Updated as of 6/14/2020.

Chapter Thirty-Two

The Turning Point

"You're going to Hogsmeade with Sirius Black?"

Marlene's shout was the first thing that Cassie heard that morning, and the dark-haired witch covered her ears with a moan, her eyes still closed as she struggled to hold on to the last remnants of her sleep.

"Mar!" Lily admonished from the other side of the room as Marlene ripped back the curtains of Cassie's four-poster, allowing bright sunlight to hit her face and causing her to moan again. "Let her have some peace before you pounce on her."

"It's fine, Lily." Cassie sighed, accepting her fate and sitting up in her bed, meeting the wicked grin of Marlene and the curious looks of Lily and Alice. She frowned at Marlene. "How did you even find out?"

"So, it is true," she said, her blue eyes widening. Cassie nodded grudgingly, figuring there would be no more use in hiding it. "Cassie! How could you not tell us?"

"Because we only agreed to it a week ago," she said, kicking off her covers and standing up. "We didn't want to make a big deal out of it." She gave a pointed look to the blonde witch at this, but Marlene only flapped her hand impatiently.

"Oh, so there's a 'we' now?" she asked, and Cassie rolled her eyes.

"I think it's great, Cass," Alice broke in. "I mean, it's obvious that you and Sirius have fancied each other for a while now, so it's nice to see you two making some progress."

"Yes, the lovesick pining and star-crossed romance was getting to be a bit much," Lily agreed, sitting on the edge of her trunk and twirling a lock of hair while Cassie gave her an offended look. "And don't look at me like that, Cass, you know it's true."

"All I'm saying is that if he ever treats you like he did to me, I will ruin his cushy little pure-blood life for good," Marlene said.

"So, you're okay with this?" Cassie said warily.

Marlene shrugged. "I can't say I'm entirely pleased, but nothing's worse than being the jealous best friend/ex-girlfriend," she said reasonably. "It's really between the both of you now."

Cassie released a breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. "You're wonderful, Mar, you know that?"

She winked at Cassie, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "Trust me, I've been told."

Cassie snorted while Alice grabbed a towel and headed for the washroom.

"Now that we're all up and the gossip has been confirmed, can we please go to breakfast before I start eating myself?" she asked.

"Of course, dear Alice," Marlene said. "Whatever your heart desires."

Alice stuck out her tongue before giggling, shutting the door behind her and leaving the other three to get ready for the day.

They arrived halfway through breakfast, taking their seats at the Gryffindor table and beginning to eat. Cassie had already scoured the table when they had walked in, noticing that the Marauders had not yet entered, but she wasn't worried.

It had been a week since she had stumbled upon Remus's transformation and their subsequent reunion, and things had surprisingly gone back to normal—almost. The great thing she had learned about the boys is that nothing ever really seemed to change, even after a fight like the one they'd had, though there was now a greater understanding between all of them. Despite Remus's hesitance the first day they all hung out together again, things had been smooth ever since, and Cassie was grateful for it, especially if they were all going to be working together on finding Gryffindor's gauntlet.

Cassie wasn't sure where the gauntlet would even be, which only served to frustrate her more. How could she have solved such a large part of the puzzle but still be so far behind? The Marauders, for their part, had been supportive and helpful, even tossing out their own ideas, but nothing seemed right.

Peter had suggested that maybe the gauntlet had been buried with Gryffindor's body, but Cassie had seen his body in her dream, and he hadn't been wearing the gauntlet then, and Remus reminded them that no one even knew where his body was buried anymore. Sirius proposed that the gauntlet could be in a vault somewhere in Gringotts, passed down through the generations, but there were many complications that arose with that; firstly, Gryffindor had no recorded descendants, and the Alderfair vault wouldn't have it, considering that Miranda had never revealed the identity of her son's father, and secondly, there was the matter of Gringotts itself. The goblin bank would never allow them access, even if Gryffindor had had a vault in the first place. Their only other theory had been provided by James, who thought it reasonable that Professor Dumbledore would be in possession of the gauntlet, since there was the rumor of the Sword of Gryffindor that hung in the headmaster's office. It seemed plausible, but Cassie was still not yet convinced, and attempting another break-in was just asking for expulsion.

