Their time together sped by, and Katie hated it. Every moment they were together, of which there were many, was precious, and she would have killed to make it last only one more second. Fred wished there was something—anything—he could do to have her longer, to keep her by him just a little longer so that for just a moment longer he could be absolutely sure she was safe.
But all too soon they were standing in front of Platform 9 3/4, and Fred was ever so gently wiping the tears from her cheeks.
"Come on Kates," he said, putting on a playful smile despite the fact he was falling apart just as fast as she was. "It won't be that long until summer. And then we'll have plenty of time together. Too much, in fact. You shall probably tire of me and then I will have to win you back with flowers and chocolates. Won't that be fun?"
But despite her appears to other, Katie only had enough resilience to stand, and joking was a foreign language to her. "I will never get tired of you," she whispered, laying her head against his chest. Fred wrapped his arms around her tightly in the vain hope that perhaps his sweater could somehow convey his love to her in a way that words never could.
Mrs. Weasley would have gladly thrown herself off a cliff if it meant she didn't have to be the one to pull them away from one another, but in reality she was probably the one best suited for the job. Gently she placed a hand on Katie's shoulder, a gesture that seemed to convey her message of timeliness and sympathy all in one.
Katie didn't say anything for fear if she did she would let loose an entirely new wave of tears, but it was okay. No words were needed, and both of them knew it.
Katie had only just stepped onto the train when she spotted Angelina, Alicia, and Lee, all of whom had gone home for the holidays but whom she had avoided on the train out. This time, however, she slid open the door to their compartment, knowing she would be welcomed back, because that's what friends did. They didn't question your methods, they accepted you unconditionally.
It was obvious the moment she stepped in that something had changed, and Angelina was the first one to wrap her arms around Katie. "We missed you," she whispered into her ear. Katie didn't mention that they'd only been apart a few weeks. She knew perfectly well what Angelina meant.
Katie was quiet on the way back, but the difference between now and a few weeks prior was still blatantly obvious. She listened. She responded. She cared. And even though tears were still fresh in Katie's eyes, Lee decided quietly to himself (though of course, being a guy he could never admit to thinking something so girly) that tears of longing were much better than tears of misery. Because with one you're crying because you have lost the thing that is what you live for, but with the other you have nothing to live for at all. All of this he knew simply by looking into Katie's eyes and being thankfully that the fire had returned to them, if not the roaring flame it used to be, but the kind of warm, cozy fire that gives you the feeling that maybe the world is good after all.
It would be silly to recount what you already know, a waste of your time and my own, so I will tell you only this: life went on. For the rest of the year, though there was much sorrow and more grief than Hogwarts had experienced in a long time, there was joy. There were dinners at which friends laughed together, and nights where friends cried together, and there were classes where teachers taught students all they had learned in their year, in the hope that maybe life would continue to go on.
AN: Okay, this chapter's kinda short, but there'll be another one up soon, I promise! I know I left you guys hanging for way too long, but now I go to the library after school almost every day until my mom gets off work, so I have way more time on my hands than I know what to do with, plus a computer lab at my disposal. Sounds like a good combination, no? Anyway, hope you guys liked it, please review!
Oh an by the way, I don't own Harry Potter! I know, you're all so very shocked. Get over it. :P Just kidding! (About the get over it thing, not the disclaimer thing. Sadly, I really don't own Harry Potter...)