Katie sat alone at the long Slytherin table, picking at her bacon and eggs. It was the morning of her first Quidditch game. Slytherin were playing Gryffindor and she was petrified. She awoke early and, upon finding that her nerves were not letting her get back to sleep anytime soon, she got dressed and dragged herself down to the great hall.
As she was taking a sip of her pumpkin juice, Katie heard her name being called from the other end of the hall. Turning her head, she saw Harry, Ron and Hermione enter the hall, waving enthusiastically at her. She waved back and found that her friends were making their way over to her.
"Good morning. How are you feeling?" Hermione said, sliding onto the bench next to Katie. Katie shrugged nonchalantly.
"Good luck today. I know you'll do great." Harry smiled, to which Katie returned.
"Don't tell anyone, but I'm rooting for Gryffindor." she whispered, leaning in close to her friends. Ron's jaw dropped.
"You can't say that!" the red head gasped in horror.
"You bet your ass I can, and I just did. You have no idea how much I hate Slytherin." Katie said. She spun back around into her seat and continued to nibble at her food. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she turned her head so she was looking at Hermione.
"It's going to be okay." Hermione said sincerely.
Once the three Gryffindor's retreated from the Slytherin table, Katie was left on her own once again, but not for long. Mere minutes later, Draco Malfoy The Great came striding down the hall, Grabbe, Goyle, and Pansy following close behind. Pansy sat down beside Katerina and Draco took his usual seat across from the girls.
"You're up early." Pansy raised an eyebrow at her friend.
Katie shrugged. "I just wanted to make sure I ate enough before the game."
"I swear to God, Blair, if you don't catch that Snitch, I'll—"
"Oh, shove it, Malfoy." A third voice joined in, cutting Draco off mid-sentence. Whipping around, Katie saw Ron standing behind her. She shot him a grateful smile.
"Do you have a problem, Weasley?" Draco snapped venomously, narrowing his eyes.
"No, but clearly you do," Ron turned to Katie, "Are you ready? We'll walk you down to the stadium."
"Actually, I was going to walk Katie to the stadium. You know, we can't have our Seeker being seen with the rival team on match day, now can we?" Draco said. If Katie hadn't known better, she would've sworn there was a hint of jealousy in both Draco's eyes and voice. Taking one last swig of her pumpkin juice, the Slytherin girl stood up.
"I'll go with Ron, but... thanks, Draco." she said, her lips curving into a hint of a smile, before she whisked out of the hall with Ron. They met up with Harry and Hermione in the entrance hall and strolled down to the stadium together.
The grass was frosted over and the cold November wind sent shivers down the four student's backs. Mist clouded the air and Katie wondered if she would be able to see as she flew at all.
"It's bloody freezing!" Ron exclaimed in disgust.
"It's not that bad." Harry countered calmly.
"Easy for you to say! You're going to be moving around. Hermione and I are going to turn to blocks of ice sitting around in that stadium!"
"I told you to bring a scarf, Ronald." Hermione rolled her eyes.
"As if that would help! That just stops your ears from being cold. I'm not worried about my ears!"
"Remind me again how I became friends with you." Hermione sounded completely fed up. Katie let out a little chuckle as she listened to her friend's petty argument.
The group walked up to the Slytherin changing rooms and dropped Katie off there.
"Good luck." Harry said, wrapping his arms around the girl. Her entire body was instantly filled with warmth and she never wanted to let go. Sadly, they had to stop hugging at some point, and Katie was plunged back into the sea of coldness. She hugged her other two friends before turning to enter the changing room. Just before she could, however, a strong hand gripped her wrist, making her gasp in shock.
She whirled around, only to be met with familiar grey eyes.
"Take your hand off her." Ron said through gritted teeth. Draco ignored him.
"Good luck." he said lowly, maintaining eye contact with Katie. She felt herself shrink under his piercing gaze. Harry, Ron and Hermione watched from a few feet away with puzzled looks on their faces.
"Thanks." Katie breathed as her face twisted into a smile. Draco gave her a tiny smile in return before whisking away.
***
The chilly wind whipped Katie's face, causing her very bones to shiver. She whizzed around the pitch, frantically searching for the Snitch. Slytherin were winning.
"So — after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating—"
"Jordan!"
"I mean, after that open and revolting foul."
"Jordan, I'm warning you—"
"All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken my Spinnet, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor still in possession."
Katie struggled not to laugh at Lee Jordan's commentary. She was disgusted that she was playing on a team with such foul players and cheaters, but alas, she was there and she had to continue playing whether she liked it or not.
Katie noticed a Bludger fly past Harry, missing his head by an inch. She also noticed that his broom lurched mysteriously. At first, she assumed Harry may have done it by accident, but his broom continued to try and buck him off, and Katie realised that the broom was completely out of Harry's control.
"Slytherin in possession — Flint with the Quaffle — passes Spinnet — passes Bell — hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose — only joking, Professor — Slytherin score — oh no..."
The Slytherin's roared and cheered, but Katie was too preoccupied with Harry to notice Lee's funny commentary or the game itself. She watched from afar, her body stricken with fear as Harry practically danced around the air on his broom.
Finally, people noticed that something wasn't right. They began pointing at Harry and the stands erupted in talkative noise. Harry's broomstick jerked suddenly and he was flung off it, barely managing to hold on. The crowd gasped and Katie let out a scream that was carried away by the November wind before it could reach anyone's ears.
