The Runaway Marauder Part II

by neelie415

After successfully completing her fifth year at Hogwarts and being adopted by the Potters, Kat must now struggle through her sixth year. But things are starting to heat up both at school and outside of it. More people are going missing and a few are found dead as whispers of a man who calls himself Lord Voldemort begin to swirl around.

10. St Mungo's

This is the longest chapter yet! Huzzah! But, I'm sorry to say that this isn't really the happiest of chapters. You'd best prepare yourselves!

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Oh bloody hell, I can't deal with this right now, was Kat's first coherent thought of the morning. She could hear the other girls moving about the dormitory. They were obviously trying their best to make the same amount of noise as a herd of elephants trumpeting around the Serengeti. Kat groaned and rolled over in her bed. She had finally collapsed into bed somewhere around five that morning, just before the sun started peeking out from behind the mountains, and now, barely three hours later, the rest of the dormitory was getting ready for the day. She had been so exhausted that she had forgotten to close the drapes around her bed—something that she was sorely regretting now.

"Shhh! You're going to wake Kat up!" Eileen said in what she obviously thought was a soft whisper.

"Well, where is my glove? I know it's here somewhere," said Lily in the same "whisper." There was a loud thunk as Lily snapped the lid of her trunk shut.

"Oh, I borrowed your gloves yesterday," said Arabella loudly.

"SHHHHH!" Eileen and Lily said together.

Giving up all pretense of sleep, Kat sat up grumpily. "Oh, don't worry about me. It's not like I need sleep or anything."

"Oh, good morning, sweetie!" Arabella chimed happily just as Lily's gloves zoomed out from underneath her bed (thanks to a Summoning Charm by Lily).

Merlin, how can she be so chipper this early on a Saturday? Kat managed a mere grunt in acknowledgment. Then, "What're you doing up s'early?"

"Well since you're up, you might as well know," Eileen said, happily plunking herself down right at the foot of Kat's bed. Kat privately thought that she looked way too excited. "Khristine-landed-herself-in-a-week-and-a-half-of- detention-because-she-hexed-Rodolphus-and-Bellatri x-last-night-just-before-curfew," she said very fast and all in one breath. "We're heading down to the Hospital Wing to see if we can catch a glimpse of what she did to them."

"It turns out our Khristine isn't just a pretty face, but also quite the fighter," Arabella said proudly. "The only problem is that she ended up with Madam Pomfrey as well."

"S'why does Lily need gloves?" Kat asked, blinking repeatedly to wake herself up more. Because, really, who needed sleep? Certainly not her.

"Because it's February and bloody cold in the castle, Kat," Lily said, pulling on her recently rediscovered gloves.

Kat didn't have anything to add to that. In fact, she felt like she didn't really have anything to add to anything at that particular moment, unless it was her head being added to her pillow again. "M'going back to sleep," she said with a yawn and put her head happily back in its pillow home.

"Oh, no you don't!" Eileen said, giving her a sharp poke in the foot. "Where were you last night? I got up at three to use the loo and you still weren't in bed." At this proclamation, Arabella and Lily stopped what they were doing and hurriedly joined Eileen on Kat's bed. It was a wonder, really, that four girls could fit on such a tiny target, but they made it work. "Come to think of it, the last time we saw you, you were chilling in the common room with the Marauder Idiots," Eileen continued suspiciously, spurred on by Kat attempting to cover her head with blankets.

"Oooh, what did you do?" Arabella giggled excitedly. "Anything good? Any juicy details you want to share with us?"

"Don't be stupid," Kat said in a voice muffled from the blankets.

"Well you have to tell us something!" Lily said, giving Kat a sharp poke in the side.

"The mates and I were…were just….having a um….super intense Exploding Snap tournament," Kat said stupidly, saying the first thing that came to mind. She could practically feel Eileen roll her eyes at that one.

"Really, an Exploding Snap tournament?"

Kat sat up in bed once again and tossed her hair over her shoulder, sniggering slightly when it wacked Lily in the head. "Well, you got kicked out of the first bracket, don't you remember?" she said in her best innocence voice, completely ignoring Lily's objections to being smacked with a load of heavy brown hair.

Eileen narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Well fine then, don't tell us. It's not like we're your friends or anything." Playing the guilt card, O'Reiley? This early? Pfft.

"I'll meet you down in the Great Hall for breakfast once I've woken up more, yeah?" Kat said, ignoring Eileen now as well. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and hopped onto the floor, wincing at the cold stone. She pulled on a pair of slippers (nice, fuzzy red ones that Khristine didn't wear anymore so Kat had commandeered them) before trudging across the dormitory to perform her necessities in the bathroom.

By the time she was showered, teeth brushed, and changed, the dorm was empty. Staring longingly at her bed, she knew that it was too late for her to go back to sleep. Her stomach gave a rumble of approval and she her mouth started watering at the thought of the giant stacks of waffles that awaited her down at breakfast. With a sigh, Kat turned her back on what could possibly have been a fantastic morning spent snoozing up a storm with only Mister Snowy for company and decided to join the rest of the school at breakfast.

Except the rest of the school wasn't at breakfast. It was a Saturday after all, and the rest of the student body was apparently snoozing in bed just like Kat thought she should be doing. There were only about a dozen or so students sleepily sipping orange juice or reading the Daily Prophet or eating. She didn't even see the rest of the Gryffindor Sixth Years amongst the early risers. Lovely. She was happy that she had decided to keep the slippers on—they did a much better job than trainers at keeping the cold out.

Kat didn't make too much effort in walking down the long Gryffindor table. Instead, she sat right at the end, close to the door and moodily began adding waffles to her plate. Another glance at the yawning students in the Hall told her that her Marauding mates were all still snoring into their pillows. Jerks, Kat thought as she stabbed a waffle. She decided that its golden fluffiness was more than satisfactory however, and let out a sigh after the first bite. Maybe the house elves serve better food this early in the morning…She amused herself by watching a bloke over at the Ravenclaw table try desperately to stay awake, but his head nodded ever closer to his plate of scrambled eggs. His mate sitting next to him tried to prod him awake, but to no avail. The unfortunate Ravenclaw sagged straight into the scrambled egg only to be rudely awakened by his friend's laughter. Kat chuckled along as the two left the Hall, the one laughing and the other trying to dislodge bits of egg from his eyebrows and such. Brilliant.

Then Kat decided to pass the time by thinking over the adventures of the night before. Flying under the open sky was better than she could possibly have imagined. It was if all those years spent in the basement had been lifted off her shoulders and for the first time, she felt free, one hundred percent, fantastically free. She wouldn't lie and claim that she had been rather put out when the moon began setting and the horizon began turning pink. She would also be lying if she claimed that seeing Remus in his full out werewolf form running around the grounds with, of all things, a dog, a stag, a rat, and a falcon, wasn't a bit terrifying or invigorating. She felt a bit guilty for looking forward to the next month when they could all transform again, but, after all, her friends had practically begged her to join them. She figured that as long as she didn't see Remus' actual transformation process or anyone saw them running around the grounds, she would be just peachy keen with flying through the sky like there was no tomorrow.

She continued eating her breakfast, dosing a bit between bites because of how tired she was. The enchanted ceiling above showed that the sky outside looked cloudy and gloomy, quite the opposite of what it had been like the night before. Just as things were beginning to look like a much better morning than she had anticipated, Ernie Summers slid onto the bench right across from her with a smile the size of England.

"Good morning, Kat!" he said breathlessly, staring at her with wide eyes as she finished off the last of her waffles.

Kat stifled a groan but decided to be nice. After all, if she was nice to people, nice things would happen to her as well, right? Wrong. She plastered a grin on her face anyway. "Good morning, Ernie."

"Please, Kat, call me Ern," he said happily and began buttering a piece of toast. He looked prepared to stay. "You ignored me the other night. I wanted to introduce you to my friends."

Is he sulking? Oh God, how do you deal with a sulking kid?! "Erm, sorry uh, Ern." He brightened considerably when she called him that. "But I was really busy and erm had—"

"Good morning, my orange friend!" Frank Longbottom sang as he swung his leg over the bench to sit next to Kat.

Kat felt like she could have kissed Frank, she was so happy to see him. But from what little she knew about relationships, she figured that Alice would in no way be pleased. She settled for a smile for her savior instead. "Hey, Frank! Thanks again for the help the other day."

