The first part of this chapter will be Fred and Angelina-centric. The second part will get back to the main character, Katie.
Rating: I'm going to leave this at a T just because it's somewhat of a middle rating. It's not quite as light for a K, nor is it fitting of an M.
Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, I wouldn't be writing this.
Important Note: When reading the books, I envison completely different characteristics as far as looks go for Angelina, Alicia, and Katie. Well, mainly for Alicia and Katie, for I thought the actress who played Angelina (I forgot her name!) fit what was in my mind pretty well. Since this is fanfiction and it's my story, I might offer some descriptions that don't fit what the actresses look like in the movies. To give some better references I might try to come up with actresses that resemble what's in my mind. Enough rambling . . . onto the story!
Meanwhile at the home of Fred Weasley and Angelina Johnson
Fred Weasley and Angelina Johnson had been married for a little over two years. Angelina's name was legally Angelina J. Weasley, but since she had been professionally known as Angelina Johnson before marrying Fred, she decided to allow herself to be called by her maiden name by the public and the media. When she signed autographs or was in the presence of fans she was strictly Angelina Johnson, no questions asked.
Unlike George and Alicia, Fred and Angelina never began dating until Fred's last month at Hogwarts and were able to keep their relationship going despite Fred's hasty departure from Hogwarts with his brother before their Seventh Year was technically over.
They led a somewhat quiet life, something that surprised people who knew of Fred's prankster nature. They lived on the outskirts of Hogsmeade, something that reminded them of the times they had spent at Hogwarts and their Hogsmeade visits. Their home was not some huge, towering manor like many people of their status and worth seemed to favor, but more of a modest two-story four bedroom home. They had no children, nor did they plan on having any for at least another three years when Angelina was well established enough to risk having a child. Though, if it came down to a career or a family, she would easily pick a family.
Fred wasn't in any rush to have kids either. With Bill and Fleur's two children, George and Alicia's son, and with Ginny expecting, there was plenty of children around without them having their own. Not to mention that one of their closest friend's was pregnant as well.
They rarely discussed the matter of children until the night they had returned from talking with George, Alicia, and Oliver at George's house.
"Do you hate me?" Angelina suddenly asked Fred as they sat down to have a late dinner.
Fred, who had been sipping some firewhiskey, nearly choked on his drink and quickly swallowed the beverage. "What? Hate you? Ange, where is this coming from?"
"For delaying having kids. Everyone else all ready has kids or is expecting a child. Yet, here we are childless." The Holyhead Harpies Chaser looked across the medium sized square table to look her husband in the eyes.
"Angelina, of course not." He told her seriously. "We agreed that we would eventually have children, but that now wasn't the right time."
"I know, Fred, but I feel selfish holding off on children until I'm 'stable' in my career. What if I never reach that point? Quidditch is full of instabilities. We both know that." Angelina gingerly used her knife and fork to cut her steamed carrots into smaller portions and broke her eye contact with her husband as she slid a small piece onto her fork and into her mouth.
"Love, whenever you want to have children, we will. It doesn't matter if you decide tomorrow or two years from now." The ex-Gryffindor Beater insisted.
"It shouldn't be just when I want to have children. It's about the both of us. A decision we make together." Fred's wife insisted, setting her utensils down.
"I'm aware of that. And I have made the decision that any time you want to try for a baby, we will. Until then, we'll take the necessary precautions to make sure you don't get pregnant until the time is right." Fred told her seriously. Angelina hated making Fred serious, she loved it when they could just joke about and have a good time. But in the back of her mind she knew this was the crucial part of a marriage. Communication, both serious and not serious.
"What if I should accidentally get pregnant?" Angelina asked, her dark brown eyes illuminating and growing wide. "What would we do if I was pregnant and didn't know and I played a Quidditch match and lost the baby?"
"Ange, calm down. There is a slim to none chance of that happening." He set his own fork and knife down. "Don't worry about it so much, love."
Angelina nodded and the subject was closed. They ate in silence. Angelina resumed a nervous habit of eating all of her food in a counterclockwise manner, eating all of one food before moving onto the next.
