Chapter 70: Healing Touch (1)
The Great Hall was unusually quiet in the early morning, as most students were still recovering from the Halloween Feast. Catherine came in and sat at the end of the Gryffindor table, then poured herself a glace of orange juice. Her eyes felt irritated and dry from wearing the contact lenses the previous night. The young witch was pretty frustrated with herself. She hadn't made any significant progress with Slughorn. On the contrary, she had made a fool of herself by singing in front of a crowd that wouldn't have given her a second glance on any other day of the week. To add to the disappointment, she didn't even have good time at the party.
'It was like the whole House of Slytherin was determined to bother me last night!' – thought the young witch sulkily, spreading strawberry jam on her toast – 'I wonder what had gotten into Snape. Didn't he know about Volumnia and Tullia before? Lily probably didn't want to escalate things with his classmates. I doubt he would do anything against people from respectable pure-blood families, though. Whatever… I have bigger problems than Snape's social standing in Slytherin…'
"Here she is - the most convincing Christine in the history of Hogwarts!" – Lily's voice startled Catherine, pulling her back to reality.
"No need to mock me." – growled the black-haired girl.
"What are you talking about?" – asked the other witch, looking confused – "Everyone thought you were amazing! Valeria Malfoy couldn't come even close, despite transfiguring her hair and eyes 'like a proper witch.' She was green with envy, Daisy! You should watch your back, by the way."
"She was the one who insisted on singing in the first place!" – exclaimed Catherine, irritated – "How is it my fault she was not as good as she thought herself to be?"
"Of course, it's not your fault!" – chirped Lily, grabbing a few toasts for herself – "They are all ridiculous! I, for once, had a really good time with Greg and Frankie. What did you do? I thought I saw you with Severus for a minute, but I was probably mistaken."
"Sadly, you were not." – sighed the other girl – "He wanted to know what had happened last year in the girls' bathroom."
Lily's face turned pale, and she grabbed her friend's hand frantically. "What did you tell him?"
"The truth." – answered Catherine flatly – "What's the problem? He obviously knew already."
"I messed up and told him the other day when we had a fight." – groaned Lily – "Knowing him, he's going to get into trouble seeking vengeance. But he has such a hard time fitting into his House. This will hurt him much more than whatever he plans to do to Volumnia and Tullia!"
"Are things that bad?" – asked Catherine genuinely curious about the dynamics in Slytherin.
"Yeah! They have this hierarchy. It's all about from which pure-blood family you come from and how much influence you have. For people like Severus… it's really tough, especially because he doesn't have money and he's not… well, he has issues with making friends in general. They don't care how brilliant he is…it's all about superficial stuff and they can be truly vicious with people who are at the 'bottom' of the House. I'm sure he doesn't tell me half of what they do to him!"
The black-haired witch glanced at her distressed friend and, oddly enough, found herself sympathising with Snape. While things between them have always been rocky, to say the least - they couldn't even spend five minutes together without bickering – watching him interact with Lily revealed a side of him that didn't grate on her nerves as much. Honestly, she could even learn to tolerate him if it wasn't for his chronic hatred towards Muggle-borns. Ironically, his own housemates didn't treat him much better than 'Mudbloods', and from Catherine's perspective, no one should endure such mistreatment merely due to their bloodline or the wealth their parents happened to possess.
'I guess that's what they call overcompensation.' – the Gryffindor girl noted mentally – 'The Slytherins torture Snape for being half-blood, hence, he behaves terribly towards the Muggle-borns, especially those who have what he doesn't, like money.'
A sharp pain interrupted the third-year's thoughts. She looked up and realised the mail had arrived. A big brown Barn-owl had nudged her finger impatiently.
"The fuck! No need to be so fussy!" – hissed Catherine and put her injured finger in her mouth while using her other hand to untie the note attached to the bird's leg. It was a small piece of parchment on which thin, slender letters formed the following message:
Dear Catherine,
I would like to start our planned lessons on Monday at 8 p.m. I hope you enjoyed your Halloween festivities!
Yours sincerely,
Albus Dumbledore
P.S. The Gargoyle on the fifth floor and you share the same taste in candies.
"Got anything interesting?" – asked Lily, casting a curious glance at the parchment – "Does it have anything to do with your disappearance from the party after your singing number?"
"No!" – Catherine replied hastily – "It's from Hagrid about the surprise cake for Sirius that I'm going to bake tomorrow. He found all the food colouring I needed."
"Sure." – said the red-headed girl with a sly smile – "So you're not watching the Quidditch match tomorrow?"
"I was told it's obligatory for me to attend." – chuckled Catherine, crumpling the piece of parchment and shoving it into her pocket – "I'll bake the cake after the match is over. There's time for everything!"
