Should having a . . . um . . .
She didn't know whether to call him her "boyfriend" or "lover" or whatever. Either way, should having him be affectionate be this . . . God, she could come up with so many words to describe the step up in relationship. It was strange, but exciting, unnerving but enthralling. It was exhilarating and made her heart race every time she was with him. It was also awkward when they entered a part of the relationship they hadn't explored before. It was . . . everything.
It didn't feel like anything had changed, only now he stole kisses from her, grabbed and held her, nibbled at her flesh. And she loved it. She loved the attention he gave her.
The night before the rest of the school came back, Jane sat in the Room of Requirement on her crate examining a puzzle she'd found in the back. It looked like a Rubric's Cube, but there were little pictures on the squares instead of colors, and it was a hexagonal 3D figure instead of a cube. It definitely gave her a challenge.
She felt a familiar hand slide up her spine in a slow and sensual way to her neck. The hand pulled her hair from the skin and lips were pressed to the base. Jane closed her eyes and let out the slightest of moans. How did he know how to push her buttons so easily?
"Come walk with me?" Draco whispered in her ear.
"You're not afraid someone will see us?"
"Not really,"
They put on their heavy winter clothes and went out onto the grounds, shuffling through the snow. The land was still beautiful, the snow slick and sparkling as not a lot of people had treaded on it. Draco seemed to trudge through it, whereas Jane practically skipped.
"Oh come on, you don't like snow?" she asked.
"Not too much," the pale boy sneered, "It's wet and cold,"
"Rain is wet and cold. You don't like rain,"
"You ask a lot of questions,"
"I'm in a good mood," she laughed. Draco rolled his eyes and went on ahead of her. Seeing all the snow around, a smirk spread across her lips. She bent down, scooped up a handful of snow and formed it into a ball, and threw it. The snowball hit his neck hard enough to leave a red mark. Draco whipped around, a fire lighting up his grey eyes. For a moment she thought he was going to yell or hit her, and then that fire turned into a wicked gleam. With lightning fast moves, she threw a snowball that slammed into her face. Her mouth open in awe, she wiped the snow from her face, her smile becoming malevolent, "You wanna play?"
"Bring it on," he countered.
They were equally matched in snowball fight skills, hitting each other an equal amount of times. Their fight went on for hours until Jane was hit in the face three times in a row and needed a break to warm up her face, otherwise suffer hypothermia.
"I win!" Draco claimed as they headed back to the castle.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Jane laughed.
Just before they reached the Great Oak Doors, Draco grabbed her hand, "Wait . . . I want you to have this,"
He slipped a silver ring off the fourth finger of his right hand and deposited it into hers. Jane rolled the ring between her fingers, noticing the Slytherin serpent burned into the finish.
"Why?" she asked quietly. Why would Draco give this to her? Why would he give her anything? All he did was shrug and advert his grey gaze. Jane pursed her lips and grabbed the boys chin, directing his attention back to her, "Why, Draco?"
Ugh. This was going to sound completely and utterly stupid. He didn't bloody know why he was giving it to her. It was an impulse thing, to be honest, a possessive thing, "Why do I have to have a reason to do something?" he countered.
"Because you don't do something without a reason, except bullying,"
Well, she had him there.
"I just -" he huffed and ran a hand through his white blond hair, "I want you to have something that's mine is all. I just figured I'd . . . that you'd want something like that,"
Jane held it up to the light, as if doing this would reveal a spell used on it like it would reveal whether a dollar bill was fake or not, "Did you put a charm on it or something?"
"Yes, actually, I did," she turned her full attention back on him when he said this, "Put the Protean charm on it. Do I need to explain that to you, or are you smart enough to get it?"
"You should know insulting my intelligence isn't a turn on," Jane sneered for a second, peering at the ring more closely again, "I know what the Protean charm is and does. So what is it linked to?"
Draco pulled a similar ring from the pocket of his jacket and slipped it on. This one was the fake – he had given the real Slytherin ring to her, but she didn't have to know that, "This will work just like the master copy. I figured if you ever got in trouble and needed me to get you out of it . . ." he trailed off with a smirk on his pale lips.
