C. M. Black: Skin of a Dragon

Chapter XII: Learn to dance

The night following the first task had been filled with laughter and celebrations. Fred and George had revealed their new treats and tricks, earning howls of laughter when Neville transformed into a large canary; the food was avoided from then onwards. Banners were strung up around the room once again and remained there long into the following week. Drink and snacks were brought up from the kitchens, and everyone who had found issue with Harry's place as a champion appeared to have vanished, only to be replaced by affectionate well-wishers who insisted they had favoured him all along.

Harry had found himself perched on the shoulders of Fred and George before he had even made it to the staircase to change his clothes. Lee Jordon hoisted up the egg and thunderous cheers demanding he opened it rang through the common room. It was passed to Harry and he fiddled with the clasp for it them to fall open into three sections, revealing nothing inside except for the most horrible noise anyone had every heard. It was a sharp, shrill screeching. Hands flung themselves over everyone's ears and Harry was promptly dropped onto his back on the floor.

'Shut it!' Fred had roared and Harry clamped the sides back together again with a grimace.

'Don't ever open it again,' said George, rubbing his ears.

No one had any suggestions for it and interest in the egg died immediately after that. Chatter started up again and Cassy was frowning lightly at Neville when Harry made his way over to them, the egg safely closed.

'Are you all right?' he asked Neville, whose face was staunch white, much as it had been in Professor Moody's classroom weeks before.

Neville had nodded and Harry changed the subject quickly before heading up to bed early that night. He posted a letter to Sirius the next day, explaining every detail of their plan and how it played out with great enthusiasm. Much to Harry's delight, the only times he was stopped in the corridors from then on were by people congratulating him, not sneering and shoving him aside for their 'true' champion, Diggory. In fact, Harry seemed to be the new favourite and all Diggory did was smile about it, having praised him himself.

For the first time since the cup was announced, Harry was happy. However, that shattered not a week later when Professor McGonagall held him back after a lesson one. Cassy, Neville, and Hermione waited outside of the classroom, watching his face pale as their Head of House's eyebrows rose high into her hairline. Harry slumped out of the room and down the corridor, groaning loudly once they were safely out of earshot.

'I have to find a date!' he hissed.

'A date?' repeated Hermione. 'What for?'

'Apparently there is a rule that the champions have to dance at the Christmas Ball. That means I need a partner,' he groaned. 'I don't know how to ask a girl out...'

'Well, do you have anyone in mind?' asked Cassy.

Harry shrugged and said, 'Not anymore... the only girl I really want to go with has a boyfriend now.'

Harry's gaze became very flat to match his voice. Cassy frowned deeply.

'I hadn't had the intention of asking anyone,' he continued on. 'I thought everyone would just go as friends.'

'That would have been a nice idea,' said Hermione, 'but you will find a date, I'm sure of it.'

Later that night at dinner, there seemed to be a universal acceptance that it was time to begin looking for a date for the Yule Ball. The boys stopped to inspect every girl that passed, and the girls in turn giggled behind their hands at anyone who happened to be looking at them. It was irritating and confusing, as people fussed in the corridors and yet no one was actually approaching one another, appearing to hold out for the best possible date. The lower years sulked at the prospect of not being able to go. The third-year girls peered around eagerly, hoping an older student might ask them.

Cassy shook her head as she passed a group of upper years who stared at her as walked. They muttered to one another, but she did not pay them the slightest bit of attention, beyond flicked her fishtail plait at them when she turned the corner.

As usual on her free periods, the library was largely empty. The past few days had seen it fill up with unusual faces that had been hoping to attract another's attention, or catch the eye of a crush if they remained in public spaces long enough. Cassy was pleased to see that her quiet hours were actually quiet this time. Although, they had most likely been evicted by Madam Pince, who had been building up to the task for some time.

Cassy dropped her satchel onto the table and slid into the seat opposite Goodridge. He looked up and smiled.

