Disclaimer: All rights go to JK Rowling. Anything you don't recognize is mine.
Updated as of 4/9/2019.
Chapter Nine
The Alliance
Alice shook Cassie awake a little before one in the morning. Cassie grunted into her pillow, trying to escape the insistent hand, but bolted upright when said hand prodded her painfully in the side. She turned to glare at Alice.
"Could you be any gentler?" she asked, rubbing under her rib where she'd been poked. All she saw was the outline of Alice's smile in the dark.
"No," she replied sweetly. Cassie scowled as the shadow that was Alice moved toward the dormitory door.
"Remember, 1:13," Alice whispered before exiting the dormitory. Cassie grumbled inaudibly to herself, moving as quietly as she could as not to disturb Lily and Marlene.
She pulled on a pair of Muggle jeans and laced up the worn trainers she'd had since the beginning of last year, vowing to buy new ones soon if she could escape the ever-watchful eyes of her parents. She'd always preferred Muggle fashion (finding it much more practical and stylish) and though her mother was more lenient when it came to it, she knew her father would likely have a stroke if he saw her in anything other than wizard robes. But Hogwarts was the one place where she could wear anything she liked, and – suddenly feeling very rebellious – she crept out of the dormitory and stole downstairs, meeting Alice in the common room.
The brunette witch bounced nervously on the balls of her feet when Cassie approached. Her short hair was piled into a messy bun on top of her head, but her eyes were bright with excitement.
"So, I've been thinking about the hint," she said immediately, waving the slip of parchment in her hand. "And that line about the Hufflepuffs has to be important, right? So I think the kitchens are close to the Hufflepuff Common Room."
"Where even is that?" Cassie asked, stifling a yawn.
"I think it's a basement sort of thing, below the Great Hall," she said. "I've seen Hufflepuffs going to and fro after meals; there's a staircase they always come from, but I don't think it's a dungeon, like the Slytherins."
"If that's our only lead, then we should get going," Cassie said. "I'd rather not run into Filch tonight – or anyone else, for that matter."
Alice nodded, checking her watch. "It's 1:13. Let's go."
Despite her initial reluctance, Cassie felt a thrill of adrenaline course through her at the thought of sneaking out of the common room after hours for the first time. She followed Alice out of the portrait hole, creeping as quietly as they could as not to notify the Fat Lady, who was dozing contentedly in her frame.
The portrait stirred as they entered the corridor but otherwise remained asleep, and the two girls snuck around a corner before Cassie uttered, "Lumos." The tip of her wand illuminated with a bright but muted white light, bathing the corridor in a ghostly glow. She jerked her head toward the moving staircases.
"C'mon," she whispered. They started for the staircases, unaware that the Fat Lady's portrait had swung open once more behind them – though if one had looked, they would not have been able to see anything emerge save for a glimpse of a trainer belonging to Peter Pettigrew.
"Peter!" James whispered harshly when the blond boy tripped coming out of the portrait hole.
Peter glared at the admonishment. "'S not my fault you lot are giants compared to me!" he hissed, readjusting the edge of the cloak covering him so his feet were partially hidden. This proved to be more difficult than it had been in the past, however, as James, Sirius, and Remus seemed to have grown a head each over the summer. They could barely fit under James's Invisibility Cloak now.
"Stuff it, midget," Sirius said, blowing a piece of hair out of his mouth as they followed the retreating backs of the two girls ahead of them. "They're going to hear you."
Peter huffed in annoyance, though he didn't comment further as they turned the corner, Cassie Alderfair's wand lighting the way as the girls began to descend the trick staircases.
How they were going to descend seven floors and sneak into the basement level without being caught was beyond Cassie, but she decided to take it one step at a time, leading Alice through the maze of stairs with the ease of one who has had to deal with them every day for four years.
They hopped over the stairs that were sure to capture their legs if they stepped on them and held on when the staircases decided to change on a whim, but they were across soon enough and emerged on the sixth floor, pausing to listen before moving on again.
