As Jade expected, she received the potion on Wednesday. She hid it along with the twins' hair.
On Thursday night, with Neville's help and another guy from the D.A. meetings, they attacked Channel and Chantel and carried them all the way to the Vanishing Cabinet, so no one could find them and if they did, it didn't matter... they just needed to be away for a few hours so people wouldn't be seeing two pairs of twins.
On Friday Monday, with authorization of Snape and Umbridge, Jade, and two people who seemed like Channel and Chantel, left Hogwarts with a portkey. The pair hadn't said a thing as their voices were still the same and it was comical to see two girls with male voices.
"Where are we?"
"London," Jade told them. "I didn't want the portkey to take me to my home town. And my parents don't expect me until tomorrow."
"What now, then?" Ron as Channel asked, getting a little concerned.
"We are underage so we can't really use the portkey to go to France, they'd know we left the country," Jade told them. "We'll take a train to Dover, then take a ferry, and once at Calais we'll take a bus."
"Won't they stop us? Or ask for documents?" Harry asked.
"Not if we use a Disillusionment charm," Jade told them.
"This is mad, Jade," Ron exclaimed.
"I know," Jade said with a mischievous smile.
So, that's what they did, they took a train to Dover, which Jade paid for. Then before getting on the Ferry, she did the charm so they could be invisible. Jade felt sick the whole ride and eventually Ron also got sick but Harry wasn't affected.
They had successfully left England while being underage. Just in case, they kept the charm on even while on the bus. It was probably 3:00 p.m. when they got to a very small village.
Ron's hair was all over the place, he had fallen asleep on the bus, while Harry had hers impeccable, which was a bit of a shock. They were still wearing a skirt and they kept complaining about how weird it felt.
"Now you know what I go through every day," Jade told them.
They had to walk for a bit, and on the way Jade explained things to both Ron and Harry. Ron knew lots of things already, but it felt weird to tell Harry things but since he agreed to help her with this she thought it was only fair to tell him what was going on.
"So, your brother is getting married to this girl named Olisca and they have been engaged since they were three or so?" Harry asked to make sure he got it right, Jade nodded. "And you also are in an arranged marriage to a pure blood wizard."
"That's correct."
"Who?"
"Cassius Perseus," she told him. "My brother's best friend."
"That's not fair! You made me guess!" Ron exclaimed.
"Yes and you got a kiss, remember?" Ron went a dark shade of red, but it wasn't as funny, since Channel didn't have red hair and her skin tone was a bit darker.
"What?" Harry exclaimed in shock.
"Yeah, Ron was my first kiss," Jade told him like if it wasn't a big deal but it sort of was. "I made him guess my fiancé's name and if he got it right, he would get a kiss."
"That sounds a bit messed up."
"I know. But he was up for it."
Jade then told him about why she offered to kiss him if he got it right and her reasons to do it, Harry seemed to be more understanding.
"So, basically what we are doing here is trying to get evidence of something. I want to see the truth with my own eyes and if it's there, it could mean my key to freedom. I could break the arranged marriage and not be a disgrace to my family."
"Can you do that?"
"There are very few reasons someone could get out of their arranged marriage. Funny enough, dating Harry Potter isn't one of them."
"What?" Ron asked, his/her hair was turning red which meant the potion was wearing off, but it didn't matter, they didn't have to look like Channel and Chantel until tomorrow morning.
"Yeah, Umbridge told my parents about it. I did get punished but I'm still engaged."
Finally they made it to the village centre. The people there were obviously Muggles and it was good that both guys were now back to looking like themselves. They asked for a bathroom so they could change into trousers but before they had a chance people looked at them oddly, two boys wearing skirts wasn't normal.
Ten minutes later, the three of them found themselves in front of a small house but with a big garden. It had an apple tree in the front. Jade looked nervous, so Ron took the first step, pushed the little gate, walked forward and went to knock on the door.
A woman in her mid-forties opened the door and was quite shocked to see three teenagers at her doorstep. Ron started talking but then realized two things, he didn't know why exactly they were there and he couldn't speak French.
"Bon Jour," Jade said with a warm smile. "I'm looking for Fayette, we met in Hogwarts last year. I was wondering if we could see her."
"Yes, she's inside. Please come in," the blonde woman said, letting them in. "What's your name?"
"I'm Jade, this is Ronald and this is Harry," she said as they went inside.
As the woman led them to the living room and they sat, she left and went upstairs, probably to go look for Fayette.
"You never told me you could speak French," Ron told her.
"I don't," she whispered. "It's a spell. A very hard one. Basically everything you say comes out in the chosen language and you understand what the people say to you but doesn't really make you learn it."
"Oh, why didn't you do that on us?"
