For the Shotput Event of the Hogwarts Games- 500 words
Also for the OTP Boot Camp with the prompt: patience
Katie grins as she reads the latest letter from Charlie for what seems like the thousandth time. They always end in 'I love you' and the logical part of her thinks it shouldn't be such a big deal, but it is.
She can still hardly believe she's even contemplating the word love. It's such a foreign concept- one she thought would never happen to her. Because it did happen to her; it was definitely not planned. And if you had told her a year ago that she'd be dating a Weasley, she would have eaten her broomstick. But love's a funny thing; a twisted, cruel thing, and she never knew it could hurt like this.
She's always known that it's not easy. She's never believed in the fairytale version of love. That is just a lie, a sugarcoated myth that women tell their children to get their hopes up. But even if things never end happily ever after, the prince and his princess always end up together, and that's the most important part. That much she's always believed.
And now she's waiting and Charlie's not here and she knows she shouldn't feel sorry for herself because they say love is patient. But it's so much harder than she thought, and she thinks Romania might as well be on the other side of the world. Then again, they (whoever they are) also say love knows no distance and that they can make it work. And she's sure they can make it work.
Yet, days become weeks, and weeks become months, and letters just won't do anymore. She can read them over and over until the creases are worn from being folded and unfolded so many times. But she can't remember the sound of his voice and it hurts. And it occurs to her, that love may be patient and all that rubbish, but Katie certainly is not.
So she finds herself on his doorstep, praying that this isn't a mistake, hoping that she hasn't been only fooling herself. And she wonders why people go around begging other people to love them if it makes them feel the way she feels right now. She's all sweaty palms and shaky legs and a pounding heart that won't slow down. And then she remembers that right now, she's one of those people. She's come all the way to Romania, for Merlin's sake. And she begins to regret it just as the door opens and Charlie's looking down at her in astonishment.
She panics.
"I'm sorry," she says and turns to make her escape. "This was so stupid."
He grabs hold of her arm and pulls her to him. "Where do you think you're going?"
Then she's wrapped in his arms, and his mouth is on hers, and all those months of waiting are so worth it. And she knows for sure now that love may be a lot of things.
But for her, it's Charlie Weasley, and he's worth waiting for.