AAAAND I'M BACK! Did you miss me? I certainly missed all of you. Here's that sequel I've been promising you guys. Sorry for the long wait, but I've been super busy, and it's still October, so I technically still made good on my promise! Oh and if you haven't read the Chamber of Secrets prequel to this (which I suggest you do), I'd just like to inform you that I put Katie in the same year as the twins and Angelina and Alicia, but other than that, it's alllll canon, baby! I'm dumb. But I'm excited. ENJOY.

GRAVITY - PRISONER OF AZKABAN

CHAPTER 1 - APPREHENSION

I hadn't seen Oliver in weeks.

Of course, I'd seen him almost every other day in June, even though we lived so far away from one another. More often than not, he and his family would come down and spend the weekend in Darlington. Our parents got along flawlessly, Olivia had even developed the biggest crush on Brandon, and without the Chamber of Secrets, things with Oliver and I had been better than ever.

The excuses started coming the last week of Juiy.

"I can't, Katie, I've got to practice." "Katie, you know better than anyone that I need to plan ahead." "Katie, if I slack off now, imagine what that'll do to the team!" "It's my last year, Katie. You know what this means to me."

Ever since he had joined the team, all Oliver dreamed of was winning the Quidditch Cup and with this year being his final year at Hogwarts, it was his last chance. I couldn't argue with him.

I missed him terribly, but that made me all the more excited to get back to Hogwarts. With nothing to worry about except winning the Quidditch Cup, this year was going to be the greatest. Absolutely nothing was going to ruin it. Or at least that was what I kept telling myself.

"Oliver, meet me on the platform. I'll be there by ten-thirty at the latest. I miss you." I had trained myself to stop expecting him to answer when I called, but it was the last day of summer holiday. No matter how much he ignored my calls or how much time he spent practicing all summer, I would see Oliver tomorrow. And there was not a damn thing he could do about it.

As usual, my trunk was all packed and ready to go about a month in advance. About a week before, I had moved everything down by the front door, ready to pack up the car the moment August ended. I woke before the sun on the morning of the first of September. I knew I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep, despite having only gotten an hour of rest - I was just too excited - so I meandered downstairs to the still dark kitchen and made a pot of tea. Five cups later, the sun had almost broken the horizon, and my eyes had just begun to droop from my sleepless night when someone cleared their throat behind me.

"Isn't it a little early?" I jumped and splattered the rest of the tea on my dressing gown. My mother smiled and looked at me knowingly. I groaned.

"You'd think you'd know your own daughter. I always get up this early this time of year," I said matter-of-factly as I trudged to the sink to clean my dressing gown and the dishes I'd made.

"I know," my mum said to my back. "I'm just mocking you." I could hear the smile in her voice.

"Well, stop it," I countered, and I knew she could hear the smile in mine. "I can't help that I'm excited."

There was a moment's silence. "To get back to Hogwarts or Oliver?" Her voice was serious.

The water from the tap dinged on the teakettle louder than it should have.

"Hogwarts," I said after only the slightest pause.

"But you're just as excited to see Oliver, aren't you?" My mum was the definition of tenacious.

"Well, of course I'm excited to see him. Why wouldn't I be? He is my boyfriend after all. And I miss him." I went back to washing the dishes. It didn't make sense - what did it matter to my mum if I was excited to see Oliver or not?

"Katie, I'm worried about you. I know you're more excited about seeing him than you let on and I'm just worried that-"

I switched off the water and turned to face her. "Worried about what? That he doesn't love me anymore or something?" My voice was more acerbic than I'd meant it to be.

"No, but... he hasn't been paying much attention to you, and frankly... Well, I'm just worried that things won't change much at Hogwarts."

My temper surged through me like boiling water and before I was able to stop myself, I was mouthing off to my mother. "You think he doesn't care about me? You're wrong! He's just busy being the best god damn Quidditch captain Hogwarts has ever seen. You'll see! We're going to win the Cup this year and everything is going to be perfect and then-"

"Honey," my mum muttered, unfazed by my tirade. "Then Oliver is going to graduate."

Those were the words I'd been dreading all year. Silence pressed down on us once again and I turned back towards the sink and switched the faucet back on.

