Under the Stars

George was up early the next morning; they all were. The children had been up bright and early and made more than enough noise to wake them all as they tore into their brightly coloured stockings full of small gifts. It was a Burrow rule that opening the big presents had to wait until all the guests arrived, so these presents had to keep the children occupied till then.

Angelina, who'd gotten home late the night before with Fred, was sitting at the kitchen table, Ron's baby Amber in her arms, watching the older children play. George saw her glance at him, stand up, and come over to where he was lurking in the corner.

"Merry Christmas, George."

"Merry Christmas, Angelina. Merry Christmas, cutie," said George, tickling his niece. He often wondered if he'd get the chance to have anything like his nieces and nephews. He'd always wanted a big family, but he'd been single so long he'd often wondered if it would ever happen.

"George," said Angelina, quietly. "I should probably warn you. Fred and I were in Winchester last night and we ran into Katie. She's coming over today."

George felt himself go bright red. Katie. Katie was coming for Christmas. "Oh," he managed to say. "That'll be - uh - nice."

"Yeah. You'll look after her, won't you?" asked Angelina, with a bit of a cheeky grin.

"If she'll let me," said George, looking at Amber to avoid seeing Angelina.

"I wouldn't worry about that." Angelina handed Amber over and wandered off to help Molly with breakfast. George, holding the baby, wondered if this Christmas was going to be one to remember.

***

Katie took one last look at herself in the mirror. She was wearing dark red robes, the most 'Christmassy' she had, and she'd let her blonde hair fall loose around her face. She wanted to look nice for Christmas, and was trying to convince herself that George had nothing to do with it.

Stepping into the fireplace, she grabbed a handful of Floo powder from the bag in her pocket. Taking a deep breath, she dropped it and shouted "The Burrow!" She disappeared in a rush of green flame and the fireplace stood empty.

***

"George? Calm down."

George had been under the impression that he seemed perfectly calm, so having Fred tell him to calm down did not improve his mood. He was torn between wanting to yell at Fred and Angelina for having invited Katie at such short notice, and wanting to hug them for finding her.

"I am calm," he muttered.

"Yeah. Right. Look, she'll be here, and you can talk nicely to her, and sort out the mess you're both in. Right?"

"Yeah," George grumbled, his eyes flicking yet again to the fireplace. This time he was rewarded; there was the usual sound of a person arriving and Katie tumbled out.

Harry gave her a hand up and they hugged, awkwardly. George had been unable to speak to Harry during the months he'd been with Katie - he'd been, for the first time in his life, incredibly jealous. Since Harry had become serious about Ginny and married her, George had forgiven him for the sake of family peace. Also because he really missed Harry's company. And because he couldn't blame him for dating Katie - what George couldn't quite understand was why Harry would've broken up with her.

Katie glanced round the room, and George felt his heart quicken as their eyes met. Katie gave him a brief smile, and consented to let Ginny grab her arm and haul her round the room introducing her to people. Of course, she already knew most of them from the war, so it was more re-introductions. Whatever it was, George was content to watch her, and try to form his thought patterns into some kind of coherent speech.

"And you know George, of course," said Ginny, calmly, "and this is Ron and Hermione's baby that he's holding."

It occurred to George to be amazed that he hadn't actually dropped the baby. Katie was standing right in front of him.

"Hello," he said awkwardly.

"Hi." Katie gestured at the baby. "It's cute. What is it?"

"A baby," said George stupidly. "Oh - a girl. Amber."

Katie giggled. She still had the same laugh, George thought, unable to help laughing with her. "It's good to see you," she said.

"Yeah. You too. Really." George wanted to kick himself. This was the first time he'd seen Katie in years and he had no idea what to say. Furious and bright red, he watched as Ginny dragged her off to introduce her to Remus Lupin's partner, Fran, and their daughter, Grace.

This was going to be a very weird day.

***

Katie could barely keep all the names straight, possibly because only half her mind was on Ginny's introductions and the people she was talking to. It was probably a good thing she'd met a lot of the people who were here before, either during the war or at Hogwarts. There were wives and children, though, and by the time Ginny had finished her introductions the only name Katie knew for certain was that Ron and Hermione's baby was called Amber.

