I Only Wanted

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    "Welcome to Advanced Potions. You were all chosen for your exceptional skills. Now is your time to prove it. I've chosen a potion today that will be able to be completed in the time frame of this class. It is a very advanced antidote, which if it is done correctly, will be donated to Madam Pomfrey," he said, sounding as if he didn't like the idea, "Now, please be careful not to get any of it on your skin. Seeing as an antidote traditionally has a bit of the poison its curing in the mixture, you will develop symptoms of the poison," he said, looking around at all of them very seriously, "That being said, chose your partner wisely. Now, copy these ingredients down."

    Percy paired up with a Gryffindor girl that Katie knew by sight, but not by name. Katie paired up with Angelina. She knew she could definitely trust her. She went about copying down the ingredients and taking notes down as Snape rattled off the instructions for brewing the potion. When he was finished, the class stood and went to the far side of the room to collect their ingredients. Angelina grabbed half of them and walked back to their seats. As Katie was gathering her half of the ingredients, she heard a voice behind her.

    "How are you handling the rejection, Bell?"

    Katie rolled her eyes and chose to ignore the comment. She knew Marcus must have told the whole lot of Slytherins about her predicament. But when she felt a hand on her shoulder, she turned around, trying very hard not to drop her ingredients. She came face to face with a smirking Marcus Flint. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, Snape appeared beside them.

    "Any problems here?" he asked.

    "None at all," Katie said, before walking over to sit next to Angelina.

    When she was seated, she noticed Marcus walking over to his seat, leering at her. She had a half a mind to jump over the table and beat him to a pulp. But only half a mind. She controlled her temper for the moment.

    "Did you get any of what Snape said?" Angelina said smiling.

    Katie waved a piece of parchment in front of her. "Its called notes, Ang."

    "Yeah, yeah. Come on brainiac, lets get to work."

    They began to brew their antidote. It wasn't as hard as Snape made it out to be. Well, not to Katie anyway. She noticed a few Slytherins scratching their heads when their antidote had turned orange instead of a very light blue. But Katie's and Angelina's looked perfect and their shared a smile in a congratulatory fashion. Katie flicked her wand and turned their fire down so that the antidote had the correct amount of heat for the final step. After about five minutes, she flicked her wand again and put the fire out. Snape came over and surveyed their work. He nodded his head and announced their success.

    "Five points to Gryffindor for completing the assignment in such a short amount of time," he said, before walking over to check on the Slytherins.

    Katie blanched and almost stopped breathing. Snape awarded Gryffindor points! What the hell was wrong with that man? She looked to Angelina, who looked as if she was thinking the same thing. All Angelina could do was stare and point. Katie pushed her hand down and snapped her fingers in front of Angelina. That seemed to bring her back.

    "What just happened?"

    "Professor Snape gave us points," Katie said, still not believing it herself.

    "And why did he do that?"

    "Because we're geniuses," Katie said shrugging.

    Angelina arched an eyebrow, but nodded. "Yeah, reckon so. Or, maybe he's not really Snape. Maybe he's an imposter," she said in a whisper, causing Katie to stifle a very loud laugh by coughing.

    Soon enough though, everyone had finished their antidote to succession, except for the pair of Slytherins whose antidote turned orange. Katie volunteered to take their antidote up to Snape's desk so he could collect it to give to Madam Pomfrey. She then took their cauldron over to the sinks and proceeded to wash it out. She vaguely noticed the orange antidote sitting near her. She was going to offer to clean it up, but figured that Snape was probably going to fix it to give to Madam Pomfrey. She was drying her cauldron when Marcus Flint stepped up to use the sink.

    "So, Bell, like I was planning on saying before, how are you?"

    "Why do you care, Flint?"

    "Oh, I'm just curious. I can only imagine how hard it must be to be an orphan right now. Are you planning on adding to the collection of those pretty scars on your arms?" he asked viciously.

    "What did you just say?" she asked, trying to control herself.

