The following day, Jade went to her first class, Potions. Draco sat next to her. He looked as bad as he did last year, very worn out. Jade couldn't imagine what he had been up to during the summer.
"You cut your hair?" he asked, it was the first time they were talking after about two months.
"Yeah, couldn't deal with long hair anymore."
Jade had her hair down, tucked behind her ears. She looked so different with short hair, she probably hadn't had it as short since she was eight or nine. She missed her long hair but she didn't regret what she did.
"I thought you weren't going to come to Hogwarts," Jade said, remembering Draco had said something about it on the train last year.
"Well, it's obligatory, isn't it?" Draco said. "How was your summer?"
"Okay," Jade said. "Yours?"
"Not too good," Draco admitted.
That weekend Jade spent the day out by the lake, she couldn't stand being inside, she felt claustrophobic, which was weird as Hogwarts was huge. And having her dormitory and common room underwater didn't help at all, she felt worse being down there.
About an hour later, Neville and Ginny approached her. That brought memories of when Ron came a couple of years ago to ask silly things and she told him about the arranged marriages.
"Can we talk?" Ginny asked and Jade nodded. Neville and Ginny sat in front of her. "We are going to start the D.A. again. Things are bad, with three Death Eaters as teachers. We need to defend ourselves more than ever."
"I agree," Jade said.
"Harry is gone," Ginny continued. "We need a new teacher."
"And we were thinking," Neville said nervously. "Well, you helped Harry with teaching us... I mean you taught me so much during those lessons."
"Wait, what are you trying to say?"
"Will you be our teacher?" Ginny asked with determination. "No one else can. We'd get it wrong. You know more than any student, about every subject. And you have already actually fought against Death Eaters at least three times."
"So have you," Jade said to Ginny.
"Will you? We'll be a smaller group as some have already graduated," Ginny said trying to persuade her. "We can't just sit here and do nothing. First and second year students are already being tortured by older students just because the Carrows say it should be done, it has only been a week since school started. Can you imagine how much worse it's going to get?"
"I'm not good at teaching, Ginny."
"Well, you could teach me," Neville said. "I learnt a lot and if I learnt from you, then anyone can."
"I didn't teach you, Neville. I helped you with what Harry taught you."
"Just think it this way, Jade... you stayed while Harry, Hermione and Ron left. Maybe this is the reason why… maybe, because we needed you here."
"Just try a couple of times, if it doesn't out, we'll see what we can do, deal?" Ginny said with a smile.
"Please?" Neville asked, matching Ginny's smile.
"Deal," Jade said with a sigh. "But you know that if we are caught we're basically dead. And I mean it literally this time."
"We know."
The next Saturday, Jade held Quidditch tryouts. She wasn't as excited but Quidditch was really her only escape.
Luckily that year she only needed one chaser, every other position was covered. After playing with Lexion and having that connection with him, she was never satisfied with the new chasers but she had to pick someone.
Eventually, Jade decided on a third year girl, which was a shock as she was a bit too young and a girl. The rest of the team wasn't happy with her decision, four of them went to complain to Jade but she knew she hadn't made a mistake. She only needed to practice.
"Timothy?"
"Yes?"
"We're going to train tomorrow, just the three of us. I want her to be ready for our first match."
"Okay."
"And Amanda, everyone on the team will be mean because they don't want you here but don't pay attention to them, just ignore them and prove them wrong... like I did."
Later that day she also met up with the new D.A. members. This time they made everyone sign a paper similar to what Granger did the first time, except that this time, if anyone attempted to say anything about the group, their tongues would roll, making them unable to speak. They would also be confused for a couple of days.
The only ones allowed to talk were Ginny, Neville and Jade but for the sole purpose of finding new people to join. If they had bad intentions they would suffer that too.
"The purpose of this is more urgent than last time. We actually have to deal with Death Eaters on a daily basis now. We'll practice defensive spells first. We'll work in pairs. One will attack the other with different spells, and the second will try to protect themselves."
Jade taught them two defensive spells they could use and told them eight spells they could use to attack and they could choose the one they wanted, in whichever order, to get the other person by surprise and not allow them to be ready as they wouldn't know the spell that was going to be used
.
