19th December

I woke up a few hours later as George moved me gently to get out of bed.

"I told you you'd wake her up." Ginny said as George sat on the edge of the bed.

"Morning." I opened my eyes and yawned.

Ginny smirked at me, climbing back into bed, "Seems you two had a good sleep." She glanced up at her brother, "I hope nothing inappropriate happened with me being so close by."

"What do you take us for?" I said sarcastically.

"Loved-up love-birds who can't keep their hands off each other." Ginny wore a wide smile.

"Oh shove off." I gave her an elbow, "the other thing you've forgotten to tell George is that I don't do first thing in the morning very well." I covered my head with the duvet.

"Lucky thing it's lunchtime, then?" she whacked me with her pillow, "Up you get, I'm starving."

It took Ginny and George a further ten minutes to convince me to get out of bed. Purely because them tickling me and jumping on the bed was no fun at all. When we went down for sandwiches, our trunks had arrived from Hogwarts. Sirius looked thoroughly happy with all the company. Fred asked George where he went. Ron talked to Ginny about Quidditch practices and I saw that Harry appeared a little subdued. I asked him for a hand to haul my trunk up the stairs to my room.

"You didn't sleep a wink last night, did you?" I asked him straight out as I sat on the edge of the bed.

Harry shook his head.

"I know that look," I continued, "the look where you're pretending that everything is okay, when it really isn't… Is there anything you'd like to talk about?"

Harry sighed, "I just didn't want to see anything else."

I nodded, "I can understand that. It's not easy having images playing over in your mind."

"I wish Dumbledore would just explain what this all means," Harry clenched his fists, "I want to know why this is happening to me. He doesn't tell me anything anymore."

"I don't know…" I said truthfully. Dumbledore had told me during the summer that he wanted to distance himself from Harry, to protect him, but all this seemed to be doing was causing Harry more stress and added anxiety.

Harry started pacing, "I just feel so angry." He left the room, and I saw no point of going after him. Instead I got showered and dressed, ready to go to the hospital.

When I went back downstairs again, my hair was wet and formed loose curls. I had a pair of jeans, boots, a t-shirt and cardigan on. A freezing cold breeze gusted through the front door of Grimmauld Place and down into the kitchen as Tonks and Mad-Eye dropped in. Mad-Eye appeared first, wearing a bowler hat, tilted to conceal his magical eye. Tonks caught eyes with me first and I gave her a massive hug, "I wish my hair was short and pink…" I pouted.

She smirked, "When you finish at Hogwarts, we can experiment with any colour you like." She hugged me again, "I've missed you."

I liked the sound of that idea, "I could have done with many cups of coffee and many slices of cake."

"I heard…" she took a hold of my hand and squeezed it, "we'll get a good catch up later." She excused herself and went to hug Molly. We all put our coats on and headed towards the train station where we travelled into the heart of London. Ginny, Tonks and I walked at the front, Molly walked with Harry and Ron in the middle and Fred and George took up the rear with Moody. In the station we bought tickets and went down the escalator and I spotted a free seat beside an elderly gentleman on the train, as I had noticed that there was an odd number of people in our group.

"Is that seat taken?" I asked, it was one of the few seats left now that all nine of us had just gotten onto the carriage amongst many others.

"Nice barnet you got there," he said in an east end accent, "me wife had 'air like that she did."

"Oh, really?" I replied, feeling very self-conscious all of a sudden, I had been planning on minding my own business.

The man's eyebrows raised, "Are you from Ireland? What 'as you in London?"

I smirked, "See that guy over there, the one that's staring at you strangely?"

"Aye, I do."

"That's my boyfriend, I'm staying with him for the holidays." I shared.

"Get out of it." His eyes widened, "There's two of 'em or are my eyes deceiving me?"

I laughed, "Identical twins, well, almost identical."

"An' there's a young'un with pink 'air on, I've seen it all this day." The man could hardly believe himself as he saw Tonks talking to Harry.

"It's gorgeous, isn't it?" I looked at him directly, smiling, "A wee bit of pink or red would be lovely."

"'ere, I know you from somewhere!" the man's face was so expressive, "You look just like that young'un who was in the papers, the daughter of the Torture Twosome."

My heart was in my throat, "The next one is my stop," I pointed towards George, "I don't want to get split from him when the train stops."

The man nodded, "Nice meeting you."

Holding on to all the poles, I made my way over to George and took his hand, taking a deep breath.

"Are you making friends over there?" he raised his eyebrows, "If he was about 50 years younger I'd be worried." Then he looked at me closely, "You've gone pale. What was he saying?"

I shook my head, "Never you worry. The cockney accent was enough for me. He had a look at you two and his eyes nearly popped out of his head."

Fred elbowed George and they simultaneously waved to the man, in exactly the same way at the same time.

"Seriously?" I rolled my eyes, "I don't fancy having to revive the man."

"Come on you three, we need to get off here." Tonks directed us towards the exit. We were right in the centre of London, surrounded by a gaggle of shoppers, busy buying Christmas presents. I held onto to George tight so as to not get separated. We followed the blob of bright pink hair to outside a large, old-fashioned, red-brick department store called Purge & Dowse. The place had a shabby, miserable air, the window display models were chipped and wearing clothes at least ten years out of date.

