Chapter 22

The Changing Staircases

oOo

"I am glad to hear it all went smoothly," McGonagall said, once Kasia returned to Hogwarts in January and met with her in her office. "And you found the robes useful?"

"Definitely. Thank you, Professor." Kasia hesitated. "Um. So, James, Demi, and Kasia insisted on helping Harry Potter and the others…"

McGonagall smiled wryly. "Why am I not surprised?"

"And, um… Teddy found all these old photos in the Potters' attic on the holidays. Of his dad, and James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius Black."

McGonagall's eyes tightened.

"I don't know if you know this, but the three of them—all besides Remus, I mean—became unregistered Animagi to help Remus with his transformations."

"I know."

Kasia was taken aback. "You…do?"

McGonagall gave a rare smile. "I'm not sure how they managed to convince themselves I wouldn't find out, being an Animagus myself. How could I miss them holding a mandrake leaf under their tongues for an entire month?" She shook her head. "They had their classmates convinced they'd taken a vow of silence in protest of homework, or to raise awareness of the value their jokes added to Hogwarts… Their answers changed each time, written on those silly little blackboards they carried around." To Kasia's surprise, McGonagall gave a small laugh. "Not to mention Mister Black would dramatically yell, 'Oh deer, looks like you're in trouble again' every time I gave James a detention."

Kasia laughed. "Sounds like James and Fred."

McGonagall nodded. "Mister Potter reminds me of his namesake all too often. What were you going to say?"

"So, one of the photos Teddy found reminded me of my friends, when they came to visit me in the Hospital Wing, and…well, in first year, when they found out, they thought it'd be a great idea to try and become Animagi."

"I see."

"I'm just worried… all three of them are so good at Transfiguration. Even Demi, when she tries. What if me having to transform without the Wolfsbane Potion makes them want to try again? And this time…what if they succeed?"

"Remember, Miss Days, that Professor Slughorn is returning this year. It takes much longer than a few months to become an Animagus. However. If Mister Potter or Mister Weasley—or Miss Woods, if she begins to apply herself—are interested in becoming Animagi the legal way, it is a possibility for advanced Transfiguration students. I, myself, became one during my years at Hogwarts."

Kasia's mouth fell open. "Professor… please don't tell them that."

"Are you afraid they'll do it?"

"It's too much."

"It is up to them, Miss Days. And it is not unlike Gryffindors to do anything to help one of their own."

Kasia nodded, and stood to leave. She turned at the door. "Oh, James will kill me if I don't ask. We found a photo of Remus, Sirius, and Peter with a stag in the Gryffindor common room that was labelled That time we smuggled the wrong stag back into the common room. Do you know the story behind it?"

McGonagall bristled. "Those boys…"

oOo

The day after their return to Hogwarts was another Hogsmeade trip, and James' second date with Yasmine. Kasia had to be careful not to growl under her breath throughout the day, especially when she saw James hold his hand out for Yasmine to exit the carriage they'd taken in front of Kasia, Demi, and Fred. When her feet touched the ground, James leaned forward and kissed her.

Fred started. "Merlin's beard, Kasia, that noise is frightening."

So maybe she didn't always contain her growls. Demi gave her a knowing look, and Fred began to steer them both towards Honeydukes.

For most of the day, they relaxed, ate sweets and drank butterbeer, and enjoyed the day, despite the vicious cold and thick snow. Kasia ignored far too much of Demi and Fred's bickering, which was beginning to get personal much faster than usual, and instead focused on the new watch Marvell had given her.

The glass casing of the face was thick enough for the three parts of the watch: one with hovering, Victorian-era-style hands to show the time. Another was a compass, and the third was a globe of the moon, at the moment almost completely shrouded in a cloudy shadow, with only a thin slivered crescent on the left side. The three components were set against an interstellar background, braced with rose-gold lines.

There were far more teachers around than usual due to the threat of Silverback. They were about to leave the Three Broomsticks, when Yasmine and James came in, hands entwined and cheeks flushed from the cold. James pointed to his friends, and they came and sat down.

"Don't mind if we join you, do you?" Yasmine said with a wide smile.

"Actually—" Kasia began, but Fred spoke over her.

"Sure."

Kasia tuned out of the conversation as the others talked about career counselling, which was weeks away, and thought of her Charms essay.

"What do you reckon you'll do, Kasia?" Yasmine asked.

Kasia looked up and shrugged. "I think probably a Potioneer." She didn't feel like trying to explain how she wanted to invent curing potions.

