This chapter I... well, this chapter. Have Fun.
Oh, note, the next year, not next chapter, next year is GoF. I would appreciate knowing who's for and against me introducing a couple of OC's from the other schools. I can go either way.
Please Review!
Breakfast Saturday was an interesting affair. Angelina, Alicia, Lee and Katie sat together as usual, despite missing three of their normal group. The absence of the twins had the whole school on edge. On top of that When Barker finally came down to the hall it was with a large, red hand print still on his cheek, and a furious expression on his face.
Despite the eyes on him he went straight to the head of Gryffindor. McGonagall listened to him with thin lips, then gave a curt nod and sent him to eat. A moment later she was standing over the four Gryffindor's, looking furious.
"Mr Barker has just informed that the hand print on his face will not fade, even when he visited Madam Pomfrey," she informed them crisply, "He suggested Mr and Mr Weasley may have had something to do with it. Where, pray tell, are they?"
"Common room," muttered various students, ones McGonagall wasn't talking to and who all promptly started up conversations when she glared around at them.
"I really don't think it was them Professor," Angelina spoke carefully, "They're a bit, ah..."
"They've been in the Common room ever since last night," Lee broke in, "Slept there and everything. If they'd known this was going to happen I think they would've come down."
"Why on Earth would they be sleeping in the Common room?" McGonagall frowned.
"Katherine's uh, she's decided to spend the weekend studying," Alicia supplied, "They're still waiting for her to come down."
McGonagall opened her mouth to speak, but as she did so a loud voice interrupted.
"That's what you get for bullying girls."
The voice was loud, and clearly magically set up as it didn't sound like anyone who was actually at Hogwarts. It soon became apparent who the voice was directed at as a glowing sign appeared above the Ravenclaw's head reading; 'I throw a fit when I don't get my way'.
A number of people gave snorts of laughter. The four Gryffindor's McGonagall had been talking too peaked around her before exchanging looks. The recognised that spell from when Katherine had used it on the boys in second year. She'd said it was borderline impossible to find, even if you were actually looking for it, and she'd just found it by accident. Not to mention how complex the magic was.
McGonagall watched there surprised faces before she turned away with a final glare at the room.
Katherine blinked awake slowly, feeling both like it was later than it should be and that she wanted to sleep some more. With a heavy breathe she stretched out her wings as much as she could in the small hollow she'd claimed as her bed last night. Her muscles were sore and stiff, she'd never flown so far before.
It was the first time she'd slept in her animal form, and waking up as a bird was rather confusing at first. For a moment she struggled to remember how she'd gotten to… wherever she was. She'd had no specific destination in mind, and hadn't really been paying attention to her surroundings so she had no idea where she was at the moment.
She'd given herself over to her instincts, not wanting to focus on what had happened. She remembered skimming her talons through water, hunting and a fight with another bird. She shuddered slightly at the memory of hunting, though she hadn't really thought about it at the time.
Cringing mentally she hopped out of the hollow into a tree branch and reached for her magic to start the change back. She leant back on the tree trunk as she did, gently rotating her shoulders. She shouldn't have pushed herself so much, she'd probably have to visit Madam Pomfrey if she didn't want to be wincing every time she moved.
Her stomach growled suddenly and she groaned as she leant her head back against the tree. What was she doing? Running away again? Some Gryffindor she was. Now she was hungry, tired and she had no idea where she was.
She pulled her knees up to her chest, laying her arms on top of them and burying her face in her arms. Her loose brown hair fell around her, blocking the rest of the trees from view. She really was pathetic, maybe her father was right…
She sucked in a sharp breathe. It'd been a long time since she had truly agreed with her father. Even when she was young she tended to go to her mother, asking questions about whatever she'd just been told. It'd been a long time since she'd been able to do that as well.
"Unbelievable," she hissed, scowling to herself, "One idiot starts blabbering and you break down. Pathetic."
Katherine sighed lifting her head to gaze around the large forest she was in. It seemed nice enough, if a bit dark, the light that filtered through was tinted green, filtering through the leaves. Her mother would have called it beautiful, done a painting. Katherine had never had the same affinity for paint as her mother, preferring her sketches.
Still, her mother had often had her join in, choose a picture and try to paint it. Her mother believed in doing what you found hard, not because it was expected of you, but because it could make you better.
"Trixy," Katherine said quietly, not really thinking about it. Still, stray thought or not, she was immediately met with the familiar bulbous, sky blue eyes of the small creature.
"Miss Katherine called," the house elf greeted, "But Miss should be in school. What is Miss doing out here?"
