At first sight...((John))

[katherinedupree]

October 5th 1966

Katherine Dupree was sat beside the lake waiting for her friend Harriet to return, from wherever the hell she'd decided to run off to in such a hurry. The two girls had known each other for years, but only this year become friends. Katherine couldn't actually believe it had taken them this long to find each other, Harriet had begun a fast friend, the best friend Katherine had ever had actually and she was feeling extremely lucky to have the girl in her life.

Turning the page of the Muggle book 'The Tale of Two Cities' written by Muggle author and genius Charles Dickens, Katherine found herself smiling. Not many people understood her love for Muggle culture, it was part of the reason she'd begun an outcast with most of her peers, but Katherine took it all in her stride, she didn't care what anybody thought of her. Muggles to her were fascinating, there was nothing else to be said about it, they intrigued her to no end, so Katherine would do everything in her power to familiarize herself with all things Muggle, even going as far as to take Muggle Studies...in which she was only one of a few students.

Hearing some soft chatter, Katherine glanced over her shoulder to see Harriet finally returning, though she wasn't alone. With her she'd brought a small group of students back, probably so they to could enjoy this rare bit of nice weather. The girl certainly had a knack for persuading people to skip homework and simply hang out instead. Chuckling to herself, Katherine shook her head and tucked her blonde curls back over her shoulder, finally standing and turning to great her friend. The group already making themselves comfortable, though most went a little bit closer to the lake than she had, "Finally found your way back then...." Katherine said to Harriet, teasing her lightly. Not missing the way her friend had been eyeing one of the seventh years who'd followed the group down. Shaking her head she continued to smile as Harriet turned to the boy beside her, a wide smile on the young girls face, "Katherine I'd like you to meet someone..."

[johndawlish]

"Oh god, Harriet, what is it now?" John looked up over his book at his pleading sister. He had a Muggle Studies exam in exactly a week and he needed to study for it! The library was extremely quiet, and John's booming voice rang loud and clear through the countless shelves of books.

"John, you've been cooped up here for almost two days and it's barely the start of the year," Harriet said, a pout on the long face of hers. "I won't stand for it." John rolled his eyes at his sister and shifted his weight in his chair, marking the page in the book he was reading. "If I come with you for half an hour will you not bug me for the next two days?" He bargained, his voice heavy and almost unwilling. If he knew Harry - and he just happened to know her quiet well - this would be the only way to get her to stop bugging him.

"Sure thing, older brother," Harriet beamed in excitement. John rolled his eyes and shoved 'A Tale of Two Cities' into his bag. He could read it later.

---

This wasn't what John had had in mind when Harriet began dragging him outside. She'd gathered her small group of friends and had decided to head outside, where the weather was lovely and the lake was looking rather welcoming for a small swim. As John hung towards the back of the group, he sighed.

His aim was to become dux of the school and eventually become an Auror. In order to do all of the above, he needed to study. Lots. No social life for him!

Just as he lost himself within his thoughts, an arm shot through the crowd and pulled him to the front. John gritted his teeth at his sister, who was going around and introducing everyone to the girl sitting beside the lake. "Katherine," Harriet started, pulling John close to her side, "I'd like you to meet someone..."

John stopped dead in his tracks as he saw who it was that Harriet was introducing him to. His mouth gaped open and he had to fight hard to shut it. "This is my brother, John," Harriet said slyly, winking at Katherine. "Anyway! Who's up for a swim?" Harriet declared, throwing her arms up in excitement.

John stood standing awkwardly in front of Katherine as the rest of the group shed their clothes, revealing swimming outfits. Harriet threw a pair of shorts at John and a swimming suit at Katherine before diving head-first into the lake.

"Well, this wasn't what I was expecting," John said, staring after his sister. He threw the shorts and his bag down to the ground and sat next to them, deciding he wasn't going to swim.

