Katie woke the next morning, and glanced out the window of Gryffindor tower only to find it an unwelcome, steely grey. She rolled over onto her side and attempted to go back to sleep. She just wanted to forget the night before. Her recent losing streak had been extremely depressing. Nothing seemed to have gone right since the loss to Hufflepuff. She rolled over again. She couldn't blame all her bad luck on the Quidditch match. That was such an… an Oliver thing to do. Sport was sport and that was it. Katie turned over once more.

"Are you going to get up, Katie, or just lie there thrashing around?" asked Leanne, a hint of annoyance in her normally cheery voice.

Katie turned—none too quietly—and glared at her friend. "I think thrashing is preferable," she responded.

"Oh, don't be such a crab," grumbled Rose.

"Lay off," Katie snapped. With that, she hurriedly dressed herself and exited the room before she took out her frustration on anyone else.

When Katie entered the Great Hall, the enchanted ceiling was still a bleak, ashen hue, though it had lightened a bit. Darkness in the morning was yet another reminder that the days were getting shorter and the sun weaker. These thoughts did nothing to raise Katie's spirits. She walked over the Gryffindor table and plopped moodily beside Alicia.

"What's wrong, Kates?" her friend asked immediately.

Katie sighed and launched into an explanation of the conversations between her, Oliver and Cedric the day before. She avoided eye contact throughout the whole thing, buttering her toast as an excuse to keep her eyes locked down on her plate. She finished anticlimactically with a, "… so I guess that's it."

"What a dolt," said Angelina, "I knew he was thick from the beginning."

"That was quite insensitive of him," Alicia agreed. "Although, he's been quite the gentleman up until now. This is quite out of character."

"I bet he has someone else," Angelina said.

Alicia quickly elbowed her in the ribs. "Ange!" she hissed.

"Sorry, it's just that—" Angelina didn't finish her sentence, as she found her mouth stuffed full with a large roll.

Turning innocently to Katie, Alicia said, "I think you should talk to him. Maybe he just needed some time to cool off."

"I bet he'll run the other way as soon as he sees me coming," Katie grumbled.

"Well, then," said Alicia, "are you sure he's worth your worry?"

There was no response. Instead, Katie chewed thoughtfully on her toast.

Katie tried finding Cedric in between classes that day. She was sure he had just been a bit hot-headed the previous evening and would have rethought things a little since then. If only she could talk to him, and explain to him, it would all be okay. Unfortunately, he was nowhere to be found and she didn't even catch a glimpse of him at lunch. In Transfiguration at the end of the day, she couldn't concentrate on turning her rabbit into a bunny slipper. Half the time, she was thinking about Cedric, and the other half she was trading glimpses with the very attractive Ethan McClain, who sat just across the room. She was just considering how flighty she must have become as she stared at his handsome features when she felt a light touch on her shoulder. Horrified, she looked up into the scrutinizing gaze of Professor McGonagall.

"I would appreciate if you would focus less on Mr. McClain and more on the length of your—slipper's—legs," she said.

Katie suppressed the blush that tried to fight its way to her cheeks.

"Yes, ma'am," she replied glumly as she lower her eyes back to her desk and held down her wide-eyed bunny slipper as it fought to scramble off her desk with its two front feet. Professor McGonagall was right. Why should she be staring at Ethan? After all, she'd be back to flirting with Cedric in no time. It wasn't over between them. Just a misunderstanding. A little squabble, like any couple might have. They were just getting over the bumpy parts beforehand. He could still ask her to be his girlfriend, she'd forget all about Ethan, and life would go on as if it had never happened…right?

Katie's hopes were not as heartily supported by Alicia and Angelina as she had expected.

"I don't know, Kates," said Alicia that night in the Gryffindor common room. "He can be a gentlemen and all, but sometimes people find things very hard to forgive and forget."

"But I didn't do anything wrong!" Katie protested.

"She's right, Ali," Angelina confirmed.

"It's all Oliver's fault!" exclaimed Katie.

Angelina and Alicia exchanged a meaningful look.

"What?" their younger friend demanded, exasperated at being left out of the loop.

"Oliver does have some blame in this," Angelina started.

"But Katie, you can't be too hard on him, okay?" Alicia entreated. "He didn't know the harm he was causing."

"Well, he should've," interjected Katie stubbornly.

"Katie, Oliver doesn't think like the rest of us," her friend persisted.

"We all know that, Ali," came the retort.

"So, just... be sensible when you talk to him about it," Alicia continued as if she hadn't been interrupted.

