"I think you're beautiful in any form, Cormie." Jade said, looping her arm into his arm as they walked around Hogsmeade a few days later.
Cormac gingerly touched his cheek, as it was still swollen. He was sure Malfoy had cracked his beautiful cheekbones. Everyone was so envious of his gifted beauty and charm. He looked at Jade, glad that she was at least with him. No one else mattered. They were walking around, actively attending appointments and making final decisions for their wedding.
"Are you sure we have everything ready for the wedding? Who are we inviting?" Jade asked.
"It's just you and me so far. I've sent out invitations months ago but no one's RSVP'd back for some odd reason." Cormac said.
"Hmm. That's a little sad. It's going to be the happiest day of my life. Why wouldn't any of my friends or family want to attend?" Jade asked.
"Because no one loves you like I do. Always remember that." Cormac said. Jade nodded.
"I know that. It's sad but it's true." Jade said.
"Cormac!" a voice called out.
Jade and Cormac turned around to see Madame Rosemerta waving at them. Jade held on to Cormac's arm a little tighter.
"Why is she calling you? Do you know her? Does she like you?" Jade asked quickly. Cormac chuckled.
"Darling, everyone likes me and knows me. I can't help it." Cormac said.
"I don't like it when random women call you." Jade said. Cormac gave her a reassuring pat.
"I don't think of anyone else except for you. No woman can take your place. Yes, what do you want?" Cormac asked Rosemerta who waved them in.
"Please have a free drink on me." Rosemerta said, holding the door for them.
Cormac and Jade doubted if they should go inside the Three Broomsticks again after what had happened the last time.
"I know what happened last time. As an apology, I would like to offer you two a complimentary drink." Rosemerta said. Cormac's chin lifted a fraction of an inch, feeling triumphant. He walked in with Jade as Madame Rosemerta showed them to their table. "What would you two lovebirds like to have?" Madame Rosemerta asked.
"I will have the most expensive drink you have." Cormac said. Madame Rosemerta blinked at him.
"Which would be a firewhiskey." She said.
Before Cormac responded back with an insult at her or her business, Madame Rosemerta turned to Jade who asked for a butterbeer. Madame Rosemerta left to the bar to pour them their drinks. Madame Rosemerta saw Harry in the shadows, behind the pillar. She looked at Cormac who was busy talking to Jade. She walked over to Harry who handed her a small vial of a light green potion.
"Good doing business with you, Rosie." Harry said.
"Anything to bring down a giant prick." Rosmerta said, seeing him disappear back into the shadows. Madame Rosemerta brought back them their drinks. "Enjoy." She said.
"Sweetheart. Give us a couple of appetizers. On the house." Cormac said. Madam Rosemerta gave him a short smile.
"Coming right up." Madame Rosemerta said. Cormac nodded and looked at Jade, taking his drink.
"Cheers!" he said.
"Cheers!" Jade said, clinking her glass with his.
"I hope this works." Harry said, watching from upstairs with Draco, Ginny, Hermione and Ron.
"It's brilliant. Simple but brilliant." Hermione said, giving Draco a small smile.
Jade held Cormac's hand, drinking up her butterbeer.
"We should go back to Bali." Jade said. Cormac took a swig of his firewhiskey. He nodded.
"That's a wonderful idea! When should we go?" Cormac asked, drinking more of his firewhiskey.
"For our honeymoon silly! I was thinking that we can take a few weeks off. Go back to the beach where we had our first kiss. Isn't it perfect? And then we can…" Jade trailed off.
Cormac started tuning off. She was less and less attractive the more she spoke. How could a person talk and be so irritating at the same time? He looked down at her hand, feeling repulsed by it. He wanted to rip her hand off. He twitched and slid his hand backwards. Jade blinked at him and smiled.
"Honey, is something wrong?" Jade asked, going to reach for his hand but Cormac squirmed in discomfort. He drank from his firewhiskey again, unaware that the group upstairs watching him were snorting and chuckling. She was so ugly. Her eyes were freakishly large. Her hair was so blonde. She almost looked like a female Malfoy.
"Cormie?" Jade asked.
"Stop calling me that! I hate that name!" Cormac said, his eyebrows furrowing. Jade looked worried. She leaned in closer to touch him but Cormac hit her hand away. "Don't touch me! You look like a prostitute and you're so clingy." Cormac said.
"Why are you saying all of this? What's happened to you?" Jade asked. Cormac stood up, grabbing his cloak.
"I hate you. You're…the same unattractive and desperate little girl that no one wants to take to the Yule Ball." He said. With that, he turned around and left. Jade stumbled out of her seat and tried to run after him.
"My turn!" Hermione said, rushing out.
"Cormac please! Just talk to me! What's going on?" Jade sobbed hysterically. She was unable to take this pain. She couldn't believe this was happening.
Cormac whipped around, shoving her shoulder.
