When she awoke the morning of September 1st, Kit heard voices downstairs.

She had not expected to hear anyone so early, or really, hear anyone at all. All summer, a charm had been placed that made it very difficult for her to know what went on in the house. Heavy silencing and repelling charms around the dining rooms. A silencing charm around her room to keep her from hearing any of the meetings. She could really only hear voices if they were right outside the door, yet today, she could hear her parents loud as day from the entrance hall.

Kit sat up, and scurried to her door, pressing her ear on it, closing her eyes and concentrating.

"Wonderful day, isn't it, Lucius?" Kenneth's voice rang out almost in a joyful manner. He seemed to be excited, as if something had gone well for him. Considering how detached Kit had been from the outside world, she was even more confused as to what it might be about.

"Certainly. Now, Draco insisted on escorting Katherine to the station— something about prefect duties and arriving together to make a statement."

Kit furrowed her eyebrows. Draco was here? The Malfoys hadn't accompanied the Thompsons to the train station since she and Draco first went to Hogwarts, back in 1991. Since then, Kit had either been taken by her parents or had gone via a taxi, by herself.

However, she found that once her eyebrows relaxed, a warmth flooded her cheeks, and she found her lips curling into a small smile. Draco was here, and he was going to go to the station with her. Perhaps years ago she might have been horrified at the prospect of that, but today, it was the greatest comfort she could have ever expected.

A knock on her door made her nearly jump out of her skin. She leapt back, not having heard anyone else's voice growing nearer. "Um, who is it?" asked Kit awkwardly.

"Draco."

She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but hearing his voice was like a sweet melody sounding in her head. Disregarding the fact she was still in her nightgown and her hair was all mushed, she threw open the door, and engulfed him in her arms. Draco was taken by surprise, but he hugged her back, his hands tracing over her back and settling on her waist. He felt his heart beat faster, and he smiled to himself as her hair tickled his nose.

When she pulled away, however, his eyes widened and he covered his face. "I am so sorry," he spluttered awkwardly. "I didn't know you had just woken up!"

"It's just a nightgown, Draco, and it's not see through," she giggled. Perhaps at the beginning of the summer, she might have been self conscious, but not now. She was confident in herself. A nightgown was no more indecent than other things she'd had to wear on her mother's orders.

Draco uncovered his face slowly, his cheeks pink. "I um, well— I suppose, but mother says it's very inappropriate to look at someone while they're in their nightgown."

"Nah, you're fine. Come in, you can sit down while I go get dressed and braid my hair."

Draco moved slowly into her room, biting his lip. He hadn't been inside of there since they were younger and had been playing hide and seek. It looked very simplistic now, and he watched as she darted into the bathroom after yanking something out of her closet. He took a careful seat on her bed, brushing the sheets down with his palms as he crossed his ankles and leaned back a bit.

He had been awoken an hour earlier by his father, who had lectured him as he ate breakfast about how he should be on the lookout for anything suspicious regarding Harry Potter. Draco had just nodded aimlessly, not internalizing most of what he said. Like hell if he was going to spy on Potter for his father. No chance. Not when he was trying to get Kit to notice him. The day before when he'd seen how gorgeous she'd gotten, he'd decided that he was going to ask her to be his girlfriend some day in the future. He had not admitted this to Blaise, but he supposed he'd run the idea by him eventually.

Thus, when his father had finished badgering him about behaving and listening to the apparent new authority that would be present at Hogwarts, he had abruptly asked if they could pick Kit up. Although his own father was more insufferable now than he had been, he felt he preferred to take Kit and be by her side than have her parents take her or watch her go by herself with a Muggle who could have some evil intentions. Lucius had agreed, and Draco hadn't hesitated to prepare his things to pick her up.

Minutes later, Kit exited, her hair in two neat braids, already dressed in uniform, just like himself. She looked so beautiful as she came out, smiling, and he found himself grinning up at her. "I've got everything packed already," chirped Kit. "I just need to go down and eat some breakfast. Mind coming with me?"

"Of course not." He stood immediately and offered her his arm, which he noticed made her avert her gaze as she took it. Was she shy about accepting, or did she feel obligated to? He hoped it was the former and not the latter.

