14th July (cont'd…)

"Oh, Kathryn that really was awful," Hermione said as we watched the taxi turn the corner at the end of the street. We stepped inside and I opened my arms for Hermione to cry her heart out, trying my best to soothe her, to reassure her that her parents will be okay and that we did the right thing. I dabbed her tears and let her grieve, I didn't know what else to do.

There was no rush to leave, except the growing pains in my stomach and the lack of analgesia in the cupboards. I insisted we paused packing up the remainder of Hermione's belongings in order to have a cup of soothing tea, after which we covered the furniture with white sheets to protect it all. Finally, I took charge of locking all the windows and doors to secure the house and we walked the length of the cul-de-sac before apparating to just outside the confines of the Burrow, "I don't think I could have done that on my own."

"I felt awful doing it, but we both know it's for the best," I assured her. The relief of entering the safe space saw me relax despite my worsening stomach cramps, "and all being well, we can find them again when this is all over."

She nodded, wiping her tears with her fingers.

"Right." I stopped her on the spot, "Smiles on, chins up, we've another battle ahead."

"What, George?"

"No." I nodded my head towards Molly Weasley who looked far from amused.

The brightest smile was aimed at Hermione as Molly placed her hand on her cheek, "Hermione dear! How wonderful to see you, I hope you're well? Why don't you go upstairs and get yourself settled in with Ginny?"

Hermione nodded and disappeared without further ado.

"Kathryn, may I have a word?" Molly directed me into the small scullery off the kitchen and lowered her voice, "I hear that you, Ron, Hermione and Harry aren't planning on going back to Hogwarts for your seventh year." Molly said, "Can you please explain to me how this is misheard information?"

I took a calm, measured breath, thinking about how she may have acquired this information, "No, the information is correct."

Molly looked like she was restraining herself from shouting at me, "Are you okay dear? You've gone very pale."

"I erm – I don't feel – I've got to go…" I threw Floo Powder into the Fireplace and travelled to the apartment, making myself invisible immediately.

"Katy?" George called out, "Katy, reveal yourself!"

I hurried from the Fireplace towards the bedroom, "It's me. I wouldn't be here if I didn't need to be, I know I'm supposed to be giving you space. I'll just be a few minutes." I closed the bedroom door and locked the bathroom door.

The cramps were getting unbearable and I searched in the vanity cabinet for my bottle of the strongest pain medication I own. But the bottle was empty. I felt like crying, in fact I did. Ugly crying.

"Katy?" George knocked at the door, "Come on, let me in."

"I'm fine," I groaned, "honestly."

"Alohomora." George spoke the incantation and opened the door to find me in a heap of my own self-pity on the floor, "Ah, I see… Not pregnant."

I rested my head on my knees and sighed, "Another reason for you to be annoyed at me. Look, I know you don't want me around right now, I swear if you give me five minutes, I'll leave."

George sat down next to me and took my hand, "I may be annoyed at you, but that doesn't mean that I've stopped loving you. You're in pain and I want to help. What can I get you?" he picked up the empty bottle, "Oh, my bad… I meant to replace that…" he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly and jumped to his feet, "I'll be right back."

A year ago, I'd have been filled with shame at the thought of sitting on the bathroom floor in my underwear. I don't imagine I'll ever be as comfortable with anyone else. I'm not sure how long I sat there, but George returned with a bottle of potion and measured out a dose and handed it over to me. He then hurried off again to make me a cup of tea which was presented to me at my bedside with a huge bar of chocolate.

"Get some rest, we can talk later." He stroked my hair gently, to help me drift off to sleep.

"Why are you being so nice to me? I hurt you."

"Because, when we fight, we take some time apart to consider what the other has said, and then we make up, because that's what we do."

I looked up at him, "You know I still have to go, right?"

"I've come to that conclusion, yes."

"And you still -"

"Want to be with you?" he finished my sentence, "Yes. Now get some sleep."

16th July

"What is this I hear about you three and Potter going on the run?" Moody was now confronting us. Everyone seemed to be taking their turn; Molly's line of questioning came first, followed by Arthur's the following morning and now this.

"You're what?" Tonks blurted out, "No way, Kathryn, no way."

