Chapter 29

Disclaimer: We do not own Harry Potter or any other creations by the fabulous JK Rowling...

Jamie was visiting Nehal at the condo because she had the place to herself for the night.

Nehal said, "What's on your mind Jamie?"

"What is that obvious?" answered Jamie.

"Well you just seem a little preoccupied." Nehal hesitated. She leaned forward. "Does this have anything to do with what happened yesterday? Anything you want to apologize before?" She looked directly at him.

Jamie looked down, ashamed of himself. "I'm sorry Nehal." He looked up. "I really am sorry."

Nehal smiled warmly. "It's okay. I forgive you."

"Yeah, well last night after what happened to us, I-I realized something and I'm tired of settling."

"How so?"

"Well, I developed a bad habit somehow...just, uh letting things happen to me instead of going after what I really want."

"Yeah, I know what you're saying. Sometimes I feel like I'm too old to take risks." replied Nehal honestly referring to relationships and fighting death eaters.

Jamie said, "Well, yeah, but we're not. Hell, why can't we still be as fearless as we were at Hogwarts? We didn't give a shit." He laughed remembering the good old days.

Nehal laughed too. "Because we have mortgages, jobs and more responsibility than we ever dreamed of back then."

"But don't you think we should still take a chance every now and then. Find something you want and...go for it!"

"Like what?" asked Nehal curiously. What was Jamie getting at??

Jamie looked at Nehal, scanning her face. He was about to answer when the toaster popped.

Nehal jumped and laughed. "Snack time!"



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Jackie and Jesse were walking down the street talking. Yes, they were still on their serial date.

"And number three?" asked Jackie.

Jesse smiled as he thought about his third thing that he liked about her, "Your loyalty. To your friends. Even though you don't live under the same roof as they do, I can tell you still care about them a lot."

Jackie grinned and blushed. She quickly re-gained her composure. "Okay, um...three things I like about you." She twisted her lips, thinking.

"My good looks." answered Jesse.

Jackie laughed. "I admire your self-confidence. I wish I could be as confident as you are. I like your smile and...you're not horrible to look at."

Jackie and Jesse both stopped because they reached their next destination.

Jackie's jaw dropped. "This is where we're going?"

Jesse laughed. "A lingerie store. Nice work, Heather."

Inside the store, Jesse was grinning like a kid on Christmas. He was taking his time and looking very carefully through all the items. "This would go a lot faster if you helped."

"I'm going to kill Heather." snarled Jackie.

Jesse laughed. "Well, okay, here it is." He pulled an envelope from a red silk thong. He read it out loud. "Congratulations! Now buy each other a gift and exchange them on the way to Main Street and dance in the nude.

"Um...this is SO wrong!" protested Jackie.

Jesse noticed Jackie's tense mood. "Still want to do it?"

"The gift part for sure, but the dancing part...I don't know..." Jackie bit on her bottom lip.

"Alright, well we can just grab a bite to eat. How does that sound?" Jesse gave Jackie a reassuring smile.

Jackie smiled back. "Sounds good."

Ten minutes later, they exited the lingerie shop laughing hysterically.



Jesse howled with laughter and then looked at Jackie. "Did you see what that sales woman was wearing?"

"Or not wearing." added Jackie. She handed Jesse her shopping bag. "Here you open yours first."

"Alright." Jesse took out the item out of the bag. He made a face. "Black socks."

"Sorry, I was playing it safe. What did you get me?" asked Jackie eagerly.

"Open it and see." instructed Jesse.

Jackie opened the bag and pulled out a pink silk negligee. "Oh my gosh! This is really nice. Thank you." She had to admit she was not expecting Jesse to get anything so expensive for her. She felt pretty bad that she played it safe with the socks.

"You're welcome. Okay, so let's go get something to eat."

So Jesse and Jackie arrived at a restaurant. A waiter handed them a menu.

Jesse gave the waiter a quick nod. "Thanks." He turned his attention back to Jackie. "To be honest, I've been craving prime rib all day. Any chance that is your favourite dish too?" He laughed.

Jackie laughed too. "No, sorry."

Jesse shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "I'm not very experienced with this so, uh..."

Jackie raised an eyebrow. "Ordering food?"

"No, I mean in high school it's all just parties, games and drama. I never get a chance to do anything like this, you know? This is different."

"Different good? Different bad?"

"No good."

Jackie smiled.

Jesse smiled back. "I'm really glad you decided to come."

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Nehal and Jamie sat at the table eating the food Nehal cooked.

"So do you want there to be an us?" asked Nehal bluntly. She could tell that was on Jamie's mind, the way he kept on looking at her.

