Memories of Them

Cassie had stood for the entire game, occasionally leaning over the balcony of the box to get a better view of what was happening below. Her omnioculars came in handy, almost constantly glued to her face, especially as the Bulgarian team appeared to play particularly dirty; there had been plenty of penalties that she had rewound to get a look at all of the gory details. 

The last five minutes of the game had been nail bitingly close, it was clear that the Bulgarian seeker, Viktor Krum, had been holding back, allowing time for his chasers to score points so that they were able to win. However the Irish chasers were in a league of their own, they appeared to be able to read each other's minds, completing plays without any communication whatsoever. It appeared that Krum had lost interest and was beginning to get frustrated, he began playing a game with the Irish seeker, gracefully dropping into a quick dive as if he had spotted the snitch and pulling up at the last moment. The fifth time he tried this he pulled off an incredible Wronski Feint, causing Lynch to smash into the pitch, going at least 60mph. The crowd let out a round of gasps and groans as they watched the mediwitches take him off on a stretcher, clearly unconscious.

 It didn’t then take Krum long to locate the snitch, racing across the pitch at the speed of light with his hand outstretched grasping for the snitch that danced just beyond his fingers. The Irish Beaters however wanted revenge, sending a careening bludger straight into the face of the Bulgarian seeker. It was clear from the amount of blood pouring down the man’s face that his nose was broken, however he couldn’t stop the grin that spread across his face as he held the snitch high in the air, for all to see. 

A cacophony of ear splitting noise erupted from the stands as the whole stadium cheered, the Irish supporters screaming and chanting in celebration. Ireland had won 170-160, even though Bulgaria had caught the snitch. Cassie couldn’t quite believe it, throwing her arms around Bonnie and Odette beside her, the girls began jumping up and down screaming with excitement. The Irish National Anthem was blaring from the speakers around the stadium, the Irish supporters were standing with their arms around each other, swaying slightly and screaming the words at the top of their lungs. 

Behind her Henry kept muttering “what are the odds?” tears appeared to be glistening in his eyes.

Cassie decided to sit down for the medal ceremony, her legs were beginning to ache and the adrenaline that had been coursing through her veins was beginning to wear off making her feel sleepy.  Turning in her seat she laid her head on Bonnie’s shoulder, snuggling in.

“Alright Cas?” whispered Bonnie in her ear.

“Tired,” she moaned. 

“Well you can’t sleep here sweetheart, let’s head back,” said Mrs Carlisle, gently stroking the top of Cassie’s head. 

The group of teenagers all began to groggily stand, following Mr and Mrs Carlisle out of the box and back into the corridor. It was a lot busier now, families and groups of wizards and witches were walking in a steady flow towards the exit, all talking excitedly about the incredible match. 

“Krum might be the best player in centuries, but nothing was going to beat such a tightly knit Irish team,” a gentleman walking in front of the group was saying.

“Of course not, Bulgaria have only got this far because Krum was able to catch the snitch before the games ever really began. You can’t just rely on one good player,” his shorter companion said in agreement, shrugging his shoulders. 

The journey back down the stairs was slow going, as everybody tried to leave the stadium all at once. Cassie was relieved to get outside and out of the stuffy, oppressive halls of the stadium. Breathing in the fresh air, and feeling the cool evening breeze blanket her skin lifted the haze of exhaustion that threatened to overwhelm her before. 

As they were slowly making their way to the woodland path Mr Carlisle was called over to a group of important looking wizards, all dressed in dark robes with ministry lanyards hanging around their necks. Fighting their way against the flow of foot traffic towards the group of men proved harder than they thought. 

Turning to the group of children with an arm flourish Mr Carlisle introduced the group of men, “Children, this is the British Minister for Magic, Mr Fudge and our accomplished organiser Ludo Bagman.” Each of the teenagers gave a small smile and wave as the men began talking about the match. 

“Ah, Archibold! We were hoping to catch you before the game began.” A tall man with white blonde hair tied in a ponytail called, joining the group of ministry men and greeting Mr Carlisle. 

“Lucius, good to see you again. This is my wife Esmerelda and my children Hugo and Odette,” he said pointing at his family, “and their friends Cassandra Vaughn, Bonnie Cartwright, Liberty Mason and Fabian Bartlette.” Lucius glanced at the children, a clear look of disinterest on his face.

“This is my son, Draco Malfoy,” he introduced, pointing a silver topped cane at a pale, sulking child, who looked like a younger carbon copy of him.

