Welcome, once again, to another chapter! For the past week I've been at band camp (go band cult!), which is why I haven't updated. This one should keep you occupied for at least the next three minutes, though! Warning, a few bits of naughty language this in this one. Now, on to the reviews!

Ash: You'll be getting that reaction in this chapter, in case you didn't know. :) RemusGuurl: Much thanks! Gryffindor Quidditch Gal: A lot of demons are coming around this chapter, but Katie's staying as quiet as she can and telling as few people as possible, as you will soon learn. Sorry dear, Oliver's mine. :P Sunnyflower2005: You've been so helpful and happy though this entire thing. Thank you soooooo much! Sadly, this chapter doesn't answer everything. Gotta stretch it! Kat6528: Oh yeah, secrets are the best. They make wonderful stories. ZeldaDragon: That was an awesome review! Thank you so much, your reviews make me so happy. Eowyn-Faith: I'm glad you like it. Yeah, I tend to write depressing stuff. Maybe if I start another story it'll be a little happier. Professional scatterbrain: No dementor- explaining in this chapter, sorry. I can't decide whether or not to let Oliver in on the secret about dementors, but I know I'll let you guys know. Should Oliver understand as well, or should we keep him in the dark? Freelancewriter: Like I said, band camp. At least it's not five weeks, lol.

One... two... three... nine reviews! Go me! Please, please, please tell your ff.net friends to review this thing!! I'd like to break a hundred eventually!

Oh, and there's a spell I made up in here. It means "seal shut," but the word meaning "seal" is wrong. Like, wrong definition or something.

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Ch. 9 - To Tell All

Katie woke up the next morning to soft, warm breath on her ear, and realized she was still wrapped in Oliver's arms. The drapes were, thankfully, closed, but she could hear her dorm-mates soft snores, and knew they'd all had a peek before heading to bed.

'Now, how to get out of his arms without waking him up?' she thought. Carefully, she pried his hands apart, and they slipped down, freeing her. She crawled off him, replacing the empty space with a pillow, and slipped out of the dormitory and down to the common room. Amazingly, Fred sat there, completely alone, playing chess with himself.

"Morning, Bell," he muttered. "Care for a game?"

Katie nodded and sat down, replacing all the pieces and starting the new game. "Have you seen Harry lately?"

"He's still with Madam Pomfrey. I think he has to stay there for the rest of the weekend," Fred supplied. After a bit of play he asked, "Feeling better?"

"Yeah," Katie said. "Sorry about last night. I was a little... messed up."

"That game was psychotic." Fred watched as Katie picked up a knight, which immediately burst into dust and confetti. Fred broke into laughter at Katie's face, which was covered in soot.

"Fred Weasley!" she sputtered, "I'm gonna kill you!!"

But before she could lay a hand on him, Oliver's sleepy voice came from the girls' dormitory stairs. "Good morning, everyone."

"It's just the two of us, Wood," Fred said, replacing Katie's blown-up chess piece and continuing the game.

"Good morning to you two, then. Who's winning?"

Katie shrugged. "We just started. Cripes, Fred, your stupid pawn killed my rook!"

Fred chuckled a little. Oliver pulled up a chair and sat down to watch, and by the time Fred finally defeated Katie (he WAS a lot better...), many other Gryffindors had arrived downstairs. A few checked to make sure Harry wasn't dead, and when reassured, went their separate ways.

"Care for a bit of breakfast?" Fred asked Katie. "After that I think we'll be checking up on Harry."

"That's ok, I'm not really that hungry. Come and get me when we go see Harry, though."

Fred nodded and headed off with his brother George, and Katie picked up a book lying on the floor - Quidditch Through the Ages - and sat down on the couch to read it. She wasn't surprised when someone else sat next to her. Oliver, of course.

"Good morning," he said in his deep Scottish brogue.

"Good morning," she replied as casually as possible.

"What are you reading?"

She held up the book so that he could see the front cover.

"You've read that at least five times since the beginning of this year!"

Katie laughed; he was right. "Well, it's a good book. We got a lot of plays out of this book as I recall."

"That we did."

There was silence for a while, and Katie returned to her book. Finally Oliver muttered, "So..."

"So..."

"I hate to push you, but..."

'Wouldn't it be nice if people could control other people's minds?' Katie thought offhandedly. 'Then you could completely erase memories and no one would know! But then there would be some problems...'

"...Katie?"

"Oh, sorry, just spacing out," Katie said with half a laugh.

"Right, em, as I was saying, we really need to talk. I know this is hard, for the both of us, but the only way I can help you is if you talk to me," Oliver said softly, his soft eyes pleading for Katie to explain everything. She sighed.

