AN: Reviews are better than snow (at this time of year I mean let's be realistic; snow at Christmas trumps basically everything).
Chapter Forty-Three
Of Awkward Present Giving and Not Taking Your Own Advice
Not much had changed when Lien's birthday rolled around. Jayna and Lydjah weren't speaking to Molly, James wasn't speaking to Jayna, and Albus and Scorpius remained blissfully unaware of the whole thing.
Jayna had given her (badly wrapped) present to Lien (the second book in the Clockwork series) outside Lien's Transfiguration lesson but had hurried away when the other first-year Hufflepuffs began to crowd round them, sure that Jayna was attempting to harm their Muggleborn friend.
Lydjah meanwhile, was talking to every single Ravenclaw she knew, determined to find out who had poured all the mud and blood over Jayna. She'd found out where the blood had come from at least; the Potions stock had been raided of its entire stock of Salamander blood. This led Lydjah to believe that it was one of the younger years' work; anyone older would have been able to conjure the blood themselves, or at least have the sense to replace the Salamander blood with a refilling Charm. Unfortunately for her investigation Professor Slughorn was almost 100 % certain that he'd seen the Salamander blood before going for lunch and everyone knew you couldn't get into the Potions store at lunch after Slughorn had put the student repelling-charm on it following the disastrous attempted prank of 2006.
"Kira Pemberly?" The first-year looked up with a sneer on her face to see the angry second-year. She was in the Ravenclaw common-room, receiving tutoring from Seraphina (the Head Girl had a strange aversion to the library).
"Yes?"
"Did you set up that 'prank' on Jayna last week?" Kira raised an eyebrow.
"No." She said clearly. Seraphina nodded.
"Yeah Lydjah she was with me for most of that night; I watched her go to her dormitory myself. Surely one of you would have woken up if she'd snuck in during the night." Seraphina explained. Lydjah cursed in her head; she'd been so sure it was Kira.
She wondered if the incident had anything to do with the warning on Lien's arm, as the marks had all but gone now. It could have been a more sinister person she supposed, like the elusive 'Night-Watchers' whom she suspected were behind the Courtyard duel in September, who'd purposefully made it look like it was done by a student to avoid suspicion. But for what purpose? If they wanted to isolate Jayna to get her surely they would have done it by now. And if they wanted to kill her so badly surely they would have done it when she'd been kidnapped in October? None of this made any sense. It was like there were two groups of people; one who wanted her dead and the other that wanted her for something else.
Lydjah wasn't sure that death was the worst thing that could happen to her friend and that worried her greatly.
James spotted one of his many cousins in the library. The answer to why James was in the library was an interesting one (it involved a cat, a poltergeist, a Fanged Frisbee, several paintings and very angry caretaker) but suffice to say it wasn't because he'd suddenly decided to take up reading. Almost every single ginger in the school was a Weasley (there were five currently in Hogwarts, and that wasn't counting Roxanne and Victoire who weren't ginger) and he'd been very surprised last year when he'd tapped a red-head on the shoulder assuming it was one of his cousins when it turned out to be one of his ex-girlfriends that had had her hair jinxed cherry-red. Needless to say the meeting hadn't gone well.
Since then he'd been very careful to make sure it was the right shade of ginger to be a Weasley. Right now he knew the person drooling onto the book in their sleep was Molly by her longer than Louis' but shorter than Dominque's hair. He wandered over, completely unaware that his mouth apparently had a mind of its own and was determined to get out a message.
"Apologise to Blackwood." Molly woke with a start looking blearily at James. She moved her head slightly, her cheek stuck to the page, and when she recognised he was not the librarian she shut her eyes again. James shook her shoulder and she finally woke up properly, peeling her face from the book and glaring at him.
"What do you want James?"
"Apologise to Blackwood." Said his mouth again without his permission. Molly raised her eyebrows.
"I will if you do." James glared at her. "That's what I thought."
"We did something completely different though; you said she was a Muggle hating purist-"
"You said it was her fault that her brothers died."
"What? I never said that-"
"Really? That's what I heard."
"From who?!" Molly waved a hand vaguely. James started to look panicked. "Shit! What if that's what Blackwood thinks I said?"
"You should probably clear it up with her."
"That's right I should." He marched determinedly about four steps and then whirled back round to Molly who had a cheeky grin on her face. "You little liar!" Molly grinned wider.
"Almost worked though didn't it?" There was a pause and then Molly let out a long sigh.
"I'll apologise to her. But you should too." James shook his head vehemently.
"No way. Don't you know her and her sister are planning to take over Western Portugal?" James' theory paled in the bizarre look that was sent his way from Molly.
"Right. And Lydjah's a werewolf."
"Well actually-" James began but he cut himself off when Molly sent him another look.
"The point I'm trying to make is that you want me to apologise because I accused her of being a Purist right to her face. But the reason you haven't apologised is because you don't have the guts to admit that that's what you think about her too."
"I don't think she's a Purist-" James spluttered and then realised what he said. "I'm merely annoyed that she's allowing her family's deaths to ruin everything she does." Molly quirked her eyebrows.
"You can't honestly be pissed that she's upset about her entire family dying."
"But they were bad people!" Molly suddenly looked as tired as Jayna.
"That's the point though James; they weren't. Not to her. Not to most people. The world doesn't work in shades of black or white James. We're all a little grey."
