~ 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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"Shall we get practicing?" Harry said. "I was thinking the first we should do is Expelliarmus, you know, the Disarming Charm. I know it's pretty basic, but I've found it really useful—"
"Oh please," Zacharias spat, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms. "I don't think Expelliarmus is exactly going to help us against You-Know-Who, do you?"
"I've used it against him. It saved my life," Harry said quietly. "But if you think it's beneath you, you can leave."
Zacharias closed his mouth. Everyone else stayed quiet, waiting for Harry to say something else.
"Okay," Harry said. "I reckon we should all divide into pairs and practice."
George wanted to practice with Katherine, but she urged him to duel with his twin. Neville was partnerless, so Katherine joined him. As Neville and Katherine readied themselves, there were a series of shouts and jets of light throughout the room.
"Alright, are you ready Neville," Katherine asked. Neville nodded nervously.
"Expel—"
"Expelliarmus!" Katherine cast quicker, making Neville's wand fly out of his hand.
After she won a few more times, Katherine let Neville hit her a few times, but nothing happened. Neville looked defeated and started to walk towards the mirror in the corner of the room. The boy stared at himself in the mirror and threw his wand to the ground. Katherine picked up his wand and examined it.
"Neville, is this your wand?" asked Katherine. Neville looked at her through the mirror.
"No, it's my dad's," Neville sighed. "My Nan made me keep it."
"Well, that explains the lack of power. This wand isn't yours," Katherine explained. "It doesn't have that special connection. I would talk to your Nan about it."
"Thanks, Kari," Neville paused. "Can I call you Kari?"
"Of course you can!" Katherine exclaimed. " Oh! And you can get more power out of the wand by having a strong stance."
Neville nodded, and the pair went back to their spot. Neville fumbled his dad's wand in his hand, causing Katherine to flash him a reassuring smile. Neville pointed the wand at Katherine and yelled the spell.
"Expelliarmus!" Katherine's wand flew out of her hand and landed in Neville's. "I DID IT!" Neville happily yelled.
The boy ran up to Katherine and hugged her, thanking her repeatedly for her advice. The rest of the meeting went by with wands flying in the air and red jets soaring towards people. After the DA meeting, George walked with Katherine to her common room.
"I can't wait till we go deeper in Defense," said Katherine as she held George's hand.
"Yeah," George laughed at his girlfriend's joy. Suddenly, a light bulb went off in his head. "Do you wanna prank Umbitch?"
Katherine looked at a smiling George. She could see the mischief build in his eyes. The Hufflepuff looked around the halls and then back at George.
"Yes, but you have to promise to refrain from swearing," Katherine compromised.
"Ugh, are you being serious?" George whined. Katherine nodded in response. "Fine! Now let's go!"
"What are we going to do?" Katherine asked as they ran through the corridors.
"You know how dear Professor Umbridge loves her tea, right?" Katherine nodded. "Well, I thought we could give her an early Christmas present. A Nose-Biting Teacup!"
"Oh, that's good!" Katherine laughed.
Katherine and George reached the Gryffindor common room to get the teacup and raced to Umbridge's office. Katherine stood outside to keep watch. It took a couple of minutes for George to finish his task, and that worried Katherine. George finally came out and grabbed Katherine's hand to drag her to the Hufflepuff common room.
"What took you so long?" Katherine asked while walking into the room.
"I replaced some of her chocolate with fever fudge," George laughed. Katherine sat on the yellow couch with George laying his head on her lap.
"I can not wait to see her face tomorrow at breakfast!" Katherine exclaimed.
"What is a Gryffindor doing in our common room, Katherine?" Zacharias Smith asked as he came down the stairs.
"He's spending time with his girlfriend," George snapped.
"That's against the rules!" Smith sneered.
"You were just at a DA meeting, Smith!" Katherine laughed at his stupidness. "You are an idiot."
"At least I'm not dating a Weasley!" Smith snickered. "Don't they live in that shoebox near Devon?"
George stood up and closed his hands into fists. Katherine jumped up and stood in front of George, trying to hold him back. She held his hands down and pushed him on the couch. Katherine turned her head to the rude Hufflepuff.
"I suggest you go back to your dorm before I let George beat in your face," Katherine said. Smith widened his eyes and hurriedly ran upstairs. "What a coward!"
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Katherine walked into the dining hall with the twins. She and George were eagerly looking for Umbridge while Fred pouted with his arms crossed. He was upset that George did a prank without him. Umbridge was not in her usual seat, which saddened the couple. The twins and Katherine sat next to Lee and started to eat. Soon tiny heels sounded outside the dining hall. Katherine looked up and saw Umbridge storming through the room. Katherine laughed when she noticed the tip of Umbridge's nose red and scarred.
Katherine nudged George and nodded towards Umbridge, who was at the front of the room. She scanned the room, looking for smiling faces. George and Katherine quickly put their heads down and stuffed their mouths.
"Hem hem," the professor cleared her throat, getting the student's attention. "Yesterday night, I was the victim of a cruel joke. Someone replaced my teacup with another that bites noses! I would like the culprit to come up! Now!"
Katherine bit her lip to keep her from laughing. George put his hand on her shoulder and kissed her cheek. Dumbledore, too, was looking at the crowd of silent students. His eyes landed on George and Katherine, who were trying to contain their smiles. Dumbledore chuckled to himself and focused on the pink toad who looked like she was about to blow.