"I had a pinafore like that as a kid," I told Fred and George as I examined the styles being advertised.

"Right," said Tonks, beckoning us all closer, "Everybody ready?" she counted everyone quickly and leaned in very close to the window, as though to talk to one of the dummies, to the point that I could see her breath mist up the glass, "Wotcher!" she whispered, "We're here to see Arthur Weasley."

To my surprise, the dummy gave a slight nod and beckoned us forwards with her jointed finger. Tonks took Ginny and Molly by the elbows and stepped right through the glass and vanished. I looked up at George and mouthed the word 'wowzah'.

"You're so muggle." Fred stood on my other side and he and George took me by the elbows and we stepped through the glass as well. It felt as though I stepped through a sheet of cool water, and emerged warm and dry on the other side. I stopped in my steps and looked behind me, there was no sign of any dummies here, it looked nothing like a busy street in London.

I gawked around the building like an idiot. "This is incredible." We were standing in front of a crowded reception area where rows of witches and wizards sat upon rickety wooden chairs. George guided me as I walked. Many of the individuals waiting looked perfectly normal, but someone had an elephant trunk instead of a nose, someone had extra hands coming out of their chest, someone looked like they were about to explode with steam coming out of their mouth. There were many witches and wizards walking around in bright green robes, others in bright blue and one in bright pink. During my time spent in the hospital I had seen Healers and Medi-wizards in green and blue respectively, but had never seen pink. Perhaps they didn't work here…

I looked up and examined the ceiling. I gasped.

I had a flashback to when I was first here, to the time where all I could see were the many faces staring down at me, all talking quickly, I couldn't make anything out. I remembered the lights above, they were like spotlights that followed me into the ward where suddenly the lights went out…

"Katy?" George tugged me, "Katy? Are you okay?"

I shook my head, feeling a little dazed, my hand automatically grabbed for the scar where my kidney had been damaged and repaired. I remembered the pain, how I was gasping for air, I remembered the struggle to stay alive.

"I didn't even think…" George said, "I'm sorry, I-"

A firm hand on the shoulder from Moody brought me back down to earth again and I found my feet securely on the ground, "Sorry. I haven't been back here since…" I said, "It's just a bit of a surprise is all."

"Are you okay, dear?" Molly placed a hand on my arm.

I nodded, "You brought me here, I remember the lights and the flashes of green and… your voice was only one that made any sense. I was moving so fast!" I recalled, but realised I was being watched by the Weasley family, "Right, where are we off to then?"

"First floor, second door on the right, Dai Llewellyn Ward." Molly said, "Come on you lot!"

We all followed her through the double doors and along the long, narrow corridor beyond, which was lined with portraits of famous Healers and lit by what I could now make out as crystal bubbles full of candles that floated up on the ceiling. My time spent in here in the summer between third and fourth year was such a blur, mostly because I was high on analgesia. I recognised a few things, but I walked along the corridor in a bit of a daze as Fred and George nattered on beside me. We climbed a set of stairs and entered the Creature-Induced Injuries corridor and came across the ward in which Arthur was staying.

"We'll wait outside, Molly," Tonks said, "Arthur won't want too many visitors at once… it ought to be just family first."

Moody growled his approval of the idea and set himself with his back against the corridor wall, his magical eye spinning in all directions. I drew back and so did Harry, but Molly reached out and pushed him through the door, saying "Don't be silly, Harry, Arthur wants to see you, too."

George tried to beckon me into the ward, but I shook my head, I guess it didn't feel right. I still felt like a bit of an intruder, even though I did want to see Arthur and make sure he was okay. Molly looked at me, "I'll get in to see him, don't worry, I imagine you lot will be enough to contend with at the moment." I could see her reason with herself, then hurry over to her husband.

I sighed.

"Let me have a good look at you," Tonks said, "How come whenever I see you, you've had an awful night's sleep beforehand?"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"Is it tough you being back here?" she asked, her eyes meeting mine.

"Well, I was carted in here and I was barely alive. I walked out a couple of weeks later, having been unconscious for three days, during which time I underwent surgery a few times, lost about two litres of blood and had it replenished, I slowly gained the ability to sit up and talk, to walk, to eat…" I looked longingly through the window of the small, dingy ward and saw the Weasleys sitting around their father, chatting.

Tonks was watching me, I could feel her stare, "Why don't you go in?"

"I'm the runt… no actually… I'm the messed-up blow-in, the girl that is considered family, but will never truly fit in." I spoke casually, still looking in the window, forcing myself to blink away the fiery sensation in my eyes, "They've only taken me in because they feel sorry for me, and because I don't actually have any family of my own to burden myself upon."

"Now you're just feeling sorry for yourself." She chuckled.

"Yep," I turned to face Tonks, "I was in here for ten days, right? My life was hanging in the balance, and I had the Weasleys, the Grangers and McGonagall. I haven't heard from a single member of my actual, blood family in that time."

Tonks turned and looked into the ward, "You've probably spoken to more members of my family than I have and do you know what? I'm not worried. Who says blood is thicker than water?"

"True." I saw a bit of dirt in my nail and tried to get it out.

