Work Text:
September 7, 1995
"Harry? What're you doing here?" Katie's voice reached his ears before he could mount his broom and fly his anger, stress and other negative feelings away for the day.
He was sure they'd be back tomorrow considering Umbridge's multiple attacks on him, but with the Quidditch ban in effect, he had all he could do to get time on the pitch. So when the opportunity presented itself to him as it did today, he took it in the hopes it would stop him from cursing the toad-faced woman.
Merlin, he desperately wanted to do just that too, for Umbridge greatly deserved anything and everything bad that happened to her.
"Harry?" Katie asked again, the older girl now directly in front of him thanks to how zoned out he'd been.
"Sorry," He said off-handedly as he tried to blink away his anger back to the depths of his mind. "What were you saying?" He'd already forgotten whatever it was that Katie had spoken to him about, and as bad as he felt about that, his annoyance was still definitely the prominent feeling coursing through him.
Pain wasn't too far behind that, for even sans the anger, nothing but negative emotions were felt post-Umbridge detentions.
"I was asking why you're here," Katie said gently as she brought up one of her hands to wipe at the corner of his mouth — it was definitely very surprising to him when she brought that hand back to her mouth and licked it. "Frosting," She explained with a wink.
Harry had run into Hermione when he'd gotten out, and Hermione had said that Ron saved him a cupcake. That would've been what Katie had tasted from his lips… it was good too, but Katie's action was definitely very weird when compared to how the older girl usually acted. Motherly was the first thing that came to mind, Peacekeeper was next and third was mischievous; not many people knew that Katie had a prankster side to her, for she seldom let it out lest somebody desperately needed a laugh.
He felt a grin come to his face the longer he looked at her smiling visage, for it was very hard to be angry around a girl who reminded him of a Golden Retriever personified.
Again forgetting to reply, Harry found himself prompted with a raised eyebrow from the girl. "Sorry, sorry," He started, raising his hands as he continued. "I just got out from detention with Umbridge and wanted to fly around the pitch a bit, get my anger out, you know? Stress too, but that's the main bit. What about you? Why're you here?"
Katie tutted and pulled him into her side, his smaller frame fitting snugly against her. "No no no, Harry, you'll not be getting out of talking about your 'detention' that quickly. I do have to give you props for trying to distract me though, you've gotten sneakier than I remembered you being," Katie's face turned to a pout as she looked down at him, she even sniffled once for extra effect, "W-What happened to that cute little firstie who thought of me as a big sister?"
Harry sighed and tried to pull free of Katie's grip, but she didn't let him.
"You got old," He said when he gave up and tilted his head to look back up at her.
Katie made a wounded noise and pressed a hand to her sizab— to her chest. "Me? Old? Really?!" She had a real tear come down her face and wiped it away with her tongue when it rolled low enough. "I'll have you know that older witches are better than younger ones."
Harry laughed. "How do you figure?"
He couldn't wait to hear whatever it was that Katie would say as an excuse. It would surely be something comedic, and more than likely, something that used completely flawed logic. All of her arguments in the locker room often did so, and with them on the pitch, she'd likely go back to that alter-ego of hers.
"They're smarter, prettier, more knowledgeable, better at flying, far better at Quidditch," Katie took in a breath and right when she looked about ready to continue, paused. "Do I need to say mo— what's that on your hand? Are you hurt? I can heal it for you!"
Katie had started off in a light-hearted, comedic tone of voice, but when she noticed the writing on the back of his hand that was still an angry-red, she'd shifted into her motherly persona again. Once she was in that overbearing and caring personality that everyone teasingly called 'Mama Lion mode', there was no getting her out of it until she got what she wanted.
Unluckily for Harry, that would mean she would require seeing his hand and moreover, she would try to heal it for him. Little did she know that he'd already tried and nothing seemed to work on it. McGonagall couldn't do anything about it either, for his Head of House would likely get sacked from her job if she tried… really, only Dumbledore could do anything, and the man had been as scant as a ghost.
During his thinking, Harry had been so distracted that he failed to feel Katie's hands take his wounded one. Worse, he failed to stop her from raising his sleeve and seeing the bloodied mess that was the back of his hand with the writing still crying blood.
When he looked up at her face and saw the anger, possibly hatred on it, he realised how big a fool he'd been for not stopping her; Katie, Mama Lion mode Katie, wouldn't stop until she got rid of the issue or solved it in another way.
He knew he couldn't risk her getting in trouble with Umbridge like so many others had too, else she'd also sport the wound, so he began speaking rapidly to her in an attempt to calm her down before she stormed off ready to attack a Professor.
Professor… what a cruel mockery of the word, He thought as he tried calming her.
"Katie, please don't do anything stupid, I promise I'm fi—" He was cut off by Katie's voice, quiet and calm but near-deafening with the tone in which she spoke.
