Once again, I apologize for the awful delay. I bet some of you didn't even think I would ever update again. Just know that I'm not about to abandon this story, ever, just as I won't abandon Gimme Shelter. This chapter is incredibly short and not much is going on – it was supposed to be longer but I wanted to give you guys at least something while I'm working on the rest. There should be more action in the next chapter.

Despite the fact that no one except Cassiopeia had been present during their fight in the Hospital Wing, by evening the whole school was talking about the 'falling out of the Marauders'. Although Cass wouldn't dare to mention the fight to anyone, their schoolmates still guessed there was something wrong, perhaps because Sirius took to avoiding the rest of his group of friends. During the meals he would sit by himself at the end of the table, closest to the entrance. In classes he took the empty seat as far away from the Marauders as possible and he either wasn't present in the Common room or would sit in the lonesome armchair at the darkest corner of the room. It was just a few days since he had been shunned by his friends, but there were already signs of depression. Cassiopeia was, in fact, watching him very closely with growing worry. He always looked exhausted, with dark bags under his eyes and looked rather dishevelled. He seemed nervous and jumpy and his hands were shaking constantly. Moreover, his school results radically dropped - a fact even the teachers noticed. He wouldn't talk to anyone if he wasn't asked directly and just two days later, when Sirius came into the Great Hall, he looked so lonely Cassie couldn't take it anymore. When she saw him sit down at the end of the Gryffindor table again, she bit her lip and turned to her best friends. Mary was just telling them about her date with Jack.

"-and he wouldn't let go of my hand the whole time we- Are you even listening to me, Cass?" Mary asked her friend when she saw her staring across the Hall.

"What? I- sorry, I wasn't actually listening." she admitted.

"What's going on with you?" Lily asked while she was spreading jam over her toast.

"Well,..." Cass hesitated. "I was thinking... I was actually thinking of asking Sirius to join us for breakfast." she said finally and for a while, both of her friends stared at her in shock. Finally, Lily seemed to recover and she groaned.

"'Do you really have to? It's too nice a day to spoil it with Black's antics." she said and Cass rolled her eyes. Lily was her best friend; she loved her to death. She was smart and kind. But sometimes, she let her initial dislike for Potter and Black cloud her common sense.

"Come on, Lily, just take a look at him. Do you really think he's in mood to provoke you now?" Cass said and Mary shrugged.

"She's right, Lils. He's been so lonely these days."

"Besides, he's my friend, too. It's either this or I will go and sit with him. You two will survive a while without me." Cassie suggested and Lily sighed.

"Oh, ok. Just go and ask him." she waved her off. Therefore, Cass got up and walked over to where Sirius was sitting, just staring into his cup of black coffee. She tapped his shoulder but he still jumped a bit and looked up at her with surprise.

"Elderidge?" While the old Sirius would have already made some sort of a witty comment, he was now looking at her with utter confusion, as if he had no longer expected any human contact anymore. Immediately, Cass noticed the dark circles around his eyes and disheveled hair. "Need something?" he asked when she just stared at him without giving any reason as to why was she demanding his attention at such early hour of the morning.

"No, I just… I just wanted to ask if you wanted to sit with us." She said, suddenly uncertain of herself. But since the question 'how are you' seemed pointless, she decided to get straight to the point.

"Uhm, why?"

"Just because." She shrugged and Sirius snorted into his coffee.

"I don't need your pity. I'm not anyone's charity case."

"You're not my charity case, you're my friend." Cassiopeia said indignantly. "And I think you've been alone for too long." She added but Sirius only shrugged his shoulders. "Have you slept?" she asked then.

"Sure I have." He mumbled and looked away with a sigh. Then he looked back at her suddenly. "Are you sure it's a good idea?" he asked and Cass raised her eyebrows.

"And why wouldn't it be?"

"Because," Sirius looked as if the answer was obvious. "you know that Evans and I don't get along much. I doubt she would want me sitting with her for breakfast."

"Lily doesn't mind. But if you do, perhaps I could sit with you, then." She suggested and he shrugged again.

"Be my guest." He nodded at the empty seat next to him. Noticing Lily and Mary watching them expectantly, she threw one apologetic look at them and sat down next to Sirius.

"Oh, great! There's still some toast left on this side of the table! There was none left where the girls and I were sitting. We were kind of late for breakfast this morning."

"How so?" Sirius asked, though his voice was dull and held no real interest.

"Because Mary was in the shower for too long and then Lily and I didn't have enough time. Nor warm water." Cass rolled her eyes and Sirius snorted. "Have you had some?" she pointed at the toast.

"Not hungry." Sirius mumbled and Cassiopeia suppressed her sigh. She had been expecting this.

"Ok, maybe not for a toast. But look, there's some apple pie! How about apple pie?"

"I told you I'm not hungry."

"You know what, then? Let's share it." Cassiopeia suggested and before he could answer, she grabbed a piece of the apple pie and cut it in half with her fork, pushing one half in front of Sirius. At that, he gave her sidelong glance and something similar to a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. Cass knew that just as herself, he recalled their first night in Hogwarts. He wouldn't refuse to eat it now.

"You really are something, you know that?" he shook his head as he grabbed a fork and began eating. "Why are you doing this?"

