Chapter 3: We Meet Again

25 August 1994

Devon, England

It was entirely too warm of an August in Kat's opinion. Then again, most of the uncomfortable warmth was likely being caused by the multitude of people crammed into one area. There had to be thousands in the throng outside the giant stadium that had been built for the Quidditch World Cup. Kat wove through the crowds of elated witches and wizards with as calm an expression as she could manage. It had been weeks since she had been around this many people and she was still adjusting to it. She had gone from Russia to Egypt to England, and that was enough of shifting to set anyone back on their heels. Add to that the fact that her muggle land-lord had chosen to raise her rent significantly due to her frequent "business trips" and even by her standards it had been an exciting few weeks back. Not willing to pay the exorbitant price the muggles were asking, she had politely declined and moved out. Luckily Kat's mum lived in London, with work in Diagon alley and had offered her up a spare room. Kat accepted, but only until she could arrange new lodgings for herself, she insisted.

"Tea's ready, Kat!"

Kat's mother's voice shook her out of her reverie. Standing and stretching, Kat realized that it was now past four and that she had been staring out the window at the bustling London traffic for well over two hours. Stiff and still stretching, Kat made her way down the narrow stairs of her mom's townhouse. Her mother was in the living room, pouring tea into two well-worn cups from the teapot that Kat had given her three years past at Christmas. Smiling at the memory, Kat ran a hand through her mussed hair and sat down.

"Thanks again for letting me crash here, mum."

Laura Mae Lockehaven was a lovely witch of middle-age with ebony hair now streaked silver in taut braids that she bound back at her neck. Her skin was rich and dark and only faintly marked with lines, and those from smiling more than anything else. She had passed on to her daughter a refined nose and full lips and between herself and Kat's father had blessed Kat with a tawny complexion and entrancing eyes. As a child, her features had looked out of place, but as a grown woman, it made Kat look elegant and graceful. Looking at her daughter, it was hard to imagine the lovely woman before her had once been the bouncy, adventurous little mass of curls she had coached through potions years ago.

"You know you're always welcome, Kit Kat."

Kat smiled at the familiar nick-name and picked up her tea, taking a sip as she noted an envelope beneath her saucer. "What's this, mum?"

Laura's eyes twinkled and her lips curved up in a mischievous smile as she sipped her tea. "It's for you, darling. Why don't you open it up?"

Curious, Kat took another sip of her tea and set the cup down, picking up the envelope. From it she withdrew a letter and... A ticket. Kat studied it for a moment, her eyes going wide. "Mum, this is a ticket to the world cup!"

"Oh, is it? Fancy that." Winking, her mum took an innocent drink of tea, her eyes sparkling with mirth as Kat flipped open the note.

"Mistress Lockehaven,

A thousand thanks for your swift attention to the damages to our team's brooms, you are the best of witches. Wish us luck!"

Aidan Lynch

"You repaired the Irish National Team's brooms?"

Grinning proudly, Laura nodded. "Aye, I did. Finished them just a week before you came home from Egypt. And I thought, who do I know who loves Quidditch? Hmmmm, Kat loves Quidditch!"

They both laughed and Kat set the envelope down to hug her mother across the couch. "Thanks mum, you're the best."

Looking up at the cacophony of red and green battling for attention in the area, she pulled herself back to the here and now, and waved off a vendor attempting to sell huge green top-hats with spinning shamrocks. The World Cup was not somewhere she had expected to be a week ago, it had been a surprise to her, but one that filled her with anticipation and excitement.

Kat wasn't fazed by be threats or worries over security and other such rubbish that had been floating about the papers, she had faced worse in her time as a curse breaker. No, what unnerved her was the crowds. The swarms of people. Her fear turned out to be well justified as she looked over the thousands of attendees and saw a good-humored couple helping a young wizard who had been haphazardly flying too low up from where he had crashed his broom. Making her way back to her site, the narrow strip she had reserved for her tent, Kat marveled that so many thousands of witches and wizards could come together for something as simple as a game, and yet seemed unable to work together on many more important matters. She was nearly to her tent, straddling the two team's lines, when she heard her name being called out. Nonsense, there had to be a good dozen or more other witches here with the same name. Shrugging it off as paranoia, Kat continued toward her tent.