"Isn't this exciting?" Alice whispered, gripping Cassie's elbow as she grinned. "The castle is so different at night! Why have we never done this before?"
"Because up until now we'd managed to retain our sanity?" she said drily. She thought she heard the faintest snort from behind her, but decided she'd imagined it, as nobody else was there.
"We're so going to win," Alice said. "I can feel it, Cass; tonight is our lucky night!"
"Don't get too cocky," she warned. "We're only on the sixth floor."
"I wonder how many Hufflepuffs know about the kitchens," the other girl mused, ignoring her. Cassie rolled her eyes. She was trying to be alert for anything that would tell her someone was coming, but Alice's rambling was making it hard for her to listen. "I mean, the hint said that not many may know – but then how do the Marauders know?"
Cassie shrugged, choosing not to comment, but internally groaned when Alice kept talking.
"Oh, well, Hufflepuffs are an odd bunch," she said, waving a hand. "I still can't believe you went out with that one our third year – what was his name? David O'Leary?"
Cassie made a startled gagging noise. "Alice! You promised you would never bring that up again!"
"Did I?" she said, unaware of Cassie's burning face, and Cassie fought down the urge to strangle the other girl as she went on. "I mean, he wasn't so bad. Kind of cute, kind of sweet. Whatever happened between you two, anyway?"
Cassie swallowed. "My brother happened."
Alice's glee immediately shuttered. "Oh, Cassie, I'm sorry…"
"Don't worry about it," she mumbled. They lapsed into an awkward silence as they made it to the fifth floor, still with no sign of anyone, fortunately.
"You know, I never asked…" Alice started. Cassie braced herself for what was coming. "But, um, how are you handling it? Your brother, your parents…everything?"
Cassie shrugged, scratching her wand arm with her free hand and enjoying the distraction, however small.
"I'm not sure, really," she said slowly. "Last year, it was easy to pretend everything was still normal, I guess. Besides the rumors and all that, I could just imagine he was traveling abroad, like everyone else does when they graduate. But when he kept making it into the papers, every article talking about his activism in this anti-Muggle cause…it got harder. By the time we got home this summer…I didn't know who he was anymore."
Cassie didn't know why she was talking about this. She hadn't even admitted this much to Remus when they'd spoken. But for some reason being alone with her friend in a dark and empty corridor, with no one else around to hear, made it easier to say aloud. All the uncertainty, all the fear of judgment had somehow disappeared, and in this moment, she felt free enough to speak.
"My parents couldn't be prouder, though," she said, her lips curling in a bitter smile as she recalled their good-byes to Will. "My mum thinks he's a valiant hero. And my father…" She trailed off; her chest suddenly too tight. "Well, he accused me of being a blood traitor when he found out I didn't support You-Know-Who or my brother, so it's clear where he stands on the matter."
Alice stared at her, appalled. "He called you a blood traitor?"
"Yep." She shrugged again. "Not that I'm surprised, really; he always liked Will better. I think he was just looking for a reason to finally prove that."
"Cassie, I'm…" Alice trailed off. Cassie waved her hand.
"It's nothing to be bothered over," she said. "He won't disown me or anything. Mum would kill him if he tried."
"Still," she insisted. "I had no idea, Cass. I'm so sorry."
"It's my life," she replied simply. "Granted, it's pretty awful when you look at it from the outside, but things happen, y'know? No use crying over it."
They fell back into a stifling silence walking along the third-floor corridor, still oblivious to the four invisible boys trailing them, each one frowning and looking quite uncomfortable until James called for a halt.
He waited until the two girls had walked far enough ahead before he whipped off the cloak and turned to face the other three, his face set into an uncharacteristic frown.
"Did you hear that?" he asked – unnecessarily, as all of them had heard the conversation. "She stands up to her father, and in return, he calls her a blood traitor. A blood traitor."
