A/N-Oh hello there, didn't see you there! You might be wondering, "What the bloody hell is this? And why isn't IR working on 'Gryffindor's Inheritance?'" Well, funny you should ask that but not to worry, but I am still working on that however this idea came to me so suddenly and I loved it so much that I just had to start on it and share with you guys!

You also might be thinking, "Why the bloody hell does it say Harry Potter/Katie Bell?!" WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!" Well, funny you should ask but I've always liked the ships that most people don't expect, and Harry/Katie just happens to be my favourite unconventional ship. Also we know so little of Katie Bell that I thought it would be a refreshing take on the Harry Potter story, plus there's so little Harry/Katie stories out there that don't involve loveless sex and other strange things, and I thought it high time to rectify that problem! So grow a pair and deal with it and if ya don't like it sod off! Anyways enjoy the story!

Chapter 1- Harry's Big, Hairy Saviour

Death. That's what Harry thought was the only way to escape the excruciating pain of Voldemort's Cruciatus Curse. And why not? Cedric already lay dead a few yards away from him. His parents were dead as well, so why not? He knew why not though. He had his friends waiting for him back at Hogwarts. Ron, Hermione, the rest of the Weasleys, Dumbledore, the list could go on. So Harry bared as best he could against Voldemort's curse.

Voldemort finally lifted the curse from Harry and chuckled darkly. Harry's nerves were on fire and his muscles spasmed uncontrollably, causing his limbs to twitch. Harry struggled to get up, his limbs barely capable of obeying his commands. Luckily Harry still clutched his wand, though he had been holding it so tight that the knuckles on his right hand had split, and blood was oozing from the wounds. Harry ignored the pain and stood up slowly, noticing he was completely surrounded by Voldemort's returned Death Eaters.

"Now Harry, I believe you have been taught a little of the art of dueling," mocked Voldemort, his high-pitched voice sending searing pain through Harry's scar. Harry blinked away the tears and stood defiantly across the graveyard clearing at his most hated enemy. "Now, if you remember the first step, then you know to bow to your opponent," said Voldemort, bowing to Harry in an overly-dramatic fashion. Harry, however stood straight, glaring at Voldemort.

"Tsk, tsk Harry. Surely Voldemort taught you some manners? I said bow," Voldemort shot an Imperius Curse at Harry, which struck him in the chest. Immediately, Harry was overcome with a feeling of complete bliss, his pain washed away, leaving Harry with a sense of numbness.

"Bow," said a voice in Harry's head. Harry was ready to comply with the voice's command but stopped short. Why did he have to bow?

"Bow," said the voice again, this time with a little more force.

Wasn't Harry supposed to be doing something? Harry felt the first pieces of self-consciousness float back into his mind and he began to resist the Imperius Curse.

"Bow," said the voice once more.

No... Once again, Harry's willpower began to gather in more strength and he tried to force the curse off himself.

"BOW!" screamed the voice.

"NO!" bellowed Harry, finally throwing the curse off himself. Voldemort looked shocked and, if Harry's guess was correct, so were the other Death Eaters whose faces were still hidden behind their terrifying masks. Voldemort was the first to recover and a wicked smile split across his monstrous features.

"Well done Harry, well done!" He exclaimed. "Nobody has ever thrown off my Imperius Curse before!" Harry's only response was a glare. "Now, where were we?" continued Voldemort. "Ah, yes. Now, we duel." Voldemort raised his wand and pointed it at Harry, while Harry did the same to Voldemort.

"Expelliarmus!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

The two spells leapt from the wands and slammed together, creating a magical beam of light. From Harry's end, the beam glowed a bright red, while Voldemort's glowed the sickly green light of the Killing Curse. Where the two spells met, a golden orb of light pulsed and would slowly travel up and down the length of the beam whenever one of the two combatants lost their concentration or forced more power into their spells.

Harry struggled to hold himself against the sheer power of Voldemort. He was simply too strong, but Harry persisted despite the aching in his wand arm. His arm was beginning to shake uncontrollably from the force of the spells, so he grabbed hold of his wand with his left hand. The shaking lessened considerably, much to Harry's relief, but soon the shaking began to pick up the pace again.