Most of September had passed and things were just getting worse. DADA had become more Dark Arts only than knowing how to protect from them.
Muggle Studies was now mandatory and it was mostly about how Muggles and Muggle-borns were just trash and how they contaminated society.
And the school was divided by blood status now. Muggle-borns were attacked or threatened and were treated like scum. Half-Bloods were not so bad but still sometimes they weren't treated right if people knew one of their parents was a Muggle. And Purebloods were almost untouchable and treated like royalty with some exceptions, like Ginny and Neville, who were considered Blood Traitors.
October came, it was starting to get cold, colder than usual. It was unknown if it was just the weather or the Dementors surrounding the school. Jade was in the common room, just thinking about how life had changed in a matter of months, when Draco joined her and asked her to follow him to his dorm.
"I wanted to talk about what happened during the summer."
"Okay," Jade said as she sat on his bed.
"Since my father failed his mission, we sort of missed our position. We became common servants, basically. To punish my father even more, You-Know-Who chose our house as his damn headquarters. Several Death Eaters came every day and some even stayed! Can you believe that? As if it was a hotel!" Draco said angrily. "That's why I never even tried to talk to you. They'd know. I couldn't put you in danger. I would never forgive myself. And it wasn't like I could even leave my house, to be honest. I was a prisoner in my own house!"
"I didn't know. I suspected something but didn't know how bad it got."
"Yes and he kept making fun of our family in different ways. Aunt Bella is like his favourite but even she got punished as she's related to us. He mentioned my mother's other sister, Andromeda. Made fun of her for marrying a Muggle-Born and basically made fun of my cousin too... for marrying a werewolf. He humiliated us."
"I don't even know why he thinks he can do that, his father was a Muggle after all."
"What?"
"Yes, his mother was related to Slytherin, was his descendant but his father was a Muggle. He's a Half-Blood."
"That..." Draco was so angry that he didn't even know what to say. But he turned red with rage. Jade found out at that moment that most of his followers thought he was a Pure-Blood. "Anyway… yes, I did fail my mission and now Snape is the new favourite for doing what I should have done."
"Yes but at least your hands are clean, Draco. You didn't kill anyone."
"And You-Know-Who knew the Order was moving Potter, and I don't know why but his wand has issues whenever he tries to attack Potter, so he actually took my father's wand. To humiliate him further. How dare he? And now my father doesn't have a wand because it broke that night."
"Did it break?"
"Yeah, broken, useless."
"I know Tonks, by the way. She's really cool," Jade told him. "I really like her."
"I've never met her," Draco said simply.
"Draco... will you run away with me? After Hogwarts is over?"
"Jade... you know I can't. They'll find me and kill the two of us and my parents and possibly even my aunt and since you are involved they might punish your parents and brother."
"We can go to another country," Jade said.
"They killed Karkaroff." Draco pointed out.
"There must be something, Draco."
"There isn't. Can I tell you something?"
"Yeah."
"If this hadn't happened, I would have left everything behind. I wouldn't have cared at all. Run away with the love of my life, what else could I ask for? We could have gotten married at the beach, maybe Bournemouth, actually no, that's too close to our houses," Draco said and Jade blushed.
"Would you really want to marry me?" Jade asked with a shy chuckle.
"I still do... except I can't. You don't deserve a life with a Death Eater."
"You want to marry me?" Jade asked, shocked.
"I love you, you know that. The time we were together… it was the best, wasn't it? Marrying you would have been wonderful, a big adventure, the best adventure" Draco said with a sad smile, Jade's smile vanished quickly. "I know we are young, but I could feel it. I wanted it… I don't mean to freak you out, of course I don't mean marrying now, I mean like I could feel you were the one for me. That I wanted to spend my life with you, and would love to marry you… in a few years."
"I'm sorry," Jade said with tears. "If I hadn't been such a coward, this wouldn't have happened."
"Stop. I already told you. There are only two people to blame here. You-Know-Who and my father for getting my mother and I into all of this. Not you. I could have told you what was going on but I chose not to, so you couldn't know. Don't blame yourself."
"For the record... I love you. I'm only sixteen so I'm not planning or thinking of getting married but if I was marrying someone, I'd choose you. Only you. And I'd be the happiest girl..."
