Unfortunate Relations

Note:Thanks to all who reviewed! I really appreciate everyone's input- and in case you didn't read the BOLD LETTERS at the end of chapter three…go back and read them. lol Yeah…so to those who I didn't respond to- please don't be angry! (cringes) Ha ha…anyway…You guys all rock beyond all possible reason, beyond all the realms of imagining…ok. I'm gonnna stop with the poetic-ness now. Alright- enjoy!

Irish Anor:Elladin and Elrohir! Yay! I know what you mean…I'm pretty much one of the worst persons for making assumptions- but at least some of the time they're right! The rest of the time I just end up looking strange…LOL! Thank you for your comments about diction, syntax and imagery. I had kind of let those words sink to the back of my mind, instead of come out first, so…thanks for the reminder! You're probably wondering why I conveniently forgot to answer your Fred and George question, right? (there I go again, making stupid conjectures that probably aren't even true) Well, you'll see…

Ailinn: Thanks for your comments! You're right, I guess I could have put in the jealousy thing…but they were little, AND best friends…so I thought it best to not include that. Also, that would have drawn me more into the flashback then I would have liked to go- for my purposes, keeping it simple is best. I decided to play on the characteristic short-term memory of small kids. Hope you like this chapter!

Knights of Ne: Yes, they are the coolest magical people! lol…You know, I had originally considered making her a animagus- but then I realized that this much more suit her character (and was way more practical for the story). Fred and George did take it remarkably well, didn't they? Though it won't always be that way…I mean, other people will not be so forgiving…but she needs to have at least SOMEONE to back her up- and they seemed like the most likely people.

elven-jewel-18: I'm so glad you liked it! And thanks for reviewing- it's much appreciated!

Chapter Four: A Quick Farewell

"What?" Fred and George's characteristic grins fell from their faces. "No." George stated flatly. "No, you're not leaving. You can't!"

"Yeah…I mean, you've been hiding yourself this whole time…"

"And now, when we just found out, you're going!"

"Running away from someone?" Fred asked, failing to keep the bitterness from his voice.

With a sigh, Katie shook her head. She had a lot of explaining to do. "Running." She paused, trying to get the right words to come out (which with Katie, was usually impossible). "That's what I thought; but I can't run away from my problem. That- that's not my point, though." Katie hastily interrupted herself when she saw that both twins were unconvinced. "Fred. George. I lied to you- sorry, that was obvious- but what I'm trying to say is…I'm sorry for the lies. Really sorry. And I hope you'll forgive me, though I wouldn't blame you if you didn't. The only reason I lied to you, is because I thought…that you'd be afraid of me, or try to turn me in because I was dangerous…" she ended lamely, shaking her head at how stupid she sounded…she never had been very good at explaining.

For a moment, no one said anything. The twins just looked at her, probing her with their dark hazel eyes. Then they smiled. "Oh, Katie-" Fred breathed between chuckles (both had a hard time of thinking of Katie as dangerous), "Of course we'll forgive you."

"Most definitely. Everybody has secrets- well, yours are a little extreme, but…we don't care." They were still laughing.

"Thanks." she smiled in relief. "Now- WHAT'S SO FUNNY?" Katie angrily put her hands on her hips, her face going slightly pink.

Fred and George blinked. "In case you haven't noticed- it's really hard for us to see you as…dangerous." They grinned, holding back laughter that otherwise would have lasted much longer.

"Oh." Katie blushed. 'That's only because you don't really know me…'

"Could you just answer one question?" George asked, his face serious.

"Sure."

Fred and George looked at each other before blurting in unison, "How'd you do that hair-changing thing!"

"Oh, yeah, that." She took a deep breath, glad that the subject had been changed. "I'm a metamorphmagus." pop! Her face was immediately replaced with an exact replica of the twins' heads, "See?"

"Whoa…" pop! Katie was back to being herself. An uneasy silence ensued as Fred and George attempted to master their shock.

"Just do us a favor, will you?" A still-amazed Fred questioned.

"Erm…alright. What might that be?"

"Never do that again- change into us, I mean."

George nodded his head in earnest agreement. "Yeah. Having a twin is weird enough as it is." He voiced his opinion.

Now it was Katie's turn to laugh.

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"I don't get it, Katie. How can you be Voldemort's niece- when he was an only child?" George nodded vehemently to his brother's question, and Katie gave a twisted smile.

"Yeah…you wouldn't know about my dad, would you? He was Uncle Tom- I mean, Voldemort's twin…and, coincidentally, nothing like him. They were complete opposites. Dad was a squib, and a bit of a…erm…loser."

Fred and George had both sat down by now (as if they were listening to some sort of story)- but at that they stood up. "Come on, your dad couldn't be that bad…I mean, a loser?" George questioned in disbelief. The twins, she thought, were so lucky. They must have a good father, to be able to be shocked at what I'm saying.

"You have no idea. He wasn't much of a father to me…never told me anything about my mum, never talked to me at all, in fact- I guess that's why I loved my uncle so much. You see, when my dad was somewhere around four years old (at least I found this much out), he ran away from the orphanage: he never told me why, but I'm assuming it had something to do with Tom's cruelty…" Katie's voice trailed off; she could have gone into more detail- but she didn't really want to.

"So…now that we know your secret, can you stay?" Both Fred and George immediately attempted the puppy-dog face, and Katie smiled in spite of herself.

"Oh, sure. 'Cause when uncle Voldemort finds out where I am, he'll see what a good time I'm having and he won't want to hurt me. Or my friends."

Fred rolled his eyes at her sarcastic reply. "Fine. Be difficult, then."

"We'll just have to come with you."

For just one second, all Katie's burdens seemed to have left her. Life would be so much easier with Fred and George to help her…but the lovely, unexpected feeling of happiness and security soon left her. "No." She stated in a flat and simple tone. The twins opened their mouths in protest but were quickly interrupted. "This is something I have to do…alone. You can't come. Besides, if you did- think of the consequences-"

"We're pranksters. How can you accuse us of not considering consequences?"

"We don't care, Katie. We're coming."

"Look! Do you really think I like telling you that you can't come with me? If Voldemort killed you…or used me to kill you…"

Once again, Fred opened his mouth to argue, but George stopped him. He took a resolutely step forward. "Alright." he softly agreed, his gaze never breaking with Katie's. "We'll let you go, not because we're afraid, or don't want to protect you…"

"But because we respect you." Fred gave her a twisted smile.

"I- I've got to get my stuff." Katie whispered brokenly, turning to gather her belongings and also to quickly brush away her tears. It was nice, she thought, to know she had friends who cared about her.

"Why are you leaving, anyway?" Fred tried to keep his voice casual, to no avail.

"There really isn't any time to explain." Katie hurried herself out of the cave.

"Well, good luck with that, then." George looked at Fred and shrugged his shoulders in response to Katie's vague explanation.

Quite suddenly, Katie paused to throw her arms around the twins.

"Goodbye Fred. Goodbye, George." Without another word, she turned from the stunned twins to climb up onto her broom.

"WAIT!" her two friends called together. Katie turned.

They each held up a scattered collection of old textbooks. "Aren't you going to take these with you?"

Katie grinned wryly. "Burn them for me, will you?" She laughed, then sped away on her broom.

Turning, Katie saw two specks waving one last farewell.

NOOOOOO! What an idiot! Leaving Fred and George- what is she thinking! Ha ha, you'll find out next chapter…Please read and review- I love your comments and/or criticism!