19th February
The presence of the Firebolt sent an excited energy throughout the Gryffindor table this morning as we prepared for the match against Ravenclaw. I think this the first match-day breakfast Harry didn't look like he was about to throw up. Percy Weasley had a huge grin on his face as he bet Penelope 10 galleons that Gryffindor would win the match. Oliver Wood bragged to anyone who would listen. Half the school begged Harry to be able to touch the broom. I had seen some of their practices, claiming to be there to see Harry- the speed of the Firebolt was impressive.
"Shame it doesn't come with a parachute!" Draco said to Harry whilst resting his hands on my shoulders, "just in case you get attacked by a Dementor, again."
Harry looked up from his porridge, "Pity you can't attach extra arms to yours, then it could catch it for you." The surrounding Gryffindors laughed.
"AOWW!" I grinned, Draco jumped back in shock, "Draco, did you feel the burn?" the Gryffindor table laughed even harder, "Aww, Harry, look at his little chweeks. He's all embawwwassed." I spoke in a baby voice, standing and grabbing one of his cheeks like you would with a child. Draco quickly made himself scarce.
Down at the pitch the weather conditions were optimal as both teams were greeted with tremendous applause. Oliver and Roger Davies shook hands, the teams mounted their brooms, the whistle sounded and they were off. Harry's broom soared in the air much, much faster than anyone else's. He zoomed all over the stadium in search of the snitch.
Lee Jordan was providing the match commentary, "The big excitement this match is the Firebolt which Harry Potter is flying for Gryffindor. According to, Which Broomstick-"
He was interrupted by McGonagall, "Jordan, would you mind telling us what's going on in the match?"
"Right you are, Professor- just giving a background on the Firebolt, which incidentally has a built-in auto-brake and-"
"JORDAN!"
"Okay! Okay! Gryffindor are in possession, Katie Bell of Gryffindor heading for goal…"
She scored! I watched as Harry was followed close behind by the Ravenclaw seeker, Cho Chang. Harry quickly dived and Cho followed. He sped up towards the ground, obviously seeing the snitch. Not that we could from the stands. What we could see though, was the Ravenclaw beater hitting a bludger straight at Harry, causing him to go off course and lose sight of the snitch. There was an almighty "Oooooh" of disappointment sounding from the stands. Which was quickly replaced by a cheer as Angelina scored the second goal for Gryffindor. George hit the bludger straight back at the offending beater, forcing him to roll right over in mid-air to avoid it.
As the match continued, Gryffindor seemed to thrash Ravenclaw as we scored another six goals, making the score 80-0. Cho still seemed to tail Harry, she really was doomed if she expected to catch the snitch before him. Lee Jordan continued commenting about the Firebolt, claiming that its acceleration was nothing in Cho's comet. McGonagall threatened to take the microphone away. In this time, Lee 'forgot' to mention that Ravenclaw had managed to score 3 goals, making them 50 points behind.
Harry and Oliver looked like they were having a confrontation at the Gryffindor goalposts. I could see Harry nodding and looking back at Cho. He hurtled towards the ground and changed direction, accelerating with a great speed towards the Ravenclaw goalposts, Cho struggled to keep up. Ron, Hermione, Neville, Seamus, Dean and I were excitedly jumping around in excitement that Harry might catch the snitch. If we lost this match, there was no chance that we could win the cup at the end of the year, so the pressure was on.
Panic struck as Neville frantically pointed at the black hooded Dementors rising towards Harry. This is the time his training with Lupin really ought to pay off. Harry stuck his hand down his shirt and grabbed his wand and cast a spell which projected a silver, white mist from the end of his wand. His patronus was repelling the Dementors and they cowered towards the ground. Harry stuck his other hand out and grabbed the snitch, holding it up for everyone to see. Madam Hooch blew the whistle and so the celebrations began. The entirety of Gryffindor rushed to the pitch to congratulate our team on the fantastic win.
"THAT'S MY BOY!" Oliver yelled repeatedly. I knew how much winning meant to him.