She was pulled from her thoughts when Marlene poked her elbow. "Here comes your lover boy."

Cassie rolled her eyes, though turned to see the Marauders walk in to the Great Hall with James and Sirius leading the pack, as ever. She wasn't afraid to admit anymore how her heart seemed to start beating twice as fast whenever Sirius walked into a room, and a pleasant thrumming began in her fingertips when he caught her eye and winked.

However, any chance of a peaceful breakfast was diminished as soon as James spotted her.

"CASSIE ALDERFAIR!" he shouted, causing half the Hall to cease their conversations and almost every eye to turn to them. Cassie, to her credit, remained calm; where once the Invisible Girl would have slid under the table in embarrassment, now she simply stayed seated, only raising a cool brow at the messy-haired boy.

"Good morning to you, too, James," she said. "Have I missed something?"

"What you missed, Princess, is telling me that you're going on a date with my bloody best mate!"

He was grinning from ear to ear when he finally approached her and stopped shouting, and Cassie looked to Sirius. Sirius shrugged.

"I have no idea how he found out," he said apologetically.

"Same here," she said, pointing to Marlene, Lily, and Alice. "Then again, I guess nothing's really a secret in Hogwarts anymore, is it?"

"Indeed not," he said, grinning. "Budge over."

"Not so fast!" James said, throwing out an arm and halting his best mate in his tracks, still grinning maniacally. "Cassie, I just want to know why."

"Er…" She looked between him and Sirius, but Sirius was just as baffled as her. Remus shook his head, shrugging, while Peter was of no use, already having tackled the breakfast platters. "Why what, James?"

The Marauder clutched at his chest as if she had dealt him a devastating blow. "Why you have forsaken our love, Cassie! I thought we had something special! And now you, the love of my life—after Evans, of course" —Lily, who had been watching with a perplexed sort of amusement, now turned away in disgust— "have betrayed me, and gone into the arms of him!"

He thrust a dramatic hand at Sirius, who only played along with his friend's antics. "James, mate, I'm sorry, truly. But you can't deny that not only am I smarter and more attractive than you, but also a better Quidditch player—"

"Now you've gone too far," James said, dropping all theatrical pretense and shaking his head. "You ruined it, Pads."

Sirius snorted, ducking under his mate's arm and sliding onto the bench next to Cassie, knocking his knee with hers and grinning.

"Forgive me, Prongs," he said, as James finally sat down and shut up. "I didn't mean to wound your godly ego."

"That's rich, coming from you," Cassie pointed out, taking a sip of her pumpkin juice and grinning at his affronted look.

"You're lucky you're cute," he said, and she stuck out her tongue as James groaned from across them.

"Merlin, you two are disgusting," he said. "Am I going to have to put up with this forever now?"

"If you don't like watching, James, you can always join in," Cassie said with feigned innocence.

Remus choked on his porridge when James paled. "Careful, Princess," he warned, recovering his wits quickly. "I might take you up on that offer."

"I'd be disappointed if you didn't," she replied, smirking into her goblet when James leaned over to Remus and whispered, "D'you think she's serious?"

Sirius shook his head from beside her. "Great, now you've given him hope for a threesome."

Cassie snickered. "Poor thing probably needs some action." She tilted her head, suddenly curious. "Has James even been with someone this year?"

Though it was common knowledge James had continuously pined over Lily since their first year, she had heard rumors of him being with other girls before. He wasn't exactly off the market, from what she understood, but typically things never worked out, and she suddenly wondered if it was actually because of Lily.

Sirius shrugged. "A couple dates here and there, but nothing serious," he said around a mouthful of sausage. She wrinkled her nose, and he smirked when he caught her expression. "Never is with him, anyway."

