We will meet again ~ Fred Weasley

- Our Ronnie -

"She chose us when she had every reason not to. The least we could do was choose her, even after she was gone."

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Two weeks had passed since the Battle of Hogwarts.

It felt impossible that it had only been fourteen days.

To Katherine, it felt as though an entire lifetime had happened since the night Voldemort fell.

At the same time, there were moments when she could close her eyes and still feel the stone beneath her feet, still hear the screams, still smell the smoke hanging over Hogwarts. She could still see Harry lying in Hagrid's arms. She could still remember the moment she had thought she had lost him forever.

She could still see Veronica.

That was the part that never changed.

Every morning, Katherine woke up with the same horrible moment of realisation.

Veronica was dead.

Then came the memory of the funeral that was waiting for them.

And then came the guilt.

Because Katherine had survived.

So had Pansy.

So had Blaise.

So had Theo.

So had Draco.

And somehow, they were expected to continue living as though survival was something uncomplicated.

The rest of the world had begun calling what happened at Hogwarts a victory.

Katherine hated the word.

Victory suggested celebration.

It suggested relief.

It suggested that the ending had been worth the price.

But there were too many empty chairs.

Too many beds that would never be slept in again.

Too many families waiting for people who would never walk through their front doors.

Hogwarts was being rebuilt brick by brick. The Ministry had begun restoring itself. Survivors were returning home, newspapers were printing stories about Katherine and Harry Potter's victory, and people were slowly beginning to speak about the future.

Katherine couldn't think that far ahead.

For the first few days, she had barely been able to think beyond the next hour.

The joke shop had become the one place where she didn't have to.

Fred and George had thrown themselves into repairing it almost immediately.

There was something almost frantic about the work.

Every damaged shelf needed replacing.