Chapter 2: Jade

"From this point forth, we shall be leaving the firm foundation of fact and journeying together through the murky marshes of memory into thickets of wildest guesswork." - Albus Dumbledore.

"HERMIONE!" Jade screeched, flinging the front door open. "GET DOWN HERE NOW!"

Hermione sighed and put down her book, a smile curving her face. As she left her room, Draco opened his door and followed her down the stairs curiously.

"Be warned," she said to him, her grin turning wicked. Draco didn't look perturbed. "And remember, first name basis with Jade around. I -"

"Don't want her to suspect anything, yeah I know. I've got it, Granger." Hermione scowled at him.

Jade waited impatiently for Hermione to skip down the last of the stairs before barrelling into her, yelling about how happy she was to see her. She jumped up and down on the spot and Hermione tried to stay upright. Jade leaned back from the hug at last and looked at Hermione in the eyes. "You have to tell me everything, Mia. Boys. Grades. Classes. Boys!"

Hermione laughed and put her hands over Jade's. "Yes, yes, of course I will, but we have company," she said meaningfully. Jade's eyes slowly travelled past Hermione's shoulder and locked on Draco. Her previously childish excitement disappeared from her face and was replaced with a cool and slightly sultry look. She placed a manicured hand on her waist and leant onto her left foot.

"Jade," she introduced herself. Draco was unimpressed.

"I figured as much," he said dryly. "I've heard quite a bit about you."

"Is that so?" Jade replied, raising her brows at Hermione suggestively. "Not all bad, I hope. Hermione, aren't you going to introduce me?"

"Oh, yes. Jade, this is, um, Draco Malfoy. He's a... friend from school."

"Is this your boyfriend?" she demanded, clearly picking up on Hermione's hesitation.

"Hell no," Draco snapped.

"Of course not," Hermione said at the same time.

"Tension in the air!" Jade said. "Well, good, 'cause he's rather rude."

Draco, unimpressed as he was at this girl, had to admire her blunt openness. However, her insult sounded rather like praise, and he smirked.

Hermione gasped. "Jade!"

"What? I only speak the truth!" Her eyes roamed over Draco once more. "Anyway, I've been so excited to see you, I've made a whole day plan for us, but that'll have to change now you have a guest! We can still go swimming though, which will be just as fun, so go get changed and pack a towel because I refuse to share mine with you again. Go!"

She gave Hermione an eager push, making her stumble into Draco's side, who glared at her. She apologised quietly but she didn't think he heard.

"You can come too, sunshine. Go pop on your trunks."

Jade made to push Draco too, but he skipped out of reach and went up the stairs obediently. Jade and Hermione remained in the entry hall.

"I'd advise against making him angry, but I don't know what good it'll do," Hermione said airily, making Jade laugh. "Seriously, though, things can get pretty ugly when he's mad."

Jade laughed again, flicking her long and luscious black hair over her shoulder. Her brown eyes sparkled. "Oh, Mia. I can handle him. I've had lots of practice with guys too good-looking for their own good."

"I think Draco's a bit different from most guys, but suit yourself."

Draco was digging through his trunk.

"When I'm of age, this isn't going to be any problem," he growled to himself. Giving up altogether, he decided Hermione would have to summon his trunks for him. He walked silently across the hall and threw open Hermione's door. She was just finishing tying her scarlet bikini around her back.

"Oh my God, Malfoy, get out!" she cried, crossing her arms over her chest now her bikini was secure. She glared at his reflection in the mirror, ignoring her mounting blush. Draco was making no effort to hide his ogling, admiring the smooth skin of her back and the curve of her hips. She definitely felt no urge to turn around and look at him in the eye - the mirror was bad enough. "Just what do you think you're doing?" Hermione demanded. Draco blinked and smirked at her embarrassment.

"I need you to find my trunks. Can't find them anywhere."

"And why should I help you, Malfoy?"

"Because if you don't, we'll be here for the rest of the day. And, we're meant to be on our best behaviour, remember? That's being nice to each other, in case you didn't know."

Draco felt very smug as Hermione reluctantly grabbed her wand. "Accio Draco's shorts," she whispered. After a moment, black shorts flew into her room and whipped Draco around the face before falling on the floor. Hermione was satisfied about that. "Now put them on and grab a towel from the cupboard. And get out." She literally pushed Draco out of her room, handing him his shorts. She closed the door in his face.

Still slightly mortified by the fact Malfoy walked in on her practically topless, she took a moment to compose herself before slipping into the matching bottoms and some denim shorts. She put on a white top and packed her bag. Wand, towel, sunglasses, hairbrush, wallet. Good. Hermione put on her flip flops and went downstairs. Malfoy was already there, still smirking.

