musical mood: prey - the neighbourhood

"I swear to God, go away or I will strangle you, Colin Creevey!" Bethany hissed at breakfast, to Colin, who held out a petunia in one hand, and his camera in the other - a polaroid camera, this time, instead of his old one. Apparently he kept it every time he asked Bethany to be his girlfriend, so he could take a picture when she said yes.

"Alright." He gave her a bright smile, and skipped back over to the Gryffindor table.

"That was quite rude, Bethany." Luna commented from her pudding.

"Good." She rolled her eyes. "I'm sick of that kid. It's so fucking annoying."

"Oi, do any of you fancy a potion? It'll make all your problems float away." Theodore plopped down next to Ana, wrapping an arm around her and holding a vial of blue liquid in his free hand.

She looked up at him, her blue eyes wide, shrinking from his grip. It was the first time Theodore had spoken to the Ravenclaws since school started, and that was likely because Henry had skipped breakfast to do whatever it is Henry does, so Theodore didn't have to worry about running into his brother. Though, it was just as likely that Theodore was simply avoiding the Slytherin table. Malfoy had gotten injured in Care of Magical Creatures, and had been complaining to anyone who would listen for the past week.

"What's in it?" Naia eyed him sceptically.

"Rose hips, mandrake leaves, rabbit hide-"

"We'll pass." Cass interjected, ripping the vial from out of his grip. "This will kill you in minutes."

"You don't know that-" Theodore protested, letting go of a very confused Ana and reaching for his potion, but she held it away from him.

"Trust me, I do. The combination of rabbit hide and anything with rose is lethal." She tucked it into her pocket. "Next time you try to sell drugs to my friends, run it by me first. I'm not letting you kill anyone with your incompetence."

Theodore raised an eyebrow. "Drugs? What the hell is that?"

Cass shook her head. She truly hated wizards sometimes. "Forget it."

Naia and Terry began yet another discussion about Quidditch - try outs were today, apparently, and Cass zoned out.

Until Theodore suddenly shot up from the table and walked away, without any warning.

"Is he alright?" Ana blinked.

"I don't know..." Cass trailed off, as Henry approached their table.

Oh.

She'd has her suspicions, but this solidified them. Something had happened between the brothers, though she didn't quite know why just yet. Did it have to do with their mothers death? John's abuse? Both?

"Sup, you lot?" Henry gave them a smile as he sat down next to Cass.

"Theodore's mad at you." Padma said matter-of-factly, her nose still in her typical divination book. Cass wondered how she hadn't finished it yet - was she rereading it?

"He's always mad at me." Henry rolled his eyes, though Cass could see he was bothered by this, even if no one else noticed the flicker in his expression.

"Yeah, that's kind of how siblings work." Bethany added. "I hate Dahlia and Adelaide half the time, but we always make up. Well, usually."

"I never fight with Parvati." Padma shrugged.

"Well that's different, you guys are twins. You like, share the same brain or whatever." Naia said.

Luna looked up. "I don't think that's how that works, Naia."

"Sure it is."

*

Defence Against the Dark Arts was going to be interesting, Cass could tell when Lupin had them meet in a dungeon corridor, instead of his classroom.

"What do you reckon is going on?" Lavender whispered to Cass as they gathered around Lupin. A simple closet was behind him, that was rattling back and forth. Something was clearly trying to get out.

"A snake, I think. We're doing something with a snake." Padma pursed her lips.

"Shit. I hate snakes." Parvati groaned, and Lavender patted her on the shoulder.

Lupin explained the lesson of the day - and turns out, perhaps for the first time, Padma was wrong, it had nothing to do with snakes. A boggart had been found in the dungeons, so Lupin decided to use it for his lesson, which was fighting it with a laughing spell.

Worst fear? Cass thought deeply as Hermione Granger went. Her worst fear was a bad grade, the bloody try-hard. What the hell is my worst fear?

As much as she searched her brain for hers, she couldn't think of it. Poison, maybe? She hated the idea of being poisoned again, more than anything else she could think of. Or perhaps the plant that had attacked her in Herbology last year.

Next to go was Ana, who's worst fear was a massive bird that squawked at her and pecked around with a massive beak. She didn't flinch, and with the Riddikulus spell, it turned into a tiny hummingbird, that flew around the room.

Eventually, Parvati went, and the boggart became a massive snake, the size of a basilisk, hissing at her.

"Told you." Padma whispered into Cass's ear as Parvati yelped in fear, before casting the spell.

