Chapter 7: Cursed

Unfortunately, the Potions lesson on poisons went along without a hitch and, though Boo disappeared, it was only to make a snack out of a bag of Bertie Bott's which Riley had been saving in a pocket of her robes. The rest of the day went about the same, with some more teasing between Riley and Sirius, more awkward smiles between Cassieopeia and Remus, and more eye rolls directed at James by an exasperated Lily. After supper, Riley went to the library hoping to ambush some Slytherins with her friendship, leaving Cassieopeia to work on an unnaturally large stack of homework.

"Look at this, Roman." Cassieopeia groaned quietly, trying to distract herself from various games going on around the Gryffindor Common Room. "Just look at it. This is what I get for trying to save England? Now I know why King Arthur decided to go into a never-ending coma. Merlin, this is ridiculous!"

"Erm." Sirius said, slipping into a nearby armchair much like the one Cassieopeia had commandeered and plopping his own significantly smaller stack of books and papers onto the table. "Who are you talking to?"

"Roman." Cassieopeia told him simply. She frowned; was 'Polyjuice' supposed to be capitalized?

"Oh." Sirius frowned. "Of course. Roman."

"Who's Roman?" Peter asked, appearing suddenly between the two Black's chairs.

"Who Cassieopeia's talking to." Said Sirius helpfully.

"She's not talking." James pointed out, appearing on Cassieopeia's other side and leaning forward haphazardly in order to see his friends.

"Good point." Sirius replied.

Without moving an inch, Cassieopeia raised her eyes, took one sweeping glance over the three of them, and went back to her essay on basic potions.

"Oh, she's ignoring us." Peter said disappointedly.

"Now we'll never solve the mystery." Sirius added, his face bored. He pulled out a pocketknife, snapping it open and shut each time someone spoke.

"What mystery?" James asked, catching the back of Cassieopeia's chair to keep himself from falling across the table.

"The mystery of why everyone in Gryffindor is so bloody annoying." Cassieopeia informed him evenly, her quill not stopping for a moment.

"Ouch." James laughed. Peter simply turned red and looked about to retreat, but Sirius spoke again.

"You think you're hurt?" Demanded Sirius, slamming his knifepoint first into the table so that he could pick up a quill. "Riley's been throwing those at me all day." He smiled good naturedly and went back to bothering Cassieopeia. "Tell me who Roman is and I'll help you with your homework."

"Lily already offered." James told him.

"Blast!" Sirius tapped a length of parchment as he thought, leaving a series of large splots. "Tells us who Roman is… and… we'll…"

"You could give Riley and me a tour of the school." Cassieopeia said casually, leaping at the opportunity.

"Of course." Said a new voice. Cassieopeia glanced around, confused, but she no one in sight had spoken. Finally she tilted back in her chair and looked straight up to find a grinning Remus leaning over the back of her chair to loom over her. "So, who's Roman, Black?"

Cassieopeia took one more moment of smiling up at him and then she bent down to reach underneath her armchair. "This…" She said, looking fondly at a black bundle of fur that fit easily in the crook of her arm as she sat up again. "Is my Roman."

"A cat." Peter said uneasily.

"A kitten." Sirius scoffed at Peter. He looked back to Cassieopeia. "Cute."

"Can I go back to my homework now or are there some more pressing questions you're dying to ask me?" Cassieopeia said drily.

"Actually, I did have a question about your parents." Remus interjected, politely slipping past James to steal the last bit of space on the paper strewn table. "If that's alright?"

"Oh, no, go ahead." Cassieopeia said, giving him a hint of a smile. "I'll fail potions my first week but at least you all can get a N.E.W.T in Cassieopeia Blackuration."

"Oh, lucky you guys! I didn't even get an O.W.L. in that." Came Riley's voice. She jumped over with "Anyone care for a game o' Exploding Snap?"

Cassieopeia threw several blank parchments in the air in mock exasperation. Roman batted at them playfully as Remus attempted to collect them. In the distraction, Riley got a hold of Cassieopeia's only finished piece of homework.

"Transfiguration. Excellent. Only one I wasn't sure about." She began scribbling down details from Cassieopeia's worksheet after the answers she'd already written. "Would one of you examine these when I'm done?"

"When that happens I'm going somewhere quieter." Cassieopeia informed her.

"Good luck with that." Riley laughed. "Library's closed, halls are almost closed, and someone in our dorm has a severe snoring problem. Besides, you're safer among your own classmates, I think." She finished one final sentence and handed it off to Lupin. "Play on the floor? James? Peter?" The two boys joined her and Riley rolled up the sleeves or her robe, grinning in eager anticipation.

"What happened?" Sirius asked. Cassieopeia saw his eyes narrowing on Riley's elbow, but Riley quickly drew her sleeve down to hide what he had seen. "Nox." Sirius said sternly.

"Adelpha Thurkell taught me a new hex, that's all." Riley said happily. "Your deal, Potter. Classic rules."

"She attacked you?" Cassieopeia asked.

"Yeah. But I was bored anyway." Riley winked at Sirius, who was torn between exasperation and amusement. "Now do your homework so you can play too."

