A/N - Angsty times ahead, I'm afraid. This chapter has a violence warning, as you can probably tell from the title. Nothing overly graphic, though. We'll be strictly in flashbacks for the next couple of chapters, as this is the beginning of the end of the first story arc. Enjoy and leave me your thoughts!
Chapter 12
Attack
7 March 1978
Catherine walked down the corridor towards her study room. She still had half an hour before she was supposed to meet Sirius, her meeting in the library having finished up early. She was working on a group project for Arithmancy with Myra and two other students and they had just finished their last bit of research. Catherine decided to finish up on her Potions essay in the room before Sirius arrived.
Making her way down the corridor, she frowned as she heard whispering and a scuffling noise around the corner ahead. She hid behind the same suit of armor she had the previous year when she had overheard Sirius and Peter talking about the full moon and listened. There seemed to be a few people around the corner, at least she could make out a few different voices, although not what they were saying. Both girls and boys she noted as she listened intently. Still, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't make out more than a few words here and there. She thought someone said something about hiding and she could have sworn she heard the word disillusionment, but the rest was just mutterings and whispers. She risked a glance around the corner and saw what looked like six people standing in the corridor directly in front of her study room door.
They all had cloaks on with hoods and Catherine frowned wondering what they were doing. One stepped a bit ahead of the rest and pointed their wand at the door. Catherine could hear muttering and figured they must be trying to open the door to her room, but why, she couldn't figure out. When the door remained tightly shut, another person stepped forward pushing the first one back. The second figure was most certainly a boy, if his height and build were any indication. Catherine pulled her head back behind the suit of armor. They were obviously trying to get into her study room, but she was unsure if they knew it was hers or if they were just curious as to what was behind the door. Her brow furrowed in puzzlement at the cloaks and hoods, however. If they were merely curious, why would they be dressed that way? And why were there so many of them? She supposed they could have all been together and just happened upon the room, although that seemed highly unlikely and it still didn't explain their dress.
As she was thinking, Catherine leaned back against the wall and didn't notice as her foot bumped the handle of the spear the suit of armor was holding. It teetered in the air for a moment, and before Catherine even really realized what was happening, it crashed to the floor.
"What was that?" someone from around the corner hissed and Catherine gasped in a breath and looked around wildly for somewhere to hide. Suits of armor lined the walls of the corridor she was in, but she would be easily seen trying to hide behind one of them. She began to move back out into the corridor, intending to run for it, when two people came around the corner. The corridor was shadowy, there weren't as many torches down here as there were in more heavily travelled parts of the castle, and with their hoods up, Catherine could not see their faces, but she was almost certain they were boys.
She forced herself to stand her ground and take a breath, looking innocently at the two people in front of her. She opened her mouth to say something when the other four people came around the corner.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" a voice said, as one of the shorter people came to stand in front of the group. A girl, then. "Spying on us, were you?"
"No," Catherine replied. "I was just taking a walk and accidentally ran into the suit of armor. Why, are you doing something that you shouldn't be?" Catherine thought that if she should keep the girl talking, maybe she would recognize her voice.
"Never mind what we were doing," the girl spat, moving a few steps closer to Catherine. Her face was still in shadow, despite the torch shining almost directly on her and Catherine realized with a start that they must have cast some sort of spell to hide their faces. Her heart began to beat faster as she realized how much trouble she was really in. Her hand gripped her wand in her pocket.
"Scared, mudblood?" the girl whispered, closer still to Catherine and Catherine forced herself to stay where she was.
"Look, I don't know who you are or what you're doing, but I'm supposed to be meeting someone here any minute, so if you'll just let me by," Catherine made to move around the girl, but she grabbed Catherine's arm, holding her tightly.
"You're not going anywhere," the girl said and glanced back at the rest of her group. "Looks like we need to teach someone not to poke their nose where it doesn't belong." A few of the group grumbled and shifted nervously, but when the girl whipped her head back towards them, they all stilled. Clearly she was the leader of this, whatever it was.