"Honestly?" she asked after she swallowed her bite. "I've been watching you for the last few days. I've been worried. Especially when I noticed you eat as much as Cordelia Redfield." She nodded her head to the Hufflepuff table where the girl, known for her stick-like posture and strong repulsion to food, was sitting. "It's not healthy."

"I haven't had much appetite lately." Sirius admitted.

"I get it. And I also get why. I guess I would have no appetite either if my friends had treated me like this." She said darkly, throwing a glare at James, Remus and Peter, who were chatting among themselves happily.

"They kind of have a good reason for it, don't they?" Sirius mumbled into his plate.

"Reason or not, Sirius, it's been several weeks. Really, I've always thought girls were the ones to hold grudges but apparently not. Yes, what you've done was really stupid but still…shunning you out for this long is rather cruel, especially when they don't let you explain your point of view."

"I would have done the same."

"Maybe. Maybe not. The thing is, they are, or at least were, your best friends. And best friends do notice that their friend is in a bad shape. Because no offense, but you look horrible." Cassiopeia said, finishing her piece of pie.

"None taken." Sirius shrugged, running his hand through his messy hair. "So I am your charity case."

Cass sighed angrily. "You are not! I'm not talking to you out of pity, Sirius. I was under the impression that we were friends even before this whole…situation. And this is what friends do. Or at least some friends." She said, sending another dark look in direction of James Potter and his friends.

For a while, Sirius was quiet, just pensively staring into his empty cup of coffee. "You know," he said quietly, "I may seem defensive and look like I don't care but…you coming to talk to me- it means a lot. You're the first friendly person I've talked to in a few weeks." He said clumsily and Cass smiled sadly. Through all of his problems, Sirius had always been an outgoing, funny and friendly person and it was devastating to see him to be this depressed. It was even worse to know that the state he was in was not caused only by being shunned by his friends but also the wretched substance he was addicted to. But Cass knew better than starting conversation about that now, when it was a miracle he opened to her at least a bit. It would not do to push him too much.

"It doesn't have to be this way. Look, we have Defense now, why don't you sit with us?" she suggested. Sirius seemed genuinely surprised, as if the idea had never occurred to him. For a while, Cass thought he would decline again when he nodded.

"Thanks. Are you sure Evans and MacDonald won't mind?" he mumbled.

"They won't. It's not like I will make you three to be best chums from now on. I know you don't get along with Lily very well, but she's not a bad person. She's the best, actually. Sometimes she just…."

"Overreacts?" Sirius suggested when Cassiopeia looked for the right expression.

"A bit." She admitted. "But she doesn't mean it."

"Ok, then." Sirius shrugged and shook his head to get his hair out of his eyes. It was such a typical gesture for him that Cassiopeia couldn't help but smile, for real this time. After several weeks, she could see the shadow of the old Sirius.

As agreed, Sirius was sitting next to Cassiopeia not only during the DADA but for all of the classes they had together, including the History of Magic, which was their last class. From the other side, Cass was sitting next to Lily, whose other side was occupied by Mary. Sirius didn't even mind he wasn't sitting in the corner as always, since the girls always picked the seats in the third row. But for the first time, he was at least close to having fun. The only down side to sitting next to the girls was the fact that they were actually paying attention and taking notes, which was something Sirius couldn't understand. Therefore, he spent the whole class trying to distract Cassiopeia from the lesson, either by sending her notes constantly or by whispering jokes to almost everything professor Binns said. At first, Cass didn't like being made distracted but after a while, she had to stifle her uncontrollable giggles when Sirius was whispering to her his own version of the Goblin wars. Several times, Lily had to jab her elbow into Cassiopeia's ribs when her giggles were getting to loud. When the class was over and they were shuffling out of the classroom, Lily gave her a scolding look.

"What were you thinking, fooling around with Black the whole time?" Lily told Cassiopeia.

"Fooling around?! Evans, trust me, we weren't fooling around. If we were, you would know but we would probably pick a broom cupboard for that." Sirius answered instead with a smirk, earning a glare from Lily, while Mary laughed. Cass rolled her eyes.

"You, stop with the innuendo." She slapped Sirius' arm before turning to her best friend. "What's the problem, Lily? We were just talking."

"Yeah, during the lesson. He's distracting you from taking any proper notes. You said yourself you need as good results as possible."

"Actually, I have all notes. I can do more things simultaneously." She gave Lily a smile.

"See, Evans? You're underestimating your best friend." Sirius provoked the redhead, who gave him another glare.

"Stay out of it, Black."

"Oh, come on, do you two have to fight all the time?" It was Mary who rolled her eyes this time. She never had any problem with Sirius and sometimes she found his antics funny, though she had never really talked to him either.

"No, actually, I'm leaving the battlefield this time." Sirius said suddenly. "I have something to take care of. See you later, ladies." He said and before any of them could say a word, he left.

"Something to take care of?" Mary repeated.

Lily snorted. "His hard-on, most probably."

"Lily!" Mary gave her an incredulous look without bursting into laughter.

However, Cassiopeia didn't pay them much attention, instead she watched the retreating back of Sirius, knowing what he was about to do and not liking it one bit. But even she had to admit, that although Sirius seemed in much better spirit during the day, sometimes she caught him staring into space when he wasn't distracted by her or her friends. He was nowhere near to normal, whether concerning his depression because of his friends or his drug addiction.