Frank waved his hand. "It was nothing, just performing my Head Boy duties like the good guy I am." He smirked slightly as he scooped scrambled eggs onto his plate.

Kat took a sip of orange juice and groaned inwardly when she saw Ern staring pointedly at her. "Oh, Frank, this is Ernie, sorry, Ern Summers." Ern beamed at her.

"Oh, I know who he is, don't worry."

Is that a good thing or a bad thing…? Ern seemed satisfied with the introduction though and continued eating his toast. Likewise, Frank continued eating his eggs. "So, Frank, where's Alice?"

"Oh, she never gets up this early. She likes to snooze until the very last minute and then scramble to get ready," Frank said fondly.

"I wish that's what I was doing now," grumbled Kat. "The girls in my dorm woke me up."

Frank laughed. "It happens."

"Speaking of the devils," Kat said. Eileen was happily waltzing through the Great Hall smiling ear to ear. Lily and Arabella followed not too far behind, grinning like loonies, but without the skipping.

Eileen effectively shooed Ern away by sitting so close to him that the poor lad blushed furiously before hopping up from the bench and fleeing further down the table. Oblivious to people's need for personal space, she leaned over the table so close to Kat's face that Kat could count her friend's individual freckles. "Rudolphus has cherries coming out of his nose and Bellatrix the Tart is maroon."

"I heard something had happened last night!" Frank said with excitement.

"Honestly, you people and your gossip," Lily said dismissively shaking her head even though she had a big smile on her face.

"Sadly, poor Khristine is still unconscious with horns sticking out of her head," Eileen continued, not looking the least bit upset.

Kat snorted into her orange juice. "Horns?"

"Great big green ones, too," Arabella gave her two cents.

"Great big green what?" Peter had arrived and was still rubbing his eyes, trying to wake up. He looked about as knackered as Kat felt even though he was more used to the nighttime adventures than Kat was. He sat next to Arabella and poured himself a glass of milk. "What are we talking about?"

"The whole big Khristine-Rodolphus-Bellatrix incident!" Eileen declared, looking scandalized when Peter showed no recognition to the chain of events. She, clearly in her element, quickly launched into a harrowing story in which Khristine was the unfortunate victim of circumstance and prats and had to defend herself from such with a few well-placed hexes. She rounded off the tale with a description of Rodolphus with cherries hanging out of his nose, Bellatrix being a hilarious shade of maroon, and Khristine with an unfortunate set of massive green horns sticking out of her luscious locks.

"Charming," was all Peter said before he served himself beans and toast. Kat snorted into her orange juice again when she saw Eileen's outraged face.

"That's all you have to say? The Hogwarts gossip mill has been running dry since term started except for some stupid things involving a couple in Ravenclaw and all you can say in 'charming'?"

Peter shrugged. "Gossip's not really my thing."

Eileen raised her eyes to the enchanted ceiling as if asking the heavens how someone could care so little for such hilarious gossip before claiming a waffle for her own.

"What happened with the Ravenclaw couple?" Frank asked curiously, looking eager to get his fill of gossip for the morning.

"Frank!" Kat said in mock surprise. "I never knew you liked gossip!"

Frank shrugged. "People forget sometimes that the Head Boy (and Girl) likes to know all of the juicy details going through the gossip mill."

"Well, Bernice McGovern and Tommy Lancaster had this weird not exclusive relationship thing going on, but Bernice threw a fit when she caught Tommy snogging Mary—"

"Gossiping already, O'Reiley?" James had arrived for breakfast as well. He joined the crowd at the table. Lily made a face when James unceremoniously shoved her shoulder to the side to make more room. She did, however, scoot over so James could sit.

Eileen flashed him a cheerful smile. "You know it, Potter!"

James grunted in reply. Like Peter, he looked tired, but was more used to it than Kat. He yawned widely and accepted the goblet of orange juice Kat had just poured for him.

"Did you win your tournament?" questioned Arabella.

"What tournament?" James asked, blinking owlishly at her from behind his glasses.

Kat wanted to slap a hand to her forehead. Instead she said, "You idiot, the one we were playing until the ungodly hours of the morning. And no, Arabella, Peter ended up winning the tournament." If Peter was surprised by this announcement, he didn't show it. He merely smiled and continued eating. James, on the other hand, had caught on to what Kat was talking about, but obviously resented the fact that he had supposedly lost their imaginary Exploding Snap tournament.

"Now hold on a second, I totally owned that game!"

"Telling lies is not a very attractive quality, Prongs," Peter said with a pointed look at James. James did the slightest eye flicker to where Lily was sitting next to him and glared daggers at Peter.

The Great Hall became louder as more and more students arrived to breakfast. "Where's your shadow, Potter?" asked Eileen after she finished her first waffle and grabbed a second.

"What're you talking about?" James snapped, still glaring at Pete. Peter was doing a very good job of ignoring him. In fact, he stuck up a conversation with Lily just then which made James even more irritated.

"Black. Where's Sirius Black?" Eileen said slowly, as if James were a very slow child. Kat looked up from her orange juice in interest and did her best not to blush when Eileen caught her. Crap.

"Sleeping Beauty was still asleep in the dorm room upstairs when I left."

The mail arrived just then and they were distracted by the usual swoop of hundreds of owls bringing letters from home. Arabella happily accepted a copy of Witch Weekly and Lily received a letter from home. Kat didn't really pay much attention to the birds. After all, she very rarely received any mail. Therefore, she was rather surprised when a handsome eagle owl nearly knocked over her goblet of orange juice and stuck his leg out for her to take the letter. Her befuddlement was lifted slightly when she saw that it was addressed to James and Catherine Potter.

She gave the owl a bit of bacon for its trouble before sending it off. Intrigued, Kat opened the thick envelope and retrieved the letter from within. What she read made her heart stop.

To the Potter Children,

It is with deepest regrets that I must inform you on the passing of your father, Mister Alexander James Potter. Normally, the next of kin would tell you of such a travesty, but it is with remorse that I must tell you that your mother, Mrs. Annalisa Jane Potter has taken ill with the same sickness and is currently unable to do so herself.

Plan must be made for the collection of the body.

Visiting hours at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries are from eight o'clock in the morning until eight o'clock at night.

Deepest Regrets,

Healer Griffiths

Kat felt all of the color drain from her face and the hand holding the parchment began shaking uncontrollably. The passing of your father…same sickness… "James!" she cried with anguish.

Her brother broke off abruptly from the joke he was telling Eileen. His head whipped around at the sound of Kat's appeal, eyes wide. His jaw closed with a snap as his eyes flickered between the letter Kat was holding and the stricken look on her face. Without further ado, he stood to snatch the letter out of Kat's trembling hand. No longer holding the horrific letter, Kat buried her head in her hands and ignored several questions from her friends, prompting to know what the matter was.

Kat felt sick. Her head was spinning uncontrollably and she wanted now, more than ever, to be back in her bed, oblivious to the pain this morning would bring. Mister Potter…her father had been so, so kind. He hadn't thrown her immediately from his home when he discovered his son speaking to the strange girl who had broken into their home. Instead, he had welcomed her with open arms into the family, introduced her to his delightful wife—the nicest woman Kat had ever met in her entire life. The pair of them had opened a door to a brand new world, one shinning with delight and wonder, giving the girl who had lived her entire life in a basement the opportunity to live, really, truly live.

And now he was gone.

And by the sound of it, her mother was starting down the same path. What sort of illness is this? Kat groaned and started rubbing her temples, hoping that would help relieve some of her symptoms.

"Kat?" Arabella's voice sounded so distant she could have been on another planet. "James?"

"It…it's nothing," she heard James say gruffly. Nothing?! How could he possibly say this was nothing? Kat looked up angrily, ready to throttle James, only to find him holding the letter with one shaking hand and cradling his forehead in the other. His eyes were shaded but Kat could see his chin trembling ever so slightly. She reached out and covered his hand with hers. He snatched his away quickly. "Stop it!" he spat angrily, dropping his hand from his forehead. Obediently, Kat drew her hand away feeling even more hurt than she had a moment before. A garble of emotions ran across James' face, each more frenzied than the last—anger, despair, sadness, fear, hopelessness. "Sorry, sis," he mumbled once he mastered his features into a stony mask.

I wish I could control my emotions like that, Kat thought, struggling to keep the tears from her eyes.

"James?" Peter prompted this time.