Jane grinned back and nudged him with her elbow, beginning her walk again, "I can take care of myself just fine, but the thought behind it is sweet. Thank you,"
He rolled his eyes – Draco Malfoy was not sweet, "You can't wear it on your finger, however, or Potty and the Weasel and their bloody friend Granger might get suspicious,"
She brought the ring to lay flat in her palm, staring at the jewelry that just became precious to her, "But I have nothing for you," Jane protested.
A wolfish expression spread on his features. He leaned in toward her, his movements predatory, and she his prey, "I know something that will do just fine," he whispered before his lips crashed onto hers, dusted with winter could yet soft like cotton candy.
On the day before school was back in session, Jane stood at the front entrance impatiently. Students had been rushing in since six AM by the Floo Network – specially put up by the ministry to get students back safely – and the train, back from their holiday with expensive presents and tales of gatherings with relatives. No longer were the corridors empty and silent; running footsteps and cries of laughter and happiness could be heard whenever you went.
The teenage witch tapped her foot repeatedly and sighed. The train came in thirty minutes ago – where were they?
She felt a tap on her shoulder, "Did you miss me?"
Jane missed her enough to envelope her in a bear hug, to which her friend gladly returned, "You have no idea how boring it was here without you,"
"Funny," Hermione noted as the girls proceeded up the staircase, "The boys usually say I'm the boring one,"
"Speaking of that," Jane scanned the entrance hall over her shoulder, "Were they on the train with you?"
"No, they're probably using the Floo Network to get back,"
Hermione's Christmas seemed to have gone well enough. She had no Christmas desserts to bring back with her, since her parents were dentists and against sugar, but her sneaky aunt hid some sugar cookies in the sweater she gave her.
"It was such a relief to get away for a while,"
"You mean away from him?" Jane corrected.
Hermione's reply never came as they reached the portrait hole, where the fat lady and her friend, Violet, lay at the bottom of the painting snoozing gently. The woman's eyes lifted slightly and fell closed again with a groan.
"What happened to them?" Hermione questioned.
"Got drunk off the wine those munks had in the painting by Charms. The new password is Abstinence."
"Correct," the fat lady burped, and the portrait swung open.
"How long are you going to stay mad at him?" Jane questioned.
Hermione's eyes narrowed dangerously, "Harry is already trying to get me to forgive him, and if you start too -"
She held up her hands defensively, "Chill, Hermione, I'm one-hundred percent on your side. It's just that this has been going on for months, and it's beginning to get annoying,"
"I know, I know, but I just – I can't -" defeated, she sank to the edge of the bed, "I can't do it,"
"Well, he did screw up majorly. You have the right not to forgive him,"
She nodded, a small smile on her lips, "Alright, subject change. How was your holiday?"
"Pretty boring," said Jane.
"Better than not having a break I guess," Hermione picked up her cloak, gloves, and hat, "If you don't mind, Jane, I kind of need to visit Hagrid. It's been a while since I've seen him. Do you want to come with?"
"Nah, I'll stay here and wait for the boys,"
But it was Hermione that found Harry and Ron a few hours later. They entered the common room with her. She carried two scrolls of parchment in her first.
"Anyway . . ." Hermione continued after retelling the tale of the Fat Lady's drunken state, "I've got this for you, Harry, and one for you as well, Jane,"
"Great, it's for the following night. I've got loads to tell him, and you Hermione . . . Jane, who is yours from?"
Jane felt her stomach drop out of her body as her eyes traveled over the paper, finding that her own meeting was for a few nights after Harry's. There was no use lying about it, Hermione would correct her, "Um . . . Dumbledore wants to see me as well,"
Harry adopted a suspicious expression, and opened his mouth to question her, when a loud squeal interrupted him, and Lavender appeared out of nowhere, flinging herself at Ron. As the extremely irked ginger was dragged away, Hermione lead Harry to an empty table to talk, a conversation she knew she wasn't invited to. Jane stared back at the scroll in her hands, wondering what Dumbledore would ask her this time.
Draco was napping in the lonely common room when the students began pouring in. Every night he'd been working on that blasted contraption, and it was surprising that he didn't fall asleep more often. Even when he slept, nightmares crept in, making him toss and turn roughly. Today, however, his sleep was peaceful.