"No. Not with me. Maybe before but now... You would marry a murderer."
"You haven't killed anyone, Draco," Jade told him.
"No, but I almost did it."
"No, you weren't even close to doing it. I was closer than you," Jade admitted.
"You know what I mean. I would never be able to leave and you would be stuck with this horrible kind of life. And my family is being treated as scum and you aren't scum, Jade. I would lose it if anyone treated you the way they treat us. You're better off with Cass."
"Stop saying that because you know what my life would be like with him. He might not be a Death Eater but he would never love me and if he did I could never love him back. He's got a kid already! A kid he's trying to deny and ignore at all costs."
"Still, he would try you right and with respect," Draco said. "He wouldn't do anything wrong or bad to his best friend's sister and you also mean a lot to him. He cares about you."
"He wouldn't treat me better than you."
"Maybe but I come with complications," Draco said with a sigh.
"What if I don't care?"
"Doesn't matter, Jade, I do."
"I love you, Draco," Jade said and went to kiss him. Draco tried to stop her but couldn't resist her. He gave in and kissed her back.
"Don't do that."
"Why?" Jade asked with a smile.
"You know why."
That night, Jade was lost in thought as she stared at the Phoenix egg that Dumbledore had left her. She knew it was illegal to bring an animal like that. Cats, owls, some reptiles were allowed but a Phoenix wasn't on the list.
She tried to concentrate on how she felt about being with Draco. She had no doubts that she loved him and that if she had to choose she would choose him. But there was something nagging at her.
Harry.
It had been two months since she last saw him, two months since he kissed her and she couldn't get it out of her head. She did develop a small crush on him and she felt different when they kissed... it was hard to explain... like if what they were doing was right. Like electricity going through all her body. Like magic. She left something similar with Draco, but different at the same time.
Jade wondered if it was the whole soulmate situation that Dumbledore told her. Could it be true? Would that mean that no matter how much she loved Draco she would eventually end up with Harry? Or that she could be Draco but would always feel something missing...like an incomplete life? Would she always think and have feelings for Harry?
First she was torn between Cassius and Draco. She never loved Cassius in that way but they were close and she felt bad for what she always wanted to do, knowing it would affect him.
With Draco and Harry it was different. She wasn't forced to be with any of them. Why did Harry have to kiss her and complicate things? If he hadn't done that, she wouldn't be feeling things now and it wouldn't be so confusing.
Jade sighed. She put the egg inside her backpack where it had been hidden all this time, wrapped around a jumper to keep it safe and maybe warm. She wasn't sure how to look after a phoenix egg. Then she got into bed again and fell asleep.
"Today we will be practicing the Crucio curse and its effects," Amycus exclaimed with a twisted smile. "Crucio!"
Ernie McMillan was the victim. He started screaming and shaking as he fell to the floor. Jade tried to block the sound but it wasn't working. Then he lifted the spell and the screams ceased.
"See?" he said, Ernie kept panting on the ground.
"Crabbe? Try it on a Ravenclaw."
Crabbe, excitedly, did it on the nearest Ravenclaw, which happened to be Cho. Jade couldn't deny she deserved just a little bit of it for telling Umbridge about the D.A. meetings but no one really deserved to go through that pain.
"Patil, choose a Slytherin."
Padma Patil with a shaking hand pointed her wand at Goyle. She had a hard time getting the words out and when she finally managed to do it, nothing happened. Goyle laughed.
"You've got to mean it!" Amycus yelled.
"Cru - Crucio!"
Goyle winced a bit but basically it was just tickles to what Ernie and Cho had felt. Padma was shaking as if she had been hit with the curse.
After Padma, Amycus chose a Ravenclaw to hit a Hufflepuff. Cho's friend couldn't really do it and Amycus 'punished' her by doing the curse on both of them.
"Lias, do it on Longbottom."
Jade froze, she looked in fear at Neville. She suddenly felt like she was about twenty years in the past. She in the place of Bellatrix and Neville in the place of his father. Neville stood up straight, ready to get it. He seemed way less scared than Jade, whose face had gone completely pale.
"Come on, Lias, don't pretend like you can't do it. It's in your blood. I know you want it and that you can do it. So, do it!"
