Wow, I'm so sorry this took so long. I had writer's block, then Fred didn't want to ask (much to George's irritation 'cause he was bullied into it) and then I had to work out what Katherine's robes looked like.
I'm really sorry about the delay, the chapter is slightly longer than normal though...
Theodore was the first one to find Katherine. Largely because the two pairs looking for her were trying to find her, trying to work out what was in the letter, and racing each other to find her. Theodore simply rolled his eyes at them and continued down the halls and out onto the grounds of Hogwarts.
Once outside it was simply a matter of working out which tree she'd climbed. Not to mention climbing up after her once he realised she was much higher than usual.
"How did you even get up here?" He asked, once he was sitting beside her.
"Skill," Katherine answered, a smirk flitting across her face before it dropped back into a frown. Theodore sighed, reaching into his pocket to pull out a folded piece of parchment.
"I got one too," he assured, offering it too her. Katherine glanced at it, sighed, and swapped with him, flipping it open.
"He's basically just reminding you, and making sure you've still got your dress robes," Katherine rolled her eyes, "He's sending me mine."
"It's not like we've never had to do anything like this before," Theodore pointed out gently, giving a small snort, "This pretty much sums up our whole lives."
"It does, doesn't it?" Katherine agreed, "We go to political events. I pretend like I'm not a complete disgrace to the family. You pretend like you don't wish you were a disgrace to the family. Everyone else pretends like they don't think everything we do is suspicious because of who our father is. Oh, and our father tells me I had better have a pureblood date to make up for being a Gryffindor because my grades aren't enough to make up for that embarrassment."
"And when that's all over we find a place to talk and not have to worry about it," Theodore reminded, wrapping his arm around her.
"You know I hate it when you act like the older sibling," Katherine rolled her eyes fondly.
"Well, I hate it when you stress yourself out over things we could work out together," Theodore shot back. There was a moment of quiet, then, "I also hate the twins but I know they've kept you from freaking out over things before so, only if I'm not available, you really should just talk to them."
"I'll be sure to let them know you're coming around," Katherine smirked. Theodore scowled in return, which only served to make Katherine laugh.
"So, what are you going to do about your date?" Theodore asked after a moment.
"Well, traditionally I have to wait for a guy to ask me," Katherine shrugged, "Write to father and tell him I'll accept to go with the first pure-blood who asks with the knowledge that none of them what anything to do with me?"
"Well, that's a little harsh," Theodore said slowly.
"Oh please, after what you did to Barker?" Katherine laughed, "There was a chance someone would risk the twins by asked. That chance is gone. No one's asking me on out. Besides, most of the pure father would approve of think I'm below them anyway."
"So you're just not going to go?" Theodore asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Depends," Katherine shrugged, "If father doesn't think it'll destroy the family honour I'll probably just go solo. After finding a replacement for the horribly traditional dress robes I just know he's going to send me."
"Traditionals not always bad," Theodore offered.
"You didn't see Ron's robes," Katherine snorted, "Not exactly ideal."
"I can't wait," Theodore grinned, Katherine snorted. Silence fell once more before, "How do we even get down from here?"
Katherine nearly took the shortcut and fell out of the tree laughing.
"There's going to be a ball?" Lee repeated, looking horrified, "Why?"
"Tradition," Katherine shrugged, tossing a tennis ball back and forth with Fred. Where he got a tennis ball she had no idea. "Also because it gives the school's a chance to show off the students that didn't make champion. Plus, if I were a teacher, I'm pretty sure the resulting panic would be hilarious."
"That's cruel," Alicia intoned with a grin, "Although it does explain why mum took me shopping for dress robes."
"We're going to have to fix ours up," George said, looking thoughtful, "We weren't going to bother until we knew what they were for."
"No kidding," Fred chuckled, "Poor Ron."
"The dorms are going to be horrid," Katie groaned.
"Tell me about it," Katherine replied, chuckling at the glare Alicia sent her.
