Taming the True Fire (HP)

Warning: This chapter could trigger people who encountered bullying behaviour. Read with caution. 

The following week flew by, occupied with tasks like writing an extensive essay on the Medieval Magical Society for Professor Binns, continuing her research on Animagi, and witnessing endless Quidditch strategy discussions among the boys. While their enthusiasm was understandable, with Gryffindor's first match looming less than a month away, Catherine's patience had its limits. Consequently, she chose to spend the majority of her time in the Common Room with Lily and Mary. This change of pace proved delightful as they invested countless hours discussing music, food and what magical creatures Lily wanted to pet. These included popular choices like unicorns, crups, and kneazles, but also dragons which Catherine felt was a little bit overboard even for a Gryffindor. Nevertheless, school life remained quite pleasant until that dreadful Friday afternoon. 

Friday afternoons were free for the Gryffindor second-years, balanced by the Astronomy class they attended in the evening. Catherine had lunch as usual and decided to head to the Library and finish some of her homework, aiming to free up her weekend. Taking one of the many shortcuts in the castle, she walked past the Trophy Room on the third floor. There, loud and angry voices caught her attention, seemingly emanating from the nearby girls' bathroom. Catherine approached the door cautiously, unsure whether she should intervene. 

"Filthy Mudblood, how dare you point a wand against me, a Pure-Blood witch?!" – Catherine heard, recognising the jarring voice of Volumnia Travers from Slytherin, accompanied by muffled screams and brawling sounds.

"I got it, Vinnie!" – sounded another girl's voice, which Catherine suspected was Tullia Parkinson.

"Put her in here." – urged Volumnia, her breath slightly laboured, followed by a door being slammed -probably one of the cabins – "Colloportus." 

"Let me out!" – a third girl screamed, and Catherine realised with horror that it was Lily. She burst into the girls' bathroom, drawing her wand out. 

The two Slytherin girls looked at her surprised, but then Tullia's face melted into a nasty smile.

"Look, Vinnie! Here comes yet another one of them. What a shame that the House of a mighty wizard such as Gryffindor became a Mudblood ghetto." 

"What the hell are you doing?" – asked Catherine, ignoring Tullia's words – "Release Lily this instant!"

"Or what?" – asked Volumnia mockingly – "Black and Potter are not here to protect your ass."

"I don't need anyone to protect me." – hissed Catherine and raised her wand – "I'm not going to repeat myself - release Lily." 

"Catherine!" – Lily's voice came from one of the cabins – "Go find a teacher!" 

"Yeah, Lame, run straight to McGonagall, you little wuss." – laughed Volumnia and moved closer to the door where Catherine was standing. The young witch quickly assessed the situation. Both Slytherin girls were tall and rather sturdy compared to her. Furthermore, she wasn't sure where their wands were. This meant she needed to act quickly if she wanted to disarm both of them. 

"What's the matter? Not so talkative anymore?" – chuckled Tullia and approached Catherine from the other side.

The Gryffindor girl knew she had mere seconds before they attacked her.

"Expelliarmus!" – Catherine shouted, pointing her wand toward Volumnia. The Disarming Charm hit the other girl, straight in the stomach, making her take a few steps back, and her wand flew out of her hand, landing at the back of the bathroom. Catherine turned around, but she was not quick enough because Tullia launched herself at her and managed to wrestle the wand out of the Gryffindor's hand, hitting her a few times in the process. 

Catherine felt the metallic taste of blood in her mouth and attempted to stand up, hoping she could somehow reach her wand. The two Slytherins, however, were having none of it. Volumnia had joined the fight, making it even more unfair considering the difference in size. Catherine desperately wanted to use magic, but this situation was entirely new to her. She couldn't concentrate due to the intense pain all over her body. The young Gryffindor managed to land a few hits on the Slytherins, but it didn't seem to make a difference. She was simply not strong enough. After what felt like an eternity, Tullia and Volumnia slammed Catherine's injured body against one of the tiled walls, leaving her to slide to her knees, unable to stand up. 

"You don't look so high and mighty now, Mudblood!" – said Tulia breathlessly – "Although you weren't much of a looker in the first place."

"Hah, wait till Greg McMahon sees you." – gloated Volumnia – "He'll run for the hills. Who would want to date someone who looks like a Banshee." 

"I would have kept my mouth shut if I were you, Plantier." – warned Volumnia, heading towards the door – "Who knows what else could happen to you. The reign of the Mudbloods at Hogwarts is coming to an end."

Catherine groaned in pain and crawled towards the place her wand had been thrown away by the Slytherins. She noticed Lily's wand lying nearby and took it as well. With tremendous efforts, the black-haired girl managed to stand up and slowly walked to the door of the cabin where Lily was locked in. Muffled whimpers were coming from inside. 

