Chapter 6: A Flying Education
On Katherine's first Saturday at Hogwarts, the girls' dormitory slumbered deeply beneath the cool morning light streaming through the high windows. There were no classes to wake early for, alarms were turned off, and instead, Katherine woke to a soft HOOT.
Through the sliver of an open window, an owl sailed in and landed softly on the thick maroon blankets of Katherine's four-poster. Bleary-eyed, Katherine reached for the letter as the owl took off through the window once more.
Katherine had never received mail by owl before.
All week, at breakfast – and lunch – her classmates had received the odd delivery from home. Of course, Katherine had no one to send her anything. For but a moment, her heart leap at the prospect of it being from Giles. After all they had endured on the night he found her, she longed to speak with him. Perhaps he didn't want his letter being dropped in the middle of the Great Hall… he seemed the discreet type…
Marlene stirred in the bed beside Katherine, yawning, before lifting her blankets higher anew, sighing beneath the heavy blankets.
Katherine turned back to her letter, prying open the envelope's crisp tacky seal. A piece of parchment, folded exactly in half, fell open. It was written in the same emerald ink as her Hogwarts Letter.
Miss Spencer,
I have arranged for your first flying lesson to take place this Sunday afternoon at 3pm on the Quidditch Pitch. One of the school brooms will be provided for you and it is suggested you wear appropriate attire for the athleticism of broomstick flying. I will be present to introduce you to your instructor and relay my expectations to both of you.
Sincerely,
Professor McGonagall,
Gryffindor Head of House, Deputy Headmistress.
A pang of anxiety woke Katherine fully. Placing the letter carefully on her bedside table (as swotty as it may seem to others, it was her first letter, and she thought she might like to keep it) Katherine pushed back her blankets, slipped out of bed and down to her trunk. She only had the robes Giles took her to get made at Twilfitt and Tattings in Diagon Alley. So far, she only had use for her school robes.
Quietly, checking every other moment that she hadn't woken her dormmates, Katherine pulled out the folded sets of robes made from her measurements. Lilac… cream… navy… pale green… They were all robes similar to what Katherine had seen the young Professor Sinistra wearing to lessons; a knee length skirt, a thick high-necked and long-sleeved frog-buttoned tunic, and a matching cloak.
The traditional witch fashion, while beautiful with its tasteful embroidery, was hardly suitable for flying.
"Morning," came Lily's quiet voice from the bed across from Katherine's, "What's got you up so early?"
As Lily yawned, Katherine grabbed her letter and padded quickly across the cold floorboards in her socks. Plopping at the foot of Lily's bed, Katherine extended the letter.
"I think I need help."
As the other girls slowly rose to join Katherine and Lily, the plight became shared. They already knew she was going to get lessons – and drips and drabs about Katherine's night running for her life. It was strange, the sisterhood Katherine found with the girls in the dormitory. Secrets were so easy to share, for some reason. They knew, intimately, the ins and outs of each other's lives from near constant conversation over the last week.
Katherine knew the oddest things about her new friends.
Marlene never supported a quidditch team, only select players – Gary Gilchrest, namely, and his glorious golden mane and wall-like keeper skills.
Alice liked to shower right before bed, soaking her pillow with her wet hair every night and sighing when she noticed her pillow began to smell musty.
Mary would lay on her bed, upside down, with her legs straight up in the air against the headboard and wall; claiming it was the best thing for the hips and back.
Lily brushed her hair every night, counting one hundred strokes, before fanning it particularly over her pillow, sleeping resolutely on her back.
"You only have robe robes?" asked Alice, lifting the pretty lilac piece appreciatively, yet confused.
"I had normal muggle clothes at my Aunt and Uncle's but, er, well I didn't exactly have a chance to grab anything when the Death Eaters attacked."
"We're the same height, you can wear my jeans – I've got three pairs. Do you prefer rigid or stretch?" asked Lily, going to her trunk.
