A/N: Thank you for all your wonderful & thoughtful reviews—you guys are seriously the best ever. This chapter is extra long & covers a lot of material, so I'm sorry about that, but I'm working on a goal to get to my Christmas chapter by actual Christmas. It's a pretty steep feat and I'm not promising anything, but it's what I'm aiming for. So please, read, review, & enjoy. Cheers!

George failed to repress a large yawn as he closed the door to the back room of his shop. It had been a particularly long Wednesday; there were more customers than usual and they were suffering from Lee's absence. He had contracted the flu over the weekend and was currently in bed upstairs.

"So how'd we do?" Ron asked excitedly. The youngest Weasley brother had been particularly keen on improving profit margins since he had looked at the calendar and realized he had two months to finance his growing Christmas list, which presumably included something rather large for Hermione.

George simply leaned against one of the checkout counters and stared at him.

"Well you've done the books, haven't you?" Ron pressed on.

"I have," George replied.

"And…?"

"We've done well," he answered simply. "Now run off, Ron, I've somewhere to be tonight and I've got to get changed."

Ron observed him shrewdly. "Who are you going to see?" he questioned. "It's a girl, isn't it?"

George gave him a look. "Seriously, Ron, take off."

"I work here!" the younger Weasley protested. "Now, come on, tell me. I could, you know, give you a few tips or something. If I know her."

George laughed now. "It will be a dark day indeed when I need women advice from you, little brother," he said as he directed Ron to the doorway by the shoulder. He opened the door and pushed him out into the street. "Now stay out or you won't be receiving your share of the year-end bonus."

Ron shouted a muffled protest, but George was already halfway across the shop floor. He rubbed his temples as he climbed the stairs up to his flat, trying to mentally prepare himself for what he had to do that evening. He just hoped she would be understanding—and not too difficult.

Loosening his tie, George kicked open the door to his closet and was preparing to undress and dump his shop clothes at the bottom when two hands covered his eyes and made him jump.

"Surprise!"

"What the-?" George shouted.

Katie Bell laughed and removed her hands, turning him around to face her.

"Your reactions aren't quite what they used to be, George Weasley," she said, smiling. George could do nothing but stand with his mouth slightly open.

"Hi," he said finally, leaning over to give her a quick hug. "What are you doing here, Kay?"

She smirked, shifting her gaze from left to right. "Well I live here," she said. "Or have you forgotten over the past four days?"

George laughed in spite of himself. "No, no…" he said. "I mean, I thought that now you've got your dad back, you'd…you know…move out."

Katie frowned. "Why would I do that?"

Now it was George who appeared confused. "You were only evicted because your dad was in Azkaban," he explained. "I thought you'd want to go back to your old flat now that that's not an issue…or move home…"

Katie bit her lip. "Right," she said. "Hadn't thought of that…"

George waited nervously for her verdict until he realized it was probably his position to say something.

"Of course, you can always choose to stay if—"

"Yes!" she interrupted eagerly, then laughed at her own forwardness. "I mean, yes, I'd like that very much."

George's face broke into a wide grin as he felt his tension drop.

"Thank God," he said, giving her another hug. "I was afraid you were going to take the telly…"

Katie coughed out an indignant noise and pushed the redhead away from her. "Tosser!" she accused, laughing. George gave her his best winning grin and took her back in his arms, which she sank into readily.

"I'm glad you've come back," he murmured gently into her ear, and he could feel her smile against him.

"Me too," she answered.

It was at that moment that Lee came out of the toilet, looking extremely ill. George withdrew immediately.

"Look Lee, Kates has come back," he announced cheerily in order to cover up his ridiculous action.

"Well, well, well," Lee said, supporting himself by gripping onto the kitchen counter. "Come back for good, have we?"

"I have," Katie answered, smiling broadly. "And you've no need to worry about dinner tonight, because I'm cooking!" She hoisted the grocery bags into the air proudly.

"Oh, God." Lee covered his mouth and ran again for the bathroom door.

Katie frowned. "I'm not that bad, am I?"

