Chapter 11
Four days later, Sarah, Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked into the classroom, and all four of them gasped. There was that pearly white Amortentia bubbling in each bloody cauldron.
Sarah cursed. "You don't think he knows what I smell, do you?", she asked Harry.
Harry grinned at her. "Has he had a history of mind-reading?"
Sarah thought for a moment. "I don't think so." She looked around. "This is torture."
"Well, look at it this way: It'll be torture for him, too."
She scowled. "Don't remind me."
He chuckled, and they sat down at a table in the middle.
Five minutes later, Jareth entered. Lavender and Parvati giggled.
"Good afternoon to all of you.", Jareth greeted. He shook his head as if he were trying to shake off a flea, and smiled. "Now, today, you may be wondering why Amortentia is simmering in every cauldron. I don't know why I do this, really I don't, but at least even if you mess this up, the potion won't smell like a certain bog I've heard of.", Sarah and Harry snorted. "So." He started to walk around the classroom. "Today, we will be learning how to reverse a love potion." There were several groans. "We are not learning how to make them, or I could find myself in quite a lot of trouble. Ms. Patil. The Weasley twins make brilliant things, but I am not completely incompetent. When your pumpkin juice smells like lavender, you are not going to drink it." Sarah decided not to voice her opinion on that. "Well, I might, but it depends on who gave it to me, because I can tell that is well." Harry snorted. "Mr. Potter, keep thoughts of Ms. Granger out of your mind please, and pay attention."
This time Sarah did laugh. Quite loudly. "I'm sorry.", she said between gasps for breath. She shook her head.
"Hm. May I continue now?" The entire class nodded. "Good. Now, open your books to page 325."
Sarah opened her book and raised an eyebrow. "Harry, why are we suppose to use unicorn hair?"
Harry shrugged. "Ask Hermione.", he answered, then glared at her to stop her from saying anything.
"Mr. Potter, what did I say?", Jareth asked, walking over to him.
Harry looked up at him. "Fussing at me is an excuse, isn't it, Professor?", he asked.
Sarah gasped, and pushed Harry out of his seat.
"Sarah, that is getting old.", Harry groaned.
"And yet you fall for it every time.", Sarah retorted.
Jareth snorted and moved on to shadow Malfoy, who whimpered slightly. Sarah hid a grin, then helped Harry back into his chair.
Ten minuted later, Sarah glared at the contents of her potion. Why couldn't it smell like something else. At least it didn't smell like Ron's. Contrary to what Jareth had said, Ron's potion smelled a bit like rotten fish. Sarah took out her wand and gripped it tightly. It made her feel better. She smiled, looked up, and jumped. Jareth was standing over her with a raised eyebrow.
"Ms. Williams, this potion does not require wands.", he said.
"Just because I've got my wand out doesn't mean I'm going to use it.", Sarah replied. She gripped her wand a little tighter under the table. She took off her glove and began to carefully channel the power in the wand. She had an idea.
"Ms. Williams, I don't think-"
But they never got to hear what he didn't think, for at that moment, the caulron turned into a geyser, and the pearly white liquid shot into Jareth's face. Sarah grinned.
"Sarah, maybe that wasn't such a good idea.", Harry hissed at her.
She rolled her eyes at him. "Why not?"
Harry pointed. Jareth had stumbled back a couple of feet. Now, he was standing there, just staring. At Sarah. But he didn't look angry. He looked... sad and hurt.
"Ah. No, you're right. That's not good.", she muttered. Jareth must've accidentally ingested love potion. At least, she hoped it was accidentally. Sarah quickly stood up as Jareth started making his way over to her. "Harry, I could use a little help."
Harry sighed and stood up, taking out his wand. "Professor, you've just accidentally drunken love potion.", he told the other man calmly.
Jareth smiled a sad smile. "I don't want to hurt you, Mr. Potter. Get out of my way."
Harry put his wand away. "You know I don't get it. You act as if you want to hurt Sarah. Why?"
