Chapter 5-

"Hey Roch-"

"Can't talk now, Cass," Rochie replied, in a rush to her Ancient Runes class. Cassie sighed. Rochie had a rather tight schedule. She shrugged and continued to the North Tower.

"Ah, welcome my Seer," said Trelawny. Cassie smiled and entered the room, which smelled of incense.

"How are you, Professor Trelawny?" Cassie asked politely.

"Oh, quite well, I must say." She looked Cassie deeply in the eyes, and that always made her shiver, as though Trelawny were trying to look into her brain. She led Cassie over to the crystal ball.

"Just as I thought," she said.

"Hm?"

"Oh, just watch yourself, I see a roadblock in your easygoing state of mind."

"Alright," Cassie replied.

During the class, Cassie couldn't help but feel rather hot and stuffy. It had to be, what, ninety degrees? Also, this tower always made her feel rather dreamy and dazed. Luna had told her on Saturday that some places make you feel alive or relaxed. So maybe it was just the whole environment, but Cassie couldn't help but wonder about Luna.

After Cassie had spotted her in the tree, they sat together on a branch, soaking wet but comfortable. Luna definitely had something mysterious that drew Cassie closer to her.

For some reason, Cassie didn't really want to tell Rochie about Luna. Everyone called Luna 'Loony,' but to Cassie, she seemed a lot more smart than most. It's ignorance that leads to prejudice, like how Hogwarts was about Luna, but she didn't seem to mind. Luna and Cassie both knew Hogwarts wasn't ready for differences. Cassie hadn't told Luna she was gay yet, but she figured Luna wouldn't care either way.

Anyways, Cassie wasn't sure about why she was so interested in Luna. She simply had a magnetic illumination of mysterious strangeness. Cassie was actually fascinated with her. So she wouldn't bother Rochie with something she couldn't even explain.

Plus, Rochie was pretty out of it herself. Something was up with her. Maybe it was one of those things you can't understand inside yourself like Cassie had.

After class was dismissed, Cassie ran into a familiar face. "Cheyenne! How are you liking Hogwarts?"

"Oh, it's sweet," Cheyenne replied. "That Ron Weasley is quite a character. Ginny and I have become pretty good friends. Do you know Ginny Wealsey?"

"Yeah, she's nice." Cassie continued on to the Ravenclaw common room, where she discovered Rochie asleep on her own homework. Cassie observed her carefully to make sure she wasn't like, dead.

"Don't wake her," said a voice from the room that startled Cassie. Lurking in the corner was a boy wearing sunglasses, writing something.

"Hello Lukas," Cassie said. "Yeah, I wasn't waking her. Stress is mad this year, especially when you're taking as many classes as her. Oh, and she has insomnia."

He mumbled something that sounded like "Stalker of Stalker."

Cassie headed towards the portrait door. "I'm off. If you see Luna, tell her. . well, nevermind. Tell her hello for me. Have fun watching Rochie sleep."

He said nothing and acknowledged her with a nod of his head. Cassie didn't really know where she was heading, but she figured maybe she'd find something interesting to do.

Didn't there used to be a passage somewhere around here? She didn't really recall. If only I knew where the Room of Requirement was. I could make it something interesting.

Cassie felt her skin go pale as she saw a person approaching from the other side of the corridor. She hoped it wasn't who she thought it was, but if it was, she couldn't turn away now that she had seen her.

"Cassie," Marina said, with some bit of cold slipping into her words. "We need to talk."