Don't you know who I think I am? ((Kennedy))

[Cassandra Blackfire G7]

It was pouring down rain. Without an umbrella, Cass was nothing but a pawn to the elements. She had left dinner early to take a look t the Quidditch field. Gryffindor had an impending Quidditch match, and she wanted to check the condition of the field beforehand. Not that they would be on the ground much, but sometimes it could play a factor in the game. However, during her strict inspection, the rain clouds came in. Ignoring them, she went about with what she doing. Suddenly, a clap of thunder warned her of impending danger. While abandoning the task, water began to stream from the sky. She could only shrug her shoulders, shake her head, and head back to the castle. She was thoroughly soaked to the bone by the time she had made it to the castle courtyard.

Cass splashed through the puddles since it no longer mattered about staying dry. Water drenched the cobblestones. The girl's cloak was pulled tightly around her so wandering eyes wouldn't land on her white shirt. Shivering, Cass began fear that she would be sick for the upcoming game. "Damn, I can't be sick for this game. I can't. I can't." Shoes squishing from the rain, Cass ran up to the door. After pulling on the heavy wooden door, a sudden realization came over her. "How in the hell can the door be locked?" She threw her hands up in frustration. She stared at the door hoping it would open on its own accord. No such luck. Turning around, she stared in disbelief at the one person who she never thought would be able to sneak up on her. "Hello, Kennedy."

[Kennedy Valak S6]

Kennedy laughed to himself as he laid on one of the benches in the courtyard with his eyes closed. Professor Trelawney had hinted that they should expect rain today, and it was humorous as to how wrong she seemed to have been. The sun was shining brightly as its rays warmed Kennedy's face. It was such a nice a peaceful day outside that he found him self drifting into a light sleep. The past few weeks had exhausted him not only mentally and emotionally, but physically as well. Since classes were done for the day, he had decided to enjoy the beautiful day and perhaps catch up on some sleep in the quiet courtyard.

However, just when his mind stopped wandering and sleep began to settle in on him, Kennedy's eyes instinctively shot open when something wet landed on his face. He looked up, noticing that what used to be a bright blue sky was now somehow covered in clouds and a haze. More droplets of water began to fall, landing on him as he stayed laying down on the bench. "Humph, maybe that ol' bat does know a thing or two," he muttered to himself. The rain was only light at first, and so Kennedy just laid there, still, trying to find the sleep that had escaped him.

Soon, he began to get more and more wet as the rain started to fall harder and harder. It was to a point though that he was already soaked, and so it would be pointless to try to escape now. Instead, he kept his eyes closed as he let the drops of water fall onto his skin. It was somewhat relaxing until the wind picked up and it became bitter cold with the mix of being wet and windy. Kennedy grumbled as he sat up from the bench, opening his eyes. He figured that at worst, he could just continue his nap inside. There was nothing better than a nap inside on a rainy day.

As he approached the door that lead back into the castle, he saw someone ahead of him. Apparently, they were unable to open the door. He didn't pay much attention until the girl turned around. Normally, he would have been surprised to see Cass, but it seemed to have been a common occurrence lately, the two of them running into each other on more random occasions than usual. Cass was soaked as well, and when she greeted him, he simply nodded as he walked past her to where the door was. "It sticks," he said quietly as he yanked on the handle of the door which bolted open. After the two of them were inside, Kennedy pulled out his wand. "Arefacio," he said, sweeping his wand over both his and Cass's wet clothes. They were soon standing there, both a little more dry than before. There was still some streaks of water on their faces, but Kennedy was glad to at least be warmer than he was out in the wind.

"Big game coming up soon," he said as he tucked his wand back in his pocket. He wasn't sure what else to say. If chance kept bringing their paths together, Kennedy figured he might as well learn to at least be civil with Cass. He was sick of all the bitterness that she tended to bring out in him. Being civil wasn't all that hard for him since he didn't actually hate Cass. "You better be getting your team prepared for a tough match," he said with a raised brow. "Not that Pyro really says much to me," he added, "but I know how bad he wants to prove he rightfully earned the spot as captain. I think he hopes that beating your team will prove that."

