24th August

"Narcissa…" I encouraged myself to continue, seeing the smile on her face, she was sitting with a cuppa and a book in the lounge, "Can I please visit the Weasleys on Sunday? Please?"

"Any occasion?"

"It's my birthday."

She nearly spat out her tea, "Your birthday?" a little tea dribbled down her chin which she wiped up quickly with an embroidered handkerchief.

I nodded.

"We should have a party!" Narcissa suggested quickly, "we could have ice cream, butterbeer, cauldron cakes, we could go out for dinner, or-"

"You really don't need to go to all that effort for me." I said, "All I really want is to spend the day with-" I daren't say his name in case that started another argument.

"You haven't told me much about him," Narcissa began, "What's he like?"

I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, come on! I don't get to have girl chat with Lucius and Draco refuses to talk about girls with his mother." She shook her head, "So tell me all about George. How did it all begin?"

"We got together at the Yule Ball." I said, feeling slightly awkward, "He's a good guy and he's been there for me."

"You love him?" she asked, leaning forward in her seat.

I couldn't help but smile, "Yeah, I do. Did you know with Lucius?"

She raised her eyebrows, she knew she had to answer, "Lucius and I were at Hogwarts together, he was in the year above. We fell in love when I was in my fifth year. We got married four years later, which was twenty years ago…" then she smirked, "I expect an invite to the wedding for letting you go, I'll send a letter to Molly."

I laughed, "Let us make it past the first year."

27th August

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR KATHRYNNNNN, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU…."

"You guys are so embarrassing." I sat up in bed as Narcissa and Draco brought me breakfast in bed on a tray.

Narcissa sat on the edge of my bed and handed me a present, "Go on, open it!"

I looked at her in shock, "You got me a present?"

She tried to smile and nodded, "Of course we did! It's your birthday! We are here to celebrate the wonderful you."

Draco rolled his eyes.

I carefully opened the present, savouring the suspense. It was a beautiful wooden jewellery box that looks like a treasure chest with lots of different compartments inside.

"That present is from me." Draco pointed at a box.

I unwrapped it a lot quicker, opened up the box which had a wizarding camera, my chin dropped to the floor somewhere, "Wowzah! Draco this is amazing! Thank you!" I leaned forwards and hugged him tight.

"Let's make a wizard movie." He joked with me.

I giggled, "I'll gladly take a photo with you! Let me get dressed first, though."

I opened three more presents from Narcissa – a khaki shirt dress, a purple coloured moneybag (with a handful of galleons inside) and a very expensive bottle of sweet smelling perfume. "You've spoiled me, thank you!" I hugged her tight and ate my breakfast before getting up, washed and changed into my new dress.

"Look at you." Narcissa watched as I walked down the magnificent staircase towards her with an overnight bag.

"It was a good choice of dress, I must say." I smirked, "Tights are a must today unfortunately…"

Draco came out from the lounge with a smile on his face, "Let's make this the sexiest photo ever." He raised his eyebrows up and down.

I had to laugh and pulled a very unattractive face.

"That'll do perfectly."

I handed Narcissa the camera and Draco put his arm around me and we posed like eejits and the two of us ended up in stitches before the photograph had finished taking. Then Draco, Narcissa and I all got into a photo together after managing to work out how to use the timer setting. We all smiled and as the picture was about to take I pulled both of them in closer to me. Draco then insisted on a second photo of just the two of us so that he could keep one to remember this summer by. "That means you want a photo of the two of us in the library reading together or of us sitting eating soup in my room."

Draco smiled as though he had an idea, but didn't say anything.

"Right you," I smirked, "Don't be weird." I playfully punched his arm, "Don't miss me too much, either. I'll see you tomorrow evening!" I gave him a hug and Narcissa brought me to the drop off point.

"George, why are you bringing me up here?" he opened the door to his bedroom in Grimmauld Place, telling me to shush. I saw Fred sitting on his bed. He looked up at me and smiled, "The two of you can't keep me up here all to yourselves all day, you know." I joked.

"Aw, serious?" Fred stood and gave me a hug, "Happy Birthday!"

"Thanks!" I said.

"And we were just thinking you'd be up for testing our new product?" the twins spoke simultaneously, both grinning widely.

"You could try a fainting fancy?" Fred suggested.

"Or fever fudge?" George asked.

"Puking pastille?" Fred showed me a bag of sweets.

"We haven't quite worked out the nosebleed nougat reversal sweet… But you could always…?" George looked at me in anticipation. I could see the bloodstained t-shirt in the corner of the bedroom, I could also see a cauldron brewing in the corner. I walked over to it. It was undoubtedly the bleeding potion.

