Katie was flying around the Quidditch pitch on her new Nimbus Two Thousand Three, speeding down towards the raised goal hoops. Wood was cheering her on. She soared past Cedric, who was flying the other way. Quaffle clutched tight under her arm, she swerved to distract the Hufflepuff Keeper, and then tossed the red Quaffle through the center hoop. The crowd cheered. She slowly drifted to the ground, grinning from ear to ear. Marcus Flint ran across the field towards her and gave her a Chocolate Frog…

"Get up, get up, sleepyhead!"

Katie rolled over.

"Oh, come on," pleaded a girl's voice. "You don't want to be late for the first day of classes, do you?"

"I don't care," grumbled Katie sleepily.

"Fine," replied the voice. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Katie felt herself leave her bed. Her eyes snapped open, and she saw her friend Leanne pointing her wand up at her. The charm made Katie gently rise up to her bed's canopy.

"Leanne!" Katie shouted indignantly.

"You didn't want to get up…" Leanne replied.

"Okay, okay! I'm up!" Katie responded impatiently.

Leanne flicked her wand down and Katie came crashing back to earth, landing not so lightly on her bed.

"Now that you've left dreamland," said Leanne. "It's already after eight."

Katie swore and hurriedly put on the robes from the previous night (they were most readily available). She felt a lump in one of the pockets. Reaching into it, she drew out a Chocolate Frog. At first, Katie thought it was the one that Cedric had given her, and her heart skipped a beat. Then she remembered her encounter with Oliver in the entrance hall. She shrugged, opened her trunk lid and chucked it haphazardly inside. Leanne waited, showing only the slightest signs of impatience. As Katie ran a brush through her brown hair then tied it back in a pony, Leanne sighed longingly.

"I wish I could be as low-maintenance as you are," she said.

"And deprive the male population of your flawlessly presented face everyday?" joked Katie, "No, it's best to leave it to us tomboys."

"You're not really a tomboy," protested Leanne as they started down the spiral staircase, "You just play Quidditch."

"The difference being…?"

"The difference being that blokes still fancy you!" said Leanne in hushed tones as they entered the common room.

Katie was taken slightly aback by this. She'd never noticed a lot of boys staring at her. Plenty shot glances towards Leanne. Lovely blond Alicia definitely got some looks. Angelina practically had her own fan club, though many seemed too scared to approach her. She shook her head. "I get sweaty and muddy and grimy when I play, why would they fancy someone like that?"

"There are some lads who like girls that can play like you," answered Leanne with a smirk. "I know about you and Cedric."

"Merlin's beard, news travels fast in this school!" Katie exclaimed.

"Not really, I just happened to spot you two talking on the train."

"We were talking about Quidditch!" Katie said defensively as she hopped a disappearing step, "It's not at all what you think."

Leanne gave her another smirk. "We'll see. You know, we're fourth years now. Old enough to start having boyfriends and such…" she let the sentence hang, to Katie's discomfort.

Katie shot her a dirty look. "Just don't go about planning my wedding, alright?" she pleaded.

Leanne shrugged, and they continued the rest of the way down to the Great Hall while discussing the two new Professors.

The enchanted ceiling was a clear, pale gray. Katie and Leanne crossed the hall to take seats at the Gryffindor table, which was loaded down with tureens of porridge, plates of kippers, mountains of toast and dishes of eggs and bacon. Shortly after Katie had tucked into a large bowl of porridge, there was a flutter of wings as hundreds of owls came streaming into the Great Hall, landing on tables to deliver magazines, letters, newspapers and packages of items left at home. Katie wasn't surprised to find that Smidgeon did not show up. He hadn't seemed too pleased with her after last night, and her father was so disorganized, it'd probably take him a week to discover that she'd forgotten anything. Leanne, on the other hand, had received a tin of homemade cookies from her mother as a start-of-term present.

As breakfast continued, the Heads of the four Houses began passing out schedules to the students.