"Er – Kathryn?" Tonks seized my attention, "What is this?" she grabbed my hand and examined the scarred handwriting.

I shot her a disconcerting smile, "That, is the work of the woman who took over from him," I pointed my head in the direction of Moody, "she likes punishments just as much as Crouch liked using unforgivable curses."

"Have you told anyone about this?"

"Do you honestly think there is anything that can be done about it? The woman is parading around the school like she owns the place. If she can't get something she wants, she goes straight to Fudge and writes a new Educational Degree which allows her to do whatever the frig she wants. She knows I'm a weak link and tries to exploit it. She's been trying to get information out of me all year. She hasn't broken me yet and I don't plan on divulging anything to her, don't worry." I was on the defensive, even though I didn't need to be, "What's one more scar to add to the tremendous collection?"

Tonks opened her mouth to respond, but Molly was shoving her kids out the door and was encouraging Moody and Tonks to come in and speak to Arthur. I took the look on Tonks's face as an opportunity to sit in on what was about to be said.

"Hey." I said to Arthur, sitting gently on the edge of his bed, "I thought there were enough people sitting around earlier to keep you busy. You're looking well."

"Thanks." Arthur nodded, "I'm sure you understand where and why this happened?"

I nodded, "Where, yes, why I can guess."

"And you can't tell any of my children, not even George." He said, placing his hand on top of mine, "I was on duty for the Order and that is all they need to know." Arthur dropped his voice to barely a whisper, "I don't want them knowing about any prophesies, or the Department of Mysteries or why Voldemort's snake attacked me. Do you understand?"

"Of course." I nodded again.

"Off you go, Kathryn," Molly shooed me out the door, "you don't need to hear this."

"Can I come back and visit you?" I asked Arthur.

Arthur, who looked very surprised responded, "Of course."

As I walked towards the door of the ward, I saw a pair of extendable ears and both Fred and George pleading for me to keep schtum. George handed me an ear piece and we turned so that the adults couldn't see us listening in.

Tonks's voice was the first one I could hear, "… they searched the whole area, but couldn't find the snake anywhere. It just seems to have vanished after it attacked you, Arthur… but You-Know-Who can't have expected a snake to get in, can he?"

"I reckon he sent it as a lookout," growled Moody, "cause he's not had any luck so far, has he? No, I reckon he's trying to get a clearer picture of what he's facing and if Arthur hadn't been there, the beast would've had a lot more time to look around. So, Potter says he saw it all happen?"

I looked to Harry who looked anxious as the conversation continued.

"Yes," said Molly, "You know, Dumbledore seems almost to have been waiting for Harry to see something like this."

I frowned.

"Yeah, well, there's something funny about the Potter kid, we all know that," Moody said without reservation.

"Dumbledore seemed worried about Harry when I spoke to him this morning," Molly whispered.

"Course he's worried," Moody snarled, "The boy's seeing things from inside You-Know-Who's snake. Obviously Potter doesn't realise what that means, but if You-Know-Who's possessing him-"

Harry pulled the extendable ear out of his own. He looked around the group. His eyes then found mine and he stared at me, pleading. I could see that all he wanted to do was run. I grabbed the edge of his coat as he turned, "Harry…" but he shrugged me off.

I looked to Ron, who appeared concerned, but I didn't see him going to run to Harry's aid.

I sighed and ran to catch up.

"Harry –" I put a hand on his shoulder, but he ignored me, "Harry!" I said more assertively and he stopped and stared at me as though there was nothing he wanted to do less, "I know things are pretty shit right now, but you can't run away from this." The two of us had to move to the side of the corridor to allow a medi-wizard to assist someone with walking, "I know my opinion counts for absolutely nothing, but I don't see how you could be possessed when you were in the highlands of Scotland when the snake was in London. Just think about it, okay?" I rubbed his arm gently.

He said nothing. His eyes wondered elsewhere.

"Look, it's just you and me. I'm here for you, just-" I stopped, "Promise, that when you're ready, you'll talk to someone." But when Harry remained on the spot, staring at the floor, "And I promise, in return, that if and when I see Albus freaking Dumbledore that I will yell at him for you."

Harry's eyes met mine, "Well I'm not going to stand here looking at you all day." He said miserably, pushing my hand off his arm. This battle was not yet won.

Whenever we got back to Grimmauld Place, Molly noticed that Harry looked extremely pale and urged him to go to bed for a few hours until dinner time. He had looked unwell ever since overhearing the conversation between Arthur, Molly, Moody and Tonks. Molly personally brought me a cup of sweet tea, as she insisted I looked a bit 'peaky' as well, but I didn't feel like sleeping. Ron, Ginny, the twins and I sat in the lounge trying to make sense of the words spoken by the Order Members.

"If we hadn't of heard it, we wouldn't be in this mess," Ginny said distinctly.

"But then we would be even more clueless as to what is going on." Fred reasoned.

Ron continued, "Dumbledore wouldn't give him any straight answers last night. He wouldn't even look directly at Harry…" He explained that Dumbledore believed Harry's account without hesitation and saw the rescue of Arthur. But the thing Ron was most confused about was Dumbledore's lack of communication, he spent most of the time in complete silence. "Harry was terrified, he was – He couldn't explain how he could see anything, but was convinced it wasn't a normal dream." He paused, "We've got to be able to do something for him."

