Ok, I know it's been a really long time and, this chapter is a little longer than normal. I'm really sorry about the wait and I should be getting free time to write more often soon. There might be some time between the next chapter because my computer is being taken away and i have to find a new one.
Other than that, thank you to all those who are still reading and I hope your still enjoying it.
"You know, sometimes I wonder if somewhere out there there's a place in which people are pulling of totally awesome pranks and we're not involved at all," Fred sighed sadly, "Like rib cracking, tear inducing gigantamongous pranks."
"Sometimes I think you have to much free time," Katherine offered in response, not glancing away from her parchment, "Have you done any of your homework. Also, gigantamongous isn't a word."
"Sure it is, like gigantic and humongous mashed together," Fred answered with a shrug, "Also, yes, we've done some homework."
"We did the charms stuff," George offered, "And McGonagall's and Sprouts, we might have lit the potions stuff on fire though. What are you doing anyway? Your normally finished this close to the end of the Summer."
"I am finished," Katherine replied, "I'm just going over my essays."
"Wait," Fred commanded, "So you do the work, and then go over it? While you're on the mirror? We mean that little to you?"
"No, you're the absolute centre of my universe," Katherine responded, shuffling through the parchment, "Some of us intend to pass our OWLs this year. What do you think your mums going to do to you?"
"Are you suggesting we're stupid?" George asked, "Because that's offensive."
"Honestly I'm more offended by the sarcasm," Fred snorted, "Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit you know."
"As I'm the one who told you that, yes, I do know," Katherine replied with a roll of her eyes. The boys could see her bounce slightly as she shifted all the books and papers on her bed.
"You know, we do this a lot, but we still have no idea what your room looks like," Fred commented.
"I'm aware," Katherine grinned, finally looking at the mirror, "There's a reason you're always positioned to see my roof or a wall."
"That is cruel," Fred frowned.
"And totally unfair considering you've actually been in our room," George pointed out, "Also, been meaning to ask, is your roof…"
"Painted to look like the stars?" Katherine finished, glancing behind her with a smile, "Yes it is, and it's enchanted so they're all in the right place."
"…That is awesome," Fred told her in a plain voice, "Why have you never mentioned this?"
"You never asked," Katherine shrugged, "I'm just used to it so…"
"Yeah, and we're the ridiculous ones," Fred rolled his eyes, "No chance of you coming to Diagon Ally?"
"Nope, we've already done our shopping, you'll just have to wait till we meet at the station."
"That's so lame."
"You're mum's calling," Katherine chuckled, sorting out all her work, "See you soon."
"Bye Kat," George laughed.
"Don't get boring," Fred commanded, making Katherine chuckle before they disappeared from each other's mirrors. Katherine smiled at her reflection before rolling over and looking up at the ceiling. A shooting star flashed across it, making her grin. A book dug into her arm and she pulled it out, glancing at it, her grin widening slightly. She was so close to completing the transformation, she just needed a little more time and somewhere to practise that she wouldn't be found.
She couldn't wait to get back to Hogwarts.
"Katty!" Fred called, running up to where Katherine was talking with Katie, George close on his heels. Katie turned to watch them coming, a mischievous grin making its way onto her face. With ease she moved just enough to trip Fred without having him crash into her. Katherine moved out of the way of his falling body, but managed to catch the back of his shirt before he hit the floor.
"Katie," Fred whined once he was standing up again, frowning at George who was bent doubt with laughter.
"What? I didn't do anything," Katie said with a large grin in place, "You shouldn't run in crowded areas, you could get hurt."
"I hope you remember this," Fred warned, "All year."
"Is that a threat?" Katie asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Let's get on the train," Katherine suggested, rolling her eyes, "The others are probably already on board."
"Nah, we got here early," Fred pointed out, but the group began climbing onto the train anyway.
"Early for you is not early for everyone else," Katherine rolled her eyes, then looked up at him curiously, "How did you get here so early?"
"Dad got some ministry cars," Fred shrugged, "Got all of us here really quick."
"Why'd you get ministry cars?" Katie asked with a frown.
"Dad's been doing well at work lately," George shrugged, "He said he called in a favour."
"Fred! George!" Lee's voice called, grinning widely. His grin was immediately matched by Fred and George. Katherine and Katie exchanged a look, wondering what the three boys were so excited about, "C'mon you lot, in here."