“I don’t recognise any of you. Mustn’t live very interesting lives if I’ve never seen you in the halls,” he grumbled, curling his mouth into a cruel smirk.

“Oh, that burn stung,” Bonnie groaned dramatically, grabbing ahold of her heart and hanging off of Hugo 's shoulder.  The rest of the group laughed at the girl, causing the boy to frown. 

“We go to Beauxbatons Academy, actually,” clarified Cassie.

“You all sound very English to go to a weird French school,” Draco drawled, eyebrows raised in curiosity, “Hogwarts is the best wizarding school in the world, everyone knows that. All too thick to get in?” he questioned.

“Yep,” replied Cassie, with a shrug. She wasn’t going to play Draco Malfoy’s stupid game. The rest of the group snorted at Cassie’s quick response. Not wanting to give Malfoy the satisfaction of continuing the argument she turned back around towards the group of adults, accidentally locking eyes with a curious looking Lucius Malfoy. 

“You're Kingsley Shacklebolt’s stray, aren’t you?” he questioned, tilting his head to the side slightly, curiosity clear on his face.

“Yep,” she answered again monotonously, popping the p. She couldn’t believe how rude and entitled the Malfoy family appeared, she refused to let them get under her skin.

“Kingsley’s my father, he’s never mentioned your name before though…” she drew the end of the sentence out, indicating Lucius’ lack of importance in her life.

“I’m sure he’s a very busy man, at least he will be soon,” he murmured ominously, a savage glint in his eye.

Cassie furrowed her eyebrows, confused by his statement. Opening her mouth to question what he meant she was interrupted by Hugo.

“Dad, would you mind if we wandered back to the cabin? We’re all tired and want to get in somewhere warm,” he called in a bored tone of voice. Brushing his son off with a wave of his hand and a nod of his head, obviously annoyed by the interruption, Mr Carlisle allowed the group of teenagers to head back. 

“It was very unpleasant to meet you,” Cassie muttered to the Malfoy’s, turning her back on them and heading towards the woods with her group of friends.

“Watch your back, stray,” Draco called after her, “you never know when you’ll be hunted,” he laughed. 

“What a hideous roach of a human being,” Libby said, sliding an arm comfortingly around Cassie’s shoulder. 

“Seems the whole family were rather vile,” Cassie said, still mulling over what Lucius had said. Did he know something she didn’t? Kingsley never shared work details with her, but all summer he had seemed relatively relaxed. Maybe the Malfoy’s  were just trying to scare her, she thought. Shaking off the feeling of foreboding, she jogged to catch up with the rest of the group, joining in their animated retelling of the match, with emphasis on their favourite manoeuvres, fouls and injuries. 

They were able to hear the campsite before they could see it through the trees, sounds of celebration reverberated through the air. Groups of people were singing, chanting and excitedly talking about the match of the century. Breaking through the treeline they were able to see that people had lit celebratory bonfires, their flames glowing an assortment of vibrant colours as they climbed higher into the sky. In the distance someone was setting off large fireworks that exploded in hues of green and silver sparkle. The air was alive with pure joy and excitement, it was hard not to feed off of the energy. As the cluster of teenagers walked past various families and groups they were invited to eat, dance and drink, raising a glass to the cup winners; Each time they would politely and awkwardly decline the invites, congratulating the Irish on their win and wishing them a good night full of festivities.

Stumbling through the door of the cabin they were all in fits of giggles, having just seen an incredibly drunk wizard cartwheel straight through their neighbours tent. Throwing herself down on the sofa and covering her eyes with her arm, Cassie was content to sleep right there until she felt a pat on the legs. 

“Move over you giant ogre,” Hugo laughed trying to squash onto the other end of the sofa. Cassie simply curled into the foetal position, waited for Hugo to sit down comfortably, then stretched her legs out laying them across his lap. 

“Cas,” Hugo whined, “you’ve got heavy ankles!”

Removing her arm from her face and opening one of her eye’s she glared directly at the boy. 

“Me and my heavy ankles were here first, deal with it,” she grumbled. Hugo looked too scared of the grumpy exhausted girl to come back with a witty retort. 

The friends spent the evening congregating in the living room, lounging around chatting, laughing and catching up.  As it grew later and the fire in the hearth was reduced to a pile of glowing embers the group decided that they should probably head to bed. Bonnie and the Carlisle’s had to catch an early portkey back to France in the morning so would need to be up at the crack of dawn. Maya had agreed to meet her in the apparition field at 10 after she had dropped the twins at playgroup and Cassie couldn’t be late. 