"I know," I said quietly as I began rewashing my already clean teacup.

"Okay," she said simply. "I just don't want you to get your hopes up. He is older than you."

"I know," I repeated.

"I'm going to go wake your father up," she said, then she turned and headed up the stairs without another word.

I didn't know what was harder to accept. My mum was right: Oliver was leaving Hogwarts this year, and he was older which meant there was the possibility that he would choose to leave me behind. He would be a Quidditch star and I would be just another girl at Hogwarts.

But the fact I could just not wrap my head around was the one that was the most imminent: What if, even when we were finally together again, nothing changed?

I gulped resolutely. No. Things were going to be fine. I would be seeing Oliver in a couple of hours and it would be like nothing had changed. He loved me and there was no way around it.

The moment the clock chimed ten, we arrived at Kings Cross. My mum and I both acted like this morning's exchange hadn't happened. My dad had only just wrapped his arms around my trunk to heave it out of the car when I took off into the station. It was packed. Although the Muggles paid them no attention (for the most part - it was hard not to notice the owls), I recognized dozens of Hogwarts students already making their way to platform nine and three-quarters. It took everything in me to not run through the barrier the minute it came into view. As patiently as I could, I squatted down by the wall and waited for my family.

"Jeez, Katie, with this much stuff, you'd think you were going away for a whole year!" my dad mocked as he stumbled his way through the crowd, my trunk in tow.

I rolled my eyes. "Sorry. I didn't mean to run off - it was just the excitement, you know."

"Yeah, yeah. We all know by now. Just come help me set this down before I break my back." I grabbed one side and he eased his hands to support the other.

"There you are!" my mum's voice carried as she advanced through the throng of people, a rather frantic look on her face. It wasn't until she broke through the crowd that I saw she had my little brother Brandon by the arm.

"You trying to run off again, B?" I asked as I ruffled Brandon's hair. He tried to dodge me, but I had too good of reflexes for it to work.

"Yes, he was," my mum chimed in. "Brandon seems to think that sleep is more important than seeing his sister off to school."

Brandon folded his arms and jutted out his lower lip. "It is. So I won't see her for a few months? Big deal."

"I get it," I said, speaking to my mother. "Besides, just think that in a few years he'll be off to Hogwarts too. Sleep won't seem so important then." I bent down to Brandon's level and looked him squarely in the eyes. "And at any rate, you will miss me, you big liar." I placed him hands on either side of his face and made to kiss his cheek. Though he was pushing against me with all his strength, he couldn't stop my lips from planting a big, wet, nasty kiss on his cheek. He surrendered with a loud chorus of "Gross!" but was smiling when I pulled away. My dad was standing with his arms held out wide to the sides.

"Come here, Kates. Give your old man a hug." Brandon ran out of the way and I moved over to my dad who wrapped his arms around me so tightly I heard some bones crack. Thank Merlin Oliver wasn't around to hear it. As he let go, my dad said, "We'll miss you."

That left my mum, standing quietly next to my dad with tears glistening on her eyelashes. She sniffled pathetically as she surveyed me.

"Oh, mum," I sighed as I took her in arms. I heard a small sob escape from her so I rubbed her back comfortingly. "It's only for a few months. I'll be back at Christmas! And this is the fifth time we've done this! You'd think you'd be used to it by now."

"I know," she whimpered, trying to sound strong but failing miserably. "But you don't get used to it. You'll see." I leaned back to look at her. "When you're in my position, sobbing like a fool because you're sending your child away for a whole year, I'll be there to say 'I told you so.'"

I shook my head at her. "I'm only fifteen, mum. I've got a while to go until I reach that point." Somewhere a clock chimed to designate that it was ten forty-five. "But I don't have a while to wait now. I have to go. I promised everyone I'd be on the platform at ten-thiry." She nodded. "I love you."

She pulled me in once more and stroked my hair. "Love you, too."

"Love you, Kates," my dad said as I heaved my trunk into my arms. My brother feigned a sudden interest in the nearby light post, and it wasn't until my dad nudged him hard in the ribs that he said, "Love you, Katie."

"I love you, too. See you in December!" With one final smile, I turned around and ran headlong through the barrier.

