It was the last night of August, and in a lavishly adorned room, situated in one of the McMahon's apartments in Islington, Catherine McMahon stood by the window, gazing down at the illuminated tapestry of lights that painted the streets below. She felt nervous for tomorrow. A sudden noise made her turn around. She went to the large cage where a handsome brown Eagle owl was hooting, his yellow eyes shining in the darkness of the room. The young witch reached through the bars to caress the bird's feathers.
"Catherine?" – Louisa McMahon entered her daughter's room and turned on the lights. The owl let out a screech in response. The Duchess cast a sharp glance at the bird, prompting him to fall into silence. "Why do you stay in the dark like a Knarl?" – she asked suspiciously.
"Because Orion doesn't like it when it's so bright." – the girl replied simply.
"You are truly spoiling this chicken…" – sighed the older witch, directing a wry look at the so-called 'chicken' – "anyway, I wanted to give you something before you leave for Hogwarts."
Louisa extracted a small velvet box, handing it to her daughter. Catherine took it with curiosity and gasped in surprise. Inside there was an elegant golden pendant in the form of a teardrop. Nested in its heart, a crimson gemstone was reflecting the light, lending it an appearance of flickering flames.
"It's called the Eternal Flame. Your father's mother gave it to me on our wedding day. It's been passed down through our family for generations. While it holds various powers, the one it is most renowned for is providing courage when you truly need it. I want you to have it and be brave, ma chérie." The witch embraced her daughter catching her slightly off guard by the sudden outpouring of her mother's emotions.
"Thank you, Mom! I love it and I'll keep it safe!" – she finally mumbled being released from Louisa's hug. The older woman smiled and headed to the door. "Check if you've packed everything you need. The cabs are going to be here at half past nine."
"Of course, Mom, everything is under control." – answered Catherine. "Or at least I hope so." – she added softly as the door closed.
At half past ten, Catherine was standing alone on Platform 9 ¾, looking at the vivid crowd gathered in front of the imposing red steam engine. With considerable effort, she tried to manoeuvre her suitcase and owl cage without colliding with anyone. Naturally, this turned out to be an impossible task, thus she ended up bumping into the trolley of a short chubby boy and inadvertently stepping on the hem of the silk black robes belonging to a tall, arrogantly composed witch.
She looked at the young girl whose face was all red and sweaty, her gaze stopping on the Muggle jeans and t-shirt, then she spitefully hissed "Get away, filthy Mudblood!"
"Mother!" – came the voice of a boy, standing next to the witch. Catherine paid little heed, her response - a mocking laughter as she resumed her determined journey toward the steam engine, hearing some indistinct and probably offensive shouts behind her back.
Finally, she reached one of the last and rather empty train cars and stopped for a minute so she could catch her breath. Her gaze travelled around, and she saw her parents and brother not too far away. Fighting the lump in her throat she busied herself with getting her case and Orion on the train. After almost ten minutes of pointless efforts, she was ready to admit that she needed some assistance.
"Hey, Catherine! Do you need help?" – she heard from behind. Catherine brushed aside some damp streaks of hair from her forehead and turned around, spotting Lily's smiling face and unfortunately Snape's sullen one.
"Yes, if you don't mind!" – answered the tired witch – "I can also help with yours."
"Sure, let's do it!" – chirped Lily – "Severus, you help too! Nice owl! What's its name?"
"Orion." – said Catherine while the three of them managed to get all the luggage onto the train and find an empty compartment where they sat down.
"Would you lend it to me from time to time?" – asked Lily – "My parents didn't allow me to buy an owl, but I hope I can persuade them showing how useful owls are."
"Muggles never understand our ways." – muttered Snape. Catherine looked at him, carefully considering what kind of jinx she could use that would keep him quiet for the duration of the trip.
"Sure, you can borrow Orion. But if he's not available, you can also use one of the school owls." – said Catherine with a smile directed towards her friend.
"Oh, I didn't know that!" – exclaimed Lily – "This is very convenient. How did you find out?"