Whilst mid-air Katie, Angelina and Alicia all kissed Harry and Fred had him in a grip so tight his face went all red. The school was in complete disarray as the team landed on the pitch. Ron had managed to reach Harry first and the two celebrated with a large crowd of supporters. I was surrounded by fist punches in the air and 'whoops'. Dean and Seamus continually shouted "YES!" It was as though we had just won the final. The atmosphere was absolutely amazing. Hermione and I looked at each other and got completely overexcited as we made our way to congratulate the team. I heard Percy rejoicing that he would be receiving the 10 galleons after all. I got a tap on the shoulder and I turned to receive a massive hug from George were he completely swept me off my feet!
"You were fantastic! Amazing! Astonishing! Incredible!" I shouted to him in amongst the hustle and bustle, wrapping an arm around his waist, the two of us holding tight to one another. We headed over to find Harry who was with Lupin and Draco, Crabbe and Goyle in Dementor robes. It was them, the scallywags.
Fred and George got Harry's attention, "Party! Gryffindor common room! Now!"
We all made our way out of the stadium and into the castle. Hermione and I were lost in a sea of red which was headed noisily back to the Gryffindor Tower were music started blasting and Fred and George arrived with a large supply of Butterbeer, pumpkin fizz and armfuls of Honeydukes sweets. I knew exactly where they had been. On their next trip out of the common room, I followed.
"Sorry, you can't come. The kitchen staff won't let you in." Fred spoke first.
George continued, "Yeah, they only give us food because we beg them…"
"Oh yeah… Those House Elves really are horrible, aren't they?" I smiled at them. They had completely forgotten telling me about the kitchen two years ago as they looked at each other in shock, "Now are you going to let me come with? You could probably do with a hand!"
"Lead the way." Fred and George both bowed at the same time, directing me towards the staircase. It was so creepy the way they did that.
"Alright then." I ran down the stairs, having too much energy for my own good. I lead them to the portrait of the fruit bowl and tickled the pear, "I remembered this time!" I joked with the portrait of the man dressed in the war uniform I had met a couple of months ago.
"It's good to see you again, young lady!" he said.
Fred and George finally caught up, "How do you know Kathryn, Colonel Jones?"
"A friend in need and all that." Colonel Jones spoke, winking at me.
"Precisely." I chuckled before entering the kitchens and being completely surrounded by House Elves who had already pre-prepared baskets of drinks and sweets for us to take. There was enough to feed the entire school for us to carry. I was already suffering from a sugar rush as it was, never mind the excess we were just handed. Fred, George and I said our thanks. Colonel Jones wished for us to have a great party and hoped that we would return soon to visit.
Back in the Common Room, everyone's eyes lit up as we returned with more food. I saved some Fizzing Whizbees for Ron, a packet of cauldron cakes for Harry and two bars of chocolate, one each for Hermione and me. I found Hermione in her usual spot in the corner of the common room, reading one of our Muggle Studies books, 'Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles'. I had finished reading it during the week. That goes to show how much work she has on at the minute. She thanked me for the chocolate but told me to kindly leave her alone so that she could get the next 502 pages finished before Monday.
The party continued right into the evening. At this point, I had sat myself down on one of the sofas where I took a break from all the madness. I was soon joined by Fred and George, one on each side, squishing me in the middle.
"What's up Katy-pop?" George giggled to himself, handing me an acid pop, thinking he was funny, when he was just hyper.
Fred was equally bonkers, "You're sitting here all on your own when you should join in with the PARTAYYYY!" The twins then started to dance badly on the seat, marginally missing my face at many instances with their groovy actions. It was like dad dancing.
"It's alright, boys, you two can get back to the party, I'll happily watch from afar!" I imagined my dancing to be worse than theirs and it really wasn't worth the embarrassment.
"We just wanted to talk to you for a little while!" Fred and George both put an arm around me, squeezing me further.
"We wanted to make a proposal for you." Fred joked.
George continued, "Yeah, some form of arrangement between the three of us."
"Har-de-har boys." Their puns were awful. I had a feeling they knew, but laughed either way. Someone had to, after all.
"No wait, you must hear our idea of engagement." Fred winked at me. It was so cringe worthy.
"Something where we can tie the knot." George giggled.
I wondered if the two of them were on something more than sugar. Had they snuck up alcohol and become highly intoxicated? "Can you two please cut out the puns? You're not making much sense!"
