Payback Is A Witch

Payback Is A Witch

"Sirius Black is so dead."

Lily had to make an effort not to laugh out loud at the sight of her best friend sitting on the floor in the middle of their dorm room. Cat's plain brown hair was usually kept at shoulder length and either tucked behind her ears or worn in a small ponytail. At the moment, however, her hairstyle was more similar to a haystack and it shone in a very bright blue colour, about the same shade as her eyes.

"What did you do to him this time?" asked Laura Swann, the third girl to inhabit the sixth year girls' dormitory.

"Just as usual, I didn't do anything. He'd never miss a chance to annoy me, that's all. "

Lily refrained from airing her opinion that the everlasting Cat - Sirius fight was hardly a one-way problem. Instead she went to inspect the damage done to her friend's hair. It was very blue indeed. After trying a variety of different counter charms, she had accomplished nothing but causing Cat's temper to become even worse.

"It's probably a timed charm. It'll wear off."

"Yeah, sure. When?"

"No idea. Madam Pomfrey must be able to fix it."

Cat was glaring daggers at her.

"And admit that I let Sirius Black get the better of me? Never in my sorry life! Let's just pretend nothing has happened. You two can keep your faces straight, okay?"

Lily sighed heavily and Laura rolled her eyes behind Cat's back.

"Sure," said Lily.

"We've got enough practice by now," agreed Laura.

"We won't participate in any kind of revenge, though."

"Yeah. We'll leave the childish pranks to the two of you."

"You really have a lot in common."

"Like the ability to behave like a pair of first years."

During the routine rebuke, Cat had managed to tame the worst of the wild tousle on her head with the help of a scarf and a couple of hairpins. She had the Very Determined Look on her face, an expression that both Lily and Laura had learnt to recognize. It usually meant that their friend would refuse to listen to anything sensible, that Sirius Black was about to get hexed, and that the two troublemakers would end up in detention.

"I swear I'll get that little prat once and for all."

Lily sighed again. This routine had begun to get old more than five years ago and both she and Laura were dead tired of it. Laura, however, made a last desperate attempt to reason with Cat.

"Please don't! You know what McGonagall said about you and Sirius and detentions and Quidditch and this is the last chance we have to get to the final. We need you!"

Cat turned around with a dangerous smile. The blue hair was actually quite flattering once you got used to it; it helped to bring out her sapphire blue eyes even more.

"Who said anything about detentions?"

Lily and Laura exchanged a knowing look. Some people never learned.

"Cat, you have tried to get back at Sirius how many times? Can you name one that didn't end up with detention?" asked Laura. She sounded like she was trying to reason with a five year old, a quite accurate comparison. "You're not sane when it comes to Sirius, you know it!"

Cat just kept smiling.

"I won't get detention this time. Come on, we're late for dinner."

Laura rolled her eyes again, but refrained from saying anything.

"By the way, let's sit with Diana at the Ravenclaw table tonight. I don't want him laughing at me while I'm eating."

Meanwhile, a quite similar discussion was going on at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. The four Marauders ate their meatloaf and potatoes while Sirius tried to convince James that his newest prank had been a great success.

"Come on, Prongs. Did you see the look on her face? It was dead funny!"

"Oh, I bet it was, but did you really have to go and piss her off right now? The Slytherin game is next weekend, and you haven't even started to get that Dopplebeater Defence down yet!"

Sirius took this in, and suddenly realized the consequences of his actions. He shrugged with a somewhat foolish expression.

"OK, it might have been a bad time. But it's alright, I'll just let her have her little revenge and everything will be fine again."

"Aren't you forgetting something now?" Peter asked and grabbed another bread roll. "Remember McGonagall after your last stunt?"

"Exactly! 'If you two get one more detention this year, I swear I will take you off the team'!" James was getting all worked up. "Do you realize what you just did? By the look Cat had on her face, you're going to get the mother of all detentions, and we'll loose our prize Beaters one week before the most important match of the year!" James was red in the face by now, and the horrible prospects began to dawn for Sirius. He tried desperately to smooth it over.

