Harry landed on the muddy earth with a thud. The dementors began to swarm towards his sprawled, limp form. Katie, along with the rest of the Gryffindor team, sped towards her fallen teammate.
At the same moment, Cedric pulled out of his dive, his fist held high above him in triumph, a grin spread across his face. When he didn't hear cheering, he looked around, then below him, and realized what had happened.
Katie soared just over the dementors on her broom. Her stomach hurt and her head felt like it was splitting open, but she had to get to Harry. The crying got louder, that horrible sound of a child's true, agonized scream. Katie couldn't suppress the images anymore; her mother on her deathbed, her mother in her coffin, her father crying—the scenes flashed before her eyes, one after the other. Her head was pounding, but she had to get to... Katie tumbled off her broom and onto the mud of the pitch just a few meters from where Harry lay, fighting against the scenes of suffering and despair that tried to control her vision.
Something, it looked like the silvery ghost of a beautiful bird, came sweeping down on the dementors. Hooded heads turned towards it and they began to scatter, but not soon enough. The screaming in Katie's head continued, and she began to relive her mother's funeral.
"Get her up! Get her up!" voice came drifting through Katie's waking nightmare.
The images became blurred. Katie wasn't sure what she was seeing anymore, but she could feel herself being pulled up. Her arm was placed across someone's shoulders, and an arm gripped her around the waist. Katie saw another flash of silver and she returned to reality. She felt a strange feeling in her stomach and immediately knew what she had to do, though she dreaded it.
For the second time that year, Katie doubled over with a caring stranger supporting her, let nature take its course. When she straightened, however, she was surprised to see not the gray eyes of Cedric Diggory, but the chocolate brown ones of Oliver Wood.
"I—I'm sorry," she gasped.
"Don't worry about it," he said. "Just, do yourself a favor, and get to the Hospital Wing, okay?"
Hospital Wing. The mention of it brought a flood of memories—the game, the dementors, and Harry falling.
"No, Harry's the one who needs to get to the Hospital Wing," Katie protested.
"I don't have time to discuss this," Oliver replied wearily. "Ange, Ali, can you take care of her?"
"Sure," said Angelina, coming to take Oliver's place.
Katie shrugged her off. "I don't need to be babied," she snapped.
"Calm down, Kates," said Alicia. "We're just trying to help."
"Where's Harry?" asked Katie, wiping a bit of vomit from the corner of her mouth with the sleeve of her robes.
"Here," said Angelina, leading her forward. Katie gripped her hand firmly—she still wasn't feeling back to normal, but she was more concerned about Harry. He was the one who had fallen from so far up.
Professors Dumbledore, Lupin, Snape and McGonagall were all bent low over the scrawny figure still sprawled motionless on the ground. Oliver was squatted down next to Dumbledore.
"He'll be alright, Oliver," Dumbledore was telling him. "He's just unconcious. It doesn't look like he hurt anything in the fall, but I'm not Madam Pomfrey. I'll be having a word with Cornelius about this, however," he added with a cold anger. Katie was surprised, she had never heard him talk like that before, but just that cold tone in his voice was scarier than if he had been breathing fire.
He waved his wand and a stretcher materialized immediately with a small popping noise. Another wave and he guided Harry's limp form onto it. As Dumbledore began to walk the stretcher up to the castle, Katie was distracted by raised voices behind her. Turning around, she saw Cedric and Madam Hooch in a heated debate.
"I can't do that!" said Cedric. "It's just not right!"
"You won the match fair and square," Madam Hooch replied, "I appreciate your sportsmanship, Diggory, but the result will not be overturned," Cedric opened his mouth, but she continued before he could interrupt, "or replayed. The match goes to Hufflepuff, and that is final."
"If I knew it wasn't impossible, I'd say he was crazier than Wood," Fred commented as he and George caught up with the three Chasers.
"He was trying to get the results overturned?" Katie asked, trying to sound as innocently curious as possible.
"Yep," George replied. "With all these loonies running around the castle, you'd think we were a madhouse, not a school."