"Fred and I wondered if you would like to join our group of worthy individuals that hang around together?" George calmed down a little bit.
"It includes George, Angelina, Katie, Alicia, Bernie, Lee, Tobias, hopefully you and me." Fred answered my question before I had the chance.
"And what do you call this group?" I looked between the two of them.
"The Rogues." They spoke at the same time.
"Alright then." I probably sounded bored, I agreed out of curiosity.
George sounded thrilled, "Shall we make this official?"
"Would you accept this piece of parchment as a token of your initiation?" Fred handed me a small blank piece of parchment.
I lifted out my wand and tried to guess the password, I tapped the parchment and said, "Rogues." And the paper came to life.
'Welcome to ROGUES, Kathryn. There are no recent messages.'
"Let me guess." I tried to get in the minds of Fred and George, "If someone was to write on this parchment, everyone in the group would get it?"
"Exactly." They both looked happy with themselves. Fred took out a quill and wrote on his own parchment,
'Group meeting in front of the fire in ten minutes.'
"Litteras Occultas."George whispered into my ear. That explained a lot.
About half an hour later, I was surrounded by a group of students all looking at me. I felt so awkward.
"Kathryn has now been successfully initiated." Fred announced.
"How'd you do it?" Alicia asked me, excitedly. I didn't think I had done anything in particular, Fred and George just sat down and asked.
George answered, "Kathryn has managed to save someone's life, get into the kitchens on her own and received a week of detentions from McGonagall. We could do with someone like her in this group."
"You mean you could." Angelina corrected.
"Well, next time you three girls need medical assistance again, I'll remind Kathryn here not to help." Fred spoke on behalf of George.
"What are you talking about?" I queried their sources.
George smiled, "And she's very modest, too."
"Think about it, she helped Harry when he fell from his broom. She carried Wood up the hill when he was in the showers with a broken ankle." Fred said.
"Foot, actually."
George joked, "You are such a swot and get along with all the teachers."
"I really wouldn't go that far-"
"You stopped me from murdering someone the other day…" George smiled.
"That all sounds well and good, but have you mentioned that I am often the one being treated in the Hospital Wing and I have no idea what I'm doing half the time and just two weeks ago I was ready to walk out of this place and never come back?"
"We've all been like that!" Tobias spoke to me for the first time. He was tall, blonde and a bit dorky looking, "I attempted to steal some weightless potion from Snape when he caught me hoking around in his stores. He made me clean out urinals for a week."
I smirked. That was a very Snape-ish thing to do.
George spoke, "And you'll find that Kathryn is a fantastic agony aunt."
"And you were very brave dating Mr Quidditch." Alicia giggled to herself, "You dealt with him well."
"You mean by walking away?" I sniggered.
Angelina joined in, "I heard he gave you a tough time…"
I scrunched my face up. I really did not want to talk about Oliver any more, I felt awkward, knowing that they were all team mates. Oliver and I had settles our differences and that is what matters. Friends seems a good place to be. Katie must have seen that my mind was on another planet and brought me back to earth, "I'm sure you'll find someone better. Any one of these five will be perfect for you."
"But not Fred, he's mine." Angelina fluffed his hair flippantly.
Katie coughed, "Bernie is actually mine, so I would appreciate it if you would keep the flirting to a minimum with him. We know what you're like."
"I'm not a flirt!" I protested.
Angelina countered, "You can't deny it, you supply it."
I looked up at George who was trying to hide a smirk. I was going to get constantly mocked within this group, I knew it already. The girls seemed like they were genuinely happy to have me around. I was the youngest, but had probably had enough life experience to attempt to fit in.
"In all seriousness, though, Kathryn, you are very welcome to Rogues." Bernie welcomed. I had seen him before, he was in the year above, average height, dark hair, often looked like he could do with a shave. Some girls like the stubble look, I guess.
"Like who thought of that? Rogues? What a terrible name." Angelina winked at Fred, there was definitely some chemistry there.
The girls told me that I could chat to them at any time and if I was in any bother AT ALL then all I had to do was write on the parchment. It was very nice of them, considering I hardly knew them. I wondered if they secretly knew more about me than they let on…?
