"Harry Potter?" Draco spat when they reached the Common Room. Dumbledore had sent everyone to their dormitories for the night but before he did there was a stiff silence in the Great Hall as Harry realized what was going on and made his way up to Dumbledore. Jade could feel the silence change from shock to confusion to resentment. "He has to have everything, doesn't he?" Draco huffed as he sat down on the couch.
"How does he think he's going to keep up with them?" Blaise added. "They've got three years of experience on him, can do spells he's never attempted before, probably can-"
"Yes, Blaise, we understand." Jade cut him off as she slowly sunk onto the couch.
"I don't. How did he do it?" Pansy asked.
"Surely he must've told you," Draco questioned Jade.
"I haven't spoken to Harry in days, only Hermione, and she didn't mention anything about Harry wanting to enter the tournament." She wished she could talk to Hermione now, have her explain what was going on. Would they let Harry compete? Surely, Harry didn't put his name in himself so who did?
"Ask him tomorrow then," Blaise said. Simple enough, except she didn't know if Harry wanted to talk to her. He was Ron's best friend, and he hated Malfoy just as much, or more, than Ron. Her refusal to stop being his friend could've made him angry with her too.
"Yeah… I don't know."
"Why not?" Draco asked.
"Why don't you ask him yourself, Draco?" Pansy snapped, noticing Jade's distracted behavior.
"That's a good idea, Parkinson," Draco smirked, something twinkling in his eyes, and Pansy sighed, not even trying to redirect him away from the bad idea she knew he was trying to form in his head.
"I'm going to bed," Jade announced and they all watched her get up from the couch and head for the girls' dormitories stairs.
"Um, okay. Goodnight!" Theo called after her.
The next morning, as they made their way to breakfast, Jade ran into Hermione. She was carrying what looked like a stack of toast folded up in a napkin.
"Hey." Hermione greeted her.
"How's Harry?" Jade asked, branching away from her friends and waving at them to go on without her.
"I was just going to see him, he hasn't come down yet."
"Mind if I join you?" Hermione thought about it for a moment, casting a glance behind her into the Great Hall before nodding. "Did you know he was going to do it?" Jade asked as they began to climb the marble stairs.
"I can't imagine Harry putting his name into the Goblet of Fire. I thought Dumbledore would put a stop to it, but apparently, they're letting him compete even though he's not of age."
"Really?"
"I'm surprised you haven't heard already, everyone else has." Hermione opened her mouth to speak the password for the Gryffindor portrait when it suddenly swung open and Harry walked out. "Hello, I brought you this." Hermione handed him the toast.
"Thanks." He muttered, looking between the girls.
"Want to go for a walk?" Hermione asked.
"Good idea," They went downstairs, crossed the Entrance Hall quickly, and were soon striding across the lawn toward the lake, where the Durmstrang ship was moored. It was a chilly morning, Jade wished she wore more than her thin sweater, but they kept moving as Harry explained to them what had happened after he left the Gryffindor table the night before. It was an interesting story, but Jade believed it. It made more sense that someone would do it for him, given his luck the previous years, crazier things had happened. To his immense relief, Hermione accepted his story without question.
"Well, of course, I knew you hadn't entered yourself," Hermione told him. Harry looked at Jade hopefully and she gave him a reassuring smile.
"I believe you, Harry."
"The look on your face when Dumbledore read out your name!" Hermione sighed. "But the question is, who did put it in? Because Moody's right, Harry, I don't think any student could have done it, they'd never be able to fool the Goblet, or get over Dumbledore's-"
"Have you seen Ron?" Harry interrupted and Hermione hesitated.
"Um, yes, he was at breakfast." She said quietly.
"Does he still think I entered myself?"
"He thinks you did it?" Jade asked and Harry nodded.
"Well… no, I don't think so, not really." Hermione grimaced.
"What's that supposed to mean, 'not really'?"
"Oh Harry, isn't it obvious?" Hermione sighed. "He's jealous!"
"Jealous?" Harry questioned. "Jealous of what? He wants to make a prat of himself in front of the whole school, does he?"
