A/N Sorry for the delay in getting Chapter 4 up. Cass' comp died and she types everything. Needless to say, it took awhile. But it is here, and finally the plot is developing!!
Looking In
Rated PG-13
By: Handsofftheshinyshirtitsmine
Co Author: Cassie aka cumbacksirius
Chapter 4
Dee and Cassie hurried into the cave and quickly surveyed their belongings.
"My notebook…" Dee whimpered, kneeling down and immediately noting the pad's absence. Frantically, she tossed a few of the books aside, attempting in vain to locate it. "It's gone!" Cassie looked to where her friend was crouching.
"What was in it?" Cassie finally asked, noting her friend's concern.
"Mostly random musings." She replied.
"Was there anything that would…" Cassie however couldn't finish her sentence as Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked into the cave. "Hi," Hermione greeted them cheerfully. Cassie turned around, startled, but kindly returned the niceties.
"We thought we would bring you some food," Ron said, handing Dee another bundle.
"Thank you." She said sincerely.
"Also we thought you would like something comfortable to sleep on." Hermione added, strolling over to two large rocks. "These will do," she flicked her wand and two feather beds appeared. Cassie and Dee stared in awe at the furniture. "As for fire, you will have to make your own." The brown-haired girl informed them. Cassie and Dee nodded. "Well I have classes," she said, heading towards the cave entrance.
"Bye," Dee called. Hermione smiled over her shoulder and walked out.
"Don't you guys have classes?" Cassie inquired of the boys.
"We have a free period." Harry answered. Ron looked at Dee, whose smile had abruptly faded. "Dee, what's wrong?" he asked. Dee began to tell the story of what had happened to them that morning, unconsciously omitting her tale of falling in the other caves.
"Was there anything important in your notebook?" Ron asked.
"Well…" Dee began, her cheeks tingeing crimson. "…Umm… I did write about you kissing me." Ron gulped and nodded, blushing furiously, while Cassie fought back a round of giggles.
"Well, we better be going…" Harry began but Ron jumped in "We'll be back later." He managed.
"Bye, Harry" Cassie said sadly, her happy demeanor disappearing.
"Bye" he replied. Dee looked at Ron who waved sheepishly. She waved back as the boys left the cave.
"Lets clean this mess up." Dee suggested, looking at the mess of books and clothing. Cassie nodded. The girls began picking up, carefully brushing off each item before placing it into a bag.
Cassie again was holding the leather bound book, but quickly put it away as Dee came towards her.
"What was that?" Dee inquired, raising her slim eyebrows curiously.
"A book," Cassie retorted.
"I don't remember seeing it before." Dee thought out loud. "Lets read it!" Her entire body showed her excitement.
"I'm not in the reading mood," Cassie lied, remembering what had gone on the last time she opened the book.
"Okay we'll read it later." Dee agreed. Cassie nodded knowing a compromise was better than arguing with her stubborn friend.
Dee watched as Cassie placed the huge volume gingerly on one of the feather beds, immensely curious to her friend's mysterious mood concerning it. She then picked up the same pink and white sneaker Ron had returned to her the day before, a grin playing on her lips. "Hey Cass…" she called out suddenly. Her friend jumped, and then laughed nervously.
"Hmm?" she asked, looking back at Dee, whose face was content and thoughtful.
"What do you think of Ron?" She inquired quietly, causing Cassie to smile broadly.
"Ooh does Dee have a crush?" Cassie quipped.
Dee blushed and shook her head. Cassie smiled, knowing her friend enough to understand she was lying. "He's nice; what about Harry?"
"Talk about me having a crush!" Dee exclaimed. "I've seen how you look at him, how you swoon when he comes near!" She chucked her shoe in Cassie's direction with a snort. Cassie leapt to her feet with a shriek, and tossed a pillow from the bed at Dee.
"Shut up!" she yelled, her face bright. Dee caught the pillow mid-air and turned it back on Cassie.
Minutes later the two girls fell onto the separate beds, feathers whirling about them as they caught their breath and laughed.
"…No.. really Cass…" Dee managed. "…Harry's cool…" she rolled over, pulling her arms underneath her head to look at her friend.
"Ron definitely has a thing for you too." Cassie responded, understanding her friend's rather minimal ability to read guys.
"You think…?" Her friend whispered dreamily, causing Cassie to roll her eyes.
"He kissed you!" She exclaimed, looking at Dee.
"Yeah…I guess that's true…"Dee mused. "But he's not really my type." Her eyes closed thoughtfully. "…Really, actually, Harry really is!" She laughed softly, and Cassie joined in.
"Yeah, I can see that…you're into those nerdy ones!" Cassie choked out when she had sufficiently managed to catch her breath. Her friend was struggling to sit up, her stomach sore with her jovial laughter, and she grabbed at the headboard, pulling herself up with it.
"Well, Ron is kinda nerdy too…" she commented. She steadied herself against the pillows and glanced at Cassie. "…But no, he's more dweeby, isn't he?" At this remark, Cassie was overcome my yet another fit of giggles. Dee raised an eyebrow in the blonde's direction and grinned.
Soon afterwards, the comfort of the feather beds and the warmth of the multitude of blankets, wiled both into sleep, neither one having gained enough sleep the previous night.
Dee raised her hands, palms towards the sky, feeling the raindrops as they began to pour down upon her. She looked about her. Darkness was closing in quickly, encroaching upon the rock where she was perched like a think cloud. With the darkness came silence of an unnerving type. Dee, however, found herself to be completely undisturbed. The rain began to fall harder now, and she settled herself into a seated position, tipping her head backwards in order to feel the water on her pale skinned face.
The deer had long ago stepped from the forest in order to regard Dee with placid brown eyes. Now it strode fearlessly forward, placing its hooves onto the stone, its long muzzle inches from Dee's face.
Dee looked at it, not bothered as she reached out to touch the bloody fur and gaze into the suddenly dead eyes. Abruptly, the deer fell forward into her lap in a writhing heap, and lovingly, she embraced it.
Cassie looked at her friend as she awoke, startled.
Her eyes were huge with some unsaid horror, and she looked at her hands as though expecting them to be covered in something. Cassie had awakened almost an hour before, and she rose from where she was sitting by the fire, coming to her friend's side.
"Dee…" she whispered, taking her friends wrist gently and placing her hand onto the bed gently. "Shh… shh.. you're all right, it was just a dream." Dee turned her head to look at her, her expressing still one of shock, and she blinked.
"Cass…" she said softly. "I need to see that book."
Cassie reluctantly pulled the bag containing the aged volume out from beneath the bed, and removed it, handing it to Dee. Dee took it, and slowly opened the cover.
"Latin…" she whispered, trailing her fingers down the page. "Can you read it too?" Cassie nodded. Dee scanned the text, thumbing anxiously though the next few pages. "What do you think it means?" She asked, referring to the words at the very top.
"I don't know." Cassie admitted. "But I don't like it."
Both pairs of eyes fell onto the cave mouth as the deer slumped onto the cave floor.
A/N Well there's chapter 4. Finally I can leave it with a bit of a cliffy! Watch for Chapter 5 soon!