"Forgot..." Jade then got her wand out and did the spell on them quickly. "If you understand what they say, if it sounds like English, then it means it worked."
Then finally Fayette came down. The blonde girl looked tired and pale, and she looked even worse when she realized who Jade was but she pretended like she didn't know.
"Hello, I'm Jade Lias, and you are Fayette, right?" Jade asked but she knew it was her, she remembered seeing her with Cassius at the Yule Ball. Even Ron and Harry remembered.
"Yes, why are you here?" Fayette asked as she sat in front of them.
"I wanted to talk to you."
"So... did Cassius tell you?"
"Sort of," Jade said trying not to be sarcastic or mean, or arrogant. "I wanted to listen to your side of the story and know what really happened."
Jade noticed the girl in front of her wasn't pregnant, she actually looked quite thin. She wanted to know if she had the baby or got rid of it or gave it up or if it died.
"First of all, I didn't know Cassius had a girlfriend. We danced and hooked up during the Yule Ball but it wasn't until maybe ten or fifteen days later when he told me to never talk to him again and that it was a mistake. He then told me he had a girlfriend and he loved her and he was sorry for what he had done."
"So, was it just a one-night thing?" Jade asked.
"Yes, sort of," Fayette said nodding. "This blond guy stopped us and almost got into a fight with Cassius that night. My English is not good so I couldn't understand well. Two nights later we did hook up and then he didn't talk to me after that, wouldn't even look at me. Then like I told you, he told me about you and I stayed away."
Jade nodded, she could feel Ron and Harry looking at her, it didn't help that she was in the middle. Then she carefully took out of her pocket an envelope. Fayette immediately recognized it.
"Cass told me about the other letters and that you wouldn't leave him alone, he told me that he messed up and that he might..." Jade made a pause and looked down at the envelope. She hadn't noticed but her hands were shaking a bit. "He told me he might have a baby but he wasn't sure if it was his and then showed me this letter. So I came here to know your side of the story."
"It wasn't like that. I never spoke to him after he told me about you. I started sending him letters when I found out I was pregnant. I wanted him to know he was going to be a father. You can see I don't have a lot of money and I wasn't asking him for anything like he thought at first. But I grew up without a father and I didn't want the same for my child. When he didn't reply any of my letters I decided to tell him. We met in the village and he wanted proof that it was his, but that couldn't be possible until it's born. And he offered me a lot of money so I could keep my mouth shut."
"Do you know why?" Jade said, her voice got a little bit colder.
"Because he was with you and didn't want to lose you."
"In a way, yes. But you see, we both come from Pure-blood families, so this child wouldn't be accepted and would be seen as something disgraceful. I don't try to be mean, I'm just telling you his real agenda. Having a half-blood kid isn't something to be proud of and that could make all of his family be looked as... less pure I guess."
"What?"
"Yeah... it's horrible, I know. And that could lead to my family not wanting me to marry him and our engagement would be off," Jade told her. "Besides, having a baby out of wedlock isn't right either, even if it was me in your place, our families would be very disappointed."
"Engagement?"
"Yes, we are engaged. Anyway, may I ask... where's the baby? How old is it?"
It was then when they all heard a baby crying. For a moment they thought the baby didn't even exist, there were no toys, no bottles, no mess, to suggest a child was living there. Jade didn't want to ask her in case the baby died or she got rid of it but she now knew that wasn't the case.
"I'll go!" Fayette's mother called and Fayette smiled awkwardly.
"As you heard the baby is upstairs, just waking up from a nap. He's eight months and a half. He was born at the end of August last year. Cassius couldn't come for his birth. He arrived about a week later to meet him and to make sure it was his."
"Because he was in America?" Jade asked, Fayette nodded.
"You were there as well?"
"Yeah, we all were. Anyway, so was he his?"
"Of course. He comes once a month to see him."
Jade didn't know why but that broke her heart a bit. Had he ever planned to tell her? Eventually? The baby was almost a year old and he hadn't told her. Maybe he was waiting for them to get married. Once married there was no going back. No divorces, unless the spouse meant a threat to the other person with enough evidence to prove it.
"Hasn't he told you?"
"He just said the baby might be his, but he never said he found out it was indeed his, or that it was a boy or his name or age or anything. He just avoids the topic and never talks about it."
"Well, would you like to meet him?"
Jade was shocked at the question. She stared at Fayette, she found herself nodding slightly. She didn't know how to feel about it. She didn't even know why she had to come here and drag Harry and Ron, she didn't remember what encouraged her to come all the way to France when she could just show the letter to Cass and confront him.
"This is Gérard," Fayette said as she walked back into the room.
Jade stood up and had a look at the little boy. His blonde hair was similar to Draco's hair, it was so light. Cassius' hair used to be that light when he was younger but it got darker as he grew, unlike Draco's. The boy also had blue eyes, that was enough evidence. Those eyes were identical to Cass' eyes, even the shape.