Until a certain pug-faced girl pounced on him.
"Malfoy, wake up!"
His eyes snapped open to find Pansy's nose brushing his. In a fit of panic he pushed her off, where she fell to the floor with a loud thud.
"Pansy, I told you to leave him alone," said Blaise through a fit of laughter.
"What the hell did you do that for?!" Pansy yelled.
"You woke me up," he stated simply, having gone back to his relaxed pose.
"You has all holiday to sleep! Aren't you even happy to see me?"
"You were away for two weeks, Pans, not two years."
Pansy let out a series of distressed whimpers before stomping off toward her room. Draco watched her go with no emotion.
"Well then," said Blaise to fill the awkward silence, "Interesting reunion. So how was your holiday?"
"Fine," Draco muttered.
"Really? You look like hell, worse than when we left. What happened?"
"Nothing, I've just been stressed, and I haven't been sleeping lately,"
"Obviously,"
"If it's so obvious, then how 'bout you leave me alone?" he ordered.
"Alright, but you might want to -"
The stone wall that served as the entrance to the Slytherin common room parted, allowing a crowd to enter, making the once silent sanctuary a mad house.
"Malfoy, you look like you fell off a broom stick," Nott stated snidely.
"Do you see how pale his skin is?"
"Why is he so thin?" Daphnee Greengrass whispered to her little sister.
"You can practically see his ribs," Astoria Greengrass replied.
"Never been the same since his father died,"
"Been even worse since he found out he's going to school with his father's murderer."
It was too much, there were too many people looking at him, questioning, bearing down on him. Feeling claustrophobic, Draco left without a word.
He needed to be alone.
The Room of Requirement was out of the question, as well as the Astronomy Tower. Jane had access to both, and now that everyone was back he had no one to cover him. Not to mention anyone could go to the tower. An empty class room was easy to walk into, and he wasn't about to hide in closets.
That left . . .
Draco ran into the first boy's lavatory he saw and made sure every stall was clear before blocking the door. He fell against a wall and slid to the floor.
Complete silence, except the steady drip of a leaky sink. Relief flooded his overloaded brain as he exhaled deeply and pulled his knees to his chest.
"Who are you?" a quiet but whining voice asked.
Above him floated the ghost of a girl with glasses that had coke bottle lenses and long pigtails.
The next morning the sixth years of Gryffindor Tower were greeted with a large sign pinned to the notice board.
APPARITION LESSONS
If you are seventeen years of age, or will turn seventeen on
or before the 31st August next, you are eligible for a
twelve-week course of Apparition Lessons from a Ministry of
Magic Apparition instructor. Please sign below if you would like
to participate.
Cost: 12 Galleons.
"Are you signing up, Jane?" Harry asked as his turn came up.
Jane bit her lip and shrugged, reading the sign. She wasn't much of a fan of apparition, plus she wasn't sure she wanted to spend the last few Galleons she had.
Ron glanced at her curiously, "What do you mean you don't like apparition? You say that like you already know how to -"
Lavender then popped out of nowhere, clasping her hands over her boyfriend's eyes, "Guess who, Won-Won?"
Won-Won? Jane thought with irritation. Not wanting to watch the love fest, Harry, Hermione, and Jane left the common room to go down to breakfast. Soon enough Ron caught up with them. Hermione sped up to walk beside Neville, and before Jane could follow, Ron addressed her again, "You say it like you already know how to apparate,"
"Well, I kind of do," she said slowly.
This brought on two dropped jaws, "How?" Harry inquired, "You have to be seventeen, and you're only sixteen,"
"Not in America," Jane disagreed, "The coming of age there is fifteen, and they accepted fourteen and thirteen year olds for lessons. I was halfway through a class when I was expelled."
"So you haven't completely learned yet?"
"Nope,"
"Have you ever apparated?" asked Ron.
"Yes . . . I got splinched," Jane shuddered and dropped the subject, not wanting to relive the severe pain she felt when her body was ripped in half.