"No," Jade said simply, people gasped.
"Do it, or Longbottom will get double the dose."
"I can do it on Crabbe or Goyle," Jade suggested. "Or Pansy."
"No!" Amycus yelled. "Do it on Longbottom."
"I won't."
"Do it, Lias!"
"No!"
"Crucio!"
"Protego!" Jade shouted quickly, protecting Neville.
"How dare you? I'm your teacher!"
"I won't let you hurt him."
"Lias, use the damn curse!" he yelled and Jade smirked.
"Okay, I will use it."
Jade lifted her wand and pointed it at Neville. He nodded bravely and whispered that it was okay. Jade took a deep breath and before everyone realized what was happening, Amycus was screaming on the floor, he was in a fetal position, moving like a worm. Everyone gasped and some people had their hands over their mouths but Jade had her eyes only on Amycus.
Amycus broke the spell and pointed his wand at the teenager. She didn't even look scared. The rest of the class, including Draco, looked petrified at what they were witnessing.
"Crucio!"
Jade managed to block it with some difficulty but she got it. Jade didn't attempt to curse him again, just to defend herself and anyone else he tried to curse.
"Impressive... let me tell you something, Jade, if you really didn't want to do it, if you didn't have the flame inside of you, you wouldn't have been able to maintain the curse for so long, especially on someone like me," Amycus told her. "You've got skills. We need to get rid of that royalty and goodness you have. But otherwise, you'd be a good asset. Way better than your brother."
Jade didn't say anything. She kept her wand up, ready. She would never admit it but she was surprised at how firm her hand was, she just crucioed someone and was dying on the inside. She felt like breaking inside, but on the outside she looked strong. She felt like she had crossed a line.
"Cru...!"
"Expelliarmus!" Jade said and Amycus' wand flew out of his hand. "Cruci..." Then Jade stopped. She realized she was going to do it again and stopped herself. "Confundo!"
Amycus fell to the floor and he seemed kind of lost. For some very long, awkward seconds, everyone was quiet and immobile. No one dared to move or speak or even blink. Jade Lias had messed with a Death Eater and every one was torn between feeling terrified for her or glad and proud for what she did.
"Do you realize what you just did?" Draco shouted at her, breaking the long silence.
"Yes," Jade said simply. "Whatever comes, it won't be something that I haven't gone through already. Crucio for an hour every day? Check. Being locked up? Check. Doing lines with my own blood? Check. Expelled? Okay, I wouldn't mind. This isn't even a school anymore. Whatever comes, I can handle it."
"You... you actually cursed him!"
"Yes, he deserved it!" Jade exclaimed.
"You don't get it!"
"I do, Draco," Jade said. "I'm not going to do something that is unforgivable on an innocent person. If I have to do something so horrible I will do it on someone that actually deserves it."
"When the charm lifts..."
"I can obliviate him," Jade suggested. "Or I can just go to Snape's office and tell him what happened. I don't care. I'm not afraid of him or anyone else."
"What about Quidditch?" Draco asked, knowing she would care about that.
"It doesn't start until next month! What's the point?"
"If you are expelled then that dream of yours is gone. What professional team would want a player who was expelled for attacking a teacher?"
"Expelled while Death Eaters ran the school. Just get it, Draco, I'm not going to be like them. I don't care about the consequences. Besides, it's already done."
"What if other people pay those consequences?"
"Like who? Like my mummy and daddy?" Jade asked sarcastically. "Like my big brother? Well, if they do, they sort of deserve it for joining You-Know-Who. Right? Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I need to see Snape."
Draco was livid. He couldn't understand why she did it. She turned her back to him and all he wanted to do was keep arguing, undo what she did somehow. His thoughts were interrupted by one clap. He turned to the source and saw Susan Bones, with a proud smile, clapping. Soon, she was joined by some Hufflepuffs, the Patil twins and Lavender Brown.
As Jade walked out of the classroom, every student from the three other houses, absolutely everyone, even Ernie McMillan and Zacharias Smith, who at once hated her, cheered and clapped at her. Some Slytherins had also joined in, the big and clear exceptions were Pansy Parkinson, Crabbe, Goyle and Draco. He was just too scared of the consequences to clap at her, even when he knew that she was incredibly brave for doing what she did.
