musical mood: the river - aurora

No one knew who sent Cass the hat. Moody had spent hours outside of Grim Old Place, doing whatever it was Moody did, that would somehow find the source of the 'gift', but it was all for nothing. He eventually came back at three in the morning, shaking his head and sighing to himself. It was impossible to track down where the owl had come from, or the hat. But he was sure of one thing.

It was just a prank.

A cruel, awful prank by a cruel awful person. Nothing more.

Cass told that to herself every time she felt the panic begin to build again, every time she felt her mind slipping away into delusion.

Someone had forged Barty's handwriting. Someone had found a hat that looked like her fathers. It wasn't real. Barty was dead. She was safe. Everyone was safe.

Even then, she found herself on edge, constantly looking over her shoulder, constantly reading too much into things. At least Barty hadn't reappeared in her visions. At least she hadn't gone completely mad again.

The return back to Hogwarts was dreadful, with Cass wishing she could spend the rest of eternity with George and the others at Grim Old Place, instead of at the castle, keeping her head down and ignoring her former friends. On the train, her and George shared a compartment with Fred and Angelina, but they'd left to "use the restroom" half an hour ago. Surprisingly, Angelina was nothing but kind to Cass, which she hadn't expected, given her younger sister's sudden dislike of her. The sting of Naia's betrayal grew more and more numb as the days passed, but it was still there, ever lingering. Yet another reason she wished she could stay at Grim Old Place.

Over break, she found she'd grown to like just about everyone that resided in the former Black family home - even Moody. Sure, he was rough around the edges, but when he'd given her the headband and cut off what he thought was a proposal, she realised she might've misjudged him too early. Maybe he wasn't the worst guardian in the world, after all.

"What are you thinking about?" George asked as Cass stared out the window, mind wandering.

"I think I like Moody."

"You've finally come around then?"

She nodded, smiling to herself. "Yeah, I have. And I think he likes me too. I think I'm thankful he took me in. I mean...I hate to speak ill of the dead, but had you pulled a ring out in front of my father and actually proposed, I doubt he would've batted an eye. I like that Moody cared."

"I didn't. I mean, he ruined my marriage proposal!"

She whipped around, eyes wide, and George burst into laughter.

"I'm kidding! Merlin, Cassie, the look on your face...priceless!"

"That's not funny." She pressed her lips together, trying to suppress a laugh of her own.

Truthfully, as a child, she never imagined she'd get married. Not to anyone in Stromness, anyways. She just assumed her and Connor would be best friends forever, buy a house together somewhere far away, and maybe get a cat or a dog or a turtle, since Connor loved them. But she'd grown up, now, and when she thought about her future, all she saw was George. Maybe they would end up married, in the distant future. Far after she'd graduated Hogwarts, of course, it'd be silly to get married while still attending school.

She shook that thought away. They'd only been together for a few months, she shouldn't be thinking that far into the future already.

As if he could read her thoughts, George leaned in, his voice just above a whisper as his lips approached her ear. "For the record, Cassie, I will propose someday."

Her heart skipped a beat, though she tried to play it cool, like she wasn't affected by it, when in reality she had forgotten how to breathe. "Someday, huh?"

"Yes, someday. After you graduate, of course. Once Fred and I's shop kicks off, and we get richer than rich, rich enough to support whatever it is in life you want to do, I'll find the perfect time and place, get down on one knee and beg you to marry me."

She pressed a soft kiss to his lips. "You wouldn't need to beg. I'd say yes. I'd say yes to you any day."

*

The first day of the new term had gone by without anything happening. Umbridge was as horrible as usual, seeing her ex dormmates was awkward, and George didn't dampen his flirting in the slightest. Not that she minded, of course.

No, it was on the second day back at Hogwarts that something of interest happened, in the form of the Daily Prophet. Cass hadn't read the stupid newspaper since they started spouting lies about Potter and Cedric and You-Know-Who, but plenty of the other Gryffindors she sat with at meals did.

"Look at this!" Angelina spread out her copy of the paper over the table, as everyone leaned over, craning their necks to get a good look at it. A woman was on the cover, whom Cass instantly recognized to be Bellatrix Lestrange, one of the people who had aided in the torture of Neville Longbottom's parents, alongside Barty. Her black hair was wild, after over a decade of imprisonment, with rotting teeth and a silent, mad cackle on her lips.

While the picture of Bellatrix was the first thing to catch Cass's eye, the title of the article was what caused her breath to catch in her throat, her heart to sink to the floor.

MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN

"Ten death eaters..." Fred's horrified voice trailed off as Cass frantically read down the list of escapees.