"Like you?" she said without thinking.

He stopped chewing, looking to her warily. "What do you mean?" he said slowly, swallowing the bite in his mouth and watching her as if she were a venomous snake he had accidentally tread on.

"I didn't mean it like that," she said, gesturing to him. "Just that, well…you've never really been serious before with anyone, have you?"

Sirius leaned in, making sure no one was paying them any attention before saying, "Cass, are you worried about me?" She opened her mouth, about to protest that that hadn't been what she was saying at all, but he continued before she could. "Look, I know I haven't been the best bloke to girls, but I promise you have nothing to worry about."

"Sirius, I'm not worried," she said, laughing awkwardly at his solemn expression. "Trust me."

Something had passed between her and Sirius that night she spent in his dormitory, an understanding of a feeling that they both felt, and for the first time in forever, she was sure about something in her life. They could make it work.

Sirius seemed to realize she was being truthful, for he looked immensely relieved as he went back to his sausage.

"Good," he said happily, and smirked at her when his free hand grazed the top of her knee under the table, making her feel oddly flushed.

It was the first time in a while she smiled so brightly.

The day of the Hogsmeade trip dawned blustery and grey, with the threat of rainclouds in the distance over the mountains. Cassie fetched her red-and-gold scarf from her trunk, winding it snugly around her neck and hesitating before fishing through her contents to pull out the perfume Marlene had given her for Christmas. She examined the bottle carefully before spritzing some on her wrists, hoping the scent wouldn't be too strong.

She was quite nervous as she sat around waiting for the other girls, fidgeting with her outfit and wondering if she should change—again. She didn't know why she was so anxious; it was Sirius, for Godric's sake. She'd been around him a million times before, but that didn't keep her from running her hands through her hair repeatedly, wondering if she should do something more to it rather than allowing it to just lie flat, and the more she paced by their floor-length mirror, the more she began to hate her simple combination of jumper and trousers.

"Cass, could you stop pacing?" Alice said from where she was lacing up her boots. "You're starting to wear a hole in the carpet."

"I can't, I'm ugly," Cassie said.

Alice scoffed. "And I'm Merlin. Shut up. You look fine."

"C'mon, ladies," Marlene said, banging open the washroom door and filling the dormitory with the scent of vanilla. Lily trailed behind, looking as pristine as ever. In fact, both of them looked great, and Cassie grimaced when she saw her outfit in the mirror again. "Hogsmeade won't wait on us forever."

"I'll meet you down in the courtyard," Cassie said. "I need to change—"

"No, you don't," Marlene said, cutting her off and grabbing her wrist. "You look perfectly fine, and Sirius is going to be drooling over you, anyway. He's like a dog, that one."

Cassie grinned slightly to herself, wishing Marlene could know exactly how right she was.

"Oh, fine," she said, allowing herself to be dragged out of Gryffindor Tower with the other girls as they made their way to the courtyard below.

She supposed she looked well enough—she looked the same as she always did, and if Sirius could like her in that state, then she figured she was in the clear. Still, she wondered if she should have dressed up a bit more as she eyed her friends' nicer outfits, as they would all be going out with their own dates, as well: Alice with Frank, of course, Marlene with a sixth-year Hufflepuff who was a Beater for the House team, and Lily, most surprisingly of all, with the seventh-year Gryffindor, Robert McLaggen.

"Hey," Alice said, dropping back to her side as Lily and Marlene took the lead. "You okay?"

Cassie looked to the shorter witch, her brows furrowing. "Er, yeah, everything's fine. Why?"

Alice shrugged. "It's just a big moment, y'know? I was a nervous wreck the first time I went on a date with Frank. I wanted to make sure you weren't too anxious or anything."

Cassie smiled, reaching out and grabbing Alice's hand. "Have I ever mentioned you're amazing?"

"Of course," Alice said, winking. "That's why I'm your best friend."

