Jade's week at the Weasley's seemed to fly by, before she knew it, she was waking up the Sunday morning before term started and bustling about the Burrow making sure she had all her things. The weather had been gloomy the past few days but today there was a large rainstorm that began early in the morning and didn't look like it was easing up any time soon. Jade came down the stairs with Ginny to find the boys already settling down at the table for breakfast. Jade dragged her trunk to the front door and sat next to Harry. A large array of food covered the table Jade stabbed at a strip of bacon with her fork. Ginny flicked Ron's ear as she walked past him and took a seat opposite of Jade. She'd gotten much closer than she thought she would with the youngest Weasley, when Jade wasn't spending time with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, she was with Ginny. They'd talk about school, they'd talk about Quidditch, they'd talk about her rambunctious brothers, anything really, it was easy to talk to her. Jade hadn't cared before but as they talked she realized Ginny didn't have many friends. Her brothers didn't count, so that left the Patil twins and a girl in Ravenclaw named Luna Lovegood. She and Hermione were close and she considered Harry a friend, but she often found herself nervous to talk to him. Jade could tell that she had a very obvious crush on him, she didn't know how Harry didn't notice. Jade eyed Harry sideways and then met Ginny's gaze. Jade's eyes flicked back and forth and she smiled as Ginny's face turned red. Ginny kicked at her from under the table and Jade focused on grabbing some more food.

"Arthur!" Mrs. Weasley called up the staircase, disrupting the comfortable silence and quiet noises of forks clinking on plates. "Arthur! Urgent message from the Ministry!" She called again. They all watched as Mr. Weasley grabbed a quill and piece of parchment from his wife and then hurried into the living room and knelt in front of the fire. Jade craned over the top of her seat to see a head sitting in the middle of the flames like a large dragon egg. Once the head saw Arthur it started talking very quickly,

"Who's he-" Ron started and his mother shushed him.

"Muggle neighbors heard bangs and shouting, so they went and called those what d'you call 'ems… please-men. Arthur, you've got to get over there-"

"It's Amos Diggory," Fred whispered, being taller than them all he could get a better look at the face in the fire.

"Who's Amos Diggory?" Jade whispered at Harry.

"It's a real stroke of luck I heard about it." Amos Diggory went on. "I had to come into the office early to send a couple of owls, and I found the Improper Use of Magic lot all setting off. If Rita Skeeter gets hold of this one, Arthur-"

"What does Mad-Eye say happened?" Mr. Weasley asked,

"Amos Diggory's Cedric's father, he works at the Ministry," Harry explained quickly, trying to catch what they were saying. Jade knew Cedric, he was a very handsome boy in Hufflepuff. He was the Hufflepuff Seeker, and she'd heard he was a kind person. She remembered the time he wanted to have a rematch last year because Harry had gotten distracted by Dementors, he had won but he wanted to have another go, claiming he wanted to beat Harry at his best.

"Says he heard an intruder in his yard." Mr. Diggory went on. She couldn't see very well but from what she did see he didn't look much like Cedric at all. "Says he was creeping toward the house but was ambushed by his dustbins."

"What did the dustbins do?" Mr. Weasley asked as he scribbled on the parchment.

"Made one hell of a noise and fired rubbish everywhere, as far as I can tell," Diggory muttered. "Apparently one of them was still rocketing around when the please-men turned up-"

"And what about the intruder?"

"Arthur, you know Mad-Eye," Amos Diggory sighed. That was the second time she had heard mad eye, what did that mean? Was it someone's nickname? Someone in the Ministry? "Someone creeping into his yard in the dead of night? More likely there's a very shell-shocked cat wandering around somewhere, covered in potato peelings. But if the Improper Use of Magic lot get their hands on Mad-Eye, he's had it, think of his record… we've got to get him off on a minor charge, something in your department, what are exploding dustbins worth?"

"Might be a caution," Mr. Weasley muttered, writing something down again. "Mad-Eye didn't use his wand? He didn't actually attack anyone?"

"I'll bet he leapt out of bed and started jinxing everything he could reach through the window. But they'll have a job proving it, there aren't any casualties." Whoever they were talking about sounded mental, jumping out of bed and jinxing anything in sight, exploding trash bins, the name itself; Mad-Eye.

