Disclaimer: All rights go to JK Rowling. Anything you don't recognize is mine.

Updated as of 7/17/2019.

Chapter Sixteen

The Nosiness of Cassie Alderfair

She was, quite literally, a deer stuck in wandlight as the brightness emanating from Sirius's wand seared into her eyes, along with the petrifying images of catching two of her mates in an empty classroom in the middle of the night.

She mumbled something unintelligible along the lines of "ad-gah...der" before common sense finally kicked in, and she all but fled down the corridor the way she'd came.

Mortification such as she had never felt swelled inside of her, and she thought she might die from the severity of it, her mind unable to stop replaying the scene she had just witnessed over and over again.

It's all a dream. A very bad, disturbing, terrifying dream. Everything will be all right when I wake up. Oh, Merlin…

"Cassie! Cassie, wait!"

She quickened her pace, nearly jogging now as she heard footsteps chasing after her, and her embarrassment only grew when she realized that it was Sirius pursuing her.

She hooked a sharp left down the corridor, attempting to make it back to the ground floor and the relative safety of the dungeons beyond, but Sirius grabbed hold of her arm just then.

"I don't want to hear it!" she said shrilly, refusing to look at him as her face glowed redder than it already was. "I just want to pretend like nothing just happened and I didn't see you and one of my best friends doing...things!"

"Cool it, will you, Princess?" He sounded exasperated, but she couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes. "It wasn't anything serious, all right? You can stop acting like you've just seen me naked."

"Been there, done that, and this was infinitely worse," she replied, staring up at the high ceiling. He gave a deep sigh.

"Cassie, please look at me."

His tone was so calm, so soothing, that she dropped her eyes, meeting his silver gaze and swallowing nervously.

He looked gloriously rumpled, his hair disheveled and falling into his face, his cheeks flushed a lovely shade of pink. He hadn't buttoned the top buttons of his shirt, but she snapped her eyes back to his quickly before she could notice anything else, wishing the floor would open up and swallow her whole.

"There we go," he said softly, giving her a slight smirk that seemed to tighten something in her chest into a taut strand, quivering like it was ready to break. "It was no big deal, yeah?"

And just like that, the strand snapped.

"'No big deal?'" she repeated scathingly. His smirk wavered a little at her harsh tone. "Oh, I'm sorry, you must have me mistaken for some pervy third-year that just happened upon two older students getting it on in an abandoned classroom in the middle of the night! Not two of my mates who, until now, had no prior contact with each other as far as I knew!"

He frowned down at her. "Well, it was an honest mistake, wasn't it?"

She laughed bitterly. "I guess you're forgetting about the part where Lily, Alice, and Mar didn't speak to me for weeks because I was hanging out with you! And now here you are, shacking up with Marlene as if you didn't know what our row had been about in the first place!"

He put his hands up in a placating gesture, but dropped them when she appeared even angrier, her teeth clenching together with an audible snap.

"Look, Cassie, this isn't a recent thing," he said, sighing. "This started a few weeks before you and I officially became friends—"

"Like that's supposed to make it any better?" She was nearly yelling now, but she didn't care—how was he not seeing the fault in this? "Sirius, we weren't speaking for three weeks, and in all the time I was off gallivanting with you, you never once decided to mention oh, by the way, I'm hooking up with your mate Marlene?"

"I thought you knew, or she would have told you when you made up," he said, now looking thoroughly annoyed. "Stop pinning the blame all on me, all right?"

"I'll do whatever I damn well please," she snapped, jabbing her finger into his chest. "This isn't just about Marlene and your lies, either—you insulted my brother, and me—"

"Since when did I insult you?" he asked, bewildered. She threw up her hands in frustration.

"You don't know the first thing about me, Alderfair!" she mimicked in a high voice.

"You don't," he said darkly, gritting his teeth, and she scoffed.

"Obviously not," she retorted, "since I've never seen you act this way."

"Stop acting like you've got me all figured out," he snarled, and now it was her turn to be stunned. His grey eyes had morphed from a light silver to a darkened storm cloud, and the intensity with which they bored into her made her feel like lightning was sizzling across her skin.

"You said it yourself," he continued, "we've been hanging around each other, what? Three weeks? A month at the most, if you count the times you were there with my mates but we didn't speak to each other. And suddenly, you think that you know how I work, what's going on inside my head, but you don't. And if you knew anything about me, or my life, then you would understand why I don't trust your brother."

