It tugged at Alicia’s heart to see Katie like, even more so to hear her so quiet, so very much like a scared firstyear on her first ride to Hogwarts. The only difference was, that Katie had not been this quiet when she had first stepped into the compartment where Alicia had been sitting with Angelina, Lee and the twins.
“Oh, sweetheart,” she sighed when Katie came clean, and briefly Alicia’s eyes dropped to where Katie was wringing her hands. Without thinking she reached up and put her own on top of them, hoping to somehow settle them a little, before she looked up at Katie again. “I don’t know if they are. They could be, I’m not going to lie to you about that, but you, Kates...” she swallowed down to give herself a moment to find the right words. “I think you may have the strongest card on your hand. Your mum. I mean, she’s one hardcore Healer, and I guarantee you, that she knows every word an undotted i in that chart down there. She hasn’t just read the numbers and the easy parts like I did, and she knows exactly how much of which Potion they give you and when.”
Not giving Katie a chance to object, she gave her hand a small squeeze before she continued. “I know, I know,” she assured her, “she treats you like a child, right?” Alicia nodded, and glanced at the Christmas decorations. As much as she admired Katie’s mum, she also was a little miffed at how she was treating Katie at times. “But try asking her about the Potions they’re giving you, about the Spells and Charms they’re doing. Show her that you’re not a little girl, and that you want a say in this. Then if or when there’s emotion altering Potions in play, you can let her know that you only want what’s absolutely necessary, and perhaps even tell her why.” She sent Katie a small smile. “What I can tell you right now about those Potions is that they can take the edge off, let you get some proper sleep and rest enough so you can get back on your feet and start dealing with those emotions on your own.”