"All right, I'm off," Mr. Weasley sighed, and he stuffed the parchment with his notes on it into his pocket and dashed out the front door without another word.

"Sorry about this, Molly," Amos Diggory said, "bothering you so early and everything… but Arthur's the only one who can get Mad-Eye off, and Mad-Eye's supposed to be starting his new job today. Why he had to choose last night-"

"Never mind, Amos," Mrs. Weasley told him in a reassuring tone. "Sure you won't have a bit of toast or anything before you go?"

"Oh go on, then," Mr. Diggory said after a moment. Mrs. Weasley took a piece of buttered toast from a stack on the kitchen table, put it into the fire tongs, and transferred it into Mr. Diggory's mouth. He mumbled a soft thanks over the toast and then with a small pop his face dissolved in the fire. Bill and Charlie entered the kitchen then, pulling up seats to the table.

"Who's Mad-Eye?" Jade asked Hermione, thinking she was the one who would most likely know what was going on.

"Did you say Mad-Eye?" Bill asked. "What's he been up to now?" He grabbed a large spoon and poured some eggs on his plate.

"He says someone tried to break into his house last night," Mrs. Weasley sighed.

"Mad-Eye Moody?" George asked, spreading butter on his small stack of pancakes. "Isn't he that nutter-"

"Your father thinks very highly of Mad-Eye Moody," Mrs. Weasley interrupted him sternly.

"Yeah, well, Dad collects plugs, doesn't he?" Fred mumbled as Mrs. Weasley left the room and Jade let out an unladylike snort as she covered her mouth. "Birds of a feather..."

"Moody was a great wizard in his time," Bill told them.

"He's an old friend of Dumbledore's, isn't he?" Charlie spoke up, taking a sip of his cup of coffee.

"Dumbledore's not what you'd call normal, though, is he?" Fred added. "I mean, I know he's a genius and everything..."

"Who is Mad-Eye?" Harry asked when it seemed like they weren't going to directly answer Jade's question.

"He's retired, used to work at the Ministry," Charlie said. "I met him once when Dad took me into work with him. He was an Auror, one of the best, a Dark wizard catcher." He explained when he saw Harry's and Jade's confused faces. "Half the cells in Azkaban are full because of him. He made himself loads of enemies, though, the families of people he caught, mainly, and I heard he's been getting really paranoid in his old age. Doesn't trust anyone anymore. Sees Dark wizards everywhere." Mrs. Weasley had used the telephone to call the village post office to order three ordinary Muggle taxis to take them into London. She told them they'd be there soon so everyone quickly finished their breakfast and ducked out of each other's way to get their things to the door. Jade followed Hermione and Ginny up to her room and double-checked to make sure she didn't forget anything else as she grabbed Ezekiel's cage. He flapped his wings irritably as he was woken up by her movements.

"Sorry, love. We've got to get going." She cooed softly as she came back down the stairs. She stopped at the kitchen table, grabbed a small link of sausage, and stuck it in his cage as an apology for interrupting his sleep. It was hectic as Mrs. Weasley tried to gather up everyone by the front door but it was an entertaining event. As soon as the girls were ready, Ron 'forgot' something in his room, something about ugly dress robes but his mother made him go back and pack them. Harry went with Ron and when they came back down, Fred ran back up to his room to grab something. Ron then remembered he had forgotten Pigwidgeon and went to retrieve him. Mrs. Weasley counted everyone in front of her as one of the taxis outside blared its horn. "Arthur tried to borrow Ministry cars for us," Mrs. Weasley told them as they began bringing all of their stuff outside, immediately getting assaulted by cold pellets of rain. The drivers got out of their cars and began heaving their heavy trunks into the back of the cars. "But there weren't any to spare. Oh dear, they don't look happy, do they?" Mrs. Weasley grimaced as the drivers were now trying to find a spot for the owls, Pigwidgeon was making an ear-splitting racket and Ezekiel hooted angrily in Jade's arms.

"I'll hold on to him," Jade told one of the drivers that came up to her to try and grab Ezekiel. Glad that he wasn't going to be taken by a stranger, Ezekiel calmed down but was still flapping his wings and shaking from the rain. Another driver got a shock when Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks went off unexpectedly when Fred's trunk hit the ground and sprang open, causing him to shout with fright and pain as Crookshanks clawed to get away in his arms.

