After meeting Ethan in Hogsmeade, I didn't bother with sending any more letters to grandad. I was positive that he got the one I sent him, he just chose to ignore it. No matter how busy he was, I couldn't quite believe that he couldn't at least write a couple of sentences. And I sure as hell wasn't about to send letters to my parents because why would I want to exchange letters with Ravi Patel?

But, after my little breakdown or whatever the hell it was in the Room of Requirement, I decided to shut up my own mind and stuff all the things I was suddenly feeling into a nice little box somewhere in the back of my mind. For some people, that would have been a problem. For me, it was easier than feeling vulnerable. I didn't bloody do vulnerable and I've had enough of it for a lifetime.

It was already Halloween and our upcoming match against Slytherin was drawing near, meaning James made us train every day. I didn't mind since it gave me something to focus on. During yesterday's practice we managed to get Lily to actually dodge Bludgers properly so at least that was a success. I only hoped she would keep it up during the match or else we were going to be royally fucked.

I was walking down to breakfast alone because once again I overslept and everyone else probably got too hungry to wait for me. Luckily, it was a Sunday so I didn't have to rush in order to be on time for class. As I was passing the library, I rolled my eyes. Coming from the opposite direction was Osborne, but he wasn't alone. With him were Byron Hastings, one of the seventh year Slytherin Chasers who I snogged at last year's Halloween party which in turn made his girlfriend at the time try and hex both of us, and bloody Jonathan. I completely forgot that the three of them were friends even though they were all in different houses.

I grabbed my wand as they approached, fully prepared to duel them in the middle of the corridor. It would have been satisfying to channel some of my anger into cursing them.

Out of nowhere, an arm snaked itself around my shoulders, just before I crossed paths with Osborne. "Alright, Quinn?" I looked up to see Jax walking beside me and smirking at me, looking oddly put together instead of his usual dishevelled look in the mornings. Before I could say anything to him, we came face to face with Osborne.

He, Byron and Jonathan had almost identical sneers on their faces when they saw us. There was something unnerving about them. I expected at least an insult thrown my way, but there was nothing except for the sneers. Jax stiffened beside me and narrowed his eyes, but there was still an easy smirk on his face. He nodded to Byron, "Byron."

"Wood," Byron said, his voice cold as ice. I thought it was weird that the two of them would be so formal with each other because they got along well, from what I knew, and they were on the same team.

The rest of us stayed silent. I was on the brink of saying something insulting just because I thought it would be a waste of an encounter if I didn't when Jax nudged me forward and we started walking away. I turned around to see the three of them huddled together, muttering about something, occasionally throwing dirty looks in our direction. I shook my head and kept walking. Jax still had his arm around my shoulders and I found out that I didn't really mind.

We neared the tapestry of the famous duel between Alberta Toothill and Samson Wiblin which also hid a shortcut to the Great Hall. I cocked an eyebrow at Jax, "Come on, there's a passage behind this. It'll get us to the Great Hall faster."

He smirked at me, "If it means this will end in the same way like the last time I followed you behind a tapestry…" he trailed off, a hungry look in his eyes that sparked something in me and made me rethink my original plan of going to breakfast. I took his hand and lifted up the tapestry only to be met with the sight of Trinity Gladstone, one of the most annoying people that I have ever met, snogging a bloke like her life depended on it. As Jax lifted the rest of the tapestry and more light filtered into the passage, Trinity jumped away with a huff and scowled at us, but I was distracted by the creeping cold that enveloped me when I saw James' hazel eyes staring at me from behind her. I quickly dropped Jax's hand but not before James caught sight of it. I saw that the Marauder's Map, though blank, was sticking out from his back pocket.

Jax broke the uncharacteristically uncomfortable silence that ensued, "How cosy," he said in a mocking voice, nodding to both of them as a way of greeting. He didn't seem fazed by the fact that James didn't even look at him or with the way Trinity winked at him flirtatiously. He put an arm around my shoulder and I had a vague inkling that I should probably shrug him off for the sake of not getting into another argument with James if he started thinking I lied to him again, but with a scathing look at Trinity, I merely smirked. I tugged on his other arm, "Let's go to breakfast." We left the two of them in silence, though I could feel James staring at the back of my head.

