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Katie.

Shell Cottage was both cold and quiet as I went downstairs alone, leaving the boys to change, and cooked up something to eat. I was starving - I hadn't expected to be going anywhere fast, so I hadn't eaten the hors d'oeuvres on the long white tables in Molly's backyard before Fred had accosted me... Or perhaps kidnapped was more the term.

I settled myself leaning against the kitchen countertop, crossing my legs slightly and kicking aimlessly against one of the cupboards, deciding that there would be time to choose whether it was kidnap or a voluntary trip much, much later, though right now, the horrible tightness in my chest was screaming kidnap at the top of its lungs, and I was somewhat inclined to side with it.

Either way, I was starving, and desperate for a decent meal, so, finding some bacon in the fridge, and a half-loaf of bread in the breadbin - handy coincidence, I know - I started to make a quality bacon sandwich.

I kept my eyes on my work, and so was not too surprised when I heard someone step into the kitchen. Assuming it was Fred or George, I turned around grinning and holding the plate out to them, knowing that the smell of bacon would have drawn them to me like ravens to the Tower Of London.

It wasn't them.

What I saw made me drop the crockery and it smashed to the floor. Only one set of footsteps came running, however, and part of me thought that... No, knew that it was Fred, coming to rescue me, to save me.

When the ginger head poked his panicked face into the kitchen, I lowered my wand and felt myself go red. Fred took one look at his father, smirked lazily at me and leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes as though he thought I was stupid. He probably did, but I wouldn't be surprised about that.

"Name?" Fred asked coolly, looking at his father... Or at least someone who looked suspiciously like Arthur Weasley, but easily might not have been. His 'father' stared blankly at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Fred, son, take your wand out of your back pocket." He paused, "You'll want both your buttocks at the best of their ability, will you not?! I've already damaged the right one..."

"Alright dad." he laughed and stowed his wand in his belt. I grinned at Arthur and offered the sandwich to him; he took it happily and sat down at the table, "Katie, we're going in five, alright?" I nodded and crossed the room to join him in the doorway, and his hand curled tightly around mine as he tugged me quickly towards him

"Where, Fred?" I looked at Arthur, surprised that he had spoken... Though as realisation dawned on me, that had he been the real Arthur, he probably would have known.

"C'mon Katie... Let's go get your stuff..." He looked at me pointedly and nodded at his 'dad', pushing me gently from the doorway. As I followed him out, into the hallway, I distinctly heard him murmur
something, his other hand on his waist... On his wand.

He practically dragged me upstairs, so quickly I could barely keep myself upright, and as I stumbled, he pulled me into his arms and nearly lifted me into his arms in his haste to get us moving.

"Fred?" he pushed me into the bedroom we had been in only ten minutes before, and only now did I notice he was wearing a t-shirt with black jeans and trainers on. He looked fantastic. "Fred... Where... What did you do to him?"

"I honestly don't know. But you know that's not my father, Katie." he paused as I sat down heavily on the bed, looking at him. He was watching me with a small smile, though his lips were pressed tight together and his eyes were almost heinously dark. "We aren't safe. We need to..." he grabbed both bags from the floor, swung them over his shoulder and made sure he grabbed my hand, tightly, securely as he pulled me from the bed and out of the room.

"Katie?" he looked at me and squeezed my hand, "You do not leave my side, alright?" Silence. "It's not a question, Katie... It's... It's an order." Those three words stunned me into silence.

Mutely, dumbly, I nodded and looked away, holding my hand out to take my bag from him. He shook his head and tightened his grip on the straps as he pulled me out of the bedroom and into the hallway.

"George? Lee?" He gripped my hand tight as he called their names, squeezing it and making me realise that he was as terrified as I was. "Situation, boys... We've got to go!"

The pair appeared, dishevelled and still tucking their feet into their boots. George looked at Fred and quirked his head slightly. I nodded at him as he turned to me when Fred didn't speak.

"Someone Polyjuiced as dad." Fred said as a sort-of-explanation, recapturing George's attention after a second. He squeezed my hand for the umpteenth time, this time as, I think, a form of reassurance, and released it a second later, handing me my bag.

"Katie... Come with me?" George held out his hand and I froze.

I was panicked. I knew George like he was my brother, and I trusted him with my life... But Fred had told me not to leave his side, an order that I really didn't want to defy. I didn't want to. I was frightened, right now... And I knew that I needed Fred to calm me the hell down.

"B-but you said-" I managed to stutter and he stared at me, his eyes wide. "I don't want to-" there was silence and he took a long look at me, then at his brother.

"George... Do you mind if Katie comes with me? I sort of told her not to leave my side..." he blushed and I stood between the two, holding onto my bag as though it was everything I had in the world.

Oh hell, I realised, it was.

George dropped his hand after a few seconds and smiled slightly. He waved his hand at Fred and I felt an arm tighten around my waist, fingers digging into my hip tightly.

"Ready, guys?" Fred looked at me, then at his brother and his best friend. They nodded and he looked back down at me, his fingers finding their way under my shirt and running circles against my hip.

"Y-yeah." I nodded, though my mouth was dry and my cheeks were flushed. I leaned my head against him and he smiled down at me lightly.

"Shut your eyes, Katie," he leaned into me and whispered the words into my ear, before he turned around and twisted me into oblivion. We appeared in the semi-darkness of a Central London street, balanced precariously on a doorstep that looked like it needed a good hosing down. I went to step away from Fred but he gripped my waist even tighter and shoved me through the doorway, stumbling after me in the darkness.

"Where... where the fuck are we?" I managed to whimper as he crashed into me in the darkness and his momentum sent us both spiralling into what looked like a hippo-foot umbrella stand and setting a portrait... screaming at us?

"It's alright!" Fred yelled to me as he fought to get the curtains closed.

"Filthy mudblood scum... and now the blood traitors bring another one in... look at this one, scrawny and ill..." She was screaming and I backed away, scrambling on my hands and knees as she continued to cackle.

"Don't listen to her, Katie!" Fred was yelling, "She does this all the time!"

I was pressed against the wall, whistling to try and block it out. I hadn't been subjected to that kind of abuse for years, not since Malfoy had cornered me in my fourth year and screamed at me. My chest was heaving and I was more than a little afraid of the painting – was that what I was to expect from this house?

Silence.

"Katie?" His hand was on my waist, lifting me to my feet. "Katie, it's alright... I'm gonna keep you safe. I'll not let anything get to you..." He ran his fingers through my hair and kissed my cheek. "I'm gonna keep you safe, Katie..."

He ran his hand down my cheek and pulled my tear stained face up to his.

"I promise you Katie. There is nothing I wouldn't do to keep you safe."

A second later, his lips came down on mine and I knew he was telling the truth.

-x-x-x-

A/N: Muyauahua! Hope you liked that... ooh, is that a slightly resolved moment of sexual tension there? I think it might be... but obviously, this is Fred. And Katie. There's more tension coming. Trust me.

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