"Do you have dress robes?" Alicia demanded.
"My father's going to send them along," Katherine rolled her eyes.
"Why?" Angelina asked with a frown, "Everyone else had them since the start of the year."
"I imagine he thinks that by sending them last moment I won't have a chance to alter them," Katherine sighed, "He's hoping to use the event to prove I'm still an ideal pureblood. Traditional robes, probably, in some shade of green I'd imagine."
Fred and George made a face and Katherine snorted, rolling her eyes.
"The balls still a ways away though, there's plenty of time to work out what I want to do," Katherine shrugged.
"Yep, now we just wait and watch the mayhem as people embarrass themselves finding dates," Katie grinned.
"A mayhem not caused by Fred and George," Katherine grinned back, "How weird."
"Do you think we should be taking bets on who asks who?" Fred asked, idly scribbling on his parchment while Katherine worked on an essay and George was caught up in a game of Wizard chess with Angelina.
"Too wide," Katherine replied, "The whole school's a lot to cover; we couldn't manage it even if I helped out. You'd have to narrow it down. Maybe just who the champions are going to take."
"That could work," Fred nodded, "So who do you think they'll take?"
"I don't think," Katherine replied, rising an eyebrow at him, "I have inside knowledge. Aside from Harry I'm fairly certain I already know. I do feel sorry for him though, he has to pick someone and open the dance with them and he's only fourteen."
"True, and he's not fond of being the centre of attention," Fred nodded, "All the more more reason George or I should have entered."
"Who are you taking anyway?" Alicia asked, "You two don't seem worried."
"I'm just keeping my option open," Fred replied, grinning at George. George rolled his eyes before returning them to the chess board.
"You want to make sure your options don't run out," Alicia frowned.
"Ever heard of saving the best for last?"
"I'm pretty sure that only counts when you're in control of everything."
"George and I are always in control."
"I just saying, if you don't ask someone you'll be stuck going with each other."
"At least we'll have good looking dates."
"Can you at least pretend you're the same age as us?"
"Ladies, ladies," Katherine interrupted, "You're both pretty. Feel free to take this stimulating conversation elsewhere. The chess pieces are getting distracted."
The chess pieces all snapped their attention back to the game.
"That the problem with sentient pieces," Katie nodded sagely while the others snickered at the pieces.
Katherine looked up from her sketch when the portrait hole opened. Hermione wandered into the room dazedly as though she wasn't fully aware of her surroundings.
"Hey Hermione," Katherine greeted cautiously.
"Viktor Krum just asked me to the ball," Hermione replied in a dazed voice. Katherine grinned, standing up and taking the younger girls wrist.
"Ginny!" she called, already moving towards the staircase. Ginny glanced at them and easily extracted herself from her friends to follow them up the stairs.
"What happened?" Ginny asked as soon as they were all seated on Katherine's bed with the curtains pulled closed.
"Viktor Krum asked me to the ball," Hermione repeated in the same dazed voice.
"Oh my gosh!" Ginny exclaimed excitedly, "What did you say?"
"I said, I said yes," Hermione answered, her eyes widening, "I said yes! What was I thinking? I've never been to any dance, never mind a ball. With Viktor Krum!"
"It's ok, Hermione," Katherine assured, "You're going to be fine."
"What'd he say?" Ginny demanded.
"He said he's been coming into the library to see me," Hermione replied, "I, I thought he might be wanting my help for the tournament, but that's ridiculous because his own school could help him and he didn't even mention the tournament and he was nice. Not at all what you'd expect from someone with his reputation."
"You're going to the ball with Viktor Krum!" Ginny squealed, grabbing Hermione in an excited hug.
"I am," Hermione grinned, hugging her back for a moment, then she looked concerned again, "Oh Merlin, we're opening the dance! What am I going to do?"
