A/N: Reader, I slashed her. Katie gets some action, and it's not with a boy. Any romantic entanglements found herein focus almost exclusively on girl-lovin'-girls. More notes at the end.
Love in Excess 2: Sock it to Me
"You were going to the Yule Ball with Fleur?" Katie asked in disbelief. "I didn't even know you were friends, let alone anything else…"
"I got to know Fleur pretty well last year. Beauxbatons students took all their meals with us and we had some lessons together as well," Cho began. The girls had left the Entrance Hall and now Katie was hunched close to Cho in an empty classroom in the dungeons.
"I just can't believe Fleur likes girls," Katie interrupted, shaking her head in wonder.
Scowling, Cho said "Who knows what she likes? I think she gets off on attention and it doesn't matter who it comes from - male or female. I knew she was going to the Ball with Roger but she promised me she'd get rid of him after the opening dance and we could have the whole evening together. Things had been really romantic with her all that autumn…" Cho drifted off for a moment, apparently lost in fond memories.
Then her scowl returned and she said, "Now I see she was just leading me on shamelessly. I felt such a fool - looking back I'm sure she had no intention of ever meeting up with me, but I waited outside for her just as we'd agreed. It was tough, too, what with Snape patrolling and giving everyone detentions. I finally went back in to look for her. And on the way I found her - in the arms of Roger Davies!"
"Wow," whispered Katie, amazed. "What did you do?"
A satisfied smile settled on Cho's face. "Took a leaf out of Hermione Granger's book and conjured a fire. You'd have been surprised how long it took Roger to notice the flames on his dress robes, and then he was so close to Fleur she got a bit singed as well."
Katie smiled. "I bet she wasn't too happy about that."
"Hell hath no fury like a Veela scorched."
Katie's smile broadened and she noticed Cho looked amused at the memory. "But what about Cedric?"
The merriment in Cho's eyes instantly vanished. "When I went back inside he was frantic, asking me where I'd been. I think he was worried I'd been outside with someone else," she mused. "Harry Potter had asked me to go to the ball with him, and he'd gone outside just before I did, apparently. I was so upset about Fleur I didn't want to deal with any more drama, so I spent the rest of the Ball with Cedric. He was a really good dancer and really sweet, too."
"So you two started dating." Katie supplied the next sentence, feeling downcast as well. She had a feeling about why Cho was telling her all this - it was a roundabout way of explaining that she wasn't interested in Katie, that being with Cedric had made her realise she liked boys after all.
Cho nodded and kept talking. "I really did like him. And none of the girls I'd been interested in ever seemed to like me back, or if they did they got scared and called it off, or went back to the boys they'd been dating. It was just so much easier to be Cedric's girlfriend."
"I guess so." Katie tried to look understanding, but now that she saw where Cho was going with this she only wanted to get out of the room.
However, what Cho said next made Katie lean forward again in surprise. "I guess it was wrong of me. I never told him the truth and I took him for granted. I just kept thinking 'he'll graduate in June and the relationship will be over, no hard feelings.' It seemed the easiest way out. But then -" As she talked, tears had welled up in Cho's eyes, and now she broke off, unable to finish her sentence.
"I know," said Katie, automatically putting her arm around Cho and patting her on the back.
Cho continued to weep and Katie continued to pat her awkwardly, unsure what to do or say. After a moment, Cho took a deep breath and dragged a hand across her face. Looking into Katie's eyes she said, "If there's one thing that situation taught me, it was not to take anything for granted ever again."
Katie didn't know what to say. The conversation had taken an unexpected turn and she still wasn't sure what Cho was trying to tell her. They sat in silence for a moment. And then Katie became aware of the sound of hundreds of feet tramping above them.
"Dinner!" she gasped and shoved back her sleeve to check her watch. "I promised Angelina and Alicia I'd meet them!" she babbled, torn between feeling she ought to stay with Cho and knowing she would have to do some very fast talking to explain her absence to her friends.
But Cho seemed back to normal. Her eyes were slightly red but otherwise no sign remained of her outburst. "Better go meet them, then," she said.
Katie stood and they walked silently up the wide stone stairs leading to the Entrance Hall. When they reached the top step she stopped and asked, "You sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine."
Katie peered at her. "Why did you tell me all that? You didn't have to, you know."
"I know." Cho looked like she was about to say something else, but she suddenly froze.
