Published Jan. 17 2003
Harry and Katrina’s Secret
Author’s Note:
I know that I spelled a certain Professor’s name wrong! Heck, not only did I spell it wrong, I butchered it! And I probably spelled Seerer wrong too! I can’t find my books, so until I can find them, just roll your eyes at me, and move on! lol! I’ll fix it next chapter, I promise! So don’t yell at me, please! lol. Hey, I’m not JK Rowlings! How am I supposed to spell all those weird words right! :-> Let me know what you think about this chapter! Your opinion about the way it ended is really important to me because I’ve got some big ideas for chapter 12!
-Amanda
The next morning at breakfast, schedules were being passed out. Harry was very pleased to see that Katrina was in all of his classes except Herbology. At Katrina’s school, they never taught Herbology, so she was put into a class with first years. It didn’t seem to bother her at all.
Harry was very disappointed to see that his first class of the day was Double Potions with Snape and the Slytherins.
“Damn.” cursed Ron. “I was hoping we wouldn’t have to have class with the ruddy Slytherins anymore.”
After breakfast, they headed down to the dungeons. Harry found a very long table, where he Ron, Hermione, and Katrina could all sit together. Neville, who was almost late for class, joined them as well. Katrina seemed very happy to see her new friend.
Draco Malfoy walked towards Katrina, wearing a pretentious smirk, but before he could say anything, Snape burst thru the dungeon door, and Malfoy flopped in a desk by Crabbe and Goyle several rows in front of them.
“Good morning class.” Snape said in that silky oily voice he always used, it was obvious to everyone that he didn’t care whether or not they had a good morning. “Another summer break has sped by, and once again I have to try to teach you dunderheads something about Potion Making. Hopefully, you haven’t gotten any more foolish that you were last year. But if you had, I’m surprised some of you could even find your way into my dungeons.”
He turned and gave a particularly nasty look at Harry, but then his face changed as his eyes fell upon Katrina Figg. His lips turned from the sneer he was treating Harry to into a very warm smile. Harry was shocked. Snape never smiled, oh, sure he sometimes smirked, but that was different.
“Ah.” said Snape. “Miss Katrina Figg, I presume?”
She nodded. “Hello Severus.” she said in a soft, embarrassed voice.
“Ahem?” was Snape’s reply. “I believe I’m your Potions Professor now. Please call me by my last name.” He was still smiling.
“I bet if any other student called him by his first name, he would have put the curse of the bogies on them.” Ron whispered in Harry’s ear.
“It’s good to have you here at Hogwarts, Miss Figg,” continued Snape. “But don’t go making friends with the wrong sort.”
His eyes flitted towards Harry. Then he turned and looked at Neville.
“I see your sitting here next to Neville Longbottom.” sneered Snape. “Perhaps because you are new to this school you would not know that Longbottom is a walking disaster. He destroys everything he gets his hands on, and can not perform the most simple potions imaginable. It’s quite dangerous for you to be sitting so near to him, Miss Figg. It would be a very wise decision that you move do a different seat. Perhaps switch with Potter.”
He gave Harry a look of intense loathing.
“It would be no tragedy if Longbottom blew you up, Potter. But Miss Figg, here, is too valuable and too important to be put in such a dangerous position.”
“Look at Neville” whispered Hermione. “Poor thing. He looks close to tears.”
Harry glanced over at Neville. Sure enough, he looked very upset.
But Katrina knew how to fix the situation.
“Neville is my friend.” she said firmly. “I choose to stay her with him.”
“Very well.” replied Snape, and he turned and walked to the other side of the room.
“Did you see that?” Ron whispered excitedly. “She sure told him! If anybody else told Snape off he’s linch ‘em! Look at Neville! He looks like he could just float away.”
Just like Ron said, Neville’s face was now bright and radiant.
Snape began the lesson. He taught them about a potion that cured acne. Since the students were 15 years old and many of them had spotted complexions, Dumbledore had apparently recommended teaching the class about the potion. Snape didn’t seem too happy about it.
Finally the bell rang. Harry, Ron, Neville and Hermione sped out into the hallway, like all the other students did when a Potions lesson ended. Strangely, Katrina lingered inside the classroom with Professor Snape. Harry heard a bizarre sound. It was warm, friendly, hearty laughter. It wasn’t Katrina. It was much to masculine to be her beautiful feminine laugh. There was nobody else in the classroom. It had to be Snape.
