July 1975

Sirius Black could hardly contain another eye-roll; he really didn't want to do this but he was forced to it by his family. Oh, how he hated these stupid visits, parties and balls, full of stupid pureblood twits! This time, he had been told they were visiting old acquaintances and that his attendance was necessary. Pfft, necessary! They just didn't want to blow the image of the perfect family with two perfect sons. Although Sirius knew that his parents were dreading he would behave inappropriately while visiting their friends, they were forced to take him as well. Sirius didn't know which family they were visiting this time (and he didn't care enough to actually ask), he just overheard that the family had moved into England after living in France.

They arrived to a manor, which was significantly bigger than the Grimmauld Place, but just as dark even from the outside. A house elf let them inside and led them into a foyer. It was gloomy (not that Sirius wasn't used to it from their own house) and full of objects at least centuries old. But everything was polished and glistening, which made it look even more formidable. Then the mistress of the house came into the room and Sirius was surprised that she seemed familiar. But as she and his mother greeted, he suddenly remembered; she was Romilda Elderidge – Cassiopeia's mother. That meant she had to be around. Of course, she might have gone to Lily's over the summer but somehow, Sirius thought that her chances to get out of the house to visit her muggle friend were as high as his chance to be allowed to go to Remus's. Suddenly, this whole visit didn't seem as bad.

"Oh, the Blacks. How splendid to see you again." Romilda smiled, although to Sirius, the smile seemed more like a sneer. The woman was so unlike Cass – her hair was platinum blonde, almost white, her features sharp and her dark eyes with thick eyelashes almost seemed like two hollows. To Sirius she strongly resembled a Banshee and judging from the Howlers Cassiopeia had received over the years, she could scream just as well. "Oh, and you brought both of your sons, how wonderful." She said, still with her false smile, although it froze for a fleeting moment as her eyes fell on Sirius, specifically onto his hat. Sirius had insisted on taking the hat although his mother had swore to beat him senseless for it as soon as they got home. And now, when she noticed Romilda Elderidge's look as well, rage raised in her chest once again and without preamble, she reached and tore the hat down from Sirius's head at once, taking a tuft of his hair along in the process. Sirius barely managed to suppress his yelp of pain and he sent his mother a glare. But his mother wasn't paying him any attention anymore. She was gushing over the house. At that moment, Sebastian Elderidge walked into the room as well, wearing the same false smile as his wife. Hearing the Black's praises of their house, they decided to give them a tour around the huge manor. Under normal circumstances, Sirius would have huffed with boredom, but now, he thought the tour was in order because he was hoping to meet his fellow Gryffindor in this house – perhaps the only normal person in this whole insane asylum.

But as time went slowly by, and every room seemed to take more time to be seen, he understood that just like him, Cassiopeia wasn't someone her family was priding itself with. And the tour grew excruciating. Regulus was following his parents and the Elderidge's like a puppy and seemingly with interrest listening to the Elderidge's commentary on every room. The house had five floors, at least three large libraries, five drawing rooms ('What ever for?' Sirius thought desperately), two Halls of fame with paintings and trophies of the Elderidge's family, many bedrooms (luckily, they didn't visit all of them) and really hideous bathrooms (two on every floor). However, when they reached the third floor, the Elderidge's seemed to get nervous and awkwardly they explained they wouldn't go to the left wing on this floor since it was still under reconstruction. But as they were about to head the other direction, Sirius paused. He thought he heard something coming from the left wing; something, which sounded suspiciously like…

"The Who." Sirius murmured under his breath. Quickly, he shot one fleeting look at his parents, who didn't even seem to be aware of his existence at the moment. Surely, they wouldn't notice he disappeared for a while. So when the whole group headed to the right wing, he headed to the left. He followed the sounds of the music, which were coming from nearby now, until he finally found the door from which the sound was coming. Without hesitation, he knocked. He had never been shy after all.

"What?" a voice asked sharply over the loud music.

"Uhm, can I come in?" he asked loudly.

"Who is it?" Cass asked with confusion and in a while, the door opened to reveal his classmate, who seemed astonished to see him. "Sirius? What are you doing here?" she asked. Without even waiting for an invitation, he casually strolled inside.

