musical mood: hear the sea - red velvet

Summer went by without anything of interest occurring. With the blessing of Bartemius, Henry spent the rest of the time before school in Stromness, though he insisted Henry sleep on the couch for their remaining days together, deeming it inappropriate for him and Cass to share a room.

Cass was almost disappointed for summer to end - the summers she usually dreaded. Connor had distanced himself from the two, claiming various excuses every time she showed up at his front door, so there should've been no incentive to stay in Stromness. But her time with Henry was fun, and by the time they wandered onto the Hogwarts Express on September 1st, she could confidently say he was her favourite person at Hogwarts. Well, except maybe Cedric...

She hopped into a compartment with the normal crew - being Naia, Ana, Lavender, Luna, and the Patil twins. Theodore and Bethany were notably absent - though Cass assumed they were with their Slytherin friends. Maybe Theodore didn't feel ready to face his brother quite yet. It was incredibly cramped, fitting them all in, but no one seemed to mind.

"Hey, you two!" Naia greeted them, grinning ear to ear. "We thought you'd ditched us."

"As if." Cass rolled her eyes, smiling back at them. She was sandwiched between Henry and Padma, who was flipping through a book on divination.

"I'm taking divination this year, as an elective." She explained, feeling Cass's gaze on her but not looking up.

"Me too. I'm taking that and Ancient Runes."

Lavender gave her a funny look. "You're taking Divination?"

"Yes...?"

"Weird. I would've pegged you for arithmancy."

"No way in hell. I hate maths."

"We're taking divination too." Parvati piped. "Lavender and I."

The train ride continued with the typical conversations and bantering that usually took place between the friends. They were nearly at Hogwarts - the sun had set and they'd been on the train for hours, when they suddenly stopped. Cass had dozed off, and jolted up when they stopped, her head having fell onto Padma's shoulder.

"What's going on?" Naia jumped up, peeking outside of the compartment door.

Padma jumped up, pulling on Naia's robe. "Don't. It's dangerous."

"What are you on about?" Henry frowned, standing up to open the door and peer down the hallway. "Fuck, it's cold. Are you guys cold?"

"Yes." Everyone said in unison - everyone except Cass, that was. A chill had gone through the air, but she oddly didn't feel effected by it. She didn't think anything of it, until she glanced around at the other students in the compartment. All of their expressions were muddled in a mixture of horror and anguish, from seemingly nothing.

"Holy shit, what the fuck is that?" Henry's voice was clouded with a mixture of fear and befuddlement, and this time, Cass stood up, pushing past a protesting Padma to peek outside of their compartment. Down the hall, a wispy black figure floated, like a ghost, but not quite.

"It's a dementor." The words slipped from Cass's lips so calmly, so placid, for a moment she hadn't even realized she'd spoken. She'd read about dementors, the guards of Azkaban. The creatures that created misery wherever they went, the things that sucked out your soul. Barty hadn't been subjected to the dementors kiss, his official cause of death was malnutrition. But just looking at the evil creatures made Cass feel a unique pang of sympathy for her brother. It was terrifying, but she didn't feel the sense of dread that was considered the tell-tale sign of a dementor.

"Shut the door, Cass!" Padma shrieked as the dementor went closer, and Cass did so, sliding it shut and locking it with a spell.

"It's just looking for Sirius Black." Luna commented, gulping. Even she seemed unsettled. "It'll leave us alone if we don't bother it."

"Why would Sirius Black be on the train?" Ana asked. "He just escaped from that prison, does he want to get caught?"

Naia leaned in, lowering her voice as if the dementor would overhear their conversation. "Well, rumour has it, he escaped Azkaban to find Harry Potter, to kill him. He was You-Know-Who's most loyal follower, he got locked up for killing Peter Pettigrew and a dozen or so muggles. That's what the Daily Prophet said, at least."

"Harry Potter...the boy with the scar?"

They all nodded.

"Wow...poor kid. Having a killer after him, that must be terrifying."

No one could disagree with Ana. People rarely did.

*

"You'll never guess what happened on the train!"

Malfoy ran up to Cass as they were approaching the Great Hall for the feast after they left their carriages, his lips twisted in a smug smirk. He really made it as hard as possible to not hate him.