He ran a hand through his hair, agitated. They all knew that 'blood traitor' was a term that struck a nerve within James, as his family had been accused of the same thing when they spoke against the pro-pure-blood cause despite being a pure-blood family themselves. He shook his head before his hazel eyes traveled to Remus.
"I get what you said now," he said when Remus looked back to him in surprise. "About understanding what she's going through. I…" He let out a large breath, shaking his head again and pushing his glasses up his nose. "She shouldn't have to go through that, for believing in what's right."
Peter nodded mutely, his eyes following the retreating light of Cassie Alderfair's wand.
Remus stared back at James, his green eyes solemn. "She needs allies," he reiterated.
James nodded before his gaze flicked to Sirius. The dark-haired boy was ashen, his grey eyes staring, unseeing. James put a bracing hand on his shoulder. "Pads, you all right?"
"My father told me the same thing," he mumbled, so quietly that James wondered if he was talking to himself. "He's called me a blood traitor, too."
James shook his shoulder slightly. "Sirius."
He finally looked to James, his face sliding back into the careful blank mask he wore whenever he wanted to hide his true feelings. James pretended not to notice, giving his shoulder a squeeze. "You good?"
Sirius nodded and rolled his shoulders as if to dispel whatever weight he was carrying within that moment. "Yeah. Let's just get this over with."
James threw the cloak back over them, and they hurried to catch up to the two girls, who were now on the second floor.
"So, what should we do in Hogsmeade next weekend?" Alice said, breaking the silence with some hesitation, though Cassie appreciated her effort to get things back to normal.
She lifted her shoulders in a noncommittal gesture, suddenly remembering her brother and her promise to meet him, and she racked her brain to think up a response.
"Oh, erm…" Alice was looking to her expectantly. Cassie blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "I'm not going."
Alice stared at her like she'd just announced plans to marry the giant squid. "Cassie, you love Hogsmeade! Why on earth would you not go?"
Cassie scratched her arm again. "Well, it's just been really stressful lately with all the O.W.L. stuff, and I thought I could use the downtime to catch up on all my work."
Alice shrugged, though she didn't look convinced. "Okay, whatever. I'll bring you back some Sugar Quills, yeah?"
"You'd be the best friend ever," Cassie sang, nudging the other girl's shoulder, but a sudden scuffling noise made her stop. "Did you hear that?" she whispered, whirling around.
Alice shook her head. "No. What was it?"
Cassie swept the light from her wand down the corridor, but there was nothing there but shadows. Some portraits on the wall grumbled and shifted when her light hit their frames. A group of knights sitting at a round table cursed at her, telling her to turn the light off, but she ignored them, her skin prickling with the feeling of being watched. After searching for a few more minutes and finding nothing, she grabbed Alice's elbow and hurried down the corridor.
"C'mon," she whispered. "We're over halfway there; let's just finish this stupid thing and get back to bed."
As they disappeared down the corridor, James slapped Peter on the back of the head.
"Ow!" the other boy complained, rubbing his head. "Seriously, Prongs? I just had to sneeze!"
"And you almost blew our cover!" James retorted. "Keep it in next time, would you?"
"Forgive me for following my own bodily functions," Peter said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"Shut it, both of you," Sirius said, irritated. "We're wasting time."
After what felt like an eternity, the two girls made it to the ground floor. The Great Hall yawned before them, but Alice tugged on Cassie's arm and silently pointed out the staircase she'd talked about earlier.
They started down it, the air turning warmer and sweeter the farther they descended – nothing like the cold mustiness of the dungeons Cassie had come to associate the underground with. They emerged into a short corridor where a stack of large barrels sat on the righthand side. The only other decoration was a still-life painting of a bowl of fruit, which Cassie stared blankly at.
"Read the hint again," she instructed Alice. The other girl complied, removing the parchment from her pocket and holding it up to the wandlight to read.
"Pears are the most ticklish of fruits. Wonder how many Hufflepuffs know the secret to get their loots?" she read before pouting. "I don't understand! I thought this would be the best place to find it."