"I thought I would visit my fellow Gryffindor while I was around." He joked and looked around the room. He was rather surprised by what he saw. While the whole house was dark, glum, fancy but still monotonous, Cassiopeia's room was nothing like. The walls were full of posters of muggle and wizarding bands and also some Gryffindor banners. There were also many flowers in colourful vases and stuffed animals were placed all around the room. And the huge four-poster bed, though with meticulously carved headboard, sported a crimson red coverlet with some sort of a fat yellow bear, an orange striped tiger, an angry-looking rabbit and a small pink pig. And Sirius also noticed that on the desk, there were many muggle mechanical pens, tape, scissors and many other things, all of them of muggle origin. Cass seemed to stand to her parents in full parade.

"So your family is the visit that mother has been so nervous about." Cass said sarcastically and Sirius chuckled.

"I s'pose. Mother actually made me come along this time. But now I'm glad I did – I would have never seen your room otherwise." He said and boldly sat down on the chair at the desk, where he noticed her Defence Against Dark Arts textbook and he arched his eyebrow. "Are you studying in the middle of the summer break?" he asked in disbelief and she shrugged and sat down on her bed, crossing her legs.

"What else is here to do? I would rather study than taking part on my parents' nutty parties." She said

"Fair enough." Sirius admitted and then he looked around once again. "So, what's up with the Who?" he asked and Cass gave him an amazed look, obviously surprised by his knowledge of her favourite band. However, a few people knew that in reality Sirius loved music; both wizarding and muggle, and he was very familiar with English muggle rock bands.

"Well, Lily introduced me to their music when I was spending the Christmas break with her family and since then I got a bit obsessed." She chuckled. "So she gave me a muggle recorder for my birthday." She explained.

"You've got a muggle recorder and you're not worried about playing it under your parents' nose?" he asked, knowing what would happen to a recorder had his parents found it. But Cass chuckled again.

"That's the best thing. I keep it hidden under a loose floorboard. They can't find it, and since you need to know what you're actually summoning, they can't summon it either." She said and Sirius laughed.

"That's bloody brilliant." He said and got up from the chair and walked around Cassiopeia's room, observing it curiously. He stopped at a bookcase, which was strangely not fitting into the room. It was too dark. And when he looked at the range of books, for some reason he felt his heart sink. The titles were all about old wizarding families, pureblood races and some even about dark arts. For a while, he was afraid he had made an assumption about Cass too soon. He took one of the books, The Wizard Genealogy, and eyed it with distaste.

"What's this?" he asked and she walked over to him to look. A look of comprehension crossed her face when she saw the title.

"Oh. Just open it." She said and he snorted.

"Nah, I think I'll pass." He said and she rolled her eyes.

"Come on, just open it." She urged him. For a while, he eyed her dubiously but then he shrugged and opened the black-bound book on the title page.

"Jack Kerouac, On the road." He read quietly and then he gave her a look. "Good choice." He said and she smiled.

"Better than The Wizard Genealogy, anyway," she said. At that moment, he realized how little he knew her. They were in the same year in the same house and yet he knew nothing of her other than that she came from an old wizarding family just as bad as his. But there was not enough time to get to know her today because he heard distant voices in the hallway. "You should go." Cassiopeia said then.

"I guess so." He said involuntarily. "So, I'll see you at school I guess." He said and headed to the door, but her touch on his arm stopped him.

"Wait. My parents are organizing a ball next week and I will have to attend. I know that your family will be invited. Will you come? We could get away from all of those nutcases of their friends together." She said with a shy smile. With a wink, Sirius nodded and thought that it would be the first ball he had been made to attend in history that would not be completely insufferable.

Of course, Sirius had to put up some fight against going to the ball, otherwise his mother would surely think it suspicious he was so eager to go and who knows, she might have even changed her mind and have him stay at home. For the first time ever, that was not his intention. He was kind of looking forward to seeing Cassiopeia. For some reason, he was curious about her; maybe because he didn't know much about her. He only knew that she was in similar situation as himself and that she would do everything not to be like her parents. And maybe this was what made getting know her a challenge. And Sirius always liked challenges.