"I said get away from me, you ugly bitch! We aren't getting married! There isn't a chance in hell that you deserve to marry someone like me!" Cormac roared.
Jade stopped, seeing Cormac walk away from her. She stood in the middle of the street, crying hysterically.
"Jade?" Ginny asked, behind Jade who turned around, startled. "What's going on?" Ginny asked.
"Get away from me! You hate me!" Jade tried to yell, her voice hoarse. Ginny shook her head.
"No, not at all. I love you. I know Cormac's the one for you. What happened to him?" Ginny asked. Jade shook her head, still crying.
"I don't know! He just completely changed! Just like that!" Jade said. Ginny bit her lip and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Maybe he'll come back to your house? Give him a few minutes to think?" Ginny asked.
"But he needs to be with me! What if he finds someone else to fall in love with him?" Jade asked.
"No-"
"You wanted this to happen! You want something to come between us!" Jade said, starting to back away from Ginny.
"Jade." Ginny said, cautiously moving her arms forward.
Jade apparated back to her home, quickly opening her door. She shut it and bolted it, feeling paranoid. She was alone in her home. Cormac hated her, the one she truly and madly loved. There wasn't anything more suffocating than that. Jade raked her hair with her fingers and screamed. She sobbed, feeling like there was no hope. There was a horrible feeling in her chest, in her stomach and in her mind. Her hands were shaking; things were looking highly unstable and bleak. She couldn't think of a life without Cormac. How can she live without him?
She looked towards the kitchen. Jade walked over and pulled open her knife drawer. She took out a knife. Without thinking twice, she went to hold it against her wrist but a hand clasped around her wrist, wrenching her to turn around. Jade saw Draco stand in front of her, trying to take the knife out of her hand.
"I don't want to hurt you and I definitely don't want you to hurt yourself." Draco said but Jade punched at his face. Draco swore, staggering back when she hit his eye and she held the knife tightly, threatening to attack him. He had never seen her look so manic in his life. She was completely unstable. Her short blonde hair was disheveled and her eyes were red and watery. Her soft brown eyes, the same brown eyes that he saw to be kind and warm was now hard and full of malice.
"Jade, think for a second. I'm not here to hurt you." Draco said, seeing her snarling at him, her stance in a crouching position, ready to spring at him. Draco steadied himself. "Give me the knife." He ordered.
In one quick move, Jade swung at him. Draco dodged to the side, grabbing her wrist and snapping it backwards. Jade let out a high pitched scream, as Draco unarmed her. What he didn't realize is that Jade's other hand snatched another knife and she jabbed it into his side. Draco roared from the shot of pain. He swung his elbow so hard into her face, she was knocked unconscious. Draco staggered forward, worried that she had pierced his lung or caused an internal injury. He looked down at her, seeing the place where he had struck her, turn bright red.
Jade blinked away at the sound of paper ripping. Her head swayed, feeling heavy. Her cheek was pulsing in pain, getting stronger the more conscious she would get. Her eyesight adjusted to Draco, seeing him sit in a chair in front of her, attending to the wound on his side where she struck him in the ribs.
"You stabbed me so hard that the knife's tip broke in me." Draco said, without looking up. Jade was silent, moving herself up but realized that she was held down. She looked down to see that her hands and feet were bound. She couldn't even move her body because she was charmed into her bed.
"You're a coward. Scared that a little girl might attack you? Had to be physical with her? What kind of man are you?" Jade asked.
Draco looked up, thinking that he should have a few words with her but decided that he should just wait for the spell to wear off. Jade coughed up a spit and tried to aim for him but it didn't get him.
"I'm starting to think that you're better off serving as an Auror than a Healer. You have the qualities that they're looking for special agents." Draco said.
"Untie me!" Jade commanded. Draco smirked.
"Do I look stupid to you?" Draco asked.
"You look like a little bitch to me." Jade said. Draco clicked his teeth.
"I should slap you but you're turning me on." Draco said, replacing an old gauze with a new one.
"Please let me go. I just want to be with Cormac. Whatever you've done with him, I'll do whatever you want me to but please let him go. He's done nothing wrong." Jade said.
The door opened and Harry walked in with Ron.
"What the fuck happened?" Harry asked, seeing Jade on the bed and Draco on the chair, topless with blood on his pants.
"I was right. She tried to kill herself and I stopped her. Then she went and did this." Draco said, showing them his injury. Ron winced and looked at Jade.
"She must be an awful Healer if she couldn't kill you at the first try." Ron said.
"Her wrist is broken. I gave her something for the pain but she's going to need treatment soon." Draco said, slowly getting up from his seat.
"He's downstairs. Hermione went through hell but he's finally here too." Harry said.
"I can't wait until that bastard's potion wears off. I'll punch his head out of his arse." Draco sneered, walking out of the room.
