Life Down at the Quidditch Pitch

! Chapter Fourteen

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"Katie!" Alicia yelled when she spotted her friend. She'd been so worried and was on her way to Dumbledore's office to tell him what had happened. "Merlin Katie! I was so worried!"

Alicia watched Katie fake a smile and laugh. What was going on in her friend's head? "There's nothing to worry about, I'm here alive." She eyed her friend. There was something funny going on and she was about to say more when she was interrupted. "Got to go change, see you in Herbology."

Alicia sighed and watched her friend walk towards the dormitory. She pulled her Herbology book towards her, and headed off the greenhouse. There would be no getting anything out of Katie today that was for sure.

Pushing on the doors to the castle, she walked outside. There was someone walking towards her, which was odd because no one but the seventh year Gryffindors and Slytherins should have been outside. She raised an eyebrow, ready to run back into the castle, when she realized that it was Oliver.

"Oliver?" she asked.

"Hello Alicia," he replied. She took a closer look at him, he looked tired and worried. His hair was tousled by the wind and there was a tear in his jumper. "Herbology this morning?"

"Er, yes," Alicia replied. "What are you doing down here?"

"Actually I'm not sure, have a good morning." Alicia stared after her former Quidditch captain, confused. She shook her head and walked the rest of the way to the greenhouse, wondering if there was something strange in the pumpkin juice at Hogwarts.

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Katie practically ran into the Great Hall after Herbology, the double period had nearly killed her. She was ready to eat; she hadn't eaten in well over thirty-six hours. She sat at the nearest seat at the Gryffindor table. Beginning to pile her plate with food,, careful to make sure that no two foods touched each other, she looked around; there was practically no one in there yet.

'Good', she thought, 'more food for me.' She began shoveling the food into her mouth.

"Hungry?" someone asked. She looked up to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione, sliding in seats beside her. She nodded, cramming even more food in her mouth.

"Starving," she said, between mouthfuls.

"We heard about your brother and sister," Hermione said. Katie shot her head up and gave the girl an odd look.

"Okay," she said, still trying to eat.

"And we think that Malfoy's dad is up to something," Ron said, nodding.

Katie dropped her fork in mock sarcasm. "Really."

"Okay, so we're telling you something you already know?" Hermione asked.

"You think?" Katie spooned a mouthful of mash in her mouth while simultaneously putting more food on her plate.

"I've never seen anyone eat like that before...it's like watching me eat," Ron said.

"I haven't eaten for over a day, I'm famished," she said, working on her shepherd's pie.

"Why didn't you eat yesterday?" Harry asked.

"Every bad thing that could have happened around meal time did, very frustrating. That's why today I am eating like there's no tomorrow, say will you pass me more of the shepherd's pie?"

"Are you sure that you're just hungry and not pregnant?" Ron asked. Katie gave him a dirty look and briefly entertained the thought of killing the youngest Weasley boy. "It was supposed to be a joke."

"Well it wasn't funny," Hermione and Katie said at the same time. After being gaped for a few more minutes by the fifth years she excused herself and headed up to the dormitory. She was full, and it felt great to be full.

She was stopped by the sound of giggles coming from an empty corridor. She sighed, why were people snogging this early during the day? Didn't they realize that they were going to get caught? She sighed and decided to do her duty by embarrassing whoever it was. She made down the corridor.

When Katie spotted red hair she figured it was just one of the Weasley twins, until she realized that the hair was long, and was longer than either of the Weasley's. It was Ginny. Oh dear Merlin, her brothers were going to kill her and the poor sap she was with.

The couple moved and Katie got a better view of the boy. Seamus Finnigan. Of all the boys in the world poor Ginny could have picked, it was Seamus. Seamus the Gryffindor man-whore. Her brothers would have a field day with this one.

"Hey you two!" Katie yelled down the hall. Ginny and Seamus jumped apart, both looking embarrassed, and rightly so. "What in Merlin's name is wrong with the two of you? Seamus you should know better, Ron's going to choke you in your sleep."

"Not if you don't tell him, right?" Ginny asked. Her brown eyes looked up pleadingly at her. Now she knew how Ginny got away with everything; those big brown eyes. Katie sighed. Did she really want to go and tell the Weasleys? They'd probably kill her along with Seamus.

"No I won't, but be more careful," Katie reprimanded.

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Oliver hid behind the girl's changing rooms after Quidditch practice. He was determined to talk to Katie, even though doing it like this made him feel like a stalker. He noticed that Angelina and Katie weren't talking for some reason, so he hoped that Katie would be walking out alone.

As he was watching, Alicia and Angelina left, talking about Ancient Runes. Bloody boring class. He took a deep breath. Should he just go into the changing room? Or should he wait outside? Either way he was going to scare her.