"I don't care." She didn't even look at him as they walked through the massive doors with the rest of the Hogwarts student body.

"Potter fainted!"

"I just said I don't care."

"How can you not care? It's the funniest thing ever! He saw that dementor and bloody fainted!"

"If I say I care, will you leave me alone?"

Malfoy simply scoffed and walked away to the Slytherin table, muttering something about his father under his breath.

Cass rolled her eyes, taking a seat with the Ravenclaws, between Bethany and Naia. Her friends were already mid conversation, and she leaned in to listen, though she didn't care all that much.

"-so Terry, if you try out for Beater this year, you'll surely make the team. You've gotten so buff, you'll do brilliant."

"You think so?" He looked at Naia with hopeful eyes.

"Of course!" She nodded, her voice sincere. "You're athletic and know the sport better than any of us. Trust me."

"Speaking of Quidditch, did you hear Pretty Boy Diggory is the new captain for Hufflepuff?" Henry smirked, sending a knowing glance at Cass, who went bright red as she perked up with interest. "Wonder if he'll do any good."

Bethany rolled her dark brown eyes. "Please, he probably will spend the entire match worrying about his hair."

"He does have nice hair." Padma commented, not looking up from her divination textbook.

"I think Cedric will do good." Cass pursed her lips together, the words having slipped out before she could stop them. When everyone stared at her, she continued. "He's really into Quidditch. I don't think he would've made captain if he wasn't any good."

"Since when do you know anything about Quidditch?" Terry eyed her up and down.

"It isn't about Quidditch, it's about her fancying Diggory." Henry's voice was loud, and Cass quickly jumped to cover his mouth.

"Shut up!" She hissed, eyes travelling over to the Hufflepuff table. Cedric was in mid conversation with a boy she didn't recognize, and hopefully hadn't heard Henry's obnoxiously loud outburst. "I do not!"

"She does." Henry said between her fingers, nodding gravely.

"You fancy Diggory?" Naia stared at her. "I would've pegged you for that Weasley twin you're always with, personally."

Bethany snorted. "This is priceless. Crouch and Diggory. God, I can't. That's even funnier than Weasley."

"How is it funny?" Ana blinked. She likely didn't even know who Cedric was.

"Uh, because they're complete opposites." Bethany rolled her eyes. "I mean, just look at them. Cedric is older, popular and into sports and whatnot. Cass is a loner third year who spends all her time brewing potions like a bloody forest witch."

"Good thing I don't fancy him then." Cass hissed, hoping no one could see how red her face had gone.

If anyone had anything to say, it was quelled when the sorting of the first years began. Cass zoned out for the most of it, absentmindedly clapping every time a student was sorted into Ravenclaw. Her mind had drifted elsewhere, first to Cedric, who she was staring at, but didn't seem to notice her, to the dementor on the train...

She was certainly overthinking it, she was perhaps a bit too headstrong for her own good, and that was why she didn't feel the typical gloom. If anything, she was gloomy because she was so fine, outside of being freaked out that the dementor looked like a bloody demon.

"Moore, Saoirse!"

Cass snapped out of her thoughts, jolting up at the name, and the dread that filled her must've been what a dementor felt like to everyone else.

Oh God, please let it be another Saoirse Moore. That's a common Irish name, after all. It can't be her. It just can't.

If there was a God listening to her, her prayers were not answered. Her firey red hair was her most distinguishable feature, but so was her apathetic stare as she sat down on the stool, looking out into the crowd, seemingly completely unphased. Even if she hadn't been visibly identical to Connor's little sister, her attitude was the determining factor.

"RAVENCLAW"

"Fuck." Cass sank in her seat, hoping she didn't notice her as she waltzed over to the cheering table as she used Padma as a shield.

"Are you okay?" Ana looked down at her, blue eyes worried. Cass didn't say anything. She wasn't sure she knew how to speak.

By the time the sorting was over, she was a pale, trembling mess. Her stomach churned, so much that she couldn't eat a bite of the feast. Her friends kept glancing over at her, asking if she was okay, but she couldn't do anything except nod. She was one wrong move away from a panic attack.

