Chapter Seven
Broom Rides and Birthdays
When Katrina came inside for breakfast a little later, Harry, Ron, and Hermione didn't say anything to her about what they learned about her mother's fate. Not that Harry even had the chance. Percy Weasley had been following Katrina around ever since he got out of bed. It was a good thing that Percy didn't have work that day. He was so busy telling Katrina about how well he had done on his NEWTs, and his exploits as Head Boy. Whether or not any of this mattered much to Katrina, was not known to Harry. Ginny Weasley was also very keen to talk to Katrina. Ginny had sort of a heroes worship for her. Katrina, who enjoyed designing and sewing much of her own clothing, was happy to teach Ginny how to repair minor snags, and the fading of colors from hers. Since much of Ginny's clothing came from a second hand store, a lot of it could use some repair.
It was that morning when Hermione and Harry decided to join the Weasley siblings for some outdoor Quiditch practice.
Ginny and Hermione sat on a blanket underneath a tree, shading them from the hot July sun, while the guys played. Hermione was busy working on a letter to Viktor Krum, while Ron made nasty faces every time he flew over Hermione. Harry guessed that he was still jealous. Ginny just laid their looking admiring up at Harry, and wondering out loud where Katrina had gone off to.
The boys landed beside the pair to take a break. All that flying left Harry feeling a little sweaty, and he was too happy to be sitting next to his friends on the soft blanket.
"Percy probably drug her off somewhere." Ron said wearing a bemused expression.
Fred poked his younger brother in the ribs. "You sound a bit jealous."
"I'm not jealous." Ron said firmly. He looked honest and sincere. "I think she's pretty and she seems nice but I don't like her that way. But Percy does."
Harry felt that Ron was telling the truth, after all, Ron didn't know Katrina as well as he did.
"Percy likes her!" Ginny squealed. "I know for a fact. Mum and me were listening to the new Weird Sisters song on the wireless, and Percy came in the kitchen. And he wouldn't talk about anything else but her! He's crazy about her. We couldn't even hear the song, he was so loud. And it was a pretty good song too…."
"Hey, here they come now!" George interrupted, as Katrina and Percy were seen walking up the hill.
"How come your not at work today, Percy?" Fred asked.
"Oh." Percy said turning as red as his Weasley hair. "Dumbledore gave me the day off. He knew his niece was visiting here, and I asked if I could have time off to hang out with her. He let me have the day. Said there wasn't anything I needed to do today anyways. Great man, your uncle is, Katrina."
Percy beamed a toothy grin, Katrina returned it with one of her brilliant smiles. The sight made Harry's heart break.
"So, uh, Katrina, what's your favorite Quiditch team?" Ron asked.
"Uh, I don't watch Quiditch. I don't care for sports much." Katrina replied. "I don't even know how to fly a broomstick."
"You don't know how to fly a broomstick!!!!" Harry said flabbergasted. He simply could not believe that Katrina Figg couldn't fly a broom as excellently as she seemed to do everything else.
"You don't like Quiditch!" Ron exclaimed.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh, honestly! You two!" she said annoyed. "Do you really think everyone in the world has to like that bloody sport?"
"Why not?" Ron said, answering Hermione. "It's a pretty good game."
"I'm afraid all of the flying and athletic talent in the family went to my older cousin, Belinda. She plays Keeper." Katrina said, smiling at Ron's disgust over her lack of interest.
"I can teach you to fly if you'd like." Harry volunteered, feeling a little brave.
Percy frowned. "Oh, I don't think now is a good time for a flying lesson, Katrina. After all, I've got that surprise for you that I...."
"It wouldn't take that long." Harry said interrupting Percy, who was giving him the look of death. "It'll be fun. What do you say?"
Katrina shrugged her shoulders. "Do you have a broom I could borrow? One that doesn't go too fast or too high? I have never done this before, so I don't want anything too daring."
"Katrina Figg, I've got just the perfect broom for you!" Ron said, thrusting his old broomstick into her arms. "My old Shooting Star. It's perfect! It doesn't go too fast or too high. It's too old to do any fancy tricks like that. It's just what you need."
"Oh, thanks, Ron. It's nice of you to let me borrow it." she replied, as Ron blushed as red as his hair. He stammered something that sounded like "no problem".