"I... I guess I have to, don't I?" Oliver didn't reply, and Katie continued after a moment. "Is it ok if we, I dunno, go outside? I'd rather not have people listen."

Oliver nodded and, after retrieving shoes and cloaks, the two of them headed out of the common room, down flights and flights of stairs, past the Great Hall, and outside. The storm of the evening before had died and was long gone; the sun was rising, drying the moisture on the grass and trees, and while it was still cold, the wind wasn't blowing nearly as fiercely. Katie wrapped her cloak closely around her and sat down under a huge tree where the grass was nearly dry. Oliver sat down next to her and sighed deeply.

"Wish we'd had the match tonight, eh?"

Katie nodded.

"So tell me what's going on, Kate."

Kate. Kate. Katie's dad had started calling her Kate, and when the Quidditch team had visited one summer Oliver picked it up. Sometimes the others called her Kate, but usually it was just Oliver and Dad.

Katie remained silent for at least ten minutes, trying as hard as she could to collect her thoughts. "Wha-" The first syllable was croaked out, so Katie cleared her throat and started again. "What do you want to know about?"

"What's going on with Marcus Flint?"

The chaser sitting next to the keeper nearly smiled. This, at least, was an easy one. "Flint's just been... I don't know, hitting on me for the last few years." Offhandedly Katie realized it had been since she'd stopped eating. This was going to be difficult. "Starting this year he's just been taking it a little too far."

"What do you mean, 'too far'?" Oliver asked quickly. It was difficult not to notice that his eye was bulging.

"Come on, Ol, you know what I mean," Katie whispered.

"He hasn't...?"

"No, but he's tried."

Oliver's hands were in fists and his teeth were being ground to a fine dust. "If I ever see him-"

"Please don't do anything," Katie pleaded quickly. "I told you this before, you can't get kicked out in your last year! Especially with Quidditch teams looking to sign you up!"

The boy sighed. Quidditch had once again subdued him. "I'm not promising anything," he warned after a moment. Katie nodded.

"Ok, tell me now, what's going on with your parents?" Oliver briskly changed the subject. "Every single year before this, you're dad's come with you and you're mum to see you off. But this year he wasn't here. He didn't... die, did he?"

"No, not yet, thankfully," Katie said. Before she could stop herself she rushed out, "Mum and Dad separated in February and didn't tell me. When I got back I found out Dad was moving and Mum had replaced him by a muggle named Dave."

"Oh, Kate, I'm so sorry," Oliver said, and he really sounded sorry. "If there's anything I can do-"

"No, I don't think so. I'm getting over it, I guess," Katie said almost truthfully. "I'm going to go see Dad over Christmas vacation. We'll work this out.

"Since we're telling all of this stuff, I need you to tell me something," she said quickly, before he could get the next question out.

"What is it?" Oliver, who was still getting over the shock of the last revelation, asked almost dumbly.

"When you talked to me about... about the thing with Alicia, you sounded like you were hiding something," Katie began carefully.

"What do you mean?" Oliver replied just as carefully.

"As I recall, you said you didn't know what you were thinking. But... it sounded an awful lot like you did."

Oliver was very, very silent, and a blush was slowly creeping up his neck. Finally Katie sighed.

"Just tell me what's going on between you and Leesh. Do you like her, and does she like you? Are you two going to go out?"

Oliver suddenly barked a laugh. "No, that's not it at all!" His blush was slowly ebbing away. "I don't think of Alicia as any more than a friend and an excellent chaser."

"Then what were you thinking when you kissed her?"

Once again he was horribly hushed, and his blush had returned to his cheeks full throttle. "I... I can't tell you. Not yet, at least."

"Why?"

"I just can't," he snapped.

"Well... ok then. My questions are done."

Oliver nodded and took a deep breath. There were a lot of deep breaths and sighs in this conversation, Katie noted. "Why don't you eat, Katie? And what was with that question of me wanting you to be fat yesterday?"

'Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit,' Katie thought bitterly. "Oliver, I-" she glared at an especially long blade of grass moving in the wind. "I don't know how to tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"I don't eat because..." Her voice dropped to just below a whisper, but Oliver was close enough that he heard. "I'm afraid of being fat."

Oliver was quiet, but his blush was entirely gone. He was staring at the same long blade of grass, blinking once or twice as he digested the information. "You? You of all people are afraid of being fat?"

"What are you saying?"

He sort of laugh-sighed, as though the question asked wasn't quite the smartest question. "You're skeletal! You're killing your body... because you think you're fat?"

Oliver wasn't putting it the way Katie liked. "I'm not 'skeletal,' Oliver..."