Alice jumped up, "I've got a nice jumper. I mean, it's pink, but it's solid. Wind won't get through it at all…"
"Oh," said Marlene, digging around her trunk and grinning, "You'll need this."
Katherine blinked at the tough, heavy material that landed beside her on the bed; the helmet, before she laughed and threw it back, "Oi!"
Even Lily laughed as she pulled an emerald turtleneck over her bra, "You'll be fine, Katherine."
Opting for her regular school shoes and the lilac set of robes, Katherine plonked down the stairs with the girls, warm enough to opt out of the cloak. They had explained Hogsmeade to her over the week, but the first visiting weekend had not yet been announced. They were to remain at the castle on that first Saturday.
Given the early hour, there were only a few Gryffindors dotted around the plush lounges and armchairs. Sitting on the floor, by the fire, was Potter; lovingly polishing his broomstick. The waxy balm was, surprisingly, pleasant – and invigorating first thing in the morning. He seemed to be ignoring the rule that all broomsticks were to be kept in the broom shed down by the Quidditch Pitch.
Black sat upright in the closest armchair to his friend, a cup of tea in one hand and, curiously, a book in the other. With slicked back wet hair and an expression of casual, inadvertent superiority; he looked disturbingly like his brother.
There was a wildness to Sirius Black, Katherine had decided, however. From what she had heard and observed, he was spoilt, handsome, and easily bored; either fiercely excited or cool and detached. Nothing of the like she had experienced with his brother.
Regardless, Lily had warned her back from the youngest Black after Katherine had rehashed their library encounter to her friends.
'Stay away from him, Katherine,' Lily had said out on the lawns as together they watched Regulus stroll; graceful and indifferent behind his cousin and Malfoy. Frightfully, his eyes flashed up, directly to Katherine. They needled into her, even at the great distance between them. 'He's dangerous, that's what Sev says.'…
Katherine wondered if the same might be said for the Gryffindor older brother. There was something about him… she thought, though unable to place. It would not let Katherine relax when he was nearby.
The Prewett twins, gold-topped and long legged, were the other occupants, Fabian leading the charge over to the girls, a lively gleam in his eyes.
"McKinnon – Oi –" greeted Fabian, cheerily, before they had all even stepped off the girls' staircase, "Are you still trying out for the team? Marcus would come back and hex me for sure if I didn't give his little cousin first dibs."
Lily frowned, "First dibs? That's not exactly fair, is it?"
"No one else has put their name down to try out for Keeper." said Gideon, pacifyingly, his 'Head Boy' pin missing from his chest but not his tone.
Marlene stepped down onto the floor in front of Katherine, "I thought I had until next Friday afternoon? That's when the tryouts are scheduled, aren't they?"
Gideon gave his brother a charged look. Despite backing him up before, Gideon seemed to remain in a certain degree of disagreement with the arrangement, like Lily.
"I was told I could schedule tryouts at my leisure any time during the first two weeks of term," said Fabian, his shoulders seemingly broadening, as did his smile. Then he dulled, looking, for the first time, slightly sheepish, "And as you're the only girl trying out… I thought, er… you might prefer not getting heckled by some of the blokes that might be trying out..."
Marlene seemed to pale slightly, before slowly nodding.
"So, what do you say?" asked Fabian, clapping his hands together merrily, "Come try out now? So I can attend a Hogsmeade weekend and not worry about Marcus popping out of the bushes and hexing my bits off?"
There was something very beguiling about Fabian Prewett's enthusiasm. Combined with his well-known status as the dishiest Quidditch player in the school, he was in possession of a sort of charisma that sucked people in.
"Can the girls come?"
Fabian inclined his head in a sudden, striking, gentlemanly manner, "Of course."
Katherine stepped down behind her friends, Marlene and Fabian blazing the trail out the front of the new, odd, group of Gryffindors. Behind them, Gideon and the girls rearranged themselves to follow through the narrow passage of furniture in a silent dance.
