Chapter 4

I

"Please let me put make-up!"

"No."

"Cass, please!"

"No, Lily! I don't want to put make-up!"

This was Lily and Cassandra's first argument of the day. Cassandra's vision improved and she disposed the sunglasses. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and gasped: flawless skin, straight hair, white teeth and no glasses! Now Lily was begging Cassandra to put a bit of make-up on. Alice was on Lily's side; they wanted Cassandra to look perfect.

After their nagging, she gave in. "Fine.", she grumbled. Lily and Alice beamed and quickly got to work.

II

The Marauders, along with Frank, went to eat breakfast. They offered Alec to join them but he declined saying he wanted to sleep in. They took their seats and taking food from the larger trays placed in the center of the table.

"Where are the girls?" Remus asked, staring at the Great Hall entrance. Usually, the girls would be here before they arrived.

"No idea, mate." James asked, not looking up from his plate. Remus looked at James and shook his head – the boy loved his food.

"Oh, there they are." Frank pointed at their direction. James's head popped up. Sirius nonchalantly turned his gaze to the entrance and was immediately hooked. Cassandra was walking to the table and oozed confidence. Flowing, straight reddish-brown hair, full red lips, her blue eyes shining with pride (and no glasses), her face decorated with delicate make-up and porcelain skin. She wore a tight purple t-shirt and a short checkered skirt, accentuating her flat stomach and curves. She had black knee boots. She looked and felt bloody fantastic.

"Sweet Merlin." Sirius whispered under his breath, as he, along with ten other boys was watching her. Remus, James and Frank were equally intrigued. Lily and Alice were right behind her, looking smug. They took their seats and ignored the staring young men.

"Good morning." Remus addressed the girls. Sirius and James were still speechless.

"Alice, Lily, good work." Frank gave them the 'thumbs up'.

"You look great, Cassandra." James piped up.

Sirius looked a bit uncomfortable, but managed to say "I agree with James. People will barely recognize you."

"Thank you all." Cassandra smiled broadly. Why was Sirius awkward with her?

"Glad to see that you're feeling better." Remus said and smiled kindly at her. They ate their breakfast. Cassandra noticed that Remus was too quiet and pale again. James urged him to finish his meal, but he couldn't.

"He has stomach flu." Sirius said before anyone asked. Sirius and James helped Remus up and walk back to the dormitories. Lily looked worried for a minute but Cassandra knew Lily didn't believe Sirius.

After breakfast, Lily found Alec reading in the common room. When he saw her, he stopped.

"Hello, you, how are you? How did you sleep?" Lily asked him and sat next to him.

"I slept well. You?"

"Same. Why didn't you come down for breakfast?"

"I wasn't hungry." He answered.

"Thank you for yesterday. For the massage at the spa, for lunch, for the butterbeer." Lily kissed him.

"You're very welcome. What are you plans for the day?"

"I want to finish Professor Binns's assignment, which is due tomorrow. Then I want to start McGonagall's assignment. What are your plans?" She asked.

"I have a few papers on my own to do. Then I'm going to try out for the Quidditch team. It's at 11 o'clock." Alec said.

"I remember you told me yesterday. Good luck!"

"Thanks, babe." They shared a kiss.

III

Cassandra watched them kiss and felt a pang of jealousy. She realized she wanted someone to love her, someone to really get to know her. She also realized that her new look is going to get her new attention. Thomas Ludlow, a cute seventh year Hufflepuff, spotted Cassandra at the Great Hall and asked her out. She didn't refuse. Some of the Gryffindor girls looked at her during breakfast. Some of the boys wanted pluck up the courage to ask her out. Lily saw Alec running back upstairs and James coming down.

"Alec is trying out for the team today. Be gentle, James." Lily gave him a slight warning. James was the team's captain.

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

"He said the try-outs are today at 11." She elaborated.

"Uh, no Lily, I didn't set the try-outs for today. He got it wrong." He corrected.

Cassandra and Lily caught each other's glance. Why did Alec lie to her?

"Is something wrong?" He asked.

"No, no, everything's fine. Thanks." Lily smiled politely at him. James left it at that and left the common room.

"Alec's a bit weird, Lily. Why would he lie about tryouts?" Cassandra pointed out.

"I don't know, but I will get to the bottom of this." Lily assured.

