With sweat gathered all over her body, clothes sticking to her and thick strands of blonde tainted by coppery blood, Katie rightfully looked as though she had just fought in a war. There was anarchy and chaos everywhere, so much it hurt. More students were loss than death eaters, but they had won and for the moment it was enough to keep her from crying. She saw the mangled bodies, people mourning their loved ones and Oliver Wood carrying the lifeless, tiny body of Colin Creevey.
As she walked, somewhat dizzily, she recognised too many bodies for her liking:
Colin Creevey, the not-so young boy with that grin that just lit up the room when Harry Potter walked through the doors. Katie felt oddly relieved that it appeared he did not suffer too much and despite the brave expression set upon his face, he got to keep his cute looks. A camera lay around his neck, virtually untouched.
Terry Boot, the Ravenclaw a year younger then herself notorious for his long hair and glasses which now lay askew next to him in a pile of blood. She hadn't spoken to him much, but recognised him. A letter stuck out of his pocket with the word Michael written across the top in messy writing.
Lavender Brown, whose face no long resembled the good looks that were once described to her with scratches across her cheek and clothing torn. A pretty young woman a year below her, a known gossip and someone Katie had spoken to a handful of times she knew her.
Ernie MacMillan, the stuffy Hufflepuff whose pompous attitude and blonde curls would forever live on. He was loved by many, as shown by the friends mourning over his body. Hannah Abbott flung across his limp body with lose sobs emitted from her, Justin Finch-Fletchley with tears running down his face while clutching Ernie's hand in his own.
With a stomach-turning feeling, Katie's eyes fell upon Professor Lupin and a pink-haired woman laying lifeless, side-by-side. Tears welled up in her eyes as she remembered her favourite Professor to ever teach at Hogwarts, even if it was for a year. He taught them all about the Grindylows and spells to use to fend them off if they were ever under attack from them. His solution was chocolate to everything. When Cormac McLaggen got a quill shoved up his arse, chocolate was in order. With a tearful, half-hearted smile, Katie moved on.
Mindlessly walking around, she spotted the Weasley family and their demeanor. Something was wrong. Dreadfully, horribly wrong. She sprinted as fast as her now weak legs could take her, wiping tears from her eyes as she took George by the shoulders.
It was then she saw his face, a broken expression cast upon him. She swallowed hard and looked at the family, as if trying to place something was wrong. Realisation hit her and she clutched George to her tightly, not surprised when she wasn't embraced back. "Where... what happened? Where is he? Where's Fred, George?"
Without muttering a thing, George averted his eyes pointedly to the ground. Tears dripped from his eyes, and streamed down his freckled cheeks. The man she knew to be so happy was changed. Everything was changed.
Katie didn't dare to look until she met George's gaze and she saw it. She didn't burst into tears, but tears did come fastly. "No. Oh God, no." She let go of George quickly to kneel besides Fred's body, a smile still etched upon his face and at least a dozen bones broken. His usually vibrant eyes were now dull and blank.
They sat on the kitchen counter, hands entwined with one anothers when Fred's mother came in.
"Now, dears, what is this?" Mrs Weasley asked, not unkindly but firmly. "I see that half my flowers have been ripped out from there beds. Got anything to say for yourselves?"
Fred raised his and Katie's hands up in the air. "Mum, we're married! Girls are icky, but Katie's not. She's special, Mum!"
Mrs Weasley's expression softened and she gave a small laugh. "Really now? May I see the ring, Katie dear?"
Katie took her hand from Fred's grasp and thrusted it towards Mrs Weasley proudly, a broad grin upon her face. She had recently lost her two front teeth so two gaps were in the front obviously. Around her pinky finger, a piece of worn rope was tied. "D'you like it, Mrs Weasley?"
"Yes, I do," Molly replied, with yet another laugh. "So where did you two get married then?"
"In the orchard."
It was a bit silly at the time, when she thought about it. But still, she kept the same piece of rope around her pinky for most of her life - never taking it off except during Quidditch and when she showered. Closing her eyes, Katie thought over the powerful memory that managed to give her her first Patronus. Fred was so sweet back then, and she used to joke 'what happened'.
