In the end, she didn't.

But not because she couldn't find a date.

Cassia hadn't seen Draco since the failed cursed necklace plan. She'd assumed they were going dark for the moment, as the holidays started the day after the party, but the night of it, she recieved a note.

I don't care if you've got a date,

So, because of this, Cassia had had to assure Harry that she'd be fine as she watched him and Poppy get ready for the night ahead. He'd offered everything. To sneak her in, to disguise her, to persuade Slughorn, everything.

But Cassia had refused it all.

With a considerably desperate tone, it may be added.

"I'll be fine," she had said, avoiding eye contact with him. "I will be."

And it was only with a grudge that he actually left.

So there Cassia was right now, walking along the corridor to the Room of Requirement, trying desperately not to feel guilty, or left out at the muffled sounds of music drifting through the corridors.

It's fine, she thought. He's with your best friend, he's gonna be fine...

She shivered, despite her robes, as her footsteps echoed around the stone walls.

She'd never felt this isolated before.

Actually, that was a lie. She'd felt this isolated plenty of times before, but each time, someone had reached out to her, and told her she wasn't alone. In this situation, no such thing was happening.

But that was all because she would die if she told him.

She was trapped. Couldn't go backwards. Trying to go forwards. And failing miserably on both counts.

She was spiralling by the time she got to the Room of Requirement, and Draco spitting in her face didn't help one bit.

"Well done," he snapped, hissing loudly in her face. "I thought I was pretty clear. Give the fucking necklace to someone trustworthy, and tell them to give it Dumbled-"

"Don't you think I tried?" Cassia shot back. "I was running out of time, Draco! It was Katie or no one!"

"She's not who I'm worried about," Draco spat. "It's Dumbledore. He needs to be k-"

"Yes, I know that!" Cassia yelled, maintaining eye contact. "Are you any further along with the cabinet?"

"No," Draco growled.

"Good, well," Cassia said, turning round. "That's all I need to know, thanks for bringing me here to shout shit at m-"

"Would you shut up and listen?!" Draco shouted, making her turn back. He shrugged, lowering his voice. "I've got another plan. A better one."

Cassia frowned heavily, very, very confused.

Draco smirked, drawing a bottle of mead, with a lovely pink ribbon tied around the top, out of from behind his back.

"What, you want a little drink?" Cassia asked sarcastically. "What in the hell are you planning on doing with th-?"

"It's poisoned, you fucking moron!" Draco yelled back, silencing her. He got right up in her face, his eyes boring into her's. "And this time, I'm going to deliver it. Because, as I'm learning, if you want something done, you have to do it yourself."

Cassia clenched her fists.

But her mind was whirring fast. If Draco was delivering that bottle of poisoned mead, then it could actually fall into the wrong hands, such as her best friend's, such as her boyfriend's-

"H-how are you going to deliver it?" She asked, stuttering slightly.

"Easy," Draco smirked. "Imperius curse. It's the only way to make sure someone does what you want."

Cassia knew this was targeted at her. She didn't care.

"B-but-" she shook her head. "It could still fail, they could decide not to deliver it-"

"I'm going to make sure of it," Draco told her. "But again, I'm going to need you as an alibi, if I ever get questioned."

Cassia shook her head. "You're unbelievable," she breathed, shaking her head. "Absolutely fucking unbelievable."

"I don't care," Draco told her, beginning to walk away. "I was given this mission, and I'm going to complete it."

And that he may do, Cassia decided as she watched her brother walk away.

But at the cost of who?

❦︎❦︎❦︎

Poppy, Harry and Hermione, the two girls giggling and the boy chuckling slightly, came crashing into the common room at three am. Cassia was the only one inside it, sitting sprawled on the sofa reading a book. She instantly sat up, smiling slightly as she saw them.

Then she remembered the mead, and her face fell.

"Hey Cass!" Poppy said rather tipsily, giggling all the way over to her best friend before sitting beside her. "You never said your brother was so rude, jeez..."

Something in Cassia's gut made her stop at this sentence.

"What?" She asked, looking to Hermione, who was also a bit tipsy and sitting next to Poppy, and then finally landing her eyes on Harry, who she just knew wouldn't have drunk.

And she was right. He was just standing there, his lip being bitten and his eyes not quite meeting her's.

"What's going on?" Cassia asked, getting more giggles from Poppy and Hermione. She looked pointedly at Harry.

Her boyfriend sighed. "Draco, he- Filch dragged him into the party at around midnight, said he caught him and then he admitted to trying to gatecrash. Then Snape took him away for a talk, and neither returned."

This information shocked Cassia.

She'd left the Room of Requirement at around half past eight. She had expected Draco would do the same, returning to the common room at around five minutes later.

But even if he had done this, he'd still been lurking in the corridors at midnight, almost three hours after Cassia had left.

Which begged the question: what had he been doing?

"You... see him?" Harry asked hesitantly, as Poppy and Hermione started a competition of who could make the funniest face. "Your brother, I mean."

Look at him, look at him, look at him, LOOK AT HIM-

"No," Cassia answered, her eyes only meeting his for a split second. "I've just been here, doing homework."

Harry sighed slightly. "You should've come," he murmured. "You would've enjoyed it."

"Nah," Cassia shook her head. "Not for me."

Blatant lie.

"Right, come on," Harry said, as Poppy let out a snort so loud half the dorms probably woke up. "Let's get to bed, cause we're leaving tomorrow morning and I haven't even packed yet."

