December 2022 brought some of the bitterest cold to even grace the grounds of Hogwarts. Pale gray snow smothered the entire castle, over a foot off the ground, piling high on the towers. The harsh, unforgiving wind fought her way into the castle; she howled wickedly when denied entry. It was only in front of fireplace that Hogwarts' occupants didn't see clouds of their own breathe taunting them about the cold. The Headmistress had ordered several extra fireplaces constructed in the Slytherins' dungeon dormitories, lest the poor things freeze to death. Still, in every class, during every mealtime, and in the halls, the constant chattering of teeth remained the default background noise.

To Cathy, now in her fifth year, this was both a boon and a bane. The boon was that she could skip going to the greenhouses for her least favorite class, Herbology. The bane was that her best friend, Scorpius, would be missing Quidditch practice, which made him unbearably irritable.

"Let it go Scary." she had tried to tell him on their way to dinner. Since their Astronomy teacher, a strange American witch by the name of Ms. Darlington, continually mispronounced his name "Scare-pee-uhz", the nickname stuck. "Even you can't play in heavy snow and wind." He'd just shrugged grumpily, much to her annoyance.

He wasn't the only person in a bad mood. Albus' girlfriend, a Gryffindor named Melody Williams, had broken up with a few days prior and Rose was serving detention for the Defense Against the Darks Arts teacher, Professor Winchester, for arguing that students should be allowed to see the aftermath of the nastiest curses. Again. Not only that, a letter had been sent home, probably Winchester fearing that Rose had Dark leanings, and Rose had received a Howler from her mother.

To dampen the mood further, the Hufflepuffs had an important alternative test in Herbology to make up for cancelled classes. Cathy had only managed nearly decent grades in that class, and was very worried. Her roommate Melanie Smith was downright awful in the subject and kept badgering Cathy to study with her.

'At least Angel and Sonya aren't here.' Cathy thought to herself as she snuggled deeper into the blankets she'd brought from her dorm. Angel and Sonya came into the common room, blushing and giggling uncontrollably. 'I have the best luck.'

"Cathy!" Sonya greeted as if they were old friends.

Cathy forced herself to be polite. "Hello Sonya, Angel."

"You'll never guess what just happened!" Sonya gave a very un-Sonya-like squeak. "James Potter kissed me!"

"It's true." Angel jumped in. "I saw the whole thing."

"How nice." Cathy nodded absently as she bent over the Herbology textbook. Sonya took a seat by Cathy; Angel copied her. "What?"

"Do you think James won't like that I'm short?"

"I don't know." Cathy genuinely did not. She wanted nothing more than to get as far away from the conversation as possible.

Sonya seemed to grow impatient, "But his brother is your best friend! Surely you know something. Albus liked short girls, didn't he? He dated Melody Williams. Are you sure you don't know if his brother's the same?"

"And before that, Julie Thomas." Angel cut in.

Sonya looked worried "Who had James dated again?"

"Sammy Abbott, Thisbe Boot, Hollisa Malsenior..." Angel counted the names off her fingers.

As the two prattled on, occasional asking her about the Potter boys, Cathy felt a stab of annoyance. She didn't feel like discussing anyone's love life, least of all Albus'. She got up, muttering about having to go to the library. She holed herself up in the Charms section, absently looking through pictures of cute little spells she'd already learned until Madame Pince, the strict library Molly Weasley claimed lived solely for her books, forced her to leave.

It had gotten late, and the dimly lit corridors were bare of life. She glanced over her shoulder, hoping Filch the caretaker won't catch her out of bed at this hour. The hallway was practically frozen solid, so she conjured at a floating green flame to keep her warm. Still, her breath hung in front of her like best friend. She was sheathed in two heavy blankets that dragged along behind her. Her lips were slammed together to keep her teeth from chattering.

After a quarter of an hour, she admitted to herself that she was completely lost. What a shame-a fifth year not yet knowing her way! In time, the corridor narrowed into a single, small stairway. Though she knew it wasn't the way back to the Hufflepuff dorms, the stairway fascinated her. The instant she stepped foot on the first step, the cold vanished. Grateful, Cathy ran up, leaving her blankets behind. The stairway opened up to a strangely beautiful medieval room. The structure was no different than that of a regular Hogwarts tower, just older fashioned. Huge, richly decorated tapestries covered every inch of wall; the furniture, though finely carved, was worn, stuffy, and looked very soft.

'Home.' someone thought. 'Just as I remember.'

Cathy heard it in her head and for a second, assumed it her own emotion. But this wasn't her home; she'd never been here before.

'My bones feel as though they might break.' the voice sighed, 'I wish to rest.'

Cathy wandered into a room with a yellow door and fell asleep.