"Don't worry Trix," Katherine assured, "I just got a little over excited. Listen, if I asked, could you get me into Mother's room?"
Trixy blinked at her owlishly for a moment. She worried, but she wasn't supposed to question Katherine, though Katherine never punished her if she did.
"Trixy, Trixy could Miss," the elf nodded, "If Miss asked, but Miss's father does not want peoples in there. Miss might get punished."
"Does he ever go in?" Katherine asked quietly.
"Miss's father has not visited the room for many years Miss," Trixy replied, "He is keeping it as it is with magic, Miss, but he is not visiting himself."
"Trixy, please take me to mother's room," Katherine commanded gently, offering her hand to the elf. Trixy nodded, taking the witch's hand and causing both of them to disappear from the tree branch.
The pair reappeared in a large room. It was just slightly messy, a few things laying around haphazardly but there were very few things on the floor that shouldn't be. A couple of easels, one large desk and a cauldron were the main occupants of the room. A small cupboard on one wall, Katherine knew, held a range of potion ingredients.
The desk was littered with parchment and quills, haphazardly stacked or scattered in no particular order. There were a few canvases leaning on the wall near the easels, some clear and some with amazing landscapes on them.
Her mother had been an incredibly skilled artist.
"Nothing's changed," she murmured quietly to herself. She hadn't been in here since she was eleven.
"Miss's father has kept everything the same Miss," Trixy informed her, "Is Miss wanting Trixy to stay?"
"No, that's ok, I'll call you when I need you," Katherine answered the elf.
"Trixy will bring Miss some food, Miss must eat."
"Thanks Trix."
"Of course Miss."
Katherine smiled at the spot the elf disappeared from. She'd always been attached to Trixy, even when the elf hadn't actually been hers. With a sigh she moved around the desk and carefully sat in the soft chair behind it.
Her father had cast an adapted, and very powerful, preservation spell on the room. Nothing had changed since the slight clean up after the accident. There was still a slight smell of smoke in the air. Katherine knew, if she moved anything, the moment she put it down the magic in the room would return it to its original place. Her father would never know she'd been here.
It was easy to remember how much they'd done in this room, she and Theodore tended to end up in here so they weren't in their father's way. Katherine could remember eating meals in here, discussing different branches of magic, even dancing. A laugh bubbled up as she remembered when they were learning to dance.
Theodore was five at the time, and she was seven. Their mother had been talking them through it as they, very slowly, danced together. It had, of course, ended up with one of them tripping over and both of them tangled together on the floor, laughing and shouting.
Then they'd heard a camera snap and spent the rest of the day whining about embarrassing photos.
Katherine careful reached forward and opened a draw in the desk, lifting up the simple brown photo album. She opened it to the later pages, smiling as she remembered the events. They were just simple things, playing with Theodore and handing their mum ingredients because she wouldn't let them help any other way.
The last few photos were of Katherine's eleventh birthday. She smiled, remembering how excited she and Theodore had been when they went to get her wand. She it would be a while yet until she got her Hogwarts letter, her birthday being in March, but with a pure blood family like hers no one was going to argue. She was eleven, she was allowed a wand.
The last time she saw her mum was just a couple of weeks before the letter was expected.
…
"Kat, Kat, play with me?" Theodore asked hopefully, tugging on the sleeve of her robes. Katherine shook him off gently, eyes never leaving her book.
"I'm not playing right now Theodore," she told him, "Father wants me to read this book."
Theodore frowned at her in all of his nine year old fury. Katherine smirked at him, remaining focused on the book despite the fact that some of the spells – curses – were making her feel a bit queasy.
"I'm sure your father wouldn't mind you taking a small break," Mum smiled at her, "You've been working so hard."
"See," Theodore grinned, "Mum thinks you should play with me."
"Fine," Katherine replied with a put upon sigh. Even if she didn't particularly want to play with her little brother it was better than reading the bloody book.
"En guard!" Theodore suddenly announced, tossing a fake wand at her. Katherine caught it quickly, matching his swing despite her apparent lack of interest. It was a fairly common game for them, or else running around with little charmed toys that'd run around their feet, making them having to jump and run to avoid being caught by them. Those toys weren't allowed in Mum's room though
"Just make sure you two stay in the safe zone," Mum reminded with a gentle smile.
"Yes mum," the pair chorus. Katherine nimbly jumped out of the chair she was in, putting her book on the table.
"Have at the!" Theodore declared, waving his fish at her. Katherine just smirked, dodging out of the way and smacking him on the head with her bunch of flowers. Mum just smiled at the pair, returning to gently cutting up her potion ingredients. This continued for a moment before Katherine tripped backwards, Theodore promptly tripped over her and landed on top of her.
