The weather in March was considerably much drier than that of February, but harsh winds still rattled the castle windows. There had been many delays in post because owls kept getting blown off course.

"Morning." Katie said cheerfully as she sat down next to Harry one Friday morning. Ron gave her a skeptical look.

"What's got you so happy?" he grumbled miserably. He was clearly dreading his double Potions class that was taking place after breakfast.

"Hogsmeade tomorrow," Katie replied, buttering a slice of toast. "I'm in desperate need of some chocolate from Honeydukes."

"You and me both." Harry mumbled a response.

At that moment, a swarm of owls, considerably smaller than the usual cluster, swooped into the Great Hall. A brown owl with askew feather landed swiftly in front of Harry, dropped a letter down, and immediately flew away as though it was afraid it would be sent outside again.

"Who's it from?" Katie asked eagerly. Harry opened the letter and a small smile curled at his lips.

"Sirius," he told his friends quietly before reading the letter. "He wants to meet at Hogsmeade."

"He's come back to Hogsmeade?" Ron said incredulously.

"I can't believe him," Harry said tensely. "If he's caught..."

"Made it so far, though, hasn't he?" Katie shrugged. "Besides, there aren't dementors flooding the village anymore either."

Katie's dorm mates, Millicent, Daphne and Tracey, strode by the Gryffindor table and Daphne tossed a copy of a magazine — Witch Weekly — to Hermione.

"You might find something to interest you in there, Granger!" Tracey called loudly.

Looking rather shocked, Hermione flicked through the pages of the magazine. Katie, Harry and Ron watched intently as Hermione scanned through the articles, before finally pausing on one. With an angry expression, she began to read aloud.

"Miss Granger, a plain but ambitious girl seems to be developing a taste for famous wizards that Harry alone cannot satisfy. Since the arrival at Hogwarts of Viktor Krum, Bulgaria Seeker and hero of the Quidditch World Cup, Miss Granger has been toying with the boys' affections. No word yet on how Harry Potter is taking this latest emotional blow."

Ron's eyes gradually narrowed in anger as Hermione read on, while Harry let out a grunt of annoyance and shook his head disapprovingly. Under the table, Harry took Katie's hand and squeezed it protectively, and Katie let out a small giggle at the fact that he really believed anything Rita Skeeter wrote would bother her.

Hermione went on. "However, it might not be Miss Granger's doubtful natural charms which have captured these unfortunate boys' interest... 'She's really ugly,' says Daphne Greengrass, a pretty and vivacious fourth-year student, 'but she'd be well up to making a Love Potion, she's quite brainy. I think that's how she's doing it...'"

Now it was Katie's turn to get annoyed. She felt a distinct anger boil up inside her when Hermione read that Daphne had called her ugly. Ron didn't look too pleased either.

"Ugly?" Katie growled. "Ugly? You are anything but ugly, Hermione! Who does she think she is?"

Hermione scowled as she closed the magazine with a snap. "A privileged Pure-blood bitch."

"Language, Granger," Chris chuckled as he slid up the bench. Hermione scoffed jokingly, but Katie caught sight of the light pink blush that arose on her cheeks when Chris draped his arm around her shoulder, "What's happened this time?"

"Rita Skeeter." Katie grumbled indignantly. Chris visibly shivered.

"I told you!" Ron suddenly hissed at Hermione. "I told you not to annoy Rita Skeeter! She's made you out to be some sort of — of scarlet woman!"

Hermione's astonished expression wiped away and she let out a snort of laughter.

"Scarlet woman?" she repeated, shaking with suppressed giggles.

Ron's ears went slightly red. "It's what my mum calls them." he muttered.

That evening at dinner, Katie heard Daphne announce that she was going back to the common room to get a head start on some homework (apparently she had a lot to do). Wanting to catch some time alone with Daphne, Katie got up. Pansy gave her a calculating look.

"I want to have a shower." Katie lied hastily and smoothly. Pansy bought her tale and let Katie go without another question.

Katie threaded the corridors behind Daphne at a distance. She stayed far enough away so that Daphne couldn't hear her faint footsteps. When Katie stepped into the common room, Daphne had already seated herself at a table in the far corner. She was taking books from her bag and piling them on the desk in front of her.

