My relationship with Adam was no doubt, on the rocks. It seemed like his relationship with everyone was on the rocks though. I was really worried about him. He was hardly eating, hardly spending time outside of his dorms... and not really talking to me.
I gave him a few days, but he just seemed to get worse. I wanted my boyfriend back. So I cornered him, because I wanted to know what was wrong and how I could help.
"What can I do to help you?" I asked him, coming up behind him.
"Leave me alone," he said.
This was going to be harder than I anticipated. "Sorry," I told him. "It's not that easy... I'm worried about you. I love you."
"Oh, really?" he asked, finally turning around to look at me. His eyes were full of anger and I was a little afraid to be alone with him.
"Why do you say it like that?" I asked, confused.
"Because you would think, if you loved me, that you would have actually showed up to my Quidditch game!"
I gasped. I thought I had completely covered that. "How did you know?"
"Do you know how terrible it is to find out from your father that your girlfriend didn't even bother coming to your game?" he asked. He started to walk away from me, but I wasn't ready for this to be over.
"Adam!" I shouted, trying to get him to stop. "I can explain. I promise! Just listen to me."
"You better have a damn good reason," he told me. "You have sixty seconds."
I had to think quickly. "Okay so the Wednesday before your game I was walking down to the pitch to watch you practice when Harry-" at that point I realized I wouldn't be able to tell him everything. It wasn't my story to tell.
"Why did you stop?" He asked.
"I..." I trailed off. "Look, Adam... it was something out of my control."
"But why did you lie about it?" he asked. His tone was harsh and I felt terrible. I had no idea how I was going to save us.
"Because I didn't want to upset you," I admitted. "You had been practicing for weeks and you were so wrapped up in it, I knew if I upset you... things wouldn't go well. I had your best interests in mind!"
"I don't even want to look at you, Kat," he said. "I thought you loved me. I thought we had a real, good relationship here. But I don't think so anymore."
Hearing him say this absolutely crushed me. We did have a good relationship! I may not have been completely honest with him, but I loved him. I cared about him. I wanted the best for him. I choked up and started crying. He just walked away from me.
I had lost my best friend and my boyfriend in one swift move, and to make matters worse, I was crying in the middle of an empty hallway. I figured the best possible thing for me right now was to get back to my dorm, but that was a long walk. Luckily, I knew the castle well, and didn't have to rely on my foggy brain or blurred vision.
"Kat?" I heard my name as I walked down a staircase and froze. I was pretty sure I had heard Harry call my name. I was hesitant to turn around, as last time I had run into him it hadn't ended so well. "Kat!"
I turned around, and sure enough, he stood at the top of the stairs, holding Ginny's hand. "Oh, hi," I said, waving over my shoulder.
"What's wrong?" he called. I just wanted him to leave me alone. I wanted to go to my bed and cry, not make a scene here.
"Nothing," I said. "I'll see you in class."
I heard him say something to Ginny before following me down the stairs. "Wait for me," he called.
I didn't want him to follow me, though. I just wanted to be alone, and thought he should have stayed with his girlfriend. But he was persistent and caught up with me. "I really think you should go back to Ginny," I told him.
"We were just going to the library anyways," he said. "What happened?"
I figured I might as well tell him, since it didn't appear he would be leaving me alone until I did. "Adam's Dad knew I wasn't at the Quidditch game and told him," I said.
"Oh, shit," he swore. "I... I'm so sorry, Kat."
"Don't be," I said. "You did everything you could to help me... his father has never liked me and now he'll be happy."
He put his arm around me and I leaned in to accept his hug. "Can I do anything?"
I shook my head. "No thanks," I sighed.
"I'll walk you to your Common Room," he said. I appreciated it. He didn't press for more information, which was great. He was just there, making sure I was okay.
I felt a little better that I had a friend. I knew he would probably talk to Hermione, who would come find me tomorrow to talk. "Have a nice night, Kat," he said, as we reached the entrance to the Common Room.
"You too," I said, and he turned and left.
~.~
I felt better after a good night's sleep, but still wanted to make things better. Luckily the next day was a Saturday, so I didn't have to go through the motions of class or anything. I laid in bed until I was so hungry my stomach forced me to wake up.
Hermione was waiting for me in the Great Hall, even though I was sure she had eaten hours ago. "Harry told me what happened," she said. "I'm here for you, if you want to talk."
"Thank you," I said. "I'm... not sure what to say, though. I don't think I can do anything at this point."
"I'm sure you can," she said. "You two have been together for what- almost a year and a half? That's a lot to just throw away."
"He sounded serious. He's really hurt, with reason. I lied to him. I let him down... I was a bad girlfriend. Plus he's feeling terrible because he didn't get scouted, and he doesn't have a job lined up for next year. His family isn't being supportive and he just has a lot of bad things going on."
"I don't think you were a bad girlfriend," she told me. "Just take a few days to calm down and then... maybe you can discuss things for real and work things out."
"I hope so..." I sighed.
~.~
Time passed quickly. Adam didn't want to discuss anything with me though. I tried a couple different times, and every time, he just shut down or walked away. After two agonizing weeks, I was pretty sure we were over, for good. It was terrible, but I tried not to think about it for the sake of my sanity. I needed to get through school before I could break down.
I was lucky to have good friends as well. Hermione had been watching out for me, and I was so lucky to have a friend like her. I was pretty much welcomed into her friend group.
The term was drawing to a close rather quickly. A few weeks before the Seventh Years graduated, Adam found me. I wondered what he wanted, exactly. Did he have things of mine that he wanted to give back?