“Do you reckon your parents would mind us camping on the floor of your bedroom, Odd?” yawned out Fabian who was laying on the rug in front of the fire, reminding Cassie of a cat. 

Fabian, Bonnie and Libby had arrived that afternoon with Fabian’s older sister Beatrice who was working at the World Cup as part of the security team, upon leaving Beauxbatons she had joined the Auror office and was currently in training. They had made Beatrice a promise that they would go back to her tent that evening to check in, however the warmth of the fire and the comfort of the sofa was far too inviting and none of them wanted to make the long trek across the campsite to find her. 

“I don’t see why not, I’ll leave a note asking Mum or Dad to send a patronus to Trix telling her you’re all safe,” Odette said, standing up from the sofa, smoothing out her wrinkled clothes and going off in search of a piece of parchment and a quill. 

The others began to rise as well, moaning and groaning as they went. When Hugo got up Cassie raised her arms, making her eyes as big as possible. 

“Carry me?” she pleaded. 

“God gave you legs for a reason Cas,” he snorted, making his way towards his bedroom, not even glancing behind him as he went. 

After brushing her teeth and changing into a set of grey silk pyjamas in the bathroom, Cassie wandered back into her bedroom to find that the floor had become overwhelmed by mismatched cushions, pillows and blankets forming a bed on the floor.Climbing over their makeshift bed, Cassie managed to trip over Fabian’s legs making him wince in pain, stumbling past Libby and Bonnie trying to avoid hurting them as well she made her way to the ladder of the bunk bed, pulling herself up with arms weak with exhaustion. She slumped down onto the soft mattress making the whole bed frame creak and wobble as she made herself comfortable. She had just got settled under her duvet when Bonnie groaned.

“Odd, Cass, have either of you got any spare clothes? My jeans are already digging in!” she whined.

“In my bag, on top of the drawers there should be a pair of fabric shorts,” Cassie mumbled, making no attempt to move and get them for her.

Cassie wasn’t even aware of Bonnie getting up to get changed, after rolling over she closed her eyes, falling asleep instantly. 

✵❂✵

Cassie was having the wildest dream involving dragons, mermaids and a large hedge maze. She was tearing along a corridor, huge yew hedges grew up either side of her, boxing her in. She could hear the footfall and pants of someone running quickly behind her, chasing her. Throwing an unknown curse over her shoulder she kept running, stumbling slightly at the pace she knew she needed to maintain. Suddenly the ground beneath her began to shake, a pitch black chasm opening at her feet. Screaming and frantically flapping her arms she began falling, a loud voice behind her called her name. 

“Cassie! Wake up now, we’ve got to move!” shouted Hugo alarm clear in his voice, grabbing her arm and shaking her violently. 

Groggily she tried to pull herself out of the strange dreamscape, the falling sensation had slowly receded, but her heart was still racing. Rubbing her eyes she became acutely aware of the commotion going on around her. Bonnie, Fabian and Libby had risen from their bed on the floor and were tugging their shoes on. Hugo and Mrs Carlisie were trying to wake a slumbering Odette, she was such a deep sleeper this was always a hard task. Peppering the panicked noises coming from inside the cabin were loud bangs and screams coming from the campsite outside, some of the bangs were so loud and close that they shook the windows in their frame. 

Staggering down the ladder of the  bunk bed she grabbed her discarded pink knitted jumper that she had worn the previous morning and tugged it harshly over her head. Snatching her handbag from the bedpost she slung it across her body, it still contained her wand and she had a sinking feeling she may be needing it. Running into the living room she found her shoes thrown haphazardly under the sofa, pulling them on she jumped up looking around, terrified. Hugo, Odette, Bonnie, Libby and Fabian all rushed out of the bedroom, a worried looking Mrs Carlisle flapping behind them.

“Mum, what's happening? Where are Dad and Henry?” questioned Odette, her voice coming out thick as though she was going to cry. 

“Someone,” Mrs Carlisle’s voice caught in her throat, taking a couple of seconds to gain her composure she continued in a wobbly voice, “someone is attacking the campsite, your father and brother have gone to help the Ministry.”

