15th February

First time I saw George today was at midday. He looked miserable. He locked eyes with me and signalled for us to go out the portrait door together.

"I'll pack up your things," Hermione said, "he looks dreadful…"

I squeezed her shoulder gratefully as I passed, climbing out of the Gryffindor Common Room. George took my hand, and without saying a word, walked in the direction of the Astronomy Tower. We climbed the spiral staircase and a chilly breeze hit us half way up, I wished I put on a cardigan this morning.

George performed the spell 'Homenum Revelio' and seemed content that no one else was up here. As I gazed into the foggy distance, he sat down with his back against the wall and tapped the floor beside him. I sat and placed my head on his shoulder and he put his arm around me resting his own head on top of mine. I laid my hand on his thigh and sat silently, waiting for him to be ready to talk.

"I'm so ashamed…" his voice was barely a whisper, "I know I fail things all the time, but I really wanted to do this… for Fred and for you…" his voice broke, "Katy… we can't-"

It was breaking me inside to see him like this. Whilst I knew what he was going to say, it wasn't any easier to hear.

"Katy… Fred and I, we won't be the owners of number 93…" his free hand wiped his face roughly, "the numbers… we just can't-"

One of his tears fell down my t-shirt, "Georgie…" I sat forward and looked at him, I felt myself welling up, "What happened?"

"Please don't cry…" he reached forwards and brushed away my tears with his fingers, "there's nothing that can be done…"

"How come?" I asked, and George took out a piece of parchment from his pocket. It was a letter from Jenkins following from their meeting yesterday, it said,

Dear Mr F Weasley and Mr G Weasley,
Thank you for your ongoing interest in number 93 Diagon Alley. Your plans for using the premises have been subject to scrutiny in the Department of Administration, Ministry of Magic and your request to open your Joke Shop has been granted.
It is necessary now, for you to place your deposit of 2,500 Galleons no later than 29th February 1996. This is to confirm your interest and to successfully purchase the property from the present occupier. This figure is non-negotiable as previously disclosed. Your monthly repayments will be discussed further at the nearest convenience. I await your owl for confirmation of availability.
Yours sincerely,
Mr Archibald Jenkins,
Department of Administration,
Ministry of Magic

"I don't understand…"

"We don't have the money…" he said with a deep sigh, "we have 2,000 Galleons. That's it. We can't make 500 Galleons by the end of the month, then make enough to make the next repayment. We have so many renovations to do and to make the shop presentable…" his voice was rough, "I've been thinking it over all night… We tried getting a loan from the bank, but our family is poor, I just – I thought we could do this…"

"How much do you need?" I asked, I shivered with a gust of wind, "If I know you well enough, you've got a figure in mind…"

George dared to glance at me before staring back down at his feet again, "We need at least the deposit of 2,500 Galleons and then we can sell enough around here to keep us going to pay for renovations. Jenkins reckons that repayments will be around 500 Galleons a month. It's going to cost an arm and a leg in fixing up the place-"

"George," I said, interrupting him, "What if I told you that you will be able to afford it?"

"Katy, we can't, we just don't have the money-"

"I have." I said.

"Wha-"

I sat on my knees, leaned forwards and took his hand, "You said that when we've both left school, that we'll get married and spend the rest of our lives together?"

George nodded, "I did, yeah."

"So that means that what is mine is yours and what is yours is mine?" I said slowly.

"Katy, what has this got to do with-?"

"I want to give you the money." I said, "However much you need to start up the business and keep it running. It's yours."

George's chin dropped, "Y – y – you'd do that, f – for me?"

I placed my hand on his cheek and stroked it tenderly, "I'd do anything for you."

"A – a – are you sure?"

I nodded, "Vault 1032."

George leapt to his feet and helped me up, kissed me and galloped down the spiral staircase, along the corridor and sprinted towards the Gryffindor Common Room. I was out of breath trying to keep up with him, as he pounded up the stairs to his dormitory and dragged Fred down to where I was standing. "Tell him what you told me."

I chucked, "You ran all the way here, for that?"

