A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed and especially those that review repeatedly! It means the world to me. So as a reward here's the next chapter.

Chapter 26: Passing Fancies

Cassi didn't say anything to anyone about Remus being a werewolf, she didn't mention her walk outside in the early morning and she got rid of her sweater that was stained with Remus' blood. As far as anyone was concerned, Cassidy had simply got up early and sat in the common room and Remus was at home visiting his mother.

Once he was released from the hospital wing, things were different between Remus and Cassi. It wasn't a bad different, actually it was good. There was a certain understanding between them, they were united by tragedy and pain, and that connection didn't go unnoticed by the others.

Sirius felt an odd jealousy towards his friend. Never had Sirius though he would ever be jealous of Remus Lupin, sure some girls liked him and he wasn't bad looking, but he was nothing compared to Sirius whose fame and admiration was far greater than Remus'. But now he felt a certain pang from the way Cassi looked at his friend, whenever their eyes met a smile would grow on both of their faces like they shared some sort of inside joke…but it was more than a joke, and every time that happened Sirius felt the desire to punch that smile right off Remus' face.

James had also noticed Remus and Cassi's somewhat strange behaviour. He didn't feel jealous, but more confused. Remus had told off Sirius for getting too close to Cassi and now it seemed that he was doing the same thing. James had to admit that if one of his friends were going to date Cassi he would much rather Remus and not Sirius. Still, there was something wrong about it. You can't tell your friend off for going after a girl and then go after said girl yourself. It just wasn't fair and quite honestly they would have to talk about it.

So one night, the Thursday that Remus returned from his trip, all the boys were up in their dorm getting ready for bed James decided he'd bring up the issue.

"Hey Remus what's going on with you and Cassi?" He asked noticing Sirius' head snapping up and Remus looking at him confusedly.

"What d' you mean?" He asked. All the boys were sitting on their beds now and Sirius looked at Remus madly.

"Well, you two just seem…closer" James said trying to explain himself without accusing Remus of anything. Remus just shrugged looking away trying to figure out what to say.

"Nothing's going on." Remus said. If they only knew what it really was, they wouldn't think…I don't think of her like that, she's like a sister to me and I'm like her brother, nothing more.

"Don't give me that crap. Obviously there's something going on, Lupin." Sirius practically snarled. "You can't tell me there's nothing." Sirius jumped up from his bed and moved toward Remus' finally losing whatever self-control he had. Luckily, James jumped up too and blocked Sirius.

"Sirius, mate, calm down, let's just talk 'bout this, we don't need anyone ending up in the hospital wing." He said as Remus too joined them standing in the middle of the room. Sirius calmed down a bit and no longer lunged at Remus. "Alright let's sort this out."

James pushed both boys back a bit to make sure they didn't start fighting.

"Right so Remus you say nothing's going on but you've got to admit it does look suspicious. I mean, we just told Sirius off for flirting with her and now-" James began looking at Remus, though Sirius cut him off.

"And now you're going after her!" Sirius said fuming.

"I'm not going after her! It's not like that at all! We're friends, that's it!"

"How can you go after a girl you know I fancy!" Sirius said so outraged that he didn't hear what Remus had said before. James and Remus turned to look at Sirius wide grins plastered on their faces and Sirius' eyes widened in shock as he realised exactly what he had said.

"You fancy her, huh? You fancy Cassi." James said with that stupid grin.

"Please don't kill me" Sirius said taking a half step back from the two boys who had once threatened him.

"About that I think, if you really fancy her, then maybe we shouldn't have said what we did." James said looking at Remus to see if he agreed.

"Yeah, I mean, we didn't know that you fancied her, we just thought you'd snog her and ditch her, you know. Honestly if we knew you fancied her…" Remus added with a smile as Sirius ran a hand through his hair awkwardly.

"So are you going to ask her out?" James asked. The threatening, intense atmosphere had completely evaporated, leaving one of comradeship.

"No, it's nothing, just a passing fancy." Sirius said walking back over to his bed.

"Like hell it is. Sirius you were ready to rip Remus' head off when you thought he had a thing with Cassi. You can't honestly say that it's just a passing fancy." James said scoffing at his friend.

"Well it is that's all it is."

"Really? So you'd be fine with me or Remus asking her out? What about that Ravenclaw she talks to, Carter isn't it? Would you be fine if she started dating Carter? If you saw him snogging her?" James taunted.

"I told you it's nothing." Sirius said as he shut the curtains around his bed.

"You know Sirius, for your sake, I hope you're right." Remus said as the other two climbed into their own beds.

The next morning the boys acted as nothing ever happened the last night. When they got down to the common room there was a large group surrounding the bulletin board, among them were the First Year Girls. Cassi broke apart from the group, a huge smile on her face as she approached her friends.

"I assume you guys haven't heard. The first Hogsmeade trip is this Saturday."

"Brilliant." James said as a half smile grew on his face. Just then, Lily walked over to Cassi apparently oblivious to the boys she was standing with. James, unfortunately, took this as the opportunity to act impulsively. "Lily, would you go with me to Hogsmeade?" He asked sweetly.

Cassi's mouth parted slightly as did the other boys'. Had Cassi not told them that Lily hated James? Lily apparently was just as shocked as the others.

"I-um…uh…" She stuttered as James looked at her smiling. Glancing around at the rest of the group, Cassi grabbed the other boys by the arms and dragged them away from Lily and James receiving a look of gratitude from Lily.

"Well, Lily, will you go with me to Hogsmeade?" James prompted still smiling.

"Um, n-no, sorry." She said walking away quickly as James' smile fell right from his face. Once Lily walked past, Cassi crossed the distance between her and James in a few strides and hit him upside the head.

"Ow, what was that for?" James said rubbing the spot where Cassi had smacked him.

"What the hell were you thinking James? I told you she didn't like you and then you go and do this?" She said gesturing with her hands to the current situation.

"I like her, you know. She's really pretty and smart and…"James trailed off dreamily as Sirius waved his hand in front of his best mate's face. After a couple moments James came to with a sheepish grin on his face. Cassi shook his head at him disapprovingly.

"Oh James, you should've talked to me before doing this. Did you ask Sirius for advice? Because he's not the one you should ask for advice."

"Hey!" Sirius said indignantly, but his comment went completely ignored.

"I didn't really talk to anyone, I just like her, so I thought…" The Marauders began walking toward the portrait hole for breakfast.

"James, I told you, I knew it! I knew you fancied her. And just by the way, never ask a girl out in front of other people. It makes it awkward to say yes and even more awkward to say no…She said no didn't she?" Cassi asked softly.

"Yeah, she did" James said pain clear in his voice. Sirius put a comforting hand on James' shoulder.

"Its okay mate, she'll come around. She's just playing hard to get, so you're going to have play never give up. She'll say yes, mate, just you wait." James nodded, some hope returning to his eyes, Cassi held her tongue, unwilling to crush her friends hope.

As they rounded one of the corridors on the way to the Great Hall, Carter, one of Cassi's acquaintances, and a few of his Ravenclaw friends were also walking slightly ahead of them to the hall. Upon seeing Cassi, Carter smiled and Sirius felt a corresponding jealousy flare within him.

"Hey Carter, did you hear about Hogsmeade?" She asked hurrying her pace to catch up to the Ravenclaws.

As they began chatting about the upcoming trip, James and Remus looked at Sirius who refused to meet their eyes, staring instead at Carter and Cassi as they smiled and talked.

"So much for a 'passing fancy'." James muttered to Remus who snickered quietly.

A/N: Let me know what you think, i wasnt too sure about this chapter, its definitely not one of my favourites. Review.