Cassia couldn't understand why Dahlia seemed so happy as they ate their dinner. She had been glowing the whole day, ever since Defense the Dark Arts. Cassia did sense that it probably had something to do with Orion.

"So," she asked, planning her words carefully. "What did you and Orion get up to?"

Dahlia shrugged. "I'll tell you, if you want. But not here." Without even registering Cassia's protests, Dahlia dragged her friend away from the table.

The two girls stood outside one of the bathrooms. Dahlia opened opened her mouth to begin speaking, but she was interrupted by two voices in the bathroom.

"Myrtle, they kissed. You don't kiss someone you don't like." The voice belonged to James. He seemed very distressed. Cassia wondered why.

"Well, you don't know, James. Maybe they had never kissed before, and they just wanted to know what it felt like." This voice was unknown to Cassia. It sounded like it belonged to a girl who was filled with melancholy.

"They held hands, they were on the lake's shore, and they kissed. They kissed because they wanted to, not out of curiosity."

"Oh, James. How do you know?"

"Because I saw it! They were snogging. I saw it, Myrtle!"

"Oh, do hush. Sounds to me like someone is jealous."

"Jealous? Of Orion? Hah!"

Cassia looked over at Dahlia who had grown extremely pale at these last words. She bolted down the hall, back to dinner, leaving Cassia in front of the bathroom. Half confused, half mad at James and this Myrtle, whoever she was, she marched into the bathroom, preparing to give James a piece of her mind.

But what she saw made her stop dead in her tracks. James looked beat. Worse than beat. He looked like he was a zombie. Pale and sad, Cassia actually pitied him.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked him, walking over and placing her hand on his shoulder.

James looked up in alarm. "Uh, yeah. Erm, I'm fine."

Gracefully, Cassia sat down besides him. "Who's this Myrtle you were talking to?"

"I'm right here." Looking up, Cassia saw the ghost of a young girl. "Go on. James doesn't listen to me. He just likes to rant. And when I say rant, I mean rant."

"Is everything okay, James?" Cassia asked.

"No."

"What's wrong?"

"Dahlia." Cassia paused a moment.

"What happened between you two?" Cassia was already gaining her suspicions.

"I saw her making out with Orion Malfoy."

"Oh." So that's what Dahlia was so excited to tell me.

"And don't say she didn't want to, or that she didn't enjoy it. She did."

"I won't." But one question kept squirming its way into the back of Cassia's mind. "Why are you so jealous?"

"I'm not jealous," James hissed.

"Okay, okay. Then why are you so mad?"

"Maybe I just really hate Orion, okay?"

"I see. . ."

"And maybe I like Dahlia. What's it to you?"

"What's it to me? Dahlia is my best friend. My b-f-f. Me amigo. She's all I have here."

"Well, maybe I wanted her to be more than that." James got up, and went to the sink. Feeling bad for James, Cassia went to comfort him, but he just glared at her. "Just go away. I-I think I need some alone time." He glared past her shoulder to Myrtle. "Alone time. Not James and Myrtle all alone time. Just some time to myself."

With a nod, Cassia walked out of the bathroom. The sound of a hissing snake alarmed her, and Cassia poked her head back inside the bathroom, but James was gone.

Cassia didn't bother Dahlia about the whole kissing thing. She didn't really see that it mattered. As long as Dahlia didn't stress herself out about it, as she so often did. But her friend was quite the contrary. Dahlia was ecstatic.

Whenever Cassia wasn't able to be there, Dahlia and Orion were together. Though she knew about James' interest in Dahlia, Cassia didn't say anything. Not a soul besides herself, James, and Moaning Myrtle knew about the crush. But there was one thing Cassia wished she could tell Dahlia.

Cassia wanted to tell her friend about how much she missed Oliver. She needed to be with him. What made her feel worse was the fact that Oliver had no idea why Cassia was avoiding him. And finally, one day, Cassia cracked.

They were in front of the entrance to the Ravenclaw Common Room. The guard asked,"Why can some see a Thestral, and some cannot?" It wasn't much of a riddle, but Cassia and Dahlia both knew the answer, Dahlia especially; she loved the magical creatures.

"Those who have seen a loved one die can see a Thestral; others cannot," the girls chorused.

Stepping into the Common Room, Cassia listened to how Orion gave Dahlia magical flowers. Unable to contain her anger, Cassia snapped,"How come you can have Orion, but I can't have Oliver?"

Dahlia stared at her. "Because, Oliver isn't a good match for you. We can find you someone better-"

Cassia jerked away from her friend's outstretching hand. "You know what, Dahlia? I don't want someone else! And if you don't support that, then, well. . . Ooh!" Cassia stormed off to her bed, sliding her curtains shut.

How dare Dahlia? She wasn't in charge of her life! The two friends seemed to be growing apart, and Cassia couldn't believe that she actually mad at her best friend. . . They were slowly but surely spreading apart. It seemed they wouldn't be friends soon.

And though Cassia might not of known it, she just caused a chain reaction of darkness.

Please vote and comment... it would mean a lot ("that's a dead word Katie!" "I know, but how will they know?") to Jane and I! If you have any ideas, please just message one of us! Thank you for the offering, and have a nice day!