The shock on Tonks' face made me wish I could have crawled into a tiny dark hole. Tears quickly formed and Remus had gone very pale. Ridden with guilt, I couldn't bring myself to look at her. I'm going to miss weeks of her pregnancy and all she is going to do is worry about me.

"You can't leave me, not like this." She pleaded, "Not now…"

"We're going." Ron answered assertively on my behalf, "We're all going and that's final."

Moody's mad eye intimidatingly span between the three of us, "And what exactly is it you four will be doing whenever you leave?"

"Professor Dumbledore gave Harry a mission and he was permitted to tell the three of us and no-one else." Hermione answered, "So we said that we'd go with him."

"What sort of mission?" Bill asked.

"I'm sorry – we can't -"

Kingsley cleared his throat, "As members of the Order of the Phoenix, I can assure that what Dumbledore said can be shared in this room." He said, "We can offer assistance, a more experienced opinion, whatever you need to get the job done."

"Thank you, Kingsley," I said gratefully, "but that won't be necessary."

"Your father and I have the right to know as your parents, Ronald Weasley," Molly was terrifying when she wanted to be, "And you, Kathryn, after everything Arthur and I have done for you - taken you in, supported you, loved you like one of our own."

I was not going to rise to that low blow. But it did sting.

Mad-Eye stared at me with both eyes, "You are barely of age, you do not have the skills or experience to deal with what is ahead of you. Let us help."

"I know you think I'm the weak link, but I promise you, I'm not telling you what Dumbledore told us to keep secret." I spoke with as much confidence as I could muster, "But this is not the right time for this discussion." I tried to change the topic of conversation, "We're here to talk about Harry and to finalise plans for getting him here safely."

"Plan A now has to be abandoned," Mad-Eye growled, clearly annoyed at my response, "Pius Thicknesse has gone over, which gives us a big problem. He's made it an imprisonable offence to connect the Dursley house to the Floo Network, place a Portkey in Privet Drive or Apparate in or out."

Bill leaned forwards, "And there's no way you can get to Harry and Apparate him out from afar?"

Mad-Eye shook his head, "I can't use any magic around him or Privet Drive without risking Potter's safety. I can't get him to use the cloak, Death Eaters are bound to be watching the place at all times and anyone showing up would arise suspicions."

"I could do it." I announced.

"Excuse me?" was Mad-Eye's response.

"I can do it." I said more convincingly, "I can get in and out completely undetected." I looked to Ron and Hermione for back up. They nodded persuasively.

Mad-Eye blinked, "No."

"No?" I questioned the immediacy of his negative decision.

"I said 'no', Miss Pink."

I leaned back in my chair, feeling as though I'd been hit by a yet another stunner, "Why not?"

Mad-Eye was doing his best to ignore me, but the whole room was silent, so he was forced to respond, "I will not leave such a task to you."

"Excuse me?" I was outraged, "Is that code for something else?" I stood up out of my seat and confronted him, "Do you have a problem with me?"

Mad-Eye said nothing.

"Do. You. Have. A problem with me?" I said it a lot slower, feeling my blood boil under my skin.

He grunted, "I have an issue with you completing the mission."

"Gin?" I asked calmly, not taking my eyes of Mad-Eye, awaiting her response, "Give me your hand a sec."

Ginny Weasley stood and placed her hand in mine. I made the two of us invisible and I walked with her up to her bedroom and sat on the bed, "What's his problem?"

I could see it in her eyes, she knew. I prompted her to speak, so she did, "You're only seventeen, he probably wants someone with a little bit more experience?" I stared at her in disbelief, then she got down to the real reason, "Maybe he's worried you'll hand Harry over to the Death Eaters. You are the kid of two of the highest-ranking Death Eaters, that's always going to factor in with his decision making."

I brought her back downstairs with me and we sat down at the kitchen table again. There was complete silence in the room as everyone was sitting, staring around the place, waiting for me to reveal us again. At my own leisure did I become visible. I opened my mouth to speak.

"No." he said.

"You don't agree with this decision, do you?" I looked to Remus, to Tonks, to Kingsley and Arthur then back to Mad-Eye. There was zero point looking to Molly, who was dead set against me going or Hagrid sitting in the corner silently, who disliked me on principal.

