Chapter 11 – The Concerns

Ahehehe um... I'M SO SORRY! I disappeared again and I feel so bad! I'm trying to make up for it! This and the next chapter was originally one long chapter, but I figured they would be better separate, so I'll post that one separately, but today because it's done. This chapter and the next are full of drama, and then in the chapter after that (which I'll try to have up as soon as possible) there will be some actiony stuff.

I promise I won't abandon this story, I have many plans. These past few months have been really hectic, but things are starting to calm down so I should be able to write more.

And in other news, it has been over a year since I started this story. Thank you all, readers old and new, for being a part of this work in progress.

Without making you wait more, the next chapter...

Katie Bell had quickly become the center of Hogwarts' gossip. Since word had gotten out that Katie and Will were "officially together", they had become the most talked about couple, and Katie became that girl everyone was jealous of.

"She is so lucky."

"What did she do to deserve Will Freyton?"

"Why did Will choose her?"

"She's not even that pretty."

"He could have any girl in the school, and he chose Bell?"

Katie had never realized that the girls at her school could be so stupid. They thought she couldn't hear their whispers… she would have to have her ears stuffed with wax to not hear. Whispering was an art none of them had mastered, and it seemed they would be hopeless at it. She heard them, talking jealously and giving her dirty looks. She had even started receiving threatening notes, warning her to "back off".

It wasn't that she was afraid, far from it in fact. It was just a pain to have to open a letter, read it, realize it was a stupid hate letter, and then throw it away. It was a waste of time and Katie Bell was anything but patient.

Alicia and Angelina were being supportive, but she could see their disapproval. They still thought she was doing the wrong thing by turning her back on Fred. She wasn't turning her back though! She was simply moving on, and for good reason. How long was she to wait? Either Fred have feelings for her and admit it, or not. It was plain and simple, black and white. Katie was tired of gray areas. Those would be cut out.

"Why don't you just ask him if he feels that way about you?" Alicia had questioned for about the millionth time that morning.

"I've told you, Al," Katie sighed, tossing another threatening note into the wastepaper basket. That was the third one today. "If he doesn't, I just went and ruined any sense of comfort between us. And besides, I shouldn't have to be the one to make a move. If he fancies me, why can't he just admit it already?"

"Have you ever considered that maybe he's scared of rejection?" Alicia pointed out, using the condescending tone she used when she thought Katie was being unreasonable.

"Well he needs to summon some of the Gryffindor courage that got him into this house," Katie replied.

"You realize that the reason you won't ask him is because you're scared of rejection? You two are in the same situation, both too scared to admit their feelings to the other, both scared of rejection," Alicia said wisely.

"I am not scared of rejection," Katie snapped defensively, though a part of her was recognizing the truth in Alicia's words. If she was honest with herself, she was afraid of being rejected by Fred.

"By saying Fred needs to summon Gryffindor courage, you're only being a hypocrite," Alicia continue, unfazed by Katie's argument.

"Don't call me a hypocrite!"

"Then stop being one!"

Katie glared at her friend. She knew that Alicia was right, but she wouldn't admit it. Her ego simply wouldn't let her. Alicia seemed to understand that.

"Katie," she started, her calm voice back in place, "I know you don't want to have to be the person to concede, but don't let your ego get the better of you. I know that you know that I'm right. Fred's got an ego too, but he doesn't have a reasonable person like me telling him to just forget about it for a moment."

Katie snorted. "Reasonable person? Stop being so modest."

"I'm being honest. There's a difference between knowing your strengths and stating them, and over exaggerating traits that are hardly there." Katie rolled her eyes. "Katie, for Merlin's sake, stop being so childish. What you're doing is wrong."

"It's not wrong," Katie defended. "It may not be right, but it's certainly not wrong."

"Isn't it? What you're doing to Will is unfair."

The words stung a little bit, because of the hidden truth in them. Alicia was completely right. What she was doing to Will was wrong.