There were people everywhere. Molly Weasley had hugged her so hard she'd thought she wouldn't breathe again. Katie and Molly had often worked side by side during the war, and Katie had come to respect her very much. Ron had shaken her hand, awkwardly, and let Hermione take over talking breathlessly to Katie. She'd been hugged by Bill, which had surprised her very much, and Remus Lupin had been very interested in her work at St Mungo's. It was good to be here, she'd decided firmly, by the time she and Ginny had completed a circuit of the room. The fact that George was in the corner, the usual Weasley red with his eyes watching her every move, only made it that much better.

***

Katie had never known what it was to have Christmas with so many people. Her Christmases as a child had always been nice, but simple. They'd go to the morning service at the village church, then she and her parents would have Christmas lunch with both sets of grandparents and her cousins on her mother's side. Christmas was always sedate and polite; Christmas at the Burrow was chaotic.

They were eating the huge lunch Molly had created with the "assistance" of half the people present. Angelina had informed Katie that preparations had gone much better when the twins and Ron had been banned from the kitchen.

Molly had been persuaded that there was no possible way the Burrow could hold a table big enough to fit all the people present plus food and had eventually relented enough to let them eat their dinner on their laps in the living room, amid presents and billowing piles of wrapping paper.

Katie found herself eating roast turkey sitting cross-legged on the floor with her plate on the ground in front of her. She was sitting with Neville Longbottom and his wife, Susan, who'd been in Hufflepuff. Neville was a decorated war hero now, like a lot of those in the room. It was a funny thought, that. As a child, she'd been used to the idea that war veterans were old people, like her grandparents. Now she knew 'war veterans' whom she'd been with at school. She had her own Order of Merlin, Second Class, for her work during the war.

Discussing plants and Herbology with Neville, Susan making the occasional interjection about Neville's plants or garden, Katie couldn't help being aware of George across the room, who was sitting with three of the children, Jonathan, Alex, and Phoebe. Katie had lost track of which children belonged to whom, but she suspected those were some of Bill and Charlie's. George was good with children, she noted. She also noted that he kept glancing up at her, then looking away when their eyes met. Blushing, she suddenly realised she was doing the same thing.

***

Ginny, Angelina and Hermione were sitting in a corner, enjoying each other's company and keeping an eye on the George/Katie interactions. It seemed, as Hermione remarked, grinning, that the relationship they'd had in their school days had more than a chance of being revived.

"And if they don't work that out for themselves, we'll do it for them," said Angelina, firmly.

They giggled as they watched George and Katie meet each other's eyes then look rapidly away.

***

Katie yawned. It was almost 8pm, she noted. It had been a long day, but at the same time, she didn't know when she'd last felt so happy. She'd talked plants with Neville, Quidditch with Harry and Angelina, Healing with Lupin, and cats with purple polka dots with little Phoebe. Katie was still unclear as to where Phoebe had gotten the idea from about these cats; Charlie, passing and happening to overhear part of the conversation, had muttered, "Don't ask. Just humour her," in Katie's ear. Molly Weasley had interrogated her at least six times to ask how she was and if she was taking care of herself. George had rescued her the last time, pointing out that Katie was a fully qualified Healer. Molly had dashed off to rescue a cat from Alex, and George and Katie had done what they seemed to do best, which was blush and look at something else.

"I suppose I'd better go," she told Angelina. Things had calmed down; Lupin and Fran had taken Grace home and the other children had all been put to bed.

"You'll keep in touch, now, won't you?" asked Angelina. "I've missed you, Katie."

"I've missed you, too. All of me. It was stupid of me to think I could get away from you all."

"The long arm of the Weasley family is everywhere," Angelina agreed, giving Katie a hug.