"Maybe it is," Cassie said, studying the painting of the fruit. She went closer, her wand illuminating a pear sitting amongst the other fruits.
"Pears are the most ticklish of fruits…" she repeated. Then, feeling utterly absurd, she reached out and tickled the pear in the painting.
"Um, Cassie, what are you doing?" Alice asked.
But Cassie didn't answer as the pear let out a shrill giggle and morphed into a green doorknob. Alice stared, gobsmacked.
"After you," Cassie said, gesturing to the doorknob with a grin.
Alice reached out hesitantly, still looking highly skeptical, but turned the doorknob, allowing the picture to open and revealing a short tunnel much like the portrait hole to Gryffindor Tower. Casting Cassie a nervous glance, she climbed inside. Cassie followed behind, and her jaw dropped when she emerged from the end of the tunnel.
The room they entered was gigantic. A high ceiling and stone walls lined with gleaming brass pots and pans greeted them, with five large tables dominating the center before a brick fireplace, set in the exact positions as those in the Great Hall above. Cassie was blown away by the sheer size of the place and how it still managed to be cozy and cheerful at the same time.
"Hello, hello!" a tiny, breathy voice greeted.
Cassie and Alice looked down to see about a dozen house-elves scurrying towards them. Cassie expected them to be angry at their intrusion, or at the least bit alarmed, but the house-elves seemed ecstatic at their presence. The ones who weren't rushing their way were either cooking by the fireplace, whistling merrily and working dutifully, as others disappeared with loud cracks – off to tend to the rest of the castle, or something like it, she assumed.
"Greetings, young misses!" one house-elf said, bowing deeply, and the others followed suit. Alice looked overwhelmed but Cassie gave her elbow a reassuring squeeze; her family had their own house-elf by the name of Liddy, so she wasn't as shocked as the other girl when the house-elves looked up to them with round eyes the size of tennis balls.
The one who had spoken had the largest eyes of them all; a protuberant brown that matched the simple cloth toga he wore. "I am Pandy, young misses, at your service!" he squeaked.
Alice gave him a nervous smile. "Er…hello," she said. "I'm Alice; this is my friend, Cassie."
"Pleased to meet you, Miss Alice!" Pandy trilled, giving her a deep bow before turning to Cassie and bowing again. "And you, Miss Alice's friend, Miss Cassie!"
"Likewise, Pandy," Cassie said. She waved to the congregated house-elves and they positively squealed when she acknowledged them. "Hope we aren't disturbing you."
"Not at all, not at all!" Pandy said, ushering them in deeper to the kitchens. "What do you need, Miss Cassie, Miss Alice? Name it, and Pandy will be sure to provide it!"
Cassie motioned for Alice to speak. Still looking quite nervous with the way Pandy and the other house-elves were staring at her adoringly, she said, "Erm, well…there's this task, you see, and we were wondering if, um, you'd be willing to, ah…make us a lemon meringue pie? If it's too much of a hassle, don't worry about it, we can just—"
"'Tis no trouble, Miss Alice!" Pandy said as several house-elves dashed off to fulfill her request. "Take a seat, have some tea and biscuits! We will have your pie ready in a jiffy!"
They seated themselves at what would be the Gryffindor table. They'd barely sat before two house-elves bustled over with the tea and a platter of biscuits and set them down with bows, hurrying away again as Pandy went to join the other baking elves.
Alice looked around in awe. "This is incredible," she said, taking a sip of her tea and grinning. "I can't believe we actually did this!"
"No kidding," Cassie said, biting into her biscuit and sighing blissfully.
"Frank is going to freak when I tell him," she said. Cassie gave her a knowing smirk.
"Maybe you should bring him here one night," she suggested. "Make it an impressionable first date."
She winked and Alice blushed, sipping her tea instead of replying, though Cassie could tell she was smiling.