"Forget it, go back to what you were doing. I didn't see anything. I'll just go back to my common room," Catherine said, getting desperate now. She yanked on her arm, but the girl was stronger and held fast. Two more people from the group began to creep closer to them and Catherine's hand tightened shakily around her wand.
The girl holding her began to laugh and soon the rest of the group joined in. The girl turned her head back toward the group and Catherine realized that this was her chance. Drawing her wand as quickly as she could, she yelled, "Stupefy" and pointed it at the group of people. She caught two of the onlookers with the spell and they both flew backwards, landing against the wall. The girl holding her whipped back around and drew her own wand, pointing it at Catherine's face.
"You'll regret that," she growled. In her surprise, she had let go of Catherine's arm and Catherine whirled to flee when a spell caught her in the back. The force of it slammed her into the opposite wall and she heard a crunch from her midsection as she crumpled to the floor. Gasping in pain, she pointed her wand over her shoulder back towards the group and yelled out "Petrificus Totalus" and then a "Protego" around herself . Hearing a grunt, she figured she had hit someone, but if the spell had connected fully, she couldn't tell. She crawled toward the wall, trying to pull herself up into a standing position. When she was finally on her feet, she turned back, wondering why no one had thrown any other spells her way. In that instant, three spells crashed into her shield, shattering it. The shield held two at bay, but the third slammed her into the stone wall again, sideways this time, and with enough force that she knew her leg had broken. Her temple also made contact with the rough stone and she felt blood begin to run down her cheek as she crumpled to the floor once again.
The girl who had been holding her arm earlier, pointed her wand and called out "expelliarmus" and Catherine felt her wand fly out of her hand. She slumped back on the floor, each breath she took causing her severe pain, her sight fuzzy and muddled from the blow to her head. Oh god, where was Sirius? Catherine began to shake as the girl who had disarmed her loomed over her.
"Not so sure of yourself now, are you mudblood?" the girl taunted, twirling Catherine's wand between her fingers. "What should we do with her?" the girl called out to her companions, then grinned wickedly at Catherine.
"Just leave her and let's go before someone else shows up," one of the boys said and through her haze of pain, Catherine could see the rest of the group glancing around the corridor nervously. One, she saw in triumph, was hanging over the shoulders of their friends, the result of her stupefy, Catherine thought.
"Leave her?" the girl practically screamed. "We've barely even begun to punish her."
"Yeah, well, I don't fancy being sent to Azkaban," another boy said. The girl in front of Catherine snorted.
"You are such an infant," she said. "Fine go, I'll take care of her myself." She turned back to Catherine and Catherine felt as if she could see the madness rolling off of the girl in waves. Two of the group began to sidle off, one with an injured friend still around his shoulders. The other two looked warily around, but did not leave the corridor. The girl leaned back down over Catherine, who was finding it harder and harder to take a breath.
"Let's see how your little boyfriend likes you with a big gash across your face," she hissed as she moved her wand down the side of Catherine's cheek, opening up a bleeding line in its wake. Catherine gasped in a breath and nearly screamed with the pain of it. Ribs, she thought, I broke ribs. She tried to concentrate on the girl's words, figure out what they meant, but her mind was clouded with pain and she couldn't seem to focus on anything.
"Well, you've got a much higher tolerance for pain than I gave you credit for, I'll give you that," the girl said as she walked around Catherine slowly, as if studying her. "I suppose I'll have to go for the big one then." Catherine began to shake her head weakly, knowing what was coming, but unable to do anything to stop it.
"Crucio!" the girl yelled and then all Catherine felt was pain. Unending, excruciating, agonizing, unbearable pain. Her mouth opened to scream, but no sound escaped and somewhere in the part of her mind that was still functioning, Catherine knew that someone else had put a silencing spell on her.
"Are you completely mental?" one of the boys yelled as the pain finally, blissfully, ended. "Do you want to bring the whole castle down on us?"
"Shut up!" the girl screamed and then turned back toward Catherine. "Cruc-", but the boy grabbed her arm before she could finish the incantation and pulled her away.