[Cassandra Blackfire G7]

Cass watched in stunned silence as Kennedy appeared an easily opened the sticking door. How could he just appear out of nowhere and almost solve of her problems? She followed him inside, and after dripping buckets on the stone floor, Kennedy said the appropriate charm to dry them both. Feeling unusually warm from the spell, she loosened up the red and gold tie around her neck. It was unusual to see Kennedy to talk about mundane things like Quidditch. Their relationship had been far from mundane. "I'm not worried about Pyro, Kennedy." She said this quietly while her foot traced the floor absent minded. "Pyro may almost be of age, but he is nothing more than a boy. He will never grow up. I guarantee you that in ten years he will still be hiding behind the name and money that he thinks gives him power." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Besides, Kennedy, my team will be ready come game day. I don't have to worry about them. They are the best team Gryffindor has seen in the past few years." She said these words guardedly; not angry. Truth was, as much as she felt for Kennedy, she guarded her feelings closely. Cass was afraid to get hurt. However, she could only blame herself if she did.

The hallway was eerily quiet as if it waited for something to happen. Trying to sound as casual as possible, she continued on with Quidditch talk. "So, what do you think the conditions will be like? I went to inspect the field, and I was not liking how the goals posts were swaying. I do understand they will sway a little since they are oversized hoops on sticks, but they seem to get flimsier and flimsier every year." She looked into Kennedy's dark eyes, but then quickly averted them. "I don't know much about being a chaser. I've spent the last five years being an enforcer. Funny, huh? They put one of the brutes in charge." She gave a wry smile. "I would watch out, Kennedy. I have a mad swinging arm."

It was nice having a friendly conversation with the Slytherin. However, she knew it wouldn't stay that way for long. The conversations usually turned heavy quick, and Cass wanted to bolt down the hallway so badly. The guilt over what she did to Kennedy still hung over her like a lead balloon. She wanted to get off her chest how she felt about him, but knew that would only make their relationship more awkward. Finally, the Gryffindor broke down and fell to her knees on the floor sobbing the entire time. "Oh, God, Kennedy. I'm so sorry!" She blurted out loud. Pride put aside, weeks of anger and aggression flowed out of the girl. "I know you will probably never forgive me for what I did, but it forever weighs upon me. I didn't men to cause all this trouble for you and Fiona. I only wanted my parents back!"

[Kennedy Valak S6]

Sure enough, Cass turned Kennedy's pointless rambling about Quidditch into a full-fledged analysis of Pyro. He really didn't want to hear about Cass and her issues with Pyro, but he stood there stone-faced as he let her do her rambling on. Then, she finally eased back into the small talk, which made Kennedy a lot more comfortable. "We'll see about that," he retorted with a small grin of his own. He had seen Cass play and knew that she was quite capable, however at the same time, he knew the beater's from Slytherin were more than capable themselves. With Alex being one of them, Kennedy was sure that she would have some feelings toward Cass that might be best expressed through her beater's bat and a bludger. He grinned at the thought of the animosity that would be subtly included into each player's game when the Slytherin and Gryffindor teams met. It was interesting how a normally general rivalry between the houses was now so personal. Before, Kennedy just remembered the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin game as one of great competition and stellar skills, but now it was much deeper. The rivalry between the two house teams had extended beyond a basic dislike for one another. Whether anybody would admit it or not, they were playing for blood. With bitter cousins as captains, Kennedy could only imagine what the upshot of it all would be.

In the middle of his twisted thoughts of reality, Kennedy was about to comment on how much he was looking forward to showing how dominant Slytherin would be whenever Cass all the sudden fell to her knees in sobs. At first, Kennedy only starred at her blankly, but then as she began to apologize, he rushed over to her and grabbed her arms. "Stand up," he said rather forcefully although it was more of a plea than a command. "Cass, you're overreacting," he hissed under his breath as group of younger students filed out of the Great Hall and then fled up the stairs after giving the duo a flock of stunned glances. "Stop crying!" he said again, somewhat harshly but still in a forced whisper. Kennedy refused to acknowledge the things that Cass was saying, and he almost just up and left her to cry if that was what she wanted to do. Instead, he just starred at her for a few minutes without saying anything. Finally, she stopped her crying and he simply looked at her with a disgusted glare. "And that helped our situation, how?"