Chapter 114: Turning Points (1)

Catherine McMahon dashed towards the solid wall dividing platforms 9 and 10 at King's Cross Station, her heart pounding. Instinctively, she shut her eyes as she passed through the concealed passage, pushing her heavy trolley loaded with her suitcase, broom, Orion's cage, and Nyx's travel carrier.

The young witch stopped, attempting to catch her breath and opened her jade-green eyes to see Platform 9¾ already busting with students and their parents, crowded around the scarlet steam engine which was billowing white smoke. Amidst the chatter, she caught snippets of excited conversations about the upcoming school year.

"I hope Dumbledore doesn't cancel Quidditch this year! It was so unfair! How was it our fault Gryffindors and Slytherins behaved like a hoard of Graphorns in heat?!"

"Did you hear they're adding new tasks to the OWL exams?"

"I can't wait to go to Hogsmeade! I saved up all my allowance during the summer!"

"Isn't that Duke McMahon with his wife and son? Merlin, they look picture-perfect!"

"Lord McMahon has been appointed a Prefect! No surprise, he excels in everything!"

"Do you think I can introduce myself?"

Ignoring the talk about her family, Catherine navigated her trolley through the crowd, biting her cheek in frustration. After three full years of being Catherine Plantier, she still felt a sting of humiliation by the sheer unfairness of hiding who she really was as if she had committed a crime by being born.

'I guess it could have been worse.' – she consoled herself, thinking about the poor Erin – 'At least I'm still sane and in control of myself.'

That control, however, was swiftly taken away from the young witch as she found herself being scooped off the ground and swirled around.

"Ouch, Sirius, put me down! I'm getting dizzy!" – Catherine cried out, trying to break free from his embrace.

"I'm just happy to see you, Flame!" – he grinned, finally releasing her.

"You saw me two weeks ago. It hasn't been that long." – the young witch retorted dryly, but she almost stumbled when Sirius suddenly buried his face in the nape of her neck – "What are you doing?"

"A little show for my mother." – he whispered, his breath sending tingles down Catherine's spine – "Is she watching?"

The girl glanced behind the wizard's back and saw his mother, with whom she had a pretty nasty encounter during her first time taking the Hogwarts Express, standing about 20 paces away, accompanied by Sirius's brother, Regulus. Walburga Black was dressed all in dark silk robes, adorned with an absurd amount of silver and onyx jewellery. She held her head high, clearly displaying her disdain for most people on the platform. Her cold black eyes were fixed on her older son and Catherine with a distinct expression of disgust and anger. The young witch thought that if they were alone, Mrs. Black would certainly attempt to hex her head off.

The girl roughly shoved her housemate away from her, completely irritated by his innocent smile and the twinkle in his grey eyes. "I distinctly remember telling you the first time we met that I didn't want to partake in whatever twisted relationship you had with your mother!"

"But, Flame, some opportunities are so damn perfect you can't miss them!" – Sirius complained with a wicked grin, following his friend who was angrily pushing her luggage towards the train, still feeling Walburga's murderous stare at her back – "Don't be mad and slow down with the trolley, would ya? You're zooming so fast, you might accidentally knock someone over. At this point you're not even seeing where you are going!"

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of my own stuff!" – Catherine snapped, giving the trolley a sharp push – "Believe it or not, I'm very much aware of where I'm going. You may think that…"

What Sirius was accused of thinking remained unspoken because at that moment, the young witch's trolley bumped into another one, causing a collision. The end result was Nyx's carrier landing on the ground, accompanied by sharp hissing noises from the unhappy Kneazle, as well as the other person's heavy and battered suitcase falling over.

"Can't even wait to get on the train before starting the attacks against me!" – Severus Snape murmured angrily as he tried to collect his belongings and place them back inside the old suitcase.

"Don't flatter yourself, I didn't even see it was you." – Catherine replied icily, attempting to soothe her pet, which resulted in a few painful scratches that worsened her already sour mood – "Although, it's odd I haven't smelled you. Did you take a shower to commemorate the beginning of the school year?"

