"It's a mistake.

Don't leave me this way.

Come on and stay here forever.

Stay here forever."

Walking up those stairs towards the lofts felt like one of the longestof her life. It felt like time as a whole had slowed down to almost a complete stop, and every step she ascended felt like a year. She hadn't a clue as to what would meet her at the top of the stairs, she had no idea what fate awaited her or her relationship. She'd already given up so much for this, for him, she wasn't willing to just sit by and give him up, too. No, he needed to hear the truth, even if he didn't believe it. Her heart panged with a mixture of guilt and anger. Guilt because she knew that the long distance relationship wasn't easy on either of them, but she knew she certainly had more distractions in her life than he did. Her heart yearned for her to wake up to him every day, and a part of her died each day when those yearnings weren't fulfilled. Anger because of how much of an absolutely unbearable prat Oliver Wood had been. Sure he was under the influence, but that was absolutely no excuse for doing what he did. It was full of malicious intent. No, Oliver Wood knew exactly what he was doing the moment he stepped in front of those cameras.

Katie reached the top of the stairs cautiously, and as she peered around the room she weighed the probability of what would happen. What was she even going to say to Fred? Would she cry? Would she scream? Would she beg for forgiveness and mercy at his feet? Would he forgive her? Her mind was unrelenting with questions, fear, and doubt. She saw a tuft of orange hair and her heart skipped a beat as the breath hitched in her lungs, only to realize a fraction of a second later it was George.

He opened his mouth to say something, to shout something, to tell her to leave and never come back, but she silently stood her ground, silently refusing to go anywhere. She narrowed her eyes in his direction and lifted her chin slightly as if testing the waters. He shook his head with an angry kind of growl and pointed to Fred's room. Katie's face lit up instantly. She was overwhelmed that George had actually showed her where Fred was hiding.

"It's not pretty," George mumbled as he walked over to sit on the couch, his arms folded. He said nothing more as Katie walked towards his room as quietly as she could. The door was shut, and likely locked. She knocked only twice on the door, quietly, hoping to hear his voice.

The sound she was greeted with was one that broke her heart. She heard quiet sobs from beyond the door, and she was driven slightly mad with grief. She did this. She did this. She did this.

No.

Oliver did this. The rage returned as she narrowed her eyes, knocking on the door again.

"What?" Fred barked, angry, hurt. Katie could tell just by the tone of his voice that he was falling apart, and all she wanted to do was pick him back up, make him feel better.

She stayed quiet for a moment, opening her mouth and then closing it again.

What could she say?

"Fred…" she started, though her voice came out so quiet she didn't even know if he'd hear her.

There was silence. No more sobs escaped him.

On the inside of the room Fred sat on his bed, staring at the floor. His head was a flurry of emotions and he hadn't the slightest clue how to deal with them. He was hurt before, when she left. He was hurt when she decided to leave again. But now? Now he was devastated, broken, a shell of himself. The only woman he'd ever gotten close enough to love, and this is how she repays him? By shacking up with some old mutual friend who happens to be her ex-boyfriend? It was insult to injury, he'd only been there the week before.

He sighed gently, quietly, frustrated. He knew as much as he wanted to sit in that room, in silence, and hate her forever, he couldn't. He hated silence. He hated being sad. And more than any of that, he hated the idea of a life without her in it.

But a hole was now deep inside of him, where his heart used to be.

How could she do this to him? To them?

He rose from the bed, and there was another small knock at the door. He winced slightly, as if it were the loudest sound he'd heard in decades. Did he really want to answer?

He stopped, standing, staring.

"Fred…" Katie called again, and Fred finally began shuffling forward. He placed his hand on the knob and began to turn it.

The door was only open a fraction of an inch before Katie came bursting in. She couldn't help herself. She needed to see him.

"Fred…. I…." she began, stammering, her brain tripping over the words she wanted to say.

Fred turned and walked back to his bed, his eyes avoiding her completely.

