it's not really a date... {katherine}

[johndawlish]

So far, his first week teaching at Hogwarts had been rather successful. Sure, he'd forgotten basically everyone's name by the end of the first day and the Hinkypunk he'd brought in for his third year Gryffindors may have escaped into the back row of students, causing the majority of them to freak out - but really. Other than that, things had gone fine.

It was Friday night and his promised 'date' with Katherine was in less than ten minutes. John was standing in front of the mirror in his office, trying to decide which shirt to wear. A light blue one, or his deep purple? After a minute of swapping the shirts around, taking one off and putting the other on, he decided on the deep purple one and slung his jacket on, ready to meet his old friend.

Of course, this wasn't really a date. As much as John wanted it to be, it was simply two old friends catching up after many years of not seeing each other. But, there would be drink involved. And, after the events of the previous weekend, drinks were probably going to be needed.

Staring down at his watch, John realised he was running late to meet Katherine. He ran down the stairs of his office and slid down the corridor towards the Muggle Studies office, where he was meeting Katherine.

Trying to push his nerves to the back of his mind, John knocked on the wooden door separating him and Katherine and waited for her to open it. "Hi,"

[/color] John said, breathless as Katherine opened the door, looking as stunning as ever. He grinned, taking in the view. "You look amazing."[/color][/blockquote][/justify]
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[katherinedupree]

Katherine was feeling incredibly nervous. It felt like the time from when John had asked to go out for drinks had flown by, she couldn't believe Friday was here already and she was running late due to having to oversee the detention of 2 fourth years. After allowing them to go early she'd hurried to her room and quickly jumped into the shower, all the while doing her best to ignore the butterflies in her stomach, despite knowing this wasn't really a 'date'.

Katherine was wishing it was though, and considering it wasn't a date, just two friends meeting to catch up, Katherine found she wanted to look her best for John. So the decision on what to wear took a while to make. Katherine examined her wardrobe, half amused to find only dresses, nothing really suited the 'non-date' thing she was aiming for. However finally after much deliberation she finally settled on a cute purple dress that just skimmed her mid-thigh. It wasn't TOO dressy and suited the style Katherine had become known to go for.

As she added the finishing touches to her hair, there was a knock on her door and Katherine smiled. Grabbing her purse she blew out a calming breath, forcing down the butterflies in her tummy, before she reached for the door handle and pulled it open. Almost instantly a smile broke out on her face again, and her heart rate sped up to an alarming rate, "Hey John, your looking extremely handsome yourself..." she told him truthfully, really loving that purple shirt.

Biting down on her lip she looked over her shoulder to make sure she had everything before pulling the door closed, coming to a stop in front of John, "So...we ready to go?" she asked, thankful he voice didn't give away how nervous she felt all of a sudden.


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[johndawlish]

John had to laugh. "Looks like we're matching,"

[/color] he chuckled. Both of them were wearing purple; John, a dark purple dress-shirt, and Katherine, a beautiful light purple dress. His heart swelled as she called him handsome and John had a feeling that he was going to be unable to take his eyes off her tonight.

"Ready when you are."[/color] he stepped back to make room for Katherine to walk beside him. Slowly, they made their way down the corridors of Hogwarts into the entrance hall, and eventually out the doors into the cold night's air.

"I'm guessing you heard about the attack,"[/color] John said solemnly. There wasn't a person at Hogwarts who hadn't heard about the attacks, and the task had fallen on John - amongst Albus, Moody and other Aurors - to find the culprit behind the brutal attack on the three students. In between classes, John had barely had time to breathe, as he was constantly apparating between St. Mungo's and the Ministry of Magic. He just wanted to make sure that Katherine was okay, and not somewhat traumatised by the events. After all, she did teach Muggle Studies and two of them were her students.

Side by side, the two professors wandered down towards their destination for the night, the Three Broomsticks. John opened the door for Katherine and offered to take her coat as soon as they walked inside the door. Rosemerta made her way over and asked them what they'd be drinking, and John replied with a Mulled Mead. Rosemerta then ushered them to a quiet table in the corner of the room and John pulled out Katherine's chair for her, playing the gentleman for the evening.

"So, how was your week?" he inquired, hoping things hadn't been too disrupted by the attacks. She looked radiant, sitting underneath the low glowing nights. Her eyes were intense and John couldn't find any reason to look away. She was stunning, tonight.[/blockquote][/justify][/size][/font]

[katherinedupree]

"Well they do say great minds think alike don't they..." Katherine said teasingly, shooting John a wink as they started to walk together. They walked in a comfortable silence until they reached the outside grounds and John finally asked if she'd heard about the attacks. Frowning deeply, she nodded her head and sighed sadly, sure she'd heard about them, every single person knew about them by now. Katherine herself had heard so many strange stories surrounding what had happened.

