Potter's Girl / Butterfly Effect.

95. The London Bridge

CHAPTER NINETY-FIVE;

THE LONDON BRIDGE

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The following morning, Cassie awoke to a surprisingly painless shoulder. After checking very thoroughly beneath her pajamas for any traces of a scar, she found nothing beyond the whitened scribble mark on the back of her hand from detentions with Umbridge. Whatever spell Blaise and Theo had utilized, it worked immensely — whether it was of Dark origins or not.

   On the bright side, Cassie had Apparated across the common room, almost entirely successfully. She figured the reason behind her Splinch had been the third D — Deliberation. In hindsight, she hadn't been too focused on her location. Nearly all of her attention was on keeping herself quiet so nobody would hear the telltale crack! of Apparation.

Due to the wards only being lifted late at night, she could only test her skills of Apparation around two in the morning, so her progress on the matter was slow. It was better than nothing, she figured, to slowly but surely be making achievements — such as her first time Apparating successfully without a Splinch to deal with afterwards.

She had made it all the way back across the room to check her reflection in the glass for any injuries when she realized: No pain. She felt nothing of agony, much unlike her previous attempts that always ended in sweat and blood.

A rush of adrenaline jolted her and she felt all about her body — her elbows, her toes, her knees, her face — but recognized nothing out of the usual. No sticky dampness signifying blood.

She had done it. Cassie had taught herself to Apparate.

   But, as usual; with great power came great responsibility, and Cassie felt her regrets catch up with her once the adrenaline had worn off. Eight nights straight of staying up to ungodly hours and working her arse off to achieve Apparation took a toll on her.

She had fallen asleep in Professors Mcgonagall, Carrow, Flitwick, Binns, and Sinstra's classes due to lack of rest, earning her too many detentions to keep track of. Luckily — or unluckily, she couldn't tell which — Professor Amycus Carrow decided he would rather have Cassie's punishment be literal torture so she wouldn't take up too much of his day.

So, as a recap: Cassie had taught herself how to Apparate, received nearly twenty detentions in a single week over it, and – to top it all off – she had almost forgotten what was happening outside the walls of Hogwarts.

When the bliss of ignorance wore off, as it always did, Cassie remembered with a judder that she had to consider herself fortunate. Nearly everybody in the Wizarding World of Europe was on the run. If they had even the tiniest drop of Muggle blood inside them, they were as good as dead.

Cassie, however, almost felt guilty for being safe. None of her friends were nearly as guarded as she was, not while they still fought with the Order. Even Neville, Ginny, and Luna — three purebloods who were still attending Hogwarts — didn't have it nearly as good as Cassie.

Did Cassie consider the way Snape or the Carrows treated her to be 'good'? Not necessarily. Not good, no – but much better than Neville, who had holed up in the Room of Requirement behind the Professors' backs and only came out to replenish food supplies.

   Cassie had visited the Come-and-Go Room once, under the false pretense of searching for a lost classroom. The door had appeared silently as soon as she arrived, almost as though it was waiting for her.

   Instantly, she was met with the nostalgic sent of Christmas cookies made by house-elves and the faint jingles of bells. Her eyes roamed the room, mouth curving into a slow smile.