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[katherinedupree]

Her breath caught in her throat and Katherine felt for sure her heart had skipped a beat as she laid eyes on the boy Harriet went on to introduce as her brother. This was The John...Harriet's big brother. Realising she had yet to talk, Katherine felt a slight blush fill her cheeks as she smiled softly at John, ignoring the not so subtle wink Harriet shot her way, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you John," she said honestly, and it was, in fact Katherine was miffed at Harriet for leaving it this long to introduce him.

When her friend announced it was time for swimming and threw a costume at Katherine, the blonde felt her eyes widen. She looked down at the costume and shook her head, there was no way she was getting into that Lake, Harriet knew she couldn't swim so why she had suggested it, baffled Katherine. Throwing it to the floor beside her bag, she sat and then looked back up at John as he spoke and laughed softly, "She does have a knack for doing the opposite of what one expects..." she chuckled, looking after her friend.

The other members of the group had begun diving into the lake after Harriet, and Katherine felt almost sore that she couldn't join them, but she pushed it aside. One day she'd learn how to swim hopefully and then get rid of her fear about the lake. Looking to her side, she'd saw that John had sat down to and she placed the book she'd just pulled from her bag, back onto her lap as she stared at him for a moment, her heart still thudding wildly against her chest. "Your in your sixth year right?" she asked, tucking her hair behind her ear once more.

A part of Katherine began to question why she'd never met this boy before. They'd been in the same school for years but only now was she noticing him...though it didn't surprise her. Katherine only had a small group of people she'd call friends, most of the others around school didn't bother with the 'Muggle Lover'. Still, if John would allow she at least wanted to get to know him a bit, since Harriet had oh so subtly thrown them together and then ran off...

[johndawlish]

John mentally cursed Harriet for not introducing Katherine to him sooner. He held out his hand for Katherine to shake - a formal sort of hello - but, in all honesty, John just wanted to find out if her skin was as silky smooth as it looked. "I can't believe it's taken this long to finally meet you," he remarked, taking a step closer to her.

She was beautiful. The way her hair curled softly over her shoulders and the way her eyes sparkled in the sunlight. It was a breathtaking sight to see. He couldn't help but laugh at her judgement of Harriet. "Right you are. She's good like that." John could barely wipe the smile off his face.

What was this? He'd been introduced all of ten seconds ago and he was already picturing himself with her. Tactful, John, he thought to himself. Shaking his head, he sat down on the ground and Katherine soon followed. He wondered whether she was going to swim or not. It didn't matter either way to John, if she jumped into the lake, he would soon follow.

"Sixth year, yeah," he said as his eyes followed Katherine's motions. He bit down hard on his lip, feeling the strong urge to tuck her hair behind her ear. Just as he thought about it, Katherine reached up and did exactly what John was hoping to do. Weird.

She pulled a book out of her bag and John couldn't help but chuckle. He reached for his bag and pulled out the same book - the exact same copy. "Dickens fan, I take it?" he asked. His eyes lit up. At least they'd have something to talk about!

John was one of the four students in the Muggle Studies class. Mostly, it was widely frowned upon, as it was the opinion of most people that it was a dreary class that shouldn't even be taught. However, John felt differently. The Wizarding World had so much to learn from Muggles - how they managed to function without magic! It was astounding. He wanted to know if that was how Katherine felt, or if she had an interest in muggle studies as well. There were so many questions! But for just having met the girl, John felt as if it would be impolite to ask. He sat and kept his mouth shut, trying to keep the conversation as light as he possibly could.

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[katherinedupree]

Katherine couldn't help but smile even more when she watched John smile. Something about it just caused this strange kind of warmth to flood through her body, a warmth that had nothing to do with the beautiful weather. Barely 2 minutes since they'd met and Katherine felt incredibly at ease, relaxed in his presence, he certainly was having a strange effect on her...it was almost scary.

"I love Dickens...he was and still to this day is the greatest novelist this world has ever seen." she said with a bright smile, her fingers idly tracing over the slightly raised letters of the book title. She was pleasantly surprised to see John to, had the same novel in his hands. Shaking her head she laughed lightly and looked at him, it was rare wizards even knew who this man was, and she couldn't believe John was one of them, "I only discovered him last year if I'm honest...my Muggle Studies Professor gave me A Christmas Carol to Read...I was hooked after one sentence..." she said.

