A/N: I have this thing with cutesy stories and such, and so I'm changing
the title to A New Beginning, just so ya know… cuz its not gonna fit later
on!
"Hey Cooper!" Oliver called to her from the Quidditch field, after her Magical Creatures class, as she walked back up to the castle. "Hey! Wait up!"
"Oh, sorry Oliver, I didn't hear you… I'm kind of off into my own world," Cooper said in a faraway voice. She was walking slowly through the grass, not even picking up her feet, but leaving a little trail behind her. She suddenly stopped and looked up at him, watching his eyes sparkle in the sun, and his hair dance in the breeze. He looked back quizzically, wondering why she was looking at him so hard.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm just…I… last night was kind of a rough night for me." Cooper turned around and started to walk towards the castle once again.
"Want to talk about it?" Oliver followed her up and into the castle, never once pressuring her to say anything she didn't want to.
"No, that's all right. But, um, thanks…" sheepishly Cooper looked back up at him, and smiled.
"Anytime. You know where I am… just across the hall and in the other dorm." With that, he flashed his charming smile, and left her staring after him as he walked up the stairs to Madam Pomfrey's to check on Hooch.
Ash she turned around, she bumped unexpectedly into Malfoy.
"Why, if it isn't Cooper Landing, our newest student. As if there weren't enough Mudblood's attending this damn school already." A look of confusion crossed Cooper's face at the last sentence. "So your buddies haven't taught you everything in this world yet, eh? A word of advice, Landing, recognize the wizarding families and stay out of the way, or be moved out of the way permanently."
With that Malfoy shoved her to the ground, and stepped over her with an air of snobbishness. Cooper slowly picked herself and her belongings up off the floor, and hurried off to her next class.
After lunch that day Ginny, Cooper, Hermione, Ron, Harry and Oliver sat in front of the fireplace, relaxing and joking around.
"Hey, you guys? I need to ask you something…" Everyone slowly stopped their chats and focused on Cooper. She was sitting on the couch, Indian-style, playing with her long brown hair, twisting and intertwining it between her fingers. "What exactly is a Mudblood?"
Cooper looked around as all of her friends glanced at one another with their mouths gaped open in awe. "Who exactly said that to you? Did they call you it?" Hermione was worried about her cousin. Never would she have believed anyone would say that, least of all to her beautiful and popular cousin, but she wouldn't put it past…
"Malfoy. I bumped into him on accident, right after you and I talked today actually," she looked next to her at Oliver, who was looking straight into the fire with his hands balled into fists. "What's wrong? Is it that bad of a word?"
"That's pretty much the understatement of the century. Mudblood is a term used to refer to muggles. Its like a cuss word in a way, but a bad one," Harry explained, watching as Cooper's smile began to melt into a pursed thin line.
"So, its basically the equivalent of calling me a slut or a whore or something?"
"Well, um, yeah. But you know what? Don't listen to him. He's called Herm that since school started. It doesn't matter though. Its just his way of giving himself an 'I'm better than you' boost in his self esteem," Ginny answered, trying to make it sound not quite as bad as Cooper had made it out to be.
"Okay. That's all right though. He has no place to judge me. He knows nothing about me. I'm not going to let it get to me. C'mon, lets talk about happier subjects, like why Hermione can have Crookshanks and I can't have an animal!" Cooper started laughing, and soon everyone else joined in. Oliver stood up and had started to go through the portrait before Cooper caught up to him.
"Where are you going?"
"I still have to get some things for Hooch, and I might as well get a start on it. Bloody load of stuff, I'm telling you." He looked down into her deep blue eyes and smiled.
"You realize we have like 3 days off, right?"
"Yeah, but when I finish this I can spend the rest of the weekend doing what I want." He then turned around and walked out of the portrait. Cooper wandered back to the couch and sat on her leg, while she pulled her right leg close to her, and propped her chin up on its knee.
"Where'd Wood go?" Ron asked, finally realizing they were missing one from their little party.
"He went to run some errands. He'll be back soon."
"Well, I'm going to head up to the dorms, I want to get a look at my homework for the weekend." Hermione stood from where she had been sitting, and started to walk towards the staircase, but halted when Ron called her name.
