Life Is For Living

A/N : Now, I had this chapter all planned out, but after reading "The Goblet of Fire" and "The Four Champions" chapters again, I found a discretion. Unlike in PoA, there was no Hogsmeade trip on Halloween in GoF. Well, if there was, Harry, Ron, and Hermione did not go. They visited with Hagrid. So my thought process had to start all over. And Oli's return will now be delayed. But maybe I can plot that storyline out a little more until then.

****

When Angelina and Katie returned to the table, Fred leaned across it to talk to Katie.

"Are you alright?"

Katie froze a moment too long and Angelina smiled at Fred, while placing a hand on Katie's shoulder.

"It's just the food is all. Its not really agreeing with me all that well either," she said, and as soon as she did, the plates were cleared and the Hall grew quiet.

Dumbledore brought out the "impartial" judge that Fred, George, and Lee would have to fool if they wanted to enter. It was a goblet, and it looked to be an extremely magical object. But that didn't seem to deter the boys, who had already decided to make an Aging Potion. It was a rather complicated potion and since Katie had refused to help them, she was sure they had asked Angelina for supervision to make sure everything was added properly.

Katie couldn't take her eyes off of the goblet. Flames of white and blue were dancing inside of it. It really was beautiful. But soon enough, Dumbledore was dismissing them to their dormitories. As Katie headed towards the exit with Fred, George, Angelina, Lee, and Alicia, a hand on her arm stopped her progress and she turned to come face to face with the boy from Diagon Alley.

Angelina and Alicia dissolved into giggles behind her and Katie rolled her eyes before smiling at the boy.

"Hi again."

"Hi," he said smiling, but his smile disappeared when Fred and George appeared behind her.

Katie turned and glared at Fred and George, who were glaring at the boy.

"Sorry about them."

The boy shook his head. "I thought maybe one of them was your boyfriend, perhaps."

Katie laughed. "No way. They're my best friends. My boyfriend graduated last year."

The boy nodded. "Well, since we may be schooling together, I thought it be alright to ask your name."

"Oh. I'm Katie Bell."

"Nice to meet you, Katie. I'm Christian. Christian Madden."

Katie smiled again, and Fred yanked on her arm, pulling her away.

"Come on Katie, we have to go."

Katie turned her head and waved to Christian. "I'll see you later then, Christian."

Christian smiled through the crowd and waved. Katie reached down to try and pry Fred's hand off of her arm as Angelina yelled at him.

"Frederick Weasley! Let go of her!"

Fred stopped seeing as there was a back-up at the exit to the Hall and looked down at Katie. "What the hell was that! How do you know that guy?"

Angelina didn't giggle that time and neither did Alicia. They were both too puzzled at Fred's behavior.

"I met him in Diagon Alley over the summer. When I met up with Ang and Alicia. Now let go of my arm!" she shouted and people turned to stare.

*

Up at the faculty table, Severus watched as Katie conversed with a student from Beauxbatons. He heard her introduce herself as Karkaroff went by them. The man paused and stared at her before sneering and steering his students toward the door.

"Shit," he muttered under his breath, before disappearing out an exit at the back of the Hall.

*

Fred let go of her arm and glared at her. "What was going on back there between you and French-y? And how did he know about Oliver?"

"Because he kind of flirted with me in Diagon Alley and I told him that I have a boyfriend. Merlin, Fred, what the fuck is your problem?" Katie said rubbing her arm absently.

Fred crouched down slightly, head bowed, and looked up then to look at her eye to eye. "I'm just looking out for you," he said sighing, "He was flirting an you were flirting back. I just didn't want you to leave Oliver for someone like that," he said and continued on at the surprised look on Katie's face, "Guys in this school are going to think that because he's out of sight, that he might not be on your mind. Harsh, but true," he said sighing again, "People are going to flirt with you, Kate. You're a cute little thing."

Katie blushed, but noticed that her hands were shaking. Fred must have noticed too, because he grabbed one of her hands and squeezed it reassuringly.

"And most of them will not act like Flint did."

He gathered Katie to him and hugged her tightly. "It would crush Oliver, you know."

Katie laughed and the tension disappeared as she pushed Fred away from her and smacked him in a teasing manner. "Who do you think I am, Fred Weasley? Christian seems nice, but I love Oliver. I wouldn't ever leave him."

Fred's face took on a contemplative look. "How come you laughed when he asked if I was your boyfriend?"

Katie scrunched up her face as if she dreaded the thought and hid behind Lee at Fred's mischievous grin. But Lee wasn't having it. He stepped aside and allowed Fred to grab her.

"Lee!"

"Sorry, Kate. That was a low blow."

Fred had his arm wrapped around her shoulder as they made their way slowly from the entrance hall to the marble staircase.

"Come on, Kate. Is it that hard to imagine me as your boyfriend?"

Katie looked at him with a mixture of amusement and repulsion on her face. "Fred, you're nice and all, but you're like my brother and that's just gross."

Fred smiled down at her as they started up the marble staircase. "This coming from the girl who gave me my first kiss."

Katie paled and looked up at him, as their friends gathered around them.

"Where was I?" George asked scandalized.

"You were in the kitchen with mum and Kate and I were out n the garden playing with the gnomes-"

Realization hit Katie as she remembered the day and she cut him off. "That was not a kiss, Fred! We were five!" she said, but to her extreme dislike, Fred kept on talking.

"And one of the gnomes bit Katie, I tossed it, and she kissed me because I saved her from the mean gnome."