No-one said a thing.

"Seriously?" I glanced around at George who shrugged his shoulders.

You could have heard a pin drop.

"UNBELIEVABLE." I shouted, "I could go to Privet Drive right now and get Harry and none of you cowards could stop me."

"Kathryn, it might be best if we move on." Molly said gently, "See if there are any more suitable options for getting Harry here?"

"Oh f*ck me."

"He will," Fred pointed towards George, "Later, though."

I gave him the same murderous look I had been giving Mad-Eye.

"Fred." George chided through gritted teeth, "This is not the time for joking around."

The back door to the Burrow opened and in walked Mundungus Fletcher. He always looked mightily unkempt and smelt like BO. Staring awkwardly around the room he muttered his apologies for his lateness and sat down in the spare seat between Arthur and Kingsley.

"Wha'd I miss?"

Mad-Eye took the opportunity to swiftly move the conversation on, "We're thinking of ways to safely move Potter from Privet Drive before his seventeenth that doesn't include the Floo Network, a Portkey in Privet Drive or Apparating in or out."

"Harry's more than competent on a broomstick," Remus suggested, "We could fly him out on his Firebolt?"

"He'd be too exposed." Bill countered, "Non-magical transport could be broom, Thestrals… a muggle car?"

"There's always the bike?" Hagrid suggested, "I could fly in an' out on Sirius' old motorbike, I got it all fixed?"

Hermione took her opportunity to speak (probably about five minutes too late, if you ask me), "If Death Eaters really are watching over Privet Drive, then flying Harry in and out is not an option. As soon as he's recognised, he's going to be ambushed."

I sat, clenching my jaw so as not to say anything. I had been silenced by the lack of support because Moody has everyone scared into submission. It was just like how everyone unequivocally trusted Dumbledore despite his questionable life choices. I was fuming.

"What if there was more than one Potter flyin' out of Privet Drive?" Mundungus suggested, "Throw 'em off the scent, if yous are being tracked – Polyjuice Potion."

"How many Potters are we thinking? Three? Four?" Mad-Eye asked.

Remus added, "And maybe we should assign each Harry a protector?"

Mad-Eye nodded, he was actually buying this garbage. He scanned the room with his mechanical eye and suggested, "I'll be a protector, what about you Remus? Tonks? Kingsley? Arthur?"

"I'll do it, too, I'll sign up ter protect Harry. I was the one ter bring him ter Privet Drive all those years ago."

"And the Harry's then – Fred and George? Mungungus?"

Hermione laughed sceptically, "Harry is never going to allow that."

He'd be more likely to take Polyjuice Potion to become someone else than let other people become him. I thought to myself, though I didn't dare speak any more of my thoughts. I suppressed them.

"Yes, but Potter isn't going to have a choice." Mad-Eye stated clearly.

"I'll be a Harry." Ron added.

Hermione nodded, "Me too."

"Bill and I, we can be a protector and Harry combination."

Mad-Eye made a mental note, "For protectors we've got myself, Remus, Tonks, Kingsley, Arthur, Bill and Hagrid?" each individual nodded as their name was mentioned, "And for Harry's we've got Harry himself, Fleur, Fred, George, Hermione, Ron and Mundungus?"

"I'd sooner be a Protector." Mundungus spouted his opposition, "Why'jer not ask her?" he pointed his dirty finger in my direction.

Excellent f*cking question. I raised my eyebrows at Mad-Eye and stared at him expectantly.

"You will be a Harry, Mundungus." Was Mad-Eye's response, "So that's it decided. I'll figure out the finer details before our next meeting and we can discuss then. Let's wrap this up."

Mundungus escaped quickly. Hagrid squeezed out of the door and disappeared shortly after on Sirius' bike. I did not move and I think that frightened those who knew me best.

"Katy, let's get home, it's late." George tapped my shoulder from behind.

I stood to leave, but I couldn't, not without getting a reason from the horses' mouth, "So, let's just summarise:" I said bitterly, "you're taking the idea of Mundungus Fletcher? A known criminal, a bloke I wouldn't trust as far as I can throw? You think it's better to risk 15 lives? When you have a perfectly good Invisibilia standing right here in front of you, willing to walk into Privet Drive and back out, completely unseen with Harry in tow – and you think that's a bad idea?"

