Author's Note: Wow. I'm alive. Even I'M surprised. I have been working on a show, and it was a killer, if i do say so myself. but I'm back now.
Cassi sighed. It was so familiar, so regular. She had done it five times already, and she was about to do it again. The same compartment, the book, the same position, legs up on the seat, back against the window. She sat, book open against her legs, not really reading the text, waiting for the inevitable rush. The day was unusually hot for September, and sticky. The clouds above her head were gray, and frowned down on the world as if displeased with what they saw. There was a kind of tension, a kind of energy that cracked and sparkled, almost tangible, through the air. It was the calm before the storm.
"Cassi!"
The familiar figure of Lily Evans swung into the compartment. She sat in her place, closest to the window, across from Cassi. Her hair was longer, and her face thinner. Her eyes were almost dull in the half light from the stormy sky. She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.
"Hard summer, Lils?"
The redhead nodded.
"My sister got married to an absolutely horrible man. If I didn't know he was one hundred percent Muggle, I would think he was a Death Eater."
Cassi raised an eyebrow.
"He's really that bad?" Lily groaned and leaned back.
"You have no idea!"
"How do you know he isn't a Death Eater?" a new voice chimed in. Both girls turned to see the new addition to the compartment. Alice Carr, her brown hair in a bob around her face, stood in the doorway.
"Alice!" exclaimed Lily.
"Hey!"
Alice smiled, bitterly.
"How do you know he isn't a Death Eater?" she repeated.
Lily looked confused.
"He's about as Muggle as its possible to be, doesn't even like the idea of aeroplanes flying, says they don't belong in the sky."
"Well, he could be lying, couldn't he? I mean, everyone is like that now, lying to you to get what they want, using you, and just when you think you can trust someone, they go and blow you up. Isn't that the way this world works now?"
Lily was taken aback by Alice's rant.
"Well, I suppose, but…."
Cassi didn't stay to hear the rest of the conversation. She walked out into the corridor. Making her way through the stream of people, most familiar, she realized there were faces missing. It seemed that several students had been kept home. This made Cassi's heart lurch. It really was as bad as they said in the papers. The Sinclaires were, of course, pureblood royalty, and therefore untouchable to Death Eaters.
Cassi was shaken out of her reverie by the familiar voice of Peter Pettigrew.
"Cassi?"
She looked up and smiled.
"Hi Peter, hey Jade. Did you have good summers?"
Jade blanched and Peter looked down.
"Jade's, uh, mother was killed."
Cassi's hand flew to her mouth.
"Oh God, Jade, I'm sorry!"
The girl gave her a watery smile.
"It's fine, we weren't that close. But it does make you worried."
Cassi watched the pair retreat down the corridor, frown on her face. Another death. How long would this horror go on? Voldemort had been active since she was eleven, but it had never been as bad as this. Never been to the point that people were afraid to send their children to Hogwarts. It had been six years, but Voldemort was still at large. People were even beginning to call him "You-Know-Who". And everyone did know who.
"Cassi. Space cadet, what's up with you, yo? Dawg, she's way out."
Cassi looked up, eyebrow raised.
"James. You're British. Stop acting like a low class American."
James smiled.
"I thought I pulled it off rather well, if you ask me."
"I wasn't asking you. I was telling you. You have to have an American accent to pull off that dreadful sentence."
"Alright, Miss Sour Sara, ruin my fun."
"James, my name is Cassi. Not Sara. I would expect you to know this by now."
James threw up his hands.
"I give up! Fine, Miss….Candid? careful?"
Cassi rolled her eyes, and walked down the corridor, James following her, trying to think of adjectives that started with a c.
Cassi continued down the corridor before she got bored. She turned around, figuring it was safe to return to the compartment and avoid tears.
Cassi entered, followed by James, to see Lily and Alice laughing. Both girls looked up, smiling. Lily's smile faded when she saw James. An awkward silence followed while James thought, Lily glared, and Cassi and Alice tried to figure out how to avoid a fight. Finally James burst out with:
"Cambrian! Cambrian Cassi!"
The three girls stared at him. Lily turned to Cassi.
"Do I want to know?"
Cassi shook her head.
Cassi was at her wits end by the time she had reached the castle. Alice was pouting about something, Remus was waxing philosophical about the implications of Voldemort's actions on their society, Lily was making snide comments about James, who was still trying to think of C-adjectives, Peter would not shut up about how worried he was about Jade, and Sirius kept looking at her.
By the time the seven of them had sat down, Cassi was ready to commit murder.
"Cancroid Cassi!"
"Do you even know what that means?"
"Do you think Jade will be safe over Christmas hols?"
"Voldemort's actions, anthropologically speaking, show signs of a declining society."
"You'd need to look up the meaning of the word 'it', I bet."
"I mean, she lives alone with her aunt now. That's got to be an easy target."
"This implies, of course, that we, as a society, are on a steep decline into complete regression of civilization."
"Candescent Cassi!"
"James, that's a Muggle term."
"I mean, she is only a half blood."
Sirius chose that moment to glance over at Cassi again.
"SHUT UP!" she bellowed. Half the hall fell silent in shock. Cassi Sinclaire did not normally yell. Professor McGonagall stormed over.
"Miss Sinclaire, detention tomorrow, I should think."
Cassi groaned and put her head down. This year was just getting better and better. And to make things worse, everyone resumed their former trains of thought, only now, Lily was nagging her about her detention. Sirius looked at her again.
"Caseous Cassi!"
Just in case you're wondering, all the adjectives that James uses are actual words. This is what dictionaries are for. They don't make sense, but hey, its James.