"And why do we have to get detention?"

"Because you always do! You make her angry and she wants revenge and it always gets out of hand and it has been exactly the same since first year and I'm tired of it!"

By now, several heads in the Great Hall were turned toward the Marauders, and Remus tried to get his friends to notice the fact that they were making fools of themselves in public. Not that this was anything new of course. However, Sirius was now sulking, James was too angry to listen, and Peter refused to take sides as usual.

"You better set this right, Padfoot. Without getting detention." James had said his last words in the matter and returned to his meal, leaving Sirius with an unhappy expression. Both of them hated to fight, but Sirius disliked being on his best friend's bad side with an almost desperate fear. If James was angry with him, then Sirius would make it right and this was something both boys knew, even if James usually refrained from using it as a way to get his will through. However, this was unusual circumstances. The Gryffindor Quidditch pride was at stake, and it would be defended by any means necessary.

Remus knew what would come, even before Sirius turned to face him with pleading eyes. He also knew that he would agree, even if it would be reluctantly. Didn't he always?

"Moony, can you please talk to her? She listens to you. Please?"

Remus ignored him. If I'm going to do this, he'll at least have to beg first.

"Moony? I'll do your Potions homework for a month. Pretty please with sugar on top?"

"It never crossed your mind that she might listen to you too if you stopped making fun of her?"

"Well, she started it. Look, Moony I don't know what to say to her, but she likes you. Can't you at least tell her I'm sorry?"

"Are you?"

"Of course I'm sorry. I mean, I never meant for it to go this far. It was just a joke, that's all. Please?"

Remus sighed. Sirius had managed to turn the sad puppy face into a delicate art. "All right. I'll talk to her. But this is the last time. You two need to sort out your relationship."

"We don't have a relationship."

There was a clearly audible "Hmpf" from Peter as he stretched out to grab his third bread roll and continued to spread a thick layer of butter on it.

"Whatever. I'll talk to her. That is, if she ever decides to come out of her dorm again..."

That was all Remus managed to say before the heads that earlier had been turned to listen to James' and Sirius' argument now changed their attention to the doorway where Cat appeared closely followed by Lily and Laura. Amused whispers started to spread around the room as the students observed Cat's new hairstyle. The girls didn't seem to notice this, or they just ignored it while they made their way past the Gryffindor table and went to sit with some of their Ravenclaw friends. Sirius poked Remus' side and whispered:

"There she is. Go talk to her!"

He rose from his place with a sigh and turned to Sirius one more time.

"The last time, I swear. In the future you'll take care of your own problems."

Remus approached the Ravenclaw table where he could spot Cat's bright blue head, though her hair was considerably smoothed down now and held in place with a black silk scarf. The girls sat next to Diana Perkins. Remus nodded politely at her and got a wide smile back, which caused his ears to feel slightly hot. Diana was a pretty girl, something he had begun to notice this year.

"Kitten? Can I have a word?"

Cat smiled as well and patted the empty place beside her on the bench. "Sure, take a seat."

Remus sat down and found himself face to face with Diana. She was very pretty indeed, with dark blond hair and grey eyes behind frameless reading glasses. He managed to turn his blushing face away from her and to an amused-looking Cat.

"Sirius wanted me to say he's sorry."

"Oh? And he couldn't be bothered to tell me himself?"

"Eh... Obviously not. You know how he can get. By the way, James is worried about the Slytherin match..."

"And he's not the only one!" interrupted Laura, the Gryffindor seeker. Remus coughed and continued.

"As I said, James is worried about Quidditch, so Padfoot has got his fair share of scolding, believe me."

Cat lowered her voice to a whisper and made an angry gesture at her hair.

"You really think I'm going to let him get away with this? Tell James not to worry, I won't get detention."

Remus raised an eyebrow at her. How many times exactly had she uttered those words? Cat smiled and helped herself to some more potatoes.

"Trust me, I have everything planned."

Laura put her head in her hands and let out a dejected sigh.

"Goodbye, Quidditch cup."

