Diagon Alley had changed. It was no longer full of the cheery atmosphere and lively, bustling shoppers, instead replaced by an almost daunting atmosphere, and the few witches and wizards that dared to be out in public in such troubled times sent panicked glances over their shoulders every time they heard even the slightest rustle of movement. The colourful displays of books, potions ingredients and cauldrons in the windows had been covered by official Ministry of Magic notices, some of which bore advice on securing your home, and others moving black and white pictures of known Death Eaters that were on the loose. Some shops were deserted and boarded up, including Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour and Ollivander's.

Even with its windows smashed and boarded, Katie still got the same sinister feeling she always received when passing Ollivander's — it had, of course, been the place where she had first grown suspicious about her parentage after Ollivander had insinuated that her father was dead, and that Katie's wand was almost identical to her dad's (Katerina Blair and Anthony Blair's wands could not have been more different).

The only shop in Diagon Alley that was bright and full of customers was Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Against the dull shops around them, Fred and George's colourful shop contrasted so greatly, and appeared so bright that Katie could feel her eyes beginning to water. The left-hand window was dazzlingly full of an assortment of goods that revolved, popped, flashed, bounced and shrieked.

"This is brilliant!" Ron grinned, laughing, and he and Harry led the way into the shop. Inside was just as colourful as outside, if not more. There were so many customers that Katie could barely get near the shelves. She stared around, looking at the boxes that were piling up to the ceiling. Here were Skiving Snackboxes, trick wands that turned into rubber chickens or pairs of trousers, Self-Inking quills, Spell-Checking quills and Smart-Answer quills.

Katie found herself gravitating towards a cage full of round balls of fluff in shades of pink and purple, all rolling around the bottom of the cage and emitting high-pitched squeaks.

"I see you've found our Pygmy Puffs."

Katie swiveled around to find Fred and George beaming down at her. They were dressed in magenta robes that greatly clashed with their fiery red hair, and Katie was sure they must have grown at least four inches since she last saw them — she barely reached their chins and had to crane her neck to look up at them.

"Hey, guys!" she grinned. "This place is amazing!"

"Thanks," Fred said, taking a chocolate bar from his pocket and biting into it. "So, I heard you're officially our little sister?"

Katie chuckled. "I suppose so."

"Would you look at that," George faked a breath of awe. "You're the first Weasley to not have red hair!"

"That's what I said," Ron had just appeared at George's elbow, laden with merchandise. "How much for these?"

Synchronised perfectly, Fred and George surveyed the many products that Ron was holding and said, "Five Galleons."

Ron looked visibly affronted. "How much for me?"

"Five Galleons."

"I'm your brother!"

"Ten Galleons." Fred and George shrugged, making Katie snort and Ron let out an aggravated grunt. The twins turned back to Katie.

"Have a Pygmy Puff for free, go on, we'll let you." George said, nodding towards the squeaking balls of fluff.

"They are quite cute," Katie hummed as she gazed down at the Pygmy Puffs. "But I've already got a Niffler and one magical creature is trouble enough."

While Fred and George chuckled, Katie just about caught a glimpse of Harry, Ron and Hermione disappearing under Harry's Invisibility Cloak. Frowning, she watched as the door to the shop opened and seemingly no one exited or entered.

"What are they doing?" Katie mumbled to herself.

"What's that?" Fred said, assuming that Katie had been speaking to him. She blinked, shook her head sharply and plastered a casual expression onto her face.

"Nothing, nothing..."

***

It wasn't until much later that evening that Katie found out exactly why Harry, Ron and Hermione had hidden under the Invisibility Cloak and slipped out of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. They were all gathered around the kitchen table finishing their dinner and Katie noticed how the trio kept throwing nervous glances at each other. It was as though they were having a conversation with their eyes, because Harry nodded jerkily at Hermione who sighed in defeat but nodded in agreement to something.

"Erm — Katie, could I have a word?" Hermione asked cautiously, placing down her knife and fork. "In the living room, if you don't mind."

Sceptical about Hermione's nervousness, Katie arched an eyebrow but agreed nonetheless. The two girls excused themselves from the dinner table and made their way into the living room, where Hermione carefully shut the door to ensure that they could not be overheard before turning to face Katie. She heaved a deep breath and spoke.

