Katie cracked open one eye cautiously, and then the other. She remembered very little about the previous night, and had only a vague recollection of why she was waking up in a wine-stained cocktail dress on the floor of the flat above Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. She realized she had been upset about something, though she couldn't recall what.

"George?" she called guardedly, sitting halfway up and leaning on one elbow. "George, are you there?"

Katie rubbed her temples, trying to will her eyes to focus. The sunlight in the room seemed particularly bright.

"George?" she called again, wishing desperately that he would answer. "Where are you??"

"Here, Kates!" George called cheerfully, striding through the door with a tray of breakfast in his arms. He was already showered and in bright lime green shop robes.

"Oh Godric, no," Katie moaned when she spotted the breakfast tray. "I am going crazy, aren't I?"

"No," George answered, amused. "I actually am doing something nice for you. Shocking for me, I know."

Katie furrowed her brows, trying to assimilate all the things that were happening.

"Did I drink too much last night?" she asked finally, her eyes resting on an empty bottle of wine at her feet.

George smirked. "For you, you did."

Katie flopped out again on the floor.

"Oh, no," George said smilingly, setting down the tray of breakfast on the nearest bed. "Up we go." He grabbed Katie under her arms and helped hoist her up to her feet.

"I need a shower," she muttered under her breath. "I'm disgusting."

"Alright," he agreed, leading her to the bathroom which was connected to the bedroom. "You obviously need something a little stronger than orange juice. Why don't you wash up while I go fix you something? I dropped by your flat earlier and picked up some of your work clothes."

"Merlin, no!" Katie gasped, searching wildly for a clock. "I'll be late! Hudson will have my ass…"

"It's only eight," George said soothingly, now slightly pushing her into the shower. "You have an hour, it will be plenty of time."

"But I always get there early…"

"Just go, Kay."

"But—"

George shut the door firmly against her protests.

Katie sighed and buried her face in her hands. What had happened to her last night? She remembered taking Wood back to his flat…and she remembered coming back to see George, and sharing a bottle of wine. Then she fell asleep. She must have had a bad night. Poor George for having to take care of her…

Katie tried to shake herself alert, and peeled off the dress and stepped into the shower. She yanked the faucet to cold, attempting to shock herself sober. The cool water ran down her back as she cupped her face into her hands and took several deep breaths.

Nothing seemed to help, however, until several minutes later when George reappeared with a glass of something thick and odiferous.

"What is that?" Katie groaned, drying her hair with a towel.

"Don't ask," George said holding it out to her. "But it will cure anything you got."

Katie quirked an eyebrow at George. "I'm not going to turn into a parrot, am I?" she asked cautiously.

"No," he promised, smirking. "Or any other feathered animal."

"If you say so," she said, and pinched her nose and downed the nocuous substance.

"Bloody hell, George, what is in that??" Katie grasped at her throat and made several gagging noises.

The redhead just smiled and held out a chair for her. Katie sat and began eating the eggs George had placed in front of her.

"Don't you have a shop to run?" Katie asked, her mouth full of eggs.

George smiled at her bemusedly and said, "Ron's down there. Most of the kiddies are off to Hogwarts now which is our main profit center, so the traffic hasn't been too heavy. Sold about a thousand galleons worth of stuff last night, though."

"That's great, George!" Katie said happily, feeling back to herself immediately after the disgusting concoction the redhead had given her.

He smiled faintly. "Yeah, it is," he answered. "Listen, Kay, are you…okay? You, er, kind of had a rough night…"

She frowned. "Did I?"

"Nothing too bad," he said, immediately backpedaling. "I just thought maybe you were having a bad dream."

"I don't remember anything," she answered truthfully. "I didn't wake you up, did I?"

"No, no," George said dismissively, but his brows were furrowed and Katie got the impression that he wasn't telling the full truth.

They finished breakfast without much other conversation and Katie combed out her hair and grabbed her bag.

"Thanks, George," she said, rather quietly. "For everything, I mean. I don't know what I said…or didn't say…last night, or what really happened, but…thanks for taking care of me." She smiled weakly.

George grinned back at her. "Don't worry about it, Bell," he smirked. "I'm used to cleaning up your messes. Now get off to work, and don't say another word to me."

He held out his arms for her to hug him but as she entered his embrace, almost as if a reflex, Katie stepped onto her tiptoes and pecked him very lightly and very quickly on the lips.

Katie immediately gasped at her actions; her hand flew to her mouth and she backed away. George's eyes grew extremely wide, and he continued to stare at her.