"So, you ready to learn?" Harry asked.
Katrina nodded. "Well, I guess I am. You sure seem really willing to teach me? Gonna push me off my broom or something, Harry?"
Harry laughed. "Now why would I want to do a thing like that?"
Katrina gave him a wicked grin. "Because I ate one of your Chocolate Frogs yesterday." she said.
Harry gave her a playful shove. "Eat my candy and maybe I will push you off your broomstick. Or just forget to teach you how to land so that you have to fly around forever and ever."
"Oh, that would be nice of you." she said laughing.
Percy cleared his throat loudly. He didn't look very pleased about Katrina's flying lesson.
"It'll just be a few minutes, Percy, I promise!" Katrina said to him, flashing one of her typical knee weakening smiles.
Harry led her off to a part of the field a few feet away from the others. He taught Katrina about how to mount her broom, and how to control it, and told her about landing. When she seemed to understand, the two of them got on their brooms and took of into the air.
Flying was second nature to Harry, and it seemed to be the same way for Katrina. She sure didn't look like a beginner to Harry. She was doing flips and turns, and was flying faster and higher than Harry thought an old Shooting Star could ever do!
"Be careful! That's a really old broom!" Harry heard Percy yell from below.
Katrina must not have heard him because at that moment, she sped in between two tree branches, as she lifted the broom high into the air, Harry heard her give a terrible, high pitched, blood curling scream.
Harry sped over to her as fast as he could. She was shaking her hands wildly at the top of the broomstick. Harry, who knew all about brooms, knew what was going to happen before it occurred. The broom suddenly jerked and flipped over, leaving Katrina, hanging upside down. She had one hand on the broomstick, when Harry reached her. As he graped for the hand that was dangling in the air, her other hand slipped. As Katrina fell down down down towards the hard earth below, the world seemed to run in slow motion for Harry. With quick reflexes born out of his Quiditch training, he dove straight down after her. It felt like another Quiditch game as he dove down to save her. This time, he had to catch something more precious and rare than the Golden Snitch, and there was something much more important on the line than a Gryfindor victory. Harry did not feel the hot sun beating down on his neck. Or the frightened cries of his friends, or Katrina's scream. He didn't notice Percy's face, white with terror. Harry didn't think about anything as he grapped Katrina's hand. He didn't notice that his own hand was slick with sweat, as he held her hand, her body dangling above the ground with only him to keep her safe from certain injury. He didn't know that he was a short and skinny boy, and Katrina was several inches taller than him, and he effortlessly lifted up his arm, flinging her in front of him, safe on his broomstick. It was a good thing he had his arm around her waist, because as soon as she landed in Hary's arms, she fainted. Harry made gentle landing on the ground, and the world began to play in the correct speed, and the sounds and sights of life returned to him.
Percy was hysteric as he pulled Katrina into his arms. He shook her awake, and asked in a soft voice that Harry had never heard before if she was okay. Katrina nodded.
"It was a spider." she said, sitting down on the blanket next to Ginny.
"A spider?" Percy asked.
"There was a spider on the broom. I tried to shake it off. I'm terribly afraid of spiders." she said breathlessly.
"How did the spider get on the broom?" Percy said, giving Ron a deadly look.
"It must have dropped from the tree." Harry offered.
"That's probably what it was." Katrina said. She looked very pale.
"Let's get you inside." Percy said, bringing her to her feet. I knew this was a bad idea right from the start. Are you sure you are okay?"
"I'm fine." she reassured him. "It's just that damn spider. I'm so scared of them."
Percy put his arm around her shoulders and led her away.
"It's okay. Cheer up. I've got a special surprise planned for you." Percy told her, as they walked out of ear shot.
"Cool rescue, Harry." Fred said.
"Yeah, Harry! I'm so glad you saved her." Ginny said, grinning madly.
"I wonder why Katrina's so afraid of spider." Hermione said thoughtfully.
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with being afraid of spiders. I don't like the bloody things myself." Ron said.
"Yeah, but she acted a lot worse than you do!" Hermione said.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean!" Ron said grumpily.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "You know I didn't mean it like that!"