"I'm not nervous, not really," Cassie said after flashing the other witch a grin. "I mean, it's just Sirius. Yes, things have changed, but he'll always be…Sirius. Does that make sense?"

Alice nodded. "You were friends first before anything. It's only natural to feel that way."

Cassie sighed. "Let's just hope this date doesn't end in disaster."

"It's Hogsmeade, Cass. What could possibly go wrong?"

"Anything and everything when the Marauders are involved."

Alice laughed as they descended the marble staircase and entered the entrance hall, where students milled about waiting for friends and dates before departing for the village. Cassie saw the boys waiting by a pillar close to the doors, and she waved at them to get their attention.

"I'm going to find Robert," Lily said, her lip curling slightly when she saw James approaching. "We're meeting at The Three Broomsticks for lunch, yeah?"

After the other girls voiced their affirmation, Lily blew them all a kiss before ducking away into the crowd, just as James showed up with the rest of the Marauders in tow.

"Where'd Evans go?" he asked, mussing up his hair nonchalantly, but Cassie could see his eyes scanning the crowd.

"Somewhere you can't follow her," Alice said.

"The loo?"

Cassie rolled her eyes. "Forget it, Prongs. Don't bother her today unless you want to be on the receiving end of yet another Bat-Bogey."

James gave her a mischievous grin when she used the nickname of his Animagus form, but he looked put-out by Cassie's warning. "Ah, you're probably right. Better luck next time."

"Oh, I see Frank," Alice said, standing on her tiptoes to peer over Cassie's shoulder. "I'm off, then."

"Have fun," Cassie said, grinning when Alice gave her an encouraging thumbs-up before leaving with her boyfriend.

She turned back to the Marauders, only to frown when she noticed that Sirius and Marlene were missing. "Where'd they go?"

James shrugged. "No idea. Let's go get our names checked off."

Still frowning, Cassie followed them outside, where Filch checked off students' names with an angry scowl on his face while Mrs. Norris wound herself around his skinny ankles, meowing croakily.

"I really hate that cat," Peter muttered as they stood in line.

"Why, because you're a rat?" Cassie asked.

He shot her a look. "No," he said, a little too defensively, "she's just creepy, that's all."

"Oh, so, nothing to do with the fact that she almost tried to eat you that one time?" Remus said.

Peter's face flushed. "She didn't—I wasn't—no."

"Don't listen to him," James said to Cassie. "We were all there. Squealed, too." He mimicked a horrible, squeaking shriek that sounded nothing like a rat.

"Thank you, James," she said, clapping a hand over his mouth when he continued to squeak, garnering the attention of half the courtyard. "I think you got your point across—EW!"

She yanked her hand away when he licked her palm, and he shot her a wink as she wiped it on his shoulder. "Hope you learned your lesson, Princess."

"Actually, James, now I'm only more curious," she said, dropping her voice lower and taking on a ridiculous seductive tone. "What else can you do with your tongue?"

It was highly amusing to watch his face turn varying shades of red, and she exchanged a high-five with Remus when the messy-haired Marauder was rendered speechless, Peter cackling and clutching his stomach behind them.

"I can't remember the last time James didn't have a comeback to an innuendo," Remus mused.

"How can you expect me to have a comeback to her?" James argued, finally finding his voice again. "She looks so innocent! Merlin, Princess, if I'd known you were a freak underneath all that pure-blood crap I would've dropped Evans ages ago—"

"What are we talking about, Prongs?"

Sirius sidled up to their group, looking at his best mate expectantly while James grinned sheepishly.

"Er, nothing, Pads. Just joking."

Sirius nodded, his lips quirked in a small smirk as he casually threw an arm around Cassie and pulled her closer to him.

"Where were you?" she asked, trying to act normal despite the rapid acceleration of her heartbeat when she pressed into his side. "And why are you pale?"

He grimaced, and Cassie pulled away slightly, her eyes narrowed. "Sirius?"