"Well," said Katie as she looked over the schedule for that day, "Charms and History of Magic in the morning, then Transfiguration and Care of Magical Creatures in the afternoon. I guess it could've been worse."

"Double potions on Friday afternoons!" exclaimed Leanne. "I'm toast!"

"It'll be okay," comforted Katie. "You know I can help you through."

"I don't know how you can stand Potions," said another fourth year, Rose, from across the table.

"The potions are fine," Katie responded, "It's just the teacher that makes things bad. Oh, no, look at Monday! It's like they took my worst subjects and put them all together: History of Magic, Ancient Runes and Herbology, all in the same day!"

Leanne checked her wristwatch. "We should go now," she said, "It'll take us a while to get to the Charms corridor." And with that, Katie, Leanne, Rose and the other fourth year Gryffindor girls set off for class.

Katie was quite glad that their first week only started with a Thursday because, by the end of double potions on Friday, she already had a backlog of homework, though Professor Lupin had been quite kind and spared them any. However, her load seemed trivial compared to the deluge of assignments Alicia and Angelina were receiving. Even Fred and George seemed a bit less enthusiastic than they had in years past. Apparently, OWL year would take its toll, no matter what they said or did to avoid it. Yet, Friday night, even studious Alicia could be found putting her textbooks and parchment away as they all enjoyed the sweets left over from the Hogwarts Express and a boisterous game of Exploding Snap.

Saturday morning, Katie woke to a shrill cry from one of her dorm mates. Sitting up, she saw Rhea, the pale, auburn-haired girl whose bed stood across the room from her own, rummaging madly through her trunk.

"What's going on?" Katie asked groggily.

"My bracelet!" cried Rhea. "My favourite tennis bracelet! It's gone!"

Katie collapsed back onto her pillow. "Oh, well, if that's all…"

"What if somebody nicked it?" asked Rhea, horrified.

"No one stole your bracelet, Rhea," Katie heard Rose say in a sleepy voice. "It probably just fell on the floor."

"It's not there! I already looked!" By the commotion she was making, Katie guessed that she had gone back to tearing through her trunk. "Oh, Mum's going to kill me!"

The bracelet had not been found by breakfast, and Rhea was close to hysterics. Rose and Leanne were doing their best to comfort her, and they promised that the whole dorm would spend the morning looking for it. Katie agreed most grudgingly. She had put off her stack of homework the previous night in hopes of tackling it that morning. Unfortunately, her Gryffindor sense of chivalry prevailed and she left the breakfast table with a tired wave to Alicia and Angelina as she trooped off after her dorm mates.

They searched the dormitory, spiraling staircase leading to it, common room, corridors, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms and Potions classrooms but the bracelet was nowhere to be found. Rhea was in tears by the time lunch rolled around. Even though she wished she could have been doing homework, Katie couldn't help but feel quite sorry for her. The group trudged down to the Great Hall, Rose and Leanne with their arms around her, murmuring the most comforting words they could find. They ate their meal in glum silence while Rhea continued to sob quietly into her steak and kidney pie. Afterwards, they returned to Gryffindor tower, where Katie finally pulled out her textbooks and resigned herself to studying.

Sunday was little better. Rhea was still puffy-eyed from the day before, so Katie made a point to dress and get to breakfast quickly. Alicia and Angelina were both a bit dazed from all the studying they had done the day before, and it was all Katie could do just to persuade them to take a walk around the lake for some fresh air. That evening, she ended up chatting a bit with Oliver so as not to distract her fifth year friends. Katie had to admit that this was not a very good indicator for the rest of the year.

