Twice in one day is definitely a record for us! Hope you enjoy!
"What do you reckon happened last night?" Emma whispered to Lily as they stared down at their friend sleeping across from Sirius.
"I don't know… Should we wake her?" Lily asked uncertainly.
"SIRIUS! Where are you mate!" James bellowed walking down the stairs.
Sirius groaned and rolled over, while Casselle jumped up awake. "What's going on?" She asked looking around for who was yelling.
"Hey Cass, what are you doing down here?" James asked before spotting his best mate sleeping on the other couch. "Oh…"
Casselle followed his gaze and blushed slightly, even though they didn't do anything she still felt embarrassed. The last thing she wanted to do was answer awkward questions about what exactly happened last night.
"I should…erm go take a shower," She said hurrying off to the girls dormitory leaving them to stare after her confused. Before Emma and Lily hurried after her.
"Casselle!" Lily called as they went up the stairs, before Casselle could run into the bathroom Lily opened the door, "Stop right there." She said.
Casselle turned defeated, "Yes?" she asked innocently.
"Would you like to explain last night?" Lily asked folding her arms.
Casselle sighed, "I had a run in with my brother last night." She said waiting for that to sink in. Lily and Emma both gasped hurrying over to her.
"Are you okay? What happened?" They asked.
"I'm fine, I was just being dumb. I shouldn't have been out that late, and they ambushed me. Luckily Sirius found me, before they could do anything serious. And we just talked, and fell asleep down there I guess." Casselle said shrugging making the terrible incident seem like no big deal, not wanting Lily and Emma to worry.
"They didn't hurt you did they?" Lily asked nervously.
Casselle smiled softly, "Nothing I couldn't handle. It's okay it happened but I'm fine. No need to dwell on it."
"We should've been there," Emma replied her brow furrowing.
"No, it's fine, I'm okay." Casselle said reassuring her friends. "I've gotta take a shower, I'll see you guys in a bit."
"Okay, we'll be down in the common room." Lily said leaving Casselle alone to get ready.
She went down to the common room, feeling a lot better after washing away all the stress and anxiety that riddled her body from last night.
Sirius looked up immediately as she descended the stairs, "Hey are you okay?" He asked nervously running his hand through his hair as he studied her face.
Casselle smiled, "Yeah I'm fine."
Sirius studied her for another minute before turning his head back to his friends. They were huddled together in the corner whispering furiously.
Casselle walked over to Lily and Emma who were sitting at one of the tables waiting for her before they went down to breakfast. "What are they talking about?" Casselle asked.
"I don't know, but they've been over there this whole time. And whenever anyone walks over there they get quiet and just stare at them until they leave," Lily replied standing up. "You ready?"
Casselle nodded and they headed toward the portrait hole, and sure enough when they passed the boys they stopped talking and watched them leave. Casselle shook her head; they were definitely up to something.
The day passed uneventfully, though Casselle noticed that Sirius kept stealing glances at her throughout the day. That night as they all sat by the fire playing a game of exploding snaps a fourth year came up handing Casselle a letter.
Casselle looked down, and sure enough it was in Dumbledore's elegant script. She opened it, and read.
Dear Casselle,
Now that you have gotten accustomed to the new work load, I believe it is time to continue our lessons. I would like to meet this Friday and every other Friday after that. I look forward to seeing you.
Sincerely, Albus Dumbledore
Ps. The password is Acid Pops.
Casselle sighed, she had almost forgotten about her lessons, and was actually glad she hadn't had any recently.
"What's that?" Lily asked looking over at her friend.
"Dumbledore wants to start up my lessons again," Casselle admitted trying not to look over at Sirius even though she could tell he was watching her.
"When is it?" Lily asked.
"Friday like last year, so in a few days."
"Have you told him about the Slytherin meetings yet?" James asked curiously.
Casselle shook her head, "I forgot about it actually," She admitted sheepishly. "Besides I didn't know the password anyway…"
"I could go with you if you want?" Sirius spoke up.