"Earlier," she began, though reluctantly, "Harry, Ron and me went down to Knockturn Alley..."

Katie raised her eyebrows. Why, especially in times like this, would anyone think it wise to go scoping in an alley filled with shops that sold artifacts of the Dark Arts? If any Ministry workers had have seen them... But then Katie realised — they had the Invisibility Cloak, but that still didn't explain why they would want to go to Knockturn Alley in the first place.

"We — er — saw Malfoy there." Hermione went on, still seeming very anxious. A sudden pang of disappointment settled in Katie's stomach — Draco had been so close by and she hadn't gotten the chance to talk to him. She was so caught up in her mild regret that the fact that Draco had been ominously wondering Knockturn Alley had not fully registered with her yet.

When Katie said nothing, a now white-faced Hermione continued.

"He went into Borgin and Burkes and... said some really sketchy things."

A realisation abruptly dawned on Katie. She narrowed her eyes at Hermione.

"Were you spying on him?"

Hermione's cheeks flushed deep pink and she let out a string of nervous stammers before finally managing to form a coherent sentence.

"Well — well, you see—"

"You were!" Katie reprimanded as if she had been the one that Hermione had followed through Knockturn Alley.

"We thought he looked suspicious!" Hermione said defensively, folding her arms. "And I think we were right because I saw..."

Hermione trailed off, looking aghast, almost horrified. Katie clicked her tongue impatiently.

"Yes?" Katie bit harshly.

"I — I..." if Hermione had not beeen ghostly pale before, she certainly was now. "I thought I saw — I think he might have had — I saw—"

"You're not making any sense, Hermione!" Katie snapped irritably.

At that very moment, their was a gentle patter of rushing footsteps as Milo, who had been sleeping peacefully on the couch, leapt up from his cushion, crossed the room and scurried up Katie's arm.

"Hey, you!" Katie beamed at the Niffler. "Where's Felix? Is he upstairs? Come on, let's go find him."

As Katie passed Hermione on her way to the door, she gave her a piercing glare.

"Next time you try to make accusations, at least have your facts prepared." she said coldly before whisking away with a cheery Niffler perched on her shoulder.

***

"Will you shut up about Draco!" Katie sighed in exasperation.

They were on the Hogwarts Express, heading back to school, and Harry had been talking about how suspicious he found Draco's behaviour in Borgin and Burke's for the past hour. Katie had tried her best to ignore him and read her book, but she eventually grew too agitated and closed the book with a snap.

"It's happened," Harry said darkly, blanking Katie completely. "He's one of them."

"One of what?" Ron asked, although Katie was fairly sure she knew exactly what Harry was referring to and she glared hard at him over the rim of her book. Hermione, who had been reading the Daily Prophet, huffed and slapped the paper down onto her lap.

"Harry is under the impression that Draco Malfoy is now a Death Eater." she said.

A tense silence pulsed through the compartment, broken only when Ron let out a howl of laughter.

"You're barking!" he chuckled. "What's You-Know-Who want with a sod like Malfoy?"

"Then, what's he doing in Borgin and Burkes, browsing for furniture?"

Ron shrugged. "It's a creepy shop, he's a creepy bloke."

It was taking every sliver of self-restraint that Katie possessed to not intrude on the conversation. Pretending that she couldn't even hear anything that was being said, she kept her eyes firmly fixed on the pages of her book, but she was having trouble concentrating on the story.

"Look," Harry said angrily, leaning forward as though this would knock some sense into Ron. "His father is a Death Eater, it only makes sense. Besides, Hermione saw it with her own eyes."

Katie's head snapped up from her book. She suddenly understood what Hermione had been trying to say to her all those weeks before.

"I — I... I thought I saw — I think he might have had — I saw—"

Hermione had been trying to say that she saw a Dark Mark on Draco's arm.

"I told you," Hermione said firmly, "I don't know what I saw."

"But—"

"For the last time, Harry, drop it." Katie growled angrily.

Harry scowled at her, his nostrils flaring. "If you love him so much then why are you sitting here with us instead of him?" he snapped.

"Not a chance," Katie grumbled as she tucked her nose back into the pages of her book. "He's probably sitting in there with Crabbe and Goyle and, well, I'm not exactly their biggest fan at the moment, am I?"

