This is the first chapter of the second part of The Runaway Marauder. Woo! I made it to a second story, awesome! For now, the title of this particular story with continue to be The Runaway Marauder Part II until I can think up another, better title. If anyone has any ideas, I would be interested in hearing them! But in the meantime, enjoy! :)
Knock, knock, knock! "C'mon, wake up!" Tap, tap, tap! "If you don't get up I'll blow your door down! I've got a surprise for you!"
Kat Potter groaned and rolled over in bed. She had just been having a weird dream with giants and unicorns. "Alright, James, I'm up!" She cast the bed sheets aside and looked blearily around her room for her dressing gown. Her new adoptive mother had bought her all new clothes when Kat got home from Hogwarts and Kat still couldn't remember where she stored all of them.
Kat's life had taken an interesting turn just under a year ago. Her birth parents had shunted her to the side when her younger brother, Aiden was born. The whole family was crazy pure-blood minded wizards who only valued males. So, when they finally got a son, they packed Kat off to the dank basement beneath the house with only their house elf, Iggy for company. During her imprisonment, Iggy had negotiated certain treats for Kat, which included being given a wand. While Aiden went off to Hogwarts when he was eleven, Kat stayed behind. As he grew older, she started teaching herself magic out of his old school books and the old spell books her parents had stuffed in the basement. At fifteen, she had finally had enough. She convinced Iggy to negotiate an outing on the moor for the pair of them and Kat made a run for it. For two weeks, she was on the run, breaking in to Muggle and wizard homes alike for food, bathing, and, on one occasion, new shoes. One day, she had stopped at a house for a shower, and after having to out her dirty clothes back on her clean body, she had opened the bathroom door and there was a boy standing there. James Potter brought her before his parents and, against all odds, the two had allowed Kat to remain with them for the rest of the summer and she had finally gotten a letter from Hogwarts! Mr. and Mrs. Potter officially adopted her later in the school year and Kat became close friends with James' buddies, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. Despite a few crazy incidents, Kat's first year ever at Hogwarts had gone better than she could have possibly imagined. At the end of the school year, Sirius had come home with James and Kat after running away from his own parents.
The first few weeks of the summer passed with Kat, Sirius, and James running all around the Potters' large estate. James taught Kat how to play a few songs on his piano and Remus and Peter came over for a weekend for all of them to celebrate their sixteenth birthdays.
"With one big party like this, we won't have to worry about it during the year," explained James when Kat asked him why they were having the party.
After Remus and Peter went back home, James had started complaining that it was too quite. To compensate, he and Sirius began flying around the garden on their brooms, singing. James also complained about Kat refusing to fly.
"I've never been on a broom before! I'm going to fall off the second you try and put me on one!" she had exclaimed while Sirius snorted with laughter.
"That's why you have to let me teach you! For all we know, you could be a really spectacular Quidditch player!"
Kat and Sirius had snickered over that for the rest of the day. When James had tried to broach the subject again at dinner the night before, Kat retorted with, "James, I don't even have a broom to use."
"Aha! Just you wait!"
So Kat had a pretty good idea about why James was knocking on her door so early in the morning. She finally located her dressing gown hanging off of her bureau and slipped it on. She shuffled slowly over to the door, took a deep breath, and opened it. Sure enough, James was standing in the hall, bold as brass, holding a broomstick and grinning. Sirius was on the other side of him, smirking and holding his own Nimbus over his shoulder.
"Look at what Dad scrounged up!" said James excitedly.
"He got me a broom?" She took it from James' upheld hands. It had slight wear to it, with a few of the twigs sticking out and the handle was a bit dull compared to Sirius' glossy Nimbus, but Kat thought that it was beautiful. Cleansweep was written in faded gold on the handle.
"Of course he didn't get you a broom!" said James. "Sirius and I found it in the basement last night."
"Oh." The basement was the one room in her new house that Kat had yet to explore. The Potters were quite wealthy, so their house was huge; filled with all sorts of neat and interesting rooms to explore. Kat had steered clear of the basement however. Given her experience with them, this wasn't too surprising.
"Well come on, get dressed. We're going to teach you how to fly today," said Sirius.
Kat retreated back into her room to change out of her pajamas and soon they were all out in the garden. The Potters lived in a relatively remote part of the country so they did not have to worry about Muggles seeing them flying around. Kat rather nervously leaned against her broom while Sirius took off and started zooming around.
"Right," James was saying. Kat wrenched her eyes off Sirius to anxiously watch James. "The first thing we have to do is mount your broom." He showed Kat the proper way to sit astride the broomstick and demonstrated the proper grip. "Now, all you have to do is kick off the ground, hard, and you'll be flying!"
"Wait, James. I don't think I'm ready—" But James had kicked off and was hovering above her head. Kat screwed up her courage, closed her eyes, and kicked off the ground.
