Chapter 4: Kassidy's Second Year at Hogwarts

This past summer, Kassidy got to spend time with her new best friend, Draco Malfoy. She didn't have to deal with Harry Potter all summer. Her twelfth birthday was in early June, so Draco threw a small party for her, no matter how much she said he didn't need to.

Mr. Malfoy was decent to her, treated her with manners, and allowed her to stay at his house for the summer, like Draco had said. Kassidy, not one to just sit around while in another's company, offered to pull her own weight, but Mr. Malfoy declined. "You're Draco's guest. You don't need to worry about it," he had said.

"All my life, I've been waiting for someone to just adopt me already, then I realized how much people hate my weirdness so much they won't even give me a proper home. So I had already accepted I was never going to be adopted," Kassidy confided in Draco one day.

"I wish I could empathize, but I can't. I've pretty much had my life handed to me," Draco said with a bit of a smile.

"You're lucky. My parents are dead!" she snapped, fighting back tears threatening to escape as she stormed out of the room.

"Kassidy!" he called out, but she kept walking. She got to the guest room where she was sleeping and flopped onto the bed face-down after locking the door. After a few minutes, there was a knock at her door.

"Kassidy! It's Draco, let me just talk to you," a voice called from the other side.

"Go away!" Kassidy said, throwing a pillow at the door.

"Come on, did I say something wrong?"

"I just don't like being reminded of my past…"

"I'm sorry, I won't remind you again. Please come out."

"No, but you can come in if you want," Kassidy said, getting up and opening the door.

"I'm sorry if I said anything that reminded you," Draco said.

"It's not your fault, I just get emotional about it sometimes," Kassidy said.

"Come on, let's go do something," Draco said, his voice cracking a little.

"Ha! Your voice cracked again!" Kassidy said.

"It's called puberty!" Draco said.

"Yeah, I know, I'm just teasing," she said with a toothy smile.

"Draco! Kassidy! Your Hogwarts letters just arrived!" Mrs. Malfoy called. Draco tugged on Kassidy's hand and pulled her to the kitchen table, where his mom was sitting with the post. She handed them their letters.

"We can go down to Diagon Alley tomorrow," she said.

"Thanks, Mom," Draco said.

"And Kassidy, just out of curiosity, do you have money for your supplies?" Mrs. Malfoy asked.

"Yeah, my parents left me a bunch. Enough for all seven years and then some," Kassidy said.

"Wonderful. Then we'll be making a stop by Gringott's for you tomorrow," Mrs. Malfoy said.

It came time for term to start, so the Malfoys (and Kassidy) made their way down to King's Cross Station, and to Platform 9¾ like last year. Draco and Kassidy rode in the same compartment like last year. Everything was almost like last year, except it's not last year, it's this year. Kassidy looked around. No sign of Harry Potter or Ron Weasley.

The train got to Hogwarts, and the students were ushered into the school their normal ways. The second years rode on carriages pulled by what looked like invisible horses. They got up to the school and were seated in the main hall a few minutes before the first years arrived.

"No sign of Potter or Weasley," Kassidy said.

"They probably decided not to come to school this year," Draco said.

"Shut up, they're sorting the first years," Kassidy said as they watched the sorting.

After the sorting, the feast began, and then afterwards, the students were led to their respective common rooms.

"The password is 'pureblood,'" the prefect said. The wall opened and everyone went into the common room and to their dorms. Sadly for Kassidy, she had to share the same room as before, with the same girls. Octavia immediately walked up to her and punched her in the face.

"Didn't I tell you to stay away from Draco Malfoy?" she said.

"Sorry, I don't speak Stupid," Kassidy said.

"No, but apparently you're deaf," Kyra said.

"I should go tell Professor Snape. He'd give you all detention and me a new set of roommates!" Kassidy said.

"Nobody likes a tattletale, you know," Katelyn said.

"Well, nobody likes you."

"We don't care," Clarisse said.

"Well, I'm going, and you could get expelled!" Kassidy said, before beginning to run, but was stopped by Kyra and Octavia.

"Let me go!"

"Not until I do some things," Clarisse said, pulling out her wand. "Petrificus totalus," she said, causing Kassidy to be unable to move. She then stepped on Kassidy's leg, breaking it, and the four of them shoved her in the closet.

"Draco will never find you," Kyra said before they shut and locked the door.

"Kassidy! Where are you?" Draco called out from the top of the stairs leading down to the girls' dormitories. He glanced at the prefects before going down the stairs. "Kassidy?" he called out. "Huh, I expected an anti-boy charm…" He wondered aloud before searching for her. He found her dorm and looked inside. "Kassidy?" he called into the room. He saw a wand on Kassidy's bed. "Kassidy, are you in here?" he called. He heard a groan of pain in the closet. He tried to open it, but it was locked.

"Alohomora," Draco said, then opened the door.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" he said as he saw Kassidy, battered a bit with a broken leg.

"She put a full body-bind on me," Kassidy said. Draco quickly muttered the counter curse.

"Your leg is broken, I'm taking you to the hospital wing," Draco said before helping her to her good foot and supporting her on the side with the broken leg.

Madame Pomfrey mended Kassidy's leg, but she was really battered, so she had to stay overnight.

"What happened, Miss Williams?" Madame Pomfrey asked.

"My roommates ganged up on me," Kassidy explained.

"Okay, I'll let Professor Snape know if you want me to. You're in Slytherin, right?"

