A/N: Happy Thanksgiving to everyone celebrating it! Many thanks to:

crazylily: I know, I'm sorry! You don't get to find out for a little while still but don't worry! It's coming up soon!

Chapter 11: Sooner Than Planned

Kate nibbled absently on her nails. She was nervous. After a few days of being distant and behaving oddly, Draco had told her that they needed to talk.

"Okay, Draco," Kate had said cautiously. "When?"

"I'll meet you in the library later," Draco had told her vaguely before disappearing.

So Kate sat in the library, biting her nails, tapping her quill, trying in vain to concentrate on the work spread out before her. And then Draco was suddenly seated across from her.

"Merlin!" Kate cried. "I hate it when you do that."

She expected him to let out a smoky chuckle or to smirk smugly at her. But he did neither. He did nothing.

"Draco?" Kate prompted. "What did you want to talk to me…?"

"Listen, Kate," Draco said suddenly, cutting her off. "I need to tell you something and it's not going to be easy."

Kate felt a sense of dread wash over her. She suddenly noticed that Draco's eyes were tinged with red and his voice was huskier.

"Have you been drinking?" She asked, surprised. It was so unlike him.

"Doesn't matter," Draco said, shaking his head. "Listen, I… we can't see each other anymore."

It was what she had expected but it was still a huge blow.

"What?" Kate whispered. Tears stung her eyes, choked her voice.

"Kate…" Draco started, his voice strained. "Don't make this harder."

"No," Kate said loudly. "I think I will make it harder. What the hell has been going on with you, Draco? What's your problem lately?"

"Something… happened," Draco struggled to find the words. "I need to take care of it. It doesn't matter. All you need to know is that we can't be us anymore."

"Why?" Kate demanded.

"I can't talk about it right now," Draco said, standing. "I'm sorry, Kate. I do love you."

"Fuck you," hissed Kate as she gathered her things and stomped out of the library. Draco sighed and drifted out of the silent room.

"How'd it go?" Blaise asked as his friend walked in the door. Draco joined him in the deserted common room and Blaise handed him a glass of whisky. They sat around the fire, drinking their fathers' aged and expensive liquor.

"It couldn't have gone worse," Draco said, sipping the amber drink. "She was so upset."

"Understandably," said Blaise. Draco said nothing. "You did what you had to do, Drake."

"Fuck," muttered Draco. "This hurts."

"I know, mate," said Blaise sympathetically. "It'll get better, though."

"Did it for you?" Draco asked.

"Eventually," sighed Blaise. He frowned. "Uh oh. I think she's coming."

Draco groaned and lifted himself from his chair, retreating to his room. Muttered curses and heavy footfalls grew louder until Kate burst in. Tears streaked down her cheeks.

"Blaise," she whispered. He was at her side in an instant, taking her arm and leading her to the couch. "He… he… he was here, wasn't he?"

Blaise followed her gaze to the bottle of whisky and two glasses. He sighed.

"Yeah," he said. "He just left."

"So you know then," Kate stated. Blaise nodded and she put her head in her hands. "God, how did this happen?"

"I don't know, love," Blaise said, rubbing her back soothingly.

"Things were fine," Kate said. "Perfect. And then… I don't even know what changed. All of a sudden it was like he didn't love me anymore."

"That's not true, Kate," Blaise said. "He does love you."

"I'm a fool," Kate said, shaking her head.

"Hey," Blaise said forcefully. He took hold of her chin and pointed her face so that their eyes met. "Look at me. You are no fool. This is not about anything you've done."

"Then what is it about?" Kate asked sadly.

Blaise desperately wanted to answer that. He wanted to tell her everything. But he couldn't. He and Draco had an unspoken agreement. Blaise knew Draco very well, so he knew that Draco wouldn't want him telling Kate.

"I don't know," he muttered at last. Kate said nothing. She merely grabbed one of the glasses of whisky, downed it, and buried her face in her hands. Blaise put his arm around her shoulders and there they sat, a thick silence surrounding them.

"Kate?" Harry asked incredulously, taking in her messy hair and tear-stained face. "What happened to you?"

"Not important," Kate said, sitting down next to him in the Gryffindor common room. "I need to talk to everyone."

"Uh, okay," Harry said. "I'll round everyone up."

Five minutes later, Harry, Kate, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron all sat in a secluded corner.

"Kate," Hermione asked worriedly. "What's wrong?"

"The plan needs to take place sooner than expected," Kate said.

"How much sooner?" Harry asked cautiously.

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" everyone exclaimed.

"Look," Kate said. "It's not like it makes that much of a difference."

"Why does it have to be so soon, Kate?" Harry asked quietly.

Kate met Harry's searching green eyes.

"Something happened, Harry," Kate said slowly. "Something bad. I don't want to talk about it. I just want you guys to support me with this."

"'Course we will," said Ron and the rest of the group nodded.

"Thank you," Kate smiled gratefully. "We'll go over things tomorrow and then we'll put everything into action."

A/N: So the plan is about to be revealed. Review!