Making their way to the compartment they found Lee, Alicia and Angelina waiting for them. The two girls smiled lightly as they greeted the others. George shut the door behind them as the other sat down.
"So, what do you guys think about Black?" Lee asked immediately, practically bouncing in his seat. Katherine rolled her eyes, digging into her bag to pull out a book. The boys were like old women with their gossip, except their gossip was always about something potentially dangerous.
"Freaking mum out," Fred shrugged, "So Dad's keeping his information quiet."
"We really haven't got much beside the basic background," George sighed.
"How long have you two been trying to get this information," Alicia asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Since the paper came out," Fred and George answered.
"Well, it can't be that important to us, right?" Angelina asked, "I mean, the Aurors will find him soon won't they?"
"Or the dementors," Katie added.
"Yeah, Dad says they're furious," George nodded, "Kat, what do you think?"
"Don't care," Katherine answered, remaining focused on her book, "Angelina's right, I don't see how it could affect us. I'd rather not dwell on it if I don't have to."
"That answer is mature and lame," Fred informed her.
"Fred, if you flick something at me you will not be able to sleep for at least a week, understand?"
"…Fine."
…
"Should it be that dark outside?" Katie asked, looking through the window curiously, "I can hardly see anything."
"Doesn't matter," Lee shrugged, packing up his Exploding Snap cards, "Trains slowing down, we must be there now."
"Are you sure?" Katherine asked with a slight frown.
"Relax, I'll just check what's going on," Fred rolled his eyes, getting up, only for Katherine to grab his wrist and pull him back down.
"I don't think that's a good idea," she said, "I think something's boarding the train."
"Something?" Alicia demanded.
"I don't…" Katherine stopped talking as they were suddenly plunged into darkness.
"Ok, I'll admit it," Katie announced, "I'm freaking out a little."
"That ok," Angelina assured, "You're not the only one."
"I'm no…" Lee started, only to be interrupted as the door flew open and a number of people tumbled in.
"Who the bloody Hell?" Fred demanded.
"Shut up, move," a familiar voice commanded, though he seemed to be talking about someone on the floor with him.
"Malfoy?" A number of voices growled
"Weasley?" asked a different voice.
"Theodore?" Katherine asked, attempting to reach toward the voice with her free hand. Catching a hand she pulled him forward. Theodore made a quiet noise of acknowledgement as she guided him to the seat next to her, wrapping her arm around him habitually.
"What's going on?" Alicia's voice demanded.
"There're dementors on the train," answered yet another voice, Blaise.
"What?" Katie demanded, voice unusually high. A whimper was heard from the floor, though it was hard to tell from whom, Katherine felt someone shuffle backwards into her legs and her hand tightened convulsively around Fred's wrist as the room started getting colder. Fred moved slightly closer to her in response.
The door opened and they all stared at the creature in the doorway for a moment. The dementor stood there like it was tasting the air and Katherine remembered being in a small room with her mum and Theodore, the way her mother's eyes widened, smile falling from its place. She focused on the feel of Theodore pulled into her side and Fred's wrist in her dangerously tight grip.
After a moment the dementor turned and floated away. A little longer and the lights flickered back on. It felt like everyone in the compartment was holding their breath. Angelina, Katie and Alicia were sitting close together with their legs pulled up onto the seat, Lee was actually pretty close to them as well. Fred and George were a little pale, but didn't look too bad.
Malfoy was on the floor near Crabbe and Goyle, looking absolutely terrified, while Blaise had backed up and was now pressed against the seat between Katherine and Theodore. Theodore was wide eyed and pale, his breathing slightly off. Katherine moved her arm from around him to discretely rub his back, while slowly letting go of Fred's wrist. Fred gently rubbed it when she let it go, stretching his fingers experimentally.
"Sorry," Katherine murmured quietly, twisting around to dig into her chocolate stash, she'd never been more grateful for her sweet tooth. When she turned back around Theodore had turned to look at her, clearly checking if she was ok, as she had already done for him.
"Here, everyone have a frog," Katherine commanded, noting that everyone was starting to move more. All her friends easily took the frogs that was offering, not even asking why. Theodroe took two and handed one to Blaise, who tapped Katherine's leg lightly in what she assumed was a silent thanks. Malfoy, on the other hand, managed to give her a sneer, despite still looking pale.
