Title: Growing Up
Characters: Katie/Neville
Prompt: 02. Middles at
100_women :
my table hereFor:
hp pairingsRating: G
Genre: Introspection/Character Study
Word Count: 354
Summary: Katie contemplates what it means to grow up, and finds someone else who is doing the same.
Notes: Short....
Disclaimer: Characters do not belong to me and I make no money off of them, etc.
Growing up is hard to do. Katie remembered very well her first days at Hogwarts - being sorted into Gryffindor, trying to make friends, laboring through classes; it had all been overwhelming at times. She had often struggled - wondering where she fit in. When Katie had been accepted on the Quidditch team, she had found her niche. Angelina and Alicia had become her sisters, Fred and George were her crazy brothers, Harry was a cute, little brother, and Oliver was her obsessive, but always kind older brother.
In finding a family at Hogwarts, Katie felt herself maturing. She had to learn quickly to be responsible, to take care of herself, to watch out for others, and to endure hours of grueling work. In playing the game itself, she had learned patience, strategy, and that even with a referee, life wasn’t always fair. At the end of her second year, her heart was both light and heavy. Light because she felt that she had done well; but heavy with the knowledge that she had gained. In many ways, Katie was a long way off from becoming an adult, perhaps in the middle of those two segments of her life.
Katie listened with the others as the Headmaster spoke with Harry Potter and those other first years. Her chest felt tight as she tried to calculate the final tallies of points. It wasn’t enough. A roar erupted from the Slytherin table, but Dumbledore wasn’t finished. Katie listened with amazement as the Headmaster brought up one more first year and explained his brave deed. Just a few more points, that was all that they needed.
As every Gryffindor cheered around her in the Great Hall, the banners changed from green and silver to red and gold overhead. Katie’s heart soared, but remained seated. Her eyes moved past the three hugging and laughing first years, and fixed instead on another young boy. Neville Longbottom stood quietly, staring in shock at Professor Dumbledore. Katie wondered if there was more hero inside the normally nervous, shy boy. Perhaps today he was growing up; between child and adulthood, somewhere in the middle.