Title: Orange
Main Characters: Katie, Leanne, Fred, George
Pairings: None
Quote: "Friends are the family we choose for ourselves." –Edna Buchanan
Notes: So, I know the Mama Weasley thing is a bit…strange, but I'm planning on explaining it in another one-shot, so bear with me. Also, the whole Katie as the "second Weasley daughter" will be better explained in that oneshot. So…stay tuned! LOL.
Orange
Katie sat straight up, suddenly very aware of her surroundings. The air was chilly, the morning was bright, and the faint scent of cinnamon and pine needles hung in the air.
It was Christmas morning.
"LEANNE! ELEANOR! OLIVIA! WAKE UP!" She shouted, throwing the covers from her body. The other three girls just groaned in response, chucking pillows in Katie's direction.
"Shut it, Bell, or I'll shut it for you!" Eleanor growled, pulling the covers over her head.
"Katie, can't we sleep a little longer?" Olivia asked a bit more politely, snuggling into her pillow. Katie sighed, flopping onto her stomach.
"Fine, but I'm opening my presents now," Katie said, pulling a gift from the end of her bed. Leanne sighed, secretly happy that Katie woke her up, and moved to open her own gifts.
"Well, if you insist…" the dark-haired girl said quietly, tearing the paper off of a new photography book her parents had sent her.
"Happy Christmas, Leanne," Katie said as she opened up her own present from her parents. It was always the worst, the most impersonal of all the gifts she received, so she liked to get it out of the way.
"Oh, look, Lee. Another giftcard to some muggle store I'll never shop at." Katie tossed the plastic card to the floor, smirking bitterly.
"Ooh, I'll take it! Maybe I can get extra-credit in muggle studies," Leanne swiped the card from the cobblestones, grinning.
Katie laughed, pulling another present to her lap. Ripping off the shiny paper, she found a bag of suspicious-looking sweets from the twins. She tossed them to the side, making a mental note to slip them onto Marcus Flint's plate.
All in all, Katie decided she had made a good haul this year; A pair of dangly, color-changing star earrings from Alicia (who knew Katie would only wear jewelry if it was entertaining), a book of Quidditch tactics from Oliver (with moving pictures for the five-year-old in Katie), a Puddlemere United scarf from Angelina, a handwritten and illustrated guide on how to survive the Weasley twins from Lee, a photo album of the past year and a half from Leanne ("With many more to come!" She had exclaimed), and a bag of chocolate frogs from Cormac.
She leaned back against her pillows, sighing happily. It was her first Christmas at Hogwarts, and by far her best so far.
"You missed one," Leanne said as she tried on a necklace given to her by her older sister. Katie looked and saw one last package at the end of her bed, half-hidden underneath the piles of wrapping paper. It was modest looking, wrapped neatly in brown paper and tied with a festive green ribbon. Untying it carefully, Katie pulled open the paper and found herself face-to-face with a large mass of orange.
"What is it?" Leanne asked, pulling herself away from the mirror where she had been admiring her new jewelry.
"It's…it's…" Katie pulled out the wooly fabric, studying it closely. "It's a sweater."
"Who from?" The other girl asked, clearing the wrappings from her bed. Katie picked up the note that had fallen from the paper.
Dear Katie,
I hope this finds you by Christmas. Erroll is not the most trustworthy owl, and I completed this sweater later than the others. I do hope you forgive the tardiness if be there any, and I hope your Christmas is splendid and free of antics from the twins.
Make sure all the boys wear their sweaters today (including Harry, the dear), because I know they'll just jump out into the snow without cloaks or hats or scarves and then all get sick. As my only "daughter" at Hogwarts, I'm trusting you to watch over those boys while I can't. That is, when the twins aren't pulling you into one of their pranks.
Take care, dear, and have a good holiday.
With love,
Mama Weasley
Katie gaped at the orange sweater, tracing her finger over the bright pink "K" knitted on the front. It was so…perfect. Her throat closed with emotion, and her eyes pricked slightly with unshedable tears.
"Well, who's it from?" Leanne asked, cocking her head.
"Mrs. Weasley," Katie said, voice quiet. Leanne jumped across the room, grabbing the note from Katie's bed as the other girl stared at her new sweater.
