.::Chapter 3 – Of Detentions and Dungbombs::.
Scarlet had apparently decided to start talking to Cassie now that she had been the lucky recipient of a detention with the notorious Sirius Black. In fact, she had barely stopped talking since Cassie had entered the girl's dormitory, and even Emily was beginning to grow annoying at the girl's incessant rambling.
"How did you think of it, Cassie?" squealed Scarlet, grabbing Cassie by the shoulders excitedly. "If only I had known that a simple prank of Snape would have gotten me a detention with Sirius, I would have blown his cauldron up – heck, I would have blown him up – ages ago. Honestly, think of how lucky you are. Every other girl right now wants to be you. You, Sirius Black, alone in an empty classroom with nothing to do!"
"Honestly, Scarlet, she's not a slut!" exclaimed Emily. She was sitting cross-legged on the bed, flipping through the latest edition of Witch Weekly, but not able to concentrate because of Scarlet. "She'll finish the detention and it will be over with. Frankly, I think it would terribly to have detention with Black. He probably won't stop going on about himself and flicking his hair back and forth like a prat."
Scarlet let out a humph and fell backwards onto her bed, her eyes still staring at the ceiling dreamily, but with a bit of jealously mixed in, as if Cassie had done something wrong by not letting her in on her secret to jinx Snape's cauldron.
Cassie was sitting on the floor, schoolbooks spread out around her. She was nibbling on her quill thoughtful, in the middle of a Transfiguration essay about Animagi. She had always found the subject extremely interesting and was having a hard time keeping the essay under eight inches. Another thought filling her head, she reached down and scribbled a new sentence with her quill quickly. She had barely heard a word Scarlet had said about Sirius Black. In fact, she preferred to think that the event had never happened at all. The thought of hours alone with Sirius Black to taunt her was something she would rather not concentrate on at the moment. Her essay, at the moment, was doing the trick of keeping her mind occupied.
"Did you do it on purpose?" said Emily with wide eyes, unable to read her magazine any longer. "That's so unlike you. Has he been messing with you along with Lucius?"
Cassie couldn't help but look up. How did Emily know about Lucius and how he always taunted her. She had tried to keep that a secret, but somehow, Emily seemed to know a lot about her. Almost like a friend. Cassie couldn't help but smile at that thought.
"Well?" Emily persisted.
Scarlet sat up, her interest obviously piqued as well. She tried to hide it by examining her reflection in a nearby mirror, but Cassie could tell she was listening in. Her lips were pursed in the way they always did when she eavesdropped. Cassie had learned a lot about her fellow students by sitting and listening instead of running her mouth like most other girls.
Finally, Cassie shook her head almost imperceptibly.
Emily moved forward slightly on her bed, her eyebrows raised. "So it was an accident?"
Again, Cassie shook her head. Why did everyone keep thinking that she was in on it with Sirius Black when they should have known that she would never in her life do something so ridiculous.
"Sirius did do it, didn't he?" exclaimed Scarlet suddenly, surprising Cassie with her quickness. "You had nothing to do with it!" Her tone was almost scoffing, like she had gone down a notch in Scarlet's eyes because she was not clever enough to plan out her detention with Black.
"No, I didn't!" spoke up Cassie at last, realizing that she could hold her precious silence for no longer. "Sirius played the prank and I just happened to walk past as the cauldron exploded." She let out a sigh, returning to her homework as if she had not said anything.
"Ha!" shouted Scarlet, bouncing up and down on her bed excitedly. "I should have known it! You couldn't have been clever enough to plan a detention with Sirius. You won't even talk to him, let alone go on a date! You don't deserve it!" she pouted. "I do!"
"Oh, come off it!" Emily said irritably, crossing her arms. "It's not like detention is suddenly some sort of treat. Cassie's probably miserable enough as it is because she was accused in front of the whole class for doing something she didn't. Now you're going to make it better by yelling at her?"
"I'm not yelling!" huffed Scarlet. "I'm just saying. She doesn't deserve this one bit. She'll probably make Sirius miserable by sitting there like a prat staring at the wall while he had to suffer by dying of boredom when he could be with some other girl. A prettier, more talkative girl who doesn't think she's better than everyone else and then goes around showing it by ignoring everyone! Someone who will actually give Sirius what he needs!"
