WHO: Katie & Joseph Bell WHAT: Katie wants to leave. WHEN: 26th March WHERE: The Bell home, Arran, Scotland WARNINGS: None
She’d toyed with the idea of writing a note. Maybe something that just said “don’t worry” but hopefully meant more than that to her parents. It seemed thoughtless, though, and Katie had almost decided against it. A message later down the line might make more sense. Trouble wasn’t going to go away at this point.
Katie had picked her time carefully, watching as her parents left the house before dashing up to her room. She had a small window of time to get the last of her things packed up before her parents would be back.
Once inside, she dragged the large rucksack out from where she’d been hiding it under the bed. Almost full already, it was only a few more things that she needed to throw into the top of the bag before she could consider herself packed and ready. She’d never truly be ready. She flicked her wand lazily, watching a hairbrush fly across the room and into the bag. Having made up her mind to leave, she was still painfully reluctant to actually go.
Joe had arrived at his parents' home, hoping to have a night of absolutely no worries. He could have gone to Betty's or Hestia's, but that particular night, he was craving his family. Even though all incidents had been planned with Layla, it still felt a little sickening, and he wanted nothing more than to retreat to being a five-year-old boy who would be taken care of by his parents.
But neither Declan nor Jackie were home, though he heard some noise coming from the floor above. Though his mind logically said that it must be Katie, there was no use in pretending that it couldn't necessarily be someone else. He had his wand at the ready as he slowly went upstairs, and peaked inside her room. It was clearly his sister, but regardless, he had to make sure.
Joe had his wand pointed at Katie and cleared his throat. When she faced him, he asked, "What did grandma say to us right before the Quidditch World Cup?"
Katie didn’t bother to hide the bag that she was packing, and when she heard Joe clear his throat she turned to face him. She raised her own wand slowly, watching him closely.
“She said we were wasting our time because four years ago Scotland couldn’t beat the damn Canadians when it mattered.” Katie answered him evenly. “Except she swore more, Grandma was pretty sweary when it came to ‘Bonnie Scotland,’ wasn’t she?”
But she didn’t lower her wand yet. Her turn. “What’s my patronus and when did you first see it?”
"Greyhound and I saw it on Boxing Day with the Dementors," Joe replied without missing a beat.
Satisfied with the answers, he lowered his wand and pocketed it, before glancing around the room, as his eyes finally settled on the rucksack. He raised both of his brows and offered her a quizzical look. "Spring cleaning, then?"
She didn’t answer him at first, using her wand to send something else into the bag. She heaved a sigh, she’d been hoping to not have to have one of these conversations. But then, maybe it’d be easier than a note. The idea of leaving a note felt so awful.
“Not exactly,” she spoke hesitantly, letting him draw his own conclusions.
Joe furrowed his brows together and took a few small steps towards his baby sister. He didn't have to take too long to put two and two together, and he patted her shoulder. "What're you doing, then?" he asked, though Joe had already figured out the answer.
She sat down heavily on her bed, flicking her wand once more. A woollen jumper flew across the room and landed on top of the bag. “I was going to leave a note, Joe,” she tried to reason quietly, but it still didn’t feel good enough.
"You can stay with me, Katie," Joe offered at once, tilting his head to the side. "I understand why you don't want mum and dad to know, but you can stay with me." If there was one thing he knew about his baby sister, it was how resilient she could be and he wasn't so sure that she'd change her mind so quickly. "None of my colleagues will ever find out," he assured her, specifically meaning Montague.
Katie didn’t quite look up at him, didn’t quite give in to the temptation to say yes and hug it out and pretend she’d never had that horrible thought. She stood, walked over to the bag and picked up the jumper. Their mum had knitted it for her a couple of years ago, just before she’d ended up in St. Mungo’s. It deserved to be folded carefully.
“The interview summons isn’t going away,” she told her brother. “We’ve already had Death Eaters come here, they’re not going away either. I can’t do that to you.” A beat, maybe she wanted to wear the jumper instead. She held it close to her chest. “I’ve already worked out somewhere to go.”
Joe watched his sister, observing her moves. He didn't quite want to push her, but he certainly as hell didn't want to watch her pack up and — leave.
He frowned, instead, and continued to stare at her, hoping she would automatically come to the conclusion that she wasn't going to do this and she'd be better positioned to be here, should something happen to their parents again.
He sighed loudly and spoke again, "You can't just leave them in the dark, Katie. I saw how mum and dad were like when you were at the hospital, okay? They would be devastated if you just — disappeared. You can't."
“That’s why I was going to —” Katie still couldn’t look at him, she buried her face in the jumper for the briefest of moments. Resolve seemed to return. “I guess you can tell them then.”
"I'm not telling them anything," Joe said flatly, crossing his arms across his stomach.
Katie paused to give him a withering look, finally pulling the jumper over her head. She fixed her ponytail and stood up, moving towards the bag as though she were ready to go. After a moment of hesitation she picked up a pair of heavy walking boots, supposing that they’d be the most useful kind of footwear.
“I can’t stay with you because it’ll get you into too much trouble, and I’m not doing that,” Katie insisted stubbornly. She sat back down, pulling the boots onto her feet and slowly lacing them up. “I know you wouldn’t tell Montague, but he wouldn’t give a stuff about that in the end.”