Following her gaze, Katie turned and saw Alicia and Angelina standing nearby.
"Looks like your friends are waiting for you," said Cho, and walked away quickly to join a group of Ravenclaws.
Katie approached her two friends warily. "Hi."
"Hi yourself," said Angelina. Alicia was silent. "Is that why you ran off so fast earlier? Little rendezvous with Miss Chang?"
Katie winced at Angelina's teasing tone. She knew the other girl was just trying to be friendly but Angelina seemed oblivious to the way Alicia grew dark and brooding every time Katie's love life came up.
"Not quite," muttered Katie, trying to catch Alicia's eye. "So, you two are going to Hogsmeade with Fred and George this weekend?" she asked Angelina in an abrupt change of topic.
"Yeah. We could make it a Weasley triple-bill and invite Ron along, but something tells me you're going to be fully booked this weekend, what with that Hufflepuff and now Cho Chang."
Katie stopped and spun to face Angelina. "There's nothing going on between me and either of them, okay?" she said, her words coming out more angrily than she'd intended.
Angelina looked surprised. "Okay, keep your hair on." They resumed walking but as they neared the Gryffindor table she added mischievously, "But if nothing's going on why do you care so much when I tease you about it?"
**
"You call that a pass?" Katie jeered as she zipped by a Slytherin Chaser and intercepted the Quaffle. She was fifty feet up in the air, Quaffle in hand, and on her way to what she hoped would be her sixth goal of their first game that season.
She flew unimpeded; the interception had been so surprising nobody was even marking her. She was approaching the goalposts when she heard the tell-tale whiz of a Bludger nearby and ducked her head, just avoiding it. Veering slightly to the right Katie saw she had company. The other Beater was closing in on her and the Keeper loomed ahead menacingly.
"Over here!" she heard Angelina yell and was pleased to see her fellow Chasers had quickly caught up with her. She passed the Quaffle to Angelina and looked for Alicia on her left.
The other girl appeared next to her. Looking determined, she aggressively blocked for her team-mates. As Alicia took one hand off her broom to neatly catch the pass from Angelina, Katie felt a strange sort of pang while watching her. The afternoon sun glinted on Alicia's curly brown hair, giving it a reddish cast, and she was flying with the ferocious energy Katie so admired in her.
Based on their years of teamwork, Katie anticipated that Alicia would pass the Quaffle off to her again for the goal. Yet Alicia accelerated, obviously meaning to score herself. Katie sped up as well, until she was very close to Alicia. "Need a hand?" she called out. "I'm open."
To her utter surprise, Alicia almost growled at her. "Get out of it, Bell," she ordered and turned her eyes towards outmanoeuvring the Keeper, Quaffle firmly in hand.
Katie faltered for a moment, then resumed her speed and raced to match Alicia. She wasn't sure what was up, but at least she could help Alicia by being nearby and in position.
"I said, back off!" Alicia repeated, pivoting her broom to look at Katie. They locked eyes for a split-second. Then Alicia abruptly changed direction. As she did so, the back end of her broom caught Katie hard across the face.
Katie jerked away on feeling the hard twigs of the broom tail against her cheekbone. Both the pain and the surprise blinded her for a moment. At that instant both Slytherin Beaters attacked, one sending a Bludger towards Alicia and the other aiming for Katie, who this time didn't duck quite fast enough.
The Bludger was much harder than a broom tail - though it only grazed her mouth, the force was enough to make her teeth rattle. She licked her lips automatically and tasted blood. Hand to her mouth, Katie looked up in time to see Alicia slip past the Keeper and heard the Gryffindor stands erupt with shouts of approval as the Quaffle flew through the hoop. She saw George and Fred at midfield, sending the Bludgers back at Slytherin, but they hadn't been able to cross the pitch in time to protect their own Chasers.
"You okay?" Angelina swooped over and circled Katie for a moment, her eyes glancing over the long red scratches on Katie's cheek and her still-bleeding lip. "I'm calling a time-out," she announced and zoomed towards the referee.
"Bloody hell, Alicia! Didn't you see Katie was right behind you?" Angelina demanded as soon as Alicia and Katie landed. Madam Pomfrey was already dashing over, wand in hand.
The rest of the team touched down and looked on uneasily as Angelina continued yelling at her Chasers. "She was trying to help you and you nearly took out her eye!"
