A/N: Well, this story is completely different from my other, Deception, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. Let me know if you see anything that I could correct! Enjoy.
Chapter 1 – Of Bookworms and Blacks
At fifteen, Cassandra Beckett was never the most social of students in Hogwarts. Hiding behind her bottle-cap glasses and dark, lank hair, she read for entertainment instead of attending parties and Quidditch matches like other students. She immersed herself in books about the history of goblin wars and ancient wizarding battles, and once she had picked up a book, it became nearly impossible for anyone to wake her from her daydreams of the adventures of Godric Gryffindor and his three brave companions.
She was acting the same as ever on her journey to back to Hogwarts of the Hogwarts express. After spotting an empty compartment, she had placed her trunk above her hastily and opened her latest book, flipping to the current page quickly. It was better that she hide herself in the world of people who lived long before her than to exist in the world she lived in today, she reasoned. Slytherins found her the perfect target for practicing hexes, since nobody ever stood up for her. And then there was Sirius Black.
Sirius Black and his three friends were just short of being crowned the rulers of Hogwarts. Unstoppable pranksters, nearly every student in Hogwarts, except for the Slytherins, who hated them with a passion, worshipped the four students better known as the Marauders. No one quite knew the reason for the name, but they still used it as if it was a sacred word. Students marveled at the knowledge of Remus Lupin in class, laughed at Peter Pettigrew's antics, and marveled over James Potter's skills on the Quidditch pitch.
Sirius Black was handsome in a dark, mysterious way that seemed to turn girls on in an instant. Cassie hadn't heard of a girl in Hogwarts who wasn't completely crazy about Sirius Black. There were many things to find attractive about Sirius: he came from an ancient, wealthy wizarding family, he was smart, funny, and popular, but also, as Cassie knew quite well, mean. She and Severus Snape seemed to be his favorite targets of last year. Although with her it was not quite as pronounced, she still faced torment every time she crossed Sirius' path. He was always laughing at the pathetic little Ravenclaw bookworm, calling her names softly as she walked by or just mocking her with his three other friends.
A loud tap sounded on the glass of the compartment that Cassie was sitting in. She looked up to find the smirking face of Lucius Malfoy, a sixth-year Slytherin student, accompanied by several of his friends. She closed her eyes, hoping that she could somehow ignore them away, that they would disappear, just like her daydreams did when she closed a book. She could hear their laughter outside the compartment carry through the glass clearly.
"Little Ravenclaw, are you reading again?" Lucius taunted her, sliding the compartment door open. "You always have your nose in a book, don't you?" he said, glancing mockingly at the book in her hands. She didn't dare say a word, only hope that they would leave her soon. "Why don't you brush out your hair instead of always reading?" Lucius continued, trying to get a reaction out of her. "It's looking especially stringy these days, Beckett. Quite unattractive."
"Be quiet, Malfoy," said Cassie in a low voice at last, unable to stop herself. "Just leave me in peace."
Lucius and his friends roared with laughter. "Are you telling us to leave, little Ravenclaw?" he said, laughing in her face. "What are you going to do, throw a book at us?"
Cassie ignored him with determination, trying not to let the tears of frustration spill down her cheeks. She tried to focus on her book, but she kept reading the same line over and over, unable to concentrate. Why did Lucius always do this to her? She always minded her own business, but that did not seem to be good enough for the Slytherins.
Lucius laughed harshly once again, and with a flick of his wand, Cassie's book flew up and hit her in face, nearly crushing her glasses. "Always sitting with your nose in a book," he laughed, pocketing his wand with a sneer. "Now it's stuck there permanently. I'll see you around," he said with a gleam in his eye, his friends erupting in laughter at the sight of Cassie with her nose glued to a book as they walked off into the corridors, slamming the door shut behind them.
Cassie was left there, her nose literally glued to the middle of the book. Before she could reach for her wand to help herself get free from the embarrassing situation she was in, she heard footsteps and mutter beside her. Not daring to look up from her position, she listened closely and realized that she was hearing the voices of James Potter, Sirius Black, and Pettigrew. At first she was confused why she could not hear Remus' voice, but then realized as a Prefect, he was most likely up with the prefects in the prefects' carriage.
"Hello, Beckett," she heard Sirius say, and out of the corner of her vision she watched as he took a seat across from her along with his friends. "Good book?"
