musical mood: nothing left to say now - imagine dragons

Cedric was waiting for her when Cass exited Dumbledore's office. If she had been shaking before, that was nothing compared to now, where she was worried one wrong move might send her falling to the floor.

Bartemius was dead.

Her fault.

"Cass, is everything okay?"

"Fuck off."

"Listen, I never got to apologise to you about the Cho thing. I'm really, really sorry. I liked you a lot, I really did, it's just-"

"Cedric!" She cut him off, her voice high pitched and shrill. "I don't care what you have to say. I really, reallycouldn't care less. Please just leave me alone. I have bigger things to worry about right now."

"Right, right." He nodded, beginning to walk away. Just before he turned the corner, he stopped, and looked back at her. "I'm sorry again, Cass."

She might've felt bad for being so abrasive, had she not had something far bigger on her mind. She had something to do, she needed to know for sure if her father was dead, and there was only one way to confirm.

It didn't take long to get to Barty/Moody's office, which was just down the hall. Cass raised her good hand - her left hand and banged on the door, over and over until he answered.

"What?!" Barty groaned, his mad eye meeting hers with annoyance. "Oh, it's you."

"Let me in." She shoved past him, entering his office, which hadn't diminished in creepiness one bit. When he shut the door, she crossed her arms, staring at him expectantly.

"So, I assume you've heard." Barty smirked, as if this was amusing. It was to him, she supposed.

"Dumbledore told me everything that happened. Is he...dead? Is father dead? Did you kill him?"

"Yes." He said the word like it meant nothing to him, like it was just another word. Like yes wasn't confirming that he had killed his own father, that he had orphaned the two of them. "The bastard is dead. I buried him in that half breed Hagrid's yard."

It was like the wind was knocked out of her. Cass stumbled for her footing, leaning against his desk for support.

He was dead.

It was her fault.

"You...you said as long as I did what you'd said, he'd be safe."

"Oh, dear sister, what does it matter?" Barty seemed...impatient, as if he were annoyed by her presence. Like he had something better to do. She fought the urge to hit him. "We both hated him, and now he's out of our way."

"I never wanted him dead! You know that! He didn't deserve to die!"

Barty seemed infuriated by this, turning to her with reddening cheeks. His eyes were ablaze, staring at her like she had just sinned horribly. "He put me under the imperius curse for thirteen years! He sent me to Azkaban! His own son! He neglected me my entire life, and yours too! He's been terrible to us! Why do you feel sympathy for him? Why?!"

Cass's voice caught in her throat as she struggled to justify an answer. She knew, in her heart, Bartemius didn't deserve to die, he didn't deserve to have his finger cut off, but when Barty's pain had been laid out so plainly to her, it was hard to argue with it.

"You tortured the Longbottoms." She said finally, her voice just above a whisper. "You got caught. Of course you were going to go to Azkaban. What did you expect?"

He shook his head, laughing. "You don't understand, of course you don't."

"No, I don't."

"Someday, Cassiopeia, you will." He patted her on the shoulder, and she shrugged him off. "Now get the hell out of my office."

She didn't have to be told twice.

*

Mourning was a difficult process, especially when she had to keep it together, for the sake of public appearance. The entire school was aware Bartemius had been found on the grounds, but of course, no one outside of her and Barty knew he was dead. She was the subject of gossip on every corner, not only was she the girl with the crazy 'dead' brother, but she was the one with the missing father.

How was Cass supposed to deal with this grief, when she'd never liked the person who was now dead in the first place? Part of her felt guilty, for even feeling remorse for his death, when she'd never appreciated him when he was alive.

What was there to appreciate? She'd ask herself on the darker days, when she felt more anger than sadness. He never cared about you. He never loved you. Why should I mourn?

But she did. She went through the next month of Hogwarts in a miserable blur, hardly speaking to anyone. She wore her father's ring still, though it brought little comfort to her. Her dormmates and the Weasley twins often tried to speak to her, though she blew them off as usual, preferring to spend her time in solitude. Cass even considered returning to Myrtle's bathroom and finishing what she had attempted on her birthday, but she chickened out every time.

"Cass, come on, you have to go to the tournament." Ana was pleading with her on the day of the last triwizard task. She had no desire to go, she knew something was going to happen with Potter, her brother had made that very clear. What it was, she had no idea, and she wasn't sure she wanted to know, but she was certain she didn't want to be there when it happened.

"I really don't want to."

"Me neither." Padma said from where she sat on her bed, looking up from her book. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"You always have a bad feeling about things." Naia told Padma.

"And she's never been wrong." Cass pointed out.

"Maybe it's the Nargles." Luna commented. She was wearing her massive pink glasses, her eyes fixed on the door. "I think we should go. Don't let the Nargles win."

"Me too." Naia said. "I really want to go."

"I'm going." Bethany was brushing her silky black hair on her bed. "Colin's going - he wants to get pictures of Potter."

"Oooo, you're going because you want to spend time with Colin?" Ana teased.

"Shut up." Bethany rolled her eyes, though a faint smile had slipped onto her lips. Cass had been so preoccupied this year, she'd hardly even thought about Bethany and Colin and their bizarre relationship, but found herself surprised that Bethany seemed...excited to see him. Had she actually developed feelings for the boy?