Katie crossed her arms huffily. Alicia and Angelina had been so supportive since he had accused her of "consorting with the enemy" after the Hufflepuff game. Why did they now think that he didn't deserve to have the pulp pummeled out of him?

"Why are you protecting him?" she asked.

"We're not!" insisted Angelina, "We just… don't want things to be… you know… awkward."

"Why would they be awkward?" asked Katie, suppressing what she had convinced herself was righteous anger, "He's hurt me—twice now—and it's my right to either beat or shame an apology out of him!"

Glaring at her friends, she slammed her Astronomy book closed, and hefting it and her half-finished star chart into her arms, stomped off to her room. After flopping down onto her bed a few minutes later, she laid there, taking a couple deep breaths to calm down. Of course she had every right to badger Oliver for what he had done! Shaking her head, she finally returned to her homework. She attempted in vain to make sense of the chart, and remember what observation she had been working on. Was it Mars in Libra? Or Mercury?

After another half-hour of struggling with herself, and every so often beating her fists on her bedspread in frustration, she finally gave up and decided to turn in early. Though she tried to soothe her sprits as she prepared for bed, nothing she thought of could quell the cry of injustice that rang in her head. As she climbed into bed and pulled the curtains tight about it, she was convinced she would fall asleep as she had woken: thrashing with unpleasant thoughts. This, however, did not occur when she was greeted with a very welcome sight. As she pulled her mother's necklace out to toy with it, as she sometimes did when she was restless, she saw that it had begun again—though very faintly—to glow.

Under the watchful gaze of Professor McGonagall, Katie managed to restrain her curiosity with regards to the dashing Mr. McClain during the opening lesson of Transfiguration the next morning. She could not, however, restrain herself after the fourth year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws had descended into the dungeons for Potions class. Katie glanced longingly at the back and, occasionally, side of Ethan's head as she silently counted the number of stirs between each ingredient. It, however, almost caused her to add the porcupine quills before she was supposed to. After catching her misstep just in time, she decided it was better to concentrate on the lesson at hand and wait until later to let her revel in the recent feelings of butterflies in her stomach.

When it was time for lunch, the students packed away their potion kits and turned in vials of their brews at the front of the classroom for grading. Katie ignored Professor Snape's customary sneer as she placed a vial with contents of the correct color and texture on his desk. Then, after thoroughly wiping down her part of the bench, Katie joined Leanne and her other dormmates as they walked up from the dungeons to the Great Hall for lunch.

Katie, however, did not make it to their final destination. Just as they were exiting the main staircase into the Entrance Hall, she saw none other than Oliver Wood coming her way. When he caught her eye, she could have no doubt as to why he was preceding directly towards her. Katie at first marveled at his absolute lack of social skill. How was it that he had such impeccably horrible timing? Then she panicked. She couldn't talk to him. Not now, when she had railed against him the night before and had as much an urge to pound him as ever. With some quick excuse to Leanne that she had forgotten something in the Potions classroom, Katie doubled back towards the lower levels of the castle. As she did so, her mind raced. She couldn't go to the dungeons as she'd said because, first of all, he'd know exactly where to find her, and secondly, Snape would know full well that she hadn't forgotten anything and turn her away as soon as her poor excuse was heard. This being the case, she quickly turned into the first available corridor.

"Katie, wait!" she heard a voice call.

Glancing back to be sure she was out of Oliver's sight, she ran for it, turning into the next hallway without thinking of where she was going. It was a broad stone corridor, brightly lit with torches. Paintings of food lined the wall, as if reminding her that she was missing lunch to run from her Captain. Then, to her horror, she realized that the continuing corridor was merely an illusion created by a very well-done painting. She was at a dead end. Cursing the whimsical spirit of Hogwarts, she ran her hands over the picture, to see if it could offer help, but to no avail. She could hear approaching footsteps along the hallway leading to the one she was in. Knowing that she might be discovered at any minute, Katie turned around to look for inspiration. There was nothing near by but a painting of a gigantic silver bowl filled with fruit. She went to it immediately and began running her hands over it as well, hoping that something might be discovered of it. Her heart was pounding so loud, she wouldn't be surprised if Oliver knew exactly where she was from the sound of it.

"Please…please…" she whispered pleadingly.

Miraculously, as she ran her hands over the pear, it giggled and turned into a handle. Without thinking, she took the handle and pulled. The painting swung open to reveal a large room, which Katie stumbled into with such hurry that she lost her balance and fell to the flagged-stone floor. When she worriedly glanced back, she saw only the back of the painting. It had closed quickly, and without great noise. Once her heart stopped beating quite so loud and other noises made their way to her brain, she heard squeaks of all sorts and, upon looking forward once again, saw a score of little people with bat-like ears and round, wondering eyes crowded around her. Startled, she jumped to her feet.