Katie was living the dream of other girls, dating Will Freyton – that too for 3 months. And he was an angel, giving her whatever she wanted, be it space, company, or a lot of Butterbeer. He cared for her. That time when she had fallen sick, he hadn't left her side other than unavoidable classes. He had even spent his lunch at the Hospital Wing with her, chatting and trying to keep her spirits up, or sitting silently while she slept. It was charming, and any other girl would give anything for such a boyfriend.

And yet, Katie would be lying if she said she was happy.

Even in the Hospital Wing, she had often found it hard to concentrate on Will. Her attention had always been on the door, where she knew Fred lurked sometimes, just watching her. It was a little unnerving, but it also filled her with a giddy hope. And guilty pleasure, for she should have been reveling in the attention given to her by Will, not the sneaky attention she received from Fred.

And it was wrong. Will was such an amazing person, so caring, so loving, so willing to overlook imperfections. He himself lacked nothing, he was virtually perfect.

And he was all Katie's. Yet she didn't appreciate it. Yet she wanted something else. And it was so, so wrong. So, so unfair. Will deserved much better. Katie knew this deep inside, but she just couldn't bring herself to admit it.

She tried to be happy. She tried oh so very hard. But the thing with happiness is that it can't be forced. All she accomplished was acting happy. She smiled with Will, made him feel that she was happy, she convinced the whole school that she was happy – after all, why wouldn't she be? Even Fred was convinced that she was happy.

But she couldn't force herself to feel happy. In reality, it was all a show, an act. She wasn't miserable, Will was so kind, it was impossible to be miserable. But she couldn't deny that she wanted Fred. It made her feel guilty and it made her feel like an awful person. Maybe that's what she was.

The day after Will had asked her to be his girlfriend and she had accepted, Katie had been having doubts. She had resorted to pulling out a bit of parchment and a quill with ink and making a chart. A chart, of all things! If there was one thing Katie hated it was graphic organizers and charts of any kind. Graphs and the whole family… she hated them. Organization wasn't her thing. If she needed notes, she would jot them down wherever like any sane person, not make a neat and organized chart. Charts stood for everything Katie stood against.

And yet she had sat on her bed, resting the parchment on her potions book, drawing up a chart. Specifically a compare and contrast chart.

And the two subjects she was comparing? Will Freyton and Fred Weasley.

Will – despite being his perfect, godly self – didn't have all the qualities Fred had, and vice versa. The self-doubt and frustration in her mind, the voice telling her that she was wrong and was making a mistake, had forced her to make a chart of these traits.

Both boys had a good amount of traits on their side, things the other simply lacked. But examining it, Katie found something that left her with an uncomfortable feeling. Every trait on Fred's side of the list – those being traits he had and Will didn't – were traits Katie adored and valued and hoped for in a boy. They were the traits she loved about Fred, the things her dream guy would have. Things like prankster, hilarious – Will was funny, but not hilarious -, ambitious – this was of course with the joke shop in mind – and traits of that type.

Will's side held valuable traits that Fred lacked, this was true, but Katie simply didn't need those characteristics as much as she needed the ones Fred had.

While gazing at her chart in frustration and disgust, Angelina had poked her head into the room to call her down to lunch. Katie had left the parchment on her bed and gone down to join her friends. When she had returned, the parchment was gone. She figured a house-elf must have come by and considered it trash. Well good, for that was exactly what it was. Her chart-making endeavor hadn't had the intended result, and her loathing of graphic organizers had only increased.

"Katie?" Alicia's words snapped her out of the thoughts she had slipped into. She saw her older friend looking at her with concern.

"Sorry," she said quietly, voice devoid of any real apology. "Lost in thoughts for a moment."

Alicia sighed. "Katie… I don't mean to be lecturing you, I just… I need to make you aware of the mistake you're making. You know yourself that this is wrong, you're just refusing to admit it to yourself or to anyone. I don't want you or anyone else to get hurt."

"I'm not performing a scary maneuver in Quidditch that I'll get hurt or hurt anyone else," Katie said stubbornly.

