The time spent in the tree broomstick had been more enjoyable and passed by faster than Cassie thought it would have. At first, they talked about how her school year was going so far. They started talking about the classes, which was her favorite and what had been his, and then they changed the subject to the teachers.

Rabastan wasn't surprised to know that the slug club was still up and going, as he himself had been a member of it. As they got closer to the bottom of their glasses, they switched to a subject they both enjoyed very much, namely quidditch. A topic they held going even as they left.

"So the first quidditch match is what, at the start of November?"

The dark-haired girl turned her head slightly towards Rabastan as they walked down the street in Hogsmeade. Slightly raising an eyebrow, she looked at him in confusion.

« Well, yeah. How do you even know that?»

The corner of his lips raised slightly as he looked at her for a moment, silently admiring the way her dark hair fell.

«I used to be on the quidditch team, remember?»

Cassie felt her face flush as she put her hands into her pockets and silently cursed herself. Of course she remembered that, he had been the quidditch captain on the Slytherin team during his seventh year, although she had been two years younger, she remembered because he had been rather brilliant. Not that she would ever tell him, though.

«Besides, Regulus told me.»

A few seconds passed, and Rabastan turned his gaze towards her when he noticed that she didn't answer. His dark eyes met hers, and noticed that her face had gotten a few shades lighter than normal. Though he wasn't entirely sure if it was surprise or slight terror that covered her face at the moment

«I'm sorry... could you repeat that?» Cassie stuttered out in disbelief, honestly not wanting to believe what she had just heard. A slightly nervous grin covered the boy's face, as his eyes looked anywhere but at her for the moment.

«Your... well... your brother told me.»

«You've been writing with my brother?»

He cursed himself at the moment, as his hand found its way unconsciously to the back of his neck and scratched it lightly, a rather unpleasant and improper habit, as his mother had said, that appeared whenever he was nervous.

«Yeah...»

Cassie furred her eyebrows in confusion. As far as she knew, there was no reason for the two of them to be writing to each other as they were a few years apart in age and didn't have the same social circles that she knew of.

«Why?»

Rabastan looked a bit embarrassed, if not a bit uncomfortable at the sudden question.

«He wanted to know about my intentions towards you.»

Cassie fought internally to keep the grin from appearing on her lips and decided to see how long she could drag this teasing out.

«And?»

«And what?»

A teasing smile covered her lips as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She was rather enjoying the vague redness that was emerging on his cheeks. In a way, it was strange seeing him like that.

«do you have any intentions?»

Suddenly his facial expression changed, no more where the slight redness to his cheek. However, an equal teasing smile was placed on his lips along with a slightly playful glint in his eyes, one that matched Cassies.

«Not at the moment, no.»

«Oh, dear, you better not let my mother hear that."

They smiled at each other for a moment before letting their laughter fill the air around them, causing a few fourth year Ravenclaws to look their way before returning to what they were doing.

Looking up, Cassie saw the sign for Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop and slowed down; she pointed at the shop, making the older boy lift his gaze slightly up.

"Do you mind if we take a quick trip in here? I ... need some new ink."

Rabastan eagerly nodded his head, the slight wind that had been earlier had started to pick up, and he was positive his ears were the same color as Cassie's cheeks. While entering, they immediately felt the warmth surround them, and the lingering smell of ink filled the air. It honestly wasn't until then they noticed how cold it had gotten outside.

However, the sight that met them when they came in was one Cassie didn't expect. Right in front of them by the cashier stood her brother and a delighted looking Remus, who was paying for what Cassie thought to be his new quill and ink.

Moving her eyes a bit lower, she noticed the Honeydukes bags that Sirius seemed to be carrying and thought back to earlier that day when she had seen them there.

Turning around, Remus's eyes widened slightly, though relief filled him.

"Thank Merlin," he muttered slightly under his breath, relieved that they didn't have to sneak up on them or accidentally bumped into them. All the chocolate in the world couldn't make up for Sirius's bad excuse for acting. It wasn't that he was terrible; he was rather good. It was just the fact that he could never really manage to act 'normal' and always got more dramatic than needed.

"Hey, guys."

A smile spread across the sandy-haired boy while his eyes were filled with something that Cassie couldn't quite explain.

Sirius turned around at his friend's voice, a smile growing on his face thinking that the two other members of the Marauders had gotten back from Spintwitches Sporting Needs. However, surprise filled him when he locked eyes with his sister.

Although almost quicker than lightning, his eyes immediately found the dark ones of the person next to her. He let his gaze linger slightly on the other boy's face for a moment, taking in the dark hair that was somewhat messed up from the wind, his eyes which held a surprised but soft look nowhere near the glare that Bellatrix and her husband were so usually fond of.

"Rabastan"

"Sirius"

They sent each other a nod, but it was obvious to anyone near them that the two boys were sizing each other up and down. Sirius, for apparent reasons, and Rabastan because he didn't quite like the way Sirius was looking at him. Although he was usually good at reading people, looking at the younger boy was like staring at a wall. No response what so ever.

