Life Is For Living

A/N : Sorry it's been so long. I just went through a bit of a thing, but its all good now and I'm back on my feet, so to speak.

Ok, in this chappie, we have Halloween Day. Fun, fun.

****

Katie approached the table just as Seamus Finnigan was sharing his opinion of Cedric. As she sat, she arched an eyebrow in his direction, and the Irishman promptly blushed.

"Sorry, Katie."

Katie nodded, and turned smiling to Angelina. "So, you entered?"

"Yeah," Angelina said.

"That's good," Katie said, although her voice betrayed her with a hint of worry.

"Kate, don't worry about a thing, ok? I doubt I'll even get picked," but she stopped with a hint of a smile on her face, "Why, hello Christian."

Katie turned and looked at the boy standing behind her. He grinned broadly.

"Hello again. Do you mind if I sit here?"

"No, not at all," Katie said motioning to the empty space before Alicia burst into giggles, "Oh, please!" she said staring at Alicia in disbelief, "I'm sorry about them," she said to Christian.

"It's no problem."

Katie took a moment to actually look at this boy. Light brown, messy hair. Bright blue eyes. Not to tall. Nice build as far as she could tell. She could understand why Alicia and Angelina acted the way they did, he did have an amazing smile. 'But honestly,' Katie thought, 'Every time he's around?'

"So, Katie, since we had no chance to talk last night, tell me about yourself," Christian asked confidently, turning to face her on the bench.

She started to talk, when Ron and Harry passed with Hermione leaving the Hall. Ron paused as he did and looked at Christian curiously. He went to speak, but Katie reached up and placed a hand over his mouth.

"What, Ron?" she said looking at him.

Ron took her and away from his mouth and arched an eyebrow at her. "Making friends?"

"Why not?"

Ron shrugged. "Was thinking of doing the same is all," he said, his eyes going right to a very pretty girl also from Beauxbatons.

Katie rolled her eyes and she heard Christian laugh.

"Good luck, my friend," he said directed at Ron.

Ron let go of Katie's hand and waved as Harry whisked him off, winking at Katie. Katie made a mental note to thank Harry later. She turned back to Christian shaking her head.

"You'll recognize the Weasley's by their red hair. There's four of them attending Hogwarts at the moment. Avoid them," Katie said smiling, "Uh, about me? Well, not much to tell, really."

"Well, what about your family?"

"I- I don't really have a family anymore," Katie said fidgeting in her seat.

Christian furrowed his brow. "I'm sorry, Katie. I didn't mean to bring up something that would make you uncomfortable."

Katie smiled at him. "It's ok. I've gotten used to it."

Christian nodded. "Well, what about your boyfriend?" he asked with added interest at the spark in Katie's eye.

"His name's Oliver. He's on the Reserve team for Puddlemere United," she said turning to Angelina, a grin on her face, "Did you realize the abbreviation of Puddlemere United is P.U.?" she asked, causing Angelina and Alicia to burst into giggles, Katie soon following.

"Oh, I hope they don't put that on their robes," Angelina said between fits of giggles.

"I think they do!" Katie said laughing.

"Poor Ol," Alicia said wiping at her eyes, "That's payback for all those practices at the crack of dawn."

"Here, here!" Angelina said calming herself.

Katie turned back to Christian enjoying the amused expression on his face. "He was our Quidditch Team's captain."

"School team?" Christian asked a little confused.

"No, House team. We have four Houses, one named after each of the original founders. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. And with four teams, we have our own Quidditch Cup competition, which Gryffindor won last year," Katie said proudly.

"What position do you play?"

"Chaser. Angelina and Alicia there are the other two Chasers on the team. The Weasley Twins, Fred and George, are our Beaters. We're short a Keeper now, because of Oliver graduating. And Harry Potter's our Seeker."

"Fantastic," Christian said, thoroughly impressed, "We don't have Quidditch at Beauxbatons. You have to join a local team if you want to learn," he said a little sadly, "So, what else about this Oliver of yours?"

Katie blushed. "Nothing much else to say. He's a great guy and a great Quidditch player."

Christian smiled and Katie thought of something suddenly.

"How come you don't attend Hogwarts? You're obviously not French."

