Disclaimer: Alas me no owns Harry Potter. Me wished me owns but me doesn't…Oh well…
NOTE: I changed the rating of my story for now…it will remain PG-13 until further notice. Bear in mind that it may contain adult situations and the later chapters will be a bit violent. But I guess for now it's safe. Well enjoy…and review…please
Chapter 4 – Regret strikes hard
Katherine ended up deciding not to tell Rosh for now. He had been so happy with Professor McGonagall's decision he didn't even bother raising the question of why Professor Dante had changed his statement. And on full moon nights Rosh never thought straight. He always seemed confused and spaced out a lot. Many times did Katherine find him sitting on a corner of the common room, staring ahead of him, his eyes unfocused. More than once he had told her he was thinking about his father and how he had to go through the same thing.
"I know exactly how he feels." He always said.
Sometimes Katherine felt sorry for him and others she acted like she didn't care. The not caring act lasted the first 5 years at Hogwarts. After the kiss she caught herself feeling sorry for him. Looking back she realized he had changed her. She wasn't so cold anymore and the sleepless nights had almost come to an end. Almost being the key word. There had been a period in her life when she had been afraid to go to sleep. Nightmares and strange dreams kept her from a good night sleep. Now the nightmares happened twice a month or so and the strange dreams started to make sense to her. After the kiss she realized she had the same ability as her mother. She was a Dreamer and her weird dreams always meant something. Katherine always found it bizarre how so many things had changed in her and Rosh since he gave her that kiss. Her control over the werewolf; Rosh's ability to transform into a wolf at will; the dreams making sense and the nightmares ceasing; the need she felt to be around him. It was all very strange. Sometimes she wondered if they weren't connected in some way.
Once again lost in thoughts Katherine lost sense of where she was going and bumped into a person. She apologized but then noticed who it was. Grinning at her was Jacob.
"Jumping at me so soon?" he said.
"Don't flatter yourself. I was distracted."
"All right. But at least you could thank me for what I did."
"Yeah. Thank you Jacob."
"You're welcome. Now I was thinking we could go out on Hogsmeade weekend. I'll take you to Madam Rosmerta and then we can go for a walk. What do you think?"
"I think you make me sick but the date plan seems fine to me. Just stay away from me until then." She said smiling.
She stormed off before he had time to say anything, leaving him with his mouth half open.
"How am I going to explain to Rosh about…" she started.
"Explain to me what?"
Katherine stopped and looked at Rosh, who was casually leaning against a doorframe.
"Rosh. I…"
"Explain what?" he repeated slowly.
"Nothing. I was just thinking aloud."
"You're not thinking of following me tonight are you?"
"Why do you say that?"
"I don't what you in the Shack tonight." He said menacingly. He stopped leaning and took a step forward. "Got it?" he asked in the same tone.
"Since when do you tell me what to do?" Katherine asked, crossing her arms in a strict pose.
"Since I worry about your safety." He said in a lower voice.
"Are you forgetting something?" she asked also lowering her voice.
He looked around and after making sure no one was around he grabbed Katherine's elbow and dragged her to the classroom where he had been previously. He let go of her and closed the door.
"Tonight is different. I don't think you'll be able to do anything to it." he announced.
"What makes you think that?" she asked curiously.
"Trust me. Please do this, for me." He said in a pleading voice.
Katherine could see a twinge of fear in his eyes. He knew something she didn't and he was trying to keep her safe.
"Rosh, I can take care of myself. And I'm not afraid of it, as you so nicely put it." she said defiantly.
She was looking at him straight in the eye and he was looking back at her. For a moment there was silence and then a soft, almost inaudible sound preceded a movement that caught Katherine by surprise. Without even having time to blink she was practically slammed against the wall and soft, hot lips struck hers in a fierce kiss. He had her pinned and was in complete control. It wasn't exactly the first time he did something like that. Katherine could have developed a chart of the exact times Rosh pulled the rough act. The slamming against a wall was new but more than once before he had kissed her roughly. Usually they would be outside sitting by the lake or something. In fact it was the first time he was kissing her inside the castle like that. Taking the first one in the library and an occasional peck before they went to bed they never kissed inside the castle. Not that any of them was paying attention to that detail. They were engulfed in the kiss even if driven by different motives. At a certain point Katherine bit Rosh's lower lip lightly. It was as if someone cut out the energy. Rosh released her as quickly as he had grabbed her and backed away stumbling against the tables and chairs in the classroom. He looked almost lost and especially strange. Katherine took a step forward and he gave one backwards.
