We will meet again ~ Fred Weasley

- Everything We Planned -

"The hardest promises to break are the ones made for a future that may never come."

______________________________

The house had finally fallen quiet.

For the first time since the attack, since the panic, the screaming, the healers, and Bill's proposal, the Burrow seemed to breathe again.

The laughter drifting up from downstairs had long since faded. Doors had clicked shut one by one until only the occasional creak of old floorboards disturbed the silence.

Katherine had been certain exhaustion would claim them both the moment they lay down.

It didn't.

Instead, she lay curled against Fred's chest beneath the faded patchwork quilt, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat beneath her ear.

His fingers wandered lazily through her hair.

Every so often they caught on a knot, gently working it free before continuing. It reminded her so much of Grimmauld Place that her chest tightened.

Back then, everything had still felt possible.

Outside, the summer wind whispered through the trees surrounding the Burrow.

Moonlight slipped through the curtains, washing the room in pale silver, leaving everything peaceful enough to almost forget there was a war beyond those walls.

Neither of them seemed particularly interested in sleeping.

Instead, they simply existed together.

Sometimes silence said more than conversation ever could.

Fred eventually broke it.

"You know..." he murmured quietly, his fingers still absent-mindedly tracing patterns through her hair, "I've been thinking."

Katherine smiled without lifting her head.

"Dangerous."

He huffed a laugh.

"I'll ignore that."

"I was thinking," he continued, "that once everything settles down..."

His voice carried a hopeful certainty that made something inside Katherine twist painfully.

"...you could finally start working with us."

She looked up slightly.

"The joke shop?"

Fred nodded.

"Your products are already selling better than ours."

"They are not."

"They are."

"They're novelty sweets."

"They're genius novelty sweets."

She laughed softly.

"You only say that because you love me."

"I say it because it's true."

He reached across to the bedside table, picking up a small parchment covered in untidy handwriting.

"I've already started planning where everything could go."

Katherine frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"The workshop."

He grinned.

"I measured it."

"You measured it?"

"Mhm."