It seemed like no time had passed before Pandy rushed back with three other house-elves, a large lemon meringue pie hefted in their tiny arms, and Cassie's mouth started to water at how delicious it looked.
"Lemon meringue pie, as Miss Alice requested!" he announced as more house-elves arrived with plates and forks and napkins for the two girls.
"Thank you, Pandy," Cassie said. "It looks wonderful."
The house-elves nearly started to glow from her praise.
"'Twas our pleasure, Miss Cassie!" he said, bowing low, and the others followed suit as Alice scooped one slice onto a plate. "Please come again!"
"You can bet on that," Cassie said as she and Alice took two bites from the pie. She swooped in for the third before Alice could and smiled smugly at her.
The house-elves followed them to the door, Alice cradling the slice that was proof of her completion of the task and Cassie holding the rest of the freshly baked pie. They bid many farewells to the house-elves before the portrait closed behind them, leaving them in the Hufflepuff Basement.
Cassie couldn't keep the grin off her face. "I think I finally know what paradise is like, Al."
Alice snorted as they began to climb the staircase back to the ground floor. "Of course, your paradise would consist of food, Cass."
"Food is the only constant thing in my life. In fact, I'd marry it if I could—"
She was interrupted by a loud meow from above. They froze, peering to the top of the staircase where a mangy cat with glowing red eyes stared down at them, unblinking and unmoving.
"Oh, Merlin!" Alice whispered fearfully. "It's Mrs. Norris!"
Cassie nodded slowly, swallowing down the lump in her throat. "Which means Filch isn't far behind."
At the mention of the caretaker, Mrs. Norris swished away, letting out another croaky meow. Cassie seized Alice's elbow.
"Take the pie and run for the common room!" she hissed, gesturing to the plate in Alice's hands and hoping she would never have to repeat that sentence again.
"What about you?" Alice demanded.
"I'll distract Filch," she said, speaking over Alice's hushed protests. "Don't argue with me, Al! You have to win. Do it for Frank."
"Damn Longbottom!" she snapped. "I'm not leaving you to get caught by Filch!"
"I'm not giving you a choice!" Cassie growled. Her tone made Alice pause, looking between her and the staircase uncertainly. Cassie gave her a tiny push, mouthing Go!
"You are so going to pay for this!" Alice hissed before whisking out of sight. Cassie heard her fleeing footsteps ascend the stairs and looked down to the rest of the pie still in her hands.
Definitely should've thought about this a bit more.
As shuffling footsteps and heavy breathing announced the arrival of Filch though, she knew her capture would be inevitable at this point, and having a pie wasn't going to make that much of a difference. Squaring her shoulders, she emerged from the staircase, where Filch instantly pounced on her.
"You!" he shouted, pointing. Cassie stopped, heart pounding as Filch hobbled over, a lantern swinging in his hand and his grizzled face alight with a delighted grin. "Student out of bed! What a lovely night indeed, my sweet!"
It took Cassie a moment to register that he was speaking to his cat, who was winding around his ankles and letting out rusty purrs as those red eyes bored into her. She made a face back as Filch came closer, shining his lantern into her face.
"What were ye doing out of bed, girl?" he said almost gleefully. Cassie shuffled her feet.
"Er, I was…on my way…to the Hospital Wing," she lied, wishing she wasn't holding a whole pie in her hands as Filch looked down to it and grinned nastily.
"After stealing pie from the kitchens? I don't think so, little girl," he said.
"I didn't steal it!" she protested. "It's for…medical reasons."
"Oh?" Filch looked unimpressed, but she was desperate.
"You know, for that…time of the month?" She gazed at Filch imploringly.
He paused, his jowls quivering as he tried to put two and two together. Mrs. Norris meowed again, startling Cassie, but it seemed Filch could communicate with his cat on a strange level, for he immediately scowled and gripped Cassie's upper arm tightly.
"Nice try, missy," he sneered before dragging her down a side corridor, her heart sinking. "But you're not going to get out of this so easily."
