In the Rain
“Quiditch practice this afternoon!” Ron announced excitedly as they sat down at breakfast in the Great Hall. “I can’t wait to get on my broomstick! It seems like I haven’t flown in forever.”
“Yeah, they spent so much time investigating Cho’s death and not letting us play that I’m afraid I’m all out of practice.” Harry said. Hermione gave him an odd look. “But it was important for the teachers to do their investigation, and Quiditch isn’t important as someone’s life.” he added hastily to satisfy Hermione.
“I hope today’s classes go by really fast!” said Ron.
“Hate to burst your bubble, Ron, but remember, we have Double Potions today.” reminded Hermione.
Ron sighed. “Did you really have to mention that?” he companied. “Well, there goes my good mood!”
“Hey, things aren’t all bad.” Harry said. “It’s Friday and tomorrow is the start of a Hogsmeade weekend!”
“Oh cool!” exclaimed Ron. “I had forgotten all about that.”
“Hi guys!” Katrina said, as she flopped down at the table. “Sorry, I’m late. I slept in way too much!”
“So I noticed.” laughed Hermione. “You were in their snoring! I told the guys you were gonna be a little late today.”
Katrina giggled. “I was snoring?!?!”
Hermione nodded.
Stilling giggling, Katrina said, “That sounds just like me! I snore! I talk in my sleep! I sleepwalk! Hey, I even drool!”
“Did you hear about Percy?” asked Ron.
“Yeah, I heard. He sent me an Owl last night. He’s got the stomach flu really bad. He couldn’t even come into work today! And you know Percy must be sick if he misses work! He can’t come tomorrow for the Hogsmeade weekend either.” Katrina said.
“Percy can’t come tomorrow. Oh darn.” said Harry, pretending to be upset. Nobody believed him because he was a terrible actor. “I guess that means you’ll hang out with us?”
She laughed nervously. “Well, that’s what I was planning on doing. That’s not a problem, is it?” she asked.
“No, not at all.” said Harry, smiling at her.
The two of them sat there starring at each other across the table with goofy smiles.
Hermione and Ron chuckled knowingly.
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When Harry, Ron, Hermione arrived at Potions, they could tell it was not going to be a good day. A class of Fourth Year Gryfindor and Fourth Year Slytherins had just been there. The class included Ginny Weasley and Colin Creevy. Harry knew things were not going well when the class was held late. Snape very very very rarely kept entire classes late, he was too eager to get rid of his students. Of course, this did not include small groups of students, mostly Gryfindor, whom he wished to torture.
Draco Malfoy and his fellow Slytherins were not happy about being locked out.
“Wonder what’s going on in there?” he said to Crabbe and Goyle.
They shrugged their shoulders.
“Hey Weasel!” he called out to Ron. “Your stupid sister is in that class! What did she do now?”
Ron swelled up in anger but before he could speak, Hermione did.
“How do you know it wasn’t a Slytherin who caused the problems?” she demanded as they could hear Snape shouting inside the class room.
“Shut up, you stupid little Mudblood!” he yelled at Hermione. “Bet it was that little Weasel brat! You know, we don’t like standing out in the hall forever!”
“Don’t talk about Ginny like that!” Neville yelled, turning toward Malfoy. He slowly walked up to him, with a look of anger on his face. Harry had never seen Neville look like anybody like that before.
“Oooo. What are you going to do about it?” Malfoy said, mocking him.
Before Malfoy could say anything else, Neville jumped on him and was pounding him furiously in the face. Everybody was very surprised, but nobody was more shocked that Draco Malfoy himself.
“DON’T....YOU...EVER...TALK..ABOUT...MY...GIRLFRIEND...LIKE....THAT....AGAIN!” he bellowed as he beat Malfoy.
“Whoa! Go Neville” cheered Ron, Harry, and Hermione. Katrina stood their with a very amused look on her face.
Finally, the class that had to stay in late, walked out of the room, practically trampling Malfoy and Neville who were rolling around on the floor fighting.
When the students realized what they had walked into, they all started cheering.
“What’s going on? Why is Neville fighting Malfoy?” asked a very nervous Ginny.
“Malfoy was talking bad about you, so Neville jumped him.” explained Katrina.
“My boyfriend did what?!?!” gasped Ginny. “Neville, let him go! Your gonna get in trouble!”
“What the hell is going on out here!” hissed Snape.
Immediately, Neville left Malfoy.
“Longbottom attacked me, Professor!” exclaimed Malfoy. “I didn’t do anything wrong!”
“That’s; not true! He was talking bad about my girlfriend!” yelled Neville.
Snape chuckled. “You have a girlfriend, Longbottom? What witch would go out with you?”
“I would.” said Ginny very meekly.
“Oh.” said Snape. “That explains it.”
The Slytherins sneered.
“Get to your classes!” Snape demanded to the younger students. “The rest of you, get in my room! Detention for you, Longbottom, and 100 points from Gryfindor.”
“What about Malfoy and Slytherin?” Katrina whispered in Harry’s ears.
“Bet they won’t get anything.” Harry whispered back.
“Are you alright?” Snape asked Malfoy.
“Sure, I am alright!” said Malfoy, who was sporting several bruises, scratches and a black eye. “Longbottom barely got me.”
Harry could see what the problem had been when he walked into the classroom. There was a lot of stains of an orange potion all over the dungeon floor.
“Don’t worry. It can’t hurt you.” Snape sneered. “Stupid Miss Weasley and Mr. Colin Creevy caused their cauldrons to explode all over the class room. I was having them scrub the whole floor, but they will have to finish tonight in Dention with you, Mr. Longbottom. It’s only an Attention Holding potion. Very simple, very basic. It’s too bad those dunderheadss messed it up, or I could have given it to you.”
They were learning a new potion that day. It was called a Balding Potion and like the name implies, it caused people to lose their hair where ever it touched their bodies. The students wore thick gloves and were very careful because nobody want that Potion to give them a big bald spot, even though it only lasted for a few hours. Snape explained that the Potion was very gentle on the skin, but would burn any hair on the body right off, even including the very thin and very fine hair on your fingers or arms. The potion was used for Wizards and Witches who do not like to shave, or for Wizards who have completely bald heads and what their head to be as shiny and hair-free as a Muggle bowling ball.
Snape was very grumpy all through out the class, and was determined to find things wrong with everyone’s assignments, even when nothing wrong was even there. |Katrina was sitting between Harry and Neville, and was very giggly, and kept asking Neville excited questions about his fight with Malfoy.