Disregarding everyone else in the common room (most of whom were still shooting Katie nasty sneers), Katie strode over to Daphne and tapped her on the shoulder. Daphne turned her head and narrowed her eyes in suspicion upon seeing who had requested her attention.

"Yes?" Daphne said.

"Can I talk to you?" Katie paused then added, "In private."

Daphne swung herself around so that she was leaning sideways against the back of her chair. Her eyes scanned Katie, up and down, and she pursed her lips.

"Here seems private enough, don't you think?" Daphne said coolly. Not wishing to argue this matter any further and waste time, Katie suppressed an eye roll before zipping open her bag and taking out a copy of Witch Weekly.

"I wanted to talk to you about this." Katie told Daphne as she dropped the magazine on the table. Daphne gazed at it confusedly before she realised exactly what magazine it was. Her lips curled into a coy smirk.

"Oh, you read the article about Potter and Granger?" Daphne asked, faking sympathy and sulking falsely. "I'm sure Potter didn't mean to hurt you—"

Katie gritted her teeth. "I don't care about that," she snapped and whipped open the magazine. She harshly poked the short paragraph in which Daphne made her statement about Hermione. Daphne's eyes flashed wickedly. "What the hell is this about?"

Daphne was all but grinning now and Katie's blood had begun to boil. Katie balled her hands into tight fists as en effort to subdue her anger.

"Rita Skeeter asked me for my opinion on the matter and, well, I told her the truth," Daphne said, batting her eyelashes innocently. "Hermione is very ugly, surely you see that... There's no way Harry would go out with her—"

"Good, because Harry isn't going out with her." Katie stated calmly but sternly.

Daphne let out a sinister chuckle that sent an uncomfortable shiver down Katie's spine. Daphne leaned her elbow on the table and rested her head on her closed fist, gazing up at Katie as though she were some poor, lost dog.

"Oh, Katerina," Daphne sighed out. "You don't really think he likes you, do you? At the end of the day, he's Harry Potter, he's famous, and you're just some common Half-blood... and a criminal, might I add," Daphne was rising from her seat now. "A common Half-blood that murdered her own father. It's no wonder Potter doesn't actually like you."

"I didn't kill my dad!" Katie exploded, she couldn't help herself. The entire common room was plunged into silence as Katie's yell rang throughout the walls and everyone turned their heads to see what all the commotion was about.

Daphne snarled. "Who are you trying to fool, Blair? Because none of us are buying it."

Katie stepped threateningly close to Daphne, shaking with anger. She could feel tears pricking her eyes and frantically blinked them away.

"Are you seriously suggesting that I killed my own father?" Katie's voice was low, barely a rumble, but Daphne heard her clearly.

Daphne smirked evilly. She stepped away from the table and behind Katie, who didn't move a single muscle.

"The Blairs are a predominantly Gryffindor family, aren't they?" Daphne drawled. Katie gulped, already knowing where this was going to go.

"Don't." Katie warned.

Daphne ignored her. "In fact, there has never been a recorded Blair in Ravenclaw... or in Hufflepuff... or in Slytherin... until you."

"Shut up." Katie growled, voice trembling.

"Why is that, Katerina?" Daphne said tauntingly as she circled Katie like a hawk. "Why were you the first of your family to be sorted into, not only a separate house, but Slytherin?"

Katie dug her fingernails into her palms and shook her head. "Stop it."

"It's because you're evil, Blair," Daphne hissed. "After all, everyone knows how horrible the Slytherins in history are — Bellatrix Lestrange," she paused and a glimmer flashed through her wicked eyes. "Lord Voldemort... you know what, I wouldn't be surprised if you were related to him, Katie—"

"Shut up!" Katie roared so loudly that she could've sworn the walls of the dungeons shook. Daphne stepped back in shock, but quickly regained herself and painted her daunting smirk back on.

"Seems I've hit a weak spot..." she almost sneered. "You did kill him, didn't you? Why else would you get so defensive?"

Before she could stop herself, Katie swung her fist back, landing it right on the side of Daphne's jaw. A few people gasped as Daphne stumbled back, clutching her face and staring at Katie through blazing eyes. Katie was shaking uncontrollably now. Her tears had begun to fall, she couldn't stop them, and it didn't fully register in her brain that she had just attacked a student until someone called out her name in a horrified tone.

