Some things have changed in this chapter, I should let you know. I know the whole Gryffindor team except Oliver is with Harry in the hospital after his fall, but in this one we're leaving Katie out, ok? I'm sure none of you mind... you probably wouldn't have even noticed if I hadn't mentioned it. But some of you are pretty perceptive, so just giving you a heads up. Oh and warning: heavy stuff in this one, a lot of detail. If you mind, flame me. I guess.

Professional scatterbrain: Good questions. Some of her friends notice, but not others. You would think people would notice, but everyone has friends that just don't eat much, and to her friends Katie's always been like that. About Quidditch... well, a lot is going to happen in this chapter and the next... and the next. I think. All of this will be answered soon.

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Ch. 8 - Gryffindor vs. Slytherin... or Not

Sir Cadogan, the new Gryffindor entrance portrait, was quite possibly the most annoying person ever painted. Every time Katie and her friends tried to enter, they found out the password had been changed, and were challenged to a duel to get in. George tried to hex the portrait once, but unfortunately it didn't work.

Poor Harry Potter was being followed everywhere he went by Percy. Katie felt horrible for him; to be followed by such a pompous know-it-all was horrible, but to be followed because a madman was after you was worse.

These thoughts were driven from Katie's mind during Quidditch practice, which was getting harder and harder as the September weather got worse and worse. Katie prayed that their first game - that Saturday, versus Slytherin - would be dry and maybe even sunny, but she didn't really expect her wish to be granted.

The horrible weather didn't slow Oliver. After every practice he reminded Katie that she had to work harder, but even taking all those vitamin pills she was barely able to stand after practices. When Madam Hooch started overseeing practice, Katie was afraid she would notice the Gryffindor chaser was constantly tired, but Hooch only watched Harry to make sure the boy wasn't zapped out of the sky.

It was the last practice before the Gryffindor-Slytherin match. Wood had gone somewhere, and the rest of the team was packing up and preparing to leave. Finally Oliver came back, looking angrier than Katie had ever seen him.

"We're not playing Slytherin!" he exclaimed, stopping the entire locker room dead in its tracks. "Flint's just been to see me. We're playing Hufflepuff instead."

"Why?" the rest of the team asked in unison.

"Flint's excuse is that their Seeker's arm is still injured." Katie knew about the incident with Malfoy and Buckbeak, but it wasn't possible that he was still hurt. "...it's obvious why they're doing it. Don't want to play in this weather. Think it'll damage their chances...."

"There's NOTHING WRONG with Malfoy's arm!" Harry shouted furiously over a rumble of thunder. "He's faking it!"

"I know, but we can't prove it," Oliver said bitterly. "And we've been practicing all those moves assuming we're playing Slytherin, and instead it's Hufflepuff, and their style's quite different. They've got a new Captain and Seeker, Cedric Diggory-"

Despite herself, Katie giggled at the name, and found Alicia and Angelina doing the same.

"What?" Oliver asked.

"He's that tall, good-looking one, isn't he?" Angelina asked. George looked appalled.

"Strong and silent," Katie added. Ok, he was no Oliver, not even a Fred, but for a Hufflepuff, he was nice.

"He's only silent because he's too thick to string two words together," Fred snapped. "I don't know why you're worried, Oliver, Hufflepuff is a pushover. Last time we played them, Harry caught the Snitch in about five minutes, remember?"

"We were playing in completely different conditions!" Oliver shouted. His eyes were bulging, and Katie feared he would have a massive heart attack over this game. "Diggory's put a very strong side together! He's an excellent Seeker! I was afraid you'd take it like this! We mustn't relax! We must keep our focus! Slytherin is trying to wrong-foot us! We MUST win!"

"Oliver, calm down!" Fred was looking slightly alarmed. "We're taking Hufflepuff very seriously. Seriously."

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The day of the match dawned cold, wet, and dark. Katie glared at the view outside her window. Just the thought of playing in those conditions made her want to go hide under her covers.

Things between her and Alicia had settled down. Alicia had explained her version of the ordeal at the Three Broomsticks, and it was close enough to Oliver's that Katie decided it was ok. She knew the two of them liked each other, but there was nothing she could do about it, so she shoved it from her mind and concentrated on the friendship they'd had since they'd first gone to Hogwarts.

"Ready for the game?" Leesh asked, brushing out her long hair.

"Not really, but I'll play anyway," Katie sighed. They headed down to the Great Hall, where Oliver and Harry were already sitting. While Harry was munching away, Oliver wasn't eating a thing.

