The next three days in the hospital weren't as bad as I had originally thought they would be. Fred came to visit me every day, and George would pop in from time to time, often bringing me little treats and sweets to cheer me up.
The second day after I had woken up I had a lot of visitors come in to see me. Amazingly I recognized almost all of them, and I even managed to remember almost half of their names. I also noticed that the majority of my visitors and old friends would sneak in a strange look at Fred whenever they saw us holding hands or anything, but none of them had said anything about it, so I brushed it off. It was a busy and somewhat stressful day, trying to remember my old life and get my memory back. I was a little stressed out, but Fred was by my side the whole time. He told me he would stay by me for as long as I needed him, and I had told him that I would always need him. He smiled and laughed at this, and it made me happy.
Fred's mood had improved somewhat from my first day of being awake after the accident. He seemed a significant deal happier, and overall seemed to be in a better mood. However, once in a while I would sneak a glance in at him, and he would look away from me, worry still written a little on his face. On the third day I decided to confront him about this. I was tired of my boyfriend seeming so sad.
"Fred?" I spoke to him quietly, afraid to disturb him. All this morning he seemed to be quiet and reserved, often looking out at the hospital room aimlessly.
Fred slowly turned his head of bright red hair towards me. A smile crept onto his freckled covered face. "Yes, love?"
I suddenly felt very nervous about asking him. What if he got mad at me? I knew that deep down I could trust Fred, and I knew that I could tell him anything, but my lack of memory scared me. I didn't know if he had a temper, or how he would react. I found the words spilling out of my mouth quickly. "Why have you been so worried lately? You've been acting weird the past few days..." I blushed and looked down at my hands, away from his face.
He didn't speak for quite some time. Gathering up all of my courage, I looked up to him. His eyes looked so sad and worried, but he smiled at me warmly. After another long moment, Fred sighed. "Honestly, I'm just worried about your memory."
My heart sunk a little in my chest. He didn't want me to get my memory back? Does he favor this new me, over the me I used to be before the accident? I felt tears come to my eyes, but I swallowed and blinked them back. He seemed to notice my unshed tears, and he took my hands in his almost immediately. I found the strength to speak my worries to him. "Y-you don't want me to remember?" I looked up at him through my lashes. He looked so sad, and I mistook that as him looking guilty, and I thought I was right. He didn't want me to get my memory back after all. "Why?" My voice was barely above a whisper, and it took everything I had to keep looking at him and to keep from crying.
He spoke slowly and softly to me, never breaking eye contact. "Katie darling, I'm not worried about that. I'm worried that when you do get your memory back, you'll be upset with me." He spoke the last sentence with his head hung low. This confused me greatly. Why would I be upset with him when I got my memory back? Did we have a fight before I was attacked by the necklace?
"Why?" Curiosity was biting at my insides. I needed to know.
Fred still hung his head, not looking at me. "Fred," I spoke firmly. "Look at me, Fred."
He slowly brought his head up to look at me, and sighed. My brow furrowed. "Why would I be mad at you?"
He looked at a loss for words for a moment before speaking. "Well, Katie, there's something I've been meaning to tell you..." This was it. This is what's been bothering my Fred for the past few days.
"Well then, what is it?"
He pursed his lips, but spoke. "Um, well, I..." He gave me a lob-sided smile. "George and I aren't really in school anymore." He laughed nervously at the end of speaking, and I rose an eyebrow at him. Why did I feel like that's not what he was going to say? I pushed back my suspicions though, and focused on the news he had just given me.
"What do you mean you're not in school anymore?" This upset me a great deal, and I didn't know why. Suddenly realization dawned on me, and it all made sense. I remembered our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher: Professor Umbridge. Things were weird back at Hogwarts, but I wasn't too worried about our new teacher because I knew that Dumbledore would have kept her in line.
He looked at me nervously and let go of my hands. Instead, he got up from his chair and sat down on the bed to face me. I scooched my legs over a bit to make room for him. "Well, you see, George and I got in some trouble back and Hogwarts..." He looked up at me, wondering whether to continue or not. I rose a brow at him and crossed my arms. He gulped slightly and smiled nervously. "Well, we just sort of up and left. He-he."
This made me furious. How could he be so stupid? You can't just drop out of school like that! We were nearly done with our final year at Hogwarts! What would I do when I had to go back, without Fred there? A new idea crept into my head, and I calmed a great deal.
I smiled big at him and unfolded my arms. "Alright then."
He looked confused at my reaction. Obviously he wasn't so used to me controlling my temper. "What?" Poor Fred looked so lost.
"I said, alright then. If you're not going back to Hogwarts, then neither am I." Earlier in the day the nurse had stopped in with my breakfast and told me that if I continued to heal this swiftly then I could go back home in a week, or even a few days. I knew that I couldn't go back home, because I had no home. My parents were killed two years ago by a group of Death Eaters, and every summer I would spend weeks at a time with the Weasleys, Angelina, or Alicia at their houses. I had enough money in my bank to get a place on my own so that I wouldn't have to bother my friend's with my dropping out of school and all.
Fred seemed furious at this proclamation of mine. "Yes, Katie, you are going back."
I crossed my arms and glared at him. Why was he being ridiculous? "Oh, so it's okay for you and George to drop out, but not me? Why?"
He rolled his eyes at my childish behavior and I scowled at him. "Honestly, Kates, I'm not going to be responsible for you throwing away your education. You're going back to Hogwarts."
"No, I'm not." I huffed. I would win this.
"Yes, you are, Katie. Now stop it."
My glare deepened at him, and I sat up in bed. "No, Fred, I'm not. Now drop it."
He sighed and looked at me frustratedly. "Katie, why do you have to be so stubborn?"
"I could ask you the same thing, Fred."
We sat in silence for a few seconds, Fred looking angry and me glaring daggers at him. Finally he broke the silence. "Well then, if you were to not go back, where would you live? What would you do for money, hm?"
I rolled my eyes at him. He couldn't convince me to not go back, for I had already made my mind up. As long as Fred wasn't going back, then neither was I.
"Simple. I go out and find a flat, get a job, and bam! I don't have to go back to school, and we could see each other all the time!" I tried to smile at him, trying to alleviate some of the tension in the air, but he still looked very upset.
"Katie, you can't just live on your own. You're barely even seventeen—"
"—so you're saying I can't handle myself then?" I spat icily. He put his head in his hands for a brief moment before looking at me and continuing.
"That's not what I was saying, Katie. I—"
"—Forget it, Fred. You honestly think I can't take care of myself. Just because of that bloody necklace—"
He stood up, angry now. "—Stop putting words in my mouth! I never said that! All I was trying to say was—"
Because I'm, well, me, I tend to cry when I'm angry. For some odd reason my tear ducts are connected to my being angry. So naturally, I started to tear up. "Whatever, Fred. You obviously think I'm some useless, pathetic little girl that can't handle being on her own, so why don't you just drop it." I glared at him through my tears and crossed my arms again. "I'm just sorry you've had to take care of such a stupid little girl these past few days. Sorry I wasted your time." I know I was being unfair and all, but I knew that's whats been bothering him these past few days. I just finally had the courage to voice it now.
Fred turned slowly to me, looking furious. I felt a little scared from him, but I would never show it. I was to stubborn to apologize for what I had said, and too proud to admit that I might have been wrong. Fred was glaring down at me, and he was seething. "If that's what you think, Katie—" He spoke slowly and menacingly, drawing out each word. I felt hot tears on my cheeks, but I didn't bother to wipe them away. "—then you are so wrong." He grabbed his coat off of the chair and walked out of the room without even a glance behind him.
I glared at his retreating figure, crying even harder. What had I done?