PRINCESS ➳ harry potter, draco malfoy (NEW VERSION)

08 || Quidditch Commotion

Early morning, the Great Hall was already packed with students. They were chatting and laughing loudly over breakfasts of eggs and bacon and toast and pancakes. Ron entered the Hall just before Katie, slipping into a seat across from Harry, who was sitting with two other Gryffindor boys. As she passed them by, Katie caught a snippet of Harry and Ron's conversation.

"Where were you last night?" Ron asked, his voice hard.

"I was with Katie," Harry answered simply, spooned some porridge into his mouth.

Ron looked appalled, if not utterly horrified. "Katie? As in Katie Blair? The filthy, traitorous Slytherin?"

"Ron!" Harry snapped. "Don't talk about her like that."

"Oh, come off it, Harry," Ron scoffed. "They're all the same, those Slytherins—pompous and big-headed, they all think they're better than everyone else."

"Well, Katie's not like that," Harry said irritably, waving Ron down. "And you'd do well to apologise for the way you've been treating her."

Hearing Harry's kind words, Katie couldn't help but smile. Glancing over at the Slytherin table, she saw Pansy talking to Draco Malfoy. Then she gave a little shrug of her shoulders and walked briskly over to the Gryffindor table.

"Hey Harry," she greeted cheerfully, sliding onto the bench next to him. "Hi Ron."

"Katie! Hi." Harry sounded surprised. He promptly sat upright, eyes widening, but he still seemed pleased to see her. "Are you allowed sit here?"

Katie shrugged. "No, but who cares? Ooh, bacon and eggs!"

Ron watched with a sour scowl plastered on his face as Katie loaded her golden plate with a heap of bacon and eggs. She poured herself a glass of water and took a deep drink before tucking into her breakfast.

"Chris and his friends are heading down to the Quidditch pitch after dinner," Katie announced. "There's trials coming up and they want to get some practice in. I was thinking about going to watch them. I was wondering if you wanted to come, Harry? You're more than welcome too, Ron."

Ron looked beyond shocked, his mouth shamelessly falling open. His newly widened eyes darted between Katie and Harry, the latter of which merely wiggled his eyebrows in response. Katie tried her best not to snicker, acting as though she was oblivious to Harry and Ron's exchange as she continued to eat her breakfast.

"Uh—yeah, sure," Ron stammered. He shifted somewhat uneasily in his seat. "Yeah, I'll go. Thanks."

***

As she had done the evening before, Katie met Harry in the Entrance Hall after dinner. This time, however, he was accompanied by a rather sullen-looking Ron. Harry flashed Katie a smile, then they all made their way down to the Quidditch stadium together, where Chris and his friends were already gathered after leaving dinner early.

When they passed the broomshed, Katie checked to see if Chris had been foolish enough to leave the door unlocked, and was not at all surprised to find that he had. Glancing over her shoulder to make sure that no one else was about the grounds to tell her off, she slipped inside.

"Do you guys want a broom?" she called out to Harry and Ron.

"Are you mental?" Ron hurled. "Are you trying to get us detention?"

Heaving a great sigh, Katie shook her head, muttering irritably under her breath about Ron's insolence. Brooms that were the personal property of students were bolted to the wall, not accesible without a key. The school brooms, on the other hand, lay piled in a corner for any student to use. Katie grabbed one for herself, turning it over in her hand and frowning—a Shooting Star. It would have to do, she supposed.