27| dumbledore's judgement

                                    

                                          
Arriving to the field surrounding the Burrow quite literally warmed me up, seeing the long grass flowing in the light breeze just instantly lifted my mood. Especially after a heartbreaking separation with Hermione, I desperately wanted her to join us not wanting to leave her at her home all alone with no one to understand her problems. I knew she wouldn't, she would make herself more upset seeing Ron around the Burrow constantly throughout the whole Christmas break, so she let out her tears with one last hug as I even shed tears at how emotional she was. The grip she had on me felt like she was going and I would never see her again, only making me want to go with her instead for moral support.
I sped walk towards the porch not being able to sprint as I hoped I would due to the luggage I held in my hands, whacking against my shins with every step. Harry and Ron were trying their hardest to keep up with my pace but it was clear I was much more impatient than they were, rushing to get to the door as if I would miss something if I was too slow. 
Without a thought I opened the door harshly getting the instant waft of freshly baked goods and the normal smell of firewood and honey, which was what I often smelt while at the Weasley's home. The smell was what I thought of when I thought of home too. It was intoxicatingly sweet in the best way possible, the table filled to the brim with Christmas treats, as the table top beside me was full of kitchen utensils charmed to continue baking even more.
The first people to see were two identically matched tall red heads stood behind the table, wearing their Joke shop suits pulling apart a Christmas cracker. They hadn't even noticed my entrance despite the loudness of the door, I quickly put my luggage down in my place and watched in amusement as they pulled either end of the cracker aggressively apart to reveal a lengthy spring. They both chuckled still not noticing my presence making me quite irritated at their obliviousness "ahem" I cleared my throat instantly gaining their attention. 
"Sorry love didn't see you there..." one of them spoke and it took me only a split second to notice George was clearly trying to impersonate Fred. 
"Ah I missed you...George" I chuckled pulling him into a tight squeeze after not seeing him since going to the shop to sort out mine and Fred's argument, which even at that point we had barely spoke as I was rushing about like a mad woman to find him. 
"Guess she can tell us apart Freddie, I thought that impression was spot on?" he spoke disappointedly that his 'joke' of sorts had failed. 
"Oh Georgie it was believable but perhaps try it on someone who isn't dating Fred and who hasn't known you for six years?" I giggled now walking into Fred's arms as he picked me up by the waist nuzzling his head deep into my neck, I took the opportunity to take in his scent his clear smell of firework powder and the shops love potion clearly the smell had stuck from his day of work. Although it had been only a few days without him my body still ached for his touch, it felt like it had when he first left Hogwarts.
"Katherine, sweetheart!" Molly called out from the doorway and Fred quickly placed me down knowing I needed to greet her, I quickly rushed into her arms her whole frame squeezing on to me for dear life. 
"Oh Molly, t-thankyou for inviting us this Christmas..." I squeaked still in her tight hold struggling to breathe let alone talk.
"Oh now dear how many times must I tell you, you're always welcome. Sirius and Remus are just through there, they will want to see you." She spoke pointing through into the living room where the men and Tonks sat spaced out on the couches. I nodded to Molly checking over my shoulder at Harry who was deep in conversation with Ron as Arthur walked through the door with Ginny unbothered by taking all of our luggage upstairs, including mine which I had unintentionally left in the doorway.
 I turned towards the room leaning against the doorframe observing their conversation "Merry Christmas oldies!" I shouted stepping from my place into the room, they snapped their heads around at the insult as Tonks desperately tried to hide her sniggers.
 "Oldies?" Sirius questioned as Remus and him gave each other an equally confused expression, before standing up brushing off the offensive statement bringing me into a hug, the one millionth one of today. 
"Do I really look that old?" He asked pulling away with a pout expecting a flattering compliment to make up for it, making me chuckle uncontrollably, 
"no...of course not..." I answered sarcastically and quickly moving out of arms reach to Lupin just incase he tried anything as revenge. 
After greeting all present in the living room with more and more hugs was when I thought they should know of what Harry had told me about Snape and Malfoy as this could be a breakthrough for the Order, to know what Voldemort himself was up to. I called my brother in to the room and we sat side by side as the others stared at us intending to focus on exactly what we had to say.
I let Harry stick to explaining the story as he had witnessed the drama first hand and I sat back examining each one of their facial expressions to understand their reactions before they had even revealed them. Remus' disbelief caught my eye significantly by the way he made it seem he wanted to shout at us for being so idiotic. "Voldemort has chosen Draco Malfoy for a mission you say?" Remus had practically held back his instinct to scoff out his question, aggravating me immensely.
"Listen Remus we know it sounds mad..." I replied trying to sound calm mannered to not set of any argument too early on in to the conversation. 
"Has it ever occurred to you that Snape had simply offered Draco help in order to see what he was up too?" I rolled my eyes forcefully at his comment for trying to make Snape seem incapable of such a thing, when every person in the room would disagree. 
"That's not what it sounded like." Harry added defending himself against Lupin's accusation of lying or false information.
"Maybe they're right Remus-" Tonks tried to back us up but he had cut her off before she even had a chance, only angering me more for shutting down hers and anyone's argument but his own. 
"It all comes down to whether you trust Dumbledore's judgement, Dumbledore trusts Snape therefore, I do." He snapped clapping his hands together almost as if to get his point across more efficiently. 
"Dumbledore's made mistakes, he said so himself-" Harry started.
"YOU ARE BLINDED BY HATRED!" He shouted more furious than before his hand actions being more stern trying to show how much we had infuriated him for thinking we would question Dumbledore in any way. 
"NO WE'RE NOT! Do I like Snape? No, but that's not why we are thinking he is a part of this, Harry witnessed this. If you don't believe him, fine! But if you just shove this aside without looking in to it who knows what will happen." I shouted matching his tone feeling the heat rise to my face, no doubt staining my cheeks red with frustration. My attitude surprising even Remus himself, Sirius face on the other hand was a mix of shock and pride for standing up for myself. Even if it was against his very best friend. 
"I trust Dum-"
"YES we know you trust Dumbledore, as do I but you would be stupid to ignore this!" I shouted once more before standing up, storming past each adult not caring what they were thinking in this moment feeling too angry to even say another word. As soon as I shut the door behind me I gasped for air only just feeling the relief from leaving such a tension thick environment. I wanted to punch something, hard. 
If only Malfoy was around, third times a charm.
Side note:
Incase you haven't noticed I take a little over a day with each chapter, I'm not going to lie I am such a perfectionist and will constantly be changing things I have written even after it has been published - not major key points just words that I don't like, punctuation etc.
 
Also thank you so much for 2k reads 🥰