"Ow," Katherine groaned, pushing Theodore off her. Theodore just chuckled, easily rolling onto the floor.
"Are you two ok?" Mum demanded, hurrying over to the pair.
"I'm fine mum," Theodore nodded easily.
"I cut my hand," Katherine mumbled, offering her hand out to her Mum with a frown. It was bleeding just slightly, having been cut on something when she threw her hands out to catch herself.
"Oh, Katty," Mum sighed pulling out her wand and skilfully waving it over the cut, muttering the spell under her breathe. Katherine watched as the small cut sealed itself, though her hand still had blood on it.
"Can you teach me that?" she asked, looking up at her Mum. She sat herself down on the table, still letting Mum hold her now uninjured hand
"In a few years," Mum agreed with a gentle smile, vanishing the left over blood, "Healing is a rather complex branch of magic after all."
"And me?" Theodore asked excitedly, climbing onto the table to sit next to Katherine.
"When you're old enough," Mum chuckled gently, returning to her work while they watched.
"Mum," Katherine started after a moment, looking down at her hands, "What's going to happen when I go to school?"
"What do you mean Katty?" Mum frowned slightly, confusion clear in her voice.
"Well, I know father wants me to be in Slytherin…"
"I wasn't in Slytherin," Mum pointed out amusedly, "Your father would be pleased, but he can't control what house you're in. You'll be put in whichever house you're most suited for, and you'll do wonderfully."
"Well, maybe I'll be a Ravenclaw," Katherine agreed, "That's a good house too."
"All the houses are good houses," Mum chuckled, "They all have noble backgrounds no matter what people say about them."
"Even Hufflepuff?" Theodore asked curiously.
"Even Hufflepuff," Mum nodded easily, "Hufflepuffs get a bad rap but there have been some amazing witches and wizards from Hufflepuff."
"Do you know any?" Katherine questioned.
"I knew a few while I was in school," Mum smiled, a touch sadly. The two kids sat in silence for a moment, just watching their mother. She was the strongest person they knew, and they knew better than to interrupt while she was deep in thought. She got sad sometimes, she wouldn't tell them why, but they assumed it was because of the war.
"Things aren't always what they seem," Mum eventually continued, "Especially people, what's important is that we find the ones who matter and don't let other people take them away. You're going to be fine Katty. You'll go to Hogwarts, make some great friends, and come home every holiday to tell me about them."
Mum her head to smile at the pair, opening her mouth again. Katherine and Theodore were looking behind her however, eye widening slightly. Mum turned, her wand still in her hand from earlier. The bubbling cauldron frothed as she tried to calm it, shoeing them out of the room at the same time. Katherine jumped off the table, lifting Theodore onto the ground and pulled him towards the door.
"Get down!" mum yelled, just as she was reaching for the handle. Katherine responded by pushing her younger brother to the ground, land on top of him, though she held herself up on her hands. From the new vantage point they both saw the cauldron explode, though there wasn't any fire and their mum had managed to turn the potion clear, whatever that achieved.
They watched her fly across the room, colliding with the desk before the fell to the floor. The desk rocked from the force, causing a few things to fall over. The fake wands and the book Katherine had been reading fell to the floor.
Despite the unknown potion and bits of cauldron now lying around both children quickly scrambled towards the fallen figure. Together they rolled her over so she was facing the roof. Her eyes were half closed but unmoving.
"Mum, mum, c'mon, get up," Katherine prompted. She knew, logically that wasn't about to happen, but right now she was eleven and she wanted her mum, logic could jump out a window.
"Mum? Kat? Kat what happened?" Theodore asked.
"I don't know I…"
"What happened?" A much stronger voice demanded. Katherine quickly tried to rub away tears, shuffling out of her father's way.
"We were just talking and the potion started bubbling. I don't know what happened," she told him quickly. There was horror on his face, like she could never remember seeing, before his expression hardened.
"Take your brother out of here. Clean yourselves up," he commanded.
"But-"
"OUT!"
Katherine grabbed Theodore's hand and all but dragged him out of the room. Out of her father's sight tears were now freely running down her face. She strode down the hall, making sure Theodore was ok along the way before they reached his room. They both went inside and, despite Katherine's attempts to clean them up despite her tears they wound up sitting on the floor, wrapped up together, crying.
…
"Miss? Miss?"
Katherine took in a sharp breath, blinking herself out of her memories at the worried voice of her house elf. Trixy looked up at her with wide, worried eyes, and she realised she'd started crying again.
Merlin she hated crying.