Jamie nodded and swallowed. "Yeah...I know you don't feel the same but...my feelings are pretty strong towards you and I don't think that's just going to go away overnight."

"You don't need to be afraid." whispered Nehal softly. With that, she cupped his face and kissed him sweetly. She pulled away first. "How does that feel?"

Jamie was grinning like an idiot. "Good...very good."

Nehal smirked. "I thought so." They both laughed. "But I don't think that that will sit well with my lover." She looked straight into his eyes, and saw how his face fell at the mention of another guy.

"Why Nehal? Why would you get my hopes up like that?" Jamie said angrily pushing his chair back so forcefully that it fell to the ground.

"You weren't actually expecting me to wait for you, were you." Nehal said calmly which just annoyed Jamie further.

"Well...I mean no....But! " It seemed to Nehal that her ex-boyfriend still had some battles to sort out within himself.

Nehal began gathering the plates with still half eaten food on them. "I'll see you at work tomorrow then."

Jamie knew he'd lost this time. But his determination for Nehal didn't fade, but grew stronger. "You can't run forever Nehal." He slid his coat on and left closing the door behind him.

Nehal looked up as she heard the click of the latch, and found Jensen leaning against the wall directly in front of her. "Well..." he drawled out slowly in his Texan accent, "...your a pretty effective heartbreaker."

"A nice how-dee-doo would have been just fine too Jensen." Nehal rolled her eyes in irritation.

He walked towards her slowly and grinned, "But cha din't have ta kiss him..."

"Touchy." Nehal teased.

"You are my girl aren't you?" he grinned back and put his hands on either side of the table, Nehal standing in between. Nehal answered by unbuttoning his shirt and sliding it off his masculine shoulders. He took it as an invitation to stay the night.

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Jesse said, "I thought you'd be into lobster or something."

"Dude, macaroni and cheese is the food of the gods!" exclaimed Jackie as she ate.

"Yeah if the gods are five year olds." scoffed Jesse and laughed hysterically.

Jackie joined in and laughed.

Just then, Danielle and Eli walked by and since Jackie and Jesse were seated on the outside patio it was hard not to notice them. They couldn't just walk by and not say anything.

Danielle said, "Hey Jackie, what's up?"

"Hey!" replied Jackie. "What are you guys up too?"

"We're on a date." confirmed Eli as he wrapped an arm around Danielle's shoulders and she had her arm around his waist. "Like you guys are." He grinned.

Danielle smiled at Jesse. "Hey Jesse."

"Yo." replied Jesse.

Jackie looked at Eli. "No dude, it's defiantly not a date."

Jesse looked at Jackie coldly.

Eli shrugged his shoulders, not wanting to further the argument. "Okay if that's your story. Come on Danielle, let's go."

Jackie gave Jesse an apologetic look. "I'm sorry about that."

"Are you really that embarrassed to be seen with me?" asked Jesse, trying to control the tone of anger in his voice.

"No, not at all it's just..."

"Why are you only nice to me when we're alone?" questioned Jesse demanding an answer from Jackie.

Jackie chewed on her bottom lip and looked down nervously.

Jesse shook his head and stood up. "You know, for a few hours, I was starting to think you were a real sweetheart but now I just see that you're a stupid fake bitch." Jesse irritably threw down some cash to pay for his meal.

"No! Jesse wait!" cried Jackie, but he wouldn't come back to her.

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Eli pulled his truck to a stop in front of the girls' condo.

Danielle smiled. "Thanks for the ride."

Eli grinned back. "Anytime. I'm always here for you." He paused. "Just like how you're always there for your friends. "You know, you're a good friend to Jackie?"

Danielle's smile faltered. "You sound surprised."

Eli shrugged. "Sorry...I just...I guess I just figured that you were-"

"A slutty party girl." finished Danielle looking away from him.

"No. You're not. What I was going to say what that I just never get to see the sweet, caring, nice side of you very often."

Danielle looked back at her boyfriend. "It's okay. Most people don't. Nehal and I are kind of similar like that." She laughed lightly."Here's a sample of my sweet side for you." She leaned over and kissed Eli on the cheek. Then she undid her seat belt.

"Hey Danielle are we doing anything tomorrow?" asked Eli.

Danielle stepped out of the truck, smiled at Eli and before closing the truck door she said, "Count on it." She winked at him.

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The next morning Jackie woke up extra early to meet Jesse at his early shift and to apologize to him. She felt so bad for what happened. She should have handled the situation a lot better. She lost sleep thinking about this. "Hi." said Jackie nervously as she approached him, her voice all shaky.

Jesse focused on trimming the hedges on the rosebush. "Don't talk to me, I'm busy."

"Look, I came to apologize. I'm sorry."