Cass's stomach fell when it was her turn. She really, really hadn't wanted to do this, and she clenched her wand so tight her knuckles went white, as the boggart shifted and morphed into what was supposed to be her worst fear.

The pessimistic half of her had been expecting to see her brother when she glanced upwards, so when her gaze met the hazel eyes of Connor Moore, her brow furrowed with confusion.

"Connor?"

"Fuck you." Connor spat, and she stumbled back, nearly dropping her wand as she did.

"W-what?"

"I hate you! You lied to me! You fucking bitch!" He shouted, angry tears falling down his red face. "I never want to see you again! I wish you were dead!"

The room was quiet, or at least it was in Cass's ears. All other sounds were drowned out - all she could hear was Connor's profanities, and the heavy beating of her own heart.

It took her what felt like ages to remember this was a boggart, Connor wasn't really at Hogwarts screaming about how much he hated her. With a shaky hand, she pointed her wand out and screamed, "Riddikulus!"

This time, when Connor opened his mouth to speak, rainbow confetti flew out of him like vomit. The entire class started laughing, Cass included, but hers was very much forced, as she stepped away, leaving room for Bethany to go next.

She didn't see what Bethany's boggart was, and she didn't really care, as she sunk down against the wall where no one could see her, hugging her knees to her chest and staring off into a speck in the floor tiles. With deep, heavy breaths, she attempted to control her heart rate, to make sure she didn't cry, because how embarrassing would that be?

It was awful, truly awful, seeing Connor like that. She would've preferred Barty be the thing that boggart morphed into, now that she knew it could be people. At least Barty coming back could never happen, he was dead. Connor on the other hand...him hating her forever was an odd worst fear to have, but she knew it was accurate, and even likely.

Saoirse was right, Cass was a liar, and if Connor found out she was a witch, he would probably despise her. What would she do if he never wanted to see her again? How would she live without her best friend?

*

Naia and Terry dragged nearly all of their friends to Quidditch tryouts after classes that night. While Naia would likely retain her spot on the team, Terry had been practicing day and night for the chaser position.

"Since I first learned about Quidditch, I knew I had to be on the team." He was explaining to their group as they reached the stands. They somehow even convinced Bethany to come, though she didn't seem at all interested. "I suppose being muggleborn, I have the disadvantage of not growing up with the sport, but I think I'll be able to do well."

"For sure." Luna gave him a grin.

"Good luck, you two." Ana added.

"You'll do brilliant." Padma assured him, patting him on the shoulder as they parted ways.

In the stands, Cass sat between Bethany and Lavender, shuddering from the windy cold. Bethany had brought a book and had began reading just as she sat down, while Lavender was braiding Parvati's hair, who sat in front of her.

The practice match began quickly. Cass only recognized a few players, Naia and Terry of course, and also Cho Chang and captain Roger Davis. They were all crazy good, Cass was actually unsure of who would make the team.

Padma seemed to know, though, she always knew. She was cheering Naia and Terry on, the loudest in the stands by far.

"Go Naia!" Cass called out when Naia made a good score with her Quaffle.

Bethany looked up, giving Cass a funny look.

"What?"

"Nothing." She shrugged, looking down at her book. "Just surprised you're still friends with Johnson, that's all."

She paused. "Why wouldn't I be friends with Naia?"

Bethany bit down on her lip, a smirk forming on her face. She was about to stir drama up, Cass could tell, but she was too curious to not know. "She thought it was you."

Lavender whipped around at this, staring at Bethany with wide blue eyes. "Burke, don't-"

"That what was me?" Cass said over the cheers of the stands as someone made a goal - she didn't quite care who right now.

"The Heir of Slytherin. The running theory is that it was you and Malfoy or the Nott brothers, teaming up. They weren't quite sure who yet."

Cass opened and closed her mouth, fumbling for a response. This time, Padma and Parvati stared at Bethany, both yelling at her but Cass couldn't decipher their words, her mind so muddled with confusion.

"Why?" She sputtered out. "That makes no sense, I'm a Ravenclaw."

"Ginny is a Gryffindor." Bethany shrugged. "Probably because of your brother. You were acting mighty suspicious too. You were missing after nearly every time someone was petrified. All of us thought it was you teaming up with someone, after a while."

"I never suspected you." Ana piped up, and Bethany rolled her eyes.

"Of course you didn't, you're too nice for your own good."

