I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.
Extended Family
Chapter 9 – Grains of Sand
This takes place right after the duel in fourth year with Barty Crouch Jr
Dedicated to: Urgwaew
Shh. Shh. Shh.
Katie sat there, listening to the sound of falling grains of sand. Everything else seemed muffled to her. The footsteps of the Aurors and Pomfrey in the Infirmary sounded cottony to her. The tick of the clock seemed distant and tinny. Her own breathing was shallow and almost silent. Her heart beat was distant and sluggish. Everything was dominated by the sounds of the sand piling on itself.
Shh. Shh. Shh.
Had it only been a few hours? They had just been outside under the setting sun, enjoying the warm afternoon. They had just finished playing Blitz Quidditch. She only wanted to walk and chat with him before going back to study for her O.W.L.s. Only a few hours ago.
A lifetime ago.
Shh. Shh. Shh.
Her parents had gone to watch her memory of the incident, the duel. They and Andromeda, Tonks, Sirius, and others had gone to watch when everything went to hell. They went to watch her fall apart and fail her friend.
They went to watch him suffer.
They went to watch her break.
Shh. Shh. Shh.
Pomfrey reappeared as the sand ran out in the hourglass. She turned it over and cast several spells over Harry's form. "These spells have to be applied regularly," she explained to Katie.
"How much time does it measure?" Katie asked, her voice still scratchy from her scream.
"It depends on how long the spell lasts. Sometimes faster, sometimes slower."
Katie nodded woodenly and she returned to her silent vigil. Listening to the sound of falling sand.
The door to the Infirmary opened and Samantha and Thomas walked in first. They rushed to her and enveloped her in their arms.
"I'm so proud of you," Samantha said, eyes wet.
"You were so brave," Thomas murmured.
Katie began to cry once more. "It's my fault he was hurt, he's this bad because of me. If he wasn't trying to protect me-"
"You could have died," Andromeda said. She looked like wrath incarnate and Tonks looked like a younger version of her, wide open eyes filled with rage. Yet they were soft when they looked at Katie. "He would have killed you if you were lucky, tortured you if you were not. You were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, the both of you. But Harry chose to do what he did. He was not forced. You have no one to blame save Crouch."
"You don't hate me?" Katie asked, her voice small and trembling.
Andromeda hugged her. "Never. You fought for yourself and for Harry. You fought hard. You almost irreparably hurt yourself for him. I could never hate you. Thank you for caring for him and fighting for him dear."
Sirius nodded jerkily. "Yeah, you did good Katie. I'm glad you were there for him."
Katie sobbed, clutching to her parents and Andromeda desperately. Yet over the sounds of her tears, of her moaning, all she could hear was the sound of sand falling endlessly.
"You need rest," Pomfrey said. "It would be best if you returned to your dorm. I will give you some Dreamless Sleep but you need to rest."
"Can't I stay here with Harry?" Katie begged. "Please?"
"No, not this night," Pomfrey said firmly but kindly. "I will not stop you from visiting while he is here even though I am preventing anyone else from doing so. But you need some time away. It will do you some good."
"What do I even say to the others," Katie whispered.
"Just say you can't say anything right now," Tonks suggested. "Active investigation and all."
Katie nodded. That would work. A part of her felt bad for keeping what happened from the rest of the team, from Ron and Hermione and Lyla and his other friends. But she knew she could not share what happened alone. She was not that strong. She was not that brave.
"Don't worry, I'll watch over our boy," Tonks said gently.
"Andi and I will be in an out until he recovers," Samantha said.
Katie nodded again. That would help her cope.
She left reluctantly, escorted by her parents to the tower. Every step she took, she heard the grains of sand thudding down one by one.
Shh. Shh. Shh.
-0-
McGonagall smiled sadly at her when she and her parents approached the tower's portrait door. Lyla was standing there fidgeting and as soon as she saw her family, came running over. Samantha murmured into her ear and the younger girl cried silently.
"I have told everyone that there was an incident and you are not to be questioned or bothered," McGonagall said to Katie. "If any dares, let me know and punishment will be swift."
"Thank you," Katie whispered.
"Would you rather come home?" Thomas asked.
She thought for a moment before shaking her head. "No, I can try to distract myself with studying and seeing my friends. And I want to be close to Harry."
"Of course, just let us know." He kissed her forehead.
The sisters said goodbye to their parents and Katie walked through the hole, her steps heavy and leaden. There was a crowd of students clustered about, all looking at her. She could tell they wanted to ask, staring accusingly at her. She felt herself starting to tremble.
