Extended Family

Chapter 9: Grains of Sand

This takes place right after the duel in fourth year with Barty Crouch Jr

Shh.  Shh.  Shh.

Katie sat there, listening to the sound of falling grains of sand.  Everything else seemed muffled to her.  The footsteps of the Aurors and Pomfrey in the Infirmary sounded cottony to her.  The tick of the clock seemed distant and tinny.  Her own breathing was shallow and almost silent.  Her heart beat was distant and sluggish.  Everything was dominated by the sounds of the sand piling on itself.

Shh.  Shh.  Shh.

Had it only been a few hours?  They had just been outside under the setting sun, enjoying the warm afternoon.  They had just finished playing Blitz Quidditch.  She only wanted to walk and chat with him before going back to study for her O.W.L.s.  Only a few hours ago.

A lifetime ago.

Shh.  Shh.  Shh.

Her parents had gone to watch her memory of the incident, the duel.  They and Andromeda, Tonks, Sirius, and others had gone to watch when everything went to hell.  They went to watch her fall apart and fail her friend.

They went to watch him suffer.

They went to watch her break.

Shh.  Shh.  Shh.

Pomfrey reappeared as the sand ran out in the hourglass.  She turned it over and cast several spells over Harry's form.  "These spells have to be applied regularly," she explained to Katie.

"How much time does it measure?" Katie asked, her voice still scratchy from her scream.

"It depends on how long the spell lasts.  Sometimes faster, sometimes slower."

Katie nodded woodenly and she returned to her silent vigil.  Listening to the sound of falling sand.

The door to the Infirmary opened and Samantha and Thomas walked in first.  They rushed to her and enveloped her in their arms.

"I'm so proud of you," Samantha said, eyes wet.

"You were so brave," Thomas murmured.

Katie began to cry once more.  "It's my fault he was hurt, he's this bad because of me.  If he wasn't trying to protect me-"

"You could have died," Andromeda said.  She looked like wrath incarnate and Tonks looked like a younger version of her, wide open eyes filled with rage.  Yet they were soft when they looked at Katie.  "He would have killed you if you were lucky, tortured you if you were not.  You were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, the both of you.  But Harry chose to do what he did.  He was not forced.  You have no one to blame save Crouch."

"You don't hate me?" Katie asked, her voice small and trembling.

Andromeda hugged her.  "Never.  You fought for yourself and for Harry.  You fought hard.  You almost irreparably hurt yourself for him.  I could never hate you.  Thank you for caring for him and fighting for him dear."

Sirius nodded jerkily.  "Yeah, you did good Katie.  I'm glad you were there for him."

Katie sobbed, clutching to her parents and Andromeda desperately.  Yet over the sounds of her tears, of her moaning, all she could hear was the sound of sand falling endlessly.