"Sorry. I didn't know you were so close," said Alicia evenly. Katie stared at her. She knew Alicia was lying - they had been barely a foot apart when Alicia reversed so suddenly. But Katie also knew Alicia was angry in a way she had never before seen.
Madam Pomfrey arrived, tut-tutted at Katie's face and raised her wand, ready to perform a healing charm.
"Is any of this bad?" Katie asked, touching her swollen mouth gingerly. The bleeding seemed to have stopped.
"No. It'll only take a moment, dear, hold still."
"Don't worry about it," said Katie suddenly. "I'll stop by the infirmary after the match." She jumped up and grabbed her broom, then flew to rejoin her teammates.
They played grimly on. Katie paid very close attention to where she flew now, especially around Alicia. They were well up, but Slytherin were known for come-from-behind wins and Malfoy had been improving as Seeker. "Come on, Harry," Katie muttered. A quick glance above showed him searching the area for the Snitch.
Warrington had the Quaffle now and Katie hurled herself forward on her broom. Drawing alongside the Slytherin Chaser she feigned cutting across the other Chaser's path and was pleased to see Warrington swerve slightly in response. With another burst of speed Katie gained enough space to really cut in front and forced her opponent to change course.
The roar of the crowd made Katie look down, and she saw Harry and Malfoy racing for the Snitch. She sighed with relief as Harry pulled out of his dive with the Snitch glittering between his fingers. Although glad they'd won the match, for once Katie felt none of the exhilaration that usually accompanied a win, especially a victory against Slytherin. Of course she cheered along with the rest of the team, but as soon as she could, headed for the changing-rooms.
The rest of the team was still jubilant, all except Alicia who was just as quiet as Katie. Nobody paid them much attention, but Alicia was forced into merriment when George emerged from the boys' side and, grabbing Alicia's hands, danced her around the room.
Katie took that moment to slip quietly out the door but was stopped by Angelina's hand on her shoulder. "Just a minute."
They stood outside, Katie looking at Angelina's puzzled yet annoyed face. "I don't know what's going on with you and Alicia, but as team captain I want it sorted out before we're all on that pitch together again - understand?"
"I'm the one with the fat lip, Angelina. Why don't you save the speech for Alicia?" Katie snapped back.
"Look, I don't want to get drawn into your argument." Angelina's eyes were troubled as she peered down at Katie. "But what is going on?"
"I'm not sure," admitted Katie. "But I do know one thing - every time you tease me about some new girl she gets upset. So maybe if you lay off with the comments -"
Angelina interrupted. "Don't say this is all my fault. I'm sorry if I hurt her feelings and I'll go tell her so right now. But there's more going on here - I need you to work together as a team. And I want you two back as my friends," she added with a worried scowl.
Katie sighed. "So do I, Angelina."
The Gryffindor captain turned and went back inside, leaving Katie free to go. She hadn't gone very far, however, when a voice said, "That's quite a cut you've got there."
Katie turned and saw Cho smiling at her. Few people were still around, all of Gryffindor having rushed back to the tower for a celebration and the rest of the stands had emptied as well. Katie did look around for Laura and was relieved to not see her.
"Yeah. I guess I should go and see Madam Pomfrey like I promised."
"Or you could let me fix it."
Katie raised an eyebrow. "You know healing charms?"
"A few. But if you don't trust me…"
"I trust you." Katie grinned and resumed walking. "Let's just go somewhere else to do this, okay?"
Cho shrugged in assent and they walked down to the greenhouse area. No one was there and the tall rows of plants provided a nice cover.
With a flick of her wand, Cho brought two stools over and had Katie sit down. Drawing closer, Cho first reached out and touched Katie's cheek very gently. "Does it hurt?"
"Stings a little."
Cho nodded, then raised her wand and murmured an incantation unfamiliar to Katie. A jet of sparkling light shot from the wand's end, and Katie felt the sparks dust over her face with a soothing sensation. She reached up to her cheek; the skin was smooth once again and the scratches had disappeared.
Cho frowned. "Still a few traces but they should be gone by tomorrow. Okay, now this lip. I ought to clean off the blood first. Can you lean forward a bit? Thanks." Cho dabbed at Katie's lip carefully with a cool, smooth object she'd pulled from her robes. "Eradius stone," she explained. "Very handy for absorbing stuff like blood."
With the blood gone, Cho held her wand steady and uttered yet another charm. Katie closed her eyes and felt the heat vanish from her broken lip, felt the swelling diminish immediately.
