The Saga Continues

Chapter One-A Life Without Fear

July 31, 2017

Katarina Krum, age seventeen, opened her eyes and yawned. Another day, she thought feeling content, and she sat up in bed, wiped the crust from her eyes, and stretched. There was a knock on her door. "Yes?" she said sleepily, yawning again.

The door opened and her mother entered the room, looking as bright as she always did in the morning. Katarina thought that she was crazy, able to wake up in the morning and not feel grumpy. "I'm glad you're awake," her mother said, closing the door and looking around, as though checking to see if anyone else was in the room.

"Harry's not here, if that's why you're looking around like that," said Katarina knowingly.

"Good...of course he isn't," her mother said, smiling. "He doesn't live here. I'm just anxious. Where did you hide the presents?"

"In my closet," Katarina confirmed, nodding in its direction. "On the way to Fred and Angelina's, I'll just shrink them and put them in my pockets, okay? I have it all under control, don't you worry."

"Get the others up, will you? I'm afraid the toast will burn otherwise." Suddenly, a screeching noise filled the air. "Oh no! Well, at least it works..."

"What works?" said Katarina, with her hands over her ears.

"The smoke detector. Don't ask." She hurried out of the room and Katarina could hear her repeating, "Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!" The smoke detector, or whatever it was, was still going off like mad.

"What is all that bloody noise?" said a voice, and Katarina hopped out of bed and saw her younger brother, Ronnie, in her doorway. His hands were also over his ears.

"You watch your mouth!" Katarina scolded, going downstairs to see if her mother could use her help.

"WHAT?" Ronnie yelled over the noise.

"Oh never mind," Katarina sighed, turning a corner and walking into the kitchen. Her mother was sending lots of pieces of black toast into the bin, waving her hand over a metal, square box of some sort.

Suddenly, Ron ran into the room, looking panicked and wide awake. He pulled out his wand and yelled something at the smoke detector--the noise stopped. Katarina's mother smiled at him as though apologizing, and suddenly, he had strode over and kissed her. Katarina and Ronnie groaned and turned their heads. "Really, guys, it's too early to see that," said Katarina, grabbing a pitcher on the table and pouring herself some pumpkin juice.

"I think it's sweet," said another voice. Mahra, more commonly known as just Molly, Katarina's half-sister and the youngest in the family, had just entered the kitchen, fully dressed in Muggle clothing. "Good morning, daddy," she said to Ron and he bent down so she could kiss him on the cheek. "Where's Ronnie and Charlie?" she asked, sitting down at the table.

"Ronnie's right here," said Ronnie, walking in and looking grumpy.

"Good morning sourpuss," said Molly brightly. Molly, like her mother, was a morning person. Ronnie rolled his eyes and put his head down on the table. Katarina, who was used to seeing this every day, paid no mind. "I reckon Charlie's still sleeping?" said Molly, sipping on some pumpkin juice.

"I reckon he is," said Ron, running a hand through his red hair. Of the children sitting at the table, all had red hair except for Katarina. Ron wasn't her father; the late Viktor Krum, famous Bulgarian Seeker was. Her hair was long, dark brown, and silky, but at the moment, it was tousled and a nuisance, since she had not had the chance to brush it. She ran a hand through it and stared at her mother, who was frowning.

"Need any help, mum?" she asked. "I'll cook breakfast if you'd like." Katarina knew Hermione was a horrible cook, but last summer Katarina had been taught to cook by Ron's mother, her step-grandmother. She was rather good.

"Would you?" her mother said, hope in her big brown eyes. Katarina laughed, finished the rest of her pumpkin juice and stood up. Making breakfast shouldn't be too difficult, she told herself. Just remember all that stuff you read in those cookbooks, and Mrs. Weasley's instructions, and you'll be fine.

"Eggs okay?" she asked, hoping the others wouldn't give her anything too complicated to make. The others nodded, and Ron looked as though he had already fallen back asleep. Not really out of character though, thought Katarina.

Twenty minutes later, the eggs were made and served. They were a little runny, but Katarina thought she had done all right, considering it was her first time cooking. She sat herself down at the table and finished her eggs pretty quickly. "I'm going to go get dressed," she announced, excusing herself from the table and heading back upstairs.

Her room was small, but cozy and warm. Katarina's bed was right in the middle of the room, and her desk was right beside it. At the moment, nothing was on her desk but the school assignments she had finished in the first week of summer holidays. Underneath her desk was her Hogwarts school trunk. She had finished packing her school robes and other such things yesterday; there were only a couple of items that she needed at Diagon Alley for the upcoming school year. Her closet, opposite her bed, was also small, but Katarina wasn't a person who needed a lot of clothes, so she didn't see the need for a large closet. The walls of her room were painted with colors of navy blue and dark yellow. Charlie had painted the room as a surprise for her last summer - before, her walls had been simply white with only a few paintings and drawings that Charlie had done hanging up. Of course, those were still up, because she loved them so much.

