People Like Them Are an Endangered Species

Dinner was rather uneventful. Rae and I didn’t eat too much because later on, after the boys decided to turn in for the night, we’d go down to the kitchens, where we could ‘’pig out on sweets and talk about our feelings’’. I was sort of hoping she’d be doing most of the talking. I’m not the best at openly talking about emotions (unless they’re angry emotions…what exactly does that say about me?). And besides, there was nothing to discuss on my part.
Rae told me I was in denial in regards to my so called ‘’feelings for Fred’’. I told Rae to shut it before I locked her inside of a room with Peeves.
We got back to the common room to find it crowded as always. Some people were studying, while others found studying quite unnecessary and partook in activities such as Wizard’s Chess or catching up on school gossip. Harry, Ron and Hermione were seated around the fire in their usual spots, Hermione’s nose in some book, not that I was surprised. Ron and Harry looked up as we came over, kicking some first years off of the nearby squishy armchairs or sitting upon the rug.
In the firelight, I could see words etched into the back of Harry’s left hand, bearing the phrase ‘I must not tell lies’.
So the Umbridge rumor was true, then.
I scratched at an itch on my shoulder. ‘’So Ron, I heard you tried out for Keeper?’’
Gryffindor Quidditch team tryouts had been held sometime Monday evening, and the twins and Harry were still on the team as the Beaters and the Seeker. A Keeper was needed, however, and once I’d heard Ron was trying out, I silently hoped he’d inherited his elder brothers’ Quidditch skills.
The twins sniggered quietly to themselves at this while Lee leaned back in his armchair, a slight smirk on his face. Looking up at Ron, his face was visibly paler. Hermione had peeked out from behind her book.
‘’I-I might’ve, yeah,’’ he gulped, scratching awkwardly at the back of his neck. ‘’What of it?’’
‘’Oh, we’re going to have loads of fun with you on the team, Ron,’’ Fred said sarcastically and laughed, stopping when Ron flipped him the bird. ‘’Do that again and we’ll see just how fast I can curse that finger off.’’
‘’Don’t worry, we’ll make sure you don’t get hit by too many bludgers,’’ George grinned, high-fiving his twin, the two of them sitting on the arms of the chair opposite Lee.
Ron did not seem comforted by this in the least. Hermione shot the twins a quick glare before disappearing behind her enormous book again. Harry looked at Ron’s scowling face before turning to the twins.
‘’Well, Ron did great at the tryouts, just ask Angelina. Right Ron?’’ Harry said, Ron answering him with a grunt.
I smacked Ron on the knee. ‘’Oh stop moping. You made the team, you should be celebrating right now.’’ Ron looked at me a tad bit frightened as I rummaged through my bag on the floor, finally pulling out a large bottle of Firewhiskey. I felt the twins watching me as I passed this over to Ron, who was looking between me and the bottle with wide eyes.
‘’Take it,’’ I shrugged, ‘’you look like you need a pick me up.’’
This time Hermione slammed her book shut. Harry and Ron jumped in surprise.
‘’Ron, you’re a prefect, if you keep that you can get into serious trouble!’’ she yelled, looking at Ron and I incredulously.
Ron looked at her like she’d gone completely mental and turned away from her, clutching the bottle. ‘’Hermione, honestly, you need to loosen up.’’ Her glare didn’t falter. ‘’Cassie’s right. I made the Gryffindor Quidditch team. I need to celebrate.’’ He jumped up from his seat. ‘’C’mon, Harry, let’s go find Dean and Seamus, and Neville if we can find him, although I feel like Neville wouldn’t be much of a drinker…’’ Harry and Ron walked away to the boy’s dormitories, the latter walking with a bit of a skip in his step.
Hermione got up too, grabbing her book and bag and looking at me like she despised me, storming off to a different corner of the common room without another word.
Sighing contently, I looked between Lee and the twins, frowning when I realized they were shooting me some serious glares. ‘’What?’’
‘’You had Firewhiskey on you and you didn’t even save any for us?!’’ Fred exclaimed. Rae was already rummaging through my bag, undoubtedly looking to see if I had another bottle stashed inside.
