Under the Stars

As soon as classes were done for the day, Katie headed straight back to Gryffindor tower, threw herself onto her bed, and yanked the hangings shut around her. For the first time all day, she had managed to shut the world out and had a chance to think clearly about the mysterious disappearance of the entire Weasley clan overnight.

All anyone seemed to know was that Harry Potter had had some kind of a nightmare and, on awakening, had insisted that he'd seen George's dad bitten by a giant snake and be badly hurt. Professor McGonagall, who had been fetched by a worried Neville Longbottom, had taken it seriously enough to whisk Harry and Ron off to Dumbledore, despite the fact that it was after midnight, and had then made sudden appearances in the seventh year boys' and fourth year girls' dormitories to wake George, Fred and Ginny. None of them had been seen since and their trunks had been packed by house elves and had disappeared.

Katie lay on her stomach, her face buried in the pillows. George had disappeared. His father was badly hurt. She knew how much George would be hurting - how much he cared about his family. The way he talked about how Percy had hurt them all told her that. Somewhere, whether at the Burrow or St Mungo's or wherever else he was, her boyfriend was in pain and she wasn't there to hold him. All she could do was lie there, think awful thoughts, and hope.

Hearing the door open, she pleaded desperately and silently with the powers that be that whichever of her roommates this was would see fit to leave her alone.

"Katie?"

Obviously not. It was Helen's voice.

"What?"

"Um, Hermione Granger wanted to talk to you - she's here, okay?" Helen sounded a little puzzled.

"Hi, Katie." That was Hermione's voice. Katie listened to the door close before she sat up and opened the hangings.

"Hello." Katie couldn't recall ever having a proper conversation with Hermione before, but as a close friend of Ron Weasley's, she was more interested in talking to Hermione now than she was in talking to most other people. "Sit down."

Hermione sat. "I guess you heard about Ron's dad."

"Is it true then?" Katie felt sick. "Is he really hurt?"

"Yes, but he's going to be all right. Dumbledore told me what happened - well, not really, but he told me - enough. He said I could tell you, but we have to keep it quiet."

"How did you know? About me and George?" Katie and George hadn't taken to snogging in the common room corners like some couples did; she was under the impression they'd been rather more discreet than that.

"Well, I'd sort of wondered if there was anything going on, and then when Dumbledore talked to me he told me to talk to you."

"Oh. Well... what happened?"

"Mr Weasley got bitten by a giant snake, and, somehow, Harry saw it happen. McGonagall didn't want to take any chances, so she took Harry and Ron to Dumbledore and they got it checked out, and it turned out Harry was right. They're all staying with a friend of the family in London. Mr Weasley's in St Mungo's, but he's going to be all right. They didn't find that out until this morning though - it was touch and go for a few hours."

Katie shivered. She didn't like to think of George and the others sitting there for a few hours, just waiting, not knowing if their father would live or die. "Where was he? What was he doing to get bitten?"

Hermione shrugged, staring at her shoes. "I don't know. Dumbledore didn't say. I don't think he wanted me to know."

"Does it have anything to do with all the You-Know-Who stuff?" Katie asked quietly. She knew George's family was involved in something to oppose You-Know-Who. He'd told her that much, but said he couldn't give details because of a Fidelius charm and "you're probably safer not knowing, at the moment."

"I think so, but Dumbledore wasn't very forthcoming with details. Anyway - I'm going there tomorrow - to where they are in London. I can take a letter or something to George for you."

"I want to see him." Why did Hermione get to be special?

"You might be able to. I don't know. I don't know if they'll be allowed out at all - things are kind of tense at the moment. I don't know what George has told you..."

"Not a lot - he said he couldn't, there was a Fidelius charm."

"Yeah... I don't really know what's going on now - I'm not allowed to leave until term's officially over. I'll tell him to owl you or something - if he can."

Katie nodded. It was the best she was going to get. "I'll give you a letter for George tomorrow. And his Christmas present."

Hermione smiled at her, and stood up. "I've got to go and do some work in the library... I'll see you later."

Katie managed a smile too. "Thanks, Hermione." She watched the younger girl leave and then pulled a quill, ink and parchment out of her bag.

Dear George

Hermione has just been up to tell me about your father. There have been rumours floating around all day about why you all disappeared - at least now I know what's happened.

I hope you're all right. Oh, that sounds so stupid, but I can't put it into words. It must have been awful for you, the not knowing. Hermione says your father will be all right - I'm so glad. I was so worried for you. I wish I'd been there with you, not that I would have been much help.

I miss you. Okay, so it's less than 24 hours since the last time I saw you, but it's just so weird around here without you. That and I didn't get my morning kiss...

Should I even be going on about that stuff when your father's in hospital? Oh well. I'm sending this via Hermione, with your Christmas present. It'll have to be an 'I'm sorry about your father/I miss you/have a nice Christmas/I never got to say goodbye' letter.

I hope you do have a nice Christmas - you deserve it, what with Percy and your father and all the rest of it. I'll be thinking of you on Christmas Day - I'll be thinking of you every day, actually, but especially on Christmas.

I didn't get the chance for the soppy goodbye I'd planned - be very glad! I know I'll be seeing you in a few weeks, or even sooner - it'd be nice to meet up in Diagon Alley or something if you can - Hermione was pretty cagey about what would be going on in the holidays. Anyway, I'd been planning to get you by yourself (probably in the highly romantic surroundings of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom!). I know we've been together for less than two months, but already it seems weird to think that there was a time when you weren't my boyfriend. I just wanted to tell you how special you are - how much you mean to me.