❦︎❦︎❦︎

Dearest Cassia,

After the clear impact recent events have had on you, I have decided to be lenient, and let you stay at Hogwarts this Christmas. The present attached to this letter is for you to open on the day, but please keep in mind that your brother is coming home, and you are still welcome to join him and be with your family.

If not, have a Merry Christmas.

From,

Your loving mother

Cassia could've screamed in joy when she read the letter from her mother. Around a week ago, she'd sent a letter to her, explaining how she was struggling with the aftermath of falling off her broom during the match, and with the fact that the mission was going nowhere, dropping hints that going home for Christmas maybe wasn't the best idea.

But of course, she had no actual intentions of staying at Hogwarts.

She was going with Harry, Poppy, Ron, Ginny, Parvati and Padma to the Burrow. Hermione would not be attending, because of her and Ron's dispute over Lavender.

Now, Cassia hadn't originally wanted to go to the Burrow or Malfoy Manor. However, Poppy had been all over Cassia the past couple weeks, begging her to ask her mother to stay at Hogwarts, then consequently stowing away onto the Hogwarts Express and evading her mother at the platform.

If she could just forget about her secret mission and how she was betraying everyone inside that house for the next couple weeks, she would be fine.

But that was easier said than done.

Nevertheless, she found herself in front of Harry, Ron and Poppy in the empty common room that morning, smile plastered on her face.

"I'm coming with you guys."

And maybe it was the way that Poppy squealed excitedly and hugged her tightly, or the way Harry looked at her when she said this, but for the first time all year, Cassia felt just a tiny spark of hope.

After her best friend was finished hugging her, her boyfriend got a go, holding her face in his hands and grinning down at her.

"Thank you," he told her. "This christmas is gonna be amazing, Cass."

Cassia tried to smile back at him, managing a twitch of the lips.

Of course, the moment was soon broken by Poppy and Ron, imitating them in a very exaggerated way.

Cassia rolled her eyes, stuck her middle finger up at them, and prayed to god that everything would be okay this christmas.

❤︎❤︎❤︎

"I need to tell you three something."

They were only about twenty minutes into their journey when Harry said those words, voice grave and eyes dark. Cassia and Poppy, who were sat across from him, frowned and sat forward slightly, and Ron, sat next to him, whipped his head round.

"What?" He asked, clearly just as confused as the other two.

Cassia nodded. "Yeah, what's happening?"

Harry sighed heavily, making direct eye contact with Cassia.

"Cass, I... I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but... I think your brother's been given a mission from Voldemort."

All the air left Cassia's lungs.

Wh-what?

How did he know? How had he figured it out? Did he know about her part in it? Did he hate h-?

"Harry, why would you think that?" Poppy interrupted Cassia's raging thoughts as the blonde girl physically fought to not show her shock on her face.

"I-I followed him after Snape took him out of the party," Harry said, biting his lip. "And I- I heard Snape tell Draco that he swore to protect him, he made an unbreakable vow-"

So did I.

"-but Draco told him that he didn't need protection, he said he was 'chosen', and he refused to let him help," Harry sighed. "I... I'm so sorry, Cassia, but..."

Cassia was looking down, all her muscles tense.

She felt glad, in a way, that she hadn't been given up. And then she felt despicable for feeling glad.

Poppy, meanwhile, was frowning. "Unbreakable vow?" She asked. "You're sure that's what Snape said?"

"Positive," Harry nodded, looking to her. "Why?"

"Well," Ron shrugged. "It's just that you can't break an unbreakable vow."

"Yeah, I figured that one out myself," Harry rolled his eyes. Then his gaze flitted over to his girlfriend, who was looking down, tears filling her eyes. "Whoa, Cass, are you alright?"

"Y-yeah," Cassia nodded, blinking the tears away, still looking down. "Just... it's just hard, y'know?"

She dared to look up at him, her eyes swimming with tears as they connected with his breathtaking green ones.

"I know," he nodded, reaching across to take her hand, squeezing it tightly. "But hey, your brother chose his path, and you chose your's. It's not your fault your way was better."

That's what he thinks.

If Cassia thought her heart was broken before, it was now in infinite tiny pieces. She wasn't even sure if it was beating anymore.

But before she could reply, Ron groaned slightly, muttering. "Oh bloody hell..."

Cassia quickly wiped her tears, dropping Harry's hand before casting her gaze to the door, where Ron was looking at.

There stood Lavender, breathing on the glass to make in condensated before drawing R + L in a heart with an arrow through it on the window. Then she mouthed "I miss you" to her boyfriend before heading back to her compartment.

Cassia would've laughed, but she couldn't. Not right now.

"Well, you've got her obsessed with you, Ron," Poppy remarked, sniggering into her hand.

"Oh shut up," Ron rolled his eyes. "All she wants to do is snog me! My lips are getting chapped, look-"

"Er, I'll pass," Poppy said, ducking out the way as Ron leaned forward to show her his 'chapped lips'.

But then the situation turned on its head as Hermione walked past, giving the heart and initials one look before storming away.

In the awkward silence remaining after she left, everyone avoided each other's gaze, before Harry broke it.

"So, what happens to you?" He asked. "What happens if you break an unbreakable vow?"

And this time it wasn't Ron that answered. Or Poppy. It was the girl who knew all about unbreakable vows. The girl who was currently sworn under one.

Cassia's voice rough and thick, and she didn't look directly at him as she spoke the two words.

"You die."