Disclaimer: As I said in the first chapter, I don't own anything that you recognise from the HP books, nor do I gain anything out of the writing of this story.
A/N: Ok, so I know the first two chapters kinda sucked and went relatively slow, but it should pick up from now on and get interesting. Romance should start making its appearance in the fourth or fifth chapter! Please don't forget to review, good or bad!
"I never knew you played Quidditch." Sirius told Kat as they and the rest of the Marauders (minus Peter, who was still in the Hospital Wing) along with Lily and Jess sat in the Three Broomsticks, sipping Butterbeer.
The place was pretty much deserted, but the owner of the tavern - who knew the Marauders quite well - stayed open for a little while longer to accommodate some of his most loyal, if albeit illegal, customers.
"You never asked." Kat replied with a smirk. She had to admit that she had done some of her finest flying that evening, and even James and Sirius were impressed. She was still troubled about the letter she had received from him, but the flying had taken her mind of off it somewhat.
It was her first visit to Hogsmeade, and the others had tried to make this trip as interesting as possible for her, pointing out all the places they would visit the following week on their first, "official" visit of the year. Not that it would be half as much fun as it was to visit it illegally, they assured her, and Kat believed them.
There was a strange sound from a table in the back as an old witch banged her mug against the table before standing up and making her way unsteadily past the group of friends, nearly tripping over her own feet.
She grabbed hold of the back of Kat's chair to keep herself from falling over, and no-one except Kat noticed the folded piece of paper that was dropped into the girl's lap.
The witch righted herself and mumbled an apology before slowly making her way out of the tavern. All those at the table, except for Kat, snickered.
"Seems like someone had slightly too much to drink tonight." James snorted with laughter. "She looked almost as bad as you do when your drunk, Sirius."
Sirius muttered some obscenity and shot his friend a pointed glare as the rest of the table burst out laughing.
Remus started telling the girls a story of the one time when the Marauders had spent a holiday alone in the Black's mansion. Kat, although highly interested, found her attention drawn rather to the paper in her lap. Without the others noticing, she folded it open and glanced over it, quickly reading the untidy scrawl.
He is watching. For every week you do not report, he will take from you something that is dear to you. Something in Hogwarts. Take your friends and go, for one of them will not survive this night if He arrives. He always claims his due.
Could she trust the woman? But then, could she not trust the woman when he was concerned?
Kat stood up suddenly, interrupting Remus's story. "We have to get out of here, now."
"Nonsense!" Sirius exclaimed. "Tomorrow is Saturday so we have no need to be in bed early, and no-one is going to miss us. Or is it the breaking of rules that bothers you?" Sirius's voice was full of mocking and slightly filled with scorn.
For a moment, Kat wondered if it really would be so bad if he killed Sirius. Some part of her said that it would, despite all that she had been taught in her life, Kat still couldn't have the careless indifference about other people's lives that her parents had. Perhaps that is why her parents had tried to talk her out of swearing to him, but at that stage of her life, she had been sure that it was what she wanted to do.
"You... we are in danger. We must go now!" Kat was starting to panic, for in her minds eye she saw the life-less body of one of her friends, and the rest staring up at her with hatred in their eyes, for she was the one who had caused the death. "Please guys, we must go now!"
Remus nodded, sensing her unease. "Lets go. Kat can explain on the way back to the castle. Rather safe than sorry." He and Jess stood up at the same time, and James joined them. Sirius and Lily looked up at them strangely before Lily jumped up too.
"I'm not going to sit here alone with Sirius while the rest of you go home. Shall we go through Honeydukes?" She grabbed her purse and shot Sirius a smile.
Nearly hopping on the spot with impatience, Kat kept on glancing out of the window, trying to keep her panic under control. "Come on Black!"
With a long, drawn-out sigh, Sirius got to his feet. "You owe me one, Hale."
Kat nodded. "More than you can imagine, Black, more than you can imagine." She set off after James and Lily, Sirius following her with a puzzled expression on his face.
***
Kat only relaxed after they entered the tunnel that led back to Hogwarts. They had made it.
"Ok, explain." Jess stated as the group made its way through the tunnel, led by James who was holding his wand above his head to cast light for those that followed.
"Ok, I'm guessing you all remember the witch who grabbed hold of the back of my chair in the Three Broomsticks?"
They all nodded.
"Well, she dropped a piece of paper in my lap." Seeing Sirius about to make a biting comment, she raised her hand to stop him. "Let me finish, Black. In this 'letter' she told me that we are in grave danger, and that we had to leave as soon as possible."
James stopped in surprise and all of them turned to face Kat.
"You made us leave because of what some drunk witch said?" Sirius exploded, and Remus put a restraining hand on his friend's arm.
"Her writing didn't look like that of a drunk person. A bit untidy, perhaps, but then so is James's and Peter's, and they aren't drunk – not all of the time in anyway."
James shot her a nasty look and Lily and Jess laughed.
"Could we see this letter?" Lily asked, a small frown between her brows.
