Chapter 55: Family Values (2)

Regardless of Catherine's pessimism, she passed her exams with flying colours. The girl was particularly concerned about her results in Defence Against the Dark Arts, fearing some sort of retaliation from Thorne. However, he seemed completely disinterested in her and didn't even put much force into the Stinging Jinx they were supposed to deflect as part of the practical task. 

The boys also didn't have any issues receiving top marks in almost every subject. Sirius' detest for Astronomy reflected on his overall performance. Catherine had the slight suspicion that the main reason her friend didn't like the subject was the duration during which they needed to sit quietly and observe the sky, characterised by the rebellious Gryffindor as 'a bloody waste of time.' 

James almost didn't pass History of Magic because he somehow managed to fall asleep in the middle of the exam, woke up 10 minutes before the end, and as a result, the young wizard needed to leave a bunch of questions unanswered. 

Remus was lucky enough that the full moon didn't coincide with any exams, but unfortunately, this didn't help his performance in Potions. His Fire Protection Potion never turned the icy blue colour it was supposed to be. Considering that the unique shade was produced due to a reaction of the dried salamander skin with the rest of the ingredients, it was easy to assume where things had gone wrong for Moony. 

On the other hand, his red potion was nothing compared to the jelly in Peter's cauldron. Even Professor Slughorn was utterly surprised and clueless about how this could have happened. Sadly, Peter's troubles didn't stop there. Once again facing the uneven battle of transforming a raven into a water goblet, the panicked second-year swished the air with his wand so vigorously he lost his grip on the handle; the wand flew from his hand and hit the poor bird. The raven took this personally and flew away through the open window in the Transfiguration classroom. Professor McGonagall was very angry since the exam needed to be paused for twenty minutes until another raven was brought by Hagrid. 

"I can't believe this year's over!" – sighed James as they enjoyed the End-of-Term Feast and discussed their vacation plans. 

"Yeah, it was a wild ride!" – exclaimed Sirius, throwing a quick glance towards the Slytherin table – "On my end, I'm just happy they didn't win the House Cup."

Indeed, despite their victory in the Quidditch Cup, Slytherins couldn't secure the House Cup as well, mainly because of the huge number of points they had lost during what was now referred to as the Halloween War with Gryffindors. Consequently, the Great Hall was lavishly decorated in blue and bronze, commemorating the Ravenclaw's ultimate victory upon the two usual favourites. 

Catherine also looked at the Slytherin table on the opposite side of the hall. The overall mood was not very high, but nevertheless, they somehow managed to be the loudest, occasionally bursting into Quidditch-related cheers, likely to remind everyone who had won the Quidditch Cup. Suddenly, Catherine's eyes met the gaze of the blond sixth-year sitting at the centre of the table. Lucius Malfoy smiled with satisfaction when the feisty little Gryffindor quickly redirected her attention to the bowl of ice-cream in front of her. 

"Flame?" – the young witch looked at Remus, who was observing her with a questioning expression.

"I'm sorry, I got distracted." – she mumbled apologetically.

"You've been constantly distracted in the last week. What's going on with you?" – asked Sirius, annoyed. 

"I have a lot on my mind." – the girl admitted – "I feel like I failed you all."

"Because of the potion?" – asked James – "Forget about it! It's just a setback. I'm going to try to find something in my grandfather's library during the summer, and you'll try again next year. I'm sure you can persuade Slughorn to tell you. You just need the right timing."

"Absolutely!" – Sirius agreed – "You can't help it if Slughorn was preoccupied with his other favourites. Your chance will come now that he actually invited you to one of his gatherings."

Catherine smiled at her friends. Their honest support and trust warmed her heart and made it even more painful that she couldn't be entirely honest with them. Keeping her secrets from the boys were becoming more and more difficult with every day. Naturally, she hadn't told them about her encounter with Lucius, first because they would have picked a fight with him, and second, because she didn't want to raise more questions about yet another one of her unusual abilities. 

"Is there any point in me telling you once more that this is complete madness, and you should just give up?" – asked Remus sullenly. 

"Nope!" – answered Sirius and James simultaneously, making Catherine giggle at the grimace on Moony's face. 

The next day was filled with chaos, created by students running around to collect their belongings and secure the whereabouts of their pets. Catherine somehow persuaded Nyx to enter her cat carrier, locked Orion in his cage, and with the help of Lily, managed to bring all her luggage to the train. This time the black-haired witch provided her classmate with a phone number, neatly written on a piece of parchment, courtesy of Greg's help, and they promised each other to talk on the phone at least once every two weeks. 

Sitting in a compartment on the last car, surrounded by James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter, and travelling South towards London, the young witch felt like she was instead heading towards Azkaban, leaving all happiness, laughter and hope behind. The impending two months of summer vacation filled the girl with anxiety. She was not looking forward to hiding in her room while her mother entertained guests in the garden or hosted a dancing soiree. Furthermore, Catherine felt a pang of unease, the nightmare from last Christmas carved deep into her memories. She tried to persuade herself that it was just a bad dream, especially since it had been a one-time occurrence. However, she realised that she was afraid of going to bed in her own bedroom, which used to be her safe harbour. 

"I hope this summer you will remember to write to me from time to time." – Sirius said, elbowing the black-haired girl. 

"I think I explained to you that I had been grounded." – Catherine answered, irritated – "It's not like I didn't want to write to you."

"Fair enough. Then don't get grounded." – the boy was quick to find a solution. 

"Sure." – the young witch rolled her eyes, glancing at James who had just returned from the bathroom.

The rest of the journey was uneventful. Catherine kept staring out the window, deeply engulfed in self-pity, trying to ignore James and Sirius, who were whispering something to each other and chuckling. Remus and Peter were occupied playing exploding snap until they all heard the steam whistle of the train, arriving at Kings Cross station. 

"I'll help you with your suitcase, but you keep this beast of yours away from me!" – said Sirius, grabbing Catherine's luggage and carrying it to the corridor. 

"Nyx can't hurt you; she's locked in her carrier." – the girl noted sulkily but nevertheless picked up her pets and followed the boys out of the compartment, pausing for a brief moment – "What's this noise coming from the end of the train car? Sounds like someone's banging on a door or something."

"Ah, that must be Snivellus." – said James casually – "He was running his mouth again, so I locked him in the bathroom. As I see, nobody particularly missed him."

Sirius barked a laugh, while Remus scowled but pretended he hadn't heard anything. Catherine cast a glance at the direction of the bathroom, then shrugged and got off the train. While she and the boys were saying their goodbyes, Lily came, looking around, and dragging her big suitcase.

"Need some help, Evans?" – James suggested with a smile.

"No!" – the red-headed girl refused immediately – "Catherine, have you seen Severus? I wanted to say bye to him, but I can't find him anywhere."

The other witch hesitated for a second but then decisively shook her head. 

"Sorry, I haven't seen him."

'Well, I didn't lie, technically. She didn't ask me if I knew where he was.' – thought the girl, pushing a trolley heavily loaded with her possessions across the tiled floor of the train station.