Disclaimer- Harry Potter characters, plots and settings belong to J.K. Rowlings. Only Cassi and my own plot twists are mine.

Chapter Four

"Cassi!" It was Hermione, waving at her. She blinked, having forgotten for a moment why she had been called away. It was on her lips to tell Hermione the whole story- she, at least, would know where to start looking for answers. But then Cassie remembered Moody's warning. She had been hidden for her own safety. She could tell no one the truth. Not Hannah, and certainly not Hermione.

"Cassi!" said Hermione again. "What took you so long? What did Moody want?"

She shrugged. "Nothing in particular. What's the matter?"

"Nothing's the matter. We were just trying to find you. Did you get Professor Sprout's message?"

"Yes."

"Then why didn't you come to the painting? We've been waiting for at least a half an hour!"

Cassi glanced up. Next to Hermione was Harry, looking slightly confused, and Ron Weasley looking somewhat disgruntled. "I'm sorry," she said. "I had- well, other things on my mind."

Hermione sighed. "Well, you wanted to learn how to fly and Harry is going to teach you. Now- I really have to go write my paper for Potions. Snape wants three pages by tomorrow morning. Ron, Harry, you'd better not stay out too late. I'm not letting you copy the whole thing."

"Yeah, right," muttered Ron. "Remind me again- why are we teaching a Hufflepuff how to fly?"

"Don't be silly, Ron. She says there's no one else to teach her."

"What about Cedric Diggory? He's ten times better than me."

"Well, you're not going to be teaching her! Harry is."

Harry coughed. "Technically, Cedric won the last match we played together."

"Nonsense. We all know that was a mistake. Now stop arguing and do it! Or I won't let you copy my paper at all!"

"All right all right!" said Ron. "Come on Harry, let's get this over with."

"Right," Harry nodded. He looked rather apologetically at Cassi. "Do you need to get your broom?"

She felt her face growing warm. "I don't have one."

"You don't have a broom?" groaned Ron.

"Don't worry," said Harry. "You can borrow Ron's for the first lesson."

Ron let out another groan.

"I don't have to," said Cassi. "If you'd rather not."

"No, no, it's all right," Ron said with a worried look at Hermione's retreating figure. "I'll be ground support. Now let's get this over with before Filch catches us."

"Right," Harry agreed. "Follow us, Cassi."

The two boys began descending the nearest staircase. Quickly, Cassi gathered her robes in one hand and scurried after them. It was late already- she had no idea how they were going to escape detection at this time of night. The moon was nearly out. She hardly needed even more trouble today.

As they reached the first floor, Harry dug into his backpack and pulled out a shimmering cloak. "Here," he said, draping one side over Ron. Immediately, Ron vanished. Harry held the other side open for Cassi. "Well come on!"

"What is it?" she whispered, staring horrified at the place where Ron had disappeared.

"Invisibility Cloak," said Ron. "From Harry's dad. Makes this sort of thing easy."

Harry pulled the hood over his head and he also vanished. Mystified, yet intrigued, Cassi groped her way forwards until she found the opening. She ducked under it and immediately she could see the boys again. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"North courtyard," answered Harry. "It's nearest to the lake, where we can fly undetected."

"Why are we doing this tonight? Couldn't we wait until morning?"

"It was Hermione's idea, actually," said Harry. "She didn't think you'd want to draw more attention to yourself."

"Besides," added Ron. "Didn't you hear? Beaubaxtons and Durmstrang arrive tomorrow. Then the tournament will start and who knows what will happen?"

"Shh!" hissed Harry. "It's Filch!"

The trio froze as the old caretaker's shadow moved across the wall in front of them. Slowly, holding a flickering candle above him, Filch moved down the hall. Behind him, like a silent stalker, was his cat, Mrs. Norris. As she passed the hidden watchers, she turned and stared at them with her great yellow eyes. Cassi was almost certain that the cat could see them.

When Filch was gone Ron let out an audible sigh. "Did you see that cat?"

"Yes," said Cassi. "But I think the question really is- did she see us? Can anything see through this cloak?"

"I don't know," said Harry. "Sometimes I half-think Dumbledore can."

They slipped through one of the small side doors out onto the school grounds. The North Courtyard was in deep shadow, and Cassi found herself slightly intimidated.

Then Harry slipped off the cloak. "All right, Ron, how did Hermione say to do it?"

