Chapter 6
Lily sprinted, suddenly very, VERY afraid for her friends, although she did wish that Malfoy had told her which of her friends she should be ready to fight tooth and nail defending. She heard Remus and Sirius behind her, and contemplated slowing down to tell them what was up, because they'd be able to cover more ground that way, but instead just turned her head and yelled, "look for Kate and Mandy! Malfoy said-" SMACK. "oof!"
Lily let out as she and Kate both toppled over from running into one another, and Mandy approached from the side, shaking her head and laughing lightly. Kate gave Lily a sour look and grumbled, "what the hell Lily? We're right here, and now I have to go BACK to Gryffindor tower to fix my hair!"
Mandy rolled her eyes and said testily, "Kate, you look fine, and you don't have TIME to go to Gryffindor tower, we're going to be late for ancient runes!"
"Its just ancient runes, it'll be fine…besides, you know Professor Kirk adores me, what's the worst he'll do, give me a detention?"
Professor Kirk was their very young Ancient Runes teacher, and Lily had to admit, he WAS very fond of Kate, and he probably wouldn't even give her a detention unless he was in a bad mood. This, however, didn't abate Mandy, whose eyes, Lily had just noticed, were blood shot, a sure sign that she had had another horrible dream, and she probably shouldn't be messed with that morning. Mandy looked at Kate with annoyance, saying, "Great, just use that as an excuse, because oh my, what could possibly be more important than your hair? Not something that could potentially save someone's life- but why would that be important to you? You're the absolute center of the universe, aren't you?"
Lily gaped at Mandy- she understood that Mandy was stressed, but this was a little over the top. She opened her mouth to say something, but was cut of by Kate.
"What?" Kate was honestly confused, Lily could tell, and she didn't really blame her- while Kate WAS a little more concerned about her appearance than she should have been, both Mandy and Lily knew, better than anyone, that she wasn't really self centered, and she had a somewhat low self esteem, if it came down to it. And most importantly, Kate, while perhaps not best friends with everyone, was very selfless when it came to anyone she didn't utterly detest. So really, Lily could understand her confusion, and saw the same confusion on Remus and Sirius' faces. Once again she tried to interrupt the fight she knew was about to break out, but Mandy wasn't finished.
" Honestly Kate, when are you going to grow up? You're sixteen! Its time you started acting more responsibly! I know that maybe you don't have the same pressures that some of us have, but that doesn't mean-"
"Shut up."
Mandy stopped, startled- it was probably the first time she had ever heard that tone directed at anyone other than Bellatrix Black, Lily realized. Mandy stared at Kate, whose eyes had narrowed and was now regarding Mandy with a cold expression, laced with undeniable traces of hurt.
"Is that what you think, that I don't have the same 'pressures' as you? You think my life is just a lovely bed of flowers? Of course, what would I have to worry about, I'm just the dumb one, nothing special, why would anyone want anything with me- that's what you think, isn't it?"
"I never said-"
"Well let me tell you something, Amanda- just because I don't walk around as if I'm bearing the weight of the world on my shoulders doesn't mean that I have nothing to worry about- I'm just taking advantage of life while I have it, which you and I both know may not be for very long! I-"
"Okay, we're taking this somewhere else now," Lily interrupted, extremely aware of Sirius and Remus' baffled expressions, and slightly miffed at Kate for not being more careful. She knew that Kate was angry, and perhaps rightfully so, although Mandy had a point too- Kate really didn't have to deal with what Mandy, and Lily herself to a certain degree, had to deal with. Kate needed to be more careful when discussing their secrets! Lily glanced at her watch, and quickly said,
"Actually, right now we're going to class, because it starts in a couple minutes. We'll finish this later." Kate stared at her for a second, and then said,
"I'll be there in a couple minutes, I'm going to Gryffindor tower."
