We will meet again ~ Fred Weasley

- We Could Not Be More Different -

"The castle looked exactly the same. The people inside it didn't."

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The days after the attack seemed to settle into something strangely peaceful.

Not normal.

Katherine didn't think anything could truly be normal anymore.

But peaceful.

The kind of peace that came after a storm, when everyone was still shaken but grateful simply to be alive.

The Burrow slowly healed.

Every morning another piece of the damage disappeared beneath careful spells.

Broken walls straightened.

Blackened wood regained its colour.

Shattered windows reformed as though they had never been touched.

Within a week, visitors would never have known Death Eaters had reduced the house to rubble.

Yet every member of the family remembered.

Sometimes Katherine would catch Molly staring at a repaired wall for a little too long.

Sometimes Arthur would double-check the protective enchantments around the property before bed.

And sometimes Katherine herself would wake suddenly in the middle of the night, convinced she'd heard Bellatrix's laughter outside her window.

Even Fred occasionally woke during the night from nightmares he never spoke about.

Nobody discussed it.

But everyone knew.

The attack lingered in the back of their minds.

But those moments became fewer.

Because little by little, life continued.

And life at the Burrow had a remarkable way of forcing people forward.

A few days after Christmas, Fred announced that Katherine would be helping at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.

"Absolutely not." Molly said without even looking up from her knitting.

Fred stared.

"What do you mean, absolutely not?"

"She'll encourage you."

George looked offended.

"Encourage us to do what?"

Molly finally raised an eyebrow.

"She encouraged you by buying you the shop in the first place!"

Katherine laughed into her tea.

Two hours later she found herself standing outside Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes with both twins.

Snow dusted the rooftops of Diagon Alley.

Children rushed between shops.

Witches and wizards bundled in winter cloaks hurried through the crowded streets.

And standing beneath the enormous orange sign of the joke shop, Katherine couldn't stop smiling.

The place felt alive.

Fred unlocked the door.

George flicked the lights on.

And immediately chaos resumed.