Katherine merely raised her eyebrow as Crabbe and Goyle both greedily snatched at the treat. Malfoy looked like part of him wanted to argue, but he was largely too busy recovering from the dementor. With a derisive noise he picked himself off the floor, slightly shakily, snatched the chocolate and stormed out, Crabbe and Goyle close on his heels.
"Talk to you later," Theodore murmured, helping Blaise off the floor before they both headed out as well.
"Thanks, for the chocolate," Angelina commented, slightly quieter than normal, "How'd you know that?"
"I was reading up on magical creatures last year," Katherine answered, gratefully sucking on her own frog, "I didn't read much on dementors, but I figured that was useful information."
"No kidding," Lee sighed, Katherine smiled at him.
"You ok?" Fred asked quietly, watching her with concerned eyes.
"Fine," Katherine nodded, Fred raised an eyebrow, "I'll be fine, Fred, thanks."
Fred smiled and slouched back into his seat, sucking on his chocolate frog as he did.
"Hey, you right?" Fred asked, giving Katherine a poke as she ate her breakfast, or rather pushed her breakfast around her plate, taking a tiny amount every now and then.
"Fine," Katherine sighed, "Didn't sleep great."
"Did you have nightmares?" Angelina asked, looking concerned, "We didn't hear… You've been using silencing charms again?"
"A little," Katherine replied, a smirk flickering across her face, until she caught her friends irritated looks, she rolled her eyes as she continued, "I can handle nightmares guys. It was just the run in with dementors, threw me off a bit, but it's not like I haven't handled it before."
"You're not supposed to just handle it," Fred rolled his eyes, Angelina and George both look equally irritated, Alicia, Katie and Lee appeared to be having a Quidditch argument, Katherine wished she was talking to them rather than listening to Fred chastising her for being careless, "You know Pomfrey will give you a dreamless sleep potion if you ask for it."
"I don't need dreamless sleep potion," Katherine rolled her eyes, "Once we start getting work I'll get back into the school habit and I'll be fine."
"Kat, you don't need to…"
"Look, Harry's here," Katherine interrupted, gesturing towards Harry, who plopped himself down next to George, looking despondent. This successfully distracted the twins, who began attempting to cheer Harry up rather than herself. Angelina gave her a raised eyebrow, which she steadfastly ignored as she finished her breakfast.
"This has been the worst first week, ever," Angelina groaned, "So much work."
"I told you things were going to be rough this year," Katherine pointed out, reading over the translations she'd just finished, "Just do things as you get them and you won't have a problem."
"Is that what you tell yourself?" Alicia asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Something like that," Katherine nodded, "For example, I've finished my Runes work, as well as transfiguration, charms, and I'm almost done potions."
"How do you have the time to do all that?" Katie asked, "You always seem to be running around with Fred and George."
"Excellent time management," Katherine shrugged, "And I may have done a bit of extra studying over the holidays."
"Well that's just cheating," Alicia scowled. Katherine finally looked up at her, a small smile in place.
"Would you like some help?"
"Yeeeesss."
The Quidditch season was nearing and, strangely, Katherine seemed just as excited as all her friends. It wasn't that she didn't like Quidditch, she followed it just as well as the rest of them, but she didn't usually get the same energy they did.
"What are you so excited about?" Fred asked suspiciously as they walked back up to the tower.
"Nothing," Katherine smiled, "I'm going to get to finish all my homework while you're at Quidditch practise tomorrow."
"Well that's mean," George informed her, "Using our Quidditch training to make it possible for you to bully us about work."
"Yes, because everything I do revolves around your reactions," Katherine rolled her eyes, "Believe it or not you're not the centre of the universe."
"Yes we are, don't lie," Fred smirked, "Exploding Snap?"
"Fine, one game."
…
Katherine watched the girls getting ready for Quidditch from the corner of her eyes as she lay on her bed with a book. They were groggy and still waking it up, which made it all quite humorous to watch. Katherine said goodbye as they hurried out of the room and stared at the door for a few moments after they left. The room was silent for a moment before Katherine jumped up, quickly reaching under her bed and pulling her bag out.
Most of the other students were still sleeping, and the team would probably already be at the pitch, or at least on the way. She easily rushed through the Common room, ignoring the Fat Lady when she called after her, already half way down the hall. Showing off the skills she'd picked up from Fred and George she slid down the banister on the stairs and reached the ground in record time.