"Then let me understand!" she argued. "You're acting like you expect me to figure you out, mystery and all, yet you give me nothing to work with. I've told you and your mates things that I'm not even sure I should trust you with yet, so the least you could do is help me understand you."

There was a crackling silence between them, and Cassie just watched his face in the dim light of the corridor, his expression shifting too fast for her to decipher what he was thinking. She stared at the arch of his mouth above his lips, where her head rested just shy of the bridge of his nose, waiting for him to say something. He seemed to be struggling with himself, and another moment of silence passed in which he didn't say anything before she sighed, stepping away and shaking her head.

"Just forget it," she said. "I'm going to bed."

She turned and walked away, not even flinching when she heard him curse and start after her again. "Cassie, wait, dammit—"

"And just what are you two doing out of bed?"

They turned in the direction they had just come from, only to see Professor McGonagall staring them down with her formidable gaze. Cassie nearly groaned aloud at her rotten luck.

"Just on our way back from Slughorn's party, Minnie," Sirius said easily, though his tone was still flat and angry. Cassie gaped at his rudeness, staring between him and the stern witch fearfully.

Professor McGonagall raked her eyes over them, obviously noting Cassie's semi-formal attire and Sirius's ruffled appearance, and she seemed close to rolling her eyes.

"Well, get back to your dormitories, then," she said, gesturing them on. "And if I catch you two wandering the corridors again after curfew, I will be more than happy to assign you both more detentions."

With muttered apologies and hasty goodnights, they retreated to the common room, not daring to go anywhere else with their narrow escape from their Head of House. The going was tense, and she tried not to be aware of Sirius walking a few steps behind her, shoes scuffing the floor and hands in his pockets, though it was hard, as his aura seemed to radiate displeasure.

They made it to the Fat Lady, and after muttering a sullen "nimble wimble" the portrait swung forward and permitted them entrance. They climbed into the empty common room without speaking, but when she peeled off to the girls' staircases, Sirius gave a light snort from behind her.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, what?" she snapped, turning to face him and crossing her arms. He was still standing near the portrait hole, hands still in his pockets, and she dearly wished she could give him a nice shove in that moment.

"So, that's it, then?" he asked, eyes glittering. "You're just going to be mad at me now until you decide not to be?"

"Until you decide to stop being a git," she corrected.

"D'you even realize how dramatic you are sometimes?"

"That's rich, coming from the drama queen himself."

He sighed heavily out his nose, running both hands through his hair in agitation and looking like he was trying very hard not to hit something. Or her, specifically.

"Why am I even friends with you again?" He seemed to be asking himself more than her, but the comment still stung, nonetheless. As his words sunk in, she deflated in on herself, all the fight draining out of her body and leaving her exhausted and uncertain.

"I don't know," she said quietly. He stared at her strangely before his words clicked.

"Oh, fu—Cassie, stop, you know I didn't mean it like that." He stepped closer to her before halting, dropping his hands as she bit her lip, not knowing whether to be angry or break down.

He looked genuinely worried as he watched her, speaking in a rush. "Look, I—I'm not good at this, okay? I've never had a friend that's a girl—like an actual mate I can hang around with. And that—what I just said—was nothing, Cassie. Really. You're my friend. I'm sorry."

She held up a hand, cutting off his rambling when she could feel a headache coming on.

"It doesn't matter," she said lowly. "Can we—can we just talk tomorrow, Sirius? I can't do this right now."

He looked like he wanted to protest, but after seeing the silent plea in her gaze, he simply nodded.

"'Course," he said gruffly. "Er…goodnight, Cassie."

"'Night, Sirius."

She had just set foot on the bottom step of the staircase when his voice spoke up again. She paused to listen, though didn't turn back around.

"My middle name's Orion, by the way," he said quietly. She wondered if he was even still talking to her, but he had to be. There was no one else in the common room with them. "It's a small something to work with, but it's a start, eh?"

When she didn't say anything, she heard him start up the boys' staircase, before her soft voice reached out to him.

"Mine's Marie."

With the truce offered and accepted, they said nothing else, and parted ways for the night.