"Someone's coming," he hissed. "Come on!" The girl shrieked and muttered something and Catherine felt her body slam into the wall once more. There was a pop and she felt as if all of the air had been pushed forcefully from her lungs and then nothing but blackness.
As her mind became aware, Catherine heard voices. Before she could distinguish what they were saying, however, a wave of pain crashed over her and she gasped. And then she felt as if she couldn't get enough air, like she was choking. She began to try and pull in breath after breath, gasping with the pain, but beginning to panic without enough air.
"Catherine, calm down, breathe slowly," a familiar voice said and Catherine opened her eyes to find Remus Lupin kneeling beside her. Catherine opened her mouth to try and say his name, but it came out in a jumble and he took her hand, squeezing it gently. "It's all right, Lily went for help, just breathe." Catherine tried to focus on his face, but the pain was so great, her eyes kept rolling back into her head.
"Catherine, Catherine!" she heard him shout and she tried to look at him, tried very hard to concentrate, to make herself pay attention, but she hurt, everywhere, and she couldn't breathe and then the panic set in once again. She looked back towards Remus, her eyes wild, and he put a hand to her face and she grimaced because that hurt too, her cheek, the cut and her leg and her chest and the pain and then all was black again.
When she awoke the next time, she saw a worried Madame Pomfrey kneeling beside her. The pain was still there, but it had lessened a bit, enough that she could focus. She looked round and Remus and Lily were standing at her feet, Lily's face hidden in Remus' chest, her shoulders shaking as if she were crying. Remus looked murderous and when Catherine groaned, she heard him swear under his breath. Catherine gasped again as pain pierced her side and she grabbed for the medi-witch's sleeve.
"Can't….breathe," she managed to pant out and Madame Pomfrey's eyes narrowed.
"Yes, that will be the ribs," the healer said and Catherine's eyes widened. "It's all right, Catherine, just take small, calm breaths. Like this." Madame Pomfrey began to demonstrate and Catherine tried to match her breathing, eventually calming down enough to do it. "That's right, very good." The nurse turned to Remus and Lily. "I need you to fetch Professor Flitwick and Professor Dumbledore and bring them to the hospital wing. I'm sure the Headmaster will have questions for you." Remus nodded and pulled Lily away from him, who wiped her face and sped down the corridor toward Professor Flitwick's office. Remus turned to follow when Sirius came racing around the corner. He stopped short and his mouth dropped open at the sight of Catherine lying on the ground in a pool of blood, Madame Pomfrey by her side. He began to run towards her when Remus stopped him.
"Padfoot, wait," Remus said, struggling with his friend.
"Let me go Moony, let me go to her," Sirius yelled.
"Let Madame Pomfrey do what she needs to and get her to the hospital wing," Remus said calmly still holding Sirius back.
"Moony, let me go," Sirius roared and he yanked an arm from Remus and pulled his wand on his friend. Catherine began to cry, her breath coming in gasps again and Madame Pomfrey jumped up, pulling her own wand.
"Stop this, immediately," the matron fumed, glaring at Sirius. "Mr. Black, you are not helping anything. Do as Mr. Lupin says or I will bar you from the hospital wing." Sirius looked at Catherine, his eyes wild, breathing heavily. His shoulders slumped as Remus put an arm around him and he brought a hand to his face.
"Come on Padfoot," Remus said gently and Sirius let his friend lead him a short distance away from Catherine. He watched, anguish in his eyes, as the medi-witch worked over Catherine, then conjured a stretcher and levitated her up into the air. She began to walk briskly down the corridor, Sirius and Remus following closely behind. Sirius' eyes never left Catherine's as they made their way toward the hospital wing.
"Sirius, I have to get Professor Dumbledore," Remus said as they reached the corridor which would take Remus to the Headmaster's office. "Are you going to be all right?"
"What?" Sirius turned to Remus distractedly. "Oh, yeah, fine. Go ahead." Remus looked at him in concern, but turned down the corridor he needed to just the same. After Remus had gone, Sirius sped up and came up on the other side of Catherine. He glanced at Madame Pomfrey, but she simply gave him a hard stare, then nodded her head shortly. Sirius reached down and took Catherine's hand, bringing it to his lips.
