Using the Patronus Charm the way she had last time was definitely out of the question — though ever since she'd eaten twenty Dementors, her Patronus Charm had jumped two whole levels.
The most obvious change after the upgrade was how much easier casting had become. And past level five, the Patronus Charm let her freely control the size of the Patronus she summoned.
That mattered, because before this, all Kate could conjure was a silver dragon as tall as a three-story building. Powerful, yes. Subtle, absolutely not.
After the incident on the train, pretty much every student and teacher in the school knew that someone whose Patronus was a silver dragon had driven the Dementors off.
If she used the Patronus Charm that openly again, she'd have every eye in the castle on her.
And when you're sneaking a bite out of the emergency rations, discretion is rather the point.
She jogged down toward the Forbidden Forest. Even from a distance she could see Hagrid feeding Buckbeak, trying to coax the hippogriff into nuzzling his head the way it nuzzled Kate's.
Buckbeak wasn't buying it. He kept his head held high and refused to lower it an inch.
Busy as he was, Hagrid wouldn't notice anything happening over here.
"Expecto Patronum!" She released a silver dragon only half her own size, steered it lightly upward, and then…
One bite each, crunchy as a biscuit.
The Dementors, which had never in their existence encountered a natural predator, had no idea what this little dragon that had appeared out of nowhere even was. All they knew was that the moment it drew close, a claw came sweeping in.
The little silver dragon ate very well indeed, but Kate couldn't let herself run wild. Grabbing two for a taste was about right — any more and it would be too hard to cover up.
She called the dragon back and glanced at Hagrid's hut again. Right. He was still trying to get Buckbeak to nuzzle his head.
That particular feat of difficulty was not going to be accomplished any time soon.
Kate watched from her hiding spot for a while longer, then headed back to the castle at a brisk, cheerful pace.
She'd meant to find Hermione for a walk to settle her stomach, but after searching around she spotted her in the library, scribbling furiously at her homework.
In the original works, Hermione had gone so far as to apply for a Time-Turner just so she could take every elective, and she'd been run ragged because of it. Better to bother her as little as possible during this stretch.
Kate watched her from a distance for a moment, then turned and left.
Back in the Common Room, the usual crowd had gathered. She was about to head into the dormitory when Pansy stopped her.
"Have you seen Draco?" she asked anxiously. "After dinner he said he wanted to walk around by himself, and now nobody knows where he's gone."
There were Dementors all over the castle grounds — no wonder Pansy was frantic.
"Have you gone looking for him already?" Kate asked at once. It hadn't occurred to her that Malfoy would wander off alone.
Pansy nodded. "I've searched every place he usually goes and there's no sign of him. What if he was upset and went outside, and the Dementors—"
"Don't say it. I'll go find him now." Kate cut her off and turned on her heel.
The moment she was out of the Common Room she cast the Tracking Spell. The trail of footprints stretched away toward the deep parts of the dungeon where the two of them often went, so she followed.
She walked until she reached that familiar corner, where a single point of wandlight flickered in the darkness.
Kate let out a breath. She went over and crouched down in front of the girl sitting hunched on the floor with her arms around her knees. "Pansy's looking for you. Come on, let's go back."
She had no idea what this girl was sulking about — she was the one whose sore spot had been poked tonight, after all.
Malfoy didn't move. She stayed curled around her knees, her pale little face lit by the wandlight.
"You're not coming back?" Kate asked, holding on to her patience. When she got no response at all, she simply sat down beside her. "What happened?"
Still nothing.
Feeling the last of her patience drain away, Kate rubbed the bridge of her nose. Fine. Stay here as long as you like.
She'd barely started to rise when she felt someone tug at her robes.
She turned back and found Malfoy had turned too, her small face scrunched up, the picture of injured misery. "Kate…"
This girl only ever used her first name in private.
With a sigh, Kate crouched back down. She hesitated a moment, then reached out and gently put an arm around her back. "I'm not even angry. What are you so upset about?"
"I don't know…" Malfoy burrowed into her shoulder, her voice muffled. "You looked awful, back then."
When Kate had left the table with that cold expression, Malfoy had been thrown into a complete panic.
She'd wanted to chase after her — but she worried what everyone else would think, and besides, she hadn't known what to say.
Afterward she couldn't sit still in the Common Room either, so she'd come down here alone to calm down.
"I won't say things like that again," Malfoy murmured, clutching the front of Kate's robes.
Kate didn't know whether to laugh or cry. If a tsundere ever stopped saying the opposite of what she meant, now that would be a real problem.
She smiled and teased her. "All right. And if there is a next time, what will you do about it?"
Malfoy froze, then pulled out of her arms, a single tear still trembling at the corner of her eye. "Then I'll… then I'll tell you a secret!"
Ah. Well.
Kate's face twitched. Why was this girl so determined to give her secrets away? If you can tell someone, is it even a secret anymore?
She was speechless for a long moment, and finally resolved to keep her moods in better order from now on — or at least not to let them show in front of Malfoy.
"Then it's settled," she said, helping her to her feet. "Can we go back now?"
Malfoy's face went red. She spun Kate around at once. "You go first. And no looking back at me!"
Kate: …
As if she hadn't noticed you crying ages ago!
Never mind. It had taken enough work to calm her down; no sense setting her off again.
They walked back to the Common Room one behind the other, and Kate promptly hauled Malfoy over and deposited her next to Pansy. "Found him. Inspect the goods yourself."
With that, she made a beeline for the dormitory.
Leaving Pansy and a red-eyed Malfoy staring at each other.
"Draco, your eyes—"
"Shut up!"
The next day included a Defence Against the Dark Arts class.
Kate got through Snape's Potions without disaster, and after wringing five points out of him with considerable effort, she hurried off to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.
Lupin hadn't arrived yet. She waited a while before Hermione came panting in and dropped into the seat beside her, her bag bulging — clearly stuffed with far too many books.
"Carrying that many books must be exhausting," Kate said. She drew her wand and put a Levitation Charm on the bag. "There. That should make it lighter."
Hermione's colour improved considerably. "I knew you were the most thoughtful. Not like Ron — all he ever does is stare at my bag and pester me with questions."
"What can I say? I hate seeing you worn out," Kate said easily.
And then she noticed that the flush Hermione had only just managed to get rid of was spreading all over again.
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