26 March '76: Let me be perfectly queer: Open to LGBT

[Marlene McKinnon]

The whole club had started as a joke, sometime last year. A casual conversation in the Hufflepuff common room while they were all together, a wouldn’t it be nice if there was a club just for the queer people at Hogwarts? It wasn’t the sort of thing you went around asking about, or advertising really, depending on what company you kept. People had started whispering about her and Bridget two years ago, and Marlene really just did her best to ignore it. They had the support of their friends, and that was what mattered. But oh, wouldn’t it be nice to just be around other people that were different from society in the same way that you were. Honestly, Mick wasn’t entirely sure who had actually started the club, but the first invitations had been slipped into bags and a small group of them met in the Room of Requirement. It had been interesting to see who all had shown up to that first meeting. Marlene had gone, and she’d brought Bridget. There had been some familiar faces there, Athena had been there, with some older Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws.

These days the group was bigger, and mostly was an excuse to hang out and gossip about the rest of their classmates. Or lamenting about being in love with your heterosexual friend, which was an all too common occurrence it seemed. Marlene felt lucky, that she had found Bridget when she had. She’d known about her interest in girls before that, but she’d never thought she’d get a chance to experience so many firsts with such an amazing girl. Fifth-year had been fantastic so far, and in this room, it was easy to forget that so many people in the halls of their own school hated them for who they all loved. Sitting up from where she had been resting her head in Bridget’s lap, she leaned over to give her girlfriend a kiss before wrapping an arm around Bridget’s waist. Chances to just be were so few and far between sometimes, Marlene found that she spent so many of their nights in here just soaking in the chance to touch Bridget.

“I love spending time here with you,” she said quietly, nudging their knees together. This summer she had told her parents that she, was without question, into girls and not boys and nothing they could say would change it. They had taken it surprisingly well, for such big news, and it made her hopeful that maybe this summer would be the summer she could bring Bridget around her folks. Hopefully, they would be cool with the whole muggle-born thing. Looking up, she could see Emmeline had shown up, hand intertwined with Dorcas’. That had been a new thing this year, Dorcas dating a girl. That had caught her off guard, but it sort of made a lot of sense when she thought back on things. She waved them over, curious to see who else would show up tonight.

[Bridget Applebee]

Sneaking off on Friday evenings to join Mick in the Room of Requirement was a newish tradition that Bridget would never tire of. They spent as much time together as possible, sharing tables in class and mealtimes, showing up in common rooms, Bridget cheering from the stands during Quidditch practices - but there was a comfort in this space she hadn't found anywhere else. Even at home, it didn't quite feel like this. Their parents were still learning how to handle her and Benny being gone for so much of the year, and off to a school of witches and wizards in Scotland at that. She had her own growing pains at being away from them, of having to figure things out herself or with the help of her brother and their new friends, instead of relying on their advice. Owls and letters helped, but the delay could be agony when one had a pressing concern.

Trips home had started to feel like a reintroduction to each other, and while she had been upfront with them about her relationship with Mick from early on...she was their daughter. She was a witch. She was in love with another witch. She only saw them for holidays. The distance was there, even as the effort to become accustomed to each other at every visit was there too. But she was grateful for the steps they could take, and she hoped that this summer would continue in the right direction. Mick's family wasn't exactly the warmest to muggleborns, but now that they had relocated to London...being in the same city as her family, Bridge hoped that not only could she and Mick spend more time together, but that their families could too...

But here. There were friends, Benny, Mick. People of mutual understanding, a space to be and enjoy time without their usual concerns. She'd been chatting with her brother about their need to practice (with Ludo and his fellow Beater graduating, the spaces opening, how cool would it be to finish their Hogwarts years as part of the Quidditch team?), stroking Mick's hair as she laid on her lap, when her girlfriend sat up and gave her a sweet kiss. Bridget smiled against her, two years in and heart still fluttering at their little moments. "Me too - come here," Bridget grinned, sweeping Mick's legs over her lap and securing her spot, arms linked around her waist. At Mick's wave, Bee followed her eye to see Dorcas and Emmeline, and sent a smile their way. Ben and Dorcas's split in fourth had been amicable enough, opening them each up to be themselves more authentically, and she was hopeful for both parties to find new love. "What do you all think of me and Ben trying out for Quidditch next term? We can handle a bit of competition, don't you think?" she teased her girl with a laugh.