SuperPotterLock - The Order of the Phoenix

Dumbledore's Army

Dean sat in Charms thinking hard the next day, hardly even attempting to Silence the bullfrog sitting on the desk in front of him. He and Cas had left the Shrieking Shack early that morning, and he had tried to convince Cas to take the day off, to no avail. Having two attacks in the same day had clearly taken its toll on Cas, but he was intent upon not missing anymore classes, so he sat quietly beside Dean, pretending that he wasn't shaking the whole way through the lesson. Dean planned on asking John and Sherlock to keep an eye of Cas for him, but neither of them looked up to doing much either.

He was eventually snapped out of his reverie by a gentle nudge from Cas.

'Hm?' He looked up and saw Professor Flitwick staring at him expectantly. 'Oh. Silencio.' The bullfrog fell completely silent mid-croak.

'Very good, Mr Winchester,' Professor Flitwick squeaked. 'Now let's see you try, Mr Weasley.'

'Wha-? Oh, oh right.' Ron jabbed at his bullfrog so hard he poked it in the eye. It gave a loud croak and jumped off the desk.

They were all given an essay to do by Professor Flitwick, and Harry and Ron had extra homework to practice the Silencing Charm.

Cas pulled Dean aside at the end of the lesson, looking nervously at his feet. 'I wondered if - if you could study on your own after classes today,' he said quietly. 'I think I should perhaps get some rest.'

'Yeah, of course,' Dean said.

'I'll be in the hospital wing if you need anything.'

'Why don't you just go now?' Dean encouraged. 'You can't be learning much if you feel this bad anyway.'

Cas shrugged. 'Professor Umbridge is watching me.'

'Screw her,' Dean said angrily. 'Getting better is more important than her crappy lessons.'

'Please keep your voice down,' Cas said, looking around anxiously. 'I understand, Dean, but I just can't miss any more. Not until she stops watching me. I'm a prefect, I'm supposed to set a good example, not skip classes whenever I feel like it.'

'Cas, you're not skipping classes for no reason, you're not doing anything wrong.'

'Dean, please, I have to go.'

'All right, all right, just-'

'Don't push it, I know.'

Dean watched him go, troubled.

They were allowed to stay inside for break that day, due to the driving wind and rain, but instead of heading to the empty classroom that they had been allowed to use, Dean ran up to the dormitory and dug through his trunk. He found what he was looking for and smiled, shoving a small glass jar into his bag before hurrying back downstairs.

The weather only worsened as the day wore on, and though Harry and Ron were ecstatic to hear that the Gryffindor Quidditch team had been given permission to reform, it soon sunk in that they would have to play in the miserably, stormy weather. They were allowed to stay inside for lunch too, but Dean found a room on his own, so he could concentrate.

He pulled out the empty jar and placed it on a table in front of him. After casting an Unbreakable Charm, he threw every spell he could think of on it, until he was satisfied that it really wouldn't break. He carried it around with him the rest of the day, hoping to give it to Cas at dinner, but Cas didn't appear. Dean badly wanted to go and find him, but he knew that Cas must be feeling really bad if he went as far as to ask for a break from studying, so he reluctantly climbed up to Gryffindor Tower instead. It was quieter than usual, since the Gryffindor Quidditch team were down at practice. Dean laid out his homework on a table near the window, but found himself struggling. He bit his lip and looked around the room for inspiration. His gaze landed on Hermione.