The next morning Katherine walked to breakfast alone. As she took a seat at the end of the Gryffindor table, Anthony slid onto the bench across from her.
“So, what happened?”
“Well, that’s nice... don’t ask how I am then!” Katherine answered, but smiled and continued in a quieter voice, “I won’t be leaving yet. He just needed to take me to a meeting. You know, to let me know what I would have to do when it is time for me to leave here.”
A look of relief relaxed the rather tense look on his face before he asked softly, “Did you ask about whether I could come with you?”
“No,” Katherine answered. “After I saw that I wasn’t leaving, I thought I’d wait to ask until Professor Blue wasn’t as preoccupied.”
He looked at her sceptically, before smiling and saying, “I guess I shouldn’t be mad. After all, we should make the most of however much time we have left here. I think we should just relax for while and not worry about what’s going on out there.”
“Yeah,” Katherine agreed, spooning food onto her plate. Yet in her mind she knew that she couldn’t ignore the war. She’d have to train and stay focused, but decided to hide that from Anthony.
Anthony went back to his table, looking back once to smile. Katherine stood after finishing breakfast and left for class. As she made her way through a sun-lit hall, she felt a tug on her sleeve. A young girl who couldn’t have been older than her second year handed Katherine a sealed letter and shot back down the hallway without a word. Katherine broke the seal and opened the note.
Katherine put the letter in the bottom of her bag and continued to her class. That afternoon she met Professor Blue in his office and they duelled for hours. For four weeks they continued their duelling meetings on Thursday and Saturday and Katherine continued going to the extra potions lessons on Wednesdays accumulating a small store of useful potions both simple and complex, including Pepper-up potion, Calming draught, Murtlap Essence, Invigorating draught, Wound-cleaning potion, Sleeping Draught, even Blood-replenishing potion which she had to slip secretly into her bag to avoid explaining why she wanted it, and a variety of antidotes. She also began gathering potion ingredients in case she needed to make something after leaving. Each day she packed something new away, but her trunk was starting to get very full. All the while, Katherine hid it from Anthony. She knew he wanted to ignore anything that meant she would soon be leaving, so she always made up some excuse when he got suspicious.Katherine,
Duelling this afternoon. I have no classes so I’m free. Also, we will have duelling on Saturday mornings until we leave. Destroy this note or keep it somewhere very safe. We don’t want to let just anyone know what we’re up to.Prof. Blue
“Bloody rain,” Anthony muttered, sitting down across from Katherine at lunch on a cold, rainy Friday in the middle of October. It had been rainy for a week straight, and he was in a bad mood.
“I don’t know. I like rain,” Katherine said, dipping some roast potatoes onto her plate.
“Yeah, well I liked it on the first day, maybe even the second,” he defended. “But this is a bit much.”
Katherine smiled at his sullen expression, but took a big bite of pork chop to hide it when Anthony looked up at her. As Katherine was dipping her second portions, a young girl came up and handed her a sealed note.
“Professor Blue said it was urgent, Miss,” the girls muttered, before scampering off to the Hufflepuff table.
“Oh, what does he want now?” Anthony asked, scowling.
Katherine rolled her eyes and said, “How should I know? I haven’t opened it yet.”
“Well, if you ask me, he’s taken too much interest in you lately.”
“What are you talking about?”
“He is either sending you messages, making you stay after class, or asking for a ‘private word’. I wouldn’t mind if you at least acknowledge it, but sometimes I think you like it.”
Anthony was talking very loudly now and starting to draw attention from those nearby. Katherine was now getting a little worried. If the wrong person heard, Professor Blue would be very unhappy with her.
“Hey, it’s ok,” she said softly. “I understand what you’re saying, but let me explain.”
“Oh, so you are ok with it,” Anthony yelled.
“I didn’t say that,” Katherine said without the softness of before.
“So, explain then!”
Katherine took a deep breath, and then began whispering very quickly, “He is just helping me with stuff. You know, helping me prepare for when I have to leave. It’s nothing much at all. He just tells me what I need to know as it comes to him. It seems crazy to me to, but I have to listen because I have to be ready for whatever is out there when I leave.”
People where now staring at them. Afraid that someone might have heard her, she added, “You know I’m worried about my N.E.W.T.s in Defence against the Dark Arts.”
“What?” he said, now barely audible. “I thought we wanted to wait until we had to leave to worry about that.”
“We will,” she whispered softly. “What he is telling me isn’t anything serious, just little stuff. I’ve got to go now, we’ll talk later.”
“There’s a Hogsmeade weekend tomorrow. I was planning to take you out, but... I don’t know... I’ll talk to you later,” he said very distantly as they stood to leave. He took her bag from her saying, “let me carry that.”
Katherine followed him out to the Entrance Hall. He stopped suddenly, looking around as though he just realized where he was.
“Katherine, I know you have to go meet with Professor Blue. But I need to tell you something first. Is that ok?” Anthony asked, his tone dramatically changed, almost begging.
Katherine nodded; hoping she was wrong about what she thought was coming.