"Well, my parents went to Beauxbatons, so naturally, so do I. I took the job in Diagon Alley for some new scenery."

"But you speak perfect English?" Katie said, thrown that this boy actually lived in the same country that he schooled.

"Well, we lived in London until I got my Beauxbatons certificate, and then we moved to a village not far from the school."

Katie nodded, when a group approached from behind her. It was the other Beauxbatons students.

"Come on, Christian. We 'ave to get back to ze carriage. Madame Maxime's orders," a girl with long blonde hair said importantly, looking down her nose at Katie.

She reminded Katie of a French version of Paris. Christian smiled at Katie.

"It was a pleasure talking to you, Katie. And you too, Angelina and Alicia, was it?"

The two girls nodded and smiled back at him. He looked up at the blonde girl, who tapped her foot impatiently.

"Yes, yes, Fleur, I'm coming. I'll see you later, perhaps, Katie," he said standing and following his classmates out of the Great Hall.

Katie turned back to Angelina and Alicia. "So, what are we going to do today?"

"Let's go see how Fred and George are doing, and then decide," Angelina said standing, "Maybe they're beardless by now."

*

An owl swooped down onto the faculty table in front of Severus. He looked at the bird strangely, but it didn't seem to be going anywhere, so he took the letter from it. It gave an indignant hoot and turned around to show its tail feathers before flying off. Severus frowned and left the Great Hall through the back entrance and down into the dungeons. Once in his chambers, he opened the letter, now knowing what to expect. Sitting down, he proceeded to read the letter.

Severus,

I'm writing in regards to my daughter, Katie. Carolyn doesn't know I'm sending this to you, but I have to know something. Has she shown her gift yet? I know it has to show itself eventually, but I needed to ask.

How is she faring on her own?

Just thought I'd ask.

Sincerely,

Andrew Bell

Severus stood, with the parchment in his shaking hands, and walked to the fire, tossing the letter into the flames. Anger coursed through his blood like poison. Taking a few deep breaths to steady himself, he let his chambers and headed for the Headmasters office.

*

Angelina, Alicia, and Katie met Fred, George, and Lee on their way up the marble staircase. Fred and George were now clean shaven and Lee was still choking back laughter.

"I must say," Angelina said looking the twins over, "Much better without the beards."

Fred grinned. "I know."

Katie looked between her friends with a flutter in her heart. 'They really need to start dating,' she thought.

But before she could say anything, Lee had linked arms with her and was walking her away from the group.

"Fancy a walk?" he asked innocently.

"Sure," she said waving to the rest of their group over her shoulder, "Why?"

"No reason," he said holding the door open for her, "We haven't had a chance to talk in a while, is all."

Katie felt better as soon as she walked out of the school, which was good. Maybe some fresh air would do her good. Lee always did know what was best for her. He linked arms again with her and they walked off in the direction of the Quidditch Pitch.

"So, eventful or uneventful summer?" Lee offered as a start.

"Definitely eventful," Katie said leaning against his arm as she walked.

"Really, do tell," Lee said nudging her slightly.

"Well, it's not all good stuff-"

"Good, bad, I'll take what I can get," Lee said winking.

Katie laughed. "Alright. You asked for it," Katie said taking a deep breath, "Well I told you about my parents already. And my dreams, and my anonymous letters," she said watching Lee nod, "Well, now I'm getting visions. Like pieces of a movie, playing in my mind. But they're so vague and they don't have anyone we know in them."

Lee's eyes widened at this, but he didn't question it.

"I've had a few so far, some I can't even remember because the pain was so bad. So Snape made me a potion, but it made me sick."

"So that's what's been wrong with you," Lee said, placing his arm around her shoulders, "You seemed a little out of sorts."

"Yeah, uh, and what else? Oh, that ring that Oliver gave me," she said showing him her right hand, "It has a Phoenix Tear in it. Its like protection type thing. It warns him if I'm in pain or danger," she said and then thought that over, "How come he hasn't been showing up whenever I have my visions?"

Lee's brow furrowed at that. "Maybe because it's caused by the visions, so it's more mental than physical."

"Maybe," Katie said, "He did have to come here once over the summer."

