I do not own any Harry Potter Characters.

Chapter 18:

The healers ended up giving her a couple different potions, along with casting a few spells. They explained it would be a slow process to expel the magic without having the person who cast it get rid of it themselves. As they didn't know the spell that had been used. Katie didn't feel any different, except extremely emotional, as if a damn had broken and all her emotions were flooding out.

It was getting later in the day, so Katie headed home by Floo. Deciding to send Angelina and Alicia both an owl asking to speak with them tomorrow night. She wanted answers sooner but knew that Quidditch practice was more important, there were only a few months left of the season. Katie needed to take things seriously to get a starter position. Making a cup of tea, she nestled herself on her couch. There was so much to think about. What deal could her grandfather have made with Voldemort, that he was still trying to collect to this day? Or did he find it already? Evelyn. Katie couldn't help the wave of emotions that hit her, breaking down. She had pushed everyone but Brenton out of her life. Even her own father. Deciding the best thing to do was write him a letter, asking him to join her for dinner after her game. Needing to make amends with him.

Katie felt deflated, she had no new recollections, and she had expected to see some sort of results by now. Heading to her room she grabbed a photo album going through photos of her and Evelyn. It couldn't hurt to try, but no matter how many photos she went through nothing came back. Before bed Katie couldn't decide whether she'd use dreamless sleep that night, her practice tomorrow was extremely important. At the same time, she was hoping to uncover some of her memories in her dreams. Katie ended up deciding to take the dreamless sleep at least until after the upcoming game.

The following day Angelina and Alicia both sent her owls confirming they would come to her house. She felt nervous. It had been such a long time since she had given them the time of day to even speak to her. She had blown them off for so long. How were they so willing to forgive her? Tears streamed down her face as she sipped her morning tea. She had a lot to make up to them.

Katie headed out of the locker room and onto the pitch early that day like she always did. Katie wasn't surprised when Marcus came up to her while she was stretching. Trying her best to ignore the feeling of wanting to retreat as far as she could. "I just want to say I'm sorry about the other night. Being drunk wasn't an excuse to act like an asshole. I'll respect your wishes and stay away." He said walking away from her.

Katie felt as if practice was dragging on, but she concentrated on performing the plays perfectly, putting off all other thoughts until later. The beater on her team hit her with a bludger right to the stomach, winding Katie. It took her a few minutes to stop wheezing, but she wasn't going to let that stop her. The practice shifted to a scrimmage; the coach wanted to see which set of chasers would have a guaranteed chance to play for the upcoming game.

As Katie was flying down the field with the Quaffle, chaser Lucius Paddon shoved into her hard, trying to snatch the quaffle away. They struggled, as his teammate Jerry Halloran body checked Katie, sandwiching her in. Oh, she was going to be bruised tomorrow that was for sure. Gripping her broom tightly, she dove downward only to be met with a bludger snapping the front of her broom off. Katie plummeted. Hitting the ground with a hard thud and then sliding along the grass. Shakily she attempted to stand up, putting pressure on her hands to push her body up. Only to fall from the pain in her left wrist. It was most likely broken.

Falmouth Falcon practice was Hell on Earth. It was as simple as that.

Healers surrounded her, mending her broken bones as her team watched on. James walked up to her and clapped a hand on her shoulder "Bell, you going to be, okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Katie said as she stretched her wrist after the healers finished "My broom though, that's another story." Gazing off at the mangled broom with displeasure. Her dad had made it for her, and she felt awful.

The beater Albert Lamb walked up to Katie, "Ha gotcha pretty good, didn't I?" He said chuckling. Katie couldn't help but laugh as well. Oh, she was in for it on this team. I mean their team motto was "Let us win, but if we cannot win, let us break a few heads." They were an extremely aggressive team, and if she wanted to be taken seriously, she needed to be able to take a hit… or two.

The coach dismissed Katie early, even though she had a backup broom, it was nowhere near as capable as the one she had lost. Feeling deflated, knowing this meant she had no chance of being in the upcoming game. She would need time to get used to a new broom.

Heading through the Floo Katie headed to Spintwitches, she had a few hours before Angelina and Alicia would show up at her house. When she walked in the store, it was quiet. Only one other person was looking around the shop. The Manager noticed Katie and smiled "If you are here to see you dad, then he's in the back." Nodding her head, she walked into the back area where her dad was hard away at work on a beautiful broom.

"Hey dad" Katie greeted hoping not to spook him, her dad often got lost into his work.

