Katie walked along Diagon Alley with her hands stuffed deep into the pockets of her blue puffy jacket. It was cold, but clear and she was glad she'd put on her fuzzy knit cap, both for warmth and to keep her hair from blowing everywhere in the slight breeze. The last rays of sunshine before dusk truly set in were shining over the tops of the buildings as she headed towards Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

Her fingers were clenched tightly around the bits of parchment in her pocket, owls from Alicia over the past few days. As Katie pushed through the brightly colored front door of the shop, little bells jingled. She didn't see Fred at the front counter, and moved through the aisles looking for the familiar sight of ginger and smirks. "Fred?" she called softly.

"Hmm?" Fred responded without thinking, recognizing Katie's voice, faint as it was from where he was half-buried in the back storeroom. With a few minor acrobatics, he managed to free himself and edge out the door, heading for the main part of the shop. He rounded the corner of the hall and smiled as he saw Katie, his expression fading slightly as he noticed the troubled look on her face. "Evening, princess," he greeted, reaching out to rest his hands at her hips, peering concernedly down at her. "All right?"

"Things are okay. Kind of," Katie answered distractedly. She was tired from not sleeping well and she just needed to see Fred. Just being with him now already made her feel better, his hands on her were grounding. She offered a small smile. "It's been a rough week, I guess. I just wanted to see you."

Pulling Katie into a hug, Fred murmured, "Absolutely any time, sweet one, I mean it." He pressed a kiss to each cheek, holding her close for a moment. "Mine's been eventful more than rough. Tell me about it?" he asked quietly, waiting as she raised her eyes to his.

Katie wrapped her arms around Fred's waist as he pulled her to him, letting out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding as she relaxed against him. "Ali's parents died. I don't know how, but ... it's terrible and ..." She rested her chin against his chest as she looked up at him, "... and I can't sleep and I'm exhausted."

His half-smile sinking into an outright frown, Fred doused the shop lights with a word and Apparated them both upstairs, settling on his sofa with Katie curled up in his lap. "I didn't hear anything from Alicia," Fred puzzled, tugging Katie's cap off her windblown hair and stroking the golden strands gently. "And you can come here if you can't sleep. Wake me. If nothing else I can stay up with you, and you wouldn't be bored." He sighed and dropped a kiss on her forehead, mentally cursing the nightmares he knew she sometimes struggled with.

Katie slipped out of her puffy jacket and curled into his lap, making herself as small as she could, as much of herself wrapped up by him as possible. His hand running over hair was settling, and she started talk. "She owled on Tuesday. Didn't say much except that her parents were gone and she didn't want me to rush over ... so I didn't. But ... she wants company now, fun company. To get her mind off things, you know? Dancing tomorrow night, and I want to be there for her." Katie rested her head on his shoulder then, nuzzling her nose against the crook of his neck, his hair tickling against her skin. She breathed in, his scent comforting. After a few moments, she murmured against his skin, "And I didn't want to bother you every time I have a nightmare. I'm supposed to be able to take care of that myself at least sometimes."

Fred sighed at the unpleasant news, holding Katie a little tighter. "I can understand that, and I think it'd be good for her to see you." He paused a moment, facts cycling through his mind, then added, "I'll go with you; I can stay out of the way if she'd rather it, but I don't like the idea of the two of you out alone and upset." It wasn't something he was willing to negotiate, though his tone remained soft and conversational. His frown deepened as she whispered her worries, and he kissed her temple, shaking his head minutely. "You're never a bother to me, ever," he insisted seriously, "and you're welcome here any time of the day or night." The idea of her laying awake at night needled him; he much preferred the memory of her waking in the morning with a squeaky stretch and contented smile, lazing in his arms a moment before they had to get up for work. "If you'd like, I can write it into my job description as your shiny - dreamcatcher."

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you came. I definitely want you there," Katie said, a bit relieved. She hadn't been sure if she would be enough for Ali, if she could watch them both while they tried to forget things.

A small smile pulled at her lips then, and Katie pressed a kiss against the side of his neck where she'd been nuzzling him. Anything you want to be to me, I'd like. "Dreamcatcher sounds nice. Mostly because that means you'd be close enough while I slept to catch them," she said softly, breath whispering warm across his skin.

"Good. I know you're both big girls, but I've spent plenty of time in clubs... it's better this way." Fred smiled as he felt Katie's kiss, tugging lightly at a lock of her hair. "You can stay when you want to, sweeting, or Floo me and I can come to Rose Cottage. I like waking up with you, and unless I've gone to see Greg, you'd not be interrupting anything." It occurred to him that the truth of his statement was odd, but he didn't much mind; between Greg and Katie he'd had no desire to go prowling the clubs for company.