‘’I don’t have any more in there,’’ I grumbled, folding my arms. She pushed the bag away grumpily. ‘’And I was saving it for a rainy day, but Ron looked like he needed a drink or something, so…’’ I shrugged. Lee groaned and flopped down on the floor next to me.
‘’I should’ve gotten that as a reward,’’ he mumbled, ‘’I finished Snape’s essay in less than two hours.’’
‘’You’d better let me look at it, I haven’t even started mine,’’ I said, shaking my head when he rolled his eyes. I looked through my bag again, pulling out a green lollipop and throwing it at him. ‘’Here, take this and quit being stupid. You people are going to leave me with nothing to snack on.’’
He took the lollipop, visibly happier, and announced he had other homework to do before going up to his room.
The twins and Rae had started fighting over my bag.
‘’Give it here, you little-‘’
‘’Stop kicking me, damnit, I just want-‘’
Instead of taking my bag from them, like I probably should’ve done, I watched, amused, as a wrestling match of epic proportions ensued, the three of them rolling around on the floor, my bag long forgotten, as strings of profanity flew from their mouths.
I wished I had a camera. I wondered vaguely where that Colin Creevey kid was.
Only after George’s shoe connected with my throat did I decide to put an end to the violence. Violence was my job.
A good portion of the common room watched as I pried limbs and bodies apart, trying to avoid getting kicked or punched or clawed, what have you. After threatening to find Ginny and persuade her to use her wonderful Bat-Bogey Hex on them did they finally stop trying to maul each other.
The four of us sat on the floor, flustered with our hair and clothing all disheveled. I patted down my hair while Rae adjusted her shirt, leaving her tie undone. Her face turned a bit pinker when she noticed George watching her.
‘’Well, this has been rather fun,’’ Fred announced, clapping his hands together once, ‘’but I think we’ll turn in early, won’t we George?’’
‘’Jeez, Rae, you really punch hard,’’ George mumbled and rubbed his arm, getting up from the floor after his twin and bidding us goodnight, heading upstairs.
The two of us sat in silence for a minute, reevaluating the events of the past few minutes and taking in the warmth of the fireplace. By this time the common room had nearly emptied out, a few stragglers studying or playing a final round of Exploding Snap.
‘’I think he likes you,’’ I said to Rae after about five minutes of quiet time.
She gave me a highly doubtful look. ‘’Right, and Cornelius Fudge and Dumbledore are best friends.’’ I mumbled some unpleasant things. She looked thoughtful for a moment. ‘’To the kitchens, then?’’
I nodded and picked up my bag, climbing out after her through the portrait hole.
In a highly unlikely turn of events, the way down to the kitchens was a clear path. No signs of Filch or Mrs. Norris could only be good signs. We only had to hide once upon coming across the Bloody Baron, who could scare anyone within a ten mile radius.
The kitchens, which were located near the Hufflepuff common room, were concealed behind a rather large portrait of a bowl of fruit behind a doorway near the Great Hall. I reached up and tickled the pear, which let out a quick giggle before turning into a doorknob.
The familiar room was as big as the Great hall, with hordes of house elves running around upon our arrival, bowing and offering us tea and biscuits left, right and center. Through the mass of big-eared creatures came Dobby the house elf, wearing a tea cozy on his head and pair or mismatching socks.
‘’Miss Bains, Miss Turner, it is so good to see you,’’ he said delightedly, reaching up to shake our hands. We smiled and let him guide us to a table.
‘’Hello, Dobby. How are you?’’ I asked, scooting in across from Rae and placing my bag next to me.
Dobby’s large eyes stared up as us happily. ‘’Dobby is quite well, Miss, quite well indeed. Dobby loves working for Professor Dumbledore, he lets Dobby wear clothes.’’ He motioned to his tea cozy and socks, which the other elves stared at with extreme distaste, slowly going back to work.
‘’That’s great, Dobby,’’ Rae smiled. She and I always liked Dobby. ‘’Do you mind getting us something to eat? We’re sort of hungry, and-‘’
But she didn’t need to finish her sentence, because a group of house elves were already around us, offering up more tea and sandwiches and bowls of pudding. Thanking them and waving to Dobby as he went somewhere else in the room, we took some of everything and dug in immediately.