The effect was immediate. She felt herself rising up in the air and a cool breeze blew through her long hair. She opened her eyes and her heart skipped a beat when she saw that she was no longer on the ground. James demonstrated how to rise higher, how to turn, and how to stop, and soon enough, Kat was zooming through the air just like her brother and Sirius. She had never felt so free! Not even when she found out that she was going to go to Hogwarts! She knew that this was something that she loved and wanted to do every day. "Look at you!" shouted James. Kat heard Sirius whistle, but she ignored both of them. She had a giant grin on her face and was busy closely maneuvering around the house. She liked the feeling of the wind on her face and blowing through her hair.
Eventually, they all came back to the ground and dismounted. James gave Kat a bear hug. "I can't believe my sissy can fly so well!"
Kat scowled and punched him in the arm. "Don't call me that." Her scowl melted away and was replaced by a grin. "That was wonderful."
"Will you let us teach you how to play Quidditch now?" teased Sirius.
Kat laughed. "Sure! As long as I get to fly more!"
"'As long as I get to fly more' she says. What does she think we play Quidditch on, llamas?" James said sarcastically.
"But before we start, let's get some food. I'm starving!" Kat led the way back up to the house. The parents were sitting at the kitchen table eating toast and drinking tea when the trio walked in.
"Mum, Dad, you won't believe what just happened!" Kat let James launch into his story while she spread marmalade on a piece of toast.
Mrs. Potter thought that it was wonderful while Mr. Potter thought that it was hilarious. He was right on with James in being amazed that Kat hadn't wanted to ride a broomstick. They spent the rest of the day chatting away happily about flying. The next day, James and Sirius introduced Kat to the wonderful game of Quidditch. She had been to the matches at school, but it was nothing compared to playing the game herself. Mr. Potter bewitched a couple of balls to fly around, just like bludgers. They soon discovered, however, that Kat made an excellent Keeper. No matter which direction James or Sirius flew, she caught nearly every attempt the made at scoring. They spent whole days with just the three of them flying and throwing the balls at one another. Sometimes Mr. Potter would join in on the game.
"You should try out for the team this year," James said after Kat performed a particularly impressive save. "Joseph Macabey was our Keeper, but he graduated. We could use you."
"I don't know, James. Am I really that good?" said Kat doubtfully.
"You're amazing! You've got some serious natural talent!"
"Thanks." Kat smiled.
The rest of the summer holidays flew by after that. Soon, Kat began to panic about all of the homework that she hadn't started yet and began to annoy Sirius by insisting that he and James start their summer assignments.
"Relax, we have loads of time!"
Kat received an owl from Lily asking if she would like to visit for a few days. After discussing it over dinner, it was decided that Kat would spend the last week of the holidays with Lily. She was going to use Floo Powder to travel to the Evans' in Cambridge.
"That's going to be so sad!" moaned James. "I won't get to see you until we're both at Platform nine-and-three-quarters! You have to tell me everything Lily says about me," he added in a more serious tone. "I'm not quite sure that I believe your whole 'prediction' stuff." It was true. Since Kat had spewed that Lily and James would start dating in their seventh year she hadn't really had anything else to say. But Kat reassured James that she would keep an ear open for him.
The day before Kat left for the Evans' household, their O.W.L.'s arrived. She was eating breakfast in the kitchen when three large screech owls swooped in through the open window. The envelopes they were clutching were much thicker than the envelope she had received last year from Hogwarts and her heart skipped a beat.
"JAMES, SIRIUS, THEY'RE HERE!" she squawked up at the boys. They came thundering into the kitchen a few moments later. Together they stared at the owls.
"Oh, I've failed everything. I know I have!" Kat wailed and put her hands over her eyes.
Sirius laughed. "Don't be ridiculous." He detached the letters from the owls which took off as soon as they were relieved of their burden. Sirius slowly handed Kat her letter and James his. "On the count of three?" James and Kat nodded.
"One."
"Two," said James.
"Three!" said Kat.
She mentally crossed her fingers and ripped the envelope open. She heard a whoop from James and a loud exhale from Sirius before she read her results. Unbelievably…amazingly…she had passed all of her exams! She'd even received an O in Charms and Potions! The rest of her classes she got E's in except for History of Magic and Defense Against the Dark Arts (A's in both). She let out a squeal of delight and pulled James and Sirius into a huge hug. "I passed I passed I passed!" She chanted as she jumped up in down. James and Sirius joined in her celebration.
The rest of the day went by with them all celebrating their results. James had received an O Transfiguration (No surprise there, Kat thought.) and Defense Against the Dark Arts and E's in everything else. Sirius had received the exact same scores. Kat felt as though she was surrounded by an impenetrable bubble. Now that she was definitely going back to Hogwarts with passing grades and possibly trying out for the Quidditch team, Kat was really looking forward to the school year starting.
