Salvation | Severus Snape

Chapter 18 - Realising

Before her trip, Katherine dressed in a pale yellow coat and black jeans. She opened her door and blinked in confusion to see two vials on the floor in front of her. Carefully, she reached out and took one, examining it. There was a small label attached that read 'Calming Draught,' and when she flipped it over, there was a tiny script she could barely read.

"Just in case?" she guessed the writing said. Her heart skipped a beat. Only one person in the castle knew she had wanted Calming Draughts before and had the supplies to the potion besides Madam Pomfrey. But how did he know? Her pulse was thumping rapidly as her mind ran with possibilities. He couldn't have figured it out — he didn't even know about her condition before, right? Perhaps he just had extra and decided to give it to her in case she needed it, as the note said... but the timing was so coincidental. Nevertheless, she pocketed the vials and headed to where she had planned: Hogsmeade Village.

"Katherine!" a happy voice exclaimed as she whipped around to find the source.

"Hey Remus," she said with a grin which matched his, running to hug the brown-haired man. He held her embrace tightly, missing her for the past month as he had been incredibly busy keeping up with his jobs — though they had kept in touch through mail.

"What's the plan?" he asked after pulling away, "We go to the Three Broomsticks again and then meet with... Padfoot?" The name was uttered quietly in fear that it would raise suspicion, however, nobody around them paid any attention to the two. Not many knew the nickname either.

Katherine nodded. "Yeah, let's go. It's been so long since I last saw him... maybe we could also bring him some food. It must be hard living on the streets and trying to hide from society."

Like their previous meeting together in Hogsmeade, they settled inside the cozy inn, seated across from each other in one of the corners. Madam Rosmerta immediately spotted them and was thrilled to see Katherine again as they had become closer over the summer break. She smiled as she walked up to their table to take their order and exchanged a few friendly words. They ordered similar meals to the last time, with extra that they planned to bring for Sirius.

The pair sat in a comfortable silence as they waited for their food, but Remus began to ponder about the woman before him. It had always been at the back of his mind that he couldn't tell whether she really was interested in him in a romantic way as Severus had continually reminded him. He knew that she was naturally kind and tried to get along with everyone she met, but relationship-wise she seemed to be the type that preferred someone else to make a move. It had been a while since Katherine had met and begun to hang out with him again. Remus wondered whether she wanted him to do anything about it, though he admitted that he wasn't completely sure of his feelings for her either. He did feel something for her, but it wasn't strong enough yet for him to act on. Nevertheless, he decided he would just wait and look out for any signs.

The silence was broken when Katherine decided to question about Sirius. "How is he? I mean, apart from being a wanted criminal in hiding. Does Harry know where he is as well?"

Remus spoke in a hushed voice, leaning closer to her. "I've only met him once so far, but he was still furious about," his brown eyes darted around nervously, "Wormtail escaping, and not being able to become a proper family with Harry like he promised. They've been writing to each other, though Harry doesn't know of his location yet."

She nodded. "And was he informed of the tournament?"

"Yes," he replied, "He plans to speak to Harry soon using the fire network."

Their meals were shortly served and they ate in another peaceful silence. Katherine wondered what twelve years of Azkaban felt like, though she shuddered at the thought of constantly having to face Dementors. She found it a bit absurd that they would have those deathly creatures there as it didn't really give a chance for any prisoner to feel remorseful or wish to redeem themselves. Rather, it sucked away at their happiness and consequently, any humanity there was left in them, leaving them in an even more miserable or psychotic state than before. It was very lucky that Sirius had not turned out to be that way, but she supposed it was due to his strong will.