"You're going to be all right," he said, as much to convince himself as her.
"Sirius," Catherine breathed. "Hurts." Tears began to make their way down her face once more.
"I know love, I know," he whispered, not really caring that they had an audience. "But Madame Pomfrey is going to take good care of you. She'll fix you right up in no time, you'll see." The trio had reached the hospital wing and Madame Pomfrey directed the stretcher to one of the beds, laying Catherine down on it and vanishing the stretcher. Sirius still held onto her hand and the medi-witch looked at him in sympathy.
"Mr. Black, you'll need to wait over there," she said, pointing to another bed. "I need to examine her." Sirius nodded and kissed Catherine's knuckles once more.
"I'll be right here waiting, love," he said quietly and brushed a hair off her forehead and Catherine gave him a weak smile. As he turned and walked away from the bed, Madame Pomfrey put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. She pulled the screens around the bed and turned to Catherine.
"All right my dear, let's get you fixed up, shall we."
When Catherine awoke for the final time, she was alone and the screens had been removed. She looked down and saw there was some kind of splint on her leg. It was a little sore, but it didn't hurt too badly. She brought a hand up to her head, which was still pounding a bit and felt the sore spot on her temple where she had hit the wall, wincing at the pain, a slight wave of nausea overtaking her for a moment. When it had passed, she realized she could breathe a little easier and felt her side, which was tender but intact apparently.
There must have been some kind of charm on her bed, for no sooner had she finished her inspection of herself than Madame Pomfrey was hustling to her bedside.
"Ah, Miss Powell, you're awake I see," the matron smiled at her and Catherine weakly smiled back. Madame Pomfrey ran a diagnostic spell over her. "The ribs are healing up nicely and your leg should be fine in another day or two also. The ribs punctured one of your lungs, but I've repaired that as well. That was why you were having trouble breathing. You do have a concussion so you'll still have to rest for a few days." Catherine brought a hand to her cheek, remembering the cut she'd been given. "Don't worry about that either. It was fresh enough that it healed rather quickly. There will probably be a scar, but it will be very faint, barely noticeable." The medi-witch smiled at her again and patted her shoulder. "I've given you a pain potion, but if you need another, you just let me know, all right?"
Catherine nodded and then took an experimental breath. When she could do so without pain, she took a deeper one. There was a slight twinge, but nothing near the pain that she had felt before. She sighed in relief and smiled at Madame Pomfrey.
"Professor Dumbledore would like to speak with you, if you feel up to it," the matron said and Catherine nodded again. Madame Pomfrey walked to the door of her office and a few moments later, the Headmaster and Professor Flitwick entered the ward.
"Miss Powell, are you quite all right?" her head of house squeaked, coming to stand on a chair near her bedside.
"I'll be okay Professor," Catherine said smiling.
"I'm so very sorry about this, child," Professor Flitwick said, laying a hand on her arm.
"As am I Miss Powell, as am I," Professor Dumbledore said, with a grave expression on his face, his customary twinkle gone from his eye. "Can you tell me what happened my dear?" Catherine took a deep breath and relayed everything that had happened once she entered the corridor.
"And are you quite sure that you didn't recognize any of your attackers?" Professor Dumbledore asked when she had finished.
"No sir, I think they used some kind of spell that shadowed their faces," Catherine said. "I couldn't even see them when they were standing in the light." Dumbledore and Flitwick exchanged a look.
"Are you sure that they weren't wearing masks, my dear?" Professor Flitwick asked her and Catherine looked at him curiously.
"I don't think so, sir," she replied. "It didn't look like a mask to me. When I looked into their hoods, it just looked like blackness." The two men nodded.
"Did you recognize any of their voices?" Professor Dumbledore asked.
"Not really," Catherine replied, frowning. "There was one that I thought I should recognize, the girl's. But the more I try and grasp it, the further away from me it seems to slip. I know that at least three of them were boys and the one was a girl. I'm not sure about the other two." She looked up at the headmaster apologetically.