Casselle shot her head up, "No!" She shouted causing her friends to jump. She blushed, but there was no way she was going to break into Sirius's mind any time soon. She couldn't stand to think of what she might find. "Erm I mean…well…I was thinking Lily could come?" She asked looking hopefully at her friend.
Lily nodded, "Of course."
Sirius frowned a flash of hurt crossing over his face, "But she isn't trained."
"I'm sure we'll manage," Casselle snapped.
"But-"
"There are no buts Sirius," She replied sharply her eyes narrowing in anger. "You lost your right to any buts." She stood muttering something about bed before storming off to her dorm.
Friday came quickly, and Casselle grew more anxious about her meeting with every passing moment. She hadn't meant to let Dumbledore down but she couldn't help it. In attempt to distract herself while she was waiting to leave for her meeting she sat by the fire reading her book and pulling at her hair absentmindedly.
"If you keep that up, you're going to be bald by your meeting," Sirius quipped smirking as he sat down next to her.
Casselle smiled, and stilled her hands before twirling her hair again. "Sorry, I can't help it."
"What are you so worried about?" He asked.
"I haven't told Dumbledore yet that I haven't been going to those meetings, and I don't know how he'll take it," She confessed.
"That's all you're worried about?" He scoffed. "Are you kidding? Cass you did it for your own good. They would kill you if you went back there. Dumbledore will understand that."
"Yeah, but if I hadn't lost my temper at Nate, I wouldn't have let him down. I mean I didn't even find anything of importance last year." She said setting down her book and putting her head in her hands.
'Was it better to help Dumbledore or have your friends back?" Sirius asked.
Casselle looked up at him, "I-I don't know. I mean it killed me when everyone hated me, but at least I was doing something to help protect them."
"Well, I'll wager Dumbledore will understand. Stop stressing about it so much." He said stilling her hand as it reached towards her head.
Casselle's heart raced as he held her hand, and she looked down afraid he would see the want in her eyes.
"Cass you ready to go?" Lily asked walking down from the girl's dormitory.
"Yeah," Casselle said pulling her hand out of Sirius's quickly and standing up. "Bye," She called to Sirius as they walked out of the common room.
"How're you doing?" Lily asked noticing Casselle's silence.
"Okay, it's just been a while since I've had a meeting, and I don't really know how Dumbledore is going to react to my news."
"Don't worry, he'll understand," Lily said laying her hand on Casselle's shoulder.
"Yeah, are you excited? You haven't seen what one of my meetings is like," Casselle said with a smile.
"Yeah, I'm a little nervous."
Casselle laughed, "It's fine, there's nothing to worry about. Sirius barely did anything in the beginning and I'm sure Dumbledore won't force you into anything you aren't ready for," Casselle said reassuringly.
"Yeah," Lily said as they came up to the Griffin statue.
"Acid Pops," Casselle said and stepped on to the stairs with Lily close behind her. Casselle knocked on the door, and waited for Dumbledore to allow them entrance.
"Enter," Dumbledore's soft voice said from behind the door.
Casselle opened the door, "Professor?"
"Aw Ms. Dawson, Ms Evans, come sit down," He said gesturing toward the chairs in front of his desk.
"Professor before we start I have some new…well you see…I haven't been able to go to the Slytherin meetings, nor will I ever be able to. My brother knows that it was a lie…he found out over the holiday" Casselle confessed looking down afraid to meet her headmaster's eyes.
Dumbledore nodded, "I was afraid this would happen. But It's quite alright Casselle, I understand. It was a lot of me to ask of you, you did well."
Casselle looked up and smiled slightly, "I'm sorry Professor, I tried I just couldn't keep pretending to believe them."
"Casselle, no need to worry. I didn't expect you to continue doing it; it was too dangerous for you. But you will need to be very careful around the castle from now on."
Casselle nodded, "I understand, thank you sir."