I started laughing. "I love you both, I really do," I kept laughing, "But you really couldn't pay me enough money to try those." But they looked at me, confused, they were being completely serious about me trying out their products, "Look, guys, I will support you in your business and I will let you have crazy experiments and sit for days with your heads together and not have either of you talk to me, but I will not be one of your 'experimented'."

Fred and George looked at each other and the three of us burst into laughter. I slapped my face in embarrassment at my choice of language. Fred stood up all macho and said, "We promise not to do too much experimenting on you Katy. But if you ever fancy a three-"

"I think I'm going to stop you RIGHT THERE." I laughed as Fred gave me a massive overdramatic wink, "I think having one of you as my boyfriend is quite enough, thanks."

"Awww," George grinned, "I'm enough for you?"

"Too much, sometimes, but you make up for it in other ways." I tried to hold back another bout of laughter, then I put on my Hermione voice, "Now, if you two don't mind, I'm going to see my friends who… who am I kidding? They mock me too." I kissed George.

Fred cleared his throat.

I looked at him and shrugged my shoulders, "Alright then." I said and kissed his cheek, "There. Happy now?"

Fred recoiled, "No, that was weird."

"That's how we know I'm with the right twin."

"How you know you're going to marry the right twin." George reiterated.

I smiled at him, "Aye." Then I held up my left hand, highlighting the empty ring finger and walked out of the room, swinging my hips.

I galloped down the stairs all the way down to the kitchen, where you're most likely to find people hiding in this massive house. I pushed open the kitchen door to see Molly, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Sirius and Lupin. "Hey!" I said excitedly.

Ginny was the first to get her arms around me and hold me tight, "Happy birthday, Kit-Kat!" then Hermione, Harry, Molly, Ron, Sirius and Lupin all hugged me in that order.

"Feeling the love, guys!" I grinned as Fred and George both hugged me at the same time as they swaggered into the kitchen looking awfully happy with themselves. "Still not interested in either of the offers." I smirked and shimmied myself out of their embrace.

"What?!" Fred joked, "I was just going to give you a present, but I think I'll just keep it."

"Probably for the best." I smirked, as Ginny handed me a present, "Oooooh, see, Fred, I doubt this present will harm me in any way."

Ginny's present was a small square box, the type a ring would be kept in. I looked up at her and she smiled, "Go on, open it up."

I opened the ring box and laughed.

"Princess Kit-Kat." She laughed too.

It was a ring that was a shape of a tiara. I slipped it on, "It fits. I am a real princess now." I said sarcastically, "Thanks, Gin!" I gave her a hug; it was very thoughtful of her.

"This is from Harry and me." Ron handed me a gift bag full of sweets.

I smiled at him as his ears went red, "Thanks! I'm sure we can much our way through this lot on the train!" I looked inside to see chocolate frogs, fizzing whizzbees, exploding bonbons, jelly slugs, chocolate wands and cauldron cakes.

Lupin handed me a card, "Sirius reckoned you'd appreciate this."

I opened up the card which had a paw print on the front, inside the message said, things do get better, from Sirius and Remus. "Are you two a couple now? Or…?"

The two of them looked at each other and laughed.

"I'll take that as a yes, then." I winked jokingly.

Hermione jumped in and handed me a pile of books, "These should keep you going for a while."

"Thanks, 'Mione." She had written to me, asking what I'd like, I requested a few books that were good reads. She did not disappoint.

As Molly served lunch, we all sat down at the table. She handed me a present that was soft and squishy. As I unwrapped it I saw a golden 'K' and I felt a sudden rush of excitement, "YOU DIDN'T!" I got up and jumped up and down.

"Well… have a look…" Molly looked nervous.

I lifted the item of clothing out of the packaging to reveal a poncho, "OHMYGOODNESS this is so cool! I've got my own Weasley clothes!" I was a little over excitable putting on my maroon coloured poncho over my khaki dress, "aw, Molly, you have no idea how much this means to me."

"Well, I've seen that you've stolen one of George's jumpers, so I reckoned you'd appreciate something a bit different, and I've never knitted a poncho before."

"It's perfect, thank you!" I gave her a massive hug.

After lunch, the adults started adult-ing down in the kitchen and told us to get out of the way for a while. Apparently they had meetings every Sunday afternoon and this was nothing unexpected. This meant that we had a few unattended hours to get up to no good. Fred and George had a plan as the seven of us sat in a circle in the lounge and played a game of truth or dare. I rolled my eyes at the suggestion, but carried on with the idea to please them.

We had an empty bottle of butterbeer and spun it on the floor, it reached Fred.

"Truth or dare, mate?" George asked his twin.

"Dare." Fred smirked and spun the bottle which stopped on Ron.

Ron sat with a very cunning look on his face, "I dare you to eat a ton-tongue-toffee."

