Chapter Twenty-Nine: Lost in Paradise

Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling. The underlined portions are taken directly from the novel; I do not own those parts. They belong to J.K. Rowling.

Author's Note: This fanfiction is going to be different from my other stories. This picks up where "The Heart of Everything" left off. The time in the books also changes. So, pay attention the time, so you don't get confused. Some of the chapters are other Marcus Flint/Katie Bell stories, just with more changes and deleted scenes added.

Time: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Genre: Romance, Drama, and Friendship

Rating: PG-13

Katie flopped down her a bed a few days after Quidditch tryouts. Defence Against the Dark Arts had been brutal today. Snape was bound and determined to make them learn spells mentally and without physically saying the spell. Any lip movement resulted in loss of House points and grade lowed by a letter. Katie had been lucky and none of her stuff was effected too much. Leanne, on the other hand, had been in tears when the lesson was over. Lisa had not been in tears, but had been pale and could not stop shaking. Alex had gotten kicked out of the lesson within the first five minutes from back talking and had not come back from Professor McGonagall's office.

Leanne and Lisa entered the room a few minutes later. Both had appeared to manage to somewhat calm down.

Katie looked at them. She really had no idea what to say.

"Can we forget that this ever happened?" Lisa asked.

"Please," Leanne said, "I don't want it to keep replaying over and over in my mind."
Katie nodded. "How about we forget about it with some fun?"
"How?" Lisa asked not understanding how it could be fun to forget about this day.

"Hogsmeade is coming up."

"I forgot about that," Leanne said. She moved her head back so she was looking at the ceiling. "I am so ready for some Three Broomsticks."

Lisa nodded. "It's the other shops that make the village."

Katie nodded. A weekend at Hogsmeade never got old. If the school would allow it, she would go there every weekend. The girls chatted about all there was to do at Hogsmeade for the next several minutes.

Lisa sat up on her bed. "Won't Marcus be up though?"
Katie shook her head. Marcus was not going to be able to make it this weekend. He was working on Order stuff and he had a game Friday night in Sweden. "He's getting in really late on Friday and is probably going to be jet lagged."

Lisa smiled. "Good, you can just hang out with us."

"But if Marcus was here, we would have access to his bank account," Leanne added with a sigh.

Lisa nodded. "That is very true, but I think we can manage."

Katie nodded, not adding that she knew how to get into Marcus's back account. Some things were just better left unsaid.

Leanne smiled. "But we do need a girls' weekend."
"Great, I could use a break from Alex," Lisa mused. She had a daydream look on her face. "Did I say that aloud?"

"Yeah," Katie said.

Lisa smiled. "Good, I had to be sure that I wasn't talking to myself."

"And here I thought you wanted to spend every waking moment with him," Leanne said.

Lisa made a face. "No, don't make me throw up my dinner."
Leanne laughed. "I don't want to have to be the one to clean it up either."
Katie smiled. Personally, she did not find Alex all that bad. Sure, he was a little on the annoying side. Overall, he really was not that bad of a guy. He was not her type, but he would make someone a really good boyfriend. She also thought that Lisa secretly liked him, but she was not going to say that to anyone.

"So this weekend, is girls' weekend then?" Lisa asked.

Leanne nodded. "It's official."

Saturday

Katie and the girls decided to skip breakfast on Saturday. They would eat their fill and more in the village. At around ten o'clock, the three of them made their way down to the courtyard where most of the students year three and above were gathered. The Aurors and Filch were checking their bags and making people turn their pockets out. She really thought that they needed to be checking what people were bringing into the castle instead of out of it.

She was not going to be the one to point it out.

It took several minutes for everyone to get and out of security. The freedom on the other side was worth being poked and searched by complete strangers. After weeks in the stuffy castle, a few hours at Hogsmeade would be paradise.

The girls laughed and gossiped all the way down to the village. It was like they were three normal teenage girls and were not at all threatened by the Dark War. None of them were targets, but that really did rule out the possibility of an attack.

"What did Alex end up doing today?" Leanne asked.

"He and some of his guy friends were going to dare each other to go into the Shrieking Shack or something like that," Lisa answered with a shrug. "I suppose that they are just going to be their annoying selves.

"At least they have each other to be annoying with," Leanne replied.

Lisa nodded. "Thank God for that one."

"We probably don't want to know for sure what they are doing," Katie added.

Lisa thought about it for a moment. "That is very, very true. Guys are scary when they are in a big group like that."
"And they say that we are bad," Leanne muttered under her breath.

Lisa shook her head. "See, I don't understand that. I think that we are perfectly sane whenever we are in a group."

Katie nodded, but she was not completely sure about that one either.

The girls sent to next few hours roaming the shops and buying the treats that they offered. At Gladrags Wizardwear Katie picked up a few pairs of wacky socks. At Honeydukes, she loaded up her favourite sweets: Sugared Butterfly Wings and Cauldron Cakes. She really was not a sweet person but these were her weakness.

The others wanted to go into the joke shop, but that really was not Katie's scene. She decided to remain outside and enjoy a few of her sweets.

