"There. It should be fixed now. Wrinkle your nose for me, please."
Scorpius obediently wrinkled, and was triumphantly pronounced cured by Madam Pomfrey, who then brandished her wand at the pair of them. "Now, get out! I've seen you far too many times in here, Mr Malfoy! And as for you, Miss Jones, you always seem to turn up as well, more often than not sporting a ridiculous hair colour!"
The two stared at her, and then scarpered, stifling snorts.
Madam Pomfrey had mended Scorpius' nose in a trice, but it hadn't taken away the pain of her kick. Surprisingly, Scorpius hadn't harboured any bad feelings about her attack- if anything, he'd seemed impressed. In all, he had been a welcome shock, as they had gotten on surprisingly well.
"But you can do so many spells." Catrin argued as he prodded his nose experimentally, causing him to shake his head.
"But you can defend yourself without a wand. That's worth something in itself."
"Once I've managed to dodge all the jinxes and hexes flying my way. Most of the books in the library aren't helping, either- it's all very well in theory, but I've got nobody who's willing to be practised on."
"Well, you certainly practised your self-defence skills on me."
Catrin smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that."
"Don't worry about it. It's fixed, anyway. Anyway...I think I've got a solution."
"You have?"
Scorpius nodded wisely. "I have. How about...you teach me how to break people's noses, and I teach you how to throw them against walls."
Catrin was silent for a moment, not sure how she felt about this new development. She didn't mind spending time with Scorpius...for the twenty minutes she'd spent with him, anyway. But she'd done that out of guilt...did she, a Gryffindor, want to spend more time with a Slytherin?
But hadn't she just chucked that one out of the window by taking him to the Hospital Wing in the first place?
And could she trust him?
Hmm...
She glanced upwards to see the ex-patient looking at her sympathetically. "You can call it off at any time, if you like." He offered. "I just thought...it's convenient, isn't it? And, you owe me one. Or two."
She gave him a grudging half-smile, stopping where she stood in the corridor. "That's true. Alright then, Mr Malfoy...you've got yourself a deal. How about...the third classroom along the Charms corridor at 6 o'clock on a Monday? I used to spend time there shunting desks around."
She stuck out her hand, and then decided to go the whole hog and spat on it. Scorpius looked faintly green at that, but didn't waver, which earned him a lot of respect in her book. The portraits surrounding them looked on curiously as he did the same and ceremonially squelched her hand in his, grey eyes dancing.
"Six o'clock on a Monday? We'll start with Rictusempra."
"I hate to think I'm being weird...but why, Jones, are you staring at a bowl of broken pottery? Is this what Muggles do for fun? I can see why you came to Hogwarts."
Huh? Catrin blearily shook herself awake, and glanced up at James Potter's sceptical face.
"Oh. It's you."
"I'm glad to know you appreciate me so much." James ignored the lack of enthusiasm and dropped into the chair opposite her. He then proceeded to stare, with the appearance of deep concentration, at the bowl of shards.
"Erm..what are you-"
"Shh! Can't you see I'm in the middle of an important mug-staring session here?"
Catrin couldn't help it; her lips twitched. "That's going to be Catrin-code for anything remotely boring from now on."
"Excellent. Knew I'd get to you eventually." James grinned and leaned backwards in his chair, hazel eyes penetrating her own. "Now then, what's going on in your world?"
"Well, I'm trying to figure out why people are disappearing like...like hotcakes." Catrin didn't know why she was telling James Potter this- it wasn't like he'd be able to give her any constructive help. But still...any kind of help would be welcome in this situation.
"Ah. Tricky one, that."
"And this was on the floor- plus the water- when Diggle vanished. That's strange, actually...the water hasn't disappeared."
"Oh, is that all? And I thought you were trying to prove Einstein wrong." James leaned back even further in his seat and yelled across the packed Common Room. "TEDDY!"
Several people glanced around, startled, and then a violently blond head appeared from the middle of the crowd of seventh-years, with a pair of owlish blue eyes underneath it. Catrin had to stare for a moment to recognise Teddy as he wound his way through the hordes of students. She noticed that, from her position amongst the sixth years, Victoire was staring at his eye-catching colouring as much as anyone- more, in fact, seeing as it mimicked hers and Louis' hair and eyes exactly.