Jareth looked at him sharply. "Ten years I waited for her to realize where she truly belonged. Of course, my mother tried to warn me about witches wizards, said we shouldn't trust them. But, of course, I went to her when she called for me." He looked over Harry's shoulder at Sarah, and suddenly he wasn't in front of Harry anymore. He was standing directly in front of gasped and backed away against the door. "I won't let you get away from me a second time, Sarah."
"Get. The hell. Away. From me.", Sarah gasped.
He disappeared and reappeared directly in front of her again. "I'm afraid I can't-" But he was interrupted when someone suddenly pushed against the door. Sarah ducked under him to stand behind Harry and drew her wand. She was just able to cork the power before it rushed into her, and she pointed the powerful piece of wood at Jareth.
"I don't want to do this.", she told him.
"What the bloody hell- Jareth!", yelled an angry voice. A man with shoulder length, greasy hair in long black robes had entered the room.
Jareth growled and turned on the man. "Snape. What are you doing here?"
"Well, Jareth, in case nobody told you... I work here.", Snape drawled back, then looked over his head at Harry. "Potter. What happened?"
"He accidentally drank love potion, sir.", Harry answered.
Snape cursed quite viciously, then strode off to his private stores, returning with a small vial of purple liquid and handed it to Jareth. "Drink this, man."
Jareth eyed the liquid suspicously for a moment before downing it in one gulp. After a few moments, his look of pain turned to one of confusion. He looked at the other man. "Snape? What the bloody hell-", Jareth started, then his eyes landed on Sarah and they widened. "Sarah... Damn it. Sarah, I didn't mean-" Sarah didn't wait to here what he didn't mean, because she pushed past both him and Snape, fighting the urge to cry.
Harry caught up with halfway back to the common room. He didn't say anything at first. It wasn't until they were inside the common room that he spoke.
"Even though it is partly your fault that it happened, I won't tell you all the reasons why that was a stupid thing to do. I do want to know, however, why Jareth said he'd been waiting twelve years.", he said.
Sarah collapsed on the floor beside the fire and shivered, though it wasn't from the cold. "I don't know.", she finally said. "But I had no idea he'd felt like this for so long. Or that he was that hurt. I didn't even stop to think that he was hurt."
"You mean you didn't want to believe that you hurt him?", Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.
Sarah looked at him for a second before nodding. "Why'd he pick me Harry?"
Harry shrugged. "Why do I love Hermione?" When she looked at him in shock, he simply smiled. "Do you want to know why I won't tell her?" Sarah nodded. He sighed. "It's already dangerous enough for her, being my friend. Do you have any idea what Voldemort might do to get to her if I let her be any more than my friend?"
Sarah sighed. "I understand, Harry. But I also understand that you would do anything to get her back."
"Now, I've at least admitted it to you. The least you can do is admit what you feel to me."
"I feel... like I might've been a bit of a jerk towards Jareth since he came here."
Harry nodded. "We have to consent that he has been a bit of a jerk himself, but to you. Not much, at least."
Sarah nodded. "And I also think... that I might..." She bit her lip.
"Oh, come on, Sarah. Is it really that hard?"
"Yes." She reached into her pocket and fingered her wand for a moment before taking a deep breath. "I think... I might just.... Urgh."
"You think you just might love the Goblin King?", Harry offered.
Sarah smiled at him. "Yes, that." She leaned her back against one of the couches. "You know, Harry. It's really easy for me to talk to you. You're like a really close sister."
He blinked. "A sister?", he asked in disbelief.
"Okay, a brother. Same thing, really."
"No. There's a big difference, little girl. One day you might actually discover what it is."
Sarah threw a pillow from off of the couch at him, but he caught it and threw it back. Sarah ducked and laughed. A pillowfight that would be talked about for many years to come ensued. When it came time for Charms, they both decided it would be a good thing is Sarah laid low for the rest of the day. He would stop by the kitchens and asked Dobby to bring something up for her for supper later.
Sarah fell asleep at some point. She couldn't remember when, but she would remember her waking moments for the rest of her life. For when she woke up, two large almond eyes were right in front of hers. She shouted in surprise and knocked the small creature off of her lap.