James snickered, and Peter followed his example, tittering loudly.
Cassie decided not to change her position, but pretend that she was reading the book and could not hear Sirius. When Cassie still did not look up from her position, Sirius crossed his arms and scowled. "Honestly, Beckett," he said, a smirk forming on his lips, "you really should look at people when they talk. No book is that interesting."
Cassie still ignored him, and at last he stood up, glancing at James. "I don't think she's going to talk to us, do you think, James?"
"No, her book is much too interesting for her to actually talk to us," said James with a laugh. Cassie heard the compartment door slide open, and James and Pettigrew walk out with Sirius behind them. Tears of humiliation poured down Cassie's cheeks. As they left, she heard Sirius' last words before the door slid shut.
"She's just another bookworm."
.x.X.x.
Cassie sat through the entire sorting process in the Great Hall with a blank face and empty eyes. She was utterly humiliated, and classes had not even begun yet. The only social event she had to look forward to were the Potions Professor Slughorn's parties that she was always invited to because of her excellent skills in Transfiguration and Potions, and even those were horrible for her. Nobody ever spoke to her, but she still felt obliged to come, so she would bring along a book and sit in the corner, reading. Sometimes she would have conversations with the teachers, especially Professor Quinn, the Muggle Studies professor. He was one of the most kindhearted professors that Cassie knew, and during Slughorn's seemingly endless parties, they would have deep conversations about the peculiarities of Muggle inventions.
She usually paid special attention to Dumbledore's speeches after the feast, but she sat and stared at the ceiling as he talked, watching the stars twinkle brightly in the magical sky, her plate in front of her untouched. The only person who ever spoke to her, Catherine Creevy, a thin, wiry girl who was always taking pictures with her camera, no matter what the occasion, sat beside her, slurping down her pumpkin juice.
"Great feast tonight, eh, Cassie?" she asked, setting down her empty class of pumpkin juice and taking a picture of the roast beef with her brand-new camera. Several students jumped at the bright flash but Dumbledore seemed to pay no attention, continuing in his speech. "I can't wait to show my Mum and Dad how great this camera works!" exclaimed Catherine, looking around her and quieting her voice to a whisper. "Auntie Lu really gives wonderful birthday presents."
"Right," said Cassie, her chin resting on her hand, still staring at the sky. "That's great, Catherine." She was too tired to listen to anything that she was saying. She chewed on a piece of cake absentmindedly, watching Sirius and his friends from far away at the Gryffindor table. They also were not listening to the speech made by Dumbledore and instead were goofing off, shooting random hexes at Lucius, who in turn whipped around furiously, trying to discover the source of the hexes, only to find the marauders sitting innocently at the table, their eyes on Dumbledore and angelic looks on their faces.
After they students were dismissed, Cassie stood up from the table, walking off from the Great Hall and heading directly for the Ravenclaw Common Room, tuning out the excited chatting of the first years and laughter of older students. She just wanted to go to bed and forget the entire day, waking up to a fresh new day. At least she had classes to look forward to.
"Well, look who got her nose out of the book, finally," came the laughing voice of Sirius Black, directly behind her with his three other friends. Cassie couldn't help but notice that he looked handsomer than ever with his dark hair falling perfectly into his sparkling gray eyes and a dimple on his cheek as he grinned widely.
And here she was, her hair limper than ever, falling into her face in an ungraceful way completely different from Sirius, her glasses feeling heavier than ever on the bridge of her nose, and her slight form hunched over from shame. She walked on, willing the tears not to trickle down her cheeks once again.
Sirius' words rang out in her head.
"She's just another bookworm."
.x.X.x.
Sirius hated this. Cassandra Beckett had never spoken a word to him since the day they entered Hogwarts. He sat on his bed in the Gryffindor boys' 5th year dormitory, scowling as he watched James throw an orange up into the air and catch it, using the fruit as a substitute for a snitch. Why wouldn't she speak to him?
"What's got you in a right state?" said James, chucking the orange at Sirius' head to wake him from his thoughts. It hit him with a soft plunk, making him scowl and throw it back at James, who caught it one-handedly with a cocky grin.
"Nothing," lied Sirius, shaking his hair from his eyes.
