sleep

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OCTOBER 16 1975

"DOES it usually take this long to wake her up?"

"No"

"She's usually up by a few shakes"

"Maybe she's dead"

"She's not dead, Peter" Catriona had woken up on the couch to voices surrounding her. She must've fallen asleep studying, again. When she opened her eyes, it was all dark and something was on her head, her Transfiguration workbook.

"We could try throwing water on her, mum does it to me all the time," she heard James say.

"If you throw water on me, Potter, I will hex you into next week" she grumbled.

Marlene lifted the book off her head and said "We're a bit cranky today, aren't we."

"Just let me go back to sleep," she said, covering her face with a pillow to blockout the blinding light. At times like these she wished she actually had been sorted into Slytherin so the common room was under the lake, meaning no harsh light

"Come on," Lily said, throwing the pillow on the other side of the couch "You'll be late to classes."

"Let me sleep through Potions just this once," she said, finally opening her eyes to see who all was there. Marlene was sitting on the arm rest by Cat's head, Lily at her feet. Sirius and Remus were behind the couch and James was sitting on the table. Peter was on the floor and Rachel was in one of the armchairs.

Sirius sighed and sarcastically said "It's fine guys, I'll take one for the team and skip Potions to make sure she wakes up." He placed a hand on Cat's shoulder.

"No, we all need to go to Potions," Lily said, swatting Sirius' hand away. "Now come on." By this time she was heaving Catriona up to a sitting position.

"Oi" Rachel said. "If she wants to sleep let her sleep" Lily scowled back at Rachel, still trying to lift Cat up. It was obvious Rachel and Lily didn't like each other. They hadn't liked each other since the night Rachel started living in their dorm. It didn't make it much better when Rachel's cat, Peggy, mistaked Lily's bed for a litterbox.

"You can't just sleep through lessons. Unlike some people, I care about my friends academic career," Lily spat back.

"At least I care about my friends physical health. Look at her, she obviously needs more sleep," Rachel said, pointing at Cat. "How much sleep did you get last night Cat?"

Cat layed her head back on the couch, closing her eyes. She didn't like getting into their petty little squabbles, but today she wanted Rachel to win so she could sleep. "What time is it?"

"8" Remus said.

"3 hours"

"Merlin! What were you doing?" James asked.

"Studying for the Transfiguration test," Catriona said, eyes still closed. She wouldn't have studied that long for any other subject, but Transfiguration happened to be her worst class. Marlene seemed to love the irony of her worst class being the class her mother taught.

"I would never be able to study that long" Peter said.

"How daft are you guys?" Lily asked. "We can do magic, there is a potion to wake someone up"

"She doesn't need a potion that will wear off, she needs a good nights rest. I can't be the only one that hasn't noticed how she's been over working herself." Rachel protested. Lily looked around at the rest of the people.

"Rachel's right Lily. Cat's been sleeping down here almost every night" Remus said.

"She should get some sleep," Sirius said.

"What about all the things she will miss today. They could be on an exam or test," Lily said.

"She looks like she'll barely make it to the test she stayed up all night studying for" James said.

"Let's just leave her here to sleep" Peter said.

"Oi, you lot" Marlene said. "How about let's ask Cat what she wants to do instead of arguing about it." The seven of them looked at Cat, who still had her eyes closed. Rachel and Remus were right, she had been getting awful nights sleep on this couch. Lily was also right, what ever they learned in Potions today might be useful in the future. She had to go to Potions, she could sleep during lunch and her free period.

"Lily's right, I'll go." Cat said, looking at a very pleased looking Lily. Cat stood up and tried to make herself look more awake. "Let me go get changed first," Cat darted up to the dorm room and changed then went to the bathroom to do her hair. She looked at herself in the mirror and decided to keep her hair in the same messy braid she had slept in. She also decided to put a glamour spell on the dark eye bags that were growing under her eyes.

When she walked out of the bathroom she was met with a concerned Rachel. "I know you feel like you need to go to Potions incase theres something important, but you know what else is important? Your mental and physical health." Catriona gave Rachel a light smile before grabbing her bag and heading down stairs.

"I can stay here with you if you don't want to go" James said, walking out of the common room with her.

"Stay if you'd like, but you don't have to use me as your excuse to get away from Snape," Cat said, looking over at him while they walked down the stairs.

"Ugh, don't remind me," he said, rolling his eyes. Slughorn had made Lily and James swap partners. Now James was with Snape and Sirius was with Lily. James was more upset than Sirius, Sirius knew Lily would do the work.

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She suddenly felt more awake as her, James, Sirius, and Remus stepped into the dungeons. The cold air mixed with the horrid stentch of whatever potion thay were making that morning seemed to do just the thing. Remus, Catriona, Sirius, and Lily shared a workstation and all sat down around the table. "You'll feel better once were done with this class," Lily said offering a warm smile. Catriona smiled back, trying to convince Lily and herself that she was ready for the double Potions period they had ahead of them.

Throughout the whole class, Cat was fighting to keep her eyes open. Remus could tell so he took over gathering the ingrediants, crushing them, and added them, all Cat had to do was stur at an even pace.

By the time the two hour class was over, Catriona couldn't wait to sleep for her free period. Lily parted from Remus, Sirius and Cat, going to talk to Snape, and was replaced by a venting James. He complained about Snape the whole walk back to the common room. "I would love to sleep with you right now," Sirius said, crashing next to Cat on the couch. Catriona turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "Oh my god not like that! You wish you could get with me," he said.

Catriona laughed and tiredly shook her head. "Actually, when he first saw you, at the sorting ceremony, he said-" Remus started, but was cut off by Sirius' hand covering his mouth, stopping him from talking.

"Wow, looks like Moony is sleep deprived too, coming up with imaginary things," Sirius said.

"No hes not," James said. He turned to Catriona and continued, "When you were first walking down the hall, he said-"

"he wanted to snog me. I know, Marlene told me." Catriona finished, turning to Sirius. "No chance in hell, Black."

The portrait hole swung open and Marlene and Peter walked in, "Aren't you supposed to be sleeping?" Marlene asked.

"Yes, mum, I will go to bed right now," Catriona said, sarcastically.

"Good, and if I come up there and find you messing around, you are grounded. Do you here me?" Marlene said, matching Cat's energy. The two girls laughed and Marlene took Cat's place on the couch as she walked up to the dorm room.

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Catriona woke up to find out that she had missed her second meal of the day. When she walked down the stairs, she saw Remus rushing around the common room. "What are you looking for?" she asked.

"My wand, I can't find it anywhere" he said, now on his hands and knees, looking under the couch. Catriona scanned the room before looking at the small table right next to the stairs with his wand on it.

"Here" she said, handing it to him.

"Ah thanks Cat, you're a life saver," he said, grabbing it.

"You're welcome," she said. "Do you happen to have anything from lunch, I'm starving"

"Yeah, here" he said, grabbing a biscuit off the table.

"Thanks." she said grabbing it, and kissed him on the cheek. They walked out of the common room, heading for Charms.

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[sorry for the boring chapter, it was mostly just to show the relationship between some characters]

[thanks for reading]

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