Exasperated, Mandy turned away, saying, "FINE! Come on Lily, at least WE know what's important-"
"Actually," Kate broke in scathingly, "I'd say that neither of you have your priorities straight, seeing as you both just placed a stupid Ancient Runes class before our friendship- an ancient runes class that for the past week you both have been reminding me has been cancelled because Professor Kirk is in London." And with that, she stalked off. Lily and Mandy were both stunned- she was right, it HAD been cancelled, and they'd both been telling her over and over again, almost positive she'd be the one to forget. Lily felt a wave of guilt wash over her- she HAD just put ancient runes before their friendship- and heard Mandy mutter next to her, "she didn't remember that until just now either…" Lily grabbed Mandy, said a quick "See you later" to the boys, and dashed off in the direction Kate had taken off in, Leaving Remus and Sirius staring at each other. Without a word, the boys followed the girls.
Lily and Mandy caught up to Kate, and dragged her into the first empty classroom they found. Kate glared at them, saying, "I was on my way to DO something."
Mandy, who felt bad about what she had said to Kate, or at least the manner in which she had said it, felt her disturbed sleep, tiredness, and overall irritability rise up, and before she could stop herself, found herself shouting,
"KATE! Stop it! Stop acting like we're the bad guys in this situation! Lily hasn't even done anything! This is NOT our fault! You have NO idea what I go through every night, and you are not helping! If you're so extremely supportive of everyone all time, as you always claim, why aren't you being supportive of me!"
"I have no idea? I HAVE NO IDEA! What on EARTH do you know about what I know and don't know! Ever since you've been getting these 'dreams', which by the way you don't TELL us about so how are we supposed to be supportive, you've been acting like the fate of the world is up to you! GET OVER YOURSELF. YOU have no idea what I go through all the time!"
Lily and Mandy both looked at her a little skeptically, and Lily knew that Mandy was in no control of what she said, so she cut in quickly, meaning to say what Mandy wanted to say, just in a far more acceptable manner.
"Um, Kate? We know that we ALL have stresses in our lives that no one else has, but we both know that right now Mandy's is the most pressing. Voldemort wants her more than he wants you OR me right now, and, well, even if she doesn't tell us about her dreams, we know they're terrible, and we need to be supportive."
Kate stared at Lily, and then whispered, "You don't think that my powers put me in very much danger." It was a statement, and Lily squirmed, suddenly very uncomfortable with the situation. She said, "Well, its just that…I mean, a naturally born animagus is amazing Kate, its fabulous…but what would Voldemort want with that? I mean, other than the fact that he wants to take over everything…its just…it doesn't seem like it would be at the top of his list."
Slience. Kate looked at them for about ten excruciatingly long seconds, took a deep breath as if to calm herself, and turned around and walked out of the classroom. Lily and Mandy remained in silence for a few seconds, until Mandy said, quietly, "well, none of what you or I said was WRONG…you know Kate, her temper is horrible, but she gets over things quickly. She'll be fine in an hour or so." Lily continued to look worried as she stared out the door. She wasn't so sure.
Lily and Mandy stayed away from Gryffindor tower for the rest of the day, to give Kate time to cool off. When they finally returned, there was no sign of her, and James yelled, "Evans! Mandy! Have you seen Kate? I've been looking for her ALL DAY, I need to ask her something!" Lily felt a pang of something like jealousy, but why would she be jealous? That couldn't be it…giving herself a small shake, she said, "No Potter, we haven't seen her for a while." She and Mandy went up to their dormitories, hoping that Kate had already gone to sleep. When they reached their room, They saw the curtains drawn around her bed. Assuming she had gone to sleep, they both dressed for bed quietly, and did the same.
