Chapter 38: Midnight Adventures (1)

Catherine sighed heavily and freed Nyx from her cage. The Kneazle stretched and promptly jumped on Lily's bed. The red-headed girl gently caressed the silk fur of the creature and turned her attention back to her friend.

"No need to be so overdramatic. I thought you could have killed Severus, the way you stared at him through the whole journey." 

"Yeah, because he was all smiles and pleasantries." – snapped the other girl. 

"He didn't say a single word to you!" – exclaimed Lily.

"Sure, because the only things he usually says to me are insults. Although, he didn't need to speak in order for me to know what he was thinking." – said Catherine and started unpacking her suitcase. 

"You are seeing too much into his actions. He's a little bit like Nyx." – said Lily, taking the Kneazle into her lap – "Once he allows you to get closer to him, he's a delightful company – smart, insightful and funny."

"Snape? Severus Snape?" – asked Catherine and chuckled sarcastically – "Anyway, I don't have any desire to get in any proximity to him. I prefer the company of people with better hygiene." 

"His hygiene is perfectly normal, and he doesn't stink. This was something you guys spread as a rumour." – hissed the red-headed witch angrily. 

"Oi, Catherine!" – Sirius' voice came from downstairs. 

"If you say so." – Catherine noted condescendingly – "I'll go see the boys. Keep Nyx here, ok? She's still rather not fond of Sirius." 

The black-haired girl descended the spiral staircase, leading to the dormitories and scanned the Common Room for her friends. Suddenly, she felt someone grabbing her hand and pulling her back up towards the boy's bedrooms. 

"What the…" – she growled, reaching beneath her clothes for her wand.

"Hey, easy there, Flame!" – she recognised Sirius' voice – "We want to show you something but it's not for the Common Room to see. Come inside." 

"Couldn't you say this like a normal person, instead of dragging me around? You know I hate this." – Catherine complained, entering the second-years boys' dormitory, finally managing to free herself from Sirius.

"Merlin, you're vile as a wasp today. Didn't you enjoy your trip back to Hogwarts?" – asked the boy with a twinkle in his grey eyes. 

"You know perfectly well I did not." – she pouted.

"I lost a Sickle because of you." – complained James who was sitting on what Catherine assumed was his bed. Remus was busy, unpacking while Peter was bouncing up and down on his heels next to James.

"What have I done?"- the girl asked. 

"It's more what you haven't done." – the black-haired boy sighed – "I placed a bet with Sirius, you were going to hex Snape before we reached Hogwarts." 

"I'm really sorry you didn't lose a Galleon." – said Catherine her eyes flashing. 

"Careful, James, or you would end up being hexed by her." – laughed Sirius. 

"I'll let it slide but only because I love the Broomstick Servicing Kit, you gifted me for Christmas." – James said resignedly.

"Right! Now that we're on the topic of presents – it turned out one of our problems solved itself due to a very thoughtful Christmas present." – grinned Sirius.

"You have to be a tad more specific than that." – Catherine said with slight scepticism. 

"Show her, James!" – squeaked Peter impatiently. 

James slowly stood up from the bed and bent over his luggage, still unpacked, hectically digging inside the suitcase. Finally, he apparently found what he was looking for and triumphantly unfolded a silky silver cloak. 

"Yeah, very pretty, but I fail to see the connection." – the young witch noted, unimpressed. 

"Just do it already!" – Sirius said.

James put on the cloak with a single motion and disappeared. Peter gushed with delight and jumped excitedly on James' bed. 

"Is this an… invisibility cloak?" – gasped Catherine.

"Spot on!" – James answered and appeared again from below the cloak. 

The black-haired girl slowly approached her friend and carefully touched the cloak which felt like liquid woven into material. 

"These are extremely rare. How did you manage to get one?" – she asked in awe. 

"It belonged to my grandfather. His health is not so good anymore, so he had decided I could find a better use for it, and it ended up under the Christmas tree." – beamed James. 

"More importantly, do you realise what this means, Miss Plantier?" – Sirius said mischievously, ignoring the groan, coming from Remus.

"It's time to visit the Library!" – Catherine grinned – "How does this Friday evening sound to you? We have Astronomy again and we can sneak in after that."