For the first time ever, Hermione was distracted all through class.
When class finally ended, she immediately hooked her arm through Kate's in an intimate gesture, and made a point of walking right past Delar.
Even Kate thought this possessiveness over their friendship was a bit much.
But when she thought about it, Hermione was only reacting this strongly because she cared so much about her. So Kate didn't resist all that hard and let her have her way.
As for Delar's reaction?
The girl had thrown her into the center of the gossip without so much as a word of warning. Kate not giving her the cold shoulder was already generous.
Luckily, Kate knew that rumors like this lasted three days at most before fresh news replaced them. As long as she kept ignoring Delar in public, she could…
"Kate, are you free tonight? I'd like to go to the library with you."
Delar could say that at the dinner table as casually as if she were discussing the weather. Kate's face darkened at once. "No."
Delar wasn't discouraged in the least. She even put on a haughty air. "That's fine. Tomorrow night works too."
"I'm not free any night." Kate set down her knife and fork and looked at her coldly, ignoring the strange stares around them. "Except for the weekend, I serve detention in my Head of House's office every night."
Then, before Delar could open her mouth, she shut it down. "And on the weekend I'll be with Hermione, so I'm not free then either."
With that, she lost all appetite, stood up, and hurried out.
As expected, after being tormented by Snape for half the night, she found Delar's figure outside the office door again.
Just like the night before, Delar sat forlornly on the steps, waiting for her owner like a puppy.
This time, though, Kate walked straight past her with her eyes fixed ahead, not sparing her so much as a glance.
She had a good temper, but that didn't mean anyone could walk all over her.
Delar had chosen to shove her, someone who always kept a low profile, into the eye of the storm, and with so little regard for her at that. Kate saw no reason to be nice about it.
"Kate!" Seeing that she was being ignored, Delar jumped up to grab her, but Kate shook her off in one move.
"Young Master Malfoy, if you keep pawing at me like this and someone sees, I won't be able to explain," she said sourly.
Two Slytherin students happened to be coming down the steps. When they saw who it was, they both stopped dead.
Kate glanced at them and simply raised her voice again. "You can't possibly not know what kind of feud our two families have, can you?"
Under the dim light, Delar's already pale face lost what little color it had left, and the hand she'd stretched out toward Kate hung trembling, frozen in midair.
"From now on, please don't pester me, or we won't even be classmates anymore!" Kate said bitterly. Then she turned to the two onlookers. "What are you still standing around for? Get lost!"
The two ducked their heads and fled in a panic.
Surely by tomorrow, tonight's scene would be fresh fodder for another round of gossip.
She thought these students had far too much time on their hands, but a rumor was still something to be put to use.
Looking at Delar, head bowed, disappointment and grievance written all over her, Kate had no idea what she had to be wounded about. Kate was the victim here.
"You—"
She had barely gotten out that one word when the door of the Potions office swung open and Snape's gloomy face poked out. "Who was making that racket just now?"
Kate flinched, bowed with a quick "Sorry," and turned to run.
Halfway down the corridor she looked back and found Delar still rooted to the spot. Swearing under her breath, she hurried back, grabbed the girl's sleeve with one hand, and pushed her head down with the other.
"She's sorry too!"
Then she dragged her off toward the Common Room.
Snape tilted his head, watching their retreating backs with narrowed eyes. "She?"
As if he'd remembered something unpleasant, his face grew even gloomier. The door shut behind him with a bang.
Kate hauled the young lady along at a jog until she heard the Potions office door close in the distance.
Then she let go and turned to look at Delar, who was panting so hard she couldn't even straighten up. Kate mocked her with a smile. "Not much stamina, huh? Aren't you a Quidditch player?"
Delar gasped for breath. "Y-you were too fast, and you took off so hard all at once… Endurance is my strong suit…"
"When it comes to endurance, even your captain can't beat me," Kate shot back honestly.
After all, nobody else got up at five or six every morning and treated running laps like a hobby.
Having finally caught her breath, Delar propped her hands on her hips and barely managed to push herself upright. "Do you really have to go against me at every turn?"
"Who's the one going against whom?" Kate laughed in sheer exasperation. "Weren't you the one who made things hard for me in front of everyone first?"
If she hadn't already beaten up all the handful of upper-years at Hogwarts worth mentioning, and the little snakes weren't afraid of her strength, who knew what the rumors would have turned into by now?
"Was what I did wrong?!" A faint sob crept into Delar's voice. "I was the one trying to be nice to you. How did that turn into making things hard for you?"
Heaven knew how panicked she'd been after her gender was exposed. She had gone back to the dormitory, thought it over for ages, and only then decided to swallow her pride and try to win Kate over.
It was probably the most humble way of currying favor the Malfoy heiress had ever come up with in her life.
But that girl not only failed to appreciate it, she'd even said things like that to her…
"Being nice to me?" Kate laughed mockingly. "You had plenty of ways to be nice to me, and you still chose to act like that in front of everybody."
"Your lackeys and friends must have told you every bit of gossip they've heard today, haven't they?"
"You must also know what people are going to say about me now, after you started acting so out of character."
"I don't need that kind of kindness that invites misunderstandings, and I won't accept it. If you still really consider me a friend, please don't do it again."
"And if you think that now that I know who you are, we can't be friends anymore, then say so plainly instead of forcing me with tactics like this."
Having said it all in one breath, Kate felt instantly refreshed. She was about to speak the password and head into the Common Room.
But she'd barely stepped one leg through when a great force yanked her back and slammed her against the wall.
Before she could even cry out in pain, a warm body wrapped tightly around her.
"Why! Why can't you ever understand me!"
Delar's shout, thick with tears, rang in her ear. Kate was dazed for a moment, then caught sight out of the corner of her eye of a Slytherin student coming out of the Common Room entrance.
He was now staring at the two of them, wide-eyed and slack-jawed.
Almost by instinct, she shoved Delar away and cast a spell at him. "Obliviate!"
Only when she saw his eyes turn hazy did Kate relax and push him back inside.
When she turned around again, she met Delar's reproachful, reddened eyes.
Ugh… was it too late to cast a Memory Charm on herself too?
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