Summer is ending soon. My stomach is now getting pretty big... I mean, I was freakishly skinny before, and now I've got another human growing inside of me. It's pretty noticeable. I've only got a few months left, so by now, I look as if I've swallowed a bloody giant beach ball. Or in wizarding terms, a quaffle after a few Engorgio charms. Aunt Stella has been pretty worried about me. I think she knows that I'm not just fat (I mean, who goes to school looking like a twig, and comes home wearing clothes that are like, 4 times too small?). She's worried that I'm gaining weight too fast. I think she's wondering whether I'm going to pop. Anyway, Kadie's downright dying to see this kid. We've been staying at the Leaky Cauldron for the last little while (Aunt Stella let us go a little early this year), and every night, when we say goodnight, she'll lean in to my stomach and say something along the lines of "Don't sleep on mummy's bladder again!"...
I'm actually starting to be okay with this. It was going to happen eventually, I'm just going a little faster than expected. And besides, now that morning sickness is over (Thank Merlin!), it's not that bad... except for the constant desire to eat odd foods (I swear... the other day I found myself craving chocolate ice cream topped with pickles... belch...), and of course the need for tents as clothes, it's actually kind of cool to know that no matter what I'm doing, there's this little baby inside of me. Of course, feeling somewhat excited about being a mum could only last so long. And it ended right as Kadie and I were walking through Diagon Alley, doing some early school shopping. We passed Quality Quidditch Supplies and Kadie almost had to peel me off the window! It had to be hard for her to walk away as well without catching a glance of the newest broomstick model. As we walked towards the Magical Menagerie (Kadie was going to buy me a kitty so I could feel better... yay!), I looked down at my swelling stomach.
"The first thing I'm doing after this kid pops out, is ride my broom." I said. Kadie smiled.
"Well, it'll happen soon enough. Don't worry." She laughed. I felt an odd sensation in my stomach. I stopped, knowing what it was (but that didn't stop it from startling me). "What is it?"
"It kicked!" I smiled.
"I wanna feel!" She placed her hand on my stomach, and on queue, the baby kicked again. We both giggled. Okay, so, this wasn't so bad. I was just terrified about giving birth. I mean, all I'd ever heard was that it hurt like hell. As the baby kicked for a third time, I decided that right now, I'd forget about what would happen in 4 months time.For now, I would just worry about being pregnant.
The Magical Menagerie was as dark and dingy as ever. As we walked in, the smell of the many animals flooded my nose, and I felt as though I was going to be ill. It was definitely not one of the better sides of this whole situation. Kadie and I scanned the numerous cages containing every kind of cat the mind could possibly imagine. Persian, American Shorthairs, and even a big fluffy white cat that looked scarily like Hermione's cat Crookshanks. I guessed that this one was some sort of persian-Kneazle crossbreed. If it was anything like Crookshanks, I wanted nothing to do with it. I continued to walk towards the back of the shop, finding no little creatures that really appealed to me. As much as I love cats, I just couldn't seem to find one that I really wanted. I seemed to be able to find something wrong with everyone of them. We had looked at what we thought was all of the cats when I turned to Kadie.
"Maybe we should just forget about it. I can buy myself an owl or something." I sighed. Kadie looked at me.
"Hun, I told you that I would buy you a cat. If you can't find one here, maybe we'll take a look in muggle London? Unless of course, you really want an owl. Either way, I'M buying." She stated.
"Fine..." I rolled my eyes. Just as we were about to leave, I heard something. A little whimper of a meow came from under the massive white excusefor a cat. "Wait." I strolled back over to the cage, and prodded the ball of fluff. It moved, and underneath it's miles of fur, a tiny little kitten lay on it's side, meowing away. I managed to get it to come over to the edge of the cage and I petted it. It purred happily, and rubbed up against the little bars. "This one." I said simply. Kadie walked over.
"You sure?" I nodded. Kadie got the squat little witch who worked there, and told her that we wanted the little kitten. The witch smiled.
"I've been looking for a home for this little girl for quite some time." She said.
"Why is that?" I asked. She was perfect! How could someone not want her? The witch looked at me and smiled.
"She's always hiding under this one." She pointed to the pile of sleek white fur that was now huddled in the far corner cleaning itself. Kadie and I nodded.
