Thump…

Thump…

Thump…

Jason woke up from his nap to the sound of more thumping in his ear. He went to his room for some rest hoping it would go away when he awoke but it doesn't seem to be leaving anytime soon. He's had this ailment for a few days now ever since he awoke in his bed with no recollection of actually going to bed. He tried retracing his steps in his mind of the night he can't remember but whenever he tries to think past the point of the sobbing stranger entering Moaning Myrtle's bathroom he draws a blank.

He looks around his verdant dorm room to look at clock on the wall. The snake arms point to tell him that it's 3:30pm. He and Luna had plans to visit Hogsmeade for an early dinner as the Three Broomsticks was serving German chocolate pie with peppermint tea and powdered cakes, a seasonal delight. Tomorrow was Slughorn's Christmas party and then Jason was on the next train home so today was their last chance to have it. He's also been saving up to buy Luna her favorite (and the Three Broomstick's most expensive) dinner item: Loch Ness fried meat pies. It was Jason's way to thank Luna for all the things she's helped him with recently, and there were many.

He recalled the time Jason mentioned to Luna he needed to find some common rue for his Felix Felicis, and they both went to the Forbidden Forest. She said her thestral friends loved rue and would lead them to some. Jason didn't see any thestrals, but they did find the rue. Then there's the countless times that she brought him extra cookies from the Great Hall, as the ones the Ravenclaws get with blueberry flavoring are especially delicious, unlike the spearmint cookies Slytherins get. Just last week Luna gave Jason a haircut because he accidently spent all his money for the month and couldn't go to Weeoanwhisker's Barber Shop in Hogsmeade. She was a real lifesaver then as his hair was starting to be a hindrance to his eyesight. There were so many favors and just nice things she does for Jason it was pointless to list them all. He was also hoping to ask her to be his plus one to Slughorn's party. He's been meaning to for a while now, but he just hasn't had the chance. He didn't want it to seem like an afterthought, even though he knows she wouldn't mind. He smiles to himself as he realizes how lucky he is to have a friend as amazing as Luna.

Jason began to get ready when he saw his calendar start glowing. It was a shared calendar enchanted with the Protean Charm. Anything he wrote on it would be reflected on its sister and vice versa. Luna possessed the other one. She received the two calendars after asking her father for them when she was asked to be the Quidditch Commentator. Even though there isn't much need to prep for that job, Luna said that she needed to meditate for a full day straight to be ready. She asked her father to send her an extra and charm it with Protean so that Jason would know where she was. They always make plans together, so she thought this was the solution in case he couldn't find her. Jason was too amused by the way her mind worked for him to object. But to Luna's credit, it has been extremely useful so that Jason could keep track of his Liquid Luck brewing schedule. He went over to see why it was glowing.

Thursday, December 19th

9am-11am: Free Period -J | 9am: Charms -L

10am: Potions -L

11am: Muggle Studies -L

12pm: Go looking for Brownie elves and offer honey and crackers

before they become Bogarts -L

1pm: Herbology -J | 1pm: Transfiguration -L

4pm: Early Dinner at Three Broomsticks- J & L

Sorry Jason! Can't make it! -L

8pm: Astronomy –J

Thump…

Thump…

Thump…

When Jason saw Luna's freshly written schedule change on the calendar, he felt crushed. Unfortunately, this was followed by a huge headache. He sits down because the thumping in his ear is making it worse.

Thump…

Thump…

Thump…

He begins to think about why Luna would have cancelled their dinner date. He just wanted to be a good friend today, and this is how he gets repaid? And she didn't even have the decency to tell him why?

Thump…

Thump…

Thump…

The thumping gets louder. He lays down and closes his eyes but all he can do is wonder why Luna had to cancel.