"Yes?" Teddy said, putting on an air of deep exasperation. "If you keep yelling at me like that, I'll have to put you in detention. Where's your partner in crime? I'll book him too, while I'm at it."
"Ahh, but if you did, I wouldn't give you an intriguing problem to solve. And we all know how much you love those. Fred is...busy. You'll find out why later." James smirked at his friend. "Nice hair, by the way. Has Vicky noticed yet?"
"Don't call her that." Teddy flushed.
But he sat down, and in a moment his hair was a sombre brown. "Now. You have a problem? Hello by the way, Catrin."
"Hi!"
"I heard that you broke a Slytherin's nose yesterday."
Now it was Catrin's turn to blush. James goggled at her, and she quickly moved on, hiding her guilt. "He's fine now. Anyway, this was at the Disappearance Scene from Christmas. When Diggle vanished."
She indicated the bowl. "And the mug might not be anything special, but the water really should've...what's the word? Wedi anweddu...evaporated by now."
Teddy smiled, dismissing her momentary slip, (unlike James, who snorted) and leaned over the bowl, staring down at the shards. "Really? The disappearance...how interesting..."
"Look out, Catkin. Studious Big-Head Boy alert." James grinned, receiving a mock-punch from Teddy, who then prodded the liquid a bit more and slid a rather unusual pair of glasses from his pocket. Nestled within the bog-standard frames were lenses tinted a vibrant blue, with a large dial on the side. These, to both Catrin and James' fascination, were put on, and the dial twirled the way someone might twirl the dial on a radio.
About ten minutes passed, with nobody daring to speak over the hubbub of the Common Room, and then Teddy slid the wonder-specs off and turned to face the other two. By this time, James looked just as interested as Catrin, who was starting to wish that she'd never mentioned the disappearances to him.
"Well, I reckon that if the water hasn't evaporated by now, it's probably a potion. I'll be able to find out what it is if I take it into Potions tomorrow..."
"No!" Catrin cut in sharply. "It might not come back- the Ministry might take it as evidence."
"...which is why I wasn't thinking of doing that. Because I think that we have the answer sitting right in front of us." Teddy conceded.
Catrin looked at James.
James looked at Catrin.
"What?" They said in unison.
"Well, I think that this time, it isn't James who is responsible for finding this one out. If you'll look closely..." Teddy grabbed a spare quill from the desk and fished out a mug-shard from it.
"Whilst it isn't submerged completely, you can't see anything wrong with it. But once it is..."
The china was ceremoniously- and not without some effort from the quill, which snapped- submerged in the bowl.
And then it wasn't there anymore.
The first-years goggled at the offending mug-shaped hole in the bowl- and then, it clicked.
"Of course!" Catrin cried, slapping her forehead. "Twpsyn...yes! That was the potion that the Slytherins left behind when they were trying to make themselves disappear. I'd completely forgotten about it! It was what we used to pull the prank on James and Fred!"
"Beg pardon?" James looked stunned and annoyed in equal measure, running a hand through his hair. "So that's what you used! I don't suppose you'd mind if..."
"Yes. No stealing, I don't want you doing the same thing on us. I did say we should have won that competition."
"Fat chance."
"Pull the prank, you say?" Teddy looked highly amused. "Might have to put you in detention too. I almost fell for your innocent Welsh-girl-with-an-unsuspecting-accent act. Hmm...this is interesting, though..."
" The Slytherins were using it to make themselves disappear?" All three of them jumped, and spun around to see Louis and Mary looking at them accusingly.
"How long have you two been here?" Catrin yelped.
"Long enough to hear the full confession." Mary raised her arms and widened her eyes spookily. "We're coming to get you..."
"Shut up!" Catrin smacked her over the back of the head. "Unless you want to tell us what exactly you found out that Macnair wanted to get you so badly..."
"No." Mary said bluntly, face turning serious immediately.
"Anyway, d'you want to tell us about these Slytherins?" Louis asked curiously.
"Oh, yes!" And before she knew it, Catrin was spilling out every bit of information she could remember to the group.
At the end, there was a collective silence. She gazed around worriedly- had she overcomplicated things? Teddy's, James' and Louis' faces were all wearing thoughtful frowns, whilst Mary just looked gobsmacked at the secret goings-on in the castle, all happening without her being in the slightest aware of anything.
