Katherine,
It’s nice to hear from you. First, I’m sorry your friends aren’t speaking to you. I don’t how much Draco knows. I doubt he knows everything about you, but I’d be careful not to let him find out anything from you. Now to your dream, it does seem very strange. Do you know if you have any powers of Divination? This could be something of that nature. I hear that Firenze is still teaching there, and although I know he doesn’t exactly believe in human Divination processes, he may be able to help. About Professor Blue, he is in the Order and was a confidant of Dumbledore’s, at least when it came to setting plans to prepare a back-up in case he died. I also talked to Ron’s eldest brother, Bill. He said Lorenzo was a year ahead of him in school and was in Gryffindor house. He also mentioned that he and Blue wrote back and forth while he was in Egypt. Since Bill has been back, they’ve been working together doing things for the Order. He’s definitely trustworthy. My advise to you is work hard to learn all you can. You need to be ready when the time comes to fight. Don’t worry about the others, they’ll know who you are soon enough.Love,
Remus
She folded the letter and put it in her pocket. Finally caught up on her work and ready for the week to start, she gathered her books and went up her dormitory. She piled her things on her trunk and changed out of her robes. Katherine was going to take Remus’ advice and work as hard as she could, and she would start with a good night’s sleep.
Her morning classes seemed to drag on forever. Herbology was particularly boring, but Katherine listened carefully, not wanting any more extra work. Luckily, she was working with Neville who seemed to know what he was doing and was very willing to explain everything over again. That afternoon, Arithmancy went very well. Katherine earned twenty-five points for her explanation of number relation inverts. That night she finished the essay Professor Vector had set them and relaxed with Neville and Dean by the fire.
“Katherine, what was it like being trained at home?” Dean asked her, prodding the fire.
“Well, I got to choose what I studied when basically. I mean, I had to do so much work everyday, but I decided when to do it.”
“Sounds better than school,” Neville said.
“Not really, there weren’t any other witches or wizards my age. I didn’t really have any friends.”
“I think I prefer coming to Hogwarts,” Dean concluded. “I’m glad they decided to keep it open. More parents let their children come back than the professors first thought. I think that the Daily Prophet article about the importance of continuing life as normally as possible and being as educated as possible helped parents see things a little differently.”
Katherine yawned and excused herself. She was tired and fell asleep almost immediately after lying down in her warm, soft bed.
Katherine woke early Tuesday morning and pulled out her Defence Against the Dark Arts book. Today would be the first day to work out of the book and she wanted to read through so she would be prepared. By the time she had finished, it seemed that everyone was awake. She shovelled in some tomato on toast before dashing off to Charms. Half-way through Transfiguration, Katherine regretted not eating more though as she began to day dream of lunch. She was in such a hurry to eat, in fact, she almost tripped over a bag in the aisle. When she side stepped, she ran right into Anthony.
“Sorry,” she said, not seeing whom she had crashed with.
“It’s alright, I wanted to speak with you,” he said strictly. Katherine gaped at him, and followed him as he led her out to the corridor. He walked away from the crowd going to lunch and to a deserted courtyard. He stopped beneath a tree to shield them from the sprinkle that was blossoming into a steady rain and turned suddenly to face her.
“Look, please don’t say anything until I’ve finished,” he began. Katherine shook her head in ascent and waited for him to start.
“Well, I don’t know why you were with Draco. I don’t know why you were in that closet. I don’t know why I don’t see you with your friends anymore. I don’t know why… I don’t know… um… ok, here it is. I believe you. I was just jealous and I’m sorry. In my defence though, I was only jealous because I…um… I like you. But I realize that you’re going through a hard time right now, all the changes happening in your life and not having your friends, so I just want to be your friend right now. So, I’m sorry.”
He looked at the ground where a puddle was forming. Katherine listened silently to the rain pounding a rhythm on the ground. Katherine reached out and lifted his face to hers. She put her arms gently around him and pulled him into a hug.
“Thank you,” she whispered in his ear. Slightly shocked, Anthony didn’t move for a moment, but after coming to his senses he wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. After a few moments they let go and began walking to lunch. As they walked silently side-by-side down the corridor, Anthony began chuckling to himself.
“What?” Katherine asked.
“I was just wondering if ‘friends’ could hold hands,” Anthony said, looking at her and winking.
“I imagine that is acceptable.”
With that, Anthony reached over and took her hand. When they entered the Great Hall, he didn’t let go, but led her to the Ravenclaw table.
“I think you should sit with us today,” he explained, grinning. “Now, I know you know our names, but since you’ve never actually been introduced. I am Anthony Goldstein. This is Michael Corner and Terry Boot.”
Both boys stared at him expressionless until he gave them an ‘I’ll explain it later’ look. They didn’t talk much as they ate, but instead exchanged a few shy glances between bites or brushed arms reaching for seconds. After she finished eating, she excused herself apologetically so she could get to Defence Against the Dark Arts early to talk to Professor Blue. Even though she was soaked to the bone, Katherine couldn’t stop smiling as she walked to the classroom. When Professor Blue looked up at her, he couldn’t help but notice how her eyes sparkled. Her smile was so bewitching, it seemed to cast a spell of silence over him. Luckily, when she dropped her book on the desk it snapped him out of it.
