musical mood: come back...be here - taylor swift

The floating feeling didn't last for long.

After using a quick drying spell on her clothes, she followed Ana back into the castle and up near the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, where the two were met with a creepily placid Umbridge.

"There you are, Miss Crouch. Where were you?" She asked, tilting her head sweetly.

"On a walk. Needed some air, you know."

Ana stifled a laugh, biting down on her lip.

"Thank you, Miss Vasiliev, for bringing her to me. You may go now."

Ana gave her a curt nod, before walking away, giving Cass one final glance before she turned the corner, her footsteps echoing down the hall as she grew further and further away, leaving Cass alone with the pink Professor.

"Miss Crouch, would you care to join me in my office?"

"Of course, Professor." Cass forced a smile as she followed Umbridge up the stairs and into a room. The moment she stepped into her office, she was instantly overwhelmed with pink - so much bloody pink. Pink on the walls, the carpet, even her desk had a pink trim on it. She thought she might physically pass out from the overbearing color.

"Are those...cats?" She couldn't help but gape as she stared at the wall furthest from the door, which was covered from floor to ceiling in plates with moving cats on them.

"Yes, don't you just love kittens?"

"I suppose so..." Cass frowned, unsure what to make of this conversation. There was a mirror as well, hanging up by her desk, and when Cass glanced into it, Barty's reflection stared back at her, just as menacing as he had been on the beach, as he'd been in every sighting of him since his dementors kiss.

It took everything in her not to scream, and when she blinked, he was gone.

"Is everything okay, Miss Crouch?" Her voice was coated in concern, so much so that it was obviously fake, and Cass felt her muscles clench.

Calm down. She told herself, taking a deep breath. "Yeah, yeah, just...thought I saw something."

"Right." Umbridge gave her a smile as she sat down at her desk, motioning at the chair in front of her. "Now, have a seat."

Cass obeyed, sitting down in the chair, which was also a pastel pink. "Is everything okay, Professor?"

"I'm afraid not, Miss Crouch. You're a clever girl, I'm sure you know that the Ministry is keeping a harsher eye on the state of this school. I mean, after the death of a student, and the break-in of a madman-"

"A madman, she called me!"

This time, when Barty popped up next to her, Cass did scream, nearly falling off the bright pink chair as she did.

"Miss Crouch!" Umbitch held a hand to her heart, jumping in alarm. "What is it?"

Cass frantically glanced between the Professor and her brother, who was standing right next to Cass's chair, confirming what became a horrifying truth: Umbridge couldn't see him.

She had gone mad.

"I...saw a spider." She lied. "Just over there, by the door."

"A spider?" Umbridge cried, eyes widening.

"A spider?" Barty repeated, mocking the Professor's shrill voice.

"Yeah, a massive one. It...er, left, though. It went under the door."

Umbridge let out a visible sigh of relief. "Well, wasn't that eventful?"

"Indeed." Cass nodded, trying to calm her racing heart as Barty stared at her, smirking with his bloody Barty smirk. He was right there, how could no one else see him? How was this happening?

"Anyways, without any more interruptions, I called you in here today to discuss the matter of an item found in your personal belongings."

Cass frowned. Well, she certainly hadn't been expecting that.

They'd gone through her stuff? When had they ever done that before at Hogwarts? Was that even legal? Even with that aside, what could she possibly have had on her that was so horrible Umbridge needed to get involved? As much as she searched through her mind, she couldn't think of a thing. She hadn't accidentally brought one of the cigarettes she'd bought over the summer with, right? But then, what were the odds that any Professor here even knew what they were?

"Would you care to explain what a book entitled Blood Magic was doing in your trunk?"

Oh, shit.

*

Cass had to tell herself over and over not to cry, as she made her way through the halls and back to the Ravenclaw common room. Everything had fallen apart, in one fail swoop. What was she supposed to do now? She had no future, she had no life left worth living.

The mocking from Barty certainly didn't help, either, as he trailed behind her, chanting taunts with his clever tongue. Luckily, Cass was too consumed with her own thoughts, she could hardly process what he was saying to her.

When she reached the eagle that led into the common room, she stopped, blinking rapidly. Someone was standing there, waiting for her. Dahlia Burke.

Her dark brown eyes were stained the same shade of red as her blotchy face, and it was obvious she'd been sobbing. Her black hair was a tangled mess, and when her gaze met Cass, her nostrils flared.