'Long time no see,' he said, pushing his book away from him.

'I had a bit of homework to catch up on. I got a bit behind trying to help Harry theorise for the first task,' she replied, pulling out her parchment.

'Theorise, hey? Still sticking to that story?'

'Always,' she said easily.

Goodridge let out a hum. 'For a moment I thought you were one of those weird girls that has been hanging around here lately.'

'Oh, you have had a few offers all ready then?'

'Not quite,' he said with a charming grin. 'But a couple of girls have been having a look.'

'I bet,' said Cassy in a teasingly flat tone.

Goodridge huffed.

'Have you asked Faulks yet then?' asked Cassy after a moment of silence.

'What?' spluttered Goodridge, losing his habitually calm demeanour for a split second. 'I don't know what you mean.'

Cassy gave him a pointed look, but turned back to her work. Her quill scrapped along the paper for no more than two lines before Goodridge ducked into view, low against the table. Cassy paused and flicked her eyes up to him. 'Yes?'

He hesitated, looking sideways sharply and then back again. In a hushed voice, he said, 'Look, don't say things like that here. She's around here somewhere. If anyone heard that her boyfriend would kill me – she would kill me actually.' He grimaced at the thought.

'Oh?' said Cassy. 'Well, your romance is your business. How do you two know one another?'

'Potions partners. Our names are beside one another,' he said with a shrug. 'We've always worked together, but I get the feeling she thinks I'm boring.'

'Oh. That's a shame,' she said. It was all that she could think to say, having never taken much interest in people's love lives before. They just seemed like pointless dramas that usually resulted in failure. The only marriages she had ever really known were those in her family, and they were all loveless as far as she could see. Even Narcissa and Lucius had a hard time displaying affection to one another, if it was even there at all. So, Cassy tried her hardest to look engaged as Goodridge peered forlornly down at the table.

He sighed and smiled. 'Have you got anyone in mind then?'

Cassy paused for a moment, mulling over her thoughts before shaking her head.

'Really?' he asked with narrowed eyes. 'Are you sure?'

'Yes,' she said, frowning.

'You had to think about it though,' he remarked.

'Yes and concluded there was no one,' said Cassy with a firm air of finality.

He hummed again and pulled his book back to himself as Cassy resumed her writing. They worked in silence for some time, listening to the muffled chatter of students tables away and the low, rhythmic scratchings of Cassy's writing. Goodridge's head fell back. Slowly, his eyes began to drift to the side. When they did not move again, Cassy followed his gaze. Her eyebrows rose and sunk in a second, being unsurprised by what had caught his attention. His pretty blonde crush was in adjacent row. Cassy looked down quickly when Goodridge suddenly turned to her. She realised he had probably realised that her writing had stopped.

'Hey, Black,' he said and Cassy looked up at him. 'I have a deal for you.'

'Go on,' she said with reserved interest.

'If you can't solve a muggle puzzle I give you within half-an-hour, you have to go to the Yule Ball with me.'

Cassy blinked. 'Excuse me?'

'Neither of us have anyone in mind and I don't see why I should go with someone I don't necessarily enjoy the company of - '

'I have been told there are many that fit into that category,' drawled Cassy, resting her chin on the palm of her hand. 'But do go on.'

'I assume you don't dislike me too greatly or you would stop sitting with me here every week,' he continued with a slight frown, 'so it makes sense that I at least ask.'

Cassy blinked again, but very slowly.

'Besides, I don't think you can do it.'

'All right,' said Cassy, holding out her hand suddenly. 'Give it here.'

Goodridge laughed and stooped to rummage in his bag. He handed over a wooden box that was made of of interlocking pieces off all different sizes and shapes. Each surface was smooth and the seems of the centre were flawless.

'What do I do?' asked Cassy, turning it in her hands.

'You have just got to open the centre,' he said, leaning back in his seat. He pulled on the cuff of his shirt to reveal the golden watch. 'Starting... now.'