"Look," Hermione started patiently, "it's always you who gets all the attention, you know it is. I know it's not your fault," She added quickly as Harry opened his mouth to object. "I know you don't ask for it… but, well, you know, Ron's got all those brothers to compete against at home, and you're his best friend, and you're really famous… he's always shunted to one side whenever people see you, and he puts up with it, and he never mentions it, but I suppose this is just one time too many."
"Great," Harry said bitterly. "Really great. Tell him from me I'll swap any time he wants. Tell him from me he's welcome to it, people gawping at my forehead everywhere I go."
"I'm not telling him anything," Hermione said in a tone of finality. "Tell him yourself. It's the only way to sort this out."
"I'm not running around after him trying to make him grow up!" Harry yelled. "Maybe he'll believe I'm not enjoying myself once I've got my neck broken or-"
"Don't say that, Harry." Jade cut him off.
"That's not funny," Hermione said quietly. "That's not funny at all." Hermione looked very anxious. "Harry, I've been thinking. You know what we've got to do, don't you? Straight away, the moment we get back to the castle?"
"Yeah, give Ron a good kick up the-"
"Write to Sirius. You've got to tell him what's happened. He asked you to keep him posted on everything that's going on at Hogwarts. I brought some parchment and a quill out with me-"
"Come off it," Harry said, looking around to check that they couldn't be overheard, but the grounds were deserted. "He came back to the country just because my scar twinged. He'll probably come bursting right into the castle if I tell him someone's entered me in the Triwizard Tournament-"
"He'd want you to tell him," Hermione said stubbornly. "He's going to find out anyway."
"How?"
"Harry, this isn't going to be kept quiet. This tournament's famous, and you're famous. I'll be really surprised if there isn't anything in the Daily Prophet about you competing already. You're in half the books about You-Know-Who, you know, and Sirius would rather hear it from you, I know he would." Harry stood there for a moment and Jade saw him clench his jaw for a moment before nodding.
"Okay, okay, I'll write to him." They began their trek up the path to the Owlery and as soon as they entered, the strong smell of owl poo hit their noses. Jade looked up and around at all of the owls, trying to find Ezekiel. "Whose owl am I going to use?" He asked. "He told me not to use Hedwig again."
"Ask Ron if you can borrow-" Hermione started.
"I'm not asking Ron for anything," He said flatly.
"Well, borrow one of the school owls, then, anyone can use them."
"I've got a better idea," Jade told them as she whistled, catching the attention of multiple owls, including her own. She held out her arm and a second later, Ezekiel swooped down and hooted happily. "You could use Ezekiel," Jade offered and Harry looked at her owl for a moment. "He's a little protective of me, but I'm sure he'll do it if I ask him." She went on, scratching his chest, "Can you take a letter for my friend Harry?" She cooed at him and then put her arm down towards the stone railing of the steps and he hopped off. Harry approached him carefully and Jade watched from nearby as he slowly reached out his hand. Ezekiel looked at her and then at Harry's hand, as if asking if this were okay, Jade waited until Harry's hand had stroked one of his wings before nodding. "Good boy." Just then, Hedwig came swooping down and stood next to Ezekiel, surveying him for a moment and then hooting. Hermione gave Harry a piece of parchment, a quill, and a bottle of ink. Harry sat down against a wall least covered in poo in hay, and wrote his letter.
"Finished," Harry announced after a few minutes. At this, Hedwig fluttered onto Harry's shoulder and held out her leg.
"I can't use you," Harry told her. "I've got to use Ezekiel." Hedwig gave a very loud hoot and took off so suddenly that Harry gasped slightly, her talons had cut into his shoulder. Ezekiel stood still as Harry approached him and held out his leg for him. Ezekiel took off once the letter was secure and Harry went over to Hedwig to try and stroke her back but she turned her head and snapped her beak quickly as a warning to leave her alone. "First Ron, then you…this isn't my fault."
"It's alright, Harry." Jade rubbed his back reassuringly but she didn't know just how bad it would get.