"It's nothing," he said. "Marlene and I just…had a little chat."

He looked haunted as he said it, and Cassie suddenly had a very good idea of what her friend could have told Sirius—or rather, threatened.

"Ah," she said knowingly. "Well, I hope she got her point across."

"Trust me," Sirius said, shuddering, "she did."

After giving Filch their names (the caretaker looked absolutely livid as he checked off the Marauders'), they wandered out of the courtyard and began following the path to the village, chatting and keeping up casual conversation as they went. Sirius had let go of her waist as they walked, but he kept close to her side, occasionally brushing up against her arm and sending lightning sparking along her veins every time it happened.

When they reached the village, James gestured all of them to follow him.

"C'mon, we gotta go to Zonko's and restock on all our supplies."

"You three have fun," Cassie said.

James stopped, looking back to her with a puzzled frown. "What do you mean?" he said. "You're coming with us."

"James, mate, I think you forgot the definition of a date," Sirius said amusedly.

"No, I haven't. It's a group date." He winked at Cassie. "Sorry, Princess, but if you date one of us, you date all of us."

"I don't think that's how that works, James."

"It's not," Remus agreed cheerfully, grabbing James's sleeve and dragging him after Peter and himself. "We'll catch up with you two later. Have fun!"

She could hear James protesting the whole way up the main street, and Cassie turned to Sirius, shaking her head. "I knew I was only signing up for a lifetime of embarrassment and torment when I agreed to that alliance."

"Ah, come on, it's not that bad," he said. "It landed me, didn't it?"

He grinned widely at her, grey eyes sparkling, and she punched him lightly in the arm.

"Yes, and that wonderful ego of yours, too," she said sarcastically, and he barked out a laugh. She glanced around at the shops lining either side of the street, suddenly at a loss of what to do. They hadn't discussed ideas of where to go once they got to Hogsmeade, and she mentally slapped her forehead. "Er, what should we do? I haven't really thought about anything—"

"Good," Sirius said, grinning and grabbing her hand, "because I know the perfect place."

"Er, okay," Cassie said, allowing herself to be pulled along as Sirius led her up the main street.

The village was packed with students and non-students alike, many enjoying the fresh air and nice weather the approaching spring had provided them that day. The shops were lined with new flowers and plants that had sprouted after the last of the winter had relented, and when they passed Gladrags Wizardwear, Cassie saw several new robe designs that her mother had recently published in Witch Weekly. Smiling to herself slightly at this, she followed Sirius to a shop that she knew well, and she looked to him in pleasant surprise.

"How did you know this was my favorite place to come?" she asked as they reached Dominic Maestro's Music Shop.

He looked back at her over his shoulder with a triumphant smirk. "Because I know everything, love," he said, and she rolled her eyes, though her face flushed when he called her 'love.'

They pushed their way inside, shuffling through the pack of Hogwarts students that milled around, looking at records and fiddling with the instruments on display. Cassie felt many stares boring into her back as she passed through hand-in-hand with Sirius, but for once she felt no need to hide away, instead ignoring them and focusing on where Sirius was leading her.

"A-ha," he said, apparently finding what he was looking for and dragging her over. "Take your pick, Princess."

She stared at the vinyl section he had led her to, the sign above proclaiming the records to be "Muggle Rock N Roll." She stared at him blankly.

"Er, what am I supposed to do?" she asked.

"Pick a record, any one you like," he said, nodding to the stacks of records, and she bit her lip.

"I, er, don't know any," she said. "I wasn't allowed to listen to Muggle music."

"Neither was I," he said, "but it's much more fun to be rebellious, isn't it?"

A grin spread across her face, and she turned to the records eagerly, thumbing through them in interest.

"What the—"

She held up a cover in her hands, making a face at the bizarre people on it, and Sirius barked out a laugh.

"KISS," he explained, referring to the heavily-made up men on the cover, who were dressed in the strangest clothes Cassie had ever seen, with shoes that were as tall as their hair. "Good band, based on all I've heard from them. This album is supposed to be good, too."

