"Katie, can I talk to you for a second?"

Ron had run up behind Katie in the Great Hall just as she was about to leave. Draco grabbed her hand and scowled at Ron.

"No." Draco said flatly.

Katie gave Draco a contemptuous look, then turned to Ron. "I suppose."

Ron pulled her aside and, though reluctantly, Draco waited behind, glaring very darkly at the Weasley. Katie folded her arms and waited for Ron to speak.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry," Ron said thickly and quietly, cringing as he did so, making it clear that apologising was hurting his pride. Katie arched an eyebrow. "Not that I approve of you and Malfoy — let me finish, please," he added hastily, for Katie had opened her mouth to argue. "I'm not happy about you and Malfoy, but I figured, after what happened with Chris, there's bigger problems than who you're snogging in broom cupboards between classes."

Katie surveyed Ron for a moment, her eyes narrowed, but could not detect even the smallest trace of insincerity on his features. She allowed herself to smile.

"I know you're not much of a hugger," she said, "but I'm going to hug you anyway."

Ron chuckled, rolled his eyes, but still hugged her nonetheless. After this, they parted ways; Katie left with Draco and Ron and Ron returned to his seat at the Gryffindor table. When he sat down, he noticed that Harry was staring after Katerina and Draco with a certain despair swirling in his eyes.

Ron sighed deeply. "I hate to say I told you so," he said softly. "But I did warn you it was going to happen, mate."

Harry blinked furiously, his ears lit up bright red, and he tore his eyes away from Katie and Draco.

"I — what — no," he stuttered. "I — I wasn't looking at them, I was thinking about the Horcruxes."

Ron was not thoroughly convinced but decided it was best not to push Harry any further. He began shoveling spoonfuls of mashed potato into his mouth.

"Still haven't found anything about Horcruxes, then?" Ron quizzed.

Harry shook his head. "Hermione's been searching the library but can't find anything."

Ron gave an annoyed sort of grunt at the mention of Hermione; those two had still not made up, and it seemed unlikely that they ever would.

"Why don't you ask Katie?" Ron suggested casually and, upon seeing Harry's raised eyebrows, elaborated. "I mean, she's a Slytherin, isn't she? People definitely talk about some sketchy stuff down in that common room and I'm sure she's overheard loads."

Harry decided to take Ron's advice, which was not something he did often, and in Charms class he shuffled around to Katie.

"Have you ever heard about Horcruxes?" he whispered.

"No," she responded simply. "I've never heard the word before. After you mentioned it the other day I racked through every book I own but I couldn't find anything. Not a single mention of Horcruxes anywhere."

"Hermione reckons it's really advanced Dark magic." Harry said conversationally, giving a flick of his wand. They were supposed to be trying to make a small fountain of water trickle out the end of their wands and fill a goblet that lay in front of them, but Harry seemed to be struggling.

"She's probably right — Aguamenti!" Katie's goblet was filled with water in an instant and Professor Flitwick awarded Slytherin five points.

"Are you taking the Apparition lessons?" Harry changed the subject to something more casual. Notices had been put up in all the common rooms, informing students that anyone who is seventeen or would be turning seventeen before the end of August were eligible to take voluntary Apparition lessons.

Katie shrugged. "I'd like to, but they're quite expensive, aren't they?"

"Twelve Galleons isn't that much."

"Just because you're rolling in gold, Potter, doesn't mean we all are."

"I'm not rolling in gold!" Harry said defensively.

"Your inheritance says otherwise."

Seamus Finnigan gave an aggressive wave of his wand and a shower of water burst from his wand, knocking Professor Flitwick off his feet and earning himself a detention.

***

The Apparition lessons were thoroughly uneventful. Due to the bad February weather, the lessons were held in the Great Hall every Saturday instead of outside in the grounds, taught to them by a Ministry official by the name of Wilkie Twycross. Perhaps the only interesting thing to happen was when Susan Bones Splinched herself — she Apparated across the Hall, leaving her leg behind.

In fact, the entire month deemed quite uneventful, but that all changed on the first of March when Katerina Blair and Hermione Granger could be seen hurtling through the corridors towards the hospital wing. They burst inside to find Harry and Ginny already sat on either side of an unconscious Ron an they rushed forwards.

