Chapter 9

Paddy heard a rustle behind him and picked his head up out of his hand to see what it was. He was clutching Katie's hand tightly as he turned around to find Oliver standing a few yards away. His face was drawn and he probably hadn't slept at since the accident. His eyes were red and puffy from crying and he was still wearing his very dirty Quidditch uniform. It had been nearly 24 hours since the accident and Katie still wasn't showing any progress.

"YOU!" Paddy stood up and glared at the 16-year-old standing in front of him. Oliver cowered in front of Katie's brother.

"How ... how is she?" he stammered.

"How dare you ask how she is?!" Oliver started to say something but Patrick stepped forward and grabbed his collar. "C'est toi defaut!" Oliver cringed; Katie's Mum was French and the family spoke a lot of French. Paddy had a tendency to speak it when he got extremely angry; it was like default mode because it was the first language he learned. "Tu contraindes elle jouer! Maintenant, j'ai détacher ma soeur seul! Parce que de toi!"

Oliver felt removed from the situation; he heard the words that Patrick was saying, though he didn't understand them, and he saw Patrick raise his fist. He vaguely had a feeling that he was going to be hit, but as he could still see Katie's limp body in the bed a few feet away, nothing else seemed to be all that important.

"Patrick! Stop!" Oliver came back down to earth as he felt someone rip Patrick off of him. "Patrick, chill out. Go sit with Katie, go on." Oliver looked at the red head that was standing in front of him; George Weasley. George pushed Paddy towards Katie's bed and, grabbing Oliver's arm, hauled him out of the Hospital Wing.

"What in the bloody hell was that?" Fred stared accusingly at Oliver. Angelina and Alicia were standing behind him, looking worried.

"He didn't do anything, Fred. Paddy attacked him, I can't say I blame him though." George sighed and started to lead Oliver back to the Gryffindor Dormitories.

"Where's Katie?! What's wrong?!" Cedric Diggory came sprinting down the hall towards the five friends. They rolled their eyes simultaneously; none of them particularly wanted to deal with Cedric at the moment.

"You guys go upstairs, I'll work things out." Everyone gave Fred grateful looks and started up the marble staircase. Angelina turned around and walked to him. She reached up and kissed him lightly.

"Thanks." Fred nodded and hugged her tightly before pushing her gently in the direction which George, Alicia, and Oliver had gone. He turned around to face a very worried looking Cedric Diggory.

"What happened to Katie?!"

"Chill out for a second, Diggory." Fred sighed and started explaining everything to Cedric.

Gryffindor Boys' Dormitory

Angelina and Alicia looked up to see George and Oliver come out of the bathroom; it had taken them a good half hour to convince Oliver to take a shower. Angelina and Alicia were sitting on George's bed, talking softly.

"Fred was here ... he said Paddy has to leave ... starting tonight we'll have to set up shifts on who will stay with her." Angelina was amazed at how steady her voice sounded. Oliver stared at her uncomprehendingly and George nodded.

"I can't stand this! We can't just sit here all bloody day! All I can fucking do is think about her ... god damn it ... this is so fucked up!" Alicia defiantly held back the tears for a moment, before they started to course freely down her cheeks. "And this is like World War III with ... damn this fucking day!" George walked over to her and pulled her up into a tight hug.

"Shh ... Katie's going to be okay."

"Practice." Everyone turned suddenly and looked down at Oliver in shock; it was the first thing he had said in a very long time. They vaguely remembered the fact that they had practice today. Oliver, who had been previously staring at the floor, raised his eyes to his friends'. His expression was far away and blank, as if he didn't understand the word he had just said.

"What was that, Oliver?"

"Practice ... without Katie?" A disgusted expression came over his face. "I can't do this ... guys?"

"Come here Oliver." Alicia and George sat down on the bed and Alicia motioned for Oliver to come sit with them. Oliver walked over and sat down reluctantly. "Look at me." Oliver slowly raised his face to look Alicia in the eye. "This is in no way your fault! Don't let anything anyone says convince you different! You had no idea any of this was going to happen, okay?"

"Sure." Alicia leaned over and enveloped Oliver in a tight hug. As horrible as she felt herself, she knew he must have been feeling ten times worse.