"Potter," Professor McGonagall had arrived at the table. Her eyes appeared rather red, but it in no way diminished the crispness of her voice. "Professor Dumbledore would like to see you and your sister once you have finished your breakfast." She placed a hand on James' shoulder and gave it a squeeze before walking away.

"Guys, what's going on?" Eileen asked.

Both Kat and James ignored her. James crumbled the letter up and stuffed it in his pocket. "C'mon," he said quietly to Kat, rising from the bench. "I'm done eating."

Kat didn't say anything. She felt like if she opened her mouth she would either scream or throw up all of the waffles she had just eaten, but she rose off the bench. She walked rather stiffly, as if her legs had forgotten how to work, and followed James out of the Great Hall. She could hear Eileen, Arabella, Lily, and Peter all calling after them, wanting to know what was happening, but again she ignored them. Instead of heading upstairs to Dumbledore's office, James instead headed to a door on the opposite end of the Entrance Hall. He threw it open and entered, obviously assuming Kat would follow.

The room was barely larger than a broom cupboard, with all manner of mops and brooms lining the walls. Several spiders had made their homes in the dusty rafters above their heads, and an old rickety desk with matching chair were shoved unceremoniously against the wall. Filch obviously used this as some sort of storeroom. Kat kicked the door closed behind her and leaned heavily against it, closed her eyes, and tried to breathe normally. It proved more difficult than she thought—it felt like something heavy had lodged itself in her chest.

She opened her eyes and found James pacing around what scant space he could, wringing his hands and looking utterly lost. He kept mumbling something fast and soft under his breath, casting his eyes all over the room. He happened to look up at Kat after a few minutes and Kat heard him take in an enormous breath before he collapsed onto the floor. He let out an inarticulate yell and pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged them, rocking back and forth slightly. Kat joined him on the floor and put her arms around him. She could feel his shoulders shaking as James tried controlling his sobs.

"Shh, just let it out," she said softly, her bottom lip trembling. Tears welled up in her eyes and started streaming down her face. She continued making comforting sounds and rocked back and forth as well, not knowing what else to do. James let go of his knees and positively clung to her, his body wracked with sobs, and she cried right along with him.

She never knew how long they sat there like that on the floor, but eventually they both stopped crying and simply held each other miserably.

"Dumbledore," James sniffed. He raised his head off of Kat's shoulder and straightened his glasses. His eyes were all red, but already Kat could see him trying to master his emotions again. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Kat did the same and found that her mind had turned rather numb. Does James feel like this too? He certainly looked like it. His eyes were sort of glazed over with a faraway look. He did help her to her feet though and straightened his tie. "Dumbledore," he said again.

When they left the broom cupboard, the Great Hall was empty. At some point, the doors to the Great Hall had been closed. Thankful that there wouldn't be anyone to stare at them and question, Kat followed James past the double doors and onto the staircase. They climbed their way up to Dumbledore's office in total silence. The arrival at the griffin took Kat by surprise, even in her numbed state. The trek had taken much less time than she had anticipated. The two of them stared up at the statue and the minutes stretched by. Then Kat remembered that they were supposed to give it some sort of password. James looked incapable of doing any sort of thinking, so she began saying the names of various candies out loud.

"Chocolate frog," she said hoarsely. "Peppermint toad, licorice wand, Fizzing Whizbee." The griffin leapt back and the staircase became gliding upward. James and Kat stepped onto it and let it carry them right up to the door. Kat took the brass knocker and slammed it down on the door three times. It swung open on its own. Taking the cue, Kat stepped into Dumbledore's office with James trailing along behind.

Even in her numb state of mind, Kat could appreciate how beautiful the room was. The portraits of former headmasters and headmistresses were speaking in soft voices to one another on the circular walls, and Dumbledore's many elegant, spindly objects graced the numerous shelves around the room. Dumbledore himself was sitting in a high backed chair behind his desk, stroking an enormous red and gold bird and gazing at them through his half-moon spectacles with a morose expression. The twinkle that was usual present in his eye appeared dimmed.

"Sit down, please," he said softly, indicating the two squishy armchairs in front of his desk. Kat obeyed but James remained standing in the center of the room. "Mister Potter," Dumbledore said, but James paid him no heed. He continued to stay where he was, his eyes fixed, Kat was surprised, rather fiercely on Dumbledore, as if daring him to say something about it. Dumbledore merely sighed and continued stroking his bird. "I am afraid the pair of you received some very distressing news this morning." Kat found that her throat no longer worked so she nodded. James remained silent. "The healers at St. Mungo's did everything they could for your father, but whatever illness he had was beyond their abilities. They had never seen it before and were unprepared for the ferociousness of it."

"What do you mean they had never seen it before?" James spoke for the first time.

Dumbledore sighed again. "What I mean, James, is that the healers claim that they had never encountered whatever ailed poor Alexander was something entirely new and were helpless against it."

"But," said James furiously, "they've got to do something! Mum has it now too, the bloke said!"

Dumbledore raised a hand to silence him. "I am aware of this. However, it is my belief that this sickness is not medically based. In fact, and I believe that the two of you are mature enough to handle this when I say it, I believe that there is something dark surrounding your father's death."

There was a very heavy silence. James laughed bitterly. "Oh, you mean dark like Voldemort stuff? My parents went on vacation to Austria. What does that have to do with Voldemort?" James laughed again.

Once again, Dumbledore held his hand up for silence. "You know that both of your parents were top officials in the Ministry, of course. It grieves me to tell you that they were performing some very important tasks in response to the Death Eater attacks, and they may have been subjected to some sort of curse which has caused their bodies to deteriorate rapidly."

"What, so Mum and Dad are spies or something?" James said indignantly striding to the front of Dumbledore's desk. The bird took flight and landed on Kat's knee. Instead of the enormous bird feeling heavy though, it was surprisingly light and Kat felt her spirits lift ever so slightly as she automatically touched its smooth feathers. Dumbledore nodded shortly to James' question. James' jaw dropped as he said, "But they never said anything about—"

"Why would they?" Dumbledore said quietly. That shut James up right away. "Why would they want their children to worry?"

"Well," James said, "that's obviously backfired because we're worried now! Dad is…is…dead," he choked out. "And now you're telling me that Mum is going to join him because the two of them are spies against Voldemort?" Dumbledore's silence was enough of a confirmation. James swore loudly and began pacing the office, hands in his hair. He looked like he would like to pull it out in great clumps.

"James, since you are of age, you can continue residency at your house when term has ended," said Dumbledore.

"What do you mean by that, huh?" James positively shouted. "My mother is still alive, thank you very little! She could pull through for all you know, and then you'll just be a daft old man who assumes the worst!" James fumed and looked like he wanted to throw something at Dumbledore.

The headmaster, however, ignored his hostility and continued. "I will be sending the two of you to St. Mungo's today to see your mother, and you can discuss the rest of the situation with her if she is a condition to do so. If not, a representative from Gringotts will contact you about your assets and a Ministry official will be in touch with wills." By the sound of it, Dumbledore had very little hope of their mother pulling through whatever catastrophe, medically induced or otherwise, that had hit them all with the force of a speeding train. He went on to say things about funeral arrangements, but Kat sat silent through the rest of the conversation, preferring to have James answer. She sat in the armchair and stroked Dumbledore's magnificent bird. When there was a flurry of movement, Kat looked up just as a very familiar someone slammed the door of Dumbledore's office wide open.

Sirius Black was puffing loudly, as if he had just run a marathon. His gaze flickered from Dumbledore, to Kat, and finally rested on James. "I just heard."

"From whom, may I ask?" Dumbledore said with a frown.

"I heard the portraits talking about it, Professor," Sirius said, striding into the room. His uniform was rumpled as if he had grabbed the first thing out of his trunk, regardless of its cleanliness, and his hair was a mess. His eyes, however, never once left his best mate's. James stared at the floor.

"I suppose you had nothing to do with this, Phineas?" Dumbledore addressed a rather small portrait of a former headmaster.

"I may have let something slip, Dumbledore," the figure said with a sneer. Sirius practically growled at it. "I see my nephew has joined us."

"That will be all, Phineas," Dumbledore said with a warning. He rummaged about in his desk until he brought out a small snuffbox. He strode over to the fireplace and gestured for Kat, James, and Sirius to do the same. Kat gently shooed the bird away before rising from her armchair and joining them next to the hearth. "Use this floo powder to get to St. Mungo's. Give your mother my best wishes."