"I like waking up with you too, shiny boy." Katie rested her head against his shoulder then, eyes running over Fred's profile, counting the few freckles dotting his skin. "I've not seen Greg in ages and last I heard from him, he just owled me that he's better ... from whatever it was that went wrong. How ... how is he?" Katie was still a bit worried about Greg. She wasn't sure of where she stood with him though. He'd been away for three weeks, longer than she'd really known him in the first place.

Blinking in surprise and a tad of confusion after Katie's question registered, Fred tried to gather a response, to some avail. "I thought he'd had more contact with you," he muttered. "He's... better than he was when he sent those awful owls out, and then when I saw him right after his..." he sighed, knowing he ought to let Greg tell her himself, but also feeling like Katie had some right to know what was going on. "I'd rather he got to give you the details, but he was quite ill when I went to see him before Halloween, and he looked better this week. He promised to keep himself healthy."

"That's good then. Healthy is good," she answered softly, glad to know at least something and trusting Fred that he'd told her the important bits. She did want to hear from Greg himself what had happened, if he ever decided to see her again that is.

Katie shifted then so she could rest her head against his chest and nuzzle her nose against his neck as she'd been doing. A little sigh escaped her lips then, warm breath fanning across his skin. She was warm and safe and surrounded by Fred, his musky boy smell like a little piece of home. Her eyes fluttered closed as she relaxed, the exhaustion catching up with her. "First Alicia and dancing, smiles and fun for her. Then ..." a yawn spilled out before she could continue. "... then hopefully I'll see Greg soon. I'd really like to get the image of him saying goodbye to me out of my head. I think that would be nice. Nice and shiny," she babbled a bit sleepily.

Fred chuckled quietly as Katie rambled at him, obviously too tired to hold the thread of conversation very tightly. "I think it's your bedtime, princess," he informed her, adjusting their positions so he could lift her in his arms, then made his way carefully to the bedroom. He set Katie on the bed, kissing her forehead as he released her to sit under her own power, and turned to dig through the bureau for a shirt for her to sleep in.

"Sleeping sounds good," she murmured around another yawn, more to herself than anything as she pulled her sweater over her head and stood up to slip off her shoes and shimmy out of her jeans. Katie glanced over at Fred who was digging around in one of his drawers. She gave a little shrug as she unhooked her bra, slipping it out from beneath her cami and throwing it at the pile of her clothes littering the floor, adding her socks as a cherry on top. She hated sleeping with socks on. She shivered, the room a little cool for just a cami and lacy knickers.

Smirking to himself as he found a tee that had constantly gone missing as one of Katie's favorites while they were in school, he returned to the bed, handing over his prize. He was momentarily distracted by her shiver, reaching out to run a hand over the wave of gooseflesh on her bare arm. "Clothes and blankets for you, sweet," he directed, continuing in his mission to turn down the covers for her once he'd regained focus. The tiniest things she did would capture his attention, seemingly at random; a smile, a stretch, the way she toyed with her hair or clothes when she was thinking - he wasn't bothered, quite the contrary, but it wasn't something he was used to. Finished puttering with the bedclothes, he set about getting rid of his own jeans and shirt.

A little smile tugged at Katie's lips when she looked at the tee he handed her. It was one she'd stolen multiple times at Hogwarts as it had just the right softness from being worn so many times. A light blush stained her cheeks as it was quite apparent that he'd picked this particular shirt over all the others because he remembered that she had liked to 'borrow' it. She pulled it over her head and slipped underneath the covers as Fred shed his clothes as well.

Her lids were heavy, but she watched him; the stretch of muscle beneath skin as he pulled his shirt off, tousled hair from the same action. "It's early still, shiny. You don't have to sleep now just because I can't keep my eyes open."

"Never said I was going to," Fred countered, climbing into bed and stretching out behind Katie, gathering her into his arms. "I'll keep you warm a while, though, and if I get tired of watching you sleep there's always my book." He nuzzled her ear, grinning as she squirmed, and pressed a kiss to her cheek. He wished her nightmares had faded with childhood, but things being as they were, he would keep her watch, try to shelter her with his presence. "Sleep, Kates," he murmured, tucking her between the blankets and his body, "I'll be Dreamcatcher tonight."

Nestled against his body, his arms around her, Katie finally let her eyes flutter shut. Sleep had eluded her more nights than she liked to admit recently, but she'd almost never had a nightmare while sleeping with Fred, or George back in school. "My shiny Dreamcatcher," she murmured on an exhale before her breathing evened out and she was asleep.

Summary: Katie drops by the Wheezes for a visit with her shiny and gets a new dreamcatcher in the bargain.