He led her down a series of passageways that she could barely keep track of for the nausea building in her as she imagined what her parents would think. Throwing a quill was one thing, but being caught sneaking out of the kitchens after curfew was something else entirely. She doubted she would live long enough to see her O.W.L. exams.
Filch led her to a tiny office that resembled a broom cupboard, or possibly a medieval torture chamber as she glimpsed the rusty chains hanging from the wall. The caretaker shoved her into a chair, the pie still in her hands, and he smiled grimly at her notice of the chains.
"A shame we aren't allowed to properly punish students anymore," he said, sitting down behind a shabby desk and pulling out parchment and ink, a quill poised in his hand. "Those were the golden days, when nasty little brats like you got to hang from the ceiling by their toes if they were caught roaming the castle after hours. Golden days indeed…"
He trailed off as he began to scribble a report, and all Cassie could do was sit there, her hands sweating as she watched the quill write. She jumped when something wiry brushed her leg and looked down to see Mrs. Norris gazing up at her, and she suddenly felt the strong urge to give her a sound kick. She loved cats, but Mrs. Norris seemed to be something else entirely.
The pie was growing heavier with each passing minute, and she sorely wanted to ask Filch how much longer this would take. Her adrenaline had worn off some time ago; now all she wanted to do was sleep, the novelty at having been caught by the caretaker gone.
Just as she opened her mouth to speak, there was a splintering CRASH from above. Dust floated down from the ceiling as she and Filch both looked up in shock. It sounded as if someone had dropped a grand piano on the floor above them. Filch's face instantly purpled with rage as more crashes followed the first, creating a racket that was sure to wake up the entire castle.
"PEEVES!" Filch bellowed, making Cassie jump in her seat and almost sending the pie toppling to the floor.
Filch was breathing heavily, his jowls quivering, and he swept up the lantern perched on the edge of his desk. He rushed out of the room without a second look at Cassie, Mrs. Norris streaking past him.
Cassie was left alone in Filch's office, baffled and quite unsure of what to do as the crashes continued to echo above her. She thought about swiping the report and making a run for it, but fear of the repercussions kept her glued to her seat.
No, she could do it. This was her only chance. If she could get away before Filch came back from reprimanding the poltergeist…
She stood up and grabbed the report with her free hand, disgruntled to see that he had spelled her name completely wrong: Casseopeea Adlerfare.
You'd think with having a Death Eater for a brother, people would actually know your name, but apparently not.
She had just crumpled the paper into a ball and shoved it into her pocket when a voice hissed, "Alderfair!"
Cassie spun toward the door, raising her wand in her non-pie-holding hand, but paused when she didn't see anything. Confused, she took a step forward, but nearly tripped over the chair when Sirius Black's head appeared out of thin air.
"Bloody hell!" she yelped, clutching the pie tightly when his head shot her an exasperated glare.
"Stop yelling," he snapped. "Filch'll be back any minute and I was given the lovely task of rescuing you. So shut it and get under here."
"Why are you invisible?" she asked, uncomprehending. Black rolled his eyes before his arm materialized as well and pulled her under the cover of something soft and lightweight. She saw the faint outline of a silvery cloak above her head and gaped when she realized what it must be. "Is this…an Invisibility Cloak?"
"No, it's just a blanket that happens to be invisible," he said sarcastically. Cassie turned to glare at him, though she probably didn't look that threatening considering she was holding a lemon meringue pie.
"Sorry for asking, Your Highness," she sneered.
He rolled his eyes again. "Will you please just come on so we can get out of here?"
Cassie gestured to the door. "Lead the way, my knight in shining armor."
He grumbled something under his breath she didn't catch, though she doubted it was flattering as she stowed away her wand and grudgingly followed his lead.
They crept out of Filch's office and found themselves on the first floor of the castle, narrowly avoiding the caretaker himself as he stormed past them, his face red with rage and practically spitting as he spoke.
