Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

*Later on, back at the house*

Eric came bounding out of his house when he saw Jade and Alex pull up in her drive way.

"So…are we going to go over and see if she wants to hang out?" Eric asked excitedly before either of them had a chance to get out of the car.

"Uh, Eric, why don't YOU go over and ask if she wants to come hang out!" Alex stated.

"But….Oooh….gottcha. Be right back." He said in realization of what his brother meant.

"You didn't have to do that you know." Jade told Alex.

"Yes I did." He said leaning over to bring her into a deeply passionate kiss.

Jade felt a burning sensation when their lips touched, and it wasn't a bad feeling. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him closer. Then tore away suddenly. "Umm, we might want to get away from the front windows of my house, my father would flip out." She stated.

With that Alex got out of the car, walked over and opened her door. Jade stepped out, and they walked to the side of the house and Jade sat on the swing that hung from the large weeping willow tree. They were definitely shielded from her parents view now. Alex started pushing her slowly on the swing. He had a flash back from when they were kids.

//"Higher Alex." Jade squealed.

"I'm trying my hardest Jade, I'm not exactly strong you know, I'm only five" he said.

"Alex, we'll always be together right?" Jade called back to him.

"Of course we will Jade, I love you."

"Best friends forever?" She asked//

"Best friends always." He mumbled.

"What?" Jade asked.

"Hmm? Oh…nothing." He said as he realized he said it out loud.

Jade scuffed her feet on the ground so she'd stop. She stood up and walked over to Alex. "I've always loved you Alex." She whispered as she gazed into his eyes. They seemed endless, so soft and sensitive.

Alex wrapped his arms around her tightly. "I love you Jade." He whispered and kissed her ear. "You're all I'll ever want or need."

She stood there; letting Alex hold her while she ran her hands through his medium brown hair.

*Meanwhile*

Eric started across the street, but turned back, unsure, only to see Alex and Jade, snogging heavily. He rolled his eyes in disgust and continued on his way. He reached the door, and knocked. The door opened and Eric stared up at Draco Malfoy. He blinked furiously, at a loss for words. He gulped he hadn't expected this. "Is, um, uh, Is Ebony, home?" Eric stumbled over his words, under Draco's piercing stare.

 "Eric!?" Ebony asked in shock. She was walking down to the kitchen, and saw her dad at the door. That was when she spotted Eric. This could lead to no good. "I'll be back in soon daddy!" Ebony called, pushing herself past her father and out the door, slamming it shut. "WHAT are you doing here!? My dad might have killed you!" Ebony exclaimed, taking his hand and pulling him away from her house.

"I- uh, well, um, see, we wanted to know if you wanted to come- uhh, oh! To come hang out with us!" Eric stuttered.

"Us? Who's us?" Ebony asked, snootily.

"Jade, Alex, and myself. Come on, let's go," Eric said pulling her across the street.

***

Alex and Jade broke off their kiss when they noticed Eric dragging Ebony across the road. Jade sighed heavily.

"What's wrong? It was your idea to invite her over!" Alex said.

"Yeah, I didn't think he'd actually invite her over here. I said that so THEY could get to know each other better. I never said I wanted to be around her." Jade said with another heavy sigh.

Alex laughed slightly as Eric and Ebony stopped in front of them. He extended his hand, to shake Ebony's. She took it wearily. "Hi," Alex said. "I'm Alex, Eric's twin brother, and this is Jade."

"Yeah, we already meet." Jade said huffily. But she was hiding something, something that even Alex didn't know.

"Hi, I'm Ebony." She said trying to be nice. She scowled at Jade, for she did hear what she said. "You know what, you could at least try and be nice!" She said to Jade.

"Excuse me? I'm the one that made it so you and Eric could hang out!" Jade retorted.

"YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN LIKE THIS." Ebony yelled.

"ME? I DON'T THINK SO. WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO GROW UP EBONY?" Jade yelled back.

The boys stared at them as they fought. What were they saying? It sounded like they have known each other for longer than a couple of days.

"Wait a second!" Alex interrupted.