"Or we could give you that tour." Remus put in. Riley looked up sharply.

"Tour?" She asked.

"In return for learning about Roman." James said, biting his lip as he studied the cards Peter was laying down.

"Oh… What could I have gotten for teaching you about Boo?" Riley said, her tone disappointed.

"Who's Boo?" Asked Remus.

"Something from Lupin." James told Riley. He laid down a pair. "Your turn."

"What can I get from Lupin?" Riley asked, shaking her head a waving a hand for Peter to take a turn.

"I am already fixing your homework." Lupin pointed out.

"You haven't written a single thing." Riley pointed out. "Let me think." She placed another pair of cards just in time for the deck to explode. "Alright. Ow. So you're giving us a tour?" The Marauders nodded. "You could tell me where the kitchen is?" She said hopefully.

"Seriously?" Cassieopeia asked. "You barely touched your supper."

"I'm a snack person." Riley sniffed, trying to appear dignified as she poured the remainder of her Bertie Bott's into her mouth. "Oh, I know," She garbled. "We nee-want some way to go around the castle without getting caught."

The Marauders looked her over carefully and Lupin and James exchanged curious glances.

"How about…" Remus said carefully. "We show you the kitchens… and work on finding you a way do that?"

"What did I tell you about our secrets, Nox?" Sirius said severely, his eyes dancing. "You'll have to have more than that to offer."

"Ooo, mysterious." Riley said happily, watching Peter regather the game. "But I'm going to go with Remus' deal. I'll bully it out of him later."

"Alright." Remus said, moving to sit on the arm of Cassieopeia's chair so he could watch her write. "So who's Boo and what's his story?"

"He's a toad. He jumps in things." Sirius told him. "Sad but true. Now deal me in."

The played three games without much chatter, giving Cassieopeia a welcome breather. Remus remained by her side, answering questions and smiling at Roman, who had decided he trusted the werewolf enough to clamber up onto his lap. Every once in a while Remus would add a thought or Cassieopeia would ask a question; sometimes they paused to look over at Riley, who periodically broke out in cheers or insults. The boys were usually too busy laughing at her to do the same. It was in one of the periods of complete quiet in their group that Riley finally thought of something serious.

"Oh, shoot."

Cassieopeia looked up hopefully from her essay. "What is it, Nox?"

"I should have made Remus do my homework for a month." Riley said forlornly.

"I am a prefect!" Remus sputtered, his friends laughing at him. Cassieopeia hid a smile.

"Yeah? Well, whatever that means, it's too late now. Blast!" Riley shook her head disgustedly as the game promptly blew to pieces. "And since when is cheating worse than helping me break into the kitchens? Or touring the school after dark?"

"I hadn't actually mentioned that it would be after dark…" Cassieopeia said with a slight wince.

Riley frowned. "But that's when we agreed would be—"

"No, that was definitely not part of our agreement." Remus laughed, turning from Cassieopeia to smile at her friend. But when he turned back her, Cassieopeia was watching him so hopefully that he ended up adding, "But I suppose…"

"Yes?" Riley said eagerly.

"No promises." Remus said sternly just as Sirius said, "Alright."

"What?"

"But it's a new deal." Sirius said, looking from Cassieopeia to Riley. "For a third secret."

"For Pete's sake." Riley growled. Cassieopeia frowned but then she realized that Sirius was looking at Riley's arm again. "No."

"If you're going to be friends with us," James drawled. "You're going to have to let us get revenge for you."

"And for that we need to know what we're getting revenge for." Sirius told her charmingly. He then added, his manner rather less so. "So show us your bloody arm."

"I'd like to see it to." Cassieopeia said, concern in her voice at Riley's embarrassed manner. "Especially if you're going to continue to hang out with those slithery morons." She slammed a book shut on her essay and began stuffing books into her bag as the conversation continued.

"They're not—I'm not going to be 'hanging out' with Adelpha 'Pig Snout' Thurkell." Riley exclaimed in exasperation and the boys all grinned. Cassieopeia simply scowled, but this was at her bulging book bag. "And when I do become her friend, she won't curse me anymore." She finished matter-of-factly.

"How…?" Peter stopped, his face mottled with confusion.

"For goodness sake, Riley." Sirius groaned. "You can't like everybody."

"Well…" Riley said lamely, finally pulling up her sleeve. Cassieopeia stopped attempting to crush her books into her bag and wandered over to stand beside her friend. "I would like to learn this curse."

"I thought she taught it to you." Cassieopeia pointed out drily as she leaned over a large hot pink mark on Riley's elbow.

"You know, if you're going to point it out every time I lie, you are going to talk almost as much as I do." Riley shot back. The boys laughed again and Cassieopeia rolled her eyes.

"It's not that bad of a curse." Said Peter.

"Yeah, except it's getting bigger." Riley told him. "And I don't like pink."

"Interesting coincidence." Cassieopeia replied, not believing Riley's casual attitude for a second.

"Coincidence?" Riley frowned. "Now that you mention it, I was just telling Mulciber and Rosier about how much I don't like pink when she cursed me…Oh, no; you guys don't want to see this." Riley groaned. Mary and Lily had noticed something was up and had appeared next to the small circle of Marauders and time breakers.