"Well now, Cedric didn't even need any cajoling from you to ask for a rematch," Angelina said as she grinned madly at Katie, who flushed brightly. Alicia, however, quickly elbowed Angelina in the ribs.
"Ow! What'd you—"
"Who didn't need to cajole Cedric?"
Katie winced as she recognized the Scottish accent could mean only one thing.
"No one," said Alicia almost too quickly.
"Our little angel Katie here had a date with handsome Cedric on Halloween," George informed Oliver, batting his eyelashes.
"Stuff it, George," Katie warned.
"Way to go, nitwit," Alicia muttered at George but was interrupted when Oliver exploded.
"SHE WHAT!"
All six of them winced at the force of his outburst.
"It wasn't a date," Katie told him calmly. She wasn't sure what to do to remedy the situation, but that could certainly be a start.
"I...but…INSUBORDINATION!" he yelled.
"Wood—"
"You were consorting with the enemy!"
"I wasn't consorting with anyone!" Katie replied hotly, "We were just—"
"What did you tell him?" Oliver demanded.
"I didn't tell him anything! We didn't even talk about Quidditch!" protested Katie, recoiling from her enraged Captain.
"Didn't you see how bad he felt when Madam Hooch wouldn't give him a rematch?" Alicia asked.
"Well, yes," Wood admitted. "Even though they did win it…fair and square," he added with a sullen note in his voice.
"So why would he act like that if he'd been wheedling information out of Katie?" Angelina asked.
Oliver looked up. "Don't you care that we just lost?" Wood shouted. "Don't you care about winning the cup?"
"Yes I do, Oliver," Katie replied with a dangerous tone in her voice.
"Then why?" he asked as he rounded on her. "Why would you put that on the line with—with him?"
"First of all," she responded with cold defiance, "I didn't put anything on the line because he didn't even try to get information out of me. Secondly, we didn't even know we'd be playing each other today. And thirdly, because he's a good man who actually cares about people as much as Quidditch."
Oliver looked at her, almost amazed. He opened his mouth, but when he saw Alicia and Angelina standing supportively behind her, and even Fred and George with sympathetic looks on their faces, he closed it again. Instead of retaliating, he turned on his heel.
"I'm going for a shower," he said gruffly, and stalked away.
"What a git," Fred muttered when Oliver was out of hearing range.
"You said it," George agreed. Still, Katie watched her Captain go.
"Come on, Katie," said Angelina, tugging lightly on her arm.
Katie shook her head. Her friends were right. Under no circumstances was he allowed to challenge her dedication to the team, and to the Cup, based on one afternoon in Hogsmeade which wasn't even a date, and where Quidditch was not even mentioned. Katie thanked that at least Alicia had had the sense to attempt to cut short the mishap. If Oliver had figured out her lie about the dance lessons, she was sure she would rue that oh-so-pleasant day. Katie turned her back on Wood as he disappeared into the locker rooms.
The five of them turned away from the sodden Quidditch pitch and continued in the rain and wind up to the welcoming light of Hogwarts castle. They bypassed the open door to the Great Hall, from which issued much whooping and cheering. The Hufflepuffs were apparently quite excited about that day's win. Instead, the soaked Gryffindor Quidditch team, sans its Captain, trudged in silence up the marble staircase to the third floor, then through winding corridors to end at the hospital wing.
The twins opened the double doors and allowed the ladies to pass before them.
"What are you doing here?" Madam Pomfrey demanded, bustling towards them "Get out of those soaking robes this instant before you catch a cold!"
"We're not going anywhere," said Angelina.
"Oh yes you are—"
"It's okay, Poppy," said Professor Dumbledore, who had stood up from the side of a hospital bed. Harry lay there, still apparently unconscious. Ron and Hermione were already by his side. Hermione was sniffling slightly. Ron looked utterly bewildered, and was very awkwardly patting Hermione's shoulder. "You said he should be waking soon. I think it best for all his friends to be here for him when he does."
Madam Pomfrey respected Dumbledore too much to contradict him, but she still didn't look pleased.
"Alright," she said. "They can stay 'till he's woken." She looked at the team, "But I'll only give you a few minutes afterwards. The boy needs a good night's sleep more than anything else."