Apparition was the topic of the first day back in school. Ron was excited for the potential attention it would bring. Seamus wanted to bother his cousin the same way he bothered him. His excitement was so high that, during Charms, he flicked his wand too harshly and a jet of water ricocheted off the walls and knocked over poor Professor Flitwick.
"Harry's already Apparated, "Ron claimed, "Dum – er – someone took him. Side-Along-Apparition, you know,"
Attention was dragged onto Harry, with people asking what it felt like, where he went, who he went with. Even when he told them how uncomfortable it was to apparate along-side someone, they were awed. He answered questions well into the night until he claimed he needed to go return a book to the library when, really, he was going to see Dumbledore.
"But – um – Jane Rodgers has actually done Apparition by herself, why don't you go bombard her?"
Jane's fellow peers did exactly that, and she flared at his retreating back as she tried to tell them how her experience went.
"Jane, wake up,"
Sleeping in had been nice while it lasted.
"Come on, we've got Double Potions this morning,"
"Aw," Jane groaned, pushing herself off the mattress and rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"I'll meet you at breakfast, alright?" Hermione then left her room, which now only contained Jane. Not feeling hungry, she took her time getting ready, taking a shower and dressing.
She felt the cold come up her spine as she was combing her hair.
"What are you doing?"
"Getting ready for class," Jane answered as if the voice was a person standing next to her, "That's what you do when you're in school,"
"This is a waste of your time,"
"No it isn't. We're learning to make antidotes to poison today, that's very useful,"
"Voldemort is going to find you. He already knows where you are, it will only be a matter of time before you're dead,"
Jane froze, the picks of the comb stuck in her strawberry blonde hair.
"If you want to live, your only chance is to leave, and quickly."
"I know, I know," Jane whispered.
The cold left and she shuddered, her eyes darting across the vanity to see if she needed anything else. She noticed a silver chain coiled on the surface, and the ring Draco gave her, the one that became heavy in her pocket, came to mind. She pulled it out and slipped the chain through it, clasping it around her neck. The silver circle lay fashionably against her chest, and it she had to hide it, she could easily slip it down her shirt.
Class had begun three minutes ago. She cursed, grabbed her bag, slipped on her flats, and ran as fast as she could through the castle to the dungeons. Just as she reached the door, Draco Malfoy came into sight, late as well she presumed.
Remember, you're supposed to be enemies, Jane reminded herself. Glaring at him, and receiving a sneer back, she entered the classroom, where Professor Slughorn was in the middle of explaining Golpalott's Third Law in depth.
"Sorry, Professor," Jane panted, pulling her bag further over her shoulder and trying to find a quick lie that would cover up talking to the voice in her head, "I-um-the staircases changed on me, and I had a hard time finding my way,"
"Ah, those tricky stair cases, they all get the best of us. And what is your excuse, Mr. Malfoy?"
The only thing Draco did as he maneuvered to the Slytherin table was shrug and grunt.
"Well, both of you take your seats. As I was saying, our primary aim is not the relatively simple one of selecting antidotes to those ingredients in and of themselves, but to find that added component that will, by an almost alchemical process, transform these disparate elements -"
Jane tried to set up her cauldron as noiselessly as possible, while also trying to pay attention. Hermione was over by Ernie, as far as she could possibly be from Harry and Ron, her quill moving furiously over her parchment. Harry and Ron had their jaws dropped, unable to comprehend what Slughorn was saying, but Harry was trying his best to take notes as well. Everyone seemed to be having trouble understanding the lesson.
Draco found his cauldron and potions kit all set up when he arrived. All he had to do was sit down, and listen to Pansy gripe at him.
"Where were you?" she hissed, "What were you doing with bloody Jane Rodgers?"
"I wasn't doing anything with her, we just came in at the same time,"
"Uh huh, right. You really expect me to believe that?"
Draco groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and finger, "Pansy, do you always have to know everywhere I go? You're like a stalker,"
"Then where were you?"
"Finishing homework we were assigned over the holiday," he lied.
She seemed to take it, as se didn't reply back. But when Jane absentmindedly looked towards the small Slytherin table, Pansy Parkinson was shooting daggers at her. She raised a curious eyebrow. What had she done this time?