He led her out of her room, just listening to her steady breathing as they descended the staircase. No words needed to be exchanged. They were mutually enjoying each other's presence and oblivious to the fact they both fancied each other.

They had a quiet breakfast, listening to Lucius and Kenneth's distant conversation about the Ministry of Magic and who knows what. Neither Kit nor Draco seemed to know what they were discussing, which Kit found strange since Draco usually was kept up to date by Lucius. In fact, it was near the end of breakfast that she noticed that one of his eyes looked different.

"What happened to your eye?" she asked immediately, letting her spoon fall. Draco straightened up awkwardly. "I don't know what you mean."

"Draco, your eye," said Kit a bit more sternly. "It looks like it was recently swollen."

"I hit it on a door," he said simply, not wanting to tell her that just days ago he'd been punched by his father.

Kit couldn't believe she had not noticed it the day before. She supposed she had been too excited seeing Blaise and Draco again. But now, she could not ignore what was clearly a healed swollen eye. The hitting on the door excuse was one she'd used herself in the past, when Su Li had once noticed a bruise on her body.

"Your father hit you," she deduced, in a deadly silent voice so that their fathers wouldn't hear. "He hit you— again."

How could he admit to her that she was right? How could he admit how violent Lucius had become that summer? Nothing was as bad as what she had gone through. He didn't want her to pity him, he didn't want her to grow angry and accidentally (or intentionally) snap at Lucius or even worse— her own father.

"Fine, yes," he hissed lowly. "But don't say anything. Please, Kit, I'm begging you." His eyes were pleading, and it was only the fearful look in them that made Kit stand down, though her anger was far from dissipated.

Before she could ask anything else, the door opened, and Alison stood in the doorway, looking over at them. "Your father is ready for you all to leave," she announced, staring blankly at Kit. Her heart ached thinking that she would have to wait until the holidays to try and get her mother out of her trance. She stood, and went toward her mother, smiling at her before kissing her cheek. "I'll see you at Christmas, mother." Alison nodded slowly, as if refraining from telling her to piss off, or something. Draco followed behind Kit as she went up to her bedroom to get her trunk.

"Allow me," he said, taking it for her. "Thank you," answered Kit as he took it down for her, trotting down the stairs to where Lucius was waiting in the entrance hall for them. Kit had to grit her teeth and force herself to smile and curtsy to Lucius as he bade goodbye to Kenneth and led the two teenagers out the door.

When they arrived at the station, Lucius beckoned them forward with their trunks, lingering behind as if waiting for something. Kit and Draco moved silently forward with their respective trunks, through the barrier and onto the platform.

"I can take our trunks to the usual compartment," Draco offered. "You can wait out here for your... friends."

"I'd appreciate that," said Kit softly, blushing as he effortlessly took her trunk and went into the train. Kit remained on the platform, clasping her hands together and looking around. She didn't expect that the Weasleys and Harry had arrived yet, considering that the large amount of children to account for usually made them run late.

"KIT!"

She looked up and grinned, seeing Mrs. Weasley, Harry, and a large black dog walking beside Harry. She recognized it to be Sirius, and she began to run over to them. She was just about to engulf Harry into a hug when she froze, seeing who was behind them.

Alastor Moody. The real one. His magical eye was whizzing around as he limped through the archway with a trolley loaded with trunks (presumably the ones belonging to the Weasley children and Harry). Albeit knowing that this was the true Auror that was meant to protect Harry, Kit was rooted to the spot, staring up wide eyed. She had not pictured that face in so long. Suddenly every memory came flooding back, and she felt her chest ache.

The dog beside Harry abruptly jumped up onto two legs, pressing its paws onto her and licking her face, which snapped her out of her thoughts. She shakily ran her hands down its fur, knowing that Sirius had sensed exactly what she was feeling.

"All okay," Moody grumbled to Mrs. Weasley as he came forward. "Don't think we were followed."

He looked down at Kit, and she gulped as she looked back up at him. "You'll be the Thompson girl, yes?"

Kit nodded, unable to speak. Mrs. Weasley then promptly wrapped her arms around her, and Kit let out a sigh of relief.

"Kit!" Next thing, she could no longer see Moody, as Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and the twins had come up, turning it into a group hug that squished Kit in the middle.