"Thank you, Poppy," Dumbledore with an obliging smile. "I should inform the other students that he is indeed alive and well. Good evening to you all." He turned away from Harry, and gave the Gryffindor Quidditch team a friendly nod as he swept passed them and out of the double doors.
The scarlet-clad bunch made their way almost gingerly to Harry's side. He always looked scrawny, but lying unconscious in a bed made him appear downright frail.
"I don't believe it," said George, shaking his head. It was the first any of them had said about their (literally) fallen teammate, and it was the icebreaker the others needed. The emotions started to surface again.
"Lucky the ground was so soft," Angelina whispered hoarsely.
"I thought he was dead for sure," admitted Katie in the same low voice.
"But he didn't even break his glasses," commented George with a hint of awe in his voice.
"That was the scariest thing I've ever seen in my life," Alicia said, shaking her head as if the motion would wipe the memory from her mind.
Harry's eyes fluttered, then snapped open. He took in the Gryffindor Quidditch team, spattered with mud from head to foot, gathered around his bed, then the drenched Ron and Hermione on his other side.
"Harry!" said Fred, who looked extremely white underneath the mud. "How're you feeling?"
"What happened?" Harry said, sitting up so suddenly they all gasped.
"You fell off," said Fred. "Must've been–what–fifty feet?"
"We thought you'd died," said Alicia, who was shaking.
Hermione made a small, squeaky noise. Her eyes were extremely bloodshot.
"But the match," said Harry. "What happened? Are we doing a replay?"
No one said anything. Katie was sure everyone else felt as she did–unwilling to be the bearer of bad news.
"We didn't–lose?" persisted Harry.
"Diggory got the Snitch," said George. "Just after you fell. He didn't realize what had happened. When he looked back and saw you on the ground, he tried to call it off. Wanted a rematch. But they won fair and square...even Wood admits it."
"Where is Wood?" said Harry. He had obviously just noticed the Captain's absence.
"Still in the showers," said Fred. "We think he's trying to drown himself."
Harry put his face to his knees, his hands gripping his hair. Fred grabbed his shoulder and shook it roughly.
"C'mon, Harry, you've never missed the Snitch before."
"There had to be one time you didn't get it," said George.
"It's not over yet," said Fred. "We lost by a hundred points, right? So if Hufflepuff loses to Ravenclaw and we beat Ravenclaw and Slytherin..."
"Hufflepuff'll have to lose by at least two hundred points," said George.
"But if they beat Ravenclaw..."
"No way, Ravenclaw is too good. But if Slytherin loses against Hufflepuff..."
"It all depends on the points–a margin of a hundred either way–"
Harry lay there, not saying a word. Angelina and Katie soon joined in with Fred and George's debate. Alicia, however, stayed quiet and put a reassuring hand on Harry's shoulder.
After ten minutes or so, Madam Pomfrey came over to tell the team to leave him in peace.
"We'll come and see you later," Fred told him. "Don't beat yourself up, Harry, you're still the best Seeker we've ever had."
The team trooped out, trailing mud behind them. Madam Pomfrey shut the door behind them, looking disapproving. After staring dolefully at the locked hospital doors, they made their way up to Gryffindor to change into clean, dry robes. Katie had to admit that it felt wonderful. Fred and George nicked some food from the kitchens, since they didn't feel like going down to the Great Hall and receiving either pity or snide comments from the other students. Instead, Angelina, Alicia and Katie joined Fred, George and Lee, who they had managed to drag away from dinner, for pasties in the fifth year boys' dorm.
The meal began in silence. No one could really believe they had lost, and by a decent margin to boot: one-hundred points. Katie kept replaying the game in her head over and over. She analyzed every moment and every point to see if there was anything she could have done better. Every mistake, every turnover was a lost goal, or so Wood had told her, and with them a hundred points down in the rankings. They would have to win their other two games in spectacular fashion to overcome such a deficit. Either that, or one of the other teams would have to loose just as horribly as they had, which Katie highly doubted…Her concentration was broken when Angelina slammed her clenched fist on the floor.
