everyone_takes: (not okay)
Kate Gregson ([personal profile] everyone_takes) wrote2012-03-12 06:11 pm
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March 13

It was late.

Effy was inside, probably asleep, Maxxie had gone awhile ago, Kate didn't know where. Harry was supposed to be here any minute, she knew that much, but she couldn't find the energy to get up from the front step of the hut she shared with Marshall.

The hut she used to share with him.

For the better part of the day, she'd looked for him. It was the first time she'd left Effy alone for so long and there was a part of her that thought she should feel guilty about it. She was supposed to be looking after her friend. Not like it was a job, she just was. That was what she was doing for Effy because they were friends and she wasn't doing it now. But she didn't feel guilty. She didn't feel much of anything.

One of Marshall's stupid cardigans was crumpled in her hands. She'd been holding it the entire time she'd spoken with Maxxie, though she didn't remember most of that conversation. The point was easy enough and she remembered saying it. Hating herself for saying it. Marshall's gone.

This wasn't how it was supposed to be. They were supposed to look out for each other, through all the shit back home and through all the shit here, that was what they did. She didn't want to admit it, especially not to him, but without Marshall to keep her pulled together, Kate was pretty much a disaster. And she'd never told him that. Never thanked him for keeping her together. Never said that she loved him. Never told him that he was her best friend.

Because friends looked out for each other. It was what she was doing for Effy and it was what she was supposed to be doing for Marshall.

It was what he was supposed to do for her.

But he was gone and Kate sat on the front porch, his cardigan in her hands, and wondered who the hell was going to look after her now.
theboywholived: (010)

[personal profile] theboywholived 2012-03-13 02:48 am (UTC)(link)
Harry Potter walked with very few cares.

He had his concerns. Remus and how he was recovering and settling in. Sirius and how he was dealing with losing Cassie. Quidditch and organizing everything. Moving into the new place with Ron and Hermione. (Thankfully the possibility of Malfoy spawn was no longer on the table.) But compared to what his life had been once, these things could not get him down. He worried, but he wasn't insensitive. He felt secure in the knowledge that things would get better. For a little while, at least.

Or so he thought. He had thought they were due. He had thought that he and his deserved several months -- if not a full year -- of peace and quiet starting any moment now. He had thought that, and then he had gotten close enough to Kate's hut to see her. Harry squinted at his girlfriend's form from behind his wire rim glasses, but he knew. He knew in the pit of his stomach that something was wrong.

Speeding up from a walk to a jog, Harry reached the front step in seconds.

"Kate?" he asked, his concern obvious in his gentle tone. "Kate, what happened?" he asked as he sat down beside her and immediately wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
theboywholived: (061)

[personal profile] theboywholived 2012-03-13 04:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Harry was an only child and as an only child he had wondered often what it would be like to have a brother or a sister. Dudley came close, and the thought terrified him. But then the Weasleys -- Ron -- had come into his life and Harry had realized that he didn't need to wonder anymore. Even so, he couldn't imagine how Kate felt, not the full scope of it. Not when all Harry felt was anger.

He wanted to punch the island in the face, hex and curse it until it stopped playing these games, stopped hurting the people he cared about and loved. It wasn't fair. It wasn't bloody fair that they had to go through this, that Kate had to lose her brother even though there wasn't a war, he wasn't sick, they hadn't done anything wrong. It wasn't right that someone like Kate got hurt and it pissed him off that it was Kate that was hurt.

His muscles twitched in that anger, body tensing slightly as he held it in, but he kept his arm around Kate. He squeezed her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm so sorry."
theboywholived: (061)

[personal profile] theboywholived 2012-03-13 06:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Other than "sorry," Harry wasn't sure of what to say either, so he didn't take offense. Her shrug was simply what it was, not some sign that he needed to read. He would have been a wreck if it had been him, losing someone like Ron or Hermione. A part of him was grateful that Kate hadn't not collapsed into a sobbing mess in his arms.

"Merlin, that does suck," Harry agreed, frowning. "How-- Nevermind." He had thought to ask how Maxxie had taken the news, but the answer would be rather obvious, wouldn't it?

"Is there anyone else you need to tell?" he asked. "...Do you want me to do it?"
theboywholived: (004)

[personal profile] theboywholived 2012-03-13 08:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Harry's brow fell into a frown at the question. Logically, yes, it was fine. There was nothing to worry about in regards to Marshall. He was back home, living his life, with Kate, with their parents, for better or worse. He wasn't dead or stood a very high chance of being attacked by dinosaurs or turned into a woman. He was, in some ways, better off, logically. But with a best friend like Hermione, Harry knew well that logic could be extremely cold comfort at times.

"It's fine," he agreed at first. "But.. it's fine to miss him, too. He's your brother. It doesn't matter if you know he's safe. You still have to be without him. And that hurts."
theboywholived: (004)

[personal profile] theboywholived 2012-03-13 11:34 pm (UTC)(link)
"Do you want to go lay down?" Harry asked, thinking of the most obvious solution.

He tucked Kate's hair back behind her ear, so he could see her more properly, despite how she was nearly curled up against him. His fingers brushed against her cheek as he pulled his hand away.

"I'll stay, if you'd like. Or not, if you don't."
theboywholived: (085)

[personal profile] theboywholived 2012-03-17 04:24 am (UTC)(link)
"Later," Harry said, firmly but with a note of understanding. It was too much to deal with in one day and he wouldn't let Kate worry herself until she lost it or exhausted herself. One worry easily led to two and so on until it was a snowball of concerns.

He squeezed her shoulder again. "We'll deal with it tomorrow, okay? I'll help. But after you've had some time to rest. Alright?"
theboywholived: (003)

[personal profile] theboywholived 2012-03-17 05:08 pm (UTC)(link)
"It's not stupid," Harry insisted, even more firmly than before. His arm slipped from around her shoulders as she stood, and he followed her, getting to his feet with a determined look on his face.

"All the people I've lost, Kate..." Harry shook his head. "It's not stupid to miss the people we've lost. It's not stupid to realize what they mean to us after they've gone. It's not stupid that he looked out for you. I think it's great. And now, I'm going to look out for you," he said.

He paused, one second too long. "Me and all of your friends. We're still here."
theboywholived: (003)

[personal profile] theboywholived 2012-03-18 01:44 am (UTC)(link)
"He didn't choose it, Kate," Harry said mildly as he followed her in the hut. He knew she was angry and he knew saying that wouldn't change things, but he also thought she might regret saying anything truly cruel if he let her go off.

"He would have stayed with you if the island let him."
theboywholived: (058)

[personal profile] theboywholived 2012-04-02 02:32 am (UTC)(link)
Harry followed, as meekly as he could, uncertain of what to do but trusting enough in his instincts not to hesitate. He followed and toed off his shoes, sliding into bed behind Kate, his chest pressing against her back. One arm going around her waist, he dropped his chin, lips brushing against her shoulder in an unintentional kiss.

"If you're still angry tomorrow, we'll find something for you to kick. Or burn or.. I don't know. Shout at."