"I don't get it," Prue surrendered, fishing a chocolate frog out of her pocket, "If Mars doesn't like having Saturn in its house, maybe it should stop fooling around with Uranus and change the locks or something."
Casey sighed, "This isn't a soap opera, Prue. It's astronomy. Say it with me now, astronomy."
Obediently, Prue rattled off, "Astronomy."
"You're doing well, cricket, you just need to get your signs straight," Casey encouraged her with a grin.
"Signs? Like astrology? Like signs of the apocalypse?" Prue wondered eagerly.
"No, more like signs that the planets will be making such and such revolution on such and such a date," he replied seriously, "This is easy stuff."
"No," she rejoined despondently, "Its just that you're a genius and I'm stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid," she repeated, banging her head against the wall.
"Uh unh, stop that!" Casey commanded, placing a palm between her forehead and the cold stone. Prue did as told, "You're not stupid, cricket."
Cricket again, "Why do you call me that?"
Grabbing the leg of her chocolate frog before it vanished into her mouth, Casey replied, "What?"
"Cricket."
"Oh, well grasshopper is just so out of date," he shrugged, "You're not colorful enough to be a dragonfly, and, well, mosquito seemed sort of insulting."
"You got that right," Prue affirmed, watching him gulp down a chocolate frog. He pulled a dark bottle engraved with a flame like design out of his bag, "What's that?"
Casey smiled mischievously, uncorking it with a simple spell, "A part of Cerulean's stash."
"Stash?" Prue raised an eyebrow, "Is that firewhisky?"
"Bingo," he conjured up two glasses, pouring the red liquid gingerly into each.
"You had this all planned out," Prue accused, "What did you think this would be some romantic night under the stars."
Making a face, Casey replied, "Tutoring you is never romantic. All I get out of it is why, why, why? I've never met anyone so dense."
Defensively, Prue pulled her knees into her chest, "Hey! At least I'm not failing transfiguration, unlike some people."
"That's only because I transfigured a parrot into a banana. Not my fault Snips thought it was dirty innuendo," he shrugged, sipping his firewhisky.
Prue smiled, but said nothing. It was actually nice, sitting up on the tower with Casey. She had thought the memory of the almost kiss would linger in her mind, torturing her until she decided she couldn't take it anymore, but it had left her alone. No one else was around to joke about the two of them dating, pressuring either into something she was sure they didn't want. After all, dating Casey would be like dating her brother. He had been the first person she met at Hogwarts, on the train. It had been hard for Prue to admit, but she'd been so scared. She'd lived as a muggle for ten years, and then she gets her letter saying all the weird things she'd been able to do, like make the faucet run backwards, were magic. The whole thing had been timed rather well. When she'd set her aunt's Chihuahua on fire accidentally, her parents had been considering sending her to a shrink, just to see why she was such a freak.
On the train, Prue had been worried the whole letter was a joke. No way she could be a witch because witches didn't exist. It was just some elaborate hoax. Casey had literally run into her, trying to evade Dirk, and shown her the proper way to hex somebody. Poor Dirk had never seen what hit him.
"Hey Casey? Did I ever thank you?" Prue mused.
He looked up, "For what?"
"Back in first year, before we started up here, I thought I was crazy. I didn't know why I did weird things, like making flowers grow or whatever. Even when I got my letter and got on the train, I was sure this school was some one's idea of a prank. But then you showed me the jellylegs jinx and so many others and…well, I'm glad I wasn't insane."
"Er- thanks. Honestly, you muggle borns, always thinking magic doesn't exist. I'll show you magic," grinning; Casey pulled out his wand and whispered, "Centelleaestro Ordenair!"
The stars above them sparkled brightly, but nothing else happened, and Prue wondered what exactly he'd done. Yet seconds later, the stars moved. She blinked, thinking she was seeing things. Moving heavenly bodies was very complex magic that she doubted even Elanore could master. However, they were moving, arranging themselves into shapes. Prue giggled, "It's spelling something. P. R. U- oh! Wicked!"
"Now your name is written in the sky, along with all the other great beauties," Casey whispered in her ear.
"Flattery will get you nowhere," she retorted, still giggling, "That was pretty cool."
"I'm the master," Casey affirmed smugly.
"So you say," Prue lifted her glass of firewhisky, examining it, "This stuff is supposed to get you buzzed but good."
"Yup," Casey agreed, already on his third glass.
"Isn't Cerulean going to miss it?"
"Nah, he stole loads of it from our stepsister, Florence. The girl's a total lush," Casey frowned, downing his whisky.