"I think he just needs some time to process everything." George suggested, glancing at me for input. My eyes were on the floor, staring at one of the loose nails that was usually covered by the moth-eaten carpet. I was trying to think, to work out a way to sort this all out. But I couldn't.

Fred continued, "I bet it's not easy hearing that he's been possessed by You-Know-Who."

Molly called Ron and Ginny downstairs to help with the final preparations of dinner, she insisted that I sit tight until everything was ready. Apparently I still looked pale. Pretty sure this is just my natural skin complexion. Fred and George were nothing but apologetic to me when everyone else was out of earshot.

"Why are you apologising to me? It's not me who's affected by this, it's him." I said in hushed tones.

"It was me who had the extendable ears in the first place." George was ashamed of himself.

Ron stuck his head in through the door, "Mum sent me up to wake Harry and see if he wants dinner now… I know what he sounds like when he's sleeping… He was faking it." He sighed, "I don't know what we're going to do…"

"We'll figure something out, we always do." I said, trying to convince myself that we could do this.

"Mum says five minutes." Ron hurried down to the kitchen again.

I lifted George's chin, "Do not be ashamed of your invention. They did exactly what they were made to do and they are fantastic creations. It was Harry's own fault for using the ears in the first place to listen into a conversation that your parents told us directly to stay out of in the first place. Why do you think they don't want us knowing what is going on at Order meetings? We can't deal with the information when we receive it! We don't know what to do with it – Harry has taken himself off – Ron is panicking – Ginny isn't her usual chirpy self – You two are sitting there feeling guilty – there is absolutely no point, what is done is done and what will be will be."

"You are the most 'adult' of all of us." Fred spoke proudly, "You're going to talk to him after dinner, right?"

I knocked on the bedroom door of where Harry was sharing with Ron. There was no answer, so I slowly pressed on the handle and let myself in, "Harry?" I spoke softly.

"I don't want to talk to you." He said, turning over so as not to look at me.

I closed the door behind me and walked over to the bed and sat down, "Molly made a delicious stew and kept a bowl for you, now that you're awake."

"I don't want it." He said stubbornly.

"You can't sit up here on your own and feel sorry for yourself," I tried sounding light-hearted, "Molly thinks you're not well. Everyone's worried, Harry… Won't you just come down and let everyone know you're okay?"

I could see Harry clench his fists, "I'm not okay, I've got so much going on in my head right now."

I nodded, "I know Harry, I understand how that feels…"

"No, you don't understand how it feels! You will never understand what's going on inside my head." He snapped, "Voldemort is – he's – I – just go away and leave me alone!"

"I'm only trying to help..." I stood.

"I wish you would stop trying to 'help' because all you ever do is make things worse." He said, "I don't want to see you or hear your voice ever again. If you understood that, you'd respect my wishes." He was in foul form.

"Harry, please... I …"

"I don't care what you think." He roared, "Get out!"

"Look Kathryn… about last night, I'm sorry for snapping at you." Fred said an hour later when I had manged to pull myself together. I had sat in my room, contemplating for ten minutes, it was one of those times when I knew I should be crying, but felt shocked more than anything. I hated the silence that came with being on my own, so I went back downstairs, shrugged my shoulders to the Weasleys and settled myself on the sofa beside Fred and George were I sat in silence, but at least had the company of other voices as Ron and Ginny played Gobstones and the twins discussed business.

"Snapping at me?" I repeated, my mind was in another world. The one where Harry had done something stupid and I had the sickly feeling of guilt in my stomach.

"About Ange, and you pushing me to get with her."

"Oh, I had forgotten about that!" I said, "I probably pushed too far, I don't want to make you uncomfortable, but I do genuinely care about you and I want you to be happy."

Fred and George both leaned forwards on the settee, "What's wrong with you?" Fred asked, "You've been sitting there, looking out the window all evening, jumping at any sudden movement."

"You didn't mention what happened earlier when you were talking to Harry," George said, "Did something happen? Did he say something to hurt you?"

I stood quickly, "I'll be back later." I walked out of the sitting room and raced down the stairs to the kitchen where I heard Molly and Tonks talking with Moody, Sirius and Lupin. I walked in through the door without knocking. My mind was so full of information that I couldn't even sit down.

"Kathryn? What's wrong?" Tonks' eyes were filled with concern.

"Have you and Harry caught the same bug?" Molly asked, "He was as pale as you are right now."

"Turn on the radio." I said.

Sirius did as I asked and placed it beside the door, so that no one could listen into the conversation.

I turned to Moody, "Possession? Really?"

"Where did you hear that?" Moody growled.

"In the hospital." I said, "You were discussing it with Arthur after I left. I can't – I – really?"

Moody's real eye stayed on me, but his electric blue eye swung in all directions, looking at every member of the Order sitting around me, "It's a possibility."

"But he was in Hogwarts!" I said, "And the snake was in the Department of Mysteries, so how? Like… You cannot apparate in Hogwarts! Harry was in his bed! Ron was watching him struggle in his sleep, Harry was not possessed by Voldemort! I just refuse to believe it!"

"Can you come up with any other reasonable explanation?" Moody growled.