Two days later, Cat's hair was back at its usual brown colour, and Sirius was beginning to relax. She had not tried to hex him, his belongings were all where they were supposed to be (or at least safely in the boys' dormitory), and she was even speaking to him in a civil manner. He actually found it all quite pleasant. Cat was fun to talk to when she wasn't after his head, and since her friendly behaviour seemed to continue through the week, Sirius decided to forget Remus' warnings about her planning something.

The Slytherin game approached, as well as the full moon. The team was practicing Quidditch during all of their time off. James did his best to push them to a new level. Laura exclaimed after an especially successful exercise: "Those Slytherins will be toast!" James had set up a dozen new tactics for them, and they were all polished into perfection. Much of this was thanks to Cat who spent hours with his models and parchments when he was finished, making comments and suggestions.

When they got back into the dorms in the evenings, tired and dirty, James and Sirius, together with the other Marauders, had their hands full with the planning of the adventures that awaited them on the full moon. The match would take place on Saturday, and the Marauders planned to sneak off from the celebrating party (no one doubted that there would be a party) to investigate the eastern part of the Forbidden Forrest.

The girls were equally busy, Lily with studies, Laura with Quidditch reading, and Cat with a variety of suspect Charms texts and Transfiguration books. When her friends asked what she was up to, her only answer was a cocksure smile and a cryptic remark about dog training. Laura had eventually managed to make her promise not to do anything until after the match, but with the diligence Cat was showing, her revenge promised to be spectacular. "I won't get detention", was everything she would say.

"Will Sirius?" asked Lily one evening. Cat just kept smiling, her sapphire blue eyes gleaming secretively.

"Not very likely."

The big day had arrived, and James was giving his trademark pep talk in the changing room before the match. The fact that everyone on the team knew his speeches by heart after almost three years didn't matter much, they still cheered excitedly when he finished. Equipment straps were fastened, there was a last inspection of the brooms, and some back pounding among the male members of the team before it was time to go out to the pitch. Finally James picked up his broom and turned to the other players for some encouragements in the last minute.

"Alright, everyone ready? Sirius, Cat, you know the rules?"

"Let us win, but if we cannot win, let us break a few heads!" exclaimed Sirius in high spirits and pounded James extra hard on the back, causing him to wince slightly.

"I'd rather win."

"Of course we'll win, Cat. It's just a set phrase."

"Oh, I thought it was the motto of your life," said Cat with a teasing smile at her Beater colleague, but surprisingly enough she left the topic there. Usually, a comment like that from Sirius would lead to a heated discussion about Falmouth Falcons and Montrose Magpies. It had finally gone so far that it now was an unwritten rule among the other members on the team not to mention anything about British Quidditch teams in general, and especially not the Falcons or the Magpies when Sirius and Cat were around. It wasn't worth the trouble. But both of them had been unusually calm and civil these last days, thought James. There hadn't been a real row since last Saturday when the Blue Hair Incident had occurred. Not that he was complaining of course. He'd rather have the couple kicking Slytherin butt than fighting between themselves in any case. Quickly, before they decided to resume the usual quarrel, he ran towards the door and announced that it was time to go. The team followed him, shouting wild battle cries, and the Gryffindor - Slytherin match of the year was about to start.

"Potter has the Quaffle, flying towards the Slytherin goalposts... watch up for that Blu... oh, it's okay! Another Bludger diverted by Davis and Black; they have really gotten the hang of that Dopplebeater Defence... And Potter scores! Another ten points for Gryffindor!"

The audience roared and Lily, Remus, and Peter jumped and screamed like maniacs in the Gryffindor stand. The match had been going on for little more than an hour, and the Slytherin players were completely outclassed. All the practice during the week had shown results. The Chasers zigzagged across the pitch like arrows in red and gold, and Cat and Sirius really showed their best side, putting up a big performance for the delighted audience. Over all the disorder hovered Laura, gazing out over the game, searching for the golden Snitch. Suddenly, she dived, in a long elegant curve that caused the Hufflepuff commentator to shout even louder.