". . . and so," Slughorn concluded, "I want each of you to come and take one of these phials from my desk .You are to create an antidote for the poison within it before the end of the lesson. Good luck, and don't forget your protective gloves!"
While Jane had a glaring contest with Pansy, and Ron and Harry stared at the professor, dumbfounded, Hermione had gotten her poison and poured it into her cauldron before anyone. She seemed to be overly joyed about this lesson. Jane thought perhaps it was because she knew exactly what she was doing, until her friend spoke up.
"It's a shame that the Prince won't be able to help you much with this, Harry. You have to understand the principles involved this time. No shortcuts or cheats!"
Ah, so that was the reason for her excitement – Harry wouldn't be able to outdo her this time.
Someone has an obsession with being the best.
Jane was immediately stumped after dumping her own black poison into her cauldron and lit the fire. Potions had never been a strength of hers, and since she came in at the middle of Slughorn's explanation, she didn't completely understand. To her side, Harry and Ron were flipping through the Half Blood Prince's text book, searching rather fruitlessly for tips or clues, and then looped up to see what everyone else was doing. Hermione, on the other side of the spectrum, was fliting about, waving her wand over her cauldron and performing nonverbal spells, separating ingredients of her poison into other phials, adding a little of this and that. She was in her element, back to being the top of her class.
"Time's . . . UP!" Slughorn shouted, "Well, let's see what you've got!"
After rereading Golpalott's Third Law over and over again, Jane had at least managed to get somewhere. She, too, had separated parts of her poison into other phials. As Slughorn passed over her station, he did not looked impressed or disappointed, so she considered it a good sign.
"And you, Harry, what have you got to show me?"
From behind his back, Harry produced a shriveled brown lump, otherwise known as a bezoar, which could protect against most poisons.
Well, son of a bitch, Jane thought with a sheepish smile.
"You've got nerve, boy!" Professor Slughorn roared with laughter, swiping the stone from the boy's hand and holding it up for the class to see, "Oh, you're just like your mother. Well, I can't fault you . . . a bezoar would certainly act as an antidote for all these poisons!"
Jane swore that she could see smoke rolling out of Hermione's ears. Soot on her nose, her fists stiffly at her side, she spoke lividly, "And you thought of a bezoar all by yourself, did you, Harry?"
She doubted it - Harry was just as clueless on this as she was. The Prince must have written it down in his book somewhere.
Draco glared at the famous Potter and everyone but Granger marveling at him. He might have been able to concoct a half decent antidote if he hadn't had Pansy breathing down his neck and making him spill one of his ingredients on his robes. Oh how he'd like to punch someone in the face, preferably Potter. Before he could even take a step, however, the bell rang, and it was time to pack up.
"Hey, I'm still angry with you," Pansy piped up as he tried to escape without her noticing.
"What's new?" Blaise muttered under his breath.
"Shut up, Blaise," she said, and then ran after the pale skinned boy.
Ron and Hermione packed up their things without a word to Harry or Jane. Ron appeared to be as ticked with Harry as Hermione was, most likely because he didn't share his bezoar plan with him. They left Jane and Harry in the class room, going their separate ways. Harry, however stayed back, looking awkward and a little shifty.
"Hey, you ready to go?" Jane asked.
"What, you're not angry with me?"
"What, just because you're a smart ass? Nah, come on, let's go,"
"I can't, I've got to talk to Slughorn about . . . something," his eyes quickly shifted to the professor and then back to her.
Jane mocked him, "And what would this . . . something . . . be?" she asked with a chuckle.
"Never mind you. By the way, I need to talk to you later,"
"About?"
"Later. Now get going,"
"Malfoy, wait up!"
Draco groaned as he shrugged off his black robe, folding it into a ball and stuffing it into his bag. Pansy caught up with him just as he set foot out the door, "Pansy, I'm not in the mood,"
"The only mood you're ever in is pissed off. What is with you anymore?"
I'm completely stressed out. I was ordered to kill two people by the end of the semester by the darkest wizard in the world. I already know I'm not killing one of them, and the only plan I have is failing miserably. What's with you?