"You!" She stormed up to her, eyes darkening. "You fucking bitch!"

Dahlia then raised her hand and struck Cass across the face.

"What the fuck?!" Cass jumped back as Barty let out a howl of laughter. She clutched her burning cheek with her hand, staring at Dahlia in disbelief. "What was that for?!"

"Oh, don't play stupid, Crouch! You know!"

"I don't! I swear, I don't!"

"George broke up with me! For you, no doubt! You've been lusting after my boyfriend for ages! Well guess what, you can have him! You two pathetic pieces of shit deserve each other." Her expression broke from one of anger, to one of hurt in just a brief moment. "I thought we were friends, Crouch. I loved him. How could you do this to me?"

Cass froze.

"I...I didn't tell George to break up with you, Dahlia."

"Bullshit!"

"I didn't, I swear I didn't."

Dahlia's hurt look shifted right back into one of rage. "Don't fucking lie! You ruin everything you touch, Crouch. You know that, right? You should just fuck off and die. No one wants you here. Hogwarts would be better off without scum like you walking about, dirtying up the place."

For a moment, Cass didn't speak. When she did, her voice was low and rough, as she held back tears. Not because she was hurt by what she was being told, but from what had occurred earlier, as it finally began to process. "Well, it's your lucky day then, Dahlia."

"What are you on about?"

"I've just been expelled."

*

"What the fuck happened to your face?"

"Nice to see you too, Bethany." Cass greeted as she entered her dorm room. When she glanced into the mirror that hung on the wall by Naia's bed, she noticed a massive red mark on her freckled skin, that was sure to bruise. "Where are the others?"

"Ana's with Theodore, I think. I don't keep track of the rest of them." Bethany tossed her book to the side, and stood up from where she had been sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Ana's with Theodore?" Cass repeated, eyebrows jumping up as she remembered what Theodore had confessed to her at the Yule Ball.

"Is that not usual? They're practically glued at the hip."

Were they? She frowned. Maybe she hadn't noticed - she hadn't exactly been keeping up with what things her friends had going on in their lives throughout the past year, she'd been too preoccupied with her own woes. It felt a shame, now, that she likely would never see them again.

"What are you doing?" Bethany asked when Cass didn't respond, instead grabbing her trunk and throwing the few things she had unpacked back inside.

"None of your business."

"Well fuck you then." She turned away, reaching over and grabbing her book, resuming reading it.

Cass sighed in relief that Bethany didn't try to pry. She certainly didn't fancy having to explain to her how she'd been expelled for carrying a book on some of the darkest magic one could possibly imagine. How could she be so stupid, bringing that book with her? She was bound to get caught with it eventually - Percy had warned her about it all those years ago. She didn't even remember packing the damn thing! And now her entire life was over. Without school, she wouldn't be able to get a job, wouldn't be able to support herself. Not with her last name, not without an education. She was fucked. Completely and utterly fucked.

Fucking useless idiot. She kicked herself, literally, bringing her foot to her opposite shin, hard, and not at all wincing at the pain that seared through her leg. In fact, she found it felt nice, the pain, the release of her emotional turmoil.

She bit down on her lip as she closed her trunk shut. Bethany looked over at her, eyebrows raised, but she didn't say anything as Cass dragged her trunk behind her.

"Tell the girls I love them, yeah?"

The black haired girl's brow furrowed in confusion. "What?"

She didn't respond, instead took one last look at her dorm room, before shutting the door behind her.

*

Cass used the floo network through Flitwick's office back to Grim Old Place. Flitwick didn't say much to her, though she could tell he was dismayed, and Cass felt her heart break a little bit at his expression. She'd always liked him, after all, he'd been such a lovely Professor. Now, she'd never see him again either.

How had things gone from so wonderful, to horrible, in a matter of moments? She'd had George confessing his feelings for her, then not even an hour later, she'd been expelled from school. School, the only thing she had going for her. Who was Cassiopeia Crouch without her brain? Just the girl that aided her crazy undead brother in infiltrating the school. Just the girl who'd inadvertently gotten her own father and Cedric Diggory murdered.

"Crouch." Moody greeted her as she flew through the fireplace. They'd surely owled him the moment everything had happened, being her guardian and everything, and informed him about her expulsion. "We need to talk."

"I'd rather not." She tried to push past him, but he was larger, stepping in front of her.

"When I took the role of guardian, I didn't expect you to get expelled."

