The next day, Harry invited Katie to the Gryffindor common room to make amends. Apologises were made and accepted, and suddenly the usual, joyful energy was surrounding the four friends once again.
Ron and Hermione had been playing a game of chess, which Hermione was terrible at. The thought of anyone besting her at anything frustrated Hermione, so you can imagine how angry she could become when Ron beat her at chess every single time.
Hermione had been angrily rambling about how unfair chess was when the portrait hole swung open and Neville stumbled into the common room, falling flat on his face. It was a great mystery as to how he had managed to climb through the hole, because his legs were bound together with a curse. While almost everyone in the room erupted into fits of laughter, Hermione bounced up out of her seat and ran to Neville's aid. She preformed the counter curse before helping Neville to his feet and bringing him over to sit with Katie, Harry and Ron.
"What happened?" Hermione asked the poor boy.
"Malfoy, of course," Neville confirmed, "He said he'd been waiting for someone to practice the spell on."
Katie's worst fear had come true. Sometimes she believed that Malfoy could actually be a good person (she would never admit this to her Gryffindor friends) but then he would go and pull a cruel trick or make a nasty comment for the thrill.
"You've got to stand up to him, Neville! He's used to walking all over people, but that's no reason to lie down in front of him and make it easier." Ron said.
Tears bubbled up in Neville's eyes. "There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor, Malfoy's already done that." Neville choked out. Feeling sorry for Neville, Katie reached into the pocket of her robes. She pulled out the remainder of the Bertie Botts that Harry had gotten her for Christmas.
"Here," she handed the box to Neville, "They may not all be nice, but you might get a good laugh from them."
Neville sniffled and took the jellybeans from Katie, flashing her a weak but grateful smile.
"You're worth twelve of Malfoy." Harry said and Katie's stomach twisted into a strange, uncomfortable knot. She chose to ignore it, Harry continued on, "The sorting hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn't it? And where's Malfoy? In stinking Slytherin."
Neville sucked in a sharp breath of fear and everyone in the conversation tensed up. The words slipped put of Harry's mouth before he had time to think about or even stop them. All wide eyes averted to Katie, who waved them down and let Harry off the hook.
"It's fine," she almost laughed, "You're right, Harry. Slytherin sucks."
Harry still tried to apologise. "Katie I—"
"Seriously, don't worry about it." Katie brought herself to her feet.
"Oi, where are you going?" Ron said loudly, his eyes trailing after Katie as she made her way across the room.
"To find Malfoy."
Katie angrily wandered the corridors of Hogwarts. She pondered on where Malfoy could be. During a free period, he was usually down by the lake or in the common room. The girl decided that she would check the common room first.
As she was walking, Katie thought deeply about what she would say to Malfoy. Not having the confidence or bravery to tell him off, she would probably just get him to apologise to Neville.
Katie laughed.
"Draco Malfoy? Apologise?" she said aloud to herself with a roll of her eyes.
The sound of Katie's feet aggressively stomping on the hard, polished floors of the halls could more than likely be heard a mile away. She made her way down to the dungeons and, as she turned a corner, walked straight into something — or, someone, more like.
"Watch where you're — Katie?" the person's original harsh tone faded away when they realised that it was Katie who they had walked into. Katie rubbed and soothed her head before her blurred vision cleared and she could focus on the person in front of her.
"Malfoy."
"What are you doing here? I thought you were at the Gryffindor common room." Draco said, clearly bewildered.
"I was... looking for you actually." Katie replied. For some unexplainable reason, she suddenly grew flustered and her voice gradually got quieter as she spoke. Draco raised an eyebrow and looked at Katie suspiciously, but he didn't question the girl, much to her discontent. Malfoy hadn't given her a chance to explain why she had been looking for him in the first place.
"Well, I was just about to come and get you, actually." Draco said, his voice at the same level as Katie's was before. "Flint decided that you should have a last minute training session this evening. I just wanted to let you know."
Katie was taken off guard by Malfoy's sudden act of kindness.
"Thanks, Malfoy, but I actually wanted to talk to you about—"
"Katie!" she was cut off. "Katie! You left this behind!"
A panting, red-faced Ron Weasley ran up to the two Slytherins. He stopped, placed his hands on his knees, and took a few deep breaths. Finally, he stood up straight (but he was still out of breath) and handed a large, tattered, dusty book to Katie. She smiled and took the book from her friend.
"What's that?" Malfoy asked nosily. He peered at the book cover.
"Just a book that Hermione lent to me." Katie shrugged. Malfoy snorted in amusement.
"That's a big book, Blair. Are you sure you've got the brain to read it?"
There it was again. One moment, Malfoy was completely civil, almost friendly, and the next he was giving out insults as though they were sickles.
"What's your problem, Malfoy" Ron bit, spitting out Draco's name with evil venom. A devilish smirk split across Malfoy's face.
"I don't have a problem," he said, "I'm just speaking the truth." Katie's heart sank and she felt herself at a loss for comebacks. She became utterly embarrassed when Ron had to stick up for her instead of her defending herself. Ron grabbed Katie's hand and started pulling her away.
"Come on," he said gently before turning to Malfoy "Leave her alone, you slimy git. She's better than you'll ever be."
Malfoy didn't get a chance to respond because Ron whisked Katie away at the speed of light. When they were out of the dungeons, Ron finally let go of Katie's hand and the Slytherin girl spoke.
"You didn't need to stick up for me like that. I can handle myself." she mumbled, refusing to meet Ron's bright eyes.
Ron grinned. "I know you can."
***
The weather at Quidditch training that evening was clear but bitter cold. Katie came to realise that the changing rooms were much too cold to wash up in, so she decided to go return to the castle and have a bath there.
After Katie tucked her broomstick neatly into the broom shed, she turned around to see a mysterious looking Draco Malfoy standing a few feet away. He had his hood up and the sky was dark, but Katie recognised him by his shiny, blonde hair. At first, Katie thought that he had come to apologise for what he had said to her earlier in the day, but then she remembered that this was Draco Malfoy. He didn't do apologies. She twisted her eyebrows together in confusion and stepped over to Draco.
"You're filthy." Malfoy pointed out as he eyed the girl, who was covered in mud.
"What are you doing here?" Katie ignored Malfoy's comment. "You're out after dark."
"You said you wanted to talk to me about something." Malfoy shrugged nonchalantly. Katie was taken off guard. Had Malfoy really come out to the Quidditch stadium at the risk of detention just because he was interested in hearing what the girl had to say?
Katie brushed her moment of awe away, reminding herself that she was mad at Draco.
"I wanted to talk to you about Neville."
Draco momentarily stiffened out of fear, but his expression quickly changed and it was clear to see that the boy was glowing with pride.
"It was quite a funny joke." Malfoy said smugly. The pair begun to walk side-by-side through the castle's grounds.
"No, it wasn't." Katie argued sternly. Her anger was beginning to boil up again.
"Loosen up, Blair. That Longbottom boy isn't worth a punt anyway."
Katie balled her hands into tight fists and her jaw slacked in anger. She tried to contain herself but she just couldn't seem to.
She hit Draco.
Suddenly, not being courageous enough to tell Draco off wasn't an issue. Her small hand whipped right across his face leaving a glowing, red handprint splashed across his pale cheek. Draco's jaw dropped in pure shock and he found himself at a complete loss for words. He stared at Katie, gobsmacked, with wide, crazed eyes.
"That's from Neville." Katie growled coldly before storming off ahead lf Draco.