musical mood: high infidelity - taylor swift

Fifteen minutes later, Cass was wading in the Prefect's bath/pool, fully clothed and incredibly uncomfortable. There was no way in hell she was undressing in front of Cedric Diggory, even if that meant she had to soak her uniform, and have Cedric give her a mighty confused look. Oh well, she knew a drying spell, and the humiliation was less than it would've been had she taken her clothes off.

Cedric, on the other hand, stripped down into his boxers, seemingly without a care in the world that she was watching. It was hard not to stare, but Cass managed, feeling heat rising in her face with every accidental glance she made.

Well, some of them were accidental.

"You ready?" He raised his eyebrows, holding the egg in his right hand.

She nodded, trying to keep her eyes fixed on his, and not on his abs.

With a deep breath, the two of them submerged into the water. Half of Cass expected the egg to screech as it had before, when Cedric opened it, but she had been correct. Instead, a beautifully sung melody escaped from the egg.

Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you're searching, ponder this:
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took,
But past an hour - the prospect's black
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.

She exhaled the moment the song was done, pushing back up onto the surface, Cedric shortly behind her. Her now drenched hair stuck to her face, and she pushed it away with a clammy palm.

"What the hell?" Cedric blinked water out of his eyes. "What does that mean?"

"Isn't it obvious?" She frowned, having figured the entire thing out the second it was said.

"No...?" He stared at her.

"Well, the task takes place within an hour, and they took something. Something you cherish. We cannot sing above the ground, likely is referring to mermaids, hence the mermish egg. Mermaids are in the black lake at Hogwarts as well, so you probably have to look for your treasure in the black lake."

"Bloody hell, Cass. How did you work it out that easily?"

She shrugged. "Being in Ravenclaw has its perks, I suppose."

"Thank you so much. This is...wow, thank you." He gave her a bright smile. "Er, one more thing. Do you know how to breathe underwater for an hour?"

"I don't. But I'm sure I can help you find a spell."

"You're brilliant! Bloody brilliant! Thank you!"

"Of course."

Cass began to make her way out of the bath, getting increasingly uncomfortable by her choice to wear her clothes in the water, but was stopped by Cedric gripping her good wrist. Not tight, no, in fact it was quite gentle, but enough to stop her.

Then, without any warning, he leaned down and kissed her.

Cass had been kissed twice prior to this, and neither had been any good, or anything she had wanted, for that matter. But this time was different. His lips felt right on hers, meshing together with a stable rhythm, like two pieces of a puzzle that fit perfectly together. Her hand went behind his head, and his arms around her waist, pulling her closer towards him. The only thought she had was yes, yes, yes.

She'd thought she'd gotten over him, and maybe she did have feelings for George as well, but that didn't matter right now. She'd ruined everything with George, and now, there was a chance to redeem herself with Cedric.

This had become a welcome distraction indeed, from everything that had occurred that day.

When the two finally pulled apart, they were both inhaling heavily, and Cass nearly tipped over from how she was positioned in the water.

"Sorry." Cedric took a deep breath, laughing slightly as he spoke. "I just had to do that."

"I'm glad you did." She said, and it was the truth. For perhaps the first time in ages, her mind wasn't on her brother, who, despite having just revealed himself to her, wasn't currently a problem. She could deal with it later - for now, she just wanted to snog Cedric Diggory.

*

Cass's emotional stability was questionable, at best. Half of the time, she was on cloud nine, thinking about her kiss with Cedric, and the other half, she was in hell, ruminating about Moody actually being Barty, about her father being Merlin knows where, how George was certainly furious with her, and how guilty she felt about everything that had gone down with him.

Had things gone differently, maybe she wouldn't have kissed Cedric, which she also felt awfully guilty about when she had George on her mind. Maybe had George spoken to her about his feelings when she wasn't having a panic attack, it would've ended better. Maybe she would've kissed him instead. But it didn't matter, her romance was the least of her issues.

"You're awfully cheerful today, Beth." Ana commented as the Ravenclaws walked through the halls, on their way to Herbology. Cass had never enjoyed the class, especially after her second year, when that plant had tried to maul her to death. "Is something the matter?"

"Why would her being in a good mood mean something's wrong?" Naia snorted.

Bethany's eyebrows perked up. She was smiling lazily, and her posture was more upbeat than usual as she walked. "It's nothing wrong - to me, at least. Dahlia has a new boyfriend my uncle disapproves of, meaning he's laying off me and Colin. For the time being, that is."