Saoirse would no doubt tell Connor that she was at Hogwarts, assuming Connor didn't figure it out himself from the Hogwarts letter she would've received. Then he'd know she'd been lying to him for years, for the entire time she'd known him, he'd think their friendship was a lie. What if he never wanted to talk to her again? What if he hated her?

Did he even have contact with Saoirse? Knowing Catherine's religious fanaticism mixed with recent paranoia, Cass wouldn't have been surprised if poor Saoirse was kicked out.

"Miss Crouch." A sharp tap on her shoulder pulled her out of her thoughts. Everyone was so consumed with the feast, no one had seemed to notice Flitwick had made his way over to her. "Could you come out of the hall with me for a moment?"

She gave him a feeble nod, standing up, eager to get out of the room. She didn't even care if she was in trouble - though she hadn't done anything wrong, so what could she possibly be in trouble for? Unless they found out about her theft of Quirrell's book in first year, or the love potion...

Yeah, maybe she wasn't as goody-goody as everyone seemed to think.

"Is everything alright, Professor?" She asked. Her voice was still trembling, her mind going through every possible thing that could happen with Saoirse and Connor.

"Yes, yes, it's very good, actually." He was holding a large piece of parchment, comical over his small body. "For our most academically gifted students this year, we are offering different forms of accelerated studies. You're a potions prodigy, from what it seems."

"I wouldn't say prodigy, sir." She bit down on her tongue, hoping her pride at the praise didn't show too much.

"Nonsense." He waved a tiny hand. "We've prepared a schedule for you to skip up to the O.W.L level potions class. It will be very challenging, but I'm confident you'll be able to do well. If you chose to take your OWLs this year, and your NEWTs for potions in your fifth year, in your sixth and seventh year you'll either have a free period, or an open time to take another class, whichever you prefer. Unless you'd rather not..."

"No, no, I'll do it." Cass nodded eagerly, her mood shifting into one of joy. Fifth year potions? She knew she was good at the subject, but skipping two years...this would be beyond exciting. "Thank you for the opportunity, Professor."

*

Cass successfully avoided Saoirse that night, heading back to the Ravenclaw common room after het talk with Flitwick, before the feast ended. She woke up bright and early the next day, eating a quick breakfast and heading to her first class before Saoirse could spot her.

Divination was a bore, though the Lavender and the Patil twins seemed to like it well enough. The new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, a lad called Lupin, seemed nice enough, if not a bit quirky. According to Bethany, Lockhart had lost his mind in the Chamber of Secrets and was now in the mental hospital at St. Mungos.

After lunch, which Cass skipped, she had her first potions class with the fifth years. Snape gave her a spare textbook from his cupboard, given that she hadn't been able to buy her own.

"What the hell are you doing here?" George raised his eyebrows as she took a seat next to him - the seat Snape had assigned her. Most other classes didn't have assigned seats, which she found odd, but didn't mind. Fred was on the other side of the room, no doubt separated by the Professor for a reason.

"They moved me up."

"Two years? Are you serious?" George sighed when she shrugged, unsure of what to say. "Stupid smart people."

"Well, at least I know someone."

"And I have a smart person sitting next to me to do my work." He winked at her, and she rolled her eyes.

She was about to respond, when the door swung open, and her heart swelled as Cedric Diggory walked in.

"Sorry I'm late, Professor. I had some Prefect duties."

"Five points from Hufflepuff." Snape glared at him. "Consider yourself lucky that it's the first day. You may take a seat next to...Crouch."

If her heart was racing before, it was nothing compared to this, as he sat down across from her, flashing her a confused smile.

"Hey Cass."

"Hey."

"Er...not to be rude, but what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I moved up to this class. Apparently I'm good at potions or something."

"Yeah, she's smart as shit." George commented, eyeing the two. "She helped us with so much last year. Half of our pranks would've been in vain without good old Cassie."

Cedric raised his eyebrows, a playful grin on his lips. "Cassie? What's that about?"

"Don't ask." She shook her head.

"Okay...Cassie."

"Only we can call her Cassie." George sent a furious glare at him, very overdramatic considering it was just a nickname - an annoying one, but still a nickname. "We being Fred and I, of course."

