8th July (cont'd)

"Sorry love, the next three busses are fully booked…" said the balding man with a beer belly sitting at the bus station kiosk.

"Are you saying I've to wait an hour and twenty minutes to get a bus?" I had just walked for an hour and I didn't fancy hanging about, not when the area looked as dodgy as it did.

"Sorry love, that's the best I can do for you."

I felt like crying, but was too annoyed and preoccupied with getting to London that I didn't. The bus station was cold and there were a number of impatient sounding people in the queue behind me, "Never mind." I said.

So I grabbed my trunk and rolled over the extremely rude and irritated person behind me toes, accidently on purpose. In response I received a backlash of horrific language, which I ignored. I decided to walk to the nearest bus or tube station to keep warm. About forty-five minutes into my trek it started to get dark and started to rain heavily. At least three different creepy drunken men had tried to hit on me from outside local pubs until I threatened them.

I was cold, tired, wet and now lost.

I plodded along the dark and deserted streets, droplets of rain running off my body, feeling downright miserable. It was now, more than ever I craved to see his face, just one last time. I felt pathetic. Then an idea sprang to mind, it was my last hope. I stood on the edge of the curb and stuck out my wand arm.

BANG!

It was a vision in purple, my actual saviour; The Knight Bus.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. My name is Stan Shunpike and I will be your conductor for this evening." It was the same thin, pimply, jug-eared youth in a purple uniform from the last time I had the pleasure of using this transport. He blinked at me, "Aren't choo gonna get on?" he questioned.

My teeth chattered, "Uh- yeah."

"Bit wet aren't choo love?"

"Just a bit." I said, dragging my trunk behind me, desperately looking for a safe place for me to sit and not be flung in all directions. My previous experience of this bus was not a happy one.

"Where're you goin'?" he asked as I sat in the far corner, hand railings on either side of me, "Aren't choo gonna take a bed?"

I shook my head, "The Leaky Cauldron, please, and I'm good, thanks." The bus shot off the mark and with every ounce of strength I had, I held on. I paid my sixteen sickles, declining the hot chocolate, the bed, the hot water bottle and something else that didn't look particularly appetising. Then Stan Shunpike left me alone, not out of his choice, but rather because he had another customer to deal with.

By the time the bus stopped for the fourth time, I was ready to vomit over Stan's shoes. He kept coming back to me, questioning me on who I am and what a girl like me is doing in the middle of nowhere on her own. I told him I was travelling and gave few other details. My goodness did he try.

"Stan, no offence, but I'm not feeling so good right now." I rubbed my hand over my face and looked out of the window beside me, watching the English countryside fly by. Streetlights glared, car horns blared and Stan now snared at me for my brutal dismissal. He sulked past the lady in the bed closest to me who was snoring her head off and snaked his way to the front of the bus to talk to Ernie the driver.

It appeared that he bunked me up the queue, as within minutes and my absolute delight, the Leaky Cauldron came into view. The rain seemed, if possible, to be pelting down even harder here in London. The chivalrous Stan disappeared and I was left to get myself and my contents off the bus, which I was silently relieved about. I really didn't fancy telling him about the predicament I was facing. The Knight Bus vanished and once again, I was very much alone.

My hands felt like ice as I pushed open the door to the busy Leaky Cauldron. Witches and Wizards of different ages, shapes, sizes and levels of intoxication came into view. Not for one second did staying there feel like an option, so I pressed on, out the back door into the small, walled courtyard with a dustbin. I tapped the brick three up and two across from the bin and a large archway formed in front of me. A few metres away, it re-formed back into the wall again. It was even colder on this tiny, deserted, cobbled path. I could see my breath as hail stones started pelting me, just to add to my misery. It was hard to run whilst pulling my trunk, so it turned into more of a desperate jog. Every negative feeling came to the forefront of my mind and Barbara's face flickered into view from my memories. At that, I had my suspicions, so I turned on the spot but the path ahead turned to ice as I walked, I slipped, ending up on my backside. When I managed to get to my feet, it was more of an awkward hobble as I tried to dodge the Dementors following me.