Fred looked puzzled, "What's going on?"

"Freddie, number 93 Diagon Alley is going to be yours." I smiled, "Consider me an investor in your joke shop."

"You-" Fred had that same dumbstruck look on his face.

"Katy's going to give us the money!" George hugged Fred.

Fred took a step forwards, wrapped his arms around me and in one swift, unexpected motion kissed me. Then he retracted awkwardly as I laughed, "I think that means he accepts?"

16th February

"Hey, Harry, I never got to ask you how it went with Cho." Hermione asked at dinner whilst Ron was at Quidditch Practice, "You were back so early…"

"Based on the way she walked into the Great Hall and ignored Harry's existence, I'm guessing it didn't go very well…" I said matter-of-factly, "Spill."

"Er… yeah… it was a complete fiasco." Harry said, serving himself seconds of dessert. We always made sure to have a decent amount of dessert on Mondays to reward ourselves for surviving DADA.

I raised an eyebrow, "Care to elaborate?"

"We walked down to Hogsmeade together, talking mostly about Quidditch. Pansy Parkinson passed us with the rest of the Slytherin girls and said that she didn't fancy Cho's taste, because at least Cedric was good looking." He said, looking embarrassed, "we couldn't decide where to go, so we did a bit of window shopping and we saw pictures of all the Death Eaters plastered everywhere, which got us thinking, when Sirius was on the run, Hogsmeade was plagued with Dementors, but now there are ten Death Eaters escaped from Azkaban, there isn't one in sight…"

Hermione raised an eyebrow, "Curious, isn't it?"

"Yeah… then it started raining and Cho suggested getting a coffee and we went into Madam Puddifoot's-"

I snorted, "Oh goodness, that place is awful at the best of times, never mind Valentine's Day."

Harry's expression told me the feeling was mutual, "There were golden cherubs that hovered over all the tables and spat out pink confetti every so often. Roger Davis was sitting at the table beside ours with a pretty blonde girl, they were holding hands. The whole place was filled with couples. Cho ordered the two coffees and before they arrived Roger had started snogging the blonde girl." He pulled a face.

"Was he sucking her face off?" I felt queasy at the thought, "I can't believe actually I said that."

"Yes, he basically was. They were slurping," Harry said, "and it was really off-putting."

I gagged, "I really hope George and I aren't like that…"

Harry shook his head, "You two are alright."

"You and George keep your PDA's to a minimum, but when you do, it's sweet, it's not like that." Hermione added, pulling a face of disgust, "Ew."

"Cho mentioned Umbridge a few minutes later, but we've already hammered out that subject in the DA, so there wasn't much to talk about there." Harry continued, "so after a few minutes I asked her if she would like to come with me to the Three Broomsticks at lunch because I was meeting you, Hermione. Cho raised her eyebrows at me and said 'You're meeting Hermione Granger? Today?' and I told her that you asked me to, so I thought I would. I asked her if she wanted to come with me because you said that it didn't matter if she came along."

Hermione and I exchanged a look before focusing our attentions back on Harry again.

"Cho said that it was nice of you, but her voice wasn't happy, it was cold all of a sudden. Cho's hand was lying on the table and I went to touch it, but as I moved, she moved her hand off the table and then she started watching Roger kissing that girl and told me that he had asked her out a couple of weeks ago, and she turned him down. Then she said that she was in Madam Puddifoot's last year with Cedric. Then she asked me if Cedric mentioned her before he died. I told her no, because he didn't really have time to say anything. I tried to talk about Quidditch and she started crying."

"Oh Merlin." Hermione whispered.

"I told her that I didn't want to talk about Cedric, that I wanted to talk about something else… She said that she thought I would understand her need to talk about it. I told her that I had talked about it, to you two and Ron… She said 'oh you'll talk to Hermione Granger!' and she said that I wouldn't talk to her about it, she suggested that we paid and I went to see you, Hermione, like I wanted. She was crying really loudly and her voice was so loud, she told me to leave, she said that she didn't know why I asked her out in the first place if I was going to make arrangements with other girls. She asked how many girls I was going to see. I told her it wasn't like that… She stormed out of the shop, everyone was staring at us, I paid and went after her, but she was gone, so I went to the Three Broomsticks."