The group sat in the Common Room together for hours, the boys played Exploding Snap and the girls painted their nails. I managed to get myself a free manicure out of it. I had found out so much about what was happening. Katie had a big test coming up next week in Arithmancy that she was worried about. Alicia had just broken up with a guy called Theodore, who, according to Katie was 'a bit of a creep' anyway.
As Fred and George headed down to the kitchens to grab yet more supplies, Angelina slipped herself in beside me on the sofa and asked me very bluntly, "Do you like George?"
I smiled at her, "How much are you in love with Fred?"
"A lot." She admitted.
"Well, there you go." I replied.
Angelina nodded as though she understood, "He seems to really care about you, you know. He hasn't said much, but it seems you've been through a lot and he thought it would be good for you to have us girls looking out for you."
"I don't deserve him. Not one bit." I meant it.
Angelina looked me straight in the eyes, "Hey! You made a mistake with Wood. I think it's time you had a break. You can't constantly feel you have to tiptoe around the topic. And I'm pretty sure, even though he hasn't admitted it yet, George is totally in love with you."
"I'm still trying to work that boy out…" I sighed.
"Me too..."
"Men…" I joked.
Angelina laughed, "Amen, sister."
20th February
The party ended at 1am when Professor McGonagall showed up at the portrait door in her tartan dressing gown and hair net. She really wasn't very amused. George and I looked at each other and laughed, remembering the last time we saw her this way. She caught our eyes and we immediately stopped. The Common Room quickly dispersed. You didn't want to be on McGonagall's watch list. I was I was starting to get tired as well and headed towards the girls' dorms.
"Katy?"
I turned around to see George tap the sofa beside him. He was completely adorable. I didn't care how sleepy I was. I sat down beside him and he put his arm around me. "I didn't want to put you in a position earlier where you felt like you had to say yes… It was Fred's idea and I rolled with it and I'm sorry if you felt uncomfortable."
He really was the sweetest person. I wrapped both my arms around him, "It was a lovely idea." I listened to the pounding of his heart and breathed in whatever sweet smell was on his clothes. I was so relaxed. I think he was too as he rested his head on top of mine. "Thank you." I whispered.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" a scream of terror sounded from the boy's dorm.
George and I woke up with a jolt.
We both knew who the screams belonged to.
A humongous black dog ran from the stairs and escaped out of the portrait door. We looked at each other. George ran after the dog and I ran to Ron.
The curtains of his bed were ripped to shreds. "Ron! Are you okay?" I shouted.
He had the look of upmost terror on his face, "Black! Sirius Black! With a knife." he pointed at the curtains with a shaky hand.
"You're not hurt?" I sat down on the edge of his bed and examined him with the light of the lamp. His skin was pale and clammy. I knew he wasn't lying. "I'm going to get McGonagall." I galloped down the stairs, pushing past crowds of fellow Gryffindors and out of the portrait door. I ran at full force towards McGonagall's office. I battered her door and she unlocked it.
"Professor- Ron- Sirius Black-" I could hardly get the words out for trying to catch my breath, "here- in the castle!" and with that she hurried towards the common room with me. "Black ripped Ron's curtains. I think he's okay! But Professor-" I thought about the way I was going to say it, "I saw a huge black dog run across our common room and through the portrait door. George ran after it."
McGonagall looked terrified when she saw Ron in the Common Room, there was no way she could deny it. With a flick of her ward, she sent messages to all the teachers. "IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE!" Ron yelled, "PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME, HOLDING A KNIFE!"
"One thing doesn't add up, Weasley. How could he possibly have gotten though the portrait hole?" McGonagall scanned the room over the top of her glasses.
Ron pointed a shaking finger at the door, "Ask him. Ask him if he saw anything."
McGonagall left through the door and the entire house listened in to the conversation. "Sir Cadogan, did you just let a man enter Gryffindor Tower?"
"Certainly, good Lady." announced Cadogan.
All I could think of was George. We did not imagine that dog as much as Ron did not imagine Sirius Black with a knife. He was out there, searching, all on his own. Teachers now started to arrive at the door.
"You- you did?!" McGonagall was astounded, her voice higher than usual, "But- but the password!"
"He had 'em!" Cadogan sounded proud, "Had the whole week's, my lady, written on a piece of paper."