"The very long arm," said Katie, laughing. Farewelling Angelina's unborn baby by patting her friend's stomach, Katie stood up and began to make her goodbyes, amid many promises to keep in touch. She pretended not to notice George slipping into the kitchen, where there was another fireplace, and continued saying goodbye. Finally, anxiously, she stepped into the kitchen.

It was quiet, and empty, compared to the warm, crowded living room. George was the only person in there, leaning against the edge of the bench, his hands in his pockets. Katie shut the door behind her, and they stood in silence for a moment.

"I've missed you," George said finally.

"I've missed you, too." Katie stepped closer to George and looked into his eyes. As he stared back, she could have sworn she was at Hogwarts again, hiding in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom with George because it was the only place they could get any privacy.

"Fred and Angelina are having a New Year's Eve party," said George, quietly, breaking his gaze and looking at the floor. "Will you go with me?"

"Yeah," said Katie, blushing, and feeling like a teenager again. "I'd like that."

He smiled. "I'll be at your place about seven on New Year's Eve?"

Katie nodded. "I'll look forward to it."

George grinned, the old grin she knew so well. "I'll see you then, Kitty-Kat."

Katie stepped into the fireplace, still watching him. "George - " She stepped out again, and gave him a hug, reveling in the feeling of being in his arms again.

"Why don't we have lunch?" George murmured. "The Golden Wands? On Tuesday?"

"Sounds good." Katie got back into the fireplace and they looked at each other, rather stupidly. "I'll see you on Tuesday, then."

"Bye, Katie."

"Goodbye." Hands shaking, she pulled some Floo powder from her pocket and dropped it, speaking her address clearly. In the split second it took for the flames to whisk her away she stared at George, whom only yesterday she'd despaired of seeing ever again.

CHAPTER SIX

The Golden Wands, Diagon Alley. She'd been here once with Roger. That day had been rather a disaster; in fact, that had been the day they'd broken up.

While she didn't really mind breaking up with Roger, not now at least, Katie rather hoped things would go better today. She was meeting George for lunch - the first real time they'd spent together for four or five years. "No pressure, then," she muttered to herself, stepping into the fireplace. "The Leaky Cauldron!"

***

George sat at the table he'd booked, eyes trained on the doorway. He was absurdly worried that Katie wasn't going to show up. He was fairly sure she would - he'd recognised the look in her eyes on Christmas night. It was the same one he had, the one that said a thousand things, beginning with "I'm sorry" and "I miss you".

She'll be here, he told himself.

And then she was.

It was as simple as that; she'd walked in the door and was now coming over. George tried to force himself not to blush. Katie brought back so many memories, so many good memories. She'd been his only serious girlfriend; the only girl he'd ever considered spending his life with. It had gone wrong somehow, but today was their chance to make that right again.

"Hi," she said, hanging her coat over the back of the chair opposite George and sitting down. "How are you?"

"Good... cold out there, isn't it?" As soon as the words were out of his mouth, George blushed. The weather. He was talking about the weather.

"Freezing. London in December - what else would it be?" Katie picked up her menu. George contemplated her face as she read the menu, remembering the girl he'd fallen in love with. He'd watched Katie grow up faster than she should have done, during the war. They'd all had to do that. He knew her calm face masked pain; again, a trait common among those who had fought. She was beautiful, to him.

"George?" Katie waved the menu at him. "You know what you're going to order?" The waiter was hovering over her shoulder.

"Uh..." George scanned the menu, quickly. "I'll have the roast chicken, please."

"Make that two," said Katie, passing her menu back to the waiter.

"And a bottle of Honeydew," George added. "You like that?" he asked Katie, belatedly.

"Yeah, that's fine."

The waiter nodded and moved inobtrusively away, leaving them in silence.

"So..." said Katie, toying with her napkin. "How's the joke shop going?"

George sighed inwardly. Here was something he could answer without blushing or making a fool of himself. Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, he told her, was going well. They'd expanded; had shops in Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, Rome and Paris; and they were seriously challenging Zonko's for supremacy in the joke shop market now.

"I'm glad," said Katie. "You guys deserve it... you deserve something good."