"What happened?" Hermione demanded.

"Poisoned." Harry told her, and he broke into a story about how Ron had eaten Chocolate Cauldrons that were spiked with love potion and Harry had taken him to Professor Slughorn to get an antidote. After Ron was cured, Slughorn poured the three of them a glass of mead. Ron drank his first and it turned out that the mead was laced with poison, and Madam Pomfrey said that had Harry not thought to give Ron a bezoar, Ron may very well have been killed by the poison.

After this thorough explanation, Hermione fell completely silent and refused to speak to anyone. All she could seem to do was stare at Ron, clench-jawed, looking just as pale as he.

Twenty minutes later, Ron had still not stirred. There was a rustling of footsteps and Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape and a weedy-looking Professor Slughorn, carrying the bottle of mead, entered the hospital wing to check on Ron.

"Quick thinking on your part, Harry, using a bezoar," Dumbledore said. "You must be very proud of your student, Horace."

"Why, I think we agree, Potter's actions were heroic. The question is, why were they necessary?" Professor McGonagall voiced.

"Why indeed?" Dumbledore hummed. He then turned around and stepped towards Professor Slughorn, taking the bottle of mead from him. "This appears to be a gift, Horace. You don't remember who gave you this bottle? Which, by the way, possesses remarkable subtle hints of liqourice and cherry, but polluted with poison."

Dumbledore passed the bottle to Snape, who sniffed it with a grimace of disgust etched onto his face.

"Actually, I had intended to give it as a gift myself." Slughorn said, his voice quavering.

"To whom, I might ask?" Dumbledore inquired.

Slughorn averted his eyes to the floor, refusing to meet Dumbledore's gaze. "To you, Headmaster..." he admitted regrettably.

A stiff silence inhabited the dormitory. Katie and Harry's eyes met and she knew at once what he was thinking, so she tore her eyes away from him hastily, instead choosing to focus on Ron's limp form.

"Where is he? Where is my Won-Won? Has he been asking for me?"

Katie got the overwhelming urge to roll her eyes. Hermione shifted in her seat but did not look away from Ron.

Lavender Brown rushed into the room, panting heavily, her face gaunt, her eyes alive with fear. She was just about to dive towards Ron when she caught sight of Hermione and froze in an instant.

"What's she doing here?" Lavender hissed.

Anger flashed through Hermione's otherwise despondent eyes.

"I might ask you the same question!" Hermione got to her feet.

"I happen to be his girlfriend!"

"I happen to be his... friend."

"Don't make me laugh," Lavender seethed. "You haven't spoken in weeks! I suppose you want to make up with him now that he's suddenly all interesting!"

"He's been poisoned you daft dimbo!" Hermione cried, finishing with a dry laugh. "And for the record, I've always found him interesting!"

Katie awkwardly twiddled with her thumbs. She was sure she spoke for everyone else in the room when she thought that she would rather be anywhere in the world than in that room in the moment — even in a dungeon surrounded by Death Eaters would be an improvement.

Ron started making a noise that sounded somewhat like a gentle sort of choking.

"Ah, see, he senses my presence!" Lavender said and she leaned over the bed. "Don't worry, Won-Won, I'm here, I'm here!"

But Lavender suddenly fell silent and everyone was now watching Ron with rapt interest. It appeared that he was trying to say something. He let out a small series of mumbles and grunts... noises that sounded awfully like—

"Er-my-knee..."

It felt as though a jolt of electricity had shot through Katie. After all this time was it finally happening?

Ron gave another grunt.

"Hermione... Hermione..."

Tears welled up inside Lavender's wide eyes at an impressively fast rate, then she let out a loud sob and raced from the room, wailing the whole way until her crying was lost to distance.

"Oh to be young, and to feel love's keen sting," Dumbledore hummed rather cheerfully as the other Professors appeared to be nothing short of horrified by what they had just witnessed — undoubtedly, none of them cared for teenage drama. "Well, come away, everybody, Mr Weasley is well tended."

While Katie, Harry and Ginny rose to their feet, Hermione only scooted her chair closer to Ron's bedside and took his hand. Katie and Harry smiled at each other. She wasn't sure about Harry, but Katie knew that Ron and Hermione were bound to get together at some point, although, she had to admit that when Ron started seeing Lavender, his friendship with Hermione seemed so badly fractured that Katie was scared they would never reconcile at all. Obviously, she was wrong.

