The Forbidden Gift [[Part Fifteen]]

Her head was spinning. Her dress was flailing miserably in the wind. Her shoes were thrown askew to the ground; bare feet slid over the slippery pavement. "George!" she called, a feeble attempt to stop him. George was already a good fifteen feet ahead of Catie; there was no way she could stop him now.
"George! Please, just turn around!" Catie called after him once more. Seemingly a mile ahead, George halted. He slowly turned to face her; George's face was rock solid, not one bit of emotion playing across his face. Catie took a tentative step towards him. "Let me explain," she whispered.
George ran his hands through his hair, letting the summer breeze roll off of his face. He filled in the rest of the space between himself and Catie, whose heart was pounding a mile a minute. George brushed his hand against Catie's, debated whether or not to grab it; he pulled away. "Go," was all he said.
Shivering against not only the cold, Catie placed her own hand on George's shoulder. "It wasn't what it looked like."
George let her hand fall back to her side. "For someone who dislikes clich so much, that wasn't very original." He met eyes with Catie. "That's all you have to say?"
Catie shook her head. "He kissed me, George."
A scoff erupted from George, taking Catie aback. "I'm supposed to believe that?"
"Yes," Catie tried sheepishly.
This made George turn his back sharply, and he began to pace back and forth. "How am I supposed to believe that when you were both in that coat room together? Next thing I know, you'll be saying that he dragged you in there unwillingly."
Catie sighed. "Well, for one thing, I did go in there willingly, but it wasn't with him. I was on my own, and he stumbled in there, also."
"Then why was the door shut?"
"It got jammed."
"A likely story."
"You don't believe me, do you?"
"How can I? The door opened for me smooth as butter."
Catie threw out her arm, stopping George from pacing and forcing him to turn to her. "I guess it's just a matter of trust now." She put both hands on either side of George's face, bringing herself in close to him. "Do you trust me enough to believe me?"
He shrugged. "I don't know."
"George, why did you come here tonight?" Catie asked, choking back tears.
What Catie had not noticed was that George had turned once more, about to walk away. But at this statement, he faced her once more. "I'd been thinking about all the times I've tried to kiss you. It killed me that we were always interrupted. So I came here to do this." In one step, George was directly in front of Catie. His lips were on hers in an instant. George wrapped his arms around her waist; Catie remained frozen on the ground. What she always thought would be the greatest moment of her life tasted bitter and malign. George sensed her uneasiness as she pulled away.
"Nothing," Catie whispered, almost to herself.
"What?"
Catie looked up at George, her eyes brimming with tears. "I felt nothing."
George pushed Catie away, stumbling over his own feet as he backed down the sidewalk. "Maybe you should try that kid again. You obviously felt something with him."
He continued to walk; Catie called after him, whether he was listening or not. "It's not that, George. I think it's the fact that you really don't believe me."
"I never said that."
"You never denied it."
George groaned again, bringing himself to Catie. "Perhaps we need some time... away from each other."
"Because three months with me is even too much for the devil to handle."
"No, Catie I-"
Catie put her hand up to George's mouth. "Forget it, George. I agree; maybe all those times of us being inseparable finally caught up to us." This time she turned away from George. Not to be the stronger one this time, but mostly to hide the tears that warmed her cheeks; but she wasn't the only one crying. "It'll be better this way. We can find people closer to our age. And look at it this way: you wont have to worry about your mom knowing everything that goes on with you and your next girlfriend."
"I... I guess you're right." George was still facing Catie. "Are we still friends?"
This time Catie laughed. "And I'm being clich."
"Well?" George seemed to have ignored her last comment.
Catie pondered his question. The relationship would be awkward now, most definitely. And what would happen when he got a new girlfriend? She was about to answer when someone called to her from back inside the hall. She quickly wiped away her tears, turning back to George. "I have to go." Before he could say anything, Catie took off, leaving him standing there, bewildered once more.