The following week was brutal. On Monday, Katie was assigned a five-page translation before the next Ancient Runes class on Wednesday. Leanne wasn't too much happier with Trelawney (Leanne took Divination instead), but at least she was not brutally stabbing her carrots at lunch. Then, that afternoon, the Flutterby Bush Katie was supposed to be pruning in Herbology came out looking more like a bonsai tree than anything else. Professor Sprout frowned at her as she apologized again and again for cutting off far too much. That night, she got as far into the runes translation as she could stand, before switching to the foot-long essay Professor Binns had assigned. At eleven-thirty, she nearly fell asleep with her head in A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshott, and decided to turn in. Tuesday was a little easier, as it consisted of two of her best subjects (double Defense Against the Dark Arts and Charms) then Transfiguration. Wednesday was long and tiring with Transfiguration and Potions followed by Herbology (she was very careful not to take too much off this time) and Ancient Runes, where Katie received a disapproving glare from the Professor when she handed in an incomplete translation. That night, it was Astronomy at the top of the castle's tallest tower. Thursday dragged on, and Katie woke Friday morning very glad to have only her top subjects that day—Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms and, finally, Potions in the afternoon. As their double Potions cleared up, with Snape frowning at her thorough essay on antidotes, Katie felt an immense wave of relief wash over her. The first full week of classes was over. Katie was finding it harder than ever to study night after night. She may not have visited Egypt, but her two-and-a-half month break from school work of any kind had been more than enough to break her work ethic from the year before. Alicia and Angelina seemed to be suffering even worse than she. In fact, they had barely spoken since Sunday. For not the first time, Katie actually wished that she was in their year, just so they could spend more time together. Leanne was nice, but Rhea was still spouting conspiracy theories about her vanished bracelet ad nauseam.

Katie finished Friday dinner rather quickly, then headed off to the library alone, just to get some quiet time. She strode randomly through the shelves, looking here and there at a rune dictionary or a guide to easy jinxes. She stood there, staring at the jinx guide for a while, her thoughts a buzzing mixture of Weasley twins and pranks played with Alicia and Angelina and trips to the hospital wing. After half an hour or so, she could begin to hear herself think again. Sighing at the fact the she would probably be studying again tonight, she started to make her way back up to the entrance to Gryffindor Tower. Walking dazedly along the fifth-level corridor with the statue of Boris the Bewildered, she didn't notice she wasn't alone until...

"Katie!"

She spun around and was surprised for the second time that year to be gazing at the handsome features of Cedric Diggory.

"Hi!" she said brightly. It felt like all the pieces of Flutterby Bush she had trimmed off this week were now sprouting in her stomach.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Just coming back from the library," she said, "Lots of homework..."

"Tell me about it," he said with one of his melting smiles. Katie tried not to grin back too hugely.

"So, um, what are you doing here?" she inquired curiously. "I thought the Hufflepuff dormitories were down in the basement."

"They are," said Cedric shiftily.

"Then..." she let the sentence hang.

Cedric scuffed his foot along the floor, looking somewhat guilty. "I shouldn't be telling you this..."

"Oh, go on," pleaded Katie, "I love a good secret."

"Promise you won't tell?" he asked anxiously.

"Why would I?" asked Katie innocently, while grinning alarmingly like the Weasley twins.

"Just promise me," pleaded Cedric.+

"Alright, I promise."

"The Prefect's Bathroom is right up here and I was coming up for a wash."

"Oh," said Katie, slightly disappointed. She had expected something a little more dramatic. "Well, it's really cool that you get your own bathroom."

"Yeah, it's really nice," he said absentmindedly, "White marble and--"

"What!" Katie exclaimed. "That has to be great!" This bathroom sounded more like one that belonged in a mansion than a thousand-year-old castle.

Cedric considered her for a second then asked, "Do you, um, want to see it?"

"Sure!" Katie practically jumped with excitement. She could hardly believe that she had come across Cedric again, first of all, and second, that he was taking her into a secret room... Her stomach did another huge summersault with joy.

"Follow me," he said. They continued four doors down before Cedric stopped. "Cover your ears," he said.

