Chapter 8: Befriending the boy who lived.

Seeing as she had the day off, Ali decided to go for a walk around the castle and the grounds. Eventually, she got tired so she climbed a tree and fell asleep but not before it occurred to her that the tree she was in was their tree: she had somehow found her way to it without realising. Later on, she awoke to the sound of taunts and laughter. Ali peered through the branches and saw three Slytherins chasing two first year Ravenclaws. She was just about to jump down from the tree to help when she noticed a red headed figure suddenly appear from nowhere and make the Slytherins jump out of their skin. Ali looked closer at the red headed figure who she supposed was now telling the Slytherins to go because they were pointing in the other direction and the gang leaving. Suddenly it hit her. Kat.

"Kat"

Kat turned round and saw Ali jumping from the tree and running towards her.

"Hey. Um, this is gonna sound stupid, but I totally forgot you were a Metamorphagus. I hardly recognised you at first, 'coz of the red hair"

Kat took on a look of mock hurt and then laughed.

"Well, I hardly change my looks; sometimes I forget I'm a Metamorphagus as well."

The two girls laughed and then Ali remembered Kat's sudden appearance.

"Kat, how did you get here so quickly, how are you even here, I thought you were helping Hagrid all day?"

"Well first of all, its lunch time although we've only got about ten minutes left, and secondly, Hagrid had to chase after an escaped blast-ended skrewt so he left me in charge and I got talking to Harry Potter. He told me he'd had a lot of trouble lately, with the Slytherins, especially Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, so I started to tell him about the time you pulled that prank on me. When you apparated right in front of me when I was walking. He found it quite funny and told me he wished he could do that sometimes but you can't apparate or disapparate inside Hogwarts grounds. So when I suggested an invisibility charm which you could take off once in front of people, he told me about his cloak of invisibility. We were both walking to lunch when we saw the Slytherins chasing the Ravenclaws, so Harry gave me his cloak and then I bumped into you"

Kat took a huge gasp of breath while Ali had become momentarily distracted.

"Huh? Sorry Kat. I did hear most of it. Cool story. So what, you and Harry are friends or something?"

"Well, I wouldn't say friends, more like, um"

"Friends"

Kat looked at Ali then smiled.

"Ok, friends, shall we go to what's left of lunch, you must be hungry"

"Am I ever"

The two girls walked back to lunch and to Kat's surprise, Remus was still there. He was writing very fast and his forehead was creased in concentration.

"Hey Remus, whatcha up to?" Ali had to say this twice before Remus looked up.

"Oh sorry Ali, just marking the student's homework. I told them I'd give it back today so they could revise for a practise test they have next week"

Ali, who was very bored as she had nothing to do this afternoon, asked something that was a shock to Kat and a surprise to Remus.

"Can I help in your lesson Remus?"

Remus raised his eyebrow and Kat's jaw dropped.

"You, voluntarily doing work?"

Ali hit Kat on the arm.

"Yes, I'm bored, I have nothing to do. Anyway, the lessons on Boggarts, it's something interesting!"

Remus looked at Ali.

"How do you know...? "

"It's on your teacher's timetable"

Remus laughed and happily agreed to let Ali help in his lesson. Kat had to rush off to go hunting with Hagrid so Remus marked the rest of the papers and walked to his classroom hand in hand with Ali. Ten minutes later, the whole class had arrived. Ali sat on a window sill next to Remus' desk while he began the lesson.

"Right, every one, today we are studying Boggarts. Now can anyone tell me what a Boggart is?"

No one except a brown haired girl seemed overly excited to answer the question. Remus asked the girl, whose name was Hermione, and she gave an answer so precise that it could have been read straight from a text book.

"Very good. Now, um, Neville. Could you step up to the front please? There there don't be shy. Now, Boggarts are shape shifters – they take on whatever form frightens you the most. Now Neville, what are you most afraid of?"

Neville said his answer so quietly that no one heard. But then he found the courage to say it again.

"Professor Snape"

The class, Ali and Remus laughed.

"Yes, frightens all. And I believe that you live with your grandmother, yes?"

"Yes, but I don't want the Boggart becoming her either!"

Remus laughed again but it was gentle.

"No, it won't now here's what I want you to do. I'm going to open the cupboard and then,"

Remus whispered the next part but Ali guessed it would soon become clear.

"Can you do that Neville? Good. Now the spell is 'Riddikulus!' You must say it very clearly"

Remus opened the cupboard and stood next to Ali. Suddenly, Snape stepped out of the cupboard. Neville raised his wand and yelled the spell. The next thing Ali knew, Snape was dressed in a woman's clothing. Ali was laughing so hard she could barley pull her camera out of her robe pocket but she did and thought to herself as she took the picture 'Fred and George are gonna love this!'.

Remus was laughing along with the class but then asked Ali to do a demonstration, to show that Boggarts do not stay the same shape. Ali reluctantly obliged and stood in front of Snape. Suddenly, the image of Kat and Remus lying in pools of blood, dead, popped up before her. Ali lost all ability to speak and collapsed backwards onto the floor, silent tears streaming down her face. Remus stood there shocked before standing in front of Ali, making the Boggart his own. An image of Ali getting hit by a flash of green light over and over with the menacing words 'Avada Kedavra' repeated in a cold, high pitched voice was now on display.

