As planned, no one knew Jade was out. The two following days, Jade did some homework and read what they had learnt in class while she was 'away'. She didn't bother doing anything for Muggle Studies and DADA though, she couldn't care less about those two classes.

During the night, Jade was released, Snape went to see her and tell her, detention was over and she could go. She went to the common room and found no one. It was pretty late so that wasn't a surprise. She rushed to her room and went straight to sleep. She tried to be as quiet as possible to not wake up anyone, as she didn't want to be interrogated at that time, but the next morning her roommates were shocked to see her there and they didn't waste time to ask her questions.

She was a mess. She hadn't showered in more than a week. Her hair could be short but it was hard to untangle all the knots. She left sluggish as all she had done was sleep and eat and she hadn't seen the sun for days, therefore she was so pale that she looked sick. She felt weak. The week that she spent being locked up had taken a big toll on her, she felt mentally exhausted and all she wanted to do was sleep more and not face anyone.

"So, what happened to you?"

"Where did Professor Snape take you?"

"I heard you were tortured by Filch."

"No, it was by Professor Amycus himself."

"Jade, how bad was it?"

Jade looked from girl to the other, to the other and to the other. They were all asking so many questions that she couldn't process them.

"I am actually not allowed to talk about it," she muttered as she stood up. "Sorry, but I need to get ready."

Jade quickly got into the shower and stayed there for quite a bit. It felt good, the warm water against her shoulders and back. She didn't really wash her hair, she just stood there under the shower head. Relaxing, having some quiet time, which was what she needed to face that day.

She regretfully stepped out of the shower and wrapped the towel around her body. She lazily and slowly dried herself and got dressed.

As she was wrapping her green tie around her neck, she couldn't help but stare at it in the foggy mirror in front of her. For the first time in seven years, that tie felt so out of place as if it didn't belong, like if it was wrong using it.

Jade then saw flashbacks of the Gryffindor sword shining underwater. It presented itself to her, but still, it was a green tie the one she was wearing, not red.

She had known for a while that she was a Gryffindor, or should have been, it wasn't that what kept her awake at night though. She didn't feel like she was a Gryffindor, she never even thought of that possibility. But in that moment, in the Slytherin bathroom, it was like it finally sank in.

She kept looking at the tie and all she wanted to do was to take it off. It didn't feel right anymore. She was in a place where she didn't belong. With people, who didn't really care about her, just cared about who she was and that's why they stuck around. If she wasn't a Lias, would they still be her friends?

She wasn't sure why she felt so estranged from everything she once cared about. It was so sudden and so unexpected she wasn't sure how to react. She wondered if she just didn't think being a Gryffindor was important or maybe she didn't fully believe Dumbledore or maybe she just hadn't processed it or had some time to sit and think about what it meant.

But, since seeing that sword, and the Sorting Hat telling her she wasn't really a Slytherin, made her thoughts and feelings messy. She was probably taking it out of proportion but she felt like she had been living a lie all her school life.

She wondered about all the experiences she had missed and all this time living something that shouldn't have been. She felt scammed.

She started to get angry, but that wouldn't help at all, she couldn't do anything with that anger which would only lead to frustration. So, instead she focused on her messy hair. Jade put it in half a ponytail, making it decent. She turned around, refusing to look at the tie one more time on her reflection so she would concentrate on what she should think about it, which was things she could actually control and act accordingly.

She grabbed her school bag and started making her way down to the common room, it was a Wednesday, not like Jade knew what day really was. She was lost in thought when Blaise saw her going down the stairs coming from her dorm, he grinned and then told Draco to turn around. Annoyed, he turned to look where Blaise was pointing at.

His frown turned into a big smile. Draco was so happy to see her that he jumped from his seat and ran to hug her but he forgot about the stairs, which immediately turned to a slide, Draco fell and Jade, who was probably twelve steps up, also fell down on her butt and slided down, right on top of Draco.

Draco didn't care that the twins, Blaise and Crabbe were there watching them. He hugged her tightly but didn't kiss her despite wanting to.

Blaise helped Jade up and they all went to class, which was Transfiguration. McGonagall was in her cat form waiting for them.

Before everyone came in, they all heard some screams coming down the corridor, it was probably some older students torturing first years. Jade shuddered and McGonaggal turned into her human form to check what was going on.

Not much could be heard, but when McGonagall went inside the classroom again, she looked a bit shaken up. She walked between the middle rows without making eye contact with anyone, everyone was looking at her.

"Professor?" Jade said, she was sitting in the first row. Her voice was so low she wondered if she had been heard.

"Not now, Miss Lias."

"It's not about that, Professor," she said quickly, everyone in the room thought she was being nosy about what had happened minutes ago but they were all wrong.

