Romance Americana

Alright, it has been brought to my attention that Kate Morgan is a bit too... perfect. She's supposed to seem that way. Trust me, she has her faults. (Don't we all?) Keep reading and you'll see what I mean. And here's chapter 3...

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One week of the new term had passed, and amazingly enough, the weather was still warm and relatively mild. The down side to this was that Harry found himself being very rudely awakened by sounds coming off the Quidditch pitch.

"What the hell...?" He tumbled out of bed, roughly shoved his glasses on his face, and looked out his window. He couldn't tell, but he could swear that the Americana students were on the pitch. But, they weren't playing Quidditch... they were playing baseball.

Harry immediately got dressed and ran down to see what was going on. It got there just in time to see Kate screaming at Benny. He followed the argument, but stayed out of the way; they both looked ready to kill.

"What the hell do you mean that my run doesn't count? That's bullshit, Kate!"

"The third out was made before you hit the plate! It simply doesn't count; get it out of your head that no one is as good as you."

"I played league ball for..."

"...Eight years, we all know. If you would shut up about how long you played baseball, we might get a goddamn game in every once in awhile!"

"You know everything, don't you, Kate? Who the hell died and made you perfect? You may be the leader, but I'm the one busting my ass to follow through on all of your bullshit ord..."

Just then, Kate noticed Harry. She gave a purposeful glare to Benny, and then jerked her head in Harry's direction.

"Fine, the run counts, happy? Let's just play. You wanna join us, Harry?" Kate said this as she grabbed Benny's arm to lead him back onto the make- shift field. He jerked his arm out of her hold, and glared at her again.

"No, I'm NOT happy."

Kate sighed, and put on a sad, please-for-the-love-of-God-give-me-what-I-want face, and looked up at him.

"Please, Ben, can we please talk about this later? I'll call all of the Americana Quidditch captains together later and we'll all talk then. Okay?"

"Fine. We talk later then. Let's go."

"Sure, just let me talk to Harry. I think Dani needs to see you anyway."

Benny made is way to Dani, gave her a kiss, and started to talk with her. Kate made her way to Harry.

"Now, what can I do for you on this beautiful morning, Mr. Potter?"

"You can explain to me why you felt it necessary to wake the Head Boy with a baseball game right outside his window."

"Baseball's fun and its America's pastime. I think we're all a bit homesick already. But then again, something tells me that Snape's Potions class will do that to anybody."

"And that's you wonderful reason for waking me up? If you can't come up with a better one, I may have to start taking points..."

"Okay, do you believe that it's good practice for my Beaters?"

"Fine, that excuse will do. If Hermione wakes up and doesn't like it..."

"You can kiss it out of her mind?"

Harry had the good grace to blush. "And what makes you think that I would be interested in snogging this baseball wake up out of Hermione's mind?"

"Because, I was with Ron when he caught you coming out of her room, and the lipstick on your check told the rest."

"Oh. Right. Hey, Kate, what was the argument with Benny about? I thought you two were close."

"We are. He's like my big brother. And, he calls me on my bullshit. Everyone needs a friend like Benny."

"But, still, why were you screaming at him."

"Because I thought the run shouldn't count and he did."

"No, I got that. I meant right after that part."

Kate cleared her throat and look at her shoes as they walked along the edge of the pitch. Was is just Harry's imagination, or had the silence gotten strangely uncomfortable?

"I can get pretty full of myself; I'm used to being the best and the brightest, the one who knows everything. Benny reminds me that I'm only mortal, if I wanna hear it or not. Sometimes I flip, other times I just take it. I usually get pissed when he scolds in public... Sorry, I'm rambling."

"No, it's alright. Keep talking."

"Okay. Just remember, you asked for it. I only take what Benny dishes out because he saved me, in a public relations sense. When were fifteen, we went to this party, and of course, there was alcohol. I didn't realize how much I had been drinking, but Benny had. He cut me off and got me out before the media got wind of it. He took me to his house, and sobered me up. He didn't even get pissed when I threw up in his bed... he just changed the sheets, told me to get some more sleep, and went back to sleep on the sofa. He kept the media out, and just when I needed it the most. It was right before "Lagoon" opened. I had only earned enough respect to get a leading role; just imagine what that kind of headline would do to a fledgling career. "Teen Actress Drinks Away Career"... I would have been screwed before I was started. I owe him everything."

"So you flipped like that because he told you off?"

"Yea, well, we all have our faults, don't we?"

"I guess." But inside, Harry's mind was flying faster than his Firebolt. 'Why are you lying to me, Kate? What are you hiding?'

"But, Kate, you know you can tell me anything, right? I mean one child celebrity to another."

She managed to smile at his weak attempt at a joke. "Yeah, I know, Harry. It's just that, some things are better kept secret. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I guess I do."

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Ravenclaw Common Room, Sometime Before Midnight

Jarrod Delaney looked up from his Charms homework. It was slow, boring work that their Professor had given them for not being up to what he had called "usual Ravenclaw standards".

"Hey, Jarrod, whatcha doing?" Matthew Quinnlin had just come in from quidditch practice.

"The damn Charms homework! I can't believe he gave us so much. I'll be here all night!"

"Good, I'll keep you company."

Matt sat down next to him and pulled out his books.

"Matt, why are you so late coming in from practice? You dismissed us about four hours ago."

"I was watching the Gryffindor team practice. I wanted to see how they were doing so far."

"Which team, ours of the Brits?"

"Ours."

"Matt, please don't tell me you were watching for Kate again..."

"No... I was watching my sister first. Then I started watching Kate. She's only gotten better. We're gonna have problems beating them."

"Matt, she's always been good. Why were you watching her, honestly?"

"I miss her, Jarrod. She was my life, and then she just walked out. How could she? I gave her everything, and she repays me by allowing me to watch her kiss that goddamn British keeper... what's his name?"

"Ron Weasley?"

"Yea, that's him. She clings to him the way the ivy clings to Wrigley Field."

Jarrod looked up; something in Matt's tone made him worry.

"Matt, you did nothing wrong. Kate will be Kate. You know how finicky she is; say one thing that she takes offense to and your state enemy number one until lunch. Then, you get her a garden salad and French water, and your back in her good graces. Don't worry, she'll come around."

"I sure hope so."

They worked for a couple more hours before Matt looked at the clock and saw that it was well past 1 am.

"Jarrod, it's the weekend; let's just go to bed and deal with our homework on Sunday, like all good American students do."

"Al'ight. I'm good with that."