Harry noticed, however, that when he held onto his wand with two hands that the golden orb in the middle began to stray further and further down Voldemort's line. Voldemort too noticed the changing tide of the battle and shrieked angrily as he tried to force more power into his curse.

A resounding BOOM shook the ground all of a sudden and blew Harry off his feet and into the air. He smashed into a tombstone behind him, knocking the air out of his lungs as he impacted. He heard a loud crack when he landed and fervently hoped it was just the stone, but when he landed on the ground he knew that a few of his ribs were broken.

Dazed and sore, Harry didn't see his enemies approach until it was too late. Suddenly he was lifted into the air again and slammed into the same tombstone that his fall (and his ribs) earlier. Unable to move, Harry looked up with terrified eyes and stared straight into the gleaming red snake eyes of Voldemort.

"A valiant effort Harry, but I'm afraid it wasn't enough to save you," said Voldemort with a tone that almost sounded like respect. He raised his wand and murmured "Farewell, Harry Potter," while Harry closed his eyes and said a silent prayer to his parents.

The expected curse never came however, when Voldemort was interrupted by the mighty roar of some huge beast. The Death Eaters all drew their wands at the sound, their heads darting back and forth as the searched for the source of the noise. Even Voldemort's eyes glanced to and fro, while Harry looked on in confusion.

Suddenly one of the Death Eaters furthest from Harry and Voldemort shrieked in horror when a massive humanoid beast jumped on top of him and started tearing into his shoulder with its enormous teeth. at least, Harry assumed it had massive teeth as the beast was wearing a long cloak and hood, although Harry could see a long tufted tail sticking out as it swished side to side. All the other Death Eaters stood stunned as they watched the beast tear apart their companion until Voldemort screamed for them to kill it.

The beast threw the remains of the Death Eater at Voldemort, who was forced to deflect the body with his wand, which cancelled the spell pinning Harry to the tombstone. He dropped to the ground in a heap, but was still able to watch the beast tear into the other Death Eaters with frightening ferocity.

The beast paused for a moment and looked at the stunned Harry. He noticed that the beast had glowing ice blue eyes that made Harry feel like it was boring into his very soul.

"What are you waiting for?" boomed the beast, whose voice and a deep and very distinctive growl to it. "MOVE IT HARRY!" It shouted before resuming its fight with the Death Eaters and Voldemort. Knocked out his trance, Harry stood up and sprinted away from the battle. Behind him he heard Voldemort shrieking for his followers to recapture Harry.

Harry ran faster than he had ever before in his life. Faster than the time he was pursued by the Basilisk in his Chamber of Secrets, faster than when he and Hermione were chased by their former Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor Remus Lupin, who happened to be a werewolf. All those other moments seemed like child's play compared to what was happening at that very moment. Harry corrected his path towards the body of Cedric Diggory, while at the same time shouting "Accio cup!"

However, he was waylaid when he felt something very large, very heavy and very hairy slam into him from behind. Grunting as the wind was taken out of him for the umpteenth time that night, Harry froze when he came face to face with the beast.

Under its hood was the head of a lion, though its top canines were overlong and were easily visible despite its mouth being closed. Harry could see the muscles bulging underneath its cloak and hood, and it tail swished the air angrily. Its eyes however captivated Harry. There was hardly any sign of the mind of a simple animal, instead a keen intellect and cunning shone through it's piercing blue eyes, which glared at Harry briefly before softening. Harry noticed its cloak was soaked in blood, whether it was the lion man's own or the Death Eaters, Harry wasn't sure. Probably a combination of both.

"Sorry for doing this," it growled. Before Harry could ask why, the lion man sunk its teeth into Harry's shoulder. Harry screamed in agony as teeth sliced through skin and muscle like nothing. Harry's eyes were blinded by whiteness as he felt something excruciating enter his bloodstream and slowly start traveling through his body. Then, as soon as it started, the lion man released Harry and again urged him to escape for it lifted itself from Harry's body and charged back into the battle.

Pain coursing through his body, Harry slowly lifted himself from the ground and stumbled back to Cedric's body. He once again summoned the Tri-Wizard cup back to him, clutching Cedric's shirt and Harry, along with Cedric's body, vanished from the graveyard of Little Hangleton.

A/N- An interesting start maybe? Well anyways hope you enjoyed this first chapter and please leave a review as your input will be gratefully accepted and taken into consideration!