The rest of the Christmas break went by quickly and Jade just like any other student was dreading to go back. She ignored letters from Fred and put aside the Christmas gifts he would send her through owls and ignored the house calls Astoria made to apologize for whatever happened that night at Grimmauld's. She found a small compartment and sat at a small corner opening her book. The compartment door opened and Jade looked up to see Cormac McLaggen standing there, looking surprised to see her.

"Oh…I didn't know anyone would come in." he said. Jade squinted, trying to understand what he was trying to say. "I was in this compartment first but it doesn't matter." He said, getting his things from the top shelf.

"Oh, I honestly didn't see that. I'll go find someplace else then." Jade said, closing her book.

"You don't have to do that. You're welcome to stay here." He said, nodding, looking highly uncomfortable.

"I think I'm making you uncomfortable." Jade said.

"No…okay maybe a little." Cormac said.

"Goodbye then." Jade said, putting her book into her bag.

"I actually want to talk. About that thing that happened last year." Cormac said.

"I think we talked about that quite enough." Jade said.

"No. I actually changed. A lot of my friends told me that they noticed that I changed myself for the better. It started when I was self-reflecting on…" Cormac trailed off.

Jade tuned off, staring at him but not actually listening to a single thing he was saying. He wasn't a bad sight to look at but the words out of his mouth killed everything.

"So that's why I thought that I should never have done that to you. I barely even know you and because you were a little fat and probably not the best looking girl in this school, it doesn't mean that you don't have feelings! That's why I realized how wrong I was for doing that to you." Cormac said.

"Huh that's…well it's really thoughtful of you McLaggen. I'm happy for you." Jade said seeing Cormac grin.

"Thanks! So do you want to be my friend or something?" Cormac asked.

"Um…"

"Well it's not like I don't have friends. I have a lot of friends but I'm just too busy sometimes. I'm really selfless you know. I have time to hang out with anyone I want to, even if I have something to study for. I mean, studying really isn't a problem because I'm an excellent student-" the door slid open and Ginny looked in, happy to see Jade. She turned to see Cormac and yelped.

"What's going on in here?" Ginny asked.

"You can't do anything to me anymore! I'm friends with Jane now!" Cormac said.

"I think you have to know someone's name before you claim to be friends with them." Ginny said.

"I said her name just now!" Cormac said.

"What's Cormac doing in there?" a voice asked, coming from outside. Jade looked towards the doorway of the compartment and looked back at Ginny.

"Is that…?" Jade asked seeing Ginny nod. "Why the hell did you bring him?" Jade asked.

"He followed me! He wouldn't stop being annoying and kept asking me to take him to see you." Ginny said.

"Why couldn't you just tell him to bugger off and annoy someone else?" Jade asked.

"I've been saying that for the past 14 years of my life but I'm related to him and oh right, because he's Fred." Ginny said.

"Can you also tell her it's also because I really like her?" Fred asked, still standing in the hallway.

"I told you not to talk!" Ginny said.

"I don't want to talk to him. I'm really tired Gin, don't make me go through this again." Jade said.

"Do you want me to protect you? I'm good at protecting my friends you know. I once won a competition-"

"McLaggen? What is he doing in there?" Fred asked, looking into the compartment.

"Ginny please tell him to go." Jade said.

"Fine. McLaggen, go!" Ginny said.

"The other one!" Jade said sternly.

"All right, here's the deal. I'm tired of playing mediator. You both can listen to each other and respond to one another. You clearly don't need me." Ginny said, leaving.

"What's going on? Is he bothering you Jane?" Cormac asked.

"Stop talking!" Jade said. Fred moved inside and crossed his arms, looking at Cormac.

"I told you, you were on my permanent naughty list didn't I? If you don't leave in a few seconds I'll make sure that the next time you go to the bathroom it'll have sharper teeth this time and it'll draw a little blood." Fred warned. Cormac grew red and shot out of the compartment, leaving Jade and Fred inside. Jade sat down, fixing a glare at the window as Fred sat down in front of her.

"I know you're mad at me and you have every right to be…but I also think that I have a right to explain myself." Fred said.

"Whatever you're going to explain won't change that you kissed her." Jade said.