"You're going to relax," Katherine commanded, forcing Hermione to meet her eyes by holding the younger girl's shoulders, "You are going to calm down and stop freaking out. We are going to make sure you look absolutely stunning at the ball and you and going to take no nonsense from anyone about how you look or whether or not you deserve to go with Krum."
"Right," Hermione nodded, "Right… Don't tell Ron and Harry."
"Don't tell- why not?" Ginny demanded, "Ron will have a fit!"
"Exactly, I don't want him yelling at me because he's unable to get date," Hermione scowled.
"He probably will anyway," Katherine rolled her eyes, "He doesn't handle frustration well. Just yell back if he starts up. Krum asked you and you deserve to have a good time."
"Nose out, Ron, or I'll burn that for you too," said Fred, waving his wand threateningly. "So… you lot got dates for the ball yet?"
"Nope," said Ron.
"Well, you'd better hurry up, mate, or all the good ones will be gone," said Fred.
"Who're you going with, then?" said Ron.
"Angelina," said George promptly, without a trace of embarrassment.
"What?" said Ron, taken aback. "You've already asked her?"
"Good point," said George. He turned his head and called across the common room, "Oy! Angelina!"
Angelina, who had been chatting with Alicia and Katherine near the fire, looked over at him.
"What?" she called back.
"Want to come to the ball with me?"
Angelina gave George an appraising sort of look. She glanced at Katherine, who rolled her eyes but gave an encouraging smile.
"All right, then," she said, and she turned back to Alicia and Katherine and carried on chatting with a bit of a grin on her face.
"There you go," said George to Harry and Ron, "piece of cake."
Fred got to his feet, yawning, and said, "We'd better use a school owl then, George, come on…"
They left. Ron stopped feeling his eyebrows and looked across the smouldering wreck of his card castle at Harry.
"You know, Hogvarts does have some really cute guys Kat."
"Yeah, unfortunately they all also have ridiculous ego's so let's not say that so loud," Katherine replied, not even bothering to look out the window, or away from her sketch book.
"No, but seriously! Just look at them! I mean, oh sveet Merlin that vone's in muggle clothes!" Ivana all but screamed, "Check him out! He's a total hottie, you telling me you vouldn't even date him?"
Katherine sighed and glanced resignedly out the window, tracking down the muggle clothing fairly easily. It took her about half a second to let out a very unfeminine snort before bursting into laughter.
"Seriously? That's Danton!" she gasped between laughs.
"Really?" Ivana demanded, looking again and her jaw dropped, "The hell? You're right! Vhen did Danton become a hottie?"
"For someone so manipulative you're rather stunningly unobservant," Katherine rolled her eyes, "It's not like he was ever bad looking. You were just too busy running around to ever see him as anything other than the young, shy boy you met him as."
"Huh," Ivana replied thoughtfully, "Do you still see Fred and George as the eleven year olds they vere vhen you met?"
"I never really thought about it," Katherine replied thoughtfully, tapping her pencil against her sketch book, then she gave a light laugh, "No, they've… not matured, because I don't their capable of that, but they're certainly more, organised than they used to be maybe. They're going to do amazing when they manage to set up shop."
"Sounds like you've got confidence in them," Ivana smiled.
"One thing I've noticed with the Weasley's? They do what they love, and they're good at it," Katherine grinned, "Mr Weasley might not be well thought of but he's good at his job, even if he doesn't fully understand muggles. Bill and Charlie are the same, even Percy, though he's sort of, less ah, well, he's a bit stuffy. I don't doubt they'll find some way to get there shop set up, no matter the setbacks."
"They are stubborn," Ivana nodded.
"You don't know the half of it," Katherine laughed, returning to her sketch of the two boys in question, heads bent and whispering about how to deal with Bagman. She'd sketched the basic outline in the Common room, rarely seeing the twins so focused. Fred had eventually noticed, and had lifted his head to flash her a grin before returning to the conversation.
Katherine smiled down at her page.