More and more images flashed through my mind; Barbara, Helen, Richard, dead George, dead Fred, dead Harry, dead Hermione, dead Ginny, dead Ron… "No." I said firmly as I fumbled for my keys outside Weasleys Wizard Wheezes. I forced happy thoughts into my head, as the key turned in the door and I slammed it behind me, giving myself a very important layer of protection from what was outside. Warmth filled my body again. I locked the door from the inside and meandered through the shop, leaving puddles of water as I went.

Finally, I reached the top of the second set of stairs and saw the word 'PRIVATE' signposted to the door. I took a deep breath as I turned the key and opened the door. There he was.

I stood there shivering, teeth shuttering together, arms wrapped around myself for warmth, water dripping off my body completely surrendering myself to him, George Weasley, the love of my life. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I love you and I'd very much like to kiss you."

"Katy, it's you, it's really you?" his jaw dropped. He looked strangely dishevelled and the apartment was a bit of a mess.

"It's me." I nodded.

As George opened his arms to welcome me I dropped everything and ran, planting my lips on his, kissing him like I've never kissed him before.

"W-Wow." He said.

"Shut up and kiss me." I breathed, before kissing him over and over again.

"You're soaking wet." George whispered as he caught his breath, his hands on my t-shirt which was ultimately stuck to my skin. Then he pulled away, "Is that ice in your hair?" he pulled a lump out.

I laughed, "Probably, yeah, there's a bunch of Dementors out there."

"What?"

"Don't worry about it," I had my arms wrapped around his neck, "I didn't do any underage or illegal magic."

"Katy… I – we need to discuss a few things." George put his sensible hat on.

I stood there, biting my lower lip, "You're kicking me out, aren't you?" I let out a deep breath and turned to grab my things.

"No, no!" George grabbed my arm and flung me back in his direction again and kissed me gently, "I'm never ever going to say anything like that ever again!" he put his hand on my cheek and looked at me nervously, "I came back yesterday morning to explain and you'd disappeared and Freddie was in a panic and I thought I'd lost you forever. I'd really like to explain."

"Okay," I nodded.

Then George jumped on his feet, "But first I've got to go back to the Burrow, everyone was meeting tonight to form a search party -"

"A search party?"

"Come with me," he took my hand and pulled me, "they'll be so happy to see you."

I held back.

"What?" he saw a hint of panic in my eyes, "What's wrong?" he watched as I wrapped my arms around myself, feet firmly planted on the floor, "They're not going to be angry, they just want to know you're safe. They want to see you – we thought we'd never see you again. It doesn't matter what you've done, as long as you're not planning to murder us all or have given up the position of the Order."

My chin dropped, "Of course I haven't! I would never!" I felt so offended, like he would suspect that of me.

George held up his hands innocently, "I was joking."

"I was hoping to take a shower?" I said quietly, taken aback from what he said, even though he said it was a joke, it sort of got to me, you know, I guess I've had too much thrown at me in the last 48 hours, "I've been in these wet clothes for ages…"

"Of – of course." He said, "You won't – leave, when I'm gone, will you?"

I shook my head.

"I'll be right back, there are some warm towels -"

"I know, Georgie." My voice was soft as I dragged my things into the bedroom, stripped off and got into the warmth of the shower. I wanted to cry, but couldn't. Today has been such an awful day. If I was to sit down in the pool of hot water gathering at my feet I knew I'd never get up again. Merlin, I loved George, so much, but even this was difficult, being back here. Don't get me wrong, he let me kiss him, he wants to explain himself, he wants to let everyone know I'm okay. I'm just not sure if I am actually okay.

A matter of minutes later, smelling of different soaps and shampoos, I left the bathroom with a towel around me and I grabbed some underwear out of my trunk. I looked around the bedroom; everything was in the exact place I left it. The bed had definitely not been slept in, but the only thing that had been moved was the picture of George and me at the Yule Ball. I felt myself shake.

Perhaps I wasn't ready to come back to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. This is the place that hell existed in my mind. I felt so fragile, so broken. I sat on the edge of the bed, willing myself not to panic. I was already experiencing the initial stages of an attack, dizziness, racing heart and shortness of breath. I slipped off the side of the bed and fell onto the floor, feeling an intense fear, just as I had as a kid.

