Puberty was a rather irritating thing. In the past three months, Jade had grown six inches and none of her old clothes fit her anymore. Her 'womanly figure', as her mother put it, was beginning to form. The upside to this was that Jade got to go shopping for a whole new wardrobe. Her change was new territory for her brother to exploit. He often claimed that whenever she got upset over something it was because of 'those damn hormones'. Her skin was now breaking out in little bumps along her forehead.
"The more you touch your face, the worse it's going to get, love." Her mother, Amelia, told her when she found Jade rubbing her forehead. All of these changes made Jade extremely uncomfortable, physically and emotionally.
"Well, what am I supposed to do about it? My body hates me." Amelia laughed, her laugh was a beautiful sound but at the moment Jade didn't care to hear it.
"Your body doesn't hate you. It's going through a big change."
"Well, I hate it," Jade mumbled as she picked at the ends of her hair, her mother came around the kitchen island and smacked her hand away.
"I went through the exact same thing you're going through. Washing your face at night will do wonders."
"Pansy said her mother showed her a few glamours she could use," Jade said and her mother sighed,
"The glamour just tricks people into seeing something or not seeing something, it doesn't actually get rid of your blemishes."
"Fair enough." Jade considered, her mother was right, as always.
"The best thing to help is a healthy diet and good hygiene."
"I have good hygiene."
"Good, you'll do much better than your brother then." Her mother smirked as Rodrick objected from the living room. "He thought showers were a punishment." She whispered to Jade and they shared a smile. "Don't you have some homework you should be finishing?" Her mother recalled and Jade froze and looked up,
"No?" Her mother gave her a knowing look and she sighed, "Yes." Jade had been given work over the break. What was the point of a break if they were still making her learn things? Jade slid out of her seat and slowly trudged up the stairs. She could hear Ezekiel's shrieks from the hall and when she entered her room her owl went absolutely berserk. Since Ezekiel didn't get along with Rodrick's owl, Willie, he had to stay outside or in his cage when he wasn't with Jade. Ezekiel was squawking and flapping his wings wildly and Jade hurried over to his cage to set him free. "It's okay. Shh, it's okay." She cooed to him and he stopped at once, "You're a drama king." She told him as she opened his cage and he planted himself on her shoulder. "Interested in Divination?" She asked and Ezekiel took off and out of her open french windows that led to a small patio. It was Ezekiel's favorite place, Jade had put up a black perch for him and even a swing that he liked to launch off of. Jade was regretting choosing Divination at the moment, her teacher, Professor Trelawny, had assigned a few chapters she thought her students should read before coming to her class. Jade didn't like work, but she loved to learn. She wanted to know every area of magic there was. Unlike her friend, Pansy, she was fascinated with knowledge. Knowledge was beneficial, some would even say that knowledge itself was power. So the few hours Jade spent reading passed quickly and then it was time for dinner. Jade ate her dinner quickly and escaped back upstairs,
"She spends all of her time in her room now." Her mother told her father sadly,
"She's a teenager, they practically live in their rooms." Jade ignored their comments as she shut the door to her room and called for Ezekiel to come inside. A slight breeze had picked up and Jade wanted to close the windows, Ezekiel soared inside and landed on the edge of her desk with a letter trapped in his beak.
"What have you got there?" She asked as she took it from him.
Dear Miss Maddex,
Please note that the new school year will begin on September the first. The Hogwarts Express will leave from King's Cross station, platform nine and three-quarters, at eleven o'clock. Third years are permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade on certain weekends. Please give the enclosed permission form to your parent or guardian to sign.
Yours sincerely,
Professor M. McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Jade unfolded the Hogsmeade permission form and skimmed over it. Jade was already imagining all the things she would do at Hogsmeade, her brother only spoke highly of it when he returned home for the holidays. Instead of hanging out around the castle, they'd be able to leave the grounds on weekends. "Mum!" Jade called as she ran down the stairs, "Mum, could you-" She was cut off by a harsh shush from her brother. Her parents were sitting on the couch in the living room listening to the radio.
"The infamous Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban." Jade listened, "He is known to be a follower of the Dark Lord, if anyone should catch sight of him or hear anything please contact the Ministry at once." They sat there in silence, her parents exchanging a look while Rodrick snaked an arm around Jade's shoulders.
"What'd he do?" Jade asked quietly and her father looked away from his wife,
"A lot of things."
"Apparently." Her mother mumbled and her father looked at her again,
"What do you mean?" Jade asked her mother.
"Amelia." Her father had never used that tone with her mother before, only her and Rodrick when they were testing his patience.
"Joseph." She said back but then she smiled at her daughter, "What have you got there?" She asked and Jade absently handed her mother the letter and permission form. "I see." She lightly tapped Joseph's knee, "Remember when we would visit Hogsmeade?" She asked and her father grinned,
"I do."
"A great time to spend with your friends." Her mother said pointedly at her father and something transpired between them that neither Rodrick nor Jade knew about.
"Have they been fighting?" Jade leaned in to ask her brother quietly.
"No, they were fine."
"Until now." Rodrick's arm fell from around Jade and he stood,
"Excuse me." He said before heading down the long hallway that led to their family library. Jade watched her mother sign the form and hand it back to her before turning back to her father. Jade took the hint to leave the room then so she awkwardly got up from the couch and made for the stairs.
"Years later and he's still causing trouble." She heard her father say and Jade paused on the landing to the second floor.
"Good for him." Her mother snarled back at her father.
"Amelia, he's a murderer!" Her father hissed, struggling to keep his voice down.
"He's not! He's innocent and you know it!"
"Stop living in the past." Her father snapped, "The Sirius you knew is long gone, whether you care to admit it or not." Jade quietly snuck back to her room and shut the door. She tried to remember a time when her parents fought with each other like they did now and she couldn't come up with any other occasion. It hadn't dawned on her until just then but she realized her parents must've gone to school with Sirius Black, they went to school with Lucius Malfoy, they went to school with Harry's parents… Jade forgot that her parents were once like her, they had their own lives, they weren't always just her parents. how could her mother protect a convicted criminal so fiercely? A murderer. Jade knew she couldn't ask her about it, it was obviously a sore subject. She'd just have to figure it out on her own then.
