Author's Note: This is pretty important, please read! I bumped Katie up a year, so she is now in seventh year with Fred, George, Alicia, and Angelina. Leanne will still be one year younger than the rest of them. The time line is also a little screwy, even though I know that Katie doesn't get the cursed necklace for another year, but just work with me. Thanks everyone! (:
Putting on the finishing touches to my hair for the day, I smiled at my reflection in the long mirror. Although I was wearing an older navy blue sweater and last winter's pea coat, I had thrown on a new pair of skinny jeans with my UGG boots that I had picked up over the holidays back home in muggle London. My mother insisted on taking me clothes shopping, saying that it was her Christmas present to me this year, and also claiming that we needed to spend more time together. I had complained to my mother and pleaded with her that I didn't need any new clothes, and tried to remind her how much I detested shopping. Unfortunately I lost that battle, but I was grateful to have gone on the little shopping trip after looking at myself in the mirror today.
I ran the brush through my long dark brown hair once more before slipping on some old torn black knit gloves. I smoothed out any wrinkles that might have been visible on my coat, and smiled.
There! Perfect. Now off to find Leanne so we can go to Hogsmeade together.
After throwing one last look at my reflection, I made my way down the stairs into Gryffindor common room. Scanning the room in search for Leanne I found two familiar faces: Fred and George. I felt a smile spread over my face and waved over to them. George was the first to see me, and waved back whilst elbowing Fred. Fred made a face at George, turned, and waved back to me. I skipped over to the twins to say my hellos.
"Fred, George." I nodded to them. They smiled down at me. "How are you two doing?"
George shrugged and Fred spoke. "Ello, love! Pretty good, but better now that you're here!" He gave me a wink, and I giggled in response.
"Yes, now that you're here Kates, we have a few questions for you—"
"—about our newest..." Fred looked me up and down once and his brow furrowed. "Where are you going?" He looked confused as to why I was wearing my winter coat in the common room.
I rocked back and forth on my feet. "Out to Hogsmeade with Leanne." Fred and George still looked at me confusedly. I scanned the room once more for my friend, but with no luck in spotting her. "Speaking of which, have you seen her around?"
Fred shook his head. I looked over to George who looked around the common room quickly before turning to me. "Nope, barely seen anyone all afternoon. But if we see her—"
"—you'll be the first to know." They grinned at me, and I smiled back at them.
"Great! Thanks you guys!" I beamed up at them. My head turned to the portrait hole to see some third years making their way inside. "You two want to come with us? I mean, it might be fun... We could go to Zonko's or something."
The twins exchanged a brief look between each other and shook their heads. "Sorry Kates. We'd love to—"
"—but we've got some... Things planned for some first year Slytherins."
"We'll catch ya later though!"
"Yeah! Meet us back here later, oh, around nine-ish?"
I nodded, and waved goodbye to the boys before stepping out of the portrait hole. Once I swung the Fat Lady's portrait back in place, I turned and bumped into someone. I stepped back a little and rubbed my forehead, giggling.
"Oops, sorry I didn't see you there—" I looked to see who I had bumped into and smiled. "Leanne! I've been looking all over the place for you!"
Leanne smiled warmly back at me and smoothed out her dark wavy hair. I was always jealous of Leanne's hair. For what reason I don't know, other than the fact that my hair could never hold a curl like hers did. My hair was pin straight, and I was lucky if Alicia and Angelina could get it to hold a curl. Thank Merlin for those holding spells they discovered two years ago.
"Sorry Katie, I was in the library finishing up my Charms essay." I internally groaned. I had forgotten all about that stupid thing that was due on Monday! Oh well, I'd just ask Fred and George for help later tonight. Surprisingly, both of the twins were excellent at Charms. They could easily be at the top of our class if they would bother to try.
I shrugged and linked my arm with Leanne's. "No worries Leanne! Ready to go off to Hogsmeade for a little lunch?" I grinned over at my friend, and she just laughed.
"Of course! Let's go Kates!" And together Leanne and I skipped off to Hogsmeade through the snow, arm in arm.