"Yeah, well, I didn't see it coming either."

"Constant vigilance!"

"What does that even mean?!" She attempted to step around him once again, but to no avail.

"It means, a war is brewing, and the safest place is Hogwarts, which you are now banned from. Make no mistake, Crouch, Voldemort doesn't like being bested, and you certainly did that, by informing Dumbledore, however late, of what was happening. Had you not intervened, Potter would likely be dead, and your brother, his faithful servant, would have escaped."

"I...don't understand."

"Yes you do."

He was right. She did understand. She just didn't want to say it out loud.

Cass took a shaky breath, allowing her churning stomach to settle. "I'm a target now, aren't I? For You-Know-Who."

"Yes. And with you outside of Hogwarts, that isn't good. I received a letter from Dumbledore the moment after I heard news of your expulsion, and he's working on getting you a trial, so you can possibly return. He reckons this was one big misunderstanding."

"It wasn't." There was no more use in lying. Not to Moody, anyways, he was sure to learn the truth eventually.

Moody's eyebrow shot up. "It wasn't?"

"No. I had the book."

A long pause fell between the two.

"And why," Moody spoke after a moment, his voice even more gruff than usual. "Did you have a book on illegal magic?"

"I stole it. From Quirrell, in my first year. That's why he poisoned me, I reckon, because I stole his precious book. I knew too much. I knew he'd used blood magic to connect himself to You-Know-Who. Well, I didn't know it, actually, but I was bloody close to figuring it out. Then, I just kept it...thought it might come in useful someday."

"You thought a book on blood magic would come in useful?"

"Not for me! Just in general. Like...what if You-Know-Who has used it? What if he's somehow made himself immortal? Isn't that an important thing to know?"

He shook his head, taking a deep breath. "You're too clever for your own good, Crouch. You should stay out of this, leave it to the adults. Look where it's gotten you."

"I didn't know I'd brought the book back, I swear! I don't remember packing it."

Moody eyed her up and down, making it obvious that he didn't believe her one bit. "It's getting late. You should go to your room."

"Right." Cass tucked a lose strand of hair behind her ear, staring down at the ground. She picked up her trunk with her good hand, and began to haul it across the room. "Goodnight, Moody."

"Alastor."

She frowned. "If I call you Alastor, then you have to call me Cass. Or at least Cassiopeia. Crouch isn't doing it for me."

"Fine then. Goodnight, Cassiopeia."

"Goodnight, Alastor."

As she exited the living room and approached the staircase, she spotted Sirius Black, leaning against the wall and twiddling his wand. "Need help with that?" He nudged towards her trunk, which she was struggling to drag behind her without a weightlessness charm.

She hated to seem weak, but she simply hadn't the energy to pretend to not be worn out by the sheer weight of the thing. "Yeah, that would be nice."

With a wave of Sirius's wand, her massive trunk was as light as a feather. No less bulky, unfortunately, but significantly easier to transport.

"Thank you."

"Of course." He smirked at her, his mischievous aura reminding her oddly of Draco Malfoy. They were related somehow, weren't they? Well, all purebloods were related in one way or another, but he and Malfoy were rather close familially, from what she could remember. "For the record, Crouch, I think the entire situation is kind of funny."

"What, me getting expelled?" She stared at him, brown eyes wide. "How is that funny?"

"I mean, look at you. You're smart, you're a Ravenclaw, you're the type I would've hated back when I was at Hogwarts. You'd think one of those twins would get expelled, not you."

"George and Fred aren't stupid enough to bring in an illegal book to the castle after the murder of two people on the grounds. I'm lucky I haven't been arrested."

He shrugged, messy hair flopping around. "Maybe. Well, let me know if you need anything. Goodnight."

"Goodnight..."

*

George was going mad.

After breaking up with a rather furious Dahlia, he'd been waiting up all night, wrecking his brain for what to say to Cassie when he saw her next. He hadn't slept a wink, tossing and turning with various love confessions spinning through his mind, ways to explain to her how he'd meant everything he said and more. This only increased his anxiety - Cassie had never given him a response, after all, what if she was disgusted by his advances and never wanted to speak to him again? Well, maybe he'd have had that coming.

He knew it was fucked up of him, to date Dahlia while he had feelings for someone else, but he had sincerely liked Dahlia too. Really, she was lovely. But she was no Cassie, and it wasn't fair to anyone to pretend like he didn't love someone else. So, however cruel it was of him, he'd broken up with his girlfriend the moment after he'd confessed how he felt to Cassie.