"Just you wait, my sweet," he was ranting to his cat as he disappeared down the corridor. Mrs. Norris cast the hidden pair a look that told Cassie the feline wasn't fooled by the cloak, and she shivered uneasily. "One day, Peeves will get what's coming to him…oh, yes…"
He disappeared down the passageway to his office. Cassie felt a tug on her elbow.
"C'mon," Black said. "I'd rather not witness his temper tantrum when he finds out you've gone."
Cassie shuddered, grimacing. "Agreed."
They moved quickly down the corridor, heading for the second floor, not bothering to keep quiet when they were already hidden so well. They didn't speak, though Cassie found it becoming very hot under the cloak, their heavy breathing and proximity not offering much of a reprieve from the stuffy air. Her skin began to prickle too as the reality of her situation set in; she was trapped under an Invisibility Cloak with Sirius Black, of all people, who had just rescued her from the clutches of Filch. She was acutely aware of his sleeve brushing her arm every once in a while, or her foot accidentally kicking the back of his shoe as they walked, and she begged to be back in her dormitory, sleeping soundly instead of wandering the castle at night with Black.
When they made it to the sixth floor, he deemed it safe enough to remove the cloak. Cassie nearly got herself tangled in it as she flung it off, desperate to not be under there anymore with him. He folded it neatly across his arm, the silvery material glinting in the light he cast from his wand.
Cassie hefted the pie in her arms again, her muscles sore at how long she'd been holding it, and Black cast her a sideways glance when she let out a small breath of discomfort.
"You know, the challenge was to get one slice of pie, not the whole thing," he said snidely. She huffed in annoyance, wishing he wouldn't speak.
"Alice was the one to do the task, so she has the one slice," she said irritably. Black just nodded, clearly uninterested.
They lapsed into another silence, though she openly sighed when he made to speak again, which led him to smirk at her in an infuriating way.
"You're welcome, by the way," he said. Cassie glanced at him sidelong and didn't reply.
He sighed. "Usually a 'thank you' would suffice."
"You'll get my thanks when you earn it," she said coolly.
"I just saved your skin back there," he reminded her, none too modestly. "You owe me."
"No, I don't, Black," she said. "You didn't do that because you wanted to – Remus told you to do it, didn't he?"
She glared at him, daring him to lie, and she knew she had him when he just muttered, "He may have mentioned it in passing."
She scoffed, shaking her head. "Unbelievable."
His jaw twitched, but thankfully he said nothing else until they made it to the seventh-floor corridor and the portrait of the Fat Lady came into view.
"I was wondering why you weren't with your friends this time around," she said sternly to Black when they approached her. "You lot are going to keep me up all night at this rate."
Black gave her a charming smile that made Cassie want to vomit. "We're the last of the night, so don't wait up once we've gone in."
The Fat Lady sniffed. "I should change the password just for that."
"Ah, but you won't," Black said, winking. "You're far too gracious for that sort of thing."
She rolled her eyes, though she now turned her gaze on Cassie.
"I haven't seen you out after curfew before," she noted with faint surprise. Cassie grimaced when she went on. "Watch out for this one here," she said, nodding to Black. "Trouble likes to follow him wherever he goes."
"I got that much, thanks," Cassie said, her face flushing at the arrogant smirk Black tossed in her direction. "May we go in now, please?"
"Oh, fine," the Fat Lady huffed. "Password?"
"Doxy," the two said in unison, and they both made faces as the portrait swung open and they were allowed entrance into the common room.
"Blimey, there you are!" Potter exclaimed when he saw them. He grinned broadly from where he was sprawled across an armchair. "We thought you got caught!"
Black scoffed. "As if that would ever happen to me."
"Is that a pie?" Pettigrew asked, staring at Cassie with a sort of admiration in his gaze. She looked down, suddenly remembering the dessert in her hands.
"Er, yeah, it is," she said, frowning. "Dunno why I still have it, really."