Sunday went by quickly and it was soon evening. Cassandra and Lily haven't seen Remus all day and were worried about him. Lily was also still upset about Alec lying to her. Cassandra was in her room, wiping off the make-up. Lily went to find Alec, in search for answers. She searched the Great Hall, library and common room. She went upstairs to the boys' dorms and found Alec's room. She heard grunting and moaning coming from his room. Lily knew the door wasn't locked. She opened it wide and was stunned at the sight in front of her.

She gasped and yelled "What the hell?!"

IV

Cassandra was in the common room, waiting for Lily to return. Lily wasn't at dinner, which raised questions. She heard someone coming down the boys' stairs and immediately saw Lily crying and running up to her room. James and Cassandra stood up together.

"I'll check on her, don't worry." Cassandra told him and followed Lily. She ran up the stairs and opened the door to their room. She saw Lily sprawled on her bed and sobbing.

"Lils, what happened? Tell me." Cassandra ordered gently.

Lily sat up and hiccupped "I-I went to his room and h-he wasn't alone."

"Who was she?" Cassandra quickly got the picture.

"It's not a she." Lily said flatly.

"You're joking."

"I wish I were, Cass. Apparently Alec prefers men and wanted to cover it up for his parents' sake." Lily explained and tried to calm down.

"Good Lord. I knew he was a bit off, but never expected this."

"Cass, this remains between us. Nobody can know." Lily enunciated.

"Of course." Cassandra hugged her distraught best friend. Cassandra was relieved that it ended; she put up with him for Lily's sake, but she couldn't stand Alec. Alice came rushing in and Cassandra told her. That night, Lily fell fast asleep, as opposed to Cassandra. She couldn't sleep at all. Cassandra thought about taking a stroll tonight. It was her secret which even Lily didn't know. She looked out the window and saw a full moon. Whenever she wanted to walk in the forests at night, she would use a secret passageway to leave the castle. She got dressed and left the common room. She found the passageway and was grateful that Filch didn't find her.

She was finally outside the castle, gazing at the full moon and Black Lake. She walked by the lake and enjoyed the cool breeze. Her much needed solitude was violated by a low growl. She turned her head and saw a large black dog flashing its teeth at her. She froze. It barked and cocked its head to the castle's direction.

"You want me to go back. Not a chance." Cassandra stubbornly insisted. Its gray eyes narrowed at her.

The dog grabbed her by the jacket's sleeve and pulled it. The dog ceased as it noticed Cassandra wasn't going to give in. The dog sat and cocked its head to the side. Now it didn't look so threatening. She petted his head and scratched his ear. Unfortunately, the dog didn't get a chance to enjoy it because a howl distracted it. It pulled her sleeve again and cocked its head to the school. They heard heavy footsteps and Cassandra pulled out her wand. A tall, brown werewolf appeared and Cassandra screamed. This made the werewolf angry and it went after her. The black dog was fighting the beast off, but it was determined to get Cassandra. She ran as fast as she could, but suddenly she tripped over a rock and fell. Her vision blackened and her eyes closed.

V

Cassandra opened her eyes and looked around. She was at the Hospital Wing. It was morning since it was bright. Her head hurt and so did her left arm.

"Would you like to tell me what the hell happened?" Cassandra knew that voice. Lily. She was livid. She stood at the doorway and approached Cassandra.

"Who told you I was here?" Cassandra croaked.

"James told me. Hagrid and Sirius brought you here last night. What were you thinking?"

"I'm sorry, Lily. I like taking walks at night sometimes."

"You could've died! How can you be so reckless?" Lily reprimanded.

"You're right."

"Sirius told Madam Pomfrey that you fell down the stairs. He practically begged Hagrid not to turn you in so you wouldn't receive detention." Lily filled her in.

"I guess I owe him one."

Lily nodded and said "Anyway, I'm off to Charms. I'll give you my notes to copy later. I'll come by lunch. I hope you feel better and Cass, don't do that again." They hugged and she left for her day of classes.

"You're right, you know. You do owe me one." Sirius reached her bed. He looked handsome as always but today he appeared fatigued.

Cassandra looked at him quizzically and he shrugged it off. "Rough night. As a token of your gratitude, you'll let me copy your Potions homework for a week."

"Deal."

"Now, tell me something. What were you doing outside last night?" He asked her.

"I was just taking a moonlit stroll. Hang on, how did you know I was outside?"

