Sorry for the slightly extended break. Have a chapter!
"You didn't get much sleep last night did you?" George asked. The room had been quiet for a while after Katherine had told them everything, though they got an edited version of how she got to her house, she'd deal with the Animagus secret another time. After a great amount of sympathy, and no small amount of awe at her being so far off the ground, they'd lapsed into a comfortable, if slightly tired silence.
"Not really, I was up for a while," Katherine shrugged, "Though you two don't seem to have gotten that much sleep either."
"Well, we had a lot to think about," Fred supplied, "Plus, it's surprisingly hard to sleep in the Common room."
"I'm really sorry for worrying you guys," Katherine said again, the boys just waved her off.
"So, just a couple to things to clarify," George started, waiting until Katherine nodded to continue, "When you were arguing with Barker, you, uh, you said that, because of your family you might already be…"
"Betrothed?" Katherine finished for him when it became apparent he didn't want to continue, both boys made a face, she raised an eyebrow, smiling lightly, "Arranged Marriages are fairly common among pure blood families, you know. My father was going to, he was going to arrange marriages for both of us, Mum talked him out of it."
"Good woman," Fred grinned, then it slipped into a slight frown, "Did no one ever find out why the…"
He struggled for a moment, then gave up and just made a hand motion for an explosion. Katherine smiled, tact may not be a very strong trait in some of the Weasley boys, but at least they were trying. She sighed before answering
"No. She was in experimental charms, the potion was an original so no one really knew what it was," she explained, "It could have been anything that set it off. Plus, she made it ineffective, that's why it went clear, she countered whatever it was supposed to do so it's impossible to know what she was trying to make."
The twins frowned, looking thoughtful. Silence fell again, and Katherine was more than happy to just remain in her place on Fred's ridiculously comfy bed with the boys. She was going to sleep well that night. Sleeping as a bird was harsh.
Suddenly the door flew open. Katherine made a small noise of irritation as the two boys turned curiously to see who it was. It was Lee.
"Ang says Katherine's gone, have you seen…" he trailed of as he caught sight of her, twisting her neck so she could see him without moving off the bed.
"Hi," she offered after a moment.
"The girls are going to kill you," Lee informed her.
"Great."
…
The girls didn't kill her, though they looked like they wanted to kill someone. Katherine and the twins all came down for dinner, where Barker still had a handprint and his sign. Katherine stared. She looked somewhere between confused and amused, though she was doing a decent job of hiding her satisfaction.
"Did you two do this?" she asked the twins curiously.
"Wouldn't know how," Fred shrugged, "We never got around to looking up the sign things."
"So who did it?" Alicia frowned.
"Actually, all evidence points to Katherine," Katie informed them. Katherine raised an eyebrow.
"It does?" she asked.
"Well, think about it," Katie commanded, "It'd have to be someone who knew he got slapped, had some idea as to why, and someone who can perform incredibly complex and hard to find magic."
"Oh!" Katherine exclaimed with a tone of realisation, she slowly nodded, "It was Theodore."
"Huh?" the rest of the group responded blankly.
"I taught Theo that spell," Katherine explained, "Just thought it would be a fun little trick for him to have."
"So, how'd he know about the slap?" Angelina asked with a frown.
"Oh that's easy, he's been keeping an eye on Barker since Christmas," Katherine shrugged returning to her dinner, "He wasn't actually there, obviously, otherwise it would have been much worse. Taman probably let him know. I'll haven't ask what spell he used to make the handprint stay in place."
"Nice hit, by the way," Alicia smirked. Katherine grinned back.
"Why was your brother watching Barker?" Fred asked.
"Protective streak? I'm not really sure," Katherine explained, "But he wasn't getting directly involved so I let it go."
"Didn't even warn the poor guy," Lee said with a shake of his head. The grin he had in place countered anything that could have been construed as sympathy.
Katherine was spending more time with the others than she had even before Barker. This was because of one incident almost a week after the event, where in Barker still had a hand print – though it had faded – and a sign. He'd ambushed her in the library and the only thing that stopped them from going for their wands (which they were all pretty sure Katherine would have come out on top of anyway) was Madam Prince's intervention, she'd decided that could study in the Common room and was only going to the library to get extra books.
She'd chosen the worst possible time, of course. The Quidditch final was coming up. Katherine was pretty sure she had all of Oliver's tactics memorised and she wasn't even on the team. It also meant that she was, more or less, tutoring all her friends, as they were struggling with OWL prep and Quidditch.