"Come on then, let's get in the cars." Mrs. Weasley ushered them towards the cars and Jade followed inside after Fred and George. The ride was uncomfortable, they were all squished together in the back with their trunks and Ezekiel hooted angrily on her lap. wing to the fact that they were jammed in the back of the taxis with their trunks.

"Fireworks? Really, Fred?" Jade asked after a few minutes.

"What? Did you expect anything less?" He smirked.

"We tried jamming them in as best we could," George added. He looked at their driver and then leaned across Fred to whisper to Jade. "Did you see the look on his face when they went off?" Jade smiled but didn't comment back. By the time they got to King's Cross Station, Jade was relieved to get out and stretch, even if it was in the pouring rain. When they crossed onto the platform, Jade was soaked and her clothes clung to her skin uncomfortably. She thought she'd have trouble finding her parents but they were right at the barrier, standing under what seemed to be an invisible umbrella produced by their wands. Jade was jealous that they were dry but she came over to them with a smile and ducked under Rodrick's wand's protection.

"How was your stay at the Weasley's?" Her mother asked.

"Brilliant! Thank you for letting me go." Jade smiled, besides the scandal at the Quidditch World Cup, it was the funnest summer she'd ever had.

"Of course, dear. Also, if you need any help this year with… clothing options, don't hesitate to write to me." Her mother smiled brightly.

"What are you talking about?" Jade asked. Jade had packed everything she thought she could possibly need. Was this her mother's way of saying she didn't like the clothes Jade had chosen? Her father cleared his throat next to his wife and Amelia gave him a look.

"Just wanted you to know, I'll always give you my honest opinion."

"Merlin, I wish I was going to school during a-," Rodrick said absentmindedly as he watched the kids hurry on to the train but he was interrupted by Jade's father clearing his throat again, more deliberately this time. Jade looked at each of her family members.

"During a what?" Jade asked but Rodrick looked at his father. "Why are you all-" A thought dawned on her then that could explain their odd behavior. "You know what the surprise is, don't you?" She asked them.

"How do you know about that?" Her mother asked.

"Pansy overheard her parents talking about it but they were only worried for the students' safety."

"Well, they should be. Everyone should be, it's a dangerous event-"

"Amelia." Her father said. "Honestly, between the two of you, I'm surprised she doesn't already know everything."

"Hey! I've tried very hard to keep my excitement at bay!" Rodrick argued. "Write to me when you find out, alright?" He asked his sister and the train whistle blew behind her, signaling that everyone needed to get on now because they'd be leaving soon. "You'll know soon enough." Her brother told her as he brought her in for a hug, her parents wrapping their arms around them.

"Have a safe journey!" Her mother smiled, pulling away and moving a wet lock of hair behind Jade's shoulder.

"I love you." She told them, looking behind her to see Mrs. Weasley waving at her children that were already on the train. "I'll write to you." She promised and then hurried on to the train, sighing when she made it into the cramped hall.

"Jade!" She heard someone call her name and she looked up to find Pansy waving from a compartment further up. When she reached her friend she found that she was the last to arrive.

"Cutting it close, Maddex," Draco smirked. Theo rose from his seat when he noticed Jade struggling with her trunk.

"Need help?" He asked and Jade smiled sheepishly as she dragged her trunk inside their compartment and closed the door almost fully, leaving it ajar.

"Yes, please. Careful it's…" Jade went to tell him it was heavy but Theo bent down and picked it up. "Heavy." She finished and watched in amazement as Theo lifted the trunk up and put it in the overhead storage area. "When'd you get so strong, Nott?" She joked as she took the open seat at Draco's side.

"Maybe you're just weaker than you thought you were." Draco offered and Jade glared at him. "I didn't mean it like that." He tried telling her but she turned away from him.

"Thank you for the help." She told Theo and he nodded.

"Did you hear about what happened at the World Cup?" Pansy asked him.

"I was there, Pansy," Theo told her.

"You were there?" Jade asked.

"We didn't see you," Blaise added.

"We arrived later, only a little before the match."
"Who'd you root for?" Draco asked.

"The Bulgarians," Theo told him and Draco sneered.

