Chapter 9

As the weeks passed, Kathy settled into life as a student at Hogwarts, working and laughing with her friends, and more often than not causing trouble when she could. She was a naturally bright girl, and seemed to need little practice to get something right. The only class she disliked was potions. The week after her accident she had been in her Uncle's study as he'd called her up for a chat and a game of chess. She had a feeling it was to do with Snape, but uncle Albus was more relaxed then Aunty Minnie was. However when she entered the office Uncle Albus was nowhere to be seen, but there was something shimmering in the cupboard. Slipping forward and checking no one was coming over her shoulder, she brushed her hair out of her face and leant forward. She knew she shouldn't touch it, but her curiosity overtook her and she poked the surface with her wand, getting very surprised when she saw her uncle's office in the bowl, glancing around again, she leant in and touched the surface of the strange substance, instantly being sucked in.

Uncle Albus sat behind his desk, but didn't seem to have noticed her sudden appearance. As Kathy moved towards him the door opened, and she had jumped back, Snape walked right through her.

"Sit down Severus." Uncle Albus instructed, looking tired. Snape had sat opposite him, yet still didn't speak. "I assume you know why I have asked to see you?" Snape gave a curt nod. "Severus what happened in potion's today? How did Kathy get hurt?"

Snape sighed, "Her partner made a mistake and the cauldron exploded."

"Some of the student's seem to think you were to blame for the accident. Apparently," Albus shifted a few papers on his desk, "according to several Gryffindor students you had ignored Kathy and Mr George Weasley. They then stated that you watched at Mr Weasley dropped the wrong ingredients into the cauldron rather then trying to stop him." Albus looked up at Snape, "Minerva was ready to hex you into next week. Is this what happened?"

Snape had paled dramatically, "Headmaster, had I seen Mr Weasley in time I would have stopped him. You know that. Yes I ignored Kathy, but I couldn't see her hurt." Albus looked steadily at Snape, waiting for the younger man to get what he wanted to say off his chest. "Albus I can't stand the sight of Kathleen. She is almost her mother all over again, but not quite. She has his face," Snape spat, "I can barely stand to look at her. She is so like her mother...but when I do look closer I see the man I lost her too." Snape buried his face in his hands, "Seeing her get hurt, I couldn't function, all I could do is look on in horror."

Albus stood and walked around the desk, "Severus my boy, She isn't Lily. I know it must be hard, but she cannot help how she looks. I can't believe I'm saying this, but treat how you would treat any of Minerva's lions. Otherwise you had better get ready to wear pink for evermore."

The scene shifted, Kathy was looking at an obviously older memory as her father's head appeared in her Uncle's study firplace. "Albus, it's Lily. The baby's coming. I need Poppy to come right now, we daren't go to St Mungo's."

Her Uncle looked up from marking, "Calm down James, I'll get Poppy and we will be there before you can say Sherbert Lemon." James' face showed plain the confusion of Albus' statement, but obviously his more pressing matter was his wife who was in labour.

"Hurry Albus!" and with that he withdrew.

Kathy followed the younger version of her uncle down to the hospital wing, "Poppy, it's time. Lily Potter is in labour, can you come?"

"Of course," Poppy said, jumping up from her desk and grabbing various potions and putting them in her bag. "Put a note on the door saying to see Professor Sprout if a healer is needed." She directed the headmaster, before grabbing some floo powder and vanishing.

Albus set the note on the door before stepping into the fireplace, "Potter House, Godrics Hollow". Kathy jumped into the fire at the last minute, not sure what would happen if she had stayed in the middle of the hospital wing. She and Albus arrived just in time to see Poppy administering a calming potion to James, and handing a pain potion to Lily, when a young girl, no older then 2 ran into the room, Albus swept the child up, carrying her away from the bedroom, chatting away to her, easing the childs obvious distress at the pain her mother was suffering.

The memory jumped, once again she was back in Albus' office, when the fire burned green, Albus leapt up from his desk as a young girl stumbled out of the fireplace. "Kathy, what's happened?" He asked the three year old gently, a feeling of dread gripping at his heart.

"Bad man. Daddy sent me to you. Had to save Mummy and Hawwy. They ok?" Her brown eyes full of pleading, this was uncle Albus, he could do anything. He'd save mummy, daddy and Harry. She knew it.

Albus went pale, how could Sirius have betrayed Lily and James. He had to get to them, but first he had to calm Kathy down, he couldn't show her his fear. "Kathy sweetheart, I need to go and see you're mummy and daddy. Can you be a big girl and help Poppy until I get back?" He was already halfway to the hospital wing, fear and adrenaline causing him to walk far faster then normally one of his age could.

Kathy looked at him, nodded her head, and sucked her thumb as he put her down. "Poppy, I need to go to the Potter's. Watch her, please?" Without waiting for an answer, he floo'd away.

"I think, maybe these memories can wait for a later date, do you not?" Kathy jumped and turned, finding her Uncle stood behind her. He took her arm and they started to rise up out of the memories.

"I'm sorry uncle Alb, honest, I didn't mean to, it was just so..."

"Tempting?" Albus smiled, "I know, you are not the first to have mistakenly fallen into my memories my dear, and I am sure you wont be the last, however, you should always..."

"...have active caution when dealing with things magical or muggle that you don't understand." Kathy finished for him, relaxing now she knew he wasn't going to be cross with her.

"Indeed," Albus nodded, "you would do well to remember this before rather than after too."

Kathy nodded, "you wanted to see me Uncle?"

"Ah yes, I apologise for being late, Can you explain, in words that are your own, not your friends, what happened in potions class?"

Kathy sat down, and told (for what seemed like the hundredth time) what had happened, Albus asking questions every so often. When she had finished, she looked up at her guardian, wondering if she dared to ask why Snape hated the fact she looked like her mum. Deciding she was a Gryffindor for a reason she asked.

Albus sat back, his eyes twinkling, "I expected you to ask my dear. Professor Snape and your mother were friends for a long time, but they had a falling out, as friends are apt to do, and rather than making up, they didn't speak again. Severus regrets never making it up to your mother when she was alive, the fact you look so much like her reminds him of the fact that he left it too late to fix things. Now, it's nearly curfew, so you'd best be off. Sleep well my dear."

Kathy grinned, hugged her Uncle, "night Uncle!"

AN - The purpose of Kathy seeing these memories will become clear later on in the story. I needed her to have more of an understanding of Snape, and also more memories that really, a three year old shouldn't remember.