At the beginning of the week, there was a flyer posted in the Common Room saying that first-years would begin flying lessons with the Gryffindors on Thursday. Everyone talked about it, in the dormitories, at mealtimes, in between classes, during classes. Jade was excited, sure but she'd like to talk about something else every once in a while. So when Thursday actually came Jade was excited for two reasons, she'd be flying on a broom, and everyone would finally move on to talking about something else.
"You ready?" Pansy asked as her bag thudded next to her as she joined Jade at the table for breakfast.
"For what?" Jade asked even though she knew what she was talking about,
"For flying class!" She gasped and Jade smiled at her,
"Yes, I know." Pansy slapped her lightly on the arm, Draco had joined Jade at her other side.
"Maddex." He greeted and Jade glared at him,
"Malfoy." She mimicked his tone. Owls poured into the Great Hall again and Jade smiled as Ezekiel swooped down with Hunter and they both landed in front of Jade and Draco. "Hello, love." She cooed and gave him a piece of toast. Ezekiel hooted at her and she noticed a small package tied to Hunter's ankle. "What did you get?" She asked as she reached for her goblet.
"Probably sweets from my mother." He smirked as he started opening the package. Draco was right, a few chocolate frogs and chocolate cauldrons sat nicely in the box and Draco reached in and handed one to Jade,
"Thank you." She smiled as she took it from him, Draco signaled to Pansy with a chocolate cauldron and she opened her hands, he threw it to her and she thanked him as she caught it. Draco noticed something over Jade's shoulder and got up from the table. "Where are you going?" She asked him,
"Come with me and find out." He told her without turning back and Jade and Pansy quickly got up and followed Draco over to the Gryffindor table. By the time the girls reached Draco, he had snatched a crystal ball out of the chubby-faced boy's hand.
Harry and Ron jumped to their feet and Jade reflexively took a step closer to Draco. She wanted to be able to get in between the boys if they started fighting, but Professor McGonagall was there in a flash.
"What's going on?" She asked,
"Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor." The boy pointed at Draco and Jade narrowed her eyes, she hated a whiner.
Draco quickly dropped the Remembrall back on the table and the boy quickly grabbed it again.
"Just looking," he said, and he headed out of the Great Hall. Jade and Pansy followed him, their breakfast forgotten about. "Baby Longbottom is always crying about something." So that was his name, she'd forgotten when McGonagall called him up at the Sorting Ceremony. Jade actually agreed with him this time.
"Interested in knowing how he made it into Gryffindor," Jade grumbled, she'd felt bad the first time Longbottom had been hurt in Potions but now she just found him irritating, all Draco was doing was looking at it and the lot of them freaked out as if he was going to destroy it.
"Blaise was right, they are annoying." Pansy agreed and the three of them laughed as they returned to the Common Room to hang out before their class.
At three-thirty that afternoon, Draco and Jade headed down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson with the rest of the Slytherins. It was a clear and sunny day and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns toward a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to where Jade got her first look at the Forbidden Forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance.
The Slytherins all stood in a line next to a broomstick that was lying on the ground. They looked around, no one else was there yet but they were obviously in the right place due to the broomsticks being there. Jade saw a group of children with red ties head towards them and she groaned as she could hear them talking loudly and laughing with each other as they made their way over.
"Hello." Greeted a small Indian girl and the Slytherins didn't reply, the girl's smile fell and she retreated to her twin sister. Harry Potter was talking with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger quietly as they noticed the broomsticks on the ground and quickly made their way to a broom. Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, gray hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk.
"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up." She clapped her hands at the rest of the Gryffindors who were talking together and they quickly dispersed and found the remaining brooms. The brooms were nothing special, they looked worn down and old. "Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!'"
"Up!" everyone shouted. The broom hopped off the ground and then landed back on the ground when Jade shouted. She looked over at Draco and he had a smirk on his face after getting it the first try. Harry Potter also had his broom in his hand, they were the only two who did it the first try.
