Life Is For Living

****

The next day was the day of the First Task, and Katie's stomach had been in knots since the time she woke up. It was now midway through lunch and Katie was surrounded by people forcing food on her.

"Let me be," Katie said exasperated, "I'm not hungry! I'm too worried about Harry and Cedric."

She saw Harry look at her out of the corner of her eye and she groaned inwardly before looking at her plate.

"Kate, eat an apple at least," Lee said as Professor McGonagall approached the table.

"Potter, the champions have to come down onto the grounds now.... You have to get ready for your first task," Katie heard McGonagall say.

Harry stood and followed McGonagall. Katie smiled weakly at him as he passed and he managed the same. She took the apple from Lee and took a bite.

"Happy?"

Lee smirked at her. "Very, love."

Katie laid her head on Lee's shoulder as she ate her apple. Soon enough though, Professor McGonagall was standing at the front doors of the Great Hall.

"We will now proceed down to the enclosure to watch the first task. We shall exit by years. Seventh years first please."

Katie felt her hands start to shake as the seventh years stood and filed out of the Great Hall. As soon as the last person was out of the doors, McGonagall spoke again.

"Sixth years then."

The group of Gryffindors stood and Katie found that her legs were weak beneath her. She took two steps and her legs shook, giving her the feeling that she was going to fall. She reached out and grabbed Lee's arm to steady herself.

"You alright?"

"My legs are shaking," Katie said softly.

Lee took the hint and threaded his arm around her waist as they walked from the Great Hall.

"Alright now?"

"Yeah, thanks Lee."

When they reached the front doors, they heard, rather than saw, Snape barking out orders.

"Out the doors and to your left. Follow the path. Even students of your level should be able to follow that simple instruction. And if not, there are other professors along the way to guide you."

Katie coughed to cover up the giggle that had escaped her. She locked eyes with Snape through the crowd and gave him a small smile. He smirked back, not letting his Professor mask slip. The group walked behind the other students across the grounds and around the side of the forest. Katie spotted, from a distance, a shock of red hair standing beside a tent. She smacked Fred on the arm.

"Fred, is that Charlie?"

Fred squinted and then his eyes widened. "So it is," he said smacking George and passing on the message.

"Oy! Charlie!" George shouted as they got closer.

Charlie turned and upon spotting George waving his arms like a lunatic, jogged over to the group grinning.

"Hey, kids. This task is going to blow you away," he said looking very pleased with himself.

"Oh, come on, Charlie!" Fred said, "Tell us something. Does it have to do with dragons?"

"Yeah, is that why you're here?"

"Mums the word, kids. Can't tell you," he said grinning at Katie, "Alright, Kate?"

"Yeah," Katie said looking at the ground, "Somehow Harry and Cedric transferred all their nerves to me."

Charlie reached out a ruffled her hair. "You're such a sweetheart for caring so much. No wonder mum likes you more than all of us."

Katie blushed and reached past Fred to smack Charlie's shoulder. "Now you know that's not true. Percy's her favorite."

Fred, George, and Charlie all laughed. Fred looked at her, mischief in his eyes.

"I forgot to tell you what happened at the Quidditch World Cup, with Percy's boss."

George started on a fresh round of laughter, through which Katie heard the word, "Weatherby". Katie raised an eyebrow at George, who just continued laughing and pointed at Fred. Katie looked at Fred in turn, who was trying not to laugh at his twin.

"Ok, well, we're sitting at our tent, and Dad's telling Harry, Ron, and Hermione about all the Ministry wizards walking by us. Well, up walks Bartimus Crouch, Percy's boss. He nearly pissed himself trying to stand and shake his hand. So dad and Crouch are talking and Percy offers him tea," Fred said pausing to laugh, "Here's the kicker. He looks at Percy and says, 'Thank you, Weatherby.' Well, me and George here almost lost it. I mean, Percy idolizes this prat and he doesn't even know who he is! Probably doesn't even know Percy works for him," said Fred finally dissolving into laughter, with Lee now joining in.

Katie frowned and stared at the three laughing boys, and noticed Charlie wasn't laughing either.