Kat made a big show of searching her pockets, and when she looked up there was a very-well faked look of shock and surprise on her face. "I must have lost it!" She exclaimed, once more going through her pockets while conveniently skipping the letter still tucked into one of them.
"Oh." Lily said, trying to hide her disappointment.
Muttering, Sirius headed down the tunnel towards Hogwarts, leaving the others to follow in his wake. Kat came last, and a heaviness lay on her heart.
***
The results of the Quidditch tryouts were posted in the Gryffindor Common Room that Monday morning, causing a wave of excitement among all those present.
"Ooh!" One of the second-years exclaimed loudly. "James is captain again!" A collective squeal was heard from half of the female population in the Common Room.
"And look, Sirius is a Beater again!" Another squeal of excitement by the crowd.
Kat rolled her eyes and elbowed her way to the front of the crowd, glancing down the list. She had been put up for a Chaser. She smiled slightly before making her way out of the press of bodies, and walked smack into Sirius.
"Move." He told her coldly.
Her eyes narrowed. "Excuse me?" There was plenty of space around her for him to pass; there wasn't any reason for him to be impolite.
"I said move, you stupid girl." His did not look at her, instead focusing on some point above her head.
"Fu…" Kat glanced around at the first years that were all listening with interest and swallowed what she wanted to say. "Well, I am sorry your ego is so big that it doesn't allow you to move any closer to the walls, Black, but it's not my problem. Ever heard of manners?"
"Ever heard of not being such an insufferable bitch?" He shot back, and for the first time that day looked at her.
"Guys!" Lily called, storming down the staircase. "Cut it out, now!"
Both of them glanced at Lily, before stepping into opposite directions, effectively letting the other pass. Sirius moved through the crowd to look at the Team results, while Kat stalked out of the Common Room, thrusting the portrait open with more force than strictly needed.
She made her way up to the owlery, taking her report out of her pocket as she went. She wrote it the night before, after the other girls had fallen asleep, and she had made it a detailed one.
She chose a large school owl to make the delivery, hoping that he would receive it. She shuddered in thought of what would happen if that letter fell into the wrong hands; or, even worse, not reach him.
Kat made her way slowly down to breakfast, her thoughts dark. She was still puzzled about the Friday evening, wondering how the old witch had known about him and her connection with him. She did not even seem to notice the sombre mood her friends were in, until Jess placed a hand on her arm.
"Listen, Kat, we are sorry about our reaction Friday night. You saved our lives, perhaps." Jess looked at Kat with those doe-like brown eyes of her.
A quizzical look crossed Kat's features as she glanced around the table, noticing that Sirius did not look nearly as angry as he had before, in fact, he was looking quite shaken.
"What's going on?" She asked, frowning.
Lily handed her the newspaper. "There was an attack on the Three Broomsticks that night. The Ministry thinks it was done by Dark Wizards under…" she swallowed and skipped the name. "…anyway. It happened about ten minutes after we left!"
Kat looked at her dumbfoundedly, and it felt as if her heart stopped for a few seconds. "Oh Merlin." She breathed. "Oh flying fu…" Remus shot her a look and she bit off the last word in a hurry.
"Exactly what I said." James stated, but there was not a hint of mirth in his tone.
"Guys, we musn't do things like that again. It's not safe." Remus looked at all of them with a serious expression. Sirius and James both started to argue, but Lily cut them off.
"Remus is right, guys. It is too dangerous by far." Lily shot them all a measured look. "Run around on the school grounds and in the castle as much as you want, but promise me you won't go to Hogsmeade again when there isn't an official trip."
Slowly James and Sirius nodded, but only after seeing that Remus, Kat and Jess agreed with Lily.
"Good." She breathed and returned to her toast. "Now, lets change the subject to lighter matters."
Peter was still up in the Hospital Wing, and the Marauders made plans to go visit him, while the three girls discussed their potions homework (which none of them, except for Lily, could do properly)
"Ooh! Did you guys hear?" Cassandra* Hooch came bouncing up to James, a broad smile on her face. Cass played Keeper for Gryffindor, and the girl lived for Quidditch. "We're playing Hufflepuff next week!"
That turned the conversation right around as everyone within hearing distance started to discuss the merits and failures of the Hufflepuff team, until half an hour later, the entire group trudged down to Potions with Slytherin.
It was not a good lesson for the Gryffindors. James got five points taken off from the House for "smirking at the teacher."
Remus accidentally dropped seven newt's eggs into his potion instead of four, which resulted in the potion becoming a horrid violet colour instead of muted red. He and Jess had to start over, and ten points were taken off because they "quarrelled too loudly."
Sirius was still in a bad mood, although Kat suspected it was just because he was sour that she had been right the evening before.
So, when she accidentally spilled some of her and Lily's perfectly made potion on his robes, Sirius snapped and chucked a burningberry root at her. They both got detention.
Outside, the rain was pouring down, and it became clear to all that winter was on its way – and so was Christmas.
***
* Sorry, I can't remember Madam Hooch's real name. If someone could tell me what it is, I will fix it. Thanks!