Snape was not happy about this, and kept frowning as he walked by.
When the bell rang, much to Harry’s surprise, Snape asked her to say late.
“What do you think is going on in there?” asked a nervous Harry, as he, Hermione and Ron waited outside the closed dungeon door for Katrina.
“No idea.” said Ron. “Do you think he’s mad about her goofing off in class with you and Neville.?”
“No, I don’t think that’s what it is.” said Harry, thoughtfully.
Hermione, who had her ear resting against the Dungeon door, hushed them. “I can almost hear what he is saying!”
Harry and Ron instantly leaned their ears against the wall too.
“I have the right to decide what is best for me.” they heard Katrina tell Snape. “I know the seriousness of this situation. And I know what my responsibilities are. I don’t ignore them.”
“I think you are forgetting how important this all is.” replied Snape.
“I have never forgotten the importance of what I am doing.” said Katrina.
“I think you are getting to close to the situation.” said Snape.
“How can I be? Harry is my friend!” she said angrily.
Harry gasped at the sound of his name. Ron kicked him.
“I’ve seen you with him. And I have seen the way you are acting around him. Don’t you think that your getting just a little too close? You know what your duties are, and you know what you have to do. Don’t forget about your duties when you’re with him!”
“I haven’t forgotten about my duties!” Katrina spat.
“Good because I haven’t forgotten about mine. I’ve been spying on the Death Eaters during my time off from here, and things are eerily quiet. They are plotting something. Something big.”
“And you don’t think that I’ve never thought of any of this? Severus, I am not an idiot. And I’m not the little girl that you knew. I’ve grown up. You don’t have to be so protective of me.”
Suddenly, Snape’s voice changed into a compassionate tone that Harry or his friends had never heard before. It was almost frightening.
“Katrina,” he said smoothly. “How can I not be protective of you? And I know that you are a young woman now, and you are going to be a powerful witch when you are fully grown. But in my eyes, you are just that little baby I held in my arms after you were born.”
They could hear Katrina give a loud sigh.
“I just don’t like seeing you with that Potter boy. I know what your assignment is, and I know what Albus thinks is best, but I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Katrina shook her head. “Harry is my friend, and I know that he would never hurt me. He cares a lot about me.”
Even though Harry was listening through the door, he could see in his mind, the smirk that was on his face when he spoke again.
“I’ve seen that he cares about you. I think everyone can see that he really cares about you. I know I have noticed the way he looks at you when you walk by.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Severus, I’m with Percy.” she said, sending knives into Harry’s heart.
“Percy Weasley, kind of meek, but I must admit he’s probably the best Weasley. At least he works hard and knows how to follow rules, unlike his good-for-nothing brothers.” said Snape.
“Don’t be mean. I like the Weasleys.” she said.
“Remember your mission. Do what you have to do. Be professional. Get the information you need, but don’t get too involved, and don’t let your emotions get in the way. You being so friendly with the Potter boy makes it harder for you to do your job. You know what I want you to do.”
“I know.” she said. “Believe me, I know.”
“You are just like your mother.” Snape said tenderly. “you look just like her. She was a very beautiful woman. She broke a lot of hearts when she was at Hogwarts.”
“And yours was one of them.” said Katrina.
“Yes.” Snape sighed. “I loved your mother very much but I could never have her. She liked that ridiculous James Potter.”
“Harry’s dad?” asked Katrina.
“Yes, Harry’s dad.” Snape said in disgust. “At first James Potter was attracted to her. How could he not be? But then, he started noticing Lilly, and he forgot all about Esmerellda. Sirus Black liked her, but she wanted James Potter. I was crazy about her, but she almost went crazy longing for James Potter. A few weeks after we graduated, she sent me a message. I spent sometime with her, we were engaged for a while. But she left me. And then I found out that she had you.”
“I wish my mom would have stayed with you.” Katrina said.
“So do I. Maybe I could have protected her.” he said softly. “Maybe things would have been very different.”
“I’ve got to get to my class.” said Katrina.
“Oh yes, you get to your class.” said Snape, sounding like his old self. “But spend more time away from Harry. Don’t be such good friends with him.”
As they heard footsteps indicating that Katrina was leaving the room, Harry, Hermione, and Ron dashed off as fast as they could so that Katrina or Snape would not know they were spying on the very private conversation.
“Am I getting this right?” Harry asked breathlessly as they ran up the stairs to class, “Or does it sound like Snape is Katrina’s father?”
They nodded.
“But Katrina always said that she is an orphan?” questioned Hermione.
“She never really said that he was dead, she just said that he was gone or that he left. He must have abandoned her after her mom died!” said Harry.
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That day at lunch, nobody dared to confront Katrina about her conversation with Snape. She was in a very grumpy mood, and they decided it was best not to talk to her very much at all.
She kept mumbling under her breathe. “Stupid jerk! Tries to tell me what to do! He can’t tell me who do be friends with!”
She looked over to where Snape was eating lunch at the Head Table with the other tables. She pulled her wand out of her jean pockets, and pointed it toward Snape under the table. She muttered some spell that Harry could not hear. She laughed. “That will take care of the little greasy haired brat.”
Harry looked over at where Snape was taking a sip from his goblet. A funny look came over his face, and he spat what looked like lemonade back into his goblet.
Katrina burst into hysterical laughter. “Moose urine.” she giggled. “Works every time!”
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Harry and Ron acidly walked toward the Quiditch field for practice. They were very anxious to get back on their broomsticks. The first thing they did was practice flying around.
Ron was showing off some very fancy moves on his broom. When his brother, Charlie, found out that Ron had made the team, he went out and spent an entire one of his paycheck on buying Ron a brand new broom. It wasn’t near as fancy as Harry’s broomstick, but it was still very nice.
All of a sudden, Ron’s broom began to shake and vibrate.
“What the bloody hell is going on here?” shouted Ron.
Harry took one look at Ron’s broom, and Ron trying to hold on to it, and he knew exactly what was going on. It was the same thing that had happened to Cho Chang. That was no accident, and Harry had to something or Ron would suffer the same fate.
****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Before Ron could see what he was doing, Harry flew over to Ron’s broom, grabbed his hand, and threw him on the back of his broomstick. Harry quickly landed safely on the field, and the two of them watched in horror as Ron’s brand new broom flew high into the air, stopped, and then nose dived straight onto the ground. Upon impact, the broom shattered into splinters.
“Damn it!” shouted Ron. “That was a bloody new broom! Charlie spent a fortune on that thing!”
