I Can See You

The Prank

"Hi, Katie!" Sirius waved to Kathleen after their Care of Magical Creatures class.

Kathleen blushed as she became acutely aware of surprised stares from the other students.

"Bring along your pet tonight!" he said loudly before walking towards the castle with his friends.

"Are you dating Black?" Dominic asked her curiously.

"No, I'm not."

"But you're meeting him tonight?"

"It's just some schoolwork he's helping me with."

"Sirius Black helping someone with schoolwork? Now that's something new! And you're a Slytherin too!"

Kathleen smiled weakly at her partner. She was not sure if it was safe to hope that she was getting preferential treatment from Sirius.

*

Natasha huffed towards the Gryffindor table. Remus was nowhere in sight.

"Where's Lupin?" she asked James, deliberately ignoring both Sirius and Peter.

James hesitated before replying. "He went back to the dorm to get some stuff."

"Tell him I'm looking for him," Natasha ordered, and the boys watched her stormed her way to the Slytherin table.

"Lovers' tiff?" Sirius wondered.

"But Moony was all smiles this morning. They couldn't have quarrelled," Peter pointed out.

"Perhaps he offended her without even knowing it. Some girls are just harder to figure out," James quipped, stealing a glance at Lily.

*

She's in an awful mood today, Remus thought as he watched Natasha's brief exchange with his friends. He carefully slipped the tiny colourless pill into the goblet and silently crept out of the Great Hall, under James' invisibility cloak.

*

Natasha was circling the Quidditch pitch on her new Cleansweep Four when she spotted Remus and Jason standing at the edge of the field. She immediately pointed her broom downwards and sped to the ground.

Natasha reached the boys in time to hear Jason yelling at Remus. She ran up and stood between them. "What's happening?"

"I'm here to see you. James said you were looking for me," Remus told her, looking a little worried.

"We do not welcome Gryffindors at our practice session," Jason growled.

"Relax, Jas. Lupin is not on Gryffindors' Quidditch team," she said impatiently.

"He hangs around with the Gryffindor chasers."

"He's not here to spy. He's my boyfriend and he's here to see me!" Natasha glared at her captain. "I've done my warm-ups anyway. I'll be back when everyone's ready to begin." She grabbed Remus' hand and made for the stands.

"Have I done anything wrong?" Remus asked as soon as they were alone.

"It's not you," she brushed off his question. "I need you to do something for me."

"Sure."

She smiled. "You've agreed! Great! I need you to ask that friend of yours to leave my friend alone."

"You're referring to Sirius?"

"Who else?" she hissed. "Tell him to stop bothering Kathleen."

"He's just coaching her in trans -"

"No! He has a hidden motive! I know that he's just making a fool out of her and I'll not tolerate that!"

"Natasha -"

"You'll do it, won't you?"

"Kathleen is old enough to -"

"You promised! You said you'd help me!"

Remus sighed. "Alright. I'll speak to him. But I can't guarantee that Sirius will listen to me."

"Excellent!" She beamed at him and kissed his left cheek. "Now get away from the pitch before Jason accuses you of spying again."

"I can't watch you?" he asked innocently.

She looked as though she was about to protest but changed her mind. "Alright. We're not practicing any special moves anyway. I'll handle Jason."

He grinned. "Sounds good."

*

Remus chose a seat in one of the highest stands where he could enjoy a clear view of all the action on the Quidditch pitch. About ten minutes after the Slytherins' practice session started, he heard the voices he had been waiting for.

"Psst, Moony!" It was Peter's voice, coming from his right.

"Nice going with Natasha." The low voice came from James this time. "My cloak can barely accommodate the two of us."

Remus was careful to keep his face facing the front instead of turning to his friends. "I have the best view, thanks to her. Are you sure you guys can see clearly?"

"We'll manage," James replied grumpily as he peered at the action going on in the air.

*

Natasha exchanged puzzled looks with Kathleen, after hitting away a Bludger. Something, or rather someone, was definitely different.

They watched as Ted threw the Quaffle past the hoop for the second time.

"Reeds! Over here!" Jason shouted when Ted got hold of a Quaffle again.

Ted flashed his captain a lopsided smirk before tucking the Quaffle securely under his arm and sped towards Ken Follett, the Slytherin Keeper. Before Ken could react, Ted had slammed another Quaffle past the middle hoop.

"Wow, Ted! You're really on the roll today!" Charlotte Radford, Slytherin's third chaser, shouted encouragingly twenty feet away.