"Miss Blair!"

One of the prefects had dashed forwards. They grabbed Katie's shoulder and shoved her away from Daphne, before examining the girl who was keeled over in shock and pain.

"Detention!" the prefect snapped at Katie, who didn't respond. She turned on her heel and pelted out the door. As soon as she was in the corridor, Katie harshly collided with someone. She let out a grunt of pain and massaged her now pounding head. Her vision was now too blurred to see the person who was standing two feet in front of her.

"I-I'm sorry, I — Ron?" Katie's eyesight had cleared up.

Ron's eyebrows furrowed concernedly when he realised that Katie's eyes were glassy with tears and her face was ghostly white.

"Katie? Are you OK?"

Katie sniffled and spoke in a quavering voice. "Fine. I'm fine."

"No you're not," Ron countered. "What happened?"

"What are you doing here?" Katie interjected. Ron held out a book in front of him.

"I forgot to give you back your Potions book after I borrowed it. You're gonna need it for homework," Ron said and Katie took the book from him. "What happened?"

"Nothing, I'm—"

"What happened?"

Ron was almost glaring at Katie. She gulped and, knowing that Ron wasn't going to let her go until she told the truth, Katie sighed.

"I confronted Daphne about what she said in Witch Weekly." Katie began, noticing how Ron's eyes flashed, though she wasn't sure if they flashed with anger or worry.

"What did she say to you?" Ron pressed.

"She..." Katie paused to choose her words carefully, "She started... well, accusing me of killing my dad, I guess. Said all these things about how I was sorted into Slytherin because I'm evil."

"But... she's a Slytherin?" Ron said in bewilderment, his statement sounding more like a question.

Katie was shaking her head. "She was just trying to get to me. I'm fine, anyway. I just overreacted."

Katie was suddenly aware of the sharp pain in her knuckles. She scrunched up her hand to ease the pain and let out an involuntary hiss. Ron's eyes trailed downwards and he caught sight of Katie massaging her knuckles. His eyes widened.

"You hit her, didn't you?"

Katie felt herself growing hot. "I... I didn't mean to—"

In that moment, Katie realised that she seemed to have quite the habit of hitting people when they provoked her, which was a habit that she should probably work on breaking.

Katie couldn't read Ron's expression properly and was unsure if he was extremely impressed or slightly annoyed, but she never found out, because a familiar voice rang through the halls, putting an end to their private conversation.

"What are you doing here, Weasley?"

Draco Malfoy strode down the hall, scowling at Ron, barely giving Katie a second glance. Ron opened his mouth angrily, but Katie, not wanting to witness a row, stepped in front of Ron, silencing him.

"Not now," she said to the both of them. "Seriously, grow up."

Draco and Ron continued to glower at each other, but listened to Katie and didn't speak another word. Instead, Draco turned to Katie.

"You coming inside?" he gestured towards the common room. "I said I'd help you with the Astronomy homework, remember?"

Katie glanced helplessly between the entrance to the Slytherin common room and her two friends, silently pleading with Ron to come up with any excuse for her to not go back in there, but Ron just stared, wide-eyed, at Katie and shook his head unknowingly.

"Yeah," Katie's voice cracked. "Yeah, I'm coming. See you later, Ron."

Ron gave Katie an apologetic look before turning and making his way down the corridor. Katie followed Draco into the common room and, ignoring all the glares and whispers that were being directed at her, sat down with Draco.

Draco, who remained oblivious to the fact that all of the Slytherins were scowling at Katie, started speaking as he took out his books. "I don't know why you bother with that ginger tosser."

"That ginger tosser happens to be my friend." Katie countered.

"Fine, but keep him as far away from me as possible."

Draco opened his Astronomy book and propped it up against a pile of books so that both he and Katie could read it.

Katie sighed. "Your pride will be the death of you."

"Please," Draco jokingly scoffed, "your pride is worse than mine."

Katie looked sharply at Draco. "Excuse me? It is not."

"Oh, come off it, Blair," Draco was laughing. "You have so much self-pride that you won't even admit that I'm your friend."

