His Mark
[Knowledge is Power]

3rd October 2016
Monday

Cordelia

"Treat him indifferently. Cold, aloof as if you're above him, understand?"
"Like Friday never happened."

"Right." I nodded and finished tying my ribbon at the end of my braid.
"If he talks to you,or asks you why you ran, smile and change the subject. Of course, this would be more convincing if you just ran into the common room as soon as I told you to, but no, someone had to watch the show..."
"Sorry!" I said apologetically to Juliet and glanced over to the white puffball on my bed.

"Are you going to stay there or come with me to the pitch?" I asked it.
The puffball sleepily opened an eye and stretched his paws out.
He padded to the edge of my bed, and sat waiting expectantly at me.

"Lazy little fur ball," I muttered, though I gently picked him up to my chest where he snuggled deeper into my scarf.
"That cat seems to abandon Aileen for you," Rosaline noted as we walked out of the common room.
"Who wouldn't? I would jump ship if I could" Juliet replied.

Momo bared his teeth and hissed at Juliet, though he seemed to feel too lazy to move from my arms.
Juliet hissed back with as much vengeance, determined to continue Aileen and her rivalry to his cat.

"Bloody little fleabag" she muttered to herself.

"Really? You have a grudge match against a cat?" I scoffed.
"It's not my fault that Aileen is a little arrogant git!" She replied in defence.

Momo again hissed threateningly at Juliet to which she showed him a rude hand gesture.
"Don't insult Aileen in front of him, Momo is obviously loyal to him..."
"Cordelia, that cat is not normal, what sort of cat understands English?"
"What are you trying to say?" Rosaline asked, an arched eyebrow raised.
"That Momo is a secret animagus?"

At that moment, I could of sworn Momo went even more stiff in my arms.

Juliet shook her head and eyed Momo suspiciously.
"I dunno. It's just a feeling."
***
"I am going to die, freeze and my ghost will freeze too," I declared when the bitter winter wind swept through the pitch.

"What idiot would play Quidditch in this kind of weather?" Juliet grumbled, hugging herself like the rest of us to preserve the little heat we had.

"Shut yer whining and listen up!" Coach Hail, a middle aged man with thinning hair yelled.
"I know you weaklings are freezing yer little toes off, so to warm up let's get the blood moving! Five laps around the pitch now go,go go!"

"Why, why, why." Rosaline complained through pants as we were running as we were whipped by Coach Hail's 'encouragement', which consisted of "Move it there, Ludwig! In my day we ran for four hours in weather ten times as cold as and we liked it! Toughen up,let's go, go,go!"
"We...should...have skived" I gasped, clutching my aching sides.
I think I was going to collapse from exhaustion any moment now.
I stuttered to a stop, leaning on my knees to catch my breath.
"Keep running, Yaxley! When I was your age..."
"You were a suicidal maniac and you liked it!" I grumbled under my breath as I started jogging again.

"What the?!" Juliet almost shouted from my left side and stared wide eyed at something- which in turn made me look down at the snow covered ground, and to my surprise I saw a long furry white tail peeking through the snow.

Momo was right next to me, sometimes jumping up in the air like a rabbit through the now knee high snow, his cute little display was attracting quite a lot of girls who looked at the little puff ball in adoration.

"Oh my gosh! Look at that kitten! It's adorable!" I heard a tall blond Slytherin girl say in adoration.
"Is that a Kneazle?" Another girl called out in awe.

The line was growing slower as Momo proudly attracted more attention from cooing girls.
I felt someone's eyes on us, prompting me to turn my head to met Aileen's incredulous expression at his cat.
He glanced questioning at me, almost accusatory. I shrugged and turned my palms up in a plea for my innocence at his cat's behaviour.

"I didn't do anything." I mouthed to him.

"YAXLEY!" Oh damn.
Also,why does he always scream my last name? Hopefully no one connected the dots...

"BRING THAT INFERNAL BALL OF FUR HERE RIGHT NOW!" Coach Hail bellowed, almost bursting my ear drums.

"Coming, coming!" I muttered hurriedly as I picked Momo up and started to sprint towards the coach.
"MOVE IT! Don't be lazy,sprint!"
He yelled.
I ran as best as I could with barely any oxygen left in my lungs and a cat in my arms- which was probably like seeing a asthmatic walrus carrying an oversize handbag.
To add to my discomfort, Momo dug his claws deeper into me as he meowed his displeasure at the bumpiness of his transportation.

"Yaxley, do you realise you are disrupting the class with your cat's display?" He demanded.
Even though his voice was remarkably quieter , I still got the impact as if he was yelling at me.
"Er-actually this isn't my..." I began, desperately trying not to stumble over my speech with exhaustion.
"Go put that cat somewhere else, Yaxley where you can show him off to other people at your time. What are you doing! Run! And I want you back in five minutes! Starting from now!" He yelled after me.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow," I chanted, wincing at Momo's digging claws on my chest and the ever burning pain of running with frozen and acid filled legs.

Aileen

I shook my head at the scene that had just played out right before my eyes.
That Juliet girls stupidity was definitely rubbing off on Momo, that's the only explanation that I could give myself to justify my pet's behaviour.