"You know what I wonder?" Ron asked. They all asked what it was.
"What Percy's surprise is!" he answered laughing.
*************************************************************************************
A couple hours later, Harry found out what Percy had in store. They were sitting at the table eating lunch. Percy had gone somewhere. Nobody really seemed to know where. Everyone was happily chattering amongst themselves when Percy burst in through the door holding a neatly wrapped pink package and a bouquet of red, yellow, and white roses. He handed both the roses and the box to Katrina.
"Happy birthday." he said.
"Oh thank you Percy!" she exclaimed, looking very surprised. "There so beautiful! You didn't have to get me anything!"
"Today is your birthday, Katrina? You should have told me, I would have made you a cake! It's an awful shame to have a birthday with no cake. I'll make you one for dinner. How about that?" Mrs. Weasley said sweetly.
"No need for that, Mum!" Percy said, smiling gauntly. "Why don't you open the box?"
Katrina carefully untied to brilliant pink ribbon and tore through the pink paper. "Oh! Thank you, Percy!" she exclaimed. She lifted the box so that everyone else could see it. "A strawberry cheesecake! Oh I just love them! They are my favorite! Thank you so much, Percy!" she gave him a warm hug.
"I bought it just for you." he said, blushing. "Fresh baked this morning."
"Well, that was a thoughtful gift, Percy." Mrs. Wesley said. "But I'm still going to bake you a cake to go with dinner. I hope you like double fudge chocolate because that's what us Weasels like!"
"It sounds great." Katrina said.
"How come you never told me it was your birthday, Katrina?" Harry asked. He was a little hurt that Katrina had never bothered to tell him about her birthday. After all, he thought they were good friends. And she did spend all that money on him for his birthday!
"I didn't want anyone to make a fuss." Katrina answered. "Percy only knew because he was in the room when the owls delivered cards to me this morning.
"Oh." Harry replied, feeling a bit better. "I just wished I would have known, I would have liked to get you a gift." he said.
Harry had time to finish his sentence when the door opened and two young men entered. It was Katrina's friends, Arizona Brown and Drew Fordson.
"Happy birthday!" they said in unison.
"Thanks guys!" Katrina answered. She introduced everyone and told the Weasleys and Hermione that they were two of her close American friends.
"Hi Harry! Good to see you again!" Arizona said waving at him. Drew nodded in greeting.
"Presents!" Drew said, placing his gift in her lap. Katrina opened it to find that it was a box of sheet music. "For you to write music for your guitar." he said. Katrina thanked him, and then opened up Arizona's gift. It was a very beautiful gold necklace with a charm shaped like the sun.
"Very pretty, thank you Arizona." she said to her friend, giving him a warm hug. Percy scowled hostility.
"It's a sun to remind you of the warm weather of Florida while you are here in England." he said. Arizona picked up the necklace and put it around her neck. "Now I know you never wear any necklaces besides that golden one you always wear, but I think you should."
Katrina sighed. "We've talked about this before. You know that I'm really rather attached to this necklace and I don't like to wear others. It's really special to me."
"Well, you're special to me." Arizona said. "And I want you to wear something that I gave to you. The sun charm is removable. Why don't you put it on your other chain, and where it with your necklace."
"Okay. Great idea, Arizona." she said smiling.
Arizona smiled back as Percy seemed like he would growl.
"Well, we've better get back to the ol' USA" Drew said. "Your cousins would have been here but Belinda had a Quiditch game. She won."
"Oh, good for her." Katrina said. "Thanks for the gifts, and thanks for coming to see me. I really miss you guys."
She gave them each one last hug before they turned to leave.
"We could never not come to see you on your birthday." Arizona said. "I just wish we knew where Lu had gone off to."
Katrina sighed. "I had not forgotten about Lu, although being here with my new friends has provided a nice distraction. I worry a lot about Lu. I hope nothing has happened to him. Brenda told me in an letter everything that was known about his where abouts."
"It'll all be okay. You don't worry about him." Drew said to her, as they walked out of the room, and left.
Katrina took a bite out of her turkey sandwich and sighed.
"Who were those two guys?" Percy asked impatiently.
"Some friends." Katrina answered with a faraway look. "Just some friends."