"This is so stupid!" she said. "All of us, moping here like we just lost a family member, and Oliver ticked at Kates just because she spent an afternoon with someone who just happens to play Quidditch! We can't let this get us down!"
"You're right, Ange," said Alicia.
"If we're going to win this, we'll have to pick up the pace," Fred noted gloomily.
"À la Oliver," George agreed.
"Come on," Katie said, sitting up straighter. "It won't be that bad as long as we stick together."
"Don't you want to see Gryffindor with the Cup?" Angelina asked the twins.
"I want it just as bad as the next person," Fred replied, slightly indignant, "but I'm not selling my soul to get it."
"Come on," Lee pressed, "I think these girls have got the right idea. Are you in or are you out?"
The twins exchanged a look that said both of them would rather spend their time pranking Mr. Filch than practicing in the rain and wind in the Quidditch stadium, but then they responded in unison: "We're in."
"Good," said Alicia. "We practice harder than ever. No more giving Wood a hard time. He's a good Captain and we need him."
"But—" George started.
"No buts," Katie cut him off.
"To start," Alicia continued. "We'll read Oliver's playbook."
"Are you kidding?" Angelina burst out.
"That'll help a lot," said Katie. They all stared at her. "Well, as the only one who actually looked at the thing, I think I know," she said defensively.
"Good," said Alicia.
"What about equipment?" Lee asked.
"Good question," Alicia answered. "We don't have many funds, but—"
"Leave that to us," Fred told them.
Angelina threw him a suspicious look, but Alicia was the one who voiced the concern: "As long as it's nothing illegal."
"No. Just some…things…we've been working on," George responded casually.
"That's settled then. Now, the last thing we need is…" Alicia trailed off, and looked around the room.
"What?" asked Katie.
Alicia responded by saying "Accio parchment! Accio quill! Accio ink!" Gettting up to open the door, ink, quill and a roll of parchment fell into her arms. She returned to the group and began drafting a contract:
We, Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson, Fred and George Weasley and Katie Bell (with Lee Jordan as witness) solemnly swear to do everything in our power to win the Quidditch Cup. We will not argue overmuch with our Captain, we will read the playbook and learn the strategies therein and we will practice to the best of our ability. If we do not hold true to this contract, we will suffer a horrible, early death.
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Alicia finished with a flourish at the bottom of the page.
"A horrible, early death?" Angelina read. "I don't know if I want to sign for that."
"It is a bit harsh," Lee agreed.
"Fine," said Alicia. She muttered "evanesco" with a flick of her wand and filled the gap with "utter and unbearable humiliation."
"I suppose that's better," said Angelina.
"Let us do it," Fred offered, pulling the parchment towards himself. With another "evanesco" the twins had written "a suitable punishment, as decided by the other group members."
"That's no fair!" said Katie. "We can never think of as good punishments as you can, so if you two are the ones who mess up—"
"I'm not signing to anything else," George insisted.
"Or me," his twin added.
"I suppose that'll be good enough…" Alicia said. "Okay. I'm signing it. Dipping her quill to the ink once again, she signed her name on the first X. They passed the piece of parchment around and everyone signed. When it made its way around to Alicia again, she magically sealed it with her wand and tucked it into the inside pocket of her robes.
"It's settled, then," she said.
"All for one," George joked.
Fred looked at his cup and smirked. He raised it, adding, "and the Cup for all!"
Katie smiled. "I like it."
Angelina extended her hand into the space between them. The rest copied her. "All for one," she began.
"And the Cup for all!"
In most ways, Katie's life went back to normal after the Gryffindors' grim defeat. The Gryffindor team visited Harry again on Sunday morning, accompanied by Wood, who told Harry (in a hollow, dead sort of voice) that he didn't blame him the slightest.