She came out next; he snuck behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. She jumped around surprised and nearly fell, Oliver held her to avoid the fall. He steadied her by holding her arms.

"You okay?" he asked.

"You scared me!"

"I know, I'm sorry," he said, looking down at his feet.

"It's all right, just next time call out my name or something." She held her hand to her chest and took a deep breath. "What did you need?"

"I wanted to talk to you, really," Oliver replied. Because you're acting completely mad, he told her in his mind. "I was just wondering why exactly, you decided to sleep under a tree."

"Oh," Katie replied. She looked up at him. "I don't want to talk about it." As she began walking away, Oliver grabbed her arm.

"But I want to hear about it."

"I'm not like other girls, Oliver," Katie replied, looking him sharply in the eye. "With the exception of Angelina and Alicia, and not always with them, I don't run and tell people my problems. I don't like for people to feel sorry for me...and I don't want you to."

"And I won't," he replied softly. "I'm not a typical guy either, Kate. I really do care about what happens to you."

"Mum used to say that the only way she could tell when I was sick was if I went to bed early. I never told her when I felt bad." Katie looked up at him teary eyed. "I miss her, I miss Emma and Andrew, and I miss not feeling like some sort of raging ball of emotion." He rubbed the bare skin on her arms, attempting to comfort her.

"What happened yesterday?"

"I had this huge row with Angelina. She was overreacting about something." She kept looking at him, there was something about the row that she wasn't telling him and he knew it. But she never said otherwise. "Then...then I was sent to Dumbledore's office, there was and owl from Grandmum, she says hello by the way, and..." Katie looked away and drew a shaky breath. "Lucius Malfoy is representing my father. He's going to help him take the twins away from us."

"He won't, they don't belong with him, bloody hell they don't even know him!"

Katie laughed.

"What are you laughing at?"

"You getting irate on my part...I guess that its something new, not quite used to this Oliver."

"I'm the same Oliver I've always been; you're just Kate now, not Katie. You're the one who's changed."

She raised an eyebrow. "No, I think this is what's changed us." She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him softly. He felt his insides melt, her lips were so soft, she smelled so nice, he could have let it last forever but she pulled away as he was really beginning to get into it. She smiled at him. Damn he could get used to that smile. "See you tomorrow." She walked away from him and he watched her until she reached the confines of the castle.

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Angelina closed her eyes and laid her head on her boyfriend's shoulder. It was nice being able to sit with him like this, it made her feel better. He rubbed her back and she looked up gratefully at him. What she wouldn't give to spend forever like this.

"Okay?" Fred asked, looking down at her.

"Sore from Quidditch," she replied.

"No, I mean, the other..." Angelina sighed; she'd told Fred about the huge row she and Katie had gotten into yesterday morning. He'd been more than supportive and understanding, he knew that Katie was a hard person to befriend.

"What do you think?" she muttered.

"You need to tell Alicia, she'll know what to do."

"Need to tell me what?" Angelina opened an eye to see Alicia sitting next to Lee on a nearby couch; George was sitting in a chair adjacent to both couches, reading the Daily Prophet. "Please tell me this has something to do with Katie."

"Doesn't everything?" George asked. "It's always bloody Katie, Katie, Katie around here."

"Shut up," Angelina said, rolling her eyes at George. "But yes, this does have to do with Katie. We got into a huge row yesterday before breakfast."

George dropped the newspaper in mock surprise. "Katie got in a row with someone, do tell us more! What an interesting tale!"

Knowing better than to even reply to George's remark, Angelina continued. "I'm worried about her, I found yet another boy in her bed yesterday morning." Angelina wasn't sure why she just didn't say it was Oliver, even though she was mad at Katie. "And I tried to tell her that I thought that she was on the fast track to...well..." Angelina felt her face go hot. "...you know."

George nearly fell out his chair. Angelina and Alicia shared an odd look.

"Well you know what, I agree with Katie!" George exclaimed, throwing his newspaper onto the chair as he stood up. "Her love life is her own bloody business and no one else's."

"What's wrong with you?" Fred asked.

"I just think that you lot should keep out of others' business, that's all." George's ears were beginning to burn bright red. "If Katie wants to shag every guy at Hogwart's than that's up to her!" George left the common room and stomped up the stairs.

"Who said anything about Katie shagging anyone?" Angelina asked confused.

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"Snogging a boy?" someone asked, as Katie sat down in the empty common room. She'd waited until she was sure that Angelina had been in bed for over an hour. She turned her head around to see George standing behind her.

"Merlin, George, you scared me," she replied, holding her hand to her chest for the second time that day. "And no I was not out snogging a boy."