"Hey Kat," Fred greeted cheerfully, sitting beside her to find her sketching rather than essay-ing as he thought she'd been.
"Hey," she greeted in return, focusing on the sketch of two familiar boys. Fred stared, that was… disconcerting. He could easily recognise Lee in the drawing but…
"Is that me or George?" he finally asked. Katherine glanced at him before letting out a laugh. Fred pouted.
"That's you," she informed him easily. She carefully flipped the page so she was looking at the back of it rather than the next page and wrote out 'Lee Jordan and Fred Weasley waiting outside Herbology class'.
"Oh, I remember that," Fred grinned, "It was hilarious."
"Sure, for you," Katherine rolled her eyes, "What anyone wants with grumpy trees that throw fruit is beyond me."
"To fend off people you don't want near your house?" Fred shrugged, "Because they throw fruit?"
"I can throw fruit," Katherine challenged with a raised eyebrow.
"As can I," Fred nodded, with a grin, "But I don't really feel that's the point."
"Was there a point?" Katherine asked, returning to her sketch.
"Is there a nice way to tell someone that they are a horrible human being and should go rot in the foulest place on Earth? But, only after he's given us our money?"
"Yes, but usually you need lots of money and a high status for it to work."
"Damn," Fred frowned.
"Still no luck?"
"No."
"I'm sure you'll work it out."
…
Katherine probably should have seen the fruit fight coming. She probably shouldn't have reminded Fred of the fruit throwing trees, though thankfully he didn't seem to have managed to steal any of them from the green house.
Unfortunately that didn't stop him from throwing the things himself. Or pulling George and Lee into it. Which, of course, meant the girls had to retaliate, and they pulled Katherine into it.
"I am regretting basically every decision I made since starting school," Katherine announced to that all those involved could hear.
"I think it is fun," Ivana grinned from beside her.
"Yes," Katherine sighed, "But you're not exactly the epitome of higher thought."
"Sometimes you are very… vhat's the vord?" Ivana frowned, "Vhen you act superior to everyvone?"
"Pretentious," Danton supplies lazily.
"Yes!" Ivana cheered.
"Hypocrite," Katherine rolled her eyes, then rolled out of the way as the other girl was his in the back of the head with a collection of mixed berries. The juice splatters all over her and, honestly, it's a good thing they have magic, because those stains would be bad otherwise.
Her distraction earned her an apple to the gut. It didn't hurt, because they'd put cushioning charms on the harder fruits, they were actually stupid.
"Pay attention Kat," Fred yelled, shit eating grin on his face that always went along with one of his, often dreaded, ideas.
Katherine lifted the apple to look at it. Carved into the red skin, in bazarly neat script was 'Go to the Yule Ball with me?'. Katherine blinked, and looked up to see Fred still grinning at her.
Well, she could stand going with Fred, she probably would have spent the night with him anyway. A small smile was tugging at her lips when she realised there was more on the apple.
'I know the oath you made. Guess being a pureblood has its perks!'
Katherine threw the apple back at Fred with more force than was probably necessary, and possibly with a weaker cushioning charm. The yelp that cut off his laughter was undeniably satisfying.
"So, you're going to the ball with Fred?" Katie clarified, watching as Katherine carefully scripted a letter to her father.
"Yeah," Katherine nodded.
"And he deserved being bruised by an apple for this?" Angelina raised an eyebrow.
"No, he deserved that bruise for being a smug bastard," Katherine corrected, "Besides, he and George have some amazing bruise creams; it won't last long."
"Ok," Alicia rolled her eyes, then a grin began to grow on her face, "So, you're going to the ball with Fred."
"As we have just covered," Katherine nodded, glancing up at her friend with a raised eyebrow, "If you're going to ask about my dress robes, my father is going to send them."
"And you're worried he's going to send traditional ones?" Angelina asked concernedly. Katherine just let a small smile find its way onto her face.
"I've got it covered," she assured, "Don't worry."
