Chapter 46: Tough Love (1)

Catherine was in a consistently bad mood during the next week. She was angry at Lily because the tragic end of their picnic was easily foreseeable. In addition, the red-headed witch was mostly disappointed by the sudden interruption of their outing and pissed at James and Sirius for what they had done to Snape. Nevertheless, she still did not completely acknowledge the Slytherin's terrible behaviour. 

"You are both to blame." – she shrugged it off when Catherine raised the issue. 

James and Sirius were also on the receiving end of their friend's frustration. This was extremely confusing for them since they couldn't comprehend what they had done wrongly. In their opinion, the situation was simple: they had seen Snape getting ready to curse Catherine – they had taken care of the threat accordingly. 

Catherine herself had a hard time explaining what the exact nature of her exasperation was. She settled with the conclusion that she could have defeated Snape on her own and not providing him with a reason to complain about Gryffindors always relying on outnumbering him in order to win a fight. 

"I didn't know that you care so much about what people think." – noted Remus, devouring his second generous slice of carrot cake, while the two of them were sitting alone in the Common Room one week after the unfortunate incident. 

"That's the thing – I really don't!" – sighed Catherine, chewing the tip of one of her braids – "But every time I see Snape in class or around the castle, I have this overwhelming desire to punch him in the face. I hate how he tries to pose as a victim!" 

"So, the problem is what he would think?" – asked Remus a little confused.

"Yes! I mean, no… I don't know anymore!" – growled the young witch in frustration – "I just want him to know he's not right and I can take him down on my own!"

"But why do you even need to do that, Catherine?" – sighed the boy – "Every time you pick up a fight with him, you also get hurt."

"I don't pick up fights with him!" – shouted the girl outraged – "But, I'll be damned if I let him think he could do or say whatever he wants about me."

"In all fairness, a lot of people are laughing at him and mocking him because of you. It's not like he'd let it slide. You're both equally vindictive." – said Remus with a gentle smile, looking at his friend's pouting face.

"Plenty of people had laughed at me because of him too!" – she claimed stubbornly.

"I know, but you have us, and we would allow no one to get away with it. From what I've seen, he doesn't have anyone, but Lily." – Remus answered.

"Why are you defending him?" – Catherine asked in disbelief.

"I'm not. He's a pretty nasty person but I… I understand how it feels to be alone against the world." – the young Gryffindor almost whispered. 

Catherine paused for a moment, observing her friend's pale face. The dark circles under his eyes were still a visible sign of the recent full moon. The witch took a deep breath and attempted to clear her mind from Snape's irritating presence.

"I'm sorry, Moony." – she said softly, moving closer to Remus – "I didn't mean to trigger you this way."

"Don't worry, Flame, I'm fine now. It's just that you can never fully erase these lonely memories." – he admitted bitterly. 

The girl opened her mouth but couldn't find the right words. Anything she said risked delving into her own painful memories, exposing the lies about her life. Instead, she just laid her head on Remus' shoulder and the two of them spent a few minutes in silence, gazing at the roaring fire. 

"The cake was really tasty." – Remus finally spoke – "If you continue baking such things for me after every full moon, I'll get all round and chubby."

"Nonsense, you need energy and a little bit of mood-booster." – the girl smiled – "Not to mention your birthday's next week. I'll prepare something special."

"You don't have to." – Remus blushed. 

"Don't be too modest. James already gave me a list of cakes he likes for his birthday and it's not for almost a full month." – Catherine chuckled. 

"Well, then, the chocolate cake you had all over you last week seemed delicious." – Remus said with a perfectly innocent expression, making Catherine's face turn red to the roots of her hair. 

"What are you chatting about?" – Sirius' voice interrupted them, while he and the rest of the boys joined the two second-years.

"Cakes." – Catherine quickly responded, purposefully drawing their attention towards the carrot cake's leftovers.

"Honestly, you can give the Honeydukes a run for their Galleons." – proclaimed James, helping himself from the culinary masterpiece, generously covered with cream cheese frosting.

"Thanks, but it's really more of a hobby." – said the young witch humbly – "Where have you all been?"

"Zuh Li-bway." – answered Sirius, with his mouth full.

"Really?" – asked Catherine suspiciously. 

"We do go there… from time to time." – exclaimed James, a little offended. 

"Sure…" – answered the girl not entirely persuaded – "And what kind of mischief we're planning this time?"

"I'd say that the mischief is far from managed at this point." – Sirius chimed in and took out a parchment from his pocket – "But we're slowly making some progress."

"Is this about this map you mentioned?" – asked the young witch, trying to cast a glance at the parchment. 

"It is." – Sirius nodded – "After our midnight adventures in the Library it occurred to me that if we're to go through our time at Hogwarts without being expelled, we need more information. Even if we're invisible, we keep having these dangerous encounters, and considering the other… side project we're working on, we can't afford any mistakes."

"It's not that I do not agree with you, Sirius, but I fail to see how a map could fix our problem. We already know quite a lot about the castle."

"Patience, Miss Plantier, I'm getting there." – the boy winked at his classmate – "What do you know about the Inquisitus Imprintum spell?"

"Doesn't ring a bell." – answered the girl honestly.

"According to Enigmatic Imprints this spell delves into the magical imprints of creatures, extracting details such as identity and species. This information can then be translated onto another medium." – explained Sirius excitedly. 

"So, you're telling me that you want to use this spell on the map, so it can scan the castle and reflect everyone on the map?" – asked Catherine contemplatively. 

"Exactly!" – Sirius replied, his grey eyes shining.

"This would be complicated though." – the young witch mumbled, mostly to herself – "The spell should be extremely powerful, in order to cover the whole school. It also should be triggered by something; it can't sustain itself indefinitely. Also, we can probably find a way for movements to be updated in real time."

"Do you think it's possible?" – asked James, completely forgetting about the cake.

"It's worth trying!" – Sirius chimed in.

"First thing, first. We need to make the map as detailed as possible before starting with the enchantments." – said Catherine, studying what Sirius had already sketched. 

"I agree! Let's divide the castle between ourselves and once we're ready we can proceed with the castle grounds as well!" – suggested Sirius, jumping to his feet impatiently. 

"Moony, shall we count on you too?" – asked James, looking at his silent friend.

Remus lifted his head and stared for a moment at the enthusiastic faces of his fellow Gryffindors, ready for yet another adventure. He tried to remember Dumbledore's kindness and how much he owed him for opening the gates of Hogwarts' for a werewolf. He tried convincing himself to steer clear of trouble and abide by the school rules, but was taken aback upon hearing his own words:

"Absolutely, let's start top to bottom!"