"How am I meant to protect him? How am I supposed to be of any help when he is upstairs by himself, separating himself from us because he's terrified that he's going to transfigure into a snake and kill us all?" I questioned, "He doesn't know what's happening and he's scared and no one seems to be going upstairs to try and help him! I don't have the answers he wants!"

Molly was the next to speak, "Kathryn, he's asleep... Ron said when he went up to offer dinner…"

I sighed, "I know him, Molly… Harry and I are surprisingly alike… When something goes wrong that you can't explain – nightmares, having people try to kill you, watching other people die or become seriously injured – we don't cope very well with that, because it's hard to process when you don't understand the reasoning behind it." I tried to explain, "And I'm not trying to offend anyone, but because Harry and I have both had a lack of a full-time parent, we have learnt to internalise what goes on in our lives. We take ourselves off, we distance ourselves, we-" I stopped, I got a twinge of pain when I remembered what Harry said to me, that he didn't want to see me, or hear from me again, "He's hurting..."

Lupin leaned forwards, "We don't know what's going on, either."

"Don't lie to me."

"We can't tell Harry what is going on if Voldemort is accessing his mind. It's too much of a risk." Sirius told me, to the dismay of Molly and Moody.

I thought about the words Sirius had spoken to me, then something dawned on me, "He's going to run away."

"What?" the sound of different voices reverberated around the room.

"He's noble. He won't want anyone to get hurt. He thinks he's a risk! He'll work it out, he'll know that Voldemort is accessing his mind, and he'll worry that because he's in the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix, that he'll expose everyone and most notably, you, Sirius." I spoke quietly, "He will always do what he thinks is right, even if it is to his detriment."

Sirius and Lupin nodded knowingly. Perhaps James or Lily were like this.

"I'd go talk to him, but from what he said to me earlier, I'm one of the last people he wants to see." I felt awful.

"We'll give him until tomorrow afternoon."

That night, after Fred and George had done just about everything in their power to distract Ron and me from how distant Harry was being, we all went upstairs to bed. I was burdened with knowledge that I could not share, but I knew was vital to know. I had this overwhelming feeling of worry for Harry, but I was assured by Sirius that he would be alright. I sat in silence with Ginny as she insisted on braiding my hair.

"Kathryn can I talk to you about something?" Ginny spoke softly as she brushed my hair, putting sleakeasy potion through it. I looked at her in the mirror, she was deep in concentration.

"'Course you can." I said smoothly.

"All of this is reminding me of my first year…" she swallowed hard, "with the diary…"

I wish, in that second, that I could have turned on the spot to face her, to see the emotions on her face, but I think she planned it this way.

"You-Know-Who possessed me. I know exactly what that feels like. I don't think Harry was, because he could tell us exactly what happened. I couldn't remember what I had done, it was like closing your eyes and waking up a few hours later in a different place with blood on your hands, or feathers on your clothes or in the middle of the Chamber of Secrets not knowing how you got there…"

I had to keep my head straight, "You must have been terrified…"

"Yeah," she answered, her voice cracked, "Can I ask you something I need you to be honest with me about?"

"Go on…"

"How did you feel when you were in hospital two summers ago?"

"You really don't want to know."

Ginny stopped plaiting, "Kit-Kat…"

"Fine," I answered, and she restarted plaiting, "I woke up and I didn't know where I was, I couldn't feel my body… I panicked. I was surrounded by people I didn't know…" I said, "When the pain relief started wearing off was worse, that was when I threw up blood and bile and I thought I was going to die all over again. I genuinely didn't know how I was alive. I had to tell people my story… I remember Hermione and George not being able to form conversations because of all the stuff that happened. I remember the time I spent alone, in pain, feeling low, wondering if it was all worth it. I had myself convinced that someone was going to come into my room and kill me... You and Fred turned up and made me feel human again. I think that was when I turned the corner. It was not easy. I battled with myself constantly." I concluded, "Still do."

Ginny tied my hair and sat beside me on the bed, "I've been watching you… The way you face everything, but the way you were today… You still have PTSD."

"Yeah," I agreed without hesitation, "I've had it from when I was a kid, there have been many additions to my problems over the years. Some days I deal with it better than others..."

"When Moody mentioned possession to my dad earlier…" Ginny struggled, "I just – I – it all came back – I felt as though I stopped, but the world kept going on around me, like my feet were glued to the floor – I felt like – I didn't like whatever it was. I felt really weak and vulnerable again, like a stupid little girl who shouldn't have poured her heart out to a man in a book…"

I nodded at her knowingly as she spoke, "You felt stumped. I took one look at the bloody lights in the hospital and I was frozen on the spot. Everyone has triggers. Everyone copes differently."

"You cope by helping people, by busying yourself, or when things are really bad, you go someplace where you're alone and shut yourself off from everyone." Ginny said, "I know you. George knows you, too. He was watching you earlier."

"I know," I said, "He can get really overprotective, but over the last while, he's become better at letting me deal with things and stepping in when he notices I'm not doing so well on my own." I looked to Ginny, "He knows me better than I know myself sometimes and that's scary! Sometimes he just has to ask 'Are you okay?' and he just knows."

"You were really good with him last night."

"Huh?"

