The week went on without any major incidents and by now Jade was utterly convinced that Draco was avoiding her. Somehow she even had the suspicion that he had gotten her timetable from somewhere; he seemed to be constantly knowing where she was and never turned up there himself. Aside from breakfast, she hadn't seen him once. She didn't even know if he went to dinner or lunch anymore, but if he did, he always went at a different time. On Wednesday evening she had spoken to Hermione about it. But she couldn't bring herself to tell her friend that she had slept with Draco; somehow it made matters so much worse. And even Hermione couldn't deny that there was something fishy about this whole situation and urged Jade to approach him. And even though Jade knew that she had to talk to him, she was afraid of doing so. Somehow she just knew that he was going to break up with her and she couldn't stand the thought of it.

So it wasn't until Friday evening that she got to talk to him. She was walking down a corridor on third floor, when she turned a corner and suddenly saw the back of a familiar blond head in front of her. Her stomach clenched at the sight. He was walking swiftly through the hallway; his steps echoed all the way back to her. Jade didn't want to shout all the way through the corridor, so she took out her wand and flicked it; instantly a suit of armour to Draco's side sprang into life, making him jump in surprise. It blocked his path now and gesticulated in Jade's direction. Draco turned and Jade approached him. Her heart sped up quickly and she could feel the blood rushing through her veins; she had no idea what was going to happen now.

As she stood right in front of him, she slowly raised her eyes up to his face. She couldn't help but feel something tug at her insides. She had been so close to him only a few weeks ago; he had made love to her more passionately than Jade could ever have imagined. And now they stood in front of each other like strangers. She wanted to touch him, to pull him close to her, to make him act like he was supposed to act. But this distance between them scared her. She awaited some kind of reaction, but nothing came. He looked strangely expressionless and somehow it seemed as if he didn't even intend to utter a single word to her; neither did he meet her eyes.

"So you're not even going to talk to me anymore?" she finally asked; she cursed her own voice for sounding so hurt. They were completely alone in the corridor and somehow Jade had hoped deep inside that his behaviour would change once they were on their own. But still he didn't even really look at her. He pushed his hands into the pockets of his trousers now; his body looked tense.

She inclined her head, watching him. "Are you alright?"

Did he look annoyed now? His eyes flicked through the corridor and came to rest on a painting of three arguing warlocks.

"Sure, why wouldn't I be?" he said coldly. He hadn't used that arrogant tone when speaking to her for a long time. And for a moment she just stood there, utterly confused. Then Draco made his way over to the side of the corridor and opened a door to an empty classroom. He motioned for her to enter and then closed the door behind them. For a moment hope flared up inside her again, but then he walked past her and leaned against the wall next to the black board; his hands inside his pockets again.

"Draco, could you please tell me what's going on? First the thing in the train, then you avoid me for a week..."

Draco sighed and gazed out of the window of the classroom. It was silent for a moment; then he began to speak. "I don't think we should keep seeing each other."

Jade needed a moment to process his words. So he really was breaking up with her? "Why?"

He just shook his head, still not meeting her eyes. "I just don't think it is a good idea anymore."

"Not a good idea?" She repeated his words. Of course the two of them together had never been a good idea, but until now he had never really seemed to care too much about it. Could it really be the fact that she had given herself up to him too quickly? Or was it something else?

Suddenly the image of Draco lying in Pansy's lap crept up in her mind. Was Pansy a better idea? She bit down her sudden jealousy. Pansy couldn't be the reason for his behaviour. And there still was another option: Maybe he had gotten scared after all. Maybe he was afraid that this task, he was supposed to do, would break them up sooner or later?

"Draco, please be honest with me." Her voice was much softer as she took a step towards him and saw his body go rigid. "I promise I will understand if you tell me the truth.."

She noticed how he inhaled a breath. Finally he looked into her eyes and Jade was taken aback. Suddenly she was remembered of something different.. or someone. She felt as if she was staring into the eyes of Lucius Malfoy again, cold and grey.. somehow empty.

"Jade, this is the truth. I don't want to see you anymore. You're making everything more difficult for me than it already is. I need to concentrate on what lies ahead of me right now. I can't really bother.."

It was like a slap in the face for Jade as those words flowed out of his mouth. He couldn't bother with her? Could he sound any more indifferent?

She couldn't stand looking into those eyes and her gaze fell on the floor. His cold words had hurt her. She had always thought that his feelings for her were real and that the two of them shared something special.. that maybe he even loved her. But if that had been the case, he wouldn't talk like that. He wouldn't leave her like that.

"And you couldn't think of this before you slept with me, could you?" Jade hissed at him, anger flaring up inside her once more. This one night had meant incredibly much to her; she never would have done it, had she not thought that they would stay together for as long as they could. And now he was ruining everything. Her insides were shattering into pieces.

He shrugged now. He shrugged! Her breathing sped up.. how could he? The way he acted tore a hole into her heart.

