chapter twenty / short talks and shorter letters

             "How on earth did you keep this from us for so bloody long?"

   "I didn't think it was that important."

   "Not important!? Bloody hell, Cassie, you're Sirius Black's daughter! And you didn't tell us!" Ron said exasperatedly, accidentally letting his chocolate frog hop from his hand and into the lake. Cassie stifled a laugh at his groan.

   The four were strewn lazily on the shore of the Black Lake, basking in the lovely, sunny day and eating plenty of candy from Honeydukes. It had been a Hogsmeade day, but Hermione and Ron decided they weren't quite up for a visit.

   "I dunno. I figured you would have hated me, Harry," she admitted sheepishly. Harry looked quite offended at this, and she quickly added, "Before we knew he was innocent, we thought he wanted to kill you!"

   "Yeah, okay," Harry agreed under his breath.

   "You've been letting us call you Cassie all this time.." Ron said, as though he was heartbroken by this news. She rolled her eyes.

   "It's not like I'm changing my name entirely. Cassiopeia Black... a pretty badass name, if you ask me. Plus, I can still go by Cassie," she pointed out, shrugging her shoulders.

   A large shadow loomed over the four of them and they turned to see Hagrid, beaming at them with delight.

   "Beaky escaped! He's free! Bin celebratin' all night!"

   "That's wonderful!" said Hermione, shooting Ron a look because he seemed as though he were about to laugh.

   "I was worried this mornin', met Professor Lupin on the grounds, but he said he never anything las' night.."

   "What?" said Harry quickly.

   "Blimey, haven ' yeh heard? Snape told all the Slytherins this mornin'.. Thought everyone'd know by now... Professor Lupin's a werewolf, see. An' he was loose on the grounds las' night. He's packin' now, of course."

   "Packing?" Harry said, alarmed. "Why?"

   "Leavin'. Resigned firs' thing this mornin'. Says he can't risk it happenin' again."

   Harry scrambled to his feet. "I've gotta go see him."

   "I'll come with," Cassie agreed, standing as well. Harry nodded at Hagrid, Hermione, and Ron before him and Cassie walked off to her godfather's office.

   "Saw you two coming," Remus said, smiling. He pointed to the parchment he'd been poring over; it was the Marauder's Map.

   "Hagrid said you'd resigned. It's not true, is it?"

   "I'm afraid it is," said Lupin. He began removing the contents of his desk drawer.

   "Why?" said Harry. "The Ministry of Magic don't think you were helping Sirius, do they?"

   "No, Dumbledore managed to convince Fudge I was trying to save your lives," he sighed. "That was the final straw for Severus. He accidentally let slip that I'm a werewolf at breakfast this morning."

   "That git!" Cassie gasped, standing from where she'd been sitting on the edge of his desk. "That's not fair! It is so not your fault that he's upset that you lot played a prank on him in school and he's still hung up on it–!"

   "Cassie," Remus said warningly, though there was a hint of amusement in his voice. "Harry, tell me about your Patronus."

   "How'd you know about that?"

   "What else could have driven the dementors back?"

   Harry told Remus all about the Patronus he'd cast the night before. By the time he was finished, Remus was smiling, and Cassie was gaping at him.

   "You never told me that part!"

   He shrugged, smiling, and his cheeks were slightly red.

   "Your father was always a stag when he transformed. It's why we called him Prongs," Remus said as he threw the last few books in his trunk. He turned, and Cassie realized he held the Marauder's Map and Harry's Invisibility Cloak in his hands. "Here. I'm no longer your teacher, so I feel no guilt in giving this back to you. I dare say you, Ron, Hermione, and Cassie will find better uses for it than I."

   "You told me Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs, and Snouts would have wanted to lure me out of the school. You said they'd have thought it was funny."

   "And we would have," Remus said with a smile on his lips. "I have no hesitation in saying that both James and Adelaide would be very disappointed in their children if they'd never found any of the secret passages out of school."

  Dumbledore entered Remus's office. He didn't seem surprised to see Cassie or Harry there. "Your carriage is at the gates, Remus."

   "Thank you, Headmaster," he said, picking up his suitcase. "Can I speak to Cass alone for a moment?"

   Dumbledore nodded and exited the room; Harry sent Cassie a smile before following the headmaster.

   "Do I have to leave, too?" Cassie blurted once the door was shut. Remus laughed quietly and shook his head. 

   "No, you can stay. Though I must warn you, school is much different without me here to keep you from the boys."

   "And that's a problem how?"

   "Oh, ha-ha," Remus said sarcastically, but there was amusement in his voice. "Do you have any... questions? About anything?"

