Movers & Shakers

“Lily?” Kat called. She tried to stay quiet so nothing far away would hear, but Lily could if she was close by. “Lily?”

“I’m over here.” Lily replied. “That is if you’re not trying to get me to go back.”

“I know I can’t change your mind.” Kathrin snapped. “But I’m not going to let you walk around in the forbidden forest by yourself!”

“Excuse me, it’s forbidden to the boys too.”

Kathrin rolled her eyes. ‘Couldn’t James have chosen a less stubborn girl?’

They stopped arguing and kept walking. Kathrin turned around and could hardly see the castle through all the trees. The two were walking pretty deep into the forest. Kat followed close behind Lily, looking out in case they were attacked from behind. Kathrin accidently stepped on a stick, which it made a loud crack. Lily jumped and grabbed Kat’s hand.

“Want to go back now?”

“No… I have to find them.”

They walked a little further before Lily stopped. She was examining one of the trees. There were deep cuts all over it. It looked like one of the animals was sharpening its claws. Kat hoped that the animal wasn't still close by.

“W-what do you think made it?” Kathrin asked walking a bit further to examine the area.

“I don’t know. I’m not the familiar with claw markings- Kat stop stepping on sticks!”

“Umm… Lily.”

Lily heard growling. For a second she was frozen. She couldn’t move or breathe. Lily turned to see Kathrin absolutely terrified. In front of her was a huge wolf- no werewolf. Its hand was moving as if it was pulsing, and his eyes stole all the air from her lungs. She watched as he growled, letting his sharp teeth show.

‘What am I supposed to do?’ Kathrin thought staring at the thing twice her size. She walked backwards slowly; trying not to alarm the beast. Kat could hear Lily do the same behind her.

Kat’s foot got caught ion a root. She fell over onto the ground. Kathrin held back a scream as a sharp rock dug it way into her arm. She could feel the blood slowly start to flow. Lily let out a little yelp behind her. Kat looked back to see Lily had dropped her wand a few feet in front of herself, but she was too scared to walk forward and grab it.

There was a sudden sharp pain in her legs. She could feel the werewolf’s claws cut into her skin. Soon she felt the same sensation in her shoulder, and it disappeared from her leg. The werewolf taunted her as it licked the blood from her arm. It stood above her letting its droll fall onto her chest. Kat’s eyes started at him, crying.

His teeth opened wider. Closer and closer his mouth was closing the distance to her body. Lily fell to the ground feeling completely helpless. ‘He’s going to bite me! Stop it! Stop him! Run Kathrin! RUN!’ Kat thought to herself. But there was nothing she could do. Kathrin just clenched her hand and closed her eyes bracing herself for what was to come.

“Kat get up!” Lily cried with tears streaming down her face. Kat yelped as claws ripped away from her shoulder. When she opened her eyes the full moon was above her and the trees were framing the sky. There was no longer an angry werewolf ready to feast. “Get up!”

The words felt more real to her this time. She turned to see that a stag had pinned the werewolf against the tree. Kat tried to gather herself together. She was still trying to grasp around the fact a werewolf was in the forbidden forest. When she tried to get up she stumbled and fell over. Then she felt hands help her up.

Sirius was beside her.

‘So they were in the forest… with a WEREWOLF!’ Kat screamed in her head.

It wasn’t until Sirius picked her up and carried her out of the forest that she could truly feel how much she was trembling. When she looked up at him, he wasn’t his cool self either. If anything she related the look to the one he had when he arrived at her house this summer, but there was more terror in his eyes.

Peter helped Lily up from her knees. He grabbed the invisibility cloak from under a rock close to the edge of the forest. Sirius told Peter to put the cloak over him and Kathrin. If any of the teachers saw them Lily was supposed to say she caught Peter wondering the halls, then Peter would know where to meet him. Sirius didn't look at Lily when he talked to her, he barely looked at Kathrin either.

Once they were under the cloak Sirius got Kathrin to hold the Marauder’s map. It was a map of all of Hogwarts, although it had some strange characteristics. There were names all over the map, moving names. Kathrin soon understood. The names were where people were in the castle. She could see their names moving closer to the castle. Sirius looked down at the map, spread out across Kathrin;s torso, and told Peter and Lily which way to go.

Soon enough they arrived in front of a blank wall. Peter walked by it a few times. Kat and Lily just looked at him concerned. In a matter of seconds a door started to appear. Slowly the details carved it way out of the wall. Peter opened the door and Sirius carried Kathrin in.

The room looked pretty cozy. There was a nice fireplace at the far end of the room. A few couches were scattered around it. More importantly there was one of those leather couches therapists use in movies, with potions and herbs beside it. Sirius put Kathrin down on the bed and took the cloak off him.

Peter closed the door. “Oh good I didn’t know if you were in-“

“KAT HOW COULD YOU BE SO STUPID?” Sirius yelled. He pulled stressfully at his hair and fell onto the couch beside him. “You have not only got yourself bitten or killed! But Lily-“

“It’s my fault Sirius…”

Sirius stopped. His eyes stared at the floor. It was like his brain tried to process that Lily Evans did something stupid. “It was you?”

“I saw James go in. I though you guys were going to plan a prank or-“

“This is obviously not some prank!” Sirius got up. He stared down at Lily. He palms were sweaty and his face was still pale. “If we were going to pull a prank why we would go in the forbidden forest!”

“Then why would you go in there to meet up with a werewolf! That’s much more dangerous! You knew it was in there and you still went!”

“DON’T YOU DARE CALL HIM AN ‘IT’!”

Lily took a couple steps back. Usually Lily would fight right back, but after everything that happened that night there wasn’t anything she could say to defend herself. Even Peter was scared of Sirius; he was hiding behind one of the couches.

“I’m… sorry… I’m sorry”

Sirius didn’t look at her. He just sat back down on the couch and ran his hands through his hair. Kathrin cringed in pain. The wounds were still fresh and she could feel them stinging. Lily walked over towards her and looked at the herbs and potions. Kat didn’t say a word. She was too scared to speak, not that she knew what to she wanted to say. The only thing she was thinking about was James. She wanted to know where he was. Certainly he was in the forest too. She didn’t know how to ask, or even mention it though.

Lily put a cloth on top one of the potions and turned it over. She dabbed it on Kats wounds. The only sound in the room was the clinging of bottles, crackles from the fire, and the faint sound of Kat trying to let back a yelp. Sirius couldn’t watch Lily clean Kathrin’s wounds. He turned his head completely the other way.

After Kat’s wounds were clean Lily went and sat by the fire. She watched it dance and crackle. Sirius kept watching Kat to make sure she wouldn’t fall asleep; just in case. He didn’t say a word though. Sirius only nudged her unscathed shoulder. Peter was no longer hiding, but he was sitting on the couch farthest from everyone. It felt like it had been an eternity since any of them had heard anyone speak.

“Where’s James?”

All three of them looked over at Lily. She didn’t move. Her voice sounded cool. She just kept staring at the fire, as if the fire would bring some life back into her.

“Still in the woods I think.”

“WHAT?” Kathrin stumbled up. All three of them got up to stop her from moving. She ran towards the door. Peter managed to grab her and bring her away from it. Kathrin struggled for a few seconds; then stopped.

They all stopped moving and watched the door knob turn. The door opened a crack, than it opened completely. James turned around to close it, not looking at a single soul. Only the sound of fire crackling broke the silence.