Even after Harry stormed up to his dormitory and Katie rushed out of the Gryffindor common room, the tense silence lingered. No one knew what to say and seemed to be scared of moving, so when Ron suddenly got to his feet, the shuffling sound earned the attraction of all the rest of the Gryffindors.

Ron made towards the boy's dormitories but Hermione hastily seized his arm and pulled him back.

"Ron, no..." she said quietly, but Ron writhed free of her grasp and, with a small whimper of desperation, Hermione gave in and let him go.

With no real motive or knowledge of exactly what he was going to say to Harry when they came face-to-face, Ron nevertheless climbed the spiral staircase two at a time. In the dormitory, Harry was trying to undo the buttons on his shirt with violently shaking hands. He started at the sound of the door opening.

"What the hell was that all about?" Ron opened with, his tone rather passive aggressive.

Harry didn't look at him. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean."

"It's pretty self-explanatory, if you ask me." Harry shot back bitterly.

With a grunt of frustration, Harry gave up on his attempt to button down his shirt, instead moving his hands to rake through his already disheveled hair. Ron stepped further into the room and shut the door behind him.

"I know you're going through a lot right now, but I think you're being really stupid." Ron said quietly.

"Yeah? Well, unfortunately for you, you don't get to make my decisions for me." Harry snapped. Clearly, he was in no fit mood for a lecture, because despite Ron's passive tones, he was growing more aggravated with every second.

"I'm just saying," Ron continued, "that no one's ever going to look at you the way she does."

For the first time throughout the conversation, Harry's eyes flicked towards Ron, who was now standing in the centre of the room, while Harry had sat himself on the edge of his four-poster.

When Harry didn't respond, let out a heavy sigh, crossed the room and sat down beside Harry, who payed no notice to this, instead continuing to stare out the window.

"You know I'll always have your back, mate, but she's like my sister," Ron said. "She's like my little sister, and I can't just sit back and watch you hurt her."

"Sorry to break it to you, but you don't really have a choice." Harry bit.

Accepting that he wasn't going to get through to Harry — he was too vexed — Ron stood up, shoved his hands in his pockets and walked across the room. He had just put his hand on the doorknob when he turned back around. Harry was still sat, as motionless as stone, staring at the glass pane.

"I'm just saying," Ron began, "you're making a mistake, and I think you should go after her while you still have the chance."

Harry turned his head around and Ron could see that his eyebrows were twisted together in confusion.

"What do you mean 'while I still have the chance'?" he asked.

Ron gawked at him for a moment. "Blimey, Harry, you really are oblivious."

Harry merely shook his head unknowingly.

"I mean, go and get her back before Malfoy beats you to it."

Harry blinked, sinking further into a pit of bewilderment. "Malfoy? What are you talking about?"

"Bloody hell, Harry," Ron mumbled in mild agitation, "she's had a thing for him since first year."

Harry had suddenly grown very pale. Multiple times, he opened his mouth to reply, only to shut it again, repeating this until he resembled some kind of fish. Finally, he managed to form a coherent sentence.

"Then why did she—"

"Choose you? Why did she choose you?" Ron said and Harry nodded. "Because she loves you, you prat."

This time, when Harry opened his mouth, it hung open stupidly. Ron frowned deeply.

"But she never told you that, did she?" he asked, to which Harry responded by shaking his head. "Well, now you know... I know I can't tell you what to do but really, mate, just... don't make a decision you'll regret..."

With that being said, Ron slipped out of the boy's dormitory, leaving Harry alone with a pounding headache and an overwhelming number of thoughts revolving around inside his head.

***

"Pansy, what are you doing?" Katie grumbled, rubbing her eyes harshly. She had woken up at first light to find Pansy sitting next to her bed, gazing down at her worriedly.

"I was just making sure you're all right," Pansy replied, keeping her voice down so not to wake the other girls in the dormitory. "I swear when I get my hands on Potter—"

"I appreciate the concern, Pans, but watching me sleep is overstepping some boundaries," Katie remarked. She slung her legs over the side of the bed and cold instantly swept her body. Shivering, she rubbed her forearms indolently. "And I can't say I'm a fan of being woken up at the crack of dawn on the weekend."