"You don't like your stepsisters? Cherridy told me about them," Prue said.
Twisting his face into a grimace, Casey replied, "Its not really a matter of liking them or not. I haven't got a choice in the matter, have I? I came back from Hogwarts after first year and there they were. Mum had gotten married again without even telling me. Or Cerulean, or Cayan, who was in school back then. Plus, the guy she married was Mr. Rules-Mean-Everything-Disobey-and-Die. I shouldn't say that, Chrystan's a good guy."
"I'm sorry," Prue said, and she was. Fingering the necklace beneath her collar, Prue wondered what it would be like if one of her parents remarried. Neither seemed to get along well with the opposite sex, much less each other. The only reason they hadn't divorced yet was because they were at different ends of the world.
"No problem. What do you keep playing with? Around your neck? A present from my big bro?"
"N-nothing," Prue exclaimed, dodging away from him as he reached for it.
"It can't be nothing," Casey rolled his eyes, "Come on, and show me."
"No! Cerulean-"
"So it is from Cerulean," Casey cried triumphantly, lunging forward. He succeeded in pushing her over so that all she could see was his angular face and the stars above them. Prue's name had vanished from the sky, but they still shone with eerie brightness, more so as Casey fished the guitar pendant from beneath her shirt collar.
Prue waited for him to say something, cringing at the thought that he might be angry with her, or worse, at Cerulean. Instead, Casey leaned back, pendant still in hand. Prue sat up, the image of the stars and his face still burning on her retinas. Timidly, she said, "I told him I couldn't take it, that it should have been yours. But he wouldn't listen."
Calmly, Casey replied, "Its okay. I mean, I would have preferred he wouldn't give it away, but if he had to use shiny objects in place of charm, I'm glad he gave it to you. It was his after all. Dad's will gave Cer the necklace, Cayan the car…I got what I wanted. Who's guitar do you think I play?"
"You can have it, if you want," Prue told him kindly.
"No! Promise me you won't toss this around like some piece of junk from Silveryce's. This is really important to me, and like I said, I'm glad Cerulean decided to give it to you. If he hadn't, it probably would have been lost in the bomb shelter he calls his room forever or given to some chick he picked up off the street," Casey sighed, "Take care of it."
"I will," Prue responded, feeling slightly honored.
"Oh, don't get all mushy on me. I've just seen the way you take care of your jewelry," he finished lamely, "Aren't I supposed to be teaching you astronomy?"
"Aren't you going to be smashed?" Prue inquired, watching him down two more shots of firewhisky.
"You haven't even touched yours," he countered, "That's expensive stuff there."
"Oh, I don't-" Prue started.
"Chicken?"
"No."
"Wimp?"
"Most certainly not."
Casey started making obscene chicken noises that sounded more like a dying niffler than any type of bird. Huffily, Prue picked up the glass, held her nose, and poured it down her throat. The liquid burned on the way down, and she sputtered a bit until it finally rested in her stomach.
"That wasn't so hard, was it?" Casey teased.
"That was nasty," she said grimly, clutching her stomach, "Don't make me drink any more."
"Hmm, interesting idea. Let's see, how would Bobby react if I told him I got Prudence drunk on the astronomy tower? Liquor does lower your inhibitions, I've heard."
Prue frowned, "I do not get drunk. I don't drink!"
"You just did. I saw, with my own two eyes," Casey put his fingers in front of his face, wiggling them about.
"Git, you really should stop drinking."
Casey put his glass down, "I did, see?"
"No, I mean permanently. I know you go to parties, every once in a while," Prue shook her head. Every once in a while was an understatement. Casey was popular enough that any party, be it held by the chess club or the Quidditch team invited him and his brothers. Usually, Prue wasn't invited (Unless the party was for the Quidditch team), but she'd heard stories that Casey got pretty while. Of course most of the stories were from Bobby and Frank, so she wasn't sure if she should believe them.
"I do. You should come to the next one. I hear Slytherin has a house party going like, New Years Eve. Get Dirky to invite you," Casey sneered slightly, his breath hot on her face.
"Eh, back to astronomy," Prue said quickly, knowing that Casey on the subject of Dirk was not a good thing.
Sorting himself out, Casey straightened, "Yup," he peeked into the dormant book near his hand, "Find me Bellatrix."
Limply, Prue pointed to some random place in the sky, "There?"
Casey frowned.
"There?" She asked hopefully, moving her finger up slightly.
"You're not even trying."
Frustrated, Prue said, "Fine, I'm not a genius. We covered this. Where the hell is it. You're the teacher here."