"Wow, I wouldn't have picked that!" Yasmine exclaimed. "I always thought you'd go into something with Charms. Would you have guessed that, James?"

James gave Kasia a wry smile. "Yeah. But then again, she did tell me she wanted to be a Potioneer back in first year."

"First year?" Yasmine sighed. "I wish I were as decisive."

"So, what do you want to do next, now that we're not at risk of frostbite anymore?" James asked Yasmine, grasping her hand as she laughed. "Quality Quidditch Supplies? Back to Honeydukes?" His eyes widened. "Please tell me you don't want to go to that sickly teashop?"

Yasmine laughed again. "No, no, of course not."

"Then how about the Shrieking Shack?"

Yasmine shuddered. "No, thank-you. Haven't you guys heard the village people talking? The Shrieking Shack is, you know, the most haunted building in Britain. But for ages, no-one's heard a sound coming from it. But just recently, they've started to hear awful noises again."

Demi glanced at Kasia, and she could almost feel James and Fred straining to not do the same.

"Oh, you're not scared of the Shrieking Shack, are you, Yasmine?" Demi asked teasingly.

Yasmine scoffed. "Of course not. But it's hardly a nice spot to go on our date. How about we grab some of that new Burning Ice-Cream from Honeydukes and wander around?"

James nodded. "That way our fingers can be freezing while our mouths are burning. Sounds fun." He grinned. They said goodbye, and left.

Kasia groaned as soon as they left, and pressed her head to the table. She and Fred had sort of been pretending he didn't know what happened in Rio, but she was tired of the façade.

"The Shrieking Shack?" Fred guessed.

"No, I don't care about the stupid shack."

"The Stupid Shack," Demi said thoughtfully. "Doesn't inspire quite the same degree of terror, does it?"

"Oh, shut it, Demi." Kasia sighed. "Why am I such an idiot." She glared accusingly at Fred. "Why'd you tell him to move on?"

"Because he was—hang on." Fred narrowed his eyes. "How'd you know that?"

"I was listening when James came home from his first date," Kasia said miserably.

Fred's eyebrows flew up, and he leaned back in his chair. "I told him to move on because you can't have it both ways. You either fancy him and go out with him, or you move on. You clearly didn't want anything more than to be friends so—"

"Clearly," Kasia repeated sarcastically.

Demi tilted her head sympathetically. "He's right, Kasia. You've made your choice. You can't expect James to pine over you forever. Plus, he's your friend. Can't you just be happy for him?"

"Ugh. Yes. And since when did you two agree on anything?"

"Since you're the one being woolly-headed for once," Fred said without missing a beat.

"For once?" Demi asked.

Fred grinned. "Well, yeah, usually you're the woolly-headed one."

"Come off it, when have I been woolly-headed?"

"That time you forgot to bring your wand to class—"

"Chandi's toad knocked it off my nightstand!"

"Or when you copied Kasia's notes and forgot to change the name—"

Demi flushed. "How about when you basically yelled for the whole common room to hear that it was full moon?"

Fred glared at her. "How about when you refused to talk to any of us because we got on the Quidditch team and you didn't?"

"How about when you were failing Arithmancy and were dumb enough to think we wouldn't want to help?"

Fred's eyes flashed. "At least I trusted you both in the end and had the decency to tell you about it. I mean, I didn't see why I wouldn't trust you at the time."

Kasia, seeing where this was going, yelled to change the subject back to Yasmine and James.

oOo

It became increasingly hard to be happy for him when Yasmine returned to the dormitory that night and told them every detail of the date.

"Can I please Silence her?" Demi pleaded with Kasia.

"I'm glad it's not just me," Kasia sighed.

"Tell me about it. Is it really necessary to go through every minute of the date?"

Yasmine went on. "Oh! And this was the best part! We were standing out in one of the allies enjoying some of that new Burning Ice-cream from Honeydukes, leaning on the wall side by side. He said he was thinking about Rio, because you know, he went there over the summer."

Kasia's mouth fell open slightly. "Rio?"

"Yeah, I mentioned you had talked about it. Anyway, we kept flirting, and then we kissed once and he hesitated because he was distracted—or at least, that's what he said, I think he was just shy. Anyway, so I kissed him, and it was amazing. He sort of took the lead after I started, and then it was like a deep kiss, you know? With him pulling me closer by the waist, and pressed against his chest, you know? We'd kissed a couple of times already, but not like that."