"I'm sorry," Pansy said. "It's just that you were really upset when you went to bed last night, and Draco was worried so he asked me to keep an eye on you—"

"Draco said that?" Katerina inquired, mildly surprised but somewhat pleased nonetheless. Pansy nodded in confirmation. "Still," Katie went on, "I don't think he meant for you to watch me sleep."

Pansy shrugged. "Better safe than sorry. Want to go get breakfast?"

"Er — I actually have to finish Grubbly-Plank's homework so I think I'll go to the library first." Katie lied. Truth be told, she couldn't have cared less about her Care of Magical Creatures homework, she just wanted to be alone. As much as she appreciated Pansy and Draco's support, because truly, she did, she wanted some solitary time just to think. She had a lot on her mind and was beginning to feel as though she would explode if she didn't soon get the chance to sit back and mull it all over.

Although Katie was almost one hundred percent certain that Pansy had saw right through her lie, she still let her leave for the library with no questions asked, which Katie was extremely grateful for. As expected, there was no one in the library, apart from Madam Pince, who done a double take upon Katie's entry — clearly, she wasn't used to students being in the library so early, especially on a Sunday.

Katie wandered indifferently through the rows and rows of towering bookshelves until, at last, she found a suitable place for her pondering. Four plush armchairs were sat by a large, arched window which displayed a breathtaking view of the Lake, which was sparkling gold in the dusty orange sun of daybreak. Katie pulled a random book from the nearest shelf and sat down, hoping that if she appeared to be reading, no one would disrupt her.

Her theory was quite accurate — for an hour, at least. As the morning ticked on, more and more people filed into the library. Katie was left at peace, thinking about anything and everything — Harry, Dumbledore's Army, Leo, her mother, her biological father, her dreams and visions and contemplating what they could mean.

One thing that she didn't understand was Harry's sudden switch in attitude. Never before had he shown any unease towards Katie and Draco's friendship (not that she would have cared if he did — she was allowed to be friends with whoever she pleased, and she wasn't going to let anyone dictate her friendships) and he had certainly never been at all jealous, and he was always the one who tried to convince Katie to have some house pride, then he instantaneously turned around out of no where and told her that she'd changed — it just didn't make sense.

At the sound of approaching footsteps, Katie tucked her nose deep into her book, hoping that whoever the owner of the footsteps was would see that she was busy and leave her alone.

"Katie?"

Apparently, she was wrong.

Stifling a great sigh, Katie closed the book and craned her neck, finding Hermione and Chris standing a few feet behind her armchair, both of them looking very concerned.

"Morning." Katie said casually. Exchanging glances of uncertainty and, clearly oblivious to the fact that the last thing Katie wanted to do was talk to anyone, the two Gryffindors sat themselves down in two of the armchairs. For almost a minute, no one spoke. Katie eyes danced between her brother and her best friend, her eyebrows raised, awaiting an explanation as to why they had disturbed her silence.

"What?" Katie said, a gentle tingle of agitation pricking up inside of her.

With a sideways glimpse at Chris, Hermione spoke.

"How are you feeling?" she asked worriedly.

Terrible, Katie thought.

"Fine." she stated.

Both Chris and Hermione's expressions told Katie that they had not believed her.

"Er — we — or I talked to Harry." Hermione said slowly, eyeing Katie cautiously, as though she thought she would burst into tears at the mention of his name.

Katie raised a sardonic eyebrow. "Fantastic." she said scornfully, summoning all her strength to keep from rolling her eyes.

Hermione looked nervously at Chris, who tried to shake his head discreetly, but it still didn't go unnoticed by Katie, who was growing aggravated now. She just wanted to be left alone.

"He's really upset too, you know," Hermione continued, frowning slightly. "I think he regrets... well — you know..."

"OK." Katerina said coolly.

"We think you two should talk it out." Chris blurted out, but seemed to instantly regret speaking, because his cheeks flushed a dark pink and he bit down on his bottom lip to refrain from saying anymore.

Katie scowled. "What's there to talk about?" she said (Hermione and Chris peeked between each other once more). "I think he was right."

Hermione's mouth fell open in shock.

"What?" she and Chris yelped.

