The Shifter and The Weasley

Chapter 2

Katherine woke up late. Which was rare for her, she was never late to anything, because if she was, she would be severely punished. She rushed down the corridors towards her Transfiguration class, smoothing out her uniform.

"Sorry I'm late Professor" she shot Professor McGonagall an apologetic smile and quietly took her seat.

"Its not to worry Miss Willow, the lesson aims are currently on the board, you haven't missed much. Do make sure it doesn't happen again." Katherine nodded and took out her parchment, quill and book so she could get onto doing her work. "Also please see me after class Miss Willow" Katherine nodded and kept her head down, already hearing the whispers around her.

As transfiguration drew to a close, Katherine packed up her things and patiently waited for the students to leave the classroom.

"Is everything alright Katherine?" This is what Katherine appreciated about McGonagall. She was a very observant lady and knew something must have happened for Katherine to have arrived late.

"I didn't get a lot of sleep last night Minnie, as you know, I've been plagued with nightmares since the accident. My parents are getting worse every time I return home and I feel stuck." Katherine poured her heart out; she knew McGonagall would keep things to herself.

"What was your nightmare about this time?" McGonagall's soft smile was nearly enough for Katherine to burst into tears, but she managed to keep her tears from spilling.

"The accident. I keep reliving the feeling of the mutation. Or the shift as I call it. Its suffocating sometimes." Katherine let out a deep sigh. It was hard for her to talk about the accident.

Flashback

Katherine was chained to a small radiator that sat in the corner of the room, curled up in a ball as she hugged her knees and cried to herself. Her parents had been running tests for months now and the 9-year-old was nothing but skin and bone and ready to surrender. They only gave her one small meal of bread and water a day and she was kept in near constant darkness.

However, that day turned out to be the beginning of the worst day of her life. She watched helpless. Weak from the amount of dark magic and testing her parents had been doing. They had been trying to find a way to make their daughter an emotionless weapon. So that when the Dark Lord returned, he would be unbeatable. What they failed to notice is how the potion they had been mixing had started to bubble and steam at an almost alarming rate. They were to wrapped up in their test results. The cauldron bubbled over and as the potion came out of the cauldron and collided with the other experiments they had going on; it made a small explosion.

In a panic her parents had fled the room, but left her there, chained to the radiator. She had no way out, she screamed and pleaded and cried for her parents, but they ignored her. The smoke from the explosions that were still happening grew thicker. Katherine knew she was about to die; she knew her parents weren't going to save her. Before she blacked out, she started to scream, it felt like red hot fire was travelling through her veins. She felt the burn in her eyes, which she thought was the smoke. She felt her wounds stitching themselves back together, but that wasn't the worst pain. The worst pain was in her back, as she reached her hand around to try and feel, all she could feel was two bones coming out of her back.

She collapsed on the floor, exhausted and no longer able to fight. Accepting her fate, she welcomed death as a friend, someone who had come to save her from the horrors of her life.

Flashback end

Minerva watched the girl, who had gotten lost in her own memories again. She sighed, almost quietly and gently placed her hand on Katherine's shoulder. Minerva did want to get her parents reported to the Ministry of Magic, but Katherine insisted that she was fine and to not do anything.