The next weeks were quite busy, packed with classes, homework, and Quidditch practices for Sirius and James. Catherine couldn't give up on searching through the Library for even the smallest bit of information on how to become an Animagus. Unfortunately, she didn't find anything useful. The decision of somehow gaining access to the Restricted Section became clearer and clearer.
The schoolwork was also piling on. With the revision done, the second-years now found themselves elbows deep in increasingly complicated tasks. Catherine was happy with the more challenging assignments, but she realised she was one of the very few such people. James and Sirius, besides being extremely gifted, were just interested in certain classes like DADA and they considered everything else a bother. Remus was doing fine in general, but he was not one who enjoyed being challenged, always fearful he might fail. Therefore, Catherine mostly shared her enthusiasm with Lily, who was passionate about every new thing she was learning about the Wizarding world.
The red-headed girl was particularly skilled in Potions, and Catherine would have loved to work together with her during class. Unfortunately, this year Gryffindors had their Potion classes shared with Slytherins and Lily was usually joined by Snape at her table. This forced Catherine to sit with the boys, somehow always ending up with her trying to prevent Peter from blowing up the classroom. She wasn't exactly sure whether he wasn't paying enough attention or was unable to follow simple instructions, but the results were more or less the same.
During one particularly daunting lesson, as they were attempting to brew Wiggenweld Potion, Catherine, who was sharing her workspace with Peter and Remus that day, noticed the former preparing to add whole pieces of Wiggentree bark into the solution.
"What are you doing?"- she exclaimed, grabbing his wrist in time.
"What?" – the boy asked, appearing confused – "Professor Slughorn said we should add the bark after the gurdyroot."
"Yes, but you need to grind it into powder first." – snapped Catherine.
"What's the difference?" – asked Peter, still confused.
"What do you mean, what's the difference? The potion is going to start boiling immediately and probably overflow. It's still pretty strong acid at this point before you add the dittany." – shouted the girl, unable to contain her frustration, while looking at Peter's blank facial expression.
"What's going on here?" – Professor Slughorn asked, his attention caught by the noise.
After a brief explanation and investigation, during which five points were deducted from Gryffindor due to the caused disruption and Pettigrew not following Potion safety procedures, the Potion Master decided it was best to separate the apologetic Peter and the now very angry Catherine.
"Catherine, my girl, why don't you join Lily and Severus? You can concentrate on your potion there at peace, and you won't need to help Mr Pettigrew. Not to mention, I would love to see some healthy competition between the three of you!" – Slughorn suggested with a big smile.
Catherine obeyed without any protests. Between being constantly alert about Peter's potion disasters and tolerating Snape's snarky remarks, she felt she could give it a try with the greasy boy. 'At least Lily's also there; maybe it won't be that bad.' – she thought while carefully moving her half-made potion towards her new table.
Lily helpfully made room for their new partner while Snape was bent over his cauldron, not even casting a glance in Catherine's direction. He was carefully stirring the potion in a peculiar pattern while Catherine, crushing her billywig wings, noticed the Slytherin boy taking out a small stone-like object from a cartoon box.
"What do you need bezoar for?" – asked Catherine, unable to hold her curiosity.
Snape lifted his head, casting a condescending glance at the Gryffindor girl. His black eyes were full of distaste, and his sarcastic smile, couldn't hide his not-so-even teeth. Catherine thought he looked like someone who didn't really know how to take proper care of himself, evident by his bad skin and long, greasy hair.
"Isn't it obvious?" – answered Snape, tossing a quick look at the girl's cauldron – "I guess not. Yet, some of us can't be satisfied with merely following outdated instructions."
"If you can't give a normal answer, why do you even bother opening your mouth." – growled Catherine. She added the now powdered billywig wings to her potion, stirring it counterclockwise – "The Light knows you're an eyesore enough without listening to your grating voice for no reason."
"Said the Beauty Queen!" – barked Snape – "Don't you have mirrors in the Gryffindor Tower?"
"Would you stop already?" – intervened Lily – "No need to argue; you're both annoying."
Snape and Catherine looked at their friend speechless. At this moment, the Potion Master stopped in front of their table to check the assignment. He praised the Gryffindor girls' potions, both of which appeared completely ready, glistering in vivid blue. Then he looked at Snape's cauldron and gasped.
"Oh, Merlin, what is this, Severus?"
"I modified the basic Wiggenweld Potion by adding bezoar, Professor." – Snape said, darting a triumphant glance at Catherine – "This way, instead of a mild healing potion, this one is much stronger and, in addition, could be used as an antidote to the Draught of Living Dead."