"I see you Kat McCullough, you can't run from me!"

Kat spun around, her eyes scanning the crowd for the face to match the familiar voice. It brought with her the memory of sand and heat and crisp cool well-water...and many even more dangerous thoughts. Still processing the odds, Kat watched as Bill Weasley shrugged and shouldered his way through the crowds of people toward her. His grin was luminous and contagious, infecting Kat as well, who smiled as he came nearer.

"Bill! What a surprise!"

She had scarce gotten the greeting out when he lunged at her, enfolding her in a strong, warm hug as he laughed, picking her up from the ground and spinning her in a circle. Kat's eyes were wide in shock at the unexpected greeting. His arms were tight on her waist in a far too enjoyable way and his hug drew her body flush against his, raising a blush to her cheeks as he set her down. Kat nervously tucked a stray hair behind her ear as Bill gave her back the ability to breathe along with the challenge of trying to banish the memory of the firmness of his body against hers.

"I didn't expect to see you here, how long have you been back?" Bill's eyes were bright with excitement and adrenaline and Kat couldn't help but smile despite her nerves. He was just as handsome as she had remembered. She pushed the tempting thought away. Now was not the time to be mentally salivating over Bill Weasley, no matter how much she wanted to.

"Couple of weeks, I'm staying in London, you?"

"Oh, I'm not back yet." He winked mischievously, making Kat laugh.

"Well, Mr. Not Back Yet, would you care to come to my tent for a drink, or would you prefer to stay out here and be trampled?"

"Not too fond of being trampled, drinks it is! Lead the way, Milady."

Kat snorted at his response and turned, leading them through the crowds toward her tent. Surprising her even more, Bill reached out and took her hand. She glanced back at his hand, wrapped securely around hers then looked up at him, their eyes locking.

"Last time I blinked and you were gone, I'll not let you go quite so easily this time."

Kat blushed and turned away, walking between two arguing fans, Bill's hand keeping a tight hold on hers. They reached her tent and she flicked her wand, the flap opening for them to duck in. She was suddenly glad that she had listened to her mother and taken the time to clean her tent before coming. The residual sand and debris were gone and she had replaced the carpet on the floor with a fresh one of deep green that made it seem like grass. The bed visible toward the back was made up with a new mattress and a soft coverlet of saffron yellow. In the front, there were two over-stuffed chairs, much more comfortable than the narrow folding ones that had occupied her tent previously, on either side of a modest dark-wood table.

Bill followed Kat in and looked around in amusement. "Decide the sand was too much?"

Kat untangled her hand from Bill's and walked to the back of the tent, pulling out two glasses and filling them before handing one to him with a wry smile. "Just needed a change. Sand is fabulous, but carpet is far more comfortable."

Taking the glass, Bill took a drink and helped himself to a chair. "I could argue that, but then, we both remember how comfortable Egypt was."

"Scorpions and all." Kat chuckled and sat down. It puzzled her how easily she could relax around Bill. Puzzled her, and scared her all at once. But avoiding Bill Weasley, as she had at Hogwarts, seemed no longer possible. And Kat found that her conviction to avoid him grew less and less every time they talked. Bill sat up and leaned forward in his chair, looking at Kat with a mock-serious expression.

"So, what brings you to this fine over-crowded, insanely loud, random field in the middle of August, Miss McCullough?"

Kat rolled her eyes at his playing and sat back. "I'm here to see the World Cup, Mr. Weasley, and you?"

Bill fell back into his seat with a gasp. "Of all the imaginable coincidences! I'm here to see the World Cup as well!"

Laughing, Kat kicked at Bill, who deftly caught her leg, his face suddenly serious. He kept his grip on her ankle as he set his cup aside. "You left so suddenly...I thought something was wrong. That I had offended you somehow."

Setting aside her cup, Kat pulled her foot from his grip. "You didn't."

"Then what, Kat? Why leave like that? You were just...gone."