"Oi, piss off, the lot of you," George said.
"McGonagall already told us what we need to know and if you mess with her you mess with us," Fred said.
Few could stand up to merry mischievous Weasley twins. None dared to cross angry Weasley twins. The crowd scattered under their watchful eyes and Angelina and Alicia drew Katie between them and took her to their corner.
"Are you okay?" Angelina asked, scared of how dead Katie looked.
Katie shrugged.
"We're here for you," Alicia said.
Under their care she broke. She dissolved between them and they held her while she wailed.
-0-
She was drowning. She sank under tides of yellow and brown. The waves scoured her skin, dragging her deeper and deeper. She could hear Harry screaming, hear Crouch laughing. She heard herself screaming and the sound cutting off due to horrid bloody gurgling. She tried to scream and her mouth and throat was filled with gritty material.
"Katie!"
She woke with a start, just shy of screaming for real. Lyla was beside her shaking her. "Katie! Are you okay?" Lyla asked, looking as panicky as she felt.
"Lyla! I'm…I'm…I had a nightmare."
Lyla squeezed her older sister tight. "You're okay Katie," Lyla said whispered. "You're safe, you're okay."
Katie hugged her back, trying to escape the nightmare, trying to escape the feeling of raw scraped skin, the feeling of a dry gritty mouth.
Tried to ignore the sound of falling sand.
Shh. Shh. Shh.
-0-
"Mum, I'm worried," Lyla whispered.
Samantha smiled sadly at her youngest daughter, patting her cheek. "I know dear."
Katie was lying down, her head on Samantha's lap. She slept fitfully, calming when Samantha gently ran her fingers through her hair.
"All she does is sit in the Infirmary, go to class, and study. She doesn't sleep well and barely eats."
Samantha sighed. "She's really worried. She blames herself."
Lyla shivered and eagerly welcomed Samantha's one-armed hug. "It's been days. Is Harry okay?"
"We hope so," Samantha said softly. "We're waiting for him to wake up on his own."
"It's not Katie's fault Harry got hurt, is it?" Lyla asked quietly.
"Of course not."
"That's not what she says."
"She thinks it, but it's not true."
Lyla sniffled. "I wish she wouldn't think that."
"Me too."
"I miss Harry," Lyla whimpered.
"I know dear." She hugged her daughter a little tighter.
"I hope he'll be okay."
"Me too."
-0-
They sat in the great hall together. Samantha sat beside her daughters. The team sat between them and the rest of the House, giving them space and privacy. "Eat. I know you haven't been eating and you need to eat," Samantha said firmly.
"I'm not hungry," Katie said sullenly.
"I don't care. Now, I'm not above cutting up your meal and feeding you like I did when you were a baby so don't think for a second I won't do that now." Samantha smiled at Katie's glare. "Now that's a bit of emotion from you. Now I'm tempted even more." She reached out for Katie's plate.
Katie pushed her hands away and crammed the sausage in her mouth, choking slightly.
"That was smart of you," Samantha teased as she patted her back gently.
Katie made a hand gesture and Samantha laughed. The older woman looked at Alicia. "What have you been teaching her?"
Alicia smiled a little. "I swear, every rude gesture she knows is from copying me. I don't actually teach her how to do them. That's why they lack emphasis."
"Oh I remember the one you did to Krum during the first Blitz Quidditch," Lyla said. She made the gesture.
"Lyla!" Katie said with a full mouth while the others laughed. Lyla preened for a moment before shooting her mother a worried look.
Samantha shook her head. "Oh that was a limp effort. You really need to work the elbow to make it pop." She demonstrated.
"Mum!" Katie squawked and the others laughed uproariously.
"Maybe you should be teaching us Mrs. Bell," Angelina said with admiration.
"Perhaps when Katie isn't around so I don't offend her sensibilities," Samantha winked. As everyone laughed a paper crane flew through the air and landed neatly in front of her. She picked it up and unfolded it. "A message from Andi. She learned it from a colleague visiting from Japan…" Her eyes opened wide. "Harry's awake!"
Their end of the table erupted into cheers and sighs of relief. Katie began to get up before Samantha pulled her back down. "Finish dinner and you and I can go up. No one else I'm afraid." Lyla, Angelina, Alicia, and Hermione looked mutinous at that. Samantha patted the air soothingly. "I'll come by the tower later and give you lot a report, don't fret. And you eat young lady. I won't have you passing out when Harry finally wakes up."