"This is ingenious, my boy!" – exclaimed Slughorn, clapping his hands – "You certainly have a bright future as a Potion maker. Twenty points to Slytherin, and you should stop by for a cup of tea and walk me through how you came up with the idea!"
Catherine quickly collected her stuff and left the dungeons without looking back. She was furious, although she wasn't exactly certain of the reason. Was she jealous of Snape? She was indeed not used to be bested in anything, but she was certainly not against competing with someone. In fact, she found it stimulating. Or was it because of what he had said about her looks. The girl threw a quick glance at her reflection in one of the windows she was passing by. She looked pretty normal in her opinion. Irritated that she allowed the Slytherin boy to get under her skin, the young witch shook her head, as to get rid of any nasty thoughts, and entered the DADA classroom.
The second-years continued their work on defensive spells from last time, and Professor Thorne divided them into pairs to practice countering stronger hexes. During DADA classes Catherine preferred working with Remus. He was helpful, resourceful, and, unlike with Sirius and James, there was no risk of anyone getting hurt.
"I think it's best if Mr Lupin partners with Mr Pettigrew today." – said Thorne, stepping closer to Catherine – "Since Miss McDonald is sick, you're an odd number. Don't worry, Miss Plantier; I'll assist you with the exercise. This way, I'll also be able to correct your mistakes."
'Mistakes? I haven't even made any yet, you presumptuous prat!' – thought Catherine, biting her lower lip.
She tried to concentrate on the task, but it wasn't her day. Even though she managed to block a few hexes, she still got hit by a Leg-locker Curse, a Stinging Hex, and a Jelly-Legs Jinx. Regardless of the fact that Professor Thorne did use the respective counter-spells eventually, the girl felt he was taking his sweet time, as if he was enjoying her discomfort.
"Let's try one more time, Miss Plantier." – said the teacher after making a brief tour around the classroom to correct the mistakes of the rest of the Gryffindors.
Catherine who had hoped the lesson was over, looked at him, frowning.
"No point in sulking; there's a lot of room for improvement in your spells." – said the Professor and pointed his wand at the student – "Let's try something more advanced this time. Adhaerolinguo!"
Catherine felt her tongue being glued to the roof of her mouth when the Langlock Spell hit her. At this moment, she realised what he was doing, and panic began to rise. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. She heard the DADA teacher using the incantation of the Stunning Spell and saw bright red light erupting from his wand. Unable to speak, she lifted her wand and concentrated entirely on envisioning her magic forming a shield in front of her.
'Protego, Protego!' – she was shouting in her mind.
The spell didn't hit her but instead got deflected and ended up making a hole in the Professor's desk. He looked at her with an unreadable face and removed the Langlock Spell. Catherine didn't even wait to be dismissed. She grabbed her school bag and darted out of the room.
'What a fucking nightmare this day is!' – she swore in her mind, while chugging a glass full of orange juice at lunch.
"Are you alright?" – she heard and saw Remus, who sat next to her and appeared quite worried.
"How can she be alright when this fucking bastard tried to kill her." – barked Sirius, taking the seat on her other side and grabbing a plate.
"You're exaggerating a little; it was merely a Stunning Spell." – said James just arriving with Peter and added – "But what he did was really mean."
"Mean? Come on, James, the spell was so strong it almost burnt his own desk. Not to mention he robbed her of the ability to protect herself." – Sirius argued heatedly – "Don't worry, Flame, I gave him a piece of my mind."
"More like he got you a detention." – chuckled James, patting Sirius on the back – "But you were amazing, Flame!"
"You shouldn't have done that. I don't need you to fight my battles." – Catherine reprimanded Sirius and turned to James – "If I were indeed amazing, he wouldn't have hit me with so many spells."
"What are you talking about? He's a grown wizard and very powerful on top of that, and you were holding your ground." – disagreed James – "By the way, I didn't know you could use nonverbal spells. This is mind-blowing!"
"I didn't know either." – said Catherine contemplatively – "I don't believe I can really use non-verbal spells. I think I panicked, and it was a result of the stress because I couldn't protect myself. I was trying to cast Protego, but I'm not even sure if that was what reflected Thorne's spell."
"Regardless, he'll probably think twice before trying to bully you again." – chuckled James – "He was so stunned, he forgot to give us homework."
