1st April

So Ange and I have been planning over the past week what exactly we were going to do for Fred and George's 17th birthday. What better way, we thought than to perform a prank on April Fool's Day? We included as many of Fred and George's friends as we could in the prank, pretending that it isn't their birthday, that we've all completely forgotten or were oblivious. I also recruited some unlikely individuals… I wrote to Molly and Arthur, asking them to delay their sending of presents to the afternoon/ evening where we were organising a surprise birthday party. I loved Molly's reply,

"Dear Kathryn, It's wonderful to hear from you. That sounds like a lovely idea, but don't keep them waiting too long! I have enclosed a number of embarrassing photographs; I hope you can put to good use. We will send our presents for after dinnertime. Let us know how it all goes. Love from Molly and Arthur xxx"

"You're basically a Weasley already." Ange said, reading the letter over my shoulder. Looking through the photos of little Fred and George were so cute and funny.

So that morning, Ange and I got out of bed late, as everyone normally would at the weekend – closer to 11 am than Fred and George would have cared for on their birthday. We saw Fred and George sitting expectantly waiting for us to arrive. "Breakfast, Georgie?" I asked him, reaching out for his hand which he happily grabbed and we sat down in the Great Hall a few minutes later.

I could see both Fred and George looking out at the incoming mail, but nothing arrived for them. It was clear that the two of them had already been down for breakfast to eat a few hours earlier, as George sat looking expectantly at me and Fred at Ange, not touching any food. There was little food left to be eaten at this time and I tried my best to act grumpily about it. I poured myself a cup of coffee and rubbed my face, pretending that I had a terrible sleep. Ange and I had been sitting in her dorm for at least an hour and a half sorting out the giant card we were making for the twins. George tried to send messages to me that it was his birthday, but I acted oblivious to every single one of them. I honestly thought I deserved an Oscar. "I think Hermione wants to hit the library this afternoon… We're a bit behind on all this work we've been getting…" I sighed.

"Mr Weasley and Mr Weasley!" Professor McGonagall approached our table where we were sitting, right on cue. She furrowed her eyebrows and pursed her lips, just like she did when she was annoyed about something. It took everything Ange and I had not to laugh, "I found a particularly awful something exploded in my classroom this morning. The whole place is a mess! Detention for the both of you. You will come immediately and clean it up."

Fred and George looked at each other in disbelief. It was as though they were asking each other, 'Did you do this one? I don't remember it?'

"What did you do this time? Did you try out a new product?" I asked, letting out a forced yawn.

They both shrugged their shoulders and McGonagall directed them to her classroom. Before turning to follow the boys, she gave Ange and me a wink and smiled. She was enjoying herself. She promised us two hours and two hours is how long we had to sort out the common room. I already had Hermione and Ginny working on decorations. Katie and Alicia then gave Ange and me the thumbs up that Fred and George were successfully detained. Ange and I started transporting food from the kitchens up to the common room, starting with the many bottles of Butterbeer.

When I got up the stairs with the first load, the room had started taking shape. I asked Dean to draw a few banners, which he happily agreed to. As I asked Dean, Seamus was present and he offered to set up a firework display, which I dared to say 'yes' to. I sincerely hoped that they would take place outside. Lee Jordan was in charge of getting food transported. He was helped mostly by Ron, Harry, Bernie, Tobias and Kenneth. Ange stayed down in the kitchens, stating that she wanted to decorate their birthday cake. I let her.

I used a sticking charm to place the magically enlarged pictures of Fred and George around the Common room alongside Dean's posters. The first one I put up was one of them both being dressed up as Santa one Christmas. They must have been about six years old – George looked like he could have wet himself with excitement as Fred played with his fake beard. One of the pictures was of their 11th birthday standing in their pyjamas holding up their Hogwarts letters with cheeky grins on their faces. Ange's favourite picture was of the twins kicking Gnomes out of the garden and the two of them being covered in soil. My favourite was one of Fred and George in the bath splashing each other, no more than age two, with strategically placed bubbles, giggling at each other. I grabbed the card and got everyone who wanted to sign it and write little messages – Neville was in charge of that. Ginny and Hermione had put up streamers and fairy lights over the room. Katie meanwhile had put a few charms on my radio to get it to play a party playlist with a load of dance music.