*************************************************************************************
"So, who's that Lu guy Katrina was talking about?" Ron asked later that night. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting at the Weasleys kitchen table playing a game of Exploding Snap. It was dark outside. Ginny had already gone to bed. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had gone for a walk outside, and the twins were upstairs in their rooms making loud noises.
"Some friend of Katrina's that's gone missing." Harry said. "He's a Brit born like she is. He lives in an American foster home. His parents were Death Eaters and were killed by Aurors when he was little."
"Oh! Wow! And she's friends with him!" Hermione exclaimed. "Well, that's not too smart. He might be dangerous."
Harry took a sip of pumpkin juice. "Where's Katrina at, anyway?"
"She went out with Percy." Hermione said nonchalantly.
Harry almost choked on his milk. "What! Where!" he asked, sounding a bit more frantic than the would have liked.
"The Candlelight Cafe." Ron said. "It's a Muggle owned restaurant in the village. Real snobby place. Stuck up people running it."
"I think it's really romantic." Hermione said with a dreamy look in her eyes. Harry tried to think about how Hermione was probably imagining going to a romantic place like that with Viktor Krum.
"Expensive too." Ron said, ignoring Hermione. "Don't know how Percy could afford it. But I guess he could afford anything when he's all crazy about a girl like he is."
"He sure forgot about Penelope Clearwater really quick." Hermione said.
Ron laughed. "Yeah. One of my brother's in love with the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. Never thought it'd be Percy! I thought he only loved his Head Boy badge!" he said. "Strange thing is that I think she fancies him too!"
Harry's insides boiled at Ron's words. Under the table where his friends couldn't see, he kicked his feet at the floor.
'So, Katrina liked Percy.' he thought. 'Well, that's okay. He didn't really like her, anyway. Percy could have her! After all, Harry liked Cho Chang. She was the one for him. Not Katrina Figg. After all, he just met her a couple weeks ago!
It was not a pleasant thought, but it kept Harry from hurting, and it kept thoughts of his jealousy from swarming through his mind. This was all for the best because otherwise, he might have cursed all of Percy Weasley's red hair right off his head.
Broom Rides and Birthdays
When Katrina came inside for breakfast a little later, Harry, Ron, and Hermione didn't say anything to her about what they learned about her mother's fate. Not that Harry even had the chance. Percy Weasley had been following Katrina around ever since he got out of bed. It was a good thing that Percy didn't have work that day. He was so busy telling Katrina about how well he had done on his NEWTs, and his exploits as Head Boy. Whether or not any of this mattered much to Katrina, was not known to Harry. Ginny Weasley was also very keen to talk to Katrina. Ginny had sort of a heroes worship for her. Katrina, who enjoyed designing and sewing much of her own clothing, was happy to teach Ginny how to repair minor snags, and the fading of colors from hers. Since much of Ginny's clothing came from a second hand store, a lot of it could use some repair.
It was that morning when Hermione and Harry decided to join the Weasley siblings for some outdoor Quiditch practice.
Ginny and Hermione sat on a blanket underneath a tree, shading them from the hot July sun, while the guys played. Hermione was busy working on a letter to Viktor Krum, while Ron made nasty faces every time he flew over Hermione. Harry guessed that he was still jealous. Ginny just laid their looking admiring up at Harry, and wondering out loud where Katrina had gone off to.
The boys landed beside the pair to take a break. All that flying left Harry feeling a little sweaty, and he was too happy to be sitting next to his friends on the soft blanket.
"Percy probably drug her off somewhere." Ron said wearing a bemused expression.
Fred poked his younger brother in the ribs. "You sound a bit jealous."
"I'm not jealous." Ron said firmly. He looked honest and sincere. "I think she's pretty and she seems nice but I don't like her that way. But Percy does."
Harry felt that Ron was telling the truth, after all, Ron didn't know Katrina as well as he did.
"Percy likes her!" Ginny squealed. "I know for a fact. Mum and me were listening to the new Weird Sisters song on the wireless, and Percy came in the kitchen. And he wouldn't talk about anything else but her! He's crazy about her. We couldn't even hear the song, he was so loud. And it was a pretty good song too…."