Cassy inspected the box closely, looking for any signs of grooves and hinges. She hummed when there was none and she took to pressing firmly on each piece, then on opposite pieces, then pulling them each in turn, but none of them came lose at all. She shook the box, but there was no rattle to guide her. One of the thick rectangles slipped off and she smirked slightly, but it was not the beginning of the end of the challenge. Two more came off and a small section of the top, but everything else refused to move.

She huffed and Goodridge muffled his laughter behind his hand, but when she glance up to stare disapprovingly she could clearly see the amusement in his hazel eyes. She pursed her lips. He had begun staring at his watch, conducting a silent countdown.

The box had not logical pattern to the pieces, they did not move them she thought they should and once off they had no purpose. They did not reveal more places to test, but instead left her almost with a plan wooden cube that refused to open.

'And... time's up,' he announced with a grin.

'Go on,' she said, passing it immediately back to him. 'Show me.'

He grinned and took out his wand. Tapping the top of the box, the lid zoomed off and he looked at her with an expectant smile.

'Cheater,' she said quickly. 'You are a cheater.'

'I never said that you couldn't use magic. You are the one who stuck to trying to open it with your hands,' he said airily, collecting all the pieces as he began to reassemble it.

'You said it was... oh... it was a muggle box, not a muggle task...' Cassy grumbled and placed a hand over her face. Of course, he had never explicitly stated she could not use magic. There were no rules to the task, just that she had to open it. How stupid of her, she cursed. She sighed and smiled at him. 'Fine. I will got to the ball with you, Goodridge.'

Cassy could not help but feel that he would not normally have attended a ball at all. He was too quiet around those he did not know, too lax in proper etiquette to care for the social side of such grand events no matter how well dressed he always was. Her eyes trailed back to where Faulks had been. Was it possible, she thought, that he was only going because she was going to be there? The thought that Goodridge intended her to be a prop, a social pin to justify his presence and a point of interest, perhaps, for the girl who paid him no mind ran around him her head for a moment, before Cassy settled on the fact that she really did not mind.

Her eyes slid back over to Goodridge and she took in his pale face and eyes, his dark hair and pointed jaw. He was tall and thin, his hair adding a few inches to his height from where he had brushed it upwards that morning. He was handsome and friendly. They could laugh together and she knew him, even if just for a short time, so her mind had no trouble reminding her that it did not matter if his question had been less than than on a whim. In fact, there was a small part of her that found it flattering if he should think like that. Then, she shook her head. There was no use thinking of it like that. It was pointless to think like that and furthermore even more irrelevant. She might have scolded herself for thinking of him like that, had he not been such good friends with Shandy, opening up the endless possibilities of lies and manipulation that the Slytherin was so infamous for.

'Stephen,' he said. When Cassy stared blankly at him, he continued, 'Call me Stephen. If we're going to the ball together, that should probably mean we're friends.'

'Then call me Cassy,' she replied with a small hum.

In the far corner of the Gryffindor common room, huddled over a small book and beside his ugly vase, Neville sat with a deep frown on his face. His quill scribbled frantically over the words he had so meticulously drawn moments before. He huffed loudly to himself. Darting up for a second, his brown eyes caught Cassy's watchful stare. She raised her eyebrows at him and he quickly looked down again.

Cassy rose from the plush sofa where she had been wedged between Ron and Dean. They had insisted that she play chess with them and after a devastating loss for Dean and a close victory for Ron, Cassy had settled to watch them face one another. They grumbled as she slipped by and slunk into the seat opposite Neville. He jumped, his hand smacked across the notebook.

'Oh?' said Cassy, raising an eyebrow.

'I-It's nothing...' he said meekly. He removed his hand and hovered his quill hesitantly over the page.

Cassy peered at the tiny, uneven writing. She leant on her hand with a calm, pleasant expression that had Neville freeze when he had dared to look up.

