I felt like I was one of the few people in Hogwarts who actually got to know Madame Hooch outside of Quidditch and flying lessons. There was so much more to this Professor. I really got to like her a great deal.
I met her one day after Michael had left and I had done all of my studying for my tests the next week. No homework, no Quidditch and Draco was off with his two goons.
I did not hate Crabbe and Goyle exactly, but I sure wasn't happy with them. They had started to bully me one day, I suspect Pansy had put them up to it. Draco was gone, he had detention for some dumb reason or another. But when Goyle made the mistake of pushing me, Blaise jumped up and grabbed his arm and I stuck my wand to his groin. "If you try that again, there will be no little Gregorys running around. Ever. Do we understand each other?"
He nodded energetically and that was the end of that. Neither of them ever bother me again. Of course it may have had something to do with the stinging hex Draco tormented them with for the next few days when he heard what happened.
So there I was bored and lonely. I had been wandering around the Quidditch pitch by myself everyone else was either watching the champions practice or off doing goodness knows what. Draco was with Crabbe and Goyle and he had been looking rather mutinous after everything that happened with Michael, even though nothing had happened with Michael. But when Draco gets secretive he scares me sometimes. I am afraid he will get in to a position he can't get out of.
I was worried and so I went to the pitch. I loved to fly. I may not be able to play right now, but I can enjoy the pitch and just being out in the fresh air.
That is when I met Madame Hooch outside of classes. With the Tournament the Professor had not had much to do either.
There was one other thing she was very good at though. The best I had ever seen, not that I had seen many I admit. The woman was also a professional duelist. She knew all of the rules and formalities and had been working very hard with me to improve my form and skill. It gave us something to concentrate on besides our lack of interest in the tournament.
I also learned she had been in the Great War, or as we call it World War I and some muggle airplane had singed her broom. This seemed to personally offend her.
Madame Hooch was quite impressed with the wand that had chosen me. She looked it over carefully and pronounced it a very fine dueling wand. I told her that was just what Mr. Ollivander had said!
She was different when we were studying dueling. I liked her normally, of course, she always insisted we play a clean and fair game, did not tolerate any funny business and kept us safe. Quidditch is dangerous enough without some hot head actually trying to knock you off of your broom!
In flying lessons and Quidditch she was a coach. Very lively and animated and excited about the sport. When we practiced dueling she was far more focused. We talked about how to properly hold my wand, not how to polish my broom. The precise angle at which one must bow to their opponent not fly into the wind, but the dedication was the same.
It was nice. Draco had sneered when I first told him what I was doing, but after attending a few private lessons with her, even he had to admit, the woman he thought of as his flying instructor and referee really did know what she was doing.
A few weeks in I approached Madame Hooch with the idea of restarting the dueling club at school.
"I would be pleased to sponsor your club if you can get the other house heads to agree Miss Taylor. But I will expect absolute dedication from those who sign up. And we must not be selective in who we allow to join. I know there has been a bit of trouble between houses. This will not be allowed as an excuse to take out grudges. And NO SNAKES!"
I agreed and went off to get the heads of the houses on board. No one gave me any real difficulties; they all wanted the same thing. Don't take out grudges; a Professor must always be present for practice, no discrimination. All of which I readily agreed to. Within a week I was ready to put up flyers.
I had gone to tell Draco when I saw he was up a tree with his goons below him I had just decided to wait when I heard him call out to Harry Potter, oh no this was not going to be good. I started running.
"Why so tense Potter? My father and I have a bet, you see. See, I don't think you're going to last ten minutes in this tournament. He disagrees. He thinks he you won't last five!" Oh please Draco, don't do this, I just got our dueling club back!
"I don't give a damned what your father thinks! He is vile and you are pathetic!" OK, I didn't much care for Lucius Malfoy the times I had seen him but for Harry to call Draco pathetic? I would not stand for that.
But then Draco pulled his wand "No Draco" I screamed just before Professor Moody showed up, thank Merlin, he would stop things before they got out of hand.
But instead it got worse, Moody turned Draco into a ferret and started flinging him into the air I saw Professor McGonagall not far and ran to grab her. She would put a stop to this! Thankfully she did.
