Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Harry potter characters.
Chapter Sixteen: Recruiting
Draco walked down Diagon Alley with his head high. His crisp night-blue uniform brought him more notice than all his years of mindless posturing, as a rich noble, combined. He'd demanded respect then, based on his name and wealth. He'd never received it, at least not from anyone of whom such respect mattered.
Now he had it because he'd earned it, thus the reason for the lightness of his step and the pride shinning in his gray eyes.
He'd earned the uniform he wore. He was both proud of it and himself. Those feelings, paled by comparison to how he felt about the man who gave him the opportunity to be where he is now.
As grateful as he was, he was even more grateful for what came by coincidence; having met Abby and fallen in love with her. None of that would have happened if Harry hadn't given him the chance to redeem himself.
They'd never had the opportunity to share victory on the battlefield, but now they we're certainly about to reap the rewards.
He just had one delightful task and then he could port key to Antwerp to meet Harry. He'd been a nervous wreck when he'd asked Harry's help, but Harry had been, well,.. Harry. He not only put Draco at ease, but had seemed genuinely honored that Draco had asked his help. He still couldn't fathom that he was putting six months pay toward this? His former self would have scoffed at such a notion. Now, he relished it.
Draco paused, taking in the sign above the shop, trying his best not to laugh out loud, and failing.
Worldly-Wizard's-Waterhole.
Steeling himself, Draco walked in to find a boisterous pub, filled with men of all ages actively engaged in conversations, darts, snooker, and… dancing. One bloke was dressed in a leather motorcycle get up,(complete with chaps), dancing, rather provocatively, with an obviously enamored, Professor Sinistra.
Draco had always had his suspicions, now he knew.
Anyway, his eyes searched thru the mass of men for telltale red hair. He spied one of the twins serving drinks at a rear table fending off the clutching hands of a rather amorous group.
Fred had barely escaped with his virtue intact, letting out a last yelp and shooting the table a dirty glare after getting his bum pinched for the third time today. He found himself distracted,(like the rest of his patrons), as the tavern quieted around him.
He followed his customer's quiet gazes, settling on the dark blue uniformed, pale haired man that fidgeted nervously under the scrutiny.
Draco frowned at his previous misunderstanding as one warlock stood up and rose his glass in toast proclaiming:
"To Knight Watch!"
"Knight Watch!" The pub echoed reverently.
Not even a year since inception and already Harry had brought them to this.
Draco graciously fended off many sincere offers of a beverage in appreciation, citing he was 'on duty'.
At his pronouncement he found his way immediately cleared for him as he approached George, manning the bar.
George eyed his approach with something akin to utter contempt.
Seemingly oblivious to his host's displeasure, Draco inquired, "How's business?"
"Actually, quite profitable, thanks." George quipped honestly in return.
Draco nodded commenting, "Fancy making it permanent, then?"
George pulled a shocked face, exclaiming, "What,… and miss next month's surprise?"
The twins were currently half way thru Harry's monthly reoccurring prank. Each month he and his elves had conspired to, not only, remodel their store, but find a way to trap them into having to deal with each new embarrassing makeover-first hand.
They had thought nothing could have topped the embarrassment of 'Weight Watchers for Witches', they had been wrong; so very, very wrong. The next month it had been: Weasley's Wondrous Walks; a shoe store. There were flying shoes with little wings on the ankles like Mercury's sandals, shoes with floatation devices built in for apparition over large bodies of water or a fun day at the beach, shoes to climb walls, dancing shoes- yes, they actually turned an owner with two left feet into the 'Lord of the Dance', shoes…SHOES…SHOES!
The next month had been no less fun in the Weasley's Wonton Wok. The Chang family had generously joined the fun in that one. They were happily returning a bit on their personal debt, to Harry, by opening a Hunan kitchen with the famous Weasley Wok-king Warriors.
The twins hadn't consider that month a total loss as they learned the secret of making a scrumtuous 'spicy tuna roll'.
Last month had been: Wanton Wizard's Wraps which led in nicely to this month's clientele base as the store had specialized for wizards with a rather, er… particular taste in clothes.
