Chapter 2: When one's faith is set, find the next step.
When Cooper heard Harry say that, he wanted to respond with "You're rotten because your prejudice!" but didn't because he wanted to see Khoe again.
So the next day, he went to the park and waited on the swing until he heard "Cooper!"
He turned around and saw Khoe. "Khoe!"
They ran up to each other and gave each other a hug.
"You were right, Cooper, the day does go by slowly." Khoe said.
"Only when there's no one to celebrate the day with." Cooper said. They sat down on the swings.
"How angry was your dad?" Khoe asked.
"I had to lie to him about you. No offense, or anything, but he's just that way. You have to tell him something bad about the Malfoy's to please him." Cooper said.
"My dad's the same way. So I lied to him about you and he was pleased about it." Khoe said.
"What about your mom?" Cooper asked.
"Well, what about your mom?" Khoe asked.
"She's calm, and she would probably accept that I'm friends with you."
"You're lucky you have an understanding mom," Khoe said, "My mom won't hear that I'm friends with you."
"Its okay, Khoe, they'll understand soon enough." Cooper reassured her.
"I hope." Khoe said.
"Let's talk about something different." Cooper said.
"How about your family? What's it like being the Boy Who Lived's son?" Khoe asked.
"It's difficult. Everyone always knows his name and he is constantly being offered the Minister of Magic position. But he likes where he is. But another reason it's difficult is because I don't have any Aunts or Uncles from his side of the family. Not even a Grandma or Grandpa.
"Well, do you have any Uncles or Aunts period?" Khoe asked.
"Yeah. I have six Uncles and three Aunts. But it's soon to be four Aunts; my Uncle Fred is getting married. Of course, one of my Uncles we're not allowed to see or speak about. He betrayed the family. My Uncle Bill works for Gringotts. He's married to my Aunt Fleur. My Uncle Charlie isn't married, but works in Romania with dragons. My Uncle Fred and my Uncle George own that joke shop in Diagon Alley. And my Uncle Ron is married to my Aunt Hermione who are both aurors and work along side Harry. But my Aunt Hermione also teaches at Hogwarts. Back when they went to school, people would call them the Golden Trio. I see them almost every day."
"I don't have any Aunts or Uncles." Khoe said, "We have two houselves, and I have two Grandmas and Grandpas. And that's it."
"Do you wish you had a bigger family?" Cooper asked.
"Yeah. I wish I had some brothers and sisters, like you've got. I'd rather have someone to play with."
"Having siblings aren't all fun. Having younger siblings, you can tell them what to do. Having older siblings, they can help you other stuff, like sneaking around and not getting caught. Or, at least, Jadyn can."
"It sounds like fun to me."
"It can be fun." Cooper said. Khoe looked at her watch and gasped.
"It's noon! I have to go! I'm sorry, Cooper, terribly sorry!" Khoe said. She ran off.
"See you next Sunday!" Cooper said.
They saw each other for a couple of Sundays. Then Jadyn got his letter to Hogwarts and they had to throw a party for him.
"I'm going to Hogwarts, squirt!" Jadyn said.
"Good. Now I won't have to see your ugly face every day of my life!" Cooper said. Jadyn lunged toward Cooper but fell on the ground, Cooper having gotten away.
"You little-" Jadyn said. He got up and Cooper was laughing. He lunged toward Cooper and grabbed the collar of his Muggle clothes. He pinned him against the wall.
"What was all that about?" Jadyn asked.
"You should know by now, I only speak the truth." Cooper said.
"The truth? Then you should know something. The truth is that I'm happy to only have to see you on Holidays." Jadyn said.
"We share feelings, bro." Cooper said. He hit his chest and made a peace sign with his fingers. Jadyn stepped aside and he ran upstairs, running into Talia.
"What's the hurry?" she asked.
"Jadyn got accepted to Hogwarts! Gotta go!" Cooper said. He ran right past Talia. Jadyn ran up the stairs and pushed Talia out of the way.
"Jadyn!" she yelled.
That was the toughest Sunday Cooper had ever encountered with Jadyn. But, luckily, he made it to the park in time to see Khoe.
They went to the park for another year. They saw each other all the time. Then, after the year, Talia got her letter. And the year after that, Cooper got his letter.
So he went to the park that Sunday. There, he met up with Khoe.
"Hey, Khoe!" Cooper said. He ran up to her, "I got my letter!"
"I did too." Khoe said.
"How did your parents take it?" Cooper asked.
"They were okay. Mum was very happy, but Father wasn't. He really wanted me to go to Durmstrang."
"Well, it'll turn out great when you learn all the stuff your s'posed to." Cooper said.
"Well, I've heard Hogwarts is great!" Khoe said.
"Yeah. My brother says you have to face a dragon to see what house you'll be sorted into."