Well, some of how he felt. If he were to say it all, to lay all of his feelings of love out on the floor for everyone to see, he'd never be quiet again.

He stumbled into Potions class the next day, practically a zombie as he walked through the door, trying to keep himself awake. He'd nearly been late, having skipped breakfast, and then hidden in an empty classroom for twenty minutes when he spotted Dahlia walking by. He didn't think he could face her, not quite yet.

"There you are." Fred greeted as he sat down. "Dude, you look like shit."

"I didn't sleep."

"What, thinking about Dahlia?"

George raised his eyebrows. "You know?" He hadn't told his twin what had happened yet, wanting to process everything himself the night prior.

"I think the entire school does. Dahlia was ranting about it to anyone who would listen at breakfast, that some slutty fifth year stole her boyfriend."

"Cassie isn't a slut." George folded his arms across his chest, coming off far more defensive than he had meant to.

"Well I know that, calm your tits. Those were Dahlia's words, not mine. Anyways, have you seen her today?"

"Dahlia?"

"No, Cassie. She wasn't at breakfast."

"I haven't. Maybe she was anxious about seeing Dahlia - I imagine it got back to her already that we broke up, since she's dormmates with her sister."

Fred shrugged. "Maybe."

Snape began the class a few minutes later, and Cassie was nowhere to be seen. While George tried to be rational about reasons for her absence, it was hard to not freak out. He couldn't imagine anything could get between Cassie and her potions. She hadn't even let her weird hand injury mess with her favourite subject, so where the hell was she? Yeah, she could just be sick, but she also could be nearly dead in a bathroom like that time in his third year.

When the class ended a few hours later, it was safe to say that George was no longer tired. No, he was wide awake, panicking about all the possibilities of where Cassie could be. What if she'd fallen ill in the middle of the night - super ill, and was in the Hospital Wing on her death bed? What if she was avoiding him, because she was disgusted by his confession from yesterday and wanted nothing to do with him? The possibilities were endless. He'd been suffering with a severe case of Cassie withdrawl, which needed to be fixed immediately.

"Fred! George!" Angelina waved to the twins from where she sat at the Gryffindor table as they entered the Great Hall for lunch.

"Hey, love." Fred flung an arm around his girlfriend, leaning in and kissing her on the cheek.

George looked away, instead glancing over at the Ravenclaw tables, where Cassie's friends were sitting, all looking rather glum. Angelina's sister in particular looked to be on the verge of tears, as the blonde (Luna, he thought her name was), rubbed her back with a sympathetic look in her eye.

Well, Cassie wasn't dying in the hospital wing, George could rule that out by her friends still being in the Great Hall, instead of at her bedside.

If she wasn't currently in the process of dying, that left two options;

1. Cassie was ignoring him

2. Cassie was dead

"Hey, George, how are you doing, by the way?"

George looked back over at Angelina, who was eyeing him with a pitiful expression.

"I'm alright..." He frowned, staring at her with a confused expression. He thought he'd been doing a good job at keeping it together, at making sure he didn't look as miserable as he felt, but apparently that wasn't the case. "How are you?"

"I'm alright, considering."

"Considering?"

"Well, what happened to your friend Cass. Merlin, Naia is bloody distraught, I had to go into the Ravenclaw common room just to get her out of bed. I mean, it's ridiculous, isn't it? Umbridge just comes in and thinks she can take over."

"What do you mean?" George's heart fell to the floor as his muscles clenched up. He could feel a drop of cold sweat drip down his back as he struggled to breathe. No, Cassie wasn't dead, was she? Nothing had happened to her, right? If somehow, Cassie had gotten hurt, he didn't know what he'd do with himself. "What happened to Cassie?"

Angelina's eyes widened. "You don't know?"

"Know what?" It was Fred's turn to speak now, as he stared at his girlfriend.

"Cass has been expelled."

George's lips curled upwards ever so slightly at Angelina's joke. She was funnier than people gave her credit for. Well, maybe all the time spent with Fred had finally rubbed off on her. "Seriously, Angie, what's happened?"

"I'm serious. I don't know exactly what happened, something about having some book on dark magic. Umbridge sent her home last night, according to Naia."

"That isn't funny, Angie." Fred pursed his lips. "You shouldn't joke about that. You know how George gets with things related to Cassie."

