The Cursed Chronicles: Year 6

Chapter 35

"What was that?" Bella whispered furiously. They were leaving Charms, and it was the first chance Bella had received to confront her friend about the incident in the great hall. Katrina avoided her gaze, but her eyes locked with Sabrina's, who appeared equally concerned. She resisted a sigh of frustration. Her friends knew her too well. And there was no way she could avoid them. There was no way around it. She was going to have too play this up. She huffed and looked up at Bella, who took this opportunity to desperately search her friend's expression for any clue as to when she seemed to have gone completely crackers. 

"Look, I didn't want to mention it before because I know you guys wouldn't take it very well. Albus obviously isn't. But I've had the opportunity to speak with Thomas, and he's really not all that bad under the surface. He puts on this front for people, but there's just really alot of pent up frustration and pain. He's really different and if you had the chance you could see-"

"Woah," Bella stopped Katrina who hadn't realized that in her nervousness she had speed up rapidly. Bella put her hands on her friend's shoulders. "Look at me." Katrina did, anxiety building in her chest. She already had to push out Albus, she couldn't bear to lose her other friends too. Meeting her friend's eyes, she was relieved to find a twinkle in them. Bella smiled kindly.

"I trust you," she said simply. "You have a big heart, and I admire that. You've got a good head on your shoulders and I know that you won't lead us wrong. But you have to trust us. You can't just go through everything alone. You shouldn't have to, and more importantly, you don't have to. We're here for you, no matter what. Through thick and thin. Right girls?"

"Of course," Sabrina said immediately. It was sincere, but Katrina knew she was the only one who noticed an extra hint in her voice. Sabrina knew something was up.

"Absolutely!" Parisa added brightly, relieved that the tension seemed to have dissipated. Katrina grinned, uncontrollable relief flooding her.

"You just have to let us in," Bella finished, her heart lightened by her friend's smile. She hadn't realized to what extent Katrina's bad mood brought the rest of them down. They really depended completely on her positivity and kindness. When she suffered, they all did.

"I'll remember that," Katrina promised, fighting the twinge in her heart. She felt terrible hiding things from her friends.

"Now let's go," Bella insisted. "Professor McGonagall said to come straight to the Great Hall after class." 

The Great Hall was already filled with people. The girls took their place at the Ravenclaw with some other sixth year Beauxbaton students, and waited for Professor McGonagall to call the hall to attention. When she did, the hall went silent surprisingly fast. Everyone was anxious to discover what was so important that it couldn't wait until dinner to be announced. 

"As you know, Sandrea Stone of Illvermorny has been kidnapped, and is yet to be found. The Ministry has their best people searched under every rock for her and you are assured that she will be found. However, the Ministry is adamant that we continue the Competition as planned, and in order to fairly represent all schools, a new Illvermorny champion must be selected as a proxy for Miss Stone."

Murmurs rippled over the Hall as Students excitedly speculated on who the new Champion would be. The Hogwarts Professor brought out the Cup, which was blazing with blue fire as usual. 

"The proxy Illvermorny champion is....." All students held their breath as the Cup spat out a slip of scorched paper. Katrina noticed some Illvermorny students squeezing each others' hands in reassurance. Professor McGonagall caught the slip and read it before announcing the result.

".... Nicole Dawson!" Sandy's friend, the one from the hallway, looked up in shock. She looked thoroughly shocked. 

"But professor," she said, looking a little intimidated by the sheer number of her peers who were clamoring to congratulate her. "I didn't even put my name in the Cup!" Professor McGonagall smiled and shrugged in a bemused manner.

"The Cup has a funny way of making these things happened," she offered unhelpfully. "Come see me later. I'll give you an extra clue to give you a little push since the others have had a considerable headstart." Katrina suddenly remembered that she, too, should be worrying about solving the riddle for the second task. She had been so caught up with the awful events of the last few days that it had completely slipped her mind. She wondered how far Albus had gotten. 

She dared a glance up at the Slytherin table. Her heart dangerously skipped four whole beats when her eyes met Albus, who was staring at her. Their was an odd expression on his face- a mixture of confusion, concern, uneasiness and a little betrayal. She looked away quickly and out of the corner of her eye she watched the expression deepen, but his eyes never left her. Part of her wanted to blush but she knew that wouldn't be appropriate. She had to keep up the act. Even just that look was costly. 

"I'm going to get some air," she said abruptly, standing and leaving the table, not allowing her friends further questioning. She felt almost dizzy. Her feet carried her out of the hall, down the steps of the castle and across the grounds to the black lake. Her head pounded, her chest ached, she felt like she was going to pass out. She collapsed weakly on a bench next to the lake and gasped for breath. What was happening to her? Her chest tightened, and her vision started to narrow. She felt terrible. She just tried her hardest to breathe. What was going on?

"Hey, Sugar." Thomas slid onto the bench next to her. This was SO not the time! She continued to gasp for breath, but Thomas didn't seem to notice. He leaned in close. "I noticed you left the Great Hall in a hurry. You better not have been avoiding me." Katrina managed only a weak and unconvincing shake of her head. Thomas' eyes narrowed suspiciously, but he moved past it. Instead, he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer. Katrina just wanted him to leave her alone, but she knew that wouldn't happen. He put his hand on her cheek and kissed it. 

Katrina noticed that on the hill leading up to the castle Albus had been coming down. But upon seeing Katrina and Thomas so close, he stopped dead in his tracks. Katrina realized that from where he was he couldn't possibly recognize that all he had done was kiss her on the cheek. Besides, they were so close. Noticing the smirk on Thomas' face, she realized this had been his plan all along. Why was she so surprised? She knew this was how it would have to be. 

Katrina could see that Albus was beyond hurt, even from this distance. He turned and purposefully began walking away. She gasped violently, and wrenching her hand from Thomas' grasp, it went to her heart, which felt as if it were being stabbed. The pains in her chest gre more frequent and intense. She couldn't breathe. She could vaguely register Thomas' voice but she had no idea what he was saying, her vision tunnelled, and she slipped off the bench, losing conciousness.