"Hey, here they come now!" George interrupted, as Katrina and Percy were seen walking up the hill.
"How come your not at work today, Percy?" Fred asked.
"Oh." Percy said turning as red as his Weasley hair. "Dumbledore gave me the day off. He knew his niece was visiting here, and I asked if I could have time off to hang out with her. He let me have the day. Said there wasn't anything I needed to do today anyways. Great man, your uncle is, Katrina."
Percy beamed a toothy grin, Katrina returned it with one of her brilliant smiles. The sight made Harry's heart break.
"So, uh, Katrina, what's your favorite Quiditch team?" Ron asked.
"Uh, I don't watch Quiditch. I don't care for sports much." Katrina replied. "I don't even know how to fly a broomstick."
"You don't know how to fly a broomstick!!!!" Harry said flabbergasted. He simply could not believe that Katrina Figg couldn't fly a broom as excellently as she seemed to do everything else.
"You don't like Quiditch!" Ron exclaimed.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh, honestly! You two!" she said annoyed. "Do you really think everyone in the world has to like that bloody sport?"
"Why not?" Ron said, answering Hermione. "It's a pretty good game."
"I'm afraid all of the flying and athletic talent in the family went to my older cousin, Belinda. She plays Keeper." Katrina said, smiling at Ron's disgust over her lack of interest.
"I can teach you to fly if you'd like." Harry volunteered, feeling a little brave.
Percy frowned. "Oh, I don't think now is a good time for a flying lesson, Katrina. After all, I've got that surprise for you that I...."
"It wouldn't take that long." Harry said interrupting Percy, who was giving him the look of death. "It'll be fun. What do you say?"
Katrina shrugged her shoulders. "Do you have a broom I could borrow? One that doesn't go too fast or too high? I have never done this before, so I don't want anything too daring."
"Katrina Figg, I've got just the perfect broom for you!" Ron said, thrusting his old broomstick into her arms. "My old Shooting Star. It's perfect! It doesn't go too fast or too high. It's too old to do any fancy tricks like that. It's just what you need."
"Oh, thanks, Ron. It's nice of you to let me borrow it." she replied, as Ron blushed as red as his hair. He stammered something that sounded like "no problem".
"So, you ready to learn?" Harry asked.
Katrina nodded. "Well, I guess I am. You sure seem really willing to teach me? Gonna push me off my broom or something, Harry?"
Harry laughed. "Now why would I want to do a thing like that?"
Katrina gave him a wicked grin. "Because I ate one of your Chocolate Frogs yesterday." she said.
Harry gave her a playful shove. "Eat my candy and maybe I will push you off your broomstick. Or just forget to teach you how to land so that you have to fly around forever and ever."
"Oh, that would be nice of you." she said laughing.
Percy cleared his throat loudly. He didn't look very pleased about Katrina's flying lesson.
"It'll just be a few minutes, Percy, I promise!" Katrina said to him, flashing one of her typical knee weakening smiles.
Harry led her off to a part of the field a few feet away from the others. He taught Katrina about how to mount her broom, and how to control it, and told her about landing. When she seemed to understand, the two of them got on their brooms and took of into the air.
Flying was second nature to Harry, and it seemed to be the same way for Katrina. She sure didn't look like a beginner to Harry. She was doing flips and turns, and was flying faster and higher than Harry thought an old Shooting Star could ever do!
"Be careful! That's a really old broom!" Harry heard Percy yell from below.
Katrina must not have heard him because at that moment, she sped in between two tree branches, as she lifted the broom high into the air, Harry heard her give a terrible, high pitched, blood curling scream.