"Now should we get started?" Dumbledore asked.
Casselle nodded eager to start her lessons again.
"Now, Lily for the first part I am just going to have you sit back, so I can get Casselle accustomed to having someone try to get into her mind." He explained taking his wand and gesturing for Casselle to follow him to a more open area in his office. "I'll be attempting to gain entrance to your mind; I want you to put all of your energy into keeping me out. It's imperative we keep practicing this, especially now that young Severus knows the truth. Are you ready?" He asked pointing his wand at her.
Casselle took a deep breath to steady herself and nodded. Almost immediately she felt the nudge of his mind breaking into hers, and she forced her own to wrap around itself in a protective shield.
"Good, now I'm going to add a little more force," he said and Casselle felt it, though her barrier held steady without any extra exertion.
He practiced on her, increasing the pressure he applied on her mind, before she was breathing heavily with the effort to keep him out.
"That was very good Casselle, I'm impressed. Most occlumens wouldn't be able to keep out that much force."
Casselle smiled at the praise, trying to catch her breath. "Thank you professor."
"Now Ms. Evans I will need your help for this part. We will both come at Casselle with the spell legimens, to see how she holds up against more than one. Don't try to hard at first, just ease into." He said as Lily came to stand next to him. He showed her the proper wand movement making sure she felt comfortable with it before proceeding.
"Casselle are you ready?" Dumbledore asked once he was sure Lily had it down.
Casselle nodded stealing herself for the onslaught on her mind. She concentrated and forced the barrier back up as she could feel the spells coming at her. As she had the barrier in place she could feel the other spell worming it's way around, this one more forceful. She closed her eyes, forcing the spells away.
After a few minutes beads of sweat started to form at her brow, as she focused her energy on protecting her mind.
After another hour, Casselle was definitely getting exhausted and as Lily threw the spell back at her with a little more force; Casselle gasped as Lily found a crack and saw an image of Casselle hiding behind the statue with Sirius. Casselle drew in all her strength and forced Lily back out, with a sigh of relief. There were some things she rather her friend not know.
"Alright, I think that's enough for today. We don't want you too worn out," Dumbledore said as Casselle sat down to catch her breath. "You've done very well, we'll pick up with this next week," Dumbledore said as Casselle got up. "Enjoy your weekend, and be careful Casselle."
Casselle nodded, and headed to the door with Lily by her side.
"Well that was definitely incredible!" Lily said excitedly, as they started down the corridor back to the common room.
Casselle laughed, "Well I'm glad you had fun."
"Cass you're amazing, to be able to do that? It's unbelievable!" She said. "You should be really proud of yourself."
Casselle smiled, "Don't worry, I know I'm fabulous!"
Lily laughed, "I think you have been spending too much time with the boys."
Casselle laughed and they hurried off to the common room to sleep.
Sunday morning when Casselle was headed to breakfast with Lily and Emma they spotted the Marauders standing off to the side by the great hall.
"I wonder who they're pranking today," Emma mused taking in the gleam in each of their eyes.
"I don't know, but if it's me they'll have to deal with the consequences," Casselle said slowing her pace hoping nothing was about to fall on her.
As they continued down the stairs, the Marauders looked up at them, and smiled. Sirius gestured for them to be quiet and come towards them.
The girls stared at each other quizzically and shrugged going off to stand by the boys.
"What are we waiting for?" Casselle whispered to Sirius as they stood staring off toward the entrance to the dungeons.
"Just some of my handy payback," Sirius said smirking.
Casselle raised her eyebrows, but before she could say anything, there was screaming and yells coming from the dungeons.
"What the?" Lily asked.
The boys just smiled and folded their arms waiting to see their handy work. In seconds a hoard of Slytherin boys were barreling down the corridor towards the hospital wing covered in ugly looking boils.
The boys laughed, while the girls gasped in shock, "What did you do?" Casselle asked horrified but smiling at the same time.
