Fortunately, Madame Pomfrey proved to be right, and Remus recovered completely in a few days without any visible scars. James and Sirius were furious that Catherine had gone to the Hospital Wing without them, but the young witch was adamant that it was for the best.
'Do you honestly believe that the three of us could have sneaked undetected after curfew and not woken up Madame Pomfrey?' – she asked angrily after enduring another one of James' rants.
'Absolutely!' – James insisted stubbornly.
'Catherine is right, James.' – Remus said softly – 'Madame Pomfrey is a light sleeper, and if Filch had caught you out in that hour, you wouldn't have escaped with just a detention.'
'If we had discovered how to turn into animals, that wouldn't have been a problem.' – chimed in Sirius.
'Yeah, because wild animals walking along the Hogwarts' corridors at night is a regular sight.' – Catherine mocked him.
'This is beside the point!' – snapped James – 'You should have told us. Not only did you go alone to see Moony, but you also endangered yourself. It's not safe to roam at night unaccompanied.'
'First of all, it would have been rather interesting view if I had gone to the boys' dormitory in the middle of the night to let you know about my plans.' – Catherine snapped back – 'Second, as I've repeated countless times, we wouldn't have been able to reach the second floor unnoticed. Third, do you really think you're so much stronger that you can protect me better than I can protect myself?'
James didn't respond, but his face clearly reflected the answer, which truly enraged Catherine. She was seriously considering drawing her wand and teaching the jerk a lesson. Sirius, who quickly caught wind of what was brewing, jumped between his friends, patting James on the back a little too forcefully.
'There, there, James! It's already over anyway. The only thing I can't forgive Flame is that she brought all the brownies to Moony. I was looking forward to trying them.'
'Would you all stop calling me Moony?!' – intervened Remus with a frown.
'No!' – Sirius, James, and Catherine answered in unison, bursting into laughter.
That year, Catherine did remember her birthday, but it didn't really make much of a difference – the weather was again gloomy and rainy; no message or gift arrived from her parents, although she assumed she would get something extra for Christmas, and Orion was her only company at the breakfast table. While she had never cared much about her birthdays, after last year, she was kind of hopeful that her friends would have remembered it.
'Not that they're obliged to.' – she thought while walking towards her History of Magic class, but nevertheless felt disappointed.
The classes seemed awfully long that day. James and Sirius didn't even appear at lunch, and Catherine sat with Lily and the rest of the second-year Gryffindor girls, who were gossiping about a new Wizarding boy band, the Quill & Quaver. Since Catherine hadn't heard about them, she couldn't actively participate in the conversation and spent the time poking at the food on her plate without eating it.
In the afternoon, the young witch's already bad mood got even worse when she got distracted and turned the two bunny rabbits, which were supposed to become slippers, into a pair of gloves. Granted, they were not jumping around like Peter's attempt, the object was not the correct one. She also couldn't find a way to fix them without hurting the animals with double transfiguration. Receiving additional homework was just the cherry on top of her so-called birthday.
The young witch decided to skip dinner and go straight to the Library instead.
'Hey, where are you going?' – asked Lily, grabbing Catherine's hand.
'Library.' – snapped the other girl, surprised to see her friend chuckle in response.
'I'll come with you, but I need to show you something in the Gryffindor Tower first.' – smiled the red-headed witch.
'Okey, okey! No need to drag me, I can walk.' – said Catherine, following Lily towards their Common Room.
'Confetti!' – Lily gave the password to the Fat Lady, and the portrait swung forward to let them in.
'Happy birthday!' – a crowd of voices cheered from inside, and before Catherine's astonished gaze what appeared to be half of the Gryffindors emerged with sweets, sandwiches, butterbeer, and a big éclair cake with candles.
'Now that's new – Flame is rendered speechless!' – laughed James, carrying a woven reed basket together with Sirius.
'Happy birthday, Catherine!' – the other boy grinned – 'I hope you're not too mad for everyone pretending we forgot your birthday. We didn't want to spoil the surprise.'
