There were a fair number of people in Hermione's life with the tendency to behave dramatically. She couldn't count the number of times she'd had to smooth Ron's ruffled feathers, his triggers few but specific, or how many times she'd enjoyed watching Draco make a mountain out of a molehill. But as far as she knew, Kate wasn't one such person, and so as she looked up from her book that day, hearing Kate's swears ring through the kitchen, her brow immediately knit with worry. Seeing the spill of coffee, Hermione inhaled between her teeth, set her book down, and rushed over to the other girl's side.
"Kate! Are you alright? What happened?" she asked, pulling over a towel to dab the coffee away, before turning on the faucet.
"I'm just spilling coffee everywhere and my brother practically died and I'm telling everyone exactly how I feel," Kate answered, then gave an exasperated sigh, wishing she could just quit it with the truth telling. It wasn't like she spent all her time lying, but there were things she liked to keep to herself, things she didn't want people to know. Her tendency to be a little dramatic aside, she tended to keep her real emotions to herself.
"Shit, I'm sorry," she said, wiping coffee off her hands. "I'm just totally freaked out."
And she felt a little bit like an idiot, admitting that to anyone, but especially Hermione. Like Marshall, she seemed to be pulled together, like she understood something about being an adult that Kate couldn't quite grasp.
One of the benefits to working in the Compound as a Council member was how connected Hermione was to all of the island ongoings. Even simply by listening into the conversations around the offices, she could learn of the efforts both the IPD and ITF took throughout the day, she could see who came in and out of the clinic, and Hermione did recall that someone had been brought in recently after a camping trip, having had an allergic reaction to a bee sting. Her eyes widened in realization, that the young man was Kate's brother, and she shook her head, trying at once to coax Kate's hand under the rushing water.
"That was your brother? Kate, you shouldn't apologize, he's important to you and he was hurt. I'd be more concerned if you weren't at all affected by that," Hermione replied honestly, not sure what she needed to do to calm or soothe the other girl down. "If you want to talk about it, I'm sure there are measures that can be taken to look after his welfare, if you're just frustrated and want a listening ear, I'm here for any of that
If Marshall knew Kate was talking to anyone about his welfare, he'd probably have a heart attack and die of shock, and then she wouldn't have to worry about it at all. Letting her hand run under the water, she thought about it, trying to sort out what she actually felt and how much of it was just her tendency to overreact
( ... )
Hermione bit her lip, knowing that no matter what she tried to say, there was only so many reassurances that she could offer. No matter how careful one was, protecting oneself from all bee stings was no easy feat, especially when they were as common on the island as they were. She didn't know enough about Muggle medication (and was feeling that hit pretty strongly, as the days passed) to know whether or not a rudimentary Epi-Pen could be developed on the island, but her guess was that something like that would be a stretch at best. The operating room had already taken years to put together; specific drugs seemed practically impossible, and Hermione was already feeling a burn by the corners of her eyes as she merely thought of the fact
( ... )
It was weird -- in a good way -- having someone who actually cared. Weirder still when Hermione hugged Kate and for a second, she nearly pulled away. It wasn't like she wasn't used to affection; even Tara had called her exceptionally affectionate from a very young age, but that had generally been limited to boys and her family. But she didn't pull back, instead smiled faintly and hugged Hermione back. Having someone say they'd help look after Marshall made her feel a little better, even if he'd be weirded out by a bunch of girls watching him carefully.
"Thanks," she said. "For most of our lives it's just been me and Moosh looking after each other. I mean, my parents are great and all, but they're sort of messed up and so we ended up looking after them more often than the other way around, I guess." Even so, she would have done anything to have them on the island.
While it was pretty clear from Kate's description that her family wasn't anything like Hermione's own, between having a little brother and parents who weren't capable of looking after their children for all of the personal problems they already had, still there was something about the situation that resonated with Hermione. Squeezing Kate's shoulder one last time for reassurance, Hermione pulled back with a soft smile on her lips, one that barely managed to hang on.
"I don't... have a sibling, personally, and my parents are dentists who are about as normal as you can imagine," Hermione began on a soft exhale. "But I can understand how hard it is to look after others, especially your parents. They're supposed to be the ones taking care of their children, but life doesn't always make it easy. I had to send my own parents halfway across the Earth to keep them away from war, when all I wanted was for them to hug me and tell me things would be better soon."
"Kate! Are you alright? What happened?" she asked, pulling over a towel to dab the coffee away, before turning on the faucet.
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"Shit, I'm sorry," she said, wiping coffee off her hands. "I'm just totally freaked out."
And she felt a little bit like an idiot, admitting that to anyone, but especially Hermione. Like Marshall, she seemed to be pulled together, like she understood something about being an adult that Kate couldn't quite grasp.
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"That was your brother? Kate, you shouldn't apologize, he's important to you and he was hurt. I'd be more concerned if you weren't at all affected by that," Hermione replied honestly, not sure what she needed to do to calm or soothe the other girl down. "If you want to talk about it, I'm sure there are measures that can be taken to look after his welfare, if you're just frustrated and want a listening ear, I'm here for any of that
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"Thanks," she said. "For most of our lives it's just been me and Moosh looking after each other. I mean, my parents are great and all, but they're sort of messed up and so we ended up looking after them more often than the other way around, I guess." Even so, she would have done anything to have them on the island.
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"I don't... have a sibling, personally, and my parents are dentists who are about as normal as you can imagine," Hermione began on a soft exhale. "But I can understand how hard it is to look after others, especially your parents. They're supposed to be the ones taking care of their children, but life doesn't always make it easy. I had to send my own parents halfway across the Earth to keep them away from war, when all I wanted was for them to hug me and tell me things would be better soon."
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