"Hi, everyone," she said weakly, keeping her eyes slightly downcast. When they let go of her, Remus Lupin moved forward to shake Kit's hand. "Kit, it's good to see you."

"You too, Professor," she said, looking warily to where Moody was standing behind him.

It seemed everyone was now well aware of the fact Kit didn't look very comfortable, and Lupin took charge in dismissing them. "Look after yourselves, and be careful," he instructed.

"Yeah, keep your head down and your eyes peeled," added Moody. "And donʹt forget, all of you— careful what you put in writing. If in doubt, donʹt put it in a letter at all." He then cast his eyes toward Kit. "Thompson, a word."

"Um, no thank you," she said immediately, which she noticed made everyone look over at her. It was Arthur Weasley who moved up to her. "That's alright, Kit, no pressure, Mad-Eye just wanted to relay some information to you, and ask you a few questions."

She swallowed a lump in her throat. "Er... well, I'll do it, but I prefer if one of you are with me."

"I'll go with her," said Lupin, which Kit nodded to. He was the only adult who knew about her home life, and if the questions had anything to do with that, she preferred not to worry Mr. or Mrs. Weasley with that discovery.

Lupin put his arm around Kit and led her to the side, where Moody was leaning against a pillar.

"Well, Thompson, I'm glad we can officially meet," said Moody, less gruffly than how he had been speaking earlier. "I... was sorry to find out about what happened with that impostor."

Kit nodded slowly. "Er... well, thank you. What did you want to ask?"

"Black informed us about the incident with your parents in the Hospital Wing, and Lupin seems to know more about you than the other Order members. I was wondering if you were comfortable sharing information. Your father is near the top of our list to be watched. I doubt you're opposed to that."

Kit cursed internally. She had hardly thought about how Sirius had stepped in when her parents had been harassing her in the Hospital Wing. However, she wasn't going to hold back on telling the truth. Though she felt afraid in his presence, she forced herself to remember that this was the real deal Auror that she could trust.

"Yes," she said. "Er— Professor Lupin is the only one that knows that my parents are abusive at home, because he saw my boggart. I'm sure Dumbledore knows, but I don't trust him."

Moody raised a singular eyebrow. "You don't trust Albus Dumbledore?"

"No, I don't. But that's not the point. I haven't really relayed this information with anyone else, but I believe that the abuse I dealt with on my mother's part came from some sort of mind control." Moody gave her a strange look, and Kit lowered her voice as she explained to them exactly what had happened in the Hospital Wing, and what she had noticed with her mother's odd behavior. She refrained from mentioning the use of the Unforgivables, though it seemed they both already knew.

"You had never noticed that in your mother before?" asked Moody, deep in thought.

"Never. Whatever he's doing to control her, he must always refresh it when I'm not there, but that time, the conversation triggered her. I have a plan to try and trigger her again at the holidays, when my father isn't around. I can get her out of the trance and we can run away at a moment's notice."

"Not a good idea, Thompson," said Moody immediately. "You don't know what can happen if she gets out of it and your father isn't there. What if she gets even more violent? What if she loses consciousness? You shouldn't take those chances. It will get you hurt."

Kit felt a twinge of annoyance that they were now telling her not to go through with it, but the concerned look that Lupin gave her reminded her that they were just concerned. They knew what Kenneth Thompson was capable of.

"We will be in touch, Kit," said Lupin, looking back as the train got ready to leave. "Stay safe."

Kit nodded to both of them before turning to get onto the train, waving back at the others. She then made her way to the prefect carriage, hoping Draco was already there. She hoped the meeting wouldn't be too boring, having to listen to the Head Boy and Girl tell them their orders and show them the schedule for corridor patrol. Kit supposed she should be thankful that Flitwick had chosen her (despite her not understanding what in his right mind had led him to select her over Su or Mimi or even Padma), because it now meant she could roam around late at night without getting in trouble.

She arrived in the carriage and was pulled down by Draco. She blushed and looked over at him quizzically.

"I was worried where you'd gone, took you awhile to get here," he said seriously.

"I was meeting my friends," she said simply. She leaned back as the others flooded in. Pansy Parkinson took her seat on the other side of Draco, giving Kit a nasty look. Next thing, Anthony Goldstein plopped down beside Kit.