One of the boys turned to them, as Casselle spoke, and they realized it was Nathaniel. "You!" He called pointing to them. He walked up to them, as Sirius pushed Casselle behind him standing up between her and Nathaniel.
"Do you have a problem Dawson?" Sirius sneered, as James and Remus appeared at his side scowling at the Slytherin.
"You and that bitch are going to pay for this!" He yelled flinching in anger as a boil popped on his arm causing his arm to flare in burns.
"Watch it, Dawson. I'm not afraid to teach you another lesson," Sirius said darkly, pulling out his wand.
"You won't be there to protect her every time," Nathaniel said glaring at Casselle while she glared at him.
"If you had fought fair I wouldn't need protecting," She hissed moving to stand in front of her brother, but Sirius blocked her off.
"You make one more move toward Casselle, and I will personally see to your death," Sirius promised through clenched teeth. "Now you should probably get that looked at, before it gets any worse." Sirius said smirking and flicking his wand causing a few more boils to explode.
Nathaniel glared at them grabbing his arm and hurried off in the direction of the hospital wing in immense pain.
"Well that worked perfectly Padfoot," James said smiling.
"It did, didn't it?" Sirius said. "Alright come on, I'm starved."
Casselle held back staring down the corridor where Nathaniel had disappeared to. "Cass you okay?" Sirius asked.
Casselle turned toward him and nodded, "Yeah. But you shouldn't have done that. You know they're just going to target you now."
"If it keeps them away from you, then my plan worked. Cass I can take care of myself, especially against those death eater wannabes. Come on let's get some food," He said throwing his arm around Casselle's shoulders.
She stiffened at the close contact, but relaxed almost immediately realizing this is what friends do. They walked into the great hall and sat down next to their friends, laughing about the looks on the faces of the Slytherins.
James you know you really shouldn't do things like that, you're Head Boy now," Lily chided.
"Only if I get caught," James smirked, "And when have I ever gotten caught?"
"All the time!" Lily said laughing.
"That was because I didn't care, I haven't been caught when it matters."
Lily just rolled her eyes.
"What did you guys do to them anyway?" Emma asked curiously.
"It's some kind of slow reacting pus. We covered their sheets with it while they were sleeping, and by this morning it full on reacted causing the boils to burst and pus," Sirius said smiling triumphantly. "I'm not really sure what it's called, we just found it in Sprouts cupboard labeled extremely dangerous."
"So you decided to test it out on humans? Smart move," Emma snorted.
"Hey if I was going to try it on anyone it would be the Slytherins, they're at least twice as irritating this year."
The girls just shook their head as they continued to eat their breakfast. The rest of breakfast they joked and laughed together, then they spent the day playing games and relaxing in the common room.
Sirius sat down next to Casselle at the table she was working on that night. "Do you want to take a trip to the kitchens?"
"Sirius I have to finish this essay tonight." Casselle said not even looking up at him.
"Come on! You need a break!" Sirius said nudging her.
"No, what I need is to finish this. Why don't you go find James."
"Because he's off doing Head duties with Lily and Remus is studying, and I don't even know where Peter is," Sirius complained.
"Well then go by yourself."
"Fine," Sirius snapped upset about being blown off. He shoved his hands in his pockets and sulking as he climbed out the portrait hole
Sirius spent the next hour being waited on by House elves and stuffing his face with as many sweets as he could.
Content with his stuffed stomach he started to head back to the common room.
"Well well look who it is," He heard someone drawl from up the corridor.
"Dawson, pleasure to see you here. What do I owe the pleasure?" Sirius sneered.
"I'm doing my prefect duties, what are you doing out of bed at this hour?"
"None of your business," Sirius remarked continuing down the corridor.
"Off to see your little slut?" Nathaniel smirked.
Sirius stopped dead in his tracks, "What was that?" He asked.
"You heard me, off to have some fun with that little slut?"
Why you-" Sirius yelled lunging himself at Nathaniel. He knocked Nathaniel to the ground and pounded his face in with his fist. "Take it back you little prick!"
