Candita Black
"Harry, are you ready for our fourth year? I know I am," Asked Ron Weasley getting a board the Hogwarts express.
"I can't wait for Defense Against the Dark Arts this year, we have another new teacher." Hermione Granger said pulling open her Defense Against the Dark Arts book.
"Yes, we do. Well anyway, I'm just glad to be going back and away from the Dursley's. I hope Sirius is doing well, I haven't heard from him for quite some time now. Shall we venture to the back as usual?" Harry said still moving through the train.
I listened as the three of them continued their conversation; I had already taken my seat and sat waiting to take off. "Hello Harry," I said as he walked by my compartment.
"Oh, Candita. Hi. Are you sitting here alone?" Harry asked looking around the empty compartment.
"Oh, well um… no. You can keep going to your compartments I didn't mean to hold you up," I stammered.
"Well okay then, see you later." Harry said before he continued moving, then turned back around, "You can always come sit with us if you'd like."
"Yes, I know. See you!" I said as he left. Finally he's gone, maybe now I can sit with… "Oh hey Draco! Would you like to sit here?" I asked nervously as Draco Malfoy started walking by my compartment. Did I really just do what I think I did?
I could tell he was thinking hard on this question. He also had a very strange glint in his eye, I wasn't used to that, let alone saying anything to him at all, so I felt incredibly dumb.
"Crabbe, Goyle, why don't you two go sit in our usual spots and I'll catch up with you later. For now, I think I'm going to sit with Candita. Now go away you two before you regret staying!" Malfoy said to Crabbe and Coyle while he was rubbing his chin.
Did he just say he would sit with me??
Malfoy walked in with his robes etched in green trim, and sat down beside me. What ever his cologne was, it sure as heck smelled better than most of the guy's flouncing about Hogwarts. "So why did you want me to sit with you? Normally, I wouldn't even set foot in here, but I guess I can make an exception. Nobody likes you at all, you are aware of that right." Draco sneered trying to get on my bad side.
"You know what? I could care less about what people think of me! They just do that to show weakness. Well if everyone doesn't like me, that is their problem. If you think that's bad to me, then you should hear some of the remarks other students make about you!" I said purposely playing the same game he was… I saw a flash of flared anger in his deep gray eyes.
"So you wouldn't care if every one in the school thinks you're a know-it-all freak."
"Nope, cuz half the time I am, just not as much as Hermione, if you have noticed anyways."
Draco shrugged and asked, "So what do the other kids say about me? You seem to know a lot about the subject."
"Oh lets see…. Ah here's a few. Draco Malfoy is an arrogant, stuck up, ass who should perish in the underworlds. He probably couldn't fight his own fights,his foolishness in unbelievable, Oh look, its Snape's favorite student just because he's in Slytherin. That one though, is not bad if you ask me. That is just a bit of it really."
Draco sat on the bench fuming for a while, before he said, "Did you say any of those things? If you did, you will regret it!"
"I would never do that. For your information Draco, I don't judge people before I get to know them! And….. I would really like to get to know you better." I said turning my head towards the window and blushing.
There was an eerie silence as I waited for Draco to reply. My mind fogged some with my jumbled thoughts. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Draco move closer in the seat and turn toward me. Before I knew it, he had turned me around and said, "Why would you like to get to know me better?"
"Because I don't think anything anybody says about you is true. I want to find out more about you to prove them wrong. Honestly, I don't think you are that arrogant stuck up jerk." I said as I put my hand on the train window to cool it off.
Draco thought for a while, then he slowly said, "There's a part of me that wants to get to know you better, but if you're a mudblood…"
"I am no mudblood. I come from a full wizarding family, as do you." I said pulling my hand off the window and placing it back on my lap.
I waited for everything I said to Draco to sink in before he said in a strange tone, "I… I have never met… a girl like you…" He stopped for a moment, noticed my class schedule on the floor, picked it up and read it. "We have Herbology, Potions, and Care of Magical Creatures together, see you then." Draco said as he was writing down his class schedule and placed it in my hand before he slipped out of the compartment to sit with Crabbe and Goyle. I quickly got up too, headed to Harry's compartment and sat down by Hermione.
"What are you doing here," Ron asked hastily dropping whatever he and Harry were talking about.
"Harry said I could come sit here with you guys. Don't be a jerk Ron. That's really not like you." I said, staring at Ron.
Ron's face reddened to a deep cherry red, and muttered, "Sorry."
"Hey Hermione shall we go get into our robes?" I asked grinning from ear to ear. Hermione shrugged and we headed off to get into our robes.
As we walked to an empty compartment, I started fidgeting with my hands, like I always did when I had something to say.
" Why are you fidgeting with your hands? Is there something on your mind, tell me please!!" Hermione begged as she opened the door to an empty compartment further down the row and grabbed my hands so I'd quit.
