Supposed to Be

Kat Korin found she couldn’t breathe. It seemed her ability to function had left her completely.

“Hello.” he had said.

“Hello.” It was feat that she managed to get that word out.

That singular event encompassed the first time she met Harry Potter. That night as she sat in her bed in the Hufflepuff dormitories, she recorded the moment in her diary as the moment that changed everything. She knew there was something special about the boy beyond his scar. She knew he would change her life.

It took a week for Kat, a shy fifth year, to speak to Harry, a sixth year, again. A week after that they were dating.

Their entire relationship spanned the course of seven months. Every night, there was a new entry in her diary. Every new entry expressed the love she felt for the boy. She was in love with him. Kat Korin was sure he felt the same way. She was so very positive and thus she was blindsided when he broke up with her.

They were standing by the entrance to the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade when he ended it.

“Kat.” The tone in his voice struck a deep, resonating chord in her heart; she took one look into his eyes and knew what was coming. Her knowledge of the words he was about to say moments before he said them did nothing to stop the pain the words caused.

“I think we should see other people.” he had said. He had issued forth the words as if they mattered not. Later, Kat would think for months on end that she had never meant anything to him at all.

“Why?” As her heart broke, that was all she wanted to know. Why?

“People fall in and out of love at different times, Kat. I just—”

“Fell out of it before I did.” she muttered. Nodding her head slowly, she had turned from him and went back to her dormitory. She didn’t leave for the rest of the weekend.

A week later, when Kat witnessed the kiss between Ginny Weasley and Harry on the Quidditch Pitch in front of the entire school, Kat got her diary and erased Harry’s name from the little book.

Kat Korin did not speak to Harry Potter again. After Dumbledore’s funeral, the next time she saw him was a few years later.

An older and wiser Kat Korin entered the Leaky Cauldron with a throbbing headache and a pain in her heart that would not go away. She hoped to drink away the ache in her heart that was too painful to deal with sober.

“The usual, Kat?” The barman asked.

“Just a water, for now.” She was trying to start slow that night.

Sitting down at the bar, a slumped figure staring at a glass of fire whiskey caught her attention. She knew him in an instant. As Kat stood and made her way to him, every fiber of her being screamed that it was a bad idea to speak to him. She had not seen him for years and that was still not enough time to forget him. That was not enough time to stop the fresh pain in her heart every time he saw her.

Still, she took the empty seat next to him and said, “Harry?”

The next morning, she woke up to a steady rhythm of footsteps. He was pacing.

“Tell me we didn’t.” she asked of him.

“We did.” he sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

“Look, you don’t have to tell Ginny.

“What?”

“I mean…it was just a mistake. You don’t have to tell her.”

“Kat—”

“Harry, I…” She didn’t expect it would hurt so much to see him again. She never thought he would be hers again, even for just a moment. It was so painful. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“Kat, there’s—”

“I didn’t expect this.” she said quietly.

“Kat, just let me explain!”

“Harry—”

“Ginny and I are separated.”

“What— why?”

He had sighed. “It wasn’t right.”

“Don’t say that Harry.” she murmured as she threw back the covers and began putting her clothes on. “She’s your wife.”

“We’re getting divorced.” he let out. “I don’t wear my ring anymore.

“How long?”

“About a month and a half.”

“Why?”

“I never thought I loved her. I just tried to make it work.”

“You can’t give up on your marriage, Harry.”

“You don’t understand. Ginny and I aren’t meant for each other.”

“You just think that because things are hard—”

"It wasn't supposed to be like this. Just...just know that."

"Harry—"

"No, honestly. It was never her. It was always you; it is you. It'll always be you."

"Please don't—"

"We're getting a divorce because it’s not working out. It’s not her."

"You shouldn't—"

"I want to be with you! Not her! And now...now we can be."

“Harry—”

“We just slept together, you should want to be with me!” She did. She wanted to be with him more than anything. And so she and Harry became a couple again.

For a brilliant month and a half, she and Harry were happy. Until the day came where it had to end.

