Ron didn't even have to turn around. "Hello, Mum…"

Ginny gave a distinctive cough, the others taking the signal. Neville, Hermione, Ginny, and Harry were just creeping away when a loud, "GINNY WEASLEY!" erupted from behind them. Ginny sighed and turned around, behind her back waving her hand, telling them to go on. With a slight grimace at his friends' luck, Harry hurried into Hogwarts before Mrs. Weasley could scream his name.

Neville quickly shut the door behind them. The three walked toward the Grand Staircase, Neville telling them how the fight had gone. No one was dead, from what he knew, though he didn't believe he knew too much. He knew that Luna had got hit with some dull orange spell and wasn't reacting to anything Madam Pomfrey had done, though she was apparently still alive. Cho had gotten hit with a stupefying spell and hit her head pretty hard when she fell, though doubtfully anything more serious than a concussion. The Creevey brothers were out cold, and Madam Pomfrey apparently wasn't too bothered by this. Zacharias Smith was acting like a two-year-old, giving huge tantrums at random moments. There were several others who had gotten severely injured, but were either healed or Neville was unable to remember their names. Neville himself had been forced to endure his shoulder being popped back in place by Ginny, who apparently was now an expert in medical care.

"And some other girl, Heather, came back with these other eight girls, and two of them looked the same! Heather and eight of the girls are okay, I think, but I didn't hear what Madam Pomfrey said about one of the twins, I guess they were," Neville said as they neared the seventh floor.

Harry stopped dead in his tracks. He hadn't needed to remember Katie, hadn't wanted to. He certainly didn't want to explain that Katie was Kelly, and certainly not at this time.

"Neville, come here," Hermione said hastily. "In the common room. I was wondering, since I've been gone for so long, could you catch me up on what's been going on? What have we learned in classes? Oh, Professor McGonagall will be so displeased! Can you help me at all?"

"I can try," Neville said sheepishly, saying the password to the Fat Lady. "I'm not that good at it, though…."

"Oh, but Harry tells me you're excellent…." Hermione lied as the Fat Lady shut behind them.

Harry vaguely registered he owed Hermione a thanks as he headed away. He walked, watching his feet. He needed to get away. He had to go far away, where no one could see him. He needed to go and let out the emotions that he'd bottled up inside for the past few hours that seemed so much like an eternity. Harry found the stairs and flew down them, ignoring McGonagall's abrupt scathing of his last name as he bumped into her and continued.

Harry ran and kept running, colors streaming in front of his eyes. People waved, then looked concerned as Harry passed with nothing said in return. Harry kept on running, passing every person he vaguely recognized on his way there. He even passed by Malfoy on the fifth floor, who shouted curse words at Harry's back as Harry raced past.

Harry stopped at the foot of the stairs when he had entered the fourth floor. It was unusually quiet here. Harry allowed himself to walk slowly around, waiting and watching for nothing, just trying not to think.

"Harry Potter!"

Harry immediately recognized the voice as Nearly Headless Nick, but sprinted off again anyway, not wanting to have to converse with anyone for the moment. He ran around the floor and shivered as he accidentally ran into another ghost. He streamed down the stairs and onto the third floor. He ran at full speed through one corridor, tearing into another. He ran as fast as he could, forgetting where the stairs were, but remembering the need to run. He flew into someone and hit the ground hard.

"POTTER!"

Harry quickly got up and started running again. Madam Pomfrey stood up behind him after he had just knocked her down. She started yelling threats at him, but that wasn't what made Harry stop and keel over at the end of the hallway.

There was a scream from inside the Hospital Wing.

Madam Pomfrey sighed and rushed inside her realm as Harry stood back up and backtracked to the busy Hospital Wing where all beds were full. Madam Pomfrey was rushing about, screaming orders at her patients to be quiet or be patient. Friends of the injured lay at bedsides, others pacing impatiently as they waited for a verdict. Luna was still on a bed near the front, immobile. Cho was in the bed next to her surrounded by a herd of Ravenclaws, a dazed look upon her face as though she didn't know where she was, yet not one Harry would associate with possession. Zacharias Smith was strapped down to a bed across from Cho and had started up a fit following the scream. The Creevey brothers were no where in sight, Harry guessing he had passed them on the way up here.

"Riles, please!" Madam Pomfrey screeched.