Harry's story was hard to listen to. Hermione and I sighed at the same time. I looked to her for some form of encouragement. Hermione looked over her shoulder at the back of Cho's head.

"I mean what was that all about? What was going on?" Harry asked, setting down his spoon, having polished off his second dessert.

"Oh, Harry," Hermione said sadly, "Well, I'm sorry, but you were a bit tactless."

"Me, tactless?"

I agreed, "Yes, Harry, tactless."

Harry leaned forward in his defence, "One minute we were getting on fine, next minute she was telling me that Roger Davis asked her out and how she used to go and snog Cedric in that stupid teashop – how was I supposed to feel about that?"

I tried to hold back laughter at how pathetic and naïve he was being, "And how did you expect Cho to feel when you told her that you were going to meet up with Hermione for lunch in the Three broomsticks and that Hermione didn't care if she came?"

"But – but Hermione's my friend, you asked me to come!"

"Well, you see," it was as though Hermione was speaking to an over-emotional toddler, "you should have told her differently. You should have said that it was really annoying, that I'd made you promise to come along and you didn't really want to go, that you'd much rather spend the afternoon with her, but you really ought to go and you'd really like her to come with you and maybe you'd get away sooner?" Hermione said with the patience of a saint, "And it might have been good for you to mention how ugly I am, too."

"But I don't think you're ugly!" Harry said, bemused.

Hermione and I laughed. My hands found my face and I wiped my eyes at how much of an idiot my best guy friend is.

"Harry, you're worse than Ron… Well, no, you're not…" she sighed as Ron came into the Great Hall, splattered in mud and looking grumpy, "Look – you upset Cho when you said that you were going to meet me, so she tried to make you jealous. It was her way of trying to find out how much you liked her."

"Is that what she was doing?" confusion was written all over Harry's face, "Well, wouldn't it have been easier if she had just asked me whether I liked her better than you?"

I shook my head, "Us girls don't ask questions like that."

"Well, they should!" Harry said forcefully. Ron had managed to pile his plate high with food whilst listening into our conversation. He and Harry had obviously discussed this between themselves already, "Then I would have told her that I fancy her, and she wouldn't have had to get herself all worked up again about Cedric dying and turn into a human hosepipe!"

I snorted, "We're more about showing than telling. I want you to show me that you care, I don't want you to tell me."

Harry and Ron both rolled their eyes at me, as though I was talking bullshit.

"Look, we're not saying what Cho did was sensible," Hermione said as Ginny joined us, equally as muddy as Ron, "I'm just trying to make you see how she was feeling at the time."

"Remember, Ronald, she's not a bloody teaspoon." I then looked between the boys, "Girls have feelings, you have to be mindful of what else is going on in her life."

Hermione gave me a look of admiration.

"You two should write a book." Ron said as he cut up his potatoes, "Translating mad things girls do so boys can understand them."

"Harry… Ron…" I said slowly, "For you two, you get one free girl-related question a day. Otherwise Hermione, I think they'd both be doomed."

Both Ginny and Hermione nodded in agreement.

Harry changed the topic of conversation, "So how was Quidditch Practice?"

"It was a nightmare," Ron said in a surly voice.

"Oh come on," Hermione said, looking to Ginny, "surely it wasn't that-"

"Yes it was," Ginny said, "It was appalling. Angelina was nearly in tears by the end of it."

18th February

This evening Fred and George called me over to their window seat when I came back from the library. George opened his arms and I sat on his knee. I rested my head on his, sleep was calling me. I was now officially up to date with homework. How I managed it, I do not know.

"This is your final chance to back off the deal…" Fred said, handing me a piece of parchment. In short, Jenkins wanted my signature to make sure that he was legitimately taking the money out of my bank account. So I wrote,

'I KATHRYN PINK give permission for Fred and George Weasley to take the sum of -TWO THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED GALLEONS ONLY- from my bank account, Gringotts vault number 1032 in order to pay the deposit for number 93 Diagon Alley. Kathryn Pink '

"I'd sign my life over to you now, if you let me go to bed." I yawned.

