εթίթհαηу // fred weasley

03

"The Daily Prophet seems to exaggerate." Zach set the newspaper down as Cassie set pasta on the small table.

"You should have seen it when Rita Skeeter was around." Cassie chuckled as she sat across from him.

"Is this you?" Zach asked, taking a portrait off the shelf. Zach turned it to show Cassie.

It was a picture during Christmas with the Order of the Phoenix. She kept it there as a reminder. Mad-Eye, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, they were still watching her, what she was doing, what she would become. And it was there to honor them because each one taught her something. Mad-Eye taught her skill, Sirius taught her heart, Remus taught her mind, and Tonks taught her family.

"Yeah," Cassie nodded. "I was sixteen — seventeen?"

"What happened?" Zach asked. "I mean... you never talk about your life."

"That's because it's dark and it isn't something I should say at the dinner table," Cassie replied, gesturing to her dinner.

"Do you regret the dark things you did?" Zach questioned.

"No," Cassie answered. "Well, some parts, but it's what got me here. I can't spend my life regretting it and thinking about what could have happened. Life goes on... "

"Come on, there's gotta be some good parts," said Zach, crossing his arms on the table. "What was the Triwizard Tournament like?"

"Besides the Dark Lord coming back, Potter almost getting killed, someone getting murderer, the Ministry trying to cover that up... " Cassie trailed off, thinking. "Well... the Yule Ball was really nice... Cedric once tumbled halfway down a mountain."

"Tumbled down a mountain?" Zach questioned with a laugh of disbelief.

"Experiment gone wrong," Cassie chuckled, remembering it. "Instead of transfiguring the rock into a dog, it turned into a flock of birds. His face was priceless. He was so startled, then he tripped and tumbled down the mountain — well, hill. May have exaggerated it."

"What was it like teaching?" Zach asked. "I mean, you've got to be pretty intelligent to teach right after school."

"Well, I taught because Snape persuaded Dumbledore because I wanted to keep an eye on my brother and I was ordered to look after Potter for the Dark Lord," Cassie corrected.

Zach felt the atmosphere turned uncomfortable and dark. "Oh... " was all he could say back.

"I don't know... there are more bad memories than good. Most of the people I had good memories with either hate me or are dead."

There was a moment of silence. Zach stared at Cassie, then at the moving photo. He saw the tall redhead, who glanced at the blonde, then smiled again, looking straight.

"So... Jack Silva," Cassie started, and took a bite of her food. When she was done, she continued, "Have you gotten closer?"

"I think it's more interesting to admire from afar," Zach said, setting the picture frame down.

"Is he even gay?" Cassie questioned.

"Which is why I admire from afar," Zach stated with a sad look. "I don't actually know his sexual orientation. He's probably straight... looks straight."

"You look straight," Cassie told him. "I didn't even know until six months later, remember? So, you'll never know."

"Thanks by the way," Zach replied. "Not a lot of people are fond of the idea that people can like the same sex and... "

Then, Zach caught a bright blue-ish light coming at them. Cassie furrowed her eyebrows, wondering why he stopped. She saw it, too. It zoomed through the window and stopped in between Cassie and him. When it stopped moving, it took form of a bluebird.