A/n: Hey, here's chapter 29! I hope you like it! And thanks to all my reviewers out there! I love you all!
Chapter 29
On the Train.
I can't do this. I really, really can't do this. I can't face all my friends and relatives. I just can't do it. I think I'm going to break down. This isn't good. I can't do this.
"I CAN'T DO THIS!" I screamed throughout the compartment on the train.
Alicia and George looked up from a book they were reading, Fred, Leanne, and Angelina looked up from their Exploding Snap game, and Debbie, Lee (who had his arms wrapped around me) stopped their conversation of fruit flies. Why they were talking about fruit flies, I'll never know.
"Are you alright?" Angelina asked, walking across the tiny compartment and sitting on my right side.
I started shaking like crazy. I wasn't cold or anything but I just started shaking.
"Katie, Katie, what's the matter?" Alicia was asking in a nervous voice. "Katie, what's wrong? Why are you shaking?"
"I can't do this guys," I said through chattering teeth. I think it's the nerves.
"Come on, Katie, I want to talk to you," Fred said, holding out his hand and helping me from the bunched up ball position that was lying on the bench in.
Fred grabbed my shoulders from the back and steered me into the compartment next door.
"Are you alright?" he asked sympathetically.
I nodded even though I could feel the hot tears springing in my eyes.
"No you're not," Fred said, putting an arm around my shoulders. "That's the first problem you've got. You can't be strong for your family, you've got to let it all out."
"I'm fine," I managed to croak.
"Katie?" His voice was low.
"What? I am?"
A tear fell from my eye. Fred raised an eyebrow at me.
"Okay, so I'm not. But that's okay, because not crying makes it go away," I said in a matter of fact voice.
"Where'd you hear that?" Fred asked.
"I… just sort of came up with it. I figured that if I didn't cry then there would be no problem."
"Oh, I hate to say this Katie, but you were so wrong," Fred said hugging me.
"What do you mean?"
"Katie, you have to cry. It's like the law," he was saying to me. It made sense… but then again… it didn't. "You can't let your emotions boil up inside of you like that."
"I've been doing pretty well so far," I sad darkly.
"Did you hear what you just said?" Fred asked in disbelief as if my little sentence proved his point. "You would never talk like that."
"What are you talking about, Fred?"
"I need you to do one thing for me," Fred said, pushing a piece of hair out of my face.
"What?"
"I need you to cry. Cry you're heart out, Bell," he said to me calmly. "Let it all out."
"I… I can't do that!"
"Why not?"
He was right. I needed to cry. Without it, I'd be a mess.
"Right now?" I asked with a sigh.
"Yes, and then we're going to talk about it," Fred said, hugging me again.
"Are you sure?" He nodded, sitting there. "Aren't you going to leave?"
"Moral support, Bell, moral support."
I cried into his shoulder for about half an hour and he just let me do it. There was no Weasley taunting or even a smirk so I knew he wasn't plotting something. He just let me cry and comforted me.
After about a half hour, I looked up, eyes red and puffy, and I wiped the tears on my sleeve.
"You good, Katie?"
"Yeah."
"You ready to talk?"
"Yup… I hope."
"Okay," Fred said, taking a deep breath. "What's bothering you the most?"
I thought for a minute and then said, "I just can't take the fact that she's gone. I'll never talk to her again. Never have her little annoying self randomly pop onto my shoulder. Never get any more threat letters about talking to Kevin. No more Christmas presents to Mum. No more warm hugs during the break. No more guilt trips for not coming home during the holidays. No more of anything." I sniffed then continued. "No more lectures about how I should be concentrating on school rather then playing pranks with you guys. No more heated arguments about me becoming a healer instead of a journalist or an Auror." I let that all sink in. "No more Mum."
"Katie, you still have your Mum. She'll always be here for you. You have her memories and her pictures and I bet your house smells like her, too." I smiled a little. "Not only that, but you've got your friends, and your brothers and sister, your Dad and as the years move on, we're still getting closer." He paused. "Not to mention all of your family will be helping you through this." He smiled. "And, if it makes you feel better, I'll take your Mum's Christmas presents if you'd like."
"In your dreams, Weasley," I said with a laugh. He was right though. There's a little bit of bad in good and good in all bad. My mum's gone but I'll be getting closer with my family.