Katie obeyed, to a certain extent. Unfortunately, Cedric whispered the password quietly enough that she couldn't catch it. The door swung open to reveal the most beautiful bathroom Katie had ever seen. It was softly lit by a splendid, candle-filled chandelier, and everything was made of white marble, including what looked like an empty, rectangular swimming pool sunk into the middle of the floor. About a hundred golden taps stood all around the pool's edges, each with a differently colored jewel set into its handle. A diving board extended its way out into the large basin as well. Long white linen curtains hung at the windows; a large pile of fluffy white towels sat in a corner, and there was a single golden-framed painting on the wall of a mermaid, who swam lazily out of her frame as Katie watched.

"Wow," she breathed, "It's gorgeous..."

"Yeah," said Cedric, coming up behind her. Katie looked at him sideways. Her heart was thumping at about twice the rate it should have been. Could he be thinking what she hoped? She pretended to gaze around the bathroom more, but kept her attention on Cedric out of the corner of her eye, reveling in the feeling of being close to him. Any minute now, one of them had to make a move…

Cedric cleared his throat. Katie practically jumped. This was it!

"I, um...need to take a bath now."

"Oh, right," said Katie, flushing. "Well... thanks for showing me," she said meekly.

"No problem," he responded. "I assume you can let yourself out?"

"Yeah," she said, now determined to show as little of her embarrassment and disappointment as possible. "I'll see you."

She turned around and strode as purposefully as she could towards the door. Every fiber in her body wanted to turn on a dime, run into Cedric's arms and tell him that she thought he was the best bloke in the whole school. Yet, somehow, she managed to keep herself contained. She gave him a quick parting wave at the door. He smiled and waved back, she then forced herself to pull the hefty door shut.

It could have gone better, but Katie still spent the whole rest of the trip to Gryffindor Tower daydreaming about Cedric, and what she wished had happened in the Prefect's Bathroom.

When she reached the Gryffindor common room, she decided she would go straight to bed. There was no way she could focus on homework now. Not with her mind on Cedric like this. Better to get to bed early and deal with it in the morning. With that, she waved to her friends, explained that she was drop-dead tired, and climbed the winding stairs to her dormitory.

The next day, Katie lazily dressed and headed down to breakfast, taking a seat next to Alicia.

"Finally!" Alicia exclaimed, "We've been waiting all week to see you!"

"Yeah, well it seems like you've both got books for heads these days," grumbled Katie, "Are OWLs really that bad?"

"I've heard it's just a start-of-term thing," said Angelina. "Lots and lots of review to make sure everyone's up to snuff before they start teaching you the more complex stuff that'll actually be on the examinations."

"I hope it's just a start of term thing," Katie said dejectedly. "I miss you guys. Rhea's been a basket case for a week now."

"Was it that bracelet thing you'd mentioned?" asked Alicia as she spread marmalade on her toast.

"Yeah. She reckons someone's stolen it," replied Katie. "I don't think so, but it hasn't turned up yet, so I'm stumped. I've never heard of stuff just disappearing before."

Angelina shrugged. "If someone stole it, it'd have to be a girl 'cause boys can't get up that staircase. But I can't think of anyone who would."

"Anyway," said Alicia completely redirecting the conversation, "anything else going on with Cedric?"

Katie nearly choked on her kipper. Alicia clapped her hard on the back. Katie looked up, her face turning red.

"Should I take that blush to mean 'yes' or that you've still got something in your windpipe?" asked Angelina. Katie didn't like the devilish glint in her eyes.

"Well, um…" she started, clapping her hand to her chest.

"So something did happen!" exclaimed Alicia.

Katie shook her head. "There's just no hiding it from you guys, is there?"

"Nope," said Angelina as if it was obvious.

"Actually, I just randomly guessed," Alicia told her, "but I remember I really started noticing the lads last year."

"But Katie's almost as old as us," Angelina corrected her.

"Does that mean I'm behind the pack?" Katie asked.

"Don't worry about it," Alicia assured her. "Your maturity makes up for it."