She knew some of the names, such as Bellatrix and her husband, Antonin Dolohov, and Augustus Rockwood. But the very last name was the one to send a surge of dread through her, cause her to nearly lose her footing where she stood.

Cuthred Burke

Bethany's father.

Cass's gaze trailed over to the Ravenclaw table, where Bethany had just rose to her feet. Her already porcelain skin had gone as white as a sheet, her brown eyes flickering around the Great Hall and her chest heaving with panicked breathing. Several people turned away from their own prophets to look at her, to look at her and the two other Burke sisters over at the Slytherin table, who looked just as horrified.

When Bethany raced out of the Great Hall, Cass didn't hesitate before following her.

"Fuck off, Crouch." Bethany snapped as Cass attempted to approach her, once they reached the end of the hallway. Contrary to her words, Bethany's voice was raw, vulnerable. She had her back to Cass, and ran a hand through her long black hair, her fingers trembling.

"You shouldn't be alone right now." Was all she responded with.

Bethany refused to turn around as she shook her head. "I don't care. I want to be alone. Go away."

Cass reached over, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Bethany, I know how you feel."

This time, she did turn around, pushing Cass's hand off her, her brown eyes staring at her in fury. "You couldn't possibly understand how I feel, Crouch!"

"Try me."

"Everyone is going to judge me, think I'm just like him, and that isn't even the worst part. He's a psychopath, Crouch. He's going to come after me, come after us! Either make us join the psycho Death Eaters or...or kill us." She took a deep, shaky breath as her expression softened, perhaps the most vulnerable, most unguarded Cass had ever seen the middle Burke child. "But you do understand that..."

She shook her head, reaching out and placing her hand back onto her shoulder. This time, she didn't shake her off, but leaned into her touch. "I don't want to make it about me right now. But...if you need a friend, or a person to talk to, you know where to find me. You know I get it."

And with that, Bethany burst into tears.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" She asked, holding her hand to her mouth as she sobbed. "I've been awful to you for so long. I kicked you out of our dorm. I hit you. I made fun of your family, and when the same is happening to me..." Her voice trailed off as she let out another sob.

"Because I know that I could've used someone when I was dealing with this."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I was so awful."

"It's okay. Really. Don't worry about it. I could've been better to you too."

Suddenly, Bethany's head snapped up. "Shit."

"What?"

"Shit, shit, shit!"

"Bethany, what is it?"

"Adelaide! I need to make sure she's okay! Shit!" She turned around and kicked the wall, wincing slightly after, but didn't hesitate to begin to race down the hall.

Cass went to follow, but both of them were cut off by none other than Umbridge, stepping on front of the two and blocking their path.

"Miss Burke, Miss Crouch, what are you doing, running in the halls?"

"Move." Bethany demanded, attempting to step around the pink bitch, but she slid in front of her once again, blocking her path.

"Students are forbidden from running in the halls."

"Good for them." Once again, Bethany tried to slide by the professor, and once again, she was stopped.

"Detention, both of you. Tonight."

"What? For running in the hallways?" Bethany stared at the professor, eyes wide in disbelief.

"Precisely." Umbridge smiled her ridiculous Umbridge smile. Bethany looked like she was about to argue more, but before she could, Cass grabbed her arm and dragged her away before she could get them into any more trouble.

"What the hell, Crouch?" She shook herself off of her grip.

"What? I just saved your arse from even more detentions. You're welcome."

Her nostrils flared, but she didn't argue with her logic.

*

Adelaide was fine, thank God. Well, as fine as you could be when your maniac father broke out of prison. She was crying, when they finally found her in the Slytherin common room, her face buried in Dahlia's robes, who was holding back tears of her own. Clearly horrified, clearly upset, but fine. Alive. Not jumping off the astronomy tower.

Cass had never felt more sympathy for the Burke sisters than she did in that moment, seeing the two huddled together in their shared misery. But, maybe one good thing had come out of it. While Cass and Bethany's relationship had always been a rocky one, she now considered Bethany a friend, and imagined the middle Burke sister felt likewise.

She informed Bethany of what the detentions would entail, who had somehow gone the entire year so far not knowing about the torture quills. However, when they got to Umbridge's office, she didn't have quills and parchment out like usual, but instead, two cups of tea in front of her desk.

"Sit, please."

They did as they were asked, glancing at each other with mirrored expressions of confusion. It was almost comical, seeing ever-dark Bethany in the presence of so much pink, she looked completely out of place. Had they not already have been in trouble, Cass would've laughed at how uncomfortable her companion looked.