Harry sped over to her as fast as he could. She was shaking her hands wildly at the top of the broomstick. Harry, who knew all about brooms, knew what was going to happen before it occurred. The broom suddenly jerked and flipped over, leaving Katrina, hanging upside down. She had one hand on the broomstick, when Harry reached her. As he graped for the hand that was dangling in the air, her other hand slipped. As Katrina fell down down down towards the hard earth below, the world seemed to run in slow motion for Harry. With quick reflexes born out of his Quiditch training, he dove straight down after her. It felt like another Quiditch game as he dove down to save her. This time, he had to catch something more precious and rare than the Golden Snitch, and there was something much more important on the line than a Gryfindor victory. Harry did not feel the hot sun beating down on his neck. Or the frightened cries of his friends, or Katrina's scream. He didn't notice Percy's face, white with terror. Harry didn't think about anything as he grapped Katrina's hand. He didn't notice that his own hand was slick with sweat, as he held her hand, her body dangling above the ground with only him to keep her safe from certain injury. He didn't know that he was a short and skinny boy, and Katrina was several inches taller than him, and he effortlessly lifted up his arm, flinging her in front of him, safe on his broomstick. It was a good thing he had his arm around her waist, because as soon as she landed in Hary's arms, she fainted. Harry made gentle landing on the ground, and the world began to play in the correct speed, and the sounds and sights of life returned to him.
Percy was hysteric as he pulled Katrina into his arms. He shook her awake, and asked in a soft voice that Harry had never heard before if she was okay. Katrina nodded.
"It was a spider." she said, sitting down on the blanket next to Ginny.
"A spider?" Percy asked.
"There was a spider on the broom. I tried to shake it off. I'm terribly afraid of spiders." she said breathlessly.
"How did the spider get on the broom?" Percy said, giving Ron a deadly look.
"It must have dropped from the tree." Harry offered.
"That's probably what it was." Katrina said. She looked very pale.
"Let's get you inside." Percy said, bringing her to her feet. I knew this was a bad idea right from the start. Are you sure you are okay?"
"I'm fine." she reassured him. "It's just that damn spider. I'm so scared of them."
Percy put his arm around her shoulders and led her away.
"It's okay. Cheer up. I've got a special surprise planned for you." Percy told her, as they walked out of ear shot.
"Cool rescue, Harry." Fred said.
"Yeah, Harry! I'm so glad you saved her." Ginny said, grinning madly.
"I wonder why Katrina's so afraid of spider." Hermione said thoughtfully.
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with being afraid of spiders. I don't like the bloody things myself." Ron said.
"Yeah, but she acted a lot worse than you do!" Hermione said.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean!" Ron said grumpily.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "You know I didn't mean it like that!"
"You know what I wonder?" Ron asked. They all asked what it was.
"What Percy's surprise is!" he answered laughing.
*************************************************************************************
A couple hours later, Harry found out what Percy had in store. They were sitting at the table eating lunch. Percy had gone somewhere. Nobody really seemed to know where. Everyone was happily chattering amongst themselves when Percy burst in through the door holding a neatly wrapped pink package and a bouquet of red, yellow, and white roses. He handed both the roses and the box to Katrina.
"Happy birthday." he said.
"Oh thank you Percy!" she exclaimed, looking very surprised. "There so beautiful! You didn't have to get me anything!"
"Today is your birthday, Katrina? You should have told me, I would have made you a cake! It's an awful shame to have a birthday with no cake. I'll make you one for dinner. How about that?" Mrs. Weasley said sweetly.
"No need for that, Mum!" Percy said, smiling gauntly. "Why don't you open the box?"
Katrina carefully untied to brilliant pink ribbon and tore through the pink paper. "Oh! Thank you, Percy!" she exclaimed. She lifted the box so that everyone else could see it. "A strawberry cheesecake! Oh I just love them! They are my favorite! Thank you so much, Percy!" she gave him a warm hug.
"I bought it just for you." he said, blushing. "Fresh baked this morning."
"Well, that was a thoughtful gift, Percy." Mrs. Wesley said. "But I'm still going to bake you a cake to go with dinner. I hope you like double fudge chocolate because that's what us Weasels like!"
"It sounds great." Katrina said.
"How come you never told me it was your birthday, Katrina?" Harry asked. He was a little hurt that Katrina had never bothered to tell him about her birthday. After all, he thought they were good friends. And she did spend all that money on him for his birthday!
"I didn't want anyone to make a fuss." Katrina answered. "Percy only knew because he was in the room when the owls delivered cards to me this morning.
"Oh." Harry replied, feeling a bit better. "I just wished I would have known, I would have liked to get you a gift." he said.
Harry had time to finish his sentence when the door opened and two young men entered. It was Katrina's friends, Arizona Brown and Drew Fordson.
"Happy birthday!" they said in unison.