Cassie felt as though she had been slapped. Who would want to attack the campsite and why? She had  spent all summer laughing at Kingsleys anxieties surrounding the World Cup just for every single one  of them to come true. She had convinced him it would be the safest place in the world! Shaking slightly Cassie tried to snap herself out of it, she had to focus on the here and now. The background noises from the campside were intensifying, getting louder and louder by the minute. 

“We need to get out of here, now,” she said, proud that her voice didn’t quiver and give away how terrified she actually was. 

“We’ll hide in the woods until your father comes for us,” Mrs Carlisle mumbled, grabbing the hands of each of her children. 

“Stick together, heads down and move quickly,” she said, a renewed sense of authority and urgency clear in her voice. 

As they stepped out of the cabin door Cassie’s breath caught in her throat. It looked as though she had walked straight into one of her nightmares, the apocalypse appeared to be in full swing. Where once beautiful tents had stood, smouldering piles of canvas had been abandoned. The air was thick with acrid smoke, clogging their lungs instantly making them cough. People were running in all directions, barging and shoving past others in their panic. Jogging between the destroyed tents they retraced their steps from that evening, heading towards the clearing with the merchandise stands. The colourful tantalising stalls from before had been turned into a giant bonfire, throwing sparks high into the night sky. The heat radiating off of it was enough to make Cassie pull her arms in front of her face shielding herself from the flames and heat. 

“There’s no way to get through here,” Bonnie yelled, panic clear in her voice. 

“Don’t worry, we can just use the shortcut by the water station,” reasoned Cassie, grabbing her hand and giving it a comforting squeeze. Noticing the terror written across Fabian’s face she grabbed his hand too, pulling him towards her. 

“Stick together, heads down and move quickly,” he was repeatedly chanting under his breath. 

Turning around and following Mrs Carlisle they joined the crowd racing towards the water station, people were jostling past them on either side, fighting through the crowd that was swelling larger and larger.  Suddenly the cries and shouts ahead changed to screams of absolute terror. People tried to run in all directions, away from the threat ahead and the fire behind, the bottleneck caused a crush, as so many people packed into such a small space. Cassie was being pushed hard from all sides, struggling to breathe she tried to move horizontally getting to the edge of the crowd, making sure to pull Bonnie and Fabian along with her. But it was too much, the crowd was spooked and began to stampede in all directions, crashing through tents and standing on people who had fallen. A wizard barged into Cassie's arm, bending it in the wrong direction, with a scream of pain she let go of her friend's hands. Stumbling around blindly she called out but the crowd was too loud and fast moving she was being swept away by the current of people. Tumbling through the crowd she realised too late she was going towards the danger. She was spat out of the crowd, stumbling slightly, her head whipped round trying to place the danger, what she saw had her frozen in place. A group of 15 or so figures dressed in long dark robes and glinting silver masks was walking towards her. Some of the figures were casually blasting tents out of the group's path, others were deliberately setting fire to things or levitating heavy objects just to throw them straight to the ground, whilst the worst of them were firing spells indiscriminately into the crowd. But what was hanging above them made Cassie sick to her stomach. Floating 60 feet of the ground, in plain sight and for all to see, were the muggle family that owned the campsite. Cassie was sure she had seen the gentleman the morning before, when she had apparated in. The family, mother, father and two young children, were hanging in the air like marionette puppets, slowly rotating and flipping in their invisible bubble. The mother had been flipped upside down so her nightdress fell over her face and her undergarments were on full display, the group below were pointing and cackling at her humiliation. The young children were petrified, their eyes wide, looks of all encompassing fear covered their faces, one of them had wet themselves out of fright. Tears stung Cassie’s eyes, she couldn’t help but imagine her family in the same situation. 

She felt helpless. She needed to move, they were only a couple of metres away from her now and marching ever closer. Cradling her bad arm with the other she turned, the crowd behind had almost completely subsided, lifeless injured bodies littered the ground but it gave her a clear path to run as fast as she could away from the group of figures. She took off as fast as her legs would carry her, stumbling slightly every couple of steps due to the uneven ground. Suddenly the air around her became silent and still, a searing pain hit her shoulder, throwing her forward and causing her to scream. Her head slammed into a wooden barrel, stopping the momentum of her fall, her body laying crumpled on the floor, she had landed on her front, her injured arm pinned painfully under her body. Dark spots clouded her vision, making her shut her eyes tightly. She knew she was teetering on the edge of consciousness but she needed to stay aware, her life depended on it. Cassie focused all of her energy on lying as still and silent as possible; she couldn’t bring any unwanted attention to herself, especially when she was in no state to defend herself from any attackers. Her ear pricked listening out for the sounds of the masked group, heavy footsteps passed by, she was aware they were talking but couldn’t make out any of their conversation due to the incessant ringing in her ears. Suddenly a pair of feet stopped right beside her breaking away from the rest of the group, nudging her side with a hard tipped shoe, she bit her tongue to prevent the scream that was rising in her throat from breaking free. The person used their foot to flip Cassie over, bending down and brushing her hair away from her face, the perpetrator let out a strangled gasp. 