Kasia tried to swallow the knot in her throat. He hadn't kissed her like that. Not that it was his fault. She was the one who ended it.

"And when we were in the carriages on the way back, he asked me to be his girlfriend!"

"That's awesome!" Chandi—or Katriel—exclaimed. Kasia didn't care who said it.

All she knew was the jealousy left her feeling sick.

oOo

She and James had rounds together a few days later, to Kasia's disdain. He arrived in the common room later than she expected, looking thoroughly refreshed and smelling like sandalwood and pine.

"Have you tried the Prefect's bathroom yet?"

Kasia raised an eyebrow. "No, but I'm guessing you have?"

James nodded seriously. "Kasia. It's incredible. I tell you, next full moon, you should go there afterwards. I don't know if it's possible to be uncomfortable there."

Kasia laughed. "A worthy challenge."

Thankfully, James didn't seem to want to talk about Yasmine once they started on rounds. Instead, he explained the prank he had in mind, and her part in it. They debated which spells would work best, and experimented a little as they walked the halls. Kasia argued they should do it at the dead of night so students woke up to it, but James insisted it would be more ridiculous if it happened between classes.

Kasia told him the Marauder's story of the stag in the common room that McGonagall shared with her.

"It sounds like they befriended a deer in the Forbidden Forest—just Remus, Peter, and Sirius—and, thinking it was him, dragged it back to the castle. Obviously, it didn't change back into James, so they panicked and had to smuggle it back into the castle. And by smuggle, I mean they threw the Invisibility Cloak over it, and being a deer, it didn't really cover much."

James was already struggling to contain his laughter, but at this, burst into one loud laugh.

Kasia couldn't help but grin, either. "So Professor McGonagall looks up and sees the three boys shoving a headless deer past her doorway, and then promptly decides it's not her problem."

James roared with laughter.

"So they get the deer to the common room and then they start to think that maybe this deer isn't James at all—but it did seem very interested in Quidditch supplies. They spend the rest of the evening trying to decide if it really is James, and if he's messing with them, or if something's wrong. And if it's not, panicking that they just kidnapped a deer." Kasia laughed. "McGonagall knew this much because the deer started causing so much trouble in the common room she had to go and straighten it out, and overheard them panicking. She then reveals that she'd had James at detention the entire time, and sends them to join him."

Kasia had to shush James to stop him from waking up everyone in the castle with his laughter.

oOo

A week afterwards, their plan was in motion, as the four of them cut the end of their respective classes—they chose the time when James and Kasia had Ancient Runes, Demi had Muggle Studies, and Fred had Arithmancy. It was far less suspicious than four students leaving one class at once.

Demi set off such a large bundle of fireworks from Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes, that every teacher in the near vicinity flocked to the Transfiguration Courtyard. She was perfectly happy to be the one to do this—her and Fred were still snippy with each other since their row at Hogsmeade.

Meanwhile, James and Fred set to work Transfiguring, and Kasia added charms to their work. They were pressed for time, and when Peeves came by curiously, he even agreed to add to the diversion, delighted by their plan.

When students filed out of their classes and headed towards the hundreds of staircases to get to their destinations, they found the staircases were gone.

In their place were waterslides.

An excited Gryffindor first-year took the first leap. He slid down one of the slides with a yell of delight, and managed to land on his feet. He exclaimed in surprise. "I'm still dry! And it's warm!"

Kasia, Fred, and James, who blended in with their classmates, descended into laughter.

"Perfect," James sighed blissfully.

At the first-year's success, other students began using the slide without hesitation. A curious Ravenclaw was the first to step on a slide heading up, and laughed when he reached the top with ease.

Then came screams of shock.

"IT'S FREEZING!" A Slytherin sixth-year bellowed, his back and legs drenched.

Now, instead of throwing themselves at the slides without hesitation, the students hovered around the slide entrance carefully, dipping their toes in the water running down the slide and only going if it was warm.

Of course, Kasia had charmed some so they would turn freezing cold after it was too late. There was no way for the students to know which slide would be warm and dry.

At last, teachers made it onto the scene, by which point all but the outraged unlucky students had descended into hysteria.

Flitwick was astonished. "Oh, my!"

Longbottom looked as if he were trying to contain laughter.

McGonagall made her way through the crowds. "Who is responsible for this?"

The students quietened. McGonagall flicked her wand, and the staircases all returned to normal at once, water still running down them, and now pooling at the bottoms. Professor Flitwick stepped forward and waved his wand, and the water stopped.