And there it was - the Hogwarts Express, it's scarlet paint gleaming in the late morning sun. That was all I had time to appreciate because at that exact moment, a pair of arms wrung themselves around my neck and I almost toppled over as I dropped my trunk.

"KATIE!" Alicia Spinnet crowed. "We've been waiting for you!" After a whole minute, she finally let go and when she did, I noticed Angelina Johnson standing behind her. She smirked at me.

"So much for always being early," Angelina said slyly. She wound her arms around me, though not quite as uncomfortably as Alicia. "You do know that it's nearly eleven, right?"

My watch reinforced her words. "Sorry about that. My family just keeps getting crazier and crazier each year. Speaking of people who get crazier and crazier each year, have either of you seen-?"

"Crazier and crazier?" a male voice interrupted. My heart skipped a beat and I turned around.

"You wouldn't happen to be talking about us would you?" Fred and George Weasley were standing behind me with identical crooked grins and quirked brows.

"George!" I cheered before I pounced on him.

"Careful around the face, love," the redhead advised as he patted my head. "This is my moneymaker."

"There's the sense of humor I've been missing all summer." I snuggled closer.

Fred cleared his throat. "I suppose I'm just a sideshow or something, then?"

"Oh, come here, Fred," I said as I pulled him in for a hug. "I've missed you just as much. Besides, what's one Weasley without the other?"

Alicia sighed. "A little less loud, but still unmanageable."

The twins gasped in unison. "Hurtful!"

"Come on, guys, we're gonna miss the train!" Angelina announced as she grabbed Fred's robes. George moved towards Alicia and put his arm around her and together they all started heading for the train.

"Where's Oliver?" I asked.

Angelina paused as the others continued on and faced me with a frown on her face. "Haven't seen him yet. And I've been here since about ten."

"I told him to be here at ten-thirty," I mumbled. "I haven't heard from him, let alone seen him, in weeks."

"Don't worry, Katie. He'll be here. You know he wouldn't dare miss a chance to drone on about Quidditch, not with all of us so conveniently together." I nodded glumly. "Come on, let's go get a compartment before they're all full. Oliver will find us later."

She had to drag me by my sleeve.

There wasn't much for me to say on the ride to school. Fred and George exuberantly told us about the trip their family had won to Egypt (and how they had tried to shut Percy in a pyramid). Alicia had travelled to the United States to visit some family and Angelina had gotten an internship with St. Mungo's. All I could say about my summer holiday was how Oliver had visited a few times and then how he had stopped returning my calls because he was so busy with Quidditch.

"Dear Merlin, already?" George voiced. "We've already had to deal with Percy being a Bighead Boy all summer and now we have to put up with Captain Wood, too?"

"Did you expect anything different?" Angelina asked.

George shook his head, his eyebrows raised. "No, but I was hoping for at least one night of freedom."

"Well, he's not here yet," Alicia offered.

"Maybe he won't show up at all!" Fred said hopefully.

I looked out the window. It was pouring down rain.

I can't remember what was said after that; I tuned out the conversation from that point. It wasn't until the train came to a sudden halt that I came out of my reverie.

"Yes, dinner is so much closer!" Fred said merrily as he stood up from his seat.

Angelina pulled him back down next to her. "We're not there yet." She looked at her watch. "We can't be..."

Fred didn't seem the least bit perturbed. "My hopes are too high for you to crush them right now, Angelina." He stood up again and poked his head out the compartment door, but only for a moment as suddenly, the lights shut off and the entire train became pitch black.

"What's going on?" Alicia whimpered. From what little light the window offered, I saw her scoot closer to George.

Fred pulled his head back in a minute later. "Dunno. And judging by all the heads sticking out in the hall, no one else seems to either." He slid the compartment door shut and stumbled through the dark back to Angelina.

All I could think of was Oliver. Where was he? Did he know what was going on any better than we did? Was he even on the train?

Goosebumps formed on my arms and travelled up the back of my neck, setting the little hairs there on end.

Maybe he missed the train. Maybe he wasn't even going to be there this year. Maybe I'd already seen him for the last time.

"Guys, there's something in the hall," Angelina whispered frantically.

Maybe this was Oliver's way of telling me he didn't want me anymore. I was too young, too ugly, too stupid, too much trouble. Not good enough in any way, shape, or form.