"Hey 'Mione! Can you help me with my Transfiguration stuff? I don't really understand it yet." When Hermione nodded her head, Ron bounded over to her, and together they went up into the dorms to study.
The other three just looked at each other and rolled their eyes, all of them knowing why Ron really wanted to study. Ginny told Harry and Cooper that she was going to visit Professor Hooch, then Harry said he was going to write his godfather, and finally Cooper was left all alone on the couch. She glanced around the common room, her eyes landing on George and his girlfriend Caitlin. She was very nice and they made a really cute couple. As she looked back into the fireplace, she fell into a slumber…
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Get back here now you little witch! You think you can just dump me like that and get away with it!? Think again!" Michael slapped her across the face, making her go tumbling backwards into the wall. "You liked that right? You like it bad, don't you? Don't you! That's why you started going out with Andy! You wanted to screw around with my best friend behind my back, is that it?! Answer me!"
She started to cry, her tears flowing over her cheeks, her newly formed bruises already starting to show their color…
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Oliver entered the Common room quietly, even though everyone was down eating dinner. He glanced around, his eyes falling upon Cooper, who was sleeping on the couch in a fetal position. He gently set the box he was carrying down onto the ground, and sat in front of her, noticing that she had tears cascading down her delicate face. He gently brushed them away with his thumb, being careful not to wake her. He then rested on his haunches, just watching her sleep. Not long afterwards she stirred, her eyes fluttering before him. He just watched, mesmerized. She slowly stretched her cat-like stretch before opening her eyes to find Oliver watching her intently.
"Hey," he said softly, pushing her hair back from where it had fallen into her face. She smiled sweetly, and sat up. Oliver sat next to her, the box next to him. "Why were you crying?"
"I was?" Cooper asked sheepishly. "I had a nightmare."
Sensing that she didn't want to discuss it any further, he picked the box up and sat it into her lap. "Here, I want you to have this."
Cooper bit her lip, trying to keep from smiling. "You really didn't have to do this Oliver. You and I barely even - "
"Just open it will you!?" He watched as she carefully pulled the ribbon off from around it, and opened the top to find…
"Hey Cooper!" Oliver called to her from the Quidditch field, after her Magical Creatures class, as she walked back up to the castle. "Hey! Wait up!"
"Oh, sorry Oliver, I didn't hear you… I'm kind of off into my own world," Cooper said in a faraway voice. She was walking slowly through the grass, not even picking up her feet, but leaving a little trail behind her. She suddenly stopped and looked up at him, watching his eyes sparkle in the sun, and his hair dance in the breeze. He looked back quizzically, wondering why she was looking at him so hard.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm just…I… last night was kind of a rough night for me." Cooper turned around and started to walk towards the castle once again.
"Want to talk about it?" Oliver followed her up and into the castle, never once pressuring her to say anything she didn't want to.
"No, that's all right. But, um, thanks…" sheepishly Cooper looked back up at him, and smiled.
"Anytime. You know where I am… just across the hall and in the other dorm." With that, he flashed his charming smile, and left her staring after him as he walked up the stairs to Madam Pomfrey's to check on Hooch.
Ash she turned around, she bumped unexpectedly into Malfoy.
"Why, if it isn't Cooper Landing, our newest student. As if there weren't enough Mudblood's attending this damn school already." A look of confusion crossed Cooper's face at the last sentence. "So your buddies haven't taught you everything in this world yet, eh? A word of advice, Landing, recognize the wizarding families and stay out of the way, or be moved out of the way permanently."
With that Malfoy shoved her to the ground, and stepped over her with an air of snobbishness. Cooper slowly picked herself and her belongings up off the floor, and hurried off to her next class.
After lunch that day Ginny, Cooper, Hermione, Ron, Harry and Oliver sat in front of the fireplace, relaxing and joking around.
"Hey, you guys? I need to ask you something…" Everyone slowly stopped their chats and focused on Cooper. She was sitting on the couch, Indian-style, playing with her long brown hair, twisting and intertwining it between her fingers. "What exactly is a Mudblood?"
