way to go, tiger | Lorenzo Berkshire

࣪𖤐 Y5 | 10 . Xmas '95

CALIFORNIA — CHAPPELL ROAN
'Come get me out of California, the leaves are brown. I miss the seasons of Missouri.'

Cassie swings open her bedroom door, racing down the hall. She raps on Cedric's bedroom door. "Ced! Wake up! It's Christmas!" she exclaims, her face inches away from the door.

Why isn't he waking up? He always wakes up extra early on Christmas morning. The door peels open and Cassie's smile beams like the sun, "Quick!" she smiles.

"Cassie? It's six in the morning— give me another half hour and we'll go down."

That's not Cedric— that's Remus. Cassie furrows her eyebrows in confusion. Why isn't Cedric in his bedroom? More importantly— why is Remus in Cedric's bedroom? Remus only stares at his daughter with similar confusion on his face as Cassie ponders.

This isn't Cassie's home in Waterloo.

That isn't Cedric.

This isn't Cedric's bedroom.

"Sweetheart?" Remus asks, snapping Cassie out of her trance. Her stomach churns and her lips part as the realisation sinks in. She snaps back to reality in an instant. "Oh my god." she whispers, her chest heaving.

"Cassie? What's wrong?"

Cassie shakes her head, "Cedric's dead isn't he?"

Remus nods slowly, "You knew that, Cassie... what's going on?"

"Oh my god." Cassie gasps, ignoring his question. She'd just gone knocking on her dads' bedroom door thinking it was Cedric's. Cedric doesn't even have a bedroom, for Merlin's sake! What's wrong with her? She knows he's dead.

Who else has she been grieving for months?

She takes a step back, trying to slow down her heart rate. "Pup? What happened?" another voice speaks— it's Sirius'.

"I..." Cassie trails off as the tears ran down her cheeks like they're competing in a marathon. Why on earth is she crying? It is Christmas day!

"Oh, sweetheart." Remus said softly, bringing her into his arms.

Cassie doesn't want to cry on Christmas Day. She's stronger than that— isn't she? So what, it's her first Christmas without Cedric? It doesn't mean she has to be weak and cry over it. What the hell is wrong with her this morning?

But, oh, she misses her brother.

She misses him so much.

Cassie's dads come downstairs with her so they can talk about previous events. Sirius begins making tea and toast for her while her and Remus sit on the sofa. Nobody is awake yet and they can definitely feel the chill of the snow seeping through the walls.

Cassie holds her arms close to her chest, fiddling with the locket around her neck, as she cuddles up against the arm of the sofa with wide eyes. After Sirius finishes her toast, they all sit in the lounge in silence. The only sound heard is Cassie's chewing.

"So, I think we should talk about what just happened— cause I'm still completely and utterly baffled." Sirius said as Cassie puts the empty plate on the coffee table. His first priority was making sure Cassie ate, now he can relax and let her explain.

She nods and looks down at her bracelet, twisting it lightly around her small wrist. "If I'm going to be honest, I don't quite know what happened myself, really. I woke up, completely forgetting that Cedric was... y'know, dead... and I went knocking on what I thought was his bedroom door— but it was actually your door. It was like I had completely forgotten— that's never happened to me before." Cassie's dads share a worried look, which only raise her anxiety levels.