Cassie trudged up the staircase, walking slowly to her dormitory and cursing herself for ever getting involved with the Marauders and Avery—and Regulus Black now, apparently. Her life had been much simpler when she was still the Invisible Girl; sure, people would still know about her brother, still jeer at her for it, but they were strangers—people she could easily brush off at the end of the day. But now she was starting to regret ever opening up to Remus Lupin and allowing him and his mates to worm their way into her life like this.

Oh, come off it, she scoffed. Stop acting like such a prat. You know you wouldn't go back and change it now.

Though bizarre to think about, she had to agree with her little voice, and she suddenly felt guilty for ever thinking she was better off not knowing them. True, it had been a little more than a month since they'd become friends, but she was starting to genuinely like them, and perhaps that was why she had been so shocked and angry at Sirius.

He was a berk for not telling her, but at the same time, she knew that it shouldn't matter to her. What should matter was if he hurt Marlene in any way. Then he would regret the day he was ever born, if she had any say in the matter.

She was just reaching for the doorknob when there was a sudden scuffle from down the hall, and Marlene's anxious voice called out, "Cassie? Is that you?"

Stifling a sigh, since there was no use denying it, she said, "Yeah, it's me, Mar."

She felt Marlene's uncomfortably warm hands grasp her own before the other girl was already rambling, whispering in the darkness of the hall. "Cassie, I'm so sorry you had to see that. And I'm sorry for not telling you about Sirius and me sooner—I know you and he are mates now, so I assumed he would've mentioned something. And the whole thing with Lily—oh, Merlin, you must hate me now, I'm such a hypocrite—"

"Mar," Cassie said, cutting off her apologies, and the other girl's fingers tightened in her own. "Look, I'm not mad, okay? It's your life, you do what you want with it. But Godric, I wish one of you would've told me, so I didn't have to look like a complete fool." She closed her eyes, fighting off the headache that was slowly growing stronger and sighing. "Does Lily know?"

Marlene shook her head. "Not yet. But I'm going to tell her. Tomorrow."

"She won't be mad, Mar," Cassie said, hearing the worry in her friend's voice. "Not after me. And we swore no boy was ever going to come between us again, remember?"

"Yes, that's true," she said, sounding like she was trying to convince herself. "I'm still really sorry, Cass. You, erm, shouldn't have had to find out that way."

"There are worse ways," she said, shrugging. "Thank Merlin it wasn't the Prefects' bathroom or anything—"

"Ugh, gross, Cass." She shuddered. "You really know how to ruin the moment, don't you?"

"It's one of my specialties," she replied, smirking, before leading Marlene into the dorm. "Can we just go to bed now and pretend this never happened? I have a raging headache and I want to sleep it off."

Marlene nudged her with her elbow playfully. "All right. Goodnight, Cass."

Cassie shooed her off to bed, being careful not to disturb Alice as she changed into her nightclothes. Lily's bed was empty, and she assumed the other girl was still at Slughorn's party—another thing for Cassie to feel guilty for, as she'd left her there all alone and ditched James, as well.

Shrugging it off and promising herself she would deal with it in the morning, she climbed into bed and lay there for a while, staring out the window and trying to figure out why she felt so wrong.

"Wait, so Alderfair walked in on you doing what?"

Sirius grimaced at James's shock, not quite meeting his mate's eyes as he pulled on his Quidditch robes. Weatherly had insisted on an early Saturday morning practice despite them just having played a game two weeks ago, reiterating the point all morning that the outcome of the Slytherin versus Hufflepuff match next week would determine who they played next and that they should be prepared for anything. (Sirius quite liked the thought of Weatherly being prepared for his broomstick to be shoved up his arse, but that was his own personal preference.)

"Nothing serious," he said hastily, yanking on his boots. "McKinnon and I were just, y'know…snogging."

"Clothes on or off?" James asked. Sirius made a face at him.

"On. Sort of," he replied, smacking James on the arm with his glove when the other boy made disgusting kissing noises at him.

"And Alderfair saw it?" He dodged Sirius's next hit nimbly, frowning when Sirius nodded reluctantly. "Poor girl," he said sympathetically, mussing up his hair. "Is that why she looked so awkward at breakfast this morning?"

Sirius shrugged, frowning when he recalled the way her eyes had skimmed over him that morning as she'd walked with Marlene to sit with Evans and Fortescue. Marlene had given him an embarrassed wave that he'd returned with a nod, though his attention had been mostly on Cassie. She hadn't looked mad, to his relief, but she'd appeared faintly annoyed when Marlene insisted on taking her arm and chattering in her ear, a tad too forcefully.