"It's going to be a tough one," Oliver said nervously.

"Stop worrying, Oliver," Alicia said in her most soothing voice, "we don't mind a bit of rain."

'I'd be happy if it were only a bit of rain,' Katie thought as the Gryffindor team headed out to the Quidditch pitch. She was leaning against the wind, the crowd was almost silence compared to the thunder booming, and rain was already soaking the heavy Quidditch uniforms.

"Mount your brooms," Madam Hooch shouted. Katie jumped onto her broom and rose into the air, and the game commenced. It was probably the hardest she'd ever played.

She, Alicia, and Angelina were passing clumsily to each other, but the Hufflepuffs were having just as much difficulty, so it could have been worse. They scored enough times to be in the lead at least, Katie decided. But by the time Oliver called a timeout, she felt like an ice cube, one that needed to sit down and take a long, dry break.

Oliver and Harry were shouting something at each other. Harry was gesturing to his glasses. Suddenly, his friend, Hermione Granger, ran up and grabbed his glasses. She tapped them with her wand, gave them back, shouted something, and ran off. Katie immediately noticed they repelled the rain. 'Thank god for that girl!'

Soon they were up in the air again. Katie had no idea what was going on; she had to force herself just to fly. Alicia and Angelina had obviously realized this; they were taking most of the plays themselves. Katie tried to participate, but it was difficult. She was smacked hard by a passing Bludger, right in the shoulder, and as she flew she could feel it swelling.

Suddenly Katie sensed an eerie silence coming over the crowd. She felt every ounce of happiness suck from her body, and in a flash of lightning saw why: at least a hundred dementors were on the Quidditch pitch. 'Oh, no... Please, no, anything but dementors...'

Katie had had enough traumatizing experiences with dementors. She was way too lightheaded to do anything. Slowing down, she watched as Harry fell from his broom, straight to the ground. She couldn't concentrate. She flew towards him, as quickly as possible, with her other teammates. 'Harry, is Harry ok? Oh Merlin, he fell far... Hope he's ok...'

As soon as she hit the ground, probably ten or fifteen feet away from Harry and the others, she sank to her knees. "Can someone help me...?" she whispered, knowing no one would be there. Madam Hooch and her friends were surrounding Harry, and Professor Dumbledore was shooting what a disconnected part of Katie's mind knew was a Patronus. The dementors left immediately, but they didn't take that horrible they brought with them.

Dumbledore had magicked Harry onto a stretcher, and the other Gryffindors, as well as Cedric Diggory and a few Hufflepuff players, were heading up to the castle with him. Had he died? Katie couldn't keep her mind on anything. She was falling in and out of consciousness. She couldn't feel the cold or wet anymore; it was just nothingness. There was nothing left to do; she fainted.

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"K-Katie?"

Rain was still pouring, thunder was still rolling, but there were no dementors and no people. Oliver was standing over Katie, but she couldn't see his face. Everything was blurry and moving around.

"Wha happened to Harry?" Katie asked in a slurred voice.

"Harry fell. He's with Madam Hooch now. What happened to you?" Oliver carefully picked her up and started walking. His tall form blocked the rain as he hunched.

"Don't take me to Hooch!" Katie said immediately, suddenly trying to wriggle away. Her mind was still in a fog, but she knew she couldn't go to the hospital. No, they would find out, everyone would know everything about her!

"Stop, stop, I'm going to drop you!" Oliver warned, holding her tighter. "I'm not taking you to Madam Hooch, ok? Just to the locker rooms."

Suddenly it was warmer, drier, and the wind had stopped blowing. Katie took a deep breath, and sure enough, smelled the locker rooms. Good, so Oliver wasn't going to give her up.

"I'm going to set you down for a second, ok?" Oliver whispered.

Katie nodded, eyes half closed, and tried to watch as Oliver pulled out a key and opened what Katie had always thought was a storeroom, but what was really the Captain's personal office. Wood picked her back up and set her down on a soft couch. He briskly lit a few lamps and, using his wand, brewed some sort of drink. He handed a mug to Katie and told her to drink it all quickly.

"Whoa! What is this stuff?" she asked when she'd drunk the last drop. Immediately her mind was clearer, she was wide awake, and she could once again feel how cold, wet, and weak she had become.

Oliver half-smiled. "Family recipe. Kind of like a pepper-up potion."

"Yeah. Thanks, by the way. Why aren't you with Harry?"

"I just... couldn't face him at the moment," Oliver said truthfully. "Diggory grabbed the Snitch right after Harry fell. I know he tried to call it off, but it didn't happen."

