5: Relationships

As if this whole thing with Alicia and Angelina wasn't bad enough, I had Oliver to worry about; though for very different reasons. It turned out that my friends were right about him. Once the Quidditch final was over, he had begun flirting with me in earnest.

At first I told myself he was just being the sweet Oliver I always knew he could be when he wasn't acting the part of evil Quidditch captain. He would hold open doors, carry my things, and compliment my robes, even though I was wearing the same robes as everyone else. The first time, I thanked him anyway, and the second, I pointed that little fact out. He blushed.

"Well, they just look better on you," he said, and before I could stop myself, I giggled.

Then he invited me to join him during the last Hogsmeade visit of the term. I accepted.

As Alicia, Angelina and I have spent every Hogsmeade visit together since I was old enough to go, I was weary of telling them I'd be spending it with Oliver. I knew it was irrational, but I couldn't help thinking that for some reason they'd be upset with me. Not only was I was breaking tradition, but I was ditching my friends for a boy. We always said that we'd never let boys come between us. After all, boyfriends come and go, friendships like ours should last forever.

Neither of them seemed to even care, though.

When I told Angelina, she was barely able to tear herself away from her studies long enough to address me. She gave me a distracted look, and nodded.

"That's good, then. I'm not going anyway," she said.

"Oh. Well, do you want me to bring you anything? Sweets from Honeydukes maybe?" I asked.

She shook her head. "That won't be necessary." She spoke so coldly, and it felt as if she hardly knew me; as if she had completely forgotten that we had been friends for so long.

"Ok. Well, maybe we can go for a broom-ride afterwards. You should get away from your books for a bit, relax," I said.

"I don't need you to worry about me, and I don't have time for silly things like broom-rides," Angelina replied a bit too harshly.

I backed down then. This was definitely not the same Angelina I had befriended. My Angelina would never turn down sweets, or say broom-rides were silly. My Angelina thought that flying on a broom was the greatest thrill, the greatest freedom, a girl could achieve. To her, Quidditch was more than a game, and flying was a nonnegotiable part of life.

I was truly beginning to worry.

I found Alicia amidst a study group of Ravenclaws and Gryffindors, but as usual, there appeared to be a lot more gossiping happening than studying. I didn't bother pointing this out, just skipped to the reason I was there.

"I can't go to Hogsmeade with you this weekend. I'm going with Oliver."

"Oh." Alicia looked at me as if I were crazy to even suggest she would be going with me. "Well, I'm going with some friends from my year, anyway."

It was like she was looking through me. Like I wasn't even worth talking to. I felt so small and useless just then, but more importantly, I felt her drifting away from me.

"So I guess I'll just see you around, ok?" I said meekly.

I am not usually, by any means, a meek person. But without my two best friends, I was quickly losing confidence. If I couldn't help them, what sort of person was I?

"Yeah," Alicia said, and I turned to walk away. "Oh, and Katie?"

"Yeah?" I turned back, hopeful.

"Congratulations on getting with Oliver." She smiled, but it was half-hearted.

I mused that I'd rather have her and Angelina back than a relationship with Oliver that couldn't possibly last. I realized that I was losing them. We were truly drifting. Angelina and Alicia were both so caught up in their own little worlds that our friendship, which I had always valued above all things, was suffering. I hoped that this was all just a side-effect of the O.W.L.s, and things would return to normal after the tests. I honestly didn't have very high hopes, however.