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THE HALLOWEEN FEAST was loud as always, although what was Halloween but an excuse to scream? Cassie laughed as she surveyed some students wearing costumes and noticed that her three Gryffindor friends were missing.
"They're planning something," Cassie said, ominously, throwing the cauldron cakes at Cedric who barely caught it before it smacked him straight in the face.
"The dementors?"
"The three idiots." Cedric nodded in understanding, "George said he would tell me what they planned but he never got the chance to." Cassie leaned her head on her elbows, staring at the Gryffindor table as if the trio would appear out of thin air.
"He was probably too busy staring at you... " Cedric whispered as he watched the girl's head turn to him.
"What?"
"Nothing." Cassie sighed at his response and turned her attention to the enchanted ceiling. She loved how it always seemed to change and today it shone a thunderstorm that mimicked the one outside. Cassie was lucky that they had left Hogsmeade just before the rain started and had swiftly made it outside before getting struck down by lightning.
She turned her head towards the Slytherin table, watching as jack-o-lanterns floated above Malfoy and his friends, no matter which way they turned. It was then she looked back at the Gryffindor table, noticed her friends' presence, and realized their plan all along.
Geniuses.
Cassie dug into her meal, laughing as she watched Cedric try to sneakily shove cauldron cakes into his mouth without anyone noticing. Eventually, dinner came to a close, but not before leaving with a mouthful of sweets and a stomach so full Cassie wasn't sure if she could make it back to the common room.
She and Cedric left the Great Hall together, trying to stifle their laughter as Peeves and the other ghosts tricked little first years. Once she entered the common room, Cassie fell to the sofa with a thud, laying her head on its arm.
Letting out a sigh, she lifted her legs to give Cedric room to sit and placed her legs back down on his lap once he had sat.
"Successful Halloween, I'd say." She announced as Cedric nodded in response.
"'One of the best. 'Only dementors at the doors. I'd say we had a pretty good night." Cassie chuckled at his remark. She slowly sat up and stretched her arms, when the doors to the common room burst open.
"I need my prefects, now!" Professor Sprout echoed from the doorway. Confused, Cedric suddenly stood up and made his way to her. She appeared frantic and Cassie was worried as she had never seen the professor in that state.
She seemed to have whispered something to the prefects before ushering them all to the dormitories. Cassie heard them knocking on doors, calling for students to make their way to the Great Hall.
Cassie stood up abruptly, staring at the other students in the common room who seemed as equally puzzled as she was. Following their orders she made her way to the door but not before stopping in front of Professor Sprout.
"Professor, what is going on?" The woman could only meet her gaze with sad eyes.
"I'm deeply sorry, Cassiopeia." The professor sighed, looking into the girls' eyes deeply.
Before Cassie could question what those words meant, she was pushed out of the common room by her peers, all quickly making their way to the Great Hall. On the way she tried to meet Cedric's eyes, but he was too distracted by getting all the first years in line.
She entered the Great Hall and saw rows and rows of sleeping bags lining the floors.
"What, we got picked up for some big sleepover? Lucky us..." She muttered to herself as she followed Cedric and tried to find a sleeping bag near his. He looked at her with a worried expression.
"Cassie I don't know how to tell you." At his words her smile dropped, Cassie knew that this meant it could only be about either of her fathers. She knew of the impending full moon, could her father have been discovered? Her worries were squashed when she heard the words of a student next to them.
"Blacks broke into the castle! 'Even scared away the Fat Lady, they don't think she'll come back." Cassie swallowed and she heard the whisper of those around her, she felt her stomach fall and that familiar feeling crept up again.
The only thing she could do was curl up in her sleeping bag, ignoring Cedric's attempts at conversation, ignoring George's worried gaze from across the room, and ponder why her father was here and what he was here to do.