"That was a great game against the Cannons the other day." Fred commented, referring to the Harpies' 340-120 victory over the Chudley Cannons. "Your new beater is getting along quite well with the rest of the team, I presume."
Angelina welcomed the topic change. "Yes, Clear has been performing in top form. It seems that her and Wilhelmina are the perfect match for each other in that position." Angelina added, referring to the Harpies new beater, Clear Armand, and their more experienced beater Wilhelmina van Bherin.
"Don't you have a match against the Falcons sometime soon?" Fred inquired lazily as he ate one last bite of his food.
"It's not for another two weeks and some odd days. The game against the Cannons was the last before our break." Angelina corrected. "Do you think Ron hates me now?" She let out a laugh. Fred's younger brother, Ron, was an avid supporter of the Chudley Cannons and had been gloating last year when the Harpies had been defeated by the Cannons, an upset to say the least.
"Well, to simply put it, I doubt he'll be walking around singing made up song about the victorious Cannons when he next comes to visit." Fred laughed.
Angelina and Fred exchanged a smile and the rest of the night passed without a flaw.
At the home of Katie Bell
Katie had been sitting on a sofa by a warm cackling fire for hours, reading her copy of The Daily Prophet. There weren't really any interesting columns to speak of. She glanced at the Quidditch standings and results of the past week. Puddlemere had clobbered Pride of Portree with a final score of 510 - 80. It was expected when Puddlemere United was ranked number one and Pride of Portree was ranked last. And it didn't surprise her than Oliver had only allowed eight goals either. He was an impeccable Keeper, and his skill had visibly grown since Hogwarts.
She saw that Angelina's team, the Holyhead Harpies, had gotten a 340 - 120 victory over the Chudley Cannons, and immediately began to wonder how many of those points had been scored by her former teammate. She glanced ahead, seeing that Puddlemere's next match was against the Kenmare Kestrels, a team that was quite good. The Harpie's next game was two weeks away versus the Falmouth Falcons, a team that consisted of some considerably tough players.
She scanned the paper until she laid eyes upon a headline she wished she would have never seen. Irish Finally Have a Chaser. Katie's breath caught as she began reading.
The much celebrated Irish international team, which last won the World Cup against Bulgaria in 1994, have finally found a replacement for deceased Chaser Kelly Graham, who died in a friendly match against England this past May. Euan O'Shea was finally named as a permanent member of the Irish squad after months of alternating Reserves Chasers in the vacant position. Euan is a 20 year old Ireland native who is a graduate of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was a member of the Ravenclaw House Team and was Captain of the team in his last year at Hogwarts. When asked if he was at all nervous about his debut friendly match against France, which is two days away, O'Shea commented, "Of course I'm nervous, you know. But with such superb Chasers as Sean Andrews (27)and Maura Delaney (30)I know that there will be other people out there with me so there isn't as much pressure."
When asked about the sudden death of the man who had formerly held the role as one of the Irish Chasers, O'Shea shunned the question. "Accidents happen in Quidditch. It's a sad thing. I had the privilege of watching Kelly Graham play a few times and I'm honored that the team and the managers would consider me to replace such an influential and brilliant player." When Sean Andrews was asked the same question, his answer was less kind.
"Kelly was my friend. My best friend. The fact of the matter is, he's dead. Everyone knows that. I don't see the point in continuously asking questions about his death, it only stirs things up all over again." When asked about former Prophet writer and widow of Kelly Graham, Katie Bell, Andrews became even more irritated. "Katie is going through a hard time. Leave her alone. People aren't going around asking you personal questions, now are they?" Andrews then left the premises before he could be asked any more questions.
Upon Andrews's departure, Aiden Lynch (Seeker/Captain)intervened and told the interviewer. "The questions are no longer professional, but personal, and the team would appreciate it if you left now." The interviewer, Crisodian Albright, obliged.
