"I'm sorry Kat, but I can't tell you."

"James, you can't just not tell me where you're going!" she pleaded desperately. James looked more stressed out than she had ever seen him. There was a slight tremor in his voice and dark bags under his eyes as if he hadn't slept in days. He looked like a man who was living on the edge, doing whatever he could for his little family.

"It's too dangerous and you know that," her handsome brother hissed quietly. James Potter was standing in a living room with a squishy beige carpet holding a small blue bundle. The remnants of Kat's lunch were scattered across the table and a chair had been knocked over in her haste to answer the door; she hadn't bothered fixing it. The baby turned over in his sleep. "He's after us. We have to go."

Kat stretched her shaking hand to touch the child one last time. She smiled as Harry's tiny nose crinkled. "James," she murmured. "I don't know what to say." She had only really just gotten to know little Harry, the way he smiled when he saw her, the way his little hand would curl around her finger.

James stepped forward and gave her a hug, careful not to crush the precious burden he carried. "I brought him over so you could see him one last time. Dumbledore says it's for the best, and I trust whatever Dumbledore says." He pulled her face close to his and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Everything is going to be fine," he lied. Kat knew it too.

"Stay safe," she said in a hoarse whisper. "For all our sakes, stay safe." She gave the little baby a kiss and pulled her brother in for one last hug.

"I'll still be able to write, just not as often. Dumbledore says it'll draw too much attention, and I agree. I just wish he hadn't taken my cloak."

"Your invisibility cloak?" she asked.

"Yeah, he said he wanted to take a look at it," James' shoulders slumped and Kat could tell that the loss of his cloak had hit him hard. "Lily gave it to him without asking me…she said that it would be too much of a temptation anyway," James said with a shrug. "She's probably right." He made a brave attempt at a smile.

"Will I be able to visit you?" Kat asked desperately, eyes searching his face.

"No."


Kat woke up to find her pillow soaked and a tear trickling down the bridge of her nose. Her mind replayed the contents of her dream over and over again, each detail etching itself onto her brain.

Harry. James and Lily are going to have a baby boy and name him Harry.

Or were they? Kat still didn't know for sure if her dreams were actually real. Perhaps she had an over active imagination, or maybe it was just wishful thinking. But what sort of wishful thinking brings about this much pain?

Kat wiped the tear from her face and sat up, staring miserably at her curtains. She wrenched them open and saw that it was still dark in the dormitory. She pulled her long hair back from her face in a messy bun and put her head in her hands. I don't think I can deal with this anymore.

She crept silently from bed, pulled on her dressing gown, and tiptoed past Lily's bed. She knew that Lily would want to comfort her if she could see how upset she was, but Kat just wanted to be alone. She paused briefly to readjust her dressing gown and then headed down the stairs to the common room. The stars twinkled brightly at her from beyond the frost covered windows and Kat was looking forward to sitting in front of the remnants of the fire. Then she could think through what she had seen in her dream, or try to forget it. She thought of little Harry and her eyes filled with tears again. I cry too much, she told herself. Kat was so focused on what was going on in her mind that she didn't bother checking to see if the common room was empty. After all, it was only her, Lily, James, and Sirius in the whole tower. What were the odds that someone else would be in the common room?

The room was not empty, however. James was sitting in an armchair staring into the small flames. He looked up when he heard Kat on the stairs.

"I couldn't sleep," he said, wrinkling his nose. Kat attempted to hurriedly brush the tears away, but James was already there, stepping toward her. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked softly. When she didn't respond the corners of his mouth twitched in a bit of a smile. "Did you have a dream that you didn't have to deal with stupid prat for a brother?" he teased. Kat slid to the floor and started sobbing. "Woah, hey!" James said in alarm, kneeling down in front of her. "What's wrong?"

"J-James, you're such a prat!" She punched him in the arm none too gently.

"Ow! Wait, did you have another dream?" James asked softly, his whole demeanor changing. Kat nodded. "What was this one about?"

Kat pulled him close in a hug and whispered in a voice quite unlike her own, "Don't give him the cloak."

James pulled away, one eyebrow raised. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"What is what supposed to mean?" Kat snuffled into his shoulder. She felt better now that James was here with her. She even felt a bit sleepy, like she could fall asleep if she stayed just where she was.

"What you just said. 'Don't give him the cloak.' Don't give who what cloak?" James held her out at arm's length and surveyed her with growing concern.

"James, I didn't say anything," Kat insisted, growing annoyed.

James gave her one last quizzical glance before standing and pulling her upright saying, "Let's get you closer to the fire and warm you up." James seemed to cheer up when she didn't protest and he deposited her carefully in the armchair closest to the fire.

Kat began rocking back and forth in her chair with her eyes closed, enjoying the warmth of the fire. Her mind was blissfully blank which was surprising. Since she had climbed down the stairs, the only thing she remembered was being led over to the armchair. On a normal occasion, that would have scared her, but she was too busy enjoying the warming sensation of the fire to notice. She didn't even notice the anxious look on James' face as he sat in the chair next to her.