I don't know how long I lay on the floor, but it felt like an eternity. The rush of negative feelings drowned me. I was back to where I was when I found out about Harry and Bellatrix. I was still shaking; I'll do that for at least another half hour as my body's fight or flight response relaxes. I pulled myself up into a sitting position and slowly but surely dressed myself. I always felt like I could have slept for days after each attack; today was no different. I opened the bedroom door in the hope that George would let me go to bed.

"You have no idea how good it is to see you." Fred rushed over to me, wrapped his arms around me, picked me up off the ground and squeezed me tight before setting me down again.

"Are you okay, Katy?" George asked.

I shook my head, "No, I'm not."

"What happened?"

"I've just had a panic attack."

The twins looked at each other. George took me by the hand and led me to the sofa where we sat down side by side. Fred handed us each a cup of tea before saying, "I can leave, if you want me to?"

"You don't have to."

He sat down on the armchair beside me, leaned forwards and said, "Mum has invited the three of us to dinner tomorrow night." He paused and I nodded, then he blurted out, "Malfoy Manor is in Wiltshire, isn't it?"

"Yeah." I answered, wrapping my cold hands around the mug, putting my feet on the seat, knees up to my chest, guarded.

"Did you meet her?" Fred continued, "Your mum? Bellatrix?"

"Yeah, I did."

Fred looked surprised, "And then you came back?"

"And then I came back."

George leaned forwards, "How are you still alive, Katy?"

I turned my head to him, "I'm a survivor."

"Did they hurt you?" Fred continued his line of questioning.

"No."

"Did they welcome you?"

"Yeah."

"How did you get out of there?"

"Through the front door."

Fred was forcing himself to remain calm, "And you came back here?"

"You really are a terrible detective, don't leave your day job." I told him, "Look, I'm exhausted. I've had a really shitty couple of days and the reason I'm back is something you said to me before I left. If I had an ounce of sense I should probably be on a plane right now to somewhere other than here, but no, muggins over here had to follow her freaking heart. Yet, tweedle dum over there always finds a way to stick the knife in even further. Here I am, don't push me away again." I stood, "Thanks for the tea, Freddie. Night."

9th July

I was out like a light as soon as my head hit the pillow last night. I felt so much better this morning. The clock at the bedside had just struck 0915 and the noise coming through the floorboards suggested that the shop was filled with customers already. I got up, washed and dressed before heading into the kitchen to grab myself a cuppa.

"George?"

He jumped off the sofa and blankets fell at his feet. I had just woken him. He was wearing nothing but his boxer shorts. He cleared his throat, "How are you?"

"Better now I've slept." I filled the kettle with water, my back to him, "You?"

"All the better for seeing you."

My heart gave one hard beat as he said that. My stomach gave a grumble, so I grabbed a bowl, milk, cereal and a spoon from the cupboard. Then I sat at the table and began eating.

"Look -"

"I don't want to argue with you any more, George." I told him, firmly.

"Neither do I, Katy." He sat opposite me, pointing his wand at the kettle, making it boil in an instant and sending two cups of coffee in our direction, "I just – I just want to talk."

I looked up at him, setting down my spoon, "She was shocked to see me, surprised, happy, even." I got up and went into the bedroom and grabbed my handbag, digging out the letter jammed inside my diary, "I found this. I wanted to show you it that night, before -" I handed over the letter and I watched as his eyes flickered over all the perfectly written words.

"She wrote this?" George held the letter up.

"Yeah." I nodded, blinking back tears, "I'm sorry for crying, I'll try and stop…"

George looked ashamed, "Katy… I'm sorry, I should never have said any of those things. I shouldn't have taken my aggression out on you. You see, I was dealing with a particularly rude customer – you know he really isn't an excuse for me hurting you. I was tired and desperate to -" he sighed, "I can't say anything right. I can't do anything to take it back and make it all better." I watched him struggle internally, but I knew him well enough to know he needed to get it all out, so I sat silently, waiting, "I came back the next morning," He told me, "and Fred was in a real panic, he said that you weren't yourself, that you had this look – I betrayed you, your trust, your confidence, your love – he said you went to Wiltshire. He didn't know what that meant, but I knew I'd lost you because I told you to go there. I hoped that you'd change your mind and come back, but that evening, I knew you were with them. Fred had organised a search party last night – he thought it was his fault for letting you go. But if he didn't let you go you'd probably have -"

"Ended up in front of the entire Wizengamot for a spot of Underage magic?"