McGonagall opened the door, looking as pale as Ron. She looked exasperated, "Which person? Which abysmally FOOLISH person wrote down this week's passwords and left them lying around."
Neville.
I let him into the common room the other day. It was Neville who sheepishly raised his hand into the air. He walked towards McGonagall looking intensely at the floor or at his fluffy slippers. Either way, he was in a lot of trouble. It was announced in front of the entire of Gryffindor that no one, under any circumstances is to give Neville the passwords again. He had detentions for the foreseeable future and he was banned from going to Hogsmeade ever again. Ouch.
Outside, I could hear Snape speaking to someone, "What are you doing out of the common room at this hour? Do you realise Black is on the loose?"
George spoke but it was muffled due to the commotion surrounding the room. Ron was asked continuous questions as he explained what had happened in extravagant detail. When George re-entered I immediately grabbed him by the arm and took him aside.
"Tell me everything." I said.
"The dog ran straight out the front door. After that I couldn't see it any more. It must have gotten past the Dementors and everything... What I wonder is why the two of us didn't wake when it came in? They're saying that Sirius Black was also in the castle? How did we not hear anything?"
"I have no idea…" I wrapped my arms around him and held him tight. I could feel a slight tremble as he squeezed back.
Then he whispered, "Think, it could have been a worse ending if the two of us woke up." Shivers fired up my back. I looked up into George's eyes as I took deep breaths. He rested his forehead on mine. "Don't worry, nobody got hurt!"
I nodded, "Just freaked out."
"Us Weasley clan will be alright. Ron will love all the attention, look at him bask in the glory of survival. He might even be more popular than Harry for a while."
The next morning, the whole school looked a bit worse for wear as the building and grounds were searched overnight for Sirius Black. It was announced at breakfast that it was safe for us to leave our respective common rooms. In a low murmur, people made their way down to the Great Hall. When Neville approached, he didn't dare look at anyone. He sat in between me and Ron. He apologised to Ron for what he did, claiming that he didn't mean any harm and that he would never write passwords down ever again. When mail arrived, a large barn owl dropped a red coloured envelope in Neville's lap. "RUN." Ron said. Neville scarpered before the letter exploded in the entrance hall. The voice of his Grandmother was terrifying:
'NEVILLE FRANK LONGBOTTOM! I AM COMPLETELY SICKENED BY YOUR ACTIONS. WHAT IMBECILE WRITES DOWN PASSWORDS AND LEAVES THEM LYING AROUND?
YOUR MEMORY REALLY IS SHOCKING, BUT REMEMBER THIS: YOU ARE GROUNDED ALL SUMMER.
IF IT HASN'T BEEN BAD ENOUGH HAVING A DARK WIZARD RUNNING ABOUT, YOU LEAVE HIM A WAY TO KILL EVERYONE IN GRYFFINDOR! YOU'VE DONE IT THIS TIME. YOU HAVE BROUGHT SHAME OVER THIS ENTIRE FAMILY. YOU'RE EXTREMELY LUCKY YOU HAVEN'T BEEN EXPELLED. JUST YOU WAIT UNTIL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU. YOU ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE.'
Hermione arranged with Hagrid for the two of us to go down and pay him a visit. We had a cup of tea and pleasantly refused one of his famous rock buns and engaged in conversation. Hermione told Hagrid about all the research she had found and together we formed part of Buckbeak's defence. She had found a trial in the library where a Hippogriff had knocked a man off his feet by flying too close to him, the man had a broken arm. In that instance, the Hippogriff was set free. What we really needed was a case where a Hippogriff assaulted or physically hurt a human and got off with it. I looked through Hermione's books for a case where the defence spoke of the nature of Hippogriffs, hoping that we could pick out all the positive points. A couple of weeks ago, Hermione had asked me to read a book about psychology where I looked for ideas to get the court to want to set Buckbeak free. I read a chapter on bargaining and suggested how Hagrid could guarantee that Buckbeak would never be used for teaching purposes again, or if he could somehow prove that Buckbeak was a good Hippogriff that wouldn't intentionally hurt anyone. Hagrid seemed grateful. I felt exasperated. I'm definitely not cut out to become a lawyer.