“Ron, you would have been seriously injured or even killed if I had let you stay on that broom stick.” said Harry.
“I know it, Harry, I know it.” said Ron, shaking his head in disbelief. “But of all the dirty rotten luck! That broom was the only new thing, the only really nice thing, that I’ve ver owned. You know, the only thing that was good quality, and belonged to me, just to me, and I didn’t have to share it with anyone, and now something like this happens.”
“Maybe you’re parents will buy you a new broom for Christmas. It’s only 6 weeks away.” Harry offered, thoughtfully as their fellow team mates circled around them.
Everyone was in hysterics. They were all worried about Ron, who swore to everyone that he was perfectly alright. They were a little scared too. How could something like this happen at Hogwarts? The second broom attack? Someone must be doing something to the brooms!
Somehow in all of the mess and confusion, Madame Hooch was called to the field. She was very shaken up, and quite worried about Ron. Once again, Ron tried to plea and plead with her to make her understand that he was physically okay, but a little mentally shook up. Madame Hooch drug Ron into the Hospital Wing to have Madame Pompey give him a look over. Harry followed along, but the nurse sent him away claiming that Ron was in too much distress to have his friends with him now.
“But I’m fine! I’m fine!” protested Ron, as a very grumpy nurse pushed Harry out of the door, and slammed it behind him.
With his mind spinning as fast as Ron’s broomstick hit the ground, Harry turned around the sit on the floor next to the Hospital Wing door. Before he could even begin to collect his complicated thoughts, he saw Albus Dumbledore standing before him.
“Harry, I’d like to have a word with you in my office.” he said.
“Yes, sir.” Harry nodded, standing up.
With a turn of his boots and swish of his coat, Dumbledore headed toward his office. “Mr. Weasley is okay, I presume?” he asked.
“Ron?” said Harry feeling caught a little off guard. “Yeah, Ron’s fine. I pulled him off his broom and onto mine before anything bad happened. He just got shook around a little bit.”
“I’m a relieved.” Dumbledore said. “With the terrible tragedy of young Miss Chang, I was very worried about your friend.”
“I think Ron is more upset about the destruction of his new broom than anything.” said Harry.
Dumbledore chuckled. “Yes, I do believe I saw young Mr. Weasley’s broom at your last Quiditch game. I remember noticing it, and thinking that it was a very fine broom. Not as fine as your Firebolt, mind you, but a very nice broom all the same.”
When they arrived in his office, Dumbledore wore a much more grave expression that he wore when he was commenting on fancy broom sticks.
“Sit down, Harry.” he said, pointing to a chair near his desk.
“Now, Mr. Potter.” said Dumbledore, settling himself behind his desk. “These recent attacks are quite frightening, aren’t they?”
“You mean with the broomsticks?” asked Harry.
He nodded. “First, Cho Chang was killed in that accident, and now today your best friend’s broom stick went haywire on him, it could have very well killed him if you had not recognized this for what it was. Mr. Ron Weasley is a very lucky man to be alive. Besides the connection of the broomsticks, do you see any other connections?”
Harry shook his head.
Dumbledore sighed. “I believe you had very strong, er, romantic feeling toward Miss Chang.” he said.
“How do you know that?” asked a bewildered Harry.
Dumbledore smiled slyly. “I have my ways, Mr. Potter, I have my ways. I may be old, but I remember very well what it was like to be young. And working at a school for as long as I have, I know the ways and thoughts of the young quite well. I could see it in the way you looked at her, Harry. I can see many things.”
Harry blushed, feeling very embarrassed to know that his Headmaster could tell that he used to have a crush on Cho Chang, if he could notice that, he would surely know that Harry had an interest in his niece!
“And of course anyone that knows you will know that you are friends with Ron Weasley. That is very easy to tell.” Dumbledore contained.
“So, whoever is responsible for these things, they want to hurt people I care about?” asked Harry.
“Perilously that, Mr. Potter.” he replied.
Harry felt very confused. Why would anyone want to hurt his friends and the people he was close too? What good could that do?
Almost reading his mind, Dumbledore spoke again.
“The Deatheaters have been very quiet lately. I believe they are planning something very big and very evil. I believe that you are in a lot of danger, Harry. More danger than before. My theory is that the person or persons who are responsible for these broomstick incidents have you as their main target, not Ron or Cho. They want you to slowly suffer, Harry. They want you to be in large amounts of pain before they attack you. They want you to be forced to watch terrible things happen to those you love, before they come after you.”
Harry’s body filled with fear. Everyone that was important to him was in danger. Ron, Hermione, Katrina, the whole Weasley family, Hagrid, and more. It made Harry’s head spin.
“I am not telling you this to frighten you.” said Dumbledore. “I am telling you this to warn you and make you aware of the seriousness of the situation. I want you to be careful, and not run off doing the careless things you’ve done in the past. You are in a lot of danger, Harry. The Death Eaters are quiet, too quiet, and I believe they are only trying to lure us into a false sense of security.”
“I agree with you, Professor.” answered Harry. “But I think the one that is in real danger is Katrina.”
“My niece?” asked Dumbledore with a strange glow in his eyes.
Harry nodded. “I think the Heir of Voldemort is after Katrina.”
Dumbledore sighed. “So, you have heard the ridiculous stories and rumors that have been circling concerning a supposed heir?”
Again, Harry nodded. “You don’t believe Voldemort has a heir?”
The wrinkles in Dumbledore’s face seemed to deepen and define right before Harry’s very eyes. “I believe that Voldermort’s heir would have very little interest in harming Katrina. I assure you, she is very safe here at Hogwarts, if I believed she was very vulnerable here, I would not have brought her here or allowed her to come. I do not have much family, Mr. Potter, but I place a very high value on the family that I have.”
Harry could almost see a single tear develop in the old man’s eyes. But then, it must have been something else because a moment later, he sneezed.
“You are my worry.” Dumbledore continued. “You are the one that I am most afraid of. You are the one that I know that I must keep safe. Voldemort or one of his people will surely try to harm you. Therefore, I have an old friend here to keep an eye on you.”
A door on the side of the office opened, an on the other side of it was a large shaggy black dog.
