People lingered for far too long, in Katie Bell's opinion. She wished to Godric that they would just leave so that she could have time alone with her friends. That was what she needed right now. The mixed emotions of the evening had left her drained of all her energy, and she was currently hiding in a darker corner with Michael and Alicia. Her brother was attempting to enchant her friend with stories of his time at Hogwarts which were dubiously truthful at best. As far as Katie could remember, Michael had never skived off Transfiguration only to fly past the window on his broomstick and be far too speedy for McGonagall to catch him with a suspension charm. She was far too tired to protest, however, and judging by Alicia's doubtful expression, she figured her friend was sifting the truth from the lies quite well by herself.
Most of the people who were leaving had small children that would be off to Hogwarts early in the morning tomorrow. Seeing the children and teenagers rush the makeshift cash register with their purchases to take to Hogwarts wrenched a sharp pain in the pit of her stomach as she remembered Fred talking excitedly about all the new products he would be trying out on the students when he got back to Hogwarts. She had witnessed so many of the creations of the products that were now being rung up by Ron, Charlie, George, and Bill and which would be brought to Hogwarts the next day. It seemed like centuries ago that she was on that platform herself, waving down the twins and laughing at the top of her lungs as they barely caught the train and Fred had kissed her quite unabashedly, causing her to turn red. They would never be going back to Hogwarts now. No more laughing or plotting in the wee hours of the morning in the common room. No more sneaking down to the kitchens for a midnight snack. No more ice skating on the Black Lake where Fred pushed her down and laughed. There would be no more falling asleep and drooling on his shoulder during one of Wood's dawn practices. They would never play quidditch together again. The unfairness of it all, the lump that was growing in her throat was almost more than Katie could stand. She gripped the window sill she was leaning against and took several deep breaths.
"Are you okay?" asked Michael, who had suddenly noticed his sister's condition.
"Yes," she lied almost breathlessly. "I'll be back, I should probably take Oliver home."
Wood was currently fast asleep under one of the tables. She wondered if a portion of the Draught of the Living Dead had been put in that sweet; Wood looked utterly useless, almost like another of the decorations about the room.
"D'you know where Puddlemore House is?" her brother inquired, referring to the quidditch house in which Wood lived with the rest of his team.
"No…I guess I don't…"
Michael looked concerned, and turned from Alicia to take Katie by the shoulders. "I'll take him home," he said. "You should sit down."
But Katie shook her head stubbornly, gaze fixed steadfastly at the floor. "I need to get out of here," she said. "I need some air…"
Her brother just nodded and gave her directions. Katie crawled under the table and shook Oliver, but it did no good. She sighed and drew out her wand, bewitching his weight to that of a feather.
"I'll be back," she promised again as Alicia just nodded. She took Wood out into the cool night air, took a deep breath and disapperated quickly to just outside Wood's quarters.
Puddlemore House was a large building of brick, ivy wound around the front. Small lights were blinking at the top floors, looking warm and inviting. Blurred through her vision, Katie allowed herself to reconstruct the scene to one at Hogsmeade, Fred holding her hand, running through the village excitedly as the lights from the thatched cottages blinked in the distance. She opened her eyes again, and Puddlemore House returned to her view. She shook her head, and pushed open the door.
Katie recognized some of Wood's mates from Puddlemore he had previously introduced her to, and, saying minimal, carried Oliver up to where his teammates said he slept. Wood's room was small but neat. A desk in the corner held a chiquely designed lamp, under which he had a framed picture of the day Gryffindor had won the Quidditch Cup. Harry was on Fred and George's shoulders, the cup held high above his head. Katie and Angelina and Alicia were embracing Wood not far behind. Katie looked away from her photographed self to the other things pinned up near Wood's desk. She found several photos of Puddlemore, some newspaper clippings of editorial about the team, and, to her surprise, several of her own articles. Katie flushed and turned her attention to getting Wood to bed. He was still dressed in his good clothes. She frowned and summoned some pajamas from his dresser which stood near the desk. She smiled a little to herself as she saw that they were Puddlemore colors. She muttered a quick spell which replaced Wood's clothing, and hung up the sweater and corduroys in his closet.
Katie lifted Wood, drawing down his covers and laid him down, removing her lightening charm. She covered him and drew up the chair to his desk, smoothing out his hair. She smiled sadly.
"My first first-date in three years and you fall asleep on me," she laughed ruefully. She stayed for a while longer, unsure of why, running her hands through Wood's short dark hair.
"Sleep well," she finally whispered, leaning down and placing the smallest of kisses on his forehead. "Thanks for protecting me tonight."
Katie replaced his chair, left a quick note explaining what had happened in case he forgot, and let herself out.
XxX
The clouds in the night sky threatened rain. Katie decided she wouldn't mind. She strolled Diagon Alley, having decided not to go in until everyone else had left. She did not want to see Michael or Alicia or Lee or Angelina or Ron or any of the other Weasleys; did not even want to see her family. She wanted to sit near George and say nothing. And she knew, somehow, that he would be in there insisting to be by himself that night.