"Get to class, all of you."

She sought out James, Fred, and Kasia, who perhaps looked too guilty.

Demi caught up to them. "How did it—oh!"

Demi stopped at the sight of the Headmistress.

"James Sirius Potter."

"What, all this? I had nothing to do with it," James insisted, and when McGonagall just stared at it, he added, "Siriusly."

McGonagall strode away, and the four of them collapsed into laughter.

oOo

Just before the end of their next Transfiguration lesson, McGonagall walked in.

"Good morning, class. I came today to reassure you that the staircases are indeed back to normal. Quite a feat of Transfiguration, wasn't it, Professor Gerrad?"

Gerrad nodded at once. "I was impressed. It must have been a seventh-year, to accomplish such an advanced piece of magic."

Kasia glanced at James, whose eyes lit up.

"Those skills would certainly be an asset to achieving an Outstanding N.E.W.T. score," McGonagall went on.

"Or O.W.L.," Gerrad added reasonably.

"Of course, Professor, although I highly doubt any fifth year could manage to procure such an impressive—"

"IT WAS ME." James stood with a huge grin.

Professor McGonagall did not look surprised. "Mister Potter, you told me you had nothing to do with that prank. Were you lying to me?"

James seemed to realise he'd been tricked. "Well, that depends on how you define lying."

"I define it as telling something aside from the truth." McGonagall bristled. "And just how do you define lying?"

James managed another grin. "Reclining your body in a horizontal position."

Her eyes flashed dangerously. "Detention, tomorrow night."

James bowed his head respectfully. "Absolutely."

McGonagall turned to leave, but stopped at the doorway. "Mister Potter, you are a Prefect. You'd do well to set a better example to your fellow students."

Fred sniggered. "To be fair, it was an excellent display of Transfiguration, Professor."

"Silence, Mister Weasley. You will join Mister Potter in detention. I know he didn't accomplish this all by himself."

Kasia was about to speak, and turn herself in, but James flashed her a warning look and grinned at McGonagall. "You insult me, Minnie."

"Excuse me?"

James went on. "My grandfather was Head Boy. Are you trying to say he didn't pull any pranks in his seventh year?"

McGonagall seemed so surprised at James' casual tone, that she responded. "As a matter of fact, he hosted a midnight Quidditch match which turned out disastrously. Slytherins and Ravenclaws made a dangerous team—"

James face lit up. "A midnight match? With all four houses?"

McGonagall glared at him again, then. "Shouldn't you all be getting to your next class?" And she left.

"Midnight Quidditch," James muttered to Fred, Demi, and Kasia. "Now that'll require some planning."

Apollo didn't seem to find Fred and James' detention as amusing.

"You realise I now have to move Quidditch practice around because you two are too proud to not get caught?"

"We haven't got another game for months. Relax," James said easily.

"RELAX? DO YOU THINK PUDDLEMORE UNITED WON THEIR CHAMPIONSHIP BECAUSE THEY RELAXED?" Before either of them could speak, Apollo went on. "I will see you both the night after tomorrow on the Quidditch pitch."

"Come off it, Apollo," Fred grumbled. "Do you realise how behind we are on our schoolwork? We haven't been able to catch up in weeks because of how frequent your practices are."

"It's O.W.L.s year," James joined in. "We'll practise hard when a match comes closer, but if you don't lay off then we're never going to get to sixth year!"

Apollo laughed humourlessly. "I don't care. I'm in seventh, you don't think N.E.W.T.s is gruelling? This is my last year to win the Quidditch Cup, boys. So suck it up, and I'll see you Wednesday night. In the meantime, enough ruddy pranks."

oOo

Kasia met with Professor Longbottom during her Potions class a couple of days later, and explained what she wanted to do after graduating Hogwarts.

He smiled encouragingly. "Well, that's certainly possible. Professor Slughorn—and his substitute—were both reasonably impressed your with Potions abilities. Although I can see there have been a fair few…accidents."

Kasia flushed. "Certain…times…make it harder to concentrate."

"Of course. Anyway, if you continue with your subjects, they'll all help. You probably don't need Ancient Runes, but of course, you're welcome to continue it. It might be an idea to start looking for internships during the summers of your sixth and seventh years. Become an apprentice Potioneer or researcher."

Kasia nodded excitedly. "Thanks, Professor."

oOo

Kasia tracked down Trey in the library that night, and caught up on what she missed in Potions.

