K-Squared...this could lead to some serious trouble for all involved

[Katalina Harker]

Katalina Vanderhol wandered the streets of New Zealand without any real purpose in mind. She'd already been to Brightstone and Obsidian Harbour since she'd been out today and she didn't really fancy a trip to the mall just yet so instead she just wandered. It was days like this that she missed being in New Zealand, but mostly that she missed being in school. There she had had friends, best friends, with whom she'd done anything and everything with. Things then seemed so much simpler, but alas adulthood waited for no one and that in itself sucked. The brunette had hoped desperately that somehow she'd magically run into Andromeda, if only for just a second. Of all the people she missed most it would have been that pain in the ass redhead that she loved so dearly. Unfortunately, Andy had disappeared without so much as a word to anyone and that had Kat worried for her best friend.

As she walked she noticed patches of snow on the ground. She grinned as she remembered back to her first year when she, Kailey, and Rhyspa had had a snowball fight on the school grounds. One of them had actually managed to ping a snowball right off the back of Professor King's head. That had been a good day and it was days like those that she really missed. Oh to be twelve and that carefree again she thought with a smile.

 

[Kailey Harrington]

Kailey Harrington had no reason in particular to be out and about on that unnaturally warm June afternoon. But she had not had a shopping day to herself for quite a while, and decided to go ahead and hit the shops. She had decided against the Harbor for the day considering it was school shopping time of year again and it was always hectic around then, and hit a less popular, much smaller but just as good Wizarding hub on the outskirts of Auckland. She hadn't been out long and already had one small bag on her arm as she walked the streets. She had just been about to make a quick turn into a nearby dress shop when something got caught in her peripheral vision. She stopped in her tracks for a moment to take in what had been profound enough to distract her from across the street. When she saw what it was her mouth dropped open. Was that Kat? What was she doing here? Better yet, Why didn't Kailey get an owl? She almost slipped on one of the patches of melting snow left over from the last weeks snow storm in shock as she resisted the urge to go tackle her friend in a much needed hug.

She was making her way over towards the other brunette, watching as her form continued to retreat in front of her after she had darted across the road, still checking both ways even though there would never be a car on this path. When a devilish idea struck her, she had not felt so lighthearted in a few months and decided to make the most of it. Letting all of the stress she had collected in her adulthood thus far roll off her shoulders. As she let her powers; now publicly known thanks to a particularly sneaky Daily Prophet reporter, take over as she felt her form shrinking and changing. Her height not altered enough to make her jeans look strange. But she yanked them up some anyways, in the blink of an eye she was a third year again, she couldn't have looked any older than fourteen the figured as she checked in a nearly opaque store window. Quickly taking the smirk off of her lips she ran up to Kat, one of her best friends. And let out a quiet, but high pitched squeal.

"Oh my god, Oh my god, Oh my god! Are you Katalina Vanderhol? Chaser for the Wimbourne Wasps?!" she exclaimed in a valley girl type voice, pausing for a moment as if to let it sink in that she was meeting an idol, though really she was just maintaining her composure. She felt so immature doing this but it was nice to cut loose for a change and unless she had changed drastically over the past year in England, who better to do that with than Kat? "Oh my... Can I have your Autograph? This is so amazing! I was at your game against the Thunderers back in December. The wasps should have won, The twin; Kylie? Something like that, totally cheated you out of that quaffle." she said. Before taking a small step back and waiing to see what happened next.

 

[Katalina Harker]

Kat was pulled from her memories in a not so pleasant manner. A small blonde girl had stormed up to her, squealing loudly at that. Apparently the girl was a fan or at least it appeared that way. The brunette blushed profusely. She still couldn't get used to this whole 'superstar' attention that she got since she started playing quidditch professionally. It was just bizarre to think that people saw her that way when really she only saw herself as just a plain ordinary nineteen year old girl. Grinning brightly she held her hand up to the bouncy little teen girl. "Okay, okay...hold on just a second. One question at a time," she said laughing a bit as she coaxed the girl over to a bench and they sat down. "First. Yes I'm Katalina Vanderhol. Second. Yes I play chaser for the Wimbourne Wasps. Third. Yes, if you have something for me to sign then I'd be more than happy to autograph it for you." Kat felt like an absolute idiot, but well she felt that way every time someone asked for her autograph. When the girl started to talk about the game against the Thunderers she smirked, especially when she called the opposing chaser Kylie. "Yeah, that Kylie chick totally ruined my mojo in that game, but that's okay. We'll get them next time I'm sure of it." It was funny because Kylie was actually Kailey, Kat's best friend from school and truth be told she'd gotten that quaffle fair and square. "So what's your name sweetie?" It was always nice to meet fans, no matter how odd it made her feel.

