~ In which a shy Hufflepuff falls for a certain redhead Gryffindor that changes her life. ~
Disclaimer: I only own Katherine, Alden, and other original characters not found in the original HP world. Everything else belongs to JK Rowling.
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"Have they come back with Harry yet?" Katherine asked Mrs. Weasley.
"Not yet, dear. They will be here very soon," She flashed a warm smile and entered the kitchen. Katherine followed Mrs. Weasley and saw Sirius sitting at the table, tapping his fingers against the wood.
"Hello, Sirius. How are you today?" Katherine smiled.
"I'm going crazy staying in this house," Sirius sighed, running his forehead. "Damn Dumb-"
"Watch your mouth, Sirius," Mrs. Weasley scolded. "Katherine, could you please go see what the twins are up to?"
"Sure, Molly!" Katherine chirped.
Katherine ran upstairs to the twins' room; she burst through the door and saw Fred and George playing with an Extendable Ear. Katherine sat on her boyfriend's lap, took the device away from him, and kissed his cheek.
"Your Mum says Harry should be here soon," Katherine said to the two boys.
Suddenly, yelling sounded from the room next to theirs. Katherine could tell it was Harry, even though his voice seemed to be slightly deeper. The girl got up, but George stopped her. He shook his head and put up a finger indicating to wait. When the yelling died down, Fred nodded his head, and all three of them apparated into the room.
"Thought we heard your dulcet tones, Harry," Fred said cooly.
"You three passed the Apparation tests?" Harry asked.
"With distinction!" George beamed proudly. "But we heard you yelling about not knowing anything, and we can help you with that!"
"Yeah, the twins made Extendable Ears!" Katherine exclaimed.
Harry nodded, and the group went out of the room near the steps. Ginny joined them as the twins lowered the snooping device. They heard Sirius and Mrs. Weasley arguing about Harry being able to know certain things about the Order. Suddenly Snape's voice was heard, making Harry turn to Katherine.
"Snape's a part of the Order?" Harry asked.
"Yeah," Katherine responded.
Crookshanks, Hermione's cat, sat at the bottom of the stairs. The dangling ear caught the feline's attention. Crookshanks started to push the ear with her paw. Hermione told the cat to stop, but she didn't listen. Crookshanks pulled the ear down with its paw and ripped it off the cord.
The group of teenagers hurried down the stairs when Mrs. Weasley called them. The twins decided to apparate next to their mother to scare her. Mrs. Weasley started to yell at them as the rest of the kids entered the kitchen. Harry was met by his godfather and pulled each other into a hug. When everyone sat down, Tonks started to mimic many animals making Ginny and Katherine laugh. George held Katherine's hand under the table, squeezing it now and then.
Kingsley Shackelbolt showed Harry the newspaper about him. It said how Harry was making Voldemort's return up, saying everything Harry said was a lie. George and Katherine looked at each other and then back at Harry. The boy was definitely angry about the claims Fudge was making. Sirius started to talk about Voldemort recruiting for his army. As Harry's godfather went in more depth about the situation, Mrs. Weasley interrupted him. Sirius and Mrs. Weasley got into it and tried to kick the teens out of the kitchen.
"We're of age!" Fred and George bellowed at the same time.
"Harry-" Ron was cut off.
"NO! Now go to bed! All of you!" Mrs. Weasley screamed.
The teenagers looked at each other and walked out of the kitchen. Everyone went to their room beside Katherine; she sat in front of the stair railing. She wanted to join the Order, but Mrs. Weasley wouldn't let her. Katherine felt grateful that she cared, but she wanted to join. Katherine didn't want to be the weak little Hufflepuff. She wanted to prove herself, like Tonks. Suddenly, Katherine felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and saw Harry.
"Hi, Harry," Katherine noticed the somber look on his face. "What's wrong?"
"I've been having nightmares about Cedric." Harry started. "I just wanted to talk to you about it since you guys were so close."
"Yeah, okay," The Hufflepuff patted the ground next to her, signaling him to sit. "What do you see in your nightmares?"
"Well, I'm in the graveyard. Cedric's next to me. One minute he's smiling and the next-'' Harry stopped for a second, trying to keep his composure. "Then a green light flashes, and he's lying on the ground, not moving."
"I'm sorry, Harry. I'm sorry you had to witness that," Katherine pulled him into a hug.
She felt tears flood her eyes, but she pushed them back. Harry needed some support. He'd spent most of his summer at the Dursleys attacked by dementors and expelled from school. The boy couldn't just have one moment of peace.
"I saw his ghost, you know," Harry suddenly said. Katherine pulled away and looked at him. "He said to tell you that he loves you and to be strong because even if you don't see him, he's always here, in your heart."
Katherine couldn't hold back the tears any longer. This time it was Harry to pull her in for a hug. Katherine hadn't talked to anyone about her best friend's death since the funeral. She acted like it never happened. Katherine still wrote letters to him, telling him about her days. When Katherine was ready, she pulled away from the hug.
"Thank you, Harry. I needed that," Katherine let out a sad laugh while wiping away her tears. "It's good to finally talk to someone about Cedric."
"Well, if you ever need anything, I'm right here," Harry gave her a small smile.
"Same goes for you, Harry," Kathrine kissed his forehead and stood up. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Kari," Harry watched her enter the twins' room. Harry sat for a while longer until he finally went to his.
Katherine walked onto the Quidditch field. The bushy maze was still standing, but the green color was fading, and it was turning into a greyish tint. Kathrine saw a boy wearing a yellow and black jumper, with his back towards her. She recognized that hair from anywhere. It was Cedric!
"Cedric! Oh, Merlin! You're alive!" Katherine exclaimed, running towards her best friend.
Katherine touched his shoulder, causing him to fall to the ground. She knelt beside him and saw his grey eyes looking at the sky. Katherine shook him repeatedly. It didn't matter how hard she shook; he wouldn't give her a sign he was alive. Out of nowhere, crying sounded. Katherine looked up and saw Harry, Amos, and Mrs. Diggory sobbing, looking at the lifeless boy. Mad-Eye appeared next to Harry, dragging him away.
"Professor, stop! Where are y-" Katherine was interrupted by her own screaming.
Mad-Eye had pointed his wand at her and sent the torturing curse. The feeling of several knives stabbing her reappeared. Katherine felt herself wriggle on the ground as the pain continued. Harry started to say something, but Katherine couldn't make it out. Mad-Eye stopped causing the girl to hear what Harry was saying.
