Jade walked out of Snape's office, feeling a bit unsettled. Nevertheless, she ran to the third floor where she hoped to find Ginny or someone from the D.A. club on that floor or on her way there but couldn't find anyone.
She went to her dormitory then, and got a piece of parchment and quill. She knelt in front of her trunk and started writing.
Ginny,
Neville can explain what happened. I got detention. I'll be away for five days at least. You're in charge. You know what to do.
J.L.
Jade quickly folded it in eight and put a spell on it, if anyone who wasn't Ginny opened it, they would suffer really bad burns in their eyes and the note would burn itself.
She then quickly grabbed her phoenix egg and ran to the boys' dorm. She found Draco, Blaise and a third Slytherin.
"Out, now!" Jade instructed and the two boys left immediately. After that day they wouldn't dare make Jade angry. "I need two favours," Jade told Draco when both guys were out of the dorm and she used Muffiato on the door so no one could hear.
"What did Snape do? Are you getting expelled?"
"No. Apparently you can't get expelled anymore. Fantastic, isn't it? Anyway, I need you to give this to Ginny Weasley. Only her. Don't try to open it, I enchanted it. Not because I don't trust you but because I don't trust anyone else."
Draco nodded and Jade handed him the small piece of parchment, where she basically was telling Ginny to be in charge of the D.A. meetings and to teach them to protect themselves.
"And this," Jade said, showing Draco the Phoenix Egg. "If it hatches I need someone to look after it. Don't let anyone see it."
"Is this...?"
"A Phoenix egg," Jade said quickly as she handed the sapphire egg to Draco.
"It can take years for it to hatch," Draco said.
"I know," Jade said, nodding. "But I'm hoping for it to hatch way sooner. Now if you excuse me, I need to go back to my room."
"Wait!" Draco said, quickly putting the egg and the note on his bed.
Draco went after her, turned her around. Jade was frustrated as she thought Draco was going to scold her more but instead he kissed her. It was a quick, short kiss but it made Jade smile.
"I'll be away for a week... do you think you can... you know?" Jade said with a shy smile.
Draco sadly smiled but nodded, leaning in, kissing her once again. This time Jade wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her. Instinctively, Draco's hand wrapped around her waist. Jade ended up against the door of the boys' dormitory.
Draco then pulled away, breathing hard and then with lust in his eyes, leaned in again but this time his lips didn't meet hers. He kissed her jaw, then moved slowly down to her neck. He had never done that before and Jade couldn't deny it felt good.
Draco stopped and went back to her lips, she gladly kissed him back. Things were getting a bit heated and uncontrolled in there.
"Jade!"
"Ignore them," Draco whispered in between kisses.
"Jade!"
"No, I've got to go. Snape is waiting for me. You're in charge of the Quidditch team, Draco, and... I guess I'll see you in a week," Jade told him, forcing a smile.
Jade pecked him one more time, opened the door of the room and ran to her own dormitory. She changed, put on a pair of sweatpants and a green T-shirt and just in time as Channel informed her Snape was in the common room.
She felt weird as she walked down the stairs, everyone was staring at her. Some felt like she had betrayed them, some felt like she was a hero, and some were just neutral to the situation. But everyone was there, looking. The silence as she joined Snape was just awful and unbearable.
She didn't dare to look behind her to see Draco one more time. But, she never looked down, even then, when half of the people there believed she had done something wrong, she didn't look scared or regretful. She looked strong but she felt a bit uneasy, but she would never let herself show that.
"You may have your wand but I warn you, magic doesn't work in that room," Snape told her as they got deeper into the dungeons. "No one will hear you. So, save your breath. You aren't supposed to eat but I'll make sure a house-elf brings you food and water every day. If you sleep the time will pass quicker, otherwise, you might go mad. No other person than me can open this room so don't be afraid, no one will come for you."
"Makes me feel better," Jade whispered.
"Okay, now go,"
Jade walked into a dark tiny and cold room. It had a thin mattress, if that could be called a mattress. Snape closed the door and everything went dark.
The room had a single window that was smaller than a textbook and this part of Hogwarts was also under the lake so, especially at this time, the room was really dark but Jade could guess it wouldn't get much more brighter.
Jade sat on the mattress, there were no pillows, no blankets. After about an hour she tried a spell to make the room a bit less cold but it didn't work as Snape warned her.
She didn't want to go to sleep so early but Jade didn't have a choice, she was shivering. She took four drops instead of five and felt drowsy within seconds. She lied down after hiding the little vial and tried to stay up but her eyes closed and she fell asleep.
When Jade woke up again, she didn't know what time it was, how long she had been there or even if it was still the same day. It was just as dark and cold but she saw a tray of food next to the mattress, somehow it was still hot.
Jade ate slowly, taking in every bite. As she ate she noticed that there was a drop falling every five to ten seconds and it was driving her mad. She hadn't heard that before.
Despite the annoying sound, Jade stayed in the same position, sitting with her back against the wall and her legs crossed. She started to think of her future. How was she going to escape from her family when the time came?