If Casey hadn't had the firewhisky, he probably wouldn't have touched her. Even if she wasn't remembering the almost kiss at the lake, he was, all night. Initially, he had been tense and jumpy, but he had loosened up. Not enough to use interactive teaching methods, until he uncorked that drink. Already, he had tackled her, so his disoriented mind figured, what's a little contact going to do? Blame it on the lowered inhibitions, he thought. The second he grabbed her hand he felt her entire body stiffen next to his. Casey could feel her cool skin against his sweaty palm as he tenderly guided her hand to the correct point in the sky, "It's uh- there."
"Yes," Prue gulped, thinking maybe she should have taken another shot of the firewhisky.
"So, um," Casey scooted his body closer to her warmth, threading an arm around her waist, "If you move your hand this way, see that reddish star there? And the blue one here? Combine them with Bellatrix and they form the constellation of the wizard."
"That's not real," Prue squealed, trying not to show how nervous she was, "You made that constellation up."
Casey breathed in her ear, "Maybe I did."
"Made up constellations won't help me on the astronomy test," Prue argued.
"You never know. That's how I'm so good at this. I made up all my own names for everything."
"So the stuff you've been teaching me is false?" Prue looked scandalized.
"No. I used it as a memorization method. I'm thinking maybe it will help you."
"I'm thinking you just wanted to get me in your lap," joked Prue, because that's where she was.
"Maybe you're right," agreed Casey.
Neither said anything for a few moments, just stared at the stars. Prue leaned back into Casey's arms, burying her face in his neck to hide the blush spreading across her cheeks. Casey was content to sit still, probably reveling in the liquor heating his body. She hoped it was the liquor, at any rate. And even more to the point, she hoped he wouldn't remember much about tonight, especially her sitting comfortably in his lap. Minutes ticked by, a heavy silence settling over the entire landscape.
Finally, Prue said, "Lesson done? I don't think I've learned much."
"Way to interrupt the romantic moment," Casey coughed, shivering slightly.
"Cold? I guess it is. We should go back in," Prue started to stand, ready to make her escape.
"Hold up," Casey had hold of her wrist, pulling her back down to him, "If you leave, it will just get colder."
"What a line. I bet you say that to all the girls," Prue said in a joking manner.
"Only you," Casey shrugged, "I haven't had much to do with girls other than you since…a long while."
"Blame it on me, will you? I haven't stopped you from having girlfriends, Hargrove. We're just friends," she placed heavy emphasis on the word 'friends'.
Grumbling, Casey managed, "Yeah, yeah, that's all I ever hear. Tell it to the mountain or something."
"There are no mountains around here, tosser. I don't think you look well. We should really, really, really go inside."
Smirking, Casey asked, "Really?"
"Fuck off, Hargrove," Prue stood, "I'm cold, and I am going back inside."
Yet again, Casey had hold of her wrist and was pulling her back down, "Just one more minute."
Suspiciously, Prue inquired, "Why?"
"I'm enjoying your company."
"Yeah, and I'm the minister of magic."
Seriously, Casey said, "You could be."
"Get real," Prue scoffed.
"This is as real as I'm going to get, Prue. Have you ever even noticed that I'm a guy?" Casey turned her head so that his sorrowful eyes bored into hers.
Sarcasm, of course, was her favorite defense mechanism, "No, I thought you were a girl. Well, now that we've got that cleared up."
"Be serious," Casey commanded, "Can't you do that for just a moment?"
Prue was genuinely afraid. Not of Casey, never of Casey, but of the fact that his breath on her face felt incredibly nice, the fact that she wanted to run her hands through his spiky orange hair, and the fact that she was losing control. Twisting her face into a mock-serious expression, she proclaimed, "I am magical."
Instead of frowning and chiding her for joking around, for taunting him, Casey's face softened. He whispered softly, leaning his face in closer and closer to hers, "I know."
It was the second time that week that Prue could almost feel his lips on hers, and for the second time that week, her heart was pounding in anticipation. This wasn't like it was with Cerulean, who made her feel wild and crazy but never dizzy with excitement, never caused a marching band to play within her veins. She could almost feel Casey there, in her blood, like he was part of her, but the moment before contact…
FLASH!
"What the sodding hell?" Casey muttered, looking up in surprise.
Standing there, silhouetted by moonlight, stood a short, curvy, honey haired girl with a very large, nasty looking camera. Shifting position, she shouted, "Hey guys, can you hold that pose?"
Without waiting for an answer, Reese O'Malley snapped the shutter open and closed. Indignantly, Prue cried, "Reese!"
