Being a girl who liked other girls had never once been an issue for Kate—not in her past life, and not in this one either.
But just because she could clearly perceive and choose this path for herself didn't mean the people around her could accept her for it.
At the very least, in her past life, her family had disapproved of her attraction to the same sex—had even found it repugnant.
In this life, she had never told anyone about it. It wasn't that she was deliberately concealing it; there was simply no need to announce it to everyone she met.
But precisely because of that, she still didn't know how the friends around her felt—Hermione, for instance, or Cho Chang.
"Hermione, your books." She walked over, gathered up the scattered books and stationery, and handed them back with feigned calm.
In truth, though, from the moment she bent down, she'd been watching Hermione's every reaction.
What struck her as strange was that Hermione didn't show anything out of the ordinary—at most, she seemed to have gone a little slow and dazed.
When Kate held out the books, Hermione stared blankly for quite a while before taking them, murmuring a soft "thank you."
"Hermione..."
"I—I just remembered I still have homework to finish. I'm heading back to the dormitory!"
Before Kate could finish, Hermione abruptly cut her off, then turned and fled as though running away.
Kate scratched her head, a little troubled, then turned and looked over at Cho Chang. "What about you? Do you also think it's weird that I like girls?"
"I never said that." Cho Chang looked earnestly into her eyes, a bright smile blossoming across her gentle, pretty little face. "On the contrary, I think it's wonderful. At least... it confirms that the ones you like are girls."
She rested a hand on Kate's shoulder and arched an eyebrow with easy generosity. "Whether you like boys or girls, and no matter who it is you like, the two of us will always be friends—won't we?"
Infected by her sincerity, the corners of Kate's lips finally curved up ever so slightly. "Thanks, then."
"You're welcome." Cho Chang glanced at the sky outside. "It's almost evening—want to go get dinner together?"
"Sure!"
The two of them headed downstairs together, passing along the way many pitiful students trapped by the little dwarves, unable to leave until they'd sat through their valentines.
"Confessing your feelings should be a voluntary thing to begin with. Professor Lockhart taking it this far is a bit much..." After watching it the whole way down, Cho Chang couldn't help knitting her brows in judgment.
Kate nodded. "True. Did you get cornered at all today?"
"Don't even bring it up." The instant it came up, Cho Chang's face went utterly deadened. "I got stopped three whole times—I've practically memorized my rejection speech by now."
Tsk, tsk, tsk. As expected of Ravenclaw's resident goddess—only a third-year and already with this many admirers.
Even Kate couldn't help clicking her tongue at that.
As they passed the second floor, they happened to catch Professor McGonagall emerging from her office. The moment she spotted the two of them, she came right over.
"Shafiq, good thing you're here. Headmaster Dumbledore says he'd like you to come by his office after dinner."
Kate was taken aback, but with Cho Chang standing right there, it wasn't a good time to ask anything, so she could only nod obediently.
It had already been two months since they'd slain the Basilisk. In all that time, Old Man Dumbledore hadn't come looking for her—probably because he'd been busy studying the diary.
For him to suddenly summon her up now likely meant there'd been progress on the Horcruxes, and that he wanted to discuss what came next with her.
Once Professor McGonagall had left, Cho Chang tilted her head to look at Kate, whose expression had instantly turned grave, and smiled to lighten the mood. "You look awfully busy—even the Headmaster himself is in a hurry to see you."
Kate came back to herself and gave a helpless smile. "Yeah. I don't even know what I'm so busy with myself."
Hurrying downstairs with Cho Chang, she was preoccupied with finishing her meal so she could go find Dumbledore, and so she had no attention to spare for the goings-on at the Gryffindor table.
But just because she wasn't paying attention over there didn't mean she wouldn't be the object of attention here at the Slytherin table.
She'd never noticed before, but Amber was actually seated just two or three places away from her. Seeing Kate approach, the other girl even made a conscious effort to hide her eyes, red and swollen from crying.
Kate could only pretend she hadn't seen and walk straight past her.
Were British people always this precocious? Only thirteen and already suffering the pangs of heartbreak.
Back when she was thirteen, she'd still been flipping paper slam-cards with the other kids, squabbling over prize money like fifty cents or a yuan, then heading off to buy popsicles.
Was it possible that it wasn't that British people matured early, but that she'd matured too late?
Kate mentally lined up the image of Amber confessing to her against the image of herself flipping cards in her past life, and set the two side by side...
Never mind. Better not to compare after all.
Banishing these bizarre images from her mind at once, the moment she sat down she keenly sensed all sorts of gossip-hungry stares from those around her.
Especially this Miss Malfoy sitting across from her, whose eyes shone as bright as lasers, as though terrified anyone might fail to notice.
After eating a few bites of mashed potatoes as though nothing were the matter, Kate found she couldn't quite hold up under the gaze being fired at her. Just as she was about to stand and bolt, Pansy grabbed hold of her and forcibly hauled her back down into her seat.
Kate turned her head, dumbfounded—where did this girl get such strength?
Pansy couldn't care less about any of that. She leaned in close and whispered, "Don't overthink it—just sit here and keep her company for one meal!"
Her dear friend was so easy to placate—no words even necessary; just sharing a meal was enough to smooth her temper over.
In truth, Malfoy wasn't really angry either. Ever since she'd learned that Amber had come back in tears, she'd already known how this confession farce was going to end.
But she just couldn't get over that hurdle in her heart, which was why she came off so glum.
Pansy had seen through it and knew exactly what was on her mind, which was why she'd insisted on dragging Kate over to eat with them.
As long as Kate could show even the smallest bit of willingness to comfort her, it would make Malfoy feel a great deal better.
"But..." Kate hesitated for the longest time—she still had to go upstairs to see Dumbledore. "I really do have something I need to take care of tonight."
"It's just a meal—half an hour, that's all!" Pansy hugged her arm tightly, brooking no argument, refusing to let her go.
Kate tried struggling a little. A little girl's strength was, at most, barely enough to hold her in place; but if it really came down to a contest of raw strength, no young wizard her age could have stopped her.
She glanced hesitantly at Malfoy, who sat with her head down, saying nothing. Kate had no idea what was going through the other girl's mind, but Pansy had, after all, gone to the trouble of asking her like this...
Just half an hour. It wasn't out of the question.
"Fine——"
Just as she was about to agree, Malfoy suddenly spoke up. "I don't need anyone to keep me company."
With that, she got up and walked off on her own.
Kate blinked, dumbfounded. "So... you can let go of me now, right?"
"Draco!" Pansy called out after the rapidly retreating figure, exasperation written all over her face. Then she turned and gave Kate's arm a hard smack. "Couldn't you have been a little more firm about it?"
And then she stood up and hurried off to chase after her.
Kate: ???
It wasn't as if she'd been the one to ask for any of this—why did she have to be more firm?
Utterly baffling.
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