"Finally, Mia. Let's go." Jade opened the door and rays of sunshine burst into the entry hall. She lead the way down the path and into the street, skipping along the road without any thought for potential cars. Hermione cautiously followed her, keeping an ear out for motors. The glare of the sun on the pavement was painful for her eyes, and she began digging through her bag.

"What do you think of Jade?" Hermione asked Draco absentmindedly, letting out a successful shout as she pulled out her sunglasses and put them on.

"I don't understand why she would be friends with a bookworm like you," he scowled in reply, shielding his eyes against the sun pitifully with his hand. His towel lay over his shoulder, his chest bare. His hair was almost shining as bright as the sun.

Hermione held her wand in her bag and waved it, transfiguring a piece of scrap paper into black sunglasses she'd seen in a window once. She offered them to Draco, who looked them over carefully, feeling their rectangular frames, and put them on.

"That is so much better," he sighed. "Gotta get some of these."

Hermione laughed. "Those ones in particular are an expensive muggle brand -" Here, Hermione remembered who she was talking to - "But I suppose price isn't exactly an issue for you, is it?"

"Not really."

"Guys, come on! You're so slow!" Jade cried, turning around to stare at the two.

"Oh, shut up Jade," Hermione called up to her before picking up her pace, glad for an excuse to leave her guest behind. Draco continued to stroll at a leisurely pace, his eyes gleaming over the few muggle contraptions he could see.

Up ahead, Jade linked her arm in Hermione's. "He's cute," she murmured, gauging Hermione's reaction, who had scoffed. "Especially in those sunnies. Without a shirt. In black. Oh, he makes me want to swoon."

"He's rude," Hermione reminded her. Jade shrugged.

"That may be true, but rudeness can be overlooked in favour of other aspects," Jade replied, looking over her shoulder and winking at Draco, who rolled his eyes at her. "Aren't you the least bit affected, Mia?"

"I'm really not affected," Hermione said, grinning at Jade's open-mouthed expression. "Too much negative history between us."

"Then why is he at your house?" Jade asked slyly. But of course, Hermione couldn't answer that, and Jade assumed she had won the argument. "You do think he's attractive!"

Hermione could see no other option but to let Jade continue to think that, despite her overwhelming desire to prove otherwise. Her, attracted to Draco Malfoy? It was a ludicrous idea. If only Jade knew the half of it.

"Where are we going swimming?" Hermione asked, changing the subject. "We passed the turn off to your house ages ago."

Jade didn't push the topic any further, satisfied with her success, instead latching onto the subject change like a fish and a hook line. "Oh, at my new house. See, Mia, while you were away at a high class boarding school that your parents won't tell anyone about, I moved! It's got the most amazing lake behind it, oh you won't believe it!"

Draco had distantly heard Jade gushing about a lake when he realised she was an excellent source of entertainment to soothe his boredom. Walking had never suited him. He wandered up to the raven-haired girl and slung an arm over her shoulder.

"So, I wouldn't mind if you showed me your bedroom first," he said slyly. Hermione blushed bright red, out of embarrassment for her friend or by the implication, Draco wasn't sure, but it pleased him. Jade was at ease with the situation, though.

"Honey, I don't think you'd be able to handle my bedroom. You wouldn't come out the same."

Hermione scoffed. "Ugh, can you two please stop with the sexual innuendos? They're nauseating."

"Why, Hermione, we were simply discussing Jade's bedroom," Draco said gleefully, giving Hermione an innocent look. "Nothing naughty going on here."

"Just talking about the decor," Jade agreed, grinning at Hermione. "Contrary to popular belief, Mia, not everything I say is about sex."

"Majority rules, though," Hermione muttered to herself.

"I heard that."

They continued to talk all the way to Jade's house, which was a few blocks away from Hermione's in total, and not once did Draco move his arm from Jade's shoulder. Jade pointed to a two-story house set apart from the others. "That's mine."

The caramel-brick house was set upon a small hill, a thicket of trees on the left side in the distance. The concrete driveway climbed up the hill to a garage connected to the house. On the top floor a dormer window stuck out.

"It's beautiful, Jade," Hermione said.

"Just wait 'til you see the lake," Jade said happily. She led the way up the driveway and around the garage, detouring quickly to grab a towel. Hermione felt her thigh muscles strain at the steepness of the hill. They ended up in a wide garden, filled with colourful flowers and trees of all kinds. They kept walking until the hill started sloping downwards. Jade pointed to a long body of water. "Isn't it gorgeous?" she exclaimed.

