Hateful Love

Chapter Sixty

NOTE: I do not own any of the ideas or characters expressed in this story (except Cassie Jackson). All of these belong to J.K. Rowling.

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Cassie P.O.V.

          I sit on the floor next to the couch, clutching Katherine’s hand tightly as she sleeps. Blinking sleepily, I look up at her calm, peaceful face and wonder how the hell everything had gone so wrong.

          It still doesn’t feel real. Draco brought her back to the Room of Requirement around four in the morning, holding her bridal-style while she looked…normal again. It was odd, I didn’t get angry at Draco for locking me inside the room; once he put Katherine down on the couch, I just grabbed him tight and held on for as long as I could. Draco told me that by the time he found Katherine in the castle, she was just sitting in a corner holding her head again. After fussing over him and making sure he was okay, Draco told me that he would go back out and make sure no one had gotten hurt.

          It’s been three hours, and he still hasn’t come back.

          I bite my lip and look over at the door to the Room of Requirement for what must be the twentieth time, praying that Draco’s just really, really making sure no one even saw Katherine last night. My head is still spinning from what happening, and I keep looking over at Katherine uneasily. Like I’m afraid she’s going to jump up and transform again.

          I rub my eyes and yawn tiredly. I didn’t get any sleep last night; I spent the whole time Draco was gone pacing across the room, going out of my mind with worry. Now, the only thing keeping me awake is wondering what’s taking Draco so long.

          My mind starts to wander, and my imagination starts to conjure up a list of endless, terrible possibilities. What if he’s been caught by the Carrows for being out so early? What if someone did get hurt by Katherine last night? What if Draco’s trying to save their life right now? What if—

          I hear a tiny, faint sniffle to my left. I snap my head around to see that Katherine’s eyes are open, and they’re brimming with unshed tears. Sitting up and leaning closer to her, I inspect the color of her eyes cautiously. They’re blue, like normal.

          Breathing a small sigh of relief, I give her hand a squeeze and ask, “How do you feel?”

         Her face screws up as she tries not to cry and doesn’t answer.

          As quietly as I can, I ask, “Do you remember what happened?”

          The tears spill out of the corners of her eyes and make their way down her cheeks as she nods. My eyes start to water seeing her like this, so I straighten up to sit next to her on the couch and bring my other hand up to clutch hers. Katherine sits up and wraps her arms around me, and I pull her into a tight hug as she starts to cry harder. I run my fingers through her hair and whisper comfortingly, doing everything I can not to break down as well. I whisper softly, “It’s okay, Katherine. You’re okay, everything’s okay—“

          “But it’s not!” she sobs, pulling away from me and looking at me with bloodshot eyes. “Nothing’s okay anymore, I’m a—a…”

          Neither of us can bring ourselves to say it. I clasp her hand and choke out, “But you’re okay, no one got hurt—“

          “I almost hurt someone!” Katherine cries, unable to look me in the eyes anymore. “I think I—I scratched Malfoy! How could I, I’m so sorry, I’m sorry, I sorry—“