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Chapter 10: The Past, Present and Future

At the Quidditch Pitch

Katie's POV

The weather was horrible. Cold winds tore at the ankles of every red flying figure. Every breath seemed to suck in tiny ice crystals that numbed the throat. Even worse, rain was falling by the buckets, and that made it difficult to see anything at all.

Under these conditions, no one would be sane enough to fly around on a broomstick, trying to dodge balls that wanted to knock you off, yet try to catch a Snitch or Quaffle.

No one else than Oliver Wood fit the bill. He yelled, coaxed, begged. Anything to get us out of the warmth and into the cold.

We all knew that it was Oliver's dream to win the Cup and we who were not that obsessed with Quidditch gave in with minimal grumbling.

At our final training session before the big match, Oliver gave the team some unpleasant news.

"We are not playing Slytherin!" he stormed, looking angrier than anyone had ever seen him. "Flint's just been to see me. We're playing Hufflepuff instead."

Bewildered, all of us chorused, "Why?"

Grinding his teeth with an audible sound, Oliver growled bitterly, "Flint's excuse is that their Seeker's arm's still injured. But it's obvious why they're doing it. Don't want to play in this weather. Think it'll damage their chances…"

A rumble of thunder punctuated his last words, and a flash of lightning illuminated our seven dripping pale faces.

"There's nothing wrong about Malfoy's arm! He's faking it!" Harry cried out furiously.

"I know that, but we just can't prove it. And we've been practicing all these 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-"

Angie, Al and I giggled. You must understand that we wanted to tease the bloody bastard.

"WHAT?" Wood frowned at us. Mission accomplished.

(A/N: I think that's enough from the book. Skip to 3 minutes later, after Fred promised Wood that they would take him seriously.)

I sneezed, feeling a little weak at the knees. The cold was getting to me, I decided. Nothing much.

Quietly, all seven of us trooped back into the castle, with me sneezing all the way.

Back in the Dormitory

Alicia and Angelina were concerned. I had a dry cough, and a splitting headache.

"You sure you'll be fine?" Al asked, as we left for dinner.

"Hell yeah." I answered.

Great Hall

I sat down in between Al and Angie, with Harry and the twins opposite us.

I managed to eat a little food, thanks to my two 'Healers' beside me.

When I finally convinced them that I was no longer hungry, I looked up to see Fred attempting to spice Harry's food up a lot.

Angie shot him a glare which plainly said, "Get lost" and he shrugged innocently, putting the orange-colored sweet back into his pocket.

I looked to Angie's left and nearly threw up everything I just ate.

Angie caught my expression and turned her head slowly. Her mouth was hanging open as she snapped her head back to me.

Morgana was there, simpering over Wood. More like slobbering over him, I thought. Suddenly, I was reminded of Hagrid's dog, Fang, which would drool over anyone who'd scratch his ears.

Wood was trying desperately to get away to Harry, probably to give him more hints on the upcoming match.

Just as I realized that I was staring at them, Wood looked up from his struggle and met my eyes with a plea for help. I rolled my eyes and got up, my stomach heaving uncomfortably.

"Hey, Wood. I was kinda wondering if you could go over our, erm, tactics for the match?" I asked, keeping my tone cool.

"Uh, yeah, sure. Bye Morgana," Wood looked relieved.

Morgana let go of his arm, while shooting me a glance full of venom. She blew a kiss to Wood, and then strutted back to her friends.

Note to self: Stay away from her.

Silence reigned for a few moments, then Wood said awkwardly, "Urm, thanks Kate."

"No problem Wood," I strode away, feeling really sick.

"Katie, you sure you're okay?" Al greeted me as I sat back down.

"Yeah, 'cos you're real pale," mumbled George through a mouthful of chicken.

I started to reassure them, when my stomach gave a heave that threatened to spill out my food.

Quickly, Angie ushered me to the toilet, where I barfed for a few minutes.

"Evanesco," George muttered, and all the sick on my robes disappeared.

"Thanks," I barely managed to walk, so Fred and George supported me by my arms.