“Ms. Evans, do you realize you are soaking wet?” he asked sarcastically.
“Oh,” she said, finally out of her day dream. “Do you think you could dry me?”
“Yeah,” he said in a bored tone, flicking his wand and drying her robes and hair instantly. “Why are you here so early, Kathy?”
“Well, Lorenzo, oops, Professor Blue,” Katherine said, smirking, “I wanted to see what you thought I should do to prepare for my part in defeating the Dark Lord.”
“What did you say?” he said, standing up and staring at her.
“I said, ‘I want to help fight the Dark Lord’,” she repeated evasively, grinning.
“No, what did you just call me?” he reiterated, making his way around the desk.
“Professor Blue,” she answered, grinning broader and backing away from him.
“No, before that,” he said, finally running her into a desk.
“I… um…,” Katherine stuttered, her smile faltering a little. “Lorenzo.”
“Hmm, no one has called me that since the last time I saw my mother,” he said. Katherine didn’t know whether this was good or bad.
“It sounds better coming from you,” he thought aloud.
“What?” Katherine exclaimed shocked.
“I mean, she is usually angry at me or something like that,” he explained, retreating to his desk. “You say you want to learn more than just the class work. I imagine we can find a time for you to practice outside of class, then.”
“Ok,” she answered, still somewhat taken aback. She took her seat and laid her head down. Soon she was day dreaming of Anthony holding her hand and the hug in the courtyard. She began humming a random tune imagining dancing with him. Soon, students began coming in. By the time Harry, Ron, and Hermione got to class the only table left was the one next to Katherine. However, none of them had time to look disgusted because Professor Blue began, “Ok, we’re done reviewing. I know a little about where you stand, so today we start. We’ll be doing practical lessons. You will be learning how to defend yourself against other wizards first. You are all pretty efficient at disarming an opponent. Now you will learn this new spell that will throw your opponent away from you. I’m sure you know spells that do something similar, but it is important to have a wide knowledge. So to start, Katherine and Harry please step up. Stand across from each other. The incantation is “Abstrudo Carpere”. However, if you want full marks in this class, you must use spells non-verbally. So, on the count of three. One… two… three.”
Harry acted first, but only disarmed her.
“What was that?” Professor Blue demanded.
“I didn’t want to hurt her,” Harry said. “She’s just a girl.”
Just a girl, Katherine thought. This is my chance to show everyone I serious. It’s time to get back to being me. I hexed a boy once for just saying my hair looked funny. I can do this. I can be strong again.
“Ok, again. One… two… three…”
Abstrudo Carpere, Katherine thought hard as she flicked her wand. She had meant it with every part of her, which was obvious as Harry flew across the room. Professor Blue slowed his fall.
“Good! Good! Now everyone else pair up,” Professor Blue said, vanishing the tables to create more room and muttering an incantation on the walls to soften the blow to any flying students. Soon students began flying across the room. As Professor Blue walked around the room, he corrected style for almost every student. He began to make a second round when his attention was captured by silvery weasel flying through the window. The weasel stopped right in front of Professor Blue and whispered in his ear before disappearing. This would have normally disrupted the entire class but as most of them were being thrown into walls only Katherine, her partner, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione noticed anything at all. After the weasel disappeared, those watching saw Professor Blue’s face become ashen and stony. He sat on the front of his desk and rubbed his hands over his clean shaven head. After a few moments he spoke, “Alright, that’s good for today. Take your things and go.”
Most of the class began to shuffle around grabbing there books, but Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Katherine stood still. Noticing that they hadn’t moved, Professor Blue said, “I need all of you to meet me here tonight at nine o’clock. Come together.”
Noticing Hermione glare towards Katherine, he added, “ALL of you. That means bring Katherine with you.”
Professor Blue pushed his way past Ron who was blocking the aisle and walked out the door, leaving an awkward silence. Ron and Harry stared at each other and Hermione glared at Katherine. After a few tense moments Harry spoke, “Hermione, ease up. Obviously, Blue trusts her, and Dumbledore entrusted him to help us, so she’s on our side.”
Katherine looked up from her feet hoping to see kindness in her eyes. However there was still much anger there, but there was no hatred just disappointment.
“Harry, I… umm…” But Katherine couldn’t think of anything to say. She was tired of apologizing. At this moment, Katherine wished more than anything to tell them the secret, but settled for, “See you tonight then.” She left them there.
After dinner that night, she met Anthony and they went together to the library. He shared with her the story of ‘Dumbledore’s Army’, a secret group Harry, Ron, and Hermione had started in their fifth year. As he began to start a new conversation, he stopped quickly seeing her worried expression.
“What’s wrong?”
Inside her a great debate was taking place. How much should she tell him?