Nathaniel squirmed trying to get out of Sirius's grip, but Sirius wouldn't let up. Blood spurted from Nathaniel's mouth. As Sirius pulled his arm back to take another shot Nathaniel caught him off guard and flipped him over on his back.
Sirius spat in his face as Nathaniel aimed his fist into his face. He knocked Sirius in the jaw, before Sirius threw him off and got to his feet. Nathaniel stood up blood running from his nose. Sirius rammed into him, pushing his knee into his gut causing Nathaniel to gasp for air. His fist connected with the Slytherins ribcage with a satisfying snapping sound.
"You want to hurt people for fun, I'll show you what it's like," Sirius growled throwing Nathaniel into a wall, and pounding his fist into his face again.
"Sirius? SIRIUS!" They heard James call.
But Sirius was too involved in beating Nathaniel to a pulp. He continued smashing his face with his fist. Before James came up and pulled him away.
"Padfoot what are you thinking?" James yelled struggling to keep Sirius under control.
"Let me go James," He hissed struggling to get out of his grip.
"No, chill the fuck out!" James said tightening his hold.
"You'll pay for this!" Nathaniel yelled struggling to stay standing.
"It looks like you already have," Sirius spat.
"You won't be around her forever, you know. She'll get what she deserves, but don't worry I'll send her back to you in a box," Nathaniel hissed his eyes flashing cruelly as he turned to walk away.
"YOU LAY A HAND ON HER AND I WILL KILL YOU!" Sirius shouted struggling to go after him. "MARK MY WORDS I HAVE IT IN ME!"
"SIRIUS!" James yelled trying to control his friend. "He's gone, calm down."
Sirius finally stopped struggling and James let him go.
"What the hell were you doing?" James asked annoyed.
"The prick was pissing me off. He deserved every punch." Sirius muttered, wiping the blood from his mouth.
"Oh really what did he do?" Lily spoke up, Sirius hadn't even seen her before now.
"He said something about Cass. I swear if I got the chance I would kill him," Sirius said darkly.
"Sirius!" Lily shouted surprised. "You can't say something like that. Those thoughts make you just like them. He'll get what he deserves in time but you lowering yourself to their standards won't make you feel any better."
"What are you guys doing here anyway?" Sirius asked wanting to change the subject as they headed to the common room.
"We were doing our Head duties, and we were getting a little hungry so we thought we'd take a kitchen break. Good thing we did." James said glaring at his friend. "Sirius you need to get a grip on your temper, you can't keep attacking Dawson, no matter how much he deserves it."
"Whatever Prongs," Sirius muttered his mood worsening
As they entered the common room, Casselle looked up from reviewing her essay. "Took you long enough, how was the kitchen…Sirius what happened to you?" She asked scrutinizing his face and noticing the traces of blood, and the bruise on his cheek.
"Nothing," Sirius muttered going to sit by the fire.
Casselle hurried out of her chair to sit next to him and pulled his face toward her so she could take a closer look her finger gently tracing the outline of his jaw. "Where did you get this bruise?"
"Cass it's nothing, just drop it, okay?" Sirius pleaded.
"No what did you do?" Casselle insisted.
"He beat up your brother," James spoke up sitting down in a chair.
Casselle gaped at Sirius. "Thanks a lot Prongs," Sirius mumbled glaring at his friend.
"You what?" She asked incredulously.
"It's not a big deal. He walked away, he'll be fine."
"Why would you do that? You know he won't let it go."
"I don't care, he deserved it," Sirius insisted.
"What did he do?" Casselle asked folding her arms over her chest.
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Sirius Orion Black, you tell me right now. He is my brother and I have a right to know what he did."
"No."
"Sirius now!" She yelled annoyed with how childish he was being.
"He called you my little slut! Are you happy now?" Sirius yelled back irritated.
Casselle's eyes widened and her mouth fell open in shock.