Gideon waited patiently behind, nodding to all the girls, "Ladies first."
Katherine was last, and felt her heart flop over in her chest. Gideon was dizzyingly taller than the Fifth Year boys with who she spent day in day out with.
Glancing back, to distract herself and discreetly wipe her palms on her skirt, she saw Black's head turning towards them as he spoke quietly with Potter. Quickly, Katherine turned back, just in time to step down out of the portrait hole in what she was sure was an inelegant manner.
Gideon seemed to hover behind, hands slightly lifted, as if he thought she might fall.
Katherine however, stepped out onto the landing without aid, and watched as he ducked and easily stepped out. The portrait closed behind him as he ran a hand through his hair, and the two followed the group down onto the staircase.
"I'm sorry, by the way," said Gideon, eyes sliding down to her, "For abandoning you on the platform like that."
Katherine had forgotten all about it.
Flushing to her ears, Katherine resolutely faced forward as they trudged down the stairs, "It's alright, Lily found me not long after."
She could see Gideon nod in her peripheral vision.
Lily linked arms with Mary and Alice in front of them, sighing about the 'lovely weather we've been having lately'.
Katherine, feeling physical strain from her nervousness, wished her friends weren't so far away. Granted, three paces ahead was not that great of a distance to most.
"How are your classes?"
He had a very posh accent, she decided. Fabian did too, but he seemed to make an effort at being casual. Regardless, it was… comforting. It sounded like her Aunt and Uncle.
"Quite fun, actually, for the most part." said Katherine, managing a smile.
Gideon offered her a sideways smile in return.
Katherine felt her chest unravel from its anxious knots – just a bit.
"I… I'm getting my first flying lesson tomorrow." she only slightly hesitated in revealing it. After all, he seemed safe, he was Head Boy.
Fabian and Marlene touched down on the Ground Floor ahead of the entire group.
"Really?" surprise coloured his voice, "Who have they got teaching you?"
"I don't know," said Katherine, blinking. They strode along the Entrance Hall, out to the courtyard, and she spared a glance at him, feeling brave, "Actually, I thought you might know… or might have heard something from Professor McGonagall…"
Gideon's lips quirked, and he peered down at her, for but a second, before looking ahead again.
"I'm afraid not, Spencer," said Gideon, sounding genuinely apologetic. He licked his lips, tilting his head to the side as he spoke, "However, I can say with certainty that it's not my brother."
Or you, thought Katherine. Of that, though, she was very glad.
They were quiet as they trailed down the lawns, towards the looming arena of the Quidditch Pitch. Katherine had never been that far down the lawns before, and slowed her pace in the face of the gargantuan towers.
The TING of metal drew Katherine's eyes to where Marlene had thrown open the doors to the broom shed, adjacent to pitch. She emerged again, almost immediately, with a shiny looking shaft of wood with twigs that looks almost lacquered. It seemed, very much, to be a rather expensive broom.
Fabian reached in, grabbing his broom which seemed to by right inside the door, "Alright, King is waiting on the Pitch. He's going to be sending the Quaffles at you – all formality, of course – the spot is as good as yours… unless you don't block a thing… and fall off your broom."
Laughing, Fabian and Marlene walked through onto the green grass, seeming to jump onto their brooms and zoom off…
"Katherine?"
Blinking, Katherine turned away from the spot the pair had vanished from. Lily, Mary, Alice, and Gideon were paused at the base of a staircase that vanished up into one of the large spectator towers.
Lily waved her over, "Come on, we'll watch from the top. The climb isn't as bad as it looks."
Katherine, linking arms with Lily, panted with her as they excitedly clambered up the stairs. This time, behind Gideon. Their shoes thudded on the wooden steps and the red tarpaulin wrapping the tower rumbled and flapped around them. The sun lit the red wrappings, making the enclosed space glowing and warm.
