A/N: Ok, this chapter should be very interesting, if a bit cliché. Please bear with me once more (hmm, seems as if I am asking that quite a lot these days). I'm going pretty girly in the first part of this chapter, describing dresses and stuff, and I am not quite sure if the gowns I describe are quite what JK had in mind when she wrote GoF. But, it is my story, so deal with it!
Well, in anyway, I've finished reading OotP (and bawled my eyes out several times) so I should have more time to write now. Also, I must say that my hate for Voldie, Snape and Malfoy (take that as Senior and/or Junior) have increased greatly, and my absolute adoration for Sirius has become an obsession (joke). Yes, yes, I'll stop babbling now and get on with the story! Oh, don't forget, reviews make me type faster! =)
The third week back at school turned out to be one of the worst ones so far. Kat got a letter from her parents which sent her in a foul mood for a few days, making the others step lightly around her.
Lily and James had one of their more serious fights – this time about Snape. Lily had found out that James was still torturing Snape at every possible occasion (as long as Lily or Jess wasn't present). Which meant that Lily was now ignoring James dead; she didn't even ask him to pass her the salt-shaker at lunch.
At least the weather was slowly starting to turn to summer, with less and less snow falling every day, and Valentine's day nearing in leaps and bounds.
Great excitement reigned among the female population of Hogwarts when the annual Valentine's Day Ball was announced at the end of January, even though everyone knew it was coming. James had thought to ask Lily (how could she say no?) but after their fight he was not so sure he wanted to anymore. To his great disappointment, she ended up going with a seventh year Hufflepuff student named Matthew.
This little turn of events did not lighten the Marauder's mood as the Day of Love approached, and all of them were sulky beyond measure – which did not bode well for the Slytherin's. No-one could remember a time where so many pranks were pulled on one single House. Anything from as small as Dungbombs in someone's book bag to as extravagant as covering the House table with "Mrs Marble's Invisible,
Unremovable Sticky Sap" which caused book bags, sleeves and the occasional arm to stick to the table top.
In the end James had to settle for going to the Ball with a fourth-year Gryffindor called Pandora, who could be heard bragging about her date for the next few days – until James told her to shut up before he went with someone else. The girl was pretty enough, with large doe-like brow eyes and strawberry-blond hair, but according to Kat and Jess, she was a bit of an air-head. Lily refrained to comment.
Kat was having a hard time trying to keep her friends out of her reports to the Dark Lord, but try she did. Several times Sirius almost managed to read the letter, once even getting so close that Kat had to set it alight to keep him from seeing its contents. Their relationship was not without trouble, and Sirius was often in hot water when he was caught flirting a little too much with one girl or another.
In general Kat was not too jealous about him, for she knew that he was a player and that flirting was as natural to him as breathing. To top it off, he never really seemed to notice when he was doing it, but when she saw him with another girl she sometimes got a nasty feeling in her stomach and a great need to bash someone's head in.
He made it quite clear to her one night that he had no wish whatsoever to date anyone else, and she believed him, but she still wanted to kill every girl who did more than just stare longingly at Sirius.
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It took the girls a full four hours to finish dressing for the Ball (which was little compared to the seven hours needed by Pandora and her giggling friends) but when they had finished, they found the results to be more than pleasing.
Lily was dressed in a gown of deep forest green that matched her eyes perfectly, while her mass of auburn hair was braided with gold string, and then gracefully coiled on the back of her head.
Decked in a gown of rich purple, with a plunging neck-line and a tight bodice, Jess made no secret of her slender figure, while her hair hung shimmering down her back - the only ornament she needed to complete her striking outfit.
Yet, Kat managed to steal the show when she showed up in her dress, making Lily and Jess exclaim in delight, Sirius smile broadly and Peter blush scarlet. James let out a long whistle of appreciation as he watched the three girls descend from their room, but it was clear that his gaze was more on Lily than anything else.
The "famous gown" as it was later revered to, was carefully chosen to match the exact azure colour of Kat's eyes. Plainly cut to reveal no skin, except for her arms, but cling tightly to every curve (leaving little to the imagination, as Sirius put in with a broad smile), it's only real feature was the slit going up to mid-thigh. Her dark hair had been curled and stacked on her head, where it was secured with tiny silver pins.