I'm always thinking about that day we 'got together'. Who would have thought Ron's bad aim with a Quaffle and a Blood Blisterpod could bring a couple together? I'd liked you for ages - you know that - so I was quite glad when you grabbed me just before I fainted. I remember thinking how warm you were, wondering briefly if you were Fred then thinking that you couldn't be because I'd be able to just tell... and then I remember waking up in the hospital wing at 3am to find you asleep in a chair beside my bed. Every moment I've had with you has been special. I know I'm not always fun to be with (especially not at the dreaded 'that-time-of-the-month' - sorry George, I just couldn't resist embarrassing you a bit!) but you've put up with me, right from when I was a silly little first year... and a silly little second year on the Quidditch team... and all the rest of it. Thank you for that.

I'm going to start rambling aimlessly if I keep going much longer! I miss you, I'm so sorry about your father but I'm glad he's going to be all right, I hope I can see you over the holidays but, if we can't meet up, I'll be very glad to see you back at school, and we can go scandalise Myrtle by kissing in her bathroom (I know you like that).

Hermione knows about us... and so does Dumbledore. Is there anything that man doesn't know? Do you reckon all the professors know? Maybe they talk about it in the staffroom at break - but I'd rather not imagine McGonagall, Snape, Vector, Umbridge and all the rest discussing our love life!

Take care

Katie

PS: did I tell you I miss you?

PPS: did you know that I love you?

***

December 24

Merry Christmas, beautiful.

I'm sending this off with Ron's owl tonight, so you should get it Christmas morning, if Pigwidgeon can be trusted.

Hermione gave me your letter when she got here; she's got the present hidden under her bed in the room she's sharing with Ginny. She reckons she promised not to give it to me until Christmas Day.

I tried writing to you a few times, but the letter always just went... wrong. Life's been kind of busy, we go to St Mungo's to see Dad every day, of course, and then we've got lots of stuff to do here. Don't think I'm not thinking about you though, because I am, all the time. I miss you, too. I wish I could've said goodbye before we left Hogwarts but we never got a chance - there was about ten minutes between McGonagall hauling us all out of bed and us getting a Portkey out. It was a really long night - it was awful. The guy we're staying with refused to let us out of the house - we wanted to go to St Mungo's, of course, but he wouldn't let us. He was right, but we didn't really think so at the time. We got a note from Mum that just said 'Dad is still alive' and then didn't know anything else for hours. We were just sitting there, waiting and hoping, sort of sleeping, sort of not sleeping, wishing like anything we were back at Hogwarts, asleep in bed, and none of it had ever happened. Of course, it was wonderful when Mum turned up and said he was going to be all right.

I hope you have a great Christmas. Ours should be interesting - first Christmas away from Hogwarts for years and we're not going to be at the Burrow. Anyway, the whole family will be there, except Dad of course - we'll be going to see him - Charlie, and Percy. Plus the most amazing number of miscellaneous hangers-on who practically count as part of the family. Mum's thrilled at the idea of the amount of food there is to cook and she's co-opted Ginny and Hermione to help because she doesn't trust any of us in the kitchen. We've all been madly decorating and getting into the Christmas spirit, though if I hear 'God Rest Ye Merry Hippogriffs' once more I may go mad (don't ask! There are some really odd people in this house).

At the moment, Mum doesn't really want us to leave the house. I'd sneak out, because I do want to see you, but I know she'd freak out and she's had enough to deal with over the last year. I think she's scared something's going to happen to one of us. We may have to make do with letters for the rest of the holidays, sweetheart, but I'll definitely see you back at Hogwarts and we can definitely go and kiss in Myrtle's bathroom. I'll look forward to it. I miss you crazy amounts - some days I could just do with a big 'Katie-hug' and you're not here - or I'm not there, whatever.

Hermione says you and me is 'sweet'. Fred says it's nauseating. The Man-Who-Sings-Christmas-Carols-About-Hippogriffs teases me about being love-sick, but he doesn't know how close he is to the truth - he reckons he's just winding me up.

Please don't give me ideas about the staff discussing our love life. Oh, what a scary idea. They probably do, of course, but let's not go there.

I have to go and decorate some more with Twin-Brother, Little-Brother, Little-Sister, Boy-Who-Lived, Girl-Who-Studies-Too-Much, Man-Who-Sings-Christmas-Carols-About-Hippogriffs, Girl-Who-Transforms-Her-Nose and Overbearing-Mother. Apparently Man-Who-Is-Definitely-A-Crook has brought a Christmas tree around and we are all going to decorate it with live fairies. Girl-Who-Studies-Too-Much will give us all a lecture on the life cycle of the fairy. Girl-Who-Transforms-Her-Nose will knock the tree down, causing Seriously-Evil-Portrait-In-Hall to scream and curse. Man-Who-Sings-Christmas-Carols-About-Hippogriffs will create havoc with Little-Brother, Boy-Who-Lived, Little-Sister, Man-Who-Is-Definitely-A-Crook, and probably Twin-Brother and Self, causing Overbearing-Mother to scream at them (us) and set off Seriously-Evil-Portrait-In-Hall again.

Ah, the delights of being here. I'll tell you all about it when we get back to school.

Write soon, take care, have a great Christmas, I miss you lots

George

PS: did you know that I love you, too?