"House-elves?" she asked out loud.

"Oh, yes, Miss!" squeaked one nearby.

"May we be of service, Miss?" squeaked another.

"What can we do for you, Miss?" asked yet another with a most polite bow.

"I…uh…" Katie tried to keep her head from spinning, "I just need a place to hide for a bit."

"Will you be needing anything else?"

"What is this place?" she asked, finally taking the time to look around.

"It is the kitchens, Miss," came the squeaked reply.

The room was almost as large as the Great Hall, though the ceilings were not quite so high. There was a great brick fireplace at one end in which roared a lively fire. Brass pots and pans were heaped on the walls, but even more were being toted about, mixed in, washed or being carried back and forth from the fire by the army of house-elves. There had to be over a hundred in the room. In the center were four large tables, identical to the four in the Great Hall above.

"Brilliant!" Katie said to no one in particular.

"Why thank you, Miss," said one of the elves who were still clustered around her.

"Are you sure there is nothing we can bring for you?"

Just then, Katie heard her stomach growl.

"Well, I guess a spot of lunch would be all right," she said sheepishly.

"Oh! Right away, Miss!" squeaked several elves, and they hurried about to their companions. Within moments, she was brought three plates full of piping hot food.

"Oh my!" Katie exclaimed when she saw how much food they brought her.

"Is anything not to the young miss' liking?" asked an elf, who peered at her with its huge blue eyes.

"Oh, no. Nothing's wrong!" she replied, remembering to be very polite to the elves, "It's just, there's so much of it, it's very generous of you."

"Such praise, Miss!" squeaked the elf in reply, "Such very nice praise!"

All the elves who had helped bring her food over bowed or curtsied, then excused themselves as having to return to their work. She was quite content with being left alone to eat the excessive amount of food they had brought her, and sat down on the flagged-stone floor to help herself to it. They had brought her Cornish Pasties, sausages, carrots, roast potatoes, several fresh-baked rolls and a cup of steaming beef stew.

After she had devoured quite a bit, Katie saw a house-elf with particularly striking green eyes make its way towards her. It was dressed quite peculiarly in messy garments which looked to have been intended as real clothes. There was, however, one distinct piece of clothing: an old and dirty sock. This was odd, as Katie was aware that house-elves were freed when given articles of clothing. The other house-elves regarded this one peculiarly as well. She could see some shakes of heads and the like in its direction.

"Excuse me, Miss," it ventured.

"Yes?" she answered as kindly as she could around a mouthful of roll.

"You are in Gryffindor House, are you not?" it asked, pointing to her (messily tied) red-and-gold necktie.

"Yes," she answered after swallowing.

"Pardon me, but do you know kind, kind Harry Potter?" it asked with a gleam of hope in its eye.

"Only a little," she admitted.

"Oh," it responded, obviously quite disappointed. "Very well then, Miss. Is there anything else you might be needing?"

"As a matter of fact," she said as she stood up, "I've very much enjoyed the meal, but I do need to know the way out of here."

"Oh, right this way, Miss," replied the elf, leading her back to the picture frame.

A handful of elves came after her, pressing her to take some deserts. She helped herself to a cupcake and some cookies, while apologizing to the rest. Then, when she turned back, the house-elf had opened the painting again.

"Thank you," she said to the elves as she passed through.

"Come again, anytime, Miss!" they squeaked back as the painting swung quietly back to its original position. And, with a small clicking sound, Katie found herself once again in what appeared to be nothing but a simple corridor.

Later that night, Katie was to be found with the other fourth years were on top of the Astronomy Tower. Once the lesson began, and Professor Sinistra was making her way around to check on her student's progress, Rhea leaned over towards Katie and whispered to her, though not as quietly as the latter would have liked.

"So, find what you…forgot in Potions today."

Katie was glad that she had the darkness of night to help conceal her blush.

"Yes," Katie said shortly, wishing she knew something else to say to shut Rhea up before she carried the innuendo to completion.

"You sure it didn't have anything to do with a certain…seventh year we're acquainted with?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she replied with a remarkably straight face.

"'Cause, you know, he was quite interested as to why you had to disappear so fast…" Rhea continued as if Katie had said nothing.

"Really?" Katie asked while attempting to make her interest and astonishment appear as fake as possible. She screwed up her features as she gazed with as much focus as she could muster though her brass telescope.

"Seemed quite twitchy when he came and asked us where you'd gone. It was almost amusing, actually," her friend admitted.

Katie was a bit perturbed by this, but chose to keep it to herself and mark the position of Polaris on her parchment.