“Hello Sirus.” muttered Harry. Normally he would have been excited to see his godfather but at this moment he was not. He had tried and tried to get in contact with Sirus, but he knew that he was busy rounding up the “old crowd” that Dumbledore had talked about the night Voldemort had risen. There were a lot of things that Harry wanted to tell Sirus, but Harry was very worried and scared. Not for himself, because Harry knew he could take care of himself if Voldemort came for him. He’d done it many times, even though the last time he had barely escaped. No, it was his friends that Harry was worried for. Especially Katrina. He already knew that Lu Willow was after her, and if someone was attacking the people he cared about the most, Katrina was very vulnerable. Ron and Hermione might be his best friends, and Cho Chang might have been an empty crush, but Katrina was the woman that he was deeply head over heels in love with.
Harry watched as Sirus took over his human form.
“Hello Harry.” he said. “Are you okay?”
Harry nodded.
“Your Headmaster has asked me to come to Hogwarts and stay with you in my animal form to watch over you and make sure that you will be alright. I will stay near you until we feel that the situation is better, but do not worry. I will not stay so close to you that you can not have a normal life. Professor McGongall and (he sneered at this) Professor Snape know the truth about me. The other professors do not know about me, but Professor Dumbledore and I will arrange this, so don’t worry. I will not join you until Monday, because if you start walking around with a dog the same day or right after Ron is attacked, some of the students may ask questions.”
“So, try to stay out of trouble this weekend, Harry.” said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling warmly.
“I will be staying here until Monday.” said Sirus before he turned back into the shaggy black dog and went into the other room.
“I know this will be a bit awaked for you, Harry.” said Dumbledore. “And we don’t mean to make you feel like a baby who has to have a nanny with him at all times. You must understand that your safety is most important to us.”
“I understand.” said Harry.
“Good.” answered Dumbledore. “Now I suggest you return to Gryfindor Tower and go sit in the Common Room. I do imagine that Mr. Weasley will be let out of the Hospital Wing about the same time you get back.”
“Yes, Professor.” said Harry as he left the office.
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When Harry got back to Gryfindor Tower that night, we went straight to his bed even though it was quite early. His mind was too full of disturbing thoughts to deal with the happy, and carefree students who were excitedly gossiping, playing games and studying together. Ron or any of the Quiditch players must not have gotten back to the dormitory, or they would have much more unhappy looks upon their faces.
Harry flopped into his bead, and let a loud sigh. He heard a soft click of the dormitory door, and saw Ron coming inside.
Harry immediately sat up in the bed. “Are you alright, Ron?”
Ron smiled. “Everybody thinks I should be a mess, but I’m okay. Nothing bad happened to me. I didn’t get hurt. But how could something like this happen, Harry?”
“Voldemort.” said Harry. “It all comes back to Voldemort.
Ron shuddered. “Don’t say the name, Harry. Don’t say the name!”
Harry ignored him. “The Death Eaters have been very quiet. Too quiet. That means that are plotting something really bad, at least that is what Dumbledore told me.”
“you talked to Dumbledore? When?” asked Ron.
“Right after Madame Pompey kicked me out of the Hospital Wing.” he said. “Dumbledore was right by the door, so we went up to his office and we talked.”
“So, what did he tell you?” Ron asked.
Harry explained everything. He told Ron about how the Death eaters were probably plotting something really evil, and how Dumbledore believed that Ron’s and Cho Changs’ broomstick accidents were related because the Death Eaters were going to attack all of Harry’s closest friends. And he explained how Sirus was coming back.
Ron just shook his head in disbelief. “You mean that You-Know-Who or one of his little cohorts made my broomstick do all those crazy things trying to kill me? To hurt you?”
“Sounds like it.” said Harry. “Pretty nasty stuff, huh?”
“Do you think we should warn the girls?” asked Ron.
“You mean Hermione, Ginny and Katrina?” said Harry.
Ron nodded.
Harry sighed. “That would probably be the best thing to do.”
“But I don’t want them to be scared. If they know that You-Know-Who is after them, it’s going to make it really hard for them to live a normal life.” said Ron. A devilish grin spread across his boyish face. “And you know it would be an absolute shame if Hermione was distracted from her school work.”
“Where are the girls, anyway?” asked Harry.
“Oh,” said Ron. “Hermione was going to the library to study with Neville and Ginny. But I don’t have a single clue where Katrina could be at.”
“Probably wandered off again like she always does.” Harry said. “Well, at least we know she hasn’t ran off somewhere with Percy. From the way you guys talked, it sounds like he can’t go too far from his bathroom toilet.”
Ron chuckled. “Well, why don’t we tell Hermione and Ginny in the morning. I’ll have to tell my brothers too since everybody knows your so close with my family. But I don’t think we should warn Neville. It would just frighten him, and you know how Neville is. Besides, Neville may be our friend, but your not so close to him that he would be in any extreme danger.”
“Your probably right.” said Harry. “But I don’t know about Neville. It kind of seems like we are looking at a new Neville Longbottom. Did you see the way that Neville beat Malfoy? Man, I’d never expect that!”
“That was wicked.” said Ron excitedly.
Talking about Neville and Malfoyt’s fight was just the kind of thing that Harry needed. Him and Ron chatted excitditly for about an hour and a half before they decided to go to sleep. It was just the thing that both of them needed to help them sleep a little bit better.
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Harry and Ron got up extra early that morning. Not too thrilled about what they had to do, they sneaked into the Fifth Year Girls Dormitory and quietly woke Hermione up. They told her to get dressed and meet them by the fire. Hermione looked very confused, but she did what they asked her to do. Both boys felt very awkward inside the girl’s dormitory, but that did not stop Harry from looking over to where Katrina bed was. To his surprise, it was empty.
Harry quickly told Hermione everything that she needed to know. He was going to tell the Weasleys that afternoon when they got back from Hogsmeade. Harry was concerned more with where the heck Katrina was so early in the morning. When he asked Hermione if she knew, she just shrugged her shoulders and said she didn’t have a clue.
Nervous, they played a couple rounds of Exploding Snap before heading down to the Great Hall for a very early breakfast. Harry ate in silence as Hermione and Ron talked wondering where his girl was at, while the Hall filled up with students.
At last, Harry saw Katrina walk through the doors, looking very pretty. She wore her long black Hogwarts robes to keep her warm, something Harry saw her do very seldom because she despised uniforms and cloaks. Her robes were not buttoned up, so they revealed her clothes. She was wearing a fitted light weight red cashmere sweater, and black bell bottom cotton pants. Above the knee, the pants were plain, but below the knew, they featured thousands of tiny silver glittery stars that sparkled when she walked. She wore her long hair loose, and flowing, and it blew in the wind as she walked. It was a bit curlier today than most days. On her feet, were a pair of black boots with high chunky heels that made her look much taller, and showed off the leanness of her long legs. Katrina looked over at the Gryfindor table and saw Harry. She grinned with her beautiful smile spreading from ear to ear. Harry couldn’t help admire how beautiful she was as she walked toward him. He could almost hear music playing , the sound of angels singing for his love.
