Pride ((Kennedy))

[Cassandra Blackfire G7]

It was a beautiful day, and that is why Cass had chosen today to work on her Quidditch game. Rain had permeated the countryside for what seemed like weeks. Yes, she could of scheduled practice, but what was the point. Get her seeker outside in the rain to get sick a week before the Slytherin match? That was something Cassie wasn't willing to risk since she didn't have a back-up seeker at the moment. Without Harry Potter on the team, the Quidditch hype had sort of faded. Reserve team members were hard to come by nowadays. She had pushed herself all afternoon. Even with the cool breeze against her face, sweat poured off of her. The good workout was making her tired, and she could feel her legs loosening around her broom. She needed to stop and get to the ground. However, she was the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain. She couldn't be shown up by the Slytherins. That would be an embarrassment since this was her first year as Quidditch Captain.

Cass rounded the goal posts. Pushing her broom, she felt herself take off. She pushed her Firebolt as fast as she could. She loved her broom. How could she not? It was a birthday gift from her cousin, Pyro, last year. It as almost hard for her to believe that it wasn't so long ago that the two of them were really good friends. She remembered when the two of them would come out to the Quidditch pitch just to challenge each other. Those days were over though. They almost seemed like bitter enemies now. She was willing to forgive him, but could he forgive her?

"AH!" Cass screamed as felt her arm bang into one of the goal posts. Deep in her thoughts, she had turned to deep. Stunned, she suddenly felt her body go lax. Holding onto the hoop for dear life, she felt her broom fall out from underneath here. Luckily, she pulled herself into the hoop. Cass stood up in and looked down at the ground. She felt her stomach lurch, and her old fear started to creep inside of her. She whimpered while her arms clutched the hoop tighter and tighter.

[Kennedy Valak S6]

Kennedy stuffed his hands in his pockets as he made his way across the grounds. It was a rather warm day, compared to the weather they had been having. The sun was shining in place of the recent rain clouds that had cast a gloom over the castle and its surroundings. Because of the significant rain, much of their Quidditch practices had been delayed. Today though would be the perfect day to get some extra flying practice in. Despite the tensions that the Slytherin team was having simply among the members of the team, they had an important match coming up against Slytherin. What made it even more significant was that it pitted himself, Pyro, and Alexandra all against Cass. The four of them together was a nightmare in itself, and when Quidditch was thrown into the mix, things were sure to get crazy somehow. But still, he knew that regardless of their differences, he and Pyro would need to actually work together since they both started as Chasers. Just thinking about it made Kennedy think it would be impossible, but the whole Slytherin house was counting on it, so he was willing to put all differences aside and just concentrate on the game when the time came. For now though, he just needed to make a quick stop at the Quidditch pitch to collect some equipment he had left in his locker after their last practice. He didn't have time to fly now, but he would grab his stuff so that he had it when he needed it.

After he gathered his belongings, he decided to take a look at the pitch, just to see how much the rain had affected the playing field. It wasn't too important, considering that they were in the air for the most part, but it would still have an affect, no matter how slight it would be. As he entered the pitch, a shrill sound caught his attention. He turned to where the sound was coming from and squinted as the sun shone in his eyes. He thought that it appeared to be a person perched on one of the hoops across the pitch. He took off in a slow jog to get a better look. When he was underneath the hoop, he noticed a broom laying on the ground. He leaned his head back and shielded his eyes from the sun to get a better look. "Cass?" he questioned quizzically. "He let out a quick laugh. Sure enough, it was Cass, helplessly sitting many feet in the air above him. "Did you switch to keeper?" he asked with a chuckle. "You might be able to stop us from scoring in that hoop if you sit there, but we're not stupid. All we'd have to do is score in one of the two other hoops." It was rather amusing being able to see Cass in such a helpless position. "Well, have fun practicing. I'll see you at the match," he said, turning to leave. She'll find a way down, he thought. Shaking his head and smiling, he turned one last time to appreciate the situation. Then, however, what happened next caused his smile to become an instant look of shock.

[Cassandra Blackfire G7]

"Kennedy!" Cass whined. "Help me down! Please!" She watched as he began to turn his back to her. "I could be stuck up here for hours. Please, Kennedy, I'm afraid of heights." She pointed to the ground with her right arm as she held on tight wither her left. "See, there's my Firebolt. You could easily fly up here and get me. Your a chaser for god sakes, you probably have better flying skills than me. Kennedy...," she began to get worried. She was horrified of heights. She could fly on her broom because she was in control, but once things were out of her contol...That was when things got sticky. In fact, she could already feel her legs slipping out from underneath her. A Quidditch goal wasn't exactly the flattest surface on the planet. "Kennedy! Kennedy!" She was screaming now. Desperate to get down to the ground.