"What is it then?"

"Is it hard to become an Animagus?" McGonagall opened her eyes wide in shock, that was the last question she expected.

"Yes and really long. It can take months if you are unlucky, and if you make one single mistake you've got to start over," she told her. "Or you might end up as half-human, half-animal, so you've got to be extremely careful. Most of those effects, if not all, are irreversible."

"Does it feel different? When you are a cat?"

"It does, your senses are sharper, depending on what you are, you have different abilities. I can jump and I am very agile when I'm a cat. I feel like I'm younger."

"How do you turn? Do you think about it? Or do you have to do a spell to turn? Can you get stuck, like not being able to turn back into a human? What do you do if that happens? Do you have to get someone to help you? How would you, though? It's not like you can actually talk and ask for help."

"We can talk about this after class, Lias."

"Right, thanks, Professor."

When Jade finally met Amycus again, it was awkward and tense but as usual, she didn't show any emotion. He seemed surprised to see her again, it seemed like he hadn't expected to be back so soon, even though her time was up. Maybe he did think that snake had killed her. Well, it was going to take more than that to bring her down.

"So good to see you again, Lias," Amycus told her in the most fake tone and with a twisted smile.

"I bet," she muttered.

Alecto, his sister, was terribly mean to her during Muggle Studies but Jade for once bit her tongue and said nothing. She didn't want to give her an excuse to make her hurt her or send her back to that tiny room. And it seemed like the lack of reaction from Jade was really bothering Alecto.

"What are you doing? We have Quidditch practice!" Draco exclaimed.

Draco wasn't so much into Quidditch anymore, he had lost the passion he once had but he kept playing mostly so Jade wouldn't lose the interest as well. So many things were happening that it was hard to find something that made you happy. Quidditch was one of those few things that made Jade happy.

"I can't. You're in charge. Tell them I'm sick for not eating during those days I was in detention. Got to go."

Before Draco could say anything else, Jade kissed his lips quickly and she was out of the common room swiftly. Draco gave an exasperated sigh. He couldn't deal with her stubbornness.

Jade rushed to the library where she was looking for two things. First she looked for anything on Phoenixes, she wanted to be ready when the egg hatched, she had a feeling there wasn't long to go. And second, McGonagall had given her an idea the other day.

Sirius Black could escape and hide for years because he was an Animagus... an unregistered one. No one was looking for a black dog. What if... what if she and Draco could become Animaguses? Maybe that's what they needed to do to escape and be safe, even if that meant being animals for years without turning back to their human forms. She was willing to do it, but would Draco be as well?

For the following two weeks she basically lived at the library. She kept three books that were the ones that explained it the best. She hid them under her bed, with some of her school books as that morning she went to play Quidditch. The first match of the season.

She spent an hour cheering up Amanda, who looked frightened but Jade felt positive about the match. Or maybe it was the lack of motivation, she hadn't really been focused on Quidditch that year, so, for her, it was basically just for fun, but she wouldn't tell that to Amanda, or Draco or anyone else.

Now that Harry was gone, Ginny was the new captain. They met in the middle of the field and shook hands. They smiled at each other, she had barely talked to Ginny since her detention.

"Good luck," Jade said quite loudly, so most of her teammates heard, they looked at each other, confused.

The match started once everyone was up in the air. Jade could have scored within the first two minutes but instead passed the ball to Amanda, who did score and that helped to raise her confidence. She was less nervous after that.

But after that first goal, Jade was ruthless. She tried to score every chance she got with just a few exceptions when she passed the ball to Amanda. It didn't really matter if she scored or not, she just wanted Amanda to stop feeling afraid and being so nervous.

Jade knew Gryffindor wasn't the best Gryffindor and they knew some didn't care as much anymore but Jade was happy with the win. Three hundred ninety to seventy. And Amanda had done really well and Timothy had also done great.

Jade was feeling very optimistic about everything. Jade was sure it was winning but Draco thought her positive outlook of things and good mood was because of being outdoors and getting some sunlight for the first time in weeks. Vitamin D was doing wonders already.

Jade had just finished showering and getting dressed when Draco walked in with a smile. Jade smiled back. Those were genuine smiles, not only the shadow of one.

"Great match," he commented.

"Amanda is here, you know?" Jade said.

"No, I just saw her walking out. Believe me, I waited."

"Waited?"

Draco approached her, pulled her closer to him by wrapping his arms around her waist and kissed her on the lips. She kissed him back.

Their relationship before was really good. They would kiss, yes, but not as often and they wouldn't have these heated, intense make-out sessions. Ever. Jade did enjoy it but she wondered why Draco was being like that. He sometimes even risked being seen and last time they just got too far.