He smiled, "Yeah, something like that." He looked down at the letter and up at me again, "Was she nice to you?"

"Well," I chuckled, "she didn't try to kill me like Helen did, but she's not an angel. I'd sum her up as a pretty shit mother, too."

"You just needed to learn that for yourself, didn't you?"

"She loves me, George," I told him, "she gave me up because some Death Eaters threatened her." He gave me a strange look, "Just trust that I'm okay with the explanation."

"Okay," he nodded, handing me back the letter, I finished my cereal and started on my coffee, "So, what d'you want to do today?" he asked, standing up.

I had to stop myself from smirking at his body, "Well, first of all, no matter how lovely it would be to stare at you all day, you need to make yourself presentable for the great outdoors and I have a few things I need to do."

"I'll be ready in ten minutes and I'll come with -"

"I need to do this alone." I told him, "I'll see you when I get back, I'm not sure how long I'll be."

I could see the concern in his eyes as he tried to hide it on his face, "Are you talking hours or days?"

"If I'm not back in time for dinner at your parents' house this evening, you can send out that search party." I smirked.

He softened a little as he closed the bedroom door. I grabbed a traveling cloak and tossed it around my shoulders, finding a little bag of Floo Powder in the pockets, I threw a pinch into the fire. Emerald flames surrounded me as I stepped in and uttered the words "Maura Jane Crothers' office."

I stepped out of the flames and was in familiar surroundings, there were subtle differences, like the receptionist that was staring at me, "Can I help you?"

"I was hoping to get an appointment with Maura."

"Dr Crothers' schedule is fully booked -"

I leaned over the desk and said, "Surely there's something?"

A door opened behind me and I heard a pair of heels clicking on the tiled floor, "Janet, has my ten o'clock arrived yet?"

"No, Dr Crothers -"

"That's two weeks in a row, now." Maura came around the side of the desk and looked at her appointment schedule for the day. Then she looked up at me, "Kathryn?"

"Hi."

Maura placed a hand on my arm and smiled, "I was wondering when I'd be seeing you. I must admit I thought after court -"

"She's Kathryn Pink?" the receptionist's chin dropped.

"Aye, sure shout that a little louder so everyone across the street can hear, too." I frowned, "Look Maura, I know it's short notice, but -"

"Come on in."

"Thank you." I said as I took a seat on the purple sofa and she closed the door.

Her copper hair was now a lot longer with a gentle wave, and she was wearing the most beautiful oriental-style dress and shocking orange heels. I always admired her dress-sense. She was looking in her filing cabinet for my notes before sitting down, "Hello Kathryn from the last time we met I've taken up a poetry class and I'm thinking about competing in fencing."

I loved the way she did that, introducing how things have changed from the last meeting, "Hello Maura, from the last time we met, my parents have been sent to prison for sixteen years for what they did to me, I found out that my foster mother Narcissa is actually my auntie, my mother is actually Bellatrix Lestrange and that news has nearly broken George and me apart, but I'm working on it. I think I'll go with that for now."

"When did you find out about Bellatrix Lestrange?"

"19th June, hours after I saw Sirius Black murdered by the very woman in the Department of Mysteries."

She nodded, "What would you like to get out of this session?"

"I want – I need to learn how to cope with everything, with knowing who my mother is, knowing that she too, will probably try to kill me some day even though she saved me when I was a baby. I need to be able to function properly without panic attacks. I need to be able to get up out of bed every day and not be weighed down by it all. I need to build myself back up again."

Maura set down her notebook and said, "Let's do that, then."

By 11am, I felt so much lighter and had my next appointment booked.

"Don't worry about money," Maura said, "I've still got your parents' bank details. It is the least they can do for you." A smile shone across her face, "Have a good week, Kathryn."