Would someone be waiting for her at the station? Last year was Cass. What if her two parents were going to be there? It was unlikely but possible.
Where could she go? Anywhere near Wiltshire would be too dangerous with her family and the Lestranges nearby, and Voldemort basically living at the Malfoy's. Liverpool and up north wouldn't be good either as her brother and sister-in-law lived there or at least she did. And London wasn't good either as it was too popular and Cass lived there.
Jade wished England could be a little bit bigger. It seemed like it was just way too small, that it didn't matter where she went, she would be found. That no matter how far she went, it wouldn't be far enough.
She knew that at least at the beginning she had to go to a Muggle town and pretend to be a Muggle. But where? Would she be able to convince Draco? Luckily, she would be seventeen by then and the trace would be definitely gone by then.
Then she thought of Cass. She felt so bad because he was her friend and had helped her but for once in her life, she had to put herself first and think about her happiness. He wouldn't have an issue finding someone else and besides, she wouldn't like to be with someone that was abandoning their child.
Jade's head hurt from thinking and the annoying drop wasn't helping, it was making it worse, actually. She took out the vial and took another four drops and fell asleep as quickly as the first time.
Jade woke up for like the fourth time since she had been put in isolation, as usual a tray of food was there, waiting for her but this time she saw the House-Elf.
"Please, can you make this room less cold? Or get Ilvie, my house-elf for me?" Jade pleaded. The House-Elf nervously nodded and made the room less cold. Jade thanked him.
That helped Jade staying awake for longer and not losing a week of her life just sleeping. She couldn't waste time, could she?
The next time she woke up she saw something weird on the ground, she stood up and picked it up. Once she had it in her hands she realized it was the Sorting Hat.
"Uh hi?" Jade said unsure.
"Still unsure?" it asked and Jade nodded.
"Was I really meant to be in Gryffindor?"
"Yes. It couldn't be clearer. You had some traits that Slytherin would value but your heart was all Gryffindor," it told her and Jade got sad. "And from what I can feel, you still do belong in Gryffindor."
"I don't think so," Jade whispered.
"Why are you here? Think about it, the reason behind why you did what you did," the Hat said and suddenly it became quiet once again.
Jade sat in silence with the Sorting Hat next to her. She thought of what she did and she didn't think it was that big of a deal. It wasn't right to crucio him, especially him after what his parents went through. But she had to admit she enjoyed confronting Amycus.
She then wondered why the Sorting Hat was there. Had it just appeared? Just to confirm she was a Gryffindor? Jade was confused.
But the Sorting Hat was still there when she woke up the two following times but didn't speak to her again. It was like it was just a normal hat.
Jade had only been sleeping and eating, so she was confused at how long she had been there. And she was getting a little bit frustrated. Being in a dark room, not knowing what day it was and how much longer she should be in there, wasn't really enjoyable.
At some point she started talking to the Hat even when it wouldn't talk back. She had a full conversation with it. She wondered how crazy she would be by now if Snape hadn't given her that Sleeping Potion. She needed to thank him.
One time she could swear she saw a thin little sunshine go through the tiny window, she smiled but she wasn't sure if it was real or her mind was playing tricks on her.
"Have I been here only hours or weeks?" Jade asked out loud and she got no reply, obviously. "Am I going to die here? Next time, I'll probably choose the Crucio session. At least I'd know the day and time and talk to Draco... This is honestly horrible."
Jade was starting to panic, she probably had about 16 drops left. Twenty at the most. Would that be enough or Snape had miscalculated? She had even taken one drop less than what he had said.
Next time Jade woke up, instead of finding food as she always did, she realized there was water, probably ankle high. She stood up alarmed. There was a tiny round hole on the wall and water was going in from there.
"Help!" she shouted multiple times. She even called for House-Elves but nothing happened and the water level was getting higher.
Then for a second, the flow of water stopped. Jade saw that something was preventing more water from coming in. But she didn't know what was worse, the water or why it had stopped coming in.
Before she could do something, a tiny bright blue snake-like creature got in and Jade saw how it moved in the water. It was so bright that in the darkness she could easily spot it.
Then it just stopped moving and Jade froze at what she was seeing, the animal grew three legs on each side and got about twenty times bigger, so now it was bigger than Jade. She was paralyzed on her spot.
The sea creature looked at her with its yellow eyes and pounced at her. Jade jumped out of the way. Jade kept screaming for help as more water came in, it was reaching her knees now and the horrible creature kept attacking her.
At some point she was sat on the ground, water all around her. Jade moved slightly to the left as she was getting tired and the creature missed her by only a couple of inches.
"Snape!" She shouted, not caring about not addressing him correctly. "Snape!"
Nothing. Earlier she had tried to repair the little window with her wand but it wasn't a surprise that nothing happened. And now even if she wanted to try, she didn't know where her wand was. Underwater for sure but where?