Technically they weren't officially together, he hadn't asked her out again. She hadn't asked him what was really going on with them, she was a little afraid of the answer. They were acting as boyfriend and girlfriend but were they really that?

She didn't even know when things went from forgiving him and being friends again to going back to kissing and being as if they were dating. None of them had questioned the other, as they didn't want to add pressure to something that was flowing so well, and they were also scared of losing what they had, reminding themselves of all the complications they were facing now or would be facing soon.

Suddenly, Jade felt his hand going under her blouse, touching her stomach. She stopped the kiss and he immediately stopped too and dropped his hands. He looked embarrassed.

"We can't," Jade said looking down at the floor.

"I know," Draco said with a sigh. "It's hard to resist sometimes."

Jade nodded. Draco looked disappointed but smiled at her nevertheless. He kissed her forehead and pulled her into a hug. Jade planted a kiss on his cheek and then grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the girls bathroom, so they could celebrate with the rest of the team.

As they walked, Jade had a flashback of when Dumbledore told her about the prophecy.

"There was a prophecy made a few years after Voldemort was believed to be dead. You know the story of what happened to Voldemort. Anyway, in the prophecy it's mentioned that this particular girl could be used as a weapon against 'the chosen one'. If Voldemort gets his hands on this girl, it could mean winning the war for him and many, many years of darkness will be upon us."

Jade hadn't noticed but she had tightened the grip on Draco's hand and her whole body had gotten rigid.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, it's just cold out here."

She shuddered but not because of the cold, but because she could clearly hear Dumbledore's words in her head. Words that were spoken to her a bit more than a year ago.

"It is said that the girl is still underage when she gives birth to the child. So any time between now and January 1998. As of your death... can't be sure but wouldn't give it more than five years after the baby is born."

"But... I'm not dating Harry. I don't even like him…"

She knew the baby was supposed to be Harry's but she shuddered at the thought of actually getting pregnant and someone thinking it could be Harry's and going through what Dumbledore said, dark magic to fast-forward the pregnancy. She was still sixteen after all. Would the prophecy become true then?

Had Dumbledore ever mentioned the baby was actually Harry's? He had, right? Jade was just overreacting, thinking that maybe there could be a possibility that the prophecy could still come true even with a baby that wasn't Harry's.

She tried to remember anything that could confirm without a single doubt that the baby was supposed to be biologically Harry's… that it must be Harry's and no one else's. Would it all still happen if she had someone else's baby? Would it be mistaken to be Harry's then? Would that make any difference? Not being connected through blood to him?

She hadn't thought of that possibility. She had spent a year trying to avoid Harry to prevent the prophecy because Dumbledore told her so, but he hadn't confirmed it had to be his. If she let herself take the next step with Draco… no, she couldn't even think about that.

"You sure you are okay?" Draco asked. Jade had stopped in her tracks and she was looking at nowhere in particular. She blinked and turned to look at Draco.

"Yeah."

She now wished she could ask that question to Dumbledore to be completely sure of it. Did the baby have to be Harry's biological kid, or the prophecy didn't actually 'require' that?

One week before November ended, Jade was sick in bed with a fever. She had skipped classes for three days in a row. She sometimes skipped classes but not all of them.

She was looking at the blue/green egg that was bigger than her hands. It was really beautiful. Jade was about to fall asleep when she felt it actually moved. Her eyes got wide open.

The egg started to shake. She looked up, making sure there was no one there. The egg shell started to crack. Jade felt excitement. She felt like an adoptive mother about to meet her future kid.

Soon, the egg was completely cracked and Jade smiled but soon it vanished. There, in front of her, wasn't a phoenix or any kind of bird for that matter. She was confused.

"Great, more to figure out," Jade said with disappointment.

Jade grabbed the weird object. It had many buttons. Numbers from zero to nine, an enter, a stop button, and some others. Despite being kind of big, the object didn't weigh a thing. It was strange.

She turned it so she could look at the other side and saw a note attached to it. She recognized the writing to be Dumbledore's.

Jade,

Hide it and use this carefully. It's unique, only one in the whole world. Using it can be tricky, that's why I left instructions hidden in one of my books in my office. Tell Professor Snape 'I found the Phoenix' and he will give you the right book. Look on page 707.

In there, you can also find what the prolonged use of this object can cause, so be careful.

At some point, share it with Harry. He might want to use it with you.

Albus Dumbledore.

Jade didn't even care that she was wearing pyjamas and that her short wavy brown hair was a complete mess. She ran all the way to the seventh floor and tried the same password she tried at the start of October, it worked. She ran inside the office, alarming Snape.

"Miss Lias?" Snape said in his usual cold tone.

"I found the phoenix," Jade said with a smile.