"There is no way we're studying tonight," Katherine informed them the day before the game. She could already see the manic energy in all of them. There was no chance of study.
"Really?" Alicia asked excitedly.
"Really, I've been having a hard enough time dealing with you already, never mind right before the match," Katherine rolled her eyes.
"Freedom!" Fred and George exclaimed together.
"You seem pretty confident, Kat," Katie pointed out.
"Of course," Katherine nodded, "With you guys all hyped up and Harry on his Firebolt the games pretty much in the bag, assuming the dementors stay away. Plus, with helping all of you I think I'm going to do quite well in my OWLs."
"Ever humble," Angelina rolled her eyes, "You're going to floor all of us, aren't you?"
Katherine just shrugged and grinned amusedly. She was right, the Common room was overly loud that night, everyone all but buzzing with energy until Oliver sent them to bed.
…
The actual match was an interesting event. Katherine spent half of it laughing at Lee's commentary and the other half worrying someone was actually going to get killed. She was infinitely grateful that McGonagall was paying more attention to Lee than herself, because, as Lee found out, she could curse just as creatively without magic.
When the match ended Katherine and Lee ran down with the rest of the students, grinning as they passed Madam Hooch, who was muttering about fouls and needing a drink.
Percy was jumping around, completely thrilled and everyone looked absolutely ecstatic.
It was going to be and insane party in the Gryffindor tower tonight. I really was.
"Food for everyone!" Fred declared a while after the match. Between runs to Hogsmead and the kitchens there really was food galore, though Katherine was fairly certain some of it was tainted.
"What shouldn't I eat?" she asked quietly. The boys gave her mock insulted looks.
"Would we-" George cut off as Katherine raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, ok, fair call."
"Relax, I'm pretty sure it'll go down well, everyone's in such a good mood," Katherine shook her head, "The game was brilliant."
"Yes it was," Fred nodded, "I don't think Oliver could possibly be prouder than he is right now."
"He will be when he gets on a professional team," Angelina pointed out, "Also, you have to find Alicia, she'd like to stop meowing."
"I'm on it," George chuckled. Katherine rolled eyes amusedly, shaking her head at the boys' antics.
"The house elves are going to have their work cut out for them tonight," she commented.
"As long as no one eats too much it'll be fine," Lee shrugged.
"Oh, gross, Lee," Katie responded, smacking him on the back of the head.
"Ow!"
The others just laughed, the team still ridding the high of the game.
Exams took a toll on everyone. Even Fred and George were caught working, though they were also being eyed by a suspicious and doubtful Katherine. With most of them doing OWLs Katie didn't dare complain about her exams, particularly as the years doing regular exams got an obstacle course for Defence. Their group were pretty much all cramming in some last minute revision, a large part of which was forcing Katherine to aid them in studying.
Katherine, for her part, was going over each of her classes at least once a day. She willingly helped the others, though she forced them to write their own notes, not just read hers. She didn't even bother trying to force Fred and George to study, she knew they could pass any classes they wanted, they just didn't care about passing most of them.
Still, Katherine was glad the pair were her friends walking out of exams. They were excellent at preventing post exam depressions. Even though they clearly weren't being too serious about most of the exams they were kind enough to let the rest of the fifth years study while still making sure no one freaked out to much. Unlike Hermione who seemed to have more work than even the seventh years for some reason Katherine hadn't gotten around to looking into.
A few exams stood out to Katherine. Charms, obviously, had both of the twins excited as it was their best class. They'd gone overboard on a couple of the practical tasks but they certainly wouldn't be losing marks because of it. Plus it was a good way for them to vent their energy.
Katherine, of course, flew through Transfiguration thanks to all the extra study she'd done for her animagus form. Fred seemed particularly cheerful about that exam, though possibley he just wanted to make a spectacle.
"Transfiguration high five!" he'd cheered as he joined Katherine. Katherine smiled easily and indulged him his high-five. She showed absolutely no remorse when George snuck up behind him, teasingly chiding him for showing off.
Herbology had produced similar, if slightly more down played, results in George. He'd expertly handled all the plants, and Katherine conceded that she may need his help when they moved on to NEWTs. She liked plants, she just wasn't the best with them, too quick to temper. She'd managed though, and her theory would pull her through otherwise.