"Right…" Katie drawled.

"You know," said Angelina, "I'm almost surprised you don't fancy a seventh year instead. You could probably keep up with them, as far as maturity goes."

Katie coughed. The only seventh years she was very familiar with were Quidditch-obsessed Oliver Wood, and self-obsessed Percy Weasley. Maybe there was something about their year that made them all fixated on something. Katie had yet to have a boyfriend, but she was sure that she would prefer someone who could give her at least some of his attention.

"Anyway," said Alicia, steering the conversation back to where it had started, "what happened with Cedric?"

Katie shot her a reluctant look. She had hoped their tangent would keep going so she wouldn't have to disclose about her trip to the Prefect's Bathroom. Now that the attention was back on the subject, however, she knew she couldn't weasel her way out. She had tried something similar her second year, to disastrous results: specifically, her on the floor with both older girls on top, tickling her until she had relented. So, she told them about meeting Cedric and him showing her the beautiful marble bathroom and, most dejectedly, how nothing had come of it.

"That coward!" snapped Angelina when Katie had finished.

"Ange…" Alicia started

"What? He didn't do anything, did he? Even though they had a perfect opportunity to—"

"Angie, we can't be sure of anything."

"But he—"

"—is taking things slow, yes. But we don't know how interested he is. Maybe he's just feeling her out."

"Why does he need to 'feel her out?'" Angelina demanded. "Katie's the best lass in her year!"

"And you're not biased at all," Alicia said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Well, she is!"

"You guys," Katie interrupted, "You're treating me like your little sister again."

"Sorry," they apologized in unison.

"Listen, all I'm trying to say is that Cedric needs to make a move," announced Angelina.

"And I'm saying that there's probably more going on than you realize," replied Alicia, "He may just be a really nice guy or he may be getting over his last girlfriend and doesn't want to rush into things"

"Or, we could just state the obvious, and say he's being really, really, ridiculously nice to her, and that he probably fancies her and that he just squandered a perfect opportunity to talk to her alone!"

"Ange," sighed Alicia, "don't you see this is why boys are scared of you? You rush into things like this, things that have way more consequences—"

"I still say he's a coward."

"And I still say it's only the second week of term."

There was a little, miffed pause as the two of them gave each other a dirty look. Katie let them have their moment as she finished off a strip of bacon. Then, as usual, the two agreed to disagree and went back to their breakfasts. Katie thought she probably could have done without this analysis of her love life, but decided it was best just to enjoy being back with her best friends.

Most of the weekend was again spent doing homework, but Fred and George were making a deliberate effort to make it as enjoyable as possible by cracking jokes and bringing food up from the kitchens. In return, they practically got to copy Alicia's work. Katie reaped the benefits of being next to four people who had already been taught most of the topics she was going through.

By Sunday lunch, they all felt a little addled, though accomplished, and decided to bring their books outside to enjoy one of the last bright and clear fall weekends. Katie, being a year below, finished off her homework with an essay on Erklings for Lupin in the early afternoon. She lay there with her friends for a while, basking in the autumn sun, but soon became restless. She gathered up her things, said goodbye to the group, and headed back to the castle in search of something to do.

Dumping her books on her bed, Katie looked around for some inspiration. Her moving figurine of Whitby, the dashingly handsome Puddlemere United captain, gave her an idea. She took off, back down through the castle and outside. Eventually, she came to the western part of the castle grounds, where the Quidditch stands and six tall goal hoops rose from the earth. She jogged over to the broom shed and retrieved her Cleansweep Seven. She would have liked a faster model—she had always envied Harry his Nimbus Two Thousand—but as the old Cleansweep hadn't failed her yet, she felt a pang of guilt every time she picked up Which Broomstick.