"You need to talk to this Whitehorn lady again as soon as term starts up," he said.

"Whatever you say, James," Kat said blissfully. "Whatever you say." She caught James staring at her and he quickly looked away.

"Are you alright?" He asked again.

Kat frowned. "I'm fine James." She pulled her dressing gown tighter around her shoulders.

James didn't say anything else for a while and they sat in silence, both staring at the flames.

"I got an owl from Mum and Dad," James said suddenly. Kat looked up in interest. "They made it alright to Austria, but Dad's sick." Seeing the look of concern on her face, he hurried on. "Mum says it isn't anything too serious, just a cold or something."

"I hope they have a good time."

"They definitely will! Dad is a crazy partier!" James said laughing. He launched into a story about a New Year's party when Mr. Potter conjured a parakeet and did a choreographed dance with it. Kat and James were soon breathless with snorts of laughter.

"I'm so glad your parents let me stay," Kat said, sobering a bit. She couldn't imagine what would have happened to her if the Potters hadn't come home as she used their bathroom, or if they had turned out to have the same mindset as the Campbells.

"You mean our parents. And I knew they would! Besides, mum always says that she wishes I were a girl. You should see some of the pictures she's got of me as a baby and the things she put me in…"

Kat listened to the James' childhood stories for the rest of the night. The two of them fell asleep in their armchairs sometime before dawn.

"Oi! What do you two think you're doing?" Sirius' voice cut through Kat's concentration like a knife.

"What does it look like we're doing?" She said irritably, pointing at the table that was littered with bits of parchment, books, ink, a broken quill, and a Defense Against the Dark Arts essay. Kat and Lily had decided that today they would make some progress in the huge amount of work that had been assigned to the Sixth Years over the holidays. Both girls had already finished their Herbology homework and had practiced filling goblets with water for Charms. Lily was scribbling away feverishly at her own Defense essay and had ignored Sirius.

"It looks like you two are doing bloody homework!" said James, joining his best mate next to the table. Kat rolled her eyes and returned to her essay. Professor Prewett had instructed them to write an essay about the effects and signs of the Unforgivable Curses and what to do if faced with them. Kat had a nasty feeling that he was trying to prepare them for what could happen outside of school.

"How very astute of you, Potter," Lily said, not looking up from her parchment.

"But Christmas was only a few days ago! We still have at least a week of vacation before any of that is due!"

"Well maybe I want to enjoy my last few days of break while you and Black are in here scrambling over homework," Lily snapped. Kat shook her head but continued writing. James and Sirius should have known better than to talk to Lily while she was working. Lily Evans was notorious for telling people off when they interrupted her studying or homework time.

James laughed. "Evans, I hope you don't actually expect me to be doing homework? I'll just give some excuse and then Prewett will still give me full marks."

It was Lily's turn to laugh. "You can pull that garbage with Professor Slughorn, but not with Prewett."

Kat did her best to tune out the rest of the argument that ensued. She quickly consulted her textbook before writing down more information on Avada Kedavra. She felt slightly ill as she described the intent that had to be behind the wand performing the curse.

It takes a great deal of willpower to perform an Unforgivable Curse. Avada Kedavra, otherwise known as the Killing Curse, requires the greatest amount of determination to perform. The attacker must wish, with all their might, that the person on the receiving end of the curse will die.

It was beginning to feel quite warm in the dormitory. Kat unbuttoned a button on her blouse. She felt sick.

There is no known countercharm or protectant that will cancel out the Killing Curse.

Kat blinked, trying hard to stop her mind from wandering through a bizarre scene. She kept seeing a small cottage with a cat running through the garden, hearing the snap of a cloak in the wind, seeing children dressed up in Halloween costumes skipping across the street…

The victim will appear completely clear of any sort of marking or other obvious cause of death.

A man's voice was in her head… "Take Harry and run!" it said. "I'll hold him off!" Footsteps…people running…cold, high pitched laughter…

Slap! Kat's eyes jerked open and took in the view surrounding her. She was lying on the floor in a cold sweat. Lily was kneeling next to her, eyes wide with her hand raised and Kat surmised that Lily had been the one to hit her. James and Sirius were staring down at her, both looking impossibly tall, with concerned expressions. Kat could see the chair she had been sitting in lying on its side—it had be knocked down when she fell to the floor.

"Kat!" Lily breathed in relief. "Are you alright?"

"I need to see Professor Whitehorn," Kat mumbled, trying to get to her feet.

Lily pushed her gently back down. "You know Whitehorn isn't here, Kat. She won't be back until term starts again."

"Madam Pomfrey then." Again Kat tried sitting up and this time Lily didn't stop her. Now that she was on the floor, her head felt quite normal and the sick feeling gone. "This can't keep happening. I don't think I can take much more." She pushed her hair out of her face, feeling annoyed with it. Since when was it so long? "I'll be back," she stood to leave, but her legs wobbled. Sirius caught her shoulders.