Defence Against the Dark Arts was an interesting affair. It being one of the more interesting classes – when there was a decent teacher – everyone wanted to pass. The problem was that their sting of lousy teachers had put them a bit behind, thus meaning Fred and George had to do that extra bit of study, and Katherine found she still had the habit of finding every curse she was supposed to know the counter-curse for.
The end of the History of Magic exam had the fifth years collapsing in the common room, grumbling about sleeping for a week. Owing to the sudden amount of people laying around who didn't want to move and were taking up more space than necessary there was an unusual lack of seats.
"Move over," Alicia commanded Jacob, one of the other fifth year boys who had flopped down to take up a whole couch on his own. He merely grunted.
"I can't be bothered," Katherine huffed, dropping her bag and dropping herself onto a different couch, right onto the legs of Fred, George and Angelina. Lee snickered as the other three groaned at the weight on their legs, though none of them tried to moved her.
"I wasn't expecting it to take such a bit toll on you," Angelina raised an eyebrow, looking down at the head in her lap.
"I had a lot of exams," Katherine rolled her eyes, "And unlike some people I actually wanted to pass all of them."
"Exams are hard," Fred shrugged with a cheeky grin, earning himself a light prod in the gut from Katherine's feet.
"Oh please," she rolled her eyes, "You two could have easily passed Potions if you wanted to."
"Yeah, but who wants to deal with Snape for another two years?" Fred shrugged. Lee and George nodded seriously.
"Did you seriously choose to fail your exams?" Angelina raised an eyebrow.
"Not all of them," George shook his head, "Just the ones we really didn't want to do anymore."
"Don't you two like making potions?" Katie asked, making all the fifth years' look at her in confusion. When did she get in? She had her head cocked to the side, looking at Katherine, who gave a shrug.
"We like making the potions," George nodded.
"We just don't like Snape," Fred finished, "We can teach ourselves the things we need to know."
"Right," Katie rolled her eyes, "So, would this be a bad time to ask for you guys to help me out next year?"
The group all groaned, making the younger girl chuckle.
"Not even Katherine wants to help," Alicia snorted.
"Too much work," Katherine whined in response, covering her eyes with her arm, "I think I'm going to drop History of Magic and Astronomy."
"I thought you did well in all your exams," Lee raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I think I did," Katherine agreed, "But that's too many classes for NEWT level, and I can study those classes on my own, then just request to take the NEWTs on the off chance I need those courses for whatever job I go for."
"That sounds horribly planned out," Fred replied, making a face that made Kattie giggle and George grin, "I don't know if I want you tainting us with all your…"
"Push me and I will curse your beds," Katherine warned in a deadly serious tone, not even bothering to move her arm and glare at them. Both boys froze, halting the motion. Angelina, on the other hand, got an unusually cheeky look on her face. She leaned over, enough so that when she suddenly shoved Katherine it could be mistaken for George, who gave her a horrified look.
Katherine, for her part, did give a small shriek, but managed to catch herself so she didn't smack her face on the floor. Once no longer falling however, she didn't seem to care about being on the floor as she allowed herself to collapse at her friends' feet.
"That's it," she informed them, not even rolling over, "Totally cursed."
"A werewolf," Lee repeated in a shocked voice. This seemed to be the general consensus of the school, though there was also some disgust and terror thrown in sometimes.
"He could have attacked someone!" a voice declared, though pretty much everyone was discussing this so no one tried to pin point it, "Werewolves are really dark creatures."
"Dark creatures," Katherine snorted quietly, mostly to herself though her friend could hear her, and chose to ignore her due to her less than stellar mood so far, "Werewolf or not Professor Lupin's not evil. Dark indeed. Bet you've never even met a dark wizard, or an actual werewolf. Didn't mind him all year. Dark. Honestly.
"Imagine, a werewolf teaching us all year and we never knew," Fred sighed, his voice holding more awe than anything else, "Man must be a master at keeping things hidden."
"Explains why he was always quick to work out we were up to something," George nodded, "A good secret keeper can always recognise secrets being kept."
"Actually, you don't seem very surprised," Alicia challenged, directing the comment at Katherine. The brunette blinked up at her, she hadn't really gotten involved in the gossip except for the odd grumble. Once the rumours had started flying she'd gotten irritated and pulled out a book.
"I'm not," she answered blankly.
"You knew?" Katie gasped.
"Didn't you think to tell anyone?" Angeline frowned.