"Well, she's gorgeous. I guess we're lucky you saw her, eh Tia?" Kadie smiled. I giggled and the little shopkeeper unlocked the cage and let the little kitten out. She carried her to the register, put her in a little wicker basket, and punched something into the register.
"That'll be4 galleons, girls!" Kadie happily handed over the gold, and the elderly witch handed her the basket. As we left, we could hear the little kitten purring happily inside the wicker. We headed back to the Leaky Cauldron, and played around with my new kitten in my room, while we tried to decide on a name for her.
Finally, the day that we were to return to school came. Kadie and I woke up around 9, and began to look over our things to make sure we had everything. By the time we were finished it was around 10, and we decided to head down to the parlor and grab a quick bite to eat. I wasn't very hungry (and planned on pigging out on sweets on the train), so I picked at Kadie's bacon and eggs. We had near literally licked the plate clean around 10:30, and we figured we should head to King's Cross, since we usually made it there just in the nick of time. Maybe for our last year we'd be early...for once. We collected our things from our rooms, I placed Kismet (my new little kitten) in her basket, and we went out to wait for aunt Stella to pick us up. She arrived around 11, and surprisingly, it only took a few minutes before we arrived at King's Cross. We got trolleys and made sure that no one saw us pass through the barrier. We searched the surprisingly full train, and found an empty compartment near the end. We sat down, and within seconds found ourselves joined by his-highness, Draco Malfoyhimself.
"Wow, Addison. You've really let yourself go!" He snarled.
"Fuck off Malfoy." And this is why I love Kadie. She always stands up for me.
"I'm just stating the facts, Kad - Warren." For a second, I could have sworn that Draco Malfoy almost said Kadie's first name. I looked at her funny, and she simply shrugged. However, she seemed a little strange... I decided I'd comment on it when Malfoy had left.
"Leave us alone, Malfoy." I glared. And then something even stranger happened… he actually left. Mind you, he gave me one of the dirtiest looks I'd ever received, but he left! It was a miracle. A very strange miracle. I turned to Kadie. "What the hell was that about?"
"He was just being his awful self, I guess." Kadie played with a frayed string around the hole in the knee of her jeans.
"He almost called you Kadie!"
"No he didn't…" She sounded extremely unsure. There was something going on that she wasn't telling me about.
"Okay, I told you about – " I hesitated for a minute, "this." I pointed at my stomach. "Now it's your turn. What's going on between you and Malfoy?" She looked up at me.
"Um…er…I uh…"
"Kadie! Spit it out!"
"He knows!" Shit. I stared at her, not sure whether to use Avada Kedavra or just Crucio.
"How the hell does he know?" I spazzed.
"His dad! Apparently he heard his dad and Fudge talking about expelling you for it!"
"Expelling me? Because I got pregnant?" Great. Now my life was over. Kadie glanced out through the compartment window.
"Tia, someone might hear you…" She mumbled.
"I don't care! They all probably know anyways!" I freaked.
"They don't…"
"How the hell can you be so sure, Kadie?"
"Because – " She stopped.
"Because isn't an answer!"
"I made him promise! He gave me his word!"
"What, and Malfoy's word is supposed to be worth something?" I think I saw a tear.
"We'll talk to Dumbledore…"
"I'm sorry Kadie, but what is Dumbledore going to do? Draco has power over the school and –" I stopped. I had just called him Draco. Kadie noticed too. She sat there, wide-eyed and staring. What the hell is wrong with me? I thought. I buried my head in my hands, and felt like I was going to cry. Not because I had called him by his first name, but, well, it actually hit me. Dumbledore could threaten to expel Malfoy, and he could still have this piece of gossip around the school within seconds. And even then, he wouldn't have to leave because his dad could just force the Ministry to let him stay.
"Tia, it's going to be fine."
"No it isn't." I sobbed.
"Why is that?"
"Because Malfoy knows. He's going to find someway to use this against me." I stated. And then, for some odd reason, Kadie smiled.
"No he isn't."
"And how do you plan on stopping him?" I asked. Bloody hell, I was getting snappy again.
"Because I've got a plan."
A/N: And there is the horrid cliffhanger. Okay, so, the next chapter is coming soon, I just need to get a chance to type it out (i have a lot of homework and my little brother is apparently going to die if he doesn't stay on the computer for large amounts of time...)... so... yeah.