The Rise And Fall Of The Stag And The Doe

demons

Marlene sat in a chair next to Cas while Madame Promfrey worked with Esmee behind a thick white curtain.

"They should have thrown it at me!" Cas insisted, her black eyes burning with rage. "I was the one they were talking shit about! Why would they go for her?"

"Literally...I think because they had a better chance of injuring her. You were behind a table..." Marlene shrugged helplessly.

"It's so stupid! All of it! I never hurt a single one of them. My family has never done a single thing to any of them! No matter what they have ever said and done we have stayed out of this whole thing!" Cas held her head in her hands and began to rock back and forth. "It's my fault...If I had just..."

"No," Marlene cut her off fiercely. "None of this is your fault! You didn't do anything wrong. Don't let them put that in your head. Don't you dare let them make you think less of yourself."

Cas glanced up; her olive skin was damp with tears. Her dark hair hung in her face and she looked like she was ready to either punch someone or cry harder. "I'm trying not to."

"No. Don't try, do it. You told me you were worth more, and you are. Your brother and sister, all of you are worth more than this. So keep it together and get your game face on, because your sister is going to be able to walk, and run, but she's going to be freaked out, and she's going to need you there."

"I know...I know."

Marlene clamped a hand on her shoulder. "You know as well as I do that being family means more than blood and you know you're the backbone of the family Cas-"

"I love that," Cas said bitterly, "I'm the Hufflepuff-"

"We may talk a lot of shit about Hufflepuff's, being weak and cowardly, but it's more because your house is the most likely to put aside their arrogance and pride to do the right thing, which is something Ravenclaw's, Slytherin's and Gryffindor's can't do." Marlene told her. "So you should be proud to be a Hufflepuff, we make fun of you because we know we'll never be as good as you all are."

Cas looked at her. "You should be a Hufflepuff."

"Ehhh," Marlene shrugged, offering her a smile. "I'm not nice enough."

"I beg to differ." Cas mumbled resting her head on Marlene's shoulder.

Outside the room Lily waited with Everett in the hallway. James and Remus had stood with them for an hour or two before going on to lunch. They were sitting on the floor occasionally talking, but mostly just waiting to hear how Esmee was doing. The burn on her legs had been substantial, and for a while there she had been screaming out in pain, but it had been quiet for a while now.

"We went to the American Academy until dad got this job." Everett mentioned, leaning his head back against the wall. "And we never had any trouble there. Cas had a bunch of friends and Esmee was in a bunch of clubs...Sometimes I think moving into a war zone was a mistake."

"It's going to hit America soon." Lily told him sadly. "This would have happened, maybe not the drastic or violent, but the war is spreading and you would have been dragged into it eventually."

"I know," His large hands swiped at his dark face with a sigh. "I just like to think I could have been blissfully ignorant to all of this..."

Lily looked at him with understanding. "I used to think like that too."

"And now?"

"And now...I've seen the man...well if you can call him that, who is doing all of this and I can't deny what I've seen. He's going to kill muggleborns, and muggles alike and pureblood's think if they stick to him they'll be exempt, but I really don't think it works like that anymore."