"Alohomora!" – moaned Catherine, feeling the damage on her lips. The door opened nonetheless, and the crying Lily emerged from within the cabin, her hair completely dishevelled, and her eyes red from the tears that were still rolling down her cheeks. 

"Oh, Daisy! These terrible, nasty girls! You shouldn't have come in! Look what they did to you!" – she cried. 

"I should have entered earlier." – groaned Catherine, checking her face in the mirror – "I didn't expect them to resort to a fistfight. Fucking barbarians!"

"I should have fought harder." – sighed Lily, helping her friend unbraid her now messy hair. 

"And then they would have beaten you too. I can't believe I was not able to magically protect myself." – Catherine hissed, touching her bruised left eye. 

"You should go to Madame Pomfrey right away, and we should tell Professor McGonagall." – said Lily, trying to drag the other girl out of the bathroom.

"No!" – stated Catherine firmly – "I don't want anyone to know about what happened here. I'm not going to Madame Pomfrey. Please, help me get to Hagrid's Hut."

"But you might be seriously hurt." – protested Lily – "Is it because of what they said? You want to hide this from Greg McMahon?"

"What?" – Catherine jumped and stared at her friend – "Please, don't tell me you also believe in this nonsense about the two of us."

"No…I mean… I would have understood if you liked him. He's really nice and handsome." – said Lily blushing and added – "But it's not a reason for you to hide what happened here. There's nothing to be ashamed of."

Catherine closed her eyes, feeling the headache on top her other aches. 

"Look, Lils… I'll say this just one time, because my mouth hurts. I don't like Greg McMahon in any capacity, let alone a romantic one. I don't like anyone like this. Honestly… I can't imagine myself ever being in any sort of relationship. It's complicated. I know it sounds weird, but it's how I feel."     

Lily looked at her friend and gently patted her back.

"I'm sorry. I'm not going to mention this anymore. And you're not weird. You feel like you feel, and that's that." – the red-haired girl concluded with a smile – "Let's try to get you to Hagrid's then if you insist."

"Thank you, Lily!" – said Catherine, arranging her long hair around her face as to cover the most of it – "I just really don't want this incident to become public. The boys will go nuts if they find out and the hell would break lose. Next time, I'll be better prepared. I'll deal with this myself."

The two second-years managed to get to Hagrid's Hut without directly encountering anyone they knew, but they both sighed in relief when Lily knocked on the Gamekeeper's door.

"Flame?! What the fuck happened to your face?" – gasped James, who opened the door.

"What are you doing here?" – groaned Catherine. 

"I asked first!" – insisted the boy, looking more and more terrified by the state his friend was in. 

"What's the matter?" – asked Sirius from inside.

"Oh, Light, move!" – ordered Catherine and entered the hut, followed by Lily. 

Ten minutes later, the two girls were drinking tea from Hagrid's huge cups, with Catherine's face masterfully restored by the giant's family remedies. Her ribs and hand were still hurt, but she could live with that, as long as no bruised were showing. 

"Them cowards! Best be tellin' the teachers. No sense hidin' for those bullies." – judged Hagrid after Lily finished telling what had happened to them. 

"I don't want to get the teachers involved." – repeated Catherine – "I can deal with this on my own."

"No way in hell!" – exclaimed Sirius, who was sitting with James, both of them appearing extremely irritated – "I told you that you should not go anywhere alone, and obviously that included the girls' bathroom."

"It's not funny, Sirius." – frowned the black-haired girl.

"You're damn right it's not funny!" – roared James – "The Slytherins are going to regret the day they decided to put their hands on you and Evans."

"Don't drag me into this!" – interrupted Lily – "I'm with Hagrid on how to solve the situation."

"Since I was the one who got hurt, I don't understand why you're the one making the fuss." – snapped Catherine angrily. 

"Forget it, Flame!" – responded Sirius in an uncharacteristically serious manner – "What happens to you is and always will be our business. The sooner you accept it, the better."

Catherine pursed her lips, but deep inside her heart melted a little for these headstrong boys who never gave up on her. Therefore, she allowed Sirius to hold her hand, going back to the castle, fearing she might fall due to her injuries. 

"By the way, Sirius, what were you two doing in Hagrid's Hut?" – Catherine asked when they finally reached the castle. 

"Um, James wanted to see Hagrid's gigantic pumpkins, and I wanted to ask him something, so he invited us for tea." – he responded, looking somewhat suspicious.

"That's nice." – said the girl, thinking that whatever her friends were up to, she didn't need to find out right there and then.

"Sooner or later, I always uncover the truth about their shenanigans." – she thought, chuckling internally.