Sirius had a quick response. "Hagrid told me. I was in the kitchens when I saw Hagrid carrying you."

It seemed like a reasonable answer, but Cassandra had another question: How did he get to the kitchens undetected?

"So, you and Ludlow, huh?" He casually brought up. Cassandra detected a hint of jealousy in his voice.

"It's just a date." Cassandra was looking forward to it. Then why did she feel the need to explain that to Sirius? Thomas Ludlow was one of the nicest people she knew.

"You'll have the entire male population drooling after you." Sirius smirked.

"I doubt it." Cassandra lowered her head.

"Listen, Cassandra. Let me tell you something. People are starting to take in your outer beauty, but I've been exposed to your inner beauty. It's just as beautiful." Sirius earnestly shared.

Cassandra looked up at him. "Before I changed my looks, people didn't notice me but you did."

"Rather late, I may add." Sirius joked. Cassandra chuckled. Madam Pomfrey approached Cassandra's bed.

"Miss Young. After looking at your tests, you'll be discharged in an hour."

"Thank you." Cassandra thanked her before she left to take care of other patients.

"I'm skipping Charms." Sirius decided.

"For me? You shouldn't!" Cassandra faked a shocked expression.

"Funny. I could use fresh air and so can you." He went on saying. Sirius stayed with her until she was allowed to leave the Hospital Wing. Alice came by and checked up on Cassandra. She gave Professor Slughorn an excuse to leave class.

"I told him that I have diarrhea and I need to leave quickly every time I feel it coming." Alice told Sirius and Cassandra. They were laughing hysterically after her story.

After she left, Cassandra freshened up in the bathroom. Luckily, Lily brought her clean clothes from her trunk. Cassandra was discharged from the hospital. Sirius took her to the kitchens and introduced her to the elves working there. Cassandra took a ham sandwich and two éclairs. Sirius already had breakfast so he took a banana. They spent the morning by the lake.

She saw a piece of parchment sticking out from his pocket.

"What's that?" Cassandra asked him.

"It's a secret." He grinned at her.

"I can keep secrets."

He pulled it out and explained "It's a map which shows the entire school and the students and staff."

Cassandra motioned him to show her. Sirius took out his wand, pointed it on the map and said "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

The map revealed exactly what Sirius had said. She spotted Lily at the library and Thomas Ludlow with his friend, Amos Diggory.

"This is brilliant, Sirius!" Cassandra said, clearly impressed.

"Thank you. Mischief managed." Sirius said and the writing dissolved. Cassandra didn't have a jacket on and she shivered slightly. Sirius quickly removed his and placed it on her shoulders.

"Thank you." She was flattered and honored that Sirius was courteous to her.

"Do you usually do that with other girls?" She had to ask.

"Only with those who deserve it." He said, half-joking. Cassandra smiled at him. As he gazed at the view, Cassandra did something odd: she sniffed the jacket and savored the masculine scent.

"Let's head back, it's getting chilly." Sirius said. Cassandra agreed and they headed back to the common room. They saw Lily and Remus studying together. Lily looked up and was thrilled to see Cassandra.

"I'm glad you're alright." She hugged her. As they parted, Lily said that Thomas was looking for her.

"He said he wants to see you at lunch." Lily noted. Sirius sat near Remus.

"Alright." Cassandra said.

They went to their lessons as usual and by lunch, Thomas spotted her and greeted her.

"Lily told me you were injured. Are you alright?" He asked concerned.

"Yes, I feel much better, thanks. So, Lily said you wanted to see me."

"Yes, I've arranged a private dinner tonight at the Astronomy tower. I have my ways." Thomas smiled knowingly.

'This should be interesting', Cassandra thought.

"Sure. What time should I be there?"

"I'll come to the Gryffindor door at 7 o'clock." Thomas replied. Cassandra nodded and they each went to their table.

"Cassandra, wait!" She turned to see James running to her.

"What happened to Lily last night?" He asked.

"Lily broke up with Alec. It just didn't work out." Cassandra replied.

"It's Alec's bloody loss." James gloated at that. Cassandra couldn't agree more.

"Just be there for as a friend. Get to know her. We've talked about this before." Cassandra reminded him.

"Right, we did. Anyway, enjoy your lunch. I'm glad you're okay."

"Thank you, James." They walked to the Gryffindor table and ate lunch with their friends. 'This is an interesting day so far', Cassandra thought happily.