Chapter 4: Memories and tree carvings
Seeing as the two girls had the rest of the day off, they decided to explore the castle and find their way around a bit more easily. They were just checking the map when they walked past a classroom and heard Remus' voice come from inside. Ali stopped and stood to the left of the door way so as not to be seen but so she could hear every word. Kat didn't notice and carried on until a hello from Remus stopped her short. She smiled and said hello back. Ali then walked by the door slowly, but Remus had his back turned.
Ali then stopped finding interest in exploring the school and told Kat she wasn't feeling well and went back to the tower. Kat stopped by a window and out of the corner of her eye saw the old oak tree which they sat under as kids. She sighed as memories flooded through her and Kat didn't notice Remus standing behind her. When she turned round he was standing there, watching her.
"Are you following me Remus?" she asked. He shook his head.
"We had some good times under that tree didn't we?"
Kat nodded but something about Remus' fallen expression told her some of those good times were even painful for him to think about.
"Yeah we did, I was just thinking about the first time we all met. For some reason that memory sticks out in my mind more than any of the others"
"Sticks out in my mind too. Who'd have thought that little Katrina Smith would have had the guts to stand up for two Gryffindors against a gang of Slytherins?"
Kat laughed and this made Remus crack a smile.
"Come on Kat, I want to show you something – probably something I should have shown you a long time ago but didn't know how to"
Remus took Kat's hand and lead her through the castle and to the tree.
"Ok Remus, what am I supposed to be looking at?"
He pointed to the tree and Kat saw two inscriptions that had been carved into the tree. Upon closer inspection, she saw that they said:
KS + SB AD +RL
Kat traced her finger over the carving that had hers and Sirius' initials on.
"Thank you Remus, for showing me this" Kat suddenly remembered the picture of their first class photo she had put up in the Room of Requirement.
"Come on, I've got something to show you too"