"Lousy at Quidditch." He said. Jade disagreed, they lost, yes, but they played magnificently. It was between them and the Irish for the World Cup. If they were really lousy at Quidditch they wouldn't have made it that far. "I've heard good things about their school though," Draco added. "Father actually considered sending me to Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts. He knows the headmaster, you see. Well, you know his opinion of Dumbledore, the man's such a Mudblood lover-" Draco stopped mid-sentence and looked at Jade who was watching him expectantly. She was going to hold him to what he said in the woods, and he would apologize to Hermione. "Sorry." He told her and she nodded, accepting the apology. She didn't ask for him to change overnight, she asked for an effort, so she'd be patient instead of getting angry with him for a slip of the tongue, it really mattered how he treated her friends in Gryffindor. "But my mother didn't like the idea of me going to school so far away. Father says Durmstrang takes a far more sensible line than Hogwarts about the Dark Arts. Durmstrang students actually learn them, not just the defense rubbish we do."

"Too bad your mother likes you," Theo mumbled. Jade hid a smile as she turned to pet Ezekiel on one of his wings.

"Too bad your parents decided to keep you." Draco snapped back.

"Draco, come on." Jade sighed.

"He started it."

"And I'm finishing it, pick a new topic." She turned back to her friends quickly, "Question."

"Possible answer," Draco smirked.

"Did you boys pack dress robes?"

"Yeah, it was on my list," Blaise told her, his eyebrows knitted together. "How'd you know about that?"

"I didn't. I was just wondering because Ron said something about not wanting to bring his."

"Why doesn't he want to bring them?" Theo asked.

"Why do you need them?" Jade countered and Theo shrugged but Draco grinned smugly at her. "What do you know, Malfoy?" She shifted in her seat until she was facing him fully.

"You'll find out when we get there." She sighed and slumped against the back of her seat.

"You're no fun. You sound like Rodrick." She hated surprises, Draco knew this, so he enjoyed watching her fret about it. The lunch cart came around a few minutes later and they all flocked to it to grab something to eat. Jade noticed Neville standing in the doorway of the compartment across the hall from theirs and then she looked further inside and noticed Hermione. Draco noticed them too and a devilish grin spread his lips as he made his way around the cart. "Draco." Jade placed a hand on his arm and he looked down at her.

"The ride's been boring, let me have some fun." She followed him and they came to stand behind Neville.

"Oh, wow!" Neville gasped as Ron tipped a tiny Victor Krum figurine onto his hand. It began pacing back and forth.

"We saw him right up close, as well," Ron went on excitedly. "We were in the Top Box-"

"For the first and last time in your life, Weasley." Draco sneered and Ron's smile fell. Neville moved to the side and took a step further into their compartment.

"Don't remember asking you to join us, Malfoy," Harry said coolly but something else had caught Draco's attention.

"Weasley… what is that?" He asked, pointing at Pigwidgeon's cage. Something reddish-orange and lacy was draped over it. Ron made to grab them and stash them away somewhere but Draco had taken a quick stride forward and snatched it. "Look at this!" Draco laughed, holding up the dress robes so Jade could see and she grimaced.

"Oh, Ron…" Jade looked at him sympathetically. "Those are your dress robes?"

"Weasley, you weren't thinking of wearing these, were you? I mean, they were very fashionable in about eighteen ninety."

"Eat dung, Malfoy!" Ron reached for his robes and Draco let them go with a chuckle.

"So," Draco crossed his arms under his chest and leaned against the doorway. "going to enter, Weasley? Going to try and bring a bit of glory to the family name? There's money involved as well, you know, you'd be able to afford some decent robes if you won."

"What are you talking about?" Ron snapped. Jade was pleasantly surprised with Draco, he hadn't said anything particularly nasty that he wouldn't say to his own friends, he was being his normal annoying self.

"Are you going to enter?" Draco asked again and Jade realized she had no idea what he was talking about, too busy making sure what came out of his mouth was not ill-mannered. "I suppose you will, Potter?" Draco glared at Harry. "You never miss a chance to show off, do you?"

"Either explain what you're on about or go away, Malfoy," Hermione spoke, looking over the top of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4. Jade glanced at Draco, this would be the perfect time to apologize to Hermione, but they didn't come to the same conclusion because Draco just smiled down at them.

"Don't tell me you don't know?" He said gleefully. "You've got a father and brother at the Ministry and you don't even know?"

