"Sorry about the bite," Sirius told Ron on the way back up the tunnel as he and Harry supported him, the rest of the group making sure Peter didn't escape. "Reckon that twinges a bit."

"A bit? A bit?!" Ron exclaimed. "You almost tore my leg off!"

"Well, I was going for the rat," Sirius reminded him. "I usually have quite a sweet disposition as a dog. In fact, once or twice, James suggested I make the change permanent. The claws, I could live with. But the fleas... they're murder."

Once outside, they sat Ron down and kept Pettigrew at bay, before Sirius turned to Cassia.

"Now you know I'm not a mass murderer, I think introductions are in order," he said simply.

Cassia sighed. "Um... you actually know me," she disclosed. "Or know of me, that is."

Sirius frowned.

"I'm, uh... I'm Cassia Malfoy," she said. "Narcissa's and... Lucius' child."

She didn't want to say her father's name. But she did. She fought it.

Sirius looked at her for a second, confused, before glancing down at her robes. "And you're in... no way..."

"Yeah," Cassia looked down. "A Malfoy in Gryffindor, I know."

"I remember your father," Sirius said. "And let me tell you, I wouldn't think a kid of his that got put in Gryffindor would be allowed to live."

I very nearly wasn't.

Well, that wasn't true, but life had gotten considerably harder after getting sorted into Gryffindor. It was part of the reason for-

"Brat!"

She hadn't had a flashback like that in months. Oh fuck, shit, oh no-

"You seem good, though," Sirius remarked casually. "And who are you?" He nodded to Poppy.

"Oh, I'm Poppy Patil."

Sirius stopped, stock still at that name.

"Oh," Lupin said, his face suddenly strained. "Oh. Sirius, I'm sorry- I forgot to-"

All at once, a memory came floating into Cassia's head. Pippa Patil, dropping a jar of marmalade on the floor in the summer at the mere mention of the name 'Sirius Black'.

"What? What's going on?" Poppy frowned.

"Patil," Sirius spat. "Mark Patil? Is that your dad?"

"Well, I- I never-"

"She never even knew her dad, and that's no reason to take anything out on her!" Cassia yelled indignantly.

"Well, I'll tell you, you missed out on nothing by not knowing him," Sirius snapped. "Your father, Poppy, is an asshole-"

"Can someone please explain what's going on?" Cassia demanded, grabbing Poppy's hand and squeezing it.

"Okay listen Poppy, your mother was best friends with Harry's mother Lily at school," Lupin sighed. "And she and Sirius were one hundred percent in love-"

"What-?!"

"Shut up, Remus, it wasn't like that-"

"Then you explain, Sirius-"

"Wait, what?" Poppy repeated, absolutely shocked that her mother could've kept this from her all this time-

"We started dating in fifth year," Sirius explained. "We were on and off for a bit, and then we properly got together and dated for a year, until stupid Mark Patil got in the way," he growled angrily. "I actually liked her, and then he starts to get in the way and next thing I know, she's dumping me just before we leave Hogwarts and is soon pregnant with triplets, completely cutting herself off from all of us, even Lily, who she'd been best friends with for years."

Poppy listened to this with tears in her eyes, wondering why on earth her mother hadn't mentioned this before.

"Well, she's not with him anymore," she said. "She divorced him when me and my sisters were one."

Sirius nodded, saying. "I'm glad."

But he also seemed relieved.

As silence fell between the group and they all started to split apart, Poppy murmured to Cassia. "Come with me."

The didn't go that far, only round the tree and a couple yards away from it, but they were far enough that no one could overhear them.

"You okay, girl?" Cassia asked Poppy hesitantly.

Poppy nodded, throwing her arms around her best friend. "I am now," she murmured into Cassia's shoulder. "Besides, I knew my dad was an asshole even before now, it was about the only thing I've been able to get out my mum before."

Cassia nodded, giving the girl a small smile. "And hey, it's nice to know the truth, right?"

"What? That my mum might still be in love with an accused mass murderer?" Poppy said, giving the girl a weak smile. "That'll be something nice to tease her with."

