"Come on!" – pleaded Sirius, rolling playfully on the floor of the Gryffindor Common Room.
'I've already said no.' – uttered Catherine, finishing the last paragraph of her essay on the International Confederation of Wizards from 1454.
"But why not? We can't just let this be. What kind of message does it send to our enemies?" – exclaimed Sirius, standing up and picking up Catherine's parchment.
"What enemies? Stop exaggerating! The teachers didn't find anything, how would we? On top of that, it wasn't a big deal, just an Energy Draining hex. It's not even that dangerous." – the witch said, taking her essay back from Sirius, who was skimming through it.
"You've missed one of the decrees on the goblins here." – Sirius said, then added – "You are just not willing to pay Slytherins back because you don't want to upset Evans."
Catherine took her quill again and added the missing decree, then stood up quickly and looked at Sirius.
"Are you accusing me of being a coward?" – she asked in a dangerously low voice.
"No, I'm just saying that because of Evans, you are willing to disregard what happened to you and just let Snape go unpunished." – responded Sirius.
"I've told you at least 5 times that it wasn't Snape." – the girl said, heading towards the exit.
"What wasn't Snape?" – asked James, who was just entering through the portrait hole.
"A charming and clean person." – answered Sirius, laughing at his own joke.
"Sirius insists that we do something to retaliate about that time they used the Energy Draining hex on me."
"Damn right!" – James chimed in – "They can't be left thinking they won. If you want, I can take care of Snivellus tomorrow the latest."
"Okay, that's enough!" – shouted Catherine, making everyone in the Common Room look at them. The girl frowned, took Sirius' and James' hands, and dragged them outside.
"Listen, both of you," – she said angrily – "believe it or not, I'm not some damsel in distress, and I don't need you to take revenge on my behalf. But most importantly, I've told you numerous times that it was not Snape. It definitely was a female voice."
"He could have changed his voice with magic or potion." – said James.
"The spell for that is on NEWT level, and the potion is also complicated, from what I know. It's pointless for him to put in such efforts to hex me. Moreover, he does it often enough, and he has never been shy about it. Why would he hide then? You need to accept that there are other people than Snape who would want to hurt me." – Catherine ended with a sigh.
"Still," – persisted Sirius – "we can't let this slide. Let's at least investigate a little bit."
"Fine, let's go now." – Catherine finally gave up – "What a way to spend my Saturday afternoon."
"You were doing homework, it's not like it was something fun." – noted Sirius – "Plus, it's snowing outside, what is there to do anyway? Join Remus in the Library?"
The three first-years were walking through the freezing corridors of Hogwarts, their steps echoing through the silence of the lazy snowy December afternoon. They encountered Peeves, the school poltergeist, but he was busy stuffing Doxies into the armour located next to the Charms classroom and just stuck out his tongue at them. Eventually, they reached the deserted corridor on the fourth floor. They started looking for clues and searched in silence for several minutes.
"The more I think of it, the more I do not understand where exactly they hid in order to hex you." – finally said James.
"There must be a hidden alcove or passage somewhere." – concluded Sirius.
After another thorough search, they managed to find that there was a small crack-like door behind the painting of a merry company drinking wine next to a river.
"Where do you think this leads to?" – asked James while they were carefully climbing down a spiral staircase.
"Straight to the Slytherin Common Room?" – suggested Sirius.
"I seriously doubt it." – noted Catherine, setting aside a tapestry, and exiting into another corridor.
"This looks like the third floor." – said James – "Yeah, it's the third floor; I remember this statue of the one-eyed witch."
"Well, we haven't found who attacked me, but at least we've discovered a new shortcut." – said Catherine, rolling her eyes.
"Don't be such a joy killer!" – complained Sirius – "Let's look around some more!"
"Be my guest!" – said Catherine with irritation and leaned against the statue of the one-eyed witch. Suddenly, the girl heard a noise that sounded like a distant murmur. It was as if the noise was coming from within the walls. She pressed her ear against the cold stone and listened intently.
"What are you doing?" – asked James.
"Can you hear this as well?" – said Catherine nervously. Both her friends pressed their ears against the wall.
'I don't hear anything.' – said Sirius.
"Neither do I." – confirmed James.
Catherine took out her wand. "Dissendium." – she said, tapping the statue with the wand. It swung forward and exposed a tunnel behind it.
"Wow, how did you know it could do that?" – said James, impressed.
"I told you, I heard a voice from within the walls." – Catherine responded.
"I am not sure how good hearing voices is, but I bet this door leads outside of the castle." – said Sirius, excited - "Let's go and check!"
The three first-years squeezed through the crack and slid down what appeared to be a long stone slide, eventually landing on cold, damp floor.
"Lumos!" – said James.