Without looking at anyone else, James grabbed a fistful of powder from the snuffbox, threw it into the fire, stepped into the emerald green flames and exclaimed, "St. Mungo's!" before vanishing from sight.

"Look after him, Catherine," Dumbledore said quietly as Kat stepped forward for her turn. Still not trusting herself to speak, Kat reached for a handful of powder. She threw it into the flames, stepped into the pleasantly warm fire, and cried, "St. Mungo's!" and Dumbledore's office disappeared.

Kat kept her eyes squinted to avoid soot filling them and tucked in her elbows. When she saw James waiting at a particular grate, she stepped out and spun around a bit on the rug. He helped steady her and pulled her back just as Sirius zinged onto the carpet. They were in a sparsely furnished room with a high ceiling and white walls. A red haired wizard wearing white robes was sitting at a desk tucked away in a corner by a large window that overlooked a small garden.

The wizard frowned slightly and straightened his glasses when he saw them. "I was told that there would be only two of you."

"Yeah," snapped James nastily. "Well now there're three. Where's my mother?"

The wizard eyed them all carefully before holding up a clipboard. "You have to sign in." James practically stomped over to the desk and grabbed the clipboard forcefully out of the mediwizard's hand and took a quill off the desk. He penned the three of them in and handed back the clipboard.

"Where's my mother?" he repeated.

"Let me check for a room number," the wizard, whose name tag read Arthur Cambridge, said sifting through papers on his desk. He clicked his tongue as he scanned the parchment. "Ah, yes," he gave them the room number and James sped out the door before he could give them directions. Luckily, Kat and Sirius stayed behind just a little bit to hear that crucial bit of information.

Kat had never been in a hospital before, and from what she saw, she never wanted to be in one again. Weird noises came from behind several closed doors, and they almost ran smack into a witch who had a pair of nail clippers lodged up her nose. One bloke had been turned a nasty puce color and every time he opened his mouth a series of flatulent noises ensued. If Kat hadn't been in such a state of shock she would have found it amusing.

When they reached the floor their mother was on, a hush covered the hallway. All of the doors on this floor were shut. They could hear the sounds of wailing coming from a door on their left, but pressed on in finding the room marked 16. There was a small black flag pinned to the door when they found it. James wasted no time in pushing the door open and speeding into the room. Sirius followed close behind him. Kat lingered on the threshold for a few moments unsure if she wanted to face what was waiting for her inside the sterile hospital room. She told her feet to move and she tripped slightly on the chair that was seated just outside the door in the hallway, but her feet carried her through.

There were two beds in the hospital room. One had thick purple curtains surrounding it while the other did not. A small window looked out onto the same garden that the room they had arrived in did and there was a vase of daisies on the bedside table. A witch wearing white robes and a name tag proclaiming Penny Merrythought was her name, finished straightening the flowers, inclined her head slightly to Kat and the boys before she took her leave and sat in the chair in the hall. Kat finally did what she had been dreading and looked over to where her mother was tucked in to her bed.

Annalisa Potter looked as if she had aged fifty years. Her hair, which had been a lush brunette, was now pure white and brittle. Her breath was coming in short painful rasps and her eyes were clouded. The hand that was now clutching James' shoulder has so thin that her bones stood out starkly and her skin was almost transparent. She could barely speak above a whisper.

"You're here," she said quietly, giving James' shoulder a little shake. "I wouldn't let them take him away. I couldn't let them take him away, I couldn't." Her eyes filled with tears as she tried to turn her head to look at the curtained bed. Kat's blood turned to ice in her veins when she realized that that must be where her dead father was.

"I know, Mum, I know," James said in a low, soothing voice. He planted a gentle kiss on Annalisa's forehead.

"And my baby girl is here!" she said, noticing Kat for the first time. She released James' shoulder and held out her hand to Kat, beckoning her closer. Kat hurried over and knelt next to the bed beside James. Her mother reached out with her frail hands and cupped Kat's cheek. "I always wanted a beautiful baby girl to go with my beautiful James." A tear rolled down her cheek. "My beautiful children…" she gave a wheezing cough that made Kat wince. "Let me look at the two of you together." Obediently, James and Kat stood and leaned over their mother so she could look at them. "Beautiful," she said with a watery smile.

"Mum…what happened?" James asked quietly.

Her face closed up almost immediately. Even in her weakened state, Mrs. Potter was a strong woman. "Nothing you need to worry about now, dear. What's done is done. Your father and I—" but as soon as she said 'father,' she burst into tears and lost her ability for coherent sentences. "I wouldn't let them take him away!" she started repeating again, over and over again. James tried stroking her face to subdue her, but that didn't work. She seemed to think that James was her husband's ghost and that set her off even more. "No, no! You didn't! You have to go on, don't wait for me! Don't wait for me!" James looked helplessly around the room but Kat felt as useless as he did. Sirius was standing uncomfortably in the corner looking like he wanted to be somewhere else.

The nurse waiting out in the hall came in a few seconds later, accompanied by another mediwizard. They had a beaker full of a highly potent calming draught which they coaxed Annalisa into drinking. She fell asleep shortly after and the healers led James, Kat, and Sirius out into the hallway.

"You can see her when she wakes up again," Penny Merrythought said. "She gets like this every few hours and we have to give her a high dosage of calming draught."

"Now there are a few things we would like to discuss with you," the mediwizard said in a deep voice. He wasn't wearing a nametag. "Your mother would not let us remove your father's body. Out of respect for her wishes until her family arrived, we have done what she asked, but beds are sorely needed during a time like this, and we have to move him. Where would you like him taken?"

Kat felt like she was going to faint. How lucky that we're already in a hospital…But James seemed to have gained some control over the situation. He called their house elves, Lucy, Tiny, and Buffy and ordered them to take his father's body home and prepare a new grave in the family plot. "And Lucy," James croaked.

"Yes, Master James?" Lucy said as she wiped her eyes on her tea towel.

"You might want to be prepared for a second one."

"Yes, Master."

The elves shuffled in to the hospital room where there mistress was in a potion induced sleep. They cried and sniffled quietly as they pulled back the heavy curtains surrounding the other bed and revealed Alexander Potter. He looked very similar to the state his wife was in. He appeared to have aged fifty years and his hair was entirely white. His face was much, much thinner than Kat remembered it being the last time they saw him, and his eyes were sunken in. the house elves tucked the sheet more firmly around his body and apparated away with him, leaving an empty mattress. Kat started crying again.

When their mother woke again, James and Kat could tell it was for the last time. She was at the end of her life and each breath seemed like her last. Her eyes couldn't stay focused on more than one thing at a time and wandered around the room quite a bit as the spoke softly to her. She greeted Sirius quite normally when she realized he was there, as if he was over at the house visiting one day. He tried greeting her back just as normally but choked a bit on the delivery. She didn't notice. She asked if they had seen their father recently, she wanted to tell him that she loved him.

"Yes, Mum. We have. We brought him home," Kat said, speaking for the first time since they were at school.

"Good, dear. Good." She closed her eyes. James kissed her forehead gently again. After that, they just listened to her breath become more and more labored until, suddenly, it stopped. Kat let out a wail and started sobbing with her head in her hands.

Sometime after that, the healers entered the room again. There was a slight scuffle in which James vented in the only way that seemed to make sense to him, but he had obviously forgotten that he was a wizard with a wand—he broke the mediwizard's nose with his elbow and had to be forcibly restrained. Sirius took him out of the room to calm him down, leaving Kat alone to stare unseeingly at the body of the woman who had been her mother for such a brief period of time. Kat had no idea how much time passed while she sat there staring at her mother's frail face. Eventually, the house elves appeared in the room, crying, and took her away. James and Sirius stood by the door. James seemed unable to speak, so Sirius was asking all the questions.

"I'm so sorry, but there was nothing more that we could do," Penny Merrythought said. There were tears in her eyes, but Kat still felt like hexing her into a million pieces.

"Are there any papers we need to fill out or anything?" Sirius responded with one of his darkest looks. James was pacing the room, wringing his hands.

"Of course. Are you family?"

"I'm close enough," Sirius responded gruffly. He turned to Kat. "Take him home, will you? I'll meet you there." His face was a mask but Kat could see the pain in his eyes. She nodded. Sirius left with the healers and she was alone with James.