Ron pulled two small twigs out of his pocket. "Well, she put a reducto charm on them so…"

"Oh! I know this!" exclaimed Cassi. She slipped out her wand and flicked it deftly at the twigs. "Engorgio!"

Immediately the twigs expanded into full-sized brooms- one of them Harry's well-known Firebolt. Ron stared at them wide-eyed. "Bloody hell! How did you do that? You've been here less than a month!"

She shrugged modestly. "I like charms."

"Well, if you catch on to flying half as quickly, you'll have no trouble at all," said Harry. He took his Firebolt from Ron and tossed the other broom to Cassi. "Now, you mount it like this…"

From the moment Cassi touched the broom she knew this was something she was going to love. The wooden handle felt natural to her- perhaps from so many years of sweeping the kitchen floor. And the second she kicked off the ground she knew that she was born to fly.

She swooped up immediately, following Harry's gentle lead across the courtyard. They were only yards from the ground but by the second pass they were already a good fifty feet up.

"You're doing good!" He called to Cassi. "Ready to try some turns?"

She nodded eagerly. "Let's go!"

He leaned forwards towards the front of his broom, picking up speed. As he neared the wall, he twisted, rounding the curve and coming to a hover over the battlements. Cassi followed him easily. They were high enough now that the moon illuminated their path clearly. Harry moved out towards the lake, but Cassi shot ahead of him, moving into the wind and swooping down near the waves.

It was amazing! Her cloak trailed out behind her like a wisp of smoke and the wind played with her hair. She loved flying! It was exhilarating- like the moments when she realized where the plot of her book was going to go, or when she raced her brothers in the park-

Her brothers. She pulled her broom to a stop. She had nearly forgotten Moody's revelation. How could she be so happy flying when a half-hour before her world had come crashing around her shoulders?

Harry pulled in besides her. "You all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I just remembered something, that's all."

"You're doing well. A bit of practice and you could probably play Quidditch."

"Really?" her face brightened slightly.

"Yes. We're not playing this year, obviously, but I hear the Hufflepuffs are still practicing. You could probably ask Cedric about training with them."

She felt her cheeks grow warm. "Oh…well…"

"Have you had enough for one night? Because Ron and I really should get back to our papers."

"Of course."

They flew the brooms back into the courtyard. Ron was staring at them, his face slightly shocked. "Are you sure you've never flown before?"

Cassi didn't answer. What was there to say? Ron had only reminded her, once again, that she was a newcomer. A newcomer who knew practically nothing. She handed over the broom. "Thanks for letting me use it. I'll try to get my own before next time."

"Er-" Harry looked a bit embarrassed. "I don't know if there will be a next time. With the tournament and everything…"

"Oh yes, right," she said hastily. "I didn't mean- yes. I'm fine."

"Yes, you are," he agreed. "Really, a natural. You just need a decent broom."

He pulled the Invisibility cloak back out and the three of them scrambled under it (after reducting the brooms once more, of course). "Now," said Harry, as they made their way back to their starting point. "We can't take you back to your common room, because we don't know where it is. But we can make sure the way is clear." He reached into his pocket and pulled out an old parchment. Carefully he unfolded it and tapped it with his wand. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Immediately rivers of ink began to run from the point where his wand had touched the paper. They sprawled out to form a perfect map of Hogwarts covered with tiny black dots. Above it were the words:

Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs proudly present

The Marauder's Map.

"We are here-" said Harry, tapping one of the corners of the hall. "Now search the hallways leading to your common room and see if they're clear."

Delighted and astonished, Cassi bent over the map. She saw (to her great amazement) that each of the tiny black dots was identified with a name. Their own were covered by Harry's finger, but she could clearly see Nearly Headless Nick (who was hovering at the far end of the hall) indicated in small, swirling letters. From there she visually traced the path to the common room, seeing to her relief that the only potential threat was Professor Sprout, moving from the common room to her office. She'd just have to check before rounding corners to avoid her.

"Done?" asked Harry.

She nodded.

"Good." He tapped the map again. "Mischief managed."

Immediately the ink disappeared.

"What are you waiting for?" hissed Ron. "Hurry!"

"Oh!" Cassi jumped. She had been staring awestruck at the marvelous parchment. "Sorry. Thank you both so much!"

"No problem!" said Harry with a smile. "Hermione wouldn't have let us off easy if we didn't!"