"Okay, there's this guy I like and he is going to Hogwarts for his fourth year too, but Harry wouldn't approve of me being with him," I said in a rush.
"Why would Harry care anyway?" Hermione asked.
I leaned over and whispered something in her ear.
"What!? Why haven't you told me this before?? He has a crush on you, and Ron has a crush on you too! We have to tell him that Harry can't like you because of the whole situation. Wait a minute…. why haven't you told Harry that?"
"I didn't think…. I … I really don't know. I guess I thought he wasn't ready to know about that. I mean I'm not Lily Potter's daughter, but Sirius' daughter." I said exasperated.
I paused for a moment, waiting on Hermione's reply, but I heard a deep male's voice in my head say, Candita, ride in the carriage with me when we get off the train. See you then. I grinned excitedly because I couldn't wait till that moment, even if it was pouring rain out side, Draco Malfoy asked me to ride with him.
"You're grinning again. So who do you like?" Hermione asked questioningly like she always does.
"I can't tell you that. You will just have to figure it out. Well, I'm going to go back out to my compartment. Talk to you later Hermione," I said as I walked out of the area the two of us were in.
I sat back down in my compartment, looked out the window and my eyes glazed. That happens to me when I talk to people through their minds. Can't wait, see you then, I said back to Draco
Time passed quickly, and soon enough we had arrived at our stop. I waited in my compartment until most of the students had passed, then I grabbed my things and headed off the Hogwarts Express.
Are you coming? I'm in the 6th carriage to your left. Hurry a little will ya? Draco said through my head impatiently.
As I emerged from the train I was drenched in the icy cold water, but I kept moving forward until I got to the 6th carriage and I hopped aboard. Crabbe and Goyle were fighting over some of the candy they'd bought from the witch with the cart. I aimlessly sat down by Draco. As soon as the carriages started moving, Draco turned his head away from me. I grinned slightly at him as his head was turned away from me; I grinned and also looked away.
"You're cold; do you want to wear my jacket?" Draco asked whispering as he turned back around.
"No, I'm fine. Don't worry about me. " I said looking at our hands.
Draco grabbed my hand, but quickly put it back down, thumped Crabbe and Goyle on the head, took their candy, and threw a piece at me.
I grinned unwrapped the chocolate frog and said, "That wasn't very nice."
"I never said I was a nice guy." Draco said laughing. He quickly grabbed my hand again, but released it faster than the first time.
Five minutes had passed and we still weren't at the school yet. Draco and I kept side glancing at each other before Draco indicated he wanted to ask me something. He pulled me closer to him, I wasn't ready for that so I jerked a bit.
He leaned in close to my ear and said, "Want to be my girl?"
I was completely shocked; I edged away a bit and sat pondering. Of course I want to be his girl! I've wanted to be his girl since my second year! I have to say yes! Wait, what about Harry? Forget Harry this is my life, I want Draco to be a part of it. "I'd love to be your girl Draco, but why would you want me as your girl anyways?"
"Because you showed me that there are girls who are completely different than most say about them, plus you never said any of that crap about me. That's pretty sexy if you ask me," Draco said placing his arm around my shoulder.
I couldn't help myself, I wound up leaning my head on his shoulder and grinned. I finally got my wish, who cares what people think. He thinks I'm sexy because I'm nice, strange as that is, but who cares!
The carriage finally stopped.
"Draco, before we get out, should we keep this secret for a while? I mean we can tell people we have a girlfriend or boyfriend, but we shouldn't tell them that we are dating. Are you okay with that?"
"Yeah, sure what ever makes you happy, my lips are sealed. Now before I forget, you mentioned you are just as smart as Hermione. If you are, why don't you have higher grades like her? Aren't you a straight B+ student?" Draco asked as he started to grab his things.
"I am actually smarter than she is, but I just don't want to be that smart. So I purposely try not to be that smart. Straight B+ are perfect for me but, I will get a better grade than her when it is needed." I said as I hopped out of the carriage."I'll see you later, okay? Bye, for now." I rushed off before many students could see who I had gotten out with.
The rain was pouring down heavily now, so I found Hermione quickly. Harry, Ron, Hermione and I quickly went inside the building soaking wet. As usual the Great Hall was decorated with many lit candles, the sorting hat sat upon that old stool, and the sky replica was dark, gray, and rainy as it was outside. The long tables with the banners strung above them were also decorated perfectly with all the golden plates and goblets.
Hermione leaned over and asked me, "Did you just get out of the carriage with Draco Malfoy?"
I hesitated and said, "I didn't know he was in there I just went to a random carriage, but yes, I did just get out of that carriage." Hermione shrugged and we sat down at the Gryffindor table.