She smiled, "I didn't hear him come in, I just remember you moving to hug him or something and him being tearful. I believed you both when you said that you loved each other." She smirked to herself, "I've never heard you two talk like that before."

"That's because I really do love him." I said, getting into my pyjamas, "What about you and Michael?" I asked.

"Are you asking as someone who is going to make fun, or as someone who wants a serious conversation?" Ginny asked.

"I think serious conversation is the way we're going tonight." Ginny got into bed beside me and we faced each other.

She breathed deeply, "I don't know about him. Some days we get on great, then… I mightn't see him for a few days… he's just so…"

"I can't believe I'm going to stick up for him, but…" I smirked, then straightened my face again, "we're all really busy right now! And he's a 'Claw, he takes this stuff just as seriously as Hermione and I do!"

"But you always have time for me!"

I couldn't help but smile, "That's because you're my little sister and I will always have time for you if you need me."

"I wonder if he'll write to me?" she wondered aloud, "I mean, I disappeared in the middle of the night. George would write to you, wouldn't he?"

"You really ought to stop comparing your relationship with mine! George and I are different." I said, "Not all men are brought up the same way, some men don't know how to communicate with women, don't know how to treat women right and certainly have no tact! Like just the other day, Ron and Harry were talking to Hermione and me about girls and emotions and they were just pathetic! I don't know Michael well enough."

"And I know what happened between you and a certain other man, but at least he wrote to you."

"Yeah, to piss your brother off!" I snorted, "That doesn't count. Besides, he didn't treat me right. No way. If I saw you in a relationship with an Oliver Wood, I hope you wouldn't mind me intervening to get you out of there."

Ginny shrugged her shoulders, "So if you saw him tomorrow, what would you do?"

"Ignore him."

"And if he talked to you?"

"I'd be polite until the point where politeness is no longer an option," I answered honestly, "Why are you asking me this, Gin?"

She yawned, "Just if I ever need to know. Besides, I'm holding out for a miracle."

The yawn was contagious, "George and I want cute little nieces and nephews, so choose well."

"Only with your help." Ginny's eyes were closing. Sleep was winning the battle with both of us.

20th December

"Have you seen Harry this morning?" I asked George, rubbing my eyes sleepily.

"No…" he answered, biting into a slice of toast, "Ron left him in bed, he refused to come down again." Holding his wand with a flick of his wrist, George poured me a cup of coffee and shoved it into my hands, "Are you going to tell me what he said to you yesterday that has you so on edge?"

I took a sip of my coffee and pulled my chair closer to him, "He basically said that he doesn't want to see me or hear my voice ever again, because I don't understand what is going on in his head and every time I try to help, I make things worse..."

"Ouch…" George pulled a face, "Well that's not true at all…"

"Doesn't stop it from hurting though." I grabbed the last slice of toast from his plate and started eating it.

George blinked disbelievingly, "Oi."

"You do this to me all the time!" I said with good reason, "Besides, this is your fifth slice."

"Caught on, mate." Ron walked into the room, fully dressed, "He's sitting in the upstairs drawing room. If I knew what to say to him, I would say it, but…"

I took another sip of coffee, "I wouldn't bother, he'll only bite your head off too, and the things he's saying aren't very nice." I stated, "Just leave him to huff. He'll get bored soon enough."

Ron's eyes nearly popped out of his head in shock, "Merlin he must have been rude to you."

"He was." George answered on my behalf, having toasted a handful more pieces of bread, handing me one, "Katy, what have you done with your hair? The curls are different."

"I braided it last night, it's gorgeous, isn't it?" Ginny wandered into the kitchen with wet hair, "Would you?"

I tapped the seat beside me and started braiding her hair. Ginny's red hair was a lot easier to manage than mine as it was poker straight and tended not to become tangled. I worked her hair with ease and tied it at the end with a bauble, "That's you."

Molly then appeared at the door with a handful of Christmas decorations, "Sirius is just sorting the tree, if you want to help with the decorating?"

I turned to George with a huge smile on my face, "Can we? Please? I've never decorated a tree before!"

"Come on then." George got up off his seat, "When you put it like that."

I ran up the stairs and grabbed my radio and found a station that played muggle carols and Christmas songs. We all got together in the front room and got stuck in to making the place look a little more Christmassy! Ron, Ginny and I put baubles on the lower half of the tree and Molly, Sirius and the twins used magic to cover the top half of the tree. We sang together songs like 'Do They Know It's Christmas', 'Mistletoe and Wine', 'Merry Christmas Everyone' and 'Mary's Boy Child' to name a few. Then I put tinsel all around the pictures in the room and the twins bewitched what I can only describe as fairy lights to twinkle over the window. Molly also placed stockings over the mantelpiece and put little ornaments around the room. Sirius held mistletoe over mine and George's head and I kissed him gently and we both giggled afterwards. I then warned Sirius to get rid of it. Fred found a Santa hat and duplicated it so that we could all wear one.

Sirius laughed loudly as 'Fairytale of New York' was introduced as the next song, "Please tell me someone else knows the words to this?"

"You bet I do." I high-fived him.

"Duet?" he asked, "Will you be the Kirsty to my Shane?"

