That first night, Kate lay in bed staring up at the canopy. It was so quiet that she couldn't sleep. She knew that she was strange. Most people wanted it quiet at night. But Kate had grown up in London. Night time without the street noise was just strange.
Kate sighed and rolled over. If every night was going to be like this, she wasn't sure she'd last the year. She closed her eyes and listened to the other three girls breathing. It was so quiet.
She didn't like the quiet. It gave her nothing to distract herself with. Quiet gave her too much space to think.
Kate carefully got up and pulled the blankets off the bed, wrapping them around her shoulders. She slipped silently out of the dorm and padded barefoot down the stairs into the common room. It was deserted but the remnants of the fire still burned.
Kate walked over and teased it back to life until it crackled and spat. Then she went to the window and opened it. The wind rustled the trees of the Forbidden Forest. Owls hooted to each other. Something splashed in the lake. Not quite London traffic but it would do. She wondered what the other city kids did. Were they simply used to the resounding silence after all their years here? Did Hogwarts become their home since they spent so much time here? And the place where their parents lived, what became of it?
Kate lay down on the sofa and wrapped herself in the blankets. With the sounds of the fire and nature keeping her company, she managed to fall into a fitful sleep.
When the sun rose, Kate crept back upstairs and into bed. Her roommates never knew she'd been gone.
The next morning, the Gryffindors sat down to breakfast and reviewed their new schedules. Kate had done her O.W.L.s with Aunt Grace, and she had encouraged Kate to sign up for as many sixth year classes as she qualified for. Kate was in Transfiguration, Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and History of Magic. The others were shocked that she was taking that last one.
"Why on earth would you have taken History of Magic?" Marlene gasped.
"Oh leave her alone," Mary chided. "She couldn't have known. But seriously, Kate. Save yourself now and drop it."
"What?" demanded Kate. "I like History! Don't you want to know where you came from?"
"I come from Godric's Hollow, thank you," James said. "That's all I care to know."
"But what about before that?" pressed Kate. "What about your ancestors? Aren't you curious about how we got to where we are today?"
"It's not the subject that we don't like," Peter said gently. "It's the teacher. Professor Binns is the most boring lecturer in all of Britain."
"Yeah, he even bored himself to death!" Sirius laughed and everyone joined in. Kate was still confused.
"Professor Binns is a ghost," Sirius explained.
"What?" gasped Kate.
"Sounds mad, right? The story goes that he took a nap and when he woke up to go teach his class, he left his body behind."
"Well, that's devotion to your job," Kate laughed.
"Funny, we call it obsession," James called down the table.
Peter leaned over to Kate. "Just a warning, Binns tends to fall asleep during class, sometimes mid-sentence."
Kate's eyes widened. She smiled at Peter and added him to her mental group of reliable friends which also included Lily, Mary, and Marlene.
She could already see that of the boys, Peter was the most likely to give her useful information about the school. James and Sirius didn't take life seriously enough and Remus always looked so tired and slightly out of touch with what was going on around him.
"Hey! We have Charms together," Sirius reached around Kate's shoulders and pointed at her schedule. His arm encircled her back. Kate suppressed a shiver. She took a breath to steady herself but ended up breathing in his scent. He smelled like leather and something slightly musky. A cologne maybe?
Kate stared down at her schedule. She didn't look at Sirius. Peter might be the most informative, but Sirius...
"You don't do subtle, do you?" she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.
"How could you tell?" Sirius asked with a sheepish smile. He didn't retract his arm.
Kate laughed. "It's like the Knight Bus crashed into my living room."
Sirius sat up and pulled back his arm. Where he had been touching her felt cold for a second. Kate almost leaned closer to him but caught herself.
"Lucky you, you have almost all your classes with me," Sirius grinned at Kate. "Everything but Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and History of Magic." He shuddered dramatically, making Kate laugh.
"What are you taking instead?" she asked.
"Astronomy and Muggle Studies."
"Muggle Studies?" Kate asked. "What's that like? Do you learn much?"
"I've learned that it's an easy mark, and an easy way to make my parents crazy," laughed Sirius. Kate frowned. "What?"
"Tell me you've learned something besides that," she said. "Something useful."
He shrugged. "I suppose, sure. What's the big deal?"
"Nothing," Kate looked down at her hands. "I just think that it's important. It should be required for all pure-blood students."
"You think?" Marlene asked.
"Yes! Aren't you ever curious about how the other half lives?" Kate asked. "I mean Lily and Mary's parents are muggle."
"My Mum too," Remus said.
"My Dad," Kate smiled. She couldn't quite muster a full smile like before. Talk of muggles had brought up too many memories. She felt her happy mood melt.
"Did something happen?" Sirius asked. He was looking at her with mild concern. "I've never seen you so serious."
"You've known me less than twenty-four hours," she snapped.
Sirius stared at the side of her head. Where had that come from? She wasn't looking at him and that bothered him more than he was willing to admit. He wanted to see her expression but a curtain of hair hid her face.
He ate his breakfast and half listened to the conversations around him while he considered what to say. She beat him to it. Without a word to anyone, Kate got up from the table and left.
Lily, who had been distracted trying to fend off James, leaned forward.
"What did you do?" she demanded.
"What? Nothing!" Sirius gasped.
"Really," Lily gave him a look that made him think she'd be a good Mum one day.
Marlene defended him. "Even I'm not sure what happened, Lil," she said. "Kate was fine one minute and going off in a huff the next."
Sirius didn't often wonder what went on in girls' heads. Girls were usually pretty easy to understand to him, and he prided himself on that. But Kate... Kate was an enigma.
Well, it had been a while since he'd had a challenge.