"Since your actions were a minor offense, I'm letting you two off with a warning." Umbridge began as she slid the cups of tea over to them.

"Why are we here, then?" Bethany crossed her arms, brown eyes narrowed at the pink professor. "I have homework to do."

"I wanted to have a chat with you two. That's all." She smiled sweetly, and Cass fought the urge to gag at the false impression of kindness. "Would you like some tea?"

Though it was posed as a question, Cass knew Umbridge wasn't asking, but telling them to drink the tea.

Cass glanced down at the cup beneith her, slowly picking it up with her hands. Just as the cup hit her lips, she inhaled, and a faint scent of lemon filled her. Lemon, which was the scent of a poorly brewed veritaserum. Umbridge was trying to get them to talk.

Who had brewed this? Umbridge? It couldn't have been Snape, he wasn't stupid, he could brew a proper truth serum that didn't have the lemony scent. Unless he was trying to make it bad, trying to make it recognizable...

"Is there lemon in this?" Cass set the cup back down, forcing a smile. "I smell lemon."

"Er...yes, I believe so." Umbridge's expression faltered for a moment, only just brief enough for Cass to notice.

"Well, I can't drink it. I'm allergic."

"You're allergic to lemons?" Umbridge blinked.

"Yes. Deathly."

"Who puts lemon in tea?" Bethany scrunched her nose, and before Cass could do anything to stop the girl, she took a sip from her cup.

Cass pressed her lips together, eyeing Bethany up and down, praying to every God she could think of that it wasn't the truth serum, but instead actual lemons, even though she knew that was about as unlikely as Quirrell rising from the dead.

"Now, girls, tell me, do you know anything about any...illegal organizations, going on?"

Shit. This was about Dumbledore's Army. She knew, somehow, she knew something was going on, though she didn't have any proof.

But Bethany didn't know. Even under the truth serum, she'd be fine, they'd be fine, because they hadn't told Bethany about it, however unfair the reasoning behind it was.

"No, of course not. Why would I know anything about illegal organizations?" Bethany rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest and staring at Umbridge like she was stupid. Even while drugged, she had her sass. Though, she might not be aware that she'd been drugged yet...

"Yeah, I don't know anything either." Cass nodded. "Sorry, Professor."

She looked satisfied by their answer, despite Cass not having drank the tea. Maybe she assumed, because the two were friends, that whatever Bethany wasn't aware of, Cass wouldn't know either. "What about your classmate, Harry Potter? Do you know anything about what he's up to?"

"What, other than snogging Cho Chang?" Bethany laughed, before frowning, like she hadn't meant to say that.

"Cho Chang?" Umbridge raised her eyebrows. "Interesting."

"Have you just called us in here to discuss Harry Potter?" Cass mimicked Bethany's current posture, crossing her arms over her chest. "Because I can assure you, I know nothing about him and what he gets up to. We don't exactly run in the same social circle."

"Miss Crouch, you are currently dating Fred Weasley, correct?"

"No."

"Do not lie to me. I've seen you with him in the halls."

"I'm not lying."

Umbridge turned to Bethany.

"Crouch isn't lying. She's dating George, not Fred."

"Right." Umbridge forced her typical unpleasant smile, her voice once again sickeningly sweet. "And George, what does he get up to?"

"How should I know? I'm his girlfriend, not his mother. You want information about him, talk to him yourself."

"Wow, Crouch, you're growing to be a real badass." Bethany gave her an approving nod, to which her lips curled up at.

"Language!" Umbridge snapped. "Now, Miss Burke, do you have any...secrets? Anything I should know?"

Cass's heart fell to the floor in terror, as Bethany opened her mouth. But, either the girl was aware she had been drugged and was using it to her advantage, or was simply that good at avoiding being direct.

"Of course I have secrets. We all have secrets, Professor. Though, there are none you really need to know about."

"We'll see about that. Miss Burke, what are your secrets?"

Fuck.

Cass didn't have her wand on her, otherwise she would've cast silencio on her newfound friend. Instead, she reached to put her hand over Bethany's mouth, but she was too slow. Even when her palm met her lips, she continued to speak, loud enough that both her and Umbridge could clearly hear.

"Well, I'm in love with Colin Creevey. I secretly love all my dormmates, too. And I feel bad for what I did to Crouch, and want her back in our dorm. Oh, also, I think I'd rather kill myself than marry someone as insufferable and annoying as Theodore Nott, and with my dad out of Azkaban, that's looking like more and more of a possibility. That's why my sister tried to jump off the Astronomy Tower, she had a dream about our dad breaking out. Trelawney reckons she's a seer, like Padma Patil is."