"I'm glad I suffered for the greater good." – said Catherine sarcastically and glanced at Sirius, who was gloomily eating his pasta in silence.
The young witch sighed and moved closer to him, gently squeezing his left hand, prompting him to look at her in surprise.
"Don't pout, Sirius. I do appreciate you're always trying to protect me. I just don't need protection." – the girl said, gave the stunned boy a quick hug, and left the Great Hall.
The first days of October blessed Hogwarts with long hours of golden sunlight, a distant echo of the summer long gone. The students seized every opportunity to steal some time, either for a walk around the castle grounds or simply for lying lazily on the banks of the Black Lake.
Gryffindors were lucky to have Herbology as their last class on Thursday afternoon, along with Hufflepuffs. Professor Sprout generously decided to have their lesson outside, instead of in one of the Greenhouses, and the second-years were quite busy hunting the Enlargeslugs that had invaded the school's herb beds.
It might have sounded like an easy task, but in reality, the Enlargeslugs were surprisingly quick and notoriously hard to handle. Whenever they felt in danger (or wanted to eat huge amounts of food), they expanded their size up to ten times, and if not handled with extreme care, they could easily burst.
"Get it!" – screamed Alice Fortescue from Hufflepuff, running after one especially big specimen that was trying to slip away through the spearmint sprouts. Sirius tried to show himself helpful, but unfortunately, he grabbed the escaping Enlargeslug too roughly, and it burst with a loud bang, covering both Sirius, Alice, and James who was standing nearby, with green mucus.
"Eww!" – gagged Lily after the class was over – "This stench is unbearable!"
"Jeez, thanks, Evans!" – snapped Sirius, trying to clean his hair from the mucus.
"I hope you're not planning on going like this to the Common Room." – said Catherine, taking a few steps back.
"Duh? Do you expect us to sleep outside?" – frowned James, putting back on his glasses.
"Better that than getting this lovely aroma of rotting fish and ammonia inside." – insisted Catherine.
"Let's go and take a shower in the Quidditch changing room." – suggested Sirius.
"You know, Flame, you're not being fair." – said James, picking up his schoolbag to follow Sirius – "It might be unpleasant for you, but imagine how it is for us. We can't run away from the stench!"
Catherine rolled her eyes, watching her friends disappearing in the distance.
"Shall we go to dinner?" – asked Lily cheerfully.
Catherine's stomach clenched as the Enlargeslugs' stench still lingered in the air. "Um, I'm not that hungry. I think I'll take a walk." – she said, waving to her classmates and walking towards the Forbidden Forest.
The young witch loved this part of the castle grounds because not a lot of students came that way. She could happily stroll around and pick wildflowers without anyone staring at her or asking questions. In addition, there was something about the forest that had always attracted the girl toward the wall of old knotted trees.
After picking up a whole bunch of wild Angelica, Catherine sat under a lonely oak tree at the very edge of the forest and leaned against the trunk. She was busy trimming the white flowers when she heard noise coming from the tuff of grass on her left. Pretending she hadn't heard anything, the black-haired girl continued her work when something small and fluffy lounged itself at her. Thanks to her quick reflexes, Catherine managed to catch the attacker mid-air and stared at the chocolate-brown fur and cute snout, belonging to the brave creature that was still frantically trying to reach the girl.
"Are you a Niffler, little fellow?" – asked the young witch amused – "Hey, stay put! What do you want?"
The small furball was now desperately struggling against the second-years' grip, attempting to set itself free.
"Who do you belong to?" – Catherine asked, standing up while still holding the Niffler and looking around.
She decided to return to the castle and look for the little guy's owner when a huge figure appeared from the woods. The girl quickly recognised the impressive silhouette of the Keeper of the Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts, Rubeus Hagrid. She waved to him and ran in his direction, still holding her vicious attacker.
"Hi, Hagrid!" – said Catherine when finally catching up with him.
"Blimey, Catherine! What yeh doin' 'ere? Where 'ave all yer mischievous mates run off to, eh?" – said Hagrid, laughing.
"Some of them having dinner, others cleaning Enlargeslugs' mucus from themselves… you know – the usual school stuff." – answered the girl, smiling – "By the way, do you know who this little friend belongs to?"
The Niffler was still struggling in Catherine's hand, but now, after seeing Hagrid, it tried to get to him and left a few nasty scratches on the young witch's skin.
"Sneakers!" – exclaimed the Gamekeeper – "Yeh, naughty lad! Why'd ya go runnin' off like that? Bin lookin' fer yeh since mornin'!"