Ted gave Charlottee the thumbs-up sign and zoomed towards Kathleen. "How did I do?" he asked the dark-haired Beater.

"You were fabulous!"

"I think I agree with you, Katie!" He laughed and sped away, throwing her a sly wink over his shoulder.

"Was Ted Reeds hitting on you?" Natasha asked as she reached Kathleen's side. Disapproval was written all over her face.

Kathleen shook her head. Something that Ted said bothered her. Did he just call her Katie? Only one other person had addressed her by that name...

*

Natasha, Kathleen and Dominic soon found it impossible to concentrate on their Bludgers and Snitch. Their eyes were all glued to the tussle between Jason and Ted for the Quaffle. Charlotte was hovering near them, unsure as to what to do, while Ken was obviously exhausted from trying to block twice the number of Quaffles than usual. It was clear that Jason was becoming increasingly agitated as Ted scored his fifteenth goal. He began to shout instructions to Ted who did not seem to register a word he said.

Twenty minutes later, Jason called the practice to a premature halt. "Reeds! Come with me!" he yelled as he zoomed to the ground.

Ted followed, with a wide grin on his face.

"Didn't you hear me when I said to pass the Quaffle to me?" Jason practically shouted at his fellow Chaser.

"I heard you loud and clear, Jason," Ted replied, his grin still intact. "I just thought since I was nearer the hoops, I could try my luck."

"Try your luck?" Jason bellowed. "I've told you so many times! The way to score is to pass the Quaffle to me! What if you missed! You'd better be glad that this is only a practice session! If this is a real match, you'll be doing Slytherin a great dis-"

"I scored thirty-three goals. If I've not miscounted, you scored only twenty-five," Ted interjected calmly.

"How dare you!" Jason fumed. His face was red from anger.

"Do you know that you behave like a girl when you get all upset?" Ted commented loudly, and the rest of the Slytherin team listening to their conversation snickered.

"Way to go!" Natasha whispered to Ted as they made their way back to the broomshed.

*

"Stop laughing, Prongs! You two have to get to Ted Reeds now," Remus told his friends.

"I'm laughing so hard that it hurts!" James said, clenching his sides from underneath the cloak.

"Get going!" Remus urged again. His mouth was sore from being stretched from side to side.

"I'll check on Padfoot after I say goodbye to Natasha."

"Don't take too long. Padfoot needs his robes," Peter reminded.

"I'll be quick," Remus promised. "Be careful!"

*

Remus and Sirius joined James and Peter in their dormitory about half-an-hour later.

"Our handsome Mr Black is back!" James exclaimed as soon as he saw Sirius.

"Yeah," Sirius flashed him a charming smile. "It was a big sacrifice to look like Reeds for an hour."

"It was a good thing Lindow ended the session early today," said Remus. "The Polyjuice Potion was wearing out by the time I met him behind the locker room."

"I was about to feign a bad stomachache," Sirius admitted.

"You played very well, Padfoot! You really put Lindow to shame!" Peter said in awe.

Sirius chuckled. "Are you two sure you did the memory charm correctly?" He directed the question at both James and Peter, although he knew that James did most of the work anyway.

"Don't worry. Reeds will just remember leaving the Great Hall feeling extremely tired. I've modified his memory and added some extra stuff too. He'll 'recall' parts of what took place at today's practice, so he'll actually think he did what you did."

Remus chuckled. "He'll definitely be in shock when he's conscious."

"Reeds slept all the way through the practice session and we left him in an empty classroom. Your relaxant pill really worked!" Peter told James.

"We have Moony to thank for that. He did the research while I took care of the concoction," James said in one of his rare instances of modesty.

"Don't I deserve some credit too? It wasn't easy to steal the ingredients for the pill and Polyjuice Potion!" Sirius added.

"Alright, we'll save some credit for you and my invisibility cloak," James quipped.

Peter watched his friends in silence. He knew that he would never be as brilliant as his friends. He was resigned to being the odd one out. Or was he? One day, he would surprise them with what he could do. He just had to find out how.

*

Kathleen waited nervously in the empty classroom. It was already ten minutes past eight in the evening and Sirius was nowhere in sight. Could he have forgotten about the lesson he promised to give her? She mentally shook herself. He couldn't have forgotten. In fact, he had reminded her to bring along her pet only this morning.

Kathleen absently stroked the Persian cat and it purred contentedly. She almost jumped out of her seat with joy and relief when Sirius sauntered in fifteen minutes after eight.

"Hi, Sirius!" She grinned idiotically at him.