He laughed and said, "Is there anything else you want to talk about?"
"I know I may not have liked her, but I certainly loved her. She was my mum but I don't know if she got the message. I was just being a brat. A little brat. I never told her anything. I always implied that she should just go bugger off. I don't think she realized that I loved her so much," I said. Tears are my weakness. They always come back for more.
"Katie, I'm absolutely positive that she loved you and that she knew that you loved her," Fred said.
"But how can you know for sure?"
"There's always love in some hate, Katie. Believe me."
I slowly nodded and looked at the watch that was resting on his wrist. It was three twenty. We'd be at King's Cross in two and a half hours. My stomach tensed up.
"Come on, let's get back to the others," Fred said, grabbing my arm and helping me up.
We walked out of the compartment and back into the one we were originally in.
"What were you guys doing for an hour?" Debbie asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Talking," I said as Fred said, "Listening to Katikens complaining" I looked
over at him and sent away a glare.
"Hey, you said to complain," I said, slightly annoyed that he was annoyed that I was complaining.
"I'm just kidding, Katie, sheesh. Take a joke," Fred said, plopping down with Angelina.
I went back to my spot next to Lee.
"I'm glad you guys came," I said, looking at each of them in turn. "I can barely handle this now. Can you imagine what would happen if I had to do it by myself?"
"We're always here for you, Katie," Alicia said with a reassuring smile.
"And even if we weren't invited we would have came," Lee said with a laugh. The sad thing is, they would have, too. They all would have snuck onto the train and went with me. Probably would have put Alicia in a suitcase because she could fit and the twins would … I don't know… transfigure themselves into statues or suits of armor or something.
"Yeah, I know you guys would," I said smiling.
We basically just sat there talking about what we were going to do after Hogwarts… that is a pretty depressing topic actually. I blame Alicia for bringing it up. I think she just likes to depress us…. Maybe not.
We got to the train station where I saw my dad, my sister Emily, and my brother Joey, each clinging to one of my dad's hands. They were the only people in the whole platform. It was eerie.
Me, Lee, Angelina, Alicia, Fred, George, Debbie, and Leanne all slowly walked off the train. It was an awkward silence actually. I felt Lee's hand slide into mine for support I'm assuming and a couple hands on my shoulder which I'm assuming was Alicia and George.
"Hello, Katie," my dad in the business like voice he always has when I talk to him. He didn't show any facial expressions. No sadness, no happiness, no fear, nothing.
I looked at my friends and then to my dad. "Hi Dad."
"KATIE!" Joey squealed. I don't think I've ever actually described my brother or sister to you… erg notebook. He's a short one (But then again who isn't in this family?) with short spiky blonde hair and dark skin. I don't know how he got such dark skin… but he did.
"Hey Joey," I said as he wriggled from my dad's grip and ran over to me. After jumping onto my and causing me to fall back into the twins and Debbie, Emily slowly walked over. She was always the favorite, I swear. She was the smart one. Always got good grades. Always polite. Me? I kick people's butts and get detentions and barely make it through school. Eh, oh well. She's eleven and it going to Hogwarts next year. Fun, fun.
"Hey Katie," she said, blushing and glancing up at Fred. What is it with him and getting all the girls? Ha, I guess my sister doesn't count now does it….
"Hey Emily," I said as she hugged my and part of Lee's arm. Silly Emily.
"You kids ready?" my Dad asked, his voice echoing through the empty platform.
I looked at all of my friends and nodded. He charmed our suitcases and put them in the trunk of a tiny car. I looked at him after he motioned for us to get into the small car.
"How are we all going to fit, Mr. Bell?" Alicia asked uncertainly.
"It's charmed."
My dad's being really quiet… it's kind of weird. I gave Alicia a sorry look for my dad and we all piled into the spacious car.
After an awkwardly silent car ride, we arrived in front of my two-story light blue house. It didn't feel like home knowing that Mum wasn't going to be inside when I walked in … doing whatever it is that she does.
We all walked out of the car and grabbed out trunks. I looked down to see Joey at my knees, tugging on my pants. He's short but he's taller then my knees. He was sitting in the grass.
"Joey," I whined (I'm not the best sister). "Get up. You're going to get all dirty."