“Wingardium Leviosa,” a feminine voice mumbled. Cassie couldn’t help the whimper that fell from her lips as her body was lifted from the floor and suspended in the air. 

She tentatively opened her eyes, blinking quickly as she tried to clear her field of vision. Whoever was in front of her knew she was alive now, she would prefer to look them in the eyes if they were going to hurt her, she was determined not to be a coward. 

Standing in front of her was a petite figure clad in a long black robe and silver metal mask decorated with etched swirl patterns, a mane of long wavy dark hair was poking out from underneath it. Cassie had assumed from her size and build that she was a female, no taller than 5ft 5”. Cassie was captivated by her eyes, storm grey staring back at her with a mix of curiosity and wonder. Slowly the woman began to walk around Cassie’s suspended figure, observing the young girl from every angle. 

“It can’t be, I don’t understand,” the woman murmured, taking in every detail of Cassie’s face, she was positioned oddly on her toes, almost as though she was about to take flight, trying to get a better look at the girl. Her hand raised slowly,  going to cup Cassie’s cheek before flinching away, curling her hand up into a fist and letting it fall back to her side. 

In her peripheral vision Cassie caught sight of movement, another figure had broken away from the group and was circling back around looking for their comrade. Catching sight of the pair he rushed over, grabbing the woman’s arm pulling her around to face them.

“This wasn’t part of the plan, we have to keep moving,” snarled the second figure in a deep voice, a man Cassie deduced. 

“But  I… I know her, I’m sure I do. But it can’t be, the girl I know should be dead,” wailed the woman, trying to pull her arm free.

“You are not going to ruin this by falling apart now. I will not allow it.” the man’s voice rose, shouting in anger. 

“But,” the woman began.

“Enough,” screamed the man, beginning to sound unhinged, “you have had your fun, it is time to form rank and continue on with the plan.” 

“I…” the woman was stumbling over her words, opening and closing her mouth as no sound would come out, becoming more and more panicked as she tried to form a sentence. 

The man turned on Cassie, trying to figure out how a young girl had made one of his comrades come undone so easily. A savage look in his light grey eyes.

“You,” he growled. Cassie had an odd sense of deja vu. I know this person she thought, where do I know him from she questioned, frantically trying to sieve through her memories. She was pulled from her thoughts as he raised his wand, levelling it with her face. Cruelty was radiating off of him. 

A bright green flash distracted the mask wearing pair, they both turned around trying to locate the source of the light. Cassie followed the glowing ball with her eyes as it climbed higher and higher into the night sky, it began to twist and contort taking the shape of a bright green skull with a snake slithering ominously out of its mouth. She knew what this meant, the dark mark, the symbol of the Dark Lord. A slow trickle of dread made its way down her spine as she realised who she was in the company of, Death Eaters, servants of the Dark Lord, users of the darkest magic known to wizard kind. But something was wrong, they seemed surprised by the symbol. 

“We need to leave, now,” the man whispered, panic evident in his voice. Peering down at the cloaked woman next to him and noticing that she was still spiralling, a vacant look in her eyes as she stared at Cassie, he grasped her upper arm hard and pulled her to him. Spinning around and looking at the large group of cloaked wizards who had abruptly stopped their march and  were staring up at the sky he roared in frustration. 

“Go,” he screamed. 

He turned on his heel, the woman still grasped tightly against his side and snarled at Cassie, “until  next time Vaughn. I can promise you, you will not be so lucky in the future.”

Loud pop’s rang out across the deserted campground, the group of Death Eaters had disapparated leaving mayhem in their wake. As the pair in front of  Cassie left the magic holding her above the ground severed, causing her to tumble painfully back down to the floor. 

The pain became unbearable, pulsating and throbbing in every part of her body. Her mind was screaming at her to stay awake, in the distance she heard shouts and calls, if she could stay awake for just a little while longer someone would help her. But darkness began invading her vision, relentlessly lulling her into blissful unconsciousness.