"My brother..." her mind went fuzzy for a moment, her entire body turning numb as her heart fell to the floor. "I never told anyone about him. Except the Patil's and Lavender..." her eyes travelled between the three. "And of course you know. Did you say anything, Burke? Did you tell them?"

"I'm a lot of things, Crouch, but I'm not a gossip."

She bit down on her tongue, standing up.

"Where are you going?" Luna, who hadn't been paying the slightest bit of attention to their conversation, eyed her.

"Leaving. No one here can be trusted. Myself included, apparently." With one last hostile glare at all of her 'friends' (except Ana and Luna, of course), she marched off.

She didn't make it very far into the castle when someone grabbed her shoulder, whipping her around.

"Go away, Padma. I just want to be alone."

She shook her head, still holding onto her shoulder. "You shouldn't be alone. I don't think you're okay."

"Of course I'm not okay! My friends thought I was trying to kill people! They thought I was blood prejudiced, that I would hurt people - that I would hurt Ana! All because of my family, that I can't control! I can't control that my brother was a madman, I can't control what other people think about that, but I can control how I allow people to perceive me. I've worked too damn hard to be a good person, to make it obvious that I wasn't like him, to find out you never trusted me!"

"Cass, that's not how it is-"

"I really don't want to hear it."

"We were all so scared, no one trusted anyone! Like Beth said, we suspected the Nott brothers too!"

She snorted at this. "Yeah, like Theodore and Henry could hurt a fly. You're all bloody idiots if you thought they were evil enough - and smart enough, to be the heir of Slytherin. I'd be a better candidate then them."

"Please, don't do this. Bethany just likes to start drama, you know that. No one thinks they can't trust you, not now at least."

Cass paused at this, taking a deep breath. She didn't think she could forgive this, not quite yet. She'd been promised by the twins and Lavender that they wouldn't tell anyone, that they wouldn't see her any differently because of her family history, yet here they were.

She never should've been vulnerable with them. She never should've made that mistake. It was so easy to slip into normalcy, to allow herself to trust these people around her, when it was evident that she couldn't. Sure, she cared about them, but no one except Connor could be trusted.

"Who told Naia, then, about Barty?" She raised her eyebrows. "And who else outside of Naia was told?"

Padma shifted her weight, eyes trailing down to the ground.

"Was it you?"

"No! It wasn't, I promise. I...I don't know who else knows. Ana and Terry do. Luna as well. I don't know if they told anyone else. It could've gotten back to Anthony somehow...you know him, right?"

"It could've got back to Anthony Goldstein?!"

"Him and Terry are friends..."

"Fuck, Padma." Cass ran a hand through her messy brown hair, close to tears. "This is so beyond fucked up."

"I know. I'm sorry! If it makes you feel any better...we thought it might've been Bethany too, for a while. Until Ana was petrified, that is. She'd never hurt a hair on Ana's head, we all know that."

"Yeah, she is oddly nice to her..." She trailed off. "But Bethany made a tiny bit of sense! She hates that Colin kid! I didn't have anything against anyone who was petrified, I had no reason to hurt anyone."

"I'm sorry." She said again.

Cass bit down on her lip. "Who told Naia?" She asked again.

"I don't want say...I don't want to make you upset."

"It's making me more upset not knowing!"

"Fine." Padma took a deep breath. "It was Lavender. Please don't be mad at her, you know how she is. I love her but we both know she's a huge gossip. Combine her and Bethany and you get the ultimate mean girl."

Cass shook her head. She shouldn't have been surprised, really. Lavender was a huge gossip, after all. She never should've trusted her, it was Cass's fault for that. But it hurt all the same.

*

Ignoring all of her dormmates proved to be an impossible task. The only people in her friend group that she wasn't mad at were Ana and Luna, who, just by her luck, happened to be attached to Bethany and Naia at the hip respectively. Cass hadn't noticed just how close those pairs were until she had to avoid Ana and Luna because of who they spent all their time around.

Theodore and Henry were perhaps the only people she wasn't even remotely upset with, so she spent most of her time with them, though not together. The Nott brothers weren't on speaking terms, and whenever Cass would bring it up to one of them, they'd change the subject.

Advanced Potions was going well. Now that Pucey had his reality check, and subsequent humiliation, he allowed Cass to take the lead for most of their assignments. It was significantly more difficult, being two years ahead, but it was fun, and they did well.