Without another word, Harry got to his feet and left the carriage, but Katie was sure she saw him grab something from the bag rack before he left. Katie, Ron and Hermione watched him go, each of them sighing in turn.

"So, what are you going to do about your Quidditch team, then?" Ron made casual conversation.

Katie let out a drawn out groan and buried her face in her hands. She had been trying very hard to not think about the fact that she now only had two Quidditch players — Graham Montague, Cassius Warrington and Miles Bletchley had graduated school, and she had kicked Crabbe and Goyle off the team because they held her and some other members of Dumbledore's Army captive in Umbridge's office. Now, it was only her and Draco left on the team, and based on the tryouts she had held the year before, not very many of the Slytherins were talented Quidditch players.

"I have no idea," she muttered miserably. "The other Slytherins are useless at Quidditch."

"Well, you could always put some first years on the team." Hermione suggested, but understood at once that this was a mistake because Katie and Ron both glared very hard at her.

"First years?" Katie almost laughed. "Have you lost it?"

"You played when you were in first year!" Hermione said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, and I was ruddy useless!" Katie countered. "I didn't catch the Snitch once — mind you, I am a better Chaser than Seeker — but it was a choice between me and Draco and, frankly, I was better, even if I wasn't good."

"Now that's not a very nice thing to say about your best friend."

Katie, Ron and Hermione whipped their heads around. Draco had slid back the door to the compartment and was leaning against the frame, smirking down at them.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Ron growled.

"Relax, Weasley," Draco sneered. "I came to say hi to Katie."

"And yet you haven't actually said hi yet." Katie simpered, folding her arms and leaning back in her seat.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Hi. Are you coming to sit with us?"

"Oh... I don't know..." Katie said quietly, imagining the torture that would be having to sit in the confined company of Crabbe and Goyle. Draco apparently sensed her distress because he smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry, Crabbe and Goyle aren't with us. It's just me, Pansy, Blaise and Theo."

"Well, in that case..." Katie turned to Hermione and Ron who merely shrugged, confirming that they had no problem with her going to sit with the Slytherins (although Katie was almost certain that they had a very big problem with it but chose not to make a scene). "Great! See you guys later."

"Bye." Ron and Hermione called unenthusiastically as Katie stowed Milo inside her robes and scooped Felix (who hissed unhappily) up in her arms and followed Draco through the steadily moving train.

There was a chorus of "Hi, Katie" as she and Draco slid inside the compartment and Katie seated herself next to Blaise and across from Pansy. As soon as Katie sat down, Milo leapt out from inside her robes and sprung towards the gleaming golden watch that was dazzling Blaise's wrist. Blaise let out a yelp as the creature dived towards him but Katie grabbed Milo back before he could snatch the watch.

"What the — what is — why do you have a Niffler?" Blaise cried. Felix stretched, crawled off Katie's lap and settled in the seat next to her while Katie held the writhing Milo tight against her chest to stop him from trying to steal anything else from her friends.

"Er — birthday present," she said quickly as Milo gave a loud squawk. "He's usually not that nippy — doesn't like shiny things as much as your average Niffler."

"Yeah?" Blaise scoffed, eyeing Milo with a glimmer of fear on his face as though the Niffler would bite his nose off if he let his guard down. "What's that around his neck, then?"

Katie chuckled, for almost all of the time Milo had a watch draped loosely around his fluffy neck. It was the same watch that he had snatched off of Katie's wrist the day that they had met, and he was rather fond of it. Whenever Katie tried to take the watch from around his neck, Milo would let out a loud noise of annoyance and scurry away.

"Oh, that's mine," Katie told Blaise casually. "I let him keep it."

It took Blaise about twenty minutes to warm up to Milo, and even after the Niffler had curled up at Theo's ankles and fallen asleep, Blaise was still rather weary of the creature and cast nervous glances at it every few minutes.

"So," Draco said as they ended a discussion about their summers, "how did everyone do in their O.W.Ls?"

There was a general hum as everyone said that they had done just fine in their exams.

"What about you?" Draco nodded to Katie. "How'd your Transfiguration exam go?"

Katie grinned widely. "I got 'Acceptable'."