When Catie entered the building, she found no one around, confused as to who was calling her. Catie called it a night in her head, heading back to the door to begin walking home. Her father would get mad, no doubt, but that was the least of her concerns at that moment. But when she turned, Jay was standing there, leaning against the wall, arms folded, a smug smile on his face.
"Hey," he tried.
Catie pushed right past him. "You are the last person I want to talk to right now."
"Isn't that a little harsh?"
Catie smirked at him. "No. This is harsh." She turned to face Jay, who was trotting to keep pace with her, and punched him in the stomach as hard as her body would permit her to. Laughing to herself, Catie left Jay lying on the sidewalk, clutching his stomach. Her plan only worked for a moment, though, because before she knew it, Jay was alongside her once more.
"You're right." He grinned. "That was harsh."
"Ugh." Catie crossed quickly to the other side of the road, just before a long line of traffic stopped Jay from doing the same. "There. Go play in traffic," she yelled over the hum of the cars. The only reply she caught was Jay's loud chuckle; when the traffic disappeared, Catie looked over, seeing that Jay, too, had disappeared. She breathed a sigh of relief, until she realized how dark and quiet it was outside. Catie looked inside the window of a nearby shop; according to their clock, it was almost midnight. And she was alone, in a dress, a newly turned fourteen-year-old girl.
Every noise made Catie jump, every clatter of a street can, every meow of a cat. When Catie heard footsteps following her, she dismissed it as paranoia. But when they persisted, she began to panic. Every time she turned to see if someone was following her, she would simply see the remainder of a looming shadow. Fingering her wand, Catie quickened her pace. She was a good half-mile from her house; she could see it on the horizon. It wouldn't be long before she was sprinting up her stairs to the safety of her room. But tonight, someone didn't want her to get that far.
Before she knew what was happening, a gust of wind and a burning light flew past Catie's right ear, sending her tumbling to the ground. Catie reached for her wand, finding it absent from its place on her belt. She looked around the sidewalk, only to see a large, booted foot standing on it. Catie peered up, seeing the same beady-eyed stranger that was following her home just a month ago.
"Hello, darling," he drawled, bending down to pick up Catie's wand, coming an inch away from Catie's own face. She recognized him immediately; he was one of the strangers present on the hill in front of the Whomping Willow this past year. She had learned that the other one was Sirius Black, but this man seemed to want to harm her.
Thinking fast, Catie sprang to her feet, making to run down the adjacent street lined with lights and shops. Someone was bound to hear or see her there. But just as she began to run, the man shouted, "Locomotor Mortis!" locking together Catie's legs unexpectedly and causing her to fall right on her face. The man cackled somewhere above Catie as she felt her head swim. She reached her hand up to one side of her head that felt warmer than usual, only to find that blood was pouring down the side of her face.
The man stood directly above Catie now, but he was so out of focus that Catie could barely tell how close he really was to her. He spoke another incantation, paralyzing Catie's body. She tried to think of the counter spell, but she couldn't even hear the first hex he spoke; Catie was almost unconscious. He laughed once more, pointing his wand in Catie's face. She knew what was coming next.
Catie's heart quickened as she heard the beginning of the most Unforgivable Curse: "Avada Ked-" A gust of warmth shot through Catie's body as the jinx was lifted from it; she slowly lifted her head to see the man being shot backwards, landing hard on the stone path. Catie tried to get up, only to fall back down, clutching her head.
More footsteps were heard as someone sat next to Catie, taking her head in his arms. "Don't worry," he murmured in Catie's ear. "I won't let anything harm you." Catie tried to open her eyes to see her savior, but her world spun all around her. She gave up, succumbing to her throbbing.
The last thing Catie could decipher before falling into a deep, pain-filled sleep was a shout of, "Expulso!" from above her. She heard the other man grunt once more; then everything went silent.

Is it obvious? I can't win.
So sacrifice yourself and let me have what's left.



You take the breath right out of me
You left a hole where my heart should be.