"I'll take you," he said and started steering her towards the portrait hole. Kat didn't resist. Hopefully, Madam Pomfrey would know what to do, or at least give her something to numb the pain or get rid of the dreams. Kat remembered hearing something about a potion that gave you a dreamless sleep…where had she heard it from?

Sirius navigated the corridors rather quickly with Kat trailing obediently along behind him. The only person they came across on the way down was Nearly Headless Nick. He said hello to them both before floating off in the opposite direction.

"Merlin's beard, this is such shit," he said unhappily.

"What is, Sirius?" said Kat automatically. She could feel her brain struggling to focus and it was taking all of her strength just to put one foot in front of the other. The closer they got to the Hospital Wing, the less willing Kat felt to tell Madam Pomfrey what had happened. People had weird views on Seers, right?

"You and these…these visions! It's not healthy!"

"I can't help it Sirius. You know I can't," Kat said wearily. "And Whitehorn isn't helping either."

"Stupid, mangy—"

"Sirius!"

"Well, sorry, but she's a teacher! She's supposed to be helping you, but all she did was give you a teeny bit of hope by saying that she'll help you, and she hasn't done anything at all since! You haven't even seen her!"

Kat didn't respond. She let Sirius rant on some more about the unfairness of it all. His indignation on her behalf made her stomach do little flips, even in her bedraggled state. When he asked her what she kept seeing, she didn't answer. There are some things that I won't tell, even to my best friends.

Madam Pomfrey was in her office when they made it to the Hospital Wing. Sirius sat Kat down on a bed and gruffly said, "I'll go get her." Kat stared up at the ceiling while she waited.

"I should have known," said Madam Pomfrey when she arrived. "What is it this time Miss Potter?"

"I had a nightmare," Kat said. She saw Sirius' eyes narrow. "I haven't been sleeping well lately because of them. I fell asleep while I was doing homework and I had another. Is there something I can take with me to the dorm so I can sleep?" Lying won't make it go away, stupid.

"I can't let you take anything with you," the nurse said. She was appraising Kat. She knows I'm lying. "You'll have to come here every night just before curfew to take the Sleeping Draught. I can give you a small dosage now so you can take a nap if you want, but it will make sleeping tonight more difficult." She pursed her lips and waited for Kat's response.

"I'll take some now, please."

Madam Pomfrey nodded. Within five minutes, Kat had taken the potion and Sirius had been given instructions to pick Kat up just before dinner. Just as she closed her eyes, Kat thought about how lucky she was to have such great friends.


The start of a new term was always an exciting time. After the castle being so empty over the holidays, it seemed more crowded than usual when the rest of the student body came back. The return feast was better than Kat remembered it being the previous year. Once again the Great Hall was filled with the raucous sounds of laughter and conversation, instead of the slightly dismal sound of only a handful of people eating under the enchanted ceiling. Peter was telling delightfully funny stories about his visit to his aunt's house, and even Remus had a funny story to tell about his mom's new boyfriend. Arabella and her mother had gone on a much needed getaway to the Straits of Gibraltar, and Eileen had visited her American cousins in Boston. Kat didn't get a chance to talk to Khristine because she was sitting over at the Slytherin table with Rodolphus. Everyone managed second helpings and James and Sirius had fourths.

The common room that night was loud and rowdy. Kat was enjoying it until Ernie Summers and his friends appeared. She ignored his furious waving and gestures to the join them and decided that now was a good time to head down to the Hospital Wing for her dream potion. She told Lily where she was going and then slipped out into the much quieter and cooler corridor outside.

Kat decided to take her time on the way down to see Madam Pomfrey. She took a roundabout route and strolled slowly through the halls. Occasionally passing through a tapestry and jumping trick stairs. She was staring out a frosty window, gazing at the stars when she ran straight into something rather solid.

"Oof! Oh, sorry Professor!" Kat had run straight into Professor Prewett.

"That's quite alright, Miss Potter," Prewett said. He looked a little disheveled, but Kat assumed that that was because she'd almost run him over. His handsome face had more lines in it than Kat remembered him having before the holidays and he looked thinner. Professor Prewett did not look like he had gotten a very restful holiday. "What are you doing wandering around this time at night?" Kat didn't want to get in trouble so she told him the truth. "I see," he said, looking at her in interest. "Well I hope the potion helps you sleep, Miss Potter."

"Thanks, I do too."

He turned to go but something made him stop. "Catherine," he said in a much quieter voice.

"Yes?"

"You should…just, be careful. It's getting bad out there."

Kat didn't need to ask him what he was talking about. News of more deaths had been published in the Daily Prophet. Kat felt as if a stone had just settled in her stomach. If the teachers were getting nervous, things couldn't be good.