"What about you...not often Wizards know who great minds like Dickens are..." she said, not knowing if she was pushing her luck in asking him questions but she was truly intrigued. Not only that she really wanted to get to know this boy who'd captured her interest so easily. Harriet had spoken of her brother but never in any depth, Katherine though would be sure to grill her friend a little later on.

Biting down on her lip she forced herself to look away from John for a moment, focusing instead on the Lake and chuckling at Harriet who'd just been thrown up into the air before landing back in the water with a splash. "Surely if you know about Dickens you'll know who Shakespeare is right?" she asked, turning again to John, all the while a soft smile playing on her face.

[johndawlish]

The conversation was flowing like water. John was learning about Katherine and vice versa. It was like they had been friends for a while, but were only starting to learn about the other. John shifted closer to her and pulled his bag up to his side, putting his book back in.

"Oh my god," John said simply, unable to take his eyes off the radiant girl sitting in front of him. "I agree. He's incredible!" His mind was popping. It was so incredibly rare that someone in the wizarding world would have any clue about who Charles Dickens was, let alone have read his books. "That was my first Dickens novel, too. Professor Simmons gave that to me in my fourth year, too, and I've been reading them ever since. I'm just lucky he's part of the curriculum for Muggle Studies in sixth year.

"My favourite is Little Dorrit, though." He'd never told anyone that before in his life. Nobody else was interested enough to want to care about it, but for whatever reason it was, John felt like he could tell Katherine anything. They'd known each other for all of two minutes, and here he was, telling her things he'd never said to anyone else.

He was gushing like he never had before. John wasn't exactly one of the 'popular kids', as he chose to spend most of his time indoors studying. He felt like he had made a new friend in Katherine and the possibility sent him wild.

"Wow, hang on a second there," John said, backtracking a little as he shifted closer once again, so he was facing Katherine with his legs crossed. "You do Muggle Studies, too?" He asked, his eyes incredulous. So she was one of the twenty-six students at Hogwarts who took the class. Finally, he'd be able to have someone to talk to about it!

"Oh, pfft," he said, laughing, "Of course I know Shakespeare. Macbeth is my favourite. What about yours?" he had a million questions he wanted to ask her - but starting with Shakespeare was a step in the right direction.

He sighed, feeling elated from the conversation he was having with Katherine. "I'm so glad I can actually talk about this stuff to someone." It was like a weight had lifted from his chest, although he wasn't aware that the weight was there in the first place. "Tell you what, though, most people think I'm absolutely nuts for taking Muggle Studies as a class." He wondered if Katherine had experienced the same things as he had.

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[katherinedupree]

Katherine hadn't missed how somehow they had moved closer to each other, it had been almost instinctual, perhaps that should bother her but Katherine found it didn't. "Really? That's amazing..." she said, both in regards to the fact Professor Simmons had given them both the same book and also that in sixth year she'd get to study the great author. Though by now Katherine knew way more about him than she'd dare let on, she'd found him fascinating to say the least.

"Little Dorrit is incredible...everything he wrote was out incredible...if I had to choose an all time favourite though it'd be A Christmas Carol..." she admitted easily, unable to remove the smile from her face as she looked at John. Talking to him was proving to be incredibly easy, natural even, like she'd been doing it for years. "I get chills reading it...sad thing is I read it out loud too, annoys the hell out of whoever is around..." she laughed lightly, surprised she'd admitted that to him.

Turning around so she was facing John, crossing her legs to Katherine smiled and nodded her head, "Yep, it's my favourite subject, I love it, doesn't exactly make one popular with the other students but I don't care...I'm just so happy to know you take it as well...you'll be able to fill me in on what to expect..." she said excitedly, rubbing the itch on the tip of her nose away as she continued to smile, feeling somewhat daft but she couldn't help it.