"Very Professional of you," Fred said, "Really appreciate it, Kathryn. We don't require your soul just yet."

"No worries," I said, "Night."

George tugged me back into a cuddle, "You." He kissed my forehead, "Are." he kissed my right cheek, "The." He kissed my left cheek, "Best." He kissed my nose, "Sweet dreams," he kissed me on the lips tenderly.

I was in a bit of a spin as I turned to climb the stairs up to my dorm.

21st February

We're not allowed to talk about it. The match was short. 21 minutes to be precise. It's hard to say what the worst thing was exactly… Ron conceded fourteen goals, Sloper missed the Bludger and hit Angelina in the mouth with his bat, Kirke shrieked and fell backwards off his broom when Zacharias Smith zoomed in his direction with the Quaffle. It was a bloody miracle we only lost by ten points. Ginny managed to catch the Snitch from right under the Hufflepuff Seeker's nose.

The final score was 240: 230.

Ron sat in the corner all night clutching a bottle of butterbeer. He stared at his knees. Angelina won't let him resign. He went up to bed early. He just needed to be alone.

I can still hear a chorus of 'Weasley is Our King' going on in my head.

23rd February

The four of us arrived at breakfast this morning just in time for Owl Post. Hermione grabbed her usual Daily Prophet and placed a Knut into the pouch carried by the delivery owl. She opened the paper up and scowered for anything of interest. Many more people had made a subscription from they learned of the escaped Death Eaters, looking for information on sightings and hoping that some of them would have been caught.

An owl then landed on Harry's shoulder. He frowned, "Who're you after?" he asked, looking to me.

"It's not Narcissa's owl." I said as the owl started pecking Harry gently, "He seems to be wanting your attention." That's when three, four, five, six owls all fluttered down at the table, spilling the glass of juice Harry had just poured, knocking over the salt and one attempted to put its foot in my coffee, which I lifted quickly.

"What's going on?" Ron asked as a further seven or more owls landed next to us. We had the eyes of many Gryffindors on us now. An owl landed on my shoulder.

"Harry!" Hermione said breathlessly, plunging her hand into the feathery mess and pulled out a screech owl bearing a long, cylindrical package, "I think I know what this means, open this one first."

It was a copy of The Quibbler; Harry's interview had been published.

HARRY POTTER SPEAKS OUT AT LAST:
THE TRUTH ABOUT HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED
AND THE NIGHT I SAW HIM RETURN

"It's good, isn't it?" Luna had drifted over from the Ravenclaw table and squeezed herself onto the bench between Ron and Fred, "It came out yesterday, I asked Dad to send you a free copy. I expect all these," she waved a hand at the assembled owls still scrambling around on the table in front of Harry, "are letters from readers."

"That's what I thought," Hermione said eagerly, "Harry, d'you mind if we -?"

"Help yourself," Harry said, looking bemused.

Ron, Hermione and I all started ripping open letters.

"This one thinks you're off your rocker," Ron said, chucking the letter off to the side, "oh well…"

"This woman recommends you try a good course of Shock Spells at St Mungo's," Hermione scrumpled up the parchment and moved onto the next.

It took me a while to wrestle with the owl on my shoulder, and the envelope was ripped when I started to read, "Oh look, Harry, this one is positive, they're commending your bravery for telling your story, they say it makes sense and thank you. That's nice." I said, setting it on the table and tackling the next owl.

"Hey, she says she believes me!" Harry said slowly after scanning a long letter.

"This is another one you've convinced Harry." Hermione said happily, reading out the contents of the letter.

Ron threw the letter over his shoulder, "Another one who thinks you're barking."

"This one's in two minds," Fred said, opening letters with enthusiasm, "says you don't come across as a mad person, but he really doesn't want to believe You-Know-Who's back, so he doesn't know what to think now. Blimey, what a waste or parchment."