"Good job tonight," she whispered up at the night sky. "We miss you a lot down here."
And she strolled down the darkness of Diagon Alley, wiping the smallest of tears from the corner of her eye.
XxX
It was almost one in the morning when Katie found her way back to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. She didn't bother to knock, just let herself in with the key George kept underneath the doormat. The store was completely dark, confetti and other items still littered the floor, and she could barely see by the small light from the flat above the store. She sincerely hoped that Lee had gone home with his date so that she would find George on his own. She needed his silent presence or else to be alone completely.
Katie climbed the stairs listlessly, trying hard to fight off remembrance of Fred carrying her piggy-back and running up the stairs to show her all of the premises he and George had bought. She shook her head, shaking the echoes of laughter that still seemed to haunt the room.
She found George on his own as she had hoped, untying his violently colored bowtie.
"Hey, Kay," he said, seeing her approach in the mirror he was facing. He seemed unsurprised she had come back. "How's Wood?"
"Still asleep," she answered, sitting down on George's bed and removing her heels. She massaged her feet, remembering why she hated heels. "I put him back in bed and left a note."
George nodded. "Sorry about that," he answered guiltily, now removing his own shoes and tossing them carelessly at the closet.
Katie shrugged. George turned around holding up a bottle of red wine and two glasses.
"Cheers?" he asked, grinning at her. Katie had to laugh.
"You saved some," she stated.
"I thought you might want to get completely plastered," he smirked. "'Cause I sure as hell do."
She smiled sadly, standing up to help him with it. "Oh George, you did so great tonight. I was so jealous…you performed so perfectly. And I was just a lump of…well…"
"You were a ball of emotions like you always are," George supplied, attempting to be cheerful.
Katie laughed, admitting that this was probably true.
"Don't blame you, though," George said, quietly. She looked up at her friend, face distressed and lowered the corkscrew she was holding.
George slinked his arms around her waist and pulled her close. She hugged him back tightly, burying her face in his shaggy ginger hair. They didn't say anything, just held each other for a while without tears.
"Come now, let's have a drink," George said firmly, and he poured the liquid into both glasses.
XxX
An hour later, Katie and George were lying side by side on the floor laughing, Katie's head at George's feet and George's head at hers, hips parallel.
"You should have seen the look on Ron's face when the spotlight landed on your mother!" Katie crowed. "It was priceless!"
George laughed until his whole body shook. "I know!" he shouted. "It was completely spur of the moment, but it was brilliant wasn't it?? Fred would've liked that…"
Katie hummed and the two fell back into silence.
"So how was your date with Wood?" George asked politely, though there was a slight hint of coldness in his voice.
Katie sighed. "I don't think I'll be dating again anytime soon," she admitted, more to herself than to George.
"How come?"
"I'm just…" she sighed. "I love your brother still, George. Whether he's here or not. I can't help that. I can't think of anyone else right now. I just can't. It's too hard…to try and move on…"
They both avoided intoning the word "yet," which they knew logically should follow. It was silent for another five minutes before George finally asked, "Katie…do you think you'll ever fall in love again?"
Her face crumpled, and she wanted very much to say yes, but it seemed impossible. "No," she whispered quietly, fingering the small silver band on her left hand.
"Why not?" he asked, passing her the half empty bottle which she took.
"I…look, it just doesn't happen twice."
They were silent for a minute before George reached out and took her hand, their fingers curled into each other's.
"How do you do it?" she asked, almost inaudibly. "When the pain seems to just consume you entirely. When you don't think you can get out of bed another damned day when he's not there?"
George thought and then answered, "I just do. I get out of bed every day, and I remind myself to breathe. And I remind myself to eat. And remind myself to try and laugh. Until I don't have to remind myself to breath, or to eat, or to laugh."
"You're so much stronger than I am," she mused.
"No, I'm not. I'm a shell, Kay. I died the same day he did. I'm just still here."
The sadness in George's voice caused Katie's heart to hurt and her mouth to burn. She let the bottle fall, the wine spilling out into her hair. Neither of them said anything, just waited until the candle that lit the room died down and darkness consumed them both.
XxX
"Fred??" Katie called wildly, running at breakneck speed down the Armory Hall. The tapestry flew beneath her feet as she leaped over the bricks that were strewn over the floor from the wall that had just collapsed. She had been dueling in the East Wing when she heard the explosion. "Bloody hell, Fred where are you?! Something's just happened!"
The fear in her heart escalated the faster she ran, and she heard voices behind her. She held her wand in front of her, eyes darting wildly back and forth searching for any sign of the redhead as curses rebounded off the walls and narrowly missed hitting her.
"FRED!!"