George wanted to object, but it was true. When it came to Cassie, he was a madman. Everybody with working eyes and ears knew it.

"I'm not joking! Go ask Naia!"

George rolled his eyes. "You're actually saying Cassie got expelled? As in Cassie Crouch? Are we talking about the same Cassie?"

"There's only one Cassiopeia Crouch in Hogwarts, last I checked." Angelina snapped, her dark cheeks heating up in what was evident annoyance. "Bloody hell, you two are ridiculous. Why do you think she wasn't in that potions class you have together? You really think a Ravenclaw would intentionally skip a class? Aren't potions her specialty as well? She's taking her NEWTs this year for potions, a reasonable Ravenclaw wouldn't skip it for anything!"

George bit down on his tongue, as he took in Angelina's words. She had a point, Cassie hadn't been in potions, and it was NEWTs. For fucks sake, this was Cassie. Clever, ridiculous, pretentious Cassie. Even if she was horribly offended by everything George had told her the day prior, she'd never miss her favourite class!

But expelled...that was the least Cassie thing to possibly happen. And a book on dark magic? That made no sense, none at all. Why would she have a book on dark magic, especially after what had happened with her brother?

Without warning, George stood up from the Gryffindor table, abandoning his twin and Angelina and made his way over to the Ravenclaws.

Henry was the first person he spotted, seated across from his younger Slytherin brother, and the pretty redhead girl from Belarus. All of them had sullen expressions on their faces, making George's stomach churn. Were they upset over Cassie?

"Henry, little Henry." He greeted the two, forcing a smirk as he attempted to fight the anxiety building in him.

Theodore sent a glare at George in response to the nickname, but didn't speak.

"Hey, George." Henry greeted, looking uncomfortable. The two hadn't actually spoken since George had walked in on him and Cassie. "Everything alright?"

"I'm just wondering where Cassie is? Angelina's saying some stuff...I don't know how true it is?"

"What, that Umbridge kicked her out of Hogwarts?" Bethany Burke, who was next to Henry, raised her eyebrows. "Because that's true. I'm surprised you haven't heard about it until now."

"So...she's really been expelled?"

Henry nodded gravely, his eyes on the floor. Theodore shifted uncomfortably across from him. Anastasia let out a sniff, and Theodore patted her on the shoulder, though he refused to look at her, or George, for that matter.

"She had some book, apparently, with really messed up contents. I cannot imagine why she would bring it to the school." Anastasia shook her head, messing up her short red hair.

"It must've been an accident. You know Cass. She wouldn't intentionally have a book on something like that." Naia Johnson joined the conversation, holding hands with the blonde girl. She looked so much like her sister, it was eerie, for a second, George thought he was speaking to Angelina.

"Do we?" Bethany glanced over at her.

"Do we what?" Naia frowned.

"Know Cass. I mean, she helped her brother the entire year. She knew he was alive, presumably helped him into the school, and because of that, two were people killed."

"That wasn't her fault!" George jumped in, his heart pounding. "You don't understand."

"I understand more than you know, Weasley. Your precious Cassie isn't as innocent as you'd like to believe."

"She...she didn't know what she was doing, last year. She didn't have a choice."

"We all have choices, Weasley. For example, you chose to break my sister's heart. Crouch chose to get Cedric Diggory and her father killed."

"Beth!" Anastasia hissed, glaring at the girl. "Don't say that!"

Bethany rolled her eyes. "What, the obvious? We're all thinking it. If she was keeping Barty being alive a secret, who's to say she couldn't be reading creepy books on dark magic? It's safer here now, with Crouch gone. Better now, before she wound up to be mad like her brother. Clearly, that was the direction she was going in."

"Don't talk about her like that." George's jaw clenched.

"Bethany has a point, though." A boy George didn't know the name of said, pursing his lips together. "We don't really know Cass. I mean, I didn't even know she had a brother, let alone a psycho undead one."

"Thank you, Terry."

"It isn't her fault you didn't know her history. It wasn't her job to disclose it to you." George snarled at the boy - Terry, apparently.

"So you knew, then?" Bethany's eyebrows perked up.

"Did I know that her family life was screwed up? Of course I did. That isn't a reflection on her."

"It isn't." Bethany agreed. "But her helping her brother murder two people is. So is bringing a book on illegal magic to school."

He shook his head, taking a step backwards. "You're horrible."

Bethany simply shrugged. "Maybe."