Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, I wouldn't have killed off so many awesome characters.
Dedication: Written for HedwigBlack, courtesy of the Gift-Giving Extravaganza 2013. I hope you enjoy it! KatieAngelina friendship :)
Also written for the Headcanon Boot Camp Challenge, using prompt 21, 'mini Fred and George'. Since it's not explicitly mentioned in the fic, I'd just like to clear up that this takes place in spring of 1997, a few weeks or a month before the Battle of Hogwarts.
"Where's Alicia?" Angelina asked as Katie came into the kitchen, alone. Angelina was sitting at the table, a cup of tea in front of her.
"Sleeping," Katie responded. There was a brief silence. The three of them had decided to rent a small house together last September, deciding that it was far safer than living alone in these times, especially as ex-D.A. members and friends of Harry Potter. They hadn't had any problems yet, although that was probably due in part to the fact that they resided in a mostly Muggle neighborhood, rarely venturing out into the Wizarding community. Angelina and Katie had both taken jobs in the area - Angelina as a waitress, and Katie as a clerk - in order to make money. Both of them were half-blood, and had grown up with some knowledge of Muggle things.
Alicia was only pureblood by the loosest definition of the word, but it still meant that she had grown up with very little knowledge about Muggles. Her family was one of the less conservative pureblood families, and they weren't prejudiced against non-magic folk, but nor did they make too much effort to interact with them. She didn't know enough to have a job, and as a result spent most of her time cooped up inside, bored out of her wits.
"Want some tea?"
"I'm good." Katie sat down at the table with Angelina. "Have you tried Potterwatch recently?"
Angelina shook her head. "Alicia tried it earlier, while you were getting food. She couldn't get the password." She took a long sip of her tea. "Merlin, this is sad."
"What is?" Katie asked, unsure if she meant the quality of the tea, Potterwatch, or something else entirely. Angelina did have a habit of switching between subjects sometimes; both Alicia and Katie, as her closest friends, had picked up on it.
"This," Angelina said, gesturing around the room. "Everything. I mean, we're living in a freaking Muggle neighborhood with bloody Muggle jobs because we're paranoid that Death Eaters will come and kill us or kidnap us because we're friends of Harry Potter. It's like the whole world has turned upside down, and I'm sick of it."
Katie didn't know how to respond to that. She didn't love their situation either, but after several months, she had grown used to it. It wasn't an exciting life, but it was safe and comfortable - and considering the current state of things, safe and comfortable was very good. Angelina, though, was far too hotheaded for this. She wanted to be out there doing something, but in Katie's eyes, there wasn't anything left to do. "So am I," she said slowly, calmly, "but it seems like there's nothing we can do about it. The only resistance left seems to be at Hogwarts, where -"
"Where the whole student body has seemed to turn into a bunch of mini Freds and Georges," Angelina said. Angelina's younger sister was currently at Hogwarts, as was Alicia's, meaning that they both got sporadic updates about what was going on. The letters didn't come very often - it was too risky to constantly have owls flying in and out of a Muggle neighborhood - but they came often enough to provide the three young women with an occasional sense of what was going on. "Merlin, I wish I was there."
"Are you serious?" Katie frowned. The idea of being back at Hogwarts was unconscionable to her. She hated hearing about what the students were going through, and she wished there was something she could do about it, but that didn't mean she wanted to be there alongside them, getting tortured for stupid things. That wouldn't do any good.
"Yes," Angelina said, with such a strong conviction that Katie practically recoiled. "At least I'd feel like I'm doing something! I feel so goddamn useless, doing nothing like this."
"Everyone's doing nothing," Katie pointed out. "Either that, or they're getting killed, which is also useless." She added the last part pointedly, fearful of Angelina getting any stupid ideas.
"You mean to tell me you're perfectly happy with just sitting here?" Angelina said fiercely, slamming her cup down on the table with more force than necessary.
"Look," Katie said, "if the time comes where we have the opportunity to do something, I'll do it. Merlin knows I want those bastards dead or imprisoned as much as you do. But honestly, what's the use of getting all worked up about it nearly every day? If something happens - if things change - if I can do something, I will. But right now, there's absolutely nothing I - or you, for that matter - can do."
"Damn it," Angelina said, although she had calmed down noticeably during Katie's speech. "Why do you have to be so sensible when I'm ranting about something?"
"Because it's my job to stop you from doing anything recklessly stupid," Katie replied, a smile making its way across her face. Katie had always found their friendship interesting, the way that she was the calm, practical, sensible one in the face of Angelina's hotheadedness. It had always been that way, even back when they were eleven and twelve, which she found mildly amusing - wasn't the older one supposed to be the advice-giver, the one who calmed down the younger? Wasn't that the way these things usually went?
"I swear," Angelina said, "you're the only Gryffindor I know who doesn't actively chase after reckless things."
Katie held up a finger. "Not true. Reckless is one thing. Reckless and stupid is another. I told you, if it comes down to something, I will stand up and fight. If there was a grand fight between our side and theirs, I would be there. But what I'm not going to do is go out and get myself killed for no apparent reason - just to antagonize Death Eaters or something like that. Reckless behavior isn't so reckless if there's a real reason behind it - if there's a chance it'll actually be worth something, you know?"
Angelina shook her head, although it seemed to be more in wonder than in disagreement. "You're way too wise, you know that. Bloody Ravenclaw wannabe."
Katie smiled. Some things changed - like the entire Wizarding world this year - but some things, like their friendship, would always stay the same.