Katarina turned to closet and pulled out the first clothing she saw - shorts and a sleeveless shirt. She dressed and then rummaged in her desk drawer for her mirror; it didn't take long to find, as Katarina always knew where everything was in her room. She was a neat person. She held the mirror up to her face, and decided that she really could care less what she looked like. She had no one to impress.

Katarina didn't examine her face for long, though she had always been told she was pretty. Her hair was her best feature - long, dark brown, and silky. Now she put it up into its usual style, a high ponytail. Her eyes were as dark, if not darker, than her hair and she had long eyelashes. Her skin was olive coloured, she had high cheekbones, and hardly any pimples. Her mother told her that her skin had come from her father, and that she looked a lot like him. Katarina always brightened at the thought. She didn't remember her dad, because he had died when she was young, but she felt as though his presence was always with her.

"Katarina!" Molly called up the stairs. "Wake Charlie up will you? We have to go soon, and you're the one he ever listens to anyway!" Katarina headed to her closet, shrunk all of Harry's presents, and stuck them into her pocket.

Katarina bounded down the steps and opened the door that led to the basement, where her older brother slept. She walked down that flight of steps, creaky and loud, but Katarina knew Charlie wouldn't notice. He was deaf and couldn't hear a thing, no matter how much Katarina wished he could. Charlie never seemed to care about his "problem" though, or at least not outwardly. She did know that he wished he could attend Hogwarts. Whenever he talked, all that came out was moans and gurgles, no words. It was because of this that he couldn't practice magic - he couldn't say the spells. Katarina knew he got very lonely when everyone went to Hogwarts, but he helped a lot in the various shops of Diagon Alley and Molly always kept him company. Of course, she would be attending her first year at Hogwarts this year, so that left him alone.

Once at the bottom of the steps, Katarina turned to her right and shook her head at the sight of Charlie sound asleep. He had kicked off all his covers and was sleeping on his stomach, his mouth slightly open. Katarina pat his shoulder impatiently. He didn't budge. She tapped his shoulder again. There was still no sign of life, so she began to shake his shoulders. He woke slowly and smiled slightly. Katarina was always the one to wake him up; it had been this way since he was five and she was four. Her presence seemed to comfort him somehow. If any one else woke him up, he began to thrash and freak out.

Charlie climbed out of the bed and his eyes widened as he remembered that today was Harry's birthday. 'The presents are in my room, hidden away, but you need to get dressed because we are ready to go to Fred and Angelina's', Katarina signed to him. He nodded and retrieved something from underneath his bed. He handed it to Katarina and she smiled. It was a painting of a Firebolt. 'This is good.' He nodded.

Katarina and Charlie were very close; only two years and some months apart. Charlie was older and had been born to Ron and Hermione when they were in their seventh year at Hogwarts. Later, however, Hermione had married Viktor Krum, breaking Ron's heart. Viktor died five years later and Ron came back into the picture. Katarina didn't know the exact circumstances that brought Ron and her mother back together, even though she was curious. Whenever she asked her mother, a dark look clouded her face and she refused to speak about it.

Katarina shrunk the painting with her wand and placed it in the pocket of her shorts. She dashed back up the stairs. Ron and her mother were sitting on the couch in the living room, reading the Daily Prophet (to see if any bad things are written about Harry, she reasoned.) and Molly was curled into a chair, reading Hogwarts, A History. She looked up when Katarina walked in. "Charlie's getting dressed now," Katarina reported. "Where's Ronnie?"

An explosion sounded from upstairs, but no one budged. "Up in his room, can't you tell?" said Molly, grinning. "Probably concocting some weird thing to give to Uncle Fred and Uncle George. You know how he is."

Ron set the paper on the table and turned to his wife. "They've kept Harry out of the paper today, but Raven appeared on the list of 'Hottest Teens.' Honestly, the grown men that write this bloody paper are sick, let me tell you--Hey Ronnie, get down here! We're leaving!"

Ronnie came down the stairs, looking much happier than he had been earlier. "Wreaked enough havoc?" Ron asked him, as Charlie came upstairs, scratching his head. Everyone walked to the fireplace and their mother took the can of Floo Powder from the mantel. As always, Charlie and Katarina stepped into the fireplace first. Katarina took some powder, and yelled, "Prank Palace!"