Kat walked over to where we was pacing and grabbed his hand. He stopped immediately and gazed at her. His eyes were out of focus behind his glasses. "Hey, we gotta go," she said softly, giving his hand a squeeze. He nodded and allowed her to lead him from the room. They shuffled through the hospital together, oblivious to everything that was happening around them. Kat miraculously managed to bring them back to the room they had arrived in without getting lost. It felt like years had passed since James accosted the wizard at the desk. This time, it was Kat who marched up to the desk. "We need to use the Floo Network to get home."

"I'm sorry, Miss, but the Ministry has still sealed it off," the redheaded wizard said in a businesslike fashion.

"Don't give me that dung," Kat snapped angrily. "We came here using floo powder you troll!"

"But that was under very special circumstances, with Albus Dumbledore—"

Kat could feel the anger coursing through her veins. Her hand plunged into the pocket of her robes and she pulled out her wand. "We're going to use the floo," she said, brandishing her wand menacingly.

"You can threaten me all you want, Miss Potter, but it won't help you any," the wizard responded coolly.

Kat's nerve broke and she started crying again. "Look," she said, "I just lost both of my parents and I really, really want to get home. You have to help me."

They wizard eyed her wearily, obviously helpless when it came to crying teenage girls. James just scuffed his feet on the floor, his hand still in Kat's. "Look," the redhead said, "I can help you a little bit. If you can get to the Ministry the Muggle way, one of my mates, Travers, is in the Floo Department. If you give him this," he handed Kat a slip of parchment, "he can send you where you want to go."

"I don't even know how to get to the Ministry the Muggle way!" Kat moaned.

"I do," James said quietly, speaking in a raspy voice for the first time. "Dad took me once."

"But, don't you need Muggle money?" Kat asked after taking a deep breath to try and calm down. "We don't have any," she said miserably.

"Here," the wizard took out a few silver Sickles and transfigured them into several crisp ten pound notes. "I think that should get you there." He handed the bills over to Kat with a dubious look on his face. Kat took them and studied them with interest. "I think there's an Underground station somewhere down the street."

"What's the Underground?"

"Muggle transport system," muttered James.

Kat stuffed the bills in her pocket and stashed her wand away as well. "Thanks," she mumbled, staring at the floor.

"Don't mention it," the wizard said shortly. He sat back down behind his desk and reorganized his papers.

James started to head for the door but Kat stopped him. "We have to wait for Sirius."

"I'm here," came a familiar growl from the door. Sirius was leaning against the doorframe with his hands in his trouser pockets. "So we're taking the Tube?" James nodded and pushed past his friend and pulled Kat along by her hand. Kat grasp Sirius' hand as she past and together the three of them left the hospital.

As soon as they stepped onto the street Kat turned around, curious despite her emotional state, to see what St. Mungo's looked like from the outside. It looked like an abandoned shop front. A sign stating 'Closed for Renovations' stood in a dusty window display along with several mannequins wearing outdated outfits. A woman walking by with her friend just then complained about it never being open.

"Which way d'you reckon we have to go?" Kat said aloud, hoping one of the boys would know where they were. Unfortunately, neither James nor Sirius seemed to have the foggiest idea. James didn't look like he was up to serious thinking or traipsing around downtown London for an extended period of time. Sirius glanced down to the more crowded end of the street and decided that was their best bet and pulled them in that direction.

They got a lot of strange looks as they navigated the streets—their cloaks received a lot of attention, but it was too cold for them to take them off and stuff them in Kat's bag. They came across a locator that pointed them in the direction of the closest Underground station. It turned out that they had been going in the total wrong direction. Kat was amazed, even though her numbed state prevented her from doing much thinking, at how loud the city of London was. Everywhere she looked, Muggles dressed in suits rushed by them. They passed a construction zone where she saw a Muggle holding on to a weird looking metal instrument that was bouncing quickly up and down, grinding up the concrete beneath him. Sounds and activity assaulted them on all sides until James pointed out the sign for the Underground some distance up ahead. They descended the steps quickly and paused just in front of the turnstiles, unsure what to do. Perhaps seeing their bewildered faces and bizarre clothing, a transport worker made his way over to them.

"Lost are you, love?" he asked Kat. She nodded. "You need to buy a ticket over there first." He pointed over to a small kiosk. They thanked him and made their way over. Since James knew what stop they needed to get off at, Kat thrust him the money and left him to figure out how to pay the woman behind the counter.

"How are you holding up?" Sirius asked quietly. Kat didn't answer but shot a how-the-bloody-hell-do-you-think-I'm-holding-up glare at him. He didn't press the issue.

"Here," James said, thrusting tickets at them. He went through the turnstile first to show them what to do. When Kat made it to the other side, she grabbed James' hand again, nervous to ride Muggle transport. She didn't want to get lost. They climbed down two more sets of stairs before they reached the platform. They only had to wait a few minutes before the train appeared. The train journey itself didn't take very long and they only had to switch trains once. More people stared at them when they got on the second train, but no one commented on it and continued minding their own business.

James led them back up to street level and down a few streets before they reached a red phone booth. He gestured for Sirius and Kat to get in before him and slid the door shut behind him. He punched in a series of buttons on the keypad and a cool female voice greeted them and asked what their business at the Ministry of Magic that morning. It's still morning? Kat thought blankly as three buttons fell from the change chute. James handed them out. Kat glanced down at hers and it read Catherine Potter Grieving Daughter. Instead of pinning it to his robes like the witch's voice requested, James stuffed his button into his pocket. Kat followed suit. The phone booth then began to sink into the ground and the street above them slowly disappeared from sight.

Kat was impressed with how large the Ministry of Magic really was and how the magical community could keep it all hidden from the Muggles. Witches and wizards were hurrying about past the giant fountain and statue that held the most prominent position in the hall, depicting a wizard, house elf, goblin, and centaur. James led Kat and Sirius passed it as he crossed the floor. He hadn't made it very far when a witch wearing a bottle green cloak stepped in front of him.

"Oh, James," she said sadly. "I've just heard. I was in here visiting one of my colleagues—"

"Thank you Bathilda, but we have to go," and James pushed by her.

Bathilda? Why does that name sound so familiar…? Oh, Bagshot. Right.

Several fireplaces stood on the side of the hall that James was making a beeline for. Only one actually had a fire burning in it, and there appeared to be guards standing on either side of it. A desk was set up just to the side of it with an elderly wizard in deep blue robes was sitting. James stomped over to him.

"Show him the parchment, Kat," he said, glaring at the man behind the desk. The man frowned at being addressed in such a rude manner.

"Erm, are you Travers?" Kat asked first.

Looking thankful that Kat was the one talking now, he said "Yes, love. What do you need?"

Kat fished the parchment that the man at St. Mungo's had given them and handed it over. Travers took it and furrowed his brow as he read. He looked up at where one teenage boy was glaring daggers at him, a teenage girl was staring at him with big, watery eyes, and a third teenage boy was staring coolly at him and managed a small, sympathetic smile. He opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a small tin. "Where do you need to go?"

"To my house, of course," James snapped.

"Right this way," Travers rose and walked over to the only hearth with flames still in it. He nodded to the two wizards standing guard before gesturing for James to step forward. He held out the tin. "Well, on your way."

Without hesitation, James grabbed a handful of powder, threw it into the flames, stepped in, said "Potter Manor" and disappeared in a roar of green flames. Kat followed close behind.

The house elves were waiting for them when they appeared in the kitchen.

"So sorry, Master," Lucy was saying. "But we was tending to the Master and Mistress or Lucy would have sent the others to get you, sir."

James waved away her excuses. "Don't worry about it, Lucy. We're here now, and that's what matters." He sat heavily on a stool. "We need to make arrangements," he said, running a hand through his tousled hair.

"Arrangements have already been made, sir," Lucy said in her squeaky voice.

James looked up. "What do you mean, they've already been made?" Sirius zoomed out of the fireplace and landed next to Kat. She and James ignored him and continued listening to Lucy.

"Master Alexander and Mistress Annalisa made the plans themselves, sir. They says to Lucy, 'Lucy, if ever something happens to us and we dies, Lucy, make sure yous follows this.' And they gives me a long, written order sir, of the people to invite, what to do with their b-b-bodies and where their wills are and everythings. Lucy says to them, 'of course Master and Mistress! But Lucy hopes that that will never happen.'" She gave an extremely loud sniff. "But of course dids sir! It dids!"

"Where are they now?"

"In the study, sir. Lucy can show you if you likes."