"Done, easy." He summoned a toffee and ate. His tongue hit the floor and he sat in the circle like nothing had happened.

Ron then spun the bottle and it landed on me, "Truth or dare."

"Truth." I said, spun the bottle and it landed on George, "Oh crap." I said.

George smiled widely, "Who do you fancy more, Draco or Ron?"

"Seriously?" I was taken aback, why would my boyfriend be asking such a question? But I decided to roll with it, "Are you just secretly wanting to know how amazing my dates with Draco have been?"

"So you're choosing Draco?"

"Purely because Ron and I are friends and he's your brother and I'm sure he'd understand if I say Draco," I looked over at Ron who looked relieved, "and besides Draco and I have been living together so it's like we're siblings or something, so really that is a stupid question. Why would you ask if I fancy anyone else anyway?" I put the question out there. George looked apologetic, opened his mouth to answer but…

"LETS MOVE ON, SHALL WE?" Ginny said loudly, "BEFORE A DOMESTIC STARTS."

George spun the bottle and it landed on Harry.

"Truth." Harry said, as he spun the bottle it landed on Ron.

"Do you fancy anyone at the minute?"

Harry went red, "Yes."

The whole group cheered. Fred, George and Ron all tried to get the information out of Harry as to who it is, but Harry said that the question clearly stipulated a yes or no answer, so no names were necessary. Well, he tried to say that but got all tongue tied and it all ended up being a blabber. So Ron spun the bottle and it landed on Hermione.

"Truth." She said and spun the bottle and it landed on Ginny.

"Do you fancy Krum?"

Hermione let out a single booming laugh, then she went bright red. "Only a little bit." Was her answer. I could see Ron's face go a little redder as Ginny spun the bottle. The bottle landed on Hermione again.

She sighed, "Truth." The bottle then landed on Harry.

"Erm…" Harry looked awkward, "What's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done?"

Hermione laughed, "I slipped when we were on holiday there and I landed on a Turkish man who thought I was trying to propose to him. Mum and dad had to try and get me out of that one!" she continued laughing awkwardly, "He was in his mid-twenties!"

Harry spun the bottle and it landed on Ginny.

"Oh, what the hey! I'll do a dare." She raised her eyebrows and spun the bottle, which landed on Fred. You could see the instant regret in Ginny's eyes.

"Okay, Ginny…" Fred thought for a second then grinned, "snog the most attractive person in this group." He puckered his lips jokingly.

Ginny raised an eyebrow at her brother, she knew he wanted her to make a fool out of herself and kiss Harry. But she seemingly had a different idea. "Well Kit-Kat, our friendship is now going to the next level."

"Huh?" I questioned, but Ginny was on her knees, crawling towards me, she fixed her hair behind her ear and bit her lip, "OH." I caught on, "Happy birthday to me…!" The two of us laughed. I don't think anyone was expecting Ginny to choose me, but she reckoned that of all the people in the group, I was probably the most easy going. She leaned in towards me and kissed my cheek.

"Snog, Ginny, snog." Fred chanted.

She gave Fred a very dirty look.

I shook my head at him and put my hand on Ginny's cheek and winked, "Give them something to look at, Gin."

Ginny quickly leant in and I closed the gap and her lips met mine and she kissed me as she pulled away she opened her eyes and looked suitably embarrassed.

"Hmmmm…" I said, "Cherry flavoured lip gloss?" I asked her, and she nodded, "It tastes really nice!"

George tugged at my arm and I looked at him, before I had the chance to realise, his lips met mine and the two of us were kissing, "Look at me, Katy, fancy me." George teased.

"Nah," I shook my head, winking at Ginny, "I've definitely gone for the wrong Weasley." I bit my lip in a seductive way.

"What have you done with my girlfriend?" George shook me gently and kissed me again, "You're supposed to be marrying me."

"MARRIAGE?" Hermione blurted out, "Is there something I don't know?"

I looked back at Ginny and she was now laughing it off, no longer embarrassed, "Yeah, but I'm the one who bought her a ring." She joked, "It's official…" she took a hold of my right hand where I had the ring on, "Your precious Katy is now a Princess. My Princess." She winked again.

"Too right I am." I smirked, "Nothing less than royal treatment for me."

"Until tomorrow," Harry smirked, "Then everything can go back to normal again… hopefully."

George looked thoroughly put out. I reached over to him and took his hand and stroked it gently.

Fred spun the bottle. It landed on Harry.

"Truth." He said, closing his eye as Fred spun the bottle. It landed on me.

Harry groaned.

I smirked, "Wish you called me Princess Kathryn now, eh?" the group of us laughed, Harry was terrified at what I was going to ask, "Mr Potter, what has your most recent dream been about?"

There were a few oooohs around the group.

