Chapter Nine
The overcast sky blocked out the afternoon sky bit by bit, covering the Hogwarts grounds in shadow. It was a balmy day in mid-June with a warm western breeze. A couple picnicked in the dappled shade of a tree alongside the lake. Dressed casually in shorts and tee-shirts, the boy with chaotic black hair and glasses passed the girl a pastry from the basket. She took it, looping a curl of dark brunette hair behind her ear and giggled at something he'd said.
Kate and Harry had spent practically every day together since the dinner party and the Minister's manor when Kate had told him who she really was. Because the Order had been relocated to a safer location within the vaults of Hogwarts for the war, they were both stuck there for the summer.
The sun soon was buried in clouds and fat drops of cold rain began to fall. Kate wiped at her arm, where a big bead of water stood, and looked to the sky. "Oh, well. It's just a little--"
And with that; thick, cold sheets of rain dumped from the firmament, drenching them.
"--Rain," Kate finished her sentence. Her hair was already saturated with water. Harry had already closed up the basket and was holding the blanket over their heads, urging her to run. Laughing and tripping over their own feet over the wet grass, they made it to an overhang where it was dry. Harry shook the beaded water from the blanket, muttering to himself. Kate, however, was doubled over, laughing. Soon, the giggles were interrupted by snorts until Harry had to join in.
"Wow. That's what they call irony, I suppose." Kate squeezed the water from a handful of hair.
The two teenagers were wet to the bone and grinning at each other. Slowly, the smile faded from their faces and Harry's hands went to the sides of Kate's face. Their necks craned closer and closer together--
Both sets of green eyes searched for something in each other. Their heads leaned together and their lips met. Harry kissed her slowly but surely. A kiss full of possibilities. Kate was still, accepting what he gave her and thought about nothing but the boy standing before her sopping wet with his hands tangled in her hair.
One afternoon, Kate had retreated to the Garden, without Harry. Kali was at her heels as she moved toward the Temple. The sight of the Temple during the day disappointed her. It lost all its moonlight elusiveness and mystique. The walls were bleak and washed out, the wooden circle-door showing its cracks and warped surface. Inside the Garden, though, it looked like spring, even in the hottest part of the day in the hottest month of the summer. The trees, flowers, and bushes were a lush green and everything smelled pristine and young. Like meeting an old friend, Kate warmly rubbed her hand over the smooth pillars of the Temple. And it pulled her in.
Kate stood where she had been, her hand still touching the pillar, but there were others inside the Temple. They were Kate herself and Harry. She had let him into the Garden; they had gone to the Temple. Their faces were alight and glowing with love and they smiled clandestinely at each other, sharing in some private joke. They sat cross-legged on the floor and Harry rested a hand on her knee. Kali leapt into Kate's arms as she stood and watched the vision. The Box was sitting in front of them and neither was touching it. A book also lies out in front of them. Kate had never seen the book, but from where she stood, she could see a diagram of the box and words written in a language she didn't know. The other Kate, the vision Kate, made a move to open the box with a flick of her wrist. "Wait! Don't open it!" Kate tried to yell to them, but they couldn't see nor hear them. Harry leaned over the book and read some words that sounded like running water and they watched the Box intently, searching for any reaction. Nothing happened. Dismayed, the couple stood and replaced the Box, taking the book with them, and strolled from the Temple. On their way out, vision Kate looked back over her shoulder. Vision Kate's eyes caught Kate's own eyes, the same eyes, and sent a shivering message: the Box cannot be opened.
Kate blinked. This was the first premonition she'd seen since Draco. Under her hand, the granite pillar tingled, excited and urgent. Quickly, she turned round. They were gone. 'The Box cannot be opened?' Now the visions were contradicting themselves. It didn't make any sense to Kate whatsoever. She jumped.
It was Kali, butting her ankles with her fuzzy skull. Kate's breath was heavy and she turned on heel to run out of the Garden. She needed to talk to Harry.
"I need to ask you something." Harry was sitting in the Great Hall with Ron. Their heads were bent over a checkered board. It appeared Harry was losing miserably at Wizard Chess.
"It had better be important, then." He stopped abruptly, squinting up at her from the game. An angry-looking pawn frowned up at the disruption of the game. He threw his tiny stone shield at Harry's forehead. It bounced off Harry and broke on the floor. Ron sighed, muttering something about nasty about the set and crouched on the floor to clean up the shards.
"Go ahead, mate. I have to find Hermione anyway," Ron muttered as he picked up the sharp pieces one by one, gathering them in his palm.
"Thanks, Ron." Harry stood and offered his arm. They smiled at each other and Kate looped her arm into his. They strolled around the grounds, talking about nothing of real significance, until they ended up outside the Gryffindor Common Room after darkness had set.
"Come in with me, Kate. It's too late now for you to go all the way back to the Tower," Harry said, giving the password to a portrait of a huge lady in a pink dress. With a grumpily tired 'hello' she let them in.
The Common Room was more than Kate had ever expected it to be. Large, comfortable arm chairs sat before an unlit fireplace that had seen its share of good use. It was a gigantic and warm room, full to the brim with happy memories. Harry led the way to a squashy sofa and plopped down. Gingerly, Kate sat beside him, putting a good foot of space between their bodies. Harry looked into her eyes, their green eyes meeting, and she moved into the angle of his arm and body, relaxing into his body heat. They soon drifted off to sleep and while he held her, Kate realized she'd never felt so protected as in that very second.