Blood Magic ✤ George Weasley ✓

77 - A Unique Proposition

musical mood: treacherous - taylor swift

A traitor. That was all Cass could think about for the next month. Someone, one of their friends, had been giving information to the Death Eaters, information that got Ana killed.

Who could it possibly be? There were countless options, yet at the same time, no one. Sure, it could technically be anyone, but what reason would any of their friends have to get Ana killed? They all adored her, and all hated the Death Eaters. That she knew of, anyways. You never knew what was going on beneath the surface with someone, Cass supposed. She'd learned that the hard way with her father.

January went by in a breeze, and in February, apparation lessons began. Cass attended each and every one of them, though she found that she was no good at it. Of course, her Ravenclaw mind couldn't handle such an atrocity, and with every passing lesson, her frustration grew. Between that, still mourning Connor and Ana, and brooding over the traitor's possible identity, life truly couldn't have been worse.

On a particularly shit day after lessons, she was practically fuming as she walked down the halls, and, as she wasn't looking where she was going, she ran straight into Henry.

"Bloody hell, watch where you're going, Cass!" He said as he stumbled backwards.

"Sorry." She rubbed her forehead, which she had accidentally slammed against his chin.

"It's alright. I was looking for you anyways."

"You were?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah. It's Valentine's Day tomorrow."

"It is?"

He nodded, and when she didn't say anything, he continued, though a blush was creeping onto his tan face. "We ought to do something together, don't you think?"

"I mean, I suppose so." Truthfully, Cass had completely forgotten that the holiday was the next day. The past Valentine's Day had been so lovely, minus the whole Malfoy and Saoirse fiasco, and she'd assumed that this one, she'd spend in her room, sipping on some calming drought and trying not to cry at the memories. But, maybe spending time with Henry could also be nice.

"You suppose so?" A teasing smile formed on his lips as they walked down the hallway together. A few people glanced at them as they did, but Cass was used to the stares by now. They stopped bothering her long ago.

"I mean, I have nothing better to do." She shrugged, and while he let out a laugh, she could tell he was dejected by this. "What do you want to do? Go to Hogsmeade?"

He shook his head, his smirk reforming as though it had never left. "No, that's far too basic. I have a much better idea. Meet me outside the castle, by the greenhouse, tonight at midnight. I'd prefer an early start to the holiday."

She frowned. What could he possibly have planned? "Er...okay. See you then."

*

Cass knew she had grown to have a reliance on calming drought. She wasn't stupid, ever since she'd began getting cravings for the potion even when she wasn't in a bad mood. Not drinking it put her in a bad mood. While she wouldn't use the word addict to describe her growing reliance, she was certainly heading in that direction, and it didn't bother her as much as it likely should have. She had bigger problems to worry about than a newfound potions addiction.

She was out of calming drought, which was certainly not an option for her. Luckily, she had all the ingredients needed to brew more, so she swiftly gathered them all and headed to the kitchens. Calming drought smelled pretty bad while being brewed, so she figured she wouldn't subject her dormmates to it. They put up with enough of her concoctions as it was, and they didn't need to know the extent of her need for the potion.