Life Down at the Quidditch Pitch

Chapter Four

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After about a week of broken sleep, Oliver had come up with two possible conclusions about Katie Bell. The first was that he was confused by her and the second was that she was an incredibly irritating person at times. The second had come to him quicker than the first. Katie, who had sincerely apologized after Quidditch practice only the week before had in the past week, accidentally hit him in the back of the head with the Quaffle, flown into him during practice knocking him off of his broom, stepping on his foot earlier that week, and then finally only yesterday for some reason she had been holding a Bludger bat. He wasn't sure why she had it, but it flew out of her hand, or so she said, and had smacked him hard right on the forehead. The Weasley twins had to be quarantined twenty minutes so they would stop laughing.

So on Halloween morning it was not a surprise to Oliver that he was in an unnatural foul mood. His head still hurt, he hadn't slept well, and well, he just felt like being a prat to everyone that day. He took his normal seat at the Head Table, Madame Hooch's old seat, and he helped himself to the bacon, sausage, eggs, and toast that the house elves made that morning.

Halfway through breakfast Katie, Alicia, and Angelina arrived. Alicia and Angelina looked put together as usual, but he could tell even as far away as he was, that she had deep circles under her eyes and she just looked exhausted. He kept looking at her, confused as to why he couldn't stop thinking about her and why he was so confused by her. He should loathe her. Fred and George had asked him at one point why he never retaliated against her. Oliver had just shrugged at that point, not really answering. The closest he had ever come to retaliating was when they would get in their famous rows. He had even convinced himself for a while that he hated her, but he didn't. And that's what confused him.

He felt a tap on his shoulder and jumped halfway out of his chair, nearly knocking over the Professor next to him. He turned to see Dumbledore standing behind him, with an odd expression on his face.

"Oliver, can I please talk to you for a moment, there's a favor I need of you," he asked. He nodded and followed the Headmaster out into a chamber adjoining the Great Hall. Once the door was closed he began speaking again. "There has been a death in one of the student's families. They obviously will need to go home for a few days, to grieve and attend the funerals. I however, with Death Eater activity on the rise, would only feel comfortable with this student going if there was a Hogwart's teacher with them. Very sad, the poor dear has no wizarding relatives alive and as a minor is not supposed to do magic strictly speaking, but you're aware of that."

Oliver bit his tongue, Dumbledore was babbling, and Oliver was itching to tell him that. He didn't, however, but replied.

"You want to send me with the student then?"

"Yes Oliver, yes, if you would not mind."

"Just tell me when sir." Oliver silently thought that perhaps the time away would be good for his brain; he needed to be far from Katie as possible.

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"I hate this class," Katie muttered to Fred as she situated herself in her chair. It was Divination, and Katie was tired, irritable, and not in the mood to deal with Trelawney's mystic voice.

"Why haven't we dropped it yet?" he asked.

"Because this is the easiest class ever," George said from Fred's other side. "Besides, would you rather have taken Arithmancy?"

"No," Fred, Lee, and Katie answered at the same time.

"Angelina and Alicia are mad for taking that class," Lee said from Katie's left.

"What are we doing today?" Fred asked.

"Peeling those bloody apples again," Lee muttered. "Soul mates my arse."

"Better not let those bloody Hufflepuffs hear you mate," George said. "They're nutters about this class."

"Well they are Hufflepuffs," Fred muttered. Katie shook her head.

"At least we're done with the chickens or whatever they were," Katie said. The boys nodded.

"Those were disturbing classes," Lee muttered, shaking his head.

"So what's the deal-" Fred started to ask, but was interrupted by McGonagall entering their classroom. The four Gryffindors shared confused looks and even the Hufflepuffs stopped discussing who their sole mate was long enough to look a bit confused.

"Miss Bell," McGonagall said. "I need to talk to you. Please gather your books." Katie felt the butterflies in her stomach kick in.

Fred was kind enough to make her feel better, or something because he muttered, "See Katie I told you not to try to kill Oliver" while she grabbed her bag. She shot him an incredibly dirty look and followed McGonagall down the steps to her office. What if Oliver had told her what she'd done? Would she be expelled or worse? Would she have to apologize to him again? She really hadn't meant to hit him with it. She'd actually been aiming for George, Oliver just got in the way and by the look she gave her, he didn't think that it was an accident. Well who could blame him really, she thought. Like it or not he was now a teacher.

When the entered her office, she motioned for Katie to sit down so she did. She noticed the unusually grim look on McGonagall's face now and she was confused. Surely, accidentally hitting Oliver didn't deserve that kind of face?

"Miss Bell, Katie, I have some terrible news for you." The blood that was flowing in her veins stopped, she was sure. She gulped, what was going on? "It's about your mother." Katie's nails dug into the arm rests of the chair. "She was in a car crash late last night, and I'm sorry Katie. You'll be sent home immediately."

