Girls' Night Out

[Cassidy LaRose]

Cassidy walked into the Three Broomsticks. Immediately, she felt as if everyone was staring at her. She didn't go out a whole lot, and when she did, she always felt everyone was judging her. It reminded her of her days back at Hogwarts when the more popular kids used to make fun of her. She had tried to tell herself she was over it, but sometimes she still felt like the shy little girl she had once been.

Taking a deep breath, she realized that no one was even looking at her, let alone staring or laughing at her. She managed a shaky smile and walked up to the bar. "Um, I'll just have a butterbeer," she said shyly. When the bartender handed her the drink, she paid him and then turned around to look for Evangeline.

[Evangeline James]

Evangeline had decided to meet up with Cassidy in the Three Broomsticks. Whenever she got there, she saw her looking around. Evangeline walked up to her and gave her a smile, "Hey Cassidy. How are things?"

[Cassidy LaRose]

Cassidy smiled. "Hi, Evangeline," she said. "Things are OK. How about you? Anything new going on?"

[Evangeline James]

"Well, there's a new guy. Within the past week or so, I've gotten pulled around by two men I have no idea who they were. The first was a drunk, and the second was a vamp," said Evangeline with a slight frown. "Although, the guy's name is Tristan. He's really nice," she said with a smile.

[Cassidy LaRose]

"Oh, wow... so you're seeing someone?" Cassidy said. "That's really great! Tristan... I like the name. What's he like? Is he cute?"

[Evangeline James]

Evangeline smiled again. "Yeah, he is. He's really sweet and nice," Evangeline said. "You'll probably meet him sometime or another. Hey, did you know that Wesley died? I didn't know that until about a week ago."

[Cassidy LaRose]

"No... I didn't," Cassidy said, surprised. "I should have, though. It's weird, it's like someone's covering up information in the Ministry. I remember when Olivia died, no one seemed to be investigating it." She frowned. "Wow... Wesley... how did he die? I wondered why I hadn't seen him in the elevator lately."

[Evangeline James]

"I dunno. I think it was the veil," said Evangeline. "Tristan told me that Wesley had died. The ministry always wants to keep things hushed up. I work there all the time, and I still don't hear a lot of stuff."

[Cassidy LaRose]

"Wow," Cassidy said, stunned. "I know what you mean about the hush-up, though. I work in the Auror office, and I really should hear about these things. Most days I'm the only one in that office; you'd think I'd hear something once in a while." She brightened a little. "Oh, but guess what? I finally have a case of my own!"

[Evangeline James]

Evangeline smiled. "Really? That's awesome! If you need any kind of help, like asking questions or something, just let me know, and I'll see what I can do. What kind of case is it?"

[Cassidy LaRose]

"Oh, OK, I'll let you know," Cassidy said. "It's really a pretty shocking case. This guy, one of our own Aurors, was kidnapped and tortured by a Death Eater, and then she put him under the Imperius Curse and made him help her attack the Order of the Phoenix! Emily Alchemia was hurt in the attack, too." She took a sip of her butterbeer. "The guy who did it... he just looked so... crushed. I felt really bad having to take his wand away... None of it was his fault."

[Evangeline James]

"That's horrible," said Evangeline. "I do feel bad for the guy. I mean, do you have any idea who may have done it, other than just some deatheater?"

[Cassidy LaRose]

"The only name he mentioned for sure was Claudia Morley. I've heard a lot about her, she's really evil. he said there were at least two others involved. I just... I need to talk to Vincent and Emily about it, since they were there. But I don't want to bother them while she is in St. Mungo's..." Cassidy frowned. "As it is, I'm not even sure Vincent knows my name."

[Evangeline James]

"Well, if you need to, just go visit," said Evangeline. "And just say something like you're working on the auror guy's case and see if they say anything," she said. "I wouldn't worry about if he knew your name or not. Introduce yourself whenever you go in, if he doesn't say anything first."

[Cassidy LaRose]

"You're probably right," Cassidy said. "I shouldn't be intimidated.... but, well, I mean, what if I screw it up? This poor guy is pretty much depending on me to investigate his case right and prove that he wasn't at fault for the attack... if I mess up, they could send him to Azkaban, or worse! Oh, how I wish someone else had been in the office yesterday... I'd hate to ruin this guy's life. He's our age..."

[Evangeline James]

"Cass," said Evangeline, "you can do this. Don't think you're going to mess up, because you're not. Like I said, I'll help you if I can. Plus too, all you have to do is just talk to Vincent, or whoever."

[Cassidy LaRose]

"You're right... I know you're right. But it's just... every time I think about it, all I can think of are all the ways I could mess up and all the bad things that could happen if I do." She sighed heavily. "But I wouldn't have passed the Auror test if I wasn't capable, right?"

[Evangeline James]

"Excatly. You can do this Cass. I know you can. Don't think of the bad. Think about how you could change his life for the best, not the worst," said Evangeline.

[Cassidy LaRose]

"Oh, I hope so," Cassidy said. "It's just.. it's going to be a hard case, I'm afraid. It helps that he has Dumbledore to back up his story, but still, I'm afraid he's going to have a lot of people against him because of the Order attack, and with Emily being hurt. Also, he used to be a Death Eater, before. It shouldn't matter, because so was Emily, but still... it won't be easy."

[Evangeline James]

"No, it won't be easy, but you can do it," said Evangeline. "Sure, people maybe against him, but if you can prove that he was being controlled, then most people should be able to see that he isn't guilty. Plus too, like you said, he has Dumbledore, so that's helpful."