Kitten; Fred Weasley

22

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When Fred went to meet Catina that evening in the kitchen for a drink he didn't expect to find her curled up and looking so small. It was no surprise that he had felt a surge of jealousy run through his veins when he saw her and Prosper Byrnn in the great hall that afternoon but when he saw her in the kitchens that jealousy dissolved and was replaced with worry.

"Kitten," he said and crouched down beside her, "what's wrong?"

Catina looked up with glossy eyes and said, "my back hurts so much."

Fred's eyebrows knitted as he remember the mysterious scars that had formed on her back. Nobody really spoke about them once they were discovered, it seemed as though other than Bill, they didn't care so they were easily forgotten. "Lean forward." He instructed and she shuffled to the edge of her seat allowing Fred to tug up the back of her top. The scars were thick and red and they looked freshly cut in that moment. "Crap."

"What?"

"They're raw," said Fred and he gently pulled the top back down. "We need to get you to Madam Pomfrey, this isn't looking good."

"Tomorrow, I'm too tired," Catina yawned and leaned into Fred closing her eyes.

"No, Kitten, now. It might get worse if we wait." Fred pulled the girl to her feet and led her out of the kitchens. There was no denying that she was tired been as her eyes kept shutting after every slow, small step she took. It was like he was dragging a block of concrete around the school. He couldn't blame here though, she at least agreed to go to the hospital wing with him.

When they finally got there Madam Pomfrey wasn't too best pleased at the arrival of the two seventy years as she sauntered out of her quarters in her night gown and hair in a long plait. "What is the matter?" She demanded.

Fred spun the tired girl around and raised her shirt to show the healer the scars that had worsened in the twenty minutes it had been. "Good heavens! What is this?"

The boy explained how they discovered them in the summer and the healer was flabbergasted at the thought of nothing being done about them. "On the bed, I'll give you so potion to ease the pain and I'll then fetch for the headmaster. I can't believe this has been left alone!" Rooting around in a cabinet she snatched a large purple bottle and poured a small glass for the girl to down sleepily as Fred sat beside her. The Headmaster arrived shortly after and didn't look very fazed. "How dare this go undiscussed Albus!"

"I agree but I was not informed of such scars. Who knew, Mr Weasley?"

"Well, Bill and I found them and he said he told all of the adults in the house and then they did nothing."

Catina collapsed on the bed and let her eyes shut properly as she laid on her stomach and fell to sleep. "They look very much like those of a-"

"Werewolf," Dumbledore finished Madam Pomfrey's sentence. "I quite agree. I'd say call for Remus but he will be resting it is the full moon tomorrow. No, no, I'll get Lyall, he has dealt with this all and knows more about werewolves than you and I probably do."

Entering the healer's office he spoke to a portrait who would fetch Lyall Lupin, Remus' father and also Snape who, as Catina's head of house, needed to be informed of such discovery. When the two men arrived Catina was in a deep sleep and Fred was sat staring at her ripped up back.

Lyall Lupin chewed his nails as he surveyed the scars, "definitely. They're just like Remus', they have to be a werewolf's."

"Werewolf scars do not magically appear Lupin." Said Snape who caught sight of Fred. "Weasley, shouldn't you be in bed-"

"He has permission to be here," said Dumbledore and Fred smirked at his potions teacher smugly. "Severus is quite right though, Lyall, how can they appear? She would have had to have had contact with a werewolf that would have done this."

"Not necessarily."

"I've read about it before. There are rare cases of an innate werewolf showing signs later on in life."

"She can't be a werewolf! You would have known by now." Exclaimed Fred which caused Catina to stir and grumble in her sleep but thankfully she didn't wake.

"For once I agree with Weasley," Snape said, "Catina Lennox most certainly cannot be a werewolf."

"How do you know? For all we know she could have wolf parents? After all we do not have any idea who are her parents."

"You don't know? How can you not know?" Fred demanded. He knew she didn't have a family but he would have at least expected they know who her birth parents were.

Dumbledore shook his head and took off his half-moon spectacles to wipe away a smear that had smudged the glass. "Sadly we do not. Catina was found in an unfortunate way that means we have no clue."

"And you didn't think to do a DNA test? Find out who her parents are?"

"No. And if we were to do one now, it would be her choice not ours."

Lyall tapped his chin with his index finger. "Is this the young girl Cat, who Remus is rather close to?" Dumbledore nodded. "My son mentioned she has some anger boiled up inside of her. The idea of her being a werewolf would give reason for that-"

"Or the fact she doesn't have a family perhaps? Or is that just me who would be rather annoyed if that was me?" Fred shrugged. "There is no way that she is a werewolf. End of story."

"It is possible."

"I don't care what you say. She is NOT a werewolf!" Fred growled and turned to look at Catina not particularly wanting to face the men who were trying to change his views on the girl. Fred knows Catina. They don't. She wouldn't be a werewolf. Wouldn't. Shouldn't. Couldn't.

The men sighed in sync. They left Catina's bed side where Madam Pomfrey and Fred remained. There was no getting through to Fred and they still had matters to discuss.

"We'll keep her in the hospital wing for the time being. During day of the full moon, if Poppy sees that she shows signs of any wolfiness that Remus held when he was a student. We shall direct Catina to the Skrieking Shack in the evening and see what happens." Said Dumbledore.

"Oh that poor little love," Lyall sighed, "if she is, that will be one horrendous night for her. The first transformation is the worst and I don't know how female werewolves handle it. For all we know it could be even worse."

"We'll have to wait and see then won't we," Snape drawled out, "hopefully she does not possess any lycanthropy. With Umbridge in the school we do not need any more issues than we already have."

"This is something Delores cannot know. Under any circumstances."