"I'm so sorry, George," she blurted, turning around and dashing out the door. "I'm so sorry, I—I'm not sure what I was thinking." And she ran down the stairs, barely waving to Ron before rushing out onto the street.

Katie knew what she had been thinking, however. She had been thinking he was Fred.

XxX

Katie entered her building at a quarter till the hour, and rushed back to her cubicle. Jacquelyn handed her a cup of coffee, wordlessly grinning from ear to ear.

"What?" Katie asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Nothing, nothing," she hummed, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. "Just wait till you see your desk."

Katie suspiciously took the mug and rounded the corner. On her desk was a large bouquet of daisies in a light blue vase, a card dangling from the corner. She frowned as she sipped the coffee, set the mug down, and picked up the card to investigate.

"It's from Oliver Wood!" Jacquelyn said, unable to bear the wait. "You should read it, it's so cute."

"You read the card?" Katie asked incredulously. Jacquelyn blushed. "Well, it was sort of open…"

Katie laughed and rolled her eyes as she opened the small card.

Katie,

You must think I'm the absolute worst escort to have ever taken you out, and I can't blame you. Just know that the narcolepsy was not my choice, and that had I been fully conscious, there's no way I would have let you see the disaster that is my flat. I'm just glad none of the team was naked. I hope these flowers make it up to you—I'll see you soon! Sooner than you might think.

Love,

Oliver

"What--?" Katie barely had the time to let her lips form the word when a small pop startled her, and Oliver Wood appeared on her desk, grinning.

"So?" he asked. "What did you think?" He was clearly pleased with himself, but was looking just the tiniest bit skittish.

"Very smooth, Ol," Katie laughed, rolling her eyes. "The almost-giving-me-a-heart-attack bit was a nice touch."

"Sorry," he apologized, laughing. "I just wanted to let you know the degree of my sincerity."

"Well, I've got it noted. Could you, um, maybe get off my desk? I've got work to do."

"Oh. Sure, no problem." He slid off easily and leaned against the barrier that separated her desk from Jacquelyn's. Someone squealed.

"Have you got a porker hiding about?" Wood asked bemusedly, peering over the top of the barrier.

"It's just Jaq," Katie answered dully. "She thinks you're attractive."

"Katie!" Jacquelyn protested as she popped up from behind the wall.

"Sorry," she answered without looking up.

"So, Katie," Wood began as she started filing through the various papers on her desk. "Are you okay? I mean, you're not too awfully mad at me are you?"

He looked pathetic in a cute kind of way, standing against the wall with his hands stuffed in his pockets. Katie smiled.

"No, Wood, I'm not mad at you. Not at all, actually."

"Really?" he asked, face breaking into a grin. "That's great—because my flatmates said you were looking pretty upset."

"I think they were having a go with you," she answered. "The twi—I mean George likes to have a laugh with everyone. You were popular."

Wood laughed uncomfortably and scratched his head, messing his light brown hair. "Er—yeah," he said. "I don't remember much about that."

She smiled.

"But um…you wouldn't be free for lunch, would you? I mean, so I can make it up to you?"

"The flowers more than make up for it, Ol. Thanks."

"But…what if I just want to see you?"

She sighed. "I don't know…I think last night was kind of a one time thing."

His face fell. "You are upset."

"No, no, Oliver, I promise I'm not. I'm just not…ready yet. I'm sorry. I thought I was, but I'm not." Katie looked at him apologetically. He just nodded.

"Okay, Katie," he said. "That's okay."

"Oliver, I really am sorry—"

"Don't worry about it, Bell. I'll see you around."

Wood turned the corner and was gone with a pop. Katie watched him go with mixed feelings.

XxX

George was listless as he restocked boxes of fake vomit on the shelves of his shop. There had been a pretty steady stream of customers that day, though not a large amount. The Hogwarts demographic was most of his business, and the send-away orders were bringing in most of the money, leaving fewer than normal customers to physically come to the shop.

The redhead was musing over the events of the morning, waiting for his brother to get back from his lunch break. Lee had not been seen all morning, for whatever reason, and George had not gone to the effort of contacting him. He was certain Lee had had too much to drink last night and had gone home with one of the many girls he'd been with.

Why had Katie kissed him? The thought had been buzzing around his head for the good part of the day. Certainly she had not anticipated doing it, that was clear enough, but what had accounted for it? Was it just gratitude for letting her stay the night? A reflex she had when waking up next to a bloke? Something else?