"I cant get my head around it...it's horrid, heartbreaking really after all this is supposed to be a safe haven for these kids, for all of us. To know this happend right under our noses..." she shook her head as she trailed off. She had to cut herself off before she began crying again, she'd spent hours down at the hospital watching over her students. Katherine for the first time didn't feel so safe in Hogwart's, a place she'd always felt protected. If this had happened, it just proved they were all at risk.

As they entered the bar, Katherine took comfort in the warmth and shrugged off her jacket. Looking at John she smiled softly and shook her head "Still the eternal gentleman," she said teasingly as she slipped into the seat. "My week aside from the obvious badness has been good, busy as usual...though what about you? Kids tried to initiate you yet?" she asked with a small laugh, wondering if the kids had tried torturing John yet.


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[/quote]

[johndawlish]

John felt the same way as Katherine. "It just makes you wonder what kind of student would be so heartless as to actually attack a fellow schoolmate."

[/color] His voice was deep and cold. There were only a select few who weren't affected by the attack, but there wasn't enough evidence to pinpoint who the attackers actually were.

His eyes studied Katherine, hoping that she was okay talking about it. Her sentenced had trailed off and John wondered if she was alright. "I'll always be around to listen, you know," he said quietly as the two of them reached the door to the Three Broomsticks. "If you want to talk about it, I mean. It's not an easy thing to deal with." He would know - his youngest brother had been killed by Death Eaters two years ago. His family were still reeling from it.

He chiseled lips pulled back into a smile as Katherine called him a gentleman. Well, he did try. And Katherine deserved the best. As the two of them sat down at the table, Katherine replied to his question and asked one in return. "It's been eventful, to say the least." He folded his hands on top of the table as he waited for Rosemerta to return with his mulled mead. "But the kids have been alright. We had a rogue Hinkypunk at the start of the week that didn't take too fondly to the third year Gryffindor girls, but other than that it was alright." He chuckled, glad that teaching-wise, his week hadn't been too bad.

"But I'm guessing things like that happen to all new teachers in the beginning. I still can't remember anyone's name," he confessed, shrugging his shoulders. His eyes gazed over the lovely sight in front of him and John barely realised as Rosemerta returned with his drink and plonked it down on the table in front of him. Katherine looked absolutely stunning tonight and there was no use denying it.

John was head over heels in love with his younger sister's best friend, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He felt the need to apologise for staring so much, but Katherine's eyes barely looked away. He smiled, feeling a warmth spread to the pit of his stomach. Hmm, this was new.[/justify][/blockquote][/size][/font]

[katherinedupree]

A rogue hinkypunk...well yes I did hear about that. Few of those students were talking about it during my lesson..." Katherine laughed lightly, glad that nothing too major had happened during John's first week. If she remembered correctly she'd gotten herself so flustered with some of the students on her first day, unable to take what they were saying she'd practically stumbled over herself when she'd ran from the room, breaking down in tears once she'd reached Dumbledore's office. After a long talk and a cup of tea Dumbledore had managed to persuade her not to quit like she'd wanted too.

"Well your first week sounds less drama filled than mine did...I'm really happy your settling in John, don't worry about not remembering names...give it a year you'll soon get it." she said teasingly, reaching over to lightly touch his hand. Then giving him a knowing smile she chuckled, "Sorry to say though I think the kids are just letting you settle in before they really welcome you to teaching..." she chuckled, pulling her hand back and straightening herself.

"I have no doubts you'll be able to handle them though...just avoid direct eye contact." she said seriously, thanking Madam Rosmerta for their drinks before glancing back at John. She couldn't believe they were here together, Katherine had to keep reminding herself that this wasn't a date, she highly doubted someone like John would ever want to date her but simply being close enough to share nights like this would be enough for Katherine...at least she hoped they would be. Smiling softly she pulled her gaze from John's finally remembering that she had to breathe before she passed out, and really embarresed herself.

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[johndawlish]

A fizz of electricity jolted through John's arm as Katherine touched the back of his hand lightly. He'd never felt like this before, that was certain. "A year?"

[/color] he spluttered, managing to speak the words through a strangled voice, hoping it would just sound like he was surprised, rather than recovering from her touch. He smiled back at her. "Yeah, you're probably right,"[/color] he concluded as he took another sip from his mulled mead, letting the alcohol settle in his stomach. "I'll probably have seven classes of ratbags,"[/color] he grinned.