"Yes, I do, because you are seventeen and have no idea what we're facing and I am -" Mad-Eye started shouting at me and I was not going to accept him treating me like a child.

"No idea what we're facing? No idea?" I shouted back, "Are you having a laugh? Do you not remember that at the end of last year I almost died?"

"You're too close to this." He said, "Your family -"

"No, you just don't trust me, that's the issue." I said spitefully, "I don't give a flying f*ck who my biological parents are, as far as I'm concerned, my mother and father are Molly and Arthur Weasley, they've been better parents to me than anyone else on this God-forsaken earth."

He clenched his gnarly fist, "You are still fighting family."

"And Sirius wasn't? Tonks isn't?" I argued back, "They think I'm dead anyway. There are 3 Death Eaters in all who know I'm alive; Draco Malfoy, Narcissa Malfoy and Severus Snape. None of whom know what I'm capable of and I'd like to think that none of you would be blurting out information like that to Joe f*cking Bloggs."

"I've made my decision." Mad-Eye got right up close to my face and barked at me, "It's not happening. You're not coming and if you're not careful, I'm kicking you out of the Order."

"I'd like to see you f*cking try." I challenged him, "You need me a hell of a lot more than I need you. Your plan is stupid and someone is going to wind up dead." I got right back up and close to his face too, I was not intimidated by that man, "And you'll find that I will be coming to protect Harry should your plan go tits up and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. Goodnight."

I turned on my heels and grabbed my travelling cloak and returned to the apartment. Fred and George returned immediately behind me. I was taking deep breaths to calm myself down, pouring out a cold drink and taking sips to focus my mind on something else. The twins did not say a thing and headed straight to their bedrooms.

George left the bedroom door open for me as he got changed into his pyjamas. I sat at the kitchen table, knowing that I was still fuelled with rage and should be left alone. When I didn't respond to his request to get into bed, he approached me, "Katy?"

"And where were you in all this?" I tried my best not to yell, but it was beyond difficult to contain my emotions, "You didn't even support me, you didn't say anything, you just let me stand there and -"

"Go with the option that preserves your life?"

"Are you kidding me right now? I mean, are you f*cking kidding me?" I was shaking with anger, I had to grip the kitchen table to steady myself, "Preserving my f*cking life? By getting us to f*cking fly half-way across England? That's f*cking preservation of life?"

George remained silent.

"Uh-huh, you just stand there and say nothing," I became deadly silent, "you know I'm f*cking right and you know that he's not letting me do this because he doesn't f*cking trust me."

"Well, maybe he doesn't."

I glared at him, "And you're alright with that? Are you?"

"I didn't say that I was." He said, desperately trying to calm me down, "I think he's afraid that he can't control you, like he can with the others. You have been and always will be your own person but that does mean you are very unpredictable at times."

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't be the person to go to Privet Drive and bring Harry back to the Burrow myself?" I demanded.

George remained silent.

"You see, you know I'm more than capable, yet that b*st*rd is -"

"Katy, you're over-reacting," he said, "I know you're hormonal -"

I could have screamed, "Over-reacting? Over-reacting? AND f*cking hormonal?" that was a low blow, "I swear to f*ck if you don't get out of my way, I'll blow this place up with my rage."

He didn't move.

I poked his chest with every spoken word, "I. Am. Your. Partner. You. Back. Me. Up. And don't you dare use the fact that I'm a woman against me. You hear me?"

"Oh, I can hear you. Even the Goblins in Gringotts can hear you."

A switch flipped inside me, "Get out of my way."

"Katy -"

"GET. OUT. OF. MY. WAY."

George held his hands up in the air and backed off slowly. I grabbed the pile of freshly laundered clothes sitting next to my overnight back and stuffed them in, alongside my toiletry bag.

"Katy, don't -"

"I know this is your f*cking home, so I'm leaving, or so help me, I will do something I might regret, in my overly hormonal state." I zipped up the bag, "I'll see you when I've cooled off."

I slammed the door to the apartment and walked.