They appeared in Fred and Angelina's three floor mansion, in the fireplace on the second floor. Fred and his brother George had established quite a name for themselves when they set up Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes after they left school and had become Galleonaires overnight. Katarina's eyes widened at all the people in the house. There were all of the Weasleys, of course, and all of their children, Katarina's so-called cousins. Katarina saw the Longbottoms, the Patils, Ron's coworkers, and even some of the professors from Hogwarts as she glanced around the room.

Molly came through the fireplace, followed by Ronnie, Ron and finally, Hermione.

While Angelina and Katie were greeting Hermione and Ron, Katarina looked back over to the fireplace, where Ronnie was standing in the middle of his uncles Gred and Forge. Her curiosity got the better of her.

George shoved a butterbeer in Ronnie's hands and he grinned. "Well, where is it?" asked Fred. Ron pulled out a reddish, balloon looking thing, and his uncles cheered. "The boy's a natural!" exclaimed Fred, wiping a fake tear from her eye.

"What is that?" said Katarina, feeling very suspicious and looking stern.

Ronnie waved the balloon looking thing around. "It's Muggle. It's a whoopee cushion."

"What exactly do you plan on doing with it?"

"Saved it especially for Raven." He grinned, but Katarina frowned. Raven was Harry and Ginny's daughter, and she was sixteen years old. Katarina knew she would not appreciate this whoopee cushion thingamabob. Katarina remembered exactly what had happened the last time Ronnie had pulled a prank on that girl. She smirked and turned to Fred, George, and Ronnie.

"Do you fancy having hornets chase you around all day? That's what happened last time, wasn't it? I suppose the consequences will be worse this time," said Katarina, raising her eyebrows.

"That's part of the fun!" exclaimed George, looking scandalized.

"He's a Gryffindor; he's got bravery inside of him!" added Fred, clapping Ronnie on the back.

"It's something you Ravenclaws wouldn't understand," said Ronnie, turning away, and Katarina felt slightly hurt. She was proud of being a Ravenclaw, but the way her family talked, it was as though that any other house but Gryffindor was shunned. All of the Weasleys were in Gryffindor, except for Raven, but she was really counted as a Potter. Katarina had to remind herself that she herself was not a Weasley, she was a Krum. The only ones who seemed happy about her Ravenclaw roots were her mother, her grandparents, and Ron's parents.

Before she could think of a proper retort, a woman with fiery red hair came through the fireplace. Katarina recognized her as her Ginny, and gave her a quick hug. Ginny looked around at all the others and said, "He's the last one to come!"

"Did you hear that?" Angelina said into the silence. "He'll be here in a few moments!"

Eleven -year- old Danny Potter came through the fireplace, looking a little disgruntled and Katarina figured she knew why. He and his older sister always were at each other's throats. Raven came through the fireplace, with a pleasant look on her face, and smiled her secret, mysterious smile. The one she always wore.

And then--

"SURPRISE!" Harry jumped up in shock, knocking his head into the fireplace. When he overcame the initial shock of being yelled at by a hundred people, he rubbed his head with a boyish grin on his face.

"You three planned this," he stated simply, looking at Hermione, Ron and Ginny.

"Actually, it was more Hermione. You know how she gets. Everything has to be perfect. Barely let us help," said Ron, grinning and giving Harry a handshake.

Katarina saw her mother roll her eyes. Katarina often wondered if she and Ron had argued and bickered even when they were young. They must have.

She walked through the living room, after Angelina tapped her on the shoulder and began to lead her away. "The presents go in here," she said, and Katarina gasped. Nearly the whole room was filled with gifts for Harry. She took all the presents from her family from her pocket, engorged them, and set them in a pile of their room.

"Hello, Krum," came a malicious voice and Katarina whipped around to see Lindsey and Lucius Malfoy standing in the doorway, their father behind them, looking snooty as usual.

"What are you doing at Harry's birthday party?" she asked in a unnaturally formal voice, crossing her arms.

"We were invited," said Lindsey, rolling her eyes.

"Why else would we be here?" added Lucius, her younger brother, looking around the room in disgust.

"Invited by whom?"

"Raven," the Draco Malfoy said. "The only decent Potter."

Katarina looked up at the awful man - why did Raven insist on inviting him and his family to everything? Surely she'd run into his cow of a wife sooner or later. Katarina arched her shoulders, drew in a sharp breath, and held back anything degrading she wanted to say. Her mother had taught her better than that. She pursed her lips and walked away.

Her friend Emily Patil, was standing by the refreshment table, wearing an odd expression on her face. Emily was the niece of Parvati Thomas and Padma Longbottom; their brother was a Squib and Emily his daughter. She was sipping punch and staring at something. Katarina walked over to her, and she looked at her, "Hey Kat," she said, looking dreamy.