"'Destroyer?'" she said skeptically, reading off the cover.

"C'mon, just try it," he said. When she hesitated, he gave her his best puppy-dog-eyes look. "Please? For me?"

"Fine," she said with a sigh.

He beamed, and she could admit to swooning a little at the sight. He led her to one of the private listening rooms, where a gramophone was hidden behind a curtain and a Silencing Spell, so people could listen to music without bothering others. It was where she could usually be found on Hogsmeade weekends, but somehow it seemed more exciting with Sirius along for it.

They crowded into the small space, and Sirius drew the curtain behind them, having to awkwardly reach his arm around her to do so. She caught a whiff of his cologne and inhaled discreetly, finding that she quite liked the scent, and her heart seemed to beat faster on instinct as he turned to the gramophone.

"Right," he said as he put on the record. "Prepare to be blown away, Princess."

Cassie automatically flinched back when the opening riff began. She listened as the vocals swept in, her eyes widening at the rough, scratchy voices. Sirius chuckled at her reaction.

"Muggles listen to this?" she said distastefully.

"It's not for everyone, granted, but at least listen to a few more songs," he urged.

As the album played on, she found that she didn't quite mind the harshness of the music anymore, focusing on what she assumed were the guitars and tapping her foot along to the rhythm. Sirius sung quietly under his breath next to her, his chest pressed against her back, so she could feel the vibrations of his voice on her spine, making her shiver.

"This song is sad," she said a few minutes later, surprised when the track changed.

"You sound confused," Sirius said.

"I am." She frowned. "This whole album has been so…loud, but this one isn't like the others. He just wants to go home to Beth and she's probably lonely waiting up for him." She made an angry noise in the back of her throat. "Muggle music is so confusing. How can it be so energetic one moment and then so sad the next?"

She turned to him expectantly as if he held all the answers, but came up short when she realized how close their faces were. She could count every individual lash surrounding his silver eyes.

"Are you going to kiss me, Sirius Black?" she said, the sudden jitters in her stomach turning her bold where once she would have been speechless.

He smirked, his lips curling slowly, drawing her attention to them, and a pulsing heat rushed through her as he pressed closer, practically shoving her against the gramophone while the sad song kept playing.

"Do you want me to?" he asked, his voice almost a whisper that crawled pleasantly along her skin, raising the hairs on her arms.

"I don't know," she breathed, too flustered at his proximity to think of something else to say. His smirk grew wider.

"I think it can wait, then." He drew away slightly, and Cassie shivered when his body heat moved back with him. "You did tell me to court you like the proper pure-blood I am," he said, raising her hand to his lips instead and brushing a featherlight kiss to the back of it, making the heat spread lower in her body.

"That's true," she managed to get out.

He grinned, pulling her in and placing another kiss on her cheek. "Then I'll wait," he said in her ear. "By your leave, Cassie Alderfair."

He pushed aside the curtain and stepped back out into the shop, allowing her to suck in a breath she hadn't realized she'd needed before gathering her composure and following.

James was not pleased.

"What does she see in a git like him?" he fumed over a pint of butterbeer. "He's not even attractive, about as bright as a speck of dirt, and—"

"Yes, Prongs, we get it," Remus said, interrupting his mate's rant and rolling his eyes. "We heard you the first dozen times."

"I just don't get it," he continued. "His ego is as big as his forehead, he cares more about his hair than anything else, and he's so smug and smarmy—"

Remus sighed, slumping back in his seat as if finally realizing he was fighting a lost cause.

"Let it go, James. It's just one date; they're not even officially together."

"Yet," he muttered into his mug, and Remus and Peter exchanged an exasperated look.

"Maybe you should just try getting over her," Peter suggested timidly. "I mean, it's been ages, Prongs—"

The smaller boy shut up immediately upon the withering look James sent him, hastily gulping down his butterbeer and sloshing it down his shirtfront.