Catherine was desperately trying to control herself. She wanted to cry, hug the boys, and thank them from the bottom of her heart. However, since she had spent most of her life learning how to suppress her emotions and feelings, she found it surprisingly hard to do any of those, especially in front of so many people. While she was completely stuck in her head, Lily came to her rescue.
'Come on, move on, there are other people who want to wish her a happy birthday too.'
With this, the red-headed girl hugged Catherine tightly and whispered in her ear.
'Happy birthday, Daisy! Sorry about that, I told them it would make you feel uncomfortable, but they insisted and put a lot of effort into the organisation.'
'Thank you.' – the black-haired witch whispered back, then turned to the rest of the Gryffindors – 'Thank you, everyone! Please just enjoy yourselves, no need for ceremonies and official greetings. Let's have fun!'
The students quickly dispersed into small groups, and the Common Room was soon filled with chatter and laughter. Catherine approached the boys and smiled gently.
'You're really one of a kind. I frankly thought you had forgotten about my birthday.'
'Apparently, you have a high opinion on us.' – James said, a little insulted.
'No, I… doesn't matter. What's in the basket?' – asked the girl eyeing the item still in Sirius' hands.
'Your birthday present!' – announced Sirius proudly.
The girl picked up the basket, which appeared moderately heavy, and removed the lid. The first thing she saw was a pair of green eyes, and then an adorable black little Kneazle with pointy ears and a sleek glossy coat jumped into her hands.
'Oh, Light!' – exclaimed the young witch, gently caressing the soft furball.
'Do you like her?' – asked James impatiently – 'The pet I told you about in the summer was a Kneazle; it turned out she was pregnant when we found her and gave birth in early October. We immediately thought you might like to have one of the Kneazlings for yourself. They are very smart and great companions.'
'I would love to!' – answered the stunned Catherine, happily looking at her new pet – 'It's a great improvement from Orion, whom I barely see, unless he brings me a dead mouse.'
'Ah, it can happen with this one as well.' – warned James – 'She's still little, but Hagrid said she had great hunting instincts.'
'Hagrid? Wait, was that why you went to see him that day?' – asked Catherine.
'Yeah, we needed someone with experience to take care of her when she was delivered until your birthday.'
'Jeez, you're all so cunning… You've been planning this for months and I never found out.' – the young witch laughed.
'Oh, well, you were close when you came across us at Hagrid's, but it was good your attention was otherwise occupied back then.' – grinned Sirius.
'How are you going to name the Kneazle, Flame?' – asked Remus, finally able to get closer to his friend.
'Since she is a female, I think I'm going to call her Nyx.' – said Catherine, looking at the creature's cute face.
'She's so adorable!' – exclaimed Mary with admiration, approaching the group of her classmates – 'I hope she would also allow the rest of us to pet her.'
'I wouldn't count on that.' – warned James – 'Kneazles are known to be headstrong.
'It has green eyes like yours.' – chimed in Peter, who was constantly moving around, trying to participate in every conversation in the room with varying success.
'Nonsense.' – snapped Sirius – 'The Kneazle's eyes are emerald green. Catherine's eyes are more like jade green. In fact, if you need to compare it, Nyx looks more like Evans.'
'Thank you, Black! You always know how to melt a girl's heart.' – said Lily with a sarcastic smile.
James took Nyx from Catherine's hands and hold her next to Lily's face, carefully observing them. At this moment, the Kneazling apparently had enough and relieved herself on top of James' robes.
'Eww!' – he screamed while everyone else laughed.
'I think this was a suitable end of the discussion.' – concluded Catherine and picked up her pet – 'Nyx is overexcited; I'll take her to the dormitory so she can have some rest.'
'No good deed goes unpunished' – said Sirius, taking out his wand while still laughing – 'Tergeo!'
Meanwhile, Catherine had left the sleepy Nyx at the feet of her bed and was just about to return downstairs when Greg walked in the dormitory, the door closing behind him.
'How did you get in here? It shouldn't be possible for boys to enter the girls' premises.' – asked Catherine indignantly.
'Heir of Hogwarts, remember? – answered Greg, carelessly waving his hand, and sitting on his sister's bed.