She managed a grin before hurrying off down the hallway. What fun! No matter how doubtful she might be about her family's past, she couldn't deny that there was a deep satisfaction to be sneaking around the school after hours, under an invisibility cloak, with one of the most famous boys in the Wizarding world. Not that she had a crush on Harry, or anything. He was perfectly nice and good looking, but her fancy had already been taken.

Of course, she had no hope whatsoever with Cedric Diggory. He was three years older, the hero of Hufflepuff house, and one of the handsomest boys in the school. She, Cassi, was a newcomer of, it seemed, questionable heritage. No Hufflepuff would want to ally themselves with the daughter of- of…

Could she really be related to the Blacks? Hannah had said that many of them were Death Eaters. But if that were so, why would Moody want to protect her? He was an Auror, devoted to weeding hunting down Death Eaters. Wouldn't he rather take her into Azkaban?

Or was he protecting her from the other side? His side? It was known that the Ministry of Magic was on edge these days, what with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Name's mark appearing in the sky over the Quidditch World Cup. None of the girls had managed to stop talking about it. Everyone had been terrified, and, according to Hannah, there was even more avoidance of anyone (such as Malfoy) who were connected to those with…questionable loyalties.

She sighed as she arrived at the portrait covering the entrance to the common room. The smell of…something…was drifting from the center of it. Frowning, she sniffed it. "Lime pudding?" she whispered. "Made with sour milk?"

She must have been right, for the frame creaked open. Weird test, but then, when all it had to work with was smell, you couldn't blame it. She had heard that the Ravenclaw common room also asked a question as the password, but their guardian could actually talk. Hufflepuff's could only create aromas.

"Figures," Hannah had said, when going into more detail about it. "It doesn't exactly help our reputation. The Slytherins especially are rather nasty about it."

Cassi groaned as she stepped into the dark room. There was something else she had forgotten. Was Hannah still mad at her? There was no way she'd be awake at this late hour, which meant that if she didn't get up early enough to catch her friend before breakfast, they could very well go another day without speaking.

She stumbled over a book in the dark and grunted. Did they always let the fire burn out? Most impractical. "Lumos," she muttered, flicking her wand.

"Hold it right there!" came a stern voice. Another light flickered in one of the tunnels and a tall dark figure entered the room. "I thought I heard someone prowling around. If that's you, Benjamin, I'm going to-" He stopped short when he saw Cassi.

"Cedric?" she gasped. She had never felt so mortified in her life. Of all the people to catch her sneaking in late!

He blinked. "Cassi? What are you doing up?"

"I…"

"Not writing again, were you? Couldn't you do that in your room?"

She shook her head. "No. I was…well, I was flying."

"Flying! At this time of night? Alone?"

"No, I wasn't alone. I had two-" She stopped quickly. It suddenly occurred to her that she would be doing Harry and Ron a rotten turn if she was to name them. Cedric was a prefect after all. "I wasn't alone."

"Who was with you? Were they from Hufflepuff?"

She shook her head. "Please don't make me tell. They were being kind to me and I- I don't want them to get in trouble."

The stern look slowly left his face. "Well, I don't blame you for that. And if they're not in Hufflepuff I suppose I can let it pass. But why on earth were you practicing at this time of night?"

"I don't know," she said miserably. "We thought that- well, it might attract less attention."

"More, I should think, if you got caught."

Cassi glanced at him worriedly. "Are you going to turn me in?"

"Answer me this. Why didn't you want to attract attention?"

She shrugged. "Because I'm new. And…different."

"Ah…" He nodded slowly. "I see. Well. I'm the captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. If anyone should be teaching you, it's me."

"But you're busy!"

"Never too busy to practice flying. You saw me today, didn't you?"

"But what about the tournament?"

He grinned. "It hasn't started yet. And who knows if I'll get picked? Now get to bed. It wouldn't do well to wake up one of the other prefects. They're not all as understanding as me. We'll talk about flying lessons later."

She returned his grin shyly. "Thank you."

"No problem. And no more sneaking out at night!"

"Yes sir," she said, matching his teasing tone. Than, completely mortified by her boldness, she turned and hurried down her own tunnel. Bursting into her room, she flung herself under her covers and hid her embarrassed smile in her pillow.

So what do you think so far? Is it making sense? Am I holding your interest? Are there any minor mistakes that you think I should correct? Please let me know! Until next time, as always...stay tuned!