Kate Diggory
I still remember the first time I saw William Weasley. I was 21 years old and working for the Ministry of Magic. At the time, I had recently found out that I wasn't actually a Diggory like I had been brought up to think I was. My name was actually Katherine Fontaine. Apparently, my parents died when I was very young and the Diggorys looked after me for years. I had mountains of gold in my account at Gringotts and wouldn't really need a job if I couldn't get one.
My younger -not blood related- brother Cedric, was entered in a Triwizard tournament between Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. The Diggorys and I were going to watch the last event and see him before it all happened.
And then I saw Bill. All right, so it wasn't the very first time I had seen him. In my fourth year at Hogwarts, Bill was Head Boy and in his last year and we had sometimes met with other Prefects for meetings. No, I wasn't a Prefect but sometimes I'd have to go because of my friend in a year above me. She fell sick a lot and I somehow was allowed to attend them for him. But I hadn't seen him like that before.
I spotted the Weasleys with Harry Potter across the room, and I think Harry noticed me watching Bill. At the time, my dear William had long hair and earrings with fangs on them. Most girls weren't quite interested in men with that taste but somehow, it suited him and I could tell.
"There you are, are you?" My father telling Harry snapped me out of it. I wanted to scold him for being quite rude but abruptly, and so quickly I was unprepared, Bill and I made eye contact. His deep brown eyes showed minor recognition in them, and I thought he might have remembered me.
"Ignore him," Cedric had said to Harry quietly. I dragged my eyes away from Bill's and nodded at Harry, frowning towards our father.
"He's been angry ever since Rita Skeeter's article about the Triwizard Tournament." I added, trying to make sure Harry wasn't entirely confused about my father's actions.
"You know, when she made out you were the only Hogwarts champion," Cedric explained further as dad kept on prodding at the problem.
"Excuse me?" I had jumped at the attention and turned slightly to the left in order to see who was speaking to me. It was Bill. "You seem awfully familiar to me."
I smiled. "You were Head Boy in my fourth year here at Hogwarts." I recalled, making Bill's eyes widen a little as he must have remembered me. "Um, I used to step in for the Gryffindor Prefect."
"Katherine, isn't it?" Bill but his lip afterwards, and I had the urge to release it and kiss it endlessly. Obviously, I hadn't done that. "I remember you. You were a little too cheeky to be a Prefect yourself if I remember."
"Yes." I assured him and smile. "I was terrible. Most people just call me Kate." We shook hands and Mrs Weasley called for him.
"We should catch up." Bill whispered quickly, kissing my hand before quickly pacing towards his mother. My stomach felt like it was on fire I felt so nervous.
Later that evening when the third task of the Triwizard tournament arrived on the Quidditch pitch I clearly remembered, everything changed in my life. The deep blue sky was normal, with stars showing in an incredible way I had only ever seen at Hogwarts. The task would happen inside a maze.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin!" Dumbledore had shouted for everyone to hear. "Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied for first place, with eighty-five points each: Mr Cedric Diggory and Mr Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts School!" Everyone applauded loudly and I felt like my father was the loudest out of everyone.
Cedric glanced over at us and I grinned, sending him an encouraging look followed by a wink. He didn't even know I was adopted. People never assumed I was adopted because Cedric looked like our father, and I actually looked a lot like my mother. We both shared the same dark hair and I had the classic grey Diggory eyes – even though I wasn't one.
"In second place, with eighty points: Mr Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!" More applause. "And in third place: Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!" I saw Harry wave at the Weasley family and my heart truly felt for him. My parents were dead too, and I too had never met them. But I had a new family that loved me and cared for me my whole life; what Harry didn't.
"So...on my whistle, Harry and Cedric!" Mr Bagman said. "Three... two... one..." He blew his whistle loudly and Cedric and Harry both hurtled towards the maze. All we could do was wait.
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When Harry returned, he was thrown to the ground by what looked like a Portkey with a tight grip on my brother. I had jumped into the air in excitement, really glad that they had tied and that they were safe. Fleur Delacour, the Beauxbatons girl, had to be pulled out from the maze because the task was so difficult.
I raced down the steps, not waiting for my parents and rushed towards my brother's side. And then I had seen his eyes open wide, and his grey eyes that were somehow identical to mine, glazed over unnaturally. Then, I had screamed. I had screamed loudly and threw myself onto the ground to shake my brother's body.
Clearly, I wasn't helping the situation but I hugged his dead bod towards me as I cried and screamed and wailed. My brother. My baby brother. Younger than me by five years. Dead at seventeen. Harry was whispering things to Professor Dumbledore and I caught some of it.
"He's back," was mostly what Harry whispered. My heart was beating loudly in my chest and I struggled as people pulled me away from Cedric. "He's back. Voldemort."
"NO!" I shouted and grappled against the person's grip as people tried to give Cedric and Harry privacy. "CEDRIC! STOP!" I was crying and screaming all at once and I couldn't handle myself.
There were so many things I wanted to tell Cedric. He was the most incredible, smart and kind person I had ever known, especially when I knew what dark times were about to come. He knew as well when he attended the Quidditch Cup the year before. And I couldn't tell him anything I wanted to, because he was gone.
"Katherine Diggory," a shaky voice spoke. It was deep and rather soulful. "Calm down." I had sniffed and turned around to see Bill. He looked a mixture of distressed and terrified. I wrapped my arms around him and cried as he pulled me away from the scene as I heard my father crying loudly in front of the press and other people around.
It was the most upset I had been in my entire life, and Bill was there for me. Without us even realizing, the action brought us closer together.
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A few months later, I was offered a desk job at Gringotts and started going by Kate Fontaine. It distracted me a lot ore than when I worked at the Ministry with people constantly reading The Daily Prophet and whispering about You-Know-Who and Cedric Diggory. Of course, I took the job almost immediately.
As I entered Gringotts in Diagon Alley on my first day of work, I had prepared myself for disappointment. I thought I might not enjoy my job there as much as I would my old job where I was near my father everyday. With a small sigh, I entered Gringotts and made my way towards the back of it and to the end.
"I'm Katherine Fontaine, here for my job." I introduced myself, not looking up to see who I was speaking to as I rummaged through my bag to find my wand.
"Kate!" I finally glanced up and, of course, saw Bill smiling brightly at me. His hair had been tied into a ponytail that day and he looked breath taking as always. "What a pleasure."
"Likewise." I grinned. "What're you doing here?"
"I recently took a desk job here." Bill shrugged a little. "I used to work for Gringotts in Egypt as a curse-breaker. But with recent events..." he trailed off when he realized this included my brother dying, before clearing his throat. "I decided to move closer to home."
"That's wonderful." I complimented. "It's great to see you again. And thank you by the way... For that night." I was rather bashful about the idea of Bill having to comfort me until I physically couldn't cry any more. For the rest of the night, we just talked and caught up.
Bill smiled. "Don't worry about it." And so I didn't.
