A/N: A warning, this is a fairly angsty chapter with a lot of language at the end. It really took a lot out of me to write. I hope you have time to review and tell me what you think.
Michael entered the waiting room of St. Mungo's Hospital and asked the witch behind the reception desk for Alicia. She smiled and quickly disappeared as Michael looked around. He hated hospitals. They reminded him too much of his sister and everything that had been afflicting her for the past four and a half months, and it gave him pain. He struggled with his own feelings of loss, but he had not been there to witness everything that had passed before Katie's eyes. He resented it, but he could not change it. And it hurt him not to see her smile.
Michael was tired; he had been trying to take care of his sister—and to some degree, Alicia—for the past two weeks, having deferred his return to the Kenmare Kestrals for another month. He had dark circles under his eyes and looking at the worried faces of the people surrounding him, he did not understand how Alicia was not mentally exhausted working in an institution like this one.
The blonde in question appeared in front of him, smiling broadly to reveal two rows of straight, white teeth. Her happiness revived him and he grinned back at her. Michael had indeed been smitten with his younger sister's best friend for sometime, but it was only recently that he had learned to appreciate characteristics about her beyond her attractive exterior and her shyly coy smiles. Alicia Spinnet was indefatigable. He had half expected her to lock herself up in her own room after hearing his sister's harsh ranting, but she had not. She remained positive, cheerful, and understanding, always asking Michael straight away how Katie was without mentioning the incidents at the funeral service once. She was a rock. Michael had come to see her the first time two weeks ago to try to take care of her, but he was finding that she was of more service to him.
"Hi, Michael," she said grinning as he faintly smiled and greeted her with a hug.
"Hey, Stampy," he said affectionately. "Are you ready to go get some food?"
"Absolutely," she returned with enthusiasm, grabbing her purse. "I'm starved. I think I'll put away enough food for an industrialized nation today."
Michael scoffed. "I sincerely doubt that," he remarked. Alicia was a rail.
"You'd be surprised," she said undauntedly. "And I'll prove it."
He smirked. "You're on, Spinnet."
XxX
George Weasley had closed up shop for lunch and was standing in the back room, leaning against the counter and gazing up at the array of photographs that had been taped to the wall since WWW had reopened. In particular, he was staring at one directly in the center. Charlie had snapped it the night of the reopening kickoff—it wasn't of anything in particular, just crowds mainly, but in the corner Katie Bell and himself were visible. He had a stupid grin plastered on his face; he recognized it as the one he wore after he made a particularly begging joke. He was rocking back and forth slightly on his heels, his lurid tie attracting attention even in the small photograph. But it wasn't his figure he was interested in--it was Katie's. She stood just across from him, balancing most of her weight on her left foot which was slightly behind her. Her strappy black dress and dark hair complimented her olive skin. She was laughing at whatever stupid joke he had told in the picture; her teeth flashed as she gave him the obligatory smile and iconic tinkling laugh. It was Katie's eyes that arrested George, however. On the outset, the celery green orbs were dancing with her laughter but as he gazed closer, there was just a trace of sorrow there.
George recognized that look as the one she wore all the time. The tiny silver band flashed in the picture as she looked down at her drink and then back up at George.
George stared at the photograph intently for the next several moments. He drummed his fingers listlessly on the counter.
"Lee!" he shouted to his friend who was straightening the shelves, as he shoved his wallet and wand into his back pocked and headed out the front door. "I'm going out!"
Lee continued to stare at the door after it had slammed shut, hardly daring to hope that his friend had gone where he guessed.
XxX
"No, I mean it," Michael laughed as he directed Alicia across the street and onto the sidewalk. They had finished their lunch and he was now walking her back to St. Mungo's. "Your hair is brilliant. It reminds me of a Snitch."
Alicia rolled her eyes. "Everything reminds you of Quidditch," she said dismissively.
He shrugged, shoving his hands deep into his dark washed denim jeans. "I can't help it," he joked. "It's an obsession. It…defines my life, what can I say?"
"Certainly," she returned artfully, her bright blonde hair glinting in the cold Autumn sunlight. "At the outset, one would think you were interested in nothing else."
Michael regarded her, smirking slightly. "Now Stampy," he said, "I think we both know that that is not the case."