Later that Night

"I'm sorry, but I can't stand being in that room ... with all her stuff, it just makes me sad." Angelina sighed and snuggled closer to Fred. They were all in the Boy's Dormitory; Oliver was sitting, disengaged, on the window seat, and Fred, George, Angelina, and Alicia were all sitting on the floor talking.

"You talk about it like she's dead. She's going to be fine."

"I wish I were as confident as you are, Fred." Fred attempted a smile and kissed Angelina's forehead.

Oliver stared out the window at the Quidditch Field; he sincerely wished that he had never set foot on it yesterday. But wishing things like that were pointless. "Hey, Paddy's leaving in half an hour. I'll take the first shift okay?"

"Hmm? Are you sure Oliver?" George asked as everyone gave him worried looks.

"Yeah, don't worry about it." Truthfully, everyone was quite surprised at Oliver's sudden turn around. He was by no means close to being back to his old self, but no one expected that. He was, however, doing a lot better; he was talking again, occasionally. His expression was no longer the never-ending shocked, pale one it had been for so long.

The Hospital Wing

Oliver watched the gentle rise and fall of Katie's body; he suddenly remembered the moment yesterday, when he would have given his life to see that rise and fall. He ran a shaky hand through his hair and sighed. Out of the blue, a song he had heard Katie play on her stereo came to his head.

Lips are turning blue

A kiss that can't renew

I only dream of you

My beautiful

Tiptoe to your room

A starlight in the gloom

I only dream of you

And you never knew

Tears started to well up in his eyes and he pushed them away angrily. He hated himself for making Katie play, he hated himself for not telling her what he really felt, and he hated ... bloody hell right now he hated the world.

Sing for absolution

I will be singing

Falling from your grace

There's nowhere left to hide

In no one to confide

The truth burns deep inside

And will never die

He couldn't talk to the twins; they were having a hard enough time keeping themselves as well as Angelina and Alicia together. They were doing fabulously ... the girls seemed to be dealing with everything a lot better than was to be expected.

Lips are turning blue

A kiss that can't renew

I only dream of you

My beautiful

Sing for absolution

I will be singing

And falling from your grace

But he couldn't dump this on them; he wished it had been him in that bed instead of Katie. She could deal with this so much better than he could, besides the whole thing with not wanting her to ... he couldn't think it.

Our wrongs

Remain unrectified

And our souls

Won't be exhumed

Oliver squeezed Katie's hand; he wanted nothing more than to gather her up in his arms and hear her tell him it was going to be okay.

Translation: "It's your fault!" Oliver cringed; Katie's Mum was French and the family spoke a lot of French. Paddy had a tendency to speak it when he got extremely angry; it was like default mode because it was the first language he learned. "You made her play! Now I've lost my only sister! Because of you!"

A/N: Firstly a huge apology to all my readers. This was supposed to be posted yesterday, and I left it in the middle of the translation to go finish up my homework and totally forgot I hadn't posted it. So it's me being forgetful, not mean! Secondly, a huge thank you to all my reviewers! I really appreciate the comments you guys make on my writing style, it really makes my day when I get home and find like 10 reviews in my inbox! Lastly, if you read please please please review! I know (I do this all the time) that you don't feel like reviewing all the time, but even if it's two words, I'd appreciate knowing that people are reading and liking! Finally, how did you all like it?! I know the French was kind of random, but it will come up later! Was it okay? Make me a heureuse fille (happy girl in French) by dropping me a review!

Linz: Holy mother of moose! Thank you so much! That is so flattering, I have to tell you that your review made me feel a lot better about having to go to my clarinet lesson! Hope that helped thanks again. How was this chapter?

MasterHarperMenolly: LOL, how long has it been since I hadn't had to answer you in the A/N? That's a totally awesome feeling for me! Thank you so much again! I'm so flattered! I was actually relatively happy with this chapter, I hope you like it!

HarryPotterFan670: So flattered! How did you like this chapter? Did it live up to your expectations?

Disclaimer: You think I own Harry Potter? Did you steal Kale's dumbass stick and whack yourself with it? The song was "Sing for Absolution" by Muse (listen to it, it's even better than the lyrics let on!)