Madam Pomfrey was waiting with a goblet full of the dreamless sleep draught. Kat took it quickly and thanked her. Planning on heading right back to the dormitory, Kat decided to take a more direct path back. A few minutes later, Kat was wishing that she had gone the long way.

Peeves the Poltergeist was rocketing around the corridor, spattering the walls with tangerine colored paint. Occupants of the portraits hanging along the walls dove out of the way of Peeves' large paintbrush, screaming. The poltergeist was cackling loudly when he turned around and saw Kat.

"Ooooh! It's Kitty!" he sang. "A kitty kitty kitty cat!"

"Knock it off, Peeves!"

"Oh, knock it off, sweet kitty, kitty? I'll knock it off!" Peeves swooped low right over her head and upended his paint bucket. Kat shrieked as the paint slopped all over her. Wiping paint from her eyes, she drew her wand. Before she could use it, however, someone else came to her rescue.

"PEEVES! Don't make me go get the Bloody Baron!" Frank Longbottom, Head Boy, had come around the corner just in time to see Kat get drenched in orange paint. Peeves blew a loud raspberry and shot off down the hall, still snickering madly.

"Thanks, Frank," Kat sputtered heavily through the thick paint. She tried wiping it out of her eyes but only managed to get more paint on her face.

"Here, let me get that," Frank said kindly. He whipped his wand out and vanished all of the paint.

"Thanks, Frank," Kat said again, much happier this time.

Frank frowned when he saw how much paint was spread across the hallway. The witches and wizards began filing back into their picture frames, some of them sporting orange hats or noses. One unfortunate wizard now had several feet of bright orange beard. "This is going to take some cleaning up."

"I'll help you."

Together, Kat and Frank managed to vanish the majority of the tangerine paint from the floor and the walls. The unfortunate paintings that were assailed would have to wait until the caretaker could take a look at them.

"So why are you wandering around the corridors at this time?" Frank asked as they started back to the Gryffindor common room.

"Needed a sleeping potion," Kat said with a huge yawn.

"I can see it's working," Frank said with a laugh.

"Password?" The Fat Lady said when they had made their way up the tower.

"Er—" Kat said, looking at Frank. The Fat Lady had changed the password that evening and Kat had forgotten to ask Lily what the new on was.

"Relax, I got it. Quaffle," Frank said.

"Quite right," said the Fat Lady as she swung open to let them in.

Kat thanked Frank again for saving her from Peeves, sidestepped Ernie Summers again, and treaded upstairs to finally get some sleep in the dormitory.


Knock, knock, knock. "Professor? Professor Whitehorn?" No answer. "Are you in there? It's Catherine Potter." Still no answer. Knock, knock, knock. "PROFESSOR!"

Every day since term had started Kat had been climbing her way up the Divination Tower during break to see Professor Whitehorn. The only problem was that Professor Whitehorn was never there. Kat would pound on the door, but there would be no answer. Today was the fourth day that she had made the journey and she was beginning to be severely irritated. Madam Pomfrey's Sleeping Draught helped at night, but sometimes during the day thoughts or images came unbidden to her mind. Professor Whitehorn's initial advice to empty her mind before she went to sleep was practically irrelevant now that Kat was taking the Sleeping Draught. What Kat really needed was some sound advice from an actual Seer, but she doubted that the Divination professor could help her with that. From what the books from the library had told her, Kat gathered that true Seers were exceptionally rare.

She tried once again to get Professor Whitehorn to answer her. Bam, bam, bam! "Professor Whitehorn, please!" Still no answer. Throwing her hands up in frustration, Kat began the long trek back down the tower and out onto the grounds to Herbology.

"Any luck?" James asked over the sound of Honking Daffodils when Kat turned up in greenhouse six. Kat had always liked these daffodils that Professor Sprout was so fond of. Today, however, the Sixth Years were supposed to be carefully pruning Valerian sprigs which had the uncomfortable habit of putting people to sleep if they decided to clip a thick stem.

"Nothing," said Kat glumly. She pulled on her dragon skin gloves and brandished a pair of clippers.

"Be very careful with these now, chaps!" Professor Sprout called from the front of the greenhouse. "They're used in The Draught of Living Death, so they can knock you out easily!" Right on cue, poor Arabella off her stool, snoring.

More discussion on Professor Whiterun's refusal to see Kat was put off until later. Kat didn't want to risk ending up like Arabella, and neither did James. Sirius, on the other hand, didn't seem to care what he was doing.

"A little of the top," he would say and a large chunk of the bush would come tumbling down. "That's the ticket!" Kat, Remus, James, and Peter all laughed uproariously when Sirius slumped unconscious off his stool. Professor Sprout told James to seize him by the ankles and drag him over to where Arabella was snoozing by the door.

"We'll wake them up when class is almost over!"

Peter and Remus took their time trimming their shrubbery and, as a result, were the first ones finished. They chatted with James and Kat while they waited for the rest of the class to finish. Although, in reality, Kat and James were too busy trying to focus to really pay much attention to what they were saying.

