"So, let me see if I understood..." Jade said. "You took Felix Felicis and successfully got the memory from Slughorn?" Harry nodded. "And you went straight to see Dumbledore and found out about..."

"Don't say it out loud!" Harry said quickly.

Ron, Jade and Harry were in an empty classroom in the fourth floor. Even when they had checked, Harry didn't want people hearing that word. He knew sometimes walls had ears, and if not walls, anything else did. So they always had to be careful with their words.

"And Dumbledore thinks there are six?" Ron asked.

"He thinks he made six but two are already destroyed, so four to go."

"And he doesn't know where those four objects could be or what they are."

"No," Harry said sadly. "He's only got ideas of what they could be."

The three of them discussed it during their free period before lunch. Harry was telling them everything he knew. He looked excited, he and Dumbledore had discovered one of Voldemort's biggest secrets and the key, probably, to defeat him.

The time went by very quickly and soon they had to go down to the Great Hall for lunch. Before Ron could open the door, Jade stopped him.

"I need to tell you something before we go," Jade told them. She bit her lip and looked down. She seemed nervous and her sick appearance hadn't improved, if anything, she looked a bit paler and thinner.

"What?" Harry asked concerned.

"It's been really loud lately," Jade said in a low tone, making the two boys wonder what she meant, the two looked at each other trying to see if the other had understood what she had said. "My gift... if you can call it that, has returned, with full force. I can't really control it. At all."

"You mean you can hear thoughts again?" Ron asked her, getting excited.

"Yeah but now it's all the time and I can't shut it down. Sometimes, I hear five or even ten people at the same time and I feel like I'm going mad. I can't concentrate or focus on school or even Quidditch and it keeps me up at night. It's been a while since I actually had enough sleep or just some decent rest. I've tried going to the common room and sleep there but it's still not far enough, I can still hear people."

"Have you told Snape?"

"Last week," Jade admitted. "Told him everything, that I lost it for a couple of months and then it just came back and lost all control and power I once had... Not that I had that much control before but it was never like this. I thought that it would get better within a few days but it hasn't yet, it has either been as bad or just gotten worse. I wanted to wait before telling someone about it, thought it was that bad for not having it for months, that it would go back to normal on its own but it hasn't."

"When did it come back?" Harry asked.

"When you took me to the seventh floor," Jade told him. "Even before seeing the girl, I knew Goyle was there, I heard his thoughts. Since I hadn't heard anything for a long time I couldn't distinguish it, I didn't know I was listening to his thoughts but then I saw the girl. She wasn't speaking but I kept hearing Goyle's voice, it came from her... and it made sense. It got bad that night and it has just gotten worse since then."

"What was he thinking?"

"Nothing important," Jade said with a shrug. "He wanted to get out of there because he was hungry and tired."

"You serious?" Ron snorted.

"Yeah, he was thinking of chocolate fudge, biscuits and some other desserts."

"Speaking of food... we should go," Ron said. "Is that why you had the crisis the other day? Why you looked so... sick? Because we were really worried, we still are."

"It's been affecting me... I can't sleep. It's really hard to do all the things I need to do and play Quidditch almost every day after sleeping for two or three hours. I keep hearing stuff and I can't block it out. I'm just exhausted, physically and mostly mentally. "

"But why? I mean, everyone is sleeping at that time, aren't they? Why do you keep hearing things?" Ron asked.

"The brain is still working, Ron. I hear random thoughts and even see what my roommates dream. It's hard to explain. But I can't shut it off and sometimes I get images from two different people. So, my mind gets overloaded. And I get frustrated because I can't do anything about it and I can't sleep, so I'm always in a bad mood and I have headaches every day, and when I get frustrated it's like my mind gets more vulnerable and things get even worse."

"Wow, I would hate if you were my roommate. I wouldn't want you to see my dreams," Ron said as he blushed deeply.

"That's not the issue here, Ron," Harry said.

"But that didn't cause the crisis I had the other day, to be honest, I mean, probably made it worse but that wasn't the reason. That day was my brother's birthday," Jade admitted, ignoring what Ron had said. "I love Lex and it pains me that he is in Azkaban and I haven't really talked about it with anyone because no one would understand, they would just tell me to get over it because he deserves it and he does but that doesn't mean it hurts any less."