James looked back to the table across the crowded pub, his eyes narrowing when he saw Evans laughing at something McLaggen had just said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. She had cut it over the holiday, he noticed; once it had been long; a rippling river of red down her back, but now it barely brushed her shoulders. He'd always thought Evans was the most beautiful witch he had ever laid eyes on, but now she was downright gorgeous. It made his heart ache just looking at her.

Luckily, he was distracted from his torment when the door to The Three Broomsticks opened and Cassie and Sirius walked in, wide smiles on their faces and looking as if the entire world was merely a spectator when it came to the both of them together.

This did nothing to improve James's mood.

"Why Evans?" he moaned as Sirius and Cassie headed to the bar to order drinks. "Why can't I be interested in someone like Cassie? At least she can stand being in my presence for more than two seconds."

"Reconsidering her offer, then, Prongs?" Remus said, snorting into his mug when James blanched.

"Shove off," he grumbled, glaring at the two boys as Peter began wiggling his tongue and making inappropriate noises.

"Ah, Pete, good to see you practicing what sounds you'll be making when you finally lose your virginity."

Remus moved over to make room for Sirius, and James grudgingly slid down the bench when Cassie bumped him lightly with her hip.

"What's got you looking so grumpy?" she said when she noticed James's scowl. Her question only made him scowl further.

"Lily problems," Remus filled her in, nodding his head to where she sat with the git McLaggen.

Cassie's eyes lit up in understanding when she followed his gaze. "Ah, I see." She nestled into James's side, putting her head on his shoulder so he was forced to look at her. "Don't sweat it, kid," she said sympathetically. "There're much better things to do than mope."

"Easy for you to say," he retorted, glancing to Sirius, who only raised his eyebrows.

He looked back to Cassie, searching her dark eyes and wondering why he always saw green, no matter what color eyes the girl he was with at the time had. He always came back to Evans, and it was maddening.

He remembered the Christmas holiday after Cassie had spent the remainder of it with him and the others, and his mother pulling him aside before they set off for King's Cross.

"You and Cassie seem very close," she'd said under the guise of asking him to help her look for his socks.

"Er, yeah," he'd said. "What about it?"

His mother had shrugged, but James had seen the look on her face—it had been her meddling look.

"Well, I was just curious," she'd said. "She's very sweet, and bright, and not to mention beautiful—it's clear she got all her looks from Eleanor. She always was the prettiest witch in school…"

"Mum," he had protested. "Cassie's just a friend, seriously." He'd snorted. "Besides, it's an unspoken rule that Sirius has dibs on her—"

That had been the end of it, but sometimes the thought still niggled at the back of his mind, especially when he began thinking about Evans. His mother had been right in everything she had said about Cassie, and if he had been smart, he should've taken his chance—Cassie was the perfect girl, but instead he was stuck pining over one who wouldn't even give him the time of day, and worse, hated him utterly.

"Chin up, mate," Sirius said consolingly. "Cassie's right; you're acting like Moaning Myrtle—"

James opened his mouth to retort, but he was cut off when Cassie gasped, nearly knocking over her tankard.

The Marauders turned to her in alarm, and James leaned into her, searching her face frantically.

"Cass, what's wrong?" he said. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"That's it," she whispered, staring off at something none of them could see, but James could tell her mind was flying faster than a phoenix. "Merlin, of course that's it. All this time it was right under my nose…"

The four boys exchanged a wary glance.

"Er, Cass, what was?" Remus asked.

She focused back on them, her eyes still wide.

"Moaning Myrtle," she said. "She told me ages ago that I reminded her of someone—another ghost."

Remus was the first to cotton on. His jaw went slack.

"Miranda," he said. "You think her ghost is at Hogwarts?"

"There's only one way to find out," she said, clutching the clockwork locket in her hand and looking more hopeful than James had seen her in months. "We need to talk to Moaning Myrtle."

Next Chapter: The Locket's Secret