"Well, other than that, I've settled in okay. Harriet's going to be looking after my flat in London while I'm teaching here, so that'll be nice,"[/color] he didn't know why he was rambling on like this. Perhaps it was the alcohol that had finally gone from his stomach to his brain. "and it'll also be nice to get away from the Ministry, just between you and me."[/color] He raised his eyebrows and pushed his lips into a thin line. "It's been hectic, to say the least." There had been so many attacks just like the one at Hogwarts. Only, they weren't trying to catch a bunch of students. It was You-Know-Who they were trying to locate.

"Thanks for coming out and having a drink with me. I hope I wasn't intruding on any of your other Friday night plans."[/color] Lord knew a girl that was as beautiful as she was, inside and out, would have men lining up down the corridor to take her out. Lucky John![/blockquote][/justify][/size][/font]

[katherinedupree]

Katherine laughed and shook her head, "A year give or take...no I'm kidding you'll be fine John I have no doubt about that...and aside from a few exceptions the kids are incredible, it's just about finding your own way to connect with them..." she said brushing her hair back over her shoulder. Picking up her mug she took a small sip, watching John. Her heart gave another jolt just from looking at him, still unable to believe her luck at being here wiith him.

Allowing her eyes to scan the bar quickly, she smiled at a few of the punters before looking back at John, "Yeah, the attacks are getting out of control...no ones safe anymore...I'm often too scared to leave the grounds..." she sighed quietly.

The fear of being attacked is what made her remain at Hogwarts, though after what had happened to those poor students, she doubted Hogwarts was even safe anymore. She had to wonder during class whether she was teaching the ones responsible for the brutal attacks. "Though I will admit I'm feeling a lot safer tonight..." she said honestly shooting him a soft smile, it was down to him being there after all.

"My other Friday night plans involved a stack of papers that I'm more than happy to leave till tomorow." she smiled, resting her arms on the table as she looked at him. "Do you have any plans for the weekend? Perhaps going back to your flat, make sure that sister of yours hasn't burnt it down yet...." she teased jokingly. It was strange how at ease she felt around him, he made her feel like that girl she'd been back in school.

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[johndawlish]

John had to admit, she had a point. All he really needed to do was somehow engage the kids. John had never taught before in his life, let alone done tutoring or anything like it. This was something completely new to him and he was just glad that he had Katherine here to stare at help him through it.

The conversation turned grave as John mentioned the attacks and Katherine agreed. He paused, his eye-lid twitching. Out of all things, he was angry. Angry at the fact that a perfectly lovely woman like Katherine was now afraid to step outside the walls of the place she lived in fear of being attacked. There was something so sickly wrong with the whole situation. "If you ever feel too scared to leave, you tell me, okay?"

[/color] His blue eyes looked into hers. "No one has the right to feel scared. I'll accompany you, where ever it is you want to go."[/color]

Was he saying that for the right reasons? Was he motivated to accompany her simply because he didn't want her to feel scared, or because he wanted to spend more time with her? He pressed his lips into a hard line as he thought about it.

John was drawn out of his thoughts by Katherine's smile. "I don't have any plans, no,"[/color] he said truthfully. "Well, if I were to go back to my flat, I'd love for you to come with me. Harriet would be dying to see you,"[/color] he grinned. Oh, this could be fun.

"And coming back to my apartment sounds a lot more fun than dealing with that stack of papers you were talking about. You could always leave them 'til Monday."[/color] Now he was just getting his hopes up. This was silly.[/blockquote][/justify][/size][/font]

[katherinedupree]

"I'd be careful John I may just hold you to that offer..." Katherine teased as he he offered to be the one to escort her out of Hogwart's should she ever want to leave. It was kind and thoughtful and completely John, she smiled softly at him, his offer warming her inside. Did it mean he cared? Or was she being silly, allowing her childish/teenage feelings for him to try and seek out any hidden agenda behind his words. The grown up side of Katherine though knew he was simply worried about her safety, as her friend. "I do appreciate the offer though, thank you!"

Katherine took a sip of her drink, looking at John over her mug, wishing she had the nerve to act on the feelings she'd hidden for so many years. Of course she'd dated but apparently there was only one man who seemed to possess her thoughts, even during the years she hadn't seen him, and he was sat in front of her now, looking every ounce as good as she remembered. Feeling her cheeks flush Katherine looked away from John, allowing her eyes to quickly scan the bar, grimacing ever so slightly as a balding, overweight slimly looking man winked at her from across the room.

Looking back at John she smiled brightly, returning his handsome smile, "I would love that, that is if you don't mind me tagging along with you?" she asked, doing her best to ignore the fact he'd invited her to his apartment. 'It's to see Harriet you idiot stop getting your hopes up' she thought, chastising herself. "You sure you want me interrupting sibling time?" she asked, teasing slightly.

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