Chapter 2
Jiakang was sitting cross-legged on her bed, crying over a book she was reading, callled "Best Friends Forever". She was at page 1, and after she read the first sentence she sobbed so hard she could not recover in time to go on to the next sentence.
Choking and spluttering, she read out the sentence with a quivering voice.
"Sarah - sniff - and I were the - sniff - BEST FRIENDS - in the - sniff - WHOLE SCHOOL - "
Jiakang broke into a fresh wave of sobs, hugging her pillow which had tear-soaked patches all over it.
"I AM MELTING," she announced to the empty dormitory, "THAT IS SO SWEET!!!!!!!!"
The door opened, and Hermione entered the room. Yes, our heroine is sharing a room with the brainy little girl. Unfortunate but true. They never quite got to become close friends, which is why Jiakang never got a mention in the books written about them later.
Well, not quite yet. Not quite until today.
Hermione dropped her things at the sight of this crying girl.
"What have we here? My, my -" she gasped worriedly, and rushed to Jiakang's side. Jiakang cried even harder and blew her nose into her pillowcase.
Hermione was strongly reminded of a certain house-elf.
"Now now, it's all right!" said Hermione hastily. She didn't know this girl very well, so she could only take a stab at the reason why she was crying. Let's see, she thought quickly. This girl - Jiakang. She was crying at breakfast over - a cup of tea. Yeah. It must be the tea. Now what could happen with a cup of tea - ?
"It's all right, Jiakang! I know you probably heard some news on the Muggle radio but NO, Slim 10 could not have been added to the tea by accident!"
Thankfully, thankfully, Jiakang did not hear.
"Oh, oh, Hermione," sobbed Jiakang, "I only want ONE THING, ONE THING -"
Hermione was quite at a loss as to what to say.
"Erm. You want oreo cheesecake?" asked Hermione after awhile.
"I WANT - " began Jiakang. Suddenly she stopped.
"Yeah," she sniffed. "I do actually want - oreo cheesecake."
Hermione stared.
This girl cried nearly as often as Cho did. Perhaps Harry might like her.
Hermione the Shrewd Matchmaker thought for a moment. She ought to get this matchmaking thing right. So far her attempts at Crookshanks and Professor McGonagall were quite fruitless.
She laughed. "Well, isn't that simple? We can get someone to bring a cheesecake over, why not? I will run over and have a word with Ron, and I'll get Harry to come over and accompany you - "
She made to leave, but Jiakang stopped her.
"Oh, don't go! Please! You're really nice. Shall we just get Dobby to bring the cheesecake over?"
Hermione choked as Jiakang hit on Sensitive Area Number One.
"Dobby? DOBBY?!" she exploded. "You are a perfectly able young girl, aren't you Jiakang? I'm sure you can get the cheesecake yourself! Don't you see? The POOR, POOR house-elves slog and toil all day for not much as a cent, and girls like you are going to CALL a house-elf for some tiny little task when you have someone named Ron Weasley in the next dormitory?"
Jiakang stared at the seething Hermione.
"Right, right, I'm SORRY! Poor house-elves! You can go ask Ron, just get the cheesecake. Oh, and get rootbeer. Yumyum."
Hermione nodded approvingly.
"Would you like to join S. P. E. W.? Society for the Protection of Elvish Welfare? I would be gratified, you and I clearly have the same noble dream of obtaining freedom for every house elf! You can be vice-Secretary, you have to buy badge, all proceeds go to the Knitting Fund to buy yarn to make more hats. Together you and I, we can be the elves' best friends - "
Hermione just said Sensitive Phrase Number One in the Jiakang Dictionary, published by Oxford Press, 1997.
"If only - " said Jiakang, her eyes filling with tears, "I had a best friend, other than a hosue elf, NO ONE wants to be my best friend, first Kelly, then Wenjing, then Xinlei, then Rennie - oh did I mention Dicky Tan?"
Teardrops spilled out of her eyes.
"I don't even have a slice of oreo cheesecake to keep me company - "
Hermione suddenly remembered.
"Oh, Jiakang, I'll be back in a moment, okay? With your oreo cheesecake."
She scooted out of the door.
Jiakang opened her book again.
Sentence number 2:
"We went everywhere together; It was always me and Sarah, together forever."
Jiakang's eyes filled with tears.
She did not hear an apprehensive knock on the door.
"THAT IS SO SWEET! I AM MELTING AWAY - " she exclaimed, throwing her feet into the air, just as someone standing outside swung open the door.
A/N: No, no, Harry is not going to fall in love with Jiakang. I have not sunk that low. You may breathe now, my dear JK.
