"So," Hermione asked later that evening. "He wasn't upset about the Veritaserum?" Kat shook her head and smiled. Draco had asked her out earlier that day, something that she was still unwilling to share with her friends. "No," she said. "He took it pretty well, thought it was very clever in fact."
Kat flopped down on her bed and put her hands behind her head. She was drifting off to sleep, when Hermione spoke again. "Kat…are you awake?"
"Nope. Sound asleep actually," she said firmly. "Go to sleep, Hermione." She sounded troubled as she said, "No, Kat, don't tune me out, this is important."
Kat sighed, and rolled over on her stomach to face Hermione, who looked worried as she said, "Kat, this prophesy, what did it say?" Kat snorted. "Huh! Why does it matter? It's really none of my business." Hermione sighed. "But it is!" she said softly. "It could affect your whole life, and maybe even Draco's as well!"
Kat sat bolt upright and bristled at that. "Leave him out of this! This has nothing to do with him!" she snarled. "Yes it does!" Hermione cried. "You said yourself that Dumbledore mentioned his name!" Lavender Brown's voice drifted sleepily from the other side of the room. "Would you two shut up and go to bed?!"
Kat looked at Hermione and said softly, "Look, Dumbledore will tell me when he thinks it's the right time. Until then, I'm just not going to worry about it." Hermione opened her mouth as if to say something, but Kat cut her off. "Good night, Hermione." she said firmly.
*********************
The next morning, as Kat and Hermione went downstairs to breakfast, they met Draco at the doors to Great Hall. He gave Kat a conspiratorial wink and said, "Good morning, Kat! Morning, Hermione!" Hermione looked at him, one eyebrow raised skeptically, not saying anything. Kat elbowed her, and she said reluctantly, "Good morning, Mal—." She elbowed her again. "Draco." She finished, giving Kat a look that clearly said, There! Are you happy?!
Kat waved at Draco as he headed to the Slytherin table. They had mutually agreed to sit at their respective tables, so as not to attract unwanted attention.
"Honestly," Hermione complained as they sat down to eat. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think that you liked him or something!"
"That's ridiculous!" Kat said stiffly, cramming a piece of toast into her mouth to avoid further questioning. "Gross!" said Ron. "Kat, that's disgusting!"
Harry laughed and said, "I don't know Ron, you're not exactly a model of good manners yourself!" Ron gave him a dirty look, and started eating again. Kat breathed a sigh of relief. Phew, she thought, that was a close one!
***************
Later that day, in transit to her next class, Draco brushed past Kat in the hallway. As he did so, she felt a scrap of paper pushed into her hand. Puzzled, she opened the note and read:
Tonight; same place same time.
Yours, Draco
"What's that?" said a voice from behind her. Kat whirled around, hastily stuffing the note into one of the pockets in her robe. She looked down to see Felix Malfoy staring at her through bright blue eyes. She shivered as the strangest feeling overtook her. For some reason, she felt completely helpless, and her mind raced unbidden to that night so long ago…
"Tell me where she is!" an evil voice rasped. The voice dripped with malice, and brought to mind the image of thousands of snakes writhing and twisting. Kat shuddered in her hiding place and watched, her innocent three-year-old eyes widening in fear. "Never!" her mother sobbed. "She's just a child! What has she ever done to you?" The man just laughed, a low, sinister sound that sent chills down Kat's spine. "Oh, she hasn't done anything—yet. Now tell me the answer, woman, before you end up like your precious husband!
"He was so brave," the man continued mockingly, "for all the good it did him," he finished callously, kicking the body that lay on the floor. Kat's mother slumped to the floor, still sobbing as the tall, black-cloaked man took a step forward, raising his wand threateningly. "Now tell me the answer before I lose my patience!" He aimed a kick at her and snarled, "Stand up you coward!"
Slowly Kat's mother got to her feet and faced the stranger. "Well?" the man hissed. She drew herself up to her full height, hazel eyes flashing with defiance, and spat full in the man's face. He snarled in anger and disgust, then pointed his wand at her and roared, "AVADA KEDAVRA!" There was a rushing sound and a flash of green light, then—silence. Kat's bottom lip quivered as she peered out of her hiding place, and saw both of her parents lying dead on the floor.
With his back still facing her, the man muttered, "Ah, well, the little brat won't live long without parents anyway." Then, with a final glance around the room, Lucius Malfoy walked out the door and down the stairs, leaving a helpless orphan alone with her tears and two dead bodies.
Kat jerked back to reality as a hand touched her arm. "Miss, are you all right?" asked a timid voice. She muttered a noncommittal reply, wondering what had brought back such unpleasant memories.
Kat shivered as she looked at Felix. There was something about those eyes; something that seemed sinister, and almost—snakelike. She shook off the feeling and hurried to class.