Remus snorted, shaking his head. "Only you could make it out of punishment completely unscathed – with a pie, no less."
Cassie shrugged. "Duty before honor, I guess." She looked around at them all as she began to realize something. "Wait. Were you the ones to…do that thing, above Filch's office earlier?"
Potter grinned arrogantly. "Of course that was us, Princess. How else d'you think Sirius was able to get you out of there?"
Suddenly awkward and uncomfortable, she dipped her head and stared at her feet as her hair swung forward to cover her undoubtedly red face.
"You didn't have to do that," she mumbled. "I don't even know why you would help me, anyway."
Remus scoffed. "Because we were trying to look out for you," he said. "We couldn't let you get caught by Filch."
"But wasn't that the point of the game?" she asked. "Get other students in trouble so you all don't?"
Potter tsked, shaking his head. "What Moony here is trying to get at, but failing miserably at doing so, is that we're your allies now, Alderfair, whether you like it or not."
Cassie blinked, startled. "My what?"
She could feel the power of all their eye rolls slamming into her at once.
"Your allies," Remus repeated patiently. "We have your back, just like you'll have ours soon."
"That's presumptuous of you." She raised a skeptical brow. "Who says I'll be looking out for you?"
"Because you're in our debt now," Pettigrew said sweetly, smiling at her. "We got you in trouble with Binns, but we got you out with Filch. So, now you don't have a choice in being our ally, because you owe us. Big time."
Cassie stared at the mousy boy, making a mental note never to cross Peter Pettigrew in that moment; he was a crafty one, for sure.
She looked between all of their smug expressions, a sense of deep foreboding building in her chest as she realized that she did owe them. The Marauders – the most infamous group of pranksters in all the school – didn't have to take notice of her, much less help her out of deep trouble, but they had. For some reason, these four boys had decided that she was worth allying themselves with. She found herself speechless, wondering if she'd suddenly woken up in an alternate reality, where people actually tried to befriend her instead of whispering about her brother and steering clear. It was…unsettling, but at the same time, she wasn't necessarily certain that it was a bad thing.
On impulse, she held out the pie, finding it very hard to look any of them in the eye during that moment as she cleared her throat. "Um, I accept your alliance, with this…pie. I don't really know why I'm offering this, but think of it as my word, I guess."
"Offer accepted," Potter said, taking the pie from her grasp and giving her a small nod, that perpetual smirk still stuck to his face. "We now have an alliance, Cassie Alderfair."
"And you can tell Alice that she won her task," Remus added. "We'll have her prize ready tomorrow morning."
Cassie nodded. "Will do."
There was a slight pause until Potter stretched dramatically, yawning and handing the pie off to Pettigrew.
"Well, while it's been a fun night and all, I'm going to hit the sack," he said, gesturing upstairs, and the rest of them muttered in agreement. "'Night, Alderfair. See you tomorrow."
He gave her a cheeky wink. Cassie returned it with a small wave. "Er, 'night."
Pettigrew and Remus said their own farewells, trudging up the boys' staircase after Potter and leaving her alone with Black.
Not even acknowledging her, he started after them, but Cassie was suddenly seized by a strange urge to say something to him.
"Black," she called. For a moment she thought he wasn't going to stop; but he did, turning to look at her with a blank mask settled over his face and his brows arched.
"Er, thanks," she said lamely. "For, ah, you know…"
She trailed off, rubbing her arms, and he stared at her for a long moment before saying anything.
"Don't mention it," he eventually replied. But it wasn't dismissive; it was thoughtful, calculating, as if he were determining the best way to figure her out.
Self-conscious now under his scrutinizing look, she gave him a jerky nod and started towards her own dormitory, unaware of the many things that had been set in motion just from the simplicity of one action.
But the largest ripples begin with the smallest pebbles. And that fateful night just so happened to be the pebble to start it all.
This is still one of my favorite chapters from this story :')
Next Chapter: The Clockwork Locket
xx