Alicia, who gave herself the role of being on 'twin watch' came into the classroom and said that McGonagall was almost finished with them in detention. That gave us less than ten minutes. McGonagall had agreed to escort the twins to the Common Room, claiming that she had to give one of the fourth years a detention. Ange and I quickly got changed into dresses (hers was black, mine was dark purple) with high-heeled ankle boots, and got everyone in position with muggle party poppers, cone-shaped hats and party whistles.

The twins clambered into the Common Room, completely unsuspecting of anything going on and as we let off cheers, the bang of the party poppers and the blaring sound of party whistles, they were both completely flabbergasted. McGonagall looked impressed as well, helping herself to one of the sandwiches on the very large food table.

I couldn't help but laugh at the look of shock on both Fred and George's faces. Ange and I both curtseyed and the party began. Katie cranked up the music, bottles of butterbeer were opened and Neville gave the boys their humongous card. George beckoned me over with the quick motion of his hand. He pulled me into a tight hug and squeezed tight, "You are something else, Katy."

"One always aims to surprise." I smirked, "What do you think?"

I took his hand and gave him a guided tour when Fred yelled, "GEORGE! They have that picture!"

"WHAT?" George scrambled across to the other side of the room as Fred pointed at a picture of the two of them playing in what looked like a park, going down a slide together dressed up like Indiana Jones, "That was the day our magic came in… We scared every muggle in that park, our lassos worked, we manged to get the merry-go-round to spin very fast and swings to go right over the bars." George looked at me incredulously, "Where did you get these?"

"Your mother and I are on very good terms." I raised my eyebrows cheekily grabbing a handful of food and began munching.

George grabbed a bottle of butterbeer and set it back down again, "Best not drink this if I want to kiss you…" he stuck out his tongue and lifted a cup of fruit punch. There was a lot of conversation and joking going on around us as everyone seemed to be enjoying the part. As the afternoon went on, some stayed and others left for whatever reason (mostly if they wanted peace and quiet to get on with schoolwork). Fred and George sat down and opened presents from their friends, receiving things like dungbombs, inflatable tongues and a sneakoscope from Zonkos. Ron gave his brothers a handful of sweets and Ginny bought them pairs of novelty socks. When he had opened everything George leaned into me and said, "What I really want to know is when I'm going to get this much anticipated birthday present from you…!" he tried his luck.

I leaned in very close to him and whispered in his ear, "Well, I suppose if you play your cards right…"

"TIME FOR PARTY GAMES!" Ange shouted excitedly, the two of us had come up with some wild suggestions. There were about twenty of us left in the Gryffindor Common Room by this stage. Lavender, Fay and Parvati and a few others were happy sitting on the sofa onlooking or eating as the games got underway. "First off: Blind Man's Bluff!" Ange grabbed two Gryffindor Scarves and covered both Fred and George's eyes. We span them both around multiple times before releasing them to walk around the room, finding other players and trying to guess their identities. When George put his hands on me, his hands went straight for my shoulders, then up to my face and he squeezed my cheeks. It took everything I had not to giggle. Then his hands went into my hair and he leaned forwards and kissed me gently.

"Phew!" he chuckled as he put his hands on the small of my back and my hips.

I giggled, "Alright, George, you got me. People are watching."

"Let them watch!" he smiled, finding my face again and kissing me once more before finding the next person to identify.

The last person to identify was Ange, who was standing furthest away. Fred had his hands all over her body. The first place his hands found were (quite funnily) her boobs which he guessed immediately was Ange. A few looks were shared around the room but before the sexual tension between the two of them could get any greater, I announced the next game. "OKAYYYYY…" I said, "Congratulations boys, you know who we all are by touch, but have you ever played Mafia?"