Snape stared at her hard. At some point she thought she wasn't going to have the book or that he had no idea what she was talking about. But then Snape without a word, summoned a huge book. It was old and dusty.

"I only have an idea of what you have been given," Snape said as she attempted to grab the book. "It's extremely important you understand what it is before you use it. The consequences of not knowing what you are dealing with can be very grave, Lias. Also, when you use it, think with your brain, not your heart."

"I will," Jade said but she was confused at what Snape was telling her.

"Hide it very well, don't tell anyone about it." Jade nodded.

Finally, with some difficulty Jade grabbed the heavy book and went back to her dorm. Some students saw her but she didn't care. She was sick.

She opened the book, which appeared to be in another language, maybe French? And turned to page seven hundred and seven. In between that page and the previous one, she found a piece of parchment, once again she recognized the handwriting as Dumbledore's.

I trust that this letter has ended in your possession without an issue. What I've given you is an object that will help you travel time, mostly to future events. This is the object I used to change the future and get you sorted into Slytherin.

If you know the exact date of when and where you want to go, you need to press the blue button first, then the day, month, and year and press the button again.

If you don't know or just want to experiment, just press the button to go forward and to go back in time. Press it the amounts of months you want to travel and the or for the days. And or for years. If you want to go forward or backward more than ten years, press the * for each ten years or months you want to travel and then either the or or or .

Jade continued to read the instructions carefully. They were way too many. It was a bit overwhelming.

I'm sure you desperately want to see your life as a Gryffindor and possibly see what your son looks like, I must warn you not to interfere as any little change could alter the path of our present. To see that other 'reality' it's a bit tricky. First you need to go some time before I ordered the Sorting Hat to put you in Slytherin, then press the green button, so you'd change to the reality where I didn't make the change. Then go whenever you want. Press the red button to go back to your time. If you want to go to another place, press the button with a tree and say out loud the location.

If someone is with you, the person must hold on to you the whole time you are traveling in time and space.

There is no limit of time you can go forward or backward, and people in your own time won't even notice you left. A year away is like an hour at the most in your real time. But, traveling takes lots of your energy. You might not feel it while you are away but when you come back you'll feel the exhaustion. In some cases it can be too much that it can cause your death. In here, you'll also find instructions to make a potion that can help with the exhaustion. Take it during your time trips, I'd advice once a day. Even so, try not to be away for long.

As I said above this is a unique object, so hide it well.

P.S. I think it's time for Harry to know about the prophecy if he doesn't already.

Albus Dumbledore.

Jade read more of the little parchments with instructions that Dumbledore had left, including the potion she needed to make, which wasn't difficult to do and it would take an hour at the most to make it.

Feeling excited about the object, she decided to test it but didn't know when to go. What date would it be good? She then had an idea but it was in the past.

She pressed the blue button then 2-1-1-2-1-9-9-6 and then blue again. She just felt slightly dizzy but it didn't feel as bad as apparating.

She went through the common room unnoticed, thankfully no one was there. She went to the hallway that led to Slughorn's Office. She waited a bit and then saw how Professor Snape dragged Draco out of the party Slughorn threw for Christmas.

She heard the whole thing and she felt sad. Knowing Draco needed to get Death Eaters into Hogwarts and kill Dumbledore but she also felt excited that this thing worked.

Pressing the + button a few times, time suddenly went fast-forward by only minutes until she saw herself, a year younger, wearing a lilac dress and walking next to Harry. That Jade was completely wasted and Jade felt embarrassed. She didn't even remember what made her drink so much.

She followed them to just the outside of the Slytherin common room and saw how Harry was about to kiss her but stopped. She was drunk but she remembered it, she had tried to convince Harry she had forgotten it all. Jade blushed slightly when she suddenly remembered that by now, Harry had indeed kissed her and she had kissed back, and while she had drank, she wasn't drunk, so she couldn't blame alcohol for it.

Jade saw Blaise approaching them and when he came and took her inside the common room, Jade followed Harry, she knew he could see her, so she tried to be careful. If only she could have Harry's Invisibility Cloak.

"You idiot!" Harry said. "Why didn't you just kiss her? You complete idiot. She wanted it too, you could have kissed her."

Harry then hurried up to the fourth floor, and then started talking again. "No, she was drunk. It wasn't fair on her. You did the right thing... Did I? Ugh."

Then Harry got inside his common room and Jade stayed behind, knowing she couldn't go in. She pressed the red button and suddenly she was back in her dormitory.

She felt really tired, like if she had trained Quidditch for an hour. It wasn't as bad but being sick didn't help.

Jade got into bed with a smile, it worked and she could now see things that hadn't happened yet. Dumbledore warned her that the future was a very fragile thing and anything could change it. So, the future she sees today can be completely different the following day.