Harry had arranged everything with Katie. He explained how Snape knew how to get past Fluffy and how Hagrid had accidentally let slip to the three Gryffindors that Fluffy will fall into a deep sleep if you just play him some music. On top of that, Harry told Katie that Dumbledore had received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and left for London, but Harry believed it to be a hoax planted by Snape to get Dumbledore out of the castle.
Katie was going to go through the trapdoor with Harry, Ron and Hermione to get the Philosopher's Stone before Snape could. Any normal person would be worried about facing that dog and whatever lay beneath the trapdoor, but Katie was more nervous about confronting Ron. The pair still had not made amends, but this was Katie's chance to prove her loyalty to her friends.
This time, when Katie got out of bed to get dressed, Pansy did not wake up. Katie pulled on a pair of loose jeans and a grey jumper before leaving the dormitory. She was going to meet Harry and the others at the third floor corridor, and then they would go down the trapdoor together.
However, upon walking out into the common room, Katie realised that there was going to be a change of plans.
Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle were all sitting on the couches in the common room, smug expressions planted on their faces. Katie felt her stomach twist into a horrible knot. She knew that this couldn't be good.
"Where are you off to, Blair?" Draco asked, standing up.
"Mind your own business, Malfoy." Katie grumbled, picking up her pace. She was only a few feet away from the common room door when the three boys sprung in front of it, blocking her.
"C'mon, Malfoy, let me go." Katie whined.
"So you can go sneak around with Potter? Not a chance." An evil smirk spread across Draco's face. Katie froze, glued to the spot. Her next words came out in a tangle of stutters,
"H-How do you—"
Malfoy cut across her. "I heard you two talking earlier. Mind you, I didn't hear much, but I picked up on him telling you to meet him on the third floor tonight."
"Listen, Draco, you have to let me go. You don't understand how important this is." The desperation in Katie's voice was clear, making her seem weak and helpless, which only encouraged Malfoy to restrict her from going to Harry.
"I don't think kissing Potter is that important, Blair." Malfoy sneered teasingly. Katie's face grew hot and a pink tinge brushed across her cheeks, but her embarrassment was snappily replaced with anger.
"It's not like that, Malfoy. Seriously, let me go!" Katie tried to shove past Malfoy, but she didn't get very far with Crabbe and Goyle grabbing her by the shoulders and pushing her away.
Draco folded his arms and leaned against the door. "No," he said, "I don't think I will."
Acting on emotion (anger) rather than logic, Katie whipped out her wand and pointed it straight at Goyle. Fear clouded over the boy's face, but he had no time to react or counter before Katie hexed him.
"Petrificus Totalus!" she cried. Goyle's arms snapped down by his side and his legs sprung together. He wobbled around for a few moments before falling flat on his back, stiff as a board.
"What did you do to him?" Malfoy demanded. Though his voice was full of anger, his eyes were filled with terror.
"Full body-bind. Hermione taught it to me. Now, move out of the way or you'll be next."
Malfoy let out a short laugh in the form of a breath and pulled out his own wand, pointing it straight at Katie. "Oh, I don't think so."
Katie hastily preformed the body-bind curse on Crabbe who, like Goyle, had a poor reaction speed. Now, it was only Draco and Katie, circling each other like hawks in the Slytherin common room.
"Don't make me do this." Katie pleaded softly.
"As if you care if you hurt me." Draco scoffed.
Katie halted, as though she herself had been caught by the body-bind curse. Her eyes glazed over with a thin layer of tears. "Of course I care."
Her words came out in a broken whisper, and her bottom lip quivered. Draco, clearly not expecting her sudden kindness towards him and moment of open weakness, froze up. He blinked thrice at the girl and slowly lowered his wand. Katie felt her heart jolt.
"Go." Draco said quietly, jerking his head in the direction of the door. Katie pocketed her wand, gave Draco a small smile and nod of gratitude, and dashed from the common room.
Katie sprinted through the halls, not caring if she was caught by a teacher. Her chance of being killed after sinking through that trapdoor were high anyway, so being caight wasn't her main concern.
When she reached the third floor corridor, Harry, Ron and Hermione were not there. Katie searched long and hard for them, but the only thing she could seem to find was Harry's Invisibility Cloak huddled on the floor by a battered door. It was now clear to the girl what had happened.
They left without her.