"That's quite all right Miss Powell, quite all right," Professor Dumbledore assured her. "Perhaps it will come back to you in time. As it is quite late, I will have Professor Flitwick notify your parents of what has happened in the morning."
"Oh no sir, please, don't do that," Catherine said in alarm, sitting up in her bed and wincing at the stab of pain it caused and then feeling another wave of nausea wash over her.
"Calm down, child," Professor Flitwick said, gently pushing Catherine back against the pillows of her bed. "You'll reinjure yourself."
"Please, sir, please don't tell my parents," Catherine begged, a tear sliding down her cheek.
"I'm sorry, Miss Powell, but it is the school's policy to notify the family when a student has been so gravely injured," the headmaster replied, looking at her curiously.
"But I'm fine sir," she protested. "Honest."
"Catherine, surely you would like to have your parents here with you," Professor Flitwick said, confusion on his face.
"It's just, they won't…my father, he," Catherine sighed, knowing she wouldn't be able to explain it properly. "Never mind."
"I'm sure everything will be fine," Professor Flitwick said, patting her arm again. Catherine said nothing.
"If you remember anything else, please notify me at once," Professor Dumbledore said, still looking at Catherine curiously.
"Yes, sir," she responded. The two teachers nodded at her and left, talking quietly to each other as they walked out of the infirmary. Madame Pomfrey came in a few minutes later to give Catherine another potion for her broken leg and ribs, which tasted awful. She then explained that there was a charm on her bed and should Catherine need anything during the night, the matron would know about it. Catherine nodded and the medi-witch left. The lights were doused a few minutes later, a single torch left burning low for a bit of light in the ward. Catherine lay in her bed in silence, worrying about what would happen when her father found out.
"I thought she'd never go to bed," she heard a voice say in the darkness.
"Sirius," she whispered, the tears instantly coming to her eyes. He sat down on her bed, taking her hand in his and kissing the back of it.
"Don't cry, love," he said quietly, which only made her cry harder. "Shh, now, shh," he said. "You don't want Madame Pomfrey coming back in here do you?" She shook her head and stopped her tears, taking in a deep breath and feeling that twinge again. At the tightening of her mouth, Sirius looked at her concerned, but she shook her head and took his hand again.
"Stay with me, please," she begged, looking up at him with glistening eyes.
"Of course I will," he said, shifting so he was lying down beside her in the bed. She moved and laid her head on his shoulder and he put an arm around her and began to play with her hair. "Do you know who it was?" he asked quietly, but she could hear the anger in his voice.
"No," she said. "They used some kind of darkening spell or something so I couldn't see their faces." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Whoever it was though, really hates me. Well, the one at least."
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"The one that I knew was a girl, she did all of the talking and threw most of the spells," Catherine said. "She even," Catherine broke off and shuddered. Sirius propped himself up on one elbow and looked down at her.
"What did she do?" he asked in the carefully measured tones that Catherine knew to mean he was very close to the edge of exploding. Catherine shook her head and looked away from him. But, he took her chin gently in his hand and turned her to face him. "Tell me," he said through gritted teeth.
"Cruciatus," Catherine whispered and Sirius jumped out of the bed, pacing back and forth, running hands through his hair and muttering under his breath. Catherine lay quietly for a few moments, then her lip began to tremble when he didn't return. "Sirius," she choked out after another few seconds and his head whipped around towards her. At the look on her face, he was at her side in an instant, climbing back into the bed and pulling her back towards him. She sobbed into his chest and he ran a hand down her back and shushed her, kissing her cheek and murmuring to her until she quieted.
"You should go," she said quickly when she had calmed down.
"Why?" he asked incredulously.
"Because I'm sure after that display Madame Pomfrey will be rushing back in here to see what's wrong with me," Catherine said.
"I don't give a damn if she catches me here," Sirius insisted. "I'm not leaving you." Catherine tried to protest, but he silenced her with a kiss and she settled back into his chest.