26th March
I woke up this morning with a banging head ache, a sore throat, a blocked nose, a fever and my whole body was aching. I felt so weak and sorry for myself. Hermione brought me up a mug of tea for breakfast as my throat felt like sandpaper and I couldn't stomach any food.
Today was supposed to a Hogsmeade day. Hermione had muttered something under her breath that Harry never listened to her and there was no point her even bothering any more. I guessed he was going to sneak down in his cloak, like an idiot with Ron. I couldn't even have attempted to follow them; I was going to spend as much of the day as I could in bed.
I looked at the piece of parchment that laid beside my bed. There were several messages displayed:
'Fred: Meet up in the 3 broomsticks at 14.00.
Angelina: Sounds perfect.
Katie: I'll be there. (So will Bernie, not that he knows it yet, I think he's lost his parchment.)
Tobias: Me too.
Alicia: I can't wait.
George: Has anyone heard from Kathryn?
Katie: No, I didn't see her at breakfast…
Fred: HELLO? EARTH TO KATHRYN?
George: WAKE UP SLEEPY HEAD.
Angelina: Has anyone actually thought to go and check up on her? Like PHYSICALLY move?
Tobias: She probably got scared off by you lot. I wouldn't be surprised.
Alicia: Don't speak like that Tobe.
Katie: She didn't seem herself last night when I was talking to her, she went up to bed without saying goodnight. I do hope she's alright…
George: Will one of you ladies please check her room?
I thought that now was an appropriate time to reply to these messages. Given that the last one was received 5 minutes ago. I couldn't help but giggle at some of the things they said. Well, when I said giggle, I meant cough. My hand shook as I wrote back, I tried to make my handwriting as clear as possible:
Me: Well, it's nice to know I'm missed.
Fred: SHE'S ALIVE!
Me: Technically, yes, but I'm close to death.
Angelina: WHAT? ARE YOU OKAY?
Me: I've got the flu guys, I'm bed-bound, have a butterbeer for me, not that I would touch the stuff.
Katie: Aw, can I grab anything for you?
George: Do you want me to stay with you?
Me: I don't want anyone catching anything from me. Thanks Katie, I'll be grand. Go! Have fun! I'll be fine. Madam Pomfery will be seeing her favourite person whenever I move this afternoon.
Alicia: We all know George has caught a bug already.
Angelina: The LURVVVE BUG.
George: …
Me: Better than this one any way. NOW GO.'
I slept for the next 2 or so hours before getting up to take a shower. I put on a clean pair of sweats and an oversized hoody and wrapped myself in several blankets. I was still shivering. Hermione brought me a drink of lemon and honey which helped slightly before she got her nose stuck in the books again. She did in fairness ask if I wanted her to come with me to Madam Pomfery, but she looked too busy.
"What have you done to yourself this time?" Madam Pomfery and I had a bit of friendly banter, so I didn't mind her mocking me.
"I've got a dose of the flu. I feel like death. Please cure me."
She pointed at a bed, "Take a seat." She went off to one of her stores and grabbed a potion and handed it to me, "Melodramatic as always." She winked, taking my temperature and other vital signs, "Exactly how many blankets do you have wrapped around you?"
"5?" I said.
"You're almost as bad as Mr Malfoy." She shook her head at me.
"Shush." I winked, "what's this potion called?"
"'Gravedo Auxilium' which roughly translates as 'flu relief'.Unfortunately, you're going to have to stick this one out, the potion will give you the symptoms of a common cold, getting rid of your fever." Then she went back into her store and handed me a tablet, "This is a glucose tablet."
I took a swig of the potions and swallowed the tablet and made my way towards the Gryffindor Common Room where I took my usual seat in front of the fire. Hermione sat beside me, only because I was being quiet and I began reading our newest Muggle Studies piece of literature, Muggles and Illness. How terribly appropriate.
It didn't take me long before I fell asleep again…
"Wakey Wakey sleepy head!" the sound of George's voice was so gentle and kind as he placed a hand on my forehead. I opened my eyes one by one to see the group standing around me, arms filled with tissues, cough sweets, blankets and a mug of hot chocolate. I felt so blessed to have a great bunch of friends. At that moment, I just about got my hand up to my mouth as I sneezed.
"Thanks guys!" I blew my nose.