"I'm so glad he's yours, and I can return him to you!" – said Catherine, handing Hagrid the so-called 'Snickers'.
"He's a good lad, but he's still a young'un. Didn't mean no harm, he didn't!" – exclaimed the giant, putting the Niffler in one of his coat's huge pockets – "Why don'tcha come to my Hut? I'll whip us up some tea, and I'll tend to them scratches for yeh."
"This sounds nice." – agreed Catherine, secretly dying to find out what was the Gamekeeper's house like from the inside.
They reached the small wooden Hut, in front of which the girl noticed some unnaturally big pumpkins taking over almost half of the vegetable patch. The Hut consisted of one big room serving as bedroom, kitchen, and living room. The huge fireplace was currently cold and empty, with a large copper kettle hanging above it. Hagrid motioned toward the wooden table in the centre of the room, where Catherine sat comfortably on a rather big chair, while the Keeper of the Keys bent over the fireplace and within minutes, the old kettle was singing. Catherine was staring at the various items, hanging from the ceiling, ranging from hams to mysterious braids of hair from some creature, when Hagrid placed a teacup in front of her with the size of a bowl.
"Um, thank you, Hagrid." – said the girl, wondering how to drink from the cup without spilling half of its content.
"Sorry 'bout this, don't have any fancy grub to offer. Haven't had the chance to snag nothin' from the house-elves at Hogwarts lately." – apologised the giant, taking the seat next to Catherine – "Me dad, now he was a real whiz in the kitchen, but I can barely rustle up a bit of meat for meself. Miss his bakin', I do."
"I can teach you how to bake, if you want to." – suggested Catherine, carefully sipping her tea – "I'm quite good at it, so I can make whatever you crave if I have the ingredients."
"Are yeh serious? This'd be like a dream come true, it would!" – exclaimed Hagrid, clearly touched by Catherine's offer.
"Yeah, no problem at all." – said the girl, smiling – "If you wish we can start as soon as next Saturday. I'll send you a list of the ingredients we would need by owl."
"Agreed, I can't wait, I can't!" – beamed Hagrid, looking like a young boy, despite the bushy beard and hair.
After Catherine finished her tea, the Gamekeeper insisted on taking care of the scratches on her hand. He took out a big brown bottle from one of the cupboards and poured some of its content on a piece of cotton. The crimson liquid exuded a potent scent of mint and stung intensely. However, the effect was almost immediate. The girl's skin recovered completely.
"Now that's an interesting potion you have there." – she noted with curiosity, eying the bottle.
"Heh, it's an old family recipe, that is. Saved me life a few times, I'm tellin' yeh." – said Hagrid proudly, then added – "Nifflers do 'ave sharp nails, they can dig underground, but I'm surprised Sneakers did that to yeh."
"He certainly surprised me. It seemed as if he was determined to reach me at any cost." – noted Catherine contemplatively.
"They do love shiny stuff, creatures like 'em. Yeh don't happen to 'ave anythin' like that on yeh, do yeh?" – asked Hagrid.
"Is this considered shiny?" – asked the girl, taking out the pendant her mother had gifted her last year.
"Now that explains it all!" – the giant exclaimed and loudly clasped his hands - "The shinier the object, the more the Niffler wants it. I can feel the lil' devil tryin' to escape now from me pocket. Calm down, Sneakers!"
"Why do you call him Snickers?" – Catherine inquired, tucking the pendant back under her clothes – "Is it because he looks like a chocolate bar?"
"What? No! 'Cause he likes sneakin' around." – explained Hagrid – "What chocolate bar is that?"
"Ah, it's Sneakers, not Snickers." – Catherine laughed – "Snickers is the name of a popular brand of chocolate in the Muggle world."
"Hah, these Muggles. What else are they gonna come up with, eh?" – Hagrid chuckled in return.
"It's getting dark, I should go back to the castle!" – the girl said after a while but upon noticing the Gamekeeper's crestfallen expression, she quickly added – "Don't worry, I'll come again next week, and I'll teach you how to make delicious cookies."
"You're welcome to come whenever yeh wish. Don't get a lot of visitors, I don't."
"I will!" – promised Catherine, opening the door and stepping outside into the October dusk.
