When news got out about Katie and Harry, no one was one bit surprised. The most shocking part for most people was the fact that they had taken so long to get together. One week after the First Task, a Ravenclaw girl told Katie that the majority of the school had been placing bets since first year — bets on when Katie and Harry would get together. A third year Hufflepuff girl and fifth year boy in Gryffindor had recently bet on the day of the First Task, and were ecstatic when they earned themselves five galleons each.

Katie didn't get to spend nearly as much time with Harry ask she would have liked. She was really understanding, though — he was working tirelessly to uncover the clue from the egg. Hermione had suggested putting a Revealing Charm on the egg, but it still screeched,as Neville had pointed out, like someone was being tortured.

One December evening, Katie and Hermione entered the Great Hall together and took seats on either side of the Gryffindor table. Hermione helped herself to some stew before speaking.

"So, Katie, did you hear about the Yule Ball?" Hermione asked. She was trying very hard not to smile.

Katie grinned. "Yeah! McGonagall told us about it earlier."

Ron let out a grunt of annoyance beside Katie.

"A ball," he huffed. "Can you believe it?"

"You just don't want to wear your ugly dress robes." Hermione snapped at him. Ron went pink and Katie tittered.

Katie looked around her and found that Harry was no where in sight. She furrowed her eyebrows.

"Where's Harry?"

"You two can't be away from each other for five minutes, can you?" Ron said. "McGonagall held him back after class."

Just as Ron said this, Harry entered the Hall. He sat down beside Hermione and Katie noticed how he looked very agitated. His jaw was clenched in anger, but his eyes were half closed in a disgruntled sort of way.

"She wants me to dance!" he cried in exasperation. "Me!"

"Well, it is tradition that the champions open--" Hermione had started to reason with Harry, but he cut across her almost instantly.

"Me!"

Fred and George slid up the bench.

"Ron, can we borrow Pigwidgeon?" George asked.

"No, he's off delivering a letter. Why?"

"Because George wants to invite him to the ball." Fred said sarcastically.

"Because we want to send a letter, you stupid great prat." George said.

"Who do you two keep writing to then, eh?" Ron interrogated.

"Nose out, Ron," Fred warned. "So... you lot got dates to the ball yet?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "It just got announced today. Of course we don't."

"Well, I've got a date." Fred shrugged.

"What? Already?" Ron said, taken aback. Fred nodded promptly without a trace of embarrassment. "Who are you going with, then?"

"Aneglina."

"You've already asked her?" Katie said.

"Good point," Fred turned his head and called down the table, "Oi! Angelina!"

Angelina, who had been chatting to Alicia Spinnet, looked up.

"What?" she called back.

"Want to come to the ball with me?"

Angelina gave Fred an appraising sort of look. "All right, then."

"There you go," Fred turned back to the fourth years. "Piece of cake. Get a move on or all the good ones will have gone, mate. We'd better use a school owl, then, George, come on..."

Fred and George got to their feet and left the Great Hall. Ron crossed his arms. He was now in an even grouchier mood than he had been only minutes beforehand.

"I should get a move on and ask someone..." Ron sighed. "He's right. I don't want to end up going with a troll."

Hermione let out a splutter of indignation. "A... what, excuse me?"

"Well — you know," Ron said, shrugging. "I'd rather go alone than with Eloise Midgen, say."

"Her acne's loads better lately — and she's really nice!"

"Her nose is off-centre."

"Oh, I see," Hermione scoffed, bristling. "So basically, you're going to take the best-looking girl who'll have you, even if she's completely horrible?"

"Er — yeah, that sounds about right," Ron said, then he turned to Katie, grinning in a joking manner. "Say, Katie, you fit that description—"

Katie let out a loud laugh.

"Relax mate," Ron said to Harry, noticing the strained look on his face. "She's all yours."

Ron then got up, telling Harry and Hermione that he'd see them back in the common room. Hermione, who was in a very bad mood all of a sudden, stood up as soon as Ron had left the Hall.

"I'm going to bed." she snapped, and she swept off without another word.

"I wonder about her sometimes..." Katie muttered as she watched Hermione stalk away. Harry chuckled.

***

The last week of term was nothing short of terrible. McGonagall and Moody had them working up until the very last minute of the final lesson. Katie had fallen asleep out of sheer boredom during a History of Magic class, earning herself a detention, and Snape had sprung a surprise exam on them on the last day before the Christmas holidays. Ron was furious.