"You've converted this one and she now thinks you're a real hero – she's put in a photograph, too – wow!"

"What is going on here?" said a falsely sweet, girlish voice.

I turned around. I had a cup of coffee balanced between my legs and three empty envelopes in one hand and a very long letter in the other. She was standing behind Fred and Luna, her bulging eyes scanning the mess of owls and letters on the table in front of Harry. Many eyes around the room were on us.

"Why have you got all these letters, Mr Potter?" she asked slowly.

"Is that a crime now?" Fred said loudly, "Getting mail?"

"Be careful, Mr Weasley, or I shall have to put you in detention," Umbridge warned, "Well, Mr Potter?"

Harry hesitated before saying, "People have written to me because I gave an interview, about what happened last June." He glanced up at the staff table as he said it.

"An interview?" Umbridge repeated, astounded at the idea, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, a reporter asked me questions and I answered them," Harry said, "Here-"

He threw a copy of The Quibbler to her. She caught it and stared down at the cover. Her pale, doughy face turned an ugly, patchy violet, "When did you do this?"

"Last Hogsmeade weekend," Harry said.

Umbridge looked up at Harry, her hands trembling with rage, she pointed a stubby finger up at him and said, "There will be no more Hogsmeade trips for you, Mr Potter." She whispered, "How you dare… how you could…" she took a deep breath, "I have tried again and again to teach you not to tell lies. The message, apparently, had still not sunk in. Fifty points from Gryffindor and another week's worth of detentions." She walked away.

By mid-morning, enormous signs had been put up all over school, not just on house noticeboards, but in the corridors and classrooms, too. Educational Decree number twenty-seven had just been issued: Any student found in possession of the magazine The Quibbler will be expelled.

Hermione looked delighted every time she saw a sign, "If she could have done one thing to make sure absolutely every single person in this school would have read your interview, it was banning it!" she beamed, "Kathryn and I heard girl's whispering about it in the bathroom and we were bombarded with questions! People are secretly talking about it at the back of class and did you hear the group of third year Hufflepuffs talking about it over dinner? This is fantastic!"

"I could walk right past her with The Quibbler in my hand, and I bet she wouldn't expel me." I said to Fred and George as they passed Harry, Ron, Hermione and me, "You can't even see the copy I have right now." I raised my nails and looked at them in the light.

"Where is it?" George asked, both my hands were in the air.

I looked up and down, "Wouldn't you like to know?" I could see him smirk as his imagination went to somewhere inappropriate, "Or would you prefer reading the article for yourself? It's extremely well written." I made the magazine visible and handed it over, "Impressed?"

"We've already read it," Fred said, "she can expel us if she likes. We bewitched our copy to resemble extracts of our transfiguration textbook if anyone else read it."

"Impressed."

George winked, "But your way is much cooler, obviously, but some of us just aren't invisibly inclined."

"Here, take this copy and give it to someone who wants it." I said, giving it to Fred, who put a charm on it immediately. I glanced around the room. Students were talking about the article, they were reading it secretly, others were asking Harry questions. People really were starting to believe his side of the story, the one that was no longer covered by secrets and lies.

27th February

"Katy! Katy! Katy!" George shouted to me progressively louder as I sat in the common room that evening, doing the rest of my Transfiguration homework. Ginny was sitting beside me, asking some advice about Michael as she did her own potions assignment.

"Yes, darling?" I looked up at him, my quill balanced precariously in my fingers, "Want my autograph?" I asked jokingly.

George showed me a letter, "Just received this." He beamed excitedly.

Ginny tried to read over my shoulder, so I made the parchment invisible as I scanned through the confirmation letter from Jenkins. Fred and George had now successfully purchased number 93 and were just waiting for the paperwork to be signed by both parties.

"Congratulations." I smiled.

George leaned down and picked me up off the seat and hugged me tight. It always amazed me how he was capable of lifting me right off my feet, wrapping my legs around him. He gazed into my eyes when he pulled back, I stroked his face with one hand as the other stroked his hair. "Tomorrow, we celebrate." He whispered, "Any chance you could sneak Fred, yourself and me down to Hogsmeade tomorrow afternoon? Fred and I have decided we want you there for the final signatures."