The following week flew by, occupied with tasks like writing an extensive essay on the Medieval Magical Society for Professor Binns, continuing her research on Animagi, and witnessing endless Quidditch strategy discussions among the boys. While their enthusiasm was understandable, with Gryffindor's first match looming less than a month away, Catherine's patience had its limits. Consequently, she chose to spend the majority of her time in the Common Room with Lily and Mary. This change of pace proved delightful as they invested countless hours discussing music, food and what magical creatures Lily wanted to pet. These included popular choices like unicorns, crups, and kneazles, but also dragons which Catherine felt was a little bit overboard even for a Gryffindor. Nevertheless, school life remained quite pleasant until that dreadful Friday afternoon.
Friday afternoons were free for the Gryffindor second-years, balanced by the Astronomy class they attended in the evening. Catherine had lunch as usual and decided to head to the Library and finish some of her homework, aiming to free up her weekend. Taking one of the many shortcuts in the castle, she walked past the Trophy Room on the third floor. There, loud and angry voices caught her attention, seemingly emanating from the nearby girls' bathroom. Catherine approached the door cautiously, unsure whether she should intervene.
"Filthy Mudblood, how dare you point a wand against me, a Pure-Blood witch?!" – Catherine heard, recognising the jarring voice of Volumnia Travers from Slytherin, accompanied by muffled screams and brawling sounds.
"I got it, Vinnie!" – sounded another girl's voice, which Catherine suspected was Tullia Parkinson.
"Put her in here." – urged Volumnia, her breath slightly laboured, followed by a door being slammed -probably one of the cabins – "Colloportus."
"Let me out!" – a third girl screamed, and Catherine realised with horror that it was Lily. She burst into the girls' bathroom, drawing her wand out.
The two Slytherin girls looked at her surprised, but then Tullia's face melted into a nasty smile.
"Look, Vinnie! Here comes yet another one of them. What a shame that the House of a mighty wizard such as Gryffindor became a Mudblood ghetto."
"What the hell are you doing?" – asked Catherine, ignoring Tullia's words – "Release Lily this instant!"
"Or what?" – asked Volumnia mockingly – "Black and Potter are not here to protect your ass."
"I don't need anyone to protect me." – hissed Catherine and raised her wand – "I'm not going to repeat myself - release Lily."
"Catherine!" – Lily's voice came from one of the cabins – "Go find a teacher!"
"Yeah, Lame, run straight to McGonagall, you little wuss." – laughed Volumnia and moved closer to the door where Catherine was standing. The young witch quickly assessed the situation. Both Slytherin girls were tall and rather sturdy compared to her. Furthermore, she wasn't sure where their wands were. This meant she needed to act quickly if she wanted to disarm both of them.
"What's the matter? Not so talkative anymore?" – chuckled Tullia and approached Catherine from the other side.
The Gryffindor girl knew she had mere seconds before they attacked her.
"Expelliarmus!" – Catherine shouted, pointing her wand toward Volumnia. The Disarming Charm hit the other girl, straight in the stomach, making her take a few steps back, and her wand flew out of her hand, landing at the back of the bathroom. Catherine turned around, but she was not quick enough because Tullia launched herself at her and managed to wrestle the wand out of the Gryffindor's hand, hitting her a few times in the process.
Catherine felt the metallic taste of blood in her mouth and attempted to stand up, hoping she could somehow reach her wand. The two Slytherins, however, had none of it. Volumnia had joined the fight, making it even more unfair considering the difference in size. Catherine desperately wanted to use magic, but this situation was entirely new to her. She couldn't concentrate due to the intense pain all over her body. The young Gryffindor managed to land a few hits on the Slytherins, but it didn't seem to make a difference. She was simply not strong enough. After what felt like an eternity, Tullia and Volumnia slammed Catherine's injured body against one of the tiled walls, leaving her to slide to her knees, unable to stand up.
"You don't look so high and mighty now, Mudblood!" – said Tulia breathlessly – "Although you weren't much of a looker in the first place."
"Hah, wait till Greg McMahon sees you." – gloated Volumnia – "He'll run for the hills. Who would want to date someone who looks like a Banshee."
"I would have kept my mouth shut if I were you, Plantier." – warned Volumnia, heading towards the door – "Who knows what else could happen to you. The reign of the Mudbloods at Hogwarts is coming to an end."
Catherine groaned in pain and crawled towards the place her wand had been thrown away by the Slytherins. She noticed Lily's wand lying nearby and took it as well. With tremendous efforts, the black-haired girl managed to stand up and slowly walked to the door of the cabin where Lily was locked in. Muffled whimpers were coming from inside.
"Alohomora!" – moaned Catherine, feeling the damage on her lips. The door opened nonetheless, and the crying Lily emerged from within the cabin, her hair completely dishevelled, and her eyes red from the tears that were still rolling down her cheeks.