"You wouldn't believe what his hair looks like," Remus said, snorting in a rather un-Remuslike way. "My mum's new boyfriend, I mean. It's this nasty look where it's longer in the back than it is in the front. 'Business in the front, party in the back' he kept saying." Peter sniggered loudly. "I give him less than a month before Mum's through with him."

The deep, booming bell sounded out across the grounds and there was a scrambling as everyone shoved their gloves into their bags and started for the door. There was a tense moment when Arabella and Sirius were in danger of getting trampled before Professor Sprout swooped down and revived them. Sirius had to endure the teasing of his mates all the way up into the castle for lunch. Arabella was spared the teasing due, in part, largely to Lily telling people off.

Kat was filling the Marauders in about the most recent disappointment with the seemingly useless Divination teacher when an owl swooped down from the enchanted ceiling and dropped a letter in James' lap. He looked at it quizzically before offering his goblet of pumpkin juice to the weary owl, which hooted in thanks before dipping his beak. James ripped open the envelope as the bird took flight once more. His face paled.

"It's from Mum," he said, eyes scanning the page. "They made it alright home from Austria, but Dad's still sick. She's taking him in to St. Mungo's tomorrow and she says that she thinks she has the same thing."

"But St. Mungo's is supposed to be the best, right?" Kat asked with concern.

"They can fix anything," Peter said, patting her arm.

"Almost anything," Remus said bitterly.

"It's nothing to worry about," James said with a smile. Kat noted that it did not quite reach his eyes. "They'll be fine."


That evening, the WWN announced the largest Death Eater attack yet. No less than six Aurors and four Muggles had been killed out in Liverpool. Ministry officials were running all over, placing memory charms on Muggle witnesses and two other Aurors had been taken to St. Mungo's along with a Muggle child. The wizards broadcasting seemed nervous each time they said Lord Voldemort, as if worried that something bad would happen to them if they uttered the Dark Lord's name too loudly. The rest of the wizarding community seemed to be thinking along the same lines. Since Arabella had pleaded with Eileen to say "You-Know-Who" instead of Lord Voldemort, Kat had heard more and more people around Hogwarts following her lead. When the next morning's Daily Prophet was released, the title bespoke of terror across the nation at the hands of the Death Eaters and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

It was the dawning of a new era. Hardly anyone said Lord Voldemort, and if they did, every person in the vicinity would jump or wince or yell or scream. People were more afraid than before. These dark wizards cared nothing for the secrecy of the whole wizarding world. They had attacked Muggles in broad daylight, exposing the secret world of magic. Aurors, the highly trained dark wizard catchers, were being killed by the handful. If they couldn't stand against the might of the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort, who could?

Teachers did their best to keep everyone calm which meant running the school like normal. Detentions were still given out to trouble makers (James and Peter were punished for bewitching suits of armor to follow Slytherin First Years around while singing lewd ballads). Homework was given out in increasing volumes and the students struggled to work through it. Quidditch was back on and Ravenclaw flattened Hufflepuff in a blistering match, and the date was set for the Quidditch Cup: Ravenclaw versus Gryffindor.

Kat got her chance to finally talk to Professor Whitehorn one Saturday evening. She spotted Whitehorn walking down the hall with Sybil Trelawney. They were conversing in hushed voices.

"PROFESSOR WHITEHORN!" Kat yelled loudly over the tops of several students, waving. Most of them looked at Kat and Whitehorn curiously but continued on their way. Whitehorn herself, Kat noted, did not look at all pleased to see Kat. On the contrary, she turned right around on the spot and started walking in the opposite direction. Sybil Trelawney made a face but didn't stop her. "Are you kidding me?" Kat said to herself before following. Whitehorn went through two passageways and a tapestry before turning in exasperation.

"What do you want, child?" She demanded, throwing her arms in the air angrily. Her white hair in its braid and her gigantic hoop earrings swung violently.

"Professor, I—"

"You come banging constantly on my door, and I don't know what you want!"

"What do you mean? You know what I want," Kat said, getting angry herself. "You promised that you would help me! Help me with these dreams and—"

"My dear, girl. I can't help you! Don't be ludicrous." Whitehorn put her hands on her hips and didn't look remotely sweet now.

"Well why not?" Kat snapped, placing her hands on her own hips. Kat wasn't very tall, but neither was Whitehorn. Kat had about an inch on her and drew herself up to her full height.

"You don't actually think that I can help with these…these real visions, do you?!" Whitehorn said in a deadly whisper.

Stunned, Kat felt her anger dissipating slightly. Kat said, "But you said you would help."

"I did my best, and my best was reading your tea leaves. I looked up your family name and, sure enough, you have a five-time great-grandmother who was a Seer. You have Seer blood, and these things you see, will likely come to pass. There is nothing that I can help you with because, I for one, do not have a drop of Seer blood in my veins!"

Kat stared at her. Iggy was right… "So you're a fraud!?"