Rae and I spooned chocolate pudding into our mouths from the depths on an enormous bowl between us. I wondered briefly how the house elves were even able to carry it. I focused on the purpose to this visit…well, that and the fact that that was probably the best pudding I’d ever tasted. Oh, and the fact that chocolate gave me weird dreams, which happened regularly anyway.
‘’So Rae, tell me,’’ I mumbled, my mouth full of chocolaty goodness, ‘’when exactly did you realize you had the hots for Georgie?’’
She turned slightly pink, shifting around on the bench uncomfortably as she stared uselessly at the pudding on her spoon. She ate it and rested her elbows on the table, pondering her thoughts.
‘’It was sometime in July, I think…I remember we were at the Burrow playing three-on-three Quidditch with the twins, Ron and Ginny.’’ That didn’t help me much, considering a large portion of my summer had been spent playing Quidditch in the Burrow’s orchard.
I was always horrible at it.
‘’We stopped playing after you fell off your broom and landed in a mud puddle.’’
My point exactly. Brooms didn’t seem to like me very much, apparently. Either that or I just sucked at flying. I’m thinking it’s the latter.
‘’And Fred was laughing so hard and you pulled him in the mud puddle with you, and Ron and Ginny were busy arguing over who’d won…and George tripped me on purpose because he’s a git and I fell and took him down with me and-we-kissed-sort-of-and-I-kind-of-liked-it-and-yeah.’’ By this time her face was a bright, burning red. She hid her face in her arms on the table.
I just stared.
And stared.
And stared a little bit more, just until my eyes started to water, and then I blinked.
The lack of response from her story caused her to look up and meet my wide-eyed stare. Her mouth twitched into a smile.
‘’What?’’
‘’YOU KISSED GEORGE, THAT’S WHAT!’’ I yelled excitedly, jumping up from my seat and startling quite a few house elves in the process. Rae was sipping her tea awkwardly, looking anywhere else but at me. I was so ecstatic I couldn’t even sit. I paced back in forth in front of the table instead, practically skipping, really.
I was trying to picture their wedding now, George wearing a bright purple suit while Fred, his best man, wore one of an electric blue. Rae would be dressed in a wedding gown so poofy and frilly you would barely find her underneath all the material. I’d be her maid of honor, wearing some ridiculous outfit of my own making, possibly a costume of sorts. I never really went for tradition. And Lee could help them make their vows, wearing some extravagant red robes or something, and all the while Mr. Weasley would have to hold Mrs. Weasley back, because surely she wouldn’t approve of such blatant disregard for tradition-
‘’We agreed that it wouldn’t happen again, I don’t see what you’re so happy about.’’ Rae’s voice poked its way back into my thoughts, causing my pacing to cease.
‘’Excuse me, did you just say that it wouldn’t happen again? I should smack you,’’ I mumbled, shaking my head and crossing my arms. Rae glared from over her cup of tea.
‘’Well what do you want me to do, go running up to him now and profess my never-ending affection towards him? We agreed that it was an accident and that it would never, ever happen again. I don’t even think he enjoyed the kiss that much, really,’’ she said quieter, twiddling her thumbs in her lap. ‘’We sort of…bumped noses at first. Talk about awkward…’’
And just at that precise moment, the door to the kitchens sprung open. Assuming that it was Filch or something, Rae and I dived under the table, a swarm of house elves moving to the door to greet whoever it was.
And when I saw who it was, I literally wanted to bang my head against the table and chuck the bowl of pudding across the room.
The twins stopped talking quietly to each other when they spotted us, once again sitting, on the benches. Rae looked rather like a spooked lemur upon seeing them. I kicked her from under the table.
‘’What are you two doing up?’’ Fred yawned, sitting on top of the table and kindly taking a plate of pumpkin pasties from a house elf. George sat beside him, looking at Rae curiously as she tried to regain her composure.
‘’We could ask you the same thing, but I’m guessing you two were probably hungry again, so-‘’ I stopped mid-sentence when I noticed that their mouths were already being stuffed with food. ‘’I rest my case.’’