Harry's answer was not as I expected, "I've been dreaming about a door at the end of a corridor. Nothing too exciting."

"Here's me thinking you'd be dreaming of this crush of yours." I stuck my tongue out, knowing that his crush was on Cho. I spun the bottle and it landed on George.

"Truth." George said mysteriously he spun the bottle and it landed on Hermione.

Hermione smirked, "If you could be an invisibilia for one hour, what would be the first thing you'd do and why?"

George looked at me and smirked, "Her," he looked at me seductively and I stared at the floor intently, trying to hold back laughter. "especially since it's the princess's birthday. I'd have to show her a good time."

"That is something I do NOT want an image of." Ron stated suddenly, so I moved closer to George and snuggled into him, Ron dramatically put his hands over his face, "My eyes!" he laid down on the floor, "They BURN!"

"Oh, shut up, you, or you'll be dared to kiss me, next." I joked.

Ron went silent almost immediately. George pulled me in even closer and said, "I don't think my heart could take it…!"

Harry and Ron looked at each other and fake retched. Ginny, Hermione and I were in fits of laughter and both Fred and George didn't quite understand the hilarity of the situation. That was when Tonks came in and quickly ended the game!

"HEY SISTA!" she came into the room and I squealed a little in excitement and jumped to my feet, the two of us hugged really tight, "I got you a present!" she said, handing me a glittery gift bag, "Happy birthday!" she said in her over-excited voice.

"OOoooooh." I accepted the gift and stuck my hand in almost immediately and pulled out a wrapped box which revealed a charm bracelet.

"There is significance with this," she dropped her voice, "I want it to be something for you to look at and remind you how important you are, that you matter and someone is always there if you need them." her voice was barely a whisper by the end.

I laughed at her, then she looked almost offended, then I explained myself, I took a hold of her hand and said in my normal voice, "Of all the people in this room, I am the one you don't need to whisper to. Say something to one of them."

Tonks looked at me in surprise, "Hermione, did you finish that book?" she spoke loud enough for her to hear. Then her chin dropped, realisation kicked in, "You – you're a – an – an invisibilia? Wotcher Kathryn! That makes so much sense! That's – I mean, Wotcher! I'm guessing half the order don't know?"

"Course they don't! How do you think I snuck into Voldy's meeting? You don't think I walked in the door for all to see, did you?" I joked, "I can't make things invisible indefinitely, but I can surely sit and have this conversation privately."

Tonks looked up at me as though I was miraculous, and started talking about the significance of the charm bracelet, "this one," she pointed at the sister charm, "Is from me as well as the coffee cup and the cake slice," she pointed at them in turn, "to remind you that it is okay to call on your sis for some time out, and I'll always be up for a coffee date!" she put her hand on my shoulder and gave it a tight squeeze, "George chose these interlocking hearts, Ginny chose the princess tiara, she thought it would be funny," the two of us shook our heads, "Hermione suggested the book, Ron the chocolate bar, Harry the snitch and Fred the butterfly."

I was confused, I turned on the spot, "Fred?" I called out, breaking the silence, "A butterfly?"

Fred smiled, "Yeah, float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." He shook his head, "I know what you're like, you're not afraid to give a stinger to get people back in line again."

"And here's me thinking you were calling her a social butterfly?" Tonks asked.

Fred and George laughed, "That would be too kind."

Tonks looked shocked.

I laughed, "Oh, don't worry about them, they're keeping you going!" I put an arm around her, "they think they're invincible, but I have that stinger they've just given me a permanent reminder of."

"Ooooooh, we're afraid, so very afraid." The twins both pretended to look terrified.

"I also got you this…" Tonks put her hand into the bag and lifted out a book, "it's a little book of happiness. There are loads of lovely quotes to help you whenever you're feeling low. I've written in a few…" she flicked through in an almost embarrassed way, "You can write in your own, if you like…" her cheeks went pink and she stood to leave, "Well, I'll let you get on-"

I stood and hugged her tight, "Thanks, it means a lot."

Tonks put her hand in mine, indicating for me to make the conversation private, "There's a meeting this evening, I'm sure you'll find a way to make it." She winked and left the room just as perky as she came in.

For dinner, Tonks and Lupin joined Sirius, Molly, Arthur, Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, Harry, Hermione and me. Molly tried to make a fuss but I refused to let her. We sat down to one of my favourite meals – bangers and mash. I was stationed between George and Ginny, who made it very difficult for me to move as everyone sang 'happy birthday' to me. I was mortified as a massive chocolate cake was presented to me and I was forced to blow out the fifteen candles and make a wish. I wished for happiness. Everyone was served a thick slice of rich chocolate cake, which I found was decorated so beautifully by Hermione and Ginny.