As he pondered all the possibilities he also began to recall of when Luna was busy all last year, almost always canceling plans with Jason because she had Dumbledore's Army meetings and training. It was a hard time for Jason especially because Luna was his only friend then. Before they met during the Triwizard cup, Jason was used to being a loner. He was almost proud of it but he couldn't lie and say he felt there wasn't a longing for something everyone else seemed to have. After their first exchange Luna and Jason hit it off and he saw what he was missing; companionship. She was one year below him, but that didn't stop the strong friendship that ensued. Jason was thrilled to have someone to talk to and hang out with after three years.

However, last year he felt completely ignored. Being backed into the loner corner again was miserable. The complete rejection of his efforts to try and join Dumbledore's Army was a huge blow to Jason as well. He was destroyed on the inside. But he hoped that Luna would still make an effort to hang out with him.

"Luna, want to watch the movie they're showing in the Great Hall tonight?"

"I'm going to be busy, Sorry Jason!"

"Hey Luna, are we still on for Honeydukes later?"

"Jason, sorry I can't!"

"Today we were supposed to be seeing about that Art Club, did you forget Luna?"

"Jason, I'm so sorry!"

Today's last minute cancellation of plans seemed to open up old wounds as Jason felt a tear run down his cheek. When he noticed he sat up and quickly wiped his eyes.

"Are you kidding me?" Jason said to himself. He looked in the mirror. He decided he wouldn't allow himself to be that soft today. He caught a glimpse of his clock in the reflection and saw that it was 7:56pm. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Jason repeated to himself, not able to believe that time moved so quickly while he felt sorry for himself. He quickly changed into his robes and made his way to the astronomy tower, the highest point in the entire school. Jason accepted he would be late no matter what since he was coming from the Slytherin dormitories, located in the lowest point of the school.

He sprinted as quickly as he could up to the astronomy tower and even jumped onto one of the moving staircases before he missed his chance. Somehow Jason managed to only be four minutes late, catching his breath for the latter two before he entered. Jason hated cardio.

Finally he arrived to the outdoor classroom, where everyone was already settled. Professor Sinistra was in the middle of speaking when Jason accidently closed the door a little too hard behind him. Everyone stared at him as he made his way toward his telescope. He looked around for an observing desk to set it down. One was next to Terry Boot, a Ravenclaw who loved to poke at Jason every so often, made a face at him as he walked in. There was no way Jason would sit next to him. To his dismay there was only on other seat available, next to Hermione Granger.

"You showed up. Pity." sighed Hermione as he took his seat. Jason pretended he didn't hear the comment as he pulled out his star chart. The class continued while Professor Sinistra explained what they were doing there tonight.

"—so my proto-N.E.W.T. level students, I will ask you to observe the passing of the Leonis Minorid Meteor Shower and mark the origin of the meteors based on the length of tail, point of entry to atmosphere, and velocity ascertained. You must do so for at least ten Meteors. A point bonus for 15." instructed the Professor. Jason prepared his telescope and pointed it towards the predicted point of sightline of the first meteor based on his star chart.

Astronomy was never something Jason had thought he would be quite good at, however he was slowly but surely gaining talent at it every year. Of course no one in the class excelled more than Hermione and Daphne Greengrass, but he was definitely a distant 3rd place in the class this year.

"I saw one!" squealed Daphne from the next table over as she quickly began taking notes of its stats. Jason looked up and didn't even need the telescope to see the glowing mint streak it left behind in the dark night sky. It was followed by another. The rest of the class follows suit, pointing their telescopes towards its direction. Jason was very pleased with himself as he was only a quarter degree off on his predicted sightline. He looked over at Hermione, who had somehow already recorded three meteors.

As the night grew late, the meteor shower illuminated the sky, making it harder to distinguish the stats of an individual meteor. Terry Boot said his observing desk had no clear view of the sky so he kept moving around, usually bumping into Jason as hard as he could. Jason was getting extremely annoyed but he only needed one more meteor and he'd be done. Hermione had finished recording 15 of them for what seemed like ages but didn't decide to stop until she reached 25 meteors.