"We - lost?"

Oliver nodded. He looked so depressed that Katie completely forgot about her strange situation. For about half a second.

"What happened? I'm sorry, I was so wrapped up with Harry, I didn't see you come down."

"The dementors," Katie explained quickly. "They do stuff to me. I managed to make it to the ground, but I just didn't have any strength to get anywhere."

Oliver was looking hard at her. He didn't answer for a moment, but finally jumped up and said, "You want some dry clothes?"

"Yeah, sure."

He went over to a closet and pulled out one of his dry uniforms. "Here, just change into that for now." Briskly he headed to a corner and faced it, eyes closed and hands over his eyes.

Katie smiled at his chivalry and briskly changed out of her sopping wet clothes. The couch she was sitting on was still damp, but her clothes were now dry, and it made her much warmer.

"Thanks, I'm done." Oliver nodded and turned back to her, smiling suddenly.

"Your hair looks awful!"

"Thank you for noticing," Katie said with a smirk. She'd hoped to keep on this sort of conversation, but that stupid Keeper wouldn't hear of it. He sat down in a chair across from her and, face grave, stared into her eyes.

"Katie, what's wrong? What happened to you?"

"I told you, Oliver, the dementors-"

"No, I don't mean tonight and the dementors!" Oliver snapped. He took a deep breath before continuing. "You're shrinking, Katie, and not in a good way."

"You want me to be fat then?" Katie demanded furiously.

Oliver was silent for a moment. "So it's true."

'Shit,' Katie thought, 'What a stupid thing to say.' "No, of course not."

"Then why don't you eat? And why are you so weak all of a sudden? What happened to the healthy, happy Kate I used to know?"

"Things change, Oliver! Did you expect me to be the same, stupid Katie of second year? Get a grip! And why is it any of your business anyway? Keep yourself to your Quidditch and leave me alone!" Oliver opened his mouth to speak, but Katie jumped up and stormed out, ignoring him.

'How dare he try to get involved with my life!' she thought as she headed back into the fury of weather. 'Why does he of all people have to notice me? He's in love with Alicia, why can't he just stick with her!'

Katie didn't see anyone in the halls, not even Filch or Mrs. Norris, as she headed to Gryffindor tower. Inside, Alicia and Angelina stopped her immediately.

"Kate, where have you been?" Lina asked breathlessly. "I haven't seen you since the match!"

"Yeah, you wouldn't! Don't notice a thing if Potter's injured, do you? The entire team hurries to his aid, and what am I, a useless figure in the background? Leave me alone!" Katie nearly shouted, sprinting up the stairs and into her dormitory. She knew it was useless, but she locked the door.

'I shouldn't be blaming everyone,' she thought through sobs. 'It's not their fault. I didn't have to go on about Harry. He's that one that fell, anyway.'

The lock clicked and someone came in. 'Dammit, not a second of time before they barge in.' Her drapes were shut, so she couldn't see who it was, but she immediately closed her mouth and tried to stop the tears from flowing down her cheeks.

"Katie? Can we talk? ...Please?"

"Shit, Oliver," Katie said, sniffing and wiping her eyes. "Why won't you leave me alone?"

Oliver pulled open a drape and crawled onto the bed, holding a candle. He set it down between the two, closed the drape, and looked at Katie. "Because I care about you, Kate. I can't just watch as you kill yourself."

Tears were flowing again. "Why do you have to care so much? No one cares about me, don't you even get that?"

"If no one cares about you, why did Alicia and Angelina beg me to come find out what was wrong? And Fred and George, why were they scrambling for something, anything, to cheer you up?"

"Because I screamed at them, that's why. They - you - don't know anything about what I go through."

Oliver reached up and gently wiped a tear from Katie's cheek. His hand was soft and his own eyes were shining. "I want to help you. But there's nothing I can do if you won't open up to me."

This was way too hard. Tell Oliver secrets that she hadn't been able to tell anyone for years? Katie knew she wanted to, but she couldn't find her voice. Her mind was filled with dozens of excuses, all blocking the truth, which was cowering in a corner.

Oliver had crawled over and was sitting Katie in his lap, his strong, warm arms wrapped around her, protecting her. It felt good. Before she could help it, she'd fallen asleep.

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Tough stuff, eh? A little depressing, too, but I promise things will get better. Next chapter, Katie reveals all to Oliver, and they've got to figure out what to do about it. I know you probably hate the story by now, but review anyway! Please!