"She's all right though, right?" Katie asked, noticing that McGonagall hadn't said that her mother was well. She didn't want to think about it. "She just wants to see me for a few days." Tears began forming in her eyes when her Head of House didn't say anything right away. "Correct Professor?"

"I'm sorry, but no, your mother didn't make it. She's no longer with us Miss Bell." Katie's hand flew to her mouth and a sob escaped her throat. McGonagall's eyes were sympathetic as she squeezed her student's shoulder.

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"Have you guys seen Katie?" Alicia asked at lunch. Fred, George, Lee, and Katie all had Divination and Care of Magical Creatures on Tuesday mornings while Alicia and Angelina had Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. Normally the four of them would meet Alicia and Angelina for lunch and then they'd all go to History of Magic together, but today Katie was missing.

"McGonagall pulled her out during Divination, haven't seen her since," Lee said looking worried. He slid next to her and she squeezed his hand.

"Do you think she got in trouble for hitting Oliver?" Alicia asked, now worried. "I know she didn't mean to. I think she wanted to his George."

"Well that just makes it so much better," George replied sarcastically from across the table. Alicia made a face.

"I'm worried too," Angelina said.

"McGonagall didn't look happy at all," Lee said. "How hard did Katie hit him?"

"Hard enough," Fred and George said at the same time.

"Probably saw stars," Fred said, taking a bite of his food.

"Wouldn't be the first bleeding time," George said.

"What is your problem today?" Angelina asked, dropping her fork. "What's shoved up your arse?"

"Angelina, don't..." Fred warned. Alicia had caught on to George's bad attitude as well. He wasn't usually like this, and he'd been in a good mood at breakfast. George didn't say anything else, and no one offered up any information as to why he was in a bad mood. Lee had just shrugged.

"Okay," Alicia said, turning the conversation back to where she'd started it. "What about Katie? Do you think she's in the dormitory?"

"Maybe she did get in trouble," Angelina said.

"Should we check upstairs?"

"We just sat down to eat," Fred whined. "Can't it wait?"

"You don't have to come with us," Alicia said. "In fact if it's something really bad, you probably shouldn't."

"Good," George muttered, and she shared a shrug with Angelina. What was wrong with him? The two girls left their food half eaten and practically ran up the seven flights of stairs to Gryffindor tower. Out of breath, they flew into their dormitory, only to find Katie putting some of her things in her trunk. Alicia felt as if her worst fears were confirmed, and apparently so were Angelina's because they started talking at the same time.

"We'll tell McGonagall..."

"...only an accident..."

"...bloody Oliver..."

"...strangle him with my own hands..."

"...kill George for hacking you off..."

"...unbelievable."

Katie turned towards them and Alicia saw that her friend's eyes were bloodshot. Katie What's Crying Bell had been crying? She was expelled for sure.

"Don't worry you guys, its not that, I'll be back," she said, smiling though Alicia could tell that it wasn't a normal real Katie smile. She just looked sad.

"What's going on then?" Alicia asked. She saw Katie look down at her feet and bite her lip, whatever it was; it was not good at all. Katie took a deep shaky breath.

"Mum died this morning." Katie was still shaking.

"Merlin, Katie, I'm so sorry," Angelina said. Alicia felt too bad for her friend to say anything. She had met Katie's mum just last summer when the three of them had met at Katie's house to attend a Holyhead Harpies match. Her mum had been so sweet and nice, made sure that the girls had fresh cookies when they came home from the match, and had told them that though the flat was small, they were welcome anytime.

"When is the funeral?" Alicia asked, finally being able to string together a sentence.

"We'll be attending of course," Angelina added, nodding.

"Friday, according to the owl from Grandmum," Katie replied. "I told McGonagall that you would want to go, and she said that was fine. She'll make arrangements for you to attend. One of the professors will be along shortly; they're going to have to stay with me. Dumbledore's worried."

"Maybe it will be Snape, no Potions," Angelina said.

"Don't say that!" Katie said. "I don't want Snape following me around all week. I should be back Sunday."

"Are you going to be okay?" Alicia asked. Katie didn't say anything for a bit.

"As okay as I'm going to be," Katie said feebly. "It's time for me to go." Alicia and Angelina hugged her and they watched her drag her trunk out of the door. "See you Friday."

Alicia watched her friend leave; Katie wasn't saying anything in true Katie fashion. She hoped that her friend would hold up all right.

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Oliver stood in the doorway of the Great Hall; waiting for whomever the poor dear was that had lost their parent. Dumbledore never said who it was exactly; he had been imagining the student for most of the day, trying to figure out who it was. He really hadn't had any leads, in fact he was preoccupied enough not to notice whether Katie was at lunch or not. That had been the one good thing about the day, the current obsession he had with Katie had vanished for the day.