Cooper looked around as all of her friends glanced at one another with their mouths gaped open in awe. "Who exactly said that to you? Did they call you it?" Hermione was worried about her cousin. Never would she have believed anyone would say that, least of all to her beautiful and popular cousin, but she wouldn't put it past…
"Malfoy. I bumped into him on accident, right after you and I talked today actually," she looked next to her at Oliver, who was looking straight into the fire with his hands balled into fists. "What's wrong? Is it that bad of a word?"
"That's pretty much the understatement of the century. Mudblood is a term used to refer to muggles. Its like a cuss word in a way, but a bad one," Harry explained, watching as Cooper's smile began to melt into a pursed thin line.
"So, its basically the equivalent of calling me a slut or a whore or something?"
"Well, um, yeah. But you know what? Don't listen to him. He's called Herm that since school started. It doesn't matter though. Its just his way of giving himself an 'I'm better than you' boost in his self esteem," Ginny answered, trying to make it sound not quite as bad as Cooper had made it out to be.
"Okay. That's all right though. He has no place to judge me. He knows nothing about me. I'm not going to let it get to me. C'mon, lets talk about happier subjects, like why Hermione can have Crookshanks and I can't have an animal!" Cooper started laughing, and soon everyone else joined in. Oliver stood up and had started to go through the portrait before Cooper caught up to him.
"Where are you going?"
"I still have to get some things for Hooch, and I might as well get a start on it. Bloody load of stuff, I'm telling you." He looked down into her deep blue eyes and smiled.
"You realize we have like 3 days off, right?"
"Yeah, but when I finish this I can spend the rest of the weekend doing what I want." He then turned around and walked out of the portrait. Cooper wandered back to the couch and sat on her leg, while she pulled her right leg close to her, and propped her chin up on its knee.
"Where'd Wood go?" Ron asked, finally realizing they were missing one from their little party.
"He went to run some errands. He'll be back soon."
"Well, I'm going to head up to the dorms, I want to get a look at my homework for the weekend." Hermione stood from where she had been sitting, and started to walk towards the staircase, but halted when Ron called her name.
"Hey 'Mione! Can you help me with my Transfiguration stuff? I don't really understand it yet." When Hermione nodded her head, Ron bounded over to her, and together they went up into the dorms to study.
The other three just looked at each other and rolled their eyes, all of them knowing why Ron really wanted to study. Ginny told Harry and Cooper that she was going to visit Professor Hooch, then Harry said he was going to write his godfather, and finally Cooper was left all alone on the couch. She glanced around the common room, her eyes landing on George and his girlfriend Caitlin. She was very nice and they made a really cute couple. As she looked back into the fireplace, she fell into a slumber…
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Get back here now you little witch! You think you can just dump me like that and get away with it!? Think again!" Michael slapped her across the face, making her go tumbling backwards into the wall. "You liked that right? You like it bad, don't you? Don't you! That's why you started going out with Andy! You wanted to screw around with my best friend behind my back, is that it?! Answer me!"
She started to cry, her tears flowing over her cheeks, her newly formed bruises already starting to show their color…
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Oliver entered the Common room quietly, even though everyone was down eating dinner. He glanced around, his eyes falling upon Cooper, who was sleeping on the couch in a fetal position. He gently set the box he was carrying down onto the ground, and sat in front of her, noticing that she had tears cascading down her delicate face. He gently brushed them away with his thumb, being careful not to wake her. He then rested on his haunches, just watching her sleep. Not long afterwards she stirred, her eyes fluttering before him. He just watched, mesmerized. She slowly stretched her cat-like stretch before opening her eyes to find Oliver watching her intently.
"Hey," he said softly, pushing her hair back from where it had fallen into her face. She smiled sweetly, and sat up. Oliver sat next to her, the box next to him. "Why were you crying?"
"I was?" Cooper asked sheepishly. "I had a nightmare."
Sensing that she didn't want to discuss it any further, he picked the box up and sat it into her lap. "Here, I want you to have this."
Cooper bit her lip, trying to keep from smiling. "You really didn't have to do this Oliver. You and I barely even - "
"Just open it will you!?" He watched as she carefully pulled the ribbon off from around it, and opened the top to find…