"No, it's not... it's not that," Kate said, still leaning against her legs as she tried to think of how to explain to Hermione what it was. Because they were friends, she wanted Hermione to be able to tell her things, even things that she herself wouldn't have had any sort of experience with, but there was something undeniably unsettling about the idea of war. It made her think of Harry dying, which made her think of Lionel dying and then she could only think of Marshall and how teenagers weren't supposed to ever be in danger like that.

But that was just stupid, wishful thinking. People were in danger every day.

"Harry told me about... dying," she said slowly. "It's just sort of... it freaks me out." There was a lot of shit she could take, she knew, a lot of things she'd already dealt with, but death made everything real in a very different way. "You don't ever think about people your age dying. I mean, I didn't, anyway."