The upcoming match was wearing down on everyone's nerves, especially since it was against Slytherin. Unable to handle the hostility in the common room, Jane set off on a journey to find a deathly quiet place where she could think without the Weasley siblings interrupting her.

The Forbidden Forest should be quiet enough.

Jane always wanted to see what was so forbidden about this forest. She'd heard stories of werewolves and centaurs, unicorns and giant spiders. She wasn't planning on going too far in. Just far enough to get away from stupid Quidditch pressures.

If I could kill them all, I would, she thought at random.

You can, spoke a voice in her head much like her own, It only takes one spell.

She shook her head free of those thoughts. What the hell?

Jane had managed to get past the gates and was now strolling along the side of Black Lake. It was only a little warmer today than it was a few days ago. She didn't shiver under her black robes, even though a strong wind blew against her. It was very peaceful out here, next to the lake. She could have settled herself out here, but the mysteries in the Forbidden Forest were too enticing to ignore.

Another name for the Forbidden Forest was the Dark Forest. As Jane approached the edge of it, she could see this name suited it well. The trees were dark, the ground was dark, and even the flowers were black. Jane knelt down and picked one between her fingers, bringing it to her nose. The flower may look dead, but it was one of the sweetest she had ever smelled.

"What other surprises do you hold?" Jane whispered. Putting the flower behind her ear, Jane stood and proceeded into the woods.

It was the darkest and coldest place she had ever been. Jane had only ventured perhaps thirty or forty feet in, and she was shivering like crazy. It was like being stuck in an ice box. The farther she went, the more clouded her vision became. She could no longer see the sky above her, or a foot in front of her. When she looked back toward the castle, she could barely see the light through a haze.

Jane pulled out her wand, "Lumos," and the tip of it lit up like a mini flashlight, brightening any feature within a five foot radius. She could see bugs and spiders crawling across the forest floor. Jane went on.

"Well, it sure is creepy. I'll give it that." Jane muttered to herself.

On her exploration of this infamous forest, Jane found two of the legendary creatures she'd heard of. The first was a Thestral; a horse with a skeletal body and reptilian features. Jane wasn't afraid of the Thestral and its supposed bad omen, but she didn't approach it. The mere sight of the ghost-like horse made her freeze. Thestrals were only ever seen by those who had witnessed death and come to terms with it. Living with Voldemort as a guardian as long as she had, Jane knew all too well that death and killing happened.

And she knew it even more when she did some killing of her own.

Jane sank to the floor and pulled her legs up to her chest. The corners of her eyes stun with tears.

Oh, those poor people . . .

It took a long while for her to pull herself together.

The second creature was a unicorn. She had been walking in the dark, still shaken up from seeing the Thestral. Like a beacon, its coat glowed the purest of whites. Its mane sparkled, and its horn looked sharp. Jane gasped the minute she saw it. Such beauty. And as quickly as she saw it, it galloped away.

"I better get back," she whispered. Who knew how long she'd been gone? She didn't have a watch on her.

Jane had only taken five steps when she heard a small slithering over leaves and sticks. For a moment she ignored it and continued. Then it grew louder. Louder. Louder still. At last she turned with wand in hand, lighting up the area. Every nerve in her body turned to ice, and her skin crawled. In the places where light didn't reach she saw big, glittery eyes, and slimy scales. Something big coiled up, getting ready to attack. Her brain screamed for her to run.

Before she could even make a move, it went for her. The gigantic snake lashed out at her feet, biting into her ankle. Jane screamed and fell. She tried getting up, but the pain was too much. She couldn't even crawl away before the snake curled itself around her legs.

"Stop!" she screamed, her voice high pitched, "Stop! Let me go! Let me go!"

At the last request, instead of English, a low hiss came out of her mouth. The snake stopped immediately at her waist and stared up at her with empty black eyes. Its tongue poked out of its mouth as it spoke, "You speak my language?"

"Yes, now let me go!"

Slowly the snake uncoiled itself from her body and slithered back from her. Jane brought her knees to her chest and shuddered. Still able to feel the slimy scales surrounding her. The massive pain still throbbed in her ankle. There were two bite marks interrupting the flow of her skin with blood, but no swelling.

"You are not poisonous are you?" she asked quietly, her voice shaking.