Just as the words left her somewhat covered mouth, her expression dropped into one of mortification.

"Right." Cass stood up suddenly, the tea from her untouched cup spilling all over Umbridge's desk as she did. "That's enough. We'll be leaving now. Come on, Burke."

She reached down, grabbed Bethany's hand and yanked her to her feet. Umbridge called something out in protest, but neither of them paid her any attention as they stalked out of her office, Cass roughly slamming the door behind them.

"What's wrong with me?" Bethany looked up at Cass with wide eyes.

"She put Veritaserum in our drinks."

Her eyes grew even larger, and, despite everything, she smiled ever so slightly. "I take it you're not allergic to lemons, then."

"I'm not." She confirmed with a shake of her head.

"How long until it wears off?"

"You only took a sip, so maybe an hour? Depends how strong it is, and given that the potion was weak enough that it could be detected by scent, it must be pretty weak. But to be safe, we should bring you back to your dorm, just in case."

"You can come back to the dorm, if you want. I think Padma and Naia only wanted you kicked out because I was adamant about it."

Cass smiled to herself, and shook her head as they walked down the hallway. "I'm alright. I prefer my current sleeping arrangement more right now. Tell the girls I say hi, yeah?"

*

After the breakout from Azkaban, Dumbledore's Army met several times throughout the month. Umbridge, somehow, had no idea what was going on, though she was suspicious enough. At the next meeting, Cass told everyone about the veritaserum, warning them not to drink any tea that the pink bitch supplied, and Potter actually thanked her. She's never cared much for him, but a part of her felt proud, that she'd been of use to the cause.

Well, if one good thing came out of what happened to Bethany, it was that. Well, that and the fact that the two were now, after five years of knowing each other, proper friends. Cass began to occasionally sit with the Ravenclaws again at meals, swapping back and forth between them and George. At first, it was a bit awkward, and she still didn't speak much to Naia and Padma outside of what was necessary, the hurt of their betrayal still stinging, they were civil.

In spite of that, her and Bethany now sat by each other in nearly every class, occasionally making small talk (not that either of them were very good at it). Once, Cass even got Bethany to open up about her feelings with Colin, but then again, it wasn't like she could pretend they didn't exist, after her confession in Umbridge's office. Cass found that she didn't resent Bethany like she did Naia and Padma, because until now, her and Bethany had never been close. It had never hurt in the first place, what had come from her, so there were no wounds to nurse. It was significantly easier to forgive someone you had never liked in the first place, than someone you had trusted.

*

"Someone is keeping a secret from you."

Cass blinked, looking up at Neville Longbottom, who was holding her hand gently, glancing down at her palm lines, and then at the book he was reading.

The new Divination Professor, a centaur called Firenze, had them going palm lines again, and sorted them into pairs for the rest of the term based on who he felt had the correct auras for each other, rather than let them pick their own partners as Trelawney usually did. Poor Trelawney had been sacked by the pink bitch, which only increased Cass's hatred for the woman. She'd always had a soft spot for Trelawney - sure, she was a bit mental, but she seemed kind, and always let the students drink any extra tea she had after lessons.

At first, Cass had been wary about having Neville as her partner, but she instantly warmed up to the boy. She remembered how he'd calmed her down back in her fourth year, when Barty-As-Moody had made her apologize to him under the Imperious curse. While she doubted she'd ever consider Neville a friend, she didn't think he held any animosity towards her.

"A secret?" She frowned, glancing over at the group of girls who she had considered her friends. Lavender, Parvati, Padma and Naia all crowded around one table, reading each others palms. Occasionally, one of them would glance over at her, and she'd feel their burning stare in expressions she couldn't read. Of course they got paired with each other, when she was with someone as awkward as Neville, and poor Theodore with bloody Potter.

"Yeah, I think so. Either that or you're pregnant..."

"Well, it certainly isn't that." Cass shifted in her seat, suddenly very uncomfortable. She'd been on the Potion since her third year, to help with period cramps, and now that her and George had upped their intimacy, she was extra diligent with making sure she took it. One could never be too careful with that sort of thing.

A secret, though...who could be keeping a secret from her? What kind of secret? Was it important? Life changing? Was someone dying? The possibilities were endless.

"I figured." Neville gave her an awkward smile, clearly sensing her anxiety. "Maybe it isn't a big deal. It could be a small secret. Like...they stole a quill from you, and feel really bad about it." While his tone was pleasant, Cass could tell he didn't believe what he was saying.

She didn't either.