"Thanks, you too!" I stepped once more into the emerald flames and was back at the flat.

George stood abruptly, "Where have you been?"

I smiled, "I told you I'd definitely be back in time for dinner. Now I'm back for lunch. Let's go get cake."

"You're avoiding my question."

"Maura." I said, hanging up the cloak.

George relaxed and wrapped his arms around me and held me tight, "I'm so proud of you." He kissed my forehead and then my lips. The two of us stood there, in hold, for a few minutes just looking at each other, "You're secretly disappointed I've got more clothes on, aren't you?"

I laughed, placing my hands on his chest and rolling my eyes, "Heartbroken."

"You just let me know and I'll take off everything."

I didn't even blush, I merely bit my lower lip took a step back, looked him up and down, shrugged my shoulders, I took a step forwards, stood on my tiptoes and whispered into his ear, "Maybe I will. Perhaps I'll be naked, too." Then I walked towards the bedroom, "Who knows?"

"You're toying with me!" he called after me, "Toying with my emotions. My manhood."

I stuck my head out of the doorway, "Your manhood?" I joked, "Am I not womanly enough for your manhood?"

"You are all the woman I need." He shouted back to me.

I laughed, "I'm really all you need, based on the fact that I am an absolute handful."

I left the bedroom with my coat and handbag but he was looking at me strangely, "You're not – you've just a lot going on -"

I walked over to him and took both his hands placing one on my bum and the other on my hip, "Handful." I stuck out my tongue, "Cake?"

"Let's go then!"

That was exactly what I needed. George and me together for the whole afternoon, no distractions. Well, the minor distraction was the very cute baby that was being cuddled by his mummy in the café. He was just so darn cute. I had to remind George that I'm only sixteen and he should give me ten years. At least.

I felt nervous getting ready to go to the Burrow. I knew I was going to face the heat after going AWOL for 48 hours. Molly will have yet another reason against me marrying her son.

"You've gone quiet." George said, "And you're bobbing your foot up and down. What're you worried about?" he took a hold of my hand and squeezed.

"You just hold my hand and I'll be fine."

"You're nervous about seeing my mother, aren't you?"

"Maybe?"

Fred was buttoning up his shirt when he said, "When you two've finished being all gooey, we're late."

I took a deep breath as I stood, George still held my hand as I said, "Well, let's get this over and done with."

Fred Floo'd first and I went with George and arrived with two feet landing firmly on the kitchen floor. To my complete surprise, I was met by not only Molly, Arthur, Ron and Ginny, but Bill was there with Fleur and so was Lupin.

"Oh Kathryn dear, it is so good to see you!" Molly was the first to get her arms around me.

"Kit-Kat! I've missed you so much!" Ginny wrapped her arms around me, followed by a one-handed hug from Ron, a quick hug from Bill and Arthur, a tight squeeze from a worn-out Lupin and a hug from Fleur, who all said it was good to see me.

"Bonjour," I said as I hugged her, "Quelle surprise!" then I saw a glint in my peripheral view as she withdrew her hands from the hug, "Woah, woah, woah." I grabbed her left hand, "Since when did you acquire this beautiful rock?" it was a very modest looking platinum square-diamond ring.

"She never misses a thing." Lupin said from behind me.

Fleur beamed, "Bill proposed last weekend, and of course I zaid yes!"

I couldn't help but smile, "You guys!" I put my arms around both of them at the same time, "Congrats!"

"Zanks!" Fleur said, admiring her ring, the light making it sparkle, "I imagine one day zat we will be sisters."

I let out a small laugh, "I wouldn't get your hopes up, I'm expecting to be handed my P45 any time soon."

"What's that?" Bill asked.

"It's a slip of paper muggles get when they've been fired and are out looking for a new job." I told him.

"You're not going to get kicked out!" Bill exclaimed, "Everyone loves you round here! We've all had a few mishaps along the way, but that's what makes us human."

I decided not to respond to that. Fleur went to help Molly with dinner preparations, I looked to George who immediately put a smile on his face when he saw me staring and I reached out and placed my hand in his, sucking up close to him. He lent down and kissed me gently, "You're doing good! Relax!"

