#alilea

                Katie didn't seem to have many friends her age. When she wasn't with the whole Gryffindor Quidditch team, she was either with the team boys or the team girls. Angelina and Alicia had taken Katie under their wing, and it was an easy enough thing; Katie fell right into place with them. Katie didn't really need many friends her age as long as she had them. But Leanne was an exception.

                Alicia had always wondered about Katie.

                Katie was fine being on her own when the others weren't around. It was almost as if she didn't have to have company. Yet she brightened up whenever her Hufflepuff bestie put in an appearance. Katie was weird for being so normally weird.

                Alicia had always wondered about Leanne.

                Leanne was in Hufflepuff, a year below Katie, and wasn't remotely interested in Quidditch. So how the heck did she manage a friendship with Katie? It puzzled Alicia, this loyalty from this girl who owed Katie nothing. But… She came by often enough that she might as well have been in Gryffindor. In the library, in the Gryffindor common room, in Katie's dorm—Leanne was everywhere.

                Alicia had always wondered about Katie and Leanne.

                They were so chummy—much more than Alicia thought she herself was with Angelina—and Leanne… Leanne wasn't just loyal to Katie. She was a best mate and a sister and everything else. Whenever her eyes fell on Katie, they were round and puppy-like. They showed a willing lifetime devotion, if Katie would have it. They also showed a longing, which Katie was doubtless ready to ignore if she ever realized it.

                Katie wasn't the solution to all of Leanne's problems.

                Even when Katie wasn't there, Leanne would still end up hanging out in Gryffindor Tower. Sometimes Angelina let her in, other times Alicia did, but they all knew they could trust her. Even when Katie and Leanne had an argument and Katie stormed out of her room, Leanne stayed. It was just that Katie wasn't going to stay for Leanne.

                Leanne wasn't even a question in Katie's mind.

                There'd most certainly been nothing romantic that Katie felt for her friend. First there was Oliver, and then there was George, and then Katie just decided to wait. But she was never going to choose witches over wizards, sober or drunk.

                Alicia had always wondered about Leanne.

                It was why Alicia had comforted the badger. "Don't worry about it." And "Katie always forgives you." Even "Do you really like girls?" And Leanne had looked at her and nodded and then hugged her knees to her, not ready to talk about what had happened yet.

                Alicia…had always wondered about herself.

                Maybe there was more to hanging out all the time with Angelina and Katie. Maybe there was more to kind of enjoying the time she spent with her gal pals in the locker room and showers. Maybe there was more to eyeing the curvature of the paths she carved in the wind with her broom when she flew, thinking that the curves resembled…inviting contours (because Alicia was only ever blunt about Quidditch, nothing else).

                And perhaps…just perhaps…there was more to detailing Katie and Leanne's interactions. There had to be more to wondering what ran through their minds. There had to be more to watching the expressions on Leanne's tanned face as she herself watched Katie's every move. So maybe all Alicia had to do was lay a trap of sorts for Leanne and see how it all worked out. You know—Katie wouldn't test those waters…then again, Alicia wasn't Katie. And Leanne needed more than friendly love.

                Or so Alicia wondered.

Kinda devious, kinda devious…but nice. To tell you the truth, out of Ali, Ange, and Kat, I always thought Ali might be barking up this kind of tree… Prolly 'cuz Fred/Ange and Katie/George go around so much. :P

Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave an anon/unsigned review via the FFN link or comment via the AO3 link at the top of the post, especially if you enjoyed this!

~mew