CHAPTER NINETY-SIX;

IT ALL COMES CRASHING DOWN

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Fuck.

As Cassie raced down the halls of Hogwarts — closely followed by Draco Malfoy, Theodore Nott, Daphne Greengrass, Blaise Zabini, the Carrow twins, and Pansy Parkinson — the only word that bounced around her mind was billions of profanities that she'd've been cursed for ever saying aloud.

The problem had first presented itself in the form of a wool jumper.

Cassie returned from the Room of Requirement, later than she expected to be; Daphne and Pansy sat on Daphne's bed in the dormitory, whispering loudly amongst themselves yet pausing abruptly when Cassie entered. This part was not out of the usual – in fact, Cassie had become quite accustomed to their secrecy and the fact that they didn't trust Cassie. But one small detail stuck out to Cassie, one that stopped her in her tracks and drained the blood from her face.

On the bed, between the two Slytherins, sat the red-and-gold Quidditch jumper that Harry had once given to Cassie during a chilly try-out session of sixth year.

"Did you two go through my stuff?" Cassie asked, and tried to act normal as she moved to pick it up and return it to her trunk – but Pansy grabbed hold of it first and snatched it back. Cassie attempted to keep her voice steady and said, "Pansy, give it back."

   "Why do you have this?" Pansy's voice was full of accusing tones, her dark eyes narrowed as she shook the jumper for emphasis.

   "Please," Cassie said, almost a beg now, "give it back."

   "You're not snogging a Gryffindor, are you?" Pansy shrilled, her upper lip curling into a sneer. Cassie's eyes moved to Daphne for help, but the blonde merely gave Cassie an apologetic shrug.

   "Pansy, please," said Cassie. She nearly lost her composure for a moment and her voice shook with frustration and desperation. It wasn't smart to be showing so much emotion over such a small item — showing such vulnerability — but it was all Cassie could do to not start sobbing at the thought of Pansy ruining Cassie's only keepsake of Harry.

   "I bet she shagged Longbottom," Pansy continued, a conversational tone to her voice as she spoke to Daphne. "It wouldn't be a surprise. We all saw it coming, really, what with how far up her arse his head always is."

   "It's nothing, I swear on Merlin–" Cassie attempted for the jumper again but Pansy pulled it just out of her reach and let out a high-pitched giggle, rolling her eyes.

   "Wonder how the boys would react to this, Daph?"

   "Not really," Daphne replied, her voice quiet.

   "I say we show them," Pansy said firmly, nodding. "Yeah, I bet Malfoy will be beside himself..."

   "Pansy!" Cassie called, as Pansy had ducked under Cassie's outstretched hand and rushed out of the dormitory, Harry's sweater in hand. Cassie gave Daphne a glare that must have been murderous, because the eldest Greengrass recoiled back and dropped her head. Cassie bolted after Pansy, her heart beating dangerously fast against her chest.

   "..Pansy, you're brilliant," Draco was saying, as Cassie burst forth into the boys' dormitory. All eyes moved to her, the tension in the room drawing as thick as toffee from Honeyduke's.

   Cassie froze like a deer in headlights, her heart still pounding so loudly in her chest, it was a miracle the others in the room couldn't hear it. The dormitory was silent for a moment, until Daphne burst in behind Cassie, stuttering, "I-I didn't mean— I just, I was looking for a-an extra tie! I couldn't f—"

   "Shut it, Greengrass," said Malfoy, grey eyes glued maliciously to Cassie and unmoving. Lips upturned in a smirk, he held up the jumper. Harry's jumper. "Care to explain?"

   "Longbottom gave it to me," Cassie said instantly, crossing her arms across her chest in what looked like a casual movement but was really for easy access to her wand, tucked in the left side of her robes. "He doesn't play, but apparently it's a running gag in Gryffindor to steal the Seeker's jumper. That's Weasley's."

   Malfoy quirked an eyebrow and lifted the sweater by the shoulders to show its size, much too large to fit Ginny. "This fits Weasley? Is gaining so much weight a genetic thing in their family, then?" He laughed, bumping shoulders with Theo and Blaise, who were too busy eyeing Cassie with an unreadable emotion on their faces. Pansy, however, trilled a giggle at Draco's insult.

   Cassie's face contorted with rage and she dove forward, managing to get a good hit on his jaw before Blaise and Theodore were dragging her back by her swinging arms. Cassie, still seething with hostility, spat on Malfoy's shoes.

"What the hell, Delacour?" Pansy rushed to Malfoy's aid, taking hold of his head and shooting Cassie a death glare. Daphne followed suit but did not do anything to help besides pat Malfoy slowly on the shoulder, giving Cassie a look she couldn't decipher but she was sure held a hint of amusement.

"Come on, want some more, Malfoy?" Cassie nearly shouted, still struggling against the grips of Blaise and Theo, who were slowly loosening their grasp on her – whether on purpose or otherwise. "You're a fucking twat, Malfoy! All of you! You're–you're all prats, letting him get away with saying this rubbish–"

"Victoire!" Theo shouted into her ear, finally capturing her attention. "What are you doing?"

Cassie finally took in the situation, chest heaving with pants, eyes scanning the dormitory. "I said what I fucking said," she murmured, her voice much quieter than before. "Prats. All of you."

"What the hell?" Theo took a step back, toward Malfoy's side of the dorm, and looked Cassie up and down. "What's gotten into you? First you hide a Gryffindor sweater in your trunk, then you're punching Malfoy across the jaw, now you're cursing us all out. Who are you?"

God, she wished she could answer that question honestly.

"I'm Victoire Delacour," she said furiously, "and I can't fucking stand it here."

