KNY: Again, late chapter! I actually had this one done ahead of schedule for once, but school got in the way and then and million and two other things happened, and I just haven't found the time to post this. So without further ado, I present…

I Must Not Chase the Boys

Chapter Three: Please, Someone Help Me…

Cat sighed, and then braced herself for the packed hallway, then debated to herself: To eat or not to eat, that was the question. She sighed, yet again; she didn't need to eat this lunch. She wasn't that hungry and her stomach churned every time she came in proximity with Harry.

She decided to wander around the school. She was wearing blue shorts and a white t-shirt, her hat was dark blue. Harry was on her mind again. She was startled when she saw him from the bench that she sat on. He was talking to this gorgeous redhead. Cat studied the girl and felt a pang of envy that she was so pretty. Even more pangs of jealousy hit her as she saw the girl curl around Harry like a snake. They were walking towards the castle. A lump formed in her throat; she wanted to cry, wanted to make herself become the woman she was born to be. But she didn't know how to do it.

She lay back on the bench, still watching. As if he had felt her staring, Harry turned in her direction. She blushed and looked up at the sky. Things were all going wrong. She didn't know what to do.

A few moments later, Harry came up to her; she pretended not to see him. "Cat."

She turned, then smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. "Yes?"

He looked like he was going to ask her something different but instead he said, "Can you scoot over so I can sit?"

She sat up and scooted to the side. When he sat down, she leaned on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

Harry was startled. Her strawberry scent invaded his senses and she didn't feel very male with her head resting on his shoulder.

"We've known each other for a while right?"

Cat yawned. "Yes. Harry, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, but err... yeah go ahead."

She yawned again. "Promise not to laugh?"

"Just ask the damn question Cat, so I can get on with what I wanted to say before I forget."

She snuggled in closer, feeling comforted by his masculine frame. She wanted to lie like this forever. But forever could only last so long. She sighed. "Do you think my nose is too big?"

Harry choked on air. He coughed, took a deep breath, and looked at her. "What!"

Cat, unfazed, repeated the question.

"What kind of question is that?"

"Forget it okay?" She moved away from him and was about to stand up when he pushed her back down.

"Why would she want to know anyways?" He ran a frustrated hand through his raven locks. "Cat, you're getting stranger every day. I don't know what is happening to you." His voice was a bit panicked and she fought tears. The words were harmless but they hurt anyways.

Cat let anger take the place of her sadness. "I said forget it!" She jumped off the bench and started running. What a fool she was to think she would get an honest opinion from him! She wanted to cry, she wanted to yell, and she wanted to get the hell away from him so that she didn't have to be tempted with all of these female thoughts. He could have just given her a straight answer. But he had to delve, Harry the delver. Never let anything sit. DELVE, DELVE, AND DELVE!

She sighed in defeat. He didn't think of her as a girl so he couldn't form an opinion on her nose. It was probably like Ron asking if his outfit made him look fat! She was just another guy to him. He would never look at her the way he looked at other girls like that redhead he was curled up with. She was all curves and beautiful.

'Sounlike the dowdy cow of myself.'

She stopped running when she reached the tree on the other side of lake. And she couldn't prevent the lonely tear from falling down her face. She didn't attempt to wipe it away.

"Cat, wait!" She heard Harry say, unexpectedly close. He sounded regretful, bewildered. She felt guilty but angered at the same time; she sank down under the tree, resting her head on her knees.

"Cat," He reached the tree, and then sat beside her. His voice was gentle and she didn't want to hear it. Another tear fell down her face; she sniffed then held her breath, not wanting him to see her cry.

Harry, with a gentle hand, lifted her face from her knees and stared wildly at the tears that were there. His stomach churned in response for he truly didn't know what was happening. He had never seen her cry so… easily before, and yet, it might not have been for the reasons that he was thinking.

But she was so unpredictable these days, not the same Cat who had come to him saying that she could spit not only as well as him but further.

This was some stranger that he had never seen. And it was scaring to him death that she had changed without him noticing a thing.

He wanted to see her, as she was now. He studied her seeing her trying to stop herself from crying. Her eyes, blue and beautiful, shone with unshed tears. The nose in question, that had brought this to this, was perfect for her face, not too big or too small or with a pointy edge. Her lips were very soft and… kissable.

Kissable! What was he doing? He was mortified at the fact that he was just now checking out his best friend. She was Cat, no matter how weird she started to act. There was no changing that fact and he couldn't change anything unless he found out what was the cause of this stranger in his best friend's place. And her lips weren't kissable.

"Harry, could you leave me alone? Please…" Her voice was surprisingly fragile and Harry couldn't bear it.

"What's with you Cat? You're acting so strange I almost don't recognize you! What happened to Cat, my best friend?" He shouted, furiously.

"She's still there Harry. She's there alright and she's changing because she can't stand what she is—" shocked at what she said and furious beyond belief Cat closed her mouth. "Just leave me the fuck alone Harry. I'm leaving and you better not follow me."

She pushed past him and he grabbed her wrist. She turned around, her eyes bright with anger and some other feeling Harry didn't—couldn't, recognize. He panicked.

"Is that how you're going to handle this Cat? You're just going to walk away? Just leave like a wimpy little girl?" His eyes darkened to a dangerous level filled with all compassing fury. "Then leave." His voice was low and quiet, bordering scary and Cat was startled to realize the depths of his rage.