"Oh, Cass don't worry you know it's not true. He was just trying to get a rise out of me, and it worked." Sirius added regretting telling her immediately.
"He said what?" James said standing up angrily.
"James sit back down," Lily said tiredly.
"Come on Cass," Sirius said putting his arm around her. "Nobody would believe him."
Casselle shook her head, and pulled out of his arms, "It's late; I should probably head to bed." She said quietly getting up and gathering her homework and walking toward the girl's staircase.
"Cass wait," Sirius said hurrying after her. "Please don't be upset," Sirius said laying a hand on her shoulder. "He doesn't even deserve to live; he's scum, and nothing more."
Casselle nodded, and Sirius wiped a tear away that she hadn't known she shed. She smiled up at him, "Thanks," she said softly.
Sirius nodded resisting the enormous urge to kiss her. "Goodnight," he whispered.
"Night," She said, turning and walking up the girls staircase, she could feel Sirius's eyes on her the whole climb.
The next morning at breakfast, James looked over at the Slytherin table, "Looks like he didn't go to madam Lemoore last night."
Casselle looked over at her brother, and saw he had a swollen black eye, and a few cuts on his cheeks. "He looks like hell," Casselle muttered.
"Yeah well yesterday, he looked worse," Sirius said angrily glaring over at the Slytherin table.
Nathaniel looked up and glared at the two, and stared pointedly at Casselle before continuing his breakfast.
"Cass you need to be really careful the next few weeks, he might try to take this out on you," Sirius said worriedly.
"Sirius don't worry. I can take care of myself…and I promise I won't go walking around alone." Casselle said placing a calming hand on his shoulder.
The tension between the Slytherins and Gryffindors was tangible in the following weeks. Even though the group had kept the incident between Casselle and the Death Eaters a secret their fellow Gryffindors eagerly mirrored their behavior toward the Slytherins. The hexing, pranking and duels were beginning to get out of hand.
The house points reflected the true extent of damage that had been done over the weeks, and frankly Casselle was amazed that Gryffindor had any rubies left in their house cylinder. The Slytherins cylinder on the other hand didn't reflect as drastic of a loss. Apparently they were better at not getting caught.
After a good three weeks and a million of detentions later McGonagall called a house meeting in the Gryffindor common room.
"Never have I been so disappointed in a group of my students," She hissed glaring at the students seated around her, her eyes lingering on Sirius and James. "If I thought taking all of the House points would help then I most certainly would- yes Ms Pike from my own house! As you have proven, however, the pride of Gryffindor House is of little concern to you. Therefore any Gryffindor student seen engaging in inappropriate behavior will be given a months detention and will be banned from all Hogsmeade visits." She stared right at James and Sirius as she finished.
A murmur of protest went around the common room but McGonagall silenced them with a look. "Have I made myself clear?"
The students nodded begrudgingly and McGonagall stormed from the room.
"She wouldn't be yelling like that if she knew what those bloody excuses for human beings did," Sirius hissed glaring moodily at the portrait hole.
Casselle patted his hand sympathetically, "But she doesn't know, nor will she so we should just get on with our lives. I mean it's our last year here and we don't want to spend it in detention do we?"
Remus grinned good naturedly, "So not like we've spent it every other year then?"
Everyone laughed except for Sirius who was still wearing a scowl.
"Cheer up mate," James said nudging his friend, "We just won't get caught from now on. Besides it's not like we don't know other ways to get to the village."
Sirius's face broke out in a grin obviously pleased by the thought, "Well you know how I love a challenge."
Casselle laughed, "You lot are impossible."
Winter seemed to creep up on Casselle, between here lessons with Dumbledore and her constant mountain of homework the year seemed to be flying by. It was the second Sunday in December when she opened her eyes and glanced out the window seeing the grounds covered in a blanket of snow.
The girl's room was abnormally bright as the snow crystals reflected the sun, shinning straight into the window of their dorm. Casselle jumped up. She had always loved winter and the first snow of the year was always special.