"Swann dives! She has spotted the Snitch! Slytherin Beater Mulciber strikes a Bludger at her, but Black is in position, excellent hit there, Sirius! Where is the Slytherin seeker? There he is, following Swann, but he is way too late, and the Gryffindor seeker has the Snitch! Gryffindor wins against Slytherin with 230 points to 50!"

Sirius landed on the pitch next to Laura who held the Snitch high up in the air so everyone could see. They had won! A moment later, the rest of the team had landed as well, and there were a lot of hugs and backslapping. Sirius suddenly found himself with his arms full of a very happy Cat, and for a few seconds he thought he felt a vague tingle in his spine. The next moment, she was gone from his embrace, and he tried to shake away the strange feeling. You're just imagining things, Black. Cat was off to hug Lily, who had made it down to the pitch to congratulate her friends, closely followed by Remus and Peter and the rest of their Gryffindor housemates. The moment was soon forgotten, even if Sirius was beginning to get really confused about Cat and the general mystery that was girls.

"Celebration party!" shouted the Gryffindor Keeper, Jonathan Torres, a massive seventh year boy who had been on the team for six years straight. His exclamation was met with massive approval from the rest of his housemates, and they all helped to carry the team away from the pitch and up to the Gryffindor Tower to start the celebrations.

The party was at full speed when Remus silently left for the Hospital Wing to meet up with Madam Pomfrey who would follow him to the tunnel under the Whomping Willow as usual. His fellow Marauders sneaked away about half an hour later under James' invisibility cloak. They were quite certain that they wouldn't be missed, and if they were, they trusted Cat to cover up for them. She might not have been happy when she had found out about their Animagi transformation, but she wouldn't tell on them. Cat was willing to accept anything that could make the full moon nights easier for Remus, even if it also happened to be very illegal. It didn't stop her from telling them off repeatedly for getting into trouble, of course.

The three companions watched from a short distance while Madam Pomfrey left the Willow and waited for her to get back inside the castle before they stole forward towards the furiously whipping tree. Once the boys got in reach of the branches, Peter transformed into his Animagus form and slipped in between them to prod the knot at the tree trunk. The Willow calmed down immediately and allowed them to enter the tunnel that lead to the Shrieking Shack where Remus was supposed to spend the night.

Remus sat on the torn bed in one of the Shack's bedrooms when they arrived. His temples and forehead were already sweaty, and he trembled occasionally as the moon's influence began to draw out the Wolf. For a long time, Remus had not allowed them to be in the room right before his transformation. He was ashamed by the thought that his friends would see him like this, an inhuman creature with no control over himself. He had, however, underestimated the stubbornness of Sirius Black, and now he was secretly grateful for the comfort his friends could offer. Sirius was now sitting beside him on the bed with an arm around his shoulders as the violent cramps shook Remus' body. James sat on the floor in front of them, watching with a concerned grimace, while Peter kept a little distance. Remus couldn't blame him; he was grateful enough that Peter actually chose to be there every full moon, despite the small boy's insecurity. It took a lot of courage to do something like that, to risk his own life to help a monster, a werewolf. But Peter Pettigrew was a Gryffindor after all. Courage was part of his personality, maybe even more than the other Marauders', since Peter had to force himself do the things his friends launched into without a second thought.

Remus shuddered again and braced himself for the splitting pain that was about to come any second now.

"It's starting. Go and change, now!"

The other boys left without a word and closed the door behind them. This part of the full moon nights never seemed to get any easier. There could be no worse feeling of helplessness than this, to stand on the other side of the massive oak door and listen to the moans and muffled cries of their friend, suffering from the terrible agony his transformations brought. He always tries so hard not to scream.

"Okay, let's change." Peter was first, and James followed close after, while Sirius always was the last to transform into his Animagus form. The way his mind felt simpler and his worries seemed to disappear when he changed made him uneasy, especially as he could still hear Remus' pain from the tattered bedroom. It wasn't fair that Sirius himself could transform so easy, without any hurt. Hence, he always waited until the very last moment before changing into Padfoot. There was a moment of silence from behind the door, and then the Wolf let out a mournful howl. Sirius concentrated on the image of Padfoot he kept in his mind and felt his body change into the huge black dog. Only... something was wrong. He could tell from Prong's and Wormtail's looks. They were standing there, just staring at him with dumbfounded expressions.

