way to go, tiger | Lorenzo Berkshire

࣪𖤐 Y6 | 2 . Home sweet home

SMOKE SIGNALS — PHOEBE BRIDGERS
'I'm at the exit, looking back through the hall, you are anonymous, I am a concrete wall.'

Cassie sighs as she trails behind her friends, who are struggling to find a carriage. Her mood is worryingly low seeing as it's the day she returns to Hogwarts. She has never disliked school before. Now, however, she can think of a million other places she'd rather be.

Cassie shakes off the dreary thoughts as her eyes lock on the very people she hoped to avoid. She stops in her tracks, watching Blaise in a fit of laughter with the others. Cassie's frown tugs down at her cheeks as she freezes in place. She feels violently ill all of a sudden. Pansy looks up from her seat and looks Cassie in the eye.

Oh.

Cassie's lips part but she can't manage to get any words out. She blinks more than usual and takes a deep breath before following after Ron. "Wicked! An empty one!" he beams.

Cassie slowly trails behind, taking her seat next to the window by Enzo. He squeezes her knee and she looks him in the eye. Her heartbeat relaxes as his autumnal eyes wrap her heart in a blanket of comfort. "You okay?" he asks, noticing her increased breathing pace.

She nods, "I saw the others. Blaise was laughing with Pansy, Theo and Mattheo. I couldn't seem to take my eyes off them. Pansy made eye contact with me so I just carried on walking. I must've looked like an idiot just standing there watching them."

Enzo sighs and takes Cassie's hand into his. "It's okay to miss them. I know I do— god I miss them, Cassie. I miss laughing with my best friends every bloody second. But I'm not going to let that feeling ruin my mindset. They're irrelevant from here on." Cassie lightly smiles, giving his hand a squeeze and looking out of the window.

A few hours later, the train runs into a malfunction. The students get told they're going to be on this train for a lot longer. Most students conjure pillows and blankets and get comfy. Cassie, however, can't seem to rest. She stands up and slides open the carriage door. She notices it's pitch-black outside now. How late is it?

The werewolf walks, and walks, and walks until she reaches a familiar carriage. She peaks inside, curiosity overwhelming her. Mattheo is wide awake and sitting against the window, staring at the stars.

Cassie sighs. She knows she probably shouldn't be speaking to Mattheo right now, but in this very moment, she wants to do nothing less. So, despite her morals, she lightly knocks on the carriage door, catching his attention. His gaze softens immediately and he heads to the door. Cassie turns around and faces the window as he slides the door open.

She can feel Mattheo's warmth as he stands next to her, his eyes also on the noir sky. "They're pretty, aren't they? I can see why you spend so much time on the Astronomy Tower now." Mattheo speaks, his voice slightly hoarse. His voice sounds different, Cassie notices. It isn't a type of different that any old person would notice. Cassie can't quite explain it.

"Oh they're beautiful. I quite like the fact I'm named after them." Cassie weakly smiles.

Mattheo smiles, bowing his head. He has so much to say to Cassie, but he knows he'd just make it worse. "How are you doing?" he asks, casually, hoping that she wouldn't shut him down and walk away. She had made her intentions very clear in that letter.

"I'm okay. Dad's worse." she shrugs, knowing that he was referring to Sirius' unfortunate death.

Mattheo's heart sinks ever so slightly. He couldn't help but feel guilty for Sirius' death. After all, it was his mother that had killed him. "I'm so s-"

"Don't." Cassie interrupts. "I don't want an apology, Mattheo. You have nothing to apologise for. You're not your mother, nor your father."

Mattheo's heart wrenches as those words spill from her mouth. She's wrong. "But—"