"Know what?" Jade practically whined, she knew he was just trying to get under their skin but it was having the same effect on her. Draco ignored her, "My God, my father told me about it ages ago, he heard it from Cornelius Fudge. But then, Father's always associated with the top people at the Ministry. Maybe your father's too junior to know about it, Weasley. Yes, they probably don't talk about important stuff in front of him." And there it was. Jade reached up and placed her hands on his shoulders and veered him out of their compartment. To his credit, that was the longest conversation he ever had with them before he got nasty.

"And with that, we'll be going," Jade told them before giving him a shove into their own compartment. Draco chuckled as he stumbled and fell back down in his seat. Jade shut the door behind her and placed her hands on her hips as she gave Draco a withering look.

"What?" He asked, still grinning. "I didn't say anything to Granger."

"You don't need to go riling Ron up." She told him before motioning for Blaise to get up. He obeyed and she pointed to her previous seat. Blaise sighed as he sat down next to Draco and Jade sat next to Pansy. She couldn't help but think of Draco like training a dog, teaching him in short bursts, and then letting him go so he doesn't get frustrated and just give up completely. "So, from what I gathered, the surprise is something you enter… like a competition or a lottery?" She asked and Draco thought about it for a second and then thought it couldn't hurt to answer so he nodded. "The reward is a large amount of money and you said glory… it's dangerous, people have been killed before… and you need dress robes." Jade thought aloud, she was convinced it was some sort of competition but she couldn't imagine Dumbledore letting them loose to go and get hurt or killed for a chance to win some money, it didn't sound responsible or safe at all. And what would they do in this competition? "Is it a dueling competition?" Jade gasped, putting all the pieces together as best she could and getting that as her answer. Draco snorted.

"What gave you that idea?"

"Wizards and witches dress their best and then duel, which can cause harm, and the winner wins money and glory." Draco shook his head and Jade rolled her eyes. "I think it's the only thing that makes sense." She muttered.

"It was a good guess," Pansy reassured her and Jade couldn't help but grin thankfully at her.

"It's something much better than that." Draco teased with a wiggle of his eyebrows and he was lucky she didn't have something to throw at him. He was enjoying knowing something she didn't, waving it right above their heads and yanking up before they could get it.

"I'm not going to keep playing this game with you," Jade muttered.

"You're the one who keeps guessing." He smirked and Jade crossed her arms under her chest, refusing to bring it up again. The rain continued and low rumbles of thunder could be heard from outside. The lanterns in the halls were lit sometime later and there was a pile-up in the hall as students went to change into their robes.

"Why can't the wizards and witches keep up with the times? Pansy sighed as she slid into her robe. "I prefer wearing muggle clothes, most of my closet is filled with them anyway." She told Jade as they pushed through the crowd to get back to their compartment. Pansy swore quietly as someone stepped on the back of her cloak, she yanked it from under a boy's foot and shot him a glare.

"Me too." Jade agreed. "I guess they keep robes around because of tradition."

"Screw tradition. It's the nineties for Gods' sake."

The Hogwarts Express slowed down at last and finally stopped in the pitch-darkness of Hogsmeade station. As the train doors opened, there was a loud rumble of thunder to announce their arrival. Jade kept her head down and narrowed her eyes to keep the rain from getting in them. The rain they experienced on the train was nothing compared to this, it was now coming down so harsh and fast that it was as impossible to see more than a few feet in front of them, and the rain was so cold it reminded her of last year, the only upside to this was there were no dementors this time.

"Depromere umbra," Jade muttered with a point to the sky with her wand and it produced an umbrella-shaped shield over her. "Much better." She smirked at Draco.

"How'd you learn that?" Draco's teeth chattered together as he hugged his cloak around him to try and keep warm.

"My parents were using it earlier at the station."

"What is it?" He asked.

"Tell me the surprise and I'll let you know." She offered and he narrowed his eyes at her in annoyance before pushing himself up against her to try and get under the protection of the umbrella.

"Cheater." She objected but she didn't push him away. They silently and quickly made their way to the many horseless carriages waiting and climbed into one with Pansy, Blaise, and Theo hurrying behind them. "We should've remembered it was a tight squeeze," Jade muttered as she squished herself between the far wall of the carriage and Draco as Pansy scooted in next to him, Blaise and Theo looked more comfortable on the other side, they all shivered as the carriages began to move up the track to the castle.