"I don't understand," she said quietly after a few minutes of silence.
"Don't understand what, love?" he asked, kissing her forehead.
"How anyone could hate me that much," she whispered, clutching his side. "What have I done?" and her tears began to fall once more.
"You haven't done anything," he said soothingly, rubbing her back again. "It's prejudice, pure and simple. It's not your fault and don't go blaming yourself for it." Catherine clung to him trying not to think about what had happened.
"My wand," she said suddenly, trying to sit up but trapped by Sirius' arm. "She took it. She took my wand!" She was angrier about this than she had been about anything else that happened. Sirius released her and she sat up in the bed, frustrated that she couldn't get up and pace like Sirius had because of her leg. "She's got my bloody wand Sirius!" she nearly shouted and Sirius threw up a quick silencing spell.
"Shh, Catherine," he admonished, amazed that Madame Pomfrey had not yet made an appearance. "She doesn't have your wand."
"How do you know?" Catherine demanded. "She disarmed me."
"Because Remus said that your wand was lying next to you when he and Lily found you," Sirius replied. "He picked it up and then he gave it to Professor Dumbledore when the professor asked about it. Something about checking it for spells." Sirius waved a hand as if to say he didn't know what it all meant.
"Will you tell me what happened? When Remus and Lily found me?" she asked and he nodded. They settled back against the pillows, Sirius cancelling the charm.
"Remus and Lily had been working on something with Professor Slughorn," Sirius said. "They were headed back to the tower and there's a shortcut down the corridor past the study room, so that's where they were going. They heard someone yell something and then a girl yelled shut up and then a shriek. They started running and when they came round the corner, they saw you lying there." His grip momentarily tightened around her shoulder. "Merlin, Lily said, she said she thought you were dead at first." He shuddered and Catherine turned her head and kissed him. He took a deep breath. "Moony knew you weren't and he sent Lily for Madame Pomfrey. He healed that cut on your face, by the way. He's had lots of self-practice." Catherine grimaced.
"I woke up for a few minutes when he was there," she said, remembering Remus' words to try and keep her calm. Sirius nodded.
"He told me," he said. "When you passed out, he was really scared that you wouldn't wake up again, he knew you could barely breathe, but then Madame Pomfrey got there."
"So they didn't see anyone?" Catherine asked and Sirius shook his head. His mouth had gone into a tight line and there was hardness in his eyes that Catherine rarely saw. "What is it?" she asked. Sirius just shook his head and looked away from her. "Sirius," she prodded and he jumped up from the bed again and rounded on her.
"I was late, all right?" he ground out, his voice rising in his anger. "I was late and if I hadn't been this wouldn't have happened. I should have been there!" He was shouting and Catherine was gesturing at him to be quiet when she heard a door open and her face fell knowing they were about to be caught. Sirius seemed not to have noticed because he turned to her with complete anguish in his eyes and stumbled towards the bed. "I should have been there," he whispered, dropping to his knees and burying his face in her lap. Catherine leaned forward and kissed the back of his head, running her hands through his hair. His shoulders were shaking when Catherine saw movement at the foot of her bed and Madame Pomfrey's irate face came into view. Catherine looked at her pleadingly, continuing to rub Sirius' head and the matron crossed her arms, her lips in a tight line. She finally sighed and shook her head, then turned. She glanced back and Catherine mouthed a thank you to her and then turned her attention back to Sirius.
"Sirius, it's not your fault," Catherine said quietly, as she stroked his hair. "It's no more your fault than it is mine. Besides, even if you'd been there, it might not have mattered. There were six of them Sirius." He gripped her hips more tightly at her reminder of just how unfair the odds had been. After a few shuddering breaths, he looked up at her, tears still staining his face. She put a hand to his cheek and rested her forehead against his.
"Stop it," she said. "Please." He looked at her for a few moments before he nodded and then kissed her.