"I love Macbeth but my favourite has to be the play he wrote, A Midsummer Nights Dream...I just hope one day I get to see it on stage..." she told him, sighing softly, it was her dream to see it acted out, she only hoped one day soon she'd get to live out that dream, and if not, she'd make damn sure she'd get to upon leaving Hogwarts.

She smiled softly at John and tucked a stray curl back behind her ear, nodding her head in agreement to what he was saying, "I can't tell you how happy it makes me...guys in my class aren't exactly as passionate about the subject as me...so I'm really glad I have you to talk to about this..." she told him honestly, biting down on her lip for a moment, "I get that, people think I'm nuts to...doesn't exactly make you a popular person outwardly admitting you love something created by Muggles..." she said, not adding that she'd been the victim of many hexes thanks to her strange choices in subjects.

Looking at John her smile widened and she clasped her hands together over her lap and on top of the book, "So tell me...your in your sixth year, have any idea of what you want to do upon getting out of here?" she asked, not sure where the question came from but she was insanely curious.

[johndawlish]

John smiled. "Maybe he knew that we would be the only enthusiastic participants," he laughed just thinking about it. It was true - Katherine was the only other Muggle enthusiast that John had ever met, and John wouldn't trade that for the world.

John's face was starting to hurt from the constant smile he had! Everything about Katherine (that he had so far learned) only made him want to get to know her more. He'd almost completely forgotten about Harriet and her bunch of friends that were lolling about in the lake. He couldn't help but feel giddy as Katherine said she sometimes read it out loud - whether it was intentional or not.

"Well, if you need any help with assignments," Not that she ever would. A smart and intelligent woman like Katherine wouldn't need help from someone like John. "I'm more than willing to help." His heart fluttered at the thought of spending more time with her.

He made a mental note of what Katherine's favourite play was. Maybe one day he'd take her to it. John, you've barely known the girl for five minutes. Stop planning ahead. You don't know where this is going. He was getting ahead of himself, once again. "Maybe one day you will get to see it," he smiled.

"Ah well," he started, leaning back on his hands and letting the sunshine bask on his pasty white skin. "At least we have each other now. We'll just be too cool for everyone else," He felt so at east around Katherine. He could say anything and not have to worry about making a fool of himself or sounding stupid. It was like he'd known her for years, he felt so relaxed.

"Oh, that's easy," he said, straightening up and looking back over at the gorgeous lady sitting in front of him. "An Auror. I've had my heart set on it since I was about six," he admitted. It sounded like an incredible job that pushed you to do so many different things. Defence Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Transfiguration... Heck, even a bit of Herbology didn't go astray.

"How about you? What do you want to do?"

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[katherinedupree]

Katherine couldn't help but return John's bright smile, wondering how ridiculous the pair of them looked to everyone else. It was as though she could do little else but smile at the man in front of her, his mere presence was having some strange effect on how she usually acted but this wasn't her complaining. No it was refreshing, nice, brilliant to have someone as passionate as her to talk to...maybe she didn't have to feel so alone sometimes after all. Katherine had long since drowned out her friends in the lake, the source of her focus was John.

"You need to be careful, I may just take you up on that offer of help." Katherine teased, chuckling lightly. Even as she said it, she began to wonder if she could get away with making out she needed help, just so she could spend some more time with this fascinating man. She smiled and nodded her head, idly plucking a blade of grass from in-between them, "I'm counting on it most definitely...so many other plays I'm dying to see as well, convincing my parents to allow me to though is another story..." she chuckled, it was more likely she would have to wait till school was finally finished to do all she wanted.

As he leaned back on his hands and joked about them being too cool for everyone else, Katherine laughed and nodded her head, causing her curls to fall over her shoulders again, "I like the sound of that...we should probably form our own exclusive club..." she joked, winking at John before laughing again. It amazed her to no end how easy they were getting along, she loved it.

"An Auror, wow that's intense...I have no doubt in my mind you'll be wonderful at it though..." she replied, as he leaned forward once more, confused at the sudden surge of worry she felt. Come on he wasn't even in seventh year yet and she was worried about him becoming an Auror, plus they'd only just met! This was becoming strange, feeling a connection like this to someone so soon was something she hadn't ever believed would be possible.