The door to the bedroom opened and the Wolf lashed out, confused about the human scent that had been there just a moment ago, but now wasn't there anymore. Padfoot steadied himself, prepared to take on the attack, but it never came. Moony had stopped in the middle of his jump with a similar expression to that of the stag and the rat. It was then Padfoot looked down at himself and saw, not a pair of black paws, but a pair of bright green ones. Green? Green feet? He glanced back and saw that the rest of his body was covered in green fur as well. Something was very wrong here.

Moony smelled Padfoot thoroughly, and then he let out a short amused bark, quite similar to laughter. The realization came slowly. There really had been a tingle at his spine when Cat hugged him after the Quidditch match. And he wasn't the only one who could cast timed charms. That clever little Auror brat!

The three boys sneaked out of the tunnel just before daybreak and hurried over the grounds under James' invisibility cloak towards the secret door to the kitchens. They managed to get into the castle without being discovered. The House elves were happy to see them and offered an early breakfast in front of the burning fire. James and Peter kept glancing at Sirius while they had their cereal and toast; their friend hadn't said a word since he transformed back, and his expression was somewhere between downright furious and strangely proud.

Eventually, James couldn't hold his tongue anymore and asked with pretended concern:

"Do you feel alright, Padfoot? You look a little green in the face."

Sirius showed no sign of having heard him and Peter continued:

"Is that a bad thing? Green is a beautiful colour after all."

"Well, Wormtail. When you say it like that I'm bound to agree. Green really suits him, doesn't it?"

They were still unable to get any reaction from Sirius and gave up their attempts to tease their friend. Peter yawned and suggested they should go and try to sleep a few hours before going to the Hospital Wing to see Remus. The proposal was generally approved, and the boys managed to sneak into their dorm without running into Filch or Peeves.

When they arrived at the Hospital Wing around noon, Remus was awake and sitting up in his bed with a tray of sandwiches and tea in front of him. At the sight of Sirius, his amber eyes started to gleam despite the dark circles under them. He chuckled as James pulled out a chair and Peter and Sirius took place at the bottom of his bed. Sirius sighed resignedly.

"Just say it, Moony. You won't be happy unless you get to say it."

Remus had to make an effort not to burst into laughter.

"I told you so."

"She planned every detail, didn't she? Even the Quidditch match... she made sure we would win just so that she could cast the spell when I wasn't paying attention."

James nodded with an amused smile. Cat had fooled him as well.

"I thought she was a little bit more absorbed with the training than usual, but I wanted us to win as well so I didn't think about it. She's clever, you have to give her that."

"And no detention, remember? You guys owe me five Galleons!" Peter was almost jumping off the bed. "It's a pity we can't tell Lily and Laura about this."

"A part of the brilliance, Wormtail. This way, no one will know that Sirius have been had but us, and she trusts us to make his life a living hell, which we, of course, will be happy to accomplish", said Remus with a glance at Sirius who was beginning to get really annoyed by now. "And she also knows that Sirius will never be able to top this one..."

Remus was interrupted by Peter, who suddenly started to laugh so hard that he rolled off the bed down to the floor. When he got up again he had a mischievous smile on his face and started the mocking of Sirius that would undoubtedly continue for a very long time.

"Look, Padfoot is just green with envy."

James and Remus were now laughing hard as well, and they couldn't stop until Madam Pomfrey came in and told them to either calm down or leave the Hospital Wing, since Remus needed rest.

James eventually managed to collect himself and wiped the tears from his eyes.

"You know, I think we actually have to name her Honorary Marauder for pulling a stunt like this."

At that, Sirius got his trademarked Plotting Face and uttered the fateful words that always caused his fellow Marauders to wince.

"Catherine Davis is so dead."