Katie continued to work her way through her fourth year classes. They had started making simple antidotes in Potions, and she continued to draw attention from Snape only in the way he sneered nastily at her when he could find nothing at fault with her brew. Lupin, after returning from a sudden illness, moved them onto some more complicated creatures. She was even making noted progress in Transfiguration, and appreciated McGonagall's somewhat softened manor. Katie imagined McGonagall had been almost as shocked and disappointed in the Quidditch loss as her team. Snape had gleefully rubbed it in her face, no doubt, and sleazily echoed the Slytherins' woes: "If only our Seeker had been healthy…"
One thing that had changed for the worse, however, was the mysterious necklace. The glow that had been developing to a rather bright shine in the days leading up to the match, had suddenly been reduced to a rather dulled glow. Katie pondered the way events in her life had affected this mysterious property, but it was beyond her just what exactly the radiance (or lack thereof) meant.
Nevertheless, Katie's mood improved whenever she thought back to the Quidditch team's secret pact. Oliver, of course, was kept out of the loop. The rest of the team didn't want him having too much leverage over them. Otherwise, who knew what crazy practice regimens his maniacal mind could conjure. He was surprised, however, when the team began following his lead without question following the Hufflepuff match. Not that he was complaining. Wood assumed that they had come to realize that he had been right all along, or so Katie guessed. She didn't hold him in the highest esteem since he had so—in her opinion—unjustly yelled at her for her outing with Cedric. She stuck by her decision that Oliver had no right to question her personal encounters. He was her Captain on the field, but off, he was just another seventh year. And she meant to keep it that way.
Unfortunately, Katie could not have her druthers. After the first practice since the loss to Hufflepuff, Katie was making her way to the broom shed to put away her Cleansweep, when she heard that voice calling her name.
"Katie!"
She clenched her teeth and kept walking. She wasn't eager to talk to him, and she intended him to get that message.
"Katie."
He said it with more force this time, and she knew she couldn't shrug him off another time without getting scolded for being rude. (Though she considered it rather rich to receive a lecture on manners when Oliver was the one who had stuck his nose where it didn't belong.) To avoid this, Katie turned around to face him.
"What's this?" Oliver asked her, shaking a piece of parchment clenched in his left hand.
"What's what?" Katie asked dully.
"This!" he said, waving it in front of her nose.
"I still can't tell what it is, Wood."
"It's a letter from Madam Puddifoot," he informed her, "telling me that she never knew anything about giving you dance lessons."
"Oh, really?" answered Katie as unconcernedly as possible. She turned at continued on towards the broom shed. Oliver stepped into her path and Katie was forced to stop again.
"Katie, look at me," Oliver ordered her. Katie obeyed, but with her head thrown back defiantly.
"Yes?"
"Why did you lie to me?" he asked her earnestly. His brown eyes searched her own, but instead of anger, Katie saw only hurt. That threw her for a loop. She looked away as she tried to recover.
"Well…uh…you didn't seem to be too happy about the truth last time you found out about it," she retorted, though still somewhat clumsily.
Wood regarded her as he put two and two together. Katie almost felt bad as his sense of hurt seemed to deepen. It was almost a relief when the expected emotion of anger finally did rise to his features.
"Him?" Oliver demanded.
"He has a name."
"Cedric?" he inquired rather unkindly.
"Yes, Cedric," said Katie much more bravely than she felt. "And he's a very good teacher, too."
"I don't believe this…not again."
"It's the same thing as last time," Katie corrected him. "You're just getting mad about it all over again."
"That was on Halloween?"
"Yes. But I fail to see how you have the right to meddle in my personal affairs."
Completely ignoring her last statement, he pressed, "Has it happened since then?"
Katie blushed. "If you must know," she started. She was stalling and pretty sure he knew it. She wanted desperately to tell Oliver it had, just to spite him. But those simple brown eyes wanted an honest answer. He was her Captain, after all, and she had already lied to him once already. Did she want him to stop trusting her? She had to make up her mind. She finished, "No, it hasn't."
"Good," said Wood, though he still looked far from pleased. After a pause, he turned away.
"Wood," said Katie. He halted and turned back to her. "Why don't you trust me?"
Oliver considered her for a minute, then looked her straight in the eye. Katie felt like those dark eyes were boring into her. She wanted to look away, but was determined to show no signs of weakness.