Draco and Hermione both nodded and they all raced each other down the hill, laughing as they stumbled. They struggled to stop before reaching the water, Hermione having to grab onto Jade to steady herself. Draco was fine without help, having honed his reflexes with quidditch. Jade quickly dumped the towel she had picked up, shed her clothes and dove into the lake in a perfect formation.

"Come on! The water's nice as!"

Hermione spared a glance at Draco as he dropped his towel, took off his sunglasses and bombed into the lake, spraying water everywhere. When he surfaced, his face shone with glee. Hermione pretended not to notice and busied herself with tying her hair into a pony tail.

"You know what happens when you take too long to get into the water, Mia," Jade warned, creeping closer to the bank. Hermione glared at her and gracefully took off her top and shorts. Bravely, she stuck a toe into the water.

"It's warm," she said, surprised. She didn't notice Jade subtly move closer.

"It's even better when you're fully in," she coaxed. Hermione stuck her foot in, placing it carefully on the dirt so she wouldn't slip.

"Too long!" Jade cried, jumping out of the water and grabbing Hermione's arm. Hermione screamed loudly. Together they toppled into the water, a tangled mess. Spitting, spluttering and laughing all at once they rose to the surface, Jade smiling widely, Hermione cursing her.

Draco looked on at the two girls, wondering what they had in common. A loud, open, gorgeous girl best friends with a quiet, loner bookworm? He tried to puzzle it out in his head. Could opposites attract?

Splashes of water came from every direction when Draco realised that a water fight had begun. He waded so he was in between the two and spun around, his arms wide. Water splashed into the air and into everyone's eyes.

"No fair, Draco!" Jade whined, pouting. "You're a buff guy, we're just weak girls! Give us a chance!"

"It's two against one!" Draco argued indignantly. "Give me a chance!"

"You're using one hand," Hermione told him. Jade nodded in confirmation.

"That's fair. Continue!"

The water fight raged on and even with one hand, Draco was beating them. He was barely wet but the girls were soaked. They were yelling mercy, but they were still attempting to fight back, so Draco ignored them and didn't ease up his efforts. The girls had bad tactics; they were standing side by side, where he could easily reach both of them.

"Mercy! Mercy!" They both yelled, shielding their faces from the water and effectively stopping the fight. Draco smirked at them and they disappeared under water. His smirk dropped. What on earth were they going to do? His hands held onto his trunks firmly.

Under the water, Jade nodded at Hermione and they swam behind Draco, hiding from his view. Another nod and they grabbed at Draco's legs, pushing them forward with all their might, forcing him to slip and fall underwater. They all resurfaced at the same time, Draco furious that his hair had gotten wet, running his hands through it in an attempt to return it to its tousled look. It had dried well since he'd originally bombed into the lake.

"I think I take back what I've always said, Mia," Jade said conversationally as they waded to the bank. Draco grumpily followed them. "A guy with muscles does not automatically make them manly."

Hermione erupted into laughter while Draco scowled.

"I would argue that pride in one's appearance is far more important than any perception of masculinity," he snapped, and Hermione knew that somehow, Jade had crossed a line. But Jade didn't seem to be aware of that - that, or she didn't care.

"Well I would argue that someone with the right amount of masculinity wouldn't need to take pride in his appearance because he knows he seems like a real man regardless," Jade replied hotly. Draco's eyes narrowed.

"Oh, and please tell, what exactly constitutes as a 'real' man?" he asked sarcastically.

"Trust me, Malfoy, whatever it is: you are not it."

Draco let out a nasty laugh and Hermione decided it was time to intervene. She blocked Draco's eye contact with Jade by pushing her way between them, forcing her arms into both Jade's and Draco's and making them walk with her up to Jade's house.

"Well I think that Draco is manly enough, regardless of any definitions of masculinity," she said to Jade forcefully, her tone telling Jade that the conversation was now over. Jade grinned suggestively at Hermione, her easy switch of emotions alerting Hermione to the fact that Jade was just playing with Draco, just showing that she could handle any boy 'too attractive for their own good'.

After walking in a tense silence, Hermione decided that Jade and Draco weren't going to go at each other's throats, and she let her arms unlink from them. Jade took this as a cue to start talking, and she spoke about her house, and why they had moved, and how disgusting the mould growing in her cupboard was in her old house. Hermione tuned in and out, but was definitely distracted when Draco leant down and whispered in her ear.

"Maybe you two aren't so different after all," Draco muttered to her. Hermione choked her giggles down.

"Trust me, you have no idea."