A new scene at the back of the room caught Harry's attention. He almost streamed out of the room again as he analyzed the situation, however. Katie lay in the last bed, the curtains looking as though they had meant to be closed but never were. The Secret Students, Elyse, and Heather were around this bed, tears silently falling. Riles seemed to have made the scream; she was shaking, her face buried in Serenity's shoulder.

Heather glanced at Harry as he stood there, and motioned for him to come closer. Harry opened his mouth to retaliate; he didn't want to go near Katie. Harry had just gotten out "I don't--" when his feet seemed to be carrying him against his will over to the group.

"She was my sister!" Riles gasped. "My twin!"

"I know, I know…" Serenity whispered. "You loved her."

"I hated her!" Riles screamed. The pained look on Serenity's face was either one of sadness for Riles and Katie or one of sorrow for her dying eardrums. "I hated her and I never told her I loved her! I was so mean! I didn't say anything… I was so awful…."

"Sh…" Serenity comforted. "It'll be okay."

"Nuh uh!" Riles yelled. "Never, never, never!"

"You did care for her," Harry whispered.

Riles looked up, her face brimming with tears. "I cared! I still have that ugly pink teddy bear she told me to save for her at the orphanage!"

Harry just nodded, unsure of what to say or do as Riles buried her face back against Serenity's soggy shoulder.

Elyse leaned her head back against the bedpost she was leaning against, deliberately not facing Katie. She exhaled a shaky breathe and closed her eyes. Heather was sitting in a chair, twirling her auburn hair around two of her fingers, staring blankly at the curtains across from her as tears ran down her face. May kept opening, then shutting her mouth as though struggling for something to say and unable to come up with a comforting thought. Riles was now mumbling incoherently to anyone but Serenity, who kept whispering back to her. Uriko kept making fireballs in her hands and forcing them down through the floor and into an empty classroom, which was burning spectacularly at this point. Crystal and Vikki kept glancing teary-eyed at each other, though seemed to feel it was best to remain silent. Bunny and Amber had an arm around each other consolingly, taking refuge in each other.

Harry stood alone with no one to comfort him. He shut his eyes tight to block the oncoming tears, and opened them only when he was sure they wouldn't burst uncontrollably. His eyes landed on Katie in the bed and in a moment he was gone.

Harry wasted no time in exiting Hogwarts and running into the vast land surrounding the castle, not even hearing Mrs. Weasley shout his name. Katie's face lay in the front of his mind, and he was now sure it would haunt him forever. She was the palest Harry could remember seeing anyone in his life. Her eyes had been mercifully shut, but Harry could see them open as if they had been. Her head had been resting on her shoulder, in his head her eyes unblinking and peering at him blankly, no glimmer of a twinkle in them as he was accustomed to. He could see it in his head… he could see it all, even when she fell to the ground back in the cave, and the smirk on Diane's face, and--

"Harry!"

Harry sprinted faster. He wasn't going to talk to anyone. He wanted to be left alone--he needed to be left alone--and here was another innocent figure just trying to help.

"Harry, wait!"

Harry raced to the nearest tree and tried to climb up it. He scratched and clawed at its huge trunk with all his might, but with no success.

"Harry, stop." Ron's hand fell upon Harry's shoulder and Harry stopped trying to climb up the tree. "Harry…"

Harry turned his back against the tree and let himself slide down its trunk. He opened his eyes and found to his dismay that it was the tree he and Katie used to always sit at on the weekends.

"Harry--" Ron started, sitting next to his friend.

Tears fell without Harry's consent. They slid down his cheeks and onto the cold grass that was graying in the evening sun. Ron put his arm around Harry and didn't say any more as Harry started crying, finally letting the days' events sink in. Katie was gone. She was gone. He wouldn't see her alive again. No more smiles, no more laughter, no more fun Quidditch talk. It was all gone; it had left with her. She was gone, just like that, and all he had left to treasure were the memories he had of a girl he thought he knew.

"It's okay, Harry, it's okay," Ron said quietly, lifting his arm away from Harry as Harry's tears lessened for a moment. "We'll get through this together. I know it."

Harry fell asleep with his back against the tree as the sun fell just beyond sight, tears still rolling silently down his face. He dreamed of the blonde girl he once knew, who he would never know again.