“I’m sorry for yelling, but I’m just trying to understand you. I know that we haven’t been together very long, but that is what scares me. With each day that goes by, I realize more and more that I’m not going to be going with you when you leave.”
“That hasn’t been decided yet, you still may be able to...”
“Let me finish,” Anthony said, smiling slightly for the first time today. “It’s ok. I’m ok with staying here if it is my place to fight, but I’m still worried about you going off with Professor Blue. Not because I don’t trust that he’ll keep you safe, but he might steal your heart away from me.”
This surprised Katherine very much. She had never thought of Blue like that and she was sure he had never thought of her that way either. Softly she said, “Oh, don’t worry about that.”
“But I do. I can’t help it, because I... I...”
But he couldn’t finish. He looked at the floor for a moment. Then suddenly, he pulled Katherine to him wrapping his arms tightly around her waist. Then, to Katherine surprise, he pressed his lips firmly against hers. Katherine closed her eyes. She had never been kissed before. After what seemed only a moment, Anthony pulled himself away.
“You better go. We’ll talk later,” he said, and then walked back into the Great Hall.
Warm tears formed in Katherine’s eyes as she opened the note from Blue.
When she entered his room the final tears rolled down her face. Professor Blue was at his desk, looking over what appeared to be very old maps and notes. She walked forward silently and stood in front of his desk. It took about half a minute for him to realize she was there.Katherine,
Whenever you get a chance I need to talk to you. Don’t take too long. It’s urgent.H L Blue
“Oh, sorry,” he said, laughing. “I’m a bit preoccupied. I was just going to tell you that I can’t... hey are you ok?”
He had noticed her red eyes and the tear streaks on her cheeks.
“I’m fine,” she answered. “I was just thinking about when we’d have to leave. I’ll miss living like this.”
“Oh, well it’s always hard to leave Hogwarts behind, for any reason. Now to business, we won’t be meeting tomorrow. I have some things I need to... take care of.”
“When will you be back?” Katherine asked. She was beginning to feel better. Tonight she would be able to talk to Anthony and tell him everything.
“Oh, are you worried about me, Kathy?” he said chuckling. “I’ll be back by the middle of next week. Don’t miss me too much.”
“I’ll do my best,” Katherine said sarcastically, but changed tone to ask, “So what are things really like out there?”
“Well, frankly, the Order doesn’t know why the Ministry hasn’t been taken yet,” he answered, becoming very serious. “I don’t think it will be long before it falls. But even now, the Death Eaters are causing so much destruction. A lot of people have been killed that aren’t even acknowledged. The Order knows who most of the Death Eaters are in the Ministry, but we can’t convince the Minister to have them brought before the Wizengamot.”
“What if the Ministry falls before you get back?” Katherine asked, meeting his eyes. They were very blue, and although she could see worry in them, but there was also hope. For the first time, she could see that there was something hidden inside him.
“Nothing changes. You still need to get the Shell Cottage as soon as you can and wait for me.”
“I meant what about you. Are you going to come back here to help the Muggle-borns?”
“If I can, I will. If I have time that is.”
“I see,” Katherine said, glancing at her watch. “Oh no, I’ll be late for potions. I really must go.”
“Alright, I’ll let you know when I get back,” he said, lacking the joy he had when she first came in.
Katherine rushed down to the dungeons and fell in line behind a Slytherin she didn’t know.
That evening at the end of dinner Anthony took his usual place across the table, asking, “So, any news?”
“Not really, he was just letting me know that he would be gone for a little while. He didn’t tell me how long or why though,” answered Katherine, hoping that Anthony wouldn’t interrogate her further.
“That’s ok for now though. Maybe you’ll have a little more free time for other things,” Anthony said, winking slyly, suddenly cheering up.
“I see your feeling better,” Katherine chuckled.
“Well, it stopped raining long enough for me to take my broom out this afternoon. I had some de-stressing time with my mates.”
“You should try that more often,” Katherine said, standing up after finishing the last of her pudding.
“Sometimes I think you might be too cheeky,” said Anthony as they left the Great Hall. “I’m supposed to meet Terry and Michael to play Exploding Snap.”
“Oh,” Katherine said, disappointed. She had hoped to be able to talk to Anthony without one of them starting off shouting. “I need to go to the Library to study tonight anyways. I have to research for a Herbology paper due on Monday.”
“Hogsmeade tomorrow though,” he said consolingly, noticing her disappointment.
“Will you make me a promise?” she asked, smiling. He nodded and she continued, “No yelling tomorrow.”
Anthony laughed causing a group of Slytherins, including Draco Malfoy, to turn and look. He squeezed her hand which she didn’t remember him taking and led the way slowly up the stairs until they reached the point where their paths separated. Anthony looked around to see if they were alone then leaned in and kissed her cheek softly.
“I’m sorry I’m not as brave as other people or as strong, but I used to be. You just make me weak,” he whispered, his mouth only centimetres from her ear. His breath tickled her neck pleasantly, but she had to force herself not to recoil from the sensation. “I trust you. So if you decide to keep me in the dark again, just be willing to hold my hand.”