Two red haired boys repeatedly flew over to Harry, trying to safely get him onto their broom, but every time they tried, Harry's broom would only raise higher into the air. Katie bit her nails nervously, not knowing what to do or make of the situation.
Suddenly, somebody in the stands let out a great yelp. Snape's cloak had somehow caught on fire, and the teachers began to scramble around and yell.
Miraculously, through all this commotion, Harry's broom calmed down and Harry heaved himself back on. Katie let out a deep sigh of relief.
The game continued on. A few minutes later, Katie caught sight of something gold about halfway across the pitch. Harry must have noticed it too, because the two of them sped towards it. They flew side by side, diving towards the ground to catch the Snitch.
"Harry, I'm going to pull up. Catch. The. Snitch." Katie spoke loudly enough for Harry to hear, but quietly enough so the people in the stands wouldn't hear.
"Katie, what? No—"
Harry didn't have time to finish his sentence before Katie pulled her broomstick up and flew away from the ground. Looking down, Katie expected to see Harry gripping the snitch firmly in his hand with a triumphant expression on his face, but that is not what she saw at all. Harry was standing — yes, standing — on his broom, flying close to the ground with his hand outstretched, reaching for the Snitch that was inches in front of him. He moved one foot forward and tumbled to the ground, earning gasps from all of the spectators. Katie clapped her hand over her mouth.
Harry wrapped his arms around his stomach. He looked as though he was about to be sick. However, opening his mouth wide, the Golden Snitch popped out, landing comfortably in his hands. Harry's eyes widened in shock.
"He's got the Snitch! Harry Potter receives 150 points for catching the Snitch!" Lee Jordan exclaimed, his voice filled with excitement.
Madam Hooch blew her whistle. "Gryffindor wins!"
The crowd erupted in cheers and Katie couldn't help it when a huge, cheesy grin split across her face from ear to ear. She couldn't hear, but judging by the faces of the Slytherins, they were letting out groans of disappointment, but Katie didn't care. She carefully flew to the ground, stepping off of her broom with a light thud.
A crowd had surrounded Harry, but he managed to meet Katie's eyes through the tiny gap in the sea of people. He gave her a grateful smile and a nod.
Suddenly, a pair of arms flung around Katie. She let out a yelp of fright before discovering that it was Hermione.
"Congratulations!" Katie laughed, hugging her friend tightly. Katie spotted Draco standing roughly twenty feet away. He was staring at the girl, slowly shaking his head. Shooting him a look, Katie turned back to her friends.
Hermione and Ron dragged Katie all the way through the castle, stopping outside the portrait that led to the Gryffindor common room. Ron said the password and the Gryffindors stepped inside, but Katie remained rooted to the spot.
"Are you coming or what?" Ron said.
"I'm not allowed."
Ron scoffed and grabbed Katie's hand. "Shut up." he said, making Katie chuckle. He dragged her into the Gryffindor common room.
The Gryffindors had all gathered in the common room and were celebrating wildly. Katie grinned from ear to ear as she took in the joyful sight.
Two identical red haired boys waltzed up to the three first year's sides carrying silver trays.
"Ladies, brother dearest, would you like some pumpkin pasties? We nipped some food from the kitchens." they said. Katie realised that they must've been Ron's older twin brothers that he had previously mentioned to her. Katie and Hermione politely declined, while Ron shooed his brothers away.
"Wait a minute..." Twin One said, eyeing Katie suspiciously.
"She's a..." Twin Two leaned on his brother's shoulder and also began to scan Katie. The girl gulped.
"Slytherin?" the twins said together, raising their eyebrows simultaneously, their voices hushed but full of shock.
"Uhm... yeah," Katie laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of her neck, "My name's Katerina — Katie — and I'm friends with Ron."
"Are you even allowed in here?" Twin One asked seriously.
"Err — well, no..."
"A rule breaker, I like it. What do you say, Gerogie?" Twin Two said, turning to his brother.
"I like her too. George Weasley." he held out his hand for Katie to shake.
"And I'm Fred. Or maybe he's Fred. Who knows?"
While the Gryffindors celebrated and Katie, Ron and Hermione engaged in happy conversation, the portrait swung open and the rest of the Quidditch team, wearing their Gryffindor Quidditch sweaters, stepped through the portrait hole. Harry was in the front — Oliver Wood standing behind him with his hand on his shoulders.
"POTTER! POTTER! POTTER!" the room erupted in chants and cheers. Katie let out a laugh of glee as she watched everyone run to Harry.
He eventually made his way away from the crowd and over to his friends. With teary eyes, Katie gave him a bright smile, which he returned before warmly wrapping his arms around her.
"You played so well. Congratulations." Katie said sincerely, pulling away from the hug.
"Well, if you hadn't have—"
"Don't give me that crap," Katie scoffed, "We both know I would've pulled away from the ground first anyway. You were always going to win. You deserved to win."
"Thanks Katie." Harry said, and by looking in his eyes, she knew that he meant it.
"You were amazing, mate!" Ron beamed, patting his friend on the back.
"Yes, yes, Harry, you played splendidly, but I think there's more important things to talk about." Hermione gradually lowered her voice as she spoke. The four first years glanced around at each other, the same serious expressions on their faces, before speaking in unison.
"The broom."