Each day the elves had thoughtfully provided a wardrobe that displayed their modest wares, (literally so), to full effect.
Draco smiled indifferently and made as if about to leave, stating: "Well if you're sure, then I'll just leave you to it? My understanding is is that Harry's got something really big planned for next month's venture. He brought in some extra help from abroad and everything."
Fred had joined him half way thru Draco's what; snicker… warning… gloat?
"What're you on about?' Fred skulked.
Draco spread his finger, pretending to scrutinize his fingernails as he replied off handily, "Nothing really, just thought I'd stop by and see if you're up for something a bit more adventurous?"
Both flicked their hands toward their wands.
"You'll like this one." Draco added, showing not the least bit concerned by their implied threat.
"We'll like what?" George growled.
"Other than cursing your arse, that is?" his brother added threateningly.
Draco smirked. "How'd you like to be a member of the marauders?"
Both sets of eyes went wide simultaneously at that.
"So he's finally recognizing our talents?" George smugly surmised.
"I knew it." Fred snickered. "The well's run dry."
"We've outlasted the git" George added, high fiving his twin.
Fred nodded. "Sounds like he's conceded to our true pranking genius?"
Draco rolled his eyes. "It's not, quite, er… like that?"
"Oh, and what is it like, then?" George smirked.
Draco glanced around and erected a quick privacy screen around them with a few quick flicks of his wand, silencing and confounding the perimeter around their spot at the bar.
"He's starting a new quidditch team,…The Marauders." Draco whispered conspiratorially.
"The Maruaders?" George gasped in wonder.
"No, shite?" his twin asked in more surprise and with less discretion.
Draco nodded. "He's manning the project with what he considers the best talent available and that includes you two." He complimented charmingly.
Both brothers puffed up proudly at that.
Fred was the first to ask, as usual. "What kind of money are we talking here?" his greedy side rearing its head.
"Beaters of our caliber don't come cheap?" George intimated.
"He's prepared to offer you an exclusive one year rookie contract for ten thousand?" Draco offered reaching toward his breast pocket to withdraw the papers."
"One year, Puh-lease!" George scoffed.
"Five years, minimum and twenty to start." Fred demanded.
"With the usual incentive bonuses" George added.
Draco rolled his eyes. "You're pretty sure of yourselves for never playing professionally?"
"We know talent when we see it, and apparently so does Harry." George surmised.
Reluctantly Draco offered after a few moment of careful consideration. "I'm authorized to offer, in lieu of salary; three years without a base salary, but an equal share of the gate. Harry said if everything goes according to plan- you could really clean up!"
The twin shared a calculating look before they both chorused: "Done" at the same time.
Draco withdrew the proper documentation and offered them a quill which they politely refused, eyeing the offer warily.
"Thank's, but we'll use one of our own."
Draco nodded with an odd gleam in his eyes. "Understandable. One can never be too cautious."
"Not where Potter's concerned." Fred huffed.
Once they'd signed Draco , smiled winningly and pocketed the document.
"Wait'll ickle Ronnekins hears this?" George chortled in anticipation.
"He'll do his nut!" Fred agreed chuckling.
Draco pressed his finger to his lips in a silencing motion. "Mum's the word till the official announcement. Even then, keep this discrete as he wants to catch the competition off guard as long as possible."
The twins nodded making zippering motions over their mouths in tandem.
There's a tryout scrimmage on the 9th of September, but you won't need to attend as you're already a lock for your positions." Draco acknowledged.
Both puffed themselves up even more so at that.
"You start the first thing of the 10th .You're uniforms and new brooms will be waiting for you. "
Draco handed each a a small golden snitch that had 'Marauders Rule' stitched proudly on them.
"These port keys will take you directly to your assigned lockers. Don't expect anything fancy." Draco cautioned.
"Preserve the bottom line." Fred assumed.
"Profit before pleasure." George quoted.
Draco nodded, "Exactly. See you on the 10th."
Draco canceled the silencing wards and left , graciuosly fielding well wishes as he departed the tavern.
Fred and George tossed their aprons and joined their clients in celebrating their good fortune over a pint or two of their own, finest stock.