"Wow, you're good," she said, running her tongue across her bottom lip and finding it back to normal.
"You don't have to sound so surprised," said Cho. She shook back her slinky black hair, smiling. "And yes, I'm very good."
"I don't doubt that." Katie returned Cho's flirtatious glance with one of her own. They'd been sitting close together while Cho worked on her injuries but now each girl moved back. Katie studied Cho's face for a moment, trying to decipher exactly what was going on.
Cho stood up, head tilted slightly to one side as if sizing up Katie. A smile still on her face, she ducked her head and turned away, heading for the castle. Katie followed her, taking two jogging steps to catch up.
"Thank you," she said quietly, walking at Cho's side.
Cho stopped walking and turned to Katie. "No problem. Pain all gone?" she asked, touching her own mouth.
"Yeah. Like it never was hit by a Bludger."
"Good. Because if you don't kiss me right now you'd better have a really good excuse," announced Cho, abruptly taking Katie's hands and pulling her close.
Although startled by Cho's rather commanding statement, Katie had no problem complying. Holding on tightly to Cho's hands she bent down slightly and kissed her.
Katie had thought nothing could beat the rush she got from flying: the wind roaring in her ears, the quickening of her blood when she flew fast, but all those sensations and more came to her as she and Cho kissed by the greenhouse garden.
Cho dropped Katie's hands and instead clutched at the front of Katie's robes, pulling her closer. Then she allowed her fingers to roam higher, running them through Katie's short hair, and kissed her with a fervor that left Katie startled.
She quickly recovered from her surprise, however. Hands firmly on Cho's waist, she guided her back a few steps, against the glass of the greenhouse, and smiled down at her. Cho's lips, sun-swollen from an afternoon spent outdoors, parted slightly as she looked up invitingly at Katie. Closing her eyes, Katie bent towards Cho and kissed her, softly at first, then more intensely. Cho's hot cheek was against hers, and through the voluminous fabric of their school robes, Katie felt Cho's heart pounding against her own, felt her own body's pulse as they pressed together - shoulder to hip to heel.
Katie wasn't sure how long they spent like that, but eventually, exhausted and flushed, they broke apart, both breathing hard. Cho's eyes were dark, darker than ever Katie had seen them, with the iris melding into the pupil.
"Well," said Cho, collecting herself after a moment, "I guess you'd better get off to Gryffindor common room - there's bound to be a party."
"I guess I'd better," agreed Katie. Her eyes remained on Cho. She wanted to kiss her again but knew they wouldn't, not that afternoon anyway.
**
When she climbed through the portrait hole the party was already in full swing. George and Fred were spraying everyone with shaken bottles of butterbeer and Alicia stood happily drenched with the stuff. Harry was laughing at something Angelina had said and even Hermione Granger appeared to be having a good time.
"There you are!" Fred bounded across the room and seized Katie's hand. "Madam Pomfrey get you all healed?" he asked, peering at her face. Without waiting for an answer he dragged her to the center of the party and raised her arm in his. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Chaser Katie Bell. Bloodied by her own team-mate - who will be borrowing Harry's specs from now on while she flies - Katie courageously overcame her injuries to give us several goals and at least three assists."
Everyone clapped and butterbeer flowed. Katie looked over at Alicia. As she did so, she wondered just what her friend had been drinking. Alicia seemed downright giddy but glanced away when she caught Katie's eye.
Katie frowned, and was about to walk over to her when George dragged Alicia off to dance with a group of others, leaving Katie to collapse wearily on one of the sagging sofas. Harry perched himself on the back and remarked, "You really held it together when you got hit by that Bludger. Those things hurt."
"Yeah." Katie turned her attention to Harry. "But it didn't hit me full on. Madam Pomfrey would have had to give me Dentagrow if that had happened."
"You're lucky." Harry shuddered, thinking about the time he'd had to grow back the bones in his arm.
"And as usual, you caught the Snitch."
Harry's face broke into a wide grin. "Yeah. Malfoy never really had a chance." He glanced across the room at Angelina and Alicia, dancing with the Weasley twins. "Everyone's been joking that now Angelina and Alicia are dating Fred and George, the third Chaser needs a Weasley boyfriend, too. How about a dance with Ron?" he teased.
"What?" Katie didn't laugh and Harry misinterpreted her reaction.