"Mum and Dad said that Percy's been acting odd lately," Charlie said.

"More than usual?" Fred quipped.

Katie smacked him. "Merlin, be nice."

"He's not here!" Fred said rubbing his arm and frowning at her.

Katie reached out and rubbed his arm for him. "Sorry."

She looked up as they reached the enclosure, and gasped. Tall seating sections had been built. It almost resembled a Muggle football field. There was a tent off to the side, with it's flap facing the interior of the enclosure.

"Well, I'll let you kids go and find seats. You're in for a show," he said before jogging off to where he had come from.

Katie stopped dead in her tracks. Lee walked along ahead and stopped when he realized that she wasn't following.

"Kate? Come on."

Katie shook her head. "I- I can't," Katie said shakily, backing up.

Lee reached out to grab her hand, but Katie turned and ran up toward the castle.

"Katie!" Lee called after her.

Katie ran as fast as she could back towards the castle. From the looks of the people she was passing, they were down to the first years already. She reached the front doors and walked inside. Two steps in, a hand stopped her progress.

"Miss Bell, where do you think you're going?" Snape said, trying to sound severe, but concern filled his eyes.

"I- I-" Katie stuttered seeing that she was surrounded by teachers, "I can't watch," she said just loud enough for Snape to hear.

Snape furrowed his brow. "I see," he said in a measured voice.

Professor McGonagall walked briskly over to them. "What is the matter, Miss Bell?" she asked quietly.

"She doesn't feel comfortable watching the task, and I, for one, don't blame her," Snape said evenly.

"Well, then," McGonagall said purposefully, "escort her up to Gryffindor Tower, Severus, and then join us down at the enclosure."

Snape nodded curtly to McGonagall, and motioned for Katie to follow him. A murmur spread through the faculty assembled. Katie looked around at them, trying to keep with Snape's pace and in doing so, ran into someone.

"Watch where you're walking there, lass," growled Professor Moody.

Katie backed away from him and ran to catch up with Snape, who was halfway up the stairs. Once out of earshot of the faculty, Katie jogged to catch up so she could walk by Snape's side.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"What ever are you sorry about?" Snape asked looking down at her perplexed.

"I could have gotten you in trouble down there," Katie said looking up at him.

Snape looked down at her, a resigned expression on his face. "Perhaps, but not with Minerva there."

Katie had a thought enter her mind. A memory, really, and she reached into her robes pocket. A piece of parchment was settled in it.

"Shit," Katie said, pulling the parchment from her pocket.

"What is it?" Snape said stopping their travel and looking at her curiously.

"Every time I bump into Moody I end up with a note in my pocket," Katie said quietly, unfolding the parchment.

She handed the parchment out to Snape. "I don't want to know."

Snape nodded and read the note to himself. A moment later, he pointed his wand at it and it disappeared. Resting a hand on her shoulder, he smiled.

"Don't worry about that, ok?"

Katie nodded and allowed Snape to steer her to Gryffindor Tower.

"Are you sure you're ok?"

Katie sighed. "Yeah, I just- I don't think I can watch them is all. I mean, dragons and all."

"How did you know about the dragons?"

Katie grinned. "Aha! It is dragons," she said laughing, "We were talking with Charlie Weasley, but he wouldn't tell us."

Snape smiled. "You should have been in Slytherin," he said as they reached The Fat Lady.

The Fat Lady bristled. "I should hope not."

Snape glared at The Fat Lady, before giving Katie's shoulder a squeeze. "This will give you time to work the Headmaster's assignment."

Katie rolled her eyes. "Maybe."

Katie leaned forward and whispered the password to The Fat Lady and she swung open, watching Snape like a hawk.

Katie looked at him over her shoulder as she entered the passageway. "Can't have you sneaking into the Tower."

"Indeed, Miss Bell."

Katie waved as The Fat Lady swung shut and made her way up to her dormitory.