Both Dean and Seamus hooted from the corner, "YES! BEST MUGGLE GAME EVER!" I quickly explained the rules of the game, that since it was their birthday, Fred and George would be playing the detectives of a murder mystery. I designated myself as the role of narrator of the story and clarified that a player would be selected at random to be the mafia or the serial killer, who every night would brutally murder one player and the detectives would have to work out who it was. From my description, I had a number of people willing to play: Ange, Katie, Alicia, Lee, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Dean, Seamus and Neville.

"How come you are aware of so many gory ways to die, Kathryn?" Fred asked me, "Are you sure you aren't the Mafia?"

"I lived in Northern Ireland, dear, stories and tales about gory deaths were our bedtime stories." I winked mysteriously. I heard Seamus laughing hysterically, as though he knew exactly what I was talking about. I got everyone to sit in a circle, with Fred and George sitting off to the side, then passed around a hat with pieces of folded up parchment, all pieces of paper were blank, apart from one, identifying the mafia. I got everyone to close their eyes and for the Mafia to quietly reveal themselves: I was surprised to see Ron open up his eyes and wave at me: he had been selected. I got him to close his eyes again and got everyone to open their eyes all at once and so I began the narrative.

"Once upon a time in village called Hogsmeade at the very north of Scotland; a tragedy occurred. There's been a murder. The close-knit community was in turmoil as they wondered who amongst their midst was a criminal. Brothers and detectives Fred and George Weasley of the Muggle Police were quickly on the case as Bernie's body was discovered on the local park bench early in the morning, his body had been chopped into many, many pieces." There were a number of gasps from those in the group, namely Katie. Bernie acted the part and pretended to die across the room before sitting back up again and continuing his game of Wizarding Chess with Tobias. "The detective brothers had no idea who had committed such a crime, so night fell on the village of Hogsmeade and everyone went to sleep apart from the Mafia who chose their next victim." Ron pointed across the group to Ange and closed his eyes again. "Morning came," I continued the story, "And the villagers woke up. But Katie and Alicia let out loud piercing screams as their best friend Angelina Johnson had been found in bed, covered in her own blood, having been stabbed to death during the night." Ange kindly acted out being stabbed and laid down on the floor, "Detectives Fred and George were called to the scene and pointed the finger. I wonder who they thought it was?"

Fred and George leapt into action and discussed loudly who they thought the Mafia was and decidedly pointed their fingers at Lee and I continued on the story, "They questioned and questioned Lee Jordan well into the night, but could find no evidence that it was in fact him and he was ruled out as Lee was indeed out of town all night long." Lee left the circle alongside Ange and joined me. "So night fell in Hogsmeade once again and the villagers fell asleep, the Mafia, armed and ready, chose their next victim." Ron opened his eyes and pointed at Harry, who was sitting beside him, smirked at me and closed his eyes again, ready for me to continue. "The next morning, Miss Hermione Granger was the first to wake as she headed to the local library to return her book. As she walked, she came across the body of the famous Harry Potter lying in front of the library doors, seemingly having fallen from a great height off his broom. Detectives Fred and George were called again and started their investigations."

"Thanks, Kathryn." Harry rolled his eyes at me.

Fred and George walked over to Harry and pushed him gently, "You're dead, mate. Lie down." Fred and George then walked around the group, staring at individuals before choosing Alicia.

"Detectives Fred and George took Alicia Spinnet into custody, feeling sure that she had committed the murders of Bernie, Angelina and Harry. However, she and Lee Jordan had spent a night of passion together, as she did love a good rogue, and she had proof that it couldn't possibly have been her." I said mysteriously, Alicia and Lee looked at each other in disgust as a few others giggled, "So night fell and the villagers slept, and the mafia chose their fourth victim." Ron opened his eyes and pointed at Ginny. I shook my head at him and continued, "The following morning arrived and the body of Ginny Weasley was discovered in the middle of the village square, she had been strangled to death." Ginny put her hands around her throat and let out strangled breaths before giving a very dramatic death scene, "Fred and George had lost their only sister and were determined to find the culprit. They decided…"

George pointed the finger directly at Seamus, "It's the Irish one. He's the mastermind!" he and Fred had really gotten into character and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves.

