Chapter 3: A day to remember

The next day, Kat was woken by Ali walking round the room mumbling obscenities under her breath. She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Ali was holding her screwed up teacher's timetable in her hand. Kat sighed, knowing that this would no doubt be something to do with Snape.

"What's wrong Ali?" Kat said, sounded a little more fed up than she had meant to. Ali stopped pacing the room and sat next to Kat. She unscrewed the timetable and pointed to Monday. Kat could now see why Ali was so angry. She had the whole day with Snape. Kat could not helping giggling but gave Ali a hug.

"It'll be ok, you probably won't have to do much, you know how much Snape likes to be in charge. Just, do what you're told and you won't have problems ok and I MEAN it"

"Thanks Kat, I'll try, but seriously, when have I ever done what I'm told?"

Kat laughed and then got out her own timetable to see she had one lesson with Hagrid in the morning and then the rest of the day off. She got dressed and they both headed to the great hall for breakfast. Kat had brought her map along but it turns out they didn't need it as they got caught up in the large crowd of Gryffindor students also headed for breakfast. They made it in plenty of time and with a lot of pleading and begging from Ali, they sat next to Lupin. He smiled when he saw them and Ali didn't hesitate in putting on the smile and start a conversation straight away.

Kat laughed quietly and asked Professor Sprout if she could read the newspaper she had just put down. Sprout politely said yes and Kat picked it up but as soon as she turned it over to the front page, what she saw could possibly be the worst news ever.

On the front there was a picture of Sirius, shouting and yelling, holding his prison number on a board in front of him. He looked raving mad but the headline was worse:

Have you seen this wizard?

Kat read the article and then let the paper slide from her hands onto the floor. Sirius was being hunted by the Ministry of Magic after escaping from Azkaban.

"Kat, are you ok?" Remus' voice made her jump. She nodded and then quietly got up and slipped through the small door at the back of the hall. Ali picked up the newspaper and saw the front page.

"Oh"

Kat carried on through the trophy room and through the secret passage way out into a large long corridor. Kat pulled out her map and saw she was in the hospital wing. She looked for the quickest way to the girls bathroom and then found herself running, trying to get as far away from the paper as possible. She found the toilet quite easily and went inside, heart beating heavily against her chest.

Suddenly, there was a soft wailing noise coming from one of the cubicles. At first, Kat thought it was a student but at the sound of her footstep, the source of the wailing revealed itself. Kat smiled. Of course, only one person could make that sound:

Moaning Myrtle.

"Hey Myrtle" Kat said, her voice catching at the end because she was so very close to tears after seeing the newspaper. Moaning Myrtle stopped wailing and looked positively shocked when she saw Kat.

"Well well, if it isn't little Katrina Smith. Long time, no see!"

Kat's cheeks flushed red because she was no longer little or called Katrina.

"It's good to see you too Myrtle, although I'm just called Kat now"

Myrtle smiled, which was even more odd than McGonagall smiling as Myrtle spent half her time crying when she wasn't 'thinking about death', and turned to go back inside her cubicle when she stopped.

"Kat, I know about Sirius"

This one sentence pulled Kat up short and she spun round, her hair flying in every direction.

"What?!"

Myrtle nodded. "I heard two girls talking about it the other day and I remembered how you and Sirius were close friends along with Remus and Alina"

Kat almost laughed with joy at hearing this. "Yes, Ali, she's here too, and Remus, we're teaching assistants!"

Myrtle sighed but to Kat, it sounded the closest thing to happy that Myrtle would ever come.

"Oh, that's nice and just between the both of us, I think Sirius is innocent anyway. Its seven years of watching you from out the window that made me see that Sirius would never hurt anyone"

Kat was so happy that she could have hugged Myrtle but that was an option no one would achieve. Kat turned to go and found Ali and Remus standing in the doorway. Kat froze. She hoped upon hope that Ali hadn't heard anything about Sirius.

"Oh, hi guys, is it time for lessons? Bye Myrtle!"

