Of Greatness and Grandeur

Chapter 9

AN: This chapter has a lot of short scenes, and lots of set up for some serious excitement coming up in the next two chapters, so look forward to that.

As always, reviews are very very appreciated.

Katherine lay on the cold floor of the classroom for several minutes before gathering enough strength to crawl towards her wand. Wincing, she inched her way across the stone, the short distance feeling like an arduous journey. Nearing her wand, she stretched out a quivering arm and grasped it, pulling it in towards her body.

Glancing towards the door, she cast a quick nonverbal Colloportus to lock the door, as well as Silencio to ensure no unintentional noises would alert someone to her presence. Katherine then proceeded to cast a numbing charm on herself, reducing her pain to a dull ache. She pulled herself weakly onto a nearby chair, and set to work on her injuries.

She worked methodically, starting at the top of her body and working downwards towards her feet, healing any injuries she could. Unfortunately, some of Riddle's curses were dark magic, and impervious to typical healing spells. These she disguised with illusion charms, but the wounds remained and would need to heal on their own time.

Feeling somewhat stronger, as it had now been nearly an hour since Riddle had left, Katherine stood and walked towards the blackboard at the front of the classroom. A jet of silver let burst forth from her wand as she swept it in a broad arc, hitting the blackboard and pooling outward like water. The blackboard shimmered for a moment, before the silver fluid calmed and provided a mirror-like surface. In this makeshift mirror, Katherine checked her appearance.

She looked pale and shaken, but no injuries remained apparent thanks to her careful work. Her hair and clothes were both matted with blood, which she removed with a quick Scourgify charm. Finally, she cast Rennervate, causing colour to return to her cheeks, and energy to her body.

Vanishing the mirror with a wave of her wand, Katherine turned around and set about repairing the classroom. With a series of spells, she removed the blood from the floor, repaired the broken chair, and set the furniture back in their original positions.

After unlocking the door, she slipped quietly into the hall beyond, checking surreptitiously to see if anyone was present. "Horologio," she whispered, causing golden numbers to appear in the air, indicating that the time was half past eleven. She had missed not only breakfast, but also most of Potions class. The upside was that there were no students roaming the hallways to ask questions about her unusual clothing or her morning activities.

Flicking her wand, the numbers disappeared, and Katherine snuck back through the stone passageways to the Slytherin Common Room. She entered the Common Room without encountering anyone, and was halfway to the stairs to her dormitory when she noticed she wasn't alone. Lucretia Black, Orion's younger sister, who had just entered her 1st year, was staring wide-eyed at Katherine.

Katherine shook her head. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

Lucretia shifted nervously between her feet. "I forgot my textbook," she supplied, holding a Charms book aloft as evidence.

"Of course you did," sighed Katherine. "Confundo!" Quickly drawing her wand, Katherine cast the Confundus charm on Lucretia, whose eyes glazed over in confusion.

Katherine walked over to Lucretia, crouching to be at her eye level. Making eye contact, she spoke softly but clearly. "Listen to me, Lucretia. You forgot your textbook, so you came back to get it. You saw no one else in the Common Room, and now you will return to class. Do you understand?"

Lucretia nodded blankly, and walked towards the Common Room exit. Katherine watched her leave, and then scampered up the stairs to her room. She changed quickly into her school uniform, applied her makeup, and collected her school things, before rushing out the door to make it to lunch on time.

"Where is the lovely Miss Morrigan this morning?" inquired Professor Slughorn, hovering over Riddle's cauldron.

Riddle looked up at him, a deep concern clear in his eyes. "She wasn't feeling well this morning, sir. I promised her that I would lend her my notes for this class; she's terribly upset that she couldn't attend."

Slughorn tutted in disappointment. "That's too bad. I'd hoped to invite her to the Slug Club meeting this Saturday."

Riddle smiled politely. "I'd be happy to pass on the invitation, Professor," he said.

"Excellent!" Slughorn exclaimed, beaming broadly. "I can always count on you to lend a hand, Tom."

When Katherine arrived at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall for lunch, she was immediately faced with an inquiry as to her absence for the earlier part of the day.

Katherine glanced at Riddle, unsure of how he wanted her to respond. Before she had the chance to say anything, he interjected on her behalf.

"She wasn't feeling well," Riddle said smoothly. "I brought Katherine to the hospital wing early this morning."

Turning to face Katherine, he continued. "I'm glad to see you're feeling better. Please, have a seat."

He gestured to the seat next to him, currently occupied by Victoria, who moved quickly to a lower seat, avoiding eye contact with both Katherine and Riddle.