"That the newest villager had committed these crimes, but it could not have been Seamus Finnigan because he had been working all the previous night in the ministry of magic." Seamus shrugged his shoulders and both he and Ginny joined me and the group got smaller. "With only five suspects left, Fred and George were quickly running out of time, they went to bed that night and the remainder of the villagers went to sleep, but the Mafia planned their next kill..." Ron opened his eyes and pointed at George and questioned if he could kill off one of the two detectives. I nodded my head and went with it as Ron closed his eyes again.

"AHHHHHH!" I screamed, "it was Detective George Weasley's wife screaming, waking up the entire village, her husband and three of their seven children had just been poisoned. It was the middle of the night and Detective Fred was quickly on the job as Mrs Weasley pointed in the direction of the Mafia."

Fred jumped to his feet as George pretended to collapse onto the floor, "I will avenge you, brother." Fred said, looking at all five individuals in the circle – Hermione, Ron, Katie, Dean and Neville. Fred pointed at Ron.

I told the story, "Detective Fred ran and ran until he caught up with the person running in the opposite direction. He pulled down the individuals hood and said, "BROTHER?" as Ron Weasley, the youngest Weasley brother was revealed. Fred took Ron to be interviewed and found poison in his possession, searched Ron's home to find a rope, a sword, a bloody knife, a baton and a broomstick. The evidence was overwhelming and Ron confessed to all the murders with pride. Sadly, Detective Fred was too late to save his family but vowed to keep his community safe from harm until his final day…" I concluded.

"Thanks for killing me." George said, "And three of my kids? What sort of horrible person are you?" George joked with Ron.

"He killed me, too!" Ginny sounded outraged, "How dare you!"

"And me, your best friend!" Harry nudged Ron as he sat down beside him.

Fred gave me a high five, "Great game, Kathryn!"

George took a seat beside me and smiled, "Seven kids, eh? Are you warming up to the idea?"

I winked before using 'accio' to summon George's present. Everyone else seemed to be in deep conversation enough for George and me to share this moment together without being distracted. The shop owner put George's present into a box and I handed it over. He excitedly opened the box and his eyes nearly popped out of his head, "A Swiss Army Knife?"

"Oh yeah!" I said as George took it out of the box and discovered it's many features.

"This must have cost you an absolute fortune!" he looked at me in disbelief, "And it's top of the range! Katy, this is amazing!"

I smiled, "Couldn't get anything but the best, for my best!" George put his arms around me and held me tight, "I was thinking it could inspire you, you could charm it to do so much more, like pick locks, cut through things that you normally couldn't cut through using a pair of scissors or a knife, a hook that can hold up heavy weights… Your imagination is better than mine!"

"This is perfect, thank you!" he took a hold of my hand, "You will always be my number one inspiration."

I rolled my eyes at how cheesy he was being, "Thanks!"

Fred then jumped onto the sofa beside ours and Ange quickly followed suit but in a more modest approach, "You'll never guess what I just got!" he said excitedly, but before either George or I had a chance to even guess, Fred whipped out a toy robot. But it wasn't just any toy robot, it was a wizarding toy robot that can be trained to follow commands. Fred set it down on the floor and acted like a kid, showing it off to his twin.

Ange then insisted we played a game of musical statues, pass the parcel, musical chairs which was swiftly followed by duck duck goose. There came a time mid-point of playing these games where I feared for my safety, as the boys fought each other for the chairs or shot jelly-legs curses at the person being chased in duck duck goose. It was then that I found myself sitting at the side of the room, having a catch up with Ginny.

"How do you do it?" she asked me randomly, "How do you and George work?"

I laughed, I probably shouldn't have, given the look on her face, "We have our ups and downs, Gin, just like any other couple. He drives me insane and I drive him insane, but I guess we just click and someone always apologises to the other in the end. We make it work, because we want to be together. You'll understand what I mean, one day."