 

[Kailey Harrington]

Kailey thought on her feet, shifting them back and forth as if this were the greatest day of her life. She wouldn't let this act go on long but it was fun while it lasted. She could tell by the look on her face that Kat was flabbergasted at the sudden onslaught of attention. Kailey had encountered it herself a few times on the streets and while it was so cute to watch; it also just seemed odd. She hadn't really thought about the celebrity status when she tried out for the team. She had just joined it for the love of the game, she didn't see herself any differently. "Okay!" she chirped as Kat said they would take it one question at a time. When Kat waved them over to a bench she nodded and sat down beside her best friend; It was odd to be looking up at her rather than down which she usually was due to her unnaturally long legs and weakness for heels even though she stood at 5'11". "I knew it was you!" she exclaimed as if she had just won a million bucks. "Oh, I think I have some scrap parchment here somewhere... I really need a book." she said, rummaging through her bag before pulling out a small, empty appointment book. "Oh look, I had a book." she said with a laugh as she handed her the book and a Ravenclaw pen. "Okay, could you write that out to 'Kayleigh Herrington' please?" she asked, smirking as Kats eyes went to the paper, she quickly righted her body into her normal self before Kat caught on. She had changed quite a bit over the past year but hopefully her best friend still recognized her. When Kat realized what she was writing Kailey met her eyes with a smirk. "Long time no see best friend."

 

[Katalina Harker]

Kat smiled kindly as she took the parchment, pen and book from the small girl. "Nice pen. Have to say I'm more of a Gryffindor fan myself," she said with a smirk. The brunette started to write out the name and she stopped with a very confused look on her face and when she looked back up she saw none other than Kailey herself. "You little poop," she said as she wrapped her best friend tightly in a hug. "I'll have to admit...that was a good one though. It even took me a minute to process it." Kat was so glad that she was getting to see Kailey. She'd gotten to see most of her friends since she'd been back to New Zealand and she was thankful for it. There were times that she wished she'd never left. "How've you been you crafty little witch?"

 

[Kailey Harrington]

Still in the form of the small blonde girl Kailey smiled. "I'd say so. That's where I wanted to go myself but the hat spat on that idea." she said, a note of sadness in her voice that was completely false. Kailey had wanted Ravenclaw with a passion and she had loved every second of it. Kailey watched as Kat began to scribble the name down, and observed her facial features, now back in her normal form as Kat realized just what was going on on that bench. "At your service" Kailey intoned with a smirk as she returned her friends killer hug. "I've been... Decent I suppose. In better shape than a lot around here though..." she said knowing of her friends hardships, surely Kat did as well. "How is England treating you?" she asked, trying not to weigh the reunion down.

 

[Katalina Harker]

Kat's brow furrowed at Kailey's words. What did she mean in better shape than the others around here? What had been going on since she'd left? The brunette hated that she missed what exactly was going on with her old friends since she'd left New Zealand. In a way it made her feel horribly out of the loop. "England is well...England. Not much going on at all really. Totally boring," she started, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was going on and Kailey wasn't telling her what it was so she asked, "So what is going on with everyone else? I'm supposing it's not good news being the way you worded things." Kat was worried and probably with good reason, but she wasn't sure if she actually wanted to know it was.

 

[Kailey Harrington]

Kailey wished almost immediately that she had kept it at the normal "I'm fine, how are you?" type conversation. But the death of Jaken Styx had been a few months ago and had figured Kat would have certainly found out by that point. Then again Estrella hadn't exactly been up for owls lately. Which was more than understandable; considering she was now a widow and pregnant at that. Kailey thought the pregnancy was an oddly mixed bag. On one hand she had more links left to the love of her life. But on the otherhand she also thought about the fact that now all four of their children would grow up without knowing their father. Another twinge of fear stabbed through Kaileys heart as she thought about how she would be if she were the widow. Kailey knew she couldn't handle it, she was not that strong. "So nobody told you about Jaken..." she murmured solemnly. "Well, Kat... He was killed, back in April. It shook all of us up. I figured you would have found out in an owl from somebody or something." she said, her voice low.

