Chapter Nine

A/N:Sorry I took a while to update, I got a serious case of writer's block! But I'm all better now…

Firstly, thanks sooo much to everyone who reviewed since my last update! I was aiming for 70 reviews, and now I have 80!!! So let's try for 90 this time people! Thanks to the following wonderful people who helped boost the numbers: Raelliin Cullen Potter deSilva, Twin of Alice, Emzer92, -xXxBlonde ambitionxXx-, drakeundone, QuirkyOne, YetAnotherEdwardCullenFan, Team Hale, team jakeward 01, Riverenzii Silverstarkiller, -My7Edward-, Dare2dream00, me again, msmess21907, Oh. Its. Her, James018 and Laura (twice!) Keep it up guys, you keep me going!

This is a chapter for my friend Hazel… I think you'll see how she fits in here…

Ciara

x x x

Jake's POV:

While Edward and Bella were over at the Gryffindor table palling up with the kids from the train, Hermione, Ron and Harry, Nessie and I were being quizzed at rapid speed by our new classmates in Hufflepuff like contestants on a corny T.V. gameshow. Except if we got an answer right, we didn't win a shiny new car or a spa holiday. We just got another question.

"So, are you all… together?" asked a girl with her hair tied back in a fat plait.

"Susan!" her companion squealed, her blonde pigtails bobbing as she shook her head.

"Oh come on Hannah," the girl named Susan retorted. "You know you want to know just as much as I do."

"Yeah, we're together," I grinned. "Sorry to disappoint you, ladies."

"Uh, Jake, I think they're more interested in D-Edward. Sorry to burst your bubble."

"Is that the bronze-haired boy?" asked Hannah eagerly.

"Yeah, that's him, with his girlfriend. The brunette, Bella."

"And the blonde?"

"My brother, Jasper," said Nessie, following their gaze. "And he's with Alice, the little dark-haired one."

"So then the big one is… Emmett? He's… he's big."

"Yeah, he got in the way of an Engorgement Charm when he was a boy. Screwed up his brain pretty bad, the kid's not very bright," I said sadly. Nessie's lips twitched momentarily as she avoided my gaze to prevent her uncontrolled laughter messing up the prank. "I think Rosalie, the blonde-"

"His girlfriend?" asked a boy whose name I was pretty sure was Ernie.

"Yeah, but I think she's getting a bit bored with his whole Dumb and Dumber routine. Hey, you should totally ask her out!"

"Really? You think she would be- attracted to me?"

"Oh yeah, she'll really enjoy this," I grinned encouragingly. Nessie smacked me under the table as Ernie jumped eagerly to his feet and strode over to the Slytherin table.

"Mean," she hissed. "You know Emmett will kill him!" But her eyes twinkled with mischief and she watched proceedings just as eagerly as I did.

Ernie walked right up to Rosalie and said something, giving a loud, pompous guffaw of a laugh. He reached out to touch her arm but he had barely extended his own when Emmett was suddenly standing over him, looking a bit like a scarier, dark-haired version of one of those old Stretch Armstrong dolls. Ernie retreated sharply.

Once he was back at our table, pale and shuddering and unable to speak, I caught Rosalie's eye and winked. The glare she shot me from beneath her eyelids would have been really scary had she not been experimenting with a new pink eyeshadow that made her look like she had a disease in her eyes.

"Hey Blondie," I called across to her. "You've got something in your eye. Just there." I sniggered as Blondie's teeth were bared in a horrible scowl. I grinned even wider when she picked up a spoon as soon as she thought I wasn't looking and examined her reflection frantically.

With Susan and Hannah occupied with getting a blow-by-blow account from Ernie of his rendezvous with two more members of the mysterious and slightly freaky Cullen clan, Nessie and I made our escape. We got as far as the Entrance Hall.

"Hey, wait!"

I groaned and turned around reluctantly to face the Spanish Inquisition, Part 2. But thankfully it wasn't Ernie or Susan or Hannah. Instead, a pretty girl stood shifting nervously from foot to foot. She had nut-brown hair arranged in perfect spiralling curls, the sort of hair Alice would love to transplant onto Bella, and there was a tiny plaid bow nestled jauntily to one side.

"You-you dropped this," she said, holding out a woven bracelet to Nessie. I looked at it and realised it was the bracelet I'd made her six years ago. Kinda like a Quileute version of a promise ring. A bit cheesy maybe, but when you have your imprint you stop worrying about things like that.

"Thanks," Nessie grinned, deftly tying it around her slim wrist with a more secure knot, like something straight out of the Navy. Again with the perfect-at-everything thing!

"No problem. I'm Hazel by the way."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Nessie and this is Jake."

"Do you want me to show you to the common room?"

"What, no fainting or obsessive questioning?" I asked.

"Jacob!"

"Nope, no fainting here. Though I'll admit I did get a bit freaked out when Ernie nearly passed out. What did your brother do to him?"

"Not much," I grinned. "Emmett's OK really, once you get passed the whole Incredible Hulk thing he's got going on. He's just protective of Blondie-"

"That's Rosalie?"

"Yeah, her. Dunno why, the girl's pricklier than a porcupine with a headache." I raised my voice slightly as the doors from the Great Hall opened and a familiar voice floated out.

"I heard that!" Rosalie yelled. Nessie and I burst out laughing.

"I think you were meant to," Hazel called back, half-amused, half-apologetic. "That won't work here," she added when I took my iPod out of my pocket.

"Oh come on! No music?"

"We've got wizarding radio if you can make do with that."

"Wizard radio? I'm guessing it's not exactly Metro Station, judging by these dorky uniforms…"

"I love Metro Station!" Hazel exclaimed. "I'm Muggleborn," she explained when I stared at her in surprise. We both began to sing "Shake It" very loudly and, in my case, out of tune. Nessie laughed so hard she had to grab hold of the wall just to stay vertical.

"Fine," I pretended to sulk, betrayed by a twitch of my lips. "Let's see how clever you are when you need someone to save you from Alice's next Extreme Makeover: Nessie Edition."

"Oh Jake, please no! I'm sorry!" Nessie squealed, shuddering at the very idea. She had inherited her mom's disinterest in clothes, much to my delight. I had enough stuck-up model-like behaviour with Blondie, and enough fashion obsession with Alice. I definitely didn't need to add Nessie to that mix. It was tiring and confusing enough already. "Please Jake, don't put me through that torture. She might braid my hair again!"

What with her being my imprint and all, I couldn't upset her for long. If that's being soft, call me a marshmallow. "Sure, sure."

Hazel stopped suddenly and I nearly ran into her. For her sake, I was glad I hadn't. She probably would have come out in bruises.

We were standing by a white marble plinth topped with a life-like statue of a badger. Hazel walked up to the statue, then turned to look at us.

"The password is Amicitia est verus veneficus. You stroke the badger's head and whisper it in his ear like this." She did so, and a door sprung into existence on the seemingly blank stretch of wall behind the statue. "Welcome to the Hufflepuff common room."

"See," said Nessie smugly. "I told you we'd be fine."

Honestly, I loved the girl and all, but sometimes there was something about her that reminded me of Blondie. We were going to have to do something about that…