She slowed down ones she was outside the castle, making sure no one saw her crossing the grass towards the outskirts of the forest. She went a little way in, far enough not to be seen, but not far enough that she was likely to be attacked. Ok, she was fairly certain she'd covered everything.
"Well, as the boys would say, no time like the present," Katherine sighed, putting her bag down. She took a couple of deep breathes.
The first full transformation was not known for being pleasant, in fact it was typically described as painful, leaning on the side of very. Katherine had to agree. She could feel bones and muscles shifting and it was definitely not the most fun experience she'd ever had, but she had a high pain tolerance.
After a few moments of making sure her music stayed even and forcing herself to ignore the pain, Katherine felt the change complete and opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed was the strong feeling that she was in the wrong place and, after a moment, realised she felt out comfortable on the ground. Plus the trees looked scary tall from her lower than normal vantage point.
Ruffling her feathers Katherine stretched out her wings, investigating the reddish brown colours of them. Excitement curled in her stomach and Katherine carefully pushed of the ground, flapping just enough to get herself onto a tree branch. She instantly felt more comfortable, these instincts were going to take a while to get used to.
In the meantime.
She swopped out of the tree, easily gaining height with a few pushes from her powerful wings. Flying felt amazing. It was better than being on a broom. She carefully did a loop in the air, straightening her flight without any problems, it just came naturally. She felt amazing.
Swooping over the lack she caught sight of her reflection. She could see a falcon looking back at her from the water, it's largely brown feathers interspersed with the odd red one. She skimmed the water lightly with her claws, stretching them out experimentally and dipping them in the cool water. She let out a screech of delight at the feeling of absolute freedom and took off into the sky again, pushing herself higher.
She easily swooped through the towers of Hogwarts. It felt so easy, so natural. She wasn't sure she was ever going to be able to ride a broomstick again. Speaking of, she was gliding over the Quidditch pitch, her new, sharp, eyes able to pick out who was who even from her height. Still riding the high caused by her flight she made her way down towards the pitch.
The team was practising with the goals at one end so Katherine carefully landed on one of the rings at the other end. She felt her talons wrap around her new perch, ensuring her stability. It was cool and felt a little odd due to the curve, but she was secure all the same. She could make out Fred and George, even tell them apart. Damn, bird had good eyesight.
Which proved useful as, a moment later, a Bludger came flying right at her. She swooped under it as soon as she saw it coming, unconsciously moving towards the team.
"Fred, what was that?" Oliver demanded.
"I hit the Bludger," Fred shrugged in response, "It's early, and I'm used to sending the Bludger away from our team."
"Well that's not going to help with pratise," Oliver replied.
"Is that a bird?" Angelina asked, looking down to where Katherine was swooping under them.
"It totally is," Katie nodded, coming up beside her, "What's it doing here?"
"That's not important!" Oliver snapped, "Can we focus, please?"
"Ok, Oliver, we're practicing," Angelina assured.
"Yeah, relax," Alicia rolled her eyes. Katherine just swooped off, back towards the forest. She'd just fly over the tree's for a while. Practise some flying tricks. She couldn't understand why more people didn't do this, even with the animal instincts nagging at the back of her mind, this was one of the best thoughtless things she'd ever done.
…
Katherine gently landed on a branch in one of the trees near where she'd left her bag. Quidditch practise would be finishing soon and the boys would start looking for her. Plus it was about lunchtime and the urge to swoop down on the small creatures running through the forest was getting worryingly hard to ignore. She may enjoy her new animal form, and she did, this had been an amazing first transformation, but she'd probably stick to a human diet for the time being.
She began shifting back, unfortunately she didn't contend for the change in balance. Halfway through she felt one foot slip, rather painfully, and she was heading for the ground. On instinct she threw one of her arms out, attempting to catch a branch on her way down. She succeeded, she managed to grab a branch, only to feel pain lance through her arm with the force of the fall. A pained yelp and she fell the rest of the way out of her tree, landing on her feet. More or less. One of her ankles twisted into a funny angle and she allowed herself to collapse onto the ground, still feeling the pain in her arm
"Well, crap," she mumbled, lying flat on the ground as she tried to ignore the pain in her ar and ankle, "Maybe not the ideal transformation after all. I need to see Madam Pomfrey."
That said she attempted to use her good arm to pull herself up, she could deal with whatever she'd done to her arm but, unfortunately, when she put weight on her injured ankle she let out a pained cry and collapsed back onto the ground.
