We will meet again ~ Fred Weasley

- Unchanged -

"Years passed, everything changed, and yet somehow, when it comes to you, my heart never learned how to feel any differently."

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"Get up, or you're not coming!"

Katherine's eyes flew open at Hermione's sharp voice. Hermione stood over her, clearly irritated, the lantern in her hand casting a warm orange glow across her face.

"Finally," Hermione snapped. "You should've been up an hour ago." She yanked the blanket off Katherine before turning toward the other bed. "Both of you should have!"

Ginny let out a muffled groan as Katherine, still half-asleep, rubbed at her tired eyes and pushed herself upright. Dark circles lingered beneath them from too many sleepless nights. She retied her bun with sluggish movements before tossing a pillow at Ginny's head, earning another annoyed noise in response.

The blankets strewn across the floor told the story of a restless night, one filled with uneasy dreams and little real sleep.

Hermione placed the lantern on the bedside table and continued muttering about how late they were as she headed off to wake Harry and Ron. Katherine watched Ginny immediately pull the covers back over herself, clearly determined to steal a few more minutes of peace before the chaos of the morning began.

Katherine let out a slow breath before finally pushing the covers away, the cool air of the room hitting her skin in a way that made her hesitate for half a second longer than necessary. Mornings like this always felt heavier than they should have, not because she didn't want to be awake, but because sleep had been restless enough that waking up didn't feel like a clean break from it.

Still, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood, stretching slightly as she crossed toward her trunk. The familiar creak of the hinges sounded louder than usual in the quiet room as she pulled it open, rummaging through neatly folded clothes that didn't stay that way for long. She gathered what she needed with minimal care, grabbing her toothbrush and tucking it under her arm before turning back toward the bed.

Ginny had not moved.

Katherine stared at her for a moment, unimpressed, before reaching out and nudging her shoulder, not gently, but not harshly either, just enough to make it clear she wasn't going to be ignored.

"You're the one who's been talking about this for months," she said, her voice still rough with sleep. "If you miss it because you refused to wake up, I'm not explaining that to your mother."

Ginny groaned into her pillow, shifting just enough to acknowledge she'd heard her.

"I'm awake," she insisted, though nothing about her posture supported that claim.

Katherine didn't argue. She just shook her head faintly and turned toward the door, already knowing how this would play out.

Ginny would be up.

Eventually.

The hallway outside was already alive with noise.

Voices overlapped, footsteps echoed against the floorboards, and the unmistakable chaos of a house full of Weasleys attempting to function at the same time filled the space with a kind of energy that was impossible to ignore.

Katherine stepped into it without hesitation, though her eyes narrowed slightly as she took in the line forming outside the bathroom.

Raised voices.

And somewhere in the middle of it Ron and Percy were wrestling through the threshold, Harry was stood back patiently.

"Oi, I was here first!"