"What's that look for?" asked Katarina. Emily was notorious for falling in love with a different boy every week so Katarina was used to this expression. Emily merely pointed. Standing in the corner was a tall boy with sandy hair, who looked vaguely familiar. He was tall and handsome with brown eyes. He was bent over slightly, showing something to a little girl who had the same hair, but darker eyes; Katarina figured she was his sister. "He is handsome, I have to admit," said Katarina. Why did he look so familiar?

"Handsome?" said Emily, sounding astonished. She took a sip of her punch. "Drop dead gorgeous is more like it! I wonder what his name is! He looks familiar, doesn't he?"

Katarina nodded, glad she wasn't the only one who couldn't place him.

Raven Potter approached the punch table and poured herself a cup, then looked at the boy. "Katarina, that's James Wood, don't you know?"

Katarina's jaw dropped and she turned her head so fast to look at him again, she felt her neck crick. Her eyes narrowed, and it hit her like a ton of bricks.

Emily, however, was staring at Raven suspiciously. "How do you know?"

Raven raised her eyebrows, and gave her a superior look. "James Wood, son of Oliver Wood and Cho Chang. Gryffindor. Seventeen. Supposed Head Boy." Katarina felt her stomach drop unpleasantly. She had received the letter a week ago telling her that she was Head Girl. "That's his little sister, Melanie right there, five years old."

"It doesn't look like him, though. Are you sure that's James?"

"It must be," said Katarina tightly, not noticing that her hand was squeezing her cup of punch. "I recognize his sister."

"Ooh, wasn't she the one who got knocked out into a coma because a Bludger hit her in the head?" Emily said eagerly. "Looks like she's recovered well enough. And my, he has gotten so handsome." She let out a tiny squeal, then glared at Raven, as though daring to interfere with her newfound love over James.

Raven merely laughed at the girl's stare and tossed her curly black hair over her shoulder. "Don't worry, Patil, I'm not competing for his affections, he's a Gryffindor. Besides, men are a waste of my time." With a nod to Katarina, she walked off and opened the door leading to the downstairs.

Emily watched her go and turned to Katarina. "I don't like her," she said simply.

"A lot of people don't like Raven. She's a little moody and maybe a little--"

"Snobby? Bitchy?"

Katarina frowned. "I was going to say confident of herself. She's not all that bad once you get to know her." She looked from James to Emily and sighed. "Please Emily, tell me you won't get involved with him," she begged. "You know he's a dirty, rotten jerk. You can't have forgotten about all he's put me through since we were five?"

Emily nodded and patted her arm. "Oh, I know. He has been awful. I mean to say, last year taking up that bet to ask you out every single day until you said yes -"

"-which I didn't because he thinks he can get every girl he wants-"

"-but he does actually get them all-"

"-and dumps them-"

"Oh, and then there was that horrible, excruciatingly painful time he beat you in Quidditch-"

"Don't even mention that!" Katarina said angrily. That had been the only Quidditch game she had lost and Wood had gloated about it for weeks afterward.

Emily smiled. "Maybe he's changed!"

Katarina looked at her, shocked. "Have your hormones completely erased all the brain cells you were born with? Or were you just not born with any?"

"Oh, honestly, Kats, you're acting as though you never did anything wrong to him! Let me refresh your memory...you pushed him into a swimming pool with all of his clothes on when you were fourteen -"

"He was talking about me to his friends, and I was already angry!" Katarina protested weakly.

"-and didn't you always tease him about dating Ariel Moody?"

"-that was only because he teased me about my boyfriend first-" said Katarina, her voice rising.

"-and isn't it true that you sent him a very rude Valentine one year?"

Katarina crossed her arms. "No, he did that to me. Second year, when we both made our house teams. Face it Emily, he's been more horrible to me than I've ever been to him."

"He might have changed," mumbled Emily.

"Emily!" said Katarina frustratedly, throwing her hands in the air. Unfortunately, her cup was still full of punch, and it flew everywhere. Emily began to giggle when most of it landed in James' hair. Katarina let out a squeak, turned beet red, and stalked quickly out of the room as James began touching his hair, looking puzzled and then turning to see who had done it.

Katarina's footsteps took her immediately to Fred and Angelina's library on the third floor. Like her mother, the library was Katarina's haven and friend. But she realized that James might come to the library to tell her off, and besides, she wanted to find Charlie and talk to him. He probably was huddled in a corner by himself; being around crowds made him nervous. She walked through about three rooms, full of talking and laughing people when she saw him. He was painting a picture.