As he asked her what she wanted to do Katherine couldn't help but smile widely again, biting down on her lip for a moment before answering him, "After school finishes I'm taking a year off or maybe two, before I do anything...I want to travel, see the world, but I'm going to do it the muggle way...go a whole year without magic..." she said, the excitment clear on her face, "After that I don't know really, I always loved the idea of being a teacher but I dunno...guess I'll figure it out when the time comes..." She finished with a shrug and a smile, wondering what he'd think to her plans to travel and her clear lack of a plan for employment.

[johndawlish]

John smiled in return. He didn't mind in the slightest if Katherine came to find him for Muggle Studies help. He was an older student who knew what was coming, at least, and he definitely didn't mind lending a hand to Katherine. She was one of Harriet's friends after all, and after the rigorous conversation they'd been having, John couldn't help but feel a bit attached to her.

"Well, why don't you come and stay at mine and Harriet's over the Christmas holidays?" John offered, shrugging. "Maybe we could all go out and see a play or something." He instantly knew that Harriet wouldn't want to go, but that would mean he and Katherine would get to spend some time together. In the short conversation he'd had, he'd gotten ahead of himself so many times it was barely healthy.

John laughed, his smile going up to his eyes. "An exclusive club. Sounds good," he said in agreement. "We shall be the Muggle Studies Club, exclusive of two whole members. And perhaps Professor Simmons," he added, laughing. His stomach flipped over sideways as Katherine winked at him. That wasn't healthy.

"You've barely known me for five minutes," he pointed out, still smiling, "but I'm glad I've made such a good impression. I just hope I'll be good enough. They only take the best." It would be a difficult two years ahead - full of studying and trying desperately to achieve the perfect grades - but it would be worth it in the end.

As John listened to Katherine's plan, he couldn't help but feel a sense of wonderment. It all sounded so great - like such an adventure! John was partially jealous. "I think it's amazing the way muggles manage to survive without magic. It just baffles me how they get so much done," he said honestly, lowering his voice as a group of students walked by the two of them.

He thought about it for a moment, choosing his words wisely. "Well, Professor Simmons is getting rather old," he said, hoping that his words wouldn't offend the poor Professor. "So maybe you should be the Muggle Studies teacher?" he contemplated, shrugging his shoulders. From what had passed so far, it seemed like Katherine really knew what she was talking about. But, John was sixteen in hopes of being an Auror, and Katherine was fourteen in hopes of being a teacher. "Who knows what'll happen," he smiled, his blue eyes meeting hers.

A moment passed between them - how long it was went unbeknownst to John. Harriet hopped out of the water and trudged her way over to the two kids who were sitting on the side of the lake. "And why aren't you two in the water?" she asked slyly, plonking herself down in the middle of John and Katherine. John rolled his eyes at her sister. "Because you're stupid," he joked, poking his tongue out at his sister.

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[katherinedupree]

"Maybe we could all go out and see a play or something."

Katherine looked at John for a moment before smiling and nodding her head. There was no denying she loved the idea, not only would she get to spend time with her good friend, it'd be the perfect opportunity to spend some more time with John, not that she'd let him know that was the winning factor. "That'd be wonderful...though I wouldn't like to impose upon your family, it is Christmas after all, should just be family..." she said, though her family didn't really celebrate in the traditional way. Her parents would escape to some high society party and leave her at home with the elves and her brother.

Katherine laughed as he responded to her suggestion of creating a club and couldn't help but shake her head in amusement, her eyes still on the man in front of her, "I'm sure you'll be great, Harriet's already mentioned how hard you study. I guess if you want it bad enough you just have to go for it...make it happen so to speak..." she said, shrugging her shoulders lightly and smiling at him, thinking it nice he already knew what he wanted out of his life.