She had her trunk packed with all of her school things and Mrs. Potter ensured her that James would be bringing Kat's new textbooks with him on the train (she was going shopping tomorrow, when Kat would already be at Lily's house). After a somewhat awkward good-bye (James pretended to cry and Sirius actually voluntarily gave her a hug), Kat headed for the fireplace. Following instructions from Mr. Potter, Kat took a handful of powder, stepped into the fireplace with her trunk and Mr. Snowy, and cried Lily's address.
Stepping out onto a carpet a few minutes later, Kat decided that she did not like traveling by Floo Powder. A strong hug that nearly knocked her over did nothing to diminish the overwhelming sense of nausea she had.
"It's so good to see you!" She heard Lily's voice exclaim. "Did you get your O.W.L.'s back yet?"
"Yeah, I passed all of them," Kat said, blinking the soot out of her eyes. She looked around to see a small sitting room with pictures all along the walls (not moving of course, Lily was a Muggle-Born) and pink squishy armchairs. A tall thin woman with auburn hair was smiling at Kat and a short man with brown hair and Lily's green eyes stepped forward.
"Welcome to our home, Miss Potter. I'm Miles," he said by way of greeting, grasping Kat's hand and shaking it firmly. "And this is my wife, Chelsea." The woman smiled and said hello.
"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Evans, I'm Kat."
"Oh please, call us Miles and Chelsea," said Mr. Evans.
"Erm, alright," said Kat.
"Follow me, I'll show you where to put your stuff," said Lily, leading Kat out of the sitting room, through a small kitchen, and up a narrow staircase. She took the second door on the left and Kat knew at once that they were in Lily's room. There were Gryffindor banners streaming from the ceiling along with several moving pictures of Lily, Eileen, Khristine, and Arabella. Kat even saw one that she was in, though she didn't remember taking the picture. "You can stick your trunk over there, in the corner," Lily said, pointing to where her own trunk way lying, still half packed from last year.
Once all of Kat's stuff was sufficiently stowed away and Mr. Snowy was safely on Lily's dresser, Lily plopped down on her large bed and signaled Kat to do the same. "My sister, Petunia isn't here," Lily made a face. "She's staying with a friend this week so she doesn't have to meet you."
"Oh," Kat said awkwardly.
"Don't take it personally."
The girls spent the rest of the day catching up on what they had done over the summer. Lily and her family had gone to Rome and seen all of the ruins. "You won't believe some of the things these ancient wizards thought up! Mum and Dad were so amazed, and so was I!" Lily was delighted to hear about Kat's prowess on a broom and even more excited when Kat mentioned that she might try out for the Quidditch team. Lily got O's on all of her exams and was supremely proud of Kat for receiving O's in Charms and Potions. "Just think of what Professor Slughorn is going to say!"
Lily's parents were a pleasant lot. They gave Lily a lot of free reign to do what she pleased, but they were also interested in Kat. "We've heard so much about you!" Kat and Lily spent most of their time walking around Cambridge so Kat could explore. They chatted about everything under the sun, but, as it always seems to happen, the conversation turned to boys.
"I still can't believe that you can stand to live with Potter," Lily said on the last day of August. Their trunks were completely packed and they were lounging around in the neighborhood park on the swing set before going home for dinner.
"He really isn't all that bad."
"No, I suppose not," Lily mused. Kat was surprised, but decided not to interrupt—Lily seemed like she wanted to say something.
"If he would just relax and act like a normal human being, I might be able to deal with him," she was saying. She was swinging rather lazily and her eyes were fixed on some distant point in the air. "And if he wasn't such a pigheaded idiot and stopped being so horrible to Sev."
"Who's Sev?"
Lily laughed. "You've met him, Kat. Severus Snape."
"Oh, that's right. You two are friends."
Lily nodded. "That's right. He lives not too far from here. He kept me from panicking too much when I found out that I was a witch and helped me through my first few years at Hogwarts. But we've been growing further apart recently…"
"Well, he's in Slytherin," said Kat.
"But that doesn't mean that he's bad," said Lily hotly.
Kat decided to let the matter drop. Lily stayed silent as well, it seemed as though she was done talking about boys for the day. They returned to the house for a nice farewell dinner in which Miss Chelsea had made a special pudding for Lily.
"I'm so proud of my baby for going to Hogwarts!" she said. The pudding was delicious.
They left for London early the next morning—Kat's first ever car ride. They made it to King's Cross Station without too much trouble and soon had their entire luggage loaded on to two trolleys. Kat gave Mr. Miles and Miss Chelsea a thank-you hug and stepped through the barrier. A few seconds later, Lily appeared beside her. Together, they navigated their way through the crowd of students and families, half of whom were in wizard robes and the other half in Muggle dress. They spotted Eileen talking with a man who appeared to be her father and passed Khristine (speaking in very fast Russian to her parents) on their way to board the train. Kat gasped as someone grabbed her from behind.