"Do you love him?" Ginny asked as I watched Fred and George squabbling over who takes the final seat.

"Yeah, I do."

16th April

As I tackled my ever-increasing load of homework over the last few weeks, Hermione spent as much time as she could be trying to suss out Rita's secret. Today however is Easter Sunday and we decided to take a break. I couldn't quite believe that I convinced her.

This morning, Hermione and I sent a food package to Sirius. The reason it was just Hermione and me was to soften the blow, as Hermione received a chocolate egg smaller than a chicken egg from Mrs Weasley while Harry, Ron, Fred, George, Ginny and I all received eggs bigger than dragon eggs. Our eggs were also filled with homemade toffee, or in my case brownies. Ron confirmed Hermione's suspicions, that Mrs Weasley did in fact read Witch Weekly and was clearly disgusted by Hermione's fake love triangle with her, Harry and Viktor. Speaking of Viktor, Hermione and I hadn't seen him in the library in a long time, probably owing to Karkaroff's disapproval of their relationship. I could tell that this was bothering her slightly, so I promised to split my egg with her. She knew this was a big deal because I never share chocolate.

The four of us had regularly sent Sirius food packages to prevent him from having to eat too many rats. We filled it with a few boiled eggs, bacon, sausages, black pudding, tomatoes, mushrooms and as much bread as we could fit as well as the chocolate eggs that the House Elves put on our pillows last night. I enclosed a note this time, just as Harry usually did saying,

"Nothing out of the ordinary happening, haven't seen Ludo Bagman… Karkaroff and Snape seem to be behaving themselves. I may have left Snape a Dung Bomb on his stool one day after class, he still doesn't know it was me! There's nothing wrong with a bit of mischief from time to time, as Fred and George keep reminding me. I hope you like this concoction of food and that the eggs reach you intact. Harry asked me to enclose a copy of Percy's letter about Mr Crouch…
'As I am constantly telling the Daily Prophet, Mr Crouch is taking a well-deserved break. He is sending in regular owls with instructions. No, I haven't actually seen him, but I think I can be trusted to know my own superior's handwriting. I have quite enough to do at the moment without trying to quash these ridiculous rumours. Please don't bother me again unless it's something important. Happy Easter'
Charming, isn't he?
PS Happy Easter, Snuffles. From Kathryn, Harry, Ron and Hermione

George nabbed me as soon as Hermione and I got back to Common Room and claimed me for his own. He showed me his and Fred's new ideas for products and their initial inventions, "There was a muggle pen attached to the Swiss Army Knife you gave me, so we toyed with the idea of making self-inking quills. We also made these…" George proudly handed over what looked like a pair of plastic ears joined together by some form of plastic string, "Extendable ears. Where we can listen into any conversation from a distance, so long as they don't see the ear, of course!"

"You are a laugh."

"We're working on how to make the ears invisible, if only we had an invisibilia around to help…!" this triggered a cheeky smile from Fred across the room, followed by two thumbs up, as George looked at his twin.

"I wonder how I can be of assistance." I smiled, rolling up my sleeves.

"You're the best!" George kissed my cheek and the three of us headed outside into the sunshine where we were less likely to be interrupted or (more importantly) seen. We spent the whole afternoon under a tree far from the castle. I made the ears invisible in my hands repeatedly as Fred and George worked to replicate it. I watched them in pure amusement as they worked. They really were incredible.

12th May

"You're very serious when it comes to all this studying." George said, "Why?"

"Because, George," I paused, trying not to say anything rude, "I don't know what I want to do after Hogwarts and I need to do the best I can to keep my options open."

"Sure you can just work with Fred and me."

I shook my head, "And watch you two carrying on all day? I'm alright, thanks. I'll support you if you need a hand, but I'm sure you'll understand I want to do something for me?"

"You mean raising our kids?" George said, putting one of my books up in the shelf.

I couldn't quite believe my ears, "Sorry?"

"I think you'll be a great mother to our kids."

I took my eyes off my notes and looked up at George, "Are you being serious?"