"Just because you've slept with every bloke in the school," said Emily in a furious voice, leaping of her bed, "doesn't mean Cassie's going to turn into a slut like you!"
The room was silent for a few seconds. Cassie's mouth nearly fell open in shock, and her quill lay idle on her parchment. Her eyes flicked back and forth between the two girls. Scarlet's mouth was open in complete horror, and Emily's face was red, her short hair tucked behind her ears and her face red as she stared down Scarlet.
Finally, Scarlet huffed once again and left the room without a word, her arms crossed. Emily slammed the door behind her, still looking as angry as ever. She made her way to the bed, picking up her copy of Witch Weekly, and began to read.
Cassie sat there for several moments, contemplating on what had just taken place in front of her. For once in her life, someone had harassed her and another person had stuck up for her. It was a defining moment in her life, something she would never forget, although she did not know it at the time. Her quill still lay on her parchment, her hands motionless. At last, she took a deep breath and spoke. "Thanks." It was simple, but meaningful, and she hoped that Emily would understand.
Emily looked up from behind her magazine at Cassie, surprised. "You're welcome," she said as if it had been nothing. And to Emily, it was nothing. Cassie had always watched how fierce she was when she stood for something, and how kind and devoted she was to her friends. It came as second nature for Emily to protect someone she loved. But Cassie did not know what it felt like to be a friend. It felt like a mixture of strange happiness of pride. Pride that she was important enough to have someone in the world who cared, and happiness that she was loved. The feeling was new and different, but not altogether terrible. She could get used to this…this friendship.
.x.X.x.
The next morning flew by without event. Scarlet had eventually returned to the dormitory along with her Ravenclaw friend, Elle, and they had both disdainfully ignored both Cassie and Emily, although when the lights were turned out and Cassie was lying in her bed, Cassie could hear the two whispering hateful comments about her and her friend. Cassie did not care, however, because her happiness far surpassed Scarlet's cruelty.
Classes passed without event. Neither Sirius Black nor his friends had neared or spoke to Cassie, although Remus had flashed a kind smile in Cassie's direction. Emily, thinking it was for her, nearly squealed, but her elation had been quelled by a furious look from Scarlet. Everyone was still treating Cassie with a sort of reverence, and rumors traveled around the school like wildfire. Some of them told the truth, but many of them were untrue and put Cassie in a bad light. Her heart sank the more she heard girls talking about her, but she tried to ignore what they said.
As she walked along with Emily to Transfiguration, she heard a few girls ahead of her talking about her upcoming detention with Sirius Black. As usual, they had no idea that she was walking behind them. She kept her head down, not trying to attract attention, but Emily's fists were balled, her face full of fury at the two girls and their gossip.
"I heard Sirius Black fancies her secretly and planned the cauldron exploding so she would get a detention as well as him," said the first, a tall girl with dark hair and braces.
"Honestly, Beckett?" laughed the other girl. She had brown hair that was pleated down her back. "There must be a hundred better-looking girls in the school. She's positively…I don't even know how describe her. It's like she wakes up every morning, throws on those hideous glasses of hers, and actually thinks she looks decent. And don't get me started on her hair. She and Snape should start some sort of secret society for people who don't believe in shampoo."
The first girl let out a tittering, obnoxious laugh that echoed down the corridor. "You're right. She must have planned it out, hoping that Sirius would take the blame because he felt sorry for her. Who couldn't, the poor dear. She has no taste in clothing, no friends-"
"It's her fault!" interrupted the dark-haired girl. "She thinks she's better than us all because she knows everything in class. She never stands up and answers the questions like Evans, of course, but I see her scribbling down all the answers and finishing half an hour before all of us."
"My mum's a physiatrist as St. Mungo's," said the second girl, "and she says Beckett makes up for her lack of friends in her schoolwork."
"If she makes up for her lack of good grooming, too, then she must be bloody brilliant," snorted the first girl. The other girl let out a tittering laugh along with her friend.