"Evil, he is," Ron said bitterly as they left the Potions classroom. "Springing a test on us on the last day."

"It wasn't that bad." Katie shrugged. Hermione hummed in agreement.

Ron rolled his eyes. "You're starting to sound a lot like Hermione. I think she's rubbing off on you."

"I'm just saying," Katie countered firmly, "that Potions isn't all that bad, it's just Snape."

"Speak for yourself," Ron grumbled. "I'm dead awful at Potions."

"A menace, really." Harry teased, earning himself an elbow to the ribs from Ron.

Although she was relieved to be free of classes for two weeks, Katie found herself to be extremely bored after only three days of the Christmas holidays. The weather outside was frightful — rain thundered for days on end, and the occasional crack of thunder or flash of lightning struck Hogwarts, so Katie couldn't leave the castle to cure her boredom.

When she wasn't playing Exploding Snap with Ron or sitting in the clock tower with Harry, Katie found herself browsing books at the library. She had been indulged in one about very bloody goblins riots when a chair screeched nearby. She looked up. Niall Murray had taken a seat across from her. Katie gave him a skeptical look.

"Yes?" she said.

Niall shrugged. "You looked lonely."

"I'm busy." she stated, waving her book in Niall's face.

"Watcha reading?"

Before Katie had a chance to respond, Niall had snatched the book from her hand. He surveyed the cover and flicked briskly through the faded pages.

"Goblin riots?" he said distastefully. "I fell asleep in class when we learned about those."

Katie grabbed the book back and glowered at Niall, who only laughed.

"So, are you excited for the ball?" Niall asked casually. He had pulled out a quill and was twirling it around his fingers.

Katie put her nose back in the book. "Don't think I'm going."

Niall blinked at her, painting a puzzled look on his face.

"What do you mean you're not going?"

Katie shrugged nonchalantly. "No one's asked me."

"Aren't you going with Harry?" Niall now seemed to be more bewildered than ever.

"Hasn't asked me." Katie said shortly.

Niall rubbed his temples to ease his stress. "But you two are like, a thing, right? So isn't it kind of implied that you're already going together?"

Katie's eyes snapped up from her book. "First of all, if you ever use the phrase 'a thing' again, I will personally hex you into next week," Niall snorted at this. "Secondly, that's not how it works."

Niall shook his head and let out a sigh of exasperation.

"Girls are crazy." he muttered.

There was a second screeching as Chris pulled up a chair and plopped down next to Niall. Katie rolled her eyes to the back of her head. Great, now she had to deal with two of them.

"What's up, Niall? Hey, Kat."

Katie hummed in response. Niall leaned across to Chris.

"She's really grumpy because Harry hasn't asked her to the ball." Niall took care to whisper loud enough for Katie to hear. Chris twisted his eyebrows in confusion.

"But... isn't it kind of impli—"

Katie slammed her book shut. "It is not implied — that's not how it works, and I'm not in a bad mood because he hasn't asked me to the ball. I'm in a bad mood because someone," she waved a finger at Niall, "disrupted my peaceful reading."

Niall grinned in a taunting sort of way.

"Who are you two going with, then?" Katie asked. She pushed her book away, accepting that she wasn't going to get peace and quiet to read it.

"Alicia Spinnet." Niall said instantly, while Chris merely shrugged. He had gone very red. He said something, but it was barely a mumble and Katie's ears hadn't been able to pick up on a single word.

"Sorry, didn't catch that."

"I was thinking about asking Hermione..." Chris said sheepishly, blushing even harder than before. Katie choked on air but, after quickly regaining herself, she leaned forward on the table and smirked at her brother.

"You fancy Hermione?" Katie raised an eyebrow. "Chris, she's like, two years younger than you."

"So what?" Chris said defensively. "You used to fancy Niall, and he's two years older than you!"

Niall spluttered. Katie shot a stone-cold glare Chris' way. A smug smirk had appeared on Niall's face. He leaned back in his seat and had opened his mouth to speak, but Katie got there first.

"I was nine," she said firmly. "Besides, girls always fancy their brother's best friend."

At that moment, Hermione waltzed over, carrying a large stack of books in her arms. She dropped them down on the table next to Katie, making the librarian glower at the loud noise.