   "Tons," Cassie admitted, running a hand through her hair. "Where's my mum?"

   "Still no clue," Remus admitted. "Wherever she is... well, let's just say that she wasn't in her right mind, last time I saw her."

   "Am I still going to live with you, then?"

   "No need to sound so sad about it," Remus said teasingly. "For now, yes, you'll live with me over holiday. At least, not if we can get in contact with your mother and she can prove to be a worthy guardian. Sirius..."

   He trailed off. Cassie frowned, but shook her head. "It's alright. I'd rather live with you. At least, until I get to know my.. my father some more. You know?"

   "But you're not... upset with him? With.. me?"

   "I..." Cassie twisted her lips. "I understand why he was out of my life. He's got a good excuse. But you... you lied to me for my entire life. I know the circumstances were complicated, but don't you think I should know things? Don't you trust me?"

   "Of course I trust you, love," Remus said sadly. "This was just something I never thought you'd be ready to hear. I hope you can forgive me for it one day."

   She offered him a tight-lipped smile. "I'll work at it."

   "Good," Remus agreed, nodding his head. "Do you have any other questions for me?"

   "No, I don't think so," Cassie said after a short moment of thought. "Are you off, then?"

   "Yes, my carriage is ready," he said, smiling sadly. "I'll miss you."

   "I'll be home in—"

   "Let me be sentimental."

   "Go ahead, Dad– erm.."

   "You know, you don't have to call me Dad. Godfather is too formal, though, is it not?" He frowned, pondering.

   Cassie lifted a shoulder. "Moony?"

   Remus smiled fondly. "Moony works."

   "Maybe I'll switch it up, make it depend on the mood I'm in," Cassie joked, grinning as he chuckled and pulled her into a hug.

   "I'll see you at the end of term."

             "It's always going to be Cassidy to me."

   "No, Atticus, Cassi-opeia," she said for the billionth time that afternoon. Atticus began speaking it out phonetically and Cassie sighed. "Just call me Cassie and we won't have this problem."

   "But everybody else calls you Cassie," Atticus frowned. "I want to be different than everybody else. Cassiopeia. I think I'll stick with it."

   "You're insufferable," she muttered, rolling her eyes.

   "Is that why I haven't talked to you in decades? Because I'm insufferable?"

   "No, actually. First, I was mad you knew everything and didn't tell me. Then, you were acting weird. And then, we had exams. And then.. I almost died!"

   "You did not almost die, Cass," Harry sighed as him, Hermione, and Ron took their seats at the Gryffindor table. "Might I remind you that your father is who we were scared of in the first place? I'd place my bets as to say he wouldn't hurt his own daughter."

   "I'm not talking about him," Cass hmphed, crossing her arms. "I'm talking about that wackjob of a tree."

   "You sprained your ankle."

   "I almost died."

   "You sprained your ankle."

   "I could have died when I sprained my ankle."

   "You're intolerable," Atticus scoffed, mocking Cass as to what she'd said moments before. Cassie rolled her eyes.

   "And anyways, it's me who almost died!" Ron argued, though nobody could really understand his next sentence, as he'd bitten into a roll and was talking with his mouth full. Hermione grimaced.

   "Honestly, Ronald, have some tact," she chastised, scooting further from Ron.

   "Where's Cedric?" Cassie asked Atticus, who shrugged. "Oh, please tell me you're not still mad at him? It was horribly difficult to talk to the both of you when I had no clue what was–"

   "Get your panties out of a twist, woman, he's right there," Atticus said, nodding his head to the entrance. "And, not that it's any of your concern, but Cedric and I are on perfectly fine terms."

   "Is that why he's walking to the Ravenclaw table?" Cassie asked, and the four Gryffindors plus Atticus followed Cedric with their eyes as he approached a girl sitting at the blue table, sat next to her, and messed with her hair.

   "Oh, my God," Cassie muttered, still staring at the Ravenclaw in shock. As the girl turned her head, Cass realized it was none other than Cho Chang. Harry quickly broke his gaze and became interested in his dinner. "You don't think–"

   "I think there's something ol' Cedric needs to tell us," Atticus said, standing and walking to meet Cedric as he approached the Hufflepuff table.

   "Your friends are bloody weird, Cass," Ron said after swallowing his food.

   "Yeah, I know," she laughed. "But at least they didn't get me roped into a crazy escape scheme—"

   "Shhh!" the other three hissed at the same time, and Cassie smirked.

                   As the Hogwarts Express pulled out of the station the next morning, Hermione popped some surprising news.

