When I woke up that morning, Oliver was gone. I had no idea what time it was and I suddenly assumed that it was morning; it didn't take the smartest witch in Hogwarts to get that one. I blinked sleepily and looked over at my nightstand. I noticed a piece of parchment with a quill lying on top of it. I sat up, pulling my quilt around me, reaching for it.
I pulled it onto my lap and looked down on it.
"Katie,
I've gone off to breakfast. I'll see you there when you wake upI love you,
Wood"
Short and to the point: that was Oliver. He had signed it "Wood". I guess he was used to that, even with me. I got up, and I changed into some clothes, my robe over them and headed down to breakfast. Even if I did have the magical donuts, I could do with a real breakfast for once.
I entered the Hall and immediately felt like I was being watched. Go figure; everyone at the Gryffindor table was staring at me. I looked around nervously and Oliver was nowhere in sight. Fred and George stared at me and I approached then.
"Hi," I said nervously, sitting down. George swallowed in reply. Fred smiled warmly. As I reached for a piece of toast, Fred spoke.
"So, Katie, how are you?" he asked casually. I shrugged. "Pretty good, you?"
Fred nodded in accord. I ate my toast in silence, looking around quietly. I sighed, not even knowing what I was thinking about. That happened to me a lot, I ended up thinking about why I wasn't thinking about anything.
"If you're looking for Wood, he's not here," Fred said, adding in. Thank you Captain Obvious. I gave Fred a flat look. He shrugged and took another bite of his English muffin. In mid-bite, he snapped his fingers and pointed at me, realizing something. I stared at him, raising an eyebrow.
From inside his robes, he produced an envelope, handing it to me. As I took it, he swallowed, saying, "This came for you earlier."
I nodded, not really hearing the rest of what he was saying, something about… reporters? I didn't know. I recognized the handwriting instantly. Dad. I grinned. I struggled to open the letter; my hands seemed numb. I finally opened it.
"Katie,
I hope you are doing well and staying out of trouble. I have found out that your class will be going to Hogsmeade this weekend. (We were? I didn't know this!) As much as I would like to visit with you, I can't stay long. Fudge and the Ministry are sending someone to Ireland to investigate the situation there. He was going to send Arthur Weasley but then he decided against it. Weasley has a family at home and cannot go. I'm being sent in his place. I know, Katie, that you're wondering why anyone would be sent to Ireland to 'investigate', but I am forbidden to talk to you about it. Anyone, actually. Fudge is making sure that I keep this whole thing 'under-wraps'.
On Saturday I'll meet you at the Hogs Head Pub, but remember I cannot stay long. I should leave that morning, but I don't want to miss seeing you; I'm not sure when the next time will be when I see you again. Maybe I'll buy you that new broom…just to get your mother agitated, of course.
I Love you,
Dad."
I smiled. Dad was so cool. Yay! New broom! Again, Dad is so cool!!! I looked up at everyone, grinning.
"Hey, Fred?" I asked, "What day is it?"
He looked at me like I was psycho. "Saturday?"
I sat up straighter. "We're going to Hogsmeade today??"
He nodded. How come I didn't know about this?? I looked down at myself, at what I was wearing. Good: normal clothes; acceptable to see Dad in. I looked around. People were still eating and I knew that I had a few hours until we went to Hogsmeade. I said good-byes to Fred and George and went back up to the Common Room.
I had to do something to pass the time until we went to Hogsmeade…what to do…what to do? That would indeed be the question. Reading? No, I can do that when the holidays end. Write someone a letter? No, I get hand cramps easily…what to do??!!! Go practice Quidditch? Sure! But, you'd better believe I'm not telling Oliver!!
I grinned sneakily. I quickly looked around. By now I was on the stairs, heading up to the Gryffindor Common room. I quickly turned around and briskly headed off to the Broom Shed. I had only gone a step when I noticed Harry heading up to the Common Room.
"Hi, Harry!" I said cheerfully, happy about my secretive plans to go practice Quidditch alone.
He was looking down. "Hi," he mumbled. I stopped. "Harry, what's wrong?"
"Nothing," he replied flatly. I stared at him. "Well, what are you going to do today?"
He shrugged, slowly making his way past me.
"Well, if you want, I'm just on my way to go practice some Quidditch, you're welcome to join me…" I offered. Okay, so I had given away my secret, but that was okay. Harry needed some support.
He glanced at me and shrugged. "C'mon Harry!" I said, pulling him down the stairs with me.
As we walked down the stairs I began to wonder what was getting him down. Potions? Slytherin? Malfoy? Cho?
Cho…that was most likely it…everything revolved around her. We were almost at the broom shed.
I opened the door and withdrew my old, decrepit broom and Harry's brand new shiny one. I handed him his. We crossed the lawn to the center of the field.
"Harry, is this about Cho?" I asked him.
He looked up at me nervously, almost horrified. "How did you know??" he sounded surprised that I even knew about her; that she even existed.
I rolled my eyes, smirking. "I have eyes, Harry," I said; I wasn't as blonde as he thought I was. All right, maybe I wasn't an actual blonde, but I had the attributes, even Alicia said so.
Harry mumbled in reply. I sighed.
"Harry, what's up with her? Why is this getting you down?"
He looked at me. "You don't mind talking about her?"
"Why should I mind? She's just a person?"
"Yes, but, after the whole Wood and Cho thing, I thought that maybe you'd be a little more…resentful"
I shrugged. True, I hated Cho with every nerve in my body because of who she was, how she acted, and what she did, she was still a person and I just had to get over it.
"I got over it," I said.
Harry stared at me, surprised. "Really? So, you and Wood are back together now?"
"I guess so."
Harry smiled. "That's good. Katie, you should have seen him. I guess right after you confronted him, I ran into him. He was a mess. I didn't think Oliver Wood would ever fall apart like that…"
"What?" I frowned, what was he talking about?
Harry sighed. "Wood was really stressing and freaking out."
He hesitated for a second. "I'm not sure you know how much he really cares about you."
I gulped. "So, um, what's all this Cho business?"
"Oh," Harry said, remembering, "That's right, Cho…"
Then we got into a huge conversation about Cho and Harry. I had only a few more hours until Hogsmeade. Yay!