"What's all this?" Katie asked Hermione, with a glance at her brother, whose face was glowing pink. He was trying very hard not to meet Hermione's gaze.

"Study." Hermione said brusquely. Katie opened her mouth in contempt.

"Hermione, it's the Christmas holidays!" she sighed.

"Exactly," Hermione responded, opening her Arithmancy book. "Plenty of time to revise."

Shaking her head slowly, Katie brought herself to her feet.

"Come on, best leave her to it." she mumbled to Chris and Niall. As the three were walking to the door of the library, Chris tried to turn around, but Katie grabbed his arm.

"Not now," she warned him. "Disrupt her studying and she might bite your head off. Ask her later."

That evening at dinner, Katie was talking to Pansy when someone hopped into the seat next to her — someone who had never sat at the Slytherin table before. It was Hermione. Katie's mouth fell open in surprise.

Draco glared at the Gryffindor. "Get lost, Mudblo—"

"Nip it, Goldilocks." Katie snapped before turning to face Hermione

"Katie, your brother just asked me to the ball." Hermione hissed. She looked to be very shocked by the whole ordeal.

Katie's mouth widened even further.

"What did you say?" Katie questioned, almost hesitantly. She hoped to Merlin that Hermione hadn't rejected Chris, because he, like Katie, had still been feeling rather low, and a rejection wouldn't do him any good.

"I had to say no!" Hermione cried weakly. "I'm already going with someone — they asked me yesterday."

Katie's stomach sank in disappointment.

"But... oh, Katie!" Hermione sighed. "He was so sweet, and so nervous. I felt so bad saying no! I tried to do it nicely but... well, you know me — guys don't ask me out — I've never had to reject one before. I'm worried that I may have hurt his feelings—"

Hermione was rambling on and on about how sorry she was and about how she felt like she was a terrible person.

"Hey, Hermione, listen," Katie butt in. "It's fine, alright? I'm sure he's OK — he's probably just a little embarrassed, that's all, but he'll be fine."

Hermione smiled nervously. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Katie reassured.

Hermione gathered herself and started speaking once again.

"So, has Harry asked you to go with him yet?" she asked.

"Nope."

"What?" Draco said. "He has to ask her? I thought it would already be imp—"

"It's not implied!" Katie, Hermione and Pansy all yelled at the same time, making Draco flinch.

"Well, if he hasn't asked you yet..." Draco began. "Katie, want to go to the ball with me?"

Knowing that he was joking, Katie rolled her eyes, but Hermione, who clearly hadn't heard the amused tone in his voice, shot him a glare.

"Yeah, nice try, Malfoy." Katie chortled. Draco shrugged as a smirk tugged at his lips.

"It was worth a shot," he then turned to Pansy. "Will you come to the ball with me?"

"Sure, why not?" Pansy replied casually, but as soon as Draco was facing away from her, her face split into a huge grin and she let out a small squeal of delight.

"Can I see your dress?" Hermione asked Katie. eagerly. The Slytherin girl's ears went slightly pink.

"Err — well, I haven't exactly got one..."

"Katie!" Hermione said indignantly. "The ball is next week! It was on our supply list to get a dress."

Katie thickly swallowed a lump in her throat. "I know, but, well — my mum was supposed to send one with the Christmas gifts... but, you know..."

Hermione's breath hitched. She stared at Katie, pitying her, which made Katie very uncomfortable. Pansy and Draco glanced between each other.

"What are you going to do, then?" Hermione asked. Caution was laced through her voice, as though Katie would burst into tears if she accidentally said the wrong thing.

Katie shrugged. "S'pose I'll just wear one of my dresses that I packed for weekends."

Katie felt her heart sink at the thought of her showing up to the Yule Ball wearing a knee-length floral sundress while all the other girls were dressed in elegant gowns.

After she finished her dinner, Katie made her way up to the clock tower to find Harry already waiting for her. He smiled broadly when she entered the room and he greeted her with a hug. He started babbling almost instantly.

"OK, so, I was thinking about this ball thing and how we have to—"

"We?" Katie cut him off. Harry frowned at her, confused. "You haven't actually asked me to the ball yet, Potter."

Harry awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. "Oh... I-I just thought it was sort of like, implied—"

"If one more person says that, I'm going to blast their nose off—!" Katie flourished her wand threateningly.