Green eyes read the sign over the store front. It had taken no little effort to find this last recruit.
Kattie Bell had been the most anticipated recruit, for the Montreal Magpies, in over a century. Fast, flawless aim and text book defence. By all accounts, she would have been their premier chaser for the next decade or more; the foundation for building a solid team upon.
It apparently, just wasn't meant to be? Katie had been struck down by a bludger to the back ,in the team's final preseason exhibition game, before the start of the season.
A freak accident the papers had called it.
For Katie and those who shared in her life…it was a tragedy.
Confined to a wheelchair, Katie's dreams of a brilliant quidditch career evaporated into thin air.
She, like he was want to do, isolated herself and pushed her friends and family away until there was nothing and nobody; just a wheel chair for a companion.
She used up what she saved from her signing bonuses and contract buy out to by a small, run down bookshop on Montreal's lower west side. It was a rather seedier side of the magical community. Not a Knockturn Alley per say, but definitely not a growing part of the community either.
Harry read the weather sign over head: BELL, BOOK and CANDLE.
He smirked at the play on the muggle movie that intimated a hidden magical world amongst the rest of civilization, that and the reference to her name and it being a book shop. Most wizarding folk would not get the connection, but muggle raised, as much of Montreal is, would enjoy the irony.
Harry entered the shop and a little tinkling bell over the door heralded his arrival. A young woman was helping an elderly witch with her purchases. She was dark skinned and quite attractive with a resemblance to Katie that left no doubt that she was a family member, no doubt a sister.
Harry perused the shelves until the Elderly witch left so that he could get a word in private with the clerk. Distractedly, he noted that the shop was well versed in a broad selection of common and lesser known spell books, several of which garnered his own interest.
Seeing the young lady was available, Harry approached and asked: " I wonder if I might have a quick word with the shop's owner, a Miss Katie Bell, I believe? I have an offer that might interest her."
The girl rose and politely declined. "I'm sorry, sir, but Miss Bell doesn't receive visitors. Not since, ... well,… she just isn't available." The young lady caught herself from commenting on Katie's isolation and the cause.
Katie had isolated herself away from everyone after the accident. some of the last to go were her close friends in Alicia Spinnet and Angelina Johnson. The three girls had been inseparable thru school; which contributed to them being the finest trio of chasers that Gryffindor had ever produced in its long storied history. Alicia and Angie were still playing and were amongst the best in the league, but their true talent and potential was in playing together; the sum being more valuable than the parts.
They were just too painful a reminder of what Katie had hoped and dreamed for herself, thus she pushed them away.
Eventually even Fred was discarded, though he had never given up on Katie and had been determined to pull her from her depression and see his own dreams realized of a future family with the girl of his dreams.
All this had taken place after Harry had defeated Voldemort, not that his presence would have altered any of the events from occurring as they had. He was powerless to save himself at that time, let alone anyone else.
Harry realized he'd been lost in thought and apologized, asking… "Sorry, I drifted there for a moment, but surely, Miss Bell would make an exception for an old friend and admirer?"
The girl eyed him more nervously than previous, not recognizing him with the glamour he was wearing to remain inconspicuous. He wasn't well known in Montreal, but why take chances.
The girl shook her head and reiterated. "I'm sorry, sir, but Katie's quite adamant about not seeing anyone from her past not even…"
Harry waved his hand and canceled the glamour charm he wore, instantly revealing his twinkling green eyes and world famous scar.
The girl gasped in sudden recognition.
"Not even a fellow Gryffindor teammate?" he suggested with a mischieveious grin.
"K-K-Knight Potter!" the girl stammered, needlessly curtsying respectfully as if he were some sort of royalty.
"I take it you're a relation?" Harry surmised.
"I'm K-Katie's sister,.. J-Jenny. I work here after school to help out and make a bit of pocket money."
Harry nodded appreciatively. "And just as stunningly attractive as your sister. Do you play quidditch as well?"he inquired politely.
The blushing girl struggled to answer, "N-No, not since Katie,… mum won't let me..."
Harry nodded his understanding. "Maybe that will change?" he ventured hopefully.
