My mind seemed to be working at a hundred miles per hour when he said those three little words. They hung around in my head lazily, and I tried to speak, but found no words.
Fred was... my boyfriend? Seriously?
I continued to stare at my boyfriend for a while longer. He stared back at me, never breaking the gaze. My eyes searched his in hopes of trying to remember more about my relationship with him, but I came up blank once again. Fred looked back at me, worry written all over his face. I tried harder to remember, but instead I felt another tear roll down my face at my lack of memories. I was pathetic. How could I not even remember my own boyfriend?
Seeing me cry once again, Fred leaned in to wipe the tears from my face, and enveloped me in a tight hug. I gripped back tightly, trying to remember my life before the accident. I leaned my head on his shoulder and buried my face in the crook of his neck. Neither of us spoke, and for once, I was grateful for the lack of conversation. I sniffled against his neck, and he pulled away enough from our embrace to look at my crying face. He just looked so sad, and so worried, too. This started up the tears again. I must be a horrible person to not remember him and what we had together.
"Don't cry, love." Fred continued to wipe the tears away from my face, shushing away the sadness. He was such a sweet man, and he obviously cared so much about me. This made me feel down right rotten, and I blinked back more tears. "Shh, shh. It's okay, you'll remember eventually. And until then," He gave me a smile at this. "you can just be my Katie." He gave me a goofy smile, and I couldn't help but to laugh. He was being too kind to me—I didn't deserve him.
"B-but," I sputtered out hoarsely. Damn my voice failing on me today. "how could I n-not re-remember you?" His eyes darted around for an answer, and after a moment his eyes locked onto mine.
"Don't worry about it, Kates. You'll remember... Eventually." I smiled warmly at him and nodded, wiping away the last of my tears. He gave a smile back in return, and our heads turned to the sound of footsteps coming our way. By the sound of it, there appeared to be more than one pair of them too.
As quickly as the noise came there were three faces in front of me now—two of them I couldn't match names to at first. My brow furrowed as I racked my brain for their names.
There was a woman who was slightly rounded and appeared to be middle aged. She had a kind smile planted on her face, and her eyes were bright and full of life. Her hair was the same color as Fred and George's—maybe not as bright and shiny, but still red nonetheless.
Suddenly, a name to match her face popped into my head. "Mrs. Weasley?" I squeaked out hopefully. Her face instantly lit up and she broke out into a great big smile.
"Katie, dear!" She squealed excitedly. "You remember!" She half ran half leapt over to me on the bed and wrapped her arms around me in a tight embrace. I hugged back just as fiercely, excited that I was getting better at remembering names.
After a brief hug, Mrs. Weasley pulled back, smiling ear to ear down at me. She beamed over to Fred and George who just laughed at her excitement.
I then looked over to the middle aged man who was standing quietly at the foot of my bed, a small smile on his face. His hands were in his pockets, and his hair matched the boys' yet again. "M-Mr. Weasley?" Again I was met with a happy smile and he walked over to give me a hug. He pulled away after a few seconds and gave a low chuckle.
"Ah, so you do remember, sweetie." Another warm smile. I gave him one of the most sincere smiles I could pull up at the time. I was just so happy to remember.
George had one arm slung lazily around Mrs. Weasley's shoulders, and they smiled down at me. Mr. Weasley stood next to his wife and shoved his hands back into his pockets. I looked over to Fred who stood next to me, one hand playing absentmindedly with a piece of my hair. I beamed up at him, and he gave me a small smile back in return.
I glanced over at George who had an eyebrow raised at his brother in curiosity. I looked over to Fred who gave him a hard look, but George seemed to ignore it. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley looked at Fred strangely, but kept their mouths shut.
"Fred, how were you and Katie while I was gone?" George's eyes seemed to sparkle even brighter with an unspoken secret dancing in them. He wore a mischievous smile on his face.
Fred just made a face at his brother, but smiled. "Why, whatever do you mean brother?" They were behaving strangely, and I wanted to know why. I felt as if I was missing out on some great big joke.
George's eyes still danced with words unspoken. I looked up to Fred with pleading eyes, signaling to him that I wanted—no, needed to know what was going on, but he just sat down next to me. His hand stopped playing with my hair, and snaked its way into my own hand, our fingers lacing together. I smiled at this. Surely I had done this a million times before. After all, we were dating. This was a common thing for boyfriend and girlfriend to do, but it still made my stomach flip at the contact.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley looked at our entwined hands curiously, and shot a strange, questioning look at Fred. He ignored it and kept his eyes locked on George's.