The Divination teacher snorted derisively. "Of course. Every teacher at Hogwarts who has taken up the Divination post has been a fraud for at least a hundred years. Face it, it is not that difficult to make up prophecies or read the lines in the palm in someone's hand."

Kat's mouth opened and closed like a fish for a few seconds. "So what the bloody hell am I supposed to do?" She said with loathing.

Whitehorn shrugged. "Try not to dream." And she left.

Kat stared after her, feeling like she was drowning. The only hope she had had about dealing with these episodes was walking away. And a fraud. Panic clamped down with an iron fist over her stomach and she struggled to control it.

"Kat, are you…alright?" A voice said softly. Kat spun around and saw Remus walking down the hall towards her.

"Remus…" she murmured. She tried focusing on his kind face but couldn't quell the panic.

"What's wrong?"

And Kat found herself spilling everything, as she had to no one else ever before. She told him about each of the dreams as she could remember them; the people involved, what was happening, how she felt. Remus listened patiently and even wrapped an arm around her shoulder, giving it a little squeeze.

"What am I supposed to do?" Kat whispered desperately.

"The only thing you can do, Catherine, is focus on what is happening now," Remus said, just as softly. "You can't focus on the present if your head is always in the future. And your friends will take care of you. You are not alone in this."

"That's what I'm worried about," Kat said, voicing one of her worst fears. "What if the things that happen in my dreams…happen because of me? What if it's because I did something and my mates are trying to protect me?"

"The future isn't set in stone, Kat," Remus said firmly. "You're sixteen. You shouldn't be worrying about what happens further down the road than the next Hogsmeade trip. Now come on, let's get you something to cheer you up." Remus began leading her down the hallways and onto one of the moving staircases.

"Where are we going?" Kat asked despondently.

"The guys are down in the kitchens. Peter had a sudden craving for pizza and James and Sirius announced that they wanted it too. They sent me to come and find you and headed off to the kitchens to start stuffing their faces. Full of dung, they are," Remus said as an afterthought.

Kat giggled obligingly and felt better. Remus was right. She shouldn't worry so much about the future. What would come would come, and there really wasn't anything that she could do about it. Not that that was going to stop her from trying…

Sure enough, when Remus and Kat arrived in the kitchens, Peter, James, and Sirius were busy eating an enormous pepperoni pizza while ordering the house elves to make them a second.

"That old hag!" James shouted, slamming his fist down on the table and scattering bits of crust. "She's not going to help you? At all?" When Kat shook her head, James slammed his fist down again, scaring a house elf that carried a tray of goblets. She squealed and dropped the tray. James cursed but helped her pick it up and apologized.

"No, she's not," Kat said, cheered slightly by the presence of her friends and a delicious piece of pizza. "But it's okay. I can do this on my own, I think anyway. Besides, we have more important things to think about, like making me an animagus and working on the map."

"But you have to be at least a little, teensy, tiny bit upset!" said Peter, gazing at Kat dubiously. She had adopted a brave face about the whole situation since she had spilled to Remus and walked in to the kitchens.

"It's fine, really," Kat said through a mouthful of pizza. "So, enlighten me some more about how to become an animagus."

Still looking disbelieving, the James, Peter, and Sirius began giving Kat pointers on the complicated process of transforming into an animal. Remus listened quietly and munched on the pizza, occasionally giving Kat a small smile to reinforce his promise that she was not alone in this. He's right, I have my friends.


"I think I've almost got it!" Kat said, breathless with excitement. "One or two times more should do it, I think!"

"Now, take it easy, and don't overextend yourself. James did that when we were working on it in fourth year and he ended up in the Hospital Wing for exhaustion," Peter said, cautioning Kat before she tried again.

"Shut up, Wormtail. You're just jealous because Kat is getting closer to transforming way quicker than you did," Sirius scoffed.

They were in an empty classroom on the fourth floor putting Kat through her paces and getting her closer and closer to transforming into her animal. James, Sirius, Peter, and Kat had all kipped under the invisibility cloak to sneak through the corridors after midnight to this classroom. Remus had apologized, but claimed that he felt too nauseous to come; the full moon was just a night away.

Taking a deep breath to put the lid on her exhilaration, Kat screwed up her eyes and concentrated just like the boys had taught her. Nothing, and then a whoop.

"She's done it!"

Kat opened her and looked up, up, up waaaay up at where the guys were all staring down at her. She tried saying something, but a sound between a chirp and a shriek came out. Kat spread her wings and marveled at how light she felt. Staring up at the high rafters, Kat flapped her wings, and suddenly she was soaring through the air. She could hear the Marauders cheering beneath her, along with the scrapping and scrambling of a tiny creature in the walls. When she looked down, her hypersensitive sight could pick out the dust sitting on the tables and the individual hairs sticking out on the top of James' head. She shrieked again and dove, straight down, fast as an arrow before swooping back up to the rafters and perching on one.