No one would talk to him. It seemed that everybody in Hogwarts was angry with him for stealing the attention away from the "real" Hogwarts champion, Cedric Diggory. It reminded Jade of the time two years ago when everyone thought he was the Heir of Slytherin and that he was attacking students. Jade felt awful when she saw him sitting alone in the classes they shared, he and Ron were still not talking to each other. At mealtimes, Ron and Hermione sat with him as they normally did but Ron refused to speak to him. Jade spent as much of her spare time with him as she could, sometimes they talked, sometimes they didn't. He never said anything about it, but she knew he appreciated it. Jade was nervous for their first Care of Magical Creatures lesson since Harry was announced as a champion.
"Just leave him be, Draco," Jade told him as they walked down the hill to Hagrid's hut. But Draco didn't even glance at her as he caught Harry's eyes, and a familiar nasty sneer wrinkled up his handsome features.
"Ah, look, boys, it's the champion," He spoke loudly once they reached the Gryffindors. Jade was surprised how Blaise and Theo acted along with Draco, usually they ignored his jabs at Harry but they were just as bothered about him being a champion as everyone else. "Got your autograph books? Better get a signature now, because I doubt he's going to be around much longer. Half the Triwizard champions have died, how long d'you reckon you're going to last, Potter? Ten minutes into the first task's my bet." Jade shoved past Draco and Blaise and stood next to Pansy. Hagrid emerged from the back of his cabin balancing a large tower of crates, each containing a very large Blast-Ended Skrewt. Hagrid then proceeded to explain that the reason the skrewts had been killing one another was an excess of pent-up energy, and that the solution would be for each student to fix a leash on a skrewt and take it for a short walk. "Take this thing for a walk?" He asked in disgust. "And where exactly are we supposed to fix the leash? Around the sting, the blasting end, or the sucker?"
"Roun' the middle," Hagrid said, demonstrating. "Yeh might want ter put on yer dragon-hide gloves, jus' as an extra precaution. Harry, you come here an' help me with this big one." Harry moved slowly over to Hagrid and bent over to help him, both of them mumbling something but nothing Jade could catch.
"Help me with a Skrewt?" Jade offered but before Pansy could answer Draco was at her side with a leash in his hand.
"Of course, darling." He grinned but Jade rolled her eyes as he fastened a leash around the Skrewt in front of Jade. He handed her the leash and she snatched it out of his hand.
"He didn't put his name in, you know," Jade said to him as he joined her side, letting the Skrewt slug along the grass.
"How do you know?"
"He told me. He didn't have someone put his name in for him either."
"So? He lied."
"Harry's never lied, never kept anything from me." She told him and he raised an eyebrow at her.
"Really?"
"Really."
"So, you know everything about him?" Draco questioned.
"No. But if I asked about something, I'm sure he'd tell me."
"How can you be certain?"
"Because there are things he's told me that he hasn't had to because I'm his friend and he trusts me." She snapped back.
"Just a question." Draco chuckled and grabbed the leash from Jade when he realized she was struggling to pull the Skrewt into a different direction to keep it from running into a tree. Draco tugged, dragging the skrewt away, but the Skrewt didn't like this because its end exploded, shooting it a few feet forward and yanking Draco to the ground. Jade laughed as he hit the dirt and doubled over as she tried to offer him a hand up.
"It's not funny, Maddex." He growled as he got to his feet on his own and looked down at his dirty uniform.
"I'm s-sorry." She laughed, trying to regain her composure but then bursting into laughter again as she picked a large blade of grass from his mussed-up hair. He threw the leash and Jade hurried to pick it up in case the Skrewt decided to blast off again. "Don't pout." She told him.
"You walk the thing."
Jade was surprised her Slytherin friends didn't object more about her spending time with Harry given the circumstances but maybe they didn't because they knew it wouldn't do anything to change her mind. The week had gone by and now it was Friday, Harry's mood had continued to worsen with each passing day and she knew today would be hardest for him because they had double Potions in the afternoon. Her Slytherin friends had gotten badges from Hannah Abbott stating that Cedric Diggory was the rightful Champion of Hogwarts and when they pressed it it switched to a rude comment about Harry. They wore them to Potions. Draco tried to get Jade to wear one but she refused, for obvious reasons. After lunch, they had arrived for Potions and the Gryffindors made their way to Snape's class. Harry was at the head of the Gryffindor group and saw their badges which they wore proudly, all except Jade. SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY! THE REAL HOGWARTS CHAMPION!