Slightly startled he dropped some of his wood stain on the counter, doing his best he cleaned up the mess while questioning Katie. "Aren't you supposed to be at practice?"

"I'm really sorry, I broke the broom you made me." Katie's mouth wobbled as tears welled up in her eyes. Frustrated with all the emotions, she took some deep breaths to calm herself down. Her dad came over, concern in his eyes.

"I can always make you a new broom." When she kept crying, he said, "What's wrong? Talk to me, this can't all be about a silly broom." So, she did. She told him everything about Evelyn, the nightmares, and St. Mungo's. "So, it was Evelyn, not Brenton." He concluded.

"Why would you think it was it was Brenton?" Katie snorted, rolling her eyes.

"I just knew that you were acting different, and you had the far-off stare that I once had." Her dad explained giving her a half smile. "I was worried about you."

"What was up with that handshake with Brenton then?" Katie's face remained contemplative.

"He was the one acting strangely. He wouldn't let go of my hand and just stared at me. Odd one that guy is." Katie nodded, though her father could still see worry in her eyes.

"He told me he sensed something evil about you." Katie confessed sighing loudly. She finally admitted it to him, feeling as if a giant burden had been lifted.

Her dad stared at her for a moment before laughing loudly, "oh that's rich. Is that why I haven't seen you?"

"Yeah" Katie said in a faint voice, ashamed.

"Don't worry about it, it's in the past. Let's just get you a boom." Her father smiled at her, patting her on the back. Her mouth quirked to the side.

Katie's sapphire eyes traveled around the shop at the different brooms, her dad had gone to pull out a few options for her. When he returned with a newer firebolt her eyes widened. "That's way too expensive." She said dismissively.

"Use your grandparents' inheritance. You are a professional quidditch player and a chaser no less. You need something that's durable and fast, and a firebolt is going to be your best bet. It's the only broom capable of going hundred and fifty miles per hour in ten seconds. Way quicker than the broom I made you. I can't believe how well you've done with the broom you've had."

"Are you sure?" Was all Katie asked.

"I recommend doing the hazel, which will give you better precision when turning." Handing her the broom, Katie couldn't help but admire the workmanship put into it. It was beautiful. After an hour of going over all the options, Katie left with her dad to go to Gringotts to access her grandparents vault, pulling out what she would need for the broom. Not long after she was in the Floo heading back to her house with a brand-new Firebolt.

Katie wasn't nervous. She had nothing -absolutely nothing- to be concerned about, but not even Katie believed the lie. How would they react? It had been so long. She was mostly worried to find out if Brenton was under the same spell as her. She had asked him to come over that night a few hours into Angelina and Alicia being there. The only way to find out, was for them to do the spell on him as well. Katie hadn't told him about the spell or anything like that, just that she wanted to see him. Hoping that whatever she learned meant that Brenton wouldn't need the spell done to him as well. Maybe… just maybe… he hadn't been involved in Evelyn's plans. She decided to worry about Brenton later. Right now, she needed to focus on returning her memories.

When they finally arrived Katie could help the tears that streamed down her face. "I… I don't know what to say" Katie said quietly.

"You don't have to say anything" Alicia said with certainty, walking towards Katie.

"How can you just forgive me? I ignored you two for so long." Her voice was little more than a whisper.

"Oh Katie, it's okay that's what friends are for" Alicia said pulling her friend into a tight hug.

"I was so horrible to you both" Katie managed to get out as she clutched Alicia back, tears still flowing down her face.

Angelina joining in the hug, said "you weren't you and I know what that's like. I wasn't me for a long time." The girls talked about everything they could think of, and Katie's nerves melting away. Katie confessed that she was worried that her boyfriend was involved. Telling them that depending on what she learned, she would want Brenton to do the spell as well. They agreed to stay later if necessary.

"How are you two able to restore my memories but St. Mungo's couldn't?" Katie asked

"We've had time, a lot of time. We came up, with a spell that restores memories that have been blocked." Alicia explained.

"She's downplaying it, it took us such a long time how to figure out how to even make up our own spell, let alone one that would counter whatever Evelyn did to me." Angelina said. "She's in the process of a trade deal with St. Mungo's for it's use."

"Basically, the spell unseals your memories, you may be confused for a while, so I recommend sitting down." Alicia scooted a chair to Katie. "I do want to let you know, that even if you do remember things, her hold on what she told you to do, will remain. You will have a better chance to fight it though." When Katie was sitting Alicia remained in front of her, while Angelina stood next to Katie in case she blacked out.