"Jade, I'm sor..." Harry started but Jade interrupted him quickly.

"Don't worry, though," she said. "About anything. About my brother situation or my gift... I'm starting lessons with Snape again, it will get better."

"What if it doesn't?" Ron asked and Harry just gave him a look.

"Then I'll lose my mind," Jade said with a shrug.

"Fifty to eighty!" Luna said as Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw played at the end of the month.

As Captain and Quidditch fan, Jade went to see the match even if she wasn't feeling up to it. They hadn't beat those two teams by much so Jade needed to see the match and know the score.

Draco was late but he eventually joined her. He sat in between her and Blaise, who had kept her company while Draco wasn't there. He needed to work on his mission, Jade didn't ask about it, she just pretended to believe his lie, but she was glad that he was there now.

Being still angry at Cho for telling Umbridge about the D.A. meetings, Jade personally enjoyed when she received a hit from a Bludger, Cho didn't fall from her broom, but that must have hurt. She looked a bit confused for a couple of minutes after the blow.

She momentarily glanced at her hand and saw the scar that she got from detention with Umbridge. It was barely visible but it was engraved deeply in her mind. To some point, it had hurt her more than being cursed with Crucio, not because of the actual pain, but because of the feeling of unfairness and not being able to do anything about it to stop it or to get even.

Jade shook her head and hid her hand in her pocket, not wanting to see it again. And her attention went back to the game, she even smiled when Hufflepuff scored again.

Draco did notice though when he glanced at her, that Jade seemed uncomfortable. She often closed her eyes and held her head as if she had a migraine. And at times she put her hands over her ears.

When Jade started to shake, Draco decided to hold her and ask her what was wrong. When she refused to accept something was wrong and she kept shaking Draco made her stand up despite her complaints.

"I'm fine!" she complaint. "I'm just a bit cold. Nothing to worry about."

But it wasn't cold. It was a sunny, nice day of spring. Even if it were a bit chilly, which wasn't, that wouldn't make someone shiver. Their discussion didn't go unnoticed, and Blaise even helped Draco to get her out of the stands but he returned to watch the match. He didn't play but he was a big fan.

Jade argued for a bit, claiming she was alright and would like to go back and watch the game, but as the argument went on and on, she suddenly just stopped. Draco was waiting for her to say something but she didn't make another sound, not even out of frustration. She closed her eyes again and she pinched the bridge of her nose. When she opened her eyes she just nodded at Draco.

With Draco's arms around her, Jade walked back to the castle, which was empty, of course. So that meant peace and silence for Jade. The further she got from the field, the better she felt.

Draco laid her down on a couch in the Slytherin common room and got her some water, which she drank all and then she rested her head on a cushion and Draco sat next to her.

"What happened?"

"It got too loud," Jade said, her eyes still closed. She was exhausted.

"You mean..."

"I heard everyone shouting and Luna commenting, and the people around me cheering and some thoughts... all at the same time. It was chaotic," Jade explained. "I couldn't process it all. I couldn't just block it."

"I've got two questions, Jade," Draco said softly as he scooted over, lifting her legs slowly and then resting them on his lap as he got closer and closer to Jade. His hands resting on top of her knees then. "Can you hear my thoughts now?"

"No, I've never been able to," Jade told him. "And I'm glad."

"Have you thought what can happen if that occurs to you when it's our turn to play?" Draco asked and suddenly, Jade opened her eyes and looked up at him. "I mean, everyone will be there again. Same scenario as today, except you will be out there and not be just part of the audience."

"It hadn't happened before and my head is killing me now so haven't had enough time and clarity to think," Jade said. "But if this doesn't improve by the time we have to play, I'll need to get myself a back-up. I won't be able to play like this. In that case you'll need to be in charge of the team."

"But..."

"Please."

"Okay. But back to you... It was never that bad before, was it?"

"Not really. Not even close."

"Snape said it can get out of control with stress... I shouldn't have told you, Jade. I thought..."

"This isn't your fault," Jade interrupted him. "This didn't get bad when you told me."

"Maybe not immediately but it did shortly after I told you and especially after the things you've done for me. This is all my fault. I will get Snape and tell him how bad your situation is."