But then something shattered Harry’s vision of the girl that he loved. Walking behind Katrina, came Draco Malfoy through the door. He walked over toward her, rested his hand on her shoulder, and whispered something in her ear. Harry’s body burned with fury. He could stand to see any other man near his Katrina, but how Draco Malfoy, that rat, his biggest enemy possibly dare to lay a hand upon her! It was enough to make Harry’s very blood boil.
Then to salt Harry’s wounds, he saw Katrina turn her pretty little face toward Malfoy and she laughed. She laughed! Harry could hear the delicate little musical sound of her laughter all the way across the Hall, his eyes burning holes into Malfoy’s neck. What could she possibly be doing with him?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?
Harry watched unhappily as Katrina turned to say something in response to Malfoy, from what Harry could tell it looked like a goodbye, as she headed toward Gryfindor table, and Malfoy went off the other direction to join his fellow Slytherins.
Luckily, none of his friends noticed the whole charade with Katrina and Malfoy, but they did notice the very angry look on Harry’s face.
“What’s wrong, Harry?” asked Hermione.
But Harry did not reply.
Katrina slid into the chair next to him, and Harry, pretending that nothing was wrong at all, offered her a slice of toast.
She grinned at him. “Thanks, Harry.” she said. “So, where we are off to in Hogsmeade today? Anywhere interesting?”
“Oh, just the usual.” said Hermione, eyeing Katrina and Harry up suspiciously.
“Well, I’ve been there so few times that it’s all still so new and exciting to me.” she said, taking a generous bite of her bread.
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Harry knew it was a terrible thing to think, but he couldn’t help but be grateful that Percy was too sick to come to Hogsmeade with them. He was having a really great time with Katrina. Spending time together was much more carefree when Harry knew that Percy wasn’t going to turn up behind the corner any moment and start drooling all over her. Harry, Katrina, Hermione and Percy spent their morning walking around Hogsmeade talking and laughing. They ate lunch in a small cafe where Katrina insisted on treating everyone. So far, it had been a perfect morning. Everyone just seemed so happy that it made Harry forget about any trouble that Death eaters were causing. How could anything be wrong in the world on such a fun day? As a matter of fact, the only thing wrong with day was the weather. It was awfully gloomy looking outside. The skies were bleak as if they knew something that Harry didn’t. Everywhere they went, Harry heard adults commenting on the weather.
“It’s look like rain.” someone would say.
“We’ll sure have some nasty storms tonight.” commented someone else.
As the four of them walked out of the cafe, Harry noticed a black dog walk by the doors. The dog seemed to look at Harry as if he wanted Harry to follow him. Harry elbowed Ron and Hermione. “Sirus.” he whispered in Ron’s ears. “He wants to talk to me.”
“What about her?” asked Ron, indicating Katrina. She wasn’t paying much attention to what Ron and Harry were talking about. She was busy waving to a group of third year Gryfindor girls that Harry didn’t know.
“Leave it to me. I’ll distract her.” whispered Hermione. “Just make sure you remember to tell me what Sirus says!”
Harry nodded.
“Hey Katrina!” said Hermione. “Hogsmeade has some really nice clothing shops. You want to go check them out?”
“Of course I do!” said Katrina, excidly. “When I came here last time with Percy, I had him come into the clothing shops with me, but he was not very thrilled about it. He spent the whole time moping around, looking bored and out of place. He made me so nervous that I couldn’t enjoy myself.”
“Yeah, guys aren’t much fun to go clothes shopping with.” said Hermione, smiling.
“Girls night out!” Katrina joked. “Well, girl’s afternoon out, anyway.”
Hermione grinned at Ron and Harry. “She may be nice but she has defintly got clothes on the brain.” she whispered to the boys.
“What are you two going to do while we’re in the clothes stores?” asked Katrina. “I’d invite you along, but I think you’d get bored. At least you would, Ron, if your anything like your brother.”
“Oh, we’ll be around.” said Ron.
“Yeah, don’t worry about us.” We’ll find something to keep us entertained.” said Harry.
Hermione and Katrina waved as they headed toward the nearest shop.
“Okay, now let’s go find Sirus!” said Harry. “He was headed toward the Shrieking Shack.”
As the boy headed up the hill toward the Sheriking Shack, Ron turned to Harry and asked, “Why do girls like clothes so much?”
“I don’t know.” said Harry. “I guess it’s just a girl thing. I know I’m not interested in clothes. As long as I’m covered, and the stuff I’m wearing isn’t torn, stained, or smelly, I’m okay.”
“Hermione isn’t into all that girl stuff, is she?” asked Ron.
Harry shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know,. She is a girl, after all.”
“She did get really dressed up at last year’s Yule Ball.” said Ron. “She looked so different, but she looked really, well, er, nice.”
His ears were turning as red as his hair.
“Well, I wouldn’t judge Hermione the same way as you judge Katrina. They are really different.” said Harry. “As different as they are, it’s amazing they are still friends.”
“Yeah, you can say that again.” said Ron. “Hermione is smart but I think Katrina isn’t exactly the deepest cauldron in the shop. She’s nice, but she’s not too smart.”
“That’s not true.” said Harry, feeling very annoyed with hearing someone call his Katrina dumb. “She’s just as smart as Hermione, but in different ways. Hermione is book smart, but Katrina is very good at dealing with people. She does pretty good in school too, but she would do a lot better if she worked hard. She spends too much time playing her guitar. And she’s interested in different stuff than Hermione. Katrina is interested in clothes and music, while Hermione is interested in books and more academic stuff.”
“Well, whatever.” said Ron. He sighed, and stopped walking. “Look, Harry.” he said. “There’s something I gotta tell ya, and I don’t really want to do it, but you’ve got to know. We all know you’ve got a huge crush on Katrina. Me and Hermione, we both know. But the thing is, the two of us were talking about it, and we don’t think she is going to leave Percy for you.”
“Er, okay.” said Harry. “What are you trying to get at?”
“Hermione thinks that Katrina just likes the attention of knowing she’s got another guy that likes her, and if things didn’t work out with Percy, she could always go out with you. But I think things are going good with her and Percy. It sounds to me like they are pretty hot and heavy.” said Ron.