"Anything I would do back to her would be far from stupid, Harry. Whatever she gets would be wholly deserved, you know that as well as I do… but if you're certain you don't want me to do anything, then I won't right now," Katie took a few breaths and calmed herself.
During that time, she brought him flush against her and used one hand to stroke his hair. He wasn't sure if that was more to reassure him or to calm her, but he wouldn't knock it considering how comforting it felt. Merlin, it felt amazing too; if he could have his hair played with while wrapped up in somebody's warmth, he'd be a very happy person despite the current happenings of the world and Hogwarts.
"Losing yourself?" Katie asked, a smidgen of anger still in her tone though it was more amusement-filled than anything else now.
"Just a bit," Harry responded, smiling up at the girl from his position in her arms. "You're pretty comfortable, you know."
Almost as soon as he said that, he felt regret. That was a very weird thing to say to somebody, he knew, but it was simply the truth. Katie was warm, soft and relaxing… there were a myriad of other positive words he could use too. Still, all that aside, it didn't stop his face from heating up. He looked away from her in an attempt to hide just that too, but she wouldn't have it.
Katie used her other hand, the one not still playing with his hair, to keep his eyes locked in a staring contest with hers. When she accomplished that, she spoke.
"Normally, and from anybody else, I would've thought that was an insult," Katie said. "But from you, I'll allow that as a compliment even if I think I could drop a few pounds — Quidditch doesn't feel right without you and the twins. It's a bit hard to get into without those two dorks and the young eye-candy that you've turned into."
If his blush hadn't already been horrible, it would've gotten worse thanks to her remark right then. Even as bad as it was, he felt it get worse; mayhaps his face was actually on fire, such was the feeling of embarrassment coursing through him. That could be better than blushing as hard as he currently was, or so he thought.
"Do you… do you want to fly around a bit?" Harry asked, trying to change the subject and get at the reason he'd come to the Pitch in the first place.
Katie smiled teasingly at him and flicked her tongue out to lick her lips. "Do I want to fool around a bit, is that what you asked?"
Again, Harry swallowed as he found himself trapped looking into her eyes. Surely she had to be taking the mickey out of him, she couldn't really think he'd suggest something like that. No way, no how; bold and courageous as any lion he may be, but wording it like that was far from a Harry-type move.
"No, no I- did," He paused and took a breath, calming himself in the hopes that he didn't fall over his words as he just did. "I asked if you wanted to fly around the Quidditch pitch a bit. You know, have fun up in the air?"
"Oh," Katie said in reply, a small pout coming to her face as she finally let him go. "Here I was thinking you wanted to fool around with me," she peered at him through narrowed eyes. "Are you sure you didn't say that?"
Harry nodded in response, giving no verbal response to her question.
Katie huffed and tossed aside some hair that'd crept in front of her eyes thanks to their impromptu cuddling session. "We can fly," she said with a shrug, a mischievous look coming about after a few seconds of staring at him in silence. "There's a price though — a new one that you wouldn't have heard of since your Quidditch ban."
Happy to move on and happier still that he would soon be in the air, Harry figured he'd amuse Katie. "What's that price then, Captain Bell?"
Katie smiled toothily. "I'm happy you asked!," she flicked her lips and kept eye contact with him. "One kiss per lap flown!"
Harry blinked a few times, again, thinking that he'd misheard what she'd said thanks to his hormone-ridden brain. "Come again? I think I misheard you, sorry."
"That's fine, that's fine," Katie said, waving away his apology as she moved closer to him, her fight forcing Harry to look up at her as she closed in. "I said that the price to fly is a kiss per lap owed to your Quidditch team's Captain — that's me, by the way. So… if you'd like, you could pay well in advance with a, let's say, twenty-second snog?"
So I didn't mishear her, good, Harry thought to himself in a calm manner before his eyes went incredibly wide.
"Oh. Oh, oh... " Harry couldn't articulate himself, not in the slightest, but luckily enough that seemed to amuse Katie if her laughter and joyous smile was anything to go by.
"Well, what's your answer, munchkin?" Katie asked, that same mischievous look on her face as she placed her hands on her hips.
Harry raised his nose as he looked at the older girl, her challenging stance and that same feeling in her voice drawing out the competitive side in him. Not only that, but his courage was bubbling to the surface too — really, there were a few things that combined perfectly for his next action.
What was that action, you may ask?
A snogging, one that lasted nearly twenty seconds and when he pulled away from Katie, left the girl with the largest grin on her face.
"I'll give you another twenty seconds if you can…" Katie glanced at him, then the air, then him again and pop; like that, she was off in the air and her final words yelled as she flew away. "Catch me!"
Harry was hot on her tail.