"Well, I'm pretty sure Dumbledore already knew," Katherine replied with a shrug, "Lupin did go to school here after all. Besides, Snape was brewing him the Wolfsbane, he wasn't going to hurt anyone."
"How long have you known?" Alicia demanded
"The what potion?" Fred asked, frowning. He was honestly a little upset she hadn't shared this with them.
"I've known since the second full moon," Katherine supplied thoughtfully, "Once could be coincidence, twice, not so much. He gets jittery around the full moon, like he's dreading it. For some werewolves it's the opposite, they revel in the feeling of increased strength, heightened senses. Then there was also his preference for rare meat, plus Snape's insistence everyone know everything they could about werewolves. With that, a little bit of eavesdropping on the third years – when they were doing boggarts – and the knowledge that the twins couldn't pull any pranks on him, and it was fairly easy to work out."
"You never managed to prank him?" Lee repeated in shock, turning his attention to the twins. They ignored him.
"And the potion?" George asked.
"Oh, Wolfsbane potion," Katherine nodded, "It allows werewolves to keep their mind doing the full moon. I noticed Snape and Lupin kept meeting around the full moon and I was curious so I, uh…"
"You snuck out to spy on teachers?" Fred smirked, forgetting his mild annoyance.
"Yeah, well, congratulations, you're a bad influence," Katherine shot back, rolling her eyes fondly, "Anyway, Snape was making the Wolfsbane potion every month. Even if a student had found Lupin he wouldn't have attacked. Perfectly safe."
"Except last night," Lee mumbled. The girls shuddered. Katherine had almost gone for a fly last night, but she'd had the nagging feeling she'd regret it – though that was mostly owing to her not wanting to see a decapitated Hippogriff. Of course, that didn't matter since apparently Buckbeak, and Sirius Black for that matter, had escaped.
"Kinda sucks," Katie sighed, "He was the best Defence teacher we've had."
"That's true," George nodded, "But at least he's just leaving not dead or brutally injured."
"That is a very good point," Fred agreed, "Could have been much worse."
…
"Hay, Kat?" Fred started slowly. They were lounging around by the lake, just Katherine and the twins for the moment.
"Oh merlin," Katherine groaned, turning to look at him, "I know that tone of voice. That's when you have something you want to ask but aren't sure how without me potentially cursing you."
Fred raised an eyebrow while George just snickered. This earned him a glare from Fred and an eye roll from Katherine.
"You have the same tone George," she informed him, turning her attention back to Fred, "Just ask, we shouldn't bother with more stress after the OWLs. I pro… I solemnly swear not to curse you for asking."
The boys both grinned at her word choice.
"Well, you've known pretty much all year that Lupin was a werewolf, right?" Fred started again, "I mean, you must have grown up with the same stories about werewolves that we did, right? So, how come you're so accepting?"
"Actually, your only half right," Katherine corrected, "I heard the same prejudice, and possibly some worse stuff, but I also learned to tell the difference between prejudice and reality. Hanging out with the Malfoys, who the Ministry love, tends to do that to you. It's hard to follow general beliefs when you know the Ministry is supporting people who don't deserve it."
"Well, I guess that's a point," Fred nodded, laying back down.
"Still though, he was pretty cool," George sighed, "For a teacher and for a werewolf."
"From what standards are you judging whether or not he's a cool werewolf?" Katherine laughed, "You've never met any other werewolves."
"Coming over this summer?" Fred asked as the train approached the station.
"Maybe," Katherine shrugged, "I'd have to ask my Father."
"Dad's been talking about getting tickets to the World Cup," George informed her, "He can normally get them from work."
"Really?" she asked curiously.
"Yeah, it'll be brilliant," Fred grinned.
"Well, I'll ask," Katherine agreed, "I don't know what he'll say though, I don't think he was planning on going."
…
"I'll mirror you guys once I've asked my Dad, ok?" Katherine assured as they all climbed out of the train.
"Yeah sur… is that an owl?" Fred asked suddenly, looking over the crowd. He'd been searching for his parents and instead spotted Ron, and an unknown owl.
"It is, where did he get an owl?" George frowned. Katherine laughed at the disgruntled expressions on her friends faces. They weren't used to not knowing things.
"Well, I'm sure you let me know," she said, waving as she walked away from them, "Bye."
"Bye Kat!" the pair shouted together, still frowning as they moved towards their brother. Katherine just laughed again, seeking out her brother and father.
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