After scanning the note, Leanne smiled. "Aww, you're her 'only 'daughter' at Hogwarts'? That's so sweet!"
Katie nodded, smiling. "It really is." Then, without another word to Leanne, Katie rushed out the door, down the stairs, up the stairs to the boys' dormitories, and into the twins' room.
Fred and George were lounging on their beds, laughing. When she burst in, they looked up, still laughing.
"Is this our Christmas present? A messy-haired, pajama clad Katie Bell? 'Cause, if it is, I'd like to trade it in," Fred said, smirking. His smirk faltered when she didn't try to hit him or laugh at his stupid joke.
"Katie?" George asked, eyebrow raised. "Everything alright?"
She nodded, smiling. "Your mum knitted me a sweater. An infamous Weasley sweater." She held out the orange masterpiece to them, grin wide.
"Did she really?" George asked, examining it closely.
Katie nodded, grin threatening to split her face. "In her note she referred to me as her 'daughter', too."
Fred clapped her shoulder, smiling. "Well, our family really did love you over the summer. They think you're a good influence on us or something."
George laughed. "Fancy the idea of that."
But Katie just smiled, hugging the sweater to her. Fred cast a glance at his brother, then back at the girl.
"It's just a sweater, Katie-kat," he said. "She makes them for all of the family members."
Katie smiled, throat constricting again. "Exactly, Fred. For the family members. She considers me family. And, well, this is sort of a first for me."
Sure, Katie's parents didn't hate her. They just didn't really like her. Escaping to Hogwarts had been a blessing to Katie, and the fact that she could stay at the castle for Christmas had been her greatest discovery.
Robert and Eileen Bell were not cruel, vicious people. But they weren't kind and doddling like Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, either. Katie had grown up in a cold household, with little affection and abundant criticism. From an early age Katie had known she was different, and nothing she did would make her parents proud of her. She could never live up to her brother, Christian, so she stopped trying. Instead, she became a wild child, making her parents dislike her even more.
"Oh, right." Fred said, eyes on the ground. He had met her parents on the platform at the end of the past year, and hadn't really liked them too much.
"Well, try it on!" George urged, trying to break the awkward silence. Katie smiled again, pulling the sweater over her head.
Suddenly, the chilly air of the castle was replaced by a warm fuzziness. The sweater enveloped her torso, wrapping her in a bundle of comfort and orange.
"Perfect! Look at that, Gred! A true Weasley!" George shouted, throwing his hands in the air.
"Marvelous! Absolutely stunning, really. And the beautiful hue of the sweater makes up for her boring hair color." Fred exclaimed, smiling. "She really is the third Weasley twin."
Katie smiled, pulling both the twins into a hug. "I love you guys. And your mum."
Fred squeezed her shoulder, laughing. "Don't you mean our mum?"
Katie grinned so wide that the boys thought her jaw was going to break. "Yeah. Our mum."
George broke the hug, hands on his hips. "Come on, now, let's go force everyone else into their sweaters!"
Katie nodded vigorously, pulling her sweater closer around her body. "And we can get Leanne to take a matchy picture!"
The twins just stared at her, uncomprehending her words. "You know," she said slowly, as if talking to small children. "A picture where we all match."
"Ah." The twins nodded, then ran out the door, pulling their identical blue sweaters over their heads. In the common room they found Ron and Harry, both in their sweaters already, and Percy, who held his in his hands.
As they marched down to breakfast, showing off their new apparel, Katie couldn't help but catch Harry's eyes every now and again. He walked along quietly next to Ron, his closest(and from what Fred had told her, first) friend, smiling as he tugged at his new green sweater.
Katie knew he came from a worse household than she did, and had never even known his parents at all. And she knew he had pieced together her home life through overheard conversations and tales from the twins. They were the unwanted children, the forgotten freaks, the hidden offspring of the magical world. They only knew order and survival, no affection, no attention.
But now, as they were pushed and bumped along, laughed at and laughed with, they realized that they weren't alone. A kind, motherly woman, with seven children of her own, had opened up her heart and home to them, giving them something they had never had before: the love of a family.
Review please! =)