She hated this room. The smell of latex permeated throughout. She looked down at her twins sleeping form. His breathing was slow and shaky; his face was a pale, beads of sweat on his forehead. She took a small towel next to his bed, wiping the sweat off. He shuffled slightly, opening his eyes.
"Kitty?" she grabbed hold of his hand, shivering at the touch of his cold hand in her warm one.
"Im here," She reassured, running her free hand through his hair. He looked at her with sad eyes; those eyes that had been so full of life were now helplessness and defeat. There was a disconcerting silence, neither wanted to admit the inevitable. "Are you scared?" she whispered, looking at his hand, not wanting to make eye contact.
"No," his voice was barely audible now, "I'm more worried about you," he squeezed her hand, causing her to look up at him. "I don't want you to mourn too much, Kitty. You've got to watch Ced now, I have a gut feeling that he's going to get in trouble this year." Kat chuckled.
"You say that before every term."
"I know, and I'm always right." Kat let a tear fall down her face. The harsh realization hit her that her brother wouldn't be at her side for much longer. Liam inhaled sharply, tensing up. Kat squeezed his hand, trying to pacify him. His breathing became staggered; he looked over at her, his eyes beginning to glaze over.
"It's time, Kitty." He whispered. She nodded, letting another tear fall. He tightly closed his eyes, as she kissed his cheek. "I love you."
"I love you too, Liam." With that she stood up, reluctantly letting her twins hand go. The nurse gave her a sympathetic look as Kat left the room. Kat was immediately pulled into a hug from Cedric as the steady beep rang through her ears.
"Kitty," Cedric said for the tenth time, snapping his fingers in front of her face. "Kat," still no response. He sighed in defeat. "Well, I'm going to a prefect meeting so I'll be back soon." Once again he received no response and walked out of the compartment. Kat snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the door slam. Seeing that Cedric was gone she stood quietly and pulled her school robes out of her bag. Liam's image was imbedded in her head, that day in the hospital room playing over and over again. She had to admit she was getting lonely, so she exited the compartment to find Ginny Weasley. Yes, Ginny was a third year, but she was like a little sister to Kat. Walking down the nearly empty hall, she paid little attention to whoever was around her, causing her to abruptly run into someone.
"oopfh," Kat groaned as her butt hit the floor.
"Oi, sorry there," She looked up to see Oliver Wood standing over her looking kind of worried. "Are you alright?" he asked helping her up.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Kat said blushing, she had always had a slight crush on Oliver, not that she would ever admit it. "What were you doing?" she motioned toward the book in his hand. "A little early to be hitting the books don't ye think?" Oliver laughed.
"Playbook," he smiled, "I want to win that Cup this year." Kat laughed. She should've known that he was already in his qudditch mindset.
"Well, I heard that the Hufflepuff Chasers are ridiculously brilliant this year," she said with a wink. "I also heard that Slytherins beaters are going to be brutal this season, " Oliver raised an eyebrow.
"Really?" he asked now completely taken with the conversation.
"Yeah," Kat nodded, "I overheard Marcus bragging about how hes going to win, whatever it takes." She did airquotes, "so be prepared for a chippy game." Oliver nodded.
"Bloody Flint," he shook his head in disgust. "He's so-" He was cut off by a voice calling him.
"Wood!" Fred Weasley yelled from down the hall. "Katie wants to- KAT?" He stopped mid-sentence, rushing over to them. Kat was thrown into a tight hug. "You look absolutely stunning." Kat laughed.
"You don't look too horrifying either, Fred," Kat smiled. "I haven't seen you all summer." Fred put her back down. "Any new projects?" Fred put a finger to his mouth.
"Im sorry, my dear," He started, "But we have a witness," he motioned toward Oliver who was smiling at the whole conversation. "Cant discuss with unauthorized people now can we?"
"Oh, no," Kat said playing along, "But I do believe you were going to tell this gentleman something before you were so easily distracted."
"My fault for having a attention span of a rodent," Fred protested, "Anyway, Wood, Katie and George want to talk to you about the season." Oliver nodded, turning to Kat.
"Well, that's my cue to leave, it was a pleasure Kat," he smiled kissing her hand. " See you soon." She smiled back, a small blush returning to her cheeks. Oliver turned and walked down the hall to meet with his team. She turned back to Fred who was looking at her intently, a huge smile on his face.
"If you keep doing that then your face is going to get stuck like that." Kat giggled, poking Fred in the chest. He put his hand over his chest looking hurt.
"Watch it, your pokes are quite painful," he smiled. "Why didn't you come to the Burrow after… well…" He trailed off, looking at her with concern. She put her hand on his forearm.
"I'm alright, Fredrick." She laughed nervously, as he cringed.
"Kitten, please don't call me that."
"Call you what?" Kat said looking innocent.
"Fredrick you little booger," He laughed. She hit him lightly. They continued laughing and talking for another few minutes. Until a voice interrupted them
"Shouldn't you be goofing off somewhere, Weasley?" Kat and Fred looked over to see Cedric approaching them. Freds smile immediately fell.
"Ced, theres no need to be rude," She scolded, angry that he would be so mean.
"I better go, Kitten" Fred said. Kat nodded back at him, not blaming him for wanting to leave. "Find me after dinner, we still have to catch up. Diggory." Fred kissed Kat on the cheek before departing.
"Come on Kitty." Cedric pulled her back to the compartment, her glaring daggers at his back.
'What the hells wrong with him?' she thought. Shrugging it off, she grabbed her bag and headed toward the exit of the now stopped train. 'I'll talk to him later' Kat was pulled and pushed through the huge crowd of students toward the castle.