James clucked his tongue. "Way to go, Pads. Now she's probably terrified of you sticking your tongue down her throat next—"

Sirius rolled his eyes, choosing to not even deign that with a response, but James went on. "And an empty classroom, really? No wonder why you got caught—I always take my birds up to the Astronomy Tower; no one ever thinks to look there—"

"Oi, Potter, Black! Are you two going to shut it or do I have to make you both run extra laps today?" Weatherly glared at them from the door of the changing rooms, already dressed in his Keeper uniform and looking like a boulder had learned how to wear clothes.

"Nah, don't worry about us, Weatherly," James said, pretending to salute. "I'm in top form, and Sirius already did some laps with Marlene McKinnon last night—"

"You did what with my sister?" Mikey McKinnon groaned, quite green in the face as Sirius shoved a snickering James roughly into a locker.

"Nothing, kid," Sirius grumbled to the fourth-year. Mikey looked away, muttering about how he was going to be sick, while the rest of the team looked on in entertainment.

Weatherly cleared his throat before speaking, his tone irritated. "Right, then. Five laps around the pitch running and another five on brooms when you're finished. Let's get started."

The seven players hustled out of the changing rooms and began to jog around the pitch, the dry grass crackling under their shoes and the cold winter air stinging their faces pink. Sirius welcomed the cold, letting it fill his lungs and invigorate his senses as he stayed by James's side, the other boy's stride long and sure as they completed their first lap.

"So," James said on their third lap, his voice nonchalant, "how d'you feel about Cassie finding out?"

"Finding out what?"

James rolled his eyes.

"You and McKinnon," he said wryly. "Considering I didn't find out about it until thirty minutes ago, I'm assuming you didn't tell her?"

"It's not like McKinnon and I are dating," he said, tone brusque. "It's just hooking up."

"Something tells me she wouldn't be too pleased with either scenario," James pointed out. Sirius grit his teeth.

"If you care so much about how she feels, then why don't you ask her yourself?" he retorted.

"I'm asking how you feel about how she feels," James said. Sirius turned to stare at him, baffled.

"That's completely mental," he said, but James just shrugged.

"Cassie's our friend," he said. "And after your row yesterday, I just want to be sure that there's not going to be any tension now—"

"There's not," Sirius said as they completed their laps and grabbed up their brooms. "In fact, just to please you especially Prongs, I'll talk to her tonight."

"Good," James said, mounting his broom and casting him a look he did not like at all. "Remember, Pads, she's our ally, and a friend now. So just…don't ruin that, yeah?"

Sirius looked to him, affronted. "Since when do I ever ruin things?"

James just grinned before clapping him on the shoulder.

"Just stick with McKinnon, y'hear? Don't get Cassie involved."

And with that bit of advice, he pushed off the ground and joined the rest of the team circling the pitch on their brooms, leaving a dumbstruck Sirius behind.

"It's just so weird," Cassie said to Alice later that day. "Like, Sirius doesn't think it's a big deal, but Mar was practically bugging about it. And I'm the one stuck in the middle, which is the last place I want to be."

She was laying down on Alice's bed, her legs swinging over the footboard as the other girl lay on her stomach beside her, a pillow under her elbows as she tried to copy some flower design from that month's issue of Witch Weekly on her nails. Marlene had pulled Lily out of the dorm with some vague excuse about the library, but she assumed the blonde witch was going to tell Lily about Sirius. Alice already knew, since Cassie couldn't keep any juicy secret away from her, but she hadn't seemed surprised.

"It's just who they are as people," she said reasonably, grunting when she messed up a petal and quickly using a piece of cotton to fix it. "Black's been messing around with girls since the end of third year, and I doubt he sees anything long-term with Mar. While on the other hand…"

"Mar falls in love at the drop of a hat," Cassie finished, frowning. "And that's what I'm afraid of."

"Well, whatever happens, at least we know she'll be over it quickly," Alice pointed out, and Cassie had to agree. Though it sounded harsh, Marlene always bounced back after a breakup, usually by convincing herself that so-and-so was wrong, and she was right, and Cassie figured her inevitable split with Sirius would be no different.