"I thought.. it meant something.. " Jade said, struggling to keep her voice even. "I thought we.. I thought it was..." She couldn't bring the one word out of her mouth. But then she pulled herself together. "I thought you loved me."

He looked at the floor now, shaking his head. "I guess you were wrong..."

How could he do this to her? Jade's throat felt so painfully constricted that she knew, she couldn't bring out a word anymore. For a moment she considered taking out her wand and hexing him badly. But that would mean she had to stay in this room with him even a moment longer. She backed away from him now and fled through the door.

Blaise

Blaise was on his way to the Slytherin Common Room after a night of studying in the library; he had been alone there and now his head was so full of the different variations of Potion brewing that he needed to take a break. He strolled around a corner, when he heard voices. Sounded like .. that definitely was Jade! He hadn't seen her all day, but he recognized her voice now, coming through a closed door on his right. After a moment he heard a second voice.. Malfoy! He backed away in a little niche, which was usually occupied by a suit of armour. Even though he hadn't been able to make out any words, the tone of Malfoy's voice didn't appeal to him. Now there was silence.

A few moments later Jade rushed passed him, her face looked like she was in a state of shock and she didn't notice him as she ran down the corridor. After a little moment, when Jade probably thought nobody would hear her, she let out a heart-wrenching sob. That son of a.. witch! Blaise felt cold fury well up inside him.

For a moment he contemplated joining Draco in the classroom and hexing him into bloody pieces, but then he thought better of it. He knew that Flitwick's office was just around the corner and he would probably hear them if they started duelling.

Judging from the sound, Draco still hadn't moved and Blaise took the opportunity to get away from his hiding spot without the other boy noticing it. He needed to make his way down to the dungeons quicker than Draco; he would wait for him there and in the meantime make up his mind what he was going to do with that bastard.

The corridors were currently full of students, who either came from the Great Hall or were still headed there for a late supper. Blaise made his way through the crowds smoothly and came to a halt somewhere down in the dungeons to sit on a stone bench that was set in a little alcove in the wall. He now knew what he was going to do with Malfoy. Although he wanted nothing more than to see him endure excruciating pain, Blaise knew that he had to restrain himself and not get carried away by his wrath. But on the other side he just could not let Draco get away with that, it just was his duty as a friend.. as a brother-in-spirit somehow.. to make that ugly ferret pay.

He sat on the cold stone bench for quite some time until he heard steps coming down the hallway again; this time it was Draco. He had an ice-cold look on his face, as if his soul had been drained from him, and didn't notice Blaise as he passed him. So Blaise stood up and the rustling noise startled Draco, who spun around on his heel quickly.

Somehow there was no need for words. Blaise approached Draco swiftly, like a snake that had seen some defenceless prey. Draco did not back away, but stood his ground; apparently he knew that this was coming for him and didn't even flinch as Blaise stroke out and punched him very hard in the face. The impact of the blow sent Draco flying back against the stone wall of the corridor and he hit the back of his head hard. Blood splattered out of his mouth and nose, which looked nauseatingly askew, and he slid down the stone wall, clutching at it for some support. Blaise heard some younger pupils yell out in shock behind him.

Without another word, he pushed the smaller students out of his way and made his way up to the Entrance Hall again. He shook out his hand; something was definitely broken in it. Resorting to physical violence was definitely not classy and Blaise did not intend to repeat it any time soon, but somehow it was much more satisfying to punch someone in the face and let out his anger directly, than hitting a spell at them. He looked down at his bruised knuckles; well, it definitely had been worth it. Jade could possibly fix them again in a minute, being very adept at healing. When they were younger and still played outside in the gardens Jade had always healed his little bruises and abrasions. She had even mended a broken toe of his after her monster of a horse had stomped on his foot. The only question right now was: Where was she?

He stood in the Entrance Hall and considered his options. Outside it was raining heavily; it was one of those last warm summer rains, like a monsoon. And somehow his instinct told him that she was out there somewhere, probably trying to clear her head.

He tapped his robes with his wand, thinking 'Impervius' and walked out into the rain, trying to figure out where she might be. The light of the day had not vanished yet completely and Blaise looked over towards the lake, but did not see Jade there. He then made his way over to the gardens in front of the Greenhouses, thinking it was the only other place where she might have gone. And as he made his way through the hedges and underneath arcs of roses he saw two tiny lights dancing at the other side of the garden. Blaise smiled, remembering how Jade would always summon fairies in times where she felt sad or lonely. They always cheered her up a little.

He approached her and the corners of his mouth instantly sank again. Pure misery was etched upon Jade's face and her eyes were full of hurt. She sat on a little stone bench, completely soaked and hunched over, and Blaise couldn't distinguish between the rain and the tears on her face, but he knew she was crying. It hurt his heart to see her like that, even though deep inside he had always known that it would eventually come to this. Falling in love with a Malfoy was just bound to result in a broken heart. His poor little girl..

