-1Chapter Four:

She had taken him to a little Chinese restaurant that was tucked away off of Route 76. The only lighting was a collection of pink and blue lamps, some kind of Chinese techno was playing in the background and the booths were set inside little alcoves that were draped in thick oriental blankets. It seemed exactly like the kind of place Cassandra would go; dark, edgy and secret.

"Been here before, then?" Daniel asked, swallowing nervously.

"Just once. London is so big that sometimes I wanna hide somewhere small," she said, and the hint of vulnerability in her voice went completely undetected by Daniel who just smiled at her. He sat across from her in one of the booths and watched her fold up her long legs beneath her.

Lunch was, as Daniel had hoped, quite enjoyable. They talked about everything, but mostly, she listened to him talk. She chewed on the end of a chopstick and leaned in to him as he spoke, her eyes seemingly burning holes into his own. She was the very best kind of listener, the kind that didn't interrupt or nod too much; just kept her eyes on his and sometimes looked speculatively at the table like she was truly thinking about what he was saying. When he was finished talking, he felt considerably lighter and slightly embarrassed.

"You don't talk much, do you." It was more of a statement than a question. He shrugged, leaning back in the cushiony seat and taking a sip of his green tea.

"Not about anything important. There aren't many people who listen anyways," he replied, looking up at her. "Especially girls. I mean I suppose fans would, but it's the girls that actually know me that don't wanna hear it from me," he said quickly, feeling a little foolish for sharing that with her. She laughed nervously, looking down at her plate. Suddenly her mobile rang piercingly from inside her purse and both of them jumped slightly. Holding up a finger, she quickly answered her phone. Daniel looked around awkwardly as she talked to whoever was on the other line.

"Hey…yeah, I'm great, how are you… eating lunch…oh, wow, really?…that's great….yeah, I miss you too…I know…yeah, that sounds good I'll call you then…ok, love you, bye." She snapped her mobile shut, and turned back to Daniel.

"Sorry about that," said Cassandra, going back to her sweet and sour chicken.

After a few minutes of silence, Daniel's curiosity finally won out against his pride and he asked "So, was that your dad or something?" as casually as he could sound.

"Boyfriend," Cassandra corrected before taking a sip of her drink. 'Of course she'd have a boyfriend.' Daniel felt his heart sink right into his shoes, a heavy feeling of disappointment pooling in his stomach. He couldn't believe that he hadn't even thought of her having a boyfriend; he'd just assumed that she had come to London with no strings attached. But she had a boyfriend. That she apparently loved. Shit.

"…everything all right?" Cassandra asked suspiciously, and Daniel realized he had been silent for about 5 minutes with a shocked expression on his face.

"Oh! Yeah, yeah of course. Sorry. Just tired I suppose," he said quickly. The waitress came and picked up the check. Daniel cracked open a fortune cookie out of habit (his mother was obsessed), and studied the little slip of paper that was inside. It read, "If you want the rainbow, you must put up with the rain." Thinking of Cassandra, he discreetly slipped the fortune into his pocket.

"I guess we should get back to the studio anyways," Cassandra said, smiling slightly. Dan stood up a little too fast, and together they walked out to the car.

Over the next several weeks, Daniel found that he could have easily found out that Cassandra had a boyfriend before, but he had probably developed selective hearing since he had somewhat fancied her. Each day he learned little tidbits about her boyfriend; that his name was Adam, he was 21, he lived in New York. He overheard Cassandra complaining to Emma about Adam's job in advertising in New York City, Cassandra talking to Bonnie about how cute his curly hair was, Cassandra explaining to Sheryl how the two of them met, Cassandra sitting in the hall on her mobile dreamily telling Adam she loved him. Dan couldn't even hate her for it, because she had never said anything to indicate being single or not , nor had she promised anything to him. He only felt utter disappointment.

However, their friendship was far from over; it grew stronger every day during their morning talks, their daily lunches at the Paper Lantern; the Chinese restaurant that she so loved, the moments where she told him secrets and listened to his. He found himself coming into the studios earlier to help her with the costumes, and she would sometimes make her way over to the set to watch him do various scenes. He remembered especially doing the scene of Dumbledore's funeral. Cassandra herself had painted the great white tomb and helped arranged the entire set. She stood off to the side by the camera men and watched him perform that emotional scene and after seven takes, he looked over at her and she looked him in the eyes and gave him a small but firm nod, and he knew he did the scene well. That night he walked out to see Bonnie and Cassandra sitting together on the wall like usual, even though it was getting colder and colder with each day. Bonnie's fiery hair was stark against the black skirt and top she was wearing, and Cassandra looked like snowfall next to her, in dark jeans, Ugg boots, and a fuzzy white sweater that exposed her delicate collarbones and had sleeves that swallowed up her hands in vivid white. They were sitting with their heads together going over some of Bonnie's lines and as Daniel's breath puffed in little clouds from the cold unnoticed by the girls, he would hear mumbling from both of them and Cassandra's voice ringing out with Bonnie's lines, then silence as they blew their cigarette smoke into the dusky night sky. He moved closer and heard Bonnie talking gently to Cassandra, her words unintelligible. Then Cassandra replied something, her voice quiet and shaky. Daniel unknowingly moved closer.

"-been fighting, and…" A brief silence. "Dan? Is that you?" Cassandra suddenly called out.

"Yeah," he called back, slightly sheepish.

"What are you doing lurking back there?" Bonnie called out to him, laughing. Daniel smiled and walked over to them. They were now lying on their backs on the wall with their heads next to each other, black hair melting into red, trying to blow smoke rings. The script was lying forgotten by Bonnie's feet.

"I was getting ready to leave, I just finished my last scene today," Daniel said, picking up Bonnie's script and idly thumbing through it.

"I'm so nervous for that one really long line I have- I keep stumbling over the words," Bonnie told Dan.

Cassandra took a long drag and exhaled through her nose. "Come on Bonnie, you almost have it. You just keep getting nervous. We'll go through it a couple more times and you'll be all set tomorrow."

"S'like having my own personal acting coach, isn't it?" Bonnie asked, grinning up at Daniel.

"Pretty nifty. Know where I can get one?" Dan joked, putting Bonnie's script back down.

"Nope, just don't go stealing mine, Radcliffe," Bonnie warned in mock seriousness. "You may actually need the coaching, but I'm really in it for the free parliaments."

"Hey!" Cassandra laughed, knocking the side of her head lightly against Bonnie's. "This is coming from someone who can't even pronounce the word 'phlegm'!"

"Oh, whatever." The three of them burst into laughter again. After they had all caught their breath, Bonnie sat up and squelched her cigarette out on the asphalt. "Are you going to dinner tomorrow at Lucia's?" Bonnie asked Daniel. She was referring to the dinner that Yates would have at his favorite Italian restaurant in London every year when they had completed the first few months or so of filming.

"Yeah, definitely. Didn't miss it last year. What about you, Cass?" Daniel looked down at her.

"Well, I wasn't told about it," she replied, sounding a bit left out. Daniel could sympathize with her; the cast and crew that had remained since the first film were incredibly close like family, and every time they acquired new members over the next 5 films, they always felt a little left out of the tight closeness.

"Well we just told you," Bonnie said, "and you better be there. The food's amazing."

"It sure is. Well, I have to go back; it's getting late. Good night Bonnie, Cass." Daniel turned to walk away, when he heard Cassandra's voice.

"Good job on that scene today Dan. It was really- well, I liked it." Dan looked over his shoulder and Cassandra was giving him that half-smile.

"Thank you," he said softly.