George's eyes loomed on mine, "Of course I am! I remember when we were in detention with Professor McGonagall, I asked you if you wanted kids and you said that you did, have you changed your mind?"

I coughed, "No," I looked back down at my parchment, "I just didn't imagine we'd be talking about starting a family at the ages of 14 and 17!"

"You haven't thought about the future?" George sat down on the seat beside me, "Our future?"

I felt my cheeks go very pink as I turned my chair to face him, "Of course I have! I've thought about getting married, every girl has mentally planned her dream wedding! I've imagined us moving in together, getting a pet goldfish or something and starting a family."

"How many kids?" he put a hand on my leg as he leaned in close to stop Madam Pince from kicking us out for being too noisy.

I snorted, "I don't think I ever told you this, but when I was in St Mungo's last year, Fred and Ginny were talking about us getting together. Fred wants us to have seven kids, precisely enough for a Quidditch team. That's why I mentioned it in the Mafia story."

George looked impressed.

"I think I'm okay with like… two?"

"TWO?" George said a little too loudly, which Madam Pince replied with a 'shhhhhhh!', "I'm disappointed. I could have sworn you'd be happy with seven!"

"I'm not having seven kids." I shook my head, "But if Ginny has her way, she'd be having as many kids as possible with Harry. The more little Potters around, the merrier." I joked.

"Heh." He said, "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

I nodded, "Well, yeah, you can have a Quidditch team of nieces and nephews and leave my poor stomach muscles alone. I suppose you can dream, though."

George didn't appear content with this statement but as he opened his mouth to reply, he was chauffeured out of the library by Madam Pince who took a hold of his ear. "You'll be next, if you're not careful." Her beady eyes met mine showing disappointment that I was still dating George. I finished the revision essay I was completing and went up to the Common Room and both he and Fred were nowhere to be found…

27th May

Professor McGonagall held Harry back after Transfiguration today. Slowly dawdling along the corridor, Ron, Hermione and I eagerly anticipated the message.

"I'm to go down to the Quidditch Pitch tonight at 9pm where Ludo Bagman will tell us about the third task." Harry said, "And before you say it, Kathryn, I won't be staying behind long enough for Bagman and me to have a cosy catch up."

"Good!" I nodded, "I'm hopeful we can work this one out."

"We'll see." He said as we headed up to the Great Hall for lunch, he didn't seem particularly interested in his food.

I saw Fred and George come in to get their lunch with Ange and Alicia. I jumped off my seat and joined them, "Harry's getting the next task tonight! He has to go down to the Quidditch pitch." I said excitedly, "I wonder what it'll be!"

"I hope there's blood, guts and gore." Fred teased, "A fight to the death between Krum and Harry for Hermione's affections, perhaps? Cedric would definitely lose to Fleur."

I rolled my eyes at him.

Catching me looking at George playing with his food, Fred said, "Don't worry, Kathryn, he's been in a bad mood all day. Apparently he didn't sleep very well last night. Maybe he just needs you here to perk him up, if you know what I mean."

I rolled my eyes again.

"Perhaps," Ange changed the topic, "there could be something underground? Like finding treasure? Then it could be anyone's game!"

Alicia sat forward, "Ooooh! I wonder if Fleur is any good at Quidditch, but I suppose Krum has an unfair advantage being an international player."

"Harry could beat him any day!" I joked, serving myself a bowl of carrot and coriander soup, "What do you think, Georgie?" I rubbed my hand up and down his arm affectionately.

"It could literally be anything!" he said, totally disinterested, "Did you see the way Snape looked when we -?" George couldn't continue his sentence for the four of them started laughing hysterically. I never did hear the end of the story.

"It's not often I see you sitting in the Common Room these days!" George said popping himself down beside me this evening after Hermione and I took a late dinner so we could take the evening to support Harry finding out what the next task is, "Your attention is usually something you have to fight for."

I looked at George and smiled, "You don't need to fight for my attention! Besides, Hermione and I are taking a night off work to support Harry."

"Oh." George said, "And here's me thinking you wanted to spend some time with me?"