"Got it." He gave them a sharp nod, as Snape began the class, going on about how O.W.L.s are important, and that everyone (except the Slytherins, of course) were idiots who would likely not pass his class. To return for NEWTs classes, you had to get an O, which even worried Cass, who had previously been rather confident.

"The peers at your table will be your partners for the term, with whom your grades will depend on. I will not tolerate complaints. If you have something to say, say it to quite literally anyone but me. That means you, Jordan!"

Lee Jordan, who looked like he was about to protest, quickly shut his mouth. Snape finished assigning the potion they were to brew - a mind erasing potion, similar to the obliviate spell, but the drinker would only forget the past day at most, depending on how strong the potion was. Less room for error than the mind meddling curse.

Cass glanced warily at her table. She was not only with Cedric and George, but a Slytherin called Adrian Pucey, who she'd never talked to before. She internally groaned, it was just her luck to end up in a group with three boys, whom she had no idea if they were even good at potions or not.

"Of course we end up with the third year." Pucey complained loudly, glaring over at Snape. "How'd you even get into this class, whatever your name is?"

"She's actually smart, unlike you, you bloody dingbat." George snapped before Cass could say anything herself.

"Whatever. Are you any good at potions, child?"

"Adrian, don't be rude." Cedric chastised him, and Cass rolled her eyes. Of course a Hufflepuff would think don't be rude would be a good scolding for a Slytherin.

"Would I be here if I wasn't good at potions?" She raised an eyebrow in a silent challenge. Her brown eyed bore into his blue, and eventually he looked away, staring down at the table.

"Fair enough." Pucey shrugged, though he didn't seem convinced. "I'll get the ingredients. I doubt any of you three will get it right."

"Well, isn't he a delight." Cass sighed as he pushed his way to the supply cabinet.

"He's always been like this, unfortunately." Cedric pursed his lips together, staring uncertainly at the Slytherin. "Don't take his remarks personally. He's just a dick."

"Wow, Diggory, you actually insulted someone!" George feigned a gasp. "So much for being a nice Hufflepuff and whatever."

When Pucey returned with his hands full of the ingredients, he dumped them on the table without any regard for the condition, and began making the potion.

No one seemed to know what to do, he clearly wanted to work alone, but there was no way in hell Cass was going to let that happen, in case he was terrible at potions.

She reached over to grab a rat tail, and began slicing it into tiny slivers, as the directions on the board said.

"Those are too small." Pucey glared at her. "You're supposed to make them thicker."

"The board says thin slices." Cass blinked, staring at him dully.

"Yeah, but not that thin."

"It gets more blood out if it's this thin. It says specifically that it can't have too much blood."

"If we don't have any, it won't work at all!" Pucey leaned over the table to grab the tails from her.

She smacked his hand away, biting down on the inside of her cheek. "I think I know what I'm doing."

"Do you?"

Cedric and George, who were doing their own parts of the potion, both looked up at this, glaring at Pucey. It was impossible to tell which of the boys was more angry, which provided a huge contract to Cass, who was surprisingly placid.

"Fine." She conceded, pushing the materials towards him. Her freckled face was void of emotion, in fact, she seemed quite bored. "You do it then. Let's see how it goes."

"Perfect."

As Pucey began to work, Cass leaned back, mentally listing all the mistakes he was making, though she didn't say anything. It was growing to be quite a long list, while Cedric sent her apologetic glances and George glared at Pucey. If looks could kill...

"There." Pucey dropped the last ingredient into the cauldron, wearing a satisfied smirk as the liquid turned into the proper colour - a bright red. He clearly expected Cass to be defeated, but she just sat there, staring at him, with the same blank expression.

"What did I tell you?" He cocked an eyebrow when she didn't respond. "I clearly know potions better than a third ye-"

Pucey's redundant bragging was cut off when the potion exploded, the blast sending a sound loud enough to make Cass flinch. Bits of the metal cauldron mixed with red potion flew throughout the room, splashing on the walls, the other students, and inside their concoctions as well. This caused a nuclear reaction - all the other potions affected by Pucey's explosion began to burst as well, until the room was a mess of booms. The only sound that could be overheard in the deafening noise was Snape shouting profanities.