Their friends broke into a chorus of "Awwww!" and Katie scrambled out of Fred's grip, blushing madly.

"You make me sound like some sort of damsel in distress."

"Well, you did say, 'My hero!' before kissing me," Fred said arching an eyebrow suggestively.

Katie glared at him and stalked ahead of the group. Even though she knew that this as all fun, she couldn't help feeling it hit a chord deep down. She knew deep down that Draco had feelings for her. Some sort of feelings. And it was obvious that Christian was attracted to her. She had never realized that people could be attracted to her before Oliver had told her so. It's not like she was exceptionally pretty or anything. If anything, she was rather plain. And now Fred was telling her to expect this! To anticipate the fact that guys would be flirting with her.

She couldn't help but wondering what they saw in her then. In the middle of her thoughts, her vision began to get fuzzy and she felt a little dizzy. That was before everything went black.

****

When she opened her eyes next, she was lying on the couch in the common room, and she heard George reprimanding people very loudly.

"Keep walking. Nothing to see," he said, presumably to hordes of younger students.

Fred reached out and placed a hand on her forehead. "Kate? You with us?"

Katie nodded weakly.

"You're really clammy. And you passed out in the middle of the hallway. I think we need to get you to Madam Pomfrey."

Katie groaned. "No, evil hospital pajama's."

Angelina laughed from somewhere behind her. "How about we get you to bed, and in the morning, I'll take you to Pomfrey. Since it's Saturday and we don't have to worry about classes."

Katie nodded again and smiled. "Good plan."

She watched as Fred walked around the couch and bent down to pick her up.

"I don't want to hear that you're not a damsel, I'm carrying you and that's that. Now, arms around my neck, Kate."

Katie did as Fred told her, too woozy to argue. And when Fred lifted her a little too quickly from the couch, she ducked her head against his shoulder to block out the whirl of colors.

"Sorry 'bout that," he said quietly as he started up the stairs.

Angelina and Alicia walked ahead of them and opened the door to their dormitory. Fred carried her all the way over to her bed, and Katie really did feel like a damsel. Angelina pulled back her covers and Fred set her down gently. Katie gave him a smile.

"Thanks, Fred."

Fred leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead. He then moved to tuck a piece of hair behind her ears. "Promise me you'll go see Pomfrey tomorrow morning. You really don't look so good."

Katie nodded. "Promise."

"I'll make sure she gets there," Alicia offered, "cause you wanted to enter tomorrow, didn't you Ang?"

Katie heard Angelina sigh. "Yeah I did," she said looking at Alicia, "Make sure she gets there and that she tells Pomfrey about a certain 'medication' she's been taking."

Alicia nodded and didn't question it. Fred looked at the two of them curiously before standing and leaving.

"Sleep well, Kate," he said as he exited.

Angelina sat on her bed, close enough that Alicia wouldn't hear. "You have to talk to Snape, alright? You probably fainted because you haven't been eating. It's making you sick."

Katie nodded. "I will."

**

- Thank you to the people in my life,

For putting up with me.

And thank you for the time you sacrificed,

All on account of me.

For all the times I didn't say,

The times I didn't say.

For all the times I didn't say,

The times I didn't say -

Staind - "Intro"

**

****

The next morning, Alicia walked Katie up to Madam Pomfrey and Katie convinced her to leave her there. Madam Pomfrey took her into her office and offered her a seat.

"Reaction to the that potion, Miss Bell?"

Katie nodded. "I can't keep anything down and I passed out walking down the hallway last night. And it wasn't helping with the visions either. I felt sick before or after them, almost like a warning."

Madam Pomfrey nodded knowingly and went over to a shelf behind her desk. After rummaging for a few seconds, she came over victorious.

"This will purge the potion from your blood stream. By lunchtime today, you should be able to eat and not feel queasy."

Katie took the phial of red liquid and looked at it skeptically. "Purge? It won't make me sicker, will it?"

"No, it simply dissolves the remnants of the potion. Go on and take it so you can go down to breakfast. I'll contact Professor Snape in case there was another potion he'd like you to try."

Katie nodded her thanks and downed the liquid which burned her throat on the way down. After swallowing several times to alleviate the sting, she handed the empty phial to Madam Pomfrey and left the Hospital Wing. As she walked down towards the Great Hall, Katie saw Cedric ahead of her.

"Cedric, wait up!"

Cedric turned and smiled. "Hey, Katie. Feeling better?"

Katie looked at him curiously.

"I ran into Angelina earlier. She said you were a bit under the weather."

Katie silently cursed Angelina for making Cedric worry. "Yeah, I'm feeling much better. Would you walk me to the Great Hall or are you meeting Cho?"

"Can't I do both?" he asked holding an arm out for her.

Katie latched on to it. "I suppose so."

They met up with Cho at the top of the stairs. Katie walked along ahead of them after greeting Cho. She wanted to leave them to talk without her crowding them. She walked into the Great Hall as Fred, George, and Lee exited. Fred and George were sporting beards and Lee was howling with laughter. Katie couldn't help but join them.

"What happened to you two!"

"Dumbledore's Age Line," Fred said smiling, "That prat would have been safe," he said pointing to George, "if he wouldn't have crossed the Line to congratulate me."

Lee looked as if he was about to say something, but he dissolved into laugher before it could happen. Fred and George simultaneously rolled their eyes and walked past Katie and up the stairs. Lee followed wailing something about, "You should have seen his face!" before doubling over again. Katie shook her head and walked into the Great Hall.