'Please, make yourself comfortable!' – hissed the young witch.
'Don't be snappy. I wanted to wish you a happy birthday. Not that you care.' – said the wizard poutingly.
'And yet it didn't seem to stop you.' – Catherine added mockingly.
'I know you can't wait to be with your friends, but since I bothered to bring you a present.' – growled Greg and tossed a little ring box on the bed – 'Take it or throw it away, I don't care. But as you're usually so inclined to point out all the unfair things we inflicted upon you, maybe this time you give me a pass as I did put some effort unlike you for my birthday.'
'What are you talking about? I haven't given you any presents for your birthday.' – asked Catherine, irritated.
'Precisely!' – smiled her brother bitterly – 'I wish you had put one tenth of the efforts you invested in Black's gift towards your own brother. Maybe then you would have actually remembered to wish me a happy birthday.'
Catherine opened her mouth to respond, but Greg left the room and slammed the door, leaving the young witch speechless. After what appeared as an eternity but, in reality, was thirty seconds, she took the box from her bed and opened it. Inside, on a green velvet cushion, she found an elegant silver ring with an oval jade stone. A delicate engraving on the inner side formed the words: Sois qui tu veux!
'Be whoever you want! Easier said, than done, brother.' – she thought and slipped the ring on her ring finger.
The next few weeks flew by, filled with taking care of Nyx and managing schoolwork. The young Kneazle felt completely at home in the Gryffindor Tower. Despite being just about two months old, she was already taking charge and dominating the other ordinary cats owned by fellow students. James turned out to be right about the creature's stubbornness. Besides Catherine, Nyx didn't like anyone else. She was particularly vicious towards Sirius and Peter, who couldn't even approach her owner if the Kneazling was around. While Peter got the message immediately, Sirius was not one to run away from a challenge. As a result, his hands and arms were constantly adorned with painful-looking scratches and bite marks. This didn't help his overall bad mood, which appeared to worsen with the approaching holidays.
By the beginning of December, he was smiling so rarely that Catherine found herself going out of her way to make him laugh. During a Charms class, dedicated to various spells affecting human senses and movements, the young witch cast such a strong tickling charm on Sirius that Professor Flitwick needed to spend half an hour lessening the effect of the magic.
'Remind me not to partner with you anymore.' – said the boy grumpily after finally being allowed to leave the Charms classroom.
'I'm sorry, it wasn't on purpose.' – apologised Catherine, who had patiently waited for her friend while the rest of the group went to lunch.
'Yeah, right. Your beast mutilates my hands, you almost tore my internal muscles with a bloody spell…Who would have known that a tickling charm could feel like torture.' – mumbled the boy crankily.
Catherine took a deep breath, trying to suppress her initial harsh reaction, and disregarded the young wizard's snarky remarks.
'Look, I think you had a rough day. How about I offer you a treat?' – she said, smiling in a bribing manner.
'Brownies?' – asked Sirius with vague interest.
'Even better.' – smirked Catherine, looking at the far end of the corridor.
The lunch break was almost over, and students were walking towards their afternoon classes in merry, chattering groups. Among this overall happiness, one slim, lanky boy with long oily black hair was moving silently, his gaze fixed firmly on the ground. The girl, dragged Sirius, behind the statue of Elandra Mystifira and took out her wand.
'Observe my latest creation.' – she whispered cheekily, pointing her wand at Snape's passing feet – 'Glowbindo!'
No immediate effect was visible. Snape walked past them and went to the boys' bathroom nearby.
'What was supposed to happen?' – asked Sirius, confused.
'Be patient.' – shushed Catherine.
In a few minutes, the Slytherin boy exited the lavatory and headed towards the Transfiguration classroom. What he hadn't noticed, however, were the few long pieces of toilet paper stuck to his shoes. After a few meters, people started laughing and pointing at him, finally prompting him to look down and see what the issue was. Swearing under his breath, he attempted to remove the toilet paper, but it was firmly fixated on his shoes, and it wasn't possible. At this point, the whole corridor was laughing, and Snape had no choice but to tear off the excessive part of the toilet paper and attempt to leave with whatever dignity he had left.