The Gryffindor table was almost empty when we entered the Great Hall and sat down to eat. The whole castle was decorated with pumpkins and bats but the Great Hall was also filled with massive cobwebs stretching across the enchanted ceiling. I knew that there would be more decorations set before the feast tonight but even now it looked impressive.

As I piled scrambled eggs on my plate, I caught myself thinking about James. He hadn't hooked up with anybody since that girl at The Howler and I never thought about how weird that was until now when I caught him with Trinity. I rolled my eyes while I chewed. There was no reason for me to be annoyed with him, and yet, I was. A brief flash of the night when we came back to Hogwarts passed through my mind, but I shrugged it off. I was being bloody selfish and who James decided to snog or shag didn't have anything to do with me.

"So?" Jax asked and I frowned at him. I wasn't paying attention to what he was saying but he was grinning at me and I grinned back, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear and gulping down some water before answering.

"I have no idea what you're asking me," I told him and he started to laugh at me, "Sorry, but I was really hungry! You can't expect me to pay attention while I'm trying to stop myself from dying of hunger."

He grabbed a toast off my plate, "I asked if you wanted to come fly with me," he bit off a piece of toast and swallowed before continuing, "You know, after you make sure you're not dying."

I cocked an eyebrow and swatted away his hand, "The last person that stole food from my plate ended up with a black eye so you might want to rethink your lapse in judgement if you want to keep that pretty face intact." I was starting to flirt with him, fully in my element, and Jax was fun to flirt with because he could say the most outrageous things, some of which could make even me blush.

He reached out and put his hand on my thigh playfully, "You think I'm pretty? Not hot? Or sexy?" he said in a husky voice, mussing up his hair with his other hand, once again reminding me of James.

I was spared from answering him because Fred appeared at my side and sat down next to me. He looked pointedly at Jax's hand resting on my thigh which retreated under Fred's gaze.

"Merlin, I'm going mad!" Fred exclaimed and both Jax and I raised our eyebrows. Fred grabbed an apple and bit into it, a scowl on his face. I took a moment to look at him properly and I was surprised to notice that he had bags under his eyes.

"What happened?" I asked, craning my neck to look around the Great Hall and see if I could find Ashley, suspecting his foul mood might have something to do with her. As I scanned the Slytherin table, I spotted her sharing a blueberry cake with Nathan Wilde. Hugo was sitting close to them and looked as if he was listening to their conversation and writing it down. I narrowed my eyes at Fred.

"Did you tell Hugo to spy on Ash, write it all down and report to you?"

Jax nearly choked on his pumpkin juice and Fred scowled, putting his head in his hands. "No," he huffed, "But he offered to do it and I didn't stop him. He thinks he's doing it for her sake. You know, guarding her honour or whatnot." Fred shook his head, "I'm an idiot," he muttered.

I nodded and waved my fork in his general direction, "Yeah, why don't you just ask her out? I don't remember you being this scared of asking out a girl. And you still haven't told me why you look like you haven't slept in a while."

Noticing Jax eyeing a muffin I put aside for dessert, I grabbed one from the basket next to me and threw it at him. He caught it, flexed his left arm, wiggling his eyebrows and smirking at me. Bloody Keepers.

"Her date went well," Fred said in a low voice, staring at Ash and Nathan with a defeated look on his face. "Did she tell you anything about it? About him?"

I rolled my eyes. I was getting bored of listening to him whine. I wanted the old Fred back. He was cool and didn't mope around so much, even though he might've been harbouring an old lady persona whenever James and I would try to get him laid.

"Enough! I dare you to ask her out or just snog her already," I said and Fred's eyes went wide.

