Cadence

Sirius gets his revenge upon her only a few days after she left him frozen at the base of the dungeon stairs.

She'll give him one bit of appreciation for the fact that it wasn't done in a way that would be clearly targeted upon her. Thus she could excuse it as she was simply one of the few unfortunate souls of Slytherin house to be covered in honey and feathers walking out of the common room.

Granted she was the first to walk through when it went off, and certainly hit the worst by the prank. Both facts she doubts are coincidences.

A fact Regulus does note upon when she finally makes it down for breakfast after cleaning herself off and drops onto the bench. "I could always write home," he muses, reaching over and plucking an apparently missed feather from her hair. "Mother would have a howler here faster than the snitch."

"Don't bother," she leans forward and grabs some toast, "it was a stupid and childish prank, and I just was unlucky enough to be the first through the door when it went off."

"I wouldn't put it past my brother to target you because he's miffed at me for whatever new reason he's come up with," Regulus glances back over his shoulder towards the Gryffindor table and Cadence can't help but turn to follow his gaze to Sirius who's laughing loudly alongside his friends.

Though he does happen to catch her gaze and give a little wave that radiates smugness.

"Sometimes it amazes me how we're related," Regulus huffs turning back around and pouring some pumpkin juice. "I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if he was actually a changeling or something. It would explain his incessant need to rebel against everything, especially our family."

She sighs, "don't pay it any mind, Reg." She bumps his shoulder just the slightest. "Focus on classes, and quidditch, and the things that make you happy and that you're brilliant at." She smiles, "if you pay him any attention he'll just get worse."

Regulus nods, "still, I'd prefer you not get dragged into his mess."

"I can handle myself just fine," she waves her toast in dismissal of his worry before taking a bite. Regulus nods and she peers just the slightest bit over her shoulder, "and I will handle it all myself."

It posed an interesting challenge before her.

Just as his pride had demanded revenge, hers requires retribution.

While on the one hand if she ignored his childish prank and acted as though it didn't affect her in the slightest —which it really didn't, aside from the short inconvenience it had caused— it was likely that he'd give up whatever spark of interest had grown her way and soon enough she'd be free of the nuisance that Sirius Black has become to her.

But, he would have won in a way. And get rid of the idea of being a bigger person, the bigger person also could become the bigger target if they do nothing.

So, again the only path was getting reciprocity. An eye for an eye, never-mind the second half of that sentiment.

But she wouldn't lower herself to childish pranks. Nor was she willing to outwardly play into his game.

Because if she were to openly, even if just to the pair of them, get him back then that would only escalate things as he would simply continue to target her in likely more isolating and growing incidents. His curiosity would not fall away as she wishes it to and instead she'd be stuck with the thorn of Sirius Black in her side for far longer than she ever wanted.

Thus, she must find a way to make him pay that did not lead back to her directly. That perhaps he would come out the other side of still believing he got the last word and that she simply was ignoring his act of rebellion and soon enough he'd lose interest. But she'll still have the private satisfaction of having won against him.

A thing she could very well live with happily.

So, the first step was to observe him, though not in any way that is noted. Just quiet observation of his day to day in search of the most opportune path.

It's near three weeks before she spots it.

Out in one of the courtyards while she's sat with Regulus and some others chatting around her. She had been reading one of her books for ancient runes when she'd noted Sirius and his gang of friends wandering through the courtyard. She didn't move, or really look up from her book, but she watched as he and the rest of them sat out upon some of the grass and chatted amongst themselves.

And then she saw Hallie Jetson, a 5th year Ravenclaw, go up to Sirius and start speaking with him.

Cadence watched, while flipping the page in her book as Sirius flashed a rather brilliant smile up to the girl who laughed and blushed. Cadence watched as Sirius eventually stood, to the jeering of his friends, and went walking off with Hallie.

Cadence watched, and smiled just the smallest quirk of her mouth down at her book as a little plan began to form in her mind.

It was only a week later that she got it all together and implemented.

In that time she collected what she needed to make it all work.

First, she worked on enchanting a quill to copy another persons handwriting. Then of course she got herself something with Hallie's writing upon it. The older girl had taken Ancient Runes the year before and never threw away notes, so it was simple enough to ask to borrow her old notes to supplement Cadence's own.

Then there was the somehow even simpler task of just having the simple note with a time and location dropped in Sirius's lap.

Though, it was both simple and the slightest bit complicated. Because there had to be no way to link the note to her, and thus it was dropped in his lap out in the courtyard while Hallie was walking by and Cadence was nearby but not anywhere that Sirius would see.

She watched as he read the note and glanced about, and by chance because Hallie was nearby and clearly smitten thus she smiled when he did.

The final part was the where and the result.

There is a well known hallway that out of the common good and undiscussed agreement of the student body was left alone by the Prefects during most nightly patrols. Now that didn't mean it was never patrolled, but typically it was left alone out of some semblance of student solidarity for the sake of those who wanted a spot to meet up after hours for obvious reasons.

So it would hardly be risky for Sirius to go to that stretch of hallway after getting a note asking him to meet there after hours.

Of course, another well known fact was that Slytherin prefects would hardly ever give up a chance at giving Gryffindors detention.

And so, Cadence lets slip to Slytherin prefect Evan Rosier that a very well known, and disliked, Gryffindor would likely be in said usually empty hallway that evening.

And then, all Cadence had left to do was wait.

When the next day came around, she was quite happy to learn that Sirius Black had been caught alone after hours and received detention for it.

And Cadence felt quite content with her retribution, and with the fact that it seemed Sirius was none the wiser to her involvement in it all and his attention was moving away from her with her apparent ignoring of his own actions.

For at least for a good two weeks it seemed to have worked perfectly, until he dropped down across from her at her table in the library and smiled wide and wolfish her way.

"I'll give you props," he states leaning forward onto the table and resting his head in his hands. "I didn't have a bloody clue at first."