17th July

I wondered aimlessly around London, having walked at such speed that my calves were burning. It was dark and drizzly and now that I'd calmed down, I felt miserable. I was miles away from home and down-right exhausted.

"Hello darlin', you lookin' a couple of quid? You can -?"

"Do one." I told him before turning down a dark alleyway and making myself invisible.

I thought about apparating to Surrey, just to prove a point. They wouldn't be mad at me if I managed to get Harry to the Burrow safely, the issue would be that once Harry left, the protective spells would break and the Dursleys would be at risk. Morally I simply couldn't do it.

What I wanted to do was go home. I was ready, I wasn't angry anymore. So I apparated back to the usual side street and invisibly walked through The Leaky Cauldon and into Diagon Alley. The flat was quiet when I got back, the lamp on the twins' desk lit, just in case. I didn't even risk waking either of them up, I got changed into my pyjamas and slept on the sofa.

I woke up very early in the morning, perhaps only managing two or three hours sleep, tops. The sun was peeping through the window and I could just hear the birds in the trees over the din of footsteps in the shop. The door opened, "I don't know where she'd be, don't you think if I had half a clue -?"

"Georgie, isn't that -?"

"Katy?" George called out.

I sat up on the sofa, "Yeah…?"

"You're here?" he questioned, "When did you get here?"

I blinked away the sleep from my eyes, "Couple hours ago – look, George, I'm sorry, I was -"

George rushed to my side and wrapped his arms around me, breathing a sigh of relief, "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Have you been out looking for me?" I asked, seeing Remus, Tonks and Fred all exhausted but relieved.

"We've been out all night." Said a bleary-eyed Tonks, "You had me worried sick."

I blinked back the tears that were forming, this is the last thing I wanted, I turned to George, "I told you I'd be back when I calmed down, I was just so mad and I needed to take a breather… I didn't want to wake either of you, so I slept here on the sofa."

"I'll let mum know Kathryn's back." Fred said, throwing Floo Powder into the fire and disappearing.

"You can't just run off like that, Kathryn…" Remus spoke clearly and comfortingly, "There are too many people out there that want to hurt you…"

"Promise me you'll never do that again." George pleaded.

I stared into his gorgeous eyes and said, "You know I can't do that…" I reached out tentatively and he accepted my hand on his cheek.

"But what if you just leave? What am going to do? What if you never come back?"

"What if you don't get to meet Peanut?"

Tears were freely flowing down my cheeks now, "Please… Please don't to this to me…" I pleaded, my voice trembling, "I already feel guilty enough leaving you all, but I have to do this, I have to go."

"Tell us…" Tonks took me by both hands and begged, "tell us how we can help…"

"Stay alive," I told her, "Write a baby diary of everything I miss -"

Her chin wobbled, "That's not what I meant."

"But it's exactly what I need." I explained, "For you to believe that I'm going to help Harry complete Dumbledore's mission and come back to you." I paused, "And I could really do with you staying out of Bellatrix's way – with the new anti-werewolf legislation neither of you told me about, she's bound to be a teensy bit mad. How dare you get married to a decent man, whom you love and fall pregnant?"

She smiled through her tears, "You're really going, aren't you?"

I nodded.

"We can only blame ourselves," Tonks looked from George to Remus to Fred who had just returned from the Burrow, "we taught Kat to be independent and make her own decisions."

"You've taught me to be a right stubborn cow at times." I giggled through my tears, so did everyone else.

"We've helped you find your voice," Remus affectionately placed his hand on my shoulder, "much to Mad-Eye's detriment a number of hours ago."

I cringed.

"I'll talk to him, Kat." Tonks said, "I won't be able to change his mind about the Polyjuice Potion, but I can encourage him to take your request to be a protector seriously. If Harry is going on Hagrid's bike, you could probably take the Firebolt?"

I nodded, "Thanks."

"I think we'd better get to bed, Remus." Tonks yawned. This only added to my overwhelming guilt.

"Me too," Fred said, "Night?"

Soon they left and it was just George and me. He sat and stared in my direction, he was not angry and I didn't feel like I deserved it.

"I f*cked up real good this time, didn't I George?"

