Chapter 2: School Re-union.
At half past ten on Monday morning, the two girls climbed into the taxi, ignoring the taxi drivers' astonishment at the size of their trunks.
"King's Cross please" said Kat and with a grunt from the driver, the taxi set off towards the station. The two girls could hardly conceal their excitement and squeals of delight were emitted from both as the great building loomed into sight.
After paying the driver, the two girls half skipped, half ran to get their tickets and then half ran, half weaved their way in and out of Muggles on their way to work. Kat had had the sense to wear normal clothes but Ali contracted some rather odd looks as she had begged and begged Kat to alter her old robes so she could wear them to the station.
The girls finally arrived at platforms 9 and 10 with fifteen minutes to spare and making sure that no one was looking, ran head first into the wall between the platforms, one after the other, and arrived onto platform 9 and ¾ which was so crowded Kat and Ali could hardly move. They waited in a corner where they couldn't be seen as they were quite obviously not students, with or without wearing robes, and didn't want to be faced with awkward questions.
They got on the train and headed to the last of the Gryffindor carriages, which thankfully was empty, and sat down, glancing at their watches every now and then, watching as the minutes ticked by, waiting until the hands pointed to 11 o'clock.
Finally, the guards whistle sounded along with the train's horn and they were off, heading closer and closer to Hogwarts with every turn of the wheels.
8 hours later (seeming an eternity to the two girls who had not ridden on the train for 12 odd years), the train showed signs of slowing. They immediately got up and collected their trunks, wanting to be the first ones to get off the train so they could quickly get to the start of term feast.
As soon as the doors opened, Kat and Ali both hopped off the train and ran to get onto the first thestral-pulled cart to the castle. As soon as the cart had reached its destination, the two girls got off and ran to the castle. They were beaming with happiness but there was one tiny, un-thought about flaw – they had completely forgotten how to find their way around the castle.
See, being away for 12 or so years while training to be Aurors had completely wiped their memories of the intricate corridors and passage ways around the great castle and not wanting to look like fools and have to ask one of the students, the two girls set about to first look for Dumbledore's office so they could put their trunks somewhere and so they could talk to him after the feast about their jobs and accommodations and then off to the great hall to join the teachers for the feast.
After an agonising 15 minutes, the girls finally stumbled upon Dumbledore's office after following a ghost halfway round the castle (to be fair, the ghost was talking to himself about going to see Dumbledore and it took the girls 10 minutes to realise that the person this ghost had once been had died from insanity) and then another half an hour to find the great hall – without the help of any ghosts.
They finally got there just in time to hear Dumbledore get up to do the start of term announcements and while leaning against the door frames and each other to catch their breath, Dumbledore then suddenly cleared his throat and said in a great booming voice,
"Students, allow me to introduce our new assistant staff members, Katrina …" Kat shot a dark look at Albus from underneath her dark fringe.
".. um I mean Kat Smith and Alina …"
Yet another dark look and a chuckle from Dumbledore,
"… I mean Ali Daniels!"
A warm round of applause was issued from the students and teachers and the two girls stood up long enough to smile before leaning against the wall again to catch the last of their breath. Kat was just getting ready to walk round to the teachers table when she noticed a familiar figure sitting on the very far right of the teachers table.
A very familiar face indeed.
"Um, Ali, look at the person sitting on the far right of the table"
Ali lifted her head and her eyes instantly grew to the size of saucers. Sitting there was none other than their old friend, Remus Lupin.
"No, it can't be, can it?" Ali mumbled under her breath.
The two walked calmly round the side of the hall and sat in the two seats that had been provided at the end of the left hand side of the table. Too far away to talk to Remus but there was always after the feast.
Kat and Ali ate in silence, listening in on Snape's conversation with Flitwick but in hearing nothing interesting, started a conversation of their own with Hagrid who had been more interested in reading his book he had with him than eating his food.
"So, Hagrid, I look forward to be working with you" said Kat. A confused grunt from Hagrid told her that he was either drunk or had no clue what she was on about. Most likely the latter as his goblet appeared to still be dry, as if nothing had been put in it.
"I'm the assistant for Care of Magical Creatures, didn't Dumbledore tell you?" Kat replied, sounding rather worried, wondering if there had been a mix up and she shouldn't be there. Of course she should, Dumbledore had announced their being here to everyone.
"Oh, um, musta' slipped me mind. Oh well, it'er be nice workin' with you n'all, um, …"
"Kat"
"O' right, Kat. An' whatta bout you, eh? Wass your job 'ere"
This question was directed at Ali, making her jump with surprise at being spoken to and choke on her food.
"Oh, um, I'm assistant for Potions"
Hagrid whistled through his teeth as if he had heard bad news. Knowing that Potions involved Snape, it probably did.