"You dropped this, Katie," Joey said, picking up a small cardboard box. I looked at it for a second.
"That's not mine," I said, about to turn as he stood up.
"Is too!"
"Is not!"
"It's got your name on it!"
"What?"
"Look! Katherine Anne Bell."
So it does. I've never seen the box before. Joey handed it to me. Once it touched my fingers, loads of colors came from the box and I was surrounded in a bubble. I looked around but no one noticed anything weird was happening.
"Katie?" The voice shocked me. It couldn't be….
I spun around so fast that I thought I gave myself whiplash.
"Mum?"
There she was. Standing there in her floral yellow skirt and white turtleneck. She was smiling but there was a tear in her eye.
"Yes, Katie. It's me," Mum said. I think I'm dieing. Or going insane. "This is one of my inventions. It captures a moment in time. Just five minutes. And then you're back to where you started. Of course, you'll remember this but the ones outside the bubble won't."
"But… but how?" I asked. "You…you're dead."
"Well, I know that Katherine," Ghost-Mum said, putting her hands on her hips. "But I wanted to take some time and spend it with my oldest daughter." I smiled and felt the tears come. "I saw you, you know. At school. I wanted to blow up the ministry when I saw what they sent you to inform you of… well you know."
"You're not the only one," I said grimly. "My friend Madison wrote a letter to them. And she's very good with rudeness."
"Yes, I saw that too. I saw how upset you were. And I saw… I saw you on the train." Mum was crying now too. I hugged her. "You thought… you thought that I didn't know that you loved me. But I knew. It's like mothers intuition. And I love you very much. I always will. I wanted to make sure you wouldn't… forget me."
"Of course I won't forget you! How could I? You popped onto my shoulder every day!" I smiled. This was unreal. I get to see my mom… but only for another minute. Just sixty more seconds. I started to cry.
"Don't be sad, dear. I'll always be with you in spirit," Mum said, wrapping an arm around me. "And I'll always be in your head. It's a mother daughter thing. And you still have all of your friends and Dad!"
"Yeah… but you won't be here," I sniffed.
"But I will be."
"I'm going to miss you Mum."
"I love you, Katie," she whispered, kissing my hair.
"I love you too, Mum."
She got fuzzy and her outline started to fade away. That was the last time I ever got to talk to her.
"One last thing," I heard her voice echo. "Keep Lee! He's a nice young boy!"
I laughed through my tears and smiled as the bubble around us faded away and she was gone. More tears came and everyone was looking at me.
"Katie, what's wrong?" Lee asked from behind me.
"Didn't… didn't you guys see that?" I asked, confused. How could they miss being pushed to the side because of a humongo bubble and my Mum appearing so that she could talk to me?
"Are you alright, Katie?" Leanne asked from my left side.
"How could you not…." I started but I left the sentence hanging there. It came back to me. Of course, you'll remember this but the ones outside the bubble won't. "Nothing. Sorry guys, I'm being weird." I wiped the tears away and walked inside my house.
Lee slipped an arm around my waist and kissed my cheek. "You're always weird, Bell."
I punched him in the stomach. He did that cough grunt thing. Whoops. It must be my chaser skills.
"I think that's more abusive then weird," Fred said with a wink as he walked passed us, my sister at his heels.
Emily's going to stalk Fred. Oh dear.
We all walked into the house and set our trunks down on the floor. Everyone was looking around the house.
"KATIE DEAR! I'M SO SORRY!" I heard someone scream from the next room.
"Oh, Merlin," I muttered as my Aunt Tilda (yes her name is Tilda) came running into the entranceway. She was a rather short plump woman with thick curly gray hair and piercing blue eyes. Aunt Tilda ran (well wobbled…) over to me and put me into a suffocating hug. I could hear the twins sniggering from the side of me. "Can't breathe," I somehow managed to mutter.
"Oh, Katie dear. I'm so sorry about your mother," Aunt T cried. She was my Mum's aunt. Oy. "She was such a nice woman." I patted her awkwardly on the head, making a face towards my friends to help me.
"AUNT T!" I heard Joey yell from in front of me and the sobbing lady. Poor poor Joey. He is now about to be smothered.
"OH! JOEY!" she cried.
I took in a huge gasp of air and turned to find my dad. Once I spotted him in the kitchen, I instructed the others to stay here while I talked to him.
