A Sticky Situation
Disclaimer: Rowling owns Hp, not I.
"What's up with Neville?" said Kitty, one morning as she joined Harry for breakfast. "I found him crouching behind the statue of Rastabir, the Restless, and crying. When I went up to him and asked him what the matter was, he didn't answer and walked off towards the library."
"Professor Moody practiced all three unforgivable curses on a spider in DADA class yesterday, and Neville got upset when he saw the spider twitching under the influence of the Cruciatus Curse," said Hermione frowning, as Kitty clasped a hand to her mouth. "Of course that's nothing when you think about the fact that Moody practiced the Imperius Curse on all of us, and thrice on Harry."
"WHAT?" gasped Kitty, "Why?" "His idea of a joke." replied Hermione briskly. "Forget about it," said Harry, catching Kitty's frightened look. "Look at this, I got full marks for divination, and Ron too," he said throwing his latest assignment towards Kitty.
"Looks to me like Divination is a silly subject, I will not opt for it in third year," she said glancing at some of the predictions Harry had made up. "That's my girl," smiled Hermione.
"Listen Harry, when is your first Hogsmeade meeting?"asked Kitty, " Because I asked Professor Flitwick and he said that he could give me permission to go with you, even though I am not a third year, provided I stay with you the whole time, and I get a signed permission form from Remus."
"That's terrific, I think the first Hogsmeade meeting is not until next week though," said Harry. Kitty finished breakfast and hopped off the bench. "I'm going to the Owlery. I have to send this permission form to Remus," she said waving a piece of parchment towards them.
Saying so, she made her way out of the entrance hall and towards the Owlery. Once the letter was safely dispatched with Hedwig, she found Vandyll and started walking towards Hagrid's hut. "Hey Potter," a voice behind her drawled. Several people looked up. Kitty turned around to face Malfoy.
"I had fun last night," he said loudly, "You were good for a first timer," he drawled. "What do you m—"she started. Comprehension dawned on her face as she looked at the giggling onlookers. She blushed a brilliant shade of red, and ran towards the castle with Vandyll following close by.
"Hey! Kitty, wait!" he called after her. Kitty ran as fast as her legs would carry her and entered the girl's toilet. "Hey Potter, what's your secret?" called one of the third year Slytherin girls. "Is it true you shagged Draco Malfoy?" asked Luna, emerging out of a cubicle.
"You take your words back, Luna Lovegood!" Kitty cried, tears dropping down her face. "I thought not," said Luna, amused. "Come let's go find Dennis and Vandyll. You can't sit here crying all day. You can't hide from the world. Anyone who knows you well enough and who matters to you will believe you when you say that you didn't do it. Anyone else who doesn't believe you, doesn't matter as much," she said simply.
Kitty felt a rush of gratitude towards Luna, she got up and wiping her eyes, she said, "You're right. I will turn the other cheek." And casting a scornful look at the Slytherin girls nearby, she held her chin high and stalked out of the bathroom.
Vandyll and Dennis were waiting outside. "Are you okay?" asked Dennis, nervously, "Vandyll told me what happened." Kitty smiled at him and said, "I'm perfectly fine, Dennis. That git will have to try harder than this to get me upset."
The four of them made their way to the entrance hall, where they met Harry, Ron and Hermione. Seeing Kitty, Harry rushed over and said. "I know you didn't, Kat. Wait till I get hold of that bastard." Kitty smiled and hugged her brother. "I knew you'd trust me."
The next morning, when Kitty arrived in the Entrance Hall, she found herself unable to proceed, owing to the large crowd of students congregated there, all milling around a large sign that had been erected at the foot of the marble staircase. Ron stood on tiptoe to see over the heads in front of them and read the sign aloud to the other three.
"THE TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT
THE DELEGATIONS FROM BEAUXBATONS AND DURMSTRANG WILL BE ARRIVING AT 6 O'CLOCK ON FRIDAY THE 30TH OF OCTOBER. LESSONS WILL END HALF AN HOUR EARLY. STUDENTS WILL RETURN THEIR BAGS AND BOOKS TO THEIR DORMITORIES AND ASSEMBLE IN FRONT OF THE CASTLE TO GREET OUR GUESTS BEFORE THE WELCOMING FEAST."
"That's great, I can't wait for tomorrow evening," said Kitty. Meanwhile Ron and Hermione were bickering over Cedric Diggory.
All over the castle, students seemed to have only one topic of conversation –The tournament. The castle seemed to be undergoing an extra-thorough cleaning. Several grimy portraits had been scrubbed, much to the displeasure of their subjects, who sat huddled in their frames muttering darkly and wincing as they felt their raw pink faces. The suits of armor were suddenly gleaming and moving without squeaking, and Argus Filch, the caretaker, was behaving so ferociously to any students who forgot to wipe their shoes that he terrified a pair of first-year girls into hysterics.
Fred and George seemed to be deeply discussing means to get into the tournament. They walked up to Kitty one day and asked her, "Kitty, we know you are the best in potions in your year. Also we heard that you are very good at brewing potions even meant for the seventh year. Will you do us the honor of brewing us some Aging Potion? You see, we daren't ask Hermione, she might report us. So what say you?"
Kitty had happily agreed to the twins' suggestion on the condition that if they were caught, they would not tell that she had brewed it. Between classes and in break, the three of them skipped off to the Room of Requirement, and toiled to get the potion ready.
The teachers too were highly nervous about the Tournament. They kept giving advice to their students on their conduct. Vandyll was asked by Professor Mcgonagall to refrain from divulging to the students of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, that he could not perform a simple swapping spell.
All teachers and students returned to bed that night highly excited for the next day.