"Um..." – briefly hesitated the other girl – "I think I read it in a book called Hogwarts: A History."
Catherine noticed Snape looking at her with suspicion thus she decided to quickly change the topic.
"Do you have any preferences regarding which House you want be sorted into?" – she asked.
"Hmm, I am not so sure yet." – said Lily thoughtfully.
"Of course you are!" – exclaimed Snape – "I told you, we should both be sorted into Slytherin! It is the best and most prestigious House of them all. You wouldn't want to end up in a place like Hufflepuff."
The loud noise of the departing train interrupted them. Catherine looked out of the window and saw her parents and other adults waving their hands. She didn't wave back. To everyone here, these people were Lord Gregory McMahon's parents. She sighed audibly.
"What's the matter, Catherine?" – asked Lily with concern – "Nervous about the Sorting Ceremony and the lessons?"
"No, not really." – answered the young witch honestly.
"Such a liar." – Snape taunted with a smirk.
"Excuse me?" – Catherine's voice was quiet but filled with ice-cold rage.
"You pretend to know everything, acting so cool and collected, but I bet you're going to start crying in the girls' bathroom after every lesson."
"Well," – sneered the black-haired girl – "I suppose I'll see you there then."
Snape jumped to his feet and drew his wand. Catherine didn't bother. She knew she would be able to magically defend herself to some degree, though not particularly well with a wand. She also wasn't certain how many jinxes and hexes this slimy boy knew. She could instinctively sense that it wasn't all talk with him, but she lacked information. Most importantly, she didn't want to start a fight in this confined space where they could potentially harm Lily.
"That's enough, both of you!" – screamed Lily, positioning herself between them – "Put this wand away, Severus! Seriously, why are you constantly fighting?"
"He started it." – shrugged Catherine while Snape growled something incomprehensive.
For a while they rode the train in silence while Catherine was trying to ignore Snape's murderous stare. She felt proud of herself for not hexing him, yet at the same time, she was disappointed she couldn't do it. Eventually, she consoled herself with the thought that another opportunity would surely arise in the future. She gazed out of the window, where the countryside landscape was quickly passing by, bathed in the autumn sunshine.
Around noon, the food trolley arrived at their compartment. Catherine was not particularly hungry but decided to get something for the afternoon. While Lily was enthusiastically asking the smiling, plump witch behind the trolley about the various treats, Catherine noticed that Snape didn't show any interest in the food and was looking darkly out of the window. Taking a closer look at his clothes, she realised they were rather shabby and not his size. It quickly occurred to her that he might not have enough money. Despite her irritation with him, she decided to buy something for the boy as well. After all, her parents had made sure she had plenty of gold with her.
Therefore, Catherine bought a bunch of chocolate frogs, a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Pumpkin Pastries, Cauldron Cakes, and a package of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum. She paid for everything and brought them inside. Pondering a little bit how to approach this and since nothing better came to mind, she just took a few snacks and left them on the empty seat next to Snape without saying a word.
"Are you planning to stuff yourself so much that you won't have any space left next to you?" – he asked looking at Catherine with disgust.
She was furious – not only had her kind gesture been completely disregarded, but he had also dared to offend her. At this moment, the glass door of the compartment slid open, capturing the attention of the kids inside. One of the three boys who had been standing outside entered and sat down next to Catherine. He was tall, with black hair and grey eyes that complemented his handsome features quite nicely.
"I've finally found you!" – he grinned.
"Do I know you?" – asked Catherine, fully aware that she could count the people she knew on one hand.
"You irritated my mother earlier today." – the boy replied still smiling broadly.
"I already apologised for stepping on her robes, but I am not going to apologise for laughing at her." – said Catherine with a challenging look on her face.
"Oh, no!" – laughed the newcomer, casually throwing his arm around Catherine's shoulders – "I loved how you pissed off the old wench! How about becoming my girlfriend?"
Catherine took a deep calming breath, keeping her rising anger at bay. Was stupidity a common male trait? She had yet to find a boy who wasn't annoying. With a sharp gesture, she freed herself from the boy's arm.