This is the most amazing feeling in the world, Kat thought to herself. I'm free! She flew in a circle for a while before landing on a beam once more. She was amazed at how quickly she had learned to fly. It seemed almost natural.

James motioned for her to come back down, and she dove steeply again before adjusting course to land, rather awkwardly on the ground; she had to hop from taloned foot to taloned foot to keep from falling.

"She looks so silly like that," Peter said with a giggle. Kat fixed him with a beady eyed stare that made him stop laughing.

Sirius chortled. "I don't think appreciates that, Pete."

"C'mon, change back so we can talk!" James said excitedly.

Slightly disappointed, Kat focused and felt herself become human again.

"That was incredible!" Kat said laughing ecstatically.

"A falcon," said James. "The perfect form for you."

"I can fly," Kat said, still stunned that she had managed to become and animagus. She wanted, more than anything, to be back up in the air, flying. She wanted to be out beneath the stars she loved so much, soaring through the sky.

"I wish I could fly," Sirius and Peter said at the same time.

"Mwahaha, the power is mine alone!" Kat said, sticking her tongue out before transforming again.

This is absolutely brilliant! She closed her eyes and basked in the breeze that ruffled her feathers. She heard Sirius whistle and she grudgingly opened her eyes again, dove down to where the boys were standing, and transformed in midair so she slid a few yards across the stone floor before coming to a neat halt in front of him.

He whistled again, this time lower. "Now that was cool!" Kat grinned at him.

"You did so great!" James said, swooping in on her and grabbing her in a bear hug. Kat squirmed to get away, but James had too tight of a hold on her. "I'm so proud of you! Wait until Moony sees you like that!"

"I can't wait to go outside!" Kat said with relish.

"But we have to be getting back to the dormitory," Peter said, checking his watch. "It's almost three."

Slightly put out, Kat agreed that they should be getting back—they had class tomorrow morning.


The next morning, Kat couldn't focus in Potions. Her mind was so fixed on what it had felt like zooming through an empty classroom and all she could think about was flying under the stars by the light of a full moon…not that she was looking forward to poor Remus going through all that pain. She just wanted an excuse to fly again, any excuse. She felt a twinge of apprehension when she remembered the last time she had been out and about when Remus had transformed, but reminded herself that this time, it would be different. She could transform just like the rest of them, and they could run (or in her case fly!) around campus without having to worry about someone getting hurt.

Professor Slughorn gave them a hint that he had something special planned for their class on Valentine's Day, but Kat didn't pay much attention. She copied down the homework dutifully and was on her way out the door when Slughorn called for her and Lily.

"Hello, girls," he said amiably when Kat and Lily were standing in front of his desk. The rest of the class filed out the door. "I'm throwing a Valentine's Day party for the Slug Club, and you girls are welcome to bring dates! So invite whomever you please, everyone is welcome! I've got a few people from the Ministry coming this time, so things should be jolly good!" He beamed happily at them. Lily and Kat took their leave.

"So, who do you think you're going to bring?" Lily asked as they traipsed up the dungeon corridor into the much warmer Entrance Hall.

"I have no idea," Kat said, feeling herself going red. She knew very well who she wanted to take, but Sirius had scoffed when she first told him and James that she was invited into the Slug Club. If she asked him to the party, he'd probably laugh himself silly…Kat laughed a bit herself. The idea of a girl asking Sirius Black out was absurd—he was the one who asked people out, no one asked him. She wondered briefly if Lily would consider asking James to the party, but laughed out loud.

"What's so funny?" Lily asked as she rummaged in her bag to make sure she another bottle of ink.

"Just musing about the party," Kat said, trying to contain another snigger as she thought of the look James would have on his face if his crush of a million years asked him to a party.

"Damn," Lily said. She didn't seem to have heard Kat. "I'm nearly out of ink!"

"Well, there's a Hogsmeade trip coming up right after out next Apparition class so you can get some then."

"Right," they rounded a corner and saw something that made Kat want to gag.

Khristine's handsome boyfriend, Rodolphus was standing with his back against the wall with his arms wrapped around another girl from Slytherin named Bellatrix. The two were quite intent on their snogging session and they didn't even notice Lily and Kat staring open mouthed at them in disgust. Their hands began traveling around just as Lily let out a loud cough. Instead of springing apart and having the decency to look guilty, they looked up briefly. The girl had thick, black hair and heavily hooded, dark eyes. She sneered when she saw Kat and Lily. Rodolphus on the other hand, said, "Ignore them," and started pawing at the front of Bellatrix's blouse.

"What the bloody hell—"

"Lily, c'mon," Kat said gruffly, pulling Lily by the arm before her friend could do something stupid. Kat cast one last disgusted look at Rodolphus and evident new squeeze before ascending the last of the stairs to the Entrance Hall.

"What a PRAT!" Lily exploded when they reached the wide open floor. She spun around and poked Kat hard in the collar bone. "And you! You didn't even try and stop them! He's supposed to be Khristine's boyfriend! What the hell is he doing snogging another girl?!"