"Let me get this straight, then..." James said with unaccustomed consideration, stroking his chin in a wise way. "People are missing because of a Concealment Potion; something's been hidden in the 'Room of Reflections', and Rodolphus is on the loose, possibly aiding and abetting a group of cloaked people who are causing the disappearances."
They all stared at him.
"What?"
"James," said Louis. "You never cease to amaze me. And I thought that you had the mental capacity of a baboon."
"Well, I am full of surprises."
"Have you ever thought that the Slytherins might be in on it?" Teddy said seriously, scratching his chin with the snapped-off end of the quill. "Their parents could well have been Death Eaters."
"Not McLaggen, though. He's a Slytherin from a family of Gryffies." James interjected.
"Why are you all helping out?" Catrin asked, confused.
"Because," Teddy said with an air of exasperation, "a) You are on the case of something extremely interesting, b) This interesting thing could involve danger to people if we don't sort it out, and c) because, whether or not you like it, your prickly little exterior has warmed the cockles of our hearts. We want to help, Catrin!"
Catrin looked around at the others, and for once she was lost for words.
The cold drizzle of winter gradually melted in the following week into a warmer, gentler February, causing leaves burst into being in a matter of seconds (or less, depending on what dragon-dung fertiliser Hagrid and Professor Longbottom were using). The moods of all the students lifted considerably with the arrival of the first pastel-blue sky since October, although they were a bit shaken by Fred and James' sudden spree of pranking.
For reasons unknown, and with equipment unknown, they had set up a series of what could only be described as glass walls around the castle, completely invisible to the untrained eye. This had unfortunately caused several nosebleeds, and after the fifth concussed student had fallen over her desk attempting to get to the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey had gone on the warpath, armed with her wand and a detention slip, only to walk into one herself and end up being treated by her unwilling assistant, Professor Crabtree.
"I can't understand how they did it." Alice was saying admiringly, as they sat down at the breakfast table. She reached immediately for the bacon. "I mean, to get past all those prefects...and it's advanced magic, as well."
"Weasley's Wizard Wheezes might be playing a helping hand." Murmured Catrin, glancing across the Hall to the Slytherin table, where Scorpius was sitting chatting with a few friends. It was the date of their first scheduled lesson, and she was feeling just a little bit nervous about it.
Valerie was, for once, sitting next to them, immersed in the Prophet. "Hey, you guys. Looks like Rodolphus is still on the loose. Creepy..." she shuddered theatrically. "But I bet he won't come to Hogwarts. Oh, and we have a Transfiguration practical today- turning a rat into a sugar mouse. Anne was saying...oh my god!"
"Was she?" Said Catrin, before an owl flew into her head. "Aargh!"
Her hand flew up to try and ward off the sudden headache, though more than a little undignified swearing was involved before she was able to sit up straight again.
"What...in the name of...Merlin's neon...undergarments was that about?" She gasped.
"Er. Post!" Alice said cheerfully.
Looking around, Catrin saw that she was right: not one, but two owls were sitting there, one looking distinctly rumpled.
"I have post?" Catrin was so used to a lack of mail that she had rather given up on it, and tried not to look when other people received homemade cakes and sweets from their parents- Alice, Mary and Valerie included. She reached for the first, a handsome barn owl, who was bearing a letter with her name scratched on it in ink. This must be from Hestia Jones!
The second...
"This is for all of us!" Alice said enthusiastically, bending over. "'With our compliments', it says...let's open it!"
Alarm bells started to ring in Catrin's head. "Alice, I don't think..."
"Diffindo!"
The box split open with a tearing sound, and they all leaned forwards. Nothing happened.
"Phew, maybe it was..."
Then, with a bang, a pair of sugar tongs leapt out of the box and attached themselves to Valerie's nose. Right on cue, she screamed, and starting thrashing around, causing half of the students in the Great Hall to spin around and start staring, awestruck.
Then, a butter knife, salt and pepper shakers, teapot and milk jug all rose out of the ruins of the wrapping. If anything could look menacing, these managed it.
Catrin and Alice stared at each other, horrified.
"Run!"
And with the teachers following after them, McGonagall in the lead, hair flying, the two girls pelted up the aisle, trying desperately to stay ahead of the offending cutlery. The Great Hall whipped past as they sprinted for the safety of the Gryffindor Tower, but Catrin could just make out the Slytherin table – McLaggen and Macnair in particular- jeering and splitting their sides as they raced away.
Somehow she didn't think that it was a coincidence.