Ginny showed no modesty whatsoever, "It's just a work of art, isn't it?"

"I appreciate it, thanks you two." I smiled.

Molly started fussing around me, offering me more cake, pouring a cup of tea for me and asking, "How is everything at Malfoy Manor, dear? Narcissa looking after you?"

I smiled and nodded, "Yeah, everything's good, don't worry! She has legal custody of me, Lucius has realised this and has tried to warm up to me and well, Draco and I get on like a house on fire, but don't let any of your kids hear me say that, or they'd think I've gone mad. These past couple of weeks have been good!" I nodded, "I feel good."

"They haven't recruited you as a Death Eater, have they?" Sirius barked.

I laughed, then I looked at him seriously, "Well… If I told you, I'd have to kill you."

"I'm sure you've learnt a lot about the Dark Arts?" Lupin asked.

"Oh, you bet." I smirked, "I'd take you on right now, if I could, but I can't because, you know… underage magic. Can't have two friends being sent to the full wizengamot in the space of a few weeks, can we?"

George leaned in to me and whispered, "Katy if you're finished there's something I'd like to show you upstairs?" he took a hold of my hand under the table and squeezed gently.

I pulled a face, "Hmmmm…"

"Do you really have to think about it?" he whispered.

"Well, I'm debating what you're going to do with me when we're all alone? So far I can think of 50:50 good to dangerous things." I thought about the two of us being alone, kissing, but also of the cauldron in the corner of the room and the products he so desperately wants someone to try.

"Think good things." George said and kissed my cheek.

"Mmmmmm…" I couldn't help but smile, "Just remember how many candles were on that cake, Mister." I bit my lip.

George snorted, "Age appropriate fun and games right upstairs, my beautiful Princess."

"The two love birds are in such deep conversation," Sirius said loudly, "That neither of them are aware of others trying to talk to them." George and I snapped out of our bubble and looked at Sirius who smirked, "Go on you two, get out of here. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." He winked.

I raised an eyebrow, "That leaves our options wide open, happy days. See ya!" George pulled me off the chair and up the three flights of stairs to his room. He closed the door tight and locked his lips onto mine, "Oh, now you've got me very intrigued, Mr Weasley."

I kissed him again.

"I've been dying to kiss you all day." George said, "I wish we didn't have to be so appropriate in front of everyone else." He said, "But I know they'll all get jealous of us and what we have."

"What we have?" I asked him as he kissed my neck, "I'd like to experience some more of that."

George breathed in my perfume, I could feel his body relax in my arms, "I don't need asking twice." The two of us kissed for a while, until we ended up cuddling on his bed, talking about life.

"Are you really enjoying your time at Malfoy Manor?" George asked, "Like really, because I know Lucius was being difficult when you first started staying."

"I'd tell you if I wasn't happy, Georgie. One thing I've learnt from you over the years is that it is so much better to tell you stuff than to keep it from you. If you asked me anything I'd tell you the answer."

George started to open his mouth.

"I swear if you ask me about Draco and him taking me on 'dates' I will argue with you about your lack of trust in me and my ability to not kiss someone I'm not attracted to."

"So you're not attracted to him?"

I rolled my eyes, "Why do you have this awful fear I'm going to walk away from you and start dating someone else, namely Draco? Do you seriously not trust me when I tell you that I love you? I am miserable without you! Despite being my boyfriend, you're also my best friend and I'm going to talk to you about stuff, I just wouldn't tell you about girly stuff in massive detail, I don't imagine we've gotten to that point just yet…?"

George stroked my cheek, "I do trust you, I just don't trust everyone else. I am also seriously jealous of how much time you and Draco have been spending together this summer."

"It just makes the time we have together even more precious, especially the time we have when we're alone!" I was lying on my front, my head held up by my hands, I was looking down on him and pressed my lips to his, "Being alone with you is my favourite thing."

"Mine too," George said, pulling me down to kiss him again, "So now, I think is the best time to give you your presents…!" he said mysteriously, putting his hand under the bed and lifting out 3 individually wrapped presents.

I sat up, "You're spoiling me!" I smiled, "What shall I open first?"

"This one." He said.

"Did you buy me a book?" I glanced at him in wonder.

"Go on, open it!" he urged me.

I opened the present to reveal a bright red diary and it made 100% sense. I looked at him and smiled, "Thank you."

"That diary you carry everywhere with you has had some serious usage this summer and I reckoned you could do with a fresh one." He summoned a quill and wrote a message for me on the first page that was terribly soppy and will be something to laugh about when we're old and senile, "Right, next one." He handed me a box.

I opened the box to reveal a rose pendant necklace, just like the one from Beauty and the Beast, "Oh wowowowow. This is so pretty. Aw Georgie!" I hugged him, "Will you help me put it on?"