"No," the snake replied. It was still stunned by the fact that a human could understand it, "You are a Dark witch," she heard the snake accuse, a harsh tone to its words. Jane closed her eyes as tears flowed down her cheeks. Its words echoed in her ears.

"No, I'm not," she hissed, hating the way the words came out of her mouth, "No, I'm not," she repeated in English. Before the snake could say anything more, she got to her feet and ran. Her ankle protested, but she ignored it. Her only thought was to get out of the Forbidden Forest.

It was still light once she reached the edge of the woods. She couldn't have been in there for more than a few hours. Jane leaned against a tree and breathed deeply, frantically wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Calm down," she whispered, "Calm down, Jane. You're fine. You're okay."

"Jane?!"

Fuck. Not now.

Hagrid thundered up toward her, the body of a dead rooster swinging from his thick hand. His eyes were drawn to her location and injured ankle.

"Wha' in blazes do yeh think yeh're doin'?" he shouted, voice booming in her ears, "Yeh know tha' the Forbi'en Fores' is off lim – yeh're hur'," his voice softened at the sight of blood and tear stains, "Come wi'h me. We'll ge' yeh fixed up,"

Hagrid carried Jane in his big arms a short ways to his hut, a circular building with a pointed room and chimney made of stone. Inside he set her down on a large bed, then rummaged through a chest for a rag and healing solution.

"Now I ain' no Madam Pomfrey, but we'll ge' yeh all cleaned up. Wha' were yeh doin' near the fores'?" he asked, taking her ankle into his hand.

"Nothing," she said shortly, "Just checking it out,"

"An' yeh go' bitten by a snake. Yeh're lucky it wasn' poisonous," Hagrid had cleaned all the blood off and was now adding the healing solution, which stun like crazy, "Yeh know this means I'll have te tell Dumbledore yeh snuck off school grounds an' take poin's frem Gryffindor,"

"Yeah, whatever – ow!" she pulled her ankle out of his grasp when he rubbed a little too hard on her bite.

"Sorry," he grunted. Then he wrapped her ankle in gauze, "There, all better,"

"Thanks," Jane stood and instantaneously wobbled. When she regained her balance, she went on to the door.

"Hold on a sec," he stopped her with a heavy hand on her shoulder.

"What now?" Jane groaned.

"Yeh look like yer havin' a bad day,"

No, really? her head screamed. Even a maggot could figure that out!

"Yeh wanna tell me wha's wrong?"

No, not really.

Jane shugged and put most of her weight on the foot that wasn't injured.

"Why'd yeh go inter the fores' in the fir' place?"

She really hated being put on the spot like this.

"The pressure of the upcoming Quidditch match was annoying me, and I needed a quiet place,"

"An' yeh wen' te the fores' fer tha'?"

"Seemed like a good idea at the time. Then I got bitten by a snake," she let out an involuntary shudder.

There was a moment of awkward silence. Jane looked up at him to see a perplexed expression.

"How 'bou this? I won' tell Dumbledore or take poin's away from yer house if yeh promise no' the go inter the fores' again,"

Jane raised an eyebrow in confusion. It's not like she cared whether or not she got in trouble. She got in trouble all the time. But why would he do this?

"Deal,"

As she walked away from Hagrid's hut and toward the castle, Jane lifted up the left side of her black T-Shirt and tank top to reveal the scar of another snake bite identical to the one now on her ankle. She shuddered.

The snake had reminded her so much of Nagini.

When Jane returned to the common room, the atmosphere had not changed. Ron was still extremely hostile, and Ginny had a cold shoulder. The next morning Ron was worse than ever, uneedingly lashing out at Hermione. Harry tried to keep Ron in check, while Jane attempted to help Hermione stay in a stable state of emotion, but to no effect. By the end of this day the two went to bed in an angry and hurt fashion.

Ron's behavior failed to change for several days, becoming counterproductive in the last practice, which Hermione refused to go to.

"I don't want to see the likes of him until after the Quidditch match," she fumed.

"Okay, so what do you want to do?" Jane questioned.

They went to the library.

"Seriously?" Jane wined, "The library?"

"You said we could go anywhere I wanted," she said haughtily.

"Yeah, but I meant -"

"Shh!"

Madam Pince, the librarian, stuck her head around the book shelf to glare at them. With a jab of her index finger over her lips, she let them be.

"Someplace more fun," Jane continued, her voice lowered.

