Lost and Broken

Lost and broken,

Hopeless and lonely.

Smiling on the outside,

Hurt beneath my skin.

She tried. She tried as hard as she could to pretend she didn't care about him, that he had no affect on her. She didn't love him anymore, she knew that, but with him no longer a part of her life, she had no one to love, and no one to love her in return. She felt empty. Not to mention the entire school seemed fascinated by the fact that Katie Bell and Oliver Wood were no longer an item.

She had tried to act normal when she went down to breakfast with Fred and George, who she noticed were even more protective of her than usual. She had smiled the entire time and confirmed to a number of people that yes, Oliver and herself were no longer together. Then he had the balls to show his face - with her. They walked into the Great Hall, hand in hand, smiling, and to add insult to injury he sat with her at the Ravenclaw table.

Katie knew she should have stayed but she couldn't. Her feet seemed to have a mind of their own and as a result carried her swiftly out of the Great Hall. She knew it would send the Hogwarts rumour mill into overdrive. "Katie Bell storms out of Great Hall after seeing her former boyfriend, and current Quidditch captain and his new girlfriend together."

And that lead her to now. It was cold and about to rain and she was sitting alone in the middle of the Quidditch Pitch, broken-hearted and empty.

My eyes are fading,

My soul is bleeding.

I'll try to make it seem ok,

But my faith is wearing thin.

She was so lost in her own world that she hadn't heard him come up and sit beside her. "How you doing Katibell?"

She jumped at the unexpected voice. Turning, she saw George sitting beside her, waiting for an answer. Katie was blessed with the rare gift of actually being able to tell the twins apart. She shrugged. "You know, I'm ok I guess. I just have to get used to seeing them together."

George ran a hand through his hair. "You know all you have to do is say the word and Fred and I can make Oliver... and Sarah for that matter, the laughing stock of Hogwarts."

Katie smiled. "Tempting as that is I'd rather you not get expelled."

He shrugged. "Well if you're not into that you could come into Hogsmeade with me today."

Katie's smile faltered slightly; his suggestion sounded very much like a date. Fred had hinted a while back that perhaps his brother had a little crush on her, and while she herself had always had a soft spot for George, she couldn't let him in. He was her best friend and she wasn't willing to lose that. "I have a better idea... how about you go to the kitchens and get some food and we can go to our spot by the lake?"

While to many this may seem like an even more romantic concept, it was something they had been doing since their first year.

He nodded. "Anything to see you smile."

And she did, she smiled her first genuine smile in days. "Thank you George, it means a lot."

He grinned, just happy that he could get her mind of their prat of a Quidditch captain, even if it was only for a while. "Well," he looked at his watch, "everyone will be leaving for Hogsmeade soon, what do you say I meet you at the lake at 12?"

Katie nodded, "Ok, I think I need to fly for a little while anyway. Thanks for this, really."

George stood up to leave, patting her on the head in the process. "Anytime Katibell."

Katie looked at her watch. It was going on quarter past 12 and George still hadn't arrived. She was about to give up and head back up to the castle when her redheaded friend appeared, gasping for breath and laughing.

"George what on earth...?"

He grinned. "Snape saw me coming up from the dungeons, I ran, he chased, luckily Fred was keeping a look out, got Snape to chase him instead."

Katie's eyes widened in worry. "He's not going to get in trouble is he?"

George shook his head. "Nah, he had nothing incriminating on him, he might lose a few points, but hey, we'll win 'em back in Quidditch."

The young witch smiled, shaking her head. "You shouldn't have gone to so much trouble."

"Nonsense, wasn't any trouble at all."

The pair sat down and enjoyed their snacks in comfortable silence.

So help me heal these wounds,

They've been open for way to long.

Help me fill this hole,

Even though this is not your fault;

That I'm open and I'm bleeding,

All over your brand new rug.

And I need someone to help me sew them up.

Katie finally broke the silence. "This really helps, you know."

George looked at her, confused. "What helps?"

"Knowing I have such a great friend, it kinda fills the hole a little."