He sighed, "I'm sorry for what I said, as soon as it came out I -"

"You're forgiven." I said quickly, "I don't want to fight with you… I feel like all we've done since I told you is fight and I know it's my fault, but I just hope that these next couple of weeks we have together, that we'll be able to make the most of it. I'd hate to leave things on a bad note."

"You're right." He put an arm around my shoulders and yawned loudly, "We can talk about everything later… Can we go to sleep now? I'm shattered."

19th July

Nobody mentioned my argument with Moody the next time I stepped into the Burrow until I managed to grab a second alone with Ron and Hermione.

"You were mad arguing with him." Ron said, "But d'you know, I think you were right, it doesn't make sense."

"Yes, but Moody is trying to protect you… What if you and Harry were ambushed? The two of you are wanted people…" Hermione reasoned, "Although, in a couple of weeks, the four of us are going to have to take those risks anyway…"

I took a slow, deep breath, "Do we even have a plan?"

"Harry will have a plan, Dumbledore told him everything we need to know." Hermione said.

I snorted, "Harry Potter, the guy who left the second Triwizard Tournament Task to the night before to figure out?"

"You've got a point." Ron concurred.

"Knock knock!" Freddie opened the door into Ron's bedroom, peering around jokingly to see what we were getting up to.

"What's this about needing a bit of help with transfiguration?" George gave a half smile in my direction, "Making the Ghoul in the attic even uglier by making him look like you Ronniekins?"

My heart leapt for joy. He was finally on board. He understood that this is something we had to do, not because we wanted to, but because Harry needs support. It's always been the four of us tackling things head on and it wouldn't be right if one of us wasn't there.

Arthur rubbed his hands together in anticipation and announced, "Ladies, if you will excuse us, we've got this handled."

Hermione and I shared a look and quickly escaped Ron's bedroom as Ron, Fred, George and Arthur climbed up the ladder, through the square hole into the attic to do whatever it was they needed to do. We listened in from the floor below, to the grunts of exertion and gasps for air as they moved around. We could hear spells being cast; a series of different coloured lights shone brightly through the opening. After quite some time, we heard celebratory cheers and moaning and sucking noises.

"Erm… what've they done exactly?"

I shrugged my shoulders, as the boys descended one by one looking rather pleased with themselves. Curiosity taking over, George took me up the ladder and showed me the Ghoul that lives in the attic. Ron returned up with a pair of old pyjamas, encouraging it out of the shadows to dress it. Half sucking, half moaning the Ghoul had an unpleasant smell like open drains as it drooled down its chin.

"Splattergroit." Ron said proudly, indicating the number of angry purple pustules, "Don't you think he looks like me now?"

"Genius idea, Ron!" I congratulated him, "No one would dare step into a room with such an infectious illness!"

"Thanks, Kathryn!" he seemed chuffed by my compliment, "He'll come live in my room when we leave. Wha'd'ya think, 'Mione?"

She covered her noise, "They'll certainly not want to be near this smell for any length of time…" she descended from the attic and I quickly followed suit.

"Kathryn?" Arthur addressed me.

"Yeah?"

"Alastor has granted you permission to attend as a second protector for Harry on the 27th." He said, "You're to use Harry's firebolt and travel with the real Harry and Hagrid on Sirius' bike."

I nodded.

"I'd like to show you a few things…" he directed me down the stairs into the kitchen, "Just going to get Kathryn's assistance with feeding the chickens, Molly."

Arthur brought me into his workshop hidden behind the Burrow, pressing his fingers to his lips he revealed his project, "Is that Sirius' bike?" I asked.

"The very one." Arthur said proudly, "I've been tinkering…"

My eyes could hardly miss the brightly coloured purple button, with smaller red and green buttons on either side on the bike's dashboard, "I can see that." I said admiringly and climbed onto the bike for closer inspection, "I know better than to touch anything… I live with Fred and George and they take after you in so many ways! I don't think I'll ever forget the Ford Anglia… But what exactly do these do?"

Arthur beamed at me, "I'm so glad you asked. This button," he indicated the green one, "releases a net out the exhaust pipe."

"Cool."

"This one," he pointed to the red button, "ejects a brick wall. But the purple one, I must stress is just for emergencies… It emits dragon fire."