"Nevertheless…"
"Your favorite color is aquamarine," he interrupted. "Your parents are Muggles, your mum is from Ireland and your dad is a chiropractor and plays golf on the weekends, but not the first of every month because that's when your parents visit your grandmother who lives in Bath. The Weasley twins put you on your first broomstick when you were eleven and you showed up Lee Jordan and beat him for a place on the team. You love thunder storms even though the lightening scares you, and…you are one of the most adorable creatures I have ever been in contact with. Now. How is that for being interested?"
Alicia flushed a deep scarlet, twisting the ends of her Healer's robes. She was clearly at a loss for words.
"The real question here is when do I get to see you again, Alicia Spinnet?" Michael said artfully, a broad grin spreading across his face.
"Michael…" Alicia began tentatively. "Do you really think this is a good idea? With Katie's situation, and all. I mean, she had a hard enough time dealing with the Lee and Angelina thing…and if you and I start something, I don't know what she'll do."
Michael's heart fell as soon as the words left her lips, but he still managed a small smile.
"Can we just leave Katie out of it for a bit?" he asked, hoping he didn't sound entirely too cruel to his younger sister. "I don't want to put this on hold. Do you?"
Alicia shook her head violently. "I can't, Michael," she said firmly. "I won't do this to her. Not now."
The seeker wanted to push it, but he knew she was right. That didn't stop him from grabbing her arm as she turned to go into St. Mungo's however, and whirling her back around to face him.
"What…?" she asked, confused.
"Sorry," he grinned softly as he leaned down to kiss her. "Thought you were a Snitch."
"Michael Bell!" She feigned anger, but they both had secret smiles on their faces as they parted ways, back into worlds of heartache and angst.
XxX
Katie lay on her bed, curled up into a ball and stared at the white-washed wall in front of her. Her gaze seemed to transcend the flimsy badly painted apartment, however, as she breathed deeply. He would not come, she told herself. Neither of them would. She had lost one, and hurt the other. How could she expect anything now?
She had heard Oliver go about an hour ago. She did not regret it. After a while, they would all stop coming and she may finally have some peace. Maybe she would simply waste away up here. Death would come peacefully and easy; she would fade out of existence instead of leaving violently. Without having to contemplate taking her own life deliberately.
Katie closed her eyes, imagining this. She seemed to float away. Images flitted before her eyes: she and George dancing on the rooftops, Alicia's periwinkle dress, Grandpa Artemis's clean white empty hotel bed. Strangely unrelated images they were, interconnected only because they represented life after Fred. She saw a mince pie at the Weasleys, rain at Alki Beach in Seattle, a ribbon she wore in her hair. Fred's toothbrush, McGonagall's face etched with lines of age and empathy, Oliver's laugh, and Ginny's tears all faded into the feeling of George's arms as he held her, leaned against her, and soaked up the life out of her in his bedroom at the Burrow. She could still feel the muggy summer air and smell the faint scent of ginger and gunpowder in his shaggy red hair.
He would not come. No one would. And she would not die; she would simply fade out like a bad radio signal until there was nothing but white noise.
XxX
George did not bother with the front door. He simply Apparated into Katie's living room, barely taking in the mess and general disarray of the apartment since Michael had been temporarily living there. He strode down the tiny hallway and banged on the door to Katie's bedroom.
"Katie!" he bellowed, nearly breaking down the thin door. "Let me in!"
The bottled up anger in his voice was clear, and he could hear her shifting around.
"George?" he could hear her timid answer, and the questioning in her voice.
"Yeah, it's me," he yelled gruffly. "Now open up the damn door or I'm breaking it down!"
Even without seeing her, he could tell that her face was tensing up.
"No!" came the swift answer, her voice suddenly steely.
George withdrew his wand impatiently and blasted the lock apart. He threw open the door and it slammed against the side of her wall. Katie was sitting up in bed and she instinctively crawled backward to the headboard.
"What are you doing in here?!" she shouted as he strode across the room, threw open her closet, and began dumping pairs of pajamas and sweat pants into the bin.
"You're getting out of here!" he answered her sharply, continuing to work. "And I'm getting rid of your damn pity clothes. You're going back into work."
"Excuse me?"
"Yeah," George answered, still refusing to meet her eyes. "You're going to get fired, Katie. As much as your office loves Oliver, he can't keep them abated forever."
"I don't care about my job, George, in case you haven't picked up on that," Katie said angrily, rushing forward and tugging her clothes back from the redhead.
"Well you're sure as hell not going to keep wallowing up here by yourself, Kay!" he shouted, violently ripping them back from her. "I'm sick and tired of all of the hushed voices worrying about you! Oh poor Katie, she hasn't left her room in two weeks. Katie's going kill herself up there. George, you have to do something for Katie before she gives up on life entirely. I'm through with hearing about it and so you're through with this act you're on about!"