"Stay out of this Alex!" Jade said.

"Yeah, what she said. It's not your business." Ebony bellowed.

"DON'T YOU TELL HIM TO STAY OUT OF IT!" Jade started yelling at Ebony again.

"Why not? You just did?" Ebony retorted.

"Because you don't even know him!"

"Merlin, You're never gonna change are you?" Ebony asked.

The guys looked horror struck. What in Merlin's name was going on? How did they know each other? They didn't seem to know each other yesterday.

"OK, That's enough, both of you. SHUT UP!" Alex yelled as he stepped in between the two girls. "Now how do you know each other, and why do you hate each other so much?"

Scowling, Jade answered, "We met last summer. It's a long story. One that I don't want to relive again."

Ebony glared at her. "You know it was NOT my fault Jade. So you have no reason to be mad at me. We used to be friend!"

"Yeah, used to be, Key word there! I will NEVER forgive you for what you did!" Jade spat.

"Merlin Jade, get over it. It's not my fault that Jason liked me and not you. Grow up!"

"Ha, you think that's why I'm mad? You are sorely mistaken!"

"If that's not why you're mad at me then what is?!" Ebony asked.

"YOU USED HIM! That's why I'm mad. I don't want to see Eric hurt like you hurt Jason. I grew up with Eric, I know what he's been through, and YOU DON'T!"

Eric blushed, and Alex still looked at the girls. The boys were both shocked, and the girls looked angered.

"Jade, I NEVER meant to hurt Jason. That was not my intention. And I don't intend to hurt anyone else for that matter." Ebony defended.

Jade growled, "It may not have been your intention, but it happened Ebony. And I'm not going to sit back and watch it happen again! Eric is like a brother to me!"

Eric, still blushing, "Jade, I love you like a sister, but I'm a big boy. And I can handle myself. But I do thank you for the concern."

Jade still wasn't satisfied. She continued to scowl at Ebony. Alex came up behind her, and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Jade, leave it be. What's the past is the past. Maybe she's changed." Alex whispered in her ear.

That still didn't make Jade feel any better. She was still upset about what happened last summer. And she wasn't about to forgive and forget so easily. 'She may not have done it on purpose, but she still hurt him.' Jade thought.

"You're a Malfoy, Ebony. And Malfoy's NEVER change. Your father sure hasn't." Jade spat.

"This has NOTHING to do with my father. I'm sorry if our parents don't get along. It's not my fault." Ebony said defensively. "And besides, you looked past my last name before, why can't you now?"

"Because you HURT Jason! Don't you get that Eb?" Jade said. "The boy was heartbroken when you broke it off with him. I had to stay up for days listening to him cry. Do you know how that feels?"

"Yeah, I do actually. Jason liked you first. He told me. But you turned him down because you liked Alex." Ebony said.

"How could I turn him down, if he never asked me?!" Jade said. "And he never did ask me, all he did was talk about how 'beautiful' you were!"

"Yeah, well maybe he would have if you stopped talking about Alex for two seconds!"

"He's my best friend, and best friends have a tendency to talk about each other a lot!" Jade stated, blushing a bright red.

"Yeah, well none of this is my fault. And the only reason I broke it off with him is because he wouldn't stop talking about YOU!"

The boys stood there, shocked, and not knowing what to say.

Alex finally came to his senses; "You talked about me all summer?"

"Well….yeah….I mean you're my best friend. And even if I did make friends in New York, you were the one that I knew would always be there for me. And I missed you." Jade confessed, blushing an even deeper shade of red. "But that's not the point!"

Eric stood rooted to his spot under the willow, his mouth flapping open and shut. 'What do I say to that? Oy Merlin, I'm so confused' he thought. "So, you are holding a grudge Jade? How unlike you!"

"I can hold a grudge if I want to, I have every right! And just because it's 'unlike me' doesn't mean it doesn't happen occasionally." Jade said. "Besides, you weren't there."

"Can we all just please stop fighting? I hate it when you and Eric fight, Jade!" Alex said looking genuinely sad.