Eventually, the explosions died down, leaving the walls and students coated in their half-mixed potions. Cass had a cut on her forehead from a bit of cauldron that had hit her, and wiped the blood away with the palm of your hand.

"Yes, Adrian, you clearly do know better than me. My apologies."

George snorted. He was also bleeding from his arm, but didn't seem to notice.

"Detention! All four of you!" Snape pointed at their table, his greasy face burning red, and George stood up to protest. It hadn't been anyone's fault, except for Pucey's, but Cass knew there was no point in arguing with the professor, and grabbed George's wrist, pulling him back down in his seat.

"Don't be an idiot, Weasley. Unless you want more detentions."

*

Of course, it was impossible to avoid Saoirse forever. Cass just wasn't prepared for it to be so soon.

"Cass!" Saoirse had called out from where she sat on the couch closest to the fireplace. The next day, Cass was leaving for her detention with Snape and her potions partners, and stopped dead in her tracks. She hadn't noticed the little redhead there, and she paled.

"Hey."

Hey?! Who says hey?!

"Sit."

"I, er, I have detention with Snape..."

"On the second day?"

"It wasn't my fault, it was Adrian Pucey-"

"I don't really care." Saoirse waved a hand in the air with an annoyed sigh. "Now sit. I don't think Snape will kill you for being five minutes late."

"You'd be surprised." She grumbled, but sat down anyways.

A moment of silence fell between the two.

"My mum told us you weren't to be trusted." Saoirse said finally.

"...What?"

"She only let Connor hang out with you because he had no other friends, and because if she told him not to, he would've done so anyways. Mum's crazy, but she's not an idiot. You and your father have always been...off."

"And...does she know? Your mum? That I'm a witch?"

Saoirse shrugged nonchalantly, looking a bit bored by their conversation, despite being the one who initiated it. "Wouldn't know. I got kicked out the day that old woman came for me - McGongill or whatever. I'm living in Islington now, with Mauve. Mum said I'm a satanist heathen freak of nature, or whatever. A bit dramatic, if you ask me."

"I'm sorry."

"No need to be. It's better living with my sister, even though her husband is messy as shit. It's helped me get over dad and Fionn, being out of Stromness. That town is a prison. Mum says I'm going to hell, but there's no hell worse than there."

Cass could certainly agree with that. Stromness was hell on earth.

"And...Connor? Does he know...?"

She shrugged again. "He's a bit dim, so he might not have figured it out. But I wouldn't be surprised if he did. Truthfully, I thought he already knew. That you told him. But I guess you're just as much of a liar as mum said."

"I'm not - there are laws! I can't tell muggles, none of us can!"

"Yeah yeah. Whatever. McG already told me about that stuff. Stupid bloody laws. Still, I figured..."

"I never wanted to lie to him." Cass said, her voice small. "You know how much I love him."

"Not enough." Saoirse muttered, the tone of her voice implying something else to the conversation that had not been related.

*

Detention was beyond boring. It was the same punishment as she had with Terry the year prior, polishing the trophies, which was just as redundant as before. The only interesting part was finding her mother's again, bringing an involuntary smile to her lips.

At least Cass got to hang out with Cedric.

George and Pucey didn't do much, George mumbling about how the detention was stupid and undeserved (he had a point), and Pucey taking a nap on the stone floor, so it was just Cass and her Hufflepuff crush doing the cleaning.

She was still rattled by her conversation with Saoirse, so she could hardly enjoy her time with Cedric. Even George, who was likely the most emotionally dense person in the world, asked her if she was alright twice.

"I'm brilliant." She answered both times. He and Cedric would eye her with suspicion, but no one said anything.

It was near midnight when Snape let them back to their common rooms. George walked Cass back, like he always did. It was a bit strange, but she didn't think much of it. He likely wanted to spend as much time outside of his own common room as possible, 'breaking the rules' or whatever.

"You sure you'll alright, Cassie?" He stared at her as they approached the eagle.

She nodded. "Yup. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I dunno. You just seem...nervous."

"I'm fine." She gave him a fake smile after answering the riddle and stepping inside the empty Ravenclaw common room. "Goodnight George."

"Goodnight Cassie..."