"Up!" Jade commanded again and the broom flew up into her hand and she grinned to herself. Madam Hooch then began to show them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. Jade got on her broom cautiously and she heard Madam Hooch talking to Draco about how he had been doing it wrong.
"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. Jade waited eagerly, she wanted to be in the air. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle, three, two," But Neville Longbottom, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had even been blown. "Come back, boy!" she shouted after him, but Neville was rising higher and higher straight up into the air. Jade saw that bewildered and frightened look on his pale face as he looked down, when he did, he began to lean sideways and fell off of his broom and onto the ground. Jade watched him as he hit the ground hard on his side and there was a crack. He didn't move, the class stood silently as Madam Hooch rushed over to where he landed a few feet away. "Broken wrist," She announced. "Come on, boy, it's all right, up you get." She turned to the rest of the class while she helped Neville up and supported his weight. "None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear." Jade let her broom drop from her hands, she was disappointed and as she looked around that was what everyone was feeling. As soon as they were gone Draco burst into laughter.
"Did you see his face, the great lump?" He smiled and Jade couldn't help the easy smile that spread across her lips. His face was hilarious. Of course, it would be him to have a problem with flying, he had a problem with practically everything. The other Slytherins joined in.
"Shut up, Malfoy," snapped one of the twins.
"Oh, sticking up for Longbottom?" said Pansy, "Never thought you'd like fat little crybabies, Parvati."
"Look!" pointed Draco, darting forward and snatching something up out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him." He returned to the Slytherins and Jade looked at the Remembrall as it glittered in the sun.
"Give that here, Malfoy," she heard Harry call to him. Everyone fell silent and Draco sneered at him.
"I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find… how about up a tree?" He turned back to the Slytherins but Harry was walking towards them,
"Give it here!" Harry said louder, but Draco grabbed his broomstick and quickly took off. Jade watched him soar around above and she was impressed at first until she remembered what Madam Hooch had said.
"Come and get it, Potter!" He called to Harry and Harry bent down and grabbed his broom.
"No!" shouted Hermione Granger. "Madam Hooch told us not to move, you'll get us all into trouble." Harry ignored her though as he mounted his broom and up he went after Draco. Harry wobbled a little at first but then he quickly got the hang of flying and was pretty good himself. Jade heard the Gryffindors gasping and a few were cheering and Jade rolled her eyes, none of the Slytherins had cheered for Draco when he went up in the air, every little thing they do has to be celebrated as if it were a great achievement. He turned his broomstick sharply to face Draco in midair and Draco looked surprised with Harry's flying abilities. Jade couldn't hear what they were talking about but they had stopped moving. All of a sudden, Harry jolted towards Draco and Draco narrowly missed him and turned to face Harry once he was a safe distance away. Draco threw Neville's ball high in the air and dashed back down towards the group of students. Jade noted that Draco was now safely back on the ground but she didn't look away from Harry. He had leaned forward and was quickly gathering speed in a dive, trying to catch the ball. Pansy screamed as she thought he was going to run into her and jumped out of the way. Harry stretched out his hand a foot from the ground and caught it, just in time to pull his broom straight, and he toppled gently onto the grass with the Remembrall clutched safely in his fist. Jade's mouth opened in surprise, it was a nice catch and Jade even thought about cheering with the Gryffindors but before she could make a sound,
"HARRY POTTER!" Jade's heart jumped at the loud voice, Professor McGonagall was quickly approaching the class and Harry stood to his feet. "Never in all my time at Hogwarts-" Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with shock, and her glasses flashed furiously, "how dare you… might have broken your neck,"
"It wasn't his fault, Professor." One of the twins spoke up and McGonagall quickly whipped towards her,
"Be quiet, Miss Patil." She hissed,
"But Malfoy-" Ron started but was cut off again by Professor McGonagall,
"That's enough, Mr. Weasley. Potter, follow me, now." Draco was smirking as Harry bowed his head and followed a furious Professor McGonagall.
