Chapter Seven

Pansy's Revenge

'Today's Wednesday,' Cailee thought, as she opened her eyes. She looked at the clock; breakfast would soon be served in the Great Hall. She looked out the window that was closest to her bed and saw the pink and purple light tingeing the horizon. It was going to be a most magnificent day.

Cailee roused from her bed and could see Lavender stirring in her bed also. "I hate getting up so early," she grumbled.

"I guess that's what happens when we get older, classes start sooner. I think our classes should start same as the fourth years since we eat breakfast together and stuff. It's not fair they have like, an hour after breakfast till their first class," Cailee said, groping for the closet in the corner of her room which held all the girls' robes. Then she went to fumble through her trunk where her clothes were that she would wear under the robes. While she was searching, she started humming a beautiful song that her mother had taught her a while ago, she had been so little.

"Wow, you seem to be happy," said Hermione, brushing her bushy hair.

"I am," she said, slipping on some Capri's and a t-shirt. 'But you don't know why, and I'm not sure if I'll tell you.'

"Hey, where did you and Malfoy slip off to last night?" Parvarti asked, putting make up on her face.

"Oh, we just went out to the lake and looked at the stars. He's so clueless when it comes to Astronomy," Cailee said, pulling her hair half up with a sideways part.

"Yeah, and he's clueless at just about anything else, too, except girls," Amber giggled.

"That's not nice, not at all," Cailee said.

"Yeah, well, it's just a bit strange I guess, because, you know, Gryffindor and Slytherin don't ever mix," said Lavender.

"Well that needs to change," Cailee said gruffly, and tromped down the stairs. The other girls looked at her retreating back, quickly finished up, and followed her downstairs to the Great Hall.

Ron surveyed the scene around him. Harry and Hermione had their heads close together and were talking about something. Then he saw the color rise in Hermione's cheeks as Harry gently kissed her lips. Cailee was in a heated discussion with Seamus about Quidditch, which she seemed to like, now that she knew more about the rules and how the game was played. She was so oblivious to the game and how it was played that Ron thought she might have been a Muggle that somehow got into the school. But, Dean hadn't known anything about Quidditch, either, he thought. Yet, he seemed to like the sport well enough, not as much as he liked the West Ham soccer team, he guessed, scowling to himself. Dean was talking to Neville, probably about Potions, which they were both very bad in, and which they both had today. Ron couldn't believe he had gotten into Advanced Potions, and it seemed Snape was thinking along those lines, too. Snape took any opportunity he could to laugh at Ron, or any of the Gryffindor's, in fact. Even Cailee. This was hard to believe, because no one talked about Cailee, everyone liked her and she liked everyone else. Except maybe Pansy, who was just a stuck up jealous brat. But that was nothing new. All the Slytherins were like that.

"I would like to try flying," Cailee said to Seamus. Ron almost dropped his food.

"You would like to try it? As in, you've never flown before?"

"No," she said sheepishly.

"What kind of witch are you?" he asked in utter amazement, as though anyone in the magical world should have flown a broom before age two.

"One of a kind," she smiled.

"Okay, then there's only one solution. You're going to try flying. Me and Harry will teach you, okay?" he said.

Cailee looked round at Harry, who was staring at her. He nodded his head.

"All right, but you have to promise not to hurt me, okay?" she asked. The boys nodded in agreement.

"What say tomorrow after dinner then?" Ron asked. "Since you have to tutor that stupid git, Malfoy tonight."

The girls that shared Cailee's dormitory looked up at Cailee to see what she would say. They saw her jaw visibly tighten, her body tense, but she nodded and continued eating.

Soon they were out sitting on the grounds near Hagrid's cabin, taking their Care of Magical Creatures class. The animals were pretty cute, Cailee thought, all though she had never spotted them in the forest's at home.

They were like puppies, with long droopy ears, and tails like a cat. The tails were long and puffy, and were about as long as the ear's, which they were often tripping over. Their fur varied in color from a creamy blue to a deep chestnut. Some of them had long, shaggy hair, while others had short, wiry hair. Cailee looked over her notes she had taken and glanced at the name. It was so uncommon, yet beautiful. Benevalor, Hagrid had said. Bene, the root word of benevolence meaning kindness, and valor, meaning courage. But, those were only some words to describe these animals; there was also fidelity, audacity, and reliance. These puppies were strong hearted and independent, but they could be there for you in a flash, so long as they trusted you.

Cailee, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Seamus, Dean, and Lavender and Parvarti all sat around three of these animals sketching them, taking notes, and feeding them foods, trying to figure out which ones they liked best.

Ron glanced up to see Hagrid carrying two crates. He looked back at Hagrid's cabin and saw one more crate sitting on the ground.