"You could stay with Hestia!" Joe insisted at once, knowing full well that his friend wouldn't mind that she was volunteered without her consent. Joe was desperate now, but he wasn't going to let his baby sister follow through with this ridiculous decision. "Are all of your friends running away, or are you just setting the precedent?" he asked, with a flash of anger in his tone.
Refusing to answer any questions about anyone else, Katie continued lacing up the boots. It was easier to have this conversation without looking at him. “I can’t tell you things, you know that,” she told him. “Stop asking me questions.”
"Excuse me?" Joe leaned back on one foot, his brow arching up. "What's that supposed to mean?"
She started on the second boot. “What else is it supposed to mean? I can’t talk about this. I’m not doing it.” She finally looked over at him. “Joe, I need to be gone before they get back. Please don’t make this worse than it already is.”
Joe drew his wand out, point it at her. He tilted his head to one side, and with his other hand, pointed at her, as if giving her a warning. "I could just stun you and leave you here until the war is over. I'll do it, too, Katie," he started, his voice unwavering. "Don't make me do it."
Katie drew her own wand in answer. “I’ve been taking lessons with Professor Lupin, I could just stun you right back,” she told him smoothly.
"Lupin? Why've you been taking lessons with —"
He blinked a few times, as realisation struck. "How long?"
Katie froze. Maybe she’d said too much, but maybe she could explain it away. Surely Joe agreed that Lupin was innocent, only doing the right thing. “Lessons? That comes under questions I’m not answering,” Katie told him.
"Katherine Tessa Bell, how bloody long?" Joe asked, his voice simmering with anger.
Full-naming only seemed to make her more obstinate, and Katie hadn’t lowered her own wand. “I need to leave, you already know too much,” she said stubbornly. “I’m not getting you in trouble, or mum hurt again. I’ve already sorted it all, so please don’t be like this.”
Frustrated, Joe threw his wand at the wall opposite to him, not caring that it sent off a few sparks in the process. He guffawed momentarily, and sat down on the bed, his hands forming fists as he hid his face from view. He stayed that way for a few seconds, trying to calm himself down because there was nothing he was going to accomplish by being angry.
"What good is isolating your family going to do at a time like this, Katie?" he hissed, some time later.
“Because the rest of us have already lost people!” Katie objected loudly, her own temper rising as Joe threw his wand. She stood, folding her arms and glaring at Joe.
"And what, it's perfectly okay if we lose you?" Joe shouted back, emphasising those words.
“Maybe it’s safer with the others anyway! Hiding in plain sight wasn’t working, they still found us. I’ve still got a Ministry summons with the threat of an arrest if I don’t turn up! At least this way I can help the others!” Katie snapped at him.
"Yeah, because they'll surely leave mum and dad alone if you go off running," he scoffed loudly, rolling his eyes.
The argument was going nowhere, and Katie finally hesitated. Maybe she had to try another route. “Staying here feels cowardly,” she finally settled on. “Some of the others — the Order, they’ve had to hide. I need to help them, too.”
Joe remained quiet for a few seconds, pondering her words for a bit. And then: "So you're officially in the Order?"
“It’s not like we have membership badges,” Katie responded bitterly.
Joe responded by rolling his eyes again. He should have figured this much earlier, but he truly wanted to believe that his sister wasn't involved. Or rather, that he was turning a blind eye to all of it.
"If you're going to hide," Joe started, exhaling loudly. "You need to take mum and dad with you."
“I can’t talk about this with you,” she started to object again, but she was quick to concede to his point. She sighed heavily, lowered her wand finally and put it back in her pocket. She wasn’t about to grab her bag and dash out of the door, not just yet.
“Okay.” She agreed. “Maybe I can find somewhere for them to go first?”
Joe gulped and nodded, the reality of it all sinking in slowly. "Yeah, alright," he replied, his mind now racing through a million different awful scenarios. But at least his parents and sister would be okay, if they all went away together. That was what mattered.
Katie sat down next to him. “I didn’t want you to find out,” she confessed. “But it’s not going away, it’s only getting worse. It’s bad enough having to fake all that stuff with Layla —” Katie’s eyes widened for a moment, remembering the depth of the mess that Joe himself was in. “She doesn’t know, by the way. I want to keep it that way.”
"If nothing else, you can rest assured knowing I'm not going to be telling anyone of that," he stated, offering Katie the briefest of smiles.
“I wish I could just memory charm you right now,” Katie said ruefully, “It’d be a lot easier than making you lie for me.” But she reached down to start taking those walking boots off. Maybe she didn’t need them just yet.
"Don't you bloody dare," he said, his tone teetering on something of a warning note, albeit joking all the same. Though, Joe did briefly wonder if that would be better. What if he was suddenly questioned by some of his colleagues? He chuckled momentarily and got up to his feet. "I'm proud of you, you know. For doing what you've done to help people."
Katie followed him, and after the smallest bit of hesitation, threw her arms around her older brother. “I’m still annoyed, but I’m hugging you anyway,” she informed him smartly. “I can stall for a couple of days if you can cover for me.”
"Love you, too," Joe replied, promptly placing an affectionate kiss on top of her hair, letting his hands come around Katie, as well. "I'll cover, don't worry about that. Just —," he hesitated, "just promise me you'll be safe, okay?"
“I always am, Joe-Joe,” Katie promised. “You give me two days and I swear I'll be the safest person ever for the rest of my life.”