"Made that pretty clear, thanks," Theo muttered, then ducked away from Blaise's shoulder shove. "Seriously, Vic, care to explain the.. Gryffindor j–"

"I already did."

"Forgive us," Draco spat, "if we don't trust you completely after you've taken a swing at my jaw."

"I don't know why you lot think this sweater's so important." Cassie picked up the familiar jumper from where it had been dropped when she punched Malfoy. "It's just harmless joshing around between their House, and they thought it would be funny if they gave it to me."

   "Malfoy," said Pansy, suddenly zeroed in on a spot of the sweater Cassie held in her hand. She swatted Malfoy's upper arm to get his attention, as he had turned to a mirror to try and assess his facial situation. He turned around again at Pansy's insistence. "Malfoy, look, look."

   In the chaos, nobody had realized the Quidditch jumper was inside-out. Cassie had made to fold it, starting first with fixing it so it faced the right way.

   She'd forgotten about Harry's fucking name, printed across the back in big yellow letters.

POTTER.

   There was a silence describable only as deafening as the realizations dawned on everybody at different times. Cassie was the first to make a move — she dashed back out the door and sprinted out of the common room.

   Her cover was beyond blown – it had been gusted open like a weak door on rusty hinges, and there was no fixing it this time.

   "FINETE INCANTATEM!" someone shouted from behind her, and she was blasted in the back with a heavy spell that forced her to lose her balance for a moment. When she picked up her speed again, she noticed the considerable change in height and weight between Victoire Weasley and Cassiopeia Black.

   Well, she came back with a bang.

   "Don't let her get outside the castle!" called another voice, and she was blasted with a nonverbal spell from the side. She fell to the floor, clutching her gut while those in pursuit crowded over her.

   "I bloody knew it," Malfoy mumbled, a shocked grin taking over his face. "I knew it! I told you lot there was something off about her, look who she really is!"

"Holy hell," Theo muttered, his eyes wide as he gazed down upon Cassiopeia Black. "Y-you're dead, I thought! H-how are you—?"

   "STUPEFY!" cried a voice from the opposite side of the hallway, and it was powerful enough to knock all of the Slytherins surrounding her off their feet and into the walls. Cassie sat up as quickly as she could and had never been more grateful to see Professor Mcgonagall bounding down the hall towards her with such a determined expression on her firm face.

   "What are you waiting for, Black?" she called, blasting Malfoy, Theo, and Blaise with another spell and turning to do the same to the Carrow twins, who had just begun rushing down another hallway toward Cassie. "Get out of here!"

"Thanks a ton, Minnie!" Cassie called, rolling beneath a jet of red light shot at her from one of the Carrow twins that had managed to weave out of the way of Mcgonagall's curse. "Tell the people not to forget me!"

"Oh, please, Black," Mcgonagall shouted, blasting Alecto directly in the chest and sending her tumbling back, "nobody could forget you, believe me. Now, go!"

   "I hope I've made an O in your class, Professor Carrow!" Cassie shouted to Amycus as she picked up her speed once more, shooting spells behind her and not checking to see if they make their marks. She risked a glance over her shoulder and shot Amycus a challenging, playful grin. "I would say I was somewhat of a pleasure to have in class, yeah?"

   As the commotion grew further and further about the castle, more people were notified of who was being chased and where she was going. Gryffindors tripped Slytherins that looked as though they were about to join the chase, Hufflepuffs opened doors for Cassie to burst through seamlessly, and Ravenclaws cast complex spells over the heads of those trailing Cassie such as one that temporarily cast them all into darkness.

   Somehow, Cassie reached the front doors. Standing in front of them was Daphne Greengrass.

   "Daphne," Cassie began, breathless and clutching her wand. "Can we–"

   Without a word, Daphne unlocked the large door and stepped to the side, allowing Cassie through. She offered an encouraging smile. "I'm sorry for not doing anything sooner," she said, squeezing Cassie's shoulder. She gave her a faint push. "Go! Before they catch up."

   "Thank you, Daphne," Cassie called as the doors began to shut again. "Really, thank you!"

   And with that, she dashed across the ground of Hogwarts, ignoring the dementors and Death Eaters now circling the school. Someone must have called them, in all the commotion. Cassie had a brief memory of four years back, when her own father was destined for a Kiss from these dementors. As they slowly closed in on Cassie, she could only think of how horrible of a fate it would be.

And then, she thought about seeing Harry again, and her kaleidoscope of butterflies burst from the tip of her wand without warning. They warded off the dementors and allowed Cassie to slip past the anti-Appararion barriers. It was a small difference, but Cassie noticed it, somehow — a small jolt, as if of electricity.

A quick glance over her shoulder told her she had probably a minute to recuperate and Apparate out successfully.

Destination, determination, deliberation.

The front stoop of Grimmauld Place, and hurry, she willed herself, squeezing her eyes shut and clutching Harry's sweater. She turned on the spot just as a shout rung the air – and her face was pressed into the door of Number 13, Grimmauld Place. Literally pressed into it; she peeled her cheek off the wood and turned again, to face the Death Eaters patrolling. They stalked back and forth, but overall seemed to not notice anything.

Cassie nearly exhaled a breath of relief. She'd done it – she'd broken out of Hogwarts, Apparated to Grimmauld Place, and not been caught.

Grimmauld wasn't the ideal hideout, but it was safe, secret, and had food. Cassie wasn't even sure how long she would spend there. She didn't plan to stay in her old flat for too long... but then again, she also planned to be staying at Hogwarts for the next week and a half, until holiday break.

"Well," Cassie muttered as she shut the door behind her, "plans change, I suppose."