"The library is fun," Hermione insisted in the same hushed tone.

"If you say so,"

"Just imagine all the things you can learn, the places you can go,"

"I'm not the reading type – but I can give it a shot," she said, hoping her cooperation would keep Hermione from going ballistic with emotion, "Anything on travel?"

Hermione pointed to her right, "A few aisles that way. It's not a big section, but it's got some interesting topics,"

Not a big section? Clearly Jane had not been to enough libraries to know what a small section was. Jane's fingers traced the labels carved onto the wooden shelves. There were books on common places, such as Asia and Australia, books on muggle and wizard settlements alike. The ones that she found most interesting were the books on exotic places.

From the eighth shelf, Jane spotted a book with an old dusted leather cover. She reached up to take it, but found she was too short. Jane hooked her hand onto the edge of the bookshelf and began to climb.

"Almost got it," she strained, her fingers barely touching the book, "Al . . . most . . . yes!"

She grasped the novel in victory. The minute she did, however, her grip slipped and she fell back. Jane closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, expecting to land on hard ground. What she didn't expect was someone to catch her, and then land on hard ground.

"Watch where you're falling,"

She opened her eyes to see Draco walking away after having caught her, leaving her on the ground, once again without flirting with her.

"What was all that about?"

Hermione stood behind her with four books resting in her arms. She set them down on a nearby table to help Jane up.

"Dunno," she picked up the book she was so desperately trying to get. It certainly wasn't worth climbing up the shelves.

"Doesn't he usually flirt with you?"

"He hasn't in a while,"

"Maybe it's better that way. He's not someone any girl should be interested in,"

I'm not so sure about that, Jane thought, "Alright, are we done? Because I know something that's a lot more fun than this,"


"You're right, this is fun,"

The two girls sat in the Gryffindor common room alone, sipping hot cocoa and roasting marshmallows that Jane had stolen from the kitchens. It wasn't that hard, all she had to do was ask.

"When was the last time you roasted marshmallows?" Jane asked.

"Four or five years ago, when my parents last took me camping. You?"

"The day before start of term. If only I asked for chocolate and graham crackers, too. We could have had s'mores,"

Hermione let out a giggle, and then stuffed a brownish white mound of warm fluff into her mouth. Jane could visibly see the stressed girl relax in her arm chair. This method was working for Jane too. A much better idea than exploring the Forbidden Forest, although that was fun for a while.

"I've got to take care of something real quick," Jane said, "I'll be right back," she got up from her chair and limped towards the staircase.

"How did you get that injury again?" Hermione inquired suspiciously.

"Tripped and sprang my ankle," she lied without missing a beat.

Up in her room, Jane retrieved a roll of gauze from her night stand, and pulled up the pant leg covering her bite. The gauze around it was stained in blood, and the bite was mostly healed. She had to keep a wrapping around her ankle and wear jeans until the marks were gone.

Or left an unexplained scar.

She shuddered.

Jane limped back downstairs to find that the relaxing atmosphere she and her friend created was shattered. The house Quidditch team returned from their practice. Ron gave Hermione a scowl before pushing past Jane and heading off to bed, leaving Hermione looking sullen and confused.


"Come on, Pavarti! We're going to be late!"

"Don't rush me! My hair won't stay flat,"

"How do I look?"

"Cute as ever. Why? Trying to impress someone?"

"Well . . ."

"Oh my Merlin, you are! Who?"

"I'll tell you later,"

"Lavender?!"

Jane groaned and rolled onto her stomach and slammed the pillow over her head, "Will you just shut up?!"

She could almost feel the two singeing her skin with death glares before the door slammed. Sitting up, she rubbed her temples delicately. One could only take so much squealing in the morning.

"God, and I thought the way teenagers talked in America was annoying," she muttered when noticing Hermione was awake.

"Be lucky you haven't lived with them for the last five years. Thank Merlin you came, or I would have strangled myself,"

"You're welcome,"

Hermione pushed herself up and stretched out her arms. Her hair was bushier than ever, and her chocolate brown eyes were red and swollen, tired with sleep.

"Rough night?"

Hermione bit her lip and looked at her knees, a single tear leaking out the corner of her eye.

Oh God.

"I don't know what I did wrong,"

I don't know how much more of this I can take, Jane thought. She sighed and went to the neighboring bed, lightly rubbing Hermione's shoulder in an awkward way, "Um . . . there . . . there . . . It's nothing you've done, I'm sure. Ron's just under a lot of stress about the game. He should be back to normal in no time."