"It's snowing!" She exclaimed ripping Lily's curtains back and then moving to do the same to Emma.
"Casselle Marie Dawson if you don't shut up I'm going to murder you," Emma grumbled pulling her blanket over her head.
"Come on! We have to go on the grounds it's a tradition!" Casselle whined.
"Casselle that's never been a tradition," Lily called mirroring Emma's actions and covering her head with her blanket.
"Well it's a new tradition!" Casselle replied. "Come on its seriously beautiful out. You can sleep when you're dead!"
Lily sighed and sat up smoothing her hair, "What time is it?"
Casselle paused glancing at the watch on her night stand. "Erm….eight o'clock." She replied sheepishly.
She grimaced at the eruption of muffled swears that could be heard from Emma's bed.
Lily shook her head and stifled a yawn as she made her way to the bathroom. "Get ready then spaz."
"Lily Evans I could kiss you," she called giggling as Lily slammed the bathroom door.
"Are you coming Em?"
"I swear to Merlin if you don't shut up-"She started.
Casselle laughed pulling on a pair of jeans a thick sweater and her boots, "Your loss," she replied grabbing her coat and scarf before disappearing towards the common room.
She sat down on the couch in front of the fire waiting for Lily to emerge so they could go enjoy the weather properly.
"You're up early," a voice yawned from behind her.
Casselle glanced up and smiled at a tired Remus, "Yeah guess I couldn't sleep" Casselle replied with a grin.
"You look like a kid on Christmas," he observed sitting on the other side of the couch and smiling at her.
Casselle shrugged, "It's the weather I suppose. I'm waiting for Lily to get her slow arse down here so we can go outside. Want to join us?"
Remus raised a skeptical eyebrow glancing out the small window, "You're going out in the snow?"
Casselle nodded, "It's the first snow and all so yes."
Remus shook his head, "No thanks I'll stay where it's warm and dry."
"Your loss," Casselle teased. "So why are you up so early if not to enjoy the weather?"
Remus shrugged, "Couldn't sleep I guess."
"Is everything all right?" Casselle asked gently watching him closely.
"Everything's fine Cass, don't worry so much," Remus reassured giving her a small smile.
Casselle nodded accepting the answer, if he didn't want to tell her he didn't have to. The two moved on to a more neutral topic, discussing classes and some of the best pranks on the Slytherins people had pulled so far. Finally Lily emerged from the girls dorm wrapped in a coat and sweater.
"Ready!" she announced.
"Sure you don't wanna come?" Casselle asked Remus as she stood.
"I'm good, thanks though," he replied.
She nodded and followed Lily out of the portrait hole.
The two walked out of the castle and onto the grounds. There was a good foot of snow which made walking difficult. Eventually the girls made it over to the lake and after clearing away some snow sat down on the cold hard ground.
Casselle smiled pushing a stray hair out of her face, "It's beautiful isn't it?"
Lily nodded, "In a harsh kind of way."
"My favorite thing about the snow is how quiet it makes everything…it's like there's a silencing charm on the whole world. It makes everything feel magical…well more magical than normal."
Lily nodded "It's a different kind of magic."
The two sat there enjoying the snow and the scenery for awhile.
"Let's build a snowman!" Casselle suggested standing up and brushing the snow off her jeans.
Lily laughed and stood, "You mean a snow wizard," she teased.
Casselle laughed at the corniness of the joke as she began rolling a ball for the snow wizard's body.
The two worked in relative silence and a half hour later they had constructed a fairly good snow wizard.
"Now for the finishing touches," Lily announced pulling out her wand and muttering a charm.
The snow wizard immediately starting waving at the castle and Casselle laughed. "Excellent, this is probably the best snow man ever built!"
Lily nodded, "It is rather impressive isn't it?"
"Come on we let's go drag Emma out of bed so she doesn't miss out on all the fun."