"Who's the boyfriend?" Terry asked.

"Ah, that's the funny bit." Bethany elbowed Cass in the side, not too rough, but still annoying. "She's dating Cass's fake ex, Greg or whatever the hell his name is."

Cass shouldn't have felt bad. Really. She had kissed Cedric, after all, so what right did she have to be upset over George and who he chose to date? Even so, it felt like a knife had gone straight through her heart. "George is dating Dahlia?"

Bethany nodded, still grinning, either not sensing that Cass was upset, or not caring. The latter was more likely. "Or so she told me last night. Our uncle sent her a howler and everything, the entire Slytherin Common Room got an earful, according to Adelaide."

"Brilliant."

It would've been better to hear from someone other than Bethany, George himself, for example, but how would that conversation go?

"Hey, Cassie, can we just pretend I didn't confess my feelings for you at the ball and you blew me off, because I'm dating Dahlia Burke now."

"Sounds good to me, George. I just snogged Cedric Diggory even though I want to snog you too. I want to snog you both, if I'm being completely honest. Is that wrong? It's wrong to have feelings for two people at once, isn't it?"

Yeah, not bloody likely.

Luckily, George seemed to be avoiding Cass for all it was worth, which both hurt and was a relief to her. Hurt because, well, it was George, who had been a constant in her life for nearly four years now, and was a relief due to her guilt about snogging Cedric, even if he didn't know about it. While Fred would always smile and wave at her when she'd enter the Great Hall for meals, George stared right through her at best, or at worst, would suddenly break out into a snogging session with Dahlia.

She hadn't spoken to Cedric much either since the whole kissing incident, though unlike George, he was certainly not ignoring her. He went out of his way to speak to her whenever they happened to run into each other, which wasn't often, due to their busy schedules. The only time they truly had to chat was during potions, where George also was. He only spoke in curt sentences, as short and simple as possible.

Cass found with her stress level only increasing, so did the pain in her right hand. Just when she thought it was beginning to heal, the nerve damage became apparent once again, making doing nearly anything with it impossible. Cedric had to do nearly all their potions for her, which was pathetic, but he didn't seem to mind. They hadn't kissed again, but he openly flirted with her, which only seemed to increase George's annoyance in the class they shared.

At the end of Defence Against the Dark Arts, Cass had rose from her seat, listening as Lavender rambled off the newest gossip about Bethany and Colin, who were somehow still together, against all odds. If she didn't know better, Cass would've thought Bethany actually liked the boy. While Parvati was still not speaking to Cass over the Henry issue, Lavender had no issue with her anymore, and proceeded to explain to Naia and her in great detail about how she saw them making out the day prior.

"I'm serious, he had his hand up her shirt and everything!"

"Gross! He's like thirteen!" Cass gagged as Lavender rambled on.

"Fourteen, I think." Naia said.

"Still. Aren't they a bit young?"

"Or maybe you're just a prude, Cass." Lavender laughed, and Cass rolled her eyes, finding irony in the whole thing. They, like everyone else (assuming Cedric hadn't told anyone), had no idea she had snogged Cedric in a bloody bath, while Lavender hadn't even had her first kiss yet, and Naia and Luna were still in the holding hands stage.

"Crouch. I want to speak alone with you." Barty-as-Moody said, and she felt her stomach fall to her feet.

"Ooo, are you in trouble?" Naia winked at her, but exited the classroom, leaving Cass alone with her brother.

"What the hell do you want?"

"Now, that's no way to speak to family, is it now?"

"Fuck you."

Barty's eyebrows shot up in amusement. "Feisty. I like it."

"Can you just tell me what you want so I can go?"

"I worry Snape is getting suspicious of me."

"Okay? What do you want me to do about that?"

"Don't talk back to me, for one." His eyes pierced into hers in a fiery glare. She stared right back at him, not shrinking under his gaze like she might have in times before. "I need you to get ingredients from his supply cabinet for me, since last time, Snape nearly caught me stealing from him. So I can continue to brew the polyjuice potion. Or, even better, I could get you to do it. You're the potions expert, after all."

"Why would I agree to do any of that?"

"Have you forgotten I have our father at my disposal? Your Moore friend? You'll do whatever I say, or face the consequences."

*

Stealing from Snape would be no easy task. He was almost always near his precious potions cabinet, and when he wasn't, other students were lingering by, leaving no opportunities to sneak in and snatch the materials for a polyjuice potion.

Luckily, Cass had no intention of stealing anything from anybody. She had all the ingredients she needed to brew the potion she desired - which wasn't polyjuice. It was poison.