"I didn't mean to! She basically threw herself at me." Fred said seeing Jade smile in disbelief and look down, trying not to cry.

"I'm not saying that it wasn't completely my fault. I didn't even know she was a Slytherin." Fred said.

"It's nice to know that your preferences aren't specified towards Slytherin. That's great Fred; it shows that you have a lot of class!" Jade said.

"Okay so that came out a little wrong. I've never seen her around before. I've never spoken to her. I've never even looked at her and she asks me about a Fainting Fancy and just when I start explaining what it is, she jumps on me." Fred said.

"Let me guess the rest. You kept saying no, no, no but she kept insisting yes, yes, yes and just when you actually do go to push her away, Snape opens the door and finds you both. Then being the oily bastard Snape is known to be, he gives you detention, writes you up and doesn't hear a word you say." Jade said.

"Right well the last part is absolutely true." Fred said. Jade stared at him incredulously and he cowered under her, trying to explain himself.

"Were you desperately seeking me out just so you could tell me that you liked snogging another girl? What's wrong with you Fred? I know that you were born with a few missing screws but I didn't know you were completely unhinged!" Jade said, getting up.

"I want to be honest with you. Any man who gets kissed by a beautiful woman and denies that he liked it is an idiot!" Fred said.

"And if you think any girl would stay with you after what you just said to me then you're a bigger fool!" Jade said, opening the door to the compartment. She walked out but Fred grabbed her arm and quickly blocked her way.

"I didn't want to lie to you Jade. I could have easily told you something else or I could have seen her again but I didn't! If I could have prevented what happened, I would. I never wanted you to find out this way and get upset." Fred said.

"You could have prevented it but you didn't. You snogged her Fred! What do you want me to do?" Jade asked. Fred shrugged weakly.

"Try to forget about it the best you can?" he asked. Tears streamed down Jade's face as she looked at Fred, feeling sorry for him and herself.

"I wish you can be more serious about this Fred but I don't want anything to do with you." Jade said.

"Of course well…what else do you expect to hear from someone when they tolerated enough emotional and physical trauma from you? So that's your final verdict is it? Comfortable? No? Well it was nice to know you and it could have been a lot better but I guess this is where it all ends." Fred said, going to leave. He stopped and turned around, lifting a finger. "By the way, I hope you're happy with your friend and her wonderful slime of a boyfriend. Try not to miss me too much if they ever bring you in to the dark side and match you up with a wonderful and warmhearted Slytherin boy!" he said.

Jade tried not to cry out loud as she saw him walking away, his neck, cheeks and the tips of his ears bright red. Students from their compartments were looking at her, crying in the middle of the hallway and they frowned, turning to Astoria who got out of her compartment, walking towards Jade. Malfoy was standing at the door of his compartment, watching Astoria try to comfort Jade.

"I told you he wasn't what he seemed." Astoria said, taking Jade into the empty compartment. "He showed his true colors didn't he? Acts like he's innocent and once your back is turned, he changes his face." Astoria said.

"Stop talking about him!" Jade snapped.

"What? Don't tell me you're still defending him after all he put you through!" Astoria said.

"I don't care what he put me through! Look at what you're putting all of us through! Merlin, Astoria! What the hell happened to you? If you wanted to date Malfoy that badly, would we have stopped talking to you? Would any of us try to break you up with him? After knowing Fred all throughout these years, how could you even dream of separating me from him? Just because Malfoy said-"

"Draco didn't say anything! It was Fred, George and Harry that went and jumped on him! I'm sorry, was I supposed to pretend I was happy and like them? Absolutely not!" Astoria said.

"You don't see it. You're too stubborn to see it. It's like I'm talking to a wall." Jade said.

"And you don't want to understand or care. I knew that this was going to happen. You and Ginny would never appreciate Malfoy the way I always will, that's why I never told you anything." Astoria said.

"Then you really underestimated our friendship, Astoria. I don't care if you dated Mundungus but you never gave us a chance. As much as I would love to talk more in detail about this, I'm starting to feel nauseous. Just leave me alone for a while please." Jade said sitting down and resting her head against the wall.

"Fine. I guess I'll just see you around then." Astoria said.