For a few hours, Jade started to feel less and less hostile against her captors. Everyone came in to check up on her, making sure she was well fed and hydrated. After a long sleep, Jade woke up the next morning, feeling back to herself. Unfortunately, the memories of what had transpired from the last few days weighed heavily on her.
"Hey." Ginny said, seeing Jade struggling to get up but her hands and feet were still bound. Ginny got up to help Jade but Hermione held her back.
"We have to check if the potion wore off." Hermione said.
"Oh the potion wore off, all right." Jade said, burying her face into the mattress from embarrassment.
"It's been a full 24 hours. Even if Jade has some left in her, it's enough for her to blush not…kill someone." Ginny said quickly, taking her wand out. She freed Jade's hands and feet. "We need to take you to a hospital." Ginny said.
"Is Draco okay?" Jade asked. Ginny nodded.
"He's fine. We had one of Harry's friends come in and treat him. I'm sure you can understand why you couldn't be treated." Hermione said, feeling embarrassed to explain to Jade but Jade nodded.
"No, I completely understand. I'm so sorry-"
"No, no, no. Jade this isn't your fault in any way. Let's make that clear." Hermione said. Jade felt her throat tighten, demanding herself not to cry. "That is the first thing you should know. You've been through a lot but whatever happened was not your fault." Hermione said firmly. Jade nodded weakly, breaking down. Ginny put her arms around her, crying with her.
For the next two days, Aurors flooded her home, taking her statement and collecting evidence. A healer had come by and healed Jade's wrist but she was forced to wear a brace for it. She finally gathered the strength to go downstairs and see Cormac when he was being taken away. Jade could see Draco standing against a wall, looking tired like everyone else. When he looked up at her, Jade looked away, not being able to meet his eyes. Cormac had his arms bound behind him, the anti-love potion worn off him. He had been suffering for two days, in his own turmoil and fear of being confronted by Jade. The Aurors said nothing but pushed him forward to stand in front of Jade. She silently stared at him, shaking in uncontrollable rage. She wanted to murder him for violating her, raping her and her emotions.
"I hope you know that you are the last person in my life that I would ever want. You're a disgusting and meaningless piece of garbage that gave me nothing but disappointment and bad memories. If I could kill you, I would do it every chance I get but I would rather not touch a piece of shit like you. I'm going to marry a man I'm madly in love with and it won't be you. I've been in love Cormac and I can tell you it feels nothing like how I felt with you for even a glimpse. You'll never be able to feel how I feel about someone when I am truly in love with. You had me for a couple of days, satisfied yourself, but that's all you'll think about when you're rotting in Azkaban. I'll be here in a warm bed with someone I love and have kids with and he won't need a potion for that." Jade said, seeing him turning red, the rims of his eyes red. She pushed his head up to level it with hers.
"Look at me. Look right at me. You raped me Cormac. Do you understand what you've done to me? How you ruined everything? How you ruined yourself? You couldn't even get me to fall in love with you. You're impotent in every way. You're just someone that ruins people's lives. If my friends and family, the people who truly care for me hadn't risked their lives to save me, I would have killed myself as soon as your potion wore off on me." Jade said.
She swung as hard as she could, feeling like she had dislocated her shoulder when she slammed her fist into Cormac's nose, breaking it. Cormac fell to the ground and Jade kicked him, feeling Harry and Ron restrain her.
In the next few days, Ginny, Hermione and everyone else tried to occupy Jade with things to do. They invited her to dinners but all Jade wanted to do was stay alone. She slipped into a deep depression, asking Fred and Astoria not to come by and try to distract her.
Right now, Jade was sitting on her sofa, staring at the wall. She had submitted her papers to be sworn in and now there was nothing else to do. The doorbell rang and Jade looked at the clock, reading 9 pm. A little late for a visitor, Jade thought. She opened the door to see Draco standing there, holding a takeaway bag filled with food.
"Can I come in?" he asked. Jade stood to the side, allowing him to walk in. "How have you been?" he asked.
"Good." Jade said, shutting the door. She tried not to make things awkward as she passed by him but there was no way she was able to bring herself to look at him. Draco gently stopped her, taking her good hand. He turned her, seeing her look at his chest, struggling to look directly at his face. He brought up the hand that had been in a brace and kissed it and placed a hand on the cheek where he struck her.
"I am so sorry." Draco said. Jade bit her lip and shook her head.
"I stabbed you. I think it's fair." She said.
Draco burst into laughter, bringing her close. He kissed her forehead, wrapping his arms around her.
"Everyone's been saying that it wasn't me but I'll never forgive myself for doing what I did to you. I'm sorry." Jade said, trying not to touch where she stabbed him. She had both arms, hugging over his shoulders, feeling him hugging her tightly.
"I'll never argue with you in a kitchen or anywhere for the rest of my life. Whatever you say, goes." He said. Jade smiled, pulling back and allowing Draco to finally kiss her.