"About time, don't you think?" Ginny said to Harry and he chuckled.

Katie and Ginny left the hospital wing together and were quickly followed out by Harry.

"Poor Lavender..." Katie said, shaking her head, but the jubilant grin that was plastered across her face greatly contradicted her statement.

For the briefest of moments, Katie felt a great pang of sadness — how would Chris react if Ron and Hermione were to start going out? Chris liked Hermione a lot, he had for awhile now, and even when he was involved with Oscar Whiterose (Katie scowled at the thought of him), even when Hermione had told him she would rather not commit to anything, Chris still loved her.

***

Draco was awfully quiet for a few days after hearing the news that Ron had been poisoned. Katie wasn't quite sure why Draco reacted this way; did he not hate Ron, Harry, Hermione, and essentially anyone who wore a scarlet and gold tie around the school?

Katie grew to suspect that Draco was alarmed by the fact the someone had so easily sneaked lethal poison into the school, so she reassured him that it most certainly would not happen to him, but this didn't seem to return him to his normal sense.

Much to Ron's annoyance, he was to stay in the hospital wing for nine days for a full recovery and was going to miss Slytherin's second game of the season.

"I want to see you beat the crap out of that Zacharias Smith!" he had told Katie one day when she visited him.

After their defeat at the hands of Gryffindor, Katie had been working her team exceptionally hard at practice, much to Theo and Blaise's annoyance. Vasiey and Urquhart, on the other hand, seemed to think that she had the right idea. Almost every third day, no matter the weather, Katie had her team down on the pitch training, meaning that she was quite behind on homework, but she would worry about that after they had beaten Hufflepuff.

Harry, however, had never been less interested in Quidditch; he was rapidly becoming obsessed with Draco Malfoy.

Harry's theory that Draco was up to something was proven right when he overheard him arguing with Snape at Slughorn's Christmas party, but no one else seemed thoroughly convinced that Draco was a Death Eater. Once or twice, Harry had tried to bring up the topic of discussion with Katie, but each time she shot him down instantly.

"I don't want to hear it, Harry," she would say. "How many times do I have to tell you? Draco's not his father."

However, even Katie could not deny that Draco had been acting rather odd all year. She had always just assumed that he was upset about his father being sent to Azkaban, that was bound to make anyone feel blue, but he seemed to get worse ever since Ron was poisoned. Katie decided that she would ask him about it, but it took her awhile to find him because he wasn't in the library, the Great Hall or the Slytherin common room. Only when she looked out of one of the windows on the second floor did Katie spot a familiar blonde lounging under a beech tree by the edge of the Lake.

When she crossed the grounds, Katie found that Draco had not moved and was mindlessly skipping stones across the water. Katie approached him slowly, not wanting to startle him.

"Draco?"

Although she couldn't see his face, Katie did notice how, upon hearing her voice, Draco froze completely. He stayed quiet and deathly still for many seconds before chucking another stone into the lake. The sun was setting across the lake, sending gold spots dancing across the water, and making Draco's blonde hair sparkle in it's light.

"You've been really distant lately," Katie said. "Is everything all right?"

"Do you actually like me, Katie?"

The question was so upfront, so out of the blue, that Katie was momentarily stunned into silence. She blinked at Draco, waiting for him to say something else or at least turn around, but he just continued to chuck rocks into the Lake.

"Of course I do—"

"No," Draco shook his head. "Do you like me? As a person?"

"Draco, where is this coming from?" Katie asked sadly. She sat down on the grass, which she realised too late was rather damp, and reached out cautiously to place her hand on the side of Draco's cheek. When he didn't flinch away, Katie turned his head so that she could look him in the eye, and she shivered when she saw a single tear roll down his cheek.

"Because I'm not a good person, Katie," Draco croaked. "I've done terrible things, and I will keep doing terrible things."

For the briefest of seconds, Katie's mind strayed to Harry ensuring her that Draco was a Death Eater, but she pushed that thought away hastily; there was no way Draco was referring to something that was that bad.