Carrying her broom out onto the pitch, Katie imagined Madam Hooch shouting "Mount your brooms!" She obeyed, as if Madam Hooch was really there, then imagined her high-pitched whistle ringing in her ears as she kicked off with as much power as she could muster. The autumn air felt wonderful against her face as she accelerated upwards. The next moment, she twitched the handle to the right and arced in the same direction. She practiced all sorts of maneuvers: swerves, dives, roundabouts and the tightest corners she could manage.

After a while, she heard someone with a deep voice and Scottish accent call her name, and turned to see Oliver Wood coming up behind her on his Comet 260.

"I see you haven't forgotten too much over the summer," she said cheekily, "but let me see your shimmy."

Katie smiled and obliged. She flew directly at Oliver for ten meters, then zigzagged back and forth as quickly as she could, before passing right by his left ear as he remained stationary.

"Not too bad," said Oliver as she arced around to face him again. "I can tell your broom is starting to get a little list, but you need to keep your elbows tucked in. Try again."

Katie was not exactly sure she appreciated Oliver interrupting her free-fly time to coach her, but she knew it would make her a better player if she got an early start. Thus, she once again flew at him, zigzagged, and quickly swerved around at the last minute.

"Better with the elbows this time," Wood called, "but you were too far above your broom, couldn't corner as fast. Once more."

Katie sighed, turned around and repeated the maneuver again. This time, she concentrated hard on every single part of her body, to make sure they were in the correct position.

"Good, good," said Oliver. "Get that in your muscle memory and you'll be able to skirt around a majority of players. Now, how's your side roll?"

The two of them spent the rest of the afternoon on their unofficial Quidditch practice. Half-way through, Oliver took out a Quaffle, the scarlet-colored ball that Chasers used to score. He took up his post as Keeper at one end of the pitch, hovering in front of the goal hoops as Katie flew at him, using some of the maneuvers they had just practiced in an attempt to score. She only got it passed him once in twenty minutes.

"It's your eyes, Katie!" Oliver called when she shrieked with aggravation after he saved a particularly hard-flung pass. "You need to fake with your eyes, too! You have to take your eyes off the hoop for a second. Sell me on that other hoop!"

"I'll sell your mother on that hoop," Katie grumbled back.

Oliver looked at her in an elder-brotherly way, then at the sun getting low in the sky.

"Blimey!" he exclaimed "It's already dinner!"

They both pointed their broom handles at the ground, quickly descending. Both pulled up in unison at the last second and landed with practiced grace on the firm ground once again. Katie wobbled a little as she dismounted. Oliver grabbed her arm with a firm hand to steady her

"Easy, now," he said. "I'll bet you haven't been on a broom in a while."

Katie shook her head. "I practiced every chance I got this summer," she admitted while suppressing a flush. She didn't want Oliver to know that she had dreamed about Quidditch over the summer holidays almost as much as he had. It was one of the things that kept her going through school—one of the few things she really excelled in, other than potions—and her way of letting out stress and suppressed emotions.

"Now, why would a pretty girl like you do something like that?" Wood asked with a smile as he let go of her, bringing her back to the present.

Katie shrugged. "Just nutters, I guess."

Oliver's grin grew even wider and he started off towards the broom shed. "We'll make a star of you yet, Bell."

Katie stared at his back for a second and then ran to catch up with him. "I thought I already was a star!" she joked.

"Here," said Oliver, suddenly serious. He gave her a sidelong glance, as if sizing her up. She looked as squarely back at him as she could. "You're a star here. But there's bigger things out there… It's always been my dream to play Quidditch professionally." He admitted quietly.

"Of course it has. You didn't think we were all too thick to notice, did you?" Katie asked playfully.

"But there might be scouts coming this year."

"You'll wow the heck out of them," said Katie confidently.

"But what if I don't? What if I'm not good enough?" Oliver asked, his voice remaining quieter than usual. "I don't know what I'd do otherwise."

Katie looked at him worriedly. He didn't sound at all like the Quidditch maniac she was used to. He wasn't pumped for the game, or shouting corrections at practice. He was talking to her like a sister, opening up to her. She wasn't entirely sure how she felt about it.

