Blood Magic ✤ George Weasley ✓

8 - Fall of a Nation

musical mood: dog days are over - florence + the machine

It was hard for Cass to maintain her vow of apathy after what she and Malfoy had overheard their fathers whispering about, but this time her curiosity had changed. The mysteries of Professor Quirrell were miniscule, compared to whatever it was that Bartemius was hiding.

She was forced to spend the rest of the holidays at the Malfoy's, which was more unpleasant than all the words in the english language could describe. It felt like every other moment Draco was questioning her about the details of Lucius and Bartemius' conversation, as if she knew any more than him.

"Who do you reckon they were talking about?" Malfoy asked on Christmas morning, only seconds after she left the guest room and walked down to the dining room for breakfast. "The freak, as my father said. Who do you know that's a freak?"

"They were probably referring to you." Cass said dully as she cut into her toast. Of course, she was more than curious about the mystery man who had apparently 'got out', but Lucius terrified her, and she hadn't gotten a response when she wrote to her father.

Later on Christmas day, several owls came in, containing gifts. A chocolate frog from Naia, some multicoloured gemstones from the Patil twins (apparently they helped your aura, whatever that meant), and a silver chained star necklace without a name. Probably from Lavender, given her forgetfulness, and her love of jewellery.

Cass felt guilty for not having got her classmates anything - gift giving was not a commonplace in the Crouch household, so much so that she often forgot that it was a traditional part of the holiday. For birthdays and Christmas she'd get a few galleons, if she was lucky, but Winky was always the one to deliver them.

Her return to Hogwarts, and subsequent respite from the Malfoy family, couldn't have come sooner. When she finally was on board the Hogwarts Express, she made a beeline towards a compartment she knew Draco wouldn't dare follow her to - the one with her dormmates. She had decided the energy used in her grudge against Bethany was best spent elsewhere, so she didn't think twice when she sat down in between her and Ana, who was looking uncharacteristically sombre, staring out the window and not even greeting her.

Naia and the Patil twins were across from them, Naia teaching the two a clapping game she had learned over break from her muggle cousin.

"I see the amber has helped you." Padma smiled at Cass as the train took off. "You're looking more carefree than ever!"

Cass blinked. Carefree? As if. "Uh, yeah. Thank you."

"Of course. How were your holidays?"

"...Eventful. Yours?"

"Pretty boring, our mum went to visit her parents back in India, so it was just our dad and us."

"Lavender came to visit too, at New Years!" Parvati cut in.

"What about you, Ana?" Padma turned to the redhead, her smile melting into concern when she saw how dishevelled the girl looked. Her short hair was stuck up, resembling Harry Potter's unkempt locks, she was deathly pale, and there were large bags under her eyes. Ana looked like a walking corpse, now that Cass examined her more closely."You've been as quiet as a mouse. Is everything okay?"

She let out a soft laugh, and forced a smile. "Well, my country has officially fallen, and my family is in hiding. Not the Christmas gift I was expecting, but it could be worse, I suppose."