"I recorded that one as well," said Hermione as she looked at Jason's notes. "I assume there's nothing wrong with miscalculating tail length by a few meters." she taunted. Jason couldn't get away with a nice smart comeback here, as he was mostly out of his depth. However he'll remember tonight for their next potion's class, where he's beginning to feel he excels beyond her now.

"Please, I'm trying to focus on the meteor Hermione." he replied in a very irritated tone. He looked back into his telescope when Daphne squealed yet again.

"That one's enormous!" she gasped. Everyone's telescoped pointed in her direction before then looking up.

"Woah!" exclaimed Terry Boot, focusing his telescope.

"Er….I think it's headed right for us," observed Susan Bones. Jason took a closer look before confirming she was correct. The meteor was on a collision course with the Astronomy Tower. They were all in danger.

"What?" asked Professor Sinistra before transfiguring her wand into a telescope. She took a look before letting out a loud gasp, "This wasn't in my horoscope today!"

"Don't worry, I got it!" said Daphne. She took out her wand and pointed it towards the meteor, "Arresto Momentum!"

For a moment, it looked as if the spell was a dead shot for the meteor. Then it hit the first layer of the protection charm engulfing Hogwarts. The spell dissipated, causing a small ripple on the spot where it hit.

"Dang it." grumbled Daphne, "I forgot the protection spells were there." A slight panic washed over the class.

"What do we do!?"

"Should we warn the school!?"

"Call Dumbledore!"

"Come on Bias, serve as our human shield today," joked Terry. Jason just rolled his eyes.

The class was beginning to rabble until finally Professor Sinistra let out some blue sparks from her wand, forcing everyone's attention.

"Everyone! Settle," she spoke to the students. "I believe the protection spells cast around Hogwarts are strong enough to stop the meteor from colliding with us." Professor Sinistra sounded like she wasn't too sure. Her hand was gripping her wand firmly. But she continued. "For the time being, we will all head back down the tower and straight to your dormitories." Everyone just stared silently, as if they didn't know what to do next. Jason was staring at the meteor the entire time, watching as it got closer. With his naked eye, he wasn't able to make out exactly how far away it was, but it looked like it was growing every second now. He could feel his heart pumping as terror set in.

"Go on!" directed Professor Sinistra as she opened the door to the stairs. Everyone made their way through, though very slowly. Not one student seemed to want to miss what will happen. Jason also had a sick curiosity with the current predicament but his overwhelming dread won out and he made his way to the stairway as well.

"It's about to hit!" shouted Terry Boot. No one seemed to have noticed he was still watching it through his telescope.

"Mr. Boot! Get over here this instant!" shouted Professor Sinistra. But it was too late. Whatever students that were making their way down the stairs were coming right back up as soon as they heard Boot's remark. Professor Sinistra was yelling at everyone to go back, trying her best to block the entrance. Jason was pushed forward by the small crowd, falling to the floor. That's when the meteor hit the outer barrier.

There was a loud BOOM followed by a shockwave of energy that caused everyone's hair to stand on edge. It was slowed down considerably, almost stopping dead in its tracks and losing about half of its size, but it made it through. What was an invisible barrier, now clearly visible, seemed to have been depleted of its energy as the meteor left a hole in the spot that it hit and was slowing growing larger. You could see how the magic surrounded the castle. The point where the meteor collided was now a hole. It looked almost like a broken window that a baseball went through. Then it hit the second barrier, causing the meteor to lose even more size and also causing the whole sky to blur with a rippling motion. This time the noise emitted was more akin to an electric screech. Finally it went through the third layer of the protective spells placed on Hogwarts. The sky shattered, but maintained its shape. The meteor basically disintegrated as it made contact with this barrier. Jason watched as the pieces of the meteor that weren't totally destroyed fell down the sides of the barrier, ripping holes into the magic like a knife to cloth.

They survived.

There was a wave of relief that filled the air. Professor Sinistra even took off her hat in reassurance, revealing a braided bun adorned with golden cuffed beads. "Alright students, that's more than enough excitement for the rest of the year, I'd say. Everyone to your tables to turn in your observations and then right on back to your dorms."