Jade calmly walked to the seventh floor. She stopped in front of the gargoyle and stared at it, how was she supposed to get in? She didn't know the password.
"Eh, I'm here to see Professor Snape?" Jade said unsure. It didn't move. "Pureblood?"
Suddenly the big grey stone gargoyle moved, letting her in. She walked up the stairs and knocked on the door, she heard the cold voice of Snape saying, 'come in'.
She walked in, Snape was surprised to see her there, he obviously didn't expect a student. He was going to ask her what the reason for her visit was but when he looked at her face he knew something serious had happened.
"What did you do, Miss Lias?"
"I sort of used a spell to confuse Amycus."
"Professor Carrow."
"And I refused to crucio Neville Longbottom."
"Lias, have you lost your mind? How could you even think of doing that to a teacher?"
Jade shrugged, showing how little she cared about the situation."
"There's something else," Jade said. Snape didn't ask but looked at her intently, allowing her to continue. "Well, Amycus…"
"Professor Carrow, Lias"
Jade didn't care or felt guilty about defending his friend and standing up for him, and everyone else who was getting hurt, but she felt upset about crossing that line and using that sort of spell against someone, and actually being able to execute it. Maybe Amycus was right, she had that specific flame in her.
'No, don't let him play with your mind, Jade,' she thought.
"I used Crucio," Jade said, biting her lip, "On Amycus."
For the first time, Snape didn't care about the wrong way of addressing their new teacher. But the little colour on his face, drained. He looked troubled.
"What have you done, Lias? You have absolutely lost it! I might be headmaster but do you think I could actually save you from this one?"
"I'm not asking you to save me, Professor, I'm telling you before he does. You can expel me, I deserve it."
"School is mandatory, I can't expel you."
"Are you kidding me? That's just great!" Jade said sarcastically.
"Before anyone comes, Miss Lias, I'll tell you something. You can't tell anyone," Snape said quickly. "After your detention is over you'll receive an object, as soon as you get it you must bring it to me."
"Why?"
"It's extremely important."
"How do I know this isn't something to help Vold -"
"Don't say his name!" Snape shouted, making Jade jump.
"I've always said his name," Jade exclaimed when she recovered.
"It's jinxed! If you say his name, Death Eaters will track you and get you. Don't ever say that name again!"
"Okay, so how do I know this isn't for him? Something he asked for?"
"This is completely the opposite. I can't tell you what it is or how to get it and Lias, try to block your mind, if anyone tries to get into your head, hide this information with all your strength. No one can know."
"What's the object I'm supposed to get for you?"
"You'll know in a week. Like I said, I can't tell you."
At that moment, Amycus and Alecto walked inside in a rush, not bothering to even knock. They started talking but stopped when they saw Jade. They were shocked she was there. Alecto looked angrier than her brother, she wanted to kill her.
"Snape, this girl...!"
"She already told me what she's done and will be punished accordingly."
"I was thinking that a few sessions of crucio would do."
"This girl has been punished that way since she was five, do you honestly think that would work as effectively as you wish? She can break the curse and fight you back and trust me, she will."
"Not if we use Imperio on her," Alecto suggested.
"Are you dumb? If she can fight the Crusiatus curse she can break that one too!" Snape shouted. "I'm the headmaster and I've already chosen her punishment, now leave."
"But..."
"Go!"
Jade didn't like what she was hearing but in a way she didn't care. She could stand pain, she could be in difficult situations and get through them.
"Listen to me Miss Lias, I'll help you so this punishment won't be as maddening. But I need you to help me with the task I told you, and don't tell anyone." Jade nodded. "Now, I'll give you something, hide it well. Okay?"
"What is it?"
"A sleeping potion, take only five drops at a time. It's strong. You'll feel drowsy and you'll be sleeping in less than three minutes so make sure you hide it well again after using it. It will make you sleep for at least eight hours."
"Sleep? Why would I need to sleep that long?"
Hello guys!
What do you think of Jade's actions? And what are your guesses for her punishment?
And regarding the start of the chapter… what are your thoughts on her thoughts about both Draco/Harry?
Hope you guys liked the chapter :)