I stood on my tiptoes and whispered, "Just you wait until they hear what I've done."

As George was about to delve further into the topic, Molly announced, "Dinner!" and we all took to our seats along the table.

Ginny claimed the seat beside me and immediately got chatting, "So, how is my favourite sister doing?"

I raised an eyebrow at her, "Are you sure you should be saying that?"

"Why shouldn't I?"

I was taken aback, leaned in closer and whispered, "Because Fleur happens to be a step closer to becoming your sister than I am."

"Yeah, but you've been around much longer and we like you and we made you part of the family ages ago." Ginny said, making her opinion heard across the room.

I turned, wide eyed to George, looking for back-up, but he merely shrugged his shoulders. Molly busied herself with serving out dinner and Arthur pretended not to hear a thing. I glanced at Ron who was sitting opposite me and he shrugged, too. Then I dared to look in the direction of Bill and Fleur, who were ignoring the conversation altogether. Fleur was feeding Bill something from her fork. Then my eyes met George's again, "The only way I'm going to feed you, love, is if you're too sick to feed yourself."

Molly snorted. I could have sworn Fred said "Here-here!" and Arthur looked as though he was in agreement with me, too. Ginny's eyes were fixated on her eldest brother and her face resembled that of utter distaste.

"Thanks Molly!" I said as she handed me a plate, "Looks lovely as always!"

"Zis Eenglish food is just so 'eavy. I'm getting fat!" Fleur commented after a few minutes, "No wonder ze English women carry ze weight -"

I blinked, "Excuse me?"

Molly choked on her roast potato.

George placed a hand on my thigh underneath the table.

"I waz just making a point."

"Just because I'm not a beautiful skinny rake like yourself, doesn't mean you have to alienate me or anyone else because of our shape." I said in a very controlled, low voice, which came out in a very frightening Belfast accent.

Fleur set down the fork in her hand and stared at me across the table, "You 'ave definitely put on ze weight from ze last time we met."

George slammed his fists on the table and said aggressively, "That's enough!" he bared across the table, "I've only got her starting to eat again." then he sat back down and said, "You are perfect as you are, Katy."

"You're lucky I'm sixteen." I muttered, brushing my fingers over my wand handle, taking a deep breath, "No-one gets to say I'm fat 'cept me." I grabbed the fork and said, "Eat the pie, Fleur, it's delicious and life is way too short to worry about stupid shit like that."

Molly clapped her hands together. I was only in the door fifteen minutes and was having an argument with my possible future sister-in-law. This is not what I planned. I wanted to be quiet, civilised, getting this dinner over without any fuss. That worked well.

"So Remus…" Molly began, "I haven't seen you in a while, have you been busy?"

"Dumbledore has given me an assignment, so I've been kept busy with it." He answered conversationally. He was looking even shabbier than usual and a few more lines have definitely appeared on his face from Christmas. I wonder how he's been from losing Sirius… I hope he hasn't been as much a wreck as I've been.

I caught eyes with him as Molly asked, "Assignment? What assignment?"

"I'm afraid I'm not allowed to discuss the nature of the job as yet, Molly." He said, "It's still early days."

"How's business going?" Bill asked the twins.

Fred answered, "Business is going good. I've just sent a massive order to our manufacturer this morning, the Ministry put in another order for our shield hats!"

"Katy," George leaned over and whispered, "that piece of pie on your fork is going to go cold if you leave it there much longer."

"Oh." I shook my head and ate, "must have been in a daze there." I whispered back, realising his hand was still resting on my thigh.

"Are you okay?" his eyes locked onto mine.

"Yeah."

"Good," he said, "Just know that I'll always think you're the most beautiful person in the room."

I glared at him, "Eat your pie, George Weasley."

"What's that look for?" he asked, as I ate another forkful, "It's true!" I could feel his eyes on me.

I stared at him for a while, searching his eyes, then he smiled at me and I badly wanted to kiss him. Then his eyes dropped to my lips, then they fell to my boobs. Knowing that a PDA wasn't the most appropriate option, nor something I am ever entirely comfortable with, I stuck my fork into one of his roasties and shoved in his mouth, with a complete lack of Fleur's grace. "You're lucky it went into your mouth; I could have you done for gawping."

