An Eventful Journey
Full moons always made me anxious. Remus always made preparations to ensure his own safety, but I couldn’t help but worry for him. My brother never went in depth about what happens, but I can always see how exhausted he is the day after. It was unfortunate that this full moon fell on the night before we were leaving for Hogwarts. I tried to fall asleep, but it was no use. I got out of my bed and sat on the windowsill, looking at the night sky, just hoping my brother, wherever he was, was alright.
I decided that I was going to stay in the room with Fred and George. I desperately want everything to go back to normal, so I decided it was for the best to stay put. Gentle snores were coming from their beds as I sat looking out the window. I sat there and I let myself cry. I sat there and cried about so many different things. I cried over my fear for Remus. I cried over the fact that I might lose Fred as my best friend. I cried over the fact that I have no family and how sometimes I feel so alone in a crowded room. I cried until I felt sick. The sleeves of my sweater were wet from burying my face in my arms. I felt so sick I didn’t protest as I felt myself being lifted off the windowsill and placed back in my bed. I didn’t fight as whoever it was crawled into bed with me and pulled me into their chest. I let myself cry against them until I couldn’t cry any longer. When I felt like I could breathe again, I looked up to see Fred looking down at me. He didn’t say anything, he just brushed my hair out of my face and wiped my tears. He didn’t move away as I put my head back on his chest and fell asleep as he played with my hair.
--
The next morning, I was roused from my slumber by a gentle shake. I opened my eyes to see George sitting on the edge of my bed with a tray in his hands. “Morning, Cass. I brought you some breakfast. It’s only 10, but mum was worried about you still being asleep. Fred and I tried to pack your stuff so you wouldn’t have to worry this morning. We tried to pick out clothes for you, but you can find something else if you want. We are not that fashionable, if you haven’t noticed.” I chuckled as he put the tray in front of me.
“Thanks, Georgie. Can you tell Molly I’ll be down soon?” I asked as he started to leave. When he got to the doorway, he turned around.
“Of course, Cass. And you know I’m here if you need me, right? I mean it.”
“I know, Georgie. Thank you.” I smiled as he closed the door behind him and left me alone in the room. I took a few sips of the coffee he brought me and had a piece of toast. I looked at the pile of clothes they left at the end of my bed. They picked out a pair of loose denim jeans, an oversized patterned brown sweater, and white trainers. Not incredibly fashionable, but I’ve always gone for comfort over fashion. I threw on the outfit and went to fix myself up in the bathroom. Just as I’d expected, my face was puffy from all my crying. I splashed my face with cold water, threw my hair into a messy bun on top of my head, and brushed on some mascara before heading downstairs.
When I got downstairs, Molly was running around making sure everyone had everything, as usual. I asked George if he could bring my trunk down for me and he immediately ran up the stairs. I saw Fred from across the room and gave him a weak smile. Seeing him made my head spin. So much happened between us in the past 24 hours, and I had no idea where we stood with each other.
--
I anxiously scanned the crowd on the platform. I couldn’t find my brother anywhere. He had to be on the train already, I thought to myself. I followed the group onto the train, waving goodbye to Molly and Arthur as we began looking for a cabin. George and Fred fought with Ron for the only open cabin left. Obviously, Fred and George won and Ron walked off, sulking and cursing under his breath. George helped put my things away and we got settled for our long journey.
“George, let’s go find Lee. We’re a month behind in our planning, we’ve got some catching up to do,” Fred said, standing to grab stuff out of his bag.
“You’ll be okay on your own, Cass?” George asked, concern on his face.
“Of course I will, Georgie,” I smiled reassuringly. “I could use some quiet. Go get to planning, but please don’t go too crazy.”
“It’s like you don’t even know us,” he laughed, and they both left the cabin.
I spent my much needed alone time reading and looking out the window. I was a little disappointed to be interrupted by the sound of the cabin door open, expecting the twins to burst in and start shouting about their plans for this year. When there was no yelling, I looked up from my book confused.
“Hello, Cassandra,” Oliver Wood greeted me. “You haven’t seen the twins recently, have you? I expected them to be with you.”
“Hey, Oliver. They went to find Lee a few hours ago. Something about ‘planning for this year,’ you know how they are,” I joked. Oliver sat on the seat acoss from mine.
“They better not get into too much trouble this year. We’ve got a Quiddich Cup to win, and I’ll be damned if its their shenanigans that keeps me from getting it. It’s my last year, ya know. It’s kind of a now or never situation.” I chuckled, but I quickly stopped when I realized there wan’t an ounce of joking in his voice.
“I’ll keep them in line this year, Oliver. You have my word,” I smiled at him.
“Thanks, Cassandra,” he smile back. I never noticed until now, but Oliver was extremely handsome. He was tall and rugged from his many years spent as a beater. I realized I had been staring at his muscles for too long, and blushed when my eyes met his. “I’m gonna miss always having a cheerleader at my practices next year.” Is he flirting with me? I thought to myself. No way.
“I’m gonna miss watching what an incredible keeper you are next year.” Am I flirting back? “Anyway, I’m sure you’ll have many cheerleaders wherever you go. You are an incredible Quiddich player, Oliver.” He didn’t say anything, he just smiled at me.
“Would you maybe want to go out some time?” Wait, is he asking me out?
