little miss black

-71-

The day to go back to Hogwarts arrived. Sirius had spent the night at James, again, so that Euphemia and Fleamont could apparate them to the station. Sirius was worried, he had not heard from Cass or Regulas since the 27th. James tried to distract him by playing mini games of quidditch, or taking him to Diagon Alley and browsing the shops but to no avail. Sirius remained tense, even when they were sitting in their usual compartment.

"Padfoot, will you relax?" James said.

"No." Sirius said flatly. "Not until I see she's okay."

"She will be." James assured.

"You don't know that James." Sirius snapped. "You don't know about these people. You've never seen the lengths they're willing to go to." Sirius' voice shook slightly and he traced his hand over the remnants of the scar on his face. James bit his lip. Sirius stared out of the window, frantically scanning the platform. Remus slipped into the compartment a few minutes later, swiftly depositing his trunk and sitting down next to Sirius. Sirius put his head on Remus' shoulder.

"Hey." Remus said softly. "You okay?"

"Fine." Sirius said. Remus put his arm around him and exchanged a worried look with James.

"Have you heard from-"

"Nope." Sirius said. Remus traced patterns lightly on Sirius' shoulder. The compartment door reopened and Peter came in, rather breathless.

"Thought I was going to miss it." He panted. The three other marauders rolled their eyes, not remotely surprised by their friends lateness. The train lurched and started moving, causing Peter to fall over. James helped him up.

"Merlin wormy." He said.

"Sorry." Peter said, going red. "How was the rest of your holiday?"

•••

Cass stared at the door, willing it to open. She had been keeping track of the days she'd been stuck in Averys cellar and had worked out that she was supposed to go back to Hogwarts today. She had no idea what time it was, but she assumed it was about 11 o'clock, meaning she should be on the Hogwarts express. The door opened.

"Master Avery wishes to see you." A house elf squeaked. Cass shivered. She had endured endless amounts of torture from Avery since she had been trapped in his cellar and didn't feel like another session. The house elf helped her to her feet where she swayed unsteadily, clutching onto the elf's shoulders. It led her up the stairs and into the sitting room where Avery was standing at the window.

"Good morning." He said, not bothering to turn around. Cass didn't reply, too terrified she would say something wrong. "Hogwarts express just left."

"Shouldn't I be-" Cass croaked.

"Oh no sweetheart, not yet." Avery said. "Didn't I tell you you weren't leaving until you were willing to pledge allegiance to the dark lord?" He turned around to face her. Cass bit her lip and nodded.
"You haven't done that yet darling." He advanced towards her. Cass gulped.
"Not to worry, the dark lord will be arriving in due course. I'm sure we'll figure things out then." Avery stroked her cheek. Cass flinched away. Avery smirked. "That is all, take her away." The house elf, who Cass did not know the name of there was so many, grabbed Cass by the arm.

"Yes Master Avery." It squeaked. Cass fought its grip.

"You can't keep me here forever." She shouted as she was being dragged away. Avery merely smirked and waved his wand, Cass clutched her arm which was now bleeding. The house elf took her back down the stairs and handed her a rag.