Jiakang was sitting cross-legged on her bed, crying over a book she was reading, callled "Best Friends Forever". She was at page 1, and after she read the first sentence she sobbed so hard she could not recover in time to go on to the next sentence.
Choking and spluttering, she read out the sentence with a quivering voice.
"Sarah - sniff - and I were the - sniff - BEST FRIENDS - in the - sniff - WHOLE SCHOOL - "
Jiakang broke into a fresh wave of sobs, hugging her pillow which had tear-soaked patches all over it.
"I AM MELTING," she announced to the empty dormitory, "THAT IS SO SWEET!!!!!!!!"
The door opened, and Hermione entered the room. Yes, our heroine is sharing a room with the brainy little girl. Unfortunate but true. They never quite got to become close friends, which is why Jiakang never got a mention in the books written about them later.
Well, not quite yet. Not quite until today.
Hermione dropped her things at the sight of this crying girl.
"What have we here? My, my -" she gasped worriedly, and rushed to Jiakang's side. Jiakang cried even harder and blew her nose into her pillowcase.
Hermione was strongly reminded of a certain house-elf.
"Now now, it's all right!" said Hermione hastily. She didn't know this girl very well, so she could only take a stab at the reason why she was crying. Let's see, she thought quickly. This girl - Jiakang. She was crying at breakfast over - a cup of tea. Yeah. It must be the tea. Now what could happen with a cup of tea - ?
"It's all right, Jiakang! I know you probably heard some news on the Muggle radio but NO, Slim 10 could not have been added to the tea by accident!"
Thankfully, thankfully, Jiakang did not hear.
"Oh, oh, Hermione," sobbed Jiakang, "I only want ONE THING, ONE THING -"
Hermione was quite at a loss as to what to say.
"Erm. You want oreo cheesecake?" asked Hermione after awhile.
"I WANT - " began Jiakang. Suddenly she stopped.
"Yeah," she sniffed. "I do actually want - oreo cheesecake."
Hermione stared.
This girl cried nearly as often as Cho did. Perhaps Harry might like her.
Hermione the Shrewd Matchmaker thought for a moment. She ought to get this matchmaking thing right. So far her attempts at Crookshanks and Professor McGonagall were quite fruitless.
She laughed. "Well, isn't that simple? We can get someone to bring a cheesecake over, why not? I will run over and have a word with Ron, and I'll get Harry to come over and accompany you - "
She made to leave, but Jiakang stopped her.
"Oh, don't go! Please! You're really nice. Shall we just get Dobby to bring the cheesecake over?"
Hermione choked as Jiakang hit on Sensitive Area Number One.
"Dobby? DOBBY?!" she exploded. "You are a perfectly able young girl, aren't you Jiakang? I'm sure you can get the cheesecake yourself! Don't you see? The POOR, POOR house-elves slog and toil all day for not much as a cent, and girls like you are going to CALL a house-elf for some tiny little task when you have someone named Ron Weasley in the next dormitory?"
Jiakang stared at the seething Hermione.
"Right, right, I'm SORRY! Poor house-elves! You can go ask Ron, just get the cheesecake. Oh, and get rootbeer. Yumyum."
Hermione nodded approvingly.
"Would you like to join S. P. E. W.? Society for the Protection of Elvish Welfare? I would be gratified, you and I clearly have the same noble dream of obtaining freedom for every house elf! You can be vice-Secretary, you have to buy badge, all proceeds go to the Knitting Fund to buy yarn to make more hats. Together you and I, we can be the elves' best friends - "
Hermione just said Sensitive Phrase Number One in the Jiakang Dictionary, published by Oxford Press, 1997.
"If only - " said Jiakang, her eyes filling with tears, "I had a best friend, other than a hosue elf, NO ONE wants to be my best friend, first Kelly, then Wenjing, then Xinlei, then Rennie - oh did I mention Dicky Tan?"
Teardrops spilled out of her eyes.
"I don't even have a slice of oreo cheesecake to keep me company - "
Hermione suddenly remembered.
"Oh, Jiakang, I'll be back in a moment, okay? With your oreo cheesecake."
She scooted out of the door.
Jiakang opened her book again.
Sentence number 2:
"We went everywhere together; It was always me and Sarah, together forever."
Jiakang's eyes filled with tears.
She did not hear an apprehensive knock on the door.
"THAT IS SO SWEET! I AM MELTING AWAY - " she exclaimed, throwing her feet into the air, just as someone standing outside swung open the door.
A/N: No, no, Harry is not going to fall in love with Jiakang. I have not sunk that low. You may breathe now, my dear JK.