Alicia grabbed her wand flicking it in the shape of a cursive lower R she recited "Resignare." A bright yellow light shot from Alicia's wand, surrounding Katie. Her vision started to blur, getting a tunnel effect.

"Katie, are you okay?" Angelina asked, before the yellow light engulfed her.

Katie opened her eyes, she was in a large, marbled room, white arches glinting against the golden lights. People around her looked as if they were ghosts, walking through her as if she weren't truly there. She recognized this place. This was the night Katie attended the Quidditch admissions celebration.

She wasn't sure what time it was, as she searched the ballroom for her past self. Eventually seeing herself at a table sitting next to Brenton. Katie walked towards them, as Evelyn did as well. This was the end of the night. When Brenton asked her for a second date.

"I hope you will at least consider a second date with me." Brenton said to her past self.

When Katie and Evelyn got up to leave Katie was surprised to hear Evelyn say. "Katie, go to the car, I'll be there in a second."

Her past-self walked towards the exit, with a blank eerie look. Evelyn turned to Brenton saying, "You are going to be very persistent in dating Katie, I have plans for you…" Evelyn said before she could finish the whole room faded away, as her past-self left the room.

Katie found herself in her last apartment, the one that the Falmouth Falcons had provided for her. Her past-self was sitting on her couch talking with Evelyn. "Evelyn, I don't know how I'm going to be able to play on the same team as Marcus."

"This is getting annoying, how many times do I have to do this? Katie anytime Marcus comes up to you all you are going to think about is how much you dislike him and how annoying you find him. You don't love him. You are also not going to remember this conversation either." The room faded away and soon all the memories came flooding back. She found herself unable to keep up with the number of past-selves that appeared. "Katie, you don't love Marcus." "Tell me what you know about The Order of the Phoenix." "Stay away from him." "You love Brenton." "Forget this conversation" "Don't talk to Angelina or Alicia, ignore their letters." "Don't trust them." "You are going to forget we talked about this." "I'm your only friend." "Katie you are to stay with Brenton, you love him." "You hate Angelina and Alicia." "You don't like him" "You are going to forget this." "Do you know where your grandfather would hide something?"

The memories were flashing by too quickly, Katie clutched her head in pain. Falling to the ground, overwhelmed with all the memories.

Katie awoke.

"Slowly Katie, get up slowly." Alicia coaxed her.

"That bitch." Was the first thing Katie said putting her head in her hands, bracing her elbows on her knees.

"There's the real Katie Bell" Angelina cheered.

"What did you learn?" Alicia questioned.

"She did the same thing to Brenton." Katie said defeated. Filling them in on everything she could remember from the flashes of memories. By the time she finished explaining Brenton had appeared in the Floo. Katie was anxious, her palms sweaty. Doing her best to stay calm, she sat him down, introducing him to the two girls. Timidly she explained to him what Evelyn had done, not going into too many details. When she asked Brenton if he minded if they did the spell on him as well, he smiled at her and agreed.

Katie nervously picked at the hem of her shirt. Alicia cast the spell, and Brenton was surrounded in a yellow light before passing out in the chair. It was excruciating waiting for him to wake up. Would they still be together, or was the spell the only reason he stayed with her?

When his eyes opened, Katie found herself holding her breath. Did she love him? She wasn't sure what she felt anymore. All she felt was confusion.

"What the fuck." Brenton stated holding his head in bewilderment.

"You, okay? Take it easy." Katie coaxed resting a hand on his shoulder to try and help calm him.

"What in the bloody hell did that woman do to me?" Brenton said between gritted teeth.

If she were a kind, respectable person, she would have told him to take his time, to calm himself. But right now, she needed answers. "You tell me." Katie asked.

He opened his mouth, ready to explain everything, "she…she had me watching you and reporting back to her."

"What did she want to know?" Alicia asked.

His lips tugged slightly upward, but his face remained solemn. "She wanted to know about your grandparents mostly, had me looking into all their heirlooms and history. She would want to know anytime Flint tried talking to you. She would tell me to take you out on certain nights." Brenton said quickly, trying to recall what he could. Her heart stopped beating.

As if sensing the need for privacy Alicia says, "hey Katie, we are going to head out, it's getting late. If you need us for anything, just send an owl." The girls said goodnight, leaving the apartment by Floo.

