Contumacious~ Draco Malfoy

4

The first people we come across are Hannah Abbot and Ernie Macmilian. They said they'd keep an eye out for him. We walk to the next cart, where Indian twins sit, babbling. 

"Hey, guys, have you seen a toad?" I ask. They shake their heads no, also a dismissal, and we come to the next cart. Inside, there were three boys and one girl. The first boy was a pointed face, pale, blonde. The last two were over large, and there wasn't much special about them. I knock, and come in when they see me. 

"Hello" I say. "Have any of you seen a toad? My friend has lost one." 

The blonde boy's nose crinkles up. The girl looks annoyed, and the last two boys look dumbfounded. None of them answer, but blondie says 

"And who are you?" I am taken aback by the rude tone. Justin is too, so I answer for him. "This is Justin Finch-Fletchley, and I'm Cassandra Othanos."

 Now he's the one taken aback. "Now, if you see a to-" Blondie stops me. 

"Another Othanos! I don't know why the ministry lets your bloodline go on, I mean, it practically just produces squibs! Rubbish, utter rubbish, don't you think so?" He says, turning to Jus. 

"Well, n-" This time he's cut off. "Well of course you don't, you're a mudblood!" I recognize the insult before he says it. My lip raises to show my teeth. I have a short temper when it comes to my friends, so I can't help the growl-like sound I make in the back of my throat, or my feet walking, till' I'm right before him. Till' the palm of my hand made contact with his cheek. Till' his face looks shocked and mortified. I could, however, help strutting out of the cart, grabbing Justin by the elbow on my way, dragging him to the next cart. 

"My father will hear about this!" presumably blondie, shouts. I call back, cooly. 

"Yeah, make sure to tell him the little details, like how scary I am." 

Justin still seems shocked. This time I walk right into the next cart, without even checking to see who's in it. When I realize it's full of older kids, probably 3rd years, I back out slowly, and say more politely, "Hello. Have any of you seen a toad?" 

Multiple people say "no" or "nah", but one talks over the rest. 

"You look familiar." He says. The boy is very, very handsome, brown haired and taller than the rest. 

"Do I?" I reply. 

He nods, and asks, "What's your name?" sounding really curious. 

"Cassandra Othanos."

 His eyes widen, in recognition. Nothing I haven't seen before. "Othanos- like Charlie?"

 I nod, and he goes on. "Izzy's daughter then- my dad went to school with Charlie, and they were good friends, I've met Izzy a few times, and you look just like her!"

 Strange, I don't look too much like Izzy, except for my body, but, if you see us stand next to each other, you could guess we were family. "Izzy's just my aunt actually. My dad was Charlie's brother."

 He seems genuinely surprised. "I've met your father, then, too, but I still think you look like your aunt's daughter." 

I shrug. "By the way, I'm Cedric Diggory. You and your friend" he gestures to Justin "could stay here with us if you'd like." Some of his friends nod in agreement. These were 14 year old boys- kind of weird, but they seemed genuine, so the corners of my mouth pull down as I say 

"Sorry. Looking for my friends toad."

 I wave and we leave. I catch the disappointment on Cedrics face. He must've liked my family a lot. The rest of the trip through the train is a blur. Justin seems to be angry, or annoyed. When we got back to our cart, Seamus, Dean, Neville, and another girl were sitting in it chatting. I don't knock before coming in. "Hello." I say, exhaustedly. 

The girl looks at me, smiling. "Hello. I'm Hermione Granger. You two must be Cassandra Othanos and Justin Finch-Fletchley." It's not a question, but I nod either way. She holds out her hand for us to shake. "You better get your robe on. We'll be arriving soon." She says to Justin. I had worn mine under my coat. A few seconds later, I randomly hear a squealing, coming from a compartment that can't be too far. When it stops, Hermione beckons me to come with her. She probably wanted to get me away, so that Jus could change. 

"You know, I reckon that's come from Harry Potter's car. He and that Weasley boy, Ron, seemed rather... Accident prone." 

I had completely forgotten that Harry would be here! I try to hide my shock by putting my head down, as Hermione takes us to presumably Harry's cart. Not looking where you're going is a bad idea. I ran straight into the chest of one of those large, rude, boys from earlier. They were standing on either side of the blondie. My cheeks go pink as I look up, backing away. They're all scowling, and the other large boy is holding his finger. I try pulling Hermione past them, but the one I ran into steps up, as blondie talks. "More mudblood friends, Othanos?" I look him straight in the eye. He looks away when I accuse "It looks like you've got a bruise on your cheek. I never really did realize how hard my hand was, or is it that your face is just soft?" 

They step aside, and we continue. "Whats a mudblood?" Hermione asks, once we're out of earshot. To be honest, most of the things I've read were wizard storybooks, to help me understand how they live. "Well- er- um, it's an insult given to muggle borns. Really mean, actually, but don't let him get to you ok?" 

She looks upset, but nods. I definitely didn't express well enough how mean that was. When we get to Harry's car, Hermione walks straight in. I stand in the doorway of the wizard-sweet-wrapper filled room, as she asks, "What has been going on?" The red head boy, my age, from earlier, holds up a dead looking rat. 

"I think he's been knocked out." Redhead inspects the rat carefully. "No- I don't believe it-he's gone back to sleep." He seemed to be talking solely to Harry. His voice drops to a whisper, so that I can't hear. Hermione probably can. After a few seconds, he turns back to her. "Can we help you with something?" 

Hermione looks him right in the eye, and gets this bossy tone. "You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"

 "Scabbers has been fighting, not us," redhead scowls. "Would you mind leaving while we change?" 

Hermione looks satisfied, despite his rudeness. "All right- I only came in here because people are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," She pauses. "By the way, this is Cassandra Othanos. Charlie Othanos's niece." Harry looks confused, and redhead looks like he's not comprehending what she's saying. Hermione gets all bossy again. "And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?" Redhead forgets me, and starts glaring at her. We leave the cart. As soon as I'm assured the boys can't hear us, I question Hermione. 

"Who's redhead again?" She doesn't look at me. 

"Ronald Weasley." 

I nod and we keep walking till' we reach the cart. Everyone is dressed and ready, wands gripped in hands. I walk towards my trunk in the overhead bins, seeking my wand. Jus and Dean, like usual, step up and get it for me. I have a random flashback, of in preschool, when Dean 'proposed' to me. It was before we knew Justin. Dean, I think, had a crush on me from then through 1st grade. We met Jus in kindergarten, and I've never been sure if he felt that way towards me. One move, and I'm sure he does, the next, and I regret ever thinking that. Honestly, I don't think even older him and older me could,-you now, be like that. I know him too well. Just making that clear. I grab my wand, just as the train speaker, which I didn't even notice was there, starts booming. 

"We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to school separately." I nod along with the announcement. We all stuck our wands in our robes wishing each other good luck, and hoping, praying, that we could all maybe be in the same house. I hug Dean and Jus tightly before we get swept away by the crowd.