"Kat Tykins!" Professor Snape called out in the hallway in the dungeon. "How many times must I repeat myself, no running in the halls?"
Kat stopped in her tracks and spun around. "Professor! I'm sorry, but I'm late for my muggle studies class."
Snape glared for a moment. "If you were not in my own house, I would have taken points away by now," he said quietly. He stiffened. "Now, get to class!"
Kat flinched at the sudden shout and nodded. "Yes sir..." she mumbled and hurried off to class. She'd gotten sorted over a month ago, but she still had yet to figure her way around. The very idea of magic still amazed her. Both her mother and father were muggles, so this was a huge surprise. But somehow, she'd been sorted into Slytherin, the one house she shouldn't have been in. She wasn't a typical Slytherin; she wasn't mean, she's always done the right thing, and to top it off, she's a muggleborn, the first ever in her house. And because of this, she was constantly teased and no one took her seriously. Draco Malfoy loved to pick on her. She has some great comebacks, but she's been getting tired of it lately.
She came to her class and rushed in just as the professor was calling names for roll. "Kat Tykins, if you insist on being here just in time so often, I'll have to give you detention," the professor said as Kat walked in.
"I'm sorry sir, I'll try to be on time more often," Kat said softly and walked to her seat to take notes on today's class. 'I just have to get through this and lunch, then I can fly,' she thought to herself. Flying lessons were her favorite part of the day. Flying on a broom, the wind in her hair, just felt so right to her.
Kat stopped daydreaming and started taking down the notes the professor was writing on the board. He kept droning on and on about ancient witches and wizards. Kat wondered why people just couldn't drop the past. Yeah, things happened, but that's then and this is now. Kat sighed. The professor announced that class was over and everyone packed up all their things and walked out.
Draco was standing, waiting for her. "Mudblood!" he said, his eyes lighting up. Kat sighed and shoved him out of the way. "Hey!" he shouted and caught up with her. "Don't touch me with your filthy mudblood hands!"
Kat stopped and faced Draco. "Then don't call me a mudblood," she said quietly and stomped away. Draco got a look on his face that said, 'Don't you dare say that to me, I'm far better than you.'
Kat walked into the Great Hall and everyone else had already started to eat. She walked in and sat at the corner of the Slytherin table closest to the exit. She grabbed a turkey sandwich and some water and began eating. She had maybe three bites before someone shoved her from behind. She stood up and spun around. Draco stood there, with Crabbe and Goyle, laughing. "What!" she said, a bit louder than she meant to. A few people turned around to see what was going on. "Do you have a problem with the food I'm eating, or are you still stuck on the fact that I'm muggleborn!" About half the Great Hall turned to watch.
Draco sneered. "You don't belong in Slytherin! You don't even belong in this school! You're a filthy little mudblood and you shouldn't know magic!" Malfoy shouted back. Everyone, including Dumbledore and all the teachers, turned around to see the argument.
Kat looked hurt. This was it; she wasn't going to take it anymore. "I've put up with you hurting me. I've put up with the teasing. I've put up with being called a 'filthy mudblood' constantly." she said, her voice barely above a whisper. She took a deep breath and tried to keep the tears from coming. She spoke, her voice stronger and louder than before. "This...this is the last straw. I do have a right to be here. Every time you say I don't, it feels like I'm being killed, it hurts so much." The tears started to fall and her voice dropped. "I'm tired of it. I'm tired of being slowly killed." With those last words, she covered her eyes with her arm and ran out of the Great Hall.
Draco stared after her with a look of disbelief on his face. The Great Hall went back to its usual noisiness. A few of the Gryffindors looked after her, but after a few moments, they all went back to eating. All, except for one.
Snape marched down an aisle towards Draco. Crabbe and Goyle left Draco's side as soon as they saw Snape. As Snape passed by Draco, he grabbed his arm and whispered, in a very serious tone, "Come with me, now!" Draco went with an almost scared look on his face. Snape walked out of the Great Hall and let go of Draco. "How dare you! You're supposed to be at least civil to your house members!"