The class broke out into chatter. An awkward feeling of celebration yet realization of just how close they all were to meeting their demise was present. Terry Boot went on about how he thought it was radioactive and would grant them superpowers. Daphne Greengrass said if the barrier didn't do it in she would have tried the Arresto Momentum spell again. As Jason walked towards the stairway he looked to the sky, watching as the protective charmed barriers of Hogwarts were shrinking in size. Then beams of magic shot towards the sky. He looked down the side of the tower, making out what were three figures casting the spells, reinforcing the barriers and mending the cavities. The crash the meteor made must have been audible all throughout Hogwarts. Jason used his telescope and saw the three figures were Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Flitwick.

Jason thought to himself of the possibility that he might have perished tonight still not accomplishing his goal of finishing his Felix Felicis and still not completely satisfied with his relationship with Harry Potter. He'll count his blessings tonight for sure.

"BIAS WATCH OUT!" yelled Padma Patil. Jason turned around and saw a small chunk of meteor about twelve feet from his face headed right for him. He closed his eyes and braced for impact. There was nothing he could do.

SNAP!

Jason's eyes were still closed, but nothing had hit him. He slowly opened his eyes, his body still tensed up. He looked down on the ground and saw an emerald crystal rock emitting a pale green glow. He realized it was the meteor, which was originally obsidian when it was on a course to his face. It almost looked like it had been turned inside out. Jason felt lightheaded.

"Mr. Bias, are you alright?" asked Professor Sinistra.

"I—" he began.

"How did you do that?" Hermione asked Professor Sinistra. She motioned as if to snap her fingers. "You stopped it in midair just by snapping!"

"Just a little trick I came up with while I was a student at Uagadou School of Magic," said Professor Sinistra with a proud smile on her face. She threw a model planet at Terry, who quivered in fear before Professor Sinistra snapped again when it was an inch from his face. The planet stopped in its tracks, turning inside out in the process and then fell like a rock onto the floor. "It's meant to pull gravity to its center, suspending it in midair for a millisecond." She laughed. "I was an amazing Keeper until I got disqualified for my creative methods," she whispered. "I was found out when they noticed the Quaffle had been turned inside out."

Jason picked up the small chunk of meteor crystal. The rigid edges prickling his fingers slightly. It was no bigger than a gobstone. The faint glow was beautiful, pale but ever present. Had this striking rock made contact with his face he would surely be without one now. The image of his head with a hole in it stayed in his mind as he glared at the meteor. The whole class wanted to catch a glimpse of the space rock turned jewel, but Professor Sinistra made everyone head back to their dorms immediately. Jason was the last to leave after the Professor made sure the jewel wasn't radioactive and let him keep it. At least he had a deadly souvenir that was also his favorite color.

As Jason left with the rock in his pocket, he was feeling pretty lucky. He's sure he would have been dead had Professor Sinistra not saved him. He was at the bottom of the tower about to turn in the hallway when Terry Boot came out of nowhere, his hand extended as if asking for a Galleon.

"What?" Jason asked in a monotone.

"The meteor." Terry stated. "Let me have it."

"Are you serious?" Jason groaned. "No."

"Let me have it Bias, or I'll give you a reason—"

"Stop right there," Jason chuckled. "Are you seriously threatening me over a space rock?" Terry looked smug. As if there was nothing ridiculous about what he's doing. Terry didn't look physically imposing or anything, he was a Ravenclaw after all. Most of them just sat around studying all day and night. Jason wasn't worried. Terry's hand was still extended. Jason just walked through him.

"Bias, hand it over or I'll report you for using blood magic."

Thump…

Thump…

Thump…

Jason stopped dead in his tracks. Blood magic was an expulsion level offense. He knows it was some dumb rumor that he used it in the early part of the year but he hadn't heard it since Katie Bell's incident. Now it's rearing its ugly head. Jason turned around and walked right up to Terry.