“Sure, Oliver. I would love that.” Oh my gosh, I just said yes. Maybe he doesn’t mean on a date.
“Great, how about next Friday? Meet me at the Astronomy tower at 8?” He totally means on a date.
“That sounds perfect.” It really does.
“Amazing. I’ll see you around, Cassandra,” he said, getting up to leave. I sat there in shock. I wasn’t sure how to feel about what just happened, but I guess the best way to get my mind off of Fred would be to get my mind on someone else. I sat there smiling to myself, probably looking like an idiot.
“Why the hell did Oliver Wood just leave our cabin looking incredibly smug?” Fred said, entering our cabin, “And why the hell are you smiling and blushing so hard?” I looked at his face, and he genuinely looked confused. I looked to George, and his face said that he knew exactly what happened.
“No fucking way. Did he just ask you out, Cass?” George asked. I couldn’t tell if he was confused, happy, angry, or some weird combination of all of that.
“Um, maybe?” I said hesitantly. I saw the twins look at each other. “It’s not a date, we’re just hanging out on the Astronomy Tower.”
“You’re an idiot, Cass. That is a date,” Fred said, and honestly, he sounded angry. “You have to tell him you won’t go.” I was absolutely taken aback.
“Um, excuse me?” I wanted to yell at him, but I was so confused as to why he was acting like this I didn’t know what to say.
“What I think Fred meant to say…” George started, putting his arm in front of Fred almost holding him back, “... is that Oliver is kind of a player, and his signature move is taking girls to the Astronomy Tower.”
“Which is why there’s no fucking way you’re going.” Fred almost yelled.
“Excuse me, I will do whatever I want. You are not in charge of me, Fred Weasley,” I spat at him. “Thanks for the warning George, but I don’t need you to make my decisions for me.” I grabbed my robes and stormed out of the cabin. I knew George meant well, but how dare Fred try and tell me what to do. I went to the bathroom to get changed and tried to calm myself down. After almost 10 minutes of standing in the bathroom and taking deep breaths, I opened the door to head back to my cabin. Down the hallway, I saw a familiar face looking worriedly at me.
“There you are, I have been looking everywhere for you,” my brother said, wrapping his arms around me.
“Hi, Remus,” I said, hugging him back. He let go and took my head in his hands.
“There was a bit of an incident while you were in there, I was worried that something happened to you,” he said softly. Now that I was looking at him up close, I could tell he had a rough night.
“I’m okay, Remus,” I reassured him.
“We have to talk, in private when we get to school. Meet me in my classroom after the feast,” he said with a sudden seriousness in his voice. “I have to go talk to the conductor, I’ll see you soon. For now, please stay close to Fred and George.” He said and he walked toward the front of the train. Little did he know, they were the last people I wanted to be near right now.
--
The start-of-term feast was… awkward, to say the least. For the past 4 years, I had always sat in between Fred and George when we were in the Great Hall. Because of our quarrel on the train, I made George sit in the middle. I wasn’t incredibly happy with George either, but at least he attempted to be kind in voicing his concerns about my date with Oliver. What made this feast even more awkward was the fact that Oliver was sitting across from us. He kept trying to talk to Fred and George about Quidditch, but I could almost feel the heat coming from Fred’s glare. I tried to keep my focus on talking to Ang and Alicia, who were sitting beside Oliver on the opposite side of the table, but they kept getting swept up in the Quidditch conversation. After barely listening to Dumbledore talk about dementors and my brother, I ate a few bites of food on my plate before excusing myself and heading to the common room.
“Welcome back, Ms. Lupin,” the Fat Lady greeted as I walked up the stairs.
“Hello, ma’am. It’s good to see you again. Fortuna Major,” I said. She flung open and I walked into the common room. With everyone still down at the feast, it was quiet and peaceful. I took a deep breath in the middle of the room and I embraced how comfortable it felt to be back at Hogwarts. I went into my dormitory to change out of my robes and get ready to meet with my brother. Feeling tired from everything that happened today, I decided to get into pajamas before heading to Remus’ classroom. That way, I could come back to my dorm and crash as soon as we were done our talk. I changed into gray, baggy sweatpants and a chunky, knitted sweater. I washed my face, brushed my teeth, fixed the messy bun on top of my head, and headed out of my dormitory. I could hear voices coming from upstairs and figured people were coming back from the feast. I stopped at the top of the stairs when I recognized the voices.
“Stay away from her, you git,” the voice I recognized as Fred said.
“You’re not in charge of her, Weasley. If she didn’t want to come she would’ve said no. I’m not fighting with you about this,” Oliver said.
“I know your games, Wood. If you hurt her, I will make sure you regret it. I don’t care if it ruins your stupid Quidditch team spirit, I will make your life hell, you got that, Wood?” Fred threatened. I heard angry footsteps approaching the stairwell to the dorms and I stood frozen to the spot. I made eye contact with an angry Fred Weasley as he started walking up the stairs. He didn’t say a word as he brushed past me and went down the stairs to the left. I took a deep breath when I realized that I had stopped breathing. I wanted nothing more than to run to my dorm and cry in bed, but I knew my brother would be waiting for me, so I walked quickly toward the portrait hole, keeping my head down to avoid Oliver. I could feel his gaze on me, but ignored it as I began the walk to my brother’s classroom.