On Halloween, everyone was getting ready to go to Hogsmeade. Cass had opted to go with Henry, though it took a lot of convincing from him to get her to go. She wanted to stay in and study, but he downright refused to leave her alone. She didn't have her permission slip signed, but he forged the signature from her father, claiming he was good at mimicking handwriting, so she had no further excuse to not go.

"You're so annoying." She muttered, shaking her head as he practically dragged her outside and into the massive crowd of students making their way to Hogsmeade village. It was chilly, and she rubbed her arms as the fall leaves flew by them.

"I know." He flashed her a toothy grin.

She rolled her eyes. "What's so special about Hogsmeade, anyways?"

"What's so special about Hogsmeade?! What's so special about Hogsmeade?!" He gaped at her. "It only has the best stores of all time! The Butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks are to die for, Cass, to die for! And they have this jokes shop called Zonkos, it's a heaven for people like those pranking Weasley twins-"

"What about us?"

The two turned around to see the redheaded twins behind them, staring at them with raised eyebrows and smirks.

"Hello, Cassie, who's this friend of yours?" George's eyes flickered between hers and Henry, who was glaring at them.

"Henry Nott." He pushed his shoulders back.

Cass rolled her eyes.

"Lovely to meet you, Henry Nott." Fred said, his voice thick with sarcasm.

"Mind if we join you two on this fine Halloween day?" George stepped in between them, wrapping an arm around each of their shoulders. Henry shoved him off, muttering something incoherent under his breath.

"Actually-" Cass began, but George put a hand over her mouth, cutting her off. She was tempted to bite him again, but ultimately he let go before she had to.

"Wonderful." Fred beamed. "So, where are we headed?"

*

The group wound up in a dingy bar called the Hogs Head, run by an old man that reminded Cass of Dumbledore, except far more grumpy. She couldn't imagine the real Dumbledore with anything except his signature goofy smile.

The Weasley twins seemed to know him, though, greeting him with a cheery wave and a "Hey, Abe!"

Cass was sandwiched on the bar between George and Henry, sipping out of her butterbeer. They weren't old enough for firewhiskey, obviously, though the twins tried their best to convince Abe to get them some.

Henry seemed beyond annoyed at being there, rolling his eyes every time the twins talked - reminding Cass a tad of herself, honestly. She needed to work on that habit of hers.

"So, Cassie, other than hanging out with Henry Nott here, what have you been up to? It's been ages since we talked." George patted Henry on the shoulder, and he glared at him.

"I literally saw you yesterday in class, George." She rolled her eyes. Alas, the habit would live on.

"Like I said, ages."

"You're bizarre."

"It's what I do best." He shot her a wink, and she went red.

"You're really friends with these weirdos, Crouch?" Henry eyed her up and down, and she shrugged.

Before she could speak, Fred jumped in.

"Oi, who are you calling weirdos, with hair like yours?!"

"It is rather long." Cass gave him a goofy grin, to which he snorted.

"I happen to like my hair, thank you very much." He stroked it, as if they were about to rip it off of his scalp. "If anyone's hair is weird, it's yours, Weasleys! It's so...orange."

"Orange. Very descriptive." George blinked. "Honestly, if we're on the topic of hair, we need to discuss yours, Cassie. It's got a bit long as well, wouldn't you say, Freddie?"

"I would say."

George reached over and grabbed a large clump, gently tugging on it. "It nearly reaches your-"

"Oi!" She smacked his hand away.

Henry snorted, and continued to banter with the twins. It wasn't rude at all, in fact, it was rather friendly. Cass was surprised the three would get along at all, but it was as if Henry was their long lost triplet, except a little less flirtatious than George. She'd genuinely forgotten why she hadn't wanted to come along to Hogsmeade, given the time she was having, and once again regretted not spending more time with Henry in the past. And for not giving George and Fred more slack. They weren't half as annoying as they pretended to be, once you actually got into a conversation with them, instead of pretty arguing.

"So, you and Johnson, ay?" Henry raised his eyebrows, staring at Fred, who's cheeks went as red as his hair.

"Does the entire school really know?"

He shrugged. "I know her sister, who never shuts up. So I wouldn't be surprised."

Cass gulped at the mention of Naia. It had been weeks, and yet the betrayal burned just as deep. Sure, everyone was entitled to their own thoughts, but to think they had assumed it was her hurting people, hurting Ana and Terry, because of her family...it was too much. It stung too much to think about, so she shook her head, forcing the thought to the back of her mind.

Just as she looked back up from her lap, the door to the Hogs Head swung open, and in walked Cedric Diggory...holding hands with Cho Chang.