"Stay away from me." He whispered and moved to keep two tables between them.
"What? Are you ok, Rosh?" she asked concerned.
"I can't answer for myself. Just stay away from me now and especially tonight."
"But you took your medicine. The wolf can't be taking over."
"It's not that. Just do what I'm telling you. Stay away." He said slowly and left the room practically running.
She heard someone argue and figured he had bumped against someone on his way out. Katherine sat down on a table and started thinking about what had caused him to say and do what he had done a moment ago.
Needless to say Katherine didn't sleep that night. She was constantly wondering what Rosh was doing. More than once she felt the urge to leave the common room and go to the Shack. But at the same time something was keeping her there, still and looking out the window. Luckily no one bothered her the whole night. She spent the night alone with her thoughts. Unconsciously she started playing with the pendant hanging from her neck: a blue rock surrounded by a whirled metal, hanging from a black string. Memories of their kiss in the classroom earlier kept coming to her as she made the whirled metal spin between her fingers. She leaned her head against the wall beside her and closed her eyes. With a sigh she squeezed the small object on her hand. A second later her eyes popped open and she let go of the pendant as if it had burned her hand. Her breathing was heavy and her head felt strange. The image she had seen was enough to make her inside do flips and all she wanted to do was throw up. But with some control she managed to calm down and return to normal. She looked down at the pendant hanging on the front of her robes and sighed.
"Why can't I get rid of you? I guess I like being haunted." She said in a low voice.
After tugging it back inside her clothes she resumed her wonderings and thoughts about Rosh. What she saw because of the pendant wasn't something she wanted to dwell on.
After classes were over the next day Rosh went to talk to his mother. She knew all about the incident of the previous day and wanted to have a little chat with him. He knew the little chat would last at least a couple of hours. Katherine, on the other hand, took her time to go to the library with Jade. They had loads of homework for Transfiguration and it was a bad idea not to finish them because Professor Dante was a bad company for detention. The two girls sat down at a table and pulled out their homework. After half an hour of doing it the girls grew tired.
"It's never ending." Complained Jade, throwing her quill over the book she had been reading.
"I know. He just takes pleasure in seeing us struggle." Katherine said, imitating her friend.
"I think someone should shoot Professor Dante." Jade suggested.
"I agree."
"Or maybe you could ask your aunt, Professor Renata, for some poison and we could put it in his tea or something. What do you…Katherine?"
Jade's trail of thought was interrupted as she watched Katherine start to convulse. She looked terrible and on the verge of throwing up. Jade was stunned to see this and didn't know what to do.
At that moment Rosh entered the library and scanned the room for Katherine. He spotted Jade standing beside a person at a table a bit to the end of the library. He frowned and made his way quickly to where the green-eyed girl stood. Coming closer he recognized Katherine as the other person. She looked like she was about to throw up and he ran to them. He kneeled beside Katherine and was about to ask if she was all right when she turned to him and her lunch met his robes. Jade covered her mouth in shock and decided to go call Madam Pomfrey. Katherine threw up a bit more and Rosh didn't move. She then rested her head on his right shoulder and started crying softly. Rosh caressed her head and wanted to hug her but the conditions weren't the best. Instead he kissed her neck softly and allowed her to continue crying on his shoulder.
Katherine woke up in the hospital wing and scanned the room to try and remember how she got there. Slowly she remembered the library incident and figured she might have passed out from exhaustion or something and brought down here by Rosh. She found it strange he wasn't there but a look through the window revealed to her that it was already night. Still she was a bit upset because she would be up and about if he was stuck in the hospital wing. And she would be right beside him too. She was about to start crying again when she heard soft footsteps and turned around quickly. Rosh was making his way to her slowly to not wake Madam Pomfrey. He smiled and she smiled back at him.