For their part, the Marauders looked none too shabby themselves. Even Peter had managed to scrape by looking more than decent, even if his friends teased him about his date with a fifth-year Ravenclaw girl.
"You look beautiful." James told Lily as the girls joined them at the bottom of the stairs.
"That's all you care about, isn't it?" Lily shot back before stomping off to meet her date, leaving James to wait for Pandora.
"Women." He and Sirius muttered at the same time, earning each of them a slap from Kat.
They entered the richly decorated Great Hall ten minutes later, Pandora, Mathew and Peter's date, Lucy in tow.
The four House tables had disappeared, rather making way for a dance floor, a big table with refreshments and several smaller tables where groups of up to ten people could sit together. The Hall looked splendid, with the usual bright light having been subdued to a romantic red, while several cherubs floated around, casting rose petals around the room. A band had set up in one corner, with a dark-haired witch as the lead-singer, and were already playing away at the year's most popular songs.
After finding an empty table, the Marauders and Matthew left the girls alone while they went to fetch drinks. Lily and Jess were shooting dark looks at a gushing Pandora, while Lucy clearly looked daunted both by the dark looks and the insistent stream of words from the fourth year.
Kat's eyes, however, were fixed on Sirius, watching him stride self-confidently and elegantly to the refreshments. There was a certain natural grace, a subtle arrogance and a bewitching elegance to every movement he made; from the haughty flick of his hair, to the conceited smile curving on his sensual lips.
Despite their good looks and charm, the rest of the Marauders simply could not match him. James had not even made an effort to try and flatten his hair (which would have been a futile attempt in anyway) and this was made worse by the fact that he kept running his hands through it. Remus had never been as handsome as either James or Sirius, and his frail, half-sickly appearance simply could not match that of his two best friends. Peter, who was short and chubby, with shifty eyes and darting hands, seemed so out of place with the other three that it was almost comical. His blatant adoration and hero-worship of the other three was clear to all. But, it seemed to amuse Sirius and James, which was the only excuse they needed to keep him around.
Watching with an amused smile as the four boys (plus a very uncomfortable Matthew) made their way back to the table, Kat never even saw the owl landing close to them until Pandora drew everyone's attention to it with a loud squeal.
"Oooh! Look at the owl! I bet it is me getting post." Lily, Jess and Kat rolled their eyes and snorted with laughter as Pandora lunged at the owl; only to have it fly a few paces out of her reach and shoot the fourth year a disgusted look. Then, with a look of almost pleasure, it stuck out it's leg to Kat.
"Oooh!" Jess exclaimed in a perfect imitation of Pandora. "It seems like Kat's gotten mail!" The look she shot Pandora could have felled an ox.
Taking the mail from the owl, Kat became a deathly shade of white as she recognised the handwriting.
"Who's that from, Kat?" Lily asked and tried to lean over Kat's shoulder.
"Uhmm…" Kat stuttered badly, and jumped up, the letter clutched tightly in her hand. "Tell, Sirius I'll be back in a little. Family problems." It wasn't a direct lie, so she did not feel quite so bad about dashing off, leaving the rest of the girls gaping silently at her retreating back.
Once safely away from the Great Hall, Kat unrolled the letter, hands shaking so badly she could barely hold the paper. It could not be that she had displeased him, it could not be!
The letter was written in scarlet ink.
Meet me in the Forest. Come alone and unnoticed, you know the meeting place. One of mine will be waiting for you there.
Your Lord.
Kat thought her heart would stop as she read and reread the message. Oh sweet Merlin! There was no way she would be able to sneak out into the grounds. There would be to many strolling couples… walking [A/N: cough cough] around the place.
Except… she dashed up to the Gryffindor Common room before she could even finish the thought. Not once did the thought of not going cross her mind, for she knew that it would be dangerous beyond measure to disobey a direct summoning.
She had only once seen James take his invisibility cloak from it's hiding place, and she hoped feverishly that it was in the same place. She did not know quite how she would be able to make it to the Forest without it. She threw open the door to the boy's dormitory and went straight for James' trunk. With luck she'd have the cloak back before the ball ended.
****
She met the dark cloaked Death Eater just inside the Forbidden Forest. She pulled off the invisibility cloak and placed it under a clump of bushes just off of the path. It would not do well for her master to see it.