Rolling over in bed, Harry spotted the barn owl tapping on the window. Standing up with a sigh and leaving the warm sanctity of the bed, Harry meandered over to the window.

Kat awoke to an empty bed. Sitting up and stretching, she glanced around the room and her eyes landed on Harry sitting on a chair, staring down at the letter in his hand. He was running his hand through his already messy hair as he always did when he was stressed.

"Good morning." Kat said quietly. "Is everything alright?"

Harry tore his eyes away from the familiar handwriting that expanded across the parchment.

"Gin's..." he seemed lost for words as he took in the woman lying under the dark blue sheets before him. Harry wanted to marry Kat. He wanted to be with her forever and make up for the time they'd lost since their school days. The letter, however, put an end to all of his dreams involving Kat.

"Ginny's what, Harry?" Kat asked as she got out of bed and walked over to Harry. She placed a warm hand on his comfortingly as her brow furrowed in concern. “Is she alright?”

That was one of the things he loved about Kat. She always thought of others. Harry’s formerly-soon-to-be-ex-wife writes a letter to Harry and Kat was worried about her health. Kat was too kind to him and to everyone. All he gave her in return was heartbreak.

"She's three months pregnant."

Kat's heart plummeted in her chest. Kat knew in that moment that it was the end.

"Oh." she muttered as she removed her hand from Harry's. He was never hers, anyway. They were never meant for each other.

"It doesn't have to—"

Kat had smiled sadly at his attempt. She moved slowly and sat at the end of the bed they would no longer share. Clasping her hands tightly in her lap, she knew it had to end.

"You grew up without a father, Harry. You can't do that to your own child—not when you can help it. You know it’s true."

"Kat—"

"Ginny needs you."

"I need you."

"Your child needs you."

"Kat, I love you." he tried beseechingly but she would not listen. She had already sealed her heart off from him.

"People fall in and out of love at different times, Harry. Six more months will go by quickly. You'll see your kid and you'll see Ginny holding your kid and you'll love her. She's still your wife, Harry. Go back to her; she needs you."

"How can you throw this away?" he yelled, mad that she was giving up so easily.

"We don't have a choice, Harry!" she yelled in return, mad that he couldn't let her go as he had done so easily before.

"Yes we can. We can get married. We can have our own family—"

"And what about Ginny and your child?"

"I'll...I'll—" Harry knew she was right. He would feel guilty for the rest of his life if he wasn't a part of his child's life daily. He couldn’t let her go so easily.

"We have to move on."

"I can't."

"You haven't tried."

"I'd been trying since my sixth year. Clearly that didn't work out all that well."

"Things are different now."

"Kat, I love you."

"Telling me that only makes this harder."

"I don't care. It’s true."

"Please don't make this harder for me. Please, Harry. It was bad enough at school. I had to see you two walking around, holding hands, snogging—"

"That was to protect you—"

"I know that, Harry. But don't you see how much worse this will be? She's not just your girlfriend anymore, Harry. Ginny is your wife and she's going to have your kid."

"It wasn't supposed to be like this, I swear."

"It is though."

"I wanted to marry you."

"Harry, please. Just go back to Ginny."
The man bit his lip and nodded. He went toward the bedroom door but stopped with his hand on the doorknob.

"Just tell me, please. If I had asked, what would you have said?"

There was moment of silence and he was sure she wouldn't answer.

"Yes."

Clenching his jaw, he fought back the tears that gathered in his eyes. He left the bedroom and closed the door quietly behind him. He had his answer; he knew what could've been—he knew what he could've had. Somehow knowing was worse than not knowing. The pain of loss took over his heart as he took in all that he would never have with her. He would never get over Kat Korin, he decided. Never.

Standing alone in the bedroom they would never again share, Kat's hands rested on her stomach. She was going to tell him that day. Harry could never know about the baby that was growing in her stomach. She could compensate for her child's lack of a father. Her child would never be wanting. Kat loved Harry with all her heart but she knew she could not have him. If her child asked why the father was never around, she would simply have to say that the relationship between herself and her child's father was not supposed to be.