…..Later at Hogsmeade...
Leanne and I stumbled out of Madame Puddifoot's together, clutching our stomach's and gasping for air in fits of laughter. "I-I can't believe that Ch-Cho Ch-Chang is on a date with Marcus Flint!" Leanne managed to gasp out. This made me shriek with laughter even harder. The two of us had gone into Madame Puddifoot's about half an hour ago to warm up for a moment when we spotted Cho and Flint on a date together. It was repulsive.
"I know!" I laughed harder. "I mean, I know she likes boys, but Marcus Flint! Who would imagine that... Princess Cho!" Leanne joined in the laughter again, and we gasped for air like two fish out of water. We stumbled down the streets of Hogsmeade like two drunken fools.
"Oi! Katie, wanna go to the Three Broomsticks for a bite to eat? I'm hungry!"
I pondered that thought for a moment, but before I could speak I heard my stomach growl. Leanne and I laughed. "Alright then, I guess I'm hungry, too! Let's go!" Leanne giggled at my stomach, which continued to make its presence known until we stepped inside of the cozy little pub. Our noses were met with various scents of food, firewhiskey, butterbeer, and smoke. Leanne dragged me over to a table in the middle of the room. We took our seats and I rubbed my hands together to keep warm.
Leanne smiled at me and decided to go grab us something to drink. "Want some butterbeer?" I tore my eyes away from Harry Potter and his two friends before looking back up at Leanne.
"Um, actually, grab me some tea, would you?" I gave her a small smile, and Leanne retreated over to the bar to grab our drinks. I tapped my foot on the ground absentmindedly, playing with the holes in my gloves. I glanced around the room again, seeing some familiar faces of Hogwarts students. My gaze fell on Harry and his friends again—Ron and Hermione, I think they were—when he looked over to me and waved. I smiled, and gave a friendly wave back to them.
A moment later Leanne returned with our drinks in hand. She set my tea down in front of me, and took her seat across from me at the small wooden table. I thanked her, and took a small sip of the steaming tea. Mmm, my favorite. Leanne always knew how much sugar I liked in my tea. I looked up at Leanne through my lashes, and she was absentmindedly twirling a piece of her hair in her fingers, looking around the pub.
After a few minutes of sitting in silence, Leanne spoke up. "Katie?" She spoke quietly.
I looked up at her and set my half finished tea down. "Yeah, Leanne?"
She looked down at the table and kept twirling her hair in her fingers. "Do you think Cormac likes me?" She looked up at me timidly, biting her lip. I gave her a warm smile in return.
"Aw, Leanne, do you fancy him?" Her cheeks turned a bright pink and she looked down at her butterbeer, keeping silent. I took that as a yes.
I leaned back in my chair and took another sip of my tea before continuing. "Leanne, sweetie, I think that's really cute. He is a pretty cute guy." I giggled and Leanne joined in. She finally looked up at me.
"B-but do you think he likes me back?" She spoke softly now, and I couldn't help but think that she looked like a little mouse. I gave her a big smile.
"Well, I don't know, but I bet Fred and George might." She giggled and took a sip from her butterbeer. "I'll ask them for you, alright? And don't worry, they won't even know it's you that's asking about him." She smiled thankfully over to me. I smiled warmly back at her, and looked down at my teacup. Realizing how much tea I drank, it hit me with how badly I needed to go to the bathroom.
I stood up and stretched. "Well, nature calls." Leanne giggled and rolled her eyes at me. "Care to join me?"
Leanne glanced around the Three Broomsticks, but her gaze fell on none other than Cormac McLaggen and his group of friends. I saw Leanne blush and give a small smile. I laughed, and she blushed deeper. "Um, that's alright. I'll just wait here, okay?" I rolled my eyes at Leanne, and walked off to the bathrooms. I waved to a couple of seventh year Ravenclaws that I was friendly with, and turned the corner.
I pushed open the large wooden door with 'Witches' inscribed on the front of it, and stepped into the small ladies room.