"Maybe you shouldn't tell her, just drop subtle hints," Cassia said with a small giggle. "See how long it takes for her to find out."

"Nah, I couldn't keep it from her. We tell each other everything, us four Patils," Poppy sighed. "It's kinda like me and you."

At that, the girl before her welled up with tears.

Except it's not. Because I've been keeping a secret from you this whole year. About how my father-

"Brat!"

"Cass?" Poppy frowned. "What is it?"

Cassia looked at her best friend, and then down at the ground, her eyes swimming with tears. Poppy thought they were always honest with each other, but that wasn't true-

"Poppy," she began, almost sobbing at this point. "I-"

"Harry! Cassia! Poppy!"

She sheer fear in Hermione's voice chilled Cassia's blood.

Turning round, she just knew something was wrong. And so did Poppy.

They raced back round the tree to where Hermione, Ron, Harry and Sirius were gathered. Pettigrew was a few yards away from them, and Lupin, who was supposed to be keeping an eye on him, was looking at something in the distance. Something that made Cassia say-

"Oh fuck."

Something that was a full moon.

And as soon as the light shone upon Lupin, there was no going back.

His eyes changed first. Pupils soon filled them, almost completely black. Well, apart from the little red veins all over them, of course.

Then his ears started to go, becoming more hairy, more pointed. He opened his mouth as the fangs protruded from them.

All around Cassia, people sprung into action.

"Remus, old friend, have you taken your potion tonight?" Sirius asked loudly, almost leaping at Lupin and holding onto his arms, shaking slightly.

"Argh- urgh!" Lupin made strangled noises that constituted a 'no'.

Cassia swallowed a scream. He hadn't taken his potion. He was about to become a fully fledged werewolf.

"You know the man you truly are, Remus!" Sirius yelled desperately. "This heart is where you truly live! This heart!"

But the transformation continued regardless. Flesh became fur, nails became claws, man became wolf.

In the midst of it all, a flurry to the side caught Cassia's eye.

Pettigrew, picking up Lupin's discarded wand.

Without hesitation, she grabbed her wand back from Potter, yelling. "Expelliarmus!"

The wand flew from Pettigrew's hand and Cassia caught it, but it didn't stop what happened next.

Because with no one to stop him, Peter was transforming, a mock wave on his hands and a smirk on his face as he became a rat.

"No-!" Cassia yelled, making to start forward and grab the creature, but Pettigrew was too fast for her, scurrying off into the grass before she could even make her move.

"Cassia, stop it!" Hermione yelled, because a tight knit group had been formed from the five third years, and Cassia trying to escape from it made her vulnerable.

So she stayed, her friends (some of them) around her, in the group, watching as Sirius tried to control Lupin.

There was no controlling him, however, for his clothes were now ripping and tearing as his wolf body grew out of him, fur sprouting all over his body in a rush.

Then, with a yell, he threw Sirius from him, not a scrap of clothing on his body anymore, having now fully become a werewolf.

The howl he let out was like nothing Cassia had ever heard. She knew werewolves communicated with their calls, yet she didn't know how jarring it would be to actually hear one.

She was shaking, she knew it, yet that only made her more embarrassed because she barely knew Ron, and still hated Potter, and yet here she was, shaking and scared in a group containing them.

But she was pretty sure they were all scared as the wolf turned on them.

"Fuck, we're screwed," Cassia squeezed her eyes shut.

"No, wait! Wait!" Hermione said as she disentangled herself from the group, moving cautiously towards the wolf.

"Hermione..." Ron whimpered, and his voice displayed more fear than Cassia's.

But Hermione walked forward regardless, saying. "Professor?"

The wolf made no response, staring at the girl blankly.

"Professor Lupin?" Hermione tried again.

But it was clear Professor Lupin and the wolf were not synonymous as the latter moved forward, letting out another loud howl. Hermione quivered and moved back to the group, Ron grabbing her sleeve and pulling her in.