Katie soothingly ran her thumb across Draco's cheek and he subconsciously leaned into her touch. It was extremely uncharacteristic for Draco to be so open. Katie was one hundred percent certain that she had never even seen him shed a tear before, so seeing him so vulnerable really pulled at her heartstrings.

"Draco, you're not a bad person."

But Draco was shaking his head. He grabbed Katie's hand and removed it from his face, took a deep breath to stifle his tears, and continued.

"I'm sorry." he whispered.

Utter confusion gnawed at the inside of Katie's mind.

"Sorry for what?" she asked, almost scared of the answer, but she never got a response. Instead, Draco just gulped harshly and continued to vent his feelings to her, which she was more than happy to let him do. She was sure that he did not often confide his feelings with anyone and kept them sealed away.

"Sometimes I think..." Draco started but took a pause, as though trying to stop himself from saying the words that were now hanging on the tip of his tongue. "Sometimes I think that you'd be better off with Potter."

Katie sighed and placed both hands on the sides of Draco's face. "Listen to me, you've made my life hell at times, you've screwed Harry over, you've called Hermione a Mudblood, you've picked on Ron—"

"Wow, Blair, you really do know how to cheer a guy up—" Draco said sarcastically.

"—but I still like you, Draco, because underneath all that narcissism, you're a good person who was just raised wrong."

Draco diverted his gaze from Katie's eyes. "You really think that?" he asked weakly.

"I know that."

Katie wrapped her arms around Draco's neck and pulled him into a tight hug. They both let out synchronised sighs of contentment.

"But you're still a prat." Katie said and Draco laughed.

"Git." he mumbled.

When the pair finally pulled apart, Katie looked at Draco seriously. "It will take a lot longer for you to make it up to Harry, Ron and Hermione, you know that, right?"

"Do I have to make it up to them?" he groaned loudly, rolling his eyes.

"Well, no, but if you refuse, then I suppose I'll just be going—"

Katie moved to stand up, but was pulled back by Draco, who slipped his arms around her waist.

"No, no, no!" he whined, dragging her closer to him.

She chuckled lightly.

"I promise I'll make it up to them, but first..." Draco placed a finger under Katerina's chin and tilted her head so that she was looking back at him. He leaned down. "Let me do this again."

Draco kissed her gently. It was soft and sweet. The gentle breeze ruffling their hair and the dying heat of the setting sun against their faces made for the perfect moment, and for the first time since her dad and Leo's deaths, Katie felt as though everything was going to be just fine.

***

The Slytherin versus Hufflepuff Quidditch match was going swimmingly, for Slytherin, that was. Katie, Vaisey and Urquhart had scored ten goals between them, giving Slytherin one hundred points, while Hufflepuff were yet to score at all. Quite a few times, an enraged Zacharias Smith raced towards Katie with the clear intention of knocking her clean off her broom, but each time she swerved out of the way just in time, and the Slytherins in the crowd would boo their disapproval of Smith's actions.

"Zacharias Smith with the Quaffle — passes Cadwallader — passes back to Smith — intercepted by Blair of Slytherin!"

Katie pulled an eleventh goal for Slytherin and the sea of silver and green amidst the crowd roared in delight. Their happiness was short lived, however, because suddenly, both Draco and Zacharias had dropped from the clouds and were pummeling towards the ground where they had both caught sight of the Snitch glinting in the sunlight.

Too distracted by the race towards the Snitch, Katie did not notice the two Bludgers flying her way until it was too late. One collided with the side of her face, the other with her back, a surge of pain shot through her body, and that was the last thing she could remember...

"Oh, look, she's waking up!"

Katie groaned as her eyes flickered open. She squinted against the harsh light that was blinding her eyes and, before she had time to register where exactly she was, a familiar pale face was leaning over her.

"How are you feeling?" Draco asked worriedly.

"Like I just got hit with two Bludgers." Katie grumbled, hissing in pain as Draco helped her sit up. Looking aside, she saw Ron sitting in the hospital bed next to her, smiling somewhat encouragingly.

"One to the side of the face and one to the back — Malfoy told me."

Katie smirked and her eyes danced between the two boys. "Oh, so you two have been talking, have you?"

Ron's ears turned pink and Draco rolled his eyes.

"Only because Madam Pomfrey's been in and out for hours," Draco scoffed. "I can't exactly jeer him when she's around."