Brontide

Chapter Twenty-One

Rae had begun having nightmares, horrible ones that terrified her out of her wits. We found out when she began screaming one night, the sound of it nearly making me fly off of my hammock. Fred bolted right up out of his sleep next to me, his eyes wide with fright. We shared a quick glance before we looked down to where George and Rae slept. 

She was thrashing around in the hammock, the blankets going everywhere as George tried to calm her down. I quickly climbed down, Fred right behind me, and moved out of the way of George who was dodging her leg. She woke with a start and opened her eyes, looking at the three of us in terror. George opened his mouth to say something but I put up my hand to stop him, feeling my heart sink when her eyes began to well up with tears.

"Cassie," she said barely above a whisper.

I went to her quickly and engulfed her in a hug. She buried her face in my shoulder and wrapped her arms around me tightly. I could tell from her breathing pattern she was trying hard not to cry. I gently stroked her hair, humming quietly and trying to settle her down. When we were in school and she was having a nightmare I would do this. Back then it'd always worked; this hadn't changed.

Rae let out a sniffle and wiped her face, sitting up straight and pulling away from me. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize," I said quickly, trying to read her. "Do you want to talk about it? You don't have to if you don't want."

She shook her head, glancing over at the twins. "I'll be fine, that was just a really bad one."

George reached over and wrapped his pinky finger around hers. She gave him the tiniest smile. "It's alright, you're awake now and, I must say, you're looking especially radiant this morning," he grinned.

Her blotchy face turned slightly redder and she struggled not to laugh, yanking her hand away from his. "You're a filthy, bloody liar, George Weasley."

"I am no such thing, Rae Turner, and I really meant what I said, contrary to what you may believe," he replied, his smile unwavering.

She shot him a look, one that said it was too damn early for him to be such a giddy ponce, before turning to me again. "I've been meaning to ask you about something."

I quirked an eyebrow up. "Ask away."

"These nightmares I've been having... do you think I'd sleep better if I felt more...prepared? Every dream is different, but the one thing that remains the same about them is this feeling I have where I feel like I've forgotten every spell I know." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the twins exchange glances. "It's really frightening. What if the Order needs us to do a mission and we're utterly useless? I don't like feeling unsure of myself." Rae turned to look at Fred and George. "Well?"

"I've been thinking the same thing myself," George shrugged.

"No one ever got anywhere being miserable old sods, anyway," Fred concurred, his sentence ending in a yawn and his arms stretching up over his head. He snuck one around my shoulders.

The three of them turned their eyes toward me. I took a moment to clear my throat. "Honestly, it's getting really bad out there. The other day when I went into town, the muggles were all talking about what they suspect are serial murders happening across the country, entire family kidnappings, nation-wide "gas leaks", giant activity that they're mistaking for flash tornadoes...it feels like the world is falling apart. They're building an army while the Order wants us to hide away, but why?" Fred released me from his arm as I began to pace back and forth. "Where's our army? Are they all underground until they hear some whisper about Harry striking back? No offense to them, but I'll be damned if that isn't the stupidest plan I've ever heard. What if he's already dead? Would that mean that we're essentially dead in the water too, no matter how much we practice, no matter how much we fight?"