"First of all, don't touch me without permission, or you may end up not using this arm anymore." – she said, her voice low and cold – "Second, I'm not getting involved in whatever twisted relationship you have with your mother. Third, who the hell do you think you are, barging in and acting like you own this place or have some special bond with me?"
The boy stood there frozen, his mouth agape and his eyes wide with confusion and something that could pass for regret. The atmosphere was so tense it could have been sliced with a knife. Then, boisterous laughter erupted from the doorway.
"Gosh, mate, she really got you there. Now you're truly in the doghouse." – the second tall boy entered the compartment and settled in the seats across from Catherine. He quickly rumples his black hair with his hand and looked at her with a friendly expression in his hazel eyes.
"Excuse my friend, he has some issues with self-control" – he smiled brightly and then extended his hand in a friendly manner – "I'm James Potter, nice to meet you, fearsome lady!"
The girl looked at him puzzled but since he hadn't really done anything wrong at that point, she just shook his hand. "I'm Catherine Plantier."
"And who are your friends, Catherine?" – asked James looking at Lily who was sitting quietly still gazing at the grey-eyed boy who appeared quite gloomy at the moment.
"Nobody you need to know about." – Snape hissed, standing up.
"I wasn't talking to you in the first place." – James retorted, giving Snape a quick assessing glance.
"Let's go, Lily, we're going to find another place to sit until this trash leaves." – Snape said, walking towards the door and taking Lily's hand.
"Who the fuck do you call trash, you little ugly bastard?" – shouted Catherine's admirer, finally snapping out of his trance.
"Don't call him like that!" – screamed Lily – "You're the one who just barged in and caused all this trouble!" She stood up and gathered her snacks. "Catherine, are you coming with us?"
"She can stay here." – snapped Snape – "It seems she fits quite nicely."
Catherine whose greatest desire at the moment was for everyone to disappear, just looked at him mockingly and answered. "At least I fit somewhere." The boys laughed and Snape left in a furious huff, still holding Lily's hand who threw an apologetic look at her friend.
"That was a nice comeback!" – giggled the grey-eyed boy, extended his hand for a high-five. Catherine reached to take a chewing gum from her pile of snacks and replied impassively. "The fact that I don't like him doesn't mean I like you."
"Jeez, Sirius, stop making a fool of yourself?" – James said, smiling at Catherine – "And, Remus, do you plan to come in or stand at the door?" The slim, shy boy with brown hair finally entered the compartment and sat next to James. The young witch noticed that he was pale and appeared slightly ill, but he also had a very kind smile that reached his amber eyes making them gleam like gold. Catherine suddenly thought she could really like him, and she smiled at him which made Remus blush immediately in response.
"Whatever, since you're all seated and you don't look like going anywhere, you might as well help me eat all this." – she said resignedly, gesturing towards the snacks left in the compartment.
A few hours later, as tall mountains filled the landscape seen through the window, Catherine surprisingly found herself feeling relaxed, chatting with the boys in her compartment. Sharing chocolate together had turned out to be a great bonding opportunity. While she remained cautious around Sirius, Catherine was now more or less certain that his bizarre behaviour had been a result of his excitement after she had stood up against his mother. James was really fun to talk with and Remus always contributed interesting insights to the conversation whenever he joined in. What Catherine liked the most about them, however, was that they didn't seem to have any prejudice against her despite being from 'Muggle background'. This unfortunately resulted in James spending half an hour explaining Quidditch to her, but she still didn't mind it too much.
It was already getting dark outside. "We should probably return to where we left our suitcase so we can change into our robes?" – suggested Remus with a hint of regret in his tone.
"Yeah, and I'm really hungry too." – added Sirius.
"We still need to be sorted, though." – said James as he stood up - "Wouldn't it be cool if we ended up in the same House?"
"I'm sure we will!" – answered Sirius confidently.
Catherine watched them as they left her compartment. Her eyes stared into the darkness outside the window while her mind was working tirelessly. 'What shall I do about the Sorting Ceremony?' – she thought, absentmindedly chewing the tip of her braid.