We will meet again ~ Fred Weasley

- A Place In The Family -

"They couldn't promise each other exactly what tomorrow would bring. They could only promise to meet it together."

__________________________

The rain hadn't stopped since Katherine had returned the Burrow.

The morning had begun in the half-light of the shed, with Katherine lying awake beneath a blanket and listening to water tapping steadily against the roof. It had felt like a strange way to begin her nineteenth birthday, with an aching neck, an unsettled stomach and the peculiar sensation that everyone around her was keeping secrets.

Now, several hours later, she was beginning to understand why.

Although she still had no idea what Fred, Hermione, Ginny, Harry and apparently half the household had been planning, the atmosphere downstairs had become almost suspiciously cheerful.

Giddy had returned to the Burrow with Harry, and the little slate-grey kitten had spent most of the morning rediscovering every corner of the house as though he had personally purchased the property. He had climbed onto the sofa, attacked a cushion, fallen asleep beneath a chair and then woken abruptly because his own tail had apparently scared him.

Katherine had spent the last ten minutes lying on her stomach beside Ginny, watching him paw determinedly at the edge of the cushion.

"He has no idea what he's doing," Katherine murmured.

Ginny rested her chin against her folded arms.

"Neither do you."

Katherine looked sideways at her.

"Excuse me?"

"You've been asking everyone what we're doing for your birthday since you woke up."

"Because nobody will tell me."

"That's the point."

"It's suspicious."

"It's a surprise."

"Exactly. Suspicious."

Ginny laughed, reaching out to scratch beneath Giddy's chin.

The kitten immediately began purring.

Katherine smiled despite herself.

She had missed him.

There had been something comforting about seeing him again, something that made the morning feel more familiar.

With Harry and Ginny looking after him since the war, and although Katherine knew he was perfectly safe with them, she had still missed the small creature more than she had expected.

She reached over and stroked his back.

Giddy responded by biting gently at her sleeve.

"See?" Ginny said. "He missed you."

"He always liked you better."

"He did not."

"He did."

Ginny laughed again.

Katherine smiled, letting her head fall back onto her arms.

For the first time that morning, she wasn't thinking about the future.

She wasn't thinking about work.

She wasn't thinking about the empty spaces left by people who were no longer there.

She wasn't even thinking about the strange little shop she had begun imagining beside the joke shop, with dark wooden cabinets and glass cases filled with jewellery and old magical objects.