"No way."

Arthur was beside himself with enthusiasm, "So you can imagine -"

"That I don't want to become entangled, flattened or… barbequed?" I grinned.

Arthur nodded, "Safest place for you to fly is on either side of the bike, or above."

"Got it!" I clambered off the bike, taking a good look around the workshop. This room was proof of where Fred and George got their talent from. Shelves lined the walls, containing a clatter of plugs, deconstructed kettles and toasters, a section dedicated to rubber ducks and a single wind-up robot… Arthur's creativity, his curiosity to tinker and general enthusiasm towards muggle artefacts made me realise just how knowledgeable of the muggle world he actually is.

"I want to ask you something," Arthur said coolly, turning his back to grab his tool kit, "I respect that you can't tell me what task Albus asked you, Ron, Harry and Hermione to complete, but I want to ask if you've really thought this through."

I nodded, "The four of us have been through so much together… The decision was not made lightly, but it's as though everything that has happened has brought us to this point." I paused, "I know I could have handled the other night a lot better, but it's only because I know I'm going to miss you all so much and it's hard. We really don't have a choice," I struggled to find the right words, "we need to do what we've been asked to do or -" I froze.

Arthur turned around with a hammer in hand, "Or?"

"Erm -"

"What's the matter?"

I blinked, "Last time I saw a man holding a hammer didn't end so well for me." I cleared my throat, "Sorry – where was I?"

Arthur dropped the hammer to the ground in shock, "You know I'd never hurt you, don't you?"

I nodded, "Yeah, I just have triggers." I told him, "A few months back I'd probably have had a panic attack. But I've gotten to a place where I can manage -"

"You've overcome so much," he said in a fatherly tone, "it's no wonder why Albus wanted Harry to tell you. You are uniquely prepared for this, between your family who have an obvious weakness when it comes to you and your ability to stay alive."

"Against all odds." I joked.

"Through talent and sheer determination." He assured me, "Keep some of that stuffed up your sleeve, just in case you need it. I don't imagine George will take it too well if you don't come home."

I nodded, "Trust me, I'm doing this so that I can spend the rest of my life with him."

26th July

"What's all this?" Fred entered the apartment to see I had laid the table with the full dinner set, "Did I forget about you two having a date night?" he asked as George appeared, the two of them having spent the last few hours in the shop sending off a handful of mail orders that had arrived this afternoon.

I shook my head, "Not at all. I'm including you on date night!"

"You are…?"

"Don't look so shocked," I put an arm around his waist, "I'm making dinner for the three of us to sit down together before -" I paused, "Go get yourselves ready, everything will be ready in ten minutes."

Fred placed a hand on my back and rubbed gently, "I understand."

This was my idea of the last hurrah, the three of us eating a slap-up meal together. It was my way of showing love and appreciation… and saying goodbye. The next few days were going to be hectic – extracting Harry from Privet Drive, dealing with the Dursleys, the Delacour family arriving, Harry's birthday, the croquembouche, the wedding and leaving, I imagine, shortly after.

"You are spoiling us!" Fred licked his lips as he sat down, placing his napkin on his lap, as I poured him a glass of red, "I feel so sophisticated."

"I guess there's always a first for everything!" I said sarcastically.

"Make sure you don't ruin it by spilling something down yourself." George added.

Fred glared at us jokingly, but couldn't hide his enjoyment, "This steak melts in my mouth. I'm going to miss your cooking."

"Gosh, I hope you're going to miss more than that!" I smiled, trying to keep the tone of the evening light.

"What? Your gossip, baking, coming home drunk at 2am, laughter and how you make this a far more interesting apartment just by being here?" Fred shrugged his shoulders, "I don't think I'm going to miss you one single bit."

"You'll take care of him, won't you?" I nodded my head in George's direction.

Fred smiled, "You know I will. It'll just be like you going back to school, except there'll be no sneaky hook-ups in Hogsmeade."

George gasped, "FREDDIE!"

