Connor could run away somewhere - Paris, maybe, or America. They'd run a bookstore together, wear muggle clothes (they truly had a superior sense of fashion compared to wizards), and never show their faces in Stromness ever again.

Not bloody likely.

Cass kicked the sink again, harder this time, and winced when a sharp pain shot up her foot.

"Stop abusing my sinks!" Myrtle shrieked. "Or I'll tell the creepy caretaker and his cat where you are!"

"Sorry, sorry. Won't do it again." Cass apologised, staring at her reflection again, Bethany's voice ringing in her mind.

You look just like him.

Against her better judgement, she pulled her hair back with her left hand as if tying it into a ponytail, and tilted her head. Bethany was right - she truly did look like her brother, especially if she were to cut her hair short.

She made a mental note to never do that.

They were both the perfect mix of their parents - inheriting Bartemius' olive skin and dark brown hair and eyes, and the more gentle features of Diana. A softer nose, smooth jawline, and full cheeks were all her genes. Truly, the only difference between Cass and Barty were her freckles, and the long white scar under her eye, though currently it was red and inflamed from her anxious scratching.

Suddenly, an idea struck her, one she would've instantly ignored had she been in a decent mental state to make decisions. But, she was stressed beyond belief, exhausted, and if she noticed one more similarity between her and her brother, she'd drown herself in Moaning Myrtle's favourite toilet.

*

Nearly all the eyes of the first years were on Cass as she walked into the Great Hall the next day for breakfast, but Lavender Brown was the first to say anything when she sat down at the Ravenclaw table. Of course, the hair and fashion expert of Hogwarts decided to sit with them today. This was just Cass's luck.

"What the hell did you do to your hair?!" She shrieked, pulling on it as if making sure it was real. "Why would you do this? How do I fix it?"

Cass shifted away from her, looking down at her lap, suddenly feeling more self conscious than usual. Surely it wasn't that bad...

"I dyed it."

She had come across the spell about a month prior, and sure, it hadn't gone exactly as planned, but it looked okay, she thought.

"Why?" Lavender wailed, looking close to genuine tears. "It clashes with your skin tone!"

"Oh come off it, Lav." Parvati patted her friend on the shoulder. "I think it looks nice."

"Don't lie to her." Theodore Nott eyed Cass up and down with a look of disdain. "It looks awful."

"Oh, just go back to Slytherin, you slimy git!" Cass spat back, and he looked slightly offended.

"Seriously, Crouch. Are you going through a midlife crisis?" Bethany jumped in, but Cass pretended she didn't hear her.

"Where's Naia?" She changed the subject, as she still planned on borrowing Naia Johnson's notes before class.

"Last minute studying." Padma poked her waffle with her fork, looking uncertain. "Seriously, Cass, are you...okay? You look a tad tired, and I mean...the hair..."

"Oh, leave her alone, all of you." Ana stood up from between Terry Boot and Parvati, and walked over to sit next to a very grateful Cass, pressing her head next to hers. "We match now, see!"

She smiled - because they did match, despite that not being Cass' intention at all. She had been aiming for a dirty blonde, but it came out a weird shade of red instead, almost identical to Ana's, though of course, Ana's hair was considerably shorter, only going a tad past her ears. The ginger didn't look great on Cass like Ana's naturally did, she knew that, but she imagined using a hair dye spell for the first time while running on no sleep and high anxiety could've ended up far worse.

At least, when she looked at the polaroid of Barty and Quirrell, she looked less like the dead man staring back at her. She'd go through the rest of the polaroids and notes that were hidden in the book sometime soon, she decided, now that she felt slightly less self conscious about it.

"We could be sisters!" Ana continued, a bright smile on her face that Cass couldn't help but mirror. Being Ana's sister certainly trumped being Barty's.

*

It was surprisingly easy to get Percy Weasley alone. Turns out, his snootiness resulted in a complete lack of friends and things to do, and Cass spotted him patrolling the dungeons alone, just as she exited Potions class.

"-I still don't understand how you do it! I mean, you must be the only Ravenclaw that Snape doesn't completely despise!" Naia was ranting, after her cure for acne potion had failed miserably. Of course, Cass's had been pristine. "Like, with me-"

"Hold that thought, Naia." Cass said as she spotted the redhead Prefect. "I need a moment, see you at lunch?"

Naia nodded, and ran to catch up with the other Ravenclaws, and Cass focused in on Percy, who had just finished scolding a third year Hufflepuff boy for running in the halls. The poor boy looked considerably shaken as he slowly walked away.

"Oi, Weasley!"

He turned to look at her with raised eyebrows and a turned up nose. "Can I help you?"

"Yes. Uh, I'm Cass." Cass introduced herself, realising how odd this must seem, and got second thoughts once again. Was this really a good idea? Probably not, but she couldn't think of any other option. "Uh...I know your brother. George..."

"Merlin, I'm so sorry. What did he do this time?"

Cass laughed before she was able to stop herself. Clearly Percy was used to people using him as a complaint service for his siblings. "No, no, he didn't do anything. Uh, George said you're knowledgeable in linguistics. I...uh...I need your help translating something. A book. I can't figure out what language it is, though, and I looked in all my textbooks for translating spells, but I couldn't find any."

Percy blinked, bemused. "Why do you have a book in a language you don't know?"

"That doesn't matter." Cass brushed his question off, running a hand through her newly ginger hair. "Listen, I will literally pay you to help, and not ask questions."

He pondered this for a moment, likely questioning the legality of the situation - not wanting questions asked surely wasn't a thing a Prefect would want to get involved with. But the Weasley's sure needed money, which would be a great incentive to get Percy to do what she wanted.

"Alright." Percy finally agreed, and Cass let out a sign of relief. "Do you have the book with you now, or...?"

"No, it's in my dorm. We could meet sometime tomorrow, if that works for you."

"Does lunch work? I don't have any free periods, I have my Prefect duties." Percy showed off his shiny badge that was pinned to his robe, and Cass fought the urge to roll her eyes.

Instead, she nodded. Meeting in broad daylight was risky, but less suspicious. Of course, if she disguised the cover of the book somehow, no one would suspect a thing, and Quirrell might not even notice.

"Library, then. At lunch." Cass agreed, then added, "Come alone."