Katie tried her best not to cry at that point. "They just won't leave him alone." She told herself. She then looked down at her swollen belly. "They won't leave daddy alone." A single tear rolled down her left cheek and fell on the newspaper article, blotching the words 'sudden death' as if it was an omen. Katie didn't ignore the fact that Euan O'Shea's debut game against France was going to be held on September 16th. Kelly's birthday. Suddenly there was a loud clatter at her window. The recognizable sound of an owl pecking at the window.
So she didn't have to get up, Katie reached for her wand on the table and murmured a charm and flicked her wand, in turn opening the window and allowing the owl to fly in. It was a small tawny. Alicia's owl. The owl dropped the letter neatly in Katie's lap and flew along the high ceiling and landed in the opposite corner of the sitting room where there was some water and food that Katie kept for her owl.
Katie unfolded the letter and read Alicia's neat print. After reading in silence when the only noise and occasional hoot from Keres, Alicia's owl, Katie finally finished the letter.
She closed her eyes for a long while and the light of the fire danced upon her features and flickered shadows upon the opposite wall. She thought of the last time she had left the house, the day that her and a group of friends and family cast Kelly's ashes over the ocean and into the wind. She thought of the last time she had seen everyone together. For it had been ages since she had seen Alicia, Angelina, Fred and George at the same time. Not to mention little Alan.
She felt too tired to respond and decided upon writing Alicia back in the morning. She murmured a charm to light the lanterns in the room and the whole room became illuminated in a light, rather than just the little area around the fireplace. Katie cast a glance at the owl. It was making itself comfortable on her owl, Acacia's, perch.
Keres hooted and Katie gave it a look that the owl understood that it wouldn't be making a trip tonight. Katie gave another flick of her wand and the window shut and latched itself. She glanced at the clock on the mantle that read 9:45 PM. "It is too late for me to still be up." She decided and she was just getting up and was going to make her way to her room down the hall when there was a rap on her door. She froze mid-step. No one ever came to visit her. They knew that. They had to be invited. And she knew she hadn't invited anyone. Should she answer it? Should she not?
Katie decided that she couldn't just leave the person outside. She turned and walked the short distance to the front door. She hesitantly opened the door.
"Sean?" She looked at the tall, brown haired man standing before her. "What are you doing here?"
Sean's bright blue eyes danced about. "Katie, I'm really sorry to bother you this late. I just had the urge to check in on you. I hope you don't mind."
She did mind. He was invading her seclusion. He was breaking her no visitors rule. "No, it's ok." Her ever so polite nature took over.She moved out of the door way in a motion to invite him in. Once he was inside and she shut the door she sighed. "This is about the article that they ran in the Prophet isn't it?"
Sean visibly winced and frowned. "No, well in a way. I was hoping you wouldn't have gotten that."
"As a former employee I get a free subscription." Katie shrugged. "Why don't you come and sit down." She motioned towards the sitting room.
With a nod Sean Andrews followed Katie to the room and they both took a seat on the dark green plush sofa, each on opposite ends and facing each other. Once they were seated Sean shook his head. "Aiden tried to prevent them from running that part of the article. Both of us did to tell the truth."
"I don't doubt that you did, Sean. And I believe Aiden tried his best as well. But I worked for the Prophet, and they'll stop at nothing to run a story. No matter how unnecessary some comments may be." She slowly shook her head. "Bringing up his death was something that wasn't needed. They should have gotten their scoop on this Euan character and let that be it. Of course they want to sell papers. I'm shocked they didn't bring up the fact that Euan's debut will be on his birthday." She snapped bitterly, her light hazel eyes dancing with pent up anger.
Sean nodded in agreement. "I fear that would have been the next question directed at me. Therefor I left after that second question and Aiden put an end to the interview completely."
"Thank him for me." Katie stated simply.
"I shall." The Irish Chaser nodded along with his response. "How is the baby coming along?" He asked more brightly and with much more interest.
"Fine." Katie gave a small shrug. "A medi-wizard came and visited not to long ago and told me I was getting along quite well. He offered to tell me what the gender was, but I decided against it." Katie gave Sean a much needed smile. "I haven't thought of any names for either gender though."