"I mean, we're too young for a serious relationship, anyway," Katie was trying very hard to sound casual, to sound like the whole ordeal wasn't bothering her in the slightest, but the growing croakiness of her voice was going to blow her cover. "We were only fourteen when I kissed him and—"

"Ginny is only fourteen and she's going out with Michael Corner." Hermione said promptly.

"And do you really think they're going to last? Ginny and Michael are going to grow old together, yeah?" Katie contradicted. Hermione made to respond, realised that Katie had made a good point, and sunk back into her seat, sulking slightly and blushing in embarrassment.

"Look," Katie began, rising to her feet, "I appreciate you both looking out for me, really, I do, but I really need to be alone—"

"Please just talk to him, Katie," Hermione cried desperately, also springing out of her armchair. "You brought out the best in each other, you need each other—"

But Katie was shaking her head. "I — listen — I really have to go."

"Kat, wait, please!" Chris called her back, but she pretended not to hear him. Just to ensure that Chris and Hermione couldn't follow her, she took an odd route to the door of the library. She swerved around bookcases and in and out of rows, often doubling back on herself, until, after at least five minutes, she left the library, and her feet carried her all the way back to the Slytherin common room, which was alive with chatter and laughter.

In the far end of the room, Katie spotted Draco talking to Crabbe and Goyle, and Graham, Warrington and Bletchley were only a few feet away from them. She made a beeline towards them and, one by one, they each caught sight of her and abruptly stopped talking, and Katie got the horrible feeling that they had been conversing about her.

"Want to practice Quidditch?" she asked aloud to the group.

Graham raised an eyebrow. "But we just played yesterday."

"Is that a no, then?"

"Blimey, no," Graham shot to his feet. "Let's get the brooms."

***

"No, Crabbe, you can't handle the Quaffle!"

"GOYLE, YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO HIT YOUR TEAMMATES!"

"Draco, I'm going to hurl my broom at your head—"

"All right, timeout!"

Panting and sweating, the Slytherin Quidditch Team dismounted their brooms and trudged to the side of the pitch for a drink of water.

"Hey, Blair?" Bletchley said and Katie hummed in response. "Is is OK if we call it a day?"

Katie blinked at him. "Huh?"

"I just mean — you know — we've been out here for hours--"

"Oh! Oh, yeah, no, of course," Katie stuttered. "Yeah, go ahead, I'm just going to tidy up out here."

Katie wanted nothing more than to stay out there practicing Quidditch, it distracted her, kept her mind off things, and ultimately made her happy (even if she was yelling at the team for most of the time). The team filtered off the pitch and started making their way up the sloping lawns towards the castle.

After wrestling the Bludgers back into their restraints, Katie tucked the ball crate under her arm, slung her broomstick over her shoulder, and headed towards the broom shed. She placed the ball crate on the shelf with the rest of the boxes, locked the broom shed, then leaned back against the wooden wall, shutting her eyes and taking in deep, shaky breaths.

"Staying out here all by yourself?"

This time, when Draco appeared next to her, Katerina didn't bother to wipe her tears. In fact, she didn't even open her eyes.

"Please just leave me alone, Draco." she begged softly.

There was a short pause, and then—

"Are you crying?"

"No, Draco, sometimes my eyes just spontaneously spurt water." Katie quipped acidly.

Draco heaved a deep breath, fell still and silent, then, seemingly out of nowhere, he took off at a jog.

"Where are you—?" Katie cut herself off mid sentence because, upon turning her head, she saw that Draco had spotted a certain raven-haired boy scoping the Hogwarts grounds and was chasing him back up to the castle.

"Draco, no!" Katie shouted after him, but either he was too far away to hear her, or he had just chosen to ignore her.

Too emotionally drained and physically exhausted to sprint, Katie lumbered up the Hogwarts lawns, hoping that she would catch Draco before he inevitably decided to strike Harry with the Killing Curse.

"Potter! Hey, Potter!" Draco called as he slipped inside the Entrance Hall.

With an agitated grunt, Harry disregarded Draco's voice and continued towards the marble staircase, only stopping on the second step when Draco seized his wrist. Harry whipped his head around, glaring.

"I'm not in the mood for another lecture, Malfoy." he snarled.

"Sucks to be you." Draco retorted acrimoniously.