"That was rich." Draco smiled and Jade walked up towards him and slapped him on the arm, "What was that for?" He frowned slightly,
"A few seconds earlier and she would have seen you flying up there as well," Jade spoke angrily, he'd have been expelled, he could've lost house points, he could've gotten all of them in trouble.
"But she didn't." He stated casually and Jade sighed. The class didn't know what to do next, they sat with their houses in the grass and talked until Madam Hooch returned just to dismiss the class. The students didn't have anything to do until dinner so Pansy and Jade returned to the Common Room to stay caught up on their homework so they wouldn't fall behind. Pansy and Jade sat at a table near a large window that showed an underwater view of the lake.
"What's a squib? Why can't I remember that one?" Pansy groaned as she flipped through her textbook.
"A squib is a child born from a magical parent who can't perform magic," Jade said robotically as she was reading her own textbook to finish her Charms homework. Pansy wrote down what Jade said and then stared up at her,
"I don't understand how you remember all this stuff."
"That's because I pay attention in class." Jade smiled without looking up from her book but then looked up to see Pansy's eyes narrowed at her and her lips pinched together, "I'm kidding." Jade laughed as Pansy's face refused to soften but she eventually turned back to her homework,
"Can squibs still use enchanted objects?" She asked and Jade looked up at Pansy,
"I'm not going to do your homework for you." She told her and Pansy groaned as she loudly flipped through her book again, "But the answer's yes." Pansy smiled at Jade and she returned the warm gesture.
"How is she going to pass her first-year exams if you just tell her everything and she doesn't learn it herself?" Blaise asked as he approached them,
"I'm learning. Jade taught me what a squib is." Pansy told him,
"No, Professor Flitwick taught you what a squib is but you weren't listening." Pansy huffed at him and turned back to her book, started to ask a question but then stopped herself. Jade smiled up at Blaise who was smiling at the fact that he was right. "Exactly." Pansy looked up and stuck out her tongue and Blaise chuckled as he left the girls alone and headed towards the boys' dormitory.
"Come on, you're almost done." Jade tapped her quill on Pansy's book, "Focus." Pansy nodded and to Jade's surprise, she didn't ask Jade another question and finished her homework on her own.
Apparently, Draco didn't think he'd bothered Harry enough at flying class because as they were finishing dinner that night Draco went back towards the Gryffindor table. Jade groaned and got up from her seat and followed him to make sure he didn't get in trouble. Crabbe and Goyle were with Draco but they weren't there to keep him out of trouble; they were there to help cause it.
"Having a last meal, Potter? When are you getting on the train back to the Muggles?" He smirked and Jade folded her arms under her chest as she watched and stood behind him.
"You're a lot braver now that you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you," Harry said cooly. Jade grinned at Harry's quick reply,
"I'd take you on anytime on my own," Draco said. "Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only, no contact." Harry and Ron both shared a look. "What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?" Draco looked over his shoulder to Crabbe and Goyle with a smirk on his face and he caught Jade's eyes before he turned back around.
"Of course he has," said Ron, wheeling around. "I'm his second, who's yours?" Draco looked at Crabbe and Goyle, deciding which one might be better in a duel.
"Crabbe," he said. Jade began to object, this was stupid, they wouldn't be dueling. They would get hurt and possibly in trouble. "Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room; that's always unlocked." Draco cut her off as Jade began to object, she hopped to Draco's side as he turned away from the Gryffindor table,
"Malfoy-" He cut her off and they walked back to the Slytherin table. "Draco." She tried again and he sighed and turned to her, "What are you thinking? You could get caught or you could get hurt!"
"Maddex-" He tried to calm her down,
Why don't you just leave Potter alone? He hasn't done anything to you." She continued and he waited,
"Are you done?" He asked and when she didn't respond he continued, "There won't be a duel." He told her and she furrowed her eyebrows,
"I just heard you talking to-"
"There won't be a duel." Draco repeated and then gave her a grin as they took their seats back at the table, "I bet Filch would be interested to know a few Gryffindors plan to be out of their dormitories past hours tonight."