Alice finished up her nails while Cassie perused the pages of the glossy magazine, her eyes flicking over moving pictures of witches and wizards in lurid, fashionable robes and exotic makeup styles, wondering how many had been handpicked personally by her mother. She imagined only a few, as Eleanor was extremely picky and her standards were high, and she knew her mother would want only the best and the most beautiful models in the world. She flipped to the first page, where she knew all the editors' names and photographs to be.

She spotted her mother immediately, her face being one of the bigger ones on the page, wearing sparkling magenta robes and her trademark peacock-feathered quill perched behind one of her diamond-studded ears. Despite the layers of flawless makeup, Cassie could still see her features represented there: the straight nose, high cheekbones, and arching brows, all framed by a curtain of dark brown hair, though Eleanor's was richer than her own—almost black. The features all looked better on her mother, too, as she had inherited her father's thin lips and upturned eyes, while Eleanor's full lips and blue almond-shaped eyes made her one of the most beautiful witches in Britain.

"I keep forgetting how much you look like your mum," Alice said, staring over Cassie's shoulder as Eleanor's picture smiled and blew kisses out to them. "You're both so pretty."

Cassie scoffed, tossing the magazine back to her friend. "You're lucky she's not here to hear that," she said. "She'd probably try and give you an autograph."

"Being best friends with her daughter is more than enough," she replied, pinching Cassie's side and giggling when she swatted her away.

"You're so embarrassing," Cassie moaned, covering her face, and Alice laughed again before sitting up and stretching.

"Y'know, I was kind of wondering…" Cassie peeked from between her fingers to see Alice staring down at her thoughtfully. "How do you feel about Mar and Black?"

Cassie removed her hands from her face, frowning up at her friend. "What d'you mean? I already told you that it was weird, and I was kind of pissed no one told me, but it's happening, right? No use worrying about it."

"So, you don't feel any way toward it?" Alice pressed, quirking her lips. "Nothing to say about it at all?"

"Er…no," Cassie said, bewildered. "Should I?"

Alice just shrugged, but Cassie sat up, brows furrowed. "Al, you know I'm terribly thick. What are you trying to get at?"

Alice shook her head. "It's nothing, Cass. I just thought…well…"

Cassie nodded, goading her on. "Well…?"

Alice gave her a dry look before raising her hands. "I just thought you and Black were going to hit things off," she said. Cassie gaped. "The two of you were getting closer, you were with his mates all the time—oh, Cass, don't give me that look."

"No, I will!" she said. "Why does everyone think that I hang around them because I fancy one of them, or I'm taking turns shagging each one? Al, don't laugh—why can't I just be around them without everyone assuming the worst?"

"Because society sucks," she said, waving the magazine in front of her and pointing to a headline reading HOW TO ENSNARE THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE IN THREE EASY STEPS—NO LOVE POTIONS INVOLVED!

Cassie slapped the magazine out of her face, scowling. "No kidding. And can we not talk about Sirius Black? Just hearing his name is giving me a migraine."

Alice huffed dramatically. "Fine, whatever. Should we go see if Lily's killed Mar yet?"

Cassie sighed, not really wanting to move but knowing that Alice would make her—she hated going places by herself. "Yeah, let's go."

After checking the library and not finding any signs of Marlene's mangled corpse, the two girls headed to the Great Hall for a quick lunch before getting started on the mountain of homework they had. Upon entering, Alice elbowed Cassie in the ribs, breaking the girl's gaze away from where the Marauders usually sat and gesturing farther down the table, where Lily and Mar were sitting across from each other civilly and eating.

"Well, she's still upright and breathing," Alice remarked as they made their way to them. "That's always a good sign."

"I dunno," Cassie said. "She might be an Inferius—Lily could've killed her and then brought her back just to kill her again."

Alice snorted loudly, and several heads turned in their direction, including Lily's and Marlene's. The blonde witch nearly wept in relief as they sat down.

"So…how is everybody?" Cassie asked, pouring herself some tea and hoping she could eat before she had to flee if things got nasty.

Lily gave her a look that made the redhaired girl appear as if she were struggling to swallow a mouse, and Marlene smiled sheepishly, which was all the confirmation she needed to begin wolfing down her food.

"Hey, what did we just promise each other?" Alice said, pointing her fork to each girl individually to enunciate her point. "No—boys—come—between us. Right?"