"Oh, really? That sounds really interesting. What house do you want to be in?" Khoe asked.
"Gryffindor all the way! You?" Cooper asked.
"Well, my Father wants me in Slytherin. But I'm not sure what I want to be in. And if I'm not in Slytherin, my parents will probably get mad at me. I don't know." Khoe said.
"Well, what if this obstacle comes up? What are you going to do?" Cooper asked.
"Anything to impress my Dad." Khoe said.
"Look, come and sit with me on the swings." Cooper said. Khoe nodded and they sat down on the swings. Cooper took something out of his pocket. He opened it and inside was a ring.
"Cooper?" Khoe asked.
"Khoe, I want to remain friends always. Even if you get into Slytherin, I want to still be your best friend. This is a friendship ring. It promises friendship forever." Cooper said. Khoe got tears in her eyes and hugged Cooper.
"You are the best friend anyone could wish for. I will always be friends with you, always." Khoe said.
"But don't start wearing the ring until we get to the Hogwarts express. If your Dad notices the ring, he'll get suspicious about us." Cooper said. Khoe nodded. Then, they hugged and departed.
Cooper went to Diagon Alley and got the stuff he needed. When he was there, he ran into his Uncle Fred and George at Weasley Wizard Wheezes.
"Hey, Cooper!" they both said at the same time.
"Fred, George! How's the business?" Cooper asked.
"Better than ever. We have some stuff we need you to store at your house." Fred said.
"Portable aging potion. Whenever you want to look older, drink the aging potion and you will look older. It wears off in one hour." George said.
"Could I bring some of it to school with me?" Cooper asked.
"They don't allow this stuff at your school." Fred said.
"So we'll send it to you with our mailing service." George said.
"Wicked!" Cooper said.
"And right now, you can pick one thing off of the wall and have it for free, for being our favorite nephew." Fred said.
"Sweet! Thanks, guys!" Cooper said. He ran off and looked at the wall. And he ended up choosing a Pygmy Puff. His mother once had one. And he could give it to Khoe as a present. She would love it!
Later, Cooper went back home and about a month later, went to the Hogwarts Express.
Lydia was crying. She hugged Cooper.
"I'm going to miss you!" she cried.
"Hey, hey." Cooper said, "Just be sure to pull lots of pranks and all will be cool and fun."
"It's no fun without you!" she said.
"It can be fun if you make it fun." Cooper said. Lydia nodded and went to Harry and Ginny. They waved goodbye, and Cooper got onto the train as it left.
He was walking down the train when someone yelled out to him "Cooper!"
He turned and saw Khoe. He ran into the compartment and hugged her.
"I've missed you, Khoe!" Cooper said.
"And I'm telling Mom and Dad." Jadyn said, right there with Talia.
"Bug off, Jadyn." Cooper said.
"Cooper, Mom and Dad forbid you to ever see that Malfoy again," Talia said with a smile on her face.
"Shut it!" Cooper said, "She's not 'That Malfoy.' Her name is Khoe. And she's very nice."
"Mom and Dad'll hear about this." Talia said. They were just about to leave when Cooper grabbed them back into the compartment.
"You can't! I'll get grounded!" Cooper said.
"Then what do you want to do for us?" Jadyn asked.
"This is total blackmail." Cooper said, "Well, what do you want me to do for you?"
Jadyn and Talia looked at each other. They smiled.
"We'll let you know." Talia said. They both left.
"Wow, that will be a lot of blackmail." Khoe said.
"At least you're an only child. You don't have siblings to rat you out." Cooper said.
"Yeah, but there's everyone else in the world. Oh, wait, I almost forgot!" Khoe pulled out the ring Cooper got her and put it on, "My Father's not here to protect me. I got you something!" Khoe pulled out a tiny kitten, "I know how much you like animals. And my dad didn't even see me buy this."
"Thanks!" Cooper said, taking the tiny kitten, "It's adorable! I got you something too!" Cooper pulled out the Pygmy Puff, "I know how much you like animals also. And my parents thought it was for me."
"It's so cute!" Khoe said, taking the Pygmy Puff from Cooper, "I'll call it Cooper, to remember how I got it."
"And I'll call my kitten Khoe to remember who gave it to me." Cooper said.
There was silence for a moment.
"It's been a while!" Khoe said.
"Well, think of the bright side: we're at Hogwarts! There are no parents telling us what to do!" Cooper said.
"Except telling us what house they want us to be in." Khoe said, "I don't know what I'll do if I get put into Gryffindor. Mother and Father will be mad."
"You just need to lie to them." Cooper said, "I've done it to my parents a million times before!"
"But my parents won't believe it." Khoe said.
"They believed you about me." Cooper said. Khoe smiled, "When one's faith is set…"
"Find the next step." Khoe finished.