He heard the bell ring. Students should be in class by now so whoever came down those steps, he would be spending until Sunday with. He hoped that it wasn't some nasty know it all Slytherin, like Draco Malfoy. Maybe it would be some easy going Hufflepuff. Hell, it could be anybody.

He heard the footsteps before he saw the person. Nervously he waited, and finally when the person arrived, their hazel eyes locked with his brown ones. He was supposed to escort Katie Bell home. She looked as surprised as he felt, however there was more to it. There was something missing in her face, a lose; she wasn't her normal self for today, that was for sure.

She finally made it to the bottom step, still looking a bit surprised. She gave him a weak smile. he placed her trunk next to his.

"I'm glad you're not Snape," she said softly, a tone that he was sure he'd never heard come from her mouth before. She gave him yet another weak smile. "Ahead of time, I just want to say thank you Oliver."

"You're welcome," Oliver replied, still surprised that it was Katie. "We...we should get going." She nodded. He took out his wand and made the trunks feather light so that he could carry the both of them. They headed out the door. Dumbledore arranged a carriage to pick them up and take them to Hogsmeade. There they would Floo from Three Broomsticks to The Leaky Cauldron. Dumbledore had then told him that Katie's flat was close enough for them to walk from there.

He held the door to the carriage for her; and he got the same weak smile as before. He slid into the seat across from her. She was tapping her foot on the floorboard and looked outside. "There are a few things you need to know." She said it almost so soft that he didn't hear her. He wasn't used to this Katie. "Mum isn't...wasn't a fully qualified witch. Most everything in the flat will be Muggle." She looked at him, their eyes locked again. "My Grandmum is a Squib, she can't do magic, Grandfather is dead, so the funeral will be small. Just my aunts, Mum's friends, my sister, brother, and I."

"What about your dad?"

Katie snorted. "I haven't talked to him since I began Hogwart's; supposedly I have some younger half siblings. He left Mum after my brother and sister were born, nearly nine years ago. He's shacked up with a tart somewhere in America. Let's not talk about it." The two of them were silent; Katie was looking back out the window again.

She didn't' say anything again until they were about to Floo, when she said 'The Leaky Cauldron'. He followed her to the flat where she pulled a key ring out of her bag; she still had her school uniform on, but without the robe. She unlocked the door and Oliver's nose was filled with the sent of fresh Juniper and something else that was distinctly Katie.

They entered the living room which was cluttered but clean. Pictures of four different people lined every surface and every wall. A few of them actually moved. There was one of Katie flying, she looked barely nine, but she was on a broom and had the Quaffle in her hand. The back of her robe read Junior Quidditch League. There was another picture of her with two blonde younger versions of herself, one boy, one girl, all three of them smiling. That picture looked to be more recent.

"Emma and Andrew, my brother and sister, they're twins, are with my Grandmum." Oliver jumped at the sound of her voice. He looked up to see her frowning at a picture of a woman. He walked over to where she was to look closer at the picture. She was blonde but had green eyes, not hazel like Katie. Her face was oval shaped and she had high cheekbones. However it was her eyes, though green, that made him think of Katie. They had the same look in them, a mix of mischief, independence, and a little bit of something else, a secret that would never be told.

"She's beautiful," he finally said.

"Thank you." He looked at Katie to see that she had tears welling up in her eyes. "I miss her already."

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"It's weird being here without her," Angelina said. She looked at the clock, eleven, she couldn't sleep, not with someone missing from their room.

"The feast was lonely," Alicia replied.

"She took it like I thought she would," Angelina said, staring at the ceiling.

"We'll see her Friday."

"The boys want to come with us; Fred talked to me about it. They decided that the whole Quidditch team needed to be there for her, and that included Lee I guess."

"Do you think that Harry will be able to go?"

"I doubt it." Angelina sighed. "He really wants to go though; he knows what its like to lose a parent he said, even if he doesn't remember them."

"Trying to be Harry the Hero?" Alicia asked.

"I don't understand Harry so I couldn't even begin to answer that question. But I tell you what, I am forever grateful to that boy. The things he does, wow, I can't imagine having the bravery to do that. But he does and never asks for anything in return."

"That's very philosophical of you, Angelina, especially for it being this time of night."

"Thank you."

"I must say that I agree with you though. I will forever bow down and worship the Boy Who Lived."

"I bet he hates that title."

"Me too."

"I miss Katie."

"Me too. I hope she's okay."

"We'll see her Friday." Angelina rolled over and was about to sleep when a scream pierced the silence of Gryffindor Tower.

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