"You wouldn't!" He said, crossing his arms across his chest and frowning at me.

"I'm not following," Jax said, looking back and forth between Fred and me while eating the muffin I threw at him and once again his hand was on my thigh, his fingers lightly teasing me.

"James, Fred and I have a game. Whenever one of us dares the other to do something they have to do it," at this Fred stuck out his tongue at me, "or else eternal shame will be brought upon them."

Jax raised his eyebrows, "Eternal shame? Do I want to know what that even means?"

I laughed at his expression and Fred joined me, despite being dared to do something he really didn't want to do. "Well, none of us ever backed down from a dare so we haven't figured it out yet," I rubbed my chin in thought. "Backing down wouldn't be a very Gryffindor thing to do, right? But, you're a Slytherin and you lot are supposed to be cunning, so we're open to suggestions as to what eternal shame might entail."

While I was talking, Jax moved his hand higher up my thigh. So high, in fact, that he was making it difficult to ignore it any longer. I grabbed his hand and put it firmly on the table. Fred looked at the offending hand in mild disgust.

He cleared his throat, "Can I at least do it when I'm drunk?"

"I don't bloody care if you're drunk or high, I just want you to get it over with and stop pestering me about Ashley's love life."

Fred pouted, "You're going to regret making this dare, Quinn. Just wait until I dare you –" He didn't get to finish his sentence because an owl decided to land on his head. I looked at it in alarm and nearly fell off the bench from shock. It was Odin. Of course it was. What other owl would decide it was a good idea to land on a person's head?

Odin flapped his wings once, hitting Fred in the process.

"Er…Quinn?" Fred asked, his voice sounding slightly worried. "Is Odin going to kill me?"

I looked at Odin. He looked at me. Our eyes were locked in a staring contest and I knew he was making a threat.

"Perhaps. He might start with pecking out your eyeballs. Don't make any sudden movements. Just let him sit there until I get back."

"Get back? Where the hell are you going? Why are you leaving me with a psychotic owl perched on top of my head? In fact, why are all your pets fucking psychotic?" Fred started rambling, his voice increasing in volume until a couple of Ravenclaws started looking at us funny. Jax looked ready to die from laughter. He was holding his stomach with his arms as he gulped for air between bouts of laughter.

"Relax –" I started but Fred's eyes went wide and he yelled at me.

"Relax?! You just said he might peck out my eyes, how in the name of Merlin's ball sack am I supposed to relax?"

Jax let out a snort, "I'm not sure you want to keep yelling, mate, that owl doesn't look pleased with the noise." He burst into laughter again, his face red and his whole body shaking with mirth.

I crossed my right leg over the bench and stood up slowly. I noticed that Jax stopped laughing so I turned my head to look at him. "Are you staring at my arse?"

He smirked, "So what if I am?"

"Oi! This is not the time to be flirting! There's a murderous bird –"

I rolled my eyes at Fred, "For fuck's sake! I'm only going to the end of the table to get some bacon for him." That shut him up and Odin looked noticeably perkier at the mention of bacon. I would've told Fred that nothing would happen to him but I honestly wasn't sure what Odin was planning. He could get pretty violent when he wanted to. I slowly made my way towards the plate of bacon I noticed earlier, making sure to sway my hips as I walked because I was sure Jax was still staring at me. Boys are predictable, and I enjoyed having an effect on Jax. Even though I knew he flirted with basically everyone, it still made me smug that he wanted me.

I grabbed the bacon and wrapped it in a napkin, not bothering to walk slowly as I was getting back to where Fred and Jax were sitting. I was dying of curiosity at the letter Odin had tied to his leg.

"Come here, Odin, I brought you the thing that the magizoologist expressly forbid you to eat regularly," I cooed at him, waving the bacon in front of me. Odin hooted and took flight, flapping his wings and again hitting Fred, but this time he landed on the table in front of me and started devouring the bacon. Fred was touching his head and ears, apparently making sure that nothing was out of place. I untied the letter and saw that my name was written in grandad's handwriting.

