The Girl Who Had No Escape [1]

Year 2 - 14

It had been a month since term began, and Cassiopeia's nightmares had started to take their toll. She was barely sleeping at night, and what made matters worse was that Amelia knew this. So, she lost the ability to hide it. She had been getting more and more worried, meaning she had eaten less. Her thin figure, matched with the bags under her eyes, made all the Slytherins worry about her. She had forgiven the quidditch team, after they promised not to steal the practice time of any other teams. Draco had, sort of, been true to his word. He hasn't called Hermione a mud-blood since, making Cassiopeia pleased. The group had also kept her Animagus a secret, which she knew they would.

"I can't wait for the Halloween feast, it's always the best." Crabbe said as the group walked to the great hall.

"Yeah, it's the one with the best treats at the end." Goyle added.

"Do you think of anything other than food?" Amelia asked. They looked to each other and then back to Amelia.

"Nope." They said in unison. Cassiopeia chuckled, which made her friends happy, considering her depressed mood recently. As they walked though the doors, they made their way over to the table. Starting to eat their meal.

"Apple pie or Blueberry tart?" Amelia asked out of the blue, they all turned to her. "What? It's just a question."

"Apple pie." Draco, Blaise and Crabbe said.

"Blueberry tart." Theodore and Goyle said.

"Strawberry Cheesecake." Cassiopeia said. They all turned to her. "What? I didn't like the two options. Speaking of Strawberry Cheesecake." She said, then climbing from her seat to walk down the table. She went behind the first years and asked if she could take some, they nodded and she brought some back. She sat in her place and was about to eat it, when someone stole her fork and took a bite of the cake. She looked horrified, and turned towards Draco. "How could you?" She asked outraged. Some of the Slytherins looked over. "How could you, Draco Malfoy! How dare you steal my pudding!" she said, the people listening in laughed.

"I wanted to try some." He said. She raised an eyebrow. She nodded and walked back to the first years, she asked for another piece, also grabbing a spare. She walked back over to Draco and gave him one of the slices. "Who's that one for?" He asked, pointing to the other cake.

"I'm glad you asked, actually." She replied, and with that she put the cake slice on his face. Everyone in the hall burst out laughing, except Draco. "Do you like it?"

"I do actually." He replied, he then grabbed a napkin and wiped the cake off his face. "You know, you should try some apple pie." He replied, putting a slice of apple pie on her face. She gasped in shock. Everyone laughed again. "Like it?"

"No, it tastes disgusting." She replied, wiping the pie off her face. He smirked to her; she rolled her eyes but laughed all the same. After they were pudding free, with a little help from magic, they went back to eating their chosen puddings.

"Rip... tear... kill..." A voice echoed through the great hall. Cassiopeia's head snapped up, but no one else seemed to notice.

"Cass? What's w-" Blaise started, but Cassiopeia shushed him.

"So hungry... for so long..." the voice said again. Cassiopeia stood from her chair, and her friends noticed the fear in her eyes. She then looked to her friends, and then walked towards the teachers table. She spoke to Professor Snape and then he and her left the hall. The group exchanged confused glances, but then were distracted by everyone making a move to leave the room. As the Slytherin's made their way back to their common room they saw Cassiopeia, without Professor Snape. She was standing a little away from Harry, Hermione and Ron. Amelia came up behind her and pulled her towards the group. She noticed that Cassiopeia was shaking in fear. The floor was covered in water and on the wall was a message written in blood: