Chapter 4
"Please open your books to page three hundred twenty-six," instructed the Potions master, Professor Snape. "Now, some of you may feel like you're important, learning the magical properties of the truth serum we call Veritaserum, but I assure you, you are not."
Kaitlyn took notes rapidly on the ingredients she saw in the book, so she wouldn't miss any. That was the last thing she needed even though she constantly got top marks in Potions, much to Professor Snape's dismay. He often sneered at her, "I can't believe a Weasley has as much knowledge as you do, Kaitlyn. But I suspect it's from your Muggle Know-It-All mother." Thankfully for her, she had not inherited her father's stubbornness and need to constantly retaliate when she was irked.
"Now, I'm going to break you off into pairs because I do not want a repeat of what happened last week in my classroom. None of you pay attention when you're paired with your little friends. So," he said, his dark, malicious eyes glancing about the classroom. "Finnigan, I want you with Smythe."
Selma tried not to groan as she moved away from the safety of her best friend's side to the Slytherin side of the room.
"Let's see here," Snape said, looking around again. "Thomas, you're with Jennings." Heather did not argue as she grabbed her things and moved over. "Malfoy," he said, directing his attention toward another area of the dungeon. "I want you with Weasley."
Both Dameon and Kaitlyn dropped their jaws. "What!" Kaitlyn squealed.
"Professor, surely you could think of someone better…" Dameon began, turning slightly red.
"I'll have no arguments from either of you," he shot icily. "Weasley, you're working with Malfoy. Get over there now."
Kaitlyn crossed her arms defiantly. "I have a lot more things to carry. Surely he can come over here."
"Weasley, do you want me to deduct points from Gryffindor for defiance?"
"No, no, sir, it's all right," Dameon spoke up. "I'll just move. I'd rather do it than listen to her gripe all class."
Kaitlyn stuck her nose snootily in the air, trying to remain as confident as possible. Dameon settled next to her and scooted his chair as far to the other corner of the desk as he possibly could. They shot daggers at each other while Snape paired up the rest of the class.
"All right, students," he said, heading toward the front of the classroom. "I expect you to have this potion made and ready for me to test at the end of class."
Kaitlyn stood up immediately. "I'll get the ingredients," she said stiffly.
"I'll begin with what we have," he shot back at her, standing up before she could leave.
It was a very awkward lesson for the two of them, but they worked diligently and accurately. Neither of them spoke until Dameon finally broke the ice.
"You're doing better than I'd think a Weasley to do, Kaitlyn."
She looked up for a second, astonished. Had he just given her a compliment? Her blue eyes glazed over as she stared at Dameon's pale face. He was doing his best to look away from her, but suddenly he couldn't help but look over at her.
Kaitlyn's heart almost stopped. Was that… a smile? She smiled herself, looking back at the potion. "You're surprisingly pleasant for a Malfoy, Dameon."
He looked up at her suddenly, not believing what she had just told him. His eyes lit up and he whispered, "Do you mean that?"
Kaitlyn looked at Dameon and saw the light in his eyes. She couldn't even begin to imagine how lonely his life was before if such a small compliment was causing him to become so happy. She smiled at him and Dameon's cool heart melted. "Yes. Yes, I do mean that."
Dameon let himself smile back at her and Kaitlyn couldn't believe how handsome he became with a little warmth on his face.
"MALFOY! WEASLEY! This is not a staring contest!" Snape bellowed from the front of the classroom, ruining the moment.
Kaitlyn and Dameon broke their eye contact and began working on the potion again.
"If you weren't complimenting me, Weasley, I would be paying attention."
"If you hadn't smiled at me, Malfoy, I'd be working as well."
Kaitlyn and Dameon caught each other's eye again, smirked, and looked back at the potion. They remained silent for the rest of the hour.
All Kaitlyn could suddenly sense was Dameon's presence near her. Neither of them had to say a thing, but both of them knew that they had reached some common ground, they'd reached a real level with each other.
He coughed loudly when they were done and raised his hand calmly. Professor Snape wandered over to them and peered into the cauldron. It was clear, which was the exact pigment it was supposed to be. Snape looked a bit disappointed that Dameon and Kaitlyn had not scratched each other's eyes out and even more so that they had managed to concoct their potion perfectly. He dismissed the class in a very perturbed mood.