The room was filled with a sticky kind of silence, the kind that gets caught in your throat and makes it harder to breathe. Katie felt herself suffocating underneath it. She closed the door gently behind her, so much so that it hardly made a sound. The small click it made was reminiscent of a better time. Not here, but at the Burrow. She used to sneak up to the twins room late at night when she stayed over on Holidays. She would feel Fred wrap himself around her completely, and they would whisper sweet, loving promises to one another in the dark.

But that was then, and this is now. And the sound of the door click shut so lightly has a completely different meaning, and elicits feelings in the pit of her stomach that she never thought she could feel.

Katie watched him carefully as he placed his head in his hands. She only got a brief glimpse of his face, but it was enough to see that his eyes were puffy with despair, and the tears had been running down his cheeks like rivulets.

The floorboards creeked lightly beneath her as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other,

"Fred…" she started again, but it seemed like his name was as far as she was ever going to get. In the silence her brain wanted her to scream so many things, but there were too many choices she couldn't choose just one Still, she needed to maintain her composure She'd… she'd never seen Fred cry, and that itself came as a shock to her. She felt so guilty she almost couldn't bear it. She wanted herself to be punished. She deserved to be punshed.

No.

This was Oliver's fault.

The rage returned. Ollie's faul Ollie's fault Ollie's fault. It was her new mantra. She did nothing wrong, and Fred needed to know that.

"Oliver was lying, Fred…" she said simply, calmly.

"Yeah… right…" Fred shot back, disbelieving. Why should he believe her? The news reports were all there. All over the television. What were his parents going to think? Humiliation didn't even begin to crack the surface of his embarrassment.

"Honestly Fred… I know it's hard to believe. I know the media and Oliver made it look really bad, but I promise you nothing happened. I know we fought when you came to visit, but I'd never give you up for anything in the world," Katie spoke as calmly as she could, but her emotions were beginning to bubble inside her, and she needed to say everything she could before she became a blubbering mess.

"So what happened then?" Fred asked, bitter, angry. His face was calm as he finally lifted his eyes to meet hers. Katie could see the heartbreak in them, and she said nothing more before walking over and enveloping him in the biggest hug she could. He stiffened at her touch, but Katie ignored and squeezed the slightest bit tighter.

He didn't push her away. She felt him shudder beneath her arms, and she knew he was crying again.

"What happened, Kate? It was so easy, and then you go and do this. I know we were fighting but… Merlin's beard… come on!" Fred almost shouted, half-sadness, half-anger getting the best of him.

Katie placed her face into the crook of his neck and gently inhaled his scent. It was her favorite in the entire world.

"Fred… I know this looks really bad. I'd tell you that I know how hurt you must feel, but I really can't even begin to imagine how much that news broadcast must have upset you. But I promise you… nothing happened. Can I at least have a chance to explain my half of the story? I don't care what the world thinks of me… They can think I'm some sort of horrible person, but you…what you think of me matters the most. And I want you to know that I'm not that person that was portrayed on the news by Oliver, that little skeeze. I'm not," Katie said, her voice low and quiet.

Fred moved out from under her arms and to the left. Katie looked at him, and he patted the bed gently next to him

"If you're going to tell me what happened I want you to look me in the eye," Fred said sternly, and Katie's heart leapt within her chest. Not because he was giving her a chance. Well, yes, that was a big factor, but because she knew those words. While she and Fred were still in school, if they ever thought the other was lying, even for a second, they would be forced to look into the other's eyes. Because neither of them could lie to each other. It was a gift and a curse for them both, especially when Fred would try to surprise her with things.

"Fine… Oh Fred… I'll look you right into the eyes for the rest of my life," Katie said, finally feeling like maybe… maybe things would be getting back to normal.

"You know what? No… wait. Before you go any further, I have something to say," Fred said holding up a hand, and Katie, though slightly taken a back, simply nodded as she took her seat on the bed.

