Hateful Love

Chapter Thirty-Eight

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.

 ~Dedicated to bebe05215 because she always leaves the best comments that are like the greatest things ever :)))) and this is one of my favorite chapters, so I wanted to dedicate it to her. anyway, thank you all so much for everything you've done for this story!! it means so, so much to me <3

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Cassie P.O.V.

          The four of us just sit there in the office, utterly terrified, as Alecto and Amycus Carrow whisper furiously together a few feet away. The first year is slouched weakly on the floor beside my chair, crying uncontrollably but trying desperately to be quiet. My hand is clasped tightly over his.

          I glance fearfully down the row of chairs to see that Ginny’s shoulder is still bleeding slightly, the blood spreading slowly and turning the pink sweater to red. The cut on Neville’s cheek has stopped bleeding, but the blood has dried stiffly on his neck. Luna’s got scrapes all over her hands, though I have no idea what they’re from. And I can feel a warm wetness trickling down my back, a cut from when Alecto blasted me into the wall less than twenty minutes ago. My heart sinks as I realize the four of us are a mess…and it’s only going to get worse.

          Amycus turns to us slowly, the conversation with his sister abruptly ending. I feel my heart stop as he fixes us all with a hard glare and says coldly, “The five of you are lucky not to be facing expulsion for this. All of you will take your punishments separately.” As I dully think that expulsion is looking pretty good right about now, Amycus crooks a pudgy finger in my direction and snaps, “Jackson. Come with me.”

          I feel like my heart is in my throat as I slowly stand up, carefully prying my fingers away from the first year’s hand and whispering to him that everything’s going to be okay—when really, it isn’t. Neville looks up at me as I walk past with pity and fear in his eyes, but I give him a weak smile.

          Alecto shuts the door behind me as I follow Amycus out into the hall. My fingers begin to shake as we start down the hall toward the punishment room, terrified of what’s going to happen to me this time.

          As we come closer to the room, I see that all evidence of the Peruvian Instant Darkness powder has dissipated, and there are no signs of what happened. I look around carefully, but there’s no sign of Peeves. For the third time that night, I wonder desperately why he decided to help us by throwing the powder.

          Amycus reaches the door, slowly unlocks it, and finally steps inside. He clearly expects me to follow him willingly into the room, so I swallow hard and force my feet forward.

          There’s evidence of our struggles inside the punishment room; there’s a smearing of blood near the back where Neville’s cut cheek hit the floor. My head spins wildly as I hear the door being shut behind me and the lock clicking noisily. I turn around slowly, wanting—no, needing to look Amycus in the eye defiantly when he punishes me.

          But I don’t feel so defiant when I see Amycus is pointing his wand straight at me, his face a mixture of fury and icy coldness. My fingernails are digging deeply into my palms with fear as Amycus raises his arm higher, then hisses, “Crucio.”

          My body is suddenly alight with fire, and I collapse to the stone floor with a piercing scream. I’ve never experienced anything like this before; the pain seems to spread across my entire body, filling every corner with the sensation of being burnt alive. My chest constricts as the curse intensifies, faintly realizing that I’m writhing at Amycus’s feet and screaming uselessly but not knowing how to stop myself.