"Please tell me Kat, please, I want to help you, I want to make you feel better, I want to be part of your Ilife/I again" Severus pleaded with her, burring his head in her shoulder. Juliet had the sense to stand back a bit, this was a bit of a person moment for both Severus and Kat, that was obvious to her, but she was near enough to hear it if Kat chose to finally inform them of what was wrong.

Kat had stopped completely still, and all of a sudden she just started crying, sobbing and crumpling to the ground she clung to Severus. "I..I-I Saw Mattie be murdered!" She managed through her sudden outbreak of sobs, it was the first time she had actually cried over her sister's death. Juliet gasped and stepped forward, kneeling down by Kat while Severus held her in his arms.

Severus himself felt horrible, he had only met Mattie a few times, and now.. Oh god, he just held her in his arms, rubbing her back in small circles and saying soft, comforting things. Juliet just put a hand on her shoulder, letting Kat know she was there. They were all ignoring the fact that they were all now being soaked in snow, since they were now all on the ground.

Kat just cried, still clinging to Severus she burrowed closer into his chest, and after about ten minutes she began to calm down, and after that it took five more minutes to stop crying all together. That was when she remembered they were all outside.. In the snow… soaking wet… and freezing. "C.. can we go inside?" She asked quietly, gaining a half-felt chuckle from Juliet.

Severus nodded, standing up and helping her up, immediately wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he wasn't planning on leaving her alone much, he wanted to make sure she was happy. They walked inside together, and went to the room of requirement, Severus and Juliet just thinking of whatever Kat might need. The entered to find a comfortable looking sofa, a roaring fire, a fluffy teddy bear and a huge pile of chocolate.

This caused Juliet to seem a bit amused but at the same time really sad about what happened with Mattie. She waited for Severus to steer Kat over to the couch before walking over and sitting on Kat's other side as she clutched the bear to her chest and grabbed a bar of chocolate. Chocolate, it had always been Kat's feel-good food.

For those of you who are curious, there IS a reason. Chocolate contains a natural 'love drug'. Tryptophan is a chemical that the brain uses to make a neurotransmitter called serotonin. High levels of serotonin can produce feelings of elation, even ecstasy - hence the name of the designer drug that also works by increasing serotonin levels.

So in other words, chocolate makes you happy for a biological reason. Kat wasn't crazy. Well, she was… but she wasn't messed up in the head. Sitting, hugging a teddy bear, in a cozy warm room, eating chocolate would help her out. So that's what she did, talking quietly with Severus and Juliet, who were just there for her, not minding much because they were concerned about her.

After a while Kat looked up at the clock, then to Jules and Severus "You guys can go you know, you don't need to stay here with me.. I don't want to be a burden, this is my problem…" She said quietly, then sniffed a bit because she had cried a bit more after a while and even now silent tears were pouring down her cheeks.

Severus, who had had his arm around her shoulders most of this time, just pulled her closer to him. He wasn't going anywhere any time soon. He looked at Juliet, who he knew would probably want to stay too, but he sort of wanted some alone time with Kat to talk one on one, or even to just sit by the fire. Something. Juliet got the hint and stood up, giving Kat a sympathetic, caring smile, Severus loosened up a bit and Jules gave Kat a hug, muttering "I'll see you later" before leaving.

Severus held her tightly again, letting Kat lean on him. She hadn't put down the teddy bear, though she was done with the chocolate for now. "You know, that wasn't just to Jules" Kat said again, though she sounded like she didn't really want him to leave all that much.

Severus gave her a kiss on the top of the head before replying with "I don't want to leave you though" quietly. Then there was silence. It wasn't an awkward silence, it was a comforting one, one in which Kat finally though all this through.

Kat's POV:

Gods, I can't believe this is actually happening. No, happened, it's in past tense by now. Mattie… it's not fair! It's not like anyone deserves this, but especially not her. She was so.. Innocent. She was a first year! Defenseless… It's just wrong. Bad things aren't supposed to happen to good people. Okay, I knew it wasn't true before, it's just.. I COULD believe it was true before. I didn't have proof that it was wrong.. Now all that's out the window.

I'm not going to let this happen. It's not fair. I can't do anything about Mattie. But I can help stop it from happening to other people. Other innocent people. I shouldn't of said those things to her. I told her I hated her, I won't be able to take it back. She died thinking I thought she was just annoying. Oh, I hate myself…

Author's POV:

They sat there in silence, Kat staring at the fire, Severus watching Kat or looking into the fire also, for hours. The next thing Kat knew she was opening her eyes, tucked safely in Severus' arms, the room had apparently changed her into blood red PJs, Severus' were green. They were still on the couch, and she felt very content to just stay there, leaning on Severus, as he hadn't woken up yet, not wanting to wake him up by moving.

She noticed the time and repressed a curse, it was Monday. They had classes. They were late for Transfiguration. She eased out of Severus' arms, not really wanting to get up, then shook him lightly "Sev, wake up, we fell asleep, we're late" She said in a soft voice. Severus, being a light sleeper, woke up, smiling seeing her there, then his face falling when he saw the clock also, the room immediately changed their PJs back to school robes, made a vanity mirror for them to clean up with a sink, and glad that they didn't have to run back to their dorms they swiftly got ready, grabbing their book bags which, presumably, a house elf brought up.

They sped through the halls, toward the transfiguration class room and burst in in the middle of McGonagall's lecture. "Sorry we're late.." Severus muttered in a respectful tone. They heard snickers from their class mates as they took the last two seats at the back of the class room. McGonagall gave hem both a stern look and said in a reprimanding tone "Ten points from Gryffindor and Slytherin, don't let it happen again"

Kat sank down in her seat, it wasn't their fault but she wasn't going to protest, it would just lose her more points, and that would be bad. She glared back at the snickering students and the ones who glanced back at them, listening and taking notes as McGonagall continued her lecture.

They were working on human transfiguration, and apparently they were going to try changing each other's eye color next class. Kat found this extremely boring. Not like eye color changing was useful…