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chapter twelve / the shrieking shack
IMMEDIATELY, CASSIE LET OUT A SHRIEK comparable to that of a Mandrake and awoke her two dorm mates instantly, both of them joining her in their high-pitched shrieks as Black stumbled out of the dorm with a horrified look on his own face.
Lavender and Hermione rushed over to Cassie's bed, all traces of tension gone as they comforted and calmed her.
"Holy– bloody hell–" Cassie muttered incoherently as more people began pouring into her room. Mcgonagall was the first, wearing her emerald green night robe and fluffy slippers. Harry and Ron rushed in soon after.
"What happened here?" Mcgonagall asked frantically, moving to the edge of Cassie's bed. The girl couldn't stutter out a full reply, so Hermione answered for her.
"B– Black... he was...." she tried to string the words together, but eventually broke down and buried her head in Cassie's shoulder.
"Surely he wasn't in here..!?" Mcgonagall was absolutely appalled.
"Are you saying you didn't see him on the way out?" Cassie huffed to the three who'd just entered, all shaking their heads no.
"I must go alert the Headmaster. Will you five stay together, please?" Mcgonagall asked the students in the room, who all nodded their heads silently. Everyone took a seat on Cassie's bed as Mcgonagall left. Cassie pulled her knees to her chest, her eyes still wide.
"Are– are you alright?" Hermione was the first to speak.
"I don't know," Cassie muttered after a moment, leaning her chin on her knee.
Harry leaned forward and Cassie quickly leaned back, the two making awkward eye contact before Ron cleared his throat.
"So you don't hate me now?" Cassie asked them bluntly.
"Er– we never hated you," Ron scratched the back of his neck.
"Oh, really? Could've fooled me."
"Listen, Cass, you have to see it from our point of view. Your dad was friends with him–"
"So was Harry's!"
"Yeah, but my dad is dead," Harry pointed out, raising his eyebrows. Cassie rubbed her temples, exhaling lightly.
"Alright. I guess it might have looked a little suspicious. But you lot had no reason to react so horribly before I could explain anything to you. And anyway, what made you three come to your senses? Was it me almost being bloody killed in my bed?"
"He didn't even have a weapon," Lavender pointed out from her bed after an awkward moment of silence. "If that.. changes things."