Kaitlyn gathered her things hurriedly and dashed out of the classroom. She had to write her mother… she had to write her immediately.
"Kate! Kate, wait up!"
It was Selma and Heather. They were the last people she wanted to talk to at the moment. She had too much going on in her brain. She needed to get away from the Potions dungeon… far away.
"Kaitlyn," another voice called. This voice she stopped for. It was Dameon.
She turned around to see him walking up alongside her quickly. Her mouth dropped open. No boy had ever approached her in the halls of Hogwarts… except for John Wood who had wanted to hear her opinion about the last Quidditch game.
Yet she couldn't let the hopefulness inside of her show through. She still had to show a stern face when it came to Dameon Malfoy.
"What do you want?" she asked, her tone more icy than she wanted it to be.
He clutched his books defensively to his chest, staring down his long nose at her. It was as if he was trying to size her up, figure out if this was really the same girl he had just spent a pleasant hour with. "You, er…" he looked down suddenly. He was caught. What had he planned to say to her? What could he possibly say to a girl who only thought of him as the boy who loved to push all of her buttons? She felt nothing for him, so why should he feel anything for her?
"Yes?" she asked again. He was flustered. Was that good or bad?
"You left your quill," he said, remembering the real reason he had caught up with her. Had he planned to say anything more?
"Oh," she said, looking down at his hand. She had left her quill. That was all… that was all. It seemed to be so devastating, but she couldn't figure out why it was so devastating. She grabbed the quill, not realizing that she had, instead grabbed the tips of his fingers. Her blue eyes shot upward and looked into his. There was that spark again, that same spark she saw every time they fought, the one she had seen in his smile. What did it all mean?
"Thank you, Dameon," she said nervously, taking the quill and turning to walk away.
"Wait, Kaitlyn!" he called, and realized just as she turned around that he had no idea what to say to her. Her eyebrows shot up in a nonverbal attempt to ask what he wanted. Could he say anything? What was he supposed to say to her?
Kaitlyn couldn't breathe. She couldn't even think. How had she not noticed Dameon Malfoy before? He was in her year, they had been sorted together, they had even had classes together three years beforehand… how was it possible she had never seen him?
Maybe it was the influence her father had on her. He had spoken the name Malfoy with such loathing and hatred that she didn't want to be involved with anyone of that name either. Perhaps it was the fact that she just didn't care to notice. It could have been that she tried not to associate with anyone from the house of Slytherin. They all seemed to be quite an unhappy, surly bunch they did. What joy would she get out of a friendship with a Slytherin?
But it never occurred to Kaitlyn how much hope was in his eyes. After seeing Dameon's father in Flourish and Blotts with that hollow glare in his ice blue eyes, she couldn't decide wither or not there was feeling in that prestigious family at all. Yet there was a spark in Dameon's eyes that she hadn't seen in Draco's. Something that made him different than his family, something that made him a little more decent. She could tell… Dameon had always and would always be separated from his family.
What did that mean with her, though? And why was he constantly staring at her with that glimmer of hope in his eyes? What had she ever done for him?
Kaitlyn tore her eyes away from Dameon before it was too late and rushed down the hallway, away from the glimmer… away from his eyes.
Dameon blinked a couple of times and felt the hope drain from his heart. She was all he had left… she was it. He had known it the first time he had seen her… really seen her in Flourish and Blotts. He'd known her for four years, but knew of the warning his father had given him about redheads and Weasley's… they were nothing but paupers who procreated with Mudbloods. What business did he have consorting with peasant folk like those? Perhaps that was why he never chose to acknowledge Kaitlyn Weasley.
But there she was, wild and free. The only girl to ever look him in the eye, and certainly the only person at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to talk to him in a manner that noted he was not above her, nor ever would be. She was the only person to ever challenge him, to irk him, to fight back.
There was hope in Kaitlyn Weasley, he just refused to see it. He'd come from a family that did not promote love and happiness. It was all about respect and pride, social stature and looking good in public. Where was there time to love when you had to make sure you always kept a clean persona? He'd grown to think there was no such thing as love.
And then he'd seen the look in Kaitlyn's eyes when she got enthusiastic over their spats. She had fire, she had charisma, and she had plenty of passion.
But she was a Weasley.