Katarina smiled. "Kat! Hey Kat!" Danny Potter, Raven's little brother was running up to her, broomstick in hand. "Raven's going around asking people if they'd like to play Quidditch, and she told me to ask you. She said she won't accept no for an answer."

"But I don't have a broomstick with me," she said.

"James brought an extra one, so you can borrow his," said Danny, twirling his broomstick and walking away. Katarina followed him down the steps, through the kitchen on the first floor, and outside into the hot summer air. About eight people were on the field, ten including Danny and herself, and all of them had broomsticks, except for James Wood, who had two. Katarina suppressed a giggle at the sight of his sticky looking hair. "James, can Kat borrow your broom?" asked Danny.

"Sure," said James. "That's why I brought it." And he handed Katarina the broom, which was a WaterDemon 300, and gave her a dazzling smile. Katarina gave him an incredulous look - what was wrong with him?

"All right!" said a brisk voice. Raven burst out of the kitchen door, followed by Lindsey Malfoy. "Line up," ordered Raven, and all of the players lined up without argument. "Hang on, Lindsey, where are your brother and sister?"

"They should be here," said Lindsey, "They said they wanted to play." Raven rolled her eyes and took out her wand. "Now what do you think--"

But Raven had already Summoned Lucius and Lydia Malfoy. "What do you think you're playing at?" snapped Lucius, who looked angry as he glared up at Raven, who was a few inches taller.

"Shut it Lucius," said Raven smoothly. "I'm in no mood to hear your annoyingly spoiled voice, so if you don't close your mouth this instant and stand in that line, I'll hex you so fast you won't know what hit you." She smirked. "You wouldn't want that, would you?" The boy merely glared at her, but Lindsey chuckled, as Raven also Summoned their broomsticks.

"Now, teams," Raven said, and she sounded quite aggravated. "First team: Midgen, Thomas, Frances, Driggons, Lydia, Lucius, and Danny. Second team: Wood, Katarina, Rickton, Mark, Sara, Lindsey, and me." Katarina knew that the only people Raven ever called by their first names were either family or her friends, and even though she had known Raven forever, she smiled when Raven called her by her first name.

"Hang on," said Danny Potter, scratching his head, "That's not fair. You put all of the younger people on one team."

Raven scowled at him; Katarina knew she didn't like it when others questioned her. "If you're a talented Quidditch player, age shouldn't matter," she said simply, giving her brother a knowing smile. "You lot decide your positions," she added, and then turned to the others, scanning them carefully and she brightened. "Here's our positions, yeah? Mark, Sara, and Lindsey: Chasers. Rickton, you and I are Beater. Don't disappoint me. Kat, you're Keeper, so that leaves Wood as Seeker. Now--"

Katarina interrupted her. "I'm normally Seeker," she reminded Raven. In Hogwarts, she was Seeker for the Ravenclaw team, and she knew she was lousy at any other position. "It's what I'm best at."

The tiniest of frowns crossed Raven's face, but she nodded towards James. "Wood's also Seeker at Hogwarts. For Gryffindor," she added, sounding a tad annoyed.

"It's fine," said James, smiling at Katarina again. "We'll switch if it means that much to you."

"It does," said Katarina firmly. James' smile widened and he winked at her. Katarina clenched her jaw - what was he playing at?

"Well, now that that's settled," said Raven, turning to Danny and his team. "Let's play! Sara?" Sara Weasley, who was Fred and Angelina's eldest daughter, opened the trunk containing Quidditch balls at her feet, and released the Bludgers, while the others flew into the air. She threw the Quaffle into the air as well, and then raced into the sky.

Katarina instinctively looked out for the Snitch, but it was nowhere in sight. The game started out fairly well, for Katarina's team at least. But it got worse and worse for the other team. Frances, who was Bill's son and eleven years old, was Keeper for the other team and he wasn't exactly a star player. He had allowed nearly all of the goals in. James, on the other hand, was a great Keeper. Of course, Raven didn't help matters when she hit a Bludger Frances' way, knocking him from his broom and onto the ground, at which time, the rest of the players touched down to the ground.

"Are you okay?" asked Sara. "That was some fall you took!" Frances sat up, and brushed dirt from his red head, and grimaced.

"Dad's gonna' kill me," he groaned. "Told him I wouldn't ride for a month, because my leg's still sore from the last fall. But I really wanted to fly--"

"Frances! My baby! Why were you on zat broom? When your fazzer hears about this..." Fleur Delacour, now Fleur Delacour-Weasley, ran onto the field, her dazzling hair flying, her lips pursed in a frown. She kneeled at her son's side and slapped him on top of the head. "What were you zinking? Huh?"

"Sorry mum, I just..."

