"I miss you."

No response came.

Katie sighed quietly and allowed a tear to sip down her cheek. In the dead of the night, with all the lights in her flat off, she could almost feel Fred's presence. On nights like this one, when she spoke to him, it was hard to remind herself that he was not going to speak back.

"Everyone was at dinner tonight," she continued, trying to maintain a conversational tone. "It was a full house. You would have loved it. And Percy brought a girl home! Can you imagine? A girl!" She managed a small smile to herself. "And Charlie is visiting from Romania."

Katie paused briefly. She didn't know what she believed of the afterlife. Sometimes she thought of Fred as being some far off and exciting place, laughing and having adevntures. Other times she imagined he was just out of reach, watching over them all as though through a two-way mirror. She didn't know why, but the idea of Fred seeing her on a date with Charlie made her stomach twist.

"He's a nice bloke, Charlie. Funny. Don't worry, he's not as funny as you. Still, he's always up for a good time. He has a reputation though. You remember what happened with Felicity. Oh, I know it was eight years ago now, but it's not something that just goes away. It changed him, and I don't see how he could have changed back from that."

It was winter holiday of that same year, and Katie was cross-legged on the bedroom floor of Ginny Weasley, giggling through a mouthful of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

"I saw them kissing yesterday!" Ginny squealed, making an overexaggerated kissing gesture with her hands and head. Katie collapsed onto the ground in a renewed fit of laughter.

Katie took a moment to catch her breath while Ginny helped herself to another handful of beans. She chewed for a moment before retching.

"Vomit," she sputtered, searching for a place to spit before ultimately swallowing the unpleasantly flavored candy as quickly as she could.

"You're so lucky that you're going to have a sister," Katie blurted out suddenly. "I wish I had a sister." Ginny didn't respond immediately, and Katie blushed. Katie stayed in Ginny's room during her visits to the Burrow, and they always laughed and had a good time, but the two were not close.

"She's mean sometimes," Ginny replied finally.

"What?" Katie asked, surprised. She had only been around Felicity for a few days, and most of it was spent finalizing wedding plans with a very begrudging Mrs. Weasley, but she had gotten along well with her so far.

"Not to me," Ginny amended. "She's mean to Charlie. I hear her telling him to get a real job and stop being so worthless."

Katie's face darkened. "He has a real job," she said quietly. Next to Quidditch, dragons were one of her favorite things, and she felt as though her blood was boiling whenever people spoke ill of them or their trainers.

"Nobody else was around, and they didn't know I was there," Ginny continued in a hushed tone , "but I heard them fighting. She was yelling at him, and saying all these things, and he just kept apologizing to her, and saying he loved her, but she just kept yelling. Then he said that if she hated him so much, maybe they shouldn't get married at all. Then she slapped his face."

Katie gasped. "No!" she cried. Though Charlie was considerably older than her, and therefore they hadn't spent much time together, she considered all of the Weasley's her family, and the idea of someone bringing harm to them made her even angrier than before.

"He looked so sad," Ginny finished. "I wanted to hug him, but-"

At that moment, Ginny's recollection was interrupted by the sound of a door slamming. The house was silent for a moment before Weasley's started leaving their rooms to see what was the matter.

"You're pathetic!" a voice yelled, and Ginny and Katie jumped up, tripping over each other in their hurry to not miss anything that might be interesting.

In the hallway, Charlie and Felicity were standing several feet apart, oblivious that most of the family had gathered around them and was now watching the spectacle with interest and dismay.

"We're getting married, but you don't even care about our future!" Felicity spat. "When are you going to get a real job and start acting like an adult?"

"Please calm down," Charlie pleaded, reaching for Felicity's arm, which she wuickly jerked out of his reach. "We're nineteen! We have time to figure things out!"

"You'll have plenty of time to figure things out," Felicity screamed, turning away from Charlie and pushing her way past Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. "Because we are not getting married tomorrow!"

With that, she turned on her heels to give him one last glare and apparated out of the Burrow and out of their lives.

There was a moment of silence as everyone absorbed the scene they had just witnessed. Slowly, cautiously, all eyes turned from the spot where Felicity had been standing to the spot where Charlie was now frozen with shock.

He glanced around, searching for a comforting face. His eyes landed momentarily on Katie, and he smiled weakly.

"More cake for the rest of us then."

Katie sighed audibly. "He's never been the same," she continued out loud. She felt her stomach clench at the memory. "How could he be?"