Thus, he was forced into dark dress robes that were awfully itchy around the neck. His mother also made an attempt to cut his hair, which was already getting rather longish, but Sirius wouldn't have it. He was way past the age he let his mother order him what to wear and how to style his hair. So he dodged her attack on his hairstyle and right before they left to the ball, he wrapped a red scarf around his neck, which was contrasting with his dark robes. However, this attempt to look unique went fruitless since as soon as his mother saw him, she grabbed the scarf and pulled him closer, so he could smell her foul breath mixed with a very expensive perfume.

"If this abhorrent thing isn't gone right now, I swear I'll strangle you with it, boy!" she hissed and since Sirius didn't doubt she would at least try to keep her promise, he was forced to back down and take off his scarf.

When they arrived to the Elderidge's manor, Sirius was rather disgusted to see how many people were already there. Everyone who meant something in the higher society was present, and for a while, Sirius wondered why the hell had he agreed to come. But at least, the amount of people made it rather easy for him to merge into the crowd and get away from his parents (although he knew they wouldn't be looking for him anytime soon). He was anxious to find Cass and he wondered how would he find her among so many people. He thought she might be in her room again so he decided to head upstairs, careful that neither his parents nor the Elderidges saw him. But as he was passing a huge window at a landing on the second floor, his look wandered outside and he noticed a lone person sitting on a bench in the garden. Immediately, he recognized Cassiopeia. Therefore, he quickly went back and found his way outside.

Sure enough, Cass was sitting there, on a bench next to a rose bush. Hearing his footsteps, she looked up and gave him a smile. Sirius noticed she was wearing a rich dark golden dress with a high collar and that her hair was made into ringlets. He thought she was looking beautiful but then he remembered how had he seen her last time, wearing a white T-shirt, a pair of jeans, leather bands around her wrists and her hair were in a messy ponytail and he thought that it was making her much more beautiful than this eccentric style.

"There you are!" Cassiopeia gave him a smile, but Sirius noticed there was also something sad in that smile, or perhaps even in her brown eyes. But then again, with such an awful company, he couldn't really be surprised.

"Yeah, I coulnd't find you in the house." He sat down on the bench next to her. "Are you hiding here?"

Cassiopeia shrugged. "Kind of. One prat in there keeps pestering me, always following me around and trying to make a conversation." She said glumly. "I think I know that bloke from Hogwarts, or something. Besides, I don't think that our parents should see us together. They don't want me to hang around you."

Sirius snorted. "They don't want you to hang out with the trouble maker, huh? Well, let me tell you, my parents don't like you either." He said and Cassiopeia raised her eyebrows.

"How do you know?"

"Well, because lately many young ladies of 'reputed' pureblood families have been presented to me and you have not been among them." Hearing that, Cassiopeia gasped.

"Your mother's trying to set you up?"

"Set me up, find me a wife, sell me as a slave…you choose." His tone was dripping with sarcasm. Cassiopeia looked away, not sure how she should feel about his piece of information. Inwardly, she was horrified that Sirius would be chosen a wife at the age of sixteen (Sirius's mother should realize they weren't living in Middle Ages anymore), but a little part of her knew that the same fate could very well meet her soon. Especially because her parents seemed so fond of the boy that kept following her and they always made an attempt to bring them together.

"So…will I be invited to the wedding?" she decided to respond with a joke. Sirius snorted again.

"Love, there'll be no wedding, that's for sure. I would have rather given up birds altogether than marrying some silly pureblood tart. Besides, I won't stick around long enough for any engagement to happen, let alone a wedding."

"What do you mean?" Cass asked and Sirius sighed and looked around before he spoke again.

"I mean that I had enough. Enough of that pureblood crap, of my crazy hag of a mother, of my father who thinks that a beating is the cure for anything and my brother, who follows them around like a puppy. I'm leaving. Soon." He said and gave her a side-way glance to see her expression.

However, Cassiopeia didn't look half as surprised as he had expected her to be. She shrugged with a sigh. "I can't say I'm surprised. Your family is about as nice as mine. Where will you go?"

"The Potter's. At least for a little while, I can't suppose they'll be too happy to shelter a troubled teenager. I don't know what I'll do then and I don't care. Not as long as I'm out of that mausoleum. I can count on your secrecy, can't I?" he suddenly realized that perhaps it hadn't been such a good idea to tell her. After all, he didn't know much about her. But he couldn't help it, there was something in her that made him want to spill his heart to her and trust her with all of his secrets.

"You know you can."