The plan was to tell him it was polyjuice - they looked about the same, when you added mermaid scales, and get him to drink it. There was no doubt about it; if the potion was drunk, it would kill him.

It was never supposed to come to this. Plotting her own brother's assassination was a new low for Cass, in spite of everything. No one was supposed to end up dead, but there was no other option that she could see. If she told someone, Dumbledore or McGonagall or Flitwick, Connor and her father could be killed. If she did what Barty said, by the sounds of it, Harry Potter would wind up dead, and Merlin knows what would happen to her. No, she had to take matters into her own hands, which she was good at.

On the 24th of February, the day the second task of the triwizard tournament would take place, she gave the final product to Barty-as-Moody.

"It's done." She shoved the bottle into his hands, standing in his office. She hoped her nerves didn't show. If they did, Barty said nothing, instead eyed her up and down with Moody's maniacal fake eye.

"It better be perfect, sister." He snarled. "You'll regret it otherwise."

"Got it." She said, before whisking herself away. Not wanting to be late to see Cedric take part in the task, she hurried onto a boat with her fellow Ravenclaws, that took them deep into the black lake, and onto some sort of platform. Everyone was confused - everyone but Cass, that was, who already knew what the task was supposed to be.

"I heard they have to ride the giant squid!" Naia was saying to them.

Luna frowned. "I don't think Stan would like that."

"Stan?"

"That's the squid's name. Stan. He told me so."

"I see." Naia nodded, fully serious.

"The Giant Squid told you his name is Stan?" Bethany stared at Luna incredulously.

Luna nodded, a passive smile on her lips.

When they arrived at the platform, it was already packed tight, and it was nearly impossible to find a decent place to stand and get a good glimpse at the champions. Eventually, the Ravenclaws went up to the 3rd floor, which arguably had the best view.

Dumbledore explained the rules, which Cass had already worked out - that someone had been taken from each of the champions, and they needed to search for them in the Black Lake in under an hour. The whistle blew, and all of them dived into the water.

"Who do you reckon was taken from each of them?" Ana asked, and Cass smiled at the word reckon. After four years at Hogwarts, Ana had become a true Brit. Even her accent was morphing.

"Well, the annoying Weasley for Potter, of course." Bethany answered.

"Annoying doesn't narrow it down much when it comes to describing Weasley's." Cass grumbled, her eyes fixed on George, who had his arm wrapped over Dahlia's shoulder. She shouldn't care, she had no right to care, not after she'd kissed Cedric, but it still hurt. It was like he was flaunting it to Cass specifically, though of course, he wasn't. What reason would he have to do that?

"Harsh, Crouch. I like it." Bethany gave her an approving tilt of the chin.

"I don't see Granger, do you think she could be Krum's treasure?" Naia glanced around.

"I mean, maybe." Cass shrugged. "They certainly make for an odd couple, wouldn't you say?"

"Not as odd as that." Bethany's finger was outstretched, pointing across the platform. Cass could just spot between the heads, a blonde boy talking to a redhead girl. No, not talking, arguing, by the looks of it.

Was that...Malfoy and Saoirse?

"Isn't that girl in Ravenclaw? A few years younger than us?" Naia asked, staring at the pair with a confused frown. "What business does she have talking to Malfoy?"

"I'll go check it out." Cass said, before pushing through the crowd of students gathered watching the task, making her way towards the fighting duo.

"-talk to me like that again and I swear I will hex your balls off! Don't think I can do it? Do you really want to test that theory?" Saoirse was shouting, and the eyes of everyone near them turned to stare.

Malfoy rolled his eyes, reaching into his pocket, and pulling out his wand. "Yeah, go ahead Mudblood, I'd like to see you try."

Saoirse's nostrils were flaring as she whipped out her own wand.

"Woah woah woah." Cass stepped between the two, hands outstretched. "Calm down, both of you!"

"Stay out of this, Crouch." Malfoy spat.

"Yeah, Cass, stay out of this!" Saoirse tried to manoeuvre around her, but Cass stood her ground, shielding Malfoy from Saoirse's wrath. While part of her wanted to allow Malfoy to get hexed - he surely deserved it for calling a second year the M-word, she knew that would just land Saoirse in trouble. Cass was practically her big sister. Well, she had been, when her and Connor were still friends.

"Malfoy, back the fuck off. What business do you have fighting a second year?"

"She's a bitch, that's what."

"Oi, don't call her that!"