"Really, Rhea," protested Leanne, "give her a break."

"It was quite funny to watch you run off so fast, too," admitted Rose. "You looked like your robes had caught fire."

Katie's blush deepened at this. Had she really been in so obvious a rush? She supposed she had panicked a bit.

"You know," continued Rhea, "if I didn't know better, I'd say that he fancies you."

"Rhea!" Leanne exclaimed.

Katie felt herself stiffen for just a moment. He couldn't really fancy her. Not Oliver, of all people. Not…honestly. Could he?

"Or that you fancy him!" giggled Chloe.

Katie shook her head. Now she knew they were just taking the mickey out of her.

"Whatever you say," she replied with indifference.

"So you really do?" asked Rhea while watching her friend attentively. She was rewarded only with a shrug.

"Oh, come on, Kates," pleaded Chloe. "We can see there's obviously something going on between the two of you."

"I never knew you were so popular," mused Rose, "Going with Cedric to Hogsmeade on Halloween, and now playing with Oliver's feelings…"

"You really are getting around," Rhea agreed.

"Rhea, stop!" demanded Leanne.

"You're making me sound like a slut," Katie replied, finally turning away form her telescope to stare down Rhea and her two sidekicks.

"Relax, it's all in good fun," Rose answered, though her voice wavered a little.

"You there!" called Professor Sinistra, "Lesson cutting in with your little conversation, is it?"

"No, ma'am," Leanne reassured her sweetly.

"Then quit the chatter and turn those eyes skyward!" she ordered.

Katie bore the sniggers of their classmates with indifference, but took a few deep breaths just to clam herself. But it was to no avail. Like every time the last couple days that her mind had been on the subject of Cedric, it raced with possibilities, guesses, conjectures, and guarded hopes. But, now that she examined it again, was she sure that she really fancied him? After all, she'd been doing quite a lot of gazing at Ethan lately. And he wasn't the only other attractive male in the school, either. It was such a blessing and a curse to be surrounded by many handsome boys for months on end. She was sure if she looked around in her other classes a bit she might find… but no. She couldn't think about that. Didn't she feel things for Cedric? Hadn't he been the first one to have opened her eyes to love? The first one to make her dream of having a boyfriend? What hadn't he done but please her? And hadn't she blushed near him more than around anyone else? But if she did care for him, as she was so desperately trying to convince herself, had she felt nothing when they had been so close in the broom shed? Why hadn't she just turned around to be clasped in his arms? But would he have clasped her? They had flirted a bit, to be sure. But was that him really showing interest, or just appreciating her company? Had he cared for her? Did he still? Did he really think that she and Oliver…? Surely he had come to his senses by now. It was thought of this kind that kept Katie's mind occupied as the chilly autumn night passed while she gazed out from the Astronomy Tower.

Luckily for Katie, her mind's misery would soon be at an end. After their class had exited the tower and divided up to return to their respective Houses, she was passing along the eighth floor with her fellow Gryffindors when, in the corridor ahead, stood a tall, lone figure. As they came closer, there was a hushed sort of whisper amongst the group as they took into account the yellow and black accents of his school uniform. With a smile, though one not so warm as Katie had remembered or anticipated, she saw it was indeed Cedric Diggory.

"Katie," he started in a hushed voice, "could I have word with you."

"Sure," she said, trying to sound as calm as possible, though her heart seemed to be beating in her throat.

The Gryffindor boys were already half-way to the staircase that would lead them to the portrait of the Fat Lady. What did they care of the romantic intrigues of others? The girls, however, stood like a whole herd of deer caught in the headlights.

"Go on," Katie said encouragingly, though wishing with every fiber of her being that they would just Disapparate before her eyes, "I'll be right behind you."

When they refused to budge, eyes wide and staring at the pair of them, Katie was reminded of the house-elves she had stumbled upon earlier that very day.

"I do know my way back, you know," she continued, determined to break the most awkward of silences.

This bit of humor broke Leanne from her reverie, and she slowly managed to tug and prod the others into moving along as well. Katie gave her a very nervous smile, though the look in her eyes told her friend that she was thankful beyond words.

Leanne replied with a barely noticeable nod and a quick "Later, then."

Katie and Cedric watched the Gryffindor fourth years make their way down the corridor almost until they had reached the staircase. It was he who first broke the silence.

"So…uh…how've you been?" he asked.

"Alright," she answered, surprised that there was actually sound coming out of her mouth. She screwed up her Gryffindor courage and looked him in his dazzling grey eyes to see his response as she added, "I've been better."

