Chapter 5

I

Cassandra was excited about her first date. Cassandra finished getting ready and met up with Thomas for their date. She was dressed to kill – a short, red dress and black pumps – much to Thomas's delight. He wore a black and blue checkered shirt and black jeans. She thought it suited his light skin and dirty blond hair. He certainly had his secret ways of getting things done. They went up the stairs of the Astronomy tower and Cassandra saw a beautiful round table with yellow flowers and candles.

"I had two elves prepare dinner." Thomas informed. She thought that this was an exciting start, but she could've never predicted the rest of the date.

While eating, Thomas began telling about himself. But as the elves brought the food, he kept on talking Cassandra's ears off. Cassandra found herself gazing at the stunning view of the forest and lake. She grew more interested in the delicious food as time passed. He bragged about his grades and friends. She never believed that he was this conceited. Cassandra couldn't take it anymore.

"This isn't going to work, Thomas. I'm sorry." Cassandra had made him shut up. Cassandra swiftly got up from her seat and left the tower before he could say anything.

As she ran back to the common room, she tripped and fell. She scraped her knee and winced at the sudden pain.

"Cassandra, why were you running?" Remus was there. He helped her up.

"Thanks. I'm fleeing from a boring date!" She exclaimed. She never thought Thomas Ludlow could be dull but tonight she learned differently.

"Thomas Ludlow. Sirius told me."

"Oh, so Sirius talks about me?" Cassandra wondered.

Remus didn't answer that, but rather changed the topic. "What happened on the date?"

"Walk me back to the common room and I'll tell you."

Remus nodded and walked her back.

II

"She talked to you about it?"

"Yes, Sirius, she said she was bored to death. She left him there in the Astronomy tower."

The Marauders were sitting in their room. Sirius imagined it in his mind and guffawed.

"Ludlow is a pathetic tosser."

"Padfoot, you've barely talked to him." James chuckled at Sirius's comment.

"He's just saying that because of Cassandra." Remus smirked. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"No, I said it because I believe he's an arsehole." Sirius stressed.

"Bullocks!" James protested. Sirius glared at him and stuck out his tongue at James.

"What time is it?" James asked.

"8:30, why?" Peter piped up.

"Shit! I have rounds with Lily. Someone called in sick, so we're replacing him. Got to go." James got up quickly from his bed and hurried to the door.

"Send Mrs. Potter my love!" Sirius yelled jokingly. James flipped the bird and closed the door. James was still trying to behave himself for her. He wasn't playing pranks anymore, didn't tease any students and didn't ask Lily out. He went down the stairs and saw that Lily was waiting for him.

"Are you ready?" She asked him.

James nodded.

"Let's go."

They left to start their one-hour round. They patrolled the first floor.

"I heard you broke up with Alec."

"Yes, I did."

"Care to share why?"

"It didn't work out. He wasn't who I thought he was." She said.

"It's his loss." He said, looking at her. Lily smiled at him.

"I haven't seen a prank in a while." She said out of the blue.

"Well, I uh, haven't given them much thought."

"It's a shame. Some of them were actually hilarious." Lily admitted.

James's eyebrows rose in shock. "A compliment from Lily Evans. I'm stunned!"

Lily chuckled and hit his arm playfully. "If I see a prank, let's just say I won't hurry to report it to the teachers. Just one condition: it has to be really good." Lily said.

James's eyes twinkled with delight; he was exuberant about Lily's sudden change of regard in rules.

"Don't worry. They'll be the best, just for you." He grinned at her. As time went by, Lily and James discovered new information about each other and joked around. James definitely considered this good progress.

III

At the next morning, Cassandra was in for a surprise. Lily woke up earlier than usual and saw a pile of presents at a corner in the common room. 'It's not Christmas', Lily had a silly thought. She saw that they were addressed to Cassandra. Lily was impressed; Cassandra had suitors waiting in line overnight. Lily scooped up the presents in her arms and went upstairs to their room.

"Cass, wake up! You won't believe this!"

"What?" Cassandra croaked. She woke up and opened her tired eyes. Several presents were on her bed.