"That would take a miracle." the girl complained dejectedly.
Harry smirked at that. "We shall see."
Shaken by his confidence the girl only gaped wide eyed, too afraid to even hope. She'd heard the stories first hand from Katie. Now she read about the walking legend, standing before her, almost daily in the paper and now in 'the book' that she couldn't put down.
If there was anyone who could help Katie,… help at all? She dared to hope.
"May I see Katie now, please?" Harry asked gently, not to startle the girl from her wandering thoughts.
Jenny nodded absently and took him toward a small back office where she knocked and announced:
"Katie, there's someone here wanting to see you!" she almost sang out.
"T-Tell whoever it is that I'm not available, Jen." Katie returned flatly from behind the door.
"But Katie, it's…" Jenny left off announcing Harry's name as he motioned for silence.
"I don't care who it is Jenny, just send them away. Tell them whatever you want, but send them away." Katie yelled back irately.
Harry nodded Jenny toward returning to her duties up front, offering a half smile of reassurance at seeing her initial reluctance.
With a tentative smile, the girl left him to his own devise.
Harry steeled himself and waved his hand letting his magic flow.
The locked door popped open and he made to step inside as Katie chuffed….
"I told you Jenny, I'm not...Harry?"
Katie stared wide eyed in disbelief as she goggled at a much more matured Harry Potter than the boy she knew from school.
Harry took in his distant friend's apprearence:She was in a wheel chair because she had refused magical implants that would allow her some semblance of her former mobility, but not enough to allow her to return to the quidditch pitch.
She was too thin; the bones prominently displayed on her wrists and cheek bones.
Her hair had grown long and Harry could tell that she was used to brushing it forward to hide herself behind.
"Hello, Katie." Harry smiled brightly.
"Y-You've changed." Katie blurted out the first thing she could think of, blushing after.
Harry smirked. "So have you." he returned bluntly, only he wasn't referring to her predicament, but what she'd let herself become as a result.
"What do you know about it?" she groused bitterly, her voice laced with self pity.
"I know the person sitting before me isn't the Katie I once knew; the brave, daring, vivacious Gryffindor who would risk anything on the pitch. Where has she gone?"
"She's the broken shell that's the end result of pushing her luck- one too many times." Katie wiped at the corner s of her eyes, which she kept focused at her lap.
"I see no broken shell." Harry disputed. "You've lost faith in yourself, Katie, and with it your faith in your friends."
"I've lost everything, everything that mattered to me." she added dejectedly.
Harry sighed wearily. "Have you, or have you driven it away?" he ventured knowingly.
Katie's eyes snapped up at that. A hint of her old fire was in her voice as she spat: "What do you want, Harry?"
Harry smirked. "I want you."
"I'm useless, what could the illustrious Magical Knight possibly want me for?" she returned sarcastically.
"I'm starting a quidditch team and I want you to play center chaser." He said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
She initially gaped in disbelief before starting to giggle. Her giggles soon turned into harsh guttural laughs that were anything but jovial. They were rather bitter, pain filled, near maddened bleats of self loathing.
Harry waited patiently as her laughter turned to pitying sobs of despair and misery.
Eventually Katie managed to gasp out "You're a bit late, you know?" She wiped at her eyes, but did not venture a look in his direction.
"No, I don't know that." Harry returned defiantly. "You heart still beats. You still draw breath."
"I'm broken, Harry….BROKEN." she wailed. "I can't fly. I'll never fly again. I-I can't even have ch-children…."he voice faded to a near whisper at that last.
Harry grimaced in understanding. So this is why she broke off her relationship with Fred.He'd expected as much. It all made sense now
He could feel the initial stirrings at the core of his being. He just needed a little push of his own.
"I want you to fly for me, …with me. As to the other, you'll have to find someone else to assist you with that?"
Katie scowled at that. "That's not funny, Harry."
"I'm not laughing." He shrugged. "I insist on a five year contract with the usual incentives. I'm only paying the league minimum, but all our players get a small share of the profits from ticket sales, memorabilia, concessions,… the works."