The little elf-like creature groaned and stood up. Sarah gasped. Several hats were strewn everywhere. The little creature in front of her was wearing several socks on each foot.
Sarah knelt down beside him. "Oh, I'm sorry!", she told the little house elf. "You must be Dobby. Are you okay?"
"Dobby's been treated worse than that, Mistress Williams.", the little elf replied, bowing to her deeply. He scurried about, picking up the hats and stacking them haphazardly on his head. "Harry Potter sent Dobby with something for the lady to eat." He pointed to the table near where she'd been sitting. There was a jug of pumpkin juice, a goblet, and a plate filled with food. She noted with surprise that it was all of her favorites.
"Harry knows me better than I thought.", she muttered, eyeing the tray hungrily. She had missed lunch. If she had had it, she would've been late for Potions. Sarah thought that maybe it would've been better if she had eaten lunch.
"Oh, no, Sarah Williams. Harry Potter had to send Dobby for help on what you wanted from Master Shae.", Dobby said.
Sarah sighed. Jareth knew a lot more about her than she thought. "Thank you, Dobby." She sat herself down at the table and began to eat. "You know, Harry speaks very highly." The house elf's eyes welled up with tears.
"Harry Potter is a very noble and humble boy, Sarah Williams. He's not one to let people down."
Sarah smiled. "No, he isn't. He's one of the best."
Dobby nodded. "Dobby has to get back to work now, Sarah Williams." Sarah nodded, and Dobby snapped his fingers and disappeared.
When Sarah heard the portrait open, she quickly ran up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. She didn't want to face all of those eyes. At least this way, she'd only have to face Lavender and Parvati.
When the girls had all gone to bed, Sarah got up and tiptoed down to the common room. Harry was sitting at a table, writing a letter by candlelight. Coming up behind him she tapped him on the shoulder. He jumped, knocking over his bottle of ink and cursing. Sarah cleaned the mess up with a wave of her wand. Unfortunately, she didn't know how to take care of the now ruined letter.
"Sorry for scaring you.", she apologized.
He grunted, got out a new piece of parchment and another bottle of ink. "So, Sarah.", he said finally. "What brings you down here this late?"
"Couldn't sleep. Couldn't stop thinking about, um, Hoggle. Haven't seen him in a while.", Sarah answered.
Harry nodded. "He was at supper, arguing with Jareth.", he answered. "Snape was arguing with Dumbledore in much louder tones than them. Snape said, and I quote, 'Why the bloody hell did you let that bumbling oaf and his drunken self teach my damned class?'.", Harry grinned.
"What did Dumbledore say?", Sarah asked, grinning now too.
"Do you really want to know?" Sarah nodded. "Dumbledore said, 'He hasn't had much more than a cup of wine for almost ten years'." Sarah shoved down the blush that was threatening to cover her face. "I daresay, those words shut Jareth up and he didn't say anything the entire time."
"Harry, when is Quidditch practice?", Sarah asked, quite aware that it was out of the blue.
Harry grinned. "Changing the subject, are you?" He shrugged. "This Saturday." He yawned. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm tired and am going to bed now. Remind me to send my letter off with Hedwig tomorrow morning."
Sarah nodded. "I will." He nodded, then walked up to bed.
Sarah sighed heavily and sat down in the armchair nearest the last burning embers of the fire. And when she woke up the next morning, she was lying on a sofa with no idea how she'd gotten there, covered in a fleece blanket that looked very familiar...
Chapter Eleven, everyone. I hope it's to your liking. Personally, I dwell more on humor than I do drama, but this chapter had a bit more of the latter, I think. Not my best area, but definitely not my worst. Anyway, next chapter, QUIDDITCH!!!! YAY!!!! And I might squeeze something like an apology out from Jareth and Sarah, if I torture them enough.
Jareth and Sarah: Hey!
Lp: *snickers*
Harry: Well, she's got a point.
Sarah: Harry, whose side are you on, anyway?
Harry: *shrugs* Whichever one the author wants me to, I guess.
Lp: That's the spirit.
JJ: *appears* Er, where am I?
Lp: *shakes head* This is getting ridiculous...