"Some guys fancy you, and may I add, some shaggable lads." Lily giggled. Cassandra focused her attention on the gifts. She was flattered they began to notice her but was annoyed at their shallowness. In her mind, it was ridiculous that just because she changed a few things about herself that now people treated her adequately. The gifts were from Derek Flaherty, Ewan Daugherty, and Fred Valentine. They were all shaggable, indeed, but a different thing drew her attention: a letter. She had no idea who it was from, but by looking at the handwriting, she knew it was a boy.

'Cassandra,

After seeing the loads of presents you got, I'm assuming I'm not the only one who noticed your sudden metamorphosis. Yes, I know it's a muggle term but it's the right one to describe your change. I don't have a problem with a challenge; I know this one is worth fighting for. Your incredible image resonates through my mind. I can't get you out of my mind. I know this letter might embarrass you, but I had to tell you how I feel.

If you wish to write back, put the note in the pink jar (on top of the fireplace) in the common room.

Padfoot'

"Who's Padfoot?" Alice asked, making Cassandra and Lily jump. They didn't know she was awake.

"Sorry, did we wake you?" Lily asked her. Alice shook her head.

"I've no idea who Padfoot is." Cassandra answered.

"I think I've heard the name before, not sure when." Lily said, equally curious. Cassandra felt overwhelmed by the sudden attention, but she felt this makeover would boost her confidence, and it indeed did so. She wasn't the 'four-eyed freak' anymore. Cassandra folded the letter and placed it in her trunk. They got ready for another day of classes.

They went downstairs to the common room and were greeted by the Marauders.

"Morning, ladies!" Sirius's low voice boomed. He looked cheerful this morning. James was tired since he knew today was going to be a long one.

"Lily, before you say anything, I remember we have a meeting with the Prefects." James said.

"Good morning to you too, James." Lily said curtly.

"I'm sorry. Good morning, Lily." James smiled apologetically. Lily smiled back at him, feeling the same pressure as he felt about being Heads. Ewan Daugherty, one of the boys who gave Cassandra a gift, smiled at her. Cassandra smiled back at him.

"He's gorgeous!" Alice whispered excitedly in her ear. Alice was right; Ewan had brown hair and dark eyes, but what really attracted the girls was his wide smile.

"Do you want to walk with me to breakfast, Cassandra?" Cassandra heard Sirius ask her.

She turned to him and said "Sure, I'd like that. We're all walking together anyway."

They were the first on their way to the Great Hall. A few Hufflepuff boys gazed at Cassandra as they walked. Sirius could tell she was a bit uncomfortable with the situation.

"Looks like you've got other admirers." He cracked a smile.

"It's a bit awkward, really." Cassandra said quietly.

"I can imagine how you must be feeling. Since I've hit puberty, I always get this kind of attention. Sometimes things got really weird." Sirius said and then laughed.

"What's so funny?" Cassandra asked with a glow in her eyes.

"I remembered this one morning that I went to the common room and saw five bras hanging on the fireplace which wasn't on at the time. On the cups, the girls wrote really silly things." Sirius said, clearly humored by the story.

"What did they write?" She asked. She was interested to know the rest.

"One wrote 'Shag me, Sirius!', another one wrote 'Marry me!' and other things." He replied.

"I didn't put mine up there." Cassandra giggled. Sirius threw his head back with laughter. He had a bark-like laugh.

"I knew who they were, and mind you, I've never laid a hand on them. Besides, you seem a bit shy for that kind of stuff." Sirius added.

"What kind of stuff?" She innocently asked. They stopped at the stop of a staircase which led to the dining hall.

He came closer to her and said softly "The kinky stuff."

She could smell his mint toothpaste and the familiar masculine fragrance. She noticed slight stubble on his face and looked deep into his gray eyes. She felt her face warm up and drifted away from him. He chuckled softly at her embarrassment.

"Let's go and eat, I'm hungry." She managed to say after taking a deep breath.

IV

The others joined them and they ate together. Alice brought a Witch Weekly magazine and flipped through it during breakfast. She stopped at a certain page and filled in the quiz.

"Which quiz is it?" Lily asked.