The girl sniffed and wiped away the tears, "You're probably right,"

"So do you wanna go to breakfast now or later?"

They took their sweet time showering and getting dressed, and then headed down to the Great Hall, having a very difficult time trying to walk - or in Jane's case, limp - without tripping over someone. Hermione cautiously walked to where the boys sat and remained standing while Jane plopped down next to Harry and helped herself to bacon and eggs.

Harry took up a goblet and poured a fine line of amber colored liquid and then gave it to the grump across from him, "Here you go, Ron,"

Ron, a permanent grimace plastered on his face, raised the glass.

"Ron, stop! Don't drink it!"

The three looked up at Hermione's horrified face, "And why the bloody hell not?" barked Ron.

"Harry just put something in your drink!"

"What?"

"You put something in Ron's drink!"

"I don't know what you're talking about,"

"You still have the bottle in your hand!"

Sure enough he did, which he tried to hide in his pocket. Jane wrestled it away from him, holding the bottle high in the air to examine it while keeping the boy from taking it back, "Isn't this that Felix Felicis potion Professor Slughorn gave you?"

"Give it back or I'll curse you!" said Harry, pulling at her robes. Finally she flipped the bottle back to him.

"Don't drink it, Ron!" Hermione insisted. But before she could finish her sentence, Ron had chugged the entire goblet, leaving no drop behind.

"Stop telling me what to do, Hermione," he warned, wiping his mouth off with his sleeve.

Her mouth dropped and her eyes bulged. She hissed something only Harry could hear, and he whispered back. Now she looked scandalized, violated. She ran from the room, the boys watching her go like it was an everyday thing.

"Nice going," Jane scoffed, slapping the back of his head and managing to smack Ron before running after her.

"Hermione?" she called, eyes searching the entrance hall and finding nothing. Thinking she might have gone to the common room, she headed to the upper levels of the castle.

"Dilligrout," she told the fat lady guarding the entrance. The password was accepted, but Hermione was nowhere in sight.

"God damn it," she muttered, "Where could she be? I don't want to have to chase her down all day." Jane checked the clock on the mantel piece. The Quidditch match had already begun. Maybe she was in the stands. Jane walked through the corridors toward the front of the castle, her mind wandering to Hermione and how Ron was doing in his keeper position. The next thing she knew, Jane was at the bottom of a staircase, her injured ankle was twisted, and her head throbbed. Jane rubbed her temple and gritted her teeth. Then she lifted her jean leg to examine her ankle. It was swollen.

"Oh come on!" she grunted, "It was just starting to get better!"

"Are you okay?"

A boy with dark skin and dark hair jogged to her. She vaguely recognized him from Transfiguration, but couldn't remember his name. He knelt down and looked at her ankle, "I saw you fall. Your ankle looks like its twisted - why is it all wrapped up?"

"Previous injury," she said quickly. Inwardly she groaned - now she really had to go see the nurse this time.

"I'll help you to the hospital wing," the boy helped her stand, taking her arm and placing it around his neck while his own went to her waist, "I'm Blaise, by the way. Blaise Zabini."

That's what his name was. Blaise, "I'm Jane Rodgers,"

"Yeah, I know you from Transfiguration,"

The rest of the stumble was spent in silence. Madam Pomfrey put her on a hospital bed the minute she got there, and Blaise harshly refused to leave until Jane was healed. Madam Pomfrey removed the gauze to get a better look. She did not question the snake bite, although looked suspiciously at it.

"Episkey," the matron cast with a flick of her wand. Jane felt her bones set on fire for a few moments, and then a freezing sensation take over.

"That should heal it, but your ankle will be sore for a few days. Shall I give you some crutches?"

"No thanks, I'll be fine," Jane insisted. She hopped off the metal bed and wobbled for a moment. Blaise rushed to help steady her.

"Anywhere I can take you?" he asked.

"Yeah, how about outside?"

Blaise helped her into the courtyard under the clock tower. In the center of the courtyard was a giant fountain. At the moment it wasn't spurting water. Jane rested on the edge of the fountain and held her head in her hands. She still had a terrible headache.

"Wait a minute, aren't you a Chaser for Slytherin?" Jane suddenly remembered. Blaise sat next to her and cracked his knuckles.