"Well, I am disgusted!" said Raven's angry voice as she landed. "Frances, I thought you could fly! My team was the only one playing; there was no challenge at all!"

Danny turned to her, rolling his eyes. "I told you it wasn't going to work Raven, I told you! Look at this, now Frances is hurt!"

Raven was quick with a comeback. "That's because you lot are lousy players. Age or size doesn't matter, it's your technique! You haven't even scored one goal! One! The score is 230 to 0!"

"Raven, zat is not what is important right now! I am not good at healing charmz. Go find Charlotte," said Fleur, looking furious.

"Ugh!" said Raven, throwing her broomstick down on the ground in anger and running inside the house. Bill was now coming out and shook his head at his son.

"I told you, Frances!"

"It iz a broken leg," Fleur said to Bill, looking at her son in disappointment. Charlotte, was Fleur's best friend and Ron's brother Charlie's current girlfriend. She tutted when she saw Frances, also walloped him over the head, tossed back her curly blond hair, and said a spell in French. Frances stood up without so much as a wobble, his leg good as new.

"Thanks, Char," he said. She walked away, muttering something about 'Stubborn Brits.' His grin faded when he saw the look on his mother and father's faces. "Er...I wasn't technically doing anything wrong..."

"You irritate me zo!" said Fleur and she grabbed him by the ear and led him into the house, with Bill behind her, while Frances merely waved at the others on the field with a grin on his face. Katarina had to snicker; if her mother had been looking at her that way, she would have fainted.

The others just stood around and stared at each other; the mood for Quidditch had been ruined. Slowly, they filed back into the house. On the way in, Katarina felt a tap on her shoulder. She spun around, coming face to face with James. "Yes?" she said, noticing that he had a dimple in his left cheek.

"Broom," he said.

"Broom?" Katarina repeated blankly.

He laughed. "You have my broom."

"Oh!" said Katarina, handing him his broomstick and feeling incredibly stupid. She knew a pink tinge was spreading across her face. Emily was right; James was handsome. A handsome jerk, she reminded herself.

She straightened and looked defiantly into his eyes. "Is it true that you're Head Boy?" she asked, stepping inside as he held open the door for her.

"Yup. You're Head Girl."

Katarina was surprised. "H-how did you know that?"

"Come on, Krum. It's obvious. We're both top of the class and you know it. In fact, I would have been surprised if you hadn't been made Head Girl - always walking around with ink on your hands, reading constantly...well, when you're not out on the Pitch, that is. Your being Head Girl is the most logical choice."

Katarina blushed at the flattery in spite of herself. "Yes, well I plan on being out there a lot more now. On the field, I mean."

His head cocked slightly to the side. "Why is that?"

"I'm Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain, and I plan on knocking the socks off Gryffindor." She leveled her gaze, trying to look intimidating, but Wood laughed.

"What a coincidence," he said smoothly. "I'm Gryffindor's Captain and I was planning on knocking the socks off Ravenclaw."

Katarina snickered. "I'd love to see you try."

"I have once, haven't I?"

Katarina's face grew bright with anger. How could she have not recognized this arrogant boy? He may very well be handsome, but on the inside, he was still the conceited prat who used to yank her ponytails.

"You won't again," she said firmly.

He grinned. "Is that a challenge?"

Katarina shook her head. "A fact," she corrected.

James whistled. "Really?" He leaned over and she could feel his breath in her ear as he spoke. "Facts need proof, you know."

"Oh, you'll have the proof," she shot back, stepping away from him. "Don't you worry."

"You'll be the one worrying, I think."

Katarina rolled her eyes, "Do you have to have the last word?"

It was a rhetorical question, but he responded anyway. "Yes."

Katarina glared, then shoved past him, making her way back to Emily, who was still at the punch bowl. "Someone was talking to James," said Emily in a knowing voice. "Did you tell him about me?"

"No, we talked for a grand total of three seconds," she said in a clipped voice. "Emily, he hasn't changed at all."

"How can you tell that from three seconds of talking?" Emily said, bewildered, as she chanced a glance at Wood. He winked in her direction. She blushed.

Katarina's head shot up, and she looked at Emily. "Trust me." Emily handed her a cup of punch; Katarina stared at it distastefully. At the moment, she wanted to splash it in Wood's face.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Fred, would you stop trying to get me to eat a Canary Cream!" said Ronnie furiously. "I'm not going to fall for it. I learned my lesson at the tender age of two, remember?"

"So young--"

"--So tragic."

Ronnie snorted. "It wasn't even funny. When mum turned you two into grapefruits afterwards... now that was funny. Hysterical. Classic, really."

"Your mother's a dangerous person Ronnie," said George in a serious voice.

"Supporter of Voldie himself," added Fred with a chuckle.