Cassie's cheeks were red with humiliation at that point. She felt so shamed she kept her gaze at the floor, but she could feel Emily quivering in rage beside her. Before she could look up and beg her not to say anything, her friend had leapt forward toward the two other girls.
"Shut your mouths before I hex them shut!" she exclaimed, pulling out her wand furiously. The two girls stared at her, the first girl giving a contemptuous snort.
"Honestly, Everett," she said, raising an eyebrow, "you're sticking up for her?"
"Yeah," said Emily defensively, "yeah, I am. You have anything to say about it?"
The girl looked at her friend, obviously convinced Emily was addled in the head. The first girl opened her mouth to say something, then stopped at the sight of Remus Lupin approaching. He was a prefect and even they knew to watch what they said in front of him. Emily let them go, pocketing her wand furiously, and heading toward Cassie, obviously oblivious to Remus approaching. "Honestly, those stupid prats. I should have hexed them…"
"No, I think they got the point," said Cassie with a thankful smile, still feeling slightly depressed. She tried to look cheerful, however.
Suddenly, Emily was not looking at Cassie anymore, but behind her. Remus Lupin was jogging toward the two girls. Sirius was behind him with Peter and James, but Cassie avoided his eyes.
"Emily Everett, right?" asked Lupin. He looked exhausted, the scars standing out on his face more than ever and his blue eyes seemed more translucent than usual. However, the kind smile was still there on his face as he looked at Emily.
Emily nodded, smiling. "And you're Remus Lupin," she said, a little giggle at the end of her words. "Are you going to take points from Ravenclaw? Because if you are, first let me tell you that those two girls deserved everything that they were going to get. They always badmouth people, and this time it went too far-"
"No, I wasn't going to deduct points, Emily," said Remus patiently. "I just wanted to make sure everything was all right. Prefect's duty, you see," he said, looking somewhat down at the thought.
"Well, everything is all right now," said Emily cheerful, "but I'll come get you if there's ever another problem. In fact, maybe you could come around even if there isn't a problem. Maybe on a Hogsmeade weekend? You know, I would need a nice, strong man around just in case trouble arose." She tapped Remus on the shoulder.
Cassie winced. Emily had never been shy, which could be a benefit or her downfall.
Remus looked slightly mortified. "Well, I'll be there on the next Hogsmeade weekend, of course, just to make sure everyone is all right."
Emily continued to smile in a way that she obviously thought was endearing. "Maybe we could get a butterbeer together?" she said sweetly.
Remus grew paler than ever. "I…I need to go," he said, ducking into the Transfiguration classroom. Peter, giggling in a high-pitched voice along with a snickering James, followed him inside. Emily shot them hateful looks, but did not say anything. She marched into the classroom behind them, and Cassie heard her throwing her things down at an empty desk loudly.
Sirius passed behind them. Cassie kept staring at the floor, but felt Sirius's eyes on her. " Come on, Beckett," said Sirius in frustration, apparently unable to contain himself any longer. "Can't you just say one word to me? I even admitted that I had blown up Snivelus's cauldron so that you wouldn't get detention. What do you hate about me so much, eh? Please?"
Cassie looked up, her eyes meeting his. His brown orbs were wide and pleading, his mouth set in an almost puppy-like pout. It was terribly hard to resist, Cassie thought. She wanted to speak, but her mouth felt hexed closed as it always did around him.
"Miss Beckett and Mr. Black," came McGonagall's irritated voice from inside the classroom. "I'm sure you both have much more important things to do than Transfiguration, but unfortunately, class is starting and I recommend that you do not miss it."
Sirius shot Cassie an angry, incredulous look and brushed past her into the classroom. Cassie followed, feeling all eyes on her as she made her way toward the desk next to Emily's. She sat down, putting her books in front of her and flipping to the page written on the blackboard, a single tear welling up in her eye. Why did she always let the perfect opportunity pass when all she had to do was speak up?
.x.X.x.
"Bloody Beckett," said Sirius furiously, jabbing his toad in the eye with his wand. It let out an offended croak.