   "I'm dropping Muggle Studies. I went to see Professor Mcgonagall this morning, just before breakfast."

   "But you passed your exam with three hundred and twenty percent!" Ron said.

   "I know," sighed Hermione, "but I can't stand another year like this one. That Time-Turner, it was driving me mad. I've handed it in. Without Muggle Studies and Divination, I'll be able to have a normal schedule again."

   "I still can't believe you didn't tell us about it," said Ron grumpily. "We're supposed to be your friends."

   Before Hermione could reply, Cassie scoffed. "You didn't tell us your rat was a person, you know."

   Ron gaped at Cassie, before throwing an empty chocolate frog container at her. She gasped and ducked. "Don't hurt me! My dad is Sirius Black!"

   "Harry, you alright?" Hermione asked once the laughter died down.

   "I'm okay," he said quickly. "Just thinking about the holidays."

   "I've been thinking about them too," said Ron in a manner that suggested he'd been waiting to say this for a while. "Harry, you've got to come and stay with us. I'll fix it up with Mum and Dad, then I'll call you. I know how to use a fellytone now–"

   "A telephone, Ron," sighed Hermione. "Honestly, you should take Muggle Studies next year.."

   "It's the Quidditch World Cup this summer! How about it, Harry? Come and stay, and we'll go see it ! Dad can usually get tickets from work."

   "Er, yeah, I'd bet the Dursleys would be pleased to let me come.. especially after what I did to Aunt Marge."

   This caused another fit of laughter in the carriage at the thought of Harry's aunt bursting into a bubble and flying into the air.

   The train ride was considerably less eventful than the first. They talked and laughed amongst themselves, occasionally getting a visit from Ginny, Neville, Atticus, or Cedric.

   "Harry," said Hermione, suddenly looking over his shoulder. "What's that thing outside your window?"

   The others turned to look outside. Something small and gray was bobbing in and out of sight beyond the glass. He stood for a better look and saw that it was an owl, carrying a letter that was much too big for it. Harry reached a hand outside and caught the small owl, when another, larger owl came into view. Cassie gasped.

   "I CAN'T BELIEVE I LEFT CUPID!" she wailed, opening the window more to let her owl in. He flew in and perched on the luggage shelf, staring distastefully at Cassie

   "It's from Sirius!" Harry suddenly exclaimed.

   "What?" Ron and Hermione said together, and Cassie scrambled to look over Harry's shoulder.

   "'Dear Harry,
I hope this finds you before you reach your aunt and uncle. I don't know whether they're used to owl post. Buckbeak and I are in hiding. I won't tell you where, in case this falls into the wrong hands. I have some doubt about the owl's reliability, but he is the best I could find, and he did seem eager for the job,'" Harry continued reading aloud, but Cassie had noticed a second letter behind the one he was holding that read her name. She tugged it from his grasp and opened it slowly.

   'My Cassiopeia,
I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to chat much with you the other night. We were in a bit of a time crunch. I wish I could have caught up with you more — I could already tell you've got that Sirius Black wit I was so famous for. As well as the stubbornness. Promise me you'll forgive Moony, one of these days? It's not all his fault. Well, anyway, I hope you have a brilliant summer. I look forward to speaking with you again. Sirius.'

   Harry was still reading his note when Cass finished. She looked over hers again, before tucking it into her trunk and pulling out a treat for Cupid.

   "I get to keep him?" Ron asked, pulling Cassie's attention back to the conversation. He held the tiny owl in his hand, and, much to the other three's surprise, held him out for Crookshanks to sniff. "What d'you reckon? Definitely an owl?"

   Crookshanks purred.

   "Good enough for me. He's mine."

   A few hours later, Cassie stepped through the barrier of platform nine and three-quarters with Ron by her side, as Hermione and Harry had already gone through. She noticed Harry eyeing an ugly man and put two and two together, deciding this was his Uncle Vernon.

   "I'll call about the World Cup!" Ron shouted to Harry and Cassie, and she nodded vigorously as he walked off with his family. Cass hugged Hermione goodbye, before walking over to Harry.

   "Be sure to write me, okay?" she said, and he nodded with a smile. "I'll see you in a few months."

   "Have a good holiday, Cass," Harry smiled. The two teens hugged in the middle of the platform, though it was quite awkward and stiff.

   Once Harry had walked off to meet his uncle, Remus approached Cass with a knowing smile on his lips. "That was quite the embrace," he teased, and she rolled her eyes.

   "Whatever."

   "Did you have a good year?" he asked curiously as they walked to the nearest apparating site.

   "I did, actually. I can't wait for next year."