"Certainly." I smirked as Sirius began singing the first line. He really got into the swing of it, acting out the song perfectly. I knew it was game on for performance.

I sang my favourite lines,

'You're a bum
You're a punk'

Sirius sang back,

'You're an old slut on junk
Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed'

I acted offended and elbowed him my retort,

'You scumbag, you maggot
You cheap lousy faggot
Happy Christmas your arse
I pray God it's our last'

Despite Molly's surprise at me singing such awful lyrics, she and her children all joined in,

'The boys of the NYPD choir
Still singing "Galway Bay"
And the bells were ringing out
For Christmas day'

"I hardly ever get to hear you sing…" George said to me as the song finished, "You have a beautiful voice."

"I only sing when I'm in a good mood and there's a good song playing." I replied honestly, "I also tend to sing when I'm on my own, when I know nobody else is listening."

"Such a waste."

"She sings all the time in the shower," Ginny said then whispered something to her brother that I couldn't hear. But they both smiled at me afterwards, so I guess that was alright.

After lunch, I was granted permission by a busy Molly to go with the twins to visit Arthur in St Mungo's. She handed me a parcel of goodies to smuggle in to him. 'Don't let the Healers see you with it' she warned repeatedly. Fred and George stood laughing at their mother, for her obvious ignorance. We were also warned to 'be safe, stay together, don't do anything stupid and be back for dinner'. I loved Molly's caring nature. I knew she really wanted to go and see her husband, but refused to leave Grimmauld Place with things being as they were with Harry. I gave her a hug, took the package and hid it inside my satchel.

Arthur was really happy to see us when the three of us arrived on the ward, completely frozen from getting caught up in a snow storm. "How are you?" I asked, "And be honest."

"Sore and tired."

"I wouldn't expect anything less." Was my response as I took the seat closest to Arthur, "is it lonely?" I asked, looking around the ward.

"Not as lonely as you probably were in that room of yours." He said, "the man in the bed opposite was bitten by a werewolf, he doesn't like talking much, he just sort of… lies there. And the woman over there-" his head directed towards the woman in the far corner of the room, "she was bitten by an Argentinian-Peruvian hybrid spider that is very much illegal. She was breeding it as their venoms together would – well, look at her leg." I turned on the chair and pretended to look out the window and saw the yellow-green crusted leg that had a purple puss coming out, dripping onto the bed. That's what the bad smell is.

"Nice." I smiled.

"Dad, we're just going to go up to the café to get something to warm us up, do you want anything?" Fred asked.

Arthur nodded, "I'd love a cup of strong coffee."

George nodded to his dad and looked at me, "Do you want to come? Or…?"

"You can surprise me," I winked, "off you go, don't get lost."

"You're not ashamed to be sitting here with your boyfriend's old man?" Arthur said in surprise as the twins left.

I smirked, "Do you know what… I think I might run before our conversation turns awkward or something…" I joked, "Of course I'm not ashamed! I want to know all about your wound."

Arthur's eyes lit up and he began talking, "If they could take the bandages off, I'd be fit for home, but I'm sure they've already told you that. I still bleed every time they try and take them off. The Healers are working tirelessly on making a potion that heals the wound and stops the bleeding. So far, they've tried a few things, but nothing has worked…"

"What about tranexamic acid? Have they used it?" I asked.

"It's all in my chart at the end of the bed." Arthur's head nodded to the small pile of parchment, "Do you have a particular interest in snake bites?"

"I had to research bleeding a few months ago… I'm sure you noticed Fred and George experimenting during the summer with nosebleeds? It came to a point where I had to start reading so they didn't kill themselves." I shook my head, Arthur rolled his eyes as he remembered, "It was the tranexamic acid that stopped the bleeding for them." I looked through the notes, "Darn, they've already tried it." I stared, twisting my fingers through my hair as I thought, "they've used aminocaproic acid too." Then I saw Arthur watching me, "Sorry…"

He laughed, but clutched his stomach as he did so, "I don't mind. My children were more interested in where I got injured and how a snake got to me." his voice was barely a whisper, "This is a nice change."

"I'm guessing you remember very little?" I asked.

He nodded, "I remember falling asleep… I just couldn't keep my eyes open… then this ruddy massive snake came out of nowhere and started thrashing at me and I lost consciousness shortly after and woke up here."

A Healer popped into the ward with a drink for Arthur. The man looked down at me, with Arthur's notes spread across the bed, "What are you doing?"

My eyes widened, "I'm sorry, I was just interested in what potions you had used, Arthur said it was alright for me to have a look. I'll put everything back in order..." I felt so embarrassed, "I was just wondering if you'd used tranexamic acid, but you have… I had also read about a drug called haemabate, but it's not really for-" I stopped myself, "You already know this. Sorry for bothering you, I'll put these back now." I felt so ashamed.

"Actually…" the Healer looked at me thoughtfully, "can I have the notes?" I quickly gathered all the notes and put them perfectly in order again.

Arthur knocked back the blood-replacement potion and had a look of revulsion on his face, "It's disgusting, isn't it? I don't think I'll ever forget the taste." I commented.

"See you in an hour, Mr Weasley."

"How is Molly?" Arthur asked when the Healer left.