"I do trust you," Wood finally replied and broke their eye contact. Katie eyed him suspiciously. Oliver didn't notice, however, as just then a figure loped towards them from the direction of the castle. Someone with a yellow and black-striped scarf. Oliver looked back at Katie and hid a grimace. "I just don't trust Cedric. Think about what you're doing, Katie."
Katie blinked in surprise as Wood turned and walked up to the castle. Why didn't he trust Cedric? Was there something she didn't know about him? Her mind was reeling as she fought to understand what those words might mean. Could Cedric really be out to use her to win the Quidditch Cup? Or was Oliver overreacting, as he seemed to do most of the time? Why did he have to be so confusing? One thought chased another around in her head as she watched Wood walk away. Cedric gave Oliver a jovial waved as he passed him. Wood nodded stiffly in return.
"Katie!" called Cedric, "I thought I'd find you here. I hope Wood didn't work you too hard."
Katie only shook her head and continued toward the broom shed. Cedric fell into step with her.
"Good," he continued, "because I was wondering if you'd like another dance lesson."
Katie managed a thin smile, but replied, "I don't think that's such a good idea."
"Why not? You did fine last time, and the first time's usually the hardest…"
"It's not that," she said as she finally put her Cleansweep away.
"Then what is it?" Cedric asked, coming up behind her. "I came out here so no one would have to see. I don't mind that you're shy about it."
He was being so nice, and he was so close. Katie knew if she turned around just right, she'd be in his arms. She could almost feel him now. She knew she should be tingling, and her stomach fluttering, so why didn't it? Why did she, all of a sudden, feel so hollow?
"I just can't," she said. She sidled sideways so as not to end up pressed up against him and exited the confined space back into the last autumn evening.
"Is there something wrong, Katie?"
What did he want from her? Did he want something from her? She couldn't decide. Now Oliver had her wondering…suspecting. How could she believe him? Why did she believe him? But what if he was telling the truth? What if Cedric was hiding something? He hadn't said he liked her, or even said that Hogsmeade was a date. Maybe this was all fun and games to him. Maybe all he cared about was Quidditch. Could it be?
"Katie?" Cedric's voice asked softly from behind her.
"I'm sorry, Cedric," said Katie. "But I can't see you for a while."
"What?" his long strides carried him to her side.
"I said I don't think I can see you for a while," she repeated.
"Is this about the game, because I'm really sorry about that. I tried to get a rematch, but Madam Hooch said we'd won it fair and square—"
Katie shook her head. "This isn't about the match. Even Wood admits you won fairly. I—I can't really explain, but—"
"Does this have something to do with Wood?" he asked.
"Sort of," Katie admitted. She had opened her mouth to explain the whole situation when Cedric cut her off.
"You don't have to explain."
Suddenly it hit Katie: he thought she fancied Oliver!
"It's not like that," she said quickly.
"It's okay, you don't have to explain," Cedric repeated.
"No! You don't understand—"
"It's okay," said Cedric and started walking away.
"No, It's not! You're not listening to me!"
"We don't have to talk about it."
"Yes we do!" shouted Katie, running up to him. "We do need to talk about it because it's not what you think!"
"I'll see you around," he called with a backwards wave.
Katie frowned and turned her back on him. She walked back to the broom she, which she had the duty of locking up since she was the last one to leave. This was so frustrating! Boys were so stupid! First Oliver, getting mad at her for having a casual encounter, then his cryptic warning against Cedric, and now the man of her dreams walking away from her because he thought she fancied Oliver. It was all too strange. She tapped the shed door a bit harder with her wand then was necessary to complete the spell, then shoved her wand back into her robe pocket. Turning, she just saw Cedric mounting the castle's front stairs. That was it. She was going to beat Oliver to a bloody pulp. There was nothing in the pact that said she couldn't cause him bodily harm.
She strode up to Gryffindor Tower, but as the time passed, she quickly lost her anger and was instead overcome by guilt about what she had done. She had lost Cedric, she was convinced, because she was too stupid to consider what he might think of Oliver. By the time she got to the Common Room, she bade a quick good-night to her friends and practically dashed up to her dormitory, where she fell on her bed sobbing. Worst of all when she reached into her robes for the comforting light of her mother's necklace, she found that it had been extinguished.