"I'm sure I could manage some mischief."

"I love you, Katy," he kissed me eagerly, "I love you so much!"

Ron made a retching noise.

I heard Ginny clear her throat, "You two are cute and all that, but don't you think you're going a little OTT?"

"No," Fred joined us, "Kathryn deserves more, much much more."

"Okay, what did you do?"

George set me down, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Ginny sized me up, "You're not pregnant or anything, are you?"

I laughed.

Hermione answered, "She can't be. I'd know, well, I'd like to think I would." She eyed me up, "You have been very secretive lately. All three of you."

"Spill." Ginny said, turning around on her seat, staring at me.

"Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies," Fred, George and I all said in unison.

"Now we definitely know they're hiding something." Ron said.

Harry, who had set down his quill said, "I really hope you're planning to blow up Umbridge."

"The less you know, the better, mate." Fred winked.

"Nothing?" Ginny was outraged, "We're getting nothing?"

I looked up to the twins and back at Ginny, Harry, Ron and Hermione, "We could use a favour tomorrow…"

1st March

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!" I yelled at George as he 'accidentally' spilled a cup of pumpkin juice over me, "THIS IS NOT FUNNY!"

Hermione quickly handed me napkins to dry me off. I lifted up a soaking wet piece of parchment, belonging to Hermione which was now ruined and unreadable.

Fred and George, who were sitting opposite me were laughing their heads off. I bet George has always wanted to soak me. Merlin, pumpkin juice stinks.

I stood up from the bench, lifted up the jug of water and threw it over him, "THINK I'M BEING FUNNY NOW?" There was ice in the water and George let out a yelp.

That was not in the script. Well, neither was me throwing ice water over him.

I had to get back into character again, wiping any trace of a smirk off my lips, "I'VE HAD IT UP TO HERE," I raised my hand up to my forehead, "WITH THE TWO OF YOU, I TOLD YOU-"

"Does there seem to be a problem Miss Pink?" Umbridge was standing, looking up at me, her toad-like eyes almost popping out of her head.

This was it.

I cried on cue, "I CAN'T DO THIS ANY MORE…" squeezing out the fakest of tears, I then mumbled a lot of nonsense that was mostly inaudible, but I think Umbridge got the idea. I reached down underneath the table and tried to grab my bag but it got stuck, and I whacked my hand on the table as it released. That hurt. The tears flowed a little easier after that. George got up and reached across the table to comfort me, it nearly broke me to do it, but I pulled my arm away and looked past him, unable to look into his eyes as I said, "I need some space…"

I walked out of the Great Hall after that.

All I could hear was Ginny yelling at the twins, "Well, go after her!" as I walked out of the oak doors and into the front entrance hall, "You, too Fred, you were the one who knocked over the juice! GO!" I love how authoritative Ginny is.

I climbed into the broom cupboard and got changed and went out into the grounds invisible, creeping up on Fred and George who were 'looking for me'. "So do you think I convinced her?"

"You nearly convinced us!" Fred said, "But I suppose looking at that woman is enough to make anyone cry!" he said as we walked in the general direction of the gates.

"Katy?" George said, "Can I see you?"

I made myself visible.

"We're good, right?"

"We're good." I nodded.

"How's your hand?" he asked, grabbing it, "that sounded painful…"

I smiled, "All good! And please note, it's not easy being fake annoyed with you, but that pumpkin juice went straight through…"

"You threw the whole jug of water over me!" George exclaimed, using a spell to dry himself off, "What was that all about?"

I smirked, "Making it believable. Any girl would have done it. And it was so much fun." I said, "Now give me your hands, I don't know if this is going to work… I've never walked through a gate before."

"I find that hard to believe…" George said.

"I bet Kathryn walks through our door, stands over your bed and watches you sleep." Fred spoke with a mysterious voice.

I smirked.