Katie glared at her and ate the rest of the food on her plate at a record pace. She was still chewing when she got up, cheeks packed like a greedy chipmunk. Without waiting for her mother, she ran from the table and Samantha had to dash to catch up.
-0-
Katie stumbled through the portrait door a little dazed. Seeing Harry awake had immediately soothed her. Hearing about how long it will take him to recover intimidated her, and made her feel wretched, but she was glad they would have the opportunity for him to recover at all. That and hearing the reason why he protected her, to know that he loved her, it was a balm to hear why he did what he did.
She was immediately grabbed by her fellow Chasers and she did not fight them when they took her to the corner where the others waited. "How is he?" Angelina asked hurriedly. "Is he okay?"
"He's awake," Katie said with evident relief. "He's…going to have a long road to recovery." She had asked him what she could share with the others. He was fine with her telling them a few things. She had told him how worried they were and he said he wanted them to relax a little if they could. "It was bad. That's why it took him a while to wake up on his own."
"But he's awake and is going to be okay?" Ron asked. He sighed at her nod, falling into a chair as if unable to stay upright. "Bloody hell, that's a relief."
"How much longer is he going to be in the Infirmary?" Lyla asked.
"For a few more days," Katie said. "Madam Pomfrey said she wants to try and get him a little more stable before releasing him. He's already trying to leave early."
"Of course he is," Hermione, Alicia, and Angelina said at the same time with fond disgust. The others chuckled.
"Oh, she sent me a list of grievances," Katie said, pulling out a piece of parchment.
"This'll be good," the twins said.
"To Fred and George: stop sending charmed singing parchment and toilet seats. It's tiring and if you do it again, you'll be cleaning all the toilets in Hogwarts without magic."
"We didn't send any toilet seats!" George protested, wincing when Angelina poked him hard in the shoulder with Ginny kicking Fred in the shins.
"I think she was saying that to prevent it," Katie said. "To Angelina: you are far too well statured to attempt sneaking past like a mouse in the night."
Angelina huffed and blushed.
"To Alicia: your threats don't scare me any and better witches and wizards than you have tried. Your attempts up till now have frankly been adorable."
"Better?! Adorable?!" Alicia seethed.
"To Hermione: I helped write the school book on rules and codes but by all means try to find a loophole around me."
"Oh I'll find that loophole," Hermione grumbled.
"Tonks said that anyone that manages to get past the Aurors will be congratulated before being firmly escorted out via a strong kick to the rear." Katie rolled up the parchment.
"Tonks said that?" Ron asked.
"Well, she used ruder language."
"That sounds more like Tonks," Hermione sighed.
"What happened to the guy that hurt Harry?" Ginny asked.
Everyone saw the way Katie's eyes flashed and they edged back slightly. "He's in a maximum-security cell in the DMLE being interrogated for all sorts of things," Katie ground out.
"Good. I hope they do terrible things to him," Alicia said savagely.
No one disagreed with her.
-0-
Katie laid in bed; Lyla snuggled against her as she had for the last week. She thought she would sleep more easily but it still alluded her. She felt a little better, no longer mindlessly blaming herself for what happened. Harry had put a stop to that.
Yet she laid there, staring at the curtains around them. She tried to sleep but could not. She started to shiver, imagining that she could hear falling sand once more. Her eyes drifted to the corsage he gave her at the Yule Ball. It was only a few months ago.
A lifetime ago.
She breathed in and out. Though the flowers no longer smelled sweet, she imagined she could smell them. The soft shushing sound in her mind changed from falling sand that echoed upon itself to the sound of sand drifting away. She felt herself drifting with the sound and she hugged Lyla to her as she finally fell asleep.
Shh. Shh. Shh.
-0-0-0-
Rianne Black - Thank you.
DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles - Poor Luna indeed. She needs all the love. Yes, that's the plan for the AUs. Each one will be its own AU and will have Harry with someone else that still makes sense. I don't know who will be after Angelina, but we will see. As long as people like them, I'll still write them.
Imaginer.012 - Luna deserves all the support.
Urgwaew - Thank you. I wanted to show how she grew in the chapter, much like the growing flower. How she changed, adapted, yet stayed true to herself and had something to look forward to after. She and Harry have a special bond that is always worth exploring. Oh and I didn't think you were in regards to Hermione and Fred. More like I don't know who to pair them with that satisfies me but we will see. I'll try to have her be walked in on in some way though. That would be funny. Thank you and good wishes to you.
alix33 - Yeah, Luna deserves a nice gift and a set up for her.