Sirius burst into laughter, while ugly red spots appeared on Snape's sickly pale face. He reached inside the pocket of the worn-out black jacket, made of something that might resemble leather, but it most certainly was not. Catherine jumped back, still holding the carrier, painfully aware that her wand was inside her luggage, and she would never reach it in time.

"Severus, please, don't make a scene!" – the wary voice of a tiny, badly-dressed woman interrupted the tense atmosphere.

Snape flinched visibly and glanced at the woman with frustration. He murmured something under his breath that sounded like 'doormat like you' and swiftly turned his attention back to fixing his suitcase and loading it onto the trolley. Catherine decided to accept the stalemate and move on. She nodded to Sirius, who immediately understood and took over pushing her trolley, while she hummed gently to the still angry Nyx. As they were leaving, Catherine caught another glimpse of the woman who was supposed to be Snape's mother. She looked much older than she should have been, but most of all, she appeared defeated and apathetic. Their gaze met for a second, and Catherine was taken aback by a strange feeling of familiarity when she stared into what could only be described as violet eyes, belonging to Mrs. Snape.

The girl shook her head as they moved closer to the train, trying to clear her buzzing mind. 'That's what I call a good start of the year. I haven't even gotten onto the train and narrowly avoided being hexed twice!' – she thought, as she quickly searched through her luggage for her wand.

***

Duke Edward McMahon's face was frozen in a perfectly rehearsed polite smile. He and Louisa needed to appear happy and relaxed as they sent their son to Hogwarts. The wizard could feel many eyes watching their every movement, although most of them due to simple curiosity. Most men around were arguably much more interested in his wife, which filled the Duke with annoyance that was hard to conceal. He was forced to greet a few Ministry officials who went out of their way to show he knew who they were.

His attention, however, was fixed on the lanky teenage girl with short black hair, clad in Muggle jeans and a t-shirt, pushing her heavy luggage with grim determination. Edward noticed the appearance of the handsome boy who seemed a bit too familiar with touching his daughter. 'That must be Sirius Black.' – he thought in an attempt to be reasonable. After all, he was aware that Catherine had four very close male friends, and he was not the type to make a big deal out of this like some old-fashioned prude. What bothered him more was the gaze of the witch, who looked as though she had stepped out of the pages of Hansel and Gretel, fixed upon his baby girl. She must have been Sirius' mother, and he had heard enough about the Black family to be certain she was willing to do anything to preserve their alleged pure-blood status.

'That's what we need – defending Catherine from a crazy hag who disapproves of her son's friends!' – thought the Duke warily, lifting his head just in time to see the collision between Catherine and Snape.

To say that Edward was surprised by his daughter's reaction was an understatement. She had always been a bit sarcastic, a trait he often saw as a defence mechanism. However, the way she spoke to that poor black-haired boy was unacceptable and, in his eyes, cruel. Suppressing his initial parental instinct to correct her behaviour, he reminded himself that he wasn't supposed to know Catherine Plantier, and there was no plausible reason for him to intervene. Therefore, he hesitantly turned his back on the arguing teenagers and followed Louisa closer to the train to bid farewell to their son.

When the Hogwarts Express disappeared in the distance, the Duke offered Louisa his hand, and they headed towards the exit of the platform.

"It's still early. How about brunch at The Ritz, my nymph?" – the wizard suggested, gently brushing aside a strand of Louisa's golden hair that had fallen in front of her eyes.

"You're spoiling me, mon amour!" – the Duchess answered with a girlish smile she kept especially for him. Caught in the moment, Edward draped his arm around her waist and pulled her towards him, inhaling the sweet scent of jasmine that was radiating from his wife. He kissed her hungrily, thinking for a millionth time that he could never get enough from this enchantress whose lips were more vital to him than the air he breathed.