"Yeah, well, that bloke's dead. Uncle Harry took care of that." Ronnie ran his hand through his red hair, which stopped in the middle of his neck and curled slightly at the ends. "Where's dad?"

He looked around and saw that his father and mother were talking to his aunt and uncle. Ronnie wondered if the four of them were joined at the hip; they hardly ever separated. "I think I'm going to get some punch," he told his uncles, tucking the whoppee cushion into his back pocket and walking over to the refreshment table.

His sister and her friend Emily were standing there, talking about some boy. "Excuse me while I barf," Ronnie said, nudging Emily and pouring himself some punch.

"Well, don't hurl over the punch bowl," said Emily airily, and Ronnie briefly wondered if someone had spiked it.

"Why are all your friends airheads, Kat?" he said, gulping down some punch.

"I am not an airhead! I'm in Ravenclaw!" said Emily. "At least I have friends," she added in an undertone, but so no one could hear.

"Ronnie, don't come over here and start things you can't finish," Katarina said, raising her eyebrows.

"Can't help it," Ronnie said with a grin. "I'm bored."

"Lydia Malfoy looks bored. Go talk to her!" Emily said. Ronnie decided that Emily was bonkers; there was no way in hell he'd ever talk to a Malfoy.

He walked over to the Midgens instead. Eloise was flirting with one of Uncle Harry's co- workers, but her daughters were just standing around, talking. The oldest, Eleanor, was seventeen and going into her last year at Hogwarts. Mandy was two years younger, and was fifteen. Anna was thirteen, and the youngest, Lola, was only eight. Ronnie had heard that all had been born to a different man, all of whom had walked out on Eloise.

"Hello, Mandy, Anna," he said. He knew them better than the other two because they went to Hogwarts, and were closest to him in age. Ronnie himself was thirteen. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing much," said Anna, biting her fingernails. "Any pranks you got planned?"

Ronnie grinned; she was the most outgoing of all four of them. "I do, actually. For Raven at lunchtime."

"I don't think Raven'll like that very much," said Lola, sitting cross legged on the floor and writing her name into the carpet with her finger. Ronnie sat down too, and Mandy and Anna followed suit.

"I don't like Raven," Ronnie said, shrugging.

Mandy looked offended. "What's wrong with her? She's very nice!"

Ronnie and Anna both snorted. Mandy's eyes welled up with tears and she stood up and walked away. "She is so sensitive!" complained Anna. "No wonder she has no friends! Goodness, she irritates me."

"Let her alone," said Lola, tucking some of her dirty blonde hair behind her ear. "She likes Raven because Raven is the only one who pays any attention to her, besides us and mum," she added to Ronnie, still looking at the floor.

"Well, her father must have been overly sensitive," Anna said. "Crying over every thing."

At this, Lola turned on her older sister. "Don't make fun of her father! We're not supposed to criticize each other's fathers!"

"Don't tell me what to do, Lola!" Anna shrieked, and she walked away.

Lola looked at Ronnie, a sad look on her face. "Sorry for losing my temper," she said.

"It's okay," said Ronnie. Maybe he had been wrong about Anna; maybe he liked Lola more. Though she was four years younger, she was definitely the prettiest of the four, Mandy coming in for a close second. Lola was tall for her age, and certainly smart. Her eyes were big and brown, magnified by her hair, which was shoulder length and thin.

Ronnie immediately shook himself. He had to stop thinking about girls this way! It was something new to him. Now grumpy, he just pulled out a pack of cards to play Exploding Snap with Lola. Anna was now comforting Mandy and Eleanor was talking to the boy that Katarina and Emily had been drooling over earlier.

"Hey can I play?" asked a boy with an accent and sandy hair. Ronnie knew him as Sam Finnigan; they were in the same house at Hogwarts, but Sam was a year older.

"Sure," said Ronnie, and the three of them began to play, being momentarily interrupted by others who wanted to join in. Halfway through the game, Hamilton and Sally Midgen walked over with their six- year- old, Darryl.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

After the Quidditch game, Raven had locked herself in Fred and Angelina's guest bedroom, and adamantly refused to come out, whether it was her father's party or not. She wasn't that fond of dear old dad anyway. But that usually came when your father stared at you like you were a Death Eater.

The Quidditch game had irritated her to no end. No one had been playing to the best of their ability, and she had wanted everything to be perfect. She was very high strung when it came to Quidditch. Actually, she was pretty high strung when it came to everything.

She couldn't help it; that was just who she was. Raven Potter did not like it when things didn't go her way.

A knock sounded at the door. Raven sat up and said, "Name?"

"It's Lindsey," came the voice.