The waiter arrived with their bottle of Honeydew. He poured them a glass each and left again. George picked up his glass and took a sip, grateful to have something to do with his hands. "What have you been doing for the last few years, Katie?"

"Not much. I'm a Healer - but you know that. Living a quiet life in Winchester, mostly."

"I've never been there. What's it like?"

"Gorgeous. Got a lovely old Cathedral. The wizarding community's very small, but I don't mind that. I can Apparate or Floo anywhere."

George looked at her. "I've missed you."

"I missed you, too. A lot."

"You knew where I was, Katie. You could've come, any time." George watched her, closely. He didn't want to hurt her, but the silence from her over the years had been painful. He'd been a little angry, at first, especially when she'd first started dating Harry. That had turned into numbness, feeling that perhaps she didn't feel the same away about him as he did about her; trying desperately not to remember the times she'd said she loved him. Everything he'd said or done over the last few years had been coloured by Katie and his thoughts of her. It was a strange way to live.

"I know. I thought about it... so many times. But I was.... scared, I guess." Katie was staring at her napkin, twisting it into a tight bundle.

"Why?" George reached across the table and prised the napkin out of her hands. Her skin was soft and warm, the way he remembered it. He didn't let go of her hands.

"I guess... when Alicia died... somehow I started thinking that... that I couldn't handle it if someone else I loved died. She was one of my best friends... all those years on the Quidditch team... and I got the idea that if I didn't love anyone, I wouldn't lose them." Katie was whispering. George cast a silencing charm over the table and she looked at him, gratefully. "And I missed you. At Alicia's funeral, all I wanted was for you to hold me. But I was too scared that something would happen to you and I wouldn't let myself... let you... well, whatever."

George nodded. He remembered. Alicia's funeral had been an appropriately dark, gloomy day. They'd stood at the grave, him, Katie, Fred, Angelina, Lee, Alicia's parents and sister and a few other family members, as her coffin was lowered into the damp earth in the overcrowded Hogsmeade cemetery. Katie had stood, silent, her eyes following the coffin's slow path into the earth, twisting a pink rose the way she'd twisted that napkin. Standing behind her, watching the coffin over her shoulder, he'd put his arms around her. She'd shaken him off and moved away to stand by herself. "Leave her alone," Angelina had whispered. "She just wants to be alone."

That had been the day things had started changing. Angelina had been right. She'd wanted to be alone. She'd just never stopped wanting to be alone... until now, he hoped.

"I just got into the habit of staying away from people. There was Harry... that was stupid. We were both grieving, trying to find things we didn't want and that we weren't ready for, anyway. I never loved him, not in that way. He didn't love me, either. And then... I was still scared. I thought maybe... I thought you wouldn't want me back."

"I love you, Katie. I've never stopped."

"I love you, too." Katie finally lifted her head. Tears were glinting in her eyes. "I'm so sorry."

"I understand." George stroked her hands with his thumbs. He'd felt like that, a little, after Percy had died. Percy might have been a git, and a prat, and anything else you liked to call him, but they were still brothers. Katie had held him, had let him cry, had stepped back to let him grieve with his family, always ready with open arms when he wanted to sob like a little child instead of being strong for Mum and Dad and Ginny. He'd wanted to do the same for her. "Are you actually hungry?"

She shook her head, biting her bottom lip.

"Let's go, then." George removed the silencing charm from the table and put down enough Galleons to cover the cost of what they'd ordered. As they stood up to leave, he grabbed the bottle of Honeydew. "We've paid for it, haven't we?"

Katie grinned through the tears she was trying to hold back. "You haven't changed, George Weasley."

"How about you show me round Winchester, then?"

***

They went to Katie's first. When George stepped out of her fireplace into the living room he discovered that the tears had finally overwhelmed her. Automatically, instinctively, he reached out for her as he'd done so many times in the past. She kept apologising in between sobs; he wasn't entirely sure what she was sorry for. He just knew it didn't matter, because this was important for her, and because after all they'd only lost four years. They had a lifetime in front of them.

Right now, he was content just to let her cry. They could sort everything else out later.