Chapter 2

My Obnoxious Roomate

I was in my room, with my cat, Mittens. She was on my bed with her ears back, growling at me. I had a syringe in my hand, filled with a potion, one with an eerie purple glow. I made it earlier that day, no thanks to that punk Malfoy. I tried to move in to give my cat the potion. She hissed at me.

"Come on, Mittens. Please?" I said.

She hissed at me. I moved my hand in closer to grab her, but she put her paw up like she was going to scratch me. Mittens let out another growl. She knew that this stuff I was trying to give her tasted nasty. I was going to force her to take it whether she liked it or not.

"Mittens, please?"

Her fur stood up on end. She growled at me again.

"Don't make that sound." I said.

I grabbed Mittens by the flap of skin on the back of her neck, the ones that all cats had that you could use as a handle. She started spazzing out and thrashing everywhere, like a fluffy ball of spit and razors. She put a huge scratch across my arm. I dropped her.

"Ow! Bollocks!" I shouted.

I rolled up my sleeve and saw that she broke the skin. My arm was bleeding and I'd have to cast a healing spell after this was done, thanks to that damnable feline. I loved Mittens, but sometimes she could be a real pain.

I looked down and saw that Mittens was on the floor. She was trying to sneak under my bed, but the crevasse was small and she was a fat cat. I grabbed her again by the back of the neck and lifted her into my arms. This was a dangerous technique. I ended up getting huge scratches across my chest when I did this before, but if I was going to cure my cat, I was going to have to endure.

"Come on, Mittens."

I put the syringe into her mouth and started squirting. She chomped her mouth and acted like she was about to spit it out, but didn't. I set her down before she could spaz out and scratch me again. She slinked off into a corner and growled at me again.

"Oh, I love you Mittens. It's for your own good. Okay?" I said.

I started to reach in to pet Mittens again, until my roommate, Baily, walked in. Baily was the same age as me. She was kind of ugly, had a really long nose, and loved fruit. Even more annoyingly, she thought she was the most beautiful girl around. She was like one of those creepy swamp hags in training. I hope I never become like her. Baily looked pretty happy when she walked in.

"Heyyyy there Faye. How are you this good afternoon?" She said.

"Not too good, Baily. My cat scratched me real good."

I showed her my huge cut. It was still bleeding.

"Oh. Well, that will not do, no it will not, noo noo noo." She said.

Her voice was like nails on a chalkboard. I just wanted her to shut up. I tried to be polite, though.

"Let me help you, Faye. I can ease that pain like sun on the rain!"

She waved her magic wand and said some magic words. In an instant, my cut closed up. It still hurt like hell, but at least it wasn't bleeding anymore.

"Thanks." I said.

"It's no problem, deary. Hehe!"

The way she said "deary"… I guess I'm reminded that all old people were young once. Still, I feel like Baily was born to be an old hag, the kind of negative stereotype witches tend to be associated with.

Baily sat down on her bed and smiled.

"I'm reallllly happy today." She said.

"Okay." I replied.

Baily dug into her pocket and grabbed a catnip mouse.

"I got this mailed in from Diagon Alley. I hope Mittens feels better." She said.

I'd been sharing quarters with Baily for a year now and Mittens was almost as much of her cat as she was mine. We both played with her a lot, petted her, and got scratched. The magic fever and creepy green hairballs had been taking a toll on both of us.

Baily bent down and looked Mittens in the eyes.

"Get better, okay, sweetie?" She said.

Mittens didn't do anything. I guess she didn't feel like growling or hissing.

"I'll get her better, Baily." I said.

I kneeled down to pet my cat.

"Don't you worry. I gave her a potion that I'm sure will work. Mittens will be back to her usual self by tomorrow." I said.

"I hope so. The poor little kitty's been sick all week." My roomate replied.

Baily turned away from my cat. She giggled to herself and poked her face a little. I wasn't sure why she did that, but Baily had a horrible habit of poking her face, especially around her nose.

"I'm going to ask Harry Potter to The Yule Ball." She said.

"You'll get turned down." I said.

"No I won't." Baily replied.

What the hell was she thinking? Harry's a celebrity. Besides, he's always hanging around with that mudblood, Granger. He'll go with her, I'm sure.

"Okay, Baily." I said.

She giggled.

"That's where you're wrong, my dearest, Faye. I have a special trick up my sleeve. Hehehe!"

Baily reached into her closet and pulled out a dress. It had to be the tackiest looking thing I'd ever seen. There were sequins all over it. You could go blind looking at it long enough. It also had an embarrassingly low neckline.

"I'm going to look so sexy in this. My Mom gave it to me with some good advice: Find a man, any man."

"Uh-huh." I said.

"The world's full of boys, Faye. You've got big boys, rich boys, strong boys, and even lovely boys. I'm not into boys, though. I want a man, Faye."

My roommate put away her terrible dress and turned to me.

"So, who do you hope asks you to the ball?"

"Uh…"

I never bothered to tell Baily that I was asexual. Really, that kind of stuff is private. It's not a good idea to go out and broadcast your sexuality (or lack of) to everyone you know. It makes you look like a gigantic tool and no one will want to anything to do with this loud, opinionated, attention-seeking brat. Then again, leaving people in the dark can have consequences, like this one.

"Uh…"

"What about that guy you sit with in Herbology, what's his name? Brandon? Or was it Brendan? Bronson?" Baily said.

This was pretty awkward for me. I wasn't sure what to say.

"I might not go." I said.

Baily frowned.

"Faye, you're a good looking girl. Maybe you're a little tall, but you can probably get someone." She said.

I started to sweat.

"I… I guess I'll take who I can get, then. You know the saying, right? Take life as it comes, one step at a time." I said.

I just wanted this conversation to be over already. I spotted an opportunity to change the subject with my cat, who seemed to have had a mood swing and was rubbing up against my legs.

"Aw! Look who decided to be nice!" I said.

I picked up Mittens and cuddled her. Her ears went down immediately. Any joy that cat was experiencing went away the moment I laid hands on her. I love my cat.

"Is she still sick?" Baily said.

Almost as if on cue, Mittens let out a loud, worried meow. It didn't sound good. It started bobbing its head back and forth. Crap. All of us knew what this meant.

"Oh. Oh no." Baily said.

Baily puked all over my shirt. It wasn't normal puke either. It had an eerie purple glow to it, the same glow that was in my potion. It also smelled awful. I don't know what happened, but I think something in the potion made it worse. I set down my cat, who curled up in a ball and meowed again in pain.

"I'm going to change." I said.

Baily kneeled down to comfort my cat.

"I'll go and help Kitty, then." She said.

I guess I'll have to come up with a new potion if I was going to cure my cat.