"Hey," he said.
"Hey back," I said. I wasn't going to give him any satisfaction in thinking I would jump back into his arms.
"Can we take a walk?" he asked. "I have something I want to tell you."
"Sure," I said, following him. We walked out to the courtyard. Since it had just cleared after a rain shower, it was deserted. "What's... going on?"
"So... last week, I got a letter," he said.
"From...?" I trailed off, confused. Obviously, it was a big deal if he had felt the need to come talk to me about it. I just wanted him to get to the point.
"Alex Sturgeon," he said. "Anyways, he said that he wanted to come watch me in a practice. He came yesterday and watched me, and today I got a letter offering me a reserve spot on the Ballycastle Bats!"
"Oh my God!" I said, throwing my arms around him and giving him a tight squeeze. "How exciting! Congratulations!"
This was perfect. I still did care a ton for Adam, and I was so happy for him. This was exactly what he needed, and I couldn't have been more pleased. Ballycastle was in Northern Ireland, and they were an okay team. If he played well, and I knew he would, he would probably have a starting spot on a better team in a few years' time. This was what he deserved.
"I know!" he said. He swung me around a bit. The grin on his face made my heart beat faster. Oh, I had missed him so much.
"I'm so happy for you," I told him. "I think that's really great."
He set me down. "I'm very happy about it too," he told me. "How's your life going?"
I shrugged. "I've been busy with school..." I told him."I miss you..."
He nodded before saying anything. "Well, I miss you too, Kat," he said. "I... I wanted to apologize. I never heard your side of the story. I should have waited and listened. Being without you... I learned I don't like it. I really do love you."
Hearing him say those words made me feel so much better. The pain I had been suffering the last few weeks was erased. "I love you too," I told him.
"Do you think... that maybe, we could get back together?" he asked hopefully. "Because, I would really like that."
I giggled. "Sure," I said. It was what I really wanted. He pulled me flush against him and kissed me. Everything was going to be okay.
~.~
That Friday night, Adam and I sat in the Common Room. It had been a long week and I just wanted to sit and relax for awhile. Adam supported my desire.
"Hey, Kat," a younger student said, coming into my field of vision, "someone outside wants to see you."
I was intrigued, and nodded. "I'll be right back," I told Adam.
"Don't leave," he said, trying to hold me with him.
"I'll be gone a minute, I promise," I said, smiling. I walked outside and saw Hermione waiting for me.
"Kat, good," she said. Her face was creased with lines of worry and I was concerned. "Something's happened."
"What do you mean?" I asked, a little hesitant.
"Have you got your wand?" she asked.
I felt for it in my pocket and pulled it out. "Yeah, why?"
"The castle's been broken into and we need to go fight," she said.
I gasped. The castle couldn't have been broken in to. That was impossible. "No way," I said.
"Do I look like I'm joking?" she asked, getting short with me. I knew she was just anxious, though. "Harry's with Dumbledore. He would want us to fight. Ron's got a few people assembled upstairs, and I thought you might want in... I mean, I haven't seen you duel but I'm sure you'll be fine."
"Is Harry okay?" I asked.
"Yeah, he's fine. Here, take a sip of this," she thrust a vial into my hands as we walked down a corridor. I inspected it quickly to figure out what exactly it was, but soon realized it was Felix Felicis, and would really help.
"Awesome," I said, taking a sip. I didn't know how much to take, so I just filled the cap. By the looks of it, it would give me an hour or so of luck. I hoped that would be enough. She took the vial back and took a larger swallow for herself before putting the vial in her pocket.
"Look, I don't know what's going to happen up here," she said. "But... good luck, Kat. Stay alert, stay focused, and remember, you've got to mean your spells. You're a great friend."
"You too," I managed to spit out. Her telling me that made me aware of the gravity of our situation.
Apparently we were set up in an empty classroom. I heard professors down the hall trying to get the school into a lock down. So what we were doing was against the rules. Oh well. That didn't seem to be our biggest problem at the moment.
Ron and Hermione were trying to figure out the best way to go about our counter attack. They seemed almost prepared for this. Ginny paced along one wall of the classroom, and a few of their friends sat around waiting to be told what to do.
I felt awkward and out of place here. It took a lot longer than I thought it would for them to tell us what to do, a good half hour anyways. For the first time, I thought of Adam. No doubt, he was worried about me. I had told him I would be right back and that hadn't happened. I hoped he wouldn't be upset with me.
Finally, Hermione came over to me. "Kat, you come with me," she said, "you too, Ginny, and you, Neville."
I followed her, and we slowly, quietly made our way down to the grounds. We could see some fighting going on, as colored light appeared across the lawns. If it wasn't so absolutely terrifying, one would think there were some very colorful fireflies out on the otherwise beautiful spring night.
"Remember," Hermione said, slowly. "Keep calm, keep alert, and keep focused."
I was completely unprepared for an actual battle... it seemed like everyone I was with was way better at this stuff. I tried to just keep behind them, even if that made me a coward.
But somehow, I got separated from my group. I spied Hermione off in the distance, taking on a witch. I was left alone to duel on my own, and I was doing terribly.
"KAT!" I heard, not recognizing the voice. I turned my head to look, and that was enough of a distraction for me. My opponent took that as an opportunity to hit me with a spell that brought me down, my arm and chest in agonizing pain so excruciating that I wanted to die. I could feel a warm, wetness that I quickly determined was my blood. Then, the whole world went dark.
Author's Note: A little more excitement, eh? Thanks to potter-reading-coastie for betaing this chapter. Let me know what you think, everyone :) Thanks!