I took his hand, "And here's me thinking I could do both!"

"That's nice of you." George said.

I looked around the room at all the students looking though books, "It's great to not have to do any studying tonight, I can't believe the exams are only two weeks away. Not that Harry has to do them, the lucky git. Have you got your timetable yet?"

"I don't want to talk about exams." George redirected the conversation, "What about after the exams, what are we going to do?"

I thought for a second, "I guess we've got the third task, then we've got a few days before the end of school. I hope the weather is nice and we can sit outside? Then during the summer, we can do whatever we like! What would you like to do? You mentioned climbing somewhere?" I said before getting up momentarily to wish Harry well.

"Yeah, it's not quite a mountain but larger than a hill." Was his response when I sat back down beside him, putting my hand into his.

"Is this something you and Fred usually do? Or are we going up as a group or…?"

"I'd quite like it just to be the two of us, but if you particularly feel the need to bring others, then you can feel free." George almost snapped.

I replied quickly, "I'd love for it to be just you and me. I'm sure we'll have a great time! Shall we have a picnic at the top or something?"

"Hmmmm…" George shrugged his shoulders. I saw him look over at Fred and Angelina.

"What about a day in London? Or a city of choice? Just you and me? I've always wanted to have a look around and be a proper tourist! Granny always wanted to go shopping-"

"Can we talk?" George interrupted.

"We are talking, George!" I smiled, "If you want I can-" I squeezed his hand.

He shook his head, "I want to go for a walk."

I looked down at my watch, the time had just gone 2120, "Perhaps after Harry gets back, which I imagine will be soon!"

"I know." George looked as though he was rolling his eyes, "We'll be quick, don't worry. You'll be back in time to see your precious Harry."

The two of us walked out of the Common Room, they put curfew back until 10pm for senior students now that the weather is nicer and the days are longer. (Or perhaps to let us study for longer, who knows?) The temperature outside was above 24 degrees today; it was strange wearing summery clothes again. It was much cooler outside Gryffindor Tower.

"I heard Draco Malfoy talking about you and Harry."

"Not this again." I said.

"He was talking to his friends, saying that you and Harry seemed to be very close and that if he hadn't interjected then the two of you were bound to have kissed."

"Draco Malfoy said this?" I raised an eyebrow.

George folded his arms, "Yes."

"Draco. Malfoy."

"I know what I heard, Kathryn." George took an argumentative tone, "Even he has noticed."

I couldn't believe this was happening again. "See George, this is why the two of us took so long to get together in the first place! You have a hard time trusting me. Do you remember what you wrote in that letter to me? Do you?" George continued looked at me blankly, "Harry is not Oliver Wood. Harry happens to be one of my best friends. You know this! Nothing is going on between Harry and me. You are the guy I'm dating!"

"It doesn't really feel like it at times… you've been distant; you've spent more time with Harry than you have with me-"

I interrupted him, "George, I cannot be bothered with this. Can you seriously not trust me? I'll tell you again, there's nothing going on between Harry and me!"

George continued as though I hadn't interjected, "-then when I actually get you on your own, all you do is bloody well talk about him!"

"Oh, I'm sorry for showing concern for someone else. For confiding in you about things I'm worried about! Harry was entered into the Triwizard Tournament by someone else! He has Ludo Bagman betting on him! There is someone around here plotting against him, but clearly you don't care! Hermione has death threats being sent to her, even now, thanks to Rita Skeeter! And you know that Ron and I don't get on at the best of times! I can't believe I have to deal with you being like this when all I'm trying to do is hold it all together!"

"What about holding us together? You don't seem particularly worried about that, do you?"

"What do you think I was doing tonight, sneaking out of the common room with you? George, I want to spend time with you, have a laugh, forget about everything else that's going on! We were talking about our plans for the summer! Yet you seemed like you couldn't really care?" I shook my head.

George sighed, "I hardly ever see you, you're either in the library or in class. I feel like I have to slot into your diary of appointments! I should be able to see you whenever I want!"