"Oh," he said before she left. "Nico Tremlett's having his birthday party on the 28th…"

"Are you inviting me to another Slytherin birthday party?" Kasia asked with a joking smile.

Trey laughed. "No, I'm still recovering from you not showing up at mine." He shook his head. "Nah, what I wanted to say was the 28th is when we have Prefect's rounds. Obviously, I wanted to go, so I was thinking we might be able to organise a swap with another Prefect pair."

Kasia nodded. "Yeah, that sounds fine."

"One of the seventh-years offered to swap so we'd have rounds on the 21st."

"The 21st?" The full moon. "You mean on Monday?"

"Yeah, it's kinda late notice, I know…" Trey watched her. "What do you think?"

Kasia shook her head. "Sorry, Trey… I have an Astronomy essay due on the Tuesday, and I've really got to use the telescopes that night. It's the only day Fred can do it, and it's our group assignment."

"Doesn't Gryffindor usually have Quidditch practice on Monday nights?"

"Well, yeah, but it doesn't go all night," Kasia managed, hoping her voice was convincing. "We're going right after dinner. Sorry, Trey. I can try and find someone else in Gryffindor to swap with me so you can still do rounds on Monday?"

Trey nodded slowly. "Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks."

Kasia said goodbye, and rushed back to the Gryffindor Tower. Was Trey figuring her secret out?

oOo

Monday afternoon came. Kasia thought about asking Madam Longbottom to wait by the Whomping Willow, but had no idea what kind of time frame she'd be there by. I'll just have to make it to the Hospital Wing myself. But Kasia didn't know how she was going to do it alone.

Kasia was leaving the common room when James came in, Yasmine behind him, holding his hand. Kasia's scowl deepened.

"Oh, Zia, I almost forgot!" James exclaimed, and released Yasmine's hand. "I've got a late Christmas present for you."

Kasia frowned. "You already gave me a Christmas present."

"An early birthday present, then."

She raised an eyebrow. "My birthday's in October."

James sighed. "Fine. It's just because you need it then. But I can't give it to you here" He kissed Yasmine on the cheek. "We'll be back in just a moment." He headed towards his dormitory, and looked behind him expectantly. "Well?"

Kasia followed, bemused and not liking the look Yasmine was giving her. She followed James into his dormitory, where Jonathan Rivers and Cameron Churchill were playing Exploding Snap. They looked incredibly surprised to see her.

"You know, just because the staircase doesn't turn to a slide, doesn't mean we're meant to have girls up here," Cameron said with a smirk.

Kasia rolled her eyes, about to retort, but James beckoned her over to his dresser, around a small corner from the other boys.

He lowered his voice and pressed a silky bundle into her hands. "This is my dad's Invisibility Cloak. Well, actually…it's mine. He gave it to me for Christmas."

"Whoa, I can't take this… it's yours!"

James waved a hand. "It's just a once-a-month loan. I'd been thinking about how you'll get to the Hospital Wing without anybody seeing you, and then dad gave me this."

Kasia hesitated, but accepted it, mainly because she was running out of time. "Thank you, James. I—thanks. I need to go."

"Of course." His smile turned sad. "See you tomorrow." She turned to go, but James pulled her into a hug. "Sorry. I know we said no hugs, but…" He sighed. "I wish there was something I could do."

Kasia didn't have the strength—or the desire—to pull away, so she hugged him back. "You're lending me the Cloak. That's enough."

James stepped back and nodded.

Kasia folded the Invisibility Cloak up—the silky material compacted nicely—and shoved it into her robes. "Oh, and James?" He looked up. "If you want to keep your girlfriend happy, probably don't bring other girls up to your dormitory to give them presents."

James' cheeks reddened. "Right."

She left the dormitory and the common room and hurried down to meet Madam Longbottom by the Whomping Willow.

Soon, she was running down the tunnel, her restlessness giving her energy and drive to reach the Shrieking Shack quickly, as the pain started, and she broke…

oOo

Kasia stayed in the Shrieking Shack this time, until she felt steady enough to walk. For some reason, she thought it might get easier, transforming without the potion, but she felt just as terrible as she had the first two times.

Just need to make it to the Hospital Wing…she told herself, and once she reached the Whomping Willow and prodded the knot, threw James' Invisibility Cloak around herself. She poked her head out and her stomach turned as she saw nothing beneath her neck.

She hid herself in it again quickly, and stumbled up to the Hospital Wing, every moment bringing waves of torture and fatigue.

oOo