George was thankfully spared from answering this question ,with which he was having serious moral struggles, by Lee's sudden reappearance in the room.

"False alarm, s'okay," he said, holding up a hand as Katie crossed the room to check on him. "I'm sure that will be lovely, Kates. Might have a bit left over, though. I'm not feeling my best, and Georgie's going out tonight. With a girl."

Katie turned to look at George curiously, her brow furrowed. "You are?" she asked.

George immediately felt his jaw tighten and directed a death glare at Lee, but his friend was too busy chuckling over Katie's expression.

"Yep," he answered gleefully. "Miss Parvati Patil, formerly of Gryffindor House. How about that?"

"Oh," Katie answered, clearly dumbfounded but not taking her eyes off of George. "Oh, right. Of course…how nice."

"Eh, not really," Lee continued, still unable to see the tension between the two others in the room. "For her, anyway. Soon as George spends the night with her, he gets cold feet and bolts. But what can we say, Georgie? Old habits die hard, eh?" He laughed, and looked back at George who was clenching his fists and scowling darkly at his friend.

Immediately, Lee sobered up and swallowed nervously. "Erm..right," he said. "I think I am going to be sick again…'scuse me…"

Slightly stricken, George turned his attention back toward Katie, completely unsure of what kind of expression he would be meeting there. To his surprise and horror, she looked as though she had just been told that her dad was about to be locked up again.

"You…slept with her?" she asked in an incredulous whisper from across the room. George pursed his lips and dropped his eye line from hers in an extremely guilty manner.

"Oh my God," she continued in the same small voice. "I mean…wow. Okay."

"Kates, I—" George began, but abruptly stopped. He what? He was sorry he had gone to bed with a pretty girl because he thought she was off doing the same thing with Oliver Wood? That it was actually killing him to suppress his feelings for someone else and he had snapped? And then it struck him—he had no need to explain any of this to Katie at all. There was nothing between the two of them. He had done nothing terribly wrong, really. He was a free man.

"It's okay," Katie said, holding up a hand and shaking her head. "I just didn't know you were dating again, that's all…I mean, if you call that dating…"

"Katie, it was a mistake," George said in his clearest, most measured voice. "I'm going now to tell her that. It's not a big deal. Just didn't expect Lee to go blabbing to half of the United Kingdom about it…"

The brunette frowned. "I'm not half of the United Kingdom," she said firmly.

George let out an exasperated sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. "Well I know that, Kay, but I usually don't fill you in on my romantic life, do I? It's just not… Anyway, look, I was feeling lonely, she was pretty, she fancied me, and I caved, didn't I? I wanted somebody. And it's not like you were there…"

Suddenly conscious of what he had just let slip out, George immediately shut his mouth and snapped his gaze back up at Katie. Moron! What had he just done…? She was staring at him curiously.

"What do you mean, 'I wasn't there?'" she asked, cocking her head to one side.

"Nothing," George said quickly, turning his back on her and pulling a sweater over his head. "See you later, alright? And make sure Lee doesn't get sick all over the flat?"

And he darted out the door, down the stairs and into the night, cursing himself furiously.

XxX

Katie was left staring dumbfounded at the swinging door. She kept one hand on the bag of groceries she had set down on the counter and said nothing. Lee suddenly emerged again from the toilet and looked around.

"So," he asked, breaking the silence. "What are we having?"

"Kates?" he prompted again, when she didn't answer. Shaking herself out of it, Katie met his eye line and grinned falsely.

"You know, I'm not feeling much like cooking anymore," she answered, shoving the grocery bag away and out of sight. "Do you want to just order out?"

Lee grinned. "You know I'm all about that," he answered, flopping out on his bed. "Send the owl out for some Chinese, will you? It's the only thing that doesn't make me want to wretch…"

An hour later, Katie sat cross-legged on her bed, picking at some noodles with a pair of chopsticks. She tried to chat idly with Lee, but her mind wasn't focused on the conversation and she was too proud to steer it toward what she most wanted to know. Could George Weasley conceivably have feelings for her?