"No!" James exclaimed violently. Then he ran both his hands through his hair and tugged on a few clumps. "No," he repeated, sounding totally worn out. "Not today, Lucy. Tomorrow. I have to…I have to get some sleep." James slumped off his stool and left the kitchen.

"Would Mistress Catherine or Master Sirius like anything to eat?" Lucy asked miserably.

"Just some toast," Sirius said, sitting on the stool James had just vacated. When Kat shot him a look, he threw his arms up and said, "Well sorry! I didn't exactly eat breakfast this morning and Alexander and Annalisa wouldn't want me starving myself on account of them!" When the elves arrived with a plate of toast he grabbed it from them without a work of thanks and began eating. Unable to stand and watch Sirius eat when her parents were dead, Kat fled the kitchen.

Perhaps it was because they were the only people in the house, but suddenly everything seemed much larger and infinitely quieter. Even the ticking of the grandfather clock in the foyer seemed quieter and the stairs didn't seem to creak as much when Kat stomped her way up them. The red carpeting muffled her footsteps as she made her way to the Purple Room, her room, her sanctuary.

Nothing much had changed about the room since the Potters had given it to her over a year ago. The walls were still lavender and the curtains and bedspread were the same purple. Feeling out of place in her Hogwarts uniform, Kat threw open the door to her closet and dug until she found on of James' old shirts and a pair of sweat pants. She discarded her uniform, kicked off the red slippers she was still wearing, and pulled on the much comfier clothes. She locked the door and glanced around the beautiful room that her parents had given her, and threw herself onto her bed and cried. When someone started pounding on her door a few hours later, she ignored them and crawled under the covers instead.

---

Kat must have fallen asleep because when she opened her eyes again, her room was only dimly lit. It took her a moment to figure out what had woken her up. She had been planning on sleeping until she died, but obviously she hadn't been allowed to do so. She sat up and saw what had broken through her slumber—a little owl was tapping at the window. She lay back down and closed her eyes again, willing the owl away.

Tap, tap, tap.

Kat grabbed a pillow and threw it at the window, hoping to scare the owl away. She simply didn't want to talk to anyone or hear their words of pity and comfort. She wanted to stay in bed and be miserable until she died from over utilization of her tear ducts. Who would care?

Tap, tap, tap.

Kat wanted to scream. She sat up quickly and fixed the bird with a deadly stare but it continued tapping away at the glass and hooted. She threw her legs over the side of the bed and stomped over to the window, intent on pulling the curtains shut and blocking out the sight of the owl and hopefully muffling the noise it made. However, right when she reached the window, a second, larger, owl landed on the windowsill and began tapping on the glass as well. Kat groaned and angrily wrenched the window open, if anything to just stop the noise. The two owls flew silently into her room and perched on the back of her chair in front of her dresser. The first owl, the smaller of the two, held out his leg first to Kat. She gently took the letter from his offered leg and had every intent on chucking it out the window. As if sensing this, the bird nipped lightly at her fingers and glared at her. Kat sighed. Damn smart bird. She opened the letter. It was from Lily.

Dear Kat,

Oh my goodness, I can't believe this happened! Professor McGonagall just came to the common room and informed everyone to give you and James some space because you were dealing with a family tragedy. We had no idea what she was talking about, but I heard Nearly Headless Nick talking to one of the other ghosts about it. Your mother and father? That's just awful. If there's anything you need, anything at all, just let me know and I'll do it. Seriously, don't hesitate to ask. If you want, I'll send you all our assignments that we get this week so you can keep up on it. McGonagall said something about you not coming back to Hogwarts for a week.

I'm so, so sorry. All the girls send their love.

Love,

Lily

Kat felt no emotion as she read her friend's letter. She set it down on her bureau. I guess we'll be staying here for a week. The second owl held out its leg. She took the letter. This one was much longer.

Dear Miss Potter,

We express our deepest condolences for you lost. We were astounded when we heard the news that two such strong willed individuals were snatched from this life so quickly.

Blah, blah, blah. Kat skimmed most of the letter, trying to figure out what they wanted. There it was, at the very end.

They were doing a lot of great work for the Ministry. Perhaps you could give us access to their records so we can share with our staff some of their more noble campaigns.

Sincerely Yours,

Teldryn Sero

Head of Department of Magical Law Enforcement

Teldryn Sero wanted to know what the Potters had been doing when they had caught this "illness." He wanted to know what kind of spying they had done. Well Kat wasn't going to tell him. He could mind his own damn business.

Faintly, she could hear the sound of someone playing the piano. It was a sad, melancholic sound that made Kat want to curl up in bed and never leave her room again. Instead, she pulled a fluffy white bathrobe from her closet, stepped into her slippers again and wandered down the hall to the bathroom. She locked the door behind her and turned the shower on. Kat undressed and stood under the hot water and turned it on to the hottest setting she could endure. She stayed that way for maybe ten minutes, facing the oncoming gush of hot, steamy water with her eyes closed, focusing on her breathing and nothing else. She climbed out some thirty minutes later when the hot water began to run out, feeling less like a zombie. Thick clouds of steam billowed through the room and the mirror was so fogged up it could have been part of the wall. She could still hear the sound of someone playing the piano downstairs as she toweled dry and pulled the bathrobe tight around her. Slinging her wet hair up into a bun and sliding into the red slippers once more, Kat left the bathroom, leaving her clothes in a pile on the floor.

Kat eventually meandered down to the piano room where she found James, with his back to her, playing the piano. It had a sad, lonely tune to it, as if no one had bothered playing it in ages, which was true. James was the only one in the family who could really play the piano and they hadn't come home for Christmas, so the piano had been unused since the summer holidays. The thought made Kat sad.

Without a word, Kat crossed the wide room with its beautiful paintings and towering ceiling to sit on the piano bench next to her brother. He didn't acknowledge her presence, but just continued playing. He had his eyes closed, yet his fingers still knew where to go on the ivory keys. They stayed that way for a while until James finished the song he was playing. He opened his eyes and looked at Kat.

"Are you wearing a bathrobe?" he asked quietly, his brow furrowed slightly in confusion.

"Yes, James. Yes I am," Kat said, putting her nose in the air slightly. "It's comfortable and I don't want to move out of it."

"But is that all you're wearing?" James asked incredulously. Kat felt herself turn a slight shade of pink. James laughed a small, pathetic, disbelieving laugh, but Kat thought it was the most beautiful thing she had heard all day. If James could still laugh, maybe everything would be alright. Just maybe. "Where is Sirius?"

"The last time I saw him," said Kat, "he was in the kitchen eating." As she said these words, James' stomach let out an almighty growl. "Hungry, are you?"

His lips twitched up a bit in an attempted smile. "Maybe just a little."

"Well let's go get you some food, then." Kat stood up and started shuffling toward the door.

"Now hold up just a minute!" James jogged to catch up with her. "Sirius is probably going to be there."

"And?"

"And you must be daft if you think I'm going to let my sister walk in on a bloke while wearing nothing but a bathrobe."

"But James, it's so comfy! And it's only Sirius—"

"Exactly. It's Sirius," James stared seriously at her. "Who knows what he would do if you walk in practically naked."

"I am not naked," Kat muttered, but she could see his point. She was almost tempted to do it, just to see Sirius' reaction, but her playfulness dissipated when she remembered why they were in the house alone in the first place. Reluctantly she agreed to meet him in the kitchen after she changed.

James was wolfing down a Cornish pasty at the long dining room table when she finally found him. There was a platter in front of him that was stacked with more pasties along with a glass of dark amber liquid. Sirius was sitting across from him staring up at the ceiling, his face a complete mask. There was a letter lying open on the tablecloth in front of him and another glass of the same liquid James was drinking. Both boys looked up when Kat entered the room. She was redressed in her sweatpants and slid into the high backed chair next to James. He offered her a pasty but she shook her head—she had never felt less like eating.

"Dumbledore sent a letter," Sirius said, gesturing at the parchment before him. "He says, if we want, that we can return to the school tomorrow to pick up some things and that we have been excused for the next five days. We don't have to be back until Thursday."

"Are you going back?" Kat asked the pair of them.

Sirius shrugged. "I might. Just to pick up some clothes." He took a sip from his glass. Kat caught the strong whiff of alcohol. Fire whiskey. "James?"

James shrugged too but his mouth was too full to answer. He looked expectantly at Kat.