The square of bright white sunlight grew larger above them, and wind nipped her nose and picked up her hair when Katherine and Lily emerged out of the top. Katherine confirmed, looking out and down, that she, thankfully, still wasn't afraid of heights. It would not do to suddenly develop the fear, as Fabian, Marlene, and King were flying even higher than the towers.
Fabian sat back, hovering oh-so-casually on the stick of wood a good eighty metres off the ground. He even had taken both hands off, crossing them over his chest and squinting against the wind and sun.
King had a large ball – the Quaffle – tucked under his arm, and waited for Marlene's nod before gathering ludicrous speed, out of nowhere, and charged the goal hoops. He was a blur as he wound an arm back and sent the whooshing missile at Katherine's curly-haired friend.
Katherine felt a morsel of fear swell inside her, sticking her feet to the floor as she watched, unable to sit until she saw what happened.
Alice whistled lowly as she sat down on a bench towards the front of the tower, "Nice headbutt."
Marlene, thankfully, was wearing a helmet – and a massive grin.
Fabian clapped and whooped, ever the impartial judge.
Katherine let out a relieved breath, and sat down next to Mary.
"Wind's shocking…" chattered Mary through quivering lips, holding out a hand to Katherine.
Shivering, both with excitement and the wind, the girls all held hands for warmth, jittering legs pressed close to each other's.
Gideon slowly sat beside Katherine, hands on his knees as he watched on with delight at another save by Marlene, "Starfish and stick – amazing!"
Marlene was rather excellent, not missing a single Quaffle King sent at her. After only fifteen minutes, Fabian flew over to King, holding up a hand to pause him. Marlene flew over to join the seventh years, getting a clap on the back and a few words from the Gryffindor Captain. She held up two thumbs to the tower.
Possessed, seemingly, by the spirit of Quidditch, the girls and Gideon all cheered and clapped the good news of her making the team.
Completely jolly, Katherine barely noticed when she was jogging down the stairs beside Gideon again, both nattering happily.
"King was so fast!" breathed Katherine, skimming her hand over the handrail.
Gideon laughed, looking young as he smiled and panted, "You should see a game! I commentate, you know?"
They emerged from the warm wrapped tower, the brisk air sobering them. That, and the fact that Greengrass was glaring at them from the open broom shed. Specifically, at Katherine. A few fellow Slytherin girls were with her. The sight of Gideon at her side seemed to stop her from saying anything, and, turning up their noses, they collected their brooms and flounced off towards the clear lawn by the Black Lake.
"One stroppy bitch, isn't she?"
Fabian stepped out from the grass of the pitch, shaking his fingers through his hair and adjusting the neck of his jumper.
Gideon tensed beside Katherine, "Fabian."
"Alright, Molly." said Fabian, in a sing-song tone, rolling his eyes – smiling all the while.
Katherine's eyebrows lifted, "Molly?"
"Our older sister. She graduated when we were in first year," explained Gideon, expression easing as he looked away from his brother and down to Katherine, "She was Head Girl too –"
Gideon turned back to his brother, pointedly, tersely.
"And something great to aspire to."
Fabian snorted, eyebrows pulsing up, "I know, for a fact, she was out after curfew with Arthur many a night."
The two brothers started to walk out ahead together.
"They're married now, it hardly matters." said Gideon, shaking his head.
"Right out of Hogwarts," said Fabian, turning back to the girls, "Soon came our dear first nephew, William – four months early,"
This time, Gideon rolled his eyes.
Fabian waved as he and Gideon stepped further off on the lawns towards the castle.
"Have fun, girls –" said Fabian, before eyeing them with amused, false strictness, "Not too much though."
His laughter lingered with the girls as their two bright shining heads vanished up towards the castle, walking swiftly.
Katherine spared one last glance at the Pitch before being pulled away by Marlene, the girl linking their arms. She proceeded to explain everything she did to Katherine on the walk up to get a late breakfast from the Great Hall.
Lily grabbed some toast before dashing off, due to meet Snape down by the Lake.