She took a narrow turn through a secret passageway. The light was almost completely extinguished in the hallway and she could barely see. She could feel the tears stinging her face, the fear almost paralyzing as she sped on, desperate for any sign of Fred she could find. She just had to make sure he was okay…hadn't he come here when he had been separated from herself and George?
"Fred!"
She could barely keep the alarm from her voice, tears flowing freely now as she sprinted down the hall. "Where are you??"
Katie had not seen it before she tripped, had not seen the pair of feet slightly protruding from behind a suit of armor. But she hit it and fell, hitting the floor hard. In cold terror, she looked behind her, scrambling up to her knees. She recognized those beat-up trainers…
"Fred?" she whispered, dangerously afraid. "Fred?"
She crawled nearer, making herself peer around the suit of armor.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
His body fell into her arms, glassy eyes staring above, the ceiling reflected. She felt her whole body revolt, as though every bit of life in her were leaving it as she screamed. She shook Fred violently, screaming at him to wake up, just wake up. She forced herself behind the armor with him, burying her head in his chest, screaming, then gripping his face in her hands.
"Wake up, wake up, just wake up!!"
But she'd known before she'd seen that he wasn't waking up. She let out a cry of agony that she thought would fill the whole castle, every fiber of her life flying out as she cried out.
"Help, help! Someone!" she cried pitifully. "Someone, help us!"
She collapsed into his chest in gut-wrenching sobs, ones that racked her entire body, digging her fingernails into his skin.
"He's DEAD, silly girl!" cried a cruel, crackling voice behind her. Katie, barely aware of anything else around her, looked up.
Bellatrix Lestrange stood above her, a grin on her pale face. She was spinning a wand in her hand.
"Look what we have here, Rookwood," she said to a tall hooded man emerging from around the corner. "A lover, I think. Look at her ring."
She sneered. "Shall we kill her?"
Katie looked up at the pair of them, feeling nothing. Certainly not fear. Rookwood raised his wand.
"No, wait," Bellatrix said, gripping his arm and lowering it. "Let us have her live…it is certainly much more cruel this way. To live life without dear Freddie. Yes, I think that is the thing to do…"
Rookwood looked dubious, but followed Lestrange as she cackled and continued down the hall. Something stirred inside Katie, a panic.
"No, wait!" she cried out wildly, not knowing what she was saying. "Kill me! Kill me, please, please, please kill me! Please!" She threw herself out desperately, clinging to Bellatrix's ankles. "Don't let me live, I don't want to LIVE!!"
She sobbed into the carpet, digging her nails into them. "Don't let me live!"
Bellatrix just laughed, kicking Katie from her, disappearing with Rookwood through a passageway to the left.
Katie sobbed, climbing blindly back to Fred, digging his wand out of his pocket not knowing what she was doing but fearing she could not control her desire to die.
"Katie!" A voice was shouting from down the hall. It was Minerva McGonagall's.
"Godric Gryffindor!" the old woman shouted, many Weasleys following closely behind her, Andromeda Bell at their heels.
Katie could barely make out the screams of Mrs. Weasley, George's shouting, Ginny's sobs…they echoed off the walls. McGonagall grabbed her around the waist, pulling her from Fred.
"NOOOOOOOO!" she screamed, violently kicking and flailing. She pulled from McGonagall, wildly, desperately, clawing to get back to Fred.
Andromeda rushed ahead, grabbing her daughter from the Transfiguration professor and clinging her to her. "Katie!" she yelled sharply, grabbing both her wand and Fred's wand from her daughter and flinging them across the hall. "Katie!"
Katie looked up into her mother's blue eyes and collapsed into sobs before she passed out entirely.
XxX
"FRED!!" Katie screamed in the dark, madly reaching out. "FRED!!"
George whipped right awake, looking around wildly.
"FRED!!"
Breathlessly, George crawled over to where his friend was screaming in her sleep and grabbed her to him. "Katie!" he shouted, shaking her. "Katie, wake up!"
"FRED!!"
"Katie, Katie, it's George! Wake up, Katie, wake up!"
She fought against him, her nails scratching him, her legs flinging in all directions. He pinned her down to the ground and smoothed her face with his hands.
"Wake up, wake up, wake up," he pleaded with her, "Wake up, wake up, wake up…"
Katie's green eyes snapped open, staring at George wildly, confused. She was breathing heavily, sweat drenching her face.
"George," she whispered urgently, throwing her arms around him. She was quivering violently. "George!"
"I know, I know, I know," he whispered into her ear, holding her back and stroking her hair. "Just try to calm down now, try to calm down."
She cried into his shoulder silently, slowing ceasing her shaking. He continued to hold her until she stopped completely and just buried her face into his chest, making small noises of hurt.
George rocked her back in forth, his eyes upturned to the ceiling. He kissed her fiercely on the temple.
"I don't know how to get you out of this one," he whispered, still rocking her, rocking her. He tightened his grip around the girl, kissing her again.
"I don't know how to get you out of this one."
XxX