"Mama," the boy said and Jade couldn't deny he was adorable. He was such a pretty baby.
Jade didn't feel triumphant and happy as she expected because this baby meant she could get out of the marriage and possibly suggest someone else, instead, she felt sad. This baby wouldn't have a father, and even when Cassius' parents were very lovingly and nice people, they would never accept this... They would never love their grandson.
"I didn't mean to be harsh on you earlier," Jade told her suddenly. She didn't look up at her, she kept her eyes on the boy. "Talking about blood status."
"I sort of knew, I understood he had a girlfriend but someone told me what kind of person he was and where he comes from. I even thought that he stopped talking to me because I'm a muggleborn," Fayette said and Jade knew that's why he stopped talking to her, but she didn't have the heart to tell her that.
Jade didn't want to intrude so much but she kept asking questions, she was curious. She found out Fayette worked at a pub during the nights, her mother worked during the day, so both could work and look after Gérard. She also found out she had just turned nineteen and that her father had left when she was five, when she showed she had magical abilities.
It was around 19:00 when they left the house, Jade even got to hold the baby and she looked so awkward that Harry and Ron had to laugh.
"So Perseus has a kid, huh?" Ron said. "You are going to be a step-mother."
"Shut up," Jade said glaring.
"Is that why we came here?" Harry asked. Jade nodded.
"You see, things are complicated. We all know we have to marry someone, right? But in the meantime we can choose to date someone, most don't because we know it's a waste of time and it can be hurtful when things end... but what we never have to do is... having sex with someone else, especially when you aren't even in a relationship. Believe it or not, most Slytherins, even the ones who apparently have a reputation, are virgins. We respect that, we know our boundaries and we know is not right. So this... this is bad."
"So, you know your boundaries in a sexual way but not in like killing people and following Voldemort?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Funny, isn't it?" Jade said sarcastically. "But yeah I suppose."
"So what does this mean?" Ron asked her. "Can you break it off?"
"Yeah, I could. At the end of the day our parents make the decisions but anyone would break it off... I sometimes doubt my parents' actions but they wouldn't want me to be with someone who does have a kid, and someone who slept with a Mud-blood... sorry," Jade added quickly. "That would be their words... His parents would probably beg but my parents will say no and find someone else..."
"Okay, let me ask you this," Ron said. "How do you know your parents will say no for sure? What if they decide to pretend nothing has happened? What if they decide to disappear the problem... meaning the kid? And if they do find someone else for you wouldn't that be bad?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, Perseus is your friend and he cares about you. You could end up with someone like Goyle, totally gross, at least Perseus is kind of good-looking, or that's what girls said... and you get along, isn't that important?"
"Yes but... I might have a chance to choose or at least tell them who I want, and they could consider it."
"Who do you want?" Harry asked.
"I won't say," she said quickly.
"Jade, I think we all know that's unlikely. Yes, Cassius messed up, and they might not want him for you but I don't think they will take into consideration what you want. You said last week that if you made one more mistake they would disinherit you... what you did with us, that group, and being with us and dating Harry, or at least pretending to, well, I think they are furious at you and won't give you what you want. I think the best scenario here is just talk to Perseus and see what happens."
"Do you really think that?"
"Yes, I've heard a lot about your parents, I don't know them though, but I think they would just stick with Perseus but if they try to find someone else and get you to marry him, that person will be worse than Perseus, he won't be your friend or care," Ron told her. "Your situation is shit but I think Perseus it's better than any other guy... what are the chances of your parents choosing the person you want without them knowing you want him?"
"Uh, not many to be honest," Jade said nodding sadly. "I hadn't really thought about it. And to be honest, I don't feel good after meeting her, I thought I would. But I actually feel sad, I feel bad for her."
"Well, welcome to being a human," Harry said.
"Shut up," Jade exclaimed shaking her head.
"What are you going to do?" Ron asked.
"I don't know," Jade told him. "After Umbridge told my parents that I was dating you," she said pointing at Harry. "My father said I would have no voice in the matter and would have to marry Cass as soon as leaving Hogwarts. And I didn't want that, I want to be at least twenty."
"What's so important if your family disinherits you?" Harry asked. "Like you'll be miserable your whole life... is it worth it... for your family's approval?"
Jade didn't answer, in fact, she couldn't answer. Before, she could have. She would have told him some reasons why it was worth it even when she didn't want to do it but now she couldn't think of a single good enough reason.
Hmm, things got complicated. Should she tell their families about the baby or keep it quiet?
Also, and I'm quite excited about this! I just finished a Draco / OC video and I think it's one of my best ones so far. It was a pain to make, especially the music part but it's finally done! :)
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