Katie's eyes flashed dangerously, her hands balling up into fists. "Oh! Well I'm sorry that my misery has hurt your social life, George Weasley! But you're just gonna have to deal with that!"
"Your misery?" George exploded, backing her into a corner. "Katie, you're addicted to your fucking misery! Look at you! You're so sick and twisted that you actually get off on people worrying about you! You just love the fact that you're wasting away up here while everyone else out in the real world is talking about what a pathetic head case you are!"
"EXCUSE ME?!"
"NO! You're done playing at this! And I'm not listening to ANY MORE of your shit! You think I don't know what this is about?! You're so fucking messed up that you think this is somehow ROMANTIC—that you're just gonna fade away up here and grow thin and frail and miserable out of love and that that's gonna somehow make everything better! You've still got on that engagement band for Godric's sake, Katie! Where's your fucking wedding dress, huh? Where's your moth-eaten wedding dress that you're supposed to be roaming around in, haunting this little shitty apartment in? Where are the wedding invitations you're still making out, Kay? Godric knows you're so deranged you wanna send those out too! Where are they, Kay, where?!"
"Shut up, George, just SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Katie was screaming at the top of her lungs, her hands stuffed against her ears, tears pouring out of her eyes now.
"WHY DON'T YOU HIT ME AGAIN, HUH?" George continued to explode. He was unable to control himself now. "Why the hell don't you give me another black eye, Kay? Maybe that will help you to feel better! You wanna do it? I'M RIGHT HERE!"
He gestured wildly at his face, daring her to punch him. "Do it, Katie, do it!" He was half-crazed now.
"NO!" she shouted, suddenly standing up. Although she was only five foot two, she seemed to tower over George, poking him the shoulder and shoving him back. "Because that's what YOU want, isn't it, George? You just LOVE that I've gone crazy because that somehow makes you more of a man! YOU'RE the strong one, YOU'RE the one that everyone admires—but deep down, you're no better than me! In fact, I think you're going mad because you just can't accept the fact that I'm suffering just as much as you are!"
"YOU?!" he bellowed, rattling the window panes. He had tears in his own eyes now. They were hot and stinging his cheeks. "Katie, you have NO IDEA what kind of a hell I am going through! You may have loved him, you may have known that part of him, but I WAS HIM! I was half of him for fuck's sake! Do you realize that?! Do you realize that I STILL WORK AT OUR SHOP?! THAT I'M CARRYING ON A BUSINESS THAT I STARTED WITH MY OTHER HALF?! KATIE, I SLEEP IN MY DEAD TWIN BROTHER'S BED! EVERY TIME I LOOK IN THE MIRROR, I SEE HIM, AND EVERY TIME SOMEONE LOOKS AT ME, THEY LOOK FOR HIM! EVERYONE DOES IT! I GET UP EVERY SINGLE MORNING HATING MY LIFE BUT I DO IT BECAUSE I'M A HUMAN BEING. I'm a goddamn human being, Kay, and so are you! So start acting like it!"
Katie had collapsed in the corner, her face buried in her hands, her eyes flowing with tears. George hated her. He wanted to continue to yell at her, to make her feel the rage he felt when she dared to compare her own suffering to his. He wanted to shake her until she understood that she was being an idiot. He hated her for loving Fred so much and him so little. He hated her for making him care about her, hated her for making him so dependent on her, for being the only person in his life that actually seemed to understand. He hated her for understanding. He opened his mouth to yell at her again, but she beat him to it.
"I HATE YOU, GEORGE WEASLEY!" she cried. "GET OUT OF MY APARTMENT, JUST GET OUT!"
George hesitated, his jaw suddenly dropping.
"Katie," he said, his eyes suddenly refilling with tears. He reached out to touch her gently. "Katie, I'm—"
"I SAID GET OUT! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN! GET OUT!"
"FINE!" George renewed his anger and he slammed the bedroom door so hard that it cracked down the middle. In his rage, he almost ran over Michael who had just come through the front door into the living room.
"George, what the hell is going on here?" her brother yelled, throwing up his arms. "What is Katie crying?!"
Michael followed George out as he ran to the porch and down the stairs. "Because I'm a fucking bastard," he answered hollowly, running off into the gardens and Disapparating from sight.
George did not hate Katie Bell. He hated himself.