'Running around like a rabbit, what were you thinking?!' I shouted through our mind link as he was carried off to coach Hail by a now sprinting Cornelia- digging his nails into her skin like a real cat would.
Coach Hail said something to Cordelia- which I didn't quite catch seeing as I couldn't get passed the barrier of cooing girls that had gathered to watch the traitors little display.

"I should have transfigured him into a rat, all this nonsense wouldn't be happening if he were a rat, maybe it's not too late to do that yet..."
I muttered lowly to myself, as I made way around the sea of girls towards where Cordelia had headed off to.
****

I finally found what I was looking for once I reached the Quidditch stands.
A very uncomfortable, and slightly pale looking Cordelia stood near the Slytherin Quidditch stands with a still slightly displeased Momo, the two of them clinging to each other like two deers bunching together for protection from the five girls standing around them as if they were watching some rare animal- cooing and fawning over Momo.

"Is it half Kneazle?"
"What's the little kittens name?"
"Can I pet it?"
Were some of the things that the girls threw at Cordelia.
"I don't know- you probably shouldn't do that...ah, excuse me..."
She stammered in response as I made my way towards them.

Cordelia's face momentarily lit up as she noticed my approaching figure, which also made Momo relax slightly and jump down from her arms.
She stretched her stiffened arms with obvious relief and started to examine the tears in her robes while avoiding my gaze.

"Awwee don't lea-" One of the girls started to say, as she turned around and saw me standing there- just merely two feet away from them, with a now happily purring Momo in my arms.

"The answer to your questions are: yes, that's none of your business, and sure you can- well as long as you don't mind a few scratches."
"Who do you think you are?! You can't just waltz up here and act like you own-" The blond Slytherin girl started to protest as I cut her off.

"So, you're telling me that you're allowed to corner younger students and defenseless animals, but I can't pick up my own cat?"
I retorted with the calmest voice I could muster- which by the looks that the other two were giving each other still sounded like a threat.

"Ah excuse me..." I heard a tiny voice call out, though I would have never have heard it if it wasn't for the barely concealed sneeze that preceded it.
"Could I get through,sorry..."
"What? No! Are you going to let him take your cat?" The blond turned to face Cordelia- placing her hands on her hips for a more dramatic effect.

"Umm.." Cordelia was shivering violently now and her eyes were darting around for an escape.
"Thank you for your concern but he's not my cat, I was just a-er his friend." She replied weakly.

"Don't you see that you're bothering her?" I tried to get the blond's attention back to me.

This doesn't look good, Cordelia looks like she's about to pass out.

She was starting to look paler with each passing moment, hugging her small frame from the cold wind that was blowing through the pitch.

"You want to hold the cat that badly?" I asked her in a threatening tone.
"What-" She started to say, as I walked towards her and shoved Momo into her arms.
I walked past their stunned figures and grabbed Cordelia by the arm- holding her up and preventing her from hitting the ground.

"I'm fine, really...Coach is going to blow a gasket if I skive again..." She muttered and pushed me off, taking only a step before wobbling dangerously closer to the ground.

I quickly reached out to her, preventing her from getting away- or in this case from falling into the freezing snow, my hand got in contact with her boiling hot skin, making me place one and two together.

"I'm taking you to the hospital wing." I whispered into her ear, ignoring the girlish giggles in the background that were intended for Momo.

"I really am ok! Damn...Coach is going to be so mad...can you imagine him yelling at me if he finds out about this?" Cordelia said weakly,her eyes drooping a fraction closed.

"Finds out about what exactly?" I asked while still holding her upright, afraid that she'd fall face first into the snow if I let go.

"He'll probably yell something like Suck it up, chump! In my day, we got fevers all the time and we liked it! Barmy old codger...did you know that chickens could run around without their heads for five minutes?"

"That's it, I'm carrying you to the Hospital Wing, and that's my final word." I told her in an non nonsense voice, and proceeded to pick her up bridal style, her feeble attempts of resistance only making me shake my head in annoyance.

"It's true! Oh God, I can't miss another lesson, I've already skived off once...hey, why are you carrying me? I'm a strong independent woman like...like....Joan of Arc! En garde you bloody Frenchman! Or were they English? Darn it!" She slurred almost drunk like, lightly punching my chest with her small hands in an imaginary fight with soldiers.

"Of course you are, and I am your loyal servant carrying you towards the path of victory."
I murmured lowly in an attempt to appease her, ignoring the glances and snickering from our fellow students as I walked out of the pitch with Cordelia securely in my arms.

"Men are so bloody inconsistent and frustrating! They say one thing and do a completely different thing the next hour," she muttered in an almost incoherent tone,her mood quickly changing to a depressive state.

"Well men don't always think things through before they act..." I trailed of as I kicked the entrance door open, and told Momo to scratch that insolent Slytherin girl through the mind link.

"Why is she better than me? Sure she's prettier...and less socially impaired...and popular...darn it!" she cried again, closed her eyes and pressed herself closer towards my chest.
"M- maybe you misunderstood the situation? I doubt that she's prettier than you." I stuttered slightly uncomfortable at our closeness, and at the same time tried to calm her shaking frame as I carried her up the stairs- all the while praying that Julius would never find out about this.

"Am I not good enough for you?" Was the last thing she murmured, so softly that it could of been part of the wind outside and went still in my arms.
"I'm bad for you..." I murmured in a low voice as I opened the door to the Hospital Wing.