"Who ever said that hurt could only be physical? You know what I meant, Katie. Don't go playing with people's emotions to protect your ego."

"Stop saying I have an ego, I don't," Katie snapped. "And the word is obnoxious anyway."

"Not as obnoxious as the word obnoxious though," Alicia replied, a smile playing across her lips.

"That's really quite ironic, isn't it?" Katie said, seizing the opportunity for a subject change. Alicia's smile widened.

"As if you care about words or irony," Alicia said knowingly. "Anyway, are you excited for tomorrow?"

Tomorrow would be the third task of the Triwizard Tournament. Obviously, Katie was supporting Harry. But before any of that could happen, Katie had to sit through exams. They were a pain; she had been studying hard and hadn't had a break for days. The third task tomorrow would be a welcome relief.

Katie was just about to respond when Angelina entered the room, looking breathless.

"What have you been up to?" Katie asked as Angelina dropped onto her bed. "You look like you ran laps around the whole school."

"Oh Katie, don't you remember," Alicia said, a mischievous light in her eyes. "Angie was with George. I wonder what would have happened for her to be in this state…"

Katie quickly caught on. "Ooh, someone's been busy…"

"Oh shut up," Angelina laughed, throwing a pillow at them. "We just kissed and that's all."

"Mhmm," Katie said, raising an eyebrow suggestively. "I totally believe you Angie." She winked exaggeratedly. At this, Alicia broke out into laughter and Katie succumbed to the giggles that were taking her over. Angelina looked at them disdainfully before walking into the bathroom and slamming the door.

"Oh god, did we go too far?" Alicia said, looking worriedly at the shut bathroom door.

"No," Katie waved her off. "She's just being dense."

The Gryffindor table was absolutely rowdy in the morning. People were shouting across the table, yelling their well wishes to Harry. The famous boy himself looked as though he wished to sink right into the ground. He didn't seem too pleased with all of the attention, and he looked as though his thoughts were occupied by something other than the tournament.

Maybe it was the Daily Prophet… Katie wouldn't be surprised to learn that Skeeter had written some malicious article about him. It would also explain why the Slytherin table was looking so gleeful, and why they kept glancing over at Harry and making odd faces that were highly unflattering.

Whatever it was, Katie wouldn't allow it to distract her from the History of Magic textbook sitting open in front of her as she did her last-minute cramming. It was one of her worst subjects, but Katie was determined to do well on the exam. She was reading a particularly boring passage about Marvin the Mesmerizing while chewing on plain toast, when the toast was suddenly snatched from her hand. Katie spun around, prepared to yell at the offending toast thief, and saw Fred sitting next to her spreading jam on it. Her anger melted away at just the sight of him, something that frustrated her.

"Strawberry, just as you like," Fred said, handing the now smothered toast back to her. "I don't know what you were thinking eating plain toast."

"I was a bit preoccupied," Katie answered, taking a bite out of the toast. Fred was right, strawberry was her favorite.

"With Marvin?" Fred said, glancing at the open textbook. "So tell me Katie, is he really as mesmerizing as they say?"

"Just because you don't care about exams doesn't mean nobody else does," Katie snapped.

Fred shrugged and grinned. "I just fail to see how knowing Marvin's birthday is going to help me in the future. Will it pay the bills? Will I be able to buy a nice broom just by retelling his life?"

"No, but they still teach us it, and a majority of us want good marks in school, which means doing well in all subjects, no matter how pointless and ridiculous."

Fred waved her off. "Just cram for your exam and eat your toast, Bell."

"Bell, is it?" Katie said, raising an eyebrow. "If I recall, that's what you used to call me when I was a first year. And then half of second year. You haven't called me that in forever."

Fred suddenly leaned in close, sending off a wave of butterflies in Katie's stomach.

All he did was whisper, "Forever is a dangerous word that nobody knows the entire meaning of. Don't use it lightly."

Katie watched as he left the Great Hall without another word. Would she ever understand him?