Musing about what they were going to do for the rest of the day, the girls lazily ate their chosen breakfast foods. As a particular rambunctious Potter led his friends out of the Hall, talking about some far-fetched corner of the castle that he swore wasn't there last week, Katherine's plait was flicked.
Turning, Katherine saw the four Fifth Year boys strolling off, none of them looking back.
"Ever played exploding snap, Katherine?"
Katherine hummed, turning back to Mary, "No, actually. I haven't even heard of it."
"We'll teach you to play, come on, we'll find a quiet courtyard. Best card game around."
"It's played outside?" asked Katherine, standing from the bench.
Marlene nodded, "Yeah, the Professors get a bit upset when we set the bed curtains on fire."
Katherine paused, and hurried to catch up, mildly horrified.
"Fire?"
"Hope you're not overly attached to your eyebrows."
Mary placed a hand on Katherine's shoulder, "Don't worry, Pomfrey can grow them back in a jiffy."
Having, gratefully, held onto her eyebrows, Katherine's weekend seemed to mercilessly speed up. She blinked, it seemed, and she was walking down the lawns, alone, at three o'clock on Sunday afternoon.
In the highlands, the sun set earlier, and was already beginning to duck behind the cliffs surrounding the loch of the Black Lake. The buzzing from the Forbidden Forest was doubtfully cicadas, but something equally as deadly as it was loud in the early dusk. Katherine was warm, however, in Lily's indigo bootcut jeans – the stretchy ones – and Alice's pink jumper.
In an emerald cloak, Professor McGonagall waited for her by the entrance to the Pitch, "Good afternoon, Spencer. Through here… through here…"
Katherine nearly stopped completely when the figure on the pitch turned around. Not that he needed to, Katherine had sat behind that head of jet-black hair all week – and the piece sticking up at the back…
"Spencer, I take it you've met Mister Potter?" said McGonagall, not pausing, as she gestured between them, "He will be teaching you over the course of a few months. When he believes you are ready, I will observe your flying and decide whether he has succeeded – this is also a test of his responsibility,"
McGonagall's lips buttoned after the word, her eyes fierce behind her own rectangular spectacles.
"I trust you to take this seriously, Mister Potter," said McGonagall, shrilly, "Miss Spencer was unable to learn to fly until now and I expect her to get as good of a flying education – if not better – than any first year."
Potter stood, dutifully straight-backed, "Of course, Professor."
McGonagall considered him a second longer, before turning to Katherine, expression easing.
"Good luck, Spencer."
Katherine inclined her head, "Thank you, Professor.
Robes flapping behind her, McGonagall exited the pitch, not looking back.
Katherine and Potter watched her as she went, and stayed watching the entrance to the Pitch for a moment longer. The air buzzed thickly between them, as the whole arrangement was simply too odd. They were not supposed to interact; he was Potter, and she was firmly in the camp of Evans.
"So, you've never flown?" the words were careful.
Katherine chanced a glance to Potter, to see him pacing the two broomsticks laid out, eyes on them.
"This is the closest I've ever been to a broomstick." said Katherine, eyeing the broomsticks herself, though with trepidation.
"Blimey…" said Potter, eyes shooting up. He lowered his eyes again just as fast, and gnawed on his bottom lip, "Alright – we'll start from the very start,"
Katherine watched as his face transformed into a mask of solemnity.
"Step up to the left side of your broom," said Potter, with practised ease, demonstrating.
Katherine did, although feeling a bit ill as she eyed the broom.
Potter squirmed a bit, and said, lightly, "Stop looking so scared, you're making me nervous."
"Sorry!" rushed out Katherine, feeling her cheeks warm.
Potter tipped his head with a patient, equally apologetic expression.
"Okay," said Potter, anew, "Place your hand out over it – and say, very firmly, 'Up'."
Katherine feeling very silly, followed his instructions, "Up!"
THWACK!
Potter grinned, gesturing the broom in her hand, "See? Not so scary."
Katherine swallowed, looking down at the broom.
