We will meet again ~ Fred Weasley

- All Yours -

"You make me feel like two different versions of myself. One that's safe, and one that's alive and I don't know which one to choose when my heart keeps getting pulled in different directions."

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The first shift happened quietly.

Not in one moment, but in the accumulation of them.

It settled gradually, threading itself through Katherine's days until everything began to feel slightly off-balance, like nothing in her routine quite existed on its own anymore. Detention, classes, the library, even the time she spent with friends... it all started to overlap, to blur at the edges, to carry weight from one moment into the next.

By the time the Defence Against the Dark Arts assignment was announced, Katherine had already begun to associate evenings with something she wasn't ready to name.

Detention.

Fred.

And the strange, growing sense that those hours didn't feel like punishment anymore.

The announcement itself came at the end of class, when the room had already begun to loosen with restlessness. The classroom held that familiar late afternoon stillness, the kind that came just before attention began to drift. Sunlight filtered weakly through the high windows, catching in the dust that lingered lazily in the air, while books and parchment rustled quietly as students began packing away.

At the front, Professor Quirrell stood with his usual calm composure, hands loosely folded as he spoke.
"For your next assignment, you will be working in pairs."

The reaction was immediate.

Chairs shifted, voices rose, people turned instinctively toward friends. Katherine didn't move. She had learned not to react too early and learned that it rarely worked in her favour.

"Miss Potter... Mr. Malfoy."

Her head lifted slowly.

Across the room, Draco Malfoy had gone still in exactly the same way.

For a brief moment, neither of them spoke or moved.

But the room filled the silence for them. Whispers, glances, curiosity that spread far too quickly.

Of course it did.

Katherine exhaled slowly as the Professor told the remaining students their assigned partners, already feeling the weight of what that meant.

Her fingers tightened slightly around the edge of her book before she released it again.

"Your task," Quirrell continued, entirely unfazed, "is to select a spell from Chapter Twelve—non-verbal defensive magic. You will write a joint essay analysing its structure, intent, and limitations. Once complete, you will demonstrate it together."

Together.

The word lingered more than it should have.
"You will be graded on both your written work and your ability to perform the spell as a pair. Coordination will be essential."

Katherine glanced down at her book.

Then back up.

Draco was already looking at her.

Not irritated. Not pleased. Just...aware.

The kind of awareness that made everything around it feel sharper.

That evening, detention felt unchanged.

And completely different at the same time.