The first years had been placed in their houses by the Sorting Hat, and one by one they filed in and sat in their seats among their house tables. Shortly after, Dumbledore had given his speech, and then the golden plates and goblets were quickly filled with delicious foods.
Half an hour later, the crowd went panic stricken. Cedric Diggory, went ghostly pale in the face, fell out of his chair and was lying limp on the marble stone floor. He was out cold.
"Some one help him! He isn't breathing," Annistasia Rorem shouted from the Hufflepuff table.
"I don't know any spells for that," Another student called from the Ravenclaw table.
Annoyed, I got up and ran to Cedric's side. They were right, he wasn't breathing. I flipped him over on his back, watched for movement, then began CPR. After I had gone through the procedure three times, Cedric started breathing again. He stared at me strangely.
"Did you just kiss me?" He asked nervously.
"No, Diggory, I did not kiss you. You passed out or something and I gave you CPR. As in mouth to mouth recitation, a procedure in which it helps to get the blood and oxygen flowing in your body. I suppose I'm not going to get a thank you or anything for saving your butt," I said dryly.
Cedric stood there, obviously looking dazed. Soon enough though, he said, "Thanks, its Candita right?" I nodded and we both headed to our seats again. As soon as I sat down, the room was filled with applause.
Hermione had got into an argument with Nearly Headless Nick about house elves, so I ignored her, as did Ron and Harry. Kyla, my other best friend in Gryffindor, shortly came and sat across from me grinning wildly.
"That was outstanding! How did you know what to do when no one else did," Kyla asked interested. Her long blonde hair flayed over her shoulder as her dark blue eyes reflected every movement I made.
I leaned across the table and said, "I took some life guarding classes back in London. Shhh . . . you didn't hear that from me." The two of us started laughing hysterically.
As I was laughing Draco's voice came inside my head again. That was outstanding, Candita. Maybe you can show me that trick some time, it may be useful. See you in the halls, babe.
Kyla saw my eyes glaze, and she quit talking for a moment, she knew what I was up to. Thanks Draco, sure I can teach you that trick. See ya around.
"It's a good thing you knew what to do in that kind of situation," Kyla said picking up a chicken leg and devouring it.
"Ah yes. Well what would any body have done if I hadn't saved him like that? Let him die? Well, I wasn't about to let that happen, even if he is a pretty boy, who has a big ego. Oops, I judged again! I have to quit doing that," I said moving my fingers around the rim of my goblet.
"Well even if you aren't judging people, others are. There's nothing you can do about it," Kyla said nodding her head towards Malfoy. I turned, shook my head, and sighed. She's probably right, but I'll get over it.
"What do you have against Malfoy anyways," I asked turning around to my plate again.
Kyla stared at me for what seemed like hours before she finally broke our silence. "Everyone has something against someone, even if they don't have a reason. I just think he's a big jerk."
"Well I think . . . um never mind. I think he just has issues," I said carefully deciding my words so I didn't let the secret between Malfoy and I slip out.
Kyla looked at Malfoy again and said, "Well maybe, but I don't think so." The two of us left that conversation at that.
As soon as we all had finished eating, we trekked up to the marble staircase to the Gryffindor common room. Behind me, I could hear Hermione ranting on about the house elves and Ron was trying to get her to shut up about them. Neville had fallen in the trick step again ahead of me. Everyone laughed at him as they passed, causing Neville to go red in the face, so when I got to the step, I helped him out.
"Thanks Candita, you're so nice," Neville said rushing up the stairs as hastily as possible.
As we entered the common room, it was filled with excitement and buzzing noises. I shortly heard a loud roaring noise coming towards my head, I ducked. Turned out it was one of Fred and George Weasley's Rocket Fizzles that they created that zoomed past my head so quickly. "Fred, George, watch where those things are launched," I shouted at them while I laughed as it hit the wall behind me.
"Oi, we'll be more careful next time Candita," Fred said shrugging. George nodded his head in agreement before they continued showing Angelina their crafty little jokes.
Hermione and Ron were still arguing about the house elves, so Harry and I maneuvered up to our dormitories, since Kyla was not to be seen in the common room.As I entered my room, Kyla sat on her bed reading a random horror story that she had pulled out of her trunk. I sat down on my four- poster bed as well and picked out my Potions book for Snape's class.
After a while Kyla had looked up and asked, "Why are you reading your Potions book? We don't have his class until Tuesday."
"Never hurt anyone to get a small idea of what were up against in his class this year is it?" I retorted and closed my book.
"You sound just like Hermione. I bet you get just as good of grades as she does!" Kyla snickered.
"Um, no. my grades are lower than Hermione's thank you very much!" I said playing with a tuff of my brown hair. The rest of the night was quiet.