A group of students passed by them, causing John to lower his voice as he'd begun talking about Muggles. Smiling softly she looked down at her hands before looking back at him, she hated how most of the time you had to be careful about voicing your passions. "Well maybe when I finally do manage to get out of here, and head out on my travels I can persuade you to join me at some point...if your not busy with your work...see how the other half lives so to speak..." she suggested with a smile, though it was highly unlikely he would. Katherine knew from what she'd been told, just how demanding Auror work was, it made her wonder again if she'd see him again upon him leaving Hogwarts, she truly hoped she would. The desire to make sure they stayed in touch was again a surprise to her considering they had only just met, but she was quickly getting rather attached to him.

"I think Professor Simmons will out live most of us..." she laughed lightly, shaking her head before shrugging her shoulders again, "I really don't know what I'm going to do, just going to take things as they come you know...though it would be nice to one day come back here and be the one influencing kids..." she said softly.

Harriet returned, Katherine only noticed her friend when the other girl sat in the middle of her and John, completely severing the connection they'd just been having. "Johns right Harriet..." she said, playfully shoving her friends shoulder, before nodding back to the water, "You know I can't swim genius..." she chuckled, and it wasn't so much she couldn't swim as it was she was terrified of water. She shot a look at her friend who was giving her a not so subtle look that clearly stated she'd thrown these two together on purpose, "Your trouble..." Katherine laughed, pushing her hair back away from her face, as she glanced back over at John...

[johndawlish]

John laughed. "Well, if you can put up with about thirty or so family members, then please come over during the holidays." Little known fact: the Dawlishes were related to the McKinnons, which equated to a big family, especially at Christmas time. "You'd be doing both myself and Harriet a favour," he said under his breath, winking at her, slightly over-the-top. "Unless you've already got plans for Christmas with your own family, which is completely fair enough," he shrugged, not wanting to impose on Katherine's family Christmas, either.

He couldn't help but beam at Katherine's flattery. So Harriet had mentioned John to her... Well, that was always nice to know. He could always ask Harriet later what she had said (and he could always ask her to talk about Katherine a bit more). "Thanks," he murmured, his cheekc going bright pink.

"Gosh, we really are making long term plans," he said out loud, smiling. It was nice to know that Katherine wanted to spend more time with him, too - but for what reason, he had no idea. "I would absolutely love to take you up on that." Seeing the Muggle world! Wow! That really was something to behold. They still had a long time to think about it before any rash decisions were made.

John laughed. "I suppose your right!" he shook his head, thinking about how long it would be until Professor Simmons actually did become a bit more like Professor Binns... "Yeah, definitely," he agreed, nodding his head, his blue eyes meeting hers. They were so entrancing. "Ah well, we've both still got to get out of this place first," he said realistically, chagrinning.

As Harriet came to sit down between them, the cogs had started to turn in her brain. She wasn't stupid - she could see what was going on between the two of them. Although, whether Harriet would do anything about it was an entirely different matter. "Whatever," Harriet rolled her eyes and grinned. "Yeah, I know," she said, answering Katherine's statement with a smile.

"I've invited Katherine back to ours for Christmas," John said matter of factly, barely caring what Harry thought about the whole thing. Harriet's eyes lit up like lights at the thought. "Oh Katherine! That'd be wonderful! Oh god, I hope you don't mind big families - the Christmas feast is at our place this year - there are going to be millions of us and --" Harriet gushed, using her hands for gestures. John laughed. His sister was such a twat sometimes.

"- and yeah. Well, anyway. It seems like you two are getting along fine," she wiggled her eyebrows like a villain in vaudeville. John rolled his eyes.

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[katherinedupree]

A big family, at Christmas time, Katherine couldn't help but smile softly, slightly envious. Usually for Christmas it was just her and her brother, but since he'd pushed her out of the tree all them years ago, the siblings weren't exactly on speaking terms, so Christmas dinner was usually shared silently. The only solace she'd found at Christmas was sitting in front of their fire place in one of the oversized chairs they had, staying warm and cosy, whilst tucking into a book. "No...no plans for Christmas..." she said in response to John, his offer sounding more and more tempting the longer she thought on it.

