chapter twelve / the shrieking shack

                              IMMEDIATELY, CASSIE LET OUT A SHRIEK comparable to that of a Mandrake and awoke her two dorm mates instantly, both of them joining her in their high-pitched shrieks as Black stumbled out of the dorm with a horrified look on his own face.

   Lavender and Hermione rushed over to Cassie's bed, all traces of tension gone as they comforted and calmed her.

   "Holy– bloody hell–" Cassie muttered incoherently as more people began pouring into her room. Mcgonagall was the first, wearing her emerald green night robe and fluffy slippers. Harry and Ron rushed in soon after.

   "What happened here?" Mcgonagall asked frantically, moving to the edge of Cassie's bed. The girl couldn't stutter out a full reply, so Hermione answered for her.

   "B– Black... he was...." she tried to string the words together, but eventually broke down and buried her head in Cassie's shoulder.

   "Surely he wasn't in here..!?" Mcgonagall was absolutely appalled.

   "Are you saying you didn't see him on the way out?" Cassie huffed to the three who'd just entered, all shaking their heads no.

   "I must go alert the Headmaster. Will you five stay together, please?" Mcgonagall asked the students in the room, who all nodded their heads silently. Everyone took a seat on Cassie's bed as Mcgonagall left. Cassie pulled her knees to her chest, her eyes still wide.

   "Are– are you alright?" Hermione was the first to speak.

   "I don't know," Cassie muttered after a moment, leaning her chin on her knee.

   Harry leaned forward and Cassie quickly leaned back, the two making awkward eye contact before Ron cleared his throat.

   "So you don't hate me now?" Cassie asked them bluntly.

   "Er– we never hated you," Ron scratched the back of his neck.

   "Oh, really? Could've fooled me."

   "Listen, Cass, you have to see it from our point of view. Your dad was friends with him–"

   "So was Harry's!"

   "Yeah, but my dad is dead," Harry pointed out, raising his eyebrows. Cassie rubbed her temples, exhaling lightly.

   "Alright. I guess it might have looked a little suspicious. But you lot had no reason to react so horribly before I could explain anything to you. And anyway, what made you three come to your senses? Was it me almost being bloody killed in my bed?"

   "He didn't even have a weapon," Lavender pointed out from her bed after an awkward moment of silence. "If that.. changes things."

                        THE FAT LADY RETURNED TO HER POST THE NEXT MORNING. It was a relief for everyone, even Sir Cadogan, who had been chewed out by Mcgonagall for letting Sirius Black in willingly. The woman was furious Neville, the poor boy, who'd written down a week's worth of passwords and lost them, only for them to fall into the hands of Sirius Black. Mcgonagall had stripped him of his rights to visit Hogsmeade and he'd received a howler from his Gran.

   Cassie had gone from the lowest rung on the social ladder to the highest in just a night. The whole school had heard about Black's break in and it was like a flip was switched in their minds – why would Black try to kill her if she was working for him? It was a question that any normal person would ask, but it wasn't the question Cassie had on her own mind.

   The question that Cassie needed the answer to was what was Black actually doing? Lavender was right, he didn't have a weapon, and even if he did.. would he actually kill his own daughter? Cassie shuddered at the thought – of both being his daughter and being his next victim.

   "Miss Lupin, is there something more important on your mind than my class?"

   Snape's dull voice snapped her from her thoughts and she sat up straighter, peering into her cauldron.

   "Zone off again and it'll be ten points from Gryffindor," he snapped, and Cassie had to fight back an eye roll. Harry nudged her elbow and she just gave him a small head nod, barely even glancing in his direction. Hermione watched her anxiously from her seat across the room.

   Hermione was, again, being shunned by the boys. Ron had never really gotten over Scabbers being eaten by Crookshanks, but Hermione had recently threatened to turn in the Marauder's Map, which set Harry and Ron on another furious rampage. Cassie had never seen the poor girl so stressed.

   When the bell rang and class was dismissed, Cassie gathered up her books as fast as possible and shoved them into her bag, but couldn't stumble out the door quick enough. Snape called out her name and she stopped, squeezing her eyes shut.

   "Yes?" she asked innocently, turning on her heel.

   Snape eyed Ron and Harry, who'd stayed and watched curiously from the other side of the doorframe. "You two may go. I need to speak with Lupin alone."

   Harry and Ron hesitated, but Cassie gave them a look. They walked off, and just before they rounded the corner, Cassie saw them run into Atticus and Cedric and stop for a conversation. She watched curiously with her brow furrowed before Snape cleared his throat.

   "You have been very unfocused in my class lately," he chastised, and Cassie grimaced. She opened her mouth to defend herself, but Snape continued. "I believe a week's detention would suffice, do you?"

   "A week?" Cassie repeated in disbelief. "Sir, I was just attacked by a murderer!"

