Blood Magic ✤ George Weasley ✓

65 - To Bite The Hand That Feeds One

musical mood: so cold - ben cocks

Cass had one thing on her mind when her dormmates went to class the next day: how to get that book back from Umbridge. There were so many questions she had about her newfound knowledge on her Bond with Barty, and no one to answer them. Henry would only know so much, and she doubted Barty would tell her anything, and even if he would, she had no idea how to work the Bond, how to get him to appear to her. He only came when he wanted to, it seemed, not when she needed him.

Needed Barty. That was an odd thing to imagine, but it was unfortunately true. She needed answers, and he was the only way to get them, outside of finding that book. If she got caught, though, she'd be expelled. Not that she cared much about that at this point either, she could just track down the twins and help them at their joke shop until she was old and capable enough to open her own apothecary, like Flitwick had suggested. Maybe she could still intern for Mr. Mulpepper, even if she was expelled.

When it came to the twins, when it came to George, she was still furious. She understood, now, why they didn't take her with, but not telling her...it burned. She was, for the most part, ignoring George's attempts to reach out to her, allowing the shared journal to buzz and buzz, without responding. Several times now, her dormmates inquired on the noise, but she blew it off.

Maybe it was for the best, that George was gone. He didn't have to put up with her crazy, not while he was separated from her. Not that they had broken up...well, she assumed they were still in a relationship, but one could never know. For all she knew, he'd left her and hadn't told her because he was fed up with her what appeared to be lunacy. With him gone, she could focus on what was most important, breaking the Bond between her and Barty, separating them and allowing them mortality. Allowing Barty mortality, the ability to die. And when he was granted that, she'd kill him herself.

She needed to talk to Barty. Now. He might lie to her, sure, but it was certainly worth the risk, to get some sort of knowledge on what was happening between them, without stealing the Blood Magic book and risking expulsion. But how was she to get his attention?

Cass pursed her lips together as an idea struck her, and without any warning, she pressed her wrist up to her mouth, and bit down. Hard.

The metallic taste of blood filled her senses instantly, as she broke through her skin and into her veins, but even as she winced from the pain that shot up her good arm, she didn't stop. She was like a vampire, biting down harder and harder with every second, until-

"What the fuck?"

Barty had come. Just as she had predicted.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

She removed her wrist from her mouth, wiping the blood away from her lips with the sleeve of her opposite hand. As she eyed her brother up and down, she noticed he was bleeding from the same spot, which he clutched with his hand, blood seeping through his fingers.

"I wanted to talk to you." She answered simply.

"So you bit yourself? Do you realize how fucking painful that was?"

"Of course I did. I experienced it too."

"You're bloody mad."

"Says you." She stood up from her bed, walking over to him, her eyes meeting his. He'd gained some weight, he no longer appeared emaciated, with full cheeks and a clean shaven chin, unlike the stubble he had worn when Cass had seen him earlier in the year. He was now the healthy looking Crouch sibling, compared to Cass's too-thin frame and bags under her eyes that never seemed to disappear.

"What did you want, then? You interrupted a book I was reading."

"I didn't know you could read." She spat, the lowest insult her Ravenclaw mind could think of.