Cassia was very glad to have Dahlia back in her life. The two went everywhere together, well along with Orion and Jeffery, of course. They used a map that Dahlia had got for her birthday from a "secret admirer" and sneaked off to Hogsmeade, splashed in the black lake, and read in the library, like old times. Like they should be.

But Dahlia would always disappear at sometime during the day, and to where, Cassia was uncertain. Until one day, when James came to her while she was studying in the library. Cassia adjusted her glasses and looked up at him expectantly. "What do you want, James?" While her voice was starting to have an air of British sophistication, Dahlia already had a full blown Glaswegian accent.

James shook his head. "You won't believe what I saw! I don't quite believe it myself. . ."

"Spit it out!" said Cassia, anxious to get back to her reading.

"I saw Dahlia go out to the Forbidden Forest," he murmured in her ear.

"What?" she asked. "Louder."

"I saw Dahlia go to the Forbid-" Cassia cut him off.

"Not too loud, James. We don't want her to get in trouble."

James opened his mouth as if he were going to argue. "Eh!" shouted Cassia. James mouth shut, but opened. "Eh!" Close, open. "EH!" Cassia pushed her glasses farther up the bridge of her nose.

Cassia looked up at the tiny cottage. "Why do we need to stop here?" she asked James as he knocked on the door. Before he had a chance to answer, however, the door opened and there stood the tall man Cassia remember vaguely from the beginning of the year as the gamekeeper, Hagrid.

"Ah, wee James Potter. Nice to be seein' ya. C'mon in fer some tea, will ya?" he gestured.

Cassia and James sat down and smiled politely. "A word of advice," whispered James. "Try to avoid eating the cakes."

Hagrid shut the door and grinned. "So, what're yas doin' 'ere?"

Cassia shrugged. James bent forward. "Well, Hagrid, we need your help, if you don't mind."

"All right," said Hagrid. "Shoot."

"Our. . . Friend, Dahlia, has been disappearing for quite a while during free time. We're concerned about her safety, so we need to borrow Fang."

James led the way through the forest. "This way," he said, his voice sharp.

Cassia caught up to him and stroked Fang's head. "That's a good boy," she cooed. Fang barked and pointed towards a grove of trees.

Cassia and James crept up to it silently. The grove was filled with centaurs. "Shh," James cautioned. Suddenly they heard a musical laugh. Both students stared as Dahlia climbed up on one of the centaur's back. "Whee!" she cried, giggling. Cassia noticed how different her friend looked.

Dahlia had on a light green tank top, her old GAP sweater tied around her waist. She had on some short capris, and the tank top was tucked into them. Her hair was in an over-the-shoulder pony tail, and one bang was let down. But Dahlia also looked. . . More wild. Elven, in a way. Her features seemed sharper and her eyes brighter.

She looked free.

And for the first time, Cassia wondered if being away from her "nerd sister" was making her feel that way.