   Maybe she would have to pull that card every now and then. It had worked in Charms, and Flitwick had given her a whole week to finish their assignment that she stil hadn't done. Mcgonagall had taken pity, as well, and dismissed her from the essay.

   Apparently, Snape didn't care.

   "You and I both know you were in no immediate danger when Black attacked you," he said flatly, raising an eyebrow challengingly. She shifted her weight between her feet, curious as to what Snape knew. "Detention. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. And tell your father he needs to take his potion soon. You're dismissed."

   Cassie left without arguing.

   When she walked out of the classroom, Atticus and Cedric were waiting by the door. "Cass," Atticus said, and she turned.

   "Yes?" she asked, hiking her bag up on her shoulder. Merlin, was it the stress, or was her bag getting heavier and heavier every day?

   "Um.." Cedric and Atticus shared a look. "Are you.. okay?"

   "Perfectly fine," she said, plastering on a smile. "Just got detention for being attacked by a mass murderer–"

   "Yeah, but he seems friendly enough with you to not want to kill you–" Atticus began, but Cassie slammed a hand over his mouth.

   "Mate, you can't go around saying stuff like that," Cedric said in a low voice.

   "And yes, Dumbledore thinks he wouldn't kill me if he got ahold of me, but it's the getting ahold of me that frightens him," Cassie said, biting the inside of her cheek. "I don't know why he's so sure a mass murderer wouldn't murder me, given the chance. All because of the letter?"

   "Well... well, I'll be damned if I let Sirius Black get his hands on you," Cedric said decisively, nodding his head once.

   "Yeah, what he said," Atticus said, standing up straighter. "I told you, if I ever saw that man, I'd—"

   "Give him a stern talking to?" Cassie raised an eyebrow.

   "Well, yes, actually," he said promptly, hmphing.

   "The point is, Black won't be able to get past us," Cedric said. He took on a very serious persona and put his hand over his heart. "I, Cedric Diggory, will not let Sirius Black attack you. As long as I shall live."

   Atticus mimicked his actions and nodded his head sharply. "And I, Florian Atticus Forbes–" he ignored Cassie and Cedric's small laughs, "–shall promise to do the same. As long as I live. Unless I get bored of taking care of you, then you're all Cedric's."

   "Hey!" Cassie said, frowning.

   "Just being honest, my dear third year. Wow, I remember when I was a third year. Feels like just yesterday when Mcgonagall and Flitwick kicked me from the Quidditch match.." Atticus sighed, shaking his head. "Revel in your childhood, Cassie, for it goes away in the blink of an eye."

   "Atticus, you're only–" Cedric began, but Atticus quickly shushed him and continued. Cassie tuned him out and said bye to Cedric, Atticus's rambling becoming fainter and fainter as she walked off.

                      LATER THAT AFTERNOON, Cassie walked down to Hagrid's hut with Harry and Ron. She'd never been before, but they'd told her all about him, and she was looking forward to meeting him.

   The first thing the three teenagers saw upon entering the hut was Buckbeak the Hippogriff, stretched out on top of Hagrid's quilt, enjoying a large plate of dead ferrets. Cassie grimaced in disgust and moved her gaze to a large and hairy suit with a very ugly yellow and orange tie hanging over it. Harry had also noticed this.

   "What are they for, Hagrid?" he asked, gesturing to the horrid outfit.

   "Buckbeak's case against the Committee fer the Disposal o' Dangerous Creatures. This Friday. Him an' me'll be goin' down ter London together. I booked two beds on the Knight Bus."

   Hagrid poured them tea and offered a plate of Bath buns. Harry and Ron declined, but Cassie accepted, only to choke down the bad cooking with difficulty.

   "I got somethin' ter discuss with you two," he said, gesturing to Harry and Ron.

   "What is it?" Harry asked as Cassie discreetly spit out her Bath bun into a napkin.

   "Hermione," Hagrid said in a serious voice.

   "What about her?" Ron sounded very put out.

   "She's in a righ' state, that's what. She's bin comin' down ter visit me a lot since the holidays. Bin feelin' lonely. Firs' yeh weren' talkin' to her because o' the Firebolt, now yer not talkin' to her because her cat–"

   "– ate Scabbers!" interjected Ron.

   "Because her cat acted like all cats do," Hagrid continued. "She's cried a fair few times, yeh know. Goin' through a rough time at the moment. Bitten off more'n she can chew, if yeh ask me, all the work she's tryin' ter do. Still found time ter help me with Buckbeak's case, mind you. Found some real good stuff fer me. I reckon he'll stand a good chance now."

   "Hagrid, we're sorry, we should've helped," Harry said, quite awkwardly.

   "I'm not blamin yeh!" Hagrid waved his large hand. "Gawd knows yeh've had enough ter be gettin' on with. I've seen yeh practicing' Quidditch ev'ry hour o' the day an' night – but I gotta tell yeh, I thought you two'd value yer friendship a little more'n brooms or rats. Tha's all."

