Blood Magic ✦ George Weasley ✓

46 - A Birthday Surprise

musical mood: let me out - jonghyun

trigger warning for attempted suicide

Cass was hardly in the mood to celebrate her fifteenth birthday, but she couldn't tell her friends that. That would lead to questions, and she certainly didn't need anyone asking those. Not while Barty was still alive. Between everything that had happened with Barty, Cedric, and George, all she wanted to do was hide in her room and be miserable while she waited for the poison she had given her brother to be taken. To avoid speaking to both Cedric and George, she'd moved spots in Potions to the other Hufflepuffs, who were surprisingly competent. Cedric tried to talk to her on several occasions, spewing out apologies and excuses left and right, but she ignored him, and eventually, he gave up.

The only thing she had to look forward to was Parvati now being her friend again, and an enthusiastic one at that. Perhaps she felt guilty for giving Cass the cold shoulder for so long over something that wasn't her fault, because she was going overboard with birthday celebrations. She had the house elves make a massive cake, large enough for all of the Ravenclaw house to share, and even had butterbeer sent in from Hogsmeade.

There was a massive pile of gifts for her when she returned to the common room after dinner, larger than she ever could've imagined - most of them from Parvati. She had forgotten how rich the Patil's were.

"Come on, Cass, you're going to love my gift!" Ana was tugging on Cass's arm, pulling her into a comfy blue chair and handing her a box. Inside was a beautiful gold chain necklace with a heart locket on it and their pictures inside, and Cass immediately felt overwhelmed. What did she do to deserve such amazing friends?

"It's beautiful, Ana, thank you."

"I have one too!" Ana reached under her shirt and pulled out the same necklace that was strung on her. "We match! And now we'll have pictures of each other forever!"

"What's this?" Henry reached over, grabbing a tiny box that was in the corner, and had her name written hastily on the top. There was no indication of who it was from.

"I think the point of a present is that she isn't supposed to know what it is, Henry." Terry rolled his eyes.

"Oh, up yours!"

As the two boys bickered, Cass slowly unwrapped the tiny gift, and it took everything in her not to scream at the sight before her. All the blood drained from her face as she stared in horror at the contents of the box.

A severed finger, with olive skin and thick lines. It was impossible to mistake for anyone but her father - between the skin tone, and his wedding ring still on it, the sterling silver splattered with crimson blood.

On top of it lay a note, and she didn't need to analyse the handwriting to know who it was from.

Nice try, sister. Did you seriously not realise that was a test? Consider this a warning.

"I have to use the loo." She shot up, frantically tucking the box into the pocket of her robe, and dashed out of the Ravenclaw common room as fast as her feet would take her.

"You could just use the bathroom upstairs-" Naia called out to her, but was cut off by the door slamming shut.

Cass barely made it to Myrtle's toilet before she threw up, the contents of the cake and butterbeer from the evening pouring down her throat, leaving a horrible burning sensation behind. She was shaking so much she could barely keep herself upright, her elbows resting on the toilet seat, propping her head up. Myrtle was screaming profanities about how she was dirtying her precious toilet, but Cass could barely register it.