"Don't... I want to rest now," Jade exclaimed as she sat up and crossed her legs, and faced Draco, who was now avoiding eye contact. Jade had quickly grabbed his elbow to stop him from going. "Get Snape later, after the match is over. I'm enjoying being with the only person whose mind I can't listen to... It's nice. It hasn't been so quiet for so long."

"You could have said with the person I like the most," Draco said with a shy smile and a shrug.

"Well, that too," Jade said with a smile.

"Jade..." Draco muttered, his voice about to break.

"Don't," Jade said quickly. Her eyes filling with tears but none fell.

Draco nodded and said nothing but somehow, Jade knew what Draco wanted to say. Besides apologizing for the millionth time and saying how everything was his fault, he also wanted to tell her how important she was to him, how much he loved her.

Jade got even closer to Draco and caressed his cheek and kissed his other cheek, thing that made Draco smiled. Finally, a real, big smile and it finally reached his eyes and made them bright and warm, so different from the empty and cold look he had had lately.

Jade had forgotten what Draco looked like when he was happy. She almost had forgotten what it was to be happy, what it felt like. If she could she would have frozen time. Seeing Draco smile for real made her happy, made her forget what had happened minutes ago.

Draco took Jade's hand with his two hands, the one that was caressing his cheek, and planted a kiss on the back of her hand. It was the hand that suffered Umbridge's punishment, last year Draco could clearly read, 'I must respect authority', from that hand, from the place he had just kissed.

Draco looked from the thin, pale hand, to her face. Her eyes were looking at him already, then, before any of them could stop it, their lips crashed against each other.

They hadn't kissed in about ten or eleven months and it did feel like magic. It felt like the very first time they kissed. And most importantly, it made them forget for a bit and made them happy and it felt right to do it.

When they pulled away, Draco let go of her hand and put his left hand on her cheek, and grabbing some of her hair in the process, tucking it behind her ear. He pulled her closer to him, she didn't resist, and kissed her once again, she gladly kissed back.

Draco rested his other hand on her waist, which had shrunk a bit in the last few weeks, thing that he noticed when he felt how prominent her hipbone was now. But he didn't want to ruin the moment, so, he said nothing... for now. But he was definitely going to point it out another day.

Then, as they pulled away from their intense and passionately snogging session, they rested their foreheads against each other. Just trying to hold on to the moment for a bit longer.

Jade was about to cry, so in an attempt to not be seen by Draco, she embraced him, putting her arms around his neck and even leaving a kiss there, and resting her head on his shoulder, while he had his arms around her waist and rested his head on hers.

Both of them still had strong feelings towards the other and they both knew that they couldn't be together, at least for now. Draco had to concentrate in his mission and do it well to not get killed and if he was thinking of Jade's safety, he wouldn't be able to do it.

"I never stopped loving you... Just wanted you to know that," Draco whispered. "If anything... I think I love you more."

That was it. The tears that didn't fall five minutes ago, did fall then. Draco didn't need to see or hear her to know she had broken down. He said nothing, just embraced her tighter and pulled her closer to him. He kissed her forehead twice and then pecked her lips when she lifted her head. She refused to look at him as he wiped her tears with his thumb but more kept coming.

"I don't want to ruin our moment but if anything happens to me..."

"Don't say that," Jade said quickly, lifting her head more and looking right into Draco's grey and puffy eyes, as he had shed a few tears too, just that she hadn't noticed until then. "Nothing is going to happen, okay?"

"The time is approaching... if something goes wrong..."

Instead of telling Draco to shut up once again, Jade kissed his lips. Draco immediately shut up and kissed her back and once again put his arms around her and embraced her tightly.

"Okay..." Draco whispered when they pulled away from the kiss, and said nothing else on the subject.

"Draco?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we stay a bit longer like this?" Jade asked shyly as their foreheads rested against each other and they were holding their hands, their fingers intertwined. Draco's thumb was slowly brushing her soft skin.

"As long as you want, Jade," Draco whispered softly with a smile. "I'm not going anywhere."

To be true, I almost cried now that I reread this. What do you think of this chapter?

By the way, I finally made and finished a new video. It's about Merlin BBC. Here's the link if you want to check it out. :D

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