Sirius sat on the couch in the common room, just staring at the fire. He was really sleepy, but he just couldn't fall asleep…A head of black curls and gorgeous brown eyes, and extremely well endowed body kept flitting across his mind…he heard the portrait open, and turned around, ready to scare whatever unsuspecting first or second year had been out late, but saw no first or second year. He would know that silhouette anywhere, and called out, "Kate?" she turned, startled, and Sirius walked over to her. When he was a few feet away, he noticed that she looked different. Concerned, he asked, "Are you all right?" He had never seen Kate look anything less than spectacular, even when anyone else would look awful. Now, she looked- well, frankly, terrible, although Sirius knew she could never look truly ugly. She looked as if she's been crying for hours, and she had a cloak wrapped around herself tightly, although the castle was quite warm. She wasn't walking with her usual grace either, but rather stooped over, and she looked ready to collapse. Sirius draped an arm around her and led her to the sofa, even while she protested- he could tell she was too weak to really protest. He sat her down on the couch he'd been sitting on moments before, and repeated his question, "Are you all right?"
Kate opened her mouth, about to say that she was just tired, when tears started streaming down her face, much to her horror. Sirius looked at her, appalled, and then said quietly, but with as much sincerity and forcefulness as he had ever used, "Kate, this is the second time in a very short amount of time that I've seen you cry. All of Gryffindor- hell, the whole school- knows that you don't cry. Its just not something you do. Tell me what's wrong." Kate however, couldn't do anything except let the tears flow down her face, which soon turned into heartwrenching sobs. Sirius hesitated, and then engulfed her in a hug, which she allowed herself to melt into. Sirius whispered soothing words, and all he could understand her to say was, "they don't know…they can't know…" Sirius was beginning to get alarmed, because he understood that this must be very serious- she hadn't even cried in front of him when her father had been killed by Voldemort earlier that year. Gently, he asked, "what don't they know? Who?" Kate however, just shook her head and continued to cry, until she was apparently so exhausted that she fell asleep. Sirius sat there for a moment, and then picked her up, grunting under the dead weight, and carried her up to her dorm, first whispering the charm that allowed him to go up the sliding stairs, an accomplishment the boys and crowed about for ages when they discovered it. He gently set her down in her bed, and kissed her forehead, blushing as he did so.
When Lily woke the next morning, Kate's bed was neatly made, and there was no sign of her. She sighed, wishing that yesterday hadn't happened, but knew that it needed to. Things would work themselves out. Groaning slightly, she made her way to the bathroom to get ready for the day.
When Mandy and Lily reached the dining hall, there was once again no sign of Kate. Mandy stubbornly refused to admit that this worried her, although she was terrified, as her dream the past night had been about Kate, and in vivid, gruesome detail. That dream, at least, she felt was more than just concern manifesting itself in a dream, and she desperately wanted to warn Kate, tell her to be careful- but how could she, when yesterday she had pretty much told her that she wasn't important enough to be a target of Voldemort? Mandy sighed- well, Kate wasn't at breakfast so she couldn't tell her now anyway…she'd worry about it when the time came.
Sirius looked at both girls oddly- he had expected them to either be wherever Kate was, or in a far more concerned mood, after what he's seen last night. He slid into a seat next to Lily, and said, "So?" Lily looked at him blankly. He continued, "Kate…? What's up with her? Is she okay?"
Lily was supremely confused, and asked, "What are you talking about?" Sirius just looked at her strangely, and said, "Well, I just assumed that something was wrong….I mean, its KATE, when she cries, it must mean the end of the world or something…right?" Now Lily and Mandy were both looking at him, and Lily asked, "she was crying?" Sirius looked surprised, and said, "She was BAWLING last night, and she looked horrible, and she was about to collapse…" Sirius trailed off as he noticed his dear cousin Bellatrix looking over at the Gryffindor Table, smiling cruelly. There were very few things that would make her smile that particular smile, Lily thought, as she and Mandy followed Sirius' gaze- and one of those things would be something unfortunate happening to Kate. Lily was suddenly gripped with fear, and Mandy was already standing up, saying shakily, "We need to find her." Both girls ran like their lives depended on it, and Sirius and Remus were once again left to follow them.