Myrtle went back into the cubicle but Ali stopped Kat from leaving. Kat looked at her and from the dark look in Ali's eyes, Kats fear had been confirmed.

"Not quite, lessons start in ten minutes but breakfast has finished. So, been having a nice chat with Myrtle have we?"

Kat stood there, not understanding why Ali was being so cold. What was it to her if Sirius had come up in the conversation?

"Yes I have, I was just getting some air when Myrtle showed up and we were having a nice conversation about how it had been a long time since we saw each other"

Ali's eyes narrowed. Here it comes.

"And Sirius just happened to come into the conversation?"

"Yes, but only because Myrtle told me she believed he was innocent and that it wasn't just an opinion. She watched us from the bathroom window for seven years whenever we sat under the old oak tree and even she could see how good friends we were with Sirius and how he wouldn't hurt ANYONE!"

Ali stared at Kat – she never saw this side of her and she didn't know how to react. Kat saw Ali thinking about this and saw her chance to get out before really she started crying – she pushed through them both muttering a good bye to Remus. She ran down the steps, out of the castle and made it to Hagrid's hut with five minutes to spare. She knocked on the door and waited for Hagrid to open it.

"I'll, er, I won't be a minute! Fang, sit!"

The large door swung open. Hagrid smiled when he saw Kat and grabbed a large slab of meat before closing the door and heading down the hill to the edge of the forest.

"We're gonna be studying thestrals today Kat. Know what they are?" Kat nodded eagerly. Hagrid laughed.

"Well, tha's good, now, can you see 'em?"

Another nod.

"Tha's even better then, in'it!"

They carried on until they saw a group of students starting to gather. One in particular stood out. Jet black hair, glasses. As they got closer Kat noticed the green eyes and most obviously, the scar.

"Um, Hagrid. Is that…"

"'arry Potter? Yep. I 'ad to go get 'im on 'is first day you see, coz 'e was living with 'is aunt 'n' uncle. They could possibly be the wors' muggles in the world"

Oh. Now, seeing as Harry Potter was the boy who lived, most people who had never met him before would be ecstatic, but Kat was only reminded of Sirius again. Never mind. She was a teacher's assistant and she was supposed to show equal consideration for every student just as the teacher would.

Hagrid dumped the meat slab on the ground and then whistled in the direction of the forest. The students waited in anticipation for something to happen and then, skeletal horses with wings came galloping out of the forest. Just then, the majority of the class starting murmuring, some even let out of few shrieks. Well, so would you if you saw strips of meat being torn off a slab by nothing and then disappearing into thin air.

"Now then, who can see 'em?" came Hagrids rough voice. Three people raised their hands: a young girl with long blonde hair, a rather tubby boy who looked quite nervous and of course, Harry. Suddenly, a boy with slick blonde hair and who had two other students behind him, although to Kat they looked like the world's worst people to have as back up, snorted.

"And what exactly are we supposed to be looking at? If you're going to teach us then we should be able to see the things. I knew this lesson would go to the dogs as soon as Dumbledore put you in charge"

Kat could see Harry getting ready to retaliate so she had better act fast. She jumped off of the tree stump she had been sitting on and pulled the boy who had made the snide remark from the back of the class and made him sit on the ground at the front. Kat then took out her wand and performed a sticking charm so that the boy could not get up off of the ground. The other students found this hilarious but the boy, whose name was Draco Malfoy as Kat had suddenly recognised him from seeing his father in the papers once or twice, was furious. He thrashed about and howled but after a while he stopped and snapped at Kat.

"My father will hear about this!"

Kat smiled. Draco was so obviously like his father - hated to be made a fool of and always threatened to get in higher authority.

"Not if you can't get off the ground he won't and you're only in third year so a Patronus is out of the question. Now, be quiet and I may let you go at the end of the lesson"

For the rest of the lesson, Draco was quiet and Kat kindly let him go but only after everyone else had gone. She then said good bye to Hagrid and went back to her room for she had no other lessons that day. Kat had intended on staying in her room until lunch time but couldn't face the quiet so she got up and got changed and was just leaving the tower to go for a walk when she bumped into Remus.