'What?' he asked immediately.

A wide smile spread slowly over her face.

'What?' he asked again. 'What is it?'

'When are you going to ask her then?' said Cassy, blinking slowly.

'W-who?' stuttered Neville, his cheeks flushing.

'Luna, of course,' said Cassy conversationally. She inspected her nails. 'That is what you are planning, is it not? How to ask her?'

Neville stared. 'You can read upside down.'

'It is a talent,' said Cassy with a wink.

'Sometimes I hate you,' he mumbled, closing the book all together. There was a pause. 'Cassy, I didn't write her name down...'

'I know. I read your plans.'

Neville stared and then the bright flush began to spread from his cheeks across to his ears and down his neck. A high, whiny noise emitted from the back of his throat. Cassy watched with an odd pleasure at his discomfort. She pulled the notebook from beneath his lax hands and flicked through page after page of scribbled notes, small doodles and trailing words.

'Am I really that obvious?' he asked.

'To me,' she said. 'I am not sure anyone else particularly takes notice.'

Neville huffed a laugh, but covered his eyes with his hand. With the other, he plucked the book from her hands and stuffed it in an inner pocket of his cloak. He let out another low groan.

'Neville, you really do not need to fret so much. At worst, Luna will assume you have asked her to the ball as a friend. I am sure she will love to go with you,' said Cassy warmly.

Neville peaked at her from between his fingers. 'You think so?'

Cassy nodded. 'Of course. I am sure Luna will wish to go as friends at the very least and her going will be the first step, surely.'

'I didn't think you had much interest in romance,' said Neville. He unfolded himself and although the colour still remained in his cheeks, he looked far less mortified than he had.

'I don't,' said Cassy with a cringe. 'I am probably giving very poor advice.'

'You know Luna,' he said with a shrug and a smile, 'that's good enough for me.'

The portrait hole opened and Harry and Hermione came bustling through. Harry had some of Hermione's books gathered in his arms where she must have recruited him on her way back to the library for the third time that evening. She had spent hours mulling over human rights to work on her S.P.E.W campaign that Cassy had reluctantly become a part of, although she remained adamant that she would not wear the badge. It was flicked into the fire, popping as it burnt.

Harry dropped the books down onto their table.

'Having fun?' asked Neville as Harry slumped down into a chair.

'I have no idea what she was on about the entire time we were in the library,' he said. 'She caught me outside of Flitwick's classroom – he said that my summoning spell was great now I finally got my head around it – and I couldn't say no. I want to talk about anything other than house-elves.'

'We were discussing the Yule Ball,' said Cassy.

'No,' he said quickly. 'Next topic.'

'Still no idea who you're going to ask?' piped up Hermione as she pulled up another seat.

'Neither does anyone!' called Seamus from across the room. He, Ron, and Dean had stopped their match at the mention of the ball.

'I do,' said Cassy.

Everyone turned to look at her with wide eyes.

'All ready?' asked Hermione. 'Someone's asked you all ready?'

'Such surprise,' teased Cassy.

'Bloody hell, you move quickly,' exclaimed Ron. 'When was that then?'

'He asked me, actually, and it was on Thursday.'

'That's impossible. That's only the day after it was announced,' he said with an incredulous frown.

'Well, you said it yourself, Ron, if we don't hurry up all the good ones will be gone,' came Dean's deep voice from across the room. He was fiddling with the chess pieces, not looking at anyone. Yet, Cassy smiled at him anyway, rather flattered by the implication, although Seamus had a peculiar look on his face as he stared at her, but Cassy could not quite place it.

'Er – so who is he then?' asked Harry. 'He's not a Gryffindor from our year then.'

'Does it matter who he is?' she said.

'Yes,' confirmed Harry confidently.

'Why?'

'Because.' Harry looked as if he was trying to find an answer for a second before leaving the reason as it stood. He stared at her expectantly and Cassy scoffed.

'"Because" is not a reason!'