"Oh, Daisy! These terrible, nasty girls! You shouldn't have come in! Look what they did to you!" – she cried.
"I should have entered earlier." – groaned Catherine, checking her face in the mirror – "I didn't expect them to resort to a fistfight. Fucking barbarians!"
"I should have fought harder." – sighed Lily, helping her friend unbraid her now messy hair.
"And then they would have beaten you too. I can't believe I was not able to magically protect myself." – Catherine hissed, touching her bruised left eye.
"You should go to Madame Pomfrey right away, and we should tell Professor McGonagall." – said Lily, trying to drag the other girl out of the bathroom.
"No!" – stated Catherine firmly – "I don't want anyone to know about what happened here. I'm not going to see Madame Pomfrey. Please, help me get to Hagrid's Hut."
"But you might be seriously hurt." – protested Lily – "Is it because of what they said? You want to hide this from Greg McMahon?"
"What?" – Catherine jumped and stared at her friend – "Please, don't tell me you also believe in this nonsense about the two of us."
"No…I mean… I would have understood if you liked him. He's really nice and handsome." – said Lily blushing and added – "But it's not a reason for you to hide what happened here. There's nothing to be ashamed of."
Catherine closed her eyes, feeling the headache on top of her other aches.
"Look, Lils… I'll say this just one time, because my mouth hurts. I don't like Greg McMahon in any capacity, let alone a romantic one. I don't like anyone like this. Honestly… I can't imagine myself ever being in any sort of relationship. It's complicated. I know it sounds weird, but it's how I feel."
Lily looked at her friend and gently patted her back.
"I'm sorry. I'm not going to mention this anymore. And you're not weird. You feel like you feel, and that's that." – the red-haired girl concluded with a smile – "Let's try to get you to Hagrid's then if you insist."
"Thank you, Lily!" – said Catherine, arranging her long hair around her face as to cover the most of it – "I just really don't want this incident to become public. The boys will go nuts if they find out and the hell would break lose. Next time, I'll be better prepared. I'll deal with this myself."
The two second-years managed to get to Hagrid's Hut without directly encountering anyone they knew, but they both sighed in relief when Lily knocked on the Gamekeeper's door.
"Flame?! What the fuck happened to your face?" – gasped James, who opened the door.
"What are you doing here?" – groaned Catherine.
"I asked first!" – insisted the boy, looking more and more terrified by the state his friend was in.
"What's the matter?" – asked Sirius from inside.
"Oh, Light, move!" – ordered Catherine and entered the hut, followed by Lily.
Ten minutes later, the two girls were drinking tea from Hagrid's huge cups, with Catherine's face masterfully restored by the giant's family remedies. Her ribs and hand were still hurt, but she could live with that, as long as no bruises were showing.
"Them cowards! Best be tellin' the teachers. No sense hidin' for those bullies." – judged Hagrid after Lily finished telling what had happened to them.
"I don't want to get the teachers involved." – repeated Catherine – "I can deal with this on my own."
"No way in hell!" – exclaimed Sirius, who was sitting with James, both of them appearing extremely irritated – "I told you that you should not go anywhere alone, and obviously that included the girls' bathroom."
"It's not funny, Sirius." – frowned the black-haired girl.
"You're damn right it's not funny!" – roared James – "The Slytherins are going to regret the day they decided to put their hands on you and Evans."
"Don't drag me into this!" – interrupted Lily – "I'm with Hagrid on how to solve the situation."
"Since I was the one who got hurt, I don't understand why you're the one making the fuss." – snapped Catherine angrily.
"Forget it, Flame!" – responded Sirius in an uncharacteristically serious manner – "What happens to you is and always will be our business. The sooner you accept it, the better."
Catherine pursed her lips, but deep inside her heart melted a little for these headstrong boys who never gave up on her. Therefore, she allowed Sirius to hold her hand, going back to the castle, fearing she might fall due to her injuries.
"By the way, Sirius, what were you two doing in Hagrid's Hut?" – Catherine asked when they finally reached the castle.
"Um, James wanted to see Hagrid's gigantic pumpkins, and I wanted to ask him something, so he invited us for tea." – he responded, looking somewhat suspicious.
"That's nice." – said the girl, thinking that whatever her friends were up to, she didn't need to find out right there and then.
"Sooner or later, I always uncover the truth about their shenanigans." – she thought, chuckling internally.