"Dad?" I asked when I walked into the kitchen. He looked up from the soda he was drinking. "Are you okay?" I asked hesitantly.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said with a smile. It looked forced.
I gave him the 'I'm not buying it' look. But I continued what I came to do besides check up on my dad. "Where are we all sleeping?"
He looked up at me again. "In your room."
"All of us?"
He nodded. "Why not?"
"Well, there's me, Alicia, Angelina, Debbie, Leanne, Fred, George, and Lee," I said, emphasizing the guys names. No dad in their right mind would let three guys stay in a room with five girls, two of which the girls are dating the guys and one likes the other. It's just… pure insanity!
"You'll all fit," he said glumly. My. Jaw. Dropped. I slowly walked out of the kitchen. Obviously my mother's death took a spin on him.
I walked up to the others who were standing there talking. "I'll show you guys where you're staying." They went to pick up their trunks but I stopped them. They looked at me funny. "Chico will get them."
"You called Madam Bell?" came the rough voice of the houses house elf, Chico.
"Do you mind taking these up to my room in a few minutes, Chico?" I asked politely. I hate disrespecting my house elf. He may only be a few feet tall… but he could take me. He's a buff house elf. Very strong.
"Not at all ma'am," he said. "I'll do it as soon as I'm done watering the garden."
"Thanks Chico," I said, smiling at the little elf. He walked off and I turned to my friends. "Come on guys. I'll show you the room we're staying in."
They just kind of nodded and followed me up the stairs and to the end of the hall.
We walked into my room. It was white and not very creative. Just a few pictures of us from Hogwarts on the walls. But not too many. My curtains were pink (I've had them since I was a baby… so sue me) and I had a twin size bed with a white comforter. I know, I know. This isn't the Katie Bell that you're used to. And apparently neither are they.
"Pink!" Lee shouted, howling with laughter.
"Shut up, Jordan," I said.
"What's with the princess bed?" George asked, poking it.
"It's not a princess bed!"
"Holy books!" Leanne said in awe, walking over to my bookshelf.
"I like to read."
"Dear diary, today was fantastic," Fred started reading threateningly. He found a diary on my desk.
"Go head, it's my sisters."
He groaned and put it down.
"What are these?" Debbie asked, picking up a stack of letters.
"I keep all of your letters."
"Speaking of letters," Alicia said, pointing to my bedroom window. There was a black owl out there with orange feathers. I think they were dyed!
"Whose owl's that?" Angelina asked, opening the window allowing the owl to fly in.
"I don't know," I said, taking the letter off it's leg. "But it's addressed to me."
"It's only your house, Katie," Lee said sarcastically. He was never one for sarcasm.
"Well," I said defensively. "It could have been to one of you guys!"
"Open it!" Leanne begged. I looked at her and then tore open the top of the envelope. There was a pink piece of parchment in there. I opened it and out fell a dried rose.
Dear Katie,
It's Madison. We just wanted to check up on you guys. We knew about the funeral being tomorrow and wanted to make sure that you were okay. You seemed really upset when we left. But it's nice to be back home. Everyone was questioning us about what it was like there at Hogwarts. They were amazed when I told them that the staircases moved. All the girls here are jealous of the girls there. They say you've got a lot of good looking guys. And they're- Urgh, Daniel wants to talk.
(Ink Blot) KATIE! How's life been since we left? Boring, am I right? I should be! Nothings more exciting then life with Daniel! And Madison and Abigail of course. People were amazed at all of the good-looking gals there at Hogwarts! I have skills when it comes to video taping our random events. My mate Evans wanted to owl you sometime. I told him he could but you'd kick his butt because of the you and Lee thing. Abby wants to talk.
Hey Katie! It's Abigail! In case you didn't know… I'm not sure if you could read Daniel's handwriting. If you can than it's a miracle. Our headmaster wanted us to thank you for letting us stay. I had a feeling none of the others would remember and guess what? I was right! Good luck with the funeral tomorrow! I wish we could be there to support you through it. We asked Mr. Myers (the headmaster) if we could go. He looked at us as if we were crazy. But, here's a flower. Put it on her grave for us? Thanks
They're such quill hogs. ARE NOT! He bit me to write that. What a loon. (Tear in paper.) I've taken over. The two are fighting at the moment. It's very interesting. Oh! Madison just stepped on Daniel's foot! And she's wearing stilettos! Anyway, write back soon Katie! Bye!
