We will meet again ~ Fred Weasley

- My Girl -

"I looked around the room and realised something terrifying: I loved every single one of them enough to lose sleep over their future."

_______________________________

The weeks following the Quidditch match were some of the most exhausting Katherine could remember.

Not because of classes.

Not because of homework.

Not even because of the growing tension that seemed to hang over Hogwarts like a storm cloud.

It was because she felt as though she was constantly being pulled in two different directions.

Hermione and Ron still weren't speaking properly.

And somehow, despite neither of them asking her to choose, Katherine felt caught directly in the middle.

At first, she'd naturally gravitated towards Hermione.

Hermione was hurting.

Anyone with functioning eyesight could see that.

The confident, brilliant girl who normally tackled every problem head-on had become quieter. More withdrawn. Katherine had spent enough years beside her to notice every subtle change.

So she stayed.

She studied with her.

Walked her to classes.

Sat beside her at meals.

Listened whenever Hermione needed to rant about Ron being an idiot.

Which, unfortunately, was often.

The problem was that Ron was still Ron.

Her best friend.

Her person.

The boy who had been at her side through almost every important moment of her life.

Avoiding him wasn't easy.

In fact, it was miserable.

Katherine missed him far more than she cared to admit.

She missed their daily conversations.

She missed laughing with him at breakfast.

She missed sitting beside him in lessons and hearing whatever ridiculous thought happened to enter his head that day.

Most of all, she missed how easy their friendship normally was.

Now everything felt complicated.

Every interaction felt wrong.

If she spent time with Hermione, she felt guilty about ignoring Ron.

If she spoke to Ron, she felt guilty because Hermione said it was betrayal.

There was no winning.

Only choosing which friend would be upset with her that day.

To make matters worse, Lavender Brown seemed determined to make her presence known at every possible opportunity.

Katherine had never considered herself a particularly petty person.

At least, not usually.

But Lavender's constant giggling, clinging to Ron's arm and acting as though she'd won some sort of competition was becoming increasingly difficult to tolerate.

The worst part?

Ron seemed completely oblivious.

As usual.