"Is nothing the reason you've sat there for ten minutes now staring at Peter's knickers?" said James with a smirk, his hazel eyes sparkling. "I mean, the pig pattern is rather nice but-"
James was interrupted by Sirius leaping up and knocking him on the side of the head. "Sod off," Sirius said irritably, plopping back down on the bed, but a few seconds later he looked up and gave a grin to James.
James merely raised his eyebrows laughingly, beginning to toss the orange once again. Peter squealed, nearly falling off his bed in excitement as James caught it without looking.
"It's Cassandra Beckett, isn't it?" came Remus' cool voice from the side of the room. He was sitting on the corner of his bed, a schoolbook for Transfiguration spread open in his lap, his light blue eyes narrowing intuitively.
"Who?" Sirius said, trying to look as if he had no clue what Remus was talking about.
"You know who," said Remus, flipping through a page idly, "the Ravenclaw girl you so love to taunt."
"Oh, her," said Sirius, as if he just realized who Remus was speaking about. "Yeah, I suppose I do sometimes," he said innocently, avoiding Remus' eye purposely.
"You don't like the fact that she's never spoken to you, don't you?" said Remus, looking up from his book at Sirius.
Sirius frowned. "Doesn't bother me," he said, trying to fake nonchalance. "Just because she's too damn stuck up to speak to me doesn't mean I care. Because I don't. " he added unconvincingly.
Remus nodded solemnly, but the corners of his lips were twitching as if they were itching to break into a smile.
Sirius scowled. Cassandra Beckett was going to speak to him. He was going to make sure of it.
.x.X.x.
Cassie made her way to the Ravenclaw Common Room with a shamed face, adjusting her glasses self-consciously. The remark Lucius had made about her hair had still left its sting with her. She did her best to keep herself looking decent. Still, she seemed to be the joke of even the Ravenclaw girls. She muttered the password to the Ravenclaw Common Room downheartedly, her eyes on the floor. Nobody spoke to her as she walked through the dimly-lit room toward the girls' dormitories. She couldn't wait to get to bed and forget the day that she had just experienced.
Only two girls were in the dorm as entered. Emily Evans, unpacking her things near a bed across the room was chatting with Scarlet Edwards, a vivacious blonde who never seemed to want to speak to Cassie at all, acting like she might catch some kind of strange disease she carried.
"Oh my God!" she exclaimed to Emily, brushing out her long, golden hair and completely ignoring Cassie, "did you see Sirius Black today? He looked amazing, as always, but this time he grew out his hair. It looks fabulous! When it falls in his eyes, it's so mysterious and attractive!"
Emily turned to watch as Cassie entered the room. "Hey Cassie," she greeted her, her blue eyes sparkling as she unfolded a pair of pajamas. "Scarlet was just telling me about how great Sirius Black looked today. Did you happen to see him?"
Cassie shook her head wordlessly, but knew she would deter Emily from getting her to reply. Emily was like that; she was persistently friendly with everyone she met, including the Slytherins, which earned her a few hexes every now and then. She had constantly tried to befriend Cassie, but Cassie was also so introverted and quiet that it made it quite difficult. Still, she never gave up.
"Ah, well, I was hoping you might have caught Remus too," said Emily excitedly. "Just…because…" she trailed off, getting a starry-eyed look.
Scarlet snorted. "What you see in him is beyond me, Emily," she said contemptuously, slipping into her night clothes quickly. "He's all…scarred up. And pale."
"But that's such a turn on," Emily said, falling back onto her bed and bouncing up and down. "It shows he's a real man. And his skin makes his fabulous blue eyes stand out. All Sirius can do and walk around and make girls swoon. Besides, we all know you secretly fancy Pettigrew. You just use your obsession of Sirius as a cover."
Scarlet frowned. She had never possessed the greatest sense of humor, and she was not displaying today either. "That's disgusting," she said, referring to Peter as she slipped into bed. "I would never fancy him."
Cassie sighed sadly at how the girls thought the Marauders were the most amazing people to ever enter Hogwarts, or even the world. She slipped on her own bedclothes, getting into bed and curling up. She didn't realize that she lay there, Sirius Black was sitting up in bed, determined to make her speak to him.
He doesn't even care, was her last thought before drifting off the sleep, not waking until the soft morning light crept into the dorms through the windows.