When he finally broke the kiss, they found themselves nearly alone on the platform. Grinning at Louisa's flushed face, the Duke took her hand. As they approached the barrier, they coincided with a scrawny, petite woman in a black dress that seemed to have been washed one too many times, giving it a brownish hue. Her black hair was pulled back into a bun, accentuating her thin, angular face. The woman appeared anxious, almost skittish, as if she were afraid of them. Edward felt a pang of pity. She seemed to embody misery itself.

"After you, Madame!" – the Duke smiled politely, taking a step back to allow the witch to move through the barrier first.

She looked at him with disbelief, as if she had forgotten what was for anyone to speak kindly to her. She immediately lowered her gaze again and executed a practiced curtsy with surprising elegance.

"Thank you, Your Grace." – she said with trembling voice and dashed through the wall.

Edward felt very strange after that brief encounter. By the time Louisa and he reached King's Cross Station, the woman had disappeared. He kept thinking about the unusual meeting even when they sat in the calm luxury of The Ritz, their table covered with assortment of gourmet dishes.

"Edward McMahon!" – the Duchess' voice finally broke through his reverie, her displeasure evident on her face.

"I'm sorry, my love, what were you saying?" – he asked apologetically.

"I offered you more macarons, but seeing you haven't touched your food, I assume you're not interested." – Louisa said, visibly annoyed – "Why invite me for brunch if you won't even listen? What have you been pondering for the last two hours?"

"That woman we bumped into when we were heading back to King's Cross." – the Duke admitted honestly.

"I must say, it's rare for someone with Veela blood to hear their partner's thinking about another woman." – smirked the Duchess – "What's even there to think about?"

"You know it's not like that, my nymph." – Edward replied, shaking his head – "There's just something about her that bothers me, but I can't quite grasp it."

"Well, she did seem like someone who had led a difficult life." – Louisa shrugged, taking a sip from her chilled glass of orange juice – "I've seldom seen anyone who looked twice their age—nothing but skin and bones. The only beautiful feature was her eyes, although those eyebrows were quite atrocious!"

Edward sighed audibly. Sometimes his wife was brutally honest in her assessments, but in this instance, she was spot-on. This realisation made the Duke feel even more empathetic towards the unknown witch. Perhaps he could have shown more kindness, asked her how she was feeling, or offered some assistance, just to see those violet eyes light up for a moment.

Something clicked in the Duke's mind. A long-forgotten memory from his school days suddenly resurfaced. The man vividly recalled himself and Carsilion as teenagers full of confidence, ready to turn the Academy upside down just because they could. He remembered them being in detention for creating a water monster during Charms class, using their elemental magic, and directing it towards Adrian Borealis. Their intention had been for the shapeless bulb of liquid to engulf the young wizard and soak him to the bone with ice-cold water as it disintegrated. Consequently, the two friends had been punished to scrub the marble stairs of the main building with Muggle toothbrushes. That didn't discourage them one bit, and they were still chuckling and joking around when Duke Prince arrived, accompanied by a black-haired girl around their age.

"I see you're using your talents to the fullest." – the Duke mocked Carsilion, who turned bright red. It was a pretty regular exchange between them being a Master of Air, as they called their respective elemental instructors, and his student.

"It was worth it!" – Edward shrugged.

"Lord McMahon, I'm still trying to determine if you're a bad influence on Carsilion or if it's the other way around!" – Alexander Prince remarked with a smirk – "By all means, keep scrubbing. Let's go, Eileen!"

The girl had glanced at the boys, smiling shyly as they grinned back. Compared to the pitiful witch on the station, she had been much younger, her face fresh and full, appearing healthy, despite her pale complexion, but the eyes – there was no mistake. They had the unique look of the House Prince about them.

"I need to send Carter an owl!" – Edward announced, quickly rising to his feet and darting out of the hall, leaving the astonished waiters behind.

'No wonder people say you're more Carsilion's husband than mine.' – Louisa thought with an amused smile, shaking her head.