"Hey, Kit!" he said brightly. "I was wondering which from our group would be prefect."

Draco seemed to tense beside her as she shook Anthony's hand. She didn't get a chance to ask him, because soon the meeting began.

As it turned out, being a prefect might be Flitwick's way to torture Kit. The Head Boy and Girl (Roger Davies and Alicia Spinnet) let them know how they had to uphold Hogwarts values and blah blah blah... Kit tuned out within the first five minutes.

Near the end, Roger and Alicia encouraged them to greet each other properly, and suddenly, Kit had to snap out of her daydreams and look up as many of her acquaintances came to greet her.

"Kit!" Hannah Abbott moved forward and hugged her. "Good to see you! Guess what, I'm trying out for the team this year!"

"That's good," said Kit happily. "Get ready to get your ass handed to you when we play you."

"Not a chance! I've been practicing all summer, and I'm sure I will make a good Chaser."

"I don't doubt it for a second but I know my team," chirped Kit.

"You're on, then! We'll make a bet once tryouts are over, and then we'll see."

Kit smirked as Hannah ruffled her hair and moved on. She was then greeted by Ernie Macmillan.

"Kit, I'm glad we'll get to work together more," he said, shaking her hand excitedly. Kit hadn't talked much to Ernie, but now he seemed overly friendly. She smiled up respectfully. "Yes, I suppose we will. Sounds like fun."

"I think our first rotation for shifts will be together, want to go around the hallways together? We can keep each other compan—"

"Didn't you listen at all, Macmillan?" snapped Draco suddenly, making Kit flinch. "Prefects aren't supposed to be going around together, the point is to spread out and cover more ground. It's pitiful you couldn't listen to simple instructions."

"Draco!" snapped Kit as Ernie gritted his teeth. "Piss off, Malfoy, because if I recall correctly, you've been staring at Kit this entire meeting."

Draco stood up, and it seemed both Kit and Pansy thought to yank him down, while Anthony leapt up to push Ernie back. "Don't test me, Macmillan," sneered Draco, shoving Pansy off his arm before leaving the room, Pansy trailing behind.

Ernie huffed, brushing his shirt down. "I'm so sorry about that," Kit said quickly, feeling embarrassed.

"Not your fault, Kit," he assured her, offering her a half smile. "I'm not looking forward to being on the same shift as him."

"I'll talk to him," she promised. "Maybe he'll listen to me."

"I doubt that. But thanks for trying. I'll see you around, Kit." He moved away before she could respond, and Kit quickly moved past the crowd, and out of the compartment.

"Kit, wait!" She turned, seeing Hermione and Ron following her. "Hello," said Hermione, "I was wondering if you wanted to join us in our compartment."

"Maybe in a bit," she said, walking backwards. "I need to go find out what's up with Draco. Once I find Blaise, I'll take him too."

Kit noticed Hermione's cheeks turned pink, and Ron smirked knowingly, though he didn't say anything about the matter. "Say, Kit, you didn't tell me your friend Su was such a Quidditch fanatic," he said. "She owled us when she couldn't contact you."

"I could have sworn she mentioned it when she was with us before," said Kit.

"Well, yeah, I knew she liked Quidditch, but she's basically a walking Quidditch Statistics Book! She knew facts about the Cannons that I didn't even know."

Kit found a smirk growing on her own face. "Well, now you know. I might take her to the compartment too, if I can peel her away from Anthony later."

Ron frowned. "Oh, they're still together?"

"Yeah, to my knowledge. Anyway— I'll see you soon!" She turned back and began to speed walk to where she knew Draco would be.

She found him in his usual compartment, looking sourly at the floor while Theodore Nott and Pansy talked his ear off about who knows what.

"Hey," said Kit, peering in and not seeing Blaise. Maybe he had already left to find Hermione. "Draco, can we talk?"

Draco stood up, following her out, and Kit awkwardly shut the door as Theo and Pansy shared a strange look.

"What's wrong?" she asked Draco as soon as they were out of their earshot. "What happened back there?"

"He was hitting on you!" said Draco harshly, looking thoroughly annoyed. "Can't you see that?"

"Woah, take a step back from that," she said, holding her hands up to his chest. "I'm not going to let him make a move on me.