Smugly, Reese replied, "I knew you two were lying about your relationship last year. No couple with as much pent up sexual tension as you two can stay 'just friends'."
"What are you going to do with those pictures?" Casey asked in a low voice.
Surprised, Reese held two fingers to her lips, "Why, I'm going to print them of course."
Dumbly, Prue asked, "Print them?"
"In Hogwash of course," she rubbed the camera in satisfaction. Hogwash was the name of the school circulation. Some called it a newspaper, but most called it a relentless gossip column. Naturally, Reese, and her stepsister, Tea-Aquila, headed it with another sneaky fifth year, this one a male Gryffindor named Scott Gainley. Who was also Reese's current boyfriend, coincidently.
"Don't you dare," Prue cried, "If Cerulean sees that…" She wasn't sure how to finish. Cerulean Hargrove was not the type of guy who got crushed over his girlfriend cheating on him. Not, she reminded herself, that Casey and I actually kissed. We just almost kissed, she sighed, again.
"Why not?" Reese cocked her head, "If I were as in love as you two, I'd want to proclaim it to the entire world. Of course I'm just a romantic at heart."
"We're not in love," Casey said in a monotone voice, like he was reciting lines from a play, "I was just tutoring her."
"Looked to me like you were having a wild snog session on the astronomy tower. And I have proof," Reese tapped her camera.
"If Cerulean sees that…you can't publish it," Prue said resolutely, "We're not even kissing in the picture. We weren't going to."
"Not what it looked like to me," Reese replied sardonically.
"Your eyes must be playing tricks on you," Casey said, standing.
"Now see here, Hargrove. Don't think your charm will work on me. I don't care if you're in some famous band or whatever. You can't silence the press," Reese backed up slightly. She actually did seem to care that Casey was supposedly famous. Now that Prue thought of it, Casey had more pull in the social hierarchy than she gave him credit for. He was…popular.
"It's night," Casey shrugged, "Lighting plays tricks on your eyes. Plus," he grinned, "I'm drunk as a professor at Mardi Gras. It's not Prue's fault I was falling all over her when I tried to point out Saturn's alignment with Uranus."
Frowning, Reese protested, "Saturn's not in alignment with Uranus right now, it's with Mars."
"No, no," Casey smiled childishly, "Not the planet. Your anus. Get it?"
Reese blinked. Then she blinked again, "What?"
"Geez," Casey ran a hand through his already mussed up hair, "You Hufflepuffs are dense. I don't see how you can't get it. Your arse is so big its basically in alignment with all the planets, isn't it?"
Reese's mouth twitched. Tears were welling up in her large blue eyes, and Prue had to admit he had said something very nasty. Immature, but cruel all the same. Dropping the camera, Reese fled the tower, sobbing, only to realize that she had left her precious film and vestibule with them, "Give it back to me!"
Unmoved as Reese stomped her foot impetuously, Casey undid the catch in the back of the camera and pulled out the film. Coldy, he tossed her the camera, "Here."
"Give me my film," Reese demanded, wiping at the tears in her eyes.
Eyes narrowed, Casey refused. Then, in a soft voice, he said, "Incendio."
The roll of film burst into flames, then ashes. Reese looked on in horror, "Why?"
"Don't ever try to blackmail us again," Casey commanded harshly, "Leave Prue alone, and for Pete's sake, don't gossip."
Reese cast him a 'yeah, right' look, and wiping the rest of the tears from her eyes, turned on her heel and left.
"Gee," Prue said, "That was exciting."
"Definitely," Casey said curtly.
"What's the matter with you?" Prue wondered.
"Just wondering when you're going to admit to the rest of the world that you like me, Prudence."
"Don't call me that," Prue snapped, "And I don't like you."
"Nonsense," Casey gave her a half smile, "You fancy me."
"Are you kidding me?"
"Its just that you fancy my brother more, maybe," he scratched his chin, "I guess I'll have to work around that."
"Get over yourself," Prue snorted.
Casey turned on her, wrapping a hand around the back of her neck, "Don't take me lightly, cricket. I may joke about a lot of things, but not this."
Gasping, Prue tried to duck out of his hold. But he grabbed hold of the guitar pendant around her neck, and said casually, "You know this makes you one of my groupies, right?" Chuckling, he brought his face close to hers, "I have a lot of those. But I think that you could be my all time favorite groupie."
Just when she thought he might try to kiss her for the third time, Casey released her, letting her fall unceremoniously to the floor. For once she was the one watching his retreating back as he walked away.