We will meet again ~ Fred Weasley

- A Crack In The Trust -

"I still loved him. That was the problem. Love had made forgiveness easy; doubt had made it impossible."

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It was unusual for Katherine to be awake this early.

Usually, six in the morning was the hour when she was at her deepest sleep, especially after everything she'd endured over the past few months. Her body was exhausted in a way that seemed to have settled into her bones, yet sleep had refused to come.

She had spent most of the night staring at the ceiling.

Thinking.

Replaying conversations.

Remembering Fred's voice.

Remembering Clara's letter.

Every time Katherine managed to close her eyes, she saw the same words again.

I want to know whether what happened between us was real.

She hated that sentence.

Hated how easily it had lodged itself inside her mind.

Most of all, she hated that she couldn't simply dismiss it.

Fred had looked completely sincere when he'd spoken to her. He had told her that he loved her. He had told her he didn't want Clara. He had said that he only wanted Katherine.

And yet the letter existed.

That was the problem.

Katherine had always trusted Fred.

Perhaps that was why this hurt so much.

She had made a promise to herself during the night.

She wasn't going to confront him yet.

She wasn't going to let him know that she'd found the letter.

And, more importantly, she wasn't going to allow herself to become distracted by the familiar comfort of being close to him.

She knew herself too well.

If she allowed herself to fall back into the relationship without questioning anything, she might convince herself that what he'd done was forgivable simply because she loved him.

And Katherine refused to let love make every decision for her.

She couldn't.

Not this time.

She had already given Fred another chance without knowing the entire truth.

She wasn't going to give him complete trust as well.

The worst part was that none of this changed how she felt about him.

Katherine still loved Fred.

That was the truth she couldn't escape.