"Crap," she muttered again. What was she going to do now? She looked over to her bag and, as it was very far away, dragged herself over to it. Immediately she pulled out her two-way mirror, then she frowned. What was she gonna do? Call for the twins and hope they came running to the rescue? They'd never let her live it down! But her ankle really did hurt and she didn't know healing spells. What was the chance they'd have a mirror at Quidditch practice anyway?
"Fred, George?" Katherine asked uncertainly. To her surprise Fred's face came into view almost immediately.
"Hey Katty," he greeted, "What's up? We just finished practise."
"Oh, that's good," Katherine said, watching as George looked curiously over his brother's shoulder, after a moment she sighed in defeat, "Yeah, guys I need help."
"What?" they both said blankly, Katherine huffed.
"I need help, ok?" she snapped, "I hurt my ankle and I was going to try and get to the hospital wing on my own but…"
"…"
"Look, don't worry, I'll manage on my own, it's really not that far…"
"We're on our way, don't move," the boys commanded, and Katherine saw George pulling the map right before Fred's mirror was tucked away. Katherine clumsily put her own mirror back in her bag, glad she still had use of her right arm. The Quidditch pitch wasn't that far away, they should be there soon. She rested her head against the tree she was leaning on, her ankle was throbbing. She should really learn some healing spells, vaguely she wondered if Madam Pomfrey would teach her some.
"Katherine!" Fred yelled. Katherine opened her eyes to see the two red heads sprinting towards her.
"Are you ok?" George demanded, Katherine couldn't help but smile at them.
"I'm fine, I just can't put weight on my ankle," she said easily.
"Well c'mon," Fred said immediately, "Put an arm around each of us and we'll get you to the hospital wing."
Katherine stared at Fred for a moment while George helped her up, holding her right arm. Using George and the tree to stabilize herself she could stand on just her left ankle, avoiding any pain from her right, which she was pretty sure was just sprained. It was starting to well slightly.
"I can't," she said, refusing to meet his eyes as she did so, "I… did something to my arm."
"And this wasn't important enough to tell us over the Mirror?" Fred demanded angrily, "Which arm?"
"My left, and my right ankle," Katherine replied immediately, Fred huffed and then kneeled down with his back to her, she had to ask, "What are you doing?"
"Giving you a piggy back, how else are we supposed to get you there?" Fred challenged, knowing she'd argue in a different situation. As it was Katherine did opened her mouth to argue, but George was already grabbing her bag and helping (forcing) her onto Fred's back.
"Fine," Katherine huffed, wrapping her good arm around Fred's neck as he lifted her off the ground. The group moved in silence and Katherine rested her head on Fred's shoulder, trying to ignore the throbbing in her ankle. No matter how carefully Fred walked it didn't stop her ankle from hurting. It took Katherine a while to realise that George was actually leading them through the castle, taking all the secret passageways, with his eyes on the map. They were keeping her out of view.
"Thanks," Katherine sighed quietly, "Thanks for coming to get me."
"Of course," Fred snorted and George smiled back at her.
"We weren't just going to leave you there were we?" he asked, rolling his eyes, "We were just a little shocked at first because-"
"-you never ask for help and we always have to force it on you," Fred interrupted, "Honestly, your life would be a lot easier if you learnt to admit when you need help."
"Probably," Katherine agreed, moving to put her chin on Fred's elbow now, "And thanks for carrying me Fred."
"Not a problem," Fred assured, following George through the doors of the Hospital wing.
"Mr Weasley," Madam Pomfrey started, then saw Katherine, "Oh, honestly, what on earth did you do?"
"I fell out of a tree," Katherine replied, fighting a blush as Fred put her down gently onto one of the beds, "My foot slipped."
"What on earth were you doing in a tree?" Pomfrey demanded, giving her some pain relief potion while she ran a quick diagnostic spell. Katherine drank it happily.
"She just does that," George chuckled, Fred nodded.
"She loves her trees," He sighed, sitting down next to her, still in his Quidditch robes. Katherine had never been more grateful for her habit of climbing trees.
"Well, either way, you may be here for a while," Pomfrey commented, turning to her potions.
"That's ok," Fred assured, "We'll go change and we'll be back with some food for you."
"Thanks guys," Katherine chuckled, watching them walk out of the hospital wing. At least she wouldn't have to stay the night, and she'd be more prepared next time she changed back. No worries.