"We're not friends, we're..." Katie stated, folding her arms. Her mouth hung open as her brain worked hard, trying to find an appropriate word to use next. Draco smirked teasingly at her. "We're acquainted enemies."

Draco nodded and let out a sarcastic hum of understanding. "Oh, is that what we are?"

"One hundred percent." Katie was nodding firmly as Draco suppressed chuckles.

"Alright then, acquainted enemy, what part of the homework do you need help with?"

***

"Where's Hermione?" Katie asked as she arrived at Care of Magical Creatures class. Harry and Ron were stood at Hagrid's heel and Hermione was nowhere in sight.

"We'll explain later." Harry muttered. Katie quirked an eyebrow but ultimately dropped the subject, instead focusing her attention on the wooden crates that were situated at Hagrid's feet. Katie's heart beat quickened as she began to dread whatever horrid creatures Hagrid had stashed in the crates, but she let out a gasp of pleasant surprise when Hagrid opened the crates, revealing what was inside.

There were a number of fluffy black creatures with long snouts. Their front paws were curiously flat, liked spades, and they were blinking up at the class and sniffing at the air.

"These're Nifflers," Hagrid told the class, who had all gathered around to peer at the fluffy creatures. "Yeh find 'em down mines mostly. They like sparkly stuff..."

Just as Hagrid said this, one of the Nifflers leapt out of the box and snatched Katie's watch clean off her wrist. Some of the girls in the class shrieked, and Hagrid made a move towards the Niffler to retrieve Katie's watch, but she quickly shut him down.

"It's OK, Hagrid, it doesn't work anyway." Katie was grinning down at the tiny Niffler, which was blinking up at her while sniffing the golden watch. Katie giggled when the Niffler jumped from the box again (the girls screeched once more), climbed up Katie's arm and perched itself on her shoulder. It cuddled into her dirty blonde hair.

"Think he likes yeh, Katie." Hagrid grinned.

"And I think I like him," Katie said, reaching out to stroke the Niffler's snout. "Oh, aren't you just adorable?"

"Harry, mate, I think you've got yourself some competition." Ron whispered to Harry.

"Useful little treasure detectors," Hagrid addressed the class. "Thought we'd have fun with 'em today. See over there?" he pointed to a large patch of freshly turned earth. "I've buried some gold coins. I've got a prize for whoever picks the Niffler that digs up the most. Jus' take off all yer valuables, an' choose a Niffler an' get ready to set 'em loose."

It was easily the most fun they ever had in Care of Magical Creatures. The Nifflers dived in and out of the patch of earth, as though it was water, each scurrying back to the student who had released it and spitting gold into their hands.

"Can you buy these as pets, Hagrid?" Ron asked excitedly as his Niffler dived back into the soil.

"Yer mum wouldn't be too happy, Ron," Hagrid replied, "they wreck houses, Nifflers."

At the end of the class, everyone counted their coins. It turns out that Ron's Niffler had collected the most gold, and Hagrid slapped a giant slab of Honeydukes chocolate into his hand. Everyone returned their Nifflers to the crate, but Katie's refused to leave her. It dug it's tiny claws into her robes when she tried to remove it from her shoulder.

"Er — Hagrid?" Katie said. Hagrid turned to her and let out a hearty chuckle.

"He really likes yeh, Katie." Hagrid grinned, stepping forward and reaching out for the creature. But the Niffler, sensing exactly what was going on, swerved from Hagrid's reach and perched itself on Katie's opposite shoulder. Both Katie and Hagrid laughed and she pat the Niffler affectionately.

"Oh, Hagrid, can't I keep him?"

"I'm afraid not, Katie," Hagrid sighed apologetically. "They're not really mine, yeh see."

Sulking slightly, Katie gently wrapped both hands around the Niffler and tugged it off of her robes. She held it out in front of her and it blinked at her sadly.

"Sorry, little guy. It was nice to meet you."

Katie, Harry and Ron started walking back up to the castle. Harry, noticing how upset Katie seemed, let ouch a gentle chuckle and took her hand.

"I'll get you one for your birthday if you really want." he said half jokingly, half serious.

"Only if it's Milo." Katie replied.

Ron groaned loudly. "Milo — you named it?"

"Of course I named it," Katie shot back. "We had a bond."

Harry and Ron laughed.