"But, professor, I didn--" Draco said, before Snape cut him off.
"Silence! I don't care what you didn't do. You will not embarrass and disgrace this house!" Snape calmed down a bit. "You are to stay in the dormitories for the rest of the day." Draco made a look of protest and Snape glared. "I know today is the big Quidditch game against Gryffindor, but you brought this upon yourself and you will be in the common room or dormitories for the rest of the day! And, I expect an apology to Miss Tykins." He narrowed his eyes and Draco hung his head.
"Yes sir..."mumbled Draco and he started to head to the common room, Snape slightly behind.
Back in the Great Hall, the Gryffindor table was a-buzz with the fight. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and George were talking excitedly about how Draco had "met his match". Fred Weasley was pushing food around on his plate, deep in thought.
George elbowed his brother. "Hey, Fred, you'd better eat up, we've got a big game against Slytherin today."
Fred sighed and dropped his fork onto his plate. "I can't stop thinking about that girl."
George cut in. "I know what you mean. Someone finally showed Draco his place!"
Fred gave his brother a look that said, 'that's not what I was talking about, moron.'
"George, it's not that. She just looked so hurt..." he picked his fork back up and dropped it again. "I don't feel well, I'm going to go see Madame Pomfrey." Fred stood up and walked out of the Great Hall before George could protest.
Fred had the intention of going to the hospital wing, but when he heard loud sobs, he just had to find where they were coming from. He followed the sobs until he found the source, the girl that had run out of the Great Hall just moments earlier. He walked over and crouched down next to her. "Are you alright?" he asked, but immediately regretted it. 'Of course she's not alright, she's crying you moron!' Fred thought. "Wait…what I meant was--"
Kat held up a hand to cut him off and gave a small smile. "I'm fine. Well, I will be. 'Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt', right?" She held her head in her hands. "Who am I joking? He hurt me and I let him know it." She wiped away some of her tears. The expression on her face changed as she became suddenly angry. "Draco makes me so mad...He calls me a mudblood, just because I'm different and just to make himself feel better. He's to childish!"
Fred nodded, not knowing what to say right then. He thought for a moment. "But it was great how you stood up to him. He needed to be told those things." He smiled and stuck his hand out. "My name's Fred Weasley and any enemy of Draco's is a friend of mine!"
Kat blushed and shook his hand. "I know. you're a beater on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. I like to watch you play..." Her face turned almost the color of Fred's hair.
He blushed a bit and smiled. "Yeah, I've seen you. I've been trying to get the courage to talk to you, but I figured that since you're a Slytherin, you wouldn't want some Gryffindor talking to you."
She smiled and wiped the rest of the tears from her face. "As you've seen, I'm not like most Slytherins." Her head drooped a bit. "I'm a muggleborn, the only one in Slytherin, actually."
Fred smiled. "Being muggleborn is nothing to be ashamed of. I have a great uncle on me mum's side who's a muggleborn." Kat lifted her head and smiled. "Much better. You have such a pretty smile." Kat blushed and stood up. "Wait, you have to tell me your name." Fred stood.
Kat spun in a circle and smiled. "Kat Tykins."
Suddenly George Weasley came zooming down the corridor, dressed in Quidditch robes. "FRED! C'mon! We have a practice before the big game later, Oliver's getting mad!" George said in one breath.
Fred slapped himself in the forehead. "I'd totally forgotten!" He turned to Kat. "I have to go. Will you be at the game later today?" Kat nodded. "I'll be looking for you!" With those last words, Fred gave Kat a quick kiss on the cheek and raced off with his brother to Quidditch practice.
Kat sighed and started walking to her flying lesson. She had lots of time before her lesson, so she walked slowly and thought of everything that had happened. The argument, the drama, Fred coming and finding her, him kissing her on the cheek. Kat touched her cheek. Did he really like her, or was this just a prank of his? How did she know is he was just out for laughs? She sighed and paid some attention to where she was walking. In front of her was a big open window looking out to the courtyard where the flying lessons took place. Madame Hooch was there, setting brooms out. Kat pulled herself up and onto the windowsill and felt the soft breeze on her face. Suddenly she lost her balance and fell sideways right into two other students. "Oh my god! Are you alright?" Kat asked as she stood back up. She held her hands out to help the two girls up.
