We will meet again ~ Fred Weasley

- Deal -

"I want to keep you safe from the darkness closing in—but the cruelest part is knowing I'm not just fighting it... I'm part of it, and one day, I might be the very thing you need saving from."

____________________________

Returning to Hogwarts after everything that had happened should have felt like relief.

And, in some ways, it did.

The castle stood just as it always had. Unchanged, steady, untouched by the chaos they had left behind. Its familiar stone walls and echoing corridors offered a kind of quiet comfort, even if none of them said it out loud. With a few days to process what they had witnessed at the Quidditch game, things had begun to settle—but not completely.

Still, routine helped.

As they entered the Great Hall, the group naturally split apart, slipping back into old habits. Katherine broke away without hesitation, heading toward the Slytherin table. It felt automatic now, something they'd all grown used to over the years.

She slid onto the bench, the noise of the Hall wrapping around her as a sense of normalcy began to creep back in.

"Finally."

Katherine turned, her expression immediately lifting as she met the gaze of Veronica Burke.

"Miss me?" Katherine asked, a small grin forming.

Veronica didn't even answer. She leaned in first, pulling her into a quick hug. "Obviously. Summer was dull without you."

"Please, you love the peace."

"Absolutely not," Veronica shot back. "I had no one to gossip with."

Before Katherine could reply—

"You look relieved to be back...should we be concerned?"

Katherine looked up to find Pansy watching her, her fingers loosely intertwined with Blaise's' across the table.

Katherine raised a brow. "You say that like you weren't waiting to see me."

Pansy smirked, squeezing Blaise's hand absentmindedly. "I was. I just wasn't going to admit it first."

Blaise gave Katherine an easy nod, a faint smile pulling at his lips. "We did wonder where you'd got to. Train nearly left without you."

"I was there," Katherine said. "I was the Weasley's."

"Disappointing," Blaise replied smoothly.

There was something easy about it, no tension, no edge. Just familiarity, settled and steady after years of friendship.

Pansy tilted her head slightly, studying Katherine for a moment, not critically, just checking. "You alright?"

Katherine hesitated briefly, then nodded. "Yeah. Just a long summer."

Blaise hummed quietly, like he understood more than she'd said. "Same."

The moment didn't linger long.

"So," Veronica cut in, leaning forward, "what actually happened with you? Your letters were useless."

"They weren't useless," Katherine protested lightly.

"They were vague," Pansy corrected.

"Deliberately," Katherine said.

Blaise let out a quiet breath of amusement. "Thought so."

Katherine smiled faintly but didn't elaborate, letting the conversation shift instead.

Her gaze drifted toward the front of the Hall, catching on the large, ornate structure near the stage.