εթίթհαηу // fred weasley

04

"N.H?" Zach questioned. "What does that stand for?"

"Not what — who," Cassie corrected. She let out a grunt as she pulled the knife from the board. "This is a warning."

"For what?" he questioned.

There was a long silence. Cassie was thinking. Shacklebolt's warning after the Battle of Hogwarts, the Aurors finding the Death Eaters in a meeting, now them wreaking havoc on MACUSA.

"Death," Cassie stated.

"Payne?!" The door opened wide and Jeffers walked inside. He looked disheveled from the dueling and looked annoyed. "For the amount of time you spend in here, we should just put your office in here. Come on."

"Go on," Cassie approved.

Zach left with Jeffers. The walk was silent, a bit awkward. Zach already knew what the president wanted to talk about. Zach hadn't gotten any useful information about Cassie and he was glad he didn't. Otherwise, he would be forced to share and he didn't want to do that to a friend.

Jeffers opened the door to the president's office and Zach followed him inside. The president was inside speaking to the Heads of the Confiscated Items, Magical Law Enforcement, and the Magical Cleaning Department. They looked serious and put on brave, determined faces when on the inside, they feared the worst.

"Have your team continue to clean the place up. We need to get this place organized quickly," the president said to the Head of the Magical Cleaning Department. She turned to the others. "Then, we need the lot of you to investigate if there are any stolen items, namely dark artifacts — enchanted music boxes, Vanishing Cabinets they could have used — anything like that. Avery and Turner will take a group and travel overseas to London. You'll assist their government in the capture of these Death Eaters, figure out where they are heading next."

"But we don't know what their motive is, so how can we know where they are headed?" asked Turner, the Head of MACUSA's Auror Department.

"President," Jeffers spoke loudly and all eyes turned to them.

The president's eyes landed on Zach and she asked, "Have you found anything out? About Cassie Malfoy."

"No," Zach answered, crossing his arms, irritated. "And like I told you, you can just ask her and explain why you need to know. Are you afraid she'd, like, turn you into a frog or something?" Zach laughed. "She's not going to be mad you asked."

"You're right." Cassie entered the room.

Cassie had been looking closely at the knife, the initials of Noah Morrighan instilling a fear that shouldn't be there. Then, it hit her. When the Dark Lord rose again, he didn't only try to kill Harry, but his friends as well. And the best plan for revenge is putting their opponent in the most miserable pain ever imaginable... What better way to do that than kill everyone they love most.

"I need to leave for London," Cassie told them. "For at least a few weeks."

"The best thing for you is to stay silent," Jeffers responded.

"The Death Eater, Noah Morrighan, he's doing this because of me... " They raised their eyebrows, anticipating her next words. "During the Battle, my friend was almost killed if it weren't for me. I killed Morrighan's brother in defense," Cassie explained.

Hearing she killed someone, their eyes widened. They weren't fully surprised, but at the same time, they shared the same thought — she was young to have killed someone.

"I know what he wants," Cassie continued. "So, I must leave to get back home before something worse happens there. If they took something, it must be a dangerous weapon."

"Turner, Avery, once you're in London, contact her family and friends," the president ordered. Cassie looked at the president with annoyance as her request was ignored. "I assume the Death Eaters will go after them at some point."

"I'm going, too!" Cassie told them loudly and their conversation came to an end.

"Miss Malfoy, I recommend you stay here," Jack told her. "This is a job for investigators and Aurors."

"We've got work to do anyway," Jeffers said. "Finding the dangerous object they took, remember?"

Cassie opened her mouth to counter his statement, but the door opened, interrupting them. Julia Robins rushed in and stopped before them, panting heavily.

"What is it, Robins?" asked Jeffers. "We're a bit busy right now... "

She held a paper up, flapping it around. "I found it," she breathed out. She stood up straighter and read from the paper. "It's a candle. Some dude was selling them, he's currently facing trials. We had a whole supply, but someone who checked the room of items found them missing."

"What's dangerous about a candle?" Zach asked.

"When it's lit, it creates toxic fumes," Julia explained. "A fume that if one was to inhale a lot of it, it'd fill up the lungs, stop the heart, and the person would ultimately die."

"So now we know what he took," Cassie said, turning to Jack and Jeffers. "I'm going back home. Besides... I have a wedding to attend to." Cassie glanced at Zach. "And he's coming with me."

"What — Yes... yes, I am," Zach nodded, looking at Jeffers. "I am going with Cassie to a wedding."

There was a moment's silence. Then the president said, "You leave on the thirtieth."

The people in the room dispersed. Zach followed Cassie out saying, "So we are going to the wedding."

"We are carrying out a mission," Cassie corrected. "I'm sure many are attending Ron and Hermione's wedding — their family, Shacklebolt, D.A members... "

"D.A members?" he questioned.

"It was an old organization to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts," Cassie explained. "Anyway, if they are targeting people close to me, they'd do it at the wedding. Just like at Bill and Fleur's."

"Malfoy!" Cassie and Zach turned around and Jack walked over to them. "You killed someone. In defense, I know, but what will happen when that becomes an excuse, hmm? Try not to get too involved and leave this to real professionals."

Cassie scoffed as Jack bumped shoulders with her as he walked past. "Who does he think I am? A helpless damsel in distress? That asshole. I've done greater things than him, probably a better dueler, too."

"Then it's up to us," Zach said. "We don't have to work with them. We'll defeat them ourselves, maybe with some help of your Auror friends — colleagues. By the way, I'm sorry about trying to pry information out of you."

"I'm not mad about that," Cassie assured him. "I've done it, too. I can't blame you for doing it to me. I probably deserve being stabbed in the back... What I am mad about is why the hell it's Mr. I-Am-Stronger-And-Superior Jack Avery."

Zach sighed. "I like him, but not all of him. I'll swing by your place to pick you up on the day we leave."

"Thanks," Cassie replied. "Great! Now you can meet my family and friends."