Three days they categorized the dig. Bill and Kat worked for ridiculous hours, pouring through everything. The vault they had opened was enormous. It was at the end of the third day that Kat decided to leave. They were sitting by the fire, just the two of them as the others had all long since retired to their tents. They had taken out a blanket and laid it on the still-warm sand and sat side by side, talking about their finds.

"It's amazing...who knows Kat, one more dig, and we could find so much. The last scrolls from Alexandria, the histories of the ancient mages, and then when we get tired of the sand we'll go north..."

"And promptly freeze to death." Kat laughed, "I just left Russia, Bill. I think I'll enjoy some warm climates before I go back to the ice and snow, thank you very much."

"The tropics then, we'll search for pirate treasure-" Bill reached out and put an arm around Kat, drawing her closer to him as he went on about the adventures they would have. His motion snapped Kat out of her complacency and brought into sharp reality what was happening. This was Bill Weasley. He was her weakness...she couldn't lose focus around him, she wouldn't survive it when he left, what had she been thinking?

Kat moved to pull away and jumped as, when she moved, a scorpion crawled onto the corner of the blanket. Her wand was in her hand faster than you could say Olivanders, and she aimed at the tiny threatening creature.

"Wingardrium Leviosa!"

The little beast rose into the air and Kat deftly flicked her wand, sending it soaring far away from them over the dunes.

"Oh, come now, he was kind of cute-"

Kat turned to glare at him. "William Weasley, scorpions are not cute."

Kat let the memory slip away. She had packed her things that night and been gone by sunrise the next day. As she thought on it, she realized what it must have seemed like to him. "I thought it best, William. You had your dig, I'd completed my mission, I left you to it, and there was no offense."

Bill studied her intensely, his eyes flickering across her expression. "Forgive me, generally when a man and a woman are fine one minute and the next moment the woman vanishes...it generally translates to mean that the man has done something idiotic to cause it."

Taken aback, Kat shook her head. This couldn't be happening. "No-that is, we're colleagues, Bill. I never meant to hurt you. I didn't realize you'd take my leaving that way, if anything, I thought you'd be relieved."

"Relieved, Kat? Surely you know me better than that."

Kat's heart was racing...he was genuinely hurt. That was never her intention. On the contrary, she didn't think she could be capable of inflicting such a wound upon him. The Bill she knew and remembered was hard as nails and confident enough to take anything in stride, perhaps she didn't know him as well as she had assumed she did. Reaching out, she touched his hand gently. "Bill, I'm sorry. I was stupid...I didn't think. Please believe me, I never meant to hurt you."

Bill turned her hand over, wrapping his around it as he looked over at her. "Kat...No matter what happens, ever. I don't want you to leave. If I'm a dolt...tell me so, but don't leave. Maybe coming to Egypt was never in your plan, but I'd never change it. I'd never change getting to know you."

"Bill..."

"Yes Kat?" Bill had leaned in to her, and his face was only a few inches away from hers now, her breathing had nearly stopped from the static between them.

"...You're being a dolt."

Bill paused and sat back, releasing her hand and laughing. Kat smiled too, and they spent the next couple of hours talking. Bill pulled out a small cube he had taken with his due from the crypt and explained that he thought it might be a puzzle box.

They pulled the chairs together and worked on the puzzle until the first cannon announced that people could begin taking their seats for the game. They looked up, both surprised that time had escaped them so thoroughly. Kat pulled her shoes on and tucked her wand into her sleeve pocket as they made their way for the stadium. Bill paused outside the tunnel Kat had to go through to get to her seat.

"Fraid I'm off this way..."

Kat looked down at her ticket and nodded, frowning. "I'm that way..."

"Maybe after the game you could come by my tent and we can take another look at this box." Bill's eyes shifted from sad and sulking to hopeful at the thought.

Smiling at the prospect and at the offer, Kat nodded, then paused, "No scorpions?"

"Heh, no, no scorpions. Promise. Enjoy the game, Kat, I'll see you after."

"You too, Bill. See you."

Kat turned and began her hike to the stairs with the multitude of other fans. Bill stared after her and almost missed the short fat wizard trying to get his attention. Unlike some, he generally listened to the more interesting vendors and after a few minutes, he was bounding up the steps toward his seat with a grin."