'It can be,' he insisted with a shrug.

Cassy cast a quick look around at all the boys' faces. Her smile grew wider and her date, which she had never intended to be a secret, suddenly became a weapon of curiosity and she no longer felt any desire to tell anyone who it was. Across all of their faces was distinct interest and envy for the first boy they had heard of to have actually plucked up the courage and ask someone to the ball. They seemed to forget that Harry had all ready been asked by two younger girls, who he had declined without a second thought.

Hermione, on the other hand, looked amused at the entire discussion. Her previous anxiety from the Weasley's house seemed to have vanished. With a quick shrug, she had pushed away worries of attending alone; it did not matter, she said. She was quite happy to attend by herself. The ball should be fun and her friends would be there to see to that. She hardly found the need for a date. Cassy had smiled softly at her words when Hermione had turned away.

The boys soon stopped playing chess and began to work on their Divination homework that created a lively discussion of pain and suffering that had the ease-dropping older years giggling at the table over. Neville excused himself to collect his Herbology book that Professor Moody had given him after the lesson on Unforgivable Curses. They had been given no Herbology homework that week and Cassy had a sneaking suspicion that his interest lay more in an idea to ask Luna to the ball than anything else. Hermione was engrossed in her own homework and Cassy was then left to pull Harry from his brooding alone.

'You should just ask someone you know to go as friends,' she said. 'You only have to dance with her.'

'Even if I do manage to get a date, I will have to dance and I don't know the first thing about it! I'm going to look like a complete idiot in front of three schools - again,' he grumbled, throwing his hands out at his sides.

There was a long pause and Cassy tapped her finger on the table, not looking at him.

'I can always teach you,' she said casually.

'Really?' he asked quickly.

Cassy glanced up at his excited tone. 'Of course. I have been to enough functions in my life to know how to dance fairly well. I enjoy dancing, actually.'

'Cassy,' he said, reaching to grasp her wrists across the table, 'you are a life saver.'

'Yes, yes, I am truly brilliant,' she said, quickly retracting her hands. 'But I am not sure even I can turn you into a gentlemen within a month. I have accepted a mammoth challenge.'

Harry laughed and did not disagree with her. He wore a smile of utter relief that made Cassy's own lips twist into a small smile. There was a terrible giddiness in her stomach. She ducked her eyes back down to the parchment she had pulled from her pocket earlier with the intention of finishing long before then. She fiddled with the edge of a letter written in looping green letters, signed so shortly and impersonally with only a name that Cassy cringed as she had read it under the desk in Charms that morning. She had yet to reply to it, although she was struggling to think of reasons to, or what even to say.

'What are you writing?' asked Harry. He had watched her expression flicker and frown as she pulled at the paper. The letter, from what he could see, was short, only four lines long, yet it had caused Cassy to be cold all morning, her face blank and her words curt, if they were said at all. It took until lunch for her to warm to them again and Harry had not dared to bring it up when she was clearly still bothered. However, his curiosity and concern battled against his better judgement and he nodded down at the papers when Cassy peered at him.

'Oh, this is just from Narcissa,' she said calmly. 'She said that Alphard has been taken into hospital again.'

Harry frowned and asked, 'Is he okay?'

'The letter fails to mention anything else.'

If Harry had not know Cassy so well, he might have missed the steely edge to her words. He pressed on, 'And the other piece?'

'Something for Hagrid, actually. He asked me to look it over for him, but stressed I told no one what it said.' Cassy looked around quickly and leant forward, Harry mirroring her. 'It is a letter for Madam Maxine.'

'Really?' said Harry. His eyebrows only rose a fraction, appearing not to be very surprised at all.

'He does not want it getting around.'