Who knew? It was Bethany, she was impossible to read.

"We all have to go." Ana insisted, her finger pointing between Padma and Cass. "And that includes you two."

It was hard to say no to Ana.

*

"And then I told Angie, she needs to shut up about Fred Weasley, like he isn't even that attractive!" Naia was rambling to the group of girls as they walked through the grass. They had just reached the stands, and were about to climb up to get to their seats. "Sorry, is that offensive? Since you fake dated his twin?"

"What about fake dating?" A voice said from behind them, and Cass bit down on her lip to prevent a groan.

"Nothing." Cass said quickly to Cedric, avoiding making eye contact with him. He was the last person she wanted to talk to, especially about fake dating.

"Oh my God, hi Cedric!" Lavender was practically jumping up and down at the sight of the Triwizard champion.

"Er, hey." He gave her a small wave, before turning to Cass. "Sorry to bother, but I was wondering if I could speak to you? Alone, preferably."

"She says yes!" Parvati quite literally shoved Cass into Cedric, nearly causing the two to fall over as Cass's face fell into his chest. "Shit, sorry!"

"It's...alright?" Cedric said, sounding more like a question as Cass swiftly pushed herself away from him, muttering profanities under her breath.

Naia shot Cass a wink, before the girls disappeared into the stands, leaving Cass and Cedric alone. Cass was tempted to simply walk away, to follow Naia into the stands, but she managed to stay put. Her friends would kill her if she didn't.

She folded her arms over her chest, eyeing him up and down. He looked nervous, shifting from foot to foot, as if it were more nerve wracking talking to her than competing in the third task. They were in a position where hardly anyone could see them, slightly behind the stands, so she had no need to fake pleasantries with him. "What do you want?"

"I broke up with Cho."

She blinked, bemused. That was certainly not what she had been expecting to hear. "What? Why?"

"Come on, I think you know why."

She shook her head, already regretting her choice to not walk away and ignore him. "I really don't. Why would you break up with your treasure? With the person you can't live without?" She said the last bit with a bite in her tone, and he flinched. Good.

"I can't live without you, Cass, not Cho. She's lovely, don't get me wrong, but...she isn't you. I've learned that spending the past few months without you, that you should've been the one in the lake, not her. That kiss, it meant everything to me. I've been going mad without you, with you ignoring me. Haven't you...haven't you missed me at all?"

"No offence, Cedric, but I've had bigger things on my mind as of recent."

"Right, right, of course, your father. I'm so sorry about that, really."

Cass shrugged, unsure of what to say.

"Listen, I really have to go, the task is about to start soon, but can we talk about this after? Please?"

Cass wanted to say no, really, but the look in his eyes was so...desperate. So raw, so genuine. She was reminded of the Cedric she had so dearly desired, that she'd fancied for so long. Was that Cedric back? Was he really confessing his feelings for her?

"Alright." She conceded, taking a deep breath and pursing her lips.

"Thank you." He sighed in relief, before turning around and walking away.

"Good luck." Cass called after him, but she wasn't sure he heard him, over the roar of the crowd as he entered the arena.

Had that really just happened? Or had she hallucinated the entire thing. No, no, she hadn't, that was real, Cedric Diggory just admitted his feelings towards her - he'd broken up with Cho for her. He wanted her, in his own bloody words, he couldn't live without her. How was she supposed to handle this, on top of everything else? Did she still have feelings for Cedric? She genuinely couldn't tell, she'd hardly had the time or the energy to even think about Cedric as of recent.

She swiftly walked into the stands, finding an empty spot between Padma and Ana. There was Luna, holding hands with Naia, Terry, Parvati and Lavender, Ana, and for some reason, Saoirse was sat next to Henry, looking completely out of place. She spotted Theodore with Malfoy and the other Slytherins, looking absolutely miserable. George and Fred were with Dahlia and Angelina, and Bethany wasn't sitting with them either - she'd chosen to sit with Colin near the front, where he had his camera out and was taking pictures at just about every different angle he could get of Potter. If Colin wasn't so obsessed with Bethany, Cass would've thought he had a crush on Potter.

"Hey, Saoirse." Cass greeted uncertainly as she sat down.

Saoirse glanced over at her. "Hey."

"How are you doing?"

"Fine." She stiffened.

Alright. So she didn't want to talk. Fair enough.

She turned to look at Padma, who was fidgeting nervously. The task had just begun, with the four champions entering the hedge maze and out of sight. What was the point in being here, when they couldn't see a thing?

"You alright?" She asked her friend.

Padma shook her head, taking a deep breath. "I just have a bad feeling. A really bad one, Cass. I can't explain it, but I can't shake it either."

Cass put a hand over hers. "It's going to be okay, don't worry." She was saying it just as much to herself as she was to Padma. Padma smiled at her, though she didn't look convinced by her words.

"So Cass, what did Cedric want?" Lavender asked, a twinkle in her blue eyes, like she already knew the answer.

"Nothing in particular." She lied, hoping her reddening cheeks didn't give her fib away. "He just wanted to say he was sorry about my father."

