little miss black

-66-

Madam Pomfrey was true to her word and Cass was allowed out of the hospital wing the following Saturday. Lily came to get her. Cass followed a suspicious looking Lily up the stairs towards the common room.

"And why can't I go to the library?" Cass asked.

"Because! We all missed you and you can go to the library any day." Lily said. "Pumpkin Juice." The fat Lady swung open. Cass grumbled to herself as she climbed through. She found herself in a deserted common room and looked around for Lily.

"Lil? Where'd you go?" She said.

"SURPRISE!" Half of Gryffindor house yelled. Party poppers went off and some filbuster fireworks were released. Cass shrieked in surprise.

"It's good to have you back!" A random seventh year said.

"Yeah, no Slytherin can keep one of us down!" A fifth year called. Cass smiled nervously at them, slipping through the crowd to where a triumphant James and Sirius were standing. They each had a glass of firewhiskey in hand.

"What the hell is going on?" Cass hissed.

"Cass!" James said, hugging her. "We threw you a surprise party, duh!"

"Are you drunk James?" Cass said, raising an eyebrow. James giggled.

"Don't be silly Cassie, I'm just happy." He took another sip of his drink. Sirius was watching him with an amused smile.

"Was this your idea?" Cass asked him.

"No actually, it was Peters." Sirius said. "Firewhiskey?" He offered her a glass.

"I'm good." Cass said. "And how did you get the whole of Gryffindor to agree to this?"

"Any excuse for a party really, we even had the fat lady change the password just for tonight so we could invite Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff." Sirius said with a small grin. Cass sighed.

"I was just looking for a quiet night." She said.

"Sorry sis! Hey, Remus!" Sirius dashed off. Cass turned to speak to James but he had disappeared.

"Cassiopeia!" A feminine voice that Cass didn't recognise said. She spun around and saw Noah's brothers friend, Grace.

"Oh, hello. It's Grace, isn't it?" Cass said. Grace smiled.

"Yep." She said. "How are you?" She had a soft, quiet voice, long dark brown hair and striking blue eyes.

"Better than I was." Cass said with a shrug.

"I was so worried about you." Grace said. Cass stared at her.

"You were?" She asked.

"Course. I mean, I know we barely know each other but Noah always sings your praises, and we have been partnered up in a few classes. You're a very nice person." Grace said. Cass felt the urge to hug her.

"Oh, thank you." She said, still rather shocked.

"Noah told me that he dumped you." Grace said. "He's been pretty messed up over it." She cast a glance over to where Noah was standing, talking to a Hufflepuff. "He really regrets it Cassiopeia."

"Please, call me Cass." Cass said. "I know, he's told me. I've told him already that it's too dangerous. If things were different..." She sighed. Grace just smiled at her.

"It's your life, you make the change."

•••

"Cass." Lily giggled, stumbling over to her. "Come and dance with me."