I Solemnly Swear: Book 1

Little Group of Lemmings

I sat down at the Gryffindor table for lunch with a large huff and slammed my books down on the table in frustration, causing both James and Sirius to jump in surprise. I began flipping through my defense book in agitation, trying to get to the page of our required reading.

"Um, Cas? Are you okay?" Sirius looked at me in slight concern and amusement.

"Oh, I'm just fine. Just fine with the fact that one of my friends is missing for the third time this term and the teachers don't notice nor care. Just fine with the fact that the teachers at this bloody school don't understand the concept of reasonable homework and abso-freaking-lutely fine with the fact that I just got detention!" I replied, my voice getting louder and higher-pitched as I continued.

I watched as Sirius and James scooted slightly back in the wake of my sudden rant and I let out another sigh.

"Are you guys not worried that one of your best friends is missing for three days every month?" I whispered, seeing that I had gained attention due to my outburst.

A worried look crossed Sirius' face, "We were all actually just talking about this earlier. Did you notice how sick he looks before he disappears?"

I nodded slowly, contemplating, "Did you also notice the scratches up and down his arms? He rolled his sleeves up for a second in class and I swear I saw at least fifty scratches on both of his arms combined."

"Do you... do you think his parents could be a-abusive?" James whispered, looking between Sirius and me.

I saw Sirius cringe at the statement and his frown deepened.

"I wouldn't think so... he always speaks so lovingly of his parents," I replied.

We all seemed stumped, unable to think of a reason that would cause Remus to leave every month for multiple days at a time. I grabbed a plate of food, picking at it while thinking over the situation.

"Well, what did you get detention for?" Sirius sat back lazily with a smirk.

I waved my hand nonchalantly, "Oh, that. I put a charm on Rosier's seat in potions to make it permanently stick to his bum. It was quite funny when he tried to stand up, only to fall back down from the weight of the stool. Too bad I laughed, leading Sluggy to see I did it."

Sirius and James guffawed loudly in amusement and surprise.

"What did the git do now?" James questioned.

"He called a Hufflepuff girl a mudblood," I said solemnly.

"Oh," They both said this in the same sober tone that I had, wishing that blood purity wasn't such a common topic in recent times.

"Yeah and I also have two bloody essays to write and without Remus here to help me, I might just fail. With the detentions from both Slughorn and McGonagall, I will have to stay up all night just trying to do a half-way decent job on these essays." I sighed.

"I mean we could always try and help you with your homework," Sirius replied.

I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, c'mon Cassy the Sassy, we don't have that poor of grades," Sirius argued in response to my facial expression.

James choked on his water, "Cassy the Sassy?"

Sirius shrugged, "It seems rather fitting don't you think?"

"Fitting like Sirius the Startling and James the Lame," I responded, smiling slightly.

It had become a daily thing that Sirius, James, and I would tease each other or have pun-offs during lunch, at times it got to the point where we each got rather competitive and resulted in Gideon and Fabian joining in to say some of their puns and jokes. The rest of this lunch went by in a similar fashion, each of us coming up with new jokes and puns to combat the others.