"I don't care—"

"Shut up," Draco snapped. "I've got a girl back there crying over you — don't know why, she's way too good for you anyway—"

Harry ripped his wrist from Draco's grasp. "I'm sorry if I hurt her feelings, all right?"

"No, it's not all right," Draco shot back, climbing up the two steps so that he could reach Harry's height. "I don't know what you think you're playing at, but you're making the biggest mistake—"

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry snapped suddenly.

Hesitating, Draco averted his eyes to the floor. "I just want her to be happy."

"As if you care about anyone but yourself." Harry retorted with a sarcastic snort.

"You don't know anything about me, Potter."

"You'd be surprised by how much I know, Malfoy," Harry went up another step and narrowed his eyes dangerously. "I know that your father is a Death Eater—"

"You better watch your mouth." Draco growled, his eyes flashing around the Entrance Hall to make sure that no one was around to hear what Harry had just said, his hand inside his robes and drifting dangerously close to his wand.

"Or what?"

"Or I'll tell everyone about your dogfather—"

Acting on raw emotion rather than logic, Harry plunged his hand into his robes and pulled out his wand. He had just opened his mouth to utter an incantation, and Draco had just grasped a firm grip on his own wand when—

"Expelliarmus!"

Harry's wand flew from his hand, fell down the three marble steps, landed with a clatter and rolled halfway across the Entrance Hall, only stopping when it hit Katie's feet. She bent down and picked the wand up, glaring coldly between it and it's owner, whose face had suddenly faded frightfully pale.

"Hexing people in the hallways now?" Katie said scornfully. "Classy."

"He provoked me." Harry defended quietly.

Katie made her way over to the staircase. "I'm sure he did," she hummed, handing Harry back his wand without meeting his eyes, "but that excuse didn't work on Umbridge, did it?"

Not daring to look at Harry, fearing the ever-growing flashing of rage in his eyes, Katie took Draco's arm and steered him away towards the dungeons. Until they had disappeared around a corner and Harry was out of sight, Draco continued to glower back at him menacingly. Only when they were out of earshot of Harry did Katie finally speak.

"Please stop engendering him before he gets himself expelled." she sighed miserably.

"Hey, I'm only looking out for you."

If one more person said that to Katerina, she might just have exploded.

"I know you are, but I'm fine."

Draco quirked an eyebrow. "I didn't know spontaneous spurts of water from your eyes was considered a good sign these days."

Katie elbowed him sharply. "Shut up." she giggled.

***

It wasn't until she entered Snape's dungeon the next morning that Katie remembered she sat beside Harry in Potions. She caught sight of him sitting in his usual seat and froze up involuntarily. Many people grumbled in annoyance as she stood stiffly in the doorway, making it so they had to maneuver their way around her, but she paid no mind to that. She was occupied in the act of scanning the classroom for a different seat — any seat, but they were all filled.

From her peripheral vision, Hermione spied Katie anxiously bobbing up and down on the balls of her feet by the door, whispered something to Ron, who she sat beside, stood up, gathered her materials, and walked over to Katie.

"Switch." she said simply.

Katie blinked perplexedly at her. "What?"

"Go sit beside Ron," Hermione answered, jerking her head towards her seat. "I'll sit beside Harry."

"Oh," Katie breathed in understanding. "Er — thanks."

Hermione smiled warmly and the two parted ways — Hermione seating herself beside a very glum-looking Harry, as Katie took Hermione's old seat next to Ron, who gave her a somewhat saddened smile.

"Hey," he said quietly. "How're you feeling?"

Katie merely gave him a half-hearted smile.

"Hagrid's back," he told her brightly, trying to lighten the mood. This statement sparked Katie's utmost interest. Hagrid had disappeared without a trace and not returned at the start of term. "He got back last night."

"Really?" Katie gasped. "Did he say where he had been?"

"Yeah," Ron said darkly, leaning his head close towards Katie's and lowering his voice drastically. "Dumbledore sent him to find the giants."

"Giants?" Katie proclaimed, only to be shot down by Ron, who shushed her aggressively.

"Yeah, giants, him and Madame Maxime went to find them, tried to get them to fight with us, but they weren't the only ones trying to recruit them..."

Katie's expression hardened. "Death Eaters." she said dourly.