'Who would I tell?' asked Harry as Cassy rose from her seat. She tucked the letter from Narcissa into the inside of her cloak and folded Hagrid's back into an envelope. There were times reading it where Cassy thought it was very sweet and others were she cringed, curling her toes and scribbling the line out with a short demand that he not write anything like that again. With spellings corrected and punctuation added, the letter was ready to be delivered back in time for Hagrid to ask Madam Maxine to the ball. Although the letter never stated it, Cassy could see no other reason that Hagrid would go through all the trouble of asking her to proof-read his personal writings; it had to be something serious.

She slipped from the common room and down the marble staircases. She slung her coat effortlessly over her shoulders as she passed oncoming students, many of whom had been staring with gormless faces at other students in the pre-date haze to bother looking where they had been going. Cassy passed over the entrance hall and towards the great double doors, listening carefully to the shrill voices that sounded from just outside it. As she drew closer, she could see a group of younger students, possibly second and first years, who all had their wands out, jeering and snarling, with two boys in the centre, hands on each others collars. Cassy frowned, they were blocking the door.

'Excuse me,' she said loudly, drawing to a halt.

Some of them turned to look at her, but most of them remained focused on the two boys who had pressed their foreheads together.

Cassy sighed and wiped out her wand, shooting a wordless spell at their feet. The two blew apart, skidding along the stone and into their opposing groups of friends. Cassy walked forward to pass, put paused, her piercing blue eyes fixed on a small, blond Gryffindor.

'Put that away and do not be a fool,' she said lowly. Her eyes were fixed on his, although he faltered immediately and his eyes trailed down to where she held her wand. 'It is almost curfew and I suggest you all go back to your common rooms. The prefects do not take kindly to those out after hours, even less so with our guests here.'

'Why don't you go to bed then,' jeered one girl from Slytherin.

'Unlike some, I have permission to be on the grounds,' she drawled. Her eyes flicked above the Slytherin's head. 'If you raise your wand to me again, boy, I will suspend you from a ceiling and leave you for Peeves to find, although perhaps Filch will get there first, if only you will be so lucky.'

The Gryffindor boy who had pointed his wand at her once again, to his merit, merely turned a bright shade of pink before hurrying back into the castle. His friends, who Cassy was fairly certain were mainly first years, shared a look of shock before trailing after him and it was not long until the Slytherins had done the same. Only one student remained, eyeing her curiously.

'I can't believe you threatened your own house,' said Astoria, clearly sounding more impressed than she had intended. She tried to flatten her expression, but she remained somewhat pleased.

'There is never going to be harmony with everyone and one should not expect it. Perhaps it will teach him not to pick fights so readily,' said Cassy calmly.

'The spell you used to separate them was fantastic, by the way.'

'Thank-you.'

Cassy and Astoria stared at one another. When the younger Slytherin failed to move, Cassy turned back to the steps.

'Actually,' called Astoria quickly and at such a volume it was if Cassy had all ready walked twenty-feet. She opened and closed her mouth several times before spluttering out, 'Is it true that Draco is taking Pansy Parkinson to the Yule Ball?'

There was a second where Cassy's mind was blissfully blank. Her thoughts that had been trundling along had suddenly halted, only to be followed by a landslide of realisation that only showed by her eyes widening a fraction. Astoria had only begun speaking to her after she had asked about Draco and the ball. She had been hovering about all year with the intention of speaking to her, clearly having something in mind that she could not bring herself to verbalise and now Cassy understood why and exactly what it was. Astoria had a crush on her cousin.

'I have not asked. It may be, they are close,' answered Cassy after a slightly too long pause.

Astoria nodded and pursed her lips. She did not scowl like Harry had at the revelation Chang and Diggory were dating, nor did her shoulder slump and her eyes fill with tears. She looked as if she had long since known the answer to her own question.

'I am sorry,' said Cassy.

'There is no need. It does not mean they are together, or that they will always be. I will just try harder to get his attention from now on to make sure the next one is me. He will notice eventually. I will make him,' said Astoria with a calm confidence that Cassy had never expected. The younger girl did not smile, but she held her head high and Cassy found respect growing for her with each second she watched her. Just as Cassy was about to turn away again, Astoria said, 'One more thing. How did you know he was going to hex you? You had your back turned.'