Katherine had to admit she enjoyed seeing the way John's cheeks went a slightly pink colour when she complimented him, and couldn't fight the smile on her face because of it. "I know right...and I'm usually the kind of person who avoids making any kind of plans..." she chuckled, it being no secret she usually preferred to go with the flow when it came to decision making, always believing that whatever happened, happened, there was no point trying to mould your future into anything specific. Though she did envy those with the ability to picture their perfect jobs, like John, there was no doubt, even after only five minutes of talking, that he'd make it in his chosen path.

Katherine narrowed her eyes at her friend, not missing the look of pure amusement on the other girls face. Then when John mentioned that he'd invited Katherine for Christmas with them, Katherine could only laugh lightly at Harriet, loving how excited her friend seemed to get at that. "It's not for definite yet, though I don't see my parents having a problem since they won't be around...just see what your parents say closer to the date, I'm not wanting to impose..." she told them both, her eyes seemingly lingering longer on John, before she forced herself to look away.

Harriet obviously having seen this, chose that moment to comment on how well John and Katherine were getting on, looking back to her friend Katherine watched as she wiggled her eyebrows and shot knowing looks at each of them. With a shrug though Katherine smiled and looked at John, not missing how he rolled his eyes, though she could only smile at that, "We're getting on great, isn't that right John..."

[johndawlish]

John smiled. "Good. Then it's settled - you're coming to ours for Christmas." He tried to play it off like it was more for Harriet's sake rather than his, but John was about as subtle as a brick. He just hoped that the rest of the Dawlish/McKinnon clan would be okay with it all. He'd make Harriet send an owl to their mother sometime later in the afternoon.

John stretched back and watched as Katherine and Harriet interacted. He found it hard to believe that they'd only become friends on the train to Hogwarts this year - they'd been in the same house for the previous three but had never spoken two words to each other. They bantered so easily and John wondered whether it was simply because Katherine was so likeable.

He laughed. "Yes, we've found many common interests," he said as he dug around in his bag and held up 'A Tale of Two Cities'. "Katherine does Muggle Studies too, Harriet," John said, almost with delight. Harriet rolled her eyes in a playful way. "We won't be able to separate you two, now," she joked, although she was feeling slightly uneasy with the idea. Katherine was her friend first, after all.

Just as the conversation fell silent, the bell ran to signal that lunch was over and it was time to shift on to their second last class for the day. John groaned. He was having such a good time...

"What class to you two have now?" he asked Harriet and Katherine, hoping to be the gentleman and walk them to class. He had Charms, but Flitwick wouldn't mind if he was a few minutes late. He was good friends with the Professor, after all.

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[ ooc: ungh sorry it's so bad. thought we should wrap this one up so we can start some others ][/font]

[katherinedupree]

"Yes sir..." Katherine chuckled as John said the matter was settled and she'd be going to theirs for the holidays. There was no denying she felt incredibly excited at the idea, not only because she'd get to spend the holiday with Harriet, but it also meant more time with John and that right there was an idea she loved very much so. She wondered if maybe he felt the same, though she highly doubted it, he was after all 2 years older than her, he probably had a swarm of girls he would rather be spending his time with. Not that she'd admit it but that thought depressed the hell out of her.

When John held up his book Katherine laughed, because she'd done the same thing at the exact same moment. At Harriet's words though she lowered the book to her lap and smiled softly at the other girl, a blush appearing over her cheeks. She really hoped Harriet didn't mind them getting along, after all she had been the one to introduce them, with intentions to push them together it had appeared. Before she could open her mouth to push the conversation though, the bell sounded and Katherine felt her shoulders slump slightly.

"We actually have Care of Magical Creatures..." she told John sadly, she had hoped for a little longer before they would have to part ways. Harriet was no stood, having quickly dried herself off and was getting dressed. Gathering her bag together, Katherine followed, standing and brushing the excess grass off her skirt before smiling over at John. "Well...it was really nice to meet you John...we'll talk soon I hope..." she smiled at him softly, then after Harriet all but pulled her backwards by her hand, Katherine reluctantly waved at John, before turning and falling into step with her friend.

OOC: It's okay mines no better! Shall we leave it here then?