"I will. I will leave like a wimpy little girl because now a days, you're not the only who can't recognize me. I can't recognize myself," Cat whispered in an almost inaudible voice; then turned and walked away.

Harry stared after her, confused and hurt. Although, he didn't know why, he was more concerned with Cat than his other friends, and feeling more for her than he'd ever felt about anyone. He wouldn't think about that now.

He ran a frustrated hand through his hair, staring blankly into the distance under the big willow tree.

Cat paced around her dorm, she was alone yet again. What was she going to do?

Sighing, she slipped her feet into some slippers and walked out. Glancing at her watch, she saw it was 8:15. As she headed down the steps, she hesitated. How was she going to make this all better? Never in her life had she hesitated to see her best friend. But now…but now it was all complicated.

It was as if two and two made five, and the grass was blue and the sky was purple. Sighing, she went down the stairs, in baggy jeans and a London Lethifoulds jersey, and she carried her broom. "Hey, Ron."

Said Weasley looked up. "Yeah, Cat?"

"Where's Harry?" She clutched her Firebolt tightly.

"You just missed him."

She sighed and gave Ron a small smile and walked out the Common Room and toward the Quidditch pitch.

Where was Harry? Was he out snogging a girl senseless? Closing her eyes, she forced that picture out of her mind.

Flying. That's what she needed to do!

'That always clears my mind,' she thought.

There was no one else when she arrived. Perfect, plenty of space.

Cat mounted her broom, and she was off. It was like sheer bliss, the wind blowing in her hair, she felt free. None of her troubles, no thoughts of Harry entered her mind as she did all sorts of tricks. After a while, she got tired of it, and went down.

She almost had a heart attack when she saw who was blocking the doorway. There he was, the cause of all her confusion.

Harry was dressed in all black, making him look wild, dangerous and…sexy?

'Stop it,' she thought. 'Harry is NOT sexy.'

He stood there, staring as if in a trance. His gorgeous emerald eyes staring right through her. She felt her chest well up.

"When did you get here?"

Harry remained silent as he continued staring. She felt a pang of uneasiness. What was he doing? What was he staring at?

"What's with you?" She was beyond nervous, and was squirming beneath his gaze.

"How long have we been friends, Cat?" He whispered quietly. His voice was silky smooth, a caress… and she wanted to revel in it.

She tilted her head, confused. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"We've been friends for three months. You were fifteen, I had just turned sixteen. We were best friends, we understood each other. You helped me come to grips with my Godfather's death…"

She felt her heart shatter at the word, 'were'. "We—we still are best friends, Harry… you just have to give me a little time. I need time to…to…settle…"

Harry's eyes gleamed in the moonlight. They looked darker than usual, they held determination. That was the anger she could see in its depths. "For the first time ever, you walked out on a fight. I wanted to know what you were thinking but you closed off from me. How is that being a friend, Catrina?"

She cringed at the use of her real name.

"Harry." She began, her voice was breaking. "I—I couldn't, I can't explain. No, not right now. It's not the time. Come on, I can't take this in any other way. It's just- oh, please. I'm sorry alright. Just leave it be for right now."

She was just as determined at the moment for him to leave it alone as he was to get everything cleared.

"I'll think about it." That was all he said. He departed as slick as he entered. She stood there for some moments, just staring and wondering just how she would come around to telling him.

What would she say? "Harry I love you more than a best friend and I think I've been feeling this way all of my life."? She just didn't know what to do anymore.

She stared up at the moon and a tear slid unbidden down her cheek. "Please, someone help me…"

"Is she the one? The one sweet on Potter?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Good." Draco Malfoy watched the sorrowful redhead exit the Quidditch field like a wolf sighting his prey. He turned to his two flunkies, Crabbe and Goyle. "Good work you two. I do wonder though," he raised a pale eyebrow, "when did you guys become so good at reading people?"

The two big dopes looked sheepish.

"Uh, we didn't," Crabbe admitted. "We heard Granger and a few Gryffindor girls talking about it."

"I see." Malfoy smirked at Cat's retreating back. "This will be fun…"

KNY: Ooooooooooo! Can anyone else sense trouble on the horizon? I wonder what will happen!

Ron: Aren't you supposed to know that? Since you're the author and all?

KNY: I am?

Ron: Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees…

KNY: Then we may have a problem… sweatdrops

Hermione: Great, just great, KNY.

KNY: How was I supposed to know?

Everyone: sighs in frustration

KNY: What? Anyhoo, quick question. Do people prefer one long chapter about once a month, or a shorter chapter more frequently updated? I don't want to lose reviewers due to too long a wait between chapters…

Replies to Reviews:

Joey Potter- Thank you so much! The title will come into play more later. Hint hint, nudge nudge. I see a little bit of myself in Cat in the whole 'Guys-don't-notice-me' sorta thing, but I'm more the quiet bookish girl who people just don't notice rather than a classic tomboy. One of my friends is a total tomboy, though, so I got some of Cat's masculine attitude from her.

Kat O'Leary- Thank you soooooo much! I try to capture emotion and detail in my writing as much as I can. And next time I'll try to write a Qudditch scene since you requested it. Just don't blame me if it sucks! Smiles and sweatdrops. I will give it my best though!

Kiki- Thanks Kiki! Here's the update that you haven't read! Ha!