Before she even stepped into the Headmaster's office, Kate had already guessed what Dumbledore meant to discuss with her this time.
After lunch, she went straight up and knocked on the office door.
It was Sirius who opened it. After a long stretch of recuperation his spirit still looked a little worn, but his colour had come back nicely.
At least if he appeared before Harry looking like this, he'd seem far more credible than he had in his earlier filthy state.
"Strolling around in the open like this — aren't you worried someone will see you?" Kate was a little surprised to find him there, and asked bluntly the moment she was through the door.
Sirius didn't bother with pleasantries either. He shut the door and gave a cold snort. "The Headmaster told me before today that you'd be coming."
That tone. It sounded like he had something to get off his chest.
Before Kate could speak, Fawkes came winging out, having caught her scent — as enthusiastic as always, and as always treating her head as a nest.
She used to worry about whether the Phoenix might relieve himself up there. After enough visits, she'd gotten used to it.
She sat down with Fawkes riding on her head, glanced around, and, sure enough, saw no sign of Dumbledore. She cleared her throat. "The Firebolt is in Harry's hands now. He was over the moon."
"I know." Sirius sat down beside her, his sharp gaze fixed on her without wavering, as though he were studying some rare protected animal.
That baffling stare made Kate's skin crawl. She rapped the desk. "If you've got something to say, say it."
Only then did he look away. "I hear you fell suddenly ill the week before the Christmas holidays and went home."
"Is there a problem?"
"Our arrangement was that you'd look after Harry for me. From where I'm sitting, you can barely look after yourself."
Kate frowned and gave him a look full of question marks. "What are you getting at?"
"If you can't protect Harry for me at all hours, then I'll have to do it myself." Sirius lifted his chin. "I need a map. I went looking in Filch's office before and couldn't find it. Someone must have taken it."
The Marauder's Map?
So he'd seen that her health was poor and decided to cut her loose and work alone?
"And what do you want that map for?" Kate scoffed. "Planning to watch Harry's every move? Ready to pop up in every corner of Hogwarts castle?"
Anyone normal, hearing she'd been ill, would at least manage a polite question or two.
Not this one. Straight to Harry, as if she barely existed.
In her past life she remembered reading analyses that said Sirius was, to Harry, a genuinely ideal guardian — and a great fighter besides.
But toward most people who weren't Harry, he came across as selfish and pig-headed — and "pig-headed," swapped for the harsher word, simply meant arrogant.
Certainly that was how he behaved toward her, a "contemptible" Slytherin: prejudice and arrogance on open display, without the slightest restraint.
Sirius's brows knotted hard. "You know about the Marauder's Map? You have it?"
"The week before Christmas, your godson snuck off to Hogsmeade. Care to guess how he slipped out?"
Kate's lips curved in a challenge. "Or you could go and ask Harry for the map yourself. See whether he hands it over."
"You're threatening me." Sirius shot to his feet, his weather-beaten face dark with menace.
If he showed himself to Harry as things stood, the boy would see nothing but a murderer!
Kate thought nothing of his intimidation. She lifted Fawkes down with a smug air, mockery glinting in her eyes. "Is this how you ask someone for a favour?"
Without her, Sirius would still be skulking outside Hogwarts in filthy rags. Where did he find the nerve to set terms with her?
"A reminder, by the way. While he was in Hogsmeade, he heard that you were the one who sold out his parents."
"Guess how he sees you now. A murderer? Or the traitor who got his parents killed?"
"I am not!" Sirius roared at her, shaking with rage. "Peter was the traitor!"
"Saying it to me is useless. You'll have to bring Peter with you when you face him. That's the only way he'll ever believe it."
Kate smiled faintly. "So tell me — won't you be needing my help?"
He gave a disdainful snort and said nothing.
"Speaking of which, you've managed to get in touch with Professor Lupin by now, haven't you?"
Kate had read his intent, and steered the conversation. "The Marauders, back in your day — Prongs, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot. The four of you made the Marauder's Map together."
"Moony is Professor Lupin, you're Padfoot, Peter Pettigrew is Wormtail, and Prongs was Harry's father, James Potter."
The words had barely left her mouth before Sirius hauled her roughly to her feet. "You've been investigating us?!"
"Listen to yourself — what a stupid question!" Kate met his stare without flinching. "If I hadn't dug up every last file on you first, do you think I'd have let you into this school so easily?"
She pried his hand off, impatient. "Let me tell you, I know far more than you imagine, so you'd do well to behave."
"And don't think joining forces with Professor Lupin will be enough to catch Peter. He's stayed hidden for more than a decade. He won't be as easy to corner as you think."
From the day she'd returned to school this time, she had made up her mind: finish the Main Quest as soon as possible, catch Peter Pettigrew, and leave no time for things to go wrong.
Step one was pinning Sirius down. The man was a walking source of chaos, and without a warning first he'd come blundering out and ruin everything for her.
Lupin was far easier to manage. Werewolf or not, he was the most level-headed of the four Marauders.
As long as Sirius didn't go looking for trouble, Lupin wouldn't stir.
Just in case, she had already gathered the ingredients for the Wolfsbane Potion; when the time came, she'd have to ask Snape to brew it.
Of course, with a brute like Sirius, a verbal warning alone counted for nothing. He was the sort who'd stay defiant to his dying breath — the more she pushed, the harder he'd push back.
So she needed something else to reinforce it.
"This is for you." She held out a small metal nameplate.
Sirius's brows drew together warily, and he didn't take it straight away. "What is it?"
"An alchemical item I made. Wear it and not even the Marauder's Map can show your name."
She had quietly finished the thing before Christmas; the accident was the only reason she hadn't handed it over sooner.
Sirius stared at her, distrust written all over his face.
Kate couldn't be bothered to waste more breath on him. She set the nameplate on the desk and left it there. "Wear it or don't, suit yourself. If you get caught, I'll be the first to deny I ever knew you."
A selfish Slytherin through and through.
Sirius eyed the nameplate warily, still weighing whether to use it, when a noise came from the doorway.
He started, changed at once into the great black dog, and bolted into the inner room.
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