The Clockwork Locket || SIRIUS BLACK

The Family

Cassie wrestled her way through the pack of students crowding the rickety train platform, her breath spilling into the air in little puffs of smoke as she sidestepped a third-year scouting for someone to practice his Tickling Hex on. She probably ought to have stopped him, but there was a reason Lily was the Prefect and not her, so she continued on, scanning the faces around her until she spotted her friends.

"Thank Merlin," she breathed, nearly collapsing into Alice's arms as she joined the small huddle of girls near the edge of the platform. "This place is a madhouse; I thought I had lost you forever!"

"Where'd you go, anyway?" Alice asked, steadying her after she had barreled into their group.

She held up the bag of owl treats in her mitten-clad hand. "Almost forgot these for Osbourne."

Alice rolled her eyes. "I reckon your owl could've lived without treats for a couple of weeks, Cass," she said. "And isn't Ozzy going home with you?"

Cassie shot her a disgruntled look. "Yes, but I didn't want to leave his treats behind. He loves these things." She shook the bag in Alice's face. "Believe me when I say that these are a lot better to give him rather than waking up and finding dead mice in your room."

Alice made a face, pushing her hand away. "Don't worry, I believe you."

Satisfied, Cassie bent down and stuffed the treats into her rucksack where she had left it before sprinting back to the castle, standing up and shouldering it just as the scarlet Hogwarts Express trundled into Hogsmeade Station.

The students taking the train back home for the holidays whooped and cheered when the steam engine groaned to a stop at the platform. Cassie traded looks with Lily, Alice, and Marlene, neither one of them understanding what the students were cheering for, but if they were excited about getting out of the cold, then she would gladly scream along with the rest of them. They followed the stampede of bodies onto the train, quickly finding a compartment and settling in before they were trampled. Lily slid the door closed and plopped into the seat next to Cassie, removing her muffler, her fiery hair falling down her shoulders as she reached into her bag and pulled out a book. Cassie propped her back on the window to sleep while Alice and Marlene skimmed through Madam Malkin's winter catalog, though the blonde witch kept casting irritable looks to the door as if she were expecting someone.

"Cassie, did you happen to see Sirius on your way back from the castle?" Marlene asked her, confirming the girl's suspicions as she cracked open an eye, ignoring the jab of annoyance that went through her at the question.

"Yeah, I saw him fondling the giant squid goodbye," she said, which only earned her a snicker from Alice and a look of disapproval from Lily.

Marlene let out a hmph. "He said we would ride together back to London."

Alice caught Cassie's eye and made a motion with her hips like one would do when riding a horse, and she couldn't hide her laughter, snorting into her coat sleeve and disguising it as a cough as Marlene got up, fortunately not seeming to have noticed them.

"I'm going to go find him," she announced before flouncing out of the compartment and allowing Cassie and Alice to crack up in full. Lily rolled her eyes at them.

"You two are juvenile," she said, though she sounded amused all the same as she went back to her book.

Most of the commotion outside had quieted, and the train jostled before heading out of the station, gaining speed as they left the grounds of Hogwarts and the village behind. Cassie had only managed to doze for several minutes until a loud bang made her jerk awake as Alice yelped and Lily dropped her book.