Clover Hawkings and the Triwizard Tournament

23. Gardenias

This chapter was so sad to write! I actually cried when I made the first draft. Also, it's in Cass's first-person view, which is a change then how we normally see Cass's view, but I think it's best for the story. 

Anyway, I hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think below! 

Cass's view: 

Looking at the gardenias, I am suddenly reminded of murder.

It was a kind gift from my friends at the office- I had been taking all the night shifts, and a colleague decided that was worth rewarding. Another thing that was rewarding was finding Sirius Black- so I didn't think any thanks were in order.

On the other hand, I despise gardenias. They were pretty- I liked how they looked like they belonged on a wedding cake. That didn't change what had happened. Before I could shut down the image, it came to me- her hand has fallen across the flowers, their white petals are soaked in her blood, Clover is screaming and the sky is falling and-

"Stop it," I say out loud. "Stop." I resist the extremely strong urge to knock the vase over. Maybe I'll just set them in the woods/backyard. I really need to do some gardening. 

Oh, dear. I need some tea. I hurry over and turn the stove on, magicking a cup out of the cabinet and trying not to think of that day.

Suddenly, there was a scream. The world seemed blurry and dim. I yanked open the door, leaped down the steps. A figure lay on the ground. oh.

Her arms are on the ground. On the ground, on the gardenias, she spent all the time she had taking care of. They shouldn't be there. Her hands belong weeding and watering, not fallen lifelessly across them. Her blood is staining them red, the drops clinging to the petals. "Charlie!" a strangled sob escaped my throat. "Charlie, get up! Charlie, get-get up!"

"Mommy?" barely a whisper of a voice came from the trees.

"Clover, darling, come out," I lightened my voice as much as I could. Tentatively, the child took a step forward. "Come here, dear." Clover suddenly raced towards me, the shadows melting off her skin.

I pour the water into the cup. It overflows, and boiling water crashes onto my hand.

"Is-is Mommy okay?" the girl whispered.

I pushed my sister over on her front. Her head lolled to the side. "No- no! This can't." I took a huge, heavy breath and set my head against her chest. There was supposed to be a noise, right? Besides her daughter's whimpering? "This can't be, it can't be happening!"

But it was.

Clover, standing back, put her fingers on my shoulder. "Is Mommy okay?" she repeated.

I stared in shocked silence. It was getting harder and harder to breathe. "I-" I rasped. "I don't think so, dear."

I slammed the teacup on the counter. Tea sloshed over the sides. Great.

"But- but why?" Clover began crying, falling to her knees in the bloody flowers. "Did I do it?"

"No- no, of course not, baby." I wrapped my hand around my sister's still-warm wrist. Nothing.

I spun around to the child, snot and tears running down her cheeks and dripping off her chin. "Did you see what happened?"

"Yeah," Clover began to take slow steps to her mother. "There- there was this guy, in black, and he just came, and then there was green light-" sob "- and then Mommy fell over, and he disappeared, and there was this big-" sob "-big crack, and-"

"Shh, shh," I smoothed a hand over her hair. "Let's go inside, okay?"

"But- Mommy-"

"That's enough!" I said out loud, shaking my head as if all the painful thoughts could just fall out. "It happened."

After that, we left. I grabbed the essentials and pulled Clover away from the body of her dead mother. Clover's fingernails left marks on her skin. My finger grazed Charlies's cheek. All I could say was I'm sorry. To both of them.

Then, we moved to America, in a small Muggle town. You-Know-Who's power had been less there, but I still never risked introducing Clover to other wizards until Hogwarts. We spent the time pretending to be normal, while our house was filled with magic.

I run my hand under cold water, barely feeling the burn.

Clover had the event erased from her mind by Sliverton, one in the Order. If he ever realized that Clover also had other things buried in her mind, he hid it well. Turns out, every teen fiction drama ever is right. The truth haunts you. And it always, always comes out.

Damn it. I know what I need to do. And this time, I'm going to actually do it.