I Solemnly Swear: Book 1

Little Did She Know...

It was too much. All of this was too bloody much for my mind to handle and comprehend. It was as if my thoughts were each large individual bouncy balls frequently popping back up only for a hesitant second just to be swiftly bouncing away as my attention was focused on another. I had been pacing the dormitory for an hour, feeling as if I were a cat trapped within a cage wanting to break out and find something else to focus on, but I didn't dare leave the room. Too afraid of what I would do, who I would encounter, what I would blurt out. I had come up with a mental list that I repeated over and over within my head.

'I'm being watched. A teacher is being controlled by Voldemort's minions. My best friend is a werewolf. My best friend is a werewolf. My best friend is. A. WEREWOLF.'

I felt awful for Remus, one of my closest friends went through hell and back every month and I felt so helpless as to how to help him. I wanted to give him a hug and hit him at the same time, I wish he hadn't hidden this from me and that I could've at least been there for him. Obviously, this means a lot to him that he keeps it a secret though and I don't want to scare him off...

I ran my hands through my hair and flopped back on the bed, only to realize I had missed the rest of my classes for the day.

"Dammit!" I yelled, frustrated.

"You okay? You missed the last two classes for the day.." The voice trailed off, seeing me startle in surprise.

Marlene leaned against the doorway, looking at me worriedly.

"Oh.. hey Marls," I shrugged sheepishly, "I accidentally fell asleep and must've just slept through my classes."

Marlene brightened considerably, happily taking my lie as truth and flinging her worries away.

She walked over to her trunk and put her books inside, "Y'know, the boys were quite worried about you. I walked into the common room to see the lot of them trying to stack a bunch of chairs at the bottom of the girl's stairs so that they could hopefully climb up to you and see if you were okay." Marlene and I giggled slightly, "Come to think of it, they're probably still doing that so you might want to go and prevent them from breaking an ankle."

"Oh gods." I hopped out of bed and ran down the stairs.

There they were, Sirius on top of the stack of about ten precariously balanced chairs, James and Remus holding onto the sides and preventing them from fully toppling over. I let out a loud laugh that caused Remus to startle and let go of the side to turn towards me, I ran to it and held on to the side as Sirius let out a girlish squeal indicating that the chairs were falling.

"Oh thank you so much, he would've been flatter than my dad's pancakes if he had fallen. You see we're just trying to get this girl to come out of her dorm, we've been right worried. Her name is.." James trailed off as he turned to face me and his eyes widened. "CASSIE!"

I shook my head as I laughed, "Thank you for trying, but you all are quite the gaggle of idiots."

"Hey! I'm not an idiot... WOAH!" I heard Sirius comment before leaning quite dangerously to the side.

"Tell that to the stack of chairs that you're standing on," Remus remarked from behind me.

Sirius climbed down five of the chairs before falling off, directly on to Peter. Peter squeaked and wheezed as Sirius rolled off him, laughing at the predicament.

"Sorry there, Pete. Didn't mean to squish ya like that..." Peter just groaned in response.

"So... why did you disappear so suddenly, I-" Remus coughed and seemed to correct himself, "we were quite worried."

I looked at him with a small, sad smile, "Oh it's nothing, I just accidentally fell asleep."

Sirius came up from behind me and looped his arms through Remus and mine, making us look like a chain of people. "Well, now that you've woken up Sleeping Beauty, we have some plans." A mischievous glint flashed through Sirius' eyes.

"Plans?"

James came up to my side and looped his arm through my remaining one, "Amazing, wonderful, and magnificent plans which shall involve great bouts of mischief and marauding."

I turned to Remus and stage-whispered, "I didn't know that James knew that many words, did you?"

He laughed slightly, "I certainly did not."

James huffed from beside me, muttering something incoherent under his breath while extending a hand towards Peter to help him up. We walked throughout the school, finally reaching the grounds and deciding to settle underneath a large oak tree with many branches that was conveniently next to the Black Lake.

I decided to climb up and perch on a branch that was low enough so that I could still be in the conversation. Remus sat next to my perch and Sirius climbed up onto the branches as well, swinging like a monkey between the branches. James was rustling through his bag and Remus pulled out a book and started flipping through the pages, Peter was eating a pastry.

"So, am I going to be told what these magnificent plans are?"

Surprisingly, Remus turned to me, his eyes alight at the chance to explain, "I found some spells that could make it so that map that we were planning on making could be so much more than just a simple map! We could make it so that we could track anyone and everyone in the castle, it'll take some advanced magic... but I think if we practice we could do it. It says some spells in this book," He shook the book he held slightly, "and seeing that we are all decently good at picking up magic, you especially Cas, we could do this."

I smiled, "That's brilliant, Remus!" I jumped down and hugged him slightly in excitement and grabbed the book he held.

"Th- thanks, Cas." He stuttered, a slight flush on his face. Probably from the excitement of such a brilliant idea!

"AHAH, THERE IT IS!" James yelled, pulling out an object from his bag and running over to us.

"Bloody hell James, you need to stop stuffing your wand in your bag," Sirius remarked from above us.

James ignored him and plopped down beside me, "Think of all the pranks we could pull if we knew where all the professors were at all times!"

Sirius jumped down and sat gracefully beside Remus, "This'll be amazing and we can use this as our chance to find all of the secret passages!"

"I knew you never gave that up."

He shrugged, "What can I say, I love exploring."

We spent the next hours planning out times to meet up, it would have to be past curfew because we didn't want anybody seeing what we were doing and stealing the idea. Remus, I came to find out, was an amazing drawer. He was going to be drawing out the map and Sirius was going to take over if Remus couldn't make it. Sirius, James, and I were going to try and find any and all the secret passages, and Peter was going to be our lookout. I was ecstatic, but every time I looked towards Remus I felt sad, I didn't know what to do and I so desperately wanted to help him.

We all started heading towards the castle but Remus had to gather his things so I decided to wait with him and let the others go ahead.

He stood up and turned towards me, "Thanks for waiting, you didn't have to."

Not knowing what else to do, I hugged him, "Look, if there's anything you ever want to talk about I'll always be here for you. A-and if anything ever goes wrong, don't be afraid to tell me or the others. We want to help you with anything and everything you have to deal with, even if it's just through moral support. Okay?"

I pulled away, Remus looked slightly confused but he smiled awkwardly anyways, "Thanks Cas, I'm here for you too. Now, let's go before the guys think we got lost."

I laughed and we walked towards the castle in comfortable silence, the fading colors of the setting sun casting a warm hue on the castle, giving me hope that it was a sign that everything was going to be okay.

Little did Cassie know, everything was certainly not going to be okay and that trouble loomed over the group like dark clouds.