George smiled wickedly again, and his gaze fell on our hands locked together. "Oh, I think you know exactly what I mean, brother." George seemed to be holding back laughter, and his eyes still danced. I felt my brows furrow at this. What was so funny, and why was everyone acting so strangely?
Mrs. Weasley spoke up this time. "Yes, dear, why are you holding Katie's hand?" This confused me greatly. Why wouldn't I be holding my boyfriend's hand? Did we have some sort of fight before I was hospitalized? I shook that idea off quickly. Surely Fred would have told me something like that. He wouldn't lie to me.
Fred blinked a few times, and seemed at a loss for words. I cut into the conversation, saving him from answering. "George, stop playing around. You know that Fred is my boyfriend." I spoke this lightly, but firmly nonetheless. I stated it as if it were a fact that should already be known. George was just being ridiculous.
Suddenly he broke out in laughter, and I looked up worriedly at Fred. His ears were a bright pink, and he glared at his laughing brother. My eyes shot over to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley for support, but they joined in on the laughter too. Why was this so amusing to them? I didn't find anything in this situation funny at all. Mr. Weasley shook his head and finally spoke. "Alright, George that's enough." He shot a look between Fred and George before continuing. George's laughter died down quite a bit at that.
Mrs. Weasley piped in after her husband. "Fred, we best be leaving soon." She glanced over to me briefly, but then looked at Fred sternly. He nodded, and I sat there on the bed looking like a child lost among a conversation between adults.
I squeezed Fred's hand and looked up at him, pleading silently with my eyes. "Don't go." I spoke in a rush, afraid to be left alone in this unfamiliar place. Fred glanced at the others and looked back down at me.
"Katie, love—" I heard George cough, trying to hide his laughter. Fred shot him an evil look before continuing. "—you know I don't want to leave, but I must." My lip quivered, and I blinked back tears, not wanting to cry in front of my visitors.
George came over to me and threw his arm lazily around my shoulder. He shot Fred a bemused expression before speaking to me. "Kates, babe, listen. I'll bring your—" Another mischievous smile. "—boyfriend back here bright and early. You won't even notice he's gone, trust me." I nodded slowly and leaned my head against Fred. George sniggered and Mrs. Weasley hit him in the arm softly to shush him up.
Mr. Weasley cleared his throat and Mrs. Weasley rose to follow him. She gave me a warm smile and waved. "Goodbye, Katie dear. And be sure to get your rest." Her eyes flicked to Fred for a moment, and then back to mine. I nodded and smiled back at her.
"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley." And I really meant it. I was so thankful to have remembered at least half of the people's names in the room.
She nodded and Mr. Weasley wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "No dearie, thank you." Another look at Fred. "Take care!" And with that, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley left the room, leaving Fred, George and I alone.
The three of us sat in silence for a moment, none of us really knowing what to say. George was shifting his weight from foot to foot, looking down at the floor, and Fred still held my hand, shooting his brother looks from time to time. I sat there on the bed glancing between the two of them for about ten minutes before George spoke up.
George glanced down at his watch and stopped rocking back and forth, looking at Fred and I's entwined hands. I blushed a little at this, but still kept my hand in Fred's. He cleared his throat, and Fred looked up at him. "Well, I guess we should be off now, Fred." He tore his eyes away from our interlocked fingers and up to meet Fred's gaze. "It's getting late."
I looked up at Fred and gave him a small smile. He looked down at me and nodded at his brother. "Right. Well, we'll be back, Katie Kates." I giggled at the nickname and he gave me a goofy grin. He unlocked our hands and kissed me on the forehead.
"See you tomorrow." He spoke softly and I nodded my head sadly.
"You promise?" What if he forgot about me? Who would want a girlfriend that couldn't even remember her own boyfriend? Surely Fred could do better.
"Of course I do." Another goofy grin. "Why would I lie to you?"
I heard George snort, and I could have sworn I saw him roll his eyes. Fred shot him a menacing glare, but turned back to me and smiled. "Get some rest now, I'll be over bright and early."
I smiled. "Alright, I will." I looked over to George who now had his arms crossed across his chest and had one eyebrow raised at his twin. "George," He looked over to me and smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow, too?" George smiled warmly at me and nodded his head.
"Of course you will, Kates. You couldn't keep me away from here if you payed me!" I giggled, and George came over to give me a peck on the cheek. "Get some rest now. The sooner you're better the sooner you can come back to Hogwarts." Oh, that's right. Hogwarts. School. Slowly but surely things were coming back to me in pieces.
I nodded my head up at George, feeling proud at my accomplishment. "I remember!" George laughed, and Fred joined in, giving me one last peck on my forehead before getting up.
"We'll see you tomorrow, Katie!" And with one final wave, the twins had left me alone in the hospital room.