Kitten; Fred Weasley

11

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The next morning Catina woke up with the mightiest headache ever. She may have been drunk plenty of times before but this. This was on another level. Firewhisky withholds the power to vanquish any sense of stability and/or control of the person which meant that Catina has acted in ways that she might not have done so if sober. But, then again, what's to say she wouldn't have?

Hauling herself from her bed, which she was rudely awaken from a deep sleep in by Hermione and Ginny talking loudly, she collected herself together, went and showered then entered the dining room. She took her usual seat beside Fred who, turned his head away from her afraid of what she was going to do because of his mistake that night.

"Are you okay, Cat? You look a little discoloured." Said Remus, who sat opposite her with a muggle newspaper on the table before him. He sent her a gentle smile to encourage her to answer.

"I'm fine," she replied tucking her hair behind her ears, "tired that's all. Anything interesting?"

"No more than there is in the Prophet, just a load of cobblers. Here, it'll make you feel a little better." Remus slipped her some chocolate under the watchful eye of Molly who prepare breakfast with help from Sirius who wanted to get back into as normal of a life as he possibly could cooped up in the house hat haunted his childhood.

Catina quickly ate the chocolate and rested her head in her arms that laid on the table, her hair creating a halo over her. The group stared at her in silence, intrigued by her state but nevertheless didn't question it.

Molly dished out some food which lifted the silence as her children argued over who got what and how it want fair that Ron could eat his way through everything.

"Ginny, that's not nice!"

"But Mum—"

Catina couldn't take the noise! Her head was splitting like a drummer was playing his loudest beat. She sighed a shaky breath unable to stomach any food, keeping her head down and her eyes shut. Sirius, who has sat beside her, placed a gentle hand on the small of her back.

"Cat? Have some breakfast, however you are feeling, it'll make you feel better." He spoke softly, rubbing his hands in circles.

She sat up and took some bacon, nibbling on a single rasher for five minutes straight. Once breakfast was over, it was the first day that everyone would be getting a break, most people retiring to one room or another. Catina wanted to keep herself busy, entering the drawing room which had a bookcase full of dust coated books that looked horrible in amongst the room which was (sort of) clean.

Wiping them down, not caring much about what they were about, Catina hummed quietly to herself. A tune of nonsense, nothing remotely real or tuneful whatsoever but nevertheless continued it anyway.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realise you were in here," a voice said from the door which slammed open causing Catina to drop the book she was cleaning and snap her aching head towards them.

Stood there was Harry Potter, his cheeks red from embarrassment as he adjusted his glasses at the sight of the beautiful Slytherin girl before him. "It's alright, I'll go—"

"No! I mean, you don't have to, I just wanted some quiet time. Don't let me stop you from your, um, fun," Said Harry, smirking at the grimy book she held.

"Do you want it, Potter?" She tossed it towards him.

Harry jumped batting it away from him in disgust. Wiping down the sleeves of his shirt, her turned up his nose horrified at the fact a moth flew from between its aged pages fluttering out of the room.

"Oi! Who let the kid out of the book?" Exclaimed Sirius jestingly from behind Harry. He sniggered at his own comment, shuffling past his godson and kicking the book beneath the sofa. "Never liked that junk."

Catina and Harry, both mirroring each other's expression, stared blankly at the man before them who laughed callously at the tapestry that dressed the walls of the room, stemming for generations of Sirius' ancestors. It wasn't a pleasant tapestry, not one bit, it was like biting into a delicious cupcake only to find out that the person that baked it had mixed up the salt and the sugar. So one hundred percent pleasant in other words. Not only were there many stern faced slytherin's whose faces were engraved into the tree shape, there were plenty of black splotches where faces had been burned off like they had never existed.

"What happened? Why are there black spots?" Asked Catina, tracing her hands along the wall, stopping at one particular patch labelled Sirius Black III with his date of birth underneath. "Was this you?"

Sirius placed his hand on the two teenagers' shoulders. "Yes that is me. Any black spot means that person was disowned by the family, stripped of their 'pure' status and brought shame upon the family. I was perhaps the worst I'd say, first Gryffindor, tormented my parents all that I could. And much, much more."

"Where'd you go? How old were you?" Asked Harry looking up at his godfather who wasn't much taller than him.

Sirius smiled softly, "Your dads. I was always welcome at the Potter's. Your grandparents were the best parents I could have asked for especially at their age taking in another fifteen year old. S'pose they liked the fact your dad had some company over the holidays. Me and M— Remus were always at the Potter's in the summers prior to me moving in with them."

"And Wormtail?"

"He was too." Nodded Sirius.

"Who is Wormtail? Wait, is that the guy who framed you? Remus mentioned it."

"Yes, Cat, sweetheart, he was. Peter Pettigrew was never a horrible person. He was one of the kindest, loving boys that I had found friendship in. Not the sharpest tool in the box but his heart was in their. When he framed me and sold out Lily and P— James I couldn't believe it. Perhaps that's why it gave him enough time to escape and kill those muggles, I was further behind him, I had to make sure you, Harry, were alright, then I went after him. Even for months afterwards I wanted to forget that it was him, I couldn't get my head around it. He wasn't just our best friend, he was a brother, and a jolly good one at that. Well, until Voldemort got to him. I can never forgive him for what he had done, but I cannot deny that he was my brother. He was there for me and the other two, when we needed it most. But he let evil transform him. And for that. He will never be my brother, ever again."

Harry wiped his eyes, lifting his glasses, to catch all of the fallen tears. He didn't realise how much Peter Pettigrew meant to his father and how his malicious deed actually caused much more damage than he had realised. Sirius didn't have his biological family, his family were his friends and the fact that Pettigrew had done what he had must have caused a life-long, unpatchable, unclearable scar that sunk deeper than his skin.

"Wow that must suck," Said Catina which made Harry look at her in anger. That was not the most touching thing to say in such a moment like that. In fact, it was rather rude in his eyes.

Sirius chuckled, pulling them both closer, "Yeah it does. But we must carry on, make Lily and P— James proud."

"I'm sure Harry has been doing that all of his life anyway, and you Sirius. Not everyone can say that they have done what you both have done. That's pretty remarkable."

Harry suddenly saw this girl in a different light. Literally seconds ago he was ready to slag her off to Ron and Hermione later on. Say how insensitive she was and how rude but now, something was different. "Thank you," he responded.

"Only the truth, darling."

Sirius watched as she left his hold, returning back to the tapestry and reading as much as she could taking in every face on it as well. This girl held many secrets and many thoughts which he would never come to know. In fact, it scared him at what she could behold because of her past. A past that will not stay hidden forever...