With her mousy brown hair billowing annoyingly out in the breeze, Cassiopeia Rencher descended the stone steps of Hogwarts with her friend Lily Evans at her side. Classes were done for the day and the two girls wanted to get an early start at their homework, but they had concluded that the weather was simply too pleasant to be locked up in Gryffindor Tower. And so, shoving all of their scattered paperwork into the pages of their textbooks, they had decided to scout out a spot on the grounds where they could get their work done under the warm May sunshine.

" So where do you want to sit?" Cassie asked. There were very few choices from which they could choose. Almost all of the shade trees had been claimed by others trying to complete school assignments, while most of the sunnier spots were taken by students amusing themselves with Frisbees.

Lily gave a throaty snort and jerked her head to the left. "Anywhere but over there." she said.

Cassie followed the direction of Lily's intense glare to find that she was staring at one of the larger shade trees, under which sat four boys in their house: Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, James Potter, and Sirius Black. Remus and Peter were intently peering over a large textbook that was laying open in Remus' lap. Remus appeared to be trying to explain something written on that particular page to Peter, alternating between running his finger back and forth across the text and turning to speak to his obviously confused friend, who gave a few feeble nods of understanding. Sirius and James were laying on their sides engaged in a very intense game of exploding snap, lost in conversation.

" Well, three out of the four of them aren't that bad," Cassie laughed. James had become increasingly annoying towards Lily during their sixth year and she was now doing everything in her power to try and ignore him.

" Come on, let's go sit by the edge of the lake," said Lily, heading off to her right. Cassie however didn't follow and instead stepped off in the direction of the four friends sitting beneath the large tree.

" I'll be right there. I just want to say hello. I won't be long." She had just turned her back on Lily when she began to laugh, causing Cassie to about face. "What?"

" I still can't believe it."

"Believe what?" Cassie asked, cocking her head.

" You. And him."

Cassie smiled, knowing exactly what her friend was talking about. "What? Why not? He's a nice guy, isn't he?"

Rolling her eyes, Lily said nothing. After she had turned and continued on down to the lake's edge, Cassie went on her way to greeting the four boys. As she neared them she caught the eye of both Remus and James, to who she gave a wink and pressed her forefinger to her lips, shushing them. She then quietly kneeled down behind Sirius, leering at James as he put a hand to his mouth to keep from laughing.

She quickly brought her hands around Sirius' head to cover his eyes. He lifted up a hand to grasp one of hers as she asked, "Guess who?"

"Hmmm….let me see…." he said, stroking his chin thoughtfully, "Raspy voice, terribly annoying way of saying hello…"

"Hey!" she said, removing her hands from his eyes and placing them on her hips. "Excuse me, Mr. Black, but my voice is not raspy!"

The other three boys tried to control their maniac laughter as Sirius sat up straight and spun around to look into the beautiful face of the girl he had called his friend for the past five years and had as his lover for the past two. He then cupped her chin in his hand and guided her lips close to his own.

" You know I'm joking, Cass." he said, leaning in and kissing her softly. Unfortunately, their moment of intimacy was cut short by James, who had taken it upon himself to chuck a game piece at the side of Sirius' head. It hit his left temple with a terrible thud, then bounced off and landed at his feet. Massaging the spot James had hit, Sirius broke away from Cassie, cursing under his breath.

"Take it easy lover boy, you might hurt yourself." said James, looking over at Remus and Peter, who were in stitches.

"Just because the girl you're after doesn't like you doesn't mean you have to take your frustration out on me," Sirius hissed, picking up the piece that had struck him and chucking it back at his best friend, who put up his forearms to shield his face. "Come on, Cassie," Sirius then grabbed Cassie's hand and sprang to his feet, dragging her along with him as he jogged off to the right, turning the corner so they could walk down the other, fairly deserted side of the castle. He then pulled her into a spacious alcove in which stood an enormous stone gargoyle. He spun her around and gently pressed her against the wall to resume their broken kiss, placing his hands on her hips as she wrapped her arms about his neck.

Sirius and Cassie had become friends in their second year at Hogwarts mainly because of James' undying quest to gain Lily Evans' loving attention. Both had been at their friends' sides when James had made his first move on Lily. He had smugly asked her if she'd like to go out with him, only to be harshly rejected. Sirius had rolled his eyes at Cassie from behind James' back and she had returned the gesture. As Lily turned and quickly walked away with James en tow, they were left alone to start up a conversation of their own, which led to the beginning of a beautiful friendship. After awhile Cassie had become friends with Remus and Peter, and lastly James, who she realized was not all that bad to be around when he was not drooling over Lily.

Cassie had basically become one of the boys, just another person to rough house or cause a commotion in a boring class with. But at the end of their fourth year, Sirius' attitude toward her began to change. He had become much more courteous, offering her his chair when the common room was especially crowded instead of just making her sit down on the floor like he had, picking up her quills when she dropped them, and offering to help her with Transfiguration, a class in which he was much more skilled than she. She also noticed that he continually failed to meet her eyes, a habit which only became worse as they entered their fifth year. Cassie had dwelled upon the idea that he may be developing feelings for her, but dismissed his behavior as him growing more mature, a polite gentleman instead of a boy. But that still didn't explain why he couldn't look her in the eye anymore, bringing her back to the idea that he might be seeing her as more than just a friend…

Pondering on the subject, Cassie concluded that it wouldn't be so horrible if he really did see her in a new light. After all, hadn't he been her friend through thick and thin for three years? Been there for her to talk to when nobody else would listen? And not to mention that he wasundeniably handsome. But she could not, and would not, dare bring the subject of romance up with him. What if she completely wrong and ruined their friendship? But just before Valentine's Day of their fifth year Sirius did what by then Cassie was secretly hoping he would do. He had asked her on a date for their Valentine's Day trip to Hogsmeade, assuring her that if things did not feel right that they could go on just being friends. He had explained that ever since the year before he felt differently about her, and if he did not at least make an attempt at asking her out he would have regretted it for a long, long time. She had happily accepted, admitting to him that she was beginning to like for more than what he was, making him flush a light red.

Their date had gone off without a hitch. For most of the day they had found themselves in the Three Broomsticks, holding hands over the table, talking like old friends had a way of doing. Near the end of the day, just as they exited the pub, it had began to rain, so they, like many others, lingered under the pub's awning waiting for the downpour to fade. It was there, standing outside listening to the rain hit the cobblestone that they had shared their first kiss, and as they say, the rest was history. It had been bliss ever since.

As their kiss ended, Sirius closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against hers, briefly sliding his hand up under her shirt and brushing her side with his fingertips, making her emit a sighing laugh.

" I have to go," Cassie said, gently pushing him away, "Lily's going to think I ditched her,"

Sirius sighed in defeat and they walked hand in hand back around the corner from whence they came. Sirius reclaimed his seat under the large shade tree where his friends still sat, watching dreamily as Cassie walked down to the lake, her hips swinging gently, skirt playing about her thighs. He couldn't help but think how lucky he was to have her as friend, and as a lover.

A/N: Ill have chapter 2 up soon...