He smiled at her, "Well anytime you need you need your holes filled I'm here...your figurative holes, not your actual holes...not that I think of your actual holes..."

Katie laughed. "George, stop now. I know what you meant. Thank you, you have no idea how much it means."

He shook his head. "You have no idea how much it means to me that you let me in. Most girls see me as an idiot, which granted I am most of the time, but you - I don't know, you treat me with respect, as cheesy as it sounds."

She sighed. "It doesn't sound cheesy and you most certainly are not an idiot. You're one of the sweetest guys I know, you're my best friend, and I'm sorry, I know I kind of put our friendship on the backburner while I was dating Oliver. I should have known you'd be here long after he was gone."

"I'll always be here Katie."

She smiled. "Thank you." She leant over, kissing him on the cheek, which she convinced herself was purely a gesture of friendship. It was, however, the look in his eyes when she pulled away, a look she had never received from Oliver, which caused her to do something even she couldn't reason was purely an act of friendship. She leaned forward again, this time her lips meeting his own. It was at that precise moment her brain ceased to function.

His hands found her honey-blonde hair, which today fell down her back in loose curls. Her own hands found his trademark red hair, which she had happily noticed had taken on an almost rock star, untamed quality to it lately.

She felt him deepen the kiss and noticed he tasted mildly of chocolate; not to mention he was a far better kisser than a certain Quidditch captain was. It was the thought of Oliver that seemed to pull her brain back into function mode.

She pulled away suddenly, obviously surprising George who was looking at her with a confused look on his face.

She moved her fingers to her lips where she could still taste him. "George I..."

He held up a hand. "You don't need to explain Katie; I shouldn't have taken advantage of you." He stood up to go.

"George wait, please. It was my fault... I'm confused right now, I don't want you to think that I didn't want to kiss you, because... well... I did and, truth be told I have for a little while now. I just know that I can't just kiss you and pretend as if nothing happened. I don't want to lose your friendship."

George sighed, "Katie as far as I'm concerned it didn't happen, alright? Look, I should go make sure Fred got away from Snape alright, you coming?"

She shook her head. "I'm gonna stay for awhile, clear my head."

He nodded and left her alone with her conscience, which right now was screaming at her for hurting her best friend. She had seen the hurt etched in his face when she pulled away. After almost an hour of trying to sort her head out, she gave up, and decided to head back to the castle, accompanied by a throbbing headache.

She was heading up to the tower when she ran into him, quite literally. She got up from the floor before realising who it was. "I'm sorry, I should have... Oh it's you. You really should watch where you're going Oliver."

He sighed, "Katie, do we have to be so hostile? I don't want you to hate me."

She laughed. "Oliver, you really should have thought of that before."

He ran a hand through his short hair. "Look I wanted to apologise for this morning. It was wrong of me to come into the Hall like that. I should have given you some space."

"You know Oliver, I don't care who you're shagging, I'd just rather it not be thrown in my face."

"Katie I..."

She didn't let him finish before she took off, towards the common room.

And I need someone to help me...

So you come along,

I'll push you away.

Then kick and scream,

For you to stay.

By the time Katie got back to the common room, her eyes were red and puffy, her face tear-streaked. She prayed that she would be able to get to her room with out anyone seeing her. Unfortunately, it seemed George had other ideas and was waiting for her in front of the fire. As soon as he saw her, he got up. "Katie, I've been thinking..." As she got closer, he noticed that she had obviously been crying. "Katie what's wrong?"

The young witch dismissed him, afraid of what he had to say. "Nothing's wrong, I just want to be alone."

George sighed in frustration. "You can be alone as soon as I've said what I need to say."

Katie resigned to the fact he wasn't going to let her sulk away, so she sat on the couch.