After attending to nature's business, I walked over to the sinks and began to wash my hands. I dried them off quickly, and I noticed something sitting in the corner near a potted plant. I walked over to it curiously and I noticed that it was a small brown package. I scooped it up, and saw that something was written on the brown paper.
'Dumbledore'
How odd. Who would leave—or forget—a package for Dumbledore in the ladies room at the Three Broomsticks? Curiosity was tugging at my insides, and I was tempted to open the brown package to reveal what was inside. My hand was nearly an inch away from the loosely wrapped package's corners, but I bit my lip and pulled my hand away. "No..." I murmured. If this was for Professor Dumbledore, then I would give it to him. Obviously whoever wanted to give it to him wanted it to be kept a secret. I would respect the privacy of the package, and I would deliver it to our headmaster once Leanne and I arrived back at Hogwarts. I silently vowed to myself that no one would get in the way of this little mission, and that this small brown package would get to Dumbledore just like how I found it. No matter what.
I smiled at myself and made my way back to Leanne at our table. She was staring at Cormac, and would blush furiously every time he would look her way. I giggled, and she looked over to me. She smiled, but it quickly turned into a frown when she saw the package I was holding.
"What's that?" She looked up at me, a frown still on her face.
I shrugged. "Not sure really. It's just got Dumbledore's name on it, so I'm going to bring it back to him. Found it in the bathroom."
Leanne looked at the package strangely. "Katie, you should just go put that back where you found it. I don't know about this."
I waved my hand in the air, pushing it off as if it were nothing. "Oh Leanne, you worry too much. I'm just going to bring it back to Dumbledore. Let's go." I threw some money down on the table for Madam Rosmerta, and Leanne got up to join her. Together we walked out of the pub into the cold, snowy winter day.
Leanne and I walked silently through the streets of Hogsmeade until she spoke up. "Katie, I think you should just put that package down. What if someone's looking for it?" I rolled my eyes at Leanne. She was being ridiculous. Whoever this belonged to wanted to give it to Dumbledore, and I was just helping them get it to him. She was making this into such a big deal.
"Leanne, honestly. Give it a rest. I'm just helping Dumbledore out. Obviously whoever this belongs to wants to give it to him." I spat icily at her. She glared at me.
"Katie, come on, don't be ridiculous—" She made a grab for the package, but I clutched it harder and turned away from her prying hands. I wouldn't let anything happen to this package. For Dumbledore!
"Leanne, stop, I—" My voice was cut off by a bloodcurdling scream. I realized it was my own. When Leanne tried to reach for the package, it ripped, and somehow the contact with it caused my whole body to feel like a thousand knives were being shoved into it.
I felt my body being lifted into the air. Snow ripped around me, and I continued to scream and cry in pain. What the hell is wrong with me!
I felt the hot tears roll down my wind-burned face. I faintly heard Leanne shout up at me, worriedly. "Katie! Katie, what's happening? Someone help us!" Leanne sounded as if she were crying, but I was too absorbed in my pain to take the time to check if I was right.
I felt my body spin uncontrollably in the air, the snow and wind whipping at my face. The hot tears running down my face stung, and my whole body ached. I let out another scream, and I felt as if I had stopped spinning. The pain throughout my whole body tightened one last time, and I felt as if I were on fire suddenly.
This is impossible! How am I up here! As soon as those thoughts slipped their way into my head, I regretted them instantly. My whole body felt as if it turned to a block of ice, and it felt numb to the wind whipping around me. I faintly heard voices shouting out my name in the distance, but I couldn't look to see whose they belonged to.
As if someone had flicked the switch for gravity back on, my body fell from the air and landed in the snow. I landed with a thud, and the snow stung my aching body. It still hurt more than anything to try to move, so I tried to sit as still as I could. This seemed to lock my body up, and my lungs gasped for air. Tears still continued to stream down my face, but I noticed I had stopped screaming.
The last thing I remember is seeing Harry, Hermione, Ron, Hagrid and Leanne over me before everything went black.