"Great. So...what about you? Any wedding in foreseeable future?" he asked jokingly and Cassiopeia snorted.

"You kidding? I would not marry anyone my parents should drag in, and they hate my boyfriend."

"I didn't know you were dating anyone. Who's the lucky bloke?" Sirius asked with pure curiosity, although a tiny feeling was nagging at him.

"Ian Jones."

"Ian Jones? Ian Jones from Ravenclaw? That prick?" Sirius almost exclaimed and then snorted. "No wonder your parents can't stand him then."

"He's not a prick!" Cass said with annoyance. "And they hate him just because he's a half-blood. Not that I'm going out with him because of that, of course. And what's with this sudden aversion? I've seen you two talking quite often."

Sirius squirmed uncomfortably. "That's different. I talk to him from time to time, yes. But I don't think he would be the best boyfriend material." he said and Cass chuckled.

"How could you know that? Besides, who's the best boyfriend material? You?" she teased him and he gave a small smile, although he was still rather nervous about this sudden revelation.

"No, but anyone but him. How's he treating you?" he asked and Cassiopeia arched her eyebrow.

"How exactly should he be treating me, Sirius? What do you know about him?" she asked.

"Let's just say that I know of a few characteristics of his that I wouldn't recommend him for a boyfriend of the year."

"I don't know what you mean. So maybe he's rather rash, and his moods change rather abruptly – one while he's all gloomy and bitchy, then he's all smiles again. But that's it. Is that what you mean?"

"Partly." Sirius nodded mysteriously.

"So what else is that? Would you just tell me?"

"No, actually. I shouldn't tell you. That's something he should tell you by himself. Just be careful around him, ok?"

"Uhm, ok then." Cassiopeia said hesitantly. "So," she cleared her throat and sought for a different topic. "How's James?" she asked and Sirius smiled.

"Same old, he can't wait for the Quidditch World Cup and he's crushed over Evans sending him his letters back torn to shreds." he chuckled while Cassiopeia gave out an un-ladylike snort.

"Can't say I blame her, you two are insufferable jerks while at school." she said and jokingly shoved his shoulder. "Besides, she's going crazy with him asking her out every day. She'd been looking forward to this summer like nothing else to have Potter off of her back at least for a while." she explained and Sirius sighed.

"Try explaining that to Prongs, though. The bloke's got it bad for her."

"I noticed." Cassiopeia said dryly. "I think the whole Hogwarts noticed."

"Except Evans, though." Sirius pointed out and Cass sighed.

"Give it a rest, Black. Your friend has been chasing after her for more than two years already. He really can't take a hint that she's not interested, can he?"

"Perhaps he doesn't believe she means it." he suggested. "After all, she never gave him a chance to prove himself, did she?"

"Perhaps she doesn't believe there's anything to prove." she pointed out. "And I don't blame her. Potter has nothing but bullied her."

"Now, that's not truth. He's not like that, you just don't know him. I know him well enough to see that he means what he says. He wouldn't have lasted two years. He's never really dated anyone else. He means it when he says he loves her, trust me. Your friend is just too stubborn or stupid to see that."

"Lily's not stupid! Look, let's say that he does mean it when he says he loves her, but he has really strange ways to show that. I mean, come on! Bullying every boy who dares to approach her? Labelling her as his property in front of everyone? That's degrading. If he really means it, he needs to stop acting as a child and prove that."

"Perhaps he doesn't know any better way!"

"And that's just the point! She does not want such a boyfriend! She wants someone who she can trust and rely on! No one wants to date a child."

"But you admit that he's not that bad, don't you? He's never done anything to you."

"Oh, so he's never shown my underwear to the Great Hall, nor dyed my hair blue, is that what you mean? Then sure, I feel so much better about him." she said ironically. "So what?"

"Well, perhaps you could talk to Lily. Talk her into giving him a chance...I tried, but she threatened to hex me if I didn't leave her alone." he said and Cass couldn't help but chuckle before turning serious again.

"I won't talk her into anything. She's my friend and I'm on her side. Potter needs to back off if he wants Lily to see that he'd grown up at all."

"Come on, don't be like that. He's heart-broken over her."

"Potter? Heart-broken? Don't make me laugh, Sirius. James has been nothing but a heartless bully over the years, just as you for that matter. How could he be heart-broken?"