The thought was ridiculous. George was never interested in any girl above the length of a week, barring Alicia. And they had always been so comfortable with one another, like family. She was his twin brother's girlfriend. Yes, the thought was extremely ridiculous. And yet, Katie could think of no other explanation for her friend's comment. And it's not like you were there…

There to what? To pursue instead? Katie shook her head in shame at the thought. It was pure nonsense, and egotistical nonsense at that. She had a fleeting vision of herself and George dancing together the way he and Parvati had been, and then George leading her by the hand out into the night. She instantly banished this in horror. It was unnatural and wrong, though she could not explain away the sense of anger and betrayal she had felt when Lee had casually mentioned that George and Parvati had slept together. It still angered her now, though she knew the feeling was irrational.

George had every right to pursue women if he wanted. He had not been the one dating Fred, after all. And he was beginning to heal, there was no denying that…that women should reenter the portrait of George' s life was natural, and Katie had no right in the world to feel angry. She idly fingered the ring on the chain around her neck. She was the one in love with Fred; it made sense that she reviled the dating scene. And if she was the true friend she felt she was, she wouldn't hold George back simply because he was progressing in different ways. Grief was individual, not collective, wasn't it?

She supposed she had simply hoped this experience—this grief, this situation, their relationship—had made him smarter than that. She was sure it had, in some ways. George was infinitely more mature now than he was a year ago—but that had not altered his romantic life, apparently. And he was right, it was silly of her to assume that simply because they were closer now than they had been, that he should tell her all of his exploits. Katie had simply grown used to them being open with each other.

Suddenly, it hit her. That was it—George had only meant that Katie hadn't been there at the party to talk to about his feelings. He had told her he was feeling lonely. It was natural that he would, throwing a party without his twin brother to operate as his wing man, and it wasn't as though she was having the time of her life either. He had grown accustomed to talking to her whenever he wanted about whatever he wanted—and she had been gone. He felt guilty because he had gone outside of this relationship and she felt betrayed because he had done so. That was all there was to it.

Katie cringed in embarrassment that she had thought his stupid comment had meant more than that. She wasn't quite sure this version of events made complete sense (why was George simultaneously feeling lonely and also making important strides toward healing?), but she was done thinking about it. It was, after all, none of her business, and frankly, the less she thought about George and Parvati Patil, the better.

XxX

Determined to be satisfied with her theory as she was, Katie still couldn't shake the feelings of distress about this new development the next morning—though she saw with slight relief that George was in his own bed, no sign of the younger girl in sight. She had, however, gotten up and left earlier than usual to avoid having to talk to him again. She felt she needed a little space to fully grow used to this change in dynamic.

Katie entered the Daily Prophet newsroom determined to focus on her work. Due to her father's return, she had missed another three full days of work and although Germaine Hudson had expressed her understanding of the situation, Katie did not want these increasingly frequent absences to put a dent in her still-young career. Her first order of business was to print a retraction of her previous editorials, an idea she had humbly presented to Hudson via owl the morning following her father's return.

She dumped her old messenger bag into the bottom drawer of her desk and set herself down with an enormous yawn.

"Back to working early again?" queried Jacquelyn with a raised eyebrow as she peered at her friend over the divide between their desks.

"I think so," Katie answered, nodding distractedly as she searched for her coffee mug. "God willing, nothing else will suddenly crop up and derail my life again for the next few months…unless it's extremely pleasant, of course."

"Like seeing your father again?" she smirked.

Katie smiled pleasantly and nodded. "Exactly like that," she murmured as she located the missing mug and brought it up to her lips. She immediately spewed out the black liquid.

"Blood hell!" she shouted loudly enough for a few other reporters to glance her way in mild interest. "Jaq, this coffee is stone cold!"

"I should say so," her friend replied, looking faintly disgusted. "It's been sitting there for six days."