"I'm sure that whatever you decide upon Kelly would have liked." Sean realized that he had said Kelly's name, something Katie hated to hear. He wanted to correct himself, but was too late for Katie had all ready began to respond.
At that, Katie looked towards the fire and added in a murmur. "Do you think he would have liked the name Connor?" She decided that if anyone knew the answer to this question it would be Sean.
"I'm sure he would have." Sean agreed honestly. "It sounds like something he would like."
"I'm not assuming it's a boy or anything, it's just an idea." Kelly's widow immediately added. "I haven't bothered to think of any girl names." She looked down. "I'm sure all this baby talk is boring you."
"No, it's not. It's good seeing you, Katie, honestly." The Irish Chaser told his deceased best friend's wife. "I would like to think that even though Kelly isn't around any more, that we are still friends in our own right."
"Yes. I think we could be friends. I mean, I think that we are friends." Katie corrected with a nod and a somewhat forced smile. "How is Lorna?" She politely asked of Sean's girlfriend, Lorna Otto, a popular poet in the wizarding world.
"She's been doing fine. Her latest collection of poems are about to be published. She's definitely very excited about that." Sean said, sounding quite excited about that himself.
Katie nodded. "That's good to hear." She said this as genuinely as possible, and then chose this as the time to ask Sean politely to leave. "At the mention of Lorna, I don't wish to keep you away from her for much longer." She said, feeling twenty years older than she was as she heard her own voice.
"It really isn't a problem for her if I come to see you, Katie." Sean insisted truthfully.
"I'm sure it isn't, Sean, but I think that it's best if I retire now." Even worse use of words, she mentally told herself, "I haven't had company in such a long time that I think this simple visit has caused me to become tired."
Sean stood, and as did Katie with some assistance from the Irishman. "It was a pleasure seeing you, Katie. I'm glad to see you are getting along ok."
"I manage." She answered briefly before giving Sean a small hug, using as much minimal contact as possible.
"If you ever feel like you want some company don't mind asking. I'm sure Lorna wouldn't mind seeing you either." Sean offered as he led the way back to the front of the house.
"I'll make sure to take you up on the offer if the situation presents itself." She lied cheerfully, a few strands of her dark brunette hair falling in her face as Sean opened the door and a small gust of wind blew through the house.
"Good night, Katie." Sean said as he grabbed his broom that he had came on.
"Same to you." She smiled and as he mounted his broom and flew off, she shut the door. And in that one motion she made a promise to herself that she would take Alicia up on her offer. She had shut herself up for long enough. She didn't want this to become her life. Kelly wouldn't want this to become her life.
Ok. We're making some progress now, dontcha think?
Apathetically Interested: Your comment about Alicia seemed to sum up exactly what I was aiming for in the sense that some chapters will show parts of the characters that they don't show to everyone. If that makes much sense. And it's good to know you're brother's birthdays are a lot happier than Kelly's!
Lia06: Hm. I wonder what it is about Alicia that you don't like? Whatever it is I hope you figure it out soon, though I'm not sure when the next Alicia-centric chapter will be. And I suppose weekly is a good time to update, though I'll probably end up updating whenever I get a chapter written, which can be in either an hour or four days.
TheBrassPotato: Food item of my choice? Oh yay! Not sure what my choice is quite yet, though. lol. And yes, I am hoping to avoid any type of monotonous content that would drag the story down, such as only focusing on one person.
Lady of Masbolle: Oh, it's not the length of the reviews that matter! I understand about the exams, I know my time is limited and chaotic whenever I have exams. And I get three 'lovely' comments about my stories? Wowza. I feel special! Thanks for the tip, also.
Sally: Thank you!
Spexy: No, you've never told me, but thank you so much for the compliment! It really means a lot to me! This type of story is a genre that I've never really worked on too hard with before, and I'm psyched at the sort of feedback I'm getting for it! See, now you've got me using an '!' at the end of every sentence! Hehe
Everyone, thank you so, so much for the support! Please keep on reading and dropping me a review!
-PiscesWeb25-