"Ok, so I shouldn't tell you this but do you remember their last big fight? Just before the end of the term on the school yard?"

"Don't remind me, Lily's been pissed off for days."

"Yeah, well, but she didn't cry, did she?"

"Well, no." Cassiopeia shrugged.

"See? Who's the heartless one here, then, Elderidge?"

"James cried?" she asked in a whisper.

"Yeah. Don't tell him I told you, though, he would kill me if he found out."

"Uhm, sure."

"Believe me, he does love her. He would do anything for her including embarrassing himself in front of the whole school. He's really desperate. Can't you help him at least a little?" Sirius pleaded and Cassiopeia bit her lip, deep in thoughts. Finally, she sighed.

"I swear, Black, if this is a scheme to get me on your side, I'm going to kill you."

Sirius' face lit up with a smile. "So you'll help him then?"

"When I see Lily this summer, I might tell her it's rude to send someone their letters back torn to shreds without even reading them, alright? And when you see James, make sure his next letter will be at least a bit sensible, if you know what I mean. He doesn't need to remind her of his undying love for her in every letter – she knows that already."

"You're the best." he gave her a sincere smile. "Geez, these robes are itchy." he complained then and Cassiopeia gave him a sympathetic smile.

"Don't remind me. Seriously, I don't know what was my mother thinking when forcing me into this dress in such a weather." she said with a disgusted expression and raising her arm to show him her long, bell-shaped sleeves of her dress.

"You look beautiful, though." he said and she smiled.

"Thanks. If only I looked beautiful for some "normal" occasion, not this stupid ball my parents decided to throw just to show off our house."

"Yeah. Well, next week it's our turn, I'm afraid. My parents hold some party to celebrate my cousin Bellatrix's engagement to Rodolfus Lestrange." he said, with disgusted expression that Cassiopeia copied immediately.

"Whoa. Marriage made in hell."

"Tell me about it. I'd almost feel bad for Lestrange though, if he wasn't such a son of a bitch. Your family will be invited for sure. Will you come?"

"If my parents don't decide I'm too much of a disgrace to show up with them in public, then sure." she said, though the thought of seeing Bellatrix and the Lestranges made her shiver. But it couldn't be too bad if Sirius would be there, could it?

"Great." Sirius said, rubbing his hands together and suddenly looking edgy. He tried to cover it up with running his hand through his hair and lighting up a cigarette afterwards, but Cassiopeia couldn't not notice his shaky hands as he inhaled the smoke nervously.

"Are you alright?"

"Uhm, sure. I'm going to the loo, ok? I'll be right back." he said and threw the rest of his cigarette away.

"Sure." she said and watch him head inside.

She didn't know how long had she been waiting but being slightly bored, she picked up the pack of cigarettes that he had left lying on the bench and sniffed it suspiciously, wrinkling her nose at the smell of tobacco. However, being curious by nature, she picked one cigarette and lit it up with Sirius' muggle lighter, inhaling a bit of smoke hesitantly. Not used to the smoke, she coughed violently for a while and was about to throw the offending thing away when she heard an amused voice.

"You must take it easy for your first time." Sirius said as he eased himself on the bench nonchalantly and gently took the cigarette from her fingers. "Just let the smoke into your lungs, easy as if you're breathing. Don't keep it in your mouth." he advised and took a drag from the cigarette to demonstrate what he was saying. Blowing out a cloud of smoke, he handed her the cigarette back and Cassiopeia tried once again, trying to follow his words. This time, she didn't cough, but the smoke still didn't feel right in her lungs and she scrunched her nose. "I don't think I'll become a smoker." she said and Sirius laughed, suddenly looking completely relaxed again.

"Just give it a time, maybe you'll make another friend here." he said and she snorted and took another drag from the cigarette. Following her example, Sirius lit up his own cigarette and unlike her, he savoured every bit of the tobacco.

"So, are you ok?" Cassiopeia asked once again and Sirius quirked his eyebrow.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You just looked kind of nervous before."

"Nah, I'm fine." he said, leaned his head back and sighed as the rays of the setting sun fell onto his face.

"If you say so..." she shrugged

Another chapter, this time even a bit longer. The story is moving on and it will slowly get a bit darker, i.e. heed the warnings. Thanks for reading.