*

Severus gave one last glare to the arrogant portrait before sweeping down the staircases to his office in the dungeons. Sitting on his desk, right where it should be, was the parchment Katie had handed him. He picked it up and placed it in his vest pocket beneath his heavy robes. He'd talk to Albus later about that. Turning on his heel, he made his way down to the enclosure, and seated himself with the other members of the faculty. Looking down onto the field, he spotted that Cedric Diggory had just stepped out into the enclosure.

"Severus?" a voice asked from beside him, grabbing his attention.

He turned to see a very nervous Minerva McGonagall staring back at him.

"Is she alright?"

"She'll be fine, Minerva," he said testily, "Her hearts in the right place, but she shouldn't be worrying about this."

Minerva nodded. "The poor girl has enough to worry about," she said lowly, "How have her visions been?"

"I gave her the potion I developed," he said a hint of pride in his tone.

"It worked?"

"Yes," he said smirking, "They come to her in place of those dreams now. She says she had a slight headache, but it's better than before."

"That's excellent, Severus," Minerva said smiling, "Now we don't have to piece together those fragments she was Seeing."

"Precisely."

Severus decided he would tell Minerva and Albus about her first vision, and her reaction, later. Privately.

*

Katie sat contentedly in the common room, reading through her Mythology book for seemed like the millionth time. Truth be told, she would have been working on her report for Dumbledore, but she hadn't yet procured the book from the Restricted Section of the Library. And seeing as Madam Pince was probably watching the task with the rest of the school, she couldn't very well get it now. She was on Madam Pince's good side, she wasn't going to risk it.

After an hour though, she grew tired. Without knowing it, she drifted off, her book resting in her lap. And that's how her fellow Gryffindors found her.

*

"So, we'll head on down to the kitchens, and-" George said, but stopped once catching sight of Katie.

"Yeah?" Fred said, and followed his twin's eye line, "Heh. Poor kid."

Lee bumped into Fred as he entered the common room. "What are you guys-"

Fred pointed to Katie, who shifted on the couch.

"Oh," Lee said smiling, "You guys go on to the kitchens. I'll make sure she's up before everyone gets back."

Fred and George nodded, exiting through the portrait as Lee approached the couch Katie was sleeping on. Sitting down next to her, Lee reached out and took the book from her. Katie shifted, pulling her knees up to her chest. After setting her book on the table, Lee grasped her shoulder gently.

"Katie, love, wake up," Lee said shaking her shoulder lightly.

Katie blinked a few times before looking at Lee. "Hey."

"Hey. Have a nice nap?" he said grinning.

Katie rolled her eyes and stretched her arms over her head. "How was the task? Is everyone ok?"

"Yeah, everyone's fine. Cedric got burned a bit and Harry got scratched, but yeah, they're ok."

Katie sighed and leaned her head against Lee's shoulder. "Fred and George stealing food?"

"Yep."

"Ah, normalcy," Katie said and Lee laughed.

****

Katie looked around the party, and noticing that she wasn't being watched, she made her way over to the staircase. Spotting Harry and Ron talking together, her heart swelled with pride. They were obviously friends again. Continuing her trek, she made it to the staircase and up to her dormitory. The first thing she noticed was Hekate hopping on her bed. She hooted upon seeing Katie and stuck out her leg proudly. Katie dashed over and untied the letter from Hekate's leg.

"Good girl, Hekate," Katie said breathlessly, unfolding the letter.

Hekate hooted and flew over to her cage to eat. Katie turned her oil lamp on and read the letter.

Dear Katie,

I was so pleased to see that the letter had been from you. I don't get much mail. And your owl was very well behaved.

I'm only sorry that your letter could have spoke of better circumstances. I'm deeply sorry that you are plagued with the dreams and the visions. Hopefully Severus and Albus are helping you with those. As for Alastor Moody, he is a strange man. Brilliant though. But the decision is yours. How can you learn if you're not comfortable in the class?

I had never known that information about your parents, but it does explain their cruel behavior towards you. Not that I'm making up excuses for them. I hope the confrontation with your father wasn't too bad. Be strong, Katie. They can't hurt you anymore. And even though Severus and I are not on the best terms, and I was never fond of him, I respect him. And I trust him to take care of you. He'd never let anyone harm you, and I hope you know this.