"Of course!" George put it on me as I held my hair out of the way. I lifted the pendant and held it in my hand, it meant so much for him to think of such personal gifts. "Last one!" George handed me a wrapped bottle no bigger than the palm of my hand.

"I dread to think what concoction this is." I opened the wrappings and in George's handwriting it said, 'PATENTED DAYDREAM CHARM: tried and tested, virtually undetectable, produce a very realistic daydream lasting for thirty minutes. Side effects of the product included drooling and/or dazed expression.'

"Please please please try this one out with me when we get back to Hogwarts." He put an arm around me and squeezed, "it'll be fun, I want to know what you think of it and if you like it."

I put my head on his shoulder, "Purely because it sounds like a fabulous piece of magic, I'll give it a go. If this is not what you say it is when I take it, I'll use that stinger Fred was telling me about."

"Fine by me!" George kissed me in excitement.

There was a knock on the door, "Are you two lovebirds decent in there?" it was Tonks.

I started laughing, "Come on in, come see the situation you've caught us in." Tonks opened the door and smiled, "You see how indecent this whole situation is?" I wrapped my arms around George, "How we're both in an extremely precarious position?" George kissed my forehead, laughing, "Do you want to join us and third wheel?"

Tonks tried so desperately to keep a straight face, "Your mum wants you both down stairs. She also wanted me to check if you were in a precarious situation."

George and I looked at each other and giggled, "She's already had the chat with us," I messed up George's hair, "I'm not allowed to have and babies until I'm much much older." I stood up and stood by Tonks' side, "Do you think I could get pregnant after kissing him on the lips?" I whispered.

Tonks was doubled over in laughter.

"What's all the commotion?" Lupin and Sirius had arrived at the door and were looking at Tonks as though she had six heads.

I shrugged my shoulders, then George and I left the room, "Come on, mum's looking for us." George said as I tugged Tonks.

"I need to be there when you have kids, okay?" Tonks spoke, wiping the tears of laugher from her eyes, "I need to let them know that their Auntie Tonks will be there for serious conversation."

"I can do serious conversation," I said, "I am being completely Sirius."

"What have you instilled into the child's brain?" she joked with Sirius, laughing again.

I looked at her, "You really need to take a chill pill. How am I meant to let you be there for the birth of my children if you can't take me seriously?" I continued the sarcasm, "Besides, you'll be having babies first, you let me in and I'll let you in with me if I decide after seeing you give birth if I want to go down that route, okay? Deal?"

"I reckon I could be doing with a bit of comedy relief in that situation," Tonks smiled, "Find me a man and we'll see."

"Well, there are three currently here. This one is mine," I took George's hand, "And I reckon you'd be more Lupin's type than Sirius'. You two would actually be a good match! Consider yourselves paired. Thoughts?"

"Actually, yes." Sirius said with a genuine nod.

I looked to George, "They have good chemistry, they look like a good couple, they get along and have similar interests."

"Yeah, I guess it's important that they get along." George said.

Lupin snorted, "Do the couple in question have a say in this matter?"

I looked at Tonks who was being unusually quiet about the whole situation and decided not to push the topic any further. "Of course." I turned my head to look at George who was already smiling down at me, "Mumma Weasley is looking us Georgie, let's not delay her any longer." I tugged his arm and both Sirius and Lupin followed suit, by the look on Tonks' face, she needed a minute.

I sat downstairs with George's arm around me but I couldn't content myself. I leaned into George and whispered, "I'm going to go check on her." Then I excused myself from the room where everyone was settling themselves after dinner, murmurs of different conversation died down the further up the stairs I got. "Tonks?" I said in a loud whisper.

"I'll just be a minute!" She called back, the sound came from the second flood bathroom. Her voice was high and full of emotion. I approached the room and heard sniffling.

My heart sank a little as I knocked on the door, "Hey Sis, let me in…" when she took too long to answer I turned the door handle and let myself in. "Come here, you…" I said sympathetically, closing the door and hurrying over to give her a cuddle, "I'm sorry if I said something earlier to upset you…"

"Everyone else can see it but he doesn't have a clue…" Tonks said tearfully.

I laughed, without meaning to do so, "Tell me about it."

"Huh?" Tonks asked after blowing her nose.

"It took George four and a half years to ask me out." I explained, "Four. And. A. Half. Years. Men are blind and deaf and oblivious. That, and half the time they don't have the courage to ask out strong, independent women such as ourselves."

Tonks smirked, "Does the age thing not bother you? He is… 13 years older than me."

"So what?" I said, "When did you meet?"

Tonks sat down on the bathroom floor and leaned against the bath and sighed, "I met him back in June, two days after the last task as he was talking to me about the Order of the Phoenix and Mad-Eye… Kathryn I just…" she sighed again.