"I was just kidding," he said hastily. "Ron hates to dance."
"No, sorry, I didn't mean that." Katie frowned. "You said Alicia is dating George? I thought they just tagged along with Fred and Angelina last weekend."
Harry shrugged and stood up. "Dunno. Don't you girls tell each other everything?" he teased before excusing himself to get another butterbeer.
Katie twisted around to better watch the dancing. Alicia was looking at George with significantly more friendliness than she had shown Katie all day. Sighing, Katie looked back at Harry, now engaged in conversation with Ron. A Weasley boyfriend - Katie smiled to herself, wondering what the others would say if they knew the only Weasley she'd be remotely interested in dating was Ginny.
**
Alicia had avoided Katie all day, but once they all went off to bed there was no ignoring each other. Katie had gone upstairs early and sat on her bed in blue striped pyjamas. Alicia wandered in from brushing her teeth and would have walked right past Katie had she not said something.
"Alicia, what's going on with you and George?" Katie tried to keep her voice casual.
Alicia sat on her own bed, opposite Katie. "What's it to you?" she answered sulkily.
"Fine. We don't have to talk about George. Why don't you tell me what was going on this afternoon during the match?" Katie suggested, a bit more testily.
"I just wanted to give Slytherin what for. I didn't mean to hurt you," Alicia muttered, fiddling with the hem of her nightgown and not looking at Katie.
"I think you did."
Now Alicia looked up, face flushed and eyes crackling angrily. "What if I did? Do you care? It's like I don't even matter to you anymore!" she burst out.
"That's not true," protested Katie. "You're the one who's been freezing me out."
"You think it's easy for me, watching everyone chase after you?" cried Alicia. She stared at Katie for a moment then dropped her eyes and muttered, "I guess I was jealous of how everyone's been paying attention to you - all those girls after you, and then you were scoring non-stop in the match."
"I do not have 'all those girls' after me," Katie corrected. "Besides, you're the one who has a new boyfriend. How do you think that makes me feel? I didn't think you even liked boys, not that way."
"Maybe I like both." Alicia gave her an oblique glance. "What's it matter to you, anyway?"
"It matters because you're my friend." Katie no longer felt angry, just sad. "I've known you longer than anyone – since before we even started at Hogwarts. I meant it when I said I want us to be friends this year."
"I'll try, Katie. But right now, I'm not sure I can be friends with you like we were before," said Alicia. "Does that make sense?"
Katie nodded. Unfortunately, it made perfect sense.
"Good night," whispered Alicia, and twitched her velvet hangings close around her.
Katie pulled her own hangings shut and lay on her back. No sooner had she flopped down on the bed, however, than she felt something poking against her back and sat up. Twisting around, she saw a crumpled piece of parchment on the bed. Katie unrolled it and read a short note from Cho, which must have found its way into her dormitory via a House Elf. Meet me tomorrow morning, the note instructed. Smiling to herself, Katie tucked the note under her pillow and lay back down again, her worries over Alicia receding as she contemplated seeing Cho once more.
**
Cho had told Katie to meet her before breakfast, very early, in one of the empty classrooms. Since it was Sunday, nobody else was up; not even Filch and Mrs Norris were around as Katie crept to the agreed-upon room.
Cho appeared even more dazzling to Katie than she had the day before, sitting at an empty desk with the bright morning light falling across her. Katie had thought they might chat a bit, but Cho didn't seem in the mood for small talk and anyway, being so close to her drove any coherent thoughts from Katie's mind. Suddenly all she wanted to do was kiss Cho again.
Happily, this seemed to be exactly what Cho had in mind and it was several minutes before they actually said anything to each other. "You're so beautiful," Katie whispered, blushing as soon as she'd spoken. The words sounded clumsy and cliched and somehow inadequate.
But Cho seemed pleased enough. Smiling, she took Katie's hand and led her from the classroom, down the stairs and out through the front doors of the castle. The grounds were quiet and golden, the grass still dewy. They walked silently, hand in hand, until they reached the far side of the lake. Cho flopped down on the ground, shrugging off her robes. "I love being the first one up," she said to Katie. "It's like the whole of Hogwarts is just mine, no one else's."
Katie had to admit she wasn't normally an early riser.
"I bet I could change that," teased Cho.
"I'm sure you could," Katie agreed. Cho was sprawled charmingly across the grass, her blouse coming untucked from her baggy pleated skirt, and she seemed completely unconcerned about anything at the moment.