"You'd better watch ou' fer Snape, I 'erd rumours that 'e didn't 'ave a good break"
Ali sighed. Great. First day of the job and she would have to be stuck with, as she liked to refer to Snape, the grumpy 'dungeons bat'.
The plates cleared themselves for that last time, and Dumbledore got up again to wish the students a good start to the term and to conduct the school hymn.
Every one picked a tune they favoured and suddenly, gold ribbon like strings shot out of the end of Dumbledore's wand and formed the lyrics of the school hymn, high up in the air and everyone began to sing. The two girls were not ones for singing much so they sat silently and watched as Dumbledore conducted the last of the students who were still singing - two red headed twins who had chosen a traditional funeral march.
Dumbledore chuckled and then one by one, the students filed out of the great hall in their houses until the only people left were Kat, Ali, Lupin, Dumbledore and McGonagall.
"Remus! It's so good to see you again!" cried Ali, rushing to give him a friendly hug. McGonagall stood next to Dumbledore, smiling, which was a surprise as one did not see McGonagall smile often.
"And it's great to see you too Ali, and Kat. I never imagined I'd be seeing you two again!"
"Well, you never know!" Ali replied, smiling all the time. Kat found this rather unusual as Ali did not normally act like this.
"And Kat, how are you? You've certainly changed a lot, last time I remember seeing you, you were wearing a skirt and had your hair curled"
Kat blushed with embarrassment.
"Um, I'm fine Remus, thank you"
Remus smiled in seeing that he had embarrassed Kat and walked over to give her a hug as well. Kat happily returned the hug, after all, they were friends, but Kat also noticed that Ali had dropped the smile and her once bright eyes had dulled down. Kat had only seen this happen once with Ali – she was jealous.
Dumbledore gave a little cough, bringing everyone back to their senses.
"Kat, Ali, if you would follow me please I will give you the rest of your required information about your jobs and accommodation"
Kat smiled at Ali and they followed Albus out of the hall leaving Lupin and McGonagall to get on with start of term duties. Once in Dumbledore's office, Kat almost collapsed from exhaustion while Ali was in awe at all the different magical objects stored on shelves and in cupboards.
"Sit, sit, we have much to discuss" came Dumbledore's quiet voice. Kat was surprised at how quickly his voice had changed from the great booming one he used in the hall to the quiet, almost shy voice he was using now.
The two girls sat in the red velvet chairs that were situated on the other side of Albus' desk and waited for their further instructions.
"Right, here are your teaching timetables" Kat looked over Ali's shoulder and noticed that she had got more sessions than Ali but also to the fact that they were shorter.
"And your sleeping quarters are in the fifth tower at the very top. I have got maps for you both with your marked destinations on them in the hope that when needed, they will show you the way"
Kat looked at Dumbledore, slightly perplexed. Weren't maps supposed to show you the way? The question gone from her head as fast as it had entered, the two were on their way to the tower when they bumped into Remus again. Ali immediately put on her smile and bright eyes but Kat continued on to the tower. It wasn't that she felt awkward around Remus exactly, it's just Kat realised when Remus had mentioned about last seeing her that Kat had remembered Sirius and seeing Remus reminded Kat of him.
Sirius Black had been their other friend while they were at Hogwarts but the only other time Kat had heard about him was when Sirius was accused of 'killing' his friend, Peter Pettigrew.
He had been sent to Azkaban for it but had recently escaped – Kat had believed his innocence from the start but it seemed she was the only one who did.
Kat eventually reached the tower and judging from the thudding sounds that followed her in close pursuit, Ali and Remus had parted ways and Ali was desperately trying to catch up to Kat.
"Hey, why did … you continue … walking?" said Ali in exhausted tones.
Kat stared awkwardly at the floor, wishing it would swallow her up. She didn't want to have to bring up the subject of Sirius as it always caused tension between the two. Ali had never really believed the fact that Sirius was innocent and this made Kat mad. They had known Sirius for 7 years, wasn't that enough to know he wouldn't do a thing like that? All the time they had been at Hogwarts, Sirius had been a kind friend to them, always protected them.
However, Sirius had been a little fonder of her than Ali but Kat still saw no sense in that being the reason for not supporting their friend. Never mind. No sense in causing an argument on the first night.
Kat shook her head. "Oh, it's nothing; I'm just tired that's all"
She went inside and Ali followed behind, feeling that this was not all there was to it but knowing from some experience that Kat was not one to mess with once she had said her final word. The two put their trunks at the ends of their beds and then got to work putting their stuff away. Half an hour later the two girls got changed and went to bed straight away, both worn out from the day's events.