…
When Tenebris swooped into the dormitory with a reasonably signed package Angelina and Alicia both looked over at Katherine. Katherine took the parcel, not looking up from her book as she gave Tenebris a treat and a pet. After a moment she sighed, looking up at the two girls.
"It's from my father, feel free to open it," she informed them, getting up to walk to the window with Tenebris on her arm. Alicia pounced onto her bed, tearing the packaging and pulling out the dress robes inside. Katherine turned to find her looking down in horror at the dress robes.
They were deep green, high collared and extraordinarily boring.
"Dear Merlin," Alicia breathed in horror, turning to look in the mirror, "It's so plain!"
"We can see that," Angelina informed the other girl.
"You're not wearing this?" Alicia demanded of Katherine, turning towards her somewhere between concern, horror and anger.
"I've got it covered," Katherine assured, smiling serenely as she headed for the stairs.
…
"Miss! Miss Katherine! Trixy has found it Miss!" the house elf exclaimed excitedly as she appeared in the girls' dormitory. Katherine immediately sat up with a grin, taking the offered box from the house elf and opening it up. She gently reached in and ran her hand over the material.
"Thank you Trixy, you're absolutely amazing," she informed the elf, who swelled with pride at the praise, "It's so beautiful."
"Miss Katherine will look beautiful," Trixy nodded, "Just like mistress."
Katherine smiled down at the elf before returning her attention to her dress robes.
…
"Want a hand?" Katherine asked as Hermione left to get ready for the ball. The younger girl shot her a disapproving look and she just sighed, shaking her head. She'd forgotten about S.P.E.W. and let slip that Trixy was helping her get ready for the ball so she wouldn't need as long because house elves were amazing like that.
Hermione had looked like she'd announced that she was renouncing Gryffindor.
Trixy, contrarily, was thrilled. It was kind of hilarious.
Katherine still left before the boys though, because she'd promised she would help Angelina, Alicia and Katie. When she arrived in the dormitory, however, all the girls were already there, along with the smiling house elf.
Trixy turned away from where she was finishing help with Katie's hair when Katherine came in, and hurried over to pull her to the bed. Katherine had been sure to discuss this a head of time, and thankfully her hair had just recently turned back to its natural brown colour, so it should hold out for the night at least.
Now all she had to do was slip into her dress robes and let Trixy do her hair.
…
"Trixy is amazing," Alicia gushed as she looked herself over in the mirror a final time.
"I've always thought so," Katherine agreed, coming out of the bathroom so the others could see her in her robes for the first time.
Her robes were a deep, velvety purple and the material was soft and flowing. Trixy had fixed her hair so it came down in a wave with a few rings of curls, including the curls coming down either side. The house elf had also helped with her make-up, giving her a smoky look though they hadn't used much.
"Wow," Angelina breathed and Katherine easily glided out of the bathroom.
"You think?" Katherine asked, quickly checking herself in the mirror, "My mum was always talking about having me where them when I was old enough. Father put them away, but trixy found them for me.
"You look amazing," Katie grinned, "Fred's going to freak."
"Him and George both, then," Katherine chuckled, shooting a grin at Angelina, "Shall we go then?"
"The boys are meeting us in the entrance hall," Alicia nodded.
…
Fred, George and Lee came into the entrance hall with wide smiles, chatting easily. Lee spotted the girls first, catching sight of Katherine waving to Ivana and Danton. He grinned widely and made a point to keep the twins' focus elsewhere until they were nearer the group of girls.
"Wow," Fred and George both breathed, blinking at the girls. Angelina blushed and Katherine gave the pair a gentle, amused smile.
"You two don't look too bad yourselves," she greeted in return.
"Definitely better than I was expecting," Alicia snorted, "I'm going to go find Andrew."
"Pumpkin head guy?" Lee asked. Alicia shot him a glare before continue on her way. The group chatted easily for a while before McGonagall called for the champions and everyone else went into the Great Hall to sit down.