Katherine slid into the seat and began to serve herself lunch. She was much quieter than usual, laughing lightly at some of the other Slytherin students' jokes, but not contributing anything of note to the conversation. Occasionally, Riddle would clap her on the back, or squeeze her shoulder, causing her to wince in pain due to her unhealed injuries.

As she left the Great Hall after lunch, walking quickly towards her next class, Orion caught up with her. "I need to talk to you," he said fervently, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards an empty classroom.

Katherine followed Orion into the room, and sat on top of one of the desks, looking at him questioningly. Orion closed the door, and cast a silencing charm, before walking to stand in front of Katherine.

"Kat, there's something you should know," he said nervously, running a hand through his hair. "I can't tell you much, and even this might get me in trouble, but I need to warn you. I don't want you to get hurt." He was rambling, one sentence trailing into the next.

"What is it, Orion?" asked Katherine, furrowing her eyebrows slightly.

"Riddle and the rest of us…We aren't the good guys. We're dangerous," he said, his eyes burning brightly into hers.

Katherine smiled bitterly. "I think I figured that out this morning."

Orion's eyes widened. "What did he do to you?" he whispered, as much to himself as to her.

Katherine tilted her head in momentary confusion. "You didn't know?" She paused. "Of course you didn't know. You'd have no involvement in such nastiness. I can tell you have a good heart, Orion." She reached out, clasping one of his hands in both of hers.

He pulled away sharply. "I told you we weren't the good guys, Katherine, and I meant it. I'm no exception."

Katherine withdrew her hands, folding them neatly on her lap. "You speak as if I'm some sort of angel, Orion, but I'm going to hell as surely as the rest of you. I might as well get to know my neighbours."

Orion looked grimly at her. "It's your funeral," he said softly. Shaking himself, he painted a brave smile on his face. "Can I escort you to divination?"

Smiling warmly, Katherine hopped down from the desk. "I would love that, but I'm not taking divination. I have Ancient Runes next."

"Ancient Runes?" wondered Orion, screwing up his face in disgust. "Only Ravenclaws take that!"

Katherine shrugged. "Ravenclaws and me, I suppose." She winked knowingly at him before striding out of the room, leaving Orion alone and confused in the empty classroom.

Katherine exited the Ancient Runes classroom surrounded by a group of upper year Ravenclaw students, including Ravenclaw prefect Julian Fawley. "So we'll see you tomorrow night to study?" he asked, eyes hopeful.

Katherine smiled radiantly at him. "Absolutely. At quintaped." She winked.

Julian looked a little bewildered for a moment, before realization dawned on his face. "Quintaped…That means five, right?"

"You've got it!" Katherine laughed. "Studying will be a breeze." Spotting Adeline crossing the hall up ahead, Katherine gave Julian and the other Ravenclaws a wave goodbye and jogged to catch up with her.

"Hey, Addie!" said Katherine, once she was near enough. Adeline turned and smiled, before glancing at the pack of Ravenclaws down the hall.

"What were you doing with them?" Adeline asked, sounding suspicious. "Ravenclaws are so pretentious."

"It never hurts to have friends in other houses. Anyways, let's head to History of Magic," said Katherine, brushing aside Adeline's question. "I've already missed one class today; I don't want to be late to another!"

As soon as Katherine arrived at her last class of the day, History of Magic, Riddle waved her over to sit next to him. Once she was seated, Riddle wordlessly slid a piece of paper towards her on the desk.

The small slip of paper contained neatly printed silver lettering stating the following:

"Miss Katherine Morrigan is cordially invited to attend Professor Slughorn's Soiree for Gifted Students, affectionately known as the 'Slug Club'. The event will commence Saturday evening at 6 pm, and dinner will be provided."

After reading, Katherine looked at Riddle, raising a quizzical eyebrow. Riddle shrugged. "It's Slughorn's way of making connections with students that might be useful or important in some way after they graduate. He asked me to invite you, given that you were so tragically inconvenienced this morning."

Katherine twirled a strand of her long dark hair around one finger. "Will you be there?" she asked.

Riddle smirked. "Of course. I can guarantee you that none of these idiots will be more important or renowned than I will after graduation."

"I don't doubt that," she replied.

Riddle looked her up and down. "I must admit, I am somewhat impressed by your quick recovery from this morning. No one appeared to notice that you were…sick."

"I've always been skilled at the art of illusion, Riddle." She gave him a knowing look, folded the invitation, and slipped it into the pocket of her robe. "I'll be delighted to come."

AN: Please review! Reviews are what encourage me to keep writing.