"If I could fly for you or for anyone; I'd do it for nothing." she snorted in disbelief.
"I accept."
Katie's eyes flew up to search knew Harry Potter, he didn't bluff.
Dark soulless brown met intense, twinkling green. She gasped in awe as Harry's aura began to manifest itself, filling her office with golden light. The faint murmurings of phoenix song drifted around them.
Katie's head twisted this way and that as she struggled to understand what was happening around her.
Her eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets when she realized that this was the beginnings of the Phoenix Fire.
"N-No .Harry." She held up her hands toward him off. "I-I 'm not worthy." she mewled. "I'm nobody, nothing; a silly girl that took one too many chances with her life, all for what,… a game?"
Phoenix song flared jubilantly at her denial. It was all the push he needed. If she had felt deserving, the fire would never have risen in her behalf.
"Then you must prove yourself worthy of a second chance." He suggested as he knelt before her reaching for her hands as golden flames leapt up his rams toward his hands.
"N-No… Harry,… please…" she nearly begged trying to fend him off.
He grasped her flailing hands in one of his own and turned her tear stained cheek to face him with the other. She found herself falling into his reassuring gaze. His green eyes twinkled madly with a depth of empathy and… and love?
"I'm not the message but merely the messenger, Katie. I am but the instrument for some will greater than my own. That will isn't doing this just for you, but for the future lives you will in turn touch and inspire."
Katie Bell's office was engulfed in a golden hued inferno that brought life instead of destruction; healing instead of harm.
It ended almost as quickly as it began the flames around them died and the phoenix song faded away into the ether as if it had never been.
Harry rolled back unsteadily to his feet and staggered falling into her desk.
Katie gasped and jumped to his aid, catching him up before he fell.
The second her hand touched his,… she knew. She knew what this had cost him. Whether it was his will or some greater one as he claimed,… Harry had been the one to pay the price.
His eyes held both immense courage and despair. Crow's feet etched the corners of his once young eyes where she could swear that none had been scant moments before. His hair was speckled with gray and his powerful, confident presence had faded to a pale semblance of its former vigor in the blink of an eye.
He had literally aged before her very eyes.
Harry brushed away her supporting hands murmuring a telltale, "I'm fine", in half hearted reassurance.
"You're not fine." Katie refuted in concern as she shifted him into a nearby chair.
"What have you done?" she asked timidly out of worry.
"What I could to heal two hearts, I expect." Harry returned with a knowing smile.
Katie gaped and took a tentative step back in sudden understanding. He was talking about her and… Fred.
"H-he won't want me I can't… I can't give him what we… what h-he wants… not now that I'm…"
"You're fine." Harry smirked gesturing off handily toward her lower half.
Perplexed, Katie dropped her gaze. It took her a moment to realize that…
"I'm standing!" she shrieked.
Harry nodded incredulously. "And soon you'll be running, dancing and playing quidditch… for free."he reminded her.
Katie gaped at that, but flew gratefully into his arms, sobbing her thanks into his shoulder.
At length her sobbing subsided and she made to pull back from his once again 'powerful arms?
Puzzled, she pulled back and stared in wide eyed wonder.
He was as before; young and strong. The grey was gone from his hair. The lines had disappeared from the corners of his eyes and his eyes twinkled madly with knowledge and power,… just like Dumbledore's used to.
"B-But how?' she gasped.
"Magic" he affirmed simply. "I'm famished. What say we grab a bit of lunch, my treat?" he suggested, offering her his arm.
On unsteady legs she nodded dumbly taking his proffered arm as he guided her out of his office.
She passed her sister who was consumed within the pages of a book, no doubt- the book.
"We're going to lunch, Jen. Want us to bring you anything back?"
'Um, sure Katie." Her sister nodded absently, looking up from her book. "How about some…Katie?" she nearly screamed at the sight of her crippled sister now walking.
Jenny flew into Katie's arms squealing delightedly. "B-B-But how?"
"Harry" Katie answered smiling broadly.
Jenny leapt out of her sister's embrace and into Harry's startled grasp shouting "Thank you-Thank you-Thank you!"