"Gotcha!" It was James. He practically smothered her in his embrace before letting her go. "How was your visit?" He asked, looking to where Lily had just been standing, but she was gone.
"It was really nice," Kat said as James ignored her and stared around looking for Lily. Kat sighed, put Mr. Snowy's cage under her arm, and dragged her trunk aboard the train. James followed suit. They found the compartment that Sirius was already occupying and stowed their luggage away.
"Let's go say bye to Mum and Dad before the train leaves," James said.
They headed back out to the platform for a hurried farewell before the train whistle blew. They quickly hopped back on to the train and waved as the train pulled out from the platform. Kat was going back! Smiling, she led the way back to the compartment where they met up with Peter and Remus.
Things quickly got back into the old rhythm of things. They played Exploding Snap and chatted away about all the things they had done over the summer holidays. Remus had gotten O's in all of his O.W.L.'s while Peter had gotten A's in all of them except for an E in Defense Against the Dark Arts. When the witch who pushed the trolley cart arrived, they bought an assortment of Cauldron Cakes, licorice wands, chocolate frogs, peppermint toads, and, of course, Bertie Bot's Every Flavor Beans. They dared each other to eat the funny grey or brown ones and hooted uproariously when Sirius got an earwax flavored one. They pulled on their robes as the light faded and they felt the train slowing down.
When the train pulled in to the station, Kat said good-bye to Mr. Snowy and followed the boys to the horseless carriages. They could hear Hagrid booming away, calling all the first years toward him as they clambered up in to the carriages. Kat's eyes were wide as the carriages started moving without anything pulling them. The trip up to the castle was quick and soon Kat was gazing fondly at Hogwarts, with all of its many turrets and corridors lit up. At the gates, they climbed out of the carriages, crossed the giant Entrance Hall, and made their way into the Great Hall.
The Great Hall was looking as splendid as always, with thousands of candles burning and the ceiling revealing a breath-taking, starry night sky. The noise in the Hall grew louder as the rest of the school filtered in from the carriages and took their seats at their House tables. The Marauders settled on benches in the middle of the Gryffindor table. Soon enough, Professor McGonagall was herding the new first years up the center of the Hall to where the Sorting Hat sat on its stool. A large rip near the brim opened and it started singing. Kat didn't really listen to what it was saying; she was too busy thinking about how hungry she was. When the sorting started, she clapped along with the rest of the Gryffindors as the youngsters joined their table. She could hardly sit still when Professor Dumbledore rose to say a few words.
"Welcome back to Hogwarts!" he began, raising his arms wide as if he were embracing them all. "Now let's get down to feasting!"
There was a gasp as all of the plates and dishes upon the tables filled with delicious food. Turkey, roast beef, mashed potatoes, green beans, meat pies, steak and kidney pie, pitchers of pumpkin juice, bowls of chips, boats of gravy, and more. Kat had almost forgotten about the amazing cooking that the house elves down in the kitchens did. And, as always, just when she thought that she could not stuff away any more, the desserts appeared. James gave a loud belch and sat back, sighing, after completing a massive plate of custard. Kat was actually starting to fall asleep on Sirius' shoulder when Professor Dumbledore stood up again.
"Before you go to bed, I have an announcement. Please welcome Professor Prewett, who will be your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year." There was a round of applause as people took in the handsome, capable looking man who had stood up at the end of the high table. Once the applause had died down, Dumbledore made them all sing the school song ("Hogwarts, Hogwarts hog warty warty Hogwarts teach us something please…") and then released them to bed.
Kat wasn't quite sure how she managed to shuffle all the way up to the Gryffindor common room (she had a nagging feeling that someone might have actually had to carry her at one point, or was that someone lifting her out of the trick stair on the staircase…?) but eventually she made it up to her bed. All of her belongings were stowed away and Mr. Snowy was sitting on her pillow with his little pink nose twitching. Kat smiled at him and scooped him up, depositing him on the extra pillow by the foot of her bunk. She slipped out of her robe and in to her pajamas and was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.
She had a strange dream about a man with a purple turban and a mirror that showed her wrapped up in the arms of a man with long dark hair. There was a little boy in it as well. A boy with a lightening shaped scar on his forehead who wore glasses just like James. When she woke up the next morning though, she couldn't remember it.
Alright, does anybody remember who the Prewetts are? Voldemort wiped out all of them in the first war, so I thought it would be interesting if Dumbledore had invited one of the "most powerful" members of the Order (before it really was the Order) to be a teacher at Hogwarts. This year should be interesting what with that and Kat's continued dreams/visions. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
~neelie