“What could she possibly be doing in there with him?” Ron asked.
“I haven’t the slightest idea.” replied Hermione.
“You don’t think he’s putting a curse on her or something?” asked Neville, who was very afraid.
Harry laughed. “”No, I don’t think that’s what he is doing. Strange as it sounds, I think Snape actually likes her!”
“But Snape doesn’t like anybody!” exclaimed Neville.
“Unless your a Slytherin.” added Ron.
Suddenly, Katrina burst thru the classroom door wearing a big smile on her face. She must have noticed the curious expressions that they were giving her because she raised one eyebrow and asked “What?!”
“What were you doing in there with Shape” asked Ron and Harry at the same time.
“What was with you and him during class?” asked Neville and Hermione at the same time.
Katrina just shook her head and tutted.
“Snape is an old friend. I haven’t seen him in a long time.” she said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Snape is your friend?!” Neville asked flabbergasted. “But Snape can’t be your friend! Snape doesn’t have any friends! How could he? He’s too mean!”
“He’s not that mean when you get to know him. He’s just a little hard on his students because he expects a lot out of them.” Katrina replied.
“Yeah!” exclaimed Neville. “He expect us to be terrified of him!”
“Neville, don’t you think you ought to be off to your next lesson? We don’t want you to be late.” said Hermione in that superior voice of hers.
Neville, who could obviously tell he was not wanted at that particular moment, shrugged his shoulders and headed off to his next class. “See you later, Katrina!” he called in a parting.
“What’s going on, Katrina?” asked Hermione. “You’ve got to tell us. We’re your friends. You’ve got to tell us. It was positively creepy with you and Snape in there a minute ago. We heard him laughing. Snape never laughs.”
“Unless I do something stupid,” Harry added.
“Opps! I forgot about that. Snape never laughs unless Harry does something stupid. So, what’s going on?” Hermione continued.
“I already told you.” answered Katrina. “Snape is just an old friend of the family. We had a bit of catching up to do. And I called him Severus out of habit, that’s all.”
Nobody could think of anything to say to this. They just stood there staring at each other not speaking. Finally, Hermione was the one to break the silence.
“Ugh! We’re going to be late to our next class if you guys keep staring at each other like this!” she said. “You three have fun in Divination. I’m off to Ancient Runes. See you later.”
Hermione took off to her next class.
“Well, I guess we’d better get going. I wouldn’t want to miss a moment of Divination. I heard it’s a really amazing class.” Katrina said bubbly.
“Yeah, you’d hate to miss that. That would be a real shame.” Ron joked.
They just barely made it to Divination on time. When they got there, there was just one empty table left. The three of them sat there.
Professor Trealawney made her usual entrance. She seemed to acquire more baubles and cloth scarves over the summer break.
“Hello, my children” she said in her faraway misty voice. She smiled at Katrina. “It’s such a pleasure to be back here in this classroom, discovering our fates and our fortunes.”
Harry and Ron sniggered. Professor Trealawney always predicted that Harry’s “fate and fortune” was a terrible and horrific death.
“Well, let’s get started. Today we are going to begin our lesson on famous Seerers We are going to start with a most modern Seerers. It’s most fortunate that I always give my fifth years this lesson, since the daughter of this talented young woman sits in this very room.”
All heads spun around the room trying to see who that daughter might be. Katrina buried her face in her hands.
“I am of course speaking of our very own, Miss Katrina Figg, who is the daughter of the great Esmerellda Figg.”
Katrina buried her face in her hands. She slid low in her chair so that only the top of her hair would be visible. Harry understood perfectly how she felt. He hated it when Professor Treewalney drew attention to him in class.
“Esmerellda Figg was believed to be one of the greatest seers ever to be born. History tell us that she predicted countless events before they occurred. Books will also tell us that she accurately predicted the future of many of her family members, including her own father’s unfortunate death.”
Harry looked over his shoulder to where Katrina was sitting. He could see tears forming in the corners of her eyes. How painful it must be to have to listen to your mother being spoken as the daily lecture. He hoped that there wouldn’t be any homework. He didn’t think Katrina could handle it.