BYE!
BYE KATIKENS!
Lurve,
Daniel, Abigail, and Madison
P.S. Tell everyone we said hi!
I laughed all through that. "That was quite an interesting letter, wasn't it?" I asked the others after reading it out loud.
"We should write back," Alicia said suddenly.
"We should," I agreed with an evil smile.
I pulled a piece of parchment out from my dresser drawer and took out some quills. This is what we came up with.
Dear Madison, Abby, and Daniel,
Katie here. I loved the letter. It was insanely amusing. Madison, you shouldn't step on Daniel's feet in stilettos! Try soccer cleats. Daniel, tell Evan's that I'll consider him in the future. (Ink Blot) Maybe not, Lee poked me numerous times for that one. Damn right I did. That would have been Lee. He's such a weasel. I miss you guys a lot! I wish you could be here! I'm better then the night when you left, that's for sure. That was a horrible day. Ouch! Angelina's poking me. Here she is.
Hey guys! For your information, I did not poke her. I merely prodded her with my pointer finger! DID NOT! Ha, I bet she doesn't realize what she just yelled did not to. That's Katie for you. How are you guys doing? Ouch, Madison, how can you wear stilettos? That hurts! Daniel, have Evans give me a ring. Ha, just kidding. I've got someone else in mind. Ouch, Fred's turn.
Hello there. Tis your Irish friend whose from England… Fred! You know you missed my witty sense of humor. HA! Humor! Riiiight. Angelina's delusional. Daniel, don't get squished by stilettos! What were you thinking? Why were they amazed that the staircases moved…? Don't yours? Bloody hell, Alicia just bit me for the quill.
Hey guys! It's Alicia. And I did not bite him. I wanted to talk … well write to you guys. But who needs specifics really? How are you all doing? I know it's only been a few days but it's lonely here without you guys. Just to let you know, I just received many smacks to the head because of that. Be glad you're worth my pain. Oh, and Daniel, I've still got bruises from you dropping that bloody camera on my knee!
Oh sweet Merlin! Alicia said bloody. I think it's a sign of the apocalypse! It's George just to let you guys know. Nice fireworks when you left. Very creative and memorable if I do say so myself. Abigail, stand up to those nuts and partay like it's nineteen ninety four! Oh wait, it is! (A/N: I shouldn't be wrong… because of the New Year…) Ha, just imagine you dancing with a lamp shade on your head.
I took the quill from George before he got any creepier then he already was. But still… you on a table with a lampshade. Nah, I couldn't see that. With a book… maybe. It's Lee in case you hadn't figured that one out. The castle's been kind of quiet without you guys here. But then again… it is dark times… How's life in the land down under?
It's Debbie. Remember me? I was one of Katie's friends. Well, not was seeing as I am still one of them… but am. I just wanted to write and say that Daniel should tell Evans that I'll take him. Insert wink here. But anyway, we miss you guys. You must come back to visit sometime soon.
And last but not least… in other words saving the best for last it's Leanne. I just wanted to check up on you mates. Don't worry, we'll give out extra moral support for Katie since you guys aren't here. We'll take good care of her. But, I agree with Debbie. Come back to visit soon!
You love my friends, don't you? Ha, well they're all right. You need to come back soon. Well, not completely right… I don't think you should dance on a table with a lampshade on your head. I don't even know how the table got in there. Anyway, write back!
Love,
Katie, Angelina, Fred, Alicia, George, Lee, Debbie, and Leanne.
We sent the letter off to our Australian buddies. I think they'll be in for a surprise once they receive it though.
"So where are we all sleeping?" George asked after we all watched the owl fly out of the window with the long letter attached to its leg.
"Er, in here," I said uncertainly.
Alicia looked up in shock.
"All of us?"
"Yeah, that's what my dad said," I said with a half smile.
"You're dad is crazy," Leanne said, running a hand through her hair.
"Tell me about it," I said with a smile.
