Almost

Chapter 6: Jumble

It was nearly eight o'clock at night at the Burrow by the time Lee walked through the door, a pile of books balanced precariously in his arms. Ginny had long left, but Katherine and Charlie were eating a tray of cookies Molly had just pulled from the oven, the chocolate chips still melting on their fingers.

"Ooh," Lee said, beelining for the tray before Molly even turned around to notice he was there. He spilled the books across the table with quite the clang, making her jump. "Sorry," he said through a full mouth.

"You are a much better surprise than I had earlier, Young Ollivander," she responded, turning back to her mixing bowls.

"Don't ask," Katherine said impishly, wiping her fingers. "What kept you so long?"

"Bloody core finally managed to wipe it's tears and got on with it. Had us nearly planning its funeral when it came out. I should have had you talk to it, core to core."

Katherine answered with a roll of her eyes. She glanced over the covers of the books, hoping there was nothing too telling. But most of them weren't in English, and the ones that were seemed fairly mundane.

"Well," she said, standing up, "I'd better get out of your hair. I'll just go get Smithwick from Gramps and we can be off."

Lee had already swooped into her seat with a cookie in each hand, Charlie giving him a side eye and moving some over closer to him on the tray.

Katherine breathed the fresh night in as deep as she could as she crossed into the garden. She could make out every star from their little spot in the hills, and she slipped comfortably into the feeling of being very small in a very big universe.

"Grandad?" she said as she walked into his shed. He was sitting in a very old, well patched armchair in the corner, fiddling with an old palm pilot. Smithwick sat on the ground between his feet licking lazily at his paws.

"This tiny wand," he muttered. "How anyone could manage..."

Katherine laughed, coming to peer over his shoulder. "Mom used to have one of these. They call it a 'stylus,' not a wand."

"Hmm," Arthur responded, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Always coming up with the most innovative contraptions."

She kissed the top of his head. She loved how much he loved the muggle world, even if he was a bit behind on the technology. "Vander just got here, so we're headed back to Idaho."

"Is Crawley meeting you there?"

"He will," she answered. "He has to work a few more hours yet, but he'll be there soon enough."

"I like him."

"I'm glad," Katherine said apprehensively, unsure where the conversation was going.

"You know, I knew that the ghoul had a friend up there."

"No," she responded with feigned surprise. Arthur looked up at her over his frames, setting the device down in his lap.

"I didn't want to tell Molly because I knew she would take it poorly. Ghouls aren't typically allowed house guests. But, I've grown rather fond of him. And I wouldn't force him to be alone."

Katherine looked at him pensively before taking a seat on the ground next to Smithwick and leaning her back against the chair's arm.

"It's not a guarantee in this world that you find someone who can make you truly happy. I've watched five children manage to do it, and I thanked the heavens each time, but it inevitably leads to the same hairy moment of being overwhelmed by all of the decisions and advice—and they had the benefit of growing up with this many people weighing in."