way to go, tiger | Lorenzo Berkshire

࣪𖤐 Y4 | 3 . Healing

ME AND MY DOG — BOYGENIUS
'Just me and my dog, and an impossible view.'

When Cassie steps into the shower, her skin burns. It sizzles and burns at the heat seeping into her fresh, open wounds. Fuck, it hurts. She hisses and closes her eyes as it eventually becomes bearable. She runs her hands through her wet hair, tipping her head back into the water.

After the agonising, dreadful shower, Cassie stares at herself in the long mirror. She studies her naked body. She counts her scars. Four on her face; two from her neck to her collarbone, a really wide one on her stomach, five on her knees to her shins.

Twelve in total. Twelve. Twelve scars. Twelve reminders.

She wraps a towel around herself, tired of looking at them. It pains her chest to keep looking. Sirius has laid out a pair of short pyjamas on her bed so her wounds get some air. Very slowly, she gets changed and mutters a hair-drying spell.

Cassie notices that Enzo's jumper is on her chair. She lifts it up, and her heart twists. It's completely ruined. There are rips everywhere and blood on the sleeves. She holds it to her nose, but the vanilla scent is no longer there. Instead, theres a smell of ash and blood.

When Cassie reaches the bottom the stairs (after struggling with Sirius holding her up), she almost sobs at her brother's face. He stands in the living room, his arms crossed as he chews his nails. He looks up, and for a minute, her eyes startle him. They're no longer a burning yellow ember, but back to their warm brown.

Cassie sees the moment he looks into her eyes and recoils slightly, and Fuck, it hurts. She feels it deep in her chest. Cedric doesn't waste another second before hugging her as tight as he can. "I'm so sorry, Cedric. I'm so sorry." she repeats over and over again into his shoulder.

"Please stop, Cassie. I'm not upset." Cedric insists. She buries her head further into his shoulder, guilt and sorrow gliding her nerves.

They embrace for over a minute long, as the adults in the room watch. Amos' eyes fill with tears and he covers his mouth with the back of his hand. Victoria rubs Remus' back soothingly, knowing how painful this all is for him.

When they finally pull apart, Amos hugs her next. He holds her tightly, but not enough to hurt her. "Merlin, I'm so glad you're okay." he whispers.

Victoria is next, and she holds Cassie's cheeks with her pale, cold hands. "How are you feeling, pickle?"

Cassie sniffles, "Better, I s'pose. Less achey, more painful."

Victoria sighs, "I did think that would be the case. Are you up for me having a look and giving you medication just yet?"

"Can I— can I just have a minute? If that's okay."

Victoria smiles, and kisses her forehead. "Of course you can."

They all sit in the front room, and Sirius brings them all a warm cup of tea, buttered toast for Cassie. He knows it's her favourite. "Last night—" Amos starts.

"Can we, er, can we not talk about last night? Just for a bit, I'm sick thinking about it." Cassie sighs.

Amos looks and Victoria, "I— yeah, sure."

"How was the match?" Sirius asks, knowing it'll cheer Cassie up. Just as predicted, she grins.

"It was brilliant, wasn't it, Ced?" she smiles, and Cedric shares a nod beside her with a smile. "I mean, Krum? He's spectacular. If it weren't for those ten points the Irish had over them, they would've won."

"What was the final score?" he asks.

"170-160 to Ireland. Krum caught the snitch in the fourth hour, but Ireland had more points." Cassie replies. "George and I placed a bet, you see. I put seven galleons on Bulgaria, he did the same for Ireland."