Getting killed by a wolf wasn't so bad, Cassia decided as she clutched Poppy close in the middle of the group, said creature starting to advance. She has thought her father would kill her out of pure rage multiple times in her life, so a wolf... well, it was different to him.

"There you are, Potter!"

The next thing Cassia knew, Professor Snape, of all people, was stepping in front of the group and the wolf was snarling, taking a swipe. Hermione was screaming, Poppy was whimpering-

"Rrrruuufff!"

With another low growl of both fondness and anger, a black dog was barrelling into the wolf, knocking it clean over and making it screech. Then the two animals were fighting, rolling over on the ground, striking each other, their claws drawing blood-

Cassia looked away, not wanting to see it as Snape stood in front of them, trying to fucking protect them, of all things-

Then the wolf threw the dog across the grass and it hit the ground, a noise that was a cross between a moan and a whimper coming out. Then he got up, slowly padding off, but it was clear he was wounded, he wouldn't last long-

"Sirius!"

"Come back here, Potter! Malfoy, get back!"

Cassia Malfoy didn't really know what she was doing, didn't know why she'd followed Harry Potter down off the slope and through a load of tall grass to what she knew was the Black Lake, but she did know that Sirius Black's life had been cruel and unfair. And she had a lot of experiences with lives like that.

So she was going to try and help him.

She followed Harry off the slope and down to dirt path, sprinting through trees to catch up with him.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Potter panted as she caught up with him, both of them stopping beside a tree that looked onto the lake.

"Following you," Cassia answered shortly. "I happen to want Sirius to live as well, Potter, maybe just as much as you. Where is he, anyw-?"

"There," Harry breathed, and then he was running again, down to the pebbles on the side of the lake and to the man who was lying on them, just before the water, his body and face cut and bloody.

"Sirius!" Both Harry and Cassia shouted as they dived down on either side of him. "No- Sirius!"

But that wasn't even the worst part.

"Potter, look," Cassia murmured, her voice filled with fear and confusion.

She was pointing to the edge of the lake, and as soon as Harry understood, he froze in fear too.

Because the edge of the lake had started to freeze.

And there was only one thing that could make that happen so fast.

Fear froze in Cassia's chest before sadness could. She didn't want to go through that again, to live through that, because it was just Potter there and he couldn't see that, he couldn't-

And they were right.

But it wasn't just one dementor, or even three.

There were at least a hundred, all circling in from above them, their targets locked in on.

And then all the words started to run through Cassia's head.

"Brat!"

"YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO THIS FAMILY!"

"A mistake..."

"Potter," Cassia managed to get out, her head spinning and ears ringing. "P-Potter-"

She was going crazy, she must be, because she was reaching across Sirius to grab the boy, finding his hand and squeezing it tightly.

"Brat!"

"Tarnishing our family name as if you care for nothing!"

"You're a selfish, ignorant child."

"BRAT!"

"Potter-" she was crying now, tears streaming down her face as she held Harry's hand tighter, knuckles turning white. "Potter, please-"

Harry was unsure of what to do. He had never in his three years knowing her seen Cassia Malfoy cry. Not even when they were trapped down in the Chamber of Secrets.

She was dimly aware of a dementor swooping down upon them, but she didn't feel anything more from it until- until-

"AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!"

Both she and Harry let out inhuman screams at the sensation which Cassia knew must be the dementor's kiss, because she had never felt anything like it, like her soul was being sucked out her body, which was actually exactly what was happening-

She let out another cry at the sight of Sirius, because he was also experiencing the kiss, except he was unconscious, and he was also innocent-

Then, suddenly, she fell to the ground, tears sticking hair to her face as she lay on the cold pebbles around the lake, an accused mass murderer and a boy she hated beside her.

Suddenly, she saw it. At the same time Potter did, if his gasp indicated anything.

Across the lake, a bright white glow had appeared. Cassia had no clue what it was, but she did know that suddenly, all the dementors were fleeing, even the one kissing Sirius, and leaving them all intact. All whole.

"Potter..." Cassia started, trying to turn. "Potter, what was th-?"

She was out cold before she could even finish her sentence.