She started to cry. Whimpering a bit, she cried one last time to Kennedy. However, it seemed to fall on death ears. "Up!" She held out her right hand to command her broom to her, but it stayed on the ground. Cass now had both arms wrapped around the goal. She couldn't help but shake in her Quidditch robes. She couldn't see Kennedy anymore. The sun was glinting off her Captain's badge so brightly that it blinded her. "Kennedy!" She called. No answer. How could he be so cruel? Kennedy was practically leaving up here for dead. Cass took a step outward towards the middle of the hoop to get out of the glare of the sun. Unfortunately for her, the hoop was slick with water. Cass' feet slipped out from under her, and she screamed as she fell toward the ground.

[Kennedy Valak S6]

As she begged for him to help her, he ignored her at first. But it was when he turned to get one last look that he noticed she had lost her grip and began to fall to the ground. Lurching forward, Kennedy instinctively sprinted the few steps that were between himself and the ground that Cass was heading for. He reached his arms out, just in time to ease the fall of a hysterically screaming Cass. Her momentum sent them both to the ground, but his attempt to catch her had at least eased the landing a bit. He laid sprawled on his back with Cass resting on top of his legs. She seemed conscious though, as he thought he heard her let out a groan. Realizing that he had just tried to save her from inevitable injuries, Kennedy shook his head as he waited for Cass to move from his legs so that he could stand up. "Tell me I didn't get pummeled to the ground for no reason," he said with a heavy sigh. "Are you OK?" He was sitting with his hands behind him to hold himself up. Waiting for Cass to answer, he couldn't help but add some sarcasm. It was all too ironic that he happened to be the one there to find Cass trapped in the first place. "I could have just let you fall, you know." Kennedy was only acting like him actually trying to save her was no big deal. It was awkward to think that he really didn't want to see Cass get hurt and that he probably would have eventually turned to help her in the first place. Her knowing that would only make it more awkward, and so the less caring he seemed, the less awkward it would be, he thought.

[Cassandra Blackfire G7]

The ground was getting closer and closer. The fall seemed like it took forevor. Then before she knew it, Kennedy was underneath her. He didn't exactly catch her, but he did break her fall. Kennedy fell to the ground under Cass' weight, and she found herself sitting on top of his legs. She rubbed her neck and looked into Kennedy's eyes for just a moment. Suddenly realizing she was in an ackward position, she blushed deeply, and uneasily made her way up on her own two legs. "Yes, I'm fine, Kennedy. Thank you for asking. I sort of pushed myself, and before I knew it, I slammed into the goal post." Cass gulped as she looked up into the sky. She suddenly realized how high they were in the air. "Unfortunately, I was thinking about Pyro and the book."

Cass hung her head in shame. Damn, how did Kennedy get under her skin like this? Nobody made her feel like this. Well, no one other than Liam. Why did Kennedy have to come into her life now? Suddenly, the sweet Kennedy she adored turned into the viscious, Slytherin Kennedy she hated. "Let me fall? As much as you hate to admit it Kennedy, you never would of let me do that. Somewhere deep inside, I think you give one iota of a damn about me." Turning her back, she retrieved her broom from the grown. "I wish we could get over all this coyness. Our reputations would be ruined though. Aren't we supposed to hate each other?" She put her broom up to eye level and began to inspect it to make sure a single twig wasn't out of place. "Let's face it, Kennedy. We can't get enought of each other." She said this last sentence so non-challantly that you would think she wasn't serious. She was sadly aware of her attraction to him, and that made her more angry about the situation.

[Kennedy Valak S6]

Kennedy let out a large sigh and rolled his eyes when Cass mentioned Pyro and the book. He just couldn’t escape it, could he. Even when he was minding his own business and trying be as far away from it as possible, the thought of the problem looming over him had its way of rearing its head at the most inopportune moments. “I should have known,” he said with hint of disbelief as he raised his brows.