"Careful, Padfoot," said Remus, reaching forward and stopping the toad from escaping. "You're supposed to be silencing the toad, not blinding it."
Sirius gave his friend an annoyed scowl, waving his wand once at the toad and silencing it mid-croak. "Thanks, Moony. Didn't know that." He still wore a dark expression, apparently still furious at the way Cassie had ignored him in the hallway.
"I WAS NICE TO HER-"
Remus, looking slightly aghast, shushed his friend mid-sentence by holding up a hand frantically. Luckily, Sirius' outburst had not caught McGonagall's attention, but a few Ravenclaws were staring at the four marauders, looking rather offended at their interrupting of a potions class. Sirius shot them glares like everything he was going through at the moment was their fault, then turned back to Remus, looking slightly cowed.
"I was nice to her, Remus," he said darkly. "I ever said bloody please."
"You said please?" said James, looking up from his book with sudden interest. "Gallant of you, Padfoot. It's like you were raised in civilization instead of in a cave with a couple of Neanderthals," he added dryly. Sirius tossed a quill in James' direction, which he caught with one hand, looking overly pleased with himself.
"But honestly," sighed Sirius, "what girl could resist the charm of the notorious Sirius Black? I'm irresistible to the ladies!"
"Apparently, Beckett can and already has," Remus said in a bored voice, not looking up from his Transfiguration book. "Pity."
"But you never care about girls anyway!" squeaked Peter, looking frustrated at his still-squawking bird.
"I do," said Sirius with annoyance, "it's just they're too bloody demanding for my time. I'd rather spend my time with you lot, playing pranks."
"Touching," quipped James sarcastically, flipping to another page in his schoolbook and making a notation with his quill.
"So why do you care about Beckett, then?" Peter said loudly. Again, several heads turned in the four friends' direction, making Sirius glare at Peter furiously.
"I don't!" said Sirius in a hiss, "It's just…just…who is so rude that they don't say a word to someone! And I admit, I haven't always been the kindest to her-"
Here James interrupted with a skeptical snort and Remus raised a doubtful eyebrow.
"-but I've done anything but played with her sometimes. She could at least talk to me! One bloody word. That's all I'm asking."
"Well, mate, maybe you'll get your chance tonight," James said encouragingly. "After all, you do have that detention with Slughorn. Beckett will be there."
"I won't stay there that long if I can help it," Sirius said, crossing his arms. "You still have that dungbomb hidden, right?"
"Despite my wishes, yes," Remus answered. "It's wrapped in Peter's knickers in his trunk. It was Prongs' brilliant idea to hide them there."
James shot Remus an offended look. "Honestly, Remus, I think my idea was rather brilliant."
"Why Peter's knickers?" said Sirius, wrinkling his nose slightly. "Why not anywhere else? Anywhere else in the world?"
"Because, dear Padfoot," said James, clapping Sirius on the back, "the last place anyone would want to look would be Peter's knickers."
"Hey!" squawked Peter as the two friends nodded in agreement.
.x.X.x.
It was five till seven. Cassie's hands were shaking as she made her way down the corridor toward the potions classroom. Her footsteps were echoing in the hallway, magnifying her nervousness. She could barely focus her mind on making her way to the end of the hallway so great was her nervousness about detention. Sirius Black would be there with yet another plan to humiliate her. She could tell he was furious after the incident outside the Transfiguration classroom. She honestly had been intending to talk to him, but she always felt like she shut down every time he looked at her and spoke to her.
She turned into the Potions classroom, and to her great relief, the only other person was Slughorn, sitting at his desk, a pile of papers in front of him, and his hand buried in a package of crystallized pineapple. "Ah, Miss Beckett," said Slughorn through a mouthful of pineapple, "right on time. Please, take a seat."
Cassie turned to look behind her and saw two separate stacks of paper, each on one of two desks. There was also a quill onto of the paper. Cassie sighed. So she was assigned lines for detention. It could not be that terrible, then. Sirius Black would probably be too busy writing to actually spend time trying to taunt her again.