But I was not done with one Harry Potter. I stalked off down the path he had taken.
"POTTER" I shouted and saw him turn around startled. He had just caught up with Granger. "You have your nerve calling ANYONE pathetic "
"Look, I don't have time for…" he started.
I cut him off "For what? Some stupid slut friend of Draco's?"
He had the grace to at least blush at this.
"I never said that…"
"No, you just told one of my friends that I would turn on her. You don't even know me. I don't come from here I wasn't raised with any of this nonsense." I felt pathetic myself when I started to cry.
"I was just trying to…" he started.
Having none of it I cut him off "You just thought it was OK to bully the Slytherin girl who only wanted to stay with the only friends she had made here by going in to their house." He looked thoughtful at this.
"And let me tell you something about YOUR friends that you think are so wonderful. Those redheaded twins knocked me flat on my ass my very first day on the train causing me to squeeze my ferret until she screamed in pain and they didn't even look back. You know who helped me up and taught me about which families are taught manners and which are not? It sure as hell wasn't some Gryffindor. It was the boy you just called pathetic. He was the one who made sure my Isis and I were OK, but I guess that is 'pathetic' in your book?" I hated that I was crying but I wasn't about to stop now.
"No… of course not." He was looking more uncomfortable.
"You know what boys made me feel welcome without knowing my blood status? Draco, Blaise and Theo. You know who mocked Draco's name and family HIS first day? Your good friend Ronald Weasley. But I guess since he has such a wonderful family your friend Ron doesn't care about any one else's, right?" Harry had turned red at this.
"You are right Miss Granger" I said dashing away my tears "you are nothing like us, and we thank Merlin, who by the way was one of us, for that every day! You are horrible bullies and you should be ashamed, but you won't be because Gryffindors are too good and pure to have ever been in the wrong, am I correct? No, it must have been those nasty Slytherin."
She just looked at me shocked. I don't think anyone had ever told them they were the bullies before.
Good she should be shocked by her own behavior. And with that I stormed off.
I could hear Harry behind me "I never thought I would feel bad for how I treated a Slytherin."
Hermione spoke up for the first time "Maybe that's the problem with the whole pureblood vrs muggleborn mess to start with. We have all been seeing Houses and blood status. We should have just been seeing people."
When I turned around I was amazed to see Draco standing behind me. He had gone looking for me when he knew I had gone after Potter and Granger.
"Alright, tiger" he said smiling at me, "come on, let's go." He held out his hand to me and entwined our fingers.
"Ok, Draco" I whispered, not trusting myself to talk any more. I was really embarrassed to be crying in front of any of them, but Potter and Granger didn't count.
He stopped long enough to look down at me and wipe my tears away "Now, now, can't have you going back looking pathetic, can we? We have a reputation as the bad guys to uphold, are you trying to ruin that by showing emotion? For shame Cassandra. What would Salazar Slytherin think of this unseemly behavior?"
I laughed finally taking his handkerchief and wiping my eyes. I had not paid attention to the fact that Granger and Potter were still standing there watching us, seeming somewhat transfixed. What? Had they never seen anyone be nice to each other before?
"You can always make me laugh, Draco." I held on to his hand.
He leaned in and whispered loud enough for the two behind us to hear him "That is just a trick so I can lure you in and turn on you later you silly little witch."
That was it I couldn't hold my laughter in any longer "You Draco Malfoy are the very best at being the very worst."
"And you don't even have to throw yourself from a bleacher in to mid air hoping for me to catch you to get my attention." He said, pulling my arm through his.
I slapped him on the arm before laying my head against his shoulder "Take me home now?"
"You got it love, I think there might even be chocolates somewhere with your name on them." I hugged his arm, giving up his chocolates for me is a declaration of best friends forever.
We walked off completely ignoring the two Gryffindors behind us.
When we got just outside of the entrance to our common room, Draco stopped me. "Those idiots really aren't worth getting worked up over you know? What did they say to you to make you so upset?"
"Nothing to me, just I heard what Potter said about you, calling you pathetic and I may have lost it." He looked at me a long time and then shook his head and kissed me on the forehead.