"You should write them in bulk, if you're going to hand apologizes out that often." Jesse started to walk away from her.

"Can we just-I um...I don't know how to do this, alright? I'm not like you."

Jesse turned to face Jackie. His face rigid. "What does that mean?"

"I screw up a lot, alright? I make mistakes all the time! And being around you, I just...I don't want to do that anymore." Jackie let out a sigh. "I want to take risks and not worry about what other people think anymore!"

"Well, who do you want to be Jackie?"

"I want to be someone who's good enough to be seen with you." confessed Jackie. She gave Jesse a pleading looking.

Jesse said, "Well you should've thought of that last night. You know, I keep, I keep putting myself out there, and you keep blowing it! It's probably a good thing because at this point there's nothing you could say or do that's going to surprise me."

Jackie leaned in and captured her lips with Jesse's. Usually, she wasn't one to make the first move. This was certainly a turning approach.

"Accept that..." Jesse looked down at her. "Oh Jackie, you shouldn't have done that."

"I wanted too."

"Yeah." Jesse leaned forward and kissed her. Jackie stood on her tippy-toes and wrapped her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist. They stayed like that for awhile.

Although, they did have an unusual spectator witnessing their kissing. It was Ian and he had to let Draco know about this.

I dare you to move

I dare you to move

I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor



I dare you to move

I dare you to move

Like today never happened

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"So I pull in front of the condo and Jackie's full on making out with some guy I've never seen before." explained Ian to Draco who sat on his bed with his head lowered.

"What did you do?" asked Draco.

"Nothing."

Draco looked up at Ian.

"Should I have hexed him or something?"

Draco sighed. "No, that would not make Jackie happy." He paused. "I didn't think she would move on that fast."

"You did." accused Ian.

Draco looked back up at his friend again. "Greta and I just hook up for sex. That's all. I'm not interested in a relationship, just like how Danielle isn't interested in YOU anymore!"

Ian looked stunned and took a step back. "Whoa, man that was cold."

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Nehal walked into Heather's bedroom. "Hey."

Heather looked up from the vampire and demons book she was reading. "Oh hey, what's up?"

"Not too much...I just wanted to bug yeah." said Nehal as she grinned and took a seat next to Heather.

"Bug away." replied Heather. "So...Jamie came by yesterday. How was that?"

Nehal shrugged her shoulders. "It was alright."

"Just alright?" probed Heather and cocked an eyebrow.

"He's still an immature brat that I have to go and work with today." Nehal sighed and lay on Heather's bed.

"Then why does it look like someone-"

"They did," Nehal interrupted and sat up again, "it just wasn't Jamie who did." Nehal smiled mysteriously and left the room.

It took Heather a good minute to recover. "Then who did??!!" She yelled out. When got no answer she shrugged. Her friend would tell her when she was ready. With that, her head returned to the pillow and she took a nap.

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Danielle was at the old wizard library downtown, trying to find some information about Draco's ring. Ever since Nehal told her about her suspicions, Danielle had been trying to gather together as much information as she could muster up.

"Hello Danielle." said Ian in a sinister tone of voice as he sat next to her at the table. "We meet again it seems."

"What are you my stalker?" snapped Danielle.

Ian chuckled. "Oh Danielle, how I've missed your sense of humour."

Danielle looked up at him. "Oh Ian how I...haven't missed you."

"Look baby, I know I've been freaking you out lately but I really like you and I want to be your boyfriend." whispered Ian sincerely. "I'll stop playing these silly mind games."

"Get lost!" hissed Danielle.

"Please...I'll be good. I promise." begged Ian. He really wanted to be with Danielle again. She was just so beautiful. Everything about her was and he knew he fucked it all up a long time ago, but sometimes it's never too late to start over.

Danielle rolled her eyes and met Ian's desperate gaze. "Ian, I'm gonna be honest with you here." She paused. "You're not that hot anymore and I stopped loving you a long time ago."

When you go
Would you even turn to say
"I don't love you
Like I did
Yesterday"

Sometimes I cry so hard from pleading
So sick and tired of all the needless beating
But baby when they knock you
Down and out
It's where you oughta stay

And after all the blood that you still owe
Another dollar's just another blow
So fix your eyes and get up
Better get up
While you can
Whoa, whooa



When you go
Would you even turn to say
"I don't love you
Like I did
Yesterday"

Ian was in total shock.

Danielle smiled cheekily. "I'm so glad that we had this talk. Now that, that's over, I need you to stop thinking about yourself and think of others and others need you to go away and never come back!" She hissed angrily.