"I wasn't scared about learning to fly – I was scared about…"
Potter frowned, pushing his glasses up his nose, "Me?"
"I thought you might laugh at me." said Katherine, shrugging, feeling very silly.
Potter opened his mouth, then closed it again. His hand went to his hair, ruffling the back.
"I… won't be laughing at you at all while you're learning, Spencer." he said, finally, quietly.
Katherine nodded, and said just as quietly, "Thank you."
Potter took in a deep breath, and returned back to his lecturing tone. He nodded to the broom in her hand.
"The next step is mounting the broom and lifting off, but once in the air… some people can get nervous and accidentally jet off uncontrollably…"
Katherine paled.
Potter noticed, his eyes urgent as he lifted a hand, "So watch me do it first as I talk it through,"
Katherine relaxed, and nodded.
"Okay – so you step over," said Potter, looking up at her as he did it, "Cross your grip; with your top hand over your bottom hand's thumb… lift the handle slightly… and that's a hover,"
Potter did, in fact, hover; the toes of his trainers dancing above the grass.
"Now, this is where some people lift the handle too much – and rocket into the sky," said Potter, slowly, a little mirthfully. The business tone returned, however, "All you have to do is keep the broom level, get used to hovering, and then lean forward, tilting the handle downwards, and you will touch back down safely,"
Potter touched back down, as he explained one should, and dismounted his broom, holding it in his hand.
"Got it?"
Katherine nodded, "Yes."
"Ready to give it a try?" asked Potter, hopefulness rising in his voice.
"No?"
Potter tilted his head, chest deflating, "Come on, I'll hold onto the twigs if you like."
Katherine, seeing his earnestness, nodded, and proceeded to mount the broom. She crossed her grip, but then hesitated before lifting the handle.
"Promise you won't let go?" she didn't feel as foolish as she thought she might have asking him.
Potter, true to his word, had a hand on the bristles, and a patient smile, "I promise that I will be here the entire time."
Taking a deep breath, Katherine lifted the handle. Immediately, she was overcome with the feeling of being on an amusement ride – but she had done it, she was hovering.
"Oh my gosh…oh my gosh…oh my gosh…"
"Very nice… you're doing well…"
Even with Potter's words of encouragement, Katherine felt the broom twitch in her hands, as if sensing her nerves. The front began to lift up, as if out of Katherine's control.
"Now, lean forward – gently – and touch back down –"
Potter tightened his grip, stopping Katherine from jetting off. It meant that Katherine slipped down the broom as it lifted into the sky – right back onto Potter.
"– ah, Bollocks!"
Together, they landed in the grass, Potter's ribs hard against her back and his knee hitting painfully into the back of Katherine's thigh.
Katherine groaned, rolling off him, "Sorry!"
Potter laid on his back, laughing, holding a hand to his chest. His glasses had fallen down his neck, and he turned shining hazel eyes on Katherine.
Katherine too found herself laughing, her palms against her forehead as she squeezed her eyes shut in embarrassment.
A gentle glance of a touch, and Potter's fingers urged her arms down. Deep lines of humour still pulled down his cheeks and jaw as he pushed himself up, his jumper ruffled up to reveal the belt he wore with his blue jeans.
He nodded to the broom where it had collapsed in the middle of the pitch, "Okay, again."
It was dark, and so cold it felt wet, by the time Potter and Katherine put the broomsticks back into the shed. The lights of the castle beckoned them up the blue-dark lawns, lit by the almost-full moon.
Potter's breath clouded in front of his face, but he walked easily beside her, arms swinging at his sides, as if he didn't feel the cold.
Katherine itched her neck, the dewy grass feeling as if it were still tickling there from the amount of times she ended up in it. She was in desperate need of a shower, dirt and green grass stains littered her clothes.
Potter glanced sideways at her with an easy smile as he loped beside her, "So, what have you got on for the rest of the night?"