…
"C'mon Fred," Katherine announced, standing up from the table. Fred looked away from where we was amusedly watching Harry dance.
"Where are we going?" he asked, Katherine laughed.
"To dance," she replied, indicating where people were now joining the champions on the dance floor, "You're little sister already beat you, but better late than never, right?"
Fred scoffed, but stood and took her hand to lead her to the dance floor, where Ginny was already dancing with Neville. George and Angelina followed behind them. Katherine would admit to being impressed when both the twins proved more than capable of following the dance. Then a thought occurred to her that made her laugh.
"You and George were totally practicing together, weren't you?" she asked Fred with grin. Fred smiled back, eyes sparking with amusement.
"I can neither confirm nor deny that such an activity occurred," he replied. Katherine laughed again, grinning at Hermione as the danced by her and Krum.
…
"Lost your date already?" Lee grinned, making Fred turn towards him. He and Katherine had only just stepped off the dance floor, Katherine seemed to enjoy the freedom to choose whether or not they were dancing, and Fred was just generally enjoying the night.
Still, he glanced around at Lee's question, searching for where Katherine had slipped off to. He found her chatting with a group of the foreign students, Ivana and Danton standing with her as she talked. Ivana glanced over and flashed a grin when she caught Fred eye. Katherine's friend were a pain.
"And what happened to yours?" Fred asked Lee, who blinked and looked around like he hadn't even noticed they'd been separated. Fred snorted and moved towards Katherine.
"Не, те го тествате върху себе си най-вече, които никога не престава да бъде смешно," he heard Katherine say. Whatever it meant, it made her small crowd laugh. Fred easily walked up to stand beside her, offering her the drink he'd gotten her.
"What are you talking about?" he asked curiously.
"Ей, един от самите организатори!" Katherine exclaimed excitedly, Fred raised an eyebrow at her and she let out a small laugh, "Sorry, this is Fred."
"Ah, ze great Fred Weasley," one of the Beuxbatons students greeted, offering his hand, "Eet iz an 'onhour."
"Ve have just been told about some of your products," one of the Durmstrang boys nodded, offering his hand next, "As vell as some of your adventures. You are very humorous."
"Thanks," Fred blinked, somewhat confused. He glanced at Katherine who just grinned smugly at him.
"I was just telling them about the Canary Creams," she supplied, "And may have also mentioned on or two other things."
This somehow led to Fred deep in discussion with a group of foreign students about Weasley Wizard Wheezes. Then George and Angelina came over and George was pulled into it as well. Katherine just stood by, looking amused, and easily slipping between languages.
…
"That went well," Katherine grinned as they headed up to the tower. They'd spent the rest of the ball alternating between dancing and building a shockingly large customer pool with the Beaxbatons and Durmstrang students.
"I'm not even sure I followed what happened," George sighed, arm over Angelina's shoulder, "One moment it's a ball, next thing it's a business meeting."
"Actually that pretty much describes most upper class balls," Katherine shrugged, "The main difference being the lack of fancy alcoholic drinks."
"I can't believe you expanded their expected customer range so far in one night," Angelina shook her head.
"You don't know the half of it," Katherine chuckled, "Most of those students have friends from other countries again. Customer range is not going to be a problem."
"You're kind of amazing," Fred replied, Katherine just grinned up at him.
"I know."
No, they test it on themselves mostly, which never ceases to be funny. - Не, те го тествате върху себе си най-вече, които никога не престава да бъде смешно.
Hey, one of the masterminds themselves! - Ей, един от самите организатори!
Translations come from Google Translate and may not be accurate.
Again, I'm sorry for the delay. Hope this made up for it at least a little. Thanks so much for sticking around!
Additionally, I apologise for poor spelling and/or grammar, however I struggle to find the time to write and therefore tend to forget to edit. This is not ok, and I apologise again and appreciate you lovely readers putting up with it.