Fred chuckled, "I always thought you were a creep."

"Watch your tongue or I'll leave you behind." I glared at him, "And that goes for you, too, Mister." I quickly stopped George from laughing at the look of terror in Fred's face. It was then that I led the twins through the gate, holding my breath as I did.

"WE MADE IT!" we had a mini celebration as we made our way towards Hogsmeade. I had a twin on each side, linking arms with me, telling jokes, making up ideas for new products. I think this is the first time Fred has truly relaxed around me, or perhaps, accepted me. I think it was when I gave the money, that he realised I was in this for the long-haul.

"Mr Jenkins!" Fred shook the man's hand, "Great seeing you again!"

George shook his hand next, "Mr Jenkins, this is Kathryn."

"Ah, the mysterious Kathryn," he shook my hand, "I've heard so much about you. I do believe wholeheartedly that your investment is well placed."

I smiled, "As do I," then I looked up between the boys, "I believe in these two."

"Shall we?" George held open the door to The Three Broomsticks, Jenkins stood aside for me to enter first and I found us a quiet table. Madam Rosmerta sorted us out with drinks and we got down to business.

Jenkins laid a number of documents onto the table. He talked through what they all meant. Apparently the previous owner has agreed to clean up the place, so that all Fred and George have to do is decorate as appropriate. From what I understood, Fred and George had already signed the contract agreeing that number 93 was theirs. These documents were about monthly repayments of mortgages, payments for commercial buildings, land rental, boring stuff that I struggled to understand. They signed reams upon reams of pieces of parchment. All of which were getting them closer and closer to making things official.

"That's the legal stuff sorted." Jenkins sorted all the pieces of parchment into his briefcase.

Fred and George were beaming, "I don't think you've ever been so quiet, Katy!"

"Oh, shut up."

Jenkins took out another bundle of documents, "Floor plans, and layouts," he laid them down on the table, Fred folded the attic section down and they encouraged me to take a good look and imagine the space. They had planned for shelving, tables, counters, display cases and units and they seemed to know where everything was meant to be. It was just a matter of where to present each of their products.

"Sorry, question," I interrupted as Jenkins was packing away, seeming satisfied with the information gleaned from the twins, "When is the shop officially being handed over to Fred and George?"

"Apologies," Jenkins said, "the handover date is 31st March 1996."

"Oh." I said, neither one of the twins could look at me, "and the projected opening date?"

Jenkins flicked through a number of documents in his briefcase, "Mid to the end of May, beginning of June at the latest."

I swallowed hard, "Excellent." I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster.

"Well, it was very lovely meeting you," Jenkins shook my hand and I reciprocated the feeling, "and as always, Fred, George pleasure to be part of this journey. I will project-manage from London on your behalf until it is most suitable for you to join, and I will send regular owls." Then Jenkins disapparated and I was left alone with Fred and George.

"Did you two ever stop for a second to think that I might just want to know that you're planning to leave school?" I tried to keep my composure whilst other emotions tried to take charge.

"Katy-"

I interrupted quickly, "Please don't 'Katy' me…" I paused, "Do you know what? I just need a couple of minutes… You walk on ahead, I'll catch up."

Fred took a step toward me and I took a step away from him, "Are you sure?" he asked.

"Go." I clenched my jaw, as it started to wobble.

Fred took George by the arm and they walked away from me, albeit slowly, but they couldn't see nor hear my pain, no one could, I wouldn't allow them. I stood in the one spot, invisible for a long time, watching the twins walk. Minutes passed and I pulled myself together long enough to go into Honeydukes. There, I did what any emotional girl did, I bought chocolate. Bars and bars of chocolate Honeydukes finest chocolates – honeycomb, cookies and cream, plain milk chocolate, a mixture of milk and white chocolate, popping candy and a bar of mint chocolate for Hermione.

"Are you alright, m'dear?" the owner asked.

I nodded, "Bad, bad day."

"Take the sixth bar for free," he said comfortingly, "the wife always said a girl in need, needs chocolate indeed."