An eleven year old Katie skipped up the corridor of the train, tugging her heavy trunk behind her. She knocked on various carriage doors, had been rejected from many, and she had hope that this one would finally allow her to sit. In her vision, she was faced with a tall, dreadlocked boy who wasn't much older than herself.
The boy had observed her warily. She may have been a Slytherin, she found out later. Rudely, yet curiously, the first words that came from Lee Jordan's mouth to her were. "Who are you?"
Katie had dropped her trunk with a resounding thunk and struck out her palm proudly. "Katie. Katie Bell."
Lee shook her hand hesitantly. "Katie Bell? The one that Gred Weasley married?"
"How do you know about that?" Katie took back her hand and picked up her trunk. "I- I mean, not that it ever happened. Who are you?"
"Lee Jordan. Gryffindor, second year, Quidditch commentator." This was all said with pride in his voice, and he was patronising her slightly.
"And who told you that me and Fred were married? Not literally married, but... you know what I mean."
"Forge," Lee replied simply, crossing his arms across his chest. "So were, eh? Planning on divorcing him or has it already happened?"
"Lee, stopping bugging Bell," said a voice from behind her, making her jump.
She recognised the joking, young voice. It was Fred.
Stroking his cold cheek, usually filled with warmth, the memory played over in her mind with ease. He was always there for her, able to protect her when he needed to - though he did let her go on and learn some back experiences herself that she needed to learn.
Katie clutched her now-dry potions homework to her chest. After three exhausting hours of working on this essay for the man-bat, she came face to face with Marcus Flint. She was fourteen years old, her dirty blonde hair was held back in a ponytail and she had a mouth on her that could swear like a sailor.
The troll himself made sure to block Katie's way, stepping in front of her like the obstacle he was. When she told him where to go, his lips went up into a snarl. "Now, now, Bell, language. Wouldn't want someone to gain pleasure from that little mouth of yours, would you?"
Katie closed her eyes - not the wisest of choices - to take a calm breath and withdrew her wand, pointing it at his nether regions. "Back off or I swear to fucking Merlin that I will curse your balls off, you stupid bastard."
With a simple flick of his wand, the dim seventh year managed to disarm her. He stood a step towards her, towering over her scrawny frame. "What was it that you were saying, Bell?"
Katie opened her mouth to scream but instead found his lips descend upon hers, effectively shutting her up. Or he was until she bit down hard on the tongue that was trying to force its way into her mouth.
Before she knew it, Flint was blasted off her and the taste of blood was on her lips. She spat it out onto the ground to try and rid of the taste. "God, you're probably like a vending machine for herpes, Flint." She spat again before she realised that she had a saviour indeed, or saviours if you want to get technical.
Looking up, she saw the various expressions of Fred, Alicia, Angelina, Lee and George. Angry, amused, grinning, chuckling, full-out laughing.
Katie gave a small nostalgic smile, recalling a line from one of those flimsy paperback books Alicia owned (and thought no-one knew about). She forgot the name of the book, but the line had made it's way into a special place of her heart, despite how cliche it was. My hero.
"Weasley, pass me an egg, will you?" Katie called from the opposite side of the kitchen, even if there was no need to yell. She held a mixing bowl under one arm and a wooden spoon in her left hand. She sat on the kitchen counter.
Fred threw her an egg from where he was attempting to juggle three at a time, the muggle way.
Katie's chaser skills allowed her to catch it, but didn't prevent it from cracking in her hands and getting yolk all over it. "Bloody hell. Thanks a lot, Fred."
Fred merely grinned in response, throwing her a playful wink. "Anything to help, Bell."
And then she screamed loudly. "Fred, watch out! Butterfly! It's there, right behind you! Squish it!" Personally, she thought it was a pretty good lie - though Fred would undoubtedly tell her it wasn't later.
When Fred turned around, Katie seized the bag off open flour and threw it over him with a grin, though it stuck to her sticky hands. She then dished out a spoonful of cake mix and flung it at him as well, getting him right in the face.
"Blimey, Bell. Who knew you had such pent up issues, hey?"