Raven desperately tried not to roll her eyes. The Malfoys were her friends, yes, but sometimes they just got on her nerves. The whole lot of them was gullible, with the exception of their father, Draco.

"What do you want?" Raven said calmly, counting to ten in her head.

"They're about to have lunch, I think."

"I don't care," said Raven, lying back onto the bed. "Go on without me."

She heard footsteps fade away, and Raven smirked to herself. A true friend would've stuck around, asked what was wrong. It comforted Raven to know that she had no real friends. After all, if she had real friends, she wouldn't be able to be as independent as she was; she wouldn't be in control all the time. And that was the one thing that Raven wanted most. To be in control.

After about ten minutes of lying there all alone, however, she began to get restless. She decided to go on outside and eat something. Looking at herself in the mirror, she saw that her hair was mussed from lying on the bed. Taking a deep breath, she shut her eyes and pictured her hair piled delicately on the top of her head. When she opened them, she saw that her hair was now, indeed, piled delicately on the top of her head. She smirked again, and walked out of the room, glad that she had powers no one else knew about.

She was special. Different from everyone else. She was more powerful than all of them. If she wanted, she could picture dead bodies littering the backyard and when she opened her eyes, that's what would be there.

She sat on the back porch and looked around. There were several long tables all over the backyard, all filled with the guests who had been invited to her father's party. Ten were seated to a table, she saw.

The table in the center was where her father and mother sat, along with her brother. Ron and Hermione sat there as well, with Charlie, Katarina, Molly, and Ronnie. Raven saw that there was one empty seat between Danny and Katarina, meant for her.

She slowly approached her table, vaguely aware of the sets of eyes upon her, wondering why she was late. Raven didn't care. She'd just grab a piece of bread and go back inside. Being the polite person she was, she kissed her father on the cheek, told him happy birthday for probably the fifth time that day, and decided to stay awhile. She took her seat.

As soon as she sat down, a horrible sound filled the air. Raven could feel something underneath her, and she stood up angrily, wrenching a pinkish balloon material from her seat. Raven couldn't believe someone would humiliate her like this; everyone was laughing, or almost everyone.

Her Uncle Percy stood up, and yelled, "That was not funny!" in her defense. Everyone laughed harder. Raven took a deep breath and counted to ten again, a system that she always tried, but it never worked.

She threw down the whoopee cushion to the ground, and started walking toward the person she knew had done this. Ronnie spotted her, his grin fading, and he started to run. Raven shook her head, and pulled out her wand. "Petrificus Totalus!" she said triumphantly. Her cousin froze, like a board, and fell onto the ground. Everyone watching laughed, and turned back to their food.

"Ah, let him go!" someone said, roaring with laughter.

Raven walked slowly toward Ronnie, bubbling with anger, though her face didn't show it. She was smirking. Raven muttered a spell under her breath, and she saw Ronnie's eyes widen, as she set a circle of bees flying toward him. He hated bees.

They swarmed around him, and he was unable to smack them away. Raven sat down next to him calmly, and said, "Why do you annoy me so?"

Ronnie, of course, was not in the condition to speak. Raven caught one of the bees in her fist, shut her eyes, and imagined. "You know better than to get on my bad side," she said softly to Ronnie, leaning toward his ear. She opened her fist to reveal a light green, one-inch snake, slithering over her hand. She smiled, and almost burst into laughter at the look on Ronnie's face, one of terror.

She saw Ronnie looking around frantically to see if anyone was watching. No one was; they had all returned to eating their food and talking about nothing important.

"You could be on my good side, you know," she went on, closing her fist around the slithering snake. She shut her eyes again, quickly, and opened her fist once more. A small, orange and pink butterfly was flapping its wings on her hand now. Ronnie was looking at her as though she was mad.

Soon, though, she had opened her fist again to reveal the same bumblebee, paralyzed. Grinning, she leaned her mouth close to the bee, and with an almost seductive passion, let out a breath. It instantly became alive and swarmed around Ronnie again.

Raven picked up her wand from the ground, performed the counter curse for both spells, and let Ronnie sit up. He was shaking slightly, as though he couldn't believe what had just happened. He blinked several times and then stood up, wiping grass from his robes. Raven simply stared up at him, a smirk on her face. Then, as cool as the winds she asked, "Care to help a lady to her feet?"

Ronnie swallowed hard and helped her up, wariness evident in his eyes. "See you later, Ronnie boy," she said, chuckling. She walked swiftly to her table, grabbed not one, but two pieces of bread, and dashed up the stairs to the guest bedroom. She stayed there until the end of the party, perfectly contented, and bursting into laughter every few seconds as she pictured Ronnie's terrified face in her head.