The Girl Who Had No Escape [1]

Year 2 - 10

Cassiopeia awoke with the inability to move her hands. She opened her eyes and saw that Amelia was holding one of her hands and Draco was holding the other. She groaned, alerting them all of her being awake. Their heads, meaning Theodore, Blaise, Amelia, Draco, Pansy and Millicent, snapped to her. She saw their lips moving, but could only hear whispers. She shook her head at them, they looked in confusion. She gestured to her ears and shook her head.

"You can't hear us?" Draco asked slowly, Cassiopeia reading his lips. She shook her head and they all exchanged a look. They said something else, and Blaise got up, coming back with Madame Pomfrey moments later. She made the group move back, so she could be near Cassiopeia.

"Can you hear me?" Madame Pomfrey asked, Cassiopeia held up her hand, finger and thumb a little apart. "A little bit?" Cassiopeia nodded. "I'm going to try a spell, okay?" Madame Pomfrey said slowly. Cassiopeia nodded. She incanted a spell and waved her wand. Madame Pomfrey then said something, Cassiopeia shook her head. "Can you hear me at all?" Cassiopeia read from her lips; she shook her head. "I'm going to do another spell, but this will hurt. Okay?" Cassiopeia nodded, but Draco came over and grabbed her hand. She smiled at him, then looked back to Madame Pomfrey. She muttered the incantation, moving the wand around Cassiopeia's head, she then tapped each of her ears, and suddenly pulled her wand away quickly. Cassiopeia cried out in pain, squeezing Draco's hand.

"Ms Reid, can you hear me now?" Madame Pomfrey asked, her voice normal volume.

"Yeah." Cassiopeia replied with a groan. Her friends laughed slightly. 

"I'm going to give you a potion to drink, then you can go to the Great Hall for dinner." Madame Pomfrey told her.

"Have you guys eaten?" Cassiopeia asked her friends, not noticing she was still holding Draco's hand. They all shook their heads. Madame Pomfrey returned with the potion, and then the group made their way to the great hall. As they got there, they began to eat their food.

"Cass, can I ask you a question?" Amelia asked, Cassiopeia looked up and nodded. "What made you be able to hear the Mandrake through the earmuffs?". The whole group, except Pansy and Millicent, were looking to Cassiopeia for an answer now.

"Can I tell you on the weekend?"  Cassiopeia asked them.

"What's four days going to change?" Blaise asked.

"Just please, I'm breaking a promise to do this, so please just give me the time I need." Cassiopeia replied. They nodded. "Thanks." The pudding then replaced food on the table, and Cassiopeia couldn't bring herself to eat anything else. She was worried about the weekend, could she really tell them? It's not that she didn't trust them, it was that she didn't want to face the wrath of William.

"I'll meet you in the common room, I need to see Professor Snape." Cassiopeia told them as they were walking back to the common room.

"Alright, don't stay out past curfew." Amelia warned. Cassiopeia held up her hands in a mock surrender and promised. Cassiopeia then made her way to her godfather's office. She knocked on the door and she heard a 'come in' from the other side. When she entered, he looked to her in shock.

"How can I help you, Cass?" He asked her.

"Is there any way I can see or contact William?" She asked him. He thought for a moment then nodded.

"Wait here a moment." He replied, and he conjured a Patronus. A beautiful Doe, made from the finest white mist, came from his wand. He whispered something and it went from the room. She sat on the chair in his room, thinking about what she is going to say to him. She was midway through a conversation in her mind, which was not going in her favor, when the light returned. A beautiful Phoenix Patronus came through the wall and said something to Professor Snape. He then turned to Cassiopeia. "I have spoken to the headmaster, and he has allowed us to apparate from this room. I will take you to your house, and I will wait until you are finished for me to apparate you back."