Everything was a blur and all the sounds meshed together as one incomprehensible hum…

Girls' Dormitory, Saturday Morning

"She can't play like this! Especially in this kind of weather!" Angie said.

"But Wood'll be furious!" Al argued.

"She's been sick since Thursday!"

"Guys…" I croaked.

"Shhh… She's awake."

"Isn't it time yet?" I asked.

"Yeah," Al said nervously. "But you should rest, you know…"

"Nah, I'm fine. Just hungry and thirsty," I smiled wanly.

Great Hall, Breakfast

Five pieces of toast and two goblets of pumpkin juice later, I felt refreshed.

Wood was sitting next to Harry, and though he had a plate of toast in front of him, he wasn't touching any.

"It's gonna be a tough one," he said, frowning.

Al rolled her eyes and told him in a soothing type of voice, "Stop worrying Oliver, we don't mind a bit of rain."

I nodded, though the feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach increased.

Before the Match

We walked in a group to the changing room, trying to keep warm, then went tosubstitute our coats for scarlet robes.

Usually, I'd feel confident that our team would win, but all I felt was trepidation.

Surprisingly, we did not get a long-winded pep talk from our dear Captain.

He did try to speak a few times, but we couldn't decipher his words. After a while, he shrugged, made an odd sort of gulping noise and shook his head hopelessly. Finally, he motioned us to follow him out.

The Match

I mounted my broom, then shot off as the whistle blew. Somehow or another, the Quaffle was passed to me by Angie. I caught it deftly in my right hand and tucked it safely under my arm. I flew towards the goalposts, thanking Merlin that the Hufflepuffs wore yellow, which made them easy to spot. Passing the Quaffle to Al, we adopted a zigzag motion to confuse the Keeper. Suddenly, Al passed to Angie, who was behind me and Angie took the shot.

I punched my fist in the air even as Lee shouted out-"10-nil to Gryffindor!" We continued this way for a while, then one of the Hufflepuff Chasers grabbed the Quaffle from Al mid-air and scored a goal. Undaunted, we continued to score until we were 40 points up.

Just as I got the Quaffle from Al, a Bludger came racing from nowhere, punching me in the stomach. I let out a yell, but kept my hold on the Quaffle. Fred came with his bat soon after, whacking the offending ball towards a Hufflepuff Chaser.

Gritting my teeth, I passed to Angie, who scored again. We were once more lost in the rain when suddenly the whistle blew. Wood yelled from the ground, "Time-out!"

All of us streaked towards the ground, our feet squelching in the mud. Wood said something that I couldn't hear, then pushed us under a huge umbrella.

Harry asked Wood, "What's the score?"

"We're fifty points up, but unless we get the Snitch soon, we'll be playing into the night," came the reply.

I shivered. Play into the night? No way, thanks very much.

"-no chance with these on," Harry waved his glasses at our nervous Captain.

Just then, a girl with bushy brown hair appeared at his shoulder. Hermione Granger, I remembered.

"I've had an idea, Harry! Give me your glasses, quick!" Beaming all over her face, she tapped the glasses with her wand and said "Impervius!" while we watched in amazement.

Wood looked as though he could have kissed her. "Brilliant! OK, team, let's go for it!" He looked more confident now, I thought.

So yet again, we flew on our brooms and began to play with renewed enthusiasm. Chilled to the bone.

"HARRY! HARRY, BEHIND YOU!" I heard Wood anguished yell.

Moments later, Harry rushed past me, going after Diggory. As they went higher and higher, I spotted the dark cloaks of the Dementors and then, everything slowed down as Harry fell from his broom, dropping to the wet ground below. As he passed me, I tried to grab him but it was in vain.

Suddenly, a shriek tore from my throat as dark memories rushed through my mind. I watched again as my only sister was taken and killed. I saw my brothers fighting the hooded wizards and fall to the floor motionless. I remembered my parents being tortured. I relived the horrors of being heartbroken again…

End Katie's POV

As helping hands brought Harry Potter to the Hospital Wing, the rest of the team congregated at the changing rooms.