She woke up with a start, lying atop an unfamiliar bed, sometime in the mid-morning. Panicked, Cathy untangled herself from the sheets and raced out the door and down the stairway. She found her discarded blankets at the bottom just as she'd left them. It was cold again, so she clumsily wrapped them around her. A deep chill rising up from her feet informed her that she'd left her slippers upstairs, but she knew she didn't have time to retrieve them. Cathy instead ran from corridor to corridor trying to find her way and keep out the cold. As her frustration mounted, she found tears on her face. Fortunately, she came to a familiar corridor leading into the Transfiguration classroom. Unfortunately, some second year Ravenclaws was leaving class just as she appeared.

To the Ravenclaws, Cathy must have looked like some bizarre animal: her hair stuck out in complete disarray, quite like a poorly built nest, and her cheeks were wet; she stopped in surprise, and was shivering little some sad, frightened salamander in her bare feet; she wore pajamas at nearly midday with two mix matched blanket falling off her. The sight was so ridiculous, that they all burst into laughter. The second years' roars of amusement reached other students who were sidetracked into finding out what all the commotion was for.

Humiliated, Cathy sprinted at top speed into the basements near the kitchen and entered her House common room. It was completely empty. Fighting back the urge to cry, she went to own room and lay on her bed. The entire school had seen her in the most bedraggled state possible. Not to mention, she was sure a punishment with her name written on it was waiting to be enforced. All her time at Hogwarts she'd been a model student and now she was complete joke. They'd tell her mother and she'd completely freak out. At least, perhaps, Aunt Monica wouldn't be so harsh. Oh but the Headmistress would not be nearly as lenient as her aunt or even her mother. And her teachers! With the feeling that she'd just been dragged underwater, Cathy realized that she'd missed two classes. Her classmates must have noticed her absence. As would Rose, Scorpius and Albus. Now the weight of all her unpleasant thoughts forced the tears out and they came with a vengeance. Cathy sobbed into pillow until her throat was sore.

When she got up, she was a horrendous mess, so Cathy bathed, put on clean robes, and went to lunch. When she entered the Great Hall, she could have sword she heard everyone laughing at her. The other Hufflepuffs assaulted her with questions and demands but she'd been prepared for that, and shut them out with silence. She kept her eyes on her food, daring not to look anyone in the eyes. She especially didn't want to see her teachers' disapproval.

Sonya nudged her gently, "McGonagall want to speak with you." she muttered. "If what happened last night was my fault, I'm sorry."

"S'Okay." Cathy whispered though chattering teeth.

After her unpleasant lunch, Cathy went to her afternoon class, Study of Ancient Runes, and focused deeply to block out the rest of her day. When it was over, her teacher, Professor Rinnons, led her to the headmistress's office. The office was a large, round and beautiful room with nearly stacked books, ancient manuscripts, and used quills. The whole atmosphere was extremely scholarly.

Headmistress McGonagall got up from her desk. "That you Sylvia, that will be all," she said to Professor Rinnons. She then turned to Cathy, her expression full of anger, disappointment, and a bit of bewilderment. "You've always been a model student Ms. Grant," she began in a formidable voice, "Why, may I ask, did you disappear from dormitory past curfew and skip your morning classes? The whole school was worried sick."

Cathy shrank into a glob of misery, "I'm very sorry Headmistress McGonagall." she choked out hoarsely, "I went to the library last night, to study for Herbology test. Time got away from me."

"The entire night and most of the morning?" The Headmistress replied deadpanned.

After taking a deep breath, Cathy recounted her discovery of the odd tower. From the look McGonagall gave her, she knew she was not believed.

"Ms. Grant, in all my years, I've never come across or heard of any tower of that description in the location you assigned to it."

"Maybe it moves." Cathy argued. "Hogwarts is full of moving stairways and vanishing rooms; it could something like that."

McGonagall's mouth thinned to a hard, grim line. "Do I need to remind you that you've broken practically half the school's rules, Ms. Grant? What you've done was a great shame to your house."

Cathy winced, but held her ground, "Headmistress, do I seem like the kind of girl who would fall sleep in a strange tower?" she lowered her voice, "I didn't feel like myself when I was there; it was like there was another presence in my mind that wanted me to be there. There was a voice that sounded like mine, but it wasn't mine, in my head. It felt things that I didn't feel."

McGonagall exhaled sharply, "You should have told this to me first." she rebuked with a composite of anger and concern. "Has this happened before? The feeling that someone was in your head?"

"No ma'am."

"I can't let off for this, you realize? Hufflepuff will lose a hundred fifty points and you will serve three months detention with me after the holidays."

"I understand ma'am." Cathy nodded abjectly.

"In addition, I want you to take occlumency lessons; it's the study of prevent external forces from influencing your mind. I'll call you when I've found a suitable teacher."

"Um, alright."

McGonagall reached under her desk and pulled out a chocolate frog. "This will make you feel better."

"Ma'am?"

"Bad habit I picked up from the last headmaster. Take it."

"Thank you ma'am. And, I'm sorry."

For the first time, McGonagall smiled, a small line of amusement. "Goodnight Ms. Grant."

A/N: Ten billion apologies to the person whose review I accidentally deleted. My bad. I really do appreciate feedback. Also twenty billion apologies to all the people who've waited so long because I'm a lazy ass.