I shrugged my shoulders, "I think she's alright, I mean, obviously she's missing you, but she's keeping herself busy around Grimmauld Place. She's worried about Harry, he hasn't been the same since, you know, the vision, or whatever you lot are calling it. I'm just telling you now, it was not him being possessed. I asked the Order last night," I whispered, "he's just terrified, he doesn't really understand what's going on." I explained, "I haven't told him where you were or why, don't worry, but trust me, it's been difficult."

"Albus was here last night, he said that Harry's vision was through the eyes of the snake, did you know this?"

"Yeah," I nodded, "Harry thinks it was him who attacked you, but at the same time, he wasn't doing it wilfully, I think he just saw through the eyes of the snake doing what it was told to do." I sighed, "But I really don't know. I guess I'm just glad, that out of all this happening, you're alright."

Arthur nodded, looking down at his watch, "Fred and George seem to be away a long time."

I rolled my eyes, "Goodness knows who they've bumped into or what conversation they're immersed in, about an idea one of them has had." I shook my head.

"You know…" Arthur placed his hand on top of mine as I leaned in to hear him, "the first few times we met, I wasn't too sure about you. I didn't want the complications for George. I don't like what your family has done to you and how this has affected you."

I nodded, "I know."

"But you won me over," he said, "You helped save Ginny, you confided in George, Molly and me, you were chatty, polite and very thankful that night you two came to visit in the middle of term. It was then that Molly and I realised that all you needed was a proper family. You invited us to meet your Grandmother and you treated us like royalty as we visited. Then the unimaginable happened… That was when I knew George was serious about you. You know he sat in this hospital for days on end, sitting outside the room where they worked on you, then by your beside as they had a tube down your throat, breathing for you, as you woke up and had to deal with the consequences of what your parents did to you…" Arthur's voice was barely a whisper, "I know there have been blips where he wasn't sure about what to do, but you waited, and for that I can only commend you. You two have been together almost a year now, haven't you?"

I smiled widely, "Yeah, we got together at the Yule Ball."

Arthur smiled with me, "Are you serious about my son?"

"I am," I stated with conviction, "I have never been as sure about anything else in my entire life."

"I just needed to hear you say it." It was as though Arthur knew what I was going to say, "I'm going to tell you a few things now, as part of a – I don't want to call myself a father-figure when I'm not your dad – but I'm an old man – who has come to realise in the last few days that we all need to stick together. I'm am certain that there is going to come a time where you are told something that you can't cope with. You will become consumed by this knowledge, and it may make sense or it may come as a shock to you, I do not know, but I ask that you stay strong, that you do talk to George and keep him in the loop, because if you two really are serious about each other, you need to trust each other wholly-"

Fred and George came into the ward. I had so many questions I wanted to ask, but I knew I wouldn't get the answers today. Fred handed his father a cup of strong coffee, sat down with a cup of a Christmassy-smelling drink, George handed me a cup of hot cocoa and had a cup of his own.

"So what were you two talking about this whole time?" George asked, eyeing me up.

"The secrets to a good marriage." I smiled, "Considering you're all into this getting married and having loads of kids idea." I turned to Arthur and raised my eyebrows.

"And what is the secret?" George asked.

I grinned, "A good line of communication, honesty and undivided trust." Arthur nodded at me, "And I'd just like to add, loving each other when you really don't want to talk to one another."

"I now pronounce you husband and wife." Fred joked.

"Are you two wanting to get married?" Arthur asked, looking more at George than me.

George looked at me and smiled. I returned the gesture. The two of us took a sip of hot cocoa at the same time. I could have sworn George's eyes glistened, but maybe it was a trick of the mind.

"I'm an old man now, you're going to have to tell me what that look meant."

"It means yes, Dad, it means that when Katy is finished at Hogwarts, we will get married." He spoke proudly, "When we're both ready."

Arthur smiled, "Good, because I don't want you to move too fast, but having gone through a near-death experience myself, I think along the lines of seeing my children happy. You'll see that Fred is happy, too, I hope?"

"Already on it." I smirked, then I remembered something, "Oh Arthur! Molly would kill me if I forgot!" I looked over my shoulder to check for a Healer, "Molly wanted me to give you this package." I handed it to him.

"Thank you," he said, taking a long drink of coffee, "I was thinking…"

Fred rolled his eyes, "Please Dad, nothing more to do with love or marriage or children… Please!"

"Nothing of the sort!" Arthur shifted uncomfortably on the bed, "I wanted to ask Kathryn's opinion on muggle doctors sewing."

"Stitches?" I questioned, "I've had a few in my time, why do you ask?"

Arthur looked positively excited, "I want to see if stitches work on my wounds. Augustus Pye, the trainee Healer, he suggested it."

The twins glanced at me. My eyes did not leave Arthur's, "You know I'm all for muggle methods, but Arthur, your wounds are still open, they are still bleeding, the Healers have not worked out how to stop the bleeding… I know I can't stop you, but please think about this logically… They take the bandage off and you bleed, heavily. Stitches take time and precision; I doubt they will be able to get it all done in time, especially when they don't really know what they're doing."

"You won't tell Molly?"

I shook my head disbelievingly, "I know I can't stop you. Just… try and be sensible about this." I said. I knew my words went in one ear and out the other.