Quinn,

I can't go into details about what is going on in case someone decides to snoop through our mail, but everything is fine, don't worry about anything, politics is simply being a bitch. There will be scouts at your match against Slytherin, play well and remember everything we practised during the summer. Sorry I can't come, but I'll come to the next one. I promise.

I love you,

Grandad

P.S. Don't let Odin eat bacon. You know he gets overly excited.

I let out an annoyed sigh and rolled my eyes after reading through the letter a couple of times, trying to find more meaning in it than it apparently held.

"What is it?" Fred asked in concern. He, as opposed to Jax, knew who Odin belonged to. I appreciated his concern but I didn't want to explain things to him. Who I actually needed was currently otherwise occupied with Trinity Gladstone.

I shook my head, "It's nothing. Everything is fine." I tried to fake a smile and I think I succeeded because Fred nodded and went back to staring at Ash and Nathan. I could feel Jax's eyes on me, but he stayed silent. I knew he probably knew how I felt, with the way his own relationship with his parents was pretty much non-existent.

"We're going flying," I said to Fred, nodding my head towards Jax, "Want to come with us?"

Fred let out a snort and looked at me, tearing his eyes away from Ash, "Flying? Is that code for shagging?"

I cocked an eyebrow at him, "If it were, we wouldn't be asking you to join us, would we?"

Jax started to laugh again because the expression on Fred's face suggested he seriously doubted we wouldn't ask him to join us.

Fred held up his hands, "Hey, I don't know what Wood is into…" he trailed off, looking at Jax who slid off the bench to the floor from laughter.

I stood up, lightly nudging Jax's leg and winked at Fred, "Come on, we'll make Jax chase us around the Pitch. He won't even get to touch the Quaffle."

Jax stopped laughing at that and there was a glint in his eyes, "Is that a challenge?"

As we made our way outside, I noticed some stormy clouds in the distance and hoped that the storm would hold off until nightfall. Flying wasn't the least bit of fun during a storm.

We were lucky because while the clouds did gradually gather, no rain started to fall and we spent the better part of the day flying. Fred seemed to have temporarily forgotten about Ash, or the flying kept him sufficiently distracted. I wasn't much of a Chaser so Jax had no problems saving my attempts at the hoops, but Fred was a different story. He might not have wanted to go pro, but he was a damn good Chaser. I soon stopped trying to score and instead I did silly stunts, which sometimes involved almost crashing into Fred and Jax, in order to distract both of them from their little competition.

Only when it started to get dark and chilly did I realise that we completely missed lunch. I was enjoying myself just flying around on the Stormwind and feeling free to notice my stomach growling loudly. At least there was a Halloween feast tonight.

I zoomed towards the ground at full speed, straightening my broom just before I crashed, landing elegantly on the ground. Jax and Fred landed next to me. We were all sweaty but elated.

Jax was looking at me strangely, but I paid him no mind as we walked towards the lockers to shower. Fred entered the locker room and I was about to follow him inside when Jax grabbed my hand and turned me around. I dropped the Stormwind and I saw that Jax's Ironwood was on the ground too. He didn't say anything, instead, he pinned me against the wall of the locker rooms, tangled his hands in my hair and crashed his lips onto mine. I could feel his whole body against me as his hand found its way from my hair to my neck and lower, brushing against my breasts through the thin fabric of my T-shirt. He started kissing my neck and his hand was unzipping my jeans, making my hips arch against him, but just before he could touch me properly, the door opened and Fred appeared with a confused look on his face.

He jumped a bit when he saw us and cackled, "I knew it was code!"

The moment ruined, I disentangled myself from Jax and scowled at Fred, "Shut up." Fred made a face at me and went back to the locker rooms, leaving us alone.

I snorted, "Well, I could make a bad joke about wood," I started but the pained look on Jax's face made me stop and laugh instead. He groaned in frustration.

"I think someone put a curse on me," he muttered, "Why else would we get interrupted all the time?"