Unfortunately, the effect of the spell was far from over. The torn pieces, lying on the floor, followed the boy swiftly and attached themselves to his shoes once again. The young wizard was now completely panicked. He pushed aside a few first-years and ran as quickly as he could in the opposite direction of his initial destination, probably towards the dungeons.
Sirius was on his knees, tears rolling down his cheeks, while he could barely breath, choking on his laughter.
'Damn you, my belly still hurts from your darn spell!' – he finally managed to form a coherent sentence.
'But you're no longer in bad mood, are you?' – insisted Catherine, coming out from behind the statue and walking towards the DADA classroom.
'No way, after this magnificent performance.' – chuckled Sirius – 'What did you do to him?'
'Nothing that bad, really. It's a very minor spell that just attracts small items around you and temporarily attaches them to a certain place where you've chosen to apply the spell.' – she explained smugly – 'It's very effective, but I'm surprised he didn't just use a simple Finite Incantatem. That would have been enough to cease the gluing effect.'
'He wasn't really thinking that much.' – sneered Sirius – 'Didn't you see his face? He looked even uglier than usual.'
'So, you forgave me about the tickling charm?' – asked the girl.
'How can I say no?' – grinned Sirius and threw his arm around Catherine's shoulders.
December arrived with ice spikes, hanging from every branch of the old trees in the Forbidden Forest. The occasional snowstorms forced the students at Hogwarts to spend most of their time inside the castle. There, they could experience the freezing wind firsthand while strolling along the long corridors, where their breath formed a thin silver mist.
The only comfortable places were the Common Rooms, where the battle for seats around the roaring fire was fierce. In the Gryffindor Tower, the winner was Catherine's Kneazle, Nyx, and by extension, her owner, and the only two people tolerated by the feline – Lily and Greg. Both of them took advantage of the unexpected prize, spending many hours comfortably playing Wizard's Chess and chatting. Meanwhile, Catherine was trying to persuade Nyx to allow the boys to join them around the fire.
'I can understand Nyx not liking me, but I can't accept her liking McMahon!' – complained Sirius loudly one evening.
Greg, engrossed in a particularly competitive game with Lily, lifted his ocean-blue eyes and raised an eyebrow mockingly.
'Kneazles are surprisingly intelligent creatures, Black. They seem to have a great judgement regarding people who are suitable to be around their owners… and also regarding those who are not suitable.'
'What's that supposed to mean?' – shouted Sirius, jumping to his feet, while Nyx hissed warningly from Catherine's lap.
'That's enough.' – the black-haired girl intervened, casting a sharp warning gaze toward her brother who just shrugged his shoulders and turned his attention back to the chess board.
'Sirius, I'm craving something sweet. Will you come with me to the Kitchens?'
'Okey, if you insist.' – answered the boy, still frowning at Greg, and followed the young witch through the hole outside the Common Room.
They walked together in silence for a few minutes.
'Do you like Greg McMahon?' – asked Sirius all of a sudden, looking intensely at Catherine.
'Why does everybody keep asking me this?' – the girl snapped, throwing her hands in the air with annoyance – 'I barely know him, let alone like him.'
'Well, he's an aristocrat, rich, handsome, and a perfectly good and polite boy who's liked by everyone. Why wouldn't you like him?' – Sirius continued, staring at his shoes.
'You're also rich, handsome, and while not necessarily a good boy, most people do like you.' – smirked Catherine, playfully ruffling the young wizard's black hair.
'So, you like me?' – laughed Sirius.
'No, I hate you in the guts.' – Catherine chuckled and stuck her tongue at Sirius – 'Come on! If we continue walking with this pace, they're going to later find us, frozen to death somewhere along the way.'
Sirius needed to put in some serious effort to catch up with his surprisingly fast friend. After a quick raid in the Kitchens, the two Gryffindors were sitting in an empty classroom on the second floor, its windows looking at the frozen shores of the Black Lake reflecting the silver light of the full winter moon.