Ian sat still dumbfounded for awhile. He then lowered his head and stood up. "I'm going to leave you alone Danielle. If that's your wish then it is being granted." He looked briefly at Danielle's research.

Danielle took note of this. "What is it?"

Ian met her gaze. "I'm going to give you a piece of advice. Don't even think about stealing Malfoy's ring, because he says 'it's my own...it's my precious.' With that ending, Ian exited the library and left Danielle alone, like she wanted.

Danielle stroked her chin with her fingers. "It's been called that before." Suddenly, an idea popped into her head.

She got permission from the librarian to go into the record keeping room where records of the greatest historical moments of magic and mysteries were kept. After searching through some very ancient scrolls, she stumbled upon the one she wanted. "The year 3434, of the second age. Here follows the account of Asalodur Malfoy and the finding of the ring of power."

"Hmm," thought Danielle. "So it actually has a name."

She continued to read out loud to herself, "It has come to me...the one ring that shall be passed down through the pureblood family. All those who are Malfoy's shall be bound to its fate. It is precious to me...though I buy it with great pain and devotion. The markings upon the band begin to fade. The writing which, at first was as clear as red flame, it has all but disappeared, a secret that only fire can tell." Danielle's eyes widened and she knew she had to tell her friends.

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After Nehal finished bugging Heather,she went back to her room and walked over to the window to find that it was mysteriously open. Papers were flying all around the condo. Suddenly, Nehal felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to face Danielle.

Danielle replied hastily, "Is it secret? Is it safe?"

"What? Are you drunk?" accused Nehal. What in the name of Merlin's pants was she talking about?

"Nehal, I'm not drunk and this is serious! I have exclusive information about the ring that Malfoy always wears!"

"Really?"

"Uh huh. It's actually called the ring of power and it's been passed on for so many generations."

Nehal nodded her head impressed with Danielle's information. "Wow that's neat!"

"I know, but get this." said Danielle."When you throw the ring into fire this weird sort of Ancient writing appears."

"Ancient writing? Can you read it?"

"There are few who can. The language is that of death eaters, which I will not utter here."

"Death eaters, have their own language?" Nehal looked flabbergasted. "Oh my god Danie! Us aurors should have our own language! Do you know how cool that would be?" She was extremely excited by this idea.

Danielle rolled her eyes. "Anyways, in the common tongue it says, 'one ring to rule them all.'"

"By all you're referring to muggles right?" asked Nehal.

"Yes, now let me finish, your spoiling the mood."

"Sorry." Nehal looked at her hand and twiddled her thumbs.

Danielle continued, "One ring to find them. One ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them."

"What are you guys talking about?" asked a groggily Heather who walked into the room. She stretched her arms high in the air while waiting for an answer.

"Malfoy wears the ring of power now." explained Danielle.

Nehal said, "But when he has it off he acts like his usual self."

Heather snorted and said, "I actually feel sorry for Malfoy. It's not fair for him to carry such a burden like this."

"I know." replied Danielle. "Evil is stirring in him."

All of a sudden, a loud clicking noise came from the window and balcony.

Nehal being the brave one said, "Get down!"

"Get down and boogie!" sang Heather as she danced her way down.

"Shh!" hissed Danielle as she and Heather hid under the table.

Nehal clutched her wand and slowly moved forward to the window. She looked and saw Diego awkwardly sitting on his broomstick.

Diego laughed nervously. He was caught. "Hi. Nice weather for flying. Not much of a breeze, if you ask me."

"Get down here Diego!" yelled Nehal.

Once Diego, was on the ground, Nehal yanked him by the ear and dropped him on the couch.

Danielle and Heather crawled out from under the table.

Nehal pointed her wand at Diego. "Confound it all, Diego Luna! Have you been eavesdropping?"

Diego answered, "I haven't been dropping no eaves Nehal. Honest, I was just flying."

Heather said, "Isn't it a little late to be flying around the city?" She narrowed her eyes.

"It's the bloody afternoon!" scowled Diego.

"Yes...I knew that." Heather did the shifty eye thing.

"I heard raised voices."

Nehal said, "What did you hear? SPEAK!"

Diego flinched. "N-n-nothing important. I heard a good deal about a ring, Draco Malfoy and something about the end of the world but, please Nehal don't hurt me. Don't turn me into anything-unnatural..." He held his hands in front of his face, cowardly.

"No...perhaps not." Nehal knelt down and grabbed Diego by the collar. I've thought of a better use for you."

A/N: Well, what do you think? Please let us know because we really enjoy reading feedback and it often fuels our future chapters. Love you all! sorry for the lateness..other chapters will come sooner we promise ...love ya!

Song credit goes to: Dare you to move, by Switchfoot and I don't love you, by My Chemical Romance