"I want you to know that what I saw on the news this morning was my worst fear confirmed. My biggest fear has always been losing you, but more specifically it's been losing you to that prat Wood. I remember when you two dated at Hogwarts. I was vehement about it because I knew that he didn't care about you as much as he did our next bloody quidditch match. But you were always so happy with him…" Fred said with a small sigh, and Katie felt so angry, so surprised that before she knew it her hand was slapping roughly against his cheek.

"What the fuck!" Fred yelled angrily as he recoiled back, and Katie's jaw hung open. A nervous kind of laughter escaped her, and before she could help it she was in a full-fledged fit of giggles.

"… Katie!" Fred said angrily, but even he had a hard time keeping the laughter out of his voice. She was just too damn adorable… even if she did slap him for seemingly no reason.

"Fred… I would never leave you for Oliver. Ever. In a million years, in a different universe. Ever. He's not… you. He's not funny enough, cute enough, long-term relationship enough. He doesn't know my favorite songs or what the only thing I want to do when I'm sick is. He doesn't know that I'm ticklish right behind my knees, and just about everywhere else. He doesn't play piano or make funny jokes. He doesn't do any of those things, and I wouldn't give you up for anyone less than… you," Katie said. She knew it was redundant, but she had a point to make.

Fred smiled, happy to feel the tension between them ease. It was amazing how a simple hug from her could fix all of his problems. But even if the tension was slightly eased, he needed to hear what she had to say.

"So tell me… what happened… what really happened" Fred said, finally feeling brave enough to hear the story, no matter what the outcome would be.

"Well we were in Puddlemere for the match against United and, naturally, like any of us would have done, I owled Oliver to meet up the night before to catch up, hang out. I mean Merlin it'd been at least a year and a half since I'd seen him last. Who knows what he'd been up to," Katie began her tale, and Fred nodded along. It was logical. He knew he would have done the same, had the roles been the reversed.

"So he came over, and we were catching up, and then he brought out a bottle of Firewhiskey. We split it, and ended up finishing it. And that's when he started to come on to me. He tried to fill my head with lies about how you didn't care about me, how you'd forgotten about me, given up… I told him you'd pummel him. I told him to leave, but he refused. And then he kissed me, and then I threw him out… and I guess that's when the news caught up with him…" Katie continued and right before she was about to get to this morning Fred held up a hand to silence her.

"…He kissed you?" Fred said, a deep hurt in his eyes.

"… Yes. But I wanted nothing to do with it. He came up to me and grabbed me and planted it on me. He's much bigger than me, I couldn't pull away right away. I pushed him away as soon as I could get my arms in the right position. It lasted no more than two seconds, and I literally threw up," Katie said, trying to explain the stupid, terrible kiss away as fast as she could.

Fred inhaled, narrowed his eyes for a moment and cracked his knuckles.

"If he ever shows up again. He's a dead man," Fred said simply, dangerously.

"So I forgot to set an alarm this morning and I totally missed the game and when I realized that I cried and threw up some more. Then I went to Derek, my captain, and got fired/quit, and then I came here as soon as I saw the broadcast. I knew that I needed to tell you the truth," Katie said, finally slowing down at the last part of the story. She didn't want to even think about the events of this morning, or last night ever again. All she wanted was the present, this, right here, with him.

It was silent for what felt like an incredibly long time after she finished her story. Fred glanced between her and the floor and the ceiling.

"I believe you…" he said finally as he looked her in the eyes, so she knew he wasn't lying. Katie felt herself light up inside before wrapping her arms around him.

He gladly wrapped her arms around her and held her there, tight, for a long time. And then eventually another realization hit him.

"… Wait you quit your job?" Fred's question came out in almost a hysterical kind of happiness.

"I did… so I'm kind of jobless now, but… hey, I'm not going anywhere," Katie said with a small laugh. Fred immediately whisked her off her feet and twirled her around in mid-air.

"Katie Bell that is the best news I've heard in the past years. Because it means you get to stay here. Forever. Always. All the time," Fred said, a childish grin spread across his face.

"This time I'm really not going anywhere," Katie said with a grin.