Author's Note:

This fic is very different from the other fics I've posted so far. In my other work, I've deliberately avoided writing sexual situations beyond a glossy cover. Compared to them, this fic might as well be an orchard of lemon trees.

There is a story here, and I think, a good one; but the Harry of this fic, and his friends, are decidedly more liberal about nudity and sex than my other takes on the characters. (Well, most of them are, anyway.) That's not to say the descriptions of sex are over the top, I've tried to keep them as clean as possible, but it's sex, and I'm trying to tell a story; some description is needed to convey action. This fic is rated M for a reason. If that's not your cup of tea, I recommend you look elsewhere. (It's also lousy with bad language and sprinkled with violence, though less of that.)

This fic was primarily written for a few reasons (and the sex wasn't one of them). First, there's a gaping void where a pile of good Harry/Katie fics should be. Aside from Hermione and later Ginny, the girls on the quidditch team are the ones he spends the most non-class time with at school, even if all their practices don't get screen time in the books. He's shown as being pretty good friends with the rest of the team. Why does Katie get short shrift? Angelina and Alicia have the twins, leaving Katie unattached. There's plenty of Oliver/Katie stories (which, if you think about the age gap there – a roughly three-year difference when you're a teen is kinda creepy), but only a handful of Harry/Katie ones.

Second, this fic tries to apply logic to solving Harry's problems starting in fifth year. I don't buy that everyone's on board with what the Prophet says. They've lied about stuff before, and not just about Harry. Most people in the real world are capable of seeing through bullshit media, and most magicals aren't pureblood. Plus, in my experience, most teens don't consume news regularly. Harry shouldn't've been so isolated. Why didn't someone besides Ron and Hermione notice what was going on with Harry and Umbridge? She was clearly out to get him and treated him worse than anyone else. Why were all the other students in all the other houses so passive until Harry started the DA? Where were the other 279 students' parents and guardians? At some point over the course of the whole year, some students had to have written home to mum and dad and said, "Hey, prob'ly not gonna pass my Defence OWL/NEWT cause this bitch ain't teachin'." Are we to believe the parents did nothing?

Third, as some of you may have noticed if you read my other fic "Avalon in Arms" I'm a big fan of the author Radaslab. While "Avalon in Arms" riffed off ideas from "Not Normal", this one takes some inspiration from "The Harem War" (though not the Harem part). I love Radaslab's work, but I hate that most of it's unfinished. It's so frustrating to invest in something more than 500,000 words long, only to be left hanging. While this fic isn't the whole story, it does at least finish a full school year and have a clear ending.

A sequel is on the way, but may take some time. I've already got years six and seven roughed out, but some flesh needs to be put on those bones.

One final word… I realize that in the films they portray Leanne as a Hufflepuff in Harry's year. The books don't make note of her house or year, though from context it sounds like she's a Gryffindor in Katie's year, so that's where I put her. Their friendship makes more sense if they're dormmates.

Whew. Thanks for sticking it out through this massive author's note. That said, on with the show…