Kat silently followed the Death Eater into the Forest, on a walk that seemed to take years. She found herself in a clearing quite unexpected, noting that there were about half a dozen Death Eaters present. In the middle of the clearing, with his back to Kat, stood lord Voldemort.
She fell to her knees, head bowed. "Master, I come as summoned."
He turned slowly around, never giving an indication of what was to follow – and thus it was to Kat's utter surprise when she was flung backwards against the broad trunk of an ancient tree. Magical bindings snaked around her, keeping her bound against the tree with her feet dangling several inches above the ground.
"You have betrayed me." Voldemort hissed, slowly making his way towards her, malice in his eyes.
"Never, my lord." She gasped, and the bindings pulled tighter, making it hard to breathe. Her ribs were aching and her spine throbbed painfully from the sharp contact with the tree.
"Then why have you not reported to me about a certain Sirius Black?" Thin lips curled into a sneer at the name. "You have reported on many people, including the affore-mentioned person's brother, and yet you have said very little about the boy you are dating!"
"He is like Frank Longbottom or James Potter. He would never join you, my lord." The bands constricted even more, and the last words were dragged from a body with barely enough breath left to stay conscious.
"Ah," he nodded in what appeared to be an understanding tone, and the bindings around Kat disappeared, allowing her to land heavily on the ground, where she lay gasping for air. "so you told me nothing about this boy because you did not deem him to be important? Then why, may I ask, are you dating a person who will not further our cause?"
He raised his wand and pointed it at her, an evil smile curving his lips. "Crucio"
Pain was all Kat knew. A pain that thrust what little breath she had from her lungs, and made every fibre of her body scream in agony. Yet, she let no scream pass her lips, for she would not show weakness before this man. Inside her mouth, her tongue was chewed bloody from trying to keep from crying out.
It stopped as swiftly as it had begun, leaving Kat to gasp on the ground, raggedly sucking in gulps of air and trying to move as little as possible.
"Your loyalties have shifted, have they not, Katherine?" Voldemort's voice seemed strangely far away, a disembodied voice that floated in a red haze. "Are you still loyal to me?"
"Yes." It was almost too much effort to say just that one word, but Kat managed, somehow. Already she seemed to feel stronger, the pain leaking from her body.
"Good, then you will prove it." Those who saw the smile on the Dark Lord's face were filled with dread. "You will kill this Sirius Black before the end of this year, or the pain that you have just felt will be nothing compared to the pain your friends will feel as I slowly torture them to death before your eyes."
All Kat could do was nod, and inside, her heart died.
Once more the pain of the Cruciatus curse ripped through the girl's body, and when it faded, Voldemort and his supporters were gone.
****
For what appeared to be an eternity, Kat lay on the cool ground, fingers clutching at moist soil and dry leaves, silent sobs raking her entire body. When the pain finally cleared, she stood up slowly, winching at the tears in her dress and the leaves in her hair. A quick spell, however, fixed it all, but nothing she knew could bring very long relief from the pain in her back. She suspected that she might have cracked a rib or two, but the rest of the pain in her body was purely because of the curse.
The pain wore off as she made her way back to the castle, covered for most part by James's invisibility cloak. She managed to get it back into its hiding place and get herself back out to the Ball – which was still in full swing.
It seemed that she had been gone for a much shorter space of time that she had originally thought, for when she entered the Great Hall it was declared that all students under fifth year had to get back to the dormitories.
There was an audible sigh of relief from all those at the Marauder's table when Pandora left, and Kat was almost glad that she had missed the stupid git's time with them. Fortunately for her, most of the pain in her body had disappeared, and all that was left was a dull ache across her back, for Sirius spun her unto the dancefloor before she could even make a scratching comment about Pandora's dress.
Kat found Sirius to be an excelent dancer, but she breathed a sigh of relief when the music became slower and couples started a close dance.
"Everything alright, Kat?" Sirius asked as he slipped his arms around her waist. "May I ask what the family crisis was?"
"You may ask, Sirius Black, but it is none of your business, so I won't be telling you." She smiled softly at his injured expression, once more hearing Voldemort's order resounding through her mind. "And everything is fine."
The pace sped up again, and the others joined Kat and Sirius on the dance floor. Peter now dancing with Lily, and Lucy with James. All chances for conversation was cut off by the music.
****