Busy with these thoughts, George barely noticed Lee walking through the shop door in his bright magenta robes.

"Er—hi," Lee began, coming up toward his friend. George jumped and nearly fell off the stool he was standing on.

"Godric, Lee, where have you been?" he asked, rather angrily. "Ron and me have been running the shop all morning. Want to give me a hand with these?"

"Sure," Lee replied, bending down and handing up boxes to George. "Um…sorry about that, mate. I was…uh…out late. With someone."

George scoffed. "I figured."

Lee looked uncomfortable. George just shook his head; he knew his friend well enough to know that whoever he had been with last night, he was certain George wouldn't approve. Lee usually dropped the names of his lovers without hesitation. He was wrong, however, George thought. He couldn't care less about Lee's romances. He was sure it was probably Verity, the old shop girl. He had seen them flirting together the night before.

"It won't be like this from now on," Lee rushed on. "It was just an opportunity I figured I'd never get again, so…"

"Whatever, mate," George said dismissively. "As long as you're here now."

Lee took the hint and continued organizing the boxes.

"So, uh, you feel bad about knocking out Katie's date last night?"

George raised his eyebrows at the sound of Katie's name. "What?" he asked, momentarily confused. "Oh, no…I mean yeah. Well, I guess. She didn't really want to be with a bloke, anyway. She told me."

"She told you?"

"Yeah, she came over again last night. After everyone else left. Stayed the night."

"Oh. Poor ol' Wood. He looks like he's really into her."

"Yeah…" George trailed off.

"You okay, mate? You're acting kind of strange."

"I am?"

"Yeah. Like you're not all here. Is it just Fred, or…?"

George shrugged. "A lot of it is that," he answered. "And then…something weird happened this morning. With Katie."

"What?"

"She, um…kissed me goodbye."

"What?"

"Not like on purpose or anything. I don't think she meant to do it. Just a short little peck is all, and she apologized right after. Like it was a reflex she was apologizing for or something. I've been trying to figure it out."

Lee frowned. "Well," he began cautiously. "You don't think she was just used to kissing…Fred…goodbye, do you? I mean…she spent the night quite a bit with him."

"What are you saying?" George asked, his eyes narrowing.

He shrugged, clearly uncomfortable. "I dunno, mate. Maybe she slipped or something. You do look exactly alike."

"Yeah," George said, his stomach dropping and his heart hurting. "Yeah, you're probably right…"

Of course she had been thinking of Fred. He was an idiot not to have thought of that earlier.

"Listen, mate," Lee began. "You don't still…you know…do you?"

"No," George said fervently at once. "No, not all. That was a long time ago."

XxX

Katie had just returned to her flat from work when immediately Alicia apparated into her living room, a look of pure exultation on her face.

"Alicia!" Katie screamed. "You can't just apparate into my living room! You scared me half to death!"

"Sorry," she said, without looking sorry at all. "I just have to tell you…Angelina spent the night with Lee last night!"

"What?"

"Yeah! Isn't that great?? I walked into Ange's room this morning and they were asleep in her bed together! Cuddling."

Katie's head hurt, and she wasn't processing the information. She did not particularly care about Lee and Angelina's romantic developments at the moment.

"Oh, wow," she answered, trying to appear surprised.

"I know!" Alicia gushed. "Isn't that great? Now they'll finally stop attacking each other every five minutes! I knew this was gonna happen, I just knew it!"

Katie tried to smile.

"Wanna come tease them with me?" Alicia asked excitedly.

"Um…no thanks, Al. I think I'm going to call it a night."

"Call it a night?" Alicia asked, crestfallen. "But it's only eight-thirty!"

"Yeah, I know. I'm just tired, that's all. You have a good night though, okay?"

"Okay," Alicia answered, looking at her friend curiously. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Uh, maybe. Yeah, yeah, tomorrow. I'll visit Michael and Grandpa. Michael is back in the hospital, right?"

"Yeah," Alicia said, rolling her eyes. "But I can't get him to stay in his room. He keeps popping in and out, scaring the little kids."

Katie smiled and gave her friend a hug before Alicia disapparated.

Katie slowly changed into her pajamas and brushed her teeth before collapsing on her bed. Hot tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes, but she did not allow them to progress. She wasn't going to be that girl; she wasn't going to be that girl that couldn't be happy for her friends because she herself had nothing. She wouldn't do that. Katie switched off the light and fell asleep as the darkness engulfed the small bedroom.