Blushing furiously at her boldness, she squawked back and dropped into a deep curtsey murmuring Formally..." Er, um.. Thank you- Lord Knight."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Well, that's got to stop." he intoned wearily as he pulled the young girl up and scolded.
"I'm not some lazy king sitting on his fat arse, Harry will do."
He waggled his finger at the still awestruck girl, suggesting, "You'll have to start doing more than burying yourself in books if you're going to play quidditch for me some day like you sister does?"
In after thought he absently made a reference that: "Hmmm, the world does seem to need bookworms to though."
Jenny cocked her head puzzled, looking to her sister who mouthed from over his shoulder...'Her-mi-own-ee... Gran-ger'.
Jenny's mouthed formed an 'O'. of understanding. "Oh!" she squealed delightedly, running back to the counter and retrieving the book she had been entranced in only moments before.
"Would you please sign my copy?" she pleaded pushed the book and a quill toward him hopefully.
"Is it all true, I mean,.. it must be if Hermione Granger-Weasley wrote it but,... did you really fight a basilisk when you were twelve?" the girl gushed at him.
"Um,... er, yeah, but... Hermione wrote...?" Puzzled Harry pulled the book into his hands, his eyes went wide at seeing the title and author:
'My Two Loves...by Hermione Granger-Weasley' There was a picture of the three of them, the 'Golden trio', on the cover.
Harry paled slightly, the smile disappearing from Jennifer's and Katie's faces at seeing his reaction.
He hadn't known.
If Katie Bell remembered one thing from her school days it was that not only was Harry Potter the bravest boy she'd ever met but was also very shy and valued his privacy.
If he hadn't known about 'the book', (as his reaction clearly indicated),it was because Hermione Granger-Weasley hadn't told him about it and no one else had either, as it had been out for over two weeks and was already a 'best seller' in the magical world.
"Would you sign it please?" Jenny squealed hopefully.
Her sister shot her a disproving look that went unnoticed.
"Certainly." he agreed, taking the book and writing a sweet little endorsement inside the jacket cover.
Smiling charmingly he ventured, "If you'd like, I could see about getting the author and the er,..other party of interest to sign this as well?"
"Would you, really?" The young girl clapped her hands excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
"I'd be delighted."
Katie, (still standing behind him), didn't need to see his face to know that Harry was anything but- delighted. The rigidness of his back gave testament to that. He was as tense as that first quidditch game he'd played for Gryffindor at the age of eleven.
Harry snapped the book close and assured, "I'll see that this gets back to you very soon."
"Thank you Lord Kn... er, Harry." she quickly amended at seeing his eyebrow raise in displeasure when she'd started to use his title.
"You're very welcome."
Harry turned on his heel and proffered his arm to a waiting Katie, apologizing for "Keeping a lovely witch waiting" as he ushered her from the shop.
She didn't know what surprised her more: How deftly and kindly he hid his obvious displeasure to her sister or,... how charming and chivalrous he'd become compared to the shy, uncertain boy he'd once been.
Is this the same boy who used to lose his famous temper at the drop of a hat and stumbled all over himself trying to get a date to the Yule Ball?
She goggled at him as he struck up a conversation by telling her how much he enjoyed the play on words and hidden meaning behind the name of her bookshop.
They entered a small French bistro two blocks over from her shop and followed their hostess to a small table amidst startled stares and whispered exclamation from the other patrons around them.
Harry ordered a small carafe of wine- in French, sending the stunned, but appreciative hostess off to place his order.
"Everyone's staring at us." Katie murmured uncomfortably, drawing his attention to their predictiment.
Harry shrugged indifferently. "They're probably surprised seeing you up and walking is all."
"But I don't come here? I don't go anywhere or see anyone,... at least not anymore." she mumbled ashamedly.
"Ah..." Harry nodded his understanding, intimating.. "Then they're all wondering who the lovely witch is I've managed to land a luncheon with?"
Katie blushed at that, giggling as she slapped his arm fondly. "What's happened to you?" she admonished appreciatively.
"Lots of things." He smirked, pulling the book out from under his arm. "I'm sure you can read the gist of it in here." he suggested.