Kat rubbed the spot where Lily had prodded her. It hurt. "Lily, that was Rodolphus Lestrange. From what I've heard people say about, he's crazy. He could have hexed up into oblivion if he wasn't so intent on getting some. And that Bellatrix is no princess. She easily could have done some damage."

"But, but Khristine."

"I know, we'll tell her. Come on, let's go." Kat led a righteously upset Lily into the Great Hall where the rest of the school (minus a few occupied Slytherins apparently) was already gathered for lunch.

"Vere ees Rodolphus?" Khristine asked no one in particular when Kat and Lily joined her at the table. Arabella was braiding an unhappy Eileen's hair ("But I don't like it braided!" "Don't be ridiculous, it looks so pretty!").

Lily looked at Kat who just shrugged her shoulders to say "You tell her."

"VAT?!" Khristine shrieked when Lily finished telling her haltingly what had happened. "Chto?" She said again in Russian. Before Lily could do anything else, Khristine began shouting in Russian so loudly that the whole Gryffindor table was staring at her and heads in the rest of the Hall began turning in their direction. Perhaps Rodolphus and Bellatrix were lucky that they did not show up for lunch because Khristine looked murderous.


"She doesn't seem to make very good choices when it comes to boys, does she?" Arabella whispered to Kat quietly that night. Everyone was gathered in the common room listening in to the WWN. Khristine however, was looking sulky and snapped at a pair of first years for sitting too close to her. She had arranged her magnificent blonde hair in an imposing crown of braids on top of her head. Kat privately thought she looked a bit like an evil queen.

"I agree," Kat said.

"Where's Remus?" Arabella asked, looking hopefully around the room for the quiet brunette. "Everyone else is here…so where is he?"

"His mum is sick again," Kat said with what she hoped was anxiety. "She gets sick a lot, and she's all he has so he goes to visit her in the hospital a lot."

"Ooh, that's right," Arabella said, though she looked dejected anyway. "Listen, Kat. Are there any pointers you could give me on Remus? I mean, you hang out with him all the time and stuff and—"

"Just be your wonderfully nice self, Bella," Kat said with a smile.

The common room took longer than usual to empty out that night, due in part to Kat's inability to sit still—she was too excited and nervous. Eileen had challenged James to a game of Exploding Snap which caused such a hullabaloo that several second years ended up with scorched toes. James and Eileen didn't bother keeping the noise down so the students who had already gone up to bed ended up coming back down to see what all of the ruckus was about. Peter asked Kat if she wanted to play a game of Gobstones but she was too distracted to sit still for so long. Even the foul smelly goo that shot out and the players had to dodge couldn't sidetrack her now. She kept thinking about flying. Finally, Eileen admitted defeat and trudged off to bed.

James pulled his invisibility cloak out from his bag with a flourish and draped it over the four of them. Kat had already been given the run down on how these moonlit outings went: they left the school through the Entrance Hall and transformed on the stoop before loping across the grounds down to the Whomping Willow. Since Peter was the smallest, he would run between the swinging branches and press a knot on the side of the tree that froze it. Then, Sirius would enter the tunnel and bring out Remus. Then, the four of them would prance about the grounds like nobody's business, exploring every little nook and cranny until the moon began setting. Then they would repeat the process, except this time Sirius led the werewolf back through the tunnel and came out alone. Taking no chances, the boys waited until they were back on the stoop of the school before transforming back into humans, sliding back under the invisibility cloak, and creeping back up to their dormitory to catch an hour or so of sleep before the school day began. Tonight was no different, except they had Kat with them this time. Since she could fly, they had all agreed that it would be a good idea if she acted as a sort of look-out for when they got closer to the school.

By the time they got to the Entrance Hall, Kat's heart was pounding with excitement. Sirius double checked to make sure the coast was clear before pulling the cloak off and stuffing it in a suit or armor. The armor gave him a salute and rearranged itself into what it obviously thought of as a nonchalant position.

"Ready?" Sirius asked Kat, eyes glowing with excitement. Kat nodded, grinning widely. They stepped out into the cold night air together and Kat inhaled deeply.

They sky was a deep inky black with thousands of stars splashed across it, and Kat knew that the ceiling of the Great Hall would look just as breathtaking. There was a slight breeze that ruffled the tops of the trees of the Forbidden Forest and there were no clouds to be seen. The moon was rising fat and heavy over the lake, so bright it cast shadows. The castle grounds are the most beautiful at night, thought Kat.

"Let's do this," James said, shaking his head and transforming before their eyes into a beautiful stag. Kat could already see Peter running through the grass before he vanished from sight. She turned to grin at Sirius but a gigantic black dog was wagging its tail at her instead. Giddy with excitement, Kat focused and felt her body transform and took off into the crisp night air.


Reviews are lettuce to my plot bunnies! So please, don't let them starve! D:

~neelie