I raised an eyebrow, "I'm sorry I'm studying, I know that's not something you seem to do, but I actually want to get good grades. I'm sorry that our relationship isn't everything you imagined. I do my homework, I study, I spend time with my friends and I spend time with you. I am one person being split into four! I can't be everywhere and be everything that everyone wants me to be!"

"I don't know what's gotten into you…"

"What's gotten into me? What has gotten into you? Talking to me like that!"

"I thought you loved me? Wanted to be with me?"

I felt hurt, "George, I do love you, I do want to be with you! I try my best! We lead two very different lives, but I thought, at the end of the day we both wanted the same things. We have career aspirations, we want to get married and take on the world together, settle down in a nice house and have kids, don't we?"

George said abruptly, "I don't know what I want. Perhaps you and Harry should get together, as you said, the more Potters in the world, the better."

I turned my head and tried to control my voice so as to not to cry, "I don't want to talk to you anymore. Go away."

"Fine." George stormed off, up the stairs and quickly out of sight. I sat down on the bottom step of the Marble Staircase and sighed deeply. I thought about what would happen if I was to tell George about Sirius. Then all this would be over. Then George wouldn't be so jealous about Harry, Ron, Hermione and I having private conversations, where two of us go up to the owlery together to send Sirius messages and food packages, that I may seem distant because I'm watching everything going on around me. This is where it started. I went off to see Sirius in the mountain where I felt guilty for doing so. George could read me like a book and thought I was lying or hiding something that was going on with Harry. Any time Harry and I talked, especially about Sirius, I was treading on eggshells with George. I should just tell him. Goodness knows how he would react, though, to me visiting a well-known apparent murderer who's on the loose? Writing to him? Feeding him? Sending him chocolates and Easter eggs? I doubted that he would understand. Would breaking Harry and Sirius' confidence be worth it? The four of us are all on good terms and I want it to stay that way. But I can't deal with George not trusting me any longer…

As I sat, my mind in a different world of my own imagination, I just about noticed Dumbledore, who was quickly followed by Ludo Bagman as they entered the castle. The two of them were seemingly in deep conversation which was interrupted by my presence.

"Are you alright, Miss Pink?" Dumbledore asked me.

I stood, "I'm fine, thanks, it was too warm in the common room to think, it's nice here and the breeze from the door is pleasant."

The two men, seemingly satisfied with my answer carried on with their conversation and walked up the stairs past me. I sat back down on the step and deeply considered grabbing George by the ear and yelling at him, telling him everything. Why doesn't he trust me?

I heard running footsteps coming from outside, I stood quickly, seeing Harry rounding through the door. "KATHRYN!" he yelled, though completely out of breath, "Mr Crouch, down by the Forbidden Forest, completely mad, with Krum, can you go down and make sure he doesn't get away? I need to get Dumbledore!"

"Okay!" I nodded quickly and found myself sprinting down the hill to the Forbidden Forest. I listened intently for the sound of either Krum or Mr Crouch as I couldn't see either of them. I stood at the edge of the forest and saw a bright red light a few metres in front of me, followed by a thud on the ground. Invisible, I took a few careful steps forward, I hid behind a tree and heard Mr Crouch babbling about sending a message to Wetherby. I looked around the large tree trunk and saw that Mr Crouch was talking to a tree a metre or so from Professor Moody. Moody seemingly had an invisibility cloak covering half his body, his head and shoulders were exposed and it fell slightly as he revealed his hands, gasping Mr Crouch by the collar. A second look past the tree told me I wasn't imagining it. I saw Krum's stunned body on the ground. I couldn't see anyone else around. Professor Moody lifted his wand again and spoke the unforgivable curse, 'Avada Kedavra' which brought about a green light and a second thud to the forest floor. I gasped. Mr Crouch was dead. Why did Moody just kill him? I backed away quickly. In the panic my body failed me and I was unable to make myself invisible. I heard the familiar clunk of Moody's wooden leg as he turned and his magical eye saw me. Before I could raise my wand, I flew back into the air, feeling disorientated, as though I had banged my head. Then the world went black…