Katie cursed Malfoy for holding her up and aggressively kicked the stone floor (severely hurting her toe). The girl found that she had no desire to return to her common room so she leaned against a cold wall and allowed herself to sink to the floor. She tucked her knees to her chest, as she had done that night in the common room.
Katie was not sure how long she spent curled up on that floor, though it must have been quite awhile because the old door that Harry's Invisibility Cloak had been laying by burst open and out came Hermione. She was carrying an unconscious Ron, his arm slung around her shoulder, dragging him. Hermione was clearly struggling under his weight. Blood dripped from various cuts on Ron's face and his face was hollow and white as snow.
Katie sprung to her feet immediately.
"Hermione!"
"Katie..." Hermione tried to yell but she was too breathless and weak to do so. Katie ran to her aid and wrapped Ron's other arm around her own shoulder.
"What happened? Is he all right? Where's Harry?" Katie asked, her voice panicked.
"Ron got hurt so Harry went on alone." Hermione explained briefly. "We need to get Ron to the hospital wing."
"Hold on, Harry is down there alone?"
"Yes," Hermione frowned, "And Snape is down there too."
"Oh no..." Katie whispered. She felt the blood drain from her face and her head started to spin.
About five minutes later, the girls finally arrived at the hospital wing with Ron.
"Madam Pomfrey! Madam Pomfrey!" Hermione screamed out desperately. A door in the corner of the room opened and a distressed Madam Pomfrey appeared. She looked as though she was going to faint when her eyes landed on Ron.
"Merlin!" she cried. "What happened?"
Tears began to stream down Hermione's face. She gasped for air through her sobs.
"I-I'll explain everything later, Madam Pomfrey. B-but please, help him, h-he's lost a l-l-lot of blood."
"Lay him down here." Madam Pomfrey demanded frantically. As soon as Ron was on the hospital bed, Madam Pomfrey got to work on fixing his wounds.
"You look dreadful, Miss Granger. You should go get yourself cleaned up. I'll handle Ron." Madam Pomfrey stated. It was true. Hermione's dishevelled hair made it look as though she had been electrocuted, she was sporting her own batch of fresh cuts on her face, and her clothes were completely covered in dirt. Despite all this, Hermione stubbornly shook her head.
"No, I'm not leaving. I'm staying with him."
Katie turned to Hermione and gingerly took her hands in hers. She locked eyes with Hermione, trying to give her friend comfort.
"Hey, go have a bath. I'll stay here with Ron. It's all going to be fine." Katie said gently. Hermione sniffled but reluctantly agreed to leave.
Almost an hour had passed and Katie was sat by a fully cared for Ron's side. She held his hand and gently rubbed the back of it with her thumb, waiting for him to wake up. Finally, Ron stirred, let out a small moan, and his eyes fluttered opened. He confusedly looked around, examining his surroundings, before finally realising where he was. When his eyes found Katie, they narrowed.
"What are you doing here?" Ron sneered, not taking note of the fact that Katie was holding his hand. "You abandoned us."
Katie frowned. "Ron, I would never."
"But you said you were coming down the trapdoor with us and you never showed. We waited for you for a whole ten minutes." Ron's tone was indeed harsh, but his voice was too hoarse for the full effect to be heard.
"I was coming, but Malfoy wouldn't let be leave the common room. I sat on the third floor and waited for you guys to come back, then I helped Hermione carry you here." Katie explained. Ron's face gradually softened as the girl told her story, until he finally sighed and leaned his head back, shutting his eyes.
"Merlin, Katie, I'm so sorry..." he breathed, clearly annoyed with himself. Katie gave Ron's hand a reassuring squeeze, and this must've been the moment he realised that she was holding his hand, because his eyes snapped open and he glanced down at their hands.
"Don't worry about it. It's fine."
"No, it's not." Ron sat up. "Katie, those things I said before, about you and about Slytherins, I was bang out of line. None of it is true — well, except for the likes of, you know, Malfoy and You-Know-Who — but you're not like them, and I'm so sorry for saying that you were."
Both Katie and Ron's eyes had filled with tears, but Katie knew all too well that Ron was not going to let his fall. She smiled, a real, genuine smile, which Ron mirrored as he let out a breath of relief.
"Friends?" Katie asked hopefully.
Ron's eyes lit up like a thousand stars in the night sky.
"Friends." he nodded.