I giggled, there was no point in being embarrassed when it came to Fred. The two of them share everything and trust one another implicitly, so I can't be surprised or annoyed. In some ways, it's just like how George tells me all about Fred, "No mid-trip hook-ups, but once I get back…"

"I'll be taking a looooooog vay-cay with Angie." Freddie smiled, "And you two will get married and have that Quidditch team we always talked about."

I covered my eyes with my hands, "My poor uterus."

"Asking a serious question here:" Fred began, an idea sparking in his mind, "why haven't you two gotten hitched already?"

George and I looked across the table to one another, "We are going to once Katy finishes school."

"Yeah," Fred glanced between the two of us, "and someone is kinda skipping seventh year now." He covered the side of his mouth facing me, "and she's about to go off and save the world and you're not going to marry her first?"

"Well, what exactly do you propose Fred?" George asked as though his hands were tied.

"Funny you should ask, George."

I clasped my hands together, "This is going to be good."

"Yes Kathryn, it is," Fred grinned like a Cheshire cat, "because I am going to marry the two of you myself. Right here, right now."

George and I laughed wholeheartedly.

I sat down my knife and fork to show I'd finished eating, "Well, if we're going to do this -"

"Wait – we're going to do this?" George asked incredulously, dropping his napkin onto his empty plate.

I shrugged my shoulders, going with the flow, "I don't see why not? It'll be fun! And it's not as if it'll be legal, but it'll be meaningful to us, won't it?"

Fred grinned, rubbing his hands together gleefully, "I can't believe you're going along with this!"

"Hold your horses." I held up my hand, "We're gonna need -"

"Rings?" Fred asked, "Way ahead of you." He formed two wedding band type rings from materials from their shop workstation. I strapped on my heels and straightened my dress whilst George summoned a tie to wear.

"Orchideous." I said, forming a bouquet of flowers, "How do I look?"

Fred nodded as he flattened his own hair, "Riveting – now face each other and hold hands." He waited for us to get into position, "Now keep it PG with me being here, I know you two find it difficult to keep your hands off each other."

George let go of my left hand momentarily to give his twin a shove, "Are you doing this or what?"

"This is supposed to be special, the most treasured of all your memories and you want to rush the process?" Fred was jokingly astounded and turned to me, "I hope my brother will be more patient in his married life."

George rolled his eyes to me.

Fred cleared his throat, "Dearly beloved we are gathered here today…"

I started to giggle uncontrollably.

"What now?" Fred tried to hide his laughter, "Can't you tell how serious this is?"

I straightened my face and stood tall, "My apologies, please, continue…" I turned to face George and took his hands, gazing lovingly into his eyes, "We are gathered here today, the three amigos."

George smiled at me. I squeezed his hands in excitement.

"So, both of you, repeat after me…"

"We promise to love each other, no matter what."

The two of us grinned at each other and repeated, meaning every word spoken.

"We promise to kiss and make up after every fight and disagreement."

We nodded and repeated.

"We promise to always tell each other the best jokes, bust the best dance moves in private dance parties, laugh together, cry together and make each other smile every day."

That one got us laughing because it was so us. Fred had to repeat a few times in order to get the wording perfect, but we got there in the end.

"We promise to always stand up for one another, we are partners and we back each other up."

The two of us nodded. We learnt that lesson already, the hard way.

"We solemnly swear to have lots of sex and a Quidditch team worth of kids."

The uncontrollable giggling returned. I rephrased the vow slightly to put less pressure on my ability to bear children. We solemnly swear to have lots of sex and aim to produce Quidditch-team-worthy kids.

"And finally…" Fred smiled brightly, "We promise to regularly invite Freddie around when we get our own place."

George and I changed that one too, without even having to consult each other, "We solemnly swear to always have room for Freddie in our own place."

He was flattered. Producing the rings, he handed them to us and said, "And with these exquisitely crafted rings, we so swear to be around for each other wayyyy after old Mouldy Pants is dead."

"Amen." I slid the ring onto George's finger and he returned the gesture.

"And you may now kiss each other – and I will close my eyes."

George took me by the hips and pulled me in close, staring at my lips with this very intense look on his face before closing the gap and kissing me like he's never kissed me before. I had to put my arms around his neck so as to not buckle at the knees.

"Woah." I uttered after he broke off the kiss, "I should have unofficially married you sooner. Way sooner."