While Pansy whooped and gave a proud clap for Katie, Draco folded his arms and smiled complacently.

"Courtesy of my fantastic tutoring." he said, bowing his head and making everyone within the carriage laugh.

After the trolley lady arrived and they had all purchased enough sweets between them to feed the whole of Slytherin house, a sudden idea sparked Katie and she rounded on Blaise and Theodore.

"Say — would you two join the Quidditch team this year?"

Blaise and Theo glanced unsurely between each other, making Katie's heart sink, but she was determined not to lose hope.

"Oh, I don't know..." Theo said slowly, not allowing his eyes to meet Katie's.

"Will you at least tryout?" Katie asked, a hint of desperation hidden behind her conversational tone. Blaise and Theodore seemed to pick up on her desperation because, exchanging one last look of uncertainty, Blaise heaved a great sigh.

"OK, fine," he almost grumbled. "We'll do the tryouts."

They all indulged in their sweets and engaged in cheery conversation until Pansy, looking sly, dropped a piece of news that shocked almost everyone in the compartment.

"Did you know that Draco has a thing with Tracey Davis?" she said, grinning wickedly. Blaise wolf-whistled and Draco elbowed him hard in the ribs.

"I do not have a thing with Tracey Davis!" Draco snapped angrily, but his ears were growing red.

"Oh, yeah," Pansy rolled her eyes. "I only caught you snogging her in the prefect's carriage, that's all."

"Excuse me!" Draco reprimanded. "I'll have you know that she came onto me."

Pansy quirked an eyebrow. "Yeah? And I suppose that Ravenclaw you kissed at the end of last term came onto you too, did she?"

"As a matter of fact, yes, she did!"

Katie, who had been watching this minor argument unfold in amusement, crossed her arms and eyed Draco in a sort of playfully shrewd manner.

"Ravenclaw, huh?" she simpered.

"I made sure she was a Pure-blood first." Draco said defensively with a dramatic roll of his eyes. Katie laughed, trying very hard to ignore the odd feeling of disappointment that was settling in her stomach — was it disappointment?

But one thought was reverberating around her mind.

She was only a Half-blood.

As the afternoon ticked on and twilight approached, the Slytherins began to pack away their things. It must have been less than a half hour until they were to arrive at Hogwarts. Sure enough, only twenty minutes later, Draco nodded his head towards the window.

"I see Hogwarts." he announced, and they all stood up and made sure that their luggage was all together. Katie shoved a wriggling and defiant Niffler into Felix's travel cage and held onto the bag rack for balance as the train slowed to a halt. When the train stopped, Blaise and Theo were the first to leave the compartment, followed closely by Pansy, who waved Katie forwards. Katie was about to exit the carriage when she noticed that Draco had not yet left his seat. She rounded on him, arching her eyebrow to show her questioning.

"You go ahead," he said absently. "I want to check something."

Katie wanted to ask what exactly it was that Draco wanted to check, but, after opening her mouth to do so, closed it once more and decided against it. Pulling her cloak tightly around her shoulders, she stepped off the train and out into the crisp night air, her mind dwelling on Draco saying that he wanted to check something. It seemed odd, very odd, in fact, but Katie brushed it aside as Pansy grabbed her hand and pulled her towards a carriage.

Katie let out a small gasp and froze. The carriages, which until that very moment had been horseless, were now being drawn by towering, skeletal winged horses. These horses were oddly reptilian-looking, with manes of sleek black hair, wide leathery wings and white, pupil-less eyes. They swung their menacing heads and, although at first glance one might pass them as being ugly, Katie thought their was a certain mystical beauty to the creatures.

"You can see them, can't you?"

Someone had appeared at Katie's side. She turned her head to find Harry, who was smiling sadly at her as he nodded gently towards the reptilian horses pulling the carriages. It was only then that it dawned on Katie what exactly the creatures were.

"Thesterals?" she asked, but she already new the answer. Harry nodded. He looked like he was about to say something — his mouth half opened and he drew a breath — but Pansy yelled out to Katie from inside the carriage, telling her to hurry up.

Katie gave Harry a half-hearted smile."See you later, Harry."

With one final glance at the Thesterals, Katie clambered inside the carriage, settling herself beside an impatient Pansy.

***