"It's going to be okay."

It was the only thing she could think of to say at the moment. The fact of the matter was that she was so wrong-footed by this unexpected glimpse into the "real" Oliver Wood that she was temporarily struck dumb. Instead, she placed what she hoped was a comforting hand on his shoulder as they reached the broom shed. As he pulled away, she had an idea of what to say.

"Just you wait," she said as she handed him her Cleansweep to put away. "We're going to win this Quidditch Cup, and with style!"

The shadow of a smile tugged at the corners of Oliver's lips and he looked at her gratefully. "Promise?" he asked playfully.

"Cross my heart," Katie replied, doing the associated motion.

"Off we go, then!" said Oliver, striding off to the castle with his normal vigor. "Wouldn't want to miss a meal after a training session!"

Katie snorted as she fell into step beside him. "Right. Like we'll ever go hungry with Fred and George around."

Angelina raised an eyebrow as Katie sat next to her at dinner. Oliver continued along the table and sat with the other seventh years.

"And where were you, young missy?" Angelina asked.

"The pitch," Katie replied offhandedly while pouring herself a goblet of pumpkin juice.

"Anything we should be sorry to have missed?" inquired Alicia.

"Not really. We just worked on some maneuvers. Then he got all worried about scouts coming this year."

"'Course he's worried," said Fred from across the table. "Practically has kittens before every game."

"Mental," muttered George around some roast beef while shaking his head sadly, "Absolutely nutters."

Katie kept to herself as she chewed thoughtfully on her pasty. Now that she looked back on it, she was rather pleased that she had been able to see a different side of Wood, even if it hadn't been welcome at the time. She supposed she had always known he had to be more than the two-dimensional front he put up at practices and games, but it was always good to have a true reality check on these matters. That evening, she hung out with Alicia, Fred, Angelina and George in the warm common room, talking and laughing. When she began to tire, she stood up and bade her friends goodnight and hurried up to her dorm, hoping that she had only imagined the furtive glance from Oliver.

On Tuesday morning, Katie awoke to a resounding chorus of "Happy Birthday" sung by all her dorm mates, Angelina and Alicia. She grinned widely at them as they finished her song, and thanked the two older girls breathlessly as they clasped her into a tight, three-person hug. Alicia and Angelina stuck around as Katie descended upon the small pile of presents at the foot of her bed. She got a beautiful jade-decorated penknife and a bottle of emerald-colored ink from Leanne (Katie's favourite colour was green). The Weasley twins gave her a pocket sneakoscope and chunks of Honeyduke's creamy homemade nougat. Once again, they amazed her at their ability to pull food seemingly out of nowhere. She gave Angelina a huge hug after unwrapping her gift: a new pair of Quidditch gloves, which she desperately needed as her old ones were sporting gaping holes. She received two books from Alicia: Herbology Made Easy and The Handbook of Do-It-Yourself Broom Care. There was also a picture of the whole Gryffindor Quidditch team, signed by all members in shining, silvery ink. Katie thought she could remember a small, mousy-haired boy taking the picture the previous year. Creepey, was that the name? She shook her head. At the very bottom sat a small package, wrapped so dreadfully that Katie was sure it had to be from her father. She picked it up and tore open the wrapping to reveal a dusty, velvet-covered box. Angelina and Alicia leaned in closer to get a better look. Katie gingerly opened it to reveal a folded and filthy piece of paper. She removed the paper and unfolded it to find a sloppily scrawled note from her father.

Katie,

This was your mother's. She'd said she wanted to give it to you when you were older. You've grown into a beautiful young woman now and I think you should have it. I'm proud of you.