Harry’s face flushed with anger. He didn’t need Ron or Hermione to tell him what to do. It was his life, and his personal business! What right did they have to go sticking their noses in it and to try to tell him who he should and should not like?
“As a matter of fact, she told me that she likes me.” said Harry.
“Oh,she does?” asked Ron, with one eyebrow raised.
“That’s what she told me.” said Harry. “But she likes Percy a lot too, and she’s confused.”
“Well, Harry, I don’t want to make you mad or anything. Hermione and me don’t want you to get hurt. You’ve been through a lot, with You-Know-Who coming back and everything. You don’t need to be worrying about girls right now.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” said Harry as the continued walking.
When they got to the Shrieking Shack, they saw Sirus sitting in dog form looking at them. He ducked behind a tree and took on his human form. “What are you guys doing here?” he asked.
Harry was confused. “We saw you in town. We thought you wanted to speak with us.” he said.
Sirus shook his head. “No, I didn’t want you to see me. I’m sorry. I just thought with you going out in town it might be a good idea for you to have me near by. I’m sorry. I never meant for you to see me. When I saw you look at me, I took off, I was hoping maybe you would think I was just another dog.”
“We wouldn’t think that.” said Ron. “We have seen you too many times.”
“So, you didn’t want us to come up here to talk with you?” asked Harry.
“No, defiantly not. I know I said that I would not be following you until Monday, but I changed my mind and thought I’d keep a watch on you from a distance while you were in the village, just in case.” said Sirus.
Harry nodded. “I feel kind of stupid.” he said. “Ron and I came all the way up here for nothing, and Hermione took Katrina into a clothing store to distract her so that she wouldn’t come with us. Since she is not supposed to know about us.”
“Katrina Figg, huh?” said Sirus. “Dumbledore’s niece. What does she look like?”
Harry described Katrina to him, being careful to not make it sound like he was interested in her. Harry didn’t need his godfather knowing about his crush too.
Sirus smiled, a warm look coming over his haunted eyes. “And she’s Esmerellda Figg’s daughter?”
Harry nodded. “I guess you knew her?”
Sirus chuckled. “I knew her alright. She had a crush on your father, Harry, a really big crush on him. And James, well, he noticed her, liked her a little bit, mostly thought she was pretty, and then your mother came onto the scene, and as soon as Lilly started to talk to James, and spend a little bit of time with him, he was head over heels over Lilly and forgot all about Esmerellda Figg.”
“I’ve heard that story before.” said Harry.
“Have you?” asked Sirus.
“Yeah, I overheard Professor Snape telling Katrina that story.” he admitted.
“Snape would know that story very well.” said Sirus, chuckling again. “Old Snape, he really liked Esmerellda, I mean really liked her. But she didn’t like Snape. She was really mad when your mom and dad started dating. Really really mad and really jealous.”
“That’s kind of weird.” said Ron.
The three of them talked for a little bit longer about nothing important, and then said goodbye to Sirus, and headed back down to the village to see Katrina and Hermione. As they were walking back, it began to rain.
“I hope we find them as soon as we get back!’ said Ron, running. “And I hope there in a nice warm store with a good roof!”
It wasn’t hard to find the girls. They were in the Hogsmeade Fashion Boutique. Harry smiled as he saw Katrina rooting through rows and rows of beautiful femine looking clothing, and clutching a shopping basket that was half-way full. Hermione was standing in a corner by herself looking very bored, avoiding the stares of the oblivious sales-clerks who were probably wondering Hermione wasn’t buying a cart full of stuff like Katrina was.
“What do you have in there?” Harry asked, looking into her basket.
She grinned mischievously. “The question is.” she said, “what don’t I have here? I’ve got a little bit of everything. Some pretty smelling perfume..,here Harry take a wiff of that...isn’t it gorgeous?”
She put the bottle up to Harry’s nose and removed the cap. It smelled like fresh spring flowers mixed with aroma of oranges and tangerines. Harry blushed as he noticed the bottle, which was shaped like a curvy and rather and well-blessed figure of a woman.
“It’s called “Goddess of the Tropics”, she informed him. “Oh, and I’ve got some new toe-socks, aren’t they adorable, and some new boots, I just love boots, a girl has to have at least a dozen pairs, too bad it isn’t springtime, I could be buying pretty pastel colored scandals, isn’t it weird, it’s not even Christmas yet, but I’m wishing for spring.”
“Christmas will be here in just a few weeks.” Harry reminded her. He wasn’t really interested in Katrina’s toe-socks, boots, or the various lip glosses, shirts, skirts, and gloves she was buying but he was pleased to see her so happy.
“Let’s get out of here.” Ron whispered to Hermione. She nodded and they left. Harry didn’t pay much attention to them. The idea of spending an afternoon alone in Hogsmeade with Katrina was very exciting, but he only hoped she wouldn’t want to spend the whole time at clothing stores. But even if she wanted to, Harry knew that he really wouldn’t mind too much.
It was raining much harder when Harry and Katrina finally left the clothing store and hour later. They walked close together for warmth on the sidewalk under the hatched roofs of the down town stores.
“Brrrrrr.” Katrina said, shivering. “It’s so cold here.”
Harry felt himself shiver, but not from cold when she slipped her gloved hand inside his bare one. She stood so close to him, Harry could almost make out the sound of her breathing. With Harry’s robe sleeves being as long as they were, they covered their hands, and Harry didn’t worry about anybody seeing them holding hands.
Katrina insisted on buying Harry a steamy bowl of soup inside a cute little cafe. They were lucky enough to find a table right by a toasty fire place that was by itself. The cafe was very busy, but they had a very private table.
While they were waiting for their soup, Katrina scooted her chair very close to Harry, and playfully kicked him under the table. When Harry tried to kick her back, he missed and hit his foot on the leg of the big stone table. When he cursed under his breathe, she laughed, and played with a strand of his shaggy hair that fell by his ears. His whole body went numb as felt the softness of her fingers brush up against the back of his ear.
When there soup came, Harry silently cursed the waitress because when she came to the table, it startled Katrina and she stopped playing with his hair. The waitress ignored them, and made a comment hinting that they remember to tip generously.
After a few spoonfuls, Katrina sighed, and looked Harry in the eyes and said, “Harry, there’s something I have to speak with you about.”
“Sure.” said Harry. “What is it?”
(After the wonderful afternoon they’d spent together, Harry couldn’t help but hope that she was going to tell him that she had broken up with Percy and wanted to be with him!)
“Harry, I can’t let you play Quiditch anymore.” she said to him sadly.
