Broomsticks on Fire

Chapter Ten

"Wow, that was a drag," Jake commented as he slouched out of Potions with Ron, Harry, and Hermione beside him.

"Oh, well, actually-" Hermione began, but fell silent when Harry threw her a withering look.

"Yes, a drag it was," he agreed.

"I mean, what's up with that Snape dude? He like hates us or somethin'!"

Ron snorted. "Hating us is putting it mildly." He frowned. "I wonder why he doesn't like you, though."

"He's in Gryffindor, I guess," Harry put in.

"Maybe."

"Personally," Jake said, "I think the dude's got it in for anyone not in his own house."

"Oh, yeh, he definitly does," Ron hastily agreed.

With that, they changed the subject.

"What do we have next?" Jake asked.

"Well..." Hermione began hesitantly.

"What?"

"Well...we have Care of Magical Creatures."

"So?"

"So...Hagrid teaches it."

"Oh. Great." Jake grinned. "Hey, will the Am-Drag get to show off his mad skills?"

His friends laughed. "No doubt about it," Harry said, grinning. "Hagrid is so excited about you being here. He's obsessed with dragons, and he's going to refuse to leave you alone."

"Yeah, I kinda figured that," Jake commented, recalling the countless times the gamekeeper had stopped him in the hallways, going on and on about how amazing dragons were and such.

"Oh, and there's even more good news," Ron said sarcastically as the four friends drew closer to Hagrid's hut.

"Oh, boy, can't wait to hear it!" Jake said in false excitement.

Ron stared at him. "Uh...Jake? I was being sarcastic."

Jake snorted. "Yeah, dude, so was I."

Ron's ears turned red as Jake asked what the "good news" was.

"We have this class with the Slytherins."

"Oh, joy."

During the class, Hagrid had Jake display his dragon side, and the young dragon performed everything his grandfather had taught him. It was a pleasant change for the Gryffindors; they usually detested the hideous creatures Hagrid had in store for them, and the fact that Jake was one of them made it all the better.

The Slytherins, however, were not entertained. As the class dispersed, Jake went human and headed through the thick crowd of amazed and excited Gryffindors to Ron, Harry, and Hermione. "Whew, I'm beat!" he breathed.

Harry grinned at him. "Did the 'Am-Drag' have a good time showing off his 'mad skills'?"

Jake laughed. "Come on, 'Crumpet Boy'. Do you really think you can talk like a New-Yorker?"

Before Harry could retort, Malfoy, Crabb, and Goyle came up to the four. Instead of taking up his usual "Harry taunting", the blonde menace addressed Jake.

"You think you're so amazing, don't you?" he taunted. "Well, you're not. That old oaf doesn't know what he's talking about. Let me just tell you one thing, Long: you'd better watch your back." With that, he and his possy stalked off.

"Wow, talk about attitude problems," Jake said.

"Jake, I don't know," Hermione said, sounding worried. "They can be pretty nasty sometimes."

Jake shrugged off her comment. "Please, the Am-Drag is more than ready to handle those bozos."

But he was in no way prepared for the evil that was in store for him...not too far away...

A/N: Duhn duhn duhn duhn! How is it? Please review, and I'm sorry if it was short and that it took so long to update! I'll do better, I promise! Actually, it is my goal to finish all 6 of the Fanfictions I'm working on by the end of the summer, or at least 5 of them, so...

more later!

~Emachinescat ^..^