"Like them, Potter?" Draco smirked. "And this isn't all they do, look!" He pressed his badge into his chest, and the message upon it was replaced by another one, which glowed green: POTTER STINKS! Harry's face burned as the Slytherins began to laugh.
"Oh very funny," Hermione said sarcastically to Pansy who was laughing at her side with Ava lane close behind. "Really witty." Ron didn't stand up for Harry, he was leaning against the wall with Dean and Seamus.
"Want one, Granger?" Draco asked, holding out the spare badge he had tried to offer Jade earlier. "I've got loads." Draco had started laughing again but Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out his wand. Immediately, people scrambled to get out of the way and Draco pulled out his own wand.
"Draco!" Jade hissed at him as she stood in front of him and took a look around to make sure no teachers were nearby. "Put that away or you're going to get in trouble." Draco stepped around Jade and smirked.
"Go on, then, Potter," He said calmly. "Moody's not here to look after you now. Do it, if you've got the guts."
"Blaise, would you please talk some sense into him?" Jade asked desperately but Blaise kept his eyes on Harry, his fingers resting on his wand. "Don't you dare." Jade warned him. Now he looked at her, the angry and hurt reaction on her face making his hand fall away from his wand. Jade took a step forward, now standing at Draco's side. "Put it down."
"Not now, Maddex," Draco said quietly, for a split second, Harry and Draco stared at each other, then, at exactly the same time, both shouted and jets of light shot out from their wands, hit each other in midair, and ricocheted off. Jade didn't even see the white light coming at her but she felt something burn on the left side of her face. Jade gasped when she got hit but groaned as the burn began to spread across her cheek. She turned away, covering her face, and Pansy stopped laughing and ran up to her.
"Jade?" She asked, gently pulling the hand from her face. "Oh, shit."
"What?" Jade asked, pulling her hand back from Pansy and feeling her face, it felt puffy and hot, the stinging more extreme on her cheekbone than anywhere else. That must've been where she got hit. "I'm swelling up, aren't I?" Jade asked as she quickly covered her face again.
"No, no, it's fine." Pansy tried reassuring her but the look on her face told her otherwise.
"Jade?" She heard Draco ask behind her and she brought up her other hand to cover her face completely. "Let me see." He was closer now, in front of her, his hands gently pulling on her wrists but she held firm.
"No, don't." She told him.
"Just let me see." He tried again and Jade allowed him to lower her hands. Blaise, Pansy, and Theo had circled around her, trying to block her from the other Slytherin students trying to get a look at her. Her vision on the left side of her face was now affected by the amount of swelling and she expected them to repel from her in disgust but Draco just looked scared. She wanted to cover her face again, but he lightly brushed his thumb on her cheek and then spun around.
"Look what you did, Potter!" Draco yelled and Jade covered the side of her face that was hit and went after him.
"Draco, it wasn't his-" She started but then stopped when she noticed Hermione was covering her mouth and Ron was standing next to her. "Hermione?" Jade began walking over to her when Professor Snape opened his classroom door and stepped out.
"And what is all this noise about?" He asked. The Slytherins all began speaking at once but Snape silenced them with a wave of his hand and pointed at Draco. "Explain."
"Potter attacked me, sir-"
"We attacked each other at the same time!" Harry argued.
"- and he hit Maddex, look." Snape turned to Jade and waited for her to lower her hand.
"Hospital wing, Maddex," Snape said calmly.
"Malfoy got Hermione!" Ron argued. "Look!" He pulled Hermione's hands away from her mouth to show Snape her teeth, her two front teeth were now past her chin and she looked like she was in pain.
"I see no difference," Snape said after a moment and Hermione let out a whimper, her eyes filled with tears, and she turned on her heel and ran.
"Hermione!" Jade called and took off after her, listening to Harry's and Ron's shouts of protest. She couldn't make out exactly what they were saying to Snape, but what she could make out was nothing good.