“What?!” exclaimed Harry, shocked and a bit disgusted, he scooted away from her. “What do you mean?”
“Harry, please keep your voice down.” she whispered, and Harry noticed that a few people were starring at them. “I’m really worried about you, I’m really scared. There’s been two accidents now, and I don’t think that’s a coincidence.”
“I know things look really bad, Katrina, but I am a good player and I can take care of myself.” answered Harry.
“I know you are, but I don’t think you can handle this. Someone is defiantly attacking the players, and you’re bound to be next!”
“What do think I’d be next?” asked Harry.
“Oh, don’t be stupid.” she hissed at him, looking very annoyed. “Harry, you know you’re famous, I know you don’t want all that attention but everybody always fusses over you. And you have a lot of f enemies, a lot of people blame you for the destruction of a certain Dark Lord. Now that he’s back, his supports are bound to get even.”
“They have already tried.” Harry said. “And I survived. If anybody tries to get me while I’m on my broom that would be a mistake because I would be able to out-maneuver any attack.”
“Harry,” she whispered in a loving tender voice. “Harry, I don’t want you to be hurt. Your, well, your, um, your a really special person to me and I lo- and I don’t want you to be hurt.”
“I’ll be fine.” Harry said, understanding her concern was only because she loved him (but was too stupid to break up with Percy). He took her hand in his and said, “Don’t worry.”, noticing the tears in her eyes.
“You understand where I’m coming from and you don’t hate me, do you?” she asked.
Harry shook his head, and placed his hand on her face. “Shhhh.” he said to her. “I could never hate you. Don’t be silly. You know how I feel. I’ve told you a thousand times.”
“That’s good because I talked to my uncle today and I convinced him to end Quiditch.” she said.
“You what?” cried Harry in outrage. His placed his hands on the table, he was clenching them into fists out of anger.
“I told my uncle what I told you, and I convinced him to end Quiditch for the rest of the year so that all of the students would be safe. He was going to continue on with the games, but I convinced him not to. After all, the students safety is very important.”
“You did what?” Harry asked. “You mean to tell me you went to Dumbledore and talked him into canceling all the Quiditch games?!?!?!?”
“Yes” she whispered. “I suppose that you hate me now?”
“Katrina! You know how important Quiditch is to me! You know how much I love it and how much I didn’t want it to be cancelled! How could you do something like this?” he cried.
“Harry!” she begged. “Please please keep your voice down, the people are starring at us!”
“Let them stare!” he yelled. “Katrina, why did you do this?”
“Harry, I did it because I love you, even if you are acting like a stupid jerk!” she said crying frantically, tears running down her face, smearing her make up. “I love you so much and I was so scared that something would happen to you. I don’t know what I’d if something happened to you!”
“Cry on Percy’s shoulder at my funeral!” he hissed. “And don’t even talk about love to me! If you really loved me , you’d leave Percy!”
“But I can’t leave Percy. I really care about him. I love him too. Don’t you understand that! If I left Percy it would break his heart, and I don’t know what he’d do! But you are so much stronger than Percy is, I think you could handle a broken heart.”
“Didn’t you even think about talking to me before you convinced Dumbledore this?” asked Harry, even angrier.
“No, because I knew you do this!” she said. “I knew you’d yell at me!”
“Then maybe you probably shouldn’t have done it if you knew I’d be mad!” Harry spat at her.
“well, I thought I’d be better off having you mad at me than having you dead, but maybe I was wrong!” she said. She stood up from the table, pulled a some money out of her purse and threw it on the table, and ran out of the cafe leaving her shopping bangs behind. Out the window, Harry could see her running through the streets as fast as she could run, she turned once and looked back, and even though she was so far away, Harry could tell that she was crying harder than it was raining, and over the sounds of thunder, he could almost hear her sob.
Too angry to chase after her, he stayed at his chair. For the moment, he was too mad at her to care where or not she was going.
Harry at there for an hour and a half until the waitress asked him to leave. Harry, already quite cross, stormed out of the cafe without giving her a tip, much to the disgust of the waitress. He brought her shopping bag with him, as mad as he was, he didn’t want to leave her things behind. When he found Hermione, he’d make her give them back.
Ron and Hermione were wearing carefree grins when they saw Harry.
“Where’s she at?” asked Ron, noticing him holding the shopping bag.
Harry quickly told them the whole story of his fight with Katrina and what she had done.
Ron was equally furious, but Hermione sighed. “You guys put too much importance on Quiditch. You’d think your friends would be more important than a silly game.”
But the boys just ignored her. Too depressed to enjoy Hogsmeade, they headed back to Hogwarts.
It was storming even harder than night at dinner. All of the students who had been at Hogsmeade were back in the Great Hall. Harry and his friends looked around but they did not see any sign of Katrina anywhere that they looked. Harry, feeling very uneasy, asked tons of students if they had seen her, but nobody had.
By the time all of the Gryfindors had gone to bed, and there was no sign of Katrina, Harry was in a panic. “She must be at Hogsmeade!” he exclaimed. “She must not have made it back.!”
“She will be okay, don’t worry about her, Harry.” said Ron.
“yeah, she will make it back alright, it’s night like she’s defenseless or a stupid child or anything like that.” said Hermione.
Harry just shoke his head.
Hermione and Ron were silent as they sat in the armchairs by the fire watching Harry pace the floor for another hour. They waited and waited but they saw no sign of Katrina.
“Could she be out with Percy again?” asked Harry, more to himself than his friends. “no, she couldn’t be. Percy is sick.”
Suddenly, Harry grapped his scar and winced in pain. He felt as if it was on fire. Then he knew what was going on.
“She’s in trouble.” he said. “Something bad is happening” Harry said, as he fell to the floor clutching his scar.
“Harry!” Ron and Hermione cried, coming toward him. There faces were very pale. They’d never seen Harry have a spasm like this before.
“She’s in danger!” Harry said, barely getting the words out. “She’s being attacked. I’ve got to save her!”
He reached into his pocket, and pulled out his wand. He tried to crawl to the Portrait Hoe because he was too weak to walk, but the pain of his scar was so intense that he couldn’t even do that. Harry had never felt anything like this before, even the following year when Voldemort had put him under the Crustaceous Curse he had never felt such pain. The only thing that was keeping Harry from passing out was pure will and pure love. He was running on adrenalin. He was fighting, barely holding on, because he had to, for Katrina’s life.
Finally, after a few moments that seemed like lifetimes, the pain left as quick as it came, Harry lay on the floor face down breathing very hard.