"I see you are awake. How are you feeling now?" he asked softly after he sat on the chair near her bed.
"Better."
"What happened? What caused that?" he asked, placing his hand on top of hers.
"It was nothing. Probably just something I ate." she said looking everywhere but him.
"Ok. Come with me. We are going outside for some air." He announced smiling.
She got up and dressed and they both left without making noise. Once outside they went to their place near the lake and sat down. The colour was back on Katherine's cheeks and she looked much better. He lay back on the grass and tried to pull her with him but she resisted.
"Not now, Rosh." she said looking at the lake.
"All right. Hate me for wanting to have you near me."
"Don't be stupid Rosh. I'm just not feeling well." She said softly and he placed his hands behind his head.
"I talked to my mom. I mean she talked to me, I just listened."
"Yes and?" she asked, turning around to face him.
"Well, she told me you were a bad influence on me."
"What? Why am I a bad influence?"
"You see…my parents have reasons to believe…you had something to do with uncle Sirius's death."
Katherine rose to her feet in a second. Rosh assumed a sitting position, his eyes fixed on her.
"What?" she asked, her breathing heavy.
"Oh come on! My mom saw you take the poison and my dad knows Sirius was poisoned. They put 1 and 1 together and…" he stopped his speech as he saw Katherine starting to act strange.
Her eyes were unfocused and she fell to a sitting position, her legs on her chest held together by her arms. Then she started rocking back and forth. Her behaviour reminded Rosh of a little girl. He was shocked when she began talking to herself in a girly voice.
"Here daddy, take this tea. It will make you feel better."
A brief silence was followed by the continuance of the conversation as she now assumed a deeper voice.
"Thank you sweetie. Are you still mad at me?"
"No, daddy. Drink your tea. I made it myself." Again the girly voice. Rosh's mouth hanged open as she proceeded.
"It really wasn't my fault, Kat. Someone made me do it."
"It's ok daddy. I'm not mad at you anymore."
A longer silence took place but she continued to rock back and forth and she completely oblivious to Rosh's presence, who was afraid to move an inch. After a while she resumed the conversation with the girly voice.
"Is the tea good, daddy?" her eyes were shinning but Rosh wasn't sure if it was because of tears threatening to fall.
"Yes, my dear. Very good, I'm proud of you." The deep voice answered. Rosh swallowed hard.
"Thank you daddy. I'm glad you like it."
There was another moment of silence.
"Daddy, do you love me?" the girly voice asked slowly. A tear fell from her eye.
"Of course I love you. You're all I got now. I love you with all my heart." The voice was now softer. But Rosh wasn't prepared for what came next.
"I love you too daddy." The girly voice also seemed softer.
Another moment of silence that was broken when Katherine began to repeat the last line continuously. She said it over and over again, sometimes with the girly voice, others with her own voice. Rosh moved a bit to comfort her but quickly regret it when she just started screaming hysterically. He flinched and moved back. Her screaming was replaced by sobs and then she began crying. He moved once more but that made her scream again. During her crying she continued to repeat her last phrase. Then with a last scream directed to the heavens she swayed and ended up passing out.
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Katherine like you never saw her…There you have it people…regret.
Anyway let me thank my three faithful reviewers.
Amilin: I'm so glad you did well on your exams. Way to go! Anyway I'm also glad you like to read these kinds of stories…and don't worry about Rosh, he's a tough boy ;) Keep reading and reviewing…I count on you.
Aria-wolfstar: Hehe! Don't get sick from all the yelling…I have your review and that is important to me. I'm glad you like my story and I'll keep updating as long as my inspiration allows me to do so. For now you have two chapters just waiting to be betaed…..And I'm having more reviews at the beginning of this story then I did when the first one…I guess I got lucky with the other one…Let's see how this one goes, especially now that I changed the rating and all…
Keep reading and reviewing cause I'm counting on you. ;)
Snuffles2984: Kat is very loving…for now. Mwahahahahahaha…You do the work and I'll update soon ;) I'm counting on you as well…
Cheers