"I'm not fighting with him, I'm fighting with her!" Jade stated.

"Jade, Please." Alex said, giving her puppy dog eyes. Although he didn't have to, she could see the sadness in his eyes.

"Alright. Fine. No more fighting, but that still doesn't mean I'm going to get along with her." Jade said glaring at Ebony.

Alex's face lightened up as he stepped towards his girlfriend and wrapped his arms around her.

"Hey, I've got an idea!" Eric stated happily. "Why don't we all go out to the fort!"

Alex, Jade and Ebony looked at him in surprise. He'd been pretty quiet until now. "No way, Eric. That's OUR place. You know, the three of us!" Jade stated, not wanting to bring Ebony to their secret place.

"Yeah, but now there are four of us!" Eric said nonchalantly.

"We built that when we were kids, it's our place Eric. She wasn't around when we were kids!" Jade spat, her temper flaring again.

"Jade, what is your problem?" Ebony asked.

"You!" Jade stated, as if it were the most obvious reason.

"Merlin, Jade, just grow up! It's the past, leave it be!" Ebony said.

"You didn't leave it in the past, even after two weeks. You kept bitching at me because Jason was talking to me more than he was you! And that was AFTER YOU broke it off with HIM!" Jade spat.

"Yeah, well at least I can forgive and forget! Or at least try and forget! But you don't seem to want to let me forget!"

"That's right, because you didn't let me live it down. All you did was yell at me for weeks. It's not my fault that he came to me broken hearted because of a heartless Malfoy!" Jade said.

"Jade, would you get over the fact that I'm a Malfoy! It's not that big of a deal! You know I am NOTHING like my father. Otherwise I would have never been your friend! Or did you forget that. My father doesn't like your father, but that still didn't stop me."

Jade went silent, but still scowled at Ebony.

"Jade just get over it!" Ebony added.

"I will not get over it. You're not the one that had to stay up all night on the phone with him. And listen to how he lost his 'precious Ebony'. I did." Jade said. "Do you know how annoying that got? Jason was nice and all, but hearing about you night and day from him. Merlin, you were all he talked about! So no Eb, I won't just get over it!"

"You never give up do you? Jade just drop it. It's in the PAST." Ebony spat.

Alex finally got frustrated. "If you two don't stop arguing about something that happened LAST summer, then I'm outta here!"

He knew that would shut Jade up. And with out another word, she walked over to the willow trees trunk and punched it as hard as she could. It cut her knuckles, and it stung. She felt the pain surge through her hand, but it didn't seem to faze her.

Alex sighed, 'why did she have to do that? She knows it hurts when she does that! And why isn't she about in tears this time? Last time she did it, she was crying from the pain.' He thought. He ran over to her, but she just kept walking. 'Boy she's pissed. I don't think I've ever seen her this mad.'

"She still hasn't changed has she?" Ebony asked Eric.

"What do you mean?" He asked her, slightly puzzled.

"I mean, she still punches shit when she gets mad. She did that last summer. But I think it hurt worse sense she punched a brick wall." Ebony stated.

"Oh, that. Yeah, she keeps things bottled up, and that and skateboarding are her only way to release anger." He answered. "Boy, it didn't even faze her. Last time she punched that tree she cried from the pain. She must be really pissed."

***

"Jade, Stop!" Alex yelled as he caught up with her. He turned her around. "Jade, don't hold a grudge, you're to sweet and good-hearted to hold a grudge." He told her as he took her bloody hand in his to examine the wound that she had just inflicted.

Jade blushed, "She just…errr…you didn't have to listen to it all last summer. It hurt me so much that I didn't even tell anyone. Do you know how much it hurt to not even tell you?!"

"I know, I'm not going to be able to understand like you do. But…like I said, you're too beautiful to be holding grudges." He told her. "C'mon, let's get your knuckles cleaned up!"

****

"Ouch, that stings you know." Jade whined.

"It's not my fault. You're the one that punched the tree. You know better, it's not the first time you've done it." He told her. "Damn Jade, you really messed your self up this time!"

"Well duh!" she teased.