"Not these underpants, I'll tell you that much." said Katherine, lightly, smothering the plethora of emotions that she had wheeled through over the night – mostly terror.
Potter threw his head back, snickered, then sighed, "Smashing sense of humour you've got, Whispy,"
Katherine half-groaned and half laughed at her supposed new nickname.
Willoughby Whisp was a Seeker in the Professional League of Quidditch, Potter had explained, who was notably fast. It was ironically bestowed upon her by a sarcastic Potter, because Katherine was scared to go faster than a putt beside Potter all night. 'Easy there, Whispy' he would say, when she came into land at a speed only slightly faster than a lazy summer breeze.
At least, she praised herself privately, she got to three feet off the ground by the end as they lapped the pitch.
"I went to see the Wasps with Pete's family the other summer, actually. Thrilling game, there was a knockdown-dragout over the penalty point that decided the game. Ended up in a life-ban for Sanna, for taking it too far,"
Potter tipped his head, eyes shining sideways at her as he nudged her with his elbow.
"Nothing escalates an argument like a meat cleaver."
Katherine found herself laughing with him, their upper arms bounced off each other's as they closed in on the glowing Entrance Hall. Shadows, caught by the flickering wall sconces, stretched around the corner into the solid forms of three out of five of the Gryffindor boys in her year – into Potter's friends.
Katherine very nearly tripped over Lupin's shoes.
Lupin steadied her by the shoulders before dropping his hands just as quickly as he had used them to stop her, "Sorry."
"It's okay." said Katherine, keeping her eyes low and stepping back – into the front of Potter.
She could have died right there, as the boys eyed her like she was a foreign species. Notably, Black's eyes drifted up and down over her, before he turned to Potter.
Potter's easiness and warmth all evening was right then in bold juxtaposition to his best friend's aloofness and broody exterior; Katherine was just thankful in that moment that it had not been Black assigned to be her teacher.
"Mate, we've been looking for you. You missed dinner – where have you been?" asked Black, ignoring Katherine.
Katherine thought she would use that opportunity to slip away with a murmured 'excuse me…'
"Just out for a fly."
Katherine glanced back, to catch Potter's eyes flashing away from her. McGonagall had, most definitely, warned the boy to not tell his friends, thought Katherine…
Pettigrew plucked a leaf off Potter's shoulder, "Through the forest?"
The rest of their conversation was lost to her ears as Katherine slipped around the corner and began to climb the stairs up to Gryffindor Tower. When Katherine opened the door to the dormitory, the girls hung out of their beds in their pyjamas, "Who was it?"
They all sprung forward, crowding onto Katherine's bed, closest to the door and the obvious destination of the girl.
Katherine lifted the lid of her trunk, and said, casually, "Potter."
"Potter?" they chorused in disbelief, eyes wide.
Katherine nodded, unable to keep the amusement out of her tone as she confirmed, "Potter."
Lily's face was immediately sympathetic, "I'm so sorry, Katherine – I could always –"
"No, really, it's okay," she said, laughing, pulling off Alice's jumper and handing it back, reaching for the button of Lily's jeans next, "Potter is… actually… he's nice."
Lily eyed Katherine in confusion, holding the jeans Katherine had borrowed.
Marlene just tipped her head, making a shape of appraisal with her lips, "I mean, he has gotten quite fit too, hasn't he?"
Lily rolled her eyes, hopping off Katherine's bed and tossing her jeans onto the closed lid of her trunk.
"He's a prat." said Lily, returning and lounging across the end of Katherine's bed, propping her head up with her elbow.
Mary raised her eyebrows, blinking, "Doesn't mean he's not starting to fill out that Quidditch uniform very nicely."
Alice had been the first of them to pick up a pillow and lightly throw it Mary and Marlene where they laid on their stomachs across the middle of Katherine's bed. Quickly, though, the girls returned fire, and that night the dormitory was filled with laughter and the light from the oil lamps. And it wouldn't be the last.
Author's Note: Thank you for reading! :)