Remus was temporarily shocked; he could not tear his eyes away from the horrific scene that was before him. He finally found his voice and shakily said the spell, turning the horror in front of him into a fireworks display. He returned the Boggart to its cupboard and immediately turned to Ali, who was still on the floor and shaking uncontrollably. Remus kneeled next to her and pulled her into a hug, brushing her hair out of the way, talking to her in a calming voice. But nothing would work and Ali was on the verge of hysteria. Remus guided her teary face round to his and, completely forgetting the class was watching, he kissed her. Ali still shuddered but she eventually calmed down, only to blush along with Remus when the class started to kick up a fuss.

"Class dismissed"

The next day, the story was flying round the school and Kat was walking down to breakfast when she overheard two students talking about it. Kat rushed to the Great Hall and to the teachers table where Remus and Ali were talking.

"Ok, what's this story I hear about you kissing her in front of your class yesterday?"

Remus blushed and started to stammer but Ali immediately cut him off.

"It was my fault Kat, Remus asked me to do a demonstration on Boggarts and well, it changed into you and Remus lying dead on the floor. I had a mental breakdown and Remus couldn't calm me. I was just about to go hysterical when he kissed me to make me stop"

Kat looked at Remus who nodded to back up the story. Kat slowly nodded to say she understood and they ate breakfast in peace. Afterwards, Ali found out that Remus and Kat had no classes whereas she did.

"Kat, would you mind if I called in sick so I don't have to work. To be honest, I still feel weary from yesterday and I don't think I could face Snape, especially if he's heard the story"

"No Ali, I won't mind. It's probably a good idea. I'll go tell him. Meet you two outside in ten minutes yeah?"

Remus and Ali nodded while Kat braced herself and walked up to Snape.

"Hello Severus"

Snape turned slowly to face Kat.

"Well well well. Miss Smith. Fancy seeing you here"

Kat sighed at Snape's patronising voice.

"Yeah, um, I just came to say that Ali can't come to work, she's not feeling well"

Snape nodded and motioned Kat to leave him alone. Kat could not have left faster and she caught up with Remus and Ali who were outside leaning against a wall, Ali resting on Remus, her head on his chest and his arms round her back.

"Aww. Ready?"

The three set off and wandered around before Remus went off to Hagrid's hut, saying he had to deliver something and he would be back in a minute. Kat and Ali sat down. Unknown to them, Draco had decided to ditch Divination and was also wandering about the grounds when he saw the two talking and decided to eavesdrop.

"Ali, why did you mention to Remus about my parents the other day? They're muggles, why would anyone want to talk about my boring normal parents?"

"Oh Kat, your parents weren't boring, I wish I had had parents like yours. They were always so kind to me. Even your adoptive parents, who knew nothing about you being a witch until you got your letter, were kind and supportive. I was only telling Remus to try and steer clear of the subject because I didn't want it upsetting you"

Kat smiled. Draco was beside himself with happiness and had found the perfect opportunity to taunt. He revealed himself and swaggered up to the two girls.

"Ha, so, Professor Smith, who knew that behind your little authority and whatever teaching status you may have, there was a filthy little Mudblood?"

Kat gasped at being called such a horrid name but Ali was up on her feet and had a hold on Draco by his shirt, one fist raised in the air.

"Care to repeat what you just said to my friend? If you're smart, you won't, and if you ever call her a you know what again, I will beat you until you have no blood left in your body"

Draco's face went white and Kat was pleading Ali not to.

"Ali, put him down, he's not worth it, you could get fired!"

"Kat, I don't care, I won't have him calling you a you know what."

Ali turned back to Draco and was just about to hit him when Remus' voice yelling 'stop' made her release Draco and freeze.

"Ali, what are you doing?"

"Remus, I know it looks bad but he called Kat a Mudblood and I just lost it. I'm sorry. Sorry to you too Draco but only a bit"

Draco mumbled a half hearted 'I forgive you, sorry Professor' and then dashed off towards the castle. Ali, Kat and Remus stood there for a while before two animals came bounding along.

"You have familiars?!" exclaimed Remus.

The two girls nodded. Kat's familiar was a tiger cub who playfully jumped onto her shoulder and started growling. However Ali's familiar was a magically bred species – a cross between a Nundu cub and a Shadow wolf. It jumped into her lap and began to lick her nose. Remus laugh as he saw the two girls immediately forget everything else and begin to show their true colours. They played with the animals and talked to them. A few hours later, Kat and Ali sent their familiars off to their tower to sleep. The three went over to their tree. Remus sat against the trunk with Ali's head resting in his lap. Kat scaled the tree and rested in a curved trunk. Remus gently ran his fingers through Ali's hair as they watched the sunset. Kat was at the point of falling asleep. If it weren't for the owl dropping a letter into her lap.