"Love at first sight?" I asked.

"Yeah… something like that…"

"Perhaps you just need time to get to know each other… I know you're both friends, but he probably sees you as someone he works with and does Order missions with, but there would be no time in sitting down, just the two of you with a cup of coffee or something. He's a decent guy and he's a good listener. Let's just say I didn't make his year of teaching any easier. I think he's just a little complicated, like me. It takes time for people like me to trust others and to open up…"

Tonks sat up a little straighter, "Do you always give advice like this?"

"No, I don't, I only reserve the best advice for people I like, and that doesn't happen to be very many people…!" I jested.

Tonks grabbed my butterfly charm, "So you're not a social butterfly?"

"Merlin, no. I sting the arse off anyone who hurts my friends."

She couldn't help but laugh, "You've got my back then?"

"What are sisters for?" I stood, "Now get yourself down stairs because I've been at the loo for an awfully long time now…" I smirked, "You look beautiful come ON!"

That evening, all the kids were about to go to bed, I told Hermione and Ginny not to wait up as I had to talk to Molly and Arthur about the fostering and adoption stuff. "ARE MY PARENTS GOING TO ADOPT YOU?" Ginny asked in pure excitement.

"Well, I hope not, because as your adopted sister, it would be bad for me to be dating your brother. But yes, there's a court date coming up and your mum needs to be there and I need her to know the facts…" I pointed at the envelope in my hand. Happy with all I had said, the girls let me go down to the Order meeting without much objection.

"Oh, Kathryn dear! I thought you'd gone up to bed?" Molly said as I took a seat at the table as the Order meeting was about to commence. A few people were yet to arrive.

I flicked my hair off my shoulder dramatically and laughed, "You honestly thought I'd miss this? Not after all I've done this summer. All the actual skeletons in the sneaky hidey hole in behind the kitchen cabinet? I reckoned it shouldn't wait."

"Rightly so." Molly shook her head, knowing that she could do nothing about my ongoing sarcasm.

"I've missed you!" I hugged Molly tight, "I also got you a present." I handed her one of the envelopes, "From my lawyer… I'd really appreciate it if you could make it to the sentencing…" then I realised what I was asking of her, "But if something else comes up you don't have to… I really wouldn't expect, actually, you know it's okay, this is just the information about-"

Molly laughed, "You really need to relax, dear." She rubbed my arm affectionately, "I will be there if I can!"

"Oh, Arthur, I got that thing you asked for." I handed him an envelope, which Molly tried to and won at snatching from his hands. I was given a very distrusting look as Molly looked at the contents of the papers, "It's just electrical blueprints! I got a telephone, car engine, fridge and a few others."

Arthur smiled widely, "Thank you, Kathryn." His eyes opened widely as he came across my drawings of Malfoy Manor amongst the rest of the blueprints, "These will certainly keep me busy."

"Shall we begin? Miss Pink if you could take a seat?" Dumbledore's voice sounded from the other end of the table.

"Oh! Sorry!" I said, scooting down the table and taking the free seat beside Tonks, "Lovely to see you all!"

Snape snorted, "Pleasure really is all ours."

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat, "How is your stay with the Malfoys?"

I smiled, "Good! I'm on decent terms with Lucius now, as in he doesn't want to murder me… I think… and Narcissa seems to trust me. Draco and I are same old, good friends. They're good to me."

McGonagall nodded, "Has Mr Malfoy tried interrogating you about the Order?"

"No," I answered, "He thinks I scored poorly on my exams and I have set myself 'assignments' to do as holiday work, I did a bit of digging on the Black family history." I looked between Sirius and Tonks, "Lucius hasn't got very nice things to say about his niece or cousin by marriage. Thanks for letting me know about that bombshell. But before I say anything else, you need to tell me what is in this prophesy in the Department of Mysteries."

Dumbledore looked mildly impressed. Arthur and Molly went a shade paler. Lupin nodded and Sirius smiled widely. Dumbledore spoke, "It contains a message prophesying what will happen between Harry and Lord Voldemort."

"And what will happen? What are they destined to do?"

"You don't need to know that."

I nodded my head slowly, "Yeah, I don't accept that. You know more than you've shared and as the person who is most likely to be with Harry as he makes a quick decision or as Voldemort comes to attack him, don't you think I ought to know what he's got in for him?"

"No." Dumbledore said firmly.

"Well, it'll be on your head if things go south." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Bill has concluded his rotation on the prophesy for this week, it will be yourself and Podmore this week, Remus."

"No, not Podmore." I said.

Dumbledore's mouth was slightly open, "Excuse me, Miss Pink?"