"'What's your ideal first date'?" Alice read the title.

"I want to do the quiz." Cassandra eagerly said. Alice asked her questions, added up the numbers and received an answer.

"Your ideal first date is a romantic dinner." Alice said. The girls looked at each other and laughed loudly.

"Your date with Thomas was rubbish!" Lily chortled. Cassandra nodded in agreement.

"What was so terrible?" Sirius asked her.

"He just kept talking about himself. Just talking, talking and talking some more." Cassandra replied.

"Being a conceited prat. He should've let her talk too." Lily added. James was listening to the conversation. Remus enjoyed Sirius and James's reactions to the girls' discussion.

"Hey, Cassandra." She turned to the direction where she heard the voice. She found out that Ewan was addressing her.

"Hi, Ewan. H-how are you?" She smiled at him.

"Good, you?"

"I'm fine, thanks. Chilly morning." Cassandra said. He nodded.

"Did you like the chocolates I gave you?"

Cassandra hadn't had the chance to open her presents, but she went along. "Yes, I did. Thank you."

"You're welcome. I'll see you around." Ewan smiled at her and went to sit with his friends.

Alice squealed and grabbed Cassandra's arm enthusiastically. Cassandra and Lily giggled. James rolled his eyes and looked at Sirius.

"Git." Sirius muttered under his breath. He was never fond of Ewan and never will be either.

They had double Transfigurations and then a single period of Charms. During Charms, Neal was eyeing Cassandra and Remus noticed this.

"I'm guessing another 'git' is going to try." Remus whispered to Sirius. Sirius looked at Cassandra and knew exactly what Remus meant. Sirius kept his eye on him. After class, Cassandra was the last to leave the classroom. Neal waited for her outside.

"Hello, Cassandra."

"What do you want?" She asked brusquely. She couldn't stand the sight of him. He hasn't teased her for some time, but his presence bothered her.

He came closer to her. "Well, I wanted to apologize for being an arse. I was still mad at what happened between us."

"Nothing happened. You can't help but being an arse." Cassandra felt the courage build up in her.

Neal blocked her way out by putting his hand up and placing them on the wall. "Listen to me. You know I've fancied you forever and when you turned me down, I went mental. I want us to try again." He said slightly hostile.

"Leave me alone." Cassandra was starting to feel scared.

He held her face with his left hand – his thumb and finger came closer causing her lips to purse.

"I won't leave you alone. I want you for myself. I dumped that Marissa whore for you."

"Well, that just shows how much you respect girls." Neal turned around and saw Sirius, who was talking to him.

"Black to the rescue." Neal snorted.

"Cassandra told you to leave her alone." Sirius said, coming closer to them.

"Fuck off, Black. This doesn't concern you." Neal harshly sneered at him. Cassandra looked at Sirius with pleading eyes. Neal finally let go of her face.

"She's my friend so it does concern me." Sirius said. Neal pushed Sirius.

"Sirius! Are you alright?" She asked him.

"What the hell are you asking him that?! He's never even looked at you until now!" Neal angrily exclaimed.

"You're wrong - He has noticed me – at least he wasn't mean to me." Cassandra said to him and ran to Sirius.

Sirius was angry at Neal, for forcing himself on Cassandra and for pushing him. Sirius pushed Neal, which exacerbated the situation into a physical fight. Cassandra knew she couldn't break the two strong boys apart, so she ran to call James, Peter and Remus for their help. They saw her distress and came running to help Sirius. Neal had a black eye and a broken rib. Sirius had a few scratches and two purple marks. Professor McGonagall was around the corner and saw the injured boys.

"What happened? Tell me now." She sternly said. Cassandra told her everything. The elder witch ordered them to go to the Hospital Wing and assigned them detention for four days. Another she did was take off 20 points to Gryffindor.

"I thought it would be worse." Sirius tried to laugh about it. They led Sirius and Neal to Madam Pomfrey. As they arrived, Madam Pomfrey started taking care of them quickly. Cassandra was amazed at Sirius for defending her wishes and honor. Furthermore, she was furious at Neal and told him that she would never forgive or talk to him again.