About Snuffles. I have not heard from him recently, but I can assure you that he is fine. I'm so sorry that your dream caused you so much grief. Do not worry so much. He can take care of himself. He's very stubborn that way.

I shall keep this short, seeing as your owl is so small. Keep me updated, alright? On you and on the Tournament. Seeing as The Daily Prophet is.... slightly inaccurate.

Stay safe, and trust in Severus.

Your Friend,

Remus J. Lupin

Katie smiled and folded the letter before placing it in her top drawer along with the others. She leaned back on her bed, listening to the party raging downstairs. And for once, she didn't feel neglected, or like she was missing something. She felt content in the muffled silence of her room.

*

"Ah, Severus, you wanted to meet with me and Minerva?"

"Yes, Headmaster," he said, sitting in his usual chair, "You asked me to keep you updated on Katie."

Albus leaned forward and nodded to urge him to continue.

"The potion I developed worked. She now dreams her visions. Her mind can sort them better this way and she Sees more."

"Wonderful," Albus said, "What did she See?"

Severus could feel two sets of eyes on him, and he took a deep breath before speaking. "The aftermath of Black's death."

Minerva gasped beside him and Albus looked thoughtful. "Go on."

"She went to some house. Lupin and Molly Weasley were there. Molly was cold on the topic of Black and Lupin seemed to be in denial. It skipped ahead to her sitting in a room later that night. She was crying and cursing Black for abandoning Lupin."

Minerva was looking between them, eyes wide. "Merciful heavens."

Albus lowered his gaze. "That does sound like a true vision," he said sighing heavily, "But I don't understand her reaction to Sirius' death."

"Neither do I," Severus said crossing his arms across his chest, "She doesn't even know that- that-"

"Severus, I would urge you not to complete that sentence," Albus said shooting a warning glare at him.

"Fine, then I shall enquire about what business Andrew had being here," Severus said, noting that the Headmaster looked slightly thrown, "He made her extremely upset."

"Did he?" Albus asked, brows furrowed in concern.

"Yes. All that yelling she did. She was riddled with guilt over it," Severus said stopping himself before revealing that he'd comforted the child in turn.

But by the look in Albus' eye, he somehow knew. Like always.

"Well, with what they did to her, I don't see how she could have felt guilty," Minerva said sharply.

"Because her father was a puppet to her mother," Severus said coldly, "What she said should have been directed to Carolyn."

"Back to your question, Severus," Albus said, raising his voice a bit, "He was here for the same reason as the letter he sent you. Only he thought I would tell him since you didn't respond."

Severus sighed heavily. "Can't take a hint, can he? Once you give up your child, she's no longer any of your business."

Minerva cast a glance at Albus that Severus didn't see.

"You've taken to her better that I would have imagined, Severus," Minerva said honestly.

"Well," he said running a hand through his hair, "Do I have a choice?"

Minerva smiled. "You could have been heartless and signed her away to an orphanage," she said pausing, "But then....you couldn't, could you?"

She'd hit a chord, and Severus looked from Minerva to Albus and back again.

"Don't you two gang up on me like that. I know what you're thinking," he said furrowing his brow in annoyance.

"There was something about Katie from the moment you saw her when she was an infant," Albus said eyes twinkling, "And she's changing you for the better."

Severus frowned at him, before throwing up his hands. "Fine. Fine. I don't know why I've grown attached to her. Merlin knows that doing so is a weakness," he said scowling, "But- Well, she desperately reminds me of Lily."

Minerva patted the arm that now rested on the arm of his chair. "Me too."

Severus put his head in his hands. "Are we done here?"

Albus smiled a knowing smile. "Of course, my boy."

Severus stood and left the office, making it to his quarters before anyone saw the tears welling in his eyes. Sitting before his fireplace, he extracted the note that Katie had given him from his vest pocket and read it again.

It's only a matter of time now, Kathleen.

Sighing, he balled the parchment and threw it into the fire angrily.

"They won't lay a finger on her. I won't let them," Severus said softly to himself.