   "That's what I said!" Cassie said exasperatedly, causing the three boys to look her way. They seemed to have forgotten she was there.

   "Anyways, Hagrid, if she gets rid of that cat, I'd speak to her again!" Ron said angrily. "But she's still sticking up for it! It's a maniac, and she won't hear a word against it."

   "Ron, do you think that maybe – just maybe – Hermione feels the same way about her cat that you do about Scabbers? You're both attached to them–"

   "BUT HE ATE SCABBERS! THAT'S THE DIFFERENCE!"

   "Ah, well, people can be a bit stupid 'bout their pets," Hagrid said, tossing Buckbeak a slab of raw meat. Cassie grimaced again.

   "Besides, Ron, he was quite an ugly rat, anyways–"

   With an angry spout of words Mrs. Weasley would have been horrified to hear from her son's lips, Cassie was suddenly on the same terms with Ron that Hermione was.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

   "Ouch, Harry, that was my foot–" Cassie winced as Harry apologized. The two were under the invisibility cloak, following Ron (who'd reluctantly agreed to allow Cassie to come, as she'd never seen the village before) throughout Hogsmeade.

   The day was fine and breezy, and none of them felt like staying indoors, so they walked out of the Three Broomsticks and climbed a slope to visit the Shrieking Shack, supposedly the most haunted dwelling in Britain.

   It was quite deserted; even behind the fence that was fifty feet from the house, nobody was around, so Cassie ducked out from under the Invisibility Cloak and stood an awkward distance from Ron as they gazed up at the strange building. Cassie opened her mouth to say something, but quickly stopped as a cold voice from behind them cut her off.

   "Lupin? What're you doing here?" Malfoy sneered. Cassie turned sharply and cursed under her breath. At least Harry had had the common sense to stay under the Cloak.

   "Er.. I got permission," she lied. Malfoy, however, turned his attention to Ron, a cruel grin on his pale face.

   "Suppose you'd love to live here, wouldn't you, Weasley? Dreaming about having your own bedroom? I heard your family all sleep in one room. That true?"

   Ron clenched his fists and Cassie sent him a look.

   "We were just discussing your friend Hagrid," Malfoy continued. "Just trying to imagine what he's saying to the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures. D'you think he'll cry when they cut off the–"

   With a splat, Malfoy was suddenly covered in icky brown mud. Cassie clutched her stomach and Ron held onto her shoulder as they burst into laughter. Malfoy seemed absolutely furious, him and his goons glaring around, trying to find who'd thrown it.

   "What was that? Who did that?" Malfoy asked over Cassie and Ron's laughter.

   "Very haunted up here, isn't it, Cass?" Ron asked, and Cassie just roared in laughter in response.

   With another splatter, Crabbe and Goyle were covered in the mud.

   "It's coming from over there!" Malfoy cried, wiping his face and staring at a spot that was very clearly empty.

   Crabbe lunged forward, but with a poke from a stick that was being held by seemingly nothing, fell flat on his face. Cassie and Ron's laughter only grew louder. Goyle began charging on Ron, but an invisible force tripped him and he fell as well. On his way down, his foot caught the hem of Harry's Cloak, and suddenly Harry's face was completely visible.

   Malfoy stared at Harry for a moment before bursting into a shout. He sprinted back towards the castle, Crabbe and Goyle struggling to keep up.

   "Harry!" Ron said, breathless from his laughter. "If Malfoy tells anyone– you better get back to the castle, quick!"

   "See you later!" Harry said, breaking off and rushing back down the path to Hogsmeade. Cassie was still laughing.

   Neither Ron nor Cassie noticed the face in the window of the Shrieking Shack, watching their moves closely.

   "The map called Snape what?" laughed Cassie as she, Ron, and Harry sat on the floor of the girls' dorm room later that night. Harry broke from his laughter and recited it.

   "'Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape, and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business,'" he repeated, earning a roar of laughter from Ron. Harry continued, a grin on his face. "Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Moony, and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git. Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that would ever become a professor. Mr. Wormtail bids Professor Snape good day, and advises him to wash his greasy hair. Ms. Snouts tells Snivellus to shove it where the sun doesn't shine."

Cassie had tears of laughter running down her cheeks and Ron was slapping his knee.

   "Lupin said he knows the mapmakers. D'you think he could introduce us?" Ron asked Cassie, a begging look in his eye.

   "I bloody hope so! They sound like legends!" She laughed again, but it soon subsided as Hermione entered the dorm and an awkward throat was cleared.

   "Come to gloat, then, have you?" Ron asked savagely.

   "No," Hermione said, and Cassie realized her lip was trembling. "I just thought I should tell you... Hagrid lost his case. Buckbeak is going to be executed."