Chapter 23: You Win Some, You Lose Some (3)

A long summer it was. After Catherine's one-week punishment ended, her family departed for two weeks of various social activities, including the infamous seaside aristocratic party. Greg, presented as the McMahon's heir, appeared quite nervous and clearly unhappy about the upcoming trip. Catherine's parents seemed to avoid her, giving the young witch the opportunity to spend her time however she saw fit. Left alone, her only company being the house-elves, she felt torn between the relief of being the sole mistress of the castle and the growing sense of loneliness. She regretted her prideful decision not to ask her family for their phone number; although without Orion, she wouldn't have been able to send it to Lily anyway. 

The happiest day of her summer exile was around the end of July when she received a letter from James. It arrived attached to the leg of his brown barn owl, Nimbus. The letter was a joyful account of flying adventures, an upcoming vacation with his family in the mountains of Germany, and a tale about some new pet, described too cryptically for Catherine to understand. Nevertheless, she happily placed James' letter inside a beautiful green box designed for storing her quills and ink bottles. Catherine used the time Nimbus was resting to write down a short response.

'I wish I could write more,' – she thought while tying the parchment to the owl's leg – 'but there is only so much one can say about staying in one's room for the entire summer.' 

The remaining vacation wasn't much better. After returning from their trip, Catherine's parents were constantly busy, including with organising a few gatherings in the castle. Greg spent most of his time out in the Muggle world, trying to escape being a wizard by going to the cinema, buying records, and hanging out at shopping centres. 

Finally, in mid-August, the two McMahon children received their letters from Hogwarts with the necessary books for the next school year. Distracted while talking on the phone with the local bakery, the Duchess allowed Catherine to go alone to Diagon Alley and buy whatever she needed. The girl didn't wait for her mother to reconsider. She snatched a purse of gold from the kitchen buffet, stored there for shopping needs, grabbed a handful of Floo powder from the jar on the mantel, and threw it into the flames. 

Twenty minutes later, standing in front of the window of Quality Quidditch Supplies, Catherine realised she should have changed her clothes before running there in such a hurry. Her hair was a mess, picking here and there from her single braid. She was wearing a pair of not very clean grey jeans, now way too short for her. The black t-shirt, featuring the Muggle rock band Led Zeppelin, was faded and there were a few small holes. Her Converse sneakers were dusty, and it was hard to determine their initial colour. Moreover, due to spending her last week helping Betty in the garden, Catherine's nose and cheeks were covered with freckles. 

"All in all, I look like I live under a bridge." – mumbled Catherine to herself. 

"Still sounds better than where I came from." – someone said behind her.

The girl swiftly turned around and saw Sirius' smiling face. Wherever he claimed he was coming from, he looked much better than her, even appearing taller, which was remarkable considering they hadn't seen each other for just short of two months.

Catherine opened her mouth to greet her friend, but before she knew it, she found herself in his embrace.

"I've missed you so much, Flame!" – he whispered somewhere above her head. 

"Okay." – a muffed sound came from the girl. 

"Is that all?" – asked Sirius disappointed and let go of her – "If it was Remus, you would have been all smiles and pet names."

"You never give me the chance to do that with you, Sirius." – said Catherine flatly, trying to fix her clothes. 

"Nevertheless, I still somehow missed you." – she added, smiling. 

"Are you here for shopping?" – beamed Sirius – "Let's go together!" 

Catherine was barely able to nod in affirmation, and she was dragged through a whirlwind of stores. She had to admit that she was utterly impressed by Sirius' shopping efficiency. Quills, parchment, potion ingredients – everything was ordered, paid for, and securely packed in two big bags in just fifteen minutes. Everything happened so quickly that they even managed to stop by a few Quidditch stores where Sirius bought a pair of dragonhide leather protective gloves, a pair of goggles, and a headgear. 

"Do you plan to join the Gryffindor Quidditch team?" – asked Catherine after leaving the Broomstick Bazaar. 

"Yes! I've heard that Lysander Finnigan failed quite a lot of his OWLs, so he's definitely not playing next season. This means there's a free spot for a Chaser!" – grinned Sirius.