Oh.

Ouch.

If the hurt from Naia and co. wasn't bad enough, this was a knife to the heart. Her crush on Cedric was so childish, she knew it, having crushes, especially on unattainable people like him, were completely pointless, but she couldn't help it. Of course, of bloody course he'd like Cho, she was older, far prettier, and the star of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.

Cedric must have noticed her staring, and gave her a gentle wave with his free hand, that sent her out of her trance.

She forced a smile, giving him a curt nod, though she could feel her face had gone pale.

"Maybe they're just friends." Henry whispered into her ear, loud enough that the twins could hear, but not so loud that Cedric and Cho would. He must've noticed how shell shocked she was, which was sweet.

"I don't know what you're talking about." The lie came off of her tongue in a stutter, the words shaky. Usually she was a good liar, but not this time, apparently. Not when it mattered.

"So you do fancy him." George raised his eyebrows, attempting to seem playful, though Cass could tell by the look in his eyes that he was thinking something different, that she didn't have the energy to decipher.

"Not so loud!" She hissed, standing up from the barstool. "C'mon, let's go."

Henry slung an arm around her elbow, linking himself to her like Connor and her used to when they were younger. It felt a tad childish, but she didn't mind as the four of them left the bar, inhaling the scent of fall.

"It's nicer out here anyways." Fred said from next to Henry. George had taken her other side, and was eyeing their elbow link with confusion.

"Yeah, that place is way too stuffy." George agreed.

They found a long bench, looking out at the Shrieking Shack, and sat down in a row, staring off at it from the distance. It was supposedly haunted, but Cass had never actually heard the screams that apparently emitted from the tiny house.

"Ron would piss himself if he were here." Fred snorted.

"Yeah, he's a big crybaby."

"That's sadly true." A small smile formed on Cass's lips. "In the Boggart lesson with Lupin, I swear he was about to faint from the spider."

"To be fair, spiders are creepy as hell." Henry added with a shudder.

"What was your boggart, Cassie?" Fred stared at her, and she recoiled.

"Oi, Fred, you can't just ask people what their boggart is." George bit down on his lip, though he seemed just as curious.

"Er, it was my friend. Saying he hates me."

"The scary muggle bloke from the summer?" Henry asked, and she nodded. "Why would he hate you?"

"Why do you know Cassie's friend?" George's nose scrunched up.

"I spent the summer at her house. That kid is oddly attached to her. I'd say he fancied her, if Crouch didn't get so pissed off about it."

"Because he doesn't!" She hissed, more aggressively than she meant.

"Why were you at her house?" George pressed on, and Cass waved a hand, growing incredibly agitated.

"It doesn't matter. Can we please stop talking about Connor now?"

"I don't know, can we?"

"George Weasley, I swear to Merlin, don't make me bite you again!"

The four burst into a fit of laughter.

*

"So, you do fancy Diggory then?" George asked as they walked back to the castle. The sun had began to set, leaving the sky a beautiful mixture of pink and orange, blending into the moon. Henry and Fred were behind them, conversing about pranking - apparently, Henry found the concept incredibly intriguing.

She shook her head. "That's none of your business."

She expected him to object, but he just shrugged, a gentle smile on his face. "Maybe not."

Several minutes of blissful silence went by before George spoke again. "Why was your boggart your friend hating you?"

"Because it's my worst fear." She shrugged. "Or, perhaps my most realistic fear. It's easier to not be afraid of things that should scare you more, if you know they're impossible. Something that can, and likely will happen, is much scarier."

"I'm going to pretend I know what you're talking about."

She bit down on the side of her cheek.

"I'm scared of it because I think it will happen. I think Connor will hate me, even though I thought, deep down, my worst fear would be something else...but it makes sense, because the thing I thought it would be would never happen."

"I think I get it." He nodded. "But why would your friend - Connor hate you?"

"Because I'm a liar."

"You are?"

"I lied about being a witch. He has no idea I'm here. He thinks I'm attending some fancy prep school...or well, thought. I think he knows now. His...his sister is here. A first year. He might've put two and two together, their mum did. I've been writing to him, but I haven't got a response. If he hates me, I don't know what I'd do with myself."

George pondered this for a moment. "Has it ever occurred to you that you're too attached to this kid? Like, perhaps you're scared to care about and trust anyone, so you project everything onto him?"

Cass blinked. "I...what?"

"Nothing. Just a thought."

Just a thought that would leave her questioning everything.