    "Your arms? Oh, I know all about them, Bell. Last year, when we met up in the locker room," he said, looking her over in a perverse manner, "I saw them. But it just shows how weak you are. All those scars and you never succeeded in offing yourself?" he said.

    Katie felt the tears welling in her eyes, but she pushed them back. She would never allow Marcus Flint to see her cry. Never. But her tears turned into a boiling anger. How dare him? He had no idea what she went through. She knew he was trying to get a rise out of her, but she couldn't help it. He always seemed to know just the right button to push. Before she knew what was happening, Marcus had taken a step closer to her.

    "I can help you with that, you know?" he said, grabbing her wrist, "If you're really serious about it."

    Katie wrenched her hand from his grip. "How dare you touch me."

    Marcus sneered at her. That pushed her over the edge. Enough was enough. Before she realized what she was doing, she grabbed the cauldron with the orange antidote and dumped it over Marcus' head. She jumped back to avoid getting any on her and threw the cauldron to the ground.

    "Don't you touch me, talk to me, or even so much as look at me sideways, Flint. I've had it!" she said, hands balled into fists at her sides.

    Snape came running over, looking absolutely livid. "Fifty points from Gryffindor and a detention, Miss. Bell. Bletchley, take Mr. Flint up to the Hospital Wing. Miss. Bell, come with me."

    Katie watched as Bletchley, a Chaser on the Slytherin Team, led Marcus, very carefully, from the room. She resignedly followed Snape from the room. When Bletchley and Marcus had rounded the corner, Snape fixed her with a gaze that was foreign for him. He looked worried.

    "Miss. Bell, if you have a problem with Marcus Flint," he said, holding a hand up as Katie went to explain, "then please keep it out of the halls and out of my class. Its unacceptable behavior. You are in an advanced class, Miss. Bell. I expect some sort of rational behavior on your part. I will have words with Mr. Flint about staying away from you in my class. Now, for your detention, you will help me here in the dungeons this Saturday. Do we understand?" he said, giving her a glare only he could give.

    "Yes, sir, but if I could just explain-"

    "I know all about your parents, Miss. Bell. And I understand what you must be going through. I knew your parents, and while I can not condone what they have done, I will not take that as an excuse," he said sternly, before appraising her for a moment, "You have a rare gift with Potions, Miss. Bell, and I am giving you the opportunity to realize it. Do not take advantage of my generosity. Now, if you would be so kind as to clean up the mess you made," he said, as the bell sounded, "then you may proceed to dinner."

    Katie nodded and followed him back into the dungeons. She pulled out her wand and did a simple scouring spell on the orange mess covering the floor by the sinks and then gathered up her things.

    She ran up to Gryffindor Tower, dropped her things in her dormitory, and ran back down to the Great Hall. She spotted an empty seat beside Angelina and sat down in it. She kept her head down and placed some food on her plate, which she wholeheartedly didn't plan on eating. She waited on bated breath for someone, anyone, to say something. Lee shot her a worried glance, as she pushed around her food.

    "Are you alright, love?"

    "I fucked up. I royally fucked up," Katie said, wiping at her eyes.

    She felt Lee place and arm around her shoulder, abandoning his food. Katie found herself biting back tears. She had been an embarrassment to herself, to her house, and she had been a disappointment to Snape. She wouldn't have cared about the last part normally, but after everything he had said, she felt guilty. Because she was lucky to be in that class, and she had taken it for granted that day. A moment later, Oliver Wood came marching into the hall. He looked livid, and Katie wanted nothing more than to disappear at that moment. She hated being a disappointment in Oliver's eyes. So much more than anyone in her life. He casually asked Angelina to scoot down and sat down in the empty space.

    "Explain," he said, his eyes looking quite confused as he looked at her.

    "I don't know what happened."

    "Oh, Katie, give it up!" Angelina said, from the other side of Oliver, "Flint provoked you, plain and simple."

    "And I overreacted. I could have just walked away. And now every Gryffindor hates me," she said, standing from the table and leaving the Great Hall.