"Yes. But I got detention, so I couldn't play this time,"

"Then shouldn't you be at the stadium watching?"

"Shouldn't you?"

Jane shrugged, "Not really into Quidditch at the moment,"

So they spent their time talking about small things, mostly about classes and the difference between Britain and America, "American girls are quite funny," the boy admitted after laughing at her witty comments, "And pretty, too," he added with a sly smile.

"Not really. Most women in America are plastic," Jane disagreed, knowing all too well what he meant.

"You know, I'd really like to hang out with you some -"

The sound of loud footsteps interrupted them. Jane and Blaise looked in the direction of the clock tower, where a boy with a pointed face appeared. Draco looked at Blaise, looked at Jane, glared at the two of them, and continued walking.

"The Slytherin Quidditch team is missing a lot of their players today," Jane pointed at the boy's retreating back.


"Malfoy, aren't you supposed to be playing?!" Blaise shouted at him.

What. The. Hell.

What was she doing with Blaise?!

Didn't he specifically tell him that Jane was his?!

Anger flowed through his veins as Draco stomped down the marble staircase to the first floor, ignoring his friend's calls to him. There was also something else there, a feeling he could place, but didn't want to accept.

Jealousy.

How could he be jealous? He had nothing to be jealous of. He hated Jane Rodger'guts, and Blaise could have her for all he cared.

No.

Blaise couldn't have her. Jane was his.

Wait a minute, no she wasn't!


When Jane went back to the common room, it was still empty. She sat in one of the armchairs by the fire, watching the flames flicker wildly, and a moment later she fell asleep. And that peaceful slumber was soon interrupted by screams and shouts entering Gryffindor Tower. She rubbed her eyes and quickly sat up as people entered. Music began to play and soon food and drinks were spread throughout the crowd.

"Guess we won," she muttered. Jane moved herself from the chair and walked around. Harry, Ron, and Hermione must have been back too. It took her several minutes to push through the throng to find any one of them.

Instead, she saw all three of them at once. First she saw Ron in the center of the room, lip locking with Lavender Brown and his hand gripping her ass. Then she saw Harry over by the boy's staircase, also watching Ron. Harry's eyes darted over to the portrait hole, where she finally saw Hermione. Hermione caught sight of Ron, and her already red eyes teared up, and she disappeared, along with Harry.

It was a very complicated situation.

Jane was getting really tired of this back and forth stuff. Her fists clenched while she walked up the stairs to the dormitories. It was dark when she came in, the only light coming from the moon. Jane scavenged for candles.

"Incendio," she whispered. A small jet of fire ignited from the tip of her wand. She held it to the wick of each candle before blowing it out. The flickering light cast shadows across the walls.

"Stupid drama," she grunted, "Didn't have to deal with this on the streets,"

Jane leaned up against a wall, rubbing her temples. The fighting, the relationships, the scandal, the drama . . . She felt like she was on a sitcom. It was all giving her a headache.

She suddenly felt something icy crawl up her spine and flood into her brain. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself.

"You could always go back on the street,"

"I can't. The Death Eaters would find me." she claimed.

"You're a smart girl. You've escaped them before,"

"Yeah. By killing them." her throat tightened. A small dread rose within her.

"There was no other way,"

"There's always another way,"

"You said it yourself. There is too much trouble. Too much drama. The street is better. Anything is better than Hogwarts."

"No," Jane disagreed, "Hogwarts is the safest place for me,"

"Do you really think that?"

"Yes, I do. He can't . . . Voldemort can't get me here. I'm safe here,"

"It won't be for long,"

The cold feeling left, and all was quiet now. The room felt smaller, claustrophobic. The boom of the music downstairs gently vibrated the floor. Jane pressed a hand to her heart in hopes to calm herself down. Why had this conversation felt any different than the ones she had before? It was almost like someone was trying to convince her to leave.

The door opened and Pavarti walked in. She glanced at Jane; something must have looked strange about her, because Pavarti asked, "Are you okay?"

"Fine," she sighed, "What's going on?"

"Party ended,"

"Where's Hermione and Lavender?"

Pavarti looked over her shoulder and shot Jane a sly smile, "I don't know about Hermione, but Lavender is fooling around with Ron Weasley somewhere in the castle. It's so romantic,"

Jane felt like puking.