"Alright, alright..." Harry calmed her down hastily. He placed a hand over her wand and lowered it. Then, he stood back and cleared his throat. A blush was rising on his cheeks and he glanced around helplessly. He had been dreading the prospect of asking Katie to the dance and hoped that she would just accept the fact that they were going together — but, no, she had to make things a whole lot more difficult.

"Katerina Blair—" Harry began, but cringed and cut himself off. "Oh, Merlin, no — uhm — go to the ball with me?" he finished quickly and scratched behind his ear.

Katie giggled and rolled her eyes in a playful manner. "Real smooth, Harry, real smooth."

***

"Oh, Anthony, dear, both you and I know all too well that Katerina is not really your daughter."

"She's as good as! I've loved her more than that filthy—"

"Avada Kedavra!"

Katie woke up with a start the next morning, long before Pansy, or any of the other girls in their dormitory, for that matter. She dressed herself and put minimum effort into braiding her hair before leaving the dormitory. The common room was completely deserted, and it was cold, as the fire that burned the night before had since gone out.

Finding that she wasn't very hungry, Katie decided that she would skip breakfast and go straight to the library. Just as she exited the common room, however, she let out a yelp of fright. Ron was standing there, his hands full of toast and a grin on his face.

"I brought you this," he said, handing the toast to Katie. "Exploding Snap?" he asked eagerly.

Katie and Ron walked up from the dungeons together.

"What has you up this early?" Katie quizzed. "It's not like you at all."

"Harry woke me up at six — talking in his sleep, and I wasn't able to get back to sleep." Ron explained. Katie felt a smile growing on her face.

"He sleep talks?" she giggled.

"All the time," Ron was smiling, too. "It's really annoying, though, it can be funny when he starts mumbling about spiders wanting him to tap dance," Ron shivered. "I had a dream like that once — bloody awful."

Ron gave the password to the Fat Lady and the pair clambered through the portrait hole together. Like the Slytherin common room, the Gryffindor common room was completely empty.

"What time is it?" Katie asked, baffled by the fact the no one else was awake.

"Didn't even check the time, did you?" Ron replied. "It's half past seven."

"And you knew I'd be awake?" Katie quirked an eyebrow.

Ron nodded as he and Katie took a seat by a table next to the window. Katie could now see that the air had cleared, the rain had stopped after falling endlessly for day, but the lawns looked like a swamp.

"Yeah," Ron said. "Hermione told me you've been in the library really early everyday. I figured I'd catch you outside your common room."

Katie and Ron spent a half hour engaged in Exploding Snap. Their laughter woke a few people up, and they came down to the common room with scowls on their faces. It just so happened that Harry was one of the people they pulled from slumber.

"What's going on?" he asked groggily, rubbing his eyes.

"Morning, sleepyhead!" Ron called out. He packed up Exploding Snap and he and Katie went to sit on the couch by the fireplace. Harry followed them over, kissed Katie on the forehead and then sat down, too.

Ron groaned loudly. "Please don't start snogging."

"Very mature, Ron." Katie said with a roll of her eyes.

The portrait swung open and Hermione clambered into the common room. She was carrying a large bundle of books. Katie, Harry and Ron all collectively furrowed their eyebrows.

"Where'd you come from?" Harry asked Hermione as the girl placed the books on the floor and slumped back into an armchair, sweating and panting.

"Well, you see, fourteen years ago—"

"Very funny," Harry laughed sarcastically. "I meant why were you up so early?"

"I was at the library." Hermione said, as though her whereabouts were the most obvious thing in the world. "Katie, Christian was there, too. He looked very put out..."

Hermione's cheeks went deep scarlet. Katie gave her a reassuring smile and stood up.

"Don't worry about it. I'll go talk to him."

When Katie arrived at the library, she spotted Chris mindlessly pacing between the shelves. He didn't even take a single glance at any of the books. Katie approached him cautiously, taking care not to startle him.

"Christian?"

He winced in fright. After taking one quick glance at his sister, Chris started shaking his head and mumbling incoherently.

"Hey, Chris, hey..." Katie said in a soothing sort of way. "If this is about Hermione—"

But Chris was shaking his head even faster now. Before Katie got the chance to ask him what was wrong, he had started ranting.