Life went on.

And danger only increased.

For a month, Cassia heard nothing from Draco. For a month, there was zilch. As time creeped closer to the end of term, she became more and more worried. The plan would have to be carried out at one point, and because of this, the time of reckoning was getting very close.

And then, one warm night mid-April, she was passed a note.

outside the room
6 on the dot

She didn't even fight with Harry on where she was going that night, just slipped quietly out of the common room. She had been feeling alright lately; less like a traitor, but this was likely to ruin everything.

And it was.

When she got to the Room of Requirement, Draco refused to speak until they were inside, to avoid what happened last time, which was Harry finding them. He didn't say a word until they were inside, then he turned on her.

"Thanks for fucking helping me!" He yelled, his voice cutting into her, harsh and fast. "I almost died, Cass, and you're still all over Pott-"

"Shut up, I'm not all over him," Cassia snapped.

"Whatever," Draco snapped. "The point is, that's twice now Potter has accused me, and you've helped for neither of them!"

"Because I wasn't fucking there!" Cassia yelled. "For the second one, at least! And in case you didn't notice, I yelled at Potter after he did that to you, so don't fucking tell me I did nothing."

"I hate you," Draco snapped. "I absolutely hate you."

"Yeah? Well, the feeling's mutual!" Cassia screamed at him. "I wish I had never even been given this STUPID mission with you! I wish I wasn't even part of our so called family!"

Draco took a step back, letting her shout, and leaving a considerable amount of silence in between the last shout and his next words.

"Well, you won't have to worry about the mission much longer... because after tomorrow, it'll be done."

Everything else that had previously been in Cassia's brain vanished. There were no thoughts of Harry, of Poppy, of Ron or Hermione. No thoughts about that potions essay or DADA exam. Nothing.

Just the one thought that tomorrow, she was going to lose everything she had, and be branded as a traitor for killing Dumbledore.

Fuck.

Fuck, fuck.

"Wh... what?" She asked tenderly, staring in shock at Draco.

"I fixed the Vanishing Cabinet," Draco smirked. "And sent the message. They're coming through at eight tomorrow night, and you and I have to be here to make sure they make it."

Shards of something were impaling Cassia's heart. After tomorrow, she wouldn't have a boyfriend anymore. After tomorrow, she'd die.

"That's all," Draco smirked back at her, making to walk off. "Here. Eight o'clock. Tomorrow night."

And then he was gone.

And Cassia was broken.

❦︎❦︎❦︎

D̶e̶a̶r̶ H̶a̶r̶r̶y̶,
I̶ k̶n̶o̶w̶ y̶o̶u̶ s̶a̶y̶ y̶o̶u̶ l̶o̶v̶e̶ m̶e̶,b̶u̶t̶ y̶o̶u̶'r̶e̶ v̶e̶r̶y̶ m̶u̶c̶h̶ n̶o̶t̶ g̶o̶i̶n̶g̶ t̶o̶ a̶f̶t̶e̶r̶ t̶h̶i̶s̶

D̶e̶a̶r̶ H̶a̶r̶r̶y̶,

I̶ l̶o̶v̶e̶ y̶o̶u̶. B̶u̶t̶ t̶h̶e̶r̶e̶'s̶ s̶o̶m̶e̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ y̶o̶u̶ s̶h̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ k̶n̶

D̶e̶a̶r̶ P̶o̶t̶t̶e̶r̶,

I̶ h̶a̶t̶e̶ m̶y̶s̶e̶l̶f̶ s̶o̶ m̶u̶c̶h̶, a̶n̶d̶ I̶ d̶o̶n̶'t̶ k̶n̶o̶w̶ w̶h̶a̶t̶ t̶o̶ d̶

"Urgh!" Cassia growled, scoring out her third attempt at a letter to Harry.

It was midnight. She was sat down in the common room, hand aching, as she tried to pour her heart out to her boyfriend in a letter he would only read after Dumbledore's death.

She had to write to Harry. She had to. When the truth came out, he would hate her. And whilst he had every right to, and she wouldn't blame him if he did, he had to hear from her, first.

But she was too cowardly to speak to him, to face him and tell him what she'd done.

So she was writing to him, instead.

She sighed heavily, squeezing her eyes shut, stopping the threatening tears from falling and herself from sobbing.

"I love you, Potter," she whispered, testing the words on her lips. "I love you so much."

So she opened her eyes, dipped her quill in the ink, and began to write her fourth attempt.

Dear Potter,

I know this is the cowardly way out. Hell, I'm so ashamed of myself even writing this, but I know you need to know...

❦︎❦︎❦︎

The next day, Cassia walked about in a daze.