    She had really wanted to say, "And now Oliver hates me", but she didn't know how well that would have gone over. She retreated up to Gryffindor Tower and curled herself up in an armchair by the fire. She sat there contemplating her day. She know knew why Snape hadn't taken points in the hall after she slapped Marcus. He must have overheard what Marcus had said, and having heard about Katie's parents, took pity on her. And although she was confused to as why, seeing as Snape had never given any incline that he had a heart, she felt better knowing that the teachers knew. She wouldn't use it as an excuse, but if they saw her upset in class, maybe they'd know why instead of speaking to her after class, or taking points.

    Some time later, she heard the portrait hole open. Although instead of hearing a rush of voices and feet, she heard one pair of feet and no sound except the portrait hole swinging shut. She raised her head slightly and saw Oliver Wood, looking down at her.

    "Hey, are you alright?" he asked, kneeling beside the armchair.

    Katie blinked rapidly, to hide whatever tears had come to her eyes, and looked at him.

    "I'm sorry I lost points for Gryffindor," she said softly, avoiding Oliver's intense gaze.

    "No one is blaming you for something Marcus Flint brought upon himself, Katie," he said, ducking his head to try and catch her eye.

    "But I embarrassed the House," Katie said, finally looking him in the eye.

    "Only to the people who don't know you like I do," he said smiling, "Whatever he said, isn't true. And whatever you did, was well deserved."

    Katie cracked a small grin. "Thanks Ol."

    "Don't mention it, here," he said, handing her a napkin, "Angelina made me bring you some dessert since you didn't eat anything at dinner."

    Katie laughed, and wiped at a tear that had escaped her eye. "Angelina saves the day with chocolate."

    Oliver looked at her concerned when he saw her wipe the tear away. "Were you crying, Kate?"

    Katie looked down and picked at a piece of her dessert. "Maybe. You just looked so….so angry when you came in the Great Hall."

    Oliver ran a hand through his short brown hair and then looked up at her, eyes holding only sincerity. "I'm sorry, Katie. McGonagall told me about the points and I knew it probably had something to do with Marcus. I was angry because of him, not at you."

    Katie nodded her head, beginning to munch on her dessert. Oliver reached up and stole a piece, which earned him a smack on the arm.

    "Hey! You had food, I didn't. Hands to yourself, Wood," Katie said, laughing at the expression on his face.

    "You smacked me," he said, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

    "Oh no, no. Oliver, stay away from me," Katie said, jumping up from her armchair and heading for the stairs.

    "If I catch you, you're in for it, Miss. Bell," Oliver said, taking off after her.

    Katie ran and made it to her dormitory just in time to slam the door in Oliver's face, laughing like mad. Oliver knocked on the door.

    "Ok, kidding aside Katie, open the door," he said, his voice sounding slightly muffled.

    Katie thought about it for a moment. She walked over and placed her dessert, neatly wrapped, on her nightstand. She then walked back over to the door and opened it. Oliver was standing there, one hand on the door frame, the other on his side. He looked up when she opened the door, and Katie wanted nothing more than to kiss him. He looked down at her and smiled.

    "I just wanted to say I'm sorry again."

    "Its quite alright, I feel better now," she said, grinning up at him.

    'I hate being short. Even if I stood on tip-toe, I couldn't kiss him,' she thought to herself.

    Oliver took the hand that was on his side and lifted it. He reached around, and in one swift motion, pulled Katie's ponytail out. She looked up at him, lividly. She smacked him in the ribs, just hard enough to make him lean down a bit and ruffled his hair, before stealing her ponytail holder back.

    "What is it with guys and messing up a girls hair?"

    Oliver stood up, his hand still on his stomach. "Uh, ow?" he said, playfully.

    "Oh, get over it," Katie said, pushing him from the door, messy hair and all, and closed the door.

    She rolled her eyes and walked over to her bed. She grabbed her dessert and ate it in haste. She then pulled out her Defense Against the Dark Arts book and got to reading about vampires.