Professor Trewaleny droned on, but Harry didn’t hear a word of it. His heart was with Katrina and all the pain she must be feeling. He wished there was something he could do for her. Harry noticed that Katrina was looking at him. The expression on her face was so full of pain that he just wanted to lead her out of the classroom and hold her, whispering that it would all be alright. Without realizing that he was doing, he reached forward and took her hand in his. He softly caressed her palm, and whispered, “It’s alright. I understand. Don’t be sad. I’m here for you.”
Suddenly, a change in Professor Trewanley’s tone of voice, occurred, jolting Harry for al his thoughts.
“History.” Professor Trewlawney said, “Will tell you that Esmerellda Figg was the greatest seer ever known. But I disagree. I personally believe that she was a phony.”
Katrina gasped, along with several other people in the class. Harry couldn’t believe what he was hearing!
“She made a few lucky guesses, I’ll admit that, but Esmerellda Figg had no real gift. If she did, she would have been able to See her fate, and realize that she would be abducted and most likely murdered.”
Katrina jumped up from her seat. With a look of intense fiery anger, she glared at her teacher. “How dare you!” she spat. “How dare you talk about my mother like that?!?! My mother was the greatest seerer ever born. Much greater than you! Your just jealous that you will never become as powerful as she was!”
Professor Trewawney raised one eyebrow. “Oh really?” she said. “Then maybe she should have seen it coming!”
“The best seerers in the world can see many things, but most of them can not see their own future. Just everyone else’s. There are many things in this world that are meant to happen. If you could see your own future, and it was an unhappy one, it would drive the person mad!” Katrina hissed.
“And I suppose you think you can predict the future?” Professor Trelawney asked.
“Well, I can predict one thing about my future!” Katrina yelled, her face screwed up with fury. “I see myself never coming to this god damn class again!”
And with that, she grapped her hot pink backpack, and stormed out of the room.
Everyone sat in silence.
Finally, Professor Trewaney spoke. “Just what I expected. You wouldn’t think a girl like that would stay in my class. Especially coming from a mother such as that! The girl probably thinks she can do whatever she wants just because she’s Dumbledore’s niece!”
Harry felt his face flush with anger. “Who the hell do you think you are?” he yelled, rising from his seat. “That was her mother you were talking about! You shouldn’t say things like that about a students mother! I don’t care if she’s a historical figure or not! Her mother’s dead! How would you feel if someone spoke of your dead mother like that?”
With these words, Harry realized where he needed to be. He ran from the classroom and into the halls crying out her name. “Katrina!” he yelled. Harry didn’t care if he lost Gryfindor a thousand house points. He just wanted to find Katrina. He knew that she had to be somewhere. She was probably in a lot of emotional pain, and she didn’t know the castle very well. What if she got lost?
“Katrina!” he cried. Where could she be? he thought to himself.
Finally, he found her sitting on the stairs. The tears he had seen in her eyes earlier were no streaming madly down her soft face. The moment she saw Harry she threw her arms around his neck.
“Harry!” she sobbed. “Oh, Harry.”
She rested her head on his shoulders. Harry, feeling g very awkward, put one of his arms around her back, and the other on her face, trying to wipe away some of her tears. Her tears were drenching his new robes but he didn’t care. He just wanted to be there for Katrina and comfort her.
He heard footsteps, but he couldn’t see the person the footsteps belonged too. He didn’t care if it was Filch or Snape, or any other teacher. What could they do? Give him detention for comforting a girl who had her dead mother bad talked in front of the entire class? Considering that the crying girl was the headmaster’s beloved niece, Harry felt really safe. He just hoped Percy didn’t come around the corner. Although the situation was perfectly innocent, it might not seem that way in Percy’s eyes. It might look as Harry was comforting Katrina like a lover, instead of just a friend and fellow orphan.
“What am I going to do with you, Katrina?” he joked. “It’s only your first day of school, and already your telling off the teacher and cutting class.”
For a moment, Harry thought he might have been successful. He heard her laugh for a second and then she started to sob again.
“She wasn’t a phony. She was real. She may not have been the greatest woman or the greatest mother, but I swear to God, she was the greatest seerer. She was real.” Katrina said into Harry’s robes.
“I know.” Harry replied. “Don’t you listen to a word that woman said to you. She doesn’t know anything. She’s just a fake. I don’t even know why Dumbledore keeps her here.”