He took that as her allowing him to say what he wanted, which terrified him. He knew that she'd never look at him the same way after this, but he couldn't keep it inside any longer. "Katie... I know I said we could pretend as if what happened at the lake never happened, but I can't. I can't pretend you didn't kiss me, I can't pretend I didn't enjoy it and I certainly can't pretend it didn't mean anything...because the truth is Katie you mean a lot to me. You mean more to me than just a friend, and believe me I've tried to get rid of these feelings, to tell myself they're not real but I can't."

She felt fear well up inside, she wasn't sure she could handle him saying this; it made her line between friendship and, well, more than friendship, even more blurry than it already was. She stood up. "You can't feel that way. That kiss can't have meant anything to you because it meant nothing to me, it was a mistake." The second those words left her mouth she regretted them, but she was upset and scared right now, and afraid if she didn't stick to her words she might tell him how she was really feeling.

She dared to glance at his face before leaving and instantly regretted it. His face held hurt, confusion, and anger and she didn't blame him one bit. He'd laid his heart on the line and she'd shattered it, breaking a piece of her own heart in the process. She left the common room and went upstairs. She got there and within moments of lying on her bed, she had fallen asleep.

She was woken a few hours later by Angelina, who was looking quite angry although it didn't show in her voice. Her friend sat on the bed next to her, her voice gentle and concerned when she spoke. "Katie what's going on? Fred told me what happened between you and George. I get it if you don't feel the same way, but did you have to be so nasty about it?"

Katie couldn't hold back the tears, which welled in her eyes. "Ange, I'm scared. I didn't mean to be nasty to George but I was afraid that if I wasn't..."

Angelina put the pieces together, "You might let it slip that you feel the same way."

Katie tried to wipe away her tears. "How can I, so soon after Oliver? We only broke up a few days ago."

Angelina sighed. "Katie, you and Oliver weren't working for a long time before you broke up; I know you noticed, I certainly did. You stopped looking at him the way you did when you were first together."

Katie looked at her friend. "I looked at him different?"

Angelina thought for a moment. "You looked at him the way you've been looking at George lately."

Katie hiccoughed. "Oh Merlin, Ange what have I done...why was I so stupid? George is never going to want to see me again."

"You need to talk to him, tell him how you feel...you need him Katie, that's pretty clear."

Katie got up from the bed. "Do you know where he is?"

Angelina smiled. "He's at the Quidditch pitch."

Katie left the room, turning back only to thank her friend. She ran to the Quidditch pitch, arriving there quickly and noticed Fred and George in the air; it also seemed that Fred noticed her. He flew to George before landing and heading to the locker room. George landed moments later and she walked over to him. Though he acknowledged her presence, she noticed he refused to look her in the eyes. "What is it Katie?"

She winced at the cold tone his voice held. Her voice cracked as she tried to speak. "George I..." Try as she may she couldn't voice what she was feeling. Instead she embraced him, holding onto him as if her life depended on it, as heavy sobs wrenched her body. She started to cry more when she felt him wrap her arms around her. It was half an hour before she'd cried out all her feelings, her past feelings for Oliver, her feelings of fear, and her current feelings for George. Once she finally stopped crying, she pulled out of his embrace.

"George, I am so sorry about before, I don't expect you to forgive me, what I said it was horrible and cruel and I didn't mean - it not one word. That kiss did mean something to me. And I won't be upset if you tell me to sod off... well, I will be, but I'll understand. I was confused and scared and I know that's no excuse but all I can do is beg you to forgive me... all I can do is stand here and ask you to love me, the way...the way I love you."

George stared at her, unable to speak. He had expected an apology but he had certainly not expected this. Having no idea what to say he did the only thing his brain would tell him to do: he kissed her. He kissed her with everything he had.

Tears welled in Katie's eyes again. This time, though, they were tears of relief, relief that he did love her and relief that he forgave her. And tears of relief that she had found someone to start putting her broken heart back together.

Oh, I need someone to help me.

To help me heal these wounds,

They've been open for way to long.

To help me fill this hole,

Even though this is not your fault;

That I'm open and I'm bleeding,

All over your brand new rug.

And I need someone to help me sew them,

I need someone to help me fill them,

I need someone to help me close them up.