"There might be even more open spots." – noted Catherine – "A few seven-years in the team should have now graduated." 

"Yeah," – agreed Sirius enthusiastically – "however, none of them was a Chaser, and this is the position I want."

"How did you find out about Lysander, by the way?" – suddenly asked Catherine while they were navigating in the crowd towards Flourish and Blotts.

"Bella told me during one of the endless family lunches I was forced to endure." – Sirius answered carefreely – "You know how much she enjoys the misfortunes of others."

Catherine nodded and looked at her friend's face. He could have donned that mask of easygoingness and nonchalance, but she knew him well enough to perceive how lonely and depressing his own summer has been. This made her heart clutch a little bit, and she felt the urge to hug Sirius. Instead, she took his hand and dragged him towards the bookstore. 

"Let's finish our shopping so we can go and have ice cream. It's my treat!" – she said with a joyful voice and looked back, smiling at Sirius' surprised face. 

At this moment, Catherine felt she ran into a sold obstacle, resulting in her stepping back and losing her balance. She dropped her bags and would have found herself on the ground if it weren't for Sirius, who managed to grab her arm. 

"Are you alright, Flame?" – he asked while bending over to pick up the girl's bags.

"Yes." – she said, rubbing her forehead. Looking around to find what she bumped into, her eyes widened when noticing the obstacle in question, standing up and dusting his old shabby clothes, swearing under his breath. 

"Severus! Did you hurt yourself?" – cried Lily anxiously, rushing to help the thin, lanky boy – "Catherine, are you alright?"

"Yes," – the other girl answered – "I didn't see you there."

"Obviously." – hissed Snape, removing a streak of his long greasy hair from his eyes – "Spending so much time with the likes of Potter and Black, apparently turns you into the same kind of arrogant snob who thinks everyone else should make way for you."

"Watch your mouth, Snivellus!" – Sirius warned him with a ridicule in his voice. 

"How could you be so immature?!" – shouted Lily at her fellow Gryffindor. 

"How could you always side with the enemies, Evans?" – asked Sirius unapologetically – "Have some pride, for Merlin's sake."

"Plantier, put a leash on this dog of yours or you might end up losing him in the crowd." – said Snape mockingly. 

"You're very brave when we can't use magic!" – barked Sirius back, looking at the other boy with disdain. 

"I'm not particularly scared of your magic abilities, Black." – answered the Slytherin sarcastically. 

"Indeed, Sirius." – intervened Catherine, throwing Snape a glance full of mockery – "What can you possibly do to him that could beat how mother nature had already cursed him?" 

Sirius burst out laughing, took Catherine's hand, and led her inside the bookstore, leaving the pale angry Snape and the even angrier Lily, looking after them silently. 

"I'm so going to pay for that." – concluded Catherine while picking up her copy of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk. 

"You should rather concentrate on opening Evans' eyes." – said Sirius – "Why is she so mesmerised by this bat-like boy? He despises Muggle-borns and already knows more hexes and jinxes than most seventh-years."

"Sometimes we are blind to the faults of the people who we hold dear." – determined Catherine philosophically. 

"What is that supposed to mean?" – asked Sirius with suspicion. 

"Nothing, silly!" – smiled Catherine and then stopped dead in her tracks. 

"What's the matter?" – asked the boy.

The young witch was staring at a glass case, located at one of the corners of the bookstore. It contained some very expensive-looking books. The one that caught the girl's attention, however, was a thick brown volume with silk cover, titled Animagi: A Complete Guide by Beaumont Marjoribanks.

'Maybe this one contains some useful information on how to actually become an Animagus.' – she thought and reached for the glass case.

"Excuse me, but these books are to be sold only to wizards and witches of age." – said a nearby shop clerk before Catherine could touch the case.

"What do you need this for anyway?" – asked Sirius, looking at his friend's disappointed face.

"I'll tell you when we're all together." – she answered shortly – "Now, let's go get this ice cream. I need a mood-booster."