Remus and Cassie shared a slightly concerned look, wondering if this would end at the hospital wing or worse. However, what happened next shocked them both.

Sirius extracted his arm, and a polite smile covered his face. Rabastan's eyes lingered on his hand for a few seconds before he stretched his arm out and took the younger boy's hand and shook it.

«Well, it's nice to meet you somewhere a little more civilized."

A smile filled Rabastan's face as he slowly felt relief fill him. Though he wouldn't say it, at least anywhere near his family, he carried a small admiration for the younger boy, who, even though disowned, followed his own heart and made his life his own.

"Likewise"

He shifted his gaze to the shorter boy. Although he hadn't properly met him before, he remembered seeing them along with the Potter boy and another boy running along the hallways, causing mayhem and mischief back when he attended Hogwarts.

"I don't believe we've met. I'm Rabastan Lestrange."

Remus took the older boy's hand while smiling, feeling very proud of the dark-haired boy standing next to him.

"Remus Lupin. Pleasure"

Cassie looked around for a moment, trying to catch the view of the two other Marauders. However, she concluded that the boys were alone; thinking back to it, she hadn't seen the other pair when she passed Honeydukes earlier.

"So, are you two on a date?"

Sirius's face immediately flushed a dark red, matching boy next to him. The words leaving Remus's mouth came out a stuttering mess while Sirius refused to look at his sister running his hand through his hair.

"Wha— no, we're not... James and Peter.. were.. we are meeting.. later."

Cassie had to bite back a laugh that threatened to leave her lips. Seeing her friend's embarrassment and feeling as proud of herself as only a younger sibling could, she decided not to torture them much longer.

"Well, we're not gonna hold you up. See you later?"

Moving slightly to her right, she made room for the duo to pass by them.

"Well, it was nice meeting you two."

Rabastan called out to them as they got closer to the entrance door. Surprise flashes across Sirius's eyes for a moment before a genuine smile grew on his lips.

"You too. We should do it again sometime."

Remus said his goodbye and caught Cassie's gaze momentarily before they left. The wink she sent towards him made his cheek even redder as he quickly looked away and silently cursed her.

Though Cassie was looking at the duo and smiling proudly, Rabastan was looking at her. Taking in her appearance properly for the first time that day, seeing as she was entirely occupied by something else.

Her brown eyes bore a teasing glint that was mirrored in her smile, dark curls framing her pale face, and even in a simple sweater and jeans, he thought she looked very nice. Maybe it was something the Black family possessed, an unnatural gift of looking good in anything, or perhaps it was just her.

Done basking in her brother's embarrassment, she turned towards Rabastan, meeting his gaze, as he was already looking at her. Though she wasn't sure what it was, an unexplainable feeling grew in the pit of her stomach, and she felt a slight warmness rise in her cheeks. It was a feeling that Cassie herself wasn't quite sure was a good or a bad one.

It seemed like it was a universal truth. If one of the Marauders was going down, so was someone else. She gave him a swift smile before making her way over to the quills, desperately trying to both calm and hide the blush on her face. However, her hiding efforts were useless, as Rabastan had already seen it and was walking around with a slightly arrogant grin on his face.

After spending a good fifteen minutes looking at the different quills and comparing them, Cassie was pleased to say that she exited the shop with two new quills and five bottles of ink, for, as Rastaban said, you never know if you might spill some of it. At this, Cassie only shook her head and let out a small smile while thinking if you only knew.

They spent the next hour just wandering about, talking about most things and some not so important things. Cassie was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to talk to him and was pleasantly surprised all together when it came to Rabastan.

"Well... I had a good time today."

She met his eyes and smiled when she saw that he was already smiling at her.

"Yeah.. me too. I well... I hope we can do this again."

Cassie felt her smile grow even more prominent than she thought possible and nodded her head.

"I'd like that very much. I'll send you an owl about our next Hogsmeade trip."

Putting his hands in his pocket, he looked a bit hesitant before speaking again.

"I'm also glad that I properly got to meet your brother. I can see how much he means to you."

"Thank you. It really means a lot to me that you feel that way."

It meant more to her then she would let him know. However, a little thought struck her before he left.

"Could you perhaps not tell my mother that you met him? I wouldn't want to make things more difficult.. for anyone."

A look of what seemed like understanding covered his face before he sent her a brilliant teasing smile.

"Don't worry. I'll just tell her about my intentions towards you."

"You're signing your own grave. You know that, right?"

A soft chuckle left her as she watched him lightly shrug his shoulders and raise his eyebrows.

"But wouldn't the reaction be fantastic?"

That she had to agree with, it would have been fantastic. Though she had to admit that this day too had been fantastic, even more so than she thought it would be.

Rabastan Lestrange was certainly not the person she thought he was, and she liked that.

A lot.