"Oy, Hagrid! Do you need any help?" he asked, standing up and walking over to him.

"Naw, I'm all right, Weasley," he said. Then he turned to the class and whistled real loud.

"Students! Look up here, please. Your assignmen' for mosta the year, up till Easter, will be to look after these creatures. You will each git one. You'll need to look after it, feed it, care for it, and sometimes come down to me hut and give it some extra TLC," Hagrid beamed out. "Now, ladies first, come'n pick your Benevalor."

Cailee scrambled up from her group and got to the crates first. Inside, a dozen or so of the dog-like creatures were wandering around, so little she could hold it in her fist. She reached in and grabbed one. It had a bracelet around it's ankle with a number that Hagrid jotted down on a clipboard.

She sat back down and cuddled it until everyone had gotten one. Girls were squealing in delight, and the boys seemed somewhat happy. Everyone was examining everyone else's new pet, pointing out similarities and differences.

"Now, any questions?" Hagrid asked.

"Yeah, are they blind?" A Hufflepuff called out.

"Nah, they ain't blind. They just youngin's, is all, haven' opened their eyes yet."

"How did you get all these?" Someone else called out.

"Bought 'em from a breeder in Bulgaria, their native land. The mom was too sick to look after 'em, so it had to be killed. An' that reminds me, you'll have to feed it special milk often, so you should be coming around the hut every afternoon and evenin'. Don't want 'em dying."

"One mom had all these puppies?" Hermione asked. There had to be over twenty four of them.

"Nah, two moms. One was sick after she gave birth, an' the other 'un caught whatever it was. I'm not sure what happened to it," he said.

The questions continued for the rest of the class. When lessons were over, they were put back into the crates, which were they were going to stay for the time being.

Cailee and all her friends headed off to Charms after that. They sat in class and talked about their new puppies, as everyone was calling them, even though that wasn't their name. Today, they were supposed to make a desk walk around the room, as though it had human legs. Cailee was having a hard time with it, as was everyone else. Seamus got so mad he kicked the desk, toppled it over, and broke two of the four legs off of it. Flitwick wasn't pleased.

"Seamus has a history of violence," Harry said, smiling at his friend.

"Boy, do I ever," Seamus sighed. "Remember in first year when I couldn't get the feather to levitate and set it on fire? That was crazy, but I've done worse."

"Like what?" Cailee asked.

"Um, let's see, one time I was supposed to make a shoebox turn into a tea kettle and then levitate it, but the shoebox turned into an umbrella that kept flapping open and shut, and it shut on McGonagall's head."

"Harry, how many cauldrons have I melted?" Neville asked.

Everyone laughed at that. Neville melted at least three or so a year.

"I dunno, I lost count back in fourth year, I think you were up to twelve or so," Harry said, laughing.

After that, everyone was off telling about all the things they had done, whether it was collapsing cauldrons, turning people's hair's color's or whatever. Cailee laughed extremely hard when Harry told them that he had somehow turned his teacher's wig blue in class one time, before he knew he was a wizard. And how his cousin Dudley had sprouted a tail.

Two hours later, Cailee found herself in Potions next to Malfoy. When she had first sat down, he blew a discreet kiss to her, and she blushed. She hoped no one had seen. Cailee was glad about the little secret they shared. She had had so much fun last night under the stars. She could still feel his heart beating in her ears, as she remembered lying on his strong, firm chest, and how she had trembled with chills when he ran his fingers through her hair. She also trembled when she remembered him slowly tracing his finger along in circles and odd shapes along her back; how good it had felt! How much it had tickled! And then when they stood up to go back in, there was no Peeves to ruin their kiss.

She sat next to him, where Snape had assigned her at the beginning of the year. After class had started, and they had to copy notes from the board, and then highlight almost a whole section in their book, he calmly placed his hand on her thigh. She wanted to push it away, yet at the same time, she liked it. She liked how it felt to know he was there to protect her, and make her feel secure.

Pansy, however, didn't like it. She sat back with her look-alikes and whispered to them about how to get at the new girl. They finally came up with an idea.

She slowly levitated Cailee's ink bottle to above her head; and even more slowly it began to drip along the front of her robes. Then it almost gushed out. Then the ink bottle clattered to the desk top. People looked up and saw Cailee covered in purple ink, from her elegant hair to her robes.

"Oh man," Cailee said, looking at herself. "I'm such a klutz."

As she sat there, cleaning up her robes, Malfoy looked around at Pansy who smiled sweetly and blew him a kiss.

Author's Notes: Thank you Zarif, for reviewing to my story! I love yours, by the way! But you already knew that. So there's the story so far. In up-coming chapters, you guys get to learn more about Cailee's inner-struggles and her conflicts, and why she's here in the first place. So, PLEASE review!