'It's certainly beautiful.' – said Catherine, licking the pink frosting from her fingers – 'Although, I'm not sure I can look at the moon in the same way anymore, knowing what Remus is going through.'
'I know how you feel.' – stated Sirius, finishing his last cupcake – 'At least, it's the last full moon for this year.'
'Indeed. Christmas is coming soon.' – noted Catherine, mostly to herself.
'Oh, the joy!' – groaned Sirius.
'You don't like Christmas?' – asked the girl, surprised.
'It's not that I don't like it, but rather I dread the family time it usually involves.' – answered the wizard bitterly – 'Imagine how much fun it's going to be this year with my mother praising her golden Slytherin boy…or maybe he's the silver Slytherin boy…whatever… and then, you have my favourite cousins there ganging up on me before the most awaited part of the festivities take place – the merry tradition of listing all the ways Sirius Black is a major disappointment.'
'Sounds truly awful.' – said Catherine, gently patting Sirius' back – 'I wish we could spend Christmas together, all of us. Then it would be nothing but laughter, jokes, and good food.'
'I hope we do it one day.' – almost whispered Sirius. Then he nodded decisively – 'You know, if I must endure all this crap for the sake of being free in the future, I'll do it. You'll see! This year, their vile snake tongues won't touch me.'
'That's the spirit!' – laughed Catherine – 'And if that makes you feel any better, my Christmas is going to be all dull and quiet. I'll probably not even see a lot of my family during those two weeks.'
'That old hag!' – screamed Louisa McMahon, tossing the parchment she had just read into the roaring fire.
'What happened?' – Catherine whispered to Greg after just entering the dining room for breakfast.
'Apparently, grandma declined mom's Christmas invitation, yet again' – the boy explained in a hushed tone.
'So long for the dull and quiet holidays.' – thought the girl observing the rage of her mother erupting, and her raw magic shattering the crystal glasses in the nearby buffet into a crystal dust.
The noise of destruction attracted Duke McMahon and he came running from his office. Holding a half-opened letter in one hand and his wand in the other, he first looked at his daughter, who rolled her eyes at him.
'My nymph, what's wrong?' – Edward asked, cautiously approaching his wife.
'What's wrong? I'll tell you what's wrong! This vile creature that calls herself my mother, once again decided she had better things to do than spend the holidays with her only daughter and grandchildren.' – vented the Duchess, her green eyes flashing with anger.
'Well, I understand all this upsets you, but it is hardly surprising. Your mother's perspective on family is different. She is not human, after all.' – the Duke said soberly.
'I can't believe you're defending her?!' – screamed Louisa whiles the utensils on the dining table started clattering.
'No, I'm just trying to see a reason in that complicated dynamic.' – Edward attempted to explain himself.
'Gotta love breakfasts at home. The food always comes with a show.' – Catherine remarked casually, sipping her orange juice.
Both of her parents turned to her in surprise, as if suddenly realising they were not alone. While Greg stared blankly out the window, feigning ignorance, the Duke cleared his throat and effortlessly repaired the shattered crystal with a flick of his wand, casting a pleading glance at his wife. Louisa hesitated for a moment before audibly sighing and taking a seat at the table.
'One problem at a time, I suppose.' – she said, redirecting her attention to her daughter – 'Speaking about shows, we heard you made quite a spectacle around Halloween. Care to explain?'
'Can't you keep your big mouth shut?' – Catherine hissed at Greg.
'It wasn't me!' – the boy retorted, outraged by the accusations.
'Yeah, right. Coming from a snitch like you.' – the girl snarled.
Louisa intervened, clapping her hands. 'It doesn't matter who told us what. What matters is that you attract way too much attention. Why showcase your magic abilities by picking fights with Slytherins of all people?'
'Ask your informer about it.' – snapped Catherine, jumping to her feet – 'Or maybe he's missed the part where I've been beaten like a Muggle, and left in a bathroom bloody and helpless.'
'What?' – the Duke asked in shock, watching his daughter dash out of the room.
'What do you mean by that?' – the Duchess inquired anxiously – 'Wait! Catherine! Come back!'
