moon cycles and raven feathers [r. lupin]

| 4 |

september 1st, 1976

*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ* *✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*✭˚･ﾟ✧*

'maybe delia was right, maybe freedom doesn't involve a tie and collared shirt'
cath thought to herself. she had (in true catherine fashion) waited until the last minute to pack her things for hogwarts. all of her clothes were haphazardly thrown into her trunk and all of her other keepsakes and personal bits and bobs where only put in with enough care to make sure nothing broke. her mother would've hated to see her 'disrespect herself' by packing in such a fashion, but then again her mother wasn't here.

the last things she threw in were the pieces for her uniform: a stack of collared shirts, pleated grey skirts, robes, and of course, the dreaded red and gold necktie. it was always a shock having to return to a crisp uniform after a summer of dressing freely in flowing dresses and chunky boots. she didn't understand why everything had to be so formal, after all it was just a school.

"it's not just a school kitty cat, it's a prestigious wizarding school, best in the country! though it is the only one in the country so i'm sure that title wasn't hard to come by but still!"
cath hadn't realized that she was thinking out loud but based on her father's half muttered response she must've been.
"if it's so prestigious they should've picked a better name than 'hogwarts'" she remarked with a laugh, "i mean come on, 'hogwarts' that's just so... not prestigious sounding".
cath slid in a few more half-hearted digs at the school and it's ridiculous name and what she assumed would be a ridiculous student population while she finished packing, taking advantage of the fact that othella wasn't there to tell her to 'speak like a lady' and chucked in a few more when her and her father eventually made there way to king's cross station.

she, being the stubborn 16 year old girl that she was, had insisted that she was old enough not to need her father to accompany her. after all, she had been began to travel to ilvermorny alone the year prior, but he still insisted. perhaps he thought the short amount of travel they were to do together would be a good way to make up for years of not bonding, or maybe he was just scared that his little girl would get hurt if she went out on her own, regardless of his reason though the trip to the train station was painfully drenched in an awkward energy as her father attempted to make small talk about a woman he was planning on seeing which was met with a groan on catherine's end.

despite accompanying her to the station, alister nightshade caved in on his daughters wishes and didn't follow her onto the platform. instead, he left her with a hug and a final smile a few yards away, leaving cath alone to drag her trunk the rest of the way up to platform 9 3/4.

*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ* *✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*✭˚･ﾟ✧*

cath's mother, despite disapproving of her move, had made sure she knew what felt like almost everything about the english wizarding world before she made her way across the pond. "just because you aren't going to be in salem doesn't mean that you should besmirch the family name" she had said weeks before cath was supposed to leave. so, while she knew she just had to run straight through the platform wall to be able to board the train she still had (very reasonable) reservations about going head first into what appeared to be solid brick.

"come on now!"
"first years always make this so difficult"
"mate, i don't think that's a first year"
cath decided that turning around to see who was talking about her would only make it harder to concentrate on running again, so she instead took a deep breath and just went for it.

"finally!!"
"hey, do you recognize her?"
"nah, i don't think i do"

this time cath turned around to see who the voices belonged to. she locked eyes with two boys, one had shaggy dark brown hair and thick rimmed glasses while the other one had long black hair that looked too perfectly messy to not be meticulously styled. just as she was turning around the boys spoke again, to her this time instead of just about her.
"you new?, i don't recognize you and i'm sure i wouldn't forget a face like that." the long haired boy said with a wink.
"i am." she paused "new, that is." she saw their faces when she spoke and cringed slightly, she tried her best to remember that right now she was the one with the accent, not them.
"oi, she's american!" said the other boy, hitting his friends arm while doing so.
"yeah" she said while laughing "i'm that too." cath turned to look at the train. she wasn't sure when to get on it but seeing as these boys didn't look too worried about missing it, she wasn't either.

"well, miss. american i'm sirius black, and this-" he gestured to his friend, who was clearly amused by cath's very existence "-is james potter."

cath smiled at the two boys and looked at train again, if only she knew how hard it would be to get these two, and their other friends, to leave her alone from here on out.