"I. Don't. Use. Blood. Magic." Jason said through gritted teeth. Loudly enough that it echoed through the empty hall. He's had enough of this.

"You don't expect me to believe that do you?" Terry scoffed with annoying smirk on his face. "Not when the entire school knows you do."

"I'm not going to repeat myself." Jason replied with rage. Jason wasn't usually someone with a temper, it's something he's always been proud of. This year he'd probably gotten angry more times than he has in his entire life. The thumping in his head wasn't helping either. He didn't realize that his hand was noticeably hovering over his wand until Terry looked down at it. Terry's smirk left his face.

"Bias, I… I was just joking mate." Terry said trying to de-escalate the situation now. Jason walked towards Terry, causing Terry to flinch and trip on a ridge in the stone floor. Terry wouldn't take his eyes off Jason, like if he did he'd attack. His eyes were full of fear. Terry truly did believe Jason was taking part in dark magic. How many others thought the same?

"Leave me alone," Jason said finally before walking away. Terry scowled, but didn't say another word. He didn't even get up. Jason was almost at the end of the hallway when Terry said one last thing.

"Leave Harry alone, cursed dark mage!" Terry shouted. "I wish the meteor got you so he'd fall out of your blood trance! How about you finish what it set out to do and kill yourself!"

Jason just kept walking.

Thump…

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Thump…

He arrived at the Slytherin Dormitory. "Dehisce," he said to the wall, which immediately opened to let him in. A very fitting word for the night. Something his head narrowly avoided. He almost laughed. Jason headed right for his room, ignoring what looked like Draco staring at him from the common room couch in his peripheral vision. He threw the meteor on the floor and laid down on his bed, not even bothering to undress.

Thump!…

Thump!…

Thump!…

Jason began hearing it loudly again. The dreaded noise in his ear. It brought back his headache as well so he got up to take some pain pills that were on his dresser in front of his mirror. Jason looked at himself. He was tired. The reflection of the glowing meteor on the floor caught his attention. The glow illuminated his eyes.

After swallowing the pill and washing it down, Jason turned off the lights and laid back on his bed. The glowing meteor was now the only thing faintly illuminating the room. His mind wandered and the intrusive thoughts began. He commenced to feel consumed by every single unfortunate thing that had ever happened to him. It's all he could see as he closed his eyes. He relived the moment his family disowned him back in Georgia, disgusted by his abilities. The flashing memories illuminated his mind while he reflected on his years at Hogwarts as a reject. The many times he had nothing to do after class because he had no friends. How he wondered the halls, alone while the students of other houses avoided him because of he was a Slytherin. Jason thought of when Draco belittled him for being muggle-born. His own house being unfriendly and cold towards him as well. He couldn't stop thinking of every moment he felt little or less than because of who he was. He couldn't stop thinking of the many signs he's been given that he has no place in this world. Even in the face of death his only reason for living was that he hadn't completed his Felix Felicis. "How pathetic is that?" Jason thought. Had the universe decided he should have died today? The only piece of the meteor that made it through the magic barrier…was it meant to kill him?

THUMP!...

THUMP!…

THUMP!…

The thumping in his ear was starting to become unbearable enough for Jason to wince in anguish.

"CAN I JUST HAVE A BREAK?" Jason shouted, barely able to hear his own voice with how loud the thumping was. It felt as if his very brain was being prodded. He wanted the pain to end. What Terry said was playing over again in his head. He stood up and pulled his wand out from his robe pocket, pointing it at the bottom of his jaw. "Or should I just give the universe what it wants?" he mumbled. He didn't hesitate.

"Avada Kedavra,"

Jason's body fell to the ground, eyes still wide open. His pupils reflecting the green glow of the meteor not two inches away from his face. He turned towards the glowing rock.

"Is that what you wanted?" Jason asked it. "Well I tried. I guess I didn't hate myself enough," He chuckled. The chuckle turned into a laugh. The laugh into a wail.