“It’s nothing,” she whispered.
“You,” he said smiling, walking around the table to sit beside her, “are a horrible liar.”
He placed his hand on hers. He opened his mouth to speak, but paused, clearly searching for the correct words.
“You’re scared. I can see it. If you have to run again, I’ll come with you. I learned a lot from Harry that year in the DA, I can… I can help you.”
Katherine appreciated his decision, but there was no way to be sure if he would feel the same way when he found out the whole story. Every fibre of her being wished he would, but she didn’t know how to find out for sure. The debate on what to tell him ended and she began speaking, cautiously, “Something has happened, but I don’t know what. Professor Blue is worried though and has asked Harry, Ron, Hermione and me to meet him. I don’t know what will happen or what he wants, but it doesn’t feel right.”
Silence followed her vague explanation, Anthony seemed to be rolling them over. He intertwined his fingers with hers squeezing slightly.
“I will fight to help Harry Potter and I will fight to save you. Whatever it takes, I will fight.”
His words were firm and unyielding. As he spoke, he stared off at nothing particular, but his eyes shown with passion and stubbornness. His statement was followed by a few moments of silence before he looked back into her eyes and smiled a little sheepishly.
Katherine leaned over and kissed his cheek, then whispered softly in his ear, “Thank you.”
Her face felt hot and, seeing that Anthony’s cheeks had turned bright red, she turned away. She stood forcing herself to let go of his hand.
“I’ve got to go back to the common room now,” she said. He stood and walked her with her until he bid her good night and turned to go to his own common room.
When she reached Gryffindor tower it was 8:30. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny sat around the hearth talking quietly. Katherine passed them and sat with Dean and Neville by a darkening window.
“Got a letter from Seamus,” Dean said smiling.
“Who?” Katherine asked.
“Oh yeah, you don’t know him. He’s in Gryffindor, but his mum kept him home this year. Anyway, he’s one of my best mates.”
“I hope it’s good news,” Neville said concerned.
“No, he says there were two big attacks today. No one is saying exactly what happened, but the Minister has been put under higher guard and the Wizarding Wireless is given tips on fighting dementors.”
“Sounds like there’s been a breakout from Azkaban,” Neville added, taking the letter Dean offered him.
Someone tapped her shoulder. Katherine turned to look into the eyes that mirrored her own.
“It’s time,” Harry said simply, then walked off to rejoin Ron and Hermione.
Katherine excused herself and joined them as they climbed out of the portrait hole. The silence that permeated their union was only broken once by the distant sound of Peeves. They entered the room to find Professor Blue standing at one of the windows. The four students stopped a few feet from him waiting for him to speak.
“Potter,” Blue said.
“Yes?”
“It is now the time for you to leave,” Blue said, finally turning to face them. “Katherine, you’ll need to leave soon, too. Harry, I will not be going with you as we had planned, but you know what to do. I will instead be going with Katherine. You, Harry, will be leaving for good tonight, but first we will be going to the Burrow. There is a meeting of the Order, that we all must attend. Professor McGonagall knows you will be gone. Katherine, we won’t be coming back until Thursday. We will stay here, at Hogwarts, as long as it remains safe. All of you need to go gather your things as discreetly as possible. That will be easy for Katherine, but you three need to be very careful. Now go, be back here in thirty minutes.”
He turned away again and Harry, Ron, and Hermione left the classroom together, but Katherine remained.
“You ok?” she asked shortly.
“Yeah, I’ll explain everything to you later, I promise,” he answered with more calmness than he had shown in giving the directions. “Now go get your things.”
She exited the room and saw that the other three were only a short distance in front of her. She sped up and nearly caught them, but Katherine stopped short noticing that they were in conversation.
“How are we supposed to get everything ready and be back in thirty minutes?” Ron said exasperatedly.
“Don’t worry, Ronald. I’ve had our stuff ready for weeks, ever since Bill and Fleur’s wedding.”
“What?” exclaimed Harry in appreciative amazement.
“In that little bag I carried at the wedding,” Hermione said simply. “I used a charm to expand the inside. Everything we need is in there. Anything else you need will fit in there as well. Leave your trunks, they can be sent to the Burrow later. It will bring less attention to us leaving tonight.”
“Hermione, you amaze me,” Ron said a little slack jawed.
“Oh, hush, Ron,” Hermione said modestly.
When Katherine reached the dormitory she gathered her things and shoved them into a haversack. She looked in the mirror and fiddled with her hair. The look was starting to grow on her. She supposed it looked no different from the way she fixed it before, but that perhaps she was just becoming less self-conscious about her appearance. Looking at herself, she could feel something inside. She was getting back to being herself. Even though she knew that the future before her was now something she could have never imagined. At this moment, she was herself again and she knew that she would never again let anything take that away from her. Katherine shook herself out of her musings and rejoined the others to walk back down to Professor Blue’s classroom.
They took a Portkey to a place called the Burrow and Katherine followed the others into the strangest looking house Katherine had ever seen.