"Thanks," I said, putting the chocolate into my bag, leaving the shop a lot heavier than I went in.

A few minutes later I had caught up with Fred and George who were sitting on a bench, arguing bitterly amongst each other, "I knew we should have told her, Fred…" Neither of them could see me, I doubt they would bicker like this in front of me.

"She has a genuine reason to be angry with us now," Fred said, "Umbridge will lap it up."

George snapped, "This was a terrible idea! I just wanted her to be part of this, because technically, she's put more money into the business than we have! She's going to be so hurt, that we've taken her money and run off…"

"Kathryn was always going to be hurt, she was always going to be annoyed at us, but she's intelligent, she will work it out, she knows it's for the best-"

"Best for us, Fred, not best for her!" George said, "Don't you understand? Everyone who has ever loved her, or is supposed to protect her has got up and left! Her own Grandmother couldn't be bothered showing up to support her! The one woman Katy relied on… I can't leave her, Fred, I can't…"

"And what are we meant to do in September?" he asked, "turn up at Hogwarts?"

George sighed, "But at least she'll be emotionally prepared for that-"

Fred took a deep breath, "She can be emotionally prepared for us to leave in a few weeks, we'll see her again during the summer,"

"A lot can happen in a few weeks, you know it, I know it."

"She will be revising for her exams," Fred was getting frustrated, "You hardly see her as it is, she spends most of her time in the library with Hermione, you know what it was like in fifth year, everyone who cared about academia had their noses in books and didn't have time to say 'boo' to a goose! She won't even have time to notice you're gone!"

George's body tightened, "How dare you!"

Fred took a minute to reply, but was more collected, "Mate, I get that you're in love with her, and there is something between you two that even I will never understand. But you've been using her as an excuse, you're afraid to take the next leap, but we've got to do this! We've got number 93, it is ours! We can't let Jenkins run everything for too long, work will start in April, walls will be decorated, equipment will be moved in, our suppliers will bring in stock, but we need to be there, George, it's our business, we get one shot to do this, we need to do it right. Kathryn will understand that. I know she will."

"Fred's right," I said, "but that doesn't make me any less mad at both of you for hiding this from me. Do you have anything else you need to tell me?" I made myself visible.

George shook his head, "I'm sorry, we don't know when we're going to leave, but, it will be sooner than you originally hoped."

I nodded, "Let's get up to the castle before Umbridge realises we're gone."

The journey up the road was quite the opposite of the walk down. I don't think I said a single seething. I had to let everything sink in. George was quiet, too. Fred talked about plans for the shop, the potential sections and his ideas. I was grateful for him talking in the background, it gave me something to block out in order to think. For now, I was simply devastated that I paid the money for them to move away from me sooner.

In the Great Hall I walked in first for dinner and sat with Hermione and Ginny, "This being annoyed at Fred and George act is really believable!" Ginny said, "I'm guessing you got done what you needed?"

I nodded.

Hermione added, "Umbridge didn't even think anything of it, she looked delighted to be honest. It was McGonagall who came looking for you in the Common Room, I told her you went for a walk and that we were giving you space. She asked for details, I told her I didn't have any."

"So what is this whole big secret then?" Ginny asked as a sombre looking Fred and George sat down a lot further along the table, I hadn't acknowledged their arrival.

I shook my head.

"Oh, come on! You promised!" Hermione pressed.

"I didn't promise anything," I said, my mouth was dry and sounded different than normal.

Ginny's jaw dropped, "Oh Merlin. You really are annoyed at them."

"Annoyed?" I questioned, "I'm bloody furious."

"Which roughly translates as you feel your heart is being ripped out of your chest?" Hermione asked, probably for the benefit of Ron and Harry.

I shook my head, "George and I are still together, it's just-" I stopped, "I need time to be less… hurt."

Ginny rested her head on my shoulder momentarily, she knew I wasn't going to talk about it in the middle of the Great Hall, "Hey, Harry, any ideas when our next DA meeting is going to be?" I just loved her for it.

"Day after next," Harry said, "Once my detentions with Umbridge are finished."