He reached up and lifted her shirt, showing a bare tummy. Katie couldn't remember it being that sucked in when she'd left home. He dropped it and pulled his hand back towards his body.

"You - you can't do this to yourself, Katie," he said sternly. "I won't let you."

"There's nothing you can do," she snapped. "I'm the thinnest I've ever been, and everyone's noticed! I'm not hurting myself, I take vitamin pills almost every morning."

Oliver's mouth was hanging open as though he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Do you seriously believe yourself?"

Katie didn't answer. How could she?

"You seriously think that by starving yourself, people are going to think you're prettier?"

Wow, had he said that wrong thing. Katie was suddenly furious. She'd done this for him! All for him! And now he was saying she was TOO skinny? How was this possible?

"You don't even know what you're talking about, Oliver Wood!" she sputtered, jumping up. "What do I care about what you think? You're just a stuck-up, Quidditch-obsessed..." 'Dammit, what's the word? Oh, fuck it.' "Loser!"

With that horrible ending, Katie stomped back to the castle. Most everyone had left the Great Hall and headed off to enjoy their weekend, but one person, one whom Katie and Oliver had been talking quite a bit about, had remained and was looking around carefully. When he spotted Katie, he smiled viciously.

"Ah, just the person I wanted to see," Flint said in a low voice, walking casually towards Katie. She glanced around quickly, but of course there was no one there. Not even Oliver had returned from being outside.

"Stay away from me, you slug," Katie said loudly.

Flint pulled out his wand, pointed it at Katie, and whispered, "signum clausus." Suddenly Katie's mouth felt closed shut, as though she'd just eaten superglue.

"Don't you remember, Katie," Flint asked. "You told me a real wizard uses his wand. And look, I have."

He took her hand and squeezed so hard she felt something shift and prepare to crack. She tried to yelp, but that was impossible. Still squeezing, though not to hard as to break her fingers, Flint took her down a hallway that led to nowhere and pressed her against the wall, smiling.

"Looky looky, Bell is once again completely and totally alone," Flint said. He watched as Katie struggled rather helplessly and continued, "You know, that spell can only be broken by a kiss from the person who casts it. Now, no screaming, Bell..."

He leaned in and pressed his thick, heavy lips against hers for a long kiss. When he finally let her go, she opened her mouth to speak, but the words she'd planned to say we said by another. "Fuck of, Flint!"

Flint whirled around to see Fred, George, and Oliver all pointing their wands at him, looking very pissed. "Lay a hand on her and you won't live to regret it," Oliver, the same voice as before, muttered.

"Do I detect a death threat?" Flint asked. He grabbed Katie by the back of the shirt and pulled her back into his arms, replying casually, "You take another step and I'll kill her. My father taught me plenty of curses when I was younger."

Fred dared take a step and Marcus yelled "Crucious!"

Suddenly Katie's body was wracked with pain. She crumpled to the floor and screamed, unable to do anything about it. Seconds later it stopped, but she didn't dare open her eyes.

"Just d-d-don't touch her," Oliver wheezed, his voice cracking.

"Mr. Wood would be correct, Mr. Flint. Do not touch Ms. Bell."

Katie sighed and opened her eyes to see Professor Lupin standing by the boys, his wand held at the ready. Finally Flint dropped his wand and it hit the ground with a clatter.

"Boys, would you be so kind as to escort Ms. Bell to the hospital wing? Mr. Flint, please come with me."

Flint did as told and Oliver and the Weasleys rushed to Katie's side.

"Are you alright?" George asked quickly.

"I - I'm fine," Katie whispered, slowly getting over Marcus's attack. She stood shakily and was half-carried to Madam Pomfrey, and set a few beds down from Harry. After Pomfrey had given her a brisk pepper-up potion and checked to make sure the Crucious Curse hadn't done any permanent damage to her, she joined the Quidditch group standing over Harry and listened as Oliver told Harry in his emptiest of voices that he didn't think it was Harry's fault in the least that they'd lost the Quidditch match. For Katie, that seemed ages and ages ago, but for Oliver, that mixed with everything he'd learned today had pretty much done him in.

Finally, after a quiet rest of the day, Katie retired to her dormitory. Alicia and Angelina decided not to speak to her about Oliver that evening, and for that Katie was very, very thankful. Before she went to sleep, she tried to convince herself that Oliver was right about her anorexia, and failed.

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Finished with this chappie! It's getting harder and harder for Katie and Co., huh? Next chapter I think I'll skip to winter break and Katie's visit with her dad. Or maybe I won't. I don't know yet. Review or I'll stop writing!