He sat next to her on the stone bench and put his arm around her shoulders. Instantly she buried her head in his chest and let out heartbreaking little sobs.

Blaise knew that he could do nothing right now to cheer her up besides just being there for her. And as he held the crying girl in his arm, he wondered if he should have protected her from this pain. He always had feared that one day Draco would act like the bastard he really was again, but he never had tried to argue Jade out of her relationship with him. One reason for that was that he did not want to appear as if he was jealous, like back in the day when they got into the fight. But another reason was that Blaise knew that Jade had to make her own experiences and that she would learn and grow stronger from them. Trying to protect her had its limits and he could not shield her from life to keep her away from harm. And even though right now she was devastated and crying her eyes out, he knew that the day would come where she would laugh again. This thought made him feel a little less sad.

He cast a drying spell over her, followed by an Impervius Charm. After all the git was not worth catching a cold.

And after Jade had shed more tears than Blaise thought humanly possible, she turned her slightly reddish eyes to look up at him. They hadn't even said one word to another yet. He pulled up his hand to wipe a tear away, which was still clinging onto her cheek, and realized that his knuckles were swollen by now and moving his hand hurt rather acutely. Obviously Jade had noticed now, too, that something was amiss with his hand and she took it into hers, examining it a little closer.

"Blaise.. What did you do?" her voice sounded a little faint. Blaise knew that she probably had already added two and two together and he just shrugged. So Jade grabbed her wand, which lay beside her, and waved it over Blaise's hand in some rather complicated little circles and figures, muttering an incantation under her breath. The pain immediately stopped and the swelling went back down; feeling grateful, he pulled his hand back out of hers.

She stilled looked miserable and Blaise sighed. He always knew that only fools fell in love. He had never let himself really fall into any deeper feelings with Astoria and thank Merlin for that! He would probably have ended sitting here and crying his eyes out just like Jade. Most people just weren't to be trusted, he knew that. And currently the number of people, whom he trusted, could be counted on one hand. His mother, Jade, .. actually that was it! But he knew that those two would never let him down.

And right now he did not need to 'be in love', did he? He had been in 'love' only once; it had been the time where he had braided the little daisies into the ring and given it to Jade. Back then he had intended it to be their engagement ring and he had searched for hours for the perfect daisies in his mother's garden. He had to smile when he thought back of those carefree times. When had everything suddenly stopped being so easy and had turned into this? And why couldn't it just be like it always had been again?

He looked back at the girl beside him. Even though she was probably feeling like dragon dung right now, she looked incredibly beautiful. And suddenly there were a hundred questions, feelings and thoughts shooting through his mind. Why wasn't it like he had always thought it would be: The two of them together? And did he just love her as a friend or was he secretly in love with her? And would they ever really get a chance if not now? Did he even want that chance? Was there any lust in his feelings for her? Could he even kiss her or would it just feel awkward? Could he live with never trying? But if he did: would he regret risking their friendship for the rest of his life?

So ... was he willing to try?

And he suddenly got his answer back more clearly than he had expected: No! A simple 'No'. She was his best friend, maybe even the most important person in his life. There had been times when he had been in love with her and there had been other times, when he thought she might feel that way about him. But over the years somehow they had stopped pining after each other. It was like an unspoken, but mutual understanding. Their friendship was above everything. Losing her was not an option, so gambling on it wasn't either.

Gently, he rubbed her back a little in an effort to warm her up. He did like having her close to him and he did like touching her, he couldn't deny that. He knew he had been much more touchy-feely with her lately than before. And he could imagine kissing her on the lips. But everything sexual would feel so wrong. He couldn't see her like that. She was his cute little girl, so innocent, and not a sexual plaything. The thought of pushing himself on her, creeped him out. He had been childishly infatuated with her as a kid, but he had never ever lusted after her as a young man. It just wasn't part of them. There was no sexual innuendo, no tension between them. Neither of them had ever started it and so it just wasn't there.

Blaise let out a sigh. The turmoil in his head had ebbed back down as quickly as it had come up. And he felt like himself again.

Jade was still watching the two fairies, who were dancing in the fading light of the dusk sky. The rain pattered down on the grass and its smell lingered in the fresh, humid air. Blaise pulled Jade closer to his side and planted a kiss on her hair, without feeling awkward.

She snuffled a little and turned towards him. "You know, Blaise. If you ever left me, I think I would just crawl into some hole and die."

"Don't say something like that, Jade. And don't you worry, I'm not going anywhere." And now Jade threw her arms around his waist and pulled him close tightly, very tightly. She almost crushed him. Well not really, she was much too weak for that, but she really gave her best. Chuckling, Blaise added "Well, unless you strangle me to death, of course."

His little girl smiled at him now. Ah, she smiled again! And then she let go of him and, with his arm still around her shoulders, they sat for quite some time on the stone bench, listening to the rain and watching the fairies in a companionable silence.