Chapter 5 POV Jo

"We have to do something about that cat!" She shouts mid-sentence. We had been discussing Tonks and her...arrangement...as a teacher this year. I wanted Cas to explain it to me, but I'm getting the feeling she doesn't know much about it either, when conveniently her thoughts turn to Mrs. Norris. She really hates that cat.

I yell at her to shut up, which I realize is stupid, but subtlety isn't my strong suit. We're not out late per say, but if we get caught we'd be sent straight to our common rooms. For some reason, she really means it today- she's ready to take action against what she calls her 'nemesis'. People don't actually have nemesises, I try to tell her, and even if they did a cat can't really be a nemesis. But like I said, she's hooked on the idea. She runs herself over to a random corner and signals me to follow. I don't really have anything better to do...

Once we're uncomfortably crouched next to each other, she tells me she saw the cat round a corner, and she tells me it's up to me to catch it for her. I tell her she's idiotic, and that the cat's her nemesis and her problem, but she pouts and whines (oddly enough, a lot like a cat) and I break. She tells me all I have to do it tackle the cat, then she'll use a spell or something to catch it more permanently, and she'll take care of things from there. I'm a little concerned, but in my heart of hearts I know Cas isn't actually violent.

Wait...rephrase- I know Cas isn't actually a killer. I've yet to rule out violence.

I tell her I'm ready, and she reminds me to be quiet and fast, and that she'll be behind me the whole time but at various distances. I roll my eyes and peer around the corner. It's a long corridor, and I see the cat leasurely making its way down. If I'm quiet enough I'll be able to catch up easy. I make myself ready, and go.

I'm quiet, fast, and almost there. The cat doesn't hear me and I'm gaining ground...until Cas yells.

"Get it Jo! Get her get her get her!" Mrs. Norris hears that. Turns her head and sees me...but doesn't run. Doesn't even call out for Filtch or whatever. Just sits there. Something's wrong...

But I'm going too fast to stop now, so I make the snap decision to go through with the plan. I'm close enough- and I dive onto the cat, which lets out one loud screech. I just sort of lay on it while I wait for Cas to catch up, which she does fast enough.

"Yes, Jo! You did it! Thank you thank you thank you!"

"You're right, I did do it. No help from you- what happened to being quiet?!"

"Yeah, you had to be quiet. I was trying to support you. You should be thanking me. Now let me see it- I'll take it from here."

I sigh and slowly lift myself off the cat- which I realize hasn't been squirming or anything. I remember Mrs. Norris being a little more difficult, not that I spend a lot of time on top of her or anything, but still. I never could have imagined it being this easy. I feel sort of bad for her, giving her over to Cas...

I get up and the the cat does the same, and I hear Cas gasp.

"What?"

"That's...that's not her."

"What do you mean?" But Cas is silent. I turn around and look at the cat. She's right- it's a lot...cleaner looking than Mrs. Norris, for one. Wrong color too. And I don't remember Mrs. Norris being an animagus. In a second I'm looking up at Professor McGonagall. The head of my House. Who taught my transfiguarions classes, where she impressed us all as first years by demonstrating her abilities as an animagus. A cat type animagus.

I open my mouth but don't say anything...I mean, what can I say? I just tackled my teacher and Cas may or may not have threatened her. I look from McGonagall to Cas and back. It's barely been a second, but the longest second of my life by far. But it ended just as suddenly as it started. Cas made sure of that.

"INSTANT DARKNESS!" She shouted, and that's exactly what happened. Leave it to Cas to keep her own stash of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, for instances like this. I'm assuming she ran, and I'm about to do the same when I feel a tug on my sleeve. I stand still and wait for the darkness to clear. When it does it's just me and McGonagall, whose holding me by my robes.

"Ms. Zocchi, please follow me." That's all she says. I tackled her, Cas threatened her, and we assaulted her with darkness. And yet she can keep her cool. Credit to her.

I follow her to her office, where she offers me a seat. I sit not because I'm looking to be comfortable, but because I feel eerily intimidated. And maybe a little ashamed. McGonagall has that effect on me- probably on everyone. So I sit there, and just kind of look into my lap. When I dare to peek up at her, I see she's trying to fix her hair and straighten her robes and all. I feel the blood rush to my face and quickly look back to my lap. I here her pull a chair out and realize she's now sitting across her desk from me. It's buisness time, but I'm not quite ready to make eye contact.

"Ms. Zocchi, I think you know why I brought you here." I give a small nod while keeping my head kinda bowed down.

"Good. So Ms. Zocchi, I'd like an explanation for what happened tonight."

"It's was Cas's idea..." I mutter into chest.

"Please speak up, Ms. Zocchi."

"It was Cas. She wanted to...it was her idea," I say louder, but I still don't look up. I hear her sigh.

"Jolene...I didn't ask for an excuse. You and your companion- Ms. Walker, I assume?- well, she's Professor Snape's to deal with, but you're a Gryffindor. You have a name to live up to. Don't think your antics last year went unnoticed by me- I'm very dissapointed. With you and Mr. Weasley- but that aside, we're here about tonight's escapade. Why did you...assault me in corridor? And why were you so far from your common room so close to curfew?"

I finally look up at her. She looks calm as ever, but her tone tells me she's not amused. Now I sigh.

"Cas- Cas and I, we...Cas has a kinda...rivalry...with Mrs. Norris...and she asked me to...uhhh, catch the cat for her. But it was you. I'm real sorry, Professor. It was stupid of me."

"Indeed, Ms. Zocchi, it was. While this act was embarrassing to the name of the house of Gryffindor, you and Ms. Walker did not actually break any rules. However, because of your actions I will notify your parents that you will be staying at the castle this Christmas to help me with various tasks. Hopefully you will learn some self control and respect for your house. You do this, and I will forget your many rule breaking antics from last year. Do we have an agreement, Ms. Zocchi?"

I nod. She nods back and stands up.

"I will personally escort you back to your dormitory." She motions for me to leave the room, and we walk in silence back to the Gryffindor common room. When we get to the Fat Lady, McGonagall turns to me.

"I trust you can make it to your dormitory from here without causing any trouble."

"Yes, Professor." I say the password and the Fat Lady opens the door. I start to go in when McGonigall makes a noise. I turn to her.

"Ms. Zocchi, as inappropriate as your actions were earlier...you have very impressive athletic abilities. At your Quidditch match...you did well, but I'm surprised Wood doesn't have you on as a beater. You have quite a talent for...aggression. You should talk to him about it." She gives me a small, but genuine smile before turning briskly around, morphing into a cat, and leaving me to think about the night.

I go into the common room, where George and some of our friends are hanging out. I tell them about what happened happened- but just the McGonigall telling me I'm skilled and should try out for Quidditch. Only George needs to know about the cat capers. Besides, I'm not one to brag about being scolded by the head of our house. As I gets later, everyone leaves and I'm alone with George. I tell him what happened and we have a good laugh. I'm pretty bummed about having to stay at the castle for Christmas, and George tells me his family is going home, so I'll be here alone- assuming Cas's plans to go home don't change. I doubt they will, even for my sake. She didn't like staying back last year, she made that abundantly clear. I'll just have to try to have as much fun as possible.

AN

Happy Tuesday, dearies. If you haven't picked up on it yet, Tuesday is our update day, so mark your calendars. Hope your liking WFW, some exciting things are coming up. We're also planning on getting back into our one shots and maybe starting some new longer stories. We'd really love to know your thoughts, like- we need your help with where we'll take the story. Yours, as ever,

-cowriter