author ;; dimming
title ;; running up that hill
summary ;; the beginnings of a war are stirring in the wizarding world. caught in the crossfire, the balcoin sisters have a choice to make; light or dark? family or friends? fred/oc, draco/oc.
disclaimer ;; we claim no ownership to the harry potter series or its characters. all rights go to j.k rowling and warner brothers'.

{addicted2fanfics, thanks for the review! it's entirely up to zahra with the description etc, i don't really have any input, but i'm sure she'll try to add more description - it's just her writing style, really. thank you for the compliment, anyway. and about chapter one, i understand that it's a little dull but wasn't entirely sure how to make it exciting - it being the first chapter, not much is really going on, but it will get better.}

Chapter Three.
An Oversized Toad.

Katherine.

The Great Hall was filled with the chit-chat and the sound of friends laughing the night they first saw Umbridge. That somehow seemed symbolic, later, but Kathy doesn't know; she isn't particularly good at irony and all that stuff.

The group had found their seats among the Ravenclaws; Roger had received several greetings from girls in their house (Sam had jealously grabbed his hand and shot dirty looks at them all), and Philly parts with a cheery wave, headed for the gryffindor table, where she'll join Katie Bell. Katherine drops into her seat gracefully, earning herself a few looks from the boys next to the group as Sam and Roger find their own seats opposite her. They don't speak of the empty seat next to Katherine; the seat where, not all that long ago, Callum Macmillan had sat, laughed with them. Katherine shoots the seat itself a cold glare, unwilling to turn in her seat and seek the boy himself out on the hufflepuff table.

Sam gives her a cheery smile, completely disregarding the empty space, though Roger's fixed a glare over her shoulder, on a laughing boy she cannot see. "S'alright." She murmurs, shaking her head and settling her chin on her palm as she looks at Sam. "So," She says, louder, "how do you think you did on the charms essay?" Her attempt at distraction works; charms is Sam's favourite subject, and she's easily focused on it. Roger, however, frowns and shoots her a look. This ain't over.

"Well, better than you, I'm sure." Katherine pouts. She's never been particularly good at charms, though she is remarkably talented at transfiguration and potions.

"That's no fair." Roger snorts.

"'Course it's fair, Kat. You're just shit at charms." In turn, Katherine does the mature thing and sticks her tongue out at him. He laughs, and Sam grins at her from across the table. Roger moves on to talk about something, but Katherine isn't listening.

From here, she can see Jasmine. She catches her sister's eye just as she looks away, and Katherine frowns. She and Jasmine had never been particularly close, but since the 'return' of the Dark Lord, she'd been particularly distant. Perhaps she knew of their parent's days, spent grooming their eldest daughter for His service? Of course she did; Jasmine might be irritatingly thick at times, but she was a slytherin first and foremost; she knew how to be sneaky. Jasmine leans forward to make a kissy face at a blond; Malfoy, Katherine knows, an arrogant twit at the best of times. She rolls her eyes, gaze wandering further down the slytherin table disinterestedly. Her icy eyes linger for a moment longer on Theodore Nott, before she looks back at Sam, interrupting Roger with, "Blimey, Nott's filled out this year." Sam raises an eyebrow, turning back to the slytherin table and blinking in surprise.

"So he 'as." Roger raises an eyebrow at her, and she snorts. "Still think you're gorgeous Rog, no need to worry." He laughs shortly, shaking his head and turning back to Katherine with a raised eyebrow,

"So, before I was so rudely interrupted," He gives Katherine a look at this, and she schools her face into the perfect picture of innocence, "I was talking about the new defence professor." He points discreetly to the staff table, where a particularly ugly, fashion-impaired figure sits. Katherine wrinkles her nose, murmuring under her breath,

"Ew, much?" Sam nods.

"I know. I mean, at least try, seriously." Roger shakes his head at the girls, turning to one of the blokes next to him (Terence Peters, if she remembers correctly) about quidditch as Sam says quietly, "So how are you?"

Katherine raises an eyebrow. "Fine." In reply, Sam gives her a look like I-know-you're-not-you're-my-best-friend-don't-lie-to-me and she sighs and runs a hand through her hair. "I'm..." She trails off. After a moment, she continues, "As fine as can be expected, I s'pose." Sam's gaze turns sympathetic and Katherine turns away so as to not look at it.