The light from his wand illuminated a long, narrow passageway. The three Gryffindors walked for almost an hour through the twists and turns of the passageway before they reached worn stone steps. After seemingly ascending hundreds of them, James' head bumped into what appeared to be a trapdoor. He opened it and helped Sirius and Catherine climb up. They found themselves in the middle of a cellar full of wooden boxes and crates.
"Oh, Merlin!" – exclaimed Sirius, looking at one of the nearby crates.
"I think I know where we are." - he said while taking out a big Jelly Slug and biting its head off - "This passageway leads to Honeydukes!"
"No way!" – whispered James – "This is the best thing that's happened to me!"
He laughed and started opening the big blue boxes placed next to him "Fudge Flies!"
"I can't believe we're actually in Hogsmeade!" – said Catherine thoughtfully, looking around.
"Too bad it's too dangerous to go around." – sighed James – "We should think about how we can do it. Maybe if we come when the older students are visiting the village?"
"Mate, they'll recognise us right away.' – laughed Sirius - "We shall learn how to become invisible."
"I'm content with just this." – said Catherine, taking a box of Dragonfire Delights from a crate at her feet.
After spending a good half-hour exploring the content of cellar, the three first-years filled their pockets with candies and were ready to leave. James opened the trapdoor, but Catherine suddenly startled and started searching through her robes. Finally, she found what she was looking for and tossed a golden Galleon into the nearest box.
"What are you doing? They'll find out we were here!" – hissed Sirius.
"They won't! I pay for the stuff I use." – Catherine said icily and disappeared through the opening in the floor of Honeydukes.
The rest of December flew by, and soon Catherine found herself back on the Hogwarts Express, surrounded by screaming and laughing students, on her way home for the holidays. She ended up alone in a cab from King's Cross station, waved her friends goodbye one last time, and sighed heavily. She would have preferred to spend Christmas at Hogwarts, but her parents were adamant. This meant that, like every other year, she would be sitting in her room throughout all of the Christmas and New Year's Eve celebrations hosted by the McMahons. While they did have a Christmas lunch together as a family, it was hardly worth pretending she didn't exist for the rest of the time.
The cab stopped in front of a luxurious building in Islington, where a tall blond boy was waiting with a smile on his face. Catherine paid the driver, who helped her take out her luggage, including Orion. Greg took the cage from his sister and hugged her tightly.
"What are you doing?" – asked the witch, trying to free herself.
"I've missed you, Flame!" – Greg replied.
"Are you mental? You've seen me less than an hour ago." – panted the girl.
"No, I saw Catherine Plantier, who I barely know." – smiled Greg.
"You've really lost it." – sighed Catherine.
"Why are the two of you out in the cold? Let's get home!" – Louisa McMahon's voice startled her kids as she apparated next to them.
Fifteen minutes later, everyone was comfortably seated in front of the fire in the main living room of the McMahon castle. The house-elves had served cocoa and gingerbread cookies, and the smell of home was penetrating every fibre of the eleven-year-old girl, filling her both with happiness and frustration.
"Is Carsilion coming to the party?" – asked Louisa, staring at a long parchment levitating in front of her.
"No, he said he was going to spend his holidays in the mountains." – Edward replied cryptically.
"Whatever." – mumbled the Duchess and crossed out something on her list.
"You may also want to know that Duke Prince is coming." – added the wizard, sipping from his cocoa mug.
"He is?" – asked his wife with surprise.
"I shall call and instruct the waiters on some details, then." – concluded the Duchess and left the room, her parchment obediently following her.
"It's going to be a mixed affair this year." – said the Duke – "Therefore, we have a lot of things to prepare in order to cover everything that looks too magical from our Muggle guests."
"Oh, no! Then I need to hide myself twice as well!" – exclaimed Catherine sarcastically.
"As you see, Dad, she has been fine at Hogwarts." – chuckled Greg – "Sarcasm level – untouched!"
Catherine hissed and left the room. While she wasn't particularly interested in the people attending her parents' party, she really wanted to join in. She had grown up in a place famous for its balls, and yet she had never attended one. The girl entered her room and went straight to her bed, lying face down. It appeared as if she had returned to a recurring nightmare. The young witch felt like crying, but then in her mind, she saw the faces of James, Sirius, Remus, and Lily – all of them smiling at her.
'I can soldier through this!' – thought Catherine with determination.
Catherine was sitting at her desk, trying to concentrate on her homework, but the music and laughter from downstairs proved to be quite distracting.
'It's truly pathetic to do homework on Christmas Eve while everyone else is having a good time.' – she thought and threw away her quill.