Jade was just by the toilet when she suddenly spotted something glittering under the water, it was red and silver. The water was now almost reaching her hips. She dived, just in time to once again miss being beaten and attacked. She half walked and half swam to the shiny object.
She knelt and grabbed the thing with her right hand, as it was the closer one. She took it out of the water and noticed it was a sword, she didn't even think about it. She at once made a swing and the creature moved backwards.
It tried to keep lunching at her but Jade kept trying to hit it with the sword. Jade then got all her courage and attacked it instead of letting being attacked by it. The thing moved quickly but Jade made a second swing and suddenly the creature's head fell first then its body.
She was panting as she stared at the now dead thing. Ten seconds later the body started to shrink and dry, and then it just transformed into black smoke and disappeared.
That wasn't good and she knew it. It wasn't a real sea creature, someone had created it with dark magic just to attack her. But she couldn't stop and think who could be the guilty one, water was still coming in.
Jade knew that drowning was one of the worst deaths and she didn't want to die that way. She kept going under, looking for her wand, maybe just maybe it would work. It was her only plan to stop the water from coming in.
She couldn't find it, she was desperate now. She tried to stop it with her hands but of course that it wouldn't work. The water now reached her chin.
She was starting to cry and give up when she heard a Pop and the hole just disappeared. Someone had fixed it.
Jade waited for something else to happen but nothing did. She was starting to shiver and feel a bit lethargic with the cold water. How was she supposed to get rid of it? She was tired and she knew she couldn't stay above the water for too long.
Then, someone opened the door and the water just got out, dragging her with it. She ended up a few feet away from Snape, whose robs had gotten wet.
"What the hell?"
"I can ask the same thing," Jade said angrily but it didn't sound as angry. She was tired, cold, probably at the verge of hypothermia and quite confused.
Snape reacted and grabbed her by the elbow with both hands and pulled her up to her feet. She hadn't noticed until then that she was still clutching the sword that had saved her life.
Snape made her go to her office after he dried her clothes. He had the Sorting Hat in one hand and his wand in the other. No one, not even Peeves saw them walking all the way from the dungeons to the seventh floor.
"Here," Snape said, giving her a cup of tea. Jade didn't like tea but drinking something warm was all she needed at the moment. "What happened?"
In between drinking and shivering, Jade told the story to Snape who seemed surprised but not surprised enough and Jade wasn't a fool.
"Did you know?" she exclaimed.
"Amycus wanted revenge. In a room without magic there was little you could have done but he didn't know you had the Sorting Hat. I put more protective enchantments on the dungeon as I knew he would attempt something but he somehow bypassed them."
"Great... Why did I even have the Sorting Hat?"
"Company."
"No. Really, why?" Jade asked, looking straight at Snape.
"I needed the Sword of Gryffindor," Snape admitted. The sword now was on his desk, she could now read Godric Gryffindor on the blade. "I knew you would get it."
"What? How could you know? I'm a Slytherin."
"Are you?"
"So, you know about that, I guess. Why do you need the sword?"
"I'll tell you when the time is right," Snape said.
"Wait... if you needed the sword... you did send that sea snake, didn't you?"
"Absolutely not. I was going to do something less terrifying and something that wouldn't actually harm you. And I was going to allow you to use magic, for your safety. I knew you would try to use it."
"So, the snake wasn't you, Professor? But you were going to do something? Was this like a trap or something?"
"No, just an opportunity," Snape said quickly.
"You could have warned me," Jade said accusatively.
"It wouldn't have worked then."
"How did you know the Sword of Gryffindor would present itself to me? It shouldn't."
"We both know why and let's keep it between us," Snape said. "You basically still have two days left of detention, Miss Lias. However, I won't send you back there, not after what happened. You'll go to Madam Pomfrey and no one will know you are there."
"So my time is not up? Why did you go for me then?"
Jade suddenly felt a shiver going up and down her spine, imagining being in that little room for two days, trying to stay afloat. Maybe, just maybe, the cause of death wouldn't be drowning but hypothermia. Either way, she wouldn't have survived two days like that.
"Do you think I would really just leave you in a room that won't let you do magic? I got alerted that something was going on. I did take too long though. Anyway, stay in the Hospital Wing and don't tell anyone or leave. Amycus didn't like what you did and if he knows you're out before time, he'd lose it."
Jade nodded. Snape carefully grabbed the sword and hid it and then walked Jade to the Hospital Wing. Snape told Madam Pomfrey what happened, she obviously hated him but nodded and did what she was told, she was too exhausted to do anything else than that or to argue. She was too drained to even feel as angry as she should be.
She dried Jade's short hair and put a spell on her to make her bed and blankets warm and then fed her some soup. Jade still had the sleeping potion, she took three drops and fell asleep.
It took me too long to post this chapter. I'm so sorry! :(
I'm just going to say that now I understand how Jade felt like going mad in there, after being locked there. I wrote this chapter before 2020, so, there was no lockdown, no curfew. Now I kind of understand and it's awful.
Hope you guys liked the chapter :)