"Yes, please do."

Kassidy then gave Madame Pomfrey their names, who then left as there were no other patients to tend to. She returned a few minutes later, Professor Snape following.

"Kassidy Williams, as your roommates have caused physical injury to your person, and the inexcusable act of injuring another person like they have, they will have many hours of detention and you will have new roommates," Professor Snape said.

"Thanks. I'm just glad those girls won't do this again."

"Just promise me one thing," Professor Snape continued. "Don't seek revenge on them. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir," Kassidy said.

"Get better," Snape said before leaving the room.

"Well, that went better than expected," Draco said.

"Here's hoping I'm okay enough to go to class tomorrow," Kassidy said.

"Oh, yeah, you'll be fine in time for breakfast tomorrow," Madame Pomfrey said. "You just need to rest. When you wake up in the morning, you'll be perfectly fine."

The next morning, Kassidy woke up to Madame Pomfrey shaking her a little.

"Kassidy, you need to go to breakfast," she said.

"Already?"

"Yes, already. Go on, everyone's already there."

Kassidy stood up, as she was still in her robes, and made her way down to the main hall for breakfast. She sat next to Draco as usual, who smiled when she arrived.

"I take it you're okay?" Draco asked.

"Oh, yeah, totally," Kassidy said.

The students received their schedules for the day.

"Great, Potions and Transfiguration with the Gryffindors and double Herbology with the Ravenclaws," Kassidy said.

"At least Professor Snape favors his house in Potions," Draco said.

"At least. Plus he hates the Gryffindors, so it's always a laugh," Kassidy said.

"I'm twelve years old, I don't have crushes yet!" Kassidy said as she was conversing with her new roommates, Jeannette Sanford a.k.a. Jeannie, Jillian Travers a.k.a. Jillie, Dorothea Steed a.k.a. Dora, and Ellison Hawk a.k.a. Ellie. They were really sweet girls, and Ellie had just asked Kassidy who she liked at the school.

"Okay, then who is your best guy friend? The one you're closest to," Jillie asked.

"I think I know who," Dora said.

"Draco Malfoy," Jillie, Dora, and Kassidy said in unison.

"It's not like it's a secret that he and I are practically best friends," Kassidy said,

"Kassidy, can we call you Kassie? You know, since we're all going by nicknames here?" Jeannie asked.

"Sure, go right ahead," Kassidy said with a smile.

"So, why did they give you new roommates?" Ellie asked.

"My old roommates literally bullied me because I was friends with Draco," Kassidy said.

"Oh my god, Kassie, that's really bad, but I'm glad you're here instead of there," Jillie said.

"Agreed," Kassidy said.

"We have double Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Gryffindors today," Dora said, holding the schedule for the day.

"Yeah, I want to meet our new teacher, like, in person," Jeannie said.

"We might want to go to class," Ellie said, causing the others to agree and set off for their class.

"Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts. I am Professor Lockhart," he started with, and continued into a speech that was completely full of his ego. Kassidy refused to listen to that speech, content with staring at the desk.

At the end of his long-winded speech, which took about half the class time, he walked over to a thing under a sheet.

"In here, I have freshly-caught Cornish Pixies," Lockhart said, pulling the sheet off, accidentally loosing the cage door and letting the pixies free, causing them to fly around the room. A few even picked Neville Longbottom up by his ears and left him dangling on the chandelier by his clothes. Kassidy began smacking pixies with her book, and accidentally hit Draco in the stomach.

"Oops! Sorry!" Kassidy said, her eyes wide.

"I'm fine," Draco said, then smacked a pixie away with a book.

"Peskipixie Pesternomi!" Professor Lockhart said before a pixie knocked his wand out of his hand.

"Immobilus!" Hermione shouted, causing the pixies to stop moving. The pixies were rounded up and put back in the cage.

"Okay, bad idea," Professor Lockhart said.

"Ya think?" a majority of the class echoed.

It was a Saturday evening, the stars were just coming out, it was still a bit warm as the remnants of summer hadn't finished fading yet, and curfew wasn't for another hour and a half. Kassidy and Draco were sitting under a tree, talking.

"So, just out of curiosity, have you ever liked anyone?" Draco asked.

"No, not really. Why?" Kassidy asked.

"Like I said, out of curiosity," Draco said. Kassidy smiled as his voice cracked as it has been since he turned 12.

"Okay, whatever you say," she said. There was silence that lasted a few seconds before Kassidy spoke again.

"The stars are really pretty," she said.

"Yeah, they are," Draco said, glancing towards Kassidy every few seconds. After a few seconds of silence, Kassidy spoke up again.

"Draco, I have something I need to tell you," she said.

"Yeah? What is it?" Draco asked.

"I have a bit of a crush on you," she said, quieter than normal yet audible.

"Oh, really?"

"Really."

"I'd have never guessed. I really only see your aggressive side and your friendly side."

"Yeah, I know. I get too aggressive sometimes, I admit," Kassidy said, a little smile appearing at the corner of her lips.

"Sometimes aggressive gets the job done," Draco said.

"Hey, Draco, I want you to promise me something."

"What is it?"

"Promise me that no matter what happens, we'll never be less than best friends," Kassidy said.

"Okay, I can promise that," Draco said. Kassidy kissed him on the cheek, but missed and got his lips instead. She pulled back and laughed, blushing.

"I think you missed."

"Yeah, I know!"