Katie's smile fell slightly. "Thanks, but I've already read it."
"That bad, huh?" he grimaced slightly.
Katie shook her head. "On the contrary; it's the most amazing adventure I've ever read in my entire life. Oh,.. and I've read it twice, by the way. I've never envied Hermione as much as I did when I read that book. I mean, I've always envied her intelligence, but I've never envied her, like I do now. "
Harry quirked a pained, half smile. "She's not had an easy time of it with Ron and I. We were,... I was always putting her in one form of danger or another and Ron used to bicker with her over anything and everything. It drove her barmy and he loved it. It was a foot race to see if I could get her killed or if he could drive her insane first. I guess he won? She'd have to be a complete nutter to hitch a life- ride with that git."
Katie giggled at that. "I can't believe how you've changed?" she said wonderingly for what felt like the hundredth time today.
"I've just started growing up." he offered with a shrug.
"I like the project so far." she complimented.
Harry cringed in misunderstanding."I was that bad in school, huh?"
"You were moody and that temper?" she admonished, amending slightly. "Not that you didn't have a good reason for it most of the time." She nodded her head understandingly toward the book resting at his elbow.
Harry sighed, catching on. "She wrote about my connection to Voldemort, eh?"
Katie nodded, dabbing a finger to the corner of her eye. "How could you stand it, any of it?"
"What choice did I have?" he answered with a question of his own that was answer enough.
"I still can't believe they stuck with me?" he lamented skeptically. "I got nearly everyone I ever cared about killed or tortured. I was always going off half cocked; jumping from the frying pan and into the fire whilst dragging them along with me. I should write a book myself apologizing to everyone I ever got in trouble, killed, maimed, beaten, tortured or even just annoyed. They'd have to publish it in an ongoing series of volumes. I could put an encyclopedia to shame, I could." he suggested.
She largely ignored his rant, knowing it for what it was; a defense mechanism to vent his frustration and self doubt.
His self image and personal identity was still as impaired as her own... is... was.
"Read the book, Harry. Do it for no other reason than for your own curiosity, but do it." she suggested/demanding, tapping her finger for emphasis on the cover of the book.
He offered a wan smile. "I don't need to; if Hermione wrote it than it's an accurate accounting. The girl doesn't know how to fib and Merlin forbid if she didn't have all empirical data authenticated?"
Katie shook her head impatiently. "You're not understanding me. The book isn't about you're adventures..."
He snorted at that, interrupting her, though she continued undaunted, with a roll of her eyes.
"Well it is about that, but it's mostly about how she and Ron felt about it along the way. How they feel about each other and how they feel about you; then and now. How they see you and how they want others to see you, the real you, Harry."
Harry's eyes shifted uncertainly between her and the book at his elbow. Her heart ached that he could possibly be this indecisive about something so overwhelmingly majestic in its conceptual entirety.
"T-They must hate me?"
"Almost as much as they hate each other, Harry." Katie poignantly reassured him.
Frowning at his ambivalence, Katie added, grasping his hand supportively. "I'm probably not as well read as Hermione, nobody is." She paused with a snort at that. "But, it's the most amazing thing I've ever read and that is saying something. There's a depth of love and feeling contained within the pages of this book that's absolutely breathtaking. Hermione takes the reader on a journey that begins with the three of you meeting on the Hogwart's Express to the point when you left them that Christmas Eve when you first summoned the FIRE."
"I don't summon the fire, it comes of its own volition." he interrupted for verification.
She waved him off... "Lie to yourself, but from one who's been on the receiving end I know better. The love in your own heart sends it bubbling to the surface like a volcano."
Harry rolled his eyes, but Katie continued her previous train of thought without pause. "Hermione shares the true story of the 'Golden Trio' and the name pales by comparison."
Seeing his dubious look she blurted out in sudden understanding. "My God,... you don't see it! She said you don't, but you really don't, do you?"
Harry shrugged helplessly by way of an answer.
"You really don't see yourself the way that others see you, do you? How in the world can someone so awe inspiring think so little of himself?" she nearly wailed in frustration, drawing unwanted attention to them as conversations around them halted abruptly.