***
"How much longer is it going to take?!" – moaned Catherine, leaning against Remus. After yet another close race between James and Elara Hawthorne, the Seeker for Ravenclaw, the tricky Snitch had vanished from sight.
"It's been three hours already." – said the Gryffindor boy after checking his old wristwatch – "They must be exhausted by now. I know I am. How are you doing, Peter?"
The short blond boy grinned with his thumbs up. Leading the Gryffindor cheer squad, he had lost his voice shortly after the second hour, although his enthusiasm was still intact.
"I really can't wait any longer. I left the cake dough in Hagrid's hut, but if it stays there too long, the cake won't be fluffy at all!" – complained the young witch, staring frustrated at Archibald Smith, one of the Ravenclaw's Chasers, who was complaining to Madame Hooch, the referee, about Marvolo Wood sending a Bludger his way, when he was not playing with the Quaffle.
"You should go then." – suggested Remus – "You may not be able to help them up there, but you do have control over Sirius' birthday present."
With a final, regretful glance, Catherine left the stands and headed towards the Gamekeeper's hut at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid was already waiting for her, as eager as ever about their baking lessons. The third-year had to admit she truly admired the giant's dedication and good spirit, as well as his stomach, since he was able to eat everything he made with quite a gusto.
After putting both the rock cakes and Sirius' birthday surprise in the oven, Catherine and Hagrid took a breather, enjoying a cup of tea.
"Do you think the game is over?" – asked the girl, glancing through the window.
"Who knows? I remember a few years back, a Quidditch final goin' on for ten whole hours. It was downright brutal, it was!" – shrugged the Keeper of the Keys.
"I sincerely hope it won't last that long." – laughed the young witch.
"Aren't ya keen on givin' it a go yourself, playin' with yer pals on the team?" – asked Hagrid with a smile under his bushy beard.
"I don't know." – admitted the Gryffindor contemplatively – "I do like flying a lot and I think I'm good at it, but on the other hand, being part of your House's team demands a lot of extra time for practice. Besides, I think they're doing just fine. I'm sure we're going to win the cup this year!"
"Bout time, it is!" – agreed Hagrid.
As late afternoon settled, Catherine finally made her way back to the Gryffindor tower. Decorating Sirius' birthday cake had taken more time than she had anticipated, and the task of safely carrying the sizable confection back to the castle, shrouded under a cloche, proved to be quite a physical exercise.
'Why did I make it so big and heavy?!' – thought the young witch, finally reaching the portrait of the Fat Lady – "Phoenix tears."
The noise emanating from inside almost made Catherine take a step back. The party was clearly in full swing, and amidst the revelry, nobody paid attention to her. She managed to get the cake to her bedroom safely and cast a preservation spell on it to keep it fresh.
After a quick adjustment of her clothes and a hasty fix to her hair, Catherine descended the stairs, eager to hear more details about the end of the game. James and Sirius were at the heart of the celebration, surrounded by some enthusiastic sixth and seventh-years.
"I remember I really thought that was it when Hawthorne dived for the Snitch!" – shouted Sirius above the noise – "She couldn't believe it when you managed to snatch it just under her nose, mate!"
"You truly have a remarkable talent, Potter!" – said Kingsley Shacklebolt, a tall, muscular sixth-year, patting James on the back.
"It wasn't that hard, honestly!" – the young wizard laughed, ruffling his already messy hair – "The entire team was amazing! Sirius scored some spectacular goals!"
"Damn right he did!" – confirmed Patricia Rakepick, smiling charmingly at the Gryffindor's Chaser, and winked at him.
"Thanks, Patricia! Too bad that the game was not that interesting for some people. But I guess, to each their own." – remarked Sirius. In this moment, Catherine realised that he knew she was there and that he was also not happy with her absence from the stands.
Feeling wronged on multiple fronts, the black-haired witch turned away from the noisy crowd, finding solace in a dark corner as she indulged in self-pity. After sulking for half an hour, the girl decided to retreat to her dormitory to work on some homework. Just as she settled in, she felt a playful tug on one of her braids.
"Why are you sitting here alone, Flame?" – James inquired, taking a seat on the floor beside his friend – "Haven't you learnt not to pay any attention to Sirius by now? He talks before he thinks."
"It's not fair!" – Catherine grunted – "I needed to leave and finish his blasted birthday cake!"
"I know; Remus told me." – James reassured, patting the girl's hand – "He's going to regret it so much when he sees the cake tomorrow. Just don't mind him."
"It's a bit hard when he purposefully tries to reprimand me in front of other people!" – complained the witch, glancing at Patricia Rakepick, who was still talking to Sirius and laughing wholeheartedly.
"Just pretend you haven't seen or heard anything." – advised James, with a naughty twinkle in his hazel eyes – "At the end of the day, I think he was mostly disappointed you hadn't had the chance to see him naked again in the changing room after the match!"