Perfect

38. The Prank

It was their last weekend at Hogwarts, they were to leave the following Thursday for Holiday break. The ones who had attended Slughorn's party were still recovering, that man did not care that any of them were under age, he kept passing out rounds and rounds of drinks.

Well, other than Cassie and Severus. Ever since she heard what she did, Cassie couldn't drink anymore, her nerves were high. What was Sirius and his friends going to do? What did they have planned? Was it pay back for their prank? Was it going to be just Severus or all of them?

She was jittery the whole day and she couldn't explain it to anyone. She just kept staring at her brother at the Gryffindor table as everyone worked on their studying, something was different. Something was wrong.

His hands shook as he wrote, his neck cracked when he twisted it and he didn't laugh. He made jokes and he smiled, but he didn't laugh, not really. She couldn't explain it, she never could when it came to him, just knew that his laugh wasn't his.

She sat through the homework sessions, just staring at her papers. "Love, is something wrong?" Theo asked as her leg bounced rapidly under the table.

"No," Cassie answered without hesitation and wrote her essay for Transfiguration. It was about werewolves, their transformation and what happened, how it was different from an animagus.

She couldn't help but feel several pairs of eyes on her. Ignoring them all felt natural. She couldn't meet their eyes, her papers felt like the most interesting things to her.

They tried talking, but it was in vain. She stayed hidden in the common room way past everyone went to bed. Her heart was pumping and she watched the clock move. Then– she heard him come down the stairs.

Severus was wearing his normal school uniform and had his wand at his side as he walked quietly and quickly through the common room and out the door.

Cassie picked herself up and walked after him, she didn't need to walk fast, she knew where they would be.

She didn't wear her cloak, only her button-up shirt, sweater, and skirt. It was quite cold out, but the cloak was going to be a hindrance if she wanted to not get caught.

She made it onto the grounds without being seen and the crisp cold air hit her skin like a rainshower. She could see her own breath and felt the blood in her veins turn cold.

Snape was entering the tree.

It confused her beyond belief, the tree just stopped moving and he walked in. There must've been a secret tunnel. Cassie gasped and ran to the tree. She wanted to make it before it started moving again.

She was so close to the entrance when she heard the branches start rustling. In a panic, she dived into the opening and slid down the dirt, running into someone and knocking them into the door.

She and the person groaned in pain and pushed themselves apart.

"CASSIE?" Severus asked in surprise, rubbing the back of his head. Cassie looked up at him as she stood up and held out her hand.

"I heard you guys, I wanted to make sure that you weren't pranked too badly," she explained. It was only half the reason, but it was true enough.

"Oh, thanks," Severus said, stunned as his cheeks turned pink. "I'm going to find out about Lupin–"

Her eyes widened, "what?"

"Yeah, your brother–"

"We have to go," she rushed out, grabbing his hand and trying to pull him back the way they came. However, he stayed firmly planted in his spot, shaking his head.