Before the Funeral
My hands are all shaky. Like… really shaky. I had the creepiest dream last night and I woke up screaming… waking up everybody in the room. They weren't too happy. But after a little complaining they ended up getting me to be quiet (not by hitting me over the head with a lamp either) and I eventually fell back to sleep around four.
I was fidgeting around with the hem of my black skirt and checking my hair at random times.
"Katie, you look fine, don't worry," Angelina said reassuringly from behind me.
"It's not how I look, it's just the nerves," I said in a quiet voice. I could barely talk.
"Don't worry about it. We're all here to help you through this, remember?" Angelina asked quietly. Whoa, Angelina's never quiet.
"Yeah, but I'm still nervous… and do I look okay?" I asked.
Angelina laughed. "Yes, Katie, you look fine. How many times do I have to tell you that?"
"Hm… I'm not sure," I said, trying to laugh… but it was hard. I don't think you're supposed to laugh on funeral days… or are you? Because laughing… would be mean… but it would make other people feel better. Gah, stupid rules of life. But then again… who likes to follow the rules?
Angelina smiled and said, "You'll do fine, kid."
"You sound like my dad."
"You know, I try to give out words of wisdom or whatever but I sound like your dad. Argh, remind me never to become a psychiatrist," Angelina complained. It was funny actually.
"Ang, if you ever become a psychiatrist you'd end up killing your patients," I said with a laugh. Yay for breaking rules and laughing. Whoot!
"Angelina killed who's pants?" I heard Fred ask as he walked back into my room. He was trying to do up his tie but it wasn't working seeing as it was one of those long ties and he had it tied in a bow….
"Pants? Where do you get pants from?" I asked uncertainly as Angelina walked over to Fred and attempted to fix his tie, which, at this point, was unfixable.
"You said 'Ang if you ever become a psychiatrist you'd end up killing your pants'," Fred said with a smile.
"Try patients. How would she kill her pants?" I said, standing in front of the mirror, still making sure I looked okay. So, I'm nervous. Bite me.
"She could set them on fire or something…" Fred said uncertainly.
"Right, Fred, you just keep on thinking that," I head Alicia say from the bathroom. She was doing her hair and boy is it taking her a long time.
Funeral
I can't pay attention to what everyone's saying. I keep zoning out. I mean, I know it's mean and all… but I can't help it. They're just saying nice stuff about my Mum. I mean, they left out everything about her being a Vegas hooker. Just kidding… but still. My Mum wasn't always nice… so they just keep repeating everything.
"She was a good woman, very kind, funny, pretty, smart," my Uncle Rick was saying. Then he sniffed loudly into the microphone given to him. "There was a time when she was nine and I was seven and she decided it would be funny if I ate a handful of mud… Mum wasn't too pleased but she didn't get in trouble for it. Dad got her off the hook.
I heard people sniffling and laughing at that. It brought tears to my eyes knowing that my Mum had a devious side and made Uncle Rick eat mud.
All of my friends were surrounding me. It was like I had seven bodyguards. Behind all of us was my Dad, brothers, sister, and Emily. Isn't it weird how my sister and my brother's girlfriend have the same name? That'd creep me out…. Anyway, David was hopping around like crazy. I don't think he knew what was going on.
My Dad, Kevin, and I all had to say a few things. When it was my turn, I got very, very pale and someone had to walk me over to the thingy where I had to say what I was about to say. I gulped and read off of a piece of paper I had.
"Mum… was a crazy person. She used to be a hippie in my opinion but then she had a family and settled down a bit," I started. "She used to pop onto my shoulder all the time. She'd give me advice… and then wonder why I was in the hospital wing so much." I heard people laugh. "If she wasn't so stubborn, this never would have happened." I smiled at my Dad. "But I wouldn't want her any other way… ish." More laughs. Merlin, I'm good at this. "I know that she loves all of us because that's just the kind of person that she was…is…er… was?" I looked out into the gathering of people and saw that my friends were giving me confident smiles. I went on. "She used to judge me a lot. On the people that I hand out with, that is. But do you think I listened to her? Nope. I was the bad child that liked to disobey her… now I wish I hadn't. But things happen. Like this. I think this was how it was meant to be. I wish it didn't have to happen this way… but it did. Er… thank you?" I looked around, not sure of what to do now so I reached inside of the bag I brought up there with me, took out a thing of lilies and placed them on her grave, then I took out the dried rose and put it on there and lastly I put on two daisies from David and Emily.