They glanced at each other and hesitated before taking Kat's hands. "Thanks..." said one who was tall and had curly blonde hair.
The other girl, who was slightly shorter with frizzy brown hair, brushed herself off. Suddenly her eyes lit up and her jaw dropped. "Steph! It's her! It's the girl who was yelling at Draco in the Great Hall earlier!"
The blonde looked at Kat. "What? No, she's n--Ohmigosh! She is!" At Kat's puzzled face, the blonde slowed down. "I'm Stephanie, you can call me Steph, and this is Chandler, but everyone calls her Chandi. We're both Gryffindors. We saw what you said to Draco today. We think it's great how you told him off like that!"
Kat blinked. "Gee, thanks. Is the whole school talking about it? Cause that's not what I was going for..."
Chandler nodded. "It's not everyday that someone stands up to Draco. I think everyone except Snape thought it was great."
"I heard that Draco got a weeks worth of detention with Snape." Stephanie said very matter-of-factly.
Kat's jaw dropped. "Wow...I guess I'll find out what's going on with him when I see him later in the Common Room. But right now, I've got flying lessons."
Chandler nodded. "We've got potions next. I hope Snape's in a good mood!" She thought over what she just said. "Wait a minute, he's never in a good mood, what am I saying?" They all laughed and walked their separate ways.
Kat walked out into the courtyard and stood by a broom, waiting for the rest of the students. She was only standing there for a few seconds before all the students had arrived and Madame Hooch had told them to get on their brooms and hover in the air. She was going to test everyone individually to see how well they could maneuver on a set course. Kat was glad her last name started with a 'T'. With a bit of luck, she wouldn't have to go today. There was too much on her mind that kept her from concentrating on flying straight. She liked flying more for the speed.
Around Kat, the students were practicing. Kat flew higher to keep from getting flown into. Thoughts raced through her mind. Those two girls, Chandler and Stephanie, seemed so nice. Their kindness, so genuine. She hoped they could be her friends. They've be her first here. Her thoughts turned to Fred. His words, "any enemy of Draco is a friend of mine" echoed through her head. Could they really be friends, and possibly more? 'When Draco hears about it,' she thought, 'he's gonna be mad. Wait. Why should I give a damn about what he thinks? I'm my own person!'
Just then, Kat's thoughts were interrupted by a shout of, "WATCH OUT!" Kat looked to where the shout was coming from, and saw a bludger, headed straight at her. It had come from the Quidditch Stadium where the Gryffindors were practicing and they had lost control of it. Kat sat there, unable to move. She saw two red blurs out of the corner of her eye. One of them rammed her, while the other flew lower.
Kat fell off her broom and went flying through the air. She tried grabbing for her broom, but it was no longer there. The red blur that had rammed her, who turned out to be George Weasley, had knocked it to the ground. The other blur, Fred, caught Kat and kept her from falling to her death.
Kat felt that she was no longer falling and opened her eyes and looked up at Fred. He smiled and lowered her to the ground. George went flying after the bludger. Fred helped Kat stand once they were on the ground. "Are you okay?"
Kat rubbed her arms and nodded. "I'll probably be sore in the morning, but that's better than being hit, head on, by a bludger. I'd rather hurt than fall a hundred meters to the ground and die." She paused a moment and blushed. "Sorry. I'm rambling...Thanks for saving me."
Fed smiled and was about to say something when Madame Hooch ran over. "Miss Tykins, are you alright? What hap--" She noticed Fred. "Aaah...Mr. Weasley. Lost control of another bludger, I see. Do try and stop that nasty habit, won't you?"
Fred nodded and mounted his broom. "I'll try to be more careful." With that, he flew off to help his brother with the bludger.
Madame Hooch turned to Kat. "Why don't you go to the hospital wing? Just to be on the safe side." Kat nodded and headed toward the castle.