'Thanks a lot, Mom!' – shouted Greg, standing abruptly – 'Whatever small progress I make with her, you two manage to destroy in a single moment.'
'The fuck is happening?' – exclaimed Edward after his son slammed the door behind him.
'I think we shall have a long conversation with Carsilion.' – Louisa said slowly, the crystal glasses turning into dust once again.
Catherine walked barefoot through an ancient forest, unsure of her destination. Nevertheless, she pressed on along a faintly visible path until her way was obstructed by massive, striated rocks. Without hesitation, the young witch turned left and, after a few minutes, arrived at the entrance of a large cave partially concealed by bushy grass.
'Where am I going?' – the girl pondered as she boldly stepped through the threshold, swiftly navigating the rocky floor of the cave.
Somewhere in the distance, the echoing sound of a river or a small waterfall reached Catherine's ears. Following her instincts, the young witch sought out the source of the sound. Upon reaching the far end of the cave, she found herself standing before what seemed to be a bottomless chasm. Something compelled her to step to the edge, and with horror, she realised she was about to do just that.
Rather than plummeting to her demise, however, Catherine found herself in a dimly lit cave hall. A small rushing torrent filled the space with the booming sound of water and heavy, sticky humidity. The walls of the cave were adorned with ancient runic symbols whose meaning eluded Catherine. In the centre of the hall, a large granite altar held a lavishly decorated golden chest.
Approaching the altar cautiously, Catherine sensed strange alterations in the magic. It felt tainted and wrong. Just a few steps away from the magic circle surrounding the altar, her gaze fell upon a woman kneeling not more than half a meter away. The young witch gasped in surprise, staring at the unfamiliar figure.
'I'm sorry!' – the girl attempted to say, but no sound escaped her lips.
Changing direction, she hastened towards the motionless woman. Long, wavy ebony black hair cascaded in disarray around the woman's face and shoulders. Her once-white robes were now dirty and stained.
Before Catherine could reach the stranger, though, the woman turned her head, locking her ocean-blue eyes onto the girl. Countless screams echoed in Catherine's mind. She saw rivers of blood and mountains of lifeless bodies at her feet. Then, the all-too-familiar female laughter filled her ears until she realised in utter horror that it was her own laughter. Glancing down, her hands were drenched in hot scarlet blood, the drops forming a morbid pattern on the cave floor. The nauseating smell overwhelmed her, and she felt the urge to vomit. Her body trembled violently.
'Flame! Flame! What's wrong? Wake up!'
Catherine finally opened her eyes to see Greg's worried face, as he shook her in attempt to wake her up. Her hair was damp with sweat, and the nauseous feeling from the nightmare still lingered.
'What's going on?' – she heard her mother's voice as Louisa entered the room, switching on the light.
The young witch tried to speak, but only choking sounds escaped her mouth. Louisa's expression turned to one of serious concern.
'I think she had a really bad nightmare, Mom. She still can't shake it off.' – explained Greg.
'Do you want to come sleep with me and your dad?' – the Duchess asked gently, brushing a damp streak of hair from her daughter's face.
Catherine only nodded slightly, taking her mother's hand who immediately apparated them to the Master bedroom.
Greg woke up early in the next morning, the midnight rush to his sister's bedroom feeling like a distant memory.
'Maybe being at home affect her more negatively than I had thought.' – he mumbled sadly to himself.
Dressing in the quiet house, the boy suddenly realised it was Christmas morning. He practically sprinted downstairs to the tall, lavishly decorated Christmas tree. The silver ornaments sparkled in the dim morning light filtering through the French windows.
Since they didn't really have any specific traditions regarding opening presents, Greg decided not to wait for the rest of his family and began unwrapping his gifts. Halfway through the packages from his school friends, he noticed a rather shabby-looking package in green and silver. Intrigued by the sender, the young wizard grabbed the gift and read the attached note.
I hope this satisfies your inner Slytherin, and you'd stop emotionally blackmailing me. Merry Christmas!
C.M.M
Greg impatiently ripped off the paper to reveal a beautiful handmade friendship bracelet in green and silver. He burst into laughter and immediately fasten it around his wrist.