“Are you okay?” Hermione asked, placing her hand on his shoulder as he panted.
Harry stood up. He looked at his friends, still hyperventilating. “We’ve got to go to Hogsmeade. We’ve got to find her.”
“But we can’t go to Hogsmeade at this time of night!” exclaimed Hermione.
“We’ll take the secret passage, the one that I found with the Maurder’s Map.” said Harry. “Go, get my Cloak, Ron. It will cover all three of us.”
“We’ll get into so much trouble if we are caught! We should tell Dumbledore that she’s missing! The school needs to know! He’s her niece, for crying out loud! They can be the ones to help her, after all, what could we do for her!”
“There’s no time for that.” said Ron as he came back with the cloak. “Did you see Harry when those pains came over him. She’s in serious trouble and we can’t waste time waking up Dumbledore. We have to go now.”
“I don’t know if this is a good idea.” said Hermione.
Oh c’mon!” yelled Harry. “what’s more important to you, Hermione, getting into trouble, or the life of your friend?”
At that Hermione walked out the Portrait Hole and ran toward the secret passage way forcing the boys to follow behind her.
“It’s not that I’m so worried about House Points or anything like that!” Hermione called to them as they were running frantically toward Hogsmeade. “I don’t care about getting in trouble when it comes to the safety of my friends, but I still think we should have got an adult to help us. I saw you, Harry, and I know things are gonna be bad. Really bad.”
Harry and Ron didn’t reply to her. The just kept running. The three of them had never ran so fast in there entire lives and would probably never run so fast again.
The rain in the village was so hard and so thick that Harry could even see his own hands.
“How are we supposed to see anything in this bloody rain!” shouted Ron.
“I can’t see anything out of my wet glasses!” yelled Harry. “Quick, Hermione, do that spell that replies water!”
Hermione pointed her wand at Harry’s glasses and said an incantation.
“Thanks, that’s much better.” said Harry. “We’re going to have to split up to find her. Send red sparks in the air if you get into trouble, green sparks if you find her!” said Harry.
“Just like our First Year when we went into the Forest with Hagrid.” said Hermione, as they parted.
Harry had a feeling that he knew where she would be, but the pounding rain made it hard to figure out how to get there. About the length of a Quiditch field from the Shrieking Shack was a large hooked tree that looked like the one in the Weasley’s yard. Harry remembered how she liked to jump out of high trees, and say a spell that would slow her down just enough that she would always land harmlessly on her feet. For some reason, Harry had a feeling that she was there tonight.
His legs aching, he ran all the way to the tree, and saw a lone figure lying on the ground by the trunk. The limp body of a woman wearing a red sweater, and black pants with stars and black boots. It was Katrina.
Harry fell to the muddy ground and threw his arms around her. “Katrina!” he shouted. “Katrina! Answer me!” he yelled, shaking her vigorously. She did not answer.
“Lumnos!” Harry said, but the light from his wand could barely pierce the darkness of the night. He sent up green stars to let Hermione and Ron know that he had found her.
Her body was as cold as ice, and wet to the bone. Harry toke off his robes and threw them around her, wrapping her up tight like a baby in a blanket,. He threw her body into this lap, holding her very tightly trying to warm her with his body heat. She was so cold and so wet. Her skin was very pale, a pale pale pale blue around her lips. She was unconscious, her hair sticking to her face, which was smeared with mud.
“Katrina? Can you hear me, darling?” he called to her. “Katrina, love, answer me.”
But she didn’t. And she wasn’t breathing. Harry put two fingers on the back of her neck to check for a pulse. There wasn’t one.
“Katrina.” he sobbed. “I am so sorry. I never meant any of those mean things I said to you. I’m sorry for yelling at you, I know you were just trying to be protective of me, and that you only cared about my safety. I am such a jerk, and I am so sorry for yelling at you. Just wake up, Katrina. Please, I beg you, wake up.”
There was no response. No breathing, no movement, no heart beat.
“Katrina.” he whispered again. “I love you, please don’t leave me. I know that I have only known you for such a short amount of time but I am in love with you. You’re everything I could ever dream of, please don’t leave me.”
Then Harry got very angry and looked at the sky and cursed.
“Damn you!” he yelled. “Why do you have to do this to me! You let my parents be murdered! You let my godfather be framed for something he didn’t do! You let Cedric and Cho die before my eyes! And now you take her! Damn you! You can’t do this to me, not again! Don’t do this to me again! You can’t have her! Not her! I swear, I’ll do anything, I’ll never play Quiditch again! This is all my fault!” he cried, sobbing and screaming at the same time. “If I hadn’t got into that fight with her over Quiditch she would not have ran away, and she would not have been attacked!”
“Katrina,” Harry begged. “Please, don’t die, I love you, please don’t die.”
Knowing that the worst was here, he leaned toward her cold cold mouth and kissed her with all the passion that he had inside him.
“Katrina.” he whispered as he stroked her long long hair. “Katrina,.”
Then he felt something. A pulse! His mind was spinning! She wasn’t dead! There was a pulse. But she wasn’t breathing!
Harry put his lips to hers again, breathing life into cold body. By the time Hermione and Ron got to Harry, she was breathing on her own, but she was still very cold and unconscious.
“Is she---?” asked Ron, awkwardly.
“No,” said Harry stubbornly. “But she is very very close. When I found her, she had no pulse and wasn’t breathing .I think having my robes around her warmed her enough just to make a bit of difference.”
“What happened here?” asked Hermione.
“I don’t know but you must give me your robes.” commanded Harry, and he wrapped them around her. “It may be a cold wet night, but she needs them more than we do.”
Ron put his hand to her face. “She’s so cold. She’s half frozen.”
“We’ve got to get her someplace warm as soon as possible.” said Hermione. “Should we go to the Castle or someplace in the village?”
“Let’s get her to the Hospital Wing.” said Harry standing up, draping Katrina’s body around him. “I can carry her, she’s very light. But we have go to hurry, she’s tough alright, but I don’t know how long she can hold on.”
************************************************************************* Author’s Note:
Well, that’s the end of Chapter 20. (exhales) Wow! That was one heck of a chapter! That was like a rollarcoaster ride! So much stuff happened! It was quite an experience writing that chapter and I bet it was an experience to read it. The next chapter should be much much shorter so it will hopefully be up soon. At least, I hope! lol! You can never be too sure with me! So, what are you thinking about this story right now! I know you have got to have some thoughts! Let me know what’s going thru your head in the guest book! I love hearing from you guys!