Fred, Ron and Ginny were all in stitches. Lupin shook his head at me and tried to hide a smirk. George slowly turned to face me, chewing the potato in the most unattractive way. Dare I say I'm used to it. I couldn't help but smile at myself though, feeling a little mischievous. If I had a cake, I'd love to plant his face in it. Just for fun.

"So, Kathryn…" Molly began as I was eating the last of my food.

"Oh dear." I grimaced, swallowing down the mouthful with great effort. I turned my head towards Molly sitting beside her husband at the end of the table.

"Tell me, did you meet anyone interesting when you were… away?" she asked carefully.

My eyes fell upon Fred, who was sitting near enough opposite me and George put his hand on my thigh again and said, "You don't need to answer if you don't want to."

"It's fine," I told him, before turning my attention back to Molly again, swallowing hard on the massive amount of saliva that had built up in my mouth. Now my mouth felt parched, "I went to pay my other foster parent a visit."

"Was she there? Your mother? Bellatrix?"

"The woman who gave birth to me was there too, yes."

The room had gone silent as Molly debated on what to ask next, "Was she nice to you, dear?"

"Well, she's nothing like you, if that's what you're asking." I answered, "She didn't know anything about me, apart from what she knew sixteen years ago."

"Nothing?" George asked.

"Nothing." I ascertained.

Molly stood, and with a flick of her wand, all the plates were in the sink and started washing themselves, "But surely Narcissa would have told her?"

"Must have slipped her mind."

"Did Bellatrix know who you are, or did you have to -"

I snorted, "Oh, she knew who I was alright. Remembered me from the night in the Department of Mysteries. She asked who taught me to defend myself." Lupin looked up at me, his eyes were asking if I mentioned his name, I gave him the tiniest shakes of the head and he relaxed.

"How did you get out of there?"

"I walked out the front door and waved to Bellatrix and Narcissa as I went." I said simply.

Molly and Arthur shared a glance.

"I know about Dumbledore's musings." I said calmly, "I overheard."

Molly's eyes shot up to meet mine, "You heard? But you still went?"

I nodded.

"Why?" Arthur asked me. It's like he couldn't understand why I had done what I had.

"Because I wanted to."

"But you put yourself in so much danger!" Arthur's voice was soft with a hint of concern.

"I know I did." I told him, "Wasn't the first time and certainly won't be the last."

Arthur rubbed his eye, "There's one thing being faced with danger and another actively seeking it. You can't just leave whenever you feel like it and not tell anyone where you're going and turn up the following night! That's just completely irresponsible." Arthur chided, "You're very lucky you weren't killed."

"Dad, I think she's been through enough -"

"It's alright, George." I gave him a warning look and gave a small shake of the head to stop him from going any further. I didn't want him getting into trouble with his parents because of what went down between us. It was a very private and personal thing, mostly occurring due to my poor mental health. Maura told me that I needed to wipe the slate clean with George and he needed to do the same with me in order to move on.

"George is right, Dad, Kathryn doesn't deserve this. What matters is that she came back." Fred backed up his twin, "It was our -"

"Pleasure to have Katy back with us again, now that she has realised the error of her ways." George said confidently to his father, stopping Fred from incriminating himself. George realised what I had; Molly wouldn't let me stay with them if she knew what truly happened. Fred and George locked eyes for a second and telepathically communicated twin-to-twin and Fred now appeared to be in the know.

I sighed, "Listen, I know you don't agree with what I did, but just put yourselves in my shoes. If you found out your parents weren't your parents, and knew exactly where to find your biological parents, wouldn't you have the slightest bit of curiosity? Wouldn't you want to go meet them? Find out why they gave you up? I had so many questions, and by going there, a few of them have been answered. I won't apologise for going and you will understand why I didn't tell you where I was going, or you would have stopped me and I would have sent a nasty curse at you for good measure."

Molly mused, "Are you planning on returning there?"

I gave her my full attention, "Trust me when I tell you this; I have no intention of going back there any time soon."

That seemed to settle the matter.