Marlene nodded a bit too quickly. "Of course!"

Lily sniffed and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Right."

Cassie almost choked on her roasted potatoes in her haste to agree. "Yeah, got it."

"Then it's settled." Alice spread her hands in a peaceful gesture. "Marlene, despite the reputation that precedes Sirius Black, we will support you both in your endeavors—so long as they are appropriate—and we wish you luck."

Cassie raised her teacup. "Hear, hear!"

Lily gave her a dry look, but sighed and nodded at Alice's imploring gaze. "Yes, yes, fine, congratulations. But if he steps one toe out of line, or if he hurts Mar in any way…"

"Then we will gladly castrate him in front of everybody in the courtyard," Cassie finished. Lily grimaced.

"Well, I wasn't going to go that far…but essentially, yes."

Marlene looked around at them, her eyes shining. "You are all absolutely the best friends anyone could ask for, you know that?"

"Of course we know." Cassie pretended to pose dramatically, but only succeeded in hitting her elbow on her fork and sending it clattering to the floor.

The other girls snickered as she reached under the table to retrieve her fork. After avoiding an enthusiastic second-year's foot that almost kicked her in the face, she grabbed ahold of the utensil and sat back up, only to hear Mar squeak, "Sirius, hi!"

Lily stiffened beside her as Mar waved over Cassie's shoulder, smiling brilliantly. Alice pretended to be very interested in her salad as Cassie cleaned her fork off on a napkin, acting as if she hadn't heard Marlene's happy greeting.

"Hullo, love," Sirius returned, and Cassie could only imagine the smirk he was shooting Marlene to make her blush so profusely. "All right, Evans, Fortescue?"

"It's Alice," Alice said, shrugging slightly, and Cassie practically felt the wink he aimed at the brunette.

"Alice it is, then," he said. "And I'm assuming we're not on good enough terms for Lily yet, eh, Evans?"

"Not even close," Lily replied, taking a sip of gillywater through pursed lips, and Sirius chuckled before Cassie heard him shift behind her.

"Er, Cassie," he said a bit hesitantly. "D'you mind walking with me for a bit?"

Knowing the inevitability of this situation, she drained the last of her tea in one gulp and stood up, nodding.

"I'll be back," she said to the girls, catching Alice's eye and seeing the brunette scrutinizing her and Sirius intently. Lily didn't acknowledge her, and Marlene seemed a bit put-out that he hadn't asked her to walk with him, but Sirius was already departing, so she followed after him with a small sigh.

Eyes trailed them as they left the Hall. Sirius walked away from the Hall and the other students' scrutiny before he came to rest against a pillar near the front doors, propping his shoulders on the stone and leaning back, arms crossed.

"Short walk," she commented, coming to a stop before him, and he rolled his eyes.

"What did you want to talk about?" he asked.

"What?"

"You said let's talk tomorrow," he said, staring at her. "So, what was it that you wanted to talk about?"

"When did I say that I had anything more to talk about?" she said, frowning. "You were the one so keen on speaking last night, so I thought you had more to say."

He sighed, pinching his nose between his thumb and index finger. "Are you beginning to notice a trend here?"

"That we're both pretty much the most complicated people on the planet?"

"Exactly."

They shared a tiny smirk before Cassie sighed, figuring she had to get the ball rolling at some point. "I'm sorry for freaking out last night. Maybe I overreacted just a tad, but I hope you can see where I was coming from about getting left in the dark by two of my friends. I just hope for your sake now that you treat Marlene well."

He fidgeted against the pillar. "Er, McKinnon and I…aren't exactly an item."

"I know," she said. "I'm aware of your reputation—as is most everybody in this school, and probably Professor Dumbledore, too—but even if it's just many one-night stands in a row, I still expect you to be respectful of her and responsible."

He gave her a weird look. "You and James would make formidable parents together, y'know that? The ultimate mum duo."

She rolled her eyes. "Good thing I don't ever plan on marrying him, then. Now, is there anything else you'd like to add before we throw this under the bridge?"

He grimaced, rocking back on his heels and staring up at the ceiling. "I'm sorry for being a git to you and your brother, the git of all gits," he said, smirking when she scowled. "I understand where you're coming from, wanting to protect him, but… I just want you to be careful, Cassie. He's still a Death Eater." He blew out his cheeks. "And I really am sorry for not telling you about Marlene."