I looked at Dumbledore quizzically, "He's under the imperius curse, I've already told you this… You can't just let one of your own men-"

Sirius clapped his hands slowly, "And the penny drops for the young one…"

"But you can't -"

"But he did." Sirius replied.

"You're letting him get caught? What if he-"

"He won't get anywhere near the prophesy." Dumbledore spoke calmly.

"It's nice to know that you all have each other's backs." I said firmly, shaking my head in disgust, speaking quickly, "Mr and Mrs Malfoy argue about Voldemort, about how they don't want him in their home, but know that they have no choice but to be gracious. They also argue about keeping Draco safe, but Lucius is thinking about letting him into meetings, but Narcissa won't allow it until he's older. Lucius thinks I don't notice that he has been on night duty guarding the prophesy, but when I find him asleep in his study, it's a sure thing. In his office I found a key to a safe which hosts his death eater gear. Narcissa is probably only in this because despite everything she loves her husband and her son and would do anything to make sure they aren't harmed. Yes, I am aware if I came in between her and her family I wouldn't even merit a second thought, but the two of us get on, she talks to me about stuff. She has told me about how she and Lucius met, about her favourite books, told me stories from her past, how she whispered-" I stopped myself, "People aren't either good or bad. They deal with the stuff life throws at you, they get up and they carry on. Tonks, don't ever find yourself alone with Lucius. Voldemort is still looking for her and Harry. Harry hasn't told me anything weird or out of the ordinary."

Tonks put a hand on my forearm, "You can't save everyone."

"Yeah, I've realised." I said, "Anything else?" I stood from the table as Dumbledore shook his head and pushed my chair in, "Everyone is worth saving." I was furious.

28th August

"Kathryn! Hogwarts letters are here!" Hermione shook me awake.

"Is George up?"

"Yeah," Hermione said, "Is everything okay?"

I nodded and swung my legs out of bed, I had to tell someone about last night and there was no better person than George. I went to his room and knocked on the door until Fred opened it, "I need to see George."

"He's right there." Fred looked at me with a half worried expression.

I walked in and closed the door tight, George was sitting in his pyjamas and was quickly making his bed, "What's wrong?" he said.

I looked to Fred and said, "You can sit down too, just make it quick before people start-" I shook my head, "I was in an order meeting last night."

Fred was about to open his mouth, but I held my hand up and stopped him, "Not right now, mate." George muted him.

I started pacing in front of the twins, "You know the way I told you about Podmore? They're going to leave him to get caught. They know he'll get caught because the Death Eaters don't care! How can they let their own man get hung out to dry like that? That's like them allowing me to stay with my parents, so that I can listen into their conversation, so that I can pass on information to the police and hope that I don't get murdered in the process! They don't know what I can do! They don't care that I'm risking my life! They are doing what is best for the Order and to hell with whatever else is happening! If something happened to me when I was there, I doubt Dumbledore or any high-up member of the Order would come rescue me! They would leave me to deal with everything myself! They've done it already, why would that stop them from doing it again? It's just like Harry! They send him back to his Aunt and Uncle every year? For him to go on a diet? I don't bloody well think so!"

"Okay, Katy…. You need to take a deep breath." George stopped me and put his arms around me, "They won't leave you to – whatever that expression meant! I wouldn't let that happen!"

I put a hand on his chest, drew breath and started again, "But they sent me there to spy? And for what? For me to get some information? They have been nothing but kind to me from me getting back to Malfoy Manor! Lucius is actually making an effort! Narcissa is letting me bake, they're not being rude or asking me awkward questions. They are being like parents should be! Merlin's beard Dumbledore's using me like a flipping puppet, I had may as well be under the frigging imperius curse, I might actually be of some use to them, except they know I can fight it off!"

"You can fight off the imperius curse?" Fred asked.

I looked at him, "Yes," then I started pacing again, "sometimes I realise just how frigging naïve I am." I said in anger, but suddenly stopped, "I've just worked it out…"

"Worked what out?" Fred and George said simultaneously.

I pursed my lips, "I'm not the one that matters in this equation, Harry is. It's always been about Harry. Voldemort is after him, as I'm sure you two know. But he's also after that prophesy about how the two will kill each other, in the end. They're protecting Harry so he doesn't find out how he's going to die or have to kill." I shook my head in disbelief, "The prophesy is too important, so they're letting Podmore take the hit, so that the ministry put in more security to monitor the area…" I sighed.

"You… done?" George asked.

I nodded, "Yeah, thanks for that." I kissed him on the cheek and nodded to Fred as I turned to leave the room.

"Kathryn?" Fred called out and I turned on my heels, "You have just told me more about what is going on in this world in the last 2-minute rant than I have heard this entire summer. Thanks for trusting me."

"No worries."