"Oh, let me see, Nox." Mary scolded.

"Is the hair pink too?" Lily asked, watching in mild amusement as Mary examined Riley's arm and Riley looked pointedly away from everyone.

"Yes… You think it was a color change jinx?" Mary wondered. "Oh, ew!"

"Whaaat?" Riley moaned.

"Your arm." Mary said, rather unhelpfully Cassieopeia thought. "It's pink."

"You don't say!" Sirius declared. Riley frowned at him.

"It's lighter." Said Mary, sounding defensive now. "But her whole arm is pink."

James, who had been creeping closer ever since Lily had appeared, squinted at Riley in the dim light. "Actually… I think your face is pink too. Evans, look at her face."

"Don't be an idiot, Pott—oh, I'm sorry, Riley. He's right."

As Riley's face turned into a mixture of terror and amusement, Cassieopeia grabbed a book and began skimming through it and staring at Riley, ignoring the others.

"Why are you apologizing to her?" James was demanding.

"It's her face."

"But you called me an idiot!"

Sirius interrupted. "Mate, we've discussed this."

"It's not an insult if it's true." Remus recited.

"Ha." Laughed Riley rather shrilly; Cassieopeia and Lily were both poking her with their wands. "You guys are awesome. Ow!"

"I think you might need to go to the nurse." Cassieopeia told Riley, watching the tip of her wand flicker pink for a moment. She glanced at Lily, who simply nodded, and at Mary, who had fallen asleep against the chair. The Marauders were simply watching.

"Why doesn't she just go in the morning?" Peter finally asked. He was immediately shot down by his friends.

Remus was first. "We have no idea what this spell will end up doing." He pointed out, sounding slightly worried.

"What? And show the whole school what she looks like bright pink?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"I could probably cure it." James put in. "We could sneak up to the library and do some research…"

"No." Said Lily, whether to Peter or James, Cassieopeia wasn't sure.

"I don't want to have to get up early." Riley put in. "But I really don't mind people seeing this. It's kinda hilarious."

"You look like a really ugly Fwooper." Cassieopeia told her. Sirius snickered but Riley just grinned wider. "But Remus is right."

"Well, then, I guess your tour starts tonight." Said James, standing up and giving a theatrical yawn. "But not from me. Black?"

"I'll show them." Sirius said agreeably.

"I'll come." Cassieopeia agreed at the same time and Riley gave her a relieved look. Cassieopeia smiled knowingly. "Anyone else?"

The others began discussing just how many of them was a prudent number to patrol the corridors this close to curfew and Cassieopeia took the opportunity to pull Riley aside, avoiding Remus' curious look.

"What have you been doing?" Cassieopeia demanded quietly.

"I was talking to the Slytherins… I told you that."

"Yes, but we need to talk. I assumed you'd be back ages ago."

"I was doing homework with the Slitheries; I was hoping they might know something about their founder." Riley said, her quiet tone only slightly apologetic. "Then I had a few free seconds in the library while I told the boys I was getting a book and I snuck into the Restricted Section. Very helpful. I put a couple books on You-Know-Whats in your pillow and I bookmarked a chapter in 'Mogwarts, a Mystery' for you." Riley hissed.

"In… Oh, you found something on good ol' Tommy's lost pet?" Cassieopeia whispered back, itching at a spot of ink on her thumb.

"Kind of. It's useless. But I thought maybe you would see some hint I didn't." Riley sighed. "Also, we need to get a move on with your animal theory. I asked McG. And she said that we could practice spells in the sixth floor classrooms after two. And, Black, stop eavesdropping, it's rude." Cassieopeia blinked confusedly but Sirius scowled and went back to arguing with Peter and Lupin about which of them should come with.

"After the full tour, we should talk." Cassieopeia told the reluctant Riley, throwing another glare at Sirius and Lupin as they finished their argument, sent Pettigrew away, and turned to watch the two girls. "And talk this out again. Figure out which we should concentrate on finding first."

"And whether to prioritize spell work or Tommy's pet or the You-Know-Whats? I guess so." Riley asked. "But that reminds me, I also left a book on curses in your trunk. Oh and I looked in your trunk. Oh, and-"

"You two ready?" Remus interrupted.

"Yes, yes." Cassieopeia agreed, setting her book bag and cat over one shoulder. But as they followed the boys out of the Common Room and into the dark halls of Hogwarts, she could resist one last hiss at Riley. "After this." Cassieopeia ordered, a bit of a threat in her voice. "We talk."

And Riley Nox, for once in her life, didn't argue.

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Author's Note!

Hi and thanks for reading and commenting! Glad to get feedback :)

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C. B. Weasley: Thank you! You're bloody awesome too!

IWontGiveUpOnYou: Hopefully more of those two coming soon. I'm glad you think I'm funny. Go write.

kcittyq: While I am not sure how I might work a kareoke night into Harry Potter, there be some singing at Slughorn's partys... I did have some HP candy in this chapter though! Glad you like it!

Have a nice week evryone!