"You're awfully far away," noted Cho, now reclining on her robes. She propped her head up against one hand, the other hand resting lightly at the curve of her hip.
Katie obligingly moved closer. "Better?"
"Almost." Cho pulled Katie to her, slipping her hand in between the fastenings of Katie's robes and hooking her calf against Katie's. Katie felt herself jump beneath Cho's touch. Cho's fingers, and her thigh, pressed ever more heavily against Katie, who gently pushed Cho onto her back and decided to give her a taste of her own medicine. It was barely sunrise, and hours until anyone would notice their absence.
Now it was Katie's weight that pressed against Cho, Katie's lips that made Cho sigh and long for more. And finally, it was Katie who pulled back and forced herself to stand up and take Cho back to the castle. After all, she reminded herself, the entire school year stretched before them. There was no need to rush things. In fact, she noted, glancing at her watch, they had spent almost two hours together and she still didn't know much more about Cho save the fact that she was possibly the most talented kisser Katie had ever met.
**
Next Herbology class, Katie made Angelina and Alicia promise to work with her but even so, she couldn't escape the looks of unmistakable longing Laura kept sending her way. As soon as the lesson was over, Laura made her way over and effortlessly separated Katie from her friends.
"You were really terrific this weekend," she purred. Katie looked down. Laura's hand was possessively on her arm and the girl was walking her along the path as if it were lover's lane.
"I, uh, didn't notice you there," muttered Katie, looking around desperately for Angelina.
"I know." Laura pretended to pout. "I heard you had to go off to Madam Pomfrey to have your injuries healed. You could have come to me, you know." Katie could have sworn the girl batted her eyelashes at her.
Katie forced herself to be very stoic and not think about exactly who had tended to her injuries. She had the uncomfortable feeling Laura could see every thought that passed through her mind. "Well, a professional is always best, don't you think?"
"Not always. So you are coming Thursday?"
"What's on Thursday?"
"You know." Laura jogged Katie elbow. "Girls' Quidditch?"
"Oh, right. Maybe. Depends on how busy I am." Katie finally saw her friends ahead and wished they would look back and rescue her. "Ow!" She jumped involuntarily as Laura's grip suddenly became much tighter. Looking up, Katie saw Cho come into view. Ravenclaw had Herbology next.
Katie shook off Laura's grasp and tried to walk more quickly, but it was too late. Cho had seen them and Katie could do nothing to appease the surprised and furious look that crossed Cho's face.
"I'm going to be late," Katie said brusquely, dashing away from Laura.
Katie was so distracted throughout Potions she nearly missed out a key ingredient. Alicia grabbed her hand right before she tossed in a handful of nettles. "You didn't put in the fluxweed yet!" she pointed out in alarm.
"Oh. Thanks." Katie took a minute to steady herself. Fortunately nothing dire like an exploding cauldron would have happened if she'd added the ingredients out of order, but being mocked by Snape for producing a strength-reducing charm instead of a strength-enhancing one was something best avoided. Fluxweed was such a variable element, and its order in the potion largely determined its impact.
As they filed from the dungeons two hours later, Katie found her mind alternating between Potions and the events of that afternoon. If she could just make Laura lose interest, she was certain she could smooth things over with Cho. Surely she would understand once she heard the whole story. Plus with Laura out of the way Angelina would no longer have cause to tease her and maybe even Alicia would stop feeling jealous.
That evening, instead of heading straight for the common room, Katie went in search of Hermione. They may not have been close friends but even Katie knew the best place to find Hermione Granger was the library.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked, approaching Hermione at a book-laden table.
"Sure." Hermione couldn't hide her surprise, but nonetheless she cleared a space nearby.
Katie slid into a wooden chair next to Hermione. "I need you to help me find a potion that will make someone stop liking me," she announced. "A romance repellant."
************
OK, I can already hear Bookcat saying "Hermione's in everything." Yes, she is. I'm so fond of her, she keeps popping up everywhere. But will anyone love her for more than her immense magical knowledge? Better keep reading to find out…
Cloud_strife: I know I haven't portrayed Fleur in a very flattering light thus far, but I don't dislike her, really! She may be bitchy, but that's part of her charm. Keith: No plans as of now to do sequels for Hermione's Heart or Demon Love, but you never know.
As always, a cornucopia of gratitude to Wotan for beta-reading.