"I'm afraid that I've said something that I shouldn't have," George said, sitting down across from her.

"What do you mean?" Katie said, eyeing him closely.

George took a deep breath. "Well, Angelina told Alicia what happened yesterday, some row you two had, and then Angelina said something about, well, about you randomly shagging some boy and of course not thinking, I made an arse of myself defending you, telling her that it was your business if you shagged every boy at Hogwart's."

"Oh no, George you didn't," Katie moaned, putting her head in her hands.

"Er...will you hit me if I tell you that I did?"

"Yes."

"Well then I didn't."

"I hate you," Katie said, despite herself smiling at him.

"Well you should. Katie, Merlin, could I have been a bigger prick to you?" George looked at her. "I am so sorry for everything."

"I don't regret it," she replied. "Not for a second...we needed it, we needed each other."

People were screaming, Katie didn't take time to do that, she and George ran out onto the Quidditch Pitch, or rather the maze. Harry couldn't have just disappeared, could he? And what about Cedric?

Plain as day, the two of them had been standing there and then, and then they'd vanished. Katie looked around at the teachers; they weren't even bothering to keep things in order. Students were scattered everywhere, and everywhere, the screams. That's what she would remember most, the screams of terrified children. Even till late in her life, the screams would haunt her nightmares.

Minutes passed, seeming like days, until there was a rush of noise and two bodies appeared on the ground, and Katie was pushed from every side.

"Diggory's dead!" someone shouted. Katie felt dizzy; Cedric was dead...how could he possibly? The maze? Harry? She felt herself about to fall, when arms held her up from behind.

"Let's go." It was George. Scared and afraid, they moved out of the midst of the crowd to where Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Fred, Angelina, Alicia, Lee, Hermione, and Ron were standing. Hermione was crying into Mrs. Weasley's shoulder, Fred, Bill, and Ron didn't look like they knew exactly how they were supposed to be feeling.

Katie looked around, still confused. She watched Mad-EyeMoody pull Harry from the screaming mob. She watched Amos Diggory nearly collapse when Dumbledore told him that his son was dead. She remembered looking at Cedric's body while they pulled him from the crowd, his eyes were open and he looked surprised. He hadn't seen death coming that was for sure.

Somehow, they were led up to Gryffindor Tower, minus Bill, Mrs. Weasley, Ron, and Hermione were of course with Harry in the Infirmary. Alicia had gone to an emergency Prefect's meeting. George, Fred, Angelina, Lee, and Katie went to Gryffindor Twoer where it seemed that panic was runningrampant.

The next few days were a haze. Rumors flew, and some were unbelievable, so awful she didn't want to mention them. She'd spent an awful lot of time with George, reading, doing homework, and never really talking. It was so comforting just being there with someone. Someone who didn't care if you were in the mood for conversation, someone who would never admit it, but was just as scared as the next person. Someone who just wanted to be nearby.

So when she and George wound up alone in her dormitory, she didn't give it a second thought. Her head was in his lap, just lying there. She twisted her hair around her finger; her thoughts were still stuck on Cedric's death.

"Katie," George said softly. "Do you ever wonder if we'll die tomorrow?"

"Yes," she replied. It was odd thinking morbid thoughts, but they came to her in loads since they lost Cedric.

"I..this is going to sound funny, but I don't want to die regretting anything I've done or haven't done," he said.

"It doesn't sound odd," Katie replied, sitting up. She gave George an odd look.

"More than anything how do you feel right now?"

"Scared, lonely."

"Even though I'm sitting here with you?"

"Yes."

"Same here." He leaned in and Katie felt his lips meet hers. Suddenly she didn't feel so scared or alone.

"If I'd known, Katie, I swear, I wouldn't have done what I did the next day," George was looking down at his hands.

"But you didn't, and I made you think otherwise," she said, looking at the window. "Any other guy would have thought the same."

"I can't help but feel bad." He took a deep breath. "It was my first too, and as much as I will never admit this again, it was special, because it was with you."

She gave him a half smile. "You're right, it was special. But it's over George, and I forgave you a long time ago."

"The manic Katie Bell forgave me. Suppose it was a first."

"I suppose." She stood up to head to her dorm.

"And Oliver was a second." She raised an eyebrow. He grinned. "You've stopped chucking the Quaffle at his head."

She shook her head yawning.

"Can I have a hug goodnight?" She nodded and gave him a hug. He rubbed her back and she briefly rested her head on his shoulder, remembering how natural it felt for the two of them. But then she remembered how wrong it was all at the same time. She was glad that the George chapter in her life was finished, though he did make a great mate. He kissed her on the cheek.

"Now you can go back to being an arse in the morning," Katie teased as she walked up the steps to her dorm. He replied with a rather rude gesture.