Her letter was written and addressed, ready to be given to Poppy to give to Harry a day later. Her hand ached, it had taken ages to write it, but she was glad she did. Harry deserved to know. What he really deserved was her looking him in the eye and telling him, but she knew they couldn't do that, so this was the second best option.

But, at around four that day, everything flipped on its head.

Cassia was sat on the sofa in the common room, reading a book, trying to distract herself from what she knew was going to happen tonight. She wasn't ready for it, and she knew Draco wasn't really, either. But they were going to do it. They had to.

That was when Harry walked in, an expression even graver than her's on his face, sitting down next to her with a sigh.

"What's going on?" She asked warily, looking up from her book.

Harry turned, looking her in the eye. "I'm going with Dumbledore."

What the f-?

"What?" Cassia frowned. "Are you- are you serious?"

"Yeah," Harry said. "We're going to do something, something he's been teaching me all about this year."

"Oh my god," Cassia's eyes widened. "Oh my- oh my god," she repeated. "So- so wait, how long is this going to be for?"

Please be a long time, please be a long t-

"Won't be long, a few hours," Harry shrugged. "We'll apparate there and back. But we're leaving at six, and I'm gonna have to say goodbye to you all before then."

"Yeah," Cassia nodded. "Yeah, I understand."

And she did.

But inside her, her heart broke.

Because not only would she be saying goodbye to Harry to send him off with Dumbledore, but Harry would unknowingly be saying goodbye to her.

To send her off to the death eaters.

❦︎❦︎❦︎

In the end, a lot more tears were shed than she thought.

She and Harry were stood in his dormitory, which was empty apart from them. Cassia's arms were around Harry's neck, and his around her waist. She was sobbing hard into his neck.

"Cass, it's... it's okay," he was telling her. "I'll be fine, I'll be with Dumbledore."

"B-but," Cassia got out. "I just- I can't think... what if something goes wr-?"

"I'll be fine, Cassia, I promise," Harry murmured, pulling back at the same time as his girlfriend. "Cass..." he murmured, putting his hands gently on her face and wiping her eyes, and the tear tracks leaking from them.

"I-I'm sorry, I'm such a mess," Cassia told him, letting him hold her face. "I just- I-I really don't wanna lose you, P-"

"Hey, hey," Harry said firmly, his eyes locking with hers as he took her face more firmly. "No, okay? You will never lose me, Cass. Ever. I'll be with you until the end, always. I promise."

Lies.

Not true.

"O-okay," Cassia nodded, trying to smile, as Harry's warm, gentle hands left her face. She wanted to grab them and bring them back, she wanted to stay in his arms forever, but she knew she couldn't.

"I have to go," Harry murmured against her, holding her close.

So she did the one thing that was left. Pulled back so she could see his face, then launched forward and captured his lips.

And he didn't know it but it was their last kiss for probably forever. And so when her tongue was in his mouth and their lips were moving rapidly against each other, Cassia couldn't help but let a single tear fall. This was going to be the last time she felt his hand on the small of her back, and curled her fingers into his hair-

"I love you," Harry murmured as they pulled back, foreheads pressed against each other. "I'll love you forever, Cass, whereever I am."

No you won't. Not after you hear what I've done.

"You're amazing, Potter," she replied, because she was not telling him she loved him just before she was branded a traitor. "Be safe, okay?"

They pulled away, locking eyes.

Harry smiled gently. "I will, Cass. For you."

Her boyfriend left that night feeling as though she was on his side, as though she wasn't just about to insight a plan against him.

Too bad he was wrong on both counts, then.

❦︎❦︎❦︎

"Cass, are you okay?" Poppy frowned at her. "You seem- worried."

Cassia jumped back to life when her best friend mentioned her name, looking to her side to see her, then across the sofas to Ron and Hermione. All four of them were doing different things, but talking disjointedly between them.

"Wha-? Yeah, I'm fine," Cassia bit her lip. "Just- y'know... worried about him."

"We understand," Hermione told her. "But he's with Dumbledore, he'll be okay."

Cassia smiled slightly at her, but wasn't comforted by this. In truth, she was only half worried about Harry. The other half was worrying about what she was about to do.

"Thank you," she told Hermione. "But... I just can't stop thinking about him."

"Don't," Poppy shrugged. "He should be glad he's on your mind so much."

Cassia smiled gently, saying. "Thanks, Pops."

Poppy nodded, placing a hand on Cassia's knee and sighing. "Now, what are we going to do in the meantime, to forget him?"

Bring a bunch of death eaters into the school to kill Dumbledore.

Cassia gave her a (fake) grin back. "No idea."