The young witch went to her wardrobe and opened the doors, looking inside with a concentrated expression. Ten minutes later, Catherine stood in front of her tall mirror, wearing a knee-length dark blue organza shift dress. She examined her pale, thin legs, clad in matching satin dark-blue ballet flats, and internally accepted there wasn't much to be done about them.
'At least my freckles disappeared.' – she thought and focused on arranging her long, straight black hair into a single braid, which she decorated with a lavish white silk bow.
'I did my best.' – she concluded, looking at her reflection.
The girl left her room and quietly sneaked to the top landing of the grand staircase. It was dark, and with no one around, she could sit on the floor and watch through the rails as the guests danced and chatted downstairs. Catherine gazed at the women, who were wearing top Muggle designers' brands, parading around with their jewellery sparkling even from a distance. She could smell the blend of perfumes and recognised a few of the faces based on the descriptions she had heard from her family.
"I hope you don't plan on doing anything stupid." – she heard a voice behind her. Greg approached his sister and sat next to her on the floor.
"I just wanted to see the guests." – answered Catherine sulkily.
"Dressed like this?" – the boy asked, smiling.
"It's Christmas Eve. What's the harm in dressing up." – mumbled the girl.
"You're right." – surprisingly exclaimed Greg – "So, have you seen anyone interesting?"
"I'm not exactly sure, but is this man, next to the fireplace, Duke Adrian Borealis?" – Catherine asked.
"Indeed, this is him – the Head of House Borealis, descendant of Merwyn the Malicious and Hengist of Woodcroft, and also one of our biggest enemies, hence a person you should avoid at all costs." – explained Greg with a chuckle.
Catherine rolled her eyes with annoyance.
"What about the guy he's talking to?" – she asked.
"Oh, this one is Marquess North Redmond." – answered Greg.
"Was he the one whose ancestors started breeding Basilisks?" – wondered Catherine aloud, getting closer to the rails.
"The very same." – nodded Greg.
"So, what now, we have every head of the major houses here at our home when we know that they would have killed me immediately if I go downstairs now." – uttered the girl, her eyes fixed on the crowd below.
"Well, first of all, there are a lot of important Muggles there – nobility, politicians, businessmen. They won't just kill you in front of everyone. Second, they are certainly not going solely after you. We would be accused of treason and killed as well. But most importantly, they never imagined that happening, so you are perfectly safe as long as you don't do anything stupid." – ended the young wizard.
"I guess it just bothers me how hypocritical this whole situation is. I mean, they constantly go together and pretend they like each other when the only thing that restrain them from killing another family is that the rest will gang up on them." – said Catherine thoughtfully.
"That's the name of the game." – laughed Greg – "At least you don't have to play it, unlike me. You may think what happened to you was unfair, and you are right, but at the same time, you had been shielded from all these pretences, lies and malicious intents. You don't need to think three steps ahead of everyone."
"At least you can go out and be yourself, unlike me." – whispered Catherine – "This is the first time I've worn this dress and probably the last."
Greg stood up and looked at his sister. "It's time for you to stop pitying yourself. You didn't ask for this, and you've suffered a lot, but it doesn't mean it was easy for the rest of us. I also didn't ask for any of it."
Catherine felt her face flush and cast her eyes down. The band downstairs started playing Moon River. The dreamy melody filled the witch's head. She looked up and saw Greg's extended hand.
"Will you do me the honour, Lady McMahon?" – he asked and bowed.
The two children waltzed in the darkness of the landing to the enchanting melody of love and innocence. Catherine's blue dress twirled and flew around her, evoking the image of a mischievous fairy. In that moment, Greg couldn't help but see a resemblance to their mother - light and elegant, just like her. The final chords of the melody marked Catherine's quick curtsey before she darted back to her room. Greg lingered for a moment, his gaze fixed on the closed door. Eventually, he let out a deep sigh and returned to the radiant ballroom.
Catherine woke up the next morning feeling like yesterday's celebration was rather surreal and distant. Her room was filled with bright light, reflected by the generous amount of snow outside. There was a knock on the door, and Betty entered carrying a pile of presents.
"Young Mistress," – she chirped – "these arrived by owl. Betty can't believe the young Mistress has so many friends. Betty always knew..."
Catherine was no longer listening to the old house-elf's teary speech. She grabbed the first package that was sent by James and opened it. Inside, she found a red box of Dragonfire Delights. She smiled and opened the package from Sirius, which contained exactly the same box. The girl tore the paper off the present sent by Remus, and surprisingly, inside there were two boxes of Dragonfire Delights. Now, at the verge of tears and laughter, Catherine opened the last gift, sent by Lily, wrapped in a nice blue paper patterned with snowflakes. Inside, she found… yet another box of Dragonfire Delights.
'Oh, well,' – Catherine philosophically thought while opening the first box – 'I should do my best to honour their gifts.'