Katie feigned innocence. "I haven't the foggiest idea what you're talking about. I hear those muggle counsellors work wonders these days though."
Fred saw a glimpse of a smile crack on her lips before she turned her attention back to mixing the spoon in the bowl. Grinning, he approached her and his fingers got her sides, beginning to tickle her. He knew just where to, as well.
Katie dropped the plastic bowl onto the floor as she gave a shriek of uncontrollable laughter, legs kicking and trying to fend him off as she screamed in between breathes. She nearly managed to fall to the floor, but was picked up by Fred easily before could. His hands encircled her waist and slowly he met her eyes with his floury ones. He was just about to lean in when he heard the familar voice of his mother screaming and sheepishly looked at her, turning away.
"What is the meaning of this? Frederick Gideon Weasley!"
Katie remembered the day as though it was yesterday. She was fifteen, and he was sixteen, and they were both so immature. If he had kissed her then it wouldn't have been her first, but it would have certainly been the first one that mattered.
"Bell, you're too young to have a boyfriend!" Fred had shouted loudly, shaking his head.
They both had managed to have a free period and their friends were watching them, slightly in awe and just a bit (translate: a lot) scared by Fred's behaviour. It wasn't at all like Fred to lose his temper, not even when Katie stole the last piece of chocolate from the shared block.
"I am not! Anyways, Cedric's strong and sweet and quite a good looker!" retorted Katie. "You should be happy for me!"
"Cedric Diggory? Wow, Katie, you're so luck -" Alicia fell silent when Fred sent her the most withering glare he could muster.
"He's just going to try and get into your pants!" Fred snorted. "You're gonna be another knotch on his belt, and you know it."
"You are not the boss of me," Katie bit off. "I will go out with whoever I bloody want to! I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself."
"No! No, you're not!"
And with that, Katie launched herself at him for a full-blown attack. She bit him, scratched him and pulled his hair as tightly as she could. Lee seized her by the waist to tug her off, but didn't suceed. It ended up taking the combined strength of him and George to pull her off him.
Katie and Fred eventually made up, though. It was Fred who apologised to her though, in the Quidditch locker rooms just before another practice ran by Angelina Johnson - the new Quidditch nazi. Fred was always so overprotective over who she liked and who he didn't.
Katie was in the middle of a terrific snogging session with none other than Roger Davies, the Ravenclaw Captain, when the door flew open with a resounding slam and revealed Fred Weasley on the other side.
"Weasley? What the hell are you doing here?" Katie hissed, adjusting her clothes as she broke away from Roger. She ran her fingers quickly through her mussed hair.
"Bell, Davies is cheating on you with Padma Patil. Has been for months."
"And so you tell me this when I'm snogging him?"
"Whatever, Bell, thought you might have known before you shagged him."
Katie turned to Roger with accusing eyes and asked him, "Is this true? Tell me the truth."
"I never cheated on you with -" Roger was cut off in the middle of his rather dreadful lie by a punch thrown from Katie, resulting in him clutching his jaw. "Bitch."
"Wanker." And with that, Katie left with her back turned and all with Fred Weasley.
Katie bit her lip in an attempt to keep her tears at bay. She remembered their last conversation they had, right before they went into battle. It was the last time she would see him alive.
"Katherine Bell," Fred began rather dramatically, "I have something I want to tell you. Something I've been wanted to tell you for a long time."
"You're a wanker? Sorry to disappoint Frederick Weasley, but I've known that for years," Katie replied with a small grin.
"Look, no, stop joking for a moment. I'm trying to be serious," Fred replied after a moment. "Look, there's no graceful way for me to say this without coming off sounding like Percy, but I love you. No, really, I do. You're gonna say that it's just the war making me say this, but it's not, because I've been in love with you since the moment I first laid eyes on you."
And so, Katie walked slowly up to Fred and cupped his face in her hands, standing on tip-toe in order to place a soft, yet passionate kiss upon his lips. "I love you, too," she murmured.
The tears spilt from her eyes, the realisation striking her that he was gone and wasn't coming back. Like many things in the world, it wasn't fair. He fought for happiness in the world again, and so Katie made a decision to live up to his last wish, no matter what.