I zipped up my jeans and smirked, "Well, maybe if you didn't decide to assault me in public…"

"You seemed to enjoy being assaulted."

Letting out another laugh, I ran my fingers through his hair, "I think we both need a shower. Make yours a cold one." I winked at him and entered the locker rooms.

I was in a much better mood than this morning when I entered the Great Hall, now fully decorated for the upcoming Halloween feast with spiderwebs, pumpkins and live bats flying around. The floating jack-o'-lanterns were festively creepy and the only lights that decorated the Hall, giving everything a sinister aura. The charmed ceiling showed the rain that started moments before. Lightning struck and I could see my friends sitting in the middle of Gryffindor table.

Sitting down next to Dom, who spent the day doing homework, letting me copy it before the feast, I looked around in confusion.

"Where's James?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. It wasn't like him to miss a meal, especially a feast.

Fred, who was sitting opposite me shrugged, "I haven't seen him since this morning." He didn't look bothered by that, but that may have been because Ashley was sitting next to him instead of Nathan.

Ash smiled at me, "He was in the common room before Dom and I went down to the feast. I'm sure he'll be here soon."

I nodded but her comment didn't really reassure me. I stood up slightly so I could see over people's heads and I let my eyes wander over to the Slytherin table, thinking that James might be sitting with Al. I caught Jax's eye and he winked at me but James wasn't there. Neither was Al. Weird.

McGonagall said a few words and then the ghosts acted out a scene from the Headless Hunt (it was dreadful because none of the Hogwarts ghosts were actually headless) before the food appeared. I was famished after missing lunch and flying the entire day so I piled all my favourite food on my plate, earning myself a raised eyebrow from Dom.

"What?" I asked between two bites of roasted beef, "I'm starving!"

She shook her head in amusement, "You're acting like Ziggy. I sometimes think you two are the same person in two different bodies."

Everyone laughed at her comment and I stuck out my tongue at her. "Well, I think Ziggy is a fantastic cat so thank you for the compliment."

The feast continued in much the same way and I was thankful that Fred was sufficiently distracted talking with Ash about the benefits of curses in defensive magic that he didn't mention Jax. When I realised that James wouldn't be coming to the feast, I transfigured a spoon into a bag and stuffed it with food wrapped in napkins, charming it to keep it warm for him. I wanted to tell him about the letter that grandad sent me.

When the feast was finished, I stayed sitting at the table, waiting for the crowd to disperse before I started the trip back to the common room. Ashley had prefect duties, Dom went off with Sean, they were most likely locked in a broom closet by now, and Fred kept me company. He was silent as we walked through the corridors, but before I told the password to the Fat Lady, he stopped me.

"Quinn?"

I turned around to look at him. "What?"

"Are you and Wood…" He trailed off and I laughed at him.

"Dating? Nope. Shagging? Almost. Does that satisfy your curiosity?"

Fred had a troubled look on his face, "Yeah, I guess but –"

I leaned my head backwards, looking up at the ceiling in annoyance and sighing loudly, "But what?"

"Nothing, forget I said anything," he muttered, "I just thought… Nothing, let's go."

We climbed through the portrait hole and entered the lively common room. A fire was crackling in the fireplace and I saw Rose sitting in front of it, drawing something on a parchment that looked mechanical. Seth Blackwood was playing Exploding Snap with Lysander on the floor and Lily was reading a book by the window. Wendy, who avoided eye contact with me, was chatting with Lorcan.

Fred sat down next to Rose and I was about to start climbing the staircase towards the boys' dorms when there was a sudden shriek, followed by loud thundering.

"That cat is insane!" Trinity yelled as she came down the stairs, almost crashing into me. Her face was an angry red colour and she glared at me, shoving me slightly with her bony shoulder as she passed me. Slightly annoyed at the fact that James seemed to have spent the entire day with her, I quickly let it go as I had a feeling which cat she was yelling about and instantly felt a surge of love for Ziggy.