"I can stand up for myself, Cass." Saoirse glared at her, green eyes piercing into hers. If looks could kill, she'd be arrested on sight.

"Merlin, fine, I don't know why I bother." Cass threw her arms in the air in exasperation. Why did she bother with the Moores? They clearly had their priorities straight, and Cass wasn't one of them. Not that she cared, she had enough to worry about as it was without Malfoy and Saoirse's strange interaction.

By the time she returned to where she had been with the girls, Fleur Delacour had already been pulled out of the water, having been attacked by something. The poor girl was fighting tooth and nail to get back into the water, where her sister apparently was.

Other than that, watching the task was relatively boring. There was nothing to watch, actually, except the still water, waiting for people to come back with their loved ones. They filled the time with idle chatter, watching and waiting with anticipation.

Nearly a half hour had passed before finally, something happened - before two heads poked out from the waves, taking sharp, frantic breaths.

"It's Cedric!" Naia cried out, cheering as she peered over the crowd.

"Who's that with him?" Luna attempted to see over the heads of people around them, but was too short to accomplish that.

"I think that's Cho Chang." Henry said, frowning. "Cedric and Cho are dating? I thought that was just a rumour?"

Cass's heart broke into a million tiny pieces as she realised that was, in fact, Cho Chang, that was Cedric's treasure. That was who Cedric couldn't live without. Not her, never her, but Cho. The girl he'd sworn he didn't fancy.

"Crouch, are you alright?" Henry turned to her, but she had already begun to back away, shaking her head in disbelief. Cedric had always been so kind, so lovely, but he'd been playing with her the entire time.

"I think I'm going to be sick." She muttered, more to herself than to anyone else, as she made her way away from the edge of the platform, concealing herself within the crowd of people. She knew one thing for sure - she needed to get out. Her stomach was churning, her head spinning, and by the time she'd reached the stairs that led her to the bottom of the platform, she was sure she was going to either throw up or pass out. Maybe both.

"Cass?" A voice called out her name, and she didn't have to look up to recognise the voice. It was a voice she'd been longing to hear for months, that she hadn't.

"Parvati?"

Parvati's eyebrows were creased together in an expression of concern. "Are you okay?"

"I feel sick." She didn't have the energy to lie, not even if she wanted to.

"Being on the water certainly won't help that." Parvati pressed her lips together. "Come on, we'll get a boat, go back to the castle."

Parvati led Cass across the bottom platform, while the crowd paid no mind to them, her hand gently wrapped around Cass's wrist.

When they finally approached a boat and sat down, Cass sighed in relief. Her legs ached, from what she had no idea, the scar under her eye was itching like there was no tomorrow, and her bad hand was burning with pain, despite not having even been in use.

"I'm sorry." Parvati breathed after a long moment of silence. A roar of cheers erupted from the platform, which was growing further and further away as the boat travelled back to the castle, enchanted to move on its own.

"Why are you sorry?"

"I shouldn't have been ignoring you. It wasn't your fault, what Henry did."

"I'm sorry he did that. It was fucked up, like, so beyond fucked up."

"It isn't your fault." She gave Cass a small smile. "Are we friends again?"

"Of course we are."

"Now, tell me what has you upset. Also, do you fancy a cigarette? I got these over the holidays, they're bloody brilliant."

Cass frowned. She knew about cigarettes, they were things muggles smoked for fun - they were terrible for you, and highly addictive. She should say no, but she didn't.

"Sure."

"Brilliant." Parvati grinned, pulling a pack out of her pocket, and handing Cass a stick. With the wave of her hand, the end of the cigarette was alite, a gentle line of smoke coming out from the tiny fire. "Now, you put in your mouth and inhale."

Parvati grabbed her own and demonstrated, blowing out smoke from her lips like they did in the old movies. She looked elegant, regal, and Cass tried to mimic her.

It didn't go well. The moment she inhaled the smoke, she began to cough, a burning sensation filling her lungs. "Shit! What the fuck?!"

"You'll get used to it."

Cass tried it again, and while this time, she didn't cough, the feeling was no less unpleasant. She blew out smoke like Parvati did, making little circles in the air from her tongue.

"Cedric had Cho in the water. He was her treasure."

"So you fancy him still? I thought you fancied George Weasley?"

"I don't know." She ran her free hand through her hair. "I wish I didn't fancy anyone. It hurts so fucking much."

"Tell me about it."

Parvati had a far away look, which Cass assumed was about Henry, though something deep down told her that wasn't the case at all. Well, best not to push it.