"Well, it would be nice maybe to get a few things. I want to get the pearls that Mum and Dad gave me for Christmas." Her eyes filled with tears again. Will I ever stop crying? Or will my body adapt and leave my heart to cry silently? She blinked rapidly to dispel the wetness from her eyes.

"Well if we do go, we should go soon and do it fast. That'll give them less of an opportunity to glean gossip from us," Sirius said, his eyes flashing. Kat didn't need to ask who they were. If anything Lily's letter had said was correct, the whole school would know about the deaths of the Potters and Kat didn't know if she could stand their sympathy or their nagging questions that were sure to erupt the first time she set foot in the castle again.

"M'not going," James said washing down his pasty with the last of his fire whiskey. He waved his wand and a bottle floated out of the liquor cabinet and poured James a new glass before settling with a soft thump on the table. Even though he wasn't using it for the most innocent purposes and never had, James' skill with magic was incredible. She herself still couldn't perform a single nonverbal spell.

"Well," Kat said, "I'll stay with you." James didn't say anything else, but shot back his whole glass in one gulp and winced. Kat frowned but didn't say anything to stop him. If James wanted to drown his sorrows in fire whiskey, Kat didn't want to be the one to stop him. "You can't be here all by yourself."

"I'll be back in a few hours at the most. It's nearly curfew anyway so I should only really have to deal with Gryffindors," Sirius said, rising from the table. He grabbed a bag that Kat hadn't seen. "Kat, can I talk to you for a second?"

Kat nodded and rose as well. James started work on another Cornish pasty. He didn't even say good-bye to Sirius. Kat followed Sirius into the kitchen to the giant hearth they had arrived there in.

"Keep an eye on him," Sirius said, with his back to her as he busied himself with taking spare quills and bits of parchment from his rucksack. "Make sure he doesn't do anything idiotic."

"I will," Kat said quietly, staring at the floor. She suddenly felt incredibly tired. She felt like she could sleep until the new millennium.

"Kat," Sirius said in a tone that made her look up. His face was closer to hers and his expression had softened. She could see the pain returning to his eyes. He didn't say anything else, but took her in his arms. Kat stiffened up, surprised by the sudden embrace, but she raised her arms and hugged him back. The whole day came rushing back to her then, in the comfort and support of Sirius' strong arms and she felt her resolve crack. Her eyes became wet again and her breathing ragged. She positively clung to Sirius, desperate for any bit of affection that could help her fight the battle with grief and despair. Her heart broke just a bit when Sirius broke the embrace. "I shouldn't be gone long," he said gruffly, turning around again.

"M'kay," Kat sniffed. She scuffed the stone floor with one of her slippers. "Sirius," she said softly.

"Hmm?"

She looked up into his grey eyes, a swirl of thoughts and emotions coursing through her mind. But she felt suddenly unsure how to put any of it into words. For some reason, Slughorn's Valentine's Day party leapt into her mind, but Kat pushed the stupid thought away. "Ask Lily to get some clothes together for me. And my pearls please, and Mr. Snowy," she said instead.

Sirius nodded. He took a handful of floo powder from the flowerpot on the mantle and threw it into the fire. "Albus Dumbledore's office," he said, stepping into the green flames. Kat stared into the fire he had just disappeared into and sighed deeply.

"Would the miss like to eat?" Buffy the house elf squeaked quietly.

Kat jumped at the noise; she had thought she and Sirius were alone in the kitchen. "No thank you, Buffy," she said. Kat figured it would be best if she went up to check on James. In one day, he had lost the people who had raised him and was now considered an orphan. He might very well do something stupid.

But James was in the exact same place as she had left him before, sitting at the long, dark dining room table, nursing a glass of fire whiskey. Kat took a glass out of the cabinet and sat in the seat Sirius had been using. She poured herself some fire whiskey and took a sip, staring at James. He didn't look up his eyes were glued to the blue patterned tablecloth. They sat in silence and drank together.

---

"Ah, Mister Black," Professor Dumbledore's voice greeted him when he zoomed out of the fireplace onto the carpet.

Sirius straightened and wiped the dust from his pants. "Professor," he said in greeting.

"I take it Miss Catherine and Mister James are well?"

"Of course they aren't," Sirius snapped, losing his temper. The look on Kat's face when he had left had nearly shredded him to bits and pieces and James would probably drink himself into a stupor. "They just lost both of their parents in one day. Why the hell would they be alright?" he balled his hands up into fists at his side.

"I know, I know," Dumbledore sighed, massaging his temples. He looked far older than Sirius had ever seen him. Each line and wrinkle stood out on his face more pronounced than ever and there was true sorrow behind his eyes. "I take it they sent you to gather their things for them?"

"I volunteered," he said stiffly. "I figured it would be better if I did it since they didn't want to face people. I can get their stuff and be back here in ten minutes."

"How kind of you. The school has been informed of their loss and has been asked to leave everyone involved alone, and that includes you. If you have any troubles—"

"I'll jinx them." Sirius turned on his heel and stormed out of Dumbledore's office. He took the steps two at a time. The corridors were dark and he could see the stars shining through the windows. The clouds that had been present earlier that day had cleared and he could see the moon floating peacefully in the inky black sky.

He didn't want to think about what had happened today, but, as what naturally happens, the only things that popped into his mind had to do with Alexander and Annalisa Potter and their children. Sirius wanted to punch something. Badly. He wanted to hex something into a million, billion pieces. He wanted to cry until the sun came up and maybe even until it went down again. Of all people to die, the Potters were the least deserving. They hadn't objected to his being friends with James back in first year, even though several other families had very little but spite and hatred for the Black family. Alexander and Annalisa had been delighted that their little boy had made such fast friends with another boy from school. When he, James, Peter, and Remus began running around their house all summer long, the Potters had invited all of the boys to stay for as long as they wanted, a few times he had spent the entire summer there and Sirius hadn't had to go home at all. And then, one of the greatest things they had ever done in Sirius' eyes, they had accepted a complete stranger into their household, just because she was homeless and alone. The Potters' adoption of Kat cemented their sainthood in Sirius' mind, and from that point forward, James' parents could do no wrong. When he had finally called it quits with his own failure of a family, he had anticipated only crashing at James' house for a few nights, a week at most. When they invited him to stay permanently, Sirius felt like crying with relief and love.

Love.

The first people he had ever loved were the Potters, all three of them, James, Alexander, and Annalisa. He had liked some of his relatives, like Andromeda, and even his brother Regulus at one point, but Andromeda was much older than him and had been excommunicated from the family, while Reg had turned into everything that Sirius hated about his family. The Potters became his real family, the ones to give him real presents on his birthday and at Christmas time, the ones who invited him over on holidays and actually liked having him around. His own parents had always raved and screeched about "blood traitors" like the Potter family, and Sirius had been apprehensive of their eleven-year-old son when he first boarded the Hogwarts Express all those years ago. But Alexander and Annalisa Potter had raised their son to be a wonderful, bright, friendly young boy, the complete opposite of what Sirius had expected and feared. His friendship with James had been the last straw for his mother, the straw that broke the hippogriff's back and made her hate him with all of her might.

But Alexander and Annalisa were gone now. Their bodies were growing cold in the study. Sirius leaned against a wall next to a suit of armor and tried to control his emotions. He took several deep breaths and forced everything else but his mission of clothes gathering back to the recesses of his mind, possibly never to be looked at again. Sirius hated emotional distress. He hated it.

He regained some of his normal, nonchalant disposition and continued on his way along the corridor. Nearly Headless Nick appeared about halfway down, floating up near the rafters.

"So terribly sorry to hear—"

"Can it, Nick," Sirius growled, increasing his pace.

"Well, I never! I was only trying to be considerate!" he heard Nick call from behind him, but Sirius ignored him.

Sirius stomped his way to the Gryffindor common room and refused to say anything at all to the Fat Lady except for the password. She had the same reaction as Nick ("Now really! Only trying to be courteous!") Sirius scanned the crowd in the common room until he found the redhead he was looking for. He pushed several fourth and third years out of the way as he stormed over to her.

"You, Evans," he growled.

Lily Evan's head shot up from the essay she was writing. Her expression changed from confusion to commiseration faster than Sirius had thought possible. "Hello, Black. How are you holding up?"