"That's your pet?" He peered at her cat that was curled into an orange ball of fur.

"He's Sambal. He's a really sweet -" She stopped in mid-sentence when her cat took a swipe at Sirius, narrowing missing his left eye. It was fortunate that he was quick on his feet - that was the only reason he still had his eyeball intact.

Sirius stared menacingly at the cat, promising himself that he would have his revenge very soon. He reached into his robes and brought out his wand and a small object, the size of a pea. He placed them on the table, mumbled some incantation and the object soon enlarged into a big empty box.

Kathleen was in awe with the ease and grace that Sirius displayed.

"Get your cat into the box," he instructed and she hurried to follow his command.

"Vellus!" he said lazily, pointing his wand at Sambal. A bright blue light was seen and all that remained in the box was a ball of wool.

She gasped. "Sambal!"

"Don't worry. Your cat is still alive." He mumbled another incantation and the wool transformed into the cat again.

"Wow! That's cool!" she cried, impressed.

"Give it a try," he urged.

"Can I choose something else?" she asked as she felt a pang of guilt when her cat looked at her reproachful eyes.

"Sure! Try 'Putidus Hippurus'."

"What's that?"

"Just try it," he insisted, a small smile playing on his lips.

"I'm sorry," Kathleen told her cat helplessly as she pointed her wand at it, and uttered the spell.

Nothing happened.

"Do it one more time," he directed.

She drew in a deep breath and tried again.

"I'm no good at this," she said dejectedly when her cat blinked back at her.

"Try this," Sirius said as he got hold of her right hand and flicked it. "Got it?"

"No," Kathleen stared at him numbly. She hid her smile as Sirius held her hand again.

"At the count of three, say the incarnation. One...two...three!" He flicked her hand just as she uttered the words.

She peered into the box and saw...

"Sirius!" She turned around sharply and glared at him.

"You did it," he pointed out sheepishly.

"You've turned my cat into a rotting fish!"

"I wasn't the one who held the wand and cast the spell."

"But...rotting fish? Couldn't you have chosen something better?"

"Like a pile of dung?" he gloated. "I almost chose that, but I decided to be kind."

"Whatever." She could feel a reluctant grin creeping into her face. "Help me change Sambal back to his original form?"

He shook his head slowly. "Sorry, Katie dear. You're on your own."

"What? But I don't know how! Please, Sirius?"

He flicked his wand, mumbled something under his breath, and Sambal was back in its original form. The cat started clawing at the box frantically, in an attempt to get out.

He looked at the animal regretfully. "He looks better just now."

Kathleen immediately grabbed her cat and nestled it against her chin. "Can we practice with something else other than Sambal?"

"Don't worry. He'll get used to the trauma in no time."

"No, Sirius. Not Sambal."

"Alright then," the Gryffindor said, looking like a dog that had just lost his bone. He was having fun with the cat. "You can borrow some animals from McGonagall for our lesson tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? You mean you'll give me another lesson?"

"Sure," he shrugged. "I've got to make sure you get that right. It'll spoil my reputation if word gets around that my first student doesn't make any progress."

"Sorry," she said quietly, looking down. "I'm useless at transfiguration."

"We'll get you there somehow," he replied confidently as he rose to his feet and stretched lazily. "Let's call it a day."

"Sirius?" she said in a small voice.

"Yes?"

To his surprise, she threw her arms around his neck and gave him a quick hug. "Thanks for everything."

Sirius was about to give some witty comeback when the door suddenly closed with a loud bang, startling both of them.

"Who's there?" he yelled. There was no reply. He rushed to the door, yanked it open, and peered into the corridor. It was empty and the air was eerily still.

Kathleen came up behind him. "I didn't see anyone."

"These doors don't slam by themselves. As far as I know, they're not bewitched."

"Perhaps it was Peeves or one of the other resident ghosts?"

"Maybe," he replied doubtfully, casting an eye over the dark corridor again.

*

Natasha was furiously pacing around her dormitory, letting loose a string of angry words.

"Who has the audacity to offend our Ms Strauss this time?" Tessa asked.

Natasha did not seem to have heard her. "Silly Kate! I have to knock some sense into her," she muttered under her breath.

"It's Kate who made you angry?" Pamela could hardly believe her ears.

Natasha bit her tongue. She had been careless and said too much. It was also foolish to slam the classroom door. She was simply too upset to remember to be cautious.

"I'll be in the common room," Natasha announced before slamming her second door in the last fifteen minutes.

***