"But the coffee mugs always fill themselves!" Katie protested. "Every morning, it's hot and fresh with a bit of cream—just the way I like it. And today…"

Jacquelyn laughed slightly. "Katie, the coffee mugs don't fill themselves…" she said as though this were obvious.

"They don't?"

"No! Wood always fills yours for you before you get to work every morning…thought you knew that."

Katie simply sat in silence, clutching the mug and shaking her head slowly.

"Bit odd he didn't today, actually," Jacquelyn mused. "But I suppose he didn't know you were coming back today, did he?"

"Mmm," Katie agreed as she stood up to go fill her mug afresh. "Maybe that's it…"

She knew this wasn't the reason, however. In the events since the Halloween party, Katie had not thought once about Oliver Wood. There was too much else going on and she hadn't exactly had occasion to think of him until now, and now the memory of their last conversation flooded her brain. She took the kettle off of the magical burner and poured more coffee into the freshly washed cup. So Oliver Wood had finally vocalized his intentions toward her. It wasn't as though she was unaware of his interest—he had been fairly clear—but she hadn't been expecting a direct ultimatum, either. And what he had said was so odd… I'm not going to dance with you again. Not until you ask me to dance with you.

When on earth would she have occasion to wish Oliver were dancing with her? It wasn't as though they threw huge parties frequently, or anything…no, it was the other half of Wood's ultimatum that made her frown slightly. No more office visits, no more lunches. No more checking in to make sure you're doing alright. It wasn't as though she needed it—she lived with two other people now, and most of Wood's visits, while pleasant, slightly put her off her work. But she had grown accustomed to him popping in and out of the newsroom at odd moments, extending her lunch hours with a flirtatious remark to Hudson, and making Jacquelyn go red daily. It would definitely be different without his cheerful presence. But she could deal with it—she would simply have to eat lunch with other employees from now on. And apparently get her own coffee in the mornings.

XxX

When Jacquelyn announced that she had friends from her Beauxbatons days taking her out to lunch, Katie was fairly put out. She realized she had unconsciously been hoping to somehow prove to Wood that she didn't need his extra measures of friendship in order to be happy. Now she was once again alone and heading to the shared Ministry and Prophet cafeteria. She blearily wondered if Percy would be there somewhere, discussing obscenely detailed and boring topics with others witches and wizards and she could steal a seat next to them.

No such luck, however. She had taken her lunch fairly late that day in order to avoid the impending humiliation, and the cafeteria was fairly sparse. She saw no one she recognized. Letting out a sigh, she sat herself down at a table nearest the corner and took out her sack lunch. At least Wood wasn't there—maybe morning practice had gone extra long, or Bagman had given him the day off. She wrestled with conflicting feelings of relief and disappointment when a man a few yards off shifted and revealed Wood, sitting with a few people his age Katie vaguely recognized from his year in school. She ducked immediately, but not before Wood saw her. She dreaded him coming over to say hello, but instead he simply smiled, waved, and went back to talking with his mates.

Huh. Katie frowned. Well she hadn't expected that. Wood had said he was going to treat her as he would any other friend—and yet he clearly wasn't sitting at a table and laughing with her, nor was he inviting her over to his. Was she being snubbed? No, an annoying voice inside her head replied. If you were Angelina, for example, he'd just wave at you, too. She bit into a carrot stick moodily and stared down at the empty table. She had never felt more pathetic in her life.

Throughout the following half hour, Katie watched as Oliver laughed and chatted with his friends, eating what looked like an extremely delicious ham and potato pie. As his friends dispersed, Wood stood up to leave and she sat up, preparing to meet his eye contact and engage in a conversation, somehow defending her lonely status, but he simply smiled as he passed her and kept on.

"Hey, Wood!" Katie blurted before she could help herself. Her annoyance with the former-Gryffindor Keeper had reached a head.

Oliver turned around. "Hi Katie," he said pleasantly. "How's it going?"

"Come sit down," she said pointedly. He shrugged easily and pulled out the chair next to her.

"Okay, but I can only stay a few minutes," he said. "Bagman wants me back, and then I've got evening practice afterward."