Many of the shops' windows were covered with various wanted posters and Dark Art defence methods. She hated the fact that the Death Eaters were at large and that the people on the side of good were not making any progress. She just hoped that Hogsmeade did not become what Diagon Alley did.

She stared at a large wanted poster of Bellatrix Lestrange. The woman was sneering out at Katie. Bellatrix did not seem to regret all of the those she killed. Katie really did not understand how anyone could be so heartless and just so evil.

Katie watched groups of Hogwarts students pass by her. They really did not see concerned about all of the wanted posters. Perhaps they were just choosing not to pay them any mind. She wished that she could be that way. It was probably because she knew people at the front lines.

Screaming pulled her away from the posters. She felt her heart skip a beat? Was someone hurt? Or worse?

The joke shop door burst open and Alex ran out of it. Small objects were clamped to his body.

A few minutes later, Leanne and Lisa emerged from the joke shop laughing. They were each carrying bulging bags.

"You should have come in," Leanne said. She was breathing hard and wiping tears from her eyes.

"Alex fell into a barrel of biting things, I'm not sure what they were. Anyway, they grabbed onto him and just would not let go," Lisa said laughing. "He ran out screaming and cussing up a storm." She laughed harder. "Oh, boy, it was great. Just bloody brilliant."

Katie nodded slowly and bit her lip. She really did not know why Lisa got enjoyment out of Alex's suffering. He was probably going to be very sore for the next couple of days. Poor, Alex.

Leanne shook her head. "I guess you just had to be there."

"I guess," Katie muttered. She hated being a spoil sport, but she was not going to laugh at someone's suffering. It just was not right. Okay, she had to take that back. It was okay on the Quidditch pitch.

Lisa wiggled in between Leanne and Katie. She draped her arms over both of their shoulders. "So, where to next, ladies?"

"What about Three Broomsticks?" Katie suggested. She really wanted to sit down and admire her crazy socks.

"A butterbeer sounds really good right now," Leanne added.

Lisa clapped them on the backs. "Three Broomsticks it is."

As the girls made their way toward the pub, the snow began to pick up. Once they reached it, it became clear that many of their fellow classmates had the same idea. The inside of Three Broomsticks was packed and it was almost impossible to find a seat. After many minutes of looking, they finally manage to locate a table in the back.

Alex was sitting at the table in front of them, nursing some sort of drink. Judging by the redness on his face, it had not been his first. His flesh was covered in various cuts and bruises. He looked downright miserable and lonely sitting there by himself. Katie felt sorry for him.

Within minutes of sitting down, a waitress came and took their order.

"I need to go to the loo," Katie said standing up. She really did not have to go, but something was pulling her toward there. It was a rather strange feeling. She knew that she should stay away, but she could not bring herself to.

Leanne nodded. "Do you want me to go with you?"

Katie shook her head. The pull was telling her to go alone. "I'm a big girl. I can do this on my own."

Leanne had a concerned look on her face. "If you say so."

Katie made her way back to the loo. Again, she felt as if some kind of power was drawing her there. It was like she was being drawn to some sort of shiny object.

"Katie," someone hissed to the left of the women's loo.

Trancelike Katie turned toward the voice. She could not see the person. "Yes?" Everything in Katie's body was screaming at her to get out of there. She could not mover feet.

A package emerged from the shadows. "Take this to Professor Dumbledore and do not let anyone stop you. You must do this no matter what."
Katie did not want to reach out and take the package. She could not prevent her arms from extending out and taking it. "I will do what you say." Her voice did not even sound like her own. What on Earth was going on here? No, no, no!

"That is all," the voice said.

Katie turned and started toward the front of the pub. She felt someone grab her arm and try to stop her.

"Katie, what are you doing?" Leanne cried.

"I have to go back to school. I need to speak to Professor Dumbledore."

Leanne stepped in front of Katie. "We can follow Lisa and Alex. They are going back in a little bit."

Katie moved around Leanne. "I can't want." She walked toward the front of the pub and stepped out onto the street.

"Katie!" Leanne yelled running up behind her. "What's going on?"

Katie did not answer. She just kept walking blankly ahead unaware of the people around her.

"Katie, please!" Leanne begged as she ran up beside her friend.

Katie picked her pace up. She really did not have time for this. She had to get this back to Professor Dumbledore. Why didn't Leanne understand that?

They were outside the village now. Hogwarts was so close to them. In a few minutes, the mission would be complete.

"Katie, you don't know what that is or what it could do!" Leanne cried from the left of Katie. "Please!"

"I need to do this," Katie snapped. She brushed her hands against the package.

"Katie!" Leanne cried again. "Please, put it down and don't touch it anymore.

Katie moved a few metres forward. Leanne did not know what she was talking about. She was just some crazy girl.

Something was wrong. She felt strange. She did not know what it was, but she really did not fell like herself. She felt her feet being lifted off the ground and heard the scream escape her mouth.

"KATIE!" Leanne screamed from the ground below.

Katie felt the wind circle around her. A few minutes later, she slammed back down onto the ground. Darkness took over her. The world was gone. It was just her and nothing else. Nothing hurt. It was as if she was in someone kind of paradise. It felt amazing. It felt as if she was floating. Deep down she knew the truth. She may had been in paradise, but she was also lost in paradise.