"Never mind that," he snapped. He wanted to get back to James and Kat as soon as possible. "I need you to go up to your dormitory and grab anything that you think Kat might need. She wants the pearls she got for Christmas, too. Don't forget her rabbit." Without waiting for Lily's response, Sirius turned on his heel and walked quickly up the stairs to his own dorm. Remus and Peter were inside talking quietly. Their heads snapped up when they heard his heels clicking on the stone.

"Padfoot!" Peter cried and jumped off his bed. "I can't believe—"

"I don't have time for this," Sirius said. He ripped open his trunk and started stuffing whatever clothes he grabbed hold of in. He did the same with James' trunk.

"Tell James and Kat—"

"Whatever, Remus."

"We're only trying to help, Sirius," Remus said coolly, glaring at Sirius with his eyes narrowed.

Sirius let his shoulders slump. "I know, I know," he said. "I just don't know what to do." He sat heavily on James' bed. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do, or how I'm supposed to act. All I do know is that I have to be strong for James and Kat." He looked up at his friends. "James has already started drinking and it only happened this morning."

Remus and Peter winced. "Is Kat—" Peter began.

"She's looking after James, but I don't want to leave the two of them alone for long. What if they need me?" He jumped off the bed and frantically started stuffing more clothing in his rucksack. He had bewitched it earlier so that it was bigger on the inside.

"Just be there for them, mate. It's all you can do," Remus said quietly. "And we're here for you too." He placed a hand on Sirius' shoulder and squeezed. "We're with you guys all the way, right Pete?" Peter nodded emphatically.

"Thanks guys," Sirius said, smiling for the first time that whole day. "I'll write you when I'm back and let you know how everything is." He sped back down to the common room and waited impatiently for Lily to come back.

She arrived with a small bag stuffed with clothes. She was holding Mr. Snowy's cage in her other hand and had a stack of textbooks stuffed under her arm. "In case she wants to distract herself from everything," Lily responded to his raised eyebrow.

"I highly doubt that she is going to want to do homework, Evans," Sirius said skeptically as he stuffed the bag she gave him into his rucksack. "But give me them anyway." Lily obligingly handed over the mass of books.

"Be kind to her, Sirius," Lily said softly. She didn't have to elaborate about who she was talking about. He already had that sickening swooping sensation in his stomach that he wasn't really sure he liked. It happened every time Kat was in the room with him or someone mentioned her. It was difficult to deal with.

"I could say the same thing to you about James," he said, steering into waters he knew better. If there was anything that he could take his anger out on, it was Lily Evans and the stubborn, rude way she treated his best mate.

"You and I both know that I've never gone out of my way to be cruel to James. If anyone is to blame, it's himself for being such a stupid prat all of the time and assuming that every girl falls head over heels for him," Lily said with a faint flush.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Spare me the lecture and hand over the rabbit. Come on!" He held his hand out for Mr. Snowy's cage. Lily handed him over reluctantly.

"Now you be careful with him!"

"Relax, Evans. I'm the one who gave him to Kat, remember? I have a way with animals." He pulled the rucksack onto his back and held the cage in his left hand. "Thanks," he said, patting Lily on the arm awkwardly.

"Anytime."

Sirius was just about to leave through the portrait hole when something tugged on his rucksack. He turned around and there was little Ernie Summers.

"Is Kat going to be alright?" He asked, his eyes over bright.

"Go away," Sirius snapped. He tried to leave again but Summers grabbed the rucksack again. What the hell is with this kid?

"You'd better be nice to her. If you make her cry, I'll—"

Sirius let out a roar and grabbed Summers by his shoulders and slammed him up against the wall. "Shut. Up." It took every ounce of his self-control not to punch the kid in the face and break his nose. What kind of person am I? This kid is only twelve or thirteen. As quick as it happened, Sirius let go and stormed out of the common room, hearing the hisses whispers behind him turn into loud conversations.

Trying hard to rein his emotions back in, Sirius began the trek back up to Dumbledore's office. It had been a very, very long time since he had lost control like that. It couldn't happen again, especially in front of Kat.

His head felt like it was swimming and each step became more difficult than the last. The rucksack, though enchanted to weigh a fraction of its actual load, was beginning to cut into his shoulders and even the light rabbit cage began to seem impossibly heavy. He was utterly exhausted when he made it back to the griffin statue. "Fizzing Whizbee!" The statue sprang to life and allowed Sirius to pass and begin climbing stairs up to the headmaster's office. He knocked once on the door before letting himself in. Dumbledore was still sitting behind his desk where Sirius had last seen him. He barely looked up when Sirius entered. He merely gestured to the floo powder that they had used early in the day to make it to St. Mungo's.

"Take care of them, Sirius," Dumbledore said softly. Sirius looked at him in surprise. He had never heard him speak so kindly. Usually when he saw Dumbledore, it was because he was being reprimanded for some bout of rule breaking. Now, however, Dumbledore sounded like a grandfather telling his grandson to watch out for his brothers and sisters. It unnerved him a little.

"Potter Manor!" Sirius told the flames as he stepped in. Professor Dumbledore's office disappeared in a spinning blur. A moment later, Sirius was back in the Potters' kitchen, staring around at the dozens of pots and pans that hung from the ceiling.

He found James and Kat in the dining room. James had his head resting among the Cornish pasties on the platter and was snoring heavily, a half empty glass of fire whiskey just out of reach. Kat was sitting in the chair opposite from him, sipping from her own glass and swaying slightly. She looked up at him with her big, green eyes that had a sort of misty quality about them. Great, she's drunk too. He sighed, gently placed Mr. Snowy's cage on the table, and dropped the rucksack to the floor with a dull thud.

"Help me with him, would you?" He asked, gesturing at James. Kat nodded and together they managed to hoist James up between them. Trying hard not to roll his eyes at the way James was snoring loudly, Sirius began steering them out of the dining room and to the main staircase. Sirius stared doubtfully up the stairs as he and Kat supported James. No way we make it up there. He pulled out his wand, pointed it at James, and muttered, "Windgardium leviosa." He began floating a few centimeters off the ground and Sirius told Kat that she could let go of him. He guided James up the stairs, holding his wand in front of him like a conductor's baton. The tips of James' trainers gently brushed the stairs as they ascended. They continued down the hall after that and Sirius kept the spell going until James was floating above his bed. He cut the spell and James fell into an ungraceful heap on top of his pillows and blankets, still snoring loudly. Sirius took his shoes and glasses off for him, putting his shoes on the floor at the foot of the bed and his glasses on the bedside table. Then he backed out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

He leaned heavily against the frame with his eyes closed, forcing himself to stay awake. When he opened them, Kat was standing on the landing in her cute, red slippers, staring at him.

"C'mon, you need to get to bed too," Sirius grabbed her hand and led her down to the other end of the hallway to where her room was. He opened the door for her and helped her into bed. She closed her eyes as soon as she was snuggled under the blankets and he thought that she had fallen asleep already. He turned to leave.

"Please don't go."

He turned around. Kat's eyes were still shut but there was a slight crease on her forehead. "Go to sleep, Kat. I'll be just down the hall, across from James. Come and get one of us if you need anything."

"Please, don't go," she pleaded again. "I don't want to be alone." Her eyes were open now and they were staring at him, imploringly.

I'm too bloody nice. "Alright, you win. I'll stay for a little while." He made to sit in the chair in front of her dresser but she stopped him.

"No, come here." She patted the empty space in her bed. "There's enough room for the two of us. And even extra pillows." She was right. The bed was large enough to fit four people comfortably and there were all manner of pillows lying about on the side she was gesturing to.

"Kat, you don't know what you're saying. You had too much to drink tonight. I'll sit right here in this chair, alright?" He sat down tiredly, wanting more than anything to crawl into his own bed that was on the other end of the hall.

"Please? I'm scared I'll have bad dreams."

Fine. As long as I can sleep. "Alright, you win," he said again. He kicked off his shoes and climbed into bed as far from Kat as he could get. This is not going to be comfortable. "Good night, Kat," he said into the darkness.

There was a shuffle of blankets and suddenly she was right there next to him. "Good night, Sirius." She let all of her breath out in a long exhale and was asleep immediately.

Sirius thought that he would lie awake for hours, listening to the sound of her breathing and dreading the morning when James would wonder where he and Kat were, dreading the morning when they would have to face the first day with the loss of Alexander and Annalisa. Instead, he drifted off to sleep right after Kat.

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To be continued! Reviews put the stars in my sky! (Well that was a cheesy one...)

~neelie415