The apartment was filled with silence, Katie only breaking it to ask, "how do you feel about me?" She studied his strong jaw to his broad frame, hoping he had feelings for her.

"I…I don't know, what feelings are my own, and which ones were put into my head by her." He confessed dropping his head down.

Katie did her best to pull herself together, shoving down the desperate, foolish hope that his feelings were his own. "Did you still want to be with me?" Katie couldn't help but ask.

He stared warily, carefully, at her. He let out a deep breath, then rubbed the back of his neck. "Katie… I don't think it's a promising idea for us to keep seeing each other." She hated feeling such pity for herself.

Katie couldn't help but reflect while watching her team play the Holyhead Harpies. Even though her memories were back, it didn't ease any of the tension she felt. Only glad that she knew the truth now.

The Falmouth Falcons were not messing around this game. They were on top of the leader board for that year's season, and with the finish line so close insight, they were ready to knock out anyone that stood in their way. It was a brutal game the two beaters of the team targeting the other teams star player, chaser Persephone Vitrac also known as Silver Wolf. With the Falcon's beaters in full attack mode Persephone didn't stand a chance. Franchescka De Luca Holy heads chaser got into a heated argument with the game's referee. The referee gave her a red spark and took her out for the rest of the game. The Holyhead Harpies didn't stand a chance. Fans were outraged, at the development of the game. Jerry Halloran, Falmouth Chaser who was known for his foul mood, earned himself a green spark for violently going after a Quaffle that Jolene Parris was holding. The match ended with Seeker Brian Davies catching the snitch only sixty minutes into the game. The Falmouth Falcons winning the game by a landslide, despite all their penalties. Katie headed into her locker room, to change out of her uniform. Opting not to shower since she had not played.

Katie's father waited patiently outside of the female locker room. Spotting Marcus walking towards the male locker room, not too far away. "Marcus." He called out catching Marcus's attention. "How have you been?" Theodore asked.

"Been better." Marcus shook his head, shrugging his shoulders.

"You played an amazing game!" Theodore smirked, clapping Marcus on the back.

Marcus ran a hand through his hair. "Thank you, sir."

"I spoke to Katie." Marcus's body stiffened. "We were wrong. It wasn't Brenton, it was Katie's best friend Evelyn who's been messing with her mind."

"Are you sure he's not a part of it?" Marcus couldn't help but ask.

"Yes, but just because he's not evil, doesn't mean you don't stand a chance against him. I'm sure you can get her back." Theodore chuckled softly.

Marcus ground his teeth, saying "sir, with all due respect, I messed up any chance I had with her." Marcus broke eye contact, finding the floor more interesting. Trying his best to shove the memory of how upset Katie looked the night at the bar.

Katie's father raised his brows and shrugged. "Marcus, from what I can tell, you are a good man. There is no one else I'd rather see my daughter with."

Katie was clever, brave, beautiful, and so amazing at Quidditch. Marcus knew that a man would come into Katie's life, fall in love with her and would make her his wife, and that was the worst part of it all. It had crept up on him, this grief and dread at the thought of anyone else ending up with her. Marcus shook his head saying, "I appreciate that, but she definitely doesn't feel the same way."

Katie's father cut a glance at him. "Listen I've made bad choices in my past, but you can learn something from it. I'm sure you've heard a general idea of it from Katie already. When my parent's found out I was dating a muggle, they were livid. Even setting me up in an arranged marriage, I didn't love her though. My parents didn't care, I always suspected they did something to her family, because she moved extremely far away. So, I played along with what they asked me to, and I dated my fiancé for a time. She eventually got pregnant but by the time we were to get married, I backed out. I was in love with someone else and couldn't marry her. I couldn't forget about her, no matter what I did, and it felt wrong to betray her. I didn't hear from her for almost two decades. Well, a few months ago I received a letter from her. I had no idea how she found me, but she did. When I saw her again in person, I fell in love all over again. We've been dating for the last two months. Now I know the stories aren't similar, but this is the takeaway. Time can repair most things. You may not get her now, or in the next ten years, but if it's meant to be, you will find each other again." Katie's father put his hand on Marcus's shoulder in reassurance.

Marcus nodded, though Katie's father could still see doubt in his eyes.

Authors Note: I just want to thank the people who have been reading my story. Marcus and Katie have a long way to go before they have any chance of getting back together. Katie also has a long road ahead of her to recover from all the magic she's been under and her growing in her Quidditch career. Along with a looming battle. More next time!