After I walked off of the platform thing, I felt a tear fall from my eye. I reached my gaggle of friends and they all turned into a mob and hugged me, saying that my speech was great and that they were proud of me.
After the funeral
I guess you could call this the after party. Except it's not really a party. It's more of a gathering of everyone so that they don't run out of shoulders to cry on.
Once the funeral ended, we walked back to my house and set up some food for everyone. I was mobbed by all seven of my aunts (on each side mind you) and four uncles. They kept coming up crying and saying what a great job I did. Then they would have me a cousin to watch. To make matters worse, all of us were put on babysitting duty. Do you know how many cousins that is? Thirteen. Thirteen cousin's all together! And that's just the mini ones!
They put us in the basement. It was carpeted with a bunch of board games and a TV. I'm part muggle you have to remember. It was chaotic.
"KATIE!" screamed Isabella. She was four… and very loud.
"What Isabella?" I asked, trying to get Aaron from pulling my hair… he's only one… but Aaron loves hair.
"Watch this!" she screamed. I didn't get to watch it because Susan and Jordan ran in front of me and then the twins were trying to chase them down. But I did hear a loud crash.
"Isabella what did you do?" I screamed, handing Aaron over to Alicia who was trying to feed Sammy.
"Shoe's can fly!" she yelled happily. Oh no.
"What can shoe's fly into?" I asked as calmly as I could as Leanne tried to chase down the twins. Not Fred and George. Collin and Chris. They're seven and very, very hyper children.
"Fish tanks!" she said happily, pointing to the huge fish tank that was now leaking water all over the place.
"Merlin," I said, putting a hand to my forehead and pulling out my wand. Psh, forget underage wizardry. There's other witches here… it was one of them, I swear. "Reparo!" The whole in the fish tank was fixed but there was less water. I filled it back up and turned back to everyone else.
Fred was being occupied by Emily but he was trying to keep Chris from hitting Hydie who was about five.
"Katie, your cousins are insane!" Debbie shouted over all of the noise. She was trying to get Tony, Isabella's brother, to drink his bottle.
"Yes, yes they are," I said, looking around the room. I saw Collin, Isabella, and Jordan jumping up and down on Lee.
"Tenga su voi tre! Smetta di ucciderlo!" I yelled to them. I told them to stop killing Lee. All of my friends stopped and looked up at me. "Did I ever mention that I know Italian?" I asked with a small smile.
"No, you left that little thing out," George said. Everyone started laughing.
"Sorry," I said with a small smile. I turned back to Collin, Isabella, and Jordan. "You heard me! Stop killing him!" My hands were on my hips. Ha.
The three, who could fluently speak Italian seeing as they live in Italy, stopped jumping immediately.
"My girlfriend can yell at me in Italian…" Lee said aloud. I punched his shoulder.
"Don't even go there, Mr." I said with a laugh. I handed him my cousin, Travis. "Keep an eye on him for me. I've got to go discipline the little ones." He nodded and started playing with Travis.
I walked over to Collin, Isabella, and Jordan. They were sitting in the corner. "Guys, you know you're not supposed to jump on people. You could have hurt him very badly you know."
"I know, Katie," Isabella said with a frown.
"You promise me you won't do it again?"
"We promise," the three said in union.
"Good. Do you want to watch a movie?"
"YEAH!"
Merlin. I think they popped my freaking eardrum!
After poking my ear for a minute, I turned back to them and said, "Which one?"
The jumped up and ran to the TV where we had all these little kids movies. The picked one out and put it in the VCR. After finally getting the kids calm, we started it and all twenty-one of us sat on the over sized couch. That's a lot of kids just to let you know.
A/N: Holy long chapter! Well, I thought it was long. I tried to put more of Katie's nerves in it and everything. I don't know if I did such a good job. Eh… But yeah, she has a huge family and got stuck babysitting all of the kids. As for the Italian thing? Ha, I was like… I want her to yell in a different language! So I chose Italian. Ehe. Sorry if it's not translated right… I used free translations… so I'm just assuming. :p well, I hope you liked the chapter! Please review! Which reminds me!
DIGITAL FRUIT BASKET! You know you love my skill.
Review!
-Snuffles
