PRINCESS ➳ harry potter , draco malfoy (OLD VERSION)

93 || The Seven Potters

"Excellent," Mr Weasley smiled. "That's settled then. Ron, Hermione, Fleur, Mundungus, Fred and George will drink the potion, and each of them will be escorted by a member of the Order of the Phoenix."

"I want to go too!" Katie piped up. She had forgotten all about her dinner and placed her knife and fork down.

Mr Weasley closed his eyes as though he was trying to compose himself, sighed deeply, then said, "Katerina, you'll only have turned seventeen a few days before—"

"I don't care, I'll still be seventeen!" she crossed her arms and scowled at Arthur. "I care about Harry just as much as any of you!"

"I never said you don't care about him." Mr Weasley's voice was calm but Katie could detect an undertone of agitation.

"Then why can't I go?"

Mr and Mrs Weasley exchanged fretful looks, giving Katie the impression that they were hiding something from her. To add to Katie's suspicions, all of the other teenagers, as well as Bill and Fleur, were staring down at their dinner plates, anxiety written all over their faces. Everyone in the room knew something that Katie didn't.

"What?" she demanded.

Mr and Mrs Weasley seemed to have a conversation with their eyes, a conversation which lead to the decision that Molly was going to do the talking. She sat down her knife and fork and looked at Katie with a gentle expression.

"As you know," Mrs Weasley began, "you are one of... his greatest targets."

Katie already had the feeling that she knew exactly where this was heading, but she allowed Mrs Weasley to elaborate nonetheless.

"Therefore, it is only fitting that we provide security for you—"

"Voldemort isn't going to just snatch me out of the sky while we're rescuing Harry," Katie interjected stubbornly. "My mum told me that he's waiting for me to go to him myself — which is never going to happen — and that's why none of the Death Eaters took me the night that... the night that Dumbledore died."

For a split second, Mrs Weasley seemed to be at a loss for an argument, but then she curtly said, "That doesn't matter. If you were to go, we would need to bring a whole extra team just to protect you."

"I don't need protection!" Katie cried in exasperation. "I'm not the one that's supposed to kill Voldemort, all right? Voldemort isn't trying to kill me. I'm not Harry Potter."

"You're not going," Mrs Weasley's voice shook ever-so-slightly. "And that's final."

***

As promised by Mr and Mrs Weasley, Katie did not travel to Privet Drive to join the others in escorting Harry safely to the Burrow, much to her annoyance. She waited in the kitchen with Molly and Ginny, anxiously chewing her nails and casting frequent glances down at her watch. They should have been back minutes ago...

Although no one had been talking, Mrs Weasley made a harsh shushing noise and put her hand to her ear, signalling that she had heard something. Katie strained her ears and, sure enough, heard a distant rumbling sound. All three of them rushed to the window and squinted through the darkness. Despite the fact that it was pitch black outside, they could just about make out the silhouette of a glinting silver object racing from the sky towards them. It landed with a great splash in the swampy grounds nearby.

Katie, Ginny and Mrs Weasley drew their wands and, the latter in the lead, cautiously stepped through the front door and out onto the lawn. The need not have worried; only ten seconds later, Harry and Hagrid emerged from the marsh, soaked to the skin, but they seemed otherwise unmarked. Katie waited for Ginny to rush to Harry — they were together, after all, and was deeply confused when Ginny did not move.