A large dark shape glided by the door, paused, and took one long rattling breath.

Oliver didn't want me. My mom was right. I was a waste of space. I was hopeless.

I heard someone gasp for air in a silent sob, her breath shaking like a flame in the wind.

There was no point in my existence.

"Alicia, calm down," George muttered. She was crying quietly into his shoulder. "It's gone."

I looked to the compartment door and although the lights were still out, I could tell the figure was definitely gone.

"Katie. Katie, are you all right?" Angelina was rubbing my shoulder. She sounded composed but her eyes said otherwise.

My voice wouldn't let me answer. "Y-yeah. I'm fine." I couldn't tell her what I had really just been thinking. It all seemed absurd now.

"I can't believe they let a dementor on the train!" Fred exclaimed, his voice flamed with anger.

Through all my years at Hogwarts, I'd never heard the word before. "W-what's a dementor?"

"You know Azkaban, right? The wizard prison?" Fred asked. I nodded. "Well, that thing was one of its guards." He said nothing further. Something told me I didn't want to know any more. The lights flickered back to life - it seemed painfully bright.

"Why would it come on the train?" Alicia asked, her eyes wide with fear.

Fred shook his head. "I don't know. All I can think of is Sirius Black, but why the bloody hell would he be on the Hogwarts Express?"

George cleared his throat. "Well, I don't know about you, but if I was in prison for twelve years, the first thing I'd obviously fancy would be a trip to Hogwarts."

Everyone laughed, a little shaky, a little half-hearted, but laughed nonetheless.

The door slammed open. I nearly fell off the seat. Fred did.

"D-d-dementor! Dementor!" blubbered an ashen-faced Draco Malfoy. His forehead was covered in a sheen sweat and he was positively trembling from head to toe.

"Yes, Malfungus, that's what they're called," Fred said as he climbed up from the floor. "Now go find your mummy." He shoved Malfoy back out into the hall and slammed the door in his face. "Brainless git."

The rest of the ride was considerably more enjoyable, but everyone still seemed a little off, though none of us mentioned the dementor again. Soon enough, the train eased into Hogsmeade station. The twins had pushed their way to the front of the anxious crowd waiting to be let off before the train even came to a complete stop. I stayed behind, my still high hopes promising me that Oliver was bound to run into me any moment. Angelina stayed with me, her arm securely around my shoulders. She knew why I was in no hurry, and I was ashamed of it.

The entire mass of students quickly emptied out onto the platform into the sheeting rain. Oliver was still nowhere to be found.

Fred, George, and Alicia reunited with us at the carriages and immediately began cracking jokes about Malfoy again. The rain continued to fall, maybe even harder, and once again, I started losing hope that I would see Oliver tonight. Or at all.

Too slowly for my taste, the horseless carriages creeped towards Hogwarts, its outline blurred by the raging rain. It didn't seem as magnificent as usual.

As we passed by the gates with the winged boars, I noticed two tall dementors standing guard on either side. Alicia shivered next to me. George held her tighter. I would never get that feeling from Oliver again.

I climbed out of the carriage and drifted to the Great Hall in a daze. Nothing seemed to matter much anymore; Hogwarts was just school now. The twins, Alicia, Angelina, and I took our usual seats at the Gryffindor table. Gold plates and goblets gleamed invitingly at us, but I wasn't hungry. Steadily, the empty seats were filled - all except the one next to me. I'd all but given up hope when Alicia shoved my shoulder.

"Katie, it's Oliver!"

I snapped my head up, looked at the entrance, and there he was. Oliver's hair was drenched and his robes were dripping a terrible mess on the floor (Filch was glaring daggers at him). He looked around for a moment then his eyes zeroed in on mine and a smile lit up his face. It seemed out of place with the rest of his appearance. So fast he might've been on a broom, he raced towards me, the crazy smile still plastered on his mouth.

"Katie," he sighed with relief, his breaths only slightly labored. He held his arms wide.

I got up and stood next to him. Then I slapped him in the face.

And there you have it! Chapter one is all done! Rate and review and I'll write chapter two :)

(See what I did there? Did you enjoy my little poem? Jk, I've got some mad poetry skills if I do say so myself, and that is not an example of it.)