Cassie searched his face for a moment, trying to detect a hint of sarcasm, but it wasn't there. His grey eyes were solemn and sincere when they met hers, and a strange feeling twisted in her gut at the look before she finally nodded.

"Apology accepted," she said. "Thank you, Sirius Orion Black."

"But of course," he said, bowing his shaggy head before looking back up to her with a smirk. "Cassiopeia Marie Alderfair."

She made a face at him and he barked out a laugh. She turned back to the Great Hall just in time to see a gaggle of older Ravenclaw students walking in, and her eyes lit up when she saw Bertram Aubrey amongst them.

She looked back at Sirius with a wicked grin. He returned the gesture, though it was tinted with confusion at the look of mischief splayed over her features as she walked toward the Hall and the Ravenclaws.

"What are you doing?" he asked slowly. She shot him a wink.

"Upholding my side of the deal," she said before swaggering away. She reached the Ravenclaws just as they were about to enter and tapped Aubrey on the shoulder.

He turned and smiled when he saw her, his features brightening in recognition. "Cassie, hey. I haven't seen you in a while. How is everything?"

"Oh, fine," she said, surprised that her face wasn't flushed, as it normally would've been at this point. "How are you?"

"Pretty good," he said, pushing his golden hair off his forehead. "Just trying to survive at this point, y'know?"

She giggled at this, touching her fingers to her throat at the overly girlish sound that came out, but he didn't seem to notice, still grinning down at her. "So, what's up? Did you need anything?"

"What? Oh, no," she said, waving him off. "I just had something to say."

And before she could stop and process what she was about to do, she said as confidently as she could: "I think you're pretty fit."

He stared at her, bemused, but before he could say anything, she flashed him a brilliant smile and walked away, saying, "Enjoy your lunch!"

She went back to Sirius, still lounging against the pillar and now staring at her as if he had never seen her before. She tossed him a smug grin.

"There," she said triumphantly. "Now, I don't have to dress up and embarrass myself in Hogsmeade. So, do you still want to keep your terms, or would you like to change them?"

"Merlin's great staff, Cassie," he said in awe. "Did you see how bad that bloke looked? Nearly gaped like a fish out of water."

She shrugged, a little modest as she fiddled with the hem of her shirt. "When you're friends with someone like Mar, you pick up on a few tricks here and there," she admitted, flushing when he scoffed.

"No kidding," he replied, still looking quite gobsmacked at the whole ordeal. "I think I'd like to up the deal a bit."

"Oh?" She raised her eyebrows. "Name your terms, then."

"How about this?" He licked his lips, thinking. "If Aubrey asks you to the next Hogsmeade trip now after what you just did, you still have to buy me anything I want from Honeydukes."

"That's lame, Sirius Black," she said, wrinkling her nose, but she couldn't help the jittery feeling that coursed through her at the mention of Aubrey asking her out. "Do something else, something more…daring. You are a Marauder after all, aren't you?"

He eyed her with a new appraisal at her words, smirking slightly. "So, the Princess wants to get her hands dirty?"

"I learned dares from the best," she said, gesturing to him.

"All right," he said. "Here are my terms: if Aubrey asks you to Hogsmeade, you have my express permission to choose any point in time and force me to jump into the Black Lake, completely naked."

She snorted, covering her mouth to stifle her laughter before asking, "And if he doesn't? Then I get to jump in naked?"

His grin turned wolfish. "Nah. Your deal is that if he doesn't, you have to lick my foot."

"That's it?" She crinkled her face. "That's so…"

"Lame?" He smirked when she nodded. "Ah, but see, Princess, you didn't let me finish." He leaned in close; so close she could see the ring of darker grey that lined his irises and smell his cologne, an expensive and heavenly scent that enticed her to lean forward as well, their faces inches apart.

"Well?" she whispered, dearly wishing she had a mint at that time, but his smirk merely grew.

He flicked a piece of her hair before saying lowly, "You'll find out."

And with that, he brushed past her and walked away. She stood, confused, before whirling around.

"Sirius Black!" she called. "You can't do that!"

All she got in return was a chuckle and a wave before he reentered the Great Hall. She stared after him, shaking her head in amazement before a gruff hand covered her mouth, smothering her cry of surprise, and her vision went dark.

Next Chapter: The Deal

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