 

[Katalina Harker]

Kat's heart fell to the pit of her stomach like someone had knocked the wind out of her. Jaken had died? She had never been particularly close to the guy, but Estrella was a friend and it broke her heart for the older girl. What would her babies do without a father? What would Estrella do without a husband? "What happened? I mean what caused it," she asked still not able to process that someone that she'd gone to school with, who wasn't that much older than herself was dead. It just didn't make sense and it sure as hell wasn't fair. A twinge of guilt and sadness filled the brunette. She'd done a horrible job of keeping up with anyone. She'd holed herself up in her apartment for the last few months and before that she'd been holed up in a hospital room for weeks. Kat hadn't talked to anyone, literally. "I haven't heard anything from anyone. I haven't talked to anyone in months. I guess I just sort of fell out of touch with life for a while," she said with a shrug, not really sure what else to say to that.

 

[Kailey Harrington]

Kailey watched the look on Kats face change with a pained expression of her own as it registered to the other girl just what had happened. "That's the thing... It was out of nowhere and while I'm sure people closer to him know the details. I didn't ask, to be honest I don't really want to know. He had recovered so well from the attack too... Twins due in September. To be honest, I wasn't the closest person to him, but I can't help but think... Him and Demitris were so alike and so close..." She trailed off, her breath hitching a bit as her hand balled up into a fist. "Well, I'll admit I've been a bit too busy to do much owling myself. School definitely doesn't prepare you for the real world does it?" she said with a bit of a dejected tone. But remembering something else she decided to give this conversation a bit of a boost, simply because who knew when she'd see Kat again? "But there is good news from 'down under' too. I don't know if you still talk to her much. But Rhyspa and Dominick will have a little one of their own in a few months." she paused for a moment. "Damn! She probably wanted to tell you herself... Too late now though." she told her.

 

[Katalina Harker]

Kat screwed up her face when Kailey asked about school not preparing them for the real world. There was no way in the world anything could have prepared them for this. It was definitely times like this that the brunette wished she were still in the safe confines of Hogwarts where nothing could hurt her or her friends. At what Kailey said next Kat didn't know how to react. At first she was a bit hurt that she hadn't been let in on that bit of information, but then her heart was overjoyed at the news that one of her best friends was going to have a little one. "That is so terrific. When is she due," Kat asked with a small smile spreading across her face. The former Gryffindor figured that officially made her the late bloomer of the Three Muskateers. Both Kailey and Rhyspa were married and now 'Spa had a baby on the way. As happy as she was for those that had always been closest to her she still couldn't help, but feel green with jealousy at how perfect her friends lives seemed compared to her own. Shaking that thought away she looked at Kailey and took her hands in her own and said, "So tell me friend...how are things with you? How's that simply scrumptious husband of yours?"

 

[Kailey Harrington]

Kailey watched as Kat screwed up her face at Kaileys question, her own contorting just a bit. There was nothing on the face of the Earth that could have truly prepared herself, or anybody for that matter; on just how difficult life on your own truly was. All of the freedom you got outside of the structured lifestyle of living at school or with your parents was overshadowed by all of the responsibilities that came with it. When she told Kat about their best friends bundle of joy she could tell that Kat hadn't been let in on that little tidbit of information either. "She's due in September. You should see her now, she looks so radiant and that bump is definitely hard to get used to." Kailey told her, her voice soft as she thought about her friends happiness, and maybe a child of her own. Though not for a good Four or Five years hopefully. When Kat asked about her life and her husband Kailey didn't know how to answer. "Well, they've been better but considering the circumstances that should be pretty understandable. I've been as sick as a dog the past few weeks though, I'm glad it let up today though." she started with a smile, because if it hadn't there was no way Kailey and Kat would be having this conversation. "Demitris is as scrumptious as ever, if not more." Kailey started with a small smirk. He was Scrumptious, amazing, and all hers. "He's been doing about as good as he can, he was extremely close to Jaken..." she mentioned with a small sigh. Seeing her husband in such a state made her heart break for him. "So I need to know Kat, how have things been with you? Still with Chace I assume?" she asked, wanting to hear about the brunettes life in Britain.