There was pain in his eyes, and she noticed it, with just a hint of sadistic joy rising from it. She knew that pain. It was the same reason why she had silently cried herself to sleep the night he stormed away from her.

"I'm—I'm sorry to hear that," he solemnly replied, tearing his eyes away form hers.

There it was again: that terrible, uncomfortable silence. This time it was broken by Katie.

"So, what's on your mind?" she asked as casually as she could.

"I've been thinking about us," he responded earnestly, his grey eyes once again meeting her own.

"You're not in Divination, are you?" she blurted out.

"No. Muggle Studies, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures, but not Divination. Why?"

Katie's mouth nearly dropped. How could he be taking all of those classes? Plus the regular ones like Potions, Herbology and Transfiguration! But she was brought back to her senses by his quizzical (not to mention adorable) look.

"It's just that, well, Leanne is in Divination and Trelawny's been saying that the recent convergence of Mars and Venus…Nevermind"

"You're quite funny, you know," said Cedric.

He began to reach out his hand to her, but then withdrew it.

"I…um…I'll miss that about you," he said with no lack of grief in his normally calm, steady voice.

"What?"

Katie was taken aback. What was happening?

"I've decided I can't really see you anymore," he explained. "I've been doing some thinking, since we… since…"

"Since I yelled at you?" Katie volunteered dejectedly, looking down at her feet in shame.

He finally let himself touch her by putting a hand on her shoulder and giving it an encouraging squeeze.

"Don't beat yourself up about it, Kates."

"Kates?" she repeated as if she'd never heard the word.

"Yes. Kates. Isn't that what your friends call you?"

"Yeah, but…"

"So, anyway. It's not because you yelled at me. Well, not really. I just got to thinking and, to be honest, I have a lot going on right now: starting NEWT classes and my first year as Captain of the Hufflepuff side…and, well, I came to realize that I've been really on edge recently. That's why I got so suspicious of you and Oliver right away. And I don't really have much free time or anything. I like you. I really do. But I just can't justify to myself being with a great girl like you right now when I can't give you half what you deserve."

This declaration was so astounding that Katie stood frozen for a moment, simply shell-shocked. All the pieces fit together now. He really had liked her! But, just as this realization elated her, she once again was brought crashing back to Earth when she realized it could never be.

"Cedric…I…" she began with in a shaky voice she hardly recognized was her own, "I really don't know what to say."

"I know it's a lot," he admitted. "Here, there's a window sill you can sit on if you need to. Right over here."

With this, he gently led her over to a nearby window sunk deep into the castle wall so as to create a little alcove. Katie hoisted herself up a bit then perched herself on the sill. Cedric remained on the ground. Meanwhile, this gave Katie time to think. This might have been for the better. After all, her mind was already off chasing other boys half the time. Maybe it was right that they go their separate ways. But, on the other hand, as she looked back at all the wonderful times they had shared together—the walk by the lake, the trip to Hogsmeade, and (dare she include it) the incident that started it all on the Hogwarts Express—she realized that she really would miss him. Tears welled up in her eyes, though she refused for them to spill.

"I'm sorry, Katie," he said in his deep, soothing voice. "I'm sorry for the pain I'm causing you, and for the pain that is to come, but I wouldn't want to continue on and upset you later, either."

"How can you be sure," she asked as her voice became more unreliable than ever, and she looked away in shame of being in such a state, "that it wouldn't work?"

Cedric guided her face back towards his.

"Listen to what your heart tells you, Katie."

She sniffled and a single tear dripped down her cheek. She nodded. She understood, though it hurt. He was too much an honorable Hufflepuff to be wrong. If he knew he couldn't be happy, there was no way for them to succeed. He had done the best thing by trying to let her down easily, in a straightforward heart-to-heart, as much as it pained her to admit it.

"You know," she said after a long pause, "it's true."

"What's true?" he asked kindly.

"What I told you on the train."

"What's that?" he asked with a faint smile.

"That you're a real gentleman."

At this, Cedric seemed to loose some of his composure as well.

"Thank you, Katie," he said with a sad, yet grateful smile, "That's the biggest compliment I could ask for."

Katie couldn't bear his smile any longer. She buried her face in the shoulder of his robes, silently struggling to hold back her sobs and her tears. She sat there a long time, until Cedric at last suggested that they should return to their respective Houses before they were caught for being out of bed past the strict curfew that had been set since the haunting episode on Halloween. She hopped gingerly down from the window sill.

As they were about to part, Katie warmly embraced Cedric with a tight hug.

"Thank you, Cedric," she whispered.

"No, thank you, Katie," he responded with a whisper as he returned her hug. "Thank you for having the heart of a lion."