We sat eating and talking in the kitchens for a long time. I was a bit worried at first that our laughter would be heard from outside the door, but no one else came in. Every few minutes, another house elf of two would come over, offering up more and more food. None of it went to waste; the twins could eat and eat and never get full…or fat. We said goodbye to Dobby and thanked the rest of the house elves.
I patted my stomach once we were back inside the common room. By this time, the fire had been extinguished and everyone else was already in bed. None of us were tired in the least, so, relighting the fire, we sat crowded around the fireplace, the four of us sharing the duvet from my bed.
It was times like these that I didn’t have to worry about anything. I didn’t have to think about Snape’s essay, not yet, anyway. I didn’t have to worry about whether or not Umbridge would give me detention and make me write lines using my own blood. I didn’t have to worry about the school being attacked by Death Eaters. I was with the people whom I cared about most (save for Lee, who was fast asleep), and as soft as this may sound, it was all I really needed.
When we were all toasty and our yawns simply couldn’t be ignored any longer, we said good night to Fred and George, parting ways. I dragged my duvet behind me as Rae and I ascended the spiral staircase leading to our dorm, collapsing on our select four poster beds the second were within range. Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet and Violet Hills were asleep. Rae lay on her bed, eagle-spread on her stomach, not even bothering to close her curtains or change out of her clothes. The clock on the wall ticked quietly, reading 3:31 a.m. I sighed, pulling the duvet tightly around me and rolling onto my side, staring at my dresser, on top of which sat the letter from my parents. I hadn’t responded yet.
Unable to sleep, I threw the duvet off and pulled my bag out from under my bed, searching for a quill, some parchment and an ink pot. I sat up, rubbing my eyes tiredly and dipping my quill in the ink.

Dear Mum and Dad,

Everything’s been going pretty well so far. You’ll be pleased to know that I’ve been trying my hardest not to get into trouble, but as for Fred and George, Mum, you know there’s no stopping them when they’re already so set in their ways. They make school interesting. We all say hello, and as for you going into hiding, I hope all is well…wherever you are. I just want the both of you to be safe. And yes, Lupin had mentioned something about putting up protective spells for you shortly before we left Padfoot’s house.
I miss you guys too! As for Christmas, you don’t even have to ask Mrs. Weasley if it’s alright to join us, and I know Mr. Weasley would be pleased. You know how he is about Muggles.
Times are changing, you can probably tell. Even here at Hogwarts things are going to start getting pretty bad…I can feel it. At least this is my last year here, although I will admit that I’ll miss it. I wish you could see the castle. It’s a beautiful place.
I hope to hear from you soon. Please be careful of whom you trust. People from the Order are safe, but keeping out of the public eye would be the best thing for you right now.
I love you.

Sincerely,
Cassie

I folded the letter into fours and put it on top of my dresser, next to the one from my parents.
I could hear Rae breathing quietly in her sleep, the dormitory pretty much quiet apart from the occasional hoot of an owl from outside. The curtains for the window were pulled back, revealing the stretch of pitch black sky dotted with stars, a crescent moon sitting high up, letting a dim light flood into the dark room. I lay back on my bed, wrapped in my duvet again, staring up at the cracked, white ceiling, contemplating anything and everything I could think of.
Whenever I was alone, my mind would once again be at unease. That safe feeling that the presence of a friend provided would disappear in an instant, leaving me to think about reality and the fear that came with it. Thinking about the war raging miles away made me feel rather small and useless. Even if I did decide to fight, what use would I be? I’d be inexperienced and an easy target. When I thought about it, I’d probably be one of the many to die young. Just another person lost, just one less person to fight again Voldemort, just another statistic.
I wondered briefly how Molly Weasley must’ve been feeling. I knew that she’d lost her brothers Gideon and Fabian Prewett during the First Wizarding War, and now to relive it all over again, with Arthur, Bill and Charlie in the Order, Fred and George wanting to join the second they left school…
That night, I had a nightmare where everyone I had ever cared about lay in front of me, their bodies a paper white, their eyes wide but yet vacant, motionless. A giant snake slithered in from a nearby door and began to devour them one by one…
Harry, Ron, Mrs. Weasley,Mr. Weasley, Hermione, my parents, Lee…George…Fred...Rae…
It was the first time in months that I’d woken up in the middle of the night, a hysterical crying wreck.