She slid into her seat, opening her mouth to ask what she was to write, then saw that it was written on the blackboard. "I will treat my fellow students with kindness and respect." Picking up her quill, she scribbled down the line on the top of the parchment, wondering when Sirius was going to show up. It already four minutes past the time that he should have arrived.
"Sorry, Professor!" came the voice of a boy, and Cassie looked up to find Sirius Black skidding into the classroom, a guilty look on his face. She wondered if he was merely guilty of being late, or if he was up to something yet again. She shook her head. She did not want to become involved in any pranks of his ever again. Not after the incident in potions class.
Sirius Black fell into his seat, glancing up at the blackboard with an amused expression on his face. It was obvious he thought that the words were silly and meaningless. Cassie wished that she were less shy so that she could glare at him. He wrote down the sentence quickly, starting again with a bored expression on his face.
Fourty-five minutes passed in near silence, only the sound of quill against parchment sounding throughout the room, and the occasional munching of Slughorn. He had already gone though three boxes of pineapple, and Cassie felt like reaching forward and tossing the box across the room and ridding herself of the accursed crunching. She could tell Sirius was thinking the same thing by the way he tensed up every time Slughorn let out a particularly loud smacking noise. He also seemed to be waiting for something to happen, almost counting down minutes.
An explosion sounded in another room. Slughorn, who had been half asleep, started up from his desk. Cassie's eyes narrowed, and she glanced to her side at a smirking Sirius Black, his dark hair falling with a careless grace into his gleaming eyes.
The door opened, and Cassie caught the distinct scent of dung filling the room. Professor McGonagall stuck her head in the door, looking rather flustered. "Professor Slughorn," she said, sounding quite out-of-breath, "there's some sort of dungbomb in the corridors. It looks like it's bewitched similar to Bludger, except it reacts in an opposite manner. Every time a teacher tries to grab it, it evades their grasp. When we try getting rid of it with magic, it just explodes and reappears again. We need your help."
"Right away, dear Minerva," said Slughorn, standing with effort from his seat, looking quite sad to part from his pineapple. He turned to Cassie and Sirius with a sigh. "You've been here long enough. You can pack your things and head back to your dormitories." With that, he pulled out his wand and followed McGonagall out of the room.
Cassie grabbed her bookbag and darted from the room as soon as possible, heading in the opposite direction of the teachers, her nose wrinkled at the terrible stench filling the hallway. She heard footsteps behind her and quickened her pace, but to no avail. Sirius Black soon caught up with her, a wicked smile on his face.
"Come on, Beckett," he said, "can't you just say one word to me? I even got my friends to let us out of detention by setting off that dungbomb!"
Cassie darted up a flight of steps. The Ravenclaw common room was only a few steps away, and she had to it and she had to get away from Sirius Black. He was running now, following after her.
Cassie answered the question she needed to answer to enter the common room, hoping it was correct so that she could enter. Sirius Black was standing behind her, his arms crossed angrily. Cassie felt very tempted to say something, but she did not know what to say. Sirius Black probably only wanted her to talk so that he could make fun of her again.
"Look, Beckett, if you really hate me this much, then I won't talk to you again," Sirius said, looking quite defeated. His grey eyes did not sparkle playfully now, but they were dark and deadly serious. "So, speak to me, Beckett. Here's your chance to say something."
Cassie finally realized that Sirius was not playing with her. This was her last chance to speak up and say something. But as usual, she let the opportunity pass because she was too afraid to do the simplest thing possible. To speak up. The silence lasted for a long time – too long – with Sirius looking Cassie straight in the eye. Finally, it grew too much and she looked away.
Suddenly McGonagall appeared behind Sirius, her arms crossed as well. She must have been following them and listening in for quite some time. "You and your friends have a lot of explaining to do, Mr. Black," she said. "After you clean up the bomb you and your friends set up. Goodnight, Miss Beckett," she said, turning to Cassie and clearly asking her to leave. Cassie stepped through the entranceway to the Ravenclaw classroom, grateful to obey McGongall's orders. Before she left, however, she caught one look at Sirius' face. On his face was a mixture of hurt and anger. Cassie suddenly felt like monster, and wondered why she had never spoken to Sirius in the first place.