“I’m not a phony either.” she said, lifting her head off Harry’s shoulder.
“Can you see into the future?” Harry asked.
“I can see some things.” Katrina said in a soft voice. “I can see some things about you.”
“Can you?” asked Harry. “What do you see for me?”
Katrina sighed. “Your so famous, Harry. Everyone knows your story, and everyone knows your name. They say great things about you. And now that I know you, I know all those things about you are true. You are a great wizard, Harry Potter.”
Harry raised one eyebrow. “I thought you said you could see my future.”
“And I can.” replied Katrina. “Your going to do marvelous things. Incredible things. You’re going to be a hero.”
“I don’t feel like much of a hero.” Harry answered shaking his head. “I’d much rather live an ordinary life, with my parents alive. I don’t want to people to think I’m something special. I don’t feel like I’m special. I’m just an ordinary wizard, with a funny little scar on his forehead.”
“You are not ordinary. Just think of all the things that you’ve done. All the things that have happened to you! There’s gotta be something special about you somewhere, and I’m not talking about that scar. Your going to be one of the greatest wizards who ever lived, Harry, whether you want to be or not. It’s just who you are. You were born that way. And your going to grow up to be a great man.”
Harry laughed. “That’s not what Professor Trewaney said about me. She keeps predicting my death, almost every class period.”
Katrina sat up straight with a jolt, pulling her arms off of his neck. Her face turned very very white. Harry wished she hadn’t pulled away from him. She smelled so sweet. “What did the teacher say about you?” she asked, in a very worried voice.
“Ever since my third year, she’s been predicting my death. She says I’m basically doomed. She says I have the Grim.” Harry answered.
Katrina looked very concerned. “You don’t really have the Grim, do you?”
“I don’t think I do.” he answered. Harry smiled. “Besides.” he added in a soft, smooth voice that he didn’t know he had, “I’m going to grow up to be a great man. I know because a gifted seerer told me so.”
Katrina’s face broke out into an ear to ear grin.
Before Harry could realize what was going on, she flung her arms around his neck, tighter than they had been before. With her fingertips running wildly through his hair, she pressed her lips against his, forming a insane and wild kiss.
Harry felt totally dumbstruck, but not so much that he didn’t know what was happening. He rested his hand on her shoulder, as she kissed him.
Suddenly, the bell rang, and she sprung away from him. She brushed off her robes frantically, as if she was trying to brush away her guilt.
“Harry?” she asked sounding very frightened. “What just happened here?”
“Er....you kissed me?” he replied. He felt very stupid. He wished he could say better.
She shook her head. “No, I couldn’t have.”
“Well, you did. I was there. I should know.” answered Harry, smiling.
She shook her head again. “I couldn’t have.”
“But you did. Look.” he said wiping his lips with his finger. “You got a bit of your lipstick on me!”
Katrina stared at him as if she had never seen him before.
“I mean, it looks great on you, but I don’t think it works on my skin tone...”
“Harry.” she interrupted. “Don’t tell Percy. Don’t tell Ron. Don’t tell Hermione. Don’t tell anyone. But for the love of God, I beg you, don’t tell Percy!”
“Oh!” Harry said, suddenly understanding. “Oh. Don’t worry, I won’t tell a soul, I swear. It’ll be our little secret.”
“I’m sorry, Harry.” she said. “This shouldn’t have happened.”
“It’s okay. I understand. It’s no big deal anyway. You were upset. That’s understandable. The teacher was talking bad about your mother. And it’s your first day at a new school. That’s enough to make anyone do something they shouldn’t.”
“Thank you.” she answered.
Before he could stop himself, Harry asked “You really like Percy, don’t you?”
“We’ve got Defense Against the Dark Arts now, don’t we?” she asked, ignoring his question.
“Er, yes, we do.” he answered.
“Then we’d better get going.” she said.
Harry decided that he had the most rotten luck. He had just received his first kiss from the most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes on, and he couldn’t even tell Ron! Maybe it was a good thing that Harry had promised not to tell anyone. Percy was a full grown wizard, and the best student in his year. If he found out his beloved girlfriend had kissed him, Percy might turn Harry into something real awful!
Another Author’s Note:
Okay, well, what did you think about the kiss? PLEASE! Let me know!