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| “If you are sure, we shall begin today after your last lesson. Meet me here at 5 o’clock. Now run along or you will be late for your next lesson.” McGonagall turned away as Katerina sprinted through the door. The twins and Lee were waiting outside talking with Ellie and Carlton. “Hey.” She skidded to stop beside them. “What’s up?” “We wanted to know if Lee wants to commentate for the Quidditch matches and also if you are trying out for the team.” “Nope.” The twins looked shell shocked. “You have to play!” Fred yelled “You’ve got so much talent, why waste it?” Carlton protested “Because I have something else to do.” “What could be more fun and more important than Quidditch?” George demanded “Training to be an animagi.” She seemed flustered. “Whoa!” Ellie sounded impressed. “No one has been trained to be an animagi for years. You’ve got to be good, really good for McGonagall to offer to train you.” “Keep it quiet though, I’m not sure I’m meant have told anyone.” She pleaded with them “Ok, we have to go now, we need to talk to Oliver.” Fred grinned. Katerina lunged and knocked Fred over. George started to run toward the common room but was rugby tackled. Lee stood there laughing. “Somehow, I don’t think Kat wants you to talk to Oliver.” Carlton grinned down at the floundering George being successfully pinned down by Katerina. “I don’t blame her. He was the one who suggested that you play.” Fred grinned and ran off down the corridor before Katerina could stop him. “Fred! Get back here!” She screamed as she leapt off George and took off after Fred. “You shouldn’t tease her like that.” Ellie helped George to his feet. “Why not?” “Does she ever tease you about that?” “No. But then it really wouldn’t bother me.” “And why not?” “Well because George fancy Oliver.” Ellie scowled at Lee. “That’s not what I meant and you know it.” “Don’t you think that she has enough deal with right now? Can you imagine how hard it is for her being here? How would the two of you feel if the other wasn’t here?” Carlton chided. “Hey how did you know about?” “McGonagall told us. She said it might be a bit distressing for her being here and so she asked us to keep an eye on her.” “She had no right to do that.” “Maybe not but she did and we can’t change that.” “Uh oh” Lee muttered. Katerina stood with Fred at one end of the hall with tears streaming down her cheeks. She shook her head and ran off into the school grounds. “Kat. Kat wait!” Fred called after her, he tried to follow her, but she was too fast and he soon lost track of her. He turned round and head back to the others. “I lost her!” “She’ll turn up to her next lesson though.” Fred and George looked dubious. “Won’t she?” “I wouldn’t bet on it.” Katerina didn’t show up at lunch or in their lessons during the afternoon. By the time they had reached Herbology, Fred and George were getting worried. Ellie and Carlton came sprinting over just before Professor Sprout opened the doors to the greenhouse. “Any sign of her?” Ellie panted as she reached the twins and Lee. “None, not for the whole of the afternoon.” Fred’s voice was laced with worry. “Oh god. Where can she have gone?” Ellie was panicking and her hands very shaking violently. She grabbed Carlton ‘s arm. “Ow!” “Sorry Oh where is she?” “Maybe we should tell Dumbledore that she’s missing.” Lee volunteered “No, If she hasn’t turned up by the end of the day, we’ll go tell McGonagall that she’s missing, but why bother them before then?” “Because she’s our sister, Carlton.” George growled. Carlton opened his mouth to respond but Ellie nudged him hard in the ribs. “Maybe we should go look for her. I mean she can’t have gone far. She can’t have left the castle grounds.” George spoke tentatively and glanced apprehensively at Ellie and Carlton. “I think you’re right. We should try and find her.” Ellie’s hands had stopped shaking. “But you have herbology and we have transfiguration. McGonagall’d kill us if she found we’d skipped her lesson and Sprout isn’t a soft touch about that either.” “We’ll meet up at the end of our lessons at the quidditch training field and sort out a plan of attack…” “This isn’t a Quidditch game you know?” Carlton scowled at Fred who smiled innocently back. “But yeh, we’ll meet you there.” Professor Sprout opened the greenhouse’s doors and beckoned the first years inside, whilst yelling at Ellie and Carlton that they were late. Katerina stared out across the lake and rubbed her arms. She was sat in one of the top boxes on that surrounded the quidditch field. She wasn’t crying now, but her cheeks were wet from her tears. She’d sat there for hours not moving. Her thoughts were of her sisters and parents. She had very vague memories of her family, but it was still very painful for her to talk about it with other people. She could hear the students running around the grounds between their lessons but paid no attention to them. She was so buried in her thoughts that she didn’t hear the doors to the quidditch pitch open and close. Oliver Wood strode out into the centre of the pitch, broom in hand. He began to mount it. Katerina sat unaware of his presence for a moment but was distracted from her thoughts by an obnoxious tone. “And there, Theol, is one of the losers from Gryffindor and he is a really bad loser because he actually thinks that he has a chance of beating us Slytherins in the quidditch cup. Isn’t that right Woody?” Marcus Flint pushed Oliver off his broom causing Oliver to snap the handle in two. Marcus and Theol doubled over with laughter at the sight of Oliver sprawled on his back. Katerina stood up and growled down at the two Slytherins. Wood pulled out his wand but couldn’t move because he found himself faced with the Flint brothers’ wands. Marcus cackled and grinned evil down at him. “What you gonna do now, no one knows you’re here so who’s gonna save you?” Theol squeaked. Something moved to the right of Oliver that caught his eye. He threw his eyes briefly in the movements direction. A second later Marcus was faced down, his large front teeth buried deep in the pitch turf. Oliver burst out laughing at the sight. Theol moved his wand away from Oliver and pointed it at a shape gliding around high above them. Theol yelled out spells in quick succession, but their blasts were all dodged as the shape dived once more. As it drew nearer Theol could see it more clearly. He raised his wand towards it. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Oliver was stood with his wand aimed at Theol and his foot firmly in the centre of Marcus’ back. Katerina landed softly in front of Theol and used her broomstick to knock him flying. Oliver picked up the Slytherins wands and levitated them before throwing them in the general direction of the lake. The two Slytherins scrambled to their feet to retrieve them. “This isn’t over Wood!” Marcus yelled as he left the pitch with his brother in tow. Oliver stood laughing for a moment. Katerina smiled, turned and began walking away from Oliver. “Hey, thanks.” He moved to intercept her departure, thought I would end up in the hospital wing for sure…Hey are you OK?” “Fine, thanks” She tried to sound breezy, but was having great difficulty. Oliver looked dubious but didn’t push it any further. “Not like my broom. My dad’ll kill me when he finds out.” He walked over and picked up the two pieces that lay in the grass shaking his head. “It’s easy to fix.” Oliver gave her a withering look “ I mean it, watch.” She levitated the broomstick’s two halves in front of her. “Repairo” She said it very softly, but the broom handle bound itself back together instantly. She smiled and drifted it back into Oliver’s hands. |
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