"It's ok, I'm fine Trixy," she assured. The elf continued to look up at her, and seemed to be steeling herself for something. Katherine waited.
"Miss was thinking about Mistress, wasn't you?" Trixy eventually asked, clearly hesitant to ask such a question of her master.
"I was, yeah," Katherine nodded, "I guess I'm missing her more than normal. It's been a long time."
"It has, yes Miss," Trixy agreed, "But Mistress would not want you to be sad Miss. Mistress is caring for you, she is wanting you to be happy."
"I know, it's just…" Katherine sighed
"Miss does not have to explain," Trixy assured, offering a plate of sandwiches, "Trixy is missing Mistress as well."
"Thanks Trix," Katherine smiled as she accepted a sandwich, "I know I can always rely on you."
"Trixy is hoping so Miss," Trixy nodded, that unique house elf pride in her voice. Katherine quietly ate her sandwiches, and gratefully accepted the tissues the elf conjured. She loved Trixy, to her the elf was just as much her family as Theodore was.
No matter her opinions she'd been raised a pureblood, so, though she believed in treating them well, Katherine saw nothing truly wrong with the idea that Trixy had been a gift to her mother. It was something she'd been taught was normal, just like the elf being left to her in her mother's will. As a family the Nott's had at least one elf, but Katherine didn't see him, or them, very often. Trixy was hers and, as uncomfortable as it'd made her at first, she was glad for it.
Her mother, knowing Theodore was heir and Katherine wouldn't get very much, had left her a fair bit in the will, though she didn't have access to most of it until she was seventeen. Still, after a few compromises, such as calling her Miss instead of Mistress, Katherine adored owning Trixy and wouldn't give her up for the world.
It was a while later that Katherine had finished her sandwiches, and called for Trixy again. It was about time for lunch at Hogwarts, and most of the other students would be in Hogsmeade.
"Can you take me back to school?" she asked the elf.
"Of course Miss," Trixy nodded easily, holding out her hand.
"Into my bed, please," Katheirne requested, "The last thing I need is for one of the girls to see me reappearing."
"Yes Miss."
Katherine took a deep breath as she took all the spells off her bed. She'd admit to being a little impressed at the magic she managed when she was more focused on running. That wasn't really the point though.
She quietly climbed off the bed, brown hair neatly tied up. Trixy had ended up freshening her up, honestly house elf magic was amazing. She'd gotten clean, and her arms were no longer achy. Absolutely amazing.
None of the girls were in the room so she continued downstairs slowly. Most people would be in Hogsmead, clearly the girls had been talked into going as well, which meant the only people she really needed to worry about were…
Fred and George were alone in the Common room, a chest game between them though neither seemed to be paying that much attention. They were both tense, George was frowning at the chess board, tapping his leg, and Fred's leg was bouncing like he wanted to be anywhere but sitting on that couch. Katherine couldn't blame him, he never sat still.
Just as she was working out how to start the conversation Fred glanced up at her. He glanced away immediately, like it was habit and he hadn't really expected anything, but almost as soon as he looked away his leg froze and his eyes snapped back up, meeting hers.
They were across the room in the time it took Katherine to blink. She was bemused for a moment, trying to work out how he'd communicated to George that she was even there, but then she realised Fred had wrapped his arms around her, both comforting and making sure she didn't run off again.
She forced herself not to lose it again, she didn't know if she'd laugh or cry.
"Are you ok?" Fred immediately asked at lighting pace, moving to hold her at arm's length and look her over.
"We were worried," George added, talking just as fast.
"Barker's a git."
"When you didn't get up for breakfast we didn't know what to think."
"We slept in the Common room."
"Barker's a git."
"We're sorry we-"
"Stop!" Katherine commanded, blinking up at the pair, "What are you apologising for?"
"For finding out," Fred responded quietly.
"That's not something you need to apologise for," Katherine assured him firmly.
The two boys exchanged a look and said together, though still subdued, "For eavesdropping?"
"Ok, that was bad," Katherine nodded, "But kind of expected. Listen, you really shouldn't be apologising for this. I reacted really badly but I just…" she took a deep breath, "I freaked out. I'm sorry for that, and I'm sorry for making you worry."
Fred and George blinked at her for a moment before they both just pulled her into a little group hug. Katherine smiled into Fred shoulder for a moment before steeling herself and working her way out of the hug.
"Ok, I really need to talk to you two and it's… can we go up to your room?" she hedged. The boys nodded, leading her up stairs, though Fred kept his arm securely wrapped around her shoulders. She found it helped. Fred and George were the best friends she could have asked for, she could talk to them. She could trust them. Always.