Cassy nodded to the side of the building and said, 'Figure it out.' She then sauntered down the stone steps in the dim light of the winter evening. She heard Astoria mumble to herself, no doubt having finally noticed the giant window she had been stood in front of.

Even in the quickly growing darkness, Krum was jogging around the side of the lake. He had been in the library more and more frequently lately. His admirers were always by his side and even then behind him trotted several girls and another bunch were huddled in their coats and scarves, faces pink from the cold. They waved as he passed, but he barely gave them a second glance.

Cassy shook her head and knocked loudly on Hagrid's door.

I got this chapter out really early for my standards. I wanted to address something from the Guest reviewer. There are several things you mentioned and while I am not sure if you are still around, in case you are, I thought I should try and clear some of them up so that you might want to still read on.

Firstly, it was said that I make Hermione more bitchy than normal. If I do, I am sorry. I tend to find her personality in the book to be starkly different from the film, particularly to those she does not agree with, normally such as Ron and particularly Luna. She bickers and she is very forthright in her ideas. Her forcefulness with Cassy comes from the fact that Cassy is very intelligent, but still cannot quite see Hermione's vision and is far more 'I hear what you are saying, but I am going to do my own thing over here and not acknowledge you' than anyone else. They bicker out of frustration and I have tried hard to make sure they still appear to be close friends. I apologise if that has not come across, but reading and planning as I go means that I usually imagine instances right after reading forty pages of Hermione-Ron bickering and so that's where I get a lot of her personality from.

Second, I never meant for Sirius to favour Harry in the previous chapters. He focuses on him because it is his life in danger. Harry was put into a tournament that has killed many people in the past when he shouldn't have been able to be in it at all, that's why he focuses on Harry in the conversation. Cassy is safe and healthy, whereas someone is trying to kill his Godson, but I made sure he spent a little time for Cassy when the major task of his safety was over. Also, I do stress that Cassy does not help herself in the slightest here. Instead of being all 'Hi, Dad! How are you?' she's a bit more 'Well, that's my dosage of my estranged father for the evening, I am going to go and look at dragons now. Bye.' I personally feel that is a bit more realistic for her character and generally someone in her position. Their little chat was supposed to highlight the insecurities between the pair as Sirius worries she might not like what he got her. I think it would be easier to look at Harry, see a teenage boy who resembles his father, Sirius' best-friend, and feel more eased, than look at his daughter, a girl who is quiet and serious around him, who looks like himself and his now dead ex-girlfriend. They are trying, but now is not the time for happy families. Harry might well die in three days of that fire-call. That's why Sirius was not devoting too much attention to Cassy.

Thank-you for bringing them up though. It reminds me that not everyone will follow my ideas if I don't put them down a little bit more explicitly. I have these backgrounds and thoughts going on that I have in mind while writing and it doesn't always occur to me that no one else can see them! Haha, I will try and be more watchful of my characterisation in the future. I personally find Harry very difficult to write because ninety-percent of his personality is illustrated through the narration and through his thoughts. He rarely says things aloud about it, so I always watch what I do with him more than the others.

I would like to thank the rest of my reviewers for their wonderful feedback and it makes my day to see people enjoying what I write. I can see that I am getting quite a few regulars now!

Also, unexpected date! Stephen is used to consolidate the more open world of Hogwarts. I believe that by having Cassy go with someone outside of her normal group of associates, it allows for more interesting dynamics, such as Harry's curiosity and some things that will happen next chapter. Do not fear that it is romantic though! I think it might be pretty obvious by this stage who Cassy likes, or at least it will be by the next chapter. Astoria and Cassy make a connection, something is going on with Dean and Neville is taking advice from the least knowledgeable person amongst them, to sum up this chapter.

Thanks!