"I don't believe you." Parvati sing-songed.

"Why would I lie?"

"I don't know, because you're you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Parvati shrugged.

"Yeah, I'm not buying it either." Naia piped up. "What did Cedric actually say to you, Cass? We won't tell anyone."

"Like I said, he just wanted to say sorry about my father. It was nothing interesting."

Naia gave her a pointed look, but before she could say anything, bright red sparks appeared in the air above the maze.

"It's Fleur. She's in trouble." Padma said, and sure enough, Fleur Delacour appeared moments later, unconscious, her beautiful eyes closed and a cut on the side of her head.

"What do you reckon happened to her?" Henry strained to get a good look at the girl as the healers took her away, who even while bleeding from the head, still somehow managed to look like a goddess.

Only minutes later, did more sparks appear, followed by an also unconscious Viktor Krum, perhaps the last person Cass imagined would've dropped out of the tournament. She'd expected him to win, actually, even though she probably should've been rooting for Cedric. He was the Hogwarts champion, after all, and maybe was a friend once again. Maybe even more, they'd find out soon.

"Just Potter and Diggory left." Naia frowned. "Who do you lot think will win?"

"Neither." Saoirse said, and Henry snorted. "They'll both get attacked by whatever hurt Krum and Delacour, and it'll be the first triwizard tournament in history without a winner."

"Assuming one of them didn't attack the other two." Padma pointed out, her voice grim.

"What?!" They all turned to her.

"I doubt either of them would attack someone." Ana said, shaking her head, her short red hair flying about as she did. "I mean, this is Potter and Diggory we are talking about. They are perhaps the nicest people in this school."

"Besides you, of course." Naia elbowed her, and Ana smiled, but couldn't deny it.

Several minutes went by without anything of interest occurring, and just when Cass was about to check out and stop paying attention, there was a loud snap, like the sound of a portkey landing, and a tangled mess appeared in front of the maze. Someone was back. Cass, along with everyone else in the area, shot up onto their feet, desperate to get a good look.

"Oh my God, it's Potter and Diggory!" A voice Cass didn't recognize called out, and they were right - Harry Potter was on top of Cedric Diggory, one hand holding the triwizard cup. He should've been happy, smiling, but he was screaming and sobbing, and only then did it occur to Cass that Cedric was on the ground, on the ground, his eyes open...

"Is he dead?" She cried, pushing through the crowd that had gone from cheering just seconds ago to screaming, as they made the same realisation as she had.

"Crouch!" Someone - Henry, she thought, called after her, but she didn't stop, she didn't stop pushing until she passed everyone, until she could see for herself that Cedric Diggory was most certainly dead. His eyes, the eyes that had always drawn Cass into him were wide open, they'd forever be open, they'd never blink again. They'd never see another sunrise, or a beautiful work of magic, they'd never see her, ever again.

Someone pulled Potter off of him, Cass couldn't tell who, as she let out a scream of anguish. Her vision went blurry and she fell to her knees, crashing down onto the grass, still screaming as she did.

Cho sprinted down to Cedric's side, along with several Hufflepuffs she recognized as his friends, but Cass couldn't move, she stayed kneeled in the grass, trying desperately to breathe, to see, to comprehend that Cedric was dead, he was dead and he was never coming back.

Professors tried to keep the crowd calmed, as Snape put his cloak over Cedric's body, concealing him from view. His body from view, not him, he was dead, and her father was dead, and Barty was dragging Potter away...

Shit.

She shot up, somehow able to get to her feet with a new rush of adrenaline. She couldn't save her father, she couldn't save Cedric, but maybe she could save Potter. There was no doubt Barty was involved in this, no doubt at all, and certain Potter was about to die, if he were to be alone with her brother.

She knew what she had to do.

"Professor!" She ran up to Dumbledore as fast as her legs would take her. Her breath was hitched, her voice raw with emotion, and cracked as she spoke.

Dumbledore turned away from the Minister of Magic, and looked at her, a sad smile on his lips. "Yes, Miss Crouch?"

"I lied. I lied to you about everything. You can arrest me later, take me to Azkaban later, but you need to save Potter. He's with Moody, who isn't actually Moody, he's my brother. He's alive, and he's going to kill Potter!"

Dumbledore blinked.

"What are you doing, just standing there?! Do something!"

"Mr. Weasley, would you do me the greatest favour of taking Miss Crouch to the hospital wing?" Dumbledore turned to Arthur Weasley, who Cass hadn't even noticed was standing nearby, watching the scene in horror.

"Yes, yes, of course."

"Severus, come with me, if you will. I'm afraid Harry Potter is in terrible danger."

Cass watched as the two Professors walked into the school, seemingly taking their sweet time. She wanted to scream, she wanted to tell them to run, that if Potter died, it would be their fault for being so bloody slow.

But no, if Potter died, it would be no one's fault but her own. She knew that now, as Arthur held her hand as a father might, as he led her to the hospital wing. She should've found a way to betray Barty, to get him caught. She'd done everything he asked to protect the people around her, and yet, here they were. First, her father, and now Cedric, were dead and never coming back, and it was all her fault.