"Oh, hi Kat, I was wondering if Ali was about. I have no other lessons to teach and thought she might like to go on a walk"

Kat shook her head.

"No, sorry Remus she's assisting Snape all day today but I was just going out for a walk, would it be alright if I came along?"

"Yes that's fine Kat"

Kat smiled and wrote a quick note to Ali explaining where she was should she come back to the tower before lunch. She then accompanied Remus down and out of the castle and along to the woods near the great lake. They had a pleasant time talking about what they had been doing since leaving Hogwarts.

Un be-known to Kat however, Ali had come back early for an explosion caused by a student in the class had forced Snape to cancel the rest of that lesson and this afternoon's lesson as well. When she arrived, Ali took one glance at the note and rushed down the stairs and out the castle to find Kat and Remus.

Back at the lake, Kat and Remus' conversation had hit a lull and they had resorted to watching the various waterfowl glide across the lake when Remus cleared his throat and turned to Kat. Kat could tell he had something on his mind and so looked him in the eye so he could get 'it' off his chest.

"Um, Kat, this morning when you found the paper..."

Oh. Kat turned her head away, not wanting to hear about Sirius but then turned back to Remus because she did not want to be rude. Remus had turned his gaze to the floor so Kat gave a little cough to bring him back to reality. Remus continued to speak and they soon started to wander towards the woods. Little did they know that Ali was hiding in a tree, watching them intently. As they got closer, Ali could catch snips of conversation and was not happy to hear them talking about Sirius but was even more unhappy that they had gone out together.

"Look, Remus, I didn't mean to walk out of the hall this morning, I just, seeing his picture, it made me realise that... I miss him Remus. I've missed him ever since we left Hogwarts and I had no idea any of this had happened until very recently.

Kat was crying now and Remus didn't know what else to do other than to pull her into a hug and try to calm her.

"Shhhh Kat, I know you miss him and it's ok to" Remus gently brushed her hair out of the way and just stood against a tree, cradling her in his arms. This was the last straw for Ali and, in shock; she fell out of the tree and into the great lake. The splash broke Remus and Kat apart and they turned to see a giant tentacle fish Ali out of the lake and hold her, dripping wet, up in the air with duck weed all over her and a frog on her head.

Kat just stood there laughing while Remus went to help her out. Ali then trudged off back up to the castle to clean up with Kat calling after her saying she would be back later. She and Remus then continued on their walk and by the time they got back, Kat was happy again and she and Remus had re-ignited their friendship. Remus walked Kat back to her room and was just giving her a hug goodbye when Ali opened the door on them. It was all Remus could do not to laugh as Kat exclaimed,

"We've got to stop doing that!"

Ali narrowed her gaze at Kat but then became all bright eyed and smiley as Remus gave her a hug and said he'd see them at lunch. After Remus had left, Ali shot a dark look at Kat and slammed the door in her face. Ouch.

Kat turned on her heels and ran down the stairs, trying not to let the tears spill. She entered the great hall and noticed that no one was there. She looked at her watch ad saw she was ten minutes early so decided to look around the trophy room until she heard people coming in. Kat walked almost silently around the glass cases admiring the different trophies that people had won over the years until one in particular caught her eye. The title on the badge said 'Prefect' and the name underneath?

Remus Lupin.

Kat smiled and then heard people gathering in the great hall and carefully slipped out of the trophy room and sat at the teacher's table one seat from the end. Later, almost everyone had gathered and were now tucking in to a magnificent feast. However, there was one person short: Ali. Remus wanted to know where she was. Kat stayed silent but Remus insisted.

"Ok, the last I saw of her, she slammed the door in my face after you left. I don't know why but she was pretty angry. You don't think it had anything to do with us hugging earlier do you?"

Remus thought this over.

"I don't know Kat, possibly, but don't forget she was hiding in that tree when we were out walking - she could have heard us talking about Sirius"

Kat sighed. Whatever the problem was, it was Ali's, and it would not stop her from being friends with Remus and believing in Sirius' innocence.