Lee stopped their progress and turned to her expectantly. Katie took a deep breath and looked at Lee seriously.

"I opened the top drawer of my bureau to put all my letters in there, and there in the corner was my piece of glass and a note attached," Katie said sadly, "And it was from Paris," she said, tears welling in her eyes, "And for some reason, I decided to-"

Lee gathered Katie to him and cut off her statement, knowing what she was about to say. Katie tried to keep her emotions in check, but tears leaked from her eyes anyway as she relaxed into Lee's embrace.

"It's alright, love," Lee said soothingly.

Katie pulled out of the embrace and wiped at her eyes. "You know, I really miss Oliver," Katie said softly.

Lee gave her a weak smile. "I can imagine you do," he said placing an arm around her once more and continuing their walk.

"I mean, you and Fred, and George, and Ang, and Alicia, you guys are great. You're better than great," Katie said looking at him, "But-"

"I know, Kate. It's different. You don't have to explain it to me, love," Lee said winking at her.

Katie leaned her head so it rested comfortably on Lee's shoulder. "And something else happened over the summer," she said softly.

Lee said nothing, but gave her shoulder a squeeze to encourage her.

"Well, you see, after what happened last year, I, uh, got to talking with Draco Malfoy about some things," she said looking up at Lee to gauge his reaction.

Lee calmly looked down at her, and arched an eyebrow as if asking for further explanation.

"Because he cuts himself too, because his father beats him up pretty badly. And well, he beat him pretty badly over the summer, and Draco ran away and came here," Katie said looking at the ground, "It was really sad, Lee. He's like this broken little boy inside."

"Is that why he acts like a right brat all the time?" Lee said, a note of sarcasm in his tone.

Katie sighed. "You don't have to believe me. Just know that he's my friend," she said kicking at a rock on the ground, "I think he has a bit of a crush on me though."

Lee laughed from beside her, causing Katie to smile. "Oh, that's rich! Like that would ever work," Lee said laughing.

Katie just smiled and shook her head. "I know he'd never act on it, but certain things he says. And he gets this look in his eyes like he wants to do something or say something and he never does. I think he's afraid I wouldn't be his friend anymore. It's weird," Katie said sighing, "It's like we need each other in some way. Because we've both been through things that you guys couldn't possibly understand if I talk to you about them," she said softly, "No offense."

Lee shrugged. "None taken. It's understandable. You had your parents as parents, and Malfoy's got Lucius. No contest against my parents, or Ang, Alicia, or the Twin's parents. I get it."

"I'm glad. I don't want anyone mad at me."

*

"Severus, I have many things to oversee today. Please tell me that this is of great importance," Albus said, watching Severus pace around before him.

"I just received a letter from Andrew Bell," he said heatedly.

Albus' eyes widened behind his half-moon spectacles. "Ah, I see."

"He wanted to know how Katie was and if she'd started having visions yet! The unmitigated gall of that man," Severus said taking a break from his pacing to look at Albus, "Why now? After a year," he said sitting in a chair before Albus' desk, "I just don't understand it."

"I cannot answer that for you, my boy. But I suggest that you don't tell Miss Bell about this. It would only cause her more worry."

"Of course," he said before there was an interruption of the door opening.

"There you are, Severus," Poppy said shaking her head, "I've been searching this castle for you."

"What do you need, Poppy?" Severus asked curiously.

"That potion you made for Katie didn't work. It gave her flu like symptoms. You should have seen her this morning. She looked like the walking dead," she said seriously, "I don't know why she didn't come to me sooner. I gave her something to get it out of her system, but I thought you should know, in case you wanted to try the alternative."

Severus nodded. "I thought that might have been a bit strong for her," he said sighing, "Is she alright?"

"She'll be able to keep food down by lunchtime," Poppy said smiling, "Her friend, Miss Spinnet, informed me that she hasn't been eating."

Running a hand through his hair, Severus looked at Albus, a defeated look on his face. "I'm going to go mad, you know this, don't you? Raising a teenager."

Albus chuckled. "Miss Bell will be fine. You'll be fine. Quit worrying so much, Severus. You'll fast become an old man like me."

"I already am," Severus muttered as he stood and left the Headmaster's office.