"I've got a better idea," Lily replied slyly.
Casselle and Lily crept back into the common room both carrying an armful of snowballs that they had charmed to stay frozen inside.
They crept up to the girl's dormitory and smirked at Emma's sleeping form. Lily held up a finger then two then three and the pair of them started throwing the snowballs at Emma's bed.
"GAHH!" the girl screamed falling out of bed in surprise.
Lily and Casselle kept going laughing as Emma attempted to shield herself. Finally the onslaught slowed to a stop as laughter got the better of the two girls.
"To-told you-you should have come out with us," Casselle gasped as Emma wiped the snow out of her face.
"Yep you should have got your lazy arse out of bed," Lily added grinning.
"I hate you both," Emma moaned.
"Well we still have some of these left," Casselle stated pointing towards the snowballs they hadn't used, "what do you say we put them to good use?"
Lily and Emma grinned, "I hope you're thinking what I think you're thinking!" Emma exclaimed.
The three girls made their way up the boy's staircase attempting to stay quiet as they fought the giggles that threatened to bubble over.
They eased the boy's dorm open and grinned at the symphony of snores that met their ears. Each girl positioned themselves in front of one of the boy's beds, Lily in front of James, Emma in front of Peter and Casselle in front of Sirius.
"One," Emma whispered.
"Two," Lily added raising her hand.
"Three!" Casselle yelled laughing as they hurled snowballs at the sleeping boys. The room erupted in yells of confusions as the boys tried to comprehend what was going on.
Eventually the girls ran out of ammo and immediately dissolved in a fit of laughter.
"What the bloody hell was that all about!" Sirius demanded, obviously the first of the boys to recover.
"Your faces we-were priceless," Emma exclaimed tears running down her cheeks.
After a couple of moments the girls had calmed down enough to take a look at the damage. The boy's dorm was covered in bits of snow, which thanks to Lily's charm, refused to melt. It looked like a mini blizzard had drifted through the dorm a concept that wasn't helped by the clothes and other objects lying about.
A very disgruntled James and Sirius stood before them both with their arms crossed and a scowl on their face, and both were noticeably lacking in clothing, standing in a pair of boxers and nothing else.
"What was that for?" James demanded.
Lily seemed momentarily distracted so Casselle stepped in, "We just thought you should enjoy the weather so we decided to bring it to you."
"I'm going to kill you," Sirius stated a playful glint in his eye as he started towards the three girls.
"Run!" Casselle yelled turning and rushing out of the dorm, Lily and Emma close on her heels.
The three of them made it all the way to the common room before they were hit with a variety of charms and hexes.
Casselle ended up with bright aqua hair, while Lily's clothes were transfigured to resemble a clown outfit. Emma got the worse of it though, her hair resembled Snape's in color and texture while her pajamas were replaced with racy lingerie.
"Black I'm going to kill you!" she yelled covering herself with her hands as her face flushed.
Lily and Casselle erupted into a fresh round of giggles as they took in Emma's appearance.
The girls soon became worried about retaliation. It seemed like every time they passed by the four marauders they would instantly stop talking. To make matters worse James and Sirius were constantly wearing smirks on their faces and stealing glances at the girls when they were in the common room.
"Merlin, I can't take much more of this," Emma confessed shooting an uneasy glance in the boy's direction.
"I know exactly what you mean," Lily replied following Emma's line of sight.
Casselle shrugged, "We knew when we did it that they'd have to get us back. I mean how bad could it be? They won't do anything to horrible; James is smitten with Lily after all. I'm sure he won't let them plan anything to ruin his chances."
"I never thought about it like that," Emma admitted perking up at the words. "But your right of course James wouldn't do anything to horrible to Lily and I'm sure it's the same for Sir-"
She was cut off by a kick under the table from Lily who gave her a pointed look.
Casselle rolled her eyes at the exchange, "For the last time me and Sirius are friends, just friends okay?"
"Okay," the two girls replied sheepishly.
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