"Thanks guys!" Katrina answered. She introduced everyone and told the Weasleys and Hermione that they were two of her close American friends.
"Hi Harry! Good to see you again!" Arizona said waving at him. Drew nodded in greeting.
"Presents!" Drew said, placing his gift in her lap. Katrina opened it to find that it was a box of sheet music. "For you to write music for your guitar." he said. Katrina thanked him, and then opened up Arizona's gift. It was a very beautiful gold necklace with a charm shaped like the sun.
"Very pretty, thank you Arizona." she said to her friend, giving him a warm hug. Percy scowled hostility.
"It's a sun to remind you of the warm weather of Florida while you are here in England." he said. Arizona picked up the necklace and put it around her neck. "Now I know you never wear any necklaces besides that golden one you always wear, but I think you should."
Katrina sighed. "We've talked about this before. You know that I'm really rather attached to this necklace and I don't like to wear others. It's really special to me."
"Well, you're special to me." Arizona said. "And I want you to wear something that I gave to you. The sun charm is removable. Why don't you put it on your other chain, and where it with your necklace."
"Okay. Great idea, Arizona." she said smiling.
Arizona smiled back as Percy seemed like he would growl.
"Well, we've better get back to the ol' USA" Drew said. "Your cousins would have been here but Belinda had a Quiditch game. She won."
"Oh, good for her." Katrina said. "Thanks for the gifts, and thanks for coming to see me. I really miss you guys."
She gave them each one last hug before they turned to leave.
"We could never not come to see you on your birthday." Arizona said. "I just wish we knew where Lu had gone off to."
Katrina sighed. "I had not forgotten about Lu, although being here with my new friends has provided a nice distraction. I worry a lot about Lu. I hope nothing has happened to him. Brenda told me in an letter everything that was known about his where abouts."
"It'll all be okay. You don't worry about him." Drew said to her, as they walked out of the room, and left.
Katrina took a bite out of her turkey sandwich and sighed.
"Who were those two guys?" Percy asked impatiently.
"Some friends." Katrina answered with a faraway look. "Just some friends."
*************************************************************************************
"So, who's that Lu guy Katrina was talking about?" Ron asked later that night. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting at the Weasleys kitchen table playing a game of Exploding Snap. It was dark outside. Ginny had already gone to bed. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had gone for a walk outside, and the twins were upstairs in their rooms making loud noises.
"Some friend of Katrina's that's gone missing." Harry said. "He's a Brit born like she is. He lives in an American foster home. His parents were Death Eaters and were killed by Aurors when he was little."
"Oh! Wow! And she's friends with him!" Hermione exclaimed. "Well, that's not too smart. He might be dangerous."
Harry took a sip of pumpkin juice. "Where's Katrina at, anyway?"
"She went out with Percy." Hermione said nonchalantly.
Harry almost choked on his milk. "What! Where!" he asked, sounding a bit more frantic than the would have liked.
"The Candlelight Cafe." Ron said. "It's a Muggle owned restaurant in the village. Real snobby place. Stuck up people running it."
"I think it's really romantic." Hermione said with a dreamy look in her eyes. Harry tried to think about how Hermione was probably imagining going to a romantic place like that with Viktor Krum.
"Expensive too." Ron said, ignoring Hermione. "Don't know how Percy could afford it. But I guess he could afford anything when he's all crazy about a girl like he is."
"He sure forgot about Penelope Clearwater really quick." Hermione said.
Ron laughed. "Yeah. One of my brother's in love with the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. Never thought it'd be Percy! I thought he only loved his Head Boy badge!" he said. "Strange thing is that I think she fancies him too!"
Harry's insides boiled at Ron's words. Under the table where his friends couldn't see, he kicked his feet at the floor.
'So, Katrina liked Percy.' he thought. 'Well, that's okay. He didn't really like her, anyway. Percy could have her! After all, Harry liked Cho Chang. She was the one for him. Not Katrina Figg. After all, he just met her a couple weeks ago!
It was not a pleasant thought, but it kept Harry from hurting, and it kept thoughts of his jealousy from swarming through his mind. This was all for the best because otherwise, he might have cursed all of Percy Weasley's red hair right off his head.