I climbed the stairs and opened the door to the last seventh year boys' dorm which was all the way at the top of the tower. James was lying down on his bed with Ziggy lying on top of him. Strangely enough, Ziggy was letting James pet him and he looked content, purring loudly. He almost never purred.

James turned his head to see who had entered his dorm with an annoyed expression on his face, but the annoyance was gone when he realised it was me. I waved with the bag, "I brought you some food," I said and sat down next to him. Ziggy immediately jumped down from the bed and settled on one of James' sweatshirts that was laying on the floor.

"Thanks," James said and opened the bag, taking out the food and starting to eat.

I cocked an eyebrow at him, "So… Trinity, huh?" I asked, trying to sound teasing instead of irritated.

James rolled his eyes, "Godric, I thought she came back, but it was you."

I was surprised by this answer because he looked quite happy to be snogging her this morning. I stayed silent and James looked at me while he chewed his food. He shook his head, "This morning –"

"You don't have to explain."

He swallowed, "Yeah, but she kinda jumped me –"

I smirked, "And you didn't exactly push her away," I said and I mentally cursed myself for saying anything. I shouldn't have, but my mouth was always quicker than my brain.

It was James' turn to raise his eyebrows. I think he was equally surprised by my answer. There was a moment of silence as something flickered in his eyes and then he shrugged, "She's fit, but I really wasn't in the mood right now. So I told her to go away and she kept trying to snog me and then Ziggy sort of attacked her," he finished and laughed. I found myself thinking I would pay good money to see Ziggy attacking Trinity. I winked at Ziggy while James was busy wolfing down everything I brought him.

He laid back down on his bed and sighed, but didn't say anything or explain why he wasn't at dinner. I noticed that he looked worried which in turn made me worried. I settled down next to him and lay on my side. I poked him, "A Knut for your thoughts?"

James gave me a small smile and I couldn't help myself but smile back at him, he was infectious. "What, they're not even worth a Sickle?" He asked in a teasing tone as he started to play with my hair.

"What's up, James?" I whispered when the smile disappeared from his face.

He sighed, "I missed the feast because Al wanted to talk to me." He turned so he was laying on his side, facing me.

"About what?"

"You know how Osborne didn't retaliate after you broke his nose?"

I frowned at the question, the morning's meeting with Osborne flashing through my brain, slowly connecting the dots, "Yes?"

"Scorpius told Al that Osborne convinced his friends to use every move, legal or illegal, during every match against us. To target you specifically. So Hastings," James spat out the name in disgust, "convinced most of the Slytherin team to go along with him. Obviously, Scorpius and Wood, who you know would never play dirty, were against it but you know Slytherins. Wood can't stop them when they gang up on him and Hastings has been angling for the Captain spot since forever. And of course, it didn't take a lot of convincing to get Jonathan to agree. He would do anything to get back at Ash." James said all of this quickly as if it would make the whole thing easier to hear but it wasn't. I couldn't quite believe what he was saying. I couldn't believe that Jax didn't tell me.

"That's mental," I finally said, my eyes wide from shock.

James brushed a finger down my cheek, his cold hand making me shiver, "It is but Osborne is a fucking dick. He hates you. You humiliated him more times than anyone can count. And people… People don't exactly love you, Quinn, you know that. You rub most of them the wrong way and a lot of the guys can't stand that you're better than the lot of them at Quidditch. So they're willing to do anything they can to take away the only thing they think matters the most to you. Professional Quidditch."

James was serious. He was fucking serious and worried.

I scowled, "Fucking mental."

James took my hand in his, trying to comfort me. I felt tingling spread through my arm and smiled a devious smile.

We turned so we were both laying on our backs, staring at the top of his four-poster.

I didn't know what was running through James' head, but I found myself remembering all the dirty tricks grandad ever taught me.

As I turned my head to look at James, I flashed him the same devious smile that was playing on my lips ever since he told me everything. "I really fucking hate people."