"Miss Kat McCullough?"

Lowering her binoculars, Kat looked down to see a short house elf beside her. "Yes, that's me."

The wee elf was very cute, and clearly excited to be at the event. "My Master is sitting by Mister Bill Weasley and asked me to give this to you."

"Thank you-"

"Simzy, Miss."

"Thank you, Simzy." Kat took the small parcel and looked out over the sea of people as Simzy vanished. She couldn't see Bill at all. She flipped open the parcel and pulled out a strange looking earring.

Put this in your ear.

The note was scrawled in Bill's now-familiar handwriting. Following the instruction, she draped the long chain of the earring around her ear, with the glass bead sitting just inside her ear. The glass bead at the other end of the chain was heavier and so kept the earring from falling off.

"Bout time, woman!"

Kat jumped so suddenly that she bumped into the witch beside her, who glared and shook her finger. Kat touched the earring, hearing Bill's voice and laughter echo in her ear.

"Bill?"

"Genius, isn't it?! Pick up the 'oculars. I know you have them because I can see you. You're very cute when you're startled, by the way."

"Bill!"

"Oculars Kat. Up—more—more—left-too far—now down two rows—there. See me?"

He was waving and looked quite a sight, just a pair of oculars with a mass of red hair and a grin behind them. Laughing, Kat waved, and Bill waved back. "There, now we can watch the game together after all."

The sentiment was touching and Kat smiled but before she could comment, the mascots presented themselves, with Bill's hoot of excitement in her ear, as the match began. The two of them kept up commentary through the whole of the game, and though it was strange and they were on opposite sides of the stadium, Kat had to agree, it really was almost like they were watching the game together.

Hours later, the two sat in Bill's tent, cross legged on the floor, wands in hand as they worked at the puzzle box.

"Have you tried-" Kat's statement was never finished as the tent shook with the boom of a tremor. They looked between each other for a fraction of a second and scrambled to their feet, going to the door. Kat got there first, and was swept away into a crowd of panicked, running people. It carried her feet away from Bill's tent before she managed to weave her way back to him, looking out at the horror of flames and chaos.

"Kat!"

"Bill! Are you alright?"

"Fine, fine I'm fine. My family, my brothers, Ginny, they're here somewhere!" Bill's face was panicked as the flames from already burning tents illuminated them. Kat reached out, clutching Bill's arm tight with one hand, and with the other turned his face toward her.

"Bill, calm down! We'll find them. But if you're panicking, you'll see them everywhere, hear them in every scream. So, take a breath and calm your mind so we can save your family."

Bill nodded and obeyed, taking a deep breath as he put his hand over Kat's upon his cheek. "Stay with me."

He laced his fingers with hers, holding his wand in his other hand and started toward his family's camp-site. Though Kat's hand was securely in Bill's there were times in the jostling frenzy of people they were nearly separated again.

"Bill!"

Kat and Bill turned, Fred and George ran toward them, half-hauling Ginny between them. Bill released Kat to run to them, scooping Ginny up into his arms.

"Thank Merlin, you're alright. Where's Ron?"

Fred shook his head. "He was with Hermione and Harry—Dad told-"

"-Us to get back to the port key, but they got separated." George finished his twin's sentence without thinking.

Bill nodded and stood—and promptly caught a flying hex aimed past him. It caught his wand arm which started bleeding as he cursed loudly. Kat stepped in front of Bill and Ginny and threw up her wand.

"Protego!"

Two more spells hit the shield she had created before Bill scooped up his wand again and shot a curse at the death eater who had attacked them, blowing him back out of sight. Kat turned to Bill's hand worriedly and aimed her wand, muttering a binding spell under her breath. The wound closed, leaving streams of drying blood as they locked eyes. "Get them out of here, Bill. I'll go find Ron and the others."

"The key-"

"Take it. I'll get them out of here safely, I promise."

"The Burrow."

"We'll get there. Go."

Bill nodded and pulled her into a hard hug before picking Ginny up and gesturing Fred to lead the way to their port key. Kat turned through the chaos and started looking for the remaining Weasley and his two companions.