“Maybe just one,” he retorted in a continued sarcastic tone as Cass questioned his willingness to actually fall and indicated that she felt he really did care, even if only a bit. Then, when she spoke again, he couldn’t help but laugh out loud for a second. “Ha, our reputations?” he said, throwing his hands up in the air. “Unless you haven’t noticed, my whole life has been jeopardized. Who gives a damn about a reputation whenever everything important to you is in utter chaos. But maybe that’s not the case for you Cass. Maybe your reputation is still in tact. So in that case, then yeah, maybe you should be careful about this.” His voice was bitter now. How could Cass go on pretending as if everything was still OK. How much nerve did she have to stand there and lecture him about how they should be hating each other. “You know Cass, I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a hard time convincing myself that we hate each other. Yes, deep down, part of me may find that I care in the slightest realm of things, but you sure do make it easy to pretend that doesn’t exist.” Kennedy had finally admitted out loud that maybe part of him did feel something for Cass. Honestly, he wasn’t even sure what that feeling was. But he was being truthful. No matter what lay deep within him, just thinking about the pain that Cass had put he and Fiona through was enough to ignore the deepest of his feelings. “You don’t get it, do you Cass? This is all just a game for you.” He shook his head back and forth. “Call it what you want- us not being able to get enough of each other- but it’s done. This is done. We’re done. Just stay out of my life Cass, before you do any more harm.” At the end, Kennedy’s voice was no longer harsh or loud. It was just serious, whether he meant it or not. Maybe he was just trying to convince himself that it was the right thing. Regardless, he meant it at the moment. Kennedy wanted Fiona and just Fiona, despite the part of him that kept coming back to Cass.

[Cassandra Blackfire G7]

Cass sat and listened to Kennedy. Oh, his tirades really bothered him. He could be so pompous, so maddening, so self righteous. She loved every moment of it. She couldn't help but admire how he consistently stood up for Fiona. He really cared for her. It was never Cass' intention to break them up, but it seemed like she was doing a good job of it. However, she couldn't sacrifice her feelings at the expense of Fiona O'Reilly. That girl hadn't wanted to spare Cass that one time in Hogsmeade. So, why should she give her the same courtesy? "Game? What game? You think I would stoop as low as to fiddle with your emotions. No, Kennedy, I have more respect for you than that. You, and I hate to admit it, have me at a disadvantage though. You seem to think we're done. Hell, where did we begin?" Cass was upset now. Everytime she began to respect him a little, he had to do or say something to lose a little of that respect. "Okay, fine, it was wrong of me to use you to get the book. I already apologized, okay?" She turned his back towards him. "I only wanted my family back, and that...that...thing may of given me the ability to do that. Now, I will probably never know." She was stuttering over her words a bit. She was tearing up a bit, but she didn't want Kennedy to see. The last thing Cass wanted was for Kennedy to think she was vulnerable in some way.

Cass swallowed the little lion that roared in her chest. Yes, yes, she was swallowing her pride. What choice did she have? For some strange reason, Kennedy filled a void within her. She felt strangely close to them; almost like they were partners in crime. "If you give any type of damn about me, you would at least let me keep my pride intact. I've done a lot of things that I'm ashamed of in the last few weeks. Could you at least stop rubbing it in my face?"

[Kennedy Valak S6]

"Rubbing it in!" he repeated in disbelief. "Cass I have just been trying to walk away from it all. I've been done with this, but the issue just keeps coming back full circle. I'm dropping it here, and now. You won't have to deal with me 'rubbing it in' anymore," he said with disgust. "And as far as your pride goes, just go on pretending that you are so innocent in all of this if it makes you feel better. But you and I know that you have your own motives Cass. You have your own agenda no matter how much you make yourself out to look like you are the most humble and kind person. You said it yourself. You were trying to get the book for your own reasons." He turned and started to walk away.

When he was about ten steps away, he turned to say something more. "And you are right. We never did have a beginning, so let's keep it that way by ending it here. You. Me. We're done. I don't hate you Cass, but I want Fiona, and you don't fit into that equation. So, if you give a damn about me then just leave me alone, and I'll leave you alone. You can go on living your happy little life with your pride intact. Forget all about me and everything for all I care," he shook his head, turned around, and left.

Walking back to the castle, Kennedy's mind was racing. It was so frustrating. Cass was like a splinter. No matter what he thought he had done to get rid of her, the effects of what she had done still lingered. And, the worst part was, Kennedy couldn't find it in himself to hate her for it. The more he convinced himself that he wanted her out of his life for good, the more she seemed to push back in. No matter how much he focused on Fiona and making things right again with her, Cass always seemed a way to find herself back into the situation. Heck, maybe she wasn't even doing it on purpose. It seemed she just wanted happiness as much as Kennedy did. If only they would both realize that it was best for them to just forget everything. But that was so hard. Kennedy did not forget things easily. He constantly lived in a state of thought about everything: Fiona, Cass, Pyro, the book, the Chosen. It all haunted his every thought, and he was just wanted so badly to shake it all free, but it was impossible. He had got himself into this web of complications, and it would take a fight to free himself from it. Maybe that was what he would have to resort to. A fight.