"I'm your girlfriend, you're supposed to share things with me,"
"I can't take this anymore," Draco finally snapped, "We are not dating, Pansy, we haven't dated since the fourth year. I do not need you breathing down my neck and following me around,"
Pansy's bottom lip began to quiver, "S-So what are you saying? Are you breaking up with me?"
She just isn't getting it, he thought, "If that is what you need to hear, then yes, I'm breaking up with you. Just leave me alone," and he stalked off. Pansy stood in the doorway, staring unseeingly at the floor and feeling tears come to her eyes.
"Yom some of us have lessons to get to. Are you going to move or do I have to push you?"
When Pansy failed to move, Jane scoffed in an annoyed fashion and elbowed her to the side. She searched for Hermione or Ron, both who had seemed to flee the minute the class ended.
She had only taken a few steps when she heard a distressed girl scream, "Reducto!"
Jane just barely dodged the curse, which hit a stone wall and blasted a large hole in it. The students in the hall screamed and shield themselves from the debris.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Jane snapped.
"This is your entire fault!" Pansy claimed, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks, "Malfoy broke up with me, and it's your entire fault!"
"Are you kidding me?! I have nothing to do with that bleach blonde, and honestly you can do so much better," Jane claimed.
"Furnunculus!"
Jane quickly put up a Shield Charm before the curse could cover her in boils. Like she were rapidly shooting a machine gun, Pansy threw curses at her, pushing her back into a wall. She did nothing but keep up her shield, while her anger grew steadily. Jane could've fought back, but she preferred not to compete with obviously mad people.
"Fight. Me! Fight me, damn it!" Pansy yelled.
"Stop trying to curse me! I had nothing to do with you and Malfoy!"
"Fine, then how about this?!"
Pansy dropped her wand and slammed her first into Jane's face. She stumbled backward, her hand pressed to her eye as she felt it begin to throb painfully. Her expression became appalled – how the hell was she able to do that?!
While pondering this, Pansy punched her in the stomach. As she doubled over, Jane felt a hot fire ignite inside her, and dark thoughts swarming in her head.
"You are so weak and cowardly! I think you were lying when you said you killed all those Death Eaters. You can't even fight -"
The rage had officially begun in Jane's body. With one hard swing of her first, she hit Pansy square in the jaw, knocking her a few steps back. She got to her feet and pushed the girl onto her ass, "Weak and cowardly, huh? Alright Parkinson, you want a fight? Let's fight! Come on, get up!"
Pansy didn't hesitate to get up and throw a swing or two, which Jane easily blocked. As they fought, their wands laid forgotten on the floor. A crowd had formed around them, cheering on the fighters. Jane landed a kick to Pansy's side to get her to let go of her arm, which she promptly broke. Jane couldn't feel the pain, as the anger in her brain overpowered everything. She managed to land a few good hits to Pansy's face, giving her a bloody nose. Pansy liked to use her feet more than her fists, so most of the damage done to Jane was in her lower body. Jane had great upper body strength, especially in her fists and arms. Pansy received many blows to her face and shoulders.
The two witches were on the ground when Professor Slughorn came out of his chamber to see what the commotion was all about. Pansy had Jane in a head lock, and Jane continuously kicked her in the thighs and shins.
"You bitch!" Jane cried.
"You're the reason Malfoy doesn't love me anymore!"
"He probably didn't love you in the first place!"
That definitely did not help the situation. A dangerous, murderous fire took hold of her eyes. Pansy let out an animalistic shriek and went for her wand, as did Jane. She had had enough of this, it was time to put an end to it, put an end to Pansy's misery. Power surged through her the minute her hand clamped around the weapon. She lifted it to point at Pansy's chest. It was one curse and lights out.
But Pansy's curse came out faster.
"Expulso!"
"Reducto!"
Jets of white were released from the tip of their wands, gliding towards and meeting in the middle. The combination of spells caused a minor explosion, the force of it sending Jane gliding straight through – yes, through – a wall. The stone around her blasted apart, the sound leaving her ears ringing, the dust clouding her vision intensely and clogging her lungs. On impact, she felt extreme pain in her lower back, enough to knock her out for good.