Love,

Dad

Katie handed the note to her friends for them to read, then looked down to the velvet box in her lap. Inside was coiled a beautiful silver chain with a small, silver locket. She slowly reached a hand down to pick it up. It was skillfully made, that much she could tell, for though the chain was of reasonable thickness, it felt light as a feather. She was also surprised to find not a piece of it was tarnished, though there was a dust-free outline in the box where the necklace had lain. Next, she examined the small locket. She tried to open it, but it remained steadfastly shut. She tried prying it open with a fingernail, but to no avail.

"Give it here," said Angelina. Katie handed it over reluctantly as Angelina pulled out her wand. She tapped the locket, saying "Alohomora."

Nothing happened. Angelina tried prying it open, but the locket remained as tightly closed as ever.

"Curious," Alicia said as Katie took the necklace back. "Well, let's at least see you put it on."

"I don't know," said Angelina. "I don't like the way that locket's behaving."

"It's her mother's," responded Alicia shortly, "Do you think her mother would leave her something that was harmful?"

Angelina looked offended, but didn't say anything. Katie slowly brought the necklace around her neck and clasped it.

"Wow," said Alicia, "It looks really good on you."

"You might even say perfect," said Angelina. "There's some strange magic in that thing."

Katie, who had remained silent, stood up and found the mirror on her bedside table.

"It's quite becoming of you, darling," the mirror said in a raspy voice. "I do wish you would wear jewelry more often. You're a very pretty girl…"

"Oh, shut it," said Katie as she stared at her reflection. She had to admit, she loved this necklace, even though she had never been one for jewelry.

"Well, we'd better get a move on," said Angelina. "Breakfast's already started."

"'Kay," said Katie, putting the mirror down.

She quickly slipped out of her pajamas and into her school robes, tucking the necklace under her collar. Grabbing her bag, she hurried down the spiraling stairs after her friends. Whether it was her birthday or the gift from her mother, Katie couldn't say. But she felt as if there were wings on her feet that day. She was lighthearted all through double Defense Against the Dark Arts (in which they covered lobalugs). She sailed through color-change charms, and even made quite a bit of progress turning her hedgehog into a pin cushion in Transfiguration, a class in which she usually struggled.

"I wonder if there's some sort of charm to bring luck," she mused as she ate a very hearty dinner. Angelina, who had not been having a very good day, scowled at her and she desisted.

That night in the common room, she spent as much time on her homework as she did fiddling with her new necklace. Now that she was done with classes, her mind wandered back to the stubborn locket, wondering why it wouldn't open. She knew there were locking spells that resisted Alohomora, but she couldn't remember—if she'd ever really known—what they were.

After Fred and George gave her a cupcake that exploded when she blew out the single candle, she had a good laugh and decided to turn in for the night. Bidding everyone farewell, she headed up to her dormitory, and slipped into her pajamas and climbed into bed. It had been a good birthday, except that she hadn't seen Cedric other than across the Great Hall. Maybe it was better that way. The last thing she needed today was another in-depth analysis of her love life. Katie was surprised how much Alicia and Angelina could talk about it. If it hadn't been for them, she would've thought all her experience with love could be summed up in a single word: nonexistent. But now she was fifteen and old enough to get serious about boys. Alicia was right, she had started noticing them more this year. A few times in class, she had caught herself gazing over at Ethan, probably the most attractive fourth year Gryffindor. Of course, she had eyes mainly for Cedric. There was just no comparing to him; his grey eyes, dark hair, exquisite features, not to mention his exemplification of Hufflepuff gentlemanliness made him the ideal dreamboat, at least in Katie's opinion. Plus, he was a Quidditch player, so they'd have something to talk about for hours.

Lying there as the room darkened, Katie was surprised to find her bed still partly illuminated. Sitting up, the dim gleam followed her. She looked down at her chest. She could just make out a pale light coming from around her throat. She groped on her bedside table for her mirror. Finally grasping the handle, she slowly brought it in front of her and stared down into it, absolutely astonished. Glowing, ever so faintly, around her neck was the silver chain and locket.

The mirror spoke to her once again in its raspy voice. "Quite a gift you've got there."