"Weren't you going to say hello to me?" she glowered.

"I did," he said, sounding surprised. "I waved to you earlier. You didn't see me?"

Katie frowned at her friend. "You know perfectly well I saw you," she replied. "Why didn't you come over or invite me to sit with you?"

Wood sobered and twitched his mouth slightly. "Kates, I said no more lunches, remember?"

"I know that," she answered quickly, looking away embarrassedly. "I just thought…you know…"

He sighed. "Things have to be different, Katie," he said. "I can't keep acting like your boyfriend when you don't want me to be."

She flushed deeply and looked away. Perhaps wanting to cover the odd moment for her, Wood changed the topic.

"Hey, I met Elizabeth's new bloke by the way," he said, grinning. "Daryl Albright. He's a decent guy, very interested in revitalizing the American Quidditch league. They don't have much going for them, really…oh, but you know that. Anyway, he's been in the office a lot lately. Very chatty."

Katie raised an eyebrow. "You've met him?" she asked. "Aunt Liz has been very secretive…"

Oliver shrugged. "Yeah, we get on well. Elizabeth brought him lunch a couple of days ago and we all ate together. It was fun, you missed out."

Katie grimaced and clutched her paper sack so that it crumpled.

"Well, I should probably be going. See you around, Bell…"

"Oliver!" Katie shouted out as he was rounding the corner.

"Yeah?" he asked turning back.

"Do you want to go to the pub sometime?" she asked before she could come up with a better way to phrase her feelings. "It might be fun."

Wood nodded. "Yeah, alright, you're on. Invite everyone else and let me know when, alright?"

And then he disappeared. Katie crumpled what was left of the sack into a ball and tossed it into the bin.

XxX

Feeling that she ought to actually cook the food she had bought yesterday, Katie was now chopping up vegetables to put in the stew she was planning on making for herself and Lee. It turned out to be a good decision as Lee still wasn't feeling well and was lying down in the back room of the shop, apparently needing a break from working the floor. George had decided to stay open for an extra hour and a half in the next couple of months leading to Christmas, and the lads were still downstairs catering to the demands of their customers.

Katie slammed the knife down perhaps too hard on the cutting board and sighed. If only she knew how to make the vegetables chop themselves, like Mrs. Weasley and her mother could… She thought fondly of home and how her mother and father might now be sitting down to dinner, maybe with Aunt Elizabeth, going over the day, and enjoying the feeling of being reunited that still had yet to fade. Maybe she should have never left home-her mother certainly hadn't wanted her to. Or maybe she ought to have moved back into her old flat and lived on her own again. She had only been back one day and already the pressures and obscurities of her life were crowding out the happiness she had felt with her father back. Stupid feelings, suspicions and jealousies revolving around the people in her life seemed unnecessary and ridiculous. Had it always been like this, and she had just gotten used to it? The four days she had been gone seemed like months.

As she murmured a heating charm to boil the broth, George emerged in the room with an enormous yawn. He loosened his tie, unbuttoned his vest, and came over to peer into the boiling pot.

"Smells great, Kay," he said encouragingly, perhaps in a more wishful manner than a sincere one. She chose to take the compliment, however.

"Lee still downstairs?" she asked.

"Yeah, he'll be up in a few minutes. He was nearly sick all over the Ton Tounge Toffees this afternoon. I made him lie down for the rest of the day. How was work?"

She shrugged. "It was…alright, I guess."

George looked down at her in a considering way. "Hey," he said softly. "I'm sorry about last night. I'm a git, and I should have realized that we're closer now, and that I shouldn't try to keep things from you. I'm sorry if I hurt you."

She simply smiled wanly and continued chopping the vegetables. "Not at all," she answered. "I'm happy you're, you know, feeling more yourself."

George opened his mouth to say something, but apparently thought better of it, and simply put his hand on top of hers, ceasing her chopping.

"I've missed you," he said quietly, but smiling. Katie sighed, unable to not feel pleased at this and squeezed his hand back.

"I've missed you, too."

XxX