Suddenly uncomfortable with the attention they were receiving, Harry surreptitiously cast several silencing charms around their table with a casual wave of his hand. Katie could feel the sudden burst of magic swirling around her, marveling at how effortlessly he performed magic that even the most adept conjurer could only dream of.
"Hermione tends to see things from a more virtuous slant than the rest of us. I'm sure she was just being kind. I'm no saint, nor am I anything someone should aspire to. I have the same hopes and fears and dreams and ambitions as anyone else."
Katie blew out an exasperated breath. "She wrote about your adventures together; the good and the bad. It's a chronicle of what an adventure truly is: terror and pain meeting head on against courage and self sacrifice. Hermione details how children grew into adults forced to mature by events beyond their control. But most of all, she wrote about you and Ron. There's a depth of love and admiration between the three you that's absolutely breath taking."
Harry rolled his eyes at that, serving only to infuriate Katie with his casual disregard over anything that painted him in a favorable light.
"You're not going to read it, are you?" she groused.
"No" he acknowledged flatly.
With a bit of inspiration, Katie tried a different tact. "She would want you to read it. I think she wrote it as much for you as she did the rest of us, including her own self. She adores you, you know. They all do."
He didn't have to ask who she was referring to in the "they" he knew.
"They all adore me so much that I was asked to leave my country." he retorted bitterly.
Seeing that she was about to respond he amended. "I'm ok with it though, really I am. " he stressed emphatically. "I came to realize that it was the right thing to do. I would have gotten one of them killed eventually. I'm not exactly what you'd describe as being safe to be around. I never have been really." he explained.
"Harry, I..."
"It's all water under the bridge, Katie." he cut her off. "I'm happier now then I've been in a long time. I'm with people who understand me and what it is I'm trying to do and want to help me do it. They understand the risks as they've faced them themselves over the years. It's a good thing, I think, maybe even the best thing. Time will tell." He touched briefly on his vision for a better tomorrow.
"Why the quidditch team of your own then, if you're so content?" she asked curiously if he was so happy in his other pursuits.
Harry smirked cunningly. "I like quidditch and besides, it serves more than one purpose." He commented vaguely.
"What other purposes?" Katie asked intrigued.
"All in good time, Miss Bell. All in good time." He mimicked his former headmaster's voice and mannerism of peering at his charge over his church steeple fingertips.
"Not a bad imitation of Dumbledore, Harry." She complimented.
Harry pulled a mock face of disappointment. "I was doing Snape."
Katie giggled at that.
"You already own most of Chudley, why didn't you just launch whatever you have in mind with them?" she asked the obvious.
Harry smiled wistfully. "Chudley's Ron's team and dream. It always has been and always will be."
She marveled at how casually he fulfilled a friend's life dream without taking the slightest bit of credit for himself.
"Besides, I'm not exactly welcome or able to continue in England just now, not that I'm complaining mind."
He continued his train of thought. "What I have in mind is something just for me and a few select others, such as yourself."
His face took on a predatory gleam."If things go the way I envision we'll be playing Ron soon enough?"
Katie cocked a skeptical eyebrow."It takes a new team decades of building to reach the level of making it to the World Cup and if you're not planning on fielding an English league team as you're not "welcome" in England as you say, then the only way you'd get a chance to play against Chudley is in the World Cup final."
"Very astute, Ms. Bell" he complimented, again in Dumbledore's voice.
Katie rolled her eyes. "No starting team is that good, not even with you at seeker, Harry?"
Harry shrugged indifferently, his eyes twinkling madly. "This one will be." He promised as if it were an absolute given.
Katie snorted. "I haven't even played a professional game. I was injured before our regular season even started. No offence, but Ron's one of the best keepers on the pro circuit. The only one who's possible better is...?"
Katie left off at seeing his feral grin broaden.
"You didn't?" she nearly shrieked.
Harry nodded.
"But he wouldn't leave Puddlemere, not for anything except maybe...? Oh, Harry!"
Katie shrieked in delighted understanding, bouncing out of her chair and planting grateful kisses all over his face as she hugged him for all he was worth.