#katlene

i’m still on an eo kick so let’s talk about katlene!!

falls asleep on the couch: you know they both do with their nails wet and wake up to.........a mess

makes friends with the neighbors: “make friends” is a strong word for two savage gryffindors, but u know...probably kat. rather, the neighbors make friends with her.

is the adventurous eater: kathleen

hogs the covers at night: KATHLEEN

forgets to do the dishes: both of them. what’s that buzzing noise/smell?

tries to surprise their partner more often: marlene tries to scare kat by jumping out from behind her bedroom door, if that’s what you mean.

leaves dirty laundry on the floor: kat is probably worse about it, i’ll be real.

stays up til 2 AM reading: marlene. kat does not have time for that.

sings in the shower: marlene. probably loudly on purpose.

takes the selfies: both omg but marlene has dibs.

Katlyn's hands are small and soft and they have always fit perfectly in Marlene's. Their hands pulled at each other as they ran along the beach in Montrose. They tugged each other along as they searched for places to hide and play with their budding magic and share secrets. They hold shells and stones between their hands until their magic has turned them into tiny pieces of art. They fall asleep holding hands the night before Katlyn's eleventh birthday bracing for the next revelations and storms to come. So they grow hand in hand like two vines growing over and together. 

They hold hands excitedly as they run through Diagon Alley, Marlene pointing out sights to Katlyn as she sees her world through fresh eyes, and their laughter is clear and open even over the bustle of the crowds. Marlene can remember the way that Kat's, no longer Katlyn to Marlene, fingers tightened nervously around hers when she first saw the Hogwarts Express. Marlene waved away family and friends in favor of finding an empty compartment with her friend so she could listen to her whisper all about how it didn't feel quite real until then. "I'm leaving everything behind. I won't know anyone. What if I'm not..magical enough...what if when I come back I'm too different and my parents are scared?" Marlene's young heart ached for her friend riding a line between two worlds and growing uncertain of them both. "I'm with you. You'll know me. You are magical but that won't make anything change. Your parents will understand...they're learning already!" Reassurances for fears that Marlene still didn't fully understand. For the first time Marlene felt guilty that her parents had always known she would be magical...accepted that she would be wild and never gave her reason to doubt their love. So they find that understanding is a struggle but one they can face so long as they keep their hands close together. 

They clutch hands excitedly when they talk about their first kisses found at the same time...with different people on New Years Eve. Marlene lies when she says that the reason hers was with a girl was a mistake of midnight timing. When Kat says that she felt like she wasn't very good at kissing Marlene is too quick to offer herself for practice. The moment is tense until Kat laughs when Marlene's laughter joins Kat's it is too loud clearly forced but they both ignore it. It's not as funny after a few firewhiskeys when Kat decides that some practice might not be such a bad idea. She sits at dinner with Kat's family and picks at her food when Mrs.Leannan asks if she's met any nice boys at that school and she reaches for Kat's hand under the table. But Kat pulls her fingers away fast so the first distance between their hands grows.

Marlene watches Kat's grip on her boyfriend's hand break as she stands to cheer for her in the Quidditch stands and can't hold back her grin. She doesn't feel so much like grinning when she sees them kissing after the match and her own fling's touch does nothing to improve her mood. She holds Kat's hand when she comes to her crying after her first serious breakup - "He said he didn't love me." - and she can't hold back her first response. "I love you Kat." Kat doesn't understand, or at least she pretends not to, instead she buries her head in Marlene's shoulder and whispers, "You are the best friend I could ever hope for." This time it's Marlene who wants to pull away but she can't bring herself to with the scent of Kat's hair so close to her face. Too soon it is Marlene who is clutching Kat's hand with her own grief, Mother no, and Kat smoothing her hair away from a tear stained face. So they find reasons to cling to each other again and their fingers begin to twine a little more desperately. 

Then the fighting started, Marlene never knew that love could make words so hateful, and soon neither one of them remembers the last time they held hands. Kat keeps her hands out of Marlene's reach until she stops reaching out at all. "Why are you doing this? We can't!" - "Because I love you! I know you lo.." "Stop it! Stop saying that! What if someone hears you?"  Graduation is a tense event with the two inseparables avoiding each other pointedly.

They don't go flat hunting together like they always planned so it's a surprise when Marlene finds Kat on her doorstep and a welcome shock when she finds herself tugged inside and pulled closer than they have been in months. More than fingers intertwined as they fumbled to Marlene's couch and found that the rest of them fit as well as their hands.