"I'm sorry," he whispered as he took her face gently in his hands. He ran a finger down the now fading cut on her cheek and kissed the bruise on her temple. He ran his hands lightly down her sides and she shivered, then he bent and placed a kiss on her leg where it was splinted. "I'm sorry," he said again when he looked up at her.
"There's nothing to forgive," she said, kissing him softly on the lips. At that moment, Madame Pomfrey approached the bed once again.
"Mr. Black," she said sharply and Sirius straightened up quickly. "While I appreciate the fact that you are concerned about Miss Powell, I must insist that you return to your dormitory. The hospital wing is not a love nest." Catherine covered her mouth to stifle a giggle, her face reddening. Sirius simply smiled and swept into a deep bow.
"Madame Pomfrey, I apologize and beg your forgiveness," he said, giving her his best wolfish grin. The medi-witch just rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"Five minutes, Mr. Black," she said and then turned and went back into her office.
"She's in love with me," Sirius said, waggling his eyebrows, once the matron had disappeared and Catherine snorted.
"In your dreams, Black," Catherine replied, slapping him lightly on the shoulder.
"You know, five minutes is a rather long time," he said, leaning forward and kissing her again. She smiled against his mouth and kissed him back, then pushed him lightly away from her.
"Go," she said. "Before she comes back and hexes you."
"Are you sure you'll be all right?" he asked in concern.
"I'll be fine," Catherine insisted, kissing him lightly. "Now go and don't get caught by Filch on the way back."
"Filch?" Sirius asked incredulously. "You wound me Cat, you wound me." He brought a hand to his heart theatrically.
"Go, you big idiot," she said laughing.
"Ah, but I'm your idiot," he said, kissing her once more. Catherine shook her head as he turned and walked out of the room, winking at her over his shoulder as he left. When he was gone, Madame Pomfrey came back to Catherine's bed, clucking her tongue and helping Catherine get back into bed properly.
"Those boys will be the death of me one day," the matron said as she pulled Catherine's blankets back up over her. But she had a smile on her face when she said it.
"Thank you," Catherine said, as Madame Pomfrey finished fussing over her. "For letting him stay. I'm sorry that we woke you."
"My dear, I knew the moment that boy came into the ward tonight," the medi-witch said, patting Catherine's hand. "Had I not seen the look on his face when he first saw you in the corridor, I never would have believed it."
"Believed what?" Catherine asked in confusion.
"That he's completely in love with you, of course," Madame Pomfrey replied and Catherine blushed. "If you breathe a word of this to anyone, I will swear that you were delirious on potions at the time, but I'm not so old that I have forgotten what romance is like. I let the two of you have a few moments, until I heard Mr. Black yelling. As the Headmaster always says, there's always a need for a little more love in the world. Especially in times such as these." She patted Catherine's cheek and smiled at her. "And don't worry, your secret is safe with me. Sleep well my dear."
"Thank you Madame Pomfrey," Catherine replied, closing her eyes and moving into a somewhat comfortable position. She was asleep within moments.
Catherine was running, a hooded figure chasing after her. She turned corner after corner, but none of the corridors she was in ever led anywhere. The person behind her fired off spells now and then, Catherine ducking or moving to the side to avoid being hit. When the person began to laugh, a high-pitched cackling sort of sound, Catherine's breath caught. She knew that laugh, she'd heard it before, she just couldn't remember where. But she knew she needed to get away from whoever it was. Turning another corner, Catherine sobbed as she realized that she had run into a dead end. Turning around quickly, she judged the distance between herself and her unknown assailant, trying to decide if she could escape back the way she had come and find another corridor. Before she had made a decision, the person in the hood came around the corner. Catherine backed up against the wall behind her and pulled her wand. She wouldn't go down without a fight, at least.
The two shot spells at each other, before Catherine was finally hit with a cutting hex to her shoulder and fell to the ground in pain. Before she could recover, the hooded figure stood looming over her.
"Scared, mudblood?" the figure asked and Catherine drew in a sharp breath. Then the person began to laugh and said "Avada Kedavra". As the green light flew towards her, the figure took down their hood and Catherine gasped in recognition as the spell hit her and all went black.