"Well, Macmillan's a twat for doing that to you." It was a well known fact that Callum Macmillan had been caught cheating on his girlfriend of a year-and-a-half with fellow hufflepuff, Gayle Pocklington, last year. Roger had tried to beat him black and blue, but they don't talk about that. Katherine laughs without humour, shaking her head.

"'Course he is. Doesn't change the fact that it hurts." She shrugs at her friend's pity, "I'll get over it. Then we can beat him into the millennium at quidditch." Sam snorts a laugh, shaking her head at her friend. She glances over her shoulder at the gryffindor table, checking for eavesdroppers, before she says,

"So what do you think of this whole Potter business?" Katherine sighs; over Sam's shoulder, she can see Potter sitting with his friends, looking sickly and pale. The circles beneath his shocking green eyes indicate that he hasn't slept properly in weeks. Something akin to sympathy wells up inside her, but then she remembers that if it weren't for Fudge's incompetency, this boy would have gotten her father locked up, and loathing settles in her stomach again.

Katherine shrugs a reply to Sam, face schooled into a look of naivety and ignorance. Innocence. "Dunno. Seems a little attention-seeking, but... Well, there's always a chance, ain't there?" Sam shrugs one shoulder, looking unsure.

"Mum won't tell me anything. Dad thinks Potter's being an attention whore. Who fucking knows in my house?" Katherine snorts, shaking her head as a wry smile curls her lips. Their conversation is cut short by a loud boom of,

"I hope we are all enjoying this magnificent feast that has been laid upon these marvellous tables. However, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices." Katherine tunes out the rest. She's vaguely aware of the new defence teacher interrupting the headmaster and irritating any and all in the hall, and in traditional Katherine response, starts ribbit-ing in a remarkably accurate impression of a frog, eyes fixed firmly on the defence teacher. Umbridge noticeably starts searching the Ravenclaw table for the source, and she stops not long before the pink-clad woman catches eyes with her. The toad's speech continues, but Katherine's eyes are unfocused, face creased in a frown as she studies her sister on the slytherin table. From here, she can't see the scar on her forehead; it's particularly small, though fresh enough to be noticeable. Jasmine had spent all morning covering it up with muggle makeup, she knew, and she feels a momentary twinge of guilt. She really hadn't meant to cause that much damage, though her friends certainly found the tale entertaining.

She looks away with a sigh, just as Sam thwacks Roger on the arm irritably. He lets out a yelp, glaring at her half-heartedly as she raises an eyebrow at her boyfriend. "So I know quidditch is your one true love and all, Rog, but it would be great if you could talk to us too. Y'know best mates and all." He raises an eyebrow, shaking his head with an amused smile and nudging her arm.

"Jealous, Sammie?" Sam raises an eyebrow, glancing at Terence momentarily, before turning back to Roger.

"Of Peters? Didn't even know you swung that way, Roger, but cute." Roger shakes his head again, laughing, while Terence looks somewhat uncomfortable; he's not as used to Samantha Fawcett's sarcastic humour as they are. Roger pecks Sam softly, and Katherine and Terence share a look, rolling their eyes good-naturedly with quiet laughs.

The food appears on the tables and Sam gives a loud hoot, digging in with relish as Katherine studies her somewhat disgustedly. Of Samantha Fawcett, there is one thing to be said; she has no manners. While Katherine picks at her food delicately with a knife and fork, Sam digs into a chicken leg in her hands and laughs loudly when she catches Katherine's look of distaste. She swallows as Roger pours a helping of soup into his bowl, shaking her head and saying, "Honestly, Kat, you're such a pureblood sometimes."

Katherine raises an eyebrow. "Have you decided to formerly change your blood status or...?"

Roger chuckles, replying for his girlfriend – who is too busy inhaling another chicken leg. "She means you're like one of those 'noble' ones. You know the type." He pauses and she gives him a look. He rolls his eyes. "You're a Jasmine clone, Katherine."

A look of disgust takes hold of her pretty face, and she drops her knife and fork on her plate with a clang, studying her best friends' faces with horror. "Oh Merlin no. No. No." She pauses, then adds for emphasis, "Nope."

Sam, after swallowing, snorts a laugh. "Oh Merlin yes. Kat, you might hate the girl but you're sisters. 'Course you act the same."

Katherine shakes her head. "Still. Ew." Roger laughs, rolling his eyes and having a sip of the soup. Sam studies his bowl with a thoughtful frown, before,

"What's in that?"

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