They changed in silence, and then Alicia realized something was missing. Or someone.

"Where the hell is Katie? Has anyone seen her?"

Turning white as a sheet of paper, Angelina abruptly ran out onto the Pitch. Following suit, Alicia and the twins rushed out.

"Oh Merlin…" Fred said under his breadth.

"KATIE! GET DOWN!" Alicia yelled at the tiny dark figure in the sky.

"She can't hear us! She 's… Merlin, she's falling!" Angelina gasped in horror.

All of a sudden, a flash of red shot into the sky.

Oliver Wood fixed his eyes on the rapidly dropping figure. Willing his broomstick to fly faster, he aimed for a little way below Katie.

It all happened in a matter of moments. Oliver hovered underneath and grabbed Katie as she fell from above. As he landed, he brushed wisps of hair away from her face and was shocked to see how pale she looked. Her lips were tinged with blue and her closed eyes had tears hanging from the lashes.

He drew his robes closer around her, enfolding her in its little warmth. As the others came running up to meet them, he carried her in his arms.

Hospital Wing, Katie's POV

I woke up to see Madam Pomfrey looming over me. Groaning, I sat up and was offered a glass of liquid that was giving off steam. I drank the goodness-knows-what-Potion and felt tendrils of warmth seeping through my body, though not melting the shard of ice within me.

"You have a very good Captain, Katie. He saved you after you fell, and carried you in here."

A good Captain. A good friend. Oliver Wood. Hmmph.

"Hmm. Well, Miss Bell, you may go," Madam Pomfrey smiled kindly at me. "But only after you eat this."

I took the chocolate and grinned weakly back. Biting the chocolate, I was finally relieved of the cold fear in me, thank Merlin.

I walked over to Harry's bed, joining my fellow teammates.

"Must've been what, fifty feet?" I heard Fred say.

"We thought you'd died," muttered a pale Alicia.

I nudged Ron Weasley, the twins' youngest brother. He nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Where's Wood?" I whispered.

"Showers." He mumbled back.

"Thanks."

I wondered why that idiot, ok, so I have to give him credit for saving my skin, why he wasn't there to comfort Harry.

Nevertheless, I strode to the showers, looking high and low for Wood.

One of the shower cubicles were occupied, with the occupant boiling himself alive inside. Steam was creeping out of the cubicle and fogging up the mirror that hung on the wall.

I groaned. Oliver was having one of his worst post-defeat-tantrums ever. The record was 5 hours in the showers. 5 hours ruminating about the defeat of his team. It took all of us to coax him into coming out. No such luck for me.

Knowing that he would eventually come out by himself in a l-o-n-g while, I leaned against the cool lockers, watching that cubicle… Watching…

6 hours, 37 minutes, 43 seconds later…

Oliver's POV

In the Cubicle

I sighed. Better get out now, I thought.

Turning off the water, I wrapped a towel around myself. It wouldn't help if Morgana were snooping around.

I walked out, drying my hair on the way. I opened my locker to retrieve fresh clothes, putting on a navy sweater and black pants.

It was only after I had changed did I see Katie lying on the floor fast asleep.

She seemed so innocent when she was asleep, I thought. Nothing like the wildcat she could be sometimes. She could be all smiles and jokes one minute, a scratchy angry cat the next.

Suddenly, her eyes opened. They were a clear blue, like the sky on a sunny day.

"Finally." She mumbled, pushing herself into a sitting position.

"What?"

"Finally you came out of the bloody shower."

I made a guttural sound in my throat that came out as a deep "hmmph" or some sound like that.

"So, erm, thanks for saving my neck," Katie said after a while.

"No problem Kates," I replied. The nickname I gave her brought back so many memories of when we were friends.

"But I do think that you are pretty beastly to torture Harry like this," she continued.

"What the heck are you talking about?"

"Well, Harry is currently lying in the Hospital Wing feeling absolutely miserable, thinking that it was his fault that we lost to Hufflepuff. It didn't help that you stayed away from him all this while," she added, shooting me a malevolent glare.

"Oh, shit!" I was practically tearing my hair.

"'Oh shit!' is right," she said. "Anyway, you can't visit him today; Madam Pomfrey should have closed the Wing by now."

"Tomorrow then."

We sat in silence for a while, then she piped up, "So."

I raised my eyebrow. International sign language for what?

"So do you think we could, like, go back to being good friends again?" she asked her shoes.

"I was hoping you'd say that, Kates."

"That's sort of cliché, Ollie," she snorted.

"Whatever." I was just happy that we were on companionable terms again.

"Friends should be honest right?" she frowned.

"Yeah," I replied slowly.

"Ok, then there's something I need to tell you," I could tell that she was really tensed.

"Is it about why you fell after the match?"

"Yes. I just have to tell someone. I've told Angie and Al a long time ago but I can't stand lying to you…" she trailed off.

I remained silent as Kates gulped and went on with her story.

"I was three at the time when You-Know-Who was defeated by Harry. The Death Eaters were still at large and were responsible for the chaos in my neighborhood, whatever there was.

"I had five brothers and only one sister. They were Michael, Sam, Ivan, Ted, Malcolm and Janet. Our parents used to joke that we would be the next Wigtown Wanderers.

"Of my six siblings, Janet, Michael, Ivan and Ted were studying at Hogwarts. Sam and Malcolm were only six and nine, and therefore stayed at home with me.

"My parents were Ellen and Brian. She was a Healer while he was a Ministry worker. I also had a grandmother, Sandy, who lived in London.

"It was the school holidays and all of us excluding Sandy were at home. Suddenly a group of Death Eaters burst in. Ellen quickly hid Sam, Malcolm and me in a secret place in the floorboards.

"There was a tiny hole on top where I could see everything that was going on. All three of us had the sense to keep silent.

"I saw my parents being tortured by the Cruciatus Curse. Janet was Stunned, then killed. My three brothers stood back to back, fighting as a group. One by one, they fell down motionless…

"My eye was glued to the hole. It was as if I had turned to stone. I could pull away. I remember that I had wanted to scream, but luckily, Sam covered my mouth in time.

"Satisfied with their work, the Death Eaters left. We remained in the hiding place until some Ministry wizards came. We were taken to London to live with our grandmother." Kates stopped talking and hung her head, but not before I saw the tears fall.

During the whole story, she had been speaking as if in a trance, her eyes had been glazed over, as if seeing into a different time and place.

Her story made perfect sense. It explained a lot of things, like why she was so attached to her late grandmother, Merlin rest her soul. It also explained why, when I asked about her family, Alicia and Angelina glared at me.

As I think about it, I wondered how in the name of Merlin did I fail to notice the loopholes in her story pre-match.

She had told me vaguely of a brother who took care of her while her parents were off fighting Trolls in Australia. I didn't even ask her why 'Frank' did not come to bring her home when school ended.

I pulled her closer so that she was leaning against me and draped my arm around her shoulders. She sniffled and said in a voice full of tears, "Ollie, I'm sorry that I lied to you about my family. Please forgive me?"

"Crazy. You always were silly." I grinned at her, trying to lift her spirits.

It worked. She gave a shaky giggle.

"Ollie?" her voice was a little muffled.

"Hmm?"

"What time is it now?" she asked.

"Let me check… Blimey!"

"What!"

"It's 3 already! Shit! One whole afternoon wasted! We could have practiced Quidditch, dammit!"

"Merlin help us from you…" Kates muttered while pulling me all the way out of the changing room and into the castle.

"Kates! My frickin' arm is breaking!" I yelled as she stubbornly yanked.

I almost forgot that she had a very stubborn streak in her.

End of Chapter

My mind drifts away to the distant past.
To the times we shared with each other,
to the secrets we whispered to each other.
How I wish you were with me now,
right by my side here
in this cold lonely wet night.
I'm feeling numb now...
only one thought goes through my mind,
I miss you